[0:00] Well, if you needed any evidence that ministers do not collude or consult with one another, then you will have it in the fact that having begun in September to look at the monthly meetings at the three forward offices of Christ as prophet, and we looked at in the monthly meeting of September, and as priest at the beginning of October, and then Dr. McLean to look at all three over the course of the evangelistic services in November, then you'll realise how ironic and sad it is in a way that we're kind of going over similar ground again, but obviously we did not consult.
[0:39] Obviously the Lord presumably has given each of us a different message or emphasis on these things. Having looked then at Christ as prophet in September, Christ as priest in October, and with my own absence due to duties in point at the November monthly meeting, and the elders took that monthly meeting last month, we look finally now this evening at the office of Christ as king.
[1:06] And you'll have recognised, no doubt, as a common theme in all our items of praise this evening, and we look then to focus our thoughts in this 19th chapter of Revelation at verse 16.
[1:20] He hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords. Now we've established in previous months that Christ is prophet because he makes known the word of God.
[1:35] It is given to him, it is spoken through him, and he not only declares and unfolds the word of God, but he likewise prophesies that which is to come.
[1:45] And we find more ample references in scripture to Christ as the prophet, the ultimate prophet, the conclusion of the prophets. Christ as priest because of the offering up of himself, the final ultimate sacrifice that there is.
[2:00] And there is a common theme with both this in the office of prophet and that of priest, in that Christ is the consummation, the conclusion of all the prophets. John the Baptist is the last of the line of prophets, capital P, pointing the way to the Christ who was to come.
[2:18] Christ as the ultimate prophet is the fulfilment of all the prophets. He is the one to whom the law and prophets are all pointing. There is no legitimate prophet, capital P, after Christ in that sense.
[2:33] There are those with the gifts of prophecy, like Agabus that we are told about in the Acts of the Apostles and others who are given some prophetic vision or whatever.
[2:44] But nobody in the sense of a prophet, capital P, who is pointing the way to the Messiah. Christ is the fulfilment of all who held the office of prophet.
[2:55] Likewise, Christ is the fulfilment of priesthood. All that Aaron and the Levites were pointed to, all the sacrifices, the goats, the sheep, the oxen, and all the daily burnings, the morning and evening sacrifice, were all pointing toward the once and for all sacrifice upon the cross.
[3:14] The Lamb of God, slain from the foundation of the world. He is the ultimate and the ultimate and the fulfilment and the conclusion of the priesthood.
[3:37] And that being the case with his being the concluding prophet, the concluding priest, it follows logically that he is the final and ultimate king.
[3:48] There are no kings after or succeeding Christ. His kingship is an ultimate kingship. It is that which has been in a sense from all eternity.
[4:01] But a king must have a kingdom. A king must have those over whom he rules. It's a little kind of idiosyncrasy we might say of history that the title of the king or queen of our own kingdom, or that in Scotland as opposed to the United Kingdom, is not king of Scotland, but rather king of Scots.
[4:23] It is over a people rather than over a portion of land. And of course the reason for that is historical, because initially the Scots were simply sort of, you know, could say immigrants from Ireland, settling in what is now Argyllshire and Dalriada as it was called then, and gradually overspreading and peeking over the different kingdoms of the Picts and so on, and finally fusing the nation together between the Picts and Scots and so on.
[4:49] As some of you will know, Kenneth Macalpin in the 800s was reckoned as the first king who united both the Picts and the Scots. But the title of those who succeeded and those who went before never became king of Scotland.
[5:04] It was always king of Scots. And likewise when it was a female monarch, it's why she's referred to, not as Mary, the Queen of Scotland, but Mary, Queen of Scots. It is over a people rather than over a territorial area.
[5:19] This is precisely why, again, taking a historical viewpoint, when a king was reckoned to rule over people, wherever those people went, because he was still their king, he then had a claim to all the places where they settled.
[5:34] This is precisely why when, for example, English settlers went and settled what became New England and what became Virginia and the Carolinas and so on, because they were subjects of the king or the queen, as it was then in England, then the remit, the rule, the writ of that monarch was taken as extending also to the Americas, to New England and to those colonies and so on.
[6:01] By the same token, slightly more troubled history, when those who were the subject of the Norman king of England moved from England and Wales and their territories there and settled on estates in Ireland, which they were given by the high king of Ireland in the 10, 1100s and thereabouts.
[6:21] They then, holding those lands, the king of England said, oh, yeah, but those are my subjects there. It's not that I claim rule over Ireland, it's that I claim rule over those people, my subjects who happen to own land in Ireland.
[6:36] And you see how the tentacles then extend into a different territory, a different, you could say, sovereign territory, but the kings and queens of old were taken to be rulers, kings, not simply of a particular piece of territory, but of peoples, of a nation.
[6:55] And likewise, Christ as king needs must be, although you could say he's king from all eternity, he did not from all eternity have a people for his own to rule over.
[7:08] He was given a people by his father, given a people who would become his inheritance, over whom he would reign specifically as their king, their lord, their sovereign.
[7:24] And that people, that nation who belonged to him is historically and currently and for all time, the church. The church invisible in the sense of being the true ultimate church, those who have trusted in the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob from all the beginning of time, and the covenant line, and those who are redeemed from within it, those who are under the old dispensation, were Jews and Israelites who trusted truly in the Lord.
[7:51] Of course, not everybody who was racially Israelite was necessarily saved, just as not everybody who was within the visible church nowadays is necessarily saved. But these are nevertheless Christ's people over whom he rules and over whom he reigns.
[8:08] And those who acknowledge him truly as their sovereign, their king of kings, their lord of lords, their subjects, these are they who bow the knee willingly to this king.
[8:20] They are his. And he rules over them. He has a people given to him, a people who are his own. Now, of course, as many kings are poor for that in an earthly sense, there may well be kings of a particular nation or people or whatever against whom a portion of their population may rise up against them, may reject them.
[8:44] They say that they don't accept this one as their king. They don't accept, we will not have this man to rule over us. And so just as that has been the case often for many kings in many different kingdoms over the course of history, and what do you do when there's a rebellion?
[8:59] Well, eventually the rebellion, no doubt, will gather a certain amount of peace as Absalom's rebellion did against King David. But eventually it comes to a clash of force. Eventually it comes to two powers, the loyalists on the one hand and the rebels on the other will clash.
[9:16] And there will be a battle and there will be an outcome. And if the rebels win, you call that revolution. And if the king wins, then you call it putting down a rebellion.
[9:27] Now, of course, against Christ the king, there can never be an ultimate victory. His subjects, his people may often be attacked. They may often be slaughtered.
[9:39] The battle may go sorely against them, but as long as the king's banner is never taken, as long as the king himself can never be dethroned, the tide of battle may ebb and flow, but ultimately this victory is only going to go one way.
[9:55] We see something of this in this chapter that we read, when it is, in a sense, a military chapter. It is a chapter which speaks of Christ as, we see in verse 16, King of kings and Lord of lords.
[10:10] I saw heaven open, verse 11, Well, first of all, why many crowns?
[10:30] Why not just one crown? I think we should understand this to mean that all the crowns of all the kingdoms of all the world are rightly his. If anybody is entitled to rule, it is Christ, who is King of kings and Lord of lords.
[10:47] Of course he is the Lord, the ruler of heaven and earth. Of course you could say he rules over not just those who are faithful, but he is in fact the rightful ruler over those who are also rebels.
[11:00] Just as a king who eventually puts down rebellion within his kingdom, just as David over Absalom's followers, he was still the rightful king, even though most of his subjects rejected him at that stage.
[11:11] So likewise, even though most of the world's population reject Christ as their king, it does not alter the authenticity and legitimacy of his anointed kingship.
[11:25] And when it comes to the ultimate clash, when it comes to the ultimate battle, there is only going to be one outcome. The beast was taken, verse 20, There is only one outcome at the end.
[12:02] There is no standing against the Lord successfully. In the book of Proverbs, we read in chapter 30, verse 29, There be three things which go well, Yea, four are comely in going, A lion which is strongest among beasts, And turneth not away for any, A greyhound, and he goeth also, And a king against whom there is no rising up.
[12:30] A king against whom there is no rising up, What you mean no successful rising up, Means that he will defeat all his enemies, He will destroy all rebels against him, And this is part of what it says he does judge, And make war, And he does it righteously.
[12:49] When he judges, That's Solomon, Everybody said, Oh, the wisdom of Solomon. Look at how he discerned between right and wrong, Look at how he gave the living child back to the rightful mother, As opposed to having it cleft and twain, And given half the one and half to the other.
[13:03] No, he knew what the truth was. He was righteous in his judgment. But in order for there to be righteous judgment, There must be those who come seeking to subvert judgment.
[13:15] There are those who are telling the truth, And those who are not. There are those who are righteous in the end, And those who are ultimately seeking to subvert righteousness, To be wicked. And likewise, The king, If he is to judge, He must discern between good and evil.
[13:30] It presupposes there is both good and evil. There is not just moral relativism. There's not just, This is my truth, Tell me yours. There's not just sort of, Whatever you want it to be.
[13:41] You know, Everything is just, As you like it to be. Everything is just sort of, Morally neutral. No, it isn't. There is objective truth. There is black and white, With the Lord.
[13:53] Sometimes the shades of grey may be difficult for us to discern, But they're not difficult for him to discern. In righteousness he doth judge, And make war.
[14:04] And the confession of faith, Of course, Tells us that whilst it is lawful, For a Christian to take up the office of a civil magistrate, It's a legitimate calling, A Christian is called to be a king, Or a queen, Or a ruler, Or a president, Or whatever the case may be.
[14:18] They may upon just and necessary occasion, Wage war. Now what is a just and necessary occasion? Well it is usually taken to be, That a just and necessary occasion, Is either intervention, On behalf of those who cannot defend themselves, Such as would be the case, Technically in the first world war, Supporting the neutrality of Belgium, Theoretically, Of course lots more complex reasons, With it there as well, But also it is primarily taken as being defensive, If a war is to be just, It's usually taken, It should be defensive, If we are attacked, We're entitled to defend ourselves, You could debate the extent to which, We might fight somebody, Who hasn't attacked us, But if we are attacked, We definitely, Surely have the right, To defend ourselves, A just war, Is primarily in that instance, A defensive war, It may also be intervention, On behalf of those, Who are themselves defenseless, But certainly it would be a defensive war,
[15:21] If the king of kings, Is to wage war, Here, That is just, And against whom, Does he wage it, He wages it, Against those, Who have attacked, And sought to destroy, Him, And his people, And for a long time, Nothing may seem, To happen, Why do the heathen rage, And the people, Imagine a vain thing, Kings of the earth, Set themselves, And the rulers, Take counsel together, Against the Lord, And his anointed, Saying, Let us break their bands, As some will cast away, Their cords from us, He that siteth in the heavens, Shall laugh, The Lord shall have them, In delusion, Then shall he speak unto them, In his wrath, And vex them, In his sword, His pleasure, Yet have I set, My king, Upon my holy hill, Of Zion, And so forth, There is no escaping, His victory, Kiss the sun,
[16:21] Lest he be angry, And he perish from the way, When his wrath is kindled, But a little, Blessed are all they, That put their trust in him, One of the most fierce campaigns, That King David ever fought, Was against the Ammonites, In the context, Of which he, At the time of the death, Of the king of Ammon, Had sent, Messengers to, To, To commiserate, With the new king of the Ammonites, Because his father was there, And he treated his ambassadors, Shamefully, And so David, And Joab, Of course, Gathered together, All their armies, In order to fight, Against them, Of course, That didn't happen, In a hurry, That didn't happen, All at once, And it took time, For that to, To come to pass, In order to gather their armies, In order to, In order to, To fight against the Ammonites, It took time, To gather them up, David gathered together, All, The chosen men, Israe,
[17:22] David brought the war, To the Ammonites, Joab, Went and destroyed, All those who came against them, Because we, We read that, You know, When the children of Ammon, Saw that they, Were made to, They stank before David, The children of Ammon sent, And hired the Syrians, Of Bethlehem, And the Syrians of Zolva, 20,000 foot men, And of King, And of King, Maha, 1,000 men, Of Ishto, 12,000 men, They are gathering together, Against David, They are the ones, That caused the insult, They are the ones, Who are now seeking to attack it, And the backlash, When it comes, Is fearful, The destruction of the Ammonites, Is absolute, Neither David, Nor Joab, Monsiah, Are words, Or mercy, And it is complete, Now, For those who have made their enemy, The God of heaven, And earth, Who have despised, And sought to destroy, His only beloved son, Who have, Who have set at naught,
[18:23] The sacrifice of mercy, That he, By which he sought to, To save those who were sinners, And to redeem them, What do you think the Lord, Is going to do, To those who have, Rejoiced in the sufferings, And slaughter, Of the son of God, And of his people, In every generation, Since then, Well, We know what the outcome, Is going to be, Everyone, Sooner or later, Will bow, Before this king, There are those, Who will do it, Delightedly, And willingly, You know, If you've got, At the end of a battle, Where you've got all the prisoners, On the one side, And the victorious soldiers, On the king, On the other side, And here comes the king, And all his soldiers, They'll bow their knee, And they'll bow their heads, And they'll acknowledge, Their loyalty to their king, And they do it joyfully, They do it willingly, Because he's given them, This great victory, And they've won, Under his command, And then there's the prisoners, And they're not joyful, And they are not pleased, To see him, And they are totally, Filled with anger,
[19:25] And venom, Of what has happened to them, But they have no choice, Now, But to bow the knee, Before the victorious king, And we read, Of our Lord Jesus Christ, Who emptied himself, And made himself, Of no reputation, And took upon the form, Of a servant, Who was made in the likeness of men, And being found in fashion, As a man, He humbled himself, That is, Humbled himself, Even further, He emptied himself, Is the sense of it there, And became obedient, Unto death, Even the death of the cross, Not only the public, Humiliation, Agony, During which, If you remember, Not only after, He had been scourged, After death, Did the Roman soldiers, Mock him, And abuse him, And spit on him, But when he was actually, Hanging on the cross, In the agony of death, A long protracted, To agonizing death, The chief priests, And his enemies, Who had actually colluded, To put him there, They went by,
[20:26] Still, Slagging him off, Still, Throwing at him, All the venom, Of their hate speech, And all the evil, That they could bring up, Against him, It wasn't enough, That he was suffering, In agony there, They had to throw in, Their own particular, Invective as well, That's the depth, Of hatred, Against the son of God, And because, And because, He had submitted, To this death, Even the death, Of the cross, And endured, The sufferings of hell, For all, Who would trust, And believe in him, Wherefore, God also, Hath highly exalted him, And given him a name, Which is above everything, As we read in Philippians 2, That at the name of Jesus, Every knee should bow, Of things in heaven, And things in earth, And things under the earth, That means, Every tongue confess, That Jesus Christ is Lord, To the glory of God the Father, That means, When the day comes, The devil and his angels,
[21:27] Will be bowing to Jesus, It means that all the Christians, And believers that have ever been, Will be bowing to Jesus, Joyfully, It will be their delight to do so, But all his enemies, All those who have beheaded, Christian children, In Iraq and Syria, All those who have burned down, The churches, In Nigeria, And taken their machetes, To the women and children, Of Nigeria and Cameroon, All those who have sought, To destroy, And extirpate, Every memory, Of Christian worship, From across the world, All those who have sought, To drive the Bible, Out of the public square, And of hospital bedsides, And of schools, And of public life, All those who have, Freely chosen to make, The God of heaven, And earth their enemy, They too shall bow, Every tongue shall confess, That Jesus Christ is Lord, He will be exalted, As the ultimate, King of kings, Against whom, There is no,
[22:28] Rising up, Just as Proverbs says, You know, It's wonderful, When you see the strength, Of the lion, That nobody can resist, The speed of the greyhound, That no other creature, Can surpass, When it's going, In full flag, When you see the strength, Of the hegued, And when you see, The power of the king, Against whom, There is no rising up, Well, There are some kings, Who physically, Never had any rebellion, In their life, During their lives, Or their reigns, But of course, There might have been, Straight after, They died, Or their son, Inherited the throne, Or whatever, When Jesus reigns, There is no, Rising up, Against them, In Luke's account, Of the gospel, Of course, We read of that, Parable Jesus told, Where he says, Chapter 19, From verse 12, A certain nobleman, Went into a far country, To receive for himself, A kingdom, And to return, It's not just, That he's noble,
[23:29] It's not just, That he's being, Made a king, He's not entitled to it, But to receive for himself, A kingdom, That is the implication, Of entitlement, But to go, Into the far country, To do this, He leaves his servants, Behind, Call his ten servants, Deviver them ten, Five and seven, And occupy, Till I come, But his citizens, Hated him, And sent a message, After him, Saying, We will not have this man, To reign over us, And then, Comes back, When he came to pass, When he was returned, Having received, The kingdom, If they hated him before, He is coming back now, With greater power, And greater majesty, And more unstoppable, Potency, Than he ever had before, And he called his servants, And said to them, We'll be good in the money, And he might know, How much every man, Had gained by trading, And of course, There was amongst them, One with whom he was displeased, Who hadn't made the best use, Of his pound, Or his talent, And he said, Take him from him a pound,
[24:29] And give it to him, That hath ten pounds, He said, And the Lord, He hath ten pounds, For I say unto you, Every one which hath, Shall be given, And from him that hath not, Even that he hath, Shall be taken away from him, And you think, Oh, So, So far, So bad, But, Then there's this distinction, This particular version, Of the parable, Distinct from the parable, Of the talents, In Matthew 25, Where the servant is cast, Into outer darkness, Here, The servant remains a servant, He may have his plan, Taken away from him, Maybe give it to somebody else, Who's got abundance, But it doesn't alter his status, As a servant, The one who is on the side, Of the king, But those mine enemies, Which would not, That I should reign over them, Bring hither, And slay them before me, Luke 19, Verse 27, The distinction between, The servants of the king, Even the worthless servant, Even the wicked, And slothful servant, Is still the servant of the king, On the one hand,
[25:31] And there are his enemies, On the other, However, Bad it may be, To have displeased the king, And be a worthless servant, To be an unprofitable servant, It is infinitely better, To be, A loyal servant of the king, Than to be his enemy, When he comes, In his power, And great glory, This is the kingship, Which has been acknowledged, Always, Would be the portion, Of the Messiah, When he comes, This is what Psalm 2 is about, This is what, All the other psalms, Are likewise, Pointed to, To a greater, Or lesser extent, The coming of the Messiah, Christ, The king, Now of course, Kingship, In and of itself, Implies, Not the kind of, Constitutional monarchy, Monarchy we have now, I mean, Dr. McLean alluded to this, How many actual, Real kings, Do we know nowadays, Kingship implies, Kingship implies, Power concentrated, In one individual, In a crowned head,
[26:32] Who is not, Simply, The democratic, Will of the people, You can't really have, A democratically, Elected king, It's a, It's a contradiction, In terms, You can have a president, Democratically elected, You can have a prime minister, Democratically elected, You can't really have, A democratically elected king, Even in the Bible times, The king was not, Yes, The people assented to him, And the people said, Let's have so and so king, But, Unless it was God's choice, Unless it was God's anointing, It would not prosper, And it was not blessed, That was the rightful king, And there may have been usurpers, There may have been charlatans, There may have been rebels, And they may have called themselves kings, But if you look back, To the outset of kingship, When Saul is set apart, When David is set apart, When Solomon is set apart, They are the anointed, Of the Lord, They are chosen, In that sense, By God, Set apart, Within their particular tribe,
[27:33] There's no virtue, In the tribe of Judah, The tribe of Benjamin, Or anything else, It is the extent to which, They are chosen, And honoured by God, And honour him in return, Now, When the people first asked for a king, If you remember, Back in 1st Samuel, And there's the implication, That God is displeased, Well that Samuel is certainly, Displeased, Will it?
[27:55] And the people said, Now art old, And thy sons walk not in thy ways, Now make us a king, To judge us, Like all the nations, And the people refused, To obey the voice of Samuel, And said, Nay, But we will have a king over us, That we may, Also may be like all the nations, And that our king may judge us, And go out before us, And fight our battles, And Samuel heard all the words, To the people he rehearsed with, In the ears of the Lord, And of course, Samuel was, Samuel was taken, It was, The Lord is meant to be your king, But the only reason, People wanted a king, At that time, Was because, They had given up, On thinking of God, As their king, They had the judges, Yes, Speaking of the days of the judges, You know, Israel was in a terrible state, Every man did that, Which was right in his own eyes, And when there was a judge, To deliver them out of an emergency, The Lord was with the judge, But the people, Weren't particularly godly, The reason they wanted a visible king, Was because they no longer trusted, In the invisible king, And if you think about it also, How the church, Over the years, Degenerated,
[28:56] From the time of the apostles, Onwards, When the medieval church, Was in all its pomp and grandeur, Why did it amass, So much power to itself, Why did this become so focal, Because that which was unseen, People had begun, To lose the power of their faith, And relationship with the living God, And so their focus became, On that which was visible, And so the church became, An instead of, To the unseen God, The church could be seen, Its power, Its glory, Its wealth, And so it could be seen, The popes became, Like earthly kings, They had armed retainers, If the king had a crown, If the emperor had a double crown, The pope would have a triple crown, He would show, That he was greater than them all, Because God, Who's represented he was, He thought, Was greater than all, The kingdoms of the world, And they put themselves, They put the earthly church, They put the pomp and circumstance, And power of the church, Which could be seen, Which could be seen, In place of the humility,
[30:00] And suffering of the unseen God, And the reason for all that growth, In that visible abuse, That visible edifice, That visible pomp and power and glory, Was because the unseen spiritual truth, Was at such a low ebb, And so in place of Christ, In his humility, You have the alternative Christ, Or properly speaking, The anti-Christ, One who claimed to be, In the place of Christ, One who was instead of Christ, One who claimed to be, The vicar of Christ, In his place, Vicariously ruling, On behalf of the king of kings, And of course this becomes, An abomination, As does anything, That claims, To be in Christ's stead, And does not acknowledge him, As the king of kings, And lord of lords, What was wrong with the people of Israel,
[31:01] Was they had so lost touch, With the true relationship, Of the lord, That they sought a visible kingship, In place of the invisible kingship, Of God, That kingship of itself, Was no more corrupt, Than having a judge, Or having a president, Or having a republic, Or anything else, You know, Monarchy, Or republic, Or whatever it is, What, You know, In this fallen world, Fallen men, That will be bad, That will be good, Regardless, You have a constitutional monarchy, Because the kingship, Before, Was running away with itself, And amassing to itself, Wrongful power, Abusing its power, Abusing its privilege, And so it had to be reigned in, You get a constitutional monarchy, And the control of parliament, But parliament then, Had its walking boroughs, It had its privilege, It had its abuses, And so on, So you clean out all the abuses, You make it one man, One voter, And then women, I think, Vote as well, You have all these things, You make the level playing field, You root out all the corruption,
[32:02] And inequality, And what do you find? You find that you still have, Whatever the political methodology, You still have exactly the same proportion, Of good and bad, Of those who are virtuous, And seeking to serve the people, Under God, And those who are basically charlatans, In it for themselves, You can chop and change, The political methodology, As much as you like, Kingship, Judges, The public's presidents, And you will find, That men are still fallen, That are good, That are bad, That are indifferent, Regardless, Across the nations, Across the races of the world, All the continents of the world, You'll find in Africa, And Asia, And Europe, And the Americas, That are good, That are bad, That are indifferent, What is the thing, That will give to the Lord, His kingdom, His people, His church, Those who are truly, Both his children, And his subjects, It is that they acknowledge, His kingship,
[33:03] Joyfully, And willingly, He rules, Over them, But he does so, With their full, Submissive consent, He judges, And he judges, Righteously, And they are content, To submit, To his judgment, Because they love him, Not like the subjects, Of the noble men, Who hated him, But rather, The Lord's people, Love him, That is the biggest, That is the biggest, Single distinction, Crucifixion within him, They love him, As no other, Of course, This kingship, To which Christ, Is named, Not only is it there, In the Old Testament, It's there in the New, As well, This is the, The charge, They sought to bring, Against him, It is the charge, Which is consistent, In how he is, Identified, In his crucifixion, Each gospel account, As I'm sure you know, It's a slight differential, Or mark, That sign, That is nailed up, Over his head, On the cross, Is just the king of the Jews, In Luke it is,
[34:04] This is the king of the Jews, In Matthew it is, This is Jesus, The king of the Jews, In John it is, Jesus of Nazareth, The king of the Jews, Pilate says to Jesus, In chapter 18, Verse 33, Art thou the king of the Jews?
[34:21] Jesus answered him, Saist thou this thing of thyself, Or did others tell thee of me? Pilate answered, Am I a Jew? Thine own nation, And the chief priests, Have delivered thee unto me. What is thou done?
[34:33] Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world, He doesn't say, There's nobody of my kingdom, In this world, He said, Is not of this world, This is not where it originates, This is not where it ultimately belongs, My kingdom is not of this world, If my kingdom were of this world, Then would my servants fight, That I should not be delivered to the Jews, Remember in Matthew, We looked at Matthew 26, Just yesterday, And how Jesus said, Don't you think I could call for my father, Now he'd give me more than 12 regions of angels, Now a legion in the Roman army, At full strength, With 6,000 men, 12 regions of angels, Will be 6 times 12, 72, 72,000 angels, He could call upon, If he wanted, My servants would fight, If my kingdom were of this world, That I should not be delivered to the Jews, But now, Is my kingdom not from hence?
[35:36] The pilot therefore said unto them, Art thou a king then? Jesus answered, Thou sayest that I am a king, To this end was I born, And for this cause came I into the world, That I should bear witness unto the truth, Every one witness of the truth, Hearth my voice, Is Jesus just making that up now, Because it's at the end of his life, Is he just claiming that, Which he didn't have at the outset?
[36:02] Well, Matthew's account of the gospel, Worth coming near the time of year, When so many commemorate, Or pretend they are commemorating, The birth of our Lord Jesus Christ, For Jesus was born in Bethlehem, Of Judea, In the days of Herod the king, Matthew chapter 2, Behold, There came wise men from the east, To Jerusalem, Saying, Where is he that is born?
[36:24] King of the Jews, The very charge on which Jesus was, Supposedly executed, Of course, Really he was executed, Because the chief priests found, That the son of God, Was too much of a threat, To the temple of God, The temple of God, Was making them money, The temple of God, Was their little privilege circle, And people's supposedly gullible faith, Was making them rich, They had power in the lands, The temple of God, Could not allow the son of God, To come along and disturb that, Just as in the medieval times, And at the reformation, The supposedly church of God, Could not allow the word of God, To be proclaimed by Protestant preachers, Who might point out, All the discrepancies, And all the inconsistencies, And all the ways, In which the supposed church of God, Did not in fact serve the Lord at all, Where is he that is born?
[37:20] The king of the Jews, When he came to this world, In his infancy, There were those who knew, This was why he had come, And this was what he was born for, We have seen his star in the east, And are come to worship him, Now of course Paul writes, To the Romans later on, He is not a Jew, Who is one outwardly, And the circumcision is that, Which in the flesh, But he is a Jew, Who is one inwardly, And the circumcision is that, Of the heart, And of the spirit, Those who are, The people of God, It is not because of their, Outward racial belonging, It is because of their, Inward conversion, And because of what Christ, Has done in their hearts, And calling to himself, Or people to himself, Out of the world, Who are his, Because his kingdom, Is not of this world, Though all of those, In his kingdom, Are once in this world,
[38:22] They are not of this world, Where is he, That is born, King of the Jews, When, Mary was told, That this future king, Was one whom she would bear, In her womb, The angel said, To behold, Thou shalt conceive, In thy womb, And bring forth a son, And shalt call his name, Jesus, Jacostean's saviour, He shall be great, And shall be called, The son of the highest, And the Lord, 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, It is sometimes said, Of a constitutional monarch, That he doesn't rule, But he reigns, Constitutional monarch, That reigns, But does not rule, Now of course, A real king, With proper, Monarchical power, Rules,
[39:22] For as long, As they reign, And the reign, And the rule, Are simply two sides, Of the same coin, They cannot be separated out, From one another, And a king, Who will not abdicate, His responsibilities, Will rule, As long as he reigns, And will reign, As long as he lives, And of a king, Who will live forever, Which is what they used to cry, Of course, To the old Babylonian, He didn't say, Oh king, Live forever, But he is a king, Who does, Live forever, Of his kingdom, There shall be, No end, He comes now, In John's vision, With the armies, Which were in heaven, Following him, Upon white horses, Clothed, And fine linen, White and clean, And they follow him, And there goes out of his mouth, The sharp two-edged sword, Because the word of God,
[40:23] That which comes out of his mouth, Is sharper than any two-edged sword, Dividing to the asunder, Between soul and spirit, It can get into places, Nothing else can get, It can discern, With its judgment, Nothing else can judge, By the word of his mouth, All the heavens and the earth, Were brought into being, By the word of his mouth, The sword of the spirit, His enemies are judged, And destroyed, The armies, Which were in heaven, Followed him, Upon white horses, Croved and fine, And they went to clean, And out of his mouth, Like with a sharp sword, And whether he should smite the nations, And he shall rule them, With a rod of iron, And he treadeth the winepress, Of the fierceness, And wrath of almighty God, Against what is God's wrath revealed?
[41:14] Against sin, And against all who will cleave to their sin, And make their sin their friend, And Christ their enemy, Whereas for those who delight in Christ, There is still sin, But he has paid the price of it, And that sin is peeled away from them, Like an outward skin, Like filthy guns, And they are washed in his blood, They are clothed in his righteousness, And when the yath of almighty God, Falls upon sin, It falls not upon the redeemed, But upon the redeemer, The one who saves, The one who delivers, The one who fights their battles, For them, And who delivers man, Through his kingship, For he hath on his vesture, And on his thigh, A name written, King of kings, And lord of lords, And as the world will, Pretend in many cases, That it delights and celebrates,
[42:17] At the birth of this king of kings, If not they, Then may the Lord grant, That we at the very least, May remember, That the one who is born, Is not merely king of the Jews, But king of kings, And lord of lords, Of all the nations, And of his kingdom, There shall be no end.
[42:40] Thank you.