How The King Grows His Army

Well, I want to talk to you today about King Jesus and the nature of his kingdom.

You can say it this way, that this text, everything we just read is really all about that.

It's how the king gathers his army.

A king's actions reveal the nature of his kingdom.

If you're taking notes, kids, you've got the handout.

This is an important point.

A king's actions reveal the nature of his kingdom.

Think about it.

That's the reason why presidential candidates will platform with promises about what they will do in their first 100 days of taking office.

They know that their actions, those initial actions, are revealing what their kingdom or their rule is really all about.

Well, who was the king of Israel?

And what was he all about?

Well, the Bible says that it was Herod.

In Acts chapter 2, Herod is called the king of Israel.

Acts 2 · chapter mention

We're told that King Herod laid violent hands on some who belonged to the church.

And he killed James, the brother of John.

So the man who wrote this apostle, the apostle who wrote this letter here, this gospel of John, his brother, James, was killed by the king of Israel, King Herod.

Well, what else was this king known for?

King Herod the Great.

You could say he built a replica of Rome itself.

So you travel across the civilized world, the Roman Empire, and you come to Rome, and you were supposed to be stunned by the majesty of their architecture.

Their aqueducts, their arches, you know, the way that they tried to intimidate their enemy with everything that was imposed upon them from what they built.

And that was Rome.

But in Judea, Herod the Great built a little replica.

And it was in the city called Caesarea Philippi.

And that little fortress, he had at his palace and it faced the Mediterranean Ocean, which would be like saltwater, you know, the Mediterranean Sea.

They called it the Great Sea.

And right there in his palace, he built an indoor swimming pool, larger than a swimming pool.

And he had an aqueduct built just to bring fresh water to his palace.

So as you came to visit him or you arrived on a ship, he wanted to stun you with his greatness.

You might be thinking that would be a cool kingdom to belong to, the kingdom of Herod the Great.

But what else was the kingdom of Herod the Great known for?

Well, this was the same man, Herod, who left his one wife and his other wife started to poison his thoughts about her and her whole family.

To the point that Herod the Great had her slain, along with her father, her relatives, including two of his own sons, killed because he was so suspicious.

So you could say, by those actions, we know the nature of King Herod the Great's kingdom.

He was a man who loved Rome.

He was obsessed with Rome.

He was also a man who only knew how to rule using terror and fear, the force of manipulation and control.

The nature of the king's actions are revealing what their kingdom is about.

And I believe here that what we just read, these initial movements of King Jesus.

Remember, he's just been baptized into the water.

And we read in Acts, in John chapter 1, he was anointed with the Holy Spirit.

John 1 · chapter mention

And the Spirit remained on him.

So when you hear this language of anointing, you know there's a special office being set up.

Jesus is being inaugurated as the king.

He's been anointed.

You'd be thinking now, just like Samuel poured the oil over the head of David, that sunburned shepherd boy.

And now he's going to be the king.

Covenant, the office of King of Israel is anointed on him.

Well, Jesus has been anointed.

What is his kingdom all about?

And every movement that he makes, I believe, is showing you what his kingdom is for.

I think, too, that people might have thought of other references to this rule of God over his people.

And the one that came to mind to me that was maybe unusual or striking was in Joshua chapter 5.

Joshua 5 · chapter mention

God is already fulfilling his promises.

He brings his people, the second generation, into the promised land.

And they now have to go fight the enemy that does not want them there, claiming their inheritance.

And we're told in Joshua chapter 5 that as Joshua was praying and preparing now to lead the army of God and to do what they had been called to do,

Joshua 5 · chapter mention

Joshua lifted his eyes up and looked.

And behold, a man was standing before him with his sword drawn in his hand.

And he said, Are you for us or for our enemies?

And this man said, Neither, but as commander of the Lord's army, I stand before you.

Now, Jesus had not yet taken a body, but that was the son of God, the second person before he was incarnate, revealing himself.

This is what he has been prepared to do all along.

He will come and he will rule his people first in Israel to all the nations.

So that's what will be in mind here, because look at verse 41 in our text today.

In verse 41, we read that this wonderful declaration.

We have found the Messiah.

Messiah means exactly that, anointed one.

We have found the one that God has anointed and prepared all along, which means the Christ.

So when we say our Lord, Jesus Christ, every word is meaningful.

He is our Lord.

He rules over his new covenant people as the commander.

And Christ means the anointed one, the same Savior that God has promised all along.

Well, before I walk you through this text and show you these seven insights we get to the kingdom of God, I want us to appreciate and not take for granted the problem that we have.

See, the promise, the promise of God is really attached to one covenant.

And it's it begins with Eve and it goes all the way through with Abraham to Moses.

But it gets super specific and clear with the covenant made with David and two pastors named Brown and Keel.

They summarize the covenant God made with David this way.

The Davidic king would make the people holy.

This is what scripture teaches.

The king would establish the true temple of God.

The king would keep the laws of God for the people as their representative.

And the king, a son of David, would subdue all Israel's enemies and would reign in God's name.

That's what he would do.

Psalm 134 says the king will usher God's people into Zion to worship God forever in glory.

And Zion represents the mountain on which the kingly and the priestly office are combined.

And the revelation of God is brought to the people.

So Zion is that promise of a restored people of God that will be in his presence as his priests and kings, his army on earth.

It's a promise for the church.

But the problem with that promise is that it's been over 500 years.

Ever since Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon destroyed the temple, the people have not had a man from the line of David on the throne of Jerusalem.

So this is a big problem.

You can understand why the people would be crying out in the words of Psalm 89.

Lord, where is your steadfast love, which by your faithfulness you swore to David?

Where is it?

Well, the answer to this problem, it comes once again to Mary by the angel Gabriel.

He says this in Luke 1.

See, God sent an angel Gabriel himself to show all those promises, all that expectation for the Messiah, the one who would fulfill this covenant as the king of Israel.

So they are now fulfilled in God who took on flesh, Jesus Christ.

And the actions of the king reveal the nature of his kingdom.

So if that's true, if Jesus is God's warrior, the commander of the Lord's army, taken on the body of a man to be the representative of all God's people,

what do his early movements here in the rest of chapter one show us about the kingdom of God?

Now, I'm going to walk us through seven observations.

Ready?

Here's number one.

King Jesus cares about the heart of his people.

King Jesus cares about the heart of his people.

Look at verse 38.

Well, we saw last week how John the baptizer, once again on the new day, beheld the name of God.

And there were two disciples with him.

Do you remember that?

The two disciples.

And those two disciples begin to follow Jesus.

We're told that one of those disciples was who?

Look at your Bible.

Who was one of them that we're told?

You can say it out loud.

Who was it?

Andrew.

Yeah, one of them was Andrew.

Now, I'm going to tell you who I think the second one was.

Because we have some first person details given.

Like they followed him and it was about the 10th hour.

The 10th hour means you start counting when the sun comes up.

It would be about 4 p.m.

Well, who would know that?

Because Luke was the historian, right?

Luke had done this research as a historian, not as an eyewitness.

My guess is that John, the apostle that wrote this gospel, was that second disciple.

And you see how John the baptizer always wanted to make himself less.

The apostle John, I'm the one who Jesus loved.

You don't need to know more about me.

You need to know about Christ.

There's a second disciple there who had some first-hand details.

That's a good probability it was John himself.

Well, look at what he says in verse 38.

As they start to follow Jesus, in verse 38, what are Jesus' first words to them?

Jesus says, what are you seeking?

See how with just a few words, King Jesus shows his care for the heart of his people.

He didn't ask them a lot of other things.

He didn't say, how well have you kept the law of God?

He didn't ask them, how often have you been to church?

You've done all these external things.

Although true believers will want those things.

They'll want to be with their king.

He says in your heart, the part that no man can see, the part that you know, and God who knows all things, he sees it.

What are you seeking?

It reminds me of Matthew chapter 6.

Matthew 6 · chapter mention

Jesus said, don't be like those people who don't know the Lord.

They only care about food and clothes.

In other words, they only care about external things.

He said this, Matthew 6, 32 and 33.

You need to seek first, first and foremost, the kingdom of God and his righteousness.

You know why?

All these things will be added to you.

The Father in heaven loves you and he knows you need all these things.

But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness.

King Jesus wants to know that of his people today as well.

He wants to have you as part of his army.

Search your own heart.

What are you seeking?

And he asked this as your king and your commander.

Those who love anything more than Christ have no place in his kingdom.

If you don't know what you're seeking, I want you to observe what these men did.

See, what was their answer?

Verse 38 and 39.

They didn't have a great answer.

We are seeking, you know, they didn't have anything profound to say.

They just said, where are you staying?

In other words, can we be around you?

And maybe that's how you're today.

You don't know your heart really.

What am I seeking?

And Jesus' words to you are, follow me.

Come be with me.

Stick around me.

The King Jesus.

God himself.

Follow him in all those ordinary ways.

Where are you staying?

What are we doing when we get there?

We'll spend time with you.

If you're doing the dishes, we'll do the dishes with you.

If you're going to go, you know, help.

We'll do that with you.

We want to be around you.

We want to be your disciples.

And as simple as gathering as God's people on a Sunday morning feels,

doesn't it feel so ordinary?

We carry some tubs in and, you know, we sing some songs

and mess up some chords on the guitar.

But it's so simple.

But we want to be around King Jesus.

We're seeking first his kingdom.

Jesus cares about your heart today as well.

And he gathers his army.

So what else can we learn about the nature of his kingdom?

See, we read in our narrative that Andrew, one of those two,

brought along his brother.

And once again, how ordinary it is.

The way that King Jesus grows his army is so ordinary.

In verse 40, we see that.

Most likely, these men, the reason they're along the Jordan

is probably because they came for those three feasts that we talked about.

And now they're going back to Galilee where they're fishermen,

they're simple men traveling back along the Jordan.

And they had come trusting God to be their deliverer

and to show themselves, show himself to them,

show them his forgiveness.

He came to show them something much greater than that.

He came to show them what his kingdom is really about.

The second thing I want to point out is this,

that his kingdom only grows through direct encounter

with King Jesus himself.

See, Andrew was first a disciple of John the Baptizer.

But look at verse 40 in your Bible.

One of the two who heard John speak followed Jesus.

And then in verse 42, what did Andrew do?

Look at verse 42.

We're told Andrew brought Peter to Jesus.

He brought him to Jesus.

So the king only grows his army as people are brought directly to him.

As simple as this is,

I think the applications are very hard.

And I'm sure you have a loved one,

a friend, a family member.

You know what they need is for Christ to be the king of their life.

And it's so tempting, isn't it,

to try to bring that person to anything else,

even our own children.

But bring him to Christ alone.

That's how he grows his kingdom.

You need to know that you cannot save that loved one.

What that person needs is to encounter the king for themselves.

We're told in chapter 1, verse 17 of our chapter here,

that grace and truth, that's what we all need.

We need God's grace and the truth of the Bible.

Look at verse 17.

They come through who?

Through Jesus Christ, the Messiah, the anointed one.

No one else can bring God's grace and truth.

That's the only way his kingdom grows,

is through direct encounter with Christ himself.

What we can do is pray.

Because these men had been prepared.

They had been drawn by the Spirit,

by the Word of God, by the law,

knowing they need forgiveness.

And we can pray, we must pray,

that God will bring more soldiers,

more men and women, boys and girls,

into his kingdom.

His kingdom, listen to this,

his kingdom cannot be manipulated by gimmicks

or by the force of man.

That's what King Herod is all about.

That's not the way King Jesus grows his kingdom.

His kingdom is the kingdom of light

and it always overcomes the darkness.

The true church grows when Christ builds his church

and he promises, I will do that.

I will build my church.

Can we trust him to do that?

Let's let Christ be extraordinary

as we are obedient with the ordinary things

he's called us to do so that he gets all the glory.

The best we can ever do

is to bring someone else to Jesus Christ himself

because King Jesus is the one who gathers his army.

What else do the king's actions in these early verses

in chapter one reveal about the nature of his kingdom?

Number three,

we see that King Jesus knows his people.

Look at verse 42 again.

We're told in verse 42

that Jesus looked at Peter

and said,

notice the next two words,

you are,

this is who you are.

And what he calls him is,

is Cephas,

it means Petras,

it means the rock.

And we'll get insights much later

in the passion of Christ

that Peter was a rock,

not because he was a man of great faith.

In fact,

he is the one who denied Christ.

He failed God most publicly and miserably.

But it was his profession

that Jesus is the son of God,

the Messiah,

the anointed one.

He is the Christ.

That statement,

that confession,

which we've received

and now we profess,

that's the rock of the church.

It's Christ himself.

So that's what he calls Peter.

And the application for us

is that Jesus looked at Peter

and said,

you are.

The only way the king can do that

is if he knows who you are.

And the king knows his army.

He knows every single one

of his soldiers.

We need to never picture Jesus

like that general,

you know,

sitting behind an office desk,

looking at some figures

on a paper or computer.

King Jesus is like George Washington.

He's marching with his boots on muddy.

And he's in the midst of his people.

He is among his sheep.

He's the shepherd king.

That's who King Jesus is.

He knows you.

And maybe you feel invisible

at work or in your own family.

You feel like

no one really knows who you are.

Remember,

this is King Jesus

who knows your heart

and cares about you.

And he knows

how you will fail him in the future

and he loves you still.

He also knows

how he will use you

in your weakness

to glorify him.

How your kingdom will grow

with one of your loved ones

through you

if you profess him

and you confess

Christ is your king.

It reminds me of

1 Chronicles chapter 11

1 Chronicles 11 · chapter mention

where David

is driven out of the kingdom,

the established kingdom in Judah.

Remember Saul?

He didn't want David around.

David was a threat.

So Saul was like King Herod.

David is like Jesus.

He's the one in the wilderness now.

And the rejects

from civilization

are gathering around him.

These simple men from Galilee

that would be mocked,

they would sound different,

they wouldn't be as pure

as how others would view them.

Fishermen,

uneducated.

That's like David

gathering his mighty men of valor.

We're told in 1 Chronicles 11,

David's mighty men

gave him strong support

in his kingdom

and made him king

according to the word of God.

What a type we have of Christ.

And if you have been drawn

into the army of King Jesus,

you are a mighty man

of valor in his army.

A mighty boy or girl or woman,

you're raised up now as his army

because King Jesus has gathered you.

He knows you.

And he has called you

to follow him

according to his word

to be a great support

for his kingdom on earth.

What else can we learn

of the kingdom of God

from these verses?

Number four,

King Jesus is the one

who finds his people.

Look at verse 43.

We're told that he found Philip.

Jesus found him.

In Luke 19,

Jesus said,

I came,

you know why?

I came was to seek

and save the lost.

That was his mission

from heaven,

leaving the Father's glory

and stripping himself

of the glory that he held

as ruler of all.

to take on the flesh,

to seek and to save

those who are lost.

Psalm 103 says,

The Lord has established

his throne in the heavens

and his kingdom rules over all.

So bless the Lord,

O you his angels,

you mighty ones

who do his word,

obeying the voice of the Lord.

And he has come now

with the angels of God behind him

and the Holy Spirit

preparing the way,

drawing one.

He will find you.

If you've walked away from him

or you're praying for someone

who has walked far away from him,

that little lamb

off the green pastures,

he will find them.

That's who he is.

I want you to turn to Ezekiel 37

to see the nature of his kingdom.

Ezekiel chapter 37.

Ezekiel 37 · chapter mention

This is one of our

messianic prophecies.

So it's a prophecy

about the covenant

God made with David.

And for context,

briefly,

you need to know

that Ezekiel was a prophet of God

during the time of exile.

He wasn't even writing

from Jerusalem.

He's writing from Babylon.

He's among those

who have been vanished

from the land.

Ezekiel chapter 37.

Ezekiel 37 · chapter mention

Let's look at verses 23 and 24.

So even as God's people

have received his punishment,

he gives them this gracious promise.

He says,

it's Ezekiel 37, 23 and 24.

The Lord says,

I will save them

from all the backslidings

in which they have sinned.

I will cleanse them

and they shall be my people

and I shall be their God.

Now look at verse 24.

Who will do this?

Who will go find those

who are lost

who have backslidden

and restore them

to being in the kingdom?

Verse 24 says,

My servant David

shall be king over them.

Now David is long dead.

And we're in that period

where the seed of David

is no longer

on the throne of Israel anymore.

But the promise remains.

You see how significant this is?

Verse 24.

They shall all have one shepherd.

They shall walk in my rules

and be careful

to obey my statutes.

My servant

shall be their prince

forever.

Jesus Christ

is the chief shepherd

of your soul.

He will not let

one of his lambs

that he knows

remain lost.

Now look at verse 43

back in John chapter 1.

John 1 · chapter mention

Gospel of John chapter 1 again.

John 1 · chapter mention

Look at verse 43.

The next day,

Jesus decided to go

to Galilee.

See, according to God's providence,

Christ is on the move.

Jesus decided to go to Galilee

and the next words

is that he found Philip.

And notice his command

when he finds

one of his lambs.

Follow me.

Now a disciple

would follow the rabbi.

Sometimes they would just

walk behind them

like a line

to show

we are seeking to

imitate the movements

of our rabbi.

And you remember

John the baptizer said,

I'm not even worthy

to untie his sandals.

Well, it was the job

of a disciple

to untie the sandals

of their rabbi.

And Jesus says

to Philip,

follow me.

Become my disciple.

Become one

who will follow me.

And let no task

that I ask of you

be too lowly.

In verse 43,

Jesus found Philip.

And then Philip,

following Jesus,

spreads the word.

He says to Nathanael,

come and see.

He learned

from John the baptizer.

If you behold

the Lamb of God,

it's going to bubble up

out of you.

Like John the baptizer said,

behold the Lamb of God.

Well, notice what

Philip now does next.

Same thing Andrew did.

You need to come

and see him for yourself.

You need to follow

this King.

My prayer today

is that you will believe

that by the life,

death,

and resurrection

of Jesus,

he finds his people.

The work of finding

sinners that are lost

is accomplished already.

Now the application

of that comes

through the Holy Spirit,

through his church,

and through his word.

And we get to be

part of that.

Jesus finds his people.

This should give us

so much confidence

for evangelism.

This should give us

so much hope

for someone who we know,

our own persuasion,

our own work,

we cannot convince anyone

or change any heart.

Karl Marx thought

the hope of the civilization

was in fixing the economy.

Freud thought it was

in fixing psychology.

I think many today

have made an idol

of education.

They think education

can fix the world's problems.

Jesus finds his people.

The only hope of the world

is in Christ,

the gospel of Jesus

through his church.

We get to be part of that.

Number five,

what else do we see now

from the movements

of King Jesus?

We see that the kingdom

of God

is recognized

by ordinary people

prepared by God.

God prepares

ordinary people

and when he reveals himself,

they recognize him.

They know this is true.

It's that simple.

He prepares people.

So here we have

fishermen,

Galileans,

uneducated men.

They've been flunked out

of traditional

rabbinical school.

But we told

in verse 45,

look there,

verse 45,

John 1, 45,

they knew enough.

They had been prepared

by the word of God.

In verse 45,

they recognized

this must be the one

whom Moses and the law

and also the prophets

wrote about.

The Lord

had revealed himself

to men

who had been prepared

as ordinary

as they were.

And that's what

the church is.

It's ordinary people.

Saved sinners.

That's all we are

and ever will be.

But we're pronounced

saints now.

We're priests

and kings

in his kingdom.

This reminds me again

of Gideon now

in Judges chapter 6.

Judges 6 · chapter mention

Remember first,

they gathered an army

under Gideon.

22,000 warriors.

God wasn't looking

for the might of men.

He said,

I need 300

who are watchful.

They're watching

for my kingdom to come

and through whom

I will be glorified.

They're trusting in me.

What else do the king's actions

reveal about the nature

of his kingdom?

Number six,

King Jesus

sees you.

This brings us

to the last

of the men

who are called

to this passage.

Look at verse 48.

King Jesus

sees Nathanael.

In verse 48,

we're told,

before your friend

brought you

to me,

says Jesus,

I saw you.

Now,

who was this man,

Nathanael?

The other

gospels,

Matthew,

Mark,

and Luke,

they call him

Bartholomew.

I believe it's the same man.

He's always associated

with Philip.

Notice it was Philip

who brought him.

So they're close associates.

Most likely,

like,

Bar means son.

So Bartholomew,

it probably means

Nathanael was what

they commonly called him,

but he was the son

of Thalomew.

So Bartholomew

would be his more

formal name.

And John calls him.

I'm sorry,

John calls him Nathanael,

but Jesus was the one

who said,

I saw you.

You're under that tree,

but I saw who you are.

The encouragement

I have for you here

is this.

We're told that Jesus

is the son of God.

He is the light

of life.

And in him,

there is no darkness

at all.

This should both

convict us

and encourage us.

If you feel invisible,

and you feel

like you are surrounded

by so much darkness,

you have no way

of getting out

on your own.

Jesus,

the light of God,

sees you.

And if the beam

of light

from God himself

brings the light

of God

into your life,

and I pray

that he'll do that

in every corner

of your heart

and my heart,

there's no room

for darkness.

When the ray

of light comes in,

all the darkness

flees from Christ.

So when Christ

sees you,

he sees you

with the light

of God's holiness.

And how could you

not respond

as one who wants

to walk

in the light

of God?

Jesus sees

his soldiers.

He sees everyone

who he calls

into his army.

And he brings

them life

out of the shadows

in his kingdom

of light.

Well, number seven,

King Jesus

is the only one

who bridges

earth and heaven.

He brings heaven

to earth,

and he brings men

from earth

to the kingdom

of God

in heaven.

Look at verse 51.

Nathaniel was

impressed that

Jesus saw him

and knew this

inside.

Jesus says,

don't be impressed

by that.

In verse 51,

truly, truly,

I say to you,

you will see

heaven opened.

Let me explain

that phrase.

Truly, truly,

in all the other

gospels, it's usually

just given one time.

Truly, I say to you,

in the gospel of John,

remember, it's written

much later than

all the other gospels.

He brings it twice,

almost every time.

Truly, truly.

In other words,

you all have read

the gospels.

You've read Matthew,

Mark, and Luke.

This is what it felt

like to hear Christ

himself say that.

And the word truly,

it could mean amen.

In other words,

the weight of God's glory

before God himself,

I tell you this,

you will see

heaven opened.

And that phrase,

heaven opened,

is an expression

for a great revelation.

Heaven is the

spiritual realm.

It's where God

in his spirit

dwells and rules

and reigns.

So he says,

truly, truly,

I say to you,

and even though he

was dealing with

Nathanael,

he's got disciples

surrounding him,

and he switches

the tense.

He says,

I say to you,

that's in the plural,

and the application

for us is this,

Jesus is revealing

to you,

all of you,

who are his disciples,

with the truth

of heaven itself,

truly, truly.

Notice his next words.

What will it be

that they will see?

He's quoting

from Genesis 28.

And I'm going to read

that so you can see

how similar

the quotation

from Christ is.

Genesis 28.

He dreamed,

this is Jacob dreamed,

and behold,

there was a ladder

set up on earth

that's actually

resting on earth.

Resting is ruling.

To rest is to rule.

So a ladder

that rules on earth

is set up,

and the top of it

reaches to heaven,

and behold,

the angels of God

were ascending,

going up,

and descending,

going down on it.

So in Genesis,

they're going down

on this ladder,

and Jacob doesn't have

the full revelation.

Who is that ladder,

that stairway,

this bridge

between heaven and earth?

And what does Jesus say

the ladder is?

It is the Son of Man.

Well, in the same chapter,

He is the Son of God.

Now we see

He is God become man.

The second Adam,

the representative.

The King's actions

reveal that Christ Himself

would lay down His life.

What's the nature

of His kingdom?

His kingdom is one

where the King

lays down His life

for His soldiers.

He brings heaven

to them.

And the angels

that are ascending

and descending

will ascending

angels means messengers.

And yes,

angels flooded to earth

at the time of Christ

to reveal the truth

about Him,

to confirm

Jesus is the God,

the Messiah.

And the angels

are ministering

even now

among the church.

But I think the angels

could also be

what Jacob pictured

and what Christ

is explaining.

Angel means messenger

or delegate

or ambassador.

Who else is called

an ambassador?

Who else are the delegates

of the kingdom of Jesus?

It's His people.

And when Christ comes

to judge the living

and the dead,

we believe in the bodily

resurrection of the saints.

So all those

who are now in Christ,

they will be ascending with Him.

And when He comes

to set up His eternal kingdom

to rule over all earth

and heaven,

the new heavens,

the new earth,

the army of heaven

would descend with Him.

What a glorious vision.

There's no path

between sin

and the flesh

and death on earth

and the holiness

of God in heaven

except on Jesus Christ.

That's what we confess.

So in those seven observations,

we see how King Jesus

gathers His army.

my argument to you

is that He is not done

gathering His army.

He gathers His army

still today.

Are you one

who He has prepared

and who can declare

you are the Son of God?

You are the promised King

from all God's Word,

from all the Scripture.

And I want to take you

to Psalm 110

because I want you

to evaluate

how do you view Christ

in light of this.

So please turn

to Psalm 110.

Verse 1,

Psalm 10 says,

The Lord says to my Lord,

sit at my right hand

until I make

your enemies

a footstool.

So the Lord says

to my Lord,

that's a little confusing,

isn't it?

The Lord,

Father in heaven,

creator of earth,

says to the psalmists,

Lord,

but hold on,

we see at the top,

this is a Psalm of David.

There's no one

above the King.

Who is the Lord

of the King?

So we have to understand

in light of what

God has revealed,

David himself said,

I have a Lord

who is the covenant Lord.

He brings God's grace

to earth.

And who was it

that said to my Lord?

The Father says

to the Son,

Son,

sit at my right hand

until I have made

my enemies

your footstool.

That's where Christ

sits right now,

at the right hand

of the Father.

Who are the enemies

of Christ?

Well, today,

the enemies of Christ,

we're told,

we don't fight

against flesh and blood,

but against the powers

of darkness,

these principalities

of the spiritual realm.

And we know

even in our own heart,

we fight against sin,

indwelling sin,

like Romans 7.

We fight against Satan.

Although his head

is crushed,

he's still permitted

to prowl around

like a roaring lion,

seeking who he can devour,

because that's a mean

God is using

to draw us into his kingdom

and to prepare us

for heaven.

And so he fights

against sin,

Satan,

and the devil.

Now, death,

if you're in Christ,

death has been destroyed.

There's no longer

a sting of death.

But these are the enemies

of God

that are being brought

under his rule

until he returns

in glory.

Now, look at verse 2,

Psalm 110, verse 2.

Psalms 110:2

The Lord sends forth

from Zion

your mighty scepter.

Rule in the midst

of your enemies.

The Father sent forth

Jesus Christ

as his sword

or his scepter,

as the one

who will go out

bringing the rule

of God on earth.

In verse 3,

what will be the nature

of his army

as he rules them?

Verse 3,

your people

will offer themselves

freely

on the day

of your power

in holy garments.

See,

the people of God

stand before God

having been declared

righteous.

They're dressed

in the righteousness

of Christ alone.

And how is it

that they offer

themselves back

to him as he rules

from heaven?

They offer themselves

freely.

The nature of his kingdom

is that everyone

in the army of King Jesus

is a volunteer.

Not because they are

more holy or anything,

it's because how could

you not want to follow

Jesus?

Just like the disciples.

They beheld him

and they followed him.

And I want to just

share with you two

willing warriors,

two volunteer soldiers

who freely gave

themselves to Christ.

Both of them

are from our text today.

The first one

is Andrew.

John Fox,

a Puritan historian

and pastor,

he put together

a book telling

the stories of martyrs.

And in this book,

he said that Andrew,

this apostle,

he went on

to be a missionary

in Asia.

And he was later

arrested and brought

to the city of Petrus,

which is an amazing

city in Greece,

carved into stone.

And we're told

that there,

Andrew was tied

to a cross

that was in the shape

of an X.

So his legs

and his arms

would have been

stretched out like that,

tied there.

And Andrew

was probably reflecting

on the glorious gospel,

what it was

to follow Christ,

to tell others

we found God's anointed

one, the king,

to join his army.

In Matthew 12,

Jesus said,

whoever is not with me

is against me,

and whoever does not

gather with me

scatters.

So Andrew was

full of joy

to go and take

the gospel

to a different continent.

And the tradition

of the church

in Fox's book

says that Andrew,

from that position,

was a very slow

and torturous death.

he preached

the gospel of Jesus,

gathering more

by proclaiming Christ

for three days.

That's a willing soldier.

That's someone

who belongs

to the army

of King Jesus

has prophesied

in Psalm 110.

And the second

willing warrior

I want to tell you about

is Nathaniel,

Bartholomew.

Fox says that

he went on

to proclaim Christ

to all who would

believe in India.

So the great

continent of India

that even today

has so many

dialects and

languages that

don't have the Bible

complete yet.

And he made it

his lifelong project

to translate

the gospel of Matthew

to the people

of India

where he was serving.

One of the passages

he would have translated

would have been

Matthew chapter 10.

Matthew 10 · chapter mention

It says this,

whoever denies me

before men,

this is Christ speaking,

I also will deny

before my Father

who is in heaven.

Do not think

that I have come

to bring peace

to earth.

I have not come

to bring peace

but a sword.

And according

to John Fox

in church history,

this apostle

Nathaniel

was flayed.

To be flayed,

little children

left the room,

it means that

they skinned you

alive.

They took a knife

and cut your skin

off while you're

still living.

And Nathaniel

would not deny

Christ.

Now I share this

with those not

so you think

these men

were special

or that they were

so much holier

or better.

I share this

with you because

this shows

that the work

of the Holy Spirit

to give them

a new heart,

to cause them

to believe Jesus

and then to follow

him in the way

of his kingdom

speaks a loud

gospel to the

whole world

whoever will have

ears to hear.

Zephaniah 3.15

says,

The King of Israel,

the Lord,

is in your midst.

And Jesus was

in their midst

even as they were

being martyred

for his kingdom.

They did not

leave them alone.

He was with them.

He says,

You shall never

again fear evil

on the day

of the Lord.

The Lord your God

is in your midst,

a mighty one

who will save.

He will rejoice

over you

with gladness

and he will

quiet you

by his love.

He will exult

over you

with loud singing.

I just need

to probably

share with you

what you might

be wrestling with.

So you're saying

Jesus rules

from heaven

and he's the

King of kings

and Lord of lords

ruling.

Yet you just

told us these

examples of how

men in his army

are being destroyed

and torturously

abused.

And we know

our brothers and

sisters around

the world

under persecution,

I think more

and more

among the church

in America

we will face

that same thing.

How can you say

Jesus is the King

when that's all

going on

in his kingdom?

John Calvin

citing Augustine

and his institutes

was so helpful

to me on this

question.

Here's the quote.

Should God

immediately

punish all evil

in the world?

He could do that.

But should he do that?

It would be thought

of him

that he has left

nothing for his

final day of judgment.

There is a day

coming.

There is a day.

The day of the Lord

is coming.

And he will bring

the final judgment.

Praise him for being

so patient with me

and with you

and with this world.

Now, here's the rest

of the quote.

On the other hand,

if God did not

restrain

and judge

some evil

in the world,

then it would be

thought of him

that he does not

hate any wickedness

or exert any

sovereignty

or providence

over his creation,

which is also

not true.

Our Lord rules

and he preserves

his broken world

until his final day.

We long for that day

when every knee

will bow

and every tongue

will confess

that Jesus Christ

is Lord

to the glory

of God

the Father.

Let's pray

from Psalm

Psalms 2 · chapter mention

chapter 2.

Father,

you promised

that you have

set your King

Jesus on Zion,

your holy hill.

He rules

from heaven.

We believe

and confess

that Christ reigns

today.

He has gathered

an army,

his church around him,

and he is still

on the move

gathering men

and women,

young and old,

still today.

Lord,

you have promised

to make the nations

his heritage

and the ends

of the earth

his possession.

Please do this,

Father.

Please do this

for your glory

through your church,

by your word,

so that you will be

exalted among the nations.

We ask

in your name.

Amen.