More Than a Manger: The Unsettling Kingship of Jesus

[00:02:40] [SPEAKER UNKNOWN]:
Thank you for watching!

[00:04:16] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_03]:
Good morning, Watermark Church.
[00:04:21] We have a great opportunity this morning to give our God the glory that He deserves.
[00:04:23] Let's sing this one together.

[00:05:03] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_10]:
Deuteronomy, Deuteronomy, Deuteronomy, Deuteronomy
[00:05:53] Glory to God, Glory to God, Glory to God in the highest forever For all He has done is unfailing love Glory to God in the highest forever

[00:06:11] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_08]:
The truth that the heavens see, in whose birth the angels sing, Come adore on bended knee Christ the Lord.

[00:06:39] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_10]:
In excelsis Deo Gloria In excelsis Deo
[00:07:01] God, glory to God in the highest forever Where all He has done is unfailing love Glory to God in the highest forever Glory to God, glory to God Glory to God in the highest forever Where all He has done is unfailing love Glory to God in the highest forever
[00:07:33] Glory, glory, glory to God in the highest.

[00:07:54] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]:
Good morning Watermark!
[00:07:56] It is so great to see you this week of Christmas!
[00:08:00] My name is Krista and I am so glad you came to worship with us today.
[00:08:05] Let's talk about a couple things coming up around here at Watermark.
[00:08:09] First up, Wednesday is Christmas Eve and we will be having two services.
[00:08:14] One at 3 and one at 4 30.
[00:08:17] I personally love our Watermark Christmas Eve service.
[00:08:21] It's very relaxed, extremely kid and family friendly, so bring everyone out, invite your friends.
[00:08:28] It's just a wonderful way to prepare our hearts and our minds to celebrate the birth of our Savior.
[00:08:34] Also, we are looking forward to another Common Sense Lunch and Learn on Sunday, January 11th, right after Second Service.
[00:08:44] I cannot think of a better time than the New Year to refresh and restart our finances using biblical principles.
[00:08:51] So make sure you scan that QR code in your bulletin to get signed up.
[00:08:56] Now we're going to turn our attention over to Channon and Chelsea to lead us in a time of Advent.

[00:09:12] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_02]:
Today marks the fourth Sunday in the Advent season leading up to the celebration of Jesus' birth.
[00:09:18] It is a joyful season of preparation and anticipation.
[00:09:21] We have already lit the candles representing the light, promise, and presence we have in Christ Jesus.
[00:09:28] The good news for us is also that in Jesus, the King has come.
[00:09:32] Long before Jesus' birth, the prophet Isaiah made this promise about the Messiah, the King who would come.
[00:09:39] Of the greatness of his government and peace there will be no end.
[00:09:43] He will reign on David's throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever.
[00:09:51] The zeal of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this.
[00:09:54] Isaiah 9-7
[00:09:55] In his Gospel, Luke writes, He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High.
[00:10:01] The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over Jacob's descendants forever.
[00:10:07] His kingdom will never end.
[00:10:09] Luke 1.32-33 Today, as the celebration of his birth draws near, we light the candle that represents the coming King, who is Jesus Christ.

[00:10:40] [SPEAKER UNKNOWN]:
Let's pray.

[00:11:04] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_05]:
Behold the King has come, divinity incarnate, Creator of the world, breathing our air.
[00:11:24] Behold what light has come, and the dark cannot contain it.
[00:11:34] The Savior of the world is finally here O come, let us adore Him Come, let us adore Him For He alone is worthy Christ the Lord

[00:12:30] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_10]:
Go and see that empty tomb He's not there for He is risen Every heart prepare Him room Jesus Christ the King of Heaven Oh come, let us adore Him Come, let us adore Him
[00:13:00] For he alone is worthy, Christ the Lord We give you all the glory

[00:13:17] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_09]:
We give you all the glory We give you all the glory Christ the Lord We give you all the glory We give you all the glory We give you all the glory

[00:13:55] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_10]:
We praise Your name forever We praise Your name forever Christ the Lord Oh come, let us adore Him Come, let us adore Him
[00:14:32] Let us adore Him Come, let us adore Him For He alone is worthy Christ the Lord He is Christ the Lord

[00:15:15] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_06]:
How great the castle that lay between us How high the mountain I could not climb
[00:15:41] In desperation I turned to heaven And spoke Your name into the night Then through the darkness Your lovingkindness Tore through the shadows of my soul The work is finished
[00:16:11] The end is written Jesus Christ my living hope Who could imagine so great a mercy
[00:16:31] What heart could fathom such boundless grace The God of ages stepped down from glory To wear my sin and bear my shame

[00:16:51] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_10]:
The cross has spoken, I am forgiven The King of Kings calls me His own Beautiful Savior, I'm Yours forever Jesus Christ, my living hope
[00:17:21] Hallelujah, praise the one who set me free Hallelujah, death has lost its grip on me You have broken every chain There's salvation in your name Jesus Christ, my living hope
[00:17:46] Hallelujah, praise the one who set me free Hallelujah, death has lost its grip on me You have broken every chain There's salvation in your name Jesus Christ, my living God

[00:18:14] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_06]:
Then came the morning that sealed the promise Your buried body began to breathe Out of the silence the roaring lion Declared the grave has no claim on me

[00:18:41] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_10]:
Then came the morning that sealed the promise Your buried body began to breathe Out of the silence the roaring lion Declared the grave has no claim on me Jesus, Yours is the King
[00:19:19] Hallelujah, praise the one who set me free Hallelujah, death has lost its grip on me You have broken every chain There's salvation in your name Jesus Christ, my leader
[00:19:47] Hallelujah, praise the one who set me free Hallelujah, death has washed its grip on me You have broken every chain There's salvation in your name Jesus Christ, my living God

[00:20:31] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_04]:
Jesus our living hope our living hope he is alive he did not stay in that grave right now at this season we celebrate his birth his beautiful wonderful birth coming to the world for us for us and he taught he showed others who he was people rejected him didn't see him for the God that he is
[00:21:00] But we know, I'm so grateful.
[00:21:02] I know many of you are also grateful.
[00:21:06] And then he also died.
[00:21:08] He paid the penalty that we could never pay for sin.
[00:21:15] But he rose again.
[00:21:16] Praise God, he rose again.
[00:21:18] And now we can live forever in heaven with God because of that.
[00:21:24] and now though we get to walk with him live life with him right with us caring about us wrapping his loving arms around us not judging us because that part's gone he already paid the price he loves us and he wants such a close relationship with us draw near to him he draws near to you he's always right there
[00:21:49] As you celebrate the rest of this season, this week, just remember how much He loves you, how much He's done for us.
[00:21:58] And one day, we get to see Him face to face and thank Him for it all.
[00:22:03] Just thank you, Lord Jesus, for all these things and more, who you are, what you've done, that we get to eternally be with you one day.
[00:22:15] Thank you for the beautiful light of this season that you are.
[00:22:18] You are the reason for the season and the light of the world.
[00:22:22] We love you and we praise you and we thank you.
[00:22:25] And it's in your matchless name we pray, Jesus.

[00:22:27] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_10]:
Amen.

[00:22:53] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]:
Well, good morning.
[00:22:58] Wow, it's so good to see you today.
[00:23:00] Beautiful.
[00:23:01] Full house today.
[00:23:02] Love to see that on the Sunday before we celebrate the birth of our Savior.
[00:23:06] Amen?
[00:23:08] So Merry Christmas to you, and by the way, today is the first day of winter.
[00:23:12] Did you know that?
[00:23:14] First day of winter today, which means that it will be the darkest night of the year.
[00:23:18] The good news for us is that after today, the days start getting longer again.
[00:23:23] We like that.
[00:23:24] You know, that's good stuff, right?
[00:23:26] So get through tonight.
[00:23:28] You know, during this season, we're celebrating the coming king.
[00:23:32] In fact, the king has come.
[00:23:33] Each Sunday during the Advent season we light a candle that represents Jesus, who He is to us.
[00:23:41] Today we lit a candle that acknowledges Jesus is King.
[00:23:45] And throughout the Advent season we light three purple candles.
[00:23:49] You know why it's purple?
[00:23:52] Because it represents royalty, right?
[00:23:54] That He is indeed King.
[00:23:55] Today we light a pink candle.
[00:23:57] Do you know why?
[00:23:59] That is coming near.
[00:24:00] It's drawing near.
[00:24:01] That day will be here before long.
[00:24:02] And then of course on Wednesday we light the white candle that represents Christ Himself, the birth of Jesus.
[00:24:08] All of these attributes of Jesus are represented in each of these candles.
[00:24:12] And again today we light a candle that represents Jesus as King.
[00:24:16] He is the King.
[00:24:20] So today on this fourth Sunday in Advent, the Sunday before we celebrate Jesus' birth, we're continuing this series.
[00:24:28] We're calling this series Christmas Unwrapped.
[00:24:31] We're talking more, digging deeper into the story that you thought you knew.
[00:24:35] So this morning we're going to take a closer look at Matthew's Gospel in chapter 2 in that particular Gospel to see what he has to say about Jesus' birth.
[00:24:46] Now Matthew's account is kind of unique.
[00:24:49] It's unique from the other Gospels and in all honesty it's not a part of the Christmas story that a lot of preachers gravitate toward.
[00:24:58] It's not one that we rally around necessarily because it's not as warm and fuzzy as Luke's account in Luke chapter 2 which we'll cover on Christmas Eve of course.
[00:25:09] Matthew focuses on the dark part of this story.
[00:25:13] A part that points to the darkness that we all wrestle with in our own lives.
[00:25:18] The quiet part that we don't like to talk about but that lurks in all of us.
[00:25:24] That same darkness that Jesus came to defeat.
[00:25:28] Maybe it's not by accident that today, on the darkest day of the year,
[00:25:33] We're going to speak on this text.
[00:25:36] So if you want to follow along in your Bible, you're welcome to do that.
[00:25:39] We'll be in Matthew chapter 2.
[00:25:40] It's a longer chapter.
[00:25:42] I'm going to focus on a few select verses.
[00:25:44] You can see the ones that are referenced here.
[00:25:46] And I'll just read through it with you.
[00:25:49] After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem and they asked, Where is the one who has been born King of the Jews?
[00:26:02] We saw his star when it rose and we've come to worship him.
[00:26:07] When King Herod heard this, he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him.
[00:26:13] Then Herod called the Magi secretly, and he found out from them the exact time the star had appeared.
[00:26:20] He sent them to Bethlehem, and he said, Go, search carefully for the child.
[00:26:24] As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him.
[00:26:31] When they had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream.
[00:26:35] Get up, he said.
[00:26:37] Take the child, his mother, and escape to Egypt.
[00:26:40] Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.
[00:26:46] So he got up.
[00:26:47] He took the child and his mother.
[00:26:48] During the night he left for Egypt.
[00:26:51] Where he stayed until the death of Herod.
[00:26:55] And so was fulfilled what the Lord had said through the prophet out of Egypt, I call my son.
[00:27:00] When Herod realized that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious and he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under in accordance with the time that he had learned from the Magi.
[00:27:17] But when he heard that Archilas was reigning in Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there.
[00:27:25] Having been warned in a dream, he withdrew to the district of Galilee, and he went and lived in a town called Nazareth.
[00:27:31] And so was fulfilled what was said through the prophets, that he would be called a Nazarene.
[00:27:38] So Herod the Great sat on the throne, ruling over Judea at Jesus' birth.
[00:27:46] Ironically, Herod was called Great, but he was anything but great.
[00:27:52] He was not a great man.
[00:27:54] He had a very dark side, as you saw in this text just a moment ago, and we'll focus a little bit on that today.
[00:28:00] And by the way, I want to credit, as I have throughout this series, Timothy Keller for a book he wrote, Hidden Christmas.
[00:28:07] It's a very insightful book and I appreciate it.
[00:28:10] And I drew some of the insights that I'll share with you from that book.
[00:28:14] So credit to him.
[00:28:16] You know, there's a reason that Matthew shared this part of the Christmas story.
[00:28:20] The truth is, all of us know we love Luke's account in Luke chapter 2, right?
[00:28:26] And that's the one that we spend a lot of time, you know, looking at, studying, reflecting on during the Christmas season.
[00:28:32] But many of you probably haven't given a whole lot of thought to Matthew's account of Jesus' birth.
[00:28:39] And in fact, you're wondering, why is such a dark story associated with the good news?
[00:28:46] Some of you, maybe you've heard Jesus is King, but you've been reluctant to let Him get anywhere near the throne of your life.
[00:28:56] You haven't been open to bending a knee to anyone.
[00:28:59] Yet the Lord has led you here today to hear more about this King who has come.
[00:29:04] Some of you, maybe you've had trouble surrendering to Jesus' leadership in your life.
[00:29:10] Others of you are here to worship Jesus as your Savior, as your Lord, as your King.
[00:29:17] Here's the truth.
[00:29:19] No matter where you are in life's journey,
[00:29:21] No matter where you are in your faith journey, I don't believe you're here today by accident.
[00:29:25] I believe that the Lord has drawn you to this place today, has led you here today to teach you so much more about the story that you thought you knew, to help you to fully understand what it means that Jesus, the King, has come.
[00:29:42] But before we dig into God's Word today, let's pray.
[00:29:46] Our Father, I'm so grateful to have this time to spend with you.
[00:29:51] And in your word, God, we're always grateful for the time to gather together and to sing these songs of praises, of adoration to you.
[00:30:00] And today, God, we've sung, acknowledged that Jesus is indeed King.
[00:30:05] God, we sing those words, but what does it mean that Jesus is king?
[00:30:10] God, would you open our hearts and our minds today to receive the word that you have for us?
[00:30:16] Your word is clear.
[00:30:17] Jesus is king.
[00:30:19] But God, we want to know, what does that mean for us?
[00:30:22] What does that mean to us?
[00:30:24] And how does it impact our lives when we leave this place today?
[00:30:28] Father, teach us something fresh and new about this story that we thought we knew.
[00:30:33] We pray all this in Jesus' holy and precious name.
[00:30:37] Amen.
[00:30:39] So Matthew's account surrounding the birth of Jesus is unique.
[00:30:44] It's unique to the other three Gospels in that his is the only one that tells us about the wise men, the Magi from the East who had come to visit Jesus.
[00:30:54] But before they went to see Jesus, they went to see King Herod.
[00:30:59] And when they got to him, they asked him this question.
[00:31:02] Where is the one who has been born King of the Jews?
[00:31:07] Now I want you to think about that for a moment.
[00:31:09] How do you think Herod felt when these guys, these highly respected wise men, came to his palace and stood before him as he sat on the throne and said, where is this one that we might worship, this one who is called King of the Jews?
[00:31:26] You think Herod was happy to hear that?
[00:31:28] You think he was excited about that?
[00:31:31] You think he really wanted to go and worship this one who is called King of the Jews?
[00:31:36] No way.
[00:31:37] There's no way.
[00:31:38] In fact, it's very clear what he thought about Jesus.
[00:31:42] Matthew tells us that when he heard this news that he, Herod, was disturbed.
[00:31:49] Some translations tell us that he was troubled.
[00:31:52] In the original language, this word means he was agitated.
[00:31:57] He was restless.
[00:31:59] He was stirred up.
[00:32:02] And there's no doubt about that, given what he does next.
[00:32:05] Now, you need to know something about this Herod.
[00:32:08] That history tells us that he was no timid, no passive, no likable king.
[00:32:14] Not in any stretch of the imagination.
[00:32:16] This guy was one bad dude.
[00:32:19] In fact, he was a violent king, even by the standards of that time.
[00:32:24] And in history, this was a violent time.
[00:32:27] This was a man who killed members of his own court, even his own family, to make sure that his absolute power was unchallenged.
[00:32:37] So once Herod got the word about the birth of this child called King, he consulted scholars about this one who told him about the prophecies of a Messiah who would be born in Bethlehem.
[00:32:50] So Herod decided to send these wise men on a mission for him to find that baby.
[00:32:57] and then to immediately come back and tell him where he is so that he could go and worship him, right?
[00:33:05] Of course, we know that Herod had absolutely no intention of worshiping Jesus.
[00:33:10] Matthew tells us as much.
[00:33:12] Herod's plan was to eliminate him, to eliminate any threat to his throne.
[00:33:19] So the wise men did find Jesus and they gave him some interesting gifts.
[00:33:23] What did they give Jesus?
[00:33:24] Do you remember?
[00:33:25] Yeah.
[00:33:28] Yeah, that's right.
[00:33:29] Gold, frankincense, and myrrh.
[00:33:32] Now, how many wise men were there?
[00:33:33] Do you know?
[00:33:35] You know, we always think that there are three wise men because there were three gifts.
[00:33:40] But the truth is, there may have been more.
[00:33:42] We don't know for sure how many there were.
[00:33:45] There could have been a lot more.
[00:33:46] But again, we tend to count that there are three.
[00:33:48] It's also interesting that we like to include the wise men in our nativity scenes.
[00:33:53] If you walk around the church, you'll see wise men in those scenes.
[00:33:57] Back here in Kidsport, over in the bridge, on the table.
[00:34:01] They're there, which is fine.
[00:34:04] But the truth is,
[00:34:05] They may not have arrived until months or even a couple of years after Jesus was born.
[00:34:13] But when they did find Jesus having received a warning from God, they wisely did not return to tell Herod where Jesus was.
[00:34:21] And in fact, they took a different route home altogether.
[00:34:25] So after Herod figured out that he had been duped,
[00:34:29] This cruel king wanted to make sure again that he eliminated any threat to his throne.
[00:34:36] So he does the unthinkable, right?
[00:34:38] He has all the male children under the age of two in Bethlehem and the surrounding areas killed.
[00:34:44] Which amounted to about 20 or 30 children.
[00:34:48] Now I always think, you know, in my mind I was thinking there are a lot more kids than that.
[00:34:53] But the truth is, and no matter if it was just one, it was still barbaric to even consider, horrific to think about.
[00:35:00] But there were 20 to 30 who were killed.
[00:35:04] And again, this is a bad man.
[00:35:05] And it still wasn't even unusual for him given his reign of terror.
[00:35:12] He was truly bad in the purest sense of the word.
[00:35:15] But though it wasn't unusual for this king, understand this was an atrocity to those who would have experienced this in that time.
[00:35:24] Everyone in that community, but especially.
[00:35:27] The parents of these boys, right?
[00:35:30] Imagine having your infant son taken out of your arms and then murdered in that way.
[00:35:36] Unimaginable.
[00:35:37] Truly heartbreaking.
[00:35:39] So had God not warned Joseph in a dream about Herod's murderous plan, Jesus would have been killed too.
[00:35:47] Joseph obediently followed the Lord's instruction without question, without delay, taking his wife and baby Jesus, fleeing to Egypt where they would stay until after Herod's death, which was anywhere between a few months and a few years, depending on who you ask.
[00:36:06] But ultimately, Joseph would return to Judea.
[00:36:09] He would settle in Nazareth where Jesus would call home.
[00:36:13] Now again, much of the information that we read here about Jesus' birth and Matthew is very unique to his gospel.
[00:36:23] So why does Matthew give us this account?
[00:36:26] And what can we learn from it?
[00:36:28] Understand that all four of the Gospel writers, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, they all had a lot of material, vital material that they could draw from to write their Holy Spirit inspired accounts of Jesus' life.
[00:36:42] So why did Matthew include this one?
[00:36:46] Understand that all the Gospel writers were very selective in what they chose to put into their Gospels, but you can count on a couple of things being true of all four of them.
[00:36:57] Number one,
[00:36:58] Whatever is written there is historically accurate.
[00:37:01] It actually happened.
[00:37:03] And number two, whatever is written there reveals something to us about who Jesus is and about what Jesus came to do.
[00:37:12] So Matthew's gospel in this particular account is no different.
[00:37:16] It has to teach us something about who Jesus is and about what he came to do.
[00:37:21] It tells us a little bit more about the Christmas story that maybe we thought we knew.
[00:37:26] But maybe we've never considered.
[00:37:29] You see, there's an overarching truth that can't be missed here.
[00:37:33] And I want you to write this down.
[00:37:34] In fact, I've already written it down in your outline.
[00:37:37] But you can put an exclamation point beside it.
[00:37:40] In Jesus, the King has come.
[00:37:44] Herod didn't like hearing that.
[00:37:46] He didn't like it at all.
[00:37:48] But the world desperately needed this King.
[00:37:50] They needed this Messiah.
[00:37:52] We needed this Savior.
[00:37:54] So Isaiah had prophesied hundreds of years before Jesus' birth that a King was coming.
[00:37:59] Channon read this earlier.
[00:38:01] I'll read it again in Isaiah 9-7.
[00:38:03] Of the greatness of His government and peace there will be no end.
[00:38:07] He will reign on David's throne and over His kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever.
[00:38:15] The zeal of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this.
[00:38:19] So what began as a promise of blessing on David's son Solomon turns into something more.
[00:38:27] The promise of an everlasting kingdom.
[00:38:31] Another son of David would rule on David's throne and his reign would last forever.
[00:38:37] This is a reference to the Messiah and the son of David is another of his titles.
[00:38:44] So the angel speaking to Mary said that her son Jesus would be the one to fulfill Isaiah's prophecy.
[00:38:51] Here's what was said in Luke chapter 1 verses 32 and following.
[00:38:55] He will be great.
[00:38:57] He'll be called the Son of the Most High.
[00:38:59] The Lord God will give him the throne.
[00:39:02] of his father, David.
[00:39:04] And he will reign over Jacob's descendants forever.
[00:39:08] His kingdom will never end.
[00:39:11] In Jesus, the King has come.
[00:39:15] Is there any doubt about that?
[00:39:18] So what does it mean that Jesus is King?
[00:39:22] You know, that notion was a huge threat to King Herod, right?
[00:39:28] Is it a threat to us?
[00:39:30] What are the implications for you and me that Jesus is King?
[00:39:34] You know, I think Matthew's account surrounding the birth of Jesus, the fact that in Jesus our King has come, I think there are at least four implications for you and me.
[00:39:47] And I would encourage you to write these down.
[00:39:50] Because here's the first one.
[00:39:52] If Jesus is indeed King, then we can't be.
[00:39:57] You understand that?
[00:39:58] If Jesus is king, you and I can't be.
[00:40:02] He is on the throne.
[00:40:04] And if He's on the throne, then you and I aren't.
[00:40:08] So Herod was deeply disturbed by the idea that there was a threat to his kingship, to his rule, to his authority over his kingdom.
[00:40:16] I want to ask you an introspective question for a moment.
[00:40:20] I want you to think about this deep in your heart of hearts.
[00:40:24] Do you think there's a little Herod
[00:40:27] In all of us, could there be a little Herod in you and me?
[00:40:34] Just a little bit.
[00:40:35] I want you to think about that.
[00:40:36] Not that we would act in such a blatantly evil way as he did to protect his throne, but if we're brutally honest, you and I, is it possible that we too bristle at the idea of someone else calling the shots in our lives?
[00:40:53] After all,
[00:40:55] It's not easy to surrender control of your life, is it?
[00:40:58] Yet if Jesus is on the throne, isn't that what you and I must do?
[00:41:04] The truth is, if you want to be king, someone else comes along and says, I want to be king.
[00:41:10] And one of you, you've got to give in, right?
[00:41:13] Only one sits on that throne.
[00:41:15] You see, Jesus came to us not to be in our royal court, not to serve under us, not to work for us.
[00:41:23] He came to be king, to be Lord, to be leader of our lives.
[00:41:29] And if He's king, we can't be.
[00:41:32] So Luke tells us that during the height of Jesus' ministry there were large crowds of people following Jesus around.
[00:41:39] Do you know this?
[00:41:40] But Jesus knew why many of them were tagging along.
[00:41:44] In fact, the vast majority of those people were not authentic followers who were committed to his leadership.
[00:41:51] Most were just trying to get something from Jesus.
[00:41:55] And Jesus knew it.
[00:41:56] Which is why he turned to them one day and he said these words captured in Luke chapter 14 verse 26.
[00:42:02] If anyone comes to me and does not hate father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yet even their own life, such a person cannot be my disciple.
[00:42:16] Wow.
[00:42:17] Sounds kind of harsh, doesn't it?
[00:42:20] I mean, on the surface, when you look at that, you think, why would Jesus expect me to hate my family?
[00:42:25] Why would Jesus expect me to hate myself to be His disciple?
[00:42:30] What does Jesus mean here?
[00:42:31] What is He talking about?
[00:42:33] I want to be clear that Jesus is not speaking literally about hating anyone including yourself here but what he is saying is that my commitment that your commitment to him should be so great that it makes our commitment to anyone else seem minuscule in comparison that's a pretty high hurdle for a lot of folks yet it's what Jesus expects
[00:42:59] It's what a king commands.
[00:43:01] It's what true discipleship demands.
[00:43:04] A claim of absolute authority, of unconditional loyalty.
[00:43:10] The problem is that we naturally resist that command, don't we?
[00:43:15] And why is that?
[00:43:16] Because to give up control like that might be a little disturbing, a little troubling, a little unsettling.
[00:43:25] It stirs us up.
[00:43:27] It makes us restless.
[00:43:29] We resist it.
[00:43:31] Does that sound just a little like Herod?
[00:43:34] You see, if Jesus is King, we can't be.
[00:43:39] But here's the second implication.
[00:43:41] If Jesus is King,
[00:43:43] And that means He's in charge, which means we aren't.
[00:43:47] But intuitively, naturally, we don't really like that, do we?
[00:43:52] I mean, it's not easy for us to let Jesus sit on the throne of our lives to be in charge because in our hearts, in our minds, naturally, we want to call the shots.
[00:44:02] We want to do what we want to do.
[00:44:04] We want to reign supreme.
[00:44:06] It's not easy.
[00:44:07] It's not natural to relinquish that throne.
[00:44:11] So the Apostle Paul talked about this a little bit in his letter to the Romans.
[00:44:15] Here's what he says in Romans chapter 8 verses 7 and 8.
[00:44:18] The mind governed by the flesh is hostile to God.
[00:44:24] I want you to circle that phrase hostile to God.
[00:44:27] You might underline flesh too.
[00:44:29] It does not submit to God's laws nor can it do so.
[00:44:33] Those who are in the realm of the flesh cannot please God.
[00:44:37] So Paul's saying that in its natural state, the mind, it's hostile toward God.
[00:44:43] Do you see that?
[00:44:44] What does that mean?
[00:44:45] You know, in the original language, that word denotes really a deep-seated opposition.
[00:44:51] It truly is a hostility toward God.
[00:44:53] Whether we want to admit it or not, there is at least a little enmity, a little hatefulness toward Him in all of us.
[00:45:00] It's called the flesh.
[00:45:03] And simply put, naturally, we resist His leadership.
[00:45:09] At the core of the human heart, the mind, is this impulse that says, nobody's going to tell me what to do.
[00:45:17] You ever said that?
[00:45:19] You ever heard anybody say that?
[00:45:20] Nobody's going to tell me what to do.
[00:45:23] And sometimes that impulse, it rears its ugly head.
[00:45:26] Let's be honest about that.
[00:45:28] Years ago I was chatting with a man who was having trouble keeping a job.
[00:45:32] And so I asked him a question.
[00:45:34] I said, hey, do you have any idea what the issue is for you?
[00:45:39] Why you can't keep a job?
[00:45:40] And he answered honestly.
[00:45:42] He said to me, I don't like taking orders from anybody.
[00:45:47] I'm not easily managed.
[00:45:50] It didn't take me long to figure out what his problem was, right?
[00:45:53] You know, it's a problem that kind of exists in all of us.
[00:45:56] The truth is, that mindset really doesn't work in the real world.
[00:46:00] Vocationally, somebody's always going to be telling us what to do.
[00:46:03] At the very least, we're going to be accountable to someone, even at the highest levels, whether we want to admit that or not.
[00:46:09] You see, culture, conditioning, trains us to hide our hostility toward leadership.
[00:46:16] We're taught, and rightly so, to mask this deep fleshly instinct to rebel.
[00:46:21] We want to be seen as cooperative, as kind, as loving.
[00:46:25] Though the chronically unemployed fellow that I was chatting with that day didn't seem to get that.
[00:46:31] Truthfully,
[00:46:32] There's no amount of education, there's no amount of a therapy that can remove this rebellious instinct from many of us.
[00:46:41] You see, according to the Bible, the evil in this world stems from the self-centeredness, the self-righteousness, the self-absorption of every human heart.
[00:46:51] Let's be honest, a lot of times we expect the world to orbit around us and our needs and our desires.
[00:46:58] Naturally, we don't want to serve others.
[00:47:00] We want them to serve us.
[00:47:03] The sad truth is, in every human heart, in every human mind, there's just a little bit of King Herod that wants to rule.
[00:47:13] That is threatened by the prospect of anyone else sitting on the throne that we've claimed for ourselves.
[00:47:20] But if Jesus is King, then He's on the throne, and He's in charge.
[00:47:26] Acknowledging that is a vital step towards surrendering your life to His leadership, which you will naturally object to.
[00:47:34] Everyone does.
[00:47:36] But here's the third implication.
[00:47:39] If Jesus is King, then we must surrender to His lead.
[00:47:44] Herod had no intention of answering to anyone, of following anyone's lead except his own.
[00:47:50] He intended to rule as he wanted, to do whatever he desired, to follow his own flawed natural inclinations.
[00:47:58] You know, I've said it a couple times, and I'll say it again.
[00:48:00] We don't want to think we're anything like Herod, right?
[00:48:05] But there's a little Herod in all of us, and without Jesus, we'll never change.
[00:48:11] The Apostle Paul makes that clear when he writes this in Romans 3, verses 10 and 11.
[00:48:16] There is no one righteous, not even one.
[00:48:19] There is no one who understands, and I want you to circle this phrase.
[00:48:23] There is no one who seeks God.
[00:48:28] Look at this in Romans 14.
[00:48:29] I'm sorry, Psalm 14, verses 1 and 2.
[00:48:33] The Lord looks down from heaven on all mankind to see if there are any who understand, any who seek God.
[00:48:41] All have turned away.
[00:48:43] All have become corrupt.
[00:48:45] There is no one who does good, not even one.
[00:48:49] So when you look at that text, when you read those passages from both the Old Testament and the New, you may think, come on.
[00:48:56] That's an exaggeration, right?
[00:48:59] I mean, surely someone seeks God.
[00:49:01] There has to be at least one, yet the word is clear, right?
[00:49:06] No one seeks God.
[00:49:09] So what does that mean?
[00:49:11] And what is Paul saying here?
[00:49:13] There are a couple of explanations that theologians like to give us.
[00:49:17] I'll offer you both.
[00:49:19] Some theologians point out that to seek the things that God offers,
[00:49:24] Right?
[00:49:25] Love, help, strength, joy, the list goes on.
[00:49:30] To seek those things is not to seek God or to want God Himself.
[00:49:36] It's actually just about getting something from Him.
[00:49:39] Getting what He offers.
[00:49:41] Remember those large crowds that were following Jesus?
[00:49:44] Remember when we talked about that a minute ago?
[00:49:46] Were those people really seeking Jesus Himself?
[00:49:51] Or were they just looking for something from Jesus?
[00:49:55] Right?
[00:49:55] The food, the free food, the generosity, the miracles, the healing.
[00:50:01] Isn't that what that crowd really wanted?
[00:50:04] And if you're not sure of the answer, I want you to think about this.
[00:50:07] Where were all those people, those crowds of people, when Jesus was being nailed to that cross?
[00:50:15] Nowhere to be found.
[00:50:17] You see, we see the same thing today when people walk away from the Christian faith because their lives aren't going the way they thought they would.
[00:50:24] Or because their prayers aren't being answered in the way they thought they should.
[00:50:29] Are those who walk away really interested in Jesus?
[00:50:33] Or are they just interested in what Jesus offers them?
[00:50:37] But you see, there's another view from theologians about the fact that no one seeks God.
[00:50:43] Some say that people seek God as they want Him to be, but not as the Bible reveals Him to be.
[00:50:51] Absolute King.
[00:50:54] That's another vital truth about the Christmas story that you thought you knew.
[00:50:58] As Keller asserts, this dark history of King Herod's violent lust for power points to our natural resistance, even hatred of the claims of God on our lives.
[00:51:11] You see, we create gods of our liking to mask our hostility toward the real God, the God who reveals Himself as our absolute King.
[00:51:20] And if the child born at Christmas is the true God, then no one will want to seek Him unless our hearts are supernaturally changed to want and to seek Him.
[00:51:32] Here's what Jesus said in John 6, 44.
[00:51:36] No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws them.
[00:51:42] In other words, the only way that we can seek God is if the Holy Spirit is first stirred in our hearts with a desire for God.
[00:51:51] It is God who draws us to Himself, you see.
[00:51:56] Maybe you've heard this before.
[00:51:59] You're not here by accident today.
[00:52:02] The Lord has brought you here on purpose and for a purpose to draw you to Him.
[00:52:09] You are here to know Jesus in a real and personal way.
[00:52:13] To recognize or to be reminded of who He is and what He came to do for you.
[00:52:19] To acknowledge that if Jesus is King, then I'll seek Him, I'll desire Him, I will surrender to His leadership, to His Lordship in my life.
[00:52:31] Amen?
[00:52:33] Here's the final implication for you and me.
[00:52:36] You see, if Jesus is King,
[00:52:38] We must worship Him.
[00:52:41] So Herod claimed that he wanted to worship Jesus, just like those wise men.
[00:52:47] But of course, we know he had no intention of doing that.
[00:52:51] Jesus was a threat to him.
[00:52:53] Herod wasn't about to bend a knee to him or anyone else for that matter.
[00:52:57] Herod intended to murder Him, to eliminate the threat of Jesus assuming His throne.
[00:53:03] Yet I want you to contrast Herod for a moment with those wise men who truly wanted to find Jesus because they knew that in Him the prophecy from long ago of a coming King, a Messiah, had been fulfilled, drawn by God to Him.
[00:53:19] They wanted to seek Him, to find Him, to worship Him, to give Him the glory that He, that He alone was due.
[00:53:27] So at Christmas, like the wise men, we can worship our King.
[00:53:33] You see, the great news for you and me, and I would write this down, is that Jesus came to earth to reign supreme in our lives.
[00:53:43] He wants to assume the throne in your life and in mine.
[00:53:47] Intuitively, naturally, we try to hold on to that seat.
[00:53:51] We don't want to yield that seat, that throne, to anyone in our lives.
[00:53:54] And in that way, we can admit, yeah, yeah, we are just a little bit like King Herod, even if it repulses us to consider.
[00:54:04] But you see, Jesus didn't come for the mighty, those who want to reign supreme.
[00:54:10] He came for the weak.
[00:54:12] He came for the oppressed.
[00:54:14] And all of us are oppressed by the sin that plagues us.
[00:54:17] Every religion, every moral philosophy in this world compels us to summon our own strength to live as we should.
[00:54:26] They appeal to strong people who can pull themselves up by their own work, by their own will.
[00:54:33] Christianity says no one can do that.
[00:54:36] We're only fooling ourselves if we think we can.
[00:54:39] As Keller makes clear, only Jesus says, I've come for the weak.
[00:54:44] I've come for those who admit they are weak.
[00:54:47] I will save them, not by what they do, but by what I do.
[00:54:53] So throughout his life, the disciples kept asking Jesus.
[00:54:57] They said, Jesus, when are you going to take power?
[00:55:00] Jesus, when are you going to save the world?
[00:55:03] Jesus, when are you going to assume the throne?
[00:55:05] You know what Jesus said?
[00:55:07] You don't understand.
[00:55:08] I'm going to lose all my power and die to save this world.
[00:55:14] I want you to write this down.
[00:55:15] At the pinnacle, at the high point of His life, Jesus ascended not to the throne, but to the cross.
[00:55:24] Born as a humble babe in that wooden manger, He would die as a humble Savior on a wooden cross to pay our sins penalty of death.
[00:55:36] And if you believe that,
[00:55:37] Then you can be reconciled to our holy and just God by accepting Jesus as your Savior, as your Lord, and allowing Him to assume the throne in your life.
[00:55:50] To acknowledge Jesus as King.
[00:55:52] The King who has come.
[00:55:55] And the King who will come again.
[00:55:58] So, we worship Him.
[00:56:03] You see, in Jesus, the King has come.
[00:56:07] And maybe for the very first time today, you've thought a little bit more about what that means.
[00:56:14] That Jesus is King.
[00:56:16] Because before today, maybe you haven't thought about it so much.
[00:56:21] Maybe you haven't thought that much about that part of Jesus' story.
[00:56:26] Of the Christmas story.
[00:56:28] But today, you realize, even if you've been a believer a long time, if Jesus is King, I can't be.
[00:56:37] If Jesus is King, then He's in charge, not me.
[00:56:42] If Jesus is King, then I'm going to surrender to Him.
[00:56:46] I'm not going to call the shots in my life.
[00:56:49] I'm going to look to Him for leadership in every way and every day.
[00:56:56] If Jesus is King.
[00:56:58] And He's worthy.
[00:57:00] He's worthy of my worship and my praise and my adoration.
[00:57:06] So I don't know where you are in your faith journey today.
[00:57:10] But you know something about me.
[00:57:13] I don't think you're here today by accident.
[00:57:15] I think the Lord has brought you here on purpose and for a purpose.
[00:57:20] And it was because He drew you to Him and to this message because He wants you to understand today what it means that He's King.
[00:57:30] I don't know where you are again in your relationship with him maybe there are parts of your lives that you've been holding on to maybe there's some area of your life that you've been unwilling to surrender to him maybe there's an area of sin and disobedience that you've said well that's me I'm gonna put God over here but today you recognize I can't do that anymore maybe for the very first time in your life you recognize I've been trying to be king
[00:57:56] I've been trying to rule my life, to sit on the throne.
[00:58:02] But it's not for me.
[00:58:04] It's for Him.
[00:58:05] And so today I want to surrender my life to Him, to His leadership.
[00:58:09] I want to acknowledge Him as Savior, Lord, King of my life.
[00:58:16] I want to invite you to stand on your feet if you're able.
[00:58:18] I'm going to pray for you.
[00:58:19] I'm going to pray with you.
[00:58:21] For those of you who are watching at home, you pray with me too.
[00:58:24] I don't know where you are, but the Lord may be speaking to you in this moment too.
[00:58:29] So let's pray.
[00:58:32] Father, we're so grateful for Your Word.
[00:58:36] God, even this story, a dark story, a story that sometimes we just skip over, Lord, in the Christmas story because it is so dark.
[00:58:45] But Lord, it says so much to us about who Jesus is, about who we are, and about what Jesus came to do for us.
[00:58:56] So God, for where we've tried to reign supreme in our lives, forgive us.
[00:59:03] God, we surrender control.
[00:59:05] Lordship and leadership to Jesus today and in every way God if there's any area of our lives that we're holding on to God we give it up to you now Lord if there's a person in this room or one watching today who for the very first time understands what it means that Jesus is King
[00:59:23] What it means that Jesus came to this earth to not assume that throne, but instead to go to that cross where He would give His life for each of us.
[00:59:36] And so today, God, there may be one who would say, Jesus, I'm a sinner in need of a Savior, and I know You're my Savior.
[00:59:44] And so I surrender my life to You today as Lord, as Leader, as King.
[00:59:49] I don't know everything that means, but I know You'll teach me.
[00:59:52] I want to know.
[00:59:53] I want to learn.
[00:59:54] God, I want to be discipled by Jesus.
[00:59:57] So grow me.
[00:59:59] Lord, thank You for Your Word to us.
[01:00:02] Thank You for the challenge that is there for us.
[01:00:05] Jesus is our King.
[01:00:08] We worship Him.
[01:00:10] In His name.
[01:00:12] Amen.

[01:00:16] [SPEAKER UNKNOWN]:
In Jesus' name, amen.

[01:00:46] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_08]:
It was my cross you bore so I could live in the freedom you died for And now my life is yours and I will sing of your goodness forevermore
[01:01:14] Worthy is your name, Jesus You deserve the praise Worthy is your name Worthy is your name, Jesus You deserve the praise Worthy is your name

[01:01:58] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_10]:
Now my shame is gone I stand amazed In Your love undeniable Your grace goes on and on
[01:02:16] I will sing of your goodness forevermore Worthy is your name, Jesus You deserve the praise Worthy is your name
[01:02:41] Jesus, you deserve the praise Worthy is your name, worthy is your name Jesus, you deserve the praise Worthy is your name

[01:03:10] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_08]:
Jesus, You deserve the praise Worthy is Your name So worthy is Your name The name above all names You are worthy to be praised
[01:03:34] Be exalted now in the heavens As your glory fills this place You alone deserve our praise You're the name above all names Be exalted now in the heavens As your glory fills this place You alone deserve our praise

[01:03:59] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_10]:
You're the name above all names Be exalted now in the heavens As Your glory fills this place You alone deserve our praise You're the name above all names Be exalted now in the heavens As Your glory fills this place You alone deserve our praise You're the name
[01:04:29] In the name above all names Be exalted now in the heavens As your glory fills this place You alone deserve our praise You're the name above all names Be exalted now in the heavens As your glory fills this place You alone deserve our praise
[01:05:32] Jesus, You deserve the praise Worthy is Your Name Worthy is Your Name Jesus, You deserve the praise Worthy is Your Name
[01:05:59] Jesus, you deserve the praise.
[01:06:08] Worthy is your name.

[01:06:30] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]:
Amen and Amen.
[01:06:33] Amen.
[01:06:35] And if Jesus truly is worthy of our praise, then He's worthy of surrendering our lives to Him every single day in every single way.
[01:06:47] So my question for you to consider is, where in my life
[01:06:51] Am I not surrendering to Him?
[01:06:54] Where in my life have I been holding on to leadership?
[01:06:57] Have I been assuming the throne that is rightly His?
[01:07:02] If there's any area of your life where you're not fully surrendered to Him, then give it up today.
[01:07:07] Say, it's yours.
[01:07:09] You're in charge.
[01:07:11] I answer you and you alone.
[01:07:13] You are worthy of my praise.
[01:07:15] Amen?
[01:07:17] So this week you'll have an opportunity to maybe meet somebody who is still yet far from God.
[01:07:25] But maybe God will use you this week to draw them to Him.
[01:07:29] So I would challenge you.
[01:07:31] God bless you.
[01:07:51] So I hope you'll be here on Christmas Eve.
[01:07:53] I look forward to worshiping with you, with your entire family.
[01:07:56] And by the way, if we fill this place up for both services, we have overflow and a beautiful bridge.
[01:08:03] So we'll have seats over there as well.
[01:08:05] So we'll fill this place up.
[01:08:06] So you invite anyone you want to come and be a part of this celebration right here on Christmas Eve.
[01:08:12] I can't wait.
[01:08:13] I look forward to seeing you there.
[01:08:15] So before we leave, let's pray.
[01:08:20] Our Father, again,
[01:08:22] We're just so grateful for the opportunity we've had today to gather together in this way.
[01:08:27] To be able to worship you corporately.
[01:08:30] God, you're so worthy of our worship.
[01:08:32] Jesus would give you the praise and the adoration that you deserve.
[01:08:37] You are King.
[01:08:39] God for every area of our lives where we've not been fully submitted to you where we've not been fully submitted to Christ God we confess that and we commit today to give you leadership kingship in our lives we love you use us this week to make an impression and to leave a mark for Jesus Christ's sake we want others to know him the life
[01:09:03] of this dark world.
[01:09:05] We pray it in His glorious, in His precious, in His redemptive name.
[01:09:10] And all God's children said, Amen.
[01:09:13] Blessings.