For Jesus, and I have set my king upon my holy hill of Zion.
For the time that is ours to share together today, I want to talk from the subject: "And He Shall Reign."
There's really no break between one season of celebration and another, so it seems. We don't have any time for respite, no time to gather yourself, to regroup. We move directly from the celebration of Thanksgiving to the commemoration of this next holy season called Advent.
Today, we begin the season of Advent. That season, by its Latin definition, means "to come." That Latin word meaning "to come" literally helps us to understand that as we move from Thanksgiving to this season that gets us ready for Christmas, we have the opportunity, even the responsibility, to refocus our attention on the man named Jesus.
No matter what the hustle and bustle may be around us, no matter what the storm of shopping may entail, it is necessary for us to ensure that in this season we don't forget the Savior. It is our responsibility to remember that He makes Himself available to us. He comes to us just when we need Him most to do for us what we could never do for ourselves.
This season of Advent reminds us that the Lord Jesus broke through the mess of our world to ensure that He could gain both our attention and allegiance so that He might secure our salvation. And I don't know how you feel about it, but I'm grateful for the man named Jesus who has secured my salvation.
He gained my allegiance and attention. This man named Jesus has done more for me, just by the grace of the Lord Jesus, by saving me, than I could have ever done with all the riches of the world. He's done more for me by saving me than I could have done had I had access to every high-powered bigwig in the world.
I've got access to one who's got more power than anyone else in this world. And because of that, I celebrate this season of Advent. For I realize that the Lord Jesus has come to me and to you and to us in ways that are powerful and profound.
So we celebrate this season of Advent. As we celebrate, church, all around the world, there are men and women who are grateful for this season. Men and women all around the world who are speaking well of this Jesus of ours, who makes Himself available to us, who comes to us in our weakest moments, in our moments of vulnerability, in our moments of need, in our moments of crisis, in our moments of triumph, and in our moments of tragedy.
He comes to us and says, "I am here to supply all your needs." This Jesus of ours comes to us, and because of that entry into the world, because He makes Himself available, because He punctuates the darkness of our world with the light of His salvation, we come to celebrate during this season called Advent.
All around the world, there are persons preaching about this man named Jesus today. There are persons who are lifting up their voices in celebration, in honor, in praise to the man named Jesus. As a matter of fact, if you were to go around this country, go around this world, and hear in churches the messages that are being brought about Jesus, you would hear many messages from the Gospels.
As a matter of fact, persons have opened up the Gospels during this season, over these next several weeks, to show us what the Lord our God did by bringing Jesus into the world. Sermons out of Matthew chapter 1 will be all over this world today. Persons will be preaching about that genealogy of Jesus that's listed in Matthew chapter 1.
If not for Matthew chapter 1, persons are looking at Luke chapter 1, where the Lord gives to us enunciation proclamations that help us to know that Jesus is punctuating our world with the light of Jesus Christ. He's bringing into the world first this forerunner by the name of John, and then following John's announcement of Jesus, here will come Jesus into the world to make sure that everybody knows that the Lord our God is interested in our salvation.
And here around the world, there are persons teaching and preaching about the enunciation proclamations of Luke chapter 1. If not in Matthew 1, if not in Luke 1, some persons are preaching today from John chapter 1. For in John chapter 1, we get the prologue of John's theological and Christological treatise of this man named Jesus.
Hear what John has to say, for he begins his prologue by going all the way back to the beginning. He says, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." As a matter of fact, when he talks about this man named Jesus, who is the Word, he says that the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.
It's a beautiful thing to hear about Jesus when you come into the sanctuary of the Lord. It's a wonderful thing to hear His name reverberating and resounding through the sanctuary. And all throughout this season, over these four weeks of Advent, and even on that fifth week, which is Christmas Day itself, we will celebrate the Christ, the one who has made Himself available to us, the one who comes to us in so many ways to show us how much we really mean to Him.
There are persons preaching out of Matthew, Luke, and John. There are persons preaching out of the epistles talking about the Lord Jesus today. But today, your preacher decided not to go to Matthew, Mark, Luke, or John. He's not in any of the epistles talking about Jesus Christ. He decided to take you to the book of Psalms.
What in the world is that about? In the book of Psalms, he wants to begin the Advent season. He wants to lift up the name of Jesus from the Psalms. You don't see the word Jesus in Psalm 2. You don't hear anything about the old dream that comes to Mary, no dream that comes to Elizabeth, no dream that comes to Joseph. You don't hear any of those kinds of stories in Psalm 2.
No, you don't hear that. But if you grew up the way I did, coming to vacation Bible school and Sunday school, coming to these meetings in church called BTU, you heard something like this: that in the Old Testament, Jesus is concealed. But in the New Testament, Jesus is revealed.
And we understand that Jesus is from Genesis to Revelation, that God didn't start talking about Jesus when He opened up Matthew chapter 1, but God was talking about Jesus from the beginning of the written word, even to the end of the written word. And even in Psalm 2, we can find out some information about the one who comes to us to make our world a whole better place.
Is there anybody in this place grateful today for the presence of the Lord Jesus in your life? I know I am. Psalm 2 gives to us the reflection of what it means to have the Son come into our lives and to make His presence known to us as He sits as King of all the world.
That's what Psalm 2 reflects on. It's the reflection of the Son who comes into the world and takes His place, occupies His space on the throne. I love this. It's an offshoot. It's a continuation of Psalm number 1.
Psalm number 1, if you'll remember, is the contrast between the godly and the ungodly individual. It's the contrast between the righteous and the unrighteous. It's the contrast between the holy and the unholy.
"Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful; but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in his law doth he meditate day and night. And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither, and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper. The ungodly are not so, but like the chaff which the wind driveth away. Therefore, the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous. For the Lord knoweth the way of the righteous, but the way of the ungodly shall perish."
Do you see the contrast between the wicked and the righteous? Do you see the contrast between the godly and the ungodly? That's what happens in Psalm 1.
To expand it in Psalm 2, the psalmist moves from an individual perspective in Psalm 1 to a collective perspective in Psalm 2. He says that there's a group, a cadre, a collection of wicked folk who are conspiring against the will and ways of God, and God ain't happy.
That's what he says. As a matter of fact, this is how he opens up Psalm 2 in the King James Version: "Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing?" That word "heathen" in the Hebrew is "goyim." That word "heathen" in Hebrew literally means those who are anti the will of God, those who are conspiring to tear down the plan and purposes of God in the world.
When you look at Psalm 2, verses 1 and 2, you find out that the people who are conspiring against the will of God are the ones who are the heathen about whom the psalmist is speaking. It's a collective group of judges and kings who have set themselves up in the earth to be in power and prominence and have prestige and acclaim among the people, but they're only interested in their own progress.
Let me get that to you again. Brother Hallow says, "Rewind, press play." Okay, he says in the psalm that if you understand what's going on with the judges and the kings of the world, you're going to be in power and prominence in Psalm 2. These are wicked individuals who have set themselves up with power, prominence, and prestige, but they are only interested in their own progress.
And they're not interested in the progress of what the New Testament calls the least of these. And as a consequence, they are conspiring, so says Scripture, against God and His anointed. Don't miss that. They're conspiring against God and His anointed.
In the midst of this conspiracy, the Bible says in verse 4 of Psalm 2 that God laughs at them. Because they think that they have set themselves up in positions of prominence and prestige and power from which they can never be taken, that they are only interested in their own progress.
Consequently, the Bible says that God laughs at them because they think they're going to be in that position always. They think they're going to maintain that prominence and prestige always. They think they'll be in power always.
He says the kings of the earth set themselves up. And whenever they're not concerned about folk who are the least, the last, the lost, and the left out, they are not doing the will of God. And God says that's temporary.
He says that is temporary. That shall not last always. Now, brothers and sisters, we don't have to stay in the pages of antiquity to know that this is still a reality among those of us in our contemporary society, do we?
For each of us understands that not only are there kings and people in prominence and power and positions of authority that seem to only be interested in their own progress in the Bible, but we see it around our world right now, don't we?
That's why nations are in upheaval right now. That's why people in Libya, and Egypt, and Sweden, and even these old United States of America are in upheaval right now because people in position, and prominence, and power think that they can do whatever they want to and not be concerned about the least.
That's why you got a super committee that haven't done a doggone thing because they think that they can have their way in the midst of everybody else to the detriment of the least of these.
Says God laughs at them. You think you get in the way, but God says, "I get the last word. I've got the last laugh. I'm gonna take care of this situation in my time."
Is there anybody in this building today who's grateful that God allows the wicked to reign for a little while, but He comes around after a while and He will handle it in His time? Glory to God! Glory to God!
And so He says, "I got to deal with this. I got to deal with this." He says, "I know I got kings all around the world who think that they are running things themselves, who think that they have all the power themselves. But when He gets to verse 6, God says, 'I have set my king upon my holy hill.'"
I like that. He's about to flip the script now. He's about to change some things around. Now He's about to shift the power structure. Now He says, "I'm going to set my king upon my holy hill."
He says, "I got one who's gonna reign, and when he reigns, nobody can say anything about it. When he reigns, no one can do anything about it. When he reigns, no one can take him from his place. When he reigns, no one can dethrone him. He shall be my king upon my hill, and he shall reign."
Here it is first with me, with authority. Let the whole church say authority. He's going to reign with authority.
Please look again at the words of verse 6. But if you look closely at the words of verse 6, you will see some personal pronouns that make it clear that the king who's about to reign is going to reign with authority.
Look, God says, "I have set my king upon my holy hill." Is that in your Bible? I know it's there. It's right there in verse 6 of Psalm 2. He says, "I have set my king upon my holy hill."
God speaks with authority, and as God speaks with authority, He says He's going to position this person in a place of authority, and He will have the authority to do as I command.
As a matter of fact, He will represent me on my holy hill, and because I have authority, so too will He have authority. He's going to have the power, the authority, the privilege to do as He sees fit.
I love this because when God speaks to this king that He's setting in authority, He says in verse 7, the king does that, "I will declare the decree. The Lord has said unto me, 'Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee.'"
He says, "Now don't you think that the king I'm setting is just gonna be some ordinary individual? The king I'm setting is not just gonna be some random person chosen out of a lottery. No, the king I'm setting shall be my begotten Son. He's going to be my Son sitting on my throne, on my holy hill."
I love this, church, because when He talks about His Son, we all know from our New Testament understandings that there's something special about the Son. Jesus calls Himself the Son, and when He is identified by others, they call Him Son.
As a matter of fact, Peter, when he talks about Jesus in Matthew chapter 16, the Bible says that Jesus has His disciples all around, and He asks them in a place called Bethsaida, "Whom do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?"
And they said, "Some say you're Jeremiah, some say you're John the Baptist, some say you're Elijah, or one of the prophets." And Jesus said, "Well, since they don't know who I am, let me turn this thing around on you. Who do you say that I am?"
And Peter is the only one in Matthew 16 who responds. And listen to what Peter says. He says, "Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God."
You're not just Jeremiah. You're not just Elijah. You're not just one of the prophets. You're not just a nice teacher. You're not just a nice guy. You're not just an ordinary old fella. You're the Son of the living God.
Oh, but that's not it, because not only does Peter speak well about Him, but if you listen to what Jesus says about Himself, listen to what Jesus says in John chapter 3, verse 16. It's gonna sound a whole lot like Psalm 2, verse 7.
He says that "For God so loved the world," y'all did learn this back in the day, didn't you? "That He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life."
Is there anybody in here grateful that God gave to us the Son to give to us salvation? I hear you. You may not want to take Peter's words. You may not want to take Jesus' words, but will you take God's word for it?
If you flip your Bible to Matthew chapter 1, you'll find out in Matthew chapter 2, rather, that when Jesus gets ready to begin His work, when He gets ready to get baptized by John the Baptist, the Bible says that the heavens opened up.
And when the heavens opened up, the Spirit of God descended on Jesus like a dove. And when the Spirit descended on Jesus like a dove, the Bible says that heaven started speaking, and God spoke out of heaven and said, "This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased."
And if you didn't hear it at the baptism, you sure should have heard it at the transfiguration, right? The transfiguration on that mountaintop experience. The Bible says that Jesus took Peter, James, and John on that mountain, and on that mountain appeared Elijah and Moses with Jesus.
And Jesus was transfigured before their very eyes. His clothes shined more whiter than any driven stone could ever be. And the Bible says that then God spoke out of heaven again and said, "I'm told you before, but let me tell you again, this is my beloved Son in whom I'm well pleased. Listen to Him."
And maybe there's somebody in this place today who said, "I came to this house today because I know that the Son is still speaking. I know He has something to say about my situation, and I want to hear what the Son has to say so my life can be better."
And I'm grateful that He still reigns with authority so that when He speaks, things will change. I need two or three people in here who know that His words have authority, who know that His position proclaims authority.
I need somebody in here who knows that when He opens up His mouth, stuff will turn around, situations will change, your life will be better, for He has authority. He has authority.
And the text teaches us that He has authority, watch this, in all of geography. Yeah, there is no space or spot where your King does not have authority. There's no plot of ground, no place in the world where the King does not have authority.
It's right there in Psalm 2. Well, the Bible says in Psalm 2, verse 8, "Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession."
If you check your history of kings in all of the world, you'll find out that no king has ever had dominion to the uttermost parts of the earth. No kingdom has ever stretched out to the uttermost parts of the earth.
You may have your region where you serve as king. You may have your area where you serve as king. You may have your little space where you serve as king. But no other king in all of human history has had his kingdom to stretch and span to the uttermost parts of the earth.
But when Jesus got ready to commission His disciples, He said, "Listen here, boys, I want you to know, Matthew chapter 28, that all power has been given unto me in both heaven and earth. So go into all the world and make disciples of every nation."
And then 50 days later on Pentecost day, on Pentecost Sunday, the Lord Jesus spoke to a band of disciples who listened to Him. And when He spoke to them, He said this: "Listen, I'm going to give you power after the Holy Ghost has come upon you. And then I want you to be my witnesses. Now don't just stop in Jerusalem. That's too easy. Go to Judea and Samaria and to the uttermost part of the earth."
When you say my name in the uttermost parts of the earth, everybody will know that I've got authority everywhere my name is spoken. Say my name, say my name. I've got authority in there.
There is no other name given among men whereby we must be saved but the name of Jesus. I wish I had two or three people in here who didn't mind saying a name that's got authority, saying a name that's got power, saying a name that has privilege. Say His name, Jesus.
With authority. Okay, now push it just a bit farther. Not only shall He reign with authority, church, He shall reign with majesty. I remember. He shall reign with majesty.
Still in the text, will you please return to verse 6? Because verse 6 of Psalm 2 reads like this: "I have set my king upon my holy hill in Zion." Rewind and press play.
The text says, "I have set my king," watch this, "upon my holy hill in Zion." Set my king upon my holy hill in Zion. You don't have to say that. You do know that every king needs a throne.
If you're sure enough going to be king, you need a place at which you are situated, from which you operate, and send out your decrees and commands. If you're going to be king, folk need to know where the king resides, from which place the king operates.
And God says, "I'm going to make sure that my king sits on my throne on my holy hill in Zion." Now, if you were here last Sunday, you remember the importance of Zion because Zion, as they walked up Mount Zion to the holy city of God, they recognized and realized that that was where they understood God's presence to be most profoundly experienced.
That if we couldn't meet God anywhere else, we can meet Him up on Mount Zion. That's why we used to sing the song, "We're marching to Zion, beautiful, beautiful Zion. We're marching up with design, the beautiful city of God," because we understood that that's where we could experience the power, the presence, the majesty of God.
The Bible says He's clothed in majesty, that this God of ours, who is the King of glory, sits on the throne in Zion. God said, "I'm gonna position Him in the midst of the other kings."
Conspiracy comes a coronation on Mount Zion, and the Lord operates from that position of authority with majesty. Majesty, so much majesty.
And when you get to the end of Psalm 2, the psalmist teaches you how you're supposed to come before this King. The psalmist teaches you how you're supposed to come before this King. He says, first of all, you ought to serve the Lord with fear and trembling.
And the word "fear" in the Hebrew also means not only terror but it also means awe and reverence. That's the word "fear" in that Hebrew text. And not only is that the term that he's used in that verse, but in the next verse, it says, "Kiss the Son."
And you must understand this importance on the Son. You saw it in verse 7. You see it again in verse 10 because the importance of the Son is to show you the kinship, the relationship between God and man.
God and the seated King. And if you flip over to the New Testament book of Hebrews chapter 1, verse 5, you will find out that there's superiority with the King who is seated on the throne in Zion.
The Bible quotes Psalm 2 in Hebrews chapter 1 when the Hebrew writer compares Christ and the angels. He says that Christ is superior to every angel because He is seated on the throne of God in His holy hill in Zion.
That there is a superiority of this King on the throne to every other king and every other created being anywhere in the universe. He literally says that this is not just some regular old king, but He is King.
Will you help me preach? King of kings and Lord. You want to know why we worship Him the way we do? It's because we realize He sits head and shoulders above every other coronated king anywhere on this planet.
I need two or three folk who understand He's clothed with majesty, with regal honor, and you understand He sits above every other thing else.
Here it is. He says He's King, and so you serve the Lord with fear and trembling, and you ought to kiss the Son. That word "serve" and that word "kiss" literally come from the same derivation.
It literally means to worship. That when we serve, the same word in Psalm 100, "Serve the Lord with gladness," worship the Lord with gladness, it's the same word there.
And then the word "kiss" comes from the Hebrew word from which we find the term "worship" that literally means to kiss the face of God. That when we worship, our intent ought to be to kiss the face of God, to become so intimately acquainted with God that we shower Him with love and adoration.
That we don't just go through the motions, perfunctory movements of worship, but when we come to worship, our thoughts should be so focused on Jesus that we just try to love on Him with everything that we have.
This "kiss the Son" literally means to pay homage to the one who sits on the throne. It means to bow down to the one who is in total control. It means to lay prostrate and show that you understand He's above all and you are created for His service and for His glory.
It literally means that you understand He's Creator and you're the created one, and you know your place before Him. And because I know my place before Him, I'm not gonna act like I'm all that in a bag of chips in worship.
I'll bow down before Him. I'll pay homage to Him. I'll blow kisses to Him because I understand who He is and what He's done for me.
And I wonder if I got two or three worshipers in this building on a Sunday afternoon who will help me through this second twenty-two to help somebody on your row understand that when you come to church, you come for one reason and one reason only.
I didn't come to see you. I didn't come to be impressed by you. I didn't come to see what you got on. I didn't come to trade business cards. I didn't come to talk about what we gonna do when we get out of church.
I didn't come for any other reason but to kiss His face. I came to worship Him. I came to adore Him. I came to magnify Him.
Can I get a worshiper in this place who will adore Him with everything within him? Can I get somebody?
Anybody come to worship God on a Sunday? Anybody come to say, "God, I love You so much"?
Anybody say, "God, I appreciate You more than I appreciate my next breath"? I love You, Jesus. I worship and adore You. Just want to tell You I love You, King.
I come to bow down before Him. So excuse me if I don't want to talk to you right now, but this ain't about you right now.
Excuse me if I don't return that note just passed me. Forgive me if I don't respond to that text right now. Check me out to the benediction, but right now I come to bow down to the one who is seated on the throne, His holy throne in Zion, and He reigns with majesty.
He reigns with authority. May I conclude this message when I tell you He reigns with eternality.
Oh, oh mercy, big old three-dollar word. It just means that His kingdom shall never come to an end. That, church, that ought to bless you because verse 2 says that the kings of the earth have set themselves.
Well, the Bible says in verse 6 that God has set this King. Okay, you missed it. Rewind, let's play.
God says, "I have set my King on my holy hill." Is that in your Bible? I promise you it's right there in verse 6. He says, "I have set my King on my holy hill."
Set, set. I placed Him there. I positioned Him there. I enthroned Him there. And anybody that I place, position, and enthrone cannot be moved by anybody else.
And I put Him there. He cannot, cannot, cannot be moved. That word "placed" there, that word "set" from the Hebrew literally means to consecrate, to anoint, to commit.
But one word that I love for it so much is "libation." It means to pour out, to pour out. It means to pour out until all has been poured.
It means to pour out till everything has been emptied. God says, "I have poured out this King and set Him in place, and He cannot be returned to His original place because I have put Him in the place where I want Him."
God says, "When I place you, it doesn't matter how much folk want you to go back to the place where I once had you. When I place you there, no one can undo what I have done."
Is there anybody in this building on a Sunday afternoon who is grateful that when God sets you up, nobody can turn around what God has set in order?
Is there anybody in the building today who can testify that He shall never be dethroned? He shall never be taken out of place. He shall never be removed.
I need two or three folk in the building today who are grateful that He shall reign. He reigns with majesty forever. He reigns with authority forever.
He reigns today because I realized that the place He now occupies, He will forever occupy. The place He occupies in my heart, He will forever occupy in my heart.
I'm grateful that no king can take Him down. No person can dethrone Him. No person can overthrow Him. He shall reign forever.
I'm done. But I don't know how you feel about it. But I so do love Jesus. I love His name. I love the mention of His name.
I love the fact that His name has authority. It has majesty. It has eternality. And somebody ought to know He gave you the victory.
So since you got the victory, the Bible says you ought to trust in the King forever.
Anybody in here trust in Him? Anybody believe He'll make a way?
Anybody? Anybody believe He'll open doors?
Anybody believe He will provide? I need somebody trusting Him to give Him glory on a Sunday afternoon.
Let all the people bless His name. Come on and kiss His face. He shall reign forever and ever.
Amen. Amen. What a mighty God we serve. And how we bless Him this Sunday afternoon.
If you're able to stand and you're not yet standing, Danny, will you please stand all over the church? If you're able to stand.
If I had time, I'd talk a little bit more about whatever God sets up, ain't no demon in hell tearing up.
You do know that's just not about the King. You do know you got access to that same privilege. Whatever God sets up, the devil in hell can't tear up.
I hear what you're saying, and I thank God for this message about the King, who is the King of glory, the Lord strong and mighty.
Who is the King of glory? The Lord mighty in battle. I don't care what you're dealing with today. You better lift up your head and be ye lifted up, ye everlasting doors.
And when you lift up your head, you'll see the King of glory coming in to transform your life, make it better than it could have been had you not given place to the King.
Some person in this building today says, "Pastor, I need that King on the throne in my life. I need Him on my personal holy hill of Zion. And today I want to put my trust in Him."
Should we go all the way to the end of Psalm 2? It says that blessed is every person who puts their trust in Him.
Somebody needs to put your trust in Him today. I know that circumstances aren't always pleasing, and circumstances aren't always favorable.
But in the midst of unfavorable circumstances comes a God who still grants favor.
Do you know that God can grant favor? A pastor in the Baptist church couldn't close a sermon without saying, "Storms may rise, winds may blow, but if you put your trust in Him, the Bible says that they that trust in the Lord shall be as Mount Zion, which cannot be moved."
You might bend, but you won't break because God sustains you, holds you, keeps you in the hollow of His hand.
I need somebody in this place today to trust in the Lord. I need somebody in this place today in this King of Glory, this King of Zion, this King whose domain stretches to the uttermost parts of the earth.
If you have any doubts...
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on Nov 26, 2024
