My Kingdom Is Not of This World
First B Jackson
2022-02-15

Automatically transcribed. Where this and the recording disagree, the recording is the record.

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Luis. Hey, my friend. Good to see you. Thank you. Glad you can make it.

Still woah. Got quiet in here. How are you? Yeah. We give Scotty, thank you so much for your help tonight in making dinner, getting us fed.

Appreciate it. And, no. That that there's always a need for cooks, we would love your help. It can be so simple. But, there's a sign up sheet in the back.

Do I have any other announcements, Ray? Is there anything else that we need to know about? No. We've been going through the book of John on Monday nights, and it's been more conversation style. Love it.

Just wanted to give you a heads up. You don't have to talk at the end, but, if there's a thought from the scripture, a little word of encouragement, we'd love to hear it. But before we get to that, I'd love to to just sing together and worship in song. So would you stand with me and we'll sing Psalm 34 is one of my favorite Psalms and says, taste and see that the Lord is good. Oh, the joys of those who take refuge in him.

Oh, taste and see. Oh, It's good. It's good, Lord, to be able to sing to you and just pour up praises. I I pray that whatever we're carrying from the day, we could just just put on you. You say cast your cares Cast your cares on him because he cares for you.

I say that verse trusting God that because we care for you, you care for us. You care for us and we can cast our cares on you. And God, you can alleviate stress and worry. We don't have to carry it. Oh, that we wouldn't.

In Jesus name.

Amen.

Here's a a verse from, Chronicles. It says, for all of God's promises have been fulfilled in Christ with a resounding yes. And through Christ, amen ascends to God. You can have a seat here for a moment. So if you are new or if you haven't been to a Monday night before, we're up to John 18.

We've just been going verse by verse, chapter by chapter in John. And I wanna cover John 18 and then into John 19. But the heading in my Bible is Jesus stands before Pilate, and he's handed over to be crucified. So from chapter 13 until now, Jesus has been privately teaching his disciples. He's preparing them really for this moment right here and what's gonna happen afterwards when he would be betrayed and arrested and denied and put on trial and crucified, dead, buried, risen, ascended.

He's preparing them for what would happen afterward. Like, how how would these disciples, how would these followers go on? How would they testify about Jesus and not abandon their faith? So I wanna read these again because they're just so good. These are promises to hold on to.

Alright? Here's what Jesus taught. Here's what Jesus promised. Number number one here, the Holy Spirit, the advocate, the helper. Never leave them, wouldn't forsake them, teach them, remind them, lead them into truth, give them peace of heart, peace of mind.

He gave them an example to follow. He washes their feet. He says, do as I've done for you. Love one another as I've loved you. Here's another.

John fifteen four. Remain in me, and I'll remain in you. So good. Here's another. I've chosen you.

I've appointed you to bear fruit. Ask anything in my name. It'll be given. Don't be troubled or afraid. Trust in God.

Trust also in me. Take heart. I've overcome the world. These are promises to stand on. Then in chapter 17, he prays for his disciples, and he prays for us, future believers.

He prays to give us eternal life, to make us one, to give us joy, to protect us from the enemy's lies, to make us holy by the truth, to be so unified the world would know the father sent Jesus. But the point that I'm trying to make here is Jesus gave them these promises, and he prays for them so that they could go on to testify about Jesus and not abandon their faith. And his word to them is his word to us. His promises then are his promises now. His Holy Spirit then is his Holy Spirit now.

And it helps us. It helps us to testify about Jesus and not abandon our faith. It helps us to take heart because he's overcome the world. So hang on to these. Hang on to these.

As you find some nuggets in in in John, hold fast. So this this last week, we began chapter 18. Jesus is arrested. He's betrayed. He's he's denied.

Now tonight, Jesus stands trial before Pilate, and he's handed over to be crucified. So Jesus doesn't speak a lot in this section of scripture, but when he does, it's very, very powerful. Specifically, he speaks about his kingdom. He speaks about his mission to testify about the truth, and he also talks about who really has authority here. So I'm gonna go ahead and read it.

I'll share a few comments of my own while I'm reading it, which is a little different for me, and then I wanna open it up for conversation. Okay? So but let me let me pray first. God, would you bless the reading of your word? You say your words are spirit and life.

They give us life. God, would you give us ears to hear and hearts that are open, mind to understand? Speak to us tonight, God. May we be listening. In Jesus' name, amen.

Here we go. John 18 starting at 28 through nineteen sixteen. Here's what it says. Jesus stands trial. Jesus' trial before Caiaphas ended it ended in the early hours of the morning.

Then he was taken to the headquarters of the Roman governor. His accusers didn't go inside because it would defile them, and they wouldn't be allowed to celebrate the Passover. So a quick word on that. So by Jewish law, if a Jew entered the house of a Gentile, they'd be considered unclean. Okay?

And if that happened, they couldn't celebrate the Passover then until they were restored to clean cleanliness. Now interestingly, you know, it's interesting. They they kept those ceremonial requirements, but at the same time, they were full of so much hatred and so much anger and bitterness and murderous threats against Jesus, against God himself in their hearts. Now real life application. This can happen now.

This can happen to us. That's not just, you know, the religious pharisees then. Things like this can happen to us. We can harbor anger, bitterness, hatred in our hearts on the outside looking squeaky clean, but on the inside, like Matthew would say, full of dead man's bones. I mean, this is so if I may, I would just like to pray on this for for a little bit.

This one really, it it struck me this week. Lord, would you help us to recognize recognize what we store in our hearts? And, God, if there is anger, bitterness, resentment, Lord, may we hand it to you, the casting it to you, that you would take it so that we can be free from it. In Jesus' name. Amen.

Verse 29. So Pilate, the governor, went out to them and asked, what is your charge against this man? I wanna make a quick comment on that. So Pilate didn't want to put Jesus to death. It's clear from this passage that he he didn't wanna do that.

He was trying to keep the peace. He was trying to save his own bacon. So this like, a a rebellion didn't a rebellion didn't break out. Verse 30. We wouldn't have handed him over to you if he weren't a criminal, they retorted.

Then take him away and judge him by your own law, Pilate told him. Only the Romans are permitted to execute someone, the Jewish leader replied. This fulfilled Jesus' prediction about the way he would die. Quick comment on that. So Jesus became sort of a pawn in this political struggle, but only because he allowed himself to.

All authority on heaven and earth was Jesus. He made that clear. But to fulfill the scriptures and carry out the father's will, this this had to happen. This kangaroo court, this trial, it had to happen. Verse 33.

Then Pilate went back into his headquarters, and he called for Jesus to be brought to him. Here's where he talks to Jesus. Are you the king of the Jews? He asked him. Another quick comment.

Pilate was asking this from a, like, a political point of view. Are are you a conquering king? Like, are you are you here to threaten Rome? Are you a religious leader? Who are you?

It's really what he's asking him. Who are you? Verse 34, Jesus replied, is this your own question, or did others tell you about me? Am I a Jew? Pilate retorted.

Your own people and their leading priests brought me to you for a trial. Why? What have you done? Jesus answered, here's here's where he speaks again. My kingdom is not an earthly kingdom.

If it were, my followers would fight to keep me from being handed over to the Jewish leaders, but my kingdom is not of this world. So earlier, when Peter had slashed off Malchus' ear in that garden, Jesus doesn't say, alright, everybody. Go to war. You know? Angels, come down.

Go to war for me. He says, Peter, put away your sword. Although Jesus came to establish his kingdom on Earth, his kingdom is not of this world. He didn't come to wage war on the world. Jesus came to save the world.

Verse 37. Pilate said, so you're a king? Jesus responded, you say I am a king. Actually, I was born, and I came into the world to testify to the truth. To testify of the truth.

I wanna comment on that. To testify about reality, about God's divine truth revealed to mankind, straightforward as the truth. That's what he means by truth. All who love the truth recognize that what I say is true. So I'm thinking back.

Right? We've been covering John just chapter by chapter, verse by verse. And I think of so many that came to faith in John because they came to Jesus looking for the truth. They were looking for answers. Like the disciples.

Like Nicodemus, he meets him at night because he's afraid of his own people. What they would say, meets Jesus, has a private meeting with The Samaritan woman at the well. You remember that interaction? Then then Samaritans who heard that lady's testimony or that government official whose son was sick that Jesus healed or the paralyzed man that Jesus healed or the 5,000 that Jesus fed or the woman caught in adultery, the man that was born blind, Lazarus, Mary, Martha. Every single one of these people were looking for truth just like we do.

Just like we do. They all had a different story, but what they had in common is they all encountered the truth of God in the person of Jesus. That's where they found that truth that they were looking for. In their brokenness, in our brokenness, we want something that we can stand on. We want something that we can truly stand on and hold on to.

Something that's real. Like, it's it's that's not fake. It's not a gimmick. It's not gonna lead us to stray. And, really, the answer there is Jesus.

That's what those people found. When they came looking for truth, they found Christ, and they found truth in Christ. We find truth in Christ. We really do. Verse 38.

Sorry. I I might have went too far there, Blake. What is the truth? Pilate asked. Isn't that isn't that a great question?

And I think that's one we should be asking too. What is the truth? He didn't know. Truth was relative to him. Truth was whatever the the majority of people agreed to.

Truth was whatever made him, you know, gain power, put him in a in a big position. He didn't have that objective standard of truth for for, like, moral behavior left to left to our own of our own devices, we we don't either. Like, we need a guide. We need a standard, a perfect standard. And Jesus is that standard.

He's the only one who did it perfectly. I'm gonna read on here. Then he went out again to the people and he told them, he's not guilty of any crime. But you have a custom of asking me to release one prison one prisoner each year at Passover. Would you like me to release this king of the Jews?

So he knows that Jesus is innocent. He gives them an option to release Barabbas instead. Barabbas was truly guilty. But verse 40, they shout back, no. Not this man.

We want we want Barabbas. Give us Barabbas. Crucify Jesus. And by the way, that is a powerful, powerful illustration of a gospel right there. It really is.

We're all Barabbas in some way. We all sin. We all fall short. And Jesus, the innocent one, willingly took our punishment on himself to give us freedom. Are are you with me?

Barabbas is the guilty one. He's set set free. We're the guilty ones. We're set free. Jesus takes our place.

It's a beautiful, beautiful illustration of gospel. Verse so chapter we're in the chapter 19 now. Verse one. Then Pilate had Jesus flogged with a lead tip whipped. The soldiers wove a crown of thorns and put it on his head.

I mean, can you imagine what is happening right now to Jesus? The soldiers wove a crown of thorns, put it on his head. They put a purple robe on him. Hail, king of the Jews, they mocked, and they slapped him across the face. This is God in the flesh allowing himself to be treated this way to lay his life down for us.

It's incredible. Talk about the best Valentine's gift ever. Right? Talk about the greatest love of all kind. Here it is.

Verse four. Pilate went outside again and he said to the people, I'm going to bring him out to you now, but understand clearly that I find him not guilty. Then Jesus came out wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe, and Pilate said, look. Here's the man. When they saw him, the leading priests and temple guards began shouting, crucify him.

Crucify him. Take him yourselves to crucify him, Pilate said. I find him not guilty. The Jewish leaders replied, by our law, he ought to die because he called himself the son of God. When Pilate heard this, he was more frightened than ever.

Verse nine. He took Jesus back to the headquarters again and asked him, where are you from? But Jesus gave no answer. Why don't you talk to me? Pilate demanded.

Don't you realize that I have the power to release release you or crucify you? Now catch this. Again, Jesus doesn't talk much, but when he does, he says, you would have no power over me at all unless it were given to you from above. Wow. I just wanna pause right there because that statement is huge.

Jesus just prayed in John chapter 17. He says, father, you gave me, Jesus, authority over everyone, and I give eternal life to each one you've given to me. All authority had been given to Jesus. It was Jesus who had the authority. Pilate was like this king described in in Proverbs 21.

Do you remember in Proverbs 21, there's a verse. It's twenty one one. It says, the heart of a king is like a stream of water directed by the Lord. He guides it wherever he pleases. Real life application.

God is still on the throne. God is still directing hearts of kings. We don't always understand why things happen the way they do, why God allows things happen the way they do, but God is directing. He's still on throne. He still has authority.

Kings and leaders are like a stream of water in his hand. He guides them wherever he pleases. Verse 12. Then Pilate tried to release him, but the Jewish leader shouted, if you release this man, you are no friend of Caesar. Anyone who declares himself a king is a re as a rebel against Caesar.

So they had Pilate right where they wanted him. If Caesar found out that Pilate allowed an insurrection, Pilate could lose his job or even his life. I mean, this was just like a the details in this are just incredible. Verse 13. When they said this, Pilate brought Jesus out to them again.

Then Pilate sat down on the judgment seat on the platform that's called the stone pavement. It is now about noon on the day of preparation for Passover, and Pilate said to the people, look. Here is your king. Away with him, they yelled. Away with him.

Crucify him. What? Crucify your king, Pilate asked. They said, we have no king but Caesar, the leading priest shouted back. Yeah.

Right. Verse 16. Then Pilate turned Jesus over to them to be crucified. So I wanna stop there for tonight. I've shared some thoughts in between, the verses.

But really what stood out to me most in in in this text, Jesus didn't speak a lot, but when he did, it was very, very powerful specifically speaking about his kingdom. Although Jesus established his kingdom on Earth, his kingdom is not of this world. I think that's important for us. That's why he didn't go to war with the world. It's because he came to save it.

Also, his mission to testify about the truth. Jesus came to share God's divine truth. It's out there. He shared it publicly for all who would believe that invitation still stands to believe in the one that he has sent. Here's the other, authority.

Who really has authority? Jesus clearly said, Pilate didn't have any authority other than what was given by God. And I think that's really important for us to understand in this in this day and age too. People don't have any more authority than what is given by God no matter what happens. So I think there's a real comfort in knowing that, that God's truly on the throne.

Kings and leaders are like a stream of water in his hand. He guides it guides it where he pleases. So those are just a few of my thoughts from, chapters eighteen and nineteen, but I'd like to open it up to you. We've got a couple of mics. And if there was something that grabbed ahold of you from this text or a word of encouragement from what we read, I would like to to just open it up to you to share.

And if not, that's okay too. We can we can move right on to the song, but we do have a mic ready if there's anybody that feels compelled to share share from this scripture.

The mic's already in my hands, so why not start here?

I love it when you do.

A while ago, there's a couple of things. One, how fickle the the people are. Like, they're on their way to go crucify Jesus, but they're not gonna let that get in the way of their partying in the in the Passover. And and it's not partying, but you know, they're not gonna be unclean. Mhmm.

And just how fickle they are too when when it comes to putting, like, putting Pilate in a sort of in his place. But one thing, that's not my main point. My main point was I came into this world to testify about the truth. I really like that a lot when Jesus says that. And Pilate right after that doesn't, he says, what is truth?

Maybe he doesn't know. Maybe he wants Jesus to know, or maybe he knows that he's not Jesus isn't guilty. And what does the truth matter? Because he's gonna get crucified anyways. But Carl, a while ago, you asked me, I think it was Acts four thirteen.

We were talking to me and Ray, and they recognized them as men who had been with Jesus. Yeah. And wouldn't that be cool if people knew that about us? And I think of this this verse testify about I came into this world to testify about the truth. And wouldn't that be cool if people knew that about us?

Just testifying about the truth. And so often, people talk about sharing the gospel or being you know, that's sort of our goal is go out and and convert people, but the Holy Spirit does that. I can't do that. Yeah. But what you can do is just simply testify about the truth.

Yeah. Just say what it says. Just say what he says. Great point, Blake.

Great point. That's my favorite verse for tonight.

Yeah. Thank you for sharing that. Anybody else? Any other thoughts? Aaron.

Aaron's got one back there. Oh, yes. We're gonna give you a microphone because you deserve it.

No. To go along with that, you're sharing your faith, I think people get afraid as well. And that last song we sung, I wrote it down. I wrote one of the phrases of that verse. My confidence is your faithfulness.

Yeah. Yep. Yep.

And I could see that going through that whole thing, you've got kind of that prequel of all the things that Jesus talked about before this chapter 18. And that is our confidence. And we can step out in confidence. And then what are we gonna share about his faithfulness? Right?

It's like Yep. It's all complicated and simple all at the same time.

Yep. I I love that. And and I was thinking about that that line while we were singing it. My confidence is your faithfulness. Any faithfulness that we have is a derived faithfulness.

The only reason we can be faithful is because he is faithful and he helps us to be faithful. So thank you for sharing that. That's great. Is there any more?

We kinda touched on it last week with the talking about the it's not an earthly kingdom.

Mhmm.

And when he says this time, my kingdom's not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would be fighting. And you mentioned it too, but that Peter had just swung that sword and Christ rebuked him for swinging the sword. Yeah. Fixed the problem, like put the man's ear back.

And then when he's speaking to Pilate saying, that's that's not the way my kingdom works. And so if we do take up arms, I think we're going against what Jesus explicitly said. You know, that that's that's not the way this works. And if you take it in the whole of scripture and you've got revelation in there too, he is the only one. He's, you know, the lamb that was slain, worthy to open the scrolls, and he's the one that we are it's the by the blood of the lamb and the word of our testimony.

Like, we're just following after him. Mhmm. So it it keeps coming back to me. A lot of lot of different passages are point to it. But this one, you know, they'd be fighting then I wouldn't be handed over.

My kingdom's just not of this realm. That's not the way it works.

Established here, but but Yep. This isn't it's it's it's permanent residence.

It's a peaceable kingdom. Yeah. Yep. Yep. Yep.

And it's from every tribe, tongue, and nation. It's made up of people called out of every other nation. But it's it it seems to point to affiliations dropping. Other affiliations drop.

Yeah.

You know?

Yep. And even when he's talking to Pilate and he says, are you saying this on your own or does somebody else tell you this about me? It's almost like Jesus saying, I'll tell you anything you wanna know. Mhmm. If it's a sincere question about truth, he always answers a call of faith.

Yeah. And whenever everybody's looking for the truth, he shows them. In fact, the whole it seems that one of the you mentioned a whole series of people, the Samaritan woman and all of these different people. It seems like a trigger point was when the Greeks were seeking after Jesus. Remember right there at the very end, it said, and Greeks came seeking Jesus.

And all of that time in John had been saying, this is not my time, this is not my time, this is not my time, my hour has not yet come. But when it said the Greeks had come seeking Jesus, outsiders came looking. And said, sir, we would see Jesus. And Andrew took him to Jesus and he said, alright. It's on.

It's on.

The hour has come. Yeah. Yeah. The hour has come for me to

be born.

It's gonna go to the nations. Yep. Yep. Thank you, Ray, for sharing that.

The humility of Jesus too, like, throughout this whole passage, just the humility of the Lord's will and not not my will. And someone that's not humble, like they're sort of braggadocious, and Jesus just he's calm, he's quiet, he's willing to sacrifice, and he speaks he's a man of few words, but it's a man of truth. Know?

Yep. Yep. Check out by the way, mark your bibles tonight for Isaiah 53. When you read Isaiah 53 and this together, it is so affirming confirming of I mean, this was 700 Isaiah was written seven hundred years before Jesus' crucifixion. But it says he was slammed like a lamb to the slaughter.

He didn't open his mouth.

Blake, you just said exactly what was in my mind. I I wanted to share. I love the calmness of Jesus. Can you imagine the king of heaven in front of someone that is in charge of charge of a little nation standing in front of him and he could ask tons and ton thousands of angels to do something right at the moment. Yeah.

But he had a purpose. He had a he had a divine work to do for us Mhmm. To be the lamb of God, to die for us, to and he did it till the end. That's the calmness of Jesus. Yep.

I'm here for a purpose. I'm submitted to the father to be the lamb, to be the sacrifice for whoever believes in me shall not perish but have everlasting life.

And it brings new meaning to that. Right? Amen. Amen. And isn't it good when we can you know, we we know the verse by heart, but when the scripture around it points to it and we go, oh, that's what he meant.

That Jesus truly didn't come to condemn the world, but to save it. He didn't come to go to war with the world, but to save it.

So good. The beauty, the conversation between Pilate and God himself, what I liked it. And if we see all of us in those public in the front, if Pilate sits on his chair and he says, I have a power to release you. And Jesus says to him, so calm and so clear. Mhmm.

You don't have authority and power to release me. Yeah. You know? And I think Pilate was like Yeah. You know, astonished.

But he says in so humility and is so humble to say, you don't have a power on me. Yeah.

That one got me this week.

And I love yep. I I can't wait to the next chapter. I love the the conversation the the beauty conversation when his wife sent a message to him, do have nothing to do with this man because the holies. But the word in Romania, the it means like choose or choose by God. Righteousness.

Exactly. Thank you, Florin. And Claudia, I think, sees in him perfect righteous of God. And he realized how he's deal, and it was amazing.

Yeah. But it was on. I mean, God's plan was it was it was could stop it either. So good. It's so good.

Thank you for for sharing tonight, really. We say we, we close in one last song. This is amazing grace. Much stronger, the king our body, who shakes lay down your life, and I would be set free. Jesus, I sing for all that you've done for me.

And let's sing worthy of these. Let them who slay. God, it is so good to read it and then sing of it. Truly, that you did. You took our place.

We're like Barabbas in what we read tonight. Guilty. Totally. Punishment. It's on us.

But you said no. Set him free. I'll take it on me. God, thank you for that. May that just stay with us throughout the week, that we would see how much you truly loved us.

You didn't come to to start a war on earth. You came to save the earth and everyone in it who would believe in you. Lord, help us to be a bright shining light throughout the week. God, in our relationships, help us to comfort and encourage one another. God, that there would be something different, and namely, that's you.

You in us. In Jesus' name, amen. I've told you this so that you may have peace in me here on earth. You will have trials and sorrows, but take heart because Jesus has overcome the world. Amen.