Speaker 1: Holy Spirit. We welcome you right now to bring further
Speaker 1: inspiration that there come a grace of our heart in
Speaker 1: this season to rejoice in the victory of Jesus. We
Speaker 1: thank you for it in advance even now. And everybody said, Amen,
Speaker 1: you may be seated. I'm looking up words. I want
Speaker 1: to read words to him. I really think that I
Speaker 1: have a sneaking suspicion that we let some of these
Speaker 1: Christmas carol words go in one ear and out the other.
Speaker 1: Like I have a sneaking suspicion that there's more power
Speaker 1: in these Christmas carols because these Christmas carols were written
Speaker 1: during a time when they believed the Kingdom was expanding.
Speaker 1: They believe that Christians were going to take over the
Speaker 1: earth only because Jesus was taking over the earth. It's
Speaker 1: really not about the dominion of a Christian over this,
Speaker 1: that or the other thing. It's the gracious, loving, powerful,
Speaker 1: peace giving dominion of Jesus that the believer looks forward to.
Speaker 1: That's really what we rejoice in because as the Kingdom
Speaker 1: of Heaven grows. Did you did you hear that little
Speaker 1: part after of the Kingdom of Heaven? It's can you
Speaker 1: imagine if if heaven were growing in the earth. Wouldn't
Speaker 1: everybody rejoice over something like that? Three of you said, yes, okay,
Speaker 1: seahawks are on. I know you're distracted. I'm sorry. Uh listen, listen,
Speaker 1: hark the Herald angels sing. Uh. You've had You've had
Speaker 1: weirdos at your door. Were singing this before, right, you've
Speaker 1: never sang it, but you you've hit people. You know,
Speaker 1: Christmas season the carollers come buy ad. You go to
Speaker 1: the old folks home and they ever singing it there.
Speaker 1: Glory to the newborn what no I knew? You knew it.
Speaker 1: Glory to the newborn King, Peace on Earth and mercy,
Speaker 1: mild God and sinners reckons is joyful. Some of the
Speaker 1: nations rise, you knew the song joyful. All ye nations rise.
Speaker 1: Join the triumph of the skies with angelicoast proclaim Christ
Speaker 1: is born in Bethlehem. Now why Bethlehem, Bethlehem, you heard
Speaker 1: it today? You heard this morning? Is the city of David.
Speaker 1: Jesus was the lineage of David. David was the beloved
Speaker 1: king that God installed When Saul rebelled, God promised that
Speaker 1: of your lineage of your seed, there will come a king,
Speaker 1: and that king will set on your throne and rule
Speaker 1: the entire world, and all of the nations will come
Speaker 1: to the light of that king. So what we were
Speaker 1: hearing today this is good. And this goes on like
Speaker 1: I could bore you well, this goes on with multiple verses.
Speaker 1: Hel here's the verse two. You're ready, hail the heaven
Speaker 1: born Prince of Peace. Now why all this stuff about peace?
Speaker 1: Because wherever Jesus reigns, peace increases. Shalom increases, the shalom
Speaker 1: of heaven, the shalom of God, the peace of God
Speaker 1: increases wherever he has influence, wherever he has dominion, And
Speaker 1: when the meanings of shalom or peace that I love.
Speaker 1: One of the meanings is for there to be nothing
Speaker 1: lacking and nothing missing. Even you, even you might be
Speaker 1: a little agitated when you feel like a bunch of
Speaker 1: stuff is lacking. Right, But wherever shalom comes like, everything
Speaker 1: comes together in that realm. And we're told multiple times
Speaker 1: that that's what his kingdom is like. That's what his
Speaker 1: kingdom is like inside of us, and that's what his
Speaker 1: kingdom is like in the nations. That's what his kingdom
Speaker 1: is like everywhere. That of Isaiah said Isaiah chapter nine.
Speaker 1: Will read it in a moment. You've heard his song today,
Speaker 1: of the increase of his government of peace or his
Speaker 1: government with peace. There will be no end from the
Speaker 1: day that he first came, from the day that he
Speaker 1: first came. And I have this sneaking suspicion because I
Speaker 1: know what it's like to live under this suspicion. I
Speaker 1: know what it's like to live under this thinking. I
Speaker 1: have this sneaking suspicion that we think of him as
Speaker 1: the coming king instead of the reigning king. We think
Speaker 1: of him as the hope to come instead of the
Speaker 1: present hope. We're looking forward to a day, but that
Speaker 1: day already came now, not that he's not coming back.
Speaker 1: He is coming back. For those who look for his coming,
Speaker 1: there's a blessed assurance of his coming. But the problem
Speaker 1: is there's so many of us looking at circumstances as
Speaker 1: if he's not king now, as if he's not king today.
Speaker 1: And part of what's happened is that we enter into
Speaker 1: an understanding of personal lordship, and we call him lord.
Speaker 1: And I'll read that passage in a moment too. Maybe
Speaker 1: I'm looking at the time, but we you know, we
Speaker 1: call him Lord. Right, that's the right response for us
Speaker 1: to enter into salvation as to recognize that he's redeemed us.
Speaker 1: He's bought us, he's paid the price for us before father.
Speaker 1: He's delivered us out of death, he's delivered us out
Speaker 1: of the penalty of our iniquity or separation or sin.
Speaker 1: He's done all of that, And so it's right that
Speaker 1: we call him lord. How many we call him lord
Speaker 1: in the building today, So we call him lord. We
Speaker 1: rejoice in that. But oftentimes, as we look at circumstances,
Speaker 1: we don't call him king. As we look at the
Speaker 1: CNN constantly negative news broadcast channel, as we look at
Speaker 1: this problem, that problem, the other problem, as we look
Speaker 1: at solutions, and as we look at the nations, even
Speaker 1: as we look at the turmoil in the nations. Now,
Speaker 1: one thing we're not seeing is that there's two point
Speaker 1: six billion Christians. Maybe we're not seeing that. Sometimes we're
Speaker 1: not seeing that actually he is, he is becoming the
Speaker 1: hope of the nations. That's a scripture, is that he
Speaker 1: is the desire of the nations. The nations are coming
Speaker 1: to him, and progressively the kingdom is growing. But so
Speaker 1: many times what happens is. As believers, we see him
Speaker 1: as a personal lord. We see him in his lordship
Speaker 1: over us. We yearn for him and his lordship over us.
Speaker 1: We present ourselves to him in our lordship over us,
Speaker 1: and we want that to happen to our family and
Speaker 1: our brothers and our sisters and our kiddos. We want
Speaker 1: that to happen for all of them. But we don't
Speaker 1: see him as king over the nations. But this is
Speaker 1: what God wants us to see because it's part of
Speaker 1: embracing the hope that we heard about today. The hope
Speaker 1: that we heard about today is not just for personal salvation.
Speaker 1: The hope that we heard about today is for global salvation.
Speaker 1: The hope that we heard about today is that God
Speaker 1: had the nations in mind that when Jesus came, he
Speaker 1: was doing something beyond Israel, beyond Jacob, beyond the Jewish people.
Speaker 1: He was doing something that was so global and powerful.
Speaker 1: He was going to rescue every nation. He was going
Speaker 1: to deliver every people. And actually that's why you're here today.
Speaker 1: So many of us here today. We're not Jewish people today.
Speaker 1: We're over here in the United States and Seattle, Washington,
Speaker 1: over here somewhere, and most of us don't have a
Speaker 1: Jewish bone in our body. But God has called us
Speaker 1: out of the nations, and God has shown his light
Speaker 1: to us. And God has put hope in our hearts,
Speaker 1: and he wants that hope to flood our perspective as
Speaker 1: we look at the world, that when we look at
Speaker 1: the world, we see that He's not only the king
Speaker 1: of my life, He's the king of the nations. I
Speaker 1: want to read something to you. Let's read a couple
Speaker 1: verses on this and then we will wrap it up. You. Okay,
Speaker 1: This is Luke one and verse thirty. This is the
Speaker 1: Angel Gabriel. We just heard his song about the Angel
Speaker 1: Gabriel comes to Mary. Do not be afraid, Mary, for
Speaker 1: you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive,
Speaker 1: and in your womb bear aus son, and you shall
Speaker 1: call his name Jesus. He will be great and called
Speaker 1: the son of the Most High, and the Lord God
Speaker 1: will give to him the throne of his father, and
Speaker 1: he will reign over the House of Jacob forever, and
Speaker 1: of his kingdom there will be no end. There are
Speaker 1: scripture after scripture after scripture about this fulfillment and what
Speaker 1: God had in mind for this fulfillment is that Jesus
Speaker 1: would be the king of the nations. And I want
Speaker 1: to read Acts chapter two to you as well. Acts
Speaker 1: chapter two. Let me go over there. This is you're
Speaker 1: familiar with the Day of Pentecost. The day of Pentecost
Speaker 1: was the day that the Church started. The Church started
Speaker 1: on the day of Pentecost. A pent him because it
Speaker 1: was fifty days after the resurrection. Fifty days after the resurrection,
Speaker 1: so Jesus on the fortieth day, Jesus ascends in clouds
Speaker 1: and there's five hundred witnesses that observe him. Those people
Speaker 1: then begin to pray because as he's leaving them, he
Speaker 1: tells us in Luke twenty four and in Acts chapter
Speaker 1: one he tells them, I'm going to pour out my
Speaker 1: spirit upon you, and you're going to receive an enablement
Speaker 1: to walk in power and to be my witnesses. So
Speaker 1: they don't have that, and so he ascends up in
Speaker 1: the heaven. Five hundred watch him go, and then they
Speaker 1: begin to pray, and they're praying, and they're just waiting
Speaker 1: on the Lord because he said wait here in Jerusalem
Speaker 1: until this happens. Ten days later. While they're in prayer,
Speaker 1: the Holy Spirit comes up on them with flames and
Speaker 1: with power, with wind, a mighty rushing wind, and the
Speaker 1: church is birthed. And that day, three thousand people who
Speaker 1: were observing this miracle give their lives to Jesus. Peter
Speaker 1: gets up and preaches a sermon like they had their
Speaker 1: first church service. This is the first church service, the
Speaker 1: first gathering ever. Jesus has ascended. Everybody's a buzz about it.
Speaker 1: It's were forty days after Passover, so they've all heard
Speaker 1: about Jesus. And now what's happening is the Holy Spirit
Speaker 1: lands on them with power, with a great sign and
Speaker 1: a wonder. And then Peter gets up and preaches the
Speaker 1: first sermon. Three thousand people there gave their lives to him.
Speaker 1: They committed their lives to him. They declared that they
Speaker 1: would follow him. Right and this miracle takes place. And
Speaker 1: then Peter gets up and he preaches the first sermon,
Speaker 1: and part of that sermon, verse twenty nine, he says,
Speaker 1: fellow Israelites, I can tell you confidently that the patriarch
Speaker 1: David died and was buried, and his tomb is here today.
Speaker 1: But he was a prophet. David was a prophet, and
Speaker 1: he knew that God had promised him on an oath
Speaker 1: that he would place one of his descendants on his throne.
Speaker 1: Seeing what has seeing what was to come, he was
Speaker 1: actually speaking of the resurrection of the Messiah. That he
Speaker 1: was not abandoned to the realm of the dead, nor
Speaker 1: did his body see decay. God has raised Jesus to life,
Speaker 1: and we are witnesses of it. Exalted to the right
Speaker 1: hand of God. He received from the Father the promised
Speaker 1: only spirit and has poured out what you see and hear.
Speaker 1: For David is not the one who ascended to heaven.
Speaker 1: Yet he says, the Lord said that my Lord's set
Speaker 1: at my right hand until I make your enemies a
Speaker 1: footstool for your feet. Therefore be assured of this. God
Speaker 1: has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Messiah.
Speaker 1: How crazy is that we're looking for so many times,
Speaker 1: I think, even us, we're looking for an earthly throne.
Speaker 1: We're looking for an earthly throne, even as we and
Speaker 1: we you know we should vote, we should get involved
Speaker 1: in politics, for sure, But we're looking for an earthly throne.
Speaker 1: When we have to understand that God has made Jesus.
Speaker 1: He's exalted him. We sang it today, given him the
Speaker 1: name above every name, exalted into the right hand of
Speaker 1: the Father. And He's placed him on this throne already,
Speaker 1: the heavenly throne, the heavenly Zion. And it's from there,
Speaker 1: think about the wisdom of God. It's from there that
Speaker 1: he can rule the entire globe. Today, when I woke up,
Speaker 1: I had a little message from Sweden, because last night
Speaker 1: when I was going to bed, I reached out to
Speaker 1: a relative in Sweden. Well, they are about ten hours
Speaker 1: different than us, and so when I woke up, he
Speaker 1: had responded he was going to church and he plays
Speaker 1: the organ in church in Sweden. But you know they
Speaker 1: are about ten hours different than us. That you know,
Speaker 1: Jesus can reign in Sweden through the believers there, just
Speaker 1: like he can reign over here. Do you know that
Speaker 1: he has no limitation? Do you know when he said
Speaker 1: in John or John recorded that John said that Jesus said,
Speaker 1: it's better that I go away. It's better because if
Speaker 1: I go away, I can send the Holy Spirit and
Speaker 1: the Holy Spirit, the testimony, the voice of Me in you.
Speaker 1: It's better that I go away. Do you know why?
Speaker 1: So much better that he went away because exalted to
Speaker 1: the heavenly throne of David, exalted to Zion, exalted to
Speaker 1: the right hand of God, as the perfect Man, the
Speaker 1: redeeming man, the representative man, the overcoming man, the second Adam,
Speaker 1: the fountain head of the new creation people. It's from
Speaker 1: there he can actually rule in every nation. He can
Speaker 1: rule in every nation because he's ruling through us. Think
Speaker 1: of the genius of God. He doesn't need a Jerusalem here,
Speaker 1: he doesn't need a capital city. He doesn't need a parliament,
Speaker 1: he doesn't need legislators. He has them. And you did
Speaker 1: you know the word eclosia is the word for the
Speaker 1: church one hundred and fifteen times in the New Testament.
Speaker 1: It's the word my legislative body. Jesus said, I will
Speaker 1: build my legislative body, I will build my body politic,
Speaker 1: I will build my senatorial gathering. And the gates of
Speaker 1: Hell will not prevail against them. It's the Church. You
Speaker 1: are the hope of the world because the King not
Speaker 1: only dwells in you, but the King manifests his glory
Speaker 1: and his light and his power and his victory through you.
Speaker 1: Is that exciting? Now we know he's coming back, but
Speaker 1: he's he's here's what he's taught us. And here's what
Speaker 1: these old hymns teach us. Let's stand this morning. I'm
Speaker 1: moving into closing number one. Here's what these old hymns
Speaker 1: teach us is that the hope of the world came already,
Speaker 1: and he's inviting us to enter into that hope. And
Speaker 1: when we look at the world, when we look at circumstance,
Speaker 1: when we look at the globe, when we look at
Speaker 1: the news, when we look at the problems around us,
Speaker 1: don't let him in your heart. Just be the lord
Speaker 1: of your life. Let him be the king of your perspective.
Speaker 1: Let him be the king of the nations. Let him
Speaker 1: be the king over every problem. Let him be the
Speaker 1: influencer who, now, like eleven, is moving into every nation
Speaker 1: and every parliament and every legislative session. Watch him change
Speaker 1: all things because he cannot fail. Did you hear me?
Speaker 1: He cannot fail. He cannot fail. I looked it up.
Speaker 1: I looked it up. I looked it up. Look at
Speaker 1: this Look at this one, Look at this one. You're
Speaker 1: gonna like this one. Let's see if I can find it.
Speaker 1: Let's see if my Let's see if my phone is
Speaker 1: working did I get rid of it? Did it go away?
Speaker 1: What I do? Lord to God? Joy to the world.
Speaker 1: The Lord has come. Let earth receive her king. We
Speaker 1: sing this stuff, But then do we leave depressed? We
Speaker 1: sing this stuff? But then do we look at the
Speaker 1: world and wring our hands? We sing this stuff, but
Speaker 1: do we continue to be anxious? We sing this stuff?
Speaker 1: But do we feel like our prayers are of no avail?
Speaker 1: And what's the use anyway? Or do we realize God
Speaker 1: has installed his king on mountain Zion and his victory
Speaker 1: is unstoppable. That's what the old theologians believed. Joy to
Speaker 1: the world. The Savior reigns. Let men their songs employ
Speaker 1: while fields and floods, rocks, hills and plains repeat the
Speaker 1: sounding joy, Repeat the sounding joy. He rules the world
Speaker 1: with truth and grace and makes the nations prove the
Speaker 1: glories of His righteousness and the wonders of his love,
Speaker 1: the wonders of his love. Joy to the world. Come on, Church,
Speaker 1: God is so good. Let me close with a couple
Speaker 1: verses Isaiah, they sang it this morning. Wow, they were
Speaker 1: beautiful Isaiah nine six through seven. For unto us, a
Speaker 1: child is born, to us, a son is given, and
Speaker 1: the government shall be upon his shoulders, and his name
Speaker 1: shall be called Wonderful counselor God Everlasting, Father, Prince of Peace.
Speaker 1: Of the increase of his government and of peace. There
Speaker 1: will be no end on the throne of David and
Speaker 1: over his kingdom. To establish it and to uphold it
Speaker 1: with justice and righteousness. From this time forth and forevermore,
Speaker 1: the zeal of the Lord of Host will do this.
Speaker 1: I invite you right now dismiss the theology of pessimism,
Speaker 1: theology perspectives, mindsets that keep you out of the realm
Speaker 1: of hope, that contradict the very hymns that we sing.
Speaker 1: They contradict the very essence of historical Christianity. Father, we
Speaker 1: agree today that not only Jesus Lord, but you've installed
Speaker 1: him as king, that he is superior in every way,
Speaker 1: and that his light, his love, his appeal, his wisdom
Speaker 1: is lovining the nations, winning the nations, and that he
Speaker 1: cannot fail. We thank you for his victory. We celebrate
Speaker 1: the transformation of the nations. Today. We celebrate the transformation
Speaker 1: of the nations, and we rejoice as you do it,
Speaker 1: as you work it out, as you cause it to
Speaker 1: come to pass, and in the victory of Jesus. Thank
Speaker 1: you for your goodness. Come on, just for a moment,
Speaker 1: every head about, every eye close. I want to read
Speaker 1: out of Romans this morning because I want to talk
Speaker 1: to you about the kingship of Jesus in your own heart.
Speaker 1: Here's what Paul said as he wrote to the Roman church.
Speaker 1: If you declare with your mouth Jesus is Lord, and
Speaker 1: believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead,
Speaker 1: you will be saved, You will be delivered, you yourself
Speaker 1: will be pulled out of darkness. This is where he starts.
Speaker 1: He starts in the nations with us individually, and he
Speaker 1: calls us into salvation, and he says he wants us
Speaker 1: to believe that God raised Jesus from the dead. And
Speaker 1: if we'll believe it and then confess it, come into
Speaker 1: agreement with our mouths, then we can taste of salvation
Speaker 1: Verse ten. For it is with your heart you believe,
Speaker 1: and you are justified, made as if you never send.
Speaker 1: And it is with your mouth that you profess your
Speaker 1: faith and are saved, delivered out of darkness. For the
Speaker 1: scripture says anyone who believes in Him will never be
Speaker 1: put to shame or Another translation says, will never be disappointed,
Speaker 1: for there is no difference between Jews and gentiles. Yes,
Speaker 1: He's called us out of every nation, and the same
Speaker 1: Lord is Lord of all, and richly blesses all who
Speaker 1: call on him, for everyone who calls on the name
Speaker 1: of the Lord shall be saved. I'm going to ask
Speaker 1: the prayer team to come this morning and as we
Speaker 1: close this morning, Oh my goodness, Sire here giving your
Speaker 1: life to Him. If you haven't known him, if you
Speaker 1: don't have an assurance of salvation, if you've grown up
Speaker 1: in church or around the church, or you have a
Speaker 1: knowledge of the truth but you're not sure, if you're
Speaker 1: walking with him, come as we close this morning, We're
Speaker 1: going to close with worship, but just calm and renew
Speaker 1: your faith. Allow one of our prayer team members to
Speaker 1: lead you in coming to know Jesus and be refreshed
Speaker 1: in the hope, the hope that not only will flood
Speaker 1: your heart, but will open your eyes. The hope will
Speaker 1: open your eyes to begin to hope for the nations. Father,
Speaker 1: we thank you for your presence and your ministry of hope.
Speaker 1: Today we thank you for the anointing on those children
Speaker 1: the anointing, the presence of your goodness and grace manifested
Speaker 1: to us, and we welcome you, Holy Spirit. Saturate this
Speaker 1: Christmas season with your hope, and let us reflect your
Speaker 1: light in Jesus' name. And everybody said, heymen, God, bless
Speaker 1: your church, thank you for being with us today.