So far. That's the one that worries me.
Good morning so far. That was a blessing, brother.
That was a blessing. I'm full. I'm full. I could sit down right now. If
I had any sense, I probably would. Turn to Zachariah chapter 9.
Zechariah chapter 9, and I am thrilled to be here, to
be in this conference, and to hear the preaching I've heard.
What a blessing, what a blessing these messages have been. Last
night I heard of Christ becoming what I am, that I might become
what He is, become the righteousness of God. To hear of God's election,
God choosing us in Christ. You know, I've come to understand
that no one will understand and love
election until they come and understand and love the elect,
Christ. Behold my elect. You hate election,
you gotta hate him, because he's the elect. He's the first choice. As I told the brother last night,
there wouldn't be any elect angels either. There wouldn't be any
angels left. They'd all fallen if God hadn't
chosen them. Zechariah chapter nine. Verse nine. Rejoice greatly old daughter
of Zion, shout, old daughter of Jerusalem, behold thy king, thy king cometh unto thee. He is just and having salvation,
lowly and riding upon an ass and upon a colt, the foal of
an ass. A few hundred years ago, Some
people boarded a ship and they came to America. They left England
to start a new life, to set up a new form of government, and
they left the rule of the King of England behind them. And that's been a long time ago
now. And we have forgotten what it is to be under the rule of
a king. We don't know what it is to say
your majesty, to say your majesty. We don't know what that is. We
have forgotten that. We don't know what it is to bow
before a king, a sovereign, and back out of the room when leaving,
daring not to turn our back on the king, especially the king
of kings. We don't know what that's like.
Not by nature we don't. But let me say this loud and
clear. Though we live in a democracy,
we are under the theocracy. We are under the rule of Jesus
Christ. He is our king. We are under a king, and that
king is Jesus Christ. They wrote, Pilate had it written
over the cross, this is the king. This is Jesus, king of the Jews. He is the king. The Lord Jesus Christ is. God
said in Psalm 2, yet have I sent my king upon my holy hill, Uzziah. No opposition from man could
stop that. They said, we will not have this
man to reign over us. You want to bet on that? I want
you to bet on that. No opposition from Satan could
stop Almighty God from setting up Christ as King. King. Rejoice greatly, O daughter
of Zion. Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem.
Behold, consider, look at this, thy king, not a king, thy king
cometh unto thee. He's a just king. He's just and
having salvation, lowly, riding upon an ass, upon a colt to follow
an ass. He gives us a reason to rejoice. Every one of us here
in this room, whatever is going on in our lives, we have a reason
to rejoice. We have a king. We have a king. Not just a king, but the king
of kings. We have the king of kings. Not
a king among kings, but the king of kings. But Zion's king now
is different. He's different. You see, Zion's
king is the true sovereign. Zion's king is the creator. Zion's
king is the creator. All things were created by him
and for him. Everything you and I see, Jesus
Christ created. He made it. He brought it into
existence out of nothing. Now you and I make something,
we get materials that are already made. He didn't. He didn't. He commanded and it stood forth. He rules over the wind and the
waves. That's why he was able to sleep
in the back of that boat. When the wind was blowing and
the waves and the disciples said, Lord cares not that we perish? And he stood up and he rebuked
the wind and the waves and they were still. You know why they
were still? Because where the word of a king
is, there's power. There's power. And he said, shut
up, sit down, lay down. And it did. It was a great calm. There was a great calm. He provides for everything on
this earth. He provides where no man is. When the raven cries, do you hear it? Listen, let me
read something to you. Now the book of Job, it says
over here, let me see where I wrote this down, over in Job 38, In verse 41, who provided for the raven his
food? Who does that? When his young
ones cry, listen, unto God. They cry unto God. Now they cry
to us, we're shooting at them, but they cry to God to provide. They cry to God. They cry to
the king of glory. Creation cries to its God, not
its mother. It's God, the king of glory. Who provideth for the raven his
food when his young ones cry unto God they wonder for lack
of meat. Our Lord rules over creation. I'm not worried about global
warming. The only thing I know about global
warming is when God burns it up. Now when God burns it up,
that's global warming. You can be sure. But I am not
worried about global warming. I'm not worried about something
getting loose in space. Everything is under the authority,
the control, and I mean minute by minute. Minute by minute,
it's under the control of our king. Someone said this. Well, let me get ahead of myself
here. Zion's king is the sovereign
king. And Zion's king rules over providence. Are you really worried about
what's going on right now? Well, it would help you if you
turned the news off. You know, I heard someone say one of Satan's
greatest evils is a 24-7 news channel. that keeps people tore up. Who
really ruling over things? Who is really? Jesus Christ. There's a king in glory who rules
over not only creation, he's ruling over everything that's
happening. I mean everything that's happening. And we know
that all things work together for good. Now how do we know
that? Because we know that the King of Glory is making everything
work together for our good. What looks like chaos at times
is actually working for our good and fulfilling the very purpose
of God for His elect. That's what's happening. That's
what's happening. I actually turned the news on
to get the weather. I just want to find out what it's going to
be like. And other than that, I turn it back off. I do, I turn
it back off. I don't want them to disturb
me. I don't want them to disturb my peace that I have in the Lord
Jesus Christ. And then Zion's king is the Messiah
king. He's a saving king. He's the
savior. That's who he is. He's the savior
of sinners. Thou shalt call his name Jesus.
for he shall save his people from their sins. And I like what
our brother said because I've got it written down here too,
not trying to say. I had it written down there,
I wrote it down this morning, not trying to say. No, he's the
king. He's the king. And Zion's king
is the king of glory. He's not king of a little piece
of land somewhere in a motley little crew. I cannot explain
to you God's glory. I can't comprehend that, but
Jesus Christ is king of it. He's king of it. I can't comprehend what I'm talking
about. I cannot, this is over my head. I'm a short man, don't
take this over my head, but this is over my head. Way over my
head. We're talking about the king
of glory. This is a lie. Zion's king is the king of glory. He's the Lord of hosts. Who is
this king of glory says in Psalm 24? The Lord of hosts. Mighty
in battle. Now here's another reason to
rejoice. He cometh unto thee. Other kings sin for their subjects.
Go get him. But not Zion's king. He comes
to fetch his subjects. That's right. You believe on
the Lord Jesus Christ. He came to fetch you. He came
to fetch. Fetching grace. Isn't that what
they call it? Fetching grace. He comes to where they are. He
comes to them in mercy, in grace, and in peace. He comes to the
pit. He comes to the pit. Look here
in verse 11. As for thee also by the blood
of thy covenant, I have sent forth thy prisoners. Talk about
trying not to save or trying to save a man. You know what
the brother said? He doesn't try to save. Listen
to this. I have sent forth thy prisoners. It's done. They're free. The door's open. What are you standing around
for? Get out of here. Oh, he comes to the pit, he comes
to where they are. What a king, what a gracious
king, what a merciful king that we have. He's our king, he's
my king. He's my king. What condescending
grace that the king of kings would come to us, would come
to us, to where we are, even though we hate him by nature. That demonic said, what do we
have to do with you? Get out of here. I thought when I read that the
other day, you better be glad God saves you against your will. He saves me against my will with
my full consent. He saved that demonic against
his will. That man did not want to be saved.
He did not want the Lord to come there. He didn't ask him to come.
He didn't ask him to do anything but get out of there. What do
we have to do with you? I tell you what though, the king
comes to his enemies and conquers them. I see there's some enemies
of Christ in here that were conquered. You've been conquered. And you've
been made to fall in love with the king of glory. With the king
of glory. Let's look at his character.
What kind of king is Zion's king? What kind of king is our king?
He's just. This old world has seen a lot
of unjust kings. But Zion's king is just. He's a just king. He's holy. There's nothing like him. In
him is no sin. There is no sin in our king. None whatsoever. It is written
in the scriptures that God of Israel said, the rock of Israel
spake to me, he that ruleth among men must be just, ruling in the
fear of God. And he does that perfectly. Perfectly. He rules with equity. Our king
is no respecter of persons. There's never been a person living
on this earth but one that was no respecter of persons. Now
you and I, have done that. You and I have been respective
persons. I take care of myself before I do my neighbor. Don't
I? I take care of my kids before
I do anybody else's. But Jesus Christ, now listen. The Lord Jesus Christ, not one
time, not one single time did one thing for himself. Everything
he did, he did for me, and you who believe, and all his elect.
Everything he did. He never did one thing for himself. I can't say that. You can't say
that. We put ourselves first way too many times. Way too many
times. He's a just king. He rules with
equity. He's a king of righteousness.
He's not just a righteous king. He's the king of righteousness.
Apart from Him, now listen, apart from Jesus Christ, righteousness
does not exist. It does not exist. He is the
king of righteousness. That's who He is. He's the king
of peace. Apart from Him, there's no peace.
He is our peace. He didn't just give me peace,
He is my peace. It was God. Here's another reason
to rejoice. Having salvation, or saving by
himself, or having won the victory, he brings salvation with him. He brings it with him. Zion's
king is her salvation. He is my salvation. He is my salvation. When he had
by himself purged our sins. It's not a cooperative effort
between me and him. He does the saving. He does the
saving. When he had by himself purged
our sins, sat down, On the right hand of the majesty, I love that
word, majesty. Your majesty. We need to learn
to say that. We're gonna be saying it for
a long time. We need to learn to say your majesty. The high
king of heaven, Jesus Christ. He sat down on the right hand
of the majesty on high. He's my salvation. Look in verse
eight back here. just in case you get worried
at nighttime. You know, I came here and left
Vicki at home by herself for the first time down in Spring
Lake, North Carolina. And it's out in the country.
And she was not real comfortable about it. I told her to bring
our dog in. She said, he'll just lick him.
We got a golden retriever. He'll invite him in. But anyway,
God says this, here in verse eight. I will encamp about mine
house because of the army, because of him that passes by, and because
of him that returns. And no oppressor shall pass through
them anymore, for now have I seen with mine eye. The king is kept
about our house. Satan said, concerning Job, he
said, to paraphrase it, He said, you put a hedge about it. Well
God is that hedge. Our God is that hedge. The Lord
Jesus Christ is the hedge about us. I will encamp. I will encamp about mine house.
Not just a house, it's his house. I am his house. This is his house. It's his house. And he says,
I'm camping right out by it. Oh, our king is no weak king. Zion's king is God incarnate.
Our Lord said, all power is given to me in heaven and earth. He
said, I have all power over all flesh. Isaiah 12 says, behold God is
my salvation. Who's your salvation? Is it a
what or a person? God is my salvation. I will trust
and not be afraid. For the Lord Jehovah is my strength
and my song. He also has become my salvation.
In Psalm 47, for God is the king. Jesus Christ, as our brother
said, is God and he's the king. God is king of all the earth. I wish we could get that. I wish
I could get that. It sure make getting up in the
morning a lot easier. Going throughout the day a lot easier knowing
that my King is ruling over all. For God is the King of all the
earth. Sing praises. There's something
to sing about. Sing with understanding. We're not just making noise.
God reigneth over the heathen. Is there anybody out there under
his control? God reigns over the heathen, that Kim Yum Yum,
whatever, over in North Korea? God reigns over that man. God
reigns over, Jesus Christ has his thumb on that man. He has his thumb on that man.
He can't even take the next breath without Jesus Christ giving it
to him. And that man, It's under the authority, the
control of Jesus Christ as well as everyone. And he doesn't even
know it, but he's fulfilling God's purpose. Every one of them
fulfilling God's purpose. So that's a wicked, wicked. The
wickedness of man shall praise the Lord and the rest he'll restrain.
Let's not forget that. Let's not forget it. For God,
David said in Psalm 74, for God is my king of old. He's working
salvation in the midst of the earth. And Zion's king is the
king priest. He's the king priest. He's able
to save unto the uttermost them that come unto God by him, seeing
he ever lives to make intercession for them. He's the king priest.
He's the priest that sits upon the throne. You know, it's in him. It is
in the Lord Jesus Christ, our King, that this worship service
is accepted. The prayers, there's enough sin
in what we've done this morning to send us all to hell. It is. I thought this morning when I
was looking at this again, I thought he's the great purifier. He's
the great filter that makes all that we do acceptable. When you
got up this morning and you took a drink out of the spigot, you
turned the water on, took your drink of pure, clean water, you
ought to go down to the waste treatment plant and see where
the other end of that is. See what that looks like. And
apart from Jesus Christ, that's what this would be, just waste
water. It'd be just waste water, but
I tell you what, this worship service, our prayers, they all
pass through the great purifier. They all pass through Jesus Christ
and God accepts it. God accepts it. But apart from
him, you and I are nothing but waste water. Sewer water, that's
what it is. He is the sacrifice. Jesus Christ
is everything necessary to save. I didn't say He has everything
necessary, though He does. He is everything necessary. Wisdom,
righteousness, sanctification, redemption. Everything I need
to stand in God's presence, Jesus Christ is to me. That's what
He is to me. He is the sacrifice, his blood
is the blood of atonement, his righteousness. You know, I said
his righteousness, I wrote down here, his righteousness is righteous.
I was like, duh. I thought, why'd I write that?
There is no wrong, there's just righteousness. It's not righteousness
is righteous. If it's righteousness, that's
it. That's it. Sometimes I do that. And this righteousness belongs
to his people. And right now there is a priest.
We have a high priest. Now the Hebrews knew something
about that. They grew up under that. But now we have a high
priest representing us before God who makes intercession for
us. He's the reason I'm accepted.
He has made us accepted in the blood. Not just acceptable. He
made us accepted. God has received us in Christ.
And then Zion's king is a mighty conqueror. He has conquered death. He's conquered hell. He's conquered
the grave. He's satisfied the broken law.
He has defeated Satan. And he's broke the power of sin.
And greatest of all, he's conquered me. He conquered me. You and I are not tough enough
to crack. If he's purposed to crack you, you'll crack. And
if he's gonna conquer you, he'll conquer you now. He's not gonna
beg you into something, he's gonna bring you to his feet.
And he's gonna do it in love. He's gonna do it in love. It
says in Colossians 2, and having spoiled principalities and powers,
he made a show of them openly, triumphing over them in it. He's a conquering king. And here's
another reason to rejoice. He's lowly. He's lowly. He's kind. He's gentle. He's meek. He's approachable. He's approachable. He's not a
tyrant. Jesus Christ is not a tyrant.
When the Pharisees saw him, they saw it, they said unto his disciples,
why eateth your master, your king, with publicans and sinners? Well, first of all, no one else
wants to eat with him but publicans and sinners. That's the only
ones that want to eat with him. They are the only ones who feel
comfortable in his presence. The Pharisees never felt comfortable
in his presence. The self-righteous never felt comfortable in his
presence. They are the ones that felt uncomfortable. But the publicans and the harlots,
they felt comfortable sitting there with the Lord of glory.
The Holy One of Israel did not make them feel uncomfortable.
They sat there and ate with them. And he didn't feel uncomfortable.
He didn't feel uncomfortable. The kings of the earth are not
approachable, especially by the poor and the harlots. Now they'll bring them in the
back door, but they won't bring them in the front door. And sinners. That's not the company they want.
You don't call them Matthew publicly, a tax collector. I apologize
to anybody working for IRS, but you don't call a tax collector
if you want people to follow you. You don't call them Mary Magdalene. You don't call those kind of
people. You don't call a woman who's had five husbands and the
one she has now, she's just living with. You don't call those kind
of people. If you want to get a following, he's not out to get a following.
He's out to save sinners. That's what he's doing. That's
what he's doing. Even children flock to him. The
disciples one time started to run him off. They started to
run the kids off. And the Lord said, but when Jesus
saw it, he was much displeased and said unto them, suffer the
little children that come to me, and forbid them not, for
such is the kingdom of heaven. Don't run them off, bring them.
He took that one and put it up on his knee and blessed it. I'd like to have seen the life
of that child. I'd like to have known the life of that child.
He blessed it. Our king commands sinners to
come into his presence. Come to me, all you that labor,
and of heavy laden, and I'll give you rest. That's the message of the king
of glory. Come to me. Come to me. Don't run off. Come to me. I'll give you rest. But it also
means he made himself of no reputation. Our Lord did not seek the honor
that comes from men, but the honor that comes from God only. And note how he comes into town, riding on the foal of a donkey,
the foal of an ass, is what he did. Not like the presidents,
when the president comes into town, you got a motorcade. You
got these motorcycles up the side, you got this black Lincoln
Town car, you know, Our Lord, the Creator of Heaven and Earth,
our King, He comes into town on a donkey. Why didn't He just wait and come
on this day when He could have come in a Bentley or a Rolls
Royce? Because He didn't come to do
that. Our King came to serve. He came not only as our King
but as an example. He came to serve. Whether is
greater he that sitteth at me, or he that serveth. It's not
he that sitteth at me, but I'm among you as he that serveth.
And yet he was no less king. He was no less king because he
was born king. Where is he that's born king? He never gave up being
king. He never gave up being king. Even when he was serving. Even
when he was washing Peter's feet, he was the king. This is the
king. When his enemies came to him, they fell backwards. The
king had to give them strength to get up and finish the job.
Can you imagine that? He had to give
them the power to get back up off the ground when he identified
himself so they could arrest him and finish, carry out God's
purpose. That's what they had to do. Now
every king has his weapon of conquest. What is his weapon
of conquest? He shall speak peace. His word. His word. His word is his weapon. His word is like a sharp two-edged
sword. For the word of God is quick
and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing
even to the divided asunder of soul and spirit and of the joints
and marrow and the discerner of the thoughts and intents of
the heart. How important it is. It is tantamount. that we preach
the Word. It is that which will conquer
you. That's what God will use to conquer you. His Word. Not some easy playing music and
some real philosophical nitwit speaking, but His Word. His Word. As I say, where the
word of the king is, there's power. And who may say unto him,
what doest thou? I heard someone say when they
get to heaven, they had some questions that they were going
to ask God. Well, if that's your idea, you
ain't going to get there. Because it's evident you don't
know the king. It's evident you don't know that what he does
is right. He can do no wrong. He can do
no wrong. What He does is right. I'm not
going to question Him at all. I'm just going to stand amazed
that I'm even there. That I'm even there. With a word, it says, He cast
out devils. When the evening was come, they
brought unto Him many that were possessed with devils, and He
cast out the spirits with His Word. No hocus pocus going on,
nothing. He just said, leave. Come out. And you read the gospels, not
one of them said, I ain't doing it. You don't read one of them
saying no. They don't even say no. They
do it. They do it. When he says come
out, They come out. I tell you what, if the king
of glory says live, I promise you, you'll live. You will live. And listen, his word is his power. That's his word, that's his weapon
of conquest. And it says he shall speak peace.
He didn't come to destroy but to save. He'll speak peace. You
know the scripture says it's the goodness of God that leads
to repentance? I know these churches like to
show some of these, well I don't like to call them churches, but
they'll try to scare these kids into making a profession. They'll
go show a movie on hell. They make video games now. That's
the worst thing they show. You can't shock these kids. But
I tell you this, they ought to hang, they ought to publicly
hang any pastor that shows a movie to try to scare kids into doing
something. They ought to publicly hang them. It's the goodness of God that
leadeth thee to repentance. They shall mourn when they look
on him whom they have pierced. Comfort ye, comfort ye my people,
saith your God. Speak ye comfortably, speak ye
comfortably to Jerusalem. and cry unto her that her warfare
is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned, for she hath received
in the Lord's hand double, double grace, mercy, love for her sins. Not her goodness. She ain't got
any. God doesn't save good people,
there's not any. And then I'm gonna close. Receive
his dominion. In verse 10, it is from sea to
sea, from the river unto the ends of the earth. Other kings
have limitations to their dominion. They have boundaries. And I'm
a king of this little area. But not Zion's king. He reigns
over all. He reigns over the kings of the
earth and the gnats that fly in the air. Daniel 7, I saw in the night
visions and behold one like the son of man came with the clouds
of heaven and came to the ancient of days and they brought him
near before him and there was given him dominion. and glory,
and a kingdom that all people, nations, and languages should
serve him. His dominion is an everlasting
dominion which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which
shall not be destroyed. We have a king. We have a king,
the Son of God. He's the sovereign king. He's
a just king. He's a merciful king. He's an
omnipotent king. He is our king. All right, when
you get up in the morning before you turn the news on, sit down and talk to your king.
Seek the will of your king. Seek the face of your king. He's Zion's king. How beautiful
upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings,
that publishes peace, that bringeth good tidings of good, that publishes
salvation, that saith unto Zion, thy God reigneth. And that is
exactly what I've said to you. Thy God reigneth. This should
quiet our fears, encourage our faith, and put a snap in our
step. Rejoice greatly, O God of Zion. Thy King cometh unto thee. You reckon he's here this morning?
You reckon the King of Glory's been here with us this morning? All right. Thank you, Pastor. Stay right
here, John. I want you to pray for us. Thank you. Tonight, the
Lord willing, we'll have Brother Donny Bell preaching for us at
six o'clock, and then Brother Todd Nybritt preaching for us
after Donny. Hope you can stay for lunch.
Lady's got things fixed for you downstairs. I'll ask John to
pray for us, give thanks for the provision. What a good, good
morning. And then we'll have a salt together.