Jesus is the King of Glory

And we pray this in His name. Amen.

And we're going to read together a couple of short passages, both from the New Testament.

First, the book of Acts, chapter 1, page 1092, if you're using a church Bible.

Acts 1 · chapter mention

Acts, chapter 1, we're going to read the first 11 verses, and then after that we'll go to Philippians, chapter 2.

Acts 1 · chapter mention Philippians 2 · chapter mention

So this is Acts, chapter 1, and this is God's Word.

Acts 1 · chapter mention

In my former book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus began to do and to teach until the day He was taken up to heaven

after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles He had chosen.

After His suffering, He presented Himself to them and gave many convincing proofs that He was alive.

He appeared to them over a period of 40 days and spoke about the kingdom of God.

On one occasion, while He was eating with them, He gave them this command,

Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift My Father promised, which you have heard Me speak about.

For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.

Then they gathered round Him and asked Him, Lord, are You at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?

He said to them, It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by His own authority,

but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you, and you will be My witnesses in Jerusalem

and in all Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth.

After He had said this, He was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid Him from their sight.

They were looking intently up into the sky as He was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them.

Men of Galilee, they said, Why do you stand here looking into the sky?

This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen Him go into heaven.

And then in Philippians chapter 2, it's wonderfully rich theology to address a really practical need within the church in all times and places.

Philippians 2 · chapter mention

So Philippians 2, it's on page 1179.

We're going to read from verse 5 to 11.

Listen,

Amen.

So we're going to return to the ideas within those texts.

in just a few moments.

But first, we're going to sing a hymn that we've learned in the last few months,

Hail to the Lord's Anointed, which again reminds us of the position Jesus has in heaven.

So again, let's stand together to sing.

Hail to the Lord's Anointed,

His reign on earth begun

He comes to break oppression

To set the captives free

To take away transgressions

And rule in equity

He comes and succors speedy

To those who suffer wrong

To help the poor and leading

And build the weakly strong

To give them songs for sight

Their darkness turned to light

Her soul's condemned and lying

Were precious in His sight

We shall come down like showers

Upon the fruitful earth

Of joy and hope like flowers

Spring in His path to birth

Before Him on the mountains

Shall peace the herald come

And righteousness in fountains

From hill to valley flow

Kings shall fall down before Him

And gold and incense spring

All nations shall adore Him

His praise all people sing

To Him shall prayer unceasing

And daily vows ascend

His kingdom still increasing

A kingdom without end

For every foe victorious

He on His throne shall rest

From age to age for glorious

A blessing and a bless

The tide of time shall never

His covenant remove

His name shall stand forever

The name to us is life

The name to us is life

The name to us is life

The name to us is life

The name to us is life

And now we're going to turn to

Psalm 24 on page 555

If you're using the church Bible

As we're working our way through

The Apostles' Creed

The Apostles' Creed

We get to consider this evening

Jesus as the exalted King of glory

The one spoken of in anticipation here

Psalm 24

The earth is the Lord's and everything in it

The world and all who live in it

For He founded it on the seas

And established it on the waters

Who may ascend the mountain of the Lord

Who may stand in His holy place

The one who has clean hands and a pure heart

Who does not trust in an idol

Or swear by a false God

They will receive blessing from the Lord

And vindication from God their Saviour

Such is the generation of those who seek Him

Who seek your face, God of Jacob

Lift up your heads, you gates

Be lifted up, you ancient doors

That the King of glory may come in

Who is this King of glory?

The Lord strong and mighty

The Lord mighty in battle

Lift up your heads, you gates

Lift them up, you ancient doors

That the King of glory may come in

Who is He?

This King of glory

The Lord Almighty

He is the King of glory

Amen

Let's begin with the crowning of the King

I don't know how many of us watched King Charles' coronation

But if you can cast your mind back a little

You might remember that in Westminster

Abbey, at a certain point in the coronation ceremony

A question is asked

It goes something like this

I present to you your undoubted King

Will you do him homage?

You give him homage

You give him honour

And the response of the Abbey at that point

Triumphant cheers of a saint

Well the great theme of the Bible

Is that the Old Testament and the New Testament

Are presenting to us

Jesus as God's Messiah King

And so the key question then for our lives

Is if this is God's King

And that's undoubted

Do we honour Him?

To use the language of Psalm 2

We are called to kiss the Son

To use the language of Philippians 2

To gladly bow

And for our tongues to confess that Jesus is Lord

So we're working through the ideas of the Apostles' Creed

And this one deals with Christ ascending and taking the throne of heaven as the exalted King

We believe He ascended into heaven

And is seated at the right hand of God the Father

Jesus is King of heaven

Today Jesus is King of heaven

Why does that matter?

Why is this truth important?

How does it help faith?

Why does it matter that in the Psalms

We have this reality of God's King being praised

And everyone being called and commanded to honour Him?

Why does it matter that in the book of Revelation

We have the songs of heaven praising the Lamb who sits upon the throne, our King Jesus?

How can it be, think of it slightly differently, that Jesus in John chapter 16 will say to His anxious disciples

John 16 · chapter mention

Knowing He's about to leave, to die, to rise, to ascend to heaven

How can He say it's for your good that I am going away?

How can separation from the Lord Jesus be good news?

Well, only if He ascends the throne of heaven

So two simple questions as we think about this

One, where is Jesus now?

Secondly, what is Jesus doing now?

Simple questions with profound answers

Where is Jesus now then?

First question

If we were to ask the New Testament, ask Jesus Himself

The answer is clear

If we read when He was on trial

You will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the mighty one

Matthew chapter 26 verse 64

Matthew 26:64

In Acts chapter 1, what did we just read of?

Acts 1 · chapter mention

We read of the disciples witnessing the ascension

Jesus being taken up

And Peter is one of those eyewitnesses

In Acts chapter 2, as he preaches at Pentecost

Acts 2 · chapter mention

Will declare, Jesus is now exalted to the right hand of God

And so the clear testimony of the New Testament is

Jesus ascended, exalted to the right hand of God

He's ascended to heaven

The place where God dwells

The place where God's will is always done

The control center of the universe

Jesus goes up

To sit upon the throne

To take the right hand of the Father

The place of power and authority

So that tonight we can understand

And begin to marvel at the fact that

The physical, risen, glorified Jesus

A man of a certain height

A man of a certain weight

Physically sits on the throne of the universe

The kingdom of the universe

Is king over this world

Is king over his church

Is lord and king over us all

I want us to think about Psalm 24

To think about how it speaks to us of Jesus

The king of glory

And to think about how that fits into the story of the Bible

Psalm 24

When it was originally composed and used

Was likely sung when the ark of God

Representing God's throne, God's rule

When the ark was taken up to Jerusalem

To be seated in the tabernacle

And also it seems most likely that Psalm 24

Would be sung whenever the ark of God

Returned to Jerusalem after God and his armies

Had won a victory in battle

So the ark would be carried up the hill to Jerusalem

The ark symbolizing God the king of glory

Returning home and he is welcomed

And he is worshipped by his people

That's the picture we have in Psalm 24

When we sing it, and we'll sing it

And as we close, we'll sing

And we do sing, New Testament believers

Sing to Jesus, the ascended, the exalted king of glory

And so what we're going to do is

We're going to think about it briefly

In its original setting

And then we're going to see how it applies to Christ

So if you have your Bible, Psalm 24

Look at the first two verses there

The earth is the Lord's and everything in it

The world and all who live in it

So there's where we begin

God is creator, God is owner of everything

He founded it on the seas

The seas, pictures of chaos and trouble

He brings order out of chaos

When he creates this world that he now owns

God is the creator

Then there's this interesting turn

In the next few verses

That follow logically

God is the goal

God is the goal of life

And that's introduced by way of tension

Who may ascend the mountain of the Lord

Who may stand in his holy place

Entering into God's presence

Was the great hope and the promise

That God offered to his people

How might we enjoy life with him?

It's the great promise

The great goal of the covenant

God with his people

That's why he redeemed Israel from Egypt

That's why he calls his people out

To be a holy people

That we might enjoy life and fellowship with him

That's the great promise

But then there's also that great tension

Well, who may ascend?

Did we hear the answer in verse 4?

The one who has clean hands and a pure heart

Who does not trust in an idol or swear by a false god

Who is clean?

Who has that pure heart?

Who has that undivided and true worship?

And of course an honest look at ourselves

A look through the Bible reveals

Well, that wasn't true of Adam

The first man though

He was given this wonderful garden to live in

And he enjoyed life with God

And he was made sinless and perfect

He didn't stay clean and pure

It wasn't true for the nation of Israel

They often turned away from God into impurity

And very much divided worship

It wasn't true of David

The great king

The king after God's own heart

He certainly wasn't always clean and pure and true

Nor is it true of us

But there's a wonderful

As much as there's great tension

There's also great grace

There's also great grace

Introduced

When we remember in the storyline of the Bible

That God provided a way

For sinful people to be made clean

To be washed from sin

And in particular

God established the priesthood

The priests

So we can think for example

About the Day of Atonement

If you want to read about the Day of Atonement

Leviticus chapter 16

Leviticus 16 · chapter mention

Well on that day

In that chapter we discover lots of things

That there was one day per year

Where the high priest could enter into God's presence

Into the Holy of Holies

And we'll think about why that mattered

But before that happened

Before he entered

There were a certain number of things that happened

First of all we see the high priest standing before the people

Because the job of the high priest was to represent God's people before the Holy God

So he is the representative of his people

But he's also the mediator

Standing between a Holy God and sinful people

And to enter into God's presence

The priest couldn't just wander in as he was

There were certain things that needed to be done

He needed to cleanse himself

Even the most holy person in Israel was not in and of themselves clean

So he needed to cleanse himself

He needed to put on his special clothing

The high priest's garments

Which included that wonderful imagery of the breastplate containing the names of the twelve people

The priest would bear the names of the people on his heart

As he went into God's presence

Sacrifice would have to be offered for himself and for the people

Blood must be sprinkled

And then and only then could he go in and intercede for mercy and for forgiveness

And so the point of the priesthood, the point of the tension of our psalm is clear

That to reach the goal, the goal of life with God, we need to be washed

We need to be cleansed

And that from the inside out

It's not just about our hands, our actions

We need a pure heart also

Well having said that, verse 7 to 10 says to us

Not only is God created and goal, God is also the king

So we've been following in Luke chapter 19 in the mornings

Luke 19 · chapter mention

Jesus on this procession up to Jerusalem

And we've been getting that sense of excitement that goes with that

Well imagine a different scene

Imagine the ark of God being carried in joyful procession

The priests and the Levites leading the way

Nearing the city of Jerusalem

Great victory has been won

Worship breaks out

As the ark approaches, there's this call and response

Who is the king of glory?

The Lord is

The Lord strong and mighty

There's joy

There's joy in Jerusalem

Why?

Because it's another evidence for them that the Lord is for us

The God who created is the God who has entered into covenant

The covenant is the God who has been fighting for his people

Who's been protecting his people

And not just the Lord is for us, the Lord is with us

Ruling from the ark

Ruling in the tabernacle and the temple

God with his people

The goal of the covenant

The goal of life

The king who goes up

To be the centre of authority and worship

Is the Lord God

Now let's think about how we sing this about Jesus

Another psalm that we sang, Psalm 110

Anticipated the truth that the Messiah king

Would be a priest king

In the order of Melchizedek

The only person we meet in the Bible who is both priest and king

The book of Hebrews says that's fulfilled in Jesus

We have this need of a priest who will wash us

And a king who will rule for us

Jesus is first of all our great high priest

He represents us

That's the significance of him becoming fully and truly human

That's the significance of the incarnation

If Jesus didn't become truly human

He couldn't truly represent us before God

So he represents us perfectly

He's also the perfect mediator

The perfect person to represent God to man and man to God

Because he is truly God and truly human

When we think about the clothing that the high priest put on

Jesus our great high priest

The clothing he put on

Bone of our bone and flesh of our flesh

Becoming one of us

Making his dwelling among us

And this great high priest he too wears his people on his heart

He loves his people, he loves his church

The sacrifice that Jesus offered

Not an animal for cleansing

He offers himself

The great high priest offers himself

As the great once and for all sacrifice

So that we are washed by his blood

And Jesus our great high priest

He too intercedes

Not just for a time

But as Hebrews 7.25 tells us

He always lives

To make intercession for us

He is always pleading our case

On the basis of his merits

On the basis of his completed sacrifice

That question

Who may ascend the mountain of the Lord

Who may enter his holy place

There is one

It's Jesus

Son of God

And because he is pure

Because he is clean

And because he has acted for us

We can come

Enter in

He is our great high priest

But Jesus is also

Represented to us in the Bible

As our great king

He has ascended

And taken the throne of heaven

And just as here

There is praise offered

To the Lord strong and mighty

The Lord mighty in battle

Praise belongs to Jesus

Because he has gone

To take the throne of heaven

Having won a decisive victory

In a great spiritual battle

We read in Philippians 2

That Jesus humbled himself

To become one of us

He humbled himself

To the point of dying on the cross for us

And then did you notice

Philippians 2 said

Therefore

Because Jesus was obedient to death

Because Jesus went into and won

The decisive spiritual battle

Therefore he is exalted

He is exalted

He is exalted because he was victorious

Victorious over Satan

And sin

And death

For the sake of his church

He is exalted

He is exalted having completed

His atoning work on the cross

So that moment of Jesus' life

Where he knew humiliation

Leaving the glory of heaven

Becoming truly human

Knowing humiliation

Knowing humiliation

Going to the point of death

On the cross

Now there is that upward curve

Now ascended

And exalted

Now they sing of him in heaven

Revelation 5 verses 9 and 10

Revelation 5:9

There is loads of songs in Revelation

Whenever there is a new era of salvation

God's people sing

Well here is a song from heaven

Revelation 5 verse 9

Revelation 5:9

You are worthy

You are worthy

To take the scroll

And to open its seals

Because you were slain

And with your blood

You purchased for God

Persons from every tribe

And language

And people and nation

You have made them to be a kingdom

And priests

To serve our God

And they will reign on the earth

This exalted king

The exalted king

Is welcomed with joy

Into heaven

Acknowledged as the one

Who has won the decisive victory

So that now the goal of your life and mine

Is to worship this exalted king

To worship Jesus

The exalted king of glory

To enter into and to enjoy

Life with God

Just like a royal procession

Where we are to enter into the presence of God

Just like a royal procession

Where we are to enter into the presence of God

Because we follow after and we are united to Jesus

Our great priest king

So that is our first question

Where is Jesus now?

He is the king on the throne of heaven

He is the king on the throne of heaven

Our second question

What is Jesus doing now?

It is also a very important question

In Matthew 28

We have what is known as the great commission

So this is just before Jesus ascends to heaven

And there is many things

But there is two truths to think about

Jesus said

At the very end

I am with you always

To the very end of the age

That wonderful promise

That great truth

For his people

So that we know

In reality

As Christians

Jesus is with us

That is always a precious truth

For the church

In every age

In every place

But there is one thing

That we might

Be more likely to overlook

Jesus begins the great commission

Recognizing

I have all authority

He speaks to us

As one who has authority

As king

Jesus is with us

God with us

Jesus is king

For us

Something sometimes we overlook

That right now

The same Jesus

That the women and the disciples saw

On Easter Sunday

Is the Jesus who sits physically

On the throne of heaven

As king

So that our risen saviour

Our physical glorified saviour

Is our physically risen glorified exalted king

And our faith actually needs that connection

I think

Let me suggest four reasons why

The first reason is

It reminds us

Right basically

That Jesus our king

Is ruling

Remember Philippians 2

King Jesus is seated in glory

Every knee should bow

And every tongue should confess

That Jesus is Lord

Because

His atoning work is finished

Because

The penalty has been paid

Because the price has been paid in full

And that matters for us

When we think about Jesus

Seated on the throne of heaven

Our king and our saviour

If our faith is in him

We don't need to fear the future

Because Jesus reigns

Having won the victory

Over sin and death

We see the connection

We sing of it sometimes

In Christ alone

No power of hell

No scheme of man

Can ever pluck me from his hand

For yet not I

But through Christ in me

No fear I dread

I know I am forgiven

The future sure

Why?

Because the price that has been paid

So we can live with hope

Because a king seated on a throne

Is a sign that his work has been accomplished

We can also live with hope for the future

As we recognise Jesus the light of the world has come

The light has broken in

The light of Jesus glory has shone

Sometimes it can seem like

Just a crack of light under the door

You know when you are in your room at night

And maybe the hall light is on

And you see that little strip of light

But you know

You open the door

And the light is going to break in

We understand that in this world

There is still so much darkness

Sometimes it can seem hard to recognise

And comprehend the rule of Christ

But to read the New Testament

We understand that the writers were confident

Because Jesus has risen from the dead

Because he has ascended to heaven

Because he is seated on the throne

One day the light will fully dawn

And we are invited to live with that same confidence

Even as life can seem hard and dark

The glory of King Jesus will shine fully and brightly

His kingdom will come

His eternal kingdom will come

And because Jesus our King is ruling

We can also live with security

As we serve

Remember Colossians chapter 3

Colossians 3 · chapter mention

Colossians chapter 3

Colossians 3 · chapter mention

We have that invitation

To set our hearts

On things above

Where Christ is

To set our minds on the earth

To set our minds on things above

To recognise that we have died to sin

And we now have a life that is hidden with Christ in God

So we have eternal security

Our life is hidden with Christ in God

And that changes the way we approach life

Or it can and it should

It's going to help us to be ready to surrender our plans and priorities

It's going to help us to be ready to suffer for Him

Because we know He reigns

And we know He is worthy

And we know He's got us

The King of kings and the King of glory

So there's the first, what is Jesus doing now?

He is ruling

Second thing we can say about what Jesus is doing right now

Jesus our priest king is interceding

Back to Hebrews 7 verse 25

Hebrews 7:25

He is able to save completely

Those who come to Him

Because

He ever lives to intercede for them

See the connection there?

Our confidence of future salvation

Rests in our confidence that Jesus is never going to stop

Being the high priest that we need

Our confidence to enter and to enjoy God's presence

Never rests in ourselves

It always rests in Jesus and His finished work

And His ongoing work

His ongoing work of praying for us and pleading our cause

So that we understand that His is the hand that opens the door

His is the hand that welcomes us in

Our security, our assurance rests entirely

In Christ alone

Christ our priest king who is interceding

If our security was to be found in our circumstances

If our security was to be found in our circumstances

Be very fragile

We'd have despair

If we don't get the job

Or if our health fails us

Or if everything seems to fall apart

If our security was found in our obedience

We'll be on that rollercoaster ride of pride when things go well

And utter despair when things go badly

But when our assurance rests

In Jesus

When we look up and we see Jesus on the throne

Praying for us

Present Himself to the Father as the basis for our acceptance

That's unshakable confidence

That's humble, unshakable confidence and joy

That rests entirely in the truth

About Jesus, the exalted king interceding for us

What else is Jesus doing now?

Jesus, our priest king, is also sending help

In Hebrews chapter 4 verses 15 and 16

Hebrews 4:15

We're introduced to Jesus, our sympathetic high priest

We do not have a high priest who's unable to feel sympathy for our weaknesses

But we have one who's been tempted in every way

Just as we are, yet he did not sin

Let us then approach God's throne of grace with confidence

So that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need

Jesus has been tempted in every way

But never gave in

And never sinned

And the wonderful thing is that Jesus wasn't

A superman

Whose life is entirely different to ours

How does Jesus do His ministry?

How does Jesus do His ministry?

What does the Bible say?

How does Jesus do His ministry?

He does His ministry in the power of the Spirit

How does Jesus live to the Father's glory?

He lives to the Father's glory in the power of the Spirit

How does Jesus resist temptation?

Not because He floats above the ground and is separate from temptation

No, He resists real and fierce temptation by the Word of God

And the wonderful thing

Is that those same resources, the Spirit and the Word

Are the resources our ruling King sends to us

Our ruling King

He rules over us by His Word

By His Spirit

Our gracious King supplies His Word

Supplies the Spirit

So we can say no to sin

And we can say yes

To living obedient, faith-filled lives

Our King supplies from heaven

From the throne of heaven

What we need to live lives of worship

We're not left to our own resources

To our own grit and determination

We're given His presence, His Word

And His Spirit

There's another thing Jesus is doing now

What else is Jesus doing now?

Jesus our King

Is preparing a home for us

I love John 14

Again, Jesus wanting to comfort and minister to

troubled disciples

Knowing He was about to depart for the cross

And there in verse 2

He says,

My Father's house has many rooms

If that were not so

Would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you

And if I go and prepare a place for you

I'll come back

And take you to be with me

And I also be where I am

The preparation of Jesus

Included His going to the cross

To pay the penalty for our sin

Included His resurrection

Included His ascension

Includes His ruling from the throne of heaven

And having secured this victory over sin and death

We have this wonderful promise

That our victorious and glorious King

He's preparing a home

He's preparing an eternal Sabbath rest

He's preparing for us to be with Him forever

He is preparing to return to make everything new

Including His people

That's where we're going to be next week

But think about that

Right now, Jesus, our King who sits on the throne

He's preparing a home for us

Jesus is the King of glory

The Bible records Him ascending to heaven

Taking the throne of glory

The coronation moment has taken place

And God is asking a question of us in His word

Jesus Christ is the undoubted King of heaven

Will you and I pay Him homage?

Do we welcome Him?

Will you and I pay Him homage?

Do we welcome Him as our King?

The one who has gained for us a welcome into life with God

The promise of welcome into God's presence

Do we serve Him as our King?

This one who has served us by His sacrifice

This one who serves us by His prayers