One True King: Jesus Is King! (Blake Bergstrom)

Well, let me hear you loud and strong.

Good morning, one church.

Good to have you here.

My name is Blake.

If I haven't met, it's an honor to have you.

Glad you came.

If you're new, let's do something.

Every week I'd like to welcome everybody that joins us online all around the world, no matter where you are, we love you.

Let them know, church.

Good to have you.

I have a couple of cool things to tell you about.

Five weeks ago, we launched our very first ever podcast, and I found out this morning that there's been over a thousand downloads already, which just tells me that you guys have been telling your friends and sending it and liking it and sharing it, all that.

And it blesses me to see God use that as a tool because like we put a lot of time and effort into it, and it's kind of like Sermon 2.0, a little bit deeper and a little bit more uh kind of unedited, unfettered, if you will.

And so I I love I love getting to be a part of it.

So thank you for sharing that.

Also, a couple weeks ago I talked about the 401 campaign, and I talked about um how it it's the it changed, and so now if you don't know where we've been talking about building a new sanctuary, and a lot of people got behind that, and in that process I said, hey, uh it has changed, and if you don't feel comfortable, uh we'd be glad to give you your money back.

And instead of you guys asking for money back, uh a lot of people have said, Well, if you're gonna be that transparent and vulnerable, I'm I trust you more.

And sixty-one thousand dollars was committed to the for the one program.

Isn't that amazing?

So praise God, fires me up.

Uh so today's a I'm I'm gonna spit some fire.

I hope you're ready.

I am fired up to preach.

And so this is a brand new series, and the series is called The One True King.

And so over the next four weeks, we're gonna step into some subjects that might feel uncomfortable, um, some things that aren't always easy to discuss in church, and we're gonna talk about what truth is, uh, what authority is.

We're gonna talk about false religions and counterfeit gospels.

Um, we're gonna talk about spiritual deception, and ultimately, we're gonna talk about the supremacy of King Jesus.

And so um, we're gonna ask hard questions, and I think those questions are gonna take us on a journey and ultimately to discover God's authority and his sovereignty that's supreme over the world.

And so my sermon today is called, it's my t-shirt, Jesus is king.

Will you guys say that?

Jesus is king.

Anybody believe that?

Okay, so come on.

You guys are a little rowdy today.

I like it.

My my hope is that the statement will change through this sermon.

Maybe if you're a skeptic or asking questions about church and Christianity, maybe, maybe you'll go from saying Jesus is king to Jesus is my king.

And so that's my prayer today.

So that statement about Jesus being king, it always has to do with a throne.

And it's about who's actually in charge.

It's about human authority versus God's sovereignty.

And in this life, we all allow somebody or something to have ultimate authority, to occupy the throne of our heart.

And I'm gonna tell you something about the throne over your heart.

That throne is never empty.

So I want to ask ourselves: who or what have you placed on the throne of your heart?

In other words, who's in charge of you?

Right?

Who have you given authority to?

Because I think we need to be aware that all of us yield control to something, and that something governs or oversees our day-to-day lives, our affairs.

And so I want to start by saying this because if you've placed a man in control or given him authority over your life, or a government in control, well, that might not work out so well.

Um, in fact, if we've learned anything the last several years, it's that the government should have our full trust with no questions, right?

And maybe not.

So I'm asking you in your own life, who have you given authority to?

Who gets the final word in your life?

Because it's usually one of three answers.

Usually, number one, it's you.

You're the one that governs you, you're in charge of you.

Number two, it's somebody else, another person, right?

A dictator.

Or three, it's God.

And from the moment we're born, I've realized that every human born wants to be in charge.

We all want to be in control.

If you don't believe that, then you haven't had children.

Right?

And if you want to see that tested out, just go and serve in the two-year-old's class.

You'll realize they all want to be in charge.

And so I have four daughters, right?

So I was in my house with five women, and I was in control of nothing.

I've realized that, I've come to terms with that.

And so um one of one of my daughters, I don't know if she's here, is Montana here.

Hi, Montana.

So, one of my daughters, that one, that's a strong child there.

Some some people would say stubborn, but I I just say strong.

Um, if you took all three of my daughters and added up the spankings of Madison, Mariah, and Mercy, uh Montana's spankings were ten times all three of theirs combined.

Uh, and I loved it this last week um because her daughter, Eden Joy, uh, is her spitting image and she's getting to raise herself.

And so Eden came to our house and she took uh a book that we had bought for her to be shared when she comes to you know Bam Bam and Nima's house, and it's a bluey book.

And so she took that book and ripped every single page out.

And so for the next 24 hours, we tried to get Eden to say, I'm sorry.

But every time we'd say, Eden, you need to say I'm sorry, what would she say?

I don't want to.

I don't want to.

Am I right?

Yeah, it was this whole deal.

And so um, I tried to teach Eden how to swim this week.

And I was in the swimming pool, we were having a blast, and she was trying to feel comfortable, and she learned something for the first time.

She is, you know, three foot tall now, and she can stand up in the shallow end.

And so that gave her confidence, and she started walking all over the back and forth to the shallow end, right?

Back and forth.

She then got enough confidence to jump off into the water by herself and land in the shallow end.

And then she kept saying to me, I want to go down there.

And I was like, No, honey, it's too deep down there.

But she just like kept going farther and farther and farther, and the water was coming farther, and she was on her tippy toes, right?

And that little girl, she turns to her grandpa and she says, because I was like, baby, this is too deep, honey.

You're gonna and she starts joking.

She's like, water's coming in her mouth, and she turns to me and she looks at me and she says, I can do it, honey.

That little girl called me honey.

And I thought, I am so glad Montana is raising herself.

This is awesome.

But I think that's exactly how God feels when we turn to him and say, I'm gonna do it my way.

Uh we push him to the side, we ignore his words of wisdom, even though they're knowledgeable and done in love, we say, I can do it myself, honey.

And really, what we're saying to God, and what I felt from Eden was, I don't need you.

And that's because we all want to be in control.

And I've learned something control is an illusion.

None of us are in control of anything or anyone.

We can barely control ourselves.

I'm just asking how many of you have thought, tomorrow morning I'm gonna start getting up early?

How many of you have said tomorrow I'm starting a new diet, I'm gonna start working out?

Anybody?

We can't control ourselves, let alone control anyone else.

Control's an illusion.

But all of us want to do things our own way.

And if we can't do that, then our second choice is to say, well, I'm gonna place someone else in control.

And that's not a new problem.

I want to show you something in 1 Samuel 8.

Israel was living under what was called a theocracy, which simply means that God was their king.

He was their ruler, and he actually guided them day by day, cloud by day, fire by night.

He literally directed their steps, provided for their daily needs, and fought their battles, which would have been amazing.

I want that.

I wish I could have God in my day.

Hey, God, what do I do?

Oh, I just look out my tent.

There he is in the sky.

What do you think I should do?

God, direct me, please.

Right?

They had it made, but the people looked at the nations surrounding them, and they're like, I want that.

I want what they have.

They said to Samuel, appoint a king to lead us, such as all the other nations have.

So they wanted to exchange this theocracy, which means the rule of God, for a monarchy, which is the rule of man.

And God told Samuel in chapter 8, verse 7, it is not you, this is God talking.

It's not you, Samuel, that has been rejected, but they have rejected me as their king.

That's an interesting thought to think that God feels rejection from his created ones.

And so they they rejected God's leadership and they chose to place a man in charge.

They wanted someone in the flesh.

They wanted somebody they could see and touch and hear their voice, right?

And so they placed this guy named Saul in charge.

And they they trusted this human king to give them security and direction.

And God, he he intervened.

You can read the whole account.

He tries to tell them, he warns them hey, look, this king is gonna do bad stuff.

Let me tell you what he'll do.

He he is gonna actually, this king is gonna take your sons, he'll take your daughters, he's gonna take all your land, your fields, your harvests, your livestock, and eventually, you know what he'll do?

He's gonna take all your freedom.

But the people refused to listen.

And then two of the saddest verses in the Bible, verses 19 and 20 of 1 Samuel chapter 8, he says, but the people refused to listen to the prophet Samuel.

1 Samuel 8 · chapter mention

And they said, No, we we want a king over us, and then we will be like all the other nations, with a king to lead us and go before us and fight our battles.

The reason that's so sad to me is because us humans, we we never learn.

If we have learned anything from history, it's that we never learn from history.

We we think to ourselves, man, uh uh if we could just vote for another president, how's that worked out?

If we could just vote for a new person that's got new policies that are gonna come in, it's gonna be different this time, and our taxes are gonna go down, and we're gonna be, you know, safe, and we place our trust in other humans trying to find security and safety.

And then we're like always shocked, like it's not working out, like you told.

We're still going to war.

Countless war.

Why are we doing this, right?

And our human nature is to push God out of the throne and place ourselves as the king over our throne, or someone else as the king over the throne, right?

And so we'd rather choose something that's visible, right, instead of trusting in something invisible.

The king over every king, the one true king.

And so we choose a counterfeit, we choose a substitute rather than surrendering to the Creator God.

Proverbs 14 says, there's a way that seems, it appears to be right, but in the end, it what?

Leads to death.

We all have a journey.

We have our own path that we choose.

And when we choose that, sometimes it appears right.

It doesn't seem evil.

The path doesn't appear evil, it appears, it appears like it's the way to go.

But our problem is we don't even give God a voice when we choose that path.

A lot of times we don't seek God's ultimate authority and we don't allow Him to have the final word.

And so we make our own way, we choose our own way because we want to be more like the world around us than the God who made us.

When we say things like this, maybe you've heard this phrase.

We trust in science more than the maker or creator.

We trust in Big Pharma and the World Health Organization to heal us instead of the great physician.

We turn to the government, to politicians, to bring justice and order, instead of turning to a faithful and trustworthy God.

We want professors and the experts to teach us instead of seeking the wisdom and the knowledge of God.

Why is it that every decision that we make in our lives, we choose a path that seems right?

But in the process of choosing man, we're choosing to push God aside, and that way is usually the way that leads to death.

There's one theme throughout the entire Bible, especially in regards to the Israelites.

It says over and over and over that everyone did as they saw fit.

Or other versions say what was right in their own eyes.

Doesn't that sound familiar?

Things haven't changed.

Humans doing the same same stuff.

It's very modern.

We say it like this, though.

You know, you need to live your truth.

Right?

You need you need to follow your heart.

And do whatever feels authentic to you, right?

Or you do you, boo-boo.

We say it in all kinds of ways, but throughout history, that system breaks down quickly.

Because people, when we choose people, guess what they do?

They come in and steal, kill, and destroy, like their father, the father of lies.

Because the enemy of darkness is the prince of this world.

And so he places people in authority that are like him.

And so we we see these people that come in and they plunder and they take and they they steal what does not belong to them because men choose what benefits themselves when God gives what benefits all of mankind.

Our God gave his one and only Son.

And that's why Christianity is so much different than all other religions.

It's because Jesus didn't come to take, he came to lay down his life.

Jesus chose to get low and to serve and to wash feet, he came to heal lepers and outcasts.

Jesus chose the way of love and sacrifice.

He didn't demand loyalty and make us kiss the ring.

Instead, he showed us that I'm a different kind of king.

And my kingdom is different than any kingdom you've ever served in.

And that brings us to what I think is happening all around the world right now.

And it's that many people are questioning all authority.

All authority is questioned.

We don't trust the police because there's corruption.

We don't trust the politicians because we've heard of these pedophile rings.

Not all politicians, right?

Not all policemen are dirty, but man, I feel sad for a lot of the teachers today, because there's anarchy and chaos in the classroom, and they don't respect and honor authority.

We don't trust pastors, churches, because corruption has happened, and people have used the platform to for their own glory, right?

And so Christianity, organized religion, and the church are under question and fire.

Rightfully so.

I think all of us like have, you know, a reason to have doubt in mankind.

And so what's happening in the church, and I'm seeing this at a rapid rate, is people are calling it the process like deconstructing their faith.

At the same time, we also are seeing a revival.

And people are being drawn to God more than ever before.

And people are really seeking truth, like real truth, and asking questions of like origin questions, and what about the Nephilim and the giants?

And people are really, really questioning things and coming like more alive and more fired up about the scriptures than ever before.

But I think people are re-examining inherited beliefs that it's given to their from their parents, and they're asking, you know, are those beliefs really rooted in scripture?

And other people are dismantling everything that they were taught, and it's because of pain, because humans are humans are humans, and hurt people hurt people.

Maybe they've been a part of a church where they found disappointment and lies and hypocrisy.

And and I just got to say this as a church that the church should be a place that's safe for people that have questions.

We shouldn't be afraid of honest questions, right?

Because that's the Bible's filled with people that had questions.

Thomas, he questioned, he doubted.

Like Job, he he questioned.

A lot of the Psalms are filled with the heart of King David questioning things.

Or the Father in Mark 9 that says, I do believe, but help me overcome my unbelief.

Like the church should be a place where we welcome those questions, right?

Not push people away or gaslight.

Please hear me.

God is not intimidated by our questions.

He's got big shoulders, he can handle them, and the church should be the same way.

You can ask questions here.

We love skeptics and critical people that have reason to doubt.

It's okay.

And some some people some people aren't just walking away from Jesus.

They're walking away from organized religion and the politics and the business of church.

They're trying to separate Jesus from the spiritual institution that maybe has been abusive or has had political manipulation or shallow answers and religious performance that's been attached to the name of Jesus.

And so if someone here has been wounded, wounded by church in the past, I'm sorry.

On behalf of God and the name of Christ, I'm sorry if you were hurt.

And I I hope that this can be a place that's different.

Where you're you're able to express doubt.

Because here's an idea.

What if what if the church and church leaders like actually listened?

That'd be great.

Like what if what if the church leaders of the church today in Western Christianity would actually like repent, say they're sorry, for their pride, and and help people not just deflect and look at humans, but to look to God, look back at Jesus and give him another chance.

Now I do want to say something.

There's a difference between examining truth under the truth of the scriptures and the Holy Spirit and the authority of God's Word, versus like placing Scripture on trial under our own authority and our own truth and our own opinions.

Because some people are genuinely asking questions in search of honest truth and answers from God, while others are trying to escape truth and rebel against God's authority to justify their own sinful lifestyle.

Those two things are very different.

And so I need to say something that if your Jesus agrees with your every opinion that you already have, and he affirms every desire that you already feel and never tells you no, you're probably not following the Jesus of the Bible.

Right?

Because the conviction and power of the Holy Spirit's gonna tell you no.

It's gonna tell you, you know, to not do things your way.

But to learn to do things his way.

And so maybe, maybe you've created a Jesus in your own image, which is more of a mascot than a king.

And so I want to ask you have you actually given God complete control?

Have you asked him to come in and to take over control of your life and given him authority to reign?

Because when you do that, you yield to a king.

You place him in his rightful place over your heart.

And so it comes down to belief.

It comes down to do I really think Jesus is who he said he was?

Was he the prophesied Messiah?

Was Jesus really the king over every king?

And if that's true, then what does that mean for my life?

What needs to change today?

I am gonna geek out a little bit.

I love teaching this.

Um there's this incredible passage in John 19, which most people glaze over and don't talk about, but there's this incredible account where we see this picture of God's ultimate power, control, authority, and sovereignty on display at the cross.

And so Pilate had called into his marketing team and he ordered a sign.

He wanted a sign made.

And this sign was going to be the sign that was placed over the head of Jesus when he was on the cross, right?

For all the world to see.

And he said, I want this sign to say this Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews.

And he had it written in three different languages.

My man didn't mess around.

He was like, in fact, let's do that in Aramaic, let's do that in Greek, and let's do it in Latin.

And so there's three signs up above Jesus that says, Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews.

Well, the Pharisees, the Sanhedrin, all the religious leaders, they have a fit.

Whoa, whoa, whoa, hold up, bro.

You have to say he claimed to be.

You can't just say Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews.

No, no, no, we don't believe in that.

You have to say he claimed to be the King of the Jews.

And so they go to Pilate, they have all their little cronies, and they're like, listen, change this.

And Pilate looks at them and says, No, no.

What I have written, I have written.

I love that.

Right there on the cross for the entire world to see God use the authority of a pagan governor named Pilate to announce the truth in three different languages that Jesus is the king.

I love that.

This proves that God's in control of who's in control.

Even when a mere human thinks they're controlling the story, right?

God is still holding the pen because our great God always has the final word.

Amen.

I'm going to tell you something today.

The entirety of the Bible, the Bible tells one story about one king throughout the entire Bible.

And I'm going to go through some of the prophecies of different prophets that came before Jesus was here and what they declared about the coming king.

It was Isaiah that said a son would be given, and that the government would be upon his shoulders.

It was Micah that said this ruler would come from Bethlehem, but his origins would reach back into eternity.

It was Zachariah that said the king would come righteous and victorious, yet humble and riding on a donkey.

It was the wise men that came asking, which is the one who has been born?

Are you ready?

King of the Jews.

Jesus fulfilled every prophecy.

And Jesus entered into Jerusalem, and that my man was riding on a donkey as the king.

He stood before Pilate as king.

He wore a crown of thorns as king.

He hung beneath a sign that declared him as king of the Jews.

And they mocked him as a king.

They rejected him as king, and they crucified him as king.

But none of them understood that the cross was not the defeat of the king.

It was the throne from which Jesus became the conquering king.

It's where Jesus overcame darkness and he overcame the powers of hell.

And it's where Jesus canceled our debt and he purchased our freedom with his own blood.

And then God raised him as his one and only Son up from the dead, defeating the grave.

And when Jesus walked out of that grave, he declared in Matthew 28, all authority, all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.

And now Jesus is seated at the right hand of God, and every ruler, every authority, every king, every nation, every president, every dictator, and every demon.

Jesus has complete dominion, and his name is above every name.

Whether you believe that or not, it's your opinion.

But can I tell you something?

Jesus doesn't need your opinion for that to be true.

He doesn't need our vote.

He isn't running for election or re-election.

He can't be canceled, he can't be impeached, he can't be overthrown, intimidated, or defeated.

Why?

Because the kingdom belongs to the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords.

And Jesus was born king over every king.

He's the promised, the prophesied king.

He's now worshipped as king, and one day soon he's gonna be the returning king.

And when he comes, it says in Revelation 19, then he'll be riding on a white horse, and the riders come faithful and true.

He has eyes and blazing with fire, and on his head will be many crowns, and the armies of heaven will be following him and on his robe and ripping on his line, and it was gonna be king of kings and lord of lords.

And I read her that.

And in my office I was crying.

Because it's just the anointing is on that.

You know, Jesus is supreme, and he's the king over all creation.

It says that in Colossians 1.

I want you to hear this.

He's the invisible God.

In him, Jesus, all things were created.

He was there in creation.

Things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible.

Whether thrones or powers, rulers or authorities, all things have been created through him and for him.

He's before all things, and in him all things hold together.

He's the head of the body of the church, he's the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have what?

The supremacy.

And so, church, the days are evil.

I don't know what to believe.

There's so many lies.

We've been duped.

And I think if there's ever a time in life till I go, but I I think that there's one thing I'm holding on to, and that's that Jesus is King.

I trust him, and I believe he was the Son of God who came here, and he set us free and gave us a rightful place in heaven.

And so I I want to challenge you.

If you are not right with God, and you've been doing things your own way, maybe it's time to stop acting like you have all the time in the world.

Because man, with all the earthquakes and hurricanes and the way that our governments are being led, and I just go, Jesus, come, come, Hosanna, come.

Lord Jesus, come.

It feels like it's the end of days.

Maybe it's time to stop trying to do things your way and finally surrender control and to finally place the king on the throne of your heart where he has a rightful place because he created you, he made you, and he loves you.

And maybe it's time to declare, Jesus, you are my one true King.

And so, sweet Eden, she keeps going farther and farther, deeper and deeper into the deep end.

She can't hardly breathe.

And then she says to me, I want to jump into the deep end.

Come on, bam, bam.

She grabs my hand and she pulls me, and we go down to the deep end.

Like, okay.

And I I get in the deep end.

I'm I'm down there sitting there going, okay, you can do it.

Just jump to me.

And she's like, back up, bam, bam.

Honey, this is too deep.

You'll sink.

You'll drown.

She's like, back up.

Okay.

Back up.

And so she just jumps in and starts sinking to the bottom.

And as a good grandpa, I let her.

And since it's grandfather's day, I think I should get the trophy.

But I immediately grabbed her and I picked her up and I held her tight.

She was coughing.

And I was like, I've been here all along.

I never left you.

I've got you.

I've got you.

She was scared.

And she learned.

She said, I don't want to go to the deep end.

Let's go down the shallow end.

But how many times do we know that we're going too far, right?

That we have to learn the hard way.

We know the right way, but we're like, nah.

I'll do it.

I've got it.

Can you just get out of my life?

You don't have authority over me.

You don't have the boss of me.

I do what I want.

And so, why is it that our nature is to push God to the side and say, I'm going to do it on my terms?

And if you've done that, maybe you've done that this week or this month.

And maybe the Holy Spirit's convicting you right now, and he's saying, Hey, it's time to do things my way.

And so again, I'm going to ask you, do you believe Jesus is who he said he is?

And do you believe he deserves to be the king over your heart and have the final word?

Then maybe, maybe, just maybe, it's time to say, I want you in control.

And maybe that looks like looking at, you know, we always go, I'll give you a piece of the pie, but God says, I want the whole pie because I made you.

And so that means I'm going to surrender to you, God, my money.

I'm going to surrender to you my career.

I'm going to surrender my future.

And maybe it's time to surrender even your sexuality or your addiction, your porn addiction, maybe it's a drug addiction, maybe it's alcohol addiction.

Maybe it's time to say, I have placed a whole lot of things on as the throne of my heart, and it's left me empty and dry.

And it's time for me to say, God, I have to place you in charge because I've tried it my way and it's not working.

So the question is whether you're going to choose to surrender to the throne of heaven and declare, Jesus, come sit on the throne of my heart.

I surrender all to you.

If you're there today and you feel the conviction of the Holy Spirit, will you just say it out loud with me?

Will you say this?

Say, Jesus, you are my King.

Jesus, you are my king.

And you get the final word.

And you get the final word.

Will you bow your head and close your eyes?

Maybe some of you have never, never invited Jesus into your life.

And today you're saying it's time.

If that's you and you want to step out in faith and say, I need Jesus.

I'm done doing it my way and I want to give him complete control.

Will you just say yes, I want that blake?

Raise your hand high.

I see you.

Praise God.

Oh, right here.

Amen.

Amen.

Anybody else?

I see you, sweetie.

Praise God.

Will you guys all pray this with me?

Lord Jesus, I surrender to you.

I give you complete control.

Take over my life.

I yield to you.

Thank you for coming here, Jesus.

Thank you for dying on the cross and forgiving us of our sins.

Thank you for making a whole new way.

And we now get to be a new creation.

The old is gone.

And we get to be with you in heaven forever.

Would you come and be my king?

Take over, Holy Spirit.

Lead me, guide me.

Fill me with the power of your spirit.

I invite you in to have the final word.

I want your voice involved in every decision I make.

I worship you, God, and I give you all of my heart.

And I love you.

It's in your name we pray.

Everybody said.

Will you guys give a hand to all those that just gave their life to Christ?

I love you.