John 18

Consider the things this morning. Thank you for all those that shared. The messages were applicable to what we're going to look into this morning.

We've been following Jesus here in John 18. He has been betrayed by Judas, and then he went and stood before Caiaphas, the high priest. It's interesting that Jesus is our great high priest, and Caiaphas was troubled because Jesus was threatening his high priest position.

There was a lot of envy. People were following him in the masses, and so he goes and stands before Caiaphas, and then he stands, and we've been looking at him standing before Pilate. Pilate is a governor.

He is the civil ruler, king, and so Jesus will now stand before Pilate, but he himself, Jesus, is the king of kings. So not only is he our great high priest, he is also king of kings, and he will stand before Pilate. And these kings, you know how they are in our world today? They can be envious and jealous and want to hold on to their power.

You remember when Jesus was born, Herod back then, the king of that area, killed all the children from two years old and under because he was concerned about this child that was born king of the Jews. He was a threat to Herod, and so Herod took out all the lives of children from two years old and under to try to stop that threat. And so the Lord here stands before Pilate.

Why don't we do this to stretch a little bit? Let's stand, and I'll read here a few verses in John 18. We left off in verse number 32. We'll pick up in verse number 33.

John 18, verse 33, Then Pilate entered into the judgment hall again, and called Jesus, and said unto him, Art thou the king of the Jews? That's what he wants to know. Are you a king? Jesus answered him, Sayest thou this thing of thyself, or did others tell it thee of me? Pilate answered, Am I a Jew? Thine own nation and the chief priests have delivered thee unto me. What hast thou done? Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world.

If my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews. But now is my kingdom not from hence, or not from here. Pilate therefore said unto him, Art thou a king then? Jesus answered, Thou sayest that I am a king.

To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth. Every one that is of the truth heareth my voice. Pilate saith unto him, What is truth? And when he had said this, he went out again unto the Jews, and saith unto them, I find in him no fault at all.

Now we'll have another message before Pilate again next time, but let's cover these verses here this morning. And I want to have a song, just a simple song, and we'll have a word of prayer. Let's sing.

Be still and know that I am God. Be still and know that I am God. Be still and know that I am, I am the Lord that healeth thee.

I am the Lord that healeth thee. I am the Lord that healeth thee. Heavenly Father, we again acknowledge you in all of our ways, Lord, and your Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, whom we desire to love more and to worship and to serve.

And Lord, may the Word of God be alive to our hearts, and may the Spirit of God quicken us. Lord, we need your help. So we acknowledge you in all of our ways that you might direct our paths, direct my heart, and direct those hearts who are listening.

They might receive the Word of God to their own edification. Lord, we pray in Jesus' name. Amen.

You can be seated. Well, Pilate's concern as Jesus stands before him is, are you a king? Are you a king? That can be a threat to someone who's in authority. And it may have been a threat to Pilate, although he doesn't seem to be too rattled about the Lord Jesus.

I think he's more rattled about delivering up an innocent man. He's going to wash his hands here a little later on and say, I am free from the blood of this just man. And so he doesn't seem to be too rattled about the king, although he's asking about, are you a king? Here you have a man standing before you who is basically with no one.

He's been forsaken by his disciples and the masses. He has had a night without sleep. He has probably suffered some beatings.

If you remember, the servant of Caiaphas had beaten him with the palm of his hand. He probably doesn't look like someone that's very threatening. He even says here, he's not going to fight.

My kingdom is not of this world. My servants are not going to fight. And so probably Pilate's at ease with this one individual who claims to be a king.

And so Pilate asks him, are you a king? And Jesus responds with some words about his kingdom. And yes, he is a king. But I'd like to talk to you this morning.

This is, I believe, a very important concept. And oftentimes, I think we understand the practical aspects of the kingdom of God. Many people, when they read these verses, say, well, we don't vote.

And we don't take part in the military and these kind of things. But I really like to get down to the bottom of the motivation. What is really the kingdom of God? And how do we get motivation from these things? And so I'd like to look at that this morning while we have the time.

What is the kingdom of God? It's sometimes referred to in the Bible, these phrases are tossed back and forth, the kingdom of heaven. And I will say this, if you live in the kingdom of God, as a good citizen, it will seem like heaven to you. Paul said this, the kingdom of God is not meat and drink, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Ghost.

And so I know that we all want that. There's a craving in our hearts to have righteousness, right living, to have peace with God, to have joy in our hearts. I mean, you could offer me gold and silver and precious stones.

I'd rather have righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Ghost. I mean, that's at the foundation of everything that we desire and what we want. And so the kingdom of God, what is the kingdom of God? I want to explain to you the whole idea of Jesus, His being a king and the kingdom of God and help you to understand why it's very important, if you're not in the kingdom of God, to get in the kingdom of God and also why it's important to live as a good citizen in God's kingdom.

I want you to turn a few verses today, so follow along with me. I want you to go back to Genesis chapter 1. And I want to go to the very beginning. I like to go to the very start.

There's a law of first mention I've mentioned many times here, but you want to understand about the kingdom of God. You go back to Genesis chapter 1 and you look at how God established things at the very beginning. I'm going to start reading in verse number 26.

And God said, Let us make man in our image after our likeness and let them, man and woman, have dominion. And that word dominion simply means to have rule or to be the authority or the king. Let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the fowl of the air and over the cattle and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.

So God created man in his own image. In the image of God created him, male and female, created he them and God blessed them. And God said unto them, Be fruitful and multiply and replenish the earth and subdue it and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the fowl of the air and over every living thing that moves upon the face of the earth.

And so here is God originally giving dominion over the entire planet. God gave man kingship. He set him as the ruler.

And here is where originally where Utopia, Paradise it was called, right here is Paradise. God is the authority. Man is under God's authority.

And then creation under Him. So that was Paradise. God was the supreme authority.

Man was given dominion over the earth. Man ruled under the authority of God over all of the creation. And man had a paradise.

It was a wonderful situation. But as we know it, we won't take the time to go into this. It's common knowledge for most of you.

Satan entered into the garden there in the Paradise and he destroyed or he tempted Adam and Eve and they fell into sin. And because they fell, and I'll explain this in a minute, they lost dominion. They lost dominion over the kingdom that God had given them.

They lost the rule that God had given them. And here is a principle. Young people remember this principle, even us older ones, but especially young people.

If in order for you to have authority, man over creation, you have to be under authority. You have to be under authority. And so as man is under authority, man can be given authority.

And so if you're not willing to be under authority, don't plan on you getting authority. You know, one of the beautiful things you see in life is young men and young ladies who are willing to be under authority, who learn to submit to authority with a joyful heart. Those are the kind of people that are going to be in authority someday and God will put them in a place of authority.

And so here was Adam and Eve. Adam and Eve rebelled against their authority. When they rebelled against God and sinned against God, they lost their authority.

And they became slaves to another authority. And so what happened? Man lost his authority. He became a rebellious individual and he fell into sin.

And it wasn't long, Genesis 6, you don't read very far, that the whole earth is now corrupt. Man is corrupting the planet and God comes with a flood and He destroys man and every creature that God has made here and basically wipes out everyone except for Noah and his family that found grace in his sight. And so things changed.

And here's what happened. Instead of it being this way, something happened. Satan actually took over the authority.

I'll explain that in a minute. Satan became the one with dominion. That's what happened in the fall of man.

The devil took dominion. The Bible calls those who are lost children of who? The devil. They're children of the devil.

This is an amazing thing to find in your New Testament. Satan is called the God of this world. In paradise, God was the God of this world.

In the fall of man, Satan is called little g, the God of this world. He has dominion over this world and there's a reason why he has dominion because man has given him that dominion. And we'll see that here in just a minute.

Colossians 1.13 says, God has delivered us from the power, the authority of darkness, and has translated us into the kingdom of His dear Son. Those who are in this dominion, if you get converted, we'll talk about that here in a little bit, the Lord will deliver you out of this dominion and bring you back into this dominion, into the kingdom of His dear Son. Jesus said this, You are of your father the devil, and the lust of your father ye will do.

What is a father? A father has authority. A father is one who rules his house. You have a ruler and your ruler, your father is the devil and the lust of your father.

He's talking about this. Man is under the authority of a father. He is a child of the devil.

And if you're sitting here today and you've not been truly born again, I want you to know this, you're a child of the devil. I don't care what family you're in. You're a child of the devil and the devil is your father.

Not a good situation to be in. Well, He's called the God of this world. And God's rule.

John 8.34, Jesus calls unconverted people slaves to sin. Slaves to sin. And so lost people are in this condition over here.

Because of the fall of man, Adam and Eve, that dominion that man was given. Beautiful place to live. We don't even understand what it was like.

I mean, I am under the authority of God. I do everything that pleases Him. And then the world is under my feet.

I'm in a great place. I have authority and I'm under authority. But now in the fall of man, things fell apart.

And I thought about a drug dealer. And you know, in this world, drug dealers, they control people. This is what the devil does to humanity.

Because people need drugs, because they become addicted to a drug, a drug dealer can have dominion over that person. And lead that person around, get that person to do incredibly wicked things. Just even though that person says, I don't want to do this maybe, the drug dealer controls them because they need the drug.

They're addicted. They're a slave to the drug dealer because the drug dealer has the drugs. And so they've been brought under the control of someone else.

And that's exactly what has happened to humanity. We've been brought under the control of someone else, the devil. We are a slave to sin.

Some people are a slave to alcohol. Some people are a slave to pornography. Some people are a slave to bitterness.

Some people are a slave to anger. I mean, unconverted people are slaves to sin. They're under a master.

And it was never intended to be that way. It was only because of the fall of man. And so man's fall put him under the dominion of sin.

Therefore, he is under the dominion of the devil. Something else that happened too, and Brother John was reading a little bit this morning, but not only are you under the dominion of sin, devil holds you in that dominion, but you're also under the dominion of the fear of death. The fear of death.

And those two things are a very dreadful condition to be under. I want to read to you what Jesus did. We're going to get to this here in just a little bit.

But in Hebrews chapter two, it says, for as much then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is the devil, and deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. What happened in the fall of man is two things. That Satan became the master of the sinner.

He was the ruler. He had dominion over the sinner and he could bring the sinner into temptation and cause the sinner to be a slave to sin. But he also dangled out the thought that your sin is going to send you to hell.

And boy, what a condition that is. Paul talked about it in Romans 7. A wretched condition. I have no power.

I'm being held in sway by the devil, his temptation, my sinful nature, and this sin that I'm committing on a day-to-day basis is going to send me to a devil's hell. What a condition to live in and there's no way I can get out of this condition. Dennis mentioned darkness this morning.

It's dark. There may be some people here who are in that darkness. And you know, you don't have the power in yourself to overcome this dominion that the devil has over you.

He brings the temptation and you follow. So it's a hard place to be because every time you fall, you dig a deeper ditch for the eternity that you're going to spend in hell. I mean, your reward in hell is worse and worse.

So Paul says, oh wretched man that I am. It's a horrible condition. This is a horrible kingdom to be a part of.

But then I want to give you some good words here. Jesus said, if the Son of Man shall set you free, you shall be free indeed. So the fall of man brought this condition.

Man lost his dominion and he's come under the dominion of the devil who is the god of this world. I don't know if some of you are not converted here this morning. Just stop and think about that, you know.

Who's your god? I'll tell you who your god is. It's the devil. He's the god of this world.

If the Lord Jesus is not your god and not your Savior, then the enemy of your soul is your god. Look back to Genesis. Let's keep reading here.

I'm just going to walk through this a little bit. Genesis chapter three. God here prophesies.

He tells Adam and Eve right after the fall that something's going to happen and it's going to help you to be delivered. In Genesis three, verse 14, and the Lord God said unto the serpent, because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle and above every beast of the field. Upon thy bellows shalt thou go and thus shalt thou eat all the days of thy life.

And here's the first prophetic utterance that we get after the fall. And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed. It shall bruise thy head and thou shalt bruise his heels.

Talking here about enmity between the serpent or the devil and the woman, the seed of the woman, that God was promising that out of the seed of the woman, out of humanity will come someone who will bruise the serpent's head, even though that serpent's going to bruise his heel. Now I don't know about, I looked up the word bruise this morning. It means to break.

And so God is saying here right after the fall, out of a woman is going to come a deliverer, a deliverer that is going to step on your head, serpent, and gonna break your head, but you, serpent, are gonna bruise or break his heel. One of the elders we had here 10 or 15 years ago, well, some of you, Caleb, Joe Thompson. Remember the day he was up 10, 15 feet getting some chicken cages or chicken boxes, gonna haul some chickens at some place.

I don't know where he was. And he slipped and fell and came down right on the heel and crushed his heel. He was laid up six months.

He crushed his heel. Well, I'll tell you what, it's much better to crush your heel than crush your head. You break your head, you crush your head, you're dead.

And so here God says, you lost the kingdom. You've lost dominion, Adam and Eve, but I'm gonna send you some deliverance. There's gonna be a son, a child born from the seed of the woman, and that child is going to crush the serpent's head, even though that child's gonna have his heel crushed.

There's gonna be a very painful experience. So God is trying to resolve this problem that man has got himself into. God is promising here to send a deliverer from the seed of the woman, one who would take back this dominion for man and free him from Satan's power.

That's why we're told that Jesus is the Son of Man. He comes forth from the woman, born of the woman. Therefore, He is given this title, the Son of Man.

Now turn a little bit further on. Let's look at 2 Samuel 7. 2 Samuel 7. And I know I'm running a little late, but just bear with me here this morning. 2 Samuel 7. I wanna start reading in verse number 12 because the Lord is gonna give us a little bit more hint as to who this child or this young man will be.

In 2 Samuel 7, verse 12, God is making a promise to David. And when thy days be fulfilled and thou shalt sleep with thy fathers, I will set up thy seed after thee which shall proceed out of thy bowels. I will establish his kingdom.

He shall build a house for my name and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. Now God is promising here through David that out of the seed of David, God would raise up this Messiah, this King, that would establish a kingdom again and take it from the devil and establish the kingdom forever. That's why not only is Jesus called the Son of Man, He's called the Son of David.

Remember those blind men beside the road? Jesus, thou Son of David, have mercy upon us. You know, the Israelites were looking for a man born of a woman. That's the prophecy in Genesis 3. But they also were told He's not only be just a man, He's gonna come out of the house of David.

And of course, that's why Matthew chapter 1 has the genealogies and Luke has the genealogies to show you that David and also Abraham is where Jesus came, the lineage. So this Messiah, this King, this Deliverer would be a man and also He would come from the lineage of David. Now the Jews, and you see this as we go through the Bible, the Jews and all of humanity for that matter.

Who was it that read this morning? That was Brother John, I think, that those babes whom the Lord has revealed. Well, you can be thankful this morning that God has revealed to you something. Here's what He's revealed to you.

You know, those Jews and all of humanity have failed to see the significance of this kingdom, this kingdom that God is gonna restore, that man lost when he sinned in the garden. And unfortunately, humanity and the Jewish people were looking for temporal kingdoms, were looking for political kingdoms, but they were missing the big picture, I could say it this way. They were missing there's something far bigger than Rome and the United States and Russia and China and all these political kingdoms.

There is a bigger and more important kingdom. And that's why here in John 18, Jesus makes this statement, my kingdom is not of this world. My kingdom is not of this world.

You see, in God's heart, He's concerned about this issue right here. Man has lost his dominion and I'm gonna get that dominion back from the devil, but it's gonna cost me. And so the Lord sends His Messiah through the seed of the woman, through the seed of David.

And of course, we have the Lord Jesus. We don't have to go into the story, but you remember Joseph and Mary, they were at the house of David and they went back to be taxed and Jesus was born. Of course, the attempt to kill Him in a very early on in life.

And I don't wanna go through all that story for sake of time, but Jesus is this seed of the woman, this seed of David. And so Jesus before Pilate says, my kingdom is not political. My kingdom is not about boundaries here on this earth.

My kingdom is not about temporal things. My kingdom is not of this world. I hear people say we shouldn't get involved in politics or we shouldn't get involved in fighting armies back and forth.

And I agree with that because we have a much bigger concern. It's not about the US and China. It's not about the US and Russia because in a hundred years, 200 years, these kingdoms will collapse.

You're fighting something that is temporal. It's not gonna be around forever. But the real issue for us is the kingdom of darkness and the kingdom of light because those kingdoms are gonna go on forever.

And you need to align yourself with the proper kingdom. America could fall in a week or two. I don't know what's gonna happen politically.

All nations that have been brought forth throughout history have come to the end, but the kingdom of God is gonna stand forever. And you better make sure you're a part of the kingdom that stands forever. And so while we look at all these temporal kingdoms, we talk about President Trump, we talk about China and Russia, always remember behind the scenes, there's spiritual realities and there's a kingdom of God and a kingdom of Satan.

And you need to align yourself properly. So I don't get all excited about these political things and these government things. You know where the real battle is? It's not in voting.

The real battle is in soul winning. That's where the battle is. That's where people are delivered from one kingdom into another.

The gospel of Jesus Christ is that weapon that you ought to use and help people to get in the right kingdom. I go to these campuses, you know, and they say, don't you vote? I say, yeah, I vote every day. Every day I'm out here preaching you the gospel.

That's my vote. That's my influence. I'm here for eternal kingdoms, not temporal kingdoms.

That's why the Bible says he that wins souls is wise, not he that works for political parties. If you're wise, you'll invest your time into eternal things, dealing with the kingdom of God. If you're not wise, you'll pour your money and effort into something that's gonna burn anyway.

Let's go back to John 18 and I'm gonna pick up here with this situation as Jesus is speaking here before Pilate. He says in John 18, verse 37, Pilate therefore said unto him, art thou a king then? Jesus answered, thou sayest that I am a king. To this end was I born.

For this cause came I into the world that I should bear witness unto the truth. Everyone that is of the truth heareth my voice. I was born, Jesus said, to be a king.

I was born. I was born to be a king. That's why those wise men were wise.

We call them wise men because they came when Jesus was two years old. How many wise men? I don't know. But they came and they offered gold.

That's his kingship. Frankincense and myrrh, they were wise enough to understand that this king, in order to restore dominion to humanity, is gonna have to die. You're gonna have to die.

You're a king, yes, you're born a king, but you're gonna have to die. There's the frankincense and myrrh for your death. And here's the gold because you're born a king.

You know, in Noah's day, I thought about Noah's day. All that mattered in Noah's day was whether he got in the boat or not. You know, when the flood came, that's all that mattered.

Didn't matter who won the mayor's election the week before. Didn't matter what countries. I don't know how they had countries back then.

All that stuff didn't matter. Ultimately, when the judgment came upon Noah's world, only thing that mattered was whether or not you're in the boat. And ultimately, when Jesus Christ appears, or may I say it this way, when you tick your last heartbeat and you die on your deathbed as you're going out, it won't matter who the president is.

It won't matter whose party is leading the House of Representatives. All that'll matter to you at that moment is, am I going to heaven or hell? Am I a part of the kingdom of God or the kingdom of darkness? That's all that's gonna matter. So Jesus here, what's happening is this.

Jesus is standing before Pilate, and Pilate is concerned about the temporal world, temporal kingdoms. And yet Jesus is talking to him at a different level. He says, I've come to this world to deal with a kingdom.

And my kingdom is not about this world. It's not about temporal things. It's not about national boundaries.

It's not about Rome. It's not about the Jews. It's about the kingdoms of God and the kingdoms of the devil.

So I was born a king, and I've come to deliver. Well, one of the things that the Jews struggled with, and we've talked about this in the past, especially when we went to the Book of Mark, is they couldn't see this at all. They wanted a political king.

They wanted someone to take over the Roman Empire and free them from the taxation and the bondage of the Romans. But Jesus was not there for that purpose. They couldn't get that in their heads.

They couldn't see it. And so let me encourage you in this here, before we go on here, that soul winning, soul winning is the real action. That's where the real action is.

It's not out there on the military field fighting and shooting bullets. It's not here in the political process, counting votes and recounting and trying to get our guy into the office. The real action, the real war is out contesting for the souls of men.

That's where the battle is. You go out and start contesting for that, you'll find yourself in a fight with the devil. Well, Jesus says, for this reason, I was born into the world.

I came into the world to take back what man lost through sin, to establish a new kingdom. The kingdom of God. And so in order to do that, to establish His kingdom, sin and Satan must be addressed.

He must address sin and Satan. That's why He's not concerned about political agendas. He's not concerned about who's in authority in Rome.

He doesn't think about that at all. What He's concerned about is spiritual agendas. And I saw that video of Jackson there.

And one thing I'd like to change down there, Jackson, is instead of having that flag up there with the America, I'd rather see the cross up there, amen? I mean, that's where the allegiance is. The allegiance ought to be towards the cross because that's the kingdom that far exceeds the kingdoms of this world. Jesus said, I am come to seek and to save that which is lost.

And we're going to see this. Boy, this makes a lot of sense now. As My Father has sent Me, even so send I You.

Here's where the battle is. My Father sent Me down here to deal with the sin issue, to deal with the hell issue, the death issue. And now, I want to send You to do the same.

And so in many ways, the Great Commission is our battle cry and purpose. I think churches get way offline and they start focusing on the insignificant things about, you know, like it was shared this morning, how many buttons you have on your shirt. The buttons are going to burn.

The shirt's going to burn. But the souls of men are going to live forever. And it's the Gospel of Jesus Christ that delivers men's souls.

And that's why we read up there, this Gospel of the kingdom must be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations. And then shall the end come. Judgment is coming.

And once the end comes or you die, you're in a kingdom forever. You're either in the devil's kingdom or you're in the kingdom of God. Well, the songwriters said it this way, onward Christian soldiers marching as to war with the cross of Jesus going on before.

I like that. And so in order to get us out of Satan's kingdom and into the kingdom of God, two things must be addressed. And you know these two things.

First of all, we need deliverance from this tyrant. We need deliverance from the power of sin and Satan. We cannot be a slave anymore to sin and to our passion.

And we also need to be delivered from the fear of death. Because that's where the devil has a hook in people. And so Jesus came and that's what He came to do, to deliver you from the power of sin and from the fear of death.

Giving you the Spirit of God. Amen. To deliver you from sin's passion and power and to give you the forgiveness of all your sin so that you no longer have to fear death.

The Bible says in Colossians, He's forgiven you all trespasses. Blotting out the handwriting which is against you and nailed it to the cross. Everything's gone.

So you no longer have to fear death. You no longer have to be a slave to sin. As Brother John mentioned, walk in the Spirit.

And you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. And so the Gospel of Jesus Christ is our message of deliverance. In verse 36 here of John 18, Jesus said, My kingdom is not of this world.

If My kingdom were of this world, then would My servants fight that I should not be delivered to the Jews? But now is My kingdom not from hence. I just want to mention here that word now. You know, there is coming a day when Jesus is going to fight.

As a matter of fact, Revelation 19 says He's coming with an army on white horses. And a sword goes out of His mouth. It says that He's going to slay the rebels.

He's going to slay humanity. And yes, He is coming to fight. But in the meantime, My kingdom is not of this world.

Some of you have been studying there on Saturday morning. We realize that God's kingdom has a fulfillment, a physical side of it when Jesus returns and He bears rule with a rod. And so the Lord will bring judgment upon this world in the end.

Then shall the end come. And so Jesus came to this world. He says, I was born a king.

I was born to bring in a kingdom. And that is why I'm here. But it's not of this world.

It's a bigger kingdom, Pilate. And I wish you, Pilate, would be a part of it. Let me just ask a question before we go on.

I have a few more things I'd like to talk about. Are you in the kingdom of God this morning? Are you in the kingdom of God? Do you or have you been delivered from sin's mastery? You know, that's what happens when people get truly converted. They get free.

They get free. Now, that doesn't mean that you're perfect. The Bible says if we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves.

We do have a process of sanctification, but you ought to, when you met Jesus, have been set free from a lot of the issues of your life because God's Spirit is in you. Let me ask you this. Are you delivered from the fear of death? That's the will of God.

You know, the kingdom of God is not meat and drink, but righteousness. That means right living. Peace.

That means I don't care when I die. I'm in the Lord's hands. And that brings joy.

And so our life ought to be filled with righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost. I want to look at a couple passages here quickly that pertain to the kingdom. There's a lot of them.

And you can look at all of these, but they all have to do with the Lord restoring dominion, taking it from the devil, and giving it back to man. You know, it's a wonderful thing to have dominion in your life. To be able to call the shots and not have the devil call the shots for you.

You know, you talk to the alcoholic. I've talked to many. You talk to the drug addict.

He is a slave. You talk to the man who's struggling with anger. Or you talk to the man who's in pornography.

He doesn't control his life anymore. She doesn't control her life anymore. She's under the dominion of someone else.

It's not the will of God. Mark 1. Let's go back there. Look at Mark 1. We're talking about the kingdom of God here and Jesus' testimony before Pilate.

In Mark 1, starting in verse 14, I'd like to read two verses. Now, after that, John was put in prison. Jesus came into the Galilee preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God.

Here's what Jesus preached. Good news! The kingdom of God is at hand. Look what He says in verse 15.

And saying, the time is fulfilled and the kingdom of God is at hand, repent ye and believe the gospel. In other words, Jesus was coming and saying, I'm going to establish a kingdom. I'm going to in three years, He didn't say it that way, but I'm going to in three years die.

I'm going to pay for sin. I'm going to be raised. I'm going to sit at the right hand of God and I'm going to send the Holy Spirit to give you the power to no longer be mastered by sin.

And you can have your sins forgiven. The kingdom of God is at hand in three years. It's going to happen.

After my death, and then He tells them, here's how you get in. Verse 15, the time is fulfilled. The kingdom of God is at hand.

Repent ye and believe the gospel. And if we had a door up here and it said entrance into the kingdom, there would be two words on the outside, qualifiers, repent ye and believe the gospel. I like to hear testimonies where there's repentance and faith in the gospel.

When someone acknowledges, you know, I'm a sinner and I'm in bondage. I'm under a master and I'm heading to hell. And I'm sorry, I don't want to be this way.

I repent. I want change. Amen? That ought to be in the heart.

Repent. I don't want to live this life this way anymore. I'm done.

And believe the gospel. You know, you have to have that gospel. I see that Jesus died on the cross for my sins.

The gospel is the good news that my sins are paid for through the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. And so when someone comes and repents or turns in their heart from their sin, it doesn't mean you have to be perfect for a month. It's just an attitude of the heart.

I am sorry, Lord, I'm a sinner. I hate my sin. I don't want it anymore.

I turn in my heart away from it. God, deliver me. And then I put my faith in the gospel.

That's like gas and a match. Those two, when they come together, boom! Repent and believe the gospel. Luke 17.

Jump over to Luke 17. Just a couple more. Luke 17.

Verse 20. Luke 17, verse 20. And when he was demanded of the Pharisees when the kingdom of God should come, he answered them and said, the kingdom of God cometh not with observation.

Neither shall they say, lo here or lo there, for behold, the kingdom of God is within you. Now, Jesus is talking about the kingdom of God is coming. It's near.

And the Pharisees are saying, you know, how is it going to come? When are we going to see it? Like, are you going to overthrow the Romans? Are there going to be a bunch of horses and military people? And the Lord says, no, it's not going to be that way. It's not going to be something visible. It's going to occur on the inside of a man.

It's going to bring deliverance from the power of sin. It's going to bring freedom from the fear of death. It's something that's going to happen on the inside.

It does not come by observation. You know, Pilate was looking for the overthrow of the government. But Jesus was looking to overthrow Satan's power over humanity.

And that always starts on the inside. That's the kingdom of God. It's on the inside of a man.

And you can have a lot of religion and be outside the kingdom. We're going to see in this last verse a man by the name of Nicodemus who had a lot of religion. He looked really, really good.

He was a leader of the Pharisees. And yet, he was outside the kingdom. I won't have you turn there, but I'm going to read in Luke 1. This is a prophecy.

Just listen as I read it. This is Zacharias. He's filled with the Holy Ghost.

And he basically says what I've been sharing with you the last 45 minutes in his prophecy. It says this, And his father Zacharias was filled with the Holy Ghost and prophesied saying, Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for He has visited and redeemed His people and has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of His servant David. As He spake by the mouth of His holy prophets which have been since the world began.

They've been talking about this since the world began. That we should be saved from our enemies and from the hand of all that hate us. Now most people thought, well, that's the Romans.

No, it isn't the Romans. It's the devil and his demonic beings that want to destroy us. To perform the mercy promised to our fathers and to remember His holy covenant, the oath which He swore to our father Abraham that he would grant unto us, that being delivered out of the hand of our enemies might serve Him without fear.

That's what he wants us to do. Serve Him, not the devil, without fear, the fear of death, in holiness and righteousness before Him all the days of our life. That's what Zacharias said about Jesus.

That's what He's going to do. He's going to bring in the kingdom and destroy your enemies spiritually and give you power and peace. Well, let me look at one more verse, a very familiar one, and then we'll close here.

In John 3, Nicodemus, let's read here in John 3, verse 1, There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. The same came to Jesus by night and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God, for no man can do these miracles that thou doest except God be with him. And Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.

And so we oftentimes quote that verse. But every human being who is outside of Christ is over here under the dominion of Satan, under the fear of death. Their life is in sin and they're going to hell.

And it doesn't matter what religious cloth you put on the outside of them. It doesn't matter what works they're doing. The question is whether or not internally they are in the kingdom of God.

You cannot see, Nicodemus, the kingdom of God except you're born again. And this idea of being born again is repenting and believing the gospel. Being born of the spirit of God.

Being born again. And so I just want to close this morning with asking that simple question. Are you in the kingdom? Are you born of the spirit? Colossians chapter 1, 13 says, he has translated us out of the power of darkness into the kingdom of his dear son.

Has that happened to you? You've been taken out of the power of darkness and into the kingdom of his dear son. You don't have to turn. I'm going to read to you just real quick here how to be a good citizen in the kingdom.

Peter says this in 1 Peter 2, but you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people, that you should show forth the praises of him who has called you out of darkness into his marvelous light, which in time past were not a people, but are now the people of God. You were not a people, but now you're the people of God, which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy. Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims.

This is not our world here. We have another kingdom. Abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul.

You know, I don't know why God did this. I wish he wouldn't have done it. But he saved my soul, but he left me in this vile body.

Wouldn't it be great if when you get saved, you'd have got a new body? No temptation. Here I am, this vile body, and oftentimes I think to myself, just like Paul did in Romans 7, when I would do good, evil is present with me. You ever felt that? Lord, I go to pray, and I want to do good, and I want to lift up my heart to the Lord, and right beside me is this evil.

It's the devil. No, it's probably my vile body just warring against my mind and trying to get me to do things or think things that are out of bounds. Maybe I'm the only one that has that problem here.

And so the Lord left us here in this body, and we're waiting for His return or our resurrection that we may get a new body. But we have to deal with it. Don't think it's strange that inside of you, you have a redeemed soul, but you have temptations that come to you like, wow, what is this? By the way, it was the Apostle Paul who said, he's looking forward to being delivered from this vile body.

Paul didn't walk around in some angelic body, by the way. He had a vile one too. He said, this body of mine, it's not good.

There's only one thing you're supposed to do to that body, and that's put it to death. There's no you trying to get the body to be any better. It is bad news.

It says here, dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul. That's going to happen. It's happening all the time.

It's warring. Having your conversation honest among the Gentiles, the way you live amongst the rest of the world, that whereas they speak against you as evil doers, they may by your good works, which they shall behold, glorify God in the day of visitation. That's how to be a good citizen of the kingdom.

In the day of visitation, when the Lord comes, that the people out there in the world, in your communities, the lost people say, you know that Cleves Rock guy? Have nothing evil to say about it. You know those people over there at Remnant Christian Fellowship, those Christians who say they live in this kingdom, have nothing evil to say about them. I mean, I listen to them talk.

They don't curse. They don't swear. They don't drink.

They don't chew tobacco. They dress modestly. I have nothing to say evil about them.

And the Lord's going to say, good. Good. Those are my people.

I've extended mercy to them. And so not only am I supposed to be blameless, it's a good thing for all of us to be blameless. Amen? So that means you ought to pay your debts.

You ought to pay your taxes. You ought to, uh-oh, you ought to obey the speed limit. I don't think it's a good testimony for the Lord if the Gentiles come driving by and see me sitting in my car with the policeman and the lights there back flashing behind me.

I say, yes, sir, I went 80. Yes, sir, I did. It just doesn't help the testimony of the Lord.

Would you agree with that? So let's be good citizens. And if you're not born again, you need to get outside of that satanic kingdom and into the kingdom of God. You do so by repenting and believing the gospel.

And we'd welcome you if you're not into the kingdom. We'd welcome you today. We'd actually throw a party for you.

We'd rejoice. Get out of that kingdom. Because if you die in that kingdom, you're going to forever be in the kingdom of darkness.

So let's consider those things. And so the Lord Jesus, He came. He stood before a pile and He says, My kingdom is not of this world.

I was born a king. I've come to this world. I'm establishing a kingdom to set my people free.

And just in closing, some of you have been studying prophecy. In the book of Daniel, Daniel saw this dream where he saw a mountain and stone was hewn out of that mountain without hands. That stone came down and crushed all the earthly kingdoms.

And it said of that kingdom, that the stone started that this kingdom spread throughout the whole earth. And it stood, how long? Forever. Forever.

And so I want to be a part of that kingdom that stands forever. So you say, Brother Jerry, why don't you get involved in politics? Oh, there's something far more important to get involved in. Soul winning, building the church, getting people converted, getting them inside the boat before we hear some drops, right? And the door shuts.

Let's close with prayer. Heavenly Father.