The Coming Of The King (John 14:29)

Good evening, church. We're excited to worship with you here tonight.

Fun fact, most of us on stage, well, not me, but have been a part of youth band, and it's just a blessing and an honor to serve alongside the future generation of this church. Amen.

So, we have some youth also that have served in youth in the audio sound booth back there, too, which is so awesome to see this future generation serving the Lord with servant hearts. And so, we're going to lead you in some worship tonight. And we just give all the glory, honor, and praise to the Lord. Amen. Let us worship.

One salvation, one doorway that leads to one redemption, one confession. I believe in the name of Jesus Christ. Sing. I believe. I believe in the crucifixion. By his blood, I have been set free. I believe in resurrection. Hallelujah. His life is dead. Right. Sing it out.

All praise. All praise to God the Father. All praise to Christ the Son. All praise to the Holy Spirit. Our God has overcome. The King who was and is and evermore will be. In Jesus mighty name.

I believe. I believe. I believe. I hope of heaven. He's preparing a place for me far beyond what hearts imagine. Years a day come, he's returning to claim is where I am. The alo keeping burden see the lamb rose the ro.

In all praise to God the Father. All praise to Christ the Son. All praise to the Holy Spirit. Our God has overcome. The King who was and is and evermore will be. In Jesus mighty name. I believe.

Oh, we believe. We believe. Jesus. Oh, I know I'll never be ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Sing it out. Could I ever walk away from the one who saved my life? Oh, I'll never be ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ. How could I ever walk away from the one who saved my life? No, I'll never be ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ. How could I ever walk away from the one who saved my life?

All praise to God the Father, and all praise to the Son. All praise to the Holy Spirit. Cuz our God has overcome. The King who was and is and evermore will be. In Jesus mighty name.

I all praise to God the Father. All praise to Christ the Son. All praise to the Holy Spirit. Our God has overcome. The King who was and is and evermore will be. In Jesus mighty name. I believe.

Sing. All praise. All praise to God the Father. All praise to Christ the Son. All praise to the Holy Spirit. Cuz our God has overcome. The King who was and is and evermore will be. In Jesus mighty name. I believe. Amen.

We have this confidence in Jesus. His blood has brought us to fre. There is no other that can save us is Jesus. He is always with us. Faithful and true in all we he is bringing us through. A highway through the valley, a promise to the pain. He is always with us. Able and true. For every uses, his blood declares we all forgive. Amen.

There's only one who never fails us. It's Jesus. We know. Yes, we know Jesus. He is always with us. Faithful and true. He is bringing us through a highway through the valley. He is always with us. What could come against the love of Jesus? Who would dare to stand in his way? There is no power that can hold back Jesus. He's here to save me. He's here to save. What could come against the love of Jesus? Words are sent in his way. There is no power that can hold Jesus. He's his always with us. Faithful and true in our weakness. He is bringing us through a highway through the valley, a promise to the pain. Cuz he is always with us. Faithful and true. Yes, he is always with us. Faithful and true. Yes, he is bringing us through the valley. He is always with us. Yes, he is always with us.

Yes, Lord, you are so faithful to us. We never have to wonder if you're going to change or if any attribute about you has changed. Lord, you are constant. And as we sing this next song about you being holy forever. There is a promise in that. There is assurance that you are holy forever, Lord. Just make our hearts so eager, Lord, to set our eyes upon you, Lord, in this aspect that we're going to be praising you forever and ever, Lord, that one day every nation, every tribe, every tongue will bow down to you, Lord Jesus. You're so mighty and you're so holy and you're so worthy of all the praise that we could ever give you. Every single lyric, every single breath is yours, Lord Jesus. May you fill this place, Lord Jesus. May you bring assurance, clarity, peace, Lord, knowing that you have won. You have the victory over everything, Lord Jesus. Even when this life feels crazy, even when we're going through tribulations, when things don't make sense, Lord, you are constant and you are holy forever. And you have a purpose in everything that you do. Lord, we give this song to you.

A thousand generations falling down in worship to sing the song of ages to the men. And all who have gone and all who've gone before us and all who will believe will sing the song of ages to them. Sing your name. Your name and your name. Your name stands above the walls. All thrones. All powers. Your name stands above them all. And the angels cry. Holy. All creation cries. Holy. You are lifted high, holy, holy forever. You've been. And if you've been a tear, sing a song. Sing a song forever. If you walk and if you walk and if you bear his name sing oh sing a song forever and amen. The angels cry. Oh, creation. Yeah. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Oh, cuz your name is the highest. Your name is the greatest. Your name it stands above them all. It does above all thrones and millions of pounds and positions. Your name. Stand above them all. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Angels are sel. Creation liver. To the king. You are. You'll always be holy forever. Let's sing that one more time. You will always be and you will always be holy. Holy forever.

Worthy is the lamb who was slain. Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty who was and is and is to come. We praise you. We thank you. We love you. We give you all the glory, honor, and praise. And all the saints and angels, they bow before your throne. And all the elders cast their crowns before the lamb of God. Sing. You're worthy of it all. You're worthy of it all. For from you are all things and to you are all things. You deserve the glory. Yes, you do, Jesus. All the saint angels they bow before your throne. All the elers cast crowns before the lamb of God. Sing it together. You are worthy of it all. You're worthy of it all. For from you are all things and to you are all you deserve glory. Heat. Heat. You deserve it all. Serve it all. Jesus. Take it all. Jesus. Day and night. Night night and day. Let arise. Day and night. Night and day. s your eyes. Day and night, night and day. Day and night, night and day. Heat. Heat. Heat. Yeah. Heat. Heat. Heat. You deserve glory. You're worthy of it all. Lift your voices. You're worthy of it all. For from you are all things and to you are all things. You deserve the glory.

Oh, creation suddenly articulate with a thousand tongues with one cry. them from north to south. And it is to us we hear Christ be magnified. Oh, where the whole earth echoing his imminence is his name. His name was burst from sea and sky. From heavens to the mountaintops, we hear cries. All right, I know you guys know these lyrics. Let's sing them out. Sing them. Christ be magnified. Christ be magnified in me. Sing. Christ be magnified. Jesus Christ be magnified in me. Every creature finds itself. Every human, every human heart is made of God. Heat. Heat. Christ be magnified. The altar of my life. Christ be magnified in me. Be magnified Jesus. Be magnified. I now bound to idols. I'll stand strong and worship you. If it puts me in the fire, I'll rejoice cuz you're there, too. I won't be for my feelings. I'll hold fast to what is true. The cross brings transformation. I'll be through the fire with you cuz death is just a door. to resurrection life. If I join you in the sun, then I'll join you where you glor. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Christ be the altar of my life. Christ be magnified in me. Yes, Lord. Take all we are and it would be for your name that you would get all the glory in our lives. Jesus, we love you. We praise you. We thank you. And all God's people said, Amen.

All right, go ahead and greet those around you and say, "Good evening. Welcome church. Hey, we are so glad you guys joined us today. For those who call this place home, there are three ways that you can give. You could text in to give. You can give online. Or for those in the sanctuary, you can drop your offerings in the back of the sanctuary in our agape boxes."

Now, we've got a lot of announcements, so why don't you guys go in and join me. Families, do you have students that are graduating from sixth grade and going into junior high? What about eighth graders who are graduating and going into high school? Mark your calendars and join us for youth ministries open house. This is a great opportunity to get to know your pastors, to get to know the student leaders, and just have a great time of fellowship. We'll see you then.

As we're talking about the youth, we have one last event for the high school ministry for this school year. We call it the last upper room because it's the last opportunity for high school seniors to join us one last time for an event. We're going to be here on campus. We're going to have the habit. We're going to have laser tag. We're going to have other activities. It's going to be an epic night, an awesome time to celebrate them moving on from high school. You can get all the information or register here at the QR code. Can't wait to see your student there.

And families. If you're looking for ways to add blessing and fullness to your life, then be sure to join us for this special event as we put together care packages to send to our troops.

Now, for the best part, grab your Bibles and prepare your hearts to hear from God today.

Hey, good evening everybody. How are you? Welcome. Welcome. Who's up front from far away? Anybody visiting from far away? From where? Virginia Beach. Virginia Beach. Nice. Love it. Houston. Seattle. Houston. Houston. Corona. Corona. That's great. That's awesome. Um, you guys, uh, I I just had the media team put this together real quick. Uh, they captured a little bit, just a little bit of something. I don't know if you knew about it. I didn't even know about it. And that did you know that last Sunday or last weekend was uh the 250 rededication. But who was responsible for marketing that? I did you know about it? Yes. Did you know about it before it happened? Yes. How many of you did not know? Raise your hand. See, we win. We win because we lost. No, I mean, it was uh it was amazing, but I had I had to I had to watch it later because I didn't even know about it. But um whoever's doing the marketing for this 250 year celebration, especially that particular group, they they is a time to gather on the mall in Washington for praise and worship and prayer. Yeah. And so, uh, it was all amazing, but there's just one guy in my opinion, what he had to say stood out. I wanted to share with you if you missed, you know, all of us raised our hand a moment ago. All of us who missed it. Um, look at this. Listen to this.

On this day, two and a half centuries ago, our forefathers gathered for the second time in as many years for a national day of fasting and prayer. The resolution of the Continental Congress called on the 13 colonies to humble themselves in preparation for the coming war with true penitence of heart and the most reverent devotion publicly to acknowledge the overruling providence of God. In 3 and a half months time, the colonists would be an open revolt against the most powerful empire in the history of the world. Many on both sides of the Atlantic thought their cause was a suicide mission. The founders were not naive men. They knew their lives were on the line. That was the premise of Benjamin Franklin's dark joke after signing the Declaration of Independence where he said, "We must indeed all hang together or most assuredly, we shall all hang separately." They had no guarantees of victory. They knew that what they were trying to do had never been done before in human history. But with the dark storm clouds of war looming on the horizon, they did what Christians have always done across place and time for 2,000 years. They turned their eyes to heaven and placed their fate in the hands of God.

It is no coincidence that America from the very beginning has occupied a unique and exceptional place in world history. Before the Christian West, most societies and civilizations for that matter thought in stagnant cycles. The flooding of the Nile, the return of the rains, the cycle of the harvest. History for them was a wheel to nowhere. It turned and turned only to end up back where it began. But our faith calls us outwards into the limitless darkness of the unknown. It tells us to go forth and preach the gospel to the world as a witness unto all nations unto the ends of the earth. From that command came America. Our nation more than any other in history was shaped by this Christian idea. We saw it at work already in 1630, more than a century before the revolution when John Winthrop stood on the deck of the Arabella in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean and preached a sermon to his fellow Puritan colonist. "We shall be as a city upon a hill," he told them. "The eyes of all people are upon us." That same faith pushed America further to new frontiers. It was the engine of westward expansion. Who will respond to the call from beyond the Rocky Mountains? One Reverend wrote in a public message to the American churches in 1833, calling for a wave of missionaries to leave the comforts of civilization and spread the gospel in the wilderness. Countless Americans answered that call. It was the same faith that was at work when Samuel Morse sent the first long-distance telegraph message in 1844. His message was a verse from the book of Numbers. "What hath God wrought?" And on Christmas Eve of 1968, three American astronauts orbited the moon. They were the first men in history to witness an Earthrise from lunar orbit. To look back at the blue marble of our home from a quarter million miles away. The world was watching. It was the largest television audience in the history of the world up to that point. And what did they say? They opened the book of Genesis. "In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth." This is who we are. It is who we have always been. America is still a young nation measured against the record of history. And from the beginning, we have carried the belief that our country represents something new in the world. But the soul of our nation has always been rooted in an ancient faith.

Is that great? Isn't that great? Wow. I mean, honestly, in my opinion, that is like something that you should show to people to determine by their reaction if they're Americans or not. And I'm saying that not because I was born in America. I'm saying that because I meet a lot of people who are not born in America who have legally immigrated here and chose America to be their home. Some of you are here right now. I'm looking at you. And uh if you don't know any people who have come to America by choice, you need to meet some of them because uh they'll knock you out. They'll knock you out if you say something bad about America because they'll tell you you should go back to where I came from. Uh, and you would never say those kinds of things, you know. Yeah, America needs God really bad. But at least we have a foundation to return to, right? This nation. I tell you, I hope you spend time this year reading not only the founding documents of our nation, but those who lived it, those who gave birth uh to this country. Uh, starting out with uh Winthre, you saw him AI rendering of him a moment ago. Uh, but um William Bradford and Brewster and the Pilgrims of Mayflower, just amazing. Uh, it's thrilling countries look at us and they wish they had those kind of foundations. Yes. But we are spoiled. We just take it for granted. And um I always try to say it as often as I can. America, as messed up as we are. America is still a country where people are trying to break into to live here. So we should be humble. And I love I love that. You know, I was listening to all that he was saying and I thought, boy, I wonder if he's going to get in trouble with Congress with all those great words he's saying there.

But wow. I want to remind all of you uh to uh keep your ballots to bring them in on Sundays here. And I'm not sure maybe somebody knows uh but is it this coming Sunday that we begin the the uh drive uh drive up for citizens to just to come do it? Anybody? What's that? Yes. So, not only for you to vote here from whatever county you're from, uh all of the uh boxes and all of the uh officials will be at at their uh location to make sure that your vote gets uh safely secured and taken to the registars's uh headquarters. But um what's really fun, we saw this uh two years ago, um is when word gets out that we are also taking uh in drive up drop offs. That's where those of the community who don't go to church here, they'll just come because they want their vote counted and uh they'll bring it here and and away it goes. And so, um, yeah, I was told somewhere near 18,000 ballots, uh, two years ago, uh, just from this church alone. So, that's pretty awesome, you guys. That's pretty awesome. So, we're excited about that. And, um, yeah, exciting.

Father, we pray Lord as we continue on now with our applied series looking at what the Bible has to say to us and the things of uh future the future nature of the Bible, the eschatological truth of God's word. We pray tonight, Lord God, that as we embark upon now this new topic, uh Father, that you'd give us ears to hear and you cause us to be not only students of the word to take it in, but we would do it. And sometimes doing it is not just uh telling somebody about it or it's not just maybe uh thinking more about it, but doing it also means that it brings us great peace and calm that we know that the God of all creation, the God of the universe and beyond has given us these promises. And you're the one, the very one who told us that you love us with an everlasting love. So Lord, may we respond to that love by loving you back. Woe unto any man or woman or boy or girl honestly who hears about your love only to throw it like cold water back in your face. May none of us do that. And so we pray now in Jesus name. And all God's people said, amen.

Amen. Well, listen, before we get going tonight, uh you might want to mark this down by way of notetaking and I think the guys will have the QR code up there for you to take notes as we embark upon now this second uh part of the applied series. If you're here for the first time tonight, the applied series is something that we're doing right now regarding all, I should say some. Can't cover all of them, uh, but many of the prophetic uh declarations of the Bible. And we just came away from four installments of the antichrist. The Antichrist, the person, the Antichrist spirit, and the spirit of Antichrist, what the Bible says is in the world in the area of false teachings, false prophets. And Jesus warned us that those manifestations are going to increase as we get closer to the end times. And so, that's something that we all want to be equipped and be ready and understand that God has told us these things in advance. In fact, remember our theme verse. Uh, we've got it all down I think by now, but it's John 14:29 and it's fantastic. It's awesome. It's beautiful. And it's Jesus speaking. And he says, "Now I have told you before it comes that when it does come to pass, you may believe." And we want to remember that all that we're talking about regarding the prophetic events of the future written down in the Bible should play out in our lives to both strengthen our faith and to remind us of such a great salvation. But it should be a catalyst to have you and I tell other people about Jesus because he has spoken to us.

So we're going to start now uh this uh miniseries within the series and we're going to be talking about the coming of the king. The coming of the king. What does this mean? When we talk about the return of Christ, some people get a little confused. Maybe a lot of people get confused because when you talk about the king coming, what do you mean by that? Are you talking about his first coming? What's that all about? When he came the first time and then there's the second coming and what is that all about? What are some of the descriptions and uh characteristics of the first coming versus the second coming? And then what about what is also called his coming, but it is technically revealed in the Bible as an appearance, an appearing. The Bible speaks about a time when Christ will appear. And yes, you can say that there's three types of manifestations of the prophetic coming of Christ. The first coming 2,000 years ago, the second coming when Christ returns to establish his kingdom. But in the middle of all that is this thing called the rapture or the appearance or the appearing. And so we need and we'll know in the next uh several weeks. We're going to know so much more about this. What's the difference? All of us as Christians should know the difference between them all because they're distinct. And we also ought to be able to, as the Bible says, as Paul the Apostle spoke to Timothy, that we will rightly or will be able to rightly divide the word of truth. Did you know we're commanded to do that? We are to know the Bible by rightly understanding it. And so, this is thrilling. So, we're going to set the stage before we uh dive into these points.

Have you noticed in your Bible, I'm sure you have, but have you noticed in your Bible when you're reading the Bible, especially when you look at the the prophetic books like Daniel and Isaiah and of course the book of Revelation, have you noticed um that there's certain language or words that are used uh from Old to New Testament and they're interchangeable? In fact, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, the four gospels, Jesus will often speak about u the kingdom, the kingdom of God, the king. We're going to look at some of these scriptures tonight. It's fascinating. Um, the Bible tells us in the book of Revelation again and the book of Daniel about the dragon, the beast, uh, the king, the sword, kingdom, all of these words. I don't know what you see in your mind, but this is what I see in my mind. First slide I'm going to show you. Uh, this is what I see in my mind. So when I read my Bible, it it speaks to me in in such a way that um for the lack of a better term, it's kind of medieval in its description. It talks about dragon, the dragon, and it talks about us being members and having the Greek word politic in the kingdom of God. Remarkable stuff. Are you guys awake? Are you those? Okay. So, so go with this however you want. But in my mind, when I think about a king, because the Bible tells us that God is king and that he has a kingdom, this is a AI generated uh image. Obviously, it's too perfect. Um, a king. What comes after a king, which is the next slide, a throne. A king sits on a throne. The Bible talks about a throne, doesn't it? In fact, over and over again, the Bible talks about Satan having a throne. The Bible talks about the 24 elders having thrones or seats. The Bible says that God is enthroned in heaven. When Steven was being stoned to death there in Jerusalem, the Bible says that Steven looked up and he saw God sitting on the throne, the father, and Christ enthroned next to him. And Jesus stood up to receive Stephen into heaven. I like that. I you can expect I can expect based on that verse that when I die or when you die, I believe that you and I we are going to see Jesus stand up to greet us because he told us he greeted Stephen that way. And God's not a respector of persons. So I'm expecting a full wonderful greeting from Jesus. And he's probably going to say, "I can't believe you made it, Jack." But that's that's how great of a savior I am. I even got you in here. And then what comes after a throne? Of course, a kingdom. A kingdom. And look, let's be honest. If AI can do this, what do you think Jesus can do? This is this is a joke. It's too gray for me, by the way. I I expect it to be way greener. But what about a kingdom? What comes after that? Oh, yeah. You need to you need warriors. You need soldiers. How many times in the Bible does it speak regarding the kingdom of God that you and I are not not only co-heirs with Christ? But we are also called to battle. We are called to a warfare as believers. We are called to fight THE GOOD FIGHT. THE Bible describes the Christian as having a shield of faith and a sword which is the word of God. It tells us that we have a helmet of salvation. Do you see these what I would say is mid medieval type pictures in our minds? The Bible did that to communicate to us. And I personally believe and we'll look at it in a moment that it's very somewhat uh universal in the in the heart and the mind of of mankind. And I believe that's for a reason. What comes after uh the warrior is that you have a a captain. You have the leader or the leaders taking them into battle. And we see that the Bible tells us that God will fight for Israel like he did in the day of battle. Wow. The Bible tells us Christ is going to return and the second coming. And the Bible says that it's going to be the great and terrible day of our great God. Did you know the second coming is a horrific event for all those who dwell on the face of the earth? There will be some believers that remain at that moment on earth. They'll survive the latter-day events at the end of the seven-year tribulation period. But the Bible tells us that the earth and those who dwell upon it will call upon the rocks and the hills to fall upon them and to kill them. They want to they're going to want to commit suicide, but they can't because they see the wrath of the lamb coming from heaven. Now, that seems weird. Wrath I get and a lamb I get. But I've never seen an upset lamb. I mean, but the lamb is Jesus. And his wrath is holy. He's has Listen, he's not going to lose his temper at the at the end of the seven years. He's not going to lose control. It's perfectly pure wrath. Man, think of that. And think about captains and leaders. And then the next slide, I think we're getting close to the end. Look at this. Now, I've been to the valley. Many of you have been with me uh to the valley of Armageddon, Megiddo. And uh it's a it's a massive incredible valley. And uh there I forget how many millions of soldiers you can get in that valley. By the way, uh we stood in the spot where Napoleon stood when he was there. And Napoleon said, "This is the greatest battlefield in the history uh of time and of the earth." Because from that one location uh halfway down Mount Carmel, you can see hundreds of miles from the region of Syria and the Israeli border coming at you, making a U-turn and heading all the way down to Jerusalem. And Napoleon says this is a this is a commander's dream. And uh you think about that there's going to be a time when the nations of the world will gather together for war in what is called Megiddo. And um here's a again a AI representation. And then what's that all about? Next slide would be this. It's to defeat this one. The Bible talks about Satan being the dragon and u always warring. By the way, did you know that tonight, right now as you sit here, I'm not sure if you're aware of this, but the Bible says that God allows Satan to have access to his presence, which is pretty wild. And Satan accuses us day and night as believers. Did you know that? Yes. Here's the part that is unnerving to me. You know, Satan is the father of all lies. The Bible says, "Don't think Satan is up there lying about you to God." I look, he's the devil, but he's not dumb. He knows what He knows that God knows all about you. Here's the part that bothers me. He accuses Jack before God day and night. Why? Because apparently my life is so pathetic as a Christian that he can talk to GOD AND SAY, "LOOK AT THAT BUM. Look at he didn't pray enough today. Look, God, you told him to go make converts. HE DIDN'T LEAD ANYBODY TO Christ today. Did he go visit the homeless today? Did he give to THE POOR TODAY? DID HE TAKE CARE OF ANY orphans today? Do you hear what I'm saying, you guys? Satan could say that about you and I all day and all night long. Yeah. But for the grace of God. Remarkable. So, we're going to dive in on this. If you're ready to go, you I hope you're ready to go.

Um, so number one is this. When we talk about the coming of the king, uh, we're talking about this. We're talking about number one, the biblical argument for God being the king. This is where we start. The biblical argument for God being the king. Not a king, folks. The king. We need to remember that over and over again. In and of ourselves, we have no confidence that we can uh be assured of. Let's be honest. You say, "You don't know me. I'm the strongest guy in the sanctuary. Who cares? Uh, I've got more money than anybody else." You might say to us, "Who cares?" ALL OF THAT'S GOING TO GO AWAY IN A MOMENT. You might be the SMARTEST IN HERE. YOU MIGHT BE the I don't know. It doesn't matter. It could go away in a second. Okay. This we know WHEN ALL IS SAID AND DONE, the attributes of God will exist forever. They've always existed. They will always exist. And God is not seeking a throne to establish his kingdom. God is the king. He has a kingdom. And that's all ordered by the Lord. And it is so assured for us that what he's established he will remarkably allow you and I to be involved in is amazing to me. So 2,000 years ago those who were eyewitnesses of the manifestation of the kingdom of God saw him. The king represents the kingdom. You cannot have a king without a kingdom and vice versa. It's impossible. You can't have one without the other. So, I know some of you, and I and I'm I say this with affection, and I want you to keep coming back, but I know some of you are cult members of various cults, and we're glad you're here tonight, by the way. Keep coming. Test everything you hear. But know this, the Bible tells us that Jesus Christ is king. Amen. Not a king, the king.

In the Bible, God refers to himself in the Old Testament as the king. And Matthew chapter 2 verse one. We're all very familiar with this. And the Bible tells us now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem, saying, "Where is he who has been born king of the Jews?" Wow. For we have seen a star in the east, and we have come to worship him. And when Herod the king, heard this, HE WAS TROUBLED IN ALL JERUSALEM WITH HIM. YOU KNOW WHAT'S awesome about that? Why would a king be threatened? Because another person is rumored about to be a king. Because Herod was an earthly king. And what was being rumored about regarding this babe that was born in Bethlehem was he that he was the king. And not only the king, but the king of the Jews. And uh that by the way uh is that still true today? Well, it on a chronological scale where you and I live, it's more true to us for us than it ever was because we're closer to him coming back to fulfill the promise of Christ being the king in Jerusalem. I mean, I hope all of you are there to see that happen. I plan on being there. The choice is yours, by the way.

And uh John, how about John 1, verse 49? Am I yelling? I'm yelling. I'm sorry. I'm excited. I love this. Nathaniel, this is when Jesus is calling the disciples. This is before their apostles. They are being called by Jesus out of the world. Nathaniel answered and said to Jesus, "Rabbi, YOU ARE THE SON OF GOD." Like he didn't know. It's kind of cute. You're the SON OF GOD. YOU ARE THE king of Israel. Okay, now stop right now. I don't care what anybody I don't care what Candace says. I don't care what Tucker says. Literally, that's all I need to know. If Jesus Christ is the son of God, listen, participate, will you? It looks good. And it sounds good. If Jesus is the son of God, does that ever stop? Does that ever change? No. And the Bible goes on to say that he's the king of Israel. Will that ever change? No. If he's NOT THE KING OF ISRAEL, HE'S NOT THE SON OF GOD. AMEN. WOW. That doesn't agree with modern day conversations. Modern day conversations are mostly wrong. But I looked it up on AI. Again, I don't know who did this. Maybe it was AI. Somehow somebody figured out that 60% of the AI answers regarding biblical questions are wrong. And by the way, there's no doubt about it. When you ask AI certain questions, it definitely has a bias toward a particular religion and it ain't Christianity. It's it's amazing. It's amazing. Go that you you can do that later. Not now, later.

What about Malachi? Malachi 1:14 says, "For I am a a great king. Thus says the Lord of heaven's armies, and my name is feared among the nations." Wow. That's who he is. And so looking at this argument, the coming of the king and the biblical argument for God being the king, we see this. We see that the king and kingdom concept in reality, this is important. The king and kingdom concept in reality that is uh to say that it's in the heart and the mind of of who we are. We can relate to that and I just put this out to you as I mentioned earlier. How is it why is it that God communicated to the entire world with the Bible and all of its global languages that there's a kingdom, dragons, warfare? It's something that we can relate to and we see it lived out even in the passion of Jesus's week 2,000 years ago, Passion Week, his arrest, the trial, the crucifixion.

In John 12:12, regarding our great king, the next day, a great multitude that had come to the feast. And when they had heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, verse 13, took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him and cry out, listen, "Hosanna," that is saved now in Hebrew, "Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord." Okay, the Lord. So don't answer, but we're so who's the Lord? Well, let's keep reading. Whoever the Lord is, he's the king of Israel. Verse 14. Then Jesus, when he had found a young donkey, sat on it, as it is written, "Fear not, daughter of Zion. Behold, your king is coming sitting on a donkey's colt." So look at this. Hosanna. Why? Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, the King of Israel. And Jesus rides on the back of the donkey. come and and uh representing Zion, representing Jerusalem of course, but ultimately representing God. Jesus is the king.

We also see this in John chapter uh 18. John 18:33. Then Pilate, this this poor guy, you know, you I often wonder about Pilate. Whatever became of him, he tried he tried to wash his hands of the whole affair, right? His wife told him, "Don't don't entangle yourself with that man, that man Jesus. Stay away from him. Don't don't get involved." He had the pressure between the world, the the word of his wife. She had dream dreams the night before and then he tried to cover it up, right, with by washing his hands as though that fixes things. But you got to wonder where he is in eternity. Whatever became of him, Roman history gives you some answers, but you got to wonder, did something happen? Did he ever come to Christ or did he harden his heart? Then Pilate entered the ptorium again and called Jesus and said to him, "Are you the king of the Jews?" Jesus answered him, "Are you speaking for yourself about this or did others tell you this concerning me? Are you are you are you asking me honestly?" By the way, Jesus knows. He's trying to get a confession from him. Pilate answered, "Am I a Jew? Your own nation and the chief priests have delivered you to me. What have you done?" Jesus answered, "My king, listen up, my kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would fight so that I should not be delivered to uh the Jews. But now my kingdom is not from here." Wow. Pilate therefore said to him, "Are you a king?" Then Jesus answered, "You say rightly that I am a king. For this cause I was born, and for this cause I came into the world." Verse 39, "BUT YOU HAVE A CUSTOM that I should release someone to you at the Passover." This is what Pilate is saying. He's saying to the crowd, "YOU'VE GOT A CUSTOM at the Passover time for me to release somebody to you. You want me to release Jesus?" AND THEY SAID, "NO WAY. WE WANT BARABBAS, a murderer." And he says, "Do you therefore want me to release to you the king of the Jews?" That's the word. It's still ringing tonight. SPOKEN 2,000 years ago. Isn't it wild that all of the anti-semitism that's going on in the world? I had somebody ask me yesterday, "Oh, so you're a pastor of a church?" "Yeah." "What church is that?" I said, "And you said, ohm, no. Candace Owen, listen, I'm serious." The guy said, "Candice Owen." He said, "Candice Owen says that the Israeli government owns Calvary Chapel." I didn't know that. No, we actually just read our Bible from cover to cover. Um, but you you have to understand something. If there's no nation of Israel, then where's Jesus coming back to when he returns? If um if Jerusalem is ceased to exist, then where's he going to put his throne? The Bible says he's going to put his throne in Jerusalem. Amen. Well, are you a Zionist? Well, God is. God's a Zionist. He says HE'S GOING TO ESTABLISH HIS THRONE forever in Mount Zion. Zion's in Jerusalem. So, are you admitting it? Yes. Yes. It's in the Bible, folks. Now, some of you are like, "I can't say that. I can't believe he just said that." You guys. Hallelujah. The great king is coming back to a kingdom. And it's not only a kingdom that is eternal. We'll talk more about that in a moment. And where it is, but it's also going to be the place where he returns to establish his earthly kingdom. In other words, you know how politics is all messed up? When Christ returns, he's going to do 1,000 years of perfect politics. You know how you've been grumbling and griping about politics? Well, he's gonna take all of your excuses away when he establishes his rule in his reign. It's gonna be awesome. That's going to be a good day. Boy, we need that. Now, too bad too bad it didn't say that he started it in in California that he'd come back. We need help.

Um, listen to this. But what about John chapter 19? John 19 verse uh started at verse 14. Now, it was the preparation day of the Passover and about the sixth hour. And he said to THE JEWS, "BEHOLD YOUR KING." BUT THEY CRIED OUT, "AWAY WITH HIM. AWAY WITH HIM. CRUCIFY HIM." And Pilate said to them, "Shall I crucify your king?" And the CHIEF PRIEST ANSWERED, "WE HAVE NO KING BUT CAESAR." Now Pilate, verse 19, wrote a title and put it on the cross. It's actually above the cross. Anyone crucified had to have their sentence over their head. Did you know that when somebody walked by and they would see this dead guy or this guy dying on the cross, they would they would look over the top and it would say um that this uh robbery, rape, murder. By the way, uh, Josephus tells us that there were roads that led to Roman towns. And before you got to the city limits, Rome would crucify people wherever the Roman Empire was, they would crucify people along the roads that entered each city to diminish the uh, crime. Because if you were coming in from some other part of the world and you you didn't you weren't aware and you start seeing all these skeletons and half dead guys and dead guys and rotten guys hanging there, you would you would and you would read uh stole a donkey uh lifted a you know whatever a figed I don't know you you would say I'm not gonna steal a donkey. Do you see what I'm saying? Above Jesus's head. Watch this. Now Pilate wrote a title and put it on the cross and the writing was Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews. Verse 21, therefore the chief priest of the Jews said to Pilate, "DO NOT WRITE THE KING OF THE JEWS." But he said, "I am king of the Jews." And they were upset ABOUT THAT. DON'T PUT that on there. That makes the whole case. BUT ISN'T it amazing? I'M SURE PILATE DIDN'T EVEN KNOW WHAT HE WAS DOING. Pilate just have them uh have them write this. This is what this is what he's being crucified for that he's the king of the Jews. Isn't that amazing? I don't think he knew what he was doing. Translation, did he not say earlier, a few HOURS EARLIER, "I FIND NO FAULT WITH THIS MAN." The Roman Empire reviewed the life of Jesus Christ and after investigation concluded Rome finds nothing wrong with this man. But the religious leaders wanted him dead. Why? The Bible says they killed him because of envy. Envy is a huge motivator. You know, it's a sick motivator. When you envy somebody else's stuff, the Bible says, "Thou shalt not covet." You know, somebody might say pride is the root to like murder. I don't think so. I actually think coveting is the root to not only murder, but all kinds of crimes. Vandalism, weird stuff. We've had weird stuff happen at our home of late. People doing strange things. Why? I don't know why. No one's left a note yet. I mean, they've left some strange stuff, but tried to break tried to break our door down. Um, leaving thing, intimidating things on like the mailbox and stuff, trying to send a message, you know, kind of creep us out. And I'm thinking, they're trying to creep us out, but I'm

Wondering, you know, I there's angels that surround God's kids. And I'm wondering, what did they see? Or what did that person see?

Hey, man, let's creep them out like, you know, let's like, you know, whatever. Let's do this thing. And then I'm wondering if God just doesn't go, "Boo," right? But why did I bring that up? Oh, because when I crucify them, I'm going to put the crime. I'm kidding. I'm not going to crucify them. Guilty of two.

No, but wow. King of the Jews. Christ's first coming. And we'll study this more in future studies on this topic. But his first coming, he came to the Jewish people and to Israel. We already read that. You say, "Oh, it's Palestine." No, it's not even in the Bible. The word Palestine doesn't, didn't even exist at that time. >> Not until 135 AD. And when he comes in the second coming, the Bible says he, he returns to Israel. You say, "That's not popular." God never asked if it was popular or not. It's just the truth.

But I think the satanic antichrist world that we've been learning about earlier is responsible for a lot of thinking in the people's minds today around the world. I forget what airline it was, but I just read it yesterday that there's some US airline that just, uh, suspended service, uh, for the next 12 months to the nation of Israel. Now, maybe, maybe they'll say it's because of the war, maybe. But how do they know how long the war is going to last? Nobody knows that.

But, uh, what about 1 Timothy chapter 1? Oh, no, wait. Did I read all that? Yeah. >> Oh, yes, I did. 1 Timothy 1:1-17. "Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, to God who alone is wise, be honor and glory forever and ever. >> Amen. >> Amen." Wow.

And what about this? We look at this second, uh, support under this argument, and that is why are we able to relate to the concept of kings and kingdoms? And I just make mention of this, and it may not matter to you, technically it doesn't even really matter to me, and that is Hollywood. You go to Hollywood, some of the most blockbuster films is about a, a villain. It's about somebody who has been abused by the villain. And three-quarters of the movie, you're all, uh, you know, tense because this bad guy is getting away with everything, and he's got the maiden locked up in some bin somewhere. And who's going to save her? And then some, somebody comes along, you know, the, the knight in shining armor and rescues her. And the sun starts to set, the music is playing, she kisses him on the cheek, and you see the villain melting in the flame of burning molten fire. Now, you put that in all kinds of ways. Is it Superman? Is it Batman? Is it the Marvel? Is it whatever? Isn't it interesting that there is always some rescuer who comes onto the scene? Yeah. >> Why do we buy, why do we buy tickets to see that stuff? We like it. We can relate to that. I'm going to argue with you today that though Hollywood may not know what they're doing, they're actually copying God's plan of redemption >> and they don't even know it. Or some type of >> book that's been written. A thriller. But someone always cracks the case and arrests the bad guy, or somehow justice is served at the end. Where do they get that from? I think God's put it on the human heart, though they may not even know it. I find that fascinating.

In Romans chapter 1, verse 18, the Bible says, "For the wrath of God," this is kind of terrifying. Everybody listen up so you can be scared. I'll exaggerate it by, uh, giving you the Greek, uh, interpretation or translation. Watch this. "For the wrath of God, it's pure. It's perfect. It's holy. It's just, is being revealed. It's already, it's in the process of being revealed. It's happening now and it's going to increase. Is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men." Think about that. Do you see people doing very horrible things in the world today? Did you know that God's wrath, we can't see this? Have you ever had that feeling? "Why doesn't somebody do something?" >> We all have that feeling more and more now. You don't need to panic. What you cannot see in the invisible world is a, as it were, a blade right behind that guy's neck. That's the wrath of Almighty God. Their day is coming. It might come five minutes after, might come five years after. It might come after they die. >> "The vengeance is mine, sayeth the Lord. I will repay." No one's going to get away with anything. >> I mean, that's like, what? Yes, it's true.

Verse 19. "Because what may be known of God is manifest in them. God has already, He's already revealed to all humans about his existence. For God has shown it to them. For since the creation of the world, his invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, you and I are made, even as eternal power and godhead, so that they are without excuse." >> Wow. >> To that. >> That's incredible. >> That's powerful. >> We can relate to the concept of right and wrong and a, a kingdom of light and a kingdom of darkness. Kingdoms warring because we've got this law written in our heart. Even if we're not even a Christian, God has written it on the human soul. And people try to talk themselves out of the existence of God. "I don't think God exists." They're actually, it's getting comical >> when people say that they're, they're fully nobody but themselves. I don't even think they're fooling themselves. >> You know how you, when you were a kid and you would go down an alley and it's dark at night? Did you do that? We did that back in my day. Life was so cool. We got to stay out late at night all by ourselves. But you know when you got a little scared, you start whistling. Okay, now think of that. What is that? It's, well, that's universal. Yeah. Why? Explain to me how whistling makes the situation better. I think we're in great potential, great peril. Can you guys start whistling so we can make it through this? Can you imagine? The ship is sinking. Whistle. What's that thing following us? I don't know. We better whistle. I can see blowing the whistle, but just whistling. It's interesting. Something about that. But I believe that God has written that in. And so, we can relate to God's great move. I'll put it that way. God's great orchestra of redemption. He is the king. He's returning to his kingdom. He's going to establish it. Oh, but don't worry. The kingdom is also available right now to be inside of you.

And so, I want to read this to you. It's really long, but it's our 250th birthday, and it has to do what? How I understand Romans 1. Ben Franklin said this on Thursday, June 28th, 1787. "The small progress that we have made after four or five weeks in closed attendance and continual reasonings with each other on different sentiments on almost every question, several of the last producing as many nos as yeas, is me thinks a melancholy proof of the imperfection of the human understanding. We indeed seem to feel our own want or lack of political wisdom since we have been running about in search of it. We have gone back to ancient history for models of government and examined the different forms of those republics which having been formed with the seeds of their own dissolution now no longer exist. And we have viewed modern states all around Europe but find none of their constitutions suitable to our circumstances. In this situation of this assembly, groping as it were in the dark to find political truth and scarce able to distinguish it when it presented to us. How has it happened, sir, that we have not hitherto once thought of humbly applying to the Father of lights to illuminate our understandings? In the beginning of the contest with Great Britain, when we were sensible of danger, we had daily prayer in this room for the divine protection. Our prayers, sir, were heard and they were graciously answered. All of us were engaged in the struggle must have observed frequent instances of superintending providence in our favor. To that kind providence we owe this happy opportunity of consulting in peace on the means of establishing our future national felicity. And have we now forgotten that powerful friend? Or do we imagine that we no longer need his assistance? I have lived, sir, a long time, and the longer I live, the more convincing proofs I see of this truth, that God governs in the affairs of men. And if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without his notice, is it probable that an empire can rise without his aid? We have been assured, sir, in the sacred writings that except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain who build it. I firmly believe this, and I also believe that without his concurring aid, we shall succeed in this political building no better than the builders of Babel. We shall be divided by our little partial local interests. Our projects will be confounded, and we ourselves shall become a reproach and a byword down to future ages. And what is worse, mankind may hitherto from this unfortunate instance despair of establishing governments by human wisdom and leave it to chance, war, and conquest. I therefore beg leave to move that henceforth prayers, imploring the assistance of heaven and its blessings on our deliberations, be held in this assembly every morning >> before we proceed to business, and that one or more of the clergy of this city be requested to officiate in that service." >> Ben Franklin, "God governs in the affairs of men." >> Yes, sir. That's, by the way, one of our founding accounts by one of our founding fathers, Ben Franklin. By the way, they did stop and they prayed, and a miracle happened. >> They came to an agreement, and the Constitution was formed. It's the longest governing document in the history of the world. The, the Constitution of the United States. Nothing, no nation has ever had one last longer. I think God gave it. >> It still frustrates evildoers to this day. It's remarkable.

Isaiah chapter 9:7, the Bible tells us, Isaiah chapter 9:7, "And of the increase of his government and peace, there will be no end upon the." Here's some kingdom talk. >> Throne of David." That means Jesus has to sit on the throne of David. >> Does anybody know where the throne of David is? >> Jerusalem. >> It's in Jerusalem. And over his kingdom to order it and establish it with judgment and justice. From that time forward, even forever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this. I like that. God says, "Here's how it's going to be." And oh, by the way, don't sweat it. I'm going to do it. >> I like that. That's how God flexes. >> Like that. Um, John chapter 1, verse 1. John 1:1. "In the beginning was the Word. The Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God." Verse 3. "And all things were made through him, and without him nothing was made that was made." Verse 14. "And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us." That's the king. >> "And we beheld his glory." That's the king. "As of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth."

Hebrews chapter 1. I got to go fast. Hebrews 1, verse 3. "Who, speaking of Jesus, being in the brightness of his glory and the expressed image of his person." Translation, if you, if you look at Jesus, that is, look at him. We can't look at him now, but we can look at him in the word. When you look at him, you're looking at the reflection of the Father. >> "The Godhead upholding all things by the word of his power. When he had by himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high." >> I love that. >> "That's thrilling."

1 John chapter 1. "That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon and our hands have handled concerning the Word of life. The life was manifested, and we have seen and bear witness and declare to you that eternal life which was with the Father and was manifest to us. That which we have seen and heard, we declare to you, that you also may have fellowship with us. And truly, our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ." >> That's a kingdom. The question is, are you in that kingdom? >> I hope I trust you are. You're here on a Wednesday night. You're really committed, or, uh, or you somehow thought this was some other event taking place, but God has pinned your ears to his truth tonight. >> Amen.

And then finally, it's this. The concept is universal to all mankind. God is king. He's got a kingdom, and he's coming back. Zechariah chapter 14, verse 9. I know I'm going quick, but you got the notes already. You can look at them later. Zechariah 9:14:9. "And the Lord shall be king over all the earth." Can you say amen to that? >> Don't you long for that? >> Well, what if the Democrats win? What if the independents win? What if the Republicans win? Listen, the bottom line is this: Christ is going to come back, and he's going to set it up. "The Lord shall be king over all the earth in that day." Oh, come, Lord Jesus. "It shall be the Lord is one, and his name is one."

Verse 16. "And it shall come to pass that everyone who is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall go up from year to year to worship the >> to, uh, the Lord of hosts and to keep the feast of tabernacles. And it shall be that whichever one of the families of the earth, wow, can you imagine being the Joneses and you, and you make this bad decision? Do not come to Jerusalem to worship the King, the Lord of Hosts. On them there will be no rain." >> No wonder why it never rains in California. Wow.

Isaiah Isaiah 24:23. "Then the moon will be disgraced and the sun ashamed. Why? For the Lord of hosts will reign on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem, and before his elders gloriously." >> Woo! >> Man, we got a great future.

Romans chapter 14:1-17. Romans 14:17 says, "For the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit." Is that true of your heart? If that's true, that's because God's kingdom is in your heart.

Mark 1:14. "Now, after John was put into prison, Jesus came to Galilee preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God. And saying, 'The time is fulfilled. The kingdom of God is at hand. Repent and believe in the gospel.'" >> I wrote myself this note. It's at the bottom of page seven. I said, "Notice here. The kingdom is inseparable from number one, the timing. Look at Mark 1, verse 14. Number two, the presence. Number three, repentance. Number four, faith. And number five, the message." >> The kingdom is all about that. Jesus said to believe on him and to repent and believe, and you shall have eternal life. Awesome. Oh, I have too much. We're out of time. >> Revelation 3:20. That's a good one. Psalm 24:7 and 9. That's really great, too. Um, Matthew 6:33, "But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you." >> Think of that. What about Luke 10:9? And Jesus, uh, and heal, he sent them out and heal the sick there and say to them, "The kingdom of God has come near to you." That's amazing. He told them, "Go preach the gospel and tell them when you, when you do the miracles, that's not the point. When they see the power of God by miracles, use that to tell them the kingdom of God is near you." >> Did you see that power? Yes. That's amazing. Okay, that's great. We got your attention. Listen up. The kingdom of God is near you. Why? Why did he say near? Because they got to accept the kingdom right now tonight. The kingdom of God is near you. If you're not a Christian tonight, the kingdom of God is near you. >> Christ says, "Turn to him and believe." >> The invitation's right on the other end of your finger, or your nose. It's near you. >> Jesus says, "It's near you." And then to the believers, Jesus says, "The kingdom of God is in you." >> Wow.

By the way, you know what's awesome? I was talking to a rabbi on Monday night and, uh, in LA, the rabbi of Bel Air, of all, of all rabbis. It's just like, you know, and, um, I love the guy, but we were talking, and, you know, we're both coming from, we're talking about the same God. He's waiting for his Messiah to come, and he even told it to me. He goes, "I know, I know you're waiting for, I'm waiting for the Messiah to come, and you're waiting for the Messiah to return." I said, "Dad, that's right. That's exactly right." He knows exactly what I believe. I don't believe what he believes. He doesn't believe what I believe, but we love each other. But what he doesn't know is I love him because Christ loves him. And I'm trying to love him into the kingdom of God. So, you ought to hear me. You'd be proud. Represent. I've been representing. I'm, I'm telling you guys, I'm, I'm just, I haven't even gone to the New Testament yet. I'm in the Old Testament only. And I'm whipping those Old Testament passages out, and he's going, "Yeah." I said, "That's in, that's in Jeremiah 31." And he looked at me, and I don't know if you ever heard it before. Huh? What about those Dodgers? Amazing. But you guys, I'm going to have to just commit the rest of it to your notetaking. But, um, you want to look at, uh, the closing pages because we talk about the authorities and powers. The king is going to have all the authorities and all of the powers under his command. >> The Bible teaches that King Jesus is going to have all the territories and all the dominions. >> Remember that earlier picture of that vast realm? The Bible teaches that Christ will be the one who brings in peace because all the wars and conquests at his command will stop. One of the American mottos is "peace through strength." You know what that means? I had the wonderful opportunity before the USS Ronald Reagan, the great nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, was sent to, uh, sent to war. I had a chance, I was invited on board that ship for its last final testing, and it was insane. It was amazing. But we left out of San Diego at about two o'clock in the morning. And in that ship, they had quotes on that ship, and it said, "Peace through strength." All guys know this. Women, if you don't know this, you'll know it now. Um, the, the greatest way to stay or to establish peace is to be very strong. >> You want to know why? Because nobody will come up and punch a strong man in the nose. >> That's right. Oh, and listen, bullies are not strong men. In fact, bullies are great targets. If you know a bully, punch him in the nose in Jesus' name. I'm not endorsing violence, but it's a, it's a thing that you can help, you can help them with their life in the future. Um, my dad taught me that when I was a little kid, there's always going to be somebody bigger than you. There's always going to be somebody better than you. And the first day of school, save the whole class. When the bully stands up, just, even though he's 10, he's twice your height, twice your weight, just punch him in the nose, and the whole rest of the year will be calm. And it's true. Teddy Roosevelt said what? "Walk softly and carry >> a big >> big stick." Jesus is not going to have to say, "I told you to go to your room." He's, he's not going to have to, this is the second time I've told you. >> He's not going to do that. He doesn't have to do that. He is the authority. And when he establishes peace. >> Wow. >> Listen, if you've got the ultimate lover of your soul, who's the strong man? >> Wow. >> Wow. Wars and conquest will end. He returns always. He returns with redemption. That's true for you tonight. Maybe you're a Christian and you wandered away. You know, if you say, "Jesus, come back to me." You'll hear him say, in some way, shape, or form, "I didn't leave. You left. I'm here. Come back to me, and I'll come back to you." And he brings redemption. The king happily has his subjects. Now, I know you're going to, and you're right. You're going to say, "But Pastor Jack, we're the bride of Christ. We are, we are going to co-reign with him." Yes, we are. And that's amazing to me. That's a cherry on top of the whole thing. I'd just be happy to be in this kingdom as a subject. >> You know what I'm saying? >> You know, have you ever felt that feeling? >> I just want to get there. >> Well, news flash, you're going to experience more than just getting there. >> Praise God. He's, listen, the Bible says he's going to open up for you a wide entrance into the kingdom. >> Wow. >> He's going to say to you, "Well done, thou good and faithful servant." Some of us who are legalistic, we hear it like this. How, how do you want Jack to be, Lord? Well done. Medium rare? No. Well done. No, it's not going to be that. It's not going to be that at all. We're going to get up there, and we're going to be thinking we made all kinds of mistakes, and we, we did, and we're going to, we flubbed this, and we flubbed the other thing, and we did. But there's things that you and I did that we're not even aware of that we're going to find out about in heaven, and he's going to say to you and me, "Well done." Remember that's amazing. "You gave me a drink when I was thirsty." And we're going to say, "When did that happen?" "When this and that situation over there." "Really?" "Oh, yeah." "Listen, I was hungry and nobody would feed me, but you fed me." "When did I do that?" "When this happened over there at that time." >> Wow. And then, of course, he's going to, he's going to bring to us salvation and security. Can't have one without the other. >> Friend, listen. If tonight you can confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, that he was crucified for your sins and resurrected from the dead, you will be saved. >> That's the truth of the Bible. And I am so grateful that when I read my Bible, and the more I read my Bible, the more safe and secure I become. >> Listen, the more you read your Bible, the more calm your heart and your mind will be. The more you read your Bible, the more that you're going to find your heart rate going down and your decision-making slowing down. >> And you're going to see people are running around you with their hair on fire, freaking out, biting their fingernails off. And you're going to have the peace of the Lord that passes all understanding. >> It's supernatural. Why? Because his kingdom is not of this world. And you can have that kingdom right now in your life. You just ask him. Is he on the throne >> of your heart and life?

So, I'm going to say this. It just popped into my head because I heard him say yes. I don't mean to, I don't mean, I mean this out of absolute love. So, Lee is the guy who's always encouraging me, and you hear him all the time. >> Lee's the guy who will say, I'll say, "You guys awake? You're so quiet." And Lee will say, "I'm taking notes." So I called Lee the other day, uh, because his wife suddenly, they were out, was it Arizona? >> Bullhead City. >> Bullhead City. And without warning, his wife died. >> She got promoted. >> See this? This is my point. >> Did, listen, where would you be? How long, how long were you guys, uh, married? >> 35 years this September 1st. >> 35 years this September 1st. Where would you be losing your spouse after 35 years? Lee was here. Listen, Lee was here on Sunday. We hugged. We cried. Kissed. We rejoiced. And when, when she died, and I was texting him, and he's, he's texting exactly what he said a moment ago. He said, he said, "My, my DD has, has, uh, gone to her promotion. She's rejoicing right now. She's, she, she re, she entered into where she always wanted to be." Um, and where does, listen, the world will say, "Yeah, you know, you Christians, you're a little touched." >> Why? >> Because what? Because we have hope. >> Because we have assurance. Because we know that we, we know that we can believe in the one who said these things to us. >> What do you have, Jim Beam? >> Cocaine, a martini to calm your nerves. We have, listen, we have Jesus. >> And you can have him, too. And he's been a, a wonderful example. Is he mourning? Of course. Is he missing her? Of course, but not for long. >> He didn't lose her. Don't say, "Oh, Lee, sorry you lost your wife." He knows exactly where she is. >> Deed's up there right now, probably saying, "Lord, will you help Jack with this? End this message." He's eight minutes overtime. Father God, Father God, we praise you and thank you. Thank you, Lord, that yet again you proved yourself awesome and faithful because you took Dee home. And Lord, you'll take all of us who trust in you home >> one way or another. But the, uh, the prerequisite is, do we trust you? You told us that all who trust you will never be put to shame. And so, Lord, I pray right now where people are online or in this sanctuary, that they would say, "Yes, Jesus. I ask you to forgive me of my sins. Change my life from the inside out. Make me new. I want to have this hope and this assurance and salvation. Yes, Lord." You tell him in your own words. And if you've prayed that, if you, if you're saying those words to him now, you don't have to do this, but I encourage you on your way out, while you're going through the doorway, you can tell somebody, hey, just FYI, I said yes to Jesus tonight. Tell somebody. Lord, thank you. I pray that you come back soon. So soon we don't have to get into part two. God, you're awesome. We praise you. Glory to the King, >> the King of Kings, >> the Lord of Lords, >> the King of glory. And all God's people said, >> "Amen." God bless you. >> Your name is the highest. Your name is the greatest. Your name stands above them all. All thrones into all powers and positions. Your name stands above the Lord. Your name is the highest. Your name is the greatest. Your name stands above them all. Above all the roads and dominance of power and positions, your name stands above them all the angels. Oh, all creation. Holy, you are lifted. Heat. Heat. You are glory forever. You'll always be. You will always be holy. Holy forever. Over time you will always be, and you will always be holy, holy forever. Amen. Let's give him a shout of praise. You are so good, Lord. All right. God bless you, church. Have a great rest of your night. We'll see you, we'll see you Sunday morning. And if you need any prayer, the prayer team will be up front. God bless you. What are you doing? Thank you.