I'm glad the slides are up, because I
need the first slide to get going. I'd like you to soak that in. What you're
looking at here is the result of the most recent elections in Canada and the
United States. I'm sure we recognize the gentleman on the right, our president,
President Trump. You may not be so familiar with the gentlemen on the left,
he's the Prime Minister of Canada. His name is Justin Trudeau. He is the son of
Pierre Elliot Trudeau, who was Prime Minister of Canada many, many years ago.
He's passed on now. We all know, we can't help but knowing Mr. Trump's positions
on things. He kind of makes them clear. You might not be as familiar with Mr. Trudeau. If I were to put him on a political scale, he would
be left of Bernie Sanders, okay. Left of Bernie Sanders, for those of you
who follow these things. The point I want to make here is that no matter our
political perspective, we should be grateful, nevertheless, that we still have
the freedom to vote and voice an opinion about our government, unlike other places.
Try asserting your voting rights in Cuba, for a change. Go to China, see how far
you'll get for a fair vote there. So you have to get things into
perspective here. As Christians, however, we need to remember not only to
participate in the government of this nation, but also remember that we belong
to the government of another world. This government is referred to as the Kingdom
of Heaven or the Kingdom of God. Jesus explained the duality of our situation
when He answered Pilate concerning His true identity as the King of this other
nation, or of this other government. That was read previously. I'll read it again,
just to kind of press this in, because this is the theme of our sermon.
"Therefore Pilate entered again into the "Praetorium, and summoned Jesus and said to Him, "Are you the King of the Jews?'
And Jesus answered, 'Are you saying this "on your own initiative, or did
others tell you about Me?' "Pilate answered, 'I am NOT a Jew, am I? Your
own nation and the chief priests "delivered You to me; what have You done?'
Jesus answered, 'My kingdom is not of this "world. If my kingdom were of this world,
then my servants would be fighting, so "that I would not be handed over to the
Jews. But as it is, My kingdom is not of "this realm." And so, my sermon this morning,
I want to talk about the kingdom of God, the government that we actually belong
to that is present in this world and will exist in the world to come, when
this world will no longer be. And so, the first thing the Bible teaches concerning
the kingdom that is not of this world, is that this kingdom was the subject of
prophecy. The governments of the United States and Canada have been around for
hundreds of years and they rule over vast nations with millions of citizens,
however, no one in the distant past predicted accurately that these
governments, that these nations, would exist, and when they would cease to be.
The kingdom of God, on the other hand, was a subject of prophecy centuries before
it was realized here on earth. And as previously mentioned, was
spoken of in the book of Daniel, some six hundred years before its
arrival. It's an amazing thing. We're familiar with the book of Daniel. Let me
just summarize what it said about the kingdom. Daniel and other young
Jewish men of noble blood were carried off into Babylonian captivity,
where they were, by the grace of God and their faithfulness to God in trying
circumstances, they were raised to high levels in the court of the Babylonian
king Nebuchadnezzar. Soon after, Daniel was called upon to interpret a strange
and disturbing dream that the king experienced. And
in his interpretation of this dream, God revealed the sweep of history that was
to come, as well as historical markers for the arrival and the
development of God's kingdom on earth. Daniel's inspired interpretation of this
dream is recorded in Daniel chapter two. And its accuracy concerning future
earthly kingdoms has been established as history has unfolded. So let me read a
portion of that in Daniel two, it says, hear Daniel is speaking to the king and interpreting the king's dream.
He says, "You, O king, were looking and "behold, there was a single great statue;
that statue, which was large and of "extraordinary splendor, was standing in
front of you, and it's appearance was "awesome. The head of that statue was made
of fine gold, its breasts and its arms of "silver, its belly and its thighs of
bronze, its legs of iron, its feet partly "of iron and partly of clay. You continued
looking until a stone was cut without "hands, and it struck the statue on its
feet of iron and clay and crushed them. "Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the
silver, and the gold, were crushed all at "the same time and became like chaff from
the summer threshing floors, and the wind "carried them away, so that not a trace of
them was found. But the stone that "struck the statue became a great mountain and "filled the whole earth." Now, we haven't
read the whole passage here of Daniel, but I want to mention to you what a
miraculous thing this prophecy was. First of all, Daniel described the dream that
the king had without any help from the king, who kept the nature of his
dream secret as a way of testing the legitimacy of the interpreter. So he said to his magicians and to his soothsayers, I want you to interpret my
dream. And they said to him, okay, well, give us the dream and we'll give you the
interpretation. He said, no, no, no, you're going to tell me what I dreamt and you will
interpret it. And none of them could do that, until Daniel came along. And Daniel
not only interpreted his dream, of course, but he also explained the dream that the
King had. Secondly, Daniel accurately describes the rise and fall of four
world empires in correct succession over a period of six centuries into the
future. Twenty-six centuries, if you count the kingdom of God and its continuation
to this day. So let's examine his interpretation just a
little more closely, shall we. Note that the statue here, this
image that has been drawn up based on the Bible description,
note that the statue in the dream is made of many parts: a head of gold, a
breast and arms of silver, a belly and thighs of bronze, legs and feet of a
mixture of iron and clay. Now in the dream, a stone cut without human hands
appears and strikes the statue not on the head, but on its feet of iron and
clay, reducing the entire statute to dust, which is blown away. And in its place the
stone becomes a mountain that fills the entire earth. So let's continue reading
in Daniel. Daniel says this was the dream. Now he will tell its interpretation
before the king. "You, O king, are the king "of kings, to whom the God of heaven has
given the kingdom, the power, the strength, "and the glory, and wherever the sons of
men dwell or the beasts of the field or "the birds of the sky, He has given them
into your hand. He has caused you to "rule over all of them. You are the head
of gold. After you, there will arise "another kingdom inferior to you, then
another third kingdom of bronze, which "will rule over all the earth. Then there
will be a fourth Kingdom as strong as "iron, in as much as iron crushes and
shatters all things, so like iron that "breaks in pieces, it will crush and break
all these in pieces. In that you saw the "feet and toes partly of potters clay and
partly of iron, it will be a divided "kingdom, but it will have in it the
toughness of iron, in as much as you saw "the iron mixed with common clay. As the toes of
the feet were partly of iron and partly "of pottery, so
the kingdom will be strong and part of "it will be brittle. And in that you saw
the iron mixed with clay, they "will combine with one another. And the
seed of men, but they will not adhere to "one another properly. Even as iron does
not combine with pottery. In the days of "those kings, the God of heaven will set
up a kingdom which will never be "destroyed. And that kingdom will not be
left for another people. It will crush "and put an end to all these kingdoms, but
it will itself endure forever. In as much "as you saw that a stone was cut out of
the mountain without hands and that it "crushes the iron, the bronze, the clay, the
silver, and the gold, the great God has "made known to the king what will take
place in the future; so the dream is true "and its interpretation is trustworthy."
And so, in his interpretation, Daniel names five separate kingdoms. First of
all, he describes the Babylonian Empire, the head of gold. This was a fitting
symbol because Babylon was the finest of the ancient kingdoms, lasting over a
hundred years, 625 - 539 BC. The second kingdom he describes was the Medo-Persian empire, the breasts of silver with the two arms. Daniel mentions two
arms, which describes the dual nature of this empire ruled by a combination of
the Medes and the Persians. They were noted for their great wealth, seen in the
abundance of silver coinage during their period 539 to 331 BC. The third kingdom
that he names is the Greek Empire, the belly and the hips of brass. Alexander
the Great defeated the last of the Medo- Persian kings, Darius the third, in 330
BC. The Greeks innovated the arms of war by using brass armor as protection.
Greece was then defeated and absorbed by Rome in 146 BC, their kingdom lasting
from 330 BC to 146 BC. The fourth Empire, the Roman Empire,
he describes the legs of iron with the feet of clay mixed with iron. Iron
because the Romans innovated the use of this metal in warfare. As it
grew, Rome would make alliances with foreign kings, which ultimately weakened
its empire and was a factor in its demise in 476 AD, when Romulus, the last
of the Roman emperors, was overthrown by the German leader Odoacer, who became the first barbarian to rule in Rome. The mixture, the idea of the
mixture of iron and clay was the mixture - normally Rome would simply conquer a
people and take over, but with time they, as their empire expanded, they
didn't conquer the people, they simply made alliances with them. That explains the clay and the iron. And those exterior alliances were the weaknesses
of the Roman Empire, which ultimately led to its downfall. Note carefully that all
these kingdoms succeeded each other in history. And Daniel correctly described
their appearance and their demise in proper order, doing so in the power and
the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Nowadays, and I mean, I take nothing away from
people who work - meteorologists, they try to figure out the weather, very
important, but you know how difficult it is simply to predict the weather in
three days, could you imagine predicting four different kingdoms over a period of
600 years and nailing it exactly one after another. Nothing short of divine
power to do that then. The four kingdoms, then there's the kingdom of God that he
talks about. The stone that grows into a mountain. Note, carefully, what Daniel says
about the fifth kingdom appearing as a stone that grows into a mountain: first,
it's time of appearance. It appeared during the fourth kingdom, which was what?
Rome. The place of its appearance, it says that the stone struck the feet of the
statue, the feet of the statue, not the head, which in the context of the Roman
Empire would have been the city of Rome itself, which
the continual target of all of its enemies. Yet in his dream and in his
interpretation, he says the stone doesn't hit the head to destroy it, it hits the
feet, representing the outlying provinces. Provinces like Judea, where Jesus
ministered and established the church. Then he talks about the type of kingdom.
The stone cut without hands is a way of denoting that this would be a
supernatural kingdom, not a temporal kingdom, like those before it. And note
that unlike these other kingdoms, Daniel states that this fifth kingdom will be
established by God, Daniel chapter two, verse 44. And then he talks about the
duration of this kingdom. The other kingdoms had periods of glory and power
lasting centuries, but Daniel says that the fifth kingdom will be everlasting,
never to fall. The image of the stone growing into a mountain, filling the
earth, symbolizes a kingdom that will dominate every other kingdom in history.
Therefore, some 600 years before Christ, a Jewish prophet spoke of four kingdoms
that would rise and fall until a fifth kingdom would be established, that would
dominate the world and last forever. For six centuries - by the way, if
you're wondering, that's just the preamble. I'm getting
into my lesson here, just in case you didn't cover this other
material in Bible school, I just wanted to make sure. So therefore, some 600
years before Christ, a Jewish prophet spoke of four kingdoms that would rise
and fall until a fifth one would be established that would dominate the
world and last forever. So for six centuries the Jewish people waited for
this kingdom prophesied by one of their own prophets, Daniel. And then one day
a prophet in the spirit of Elijah proclaimed, "Repent, for the
kingdom of heaven is at hand." Matthew 3:3. Can we understand then, why
John the Baptist's preaching caused so much excitement among the people. And so,
in speaking of the kingdom that is not of this world, we note, first of all, that
this kingdom was spoken of in prophecy, which has since been confirmed by
history. Another feature of the kingdom, that we as Christians belong to, is that
this kingdom is on earth, but it is spiritual in nature. Daniel predicted
that the kingdom was to come, and John the Baptist preached that it was at hand,
and Jesus proclaimed that it was here. For Jews, who had actually lived through
the four empires mentioned by Daniel, this was exciting news. For some it
rekindled nationalistic aspirations that had appeared throughout their history. I mean, many had a, what we call, a Davidic concept of the kingdom. In other words,
their hope was that God would send a king like David who would lead them
out of bondage and regain their lost territory. They believed that the day of
the Lord was to be a time when the nation would be restored, Amos chapter nine,
verse 14, and Zechariah the Prophet chapter eight, verses four to eight. They believed
that the nation would be restored and other nations would be judged. Their
hope was kindled and dashed repeatedly throughout post-united
kingdom history. In other words, after the united kingdom, this hope of
a messiah kept a rising and falling, as one leader after another appeared,
claiming that they were the Messiah. From Zerubabbel leading the first wave of
exiles from Babylon back to Jerusalem, to the Maccabean revolt. Their hope was for
a kingdom of this world peopled by Jews. Their Kingdom was a dream of
Jewish nationalism. During the inter- testamentary period, that's between the
period of the two Testaments, 400 years, 400 BC to 6 AD, we call that the
inter-testamentary period, another view of the kingdom began to develop among
non-inspired writings of that time. Writings that we call apocalyptic
literature. And so, the writings of this era hoped for a heavenly kingdom, which
would end the present evil age in the book of Jubilee, for example, 23, verse 29,
the author suggests a golden age to come, in which God Himself would
usher in His kingdom, reversing the rule and the evil of Satan.
So there were a lot of ideas of the kingdom that were swirling among the
people for centuries before Jesus arrived. And so, these and various
combinations of these ideas were swirling about in the minds of the
people as John the Baptist spoke of the kingdom. So I think we can understand,
therefore, that when the people heard Jesus teach that the kingdom had arrived,
and they witnessed His powerful miracles, they were ready to crown Him
King, whether He liked it or not. He fulfilled all of their aspirations. Imagine,
how would you like for your president to be able to do miracles? How would you
like for your president to go to a rally with 10,000 people and miraculously
provide food for all 10,000 of them? I want to vote for that guy.
This was the feeling at this time, but then Jesus started
describing the kingdom in detail, and it didn't fit any of the
notions that the writers and the people had. In addition to this, He
described the kingdom in abstract terms with the use of parables and without
references to political power or military dominance or any kind of
economic features. He said that the kingdom was like mustard seed or a man
who sowed seed. He taught them that the kingdom was like leaven, that leavens
dough, or a net that catches fish, or a relationship between a master and a
servant, or a person that finds a pearl, or a treasure. True to Daniel's words,
Jesus begins to teach the people that the kingdom is supernatural in nature,
not political; and the kingdom, Jesus says, is as was read, "My kingdom is not of this
world." They were expecting a kingdom of this world. They didn't mean that the
kingdom had no power or authority, it simply meant that as a spiritual kingdom,
its power and authority were derived and controlled by God, not armies, not humans.
And so, the kingdom that Jesus and His Apostles announced, was one that was
small enough to exist in one person's heart, was big enough to include all who
would enter in, was powerful enough to dominate every other kingdom, and was so
precious that when someone found it they would abandon everything they owned in
order to possess it. And yet, was so elusive that some people stood right
next to it, but didn't even see it. Finally, the kingdom that Jesus spoke of
was being built in their lifetimes, exactly as Daniel had spoken. So the
kingdom was the subject of prophecy, the kingdom was something that was spiritual,
and the kingdom was something that has been established. Many years ago I had a
friend who worked in Saudi Arabia for several years and when I would
write to him, because we corresponded, I would address his envelope
at the end, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. That was part of the address. The Kingdom of
Saudi Arabia included all the territory over which the king of Saudi Arabia
ruled. And throughout history, this has been different according to how
much land the king obtained through war. The point here is
that the kingdom is that which belongs to the king. This is the earthly physical
understanding of the term kingdom, but let's read something in Matthew six, shall
we. "Pray, then, in this way, Jesus says, 'Our "Father, who is in heaven, hallowed be Your
name. Your kingdom come, Your will be done, "on earth as it is in heaven."
In this passage Jesus mentions one kingdom in two spheres, one kingdom is on
earth, that had yet to be established. The other one was in heaven, that was already
established. Therefore, Jesus was praying that the will of God be done on earth as
it was already being done in heaven. An important point to note here is
that the kingdom of God exists wherever His will is being done, because
the word kingdom comes from a greek word which means sovereignty or will. In
Matthew 6:9-10, Jesus is praying that God's will be done here on earth, and
thus, established the kingdom here as God's will is now being done in heaven. When this happens, God's will will be
done and the kingdom will be established in both the heavenly and the earthly
realms. And so, if we want to know what the kingdom looks like, we need to
examine what God's will is for all men, because the kingdom exists wherever
God's will is being done. So let's take a look at another passage, First Timothy
chapter two, Paul writes, "This is good and "acceptable in the sight of God our
Savior, who desires all men to "be saved and to come to the knowledge of
the truth." Wait a minute, what did He just say? Acceptable in the sight of God, our
Savior, who desire - who desires? God desires. What does God desire? What does
He want? What is His will? Who desires all men to be saved and to come to the
knowledge of the truth. And what is the truth? "For there is one God, and one
mediator also between God and men, the "man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself as a
ransom for all, the testimony given at "the proper time." What is God's will? That
all men come to know that Jesus Christ is the son of God, and be saved through
Him. That is God's will. When that will is being accomplished, then the kingdom of God
is being established. An important point to note here is that the kingdom of God
exists wherever His will is being done. And Paul summarizes His will in this
brief passage. As Paul writes, God's will is that all mankind recognize the truth
that Jesus Christ is the son of God and they will be saved as a result. Insofar
as the kingdom is concerned, it is being established whenever and wherever people
are confessing Jesus and expressing this faith in repentance and baptism, Acts
2:38. When they do that, the kingdom of God on earth is being established and
the kingdom is growing. Now doesn't this knowledge unlock all of the parables
about the kingdom? Isn't Jesus the pearl of great price, and are we
not willing to abandon everything in order to have Him? Isn't the word of God
the leaven that permeates the entire life of a man or a woman? Isn't preaching
the gospel a great net that draws in many hearers, that are eventually reduced
to just a few believers? Isn't Jesus the master that leaves His disciples to care
for the kingdom and will return one day to examine their stewardship? Isn't
the knowledge of God's will small enough to exist in one believer's heart,
yet big enough to reach every soul in the world? Isn't God's will powerful
enough to destroy every human kingdom while sustaining His own kingdom, to the
end of time and beyond. We're not premillennialists who are
waiting for the kingdom to come. That's our neighbors across the street,
they're waiting for the kingdom to come. Nor are we post-millennialists, who think much like the Jews of the first century, that the
kingdom will be some kind of golden age, where the church will dominate here on
earth until Jesus returns. We don't believe that. Our view is
much simpler to understand, taken primarily from the previously quoted
Matthew 10, verses six to nine where Jesus prays that it's God's will be done on
earth as it is being done in heaven. When seen through the lens of the kingdom, we
understand that all who are in heaven are obviously under the authority and
will of God. And so, the kingdom of God is firmly established there. And Jesus'
prayer is that God's will that man's salvation through Christ also be
established here on earth. So when someone asks when or how was God's
kingdom established here on earth? Your reply, according to scripture, should be the following: the kingdom of God, the kingdom
of heaven, the kingdom of Christ was established when the gospel began to be
preached and people responded to it in faithful obedience. That's when the
kingdom was established. That's when the doors were opened. That's when people
started coming in. To be more specific, the kingdom was established when
Christ defeated sin and death with His resurrection, to accomplish the first
part of God's will, and that was to provide redemption for man's sins
through the sacrifice of His son, and the doors to the kingdom were flung open as
the Apostles were first to enter in, and then on Pentecost Sunday they began to
preach the gospel to invite everyone who believed to also enter
into the kingdom of God. A familiar passage, but an important one.
"Therefore, let all the house of Israel "know for certain that God has made Him
both Lord and Christ - this Jesus whom you "crucified.' Now when they heard this, they
were pierced to the heart, and said to "Peter and the rest of the Apostles,
'Brethren, what shall we do?" to get into the kingdom? "And Peter said to them,
'Repent and each of you be baptized in "the name of Jesus Christ for the
forgiveness of your sins, and you will "receive the gift of the Holy Spirit, for
the promise," what promise? The promise of the kingdom. "for the promise is for you and
your children and for all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God will
call to Himself." Another little bit here, "And with many other words he
solemnly testified and kept on exhorting "them, saying, 'Be saved from this
perverse generation.' So then, those who had "received his word were baptized; and that
day there were added about three thousand "souls." Added to what? Added to the
kingdom. That's what. "They were continually "devoting themselves to the Apostles'
teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking "of bread and to prayer. Everyone kept
feeling a sense of awe; and many wonders "and signs were taking place through the
Apostles. And all those who had believed "were together and had all things in
common." As Jesus said to Pilate, "My Kingdom is not of this world." But as
we have learned, it is very much in this world, and embodied by those who have
been added to it through faith in Jesus Christ, through repentance and baptism.
So so far we've seen how and when the kingdom was established. One other
thing we need to examine: how the kingdom grows. Because Jesus often spoke of its
growth and development. So very briefly then. Jesus spoke about the kingdom in
two ways. One, as it related to an individual. The kingdom of God within you,
He said. He used the example of a seed or leaven, referring to agents that worked on the inside of a person to cause growth. These agents were figures representing God's Word given through
the Holy Spirit and recorded by the Apostles. The kingdom, that is, the ability
to do God's will and become like Christ, the kingdom grows within the individual
as he internalizes and submits to the direction of God's Word. How do I grow in
Christ? I obey His word. The growth of the kingdom within becomes evident
externally, as the kingdom dweller produces spiritual fruit: love, joy, peace,
patience, holiness, service, Galatians 5:22. Paul calls it fruit of the Spirit, but we
could just as easily call it fruit of the kingdom, or the kingdom within the
believer. So when you see these things developed in one's life, in the name of
Christ, you are seeing the kingdom that is not of this world, living within the
believer who is in this world. And then secondly, the kingdom in a collective
sense, Jesus, the Apostles, and other New Testament writers use different
words when referring to the kingdom collectively. In other words, many people
in whom the kingdom was present, they use terms like the church, the Saints, the
household of God. This collective kingdom grows in numbers and spiritual influence
on the world as it spreads the gospel of Jesus Christ and the kingdom. And so, this
kingdom of God on earth is made up of individuals who have and continue to
respond to God in Christ. Individually they are called Christians, saints,
disciples, believers, to name a few. Collectively they're referred to as the
church, or the body of Christ, among other things. If you've obeyed
God's will and believing in obeying Christ, the kingdom is in the form of the
Holy Spirit and the Word of God are in you, as an individual. The kingdom is in
you. And at the same time you as an individual become part of the kingdom of
God, comprised of all those who have been saved both in heaven and on earth.
So the Apostles had a hard time understanding the nature of the kingdom,
to the extent where they never even asked the obvious question: what is the
purpose of the kingdom? Why was it formed? What's it all leading to? And
so, in this lesson, excuse me, in this lesson I've been talking about
the kingdom of heaven on earth, but I haven't really discussed the kingdom of
heaven in heaven. An important point to remember in all of this is, if we are the
part of the kingdom here on earth, it means that we will also participate in
the kingdom of heaven that is in heaven. Praise God for that. The kingdom here on
earth is the kingdom, however it is not yet glorified, it is not yet exalted as
the kingdom. This is the end game of Christianity. The kingdom of heaven in
heaven is already glorified, and those who are part of it have things that we
don't have yet, things that Paul mentions in First Corinthians 15, where he describes
the features of the glorified body. Well, the features of the glorified
body is also the features of the glorified kingdom. For example, he says,
incorruptibility. In other words, as individuals we'll have no sin, no
weakness, supernatural power. We will not be subject to time or natural laws, eternal existence, meaning no death and spiritual glory. In other words, spiritual
gifts perfected to the point where they are a source of light that emanates from
within us. And so, the glorified state will enable us to become like Christ
in power, as well as like Christ in personality and righteousness. This
is the reward. Don't we get it? God sent Christ to show us what was
waiting for us. The endgame is that I become exactly like Him. The endgame is
that you become exactly like Him. When they say, keep your eye on the
cross, keep your eye on Jesus. They're saying, keep your eye on the One that you
will eventually become like, and that will guide your steps. The glorified
state is what we are going towards. The exalted position in the Godhead is our
final destination. And so, the return of Jesus at the end of the world will
signal the joining together of the kingdom of God on earth with the
kingdom of God in heaven, and together with the angels and Jesus
Himself, all will be united within the Godhead, to exist in this way for
eternity. So let me summarize, very, very quickly. The kingdom of God here on earth:
Daniel predicted it, Jesus proclaimed and died for it, the Apostles opened its
doors with their preaching, people have entered in through faith expressed in
obedience, and we all await the return of Jesus for its glorification and its
final eternal exaltation. And so, in the meantime, here's the take home. I've
said a lot of words here, but here's the take home: in the meantime, I want to
remind you of one thing and then this lesson is yours. I want to remind you
that you are the kingdom in this world. Not these guys. You are the kingdom. Let this be a comfort to you when
personally you feel weak or dry or outnumbered. You are the kingdom.
Remember, you are the kingdom in this place, in this world, not these guys. Let this be a comfort to you in the
church, where it seems that we're not making progress or we're going backwards
and forwards, we've got problems. Remember, you are the kingdom, not these people.
You're the kingdom, not these guys. And because this is so, you may be reduced,
discouraged, unsure, but you cannot be defeated, because you are the kingdom in
this world, not these guys. And so, I pray that God blesses you as you build up the
kingdom of Christ and you wait patiently for His return. And remember, you're the
kingdom, we're the kingdom. Let that direct the way that we live and let that
be the substance of our strength and our hope. And so, if you have not
entered the kingdom, if it's possible that you're sitting here at the door of
the kingdom and you have not yet entered in by confessing Christ, by being
baptized, by repenting of your sins, you have an opportunity to step in. And
if you've left the kingdom because of unfaithfulness or willful sin, whatever,
and you need to be sure that your position in the kingdom is secure,
because of your faith and your obedience, well, we're ready to minister to you at
this time. And so, if you have any need, we encourage you to come forward now as
we stand as we sing our song of encouragement.
