First Timothy chapter 2, and
our text is verse 5. For there's one God and one mediator
between God and men. the man, Christ Jesus. He is the perfect. He is the
only mediator, seeing that he is both God and man and one person. It's amazing, isn't it? With
scripture so clear, so emphatic, that there's only one mediator
between God and man, and yet people teach that there are others. There's a Virgin Mary, Mediatrix. There are dead saints. Others that people are taught
to pray to and seek God through them. And yet you and I know
from the Word of God, there's only one Mediator. There's only
one God. Might as well believe there's
more than one God to believe that there's more than one Mediator. There's one God. one mediator
between God and men, the man Christ Jesus. And we've seen,
and this is our fourth time to look, or begin rather, with this
verse of scripture on Wednesday evening, we've seen that as mediator,
he fills these three offices, prophet, priest, and king. I said last week that in the
New Testament we see him in these offices in this order. First
we see him as prophet as he came preaching the gospel of the kingdom
of God. Then we see him as a priest offering
himself as that one sacrifice that satisfies God and puts away
the sins of his people. And lastly, we see him exalted
to the Father's right hand and proclaiming all authority, all
power is given unto me, both in heaven and in earth. I meant only to say that we see
him in this order. I want to correct or make sure
that no one understood me to be saying that He entered into
these offices in this order. He was always prophet, priest,
and king. Never was a time when he was
not prophet, priest, and king. As a mediator, this is his work
as a mediator. Tonight, we're looking again,
as we did last Wednesday evening, as the king. The Lord Jesus Christ
as the king, this is part of his his office as a mediator. He's the king of kings. He's
the Lord of Lords. Now we saw last time that he
was prophesied to come as a king in the Old Testament. There were
prophecies of him coming, the Messiah coming, and he would
come as a king. Then it was announced that he
came as a king. The angel announced to those
shepherds that he was born a king. And then also we saw that he
was acknowledged that he came as a king. Nathanael acknowledged
him as the king of Israel. And then lastly, the Lord Jesus
Christ before Pilate, he confessed that he came as a king. Now a king has a kingdom. No
one would be considered a king if he did not have a kingdom.
And tonight we will look or think of his kingdom under these three
heads. First, his kingdom of power. Christ's kingdom of power. Now
this kingdom is of all creation. and is his by virtue of the fact
that he is God, his kingdom of power over all creation, over
all that is in his creation. He's king over everything, and
nothing happens in his creation apart from his direction. I texted Brother Greg Elmquist
this morning knowing that there probably going to receive the
winds and the rain from the hurricane there in Opaqua, Florida, just
outside of Orlando. And I let him know that we were
thinking and praying for him. And he texted back and told me
that he appreciated that. He knew that we knew something
about hurricanes. And I texted him back and said,
I was working on the bulletin for this coming Sunday, and I
just ran across this article. by Charles Spurgeon. I can't
remember it word for word, but basically it was like this. If the world were to begin again,
there would be no changes. Everything that has happened
from the beginning of creation, there would be no changes if
it were to begin again. Because there's nothing that
would need to be fixed. Everything has been done perfectly
according to God's sovereign will. The King of Kings. He's the King of Creation. We
know this from John chapter 1 and verse 3 where that chapter begins
declaring him to be the Word. in the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. And then verse
three tells us all things were made by Him, and without Him
was not anything made that was made. He is the creator of all
things, of all creation. And I want us to look back in
our Bibles here to Colossians chapter one, just a moment. Turn
back a few pages. Colossians chapter one and verse
14. The apostle said, in whom, and
that refers back to God's dear son in verse 13, in whom we have
redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, who
is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature,
for by him, here it is, for by him were all things created that
are in heaven and that are in earth, visible and invisible,
whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers,
all things were created by him and for him. His kingdom of power,
He rules over all. Turn back a few more pages to
Ephesians chapter one. See why it is so sad when people
try to present the Lord Jesus Christ as some poor weakling? He's the king. He's the king. He's in control of all things. In him, Paul said to those Athenians,
we live, we move, we have our being. Remember how he started
that message there on Mars Hill. He said, I've observed that you
have one altar to the unknown God. And he said, I perceive
that in all things you're too superstitious, you're too religious. Too superstitious. You know,
apart from the Word of God, the truth of the Word of God, men
are superstitious, very superstitious in some places. But it is the
Word of God that declares the truth about God that rids us,
that delivers us from all false superstitions. But here in Ephesians 1, the
apostle In this prayer for the believers at Ephesus, he prays,
and what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us who believe,
according to the working of his mighty power, which he wrought
in Christ when he raised him from the dead and set him at
his own right hand in the heavenly places. And notice where he's
at. This is where he is tonight.
It's not where he's going to be. It's not where he's going
to be for 1,000 years, sometime in the future. This is where
the apostle Paul said God had exalted him when Paul wrote this
letter over 2,000 years ago now. For above all principality and
power and might and dominion and every name that is named,
not only in this world, but also in that which is to come. Now
notice this, and hath put all things under his feet, all things
put under his feet and gave him to be the head over all things
to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him that filleth
all in all. So first of all, We think of
him as a king. His first kingdom is his kingdom
of power. But secondly, Christ's kingdom
of grace. Christ's kingdom of grace. Now
this kingdom is a spiritual kingdom. I want us to consider a few things. First of all, I want us to look
at what the Lord Jesus Christ himself said about this spiritual
kingdom. He tells us that this kingdom
is not of this world. It's not of this world. And this
kingdom doesn't appear like the kingdoms of this world. See,
that's the thing that the Jews, for the most part, were looking
for when the Lord Jesus Christ came into this world. They were
looking for a Messiah and a kingdom that would be like the kingdoms
of this world. But our Lord tells us in his
word as he spoke that his kingdom is not of this world and it doesn't
appear like the kingdoms of this world. So look with me first
in the gospel of John chapter 18. Here he tells us that his kingdom
is not of this world. In John chapter 18 and verse
33, John chapter 18, verse 33. Then Pilate entered into the
judgment hall again and called Jesus and said unto him, art
thou the king of the Jews? Jesus answered him, sayest thou
this thing of thyself or did others tell it thee of me? Pilate
answered, am I a Jew? Thine own nation and the chief
priests have delivered thee unto me, what hast thou done? Now
notice, Jesus answered, my kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom
were of this world, then would my disciples or my servants fight
that I should not be delivered to the Jews. But now is my kingdom
not from his. His kingdom of grace is not of
this world. And also, if you will, in Luke
chapter 17, it doesn't appear like the kingdoms of this world. Luke chapter 17 and verse 20. Luke 17, verse 20, and when he
was demanded of the Pharisees 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 among you or within you. But if you have a marginal reading,
you see, and I think this is a better translation, among you. The kingdom of God does not come
with observation, but the kingdom of God is among you. Notice that he spoke these words
to the Pharisees, the Pharisees who were the religious rulers,
of course, of the Jews. Can you imagine what they thought,
what they understood by the kingdoms of this world? They knew something
about the kingdom of David, the kingdom of Solomon, how that
when David was on the throne, the kingdom of Israel spread
far and wide. He was a conqueror and he fought
and defeated many nations and they became subservient to him. And then Solomon followed him.
He had a kingdom, a reign of peace, relatively speaking, a
great kingdom. That's the kind of kingdom they
were thinking of. And our Lord tells them, my kingdom
or the kingdom of God doesn't come with observation. Those
kingdoms came with observation. Those kingdoms came with armies. Those kingdoms came with wars. Those kingdoms came by subjugating
people to their king, to the king. My kingdom, he said, doesn't
come by observation. If you will, if you want to,
turn back to Daniel chapter two just a moment. Remember Daniel,
the prophet was a captive in Babylon. during the time that
the Jews spent 70 years there because of their sin of idolatry. God had delivered them and their
nation into captivity. And here in chapter two, Daniel
interprets a dream, a dream that Nebuchadnezzar had. If you look
in verse 31, We're not going to read all of
this, but Daniel speaking to the king. This great king, this
great monarch, and he had a great kingdom, there's no doubt about
that. He was a mighty power in his day. Nebuchadnezzar, thou,
O king, sawest, and behold a great image. This great image, whose
brightness was excellent, stood before thee, and the form thereof
was terrible. The image's head was a fine gold,
his breast and his arms of silver, his belly and his thighs of brass,
his legs of iron, his feet, part of iron and part of clay. Now, those are four kingdoms. We know that. The head of gold
represented the Babylonian kingdom, Nebuchadnezzar's kingdom. It
was the greatest. And then the silver, the breast
and the arms of silver represented the kingdom of the Medes and
the Persians. And then the belly of brass,
Alexander the Great, the kingdom of grace. And it's amazing. You know, I was reading recently
before I go on that someone said the book of Daniel could not
have been inspired. This is an unbeliever saying
this. It could not have been inspired. And his reasoning was,
it's too exact. There's no way anyone could have
written these things years before they happened. Well, that's the
word of God, isn't it? Nothing takes him by surprise.
He doesn't learn anything. He knows the end from the beginning.
He's God. And then the legs and the feet
of iron and clay, of course, represent the Roman Empire. And when our Lord came, of course,
the Romans had conquered Israel. They were the servants of Israel. Even though they told our Lord,
we've never been servants of anyone. They were servants at
that particular time. Their nation was. And they were
servants when Daniel wrote this. They were in Babylon in captivity. Look down in this chapter further
to verse 44. Daniel goes on to give the interpretation
of this dream This vision in verse 44, he said, and in the
days of these kings, now remember those four kingdoms, in the days
of these kingdoms sometime during this time, shall the God of heaven set up
a kingdom, which shall never, ever, I added
that word, which shall never be destroyed. And the kingdom
shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces
and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever. Look at verse 45. For as much
as thou sawest that the stone was cut out of the mountain without
hands, and that it break in pieces the iron, the brass, the clay,
the silver, and the gold. The stone did. Who is the stone? The Lord Jesus Christ is. He
is the stone upon which the church is built. He's the stone upon
which every believer is built. He is the foundation stone as
well as the cornerstone. And this stone, you notice it
was cut out without hands. I happened to see recently, I
guess you'd call it a documentary about in New Hampshire, cutting
granite. down underground, they were cutting
granite, and how strong that granite is, and the saw blade
had to be of diamond, I believe, to cut that granite. But there
were men working in that quarry, cutting. Stones just don't come
out of the mountain by themselves. That just doesn't happen. Men
cut Solomon's Temple. Remember, it was built. The stones
were all cut so that when they were brought to Jerusalem, there
was not even the sound of a hammer in that temple. It all fit together. They were taken out of the quarry,
just like you. You were in this world like a
stone, and God took you out, called you out. Delivered you
from that mess that you were in. And He put you into the temple,
the spiritual temple, His temple. And you're a stone, a living
stone now. But this rock, this stone was
cut out without the help of men. This reminds us of our Lord's
incarnation. that he came into this world
as a man without the help of any man. Without the help of
any man. No, the Spirit of God came upon
Mary and in her womb was conceived the Son of God. Man didn't have
anything to do with it. Just like this stone was cut
out of the mountain without hands. This spiritual kingdom that we're
talking about tonight. It doesn't come with observation.
It's not of this world, then how does it come? By the divine
work of God, the Holy Spirit. He comes into the heart of his
chosen people, regenerating and bringing us to conversion. And we now are delivered out
of a kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of his dear son. Kingdom of grace. Grace. This kingdom takes in all kinds
of people, doesn't it? Those people that our Lord ministered
to when he came in the flesh, they thought, well, if you're
just born a descendant of Abraham, that's all it counts. That counts
for everything. Oh, no, it doesn't. No, it doesn't. In this kingdom, all types of
men, both Jews and Gentiles, are brought in, so that the apostle
Paul wrote, there's neither Jew nor Greek, there's neither bond
nor free, there's neither male nor female, for you are all one
in Christ Jesus. And if you be Christ, then are
you Abraham's seed. and heirs according to the promise. You're Abraham's seed if you
are a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ and part of this spiritual
kingdom. So the Lord Jesus Christ, he
said those two things about this kingdom. Comes not with observation
and it's not of this world. It's within you. Second, the
angel announced that this spiritual kingdom would never end. When
Gabriel first appeared to Mary to tell her that she was going
to have a child, he said these words, you will conceive in thy
womb and bring forth a son and shall call his name Jesus. Have
you ever heard that term, what's in a name? What's in a name? I'll tell you what's in this
name, salvation. Jesus. Thou shalt call his name
Jesus for he shall save his people from their sins. Gabriel told
Mary and shall call his name Jesus. He shall be great and
shall be called the son of the highest and the Lord God shall
give unto him the throne of his father David. and he shall reign
over the house of Jacob forever and of his kingdom, there shall
be no end." His spiritual kingdom. And the Apostle Paul, he described
his spiritual kingdom with three words, with three words, righteousness,
peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost. Righteousness, peace, and joy
in the Holy Ghost. That's what he said in Romans
14, 17. For the kingdom of God is not made in drink. Not made
in drink. It comes not with observation.
It's not of this world. But righteousness, and that's
his righteousness, isn't it? His righteousness. The psalmist
said, I will speak of thy righteousness only. Peace, therefore being justified
by faith, we have peace with God. We were enmity with God,
but through our Lord's reconciliation, we have peace with God and joy,
joy in the Holy Ghost. The Lord Jesus Christ is King
in his kingdom of grace. Just like he's king in the kingdom
of power. He's king in the kingdom of grace. Let me just quickly say this.
Kings sit upon thrones, don't they? You know, he is upon the
throne of God and of the Lamb. That's what we read in Revelation,
isn't it? He is seated tonight upon the
throne of God and of the Lamb. It's his throne too. Kings are crowned, and he's crowned
with glory and honor. Kings wear crowns, and in Revelation
chapter four, we read of those 24 elders which represent all
of God's children, and what do they eventually do there in that
chapter? They bow down and they cast their crowns at his feet. In other words, we crown him. We confess that he is all our
salvation. All. And kings issue laws. They issue laws. And our Lord,
our King, he issued these two laws. Be baptized in the name
of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Those
who believe. And the second. command, observe,
this do in remembrance of me." Those are his two laws. Well,
third, and I'll be quick on this, Christ's kingdom of glory. So
we've got Christ's kingdom of power, Christ's kingdom of grace,
Christ's kingdom of glory. And this takes in the state of
his reign over the saints in heaven and the holy angels. It
began when he ascended back to the Father, into heaven, and
it's going to last until the end of the world and the final
judgment. Entrance into the kingdom of
glory is always through the kingdom of grace. In other words, a person
enters the kingdom of grace here, and when we leave this world,
we enter into the kingdom of glory. Grace and glory, they're
always connected. They cannot be separated. If
God is gracious unto you, he's going to show you glory. It's
not going to end partway. I was thinking about that verse
in Philippians, being confident of this very thing. that he which
hath begun a good work in you shall perform it until the day
of Jesus Christ. Amen. That was what caused Paul to
write for me to live as Christ and to die. That's gain. That's gain. You know, when one
of our loved ones, one of our Church family passes away, it's
always sad for us, isn't it? I mean, we shed tears, but we
sorrow not as those who have no hope. That's right, isn't
it? Yes, there's sadness on our part. We're not sad for the believer
who's gone to be with the Lord. Oh, they've departed. They've
departed to be with Christ, which is far better. Turn with me to
one other place, 1 Corinthians 15. 1 Corinthians chapter 15 and verse
23. But every man in his own order,
Christ the firstfruits, afterward they that are Christ at his coming,
that is the resurrection. Then cometh the end when he shall
have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father, when
he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power. For he must reign, and he is
reigning, he's king. He must reign till he hath put
all enemies under his feet. The last enemy that shall be
destroyed is death. At the end of the age, when the
Lord comes again, the final judgment is complete, then Christ will
deliver up the kingdom to God, this mediatorial kingdom. He is the one mediator, and he
is the mediator of his kingdom, and he will deliver that kingdom
up unto God. When he has gained a complete
victory, And God's purpose of salvation is finished, completely
finished. All of God's people are saved
and safe and at home with God Almighty. The last enemy that shall be
put under his feet is death. Death's already been conquered.
He conquered death. But his people still die physically,
don't we? We know we're going to die. If
we live long enough in this world, we're going to die. But the Lord
Jesus Christ is going to bring us into an eternity where there
is no more death, no more dying, no more crying, no more separation,
no more sickness. What a blessed day that is, that
God may be all and in all. I trust the Lord will bless his
word to us here this evening. Bill, if you will, lead us.