The Coming Of The King

0:00 Well, listen, before we get going tonight, you might want to mark this down by way of note-taking, and I think the guys will have the QR code up there for you to take notes as we embark upon now this second 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, but many of the prophetic 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.

0:57 In fact, remember our theme verse. We've got it all down, I think, by now. But it's John 14, verse 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 this mini-series 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?

1:59 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 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 several weeks, we're going to know so much more about this.

2:58 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 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 prophetic books like Daniel and Isaiah, and of course the book of Revelation, have you noticed that there's certain language or words that are used from Old to New Testament, and they're interchangeable? In fact, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, the four gospels, Jesus will often speak about the kingdom, the kingdom of God, the king.

4:06 We're going to look at some of these scriptures tonight. It's fascinating. The Bible tells us in the book of Revelation, again, in the book of Daniel, about the dragon, the beast, 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. This is what I see in my mind. So when I read my Bible, it speaks to me in such a way that, 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.

5:01 Are you guys awake? Are you awake? Okay. 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 an AI-generated image, obviously. It's too perfect. A king. What comes after a king?

5:26 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 Stephen was being stoned to death there in Jerusalem, the Bible says that Stephen 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. 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. God's not a respecter of persons, so I'm expecting a full, wonderful greeting from Jesus.

6:20 And he's probably going to say, I can't believe you made it, Jack, but 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 a joke. It's too gray for me, by the way. I expect it to be way greener. But what about a kingdom? What comes after that? Oh yeah, you need warriors. You need soldiers. How many times in the Bible does it speak regarding in the kingdom of God, that you and I are 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.

7:18 It tells us that we have a helmet of salvation. Do you see these, what I would say is 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 universal in the heart and the mind of mankind. And I believe that's for a reason. What comes after the warrior is that you have 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 in 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'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.

8:43 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. Listen, he's not going to lose his temper at the end of the seven years. He's not going to lose control. It's perfectly pure wrath.

9:08 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 to the valley of Armageddon Megiddo and it's a massive incredible valley and there I forget how many millions of soldiers you can get in that valley By the way, we stood in the spot where Napoleon stood when he was there. And Napoleon said, this is the greatest battlefield in the history of time and of the earth. Because from that one location, 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.

10:06 and Napoleon says, this is a commander's dream. And 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 here's, again, an 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 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? Here's the part that is unnerving to me. You know, Satan is the father of all lies, the Bible says.

11:03 Don't think Satan is up there lying about you to God. Look, he's the devil, but he's not dumb. 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. But for the grace of God.

11:59 Remarkable. So we're going to dive in on this if you're ready to go. I hope you're ready to go. So number one is this. When we talk about the coming of the king, 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 be assured of. Let's be honest. You see, you don't know me. I'm the strongest guy in the sanctuary. Who cares? I've got more money than anybody else, you might say to us. Who cares? All of that can 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?

12:48 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. It's amazing to me. So 2,000 years ago, those who were eyewitnesses of the manifestation of the kingdom of God saw him.

13:38 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 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. Not a king, the king.

14:17 And the Bible, God refers to himself in the Old Testament as the king. and Matthew chapter 2 verse 1 we're all very familiar with this 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 them. 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 that he was the king, and not only the king, but the king of the Jews.

15:14 And by the way, is that still true today? well 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 chapter 1 verse 49 am I yelling I'm yelling. I'm sorry. I'm excited. I love this. Nathanael, this is when Jesus is calling the disciples. This is before their apostles. They are being called by Jesus out of the world. Nathanael 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.

16:17 I don't care what anybody 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? 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. Wow. That doesn't agree with modern day conversations. Modern day conversations are mostly wrong. But I looked it up on AI.

16:58 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 amazing. It's amazing. You can do that later. Not now. Later. What about Malachi? Malachi chapter 1 verse 14 says, For I am 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.

17:50 We see that the king and kingdom concept in reality. This is important. The king and kingdom concept in reality, that is to say that it's in the heart and the mind 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 king, kingdom, dragons, warfare. It's something that we can relate to. And we see it lived out. Even in the passion of Jesus' week, 2,000 years ago, Passion Week, his arrest, the trial, the crucifixion. In John chapter 12, verse 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.

18:57 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, representing Zion, representing Jerusalem, of course, but ultimately representing God. Jesus is the king. We also see this in John chapter 18. John 18, verse 33. Then Pilate, this poor guy. You know, I often wonder about Pilate.

19:52 Whatever became of him. He tried to wash his hands of the whole affair. Right? His wife told him, don't entangle yourself with that man. That man, Jesus. Stay away from him. Don't get involved. He had the pressure between the world. the word of his wife. She had dreams the night before. And then he tried to cover it up, right, by washing his hands as though that fixes things. But you've got to wonder where he is in eternity, whatever became of him.

20:23 Roman history gives you some answers, but you've got to wonder, did something happen? Did he ever come to Christ? Or did he harden his heart? Then Pilate entered the praetorium 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 asking me honestly? By the way, Jesus knows he's trying to get a confession from them. 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 the Jews. But now my kingdom is not from here.

21:20 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.

21:55 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, oh, no, Candace Owen. Listen, I'm serious. The guy said Candace Owen. He said Candace 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.

22:44 But you have to understand something. If there's no nation of Israel, then where's Jesus coming back to? When he returns. If Jerusalem ceased to exist, then where's he going to put his throne? The Bible says he's going to put his throne in Jerusalem. 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, 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.

23:49 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 going to take all of your excuses away when he establishes his rule and his reign. It's going to be awesome. That's going to be a good day. Boy, we need that now. Too bad it didn't say that he started it in California that he'd come back. We need help. Listen to this. What about John chapter 19? John 19, starting 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.

24:53 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 look over the top and it would say that this robbery, rape, murder.

25:20 By the way, 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 crime. because if you were coming in from some other part of the world, and you weren't aware, and you start seeing all these skeletons, and half-dead guys, and dead guys, and rotten guys, hanging there, and you would read, stole a donkey,

25:58 lifted a, you know, whatever, a fig, I don't know, you would say, I'm not going to steal a donkey. You see what I'm saying? above Jesus' head. Watch this. Now Pilate wrote the 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.

26:41 Pilate just, have them write this. 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.

27:27 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 route to like murder. I don't think so. I actually think coveting is the route to not only murder, but all kinds of crimes. Vandalism.

27:55 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 our door down,

28:17 leaving things, intimidating things on, like, the mailbox and stuff. Trying to send a message, you know, kind of creep us out. and I'm thinking, oh, they're trying to creep us out. But I'm wondering, you know, 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!

28:47 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... 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 you already read that you say I thought it was Palestine no it's not even in the Bible The word Palestine didn't even exist at that time. Not until 135 AD.

29:40 And when he comes to the second coming, the Bible says 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. There's some U.S. airline that just suspended service for the next 12 months to the nation of Israel. Now, 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. What? What about 1 Timothy chapter 1? Oh no, wait, did I read all that? Oh yes I did. 1 Timothy chapter 1 verse 17. Now to the king eternal, immortal, invisible, to God who alone is wise, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen. Wow. And what about this?

30:53 we look at this second 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.

31:14 You go to Hollywood, some of the most blockbuster films is about a villain. It's about somebody who has been abused by the villain. and three quarters of the movie, you're all tense because this bad guy, he's 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 somebody comes along, 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.

31:57 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? 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, thrill a thriller.

32:38 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 giving you the Greek 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. It's 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.

33:48 you don't need to panic. What you cannot see in the invisible world is a blade, as it were, right behind that guy's neck that's the wrath of Almighty God. Their day's coming. It might come five minutes after. It might come five years after. It might come after they die. The vengeance is mine, saith 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 his 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 kingdom of light and a kingdom of darkness kingdoms warring because we've got this law written in our heart.

35:11 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 fully nobody but themselves. I don't even think they're full of themselves.

35:31 You know how 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 on great potential great peril. Can you guys start whistling so we can make it through this? Can you imagine? The ship is sinking. Whistle!

36:23 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.

36:59 And so I want to read this to you. It's really long, but it's our 250th birthday. and it has to do with how I understand Romans 1. Ben Franklin said this on Thursday, June 28, 1787. The small progress that we have made after four or five weeks in closed attendance and continual reasonings with each other are different sentiments on almost every question, several of the last producing as many no's 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 disillusion, now no longer exist.

37:58 and we have viewed modern states all around Europe but find none of their constitution 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.

38:54 to that kind providence we owe this happy opportunity of consulting and 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 age 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.

40:42 Ben Franklin, God governs in the affairs of men. 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 constitution of the United States 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 verse 7 the Bible tells us Isaiah chapter 9 verse 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?

41:52 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 John chapter 1 verse 1 John 1 1 this is how he's going to do it 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 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.

43:21 First John chapter one, 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've 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 you somehow thought this was some other event taking place. But God has pinned your ears to his truth tonight. And then finally, it's this.

44:20 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 14, verse 9. And the Lord shall be king over all the earth. Can you say amen to that? Don't you long for that?

44:44 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 Lord of hosts and to keep the feast of tabernacles. And it shall be that whichever one of the families of the earth. well 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, verse 23. Then the moon will be disgraced and the sun ashamed.

45:54 Why? For the Lord of hosts will reign on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem and before his elders gloriously. Man, we had a great future. Romans chapter 14, verse 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 chapter 1, verse 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.

47:19 Revelation 3.20. That's a good one. Psalm 24, verse 7 and 9. That's really great too. 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, and he sent them out and healed 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 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 did he say near? Because they got to accept the kingdom.

48:07 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.

48:35 By the way, you know what's awesome? I was talking to a rabbi on Monday night in L.A. The rabbi of Bel Air of all rabbis. It's just like hoity-toity. and 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, 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 of representing. I'm representing. I'm telling you guys, I'm just, I'm not even, 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?

49:41 I said, that's in Jeremiah 31. And he looked at me. I don't know if you've 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 note-taking. But you want to look at 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.

50:41 You know what that means? I had the wonderful opportunity before the USS Ronald Reagan, the great nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, was 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 2 o'clock in the morning.

51:07 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. 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. 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 thing that you can help you can help them with their life in the future 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 badder than you and the first day of school save the whole class when the bully stands up even though he's twice your height, twice your weight, just punch him in the nose.

52:07 And the whole rest of the year will be calm in his throat. Teddy Roosevelt said what? Walk softly and carry a big stick. Jesus is not going to have to say, I told you to go to your room. 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. Wars and conquests 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.

53:14 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 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, newsflash, you're going to experience more than just getting there. Thank you. he's listen the bible says he's going to open up for you a wide entrance into the kingdom whoa he's going to say to you well done how 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 flub this and we flub 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 this 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. And listen, I was hungry and nobody would feed me, but you fed me.

54:57 When did I do that? When this happened over there at that time. wow and then of course 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.

55:53 And you're going to see people running around you with their hair on fire, They're 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 this kingdom is not of this world. And you can have that kingdom right now in your life. You just ask them. is he on the throne of your heart in 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,

56:37 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 because his wife suddenly, they were out, was it Arizona? Bullhead City. And without warning, his wife died. See this? This is my point. Listen, where would you be? How long were you guys married? 35 years this September 1st. Where would you be losing your spouse after 35 years? Lee was here.

57:30 Listen, Lee was here on Sunday. We hugged, we cried, we kissed, we rejoiced. And when she died, and I was texting him, and he's texting exactly what he said a moment ago. he said my DD has gone to her promotion. She's rejoicing right now. She entered into where she always wanted to be.

58:01 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?

58:28 Listen, we have Jesus. And you can have him too. And he's been 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, Leah, sorry you lost your wife. He knows exactly where she is. Didi's up there right now probably saying, Lord, will you help Jack in this message? He's eight minutes over time. Father God, we praise you and thank you. Thank you, Lord, that yet again, you proved yourself awesome and faithful because you took Didi home.

59:05 And Lord, you'll take all of us who trust in you home one way or another. But 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 them in your own words and if you 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.