(soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) - Good morning, church family.

Happy Lord's Day. We will now begin our service. (soft piano music) Let's sing, "Oh, Great God." ♪ Oh, great God of highest heaven ♪ ♪ Occupy my lowly heart ♪ ♪ Own it all and reign supreme ♪ ♪ Conquer every rebel power ♪ ♪ Let no vice or sin remain ♪ ♪ That resists your holy war ♪ ♪ You have loved and purchased me ♪ ♪ Make me yours forevermore ♪ (soft piano music) I was blinded.

♪ I was blinded by my sin ♪ ♪ Had no ears to hear your voice ♪ ♪ Did not know your love within ♪ ♪ Had no taste for heaven's joys ♪ ♪ Then your spirit gave me life ♪ ♪ Opened up your word to me ♪ ♪ Through the gospel of your son ♪ ♪ Gave me endless hope and peace ♪ (soft piano music) Help me now.

♪ Help me now to live a life ♪ ♪ That's dependent on your grace ♪ ♪ Keep my heart and guard my soul ♪ ♪ From the evils that I face ♪ ♪ You are worthy to be praised ♪ ♪ With my every thought and deed ♪ ♪ O great God of highest heaven ♪ ♪ Glorify your name through me ♪ You are worthy.

♪ You are worthy to be praised ♪ ♪ With my every thought and deed ♪ ♪ O great God of highest heaven ♪ ♪ Glorify your name through me ♪ (soft piano music) (upbeat music) - All right, good morning. Welcome to Brain Community Church. Let me get to a few announcements before we get started.

Before we do anything, I was asked, again, to make a little push for the families with seats in this service. We're actually running out of space in our cry room and different spaces. And so we've noticed that there's been a shift from the first service to the third service.

And so if you are able, especially if you have children who are in the seats department, if you are able to go to the third service, because we're running out of space for the second service. So we have plenty of space if we spread out. But if we all come to one service, it's gonna become an issue.

So if some of you who are kind of like able to go to the third service, we ask that you go. There's a seeds ministry that's happening there as well. So if you're able to do that, if you can make an effort to do that, that would be appreciated.

FAM 245, if you're a part of the young couples ministry, married three years or less, there is a bowling gathering fellowship happening, not this Saturday, but on September 21st at 10 a.m. at Irvine Lanes. So please sign up for that if you're planning to go. Next round of membership class is happening starting on September 29th, 9.30 a.m.

at the Youth Chapel. So during this service at 9.30, there's an eight-week course that takes place at the Youth Chapel across the courtyard. And again, it's an eight-week course. It'll last about an hour and a half each session. And we go over the fundamental doctrines of Christianity and what our church and how our church practices our ministry philosophy.

And so this is a required class to become a member of the church. So if you're planning to become a member, the next session is starting in September 29th at 9.30. So there will be a sign-up. I'm not sure if there's one outside in the quad, but you can go online or go to our church app, and there'll be sign-ups there, okay?

And lastly, if you're part of the Jubilee ministry, if you're 50 and over, there is a Jubilee Saturday morning prayer breakfast fellowship that's happening on September 12th. So it's a little bit away, but we want to give you a heads-up on that Saturday at 8.30 at the cafe area.

So if you're 50 and over, there will be breakfast, and the cost of it is going to be $10. So we'll be meeting there on October 12th at 8.30. So please sign up for that online, or if there's a table outside. I'm not sure if there is a table, but please sign up for that, okay?

I think that's it for this morning. Let me pray for our offering. And then again, if you brought physical offering, there is a box in the back that you can drop it off on the way out, all right? Let's pray. Gracious Father, we thank you so much for your grace.

We thank you for the privilege that we have to be able to worship and honor you. We ask, Lord God, that you would bless this time that our mind, our heart, our focus, our will may all be surrendered to yours. We pray, Father God, that you would help us to recalibrate our thoughts, our lives, that we may be able to give you worship that is genuinely in spirit and in truth.

I pray that you would bless this offering. May it be given with joy and thanksgiving. It may be multiplied for the sake of your kingdom. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. Awesome. Closing prayer. I forgot to mention my niece, Ellie, will be baptized this morning. So after the worship time, she'll come up and give her testimony and then be baptized, okay?

Let us all rise. And before we continue, we could spend a few moments to greet the neighbors around us. Our God is great. Our God is great. The Father of creation. The splendor fills the earth. The lightning crash. The thunder sings his praises. The galaxies can't help but shout his word.

My soul must sing to you an offering. How great you are. My soul must sing. Oh, let the heavens ring. How great you are. Oh, how great you are. The word made flesh. The word made flesh. God's promise to the fallen. He came with power to save. The Lamb of God was crushed for our rebellion.

He died our death and rose up from the grave. My soul must sing to you an offering. How great you are. My soul must sing. Oh, let the heavens ring. How great you are. Oh, how great you are. Our King will come. Our King will come. With trumpet blasts resounding to claim his blood-washed crown.

He'll wrap the skies, descending in his glory. And in an instant, faith will turn to song. My soul must sing to you an offering. How great you are. My soul must sing. Oh, let the heavens ring. How great you are. My soul must sing. My soul must sing to you an offering.

How great you are. My soul must sing. Oh, let the heavens ring. How great you are. Oh, how great you are. Though the nations rage, kingdoms rise and fall, there is still one King reigning over all. So I will not fear, for this truth remains, that my God is the Ancient of Days.

None above him, none before him, all of time in his hands. For his throne it shall remain and ever stand. All the power, all the glory, I will trust in his name, for my God is the Ancient of Days. Oh, the dread of night overwhelms my soul. He is here with me.

I am not alone. Oh, his love is sure, and he knows my name, for my God is the Ancient of Days. None above him, none before him, all of time in his hands. For his throne it shall remain and ever stand. All the power, all the glory, I will trust in his name, for my God is the Ancient of Days.

I will not seek what the future brings. I will watch and wait for the Savior King. Then my joy complete, standing face to face, in the presence of the Ancient of Days. None above him, none before him, all of time in his hands. For his throne it shall remain and ever stand.

All the power, all the glory, I will trust in his name, for my God is the Ancient of Days. For my God is the Ancient of Days. You may be seated. >> Hello. For those of you who don't know me, my name is Danielle Kim, but most of you know me as Ellie.

I'm 15 years old, and this is my testimony. I was adopted from South Korea and was raised in a very God-centered household, as my dad is Elder Philip Kim. However, instead of running to God, as I grew older and older, I began to -- I became very callous and self-entitled to the gospel and Christianity.

Growing up, I struggled with my temper, my pride, and having self-control in many aspects. As I got older, I began to rebel against my parents more and more, finally culminating in fifth through seventh grade. I never had many friends, but in fifth grade, I began to make more friends and gained my first taste of popularity, and soon, I began to idolize my friends, even though I knew that they weren't good influences to me.

As time passed and my desire to maintain friendships, I found myself allowing myself to be pressured into doing things that I knew were wrong by my so-called friends, simply to stay friends with them. This mentality of all-or-nothing friendships continued on. In eighth grade, by God's grace, I made some of the first genuine school friends in my life.

They are still some of my closest friends, and they are all strong Christians. Our friendship has deepened and grown into one that continues to this day. This past year, I was struggling with finding my purpose in life, whether it be in friends, "relationships," extracurriculars, popularity, or anything else. In January and February, I began to feel truly hopeless.

Contemplating the meaning and value of a life without a purpose, then the sermon topics for my school chapel sessions were released, "God's Purpose in Our Lives as Image Bearers of Christ." I felt convicted and knew that God was trying to tell me something. That Monday, the pastor who was speaking said something I will never forget.

"The reason you feel like you're such a failure and you're 100% inadequate, no matter what you do, is because you are. You aren't living for your purpose, which is to glorify God, so obviously you're going to fail." Those words made me stop and realize just how stupid and stubborn I was being.

It was one of the core concepts of Christianity, one that I had been taught all of my life, but I still struggled with. I can't save myself. As the week progressed, with every sermon, I saw deeper and deeper into my sins and realized just how blind and numb I was.

That Friday just happened, by God's good grace, to be a praise and prayer dedicated specifically to repentance and submission to Christ. I felt convicted of just how dirty and sinful I was, breaking down, sobbing as I realized that my sins have a ripple effect, hurting others in ways that I might not even be able to comprehend.

I ended up praying and crying with both of my parents, realizing for the first time the sheer magnitude of God's grace and mercy for me. Since then, it has been a long few months. I still sin, but I found myself to genuinely repent, turning to Christ in everyday spontaneous prayer, more willing to submit to authorities, a growing desire to know more about the great God who saved me, and the heart to come to church with humility because I don't have the right answers.

I only have the right vocabulary. I am so grateful to all the people who worked in my life. Thank you for coming alongside me and supporting me, whether through prayer, taking me out to dinner, just talking to me when I needed it, and simply being good Christian influences in the ways that you live.

I will always be so grateful for you. A verse that I would like to leave with you is Romans 8, 38-39, for I am convinced that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities, nor things to come, nor things present, nor powers nor height, nor death, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

This verse is a constant reminder to me that I am not only loved and given a new and completely filling purpose in Christ, but I am also called to remember that it's only through God's grace that I am able to have these things. Thank you. Do you understand when you go into the water you're being united to Christ's death?

When you're coming out, you're being united to his resurrected life? At that time, do you remember the Father? The Son? All right. Thank you, Ellie. And we're so proud of you. Awesome. Luke chapter 9, verses 7 through 11. Luke chapter 9, verses 7 through 11. Reading out of the NASB.

"Now Herod the tetrarch heard of all that was happening, and he was greatly perplexed, because it was said by some that John had risen from the dead, and by some that Elijah had appeared, and by others that one of the prophets of old had risen again. Herod said, 'I myself and John had John beheaded, but who is this man about whom I hear such things?' And he kept trying to see him.

When the apostles returned, they gave an account to him of all that they had done. Taking them with him, he withdrew by himself to a city called Bethsaida. When the gods were aware of this and followed him and welcoming them, he began speaking to them about the kingdom of God and curing those who had need of healing." Let's pray.

Father, we pray for understanding, not simply the text, but your very heart. Help us, Lord God, to meet you, and not just the words. I pray that you would protect this pulpit, that only you and your word would be proclaimed. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. I don't know if this has ever happened to you.

How many of you had, in the middle of the night, be woken up by somebody at your door? Maybe two, three in the morning. Right? If they come and banging on your door. Right? Waking you up in the middle of the night. I know a lot of you guys have that ring camera, so you don't even have to go to the door anymore.

You'll check your phone, and you're going to see, "Who is at my door?" Right? "Who is this at my door?" And so you're going to look at the camera, and you're going to see, and you don't recognize who this person is. Right? And so you're going to be asking a question.

"Is this somebody at the door, trying to cause harm?" "Is this somebody who's trying to break into my house?" Right? "Or is it my neighbor, who maybe there's an emergency, and they need me to help them?" Right? "Or could it be an official, a police officer, or maybe a fire department?" "Maybe your house is on fire, and you need to hurry up and get out, so they're trying to come and save you." But you have to determine who they are.

Right? One thing you cannot do is ignore it. Whether it is for good, whether it is for bad, you know that you need to be able to come to a decision, because how you respond to that person is going to be crucial. If you are in danger, and they're trying to warn you, you need to get out of that house.

If somebody is trying to come and harm you, you need to protect yourself. You need to go call the authorities. But one thing that you cannot do is ignore that. You need to come to a conclusion. There's no other name in human history where we need to have an absolute clear determination of who this man is than the name of Jesus Christ.

Because either he has been the biggest, biggest huckster who has deceived billions of people, affected every part of human existence since he came, or if he actually is the son of God, what did he say? Either way, it will radically determine what our life will look like. What you cannot do is simply ignore him.

Up to this point, we've been studying how Jesus was presenting himself to his disciples, to the people, proving himself. He proved his power through his power over nature, he proved his power over disease, he proved his power over demons, and he ultimately proved his power even over death. He did all of that to prove his credential.

Just like if somebody's at the door and you want to figure out and they say they're telling you they're a fireman, well, what's the proof? Maybe they'll show you the uniform, maybe they'll show you your credential, whatever it is that they may have, they're going to show it to you so that if they tell you that your house is on fire, you would take them seriously.

But you have to determine that this is who they say they are. The Bible tells us that that's exactly what Jesus was doing. He performed these miracles not simply to feed them, not simply to wow people, but as a credential so that people recognize who he is and who he was.

And the reason why his credential needed to be clear is so that they would pay attention to what he was saying. And we talked about that last week, he made it very clear. He says, at the end, he says he was going around, he commissioned his disciples, though, to go preach what?

About the kingdom of God. So the central thing that he was doing was to preach about the kingdom of God. He said, John the Baptist came on the scene, he said, "Repent, and the reason why we need to repent not simply so that you don't go to hell, but because the kingdom of God is at hand.

The reign of Christ has come. Repent, for the kingdom of God has come." And so, his primary reason why he performed everything, why he did everything was to prove his credential so that they would pay attention to what he had to say about the kingdom of God. This morning, Jesus is at the peak of his popularity.

The next scene that we're going to see is the feeding of the 5,000, and from that moment on, Jesus begins to turn his attention to the cross, and his public ministry begins to diminish, and he begins to pay more attention to his disciples, so he's at the peak of his popularity.

And it's at the peak of his popularity where people were coming to him by the thousands, where he makes it very clear. He begins to preach about the kingdom of God, and Jesus is crucified not because of his miracles. If all Jesus did was heal people, feed people, walk on water, he would have been celebrated.

No matter what religion, no matter what background, in every generation, they would have talked about Jesus. This great man came from God, and he did some great work, but the reason why he was crucified was not because of his works, but because of what he said, and who he claimed to be.

So, this morning, what I want to look at is, in his preaching of the kingdom of God, how does that affect us? And why is this decision so important, that we come to a clear conviction of who this man is? Number one, preaching of his kingdom makes Jesus the center.

Preaching of the kingdom puts Jesus at the center. In Luke chapter 9, verse 7 and 8, it says, "Now Herod the Tetrarch heard of all that was happening, and he was greatly perplexed, because it was said by some that John had risen from the dead, and by some that Elijah had appeared, and by others that one of the prophets of old had risen again." So, John did such a great job.

Right? He did such a great job, that after he finished his ministry, and he is beheaded, Jesus comes on the scene, and they couldn't tell the difference. Because he sounded and acted just like John. And John came on the scene, he said, when Jesus shows up, his eye must decrease, and he must increase.

And the whole purpose of his ministry was so that when Jesus came, that he would take the baton and continue what he did. And he did such a great job, that most of the people, when they asked, "Who do you think Jesus is?" The common answer that they got was, "He must be John." And some were saying, "Well, he was beheaded.

How can that be John? He must have come back from the dead. Who else could be doing what he's doing?" That's a calling of every servant. Every servant of God is to simply do his work and then go home. The problem that we get into is when somebody begins to focus his attention trying to make a name for themselves.

What do you want to be known as? What kind of legacy do you want to leave behind? That very thought will disqualify you. If you're a servant, you do what he tells you to do, and then if you did a great job, they would thank your master, and they forgot who did it.

And you just go home. But when the servant of God stands in the middle, trying to make a name for himself, he disqualifies himself. Because the preaching of the kingdom is not about you. It's not about the messenger. It's about him. It's about him. And John the Baptist did such a great job, they couldn't tell the difference.

Humanly speaking, we can look at that as he sacrificed everything to prepare the way of Christ, and then when Jesus appears, there's no thank you, there's no celebration, there's no veneration. He dies like a criminal. Gets a head beheaded, and then he goes home. But Jesus says of John the Baptist, of all the men born of a woman, there's nobody greater than John.

So what made him so great? What made him so great? He did exactly what he was called to do, and he did such a great job, they couldn't tell the difference. And then when his job was over, he died. He went home to be in glory. That's the job of every servant.

The preaching of the kingdom is about him. It's not about me. It's not about you. It's not about any system. It's not about any training or education. It's not about talent. It's about him. If you come to church week after week, year after year, and your love for Christ doesn't grow as a result of being here, then I have failed.

My job is not to get you to love me. It's not to get you to love this church, or system, or form of theology. It's to love Christ. And if I did a good job, that you end up loving Christ as a result, you give him the glory, and then when it's time, I go home.

The end. That's what the preaching of the kingdom was. In Colossians 3, 4, 3-4, it says, "For you have died." You're dead. Not you're going to die. You're dead. If you are a believer in Christ, he says, you have died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God.

When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with him in glory. Whether you are a pastor, or an elder, or deacon, or anything in the church, or maybe just a regular member in the church, every Christian's call is to recognize that when you met Christ, you have been crucified.

That's why when Ellie went into the water, we asked her, "Do you recognize? Do you understand that when you're going into the water, you are dying with Christ?" That whatever old life that you had before you met Christ is crucified with him. Now your life is hidden with Christ.

And your life and your glory will appear when he appears. When he is glorified, we'll be glorified with him. The trouble that you and I get into is that we stand in the middle, hoping that we would touch some of that glory. That we would get some recognition. That we would make a name for ourselves, whether in church or outside the church.

And it's in this process of wanting to be somebody, to be recognized, that not only does that taint the glory of God, but it also frustrates your own life. Because that's not your job. That's not what he called you to be. You're not meant to be on a pedestal.

Because the moment you're on a pedestal, all the people will see is your flaws. And when they begin to see your flaws, and they begin to point out your flaws, you want to get off that pedestal as soon as possible. Because you and I were not created to be on a pedestal.

Only God can be examined closely and come out with people who examined him with greater opinion. People are asking, "Is this Elijah?" Maybe if it's not John, is it Elijah? Because he had such great power. He was considered one of the greatest prophets of the Old Testament. And Jesus was performing all these miracles that maybe it was Elijah that come back to life.

If it's not Elijah, maybe it's one of the prophets. In 2 Corinthians 2, 15-17, it says, "For we are a fragrance of Christ to God, among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing, to the one an aroma from death to death, to another aroma from life to life.

And who is adequate for these things?" He said, "If we do a good job, people will begin to see Christ, to smell Christ." You ever been with somebody so long that you begin to smell like each other? If you've been married for a long time, some of you guys probably in their jubilee, maybe, somebody has said that you guys start to look alike.

Have you said that? I don't know if you get offended when you hear that, but when I hear that, it's like, "Great!" SR and I say, "Hey, you look like, did you marry your sister?" The longer you stay, because we eat the same, we're living in the same house, we've been together for so long, that you begin to smell alike, you have same appetite, the things that she likes, I begin to like, and then you start to look alike, maybe you start to even smell alike.

I don't know if the wives will be happy with that, but he said that, "If you are a child of God, and you are growing in your faith, the ultimate compliment is for somebody to say, 'I sense the aroma of Christ in you.'" That's the greatest compliment any Christian can get.

Not how gifted you are, not how talented, not all the fruits that you bore, but that being around you, I smell Christ. John the Baptist smelled so much like Christ, people were confusing him with Christ. Preaching of the kingdom reminds us that that's exactly what you and I have been called to do, to represent Christ.

In word, in life, in deed, in all ways, where we begin to disappear, and Christ begins to appear. That's Christian maturity. You know what's interesting is, Jesus asked this question to his disciples, "Who do men say that I am?" Remember, they were saying, "Some say you're John the Baptist." That was the first one that people would say, because they looked so much or they sounded so much alike.

"Some say that you're Elijah. Some say you're Jeremiah. Some say you're one of the prophets." But one thing that they did not say, is that he was an ordinary man. Even the lowliest of opinion was that he was maybe a prophet. But they all recognized that he was not just anybody.

In other words, they couldn't ignore him. But you know what's interesting? When Jesus turns around and asks his disciples, "Who do you say that I am?" That everything that everybody else was saying would have been a huge compliment. It would have been a huge stroke to an ego. "You know what?

You remind me of Elijah." "Wow, really?" Or maybe, "Jeremiah, really? The prophet of God. Or just one of many prophets. A prophet." But that opinion would have been blasphemous to Christ. But you know what's interesting here is typically if you ask opinion of somebody, the people who have the most exaggerated opinions of somebody are the people who observe them from a distance.

And usually you have these celebrity pastors who have written books and have large, large congregations and they go traveling everywhere and people are flocking to him. And they have stories after stories of how great this man is. But the people who work with him day in and day out, their family members, and even if they have great opinion, typically you'll hear, "Oh, you guys say this, but he sometimes can be lazy.

Sometimes he can lose his temper. Sometimes he can do this." And people who are the closest to that person has a real view. All these things may be great, but it's tempered because the closer you are with that person, you get to see their flaws. But with Christ, the people who are the closest to him had the greatest opinion of him.

People who walked with him, ate with him, they saw him when he was pressured. They saw him when people were trying to hurt him, when people were backstabbing him. They saw all of that and the people who had the greatest, the front row, closest seat of Christ had the greatest opinion of who Jesus was.

That he was the king of kings and the lord of lords. So because of that, they naturally began to go to the back. Preaching of Christ naturally puts Christ at the center, and two, putting Christ at the center, preaching of the kingdom, threatens all other kingdoms. It threatens all other kingdoms because when he comes, you can only have one king.

You can't have kingdoms within kingdoms. This king, Herod the Tetrarch, was a child of his father. And if you remember the beginning story of when Jesus was prophesying, he was coming on the scene, he's being born, he heard of the prophecy that the Messiah that the Jews had been waiting for was coming.

And so he was afraid because he was not the rightful king of Israel. He was an Edomite. And the Romans put him there as a puppet king to basically keep peace. To satisfy the Jews. And if there ever was a rebellion, that the Romans would not have to get directly involved.

That they don't have to get their hands dirty. So they would use a puppet king to basically suppress any kind of rebellion. So King Herod the Great, King Herod the Tetrarch's father, was so paranoid about losing his power, that he even killed his own son. He was afraid that his son was becoming a little bit too popular, and then he crushed him and killed him.

And then the 70 members of the Sanhedrin, the senators of Israel, because they had a difficult time accepting an Edomite as their king, he ended up slaughtering all 70 of them. And so what ends up happening is after he dies, he was afraid that his kingdom was going to, that there wasn't going to be an individual that was going to bring them all together, so he divides the kingdom into four pieces.

And so, King Herod the Tetrarch, which we see here, happened to be one of those children, and he was the king over Galilee. So this king that is mentioned here, he ruled for 42 years. So the whole time of Jesus's, after Jesus's birth, until he was crucified, this is the king that ruled.

If his father was hated, he was hated even more by the Jews. Because he's the guy who set up idols everywhere for the sake of Rome, and he's the one who forced the Jews as they walked to bow to these idols recognizing Rome as their final authority. He actually even built the capital on Jewish cemetery, which would have been sacrilegious for Jews to walk in and made them unclean.

So this is a man who was hated. Not only was he an Edomite, he kept on suppressing them and did the dirty work of the Romans. So he lived in constant fear that his kingdom was going to be taken away. So imagine, you have John the Baptist coming on the scene, preaching, "The kingdom of heaven is at hand." Kingdom of heaven?

The king of the Jews is coming. And then Jesus comes on the scene and he preaches the same thing, "The king is coming. The king is coming." So imagine the anxiety. He wasn't asking, "Who is this man?" simply because he was curious. Because he was threatened. He was threatened.

In fact, John, if there was any, if there was any question or any doubt of the identity of Jesus, if you read John chapter 1, 19-23, and I'm just going to read the long text, but I want you to pay attention to the very end. This is the testimony of John when the Jews sent to him priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, "Who are you?" This question is to John the Baptist.

And he confessed and did not deny, but confessed, "I am not the Christ." They asked him, "What then are you? Are you Elijah?" And he said, "I am not. Are you a prophet?" And he answered, "No. Are you the prophet I mean?" Then they said to him, "Who are you?" So that we may give an answer to those who sent us.

"What do you say about yourself?" And then pay attention to this. In verse 23, he quotes a Messianic prophecy in Isaiah chapter 40, verse 3. He said, "I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness. Make straight the way of the Lord, as Isaiah the prophet said." So I want you to...

Okay. If you notice here, in verse 23, "Make straight the way of the..." What? L-O-R-D. It's all in capital. Right? It's all in capital. Those of you who know what that is, why is that all in capital? Because the original quote in Isaiah 43, when it is all in capital, it means that in Hebrew, it means what?

What's the actual word there? Yahweh. Okay? So let's go to that verse in Isaiah 40, verse 3. This is the verse that he's quoting, and it says, "A voice is calling, 'Clear the way of Yahweh in the wilderness, and make smooth in the desert a highway for our God.'" So if there was any question who Jesus was, he's referring his whole job was to come before Christ and prepare the way for Christ, but he says, "My job is to prepare the way for Jesus," and he calls him "Yahweh." And if there was any question that he was referring to God, the second part of "make smooth in the desert a highway for our God." So if anybody tells you that the Bible, the New Testament, never says Jesus is God, quote this passage.

This is what John the Baptist says. John the Baptist knew clearly what his job was, that he was clearing the way for the King of kings and the Lord of lords to come. And so when the King comes, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand," the only way that you can enter the kingdom where Christ reigns is if whatever reign that you had before Christ, that you need to repent of it.

A long time ago when my children were younger, I would take trips to China or different places, and there's a clear pecking order in our home, and this is the way that my wife has established at home and taught our kids. So when I'm gone, my queen becomes the king.

So Esther becomes the queen, or is the queen. And so whatever she says goes. And then when she's not there, our oldest child, Jeremy, he becomes the king. And he does whatever he wants. Not whatever he wants, but he becomes a ruler of that house temporarily, and then when he's gone, our second son, Zachary, becomes the king of the house, and he rules.

And then when he's gone, he becomes the queen temporarily, and she rules, and then when she's gone, Isaiah rules his cats. And that's the pecking order. But when I come home, whatever authority they had disappears. Whatever authority they may have had temporarily before I came home diminishes. Disappears. And that's what he was proclaiming.

The real king is coming, not only to replace Herod or any other king, but any other authority, even yourself. And that's why he says, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Repent, for the reign of Christ has come. Repent, for the king has come to reign." That's why he says to repent.

So the preaching of the kingdom naturally does away with any other kingdom. But Herod had a much more personal reason, other than his fear of losing his own kingdom. His own sin was going to be called out. The preaching of his kingdom, third and finally, sheds light of our own sins.

See, you probably know about this story, but let me refresh your memory. Herod the Tetrarch, he was one of four kings. The kingdom was divided into four. And he ended up taking his brother's wife, Herod Philip. And so, it was mutual. So his wife fell in love or whatever it was, and so they, basically, he leaves his, she leaves Herodias, she leaves her husband, comes to Herod the Tetrarch, and then they ended up getting married.

But John the Baptist sees that and begins to call out their sin. He said, "This is not right before God." Now, you have to understand, as a king of Israel, one of the four kingdoms of Israel, as a king, you can do whatever you want. Who's going to stop him?

He's the king. The king has absolute reign. Except, in Israel, the king of Israel was different than any other king, because there was a king above that king. And so the servant of God, John the Baptist, who comes on the scene to prepare the way of the real king that's coming, calls him out to repent.

So John the Baptist puts him in jail. Doesn't kill him, puts him in jail. But Herodias, the wife of King Philip, is bothered by this. "I don't want this guy, he's so popular, and then he's calling me out, he's shaming us." And so she has this elaborate plan, and she knows that King Herodias, King Tetrarch, was lusting after her own daughter, stepdaughter.

So she had this elaborate plan to go and perform this dance and ask him, "If I do this for you, would you give me anything in the kingdom?" And in his lust, Herod says, "Yes." She performs this elaborate, lustful dance before this king, and because he made this promise, after it's done, he said, "What can I do for you?" And she said, "Give me the head of John the Baptist." Now, he didn't want to do that, but he was forced to because he made it a public profession, and what if people laugh at me for making this, and I'm afraid of this man, so out of fear, out of fear, he ended up doing what she asked him to do.

But I want you to read what it says here. In Luke chapter 3, 19-20, it kind of gives us a background, and I'm going to read another passage. "When Herod Tetrarch was reprimanded by him because of Herodias, his brother's wife, and because of all the wicked things which Herod had done, Herod also added this to them all.

He locked John up in prison." Now, we look at that and say, "Well, Herod was an evil man. He beheaded a righteous man for calling out his sins." But in Mark 6, 19-20, this is what it says about him. "Herodias had a grudge against him, John the Baptist, and wanted to put him to death, and could not do so.

For Herod was afraid of John, knowing that he was a righteous and holy man, and he kept him safe." I'm going to stop right there. He said he actually knew, and he was in fear of John, because he realized he was not any ordinary man. He's a righteous man.

He's a holy man, so if he touches him, he's going to get in trouble. What if God becomes angry? So he kept him in prison. He said to keep him safe so that other people could not touch him. And when he heard him, he was very perplexed, but he used to enjoy listening to him.

Now, why do I point this out? One, so that you may have a better understanding of why Herod did what he did. He's the same guy. When Jesus is being crucified, Pilate is trying to see what's going on. He realizes Jesus is an innocent man. He said, "This is not my jurisdiction." And he sends him back to King Herod.

Herod interviews him, and he realizes, again, this is a man from God. And he doesn't want his hands getting dirty. So he sends him back to Pilate. And Pilate says, "I don't want his blood on my hand." So he wants to release him. So he presents him to the Jews, and they cry out, "No, we want Jesus crucified.

We want Jesus crucified." And then Pilate says, "I'm washing my hands. I'm not guilty of this." And in this process of them going back and forth between Pilate and Herod, the Bible says that they became good friends, because they were enemies prior to that. Now, why did this event cause them to be good friends?

Because they found kindred spirit. Both of them saw Jesus as a righteous, innocent man. And they didn't want to kill him. They didn't want the guilt of killing an innocent man on their hands. And both of them wanted to wash their hands of this man's death. And they found kindred spirit in each other.

It says they became good friends. Now, the reason why I point this out is that most people who reject Christ, they don't shake their fist at Jesus. Most people who reject Christ don't say, "You know, that's a crazy man. I don't want anything to do with him." Most people who reject Jesus is simply because they're afraid to lose themselves.

They're afraid to lose their kingdom. The Scripture says, Romans 1:18, "For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness." Suppress the truth. Most people who reject Christ hear him banging on the door and they look at the camera and they ask, "Who is this man?" But you don't want the consequence of dealing with that.

So in your bed, in your anxiousness, you do nothing. You come to church. You do the minimum that is required to belong to this community. But you've never come to a complete conviction that this is the voice of God. So you're holding on to your kingdom. You're holding on to your old way of life.

And if somebody asks you, "Who is this man?" You can theologically profess, "He is the Christ, the Son of the living God. I believe all that and I can recite the gospel to you." But the only difference between demonic faith and saving faith the demons profess the same thing yet they disobey.

They know the right theology. They're the first one who recognizes Jesus who is trembling in fear in his presence and yet they disobey. Most people who reject Christ never say that they rejected Christ. They reject Christ by not answering the door. You just look at him from a distance.

You admire him. You become a fan of him but you're not following him. You're not obeying him. You're still working so hard to build up your own kingdom. You cannot serve God and mammon. You cannot. For the kingdom of heaven is at hand. The reign of Christ has come.

The king of kings and lord of lords has come to take his kingdom for himself and he calls the sinners to come to him. The scripture tells us in Revelation chapter 3 "Behold I stand at the door and knock. He who hears my voice and opens the door I will come into him and dine with him and he with me." There is somebody at the door.

There is somebody at the door. You may have a different opinion whatever it may be but one thing that you cannot do is ignore him. Either you come to a conclusion and you say I don't think he is who he said he was. So all this is a waste of time.

Every dollar that I give to the church is a waste of money that I could have used for a vacation or a bigger home or nicer food. But if he is who he said he is and his credentials check out and heaven and hell is real the question that we need to ask ourselves did we open the door?

Did we pack up our bags? And did we run out of this burning house? How can you confess that Christ has come to warn us about judgment and still be in your house? Who is this man? I know what they say he is. I know what others have said said who he is.

Who do you say he is? Let's pray. Father we pray that the truth of your word would bear fruit in our hearts and our lives that we would not simply be confessors of faith but that we would receive your word that we would be able to come to the throne of grace with confidence.

May Christ and Christ alone be exalted in our myths. In Jesus name we pray. Amen. Let's all stand up for the closing praise. Give one second. Your will be done my God and Father as in heaven so on earth my heart is drawn to self-exalting help me seek your kingdom first as Jesus walked so I shall walk held by your same unchanging love be still my soul oh lift your voice and pray Father not my will but yours be done how in the garden he persisted I may never fully know the fearful weight of true obedience it was held by him alone what a wondrous faith to bear that cross to bear my sin what a wondrous love my hope was sure when there my Savior prayed Father not my will but yours be done when I am lost when I am broken in the night of fear and doubt still I will trust in my good Father yes to one great King I vow as Jesus rose so I shall rise in ransom Glory at the throne, my heart restored.

With all your saints I sing, Father, none I will but yours be done. As we go forth, our God and Father, lead us daily in the fight, that all the world might see your glory and your name be lifted high. And in this name we overcome, for you shall see us safely home.

Now as your church, we lift our voice and pray, Father, none I will but yours be done. And in this name we overcome, for you shall see us safely home. Now as your church, we lift our voice and pray, Father, none I will but yours be done. Father, none I will but yours be done.

Father, none I will but yours be done. Let's pray. Now the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, eternal love of God the Father, rest, restore, and strengthen all of God's children, that we may be the aroma of Christ, wherever you send us.

Amen. God sent His Son. They called Him Jesus. He came to love, heal, and forgive. He lived and died. To buy my pardon, an empty grave is there to prove my Savior lives. Because He lives, I can face tomorrow. Because He lives, all fear is gone. Because I know He holds the future, and life is worth the living just because He lives.

What gift of grace is Jesus my Redeemer? There is no more.