Good morning. Praise the Lord. Welcome to Victoria's Faith. I'm Cherry Campbell. This morning I'm going to continue sharing with you the message I was sharing with you all last week that is part three in a series of messages that I preached in our Victoria's Faith services called the Kingdom of God. And this message number three is called a spiritual kingdom first. And if you've missed any of these messages or would like to hear them again or share them with your friends and family, you can go to my YouTube channel which is under my name Cherry Campbell. CH-E-R-R-I Campbell C-A-M-P-B-E-L-L. And they're in the top category called Radio broadcasts. You will see these messages in this series called the Kingdom of God. Now join me in our live service for the continuation of message three called a spiritual kingdom first. They were looking for this opportunity and waiting when they would make him king. And as a matter of fact remember it says that in one of the gospels that when he wrote into Jerusalem on the donkey. And there was a noise throughout Jerusalem because they were looking to crown him king and he snuck away because he knew they wanted to make him king. Remember that? I don't have that verse right in front of me. I'd give it to you. But they were looking to make him king so he snuck away. They wanted to put him on the throne physically. They were looking to make him king. They heard him preaching kingdom, kingdom, kingdom. This is our man. This is the one, the deliverer who's come to set us free. We're going to make him king even by force if we have to. So he snuck away and hid for a while and tell that calm down and they forgot about it and went back to their work and their farm and then he came out again. But think about it then when they came to the garden of Gisemini and after they prayed and Jesus said could he not carry one hour and then came the time for the confrontation with the Roman. Just remember who these men were. Fishermen, preachers, healers. Why was Peter carrying a sword? Have you ever thought of it? He's not a soldier. He probably doesn't know well how to handle a sword. That's why he missed and got the ear. I doubt he aimed for the ear. He was not a soldier. Probably didn't even know how to handle a sword. And he missed the target. I'm sure probably was the center of the head. And he got the ear instead because he was a little clumsy. Why is a fisherman a preacher of the gospel carrying a sword? Have you ever thought about it? Swords are not for preachers and fishermen. Except he was ready to fight the Romans. He was waiting as we're all the other 12. Waiting for the day when they would meet the Roman army and there would be a confrontation. And it's like I can see Peter bold, courageous, ignorant, but courageous. And it's like he's standing beside Jesus and I can't see him like he put his arm in front of Jesus and step over in front of Jesus to guard and protect him and draw his sword. And he's going to be the hero to protect their king and save him from the Romans. So he pulls out his sword and he waxed off an ear. But think about this. Jesus turned to him and said, put away your sword. What a whack to Peter and all the disciples. They had talked and planned around the night fires in my version. For their confrontation with the Roman army, they were armed. They carried swords ready to fight because there was going to be a day they would crown Jesus king and they would have to fight the Roman army. And we don't know how, but just like Gideon's 300, we can do it. Just like David's mighty man, we can do it. God will give us the victory even though we're small and we're weak and we're few. God will supernatural give us the victory and turn the Romans into our hands and we will crown Jesus king. And this is the reason why when you enter your kingdom, who will sit on your right and your left, thinking it was going to be a natural kingdom in Jerusalem and they were going to sit on their thrones. And remember Jesus said their reward. Remember when the rich young ruler came to Jesus said, what must I do to be saved? And Jesus said, sell all you have and give it to the poor and come follow me. And then the rich young ruler went away sad. And then the disciples said, but Lord, we have given everything to follow you. What is there for us? He said, you will sit with me on 12 thrones. What is it? It's kingdom. It's all kingdom rule. So their whole image is kingdom rule. You will sit with me. So I'm going to be a king. You will sit with me on 12 thrones. Well, I'm sure they're thinking in the city of Jerusalem and all their neighbors are going to be looking at them going, oh, that's Peter. I know him. He's up there. And he's going to sit up there so proud looking over all the people in Jerusalem that used to be his neighbors and his co-fisherman and the people that used to make fun of him in school. He's going to sit up there on the throne with Jesus and go, ha, ha, look where I am. And so they were thinking of their 12 thrones ruling in Jerusalem physically right there in their generation. That's what they were looking for. They were going to sit on 12 thrones in that generation, in that physical city, in that time with Jesus's king and they were going to go, ha, ha, to all their enemies and friends to say, look where I am. They were looking for that who's the greatest. And then the mother of James and John said, can one of my sons sit on your left and one sit on your right when you come in your kingdom? She is not thinking about heaven in a few thousand years. Absolute, in not. She was thinking within this lifetime, in this city, in this generation, one of my sons will sit on your left and on your right right here in this city and everybody will see them. See, all of it was kingdom in the morning, kingdom in the noon time, kingdom when the sun goes down, everything they dreamed was kingdom. They were thinking about their reward as sitting on thrones, who's going to be the greatest on the thrones. We're all going to be here ruling with Jesus when he's king, but we're going to have to fight a battle with the Romans before we can get him on the throne. So thus came the fishermen carrying swords. And then what happened, Jesus in the Garden of Gisemony turned after Peter drew his sword and whacked off the ear of the servant of the high priest, Jesus rebuked his disciples. He turned on them and said, put away your sword. I mean, can you just imagine the whirlwind storm of confusion that would have come through their mind? They were saying, this is the moment we've been waiting for. We're ready to fight. And you say put away the sword. And Jesus gave himself into the hands of the Romans. And do you remember earlier on when Jesus, first of all, you said, who do people say that I am? And Peter spoke up and they said, some say you're done the Baptist. And then who do you say I am? Peter spoke up and said, you are the Christ, the son of the living God. Then the next verse says, and then after that, Jesus began speaking to them about his death. Said several times, he spoke to them about his death. And he said three days. They never got that part. It just went right over them because they could not see Jesus dying. Death is not in the plan. He's our king and our hero. Death is not in the plan. And so Jesus began speaking to them of his death. And that's when Peter pulled him aside privately and said, surely not Lord. This will never happen to you. You'll not die in the hands of the Romans. He said, I'll be turned over to the Romans. And I'll be killed. And Peter said, surely not. I mean, that's not what we've been plotting. That's not in the plot. You are the king. We fight for you. Put you on the throne. You will not die. There could have been even a constant mind, even perhaps in Peter's mind, a thought of reassuring Jesus. Don't worry. We're going to take care of you. And that just popped in my mind. Maybe that was his thought, surely not Lord. This will never happen to you. Why? Because we're going to fight to protect you. We won't let it happen to you. So don't worry. Don't worry about that, Jesus. This will never happen to you because we're here. I mean, that's a whole new thought. Just came to me tonight, but that's probably where Peter was coming from. Partly it was you can't die because you're supposed to be king. But the other part was don't worry, Lord Jesus. We're going to take care of you. They're not going to be able to get you. We'll fight for you. And then it'll never happen. So just don't worry about it. You know, and Jesus rebuked him and said, get behind me, Satan. So there was some wrong thinking all around there. I mean, of course it was pride and everything else stopping the plan of God. But Peter never sought. And Peter was just a spokesman. None of the disciples sought. They never saw and comprehended his death, even though he said it several times. And go through the gospels, read again and see how many times he told them about his death before it happened. He said, I'm going to die three days and nights. And then I'll be raised again. And several times he told them they never got it because in their mind, that can't happen. He's going to be crowned king. He's going to live. We're going to sit on kings with him. We're going to rule with him. We'll fight to protect him. So don't worry, Jesus, you're not going to die. We won't let that happen to you. And so here they are now facing the Romans. And Jesus says, put away your sword and mass of confusion just blows through their mind. What do you mean? We don't understand what's going on. And then Jesus gives himself over into the hands of the Romans. Well, at that, that's why the disciples fled. They were confused. What about the battle we were supposed to have? This was our moment of making him king. And now he's in chains. We lost our king. Our king is now a prisoner. And we were the ones who were saying we were going to fight. So but they were to come after his army. They'd be coming after us next. And so they fled. Confused. And then Jesus is killed. Now that was never in their thinking. So here was their hero who was going to be crowned king. And he's dead. And there's no more kingdom. Think of the depth as they were on such a high for three three and a half years. We're going to sit on kings. We're going to rule. He's going to be our king and our hero. I mean, these huge high hopes and dreams and expectations and plans and plots. Shot down in just moments as he has taken away as a prisoner and then killed. And then after he's buried in the tomb, the darkness. I mean, they plummeted to the depths of confusion, despair, hopelessness. Their dreams are shattered. What you just heard was a continuation of message three in a series of messages that I preached in our victorious faith services called the kingdom of God. And this message number three is called a spiritual kingdom first. We will continue this message again tomorrow. So join me again tomorrow and remember God God loves you. You are blessed and highly favored by the Lord.
