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["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] All right, all, welcome to church this morning. We're ready to praise the Lord, I'm sure, so find your seats and grab your hymnals. Grab your hymnals and let's turn to hymn number 459. Fairest Lord Jesus, 459, 459. And when you have found it, can you please stand? 459, fairest Lord Jesus. ["Fairest Lord Jesus"] Fairest Lord Jesus ruler of all nature O thou of God and man the Son thee will I cherish thee will I honor thou my soul's glory, joy, and crown there are the meadows fairest hail the woodlands roamed in the blooming calm of spring Jesus is fairer Jesus is purer who makes no awful heart to see there is the sunshine there is still the moonlight and all the twinkling starry host Jesus shines brighter Jesus shines purer let all the angels care and host beautiful Savior Lord of all the nations Son of God and Son of man glory and honor praise and glory should now and forevermore be mine Great singing. Heavenly Father, Lord, we want to thank you for the opportunity to be in your house this morning. Our Lord will come to praise you, to worship you, Lord, and also to give our honor and worship toward your Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, Lord. Yes, he is fairer than all of creation, Lord, and he shines bright, and Lord, he's the light of this world, and Lord, I thank you so much that you've made us the light of this world, Lord, as well in this church, and that we can be used, Lord, to proclaim your name, to proclaim your gospel message, Lord, and I pray you utilize New Life Baptist Church, Lord, to do great works for you. Lord, we love you. We come to praise you. We pray this all in Jesus' name. Amen. You may be seated. All right, 441. 441. Great is thy faithfulness. 441. Great is thy faithfulness. 441. Great is thy faithfulness. 441. Great is thy faithfulness. O God, my Father, there is no shadow of turning with me. O God, my Father, there is no shadow of turning with me. O God, my Father, there is no shadow of turning with me. O God, my Father, there is no shadow of turning with me. O God, my Father, there is no shadow of turning with me. All I have need and I have provided. Great is thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me. Summer and winter and springtime and harvest. Sun, moon and stars in their courses above. Join with all nature in many full witness. To thy great faithfulness, mercy and love. Great is thy faithfulness. Great is thy faithfulness. For in thy morning new mercies I see. All I have need and want and have provided. Great is thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me. Hardened for sin and a peace that endures. Thy only presence to cheer and to guide. Strength for today and ripe hope for tomorrow. Blessed are mine with ten thousand beside. Great is thy faithfulness. Great is thy faithfulness. For in thy morning new mercies I see. All I have need and want and have provided. Great is thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me. Great is thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me. Great is thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me. Great is thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me. Great is thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me. Great is thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me. Great is thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me. Not a shadow can rise. Not a cloud in the skies. But this world quickly drives it away. Not a doubt or a fear. Not a sign or a tear. Can abide while we trust and obey. Trust and obey. For there's no one away. To be happy in Jesus. But to trust and obey. Not a burden we bear. Not a sorrow we share. But a toil we not graciously repay. Not a grief or a loss. Not a frown or a cross. But it's blessed if we trust and obey. Trust and obey. For there's no one away. To be happy in Jesus. But to trust and obey. But we never can through the delights of His love. Until all won't be altered we lay. For the favor He shows. And the joy He bestows. But for them who will trust and obey. Trust and obey. For there's no other way. To be happy in Jesus. But to trust and obey. Many fellowships meet. We will sit at His feet. Or we'll walk by His side the way. What He says we will do. Where He sends we will go. Give a payroll we trust and obey. Trust and obey. For there's no other way. To be happy in Jesus. But to trust and obey. Alright, great singing. We'll do one more song before the Bible reading. So let's go to 264. 264, once for all. 264, once for all. 365, once for all. Free from the law, O happy condition. Jesus have bled and there is remission. Cursed by the law and bruised by the fall. Grace have redeemed us once for all. Once for all of sinner is saved. Once for all, O brother believer. King to the cross the burden will fall. Christ have redeemed us once for all. Now are we free? There's no condemnation. Jesus provides our perfect salvation. Come unto me, O Furies we call. Come and he saves us once for all. Once for all of sinner is saved. Once for all, O brother believer. King to the cross the burden will fall. Christ have redeemed us once for all. Children of God, O glorious calling. Showing his grace will keep us from falling. Passing from left to right, that is all. Blessed salvation, once for all. Once for all, O sinner is saved. Once for all, O brother believer. King to the cross the burden will fall. Christ have redeemed us once for all. All right, great singing. Take your Bibles now and turn to John chapter 18. Turn to John chapter 18. Mathias is coming up for the reading. John chapter 18. When Jesus had spoken these words, he went forth with his disciples over the book Sidron, where it was a garden into the which he entered and his disciples. And Judas also, which betrayed him, knew the place, for Jesus oft times resorted thither with his disciples. Judas then, having received a band of men and officers from the chief priests and Pharisees, cometh thither with lanterns and torches and weapons. Jesus therefore, knowing all things that should come upon him, went forth and said unto them, Whom seek ye? They answered him, Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus saith unto them, I am he. And Judas also, which betrayed him, stood with them. As soon then as he had said unto them, I am he, they went backward and fell to the ground. Then asked he them again, Whom seek ye? And they said, Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus answered, I have told you that I am he. If therefore you seek me, let these go their way, that the saying might be fulfilled which he spake. Of them which thou gavest me, I lost none. Then Simon Peter having a sword drew it, and smote the high priest's servant, and cut off his right ear. The servant's name was Malchus. Then said Jesus unto Peter, Pull up thy sword into the sheath, the cup which my father hath given me, shall I not drink it? Then the band and the captain and officers of the Jews took Jesus, and bound him, and led him away to Annas first, for he was father-in-law to Caiaphas, which was a high priest the same year. Now Caiaphas was he which gave counsel to the Jews, that it was expedient that one man should die for the people. And Simon Peter followed Jesus, and so did another disciple. That disciple was known unto the high priest, and went in with Jesus into the place of the high priest. But Peter stood at the door without. Then went out the other disciple, which was known unto the high priest, and spake unto her that kept the door, and brought him Peter. Then saith the damsel that kept the door unto Peter, Art not thou also one of this man's disciples? He saith, I am not. And the servants and officers stood there, who had made a fire of coals, for it was cold, and they warmed themselves. And Peter stood with them, and warmed himself. The high priest then asked Jesus of his disciples, and of his doctrine. Jesus answered him, I spake openly to the world, I ever taught in the synagogue and in the temple, whether the Jews always resort, and in the secret have I said nothing. Why askest thou me? Ask them which heard me. What I have said unto them, behold, they know what I said. And when he had thus spoken, one of the officers which stood by struck Jesus with the palm of his hand, saying, Answerest thou the high priest so? Then answered him, If I have spoken evil, bear witness of the evil, but if well, why smartest thou me? Now Annas had sent him bound unto Caiaphas the high priest. And Simon Peter stood and warmed himself. They said that therefore unto him, Art not thou also one of his disciples? He denied it, and said, I am not. One of the servants of the high priest, being his kinsman, whose ear Peter cut off, said, Did not I see it in the garden with him? Peter then denied again, and immediately the caught crew. Then led they Jesus from Caiaphas unto the hall of judgment. And it was early, and they themselves were not into the judgment hall, lest they should be defiled, that they might eat the passover. Pile it that went out unto them, and said, What accusation bring ye against this man? They answered and said unto him, If he were not a matter factor, we would not have delivered him unto thee. Then said Pilate unto them, Take heed of him, and judge him according to your law. The Jews therefore said unto him, It is not lawful for us to put any man to death, that the saying of Jesus might be fulfilled with saying which he spake, signifying what death he should die. Then Pilate entered into the judgment hall again, and called Jesus, and said unto him, Art thou the king of the Jews? Jesus answered him, Sayest thou this thing of thyself, or did others tell it thee of me? Pilate answered, Am I a Jew? Thine own nation and the chief priests have delivered thee unto me. What hast thou done? Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews. But now is my kingdom not from hence. Pilate therefore said unto him, Art thou a king then? Jesus answered, Thou sayest that I am a king. To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I shall bear witness unto the truth. Every one that is of the truth heareth my voice. Pilate said unto him, What is truth? And when he heard this, he went out again unto the Jews, and saith unto them, I find it him no fault at all. But ye have a custom that I should release unto you one at the passover. Will ye therefore that I release unto you the king of the Jews? Then cried they all again, saying, Not this man, but Barabbas. Now Barabbas was a robber. Dear Lord, thank you that everyone could come here today. I pray that everyone learn something from this sermon, and that my doubt can be filled with the Holy Ghost. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen. Alright, I just want to say that it's good to see Caleb without his patch today. It's an answer to prayer. We're a bit worried. I liked the look of the patch. I actually liked it. I thought he was going to be Patched Pirate 2.0, but not to be. It doesn't look like it. So, good to have you in church, brother, and good to have the whole family actually together. I hope you guys enjoyed your holidays. We definitely missed you last week. But John 18, and look at verse number 4. Jesus, therefore, knowing all things that should come upon him, went forth and said unto them, Whom seek ye? You see, this chapter begins with the betrayal and the arrest of Jesus Christ. You've got this group of officers coming to arrest Christ, and it might look like a point of weakness to Christ. He's got this mass of people about to take him, arrest him, and to lead him to his crucifixion eventually. But you see that the way Jesus Christ responds to these people, he is in full control. He's in so much control. As we keep reading in verse number 5. They answered him, Jesus of Nazareth, Jesus saith unto them, I am he. And Judas also, which betrayed him, stood with them. As soon then as he had said unto them, I am he, they went backward and fell to the ground. I mean, look how much power, look how much control Jesus Christ has in this situation. They're coming to arrest him. He's going to allow them to arrest him. But you see, as soon as he says the words, I am he, Jesus Christ turns on the glory, he turns on his power, and they just fall backwards. They can't even take his own words. They can't even respond physically to the response that Jesus Christ says that I am he. And so I want to show you there, it may seem like Christ is at a point of weakness, but he is in full control. He is in full power. And the title for the sermon this morning is The Power of Christ. The Power of Christ. Now, as we go through this, and I want to show you just how much Jesus Christ is in control of the situation. You know, we have been promised to have the power of the Lord upon our own lives. For example, in Ephesians 6 verse 10, it says, You see, the Lord God wants us to be strong, strong in the Lord. And he wants to make sure that we have the power of the might of God, the power of God upon our lives. And as we see Christ presents himself and how he deals with himself in this situation, I want you to think about, am I as strong as Jesus? Can I be strong? Can I be powerful like Christ if I find myself in a similar situation? So what I have for you this morning, Brethren, are seven points. Seven points to see for you to assess yourself whether you have the power of the Lord upon you. You know, whether you're able to step up to the plate when necessary. Now, if we just start there in verse number one, we'll come back to those verses again. But in verse number one it says, Now, we don't have the prayer that Jesus Christ prays to the Father in the Garden of Gethsemane like we do in some of the other Gospels. But we see that this is the setting. The Garden of Gethsemane is the setting of what is about to take place. And in verse number two, this is interesting. And Judas also, we know that Judas left, right, at the Passover, he left to betray Christ. But Judas finds Jesus in this garden. It says here, So Judas knows, alright, when they finish the Passover, I know that Jesus and the disciples are going to the Garden of Gethsemane. So when I go and betray Christ, I'm going to lead the officers and the captains to this location. Now, if that was you, right, if you knew someone was seeking to betray you, and they knew exactly the location that you're going to be. And you know that. Would you put yourself in that position? Would you put yourself in that location? Or would you go, you know what, I'm going to get myself out of this situation, I'm going to go elsewhere. That's probably going to be our natural response. My enemy knows where I'm going to be, so I'm just going to go, I'm going to trick them, I'm going to go elsewhere. I want to show you the confidence. Jesus Christ knows that Judas knows where he's going to be. Like, Jesus knows he's about to be betrayed. But he still goes to the Garden of Gethsemane in verse number three. Judas then, having received a band of men and officers from the chief priests and Pharisees. The officers are like your police officer. These are people that have an official position to arrest and to, you know, to bring someone before a judgement. So from the chief priests and Pharisees, cometh thither with lanterns and torches and weapons. Right, they're carrying swords or what have you to arrest Jesus Christ. And so the first point that I have for you brethren is what we see, when we look at the power of Christ, we see the power to confront enemies. The power to confront enemies. Look, the hour has come for Jesus. It's time for him to be arrested and to be taken, crucified and to die for the sins of the entire world. But Jesus Christ does not flee from his enemies. Look, he could. It's not like he got found out. Oh, Judas, you found me. I tried to hide you. Jesus Christ put himself in the exact position where he knew that Judas and the arresting party would find him. You see, Jesus Christ had the power to confront his enemies. And if we again look at the story of Christ, I want you to challenge yourself. Do you have the power to confront your enemies? You know, if someone has risen up against you, are you able to go face to face with that person and speak to them, confront them, to deal with them? Or are you more likely to run away from the situation? And brethren, if we've been given the power of his might, if we've been given the power of the Lord, if that's the kind of strength that God wants us to have, then you need to have the ability, you need to have the power to confront enemies. You will have enemies in your life. You will have people that seek to harm you, to destroy your life. You know, are you the kind of person that will run away from that situation? Or are you willing to say, you know what, I'll take this face on if I have to. And look, most of us will probably say, you know what, I don't want to deal with my enemies. You know what, if there comes a time and you're fearful for it, you need to pray that God will give you that power. You know, again, we have these stories of Christ. Yes, that we would glorify him, that we would exalt Christ, but to understand that we are commanded to walk after his steps as well. You know, I'll just read to you a passage. If you can, keep your finger there and come with me to Psalm 118. Come with me to Psalm 118. Keep your finger there in John 18. Come with me to Psalm 118. And I'll read to you while you're turning there. I'll read to you from Exodus 14, 13. Exodus 14, 13. In Exodus 14, we have Moses who's about to deliver the Israelites out of the hand of the Egyptians. And I love what Moses says in this passage in Exodus 14, 13. And Moses said unto the people, fear ye not, stand still. Like, you know, they're about to leave Egypt. They're getting ready to leave Egypt. Moses says, look, don't be afraid. Stand still. Don't run away. This is our opportunity, right? And then he says these words. To see the salvation of the Lord, which he will show you today. For the Egyptians, whom ye have seen today, ye shall see them again no more forever. And then verse number 14, the best part. He says, the Lord shall fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace. Moses is telling the nation of Israel, or the children of Israel, don't run away. Be strong. God's going to fight for you. And brethren, this is just a reminder that I want to tell you. Say, I don't want to confront my enemies because I don't want to fight them. Alright, leave the fighting for God. But you don't need to be afraid. You can stand still. You can stand in your place against your enemies. You can confront your enemies and allow God to do the fighting for you. You know, the more mature I, and the longer I live a Christian life, and the longer I go as a pastor, I realize how true this is. That you don't need to fight every battle. You be there. You show yourself. You are a soldier. But you let the Lord do the fighting for you. You stand in his righteousness. You stand in his might. You know what? Don't be ashamed. Stand still and just see what the Lord can do for you. You're there in Psalm 118. Look at verse number 5. I called upon the Lord in distress. Are there going to be times that you're in distress? Are there going to be times that you're worried about an enemy? Yeah, you know what? Then you pray to the Lord. Alright, again, we're drawing our strength and our power from him. Alright, not from our own strength. We're drawing our power from the Lord. So what you need to do, you need to call upon the Lord. I'm not talking about calling upon him for salvation, that's one thing. But we need to continue calling upon him. We need to continue praying to him, asking for his help in a time of distress. I love how it says that the Lord answered me and set me in a large place. The Lord is on my side. I will not fear. What can man do unto me? That's what you need to do. You need to have that attitude. What can man do unto me? I'm not going to be afraid of my enemies. I'm going to call upon the Lord and he's going to deliver me. You say, pastor, there's a lot that man can do unto me. A man can kill me. Yeah, but then you wake up and you're in heaven. And you're living the best life you've ever lived. You're with the Lord Jesus Christ for all eternity. See, if the Lord allows your enemy to destroy you, well, that's in the Lord's hands still. You're still standing in his might. You're still standing in his strength. I mean, more often than not, the Lord's going to deliver you from that kind of occasion anyway. You know, the Lord may very well destroy your enemies before you even have to confront them. But don't be afraid. You don't have to be afraid of man. Okay, stand in the power of Christ, the power to confront enemies. Come back with me to John 18. John 18, verse number 4. John 18, verse number 4. Jesus therefore, knowing all things that should come upon him, went forth and said unto them, Look, he goes to them. Do you see that? The enemies are coming. Instead of going, oh man, hide guys. He walks up to them. He takes control of the situation. He goes, whom seek you? Whom seek you? Who are you after? They answered him, Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus saith unto them, I am he. And Judas also, which betrayed him, stood with them. As soon as he had said unto them, I am he, they went backward and fell to the ground. Again, just showing you the power of Christ. He can just speak the words, I am. You know, I am he. And they fall. They can't handle it. What is Christ showing? Christ is showing them, look, I'm in control of this. You think you've got the power to arrest me? Let me show you a little bit of my power. You see that Jesus Christ, he's just toying with these people. Jesus Christ is not in danger. We know, you know, that he could pray and the father would send down twelve legions of angels to protect him even. He doesn't even need the angels to protect him. You know what, he just turns on the glory a little bit. He just turns on the power a little bit. And they can't handle him. He's showing these people that come to arrest him, look, if you want to arrest me, it's because I'm letting you arrest me. He's showing you, he's showing them his strength. Okay. Look at verse number seven. Then asked he them again, whom seek ye? They already told him. Again, he's toying with them. He's playing around with these people. Whom seek ye? And they said, Jesus of Nazareth. Now, let's keep going there, verse number eight. Jesus answered, I have told you that I am he. Therefore ye seek me, let these go their way. I want to show you there why Christ is putting on the power. Not only to show them that he's allowing himself to be arrested, but he's protecting his disciples. His disciples are with him. The eleven disciples that are there with him. And he says, I have told you that I am he. Look, the one you're after is me. I'm the one. I'm the one you're after. You're after these people. He says, if therefore ye seek me, let these go their way. Leave my disciples alone. You want me. You see what he's doing? He's protecting his disciples. Because they may, you know, this arresting party, they may very well seek to arrest all of them, the whole lot. Okay. Christ is showing, look, you're after me, then just take me, leave these guys alone. I am Jesus of Nazareth. Okay. Not these people. Let them go. This is why, verse number nine. That the saying might be fulfilled, which he spake. Of them which thou gavest me, have I lost none. So Christ is fulfilling these words. Of them which thou gavest me, I have lost none. So the next point that I have for you, brethren, point number two, is when we look at the power of Christ, he has the power to influence. He has the power to influence. He's telling this arresting party, it's me that you want. It's me that you want, not these people. Okay. And we know soon, Peter's going to take a sword and cut off an ear of his servants. I mean, if you're going to arrest anybody about anything, again, these are officers. These people have the authority to arrest. Okay. These are like police officers. Like, if you and I, if a police officer walked in here, and we cut off that officer's ear, don't you think we're all about to get arrested? Don't you think they're going to send the SWAT team here and arrest us all, regardless of who did it? Okay. And so Jesus Christ is protecting his disciples. He knows, man, if this goes out of control, they're going to take all of us. And he's protecting those that the Lord has given him. That saying, by the way, if you want to come with me, keep your finger there, come with me to John 17. Come with me to John 17, verse number 12. So he's fulfilling the words in John 17. John 17, verse 12, Christ says these words, while I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name. Those that thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition that the scripture might be fulfilled. So this is what he's fulfilling. That, you know, everyone that the Father has given him, all his believers have been kept. And we see here, he's saying, look, I'm protecting them. And isn't it a wonderful thing to know that you are being protected by Jesus Christ even today? Okay. Nothing can harm you unless Christ allows it to harm you. Okay, you are under the protective hand of our Savior. Okay. In verse number 13, there in John 17, 13, and now come I to thee, Christ is saying to the Father, now I'm coming to you, Father, and these things I speak in the world that they might have my joy fulfilled in themselves. So the Lord wants us to have joy in this world. But you know, this world is harmful. This world will seek to hurt you. But even then Christ wants us to have the joy in this world. Verse number 14, I have given them thy word and the world have hated them because they are not of the world even as I am not of the world. I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil. Jesus Christ is praying to the Father, can you please protect them in the world? They are not of this world. The world's going to hate them because they love my words, they love the words, they love the Bible, they live according to the Bible, therefore the world is going to hate them. And so Christ is praying to the Father, please protect my believers. And brethren, Jesus Christ is our intercessor. You know, Christ prays to the Father, speak to the Father for our protection. I mean, you know, I know many of us have had difficult lives. I know many of us have been harmed in life. But how much greater could that harm be if we found ourselves not in the protective hands of our Lord God. Jesus Christ prays for our protection. But the point that I had was that Jesus Christ has the power to influence. He's able to dictate to the arresting party who they should take and who should they leave alone. Okay, and this is something that you learn with experience and with time and with the help of the Lord. Like, my goal as a pastor is to be influential. Like, I wanted to be able to teach you, I want you to be able to go, oh wow, I learned something in the Bible today. You know, I feel like I failed. I feel like I failed you if you come to church and you're like, I didn't learn anything. I didn't feel fed today. I feel like I failed to, you know, in that regard. My goal is to influence you to know the Bible better and to influence you to live according to His word. You know, if I can just influence you a little bit this morning to give you the confidence that you're in the protective hands of our Lord, you know, and that gives you joy and fulfillment and greater confidence in this world, then I would say that's a success. You know, that's something that I've helped influence in your life. But, you know, we all have been given this power to be influential and it comes from the power of the Lord. Now, one thing that I've learned about influence more in the workplace, in the business world, especially when you're kind of like a middle manager, like you've got someone above you that wants a team, a company to go a certain way, then you have employees under you that you need to kind of pass that message on and you've got to make it happen. Even if you don't really see eye to eye with the person above you, but because he's the boss, you kind of have to carry through what he's asking you to do. And even though you haven't been fully won over, you've got to win your staff over, people that are under you, to do what the boss wants. And that's a pretty hard, difficult thing. And one thing that I learned in that setting is how to be influential, of course, to the people under me, but also how to be influential to those that are above me. So if they go in a certain direction that I can't see myself going myself, to be able to voice that in a respectful manner, and sometimes to have them change their approach, which better suits me and the team that I'm leading. And so being able to be influential is something that comes by the power of the Lord. And let me just give you just a very quick tip in life. Things aren't always going to go your way in life, and you need to accept that. You don't want to be Generation Z, I think it's called now, where they're so soft-skinned, if things don't go according to their way, they get offended, they get frustrated, they get sad, you don't want to be that way. Now, usually, when we make a decision or we try to be influential to people, there are two ways to kind of go about doing this, or two methods that people use. And both methods are okay, as long as they're done in the right way. But it's about being emotional, sometimes people call this emotional intelligence, and also being logical. You can't have one without the other. Both of these things go hand in hand with how we influence people, how we direct people. But it's just got to be applied in the right way. Like if something does not go according to my way, I will have, in all of us, we will all have an emotional response. You might get frustrated, you might get sad, you might get angry about something not going your way. Now, when you want to change it and make it go your way, or have an influence, the biggest mistake you can make, because you have had an emotional response, the reason you have an emotional response is so you know I've got to take action. I've got to do something about this. God's given us emotions so we know when we're to react, when we're to respond, or when we're meant to make certain changes about certain things. That's what the emotions are there for. Like if my children disobey my instruction, I'm going to get angry about that. Because they should be obedient to mum and dad. That's an emotional response. But then my reaction, should my reaction be an emotional response? And that's why a lot of people make the mistake. No, your reaction, or your attempts to influence should not be an emotional response. That's when you're going to make a huge mistake in your life. Your response needs to be a logical response. Your emotions are there to make you react. I need to react. But your reaction needs to be logical. You need to think things through. When you react emotionally, you're going to make sudden decisions. You're going to make rash decisions. You're going to make wrong decisions. You're going to make a reaction because you're offended or whatever it is. But really you need to stop. I need to react. I need to influence. I need to change. So I need to take a breather. I need to put my emotions aside. My emotions are telling me I need to react. But now I need to use my logic. I need to use the mind, the reasoning that God has given me to then present the change. Or to go, and my child has disobeyed, to go and correct him with that rod of chastisement. You don't want to do it out of anger. Because then you won't apply the rod properly. You want to be self-controlled. You want to take the right decision, logical decision. You want to be able to look at the different options, the different possibilities. You know, that needs to take place and then decide upon what is the best way forward. That's my advice of how to be influential. But, you know, any time this has happened for me, because you have that emotional response, I need to just take a moment with the Lord and say, Lord, help me not to respond emotionally. Thank you for the emotions you've given me. I know I need to do something about this. Now, Lord, help me to put those emotions aside. Help me think logically what is the best way forward. You know? And if someone challenges me on my decision moving forward, give me, Lord, the understanding so I can present that and explain to them why that is the best way forward. And I found that to be the best way to be influential. Okay? Because you have to respond. You need to change events. When things aren't going in accordance to your favour, you need to be able to change those things, but you need to be able to do it logically, not emotionally. Because people are like, this guy just cares for himself if you do things emotionally. Do things logically where you can explain to the people that you're trying to influence why that is the best decision moving forward, or why that's the best decision for you. You know? And why the other options are not the best decisions taking forward. So, I just want to show you that Christ, with his power, he's able to influence. He's able to stop this arresting party from arresting all of them. Hey, just take me and leave these guys alone. Okay, back to John 18. John 18, verse number 10. John 18, verse number 10. Then Simon Peter, having a sword, drew it. So Simon, Peter's not helping the situation. Jesus trying to protect them all. Peter's like, alright, I've got the sword. Takes it out. And smelt the high priest's servant. And cut off his right ear. The servant's name was Malchus. So, of course, you would say, come on, they're going to rest now, Peter. Now, look, we haven't got, well, let's read verse number 11. Then said Jesus unto Peter, put up thy sword into the sheath. He says these words. The cup which my Father hath given me, shall I not drink it. That cup being that he's going to be arrested and put to death. Okay? He says, Peter, look, I've got to drink, this has to happen. I have to be put to death. So he tells Peter, put away your sword. Alright? Now, we know, it's not covered in this story. But we know in the book of Luke that not only is this ear cut off, but Jesus Christ then heals that man's ear. Alright? Again, why is he doing that? He's protecting his disciples. Yeah, of course, you know, he cares for the guy that's coming to arrest him, the servant. He's going to heal the servant, of course. But he's trying to protect his disciples. I want to show you that. Because, look, if this guy's ear is cut off, they can, I guess, issue a warrant for Peter's arrest. Alright? I mean, Peter can be guilty of assault in this situation. In this situation, right? Of being violent. But if the guy comes back with a healed ear, and probably knowing Jesus, he probably hears better than he's ever heard from that ear. You know, it's probably better than it's ever been. You know? I mean, like, what charges are you going to bring against Peter? Like, where's the evidence of your ear being cut off? So Jesus Christ is protective of his disciples. And the next point that I have for you, brethren, is when we see Jesus Christ saying, look, my Father have given me, the cup which my Father have given me, shall I not drink it? The third point that I have for you is that Jesus Christ has the power, the power to face death. The power to face death. And I ask you this morning, do you have the power to face death? You know, if today was your last day, would you be willing to say, Lord, I mean, we don't know what our last day is, but would you be willing to say, Lord, if, you know, if that's your will, I'm happy to go into eternity to knowing you forever. I'm happy to pass away from this life. If that is your will for me. The power to face death. You know, there's a lot of people in this world that are actually afraid of death. And maybe you're afraid of death, I don't know. I'm not really, I'm not afraid of death. I might be a little bit afraid of how I die, but death itself, I'm not. Listen, one of the most wonderful things about being saved is that you don't have to fear death. You know exactly what's going to take place. You know exactly. Not only do you know exactly what's going to take place, but you know you're going to stand before God in the pure righteousness of Christ. The Lord God is going to see you as his child because of Jesus Christ. He shed blood, cleanses you from all sins. Hey, that body is going to be on this, that fleshly sinful body's on the earth dead. I'm going to be up there in spirit, okay? My soul is going to be presented before God, pure and clean. I didn't even have to present my filthy body to the Lord God. You know, if you're saved and you've been saved for some time, you really should not fear death. And that is one of the most comforting things I think you can have in life. I know exactly what's going to take place. You know, according to his word, I trust the promises of God that I'm saved today because of my Lord Jesus Christ, and why should I fear death? You know, I'm going to live a better life in heaven. I'm going to be with my Savior, right? You know, Paul put it this way in Philippians 1-21, for to me to live is Christ and to die is gain. You know, Paul takes the attitude, it's not just good to die because it's better. You know, it's a better life to be in heaven without Savior. Then he says, and look, again, Paul does not have this kind of suicidal, you know, mentality. Ah, I just can't wait to die. You know, oh man, I'm glad for today because it's one more day closer to my death. That's not his attitude, right? In verse 22 he says, but if I live in the flesh, this is the fruit of my labor. Yet what I shall choose, I want not, for I am in a strait betwixt two, having a desire to depart and to be with Christ, which is far better. He goes, look, I can't really decide, do I really want to be in the flesh or do I want to go in heaven? He goes, you know what, regardless, even if I am in the flesh, I'm going to live for heaven. I'm going to live for eternity. You know, I'm going to be utilized by God on this. I remember Christ is praying that we would be in this world, that we would be enlightened in this world, not taken from this world, but protected from evil. So brethren, I'm just saying enjoy your life. God's given you this life to serve him, to be faithful. You know, and there's a lot of good things to do in life, but at the same time, don't have the fear of death. Christ has given you the power to face death. So that's the third point that I have for you. Let's go back to John chapter 17, sorry, John chapter 18. John chapter 18 and verse number 12. And again, I just want you to examine yourselves, look at the power of Christ, okay. Do you have that power in your life? Okay, and some of these things you might tick off, yes, I don't feed the pastor. Okay, but are there other things that you're afraid of? Are there other things that you're lacking the power of Christ in? All right, tick off the things that you're fine with. Good, you lock them in. You know, and then think about, hey, but I'm also lacking in some of these areas. Well, you need the power of Christ in your life. You know, you're living your life, but you're lacking in power to certain degrees. So you can fix that. You know, you can pray to the Lord and ask him for that power. Verse number 12. Then the band and the captain and officers of the Jews took Jesus and bound him, and led him away to Annas first, for he was father-in-law to Caiaphas, which was the high priest that same year. Now, so Annas is the father-in-law of Caiaphas. Caiaphas is the high priest. Now, you say, why are these two names mentioned? Just very quickly, in Luke chapter three, verse two, it says Annas and Caiaphas being the high priests. The word of God came unto John the son of Zacharias in the wilderness. That's John the Baptist. So at this time of John the Baptist and Jesus' ministry, Judea had two high priests. Annas and Caiaphas. You know, it's father-in-law, son-in-law relationship. Now, is that biblical? You know, did God instruct for there to be two high priests when you read the laws of Moses? There was always one. There was always one high priest. And then when the high priest passed away, who would then be chosen? His sons. Not his son-in-law. And the reason I'm just saying that to you is because it just shows you the corruption at the time of the Jewish religion. They are not following the commandments of Moses. They're not even trying. They're not even trying to do things according to the ways that God instructed them in the Old Testament. They're doing things completely opposite. Son-in-law gets the preference to become the high priest when it should be the sons. That's the line. That's the lineage that's meant to be passed on. And so these guys just aren't doing things the right way anyway. I mean, I'm just showing you there's already corruption in the house of the Lord with these high priests. Verse number 14. Now Caiaphas was he which gave counsel to the Jews that he was expedient that one man should die for the people. And so in Peter followed Jesus and so did another disciple. Okay, so we have as Jesus has been arrested and taken away, Peter. So in Peter's following and so is another disciple. I'm pretty confident this other disciple is John. He's right of himself in the third person. You know how it says the disciple whom the Lord loved, something along those lines. He often refers to himself in the third person. I'm not sure why that is. Maybe he's just kind of got that humility and doesn't want to be the hero of a story or something like that. Maybe that's what's going on. I'm confident that this is speaking of John and so did another disciple of John. It says that disciple, the other disciple or John was known unto the high priest and went in with Jesus into the palace of the high priest. But Peter stood at the door without, then went out that other disciple which was known unto the high priest and spake unto her that kept the door and brought in Peter. It just tells us what took place. Jesus Christ has been taken away. Peter and John are following. John is known to the high priest. They've got some type of association. I don't know where they grew up together. Their families know each other. I don't know. So he's allowed to go into the palace of the high priest. But Peter, he's just standing outside the door. He can't go in. So then John comes and speaks to the woman at the door and says, Let him in. He's my friend. That's kind of what's happening. So John is somehow well known even amongst the high priest. I guess he was somewhat respected. John, as far as I'm concerned, was probably just a good man. He probably just had a good reputation. He cared for the things of the Lord. He'd probably find himself often in the temple, especially on the holy days to do the things, offering sacrifices, doing the right things according to the Old Testament ways. So he was well known in the temple. Verse 17. Then saith the damsel that kept the door unto Peter. So she's opening the door. She's allowing Peter in. She says, Art not thou also one of this man's disciples? He saith, I am not. Now, her question is really interesting. Art not thou also one of this man's disciples? Also. So I think she realises that John is a disciple of Jesus. You see that? I think John is much stronger than Peter is in this situation. Maybe that's why he's referring to himself in the third person. He's like, yeah, I'm a disciple of Jesus, so what? And goes in and then Peter comes in and she goes, aren't you one also? Aren't you also one of the disciples? He says, I am not. Now, what I'm trying to show you here is the contrast. The focus today is looking at the power of Christ. We need to have the power of Christ upon us. But when you look at someone like Peter, does he have the power of Christ upon him right now? He can't even speak to a woman. She's just a servant. She just opens the doors and closes the door. She's just asking him a simple question. Aren't you one of Jesus' disciples? It's like someone might come up to you today and say, I've seen you. You go to church, don't you? You're like a believer in Jesus. You're a Christian, aren't you? Would you have the confidence to say, of course I am. And let me tell you why. In fact, come to my church. Do you have that confidence? Or do you be like, uh... I mean, I can't go to church, but I'm not really into it. My pastor says some crazy things behind the book, but I don't really agree with him. What kind of power do you have in your life? And look, if you say to me, pastor, I don't have the power. I am a fearful person. I am not living for Christ the way that I ought to. You know, I don't want to discourage you. I'm not trying to discourage you at all. Because Peter had a time of weakness. He can't even answer. He can't even say, yeah, I'm a believer of Christ. I'm one of the apostles. I'm one of his disciples. Of course I am. That might be you today. You know, where you have an opportunity one-on-one with someone to share the gospel, and you're too timid to do so. You're lacking the power. And that's okay. Like I said, so did Peter. Alright, so what do you do? Again, you don't beat yourself up and just, oh, I'm crap, you know. No one cares about me. I'm stupid. You pray to the Lord. Say, Lord, give me your power, because I don't have the power. Remember, it's power in his mind. It's the power of Jesus that you need in your life. Say, Jesus, give me that power. What I'm reading here, you know, when I look at Jesus, how he is responding, you know, how he's going about this situation. This is a bad situation for Jesus. But I want to be able to respond like he does. I want to have the confidence. I want to have the power that Jesus Christ has. And look, if you ask, according to his will, he'll give it to you. He'll give you that strength. He'll give you that power. Verse number 18. And the servants and officers stood there, who had made a fire of coals, for it was cold, and they warmed themselves. And Peter stood with them and warmed himself. So Peter, it's been cold at night, right? So he goes and warms himself at the fire. Verse number 19. The high priest then asked Jesus of his disciples and of his doctrine. I love how Jesus Christ responds here. Because the high priest is kind of making it seem like they're this secretive sect. Like they've got these hidden doctrines. And I love how Jesus Christ responds in verse number 20. I speak openly to the world. Because you're asking me these things. I've preached it everywhere. Everybody knows what I believe. Everybody knows my doctrine. Everybody's seen my disciples. Because I ever taught in the synagogue. Because I've taught this publicly. And in the temple. Whither the Jews always resort. Because I've preached it even to the Jews that don't even believe in me. I've preached this stuff to all. And in secret have I said nothing. Why askest thou me? Why are you asking me this? Everybody knows what I believe. Everybody knows what I'm teaching. Everybody knows my ministry. Why askest thou me? Ask them which heard me what I have said unto them. Behold, they know what I said. You should know, but they know. Ask anybody, Jesus Christ says. If you ask anybody, anybody can tell you what I have taught, what I have said. Brethren, the next point that I have for you, point number four, is the power to be confident in public. The power to be confident in public. Now, as we've been going through the book of John, we've seen Jesus Christ avoid public disputes. We've seen times when Jesus Christ knew there are Pharisees or wicked Jews that are trying to get into an argument, trying to stop him from ministry. He goes, all right, we'll go elsewhere. Okay? Because Jesus Christ was not concerned about just fighting all his, you know, his ministry was short. He wasn't interested in just getting into arguments, okay, being bogged down, being stopped. He'd rather focus on the ministry. But whatever he taught, he had no problem, the public, knowing what he believed and what he taught. The power to be confident in public. You know, if you're confronted one day with the things that you believe or the things that are in the Bible, do you have that confidence to go, yep, that's what I believe? What, so you believe God taught on the death penalty for certain crimes? Yep, I believe that. That's what God taught. What, even adultery? Yep, that's what God taught. That's what the Bible says. The death penalty is the right response for something like adultery. So the partner that got cheated on can go on with her life or his life and marry someone else. Whatever it is, there's so many things in the Bible that are controversial. Even two genders. Do you believe in two genders? That's controversial now. Are you willing to just stand on the truth? That's, yeah, God created them male and female from the very beginning. That's all there is. That's controversial now. The power to be confident in public. Now again, I'm not going out in the public trying to cause arguments. I'm not trying to get into every debate. I'm not interested in that. I'm not trying to get into the media with the things that I teach that are controversial. But look, if the media comes to our doorstep and says, look, we want to interview your pastor about some controversial things he said in the sermon, look, I will publicly say, yeah, that is what we believe. Do you have the confidence to support your pastor? Do you have the confidence if the media came to your doorstep and asked you about what you believe? Would you be able to say, yep, that's what we believe? That's what the Bible says. At the risk of maybe losing your job? At the risk of people turning against you? Do you have that confidence? You see, Christ had that confidence. He was wise. He didn't just try to get into every argument again. He was focused on his ministry. But listen, when it came to his doorstep, he was willing to just say publicly what he believed. And brethren, we are, at least, you know, I know I am and I know many of you, especially the men that preach, you guys are very confident in what, because you don't mind your sermons being on YouTube. You know, I've recently heard, aren't you worried that YouTube transcribes all your words and then it goes into the AI machine and then it can work out who's a threat to society. Aren't you worried? Who cares? Why should we be afraid of that? Why should we be afraid of that? Should we take all our sermons and take them off YouTube and put them on some private network that only believers can see or something? You know, should I be afraid to use Gmail because it's not as secure as the next platform just in case they find out I'm a believer, they find out that I love the Bible. You know, should we be afraid? Should we hide ourselves from these things? Who cares? Let the public know what we believe. You know, go out there and knock doors and tell people, yes, we believe that if you don't receive Christ today, you are on your way to hell. Have you got that confidence to tell people? The power to be confident in public. You know, I'm against Christians that want this off the grid living. Oh, the world's getting so scary and don't you know past the smart cities, we're going to be tracked to every transaction we make. You know, every thought we think some computer's going to pick up your brain power and they're going to be able to work out what you're thinking. Aren't you afraid? Who cares? If you're afraid of those things, you need the power of Christ. I'm not saying those things are good. I'm not saying bring them on. I'm saying is don't be afraid if you've got the power of Christ in you. Just get on with life. Alright, and then cross that bridge when we get there. We may never get there. But the power to be confident in public. Verse number 22. By the way, my phone might be listening to me right now. Better get all the right apps here to make sure. Let me block that microphone right now. I don't know. The camera. Make sure no one can see me. Does someone have some type of device that we can hide this phone somehow? In case, you know, Google knows. This is a iPhone. What is this? This is a Google phone. Just in case Google knows what I'm saying right now. Alright Google, I'm fine for you to know what I'm saying right now. Okay? Hopefully some of your staff members can get saved. Can read the Bible and know what God has to say. Who cares? Verse number 22. And when he had thus spoken, one of the officers which stood by struck Jesus with the palm of his hand, saying, answer thou the high priest so? How dare you speak to the high priest this way? Bang! Jesus answered him, if I have spoken evil, bear witness of the evil. Because if I've done something wrong, if I've done something sinful, if I've done something wicked, if I've done something harmful, tell me what it is! What have I done? But if well, so if I do the right things, if I do well, why smitest thou me? He's challenging this guy. What have I done? Tell me what I've done. Tell me why I deserve to be arrested and being struck by your palm. The fifth point that I have for you, reverend, and this one's really important to me. The power of a clear conscience. The power of a clear conscience. That is so powerful. That is so powerful. You know, if police officers came to arrest me right now for some crime, something, I'd be like, alright, take me. Show me evidence. What have you got against me? That's how clear my conscience is. Like, you know, if I could not have a clear conscience in the ministry, I would step down as a pastor, by the way. I'm not saying that I'm the wisest and I've made always the best decisions in life, you know, regarding church and ministry, but I've made the best decision I could at the time that I knew, you know, with the information that I had at the time. I've got a clear conscience with those things. People that we've had to kick out of church. I've got a clear conscience about those people that we've kicked out of church. I love them. I want them to get right. I want them to say sorry and get back into church, but I've got a clear conscience. Like, I'm not, you know, I'm not like strung to sleep at night. Jesus Christ is a clear conscience. Like, what do you have against me? Okay, show me what you have against me. I will quickly read to you from 1 Peter 3.16. Having a good conscience that whereas they speak evil of you, so people will speak evil of you, as of evil doers, they may be ashamed that falsely accuse your good conversation in Christ. For it is better if the will of God be so, if you suffer for well doing, than for evil doing. Look, we're all going to suffer in life, but according to God's will, he'd rather you suffer for well doing. He'd rather you suffer for doing nothing wrong, like Christ is in this situation. Sometimes you might get frustrated, but I've done nothing wrong, I've, you know, I never attack this person, I've never gone against this person, and they're hurting me, they're harming me, and you say, it's not fair, it's not right. That's better to suffer that way, than to suffer for doing wrong, and then facing the consequences for doing wrong. That's God's will for you. We're all going to suffer, life has suffering. Welcome to the real world, but suffer for doing good. Have a clear conscience. Tell those that falsely accuse you, be ashamed for what they've done. There's something just nice about having a clear conscience, something pure, something you just know that it helps you just better take on whatever situation, whatever accusations, because you know, well, I've done nothing wrong, show me evidence. What proof do you have against me? Verse number 24. Now Annas had sent him bound unto Caiaphas the high priest. So it starts with Annas, the father-in-law, the father-in-law sends him to the son-in-law, okay, because right now Caiaphas is acting as a high priest. Verse number 25. And Simon Peter stood and warmed himself, again he's at the fire, they said therefore unto him, not thou also one of his disciples? He denied it and said, I am not. He gets a second chance. He gets a second chance to be confident. He gets a second chance to show the power of Christ in him. He's still weak. He says, no, I'm not. Verse number 26. One of the servants of the high priest, this is really interesting, one of the servants of the high priest being his kinsman, whose ear Peter cut off. So Peter cut off the guy's ear, well, one of his family members, then Peter goes, hold on, Caiaph, did not I see thee in the garden with him? You're the guy that cut off my family member's ear. Didn't I see you with him? I mean, this is like an eyewitness testimony right here, right? Verse number 27. Peter then denied again and immediately the cock crew. Come with me quickly to John 13. Come with me quickly to John 13, verse number 37. John 13, verse number 37. You say, pastor, I do have the power of Christ in me, I know it. You know what? I will speak publicly of Christ. I have no fear of death. You know, pastor, I've got the power of a clear conscience in me right now. Just be careful is what I'm trying to say to you here, because in John 13, verse 37, Peter saith unto him, Lord, why cannot I follow thee now? I will lay down my life for thy sake. Because, Lord, I'm willing to die for you. You've got three people asking you, are you one of these disciples? Nope. At that moment, was Peter willing to die for Jesus? No. He thought he could. He thought he was strong. He thought he was faithful. Look at verse number 38. Jesus answered him, will thou lay down thy life for my sake? Verily, verily, I say unto thee, the cock shall not crow till thou hast denied me thrice. Because, Peter, you're going to deny me three times. And we see that play out there in John chapter 18. And I want to show you that, because we can fool ourselves into thinking we are strong. We can fool ourselves into thinking we have the power of Christ in us. But when we find ourselves in that situation, I said to you, if the media came, maybe not, I don't know. Maybe when the media came, I'm like, guys, hide, close the doors, lock the doors. I don't think so, but you have to be aware of your weaknesses, is what I'm trying to say, okay? You may feel you're strong, but you need to make sure, again, that it's the strength of the Lord, not your own strength. You can fool yourself in your own strength, okay? The pride that you have, the ego that you have, you think you're strong in your own flesh. It can blind you, because you're not drawn from the strength of the Lord. Okay, this is the battle between the old man and the new man. The old man is fearful. The old man, the flesh, has no power of the Lord upon it. You've got to be in the new man. You've got to walk in the Spirit. You've got to crucify the old man. That's where you draw the power of the Lord, okay? The old man can fool you. The old man thinks it's strong, but you know it's weak. That's why you sin against the Lord, because you thought the old man was strong, and then you find yourself given into some temptation, because you've got the old man, you've got the flesh. You need the power of the Lord in the new man. Verse number 28, back to John 18, verse number 28. Then led they Jesus from Caiaphas, so now he leaves Caiaphas, unto the hall of judgment, that's like a Roman area for judgment, and it was early that they might themselves, sorry, and they themselves went not into the judgment hall, lest they should be defiled, but that they might eat the Passover. So these people that have arrested Christ, these Jews, they come to the judgment hall, because they don't go inside the judgment hall, okay? Because they're preparing themselves for the Passover, and in their mind, if I walk into a Gentile building, maybe that's got, I don't know, maybe Roman gods or some idols or something like that, and they don't want to defile themselves before the Passover events. So they're essentially now handing Jesus Christ over to the Roman authorities. Then in verse number 20, sorry, verse number 29, Pilate then went out unto them, so Pilate, of course, and said, what accusation bring ye against this man? So you see, Pilate went out unto them. So Pilate's inside the judgment hall, then he goes outside, because the Jews did not come inside. They're trying to keep themselves pure from that Gentile building. Verse number 30, they answered and said unto him, if you were not a malefactor, we would not have delivered him up unto thee. Then said Pilate unto them, take ye him, and judge him according to your law. The Jews therefore said unto him, it is not lawful for us to put any man to death, that the saying of Jesus might be fulfilled, which is spake, signifying what death he should die. So under Roman rule, they were not allowed to put anyone to death. They want to kill Jesus. That's why they brought him to Pilate. They bring him to the Roman authorities who do have the power to conduct the death penalty. But again, verse number 32 is interesting, that the saying of Jesus might be fulfilled, which is spake, signifying what death he should die. So he would not die the death of a Jewish execution, that he would die the death of a Roman execution. Keep your finger there, and come with me to John 12 very quickly. John chapter 12 very quickly. John chapter 12 and verse number 32. John chapter 12 and verse number 32. John chapter 12 and verse number 32. Jesus Christ says these words, and I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me. This he said, signifying what death he should die. Again, John 18 is fulfilling what Christ said in John 12, that he needs to be lifted up. This is the kind of death that he will die, being crucified by the Romans, being put to death by crucifixion, not being put to death by stoning, for example, which is the Jewish way. He must die a Roman death sentence, not a Jewish death sentence. Verse number 33. Then, back to John 18, sorry, John 18, 33. Then Pilate entered into the judgment hall again, and called Jesus, and said unto him, art thou the king of the Jews? Jesus answered him, saying, answered him, sayest thou this thing of thyself, or did others tell it thee of me? Jesus Christ's saying, who's saying that? Is it you, or is it them? Is this offensive? By saying that I'm the king of the Jews, is this offensive or criminal behavior against the Romans, or is it criminal behavior against the Jews? By the way, the answer is neither. Neither of the, by saying that you're the king of the Jews, is not worthy of the death sentence. Under Jewish law, under Roman law, and Jesus Christ is kind of putting this tool back to Pilate. Verse number 35. Pilate answered, am I a Jew? Thine own nation and the chief priests have delivered thee unto me. What hast thou done? He goes, am I a Jew? Do I care that you're saying the king of the Jews? Am I a Jew? Does this bother me? Because he's in power, he's looking down at the Jewish ways and the Jewish Jewish laws. He goes, I don't really care if you want to call yourself the king of the Jews. But nevertheless, your people have delivered you unto me. What hast thou done? So what have you really done? What have you done worthy of death? Verse number 36. Jesus answered, I love this, my kingdom is not of this world. So is Jesus Christ saying he is the king? Yep, because it's my kingdom. Then he says he's not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight? Let me stop there for a moment, brethren. Do you sometimes have a desire to fight against this world system? Do you sometimes have a desire to get out and protest against this wicked world? And if you say, yeah, I do, sometimes faster. Well, I want you to just focus and meditate on these words of Christ. He says, my kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, which it's not, then would my servants fight? Christ does not want us fighting for this world, okay, or fighting against this world system. We are in this world. You've got to function in this world, all right? Be utilized by God by the strength and the power of his might to do a great thing for him. We're not going to win a battle against this world. We can win the battle against wickedness in terms of delivering souls from hell by preaching the gospel, but, brethren, this world's just going to get worse and worse and worse, and one day you're going to die. And worse and worse, and one day you're going to be like, pastor, let's go and fight this system. So this is not our kingdom. What are you talking about? It's not of this world. Why are we going to get caught up with all the issues of this world? We can't fix it. It's cursed. It's got sinners running this place. It's got children of the devil in high places. How about we focus on the kingdom to come? We focus on the kingdom of God instead. Let me read verse number 36 again. Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews. By the way, the Jews are not his servants. Do you see that? Then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews. I don't know why some people say the Jews are God's special people. They're not his servants. They don't love the Lord. Okay? And say, well, pastor, you don't understand. This world is under Jewish control. Let it be under Jewish control. Okay? We're not here to fight against the Jewish control system of this world. So all the Jews are bankers. They're in control of the media. So what? It's the world. It's not my kingdom. Let it go. Let go of the world. And he says, But now is my kingdom not from hence. And I got my sickness. And I got my sixth point for you, brethren, is Jesus Christ has the power to focus on eternity. Do you have that power to focus on eternity? Or do you get bothered and bogged down with the wickedness that you see in this earthly system? Can't be fixed. You can't change it. You can change the destination of a soul by preaching the gospel. There's much more power there. You're bringing people into God's kingdom. You're focusing on his kingdom and his righteousness. Brethren, we need to have our eyes set on eternity. Our eyes set on heaven, not on earth. Right? Our eyes set on things that are eternal, not things that are carnal and temporal. If you're so focused on this world, you haven't got the power of Christ in you in this area. You need to let it go. Okay? Let the world go into its wickedness. Let the world spy on every individual. Let the world bring in the smart systems where everyone's being tracked and whatever. All this stuff is prophesied. You can't stop prophecy. You can't stop the end times from rolling around whenever it does. It's got to happen. You get prepared and set your eyes on eternity, the kingdom of God. And when I learned this, it became very liberating for me. I said, Pastor, don't you know about this situation? I don't care. Pastor, are you sure you want your phone with you in case it's causing you to, brainwashing, it's going to control you, you know, and all the vaccinations you took as a child, you know, there's going to be aluminium that's going into your brain and then Google can control your brain waves and you're going to be a robot to the sea. Who cares? Because I'm supposed to walk in the new man. They've got no control over the new man. This is the power of God we're talking about. The power to focus on eternity. In 1 Peter 2.11, dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstained from fleshy lusts which war against the soul. Brethren, we are strangers and pilgrims. We're not really Australians. We're not really. We're passing through. Strangers, we don't really belong here. Pilgrims, we're making our way to heaven. We're going home. The power to focus on eternity. Have you got that power? I'm telling you guys, you need to get off the social media. It's going to cause you to care too much about this world. Just focus on Christ. Focus on His Word. God gives us every instruction we need to live in life regardless of what time period it is in His Word. Verse number 37, John 18.37. Pilate therefore said unto him, Art thou a king then? Jesus answered, Thou sayest that I am a king. To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world. This is the whole reason I've come. That I should bear witness unto the truth. Everyone that is of the truth heareth my voice. And point number seven, Jesus Christ has the power to bear witness of the truth. Have you got that power? Are you able to bear witness of the truth? If you found yourself one on one with somebody, have you got the ability to give someone the gospel? Have you given someone the gospel? Have you been able to get a soul saved by bearing witness of the truth? Brethren, I know it might seem impossible to be a soul winner. I know it might seem strange to knock on a stranger's door. But if you're doing that, you've got the power of Christ upon you. It can only be done by the power of Christ. We have soul winners that go out between services. Do you really think they're comfortable in the flesh? Going to a stranger's door? You've got to overcome that fear. You've got to overcome that weakness. And say, Lord, your will, not my will. Lord, your strength, not my strength. Right? That's why we pray, Lord, fill me with your Holy Ghost. Give me the words. Give me the confidence. Give me the boldness. Give me the love. For me to go and tell someone about what Jesus Christ has done for them. The power to bear witness of the truth. Acts 1-8 says, but ye shall receive power. These are the words of Christ. But ye shall receive power. After that, the Holy Ghost has come upon you, and ye shall be witnesses unto me, both in Jerusalem and in Judea and in Samaria, and unto the utmost part of the earth. Australia fits the utmost part of the earth there. Christ has given us his power to be witnesses for him. That's point number seven. I better hurry up. Verse number 38. Pilate saith unto him, what is truth? And when he had said this, he went out again unto the Jews, and saith unto them, I find in him no fault at all. You want to kill this guy? I see no fault. There's nothing here worthy of putting him to death. But then he says this, to appease the crowd, because this is what politicians do. Politicians don't care about the truth. Pilate is just a classic politician here. He wants to make the people happy. Whatever's going to appease the people, regardless if it's right or wrong, he says, but ye have a custom that I should release unto you one at the passover. Will ye therefore that I release unto you the king of the Jews? Then cried they all again, saying, not this man, but Barabbas. Now Barabbas was a robber. They chose Barabbas instead of Christ. I mean, how wicked. And of course, Pilate gives them what they want. Is that right? No, it's not right. It's wrong. Pilate knows Jesus Christ is innocent. I almost feel like, Pilate, you've got good judgment. You know, you've assessed the situation, and you know Christ is innocent. But he's not a good man. He's a wicked man. Okay? He just wants to maintain power and control. It's the wrong kind of power. So he releases a robber, you know, a murderer, Barabbas. And Jesus Christ is then taken, of course. We'll find out later. Taken, arrested, beaten, and crucified. Alright brethren, in conclusion, the title for the sermon was The Power of Christ. The Power of Christ. And the seven points of these. Again, assess yourself. I'm not going to tell you where you're strong and where you're not, but these are all seven places where you can have power. Number one, the power to confront enemies. Number two, the power to influence. Number three, the power to face death. Number four, the power to be confident in public. Number five, the power of a clear conscience. Number six, the power to focus on eternity. And number seven, the power to bear witness of the truth. Okay, let's pray. Heavenly Father, Lord, I just want to thank you for your word once again. Lord, there's so much wisdom when we stop and think about it and meditate upon your word. Lord, I thank you so much for Jesus Christ who set us such a great example. Lord, a man who was willing to lose his life to save ours. And I thank you so much for that great love. And Lord, not only do you save us, then you want to give us that power. You want to give us the power of the Lord in our lives. And Lord, please forgive us for being timid. Please forgive us for being weak. Please forgive us for not tapping into your power as often as we should. And Lord, if there's any areas in our life that need improvement, Lord, I pray with the power of your Holy Spirit that you'd give us victory in these areas. We pray all of this in Jesus' name. Amen. All right, hymn number 418. 418, 418. Let's sing, Am I a soldier of the cross? 418. Am I a soldier of the cross? 418. Am I a soldier of the cross, a follower of the Lamb, and shall I... Matt, can you start again? Sorry, guys, my bad. Let's start again. My bad. We haven't sung this one in a while. Am I a soldier of the cross, a follower of the Lamb, and shall I be to own His force or blush to speak His name? Must I be carried to the skies on fiery beds of years? I'll have the sports to win the prize and sail through bloody seas. Are there not those for me to face? Must I not stem the flood? Is this far-world a friend to grace to hold me on to God? Sure, I must fight if I'm afraid, increase my courage, Lord. I'll bear the toil, endure the pain, supported by my blood. Thank you for watching. .