Psalm 110 will be our text this
evening. If you look at the whole psalm,
Psalm 110, it is a rather short psalm compared to many, but this
psalm is about two basic things. Christ our King. Christ our priest. I need both. You need both. So that will be the title of
the message, Christ the King-Priest. Now this psalm is a clear revelation
of the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ. His person,
glorious person, as God and King. And His office as our great high
priest. who is our mediator, whoever
lives to intercede for us. For there is but one God, one
mediator between God and men, that is a God-man, the Lord Jesus
Christ. This psalm is one of the most
quoted psalms in the New Testament. I looked today and looked it
up again to reinforce my memory and at least eight times this
Psalm is mentioned in the New Testament. Four times alone in
the book of Hebrews where it talks about thou art a priest
forever after the order of Melchizedek. We've studied that. through the
book of Hebrews. I think we've been through the
book of Hebrews three times in these last 25 years. It's no
wonder both the Old Testament and New Testament both give us
the same message. The Old Testament message is
salvation in Christ. The New Testament message is
salvation in Christ. They're one book with one message
by one author who is God Almighty. To him give all the prophets
witness. You remember in Luke 24, the
Lord said, all things must be fulfilled, which are written
in the law of Moses and in the prophets and in the Psalms concerning
me. I enjoyed so much when we took
those three years and went through all these Psalms. Now, we're
able to go back and pick up a few jewels and look at them again. Now, no doubt the Lord Jesus
Christ is the King of kings and Lord of lords, and He is our
priest. I need a priest who has somewhat
to offer. And his offering is totally acceptable
to God. He is the king priest. Now there
were many anointed kings in Israel, David and others, but none of
those kings were priests. There were many anointed priests,
priest after priest, year after year as they died off. Aaron
and his sons and others, but none of them were kings, were
they? No. Matter of fact, one king tried
to be a priest. Do you remember what happened
to him? God killed him. Aaron and others were priests,
but they were never kings. The only one who was prophet,
priest, and king is the Lord Jesus Christ himself. We need
a prophet, priest, and king. Because we're sinners who are
in need of salvation. We need a prophet to tell us
a way of salvation. We need a priest who has a designated
sacrifice, not a blood of bulls and goats, but of his own blood.
And then we need a king. Our king has all wisdom, all
power. He never makes a mistake. What
He does is always right. And it's just exactly on time. Of Him and through Him and to
Him are all things. He is the King of kings and Lord
of lords. This is the one who is our Savior. Now, aren't you glad you have
a Savior like that? He can be trusted, for He has
all power. He can be trusted, for He has
all wisdom. Shall not the judge of all the
earth do right? Now, take a look at verse one.
The Lord said, and notice that's capital L-O-R-D. And whenever
you see that in the Old Testament, it means it's referring to Jehovah
God, the eternal, everlasting, unchanging God. The Lord said
to my Lord, David said, the Lord is my shepherd. Speaking of the
Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, GOD SAID YOU SIT AT MY RIGHT
HAND. WHEN HE BY HIMSELF PURGED OUR
SINS HE SAT DOWN ON THE RIGHT HAND OF GOD. HE CAME FROM THE
RIGHT HAND OF GOD WHEN HE CAME IN THE FULLNESS OF TIME AND HE
ACCOMPLISHED SALVATION FOR US AND WHEN HE WENT BACK TO GLORY
HE SAT DOWN ON THE SAME THRONE THAT HE LEFT whenever he did
to come to put away our sin by the sacrifice of himself. The
Lord said unto my Lord, the Lord Jesus Christ, that was David's
hope. You sit thou with my right hand
till I make thine enemies to be your footstool. What an amazing statement. God
the Father speaking unto God the Son concerning the victories
of the Lord Jesus Christ and salvation accomplished by him,
he saith unto the Son, thy throne, O God, this is Hebrews 1.8, thy
throne, O God, is forever and ever a scepter of righteousness,
is a scepter of thy kingdom. Now these words of the Lord Jesus
Christ are quoted, we just read it a moment ago in Matthew 22,
to silence the Pharisees where he asked this question, how can
it be David's son and David's Lord at the same time? Now, that's a mystery. They couldn't
figure it out, and no man can, left to himself. It has to be
by revelation of God. How can He be the Son of God?
This is my beloved Son, God the Father speaks, and whom I'm well
pleased. And how can He be the Son of
Man, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem them that
were under the law? How can He be both? He is. Make no mistake about that. He's
both God, totally and fully, and yet at the same time as our
Mediator, the God-Man Mediator. The Word that was with God from
all eternity, the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us and
we beheld His glory. God who inhabits eternity, The
prophet Isaiah said, God who inhabits eternity, he inhabited
a body of a real man. Without controversy, great is
the mystery of godliness. God was manifest in the flesh. That makes everything he did
Absolutely successful. That means everything he said
was absolutely true. They even confessed that. We
read it in Matthew 22. We know that you're come from
God and you speak the truth. He couldn't do anything else
because he is God. He's both totally, fully God
and fully and totally man in one blessed person. The God-man
mediator. That means everything he did
was absolutely successful to the glory of God. This is the
one that we trust. And we have the privilege of
hearing this conversation between the Holy Father and the Holy
Son, given by Holy Spirit inspiration. And God says to the Son, the
Father says to the Son, you sit at my right hand. We read that
many times in Scripture, especially in the book of Hebrews. The right
hand of God. IS A SPECIAL PLACE RESERVED FOR
OUR SPECIAL KING PRIEST. THE LAMB IS ON THE THRONE FOREVER
AND EVER. THE LAMB IS IN THRONE. all through
the revelation we see the lamb typified or the lamb spoken of
that was typified in the old testament the lamb the lion of
the tribe of judah we see him in a sacrificial character all
the way through our study in the book of revelation but he's
the lamb on the throne God. Worthy is the lamb that was slain
to receive all honor, power, glory, and forever. And notice
this, the Lord said sit down, sit down. Now if you look at
the furniture In the Old Testament tabernacle, there was not a chair
about that tabernacle. The priests of old, when they
went in to officiate, representing the people of Israel, they never
sat down. They went in there about the
business of God, ministering the business of God, but they
never sat down. Their work was never finished,
effectual, or complete. The Lord Jesus Christ, being
our great high priest, having accomplished all of our salvation,
when he by himself purged our sin, he sat down at the right
hand of God. What does that signify? The work
is done. By one offering he hath perfected
forever them that are sanctified. He sits in absolute splendor
of his sovereign almighty power. He sits as our surety. He sits
as our mediator and he sits there as our savior. Call his name
Jesus, he shall save his people from their sin. That being so,
he says by decree of God, you sit at my right hand because
you've accomplished the salvation I sent you to do and you sit
at my right hand until I make all your enemies TO BOW BEFORE
YOUR SOVEREIGN THRONE. ALL THE ENEMIES WILL BE MADE
TO BOW UNDER HIS LORDSHIP. ALL ENEMIES WILL BE FORCED TO
SURRENDER AND CONFESS HIS LORDSHIP. THEY'LL BE MADE TO DO SO. YOU
RECKON GOD CAN MAKE THEM? I RECKON SO, HE'S GOD. God had
made that same Jesus, Peter said, whom you crucified. God hath
made him both Lord and Christ. He must reign till he hath put
all enemies under his feet." Every knee's going to bow, every
tongue going to confess, Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of
God the Father. That's good news. You know why
that's good news? Verse three says, his people
will be willing in the day of his power. By nature, the carnal
mind is enmity against God. Every believer who by nature
is at enmity or enmity with God has been conquered by the sovereign
grace of God and may devour before his throne and confess willingly
so that he is Lord to the glory of God the Father. Now take a
peek at verse two. Psalm 110 verse 2, the Lord shall
send the rod of thy strength out of Zion, his church, and
that rod of his strength will rule in the midst of his enemy. God has a rule. Now this Zion
that's mentioned here is the gospel Zion. God said, you remember
Psalm 2, I've set my king upon my holy hill Zion. Out of the
gospel Zion, out of his church, the Lord will send the rod of
his strength. Now what is the rod of his strength?
It's the word of his power. Remember the word is quick and
powerful, sharper than any two-edged sword. Not only the word of his
power, but the power of his gospel. He shall send forth his gospel
with power. YOU REMEMBER HE SAID MATTHEW
28 ALL POWER IS GIVEN TO ME IN HEAVEN AND EARTH. NOW GO THEREFORE
AND PREACH THE GOSPEL TO EVERY CREATURE KNOWING I HAVE ALL POWER. I LIKE WHAT THE APOSTLE SAYS
AND WE QUOTE IT SO MUCH. Sometimes I wonder if we even
hear what it says. I'm not ashamed of the gospel
of Christ for it's the power of God on the salvation to everyone
that believe it, to the Jew and also to the Gentile. Therein
in that gospel is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to
faith. So it's the power of his word, the power of the gospel
that we're not ashamed of. It's the power of God the Holy
Spirit. quickening, converting, convicting
of sin. When He, the Spirit of truth
has come, He'll convict us of sin, of righteousness, and judgment. Of sin, what we are. Of righteousness,
what we need. Of judgment. Of judgment. because the prince of this world
has been judged. Our sin has been judged in the
Lord Jesus Christ. His gospel will rule in the hearts
of his people. He will reconcile us unto himself. He'll make us new creatures in
Christ Jesus. If any man be in Christ, he is
a new creature. Old things are passed away. Behold,
all things have become new. He will cause us to love him
and believe him. For we read, we love him because
he first loved us. His gospel truth is a rod of
his strength that quickens the dead to life. You have to be
quickened who were dead in trespasses and in son. As the father raises
up and quickens even so the son quickens whom he will. It pleased
God through the preaching of the gospel TO RULE IN THE MIDST
OF HIS ENEMIES, AND HE MAKES THEM TO SUBMIT. THAT'S WHAT IT
SAYS IN VERSE 3. PSALM 110, VERSE 3, THY PEOPLE,
THY PEOPLE SHALL BE, THOSE TWO WORDS ARE ADDED, BUT IT'S OKAY
IF WE READ THEM, THY PEOPLE WILLING IN THE DAY OF THY POWER. IN THE
BEAUTY OF HOLINESS, from the womb of the morning thou hast
to do of thy youth." Now, here is the effect of the rod of his
strength upon the elect of God. Who are these people? Notice
he says, thy people, thy people. Who are these people? Well, they're
the elect of God. Our Lord speaks of them in John
6, all that the Father giveth to me, Shall come to me, those
that come to me, I will in no wise cast out." Who are these
people? The messenger from heaven said,
call his name Jesus, he shall save his people from their sins. That's who these people are.
What are they made to do? They're made willing. Willing. in the day of His power. They're
made willing to receive and believe and love the Lord Jesus Christ.
He makes us willing. He changes our want to. He changes
our will. We believe the gospel only according
to the working of His mighty power. Hold your place there
and find Psalm 65. Blessed is a man Verse 4, Psalm 65, Blessed is
the man whom thou choosest and causes to approach unto thee,
that he may dwell in thy courts, we shall be satisfied with the
goodness of thy house, even thy holy temple. Blessed is that
man. You know by nature, We'll never
come to God. We'll never believe the gospel.
Our Lord said, no man can come to me except the father which
sent me draw him. He makes us willing in the day
of his power. Now, who are these people? The elect of God. What are they
made to do? They're made willing to receive
and believe and love the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. They've
been raised up from the dead. What are they made to see? We
see him in his beauty. Look what it says, in the beauty
of his holiness. Not only do we see his holy character,
and we do, with eyes of faith in the word, but we see the absolute
need of his righteousness imputed and reckoned unto us. He is,
now think about this, He is the beauty of our holiness before
God. How holy do you need to be to
stand before God accepted? Well, just do the best you can,
everything will be okay. That's not the standard. God's
holy. To be accepted before God and
to stand before God accepted, you must be as holy as God. Preacher, how can that be? Only
one way, in the beauty of His holiness. And He freely imputes
that unto us. Blessed is the man to whom God
imputeth righteousness without works. What are we made to know? Christ has the eternal due of
youth. I listened back to a message
that I brought from this psalm in 2007 up in Kingsport, and
I made this statement. I don't know where it came from,
but I listened back to that message in preparation to bring this
to you this evening. Christ has the eternal due of
youth. People are always talking about
the fountain of youth, who was that one explorer, David Livingston,
was it? Over there in Africa trying to
find a fountain of youth, or one of them old explorers. The
fountain of youth, my friend, by faith through the word, we
have found the fountain of youth, as that is Christ our salvation. Thou hast the dew of thy youth
Christ himself is the dew of heaven Now you ever walked out
on a steamy morning you walk out of your house in the morning
Walk out in your yard, and you run your hand across that grass
It's going to be soaking wet where'd that do come from I?
Well, my neighbor was up all night last night and he was spreading
out that dew all over the yard. Where did that dew come from?
It comes from heaven. Where did the Lord Jesus Christ,
who is a water of life, where does he come from? From heaven. He came from glory, and he has
the dew of youth. That is, he does not change in
his purpose, in his person, in his character. Christ himself
is the dew of heaven. He's the same yesterday, today,
forever. He is the water of life. You
need a drink of the water of life? Christ is that fountain. He is the fountain. He's the
water of life, sparkling, refreshing, life-giving. As he said to that
woman at the well, you drink of that water out of that well,
that natural well, Jacob's well, you're going to thirst again.
But if you drink of that water that I will give you, there shall
be a fountain of water of life flowing forever and ever and
ever. I love what that woman said.
Lord, give me that water. I want a drink of that water,
the water of life. He said, oh, everyone that's
thirsty, come unto me and drink and drink and drink. Thou hast to do of thy youth. Now, here's the second portion
of this. Not only is he our Lord and all
of our salvation, but it's set forth here His priesthood, the
Lord has sworn and will not repent. And that word signifies the Lord
will not change. He said, I'm the same. I am the
Lord, I change not. The Lord will not repent. Thou
art a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. Now this
is repeated over and over and over again in the Hebrew letter. God having extolled and celebrated
the virtues of the office of the Lord Jesus Christ as King
and Lord, now David, by the mouth of the Holy Spirit, exalts him
in his priestly office. Aren't you glad you have a great
high priest? He's not walking around on this earth with a funny
hat on his head, dressed in a funny robe, having people bow and kiss
his ring, carrying around on a stick what I call And my wife
doesn't like this expression, but if you ever see that guy
walking around in Rome with that stick he holds in his hand, it
looks to me like he's got a shish kebab idol on the end of that
stick. He calls it Christ Crucified.
I call it a shish kebab Jesus. That's what they worship and
that's what they celebrate, but that's no priest. at all. The Lord Jesus Christ is our
great high priest forever. He is a king priest by the decree
of God. He's no shish kebab priest. He's the priest of God, the king
of God. Turn to Hebrew chapter six. We'll
stay here in the book of Hebrews for a moment. Hebrew six, And
he's the King of God, the Christ of God, by God's decree. And
he's a priest of God, Hebrews 6. Wherein God, willing more,
verse 17, to show under the airs of promise the immutability of
his counsel, confirmed it by a note that by two immutable
things in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have
strong consolation who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the
hope that's set before us, which hope we have as an anchor of
the soul, both sure and steadfast, which entered within the veil,
whether the forerunner is for us entered, even the Lord Jesus
Christ made a high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.
Look over in chapter 7 verse 22. By so much was Jesus made a surety
of a better testament, and they truly were many preached, because
they were not suffered to continue by reason of death. But this
man, because he continued with ever, has an unchangeable preach
to it. Wherefore he is able to save
them to the uttermost that come to God by him, seeing he ever
liveth to make intercession for us. Verse 26, Hebrews 7, For
such a high priest became us, who was holy, harmless, undefiled,
and separate from sin. Hebrews 8, verse 1, Now the things
which we have spoken, This is the sum. We have such a high
priest who was set on the right hand of the throne of the majesty
in the heavens. Look at chapter 9. These should
be very familiar to you because we studied through the book of
Hebrews not too long ago. But Hebrews 9 verse 11, Christ
being come a high priest did good things to come. Over and
over and over and over again. Talks about the priesthood of
Christ. Good things to come by greater and more perfect tabernacle,
not made with hand, that is to say, not of this building, neither
by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered
at once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption
for us." I love that. Read on Hebrews 10, turn over
there. We are sanctified through the
offering of the body of Jesus Christ, Hebrews 10, 10. And every
priest standeth daily, ministering, offering oftentimes the same
sacrifices, which can never take away sin. Those Old Testament
priests, the blood of bulls and goats cannot put away sin. But
this man, after he offered one sacrifice for sin forever, sat
down on the right hand of God from henceforth expecting till
his enemies be made his footstool. Well, there it is again. For but one offering hath perfected
forever them that are sanctified. Wherefore the Holy Ghost also
is a witness to us. For as he said before, this is
a covenant I will make with them after those days. Sayeth the
Lord, I'll put my laws into their hearts and their minds while
I write them, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember
no more. Now where remission of these
is, there's no more offering for sin. Having therefore, brethren,
boldness to enter in to the holiest by the blood of the Lord Jesus,
the new and living way, which he consecrated, made new for
us through the veil, that is to say his flesh, having a high
priest over the house of God. He is our King. He is our King-priest
to rule and reign over us in all things. Look back to Psalm
110. I'll wind this up. The Lord has
sworn with an oath when he could swear by no greater and will
not change. The Lord Jesus Christ is our
only priest to represent us before God. That's what a priest does.
That Old Testament priest, when he went in to officiate for Israel,
he was officiating for them with their names of each tribe upon
his breastplate. He wasn't going in there to officiate
for the Malachi, the Hittites, the Jebusites, or any others.
Israel alone. And that is a picture of Christ
who represents us before God. Verse 5, 6, and 7, the Lord at
thy right hand shall strike through kings in the day of his wrath. Now if you want to turn to this,
you can. If not, I'll read it to you.
Revelation 6, the Lord went forth conquering and to
conquer. Revelation 6, 14, and the heaven departed as a scroll
when it is rolled together, and every mountain and island were
moved out of their places. And the kings of the earth and
great men and rich men and chief captains and mighty men and every
bondman, every free man hid themselves in the dens and rocks of the
mountains and said to the mountains and rocks, fall on us, hide us
from the face of him that sitteth on the throne from the wrath
of the Lamb. For the great day of his wrath
is come. Aren't you glad he delivered
us from the wrath to come? In Christ Jesus. The Lord at
thy right hand shall strike through kings in the day of his wrath. Verse six, he shall judge among
the heathen. God's committed all judgment
unto the son. The Lord Jesus Christ is a righteous
judge. and his judgment is just, and
he shall fill the places with dead bodies, he shall wound the
heads over many, many countries. God said, you sit at my right
hand till I make every enemy to bow at your footstool, and
he shall drink with the broken away, Therefore shall he lift
up the head. He came the first time as a man
of sorrows. He shall come the second time
without sin into salvation as a mighty conquering king and
lift up his head in victory, not bow down in sorrow. I close by reading Psalm 24. If you want to turn over there
with me. Lift up your head, verse 7, Psalm
24. O ye gates, be lifted up, ye
everlasting doors, the King of Glory is coming in. Who is the
King of Glory? The Lord Strong and Mighty. The Lord Mighty in battle. Lift
up your heads, O ye gates, even lift them up, ye everlasting
doors, and the King of glory shall come in." What did God
decree? The Lord said to my Lord, sit
at my right hand, till I make thine enemies thy footstool.
Who is this King of glory? Oh, he's the Lord of the people,
the Lord of hosts. He is the King of glory. Where the head goes, that's where
the body goes. Christ is our forerunner who
has entered into heaven for us, and we enter in, in Him.