Introduction
At the end our worship today we are going to be sharing in the Lord’s Supper. It is a time where we can unite together to celebrate the great gift of God through His Son Jesus Christ. Our theme for our message today is: Who is this King? It is a question that a king himself asked. Listen to these words of David from the 24th Psalm:
7 Lift up your heads, you gates! Rise up, ancient doors!
Then the King of glory will come in.
8 Who is this King of glory?
The LORD, strong and mighty, the LORD, mighty in battle.
9 Lift up your heads, you gates! Rise up, ancient doors!
Then the King of glory will come in.
10 Who is He, this King of glory?
The LORD of Hosts, He is the King of glory.
Today I want us to lift up our heads and our hearts so that the King of Glory—Jesus Christ, our Lord may come in. We are going to be looking at a passage of scripture from Paul’s first letter to Timothy, but before we do I want to focus on a powerful image of our King. Listen as I read to you these words from the Gospel writers that portray Jesus as King:
John 18:33-40
33Then Pilate went back into the headquarters, summoned Jesus, and said to Him, “Are You the King of the Jews?” 34Jesus answered, “Are you asking this on your own, or have others told you about Me?” 35“I’m not a Jew, am I?” Pilate replied. “Your own nation and the chief priests handed You over to me. What have You done?” 36“My kingdom is not of this world,” said Jesus. “If My kingdom were of this world, My servants would fight, so that I wouldn’t be handed over to the Jews. As it is, My kingdom does not have its origin here.” 37“You are a king then?” Pilate asked. “You say that I’m a king,” Jesus replied. “I was born for this, and I have come into the world for this: to testify to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to My voice.” 38“What is truth?” said Pilate. After he had said this, he went out to the Jews again and told them, “I find no grounds for charging Him. 39You have a custom that I release one prisoner to you at the Passover. So, do you want me to release to you the King of the Jews?” 40They shouted back, “Not this man, but Barabbas!” Now Barabbas was a revolutionary.
Matthew 27:27-30
27Then the governor’s soldiers took Jesus into headquarters and gathered the whole company around Him. 28They stripped Him and dressed Him in a scarlet robe 29They twisted together a crown of thorns, put it on His head, and placed a reed in His right hand. And they knelt down before Him and mocked Him: “Hail, King of the Jews!” 30Then they spit at Him, took the reed, and kept hitting Him on the head. 31When they had mocked Him, they stripped Him of the robe, put His clothes on Him, and led Him away to crucify Him.
The picture of Jesus as King was anything but glorious at the cross. He was bruised and beaten. There was no golden crown upon His head, instead crown made of thorns was cruelly forced upon Him. Victory seemed the farthest thing from that King, in fact defeat seemed inevitable, as that King died upon a cross between two common criminals.
So, who is this King? How could One who faced such obvious defeat bring overwhelming victory to all who believe? The worship team is going to share with you a song that helps us begin to answer that question.
Song—JESUS, YOU ARE MY KING
Let’s turn now to 1 Timothy 6 and let Paul’s words to his son in the faith can help us continue to try and answer the question: Who is this King?
Text: 1 Timothy 6:13-16
I. Who is this King?
1. He is Alive
Not only is Jesus alive, but He is coming back! Paul challenged Timothy to be obedient until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ. That tells us that Jesus death on the cross wasn’t the “end of the story,” and neither was His return to heaven. As we heard earlier, Jesus told Pilate that His kingdom was not of this world, but that He was in fact a King!
Jesus may have appeared to be a “defeated” King when He died on the cross, but His resurrection, is proof that He is a “victorious” King. One day our victorious King is coming back to claim His followers as His Chosen Bride, and to judge the living and the dead.
Listen to this powerful promise from the book of Revelation:
11Then I saw heaven opened, and there was a white horse! Its rider is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and makes war. 12His eyes were like a fiery flame, and on His head were many crowns. He had a name written that no one knows except Himself. 13He wore a robe stained with blood, and His name is called the Word of God.
14The armies that were in heaven followed Him on white horses, wearing pure white linen. 15From His mouth came a sharp sword, so that with it He might strike the nations. He will shepherd them with an iron scepter. He will also trample the winepress of the fierce anger of God, the Almighty. 16And on His robe and on His thigh He has a name written:
KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS. (Revelation 19:11-16)
Today when we share the Lord’s Supper together, it is not only a remembrance of a King who died for our sins, but also a remembrance of a King who is alive today and who is one day coming again!
The second answer to who is this King? is that…
2. He is Sovereign
Paul identified Jesus Christ as the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings, and the Lord of lords…. We have a hard time understanding the concept of “sovereignty” today. The Greek word that Paul used comes from the same word that is translated as “power” and refers to having the “ability to accomplish a given task.” In this context, it means that Jesus Christ has both absolute “authority” and “ability” as King. There isn’t anything that He is not superior to, and there isn’t anything He cannot do.
Paul revealed God the Father’s exalting of His Son in his letter to the Ephesians:
20 He demonstrated this power in the Messiah by raising Him from the dead and seating Him at His right hand in the heavens—21 far above every ruler and authority, power and dominion, and every title given not only in this age but also in the one to come. (Ephesians 1:20-21)
We are going to talk about the implications of Christ’s sovereignty in just a moment, but first let me share with you a couple more thoughts about Jesus our King.
3. He is Eternal
Paul told Timothy that Jesus Christ was the only One has immortality, dwelling in unapproachable light, whom none of mankind has seen or can see…. In other words, Our King is Eternal! He WAS…IS…and always WILL BE our King! That is why the author Hebrews declares that Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.
Seven hundred years before His birth the Prophet Micah prophesied not only “where” Jesus would be born, but also proclaimed His “eternal” nature:
Bethlehem Ephrathah, you are small among the clans of Judah; One will come from you to be ruler over Israel for Me. His origin is from antiquity, from eternity. (Micah 5:2)
The Psalmist declared the eternal reign of the Lord:
Your throne has been established from the beginning; You are from eternity. (Psalm 93:2)
The promise of eternal life is found in Christ alone. There is no other way but through Jesus Christ—through His death and resurrection we have the hope of eternal life in heaven.
Let me give you one more answer to our question: Who is this King? And then I want to offer some application thoughts for us to consider…
4. He is Worthy of Worship
Who do we honor with our worship? Paul said that the honor and might belonged to our Eternal King. If that is true, then everything we do when we gather together for worship ought to be ABOUT HIM, and FOR HIM! That is a challenging thought, and one that we don’t have time to really explore today, but I’ll ask you, “Has everything we have done today been ABOUT JESUS, and FOR JESUS?” If not, why not?
Let’s tie this all together, and prepare our hearts for the Lord’s Supper by asking ourselves another question…
II. Who is this King to Me?
1. Am I His subject?
Do you have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ? Is He your Lord and Savior? I’m not asking if you are religious…or if you are a member of this Church or any church. I’m asking if you have surrendered your life completely to Jesus Christ and willingly become His subject. Is He your King?
If not, then you need to humble yourself today before the King of Glory and receive His gift of salvation. Jesus died that you might have eternal life, but you can’t receive that gift without first acknowledging your own sinfulness, and inability to get to heaven on your own merit.
Secondly, you must believe that Jesus Christ died and rose again to conquer sin and death and offer you the forgiveness of your sins. And finally, scripture says that you must be willing to confess with your mouth that Jesus is the Lord!
If you haven’t made the decision, then today is your day! The Lord’s Supper only has meaning for those who are subjects of the King, and so before we share in this special remembrance, you have the opportunity to bow down and receive Christ as your Savior.
2. Am I subjecting myself to Him daily?
Salvation comes to all who call upon the name of the Lord, but that is only the beginning of our spiritual life. Because Jesus is our King, we must willingly submit ourselves to Him on a daily basis. That is the practical application of the Sovereignty of Christ. Asking Jesus into your heart is more than a “get out of jail free” card, it is a commitment to live in obedience to His commands every day. That is why Paul said to Timothy:
I charge you to keep the commandment without spot or blame until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ….
Paul was simply restating the words of Jesus Himself who said:
If you love Me, you will keep my commandments. (John 14:15)
Do you love your King? Are you keeping His commandments? When Paul wrote to the Church at Corinth concerning the Lord’s Supper he said that before eating and drinking each person should “examine” themselves. For what? To see if they are subjecting themselves daily to the King of kings.
What does that mean for you and me today? It means that if there is any unconfessed sin in our lives, any attitude or action that has not be surrendered to our Sovereign Lord, then we are not worthy to share in His supper.
So what should we do? We need to each bow our hearts before the King of Glory and ask for His forgiveness. That is the only way we can come to this table and truly honor Jesus Christ, the King of kings, and Lord of lords.
