KING OF KINGS

Ladies and Gentlemen, Paul told Timothy that when Jesus comes in His own time, He would show who is the blessed and only Potentate, King of Kings and Lord of Lords; who only hath immortality, dwelling in light unapproachable; whom no man hath seen or can see: to whom be honor and power eternal. Amen Jesus is King! He is King in the Cradle.

JESUS IS KING IN THE CRADLE

Luke records, “She brought forth her firstborn Son and wrapped Him in swaddling clothes and laid Him in a manger because there was no room for them in the inn.” Matthew tells us concerning the infant Jesus, “Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise-men from the east came to Jerusalem saying, Where is He that is born King of the Jews? For we saw His star in the east, and are come to worship Him.” Jesus was King in the Cradle.

When they found the young Child they gave unto Him gold, frankincense and myrrh. They gave gold because God the Father knew that the Holy family would need gold to finance a hurried trip to Egypt, to flee the wrath of Herod. Jesus is the Head of the body the Church today, and His Church body needs gold just as much as His physical body needed it while He was on earth.

The first question that was asked in the first book of the Old Testament concerning the first Adam, was when God said, “Adam, where art thou?” The first question that was asked about the second Adam in the first book of the New Testament was, “Where is He?”

One prominent interviewer on television was asked, “What would you ask God if you could ask Him one question?” He said, “I would ask Him if He had a Son.” God has already answered that question. God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believeth on Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

One of the great Hollywood legends was asked what he thought God would say to him when he died. He said, “I hope He or she, whichever He is, will be merciful to me.” Many people seem confused at this point. They wonder, “Is God really a He or might He be a she?” People have to be awful dumb to think of such a possibility that God is a she. Just think about it. Mary the mother of Jesus was a she. If God is a she that means that two she’s produced a child.

The first time Jesus came there was very little joy, except for a few shepherds, wise-men, Mary, Joseph, Anna, Simeon, Zacharias and Elisabeth. For all else it was a time of great foreboding. Herod was troubled and all Jerusalem with him. Herod was all shook-up because of the birth of Jesus. Jerusalem was all shook-up because of what it meant politically. No telling what kinds of trouble King Herod might cause.

Now think of that. Jesus had not preached a single sermon and the population was all shook-up. Jesus had not worked a single miracle and they were all shook-up. He had not healed a single sick person or raised the dead, and yet they were all shook-up.

This troubled feeling is an indication of what the majority of the world will feel when the Lord comes again. Behold, He comes with the clouds and every eye shall see Him, Yea, and they that pierced Him and all the tribes of the earth will mourn over Him.

If they were troubled over Him as a baby before He ever preached a sermon or worked a miracle, what will it be like when He comes again in all His glory? In the Garden of Gethsemane when He identified Himself as Jesus of Nazareth they fell backwards. What will it be like when these wretches are dragged out of their graves to stand before the King in His glory?

One more thought about the King in the Cradle. The scribes did not quote all the prophecy of Micah to King Herod. They said He would be born in Bethlehem of Judea, for thus it is written through the prophet, “And thou Bethlehem land of Judah art in no wise least among the princes of Judah for out of thee shall come forth a governor who shall be shepherd of My people Israel.” The scribes were too cagey to tell the rest of it. The next statement of the prophecy says, “…whose going forth shall be from everlasting to everlasting.” If they had indicated that the baby Jesus was the eternal creator from everlasting to everlasting, they knew Herod well enough to know they might lose their heads. So they told part of the prediction, but not all.

In that case I can’t say that I blame them, but that device of leaving off part of God’s Word and telling people a part of the message is still being practiced even to this day. Thousands are told to believe and ask Jesus to come into their hearts while nothing is said about repentance or obedience in the ordinance of immersion.

It has been almost two thousand years since the birth of Jesus. We can still say the one who is from Everlasting to Everlasting was the King in the Cradle. Not only was Jesus King in the Cradle, but He is also King on the Cross.

JESUS IS KING ON THE CROSS

When Pilate turned Jesus over to his soldiers they also were interested in His Kingship. They gathered unto Him the whole band and stripped Him. They put on Him a scarlet robe. They platted a crown of thorns and put it upon His head. They stuck a reed in His right hand. They kneeled down before Him and mocked Him saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” Then to add insult to injury they spat upon Him. Then one by one every member of this detail of soldiers slugged the Lord.

The mockery of Jesus still goes on. The spit, the mockery, buffeting, it is all there. Think of the person who walks down the aisle of a church and confesses that Jesus is the Christ and then is obedient in the waters of baptism and then misses the Lord’s Supper for a ballgame or rearranges the Lord’s Supper to a more convenient day and hour to accommodate worldly events, and then sings, “Jesus is all the world to me”; what a mockery that is. Sooner or later they will spit in the Savior’s face for the last time. The mockery still goes on. Think of the mockery of those who sing, “I love to tell the story”, and then refuse to tell the terms Jesus and His Apostles gave for acceptance of the gospel. Jesus was King on the Cross.

Everybody knew that Jesus was King on the Cross because that was what the sign on the cross said, “This is Jesus the King of the Jews.” The sign not only said it, but it was written in three languages. It was written in Hebrew, and in Latin, and in Greek. There would be no excuse for anyone not knowing that Jesus was King on the Cross. That sign today has been written in hundreds of other languages and dialects. The whole world knows that Jesus is King on the Cross.

The Apostle Paul gives us a definition of the sign that tells us exactly why Jesus was King on the Cross when he said, “Christ died for our sins.” That is the sign that God could have put on the cross. All of our sins were written on the cross. Because of modern-day computers we can understand how that could be. If a man-made computer can have a whole encyclopedia on a small disc, how much could God put on His celestial computer? Paul says in Colossians that when we were buried with Him in baptism, he blotted out the bond written in ordinances that was written against us, He took it out of the way nailing it to His cross.

My sins were all listed on the cross and when I obeyed the Lord by repentance and then was buried with Him in baptism, God touched the delete button on His celestial computer and all my sins were gone. At the end of a faithful life they will not be dredged up again to confront me. Jesus was King in the Cradle and Jesus is the King on the Cross. Jesus is also King of the Church.

JESUS IS KING OF THE CHURCH

The Church is the Kingdom of God on earth. Paul tells us in Colossians that we have been translated out of the darkness of this world into the Kingdom of the Son of His love. Then in the book of Acts Paul preached at Thessalonica, and the charge was made that these that have turned the world upside-down have come hither also and they say there is another King, One Jesus. Jesus is the King of the Church. He is King of the Church not only in the corporate sense, but individually as well. John records in that short chapter in Revelation fifteen that Jesus is King of the saints.

The Church is not a democracy in matters where the King has spoken. One man pointed out that a certain Church he knew gave people a choice in the matter of the mode of baptism. Jesus is King and the King has already given His edict. When He was baptized went up straightway from the water, and the purpose is revealed in Acts 2:38, “Repent and be immersed every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”

Some preachers and churches have cancelled out hell, but hell still burns as hot as ever, that is, if you can believe what the Lord said when He says to the goats on Judgment Day, “Depart from. Me ye cursed into the eternal fire prepared for the Devil and His angels.” The King has spoken.

When Jesus is recognized as the King of the Church and the King of the individual Christian, the charge will again be made, “These that have turned the world upside-down have come hither also. Jesus is King in the Cradle, Jesus is King on the Cross, Jesus is King of the Church and Jesus is also King in His Coming Again.

KING IN HIS COMING AGAIN

John said that he saw the Heaven opened and behold a white horse and He that sat thereon is called faithful and true. John tells us further that He hath on His garment; and on His thigh His name written, King of Kings and, Lord of Lords. Jesus will be King in His Coming Again.

At the Judgment according to Matthew His judgment will be final. There will be no appeal to a higher court. Sometimes in this life if a judge makes an unpopular verdict it may be overturned or the judge may cave in to popular opinion.

Matthew 5:22, “And whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of the hell of fire.” Matthew 5:29, “And if thy right eye cause thee to stumble pluck it out and cast it from thee; for it is profitable that one of thy members should perish and not thy whole body be cast into hell.” Matthew 10:28, “And be not afraid of them that kill the body but are not able to kill the soul but fear Him who is able to cast both soul and body into hell.” Matthew 18, “It is better for thee to enter into life maimed or halt, than to have two hands or two feet to be cast into the eternal fire.” Matthew 8:12, “But the sons of the kingdom shall be cast forth into the outer darkness: there shall be the weeping and the gnashing of teeth.” Matthew 13:41, 42, “The Son of Man shall send forth His angels and they shall gather out of His kingdom all things that cause stumbling and them that do iniquity and shall cast them into the furnace of fire: there shall be the weeping and the gnashing of teeth.” Luke 16: 22-24, 28, “And the rich man died and was buried. And in Hades he lifted up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me and send Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue; for I am in anguish in this flame. I have five brothers lest they come to this place of torment.” Jude 12, 13, “These are they who are hidden rocks in your love feasts when they feast with you, shepherds that without fear feed themselves; wandering stars, for whom the blackness of darkness hath been reserved forever.” Revelation 14:9-11, “If any man worships the beast and his image, and receives a mark on his forehead, or upon his hand, he also shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is prepared unmixed in the cup of His anger; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb; and the smoke of their torment goes upward forever and ever; and they have no rest day and night.” Revelation 20:14, “And the devil that deceived them, was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where are also the beast and the false prophet; and they shall be tormented day and night forever and ever.” Revelation 21:8, “But for the fearful and unbelieving and abominable, and murderers, and fornicators and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, their part shall be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone; which is the second death.” The King has spoken and there is no appeal of His decision.

The King also has something to say about Heaven. John 14, “Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so I would have told you; I go to prepare a place for you; and if I go and prepare a place for you, I come again, and will receive you unto myself that where I am there ye shall be also.” John 11:25-26, “I am the resurrection and the life: he that believes on Me, though he die; yet shall he live; and whosoever believeth on Me shall never die.” Second Corinthians 5:8, “We are of good courage I say, and are willing to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.” In Philippians 1:23, “But I am in a strait betwixt the two, having a desire to depart and be with Christ; for it very far better: yet to abide in the flesh is more needful for your sake.” Revelation 2:7, “He that overcomes I will give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the Paradise of God.” Revelation 2:10, “Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee the crown of life.” Revelation 3: 5, “He that overcomes shall be arrayed in white garments; and I will in no wise blot his name out of the book of life, and I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels.” Revelation 3:21, “He that overcomes, I will give to him to sit down with Me in My throne, as I also overcame, and sat down with My Father in His throne.” Revelation 22:3, 5, “And there shall be no curse anymore: and the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be therein: and His servants shall serve Him; And there shall be night no more; and they have no need of lamp, neither light of sun; for the Lord God gives them light: and they shall reign forever and ever.”

These are some of the promises about the redeemed given by the Lord and His Apostles concerning eternity. And remember it is the King who will say on the Judgment Day, “And these shall go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.” Jesus was King in the Cradle, Jesus is King on the Cross, Jesus is King in the Church and Jesus is King in His Coming Again. Jesus is King of Kings and Lord of Lords!