WEBVTT 00:00:00.719 --> 00:00:06.080 Now our scripture reading for today's sermon comes from Psalms. 00:00:06.639 --> 00:00:08.560 There's the second Psalm. 00:00:10.960 --> 00:00:15.119 Which reads, Why do the nations rage, and the people's plot in vain? 00:00:15.439 --> 00:00:27.440 The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together against the Lord and against his anointed, saying, Let us burst their bonds apart, and cast away their cords from us. 00:00:28.160 --> 00:00:30.719 He who sits in the heavens laughs. 00:00:30.960 --> 00:00:33.200 The Lord holds them in derision. 00:00:33.520 --> 00:00:43.200 Then he will speak to them in his wrath and terrify them in his fury, saying, As for me, I have set my king on Zion, my holy hill. 00:00:43.679 --> 00:00:50.399 I will tell of the decree, the Lord said to me, You are my son, today I have begotten you. 00:00:50.640 --> 00:00:56.240 Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage, and the ends of the earth your possession. 00:00:56.479 --> 00:01:02.000 You shall break them with a rod of iron, and dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel. 00:01:02.320 --> 00:01:06.560 Now therefore, O kings, be wise, be warned, O rulers of the earth. 00:01:06.799 --> 00:01:10.079 Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling. 00:01:10.319 --> 00:01:13.920 Kiss the sun, lest he be angry, and you perish in the way. 00:01:14.079 --> 00:01:16.079 For his wrath is quickly kindled. 00:01:16.319 --> 00:01:19.040 Blessed are all who take refuge in him. 00:01:19.439 --> 00:01:20.560 This is the word of the Lord. 00:01:22.000 --> 00:01:22.879 May be seated. 00:01:25.439 --> 00:01:26.879 Thank you for joining us this morning. 00:01:26.959 --> 00:01:28.159 My name is James Rathman. 00:01:28.319 --> 00:01:30.959 I'm the pastor here at Redemption Church Denver. 00:01:31.280 --> 00:01:33.680 It is always a joy to gather together with you. 00:01:33.840 --> 00:01:43.359 I don't realize how much I need it in these crazy holiday times when it don't weeks feel insane? 00:01:43.599 --> 00:01:44.879 Weeks feel insane. 00:01:44.959 --> 00:01:50.400 There's no more, there's no, there hasn't been a normal week since like the week before Thanksgiving. 00:01:51.120 --> 00:01:59.920 And then I realized I needed to come this morning and I needed to sing with the church. 00:02:00.079 --> 00:02:02.000 It's like exactly what my heart needed. 00:02:02.159 --> 00:02:06.159 So thank you for worshiping with us this morning. 00:02:06.319 --> 00:02:12.719 I'll pray and then we'll move into our text for this week, this last week of Advent, where we're looking at Christ as our King. 00:02:17.199 --> 00:02:18.800 Holy Father. 00:02:20.240 --> 00:02:26.879 One of the great wonders of our existence is recognizing that it is all of grace. 00:02:27.599 --> 00:02:30.159 Lord, this is the wonder of our salvation. 00:02:30.479 --> 00:02:32.960 That it is all of grace. 00:02:34.000 --> 00:02:38.719 Lord, that it is your grace which draws us to yourself, which rescues us. 00:02:38.800 --> 00:02:41.599 It's your grace which allowed us to exist in the first place. 00:02:41.680 --> 00:02:48.240 And in our rebellion, you did not abandon us, but instead you sought to rescue us at great cost to yourself. 00:02:48.639 --> 00:02:52.960 And we see that this is the thing that holds all other things together. 00:02:53.199 --> 00:02:54.639 It is your love. 00:02:55.599 --> 00:03:07.439 It is your love which sought us, your love which rescued us, your love which atones for our sins, your love which seeks to raise us into glory with you, your love which means we can never be snatched from your hands. 00:03:07.759 --> 00:03:10.960 Lord, we are held by your love. 00:03:12.800 --> 00:03:17.360 Lord, we ask that this morning you would help us to grasp better the depth of your love towards us. 00:03:17.520 --> 00:03:27.599 We would see your love shown to us as our true King, the King who loves his people, the King who is a good shepherd, who lays down his life for the sheep. 00:03:28.639 --> 00:03:40.000 Lord, we pray that you would be honored in our hearts as the King that you are, and as you rule in our hearts, Lord, that we might obey your commands to love one another. 00:03:40.240 --> 00:03:41.919 We lift this up in Jesus' name. 00:03:42.159 --> 00:03:42.800 Amen. 00:03:44.879 --> 00:03:52.879 So this is our fourth week of Advent, and this Advent season we've looked at the Westminster Shorter Catechism. 00:03:52.960 --> 00:04:01.360 And this series of question and answers, written about 400 years ago, lays out some of the central doctrines of our faith. 00:04:01.759 --> 00:04:11.199 And we've looked at a particular section of which we've seen Christ as our Redeemer, that the only Redeemer of God's elect is the Lord Jesus Christ. 00:04:11.439 --> 00:04:16.560 And then we've seen what offices Christ executes as our Redeemer. 00:04:16.720 --> 00:04:25.040 And the offices that Christ executes as our Redeemer is the office of a prophet, the office of a priest, and the office of a king. 00:04:25.920 --> 00:04:28.240 We've looked at prophet and priests. 00:04:28.480 --> 00:04:33.839 So this Sunday we conclude by looking at the office of a king. 00:04:34.160 --> 00:04:38.000 Jesus is our true king. 00:04:39.120 --> 00:04:42.879 Jesus' ministry is ushered in by John the Baptist. 00:04:43.040 --> 00:04:45.839 And John the Baptist is proclaiming repentance. 00:04:46.000 --> 00:04:48.560 Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near. 00:04:48.800 --> 00:04:54.480 And Jesus's, the shape of Jesus' ministry is the proclamation of the kingdom of heaven. 00:04:54.639 --> 00:04:59.120 That is what he came to do, is to proclaim the kingdom of God. 00:04:59.439 --> 00:05:00.800 And that's what he did. 00:05:00.959 --> 00:05:03.680 Now we proclaim the gospel. 00:05:04.000 --> 00:05:19.759 And when we say gospel, we we know that it means good news, but that's not a uh the Christians didn't come up with the phrase gospel to a Roman, they would have understood what a gospel was, and the gospel was the good news of the proclamation of a king. 00:05:20.079 --> 00:05:31.120 You would proclaim the gospel of Caesar at the birth of the heir to the throne, a gospel would go out to the empire, so that the good news of the birth of a king would be proclaimed. 00:05:31.279 --> 00:05:36.079 And so they would say, Kyrios Caesar, Caesar is Lord. 00:05:36.319 --> 00:05:41.040 And this is the proclamation of a gospel, that Caesar is Lord. 00:05:41.279 --> 00:05:54.480 And so when the Christians came on the scene and they started proclaiming their gospel, Christ is Lord, you can understand that the leaders of Rome did not love this expression. 00:05:55.839 --> 00:06:12.000 They didn't quite understand the shape or the nature of the kingdom of Christ, but they did understand that the proclamation that Christ is Lord stood in direct opposition to the way that they were proclaiming Caesar is Lord. 00:06:12.160 --> 00:06:31.439 And so they understood that their very lives would be threatened, that the order of the way that they had been living, the nature of the authority of the Caesars, which held the empire together, was threatened by this proclamation of the gospel that Christ is Lord. 00:06:31.680 --> 00:06:34.879 It is the proclamation of a king. 00:06:35.839 --> 00:06:38.160 They were right to feel threatened. 00:06:38.879 --> 00:06:44.079 Now, they might have thought that this meant that Jesus was after the throne of Caesar. 00:06:44.720 --> 00:06:46.800 Jesus was not after the throne of Caesar. 00:06:46.959 --> 00:06:50.800 That's uh, you know, small potatoes for someone like Jesus. 00:06:51.199 --> 00:06:58.879 Jesus, the proclamation of Christ as king is this proclamation that he is the king of kings. 00:06:59.839 --> 00:07:05.279 The proclamation that Christ is Lord means that he is the Lord of Lords. 00:07:05.600 --> 00:07:08.319 Now, a king is unique among a people. 00:07:08.480 --> 00:07:14.560 One way to think of a king is the king is the person that doesn't have a king. 00:07:14.879 --> 00:07:16.639 That's how you know who the king is. 00:07:17.839 --> 00:07:24.480 The whole village gets together, you know, the whole kingdom gets together, and there's one person there without a king, and that's the king. 00:07:24.720 --> 00:07:27.680 Because he's the one who doesn't have anybody above him. 00:07:27.920 --> 00:07:29.680 It all stops with him. 00:07:30.079 --> 00:07:33.600 The rule manifests within the king. 00:07:34.639 --> 00:07:40.560 But this proclamation means that Christ means that Caesar has a king. 00:07:41.199 --> 00:07:55.759 It means that the highest authority in the world that you could possibly imagine, which was Caesar, it meant that there is an authority above him, an authority to which he must bow, an authority to which he must give honor. 00:07:55.839 --> 00:08:01.839 There is a ruler of the rulers, a king of the kings, a lord of the lords. 00:08:03.439 --> 00:08:12.639 Now, in the Psalm that I read this morning, we're shown the nature of Christ's kingdom, that he is the king who is above all the other kings. 00:08:12.720 --> 00:08:17.839 And what happens is uh it's uh it gives us this picture of all the kings of the earth. 00:08:18.000 --> 00:08:27.759 They're gathered together, and they're sort of flexing their hubris, they're acknowledging the ultimacy of their power in all the world, that there is no power above them. 00:08:27.920 --> 00:08:38.080 And you can imagine them, they're sharing their plans, and their plans, they they sound like we'll be able to accomplish world peace if we're able to subdue these sorts of people. 00:08:38.159 --> 00:08:46.559 And we have this plan for wonder and prosperity that's beyond anyone's imagination if we're able to subdue in the way that we would like to subdue. 00:08:46.799 --> 00:08:51.840 And all we need to do, they say, is we need to cast off anything that is above us. 00:08:52.399 --> 00:09:05.840 If we cast off anything that is above us, and we're able to come together in an absolute unity among ourselves, then we will be able to have freedom and liberty and prosperity and joy among us as a people. 00:09:06.000 --> 00:09:11.120 And what that casting off is, it is a casting off of the rule of Christ. 00:09:11.679 --> 00:09:15.679 And so the kings are gathered together, plotted against the rule of Christ. 00:09:15.759 --> 00:09:17.200 Because what are they plotting against? 00:09:17.360 --> 00:09:19.840 Any authority that would be above them. 00:09:21.440 --> 00:09:27.840 And God's response to the plotting of the kings is laughter. 00:09:29.759 --> 00:09:31.519 God laughs at them. 00:09:32.159 --> 00:09:35.679 They're plotted against the rule of God. 00:09:36.399 --> 00:09:42.960 And God hears them plotting against the rule of God, and his response is okay, guys. 00:09:44.879 --> 00:09:50.000 It's a it's a it's sort of quaint, these kings of the world. 00:09:50.559 --> 00:10:00.159 He laughs at them because he understands the nature of his authority, he understands the nature of his kingdom. 00:10:00.399 --> 00:10:04.960 He sees them thinking we are the ones with no kings over us. 00:10:05.519 --> 00:10:11.279 And that means we can form and shape the world however we desire to form and shape it. 00:10:11.440 --> 00:10:13.679 And God laughs. 00:10:14.960 --> 00:10:17.039 He laughs at their plotting. 00:10:18.320 --> 00:10:22.000 Because he knows he is the one who is over them. 00:10:22.320 --> 00:10:24.720 And they will find out soon enough. 00:10:25.039 --> 00:10:33.440 And the psalm ends with this warning to the kings of the world, to all the authorities of the world. 00:10:33.679 --> 00:10:36.799 Here's what it says in Psalm 2, verses 10 through 12. 00:10:37.039 --> 00:10:40.399 It says, Now therefore, O kings, be wise. 00:10:41.519 --> 00:10:45.039 Be warned, O rulers of the earth. 00:10:46.320 --> 00:10:51.600 Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling. 00:10:52.879 --> 00:10:57.840 Kiss the sun, lest he be angry, and you perish in the way. 00:10:58.399 --> 00:11:00.960 For his wrath is quickly kindled. 00:11:01.759 --> 00:11:05.360 Blessed are all who take refuge in him. 00:11:06.799 --> 00:11:10.799 The kings have gotten together and they've laid out their plans. 00:11:11.360 --> 00:11:13.840 We cast off the ways of the Lord. 00:11:14.000 --> 00:11:18.559 We can live with any liberty, with any freedom that we could possibly imagine. 00:11:18.720 --> 00:11:25.519 Whatever our hearts desire, we will be able to acquire for ourselves and satisfy ourselves with. 00:11:25.840 --> 00:11:29.279 God in the heavens laughs and he warns them. 00:11:29.519 --> 00:11:32.879 And he says, kiss the Son. 00:11:33.679 --> 00:11:34.879 Be warned. 00:11:35.279 --> 00:11:43.120 There is a king above you, and if you do not submit to that king, then you will perish in the way. 00:11:44.159 --> 00:11:48.159 But blessed are all of those who find refuge in him. 00:11:49.919 --> 00:11:54.240 You see, the Romans hated the proclamation, Christ is Lord. 00:11:54.879 --> 00:11:59.600 They likely thought that Jesus wanted to be Caesar. 00:12:00.720 --> 00:12:03.440 Jesus was not interested in being Caesar. 00:12:03.600 --> 00:12:06.480 He's fine with Caesar being Caesar, in fact. 00:12:07.200 --> 00:12:13.360 But what was required of Caesar is that Caesar would say, Christ is Lord. 00:12:14.320 --> 00:12:15.919 There is a God above me. 00:12:16.159 --> 00:12:17.679 There is a king above me. 00:12:17.840 --> 00:12:22.480 And it is to him that we must show this honor. 00:12:23.200 --> 00:12:25.120 They all must kiss the ring. 00:12:25.279 --> 00:12:34.399 You know, you picture like the United Nations, you know, and it's it's the they're they're all lined up, all the kings of the world. 00:12:34.559 --> 00:12:38.480 And you imagine what it would be like to be in that sort of a club. 00:12:38.639 --> 00:12:40.720 It's a very, it's very rare air. 00:12:41.039 --> 00:12:43.200 It'd be like owning an NFL team or something. 00:12:43.279 --> 00:12:49.679 It's very, there's not many people who get you, you know, and you just kind of hang out with each other. 00:12:50.399 --> 00:13:00.879 And in that sort of club, you walk in and they're able to talk and commune, and they they tell stories, and they're like, oh, well, you know, heavy lies the crown, and they say that sort of thing to each other. 00:13:01.440 --> 00:13:03.279 And uh nobody gets this but us. 00:13:03.440 --> 00:13:12.080 We don't understand what it's like, how difficult this is for us, and they eat their caviar or whatever, and discuss the difficulties. 00:13:14.080 --> 00:13:17.279 And they relish the membership. 00:13:17.679 --> 00:13:24.879 They relish that they're they're among equals only because to each of them there's nobody above them in their respective land. 00:13:26.320 --> 00:13:30.000 And then Jesus walks in. 00:13:32.000 --> 00:13:36.399 Jesus, the this, you know, the carpenter's son. 00:13:38.240 --> 00:13:39.919 Jesus walks in. 00:13:41.120 --> 00:13:45.120 And they they the the air leaves the room. 00:13:46.159 --> 00:13:47.759 And they're found out. 00:13:48.399 --> 00:13:50.159 There's something above us. 00:13:50.639 --> 00:13:54.320 And they realize we must kiss his ring. 00:13:55.120 --> 00:13:58.799 And if we don't kiss his ring, we will perish. 00:14:00.480 --> 00:14:02.080 Christ is Lord. 00:14:02.639 --> 00:14:06.799 It is a gospel, it is a gospel of the kingdom. 00:14:07.039 --> 00:14:19.600 And the kingdom means that he will have all nations, and that all nations and tribes and tongues and peoples must submit to this reality that there is someone above them. 00:14:21.440 --> 00:14:25.120 A true king, a king of kings. 00:14:25.360 --> 00:14:28.960 And this one above them is Jesus Christ. 00:14:29.200 --> 00:14:30.320 We know his name. 00:14:30.639 --> 00:14:33.039 And there is no refuge apart from him. 00:14:33.519 --> 00:14:36.159 There is only refuge within him. 00:14:37.919 --> 00:14:41.279 He is the true king of all nations. 00:14:42.799 --> 00:14:50.879 Our catechism question is question 26, and it says, How doth Christ execute the office of a king? 00:14:51.840 --> 00:15:07.759 The answer is, Christ executeth the office of a king in subduing us to himself, in ruling and defending us, and in restraining and conquering all his and our enemies. 00:15:09.200 --> 00:15:11.919 There are two categories that are described here. 00:15:12.879 --> 00:15:21.919 There is how Christ treats the people who kiss the ring, how Christ treats those who submit to him as king. 00:15:22.399 --> 00:15:26.159 And the second is how does Christ treat his enemies? 00:15:26.399 --> 00:15:28.480 And that's the nature of a king. 00:15:28.799 --> 00:15:34.159 Kings are they're they're dividing lines, you know, they're like embodiments of the nation. 00:15:34.639 --> 00:15:38.720 And so the king has those citizens which he protects. 00:15:39.039 --> 00:15:44.879 And the king has those enemies which he must guard against and defend his people against. 00:15:45.039 --> 00:15:56.799 You can imagine a king, like imagine a king of a people going into the United Nations and concocting a deal with the other nations that would destroy his own people. 00:15:57.840 --> 00:16:00.080 You'd think this is no king. 00:16:00.320 --> 00:16:02.720 What is this king even who is he? 00:16:02.879 --> 00:16:05.200 He has a hatred for his own people. 00:16:05.360 --> 00:16:10.720 Or a king who sees an invading force and he says, Ah, just let him have it. 00:16:10.960 --> 00:16:14.720 You know, it's been such a busy holiday season. 00:16:15.759 --> 00:16:16.799 Just let him have it. 00:16:17.279 --> 00:16:18.799 We can just say, I won't defend them. 00:16:18.960 --> 00:16:19.759 Imagine that king. 00:16:19.840 --> 00:16:22.080 It's a hateful, terrible king. 00:16:22.320 --> 00:16:23.919 Because the king is the dividing line. 00:16:24.080 --> 00:16:27.200 The king is the one who says, friend and enemy. 00:16:28.000 --> 00:16:31.360 And the king treats his friends like friends. 00:16:31.679 --> 00:16:34.799 And the king treats his enemies like enemies. 00:16:35.039 --> 00:16:37.279 This is the nature of the king. 00:16:37.519 --> 00:16:40.639 And so that is the way that Christ executes the office of a king. 00:16:40.799 --> 00:16:51.440 We see how he executes it in regard to us, those who are in Christ, his people, and how he executes the office of the king in regards to his enemies. 00:16:53.120 --> 00:16:59.519 So first, we'll see how Christ executes the office of a king in regards to his people. 00:17:01.519 --> 00:17:07.359 That is shown in he subdues us to himself, he rules and he defends. 00:17:07.599 --> 00:17:08.480 Three things. 00:17:08.720 --> 00:17:13.039 He subdues, he rules, and he defends. 00:17:14.000 --> 00:17:20.400 So first, he executes the office of a king in subduing us to himself. 00:17:21.200 --> 00:17:26.240 This is the first claim, and it is the most fundamental thing that we must realize. 00:17:26.480 --> 00:17:29.680 That Christ is the true king of all creation. 00:17:29.839 --> 00:17:33.359 From him, through him, and to him, all things are. 00:17:33.839 --> 00:17:35.440 All things were created by him. 00:17:35.759 --> 00:17:38.559 Nothing that is made was not made without him. 00:17:39.599 --> 00:17:42.799 So he is the true ruler and owner of it all. 00:17:44.079 --> 00:17:46.720 But that is not the state in which we meet him. 00:17:47.839 --> 00:17:50.640 That is not the authority to which we grant him. 00:17:50.880 --> 00:17:55.759 In our hearts, we approach Christ as rebels against him. 00:17:58.319 --> 00:18:06.640 The way that we initially come to Christ is by rebelling against him, by being discovered as his enemies. 00:18:06.799 --> 00:18:11.200 That is the state that we are in because of sin. 00:18:13.200 --> 00:18:18.559 It's not because of Christ, it's not that Christ was saying, like, I desire to just have a world full of enemies. 00:18:18.799 --> 00:18:24.319 It is because we rebelled against him in our sin in the garden. 00:18:25.680 --> 00:18:29.200 And so we begin as Christ's enemies in open rebellion. 00:18:29.279 --> 00:18:33.200 And Ephesians 2, verses 1 through 3, here is our state outside of Christ. 00:18:33.359 --> 00:18:34.559 This is the way it's described. 00:18:34.720 --> 00:19:01.200 It says, And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience, among whom we all once lived, in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. 00:19:03.279 --> 00:19:10.240 So to begin with, it says, And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked. 00:19:10.480 --> 00:19:17.200 To be a king is to be the lawgiver, and also the one who executes the law. 00:19:17.519 --> 00:19:25.200 Now we are dead in our trespasses and sins because there is an ultimate lawgiver. 00:19:26.160 --> 00:19:29.359 There is a true king above us. 00:19:29.759 --> 00:19:40.079 There is a way that we are required morally and ethically to live in relationship to that king and in relationship to one another. 00:19:40.400 --> 00:19:50.960 Trespasses and sins are those ways in which we violate the most fundamental laws, the true laws of the world that hold it together. 00:19:52.720 --> 00:20:02.960 And so to violate those laws, the laws that are made by our Creator and our God, of course, the result of that is death. 00:20:04.960 --> 00:20:09.039 The law of the Lord is for the giving of life. 00:20:09.920 --> 00:20:15.839 But in our rebellion against it, we become the enemies of God, and the result of that is death. 00:20:16.000 --> 00:20:21.759 That's why we're described as it, and you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked. 00:20:21.920 --> 00:20:25.519 And you might be thinking, walking dead, that's weird. 00:20:25.759 --> 00:20:27.839 Because if you're dead, you can't walk. 00:20:28.079 --> 00:20:32.799 You know, it'd be a good show, though, for like three seasons. 00:20:34.640 --> 00:20:39.599 And the, but but why, that's kind of, honestly, it's kind of like where we get our zombie thing. 00:20:39.680 --> 00:20:41.119 That's like what that's what we're talking about. 00:20:41.279 --> 00:20:46.640 We know what it means to be a walking dead, to be alive, but to be dead, to be connected to nothing. 00:20:46.720 --> 00:20:51.599 And even the way that the zombie is, it's just like, what is a zombie? 00:20:51.839 --> 00:20:56.480 It's just like a mindless appetite. 00:20:58.079 --> 00:21:01.680 An ungoverned, mindless appetite. 00:21:02.559 --> 00:21:05.279 And you look at it and it's just dead. 00:21:05.680 --> 00:21:08.000 And what do you do with zombies? 00:21:09.359 --> 00:21:14.480 You you in all sorts of creative ways destroy them. 00:21:15.200 --> 00:21:23.119 You know, in a lot of down-home, kind of home alone-y kind of ways, you destroy the zombies. 00:21:23.440 --> 00:21:24.400 See, you get it. 00:21:24.640 --> 00:21:26.079 You get the story. 00:21:26.799 --> 00:21:30.480 That's what we are in our trespasses and sins. 00:21:30.640 --> 00:21:34.000 When we rebel against the true law, that's what we become. 00:21:34.079 --> 00:21:34.880 And so we're dead. 00:21:35.039 --> 00:21:36.880 And what does our death look like? 00:21:37.200 --> 00:21:42.240 It looks like manifesting the attributes of the enemies of God. 00:21:43.759 --> 00:21:52.720 And these are described in this text in three ways in the world, in our flesh, and the devil. 00:21:54.079 --> 00:21:59.759 These are the characteristics that we take on in our rebellion against. 00:22:00.160 --> 00:22:01.039 Against God. 00:22:01.519 --> 00:22:05.680 So the text says we were following the course of this world. 00:22:05.839 --> 00:22:07.519 How are we dead in our trespasses? 00:22:07.680 --> 00:22:10.720 We're just following the course of this world. 00:22:11.200 --> 00:22:14.880 This means that we have taken on the culture of death. 00:22:16.240 --> 00:22:19.440 The world is a pattern of sin. 00:22:20.559 --> 00:22:34.000 And when we embody and embrace and move within the rhythms of that pattern, then we are just moving along with the course of the world that dissolves into entropy and into death. 00:22:34.720 --> 00:22:40.720 And you can see it, it creates it turns you into something like a mindless appetite. 00:22:41.519 --> 00:22:46.799 You know, something that's just mindlessly being fed all the time, a mindless appetite. 00:22:46.960 --> 00:22:51.039 You know, like it, like, uh, uh, like your news feed. 00:22:51.759 --> 00:22:55.440 It's just it never there's no, it never, it keeps going. 00:22:55.920 --> 00:23:02.079 It keeps going, and it's getting better at better at and better all the time at satisfying my appetite. 00:23:02.240 --> 00:23:10.559 And then I just become this sort of appetite thing that it's that I'm just being I'm devouring, or it's devouring me. 00:23:10.640 --> 00:23:12.400 You know, you know the feeling? 00:23:14.559 --> 00:23:17.119 That's following the course of this world. 00:23:17.279 --> 00:23:20.160 The ordinary intuitions of the world. 00:23:23.599 --> 00:23:26.319 That lead to a culture of death. 00:23:30.319 --> 00:23:35.359 Second, it says we were following the prince of the power of the air. 00:23:37.119 --> 00:23:39.200 We're not used to thinking in these terms. 00:23:39.920 --> 00:23:46.480 It doesn't feel like we're we're following Satan, which that's what this is a description of, the prince of the power of the air. 00:23:46.559 --> 00:23:47.599 It's a description of Satan. 00:23:47.680 --> 00:23:49.440 It doesn't feel like we're following Satan. 00:23:49.519 --> 00:23:50.880 That's not what it feels like. 00:23:51.119 --> 00:23:53.839 It feels like we're just we're just kind of out here living. 00:23:53.920 --> 00:24:00.720 Like it, like there's the I I hear, I haven't met, at least to my knowledge, like a Satanist. 00:24:01.440 --> 00:24:14.160 You know, but even like the Satanists that you that you see, they're like you like on TV and stuff, or YouTube, you know, and stuff, they they seem like, yeah, just regular old humanists. 00:24:14.240 --> 00:24:15.039 It's no big deal. 00:24:15.200 --> 00:24:17.119 It doesn't feel like they're following Satan. 00:24:17.359 --> 00:24:23.039 And the and the the folks that worry about other people following Satan, don't they seem silly? 00:24:23.599 --> 00:24:31.839 You know, doesn't it seem like, I don't know, kind of like a like forgive me if you fall into this. 00:24:31.920 --> 00:24:37.440 I mean no offense by it, but doesn't it doesn't it seem like a like a late 80s, early 90s mom? 00:24:39.839 --> 00:24:43.200 Who's just like, you can't listen to that CD, that's satanic. 00:24:43.759 --> 00:24:45.759 You know, that's like a satanic thing. 00:24:45.920 --> 00:24:52.000 And they and it and we just kind of write that off as like uh that's absurd, that's silly. 00:24:54.400 --> 00:24:58.480 You know, they're they're obviously right. 00:24:59.519 --> 00:25:10.240 It may not be dressed up with horns and a tail, you know, and it may not be outright worshiping the personality of Satan, but look at look at what we celebrate. 00:25:11.839 --> 00:25:21.680 We have we have parades annually of celebrating sexual sin. 00:25:23.519 --> 00:25:26.319 So there's a I didn't see Satan anywhere. 00:25:26.640 --> 00:25:34.880 But imagine imagine a a society, a culture that had parades of sexual sin that we celebrated together. 00:25:36.400 --> 00:25:45.279 Uh imagine if we thought that the the most fundamental driving force of of our society and our prosperity was greed. 00:25:47.359 --> 00:25:50.000 What if we were a people that thought of ourselves like that? 00:25:50.079 --> 00:25:52.079 What if what if that were true? 00:25:53.680 --> 00:25:54.960 What if that were true? 00:25:55.200 --> 00:26:05.759 And the the most fundamental thing about us was was just any it we could we could justify anything in the name of financial gain. 00:26:06.559 --> 00:26:13.759 Even if we dressed it up in language of progress or efficiency or something, and we devoured ourselves and destroyed ourselves by it. 00:26:13.839 --> 00:26:17.839 But if that served as an ultimate justification, what it what do you think that is? 00:26:18.559 --> 00:26:25.039 You know, Satan doesn't, he I I don't think Satan is uh he's he's more of a uh destroyer type of thing. 00:26:25.279 --> 00:26:39.119 You know, I don't think he's I I think he just likes to see things get torn down because he knows that all the rebellion against God is ultimately just service to him. 00:26:40.799 --> 00:26:42.160 It's serving him. 00:26:42.880 --> 00:26:44.640 We're not used to thinking of this. 00:26:44.799 --> 00:26:56.720 We're not used to thinking in terms of serving persons like Satan. 00:26:59.039 --> 00:27:02.000 We think of it as just principles gone awry. 00:27:02.960 --> 00:27:05.759 That we've got the wrong principles that we've based our life on. 00:27:06.079 --> 00:27:15.440 I've said this a couple of times, I want it to become kind of a meme in our church, that principles and principalities, you doesn't it kind of rhyme? 00:27:17.039 --> 00:27:24.160 Because I want us to grasp that when we think in terms of principles, the Bible is speaking in terms of principalities. 00:27:25.200 --> 00:27:30.160 That is, personalities, beings, which are governing you. 00:27:30.319 --> 00:27:34.960 And the way that they govern you is by their lies. 00:27:35.839 --> 00:27:38.559 And they lie just like it just like anybody lies. 00:27:38.720 --> 00:27:44.400 They they lie by promising you life and then leading you to death. 00:27:45.599 --> 00:27:51.599 And it's a lie that sounds just the same old lies that that Satan offers from the very beginning. 00:27:51.680 --> 00:28:02.079 And they're the lies that we embody in our in our service to him, which are did God really say, follow up with a quick, you will not surely die? 00:28:04.000 --> 00:28:10.240 Did God really, did God really bind your your sexuality in this way? 00:28:10.640 --> 00:28:15.359 Such a narrow, you know, like uh monogamy? 00:28:15.680 --> 00:28:18.240 Did it did God really bind it in such a way? 00:28:19.839 --> 00:28:25.440 You know, you won't surely die by breaking out of that. 00:28:27.599 --> 00:28:31.920 Did God really require of you such a generosity? 00:28:33.440 --> 00:28:35.519 Did God really require that of you? 00:28:36.240 --> 00:28:41.519 You won't surely die if you hoard for yourself. 00:28:42.000 --> 00:28:43.519 You won't surely die. 00:28:45.200 --> 00:28:51.759 And it feels like we're serving a principle, but it's a person, the prince of the power of the air. 00:28:52.000 --> 00:28:58.799 In our rebellion against Christ, we are in submission to Satan, his enemy. 00:29:00.480 --> 00:29:09.359 And then finally, it says, we live out the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind. 00:29:10.240 --> 00:29:14.880 So we have the world, which you can think of as like the culture that you imbibe. 00:29:15.119 --> 00:29:24.480 We have Satan who is guiding these things, and who is the personality that we submit ourselves to, the higher authority that we submit ourselves to. 00:29:24.720 --> 00:29:30.880 And then we have our own flesh, the passions of our own flesh. 00:29:31.119 --> 00:29:33.440 And don't you see the zombie in it? 00:29:33.680 --> 00:29:35.759 You're just an appetite. 00:29:36.400 --> 00:29:42.880 You get reduced to just an appetite, a mindless appetite. 00:29:43.519 --> 00:29:53.440 And you're on this death spiral of fewer and fewer things which would finally satisfy you until they don't satisfy you at all anymore. 00:29:55.119 --> 00:30:01.200 These are, this is the nature of us outside of Christ. 00:30:01.359 --> 00:30:04.240 This is where we find ourselves outside of Christ. 00:30:04.400 --> 00:30:05.680 And so what are we? 00:30:05.839 --> 00:30:07.039 We are zombies. 00:30:07.200 --> 00:30:09.119 And what do you do with zombies? 00:30:09.359 --> 00:30:10.720 You destroy them. 00:30:11.279 --> 00:30:13.039 You destroy zombies. 00:30:13.279 --> 00:30:14.400 You kill them all. 00:30:14.559 --> 00:30:15.599 And you kill them all. 00:30:15.680 --> 00:30:18.079 And you know what you feel when you kill a zombie? 00:30:18.720 --> 00:30:27.839 I mean, I not that you know, but we've all seen the movies, and when they do it in the movies and the shows, I like it. 00:30:28.880 --> 00:30:30.720 I feel like I like that. 00:30:33.279 --> 00:30:36.319 We are children of wrath. 00:30:37.759 --> 00:30:41.680 Objects of wrath made for destruction. 00:30:45.759 --> 00:30:54.319 So the first thing that Christ does as king is he subdues us to himself. 00:30:56.480 --> 00:30:59.440 He subdues us to himself. 00:30:59.920 --> 00:31:19.440 He takes these objects of wrath made for destruction, these bottomless, mindless appetites submitted to Satan in open rebellion against all the goodness and blessedness that God had offered to them, and he subdues them to himself. 00:31:19.680 --> 00:31:38.319 In Colossians 1, 13 through 14, it says, He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. 00:31:38.720 --> 00:31:40.480 What is, do you do you hear it? 00:31:40.559 --> 00:31:44.640 You've been, you're like, this is I've never, I don't know, maybe this scene's happened. 00:31:44.720 --> 00:31:47.200 I I've literally stopped watching The Walking Dead. 00:31:47.599 --> 00:31:51.359 But maybe there's a scene, I don't think any zombie gets unwound. 00:31:51.519 --> 00:31:53.759 Does any zombie get unwound in that show? 00:31:54.000 --> 00:31:55.039 Doesn't matter. 00:31:55.279 --> 00:31:59.359 I'm going to say, for the sake of the sermon, no zombies get unwound. 00:31:59.519 --> 00:32:00.559 It's not a thing. 00:32:00.720 --> 00:32:02.640 Once you're bit, you're a zombie. 00:32:02.799 --> 00:32:04.160 And what do you do with a zombie? 00:32:04.240 --> 00:32:04.960 You destroy it. 00:32:05.119 --> 00:32:08.480 That's the only nature of what can happen to a zombie. 00:32:10.960 --> 00:32:16.160 But what does Christ do to this world of zombies? 00:32:18.079 --> 00:32:20.000 He delivers them. 00:32:21.680 --> 00:32:32.880 He delivers them from that terrible domain of darkness, which they of their own accord would choose for themselves, because they're bottomless appetites. 00:32:33.279 --> 00:32:40.079 Delivers them from the domain of darkness and transfers them to the kingdom of his beloved son. 00:32:40.480 --> 00:32:42.720 And what do they receive in this transfer? 00:32:43.200 --> 00:32:46.240 In this beloved son, we have redemption. 00:32:46.559 --> 00:32:52.400 That means he purchases us out of this enemy territory so that we belong to him. 00:32:52.880 --> 00:32:53.759 And what do we have? 00:32:53.920 --> 00:33:01.680 We have the forgiveness of sins so that when we come into his kingdom, we are washed and purified. 00:33:01.839 --> 00:33:09.759 Those sins which used to torment our lives and send us on this death spiral of appetite. 00:33:11.599 --> 00:33:13.920 He removes those from us. 00:33:15.039 --> 00:33:16.960 They are removed from us. 00:33:17.599 --> 00:33:21.039 And at great cost to himself, he subdues us. 00:33:21.279 --> 00:33:26.640 Because it just like the zombie must be subdued, there is a death that is required. 00:33:28.960 --> 00:33:42.480 But Jesus Christ subdues us to himself by taking that death upon himself so that the objects of wrath might be saved. 00:33:45.440 --> 00:33:48.400 This is the depth of his grace towards us. 00:33:49.440 --> 00:33:59.839 You've been delivered from the enemy camp, which you have completely embodied in culture, in submission, in the passions of your flesh. 00:34:00.079 --> 00:34:03.599 You know, you fit right in to the enemy culture. 00:34:03.759 --> 00:34:05.039 You're a true believer. 00:34:05.200 --> 00:34:07.359 You're a true enemy believer. 00:34:09.280 --> 00:34:11.920 And he subdues us to himself. 00:34:14.000 --> 00:34:16.800 Secondly, he rules us. 00:34:17.360 --> 00:34:18.480 The others are shorter. 00:34:18.559 --> 00:34:21.440 I know that's you heard secondly, and it's like, come on. 00:34:22.480 --> 00:34:24.000 The others are shorter. 00:34:24.320 --> 00:34:25.840 He rules us. 00:34:26.800 --> 00:34:28.400 How does a king rule? 00:34:28.559 --> 00:34:30.960 They rule by giving commands. 00:34:31.199 --> 00:34:32.559 They're the law. 00:34:32.800 --> 00:34:37.039 You know, the king is the one who gives and upholds the law. 00:34:38.320 --> 00:34:43.360 In John 13, 34, as I read this morning, it says, He rules us by giving us commandments. 00:34:43.440 --> 00:34:48.719 Listen to the rules that these new recently subdued zombies receive. 00:34:50.400 --> 00:34:59.840 A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. 00:35:00.239 --> 00:35:05.440 How different is this new kingdom with this new king? 00:35:06.159 --> 00:35:13.599 He brought us in by the sacrifice of himself because of the depth of love that he has for us. 00:35:13.760 --> 00:35:15.440 He subdues us to himself. 00:35:15.599 --> 00:35:18.800 And then brought into his new kingdom. 00:35:18.960 --> 00:35:22.079 He's like, remember the zombie ways you used to do things? 00:35:22.320 --> 00:35:35.280 The objectifying and the taking advantage of, in the humanity denying, and the in the uh manipulation of one another's appetites that you used to do to destroy and devour one another. 00:35:35.519 --> 00:35:38.639 It's like, remember how I brought you into this kingdom? 00:35:38.880 --> 00:35:42.880 I laid down my life for you when you didn't deserve it. 00:35:43.119 --> 00:35:47.920 Just as I have loved you, you are to love one another. 00:35:48.079 --> 00:35:49.679 That's my command. 00:35:50.000 --> 00:35:53.920 As your king, this is what this kingdom is to be ruled by. 00:35:54.159 --> 00:35:56.239 It's so utterly different. 00:35:56.559 --> 00:35:59.119 So completely different, so completely strange. 00:35:59.280 --> 00:36:03.440 But he does more than that because Christ is the highest king. 00:36:03.920 --> 00:36:06.719 It's the most, you know, he's the most king. 00:36:06.800 --> 00:36:08.800 And so he gives the most law. 00:36:09.039 --> 00:36:11.119 And what's the most law you could imagine? 00:36:11.280 --> 00:36:17.360 It's one that is not just written down and then told to you, but it's one that is placed on your very heart. 00:36:17.840 --> 00:36:28.239 So that when you're obedient to it, you're not just conforming yourself to some external constraint, but instead you are finding an internal agreement. 00:36:28.880 --> 00:36:33.360