Jesus, Our True King

We're in Mark, and it is Reformation Sunday. So this is the Sunday where we have remembered intentionally through our songs the Protestant Reformation on October 31st, 1517. 501 years ago, Martin Luther nailed the 95 Theses, and we have to remember that that was really just an attempt to reform the church. His only problem was the selling of indulgences. That was the main issue. But then, of course, it went into what we now know as the Protestant. The Reformation became a protest. And as we've looked, one of the ways you can really focus in and think, all right, what is the Protestant Reformation? It's the focus of scripture alone. by grace alone, through faith alone, for God's glory alone, and what we're going to be thinking about today, and not because it's Reformation Day, but because our text points us in this direction, Christ alone. And as the Reformers, especially Calvin, looked at Christ alone, the three offices of Christ really came to the forefront. Christ the prophet, God hasn't just spoken through prophets of the ages, but He's now spoken through His own Son. Jesus is the ultimate, final, perfect prophet of God. He's the priest. He doesn't offer over and over again animals. He doesn't go over and over again in the same tent. No, He has given the once-for-all perfect sacrifice, His own perfect life, so that we might be forgiven and have confidence to enter boldly into the presence of God. He's the perfect King. His rule is righteous. His laws are loving. He rules us with perfect righteousness. And so as we look to our passage, I do want us to see that as a significant part of what we're thinking of, because most of our time is going to be spent on what Jesus proclaimed. The time is fulfilled. The kingdom of God is at hand. Repent and believe in the gospel. This is a summary statement of what Jesus would proclaim throughout Galilee, throughout the three years of his earthly ministry. Last week we ended on the baptism of Jesus because we wanted to highlight the baptisms that we got to celebrate here as a church. We're going to begin here again in verse 12. If you're looking at Mark, really verses one through 13 are kind of like a prologue, an introduction. This is the gospel of Jesus Christ. It was promised. John the Baptist prepared the way. He was baptized by John in preparation, and he was tempted in the wilderness as preparation. Our first point this morning is the courageous king. The courageous king. The spirit that John promised, the, the spirit that descended in the form of a dove on Jesus at baptism, now is going to immediately drive Jesus into the wilderness. And remember there's a connection here because John the Baptist, where was he? the wilderness. Now Jesus is driven back into the wilderness and here he's alone. He's not going for the baptism or for some other public declaration. He's, he's going for a specific purpose. He's going to be tempted by Satan for 40 days. Now the other temptation accounts give us a lot more detail. If you're going to the Gospel of Matthew, it's going to actually talk about the actual battle. He's going to explain how Satan goes with a specific temptation, and Jesus confronts and encounters that temptation with a specific passage of Scripture. There's a duel there, and Jesus wins. He does what Adam could not do, and he resists the evil one. And so we oftentimes look at this as Jesus' victory in temptation, but I don't think that's actually how Mark is wanting to present it here. It's the same event, and each of the gospel authors uses the different events to present a certain truth. And I want you to see that there isn't this clear victory in 12 and 13. I think you just see Jesus courageously entering into the battle. That's why he's the courageous king. Notice the emphasis is on where Jesus is and whom he's with. He goes into the wilderness. He was in the wilderness. He was being tempted by Satan. He is with the wild animals. The angels are ministering to him. Now, 40 days, that does, I believe, show that he's representing their Israel. He is, he is going in, and he's representing the, the people of God as the one individual who's going to identify with him. He is going to be there, and he's going to resist Satan. Now, now Satan here, the word is adversary. The one who is opposed to God. The one who is against God. Satan is against Jesus, and he's tempting him, seeking to overthrow Jesus the same way he overthrew Adam and Eve. I believe what we see here is simply a battle scene. Jesus is entering into the battle that we are losing so that he can win it for us. That's the main point of, I think, what's going on here. Now the wild animals, there's a lot of speculation as to why they're mentioned. Maybe it's really to show how deep he went in the wilderness, that he's actually there with the wild animals. It's very likely that John Mark, the author of this gospel, is writing in Rome. And he's writing either after or during the time of Nero. Nero would strap pigskins to the backs of Christians, throw them into the arena so that dogs would devour Christians. Some speculate that he adds that Jesus is there with the wild animals in the midst of this battle to show that Jesus himself was in the face of the dangerous wild animals, and you too can face those wild animals because your king has already withstood those attacks. If that's true, that would speak very loudly to those Christians who know that the threat of being torn apart for their faith, that they would not deny Christ, they would be encouraged to remain with Him. There's two ways in which I want us to reflect upon Jesus entering into the wilderness. One, we kind of have to be reminded here, we are in a battle. We don't usually think about that, right? We usually treat the world like it's a playground, not a battlefield. This world is not a playground to pursue all the different kinds of entertainment and sin that we want. No, it's a battle. There's a battle taking place. Jesus, yes, He has entered into it for us, but that battle, it still goes on. Are we fighting in that battle? And are we participating in the victory of Christ? Secondly, we can rejoice that He has come to fight with us, fight for us, and that battle is won. Our next point is in verses 14 and 15. This is where we're going to spend much of our time, and this is where the handout, I hope, is helpful for you. After the preparation of the baptism, of the temptation, and we see here that the timing of everything has to work out just right. If we get to Mark 9, he's going to keep saying, It is not yet time for me to go to Jerusalem. Here, after John the Baptist was arrested. In Mark's Gospel, John just disappears at this point until chapter 6. We actually hear of his beheading. But after John the Baptist is arrested, Jesus goes into Galilee. He goes into the town where there's a population, and he begins his ministry. He proclaims the gospel of God. Now that phrase is very important. If you were here with us last week, we looked at the very word gospel, it means good news, and it's something that you herald. It would most likely take place in a city where there's a battle over here, our army is fighting, and when we have victory, the herald is gonna come back into town and declare, we've won! That's good news, there's victory, there's no more danger. Here we see there's the Gospel of God. The good news that comes from God, the good news that is God, it is the way He is at work. And Jesus has come to proclaim that good news, and He Himself is that good news. Again, verse 15. This is worthy of your meditation and your memorization. This very small, simple statement. I don't think Jesus just went around saying this one sentence over and over again. This is a summary of what Jesus would proclaim throughout his ministry. We can see there there are three basic parts. The time is fulfilled. The kingdom of God is at hand. Repent and believe in the gospel. The time is fulfilled. That points to the stage we are in, in just redemptive history, and God's plan. The kingdom of God is at hand. This is what God is doing. Repent and believe in the gospel. That's how you respond. Let's look at these phrases in order. The time is fulfilled. If we go back to the Old Testament, we'll see that there's numerous promises. If you want one word to kind of summarize the Old Testament, it's, it's promise. God is making promises. And when we get to the New Testament, we see fulfillment. And, and time matters throughout Scripture. Sequence matters throughout Scripture. We see there that God made many promises, and now they've come to fulfillment. In the Old Testament, even in Genesis 15, God says to Abraham, you're going to go out of this land, your people will be out of this land until the time of the Canaanites is fulfilled. And what he's saying there is I'm going to give these people who are inhabitants 400 years to repent of their idolatry before I come back and judge them. We also see this idea presented in Paul in Galatians 4. But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who are under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. And because you were sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, Abba, Father. So you are no longer a slave, but a son. And if a son, then an heir through God. The time is fulfilled. Now, there's 2,000 years between Abraham and Jesus. There's 1,500 years between Moses and Jesus. There's 1,000 years between David and Jesus. Why is God so long and waiting? Why does it take so long? Those are okay questions to ask. But as we think about those questions, as we consider what the answer might be, this is what we have to remember. God knows more than we do. That's sometimes hard. Let that soak in just for a moment. Write that down. God knows more than me. His timing is perfect. Why, in our minds, He appears to act so slowly, Remember that a year is like a day to the Father. He is not slow in His mercy. That there is a purpose to each season. There is a purpose to each time. And now the time is fulfilled. Something significantly is happening. The gospel of God is here. The King has come. The very Son of God has been born of a woman so that we may be reborn again as sons of God. 2,000 years ago today, we can reflect upon the fact that we rejoice. We are born on this side of Christ's coming, His death and His resurrection, so that we can have confidence in who He is. A real simple application here is we kind of get impatient in life. God's timing is perfect. We get frustrated that things don't happen fast enough, or they're not moving slow enough. We must trust God who knows more than we do and is always working things out in His perfect time. So the time is fulfilled. Those promises, after years of waiting, even after 400 years of silence, they're now fulfilled. And the fulfillment is this. The kingdom of God is at hand. That is one loaded phrase. The kingdom of God is here. Well, we need to just slow down, that's why you've got a handout, so that I can hopefully make some sense of this very loaded, even phrase, kingdom of God. Let's first try to define kingdom of God. The most simple definition for kingdom of God is God's righteous reign. The kingdom of God is God reigning, that is exercising control, in his righteousness. Now the word righteous actually isn't even necessary there, is it? If God's reigning, it is righteous. Because he is righteous. We can maybe double click on that and just say, what can we say more about this? It's God exercising his reign and God's people submitting to it. The true perfect kingdom is God reigning and God's people submitting. Let's ask the question, does God ever not reign in perfect righteousness? Do God's people ever submit perfectly to God's righteousness? The problem with the rain is us. Here the King is coming to help us. The King is coming to re-establish God's kingdom, so that we might actually have hearts to submit to Him. If you look at the sheet, as we back out, because I want us to see how the kingdom works. Really the kingdom is this grand declaration that we can trace all throughout Scripture. In Genesis 1 and 2, we see the kingdom is created. If you're using that little handout, kingdom is created. In Genesis 1 and 2, we see this perfect picture. Genesis 1 is a hymn of praise as to how orderly God's creation is. Genesis 2 is how God himself comes down and speaks to his creation. We see there the king reigns. He's giving instruction. Man receives that instruction. And if you want to fill in the blank, redemption, it's unnecessary at that time. There's no sin. It's good. The kingdom created, there was no redemption necessary, and the king is reigning. The next section there is the kingdom ruined. That's Genesis 3. And we can actually trace that all the way to Malachi. The kingdom ruined. We still live in a world that has affected, has the effects of the kingdom ruined. What happened in Genesis 3? Man rejects God's rules. Adam and Eve decide they're not going to submit to God. They're not going to follow Him. They're not going to obey Him. They're going to do what seems best in their own eyes. They're going to try to claim something that is not given to them by God. Genesis 3 is the kingdom ruined. Well, where's the king in all this? If you go to Genesis 3.15, God begins to speak to the serpent, and He's given the serpent his, his, his consequences. And it takes about 20 words to get to God, giving the promise of the good news. Genesis 3, 15, all the way back there, God declares to Satan, a son will be born and he will crush your head. Back in Genesis 3, where the kingdom is ruined, the king is promised. The king is promised. and redemption in that king is promised, because redemption is when that king, that son will be born, he's going to come in victory, and he's going to destroy the curse. He's going to destroy sin. He's going to destroy death. He's going to destroy Satan. So when the kingdom ruined, the king is promised, and redemption is promised with him, because there is no redemption without him. Satan, you have not won. You will be crushed. Order, goodness, righteousness will all be restored. Now, if we go back to that first phrase, you can hear the demons maybe shudder a bit. The time is fulfilled. That promise has come to fulfillment. The king is here to crush Satan. The next step, and this is one where we're in here, that the kingdom renewed. That where we're at in the Gospel of Jesus Christ right here is the kingdom renewed, because the king is present. The king is present. Yeah, there's been a lot of kings throughout Israel. We had Saul. We had David. And if we actually just stop with David, in 2 Samuel 7, David goes to God and he says, I want to build you a house. God says, your hands are too bloody to build me a house. Here's what I'll do for you. To you will be born a son, and he will reign forever. and his kingdom will be a kingdom of peace and prosperity. He will be a forever king, and Jesus is now coming as a fulfillment of that promise. His kingdom is one of peace and prosperity, where the lion and the lamb, they actually lie together. Now right now you should be asking, all right, if the kingdom is at hand, and the kingdom is one of peace and prosperity, why do we live in such a world of disorder? Why did the shootings happen in Pittsburgh? Why does the lion keep devouring the lamb? It's an important question, and that's why we're looking at all these big pictures as to how the kingdom was created, the kingdom was ruined, now the king has come. And we need to really think about what does it mean that the king has come, and how it continues to play out to answer that question. It's an important question. He's the king that has come. He's not just any king. He's a son who has come down from the Father to present to His Father a people who will submit to Him perfectly. The first way the king implements God's righteous rule is by first identifying with us. He will submit to God. He will trust God. He will obey God. One of the ways in which he submits to God is he decides that will also submit to man. You see, this king is going to come and he's going to die at the hands of men. He's going to die at the hands of men to fulfill God's wrath. It's remarkable if we think about what's happening there on the day Christ dies. So many things are said by people who don't really know what they're talking about, but they say things that are so true. For instance, the sign they nail over Jesus' head. That was meant to be a little cheeky. But it was the most true statement made that day. This is the King of the Jews. What did the Pilate's servants do? They put a crown of thorns on him. They put a scarlet robe around him. They put a reed in his hand. They beat and spat upon and mocked him as if a king. This is how the king came. What did the king do? He sat still and silent in perfect righteousness. He sat still because he knew his Father. He knew his mission. He knew that the only way that men could be forgiven for the sins they're committing, the very sins of spitting upon and mocking Jesus, would be for him to submit to them, to submit to death on the cross so that the wrath of God be satisfied in him. Think about what Jesus the King, who's been mocked, spat upon, What about the words that he actually shares on the cross? The very soldiers who are mocking him, forgive them, for they know not what they do. That's how our King reigns. That's how our King is accomplishing redemption. Redemption accomplished. If you're following that same outline, that's how our king accomplishes redemption. He comes to die on behalf of his people so that he can renew us back in relationship to the Father. What's amazing is he's not done yet. We don't actually live in that kingdom. We live in another part of the kingdom being established. We don't live in that stage of the kingdom, rather. If you look at the outline, the kingdom proclaimed, that's where we live today. The King is ascended. He is at the right hand of the Father. All authority is His, and He is with us. Redemption is applied. The redemption that He accomplished on the cross in dying for us to forgive us is now applied so that our hearts are now changed. Our hearts are now longing for His kingdom. But the kingdom is not yet quite finished. We're still looking and longing for something. That is the kingdom perfected. We're longing and looking for when that kingdom is perfected and redemption is complete and the king reigns again. If you want to know what that looks like, read 1 Corinthians 15. All the enemies of God are at His feet. Christ comes and renews all things. The main difference between us now and then is that our hearts will be perfectly changed. We won't just have a regenerated heart. We'll have a completely renewed heart that does no, that no longer is tainted by sin. So when Jesus says the kingdom of God is at hand, He's not saying everything about the kingdom is now complete. He's saying that the Son that was promised has come and He's going to begin the work of redemption that will be perfected. So what is our call today? First, we're to submit to Him. That's what you do to a king. That's what we're to do to this glorious king who has demonstrated His love for us and that He died for us. He has authority over us. which is why our posture must always be to submit to Him and to live under His Word. We also have to see that He has overcome our enemies. Satan is one of our key enemies. We'll see in Mark 3, Jesus has bound that strong man who defeated us. Jesus' truth is the way we overcome Satan's adversarial lies. Death is destroyed. We no longer fear death. The flesh, the sin that is driven within us. We know we're forgiven and we're free from the temptation. The King has come so that we can properly respond to his authority. We need to remember that. The King has come so that we can now properly respond his authority. And if you want to know what's different between time one and time two, the time being fulfilled, that now the kingdom is at hand, Jesus has come so that we are now free to submit to God. There's three ways you can submit to God. First, celebrate the King who has come. Redemption has been accomplished. Secondly, live with the king, knowing that he has ascended and that we can pray to him and pray in his name. It is an ongoing, growing relationship. And third, watch for the king. He will return. This world is not the way it's supposed to be. Further application. Know your citizenship. Hold dearly to your absolute true citizenship. Jesus told his disciples in John 14, I am going to prepare a place for you. In Philippians 3 20 Paul declares, but our Citizenship is in heaven and from it we we await a Savior the Lord Jesus Christ who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself or Ephesians 2 19 So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but your fellow citizens with the Saints and members of the household of God In all our busyness, it's kind of hard to not be earthly-minded, isn't it? It's hard not to be bogged down with all the things we want to accomplish here on this earth. It's hard to remember that this isn't our true citizenship. This isn't the place we're truly living for. We have to remember Christ came and He will come again, and there will be us giving an account for how we live our lives. 1 Peter 1. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. According to His great mercy, He has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God's power are being guarded through faith for a salvation, ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, if you've been grieved by various trials, so that the tested by genuineness of your faith, more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you now see Him, you believe in Him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls." There Peter is encouraging the saints. In the midst of your trials, realize what God is doing is testing your faith. He's renewing you. He's changing you for your better. Because the ultimate goal is not to live the happiest life now in the worldly sense. No, the goal of life now is to cling by faith to Christ who's coming back for the very salvation of our souls. Another application. As Jesus teaches us, we're to pray, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. It's probably important that we actually know what that means. It doesn't just mean, fix all these other people around here. It doesn't mean your kingdom come and change all these circumstances. No. First and foremost, it means, Lord, change my heart. Let Your will be done. Let me respond with submission, and may our church be built up in a way that will glorify You. May we be aligned with You. That prayer is important because it helps us remember It's not about what I want in my time. It's not about what, what I want according to my expectations. It's not about what I'm pursuing for my best pleasure. It's trusting God in His time, for His purpose, and His glory. Finally, the way we respond to the king. It's simple obedience. It's hard to recognize this and appreciate it, but there's an external authority. The King has come. His voice has absolute authority. Now, we're oftentimes afraid of authority because, as we usually see authority, it's usually abused. We're afraid of this idea of authority. But here we can see the great authority, God Himself, He bought us with His own blood. He now commends us with that loving voice. Our lives are not our own. They've been bought with a precious price. As children of the kingdom, as citizens of the kingdom, we're called to rejoice in this with obedience. Before we move on from the kingdom, I want to meditate upon 1 Corinthians 6. Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God. Do not be deceived. Neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. It's hard. It'd be hard for me to find the ones I'm not guilty of. But that's where the good news comes in. And such are some of you that you are washed, you are sanctified, you are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ by the Spirit of our God. It's not about not being so sinful that God will receive you. No, it's about being washed by the King who has come to shed His blood. It's not about saying, you know what, I don't want to do these things so God will accept me. No, it's about accepting the King who loves you, who died for you, and who gives you a heart so the things that are opposed to the kingdom are no longer attractive because you see the glorious God who gives life. It's not cleaning ourselves up from these things. It's realizing God cleanses us, and gives us new life, and gives us new desires. Yes, it is a warning passage, but it is also a great declaration. Turn to Him who washes. Our final phrase of Jesus' summary statement of what the gospel of God is. We've seen how it works out in the time of God, in promise, fulfillment. We've meditated upon the kingdom of God in its great span from creation to new creation. We've seen the truth. The kingdom of God is Jesus Christ coming to free us from our sins. Now, that gospel message has something very specific for us. Notice the very last phrase is how we respond. Repent and believe in the gospel. Now, the word repent, we already can see here, it's implying there's something wrong with us. Something needs to be changed. There's a turning away from the things that are opposed to the King, so that we can then turn towards the King. I also want us to meditate here, just a good question is, how is what Jesus is saying here different than what John the Baptist said? John the Baptist's message was repent. The key difference here, I think John has already said it, he, I will baptize with water, he will baptize with the Holy Spirit. When Jesus comes, it's not just what you're turning away from, it's what you're turning toward. You're turning to the good news. You're turning to what has been, what has happened for you. Christianity is unique in that the good news it presents is not advice. It's a declaration. It's, you're free and forgiven. It's a declaration from God that changes who you are. It's not advice just to become a little better. It's not advice just to figure out things and how to be a little happier. It's not advice as if you just need help. No, it's a word that says, you're dead and I'll make you alive. You're guilty and I'll forgive you. Repent means you turn from the sin that is so entangling and corrupting and destructive, and you turn to Jesus. You put all sin to put on Christ. It's necessary. If you're not a Christian this morning, maybe you're not a Christian because you don't really need help. Maybe life is working for you. Maybe everything is worked out in such a way that you're happy, you're in control, everything just works out well. Christianity is not for people who've got it all worked out. I understand why you're not a Christian. I think what the Bible actually describes, though, Every man is denied the, the one truth that, that he was made for God. He was made to obey God. He was made to submit to God. And, and only in, in God will we truly be happy. If you're not a Christian and you're actually frustrated, the Gospel is for you. If you're not a Christian, you're coming to realize, okay, I, I have been working. I've been trying to figure things out. There's a sin. There's something inside of me that's always off, that's always wrong. I can't fix it. That's where the Gospel comes in. The king can do what you cannot do because he's God. What we have to do is turn to him and ask for salvation. Repent and believe that Jesus Christ died for sinners like all of us and rose again. Christian, repenting and believing isn't something we did once, when we once walked an aisle. It's something we really have to do every day. I pray you're confident in that you have repented and believed and that you are secured in Jesus. But if you've not been repenting and striving for belief regularly, you're missing out on the joy of being a Christian. You're missing out on the joy of following and obeying the King. It isn't a one-time choice. It is an ongoing relationship. Our sermon outlined courageous king. That's verses 12 to 13. 14 and 15, we just looked at the present king. Our last few verses here, verses 16 to 20, it is follow the king. Passing alongside the Sea of Galilee, Jesus saw Simon and Andrew, the brother of Simon, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. And Jesus said to them, follow me and I will make you become fishers of men. And immediately they left their nets and followed him. And going on a little farther, he saw James, the son of Zebedee, and John, his brother, who were both in their boat, mending the nets. And immediately he called them, and they left their father, Zebedee, in the boat with the hired servants and followed him. Notice what Mark does after declaring Jesus' message. He gives us some examples of what discipleship looks like. What it looks like to repent and believe. Now, here we have four fishermen, and they're all fully dependent on their nets. Let's just think first of all here, Simon and Andrew. Their nets were the only way they knew how to sustain their own lives, their family's lives, and it's their contribution to society. We have to think, okay, Jesus, what he's going to do is he's going to take what I'm really good at, and he's going to use that to help other people. Notice Jesus didn't say, bring your nets because you're gonna help me feed all my disciples. Leave your nets behind, I have another job for you. And notice these men have no qualifications to do what Jesus is gonna say. If we read ahead, and you probably have read the stories, these men are gonna be huge failures at their job. They're going to frustrate Jesus. They're going to be frustrated themselves. They're going to be miserable disciples for some time. They're gonna be bad at being fishers of men. That's where the grace of God comes in. These men, who are ordinary fishermen, are going to end up turning the world upside down because the Holy Spirit used them, their incompetence, their failure, to make them faithful proclaimers of the gospel of Jesus Christ. That's how the gospel works. God doesn't really need the food from the fishermen. He's God. God doesn't really need our skills and the things we feel confident in. No, He's God. God needs faithful, willing servants who are going to depend upon His power from on high to do His work. I want us also to see what Jesus is inviting them to is a relationship. Follow me. Now the relationship has a proper order because He's the King. But he's inviting them to himself. Follow me. He calls out to James and John, the brothers, the Zebedee brothers. They immediately follow him. He's inviting us to know him, the very God of life. They're going to leave everything they know and gain everything God has for them. This is a picture of discipleship. And look, it's repent and believe. They're not repenting of sin. There's nothing sinful about being fishermen. But it'd be sin if they kept being fishermen. Because God called them out of their ordinary life and called them into his kingdom. This morning, I want us to reflect upon the king. Rejoice. Redemption has been accomplished. Obey. If you're a believer, the Holy Spirit lives inside of you so that you can actually submit to God and enjoy Him and rejoice in Him. You can follow Him and know Him, but it requires submitting in a way that whatever He says has to go must go. If it's sin, that's easy. If it's your fishing net, that can be hard. but He's the good and gracious King who provides. Third, let's be watchful. Our King is coming back. Be watchful. Our King is coming back. Will you pray with me? Father, we thank you that you are the God who has perfect time. You are the God who has ordered all things according to your plan to work out a beautiful gospel, a gospel that allows us to know that we're sinners, to know that you are God, to know that you're the God who saves. Forgive us, Lord, for impatience. We praise you, Lord, for the God, that's the God who is patient. Forgive us, Lord, for wanting to have our own little kingdoms and our own little time and our control. Lord, may we know what it looks like to live as citizens of your kingdom, submitting to Jesus, our King. May Jefferson Baptist be a microcosm of that kingdom where we all come together, uniting by submitting to our King. And may we proclaim that message faithfully, knowing that you're the one who empowers that message so others might believe. For your praise and your glory, in Jesus' name we pray, amen.