The Triumphant King

The Triumphant King
John 18:1-40
March 28-29, 2026

Would you all open your Bibles to the Book of John? We'll be in John 18, beginning in verse 1, the title of our message, The Triumphant King, as we're celebrating the triumphant entry of our Lord into Jerusalem. Let's pray and receive from God's Word together. Lord, thank you for sending your Word to reveal your heart to us, your desire to bless our lives. We open our heart to receive and pray that, Lord, you would pour out your Spirit of life through your Word. Meet us here today in Jesus' powerful name. Everyone said, Amen.

The triumphant entry of the Lord as He came into Jerusalem, riding on the fold of a donkey, and the crowds, or great crowds surrounding Him, shouting, "Hosanna, hosanna, blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord." These were the words from the Psalm of the Messiah. Everyone knew that when you shout these words, you are welcoming in the Messiah and King. There were great crowds there in Jerusalem because these were the high holy days in Israel. That week began on Sunday.

The first month of the Jewish calendar is the month of Nisan. On the 10th day of that month, the day that we call Palm Sunday, is the day that they call Lamb Selection Day. That's the day that they would select a lamb, an unblemished lamb, to prepare for the Passover that would be coming later that week. The day that Jesus came into Jerusalem, riding on the fold of a donkey, the day that we call Palm Sunday, was Lamb Selection Day. God was sending His Son and declaring, "This is the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. This is the Lamb that I have chosen, that He will redeem sinners and reconcile them to the living God through His Son, Jesus Christ." Amen. It's glorious to know. Let's give the Lord praise. God's doing a great work in that.

God has been leading up to this day, this day of Jesus, from the beginning. Jesus has an appointment with history. He came to fulfill the very purpose of God, to seek and to save that which was lost. He's been healing. He's been teaching. He's been preparing the disciples, saying that He would go to Jerusalem, suffer many things from the elders and the chief priests and the scribes, and that He would be crucified. He told them the manner of His death, but that He would be raised up from the dead on the third day. Jesus had an appointment with history. His entry into Jerusalem were ordained, established by God before the foundations of the world.

From the earliest chapters of Genesis, God has been pointing to Jesus all through, showing that He would be the one who would shed His blood on the cross of Calvary as a covering for our sins as well. All throughout the Old Testament, I love going through the Old Testament and seeing all the ways that it points to Jesus over and over, chapter by chapter, prophecy by prophecy. It's all there to read and understand. For example, in Isaiah 61, the words that Jesus quoted from the prophet as He began His ministry, "The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me. The Lord has appointed me to bring good news to the afflicted. He sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to captives, freedom to prisoners, and to proclaim the favorable year of the Lord."

Then, of course, Isaiah 53, one of the most powerful prophetic chapters in the entire Old Testament, Isaiah 53:5, is such a key verse, "He was pierced through for our transgressions. He was crushed for our iniquities. The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, and by His scourging we are healed." God has been declaring it from the very beginning, but the Jews missed it. They didn't recognize the signs of the times that were right before their eyes, thus fulfilling another Scripture that said that the stone which the builders rejected, meaning that the Messiah and King would come, but they would not recognize. They would even reject Him.

The stone which the builders rejected would become the chief cornerstone. On that stone, on that rock, He would build His church. On that rock, He would build the purpose of which He sent His Son to seek and to save that which was lost. They would not receive their King. Though He lived among them, the signs of the times were right before their eyes. The blind received sight, the deaf could hear, the lame could walk. He even raised Lazarus from the dead. These were the signs of the times right before their eyes, but they missed it because their hearts were hard and their eyes were blind.

Here's where it must be seen as being personal. You don't miss it. Don't you miss the signs of the time? Each one must decide then, how will you respond to the one whom He sent to seek and to save you? The Jews are still waiting for their Messiah, but Daniel the prophet gave the exact number of years from a decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem to Messiah the Prince. Exact. No one can fulfill that prophecy except the one who already fulfilled it. For Jesus entered into Jerusalem on the exact day predicted and prophesied by Daniel the prophet. In other words, the purposes of God will be accomplished. Jesus entered Jerusalem the exact day appointed by God. Nothing could stop Him, and nothing could hinder Him.

Today, the Eastern Gate there in Jerusalem has been sealed up. When you go to Israel with us, we always take you to the Mount of Olives. You can see Jerusalem there. We always point out that the Eastern Gate, also called the Mercy Gate or the Golden Gate, has been sealed up. Why? The Muslims sealed it up many years ago, knowing and understanding that the prophecy of Scripture is that when the Messiah comes, He will enter in through the Eastern Gate. Thinking that they would thwart the will of God, they sealed it up. They even put a cemetery in front of it, thinking that no man of God would come through the place of the dead.

The Scripture says that when Jesus the Messiah comes at the end of the age and sets foot on the Mount of Olives, that the mountain will split wide open before Him. He will enter into Jerusalem to rule and reign the nations of the world, to which we say, "Oh Lord Jesus, come quickly, because this is a messed-up world." Can we give God praise?

In other words, nothing can stop Him, and nothing can hinder Him. Jesus has an appointment with history. I also submit to you that everyone will have an appointment with Him. Everyone's going to have a come-to-Jesus meeting. Sometimes we use that expression, "So-and-so, they need to have a come-to-Jesus meeting." I'm here to tell you that everyone is going to have a come-to-Jesus meeting. The question is when. You can have a come-to-Jesus meeting today and get your heart and your soul right with God today, or you can have a come-to-Jesus meeting at the end of the age when everyone will stand and give an account of their lives.

Scripture says every knee will bow, every tongue will confess that Jesus is Lord to the glory of God the Father. Every knee, every tongue is going to confess. Everyone is going to have a come-to-Jesus meeting. I submit to you that it's much better to have a come-to-Jesus meeting now, now that you can be reconciled to the living God because of what Jesus did for you. You can enjoy the blessing and honor of a relationship to the living God. I tell you, this is a messed-up world. This world needs hope right now.

It's times like these-- Look at what's happening in the world today. It's times like these makes you think about what really matters. Makes you step back and consider the condition of your soul. There is an aspect of the human nature that's searching and longing, and looking to fill that which is empty inside. Longing, longing, searching, "Where is that which would fill my soul?" You know what's interesting is that the Lord sent His Son to seek out you. He's the one actually knocking.

The Scripture says, "I stand at the door, and I knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come into him and will dine with him, and he with me." In other words, we're going to have glorious fellowship together. We must step back and understand, He's the one doing the seeking. He's the one doing the knocking. He's calling out your name. He desires glorious fellowship with you. Everyone's going to have a come-to-Jesus meeting. I want you to have that opportunity to get your heart and your soul right with God. It's a beautiful story that we're going to see in John 18 of encounters with Jesus.

After the triumphant entry into Jerusalem, He entered into the temple. There He saw the money changers and those selling doves and taking advantage of those who had come to worship. He overthrew the tables and money flying and doves flying. He chased them out. "Get out. This is my Father's house. This is to be a house of prayer, and you're making it a den of robbers." Then He taught them. He healed them in the temple. Then later that week, when He had that last supper with His disciples, He says that afterward He crossed over into the Kidron Valley.

I. The Flesh is Weak

There in the Garden of Gethsemane, the story unfolds that we're going to read here in John 18. That is such an important story because here we see why it's so important that we need a Savior. Why we need a come-to-Jesus meeting. Why? Because we see the failure of the human condition in living color in the story. Firstly, there's Peter. Oh, Peter. We can relate to Peter. We can see ourselves in Peter. He's hotheaded, he's overconfident, and he's weak in the flesh, just like us. Oh, we're just like him. We can relate. This encounter with Jesus is going to change him forever.

There's Judas Iscariot, the one who betrayed Jesus for 30 pieces of silver. Oh, he came to Jesus all right, but he brought Roman soldiers and officers to arrest Him. "The one I kiss is the one whom you seek." Then there's Pontius Pilate in the story, the Roman governor, an unwilling participant in the story, but he plays a very important role, and also a very important matter that we need to see ourselves in as well, for he must answer the question, what will you do with Jesus? That question still rings true today. What will you do with my son? What will you do with Jesus?

Let's read the story of it. We're in John 18, and we'll begin reading in verse 1. "When Jesus had spoken these words, He went forth with His disciples over the ravine of the Kidron." When you're in Jerusalem with us, we'll do this, you're there in Jerusalem, you go east, right away, you go right down into the very short valley of Kidron. On the other side is the Garden, the Garden of Gethsemane, and we always go there. What a powerful moment to just consider, stand there when all these events unfolded, and consider the powerful things that happened in our behalf there in that garden.

He says He was there with His disciples, verse 2, "Now Judas also, who was betraying Him, knew of that place, for Jesus had often met there with His disciples. Judas then, having received the Roman cohort, officers from the chief priests and Pharisees, came there with lanterns and torches and weapons. Jesus, therefore, knowing of the things that were coming upon Him, went forth and said to them, 'Whom do you seek?' They answered, 'Jesus the Nazarene.' He said to them, 'I am He.'" I love this part of the story, "I am He."

Judas also, who was betraying Him, was there standing with them. Now, when Jesus therefore said to them, "I am He," they drew back and fell to the ground. This is a powerful scene. You might know that the name of God in Hebrew is translated, "I am." Here, He says, "I am He." They drew back and fell to the ground. What a powerful scene. Then He says, "Whom do you seek?" Again, He says it. They answer, "Jesus the Nazarene." Verse 8, "Jesus said, I told you that I am He. If, therefore, you seek me, let these go their way," meaning the disciples, "that the word might be fulfilled which He spoke, of those whom thou hast given me, I lost not one."

"Simon Peter, therefore--" Okay, here we go. "Simon Peter, therefore, having a sword, drew it, struck the high priest's slave, and cut off his right ear." How exact is that? Not his left ear, his right ear, and we know his name, the slave's name is Malchus. "Jesus therefore said to Peter, put the sword back into its sheath, Peter, for the cup which the Father has given me, shall I not drink it? The Roman cohort and the commander and the officers of the Jews arrested Jesus, bound Him, led Him to Annas first, for he was father-in-law to Caiaphas, who was high priest that year."

Now this is the Caiaphas-- Do you remember? The Caiaphas, who was the one who had advised the Jews that it was expedient for one man to die on behalf of the people? He had no idea the power of that word that he spoke, that it would become prophetic. "Now Simon Peter was following Jesus, so was another disciple. Now that disciple was known to the high priest and entered with Jesus into the court of the high priest, but Peter was standing outside. The other disciple, who was known to the high priest, went out and spoke to the doorkeeper and brought Peter in."

Now, when you go to Israel with us, we go here to this very place. Amazing to stand there, considering these events took place here. Amazing. Now, verse 17, "A slave girl, therefore, who kept the door, said to Peter, 'You're not also one of this man's disciples, are you?' He said, 'I am not.'" Denied the Lord. "Now the slaves and the officers were standing there, having made a charcoal fire, for it was cold, and they were warming themselves by the fire, and Peter also was with them, standing and warming himself with their fire. Now the high priest therefore questioned Jesus about His disciples and about His teaching.

Jesus answered, 'I have spoken openly to the world. I always taught in synagogues or in the temple where all the Jews come together, and I spoke nothing in secret. Why then do you question me, question those who heard what I spoke to them? Behold, they know what I said.' When He had said this, one of the officers standing by gave Jesus a blow." He struck him. "'Is that the way you answer a high priest?' Jesus answered, 'If I have spoken wrongly, then bear witness of the wrong, but if I speak rightly, why do you strike me?' Annas, therefore, sent Him bound to Caiaphas, the high priest.

Now Simon Peter was standing and warming himself. They said, therefore, to him, 'You are not also one of his disciples, are you?' He denied it a second time, 'I am not.' Then one of the slaves of the high priest, being a relative of the one whose ear Peter cut off, said, 'Wait. Did I not see you in the garden with Him?' Peter denied it. 'I tell you, I don't know the man.' Immediately, a rooster crowed."

A. Live by the sword, die by the sword

Now this is a very important scene. We're going to look at some other verses, yes, but I want us to understand here, this story is so important because it reveals why we need to come to Jesus, why we need a Savior, because the flesh is so weak. In that garden that night, Jesus, after He had returned from praying, found the disciples asleep and said, "The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak." Oh, that is so true. That night, Peter was completely overtaken by his flesh. His hot-headed anger was about to get him into some real trouble. Had to be rescued by the Lord. Live by the sword, die by the sword.

He's trying to help understand-- We can say it this way. Live by the flesh, die by the flesh. Oh, that flesh is so weak. The condition of man, why we need a Savior, why we need to come to Jesus. That hot head of his is going to get him into some real trouble. He drew out a sword, struck the servant of the high priest, cut off his right ear. We know his name, Malchus. I think it's fair to say that Peter, being a fisherman, was not skilled with the sword. He was not aiming for the man's right ear. He's not Zorro. He's a fisherman who's wielding the sword clumsily. I submit, he's trying to take the man's head off.

He's wielding the sword, so Malchus ducks and cuts off his right ear. Jesus-- The hot head, he just lost it. He just lost it to the flesh. His hot anger lost it. He's just wielding the sword and then cuts off the man's ear, so that Jesus then steps in to rescue him. Jesus-- what an amazing scene. He goes over, picks up this ear. I like to think He probably shook it off. Then He puts it back on the man's head. You would think that the whole crowd would like, "Let's take this thing over here." He puts it back on the man's head, heals him. Jesus saves him. Jesus rescues him because his hot head got him into a lot of trouble.

B. The weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh

I tell you, many people do this. Something happens, some crisis thing happens, and they lose it. They just lose it. Their flesh just takes over, and they get angry, and they just lose it. Oh, the flesh. Weak. Got many people into a lot of trouble. People do this all the time, and they make enemies of people that are not your enemies. Your wife is not your enemy. Your husband, your children, your boss, they're not your enemies. When you react this way in the flesh, you give your enemy a foothold in your life. Ephesians 4, "Be angry and do not sin. Do not let the sun go down on your anger. Do not give the devil an opportunity." Oh, how weak is the flesh.

II. God’s Love Never Fails

Then we need to see this in the story. Jesus told them in advance. He said, "You will all fall away on account of me." Peter objected, "Not me, not me. I look at these others that you selected, and I can understand why you would say that about them. Not me. I would never deny you." Jesus said, "Peter, this very night before the rooster has crowed, you will have denied me three times." What was Peter saying? "My love for you is greater than any of them. I love you more. I would never fail you. I would never deny you." He does. He failed. He does fail miserably.

A. Don't follow at a distance

This is part of the story. We fail. God's love never fails. Even while Peter is failing, Jesus is paying the price for that failure. Jesus is paying the price to redeem him from that failure. Then we read this story and understand tremendously important truths to apply. For example, verse 15, don't follow at a distance. Oh, Peter's following, but at a distance. He doesn't want anyone to know who he is. He's a follower of Jesus, but distant. Many people find themselves in the same place. Oh, they're followers of Jesus, but they don't want anyone to know. They don't want to stand out. I call it the miserable middle.

They're following Jesus, but at a distance. They're miserable because they're right in the middle. They have too much of the Lord to enjoy the world, and they have too much of the world to enjoy the Lord. It'll make you fail. Being too far from the Lord is what gets people in trouble. It's been true from the very beginning. Then it's the nearness of God that is our strength. It's the nearness of God that is our good. That's the place we need to stand in. That's Psalm 73:28. "As for me, the nearness of God is my good. I have made the Lord God my refuge that I may tell of all your works."

"I'm not ashamed. I want to tell everyone the glorious things you've done for me." It's the nearness of God that is my good. I've made the Lord God my refuge. I want to tell of all your works. Then there's 2 Timothy 1:12. What a great verse is this. "I'm not ashamed, for I know in whom I have believed." I am persuaded. I am convinced. This thing is settled with me. I believe that He is able to keep that which I have committed to Him until that day. I tell you, I found it's much easier just to declare who you are.

I remember when I was back in the workaday world, and I was going to Bible college, and I was still working in the restaurant business. We had started the church, but it was small. I still had a job in the restaurant. I got this new position at this restaurant. It was a high-class. I remember day one, I get there early, and the manager says, "Your trainer's not here yet, so just stand in your section and wait. He'll show up soon." I'm over there waiting. Pretty soon, the fellow comes up and introduces himself. Then he says, "I'm a homosexual. Did you notice that?" I said, "Well, I picked that up."

Then, about that time, another fellow comes up and starts talking about the party that he was at the night before in all the lurid details. I said, "I'll just be over here." I went a little distance away and just waited. Then, a little bit later, in the back, someone's talking about some drug deal that was going on. This is day one. This is the way the night went. At the end of the night, they're all standing around in a circle doing their tips. Someone says, "Hey, Rich, you've heard about us. Tell us about you. What do you do for your day job?" I said, "I'm the pastor of a church."

I don't know if you've ever heard the sound of mouths dropping open, but that's what happened next. Someone then said, "Oh, what you heard from us." Then the stiff arm, the cold treatment, the rebuff. I went home that night thinking, "God, how did I get myself into this?" Ever had that corrective word of the Spirit just speaking to your heart? Like, "You go back there, and you're going to serve these people, you're going to respect these people, and you're going to share Jesus with these people."

I went back, and they were cold and stiff-armed, but I just served them and respected them. Little by little by little, they warmed up to me. Before I was done, I was able to share Jesus Christ with all of them. An interesting thing happened. One time, I was invited to speak. It was a real special thing that I'm invited to speak anywhere. I thought, "Hey, this is something special. Y'all ought to come hear me speak." They go, "Us? You want us to come to church?" "Yes, you don't have to sit in the front. You can sit in the back." I said, "I'll even introduce you."

B. Don’t be warmed by the world’s fire

They said, "Really? You want to introduce us? How would you introduce us?" I said, "I'll say to everybody, 'Hey, everyone, I want you to meet my sinner friends sitting in the back.'" They all laughed, of course. They didn't all come, but a few of them came. Here's my point. Don't warm yourself by the world's fire. You invite them to come to your fire. You invite them to come and have the fire of the Holy Spirit get hold of them. That's when God will move in power. Don't warm yourself by their fire is a very important principle.

Here, Peter, falling at a distance in the courtyard, warming himself, making himself comfortable by their fire. Mark and Luke say that he sat down with them. While he's making himself comfortable around this fire, he's accused of being a follower of Jesus the Galilean. He's in their midst. He's in a party, you could say, warming himself. He becomes like them, which is the danger of warming yourself by their fire. You will become like them. Someone says, "Are you not one of His disciples?" "I am not." He denies it.

Then someone says again, "Are you not one of His disciples?" "I tell you, I am not." Then someone says, "Wait, I saw you. Didn't I see you in the garden?" Now he's vehement. "I tell you, I do not know the man." Another gospel says that this third time, he says it with cussing to be all the more convincing. Now he's a fisherman, so he knows quite a bit about cussing. "Didn't I see you? Weren't you there in the garden with him?" "I tell you, blankety, no, I don't even know the man."

At that moment, Jesus looked over at him. They met eyes. You can say a lot with eyes. What do you think Jesus would have said to him when He looked at him? I think Jesus would have looked with compassion, sadness, sorrow. I think He would have looked at him, and with His eyes, He would have said, "Peter, did I not say? Did I not say, Peter?" Scripture says that Peter then went out and wept bitterly, deep, deep, bitter weeping, so ashamed of himself, so ashamed of what he did. Have you ever done something that made you so ashamed that it hurt? Shame is a terrible condition.

Done something so shameful that you just hurt, weeping, weeping, bitterly. Now we know, of course, the story that it will come a time after the resurrection when Peter will have an encounter with the Lord. He will restore him. "Do you love me, Peter?" He will restore him. This is something beautiful to know. God takes the ashamed one, broken one, messed-up one. He'll renew. He'll rebuild. He will restore. He does not throw people away. He will not throw you away either. He will rebuild. He will restore. He will renew, and He'll give you glorious purpose. He will not throw you away. That's something that we know is glorious about the Lord.

III.  Everyone Sits in the Seat of Pilate

Before we close, we must look at Pilate in the story. He's very important, of course, in the story, but I want us to understand how we connect, in the sense that everyone must sit in the seat of Pilate. In other words, everyone must answer the same question as Pilate. "What will you do with my Son? What will you do with Jesus?" Now, Pontius Pilate had never met Jesus before this moment, though likely he had heard of Him. By this time, Jesus had already developed a reputation of confronting the Jewish leaders. Probably pleased Pontius Pilate, because he did not like the Jews.

He had a reputation of being harsh, and now he's in a predicament. What will he do with Jesus? At first, he tries to get out of it. Take Him yourself. Judge Him by your own law. They say, "We do not have the authority to bring death to this man." Pilate then questions Him. Pick it up with me in verse 33. "Pilate therefore entered again into the praetorium, summoned Jesus, and said, 'Are you the king of the Jews?' Jesus answered, 'Are you saying this on your own initiative, or did others tell you about me?' Pilate answered, 'I am not a Jew, am I? Look, your own nation and your chief priests delivered you up to me. Tell me, what have you done?'

Jesus answered, 'My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, then my servants would be fighting, that I might not be delivered up to the Jews, but as it is, my kingdom is not of this realm.' Pilate therefore said to Him, 'So you are a king.' Jesus answered, 'You say correctly that I am a king. For this, I have been born. For this I have come into the world to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears my voice.' Pilate answered, 'Ha. What is truth?' When he had said this, he went out to the Jews and said, 'I find no guilt in this man.'"

A. Everyone must choose, “What will you do with Jesus”?

Pilate is in a predicament. He knows He's innocent. "I find no guilt in Him." He knows the Jews are just jealous of Him. Interestingly, his wife sent a message to him, and in that message she said, "Have nothing to do with this righteous man, for last night I suffered greatly in a dream because of Him." He's pressured by the Jews to crucify. They're pressuring him. The Jews knew that Pilate had a dangerous secret. They had leverage over him, and it has to do with the intrigue of what was happening in Rome. The intrigue was this. Tiberius Caesar was getting old and wanted to retire, so he appointed a regent to oversee, govern, rule over the Empire of Rome while he enjoyed retirement on the island of Capri, just off the coast.

That man, that regent that he appointed, was named Sejanus. Sejanus became the most powerful man in Rome next to Tiberius himself, but Sejanus was ambitious. He didn't want to just be the regent. He wanted to be the next Caesar, so he hatched a plot to assassinate Tiberius. Then, when the plot became known, Sejanus was arrested and executed. Tiberius then issued orders to search out and find everyone associated with Sejanus. "I want to know--" The order was, "I want to know who is a friend of Sejanus and who is a friend of Caesar." It just so happens that Pilate was appointed to his position by none other than the same Sejanus, and the Jews knew it. He had a dangerous secret.

John 19:12, Pilate made efforts to release Him, but the Jews cried out and said, "If you release this man, you are no friend of Caesar. You are no Amicus Caesaris." It became a well-known phrase. Many people can relate to Pilate here in the story. In their heart, they know Jesus is the righteous one. They know, but they're afraid of what others might think, and they're pressured by that wanting the approval of others. John 12, an example, many even of the rulers believed in Him, but they were not confessing Him for fear that He would be put out of the synagogue, for they loved the approval of men rather than the approval of God.

B.  Truth is a person

"Pilate therefore said, 'So you are a king then?' Jesus answered, 'You say correctly that I am a king. For this, I have been born. For this, I have come into the world to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears my voice.'" Are you of the truth? What does it mean, everyone who is of the truth? It means that they are honest seekers. They want the truth. When they hear the truth, it resonates in their soul. The Spirit bears witness with our spirit. They hear the truth, and it resonates as truth. They take hold of it, and thus their hearts are opened.

He came to bear witness to the truth. The sinners can be reconciled to the living God. God has made a way that He sent His Son to seek and to save that which was lost, that sinners can have their sins forgiven, paid in full by that which Jesus did when He shed His blood on the cross. He paid the penalty of your sin, and He paid it in full, so that anyone on whom that blood is applied has their sins forgiven entirely. He'll give you the righteousness of God as a gift. He'll give you eternal life. You will have glorious fellowship and the promise of eternal life.

Come to Jesus. He is the one inviting. He is the one pursuing. Can you hear His voice? "Behold, I stand at the door, and I knock. If anyone hears my voice, he'll open the door. I will come in, sup with him, and he with me. We'll have glorious fellowship together." Can you hear His voice? He is inviting you. Come to Jesus. A glorious encounter that will change your life forever.

Let's pray. Lord, how glorious it is to know of your heart that you are the one pursuing us. It's amazing that you are the one inviting people like us, weak in the flesh, filled with shame, that you would pursue us, knock on the door of our hearts, call our name, invite us to glorious fellowship. It's amazing. Church, as we're praying, as we're continuing to pray, if that is you, if you would say to the Lord today, "I want to come to Jesus, I want my come-to-Jesus meeting, I want to get right with God. I want God to come into my life because my soul resonates with the truth. I know who Jesus is. I just need to open my heart."

Is that you? Would you open your heart? He's inviting you. He's knocking. He's calling your name. If that is you, would you raise your hand that I could just pray with you and agree with you in the name of the Lord? God bless you. God bless you. Anyone else? God bless you and you in the front there. In the very back and the side. Oh, way over there in the side, I see you too. God bless you. Anyone else? I see you right back here in the middle. Come towards the back. I see you there. Anyone else? I see you right there. Yes, I see you too. God bless you. Anyone else?

I want to pray for everyone who just raised their hand to say, "I'm opening my heart. I hear you calling my name. You've reconciled me. I want to ask God for that promise of eternal life and for the forgiveness of sin. I want my soul right with God. We are so blessed by how you move by your Spirit upon us." Church, let's give Him praise. In Jesus' name, we say an amen and amen. Let's give Him praise. Can we do that? Amen. Amen.