Revisit His People

John the Baptist preached the immediate coming of "the kingdom of the heavens" revealed in the person of Christ. God had always maintained His kingly claims, and was about to revisit His people. The kingdom of the heavens had drawn near. This is very different from the Church. You don't build with keys. Yet such is man's ignorance, and it is commonly thought that Peter is given a couple of keys to do it with. Peter does not have the keys of the Church, but the Lord has given him the keys of the kingdom. The "kingdom" includes professing Christians: the Church is composed of living stones only. Christ builds His living stones on a living foundation, and no man has any power to undo Christ's work. But Christ has given Peter the keys of the kingdom of the heavens. In the Acts we see him use them in administering blessing to Jew and Gentile.
It is very precious to note how God has so controlled His servants, that each of them presents to us different aspects of the same truths. Peter speaks of newborn babes who desire the sincere milk of the Word. (1 Peter 2:2-5.) The Prophet Jeremiah could say. "Thy words were found, and I did eat them." We want to receive God's Word in our hearts just as little children take unquestioningly of the milk which is their natural food.
In 1 Peter 2, Peter goes on: "To whom coming, as unto a living stone. disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God, and precious, ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house." How precious that God should plan and prepare all these living stones in the past eternity for His glory. Like the stones that Solomon prepared for the temple, there was no noise of ax or hammer when that great edifice was erected.