Thank you, Dave, thank you, Peyton. Good morning again. It's been a long time. As silly as I was just a minute ago, I'm reminded as I was just praying over there, the message that I have for you this morning is a rather sobering message. So as we get ready to continue worshiping by looking at God's word, I don't want to be trite any longer. There's a seriousness that we ought to bring to looking at the word of God, right? And as I begin, I don't think I need to remind really anybody in the room about how serious things are getting in our world. Our world is crying out for someone to help. Our whole global community has been crying out for someone to come along who can fix the corruption of our politics, our policies, the things that we use to govern ourselves, and our politicians. Americans are sick of corruption. Europeans are sick of corruption. Middle Easterners are sick of corruption. And there are a few, governing global organizations who seek to create a new kind of world order. And they all pretty much have the same mission, a mutual mission, to come together with the brightest minds and the most feared and respected leaders in humanity to fix what's wrong with the world. And so they come together with that one mutual mission. What the world longs for is a ruler. Someone who possesses a certain kind of quality. A few qualities, actually. The world is looking for a ruler who not only has the power to fix what's wrong with the world, but he also has the plan to fix what's wrong with the world. But they're also looking for a ruler who possesses some internal qualities, like we're looking for someone with nobility. Someone with honor. Someone who possesses the ideas to know what is right and what is wrong. That's few and far between today, isn't it? We're looking for somebody who has righteousness. And the world, once they find that person, they'll put them in leadership over the globe. Humanity has been seeking this kind of person because there's something broken in the world. Now let me bring it to a personal level. Every single moment of pain in your life, every season of sorrow, every moment of suffering, every single moment for every person in this room has been because there is something broken in the world and in every single individual that makes up our world. There's a corruption and we don't know how to fix it. And so all the global governments, since time began, have always been looking for a way to fix the problems humanity faces. And I'm telling you, we are looking for that person in vain. We always have been, we always will be. We cannot and we will not ever fix what's wrong with humanity because, listen closely, we are what's wrong with the world. Not the person on the news, the person in the chair that you're currently occupying. And the person standing behind the pulpit. That's what's wrong with the world. The reason we can't find a king, and we can't find a president, and we can't find a politician who meets the standards of what we need to fix those problems is because no man or woman has ever existed. No mere man or woman, that is. has ever existed who possessed the righteousness that we need and the plan and power to fix the problems the world has. They've never existed. So we go about searching in vain. The hopeless condition of mankind, listen to my words, the hopeless condition of mankind is that there's no one to lead us out from under the burden of our own corruption. The Bible. The Bible is the only source that has ever existed that has explained the common condition of mankind that I just presented to you, that mankind is totally corrupt. And the reason that there's no one to lead us is because every leader we've ever tried to put in office has always let us down because he doesn't possess the qualities necessary to lead us out from under the corruption. He never will. I don't care who you vote for. They're going to fail. They can't accomplish what you hope they will. The Bible is also the only source in mankind that tells us the absolute solution to the hopeless condition of mankind. And you know what it is? We need a king. We need a king. But he can't be like us. You see, if we get a king who's like us, well then he will possess all the same corruption that has currently ruined us. So we need, everybody listen, we need an alien king. And I don't mean that in the way that Hollywood has trained you to understand that word. I mean that word in the way the Bible uses that word. We need a king from another realm who doesn't have the corruption that we have. Jesus said this to Pilate. Jesus answered, my kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jews. But now, my kingdom is not of this realm. God's plan His solution for mankind is to make heaven's king, the king of another realm, humanity's king. That has been God's plan since the beginning. And his mission is very simple. He's going to unite this corrupted realm with the realm from which he came, one that is pure and where there is no corruption. And he will unify, one day, those two realms under one perfect, righteous ruler. This is the plan of the king that all of humanity is longing for right now. For unto us, a child is born. You know this verse. To us, a son is given. And the government shall be upon his shoulder. And his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and of his peace, there'll be no end. on the throne of David and over his kingdom to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this. Church, listen to me. Your king, the one that you're longing for, the one that you hope will someday take the White House, he won't. The one you're longing for is coming. Your king is coming. This is the title that I've assigned to this passage in John 12. We're making our way through the gospel according to John. And today you're going to get a glimpse at the day when the king you just read about was inaugurated. As the king of our world, he was inaugurated on a day and he will be consummated on a coming day, I think very, very soon. So this morning. The purpose John has for his readers. Better, the purpose God has for his hearers this morning. You know, those of you who actually have your ears open this morning. God has a purpose for you here today. And that purpose is simply this, that you will put your hope in the only king that can actually do something about the corruption you see on the news every night and the corruption you see in the mirror every morning. There's only one king that can actually accomplish what you're hoping for our world. And my goal, God's goal for you this morning, is that you will outright reject any future inclination of your heart to put your hope in a silly president or a silly king from this day forward. Because they cannot do what you're hoping they'll do. We need to pray this morning. because we're going to come into a glimpse of the day when King Jesus, the one whom you're longing for, was inaugurated as King of the universe. Let's go to God together. Father, we have a big task ahead of us. We want to glimpse the glory of a King who none of us have seen except with the eyes of our heart. But oh, do we want to see Him. And we pray that you would hasten his return because our world is in pain, crying out, becoming more and more evil with each passing day. Children are being mutilated by doctors. Children are being kidnapped. Children are being killed in the womb for the sake of convenience. Our world needs a king, a leader who can lead us out from under the darkness that plagues us. So I pray that you would help us to fix our gaze on that kind of a king. Open the eyes of our heart, Lord, we want to see you. I pray in Jesus' name, amen. Let me tell you where we are in John's Gospel. Jesus has just raised Lazarus from the dead. This is the seventh and final sign given in the Gospel according to John, which is there to prove the deity of Jesus. But this is almost the 37th sign, miracle, where Jesus broke one of the laws of physics to show that he is not just a mere man. Oh, he's a man, but not a mere man. And so, of those 37 signs, let me explain to you how we got to where we are right now, okay? Listen closely, because this may really open your eyes to how the Gospels work. I want you to imagine that each one of these occasions where Jesus broke one of the laws of physics, recorded by eyewitnesses in a history book, by the way, that's what this is, every one of those, picture it like an earthquake. You know how an earthquake has an epicenter? And if it's a small one, that epicenter only reaches maybe a few miles in radius. For example, we had an earthquake here in New Jersey, a couple of them, what was that, a couple weeks ago, a couple months ago? And it was a smaller size earthquake, and that radius radiated out, and it was felt a certain amount of miles away. Imagine the miracles of Jesus like an earthquake, okay? The first miracle that he did was like a small tremor. It was small, it was contained. It was at a little wedding in Cana and he turned water into? Wine. Okay, you were there? Goodness. So he turned water into wine. That was just a tremor. And I say it was just a tremor because it only had a radius of a couple miles. Word got out and then the Pharisees, his enemies, were able to contain that tremor from going any further by threatening people. But after you've done 37 miracles, those enemies are like, Quakes are getting bigger and bigger and bigger and bigger and we can't contain them. So every one of these signs that he's done, 37 of them, that quake has gotten bigger. Think of it like a pulse. And here's what's happening. The radius spread from starting with a town called Cana, then it went to the region, covered Jerusalem, then Judea, and now it's spreading outside and it's uncontainable. We have now reached, in the gospel according to John, a level magnitude 10 earthquake. Jesus has just raised Lazarus from the dead. And that dead man is walking around saying, hey, remember me? I was dead last week. As I've said the last two weeks, that's a great PR guy, isn't it? And so, the Pharisees, their backs are against the wall. They know that they cannot stop his rule and reign, his influence over people, from spreading. And they fear it's gonna reach the ends of the world. And it did. Now, open your Bibles to John chapter 12. We're gonna read, now that his fame is at the absolute peak. We have seven days left before he dies. Let's look at what happens when our king is inaugurated. John 12, 12 through 19. Here's what it says. The next day, the large crowd, some have estimated around two million, the large crowd that had come to the feast, that's Passover, heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem. So they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him, crying out, Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel. Jesus found a young donkey and he sat on it. Just as it's written, fear not, daughter of Zion. Behold, your king is coming. Sitting on a donkey's colt. His disciples didn't understand these things at first, But when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things had been written about him and had been done to him. The crowd that had been with him when he called Lazarus out of the tomb and raised him from the dead continued to bear witness. The reason why the crowd went to meet him was that they heard that this sign had been done, that he had done this sign. So the Pharisees said to one another, look at this church, You see that you're gaining nothing. Look, say this with me. The whole world has gone after him. Heaven's king is God's solution to humanity's hopeless condition. That's what we call in our church as the big idea. That's the main point of this passage. If you want to jot it down, that way when someone asks you at breakfast right after, what was the sermon about? You can't go. I don't know. Take a picture. Heaven's King is God's solution to humanity's hopeless condition. That's not just what I want to show you in John, but this is a rare occasion. If you've been with us, then you'll know, because I've told you many times, it's very rare that all four eyewitnesses record the same event. This is one of those rare occurrences that you can find in Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. And so this morning, looking at all four of those accounts, harmonizing those four eyewitnesses, just like you do in a courtroom, we're gonna piece together exactly what it looked like when the king, who you and everyone else in the world has been longing for in the deepest longings of your heart, when that king was inaugurated. And as we do, I'm gonna show you three reasons why that king and this only king, King Jesus, is the one that the whole world is crying out for. We've got a lot of work to do today. You might want to get out a pen, because I'm going to teach you a lot. Let's begin with reason number one right away. Reason number one. Heaven's promised king is humanity's only hope. If you're putting your hope in something else, eventually you will become hopeless, sink into despair, and God knows what comes after that. He is your only hope. Here's what I'm going to show you, right from the text. is the solution to all of mankind's longing for someone to help, someone to save, someone to redeem, someone to deliver us out from underneath the oppression of our corrupted world. Look right at the text. I'm gonna give you some commentary as we go along. Verse 12 through 13. The next day, the large crowd that had come to the feast heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem. This is the third and final Passover of John's gospel. So they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him. Time out. If it were not for John, this writer, we would never call this Palm Sunday. Never. Matthew, Mark, and Luke say nothing about a palm tree. So if you tear out John from your Bible, you'll never call it Palm Sunday again because they don't mention a word about this. So thank you, John, for telling us that it's palm branches because it's so significant. We're gonna get to that in a little bit. Okay, so keep that in your Rolodex. But look what they said. This is the most significant part of the passage. crying out, and it literally means crying. Not just a shout, it's crying, and I'm going to explain why. Hosanna! Circle that, underline it, highlight it. It's critical. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel. The crying Hosanna, the King! Got it? Got the picture? Now follow me, okay? Here's what I want to show you is happening here. These people are a people in pain, much like many of the people around our world today, because their world is just as corrupted as ours is. They have been living, listen this is important, they've been living under the oppressive rule of a filthy government. And you're like, we don't know anything about that, right? Theirs is just Rome, and ours is kind of getting our playbook from them in many ways. They've been under this government for 90 years at this point. Rome has been in power for 90 years, and they are being oppressed, and they want a king because they're suffering in pain. They're looking for someone who will solve their social woes. And so they see Jesus. They know he's just done 37 miracles, and they're like, we're going to make him our king. But most people who often read this passage On Palm Sunday, it's usually the only time you hear it. Most people, they picture it in their head kind of like the Phillies parade. When was that, several years ago? I was there. They picture it kind of like that. Maybe there's a guy sitting there eating a hot dog as Jesus is coming in. It's not a horrible way to envision it, but it's not exactly right, and I want to tell you why. The tone was exactly the opposite of what it would be at a Phillies parade. Exactly the opposite. And we know that because of that word that they shouted. Matthew, Mark, and John all record something similar, but it's that word that I want to show you. Look at Matthew's account and Mark's account, just of what the people shouted, okay? Look at Matthew. The crowds that went ahead of him and those that followed shouted, say this with me nice and loud, Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Say it again. Hosanna in the highest. Mark's account is just slightly different. Mark 11. And those who went before and those who followed were shouting, Hosanna, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David. Hosanna in the highest. Hosanna, most people I've discovered, because I used to think this when I was little, I used to think if we shout Hosanna like we just sang, it's almost the same thing as saying Hallelujah. Like you say Hosanna and Hallelujah, synonyms, same thing. Nothing could be further from the truth. Hosanna is begging for help. Literally. I mean, literally, that's exactly what the word means. Begging, help me. Can I show you? The word in Hebrew is perfectly fitted in a tiny little verse that makes it easy for me to teach you. Come into the seminary classroom with me, okay? Psalm 118 verse 25, tiny little verse. It says, save us now, we beg you, oh Lord, here's some Hebrew for you, okay? Next screen. This is Hoshah, not, it's not, it has a Y, but it's pronounced Hoshah-ah-nah. Say it fast, Hoshah-nah. That's where we get the word. And it means begging to deliver, begging for help, begging you please save us because they're in pain. That's what this means. So when you sing with Dave what we just sang, Hosannah, you're begging God, help us. Did you know that? So this is not a Phillies parade. They see this man coming in, riding on a donkey, and they're like, finally! Help! Help! That's the tone. Jesus is the king, sent by God to save a helpless people who've grown hopeless because their government is so cruel. So here's the interesting thing. It's kind of a good match. They want him to be king, and God sent him to be king. So, perfect setup, right? Case closed, it's done. Get that man a throne. Nope. Jesus wants no business with a secular throne. He wants a sacred one. They want him to be king for something that he didn't come for. If you were here a few weeks ago, and way back in John chapter 6, you remember, they wanted him to be king, and he got out of Dodge. Can I show you one more time? Look what it says in John 6, they already tried to do. John 6, 14 through 15. When the people saw the sign that he had done, he just fed them a miracle of 5,000. They said, this is indeed the prophet who is to come into the world. Perceiving then that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, Jesus withdrew again to the mountain by himself. Their objective was to take Jesus and make him, oh, this is gonna hurt, ruffle some feathers. They want him to be a social justice warrior. They want to elect him to become king to solve all their political woes. And now that you're here, you obviously have some kind of like magic superpower, so you can just like speak and kill these Romans. Yes! Get that man in charge! They want a man who's going to slaughter their enemies just like we, as humans do, come with corrupted ideals who want to drop a nuke on somebody to take over a country. They want Jesus to come in with a super nuke and take over the Romans. And Jesus wants nothing to do with that kind of kingship. His kingship, his rule, his reign, the laws that he abides by are of a different realm. and his kingdom is coming by the laws of a whole different realm. Heaven's King did not come to fix the problem of human corruption through political or military power, but by fixing, here's the point, he came to fix the root cause of our corruption. John's gospel opened, if you were here for that first sermon, like this, John 1. He came to his own, he came to Israel, and his own people did not receive him. Israel rejected him as the king God sent him to be because they didn't like the kind of king he was. Today, our world shares the exact same longings as these people did in ancient Israel. The whole world is suffering from the effects of human corruption, and that's, in fact, exactly what Paul said. Remember what he said in Romans about the common human condition? Take a look at what he said, Romans 8. for the creation was subjected to futility. Creation, you're part of that, a creature, right? Not willingly, but because of him who subjected it. in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. Now look at this last part. For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. The whole creation, birds and plants and animals, everything that's in the process of decay. Anybody in here not have that happening? You know you are. The whole creation is decaying and altogether the whole planet is crying out, help us! We beseech you, we beg, save now! It's the unified cry of a corrupted humanity. And there's no one who's exempt. God's solution was to send a king. A king of a different realm who operates by the laws of a realm where things are not corrupted. And here's how he's doing it. He's not taking over the world by force like a Putin might want to do or someone else. His way of taking over the world is by changing individual people one at a time, and here's how he does it. He rescues one person out of the kingdom of darkness, one realm, this corrupted realm in which we're living in, and he places them into a new kingdom, a new realm, the kingdom of his marvelous light. One by one, he's been taking people out of this corrupted realm and bringing them in to his realm, where he rules, and the people who are brought into this new realm are starting to live changed lives, lives which reflect the laws of their new king. Does this make sense? When Jesus rode in to inaugurate this kingdom, he was coming in to inaugurate a new kind of being. So I tell you what Jesus told you. you must be born again. Out from this corrupted realm and into a whole new realm. This king and his kingdom are unlike any other the world has ever known. No question about it. While the world seeks leaders who display their power through use of force, heaven's king came in humility and peace. And he does this because he's about to show the world that the power, the real power, To overcome the corruption and evil and brokenness in our world is through humble submission to God. Let me show you that in reason number two, why Jesus is the only hope of humanity. Reason number two. Heaven's humble king is humanity's prince of peace. Here's what I'm gonna show you in the text. Jesus is the solution to every human being's longing for peace. Now is there anybody here, let me ask a question, is there anybody here who doesn't long for peace? Peace of mind, peace in your marriage, peace with your kids, peace in our country, peace in the school system, anybody who doesn't care about that? Of course you do because you are hardwired to desire it. And we can't find it. The only way to have it is by this king who rode into Jerusalem. Let me show you how he came in. Verse 14 through 16. Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it. Now I ask, if you're a king, wanting everybody to follow you, wouldn't you pick a different animal? He found a young donkey and sat on it, just as it is written, fear not, daughter of Zion. Behold, your king is coming. And how do we know when we see him? Glad you asked, Zachariah says. He'll be sitting on a donkey's colt. Oh. His disciples didn't understand these things at first, but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things had been written about him and had been done to him. Hang on to that slide for just a second. See that phrase, when Jesus was glorified? That's really important. All throughout John's gospel, that's code for crucifixion. Every time Jesus was praying, he's like, Father, when you glorify me. Father, now is the time for my glorification. He's talking about the time when the Father would glorify the Son by sending him to the cross to save humanity. So when he says that, read it again. His disciples did not understand these things at first, but when Jesus was crucified, then they remembered that these things had been written about him and had been done to him. They didn't have a clue just like maybe some of you here this morning. They didn't have a clue what he was talking about. He'd say these things and they'd look at each other like, I don't know, but he's in charge, so let's just do what he tells us to do. And as a matter of fact, this kind of Misunderstanding continued even after he was risen from the dead. They still, little by little, were piecing together all these things that he said to them. Can I show you what they said in the book of Acts? In case you don't know, that's after he's risen, and right in the first chapter, he's about to go home to the father, and look at where they're still confused. Acts chapter one, the disciples say this. When they, the disciples, had come together, they asked him, Lord, So are you now at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel? They still thought that Jesus was going to come, raised from the dead, and now he's going to say, all right guys, ready? Get your guns. Let's take these Romans by storm and take what belongs to us. Come on, crowd. That's what they, I'm not kidding, that's what they thought. And at this point, I bet you, maybe exaggerating, but I bet you they're like, hey guys, come here. He just left. Do you think it's possible that we've misunderstood our own Messiah? Do you think it's possible that our religious teachers, since we were, you know, little in kindergarten, do you think they misunderstood the whole purpose of this peace that was prophesied to come by the Messiah? Do you think we've understood anything right about him at all? I wonder. And the answer is yes. They completely misunderstood what the Messiah's peace was going to be. So I'd like to explain to you why John put Zachariah's prophecy in there and why Jesus chose to ride in on a donkey. Does anybody care? That was terrible! Let's get to this, shall we? Look at the context of what Zachariah says. He rode in four on a donkey. Zechariah says this, "'Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion. Shout in triumph.'" That's why we call this the triumphal entry, by the way. "'O daughter of Jerusalem, see your king comes to you, righteous and victorious, humble and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.'" So that's the part that John quotes. And he does that because Israel has been looking for their king forever. And they should know when you see this man riding into Jerusalem on a donkey, you'll know that's him. So to fulfill this prophecy, Jesus sends his disciples to go get this colt and he rides on it. But most people stop right there. Look at the next verse and you'll see exactly what this donkey symbolized to them. And I will, now follow me close here, cut off the chariot. That's a war vehicle, like Pharaoh used to ride in, a war vehicle. He'll put those things away, this king, from Ephraim. And the horse, that's a war animal, from Jerusalem. And the bow of war will be broken. So when this king comes, he's gonna ride in announcing, look, I'm not coming here for war. I know you all think I am, but I'm not. I'm coming here humble to show you Peace has come to you. Peace has come to Israel in a way that you weren't even expecting. They are at war. Listen to me, this is so important. Israel is at war with someone. Someone. They're enemies of someone, and they've got the wrong someone. Jesus came to make peace between them and God, and they have no idea. Look at how the last verse of Zechariah reads. Then he, this king who comes in, will proclaim what church? To the nations? His dominion will extend just to Israel, right? Because this is Israel's king. What is this talking about? His dominion will extend from sea to sea and from the Euphrates to the ends of the earth? This doesn't make any sense. This is Israel's king coming to Jerusalem and somehow this prophet from thousands of years ago is saying his dominion Goes to the end of the earth. So Zechariah is saying that this king is going to be the king of everybody forever. It doesn't matter if you are small or large or male or female or from the Middle East or from Europe or from the United States. This is the king that God has sent from long ago to solve the problem of the corruption of humanity. The way it was in those days when a leader would come in on a horse, it meant that he was coming as a war leader. If he came in on a donkey, it was a symbol that he was coming in because he was declaring peace. And so this donkey was God's strategic choice to show that his kingdom was of a different realm and would be built, here's the point, by submission. Not domination, submission to God. One by one, God is building his kingdom under this king by people who are willing to say, I'm no longer gonna be at war with God. I'm gonna wave the white flag or maybe even a palm branch and recognize, God, I've been at war with you since the day I was born. You want your way, I want my way, I'm done. I'm done. I'm gonna follow this new king. I'm telling you, that's how the kingdom has been growing. So how do you think the people of that day responded when Jesus came riding in on a donkey? It was in their scriptures, in their Bibles, and just like you, they have the whole thing memorized, right? That's where you laugh. They knew that he was coming in on a donkey. So they're ready for this, right? Look how they responded. Luke's gospel shows us exactly. The disciples, they, threw their cloaks on the colt and put Jesus on it. As He went along, people spread their cloaks on the road. When He came near the place where the road goes down the Mount of Olives, the whole crowd of disciples began joyfully to praise God in loud voices for all the miracles they'd seen. Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord! Say this next word. Peace! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest. That's what this is all about. Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Jesus, look, they rebuke him. Teacher, rebuke your disciples. Look how he responds. I tell you, he replied, even if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out. All creation is groaning for someone to help with the corruption. As he approached Jerusalem and saw the city, he wept. It's the second time Jesus has cried. He wept over it and said, look it, this is key. If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace. But now it's hidden from your eyes. Here, Jesus is lamenting. They think they just want to be freed from the oppression of Romans. Jesus is like, I came to free you from the oppression of your sin and Satan and you don't want me. The days will come. upon you when your enemies will build an embankment against you and encircle you and hem you in on every side. They'll dash you to the ground, you and the children within your walls. They will not leave one stone on another. And here's why. because you didn't recognize the time of God's coming to you. In other words, because you rejected God's offer of peace to you. Here's God the Son walking in, having just shown them over three years of time, 37 occasions where he was God, saying, I've come to make peace with you, my children. And they're like, yeah, we don't care about that. Kill the Romans. He says, look, I'm gonna show you what life is gonna be like if you don't want God's offer of peace. I'm gonna remove my hedge of protection from your nation, and your entire city is gonna be destroyed. And that was fulfilled exactly as it's written in 70 AD. Exactly as Jesus said it would. Friends, Jesus, the King of Heaven's realm, rode into Jerusalem, wrapped in humility, riding on humility, so that everybody would see Oh, that's how he's building his kingdom. Humility, servanthood, not displays of power like we human corrupted people like to show it, but in becoming a servant. Yes, that's how this kingdom is growing. Everyone here this morning is born with this internal yearning for peace. Can I show you something about peace? There are three components to true peace. If you're here this morning and you say, look, everywhere I go there's just chaos. I'm on antidepressants and anxiety medication because I can't find peace anywhere. I want to just tell you something about the nature of peace, okay? There are three components for any human being to have peace, and here are those three components. It's peace with the creator, peace with self, and peace with others. Most people are trained by Westerners, especially if you watch a lot of TV, because this is what the pharmaceutical companies train us to believe. All that really matters is peace with self. You take a pill, and you can have that. It doesn't work. The only way to have actual true peace is to start with who my maker made me to be. I have to have peace with him first, then I can begin only after that to have peace with myself, and then after that I can look to the rest of my humanity and try to have peace with them. This isn't just true on an individual level. It's true on a familial level in your household. No wonder you're arguing so much. You don't have peace with God. If you have peace with God, peace with self, it'll start to spread into the household, then out into the neighborhood, then out into the community, then out into the county, and it'll take over the entire world. But this is true for individuals and for governments. Has to start there. As C.S. Lewis one time said, look at this, God can't give us happiness and peace apart from himself because it's not there. There's no such thing. If you're looking for peace, but you're not interested in God, good luck. You'll find it, you can go take a yoga class down the street, you can say om for the rest of your life. If someone comes over and kicks you over, what happens to your peace? It's not real, it's circumstantial. Someone can change it at a drop of a hat. True peace has to start with God. There's no other way. Jesus comes to give them that and they could care less. Do you? Do you want what God is offering? Do you want the King that God is offering? He's coming to offer you peace, and it comes by way of humble servanthood and self-forgetfulness. Friends, God the Father is called, look at this on the screen, God the God of peace. God the Son is called the Prince of peace. God the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of peace. There is no such thing as peace apart from that triune God. True peace can only be achieved by humanity if someone has the authority from the realm where that God exists, who can take the peace that exists in that realm and bring it down to this corrupted realm where there is no peace and say, I'm going to bring a peace offering. and make a peace between that corrupted realm and this corrupted realm under one new king. That is exactly why Jesus is the only one who can give you the peace you're looking for. He said this just a few days after he rode into Jerusalem. 14. He said, Peace I leave with you. My peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. And Paul would later go on to explain exactly the nature of the peace that we have with God. Take a look at what Paul said. He said, therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. So friends, I have one more reason for you why Jesus is the one that people have been longing for forever. But now that you understand that he came to grow a kingdom of peace and of hope. I don't want you to misunderstand. Jesus is not like the Salvation Army or the Peace Corps. His is completely different, and here's why. Jesus came to do for humanity what humanity can never do for ourselves. He came to kill the common enemy of all mankind. You'll see it right here in the text. Reason number three. Heaven's conquering champion is humanity's coming king. Here's what I'm gonna show you. Jesus is the solution to man's longing for a victor, a champion. We're looking for somebody. We're gonna stick someone in that role. The Bible calls him Antichrist. What we're looking for is a man who can actually give us eternal life, who can solve the common enemy of everyone in this room, which is a fear of death. Look at verse 17 through 19. You'll see it right on the surface of the text. The crowd that had been with him when he called Lazarus out of the tomb and raised him from the dead, remember I told you there's about two million people here roughly, continued to bear witness. The reason, this is how I built the whole sermon, the reason why the crowd went to meet him was that they had heard he had done this sign. Stop right there. All these people were coming after him because they heard, did you hear? There's someone who can actually fix the problem of death. He just raised a man from the dead. Let's go get him and make him king. And so they're going after him. That's what they're looking for. The next response is the response of the Pharisees, and they're gonna say something here and they don't really understand what it is that they're saying. Take a look at what they say in response. The Pharisees said to one another, you see, you're gaining nothing. Look, the world has gone after him. Now, to be fair, what they mean is the whole Jewish world. They didn't know anything about any other regions. They didn't have boats. They didn't have planes. They didn't have the internet. What they mean is the whole Jewish world, which was there for Passover. But to them, it looks like everybody in the world. Just like with Caiaphas a few weeks ago, they're speaking a prophetic word about what Jesus came to do, and they have no idea what it is that they're actually saying. It's absolutely true that the whole world, that earthquake that I told you about, has spread to the very, very ends of the earth. This same writer, John, I don't know how many of you know this, but he went on to write three more letters, 1 John, 2 John, 3 John, and one revelation, the revelation of Jesus Christ. What I've been showing you from this point is the inauguration of your king. If I've put you to sleep with any academic stuff, now might be the time to wake up because I want to show you the coronation of your king. Friends, Your King is coming. And this same author was given the grace of all grace to see the day when you will stand there and look what he says he saw. Take a look at this. Revelation 7. After this I looked. John, the same author, writing this. And behold, a great multitude that no one could number from every nation And all tribes and peoples and languages, just what they said was happening, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes with palm branches in their hands. Friends, what you're seeing here is the inauguration of a king. What John saw coming in our, I think, very near future, is the coronation of that king. And you're going to be there! with a palm branch in your hand saying, you came to solve the corruption of mankind. You came to solve the corruption in me. Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord. Friends, he came the first time as a humble, suffering servant riding on the back of a donkey. He's coming the second time as a conquering king riding on a white horse with the armies of heaven with him. And I've been so excited about this all week. Let me show you just a glimpse of what it looks like when this king finally comes to take his throne in Israel. Anybody excited? Let's look at it. This is the king that you've all been waiting for. Revelation 19. John says, Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, not a donkey this time, a white horse. The one sitting on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war. His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on His head are many diadems. And He has a name written that no one knows but Himself. He's clothed in a robe, dipped in blood, and the name by which He is called is the Word of God. And the armies of heaven, arrayed in fine linen, white and pure, were following Him on white horses. From His mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations. And He will rule them with a rod of iron. He will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty. And on His robe and on His thigh, He has a name written. Say this with me, church. King of kings and Lord of lords. Ours is a world dominated by corruption, by ugliness and sin and evil. The single underlying fear, the fear of death, is at the root of all of this. We're in a corrupted world and we can't find anything except for corrupted presidents and corrupted kings because inside of all of us is a corrupted heart. And because of that corrupted heart, what we have all waiting for us is death. The reason why Jesus is the king that all of humanity has been waiting for is because no king has ever been able to defeat such a great a foe as our king. And he will one day put the final enemy death under his feet. Friends, I'm done. How do you respond to a sermon like this? What could God possibly want you to do with what you've just heard? As we leave, I want to give you a simple three-step application so that you know exactly what to do. Here's the way God expects people who call themselves the loyal subject of Jesus Christ expects you to respond to what you've just heard. First, submit to his royal decrees. That's what this is. Follow it, learn it, know it, read it, and obey it. And you'll be ready when he comes. Second, He expects you to delight in his royal kingdom. Come to church, and don't just come on Sunday. Get to know the kingdom of God, the people who make up that kingdom, and enjoy one another. Love one another. Take each other bowling. Go play miniature golf. Enjoy the kingdom, because guess what? If you don't like each other, that stinks. You're going to spend eternity together. Third thing you can do to respond to this message, prepare for his royal return. You have to know the signs of his coming. You have to know the lateness of the hour and you have to prepare your household and your heart because the King is coming and coming soon. They weren't ready the first time he came. Will we be ready the next time he comes? Father in heaven, thank you for your word. Thank you for showing us the King of kings and Lord of lords. Thank you for John who is so faithful to record this true historical account the way that he did. And we look forward to the day when he comes, and we say, along with the saints in heaven, even so come, Lord Jesus, come. For it's in your holy and precious name that we pray, amen.