King Forever
Transcript
Good morning. So this presidential run has been very contentious. I don't know if y'all have picked up on that. But both conventions seem like they might would go into contested conventions. People showed up at the Democratic National Convention with Bernie supporters showed up and protested at the Republican one. Ted Cruz got booed off stage because he wouldn't endorse Trump.
People started chanting and yelling at him and booing. And it's just been it's been heated. And there's been a lot of angst over this this election. And I think it's going to get worse. I don't know if y'all picked up on that. I think it's going to get worse as we get closer to time.
Here's what happens to me every time there's a there's a presidential election. And every time this goes on, like it reveals something in my heart. I want so badly. I really, really want to believe the stuff they say. Like I want to believe that someone knows what the problem is and is actually going to come fix it. I want to believe that one of the candidates is a is a hero.
One of the candidates is going to come along and and actually accomplish like they're going to go into the White House and make things good or keep things good and defend us. And like I want so badly to believe all the promises that are made every time. Like I really want to believe it. Like I have to I find myself really longing for this stuff to be true. I think that's why people get so bitter, so frustrated. It's not that they don't think they don't think anybody can fix it.
They just start believing that these candidates can't somebody could have, but they're not here to do it. These can't. That's why people immediately start talking about Trump and Clinton. You're going to you're going to raise hopes and blood pressure like that. That's what happens. Like on either side, there's this desire and there's something in us that desires to have a good leader like we're supposed to.
And it's in anything like we're we're we're desire. We long for a good leader, someone to come along and help and to lead and to to to make good decisions on our behalf. Like we we long for this and it it doesn't matter. It could be at work. Having a good boss or having a bad boss makes a big difference. On its team, having a good coach or a bad coach makes a big difference.
Good teacher, bad teacher. Like it makes a difference. Just take a second. I think as I watch the presidential election stuff, I start realizing this isn't just in me. It's not just in me that wants this to be true. It's not just in me that somehow believes that there is a person who could show up and fix things.
Like I think we all kind of there's a there's a belief that somebody could. But take a second. And I just want you to think about somebody who's been a good leader in your life. Could be a parent. Could be a coach. Could be a teacher.
Could be a grandparent. Somebody who made a difference in leading well on your behalf that you just got to kind of follow. You just got to submit to. You just got to follow their leadership and you could trust them. When they made a call, it was it was for your good. When they made a decision, it was for your good.
You knew they were on. They were leading on your behalf. Maybe it was a boss. It was just easy to work for. See, as we're talking through our covenant series, as we're looking at the promises God makes, basically where he bends over and and makes a promise to humanity. He's he kneels and stoops to to promise something to people saying, holding himself accountable to I'm going to fulfill this.
He's given us his own Job description. One of the promises he makes is about a king. He makes a promise about a leader who's going to lead on behalf of others. And so that's what we're looking at today. We're looking at the promise made the covenant made. To David.
Of a king. So let's go to second Samuel chapter seven. Second Samuel chapter seven. And we're going to look at what this promise is. And then we're going to spend a little bit of time today just asking, talking about if this is true, if this promise is fulfilled, if this is real and we actually believe this, how does that intersect with our lives? Like, how does that affect us personally?
So we're going to look at the promise. We're going to talk a little bit about it and what it means. And then we're going to talk about how does that actually affect me when I leave? I go to work when I go to school. How does that affect me? Let's pray.
Let's pray real quick. God, we thank you that you're good. That we can trust you. We thank you, God, that as we all long for good leaders, as we celebrate good leaders, God, I'm just thankful that one of your promises is of a leader, that you promise to step into that void and you hold yourself accountable to keep your promise. We love you. We praise you in Jesus' name.
Amen. Okay, so here's what we've been looking at all along. We've been talking about everything was good in the Garden of Eden, but humanity rebelled. The fall happened. Sin happened. And so there was this big gap between us and God.
The relationship wasn't good anymore. We couldn't be in Eden anymore. We couldn't be in God's presence anymore. And it was a disaster of cosmic proportions. God in the garden promises the serpent that he will not win. He basically tells the serpent, this isn't going to be the end of the story.
You're not going to win. There's going to be someone who comes along and crushes you. Then God promises Noah, I won't destroy the earth with a flood again. He didn't say anything about other methods. He just says, not a flood. And he promises not just Noah, but everything.
So that promise is made to like all of creation. So the trees and the bullfrogs, they all get that promise as well. Then he comes and talks to Abraham and he says, I'm going to make you into a people and I'm going to give you a place and you're going to be in my presence. And then through Moses, he continues that promise and accomplishes it. So Moses and Joshua get to the promised land.
Moses gets right to the edge of it. Joshua gets to go in. And so God now has his people in his presence, in his place. That's kind of where we left off this past week. He's rebuilding us back up to what we had in Eden, but we saw that we're kind of still far away from that. And here's what happens.
The people eventually ask for a king. And in Deuteronomy 17, prior to them having a king, it says when you get in the land, you're going to want a king. And here are the rules for kings. So he knew they were going to get a king. He knew they were going to ask for a king. It actually says you're going to look around and say that everybody else has a king and you're going to want one.
Well, the other nations have a king. I know you're going to want one. You're going to ask for one as soon as you see that everybody else has a king and you don't. You can have one. Here are the rules. I get to pick who it is.
That's Deuteronomy 17. I get to pick who the king is. And then there were a handful of rules for kings. First three were this. The king cannot have too many horses. All right.
Second rule. Cannot have too many wives. Can't have a bunch of wives. Third rule. Can't pile up too much silver and gold. Okay.
Those seem like kind of odd rules. Like when kings get together and they talk about why they became a king. I think these are like some of the reasons. It's like when there's a king convention. It's like, man, what do you like best about being a king? The women.
What do you like best? The money. Third king's like, I like horses. Good. No, but here's the reason those three rules exist. Here's what he was attacking in that.
When he was putting guardrails around. The point of being a king. Like if you became a king. The reason you liked being a king was. Horses just meant power. It meant the ability to have chariots.
It meant the ability to have cavalry. Like it's when they listed out battles. They would talk about how many chariots they had. How many horses they had. Because that made a big difference in your ability to have power. To move quickly.
To send troops around. And so when he says, you can't have too many horses. What he's saying is the point of you being king is not power. It's not war. It's not your own greatness. You can't have too many wives.
The point of you being king is not your own comfort. Your own prestige. You can't have too much money. The point of you being king is not to gather wealth. To live a life of luxury. So he says those three rules are the rules for kings.
And the fourth one is this. They're going to make a handwritten copy. Which was the only type of copy they could have back then. Just so you know. They're supposed to make their own copy of the law. The king is.
He's going to sit down. He's going to copy the law. And he's going to have a priest basically say, yes, this is an acceptable copy of the law. And he's supposed to read it all the days of his life. So the king can't chase after power, pleasure, wealth.
He's supposed to know the covenant. Know the law inside and out. Because the purpose of the king was to lead his people in faithfulness to the covenant. That's the purpose of the king. And that's how it, if you read through 2 Samuel, 1 and 2 Kings, 1 and 2 Chronicles. What you see is the king was the front runner for are we doing okay or are we not doing okay as a nation?
That's what the king did. He was, everything rose and fell on the king. Like if he was a good king, it was a good time. If he was a bad king, it was a bad time. They would all start off with this. This person died and this person became king.
And he was a good king because, it wouldn't say because he was really wealthy or because he warred well. What it would say was because he followed after God. Or it would say this person was a bad king because he did not follow after God. And the kings would either lead the people to worshiping idols, to chasing after sin. Or they would lead the people to faithfulness to the covenant. That's important because when God promises a king, what he's promising is a leader who leads in covenant faithfulness.
We've got to understand what a king did, what the role of a king was, so we can understand what this promise was. So, if it was a good king, things went well. If it was a bad king, things went poorly because they make decisions on behalf of the people. So, like when your boss is, I don't know, an idiot. And they make terrible decisions. They make decisions on behalf of all their employees.
When your dad made a bad decision. When you're, when, one of the reasons we freak out about the president is because they get to make decisions that affect us. So, we care. Preferably, the president wouldn't be a moron. Like, if I got to vote, that's what my vote would be. Like, not a moron.
It's like one of the first things. Because they make decisions on our behalf. And so, the king makes decisions, leads on behalf of the people, and sets the tone for what this is going to be like. Alright. You understand what a king does? 2 Samuel chapter 7.
Now, when the king, that's David. So, there's been two kings. Sorry. Saul, they asked for a king. They got Saul. Saul was a pretty good king for a little while.
Then he kind of got off. Like, he wasn't following God the way he was supposed to. So, God anoints David to be king. And eventually, David is king. And we're picking up with David, the king. Who's like the high water Mark for all the kings.
If you got a king action figure in the nation of Israel, you wanted the king David. Like, he was the best trading card, whatever. Alright. Now, when the king lived in his house, and the Lord had given him rest from all his surrounding enemies, the king said to Nathan the prophet, See now, I dwell in a house of cedar, but the ark of God dwells in a tent. And Nathan said to the king, Go, do all that is in your heart, for the Lord is with you. Okay.
So, David built a castle, a house. And he looks and realizes that the ark of the covenant that has the tablets, has some of the other Aaron staff, some other things, in the ark of the covenant that represented the presence of God, it's still in the tabernacle. It's in a tent that moves around. And so he says, I'm in a house. God's in a tent. Now, he would have understood that God didn't, like, wasn't just limited by the tent, but he's basically saying, like, it feels weird for my stuff to be nicer than God's stuff.
Like, I feel uncomfortable now. Like, my house is nice, but we need to do something about this, but God can't just be in a tent. So he's basically saying, I want to build a house for God. Like, I want to make, we're in a place now. We're not moving all around. We have a capital.
Let's build a house for God. And Nathan says, Nathan's the prophet. Nathan says, go for it, man. So it's going pretty well so far? Four. But, okay, that same night, the word of the Lord came to Nathan.
Go and tell my servant David. Thus says the Lord. Would you build me a house to dwell in? Okay, so if you're Nathan, this dream vision didn't start off super well. I don't know what happened. Nathan's a prophet, so he speaks on behalf of God.
David asks him, like, says, hey, I want to build a house for God. Nathan's response is, go for it. And then Nathan goes to sleep, and God's like, what? So I don't know if Nathan didn't ask, if he just, I don't know how that works. Like, I know this happens to me, but I would have just thought it didn't happen to Nathan. Like, people ask me stuff, and I'll just be like, here's an answer.
And then later I'll, like, think, and pray, and read the Bible, and then have to come back and be like, remember what I said? I want to redact it. I want to say something helpful. I do this on a semi-regular basis. I don't know if Nathan had to, but he did this time. So God basically steps in and says, no, Nathan, and Nathan's like, got it, I'll tell him what you say.
All right, go and tell David. This is verse 5. Go and tell David, my servant. Go and tell my servant David. Thus says the Lord, would you build me a house to dwell in? I have not lived in a house since the day I brought up the people of Israel from Egypt to this day, but I have been moving about in a tent for my dwelling.
In all places where I have moved with all the people of Israel, did I speak a word with any of the Judges of Israel, whom I commanded to shepherd my people Israel, saying, why have you not built me a house of cedar? Now, therefore, thus you shall say to my servant David, thus says the Lord of hosts, I took you from the pasture, from following the sheep, that you should be prince over my people Israel. And I have been with you wherever you went, and have cut off all of your enemies from before you, and I will make for you a great name, like the name of the great ones of the earth. And I will appoint a place for my people Israel, and I will plant them so that they may dwell in their own place and be disturbed no more.
And violent men shall afflict them no more, as formerly. From the time that I appointed Judges over my people Israel, and I will give you rest from all your enemies. Moreover, the Lord declares to you that the Lord will make you a house. Okay, let's see the promises he's made so far. He says, you're going to build me a house? I'm going to make a great name for you, and I'm going to plant my people in a place where nobody bothers them.
I'm going to have my people in my place safe. So he's reminding him some of the promises he's already made. He's making them again, and then he's saying this. Verse 11. From the time that I appointed Judges over my people Israel, and I will give you rest from all your enemies. Moreover, the Lord declares to you that the Lord will make you a house.
When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son. When he commits iniquity, I will discipline him with the rod of men, with the stripes of the son of men. But my steadfast love will not depart from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I put away from before you.
And your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me. Your throne shall be established forever. In accordance with all these words, and in accordance with all this vision, Nathan spoke to David. So God says, you're going to build me a house? You're going to build a place for me? And then he says, no, I'm going to build you a house.
And when he says that, what he means is, I'm going to build you a name, a lineage, a people out of you. And then he says, I'm going to have a king that stands before me forever. He'll be to me a son, and I'll be to him a father. And so this promise is fulfilled in two ways. It's fulfilled in Solomon, David's son, who builds the temple, and is the king before God, who God treats. He says, he'll be a son to me, I'll be a father to him.
That just means I'm going to treat him well. And when he sins, I'm not going to get rid of him like I did Saul. That promise is fulfilled in Solomon. And they would have understood that this was fulfilled in Solomon. But he says a few things in there that make it seem like, okay, it can't just be fulfilled in Solomon.
The biggest issue that can't just be fulfilled by Solomon is that he says the word forever three times. So, if he's going to put a king who will rule forever, either that's just hyperbole. Like he's just, he means a really long time. Or, he means that this lineage will continue forever. That will never be broken up. They'll always be one of these kings.
But he Acts like it's a singular person. He will be to me a son, I will be to him a father, and he will reign forever. So, literally, it seems like the promise is there's going to come a king who will actually reign forever. So, here's what happens. Solomon comes. He builds the temple.
He does not stay faithful. He gets a lot of horses, wives, and money. Three of the things he wasn't supposed to do. I think the least problematic was the horses. The wives and money seem to mess him up. Starts worshiping other gods.
God eventually tells him, look, this isn't going to work out for you. Like, you'll get to die safely. But, I'm going to tear this apart, the kingdom apart. He eventually tears the kingdom in half. One, he keeps Solomon's son because it's like, I'm going to keep some of the tribe of David together. But, eventually, both Israel and Judah, that's how it splits, cease to be nations, cease to have kings, cease to have a throne.
But, the promise here is that your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me. Your throne shall be established forever. So, that's not happening. But, the prophets keep promising this promise. So, Ezekiel says this. But, I will save them from all the backslidings of which they have sinned and will cleanse them.
And they shall be my people and I will be their God. My servant David shall be king over them and they shall have one shepherd. Jeremiah says this in the midst of all of this going on. Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will raise up for David a righteous branch. That's in like a family tree. And he shall reign as king and deal wisely and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land.
In his days Judah will be saved and Israel will dwell securely. And this is the name by which he will be called, the Lord is our righteousness. I think Isaiah saw it most clearly. He says this. For to us a child is born. To us a son is given.
And the government shall be upon his shoulder. And his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end. On the throne of David and over his kingdom to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore. So the prophets keep coming along and saying God's going to fulfill this promise.
There's going to be someone who comes in the line of David and he's going to rule forever. And Isaiah says, and we're going to call him God, Mighty God, Everlasting Father. So there's coming a promised king. And so God promises, I'm going to send a king. And here's why this matters so much and is so absolutely helpful. And I think it's one of my favorite promises and all the promises God gives and all the covenants he gives.
Here's why. God tells Abraham, I'm going to give you a people. I'm going to give you some land. You're going to be in my presence. Tells Moses the same thing and then gives him the law and says, if y'all follow this, you'll be okay. If you don't, this won't go well.
Then he tells David, I'm going to send a king. And he's going to last forever. And when you know that a king's role is to lead in faithfulness, what he's saying is, I'm going to send a person to guard these promises. He's going to keep them for you. I'm going to send someone to lead in keeping these promises safe, helping you keep the covenant. That's great.
Because I don't know about y'all. Every time something's been nice in my life, I've thought, man, I wish it could stay like this. Do you know why? Because I know it won't. Like every time something's been good, it's like, man, I wish I could just pause and keep this like this. Like I wish it could just stay like this.
This is great. I wish this boss could stay my boss. I wish this coach could stay my coach. I wish this relationship could stay like this. I wish this president could just stay the president forever. Because they're the best one we've ever had.
Whatever. Like, I don't know. Like you just, there's these moments in life where you're just like, I wish this could just stick. Sometimes I think, I wish I wasn't in charge of whether or not this stayed good. You ever have that thought? I wish someone else who was smarter and better would come and just keep this together.
Because if I'm in charge, I have a good idea. I might mess this up. There's these moments. And so when God says, hey, you know all those promises I've made? I'm going to send a person to lead in keeping them together. It's like, oh, that's the best one.
This is the best promise. I'm so glad this one came. I'm so glad you said someone's going to come and keep it together and lead in faithfulness. And so they kept saying, this king is coming. This king is coming. Someone's going to come.
And they believed that it was going to be a political leader. Somebody was going to come and defend Judah and defend Israel and lead and set up a kingdom. The problem was it seems like they missed out on the forever thing. So I guess they thought we'll just have a kingdom and it'll last forever. And here's what happened. The angel Gabriel comes to Mary, who is a young girl who is not married, tells her she's going to have a baby.
And here's what he says in Luke chapter one. Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son. And you shall call his name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the son of the most high. So God in this promise to David says he'll be to me a son.
He'll be called the son of the most high. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David. And he will reign over the house of Jacob forever. And of his kingdom there will be no end. The keeper of this promise, the coming king who will last forever is Jesus. How surprised are we right now?
It's Jesus. He's the one who comes and keeps his promise. He's the one who comes and fulfills it. He's the king in the line of David. That's why several of the gospels start off with genealogies. Because they're going to show you Jesus comes in the line of David.
He's the promised king. And his kingdom doesn't look like we thought it was going to look. He doesn't overthrow the government. He goes to a throne by way of a cross. His first crown is a crown of thorns. Jesus suffers and dies on behalf of his people.
He does exactly what a good king should do. He lives his life on behalf of his people. Serving them and leading them in faithfulness to the covenant. Here's what happens for those who believe in Jesus. He upholds the covenant for you. He defends the covenant for you.
He keeps you faithful. Like a good king should. You trust Jesus? I don't have to keep the covenant together. I don't have to keep behaving to keep it right. I don't have to stand before God and show him how great I am.
I get to follow after my king who leads in that. Jesus dies on our behalf to keep covenant faithfulness for us forever. Forever. Forever. Forever. Maybe I am the only one.
Maybe I am the only one who when I am following Jesus well thinks. I hope I keep this together. Maybe I am the only one who at times says God I hope I make it to the end. Help me remain faithful to you. Help me to say no to sin. Help me to before I take my last breath.
Help me to still love and follow you. But if I am not the only one. And if there are some of you all in here who feel the same thing. I just want to be there at the end. Take rest and comfort in the fact that you have a king who leads in faithfulness on your behalf. And he keeps it together for you.
And if you have trusted in Jesus he leads you in faithfulness to God. So here is what I want to do. I just spent some time this past week thinking about if Jesus is really an eternal king. And he is really my eternal king. And if I am a Christian. If you place your faith in Jesus.
Jesus is your eternal king. Just wanted to give us some ways that intersects with our life. Some ways that that affects us now. I think there is probably a thousand more. I think there is probably if you wanted to spend an hour this week. An hour every day this week.
Thinking about what it means for Jesus to be your king. I think you could come up with a lot of these. And I think that would be well spent time. But I have got four for us today. Four ways that if Jesus is an eternal king. And you are a Christian.
That this should affect you. Okay. Way number one. Joy, peace, and gratitude. And rest are eternally yours. Joy, peace, gratitude, and rest are eternally yours.
The benefits of having a good king are yours forever. There is just something about knowing that someone who is smart and good is in charge. That lets you calm down a little bit. There is joy in that. There is rest in that. There is hope in that.
There is freedom in that. Knowing that Jesus is a good king. Like there is moments when you just absolutely trust that our government is doing what it is supposed to. There is moments when your parents had to make a decision. But you absolutely trusted they were going to do it well.
The times that the coach had to make a tough call. But you absolutely trusted they would do it well. There is just some freedom in that. I got two quick stories about my dad that I think help illustrate this. Help at least help me remember and picture this. And hopefully it will help you.
When you are little you are afraid of the dark. Maybe you weren't. And that is cool. A lot of people are weird. Most everybody is little is afraid of the dark. And there would be times where you would like have a nightmare.
You would wake up and you would go get my dad. And you would be like hey. I hate to bother you. There is a monster under my bed. I hate to bother you. But there is like a giant creepy something in the closet.
I am pretty sure it is in there. I did not see it. I felt like I could hear it breathing. Like whatever. Like it was just moments. And so my dad would come in.
And he would like turn on lights. And he would open the door. And he would look under the bed. And he would be like look. He would have you look with him. He would be like there is nothing in here.
Nothing in here. Nothing you need to be afraid of. And he would say okay. Okay. Go back to sleep. As soon as he left.
That thing came back. I don't know how it got there. You go back out. And you tell him again. It is back. I hate to bother you.
It is going to eat me. And so he would come back. He would do it again. Sometimes he would do this. He would go okay. See there is nothing in there.
See there is nothing in the bed. Nothing going on. Nothing scary. He would say yes. He would turn the light off. And he would go see.
There is nothing to. Oh no you are right. Oh no. It has got claws and tentacles. And it is seeping ooze. And it is going to eat you.
Oh my goodness. And he would like yell. And then he would cut on the light. And go oh no. This is our imagination. There is actually nothing here.
By about the third or the fourth time. You came and got him. Here is what he would do. He would look at you and say. There is nothing. In your closet.
Or under your bed. I. Am the scariest thing in this house. And you need to be more afraid. Of coming and waking me up. One more time.
And telling me that there is something dangerous in here. I am the scariest thing. And go to sleep. And there was something so freeing. About knowing your dad was the scariest thing in the house. It really was.
Like that was imprinted on me at a young age. And the rest of my life. It was like. If anybody breaks in here. If something bad happens. It is an unfortunate day for them.
Because I live with the scariest thing. Like he is just here. There is something about having a king. That is the scariest thing in the universe. That is just so. Joy filling.
Comforting. And freeing. In the midst of trouble. And pain. That Jesus is the scariest thing. At the end of the Bible.
He kills death. I have said this before. I don't make the rules. I just. I just help explain them. If you kill death.
You win. You are the scariest. He is our king. Who died for us. He is good. He loves us.
He is on our team. He wants joy for us. And we get to rest in him eternally. There was another time I had a coach. A baseball coach. And he was yelling at me.
And I was little. And I was not used to having full grown men yell. He was just one of these coaches that shouted. Like some coaches. You know. Coach.
This one yelled. And. I remember being afraid of him. And I told my dad. I was like. He just keeps yelling at me.
And like I am afraid. He is going to like. Come at me. Like I don't know what is going to happen. But it seems aggressive.
And I think this is going to go bad. I have to fight him. And my dad was like. Look. He is just yelling. He is not going to touch you.
You are going to be fine. He said. But I will make you a deal. I said. What? He said.
As long as he is just yelling. You will be okay. You will be fine. If he touches you. I will break every bone in his body. And I thought.
Deal. Sounds good. So then when my coach yelled at me. I was like. Come at me bro. I know how this ends.
Touch me. It made being coached by him way easier. Because I knew how it ended. And there is something about having Jesus as the eternally forever reigning king of the universe. On behalf of those who place faith in him. That brings so much joy.
And rest. And gratitude. Like we are free. Because he is good. And he has already gone to war on our behalf. And he reigns on the throne eternally.
There will be a day when all of this is gone. And we will stand before him. Free. And loved. And all of that is ours now. All of that joy.
All of that gratitude. All of that freedom. Is ours now. That is why Paul can say things like. For this light and momentary affliction is preparing for us. An eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison.
As we look not to the things that are seen. But the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient. But the things that are unseen are eternal. He says light and momentary affliction. The stuff you are going through right now.
It is going to pass away. And there is going to be an eternal king. And an eternity in his presence. And his joy and his freedom and his grace. He says in Romans 8. For I consider that the sufferings of this present time.
Are not worth comparing. With the glory that is to be revealed to us. They are not even in the same ballpark. All the joy. All the gratitude. All the rest.
Are ours already. Because we have an eternal king. Second way. I think this affects us. Intersects with our lives right now. Is you cannot set your heart.
On the promise. Of any lesser king. Can't set your heart on the promise of any lesser king. Here is what that means. You can care about the election. But you can't care so much.
That you lose your mind. Like you. You can't set your heart on. If this person. Is here. We are okay.
And if this person. Isn't. We are doomed. If this person is here. We will be fine. Everything will be magical.
But if it is this person. We are going to. We are going to crash and burn. And you can't allow your heart. To be set. On that.
You can't allow your heart. To believe all the promises. That money gives. Any lesser king. You can't let your heart. Believe.
All the promises. That a relationship gives. All the promises. That popularity. And prominence give. All the promises.
That power gives. All the prominence. That promises. That a job promotion. Gives. You can't let your heart.
Go there. Because you realize. That there is an eternal king. And all of these lesser kings. Will fade away. And will not matter.
And ultimately. History. Is already held together. By the one who went before us. To a cross. Three.
Submission. Is your appropriate response. If Jesus. Is your king. Submission. Is the appropriate response.
So we are used to. Democracy. Where you get to vote. And you can call your senator. And you know. This different stuff.
Kings. You don't get to do that. Kings get to do what they want. And so. It is actually. Very freeing.
To know that submission. Is the way I ought to relate to Jesus. Here is what I mean. If Jesus were a bad king. Submitting to him. Would be terrible.
It would be arbitrary. It would be ridiculous. He would make you jump through hoops. For his own good. When he said. This was bad.
And this was good. You wouldn't really be able to trust him. You might just be doing it. For his own pleasure. For his own joy. For his own.
Whatever. But see. We have a king. Who went to a cross first. So that we could even just be his people.
He loves us. He is for our joy. And our good. All of his rules. Are for our good. One of the things I love from the Old Testament.
Is it says that your law. Your precepts. Your teaching. Make. Wise. The simple.
That God is teaching. His rules. Make. Dumb people. Smart. Smart.
I love that. You ever. You ever. You ever. You ever. You ever.
You ever. In a class. And the teacher. Gave you the test. Before the test. Or gave you the test.
With the answers. Before the test. Do you. Do you know. Who did not. Immediately look.
Really excited. When that happened. The four smart people. They don't want the answers. To the test. They don't want to see the test.
They're going to do fine. On their own. And that's how they get to show. That they're better than everybody. Like the kid. That started crying.
When they handed out the test. Was the kid. Who had no chance. Of ever doing anything. He got the test. There were answers on it.
And he was like. I'm going to tell my mama. Right now. I'm passing this one. I'll wait until after. I take it.
Just in case. But. But I'm. I'm going to pass this one. And there was one kid. Who was like.
This whole class is stupid. That's because they were. Going to be fine anyway. One of the beautiful things. About having a good king. Who teaches us.
What life should look like. Is that if you aren't very bright. Things get to work out okay for you. Just by following what he says. If you've been in life long enough. To know that you don't always make the best decisions.
And that sometimes you chase after things. That end up being really stupid. And that often. If you follow your heart. Like Disney told you to. You're going to train wreck some things.
You're going to do it. Like if you ever see Jiminy Cricket. In real life. You're just going to punch him. Then that promise.
And that submission to a good king. Is how we respond to God. Is beautiful. And freeing. When you just get to follow someone. Who's good.
Who's wise. Who knows how it ends. And they say. This is how sex should work. Outside of marriage. And this is how sex should work.
Inside of marriage. This is what you should do. With your finances. This is how you ought to approach. Work and rest. This is how you ought to approach.
Parenting. In our house. We try to look at the Bible. And we'll go say. I'll go say okay. It's like my job.
To leave my family. I don't know if y'all know that. It's my job to do that. Anna has personal responsibility. But I will stand before God.
On how I led my family. For the whole household. So we all have personal responsibility. But I have responsibility. For our household as well. I love it.
I love it. When the Bible is really clear. On something I'm trying to figure out. Because I get to just say. Okay God. This is what you said.
I don't have to know why. I don't have to. I don't have to sit. And think about this anymore. I get to take it to Anna. And say Anna.
This is what the Bible says. We're going for this one. And at the end of the day. Today. We'll get to stand before God. And I'll get to say.
It's what you said. And I was just shooting for that. I'll stand accountable. For how well I followed it. But I.
As best I can. I get to just cheat. Look at the answers. And say God. Let me follow you. So.
If Jesus is your king. When y'all disagree. You submit. Simple as that. When Jesus is your king. And you disagree.
You submit. Number four. You begin to look like a citizen. Of his kingdom. Jesus is your king. You'll begin to look like a citizen.
Of his kingdom. So. Philippians 3 says this. But our citizenship is in heaven. And from it. We await a savior.
The Lord Jesus Christ. Who will transform our lowly body. To be like his glorious body. By the power that enables him. Even to subject all things to himself. So he's the king.
With all things subjected to himself. And our citizenship is in heaven. Where we await him. To come be our savior. So we'll begin to look like.
Citizens of that kingdom. And all kingdoms. All nations. All cultures. Have a certain. Here's what our people are like.
We just do. That's how it works. So the ancient. Spartans used to tell a story. About a kid who stole. A fox.
I don't know why they had foxes. I don't know where he stole it. But he stole it. And he had it under his shirt. And as he was sneaking off. With the fox.
An adult came. And started talking. To him. So he's holding a fox. Under his shirt like this. This is the story.
They used to tell their children. So if you want to. Looking for a bedtime story. Go with this one. So he's holding the fox.
The adult's talking to him. While he's holding the fox. The fox starts eating his stomach. Chewing into his stomach. And the kid. Doesn't want him to know.
He stole the fox. So he holds the fox. He doesn't. Give it away. That he's stolen the fox. And he talks to this adult.
Until the fox kills him. That's how tough Spartans are. It wasn't a problem that he had stolen. The issue would have been. If he had like. Whined.
While he got eaten by a fox. Okay. So Spartans are weird. I don't want you to get caught up in that. Every culture. Has certain stories that they tell.
Has certain. This is who we are. When there was the. The tsunami in Japan. I remember seeing pictures. Of the Japanese people.
For. It was like a three mile long line. Single file. Japanese people. Waiting to get water. And I was.
Baffled. By this. Because I was like. He ain't getting Americans. To stand in a three mile long. Single file line.
It's going to be a cluster. There's going to be some punching. Some shooting. Like. There's not going to be a. We've got water.
Line up. And we all go. Okay. Okay. I hope this only takes 12 hours. Like we're not doing that.
It's not happening. We made wristbands at Disney World. So that you can just like. Swipe. You don't got to stand there. Like I don't.
I mean. We got the little things they give you. When you want to eat. It's like. If you go do something else. This will buzz.
Because we ain't waiting. There's a certain thing. That goes along with a culture. And a kingdom. And who your leaders are. And how your nation works.
And I want to tell you something. As Christians. We're supposed to have. A citizenship in heaven. And a culture that comes from our king. So we begin to look.
More like citizens of heaven. So let me help you out. If you're a Christian. You will spend eternity in heaven. Because your king will get you there. That is your home.
This is temporary. That's your home. That's your homeland. So I want to tell you a little bit. About your king. And your homeland.
So that you can begin to realize. What kind of citizen. You ought to be. How this ought to begin to show up in your life. We're citizens of a land. With a generous king.
Who gave up everything. On behalf of his people. Who left his throne. And his wealth. And his praise. To go to a cross.
To be stricken with poverty. And to be mocked. And murdered. So when someone in my group. Needs help paying a bill. When I find out my neighbor.
Needs help doing some work. I'm the citizen of a generous king. I open up my wallet. And my schedule. Because that's what my king's like. We're from a land.
With a sacrificial king. So when you're at school. And someone who's nerdy. Wants to be your friend. And the only way. To be their friend.
Is to lose some of your popularity. To take some of their nerdiness. Onto yourself. We've got a king. Who gave up his life. So that we could have life.
We've got a king. Who laid down everything. To sacrifice on our behalf. That nobody made it. To his kingdom. Outside of him.
Personally bringing them there. So yeah. We sacrifice. Because we're citizens. Of a different kingdom. When somebody who's.
In your group. Is consistently depressed. And they call you. They want to hang out. They want to get some lunch. And the only way.
They're going to be not depressed. Is if you. Leave that lunch. Being more depressed. You go to lunch. And you give them.
Some of your happiness. And you take some of their depression. We've got a sacrificial king. Who gave us. His goodness. And took our sin.
Of course. Because we're citizens. Of a different kingdom. In our homeland. Where we'll spend eternity. Sin has been destroyed.
And it's completely unacceptable. We have a king. Who hates sin. So much. That he would die for it. So of course.
We're people. Who fight against sin. We're of course. We're people. Who are open. And honest.
About our failure. Because we have a king. Who's already destroyed sin. On our behalf. And we're designed. To hate it.
In our new land. We'll live. There won't be sin. So we fight against it here. You show up to your group. And you tell them.
How crummy you've been. How petty you've been. How much you've lied to them. We're honest about sin. Because we hate it. We're designed.
To follow after him. In a kingdom. Where sin has been destroyed. We're from a kingdom. Of joy. And celebration.
And singing. So we have fun. Our king sings. Celebrates. In heaven. Every time someone becomes a Christian.
It says the angels celebrate. First of all. That's never gotten old to them. Because they understand what just happened. They understand that a new family member. Has just hopped in for eternity.
We come from a kingdom of happiness. So. We're free to be happy. And celebrate. And dance. Even without white gloves.
It doesn't have to be interpretive. It could just be straight up dancing. Alright. We come from a land of justice and peace. Where our king. Took on injustice.
So that we could have freedom. And justice and peace. So. We care about the marginalized. We care about the voiceless. We care about those who are.
Who are. Poverty stricken. Because that was all of us. We didn't have a voice. We didn't have. Any way to defend ourselves.
But Jesus rescued us. We come from a kingdom. Where death has been destroyed. So we get to be fearless. Because death loses. And it doesn't ultimately have sway over us.
We get to follow Jesus wherever he calls us. Even if that seems certain to go poorly. Because we know ultimately. It will be just fine. The band is going to come back up. If you're a Christian.
All the joy. And rest. And hope. Of having a good king. Is already yours. You can't believe the promises.
Of smaller kings. Submission is your appropriate response. To Jesus. And ultimately. We get to begin to look like citizens. Of a different country.
So we have a king. Who went to war. On our behalf. And his victory. Is ours now. Forever.
So he. He accomplished it forever. On our behalf. And so as Christians. We just get to follow our king. So the response.
For everybody in this room. Is the same. If you're not a Christian. It's to trust. Jesus. As your king.
To win on your behalf. To conquer sin. To set you free from it. And to bring you forever. Into faithfulness to God. To lead you in that.
And if you're a Christian. The response is the same. To continue to believe. That Jesus is your king. And follow him as your king. So that your life changes.
So that your heart changes. And so that you can forever rest. In the fact that he's won the victory. On your behalf. Let's pray.
God we thank you. That you're a good king. And that all the benefits. Of having a good king. Are ours. That we can trust you.
That we can follow you. That we can hold on. In the midst of. Heartache. And difficulty. That we can know.
The end. We can know that one day. We will be. In your kingdom. Where sin is no more. And death is no more.
And pain is no more. And crying is no more. Because you've conquered. All of those on our behalf. God I pray. That you would help us.
To live as citizens. Of your kingdom here. We would remember. What you're like. God that transitioning. From how we lived here.
To how we'll live. In eternity with you. Would not be a drastic jump. For us. Because we would begin. To be led by you.
Changed by you. Daily. God I pray. That you'd help us. To trust you. As our good king.
That came. And fulfilled. This covenant promise. Made to David. That you will reign. Forever.
You will stand. Before God. Forever. On our behalf. In Jesus name. Amen..
Aug 7