Kingship of Christ in the Gospels

Introduction: The Threefold Office of Christ and the Kingship

0:03 As I have already suggested in our study of the Word of God this morning, we shall return to a consideration of the biblical materials which set forth the Lord Jesus Christ, the only Redeemer of sinners, as a Redeemer who in the work of redemption functions as a prophet, as a priest, and as a king. And because it has been a number of weeks, in fact two months, since we considered this line of biblical truth, I shall take a few minutes to bring together the main threads of thought that we have sought to weave from the biblical materials and then proceed to consider again Christ as the King of His Church. We are concerned in this series of studies to come to grips with, some of the most basic, the most elementary aspects of Christian truth and doctrine, those teachings of the Word of God upon which the salvation of sinners depend.

1:15 And we must always remind ourselves that when we are studying biblical doctrine, we are not engaged in a detached intellectual exercise. The religion of the Bible is a religion in which experience and truth, are inseparably joined together. And where truth is jettisoned, there can be no valid experience. And so to study doctrine is to study the tap-roots of all true Christian experience.

1:49 We began with a consideration of the book, out of which all truth, or all our understanding of truth grows. The nature of the book we believe and obey. Then we considered something of the God whom we worship and confess, and we are now, and have been for a long period of time in this third major area of concern, the salvation we receive and proclaim. We considered the objects of that salvation.

2:20 And now we're concerned with understanding something of the central figure in that salvation, even our Lord Jesus Christ. We've contemplated him in the mystery of his person. Again, something utterly unique to the Christian faith. All of its blessings grow out of the nature of its central figure.

2:43 He's able to do what he does in his salvation because he is what he is. And if he is not what he claimed to be, then he cannot do what he says he will do for sinners. And so the person and the salvation of Christ, again, are inseparably joined together. And we discovered from a careful analysis and synthesis of the biblical materials that the central figure in the mystery of his person is to be acknowledged and worshipped and trusted as true God, true man, one person in two natures forever.

3:23 And now we are drawing to a close a... Secondary of concern with respect to this central figure, namely the majesty of his offices.

3:33 He who is God and man in one person forever saves sinners in the office of a redeemer who is a prophet, a priest, and a king. Now we come then to pick up the threads of thought with respect to this third of his offices, namely the kingly office of Christ. We establish from the scriptures that the biblical concept of a king brings together three lines of thought. There must be a throne, that is, the seat of authority, a scepter which symbolizes the authority in action, and a kingdom which depicts the realm in which the scepter is exercised by him who sits upon the throne. And those three lines of thought, you will remember, are brought together in Psalm 45. and verse 6, and in many other portions of the Old Testament. And now we are concerned to demonstrate that Jesus Christ is just such a person.

The Kingship of Christ in the Old Testament: Period of Preparation

4:39 He is a true king who has a real throne, who wields a real scepter in the establishment of a real kingdom. And the manner in which we are demonstrating this is to follow the pattern in which the materials themselves come to us. The Bible begins with Genesis and ends with Revelation. And in a sense, we are establishing the kingship of Christ from Genesis to Revelation.

5:07 We are looking at the materials, of course being very selective, not exhaustive, in the form in which they come to us. And I have called the Old Testament the period of preparation. And so starting in Genesis and moving right through to the prophet, Malachi, I'm sorry, Zachariah, We have seen that the scriptures of the Old Testament constantly point to the fact that the Redeemer of sinners, who would be the seed of the woman, Genesis 3, of the seed of Abraham, Genesis 12, would be one who would come from the tribe of Judah, Genesis 49. He would be the son given upon whose shoulder would rest the government of God, Isaiah 9. He would be the one to sit upon David's throne, 2 Samuel chapter 7, and upon that throne he would be a king and a priest, Zechariah 6, and according to Daniel, he would have a kingdom given for which there would be no end. And so with that broad overview, we considered the fact. The fact that Jesus Christ, if he is to fit the predictions of the Old Testament, had to be a true king. No other Messiah could fit the predictions that went before him.

The Kingship of Christ in the Gospels: Period of Manifestation

6:29 Now then, with that review behind us, we come to the second main body of the testimony of the word of God concerning the kingship of Christ, moving out of the Old Testament into the New. And I've been talking...

6:45 We call this the period of manifestation. In the gospel records, we have what can be called the account of the manifestation of the Son of God in human history. The book of Acts we'll consider as the period of proclamation, and the epistles, the period of explanation, the book of Revelation, the period of consummation. This morning, we concentrate only upon a few of the pivotal passages.

7:15 in the period of manifestation, that period in which Christ in time in human history is manifested to men. Now, let me remind you again at the point of appearing tedious that all we're attempting to do is to demonstrate from the Scriptures that the only Savior of sinners, Jesus Christ, must be a king. If he is to fit the predictions of the Old Testament, in the period of manifestation he must come with proper credentials. He must come with the evidence that he does indeed have a throne, that he wields a scepter, and that he has a kingdom. And we are doing this, I remind you again, so that we may behold our Lord as the Savior who is perfectly suited to the needs of the world. He is a prophet, a priest, and a king in pursuit of his redemptive work because sinners need precisely that kind of a Redeemer. We need one who is our priest, who can atone for our sins and succor us in our weakness and preserve us by his intercession.

8:37 We need a prophet who will instruct our minds in the knowledge of God, who is himself the truth. So that we may rightly know God. And we desperately need a king who can subdue us, and having subdued us, can preserve and guard us, and one day bring us literally to share in his own throne as he himself has promised. So then this morning, some of the materials dealing with the witness of the period of manifestation.

Matthew's Genealogy: Jesus as Son of David, King of Israel

9:11 Now children, watch the first book. This is the first book in the New Testament. You all know it. I hope.

9:18 If you don't, then you ought to start spending Sunday afternoons turning to the front part of the New Testament where they list all the books and you memorize them. But you say, Pastor, I know that one. First book of the New Testament is Matthew. That's right.

9:31 Now do you know what the first words of Matthew's Gospel are? The first words of the New Testament. Don't look. But do you know what they are?

9:40 Well, you may now look. The first words of the New Testament, when we, when we turn from Malachi, the closing of the Old Testament, when we come to the first page of the New Testament, we are confronted with these words. The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham. You say, well that doesn't sound very exciting to me.

10:15 Well, I hope before long it will be very exciting to you. As most of you know, Matthew wrote his Gospel, primarily with Jews in mind. Now that does not mean it is a Jewish Gospel that is tainted with legalistic overtones and therefore sub-Christian. That's heresy.

10:35 I repeat, that is heresy. It is a Christian Gospel record. But it is a Christian Gospel record written primarily with Jews in mind. We know this from many standpoints, not the least of which is that Matthew never stops to explain Jewish customs, Jewish terminology.

10:58 He assumes that those who read this account of the life and ministry of Christ are knowledgeable in such things. Furthermore, it is evident that he writes with what we would call a polemic end in view. That is, he is concerned to convince his readers that Jesus of Nazareth is indeed the Messiah promised in the Old Testament. This being so, every Jew who had any acquaintance with his Old Testament knew two things about the promised Messiah.

11:33 He knew that he had to come of the family of Abraham because God had promised in Genesis chapter 12, verses 1 to 3, Abraham in thee and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed. Every Jew knew that the Messiah would come from the Hebrew nation. Furthermore, every Jew instructed in the Old Testament knew that the Messiah not only had to be a son of Abraham, but he had to be a son of David. For you remember when we studied 2 Samuel chapter 7, God had made this promise to David that there would not fail a man to sit upon his throne. And as the history of Israel becomes a sordid thing, and in my own Old Testament devotional reading I'm reading that sordid history of idolatry and declension and judgment and departure from God, but again and again God says, yet for David my servant's sake, yet for the sake of David my servant, God preserves that seed of David. And every Jew knew that the true Messiah had to be son of Abraham, son of David. So it is natural that when Matthew begins his gospel,

12:59 he begins with this powerful note. The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, and as though a Jew would say, Jesus Christ, who is he that I should be concerned with him? He says, son of Abraham, son of David. He fits all of your expectations.

13:22 And then if you have a paragraph version, you will notice that verses 2 through 6 trace the genealogy from Abraham to David, and then beginning with the middle of verse 6, David down to the captivity in Babylon, and then verse 12 to verse 16, we have a tracing of the lineage up until the birth of Christ. Now you see, for a Jew, this had a powerful impact. For immediately he must wrestle with this awesome fact that at least as to his bloodlines, Jesus Christ meets the requirements of the Old Testament prophecies. He is a true son of Abraham. He is a true son of David. Now follow more closely. As surely as the prediction that he would be a son of Abraham limits him to the descendants of Abraham, the Hebrew nation, so the designation son of David not only identifies him as someone whose bloodlines go back to David, but as someone who is part of a dynasty which began with David.

14:42 Now you see, a dynasty is a ruling family that exists as long as that family rules. And when the member of that family no longer rules, we say that was the end of the Stuart dynasty in England. When the Stuarts no longer reigned, they may have continued to have children, but there was no dynasty. Well, the Old Testament predictions were very clear that David's seed would not merely be perpetuated as a family tree.

15:16 But that the dynasty would be perpetuated. I remind you of this in the prophecy of 2 Samuel 7, and let's turn to it for a moment. And where all of this may not seem to make sense now, in a few moments I hope it will. 2 Samuel chapter 7.

15:35 Here's that great prophecy. Verse 13. He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom, forever. Verse 15.

15:50 But my lovingkindness shall not depart from him as I took it from Saul, whom I put away before thee. And thy house and thy kingdom shall be made sure forever before thee. Thy throne shall be established forever. House, kingdom, throne.

16:11 You see, the promise to David is very specific. That there would not only be the perpetuation of the family tree, but that there would be the continuation of the Davidic dynasty. He would have someone to sit upon his throne. So when a Jew would open the Gospel of Matthew, and he would read these words, the book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, he would be confronted immediately with the fact that Jesus of Nazareth was the king of Israel.

16:52 David's son had to be king. This was not mere tracing of bloodlines. It was the assertion of the continuation of a dynasty. So every Jew was confronted immediately with this staggering claim.

17:09 Jesus of Nazareth is king of Israel, who sits upon David's throne as the continuation of the Davidic dynasty. You say, Pastor, that's an awful lot to read into a simple statement, isn't it? Are you sure you're not putting something in that ain't there? I'm absolutely certain.

Luke's Annunciation: The Throne of His Father David

17:29 And to buttress that assertion, I direct you to Luke's Gospel, chapter 1. Luke's Gospel, chapter 1, where we have the record of the visit of the angel to Mary, whose virgin womb will both conceive, be the place for the development of the man Christ Jesus. And these are the words spoken by the angel to Mary. Luke's Gospel, chapter 1, verse 26.

18:09 Now in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth to a virgin, betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David, and the virgin's name was Mary. Notice Luke's little stroke of the house of David. And he came in unto her and said, Hail, thou that art highly favored, the Lord is with thee. But she was greatly troubled at this saying, and cast in her mind what manner of salutation this might be.

18:42 And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary, for thou hast found favor with God, and behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name Jesus. He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David, and he shall reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there shall be no end. Now do you see the main strands of the angel's pronouncement? As Mary is disturbed at this angelic visit and this pronouncement of her being favored and singled out by God, the angel then, as it were, responding to her wrinkled brow and to the perplexity upon her countenance, says, Here is the explanation of what is to happen. Thou shalt conceive in thy womb and bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name Jesus. Immediately Mary is given to know that in this one whom she will conceive in her womb is to be found the salvation of Jehovah.

20:05 For the name Jesus means Jehovah is salvation or the one through whom Jehovah will bring salvation. So that which she is to conceive in her womb is immediately identified as to his mission. His mission is a mission of salvation. He is coming to bring deliverance.

20:28 She must never think of the life that she feels in her womb. She must never look upon herself as she grows big with child. She must not enter into the throes of birth without this constant remembrance. The one conceived is to be Jesus.

20:49 Jehovah's salvation is in him. There in short is a description of his mission. His mission is in his name. Matthew 1.21 Thou shalt call his name Jesus for the rationale for the name is the mission. He shall save his people from the Roman Empire. No. He shall save his people from their salvation.

21:18 Sin. So the first thing established by the angel is that the one in Mary's womb is to be understood as to his mission as the Savior from sin. Second thing. He shall be great and shall be called the Son of the Most High.

21:39 Here there is now a word concerning the identity of this person. His mission he shall save. Who is he to accomplish so mighty a task? He shall be called great because he is Son of the Most High.

21:59 And here the angel lets her know that this is no ordinary child that she carries in her womb. As his mission is extraordinary it answers to the extraordinariness of the person. He shall be called Son of the Most High. So we have his mission.

22:22 He shall save. The identity of his person. Son of the Most High. But now notice the next thing the angel informs her about.

22:31 And the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David. And he shall reign over the house of Jacob forever and of his kingdom there shall be no end. What is this third unit of thought? Well it should be obvious.

22:51 If the name Jesus identifies his mission he shall save. If the title Son of the Most High identifies his person he is God the Son. Then this third unit of thought directs us to the position from which he will save and which he will occupy as Son of the Most High. And what is that position?

23:17 It is the posture of a king upon a throne who reigns with a kingdom that shall never end. Do you see it? I'm not reading anything in. I'm just opening up what the angel said to Mary.

23:33 So that as surely as Mary sees that swelling body in which is housed this one who will save the Son of God. She is never to think of his mission or his person apart from David's throne which he shall occupy. And notice how careful the angel is. He shall reign over the house of Jacob forever and of his kingdom there shall be no end.

24:08 Whatever kingdom he establishes he will establish as the divine Son of God in pursuit of his mission as the Savior of sinners. But he will pursue no mission as Jesus Savior of sinners in the plentitude of his power as Son of God apart from David's throne which he shall occupy and occupy forever. And the Holy Spirit has woven these things together in terms of the fundamental understanding Mary was to have concerning the birth of this one conceived in her womb. Now at this point a word must be said concerning a theory of biblical interpretation that says well he was Jesus from conception in his womb to save. He always was and ever shall be the eternal Son of God as to his identity but this business of the throne of his father David and of his reigning is bypassed throughout his entire life throughout the entire church age and it awaits fulfillment after Christ takes his own to be with him in a literal reign

Refuting the Postponement of Christ's Kingship

25:35 upon the earth for a thousand years and then that will end. You say would anyone dare to teach that? That has been taught that has been believed and that position is being violently defended by those who see increasingly serious questions cast over it. I read this morning on page 990 of the Schofield Bible in the introduction to the Gospels and I do not do this to be nasty to be unkind to throw stones but to give a word of corrective that bears upon the glory of Christ.

26:15 The New Testament shows well let me back up a bit the Old Testament prophet was perplexed by seeing on one horizon so to speak both the sufferings and the glory of the Messiah 1 Peter 1.10 The New Testament shows that these are separated Christ's sufferings and Christ's glory by the present church age and points forward to the Lord's return at the time when the Davidic covenant of blessing through power will be fulfilled. Luke 1.30-33 The very passage I have expounded Mr. Schofield says awaits all through the church age until Christ returns in power at which time he will then and only then begin to occupy the throne of David. As the Abrahamic covenant of blessing through suffering was fulfilled in his first coming so then you see we are told the blessing of his enthronement awaits his second coming. Now what do we say to that? Well we say to that that there is not a shred of exegetical reason for taking that position.

27:31 Mary was informed that the one in her womb would be Jehovah's salvation in the uniqueness of his person and from the position of enthronement and of power. And so in the first words of the New Testament we are confronted with this staggering and this wonderfully encouraging truth that Jesus of Nazareth in all of the unglamorous credentials that he bore in the days of his flesh that Jesus is claimed to be or is purported to be from Nazareth to the outset the rightful heir of David's throne. He is indeed David's son in a true dynasty with a true throne and a real scepter and a real kingdom. And though as we shall see when we come into the book of Acts and into the epistles that there were stages in the unfolding of that messianic kingship there are as it were epochs in which he is raised to one level to another and there are stages in the unfolding of that messianic kingship there are as it were epochs in which he is raised to one level to another level in the actual exercise of that kingship. We must never think of him as redeemer in any other concept than that which beholds him as our priest as our prophet

The Magi's Homage: An International King

28:59 and as our king in the language of the shorter catechism both in the days of his humiliation and in the days of his exaltation. Now turn with me please to the second group of witnesses and that's in Matthew chapter 2 and we've got a Christmas sermon in April that's why I don't preach Christmas sermons usually at Christmas we get them wherever they come naturally in the exposition. Now remember what Matthew was seeking to do his opening words confronted his Jewish readers with the fact that Jesus of Nazareth is the true king of the Jews now he's going to go on to add a bit of information which buttresses that assertion now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king behold wise men magi which is just a transliteration of the Greek word these people apparently astrologers and astronomers probably from Babylon these magi came from the east to Jerusalem saying where is he that is born king of the Jews for we saw his star in the east

30:27 and are come to worship him and when Herod the king heard it he was troubled and all Jerusalem with him and gathering together all the chief priests and scribes of the people he inquired of them where the Christ should be born and they said unto him in Bethlehem of Judea for thus it is written through the prophet in 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 now what's the significance of this section in Matthew's gospel it's not my purpose to give an exhaustive exposition of the passage all I'm attempting to do is in the period of manifestation to demonstrate that Christ is a king from the beginning of his manifestation among the sons of men now the emphasis of this passage falls upon the fact that these are Gentiles who come they are magi from the east who come to Jerusalem these are not Jews these are Gentiles these are what the Jews would call pagans probably as I've suggested astrologers or astronomers from Babylon where the science if I may put that in inverted commas of astrology and astronomy was very much the in thing among learned people who were in the midst of the world who were in the midst of the world who were in the midst

31:56 of the world of the people and somewhere they had received knowledge of the hope of Israel it could well be that from Daniel's extensive influence in that area of the world much of the Old Testament was either put in the hands of people in that area or the knowledge of it had been conveyed but regardless of how they came to that knowledge they had come to the knowledge that Israel's hope terminated upon one who would be manifested that much is clear from their language when they come to Jerusalem they say where is he that is born king of the Jews Israel's hope was in Messiah Messiah was to be king and it was Gentiles who were convinced that Israel's king would be interested in Gentiles as Gentiles they come to pay homage to a king they obviously believe that Gentiles will be welcomed in their homage now they didn't learn that from Jews but they had sufficient contact with the Old Testament scriptures to learn it from the Old Testament scriptures for one of the strands of emphasis in the Old Testament was to him

33:25 shall the Gentiles shall the Gentiles trust so they had in a sense a pure knowledge of the Old Testament hope of Israel than many of the Jews did so here they come convinced that Israel's hope is in Messiah Messiah is king Messiah will welcome Gentiles now they come to Jerusalem and they say but we have a problem we are convinced through some peculiar phenomenon in the skies that he has been born and we can't go into how they got that knowledge and the rest all you can do is to look at the Bible and you can see that the Bible is not clear we cannot say with certainty except to know that God was guiding them to this place and so they come saying where is his precise birthplace and we read that Herod and the king and the Jews were troubled so they have a confam with those who should know best the chief priests and scribes of the people and they say now notice look at the language they came saying where is he that is born king now the inquiry is made where the Christ should be born now where did they make a shift from the king to the Christ well because in Jewish thinking those things were interchangeable the Christ

34:53 the anointed one was to be king the king of Israel was the Messiah the Christ so you see the terminology can be used interchangeably no problem so they discuss the thing what is their answer because it is written through the prophet and now this quote that we looked at several months ago Micah 5.2 thou Bethlehem land of Judah art in no wise least among the princes of Judah for out of thee shall come forth a governor king of the Jews the Christ a governor who shall be shepherd of my people Israel now you see how all those terms flow together in their identity king of the Jews the Christ governor who shall be shepherd of my people Israel and then you know the rest of the story how that from this information and from further providential guidance by this unusual manifestation in the heavens verse 10 they actually come and find the Lord Jesus in a humble Palestinian house and it doesn't say there were three of them it doesn't say there were kings there could have been twenty of them it just says they there had to be more than one there were at least two it doesn't say three and they didn't come to a manger that isn't what the Bible says all the Christmas cards

36:22 notwithstanding verse 11 they came into the house now get the picture they are looking for a king Israel's hope Israel's Messiah the one who shall be governor and shepherd of Israel and now they come into a house and what do they find in a humble Palestinian dwelling they see a child marry his mother and what do they do it says they fell down and worshipped him and opening their treasures they offered unto him gifts gold and frankincense and myrrh what are they doing may I suggest that here we have as it were the first fruits of the fulfillment of God's promise made concerning Israel and his great king in Psalm 72 but we read in that wonderful prophetic utterance concerning the reign of Christ David's greater son the greater than Solomon Psalm 72 verse 7 in his days shall the righteous flourish in abundance of peace till the moon be no more he shall have dominion also from sea to sea and from the river to the ends of the world shall dwell in the wilderness shall bow before him and his enemies shall lick the dust

37:50 the kings of Tarshish and of the Isles shall render tribute the kings of Sheba and Seba shall offer gifts yea all kings shall fall down before him all nations shall serve him and here God as it were in this marvelous stroke of genius by Matthew and James who filled the Israel's hope is Israel's hope and if Gentiles ever become a part of it it will be so insignificant as not to be accounted and the first record of anyone paying homage to their king is not Jews it's Gentiles from afar who come into a humble Palestinian dwelling and they look upon an ordinary little Jewish boy and what do they see?

38:50 They see no regal splendor. They do not see a little prince who is dressed up in all fine princely garb. They do not see him under the tutelage of those who train little boys how to be proper princes. They see a humble little Jewish boy in a Palestinian dwelling and they prostrate themselves and they are under spiritual worship.

39:16 Why? Because the same God who had implanted that hope in their hearts through the Scriptures and had sovereignly guided them by this unusual movement of the heavenly bodies is the God who revealed to them the true nature of that little Jewish boy that this was indeed the true King who had come to establish His rule in the hearts of even Gentiles and they render to Him spiritual worship. They saw something that so few of the Jews saw in their own day that His kingly rule was not a rule which would be manifested in riding upon a white charger and mowing down the Roman power.

40:05 Here was one who had come to fulfill all of those gracious promises to receive Gentile outcasts and to make them a king. To make them the objects of saving mercy. So at the outset then it is made clear this true heir to David's throne who shall rule over the house of Jacob is no national king. He is an international king.

40:33 He is the one before whom the kings of the nations of the Gentiles shall bow and shall own him as their king and as their God. Well I want to bring one final passage this morning.

Nathanael's Confession: Son of God, King of Israel

40:52 These two passages cluster around the conception and birth of Christ in the period of manifestation. What is His identity now that He is a full grown man formally entered upon His ministry? Is He identified as a king there as well? And the testimony of the gospel writers is again very clear.

41:15 Turn please to the first chapter of John's gospel. This will be the final passage we consider this morning. John's gospel chapter 1.

41:28 I would remind you briefly of the setting John has borne witness to his own identity. Who are you John? Are you the prophet? Are you the Messiah?

41:37 No, I'm just a voice. My function is clearly defined by Isaiah and by Malachi. I'm the voice crying in the wilderness. My task is to point to the one who comes after me who is greater than I.

41:51 And now he's identified him in verse 29. And in the morrow he seeth Jesus coming to him and saith, Behold the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world. John had this spiritual vision or I should say this understanding of the spiritual ministry of Christ. He did not say, Behold your legitimate earthly king and if you own him he will usher in some kind of earth.

42:18 No, no, no! A thousand times no! Behold!

42:27 As you look upon him you look upon him in whom all of the types and shadows of the Old Testament sacrificial system are to find their fulfillment. He is the Lamb who is bearing away the sin not just of the Jews but of the world. He is an international Savior. He is the world's Savior.

42:49 This is the one he says of whom I previously spoke. And then he goes on to identify him in verse 31. As the Son of God. Lamb of God.

42:59 Son of God. And then in verses 35 through 42 we have the record of the call of two disciples by him who is Lamb of God. Son of God. And beginning with verse 43 then we have this moving story of the call of Philip and then Nathanael.

43:18 And on the morrow he was minded to go forth into Galilee. He findeth Philip and saith unto him, Follow me. Now Philip was from Bethsaida. The city of Andrew and Peter.

43:28 Philip findeth Nathanael and said unto him, We have found him. You see, the Lord found him and now when he is found he says we found him. So don't get upset with people who talk about finding the Lord because that is true. Just so long as you know the previous truth that you found him because he found you.

43:49 Isn't that the language of the passage? He findeth Philip and said unto him, Follow me. Thus found Philip says we have found him. Notice how he identifies him.

44:02 We found him of whom Moses in the law and the prophets wrote Jesus of Nazareth the son of Joseph. Jesus of Nazareth son of Joseph as to his external earthly relationships. That Jesus of Nazareth son of Joseph is the one who is Israel's true hope. He is Messiah.

44:25 He is the promised prophet priest and king. And Nathanael with a bit of skepticism born out of a thorough knowledge of the Old Testament says can any good thing that is the highest good that is Messiah can any good thing come out of Nazareth? Philip saith unto him come and see. Jesus saw Nathanael coming to him and saith of him behold an Israelite indeed in whom is no guile.

44:53 Nathanael saith unto him whence knowest thou me? You've made a pronouncement about my character that touches the very well springs of my being to speak of me as a true Israelite in whom there is no guile. That's speaking of inward spiritual purity. What contact have you had with me to make such a pronouncement?

45:14 How dare you make a pronouncement just upon first sight that touches the very deepest springs of what I am? Whence knowest thou me?

45:25 Jesus answered and said unto him before Philip called thee when thou wast under the fig tree I saw thee and oh how I must resist the temptation to open up what that under the fig tree might be but I will resist the temptation. But he said I saw thee I saw thee and in that sight I knew all that you were Nathanael you thought you were shut up in the privacy of the intercourse of your own heart with God feeding the springs of a guileless spirit by prayer and meditation but I saw thee I beheld you I beheld you I saw you Nathanael answered him Rabbi thou art the Son of God thou art King of Israel and notice Jesus' response to that notice the response Jesus answered and said unto him because I said unto thee I saw thee underneath the fig tree believest thou thou shalt see greater things than these Jesus said unto him Jesus accepts that confession as an expression of intelligent faith when Nathanael identified him as to his person Son of God as to his position King of Israel

46:52 then unto the church Nathanael you have rightly confessed me and if you've confessed on so meager an evidence or meager measure of evidence there is more to come and more to come so that Nathanael nothing to follow will ever cause you to rescind that confession you will see in me nothing to make you question your confession that I am God the Son that I am nothing less than a co-sharer in the divine essence that I am Son of God to my Father as touching all that makes me God and Philip you will see nothing to make you question that when you acknowledge me to be King of Israel that I am indeed King of Israel do you catch the force of that? and as the gospel record unfolds as we shall see God willing next week there is nothing to undermine the validity of that confession now where in the world did Nathanael ever get the notion that the Messiah

Pastoral Application: Bow to the King

48:19 of whom Moses and the prophets spoke who is Jesus of Nazareth would be Son of God and King well he knew among other things the second Psalm in which those two things are woven together thou art my Son this day have I begotten thee yet have I set my King upon my holy hill of Zion and as an Israelite who longed for a spiritual salvation who longed for a Messiah who would fulfill the promise of God the true expectation of the true Israel one who would come as the Lamb to bear away sin one who would come as the suffering servant of Jehovah to take away the sins of his people Nathanael saw in Jesus Christ that King and he gladly bowed to his scepter of grace and embraced his government and his grace and embraced and entered in to all the blessings of his salvation let me say in closing if you my friend are ever to come to Nathanael's blessedness that is to be saved from the guilt and power of your sin it will be by this Redeemer

49:49 the only Redeemer of God's elect is our Lord Jesus Christ and he redeems in the fullness of his office of Redeemer as prophet as priest and king and in the language of John 1 if you will not have him to be the son of God as to the identity of his person if you will not have him as the Lamb of God if you will not have him as the King of Israel you will have no salvation salvation is not to be found in some undefined and undefinable Jesus experience it is not to be found in some kind of indescribable leap of faith to some unknown salvation is found in him who is the Lamb of God who is the Son of God who is the King of Israel without his identity as son you cannot be saved for he said if you believe not that I am he you shall die in your sins without his death and resurrection you cannot be saved for without the shedding of blood is no remission and my friend without coming to grips with his kingly authority and power and his enthronement you cannot be saved you deal with one who is a king

51:16 as well as the Lamb and as well as the Son of God therefore to every impenitent sinner who would be his own king I say to you this morning my friend kiss the sun bow to his scepter come to grips with the reality of his enthronement as king and seek mercy at that throne from which mercy is dispensed to needy helpless sinners who will kiss the scepter of the sun and dear child of God though I can't pause to expound it this morning it will come in a subsequent message how your heart ought to leap within you to realize he became this king in pursuit of your salvation and mine and the kingship exists ultimately for the good of sinners as well as the glory of the king and the scripture tells us in Revelation 3.21 that the throne upon which he sits as king has got room for all of his people he that overcometh shall be granted to sit with me in my throne even as I overcame and sit with my father in his throne oh the glory of the king and the kingship of Christ you see a Christian does not stand off and feel threatened by the kingship of Christ

52:46 he realizes it's a kingship exerted in the interest of the salvation of his people and he's defeated the enemies of his people and he reigns in power to do what? to bring us through all our enemies here and in the world to come until he sits us down at his own right hand and we will be able to do that and we will be able to do that and we will be able to do that and we will be able to do that and gives us to share in his throne oh God be blessed for such a savior as our Lord Jesus Christ the great prophet the great priest the great king of his people let us pray our father oh how we praise you this morning for your dear and only begotten son how we thank you that in him there is this regal authority and power not to destroy but to save and though we know the hour is coming when he shall sit upon the throne of his glory

54:09 and exercise his regal rights to crush his enemies we thank you that he now is a king and a priest upon his throne willing to receive the neediest of sinners who will come and seek mercy from an enthroned savior oh father bring sinners boys, girls, men and women in this place this morning bring them to bow before this gracious savior king and we pray that those of us who have been brought to embrace him as such may have a new appreciation of the glory of his kingship may we feed upon him who as our priest has died and intercedes who as our prophet instructs and teaches who as our king reigns to subdue us and to defend and protect us and to bring us home at last to share in the glory of his eternal throne oh what rich things you have stored up for your people help us oh help us to have a faith strong enough to lay hold of what is promised and strengthened by that hope may we so live as to bring honor to him our great king amen thank you for your word thank you for your spirit thank you for all your gifts to us

55:37 receive the praises we now offer in the worthy name of our lord and savior Jesus Christ amen