if you'll just on one petition this morning. Luke 11, one through four, here now. Let me stop for a second. Somebody asked me last week when I said here, is it H-E-R-E, like here, or is it here, like with your ear? And it is here with your ear, just to make things clear. Hear now the word of God. Now it came to pass, as he was praying in a certain place, when he ceased, that one of his disciples said to him, Lord, teach us to pray as John also taught his disciples. So he said to them, when you pray, say, our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth. as it is in heaven. Give us day by day our daily bread, and forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who is indebted to us. And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. Thus far the reading of God's word. Let's pray. Father in heaven, we do pray that through this instruction, we would know how to pray. So we do pray, Father, that as we look and read at your word, even the individual words that we see would be more deeply understood so that as we mouth these things, as we think of these things, they would be very broad in our minds and hearts, what we're talking about. And we do pray, Father, that since we come to you in Jesus' name, that you would hear and that we thank you for allowing us to participate in what you are doing. In his name we pray, amen. Speaking with one of my children recently, we pursued the subject of what makes a nation great. What makes a great nation is a good political system, the heart, of a great nation. We often speak, I think and rightfully so, of problems within the system. You know, we've got to change the system. I think that's something that should be observed and pursued. And the context of that type of discussion leads our minds to observable things, external things, which a nation might manufacture. Things like infrastructure, borders, laws, law enforcement. Guiding documents, a symbolic flag, all these things are part of a nation. But all of these things are mere eruptions of something happening at a deeper level. There's something else that this percolates and makes surface. Some have argued, I think with merit, that the system put into place by our founders founders of this nation, is one of, if not the greatest of all government systems. You know, I mean, some of you may agree or not agree. Maybe we could approach it this way. It's the worst system ever put into place, other than all the other systems. But John Adams, our second president, famously said, Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. Adams recognized the necessity of religious and moral citizens for any assemblance of public prosperity. And just so we understand what he meant by religious, and just to get the context here, virtually all, with maybe a couple of exceptions, of the 56 signers of the Declaration of Independence were members in good standing of Protestant churches, just so we understand kind of what he meant by that. But the simple point I'm trying to make here is that good founding documents were simply not enough. For example, we talk about a person who has the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. But that means very little if we can't agree on what constitutes a person. We need to agree on what a person is. That's really not defined in the document. We need to go deeper to understand what makes a person a person. It's worth noting that the Old Testament, the Old Covenant, has the most detailed system imaginable for the way God's church should be governed. I mean, if you start reading through Leviticus and Numbers and Deuteronomy, and he's giving all these rules on the way things are to function, you have a very detailed description of God saying, this is how I want my church to function. As a matter of fact, I've heard people say they regret that there is no Leviticus in the New Testament telling us how we should function as a church. Now, that doesn't mean that we should not make an effort to have a God-glorifying liturgy, or order of worship, or church government in new covenant churches. It's not as if the New Testament doesn't say anything. But it's not nearly as detailed as the Old Testament. In the Old Covenant, But the hearts of the people in the old covenant had grown cold. And the entire period, that old covenant period, ends with a curse and a promise of a new covenant. It was to those who had been given that perfect and elaborate Old Testament system that Jesus said, Therefore, I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken from you and given to a nation bearing the fruits of it. Matthew 21, 43. How are your hearts? How is the fruit? I don't see it. You've got this system, and the Pharisees, they had added to the system, and they made it even more elaborate than God had made it. They had more restrictions than God had restrictions. Yet in all of that, their hearts had grown cold, and they were bearing no fruit. All to say a system is not enough. Godliness is essential. I think I'd rather be part of a church that had a bad system with godly people. than a church that had a great system with rebellious people. We're now seeking God's wisdom regarding the second petition in the Lord's Prayer. Three words, very packed. Perhaps you noticed that I broke the catechism question into three questions because the larger Catechism 191 question on this petition in the Lord's Prayer is longer than the whole Lord's Prayer. So there's a lot being said in those three words, your kingdom come. Now we had mentioned last time that the first petition, the very first petition, the very first thing Jesus told us to pray was that the name of God be hallowed. And though what we have before us this morning is not the first petition, It is the most emphasized in all of scripture according to Jesus. Jesus mentions and preaches his kingdom more than any other topic in scripture. John the Baptist came preaching the kingdom. Jesus came preaching the kingdom. The Sermon on the Mount was all about the kingdom. The parables, the kingdom parables, are about the kingdom and on and on. Jesus goes so far as to say this, Luke 4, 43, I must preach the kingdom of God to other cities also. And then he explains why. Because for this purpose, I've been sent. I've been sent to preach the kingdom. So what is the kingdom of God? And what do we mean when we pray for it to come. And I, in my notes, I say pray and work because anything we pray for, we should be willing to work for. We're going to come in a moment to praying for our daily bread. When we pray for our daily bread, we should also be working for our daily bread. We might pray for God's name to be hallowed, but we are to make every effort to make sure his name is hallowed. Now there are times when all we can do is pray. There are times when we've come to the end of whatever we can do, and now we're just on our knees praying. But if we can do something, we should do something. And what is it we're praying for, and what is it we're doing when we talk about the advancement of God's kingdom? How would you know if your prayer was being answered when you pray this second petition? So before we can pray and work for its advancement, we must develop some idea of what it is that we're praying for. In what terms does the Bible speak about the kingdom of God? Let me just tell you. I mean, it's three words. Whole books have been written about it. So even though I'm going to spend the lion's share of the time talking about this, I'm still going to be a summary. In the Old Testament, The nation of Israel was the kingdom of God. But it was really more of a foreshadow of the kingdom of God. It was a type of the kingdom of God. It had prophets and priests and kings and sacrifices and battles that were all to instruct us about what the real kingdom of God would look like when it arrived, when the king came. But the actual establishment of God's kingdom was concurrent with the birth of the king. That's when the kingdom of God really begins. This is pointed to in the very famous Christmas passage that many of you will have on your lawns, perhaps, in the next few weeks. It's Isaiah 9, 6, and 7. And it speaks of, you'll see in it, the kingdom. It'll speak of the kingdom. For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given. and the government will be upon his shoulder, and his name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace, there will be no end, upon the throne of David and over his kingdom." Just so you understand what's going on here, David was a king, he sat upon the throne, but there was a promise that there would be another throne. that a descendant of David would sit upon, and that would be the eternal throne, that would be the throne in heaven. So Jesus sits upon that throne to order this kingdom, establish it with judgment and justice. From that time forward, even forever, the zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this. So you've got in the Old Testament the anticipation of the kingdom of Jesus sitting upon that throne. And this, when we get to the New Testament, was a much-anticipated event. They were waiting for it. They were looking for it. We read of Joseph of Arimathea that he himself was waiting for the kingdom of God. The entrance of Jesus into humanity and his works of power and redemption mark that period when the kingdom of God would move from being a foreshadow or a type into substance. as stated, it was taken from Israel and given to a nation bearing the fruits thereof. Numerous times we read that the kingdom of God was at hand. Kind of means close. Jesus made it quite clear that his presence meant the ushering in of this kingdom. We read in Matthew 12, 28, but if I cast out demons by the spirit of God, surely the kingdom of God has come upon you." Well, the natural reading of that, since he did do those supernatural things, that the kingdom of God has come. Now, I'm not always looking for a fight. I had an old roommate who's passed away now, but he was a pretty tough guy. And he would say, I'm not looking for a fight, but I'm not running away from one either. And so I just want to say here that when you read something like this, it's a strain on the text to suggest that the kingdom of God begins with some future millennium after the second coming of Christ. As some people hold, they will say, no, the kingdom starts when Jesus comes again. That's what he's going to sit upon the throne of David. But then it's pointed out to them, well, the text doesn't seem to say that. And I've heard people go so far as to say, well, there's two thrones. He sits on a spiritual throne now, but he actually sits on a political throne when he comes again. And I'm like, well, where do we see two thrones? That's what you call an eisegetic imposition upon the text. You are making it say what your theology wants it to say instead of allowing it to say what it says. It shouldn't be shocking for me to tell you that the king has come and with him his kingdom. Now in a moment, we'll get into the various components of the kingdom. But first, I want to touch on its growth and permeation. So before we get into what it actually is, I want to talk about what it's going to do. We learn these things in the kingdom parables, that the kingdom of God is like a mustard seed. So it starts small and it gets big. I can't help but think of a mural, and I couldn't find it online, when we were in Rome of the Roman Empire, you know, during the birth of Christ. And the Roman Empire was virtually all of continental Europe, into England, down to Egypt, over to Turkey. I mean, it was referred to as the whole world. And then it showed over the years how, you know, in 400 it became this, and in 600 that. And now the Roman Empire, is Rome. It's a dot. There really is no Roman Empire. But in contrast to that, the kingdom of God started as a dot, and now it's starting to cover the whole world. We see that just the opposite taking place. That's the mustard seed. But then some people want to relegate the kingdom of God to just certain categories, right? But Jesus says, no, it's like leaven. It's going to permeate the whole loaf. I'm no baker, but I get the idea that when you put leaven in a loaf, and it's been in there for a while, and I said, can you go take the leaven out, that you just can't do that because it's kind of systemic, right? It just gets into every last single thing. So what Jesus is saying is it starts small, it gets big, and it affects everything. And the Bible seems to indicate that even though the kingdom is not like other kingdoms, all the other kingdoms of the world will eventually be won over by that kingdom. We read in Revelation 11, 15, then the seventh angel sounded, and there were loud voices in heaven saying, the kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever. you know, the beginning of Revelation, before it gets into all the prophecy. And I preached all through it, so I'm not going to get back into it. I think most of it has already happened, not all of it, but most of it. But even before the prophecies begin, in the first century, Jesus, by John, is referred to as the ruler of the kings of the earth. So people would look at that and go, well, wait a minute. It doesn't seem like he's ruling a lot of nations. It doesn't seem like all the nations have bowed the knee to Christ. And let me tell you that there may be naysayers, and there may be those who practice mutiny against their king. But he is their king. I mean, I don't want a show of hands, but how many people think that Jesus is the king of kings? I said I didn't want a show of hands. So does that mean he's king of some kings? King of most kings? He's king of all kings. And so when the kings of this world refuse to bow the knee to Christ, they're in rebellion against their king. The father promised the son in Psalm 2, ask of me and I will give you the nations for your inheritance and the ends of the earth for your possession. Dr. Bonson, I remember, once quipped, in seeking to refute those who hold that Christ's kingdom has not begun, it is yet future, he would say, are we to assume that Jesus didn't ask? The Father says, ask of me, and Jesus is like, eh. Now, before we move on, some might object that all of this means that it is the efforts of man that advance the kingdom of God. What you're saying is what we believe Jesus is going to do when he comes again, you're going to say, we're doing it. Isn't that some kind of self-deification? Is that not kind of a works righteousness? The passage we read And from Isaiah, the zeal of the Lord will accomplish this. I would just challenge you to recognize this, that it is by the word and spirit of God, working through his people, his church, that advances the kingdom of God. Jesus has called us to go and make disciples of the nations. That's the advancement of the kingdom of God. Well, we've discussed the emphasis. This was a main topic from the lips of our Savior. We've discussed the growth of it. But still, what is it? Is it material? Does this kingdom have an army and physical weaponry? Is it immaterial? Is it entirely immaterial? Is it simply, as I heard one person arguing against Jesus currently reigning. It was a very popular Bible teacher. And she said, is Jesus reigning? I don't think so, but he reigns in my heart. Is that what it means? That he's not reigning, he's not the king of kings, but he's reigning in our hearts? I hope not, because half the time he's not reigning in my heart. I have to make an effort to sanctify Christ as Lord in my heart. So there's something richer than that, deeper than that, even though the kingdom of God is not of this world. But people kind of argue that we've got to keep it completely separate, the impact of the kingdom. And they're like, well, Jesus said my kingdom is not of this world. And I hear that. And it's a way of kind of going, it's just completely ethereal. Right? It's in the ether. But he never says his kingdom is not in this world. He says it's not of this world. And he certainly never says that his kingdom is not going to have an impact upon the world. It's just not generated from this world. You see, in one sense, the kingdom of God has a temporal and observable side to it. We learn in chapter 10, it could come near you. But in another sense, the kingdom of God is a very spiritual thing. It is within you. And it's something flesh and blood cannot inherit. So we are not to view the kingdom of God as merely spiritual or merely physical, but both. The leaven, it seems, just get everywhere. Although the blessings of this kingdom have, I would even argue, primarily a spiritual and eternal aspect to them, even though eternally we'll be in the flesh. I mean, we're going to have new resurrected bodies. But even though I think that is the primary emphasis, Jesus taught that the blessings and, by the way, trials of this kingdom would be found in history as well. When Peter was saying, look, we've left everything to follow you, what's in it for us? You're like, what's going to go on? Jesus answered in Luke 18, 29, assuredly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or parents or brothers or wife or children for the sake of the kingdom of God, who shall not receive many times more in this present time and in the age to come, eternal life." Now, however you want to read that, Jesus, in some level, is saying it's going to change here, and in there, you've got eternal life. It's not just one or the other. It's both. So what are we praying for when we pray for the advancement of God's kingdom. First I want to talk about the outward manifestation of the kingdom for which we are to pray, and then we'll get into the heart of it. The outward manifestation, in the same way a nation can be identified by its laws and its documents and citizens and outward, visible, tangible, palpable manifestations, That is primarily known materially in the church, where you are and what you're doing right now. The kingdom of God is revealed through Christian churches, local churches that together form the Holy Catholic Church. What is going on throughout the world today, for the most part, at this very moment, is an expression of the kingdom of God. These are institutions ordained by Christ where the king's law is preached, where the king's gospel is preached, where his sacraments are administered, where his praises are sung, and where his victories are proclaimed. the church might be compared to the nation's capital. As you walk through the nation's capital, you see copies of the original documents, you see memorials of the great victories, you see testimonials of its great leaders and so on. So if you go to Washington, D.C., you're getting an idea of what's going on in this country. These are all designed. There's a design to them. And they are designed to reveal, so through observable things, to reveal what's going on at the heart of the nation. And it's designed to inspire those who observe those things to walk in like manner, to become part of that great enterprise. So you go and you're going, OK, this is what this nation is about. That's what's going on in churches. You're looking around going, we're hearing the testimonials coming from the Word of God. We are participating in the sacraments. We're participating in this great eternal thing. And we are called to walk in that way. There has been a recent downplay of the importance of the local church. The value of the church has not always been viewed as so expendable. The Westminster Confession, written in the 1640s, teaches something quite astonishing about the church. I remember when I first read it, it was a head-scratcher. The visible church, what you are participating in right now, is the kingdom of the Lord Jesus Christ, the house and family of God, out of which there is no ordinary possibility of salvation. Now, before I dig into that, I just want to point out that, you know, when this was written, it was almost impossible to get a book. There was no radio, there were no podcasts, there was no internet. And so really, it was in a very practical sense, if you wanted to learn about the things of God, you had to walk to a church. But now, since we have Christian publishers and podcasts, and we have radio, we have televangelists, we can live as if the church is expendable. I don't really need the church. Why are you here listening to me? Don't you realize you can go to Sermon Audio, go home, and listen to Charles Spurgeon? You might go, well, he was a Baptist. Nonetheless, you could listen to the sermons of the greatest preachers in history. I want to make something clear here when we say this. It should be noted that this is not, when we talk about what we just read, it's not the totality of the kingdom of God. Chad Van Diksorn, I think, rightly explains that, quote, it would be a mistake to wouldn't equate the kingdom of God with the church. Not every reference to the kingdom of God is a reference to the church. His kingdom is bigger than the church, but it certainly includes the church. Just so we understand, because you might look at that and go, wait a minute, I think the kingdom of God goes further than the institutional church. And I would agree, we might view the church. A moment ago, I said like a capital. But maybe more biblically, as Christians, we are ambassadors for Christ, right? So we might view the church the way we would view an embassy. And in case you don't know, if you have an embassy in a foreign country, That embassy, the land that the embassy is on, belongs to the country that it represents. So if I was in a foreign land and I saw a US embassy, I could look at that and say, that's the United States. But it's not the totality of the United States. It is nonetheless the United States. Same thing with the church. We look at the church and we say, it is the kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ. It's not the totality of the kingdom, but it certainly is the kingdom. Clearly Christ ordained that there would be local churches. This shouldn't be shocking. The Bible teaches with pastors and elders and deacons and preaching and sacraments and church discipline. And by the way, you know, we just went through Chapter 30, the Westminster Confession and Sunday school. We don't get a giant turnout for that Sunday school. There's usually about 15 or 20 people in here. But one of our elders I had lunch with this week said, you should do that whole series on discipline over again and make sure people come. And I said, well, maybe we'll do it again. And if they don't come, we can discipline them. So anyways, I'm kind of mulling that over, because the Belgic Confession, chapter, I think, 37, I want to say, said that the three marks of a church, what makes a church a church is the right preaching of the word, the proper administration of the sacraments, and the exercise of church discipline when necessary. And I dare say, we might know the first two pretty well, but most people don't know the third at all. So we might do that again, which would save me some prep time. But you need to kind of show up for that. Anyways, moving right along, Christ did ordain this thing called the church. It's not a man-made institution. And the people in that church are responsible for the proper handling of the sacred message, which is the power of God unto salvation. I think we have to be leery of those who downplay or even despise the local church, for they are, in a certain sense, downplaying the kingdom of God. Now, don't get me wrong. I mean, I understand there are problems in the church. I've worked in the church for years and years and years. I've seen the problems. I've been part of the problems, right? You come in and you're like going, this church would be great if there were just no people in it. Right? But we've got to kind of recognize that it is the wrestling through all those difficulties. It's like, you know, the Bible compares it to a marriage, right? You've got difficulties in the marriage. You don't go, you know what? I'm not comfortable with the way you're talking to me. I'm out. Like you work through it. And not to get too far into this, but if you have the insight to know that things are bad, if you're that wise, if you've got that kind of acumen, you're the very person who needs to stay and make sure that we straighten things out, not head for the hills. We are to highly esteem Christ Church for that sacred message which God has entrusted by his spirit to his church, where the heart of the kingdom, and even as the confession says, is ordinarily accessed. So there are exceptions, right? There are people who come to Christ outside of the church, but we've kind of made that the rule instead of the exception. The word, my friends, and sacrament are the touchpoint between the mundane and the divine. In a minute, we're going to have the Lord's Supper, right? There are physical elements. You can touch them. You can smell them. You can taste them. But somehow, God is saying, I'm going to take these mundane things, and I'm going to have them consecrated. And when you participate, I'm going to reach out to you in a way that other things cannot. What are we praying for when we pray for the advancement of God's kingdom in this context with the idea of the church? We're praying for church buildings, or at least settings where congregations can gather together to see and hear. This is how we've been praying for Eli and Esme in Hawaii, right? We're praying that they're meeting in a park so they could meet in the morning. But you're going, OK, let's pray they can meet in the park. And I met with Eli, and he's like, yeah, I've got to fill out all these requirements. And I get some resistance. Matter of fact, I was just talking to another pastor last week, because church meets on the beach, same thing. You go down to City Hall, you've got to fill out these requirements. And you're praying that the city would have a charitable disposition. You're praying that if there are laws against it, those laws change. I mean, these are very, again, they seem to be mundane things, but they are the things that we pray for. We're praying for favorable legislation. We are praying for pastors. We're praying for evangelists who can be subsidized and be devoted full time to the ministry. We're praying for the planes and the trains and the buses. carrying those who would serve Christ as they seek to go different places. Do we not do that when somebody goes somewhere? Do we not pray that they will have a safe journey and things will go well? That's all included in thy kingdom come. We're praying for faithful members in the Christian church who are willing to serve one another, not just dart out when the church service is over. But in a deeper, This is deeper, yet still visible, observable sense. We are praying that churches and pastors hold fast to and contend earnestly for the faith which was once delivered to the saints. We are praying that they stay the course, that something else doesn't supplant the word of God, because it seems to be more necessary at that given moment in history We are to pray that the church maintain its purity and resist amalgamation and contamination from the world by which it is surrounded. That may sound easy, but it's not. Years ago, many years ago, like my second year, third year here, like 33 years ago, I was preaching through the revelation. And I got about four chapters into it before I realized I have no idea what I'm talking about. It's not an easy book to preach through. And so I decided, and the people I was studying, they weren't making sense to me. And they were all of a similar theological persuasion. I wasn't familiar with other people who had other views. And all I knew is what they're saying about what this verse says doesn't make sense to me. And so I was in the middle of a sermon, and I realized that. I quoted a guy. I had just quoted a guy that I didn't. And I gave it to all you, and most of you weren't here. And then I stopped, and I had to be honest. I go, to be honest with you, I don't see where this guy's quote relates to this passage at all. And everybody looked up, and I go, so I'm just going to go ahead and end the sermon halfway through. Sadly, nobody complained. But because I didn't understand something, because I was like, I don't get it, there was a person in our church who really took issue with that because they had a very firm eschatological position. And they didn't like that I had not figured this out. And he and his wife approached me. And he basically, well, she called me a blockhead. And I'm like, I may be a blockhead. I mean, that may be true. I just don't see it. And I'm not going to preach something I don't see. And then he started handing out little flyers that this church was a cult and I was a cult leader, simply because I didn't figure out a certain eschatology, which, by the way, now I really disagree with. So welcome to the cult. So I sat down with the elders, and only one of them is here, Mike. And I go, so-and-so has accused us of being a cult and of me being the cult leader. And everybody's upset and stuff. And my next question, I said, so how do we know that we're not? And everybody looked at me like, ooh, OK. Because I'm like, OK, we were not part of a denomination. We were called the Branch of Hope. And in the early 90s, there was a church called the Branch Davidians. So we're right next to them in the phone book. People started calling us the Branch Davidians. But it was through wrestling, because I'll tell you, it's not fun being called a cult leader. And it was through wrestling with that that our church kind of took, with all of our elders together, a direction that I think to be a good direction. We're not a perfect church, but we took a direction I thought was a good direction. It all came as a result of somebody seeking to dismantle our entire church. In its deepest consummation, again, this is an observable thing, when we pray for the advancement of God's kingdom, we are praying for the souls of men and women, that they would be among the number to whom Jesus says, come, you blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. So what's happening is words are being said, elements are being distributed. All of this stuff is observable, but it is through the observable things that God does the extraordinary things. And we need to be faithful in those observable things in order for God to utilize that and not go astray because we think we have a better way to do it than God does. The puzzling thing about this deepest aspect of God's kingdom, you know, this entering the kingdom of God, is that Jesus says it's impossible to enter. You know the story, right? The rich young ruler. And he was apparently a good guy. He did a lot of good stuff. But Jesus found the one thing. that he wasn't good at. Sell everything you have and follow me. And it made him really sad because he was really rich. And anyway, Jesus could pick out anything in any one of us. If we think we're that good, the Holy Spirit reveals in us our hurtful ways, right? We're not going to stand before God and go, look, I think I'm good enough. Jesus was pointing that out. And then he makes the comment about, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. I don't know if you've heard people talk about, well, there's a different eye of the needle, right? Where a camel could get on its knees and crawl. Has anybody ever heard this? Right, and crawl through and get through. So you gotta be on your knees and crawl through. But when Jesus comments on his own statement, because they ask, well, who then can be saved? He doesn't say, well, get on your knees and get through like the camel. He says, with man, it is impossible. But with God, all things are possible. Jesus is speaking to a mystified Nicodemus, right? Nicodemus, one of the leaders of Israel. He's confused. And Jesus answered him and said, Moses, surely I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. He's talking to this religious leader. He goes, you can't see it. You can't enter it unless you're born again. Nicodemus didn't know what he was talking about. How do I reenter my mother's womb? And then Jesus says something, and I have to get into the whole passage here. That seems really unsatisfactory. He says, it's like the wind. It blows wherever it will. I remember years ago, because the very first book I preached through here before Revelation was John, who also wrote Revelation. And I got to John chapter 3, and when I got there, I started after talking about you can't see, you can't enter. I started talking about all the things we need to do. I gave almost like a little tract talk. This is what we must do to enter the kingdom of God. And there was a pretty learned pastor in the room that came up to me. He goes, why don't you just stay with the text? Like you said that, and then you went off to your own explanation rather than staying with the text. And the text says the wind blows wherever it blows. And I'm like, OK, what does that even mean? What it means is the Holy Spirit is going to go and do things. You don't need to be the one who kind of closes the deal with this three-point thing on how you become a Christian. Because we all end up thinking that when we're told to be born again, that he's telling us to do something. That's not what the passage says. It's not telling you to do something. If it's telling us to do something, it's impossible for us to do it. We don't regenerate ourselves. We don't born again ourselves. God generates us. He regenerates us. He gives us the new spiritual birth from above. Don't get me wrong. We are called to believe that King Jesus died and rose again for us. We are called to believe it. We are called to walk in it. It is something we should do, but you need to know this. If you find a heart of faith within yourself, that, my friends, is a gift from God and the means by which he brings you into his eternal kingdom. Let's pray. Father in heaven, we do thank you that you've established your kingdom that you've sent your son, the king of kings, who rules and reigns and will forever reign. And even on this earth, he will reign until he's put all of his enemies, all that is evil. All that is antithetical to the things of Christ, antithetical to the things of God, and harmful to the human soul under His feet. And we do pray that we would be faithful, not only in praying for it, but working toward it. We pray in His name. Amen.