Giving glory to Christ the King (Quality: Good)

[0:00] The End The End We will turn once again to the 72nd Psalm.

[1:15] The words in the 10th and 11th verses. The kings of Tarshish and of the Isles should bring presents.

[1:29] The kings of Sheba and Seba shall offer gifts. Yea, all kings shall fall down before heaven.

[1:41] All nations shall serve heaven. We were considering this morning the striking outstanding significance of this psalm.

[2:04] It was, we believe, the psalm that David wrote almost immediately before his death.

[2:18] You notice in the 20th verse it says, The prayers of David, the son of Jesse, are ended.

[2:29] And that may indicate that this was the closing psalm of his life. It may also indicate that the whole of his prayers and all his psalms had one end ever in view and in mind.

[2:58] David's greater son.

[3:08] But whether that be so or not, we are very sure of one thing, that the psalm, although it is dedicated to Solomon and especially for Solomon, it has one that is far greater than Solomon as its subject.

[3:35] And prophetically it sets forth the many aspects of the coming of Jesus Christ. And we delved this morning with that special aspect of the coming of the Lord.

[3:53] The gifts offered to the Lord the Savior by the wise man, which we believe our text foretells and embraces.

[4:12] For if they were kings, then we know full well that they did bring to the Lord Christ. Those gifts of gold and frankincense and myrrh.

[4:30] But what was far more in their history and effect of that which they accomplished, they gave themselves utterly and completely to the Lord.

[4:46] The greatest gift that any sinner can give is to give themselves unto the Lord.

[4:56] Now, that needs a little qualification because people might well take a sentence like that and make great misuse of it.

[5:09] And a good many people would say this is all that we ask people to do is to give themselves to the Lord. No man can or would for one moment give anything unto the Lord unless the Lord first had given to those people his grace in goodly measure and the power of his Holy Spirit.

[5:39] But one of the great evidences of that gift of divine grace is a readiness on the part of the recipient to give everything that is within their power to glorify the Lord.

[6:03] Giving even what may be trivial in the eyes of their fellow man and yet giving it as an offering unto the Lord.

[6:15] One thing that struck him and pleased him beyond measure was the fact that those people who had been called by God's grace and had been so moved by the power of his Spirit that they desired to do everything within their power to serve the Lord and his people.

[6:56] And they went about it in this way. They first gave themselves to the Lord. Now, that does not mean to say that they did anything to obtain salvation.

[7:14] But what it does mean is this. They gave themselves up and counted that they had nothing over which they had any dominion.

[7:28] And therefore they recognized that everything that belonged to them and everything that was in their power to perform was to be rendered unto the Lord.

[7:42] That's what it means. Giving themselves unto the Lord. And one of the things that we tried to emphasize this morning was the thing that would make our Christmas a real Christmas of blessing and joy would be to feel the overwhelming sense of this spirit rendering praise and offering gifts unto the Lord.

[8:21] Well, we dealt, therefore, with those wise men and their great effort that they made taking them two years in making it we believe according to the Scriptures and how they finally reached their destination and were satisfied with the culminant accomplishment of their lives.

[8:56] They saw the Lord Jesus, the King of kings. And they returned. And no more is heard of them. A veil, as it were, is drawn over the whole fact and history of these men.

[9:16] But what is left on the record of the Scripture is of great value and importance to you and to me. It gives us an example.

[9:27] And this is one great thing in regard to those men, however many there were, we know not. But it's not a matter of how many there were who came to meet the blessed Christ.

[9:45] It's what they were, what they manifested. And they manifested a wonderful example. An example that it is well for those who are true Christians, true believers, to emulate and to seek to lay hold in their own hearts and lives.

[10:11] And I pointed out this morning, and I don't wish to go over the ground again except very briefly, that those men, while they did consult others, or at least they paid homage to those to whom homage was due, they were not influenced by their counsel.

[10:37] They ceased from man. They waited upon God, and they relied upon His guidance solely and completely.

[10:53] And the result was they were brought immediately to Jesus Christ. Now, there's a great example for you and for me.

[11:03] If we would find the Lord, if we would know more of Him and come nearer to Him, we must avoid the counsels that may be around us.

[11:22] The counsels of the world, the counsels of the world, and as it was in the case of these wise men, the counsels of the church, for the religious exponents of the day in which they lived, knew all about the things of the Word of God and yet never acted upon them.

[11:50] We have to leave the counsels of such and rely solely upon the Lord. And how can we do that but by a path of prayer, close attention and close observance to the leadings of the Lord?

[12:14] So we find, therefore, in this psalm a wonderful setting forth of the glorious and powers and wonders of the King, King of King.

[12:28] And I want tonight to go on a little further to see the dominion, the throne of this King. All kings, it says, shall bow, shall fall down before Him.

[12:47] All kings. This is a truth that will be brought into full realization.

[13:02] They may not seem to be so now. There may be powers and thrones in the earth that seem to have no allegiance whatsoever to the Lord, the King, the King of Kings.

[13:18] there are monarchs that reign without acknowledging Him, without seeking His laws, without acknowledging acknowledging anything in a way of dependence upon Him.

[13:41] And yet, we may well believe this, that all thrones will be brought down before the mighty King of Kings.

[13:51] and the truth of our text will be verified again and again to the end of time. All kings shall fall down before Him.

[14:07] You can see it in history. You can see it in the history of the Word of God. those great dynasties that were in existence in the times of Daniel, for instance.

[14:27] One great throne that existed in the time of Daniel and seemed to be a permanency in the earth was brought into utter ruination in one night.

[14:44] The very night that Belshazzar was feasting, confident of his continuation of his reign, with a thousand of his lords, in the most sumptuous of way and manner that ever could be imagined, no doubt, and all that were with him thought that he was to reign forever and ever, and his throne exist and be maintained, the very night that God condescended to give him a warning by the writings of the war that very night his kingdom was brought to nothing and his throne destroyed and he brought to death and all his greatness and grandeur and majesty dispersed to the four winds of heaven and Cyrus the Persian came up in his place.

[15:58] and so you see in history these thrones established, maintained, they pass away and in my young days there were many kings in Europe.

[16:15] How many are there today? There were many thrones that they've gone. all kings should bow before him.

[16:28] but there's a throne that I want to speak of that will bow before him and be brought down by his sovereign power and reign and that's the throne in the heart of a sinner.

[16:47] There's a throne there, you know, in your heart and in mine and who occupies it? Is it occupied by self?

[17:04] Does sin reign on the throne of our hearts and our lives unmolestedly? Does self-will wear the crown of our innermost heart and way and life?

[17:25] there's only one thing that can bring down these powers in the heart and that is the power of Christ, the grave of Jesus Christ.

[17:42] When he puts his scepter in which carries with it all the authority and power of his majesty, then those thrones are brought down, the powers, the reigning power of sin is destroyed, self-will is broken, the sinner humbled, the throne is brought to decimation and there is a bowing down in the heart to the reigning Lord and King.

[18:26] We own him then as King, King of Kings and Lord of Lords. King of Kings and what would be a greater thing in any time whether it be Christmas or at other times what could be greater than this for the throne of the heart to be brought down and the reigning power of the King of Kings is established in the sinner's bosom.

[19:03] This is the great reality of the kingship of Jesus. These wise men came from a great distance.

[19:17] We know not from whence they came. We know that they took something like two years in coming. But they came to see a king.

[19:29] They came because they owned obedience to him. they came because they recognized no other monarch. They owned no allegiance to any other throne.

[19:45] But he who sits upon no precarious throne or borrows leave to be. throne.

[19:55] Yes, kings must fall before him. Thrones must come down before him.

[20:12] Dominion. And when we think of dominions, how mighty they are in the earth, in the world, among men, dominion, set up by all kinds of things.

[20:34] Dominion is something that has full sway and power over nations and peoples and affairs.

[20:44] dominions. The world has been full of dominions all the way down its history. It's a power that prevails over every other power.

[21:01] That is a dominion. dominion. We think today, in many respects, there seems to be a great dominion in the world that is against truth and against God and against light and knowledge.

[21:19] And we think as a little, a church of God so small and so insignificant, with scarcely a voice in the earth, no one really to speak out for the truth of God and the people that acknowledge it and own it.

[21:40] Seems as if evil and everything that is in opposition to God and truth has dominion in the earth.

[21:51] Everything is in their favor. They seem to sweep on like a flood and carry everything with them as easily as anything could be. But let us know this for sure, that our God reigneth and his dominion is over all.

[22:10] And that means there will be a termination of the greatest power and dominion in the earth. Yes, it is true, our text declares this, that all kings, and that includes all dominion, must come down before him.

[22:32] And what again, come back to our own personal experiences, what has dominion over us? That's a question we do well to ask earnestly in our own consciences.

[22:47] What has dominion over us? what power controls us? What dictates our course of life?

[22:59] What is it that controls our thinking, our acting? Is it sin? sin? For that is the great dominant power over the lives of men.

[23:15] And yet by God's grace, this is true, sin shall not have dominion over you. Ye are not under the law, but under grace.

[23:28] And all that are under grace are delivered from the dominion of sin. and therefore when this blessed person, this son of God, this king comes to any sinner, this is one of the greatest effects of his coming.

[23:49] Sin shall no longer have dominion. Then again principalities, very similar perhaps to dominions, but with a difference.

[24:07] Principality is more of a personal, individual arrival, as it were, to the mighty power of the Lord.

[24:24] Principalities that demand from our fellow men respect and reverence. principalities that require homage to be paid to them, but seem to be so superior and so supreme in their sphere, and so much inconsistent with the notion of the humble people of God who walk often as the offspring of the earth, principalities.

[25:10] Paul says, what shall separate me from the love of Christ? Shall principalities? you see, he includes these things among many other things, none of which will ever be able to separate any of the children of God from the love of Christ.

[25:31] who should be abundantly thankful that no principality, no power that has any dominion over us, shall ever have dominion over our Christ and of his authority.

[25:55] Then powers, principalities and powers, his dominion, says the word of God, shall be from sea to sea, and it shall be over all.

[26:13] The Lord, it says, the knowledge of the glory of the Lord shall cover the earth as the waters cover the sea. This is the one.

[26:27] Oh, I do desire that I might be given wisdom and grace to commend him, and to declare him, to declare his beauty and his glory and his honor.

[26:44] There's one thing that I am convinced about and more than ever convinced of the truth of it, and it is this, that there's none that can do for us, for you and me, the magnitude of wonder and the greatness of mercy, but Jesus Christ, the King of kings and Lord of the Lord, and everything that may be in your lives, every difficulty, every obstacle, every power, every dominion, every throne, that operates contrary to truth and righteousness and godliness, Christ, will bring it all down.

[27:34] Everything must come and bow before him, every knee shall bow, and every tongue shall confess, he is Lord of all to the glory of God.

[27:48] wonderful thing that will be when every tongue shall do it, even the fiends in hell shall do it, every unbeliever will have to do it, there will be a day when every tongue and there will not be a single one where there is silence, will have to own that he is Lord of all, and will own it to the glory of God the Father.

[28:27] What a mercy if you and I have been brought to own it now. What an unspeakable wonder it is that we have found the blessed Son of God.

[28:42] And if in our poor hearts we have felt that sacred allegiance to him and have bowed before him and that there is nothing in us, nothing that we would desire to have anything in our hearts or lives but what is subject to his power and his grace.

[29:11] Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. all kings shall fall down before him. All nations shall serve him.

[29:25] and this is a great thing and I will close with this this evening serving with the Lord.

[29:39] There are those who think a good deal this time of the year about serving, serving one another and they do it well, many of them do it very heartily and with great kindness and thought.

[29:57] And it's a great thing, it's one of the great features of life. And we may well and ought to be very thankful that we live in a place, in a land that does to a certain extent at any rate observe these things and observe them in the way they do.

[30:26] While there's a great deal to be regretted in the celebrations of the worldly and the use that they make of this sacred time, of the advent of the dear Redeemer, there are things that go far out and far beyond all reason and righteousness in this respect.

[30:53] But when we come to look into it all and think of it, there's so much that is important and so much that is good and we would not for one moment deprecate that.

[31:09] The time of the commonwealth, you know, they banned Christmas entirely as a pagan institution, institution. Perhaps they went too far.

[31:23] But one can follow them in their intent and purpose. They saw in those days how much evil there had been produced from a false pagan observance of this sacred matter, the coming of the Lord Jesus and therefore they banned it all.

[31:48] But you know, you cannot legislate in a nation to make all the people of the nation righteous. No legislation will bring a nation to own allegiance to God.

[32:06] Laws are necessary, but it should never be thought for one moment that laws will be the solution to all our problems. Or that any legislation will bring about immediate cure of the nation's ill.

[32:28] there's only one thing that will put a nation right, and that is the gospel of God's grace, with the power of God in it.

[32:43] The great thing, if we can find this at this time of the year, and at any time, something in our hearts that would desire to serve, the Lord, serve him, the second psalm speaks of it, it speaks of kings, it bids kings to bow before the Son of God, and it bids them serve him, kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and he perish in the way, but serve him.

[33:25] How can we serve him? you may say it's a good task, too great for me isn't. If you feel it is, all the more reason why you should seek the help of him who's able to go, who has all the power and all the strength, and all the wisdom.

[33:50] will be to serve him. And sometimes you may feel that you are totally incapacitated from serving the Lord because of your circumstances.

[34:02] his I think it's Milton who in the paradise lost, he has this very striking word, they also serve, who only stand and wait.

[34:19] there is a point sometimes when we serve the Lord by standing, standing firm, standing in quietness and in confidence, and waiting for the Lord.

[34:40] The wise men waited for the Lord. They did not listen to the counsel of the Pharisees, they waited for the Lord, and they served the Lord.

[34:56] All nations shall serve him. Shall we be among those nations? The nations are not the nations of the earth, although they are included, but the nations are those whom the Lord hath made, whom the Lord hath blessed, those nations of an unnumbered company of redeemed soul, they should serve the Lord.

[35:33] It may be our blessed portion and privilege of this Christmas time to serve the Lord.

[35:43] Lord. And while we attempt to serve others, little ones, and elders as well, may we have this desire and purpose in our heart that we serve Christ.

[36:00] Amen. justice for our love, pleasealar