Touré Roberts - Kings and Queens - Part 1

I’m going to be sharing today. «Kings and Queens» is the series that God has placed on my heart, which obviously will start today. However, there is really too much inside of me to confine it to a 13 to 45-minute message. Therefore, I want to spread it out over a few weeks, and perhaps it will ultimately conclude when we have the combined worship service at the convention center in just a couple of weeks. There’s a lot in my heart, and there are many things that God is doing—so much that I want to talk to you about it, because I believe that you are more connected to what you are witnessing in life, society, and culture right now than you may think.

I want to give a disclaimer right away: I titled this message «Kings and Queens.» To be honest, I wanted to title it just «Kings,» but I knew our sisters might feel a little slighted. So, I figured I’d throw in «Queens,» even though in the context of kings, both male and female exist. One of the things the Scripture makes plain, particularly as it relates to something that Paul wrote, is that in the Kingdom, there is neither male nor female. He also says in the context of the time that there is neither Jew nor Greek; in other words, it transcends cultural upbringing or background and gender. It transcends all of that because Jesus, ultimately, although He became man, was more than any of that—He was spirit, and spirit does not have a gender. Hello, somebody!

So anyway, I could have said «Kings,» and it would have been entirely accurate. As a matter of fact, I’m going to show you a passage of Scripture in Revelation 1:5. You’ll have to read it for its context, but it ultimately states «Kings» without mentioning «Queens.» It wasn’t that it was being chauvinistic in any way; it was just based on the assumption that we would be spiritual enough to understand that this position of king is not gender-based, but based on power and positioning in Christ. Are you tracking? It says, «To Him who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood, and has made us.» What has He made us? «Kings and Priests.» I love that! Priests essentially had access to worship in the deepest way and in the most sacred places. There was one part called the «Most Holy Place,» the holy of holies, and the priest at that time had access to everything there was of God.

So, Jesus says, «Look, I’ve washed you in my own blood. You’re good; we’re in covenant together, and not only are you washed, but I’m making you Kings and Priests. I’m giving you power and access.» Are you tracking with me? So that’s just a disclaimer: I put «Kings and Queens» because again, I want our videos to go viral, and I just wanted to make sure that all the ladies didn’t feel slighted because it only said «Kings» when they consider themselves to be «Queens.» There’s nothing wrong with that, but I’m just saying that in the context of the word, a king represents all of us. Are you tracking with me? It has nothing to do with gender. There is neither male nor female. Women aren’t more anointed nor are men more anointed; men can do what women can do, and women can do what men can do. We are one. Are you tracking with me? We are equal.

In Genesis, when it talks about the man and woman, the old King James translation says a help meet. It says, «I’ll give you a help meet,» regarding the woman. I understand what that means, but the better translation is literally «a helper comparable to him.» So, there is equality among sexes in the Kingdom. Are you tracking with me? Hello, good morning! Hallelujah! As I was praying about this message, I had a million inspirational messages. I told the nine o’clock service that I could inspire you greatly, but I feel we are in a moment that necessitates more than inspiration. We are in a very interesting time, a time unlike any other that I have experienced before.

I’ll kind of tell you this: We are in a moment where there is both an absence of leadership and, at the same time, an emergence of leadership. We are in this strange place. A lot of things happen in 40-year cycles; we know that 40 years ago, we were pretty much nearing the end of the Civil Rights Movement. Great movements were occurring, and things that should not have been were being addressed and confronted. It was powerful and awesome. The difference between then and now is that then there was strong visionary-focused leadership. Right now, we’re seeing thrusts towards necessary change, but what I am not seeing is the leadership. I see an absence of leadership, and I see budding potential.