Gateway Church's Podcast
The Messiah
continuing the series this weekend called My Best Friend, The Sun. is entitled The Messiah. The Messiah. And if you have your Bibles, I'm going to invite Matthew chapter 16 and Daniel chapter 7. Matthew chapter 16 is what we'll spend most time learning there. I've just got a question for you. What makes you more nervous following directly behind a police car or following directly in front of a police car? What makes you more nervous to be behind a police car or directly in front of one? Okay, I had this happen to me last week on the same day. On the way to the office, I was following behind a police car, which is no big deal. You just drive a mile slower than he is and behind. But on my way home, the same day I'm following, I'm driving and there's a police car following behind me. And I don't know about you, but instantly, I mean, my blood pressure began to rise. You know, paralysis set in and I'm thinking, where's my driver's license? You know, and all these thoughts come through my mind and he's just driving behind me. He's not bothering me. And it reminded me of a time a couple of years ago when I was with my family on a trip to Florida and I was driving through Mississippi somewhere early in the morning and just going along, minding my own business. And there's this police car with lights on, quickly coming up behind me. And of course, my wife said, "Were you speeding?" And I said, "I was just following the flow of traffic." And as he comes up, I'm thinking, "Oh no, there's half of our spending money for vacation and what was I doing?" And I wasn't speeding that much. And as he comes up, he has just already to turn over to turn to this side. And he passes in front of me and he gets onto the off-ramp. And then he shuts his lights off. I'm thinking, "Well, what was the rush?" And as I drive by, I realized that he'd come in and he'd pulled into a strip mall next to two other police cars, next to a Krispy Kreme. I guess the hot light had come on. And so he had, actually, if there were any police officers in the building, it was just a joke. It wasn't a Krispy Kreme. It was a donut hut. But anyhow, there's something about the sense of authority, the authority figure in our government or society or as the police officer. I mean, we've had people who have had police cars come behind them and just took off. And the police were on a chase. And when they caught up, they said, "Why were you running?" They didn't know. They just panicked. We have that sense of intimidation when it comes to authority figures in our life or the sense of civil authority. But what I want to ask you tonight is, how do you view God's authority in your life? You know, we live in a society where things are pretty scary around us. I mean, we live in a world with incredible dangers. We have, you know, terrorists that want to bomb the world to pieces. We have rogue nations. We have wars and rumors of wars. We have just, in our own country, we have things going on with the economy. We have issues related to pornography and things related to a society that seems so corrupt. And I just wonder, do you ever have moments where you're asking yourself the question, where's God's authority in this world? He sent his son, the Messiah. But where is the reigning rule of God in this godless society? I don't know about you, but I have those questions from time to time. When I look at the fact that we are a world that takes young girls and puts them into human bondage in foreign places, and we seek man's inhumanity to man. And I look and I say, God has sent his son to change this world. Maybe you're here today and you're going through some things in your life. And I just want to encourage you. God is still in the throne. His kingdom has come. He's victorious. And his authority is here. And tonight, as I share this word, I just encourage you to come under the wings of God's authority and to know that he is in charge. If you have your Bibles, I told you, turn to Matthew chapter 16. Let's look at verse 13. Matthew 16, 13. When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, now I want you to stop right there for a moment because I need to set up some background for you about this city called Caesarea Philippi because it's going to make a great deal of sense when we continue this passage. You see, Caesarea Philippi was the capital city in the northern region of Israel that was controlled by a governor who was the son of King Herod, King Herod Philip. And so the city was named after him. He had named it after himself as well as Caesar Augustus who was the emperor of Rome in the early days of Jesus' life. And this center, this capital called Caesarea Philippi had become the worldwide center, the epicenter for pagan worship, especially the worship of the pagan fertility God, Pan. In Israel, mind you, Israel, we find in the northern region, some 26 miles north of the Sea of Galilee, this city of pagan worship. And just in that region outside of the city, there is a huge cliff there, over 100 feet tall, that the rabbis would call the rock of the gods. You see, on that cliff, inside of that cliff at the base, there is a huge cave. And I think we have a picture that shows you, yes there it is. You see the huge cliff? And the cave that is there, and in Jesus' day, there was a large underwater stream that had come bubbling out from the mouth of that cave. And along with two other tributaries, they formed the Jordan River that then flowed into the Sea of Galilee and then to the Dead Sea. And the worshippers of Pan, this fertility God, believed that this access of the underwater cave was the gates to Hades. They believed that the Greek mythological gods, like Pan, when the dry season came, they would go into the underworld through this access, this pathway into Hades, this cave entrance, and they would go down into the underworld, and there they would remain. And so the hope was that if the worshippers would be obedient enough, and if they would give enough praise and exaltation to Pan, the fertility God and the other gods, that someday, when the rainy seasons were about to approach, that the gods would once again reappear from the underworld through this gate to Hades, and that they would bring rain and that there would be growth, and children would be born, and everything would be okay. Next to the cave, there is a niche that had been carved out. I think we have a picture of that. That niche there to the left of your image, they had a large statue of Pan made out of gold, and he was half-goat on the bottom and half-man, which was the top part, and there in the smaller niches next to it were his mistresses, and they would come into this outdoor theater, this place of worship, not much larger than this platform. And along that side of the rock, there in Caesarea Philippi, called the Rock of the Gods, were four shrines. I think it's depicted in one more image here. You have to the left side there, you have the shrine to Caesar Augustus, and then next to that, the open shrine to the Greek fertility God, Pan, and then next to that a shrine to Zeus, and then finally to the far right, you have a shrine to the sacred goats. I'm not able in this setting to tell you the disgusting things that happened at the face of that rock. I can't go into details about the incredible sinful activity that took places, worshipers, hundreds of thousands of them would gather here in Caesarea Philippi. But what I can tell you is it's 10,000 times worse than anything you would imagine. And we read in Matthew chapter 16 that Jesus one day takes his young disciples and he says, "We're going to take a walk." And they said, "Where?" And he said, "Just follow." And they said, "How long will it take?" And he said, "Just follow." And he took them on a walk up to the region of Caesarea Philippi, 26 mile journey. And I can only imagine what these young men were thinking because they knew very well what was taking place in Caesarea Philippi. They had known what the rabbis had said because the rabbis believed that one day when the Messiah would return to the earth when God would send the Messiah that the Messiah would destroy Caesarea Philippi because there is no way that the Messiah could ever be on the earth at the same time that Caesarea Philippi existed. And I can just imagine as they got closer to this region what they must have been saying to each other. Something like Philip turning to Bartholomew and saying, "If my dad knew where we were I'd be in big trouble." Yeah, well, if my grandfather ever found out where the rabbi is taking us, I would be dead. And yet Jesus takes his young disciples and we don't know exactly where he brought them. It just says the region of Philippi. But imagine with me, if you would, that Jesus took them a lot closer than you and I would like to think. I believe that somewhere on one of the hillsides overlooking this shrine to the gods, Jesus brought his disciples at the very end of his public earthly ministry for one more teaching time. Let's pick it up again that in Matthew 16, 13, when Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi make more sense now. He asked his disciples, "Who do people say the Son of Man is?" And they replied, some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah and still others Jeremiah are one of the prophets. You see, when it comes to knowing our best friend, the son, the Messiah, this passage in Matthew chapter 16 really asks three very important questions. The first is this, who is he? Who is the Messiah? Jesus gives us insight here because he says, he asks his young friends, he says, "Who does the Son of Man?" Who is the Son of Man? Who do they say the Son of Man is? And Son of Man in the Old Testament is a description for the Messiah. In fact, look what it says in Daniel chapter 7 because Son of Man was a description of himself, it's mentioned over 90 times in the New Testament. And it was very familiar to all who were there. Daniel chapter 7, a very familiar prophecy about the coming of the Messiah. Verse 13, Daniel's vision. He says, "In my vision at night I looked and there before me was one like a Son of Man, coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the ancient of days, which is God the Father, and was led into his presence. He was given authority, glory, and sovereign power. All peoples, nations, and men of every language worshiped him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed." And so Jesus asks his young friends as they stared down at the sinful depository of what they saw at the rock of the gods and Jesus asks this very popular well-known question. Who do men say the Son of Man is? Now, in Jesus' day there were various opinions about the Messiah, who the Messiah would be. And Israel had a heightened sense of expectation that God was going to somehow bring in the Messiah the time of the kingdom and he would usher it in and he would destroy the Roman rule. And he would reestablish once again his people. And God would then reinstate the temple and worship with Yahweh himself residing once again in Jerusalem. And then he would do this. He would reinstate the priesthood, to appear priesthood, because the Sadducees, who were controlling the priesthood, the worship and the temple in Jesus' day, were simply puppets of Rome. And then he would remove the sins of the nation and of the people. That's what they believed. But year after year they had these heightened expectations that the Messiah was going to come. And there were makeshift, there were make-believe, there were wannabe Messiahs that would come. And they would have the sense of wanting to bring the destruction of Rome and push out Roman rule, only to find that they were just make-believe Messiahs. And so there was a sense of disappointment year after year that God had not sent the Messiah. And I can understand that sense of disappointment. I mean, I was raised just a few hours outside of Chicago and I'd been a Chicago Cubs fan all my life. I mean, they haven't won the pennant for over a hundred years. And every year, when they get close to doing it, the expectations would rise and then it wouldn't end up well. And so I understand what that's all about. And then I would hear people say that old adage, wait till yeah, wait till next year. It sounds like some of you are Dallas Cowboy fans in here tonight. And if there are any Dallas Cowboys actually in the room, I apologize from the bottom of my heart. You see, Jesus didn't meet their expectations of what a Messiah should be. Jesus came and his sermon on the mountain. He didn't speak about revolution. He didn't talk about military might. He didn't talk about, you know, bringing your weapons or he didn't have hidden meanings to talk about how they would overthrow the government of Rome. No, no. Jesus came and on his famous sermon on the mountain, Jesus talked about blessed are the humble. Blessed are you if you're a meek. Jesus said things like, well, you need to pray for your enemies, that you need to forgive those who've offended you. Not messianic kind of language for them. You see, Jesus had no plans for military overthrow and it raised doubts and questions in everyone's mind, including John the Baptist. John the Baptist and Matthew 11 was in prison. And they're in prison as a prisoner of Herod's Antipas's son, one of Herod's sons. John is wondering when Jesus is going to fulfill his messianic mission. And so he sends a few of his disciples with this question, are you the one? Or are we to look for another? And Jesus' response is an interesting response. You see, because in the book of Isaiah, there were seven specific signs of power ministry that would accompany the Messiah. And Jesus' response through the disciples back to John, in his response, he offers six of the signs. He says things like tell John that the blind see and the lame walk and the deaf hear. Tell John that the dead are raised from the dead and that the power of the gospel of the good news is preached to the poor. But you want to know something Jesus forgets or emits one of the seven signs of the Messiah. Isaiah 61, he didn't say, tell John, and I shall set the prisoner free. And in doing so, he was sending a clear message to his young friend to his cousin, he was saying, you're going to die in prison. That raises the question I want to ask you tonight. What do you do when God doesn't answer your prayers the way you're expecting him to? What do you do when your prayers go up to God and you have certain desires for God to fulfill or answer or respond to your prayers and things aren't working out the way that you expected? I can understand that. I've lived that in my life. But you know, maybe God is trying to show us something in those times in those wilderness times of our lives. Maybe he's trying to show us something. Trying to show us that he has a better answer than the one we're praying for. Because just as a side note, let me tell you, Jesus did fulfill those four expectations of what the Messiah would do when he come, when he came. Jesus did defeat the enemies of Israel. It just wasn't Rome. It was the enemy of Satan that Jesus defeated. You see, Jesus did restore the temple. 1 Corinthians records it. It says, we are the temple of the living God. Jesus did reinstate the priesthood. Peter mentions that. He says, you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood. You are a priest. And Jesus did remove our sins because Jesus came to wash our sins away. So he did actually meet those expectations just not the way the people had expected. I wonder how many times in our lives we have expected God to work in a certain way and we've missed his answer, his miracle, because we were looking for the wrong solution. Let's go on with the story. Matthew chapter 16 and verse 15. Let me tell you something. Jesus, the Messiah, did not come to change the world by removing our enemies or by taking away our problems or by taking away the temptations in our lives. You see, Jesus came to change the world by changing us. That's the Messiah. So Jesus goes on, he asks another question. He says to his young friends as they look down on this the rock of the gods. He said, what about you? What about you, my disciples? Who do you say that I am? That's a great question. I ask you that question tonight as well. Who is Jesus in your life? Who is he really? You see, Jesus is getting close to his own death. He knows he's going to make his way to Jerusalem and he wants to know it from his young followers after three years of leading them. Do they really have an understanding of who he is as Messiah? Do you know who Jesus is in your life today? Because I believe that your personal convictions, my personal convictions about Jesus, are what gives me the strength to face the enemy and to understand that God is victorious in my life. Matthew 16 and verse 16. The question needs an answer. Jesus says, who do you say that I am? And Simon Peter pipes up and he says, you are the Christ, son of the living God. Thank goodness for Simon Peter, right? I mean, he suffered from terminal foot and mouth disease, but he got this one right. Simon steps up and I think he was looking over at this rock of the gods. I think he was looking at what was happening down below as the worshipers were worshiping these false idols, giving themselves in honor to this fertility God, seeking to try and prosper out of their diligence in the pagan worship of this disgusting ritual. And I believe that Simon Peter looked down and in that moment he stood up with great clarity because Jesus said, listen, you didn't come up with this yourself, Simon. This came from God above the Father showed you this. The greatest compliment any rabbi could give to a disciple. And Simon said, you are the son of the living God. The son of the living God. Not like these dead gods down here. You're the son of the living God. You're the Messiah. And on that statement, Jesus says, he's getting it. That's good. Christ is the Messiah. So we understand that Jesus is the Messiah. That's who he is. Here's the second question. Why did he come? Matthew 16 verse 17. Jesus replied, blessed are you Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man but by my Father in heaven. And I tell you that you are Peter and on this rock I will build my church. Notice that. On this rock I will build my church. And my question is this. What rock? What rock? So this is one of the most debated passages in all of church history. I was raised Catholic and the Catholic believes that this rock is Peter. And so they've established their whole faith in the fact that Peter was the first pope and the rock that Jesus was referring to here is a person. It's Peter. And you know in some ways they've got it kind of right. The church is not about a building. The church is people. They are the people of God. And so Jesus is building his church on us, on the people of God, on his children. And Jesus says I'm going to change your name Simon. I'm going to now call you Peter. Which means little stone or rocky. And so Jesus gives him a nickname and he says your nickname now is rocky. Which isn't a bad nickname. It's better than stinky or lumpy or boo or something. But you know it just was a sense in which Jesus was saying, alright you've got it right. Now the Protestants believe that Jesus was not referencing Peter at all but rather Peter's testimony. That the rock upon which Jesus was going to build his church was the testimony which references Jesus is the rock. And that's true. Scripture says that. The Bible says that he is the cornerstone, the capstone. He's the rock that the builders rejected. That Jesus is the rock of all ages. And he is. And the testimony that Jesus is the Messiah is the anchor. It's the foundation of faith that we the church are built upon. So they're right as well. But let me offer you a third option. Think again of those young men on the hillside that day as they look down on the pagan worship of Pan below. The rock of the gods. You see there's an interesting twist in the Greek language in this passage. Jesus says and you Simon and Peter will be called, well you Simon will now be called Peter, Petros in the Greek. Which means a little stone. And on this rock, Petra. And the word Petra in the Greek means a massive rock or a massive cliff. You see what the picture is? Jesus says you are Peter. And on this rock on this rock, this massive rock of the gods, I will build my church. And he says and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it. The gates of Hades that they were looking at. So Jesus has come to establish his church as Messiah. Establish it on what? Establish it on the authority of his kingdom. Take a look with me at Matthew chapter 3 and verse 1. Because to understand the kingdom of God we need to understand that this word in the Greek which talks about the kingdom, that it means two different things. And let me put it this way. If I ask you this question when you think about the kingdom of God, the kingdom of heaven, when you think about the kingdom of heaven, do you think about something that is future reality or do you think about something that is a present reality? Think about that. The kingdom of heaven. See for many Christians unfortunately when they think about the words of Jesus and they think about the fact that over a hundred times in the gospels Jesus talks about the kingdom of heaven. In fact in one place he says the reason why I have come is to share with you about the glory of the kingdom of heaven. Now firstly we need to understand it as heaven and Matthew's gospel is the only place that's mentioned is just a Hebrew word for God. It means the same thing as it does in Mark and Luke. It's just the Jews would never use the name of God. They felt that that was taking the name of God in vain and so in Jesus day they substituted the word God for heaven. Like the prodigal son, the story of the prodigal son when he comes back to his father he said father please forgive me for I have sinned against you and against heaven against God. So first thing we need to understand is heaven and God are the same thing. They mean the same thing. And Jesus said that there's two ways to look at that sense of the kingdom of God. Let's look at Matthew chapter 3 and verse 1. It says in those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea and saying repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. And that sense of at hand or is near in the NIV or drawth nigh in the King James in the end of following me for a couple minutes because if I'm going to lose you any point in this talk it's going to be in these next couple minutes. To understand the kingdom of God that Jesus ushers then we need to understand that when others reference the kingdom of God there's two ways in which it can be taken and in this case John the Baptist has referenced it in terms of time that the kingdom of God is at hand and what he's saying is I have come to usher in the kingdom of God that it's near it's close you've been praying and waiting and it's almost here the time has come. But Jesus never uses that word to reference time. Look at what it says in Matthew 4 and verse 17 for instance it says from that time Jesus began to preach and say repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. And every time Jesus talks about the kingdom of heaven every time he's not talking about time he's talking about distance spatial not temporal it's like the kingdom of heaven is at hand it's right here for us. The kingdom of heaven is near as I'm getting nearer to this pulpit that's what Jesus is saying the kingdom of heaven is here I'm ushering in I'm the Messiah he's saying and what we need to understand is the kingdom of heaven is not just simply some future reward the kingdom of heaven is a present reality. Jesus came to usher in the kingdom of heaven he came to establish his church and he said this upon this rock I will build my church and the gates of Hades will not prevail or overcome it. Jesus has come for you and for me to live in the reality of the kingdom today. Today notice what it says in Luke chapter in verse 20. Jesus says this he's being challenged about the authority by which he does miracles. He says but if I drive out demons by the finger of God which is a Jewish idiom that speaks about the authority of God. If I drive out demons by the finger of God then the kingdom of God has come to you Jesus the Messiah the Son of God has come to establish his church and in doing that he has done so by establishing the kingdom of God right here right now for you and for me. Notice what it says in Colossians 1 and verse 13. For he the Father has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves in whom we have redemption the forgiveness of sins. Are you getting this? Notice the past tense he has rescued us. He has brought us into the kingdom of his son. The Messiah has come to bring about his kingdom on this earth. That's good news because the kingdom of God is a present reality and greater is he that is in you than he that is in this world. Can you say amen to that? Matthew 16 and verse 19 let's see how the story concludes. After Jesus gives us a dramatic statement on this rock I will build my church and the gates that they're looking at will not prevail against it and then Jesus says I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. Let me tell you tonight in this setting we need to understand the Messiah has come and because the Messiah has come we have freedom in Jesus Christ. If you've come today and you need to be set free the Messiah the king of God the power and authority is here and Satan has no authority over your life. You have been set free by Jesus Christ. If you've come you feel as if sin has weighed you down. Jesus can set you free tonight. If you've come and you realize that there is an attack on you and upon your family and there is because there's a battle that still wages but let me tell you something we are victorious today in Jesus Christ because he has established his authority and his kingdom on this earth and the gates of Hades will not prevail against him. Why did Jesus say I'm giving you the keys to my kingdom which are the symbol of authority, Revelation 1 18? It's because he was going away and he knew it and he's given to his disciples to you and to me. He's given us the authority on this earth to bind and lose that which is right and to speak against that which is wrong there is nothing that we need to fear on this earth. Satan has no authority in his lives but the battle still wages so that leads to the final question. Why did Jesus leave? Just a few brief thoughts. One of the reasons why Jesus left this earth is so that his kingdom authority would spread all over the world. Look what it says in John chapter 14 in verse 12. Jesus says I tell you the truth. Anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will even do catch this. He will even do greater things in these. Why? Because I'm going to the Father. It just amazes me what Jesus is saying here because what he's saying is you have greater authority in your life to do greater things even than what Jesus has done because he is going to the Father. And in going to the Father Jesus says I'm not leaving you as orphans. One of the reasons why Jesus has left is so that he could send the Holy Spirit to dwell in us. Notice what it says in John 16 in verse 7. Jesus says I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away. For if I do not go away the helper will not come to you. But if I depart I will send him to you. The Holy Spirit of God dwells in us. No longer does God dwell among us. But since Jesus has gone and sent his Spirit the Bible says that when the Spirit comes you will receive power and you will be my witnesses. Let me tell you something. The same power Jesus free from the grave is the same power that lives inside of you today. Do you believe that? Jesus Christ has gone so that we can live in the kingdom authority and have the power of his Spirit actively working through our lives. But let me tell you something. Jesus left to prepare a place for us but he's coming back again. The fullness of the kingdom of God will be realized when every knee shall bow and every tongue confess in heaven and under the earth and under the earth. That Jesus Christ is the Lord. There is a second coming and I'm thinking it's sooner than it is later. Jesus is coming back again for a church without spot or wrinkle. Let me tell you something. My heart for you tonight is that you would realize that the Messiah, the Son of God, the Son of man has come so that you would not live in fear. So that you would realize the power that resides within you. That you would recognize and access the reality that the kingdom of God is here on this earth and that you have all authority in you because of Christ Jesus who dwells in you and because greater is he that is in me than he that is in the world we can look at the face of the enemy. We can look at our circumstances and our struggles. We can look at our families. Let me tell you something. Satan is out to try and get our families. Parents, Satan is trying to destroy our children. We live in Caesarea Philippi in this world that we live in. And we need to stand up as parents and we need to fight for our kids. We need to fight for our homes. We need to recognize that there is a battle that still wages. And even though we're victorious we need to live in the authority, the reign and the rule of God because Jesus has promised that he would establish his church and the gates of hell would not prevail. And we need to take the initiative. What do we need to do? We need to be on the offensive against Satan as the church of Jesus Christ. Let me tell you something tonight as we close. Our struggle is not against flesh and blood but it's against the rulers and the authorities and the powers of this dark world and the forces of evil. But let me tell you this, we are more than conquerors through Jesus Christ. For our weapons are of warfare, are not carnal, but they are mighty to the pulling down of strongholds. Do you believe that tonight? Do you believe that tonight? Let me just tell you this. I'm not sure what you're going through in your life, but let me just tell you this. Let me just remind you of this truth. Messiah has come. My best friend, Jesus, the Messiah has taken away all the power of the enemy. We were reminded last week that Jesus Christ died but he rose again and in between he went down into the grave. He went down into the depths of hell and he took the keys away from Satan and he has those keys and he's given them to every one of you and he says go in my authority, walk in my power, function in my strength, pray in my name and you will see the gates of hell fall at your feet. Thank you, Jesus. Would you bow your heads with me please? In just a moment we're going to have the altar ministry team come forward. But in this closing moment I've got a question for you. What is the Holy Spirit saying to you? Through his word tonight, what is the Holy Spirit saying? Maybe you're here tonight and you're going through some difficulty. You're going through a time in your life where it seems like Satan has the upper hand and you don't know how this is all going to turn out and you've been praying but it just doesn't seem like what you're expecting from the Lord is being fulfilled and maybe you've come and you're a little bit weak in heart. Then let me remind you that Jesus Christ knows what you need and he already has your answer. You'll be your parent here today and you're trying to raise God loving God-fearing children but you see all the forces of a society that does not know God that tries to come against the moral teaching that you're trying to invest into your children and it seems like the battle sometimes is overwhelming because of the influences of our world and the exposure to the disgusting things of the enemy. Parents, don't give up. Don't give up. Fight for your children. Recognize that Jesus Christ has given you all authority to come against the forces of evil and take a stand in your home. Renew a stand in your home. In just a moment we're going to stand and we're going to pray and if you have a special need in your life, if you need to be set free from some area of sin in your life, Jesus came to set you free. The Messiah has come to set you free. If you need forgiveness for sin, he has come to forgive you of your sin. If you just need to be strengthening your spirit or if you have a physical ailment, Jesus has come to heal the broken heart and the broken body. Whatever your need is, turn it over to the Lord. Be alert. Be prepared. Heavenly Father, we thank you that in Jesus Christ the victory is ours. The Messiah has come and established you have established your kingdom on this earth. Satan is a defeated foe and your church your church is called and knocked down the gates of hell. God strengthen us in faith and spirit. I pray in Jesus name. Amen.