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Resurrection in 1 Corinthians 15 (6) - The Reigning Christ · Stornoway Free Church of Scotland - Sermons

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We're going to sing firstly tonight from Psalm 138. Psalm 138, that's on page 431,
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and verses 1 to 5.
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Thee will I praise with all my heart. I will sing praise to thee before the gods,
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and worship will toward thy sanctuary. I'll praise thy name even for thy truth and kindness
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of thy love, for thou thy word has magnified all thy great name above. Psalm 138, these verses 1 to 5.
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Thee will I praise with all my heart.
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Before the gods and worship will toward thy sanctuary.
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I'll praise thy name even for thy truth and kindness of thy love, for thou thy word has magnified
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all thy great name above. Thou didst me answer in the day when I to thee did cry.
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And thou, my fainting soul, with strength didst strengthen inwardly.
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All kings upon the earth that are shall give thee praise, O Lord.
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When I say from thy mouth shall hear thy truth and faithful word.
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Ye in the righteous ways of God, with gladness they shall sing.
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For great's the glory of the Lord, who doth for ever be.
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Now we're going to join together once again in prayer. Let's call upon the Lord in prayer.
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Lord, our gracious God, we know that these words we have been singing concerning you are true,
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that you have not brought us to any other conclusion, but that this is your truth
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when you speak about yourself through the word.
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We thank you tonight, Lord, that you have reminded us once again of the greatness that belongs to you.
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The greatness that belongs to you as it belongs to no other.
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The greatness by which we find ourselves in your presence, exclaiming that you alone are God and worthy of our worship.
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And we thank you, Lord, for this occasion once again when we are able to come before you to worship you.
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Help us at all times to count it our great privilege to come into your presence,
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to be together as a people, a worshiping people, a people seeking the Lord while he is to be found
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and calling upon him while he is near.
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And we ask tonight, Lord, that you would meet with us.
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Your promise is that you will draw near to those who draw near to you.
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We pray that this may be our very experience this evening.
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You know each one of us here. You know us collectively.
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You know the very thoughts of our minds.
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You know the anxieties of our hearts.
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You know all the things that trouble us and the things that give us to be glad.
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And we bless you, Lord, that in regard to all of these and every aspect of our experience,
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that you minister to your people that grace which daily keeps them and daily guides them and daily feeds them.
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And we ask that tonight your grace will indeed be evident to ourselves.
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Lord, we thank you that as we are in your presence,
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so you assure us that you take such an interest in your people as to provide for them through the gospel.
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We give thanks for the fellowship of your people,
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for the fellowship that your people are,
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as they come together to be a people,
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together brought by the Lord himself to be a people noticed in the world,
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a people whose testimony it is that the Lord is their God
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and that you are indeed the one to whom they are answerable
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and also the one they seek to commend to the world around them.
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We ask, Lord, your blessing even more than we can ask or think to do for us
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and to do for us abundantly through your Holy Spirit.
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We thank you that as we wait upon you,
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your promise is that your Holy Spirit will take the things of Christ
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and show them unto us.
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And we thank you for all the times that this has happened previously in our experience.
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But we pray that it will be our experience once again.
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And to that end, O Lord, open up your word for us, we pray.
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Open up our minds to receive it.
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Take away from us all that might resist your own call upon us through the gospel.
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And come once again, we pray, to melt our hearts
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and to bring us into that proper, willing and loving subjection of our lives to you.
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We pray for your blessing, O Lord, for all the gatherings of your people,
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wherever they are in the world tonight.
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We know that you have a people in such different circumstances to ours.
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We pray for them as we pray for ourselves.
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We pray for your church worldwide.
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We pray for all, O Lord, who confess you
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and seek to have that confession made known in the presence of the world,
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even the presence of a hostile world from time to time.
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And we pray that you would bless every effort made, Lord, by your people
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to spread the gospel abroad,
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to testify to you and to bring the message of Christ,
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crucified and risen from the dead before a lost world.
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We ask your blessing, Lord, to be with all tonight
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who are engaged in different types of activities that support your cause.
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We pray for those of our own number who are involved locally with such things.
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We pray, Lord, for Road to Recovery, for David and his leadership of that group,
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and for all who receive benefit from it.
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We pray for street pastors.
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We ask, Lord, for them as they go about from week to week
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and meet with various people and seek to bring them help practically
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and at times spiritually too.
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We pray for them.
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We pray for their safety.
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We pray that you would keep them, Lord, from week to week.
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And we ask that you would help them as they go about
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such an important task in our community.
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We pray that you would bless those who care for others in their illness.
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We pray for our hospitals and for our care homes.
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We thank you for that provision that is made for us there.
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We pray for those tonight, Lord, who are ill,
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those who belong to us as families or in the congregation here
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and who are at this time confined through illness.
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We pray for those receiving treatment,
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those anticipating such in days to come.
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We pray for those who have been through surgery
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and those anticipating that too.
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We pray, O Lord, for them and all the fears that might accompany
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such times and experience in their own lives.
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We ask, Lord, that even if the fears are still there,
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that you would give to them the calmness of heart
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that would come to trust in you and know you
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and know your presence with them.
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We ask, too, again for our children
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and pray that you would bless them at this time
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and bless all those who are parents, grandparents.
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We think especially, Lord, of parents who belong to us
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whose concern for their children is that they be protected
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from the evil of various types that are in the world,
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protected from a kind of suggested proposals that come to them,
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O Lord, from different quarters that would seek to lead them away
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from your truth and from walking in the ways of the Lord.
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Remember them here in this congregation itself, O Lord,
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and bless to them the teaching they receive in their homes,
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in the church and Sunday school,
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and other ways in which your own word is set before them.
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We pray that you would bless all the efforts made
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and all who make the effort to teach our children,
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our young people, the things of the gospel.
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We ask for our schools that you would bless them, too,
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all whom we know of our own number,
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our teachers there and head teachers.
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We pray your blessing for them, O Lord, in difficult times.
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We ask that you bless the Education Authority
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and all others, Lord, who are involved in the well-being of our young people.
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Lord, protect us, we pray, from the ways of the evil one
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and grant that we may overcome him with your truth
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and with the power of your truth.
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Remember, too, we pray at this time our nation,
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and, Lord, we ask that you would give us direction,
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that you would give us to know your guidance at this time
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and your blessing.
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Restore to us, we pray, the years the locusts have eaten,
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as your prophet said long ago.
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So, we pray that all that has happened, Lord,
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over many years in taking the power of the gospel
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to be reduced so much in our midst,
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that that would be pleasing to you, Lord, to restore.
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Hear the prayers of your people in that regard.
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Establish your kingdom, we pray, throughout the world,
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that your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
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Grant us now your blessing as we wait upon you here,
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pardoning all our sin for Jesus' sake.
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Amen.
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Amen.
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Let's continue to praise God.
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We're singing this time in Psalm 87.
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Psalm number 87.
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Again, it's in the Scottish Psalter, page 342.
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This is a psalm, a short psalm,
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that speaks of God's favor of his people, of his church.
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His church is represented here by Zion and Zion's gates,
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and the great and glorious future that belongs to God's people.
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Upon the hills of holiness he his foundation sets.
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God, more than Jacob's dwellings,
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all delights in Zion's gates.
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Things glorious are said of thee,
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thou city of the Lord.
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Rahab and Babel, I, to those that know me, will record.
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And so on.
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These verses of Psalm 87, to God's praise.
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Amen.
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Amen.
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Amen.
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Amen.
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Physiom 87, to all the hills of holiness.
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On the hills of holiness he his foundation sets.
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God, more than Jacob's dwellings, all delights in Zion's gates.
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Things glorious are said of thee, thou city of the Lord.
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Rehob and Abel, I to those that know me will record.
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Behold him, Titus, and with it the Lamb of Palestine.
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And likewise, Ethiopia, this man was born there.
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And it of Zion shall be said, this man and that man there was born.
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And he that is most high himself shall establish her.
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When God the people writes, he'll count that this man born was there.
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There be that sing and play and all my well springs in the air.
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Now we have two readings of Scripture this evening.
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First of all, in the book of the Revelation, chapter 19.
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Read the passage there from verse 11 down to verse 21 to the end of the chapter.
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And then we'll turn to 1 Corinthians 15, where we've had some studies for a time.
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And reading verses 20 to 28.
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So firstly, it's in Revelation, chapter 19, and from verse 11.
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Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse.
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The one sitting on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war.
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His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are many diadems.
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And he has a name written that no one knows but himself.
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He is clothed in a robe dipped in blood, and the name by which he is called is the Word of God.
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And the armies of heaven, arrayed in fine linen, white and pure, were following him on white horses.
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From his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations.
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And he will rule them with a rod of iron.
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He will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty.
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On his robe and on his thigh he has a name written, King of Kings and Lord of Lords.
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Then I saw an angel standing in the sun, and with a loud voice he called to all the birds that fly directly overhead,
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Come, gather for the great supper of God, to eat the flesh of kings, the flesh of captains,
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the flesh of mighty men, the flesh of horses and their riders,
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and the flesh of all men, both free and slave, both small and great.
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And I saw the beast and the kings of the earth with their armies gathered to make war against him
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who was sitting on the horse and against his army.
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And the beast was captured, and with it the false prophet,
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who in its presence had done the signs by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast
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and who worshipped his image.
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These two were thrown alive into the lake of fire that burns will suffer,
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and the rest were slain by the sword that came from the mouth of him who was sitting on the horse,
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and all the birds were gorged with their flesh.
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And some verses now from 1 Corinthians 15.
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I will read verses 20 to 28.
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But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead,
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the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.
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For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead.
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For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive,
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but each in his own order.
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Christ the firstfruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ.
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Then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father,
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after destroying every rule and every authority and power.
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For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet.
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The last enemy to be destroyed is death.
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For God has put all things in subjection under his feet.
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But when it says all things are put in subjection,
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it is plain that he is accepted who put all things in subjection under him.
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When all things are subjected to him,
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then the Son himself will also be subjected to him
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who put all things in subjection under him,
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that God may be all in all.
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Amen.
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May God bless to us reading those two passages of his word.
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Before we turn to 1 Corinthians 15, let's sing once again.
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This time in Psalm 110.
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And sing Psalms version, Psalm 110, verses 1 to 5.
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This is one of the great messianic psalms.
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Psalms to do with the Messiah, with the Savior, with the Lord.
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Quoted in the New Testament.
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Quoted even by the Lord himself.
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The Lord said to my Lord, sit here at my right hand,
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until I make your foes a stool on which your feet may stand.
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The Lord will make your reign extend from Zion's hill.
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With royal power you'll rule among those who oppose your will.
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When you display your power, your people flock to you.
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At dawn arrayed in holiness,
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your youth will come like dew.
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Unchangeably the Lord with solemn purpose swore,
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just like Melchizedek,
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you are a priest forevermore.
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The Lord's at your right hand.
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There he will ever stay.
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He on his day of wrath will crush
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the kings who bar his way.
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These five verses,
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in Psalm 110,
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the Lord said to my Lord,
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The Lord said to my Lord,
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sit here at my right hand,
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until I make your foes a stool on which your feet may stand.
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The Lord will make your reign extend from Zion's hill.
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With royal power you'll rule among those who oppose your will.
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When you display your power,
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your people flock to you.
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At dawn and haine in holiness,
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your youth will come like truth.
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Unchangeably the Lord with solemn purpose swore,
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just like Melchizedek,
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you are a priest forevermore.
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The Lord's at your right hand.
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There he will ever stay.
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He on his day of wrath will crush
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the kings who bar his way.
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Please turn with me now to 1 Corinthians chapter 15.
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We'll begin reading at verse 22.
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We're looking tonight at verses 24 to 28 especially.
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We can begin reading at verse 22.
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For as in Adam all die,
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so also in Christ shall all be made alive.
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But each in his own order,
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Christ the firstfruits,
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then at his coming,
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those who belong to Christ.
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Then comes the end,
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when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father
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after destroying every rule and every authority and power.
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For he must reign
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until he has put all his enemies under his feet.
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The last enemy to be destroyed is death.
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And so on to the end of verse 28.
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In recent days,
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I've been noticing,
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in social media especially,
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when anticipating the coronation of King Charles III,
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as he'll be,
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a number of people keep putting up posts saying,
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he's not my king.
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Of course,
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they have every freedom to do that.
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I don't know if they're people of independence mind
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or whatever it is
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that brings them to say that.
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But as we anticipate this coronation coming,
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people have such a view of it
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as says,
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well,
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he's not my king.
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It's a personal opinion.
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It's a personal decision.
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It's something that they have chosen.
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They're not going to acknowledge him as king
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for themselves personally.
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And they have freedom to do that.
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Of course,
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they're entitled in a personal freedom way
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to think that and to say that.
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But that doesn't mean that
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what they're really saying
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makes the kingship of Charles
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no longer relevant
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or inapplicable.
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They may very well choose to say,
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he's not my king,
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but in a political sense,
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he is the king of the nation.
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He is the king over the nation.
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And so,
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while people have the freedom to say that of him,
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that does not displace the fact
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that politically he's going to be
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crowned as the king
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of the United Kingdom.
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That is something
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that still remains in place
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despite people maybe saying,
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well,
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he's not my king.
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And there's something like that
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in the way that people think about Jesus.
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The way they think about Jesus Christ
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as the king,
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as he's mentioned here
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and spoken of in Scripture,
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as we read,
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for example,
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in Revelation chapter 19,
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as we read the Gospels
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and find the inscription
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that was placed over him
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at the crucifixion.
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This is Jesus of Nazareth,
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the king of the Jews.
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Jesus,
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as a king,
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brings that reaction
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on the part of some people,
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on many people,
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sadly,
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who will say,
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well,
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he's not my king.
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People who don't want to have
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Jesus rule over them.
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People who want to
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just be free
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of anything to do
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with Christ,
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with God,
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with this idea
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that somehow or other
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there is an authority
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greater than themselves
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or greater than in this
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earthly life.
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And so you'll find that
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this is the same,
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really essentially,
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that they say of Jesus
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and of his kingship.
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Many are adamant saying,
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well,
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he's not my king
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and he never will be my king.
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And that's how things
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are going to be
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until the king returns.
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That's how it's going to be
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until the end of the age.
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There will still be some people
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that say,
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well,
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he's not my king
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and he's not going to be my king.
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But he is the king.
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And as he will come
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at that last day,
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as we'll see here
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briefly tonight,
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every knee shall bow
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and every tongue
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will confess
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that Jesus Christ
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is Lord
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to the glory
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of God the Father.
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We can say as often
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as we like
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in this world,
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well,
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he's not my king.
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But every single person
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saying that,
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as well as those
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who say he is my king,
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are going to come
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when the Lord appears
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to bow in his presence
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and acknowledge
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that even if it is not
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willingly on their part,
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he is the king.
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He is the Lord.
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And that's the situation
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that you find here
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in these verses
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in 1 Corinthians 15,
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verses 23 to 28,
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describes the situation
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as it is now
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and will be
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until the Lord returns.
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And then when the Lord returns,
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certain things
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then fall into place.
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So let's look at these verses
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in regard to Christ.
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And this is a passage
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that's dense.
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It's a passage
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that's got difficulties in it,
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but we don't shirk
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the difficulty
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and there's nothing wrong
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with saying,
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even as preachers
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of the gospel,
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well, there are one
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or two things
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that I don't quite understand
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and can't get
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to the depths of.
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We're dealing
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with God's Word.
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We're dealing with God.
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We're dealing
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with the Lordship of Christ.
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We're dealing
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with the reign of Christ.
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We're dealing
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with the greatness of Christ.
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You can't fit that
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into a mere human mind
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like ours.
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But we can still come
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and fall in His presence
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and say that He is
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indeed our King.
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So first of all,
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how is this connected
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with the resurrection?
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We've been looking
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through the passages
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we've gone through
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this chapter
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at how Paul
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is demonstrating
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the reality
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of such a thing
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as resurrection,
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beginning with the resurrection
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of Jesus Himself
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and arguing
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that if Jesus
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is not risen,
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then there is no hope
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for mankind.
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There's no hope for us.
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We're still in our sins.
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But of course,
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He's now saying
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that He is,
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of course,
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in verse 20,
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but in fact,
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Christ has been raised
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from the dead.
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And following on
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from that,
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we've seen last time
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how He spoke about Him
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as the firstfruits
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and the firstfruits
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of those who have fallen asleep,
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those who are Christians
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who are no longer
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in this world.
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So resurrection
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is spoken of here
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as in a particular order.
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You see what He's saying
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in verse 23?
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This shall also happen,
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He says,
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but each in his own order.
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Christ the firstfruits,
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then at His coming
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those who belong to Christ.
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Now He's talking here
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about an ordered series
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of events
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to do with resurrection,
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to do with the conquering
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of death,
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which is what resurrection is
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on the part of God's people,
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on the part of Christ Himself.
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What He's saying here
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is that each in his own turn,
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Christ the firstfruits.
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That's already taken place.
29:47
Jesus has been raised
29:48
from the dead.
29:49
Jesus is no longer,
29:51
in terms of His body,
29:52
it's no longer
29:53
in the grave,
29:54
in the sepulcher.
29:54
He rose triumphantly
29:56
on the third day,
29:58
and since then
29:59
been exalted to heaven.
30:02
His resurrection
30:03
is first in that order.
30:06
And He talks about it here again
30:07
as firstfruits,
30:09
similar to the same
30:10
as He's mentioned
30:11
in verse 20.
30:12
Remember,
30:13
we mentioned then
30:13
that firstfruits really means,
30:16
going back to Leviticus 21,
30:18
the firstfruits of the harvest.
30:21
Israel were ordered by God
30:23
to take the firstfruits
30:24
of the harvest,
30:25
to bring that into
30:26
the house of God,
30:27
to wave that before the Lord
30:29
because it was dedicated to Him.
30:31
In other words,
30:31
it was saying,
30:32
the whole harvest
30:33
actually belongs to You,
30:34
O Lord,
30:35
but You have given us
30:36
the privilege
30:37
of having that harvest
30:38
to ourselves.
30:39
Here are the firstfruits.
30:40
We're offering that to You.
30:41
Remember,
30:42
we said that
30:42
the firstfruits
30:44
are really a sample
30:45
of the harvest
30:46
that was to follow.
30:47
And indeed,
30:48
the firstfruits
30:49
indicated that the harvest
30:51
was certain to follow.
30:53
If there's a firstfruits,
30:55
obviously there's a harvest there,
30:57
and if the firstfruits
30:58
are evident
30:59
and brought into
31:00
the house of God,
31:01
it follows that
31:02
the harvest
31:03
is going to follow it.
31:04
And that's what He's saying
31:05
with the resurrection.
31:07
The firstfruits,
31:08
Jesus the firstfruits,
31:09
in His resurrection,
31:11
well,
31:11
that's taken place.
31:14
And because that's taken place,
31:15
the rest of the harvest,
31:18
the resurrection of God's people
31:19
to everlasting life,
31:21
that is made certain.
31:23
That is guaranteed
31:24
because they are connected
31:25
to Jesus.
31:27
They are actually,
31:28
this is actually a pledge.
31:29
The fact that He has risen
31:31
from the dead
31:31
is God's pledge
31:33
that God's people
31:34
will rise from the dead
31:36
and share together
31:37
in that eternal life.
31:39
If Jesus has been raised
31:41
from the dead
31:41
as He has been,
31:43
as Paul is saying,
31:44
then it follows that
31:45
there is a resurrection
31:47
for God's people
31:48
to eternal life.
31:51
You cannot think of
31:52
Jesus being raised
31:54
from the dead
31:55
without having connected
31:57
to that inseparably
31:59
the resurrection
32:00
of His saved people,
32:02
the resurrection
32:03
of His whole redeemed church.
32:08
And you notice here
32:09
the language that's used
32:10
is at His coming.
32:12
That's the first thing.
32:13
He says,
32:14
Christ the firstfruits.
32:15
Then at His coming,
32:17
those who belong to Christ.
32:20
In other words,
32:21
that's what's still
32:22
waiting to take place.
32:23
It is made certain
32:25
by the fact that
32:26
He is risen from the dead,
32:27
but it will take place
32:29
at His coming.
32:31
When He comes,
32:32
when He returns
32:33
to this world,
32:35
then this will take place.
32:38
Those who belong to Christ
32:40
will be raised from the dead.
32:42
And that word
32:46
coming,
32:46
that is coming,
32:48
it's an important word.
32:50
It's a word which
32:51
in the ordinary sense
32:53
of usage
32:54
was often used
32:55
of an emperor
32:56
or a king.
32:57
Think about the emperor
32:58
or the Roman emperor
32:59
at the time
33:00
of Paul himself.
33:02
Well,
33:02
if the emperor
33:03
or somebody
33:04
of that high rank
33:05
was coming to a place,
33:06
this is the kind of word
33:07
they would use.
33:08
It's a word that really means
33:11
here is an arrival
33:13
that's filled with splendor,
33:15
that's got some significance
33:16
about it more than most.
33:19
And the word that's used here
33:21
as Paul uses that word,
33:23
it's not just,
33:24
it's not used for an emperor
33:25
or for a king
33:26
in the normal sense,
33:27
it's used here of Jesus.
33:29
At His coming,
33:30
at His arrival,
33:31
at His glorious appearance,
33:33
those who belong to Him
33:36
will actually be raised
33:39
from the dead.
33:40
And we spoke about
33:41
the coronation
33:43
of King Charles.
33:44
We still don't know
33:45
exactly what that's going
33:47
to involve
33:47
in terms of ceremony,
33:49
but I'm sure
33:49
it'll have its own grandeur
33:51
even if it's scaled back
33:53
compared to previous times.
33:55
It'll still have its own
33:56
pomp and ceremony
33:58
and grandeur
33:58
and all the regalia
34:00
of kingly office
34:01
will be on display.
34:03
And it'll be a grand occasion
34:05
and people will actually admire,
34:07
and mostly will admire,
34:08
the magnificence of it.
34:12
But even if you multiply that
34:13
a thousand times,
34:16
it's still just a pale shadow
34:18
of glory compared
34:20
to the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ.
34:27
Because when He arrives,
34:29
it just won't be a few people noticing
34:31
or a few hundred or thousand people
34:33
actually watching it.
34:35
It'll be the whole earth.
34:36
It'll be the whole universe.
34:37
It'll be the whole creation
34:39
involved in this dynamic event.
34:42
An event unlike any other
34:44
that went before,
34:45
apart from perhaps His death
34:47
and resurrection.
34:48
Because it's the creation
34:50
being brought to
34:52
its final conclusion,
34:54
and it's God's people
34:55
raised from the dead
34:56
at His arrival,
34:58
and it's Christ displayed
34:59
in all the magnificence
35:01
of His risen glory,
35:03
of His glorified splendor,
35:05
of what He is
35:06
as the King of kings
35:07
and the Lord of lords.
35:11
And there is to be a splendor
35:13
and a greatness
35:14
and a grandeur
35:16
of that arrival
35:18
that is just unparalleled.
35:21
You cannot really find
35:22
anything adequate
35:22
to picture it,
35:24
to give an illustration of it.
35:28
And you and I will be there.
35:32
Even if it's a thousand
35:33
and more years from now,
35:36
you and I will be there.
35:38
You and I will be witnesses of it.
35:40
You and I will be taken
35:41
into the event
35:43
because that event
35:44
will embrace all humankind.
35:48
The question, of course, is,
35:50
and we'll see it later on as well,
35:52
what will your relationship
35:54
be to the King?
35:57
Will you be invited
35:58
to the marriage supper,
36:00
to the reception of the Lamb?
36:03
Will you be among those
36:04
that are welcomed
36:05
into the banquet?
36:08
Will you be outside?
36:11
Will you not have
36:12
a personal relationship
36:14
with this grand,
36:17
wonderful, glorious King?
36:18
Well, this is
36:21
one of the great questions
36:23
that were posed
36:25
by the likes of Revelation
36:26
in the chapter that we read.
36:27
They're a very graphic description.
36:30
But this is the King
36:31
in His glory.
36:32
So, resurrection
36:33
in a particular order
36:34
comes to its climax,
36:36
if you like,
36:37
with the arrival of the King.
36:39
When He Himself will come,
36:42
then they will be,
36:43
those who belong to Him,
36:45
will rise at His coming.
36:47
And then He says,
36:49
then comes the end
36:51
when He delivers the kingdom
36:53
to God the Father
36:54
after destroying every rule
36:56
and every authority
36:56
and power,
36:58
for He must reign
36:59
until He has put
37:00
all His enemies
37:01
under His feet.
37:04
Now, what is He talking,
37:04
what is He talking about here
37:05
when He says,
37:07
then comes the end?
37:08
The end of what?
37:10
Or what is meant by
37:11
the word end
37:13
in that context?
37:14
Then comes the end.
37:15
It's obviously something
37:16
related to the arrival of Christ
37:19
or as soon as Christ has arrived
37:21
and the King has come,
37:23
then comes the end.
37:25
And the end here really means
37:27
the end of this present age.
37:30
The end of things as we know it
37:32
in the world as it is
37:34
and has been since the fall of man.
37:37
The end in the sense
37:38
in which a new age
37:40
will come at His coming,
37:43
at His arrival.
37:44
You remember how
37:45
2 Peter puts it,
37:47
the new heavens
37:48
and the new earth
37:49
for which God's people
37:50
are eagerly waiting
37:52
and anticipating
37:53
which will be following
37:55
the resurrection
37:56
or associated with
37:57
the resurrection.
37:59
Remember there in chapter 3
38:00
of Peter
38:00
how he's dealing with those
38:02
who are scoffing
38:03
at this idea
38:04
that Jesus is returning.
38:07
And all of this,
38:07
all these years have gone by,
38:09
they're saying,
38:10
and yet,
38:12
where is the promise
38:13
of His coming?
38:14
All things are continuing
38:15
as they were
38:15
from the beginning of creation.
38:17
We've stopped believing
38:18
in the coming of Jesus.
38:20
This passage is saying
38:21
that was in the Apostles' day.
38:23
Even more so is it the case now.
38:27
But he says,
38:28
do not overlook this one fact,
38:30
beloved,
38:31
that with the Lord
38:32
one day is as a thousand years
38:34
and a thousand years is one day.
38:36
God doesn't measure
38:37
His diary by years
38:39
in our way of calculation.
38:42
God has His own plan.
38:43
And however many years
38:44
it may be
38:45
in our calculation of things,
38:48
as far as God is concerned,
38:50
He knows the exact moment
38:51
in the history of this world
38:54
when the King will arrive,
38:56
when He will come.
38:58
But he goes on to say,
39:00
the day of the Lord
39:01
will come like a thief.
39:02
Then the heavens
39:03
will pass away with a roar
39:04
and the heavenly bodies
39:05
will be burned up
39:06
and dissolved
39:07
and the earth
39:08
and the works that are done on it
39:10
will be exposed.
39:11
Since all these things
39:12
are thus to be dissolved,
39:14
what sort of people
39:15
ought you to be
39:15
in lives of holiness
39:17
and godliness,
39:19
waiting for and hastening
39:20
the coming of the day of God,
39:22
because of which
39:23
the heavens will be set on fire
39:25
and dissolved
39:26
and the heavenly bodies
39:27
will melt as they burn.
39:28
But according to His promise,
39:31
we are waiting for
39:32
new heavens
39:34
and a new earth
39:35
in which righteousness dwells.
39:40
See, that's the culmination
39:42
of redemption.
39:44
That's the end point
39:46
of God's redemption
39:48
when God's people are raised
39:49
to share together with Christ
39:52
the glories of the kingdom,
39:54
the glories of Christ's reign
39:56
in heaven.
39:58
And this is what history
40:02
itself is developing towards.
40:07
We think of history
40:08
as we look out
40:11
over the history of mankind,
40:13
the history of the world,
40:14
as far as we're able to do that.
40:16
Where is history heading?
40:18
Where is history taking us?
40:20
Well, some people will say,
40:21
well, you can never be sure about that.
40:22
How can you actually know
40:23
what's going to happen next year?
40:25
Never mind in X number of years,
40:28
a hundred, a thousand years,
40:29
whatever it might be.
40:31
Well, the Lord is saying,
40:33
you should know where history,
40:34
as a Christian,
40:35
you should know where history is heading.
40:37
It's heading to the return of Christ.
40:41
It's heading towards
40:43
the coming of the King.
40:44
It's heading towards
40:47
the final establishment
40:48
and consummation
40:50
of the kingdom of God in Christ.
40:53
That's where it's heading.
40:56
That's where time is heading
40:58
to that definite point,
41:00
the end,
41:01
when the King
41:02
will arrive in His glory.
41:04
But that's also
41:06
not just the terminus
41:08
of history,
41:09
it's the terminus
41:11
of your Christian hope,
41:12
isn't it?
41:13
Because every single person
41:14
that has the Christian hope
41:15
is hoping towards
41:18
that final end of things
41:20
that the Bible describes.
41:21
Your hope
41:22
is not something uncertain.
41:25
You might complain
41:26
that it's not as strong
41:26
as you would like it to be,
41:28
but it's a positive hope
41:30
because it's looking towards
41:31
this final conclusion of things
41:34
at the return of Christ
41:35
when the dead will be raised,
41:37
when the Lord's people
41:38
will be raised,
41:39
at His coming.
41:40
Your hope
41:41
is towards His coming.
41:45
Romans chapter 8,
41:47
these great words
41:47
that Paul wrote there
41:50
to the Romans.
41:52
And verses 19 to 25 especially,
41:56
where he says,
41:56
For the creation
41:57
is waiting with eager longing
41:59
for the revealing
41:59
of the sons of God.
42:01
For the creation
42:02
was subjected to futility,
42:04
not willingly,
42:05
but because of Him
42:06
who subjected it
42:07
in hope
42:07
that the creation itself
42:09
will be set free
42:10
from its bondage to decay
42:12
and obtain the freedom
42:14
of the glory
42:16
of the children of God.
42:18
And so on.
42:19
It goes on,
42:19
speaking about ourselves,
42:21
groaning,
42:21
having the first fruit
42:22
of the Spirit,
42:24
having the Spirit of God
42:26
as the first fruits in us
42:28
that guarantees the harvest
42:31
of eternal life
42:32
in its fullness
42:33
at His coming
42:34
and subsequent to His coming.
42:39
And that's the terminus.
42:42
The terminus of your Christian hope
42:44
is the same terminus
42:46
as the terminus of history
42:48
tied inseparably
42:50
to the coming of Christ.
42:52
Do you have that hope?
42:57
Are you hoping for the best
42:59
in this sense?
43:01
Is your hope and trust
43:03
in the Lord Jesus Christ,
43:05
this King of kings
43:06
and Lord of lords?
43:08
Surely your hope
43:09
is not anchored
43:10
in something less than that,
43:12
something uncertain,
43:13
something belonging
43:14
to this world,
43:15
something belonging
43:16
to the philosophies
43:17
of this world,
43:18
something belonging
43:19
to your own imagination,
43:20
to your own reckoning,
43:21
something belonging
43:22
to those who will bring
43:24
you a sense of history
43:25
without God involved.
43:30
The Christian hope,
43:31
this hope that the apostle
43:32
speaks of,
43:33
is a positive thing,
43:36
a hope that looks forward
43:37
to the King's coming,
43:40
to the arrival of the great
43:41
King of kings
43:43
and Lord of lords.
43:46
And then he says,
43:47
then comes the end,
43:51
we've mentioned the end,
43:52
when he delivers the kingdom
43:53
to God the Father
43:54
after destroying every rule
43:56
and every authority
43:57
and power,
43:58
for he must reign
43:59
until he has put all
44:00
his enemies under his feet.
44:03
The last enemy
44:04
to be destroyed
44:05
is death.
44:07
What are we to make of this?
44:10
Well, he's speaking here
44:10
about the reign of Christ,
44:14
and that's a reign
44:15
that's presently underway.
44:17
And has been
44:18
ever since he rose
44:19
from the dead,
44:20
and especially since
44:21
he ascended to glory.
44:23
He's saying here that
44:24
he delivers the kingdom
44:27
to God the Father.
44:28
Think about Jesus
44:30
and the mission
44:31
the Father gave him
44:32
as he was sent into this world
44:35
and came willingly
44:36
as the servant of the Father.
44:38
As you find himself
44:39
speaking of it often,
44:40
especially in John's Gospel.
44:42
If you think about
44:44
all that Jesus came to do
44:47
was in terms of
44:49
establishing a kingdom,
44:52
a kingdom of God
44:53
where God reigns
44:55
and where his people
44:55
will be his willing subjects
44:57
forevermore.
44:58
It's to establish that kingdom
45:00
that Christ came.
45:02
And that involves
45:03
all that he did
45:04
while he was in this world.
45:06
It involves his death
45:07
on the cross,
45:08
his obedience to the Father,
45:09
his resurrection from the dead,
45:11
his ascension to glory,
45:13
and it will involve
45:14
also his return,
45:16
his coming,
45:17
as this passage puts it.
45:19
And all of that being involved,
45:22
that is how the kingdom
45:23
will be established,
45:26
will be finalized,
45:27
will be consummated.
45:28
And when it reaches that end,
45:31
when it reaches that point,
45:33
when everything about the kingdom
45:34
is finally ready and finished,
45:37
and there's nothing else to do,
45:38
when all his enemies,
45:40
as he puts it here,
45:41
he must reign
45:42
until he has put all his enemies
45:43
under his feet.
45:45
Every rule,
45:46
every authority,
45:46
every power,
45:47
including that of death.
45:49
When that is the case,
45:51
you can just,
45:52
if we can imagine it this way,
45:53
speaking with all reverence here,
45:56
you could say,
45:57
Jesus is saying to the Father,
45:58
the Son,
45:59
saying to the Father,
46:00
Father,
46:01
you sent me into this world
46:03
of human beings,
46:04
I took human nature to myself.
46:06
I died on the cross,
46:09
I rose from the dead,
46:11
I am ascended to glory,
46:12
I am sitting at the right hand of God,
46:14
and then I have come back to the world
46:16
to be the judge of the world.
46:18
Father,
46:19
here is the kingdom
46:20
that you sent me to accomplish.
46:23
I deliver it now to you.
46:28
I am giving it to you
46:29
because I have finished it.
46:31
It's accomplished.
46:33
It's done.
46:35
And because it's done,
46:37
I'm handing it to you
46:38
as the one
46:39
who sent me into the world
46:41
to accomplish it.
46:43
I've been your servant,
46:45
I've reigned in heaven
46:47
towards the accomplishment
46:49
of all things,
46:50
the conquering of all our enemies.
46:54
Every rule,
46:55
every authority,
46:57
every power.
46:58
But he says,
46:58
he must reign
47:00
until he has put all his enemies
47:01
under his feet.
47:02
You see what that is saying?
47:04
Jesus is reigning
47:05
from heaven tonight.
47:06
He's reigning despite the fact
47:08
that you look out in the world
47:09
and think that it's just chaos
47:10
and think that people
47:11
actually have it in themselves
47:13
to reign instead
47:15
of what we present
47:16
as God in the gospel.
47:21
That reign of Jesus
47:23
is presently taking place.
47:26
Every single person in here
47:28
that's been converted to Christ
47:30
and by Christ,
47:31
by the Spirit of God,
47:33
is itself another building block,
47:35
if you like,
47:36
in the kingdom of God.
47:38
There is another bit of evidence
47:40
really for us
47:41
that Christ is reigning.
47:44
That Christ's reign includes
47:45
the bringing in of His people.
47:48
Every single time someone
47:50
comes to know the Lord savingly,
47:52
there is the Lord's reign
47:54
in evidence.
47:55
It's taking place.
47:56
It's adding to the number
47:57
of the saved.
48:00
Here you are tonight
48:01
as a Christian
48:01
and you're happy to acknowledge,
48:05
surely, I know you are,
48:07
that you haven't converted yourself,
48:10
that you haven't made yourself
48:12
a new creation,
48:14
and you're happy to confess
48:16
that He has chosen you
48:19
and He has changed you
48:20
and He has brought you
48:21
and He has drawn you
48:22
and He has changed your life
48:24
and He has turned your life around
48:25
and that itself
48:28
is a demonstration
48:29
of His reign.
48:33
Because without the reign of Christ,
48:35
nothing of that would take place.
48:37
how can you possibly think of
48:40
those who are spiritually dead
48:42
like you and I are ourselves,
48:45
coming to have life,
48:46
coming to know of eternal life
48:49
being given to us?
48:51
It's Christ's reign, you see.
48:53
It's Christ from His throne above.
48:56
It's Christ the King
48:57
that's brought about that change
48:59
in your life.
49:01
And it reaches its finale
49:05
at the return of Christ.
49:08
He says here,
49:08
the last enemy
49:10
that shall be destroyed
49:11
will be destroyed
49:12
to be destroyed is death.
49:14
Here he is talking about
49:15
every rule,
49:16
every authority,
49:17
every power.
49:19
For Him must reign
49:20
until He has put all His enemies
49:22
under His feet.
49:23
You might think tonight
49:24
that in Eastern Europe
49:25
Putin is undisputedly in charge.
49:27
He's not.
49:28
He's under the reign of Christ.
49:30
Christ.
49:31
You might think
49:32
that all other things
49:32
that have happened
49:33
in the history of the world
49:34
have demonstrated
49:35
that somehow
49:36
God is not in control.
49:38
That's not the case.
49:39
He must reign
49:40
until He has put all His enemies
49:42
under His feet.
49:46
And that's what will take place
49:47
finally and demonstrably
49:51
at His coming.
49:55
It reaches its finale
49:57
at the resurrection
49:57
of God's people,
49:59
at the return of Christ.
50:00
You see how this chapter ends?
50:03
You might think it's
50:04
a long way away yet
50:05
before we reach the end,
50:06
but anyway,
50:07
this is how it finishes.
50:09
He says,
50:10
when this perishable,
50:12
verse 54,
50:13
puts on the imperishable
50:15
and the mortal
50:15
puts on the mortality,
50:17
then shall come to pass
50:19
the saying that is written,
50:21
death is swallowed up
50:22
in victory.
50:23
O death,
50:24
where is your victory?
50:25
O death or O grave,
50:26
where is your sting?
50:27
What is that saying to us?
50:28
It's saying to us
50:30
that this has not yet fully
50:31
been revealed.
50:36
The saying,
50:38
death is swallowed up
50:39
in victory,
50:40
it still awaits fulfillment
50:43
in its totality.
50:45
Why is that?
50:46
Because it's not fulfilled
50:47
in its totality
50:48
until the last believer
50:51
is raised from the dead.
50:53
then shall be brought
50:54
to pass the saying
50:55
that is written,
50:56
death is swallowed up
50:57
in victory.
50:59
The victory in principle
51:00
is already accomplished.
51:02
Jesus has done that.
51:04
But the final demonstration
51:05
of that victory,
51:07
when all of God's
51:08
redeemed people
51:08
will be raised from the dead
51:09
to be with Him,
51:10
well, that's still
51:11
in the future.
51:14
The D-Day of redemption
51:15
has taken place,
51:17
to use a World War II analogy.
51:20
But victory in Europe day
51:23
followed after that,
51:25
sometime after that.
51:27
D-Day wasn't the end,
51:29
although it was the final
51:30
or main principle of victory.
51:35
And so it is with the Lord.
51:36
He has died.
51:37
He's risen from the dead.
51:39
He's reigning from heaven.
51:40
He's bringing His people
51:41
to know Himself.
51:42
He's actually progressing
51:44
the work and the growth
51:45
of the kingdom.
51:46
And when He comes,
51:49
that'll be it.
51:50
Then comes the end.
51:53
And when that comes,
51:56
and He delivers up
51:57
the kingdom to the Father,
52:00
He'll be saying,
52:01
Lord, Father,
52:02
here is the result
52:03
of all that I accomplished,
52:07
of all that I came to do.
52:10
And then there's one other thing.
52:13
When all things are subjected to Him,
52:15
then the Son Himself
52:17
will also be subjected to Him
52:18
who put all things
52:20
in subjection under Him,
52:22
that God may be all in all.
52:26
All these are difficult words,
52:29
words that we can't have confidence
52:34
that any particular view,
52:35
and there are many views
52:36
of what these words mean,
52:38
that any view is superior
52:39
to the other.
52:40
But I think the best I've seen
52:42
in looking at how to try
52:44
and bring out the meaning
52:45
of these verses
52:46
is good old Matthew Henry.
52:50
Because this is what Matthew Henry
52:51
says about these final verses
52:54
in this passage
52:55
from verse 28 there.
52:59
Upon His ascension,
53:02
Jesus had power given Him
53:04
to govern and protect His church
53:06
against all its enemies,
53:09
and in the end destroy them
53:11
and complete the salvation
53:12
of all who believe in Him.
53:15
This is not a power
53:17
appertaining to Godhead as such,
53:20
but power given and limited
53:22
to this special purpose.
53:25
And although He who has it
53:26
is God,
53:28
yet inasmuch as He
53:30
in this whole dispensation
53:32
acts not as God
53:33
but as mediator,
53:35
He may properly be said
53:37
to have this power
53:38
given to Him.
53:39
Jesus as mediator.
53:41
He may reign as God
53:43
with power unlimited,
53:45
and yet may reign as mediator
53:47
with a power delegated
53:49
and limited to these
53:52
particular purposes.
53:53
That's to say,
53:54
bringing His people in
53:55
and completing the kingdom.
53:57
The Redeemer must reign,
53:59
He went on to say,
54:00
until His enemies be destroyed,
54:03
and the salvation of His church
54:04
and people accomplished.
54:06
And when this end is attained,
54:09
then He will deliver up
54:10
the power which He had
54:12
only for this purpose,
54:15
though He may continue
54:16
to reign over His glorified church
54:18
in heaven.
54:21
And in this sense,
54:23
it can be said that He shall reign
54:24
forever and ever.
54:27
Well, that's maybe something
54:28
you'd find difficult
54:30
just by just having it read out.
54:31
But what Henry was saying
54:33
was that Jesus,
54:35
as the mediator
54:36
between God and His people,
54:38
was given certain powers
54:40
to accomplish these things.
54:42
And once He has accomplished them,
54:45
which will be at His return
54:46
once it's finished at that point,
54:48
He will hand the kingdom
54:49
to the Father
54:50
and continue to reign over His people
54:54
to all eternity.
54:57
But that power
54:58
was given for a specific purpose
55:01
as the mediator
55:03
of His people.
55:05
Well, what are we going to make of this?
55:07
It's a passage full of rich theology
55:10
but difficult things.
55:11
I hope you've been able
55:12
to follow the main gist of it,
55:14
at least,
55:15
because it really is
55:15
all to do with Christ.
55:17
It's all to do with Jesus.
55:19
Yes, it's about the resurrection
55:20
of God's people.
55:22
Yes, it's about hope
55:23
for the future
55:23
connected to that resurrection
55:25
and the resurrection of Christ.
55:26
Yes, it's all that.
55:28
But it's really about Jesus.
55:31
And if you take nothing else
55:32
from that this evening
55:33
but this fact
55:35
that Jesus as the King
55:37
is the King that you need
55:39
and the King you must have
55:40
in your place,
55:42
then you have benefited
55:43
from this half hour.
55:48
What practical use
55:49
can we make of it all?
55:50
Well, two things.
55:53
Christ is reigning now.
55:57
As you look out over that world
55:59
and I look out over that world tonight,
56:01
with all its chaotic scenes,
56:04
with the war,
56:05
with the devastation,
56:08
with everything that you see
56:09
that puts people's lives
56:11
into turmoil,
56:13
with everything that's happened,
56:14
even the natural order of things,
56:17
you might with others
56:17
be tempted to reach that conclusion.
56:20
This is just disorganized chaos.
56:23
And if God exists,
56:24
then He has lost control.
56:26
Friends,
56:27
Jesus is reigning.
56:30
And He must reign
56:31
and will reign
56:32
till He has put all His enemies
56:33
under His feet.
56:34
I cannot explain to you tonight
56:36
how all of this
56:37
is fitted together
56:37
in the plan of God.
56:39
I can't explain to you tonight
56:40
why God leaves such things
56:42
as they are,
56:43
whether it be a time of war
56:45
or famine
56:45
or loss of life
56:47
or devastation
56:47
or earthquake.
56:48
I can't say to you tonight,
56:50
here is my reason
56:51
and I know it's sure
56:52
and true
56:53
as to why this is the case
56:54
and why God
56:55
has left it this way
56:56
for this particular time.
56:59
That's in the King's hand.
57:01
That's the King's prerogative.
57:03
Don't doubt Him
57:04
just because you don't understand
57:06
His ways in their totality.
57:11
Jesus is reigning.
57:13
This is what it's saying.
57:14
He must reign until,
57:17
yes,
57:17
but all His enemies
57:18
are under His feet.
57:20
And remember that too, friend.
57:23
When personally you are perplexed,
57:27
when you have troubles
57:29
individual to yourself,
57:31
when you have difficulties
57:34
and struggles
57:35
even in your faith,
57:37
when you may feel at times depressed,
57:39
when you're hurting inside,
57:41
when you think you can't share that
57:43
with anyone else,
57:45
when you are anxious
57:46
over your own life
57:47
or anxious over the lives
57:49
of loved ones connected with you,
57:51
or anxious even as you look out
57:52
over the world,
57:54
when you look into yourself
57:55
and have all of this
57:56
from time to time
57:58
that you detect
57:59
in your own thoughts
58:00
and in your processes
58:01
of your mind
58:02
and emotions,
58:04
never forget
58:06
that Jesus is reigning.
58:10
Never forget
58:11
that all the details
58:12
of your experience
58:14
come under His reign.
58:17
Everything that's been
58:18
in your life,
58:19
that is in your life,
58:20
that will be in your life,
58:21
none of that is outside
58:23
of the throne of heaven.
58:25
None of that is outside
58:26
of the prerogative of Christ.
58:28
None of that is outside
58:29
of the grasp
58:30
of the King of kings
58:31
and Lord of lords.
58:32
None of that is outside
58:34
the purpose of God
58:35
in placing these things
58:38
in His providence
58:38
in your life.
58:40
It's not as you would have
58:41
organized it
58:42
or I would have organized it.
58:44
It's not as we would have
58:44
purposed it.
58:46
It's not fitted together
58:47
as we might think best.
58:49
But He's the King.
58:52
He's the Lord.
58:53
He's the sovereign.
58:56
And He's the one
58:57
who is reigning.
59:01
And there are no defects
59:03
in His reign.
59:07
That's the first point.
59:08
Christ is reigning now.
59:10
And finally,
59:10
second point,
59:12
by way of practical application,
59:15
not only is Christ reigning now,
59:17
but Christ is available now.
59:20
This reigning Christ,
59:21
this Christ who is on the throne
59:24
of the universal,
59:25
ready,
59:27
this mediator,
59:28
this glorious person,
59:29
He is available now.
59:32
You're here tonight
59:33
and you haven't yet
59:35
given your life to Him.
59:37
You haven't yet surrendered
59:38
everything by way of
59:40
your heart's resistance
59:42
to Jesus
59:43
and the claims
59:44
of His kingship.
59:45
You're still holding back
59:48
from giving your life
59:49
to Him.
59:50
You're still saying,
59:52
well,
59:53
I'd love to do that,
59:54
but there's just one thing
59:55
or this thing or other
59:56
I'm not sure about yet.
59:59
Whatever
1:00:00
is in your resistance
1:00:02
to the kingship of Christ
1:00:05
over your life,
1:00:07
give it to Him.
1:00:08
because not only
1:00:11
is He reigning,
1:00:13
not only is He available,
1:00:16
but as the available
1:00:17
reigning King,
1:00:18
He's calling to you
1:00:19
through the Gospel.
1:00:22
And He's calling to you
1:00:23
through the Gospel
1:00:23
to take Him as He is,
1:00:26
to take Him at His word,
1:00:28
to take Him as your King,
1:00:31
to take Him as your Savior,
1:00:32
to take Him as the one
1:00:33
who will always look after you
1:00:35
on into eternity.
1:00:40
We began by saying
1:00:42
there's so many
1:00:43
that are presently saying,
1:00:45
well, He's not my King.
1:00:48
And I hope there's no one
1:00:50
here tonight
1:00:50
who will leave this building
1:00:53
and be saying that
1:00:54
about Jesus.
1:00:59
No one.
1:01:02
Why would there be?
1:01:05
But rather that you'll be
1:01:07
like the psalmist
1:01:08
in Psalm 105,
1:01:10
that's 145,
1:01:13
in the Scottish Psalter
1:01:15
version of it.
1:01:17
O Lord,
1:01:18
You are
1:01:19
my God
1:01:20
and King.
1:01:22
Thee will I magnify
1:01:23
and bless.
1:01:25
I will Thee bless
1:01:26
and gladly sing
1:01:28
unto Thy holy name
1:01:30
always.
1:01:32
Lord,
1:01:34
You are my God
1:01:36
and King.
1:01:39
May God bless
1:01:40
His word to us.
1:01:43
Lord our God,
1:01:44
we give thanks
1:01:45
that as Your word
1:01:46
reveals
1:01:47
Your kingship to us,
1:01:50
that we are constrained
1:01:51
by Your Spirit
1:01:52
to come to bow
1:01:54
in Your presence.
1:01:55
We thank You
1:01:56
for the beauty
1:01:57
of Your kingship.
1:01:59
We thank You,
1:01:59
Lord,
1:02:00
for the comprehensiveness
1:02:01
of Your kingship,
1:02:03
for the way
1:02:04
that You are reigning
1:02:05
over all things,
1:02:06
and for the way
1:02:08
that the prospect
1:02:09
of Your appearance
1:02:10
fills Your people
1:02:12
with awe
1:02:12
and yet with gladness,
1:02:14
that there will be
1:02:15
a point coming
1:02:16
in the history
1:02:17
of the world
1:02:18
when everything
1:02:19
will be put right
1:02:20
and when the King
1:02:22
himself will show
1:02:23
that He is the King.
1:02:25
O grant, O Lord,
1:02:28
that we yearn
1:02:28
towards that day
1:02:29
with faith,
1:02:31
with trust,
1:02:31
with confidence
1:02:32
in You
1:02:33
as our Savior King.
1:02:35
Be with us now,
1:02:36
we pray,
1:02:36
for Jesus' sake.
1:02:38
Amen.
1:02:41
Let's conclude
1:02:42
by singing now
1:02:43
to God's praise
1:02:44
in Psalm 22,
1:02:46
Psalm 22,
1:02:47
verses 27 to 31.
1:02:50
Significant
1:02:51
at this great psalm
1:02:52
which deals
1:02:52
so much in the first part
1:02:54
of it with sufferings
1:02:55
that are associated
1:02:56
with the Lord,
1:02:58
where the Lord
1:02:58
found Himself,
1:02:59
indeed,
1:03:00
in the words of the psalm
1:03:01
at the beginning,
1:03:02
in terms of His forsakenness.
1:03:05
Yet we come
1:03:06
at the end of this psalm
1:03:07
to see the triumph
1:03:09
of the King,
1:03:11
the triumph of the Lord
1:03:12
over all of creation.
1:03:15
From verse 27,
1:03:17
the whole earth
1:03:18
will remember Him
1:03:19
and turn towards
1:03:20
the Lord their God.
1:03:21
all peoples
1:03:22
will bow down to Him,
1:03:24
the nations
1:03:25
of the world abroad.
1:03:26
On page 27,
1:03:28
verses 27 to 31.
1:03:29
Amen.
1:03:30
Amen.
1:03:32
The whole earth
1:03:37
will remember Him
1:03:42
and turn towards
1:03:47
the Lord their God.
1:03:51
All peoples will bow down
1:03:57
to Him,
1:04:00
the nations of the world abroad.
1:04:08
and over nations
1:04:23
He is King,
1:04:26
the rich of all
1:04:30
the earth will peace
1:04:34
and worship
1:04:37
with an offering.
1:04:42
All those whose destiny
1:04:49
will humbly kneel
1:04:56
before His throne.
1:05:00
They cannot keep
1:05:05
themselves alive
1:05:09
for they depend on Him
1:05:16
alone.
1:05:18
Posterity will serve the Lord.
1:05:26
a generation
1:05:30
still to come
1:05:35
will tell our people
1:05:39
yet on board
1:05:43
the righteous acts
1:05:47
that He has done.
1:05:51
I'll go to the main door
1:05:54
after the benediction.
1:05:58
Lord our God,
1:05:59
we pray that You would
1:06:00
bless us now
1:06:01
as we anticipate
1:06:01
a time of fellowship.
1:06:03
We pray that You would
1:06:04
bless what is prepared
1:06:05
for our bodily needs.
1:06:06
We thank You for
1:06:07
all who have provided
1:06:08
them for us.
1:06:10
We pray for Muriel
1:06:11
as she comes once again
1:06:12
to speak of her work
1:06:14
in Cambodia
1:06:15
and her anticipation
1:06:16
of returning.
1:06:18
Lord, we pray that all
1:06:19
of her preparations
1:06:20
will go smoothly for her.
1:06:22
We pray that You would
1:06:23
continue to watch over her
1:06:25
and protect her
1:06:25
and use her.
1:06:27
And we ask that as we hear
1:06:28
tonight of her work there
1:06:29
that as our prayers
1:06:31
go with her
1:06:32
so also may
1:06:33
our prayers continue
1:06:35
to remember her before You.
1:06:37
And now may the grace
1:06:38
of the Lord Jesus Christ
1:06:39
the love of God the Father
1:06:41
and the communion
1:06:42
of the Holy Spirit
1:06:43
be with you now
1:06:44
and evermore.
1:06:46
Amen.