God is great. God is good. Holy and true are all his ways. Let every creature shout his
praise. The Lord of hosts, Ancient of
days. God is great. God is good. The Lord is king throughout His
vast domain. He is all, all in all. The Lord Jehovah evermore shall
reign. He is all, all in all. through earth and heaven one
song shall ring from grateful hearts this anthem's spring. Arise ye saints, salute thy King,
all thy days sing his praise. That is one hymn that Perhaps
we should sing at the top of our lungs. It says that, that
every creature shouts his praise. Someday we will, when we truly
see him as he is. We'll say, God is great. God is good. And you invoked
me when you sung it. He said, lift up your voice. Allow me that this morning in
our subject, King of Kings. Go to Matthew 2 with me. Matthew chapter 2. I intended
to go through quite a few verses here, but I stopped at verse 3. I couldn't get any
further. Wednesday night, Lord willing,
if you're here and you want to read ahead of time, you can either
read the rest of this chapter or there in Exodus 26 about the
veil. We'll be on one of those two
subjects. They're both the same. Look at Matthew 2, verses 1 through
3. Now, when Jesus was born in Bethlehem
of Judea, In the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from
the east to Jerusalem, saying, Where is he that is born King
of the Jews? We have seen his star in the
east. and are come to worship him. When Herod the king, small k,
had heard these things, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with
him. Everybody, when they heard this,
about this king of the Jews, was troubled. was trouble. I asked one of you recently what
your favorite subject to hear preached is. And I answered that
by saying sovereignty of our God, of our Christ. I love to hear it and I love
to declare it. That which is the heart of our
salvation. That which is our peace. Our joy. Talking about our God
reigning. Christ reigning. Sovereign in
absolute control of everything. Especially our salvation. is what makes the world troubled
and angry. It's what makes people mad. What
makes God's people exceedingly glad makes the world exceedingly
mad. Why is that? Who maketh thee
to differ? You've seen his star. God sent
a star you've been made wise unto salvation. Which is in Christ
the king the sovereignty of God and his Christ that's what we're
talking about when we say sovereign. Sovereign means absolute reign. Sovereign means ruling absolute
rule. And as I said, what rejoices
the hearts of God's people, angers the world. What gives the believer
his complete peace and comfort. No matter what happens. No matter
who seems to be on the throne. It troubles the world, what gives
a believer peace. Listen to this. When we talk
about sovereignty, let me just quote to you from Daniel 4. I
wrote it down. If you want to look at it, you
can. But Daniel chapter 4 verse 32 says this, The God, the Most
High, ruleth, the Most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth
it to whomsoever he will. Now in verse 35 it says all the
inhabitants, verse 34, it says that the Most High, is he that
liveth forever, whose dominion," dominion means dominance, means
absolute control, is an everlasting dominion, his kingdom, his reign,
his rule from generation to generation, and all the inhabitants of the
earth, doesn't matter who they are, all of them, are reputed
as nothing, and he doeth according to his will. in the army of heaven,
and among the inhabitants of the earth, his will. And none can stay his hand, or
question him, or say unto him, What doest thou? That's sovereignty. That's sovereignty. Turn with me to Revelation 19. Revelation, the nineteenth chapter. That's the absolute reign or
sovereignty of our God. Now, this modern generation knows
very little, if anything, of absolute sovereignty. Very little of absolute sovereignty. Absolute means unquestionable,
unchangeable. It cannot be changed. It cannot be altered. That's
what absolute means. Unchangeable. Immutable. Complete. Absolute means complete. This
generation knows nothing of absolute sovereignty. They know a little
bit about temporary sovereignty. And the closest thing our modern
generation has experienced to sovereignty is that Saddam Hussein
fellow, right? The world got a little taste
of a totalitarian, a despot, an evil one at that. How somebody can reign over people
and have them killed just because they will. Wipe out whole tribes
of people just because they will. Can confiscate everything in
the land just because he will. And none can stay his hand. But
he's a poor example. You know that? Why is that? Somebody more powerful than him
found him holed up in a hole in the ground, chased him down
like a rat, and incarcerated him. And now he's on trial. He was quickly and easily deposed,
or that is, set down, taken off his throne by a much more powerful
foe than him. Now, there have been truer kings
than him. There have been truer kings than
that fellow who reigned and ruled, ruling sovereigns down through
history. The pharaohs of Egypt are a pretty good example. The
pharaohs of Egypt who reigned over a huge territories and kingdoms. Kings of Persia. You've heard
that old saying, by the laws of the Medes and the Persians,
when a king said something back then, so let it be written, so
let it be done. He couldn't change it, at least
for a while. Kings. These are a bunch of kings,
okay? Are you with me? There have been
a bunch of kings, small k, seemingly powerful men. The Lord raised
up a king. Well, he gave the children of
Israel who wanted one, he gave them a king. The one they wanted
was Saul, and he was a ruthless man. Reigned roughshod over the
people, didn't he? That's what they wanted, that's
what they got. But God said, I've got me a king. I've had
my king waiting. King David. King David, I believe,
was the greatest example, human example, of a king who ever lived
upon the face of the earth. He was the most powerful king
on the earth. And then there was King Solomon who reigned
in his stead, the son of David. Wise, just, true. There have
been kings after that, Julius Caesar, King Edward in England, King
Charles and others. Powerful men, seemingly powerful,
reigning monarchs, royalty. We've already seen how their
bloodline, if you trace it far enough, they are all peasants. But these reigning monarchs,
kings, a bunch of kings who seem to have their way for a time. Here, now let me tell you this
morning who we're talking about. We're talking about, look at
verse 19, verse 16. In the end, it says, he, talking
of Christ, hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written,
name above every name. Every letter is capital, is it
not? King of kings. This is the king of kings. And you know how powerful those
men were. Set up and put down. Make rich,
make poor. This is the king who the kings
answer to and get their power and permission from and lord
of lords. Men were called lords years ago,
still today in that pitiful little thing called Parliament over
in England. And they've got a queen, and
they're going to someday crown a fella king. Oh, hidden here,
a worthy king. And they're going to bow the
knee to that fella. Bam. And call him king. But lip service
and name only. He's no king. He has no power
over anybody. Neither does that queen. And
nor do those lords in Parliament. Small l. A bunch of them. A whole
bunch of them. A bunch of lords running around.
with their powdered wigs, because they're all bald-headed underneath
that. This is the Lord, capital L,
Jehovah, the Lord of Lords. Now, here's sovereignty. I love
these verses. I know you do, too. Here is sovereignty. Talk about the King of kings. Now, here's sovereignty. In Proverbs
21.1, it says, The king's heart I'm talking about every one of
those fellows, Pharaoh, whoever it might be, the kings of Persia,
Caesar, whoever, his heart is in the hands of the king of kings. His heart, as the rivers of water, he turneth
it with us whoever he will. He controls the hearts of not
just The common. Kings can't even do anything.
Of their own will. But he do it according to his
way. They do according to his way.
They think. According to his purpose. They
act according to his direction. This is the king. Here's sovereignty listen to
Proverbs sixteen four. Then, you know, there was a great
angel, an archangel named Lucifer, who reigned, it appeared, didn't
it? And God cast him down. Well,
it says that the Lord hath made all things for himself, even
the wicked, for the day of evil. That's talking about the wicked
one. That's Proverbs 16, verse 4. Now, that troubles. If you read that verse of Scripture
to the world, not only would it make them angrier, but it
troubles them. It just throws their theology
in for a loop. Oh, God didn't have anything
to do with things that are evil. Oh, boy. The lot is cast into
the lap. In that same chapter, Proverbs
16, 33, the lot is cast in the lap. Men seem to be doing what
they want to do, what they will to do, don't they? Do what you
will. What will you do with Jesus? Exactly what God determined to
be done. The whole disposing thereof is
of who? The King of kings. I wish I had written it down.
Turn to Revelation 11, the eleventh chapter of the Revelation. Now, as I stated in the very
beginning, the heart of salvation is that our God reigns, and he has his people, that he
ordered all things, and he has his people under his absolute
control. And the believer's peace and
joy And our God reigns and he keeps
telling us that throughout the Psalms, does he not? Thy God
reigneth. Tell Zion this for their comfort. Thy God reigneth. King, that
guy's not reigning. The king of kings is. This is what makes the world
angry and troubled, like Herod the king. Small cat. I love the, in Isaiah where God
says, Is there any God with me. Small G. Small G. God means absolute controller. Capital G. He says is there any
God with me. Is anybody reigning over anything.
Is anybody with me. Small G. He says I know of none.
I don't see any. The whole disposing, as stated,
this is what makes the world angry and troubled. Herod the
king, when he heard about a rival king of the Jews, when Herod,
we read there, heard about this king of the Jews, it troubled
him. Why should it trouble him? It's set in the hearts of men.
They know. That's why men fear death. That's why everybody fears
death. It's why people that say they
don't believe God curse with his name. Why don't they use any other name
to curse with? They don't believe it, and why do they use that
name? It's being held against them. They're being forced to
utter that name. They're being forced to utter
their own condemnation with that name. Incidentally, this is the
scripture. God said, He will not hold them
guiltless who takes his name in vain. anybody who takes his
name in vain, who uses the name of God. And I shudder as I hear
everyone throughout the land, even young people, use the name
of God. Now listen to me carefully. Young
people especially. If you're old enough to use that
name, you're old enough to be damned dying for it. You're old
enough to be held responsible. Fear of the Lord. You don't use
his name. You've been taught that has stated
in the beginning that which makes God's people exceedingly glad,
makes the world exceedingly mad. And everybody who hears about
a king, a reigning, ruling king is troubled by that. Look at
Revelation 11. Look at that. I've never seen
this. I've seen it. We studied it. But I just saw
it really. Look at verses 15. It says the
seventh angel sounded, and there were great voices in heaven,
loud voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are
become the kingdoms of our Lord and of his pride, and he shall
reign forever and ever. And the four and twenty elders
which sat before God on their seats fell upon their faces and
worshiped God, saying, Here is the worship of God. That is,
ascribing to Him everything. We give Thee, not that they're
allowing Him to be, not that they're ascribing to Him. That's what it means when we
give Him glory and we bless Him. We're just declaring what belongs
to Him. Okay? We give Thee thanks, O
Lord God Almighty, which art and was and art to come, because
Thou hast taken to Thee Thy great power and hast reigned. And the nations were angry. The nations, that's everybody. The whole world is angry. You mentioned the sovereign reign
of God. This is that enmity against God
spoken of in Romans 8. The natural carnal mind is enmity
against God. That's why men take God's name
in vain. They're cursing God. They blame him for everything.
They don't like there being a God. A man, though, thinks he is in
control, that his will is being done, that it's free. Man actually
thinks his will is free. And man despises, this is why
man despises, any and all authority over him. It started in the garden,
didn't it? This is where it all started,
in the garden, the man and the woman. When our parents decided
they did not want to be ruled over, and they rebelled against authority,
how unreasonable was God's authority? Was God just horribly, terribly
strict and unreasonable? What did God withhold from them?
What did God say they could not have? He said, Of all the things
you may freely have. Look at everything I've given
you. Everything. It's yours. Take it. Freely given. Freely given, freely received. But one thing. Here is a symbol. Here is a symbol
of my authority. My authority. This right here. That I reign over you. That you
do as I say. What man does. Was it unreasonable? I know. That's where it started.
And as a result of that, they didn't want to be ruled. We're
born that way. Our children are born that way,
not wanting to be told what to do. Why is that? Well, ignorance
is, you know, ignorance is part of not wanting to be ruled over.
Ignorance. We don't know that we cannot
rule ourselves. The only when we find that out,
when we find out who God is and what we are, we find out we cannot
rule ourselves. We don't want to be left ourselves.
Look at Iraq. They had a king, as evil as he
was, and he was deposed and taken out. Everything's fine now, and
those people are in good shape. They're just living together
in harmony, and they're getting along fine, and the country's
prospering. They can't rule themselves. Somebody's got to rule. One old
pagan fellow, one agnostic person said, if there was no God, he
would acknowledge that there's somebody, something reigns. He
said, if there was no God, we'd need to create one. Because we
can't rule ourselves. And nobody knows that better
than the believer. If left to ourselves for a moment, we'll
terribly, we'll fall terribly. Can't rule ourselves. We're too
ignorant. We're too ignorant. We don't know which way to go.
What to do except somebody tell us. And directed and we're too
sinful. We're too sinful, we'll fall
in everything. And this, as I said, we were
born this way, it carries over into every aspect of life, and
it's never been more true than now that man is a rebel against
authority. down into the school, down to
the small children, they're encouraged to question authority. Why is
that? Faults in the pulpit. Absolute sovereign God is not
being declared, so nobody's got anybody to answer to. And you
know, in preaching, in preaching the sovereign God of Scripture,
In preaching. God declaring God, and that's
what I'm called to do. And his Christ is sovereign Christ.
I hear all the time I hear all the time of little people. Who
don't like it? Said don't believe it. They get
offended by. So and so didn't like that not
too long ago. I heard it was a teenage boy.
He didn't like that. He didn't like what he heard. You just stop and think about
that. God, in whose hands are bread, the God of the universe,
who controls all the God who reigns and rule in the armies
of heaven, he said so, and among the inhabitants of the heavens
and the earth, and none can stay his hand. There's a little teenage
boy that doesn't like that. What's God going to do? Stop the world and deal with
him? Answer his questions? Somebody doesn't like that. Are we supposed to explain God
or try to, you know, pacify him? No. This is salvation. Understand
me now. It's salvation to realize who
he is. God condescends in great mercy
and love and grace if he even speaks to a son of man. That's what the scripture, what
is man that he is mindful of him or the son of man or any
son of man that he would visit, that God would stop and declare
himself or that is explain himself or reveal himself to anybody. It's great condescension and
mercy and love and grace if God Almighty stops like the Lord
that day when Bartimaeus was caught, a blind beggar in rags. The Lord of glory walking through
the earth fulfilling his eternal purpose had much to do, right? Much to think about. Great heavy
weight, he thought, the weight of the world on his shoulder.
And one beggar in rags over here cries out, says he's stopped. You see, God doesn't answer men.
That's what the scripture in Job says. He giveth not an account
of his matters. He doesn't have to. That's wise God. And it's great
mercy if he does. If he stops what he's doing and
deals with a worm, he says, now listen here, listen here, I'm going to tell you how it
is. What if King David, what if they
came and told King David, Mephibosheth doesn't like you being king. He wants to be king. And he says,
you can't be king until he lets you be king. What's David going
to do? Who said that? He knows. He knows all things.
Mephibosheth. Who's he? Well, he's that lame
fellow down in that house in Lodebar. It's laughable. We read that in Psalm 2, didn't
we? The kings of the earth have set themselves, the rulers have
set themselves against the Lord. We're not going to let him be
Lord. And we're going to break, we're going to tear asunder all
these people that believe that he's Lord. We're going to, we're
going to destroy his church. But the next verse says, he that
sitteth in the heavens shall laugh. It says the Lord
shall have them in derision. You ever derided somebody? That's
what you make fun of. That's what God did to Joe, to
Satan and Job first. That's what exactly what God
did to Satan. And Job chapter one, he said,
where are you being, Satan? He's still riding. Where are
you being, Satan? He said, I've been running around
like a chicken with my head cut off. trying to do this and trying
to do that. I can't because you you're in
control. That's what he said. That's what
Satan said. He was forced to say it. He had to answer to him
when everybody was lining up to do the king's bidding. It says Satan appeared with him.
He had to get his marching orders. Anybody ever do that? You presented
yourself front and center. And from then on, you just go
and do what you wanted to do if you're in that king's... Oh,
no. March. Where have you been, Satan? Satan said, I can't touch your
servant Job lest you touch him. No evil can befall any of God's
people unless God directs it. And if God directed it toward
his people, it's not evil. All things work together. For
what? Ain't none of it evil. It may
seem like something evil happens, but in the end, if they're God's
people, it's going to be good. It's going to be good. And we realize salvation. That's
what it is. You know, it's not letting him
do anything. He's not making him Lord. You
know that. It's him declaring it to us.
It's him revealing it to us. It's him showing us, hey, like
Mephibosheth said, I was a dead dog when you found me. That's
what Mephibosheth said. I was a dead dog when you found
me. I didn't let you be Lord. Well, you were Lord all the time.
My daddy thought he was. No, it was you all the time,
wasn't it? I thought I was going to be, but I couldn't be, because
it's been you all the time. Can I just sit at your table? It's to bow, it's to prostrate
oneself, submit, bend the knee, acknowledge. Every knee will. Every tongue will. And you know, this in itself
is by decree of the king. If you do this, he decreed it. It's by the power of the king.
We love that Psalm 110 verse 3, don't we? Thy people shall
be willing. If we're willing, whosoever will,
if we will, it's a God that worketh in us, both the will. It was
by decree of the king and the watchers who said, be willing. Thy people shall be willing.
In the day of that power, according to the working of his mighty
power, the king where the word of the king is, there's what
power. Bow. Come. You come. Speak. You speak. You say it. And as I say, all the peace,
this is to the glory. Why? Why are we? What's this
all about? It's his glory. That's what it's all about. His
glory. That's what they read. We read that, how they're saying
in heaven, we give thee thanks. So we're so glad. Aren't you
so glad? Don't you give thanks? Isn't it strange? Some people
think it's a strange thing to give. We thank you, God, for
who you are. Some people don't understand
that. But he's our God. We thank God
that he has taken unto himself to be our God and reign and rule
over us and order all things and make them sure. Thou hast
taken to thee this great power and its reign. We give you thanks. This is all the believer's peace,
joy, and comfort, being under the absolute reign, rule, and
control. And I don't mean just you and
your soul. I mean everything about you and everyone around
you. Everything in your family, all
things concerning you, have been absolutely divinely ordered by
God Almighty before the world ever began. The all-wise, God
is too wise to err. If God purposed it, it's got
to be good, got to be good. No matter if we can't see it
now, we will know someday, as we've been known, we'll know.
We'll look back and say, I was a fool. I was a beast, like David
said in Psalm 7, I was a beast, I was a fool, I was so ignorant,
how could I have thought that this was anything but good? Because
that's, you're anything but evil. All wise, all powerful, how that
nothing, as Barnard used to say, writhes or wriggles. Ain't nobody
can lift a finger. Nothing and no one can lift a
finger. Unless God Almighty orders. A microscopic germ can kill us
right now. How frail is this flesh of ours? How frail? Something you can't see, that
you have to put under a microscope to be able to see it, can kill
you dead, as they would say. Kill you dead. Something that
small. God better be in control of things we don't see today.
Everything he better be in control of everything. All power, that's
what we're talking. Spurgeon used to say God. I like
that he said God determines the path has determined the path
of every speck of dust that you see in the sunlight coming through
the window. God is. Predetermined and purpose
the path of where that speck of dust shall land. The world doesn't believe that.
That's foolishness. No, that's God. That's what it
means to be God. If it's not so, we're in trouble.
But it is so. And He's all-powerful and He's
good. He's not only sovereign, He's
good. I love the stories of the good
kings in the Scriptures, like Josiah and other Hezekiah. son of David. It talks a lot
about Solomon, good King Solomon. It says everybody was under his
reign. It says every single man, every
person, nobody was without. It says everyone that was under
his reign ruled, dwelled under his own vine, under his own fig
tree. That means every single person
in Solomon's kingdom had a house. Ain't nobody without a house.
Nobody without a vine, grapevines. Nobody without a fig tree. And
he was a great, he would take anybody as an audience. It doesn't
matter who. Anyone and everyone that came
to him, he'd ask him anything. He's the richest king on earth.
He's a good king. I've always said that the best
form of government is a monarchy. This is what God instituted,
a monarchy. Israel was in good hands when they were under King
Solomon. Wouldn't you like to have one
reigned over this country? I'll tell you what the first thing
he'd do, he'd wipe out all false religion. Wouldn't that be wonderful? Wouldn't
that be wonderful? That's what he did. That's what
the good kings did, didn't they? Every one of them came into power
and they cast down the high places and the idols and all that. And
wiped out the sodomites. And once it didn't change, had
more changed. And established worship of the
living God. Well, good King, holy, just,
just. He that reigneth must be just.
Right, shall not the judge of the earth do? Right. Everything
he does is right. We read there in Psalm 2, and
I'm going to quit with it. I want you to think of a couple
of things with me. Long ago, before the world began,
God Almighty, he said, I've set the decree. I've set my king.
Capital K. King of glory, he's called five
times. Stay with me, OK? Give me a few
more minutes. I've taken too long to get to this. The king
of kings. Long ago, before the world began,
God Almighty declared the decree unto His Son, I set my King,
set my King on the throne. The Son of God was declared King
over all, the future, the future universe, and though men would
not have Him or recognize His reign, He was, and he is. They didn't recognize it then,
but he was. The reason they didn't recognize
this king of kings is because he came in such a lowly fashion.
Stay with me now. He came in such a lowly fashion,
but God said this, because God has spoken once, yea, twice,
though men perceive it not. But God said in the beginning,
Lo, thy king cometh. What's he look like? Well, he's
lowly. He'll be riding on the foal of
an ass. He's a man. He has to be. We see Jesus made a little lower
than the angels. Flesh and blood. Well, he's just
a man like us. God purposed it that way in his
wisdom, in his decree. Why? For the suffering of death.
Now here he comes riding into town on a lowly donkey. Why? Because he has to be. He has
to die. But he's the king. It says he has salvation. Lowly,
having salvation. All right? You're born in a stable. Born in a stable. What a lowly
birth for a king. Came riding into town on a donkey. Is this the king? And then at his coronation, listen
to me now, he came riding into Jerusalem. That's where David's
throne was. That's where the kings of Israel
were. The king of the Jews was enthroned. He came riding into
Jerusalem on a donkey, on a coat, full of an ass, and he was taken
and crucified. Crucified. That means they nailed
him to a wooden structure. and lifted him up, not on a throne. One time they
tried to do that. It was mock, you know. They didn't
really want him to reign over them. They just wanted a political
figure, right? Like now. But then they did put
him on a wooden structure and lifted him up, not on a throne
but on a cross. and man thought, and this is
what, listen to me, this is what Pilate said, it was a Herod,
one of these kings, it doesn't matter, their names aren't important,
one of these small kings said, are you the king of the Jews?
Kept mocking him over there in the Gospel of John, kept mocking
him, are you the king of the Jews? And then he went out to
the people and said, behold your king. Oh, he got everybody mad. Fighting man. Killing. What'll
I do with your king, he kept saying. Is this your king? And
they all got, kill him. We have no king but Caesar. We
reign, we rule, this man reign. We will not have this man reign
over us. And then, I love this, Herod.
had written over his cross, written up there, the King of the Jews. And that made him even more mad. Don't say that. Don't write that. Write, he said he was. He said,
what I've written. Now, he doesn't know what he's
doing. He doesn't know what he's doing.
What I've written, I've written. You see, right then and there,
Man thought he was ending the kingdom of the king. Right then
and there, God was crowning him king of kings. This was his coronation,
his greatest glory, because Romans 14 says, To this end Christ both
died and was buried and rose again, that he might be Lord
over the dead and the living. And then he ascended up unto
glory and sat down. Where? He had not in some two-bit
throne over in Jerusalem. On the right hand of the majesty
on high. I told you I was going to lift
up my voice. On the right hand of the majesty on high. And there
he reigns. I don't like that. Sits. He sits. Scripture says
sits. my holy hell of Zion, reigning,
ruling, ascended unto glory. His kingdom is not of this world.
If it were, he would have fought for it. Right now he reigns, though
mortal man can't see it. Look at Luke 19 in closing. These are just parting words
here. Luke 19. No mortal man can't
see it. They didn't see it then. God
told them, didn't he? Here he comes. He's coming. What's
he going to look like? Is he going to be born in Bethlehem? Think about that. Why don't men
are destroyed for lack of knowledge? But God wrote the book. He's going to be born in Bethlehem. He's going to grow up, he's going
to go to Egypt, and he's going to go
to Nazareth. Anybody just open their eyes.
If anybody finds him, and he's a detective work, was anybody
here recently, born? Yeah, and that's what they went,
they moved to Egypt. A young couple had a child and
they moved, just like, went to Egypt. Did you see anybody from
Israel that had a child, small child? Yes, they left here and
went to Nazareth. God said that. He said all these things. God told them. And then everything
he did as a boy, and then came riding—here he comes, here's
my king coming, come riding in on a colt, a foal of an ox. Didn't
see it, didn't recognize it, didn't believe it. Why? They
don't want a kingdom. Well, look at Luke 19. That's
what the Lord is saying here in this parable. In verse 12,
I've never seen this before. It says, A certain noble man
went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom and to
return. He went to get this kingdom,
to purchase it. And then leave, go back where
it came from. OK? They say it's not the kingdom,
his kingdom is not of this world. No, it's not. But he bought it.
He bought it. This is his world. This is his
world. Kingdoms of the world are the
Lord's. And he sets up whoever he will.
All right, read on. He called his ten servants and
delivered them ten pounds and said, Occupy. Hey, but what of
them? are his servants of his order
and they all occupy according to his will. This noble man. But verse fourteen says the citizens
hated him and sent a message saying we
will not have this man reign over us. We will not. Look at
the next verse though. Never seen it. It came to pass
that when he was returned having received his kingdom. Did you get that with me? He
went to get it, and the people said, no, you can't have it.
He got it. We will not have you. It doesn't
matter. I do. We don't like that. That doesn't matter either. I
do. And I started to have you turn
over to 1 Samuel, where it says that one time David came to a
city King David, God's King, and inhabitants of the city. They were up behind a big wall.
They had all these fortresses, and they had all their gods.
They had all their gods lined up on the wall. Scripture says
they're blind and halt and lame, meaning they're idols, a dumb
idol. They had them all lined up on the wall. And David now,
this is his city. And the people of this town said,
David can't come in here. We've got all our idols. He can't
get in here. We're behind this wall, this fortress. He can't
come in. The very next verse, Dan says,
David took it. He took it, having received his
kingdom. And verse 27, in closing, says,
I say unto you, the Lord says, I say unto you, every one which
hath shall be given, and from him that hath not, even that
which hath shall be taken away from him, but those mine enemy,
Which would not that I should reign over them. The ones who said that I should
not. Salvation is for God before them
right now in this day. While we live on this earth,
it's for God to say, bring him to me. To send his servants through
the preaching of the gospel to say, these rebels, they're all
rebels. I was a rebel. You were a rebel. It's for God
in mercy and grace to say, bring him to me. And he says, he doesn't
say, kill him. He says, spare him. Teach him. Change him. Hold him. Shape him. Bend his knee. Loosen his tongue. Give him a new heart. Give him
a new spirit. Clean him up. Wash him. Dip him. Clothe him. Now, what do you
have to say? We will have you, Rainer. Yes,
we will. There's nothing we love more.
What made us exceedingly mad, now, by your mercy and grace,
makes us exceedingly glad. That's how they All right, let's
sing. What do you what do you have? Number 13. That's good. Number 13, a couple of verses,
first and last verse. Praise ye the Lord, the Almighty,
the King of creation. O my soul, praise Him, for He
is thy health and salvation. All ye who hear, bow to His temples,
draw near. Join me in glad adoration. Praise ye the Lord, O let all
that is in me adore Him. All that hath life and breath,
come now and praise it before Him. Let the amidst Sound from
his people again, Gladly foray, we adore him.