Okay, this morning we'll be continuing
our studies of who is Jesus Christ. Who is Jesus Christ? We've looked
at Christ as prophet, Christ as priest, and today we're going
to look at Christ as King. Christ as King. We've also, the
first lesson was on Jesus Christ, the Son of God. So today we'll
look at the third office, which is Christ as King. Christ our
King. Now, our Lord Jesus Christ, He
was King before He even came to this earth. He was king in
glory. He is king in glory. He was ruling
and reigning in majesty and splendor in the heavens above. He was
a king also while he was on this earth. He was born king. And
we know that he is king right now. So there's never been a
time when he hasn't been king. There's never been a time when
he hasn't been king. He's king. And the biblical writers
proclaimed Jesus Christ as King. Turn, if you would, to Psalm
103, verse 19. The biblical writers proclaimed
Christ as King. And there was no making Him Lord.
You know how folks today say, just make Jesus Lord of your
life? That's foreign to the Scriptures because He's already Lord. He's
already Lord. He's already a King. We don't
make Him anything. The Scriptures declare who He
is and what He is. He's King. He's King. He reigns and rules. Look at
Psalm 103, verse 19. The Lord hath prepared His throne
in the heavens, and His kingdom ruleth over all. He's already King. He's a great
King. He rules over all. Everything. Jehovah. Jehovah has established
His throne in heaven. Jehovah has established His throne
in the heavens. And here He sits, enthroned in
all the glory of His majesty. The Lord Jesus Christ, He's now
in heaven on that same throne, with His Divine Father, which
He hath prepared, which we see here, which means established, so that it cannot be moved. No
one can usurp his throne. No one. No one. He's king. He's king supreme. Now, other
leaders on earth, right? We know. We know that leaders
on earth are raised up and cast down. But not this throne, beloved. Not this throne. This throne
is established. This throne cannot be moved. cannot be moved at all. Now turn, if you would, to Daniel
chapter four. Now Nebuchadnezzar, we know Nebuchadnezzar, right?
Nebuchadnezzar knew. Nebuchadnezzar knew what it was
to be a king. He reigned over a vast domain,
a huge kingdom, and he knew what it meant to be king. He knew. Turn, if you would, to Nebuchadnezzar
chapter four, or Nebuchadnezzar, Daniel chapter four. That book
is not in the Bible. Daniel chapter 4. Daniel chapter
4. Nebuchadnezzar knew what it was
to be king. And he had a vast kingdom. But
he was brought low. He was brought low by God. Look at Daniel chapter 4. Verse 30 to 32. The king spake
and said, Is not this great Babylon that I have built for the house
of thy kingdom by the might of my power and the honor of my
majesty?" He's pretty puffed up, isn't he? Well, the word was in the king's
mouth, there fell a voice from heaven saying, O king Nebuchadnezzar,
to thee it is spoken, the kingdom is departed from thee, and they
shall drive thee from men, and thy dwelling shall be with the
beasts of the field. They shall make thee to eat grass
as oxen, and seven times shall pass over thee, until thou know
that the Most High ruleth in the kingdom of man, and giveth
it to whomsoever He will." Now note this in that verse. Until
thou know that the Most High ruleth in the kingdom of man,
verse 32, and give it to whomsoever he will. This king spoken of
raises up powers. That's the king that's spoken
of. That's the throne that's spoken of in our first text.
Oh, this king, our king, the king, raises up whomever He will. Look at Daniel 4, verse 33. The same hour was the thing fulfilled
upon Nebuchadnezzar, and he was driven from men, and did eat
grasses and oxen, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven,
till his hairs were growing like eagles' feathers and nails like
birds' claws. And at the end of the days, I,
Nebuchadnezzar, lifted up mine eyes into heaven. In mine understanding
returned unto me, I blessed the Most High. Now this is the same
one spoken of Psalm 103, 19, which says, The Lord hath prepared
his throne in the heavens. And I praised and honored him
that liveth forever, whose dominion is an everlasting dominion. Now
remember, this is the words of a king. He knew what it meant. When he's
talking about a dominion, when he's talking about a kingdom,
he knows. He's ruling one of the most vast
kingdoms during those times. So he had an intimate knowledge
with what it was to be a king. And he says that our king, his
dominion is an everlasting dominion. And his kingdom is from generation
to generation. And all the inhabitants of the
earth are reputed as nothing. That's a king, isn't it? That's
a supreme king. For the glory of my kingdom.
He doeth according to His will in the army of heaven and among
the inhabitants of the earth. And look at this, people say
that God's waiting for them to make a decision. Wouldn't that
mean then that they're staying in God's hand? Wouldn't that
mean what that means? Look what our scripture says,
and none can stay in His hand. None. None. No one. None can stay his hand. None. Or saying to him, no one can
question what he does. What doest thou? This is our
king. This is the one who became a
man. At the same time, my reason returned
unto me for the glory of my kingdom. My honor and brightness returned
unto me, and my counselors and my Lord sought unto me, and I
was established in my kingdom, and excellent majesty was added
unto me. Now what does He do? Look at who He gives the glory
to. And now I at Nebuchadnezzar praise and extol and honor the
King of Heaven. The King of Heaven. Who is the
King of Heaven? The Lord Jesus Christ. Oh my, the king of heaven. All whose works are truth, he
is the truth. He is the way, the truth, and
the life. In his way is judgment, and those that walk in pride,
those who are puffed up, those who are self-righteous, he is
able to abase. And He will, and He does. And
think of this, even those who shake their fists and praise
God He showed mercy to me and to you if you're a believer,
but all those who who hate Him, will one day bow to this King,
the King, and there say, Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory
of God the Father. Oh my. Oh my. See, we don't make Him King.
We don't make Him Lord. He's already Lord and King. We
just acknowledge that which the Scripture says. Our Lord Jesus
Christ is a conquering King. Psalm 115.3 says this, But our
God is in the heavens. He's in the heavens. Turn with
me there. This is such a comforting verse. Psalm 115.3 I remember
someone asked a grace preacher a couple of days after his son
had died, they asked him, they said, where's your God now? And
this is the verse that he gave back to them. That was Brother
Henry Mahan. And this is the verse that he
quoted after his son Ravi was killed in Vietnam. And this is
the verse that he quoted. But our God is in the heavens.
He hath done whatsoever he had pleased. This is where our God is. He's
in the heavens. He does whatsoever He pleases.
Whatever He pleases. He's a conquering King. He's
conquered all our enemies, sin, Satan, and death. And the believer
in Christ acknowledges Christ in all His offices. He is incomparable
in all the offices that He fulfills. And he fails. Let us think on
this. We'll do a little review. Let us think on this. As prophet,
he has no rival. He has no rival. He speaks as
one heaven authority. Matthew says this, And it came
to pass, when Jesus had ended these sayings, that the people
were astonished at his doctrine. For he taught them as one heaven
authority. authority, not as the scribes
who had learned, but he talked as one who had authority. And
he does, because he's king. He is king. He's the prophets.
The prophets spoke of him. Philip finded Nathanael and said
unto him, we have found him of whom Moses in the law and the
prophets did write, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.
In Christ is hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge in him. And He unfolds these treasures
to us in picture and in parable. And we are able to bear them,
as we are able to bear them. The very words that He speaks,
the very words that our King speaks, are spirit and life.
Spirit and life. His lips are as lilies, dropping
sweet-smelling mud, Scripture declares. As priest, He excels
before all who went before Him. As he, other priests, had to
offer sacrifices for their sins, he was sinless. He didn't have
to offer any sacrifice. He's absolutely sinless. He's
perfect. Spotless. Lamb of God. Perfect. Perfect. Other priests could not continue
by reason of death. Our Lord Jesus Christ has no
successor. His priesthood is perpetual. Turn, if you would,
to Hebrews chapter 7. Our great High Priest has gone
on on our behalf into the very presence of God. He is our advocate
with the Father. Christ, our righteousness. Look at Hebrews chapter 7, and
then put your finger in 1 Timothy chapter 6, in Hebrews chapter
7. Hebrews 7, verse 21-25. For those
priests were made without an oath, but this with an oath by
Him that said unto Him, The Lord swear and will not repent. Thou
art a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. Verse 22
of chapter 7. By so much was Jesus made a surety
of a better testament. And they truly were many priests
because They were not suffered to continue by reason of death,
but this man, because he continueth ever, hath an unchangeable priesthood. He's still our priest. He's our prophet still. He's
still our priest. Wherefore, he is able to save
them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever
liveth to make intercession for them. So he is our advocate with the
Father. Now he continues. He is King. He is King. Jesus has no equal. The scepter
belongs to Him. He has no rival. None at all. He is King of Kings and He is
Lord of Lords. He continues to be King. He was
born King. He was King before He came. He
was born King and He continues to be King and He always will
be King. Always. Our Lord is called Master, Governor,
Ruler, Shepherd, Prince, and Savior, the Great Prince, the
Prince of Life, the Prince of Peace, the Prince of Princes,
the Prince of the Kings of the Earth, a King, the King, the
King of Kings, and the Lord of Lords. And this last title is
found in 1 Timothy 6. Turn there if you would. The
King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. 1 Timothy 6, verse 14-16. That
thou keep this commandment without spot, unrebukeable until the
appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, which in His times He shall show,
who is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings and Lord of
lords, who only hath immortality dwelling in the light, which
no man can approach unto, whom no man has seen nor can see,
to whom be honour and power everlasting. Amen. He is the only one fit
to hold this office. Every fibre of his nature is
kingly. He is king through conquest.
Turn, if you would, to Colossians chapter 2. He is king through
conquest. He has conquered every foe. Conquered
every foe. They're vanquished. He's entered
into heaven triumphing over His foes. Look at Colossians 2, verses
13-15. And you, speaking to the Colossian
believers, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of
your flesh, hath He quickened together, born again? With Him,
heaven forgiven you, all trespasses, blotting out the handwriting
of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us,
took it out of the way, nailing it to His cross. And heaven spoiled
principalities and powers. He made a show of them openly,
triumphing over them in it. And this triumphing is when the
Roman leaders would come in and they had a triumph, a massive
parade in Rome. They would come in, the leader
would be first in a chariot with a laurel, and the soldiers that
fought with him would come, and the prisoners would come in chains. Triumph. Our King entered heaven
triumphant. Triumphant. Turn, if you would,
to Revelation chapter 5. He's King in glory. Angels and
redeemed men and women give Him all the glory, honor, and praise
as King of kings and Lord of lords. Revelation chapter 5. Revelation 5, and they sang a
new song, verse 9, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book and
to open the seals thereof, for Thou wast slain and hast redeemed
us to God by Thy blood out of every kindred and tongue and
people and nation, and hast made us unto our God kings and priests,
and we shall reign on the earth. And I beheld and I heard the
voice of many angels round about the throne, and the beasts, and
the elders. And the number of them was ten
thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands, saying
with a loud voice, Worthy is the Lamb. They're praising the
King. Worthy is the Lamb that was slain
to receive power and riches and wisdom and strength and honor
and glory and blessing in every creature which is in heaven and
on the earth and under the earth and such as are in the sea and
all that are in them. Heard I say, in blessing and
honor and glory and power be unto Him that sitteth upon the
throne. There's the King. There's the King sitting upon
the throne. Sitting. The work's done. He's
sitting. and unto the Lamb forever and
ever. There's a picture of us in heaven when we go home to
be with the Lord. Worthy is the Lamb. Worthy is
the Lamb. That's what we'll be singing. Acts chapter 2 says this, this
Jesus hath God raised up wherever we are witnesses. Therefore,
being by the right hand of God exalted and having received of
the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, he hath shed forth
this which ye now see and hear. For David is not ascended into
the heavens, but he saith himself, The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit
thou on my right hand, until I make thy foes thy footstool. Therefore, let all the house
of Israel know assuredly that God, God, God hath made That
same Jesus whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ. God made
Him Lord. God! See, we don't make Him nothing. He's already Lord. And that's
in Acts 2, verse 32-36 for reference for you. Oh, He's ascended on high in
majesty and He is King. He sits at the right hand of
God. Turn, if you would, to Colossians 1. Now the Son quickeneth whom
He will. Christ as prophet reveals salvation. He reveals the Father. And salvation
is revealed in Christ. Look at Colossians 1, 26 and
27. We've been looking at this on Wednesday nights. Even the mystery. which hath
been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his
saints." How? By the Holy Spirit of God through
the preaching of the Gospel. "...to whom God would make known
what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles,
which is Christ in you, the hope of glory." Now Christ is preached,
purchased His salvation for His people. And He does it with His
own precious blood. And He presents that blood before
the Father And His people are washed, washed clean by the precious
blood of Christ. And He sits down upon that throne
and He intercedes for His people. Look at Colossians 1, verses
12 to 14. Given thanks unto the Father
which hath made us meet. That means to be qualified. That
little word, meet, means to be qualified. You're qualified.
If you're a believer, you're qualified for heaven. And it
isn't by anything we do. It's by what God has done for
us. Made us meet to be partakers
of the inheritance of the saints in life who have delivered us
from the power of darkness. And there's where we were before
the Lord saved us. And that translated us into the
kingdom of His dear Son. Look it. In whom we have redemption
through His blood, even the forgiveness of sins. Christ as King. He is
the King of our salvation. He's the King of our salvation.
And He comes and applies that salvation through His precious
blood. Oh, and that salvation is sovereign. Grace is sovereign. He gives
it to whomever He's pleased to give it to. It's incredible. Undeserving,
hell-deserving sinners like me, are washed clean in the precious
blood of Christ. Rejoice, beloved. Rejoice. Oh, my. What a wonderful salvation. Galatians says this, but when
it pleased God. We're going to look at that tonight.
The name of the message tonight is, When It Pleased God. My goodness. You know, every one of us who
are saved, we're saved because it pleased God. Save us. Incredible. But when it pleased
God, who separated me from my mother's womb and called me by
His grace. See, we don't receive wrath.
We receive mercy and grace. But it's all by His grace, for
by grace He is saved through faith, right? And that not of
yourselves. It's a gift of God, not of works, lest any man should
boast. To reveal His Son in me. Remember the mystery? To reveal
His Son. The mystery manifested to His
saints. He's revealed His Son to His
people. Galatians 1.15 and 16. 16. That
I might preach Him among the heathen, immediately I would
confer it not with flesh and blood. So salvation is of the
Lord. Not only in its planning, it's
planned in Christ, right? But its salvation is of the Lord
in its execution, because it pleased the Lord. That's another
point we'll look at tonight. It pleased the Lord to bruise
Christ. I'm not going to tell you what
that bruising is. You can hear it tonight. That bruising is
not what we think about. It's just a bruise. Oh, my. Oh, my. And it pleased God to
bruise him. It pleased God. And that which he had purposed
and determined is fulfilled in Christ our King. And salvation
is not only of the Lord in its plan and in its execution, but
in its sustaining power as well. Because who is the one who keeps
us? Our King. Now, our King has all
power, right? All power, all dominion. Is anything
too hard for the Lord? So we who are sinners saved by
grace, when turmoil comes and trouble comes, and I know it's
hard, I know we struggle, because I do all the time too. I know
it is. Let us remember, the one who
has all dominion, the one who has all power, is the one who
holds us in his hands. The one who's redeemed us by
his precious blood. The king of glory. The king of
glory. We believe because, we who believe,
believe because God has manifest Christ to us. God has opened
our hearts. See, it's not, it's not, he's
not going to act your heart and wanting to come in, you know,
like folks often say, you know. The Lord opens the heart of the
believer. It's incredible. Salvation is all of them, all
of them. We see Christ because God has
opened up our eyes. We hear because God has opened
up our ears. And we live because God has made
us alive by the regenerating power of the Holy Spirit of God.
Salvation is of the Lord. And Christ is King in all the
aspects of our salvation. And He's always been King. What Christ always has been,
He always will be. Why? How can we say that? Because
He's the same yesterday, today, and forever. He's King. He is King, beloved. He is King.
What comfort for God's people. So let us ponder this. If He's
King, He's always being King. If He's your prophet, He's always
being your prophet. If He's your priest and King,
then He's always being your priest and King. If He's our surety
now, He's always been our surety from eternity. If He's the Lamb
of God, and He is, He's the Lamb of God from the foundation of
the world. He's the same yesterday, in eternity. He's the same today,
in world history, from its beginning until its end. And He's the same
forever and eternally. He does not change. The Lord
Jesus Christ is King over all. He is the Creator of all. And
He's Lord over all. And we don't make Him Lord. He
is Lord. Turn if you would to Colossians
1 again. We'll look at verses 16 and 17. Look at this. For by Him were all things created
that are in heaven and that are in earth, visible and invisible. He made everything, beloved.
There's nothing that He didn't make. Nothing. Whether it be thrones or dominions
or principalities or powers, all things were created by Him
and for Him. And look at verse 17. And He is before all things,
and by Him all things consist. So what sort of King is Christ? We're finished with this. What
sort of King is Christ? Beloved, He's an everlasting
King. He's an everlasting King. Micah 5.2 says, His goings forth
have been from of old, from everlasting. He's an everlasting King. He's
a wise King. One of His names in Proverbs
chapter 8 is wisdom. Christ is a wise King. He's a
just King. Hebrews 1.8. He's a just King.
He preserves His people and justly punishes the wicked. He's just
and right and perfect. He does not regard the rich more
than the poor. Scripture says a scepter of righteousness
is a scepter of His kingdom, Hebrews 1.8. He's an Almighty
King, beloved. He's an Almighty King. Nothing
is too hard for Him and none can resist Him. None can resist
Him. He is the Lord strong and mighty.
He is the Lord mighty in battle. He is the Lord Almighty. He reigns. He reigns. He's a gentle, tender,
merciful, condescending King. He is the King of glory and He
became a man and died upon Calvary's cross for His people as their
substitute before God's law and justice. And He is the King of
exhaustless resources. All spiritual blessings are where?
We know this. We went over this verse many
times, right? In Christ. In Christ. He's the heir of all
things. The stars and the sea and the
dry land are all His. The universe, everything we see
and things we don't see are all His. He's Lord of the angels. He's
Lord over man. All power in heaven and earth
are given to Him. He is the King of kings and the
Lord of lords. And He is my Savior. Is He yours? Oh, my. Rejoice, beloved. Rejoice. What a wonderful Savior
we have in Jesus Christ our Lord. God incarnate in the flesh. Oh, may God be pleased to comfort
His people. Comfort His people. with the
preaching of Christ, and may He receive all the glory and
honor and praise. Let's go to the Lord in prayer.
Gracious Heavenly Father, thank You for Your Word. Oh, what a
mighty King and Savior is our Lord Jesus. Oh, that I might
think upon Thee more, Lord, that I might rest more in Your sovereignty
and the fact that You are King. Oh, Lord God. We pray that You'd
just manifest Yourself more and more in our lives. Teach us more
and more just to rest and trust in Thee. We'll give You all the
glory and honor and praise. And we pray You'd be glorified
today in the preaching of Your Word. In Jesus' name, Amen.