Who's Your King? | Rodrigo Vargas

What's good, Houston, Texas? Let me hear you out there. What an amazing time of worship. Hey, can I tell you, it's springtime. Can you tell? The blue bonnets are out and the allergies are kicking already. I'm telling you, they're killing me right now. They're killing me right now. But most importantly, I think for us as the family of God, as a church family, this is a holy season. This is the season in which we prepare our hearts, we prepare our minds for the celebration of the resurrection of King Jesus. So this is our time where we press in and we prepare ourselves for the greatest celebration. So if this is your first time with us, we want you to know that we love you and that you're just not another guest, that you're actually an answered prayer. And that here at Union Houston, we believe in connecting people to God with the gospel of Jesus Christ. And that gospel says it doesn't matter what your past is like. It doesn't matter what your struggles are, your doubts. Jesus, listen, where you're sitting right there, wherever you may be, He loves you right where you are. And He loves you too much to leave you where you are. So I believe He's, if you're here, He's taking you somewhere today. And this promise includes every single person, every single person that is watching us, that is incarcerated and watching us through the Pando app, Union Houston, can you help me welcome our Union prison campus? I know you can hear that. We got nothing but love for you, even though we can't see you, we love you. And we can't wait to celebrate when you come in through those doors. Well, it's Easter. I like to call it Resurrection Sunday. That's really what I like to call it, but everybody calls it Easter. The religious folks will say other things, and we're not going to get into semantics.

I want to talk about the resurrection of King Jesus, amen? And we're three weeks away, so not only do we need to be preparing in our minds and hearts who we're going to be inviting to Resurrection Sunday, we also need to prepare ourselves to be able to celebrate and honor King Jesus in the best way. This isn't just a holiday. This isn't a season. It's not just a story. This is an observation, a remembrance, and a celebration of the greatest miracle God ever performed in humankind. This is the day Jesus robbed the grave. He defeated death, sin, and the devil. And it is the most historically documented event in the ancient world. In the final weeks of Jesus's earthly life, everything came into focus. It was a singular focus, and the cross was before him. When the disciples thought the thought was defeat, what the devil thought was defeat was actually going to be the greatest victory the world has ever known. So we're stepping into this series to answer three questions every person needs answered. Who is Jesus, like really? What did he come to do? I'm going to address what he came to do and how he did it next week. And why does any of this matter? To kick it off, I'm taking you back to the very moment that Jesus began preparing his disciples for his death. He was preparing them for the cross. He was preparing them for his departure from the earth. Jesus has just fed 20,000 people, right, with five loaves and two fish. And right on the heels of this miracle, the Pharisees, always the religious people show up to destroy what the Lord is doing. Amen? That even happens today in our culture. You're out here preaching Jesus, and the religious people come in, you know. This is the Pharisees. And they don't come to worship him. They don't come to honor him. They come to test him. So he turns to his disciples and says, I love this, beware of the yeast of the Pharisees. Now I need to explain that to you because this is important for us to grab the context of the scriptures we're about to read. But yeast in Jewish culture meant one of two things.

Sin or corruption. Can I tell you what Jesus was saying? And I need you to hold on. And this is not a point in your sermon, but you might want to write it down. Watch out for the leaven, the teachings of religion. Some of you have walked in here today. Some of you have come from churches. where leaven was spread into your soul and it is my passion it is my desire it is my fire to destroy every leaven that you have in your heart because there is no room here for religion you know why Jesus used this because leaven yeast my wife makes sourdough bread by the way and let me tell you something it spreads a little goes a long way all you need is one little religious thing said from a pulpit and all of a sudden it begins destroying and corrupting your marriage your finances your relationships your prayer life how you see scripture it spreads contaminants it corrupts everything it touches I ask you and I beseech you to get rid of the yeast of the Pharisees and then immediately Jesus walks his disciples straight now I gotta tell you he tells them this specifically about religion because what he's about to do he walks them straight into pagan territory he takes them to a place where pagans worship Caesarea Philippi go read it yourself there is active idol worship here there are sacrifices to Baal there is degenerate worship of Pan and I'm talking about degenerate the kind that goes on in our culture maybe even worse shrines carved into the rock temples to false gods known as the gates of hell of the underworld and right there with that backdrop as his disciples are unsettled and probably offended Jesus begins to speak would you stand with me as we read the Word of God Matthew chapter 16 verse 13 through 28 when Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi he asked his disciples who do people say the son of man is he's referring to himself well they replied some say John the Baptist some say Elijah and others say Jeremiah one of the other prophets and then he asked them but who do you say I am Simon Peter answered you are the Messiah the son of the Living God I love that because he makes it very clear he's not just saying I I know that you are the the king that is gonna overthrow Rome

he's saying no no you are the son of the Living God which segues into next week's sermon we're gonna talk about that Jesus replied you are blessed Simon son of John because my father in heaven has revealed this to you you did not learn this from any human being now I say to you that you are Peter which means rock and upon this rock I will build my church and he's talking about the rock he's standing on not Peter and all the powers of hell all the powers of evil all the powers of wickedness all the powers that you're so scared of because they're worshiping bow or because they're posting this or because they're voting that way or because that offends you will not conquer they won't win and I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven he's gonna give you keys if you're a believer he's giving you keys whatever you forbid on earth will be forbidden in heaven that's the problem is sometimes we forbid the blessings in our lives because we open our mouth and our mouth has the power of life and death be careful how you speak about yourself be careful how you speak about that situation be careful how you speak about relationship be careful how you criticize people and whatever you permit on earth will be permitted that's a that's the problem too is we permit ourselves listen to me someone needs to hear this you permit yourself to be led into lust you permit yourself to be led into depression you permit yourself to be led into an anxious thought you permit yourself you have the keys then he sternly warned the disciples do not tell anyone that he was the Messiah from then on Jesus began to tell his disciples plainly that it was necessary for him to go to Jerusalem and that he would suffer many terrible things at the hands of the elders the leading priests and the teachers of the law he would be killed but on the third day he would be raised from the dead now he's telling them this is what's gonna happen but Peter just like we do sometimes Peter took him aside and began to reprimand him for saying such things heaven forbid Lord this will never happen to you sometimes we argue with God and God is telling us he's unraveling how he wants us to lead our lives and how he wants us to move forward and we're saying heaven snow Jesus that might hurt too much that

might be too uncomfortable that might cost me too much Jesus turned to Peter and this is what he tells us when that happens get away from me Satan you are a dangerous trap to me for you are seeing things merely from a human point of view not from God's then Jesus said to his disciples if any of you wants to be my follower you must give up your own way take up your cross and follow me if you try to hang on to your life you will lose it but if you give up your life for my sake you will save it and what do you benefit what's it worth to get that promotion what's it worth to be in a relationship unequally yoked what's it worth to log on to Pornhub one more time and lose yourself is anything worth more than your soul for the Son of God will come with his angels in the glory of his father and he will judge all people according to their deeds and I will tell you the truth some standing here right now will not die before they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom let's pray father God we thank you Holy Spirit be in this place would you blow on us be our teacher be our guide be our comforter be our counsel be our friend spirit of the Living God blow on us and you be the one that speaks these words that you have imparted into me Holy Spirit I ask you to soften hardened hearts soften the hardened hearts that have been hardened by life's tragedies and traumas and failures and pains Lord begin to open our spiritual eyes to see things beyond this realm that we live in allow us to hear the whispers of heaven so that we may be a people that walk uprightly walk humbly and serve the Lord like we're supposed to Lord we are living in a season in which this little season will end soon and so Lord today I ask you to prepare us not only to celebrate Resurrection Sunday but to prepare us for your return and I pray this in Jesus mighty name and the people of God said you may be seated y'all watch out I ain't got no clock again this week Lord have mercy whoo if you knew you about to find out the question we got to answer for ourselves is who am I for you I want to talk to you today from the title who's your king who's your king I want you to think about this for a moment and all my churchy people I need you to be honest with with yourself okay don't come up in

here and be like you know how y'all get everyone in this room has someone a person famous or not that if we ever got a chance to stand in front of them sit down and have a coffee or conversation with them we would be absolutely starstruck am I right or is there a saint in the house I don't admire anybody Jesus only Jesus come on now yeah yeah I want you to actually think about who is that person for you who would make you nervous like a little girl just walking into the room oh my god right who would have you fumbling over your words pulling out your phone trying to take a picture trying to take you know a selfish selfies moving your wife out the way I'll be honest with you I got a few and I got my reasons and I don't need I don't need to make apologies and I don't need you judging me okay the first one in music I'm gonna be honest with you if Kanye walked in this room You need to find another preacher. I'm going to go hang out with him in the lobby. OK, love him or hate him, he's a genius. And I'm going to do that. In Hollywood, Denzel Washington. My god, I want to ask him so many things. There's no one like him. In sports, it would be Michael Jordan. I only do goats. Michael Jordan, Tom Brady, and Cristiano Ronaldo. That's it. Oh, Mike Tyson. We're going to talk to Mike Tyson. Talk to Mike Tyson about Jesus. Give up Muslim, being a Muslim, and come to Jesus Christ. Any one of these people walks into this room right now, I promise you, the whole room will change. The energy shifts.

People freeze. Phones come out. Voices get quieter. They get really like, ah! Nobody acts normal. Am I right? That's what it means to be in awe of someone. Now, let me ask you a different question. Didn't the King of Kings get the same response when he walked on Earth? Crowds pressed in just to touch the hem of his garment. Grown men dropped their nets, their livelihood, and followed him with everything. Women wept at his feet. Soldiers sent to arrest him and came back empty-handed saying, no one ever spoke like this man. I can't touch this man. But here's what I need to understand. We need to all understand is Jesus isn't some distant historical figure. He's not, hey, there's someone here who thinks God is some, like, ethereal thing. No, he is not a faraway, distant God. He's not sitting on a throne somewhere, very disconnected from the cosmos. He's right here. He's right here. He's in this room. He lives in you. Residence inside of you, which makes

this the most convicting question of the morning. If that's true, that the King of Kings, the one who spoke the universe into existence, the one who defeated death, sin, the grave devil, right, the one who knows your name and numbered your days, lives inside of you, then why is it that so many of us walk through those doors on a Sunday morning and not give King Jesus the reverence we'd give the person you just thought of? Come on now. Come on now. I need you to sit on that. I need you to sit on that because we've become too familiar with the presence of God. We've become too familiar with the Holy Ghost. We've become too familiar with the living God. It's become a concept and a theory, not a lifestyle. Here's the question I need you to wrestle with today, and I mean really wrestle with it. Who's your King? Who's your King? I'm going to tell you something. What we behold, we behold what we regard as highest. That's what captures our attention is what we regard, what we've decided in our hearts that is the highest. Here's the truth. Nobody wants to say out loud in church, we give our attention to what we regard highest in our hearts. That's not criticism.

That is an observation because humans are wired this way. Whatever sits on the throne of your heart is what gets your time, what gets your energy, what gets your focus and devotion. The things that have taken that seat sometimes aren't even bad things, y'all. That's what makes this so deceptive. Listen, we don't realize that sometimes the devil isn't ugly in a pitchfork sitting in the corner of your house. You see what I'm saying? Listen, the devil isn't, you know, the witchcraft store down the street. The devil sometimes aren't the pagans, you know, doing pagan things. It's sometimes the most benign things. It's when we choose the news over the word of God. Well, CNN said what John 13 said. They're keeping up with the Joneses, right? More than keeping up with the Holy Spirit. See, this is the problem. I can always tell when someone hasn't been with the Holy Spirit because they haven't found the secret Paul found. because Paul said I have found the secret to being content whether I'm broke or got a bag right I found the secret I found contentment and whether I'm starving or I'm belly full I like the belly full part you know some of y'all monitor your stocks more than you monitor your salvation gas prices yeah I'm tired of my wife telling me about gas prices egg prices and milk prices I drink a very specific meal okay listen to me don't judge me I like fair life high-protein milk lactose-free baby she brought me some silk protein milk and I

was like what is this I get behind me Satan if I drink that I'll come to church wearing a dress I mean I did drink some yes and I put on my kilt we pour our lives this is some of y'all pour your lives okay here we go y'all put your lives into your careers it's a you'll cry now I bet pass I've been out there grinding hustle and somewhere in the middle of all that productivity Jesus he quietly just got off the throne and you know what he gets from you leftovers when I have time and I'm gonna be honest with you I can see it in people's lives some of you and I want to be careful here because it's sensitive but I'm gonna say it anyway because it needs to be said some of you have made idols of the good things in your life some of you your kids are your idol okay your kids are your idols they're your responsibility they represent your character listen to me and you represent God to them so when we want to be besties with our kids we're being irresponsible parents and misrepresenting God to them we make idols of our family right oh my family my family pictures and the family yeah y'all have a photo shoot for every Easter the flannel shirts come out my boy Mike out there he gets that he gets matching flannel shirts with his wife it's terrible it's terrible it's terrible and she's proud of it too and he's like hey man I just you know hey at least I got to wear cargo shorts he loves his cargo shorts it's like his uniform you know what I mean some of you have made idols of your work ethic and listen I'm a work ethic guy okay so I'm speaking to myself but don't make it an idol just because you work real hard doesn't mean that's it that's your God your hard work is is because you like the work not because the hard work provides for you the Lord is the provider some of you some of you have made an idol of your reputation right and so you will dig in and you will not apologize and not admit to wrongdoing because your reputation on the line not realizing that character is what builds your reputation now these aren't sinful things and sinful things but anything I mean anything that takes the place of King Jesus in your heart becomes an item even good things can become gods you worship now let's test that let's put it show me your counter I always tell people show me your count

show me count and and I bet you some of you busy people especially the ones that own businesses and are like you know in corporate jobs your calendar is full of like purple yellow and green little dots and blocks right but I bet you not a single one of them says Jesus prayer meditation fasting reading the Word of God I know you're busy I know your job is demanding I know life is full you got you got a lot of kids is. Well you should have thought about that before you went playing in the bed. Y'all wanted the kids. It was fun that night. Now you got responsibilities. Welcome to adulthood. I remember look don't don't hate on me. I got four children. They're all grown now. Yes. There's hope for you. But listen I want to say something to you. Some of you are busier than Yahweh and he keeps the entire universe running. You're not God. If Jesus can find space on on your calendar what does that really can't find space on you what does that really say? What's really on your throne? Show me your wallet. I work hard. It's my money. Some of you get a paycheck and before praising God with your tithe you're already thinking of stuff you want to buy. I don't know if you caught that but that actually rhymes. If that's you material things is on your throne. That's what you need to be happy. That's what's going to bring not what God has provided. I don't have much. Pastor I need to be realistic. I hear you. I hear you but I'm gonna tell you something. There is nothing more real than heaven. Nothing more certain than eternity and what do you do with what's on your hand reveals what what and who is actually in your heart. You know what Jesus said don't store up treasures for you on earth but store them up in heaven and then he says for where your treasure is there your heart will be also. You know what he also said? He said you can't serve God and mammon. You know why he said that? Because he knew the hearts of men. We love things. We love money. As a matter of fact if I was to grab a hundred dollar bill here and wave it around here I'm gonna give this area most of you start running up here. We love money. Be honest. Show me your relationships. I'm too busy. You don't understand pastor. I live a private life. I'm a private person. You know when people tell me they're a private person you know what that reveals to me? They got private sins.

They got private pride. I keep to myself. I bet you do. I bet you do. That's fine but I want to make sure that you you know this that one day you're going to stand before Jesus and you're going to have to tell him you were a private person. I'm not trying to make you feel guilty. I'm trying to get you to be honest with yourself. This holy season is a calling for self-reflection. It ain't just about you know my sister. She starts planning. She wanted to plan Easter like two months ago. I said what y'all doing on Easter? Worshiping Jesus I said. She got upset. Man I don't care what we eat. We can get canes as long as we worship Jesus. We celebrate Jesus. We can eat canes. I'll be happy right? Me and my brother was me and my brother was roasting her for an hour. She finally got off. She she left it alone. Fine she said because for me this season is about reflection. It's about self-reflection. Something has beheld your heart. Something has taken the seat that really belongs to the king of kings and so this is what we're so Jesus no longer sits on that throne where he belongs. This is what this season is all about. It's a it's our call right now right here before we get to that celebration because I'm gonna tell you something. You can be around Jesus and still completely miss Jesus. Don't get offended with me now. Well if you do it's too bad. But this one is for you church people. For the holy saints of the lord. The the flag wavers. The speaking in tongue Christians. The prophesying Christians. Amen. The anointing today called, you can know Scripture by heart and still completely miss Jesus. You can pray powerful prayers and still miss Jesus. You can show up every Sunday, serve on a team, sing every word of worship song and still completely miss the Jesus that is living inside of you. Look at Peter, let's look at Peter. He missed it.

He's standing in front of him. This is the same man who just, I mean, literally, just declared you are the Messiah, the son of the living God. Did he not? And then he misses it and says, you know, listen, I'm gonna give you the keys, he tells him. I will give you the keys of the kingdom. And then two minutes later, he turns around and when Jesus tells him, hey, I'm gonna suffer and I'm gonna die, but don't worry, I'm gonna rise again. He says, forget about that. That's not gonna happen on my watch. Mira bien chingon. Peter, all of a sudden, got more powerful than Jesus. Never, heaven forbid. What he didn't realize is heaven sent it out. And Jesus' response, it's the same response he gives us when we try to argue with him. Get behind me, Satan. Get behind me, Satan. For you're a trap. You're not understanding the things of heaven. You're thinking like the earth. What if that's exactly what Jesus is saying to us about what we've put in front of him? He's saying, hey, get behind me, Satan. The same man who got divine revelation became a mouthpiece for Satan. We can do the same thing.

Because he was thinking of human's perspective of above God's perspective. Because he was around Jesus and he still missed Jesus. This happens to us all the time unless we check our hearts. Now, let me point something out to you. Some of you step into pagan places and think that the boogeyman is going to get you. Ladies, y'all go get your nails did, right? I do too, by the way. The toes are about to start coming out. You know, it's spring and I can't have old crusty toes so I go get a pedicure so that, I got ugly toes so they got to look somewhat decent. You know what I'm saying? My kids hate it. And you know, those places are owned by Asian people and you see the little Buddha, you're like, I can't go here. The dead Buddha's going to get you? Did not our God rise from the dead? You see a skull on somebody's shirt and suddenly, eso es demonio, it's demonic. It represents death. Didn't they take Moses' bones with them? Joseph's bones, right? You see how we just come up with the, they did too. You hear a secular song and all of a sudden, it's a demonic portal into your car. Oh my God, turn off car TV, take that off. I might start twerking in this car.

I might get possessed by the spirit of car TV. We could be so pious and yet still be whitewashed tombs. We look good on the outside, gleaming with holiness, but on the inside, we're full of filth, no power. You walk past the bar and you feel spiritually contaminated. Since when and why, why are you like this? Jesus walks his disciples. I want to paint you a picture. Let's pretend there was a temple of Set, which is a demonic church, okay? They worshiped Set, which is Satan. And I said, hey, today we're going to go over there. Half of y'all be like, Pastor Rob lost his mind. But this is what Jesus did. He walked them straight over into the coven and he said, hey, who do people say I am? Now, who do you say I am? so don't worry about that because I'm giving you the power and the authority to overcome it see how it changes he wasn't intimidated one bit you know why he knew who he was and he knew who was with him Jesus gave you those keys it's up to you if you use them or not but there is a tension we have to live through because if you genuinely behold darkness as more powerful more prominent and more present than the King of Kings living inside of you then your fear makes perfect sense to me your reservations about people make perfect sense to me I know who you worship see I've said this before I must say it again the devil doesn't need you to become a devil worshiper he just needs you to fear him he just needs you to not worship God he just needs you to be distracted from God he just needs you not to believe that God is greater than he who is in the world are you with me you're living like you don't have the keys you're living like the grave wasn't robbed you're living like the Holy Spirit is a nice idea and the cool goosebumps I get when we sing worthy is the name but not a present reality I'm gonna tell you something he is a living reality that says he who is in me is greater I'm gonna tell you something that is

not a just a cool tea that's our faith that's our lifestyle I fear God not man not culture not darkness not the enemy not my critics or the haters and maybe just maybe this season is a reckoning of Holy Revelation a greater revelation of who really lives in who's living inside of you is it the Living God or the devil because it's one or the other I remember this I've said this you're owned by someone you're owned by the devil or you're owned by Jesus here's the beautiful thing is to be owned by Jesus means freedom and all debts have been paid a holy revelation requires surrendering to the King of Kings bowing before him releasing everything to him this is why so many of us aren't walking in God's revelation this is why you're not walking in God's revelation because you're still holding on you're still grabbing a hold of fill in the blank holy revelation requires surrendering your will not mine be done I genuinely believe God will always reveal his purpose and his plans for you okay he is not withholding from you he is not hiding from you he wants you to walk in the clarity that he's providing for you vision right in the calling he has for you purpose and the fullness of everything he purchased for you via the cross but here's the problem you can't grab a hold of holy revelation with clenched fist when was the last time you were able to grab a hold of anything with a fist if you're still clinging on to your thoughts if you're still clinging on to your mind that's if you're still clinging on to your comfort your version of how you thought your life or your life is supposed to be can I tell you what your hands are full and you know what they're full of you you won't receive what God is giving you because your hands are full of what you refuse to let go of they're full of you what is it for you what do you keep bringing to God but never actually surrendering I see this all the time and don't get me wrong I still want you to come to the altar but the same people come to the altar with the same prayer request and that's okay we got to continue till we find but maybe today is your breakthrough hey leave it here walk out new release control I mean for some of you it's control like you want to control the situation you want him to change. You want him to be a godly man, right? For some of you it's a relationship, right? Yeah, whatever it may be. It might be a friend, a cousin, a brother, a mother, a father, you know, a relationship. Maybe you got to surrender it to the Lord. A version of your future you've written for yourself and you're asking God to cosign instead of surrendering to his will. You want, hey God, look, I came up with this nifty idea. Go ahead and put your signature on that

bad boy right there. And Jesus is like, no, I didn't write that up. For some of you it's a sin that you made peace with. Ah, come on now. Nobody knows. God, Jesus didn't say add me to your life. He didn't say, hey, look, your life plus me. He said, no, no, no. Give up your life. Take up your cross. That's what the cross meant. I need you to give up your life and take me and follow me. This is not addition. It's the subtraction of self. It's death of the flesh, death of the wicked and the sinful and the vile things we think in our hearts. That's laying something down so you can pick up something holy. The word holy means it's set apart. And for us that means that it's set apart in heaven, open hands receive. Did you know this is why we worship this way? Because we're receiving from God, but clinch fists will never receive anything. And this holy season isn't just about celebrating what Jesus did. It's about telling, letting what did change to what you're holding on to. Let it change. What is it you're holding on to? What needs to change? Because surrender isn't weakness. Surrender to the King of Kings is the most powerful thing any man can do. Because what happens when you finally open your hands is a setup for everything that happens after that moment. The truth is I've been trying to tell you that what we worship reveals who our King really is. That's what we worship. I can always tell when someone's always talking about money, got it. When they're always talking about X, Y, Z, got it. Right? I meet with some people or I talk to some people and all they talk about is their struggle, their sin. And what they're not realizing is, oh, I got it. They worship their sinful nature. Let's define worship though. Because we've reduced it to music. I like gospel. Yeah, I like gospel. That's me, gospel. My wife, you know, all soft worship music, gentle. I want to shout, you know. We've reduced worship to a Sunday morning experiences. But actually the word worship is honoring and showing reverence to the divine. That's what the word worship is. It is regarding something with great devotion, admiration, affection, reverence. Essentially, worship is giving God the honor, surrender, obedience, and affection that only he deserves. This is why Romans 12 that Aidan talked about says, give your bodies as a living sacrifice. Offer yourselves as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God. This is true and proper worship. That definition also reveals you can worship things that aren't God. And whatever you give your honor, surrender, devotion, and affection, well, that's your king. And that's where you have to kind of come

and reflect and inspect. Now, I want to step into something that might sting a little, but I'm going to ask you to stay with me a little bit. Some of you are waiting on God for a job promotion. Some of you are waiting for God to protect you from not losing your job in this economy, amen? Some of you are believing Him for a great month financially so that you can finally get ahead. Some of you have been praying for some debt to be canceled that you racked up years ago and it's still haunting you. And I believe God for that in your life, okay? I'm believing that with you. Some of you are praying, believing and aching for a spouse. Some of you are praying for a child. Some of you are praying for your first home. And those are all beautiful God-given desires if I'm gonna be honest with you. But the honesty and the hard thing that might sting a little bit is this. Until Jesus is more than enough, until He is enough on His own, you will keep pouring your worship into the thing you're waiting for instead of the King who holds it all in His hands. This is the key, the hinge pin to holding on to the keys of the kingdom. It's not the promotion, it is not the breakthrough, it is not the answered prayer that is the result of. The key is King Jesus on the throne of your heart. He gets it all, He gets your first, He gets your best, He gets your awe.

When He is there, truly there, you bind the flesh and loose the spirit. When He sits on the throne, you bind the lies and release the truth of God. When you have the spirit of God and He sits on it, you bind your plans and you loose the will of God over your life. Children are afraid of the dark and war, right? Some of your children are old enough to understand what's happening in the world and they're scared, they got questions. But I'm gonna tell you something, a spiritually mature child of God knows how to wage this war, baby. You need to know how to wage this war. And here's where Jesus lands the whole thing because the weightiest question He ever asked wasn't who do people say that I am? It was, who do you say I am? And then He followed it with this question, what do you profit if you gain the whole world and lose your soul? What do you profit if you gain your ideas, your plans, your goals, your paycheck, your promo, everything you've been building, everything you've been pouring your worship into? He's asking, is it worth it? Is it worth more than your soul? That's the question that rises. That's the question in this season.

What are you truly after? Why is it that you really need Jesus? Why? For your salvation or just blessings? For favor or for Him to be real in your life? Who is He? And so we come full circle to where we started with a simple question, who's your king? We end with the same question because doesn't the king of kings deserve more than the idols we've created for ourselves? Doesn't he deserve more? Jesus didn't ask his disciples, who do people say that I am? Because he had an ego problem, because he needed a confidence booster, right? Because he needed some affirmation from his cronies. He asked because the cross was fast approaching, just like it is for us. The cross is coming next week. and he wanted before the arrest in the trial they need to know. When the crucifixion came they need to know. When the grave went silent on Saturday they need to know. And three days later when the stone was rolled away they need to know. I don't know what you are going through but he wanted you to know today. He's preparing them. And right now in this room three weeks before Resurrection Sunday he's preparing us with the same question. Now does your theology say he is? Not your tradition, not your church background, but who do you say he is? I wonder if you have family, friends, co-workers, neighbors.

I wonder if they're worth the empty chairs sitting around you because they're meant to sit there when you invite them there. But I'm gonna tell you something. Nobody wants what they can't see in you. And when all you talk about is sports and never about the goodness of God they're never they're not gonna believe. They're gonna believe you're religious just like everybody else. You see how you answer the question determines everything. It determines who sits on the throne of your heart. It determines what you behold. It determines what you worship. It determines whether you live open-handed or clenched fists. It determines whether you share him to others or not. It determines who Jesus is to you. And if today right here right now someone asks you a simple question. Who is your King? Would you stand with me? We have prayer partners here at the front. They're here to pray with you, for you. I feel there are some prayer niches that are in this room. I want this holy moment just to wash over us for just a moment. And let him stir you to get out of your chair and to come get prayer. In the meantime I want you to close your eyes and bow your heads for just a moment. I want to invite you to put Jesus on the throne. Now if you've never done that I'm gonna tell you what that means. It's real simple. It's not overly complicated. All you're doing is you're making a belief in your heart. I want you to believe in your heart that Jesus is the Son of God, born of a virgin, lived, suffered, and died for our sins. When he was buried on the third day the stone was rolled away and he rose from the dead, walked out with power and glory. And if we come to believe in this truth, we are welcomed into the house, into the family of God. If that's you, you want to take that step for the very first time. Or you've been gone from the family God for a while and you want to put Jesus back on the throne. I want you to raise your, shoot your hand up, shoot your hand up so I can pray for you. Thank you Lord. Thank you Jesus. Thank you Father God. Lord Jesus we thank you. Be with these people that are about to pray, for people that are in need, people that are confused, people that are hurting, people that are frustrated.

Nothing like your Spirit satisfies us. Nothing like your Spirit heals us. And nothing like your...