Preacher: Deacon Gideon Pakpahan
Praises be unto God, good evening and let’s listen to the Word of God. May God’s peace, mercy, and blessing be poured upon us this evening.
We are in the theme of Revelation 1:17-18.
Revelation 1:17-18
1:17 And when I saw Him, I fell at His feetas dead. But He laid His right hand on me, saying to me, “Do not be afraid; I am the First and the Last.
1:18 I am He who lives, and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen. And I have the keys of Hades and of Death.
Onthe island of Patmos, John the apostle had undergone carnal tribulation by being cast away because of God.
He was able to fall at God’s feet, which is worshipping God with a crushed heart, that he experienced the touch of God’s right hand and received three thingsas follows.
I AM HE WHO WAS DEAD, AND LIVES
Matthew 16:18-19
16:18 And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.
16:19 And 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[a] in heaven.”
‘I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven’means that Jesus will give us the key of the kingdom of Heaven.
God promised to give us the key of the kingdom of Heaven.
What is the key of the kingdom of Heaven?
Acts 14:22
14:22strengthening the souls of the disciples, exhorting them to continue in the faith, and saying, “We must through many tribulations enter the kingdom of God.”
The key of the kingdom of Heaven is many tribulations.
Do not say that entering the kingdom of Heaven is an easy thing.
Most of the time, God’s servants preach easy words. They preach how to make the flesh happy and not about tribulations anymore.
On the contrary, the Word has clearly stated that we must through many tribulations enter the kingdom of God.
Without tribulations or cross, we cannot get the key of the kingdom of Heaven.
The key to enter the kingdom of Heaven is by holding the cross.
Holding the cross is hard for the flesh, but we have to fight for it.
Watch out!In the end of time, there are a lot of God’s servants who refuse to hold the cross.
1 Corinthians 1:18, 23
1:18 For the message of the cross is foolishnessto those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.
1:23 but we preach Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumbling block and to the Greeks foolishness,
Many people, even God’s servants, consider three main services as foolishness because they don’t know that it is the key of the kingdom of Heaven.
This evening, we will study the 3 levels of cross or 3 levels of tribulationsto get the key of the kingdom of Heaven, as follows.
God blesses us.
Praises be unto God, good evening and let’s listen to the Word of God. May God’s peace, mercy, and blessing be poured upon us this evening.
We are in the theme of Revelation 1:17-18.
Revelation 1:17-18
1:17 And when I saw Him, I fell at His feetas dead. But He laid His right hand on me, saying to me, “Do not be afraid; I am the First and the Last.
1:18 I am He who lives, and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen. And I have the keys of Hades and of Death.
Onthe island of Patmos, John the apostle had undergone carnal tribulation by being cast away because of God.
He was able to fall at God’s feet, which is worshipping God with a crushed heart, that he experienced the touch of God’s right hand and received three thingsas follows.
- ‘Do not be afraid’ (verse 17). It means there are no more fears, both physically or spiritually. John had the peace from Heaven.
- ‘I am the First and the Last’ (verse 17). It means that John received the initial love, the perfect love, or the love of the Bridegroom of Heaven.
- ‘I am He who lives, and was dead’ (verse 18). John received Jesus who was dead and who lives.
Jesus had the experience of death and resurrection to defeat the death, or to win against the death. It means that Jesus holds the key of Hades.
Now, if we receive Jesuswho was dead and lives, or has won against the death, and holds the key of Hades, we will never get into the Hades but we are able to get the key of the kingdom of Heavenand live eternally.
We should believe in this thing, that there is only Heaven or Hell and no other places.
I AM HE WHO WAS DEAD, AND LIVES
Matthew 16:18-19
16:18 And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.
16:19 And 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[a] in heaven.”
‘I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven’means that Jesus will give us the key of the kingdom of Heaven.
God promised to give us the key of the kingdom of Heaven.
What is the key of the kingdom of Heaven?
Acts 14:22
14:22strengthening the souls of the disciples, exhorting them to continue in the faith, and saying, “We must through many tribulations enter the kingdom of God.”
The key of the kingdom of Heaven is many tribulations.
Do not say that entering the kingdom of Heaven is an easy thing.
Most of the time, God’s servants preach easy words. They preach how to make the flesh happy and not about tribulations anymore.
On the contrary, the Word has clearly stated that we must through many tribulations enter the kingdom of God.
Without tribulations or cross, we cannot get the key of the kingdom of Heaven.
The key to enter the kingdom of Heaven is by holding the cross.
Holding the cross is hard for the flesh, but we have to fight for it.
Watch out!In the end of time, there are a lot of God’s servants who refuse to hold the cross.
1 Corinthians 1:18, 23
1:18 For the message of the cross is foolishnessto those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.
1:23 but we preach Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumbling block and to the Greeks foolishness,
Many people, even God’s servants, consider three main services as foolishness because they don’t know that it is the key of the kingdom of Heaven.
This evening, we will study the 3 levels of cross or 3 levels of tribulationsto get the key of the kingdom of Heaven, as follows.
- 1 Peter 4:1
4:1 Therefore, since Christ suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same mind, for he who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin,
The first level of cross is experiencing tribulations to repent from sins. To stop sinning is hard for the flesh, but it is like going up to Golgotha while holding the cross.
A testimony: “When I was going to confess my sin to my Pastor, it felt very hard to knock his door.” When we feel very hard to hold the cross, we have to remember Jesus. He held the cross, not to confess His own sins, but ours. This is the reason why we should not feel hard to confess our sins. We also have to remember that we have to confess our sins to receive the key of the kingdom of Heaven.
Confessing our sins refers to the court of the Tabernacle. - The second level of the cross is experiencing the cross by entering the system of shepherding, serving God.
2 Timothy 3:12
3:12 Yes, and all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution.
Do not look for a service that lets the flesh enjoy (without the suffering in the flesh).
The true services are the ones that give the key/marked by sufferings.
If we do the services in suffering that we feel like we are going to die, we have done it in the right way!
We have to give thanks that we have the true Word of God, so that we are not easily tricked by the pastors.
If we don’t want sufferings to enter the heaven, we will not get the key of heaven.
We come for a service not for the sake of others or the pastor, but for ourselves.
A testimony:
“The last Saturday, deep within my heart, I said ‘the Pastor usually goes to Surabaya after the fellowship service outside Malang, it is positive that he will go to Surabaya after the fellowship service in Papua, so I will not go to Surabaya’. Because I was in a weak condition, very weak. Suddenly he called and ordered me to go to Surabaya. I felt like going to cry ‘God, why is it like this? I am very weak’. But deep within my heart, I said “even though I cannot continue to go or whatever, I have done this.” My principle is, if I feel that I cannot do it anymore, I will stop driving, and if the Pastor call me, I will answer ‘I have reached here, but I cannot go anymore’. But God gave me the power, I reached Surabaya, led the praises, and went back to Malang.”
We have to work hard for the services.
Hebrews 11:35-37
11:35 Women received their dead raised to life again.Others were tortured, not accepting deliverance, that they might obtain a better resurrection.
11:36 Still others had trial of mockings and scourgings, yes, and of chains and imprisonment.
11:37 They were stoned, they were sawn in two, were tempted,[a] were slain with the sword. They wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented—
Hebrews 10 is about the services.
Hebrews 11 is about fighting for the faith and the services. If we are easily hindered by light things to enter the services, how can we overcome the harder things (persecution, torture, or other things)?
God’s second coming is not long, it is very near, we have to be earnest! We have to fight for the services to the Lord.
A testimony:
“Yesterday I confessed to the congregation in Malang. Through the ministry that the Pastor entrusted me, actually I could not bear it, sometimes I was asked to handle the Lempin-El too. I could not bear it and I felt like going to run away, but I remembered God’s second coming. It became my strength.”
John 16:1-2
16:1“These things I have spoken to you, that you should not be made to stumble.
16:2 They will put you out of the synagogues; yes, the time is coming that whoever kills you will think that he offers God service.
We will have the suffering until the suffering to face the antichrist, but we are fighting until the finish line, until Jesus’ second coming.
Entering the shepherdingmeans entering the Holy Place in the Tabernacle (we are in the diligence of 3 main services).
Do not look for excuses to leave the services, especially the youth, because the flesh is strong. - The third level of the cross is the suffering without sins, or to undergo the sprinkling of the blood. In the Tabernacle, it refers to the Most Holy Place.
The example is Jesus, who was willing to die on the cross even though committed no sin.
Matthew 27:45-48, 51
27:45 Now from the sixth hour until the ninth hour there was darkness over all the land.
27:46 And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?”that is, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?”
27:47 Some of those who stood there, when they heard that, said, “This Man is calling for Elijah!”
27:48 Immediately one of them ran and took a sponge, filled it with sour wine and put it on a reed, and offered it to Him to drink.
27:51 Then, behold, the veil of the temple was torn in twofrom top to bottom; and the earth quaked, and the rocks were split,
Jesus had to come down to the Earth and go back to Heaven to undergo the suffering.
Matthew 23:1-36
The title: Woe to the Scribes and Pharisees Woe to God’s servants who underestimate the preaching of the Word. What is preached should be according to the Word, so that the congregation is not fooled.
Matthew 7:21-23
7:21 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven.
7:22 Manywill say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’
7:23 And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’
This is why, the preaching the Word is to help us although it is hard for the flesh. The flesh human does not have the power to bear the cross, even it is difficult for him to repent, serve God, and do any other things, but there is one power given by God that we stay strong to get the key of Heaven.
Luke 22:39, 42-44
22:39 Coming out, He went to the Mount of Olives, as He was accustomed, and His disciples also followed Him.
22:42 saying, “Father, if it is Your will, take this cup away from Me; nevertheless not My will, but Yours, be done.”
22:43 Then an angel appeared to Him from heaven, strengthening Him.
22:44 And being in agony, He prayed more earnestly. Then His sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground.
Without the key of Heaven, everything in the world is useless. ‘an angel appeared to Him from heaven, strengthening Him’refers to the Holy Spirit or the Spirit of Glory. The Holy Spirit will give us the power to face the cross. When we face anything, don’t be dismayed nor disappointed (the flesh is indeed weak), but we have to ask the Holy Spirit so that the Holy Spirit will give us an extra power, and we are able to keep faithful and fervent in spiritin serving God until the finish line of our lives, even though the body is getting weaker.
The Holy Spirit or the Spirit of Glory will changeour lives until we are as perfect as God himself, we get the key of the kingdom of Heaven, we enter the kingdom of Heaven and rejoice forever and ever with Him.
God blesses us.