Turn with me if you would now
to Luke chapter one. Luke chapter one. We just read Psalm 72 for our
scripture reading. Our brother just read that for
us. I had a hard time deciding between Psalm 72 and Luke 1 for
our text tonight. So both of them will be our text
tonight. You'll see in just a moment why
I had a hard time deciding between the two, but both of them will
be our text. I have something that is real
for us. Whenever I think about us coming
together and assembling, especially on a Wednesday night, I desperately
begged the Lord to give me something for us. We have a dear sister
here who's constantly asking me, do you have something good
for us? Well, I want to, I want to. And I have something that
I pray will be very good to us. I have something that I pray
will be made real to us for where we are in life right now. This is something that will truly,
truly help every time we find ourself in a moment of need,
every time. We need this, I need this, you
need this. There's something that I want
to just hound to us tonight. And we're all gonna see that
we need to hear this and we need to hear this often, very, very
often. We need to hear this with a very
engaged ear and a tuned in heart. And I pray the Lord will give
that to us tonight. I'm begging for that for myself.
I studied, I wrote, and I am currently begging the Lord to
tune my ear and my heart, Lord. Let me hear what's about to be
preached. Let me be a hearer that you bless
by your Spirit. I pray the Lord will tune us
into this because every aspect of our life depends on this. I don't know all the details
of your life and you don't know all the details of mine, but
there are things I know that there are, because there always
are. There are different things that we are all going through
right now that are puzzling. painful, sorrowful, fearful. You, even as adults, we're so
afraid of things, so afraid of possibilities, worrying, tiring. Some things are just tiring. Things in every facet of our
life, things inside our homes, things inside our work, things
in this world. We have real problems. We really
do. We have past problems. We have current problems. We
have future problems. But with everything that affects
you, as these things affect you in your mind and in your heart,
in your body, in your soul, with everything that affects
you, may God cause this to overrule it all. Everything that affects
you, may this be like a blanket that just lays over all of it. May this truly sink in to our
hearts right now. All right, look with me at Luke
chapter one, verse 33. It says, and he shall reign. Now we have been in this chapter
and in Matthew one so far the entire month of December. And
I've been thinking on these stories and on everything here, but those
three words right there have just been repeatedly going through
my mind. He shall reign. He shall reign. This is what
it means. Take a breather. That's what
it means. Take a load off. You ever feel
like you're carrying a load? Take a load off. All the stress, does anybody
have any stress? All the worry, is anybody worried
about anything? Anything? We're so worried that, you know,
you may swallow water wrong and cough, and we're worried about
everything right now. All the doubt, all the fear,
take a breather. I hope this really honestly sinks
in. I hope this comes in, take a
load off. He shall reign. That's the whole message. He shall reign. Sometimes the
Lord, we know that, but sometimes we get a hold of it. He shall
reign. Now, my aim is for those three
words to become embedded in our minds, in our hearts, before
we walk out of those doors. I'm telling you, that's the whole
message. You just heard it. Just give me a few more minutes now.
Before we walk out of these doors, if we can get a hold of those
three words, We will walk out of here, hold up, holding onto
something. We really will. He shall reign in everything
that that means in every facet and aspect of everything that
pertains to us, spiritually, physically. That's judgment to the unbeliever,
but that's salvation to the believer. He shall reign. That is absolute
horror to an unbeliever, but that's absolute comfort to a
believer. He shall reign. Whether we know
it or not, some do and some don't. It's
irrelevant. Whether we know it or not, he
shall reign. Whether we remember it or not,
sometimes we know it, but we forget it and it's irrelevant. Either way, he shall reign. Whether we in our sinful flesh,
you know, the nature of this sinful flesh, whether we want
it or not is irrelevant. Doesn't matter. Whether we in our sinful minds
think we have the ability to allow it or not. Totally irrelevant. He shall reign. Thank God, whether we deserve
it or not. And we don't thank God. He shall reign. over his people. He shall reign. So are you in
the middle of something right now? That's the question. You
know, that's a common thing for us to say. We'll say, well, I'm
kind of in the middle of something right now. Are you in the middle
of something right now? See if this brings a moment of
relief to you. He shall reign. He shall reign. He holds in his hand the outcome
to whatever you're in the middle of right now. He holds in his
hand. The fact is, is he put you in
the middle of it. He reigns. He shall reign. All you have to do is wait and
see what his outcome is. This country in this world is
in the middle of something right now. He is raining. He shall rain
because he is raining and he will keep on raining.
He holds in his hand, the outcome of everything that this world
is in the middle of right now. All we have to do is wait and
see what his outcome is. He shall reign. Isaiah penned this. The Holy Spirit wrote it. But
Isaiah penned this and it's so true. He said, how beautiful
upon the mountains are the feet of him That bringeth good tidings, that
publisheth peace, that bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth
salvation, that saith unto Zion, thy God reigneth. He said, Oh, how beautiful it
is in those moments when we're sitting there thinking this could
go bad. This could go wrong. This could
take a turn for the worse. Oh, how beautiful it is in those
moments to hear thy God reigneth. Thy God reigneth. He shall reign. He is going to keep his people. He is going to save his people. These are the only things that
matter. Only things that matter, doesn't matter if I eat bologna
tomorrow or filet mignon, that's irrelevant. A lot of things that
don't matter, but this is all that matters. He is going to
keep his people. He is going to save his people
and he is going to protect his people. I'm not going to keep anybody. I cannot save anybody. I cannot. I cannot protect anybody
from anything. And the reason is because I don't
reign. But He does, and He shall. He shall. That is a important
middle word. When you just break that down. He shall reign. It's just wonderful. He shall. Turn with me now over to Psalm
72. Psalm 72, just under the title
of Psalm 72, there is a heading that says, A Psalm for Solomon. That word for translates for,
but it can also translate of. And I know you've seen those
before. I know you've seen those little headings under the Psalm
title. Sometimes it's hard to know if
the Psalm was written for the person mentioned in the heading
or by the person mentioned in the heading, because it can be
translated two ways. But in this case here, the last
verse of Psalm 72, verse 20, it says, the prayers of David,
the son of Jesse are ended. So clearly David is the one who
wrote this Psalm. And he wrote it for his son,
Solomon, who would be king after David. In verse one, he said,
give the king thy judgments, O God, and thy righteousness
unto the king's son. David is praying this for Solomon. When he wrote this, he had Solomon
on his heart when he penned this. But again, the Holy Spirit is
the one who wrote it, really. And even though David had Solomon
on his heart, The Holy Spirit who inspired David had someone
else on his heart. Psalm 72 is speaking of someone
else besides Solomon. A greater than Solomon is here. This is speaking of the King,
the King who reigns. Our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. All through this Psalm, you heard
our brother read it, it keeps saying, he shall, he shall, he
shall. I wanna go down through it and
just look at those times when he said, he shall. The first
one is verse two. He shall judge thy people with
righteousness. What that means is, The judge
of the earth shall do right. Now let's bring that into the
world we live in. Let's, you know, we read this and you go
back thousands of years. Let's come right up into the
world we live in, bring it into the life that we are currently
living in. In everything that is happening, he shall reign and he shall reign
rightly." Rightly. It is going to be said every
time. It is going to be said. And I
know that the things you've already experienced, you can look back
and say, he did all things well. You can say that. In everything
that we can turn around and look back on, we will always be able
to say that. It will always be said, no matter
how painful, no matter how, whatever, his people will always say, he
hath done all things well. The judge of the earth did right. He judged us rightly with righteousness. Verse two says, he shall judge
the people with righteousness and the poor with judgment. That's who his people are. The
poor, not necessarily the poor in money, but most definitely
the poor in spirit. Those who are unable to do for
themselves, totally unable, totally unable. Can you do anything for
yourself before God? Those who desperately need Christ
to do it for them, those are his people. The poor and the
needy. That is me. I find myself in
that position all the time. Poor and needy. I'm not talking
about money and things. Poor and needy before God. Poor and needy. Verse four says,
he shall judge the poor of the people. He shall save the children
of the needy. And shall break in pieces the
oppressor. He is going to reign. That's
what he's saying in judgment and in salvation, whether he
ruins or redeems, all judgment has been put into his hands.
That's what John five says. The father judges, no man. but
has put all judgment into the hands of the Son of God, Jesus
Christ, the Lord, all judgment, and he shall reign. Salvation
is of the Lord. It is of the Lord. Salvation
is a sovereign act of God Almighty. Damnation is a sovereign act
of God Almighty. In all of it, He reigns. I want us to see a pattern here
with everything that pertains to us. Verse six, it says, He
shall come down like rain upon the mown grass, as showers that
water the earth, showers of blessing. He said, I'm the one who wounds,
but He also said, I'm the one who heals. He is the one who cuts down,
And he does, whenever he calls one of his own to himself, he
breaks centers. He's the one who cuts down, but
then he's also the one who comes down like rain upon the mown
grass as showers that water the earth. to nourish and revive. Verse eight says, he shall have
dominion also from sea to sea and from the river unto the ends
of the earth. He has dominion from sea to sea. I love that verse. There is nothing
that our God does not reign over. Nothing. There is nowhere where
he does not reign. Nowhere. That brings so much
comfort to me. Nowhere. Doesn't matter if we're
here or on the other side of the world. Like when Brother
Maurice Montgomery was heading out to the service and his father
told him, son, God goes everywhere. God reigns everywhere. Nothing our God does not reign
over. Nothing. You know, we're so torn up all
the time. all the time, we will have a
service and the Spirit and the Word will bring us back, bring
us back to the Lord and then we'll go out and we will be torn
all to pieces again. over all these different things.
And we come back and we hear the word and we're helped and
fed and then we go out and we're torn all to pieces again. And
the reason is because we think the lot really is cast into our
lap. That's why. But the fact of the matter is,
the whole disposing of everything is up to the Lord. Everything. He's the one who has dominion
over everything from sea to sea. Nothing is outside of His realm.
Nothing outside of His control. Doesn't matter whether we're
talking about life or death. Even in death, He reigned. That's glorious. Even in death,
He reigns. Look with me at Psalm 139. Psalm 139 verse 1, it says, Oh
Lord, thou hast searched me and known me. Thou knowest my down
sitting and my uprising. Thou understandest my thought
afar off. Thou compassest my path and my
lying down and art acquainted with all my ways. For there is
not a word in my tongue, but lo, O Lord, Thou knowest it altogether. Thou hast beset me behind and
before, and laid Thine hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful
for me. It is high, I cannot attain unto
it. Whither shall I go from Thy Spirit,
or whither shall I flee from Thy presence? If I ascend up
into heaven, You're there." Reigning, ruling. If I make my bed in hell,
behold, thou art there. If I take the wings of the morning
and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there shall
thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me. If I say,
surely the darkness shall cover me, even the night shall be light
about me. Yea, the darkness hideth not
from thee, but the night shineth as the day. The darkness and
the light are both alike to thee. For thou hast possessed my reins,
thou hast covered me in my mother's womb. I will praise thee, for
I'm fearfully and wonderfully made. Marvelous are thy works,
and that my soul knoweth right well. In creation, in salvation,
in life, even in death, He conquered. He accomplished. He has reigned. There's nowhere
where he has not reigned. Go back to Psalm 72. Verse 12
says, here are a few more he shalls.
Verse 12 says, he shall deliver the needy when he crieth. The
poor also in him that hath no helper. How did he deliver? He
delivered through the death of his cross. He delivered through the death of his cross.
Who did he deliver? Honestly, every soul who needs
it. Every soul who truly, truly needs
it. The needy, the poor, the one that has no helper, the one
who honestly can say, I don't have any helper besides you. Whom have I besides thee? Where
else can I go but to you? People say all the time, well,
you know, now the Lord helps those who help themselves. That
is not true. The Lord is the helper of those
who cannot help themselves. Verse 13 says, he shall spare
the poor and needy and shall save the souls of the needy.
He shall redeem their soul from deceit and violence and precious
shall their blood be in his sight. He shall deliver, he shall spare,
he shall redeem. He'll pay the price. He'll save
to the uttermost, even in death. His death for His people, even
in that, He shall reign. He reigns everywhere. Over in
Isaiah 42, I'll be very brief, but over in Isaiah 42, turn with
me over there, this is one of my favorite, this is one of my
favorite announcements. Isaiah 42. This is the Father speaking of
the Son, Verse one says, behold my servant whom I uphold, mine
elect in whom my soul delighteth, I have put my spirit upon him. He shall bring forth judgment
to the Gentiles. He shall not cry, nor lift up,
nor cause his voice to be heard in the street. A bruised reed
shall he not break, and the smoking flax shall he not quench. He
shall bring forth judgment unto truth. Verse four says, he shall
not fail. till he have set judgment in
the earth, and the isles shall wait for his law. He shall not
fail. He shall save, he shall reign. His payment shall reign. His blood shall reign. His accomplishment
shall reign. His satisfaction shall reign. Now look back at Psalm 72, verse
15 says, and he shall live. We're just saying a moment ago,
Jesus, the savior reigns, the God of truth and love. When he
had purged our stains, he took his seat above. Lift up your
heart, lift up your voice, rejoice. Again, I say rejoice. Verse 17, right here in Psalm
72, it says, his name shall endure forever. His name shall be continued
as long as the sun and men shall be blessed in him. Ephesians one tells us everything
is in him. Everything is in him. All spiritual
blessings are all in him. He goes on to say, all nations
shall call him blessed. Blessed be the Lord God, the
God of Israel who only doeth wondrous things. Now, this is
what I want us to get a hold of. If he reigned in all of creation,
and if he reigned in all of salvation, and if he will reign from eternity
to eternity, then this moment in time is no different. It's no different. It's not that
there was a time when he used to reign and there will be a
time in the future where he will reign again. That's not the case. He has reigned, He is reigning,
and He shall reign. There is no chaos with His people. We think there is, but there's
not. There's no confusion. There is no chance. There is
no chance with His people, none. There is only His reign. That's all there is. Verse 17
says, his name shall endure forever. His name shall be continued as
long as the sun and men shall be blessed in him. All nations
shall call him blessed. Blessed be the Lord God, the
God of Israel who only doeth wondrous things in his reign. That's all that he does for his
people. Wondrous things. He only does all things well. Verse 19 says, and blessed be
His glorious name forever. And let the whole earth be filled
with His glory. Amen and amen. That means so
be it and so be it. That means I agree and I agree. Thank God and thank God at all
times, in all things, for all eternity, He shall reign. That verse there in Luke one
went on to say, over the house of Jacob and of his kingdom,
there shall be no end. All right, let's all stand together.