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[0:00] Well, good morning. Great to see you all here. Just before I have a short prayer, we're just going to read the text, which is Luke 19 verses 28 to 2.

[0:29] So Bethanage and Bethany, at the mount where he called Olivet, he called the two disciples saying, Go into the village in front of you. Where entering you, you will find a court tied on which no man has ever sat. Untie it and bring it here.

[0:44] If anyone asks you why you are untying it, you say this, The Lord has need of it. So those who were sent away and found it as he had been told.

[0:55] And as they were untying the court, the owner said to him, Why are you untying the court? And they said, The Lord has need of it. They brought it to Jesus and throwing their cloaks on the court.

[1:08] They sat Jesus on it. And as they rode along, they spread their cloaks on the grove. And as they were drawing near, already on the way down the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works he had seen, saying, Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord.

[1:28] Peace in heaven and glory in the highest. And some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to him, Teacher, Rebute your disciples, he answered. I tell you, if these were silent, the very stones would cry out.

[1:42] And when he drew near, he saw the city, he wept over it, saying, Would that you, even you, had known on this day the things that were made for peace.

[1:53] Make for peace. But now you have hidden your eyes. The days will come upon you when your enemies will set up barricade around you and surround you and hem you in on every side and tear down the ground, you and your children within you.

[2:08] And they will not leave one stone upon another in it, in you, because you did not know the time of salvation. Lord, we do thank you for your wonderful word.

[2:21] We thank you for the truth that's in your word. We thank you that it encourages, it warns, it motivates, it transforms. And we pray that you would do that work through your word in our lives today.

[2:35] For your glory, in Jesus' name. Amen. A few times a year, I say a few times because I'm a soft walker, mostly in the spring and the summer months, I go on a walk with some of the guys from my old church.

[2:50] It's an organized walk and the person who's leading it knows where he's to start and he knows where he's to finish. He knows what the objective of the walk is. In most cases, for most of the guys, remember these are Anglicans, the main objective of their walk is to get to a pub and drink, consume a few pints of beer.

[3:14] That's what we've got before us today. An organized walk with an objective at the end of it. Since chapter 9, verse 31 in the Gospel of Luke, Jesus has been on the way to Jerusalem, facing his destiny, which was before him, which was to die on the cross to save sinners.

[3:34] And actually, it states in Luke 9, 51, that when the days were coming to a close for him to be taken up, he determined to journey to Jerusalem.

[3:47] And as he walks to Jerusalem, he shows through his words and through his actions who he was and what he'd come to do. And the verses before us this morning show us that he has just reached his goal.

[4:00] He was just outside of Jerusalem. The first thing that struck me in this text was the phrase, and when he had said these things. In the first instance, I think this phrase references the parable that he'd just spoken, starting in verse 12 of this chapter, a parable of the ten miners.

[4:22] A parable that Jesus had told because the majority of people who had been listening to him believed that the kingdom of God was about to appear immediately on the earth with the arrival of the Messiah.

[4:35] And the parable talks about a king who goes away, but does not return immediately. And what he expects his servants and his subjects to do when he's away.

[4:48] Some serve, some don't, and some absolutely reject him. The truth which this parable flows naturally into what is about to happen as he enters into Jerusalem.

[5:00] Because the kingdom that Jesus had been claiming is about to bring about the death on the cross will not come, bring about immediately what they'd been hoping for, the way that his listeners had been expecting.

[5:16] When Jesus then proceeds towards Jerusalem, the crowd's expectations, shaped by a messianic hope, collide with the reality of what Jesus actually had come to do.

[5:29] We will see in these verses, a crowd that mistakes his entry into Jerusalem for the triumphal possession of a conquering hero, celebrating him with gestures and acclamations of a political king.

[5:44] Yet, while Jesus deserves his worship and the triumphal praise he gets, Luke emphasizes throughout the previous parable, he is moving instead to a place of rejection.

[6:01] The parable's warning about misunderstanding the kingdom's nature becomes embodied in the events that are to follow. The triumphal entry thus becomes an ironic moment.

[6:12] An outward celebration masked an inward tragedy where the people's failure to grasp the parable's lesson about the true nature of the king's kingdom leads directly into the rejection of the Messiah.

[6:28] But also, I think, there's more to this stage of what he says when he had said these things than just the parable. I think it points back to all that Jesus had said since chapter 9.

[6:42] His words and his actions revealed what he was going to do to come to Jerusalem to die. And this, that the mission as a king was not a political one, but summed up in chapter 19, verse 9, when he says he'd come to save the lost.

[6:59] Seek and save the lost. That's what he'd come to do. Something that should have been actually clear to his disciples and those around them, but it wasn't. Jesus left the parable of the ten miners to do its work and slowly went on his way to Jerusalem, moving towards the climax of his mission to fulfill God's redemptive plan and expose the resistance that would lead him to both his own suffering and Jerusalem's destruction.

[7:30] These verses mark a transition. It places Jesus' journey to Jerusalem at the centre stage and alerts the hearer to pay attention to what is about to transpire in the city.

[7:49] In verses 29 to 35, the Lord instructs his disciples to enter a nearby village. They will find a never-ridden court there. He tells them to untie the court and bring it to them.

[8:03] If anybody asks, why are you untying it? They are to answer, the Lord needs it. A question that strikes me about this text.

[8:14] It's a quite logical one. Why would Jesus want a court in the first place? He'd already walked 18 miles. Personally, if I'd walked 18 miles and somebody had offered me a court to ride on, I would have taken the chance.

[8:27] But I don't think Jesus, ages are a lot younger than me. And I don't think his motivation had to do with the amount of miles he'd walked. He is quite capable of walking a couple of more miles.

[8:41] The answer has to do with him not being tired or weary. These actions were about Jesus revealing who he was and what he'd come to do. The donkey in Palestine was not the lowly beast that we think about in this country.

[8:57] It was considered to be a noble animal. When a king went forth to battle, he rode on a horse. When he came forth in peace, he rode on a donkey.

[9:10] The entrance of Jesus into Jerusalem upon a court was a message of peace. He was emphasizing his kingship to his people in fulfilling the prophecy in Zechariah 9 verse 9.

[9:24] Jesus knew exactly what he was doing and the message he was sending to the Jews. Jesus was not coming as a conquering hero, however, which was what the people desired.

[9:38] But now he was coming in peace with the offer of salvation for those who turned to him in humble submission. Jesus here was making a self-conscious move.

[9:51] No longer was he going to keep his identity secret. And so he orders his disciples to fetch a carefully chosen donkey upon which he would ride triumphantly into the city of Jerusalem.

[10:04] He could now let everybody know who he was. The real king of the Jews had arrived in its holy city. This was planned beforehand as Jesus carefully coordinated everything.

[10:19] The day, the hour was selected in eternity past. The timing was precise. The mode of his entry, a previously unridden donkey, was chosen carefully.

[10:32] Now he was inviting attention, even though it also meant imminent danger. Because our Lord knew that the time had come for him to die for sinners on a cross.

[10:45] His work as the great prophet, as far as his earthly ministry was concerned, was almost finished. His work as the sacrifice for sin and substitute for sinners remained to be accomplished.

[10:58] Before him, giving himself up as a sacrifice, he wanted to draw attention to the all nation of Israel about who he was.

[11:09] The Lamb of God who was about to be slain, the great sin offering who was about to be killed. He was right in front of the eyes of Israel as they saw him ride on this donkey.

[11:23] The great thing was not done in a corner in the dark. The disciples' act of spreading the cloaks on the colt and sitting Jesus on it was an act of proclaiming that he was the king.

[11:40] And they proclaimed him to be king. They accept him as their king. Although future events show that these disciples hadn't totally grasped what was going on here and what Jesus had really come to do, this action still shows their submission and their honour of Jesus.

[11:59] And we see here the interwining of God's sovereignty and man's responsibility. We also must keep before us the fact that Jesus was still absolutely in control of everything that was going on here.

[12:12] As I looked at the praise that follows Jesus' entry, it appears from the reading of all the four gospels, it was the disciples that started.

[12:26] They were the choir that motivated everybody else to start singing. Their praise, their praise became the motivation for the crowds to join in.

[12:38] And the disciples openly acknowledged Jesus as king as they invoked Psalm 118 verse 26. This praise transcends mere political enthusiasm.

[12:51] The crowd recognises him as the royal figure entering the city, coming as the king's representative and chosen king to fulfil Israel's hopes of liberation.

[13:03] When the disciples praised peace in heaven, they acknowledged that God desires to be reconciled with humanity and now offers salvation through Jesus Christ with all the glory and praise going to God for this salvation.

[13:21] However, the praising crowd had major misunderstandings about what was happening here as they were expecting a political leader to restore political glory, which was the total misunderstanding of what Jesus had come to do.

[13:40] The fact was, Jesus didn't come the first time to set up an earthly kingdom. The son of man, as I already said, has come to seek and save those that were lost.

[13:53] Before, he came to set up his earthly kingdom at the second coming. He must do a work of salvation. He comes first as the savior, then he comes as the king.

[14:05] He did not come to overthrow Rome and set up an earthly kingdom. He did not come to right all the wrongs socially. He did not come to straighten out the civil injustices.

[14:16] He did not come to make the nation or the world moral. He didn't come to establish economic justice. He didn't come to institute Jewish triumphalism.

[14:30] He came to save the lost. He came to do a work of salvation. He came to offer salvation to everyone who admit their sinful state, turn away from him and believe in him.

[14:44] He would die on the cross and rise again to provide the perfect atonement that would satisfy God's justice, allowing God to forgive sinners.

[14:57] The stories Luke tells in his gospel from chapter nine up to now are all revolved around this. Lost sheep, lost coins, lost sons, a beggar, Lazarus, who was hated by everyone, but loved by God and it ended up in heaven.

[15:14] The salvation of the leper, the salvation of a tax collector who was despised, the salvation of two blind men and the salvation of Zacchaeus, a despised tax collector.

[15:27] What do these things say? Jesus had come to save the lost. Those that were rejected by the world, that were broken, that had no hope, Jesus came to save those people.

[15:38] That was his mission. Everything pointed to, is coming to establish an inner kingdom. The first time he came to save, he didn't come to make the world a better place.

[15:53] He came to seek and save the lost. If he'd come to make the world a better place, one thing I would say, and we can look around the world at the moment, he's completely failed.

[16:04] When he comes again, hallelujah, he comes to rule. He comes to back, establish a kingdom on earth. He comes back to fix everything, including the environment.

[16:17] He will renew the earth. He will turn the desert into a garden. He will reign with justice, righteousness, peace and joy. That will happen when he comes again. He is away right now, being crowned, and he will come back to reign.

[16:34] And as Simon has already said, the Philippians says, then every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. But this isn't what the Jews expected.

[16:47] They expected it now, and this view was so ingrained that no matter what he said, it just went by them. It didn't stick on their Teflon minds. It just slid off.

[17:00] But the question is, what are our expectations? Even as Christians sitting here today, are they all absolutely true? Expectations like, we'll always be happy.

[17:15] All the problems will disappear. We won't experience suffering. All Christians are easy to get along with. We won't struggle with sin.

[17:27] We'll never have any doubts. Your marriage will always be perfect. Following Jesus will never be complex. God loved us, and he's going to love us the way we want him to love us.

[17:43] We'll never be persecuted for our faith. Jesus must, must return in my lifetime. Life will be fair.

[17:54] People will treat us kindly. And sadly, if these things did not happen the way we expect them to, it can impact our faith and how we follow Jesus.

[18:06] We need to be careful. We need to be honest. We need to talk about these things with one another, other brothers and sisters in Christ, whether we should be thinking these things are true.

[18:17] And if not, how do we deal with the other side? We need to allow God's Word to truly speak into our hearts about these things. to show us what godly expectations should be.

[18:31] God's method sometimes of helping us to deal with these things involves allowing our false expectations to collide with reality.

[18:43] We see this in the Gospel of what happened to disciples. The excitement that they felt was just temporary. Distraction from the bigger problems they will see ahead.

[18:56] Their joy will turn to bitter weeping. Their exaltation will turn to cowardly panic. Rather than preventing the disciples' misunderstanding, God permits it to allow the prevents that are going to come, his arrest, crucifixion and resurrection, to reconstruct their understanding of what his kingship really means.

[19:21] Jesus taught there are two aspects to his kingdom, the now and the not yet. The framework should re-orientate our expectations away from immediate deliverance towards a spiritual reality offering in the present and future restoration to come.

[19:42] the underlying problem that the text shows us is that mankind is spiritually blind. It cannot see what's right before its eyes when it's totally obvious and straight before its eyes.

[19:59] Luke presents this problem in the passage in that Jerusalem vowed to recognize and acknowledge her Messiah and therefore face his judgment. but also there's an institutional resistance.

[20:14] The Pharisees and the Jerusalem authorities continue to oppose him actively working against God's purposes rather than simply failing to understand him.

[20:25] Showing us that this is not merely an individual sin but a corporate rejection of a city and its leadership choosing opposition rather than recognition resistance rather than repentance.

[20:39] He also sees God's response to mankind blindness in these verses as Jesus enters the city to face his destiny.

[20:50] He's sending his son to die on the cross so he can offer salvation for those who admit they are blind. When Jesus weeps it's because he really cares and he really wants people to see the truth and be saved.

[21:06] He's willing to go the full way to die on the cross so that through his death our eyes might be open to what is true and we might find salvation in Jesus Christ.

[21:17] In essence Jesus' death endresses spiritual blindness by defeating the powers that sustain our darkness. Establish reconciliation that restores relationship with God and enabling the Holy Spirit's illuminating work in our human hearts so that we can see.

[21:41] It's like Jesus walked into a school that hadn't been cleaned for 10 years. None of us can think of a school like that but there might be schools around that hadn't been cleaned for 10 years. And the windows are so caked with dirt that no one can see in and no one can see out.

[21:57] So Jesus comes and locks the caretaker in a room. He gets the cleaning equipment and cleans every window in the school that light might shine into it so that from inside people can see the light be let out of their darkness into glorious light.

[22:14] That's what Jesus did. He didn't satisfy all these people are blind. I'll leave them in their blindness. He came by dying on the cross enables us to start to see who we really are and what his glorious salvation entails that we can be saved.

[22:33] And this is what Jesus did on the cross. When sinners get their spiritual eyes to see clearly the light to understand reality they turn away from sin and from sin's corruption in repentance and praise Christ with real faith.

[22:49] Sadly the Pharisees haven't got a clue what's going on here. Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Jesus teacher rebuke your disciples.

[23:00] it might be difficult to decide exactly what the Pharisees motives were here. Perhaps they were afraid that the Romans would hear about the parade and scrouch it with force.

[23:13] Or perhaps they thought the adoration of Jesus was misplaced. Whatever their motivation Christ shouted out for them to hear. I tell you if they keep quiet the stones will cry out.

[23:26] these words are a wonderful declaration of Jesus actual identity as the Messiah. He was the Messiah.

[23:36] He was going to do what he had come to do as the Messiah and nothing or nobody could stop that happening. My older Sam said when we were discussing this he said humans do not need to have a coronation service for the king of kings.

[23:53] He's already king. he's already coronated by the father who made him king. The only question is what do we do in response to the king?

[24:05] The Pharisees were asking Jesus to hush up his disciples' cheers during this triumphal entry but Jesus in an ironic twist didn't stop them.

[24:16] He said if the disciples stopped the whole world would shout his praises. The bottom line is creation itself recognises Jesus' identity even when the nation's leadership doesn't.

[24:31] This reflects God's control over all creation demonstrating that human opposition to the fulfilment of prophecy cannot impede the creator and sustainer of all things and stop him from what he had come to do.

[24:47] The words in Luke 19 verse 42 can be confusing. If throughout Jesus' work in gospel he had been explaining things to the crowd and to disciples yet now in verse 42 he talks about them being hidden from them.

[25:06] How do these two things go together? If he was explaining things to people how could it have been hidden from them? The answer in this apparent contradiction reflects an important distinction between availability and receptivity.

[25:23] Jesus had indeed been teaching openly throughout his ministry but now as he laments that the things that are made for peace are hidden from their eyes not because he vowed to communicate them but because Jerusalem refused to recognize their significance.

[25:41] It isn't about information being without it's about a sign of their spiritual blindness. Jesus explains that Jerusalem did not know the time of visitation. The city had an opportunity to perceive who he was and what he offered yet they failed to grasp it.

[25:58] It's public teaching created the conditions for understanding but the audience hardness of heart prevented them from seeing what was pain before them.

[26:09] This reflects reality. Truth can be proclaimed without it being understood. The disciples grasped some of Jesus' teaching because they were willing to receive it.

[26:21] They were able to understand some of Jesus' teaching through a combination of direct instruction, spiritual receptivity, divine enheavalment even if they were somewhat confused about everything Jesus had said.

[26:34] But the crowd often heard the same words but understood differently or not at all because of their spiritual blindness. The crowd followed Jesus primarily seeking healing or food and were among those described as deaf and blind and insensitive to his teachings.

[26:54] The religious leaders couldn't hear Jesus' words because they were in such darkness of their own plans and their own ideas they couldn't hear truth that would have been spoken to them.

[27:08] This is the same as the parables which women could proclaim truth and at the same time conceal truth. from tending on whether the listener has a willingness and openness to really hear what was being said.

[27:22] So the two concepts worked together. Jesus taught openly making truth accessible but those refused to listen who rejected his message and his person found the very truth hidden from them by divine concealment because of their own resistance.

[27:42] But why tears? Why was Jesus weeping? Because even though he had been warmly welcomed, Jesus knew that the city's inhabitants would reject him for the king he really was.

[27:58] Jesus came to the city as the king on the way to the cross bringing salvation for those who would recognize his true kingship and judgment for those who would oppose him. But Jerusalem did not know these things that make for peace, verse 42.

[28:13] And so Jesus predicts the total destruction of the city in graphic terms. These words did come to pass in AD 70. Rejecting the king had and has terrible consequences.

[28:29] But it's helpful to remember he spoke these words because they were true, not because he was a sadist. Jesus wasn't smiling all over his face and dancing around clapping his hands.

[28:41] Jesus wept over this city. But also this was not a sorrow of impotence. He was not saying, oh I wish I could do something about it.

[28:52] In verse 42 it was clear judgment that had already been set. But Jesus' posture toward the rebellious city was one of compassion.

[29:06] For he does not delight in the destruction of the wicked Ezekiel 33 11 tells us. For those who follow him, sorry, for those who follow Jesus, he should rejoice.

[29:23] We should have the same heart as he has. We should be weeping over our nation in the way that he weeps. Our heart should be broken over those we see that objecting the truth of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.

[29:42] Because they couldn't see the peace that was offered them. And if we love the things that he loves and we hate the things that he hates, we should be like him as we look over our nation and see its need of salvation.

[29:57] salvation. When God's judgment fell on Jerusalem in the form of the Roman army in AD, it was terrible.

[30:08] When Jesus comes back and judges the whole earth, it will be far worse. Our response as Christians should be the same as Jesus' was.

[30:20] We should share a broken-hearted warning for those around us, telling them that judgment will come for those who don't repent. But there is a good king who wants to save them and bring them into an excellent, wonderful kingdom.

[30:38] Jesus wept over Jerusalem. This was, and is the heart of the new kind of king. This is the heart of God. So in conclusion, this is the question before us this morning.

[30:54] Are we still spiritually blind? Are we allowed God through his Holy Spirit to open up our eyes to see what is true so we can live for him in a way that glorifies him?

[31:07] Have we recognized our spiritual blindness or are we willing to admit that we've got it wrong and that we need him? Or are we still putting our dark glasses of rebellion on so we can't see the light?

[31:20] For those who have never done this, I encourage you, this is the day of salvation. If you come to him humbly, admitting your need, he will open up your eyes so you can see who he really is and he will save you today.

[31:39] Text shows us the question isn't whether he is king. There's no question about that, he is king. He is king of kings and lord of lords, he rules the universe. Now the question is, what is your response?

[31:52] Jesus the king. Do you submit to him and bow your knee to him and allow him to be your king in every area of your life? You see, he's not asking you to say, are you happy with this kingdom?

[32:05] He's not asking you, do you think you, whether you want him, there will be a particular type of king, or what would make you happy about his kingdom, or what do you want in his kingdom?

[32:16] He's not asking you those questions. He's not asking you what would encourage you to be a citizen in this kingdom. That's not what he's asking you.

[32:28] He's simply asking you, will you submit to him as the king of kings and lord of lords? Because he is. And if you read through Romans 5, you'll see what a bad king is and what a good king is.

[32:42] And he's truly a good king. And if you're a Christian today, do you, have you any unrealized expectations that stops you from being totally absolutely committed to Jesus in every area of your life?

[33:01] Do you have expectations that are never promised in the Bible, yet you still cling on to? And the clinging on to them means you become bitter and angry at God.

[33:13] Well, that doesn't have to be the case. We don't have to be confused about these things. We can come to him in prayer and ask him to guide us into all truth.

[33:25] And that's what the Holy Spirit wants to do. We can come to him today in total submission, asking him, Father, through your word, by your spirit, reveal to me what my true expectations should be.

[33:40] And he will show us. I love that chapter at the end of John 16 when he says, in the world you have tribulation, but you be not afraid, for I've overcome the world.

[33:52] And he says that I've told you these things, that you'll be prepared for that. And the illustration I'll use it again today, we sometimes think that we're running a flat race, a 400 metre flat race, and we get bitter and angry at every hurdle that comes in our way.

[34:09] What Jesus told his disciples, this is a hurdle race, be prepared for it, trained for it, and you won't become bitter and angry every time something goes wrong. Right expectations.

[34:27] And he will help us to live in line with the truth if we come to him humbly asking that he leads us into it. He's a good king, and he wants to bless us, and he wants us to walk in obedience to him.

[34:41] As we come in humility, submission, and total dependence upon him, as we humillate our lowly condition before God, rejecting self-reliance, aligning ourselves with his purposes, Jesus tells, I'm James, we looked at James the other week, and it tells us he will exalt us.

[35:03] And when I looked at it, what does that mean? What does that mean? And it means, it means will God give us something that's way beyond mere happiness? He will give us a deep transformational joy rooted in our relationship to him.

[35:17] As we come humbly before him, he will make our hearts leap for joy. So much better than anything that this world has to offer us.

[35:32] There's a Graham Kendrick song which I've sung most of my life when I've come to prayer before God in many instances that sums this up and it says this, and if I give my life completely, I give myself completely, I have to trust myself to you.

[35:51] I get so anxious for tomorrow, but if I give my life in all its days, tomorrow will belong to you. And if I let it go, then I will surely learn the secret that you learned when you laid down your kingly crown and bowed your face to touch the ground.

[36:10] And as a slave, begin to wash the feet of men who didn't know you were a king, come down to give yourself to them. And if I give my love completely, I might be scared you'd let me down.

[36:25] I get hurt so much so easily. And if I give my life to loving you, I must be sure you understand. And if I let it go, I will surely learn the secret that you learned when you laid down your kingly crown and bowed your face to touch the ground.

[36:43] And as a slave, begin to wash the feet of men who didn't know you were a king, come down to give yourself to them. And I love this last verse. And if I give my will completely, I have to have no right to make demands.

[37:01] See, I've always liked my own way. But if I give my life, you have the right to my head, my heart, my feet, my hands. And as I let it go, I feel a sweet release inside me.

[37:15] As I gratefully relinquish all the rights that I have stolen from the king, and as a slave, begin to learn to live again, to learn to give myself and then find out how a slave becomes a friend.

[37:30] Father, it's scary. We've heard this so long in this church that you called us to be in submission to the king of kings.

[37:45] That's what you've told us to be. It's the way of joy, it's the way of peace, it's the way of victory. It's become, we come and say, here am I, totally available, use me.

[37:57] Not in the way I want to be used, not in the way that makes me particularly happy, not in the way that fulfills my expectations, but in a way that glorifies you and fulfills your will in my life.

[38:08] Because you are the king of kings and the lord of lords. Father, do that work in each of us. The world needs to see a church that really believes that.

[38:18] doesn't just give you the Sundays and the dog ends of their minds. A church that really believes that you are king and you deserve a total submission every day, every hour, every week.

[38:33] Then this world, we talk about, I don't know, this is silent, a revival has happened or not, but then if we start being a church that acts like your slaves in total submission to you as the king of kings, the world will see Jesus.

[38:51] And that's what we want more than anything else. Nothing in this world as we look around it now gives us any satisfaction. Nothing gives us any hope.

[39:03] No politician, no system, right, left, middle doesn't give us any hope. The only king we can find satisfaction and peace and joy is when we submit to the Lord Jesus Christ as our king of king and lord of lords.

[39:18] Father, do that in our lives today. Not because we're, we were, and we looked last week, we're not deserving that. Because you are merciful, gracious God, beyond our understanding, who wants to bless his people with such joy, we won't be able to keep it in, we'll have to let it out.

[39:40] Do that work in us, we pray today. And if there are anybody in this service today that's never met you as their lord and saviour, take away those questions that say, I want him to be my sort of king.

[39:52] Wipe those things from their mind. Help him to recognise, them to recognise, you are king, you are the greatest good king, and they need to submit to you.

[40:05] Do this work, we pray, through your spirit in our lives, for your glory in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. Amen. Thank you.