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.
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
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.
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,
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
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 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
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.
He'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
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
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
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
never
be
in
the
kingdom.
Briefly
let me
just
share
with you
what
Paul
shared
with
the
Romans.
He
said
this
he
said
my
heart
is
breaking
because
the
Jews
are
confused
they're
passionate
they
chase
hard
after
God
they
make
their
lives
very
moral
on the
outside
and
yet
he
says
this
he
says
my
heart
desire
and
prayer
to
God
for
them
the
Jews
that
they
might
be
saved
for
I
bear
them
witness
that
they
have
a
zeal
for
God
they're
very
religious
but
not
according
to
knowledge
for
being
ignorant
of
the
righteousness
and
the
holiness
of
God
they're
seeking
to
establish
their
own
righteousness
do
you
know
there's
no
way
to
earn
a
spot
in
his
kingdom
you
can't
be
good
enough
you
can't
be
righteous
enough
because
like
Isaiah
said
or
like
the
Old
Testament
said
our
righteousness
is as
filthy
rags
I
mean
our
righteousness
our
self
righteousness
is not
based on
his
glory
we're
accomplishing
something
that we
call
righteous
but
God
says
there's
no
one
good
not
one
that
when
I
look
at
goodness
I
see
righteousness
means
it's
absolutely
purely
for him
and him
alone
not
for
us
there's
no
one
righteous
not
one
and
these
Jews
are
seeking
to
establish
their
own
righteousness
how
I
tithe
I
go to
church
I
pray
every
day
I
give
alms
to
the
poor
I
feed
the
hungry
I
do
all
these
things
God
I'm
good
right
Paul
is
grieving
that
they're
trying
to
become
Christians
by
what
they
do
to
get
into
God's
kingdom
by
their
own
effort
it
isn't
done
that
way
the
word
of
God
says
this
listen
if
you
confess
with
your
mouth
that
Jesus
is
Lord
and
you
believe
in
your
heart
that
God
raised
him
from
the
dead
do
you
believe
that
I'm
speaking
to all
of us
now
do
you
believe
that
you
need
to
confess
sin
do
you
see
sin
in
your
own
life
you
know
some
of
us
are
born
again
believers
and
maybe
some
of
us
here
are
not
Christians
yet
you
know
at
one
point
none
of
us
were
Christians
there's
a
process
of
understanding
that
we
have
to
walk
a
road
we
have
to
walk
to
realize
what
it
really
means
to
be
a
Christian
what
does
it
mean
here
you
recognize
your
sin
you
confess
with
your
mouth
that
Jesus
is
Lord
that
he
has
been
exalted
that
he
did
die
and
was
resurrected
up
to
heaven
and
you
believe
in
your
heart
that
God
raised
him
from
the
dead
you
will
be
saved
for
with
the
heart
one
believes
not
with
the
head
not
cognitive
assent
it's
with
the
heart
there's
something
stirring
that
says
I
know
this
is
true
I
know
this
is
true
with
the
heart
one
believes
and
is
justified
and
with
the
mouth
one
confesses
and
say
everyone
who
calls
on
the
name
of
the
Lord
will
be
saved
you
know
how
many
everyone
who
calls
on
the
name
of
the
Lord
will
be
saved
let
me
ask
is
there
anyone
in
here
this
morning
that
you're
still
seeking
you're
still
trying to
understand
what
this
all
means
and
you
would
in
the
honesty
of
your
heart
say
I
don't
think
that
I
know
yet
I
don't
think
that
I'm
a
Christian
yet
I
don't
understand
what
it
all
means
there's
something
drawing
me
but
I
don't
really
understand
it
you
know
what
he
says
I
just
want
you
to
hear
this
and
if
it
doesn't
stick
today
you
just
put
it
in
and
you
listen
to
what
the
word
of
God
says
everyone
who
calls
on
the
name
of
the
Lord
will
be
saved
everyone
who
confesses
I'm
a
sinner
and
I
believe
that
Jesus
was
the
Messiah
I
believe
he
died
on
a
cross
and
God
accepted
his
sacrifice
on
my
behalf
God
I'm
asking
you
to
cover
my
sins
based
on
what
Jesus
did
for
me
God
would
you
change
my
life
would
you
be
you
know
here's
the
tie
back
to
the
truth
it
says
so
faith
comes
from
hearing
and
hearing
comes
from
what
faith
comes
from
hearing
or
hearing
from
the
heart
faith
comes
from
hearing
or
understanding
what
the
truth
you
know
I
just
shared
with
you
the
gospel
that
is
the
truth
it
were
sinners
separated
from
God
in need
of
a
savior
and
he's
willing
to
forgive
all
who
ask
him
to
forgive
isn't
it
interesting
that
he
says
to
Pilate
he
says
you
don't
even
know
my
father
you
think
that
you
have
authority
over
me
you
don't
have
any
authority
over
me
except
what
my
father
has
given
you
there's
something
going
on
here
that's
so
much
bigger
than
you
can
possibly
imagine
Pilate
you
think
you're
ruling
no
you're
not
ruling
you're
just
placed
there
for
a
purpose
the
one
who's
ruling
is
above
he's
the
one
that
gave
you
your
authority
he's
the
one
that's
put
this
plan
in
motion
and
this
plan
is
for
me
to
die
and
I'm
walking
right
in
it
I'm
walking
in
it
let's
pray
father
we're
humbled
that
though
we're
sinners
and
lord
I seem
to
learn
more
and
more
and
more
the
depth
of
my
sin
is
far
greater
than
I
ever
thought
father
in
our
sin
you
were
gracious
to
us
that
you
were
willing
to
send
your
son
to
die
in
order
that
we
might
receive
the
forgiveness
that
you
offer
through
your
son
Jesus
lord
for
those
here
this
morning
that
aren't
yet
believers
would
you
soften
their
heart
to
understand
and
would
you
help
them
understand
these
truths
and
their
need
of
a
savior
for
those
of
us
who
are
born
again
and
in
the
kingdom
god
would
you
stir
within
us
a
desire
for
obedience
a
desire
for
you
to
reign
in
our
life
that
lord
you
would
so
change
our
life
that
we
wouldn't
desire
the
idols
and
the
temptations
of
this
world
that
god
we
would
desire
for
you
to
reign
that
you
might
be
glorified
like
you
deserve
in
our
lives
I
pray
in
Christ's
name
amen