Morning. Please turn to Hebrews
four. I'm going to start at verse three
through 11. For we, which have believed,
do enter into rest, as he said, as I have sworn in my wrath,
if they shall enter into my rest, although the works were finished
from the foundation of the world, For he spake in a certain place
of the seventh day on this wise, and God did rest the seventh
day from all his works. And in this place again, if they
shall enter into my rest, seeing therefore it remaineth that some
must enter therein, and they to whom it was first preached
entered not in because of unbelief. Again he limiteth a certain day,
saying in David, today after so long a time, as it is said,
Today, if you will hear his voice, harden not your hearts. For if
Jesus had given them rest, then would he not afterward have spoken
of another day. There remaineth, therefore, a
rest to the people of God. For he that is entered into his
rest, he also has ceased from his own works, as God did from
his. Let us labor, therefore, to enter
into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of
unbelief. Let's seek the Lord. Our Heavenly Father, please cause
us now to come boldly before your throne, trusting your promises
that they are sure. We seek now for your grace and
your mercy. And to enter into your perfect,
successfully accomplished rest. seeking that Sabbath that you
have provided. We pray for your bride as you
gather her around the world this morning, that you would bless
the messengers that you've raised up. We pray for Hugo and Jennifer,
especially Lord, and all those that you have afflicted in your
sovereignty, that you would give them strength, minister to the
physicians that you've provided to care for them. Above all, give them peace and
comfort and hope in Christ. Lord, we pray for the man that
you've given us to preach your word, that you
would strengthen him, give him confidence and boldness to declare
Christ clearly and simply. And above all, that you would
be glorified in all these things. In Christ's name we pray, amen. Let's stand again and we'll sing
number 21 in the Spiral Bound Hymnal, 21. God the Father and the Son Eternal ages past, made a covenant
sure and fast, God my Father chose His own in the person of
His Son. God the Son agreed to come in
the flesh to bring me home. He would keep God's holy law and retrieve
me from the fall. Christ in love so willingly stood
as my great He offered blood to appease the
wrath of God. God the Spirit, heavenly dove,
promised to come down Life and peace and grace to the
chosen purchase praise. He seeks the lost, heals the
lame, and He brings us to the Lamb. By His mighty sovereign
call, God's elect are This poor sinner is secure For
God's covenant will endure It is sealed by God's own word By
His Spirit and His blood Blessed Holy Covenant God I endure my
time Be seated again. Let's open our Bibles again to
1 Samuel chapter 16. First Samuel chapter 16. We'll begin reading at verse
one. And the Lord said unto Samuel, how long wilt thou mourn for
Saul, seeing I have rejected him from reigning over Israel? Fill thine horn with oil and
go and I will send thee to Jesse the Bethlehemite for I have provided
me a king. I have provided me a king and
we know who it is that the Lord provided
as King, not David. We know who it is that has been
anointed with the oil of gladness above his fellows. It is Christ,
the Messiah, the anointed one, the one sent of God to reign
over the kingdom of God. And we know where this king is
pleased to manifest his grace and his glory, the city of David,
the very birthplace of the Lord Jesus Christ, Bethlehem, the
house of bread. And that's where we are now.
hoping and praying that as we break the bread of life, as those
disciples who walked with their eyes holding from Jerusalem to
Emmaus in the breaking of bread, their eyes were opened and they
saw him for who he was. There's our hope that in Bethlehem,
the house of bread, the bread of life, that manna that comes
down from heaven. The Lord Jesus said, I am that
manna, I'm that manna, sweet as honey, white as coriander
seed, the bread of life, feeding our souls every day, every day. We don't just wait until we come
here to be fed. We are taught to ask the Lord
to feed us with our daily bread and how we've all experienced
the stench of worms when trying to eat yesterday's manna. Yesterday's
manna won't survive. We must come daily to be fed
again and again and again. and how merciful the Lord is
to feed us with himself. He is the bread of life. Christ
Jesus the Lord is that manna. He's the one that satisfies the
soul. He said, I am thine exceeding
great reward. I am thy life. So just for scriptural proof
that we're not talking about King David. Turn with me, if
you will, to Acts chapter two. Acts chapter two, Peter is preaching
to those Jews on the day of Pentecost. Those Jews that have come to
Jerusalem to worship God from all parts of the world. Those
places are identified in this scripture. And as he preaches
to them, he says to them in verse 29, men and brethren, let me
freely speak unto you of the patriarch David that he both
that he is both dead and buried and his sepulcher is here with
us unto this day. What's Peter saying? We're not
talking about David. Therefore, being a prophet, And
knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that the fruit
of his loins, according to the flesh, he would raise up Christ
to sit on his throne. David is not the king of Israel. He reigned for a short period
of time. A man of war gave Israel freedom from their enemies for
a brief period of time, only for a brief period of time. You
know, the only time that the Jews knew anything about independence
and freedom and liberty was during the reign of David and Solomon.
And right after that, they went back into bondage. When they said to the Lord, we've
never been under any man's bondage, Oh, they were conveniently forgetting
their history. They were under the bondage of
the Romans even as they spoke. They had been under the bondage
of the Assyrians and of the Babylonians and of the Egyptians and of the
Greeks and all the way back. This was the only time. But that freedom that they had
during the reign of David is typical. It is a picture. of the freedom that we have in
the son of David, the Lord Jesus Christ, who reigns sovereign
over his kingdom. Verse 31. Seeing this before,
spake of the resurrection of Christ, that his soul was not
left in hell, neither his flesh did see corruption. This Jesus
hath God raised, wherefore we are witnesses. Therefore, being
by the right hand of God exalted, and having received of the Father
the promise of the Holy Spirit, he had shed forth this which
you now see and hear. For David is not ascended unto
the heavens, But he saith himself, the Lord said unto my Lord, sit
thou here at my right hand until I make thy foes thy footstool. Therefore, let all the house
of Israel know assuredly that God hath made that same Jesus
whom you have crucified, both Lord and Christ. People talk about making Jesus
Lord. Too late. God already did. He reigns sovereign over the
armies of heaven and all the inhabitants of the earth. God
has made him to be Lord and Christ, and Christ, the anointed one,
the one that the horn of oil was poured out on in its fullness,
the one who could not suffer corruption in the grave, the
one whom God raised from the grave because he was satisfied
with the work that he had accomplished. That's what the resurrection's
about. I mean, it's always somewhat of
a danger to separate the works of Christ, but in the In the strictest sense, the resurrection
is not our redemption. The resurrection is the evidence
of our redemption. The resurrection is the proof
of redemption. Redemption was accomplished in
the shedding of Christ's blood on Calvary's cross, when he bowed
his mighty head and said, it is finished. And God saw the
travail of his soul, and God was satisfied. And he went to
the grave, and God raised him. to sit at the right hand of God.
Sit thou here at my right hand until I make all thine enemies
thy footstool. And the Lord Jesus Christ is
seated right now on his reigning throne. It's what the kingdom
of God's all about. Kingdom of God's all about the
king. It's all about the king. It's all about the rule and the
reign of the Lord Jesus Christ. It's all about his glory. Turn
with me to Psalm 24. Psalm 24. Look at verse seven. Lift up your heads, O ye gates. Oh, might the Lord lift our heads
up. Might we be caused by the Spirit
of God to set our affections on things above where Christ
is seated at the right hand of God. Lift up your heads, O ye
gates. Our gates would be shut. to the presence of God. If the
Lord Jesus Christ, like Samson, didn't go into the city and take
those gates and put them upon his shoulder, he said, the gates
of hell shall not be able to prevail against me. He went into
the very pit of hell in his death and he led captivity captive. He took those who were in captivity
to death and made them captive to himself. He breaks down the
gates. He's the King. Lift up your heads,
O ye gates, and be ye lift up. Keep them lifted up, ye everlasting
doors, and the King of glory shall come in. Who is this King
of glory? The Lord. The Lord, God made
him both Lord and Christ. The Lord, mighty, strong and
mighty. The Lord, mighty in battle. He
fought the battle of sin. He defeated the works of the
devil. He put away death. He conquered the grave. He opened
up the gates into heaven. He's the only one that could
do it. He's king. He's the reigning
sovereign. And I want to say at the beginning
of this message, this is the offense of the cross. The absolute
total sovereignty of the king. The right that he has to do what
he wills, when he wills, with whomever he wills, however he
wills, and he always does it right. He consults no man. He's king, the kingdom of God. I, here's the text from first
Samuel chapter 16, verse one. I have provided me a king. Oh, I want to be subject of his
kingdom. Here's where you lift up your
heads. The king of glory comes in. King strong and mighty, mighty
in battle. Lift up your, look at verse nine.
Lift up your heads, O ye gates, lift them up, ye everlasting
doors, and the King of glory shall come in. Who is this King
of glory? The Lord of hosts. That just means that he's not
just Lord over the living. He's not just Lord over his people. They're the ones that bow to
His Lordship. They're the ones that rejoice
in having Him king over them. But He's the Lord of hosts. He
reigns Lord over all men, even over those who raise their fists
in rebellion against God and say, we will not have this man
reign over us. Be like Americans. who don't get their candidate
elected into office. And what do they say? He's not
my president. Well, I'm sorry, he is. He is,
you may not like it, but he is. The Lord Jesus Christ is not
running for office. It's not a democracy. It's an absolute sovereign theocracy. God's people love it that way.
Why? Because they need a king. Why
did the Lord say to Samuel, Samuel, how long are you going to mourn
over the rejection of Saul? Quit mourning over Saul. Saul's
been rejected. Why was he rejected? Because
of his disobedience and because of his unbelief. He was not qualified
to reign as king over Israel. And what is Saul a picture of?
He's a picture of us. We come into this world thinking,
you know, we're We're captains of our own ship. We're masters
of our own destiny. We've got a free will. We preserve Agag, don't we? Agag's name means I will. And
like Saul, we try to preserve Agag. We try to stay in control. We set ourselves up on the throne
of God. And God says, don't mourn over
Saul anymore. He has failed. He's not qualified. He's been disobedient and he's
been unbelieving and he's lost against the enemy and he's not
gonna do anything but destroy Israel. You need a king that
I have provided. I have provided for me a king. You know the difference between belief
and unbelief? is that unbelief says, I'm not
gonna have that man reign over me. I'm gonna have something
to say. I'm gonna have some contribution
to make to my salvation. I'm gonna have the last word.
I'm gonna have a vote in this thing. I'm not gonna bow to him. and acknowledge him as the sovereign
king of kings and Lord of lords. And faith says, oh Lord, save
me. Lord, be my king. Lord, my unbelief
and my rebellion has done nothing, has done nothing but keep me
out of the kingdom of God. The first time kingdom is mentioned
in the Bible is in Genesis chapter six. and the grandson of Noah,
the son of Ham. Ham being the cursed son of Noah. Nimrod, whose name means rebellion. And the scripture says, and his
kingdom began with Babel. What a picture. Here we are,
the sons of the cursed one, the sons of Adam, the rebel, raising
our fists in rebellion and sin against God. And our kingdom
is Babel. And Babel means mixed. It means confusion. And what
do we see at the Tower of Babel? We see man trying to work his
way to heaven. What a picture of our natural
man. It's what we are by nature. We're the sons of Ham. We're
just Nimrods. We're Babels. We're rebels establishing
our place in Babylon. And our kingdom begins with Babel. And God said, no, you failed
in your kingdom. You tried to mix law and grace.
You tried to make your works with my work. But I have established
me a king and his kingdom is all about him. His kingdom is
all about his success and his reign and his power and his glory
and his subjects are made to bow to him and to rejoice in
him." Oh, the kingdoms of this world
stand in stark contrast to the kingdom of God, do they not?
Not only the kingdoms of our own individual lives where we
try to reign over our own lives and circumstances, but the nations
of this world. Let me show you, turn with me
to Daniel chapter 4. If you've never seen this before,
it's It's so revealing, Daniel chapter four. You know, we get, we're thankful for the freedoms
that we have in this country. Don't know how long they'll last,
but we have them now. We've enjoyed them for a while.
and we're thankful for them, thankful to God for them. But this country is no different
from any other country in the world as far as the kingdoms
of men are concerned. The kingdoms of men are confusion. You see that, don't you? The
kingdoms of men are led by rebels and it doesn't matter who leads
them. It doesn't matter if it's a dictator or if it's an elected
president. Look what God says in Daniel
chapter four at verse... Well, I think I wrote the wrong
reference down. I wrote down verse 16, let his
heart be changed for man and let the beast heart be given
to him. Oh, verse 17, this matter is by the decree of the watchers. In other words, the watchers,
the prophets of God, this is a word from God. This is a decree.
It is what it is because God made it so, and it cannot be
changed. and the demand by the word of
the Holy Ones to the intent that the living, that's the believer,
those who are spiritually alive, to the intent that you, child
of God, might know that the Most High ruleth in the kingdom of
men, and give it to it, whomsoever he will, and set up over it the basest of men." You see that, don't you, Donnie?
We see that. You know, Donnie goes to Washington
sometimes and has to be, what do you call it? He lobbies in Washington for
his company sometimes. You see it, don't you? Yeah,
we see it. God puts over the nations the
basest of men. Why? Because they are but the
kingdoms of men and they're all Babylon. They're all failures.
They're all led by rebels. What is the Lord showing us?
That the living might know that the kingdom of God The kingdom of God stands in
stark contrast to the kingdom of men. I have made for myself
a king. A king. The first time we find a reference
in the New Testament to kingdom is when John the Baptist begins
to preach And his message is this, repent for the kingdom
of God is at hand. Kingdom of God is at hand. And then in Matthew chapter three,
I think it is, the scripture refers to the gospel of the kingdom. And so the Lord is is saying
that this kingdom of God has to do with the gospel, the good
news of what the Lord Jesus Christ accomplished and the salvation
of his people on Calvary's cross. This is the gospel. And then when the Lord Jesus
himself began to preach, the scripture says in Matthew chapter
four, and at that time, Jesus began to preach and to say, repent
for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Kingdom of heaven and
kingdom of God are used interchangeably in the scripture. Matthew primarily
refers to it as the kingdom of heaven because he's writing to
a Jewish audience and the Jews didn't like using God's name
in print and so he called it the kingdom of heaven. Same kingdom,
same kingdom. And the Lord Jesus began his
ministry by preaching, the kingdom of God is at hand. What a stark contrast. This is
the kingdom we want to be a part of. We see that like Saul, we have
failed in running our own show, being our own boss. Reigning
over our own hearts, we've failed miserably. We're like Nimrod. We're rebels. And we see it in
the world, in the attempts that men make to establish the kingdom
of men. And how God overrules everything
that man does by setting over the nations those whomsoever
he wills. He raises up kings, he brings
them down. He raises up nations, he brings them down. He sets
over all the nations the basest of men. We ought not to be surprised
what politicians do. Not surprised at all. But here's our hope, brethren.
My kingdom is not of this world. Don't you love our Lord's conversation
with Pilate? Are you a king? Are you a king? What did the Lord say? In essence,
he said, you said it. You said it. But my kingdom's
not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world,
my disciples would fight. They would engage in a war. over the kingdoms of this world.
Here's why believers don't engage in fighting the wars of politics. I mean, when we vote, are we
not voting for the lesser of evils? I mean, you know, exercise
your right as an American to vote, but you know, beyond that,
Don't get involved in that. It's just, my kingdom's not,
there's too much at stake in the kingdom of God. There's too
much, there's too little time to invest in the kingdom of God
to worry about the kingdoms of this world. The Lord take care
of the kingdoms of this world. You know men, so what did Pilate
do? He wanted to know if the Lord
was king and the Lord said finally, the Lord said to him, he said,
for this purpose was I born and for this reason came I into the
world, to bear witness unto the truth and they that are of the
truth hear my voice and they follow me. Those who are of the kingdom
of God, Those who are able by God's grace to bow, to bow to
his sovereign rule and to rejoice in the fact that his work is
not a mixed work, it's not a confusing work, it's not a rebellious work,
it is a good work, it is a work of redemption. And those who
are able to bow, they follow after him. What Pilate say? The Lord said, for this reason
was I born and for this cause came unto the world to bear witness
unto the truth. They that are of the truth hear
my voice and they follow me. Pilate said, truth? Truth? You have turned my city upside
down and threatened my position with Rome over truth? Don't you know that there's no
such thing as absolute truth? Don't you know that everything
is relative? You see, things haven't changed,
have they? Now I'm adding to what Pilate
said, but I'm sure that's what he meant. Truth. And Pilate turned him over to
the Roman soldiers and they mocked him. He thinks he's king, we'll
make him a crown and they pressed into his brow a crown of thorns. He thinks he's king, we'll put
a purple robe on him. We'll give him a reed and we'll
call it his scepter and we'll mock him. and will rip out his
beard and will beat him because he thinks he's king, will mock
him as king. This is what a king looks like?
And the Lord Jesus let it be. He let it be, why? He did all that for his subjects.
He did all that to establish his kingdom. And you know, Men are still mocking
the Lord Jesus Christ. Religious men especially. They mock him when they deny
him his authority and his power to save. They mock him when they
suggest that there's something else that has to be done in order
for him to be able to accomplish the salvation of his people.
He didn't get it done by himself. He needs you to make a decision. He needs you to pray a prayer.
He needs you to live a certain way. He needs you to perform
a work in order for him to be able to save you. His hands are
tied. And he's dependent upon you.
Men set themselves up as king and they mock the Lord Jesus
Christ just as plainly and just as blatantly as those Roman soldiers
did on that fateful night when our Lord went to Calvary's cross. He comes back. He's not coming
back as a suffering servant. He's coming back as a reigning
king. He's coming back riding on a white stallion with his
name written upon his thigh in the book of Revelation. What
is his name? King of kings and Lord of lords. He's king. I have made for myself a king,
a king. The offense of the cross is the
reign of the Lord Jesus Christ. And the best example of that
in the scriptures in Luke chapter 4 when our Lord after being tempted
in the wilderness began his public ministry back home in Nazareth
where he grew up. And he went into the synagogue
as his custom was, and they gave him the scroll. I'm sure he had
done it many times before. And he stood up in the congregation
of his friends, his family members, his acquaintances. Everybody
there knew him, and he knew everybody. Thirty years he'd lived in this
little town. And he read from Isaiah chapter 61. The spirit
of the Lord, the horn of oil has been poured out upon me to
preach the gospel unto the poor. And those Jews knew that that
passage was prophetic about the coming of Christ, the son of
David. And what did they? And he, after he read the scroll,
he put it down and he said, today, this day, this scripture has
been fulfilled in your ears. And they wondered at the gracious
words that proceeded out of his mouth. They thought, and they
said, this is the son of Joseph. Could it be that the Messiah,
the King of Israel, the reigning sovereign has been living among
us all these years and we didn't know it? Could it be? We thought
this was just the son of David. They wondered at the gracious
words that proceeded out of his mouth. How could anyone claim
to say that this day these scriptures have been fulfilled in thy ears?
And then he interpreted his reign when he said, there were many
widows in the drought of the days of Elijah. in Israel who
suffered and died who were Jews. And God showed mercy upon none
of them except for the widow of Sarepta, a Gentile. Eyebrows raised. And then he
says to them, and there were many lepers in Israel during
the days of Elisha the prophet and God showed mercy upon none
of them except for Naaman the Syrian. And the scripture says they gnashed
their teeth in wrath and they took this man who was holy and
harmless and undefiled and separate from sinners The one that they
were so acquainted with and they tried to kill him. They tried to kill him. They
were so offended by what the Lord just said that they went
from being amazed at the gracious words that proceeded out of his
mouth to being filled with wrath and wanting to put him to death.
Why? because he just declared his
authority as king. I will have mercy upon whom I
will have mercy and whom I will I'll harden. It is not up to
him who wills or up to him who runs, it is up to God who show
of mercy. I'm king, I'm sovereign. Lord, show us your mercy, show
us your glory. Moses prayed in Exodus 34. Lord, show us your glory. And
the Lord said, I'll show you my glory. But I'm gonna have
to hide you in the rock first. And I'm gonna put you in the
cleft of the rock and I'll put you in Christ. And then I'm gonna
cause my backside to pass upon you. And I'm going to declare
my name because my name is my glory and here's my name. I will
have mercy upon whom I will have mercy. That's who I am. I'm king. I'm sovereign. I reign immutable and omnipotent. And my subjects love that truth
because they have learned by experience their inability to
reign over their own lives. They have learned by experience
that just like Saul and just like Nimrod and just like the
basis of men that God has placed over the kingdoms of this world,
they can't reign over their own kingdom. How can they possibly
enter into the kingdom of God? I have made for myself a king. And I close with a very familiar
story where Abraham took Isaac, his son, his only son, the son
whom he loved, and he carried him up on Mount Moriah according
to the requirements and the instructions and demands of God. Offer up
your son, Abraham, your only son, the son whom you love. And Abraham and Isaac traveled
to Mount Moriah and they left the servants at the foot of the
mountain. And they said, and Abraham said to the servants,
stay here and we shall return. Abraham had every intent to put
his son to death as God had told him to do. But he also believed
that God was going to raise him from the dead. He believed the Lord would raise
him. And that's what we believe. And as they're going up Mount
Moriah, Isaac says to his father, father, here's the wood and here's
the fire, but where is the lamb for the burnt offering? And Abraham
said this to Isaac, God will provide himself a lamb. God will do the providing, I
have provided for me a king. God will provide himself as the
king and God will provide the king to himself. I will provide myself a king. God will provide himself a lamb. And Abraham ordered the wood
and tied Isaac to the altar and lifted up his hand and was just
about to put him to death when God stopped him. Abraham. Abraham. And Abraham looked,
the scripture says, behind him. And that's where you and I have
to look. You and I have to look behind us, 2,000 years. We have to look behind us to
eternity past when God Almighty slew the Lamb before the foundation
of the world in the covenant of grace when the Lord Jesus
Christ, like Judah, said, I will be surety for them. And he saw a ram caught in a
thicket. What a picture of the cross.
The horns of this ram, horns in the Bible, a symbol of strength.
The Lord Jesus Christ put down his crown of glory. allowed them
to mock him with a crown of thorns, put down his strength, and became
sacrifice that Isaac might live." I will provide myself a king. And those that are of the truth
hear his voice and they say, oh, a king. A successful king. A king that
can do for me what I've never been able to do for myself. A
king that I can bow to. A king that loves me. A king that only has good for
me. A king who is able to save me. Our Heavenly Father, thank you for making for thyself a king. Cause us, Lord, to bow in faith
and rejoice in thy dear son, King of Kings, Lord of Lords. We ask it in his name. Amen. Adam 62 in the hardback terminal
number 62. Let's stand together. Crown Him with many crowns, the
Lamb upon His throne. Hark how the heavenly anthem
drowns all music but its own. Awake, my soul, and sing of Him
who died for me. And hail Him as Thy matchless
King Through all eternity. Crown Him the Lord of love, Behold
His hands and side, Rich wounds yet visible above, Can't fully bear that sight,
But down ruins is wandering on, At mysteries he'll write. Round you the Lord of life, Who
triumphed o'er the grave, Who rose victorious to the strife
For those he came to save His glories now we'll sing Who died
and rose on high Who died eternal life to bring And lives that
death One with the Father known, One
with the Spirit through Him known, Come yonder, glorious Rome, To
Thee be endless praise, For Thou for us hast died, I'll hold you in this day's blood,
Lord, and back again.