to participate in that, be hearing good voice, ready to sing. Now please open your Bibles to John chapter 18. John chapter 18. We are in the process of expounding this wonderful gospel and we are in this 18th chapter, we have seen so far the arrest of Jesus, given to us in verses 1 through 11. Here we saw the Lord Jesus Christ as the submissive son. The cup which my father has given me shall I not drink it, he says. Here we see him as the supreme sovereign. He speaks and his accusers and would-be arresters are cast to the ground. Here we see him as the sympathetic saviour who is concerned for the plight of his disciples and enables them to escape. And then we also considered last Sunday morning the denial of Peter. And I'm sure we saw in ourselves Peter's weakness reflected. This denial of course that's recorded for us here, basically from verse 15 through 27. And now this morning we come to the account in John 18 of our Lord Jesus Christ brought before Pontius Pilate. Remember that Jerusalem and Judah, Israel, at this time were under the government of the great Roman Empire. They were a vassal state under the Roman Empire. Pilate was a Roman ruler, himself of course under the authority of the emperor, but he is the ruler of the southern part at least of Israel, Palestine if you like. And so it's necessary for the Jews, especially because they desired the death penalty and they weren't permitted to execute it, it's necessary for them, if they are to be rid of Jesus of Nazareth, to bring him before Pontius Pilate, and this they do. They led him, verse 28, from Caiaphas to the praetorium, that was the governor's residence, and they bring him before Pilate. John read it for us this morning. And here the civil trial takes place. The trials, of course, whether ecclesiastical or civil, were rather farcical, but they took place. And so we have what I think is a thrilling scene of Jesus Christ speaking with this Roman ruler, Pilate. And as he speaks to him, I want you to notice first of all, because he speaks as King Jesus. I think we should see him that way. King Jesus speaks to Pilate. And notice first of all that he speaks about the Kingdom of the King. That's the first point of the message. The Kingdom of the King. The conversation begins between Jesus and Pilate in verse 33. Look at it. Verse 33. Pilate entered the Praetorium again, called Jesus, and said to him, Are you the King of the Jews? Now we need to pause there so I may just comment on the significance of that question. You see, I've already said that Pilate is the Roman governor. Palestine is under the authority of Rome. It's one of these vassal states of which there were many. Rome was a great, vast, powerful empire. And the Romans were extremely nervous about people who rose up and called themselves kings. And especially was this the case with the Jews, because the Jews were notoriously troublesome to the Romans. They were, of course, a highly religious people. Their religion was quite different to the other states that the Romans had conquered. They believed, for instance, in an invisible god. They did not believe in idols. If the Romans tried to bring even their legionaries' banners into the temple precincts, there'd be riots. They were a very troublesome people to the Romans. And so whenever they heard about anybody who was calling himself the King of the Jews, boy the antennae went up and their hearts began to pound and this was trouble and they usually stepped on it pretty fiercely. So you see we need to understand that when Pilate says to Jesus right off the bat, are you the King of the Jews? Is this what you're claiming for yourself? Is this true? This was a loaded question. Now Jesus responds in verse 34 in a strange way perhaps, at least I think Pilate might have found it strange. He says, are you speaking for yourself on this or did others tell you this about me? Why did our Lord answer this way? I think first of all because he did not want at that point to answer directly. For if he had simply said, yes I am the King of the Jews, it would probably have ended right there. That's all Pilate wanted to hear because he already had in his mind his concept of what that meant. You see? To him that meant a rebellious insurrectionist. So Jesus answered in this deflecting manner. Are you speaking for yourself or did others tell you this about me? I think maybe our Lord also was perhaps wanting to know. He was curious to know whether Pilate was really personally interested in this or was this just something he was reflecting having heard the statements by the Jewish ecclesiastical leaders. Anyway, Pilate is rather annoyed, he answers verse 35, am I a Jew? I think we need to read into that a little annoyance. Am I a Jew? He says, your own nation and chief priests have delivered you to me. What have you done? And that gives our Lord the opportunity to make this magnificent statement in verse 36. My kingdom, he says, 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." Tremendous statement. Jesus is saying, in other words, Pilate, you don't have to worry about your position in power. Pilate, you don't have to worry about your great Roman Empire. He knew, of course, being the omnipotent Christ, it was going to crumble anyway, ultimately. Pilate, you don't have to worry that you've got here some insurrectionist who's going to cause you all kinds of trouble, especially over the Passover season. My kingdom, Pilate, is not of this world. Now what did he mean by that? Let's deal with it in a negative sense first of all, because our Lord puts it in a negative way, doesn't he? My kingdom is not of this world. He means, first of all, it's not of this world with respect to its origin and establishment. Now the kingdoms of this world sometimes come about by means of family dominance. If you were to read a history book of the history of England, the long history of England, you would find that over the centuries various families have dominated and imposed their kingdom, as it were, upon the British Isles. We had the Plantagenets many many centuries ago, we had families like the Tudors, I'm sure you've all heard of The Tudors. Henry VIII was one of those. Henry Tudor. We had the Stuart family. We presently have the Windsor family. Families who dominated the scene and, as it were, imposed their kingdom. Sometimes kingdoms are brought about by revolution. And so one family sometimes is overthrown by another. And in many places in our world today, of course, we're familiar with revolution, bloody uprising, civil war. One kingdom crumbled, as it were, and another replaces it. Sometimes the kingdom is established by popular acclaim, where maybe there's a very popular figure and the whole nation rallies around and says, this is the man that we ought to have as our king. And so by popular acclaim, this kingdom is established. But our Lord Jesus Christ says, Pilate, my kingdom is not of this world in terms of its origin and establishment. It does not come in any sense like that. Secondly, it is not of this world in respect to its nature. This is not, Pilate, a political kingdom with all of its trappings of power. There are no boundaries, geographic boundaries to my kingdom. No geographic boundaries that have to be defended. and no geographic boundaries that have to be aggressively extended. You see, that causes trouble, doesn't it? In fact, that's nearly always the cause of trouble in the nations of the world. What was the problem in the 1930s and 40s? Well, the problem was that Herr Hitler wanted to expand the boundaries of Germany. So he's going to overrun Czechoslovakia. He's going to overrun He's going to overrun all these nations, he's extending the borders of his kingdom. Trouble. Our Lord says my kingdom is not of this world, there's no geographic boundary that has to be defended or enlarged. There's no taxation that has to be imposed upon the people. There are no parliaments that must meet in great pomp and state and ceremony, and from which all kinds of edicts are going to be coming forth. There are edicts, there are laws, but they're not coming out of human parliaments that meet in Jerusalem or London or Washington or Moscow or anywhere else. And there are no political rallies in my kingdom, Pilate. There are not going to be great meetings of political kinds with slogans and banners and all the rest of it. My kingdom is not of this world in terms of its nature, nor is it of this world with respect to its maintenance. My kingdom is not imposed by military power, nor is it maintained by military power. Now of course with world kingdoms, especially in the ancient world, this was always the case. Military power maintained the kingdom. So the king had to make sure he had a big army, and a powerful army, and a strong army. Why did the Puritans win the English Civil War in the 17th century and not King Charles I? Well, you knew I had to bring this in somewhere, didn't you? You just knew that. It was simply because Cromwell's new model army was a thousand times better than that which Charles Stuart could produce. That really settled the whole thing right there. Ancient nations had to have strong, powerful armies. And is that not even so today? Is it not so today? In so many, many nations, there are all kinds of kingdoms right this day, and the only way they're maintained is by powerful armies. How is it that the Soviet Union continued its dominance over Hungary and Poland and Czechoslovakia and all these places? Well, if you go there, you'll find thirty-odd divisions of Soviet troops. That's why. Some of us are old enough to remember the tremendous uprisings and the awful bloody events in Hungary and in Czechoslovakia and in Poland, when men tried to throw off the yoke of that greater kingdom and they were subdued because the Soviet kingdom was maintained by military power. Indeed. But our Lord says, no, my kingdom is not of this world, it's not maintained by military power, there are no legionaries to be seen chomping around. from my kingdom. There's no militia, there's no police force. My kingdom is not of this world, nor is my kingdom of this world with respect to its ruler. For earthly kingdoms have many rulers. The Roman Empire have many Caesars. We all know Julius Caesar, of course, but there were many others, were there not? You can think of some of them. There was Caesar Augustus, we read of him even in the Bible. And there were so many others, there was Tiberius, there was Domitian, there were many others. You get a book of the Roman Empire, they'll give a whole list of Roman emperors, leaders, rulers of the empire. If you were to get a book on British history or even a British encyclopedia and open up the pages, or even I'm sure the same is true in Holland or wherever else, you could see pictures of many, many, many people that over hundreds of years have been the ruler. But you see, in this kingdom there's only one king, ever! Only one sovereign, ever! King Jesus lives forevermore, and he is the only ruler. That ruler never changes. So our Lord Jesus Christ says, Pilate, my kingdom is not of this world. We'll see later on, in essence, of what it is. It's not of this world. the kingdom of the king secondly notice the great work of the king the great work of the king verse 37 Pilate therefore said to him are you a king then? some translate that this way you are a king then and Jesus having stated the kind of kingdom that is his, or in the negative form, what it is not, he now says, you say rightly that I am a king. Yes, I am a king, says Jesus. For this cause I was born, and for this cause I have come into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears my voice. And Jesus now speaks of the great work of himself as the king, his work is to bear witness to the truth. and he bears witness to truth by his words and then by his actions. By his words he bears witness to truths like this. For instance, the lostness of man. The lostness of man. He says, you remember, I have come to seek and to save that which was lost. Lost humanity. You remember in the Gospel of Luke, chapter 15, he gives us three parables in the one he gives us the story of the lost sheep and he tells about this shepherd who has a flock of sheep but he loses one of those sheep and so he searches and he searches and he goes through the night and down in the valleys and up the mountains and so forth and he searches for that one lost sheep that he might bring it back to the fold and then he told another story and said now here's a woman And she loses a coin. She's not a rich woman and she can't afford such things and she loses the coin. So now we have the parable of the lost coin. And Jesus talks about this lady who sweeps the house diligently and moves the furniture and searches everywhere till she finds the one lost coin. Just one. And then of course he tops the chapter by telling the classic story of the lost son whom we call the prodigal son. And you all know the story that he told, how that young man went out, left his father's house out into the wild country, the far country, and wasted his substance, his money, with riotous living, as the old version puts it. Just wasted it all, never thinking of his father, never thinking of the father's house, but all ultimately he was down in the pigsty. In the pigsty, left by all of his friends in a dreadful state. And you know the story, it's a classic and glorious story, how he comes to himself and says, I'll arise and go to my father. And I'll say, Father, I'm not worthy to be called your son, but just make me one of your servants. And the father sees him coming and goes and meets him and puts his arms around him. He won't even hear his speech, he just gets the first line out, but the father rejoices. And he says, bring forth a fatted calf, bring a robe, put it on him. Shoes on his feet, a finger, a ring on his finger. This my son was lost. and his family. He was dead and he is alive again. So our Lord Jesus, you see, by these means is giving testimony to the lostness of men and women. That they are estranged from God. They are lost to God because of their sin. Because of their transgression of the law of God. Because of their enmity against God. We have gone our own way. They have every once as Isaiah, turned to their own way. And Jesus testifies to the lostness of men and women. He testifies to the blindness of men and women. Because he tells us that they think they can be satisfied with material things only. Do you remember he said on one occasion, a man's life does not consist of those things that he possesses. I think that is perhaps the most relevant word for the lack a part of the 20th century that we could ever find. A man's life, says Jesus, does not consist of the things that he possesses, but men are blind to that, and they dash around hither and yon seeking to collect material things together. Believing that by these things they can be satisfied. If only they can gather enough of these material goods. If only they can have this, and then that, and then more, and more, and more. Then they'll be satisfied. But our Lord says, No man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. He does need bread. Notice his words. Not by bread alone. He does need bread. He does need material things. But if man thinks he can be satisfied by those things alone, he's blind and that's the way he is. Do we not see it all around us today? Is it not even represented right in our own congregation perhaps? People who believe that if they only have enough things of this world, if only they have these material things, all will be well. No, my dear friend, it won't be so. It won't be so. And Jesus testified to the blindness of men. He testified to the reality of eternity. He spoke about heaven and hell. He testified of the reality of the world to come. He told men and women that this world was not the end. That when we experience physical death, that that was not the end. It was not annihilation. It was a world to come. He testified of that. He testified of the love of God. He bore witness that God loved the lost and sinful and unworthy world. That wonder of wonders, in spite of all of their sin, all of their unworthiness, all of their defiance, all of their transgression of His laws, all of their going astray, Jesus bore testimony and witness that God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son. He gave up his own son, said Jesus Christ. And he was that son, that he might save a great innumerable company of these sinners, that he might have a people for himself, that he might love them and bless them, and that they might enjoy him forever. And Jesus bore wonderful testimony to the love of God in a most poignant manner, as we've read in past chapters in John, in the Gospel of John. And he testified and bore witness to the way of salvation. And he told us that the way of salvation was in himself. And you know how frequently and repetitively I have been bringing this out and I do it without apology. That our Lord Jesus Christ when he was talking about salvation was talking about himself and presented himself. You remember? I am the way, the truth and the life. I am the bread of life. If any man comes to me, he shall not hunger. Whoever believes on me shall never thirst. I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life. I am the resurrection and the light. I am the vine. It was himself, you see, he kept presenting himself to men as the way of salvation. Not the church. The church is important, but the church doesn't have salvation. Not creatures, they're important, they have their place, but they don't have salvation. Not sacraments, not sincerity, not human works, none of these things. He kept drawing men's attention to himself. He that believeth on me, says Jesus, he shall be saved. Look unto me! Come unto me! Believe on me! He kept saying to them. And thereby bore witness that He was indeed salvation. If you want salvation, my dear friends, you have to have Christ. Whatever else you have, if you don't have Him, you don't have salvation. You can have the church right up to here. You can have the sacraments. You can go through every sacrament that every church can provide for you. You can know every preacher intimately and be on good terms with them. You can be sincere and all the rest, but if you don't have Christ, if you can't say like the New Testament writers, we have a great high priest. He is mine and I am his. If you don't know that, then you don't know Christ and you don't know God and you don't know salvation. Salvation is not in a church. It's in a person. It's in Jesus. He testified to that. And so by these words that I've been quoting and speaking about, Jesus testifies to the truth. I have come, he says, that I should bear witness to the truth. But, not only by his words, but by his actions also, he bears witness to the truth. He does so pre-eminently in his death. In his death. He gives himself. He devotes himself to death. I think that Ed Hodges, Pastor Hodges, was correct at our Currie conference when he said that it is not altogether satisfactory to speak about the work of the cross as the passive obedience of Christ. It is alright in one sense, but it wasn't passive in a strict sense. He was very active in that. He gave himself to the cross. He devoted his life to the cross. No man takes my life from me, he said, I lay it down of myself. And when Jesus Christ died on that cross, he was, by his action, bearing testimony to what we've just been talking about. The lostness of men. There was no need for Jesus to bear that awful torture and agony of the cross if men were not lost. The cross makes no sense unless men and women are lost. And when liberal preachers speak about Jesus as being so wonderful and marvellous and yet they deny the biblical teaching of the cross and of the atonement and the blood propitiation and all of that, they are speaking nonsense. Jesus makes no sense apart from the cross and the cross makes no sense unless men and women are lost. His death also bore witness to the reality of eternity. Why in the world would the Holy Son of God, who himself was not a sinner, why would he die on that cross and bear that agony? Not just the agony of crucifixion, but the agony of the very wrath of God in his soul. Why would he do that? Because he knew the reality of eternity, that's why. Because he knew that you and I were facing an eternity. And if he went into that eternity without his forgiveness and salvation, we would be damned forevermore. That's why. By his death he bore testimony to the love of God. The love of God. We can never doubt the love of God once we've viewed the cross from a biblical perspective. We may have problems. We might wonder why God allows this, why God allows that. Why is this in the world? Why is that in the world? Why is this happening in my world? Why am I experiencing these difficulties and traumas? My friends, everybody experiences those kinds of problems, but you can never doubt the love of God once you've seen by faith the cross. Never. Never. He bore testimony by his action, going to that cross, that God's love is extraordinary. Its height and depth and length and breadth cannot be possibly fathomed by any man. the love of God. He births testimony in his death to the way of salvation. For in order to be saved, the price of sin has to be paid. Atonement has to be made. The law of God, the outraged law of God, and the outraged justice of God has to be satisfied. And there on the cross, by the outpouring of his own life and his blood, he satisfies divine justice. And he makes it possible to say this, my blood of the new covenant is shed for the remission of sin. You see on the cross he bears testimony to salvation through him as crucified, but yet as risen again. And so I'm saying this morning that his action not only encompasses his death, but also his resurrection. He bears witness that we cannot save ourselves by dying for us, He bears witness that he can save us by rising again from the dead as the glorious conqueror and victor. He takes his life again. No man takes my life from me, he said. I lay it down of myself that I might take it again. And on the third day he did take it again. Why did Christians meet on a Sunday? Why didn't we all gather together yesterday? As the Jews would suggest and as some of our Seventh-day Adventist friends and others might suggest. Well, because we see in the New Testament the Christian church meeting on the first day of the week. Well, why did they meet on the first day of the week? Because undoubtedly they celebrated the resurrection from the dead on the first day of the week. That's why we're here. Every Sunday in Easter to the believer, every Sunday we recognize that Christ rose from the dead. And he bears witness and testimony by his act of resurrection that he is the Son of God. He is the Son of God. And every argument of the infidels and the atheists and the philosophers and all the rest of them, every argument falls and stumbles over the rock of the resurrection. And all kinds of strange ideas have been suggested, as you know, down the years, to try and explain this phenomenon, but there is no adequate explanation. What happened to the body of Jesus? Muhammad's body we know where it is, Buddha's tomb we can go visit it. Every great religious leader, yes, go and venerate their tomb, but where is the tomb of Jesus? There is none in the strict sense because there was no body left mouldering in the tomb in the grave. He rose from the dead, and if he hadn't have risen from the dead you can be sure that the Jews would have immediately reproduced that body and finished Christianity right there and then that was becoming so troublesome to them that they couldn't do so. There is no more glorious certainty than the fact that Jesus Christ rose from the dead and thereby testified by his action that he is indeed the King of Salvation, he is the Son of God. And so this is the great work of the King. I have come, he said, to bear testimony to the truth. To bear witness to the truth. And lastly, look at the subjects of the King. Look at this tremendous statement at the end of verse 37. Everyone who is of the truth hears my voice. Everyone who is of the truth hears my voice. Can I put that another way to try and explain it? Every person who has come to the truth shows it by responding to my voice. Every person who has come to the truth shows it by responding to my voice. My friend, if you come to the truth about God, men and women, life, death, salvation, heaven and hell, the afterlife and so forth, If you come to the truth about those things, you will accept and acknowledge the teaching of our Lord Jesus Christ. Everyone who is of the truth says, Jesus, here's my voice. But note this, that his teaching is not merely propositions about certain subjects. Remember what I've just said, when I talk about his teaching, I'm including that teaching that points us to himself as the crucified risen one, as the way of salvation. as the embodiment of salvation. So to hear His voice, everyone who is of the truth hears my voice, to hear His voice means that we submit to Him as Lord and Master, that we embrace Him as our Sovereign, our Saviour, our King, our Lord, our All in All. And thinking about the subjects, because they are the subjects of His Kingdom, Those who embrace Him in that way, who bow before Him and accept Him and acknowledge Him as their Lord and Saviour, they are the subjects of the Kingdom. And thinking of the subjects of the Kingdom brings us back to where we began and where we'll close. It brings us back to the nature of the Kingdom again. That having stated the negative aspect of the nature of the Kingdom, it is not of this world. In verse 37 He has really stated the true nature of this kingdom. It is a kingdom where Christ reigns in the hearts and the lives of his people through his truth. That's what the kingdom of Christ is. It is a kingdom where he, Christ, reigns in the hearts and lives, and if you want to add, consciences of his people through his truth. He brings his subjects into his kingdom through the truth. John 3.3, except a man be born again he cannot see the kingdom of God. And Peter says in 1 Peter 1, 22 and 23, having been born again not of corruptible seed but by the incorruptible seed of the word of God. In other words, Jesus Christ brings subjects into this kingdom via His truth, through the saving application of His truth to their hearts by the Holy Spirit. That's the only way people come into the Kingdom of God. They do not come in by baptism. They do not come in by any other means except that the truth of God be savingly applied to their heart by the Holy Spirit. Furthermore, He leads and instructs them through the truth. Listen to the old apostle John. He's an old man. Now he's writing this third little letter that hardly anybody reads, I suppose, anymore. The third epistle of John. There's only 14 verses. Have you ever noticed how he opens up that epistle? Do you notice how many times he uses the word truth in the opening four verses of this little third epistle of John? Right at the end of the New Testament. Right at the end there, before Jude and Revelation. The elder, that's the way he speaks of himself. The elder to the beloved Gaius, whom I love in truth. Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health just as your soul prospers. For I rejoiced greatly when brethren came and testified of the truth that is in you, just as you walk in the truth. I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth. You see, my friend, having brought his subjects into his kingdom via the truth of the gospel and of the word of God, he leads and instructs them through that same truth. And he sustains them through the truth. In 1 Timothy 4 and verse 6, although I don't think we have the actual word truth used here, we have the equivalent. He says, Paul to Timothy, if you instruct the brethren in these things, You will be a good minister of Jesus Christ, nourished in the words of faith. Notice this expression. Nourished in the words of faith and of good doctrine or teaching which you have carefully followed. How does God nourish his children? Through the doctrine of the word of God. Through the truth of the word of God. You see? And then furthermore he gives them victory through the truth. Oh, what a word was that of Jesus in John 8, 32 when he said, You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. The truth shall make you free. See, this is the nature of the kingdom of Christ. It is a kingdom where He reigns in the hearts and lives and consciences of His people through the truth. He brings them into His kingdom through the truth of the gospel applied by the Holy Spirit. He leads and instructs them through the truth of the Word of God. He sustains them through the truth. He gives them victory through the truth. What a glorious thing it is to be part of this kingdom. Now let me close by just pointing out the tragedy, the tragedy of Pilate's reply. Pilate said in verse 38, what is truth? Now commentators have wondered and debated and suggested, how did he say that? How did he say that? And the fact is we don't know. Did he say it cynically? A lot of commentators think he said it cynically. What is truth? Did he say it like that? Did he say it in frustration? What is truth? Tell me, what in the world is it? I sometimes wonder whether he didn't say it almost in dismay. What is truth? Here I am surrounded by Greek and pagan religions and philosophies Here I am in the midst of these Jews. What is truth? We don't really know how he said it. But the tragedy is that he didn't know what truth was and he had it standing right before him. He didn't know what truth was and truth had been addressing him all that time. You know the impression I get here? Who's the one on trial here? It's not Jesus, is it? Jesus stands as the majestic king, though he is a lowly peasant in the eyes of Pilate, and he is dressed in a peasant's garb, and he has already been abused by the ecclesiastical authorities. He stands there as the majestic king. There is something about him that Pilate recognises is different. That's why he tries to get out of this situation. And Pilate is really the one on trial. And Jesus makes these tremendous statements to him. My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, Pilate, you'd see my servants fighting. But my kingdom is not from hence. It's not from this world. And I have come to bear witness to the truth. And everyone who is of the truth hears my voice. To this end I came into the world. For this reason was I born. Yes, I am a king, Pilate, if only you understood and knew. Everyone who's of the truth hears my voice. What is truth? My dear friend, do you know what truth is this moment? This nation and this western civilization of ours is disintegrating because people do not know anymore what the truth is! And Jesus Christ says, I am the truth. And I am the way, and I am the light. You follow me and you'll know it. You embrace me as your saviour and lord and you'll know the truth and the truth will make you free. And the wonder of wonder is that he offers himself to us again and again and again in the gospel. He says, come unto me, all you that are labouring in a heavy laden You wondering what truth is? You're grasping after this straw and that straw. You're confused about all the various voices you're hearing. He says, come unto me, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, which means become my disciple. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me. For I am meek and lowly, and you shall find rest unto your soul. All glory be today to King Jesus. Fall at his feet, my friend, in your spirit, in reverent homage, and in believing submission, and make sure that he's yours, and that you know the truth. Let's pray. Lord Jesus, crucified Lamb, yet risen Lord, we worship You this morning. Oh, truly, You are the King of Your people. And how blessed and glorious it is when You reign in our hearts and our lives and our consciences and our minds. And we can say, King of my life, I crown thee now. Thine shall the glory be. O Lord Jesus, ride into some heart this morning on your truth, we pray. Conquer rebellious hearts today, Lord. And be enthroned in the heart and life of every man and woman, boy and girl, gathered before you this morning. Reign and rule there, Lord Jesus. and be thou glorified. We ask it for your great namesake. Amen.