SPEAKER_02 0:00

Well, we are beginning a brand new series this morning called A King and His Kingdom. And it's it's actually kind of ironic that this starts today because it's fourth, it's 4th of July weekend. And I didn't plan it this way. I'm actually a horrible planner, so every time I start a series, if you ask me when will this series be done, I'll just say I don't really know. Um I think a couple of months, but I always like to leave room to see if there's something that we really want to focus on, give extra time to. So I never really know exactly when a series is going to end. I know sort of when it's going to end. And so when we started our last series on spiritual warfare, I had no idea that it would finish last week, and our new series would start today. And I just think it's funny because the whole theme of this series is that Jesus is our king. And we're beginning that on 4th of July weekend. And there is nothing, there is nothing less American than the idea of having a king. I guess 4th of July, right? 4th of July, it's a it's a holiday that exists because essentially, as a nation, we said we don't want a king. We don't need a king. England, you can take your king, you can you can leave him. We're gonna do our own thing. America, right? So having a king, that is not a concept that as Americans, we really we really grasp. And if we did have a king, we wouldn't even be good at it. Because like, because we're not good at at revering our leaders. That's not what we're about as a country. Am I right? That's just not what we do. That's not in our DNA. We don't revere the people that we elect, we mock them. That's what we're best at. That's our national pastime. We basically elect someone into office so that we can mock them for a number of years, and then we vote someone else in, we rinse, we repeat. That's what we do because we're Americans. I I grew up watching iconic impersonations of our presidents. And I almost remember the impersonations as much as I remember the president. So, like when I was really young, you had Dana Carvey doing doing George Bush. You guys remember that one? You know? That's the beautiful thing about America, is every single day you can go online, you can turn on the TV, and someone is just is just ruthlessly making fun of the person that we've elected to lead us. That's what we do. And then after that, you had you had Phil Hartman doing Bill Clinton, and then you had you had Daryl Hammond doing Bill Clinton because Clinton gave us a lot of material. Um and then you had like Will Farrell being being George W, which was just super iconic, you know. I don't think there was ever really an iconic Obama impersonation. But but now we have Alec Baldwin doing Donald Trump, and so that's just that's the nation we live in. We we make fun of our leaders, we mock them, we despise them, we elect them, and then we despise them. That's what we do. We're a democratic republic, we have that right. So it's a very, very big stretch for us to consider what it would be like to have a king, a king who we are beholden to, a king who has absolute power, a king whose power is not is not on loan from us because that's what an elected official has, right? Like they have power, but it's power that we've given them. Hey, we voted for you, we gave you that power, we can take it away. It's not how kings work. It's a very big stretch for us as Americans to think about what it would be like to have a king. We just, we don't know that. That is literally foreign to us. And that creates an interesting framework for us as American Christians. I know not everyone in the room considers yourself a Jesus follower. But for those of us who do, we have a king. Jesus, he's not, he's not our elected representative. Jesus is not who he is because we we gave him his power. It's not because of our support that Jesus is who he is. He's not our president. You ever hear someone talk about how they love it if Jesus would be president? About every four years when there's an election, I'll hear people talk about that. Like, man, wouldn't it be awesome if Jesus was president? He wouldn't run. Because that would be a demotion for him. He's a king. He's a king. The central theme in Jesus' teachings is the kingdom of God or the kingdom of heaven. It is the central theme in all of his teachings. Matthew chapter 4, verse 17. Very early in his ministry, it says, From then on, Jesus began to preach. And this gives us basically the thesis statement of Jesus' teaching. Repent of your sins and turn to God, for the kingdom of heaven is near. Some translations say is at hand. If you read the teachings of Jesus, you see him talk constantly about the kingdom. He'll use illustrations. The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed planted in a garden. The kingdom of heaven is like a farmer who is sowing seeds. The kingdom of heaven is like a merchant who is on the lookout for a pearl of great price. You see him constantly talking about the kingdom, the kingdom, the kingdom. And if you're wondering whose kingdom he's talking about, it's his. It's his kingdom. In John chapter 18, Jesus says, My kingdom is not an earthly kingdom. If it were, my followers would fight to keep me from being handed over to the Jewish leaders. But my kingdom is not of this world. Jesus is a king and he has a kingdom. And if we call ourselves Jesus' followers, we're part of it. We're part of it. We have a king. And we're part of this kingdom that starts and ends with him. But like I said a few minutes ago, that's that's kind of a hard thing for us to grasp. Number one, because his kingdom is not of this world. It doesn't work the way that the kingdoms of this world work. Number two, because, well, we're not particularly well versed in what it means to have a king. But over the course of the next few months, we're going to study the kingdom of heaven. We're going to study what it really means to live with Jesus as our king. And I'm so excited about this. There's really two main questions that are going to guide us as we go through this study. Number one, is Jesus my king? And that is a personal question that all of us have to answer. Do I see Jesus as my king, or am I just a fan of Jesus? That's different. I guess it's one thing to agree with Jesus, but it's another thing to surrender to Jesus. Do I see Jesus as my king? So much so that I see myself first as a citizen of heaven and a distant second a citizen of this world. That's the first question. Is Jesus my king? The second question is this: do I understand his kingdom? Do I understand the way that it operates? Do I understand what the values are, what the goals are? Because how can I live effectively in his kingdom if I don't get the way his kingdom works? And look, Jesus spent a lot of time teaching about his kingdom because it doesn't work the way that we think things should work. It's often described as an upside-down kingdom. I'm so excited for us to go through this together for the next few months. Because I'll say this, I believe that a lot of the things that we struggle with as Jesus followers, those of us who say we're Jesus followers, the things that we struggle with often are the result of misplaced allegiance. Because if I place my allegiance in anything less than Jesus, I'm missing it. If anyone else's desires for life outrank the desires that Jesus has for my life, I'm missing it. And that includes myself. If every single time I want something and it contrasts with what Jesus would want for me, but I choose what I want over what he wants, that means I'm not living as though Jesus is my king. I'm living as though I'm my own king. And misplaced allegiance leads to ruin. I think we also struggle so often because we don't understand what his kingdom's all about. It's kind of common for modern Christians in our nation to be very familiar with what Jesus did, but not so familiar with what he said. So we all know the stories of Jesus. We know that he walked on water, he healed people, he did incredible miracles, he rose from the dead. We know those stories, but do we know what he taught? How familiar are we with the teachings of Jesus? And if we're gonna be Jesus' followers, we should know what he said, not just what he did. Because what Jesus says matters. And so we're gonna become very familiar with the teachings of Jesus through this series. I'm so excited about this.

SPEAKER_01 9:00

Because Jesus is my king. It's kind of hard to think of Jesus as a king, though.

SPEAKER_02 9:08

Because he's not a king like we could ever imagine. He's a different kind of king. Like when I when I think of a prototypical king, I think of Henry VIII. That's who my mind always goes to. I don't know if you guys are history buffs, if you know much about Henry VIII. Interesting dude. Interesting, interesting dude. Keep in mind that artists were supposed to paint paintings to flatter you, you know, and I guess that was. So Henry VIII, this is this is the thing about him. Very interesting if you know your your history, 1500s, king of England, um, did some unique things. Number one, he was married six times. Six times. Um let's see, he he divorced two of his wives. One of his wives died of childbirth, uh, during childbirth. Another wife um he executed. Oh no, two wives he executed, that's right. And then the sixth one outlived him. And so being a wife of Henry VIII was not an enjoyable experience. Like you didn't you didn't really have good fortunes if you were married to Henry VIII. Uh, interestingly enough, his very first wife, a woman named Catherine, he wanted to divorce her so he could marry this other woman named Anne Boleyn. You might be familiar with this story. The problem was England was was part of the Catholic Church, just like every other nation in Europe. And the Pope wouldn't let Henry divorce Catherine because there were no grounds for divorce. And so Henry wants to divorce Catherine, he's the king, he wants to marry Anne, and the Pope says, no, you can't do that. And so Henry says, All right, we just won't be Catholic anymore. And so he actually created an entirely different church called the Church of England, made himself the Pope of the Church of England just so he could divorce his wife. That's Henry VIII. And then that woman that he divorced his wife to marry, he had her head chopped off two or three years later. Because that's what kings do. He was notoriously egotistical. Like in a way that you can't imagine. There are actual stories, multiple stories, of the fact that Henry was just enamored with his calf muscles. It's a very specific thing to be enamored with. But the stories go that when foreign dignitaries would come and visit, he would often roll up his stockings and have them marvel at his calf muscles. And he would ask them, had they ever seen a more glorious calf than his? And because he was the king, they would have to say, no, your calves are majestic, magnificent. I believe these are the calves of a God, not a man, right? Just imagine that's what kings do. When I think of a king, that's the kind of person that I think about. That's such a far cry from Jesus.

SPEAKER_01 11:51

He's nothing like that. Thank goodness. Jesus was humble while he was on this earth. He served. He was kind, he was generous.

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I love what he says in Mark chapter 10, verses 42 through 45. He says, You know that the rulers in this world lord it over their people, and officials flaunt their authority over those under them, but among you it will be different. Whoever wants to be a leader among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first among you must be the slave of everyone else. For even the Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many. That is our king.

SPEAKER_01 12:34

He humbled himself to serve. He didn't demand from people, but he gave his life.

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He gave of himself. He was so opposite of everything we would imagine an earthly king being like that that sometimes we can we can forget that he is a king. Like sometimes that that fact can be forgotten because he doesn't act like any king that we see. It's easy sometimes to forget that that's exactly who he is. Jesus is the king.

SPEAKER_01 13:10

And he knew it. He was humble, he was a servant. But on this earth, he never forgot or lost sight of who he is.

SPEAKER_02 13:27

For 33 years, Jesus was a man. But for all of eternity before and for all of eternity after, he is the king. There's a story actually in Matthew chapter 16. Jesus and his disciples come to the region of Caesarea Philippi, which is a very important city in their region. And he asked his disciples, Who do people say that the Son of Man is? That phrase Son of Man, that was the favorite title that Jesus would use to describe himself. Well, they replied, some say John the Baptist, some say Elijah, others say Jeremiah or one of the other prophets. And then he asked them, But who do you say that I am? And Simon Peter answered, You are the Messiah, the Son of the Living God. We'll park right there for a second. It's interesting. Because notice that in this interaction, when Jesus says, Hey, who do people say that I am? Everything that they say, it's a good thing. Like no one responds, ah, Jesus, I mean, people say you're crazy. Everyone says you're a little like wacky. No, they they all they all give compliments. Who do people say I am? They say that you're like Elijah. Elijah is one of the greatest prophets in the history of God's people. Like I've had people come up to me after after church and say, hey, you remind me of someone. It's never been Elijah, you know. Like Elijah is Elijah's like a giant in the story of Scripture, this incredible prophet who did who did miracles and and all kinds of crazy things. And people are saying that Jesus must be Elijah. Come back. Or Jeremiah or one of the other prophets. Like, notice that the people have a very high opinion of Jesus, that the things that they're saying about him, they're good, but also notice that that doesn't seem to fill Jesus with any satisfaction. Notice that Jesus is not touched. He's like, really? Elijah?

SPEAKER_01 15:24

Wow. That's pretty cool.

SPEAKER_02 15:28

That it's like those compliments, they don't penetrate. Because they're so much lesser than who he actually is. So he asks a second question, who do you say that I am? That's a question that every one of us has to answer. Who do you say that I am? And Peter has the boldness to say, I say that you are the Messiah. Messiah, the word Christ, same same thing. Messiah. It means anointed one. You are the Son of God. You are divine. You are God. And that's when Jesus says, You are correct. That is who I am. Jesus never lost sight of the fact that he is a king, that he has authority, he has power. He knew that. He actually talked about it pretty often. Jesus was the master at dropping hints, pretty big hints. To make sure everyone knew that he was very clear on who he was and what he was here to do. So, for example, that phrase, son of man. We just read that a few times in those stories. Jesus would often call himself the son of man, and that's kind of an interesting title. In the Hebrew language, the words son of they really mean the same as. So, for example, in the Old Testament, you had Elijah, who was a prophet, and he had this kind of understudy named Elisha, and then there was this group of people that we see in their story that are called the sons of the prophets. Well, they weren't the prophets' biological children. It meant that they were a group of prophets in the same vein as Elijah and Elisha. They were the sons of. They were the same. When Jesus called two of his disciples the sons of thunder, he was not saying that you were actually birthed when lightning struck the earth and the sound of thunder roared, then you sprang up. No, he's saying you're like thunder. You're the same as that. You're boisterous, you're loud, you're powerful. That's what the phrase son of meant in the Hebrew scriptures. When we say Jesus is the son of God, that's us saying that you are God. You are the same. Well, Jesus usually called himself the son of man. And you could actually literally translate that in Hebrew, it's ben Adam, which means human being, the son of man. Now, some people have said, some scholars have said, the reason Jesus called himself son of man was because he wanted to emphasize his humanity. He wanted to remind everyone that, hey, I'm just a person. I'm human like you. Jesus is unique. He is both 100% God and 100% human being. And I don't really think that's what he was doing, because I don't think he would have needed to do that. In his early ministry, Jesus did not need to convince people that he was a person. Like when he talked with his family members, he didn't have to walk in the room and be like, hey, I'm a human being. And they're like, oh, we didn't know. This is good news. He had no need on earth to remind people that he was a person. Now when he when he used that phrase, son of man, he was, I heard a pastor talk about it this way, he was hyperlinking to a very, very specific prophecy in the Old Testament about the coming Messiah. The people that Jesus was talking to, these would have been people that were very familiar with the Hebrew scriptures. And there were certain phrases that you would say and it would immediately trigger a thought. You couldn't deny it. It's kind of like for us, if we ever said the phrase forbidden fruit. Any of us that know the story of Scripture, if you hear forbidden fruit, it like hyperlinks you to the story of the Garden of Eden. Well, the phrase Son of Man, it was one of those phrases, it was a loaded phrase. And it came from the prophet Daniel. Daniel's one of the foremost prophets in the Old Testament who actually prophesied about the coming Messiah. He had visions, and in Daniel chapter 7, he has this really intense vision. And it's a vision about the future, but it includes in the vision at the very end this interesting character called a son of man. Daniel chapter 7, verse 13. He writes, As my vision continued that night, I saw someone like a son of man coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the ancient one and was led into his presence. He was given authority, honor, and sovereignty over all the nations of the world, so that the people of every race and nation and language would obey him. His rule is eternal, it will never end, his kingdom will never be destroyed. When Jesus says, I'm the Son of Man, that is what everyone around him would have thought about. And just in case, just in case we're not convinced, there's other times where Jesus talks and he borrows the same language from Daniel. For example, in Mark chapter 13, he's prophesying about a different time, and Jesus says, Then everyone will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds with power and glory. And he will send out his angels to gather his chosen ones from all over the world, from the farthest ends of the earth and heaven. You see the coming on the clouds, same exact language that Daniel uses. When Jesus is resurrected, right before he gives us the great commission where he tells us to go and baptize all nations in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, Jesus says, I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth. Daniel 7, 14, he was given authority, honor, and sovereignty over all the nations of the world. So when Jesus uses this phrase, Son of Man, he's hyperlinking back to that vision. And the implications. The implications are obvious. He's saying, I'm that one. I'm the one who will reign. I'm the one who will have all authority. And my kingdom will never end. Jesus is declaring that he is the king.

SPEAKER_01 21:21

He's the king. We never lost sight of that. And it's so important for us that we don't lose sight of that either. We're Americans. And we have a king.

SPEAKER_02 21:36

If we call ourselves Jesus followers, but what a king we have. In Philippians chapter 2. It says though he was God, he did not think of equality with God as something to cling to. Instead, he gave up his divine privileges. He took the humble position of a slave, something, by the way, no king does. He was born as a human being, and when he appeared in human form, he humbled himself in obedience. To God, and he died a criminal's death on a cross. Therefore, God elevated him to the place of highest honor and gave him the name above all other names, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue declare that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. Do you see the will of God there? The will of God is not that the world would recognize Jesus as a good man. The will of God is not, is not that the world would see Jesus as a profound teacher. The will of God is not that the world would see Jesus and respect him, that the world would see Jesus and recognize that he has important things to say. The will of God is not that the world would see Jesus and say, now that is how you should live life. That selflessly, that good. That is not the will of God. The will of God is that the world would see Jesus and we would bow and we would declare with our mouths and our hearts that he's the king of the universe, that he's the God of gods, that he's the Lord of Lords. That's the will of God. That Jesus is the King of kings, the Lord of Lords, and every knee, every knee will bow, every tongue will confess that he is exactly who he says he is. He is the Son of Man, He is the Messiah, He is the King. And we have the privilege of recognizing that right now. Because one day everyone will recognize that. The will of God is that Jesus is given glory and honor. Do you see that in the prophecies that Daniel had? That the Son of Man will come and what? He'll be given all authority in heaven and on earth. If you're a Jesus follower, you have a king and you have the most amazing king that you could ever imagine. You have Jesus. And we live in a world that doesn't necessarily like Jesus. I don't care. I'm so proud to stand with Jesus. We live in a world right now where the name of Jesus is not necessarily glorified. I always laugh when people of other faiths get offended when their faith is like, I don't know, stepped on or abused, whatever you want to say, because in my in my world, my my God's name is a cuss word. We live in a world right now where if someone were to proclaim the name of Jesus on television, they'd be cut off the air. And by the way, that's happened. But at the same time, if if those same television shows want to use the name of my God as a as a curse word, they're allowed to do that. And I don't really care. It doesn't bother me, it doesn't offend me, it hurts me. But I don't care because I stand with Jesus. He is God, He is the King of God. I'll stand with Him until the day that I die because He's my king. That's what you do with the King. We should be so proud of our King. And we're gonna spend the next several months talking about what it means to be part of His kingdom. It's a beautiful kingdom, it's upside down from everything in this world. His kingdom is about love, it's about grace, it's about peace. His kingdom is a kingdom unlike any other. It's a kingdom that doesn't have to be spread by force. It never has had to be spread by force. It's the only kingdom of its kind. It's unstoppable, it's amazing. It changes lives left and right. We get to be part of it, but we need to understand what his kingdom is all about. Because if we don't, we'll have a really hard time living in that kingdom as we should. So I hope that you're here for the next several months as we as we unpack what his kingdom is about. But today is about one really simple thing. Do you see Jesus as your king?

SPEAKER_01 25:24

Are you proud to call him your king?

SPEAKER_02 25:30

What I mean by that, it's a challenge. By the way, these are the worst messages to write because it's extremely challenging because I have to ask these questions of myself. Like, like, am I a fan of Jesus? Or do I follow Jesus? Do I obey Jesus? Do I do what he says? We have two people getting baptized, which is exciting. And one of the things I love about baptisms is it's just a simple step of obedience. And it's funny. Like, get dunked in water. You know, we we follow Jesus and he says, Hey, first thing I want you to do is get dunked in water. Like, why? That seems like a silly thing to do at the very beginning. But I've learned that if I can't follow Jesus and obey him on the simple things, then how could he trust me to obey him with the big things? So just follow him, just simple obedience. Do I do I do I think Jesus is awesome, or have I surrendered my life to him? Do I treat him as my king? Or do I treat him as someone who gives me good advice that I may or may not take?

SPEAKER_01 26:32

I so often fall short of treating Jesus as my king. He's not my advisor. He's my king.

SPEAKER_02 26:42

And before anything else, I have to bow to him and honor him and worship him as he is. That's what today's about. It's a challenge and an encouragement to all of us to treat him as our king, to remember that while on this earth we may live in a democracy, thank God we do, because earthly kings do no good.

SPEAKER_01 27:04

For all of eternity, we will live in a monarchy. We have the king of kings who leads us, who provides for us, who saves us.

SPEAKER_02 27:19

Years ago there was a pastor named S. M. Lockridge, and he's an amazing, amazing pastor. He's a big part of the civil rights movement. He pastored a single church, one church, from the year 1952 to the year 1993, which is really amazing. Because I've been here for 13 years, and that's like that would be me going, all right, just you know, 30 more, and I'm there. Like that's a really incredible thing. He's an amazing preacher. I don't know if you have something that you're good at, and then you meet someone else who's like really good at something you're good at, and you're like, oh, that's what it's like to be really good at that. You know, sometimes that happens to me. I'll like I'll listen to a message that another pastor gives, and I'll be like, oh, that's what a preacher does. Okay, like that's pretty awesome. SM Lockridge gave a very, very famous sermon years ago, a long time ago, called That's My King. And this this excerpt from that sermon, uh, thanks to the wonders of modern technology, was pulled from an old recording and then turned into this YouTube video. This was it was after his death, and it just like blew up. And I want us to wrap up today just by watching this video. And before we do, I I want to I want to give an offer that if you're here today and you've never made Jesus your king, that can happen right now. You need him. There's no one like him. He loves you, he's he's for you, and he is powerful, and he is amazing. And when you give your life to him, when you surrender to him, you you never regret it. I've never met one person that has regretted following Jesus. It's so interesting. I meet lots of people with lots of regrets. I've I've I've met people who regret getting married, you know, I've met that. But like, I've never met one person who has said, you know, it's when I gave my life to Jesus that things just really like, ugh, if I could go back. I've never met one person that's talked about that. By the way, marriage is awesome. I've been married for 15 years. That wasn't a knock on marriage, I'm just saying. Even the greatest of human loves does not compare to knowing Jesus. Never met one person who regrets that. If you've never made him your king, then then I just implore you to do that right now. In your heart to just pray while we're watching this video, if if something in your spirit stirs, you say, God, you're my king. And by the way, that's called getting saved. And the very first thing you do is you obey and you sign up to get baptized. And for those of us in the room, which is which is the majority of us who have said, Yeah, I've made him my king, are you living as if he is your king? Because I can tell you this it is an easy thing to drift from that. We all do that. In fact, a pastor that I love to listen to talks about this scripture in Romans chapter 12, where it says that we should offer ourselves as living sacrifices to God, that this is actually what worship is. It's an interesting thing because like the challenge of a living sacrifice is that it keeps trying to wiggle off the altar. And that's kind of how we are as people. Like we give ourselves to God and we mean it, but then sometimes we just sort of go, like, I'm gonna go do my own thing. And maybe you're here this morning and you love Jesus. You do, you of course you love Jesus, you recognize he is your king, and you're like, Yeah, I love him. But then if you if you have to look at your life and ask the question, am I living as if he is my my king? Or am I just living like he's this awesome person that encourages me and gives me great advice? Like, yes, he's that, but he's more. Live as if he's your king. Do you honor him? Do you obey him? Do you do you live your life to bring him glory, not yourself? And this morning is an opportunity just to reaffirm his kingship in your life, to just say in your heart, that's my king. That's my king. And I'm so proud that he's my king. So let's watch this together and then we'll come and wrap up.

SPEAKER_00 31:10

The Bible says, My king is the king of the Jews, he's the king of Israel, he's the king of righteousness, he's the king of the ages, he's the king of heaven, he's the king of glory, he's the king of kings, and he's the Lord of swords.

SPEAKER_02 34:48

You know, Lord, a lot of Sundays we come together, and our focus is on how we can grow. And that's fine. You're so good to us, and you you give us so much to use to grow and and to to mature. Sometimes, Lord, it's just important for us to get together and do nothing less than recognize who you actually are, and that's what today is all about. You are our king, and Lord, we're here to declare to you, not for ourselves. This isn't about us right now. We're here to declare to you, Jesus, that you are the King of Kings, that you are exactly who you say that you are. You are the Alpha and the Omega, you are the beginning and the end, you hold all things together, that this world was created by your hand, that one day you will judge this world and everyone in it, that you have been given all authority in heaven and on earth. And one day every tongue will confess that you are Lord, and one day every knee in heaven, on earth, and under the earth will bow in your presence. And Lord, in our hearts we bow to you, we bow to you, Jesus, and we will bow to Noah. We love you, Lord. It's in your name we pray. Amen.