1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:08,000 which he brought about in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right 2 00:00:08,000 --> 00:00:15,760 hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, 3 00:00:15,760 --> 00:00:22,240 and every name that is named, not only in this age, but also in the one to come. 4 00:00:22,240 --> 00:00:27,740 And he put all things in subjection under his feet and gave him his head over all things 5 00:00:27,740 --> 00:00:34,360 to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all. 6 00:00:34,360 --> 00:00:38,480 Jesus Christ is the ultimate authority. 7 00:00:38,480 --> 00:00:45,280 He is supreme in every respect that we can think of or imagine. 8 00:00:45,280 --> 00:00:53,040 There really is no authority that is secure until his authority is fully acknowledged. 9 00:00:53,040 --> 00:00:59,640 Here in this paragraph that we've read tonight, we learn first that the Lord Jesus Christ 10 00:00:59,640 --> 00:01:03,120 is supreme over death. 11 00:01:03,120 --> 00:01:08,680 He was raised from the dead by the power of God. 12 00:01:08,680 --> 00:01:15,280 Secondly, we notice that he is supreme over the heavenlies, for that is where he is seated 13 00:01:15,280 --> 00:01:18,040 at the right hand of the Father. 14 00:01:18,040 --> 00:01:27,520 The heavenlies meaning, as we have seen, control central, the realm of true reality, where 15 00:01:27,520 --> 00:01:29,400 the action takes place. 16 00:01:29,400 --> 00:01:30,400 That's the heavenlies. 17 00:01:30,400 --> 00:01:34,440 It is another dimension from our own. 18 00:01:34,440 --> 00:01:35,440 It is very real. 19 00:01:35,440 --> 00:01:41,000 It is a literal realm of reality. 20 00:01:41,000 --> 00:01:44,480 And that is where the Lord Jesus Christ reigns. 21 00:01:44,480 --> 00:01:48,600 He is supreme in that dimension. 22 00:01:48,600 --> 00:01:53,600 That is where our citizenship is, and that is where our blessings are rooted. 23 00:01:53,600 --> 00:01:59,760 Then we saw last week as well that the Lord Jesus is supreme over angels, which seem to 24 00:01:59,760 --> 00:02:05,640 be suggested in verse 21 by these words, rule, authority, power, and dominion. 25 00:02:05,640 --> 00:02:09,200 These are titles or ranks of angels. 26 00:02:09,200 --> 00:02:12,400 He created the angels. 27 00:02:12,400 --> 00:02:16,960 Today he is ruler of the angels. 28 00:02:16,960 --> 00:02:24,040 There is a group of angels that we call demons, which one day will be completely subdued when 29 00:02:24,040 --> 00:02:30,520 Satan, their ruler, is cast into the lake of fire, Revelation chapter 20. 30 00:02:30,520 --> 00:02:36,680 The Lord Jesus Christ now calls these ministering spirits, the holy angels, as his servants 31 00:02:36,680 --> 00:02:39,760 to perform his bidding. 32 00:02:39,760 --> 00:02:44,160 Now tonight we pick it up in the next phrase, which says that the Lord Jesus Christ is supreme 33 00:02:44,160 --> 00:02:50,120 over all humanity, for it mentions every name that is named. 34 00:02:50,120 --> 00:02:54,840 The Lord Jesus is supreme over humankind even right now. 35 00:02:54,840 --> 00:03:01,680 As he himself said in Matthew chapter 28 and verse 18, all authority is given unto me in 36 00:03:01,680 --> 00:03:04,560 heaven and on where? 37 00:03:04,560 --> 00:03:06,760 On earth. 38 00:03:06,760 --> 00:03:13,640 Not only in heaven, not just in the realm of the heavenlies, but on the earth, he is 39 00:03:13,640 --> 00:03:16,960 supreme. 40 00:03:16,960 --> 00:03:24,880 He possesses absolute assurance that one day all will be in subjection and subjugation 41 00:03:24,880 --> 00:03:25,880 to him. 42 00:03:25,880 --> 00:03:34,880 As it says in Philippians, the second chapter, he is given a name, the name Lord. 43 00:03:34,880 --> 00:03:38,840 That title is his, L-O-R-D. 44 00:03:38,840 --> 00:03:49,200 And that name, Lord, every knee will bow in heaven, on the earth, and under the earth, 45 00:03:49,200 --> 00:03:52,360 referring perhaps to the realm of the departed. 46 00:03:52,360 --> 00:03:59,760 But every knee, it says, will be bent to him and acknowledge his lordship, whether they 47 00:03:59,760 --> 00:04:06,000 be pagan or Christian, whether they be born before the lifetime of Christ or after his 48 00:04:06,000 --> 00:04:07,000 birth. 49 00:04:07,000 --> 00:04:14,080 Every person from Adam down to this day will one day be resurrected in his proper order 50 00:04:14,080 --> 00:04:20,440 in time, and his knee will bow to the lordship of Jesus Christ. 51 00:04:20,440 --> 00:04:25,760 Our Savior may at this time be mocked, ignored, and blasphemed. 52 00:04:25,760 --> 00:04:35,760 But one day, folks, one day he will be glorified and his rule will be enforced upon the earth. 53 00:04:35,760 --> 00:04:42,720 Turn with me, if you will, to Revelation, chapter 19, where we see recorded for us as 54 00:04:42,720 --> 00:04:50,600 John moves ahead in time and views these events, we see recorded for us his return in glory. 55 00:04:50,600 --> 00:05:00,360 Now, beginning in verse 11, he is described in amazing words, symbolic words, to be sure. 56 00:05:00,360 --> 00:05:04,040 But John is describing as best he can what he literally sees. 57 00:05:04,040 --> 00:05:10,200 And in verse 15, it says, and from Christ's mouth comes a sharp sword so that with it 58 00:05:10,200 --> 00:05:12,520 he may smite the nations. 59 00:05:12,520 --> 00:05:15,200 That's humankind. 60 00:05:15,200 --> 00:05:22,480 And he will rule them with a rod of iron, and he treads the winepress of the first wrath 61 00:05:22,480 --> 00:05:24,960 of God the Almighty. 62 00:05:24,960 --> 00:05:32,920 And on his robe and his thigh he has a name written, King of Kings and Lord of Lords. 63 00:05:32,920 --> 00:05:37,720 What we have described in these verses is his return to the earth and what is called 64 00:05:37,720 --> 00:05:45,280 the Battle of Armageddon, when the world forces will be gathered together in the mid-east 65 00:05:45,280 --> 00:05:50,900 and suddenly their attention is focused upon a heavenly event as the heavens are opened 66 00:05:50,900 --> 00:05:58,400 and the Lord Jesus Christ descends from heaven in his glory, followed by his hosts of angels 67 00:05:58,400 --> 00:06:02,720 and we believe ourselves included. 68 00:06:02,720 --> 00:06:09,040 He will return to the earth and in coming he will subdue the armies of the nations. 69 00:06:09,040 --> 00:06:14,560 And from that time onward he will reign for a thousand years on the earth in what is called 70 00:06:14,560 --> 00:06:15,560 the Millennium. 71 00:06:15,560 --> 00:06:24,040 Now, this is mentioned in chapter 20 and verse 4 where it talks about thrones and they set 72 00:06:24,040 --> 00:06:27,880 upon them and judgment was given to them. 73 00:06:27,880 --> 00:06:31,600 And then down at the end of the verse for times sake, look at that last sentence, they 74 00:06:31,600 --> 00:06:38,720 came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. 75 00:06:38,720 --> 00:06:43,520 And again in verse 6 it says, blessed and holy is the one who has a part in the first 76 00:06:43,520 --> 00:06:45,960 resurrection. 77 00:06:45,960 --> 00:06:51,160 And it says at the end of the verse that we will reign with him for a thousand years. 78 00:06:51,160 --> 00:06:58,080 And so our Savior is destined to reign upon the earth and with him his saints. 79 00:06:58,080 --> 00:07:02,640 This will occur during that millennial reign of Jesus Christ. 80 00:07:02,640 --> 00:07:08,200 In our interpretation of scripture we are what are called pre-millennialists. 81 00:07:08,200 --> 00:07:13,440 We believe not only in a literal second coming of Jesus Christ, but we believe that after 82 00:07:13,440 --> 00:07:19,920 he comes he is going to reign upon the earth on the throne of David his father and will 83 00:07:19,920 --> 00:07:22,560 rule the nations. 84 00:07:22,560 --> 00:07:25,320 That is his right. 85 00:07:25,320 --> 00:07:29,440 It has been declared of him in the Old Testament as well as the New Testament that he will 86 00:07:29,440 --> 00:07:30,440 thus reign. 87 00:07:30,440 --> 00:07:36,560 I wish we had time to go to the book of Zechariah, the 14th chapter and read there of the same 88 00:07:36,560 --> 00:07:39,880 day that is mentioned in Revelation 19 and 20. 89 00:07:39,880 --> 00:07:45,360 And notice that the nations bring their worship to Jerusalem where he will reign. 90 00:07:45,360 --> 00:07:47,920 And all through the millennium that's the plan. 91 00:07:47,920 --> 00:07:49,920 The worship will come to him. 92 00:07:49,920 --> 00:07:52,800 The nations will bring their homage to him. 93 00:07:52,800 --> 00:07:57,960 The son of righteousness who has risen with healing in his wings for the earth during 94 00:07:57,960 --> 00:08:00,560 that millennial reign which is his. 95 00:08:00,560 --> 00:08:06,400 But not just during time, but in the new heaven and the new earth he will reign. 96 00:08:06,400 --> 00:08:15,320 I turn to chapter 21 of this book of Revelation and notice with me as he describes in breathtaking 97 00:08:15,320 --> 00:08:24,440 terms the New Jerusalem it says in verse 24 and the nations shall walk by its light. 98 00:08:24,440 --> 00:08:30,040 Now these are not the nations as they are today, but these are the nations as they shall 99 00:08:30,040 --> 00:08:31,040 be then. 100 00:08:31,040 --> 00:08:35,920 It says and the nations shall walk by its light and the kings of the earth shall bring 101 00:08:35,920 --> 00:08:38,160 their glory into it. 102 00:08:38,160 --> 00:08:43,040 And in the daytime for there shall be no night there its gates shall never be closed and 103 00:08:43,040 --> 00:08:47,120 they shall bring the glory and the honor of the nations into it. 104 00:08:47,120 --> 00:08:53,080 And nothing unclean and no one who practices abomination and lying shall ever come into 105 00:08:53,080 --> 00:08:58,960 it but only those whose names are written in the Lamb's book of life. 106 00:08:58,960 --> 00:08:59,960 What is said here? 107 00:08:59,960 --> 00:09:06,800 Well it's said that even during the time when the New Jerusalem is created and there is 108 00:09:06,800 --> 00:09:13,600 a new heaven and new earth during that time the glory will be brought to the Lord Jesus 109 00:09:13,600 --> 00:09:14,600 Christ. 110 00:09:14,600 --> 00:09:19,640 He will reign supreme over all of redeemed humanity. 111 00:09:19,640 --> 00:09:23,920 That is his destiny. 112 00:09:23,920 --> 00:09:29,160 Rise is the person who now claims him as Lord. 113 00:09:29,160 --> 00:09:37,200 Rise is the person who now bows the knee to Jesus Christ in this life. 114 00:09:37,200 --> 00:09:44,320 Now let's go back to Ephesians as we push ahead to the next phrase in verse 22. 115 00:09:44,320 --> 00:09:47,920 Excuse me, verse 21. 116 00:09:47,920 --> 00:09:53,520 It says not only in this age but also in the one to come. 117 00:09:53,520 --> 00:09:57,920 This suggests what we just talked about but I want to apply it in this way that the Lord 118 00:09:57,920 --> 00:10:04,080 Jesus Christ is supreme over time. 119 00:10:04,080 --> 00:10:15,480 He is the eternal one without beginning or end who entered into time and space in the 120 00:10:15,480 --> 00:10:19,400 incarnation. 121 00:10:19,400 --> 00:10:29,360 Being apart from his creation he nonetheless was able to enter into it and lived, died, 122 00:10:29,360 --> 00:10:34,160 rose again all in time. 123 00:10:34,160 --> 00:10:42,100 And then he ascended again to timelessness from which he came. 124 00:10:42,100 --> 00:10:50,260 And he sent the message back to us through the Apostle John, I am alive forevermore. 125 00:10:50,260 --> 00:10:53,360 He is supreme over time. 126 00:10:53,360 --> 00:10:59,820 He himself is the same yesterday, today, and forever. 127 00:10:59,820 --> 00:11:07,160 And he is able to see yesterday, today, and tomorrow for they are all alike to him. 128 00:11:07,160 --> 00:11:14,680 So while he is a part of time in the glorified God man, he is a part of time and space, he 129 00:11:14,680 --> 00:11:17,440 is nonetheless apart from it as well. 130 00:11:17,440 --> 00:11:21,880 That is a mystery to us how he can be both at the same time. 131 00:11:21,880 --> 00:11:24,000 It's an antinomy. 132 00:11:24,000 --> 00:11:30,040 But nonetheless he is able to see all of the panorama of history. 133 00:11:30,040 --> 00:11:33,160 It is all alike to him. 134 00:11:33,160 --> 00:11:35,560 Time is his servant. 135 00:11:35,560 --> 00:11:38,600 He is its creator and master. 136 00:11:38,600 --> 00:11:44,480 He came into the world and communicated to man in time and space by the incarnation, 137 00:11:44,480 --> 00:11:50,240 but at the same time he is not bound by time. 138 00:11:50,240 --> 00:11:56,880 He is the one who is the King, eternal, as well as immortal, invisible. 139 00:11:56,880 --> 00:12:02,680 And he says of himself in Revelation 22, 13, I am Alpha and Omega, first and the last, 140 00:12:02,680 --> 00:12:07,640 the beginning and the end. 141 00:12:07,640 --> 00:12:13,360 It is hard for us to grasp this because we have a limited view of time. 142 00:12:13,360 --> 00:12:18,060 I wish I could share with you tonight some of the things that I've been reading regarding 143 00:12:18,060 --> 00:12:19,960 time. 144 00:12:19,960 --> 00:12:26,260 Time is really a mystery. 145 00:12:26,260 --> 00:12:33,800 Scientists have a difficult job to try to explain what time is. 146 00:12:33,800 --> 00:12:37,920 It's more than linear time, there's a past, present, and future, but they are deciding 147 00:12:37,920 --> 00:12:41,440 now that time has dimensions. 148 00:12:41,440 --> 00:12:53,000 They talk in terms of time one, time two, and time three, which has to do with the future. 149 00:12:53,000 --> 00:12:57,480 If you're interested in reading that, I would encourage you to get a book by Ken Boa, which 150 00:12:57,480 --> 00:13:01,040 is entitled God I Don't Understand. 151 00:13:01,040 --> 00:13:06,040 In that book he covers a lot of difficult things, these antinomies that I mentioned, 152 00:13:06,040 --> 00:13:10,760 apparent contradictions, and time is one of them that he goes into. 153 00:13:10,760 --> 00:13:17,440 It is really mind-boggling to an amateur like me and perhaps like you as we think about 154 00:13:17,440 --> 00:13:25,120 something like time, but however we define it or describe it, the Lord Jesus Christ is 155 00:13:25,120 --> 00:13:26,600 supreme over time. 156 00:13:26,600 --> 00:13:28,600 It is all his servant. 157 00:13:28,600 --> 00:13:35,080 He has given to us eternal life. 158 00:13:35,080 --> 00:13:38,360 That means that our life is never ending. 159 00:13:38,360 --> 00:13:43,680 It means that we shall share with him a certain kind of timelessness. 160 00:13:43,680 --> 00:13:49,000 We cannot become God and become eternal in that ultimate sense as he is, but there is 161 00:13:49,000 --> 00:13:58,240 some way in which we will share a type of timelessness so that through the succession 162 00:13:58,240 --> 00:14:05,360 of infinite ages to come, we will be with him. 163 00:14:05,360 --> 00:14:11,000 Abiding outside of the measurement of a calendar or a clock, he is nonetheless both aware of 164 00:14:11,000 --> 00:14:16,840 our circumstances and he is able to give us timely aid. 165 00:14:16,840 --> 00:14:19,720 Hebrews 4.16. 166 00:14:19,720 --> 00:14:22,880 Grace to help in the what? 167 00:14:22,880 --> 00:14:28,600 Time in the time of need. 168 00:14:28,600 --> 00:14:30,720 He is supreme over time. 169 00:14:30,720 --> 00:14:36,000 Number six, he is supreme over the universe. 170 00:14:36,000 --> 00:14:43,640 Mark mentions in verse 22, he put all things in subjection under his feet. 171 00:14:43,640 --> 00:14:47,600 The one who fills all in all, verse 23. 172 00:14:47,600 --> 00:14:59,320 Here we get into the expanse of the creation, which is unknown and unmeasured by man. 173 00:14:59,320 --> 00:15:05,280 Whatever the universe is, and again it defies description, there are those who feel that 174 00:15:05,280 --> 00:15:10,240 the universe is finite and limited and there are others who feel that it's infinite and 175 00:15:10,240 --> 00:15:12,520 unlimited. 176 00:15:12,520 --> 00:15:14,840 Scientists do not know what the universe is. 177 00:15:14,840 --> 00:15:17,320 They cannot describe it in adequate terms. 178 00:15:17,320 --> 00:15:19,400 None of us can. 179 00:15:19,400 --> 00:15:21,840 But God knows for God possesses it. 180 00:15:21,840 --> 00:15:24,040 He created it. 181 00:15:24,040 --> 00:15:29,880 Calls sake and notwithstanding, Jesus Christ is the owner of the cosmos. 182 00:15:29,880 --> 00:15:32,240 Men seek to explain its origins. 183 00:15:32,240 --> 00:15:39,920 There are some who feel that matter is eternal, that it's always existed, it just changes 184 00:15:39,920 --> 00:15:42,520 in its form. 185 00:15:42,520 --> 00:15:47,920 But that theory is somewhat laid on the shelf today and scientists are inclined to believe 186 00:15:47,920 --> 00:15:51,120 what they call the Big Bang Theory. 187 00:15:51,120 --> 00:16:00,920 The idea is that at one point there was this glob of super dense energy that exploded and 188 00:16:00,920 --> 00:16:08,600 the universe today is that energy and matter moving outward from the center of the explosion. 189 00:16:08,600 --> 00:16:12,720 Now there are some scientists who believe it's going to keep on going. 190 00:16:12,720 --> 00:16:16,440 There are some scientists who say no, there's gravitation involved in this thing, it's all 191 00:16:16,440 --> 00:16:18,240 going to come back together one day. 192 00:16:18,240 --> 00:16:23,800 And then there will be another explosion, not in your lifetime or mine, but billions 193 00:16:23,800 --> 00:16:31,760 of years, billions and billions of years are involved in this whole process. 194 00:16:31,760 --> 00:16:37,160 Well, the thing about the Big Bang is that it's a big bust. 195 00:16:37,160 --> 00:16:42,920 Because you see they still haven't described for us where it all came from in the beginning. 196 00:16:42,920 --> 00:16:46,080 They haven't talked about its origin. 197 00:16:46,080 --> 00:16:51,840 If it's possible you could go to the edge of the universe, to its farthest limit, and 198 00:16:51,840 --> 00:16:54,760 you would still find God there. 199 00:16:54,760 --> 00:17:00,000 The Lord Jesus Christ is holding those elements together, Colossians 1.17. 200 00:17:00,000 --> 00:17:01,680 By Him they all subsist. 201 00:17:01,680 --> 00:17:05,840 He is the cohesive force of the atom. 202 00:17:05,840 --> 00:17:11,360 And whether you take the microscope out and you look into the microcosm of small things 203 00:17:11,360 --> 00:17:16,240 or you get the telescope out and you look into the macrocosm of things, you cannot find 204 00:17:16,240 --> 00:17:20,200 an end to it either way. 205 00:17:20,200 --> 00:17:25,920 Sometimes at various points they felt that they found the smallest particle or unit of 206 00:17:25,920 --> 00:17:26,920 matter. 207 00:17:26,920 --> 00:17:30,040 Other times they felt they've reached the edge of the universe. 208 00:17:30,040 --> 00:17:34,360 And always there's someone else who comes along and says, no, there's something beyond 209 00:17:34,360 --> 00:17:35,360 that. 210 00:17:35,360 --> 00:17:39,560 But Jesus Christ is head over all of it. 211 00:17:39,560 --> 00:17:44,240 There's none of it He does not possess, that He does not know, that He does not control. 212 00:17:44,240 --> 00:17:50,960 You know it's interesting that only the biblical account of creation, did you know there were 213 00:17:50,960 --> 00:17:57,240 other accounts of creation in literature, ancient literature? 214 00:17:57,240 --> 00:18:02,680 And therefore there are those who say, well you see the Bible is just like all these others. 215 00:18:02,680 --> 00:18:05,200 Just another religion with another idea about creation. 216 00:18:05,200 --> 00:18:09,160 We know there's something unique about the Bible's creation record. 217 00:18:09,160 --> 00:18:19,040 It is that time, energy, matter and space, the basic elements of the universe, were created 218 00:18:19,040 --> 00:18:20,040 out of nothing. 219 00:18:20,040 --> 00:18:26,520 All of the other creation accounts say that these things, they don't deal with the origin 220 00:18:26,520 --> 00:18:27,520 of them. 221 00:18:27,520 --> 00:18:31,160 It's just how they were formed into the present state of affairs. 222 00:18:31,160 --> 00:18:36,640 But only the Bible goes back to the origin and says these things once did not exist, 223 00:18:36,640 --> 00:18:42,080 but now we understand that by the word of God these things were created out of nothing. 224 00:18:42,080 --> 00:18:49,440 Now it doesn't explain how it happened, it doesn't tell us when it happened, but the 225 00:18:49,440 --> 00:18:56,360 Bible is the one record of creation, it's the only record, the others are myths, legends 226 00:18:56,360 --> 00:19:03,440 passed down, but it's the only record of creation that deals with origin and it says, out of 227 00:19:03,440 --> 00:19:07,000 nothing God called it to be. 228 00:19:07,000 --> 00:19:14,280 Now look, if God can create out of nothing the universe, if he can possess the expanse 229 00:19:14,280 --> 00:19:22,600 of it, and if he is supreme in it all, if all things are indeed in subjection under 230 00:19:22,600 --> 00:19:27,960 his feet, do you not think that he can manage your life? 231 00:19:27,960 --> 00:19:33,160 Don't you think if he can manage the universe he can take care of the details that cause 232 00:19:33,160 --> 00:19:36,400 your mind to be boggled and you're confused and perplexed? 233 00:19:36,400 --> 00:19:42,000 Be that way no more, look to Jesus Christ and trust him who is the Lord. 234 00:19:42,000 --> 00:19:48,320 Well we need to look at one more item here in Ephesians 1 and it will be done. 235 00:19:48,320 --> 00:19:55,440 He is supreme over the universe and finally he is supreme over the church, his body. 236 00:19:55,440 --> 00:20:00,880 God gave him Christ as head over all things to the church. 237 00:20:00,880 --> 00:20:04,800 God has given Christ to the church as its head. 238 00:20:04,800 --> 00:20:07,320 The church is his body. 239 00:20:07,320 --> 00:20:09,920 The church of course is a living organism. 240 00:20:09,920 --> 00:20:17,800 It is an organism into which the child of God is placed at the moment of his regeneration 241 00:20:17,800 --> 00:20:22,560 by the baptism of the Holy Spirit. 242 00:20:22,560 --> 00:20:24,880 Christ is the head of his body. 243 00:20:24,880 --> 00:20:30,800 We are all connected directly to him. 244 00:20:30,800 --> 00:20:37,920 To him we are connected and him we serve as members of his body. 245 00:20:37,920 --> 00:20:44,120 Here in Ephesians the fourth chapter he says, we are to grow up in all aspects into him 246 00:20:44,120 --> 00:20:49,120 who is the head, even Christ, from whom the whole body, and that includes every single 247 00:20:49,120 --> 00:20:56,760 one of you who is saved, being fitted and held together by that which every joint supplies 248 00:20:56,760 --> 00:21:01,880 according to the proper working of each individual part causes the growth of the body for the 249 00:21:01,880 --> 00:21:05,920 building up of itself in love. 250 00:21:05,920 --> 00:21:16,160 The Lord Jesus Christ is the head of our church, the head of every local church and he is the 251 00:21:16,160 --> 00:21:21,280 head of the universal church. 252 00:21:21,280 --> 00:21:27,400 How is his supremacy practically experienced in a local church? 253 00:21:27,400 --> 00:21:30,040 I think that is a legitimate question to ask. 254 00:21:30,040 --> 00:21:35,780 If we say that Jesus Christ is the head of the church, how is it that he expresses his 255 00:21:35,780 --> 00:21:36,780 headship? 256 00:21:36,780 --> 00:21:39,880 I want to suggest to you three ways. 257 00:21:39,880 --> 00:21:47,520 First of all by his word, his infallible revelation of himself and his will. 258 00:21:47,520 --> 00:21:53,920 Within his word we find his instructions to us propositionally expressed. 259 00:21:53,920 --> 00:21:59,120 That is in sentences, in thoughts, in black and white, God has told us what he wants of 260 00:21:59,120 --> 00:22:01,240 us, his body. 261 00:22:01,240 --> 00:22:07,760 So how is it that he expresses his supremacy in our church through this book? 262 00:22:07,760 --> 00:22:09,640 That's why we emphasize it so much. 263 00:22:09,640 --> 00:22:12,880 That's why we teach it and talk about it. 264 00:22:12,880 --> 00:22:18,900 I do not believe that we are guilty of bibliology which some accuse us of, that is worshiping 265 00:22:18,900 --> 00:22:19,900 the Bible. 266 00:22:19,900 --> 00:22:20,900 That's not the point. 267 00:22:20,900 --> 00:22:24,120 We worship the Christ of the Bible. 268 00:22:24,120 --> 00:22:28,600 The one cannot worship the Christ of the Bible and ignore the book. 269 00:22:28,600 --> 00:22:34,880 For this is the written word that reveals the living word, Jesus Christ, our head. 270 00:22:34,880 --> 00:22:42,400 In this book which we love, which we believe, which we teach and we seek to obey, he our 271 00:22:42,400 --> 00:22:47,840 head tells us, his body, what he wants of us. 272 00:22:47,840 --> 00:22:57,880 Secondly he expresses his desires for us in the church, his body, by his spirit whom he 273 00:22:57,880 --> 00:23:04,720 has sent to glorify himself, whom he has sent to teach us, to guide us, to sanctify us and 274 00:23:04,720 --> 00:23:05,720 so on. 275 00:23:05,720 --> 00:23:14,800 It is by the working of his spirit in our midst that he is able to mediate his headship. 276 00:23:14,800 --> 00:23:26,960 As we through the word fellowship with him, the Holy Spirit moves us in our wills, enlightens 277 00:23:26,960 --> 00:23:36,720 us in our minds, changes us in our emotions so that through that sanctifying process he 278 00:23:36,720 --> 00:23:42,760 is able to tell us as a church what we need to know. 279 00:23:42,760 --> 00:23:45,040 We each have a part of that. 280 00:23:45,040 --> 00:23:48,380 We each have a voice. 281 00:23:48,380 --> 00:23:57,400 God speaks to us as a church through the body as the spirit of God works in us. 282 00:23:57,400 --> 00:24:01,560 And his voice is not going to be contradictory. 283 00:24:01,560 --> 00:24:03,960 He is not going to be saying different things to different people. 284 00:24:03,960 --> 00:24:09,080 He is going to be saying the same thing to us, bringing us together in a blessed unity 285 00:24:09,080 --> 00:24:12,840 which we are commanded to maintain and keep. 286 00:24:12,840 --> 00:24:20,400 And thirdly, he expresses his will to us, his body, by his order, by his order in the 287 00:24:20,400 --> 00:24:21,400 church. 288 00:24:21,400 --> 00:24:26,960 Of this I am thinking of his appointment of elders as human overseers who as we read this 289 00:24:26,960 --> 00:24:32,880 morning in Hebrews 13, will one day stand before him to give account. 290 00:24:32,880 --> 00:24:35,200 How is it that he works in his body? 291 00:24:35,200 --> 00:24:39,800 Well, it is by his orders, well as by his spirit and by his word. 292 00:24:39,800 --> 00:24:47,760 And his order is that we as a congregation should seek to appoint over us men who are 293 00:24:47,760 --> 00:24:56,640 called and qualified to serve as shepherds, as overseers, who are then given the responsibility 294 00:24:56,640 --> 00:25:04,840 by Jesus Christ to rule the church, not to rule it as overlords, but to rule it as fellow 295 00:25:04,840 --> 00:25:09,720 servants with the others of Jesus Christ. 296 00:25:09,720 --> 00:25:13,240 They are given responsibility for decision making. 297 00:25:13,240 --> 00:25:18,280 They are given responsibility for direction in the church. 298 00:25:18,280 --> 00:25:22,640 And their heavy responsibility must weigh upon them. 299 00:25:22,640 --> 00:25:28,680 For one day at the judgment seat of Jesus Christ, elders in a local church, or whatever 300 00:25:28,680 --> 00:25:37,540 the controlling board is called, those people must give a stricter account to Jesus Christ 301 00:25:37,540 --> 00:25:42,480 because of their responsibility. 302 00:25:42,480 --> 00:25:47,760 And how do I acknowledge the supremacy of Jesus Christ in my church? 303 00:25:47,760 --> 00:25:56,040 First by obeying his word, as he tells us to. 304 00:25:56,040 --> 00:26:01,440 For the word of God is the expression of the will of God for us. 305 00:26:01,440 --> 00:26:08,640 I acknowledge and obey the headship of Jesus Christ by obeying this word. 306 00:26:08,640 --> 00:26:12,880 Secondly, by obeying the spirit. 307 00:26:12,880 --> 00:26:17,280 I acknowledge his headship by obeying the spirit, as did the church in Antioch in Acts 308 00:26:17,280 --> 00:26:22,080 13, when the spirit said, separate these men and send them out. 309 00:26:22,080 --> 00:26:23,080 And the church did that. 310 00:26:23,080 --> 00:26:28,840 They separated Paul and Barnabas and sent them out. 311 00:26:28,840 --> 00:26:32,080 They obeyed the spirit of God. 312 00:26:32,080 --> 00:26:37,800 The spirit of God can bring us together in unity of mind as to what we ought to do. 313 00:26:37,800 --> 00:26:40,520 And we must obey the spirit. 314 00:26:40,520 --> 00:26:43,720 And thirdly, by obeying our leaders in Hebrews 13, 17. 315 00:26:43,720 --> 00:26:49,400 Obey them that have the rule over you, it says, and we read that verse this morning. 316 00:26:49,400 --> 00:26:54,400 I acknowledge the headship of Jesus Christ in the church by submitting myself, as he 317 00:26:54,400 --> 00:27:03,960 tells me to, to the appointed men of God who are called as elders in that fellowship. 318 00:27:03,960 --> 00:27:10,400 The Lord Jesus Christ is given by the Father to the church as its head. 319 00:27:10,400 --> 00:27:13,920 Jesus Christ is supreme in every realm. 320 00:27:13,920 --> 00:27:23,920 There is nothing that is left unsubjected to its ultimate authority by God the Father. 321 00:27:23,920 --> 00:27:30,840 He has subjected everything to Jesus Christ. 322 00:27:30,840 --> 00:27:35,520 But it is possible for you and for me to walk in such a way that we refuse to acknowledge 323 00:27:35,520 --> 00:27:36,520 that. 324 00:27:36,520 --> 00:27:43,720 Whatever realm it may be that we've talked about, man is the one part of God's creation 325 00:27:43,720 --> 00:27:47,000 that is able to walk in rebellion and sin. 326 00:27:47,000 --> 00:27:49,840 Not always, but for a time. 327 00:27:49,840 --> 00:27:52,760 God gives him that choice. 328 00:27:52,760 --> 00:27:59,440 We are able to receive the Lord Jesus Christ, his Savior, if we will. 329 00:27:59,440 --> 00:28:04,440 Whosoever will may come, said the Lord Jesus. 330 00:28:04,440 --> 00:28:09,520 If you have never trusted him as your Savior, you tonight have that opportunity. 331 00:28:09,520 --> 00:28:12,880 There is a choice for you to make. 332 00:28:12,880 --> 00:28:20,720 Within the parameters of God's elective purposes, he says to you that you may make that choice. 333 00:28:20,720 --> 00:28:26,000 If you have not trusted him, we plead with you tonight in the name of Christ to receive 334 00:28:26,000 --> 00:28:28,960 him as your Savior. 335 00:28:28,960 --> 00:28:33,520 And the Christian, the Christian may walk in his flesh. 336 00:28:33,520 --> 00:28:39,480 The Christian may be carnal and deny the Lordship of Christ in his life, in his circumstances, 337 00:28:39,480 --> 00:28:42,800 in his choices, his motives, his goals. 338 00:28:42,800 --> 00:28:45,960 And all of us know what that means because we've been there. 339 00:28:45,960 --> 00:28:52,200 But if any of us is there tonight, I pray that we will understand that Jesus Christ, 340 00:28:52,200 --> 00:28:58,080 our Savior, has appointed the Lord in how foolish it is of us who own his name, who 341 00:28:58,080 --> 00:29:09,520 call upon him to walk in our own strength, to walk self-directed, to walk in the flesh. 342 00:29:09,520 --> 00:29:11,800 What misery that brings to us. 343 00:29:11,800 --> 00:29:13,440 What unhappiness. 344 00:29:13,440 --> 00:29:16,200 What devastation it brings to us. 345 00:29:16,200 --> 00:29:22,040 How much better for us to acknowledge him as Lord and to give him his right in our lives 346 00:29:22,040 --> 00:29:24,520 now tonight. 347 00:29:24,520 --> 00:29:29,700 And name him as Supreme, not just in all the realms we've talked about only, but tonight 348 00:29:29,700 --> 00:29:36,160 in my life and in yours. 349 00:29:36,160 --> 00:29:40,560 Let's pray. 350 00:29:40,560 --> 00:29:50,920 Lord, we acknowledge tonight what you have declared in your word, that you have established 351 00:29:50,920 --> 00:29:59,120 Jesus Christ as Lord, as Supreme over every realm. 352 00:29:59,120 --> 00:30:05,200 And we acknowledge that he is right here in this very room with us. 353 00:30:05,200 --> 00:30:10,720 And I pray that as we close this service, there will not be one of us who would have 354 00:30:10,720 --> 00:30:16,400 an area of the life unyielded, unsurrendered. 355 00:30:16,400 --> 00:30:21,720 That may we right now in the quietness of these moments give ourselves to him afresh 356 00:30:21,720 --> 00:30:39,400 and anew as Lord of our lives.