I'd like to ask you to pray for Dave Sulak today.
Dave is our church coordinator here and is, by
virtue of that office, a very integral part of
our church staff. Yesterday Dave had some chest
pains and has had some tests and is resting comfortably
at his home today. We want to pray for him that
God would be pleased to restore him to his important
ministry here in our church. I have a little
bit of a rough throat today. I have a Hall's
stuck right up here. I feel like a chipmunk as
I talk. So if Hall's falls out of his mouth,
I don't want any of you to feel obligated to
come and pick it up. You just let it lay there
and I'll get another one. What happens sometimes
when you're speaking? plane pilot knew he was
in trouble when his electrical system failed
him. He was yet many miles from his destination
and then he remembered that in his coat pocket
he happened to bring along a hand compass. He
reached in his pocket and pulled the compass
out and from that compass was able to orient
himself so that he knew which direction to head.
A compass is helpful that way, isn't it, because
it faithfully points to the north. You know the
word of God is like that compass in a sense because
the word of God faithfully points us to Jesus
Christ, who is God's provision for all of our
needs. Jesus himself said that. He said, search
the scriptures, they speak about me. And in the
key verse that we've been using the last three
weeks now, regarding an Old Testament Christmas,
Jesus says that we find things written about
him in the Law of Moses, in the Psalms, and in
the Prophets. That's found in Luke 24, verse
44. We've reserved the division of the Old Testament,
most replete with Messianic prophecies, till
today, the last time that we'll be talking about
this particular subject. To say that there are
prophecies in the prophets is like saying there's
water in the ocean. Of course there are prophecies
there, and they point to Jesus Christ. Let me
just mention briefly some of the ones that we
find regarding his birth narrative. There's one
verse in the book of Micah, for example, chapter
5, verse 2, that gives us three important insights
regarding the Messiah. First it tells us, that
he will be born in Bethlehem. Secondly, that
he will come from the family of Judah. And third,
that he is eternal in his being. He is everlasting.
It speaks about the preexistence then of Christ,
something we talked about last week and the week
before. Another example is in Jeremiah 31, verse
14, which is a prophecy. according to Matthew,
regarding the killing of the innocents in Bethlehem
by Herod the king in his attempt to destroy the
Christ. Again, in Jeremiah, we have an interesting
passage in chapter 23, verses 5 and 6. In verse
5, we have a word about his humanity. It says
that he will be of David's lineage. But in verse
6 of that chapter, It tells us that he will be
called the Lord. Capital L, capital O, capital
R, capital D. Jehovah. So we see that this one
who is of David's lineage is also Jehovah. There
are, of course, many other prophecies regarding
his life, his death, his resurrection, his coming
again in glory to establish a kingdom over and
through Israel to all of the earth. We're going
to limit our study today to the book of Isaiah.
Some people call it the gospel of Isaiah because
it proclaims his death and resurrection for sin.
And in Isaiah, we're going to locate and examine
four specific prophecies that relate to Messiah's
first coming. We want to look at these as fully
as time would permit. We only have 70 minutes.
in a service, and so we have to sometimes kind
of rush it a little bit. I don't believe in sermonettes.
Sermonettes produce Christianettes, and we have
enough of those around. Isaiah chapter 11, verses
1 and 2. It says, Then a shoot will spring from
the stem of Jesse, and a branch from his roots
will bear fruit. and the Spirit of the Lord will
rest on him. And so clearly there is a personality
that is involved here. And it says the Spirit
of the Lord will rest on him. The Christ, in
other words. But in verse 1, we have a very interesting
thought. It says that he will be like a shoot
that will spring from the stem of Jesse. Who
is Jesse? Obviously it's not James. What other
Jesse in history could be spoken of here? It
wouldn't be Jesse James in this verse anyway,
would it? Well, let me give you an idea who Jesse
is. He is the grandson of a couple involved in
one of the most famous romances in all of the
Bible. A romance recorded for us in the little
book of Ruth. Jesse is the grandson of Boaz and
Ruth. That may not tell you too much. So let
me say it a different way. He is the father of
David, the king of Israel. Now, most of you knew
that anyway, didn't you? So actually what the
Lord is saying to us here is that this one on
whom the spirit of the Lord would rest will be
from the family of David. It's a poetic way of
saying it here. Now, it's interesting to notice
the imagery that is used. He says he will be
a shoot. from the stem of Jesse. We need to turn
the sound down just a little bit back there,
please. He will be a shoot from the stem of Jesse
and a branch from the roots of Jesse. Now, at
the time that Isaiah was writing this, the family
of David was like a flourishing tree of royalty
ruling over the land of Judah. But Isaiah looks
into the future. And sees a time when it will
be like a stump. The tree cut off and removed.
And that happened. Judah was carried away in
captivity to Babylon. And the result of that
was that David's ancestors were no longer on
the throne. They were removed. And it's as though
Jesse's family was left but a stump. It had roots
to it. But then Isaiah looks even further down
the road in history, and he says, out of this
stem, out of this stump, will come a green shoot,
a branch will come forth that will bear fruit.
In other words, there will be a renewal of life
to the royalty of David's family. There will
come another one that will reign and bear fruit.
And that one, of course, is the Lord Jesus Christ.
And he's revealed in verse 3 as the one who will
delight in the fear of the Lord, it says. He
will not judge by what his eyes see or make his
decision by what his ears hear, but with righteousness
he will judge the poor and decide with fairness
for the afflicted of the earth. He will strike
the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with
the breath of his lips he will slay the wicked.
Also righteousness will be the belt about his
loins. and faithfulness the belt about his waist.
And so there is a king coming who will spring
forth in the future, says Isaiah, out of the
stump of Jesse, and he will be known for righteousness
and faithfulness. A marvelous prophecy about
the Lord Jesus Christ. This image of his being
a branch is not uncommon in the Old Testament.
He is called, in fact, by the title, the branch
of the Lord. Isaiah uses that very term in Isaiah
chapter 4, verse 2, where he says that in that
day, the day of his reign, when the kingdom comes,
in that day the branch of the Lord will be beautiful
and glorious. Jeremiah uses it, chapter 23, verse
5, and chapter 33, verse 15. Zechariah the prophet
uses it, chapter 3, verse 8, chapter 6, verse
12. And so this title, the branch of the Lord,
is a messianic title for Jesus Christ. As I think
about this prophecy in Isaiah chapter 11, it
reminds me that families are important to God.
It is interesting that it does not say a shoot
will spring from the stem of David, but rather
the Holy Spirit chooses to say it is from the
stem, the stump of Jesse. We see ourselves normally
as being isolated in one generation. That's common
because our lifetime is so brief. We think of
ourselves in terms of our parents and maybe our
grandparents if we were born when they were still
living. We see ourselves as the progenitors of
children and grandchildren and great -grandchildren
and so on. But we're limited in our view of what
a family is. I suppose that few of us here today
could name our great -grandparents. Do you know
who they were beyond their last name? What about
your great -great -grandparents? You see, families
are important to God, and when he looks at a
family, he sees the whole family tree laid out
before him. I wonder what kind of a man Jesse
must have been to have a son like David, a son
who in his youth loved God with all of his heart,
and who probably as an early or mid -teenager
Went out to fight Goliath, trusting God for the
victory, not only for himself but for the armies
of Israel. Who, when he was still in his teens,
was anointed to be the king of Israel. Now that
didn't just happen by accident. I believe that
Jesse must have been a man of God. I do not know
a text that tells us about the spiritual walk
of Jesse. But there was something so real about
that dad. They produced a boy like David. I wonder,
Dad, if you can identify with that today. I believe
all of us who are fathers want our children to
grow up to love God, to serve him with all of
their hearts. There are times when all of us
fail. I'm sure Jesse failed in aspects of his
parental responsibility. We all do. But, oh,
our desire, our trust is to see our children
nurtured in the things of God. And if God lays
his hand on them for some kind of special service,
that we would rejoice in that. I know parents
who pray their children will not be called of
God to go to the mission field, will not be called
of God to go into Christian service. I think
that's a tragedy. That's sad. I believe that
Jesse must surely have rejoiced when God laid
his hand upon his son to be the next king of
Israel, the most unlikely of all of the boys.
But David, that little red -headed runt, if you
please, he's the one that God wanted to be the
king. And what a king he was, a man after God's
own heart. Are you raising that kind of children,
mom, dad? Young person, are you the kind of young
person that David was? The kind of a person that
God can look right inside your mind and your
heart today and feel very comfortable with the
way that you think and the way that you act,
the way that you talk, even to your brothers
and sisters? It's one thing to talk nice to friends,
isn't it? But what about home? God is looking
for people like that to serve him. Who knows,
mom or dad, but that that child in your trust
today may be another Martin Luther or another
Moody or another Billy Sunday or whomever. Raise
your children up as Jesse evidently raised up
his family. And God honors him here by saying,
well, it's David's family, but it's the stump
of Jesse. Now let's look at another prophecy
found in chapter 7, verse 14. This is probably
the most familiar of Isaiah's prophecies about
the first coming of Christ. It says, Therefore
the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold,
a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and
she shall call his name Emmanuel. Where does
chapter 7 fit in here? What is the historical
background? Let me share a little of that with
you. Previous to this, In fact, it was after
the death of Solomon. The northern ten tribes
of the Jews seceded from the rule of David's
family, and they established their own kingdom.
They retained the name Israel. Sometimes they
were called Samaria because that was their capital
city. They were to the north of the southern
kingdom, which retained David's family on the
throne. and was called Judah, the capital of
which was Jerusalem. Now in this day, as was
rather frequently, the two nations were at odds
with one another. In fact, at times they went
to war with each other. Israel against Judah,
Jew against Jew, ten tribes against the two tribes.
Of this northern kingdom, there was not one good
king. Every one of them was ungodly and heathen.
Imagine that. Of the southern kingdom, of David's
descendants, there were six or seven of the kings
only that God calls good because they walked
in the way of David their father. But most of
them were ungodly kings. That's sad, isn't it?
Now on this day, there was a man named Ahaz who
was on the throne of Judah. Up here in Israel,
there was concern. They were... in alliance with
the country to their north and east called Syria,
the capital of which was and still is today Damascus,
still basically the same geographical setting.
Syria and Israel were subjected to yet another
country, a large growing power called Assyria,
over to the east of them. They got tired of paying
taxes to Assyria, so they revolted and refused
to pay, and they knew what the price would be.
Assyria would send an army against them, and
so they started getting their forces together
for the battle. And they began to put pressure
on King Ahaz and Judah to join with them to fight
this other power. King Ahaz was a godless man.
He did not trust in the Lord. He trusted in political
schemes. And yet God, in his faithfulness to
David's descendants, sent Isaiah the prophet
to Ahaz and told him that it would not be long
before those two nations up here putting pressure
on him, Israel and Syria, would be no more than
a burned -out torch. Finished. And God says,
ask a sign of me, and I will give you a sign
to show you that that's going to come to pass.
Ahaz said, I don't want a sign. Not because he
believed God, but just frivolously, lightly,
said, I don't want a sign. And that's when Isaiah
the prophet said, the Lord himself will give
you a sign then. A virgin shall be with child
and bring forth a son, and they shall call his
name Emmanuel. That is God with us. God will
prove he's with the nation he has even though
you don't believe it. That promise had an historical
fulfillment as well as one prophetically in Jesus
Christ. What happened was that Isaiah married
a young woman who was at the time that he spoke
this prophecy a pure young woman, a virgin, unmarried.
After their marriage, they had a child. God goes
on to say in chapter 7 here that that child would
not be 12 to 14 years old before both of those
nations up here giving Ahaz trouble would be
out of existence. It happened historically, exactly
as God said. The son that was born to Isaiah
and to his new wife was called Meher Shalal Hashbaz.
by the order of the Lord. It had to be the Lord
to name a child that, I would think, wouldn't
you? It had a significance. This is found in
chapter 8, verses 1 through 4. I've heard of
Jonathans and Davids and all kinds of biblical
names, but I've never heard a parent yet call
his name, a child's name, Meher Shalal Hashbaz.
And you better not try it. You might prefer to
call your son by another name than that. But
that was the boy, and that was the sign child
in that day. And when that baby was born to Isaiah
and his new wife, there was a sign to Ahaz that
God was going to fulfill his promise and deliver
him and Judah from Israel and Syria and their
pressure on him. Now, of course, the most wonderful
fulfillment of that prophecy is found in the
New Testament in the birth of Jesus Christ. In
fact, in Matthew chapter 1, verse 23, Matthew
says that the birth of Jesus Christ is the fulfillment
of this prophecy here. Now, the Holy Spirit had
Isaiah write it in such a way that it could be
fulfilled in that time. The word that is translated
virgin means a young woman of marriageable age.
I think in every context it's used in the Bible.
It refers to one who is pure. but the word didn't
have to mean that. But in the New Testament,
as the Holy Spirit has Matthew write down this
prophecy saying it's fulfilled, he has him choose
a specific Greek word that can only be translated
by virgin, a pure, chaste woman. And so the Holy
Spirit, in the very way he even worded this,
allowed for the double fulfillment of it. Have
you ever wondered what kind of a remarkable young
lady Mary was? I think that out of reaction to
an undue exaltation by some, we put her down
too much. Mary was not sinless. She herself called
God her Savior. My soul rejoices in God my Savior.
She needed a Savior. She was a sinner. But folks,
Mary was a superb young woman. Pure in body and
pure in spirit, in mind, in heart. Think of the
fact that she was probably only in her mid -teens
when Gabriel came and announced to her that she
would be with child. That was the common marriageable
age in that day. She would have been engaged
to Joseph at that time. Think of what a special
person she must have been to be the mother of
the Lord Jesus Christ. He was protected from
her sin by the Holy Spirit in her womb. And yet
he derived his humanity from her. When God looks
for someone to use, he looks for that kind of
a person. A friend of mine has said, God does
not pour the pure water of life through a dirty
vessel. My Christian friend, if your life today
is dirty, God isn't going to use you. He can't
use you. The Apostle Paul talks about those vessels
that are sanctified, cleansed, that is, and fit
for the Master's use. Is that the kind of a vessel
your life is today? I'm not talking about a sinless
person, but I'm talking about keeping our sin
account clear. When we sin, confess it. Claim
God's forgiveness and go on and live in fellowship
with him. That's the kind of person that God
will always use. I hope you're that kind of person.
That's the kind of person I want to be too. The
kind of a person that Mary was, that God chose
her. And so we see in Isaiah the prophecy of
the virgin birth fulfilled in Jesus Christ. And
now let's look at a third prophecy in Isaiah
chapter 40. I could almost sing this from the
Messiah to you. I say almost. I would not bore
you by listening to me sing it. But if you ever,
ever listened to the Messiah, you know that it
is part of the lyrics from it are taken directly
from Isaiah 40. For it says, beginning in verse
3, A voice is calling, clear the way for the
Lord in the wilderness. Make smooth in the desert
a highway for our God. Let every valley be lifted
up, every mountain and hill be made low. Let
the rough ground become plain and the rugged
terrain a broad valley. You know what he's saying
here, essentially? Build a freeway. He says,
build it up, build up the valleys, tear down
the mountains. Make a super highway in the wilderness.
Then the glory of the Lord will be revealed and
all flesh will see it together. For the mouth
of the Lord has spoken. A voice says, call out.
Then he answered, what shall I call out? And
the answer to that is down in verse 9. Get yourself
up. On a high mountain, O Zion, bearer of good
news. Lift up your voice mightily, O Jerusalem,
bearer of good news. Lift it up, do not fear.
Say to the cities of Judah, Here is your God.
You know what Isaiah is saying? He is saying
there is going to come before the Messiah a messenger.
And this one is going to be in the wilderness
and will prepare the way of the Lord. spiritually
in the lives of the people of Judah. He is the
one who is going to be able to say, behold your
God. Now, of whom does Isaiah speak here as the
forerunning messenger? Who is it? John the Baptist.
John the Baptist. He, by the way, was not the
founder of the Baptist denomination. I'm sorry
to disappoint some of you. John the baptizer
is the one that's in view here. I want you to
turn over with me to Luke chapter 1 and notice
how this fits with the Christmas thought. Luke
begins his gospel not with Mary and Joseph on
their way to Bethlehem, but with Zacharias and
Elizabeth. The reason he mentions them is because
of who Elizabeth was. Elizabeth was apparently
the sister of Mary. at least a near relative
of Mary. Zacharias and Elizabeth were up in years.
They'd never had any children. It was the prayer
of their heart that they might have a child.
Zacharias was a priest. He would do service in
the temple when it was his turn, and that day
there were so many priests that they had to draw
lots and take turns that way of doing priestly
service in the temple. Sometimes it was a once
-in -a -lifetime opportunity, if you can imagine
that. to go into the temple and do the service
that you were born to do. Well, the time came,
the lot fell out upon Zacharias, and he went
into the temple to do his work. Great honor.
Everybody was waiting for him to come back out.
While he was in there, an angel appeared to Zacharias,
and that's where we pick it up, verse 13. Do
not be afraid, Zacharias, the angel said. For
your petition has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth
will bear you a son, and you will give him the
name John. And you will have joy and gladness,
and many will rejoice at his birth. For he will
be great in the sight of the Lord, and he will
drink no wine or liquor, and he will be filled
with the Holy Spirit while yet in his mother's
womb. And he will turn back many of the sons
of Israel to the Lord their God. For it is he
who will go as the forerunner before him. capital
H, in the spirit and power of Elijah to turn
the hearts of the fathers back to the children
and the disobedient to the attitude of the righteous,
so as to make ready a people prepared for the
Lord. So that's the word about John's birth.
Now I want you to skip down to verse 24. After
these days, Elizabeth, his wife, became pregnant,
and she kept herself in seclusion for five months,
saying, This is the way the Lord has dealt with
me in the days when he looked with favor upon
me to take away my disgrace among men. Now in
the sixth month. The sixth month of what? Well,
of Elizabeth's pregnancy. When she was six months
along, the angel Gabriel was sent from God to
a city in Galilee called Nazareth. And that's
more familiar, isn't it? He came and announced
to Mary that she was going to be with child.
by the holy spirit you know what the result of
this was mary rejoiced and immediately left to
go see elizabeth to share the good news with
her and you know what happened when she arrived
she entered into the house and the baby that
was in the womb of elizabeth about six months
or so long leaped it moved Perhaps it was at
that moment that child was filled with the Holy
Spirit in the womb, as was prophesied. Perhaps
there was some kind of even unconscious, shall
we say, awareness of who was in the womb of Mary.
And Mary stayed there three months. That is,
until John was born. Perhaps she helped Elizabeth
in those latter months of her pregnancy, and
perhaps Elizabeth helped Mary. Some of you women
know what the first three months can be like.
Maybe Mary needed some help. But for those three
months, she stayed with them and then returned
back home. And the Christmas narrative continues
with Joseph and Mary going to Bethlehem and so
on. And so we learn from this that John was six
months older. than Jesus. And they were cousins.
They were cousins, humanly speaking. I wonder
what it must have been like as children when
they played together. Undoubtedly they did. Their
mothers were close. And then there came the time
when John went out into the wilderness by himself.
Kind of a strange personality, really. He wore
unusual clothing and had a strange diet. People
didn't want him around a whole lot. He was sort
of a recluse. And then came the day when he appeared
in the wilderness and began to preach. He must
have been about 30 years of age at that time.
And for six months he preached to the people
of Israel. And many repented of their sins and
indicated it by baptism. And then came the day,
the day for which he had been born. He looked
up and he saw his cousin, Jesus, coming to him.
They were not strangers. But he didn't say, look,
here is my cousin. What did he say? Behold, the
Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.
In other words, it was John the Baptist who was
there in the wilderness preparing the way for
the coming of Messiah and who had the privilege
of saying, Behold your God. I almost get goosebumps
thinking about that. What a privilege John had.
But may I tell you something? The privilege you
have is greater than that which John the Baptist
had. You know why? Because John the Baptist was
a friend of the bridegroom. That's how he called
himself, John chapter 3. But you, dear Christian,
are part of the bride. You are part of the bride,
the church of Jesus Christ. So don't be envious
of John the Baptist. Realize that the privilege
of position that God has given you is even greater
than that which he enjoyed, and Jesus called
him the greatest of the prophets. Furthermore,
you and I have the privilege of being his heralds
today. John was separated from society. He was
looked down upon by those of society in that
day as he preached to them about their sins.
And likewise, dear people, we must not count
it strange when we are strangers and pilgrims
to the society around us. In fact, Jesus said,
Beware when all men speak well of you. For you
see, we too are called, as it were, to be prophets
to the society in which we live. We are not called
of God to be popular in this world. We are called
here to represent Jesus Christ and to proclaim
his first coming for sins and his second coming
to reign in glory. So the position that John
the Baptist had is one that in a way of application
you share, for you too are like a voice in the
wilderness proclaiming the coming of the Messiah.
Let me close with one final reference in Isaiah
chapter 9, verses 6 and 7. Again, one of those
texts found in Handel's work. It says, Isaiah
9, 6, For a child will be born to us, a son will
be given, and the government will rest on his
shoulders. In that first section of verse 6,
we have three specific prophecies that outline
for us the course of Christ's life. A child will
be born. That's Bethlehem. A son will be given.
That's the cross. The government will rest on
his shoulders. That's his coming again. And so
you see in this sentence, we have the cradle,
the cross, and the crown laid out before us.
That's the course of his life. And then we have
his character. It says his name will be called
Wonderful Counselor. That is, supernatural wisdom
will be his. Do you lack wisdom today regarding
some decision in your life? Jesus Christ is the
wonderful counselor. He is the mighty God. All
authority is given unto me. In heaven and on
earth, said Jesus Christ. Over in chapter 10,
verses 20 and 21, by the way, that term, the
mighty God, is said to be used of Jehovah himself.
And so the mighty one, the mighty God is Jehovah.
Jesus Christ is the mighty God. Therefore, Jesus
Christ is Jehovah. It follows logically. And
then he's called the everlasting father or the
eternal father. That is the father of eternity.
And then finally he's called the prince of peace.
That is, he's the one in whom peace dwells. Where
he reigns, there is peace. I hope he reigns in
your life and that there's peace in your home,
in your life today, because he's the prince of
your home. And then notice what it says about
his kingdom. There will be no end to the increase
of his government. That sounds like Washington,
D .C., doesn't it? But it's talking about the
messianic kingdom of Christ. It says there will
be no end to his government or of his peace.
It's eternal. And it says he will sit on the
throne of David. He will fulfill the promise
to David we've talked about before. He will establish
his kingdom with justice and righteousness and
uphold it with the same. When justice and righteousness
disappear from the law system of a society, that
society is doomed. And that's where we are today,
ladies and gentlemen. You cannot have organized
society apart from justice and righteousness.
We're losing it, but not Christ's kingdom. It
will be built upon it and upheld by it. And finally,
it says, the zeal of the Lord of hosts will accomplish
this. The word zeal is related to the Hebrew
word for jealousy. And what it means is that
God is jealous that his son reign on the earth,
and he will see to it that Jesus Christ does
reign. His kingdom is coming to this world. God
identifies himself in this verse as the Lord
of hosts. That is God's warrior name. It is Lord
Sabaoth, revealed in 1 Samuel 1. Martin Luther
uses it in A Mighty Fortress is Our God. Lord
Sabaoth, his name. Lord of hosts. You know that
Moses never once used that name. It's not found
directly in Joshua, in Judges. It's found rarely
in the Psalms. An exception would be Psalm 2410
where it says, Who is the king of glory? The
Lord of hosts. He is the king of glory. But this
name for God is found in the prophets, and there's
a reason for that. The prophets spoke of judgment.
The nation was declining, and God was going to
move in to discipline his people. But God, at
the same time, gave them promises that he would
restore them. He would bring them back together.
And as he does that, he calls himself the Lord
of hosts. You know that Jeremiah... uses this
name for God 80 times. Haggai, that little book,
14 times. Zechariah uses it 50 times. Malachi
calls God the Lord of hosts 25 times in his four
chapters. This is a name for the prophets, and
that's why Isaiah uses it here. And he says God
is a God of warfare. And he will establish the
kingdom of his son. And to that kingdom there
will be no end. Dear friend, we today do not
worship Christ in a manger, as sentimental as
that scene may be. We do not worship Christ hanging
on a cross. But we worship Jesus Christ, the
risen conqueror. The glorified, omnipotent one
that John saw in Revelation chapter 1 and at
whose feet he fell as dead. That's the one that
we worship. And that risen Savior, Jesus Christ,
is coming back again. He's going to establish
his rule on the earth. And only his own will
enter into that kingdom. All others will be shut
out forever and will be cast into hell. You say,
well, who says that? Jesus Christ himself. Take
his word for it. If you do not belong to him
today, you have no place in the kingdom that's
coming. Will you today trust him as your Savior,
your Lord? As it were, will you allow him today
to be the king of your life? Let that be his
kingdom now, so that later he may bring you into
his kingdom? I hope that those of us who trusted
him are allowing him to rule in our lives too.
That's his rightful place. Heavenly Father, we
praise you that Jesus Christ's kingdom will be
established and that in the future his will be
the only kingdom there will be. We thank you
that in him we have a part in that. I pray, Father,
that if today there are some of us who need to
make decisions so that we're rightly related
to you, we may have the faith to do that and
the determination to do it before we leave this
place. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.