Behold Your King

Well, this morning we continue in the book of John, and we will be reading starting in

chapter 18 this morning.

I would just remind us where we have been and where we're leading into.

So Christ has been arrested, and remember as Jonathan preached, he talked about over

a thousand or perhaps a thousand soldiers went up to the Garden of Gethsemane to take

him captive and to bring him down that he might be tried as a criminal.

And first he was delivered to Annas, and then he was delivered to Caiaphas, and now we see

that he's been delivered to Pilate as we read this morning starting in verse 28 of chapter

18.

So I would ask if you're able, in honor of God's word, would you stand as his word is

read this morning?

Verse 28, then they led Jesus from the house of Caiaphas to the governor's headquarters.

It was early morning.

They themselves did not enter the governor's headquarters so that they would not be defiled,

but could eat the Passover.

So Pilate went outside to them and said, what accusation do you bring against this man?

They answered him, if this man were not doing evil, we would not have delivered him over

to you.

Pilate said to them, take him yourselves and judge him by your own law.

The Jews said to him, it is not lawful for us to put anyone to death.

Pilate said to him, are you the king of the Jews?

Pilate answered, do you say this of your own accord or did others say it to you about me?

Pilate answered, am I a Jew?

Your own nation and the chief priests have delivered you over to me.

What have you done?

Jesus answered, my kingdom is not of this world.

If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would have been fighting that I might not be

delivered over to the Jews.

But my kingdom is not from this world.

Then Pilate said to him, so you're a king?

Jesus answered, you say that I'm a king.

For this purpose I was born and for this purpose I have come into the world to bear witness to

the truth.

Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice.

Pilate said to him, what is truth?

After he had said this, he went back outside to the Jews and told them, I find no guilt in

him.

But you have a custom that I should release one man to you at the Passover.

So do you want me to release to you the king of the Jews?

They cried out again, not this man, but Barabbas.

Now Barabbas was a robber.

Then Pilate took Jesus and flogged him.

And the soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on his head and arrayed him

in a purple robe.

They came up to him saying, hail, king of the Jews.

And struck him with their hands.

Pilate went out again and said to them, see, I am bringing him out to you that you may

know that I find no guilt in him.

So Jesus came out wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe.

Pilate said to them, behold the man.

When the chief priest and the officers saw him, they cried out, crucify him, crucify him.

Pilate said to them, take him yourselves and crucify him.

For I find no guilt in him.

The Jews answered him, we have a law.

And according to the law, he ought to die because he made himself the son of God.

When Pilate heard this statement, he was even more afraid.

He entered his headquarters again and said to Jesus, where are you from?

But Jesus gave him no answer.

So Pilate said to him, you will not speak to me?

Do you not know that I have authority to release you and authority to crucify you?

Jesus answered him, you would have no authority over me at all unless it had been given you

from above.

Therefore, he who delivered me over to you has a greater sin.

From then on, Pilate sought to release him.

But the Jews cried out, if you release this man, you are not Caesar's friend.

Everyone who makes himself a king opposes Caesar.

So when Pilate heard these words, he brought Jesus out and sat down on the judgment seat

at the place called the Stone Pavement in an Aramaic Gabbatha.

Now it was the day of preparation of the Passover.

It was about the sixth hour.

He said to the Jews, behold your king.

They cried out, away with him, away with him, crucify him.

Pilate said to them, shall I crucify your king?

The chief priest answered, we have no king but Caesar.

So he delivered him over to them to be crucified.

Let's pray again.

Father, we ask this morning that your word would touch us deeply.

That you would show us the depth of the word here as we read about our Savior, our Lord, our Redeemer, Jesus.

Lord, I pray that you would open our mind to understand these truths this morning.

And Father, you would reveal to us what it might mean to each of us.

And I pray in your name.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

You can have a seat.

Thank you for standing so long.

I want you to notice a couple of things, or at least I want to spend our time this morning on a couple of things.

One is the narrative itself.

I want to share a little bit about the narrative and make some insight into the narrative.

But also I want to look at these last words of Jesus.

After this section in Scripture, he speaks very few words.

These are some of the last words he speaks.

And we see an insight as he speaks to Pilate.

He speaks truths that I want us to look at this morning.

First, the narrative.

So I'd ask you if you would, hopefully you've got your Bible and you could glance at it and look at it as we walk through the Scriptures here.

In verse 28, I want you to see this.

As Jesus is led from Caiaphas to Pilate, it begs the question, why do they need to take him to Pilate?

Well, we understand that the Romans were really the rulers.

They had given the Jews some freedoms.

So the Jews in their religion had the freedom to have a police force.

They had the freedom to, in some capacity, rule their people to keep them under control.

Pilate and the Romans had given them a little freedom in that arena.

And so we see that they tried Jesus as Jewish leaders.

That is before Annas and before Caiaphas.

And yet they still took him to Pilate.

Why?

Because they determined, and by the way, they predetermined that he should be killed.

They did not have that freedom.

That is, they could not kill a man even though they had some freedom in the Roman rule or under the Roman rule.

And so they take him to Pilate.

I want you to see the irony of what we see here in verse 28.

It says this, it says,

Isn't it interesting that these men, these leaders, they did not want to defile themselves

because they wanted to worship God throughout this Passover feast and the Feast of Unleavened Bread.

Isn't it ironic that they want to worship and yet God himself is standing before him and they demand that he be crucified?

Do you see the irony in that?

They claim that they desire to worship.

They claim that they want to honor God and yet God's standing before them and they would prefer him to be crucified.

They don't see him for who he is.

They don't recognize him as the Messiah.

Isn't it interesting what they claim to Pilate?

So certainly when they take him to Pilate, they have to have a reason to deliver him to Pilate.

And what reason do they give to deliver to Pilate?

They say he's doing evil.

And so isn't it interesting that they would use that term and Pilate said,

Well, what Roman rule have they broken?

Why are you bringing him to me and you're saying he's done something evil?

What has he done?

If he's done something evil, that's a moral issue.

That's not a legal issue.

You take him yourself and you try him.

I see in the text, in this narrative, do you notice that three times he tries to sweep this away?

He tries to not walk through the process of this trial.

He tries to let Jesus go.

Do you see it as we walk through this text?

First he tells him, that's not my responsibility.

He didn't break a Roman law.

You take him and judge him according to your law.

He tries to hand it back to them.

He doesn't want to try Jesus.

We see again that at one point, even though it's not told here in the text,

if we look in the other Gospels, we see that he actually sent him to Herod

because he heard that he was a Galilean.

And he sent Jesus to Herod and said,

Herod, he's yours.

He's from your neck of the woods.

You try him.

And so Herod takes him and he's excited about it.

He's heard a lot about Jesus, but he's never met him.

He's never seen him.

He's always wanted to see and meet Jesus.

He's wanted to see some of these miracles he's heard so much about.

And so they send him to Herod.

What does Herod do?

He talks to him and he tries him.

He says, I can't find anything that's worthy of death in him.

And what do they do?

They put a robe on him as if he really is a king.

So this accusation that he's a king,

that he is a detriment to the Roman Empire,

he's a detriment to Caesar.

When they met Jesus, when they tried Jesus,

when they talked to Jesus,

did they come away to the conclusion that he was a risk in the Roman Empire?

Of course not.

And we'll see that as we walk through the narrative a little bit.

And then finally,

in the narrative,

Pilate asked him,

are you a king?

Why would he ask that question?

Where does that come from?

Well, we have to understand that

Pilate would have had to approve

the Roman soldiers who were dispatched the night before

up to the Mount of Olives

to arrest this guy

who the Jews said is saying he's a king.

He's claiming kingship.

Now let me ask this question.

Did Jesus ever claim to be a king?

You know, he did talk about his kingdom a lot, didn't he?

It's also interesting.

Do you remember in Matthew chapter 2

Matthew 2 · chapter mention

when Jesus was born?

You remember the wise men,

as we call them from the east,

who traveled for a long time

and they went to Herod's house

or to meet with Herod

and they said to Herod,

where is the king that has been born?

He's like, what are you talking about?

A king?

I don't know of any king.

He said, yes, we've seen his star

and we've come to worship him as king.

And he says, well, he calls his wise men.

Where is this king going to be born?

Well, he's going to be born in Bethlehem.

So he dispatches these wise men

and they go to Bethlehem

and they find this king.

And they give him what?

Gifts of gold and frankincense and myrrh

that are worthy of a king.

And so we, with our eyes as we read the scripture,

do we see Jesus as a king?

Absolutely.

Do you know what the Old Testament prophesied?

It said in the Davidic covenant,

it said, David, I promise you,

God's saying, I promise you,

there will always be from your line

a king on the throne.

You know what that was pointing to?

It was pointing to the king of kings,

that is Jesus.

You know, Jesus prophetically,

it was always said the Messiah

would come from the line of David.

And sure enough, when he was born,

he came from the line of David,

the tribe of Judah,

and he was established as a king.

We think of a king,

we think political, right?

But as we look at the words of Christ,

we see that he shares with Pilate

that he's got the wrong idea.

The Jews are accusing him

of being a political king.

He never said he was going to be a political king.

The scriptures never indicated

he would be a political king.

Never indicated he would have

a kingship on this earth

in the same way that the Romans had.

So we look and see what Jesus said.

He said this,

in verse 38,

he said,

Jesus said,

my kingdom is not of this world.

Matter of fact,

if my kingdom were of this world,

if I had a political kingdom,

guess what?

My servants would be fighting now.

Because you've arrested me,

they would be attacking right now

that I might be freed.

But my kingdom is not of this world.

Well, it begs the question,

what is your kingdom, Jesus?

We will talk about that in a minute.

And so we see him

interacting with Pilate,

and Pilate is confused.

Number one, he's like,

how is this guy

standing before me with no fear?

Why is it that I ask him a question

and he doesn't even answer?

He's not afraid at all.

He's baffled by this scenario.

And what he sees

is that Jesus is not guilty

of what these Jews have claimed.

And he does many things

to try to release him.

Matter of fact,

he uses one of the...

I'm lacking the word on a second.

Every year at the feast,

it was common for Pilate

to grant freedom

to one prisoner

who was locked away.

And that was something

that the Jews expected every year.

And so Pilate,

in his mind,

was thinking,

well, you know,

the reason Jesus is here,

because they're jealous of him,

because he has a following of people.

And the Jews are starting

to look to Jesus

more than they're looking

to the Sanhedrin

and the leaders of the people.

So it's out of jealousy

that they sent him to me.

I will fix this.

Now, I'm putting words

in his mouth to understand.

But he says,

to the people,

to the wider audience of people,

who do you want me

to release this year?

Do you want me to release

Barabbas, by the way,

the worst of the criminals

that he had locked away?

Or do you want me to release

the king of the Jews?

Behind the scenes,

it's obvious that the Jews

had selected,

hand-selected people

to be there

and told them,

when this opportunity comes up,

you make sure

you don't pick Barabbas.

You pick him to be crucified.

You pick Barabbas to be freed.

Isn't it interesting

that only a few days before this,

when Jesus came riding in

on a donkey,

you remember what was said?

On what we call Palm Sunday?

Hosanna, Hosanna in the highest.

Blessed is the king of Israel.

The king of Israel.

They, the common people,

were claiming

that he was the Messiah,

that he was the king.

And yet here we are now,

this group of people,

this gathering of people.

And I want you to understand,

it's not all the people.

This is a small courtyard

in Pilate's personal residence.

It's not all the people.

It's a small number of people

that had gathered before,

are gathered early

before any court

should ever be in session.

They hand-selected this people

in order they might demand

that he be crucified.

You know what's interesting to me?

Another irony here.

So Pilate is interrogating Jesus.

And ultimately,

Pilate is going to send him

to be crucified.

Isn't it ironic

that there's coming a day

on the judgment day

when Pilate himself

will be interrogated?

And you know what?

Pilate is going to be condemned.

It's interesting

how Jesus was willing

to walk the road

the Father had given him

to walk.

I want you to see too

that Pilate knew

that he shouldn't crucify this guy.

But how odd is it

that the Jews,

I don't understand necessarily

how the Jews

had power over Pilate

to make him do

what he did not want to do?

How is that?

How did the Jews

have so much power

over this man

who should be leading

this part of the Roman kingdom?

What is it

that he was afraid of?

You know,

we get a little insight

into the passions

of these people.

We can even look

at Asia Minor

and just the Arabic people

or passionate people.

Even in Ephesus,

you remember

when Paul was there

and they were crying

for the space of two hours,

Great is Diana

of the Ephesians.

Great is the Diana

of the Ephesians.

And what was said

by the proconsul

in that area,

it said,

y'all need to be quiet.

We're going to be

called into question

for this riot today.

And it might be

that we will have to face

the judgment

of the Roman Empire.

You know,

the same is true

for Pilate.

He,

as if he was said,

as if he was given

this charge

by the emperor himself,

you go

and you rule there

and you control

those people.

You've got

all the power you need.

You've got the army

at your disposal.

You keep those people

under control.

Well,

what were the Jews doing?

Their influence

over the people

was great.

And there was starting

to be this surge

of energy,

the surge of emotion,

the surge of yelling,

crucify him,

crucify him.

And out of fear,

likely,

of the possibility

of a riot and uproar

and what that would mean

to him

and his rule,

likely that is what

drove him to say,

enough.

It's done.

Send it.

Do it.

Do it.

Now,

I want us to look

at the words

of Christ,

the words he says.

And I see here,

this morning,

I see four main truths

that Jesus shares

with Pilate

that I want to spend

some time with.

Those four truths

are this.

He shares about

his kingdom.

He shares about

his purpose.

He shares about

his people.

And he shares

about his father.

Again,

his kingdom,

his purpose,

his people,

and his father.

First,

I want to talk

about his kingdom.

And this is where

we will spend

the bulk of our time

this morning.

So let me ask

this question.

What is his kingdom?

Where is his kingdom?

When will his kingdom

start?

Isn't it interesting

that he talks

a lot about this kingdom,

but it's hard

for us to define

what it is?

And so I'd ask you,

if you had to define

what Jesus means

by his kingdom,

what does he mean?

What is he talking about?

You know,

as I've grown

in my faith

and wondered

about this very thing

when the kingdom

is mentioned,

I always thought

it was this

heavenly kingdom

that's in the future.

I thought he was

talking about heaven,

that he was going

to be the king of heaven

and when all of time

was done,

then his kingdom

would start

at that point.

But you know,

that's not what

the scriptures indicate.

So I want us

to take a look

at this.

And I want to

remind us

of this

verse

in Matthew 6.10.

It is

him

and the Sermon

on the Mount

that is Jesus.

He's sharing

the Sermon

on the Mount

and he says

when you pray,

pray this

or pray like this,

doesn't he?

Our Father

who art in heaven,

hallowed be thy name

and then what does he say?

Thy kingdom come.

What is he saying?

You know,

look at the words

right following it.

Thy kingdom come,

thy will be done

on earth

as it also is

in heaven

or on earth

as it is in heaven.

Thy kingdom come.

What is he saying?

What does he mean?

You know,

Paul talks about

this kingdom

to the Colossian church

and in Colossians

Paul says this

and I feel like

my microphone

is getting stuck here.

Where is that thing?

Sorry,

it's falling off my head.

You know,

bear with me.

See,

there can be a lot

of distractions,

right?

So if you can't hear me,

I'll take it off

and then I'll just

keep talking.

So in Colossians

it says this,

He,

God,

has delivered us

from the dominion

or the domain

of darkness

or it might be said here

the kingdom of darkness

and has transferred us

or translated us

into the kingdom

of his beloved son.

Let me read that again.

God has delivered us,

Christians,

from the dominion

of darkness

and transferred us

to the kingdom

of his dear son.

Christian,

you've been transferred

already

into the kingdom

of his dear son.

So you see in this passage

there's two kingdoms.

There's a kingdom

over which

the dark kingdom reigns

and there's a kingdom

over which God reigns.

One is called

the kingdom of darkness.

One is called

the kingdom of light

and you realize

that neither one of these

are political.

Both of these

are spiritual.

And so when he talks

to Pylee,

he said,

my kingdom is not

of this world.

What does he mean?

He means his kingdom

is spiritual in nature.

His kingdom

is spiritual.

Those who've

been born again

have been transferred

from one kingdom

into this other kingdom,

the kingdom of light

by the power of God.

In the book of Mark,

again,

what I want to ask

is what is it,

when is it,

and where is it?

What is the kingdom,

when is the kingdom,

and where is the kingdom?

I want to start with this.

When is the kingdom?

When does this kingdom start?

When will the kingdom

of Christ,

or when Christ

will take his reign

or seat

and reign over his kingdom,

when will it start?

What would you say now

if I ask you that question?

When will it start?

Is it going to start

in the future

when time is no more

or does it start now?

Did it start back then?

When did it start?

Let's see what the scriptures say.

In Mark 1,

Mark 1:14

verse 14,

it says this,

Now after John was arrested,

Jesus came into Galilee

proclaiming the gospel of God

and saying,

The time is fulfilled

and the kingdom of God

is at hand.

Repent

and believe in the gospel.

The kingdom of God

is at hand.

And so what we can say

about the kingdom of God

is when Jesus

was in ministry,

he makes this statement

that the kingdom of God

is at hand.

The spiritual kingdom

is now

according to Jesus

as he's ministering.

John 9,

excuse me,

Mark 9 says this,

and he said to them,

that is Jesus

speaking to his disciples,

Truly I say to you,

there are some standing here

who will not taste death

until they see

the kingdom of God

after it has come

with power.

There are some

that will not die

before they see

the kingdom of God

come with power.

Hmm.

So the kingdom of God

is not this thing

that's out in the distance.

It's not this heavenly kingdom

that won't start

until eternity begins.

It's now.

It started in the time of Christ.

The men that were living

at that time

would see the kingdom

of God come in power.

In Luke

Luke 9 · chapter mention

chapter 9 and 10,

you might remember

at one point

during his ministry,

he sent the twelve out

to proclaim the gospel

and to heal

and to cast out demons

as they went.

He sent them on a mission

to prepare their hearts

for the Messiah.

He did that also

in another setting

with 72.

He sent them out

in pairs

to all the cities

to which he was going

to travel

and preach.

and it says this.

The word of God says,

go,

he's saying this

to the disciples

in the 72,

go and proclaim

the kingdom of God.

Go

and proclaim

the kingdom of God.

You know,

if he said that

to you and me,

what would we be proclaiming?

What is this kingdom

that we would proclaim?

Then later on

down in chapter 10,

it says this.

He says to the 72,

heal the sick

in each of these towns

that you visit

and in it say to them,

the kingdom of God

has come near to you.

But whenever you enter a town

and they do not receive you,

go into the streets

and say,

even the dust of your town

that clings to our feet,

we wipe off against you.

Nevertheless,

know this,

that the kingdom of God

has come near to you.

The kingdom of God.

When is the kingdom of God?

That's the question

we're trying to answer.

When?

Do you notice that

it was during the time of Christ?

It was during the ministry of Christ

when Christ is saying,

the kingdom is beginning now.

And we'll talk about

the significance of this

this morning.

You remember when

Christ said,

as this ministry was happening,

he said,

the hour is not yet.

It's not quite time.

The hour is not yet.

And then finally he said,

the hour has come.

What hour?

The hour when he would suffer

this last week of his life.

And he said,

he says this.

He said,

Father,

glorify your name.

The hour has come

for the Son of Man

to be glorified.

And then it goes on to say,

Jesus said,

now is the judgment

of this world.

Now will the ruler

of this world

be cast out.

Now.

What does he mean now?

What the scripture

is talking about

is that when Jesus

is glorified,

something is going

to happen

in the spiritual realm

that is very significant.

It has all to do

with the kingdom of God.

Now is the judgment

of this world.

Now the ruler

of this world

will be cast out.

Who is the ruler

of this world?

Of course,

it's Satan.

And he says

he's going to be cast out.

Well,

he's going to be cast out

from where?

He's going to be cast out

from heaven.

Before the sacrifice

of Christ,

before the offering

of his body

for the sins of man,

what could Satan do?

He could stand

before God

and he could say,

guilty,

guilty,

guilty,

guilty,

guilty,

guilty to all

of us

sinners.

Was he justified

in saying that?

Of course he was.

He had access

to the throne of God

to accuse you

and me of sin

and he was right

in saying it

because we all

are that,

sinners.

But something

is happening

through the death

of Jesus

that changes

the scope

of the kingdom.

He said

he is setting up

a kingdom

that is based

on his sacrifice.

Let's look at

Revelation right quick.

Y'all know I love

going back there.

For those of y'all

who were in that class,

I can't,

I don't have time

to establish

the whole text here

but I'm reading

out of chapter 12

of Revelation.

You remember

the story where

there was a woman

and a child

and a dragon

and the dragon

tried to kill the child

and the child

was taken up

to heaven.

that is a symbolic

picture of Jesus'

resurrection.

And so in reference

to Jesus'

resurrection,

we read this

in Revelation

Revelation 12 · chapter mention

chapter 12.

It says,

as now war

arose in heaven,

Michael and his angels

fighting against the,

excuse me,

fighting against the dragon

and the dragon

and his angels

fought back.

But he was defeated

and there was no longer

any place for them

in heaven.

and the great dragon

was thrown down

or cast out.

That ancient serpent

who is called the devil

and Satan,

the deceiver

of the whole world,

he was thrown down

to earth

and his angels

were thrown down

with him.

And I heard a loud

voice in heaven

saying,

now,

now the salvation

and the power

and the kingdom

of our God

and the authority

of his Christ,

remember what happened

when Christ was resurrected?

And remember what he said

to you and me,

specifically to those

who were disciples

in that day,

all authority

has been given to me,

therefore go

and make disciples

of all nations.

All authority

is given to me.

Here it says,

the kingdom of our God

and the authority

of his Christ

have come

for the accuser

of our brethren

has been thrown down.

Do you see the association

of this dark kingdom

and this kingdom of light?

Before the death of Jesus,

before he shed his blood,

the enemy had access

to accuse.

But you know what happened

with the death of Christ?

All of his children

are covered

by the blood of Jesus.

The enemy no longer

has access.

He is thrown out.

And when the enemy

tries to accuse me now,

to the Father,

what does the Father say?

Blood of Jesus.

Blood of Jesus.

He's mine.

He's mine.

She's mine.

She's mine.

And what's the devil do?

He can't do a thing.

Because we've been bought

with the blood of Jesus.

That is when

his kingdom started.

It's the kingdom of God

that's not a political kingdom.

And I want us to see

that the win

is the resurrection of Jesus.

Defeated sin.

It defeated death.

It defeated Satan.

The resurrection of Jesus.

And now I ask the question,

where?

Where is the kingdom?

This kingdom he talks about.

Is it in a place?

Far away?

This heavenly kingdom?

Is this kingdom here

on this globe?

This earth?

Is it going to move

from one place to another?

Where is the kingdom?

You know,

it's important for us

to understand this.

It changes

our walk.

It changes

our walk.

And I want you to see

the depth

of what he's saying.

So here it is.

This is in

the book of Luke

Luke 17 · chapter mention

chapter 17.

And this is Christ being.

It says,

the kingdom of God

is not coming

in ways that can be observed.

Isn't it interesting?

You know,

an earthly kingdom,

you can see guys

riding on horses.

You can see

the defense of a city.

You can see the king

with his regalia on.

He has his robe on.

He has his crown on.

He sits on his chair.

You can see it.

But here,

this kingdom

is not coming

in ways that can be observed.

there's something

about this kingdom

that is not physical.

The kingdom

he's talking about

is spiritual.

And notice what he says.

The kingdom of God

is coming in ways,

not coming in ways

that can be observed.

Nor will they say,

look,

here it is.

Or,

there it is.

For behold,

the kingdom of God

is within you.

When is it

when Jesus died?

He purchased

for himself

a people.

Where is it?

It's in our hearts.

Do you know

the kingdom of God

is within?

And then I ask the question,

what is it then?

What is this kingdom of God?

I mean,

how can a kingdom

be within?

Well,

when we understand

what it is,

then we understand

how it can be within.

So,

what is this kingdom?

I turn to Romans

Romans 14 · chapter mention

chapter 14

and I read this.

This is Paul

speaking to the church

at Rome

and he says this,

the kingdom of God

is not a matter

of eating

and drinking.

What does that say?

It's not physical.

The kingdom of God

is not a matter

of eating and drinking

but of righteousness

and peace

and joy

in the Holy Spirit.

You know what

the kingdom of God is?

You know what Christ

purchased for you and me?

He purchased this kingdom.

He is the king

of a kingdom

that is within.

And what did he purchase?

He purchased righteousness,

peace,

and joy

in the Holy Spirit.

Do you know

the gift

that we've been given?

Do you know

what it means

to be a part

of this kingdom?

Is that we're born again

and we're indwelt

with the Holy Spirit

and as a result

of being indwelt

by the Holy Spirit,

you know what he's doing?

He's doing this thing

called righteousness.

He imputed

in our lives

righteousness.

Though I was sinful,

you know what's happened?

Because of the blood

of Christ,

I've been cleansed,

I've been purified,

I've been made right,

I've been purchased,

I've been redeemed.

I'm a part

of the kingdom.

It's what he's done

within me.

And what is the result

of that?

I'm going to experience

peace,

I'm going to experience

joy.

Have we heard that

in scriptures before?

You know what he says

about abiding?

He says,

apart from me

you can do nothing.

I ask you to abide.

I command you to abide.

Why?

Why does he want us

to abide?

You know,

if you look at

verse 11 of John 15,

you know what it says?

I've told you

these things

in order that you

might have joy

and have it to the full.

You know where

true,

lasting,

genuine joy

comes from?

It's not from

winning the ball game.

It's not from

your team

winning last night

ACC championship.

That's not where joy comes.

It's not from

killing the big deer

with the big rack,

brother.

That's not

where joy

truly comes from.

All that is temporary.

You know where joy

comes from?

Abiding.

You know where joy

comes from?

It's the movement

of the Holy Spirit

in our life.

He's gifted us

this gift

that we would be

part of his kingdom.

And what is his kingdom?

It's him within.

It's the effect

of the Holy Spirit

in our lives.

That's the kingdom.

That's what he's saying

to Pilate.

This is what he's purchased.

You know what's interesting?

In light of what I've shared,

the when is when he died,

the where is in our heart,

the what

is the effect

in our life?

What is it?

It's the rule

of Christ.

You know we sang

a song this morning

that used the word

reign.

Y'all know what it is

for a king to reign?

That means his subjects

honor him.

His subjects do

what he said

they're going to do.

He reigns over

the kingdom.

What does it mean

for Christ to reign

over the kingdom

in your life?

What does that mean?

Does he reign

in your life?

We read it earlier.

You know what it means?

It means

like the prayer,

your will be done

on earth

that is in my life

as it is in heaven.

Do you think God's will

is done in heaven?

Do you think

it's done perfectly?

You know what

the call is

for us

and his kingdom

that we would

honor his will?

That we would

live for him?

Y'all remember

Matthew 6.33?

If you've heard me preach

you've heard this verse

come out of my mouth

many times.

You know what it says?

It says seek first

what?

What is he saying?

Seek first

the kingdom of God.

You know what he's saying?

When he's saying

seek the kingdom of God

he's not saying

something in the future.

When he says

seek the kingdom of God

he says seek this

that he would reign

in your life

today

and tomorrow

and the next day

and the next day.

Seek first

his reign.

You know what

that looks like?

Obedience.

You know what it says?

If you love me

how will you live?

According to the book

of John

if you love me

you will obey

my commands.

The picture

of love

of God

is obedience.

And where does

the ability

to be obedient

come from?

The indwelling

Holy Spirit.

You know what he's done?

He's gifted us

a life

of fellowship

with the Father.

And what is

the vehicle

by which we have

intimate fellowship

that we would

allow him

to reign

in our life?

So I would

define

the kingdom

of God

in this way.

Here it is.

It's the reign

and I stole this

by the way

from a preacher

I really really

respect down in Atlanta.

He says this

it's the reign

of Christ the king

in the hearts

of his kingdom

people

that grows

extensively

and intensively.

Let me say that again.

It's the reign

of Christ the king

in the hearts

of his kingdom

people

Christians

that grows

extensively

how does it grow

extensively?

Do you know

that there's people

being added

every day

to the kingdom

of God?

Do you know

that somewhere

in the world

there's people

that are coming

to Christ

even here

that are coming

to Christ?

It's growing

and growing

and growing.

What can stop

the growth

of the church?

Can Satan?

You know

what God said

about his church?

I will build

my church

and the gates

of hell

will not prevail.

You know

what's happening

to his kingdom?

It's growing.

You know

what else

is happening

inside of us?

It's growing

extensively

and he's just

touching a lot

of people

it's growing

intensively.

Do you find

in your life

more of a desire

to honor God

than you did

when you were

first a believer?

Do you find

in your life

that you serve

him more

than you obey

him more

than you do

than you did

when you were

first a believer?

Has his reign

in your life

increased?

Brothers and sisters

that is where

peace and joy

is found.

Why would we

not walk

in that way?

Why would we

not desire

his reign

in our life?

Why do we

chase after

these idols

and these fake

things that

don't satisfy

and don't give

joy?

Why?

He says to

Pilate

my kingdom

is not

of this

world.

So you

are a king.

You know

doesn't it

imply that

he's a king?

He says

three times

my kingdom

my kingdom

my kingdom

well if

you've got

a kingdom

then you

must be

a king.

Stands to

reason doesn't

it?

And what

did he say?

He said

it is as

you say.

You say

that I am

a king

it is as

you say.

For this

purpose

what purpose

Jesus?

You all

with me

in verse

37?

Verse 37

says this

second point

is purpose.

We've talked

about his

kingdom.

Now I want

to at least

briefly touch

on what

is his

purpose.

For this

purpose I

was born

and for this

purpose I

have come

into the

world.

What purpose

Jesus?

He's referring

right back to

what was said.

To be a

king I

was born

and to be a

king I

have come

into this

world.

To bear

witness of

the truth.

Pilate's like

what in the

world are you

talking about?

What is

truth?

What are you

talking about?

I'm so

confused right

now.

What are you

trying to

say?

Your

kingdom's

not in

this world.

You're

wanting to

share

truth.

I don't

even know

what truth

is.

He's

confused but

we want to

look and

see what

he's saying.

Let me

say it this

way.

His

kingdom is

to be

established by

the witness

of eternal

truth.

Let me

say it

again.

His

kingdom is

to be

established by

the witness

of eternal

truth.

Which he

had known

with the

father which

he alone

could declare

to man.

Do you

know that

Jesus says

I am the

way, the

truth, and

the life?

It is this

truth that

people need

to hear,

right?

How is the

kingdom

established?

It's always

established by

the hearing of

truth.

Do you

believe it?

faith comes

by hearing

and hearing

by the

word of

God.

Faith comes

by hearing

and hearing

by the

word of

God.

How will

we ever

get to

the place

where we

believe that

he is who

he says

he is?

Faith.

That Jesus

died for

you and

me.

How do

we embrace

that?

By faith.

Where does

faith come

from?

Him.

It comes

from the

word.

Jesus

comes and

he shares

the truth.

He reveals

the holiness

of God

and you

know what

he reveals

to?

He reveals

our

sinfulness.

What is

the truth?

The truth

is all of

us are

sinful.

Every one

of us

are sinful.

And then

the question

is how many

sins does

it take

for us

to be

considered

sinful?

Ask

Adam.

How many

did it

take for

him?

He was

kicked out

of the

garden.

Any sin

is in

opposition

to the

holiness

of God.

So truth

says this

that every

one of us

are a

sinner.

Every one

of us

because of

our sins

are separated

from a

holy God

and are

in trouble

of eternal

separation

from God.

But God

provided a

savior.

His name

was Jesus.

And for

all who

trust in

Jesus

for forgiveness

of their

sins based

on his

death on

my behalf

and your

behalf,

God

grants us

salvation.

He allows

us to be

part of his

kingdom.

He draws

us in

as ones

who have

been saved

for this

purpose I

was born

that is

to be

a king

I was

born.

Do we

believe that?

Remember

what we

said early

when we

read in

early Matthew

in the

wise men

come and

they said

where is

the king?

His star

is in the

sky.

We've been

following him.

We know

he's here

somewhere.

Where is

he?

You know

all the

prophets

he said

there's

going to

be a

king

born.

He's

going to

be in

the

line

of

David.

It's

going

to be

the

king.

And

that

king

is

bringing

righteousness.

That

king

will

care

for

his

people.

Do you

think

Jesus

cares

for

his

people?

You know

he cares

for you

and I

in a

spiritual

way

deeper

than

probably

we

understand.

He

has

gifted

to us

righteousness.

We

weren't

righteous

but he

died

that we

might

be

made

righteous.

And

then

third

his

people.

Who

were

his

people?

Look

here

it says

he came

to bear

witness

to the

truth.

Everyone

who is

of the

truth

listens.

Where

have you

heard that

before?

Everyone

who is

of the

truth

listens.

What

did we

read in

John 10

it said

his

sheep

hear

his

voice.

Right?

They

listen

to him.

It's

like

they're

drawn

to

him.

There

is

a

people

the

people

of

God

those

are

a

part

of

his

kingdom

that

hear

the

truth.

In

what

way

is

this

true

for

you

and

I?

Let

me

just

say

that

apart

from

understanding

our

sin

and

our

separation

and

our

need

for

a

savior

we

would