Turn with me to Matthew 27, where
our brother just read. It has been a little while since
we've been here in Matthew. The last time we were here, we
made it to verse 10, and we looked at the end of Judas and his betrayal
of the Lord. And our Lord now in verse 11
has been brought from the high priest whose name was Caiaphas
to the governor, a man whose name was Pilate. Our Lord is
on trial and he's going through these different men, standing
before these different men. And he's now brought before the
governor and his name is Pilate. And verse 11, Matthew 27, verse
11, it says, Jesus stood before the governor, and the governor
asked him, saying, Art thou the king of the Jews? And Jesus said
unto him, Thou sayest. And when he was accused of the
chief priest and elders, He answered nothing. Then said Pilate unto
him, hearest thou not how many things they witness against thee?
And he answered him to never a word in so much that the governor
marveled greatly. Pilate's first question to the
Lord was the question of all questions. Who is Jesus Christ? Who is this man? What think ye of Christ? Our Lord asked one time, who
do men say that I the son of man am? Pilate asked him, are you the
king of the Jews? Are you the king of the Jews? The king is the sovereign. The king is the sovereign. The king is, as the scripture
words it, the potentate. That means the ruler of highest
authority. That's who the king is. The king is the head of the body. the one who holds all the preeminence. That means he's first in everything. He's number one. Pilate asked him, are you the
sovereign highest authority head over all things? And our Lord answered him by
saying, you said it. It came out of your mouth. Now Mark's account and Luke's
account, they both word it just like Matthew's account. It says
basically the same thing. But John's account expounds on
it a little bit. Turn over to John 18. John 18 verse 28. Then led they Jesus from Caiaphas
unto the hall of judgment, and it was early. And they themselves
went not into the judgment hall, lest they should be defiled,
but that they might eat the Passover. Now you talk about ironic. They're
literally holding the Passover. Bringing Him on trial before
this next man. The Passover is a person. It's
not an event. It's not a feast. It's not a
day. The Passover is a person. And
here they have the Passover. They have the Lamb of God. slain
for the sin of his people. And they're not going to go into
the judgment hall because according to their law and their ritual,
that would defile them. Now, they're not defiled in that
they've laid hands on the Son of God Almighty and said, we
want this man dead. They're not defiled from that,
but they wouldn't dare step into that room because then they wouldn't
be able to eat the Passover. Religion is hypocritical. Religion
is full of hypocrites. God's people are not hypocrites
and the truth is not hypocritical, but false religion is so hypocritical. So verse 29, Pilate then went
out unto them. They wouldn't go in there, so
he came out to them and said, what accusation bring ye against
this man? They answered and said unto him,
if he 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.
And they exposed the intent of their heart. They didn't want
a just trial for this man. They just wanted him dead. We
don't want to throw him in prison. We want him dead. And it's not
lawful for us to do that. Verse 32, that the saying of
Jesus might be fulfilled, 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 saying, 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
priest 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 should bear witness unto
the truth, every one that is of the truth heareth my voice. Twice Pilate asked him, are you
the king of the Jews? I've titled this message, Is
Jesus Christ the King? Is he the king? He said he was. But in another place, he said,
if I'm the only one who says this, my witness is not true. Because according to the law
of God, a thing could only be established at the mouth of two
or three witnesses. So here's our question for the
morning. Are there any other witnesses? Is Jesus Christ confirmed to
be the king, the sovereign authority head over all things. And I'm
going to go ahead and tell us the answer is yes. The answer
is yes, and we're going to spend the rest of our time proving
and establishing that. I want us to see four witnesses
of the fact that Jesus Christ is the king. Four great undeniable
witnesses confirming that Jesus Christ is the King. First, we
have the witness of the scripture. Jesus Christ is king by the prophecy
of the scripture. I want you to turn with me. I
wrote in these notes. Turn with me to a bunch of scriptures. We'll see how many I take you
to. I wrote down quite a few, but they're bunched together.
Let me just show you a few things and then we'll see what I decide
to do here. Go to Psalm 5. Psalm 5 verse 2, David said, hearken unto the
voice of my cry, my king. I thought David was the king.
He was, but he said, there is a king of kings. All of us kings have a king.
Hearken unto the voice of my cry, my King and my God, for
unto Thee will I pray. Look at Psalm 10, verse 16. The
Lord is King forever and ever. The heathen are perished out
of his land. He owns the land. Why? Because
he's the king. He's the king forever and ever. Look at Psalm 29. Verse 10. The Lord sitteth upon the flood,
yea, the Lord sitteth king forever. Not just king now, but king forever. Go to Psalm 47. Psalm 47 verse six, sing praises
to God, sing praises, sing praises unto our king, sing praises for
God is the king of all the earth. I thought he was just king of
the Jews. Nope. All the earth. All the earth. He is the king of the Jews, but
he's ruler over everybody else too. Doesn't matter who we're
talking about. He's the ruler. God is the king of all the earth. Verse seven says, sing ye praises
with understanding. Understand who this is. Go over
to Isaiah 41. Isaiah 41 verse 21 says, Produce
your cause, saith the Lord. Bring forth your strong reasons,
saith the King of Jacob. He is the king of the sinner.
So glad he didn't leave out the sinner. Look at Isaiah 43. Verse 15, I am the Lord, your Holy One,
the Creator of Israel, your King. He said, I'm your King. I'm not
just the King, I'm your King. He's my King. Isaiah 44 right here, verse 6
says, Thus saith the Lord, the King of Israel and his Redeemer. The Redeemer is the one we're
talking about, the Lord of hosts. I am the first and the last and
beside me there's no God. He's the sovereign King. Look at Matthew 2. Let's go over
to the New Testament. Matthew 2 verse 1. Now when Jesus
was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king.
And you'll notice that that's a lowercase
K. Behold, there came wise men from
the east to Jerusalem saying, where is he that is born King
of the Jews? Capital K. We've seen his star
in the east and are come to worship him. Herod was the little K King. They said, we're coming to worship
the capital K King. The one that was born in Bethlehem.
One more on this subject. Go to Revelation 19. We'll go
to the back of the Bible. Revelation 19, this is speaking
of Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God. That's who this is talking
about, the Lamb of God. Revelation 19 verse 16, it says,
and he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written,
King of kings and Lord of lords. Jesus Christ is king according
to the witness of the word of God. You cannot imagine how many
scriptures declare him to be the king. He is the king by the
prophecy of scripture, right? Number two, he is the king by
the witness of the father. I'm going to have you turn to
a few more, but all of our big turning is over, okay? He is
the King by the witness of God the Father. Turn over to Hebrews
1. Hebrews 1 verse 1, it says, God, who at sundry times and
in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the
prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto us by His Son,
whom He hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also He made
the worlds." This is speaking of God the Father's relationship
to God the Son, Jesus Christ. The relationship between the
two of them. For unto which the angel said he at any time, thou
art my son, this day have I begotten thee. And again, I will be to
him a father and he shall be to me a son. And again, when
he bringeth in the first begotten into the world, he saith, and
let all the angels of God worship him. And of the angels he saith,
who maketh his angels spirits and his ministers a flame of
fire. But unto the Son he saith, Thy
throne, O God, is for ever and ever. A scepter of righteousness
is the scepter of thy kingdom. Who sits on the throne? The king
does. The king sits on the throne. Thy throne, O God, is for ever
and ever. A scepter of righteousness is
the scepter of thy kingdom. In Psalm 2, God the Father said
concerning Jesus Christ, he said, I have set my king upon my holy
hill of Zion. I put my king there, reigning
over my people. In 1 Kings 10, I love the story
of the Queen of Sheba. And the whole story is a picture
of Christ and his people. Solomon being the wonderful picture
of Christ that he is, representing the Lord Jesus Christ. By the
end of her time with Solomon, this is what she said, because
the Lord loved Israel, because God the Father loved his people,
he made you to be the king. He made you to be their good
king. Jesus Christ is the king by the
witness of God, the father, according to the announcement of God, the
father, the witness of the word, the witness of the father. All
right, number three, Jesus Christ is king by the witness of the
cross. Go with me back to Matthew 27. Matthew 27 verse 35, it says, And they crucified him, and parted
his garments, casting lots, that it might be fulfilled which was
spoken by the prophet. They parted my garments among
them, and upon my vesture did they cast lots. And sitting down
they watched him there, and set up over his head his accusation
written." They put a sign on the top of his cross and this
is what it said. This is Jesus, the King of the
Jews. Philippians 2 says, because the
Lord Jesus Christ willingly humbled himself and took upon himself
the flesh of man. And because as a man, as a perfect,
spotless, holy man, because he stood in the place of sinful
man, this perfect, holy, spotless man willingly stood in the place
of sinful man, because he stood in the place of his elect sinful
people, Because He stood not for all
men and women on this earth, but for the elect souls, for
the elect souls that His Father gave to Him. Because He loved
them and gave Himself for them. And took their sin into them
and put His righteousness into them. And because He was judged
in their place, causing them to be judged in His place. Now if you will listen to this
one line, you will hear the glory of the gospel. This is the glory
of the gospel. God's people were judged in Christ's
place. We were judged. He was judged
in our place. We were judged in His place.
Because He was judged in the place of His people, allowing
them to be judged in His place. And because His judgment in them
was unto death, and their judgment in Him was unto life. Because He finished the transaction
of salvation. And paid the sin debt in full
of His people. Because of the cross. God, the father has highly exalted
him. Because of the cross. All because of the cross. God, the father has highly exalted
him. And given him a name. which is
above every name. What is the name? King. King Jesus Christ. How do we know that's the name
that has been given to him? How do we know that's the name
that's been given to him? It's because every knee is going to
bow That's the reason we know that every knee is going to bow
in heaven, earth and under the earth. Every knee is going to
bow before the king. Jesus Christ is king by the witness
and declaration of the cross of Calvary. Because of the cross, he is king. Because of the accomplishment
of the cross, he's the king. That's the reason why he's the
king. That's why all of God's people cry, he's the king. He is king by the prophecy of
the scripture. He is king by the announcement
of the father. He's king by the decree and the
accomplishment of the cross. Number four, he's king by the
acknowledgement of the entire host of heaven. Go with me to
Psalm 24. Verse 1 says, The earth is the
Lord's and the fullness thereof, the world and they that dwell
therein. For he hath founded it upon the
seas and established it upon the floods. Who shall ascend
into the hill of the Lord or who shall stand in his holy place?
He that hath clean hands and a pure heart, who hath not lifted
up his soul into vanity nor sworn deceitfully. He shall receive
the blessing from the Lord and righteousness from the God of
His salvation. Who is that describing? One man,
Jesus Christ. He's the only one worthy to stand
in that holy hill. His people are only worthy to
stand there in Him, only because of Him, only because of the cross. Verse 6, this is the generation
of them that seek Him, that seek thy face. My sinner Margin says,
O God of Jacob, lift up your heads, O ye gates,
and be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors, and the King of glory
shall come in. That's the cry of all of heaven.
Verse 8, who is this King of glory? The Lord strong and mighty,
the Lord mighty in battle. Lift up your heads, O ye gates,
even lift them up, you everlasting doors, and the King of glory
shall come in. I can't help but envision after
our Lord finished His work on earth for His people, finished
all of His accomplishment, everything that He did in His life, and
everything that He did in His death, And he arose and he for
40 days witnessed things to his disciples and said, this is how
it's going to be. And this is what I'm going to
send you to do. And he ascended up and they watched
him as he went up into heaven. And the angel said, why are you
standing there gazing into heaven? He's coming back just like you
saw him go into heaven. And the clouds carried him away.
I can't help but envision those clouds carrying him back to glory
in victory. Triumph in victory. And all of
the angels and the cherubims and the seraphims and everything
else that is there in great joy, crying, open the gates. Here he comes. Open the gates. Verse 9. Lift up your heads,
O ye gates, even lift them up, you everlasting doors, and the
King of glory shall come in. Who is this King of glory? The
Lord of hosts. He is the King of glory. Is Jesus Christ the King? Yea and Amen. Are you the King
then? Yes or no? They kept saying,
plainly tell us, are you the Christ, yes or no? I pray God will give us a heart
to cry, yea and amen. Is He the sovereign? Is He the
sovereign over you? Can He do whatever He wants with
you? If He wants to put you in hell, can He do it? What did
David say in Psalm 51? Whatever you judge me to be,
you're right in doing it. If you judge and condemn me,
yea and amen. Is he the sovereign? Are you
the king? Yes. Yay and amen. Are you the sovereign? Oh yes
you are. Are you my head? Are you my authority? Yes you are. Are you first and
I'm last? Yes you are. Yay and amen. By the word, by
the father, by the cross, by the entire host of heaven who
I pray to be a part of, yea and amen. Peter said we were eyewitnesses
of his majesty. And all who are given faith to
believe on the king and to see all of their hope of salvation
in the king will one day very soon be eyewitnesses of his majesty. We're going to see him, we're
going to see the king. Our eyes are going to see the king. Eyewitnesses
of the one who wears the crowns. Everybody talks about wearing
all these crowns. There's one crown in glory. And
it's on all of our head. Jesus Christ the King. To Him
be glory, honor, majesty, praise. I love the saying, you know,
it's said in all these old movies and all that kind of stuff. But
I say it from the heart to Jesus Christ. All hail the King. All hail the King.