Crown Him with Many Crowns
--John 18:33-38
“Happy New Year!” Before you say, “That’s a little premature,” let me explain. Next Sunday is the first Sunday in Advent, the beginning of the Church or Liturgical Year. Today is the last Sunday of the current Church Year, “Christ the King Sunday.”
In the Roman Catholic Church, “The Feast of Christ the King,” originated with a Papal encyclical issued by Pope Pius XI on 11 December 1925. Today it is observed by many Protestant Churches including United Methodists. Pius XI was concerned that more and more people were turning away from the rule of Christ in their lives due to the advancement of communism and the embracement of secular humanism as their worldview.
More and more individuals, societies, and governments were looking at the world with the attitude that there was no place for the supernatural or spiritual in guiding and directing human decisions or in determining moral values. Secular humanists make personal decisions and determine moral values solely upon the basis of human understanding, reason, and personal feelings, with no regard for God’s authority in their lives.
Secular humanism rejects the Biblical promise of life after death and calls everyone to “find the good life in the here and now.” Secular humanism leads to sexual promiscuity, pornography, homosexuality as an alternative life style, and abortion on demand all under the umbrella of “human rights.” Secular humanism is hostile to our Judeo-Christian faith and standards of Biblical morality. Concerned about this rise in moral and spiritual decay, Pope Pius XI called Catholics to crown Jesus Christ the rightful Lord and King of their lives. Before we enter Advent this is the same invitation I extend to each one of us as well.
Historically a Kingdom is a state or nation whose supreme ruler or head of state is a king or queen. The monarch inherits his or her position and is the supreme ruler for life. Only One Person in the Universe has the right to be our Supreme Ruler and guide our personal decisions and moral conduct. That Person is God the Son, our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, The Messiah. Let us “Crown Him King of Kings and Lord of Lords with many crowns.”
In our text Pilate asks Jesus, “Are you the King of the Jews?” Jesus declares, “My Kingdom is not from this world. If My kingdom were from this world, my followers would be fighting to keep me from being handed over to the Jews. But as it is, My Kingdom is not from here.” Jesus’ Kingdom is “The Kingdom of Heaven,” “The Kingdom of God.” The two terms are used interchangeably in the New Testament. Jesus came preaching His Kingdom, the Kingdom of Heaven, the Kingdom of God. We read in Mark 1:14-15, “Now after John (the Baptist) was arrested, Jesus came to Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news.’”
The Kingdom of Jesus is from heaven; it is “The Kingdom of God.” The Kingdom of God comes in two stages. It is present in the here and now and yet to come in the future. Today it is a spiritual Kingdom. Jesus currently reigns as King on the throne of our individual hearts. In Luke 17:20-21 the Pharisees asked Jesus when the Kingdom of God would come, and He responded, “The kingdom of God does not come with your careful observation, nor will people say, ’Here it is,’ or ’there it is,’ because the kingdom of God is within you.” The hymn writer Alfred Henry Ackley testifies so powerfully that the “kingdom of God is within us”:
He lives, He lives, Christ Jesus lives today!
He walks with me and talks with me
Along Life’s narrow way.
He lives, He lives, salvation to impart!
You as me how I know He lives?
He lives within my heart.
The Kingdom of God is established in us through the power of the Holy Spirit as Jesus promises in John 14:16-17: “And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counsellor to be with you for ever— the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept Him, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him. But you know Him, for He lives with you and will be in you.” Christ the King reigns in us when the Holy Spirit lives in us.
When Christ the King reigns in us, we know inward peace, as Jesus promises in John 14:27, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.” Today Christ the King rules in us by the power of the Holy Spirit giving us inward peace through all our hardships, trials, and tribulations.
However, the time is coming when Christ the King will bring lasting world peace. Just before He returned to Heaven in Acts 1:6-8 the Disciples questioned Jesus about His Kingdom: “So when they met together, they asked Him, Lord, are You at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel? He said to them: It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by His own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be My witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” When Jesus returns, He will “restore the kingdom to Israel.” In the meantime He calls us to be His witnesses “to the ends of the earth.”
Christ the King is “Coming again!” This time He will not be born in a stable, despised, rejected, or crucified. He is coming as “King of Kings and Lord of Lords” as John saw in Revelation 11:15, “Then the seventh angel blew his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven, saying, ‘The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Messiah, and he will reign forever and ever.’”
Then the prophecy in Philippians 2:9-11 will be fulfilled: “Therefore God exalted Him to the highest place and gave Him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” Madeleine Murry O’Hare, all who have declared themselves godless atheists, all secular humanists who have said, “I am the master of my fate, I am the captain of my soul,” will bow at His feet, and declare “‘Jesus Christ is Lord,’ to the glory of God the Father.”
Christ the King will bring this present evil age to an end, and establish the perfect age reigning on earth from Jerusalem, His capital city. Isaiah 11:6-9 vividly describes the future coming, unconditionally peaceful reign of Jesus:
“The wolf will live with the lamb, the leopard will lie down with the goat, the calf and the lion and the yearling together; and a little child will lead them. The cow will feed with the bear, their young will lie down together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox. The infant will play near the hole of the cobra, and the young child put his hand into the viper’s nest. They will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain, for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea.”
The human race will be redeemed; the world will “Crown Him with many crowns.” Jesus Christ will reign supremely over all His creation.
Today Christ the King calls you and me to “be His witnesses in Jerusalem, in Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth until He comes in final victory, and we feast at His table for ever.” I deeply love, appreciate, and respect the ministry of Chicago Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein, the Founder and President of The International Fellowship of Christians and Jews, a ministry I wholeheartedly support.
This week I read his awesome book THE JOURNEY HOME. It tells the story of “Rabbi Eckstein and a Christian journalist named Jamie traveling together in Israel and coming to strengthen their own personal faiths through each other’s eyes.” Other than the Bible I believe it is the best book I have ever read.
In Chapter six Rabbi Eckstein shares this compelling account of their encounter with a Hassid, a Hassidic Jew, in Jerusalem one Sabbath evening: “We came to the center of the neighborhood square, where a Hassid with a long black coat, hat, and beard was stopping men who were not dressed like him and urging them to put on phylacteries.”
“Are you Jewish?” he asked me.
“Yes,” I replied to the Hassid.
“Did you put on tefillin this morning as the Torah commands?” he asked.
“Yes, I did,” I responded, quickly proving my bona fides by citing the commandment in Hebrew, “And you shall bind them as a sign on your hand and as frontlets between your eyes.” He smiled and turned his attention to someone else, no doubt assuming that Jamie was Jewish and had put on tefillin that day too.
“That’s noble,” said Jamie.
“What is ‘noble’? I asked.
“That he feels so strongly about his faith that he stands outside in the hot sun sharing it with others.” [SOURCE: Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein, The Journey Home (Chicago: Shavit House, 2001), 74.].
We have a wide open mission field the Holy Spirit calls you and me to reach in Kankakee County and throughout the territory of our Illinois Great Rivers Conference with the same zeal, enthusiasm, and urgency as did this noble Hassid. I want you to take this bulletin insert home with you, keep it in your Bible, and use it as a daily reminder to pray:
Lord, lay some soul upon my heart
And love that soul through me,
And may I nobly do my part
To win that soul for Thee.
Before winning that soul to Jesus, learn all the statistics and facts on the second page of the insert. A map of the State of Illinois is on the front page. Our Illinois Great Rivers Conference consists of all the territory south of the line I have drawn on the map. We embrace the southernmost 83 counties in downstate Illinois plus small portions of Bureau, La Salle, Grundy, and Will counties.
The estimated population of these 83 counties on 01 July 2005 was 3,454,395. 50% of these persons have not received Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and Saviour; they are unchurched, secular people. That’s a total of 1,727,198 persons for us to bring into the Kingdom of Heaven, the Kingdom of God.
In Kankakee County the same holds true. On July 1, 2005, our approximate population was 107,972. 50% of these are lost persons, unchurched people, who need Jesus Christ as their personal Saviour and Lord. That’s a personal mission field in our own back yard of at least 59,986 people Jesus calls us to reach for His Kingdom. How many of these are our personal friends, relatives, family, and neighbors whom we can influence for Christ and lead into His Kingdom?
One statistic really blows my mind. In our Illinois Great Rivers Conference more than 50% of the population is age 35 and under. The median age in Illinois is 34.7 years. This age group represents the greatest demographic of unchurched persons the Holy Spirit expects us to win to Christ and His Kingdom.
Rabbi Eckstein also testifies to the willingness of Israeli citizens to unashamedly help others. This should free us as Christians from our hesitant inhibitions in reaching the lost for Jesus. “. . . Israelis are not too shy, embarrassed, inhibited, or intimidated to stand out in a crowd and assist others. They feel at home here, not disengaged from one another as we in America often feel. If a person needs help, they get involved.” [SOURCE: Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein, The Journey Home (Chicago: Shavit House, 2001), 164.]. The unchurched are lost without Jesus. We can not disengage ourselves from them. We must be involved with them. Don’t be intimidated. Give your shyness, embarrassment, and inhibitions to the Holy Spirit, so that He may use you in building Christ’s Kingdom here on earth as it is in heaven.
Jesus imploringly calls out to you and me, “The fields are white unto the harvest.” Christ the King’s wants each one of us become a “noble Hassid” for Him. Do you and I feel “so strongly about our faith that we are willing to stand out in the hot sun or freezing rain to share Jesus with others?” It’s time for the King’s Church to put into action Bill and Gloria Gaither’s great Chorus:
Get all excited go tell everybody that Jesus Christ is King.
I said get all excited go tell everybody that Jesus Christ is King.
Get all excited go tell everybody that Jesus Christ is King.
Jesus Christ is still the King of King’s.
[SOURCE: http://www.sinteticor.com/artist_g/gaither_vocal_band_lyrics/get_all_excited_lyrics.html]
Jesus is giving us tremendous opportunities to reach countless numbers of lost people for His Kingdom. Who is Christ the King laying on your heart to lead to Him? Become that person’s friend; be his/her friend; and bring your friend to Christ the King.
