I want to speak to you for a
few minutes a message from God's Word in the Gospel of Luke, chapter
17, if you want to be turning there. I want to speak to you
on the subject of the Kingdom of God. The Kingdom of God, or
often it is referred to as the Kingdom of Heaven or the Kingdom
of Christ. kingdom of His dear Son. John
the Baptist came preaching, repent for the kingdom of heaven is
at hand. The Lord Jesus Christ's first
public words or message was repent for the kingdom of heaven is
at hand. The Lord told His disciples,
He said to begin praying Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done. And He told them to end their
prayer by saying, Thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory
forever. In Luke chapter 17, verses 20
and 21, it says, when He, that is the Lord Jesus Christ, was
demanded of the Pharisees, they just insisted, they pressed upon
Him, when the kingdom of God should come. He answered them
and said, The kingdom of God cometh not with observation,
neither shall they say, Lo, here, or, Lo, there. For behold, the
kingdom of God is within you." The Pharisees demanded, they
wanted to talk about the kingdom, when it would come, when the
kingdom would come. In other words, speaking of the
kingdom restored to the Jews. Even the disciples later on asked
the Lord, will you now restore the kingdom to the Jews? Many
people today want to talk about this. They are interested in
signs and wonders and prophecies and events. If you announce a
prophetic conference or show a movie or something about the
apocalypse or the revelation or prophetic events, you will
get a large crowd. But our Lord did not satisfy
the curiosity of these Pharisees. He did not answer them. He did
not give them any answers as to when, where, or what the Kingdom
of God is. But He plainly said, He very
plainly said, Heaven, the kingdom of God, cometh not with observation. That is, outward show. It is
unseen. It's unseen to the outward eye. It's unknown. You won't notice. You won't see it. In another
place, he said, my kingdom is not of this world. He said, if
it were, my subjects, my servants would fight. He said His kingdom,
His people, not of this world. One time, the Jews who wanted
out from under Roman rule, they wanted the kingdom restored to
Israel. They tried to make Him king.
They tried to make Him king. They wanted to take Him into
Jerusalem and enthrone Him, put a crown on His head, but it says,
hid Himself from them, passed through the midst of them. He
would not allow them to do that. Why? Because He already was King. And He is King. He was, He is,
and He is always the King. I want to give you three points
about the Kingdom of God and Christ. Number one, the royal
King. And number two, the reigning
King. Number three, the realm of the King. King, the Holy One,
the Most High, His Highness. He is the only one that should
be referred to that title, His Highness, Your Majesty, speaking
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, He is King. He always has
been King by decree, by the decree of God Himself. In Psalm 2 it
says, I have set my King upon my holy hill of Zion, speaking
of The Lord Jesus Christ. He said, I will declare the decree.
The Lord has said, thou art my son this day, have I forgotten
thee? When the Lord Jesus Christ came
and baptized of John the Baptist in the River Jordan, there came
a voice from heaven saying, this is my beloved son. Thou art my
beloved son and who I am well pleased. He's king by decree. King by decree. God made Him
king. Men don't make Him king. God
made Him king. He is king by decree. He is king
by birth. In Isaiah 32 it says, A king
shall reign in righteousness. A man shall be unhiding place.
Speaking of the Lord Jesus Christ in prophecy. In Isaiah chapter
9 it says, Unto us a child is born. The Son is given. Government, the reign shall be
upon his shoulders. It goes on to say, of the increase
of his government and reign and peace, there is no end. Upon
the throne of David, his kingdom, and he shall reign forever. He
is king by decree. He is king by birth. Son of God. Son of the King. In Matthew's
Gospel, it begins that that the wise men came seeking the king. It says, Where is he that was
born king? And Herod was troubled by this,
and all the people were troubled by this king. What do you mean,
king? Where is this king? In chapter
27, verse 11, the soldiers, They took Christ to crucify Him.
It says they mocked Him and put a royal robe upon Him and a reed
in His hand as a scepter and a crown of thorns on His head.
And they mocked Him. It says they bowed their knee
and worshipped the King. Oh, they did it in derision and
mockery. But oh, the horror! The horror! for those soldiers who later,
they did bow the knee. Because Scripture says every
knee shall bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is
Lord, is King. And the Revelation says He has
a name, King of Kings, Lord of Lords. The Lord Jesus Christ
was King before He came to this earth by decree, by right, King
by birth, born King, Son of David, the Royal One, the Regal One,
the Holy One of Israel. He is King, the Royal King. He is the reigning King right
now. Right now. The Lord Jesus Christ
reigns and rules. Let me describe to you the reigning
king. He is the royal king, the reigning
king, and let me describe to you his character. In Psalm 45,
David says, I speak of things concerning the king. He's fairer,
he's more wonderful, more beautiful, more glorious than the children
of men. Grace is poured into his lips.
Therefore, God hath blessed him forever. In His majesty He will
ride prosperously because of truth and meekness and righteousness."
He goes on to say that He is reigning and ruling among His
people. His daughters are His royal subject. His sons are His royal subject. In Psalm 145, it says this, Psalm
145, that I speak of things concerning
the King. I will bless thee, O King." It
says, "...the Lord is gracious, full of compassion, slow to anger,
of great mercy, is good to all, is tender mercy over all His
works, He says, They shall speak of the glory of His kingdom and
talk of His power to make known unto the sons of men His mighty
act, the glorious majesty of His kingdom. His kingdom is an
everlasting kingdom, His dominion throughout all generations. This
is the King, the Lord Jesus Christ. His character, wonderful, gracious,
kind, glorious, just, holy, true. His power. His power. He, the Lord Jesus Christ, decreed
all things by the Word of His power. He created all things
by the Word of His power. All things were created by Him. That is the Lord Jesus Christ. Without Him was not anything
made that was made by Him and for Him. He created all things
with the Word. He said, Let there be light,
and there was light. Let there be affirmament. Let
us create man in our image. In the image of God, which is
Jesus Christ, He created male and female by His Word. He upholds
all things by the Word of His power. That is the Lord Jesus
Christ. Listen to Him. Listen to the
Scriptures concerning Him in Daniel 4. Here is His power.
This matter is by decree, by the Word of the Holy One, that
the Most High ruleth in the kingdom of men and giveth it to whomsoever
he will." Whomsoever he will. This is what the wicked king
Nebuchadnezzar found out when he thought Nebuchadnezzar thought
he had some kind of reign or rule. And he found out when God
reduced him to a mere beast. And here's what Nebuchadnezzar
said. He said, My eyes were opened. My understanding returned unto
me. And I bless thee most high. I
praise and honor him that liveth forever, whose dominion is an
everlasting dominion, his kingdom from generation to generation.
All the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing. He doeth
according to his will in the army of heaven among the inhabitants
of the earth, and none can stay his hand, or even say unto him,
What doest thou? Oh, yes, this is what Nebuchadnezzar
found out. It's what Daniel said. It's what
all the prophets said. Moses said that he doeth all
things. He doeth all things. Deuteronomy
32, it says, I the Lord do all things. All things. 1 Samuel, Hannah said this, the
Lord maketh rich, the Lord maketh poor, the Lord raiseth up, the
Lord casteth down. The Lord doeth all these things.
Isaiah said the same thing. Our God, our Lord Jesus Christ
reigneth. The Lord Jesus Christ is sovereign,
reigning, ruling, king over the universe. There are no true kings
today. People don't have any concept
of sovereignty, true sovereignty. And very few people talk about
kings or kingdom because it's a little known subject. There
are no true kings today, and Judges, the last line, the last
verse in the book of Judges says, in those days there was no king
in Israel. So every man did that which was
right in his own eyes. Well, there was a king, but people
didn't know him. He wasn't sitting on a visible
throne in Jerusalem. But he was sitting on the circle
of the earth. He was sitting on the throne, the right hand
of the Majesty on High. His name was and is and shall
ever be the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, the Lord Jesus
Christ. And though men seem to do what
they will, that which is right in their own eyes, they are doing
what the Lord wills, the King wills. Even the hearts of the
kings, the rulers, the presidents, the governors, down to the hearts
of all men are in the hands of the Lord, like the rivers of
water, He turneth it whithersoever He will. That is the Lord Jesus
Christ, His character, His power, His glory. He is glory. He is the Lord God of heaven
and the realm of the King. The realm of the King. It is
a spiritual kingdom. He said it is not in meat and
drink. It is not fleshly things, but spiritual things. Spiritual
kingdom in righteousness, peace, and joy of the Holy Spirit. His
reign is unseen. His kingdom is unseen. His subjects
are really unknown. But He reigns and rules in the
hearts, the minds, the lives of His people. He speaks to them.
They speak to Him. He decrees all things concerning
them. They follow Him. They hear Him.
They rejoice in Him. They bow the knee to Him. and
their tongues confess that He is Lord over all, the King of
kings and Lord of lords. This is the King. Do you know
Him? Has He revealed Himself to you?
Ask Him to do so. Amen.