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Amen. Amen. The title of my sermon this morning is Jesus, the King of the Jews. Jesus, the King of the Jews. Now the four gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, they all emphasize different things. They have different points that they focus in on. One of the great emphases of the book of Matthew is on the fact that Jesus Christ is the King of the Jews. That comes out right away here in chapter 1 when we start out with this long genealogy. It starts out in verse number 1. It says, the book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham. So the thing that's established in verse number 1 is that Jesus Christ is both the son of David, referring to the king David, and that he's the son of Abraham because he's the king of the Jews. Then it has this big long list of names. If you jump down to verse 6, you'll see it says, Jesse begat David the king, and David the king begat Solomon of her that had been the wife of Uriah, and Solomon begat Rehoboam, and Rehoboam begat Abiah, and on and on it goes, listing through the kings of Judah that we know from the Old Testament, showing that Joseph, who was the adoptive father of Jesus Christ, or stepfather, or the one who raised him, the one into whose household he was born, was of that kingly line and kingly descent. That's why the Bible says in verse number 16, and Jacob begat Joseph, watch this, the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ. So the Bible is always careful to tell us that Joseph is not the literal or biological father of Jesus Christ. Jesus was born of a virgin, and so it says that this kingly line here goes to Joseph, who was the husband of Mary, and it was of Mary that Jesus, who is called Christ, was born. Jump down to verse 18. Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise, when as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together she was found with child of the Holy Ghost. Then Joseph, her husband being a just man and not willing to make her a public example, was minded to put her away privily, but while he thought on these things, behold the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost, and she shall bring forth a son, and thou shall call his name Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sins. Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, behold a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel, which being interpreted is God with us. Now Matthew chapter 1 is a very significant chapter because God chose to put this as the opening chapter of the New Testament. I mean think about that. This is probably one of the most read chapters in the entire Bible, because even if people don't get that far in their reading, they're going to start reading the New Testament, they're going to read Matthew chapter 1. They're going to read chapter 2. They're going to read chapter 3. They're at least going to start there. You know, along with Genesis 1, Matthew 1 is going to be one of the most read chapters, and God chose, God ordained, God allowed that this chapter would be the first chapter in our New Testament, and so he's laying down some important truths right from the beginning, so that if we start reading the New Testament, we know who we're reading about, we know what the story's about, and right away we get into the fact that Jesus Christ is the son of David, Jesus Christ is of the Jews, but not only that, Jesus Christ was God in the flesh. That's established right away in chapter 1, because he says that all this was done to fulfill the scripture that said a virgin, not a young woman or a maiden, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel, which being interpreted is God with us. So the Bible right away shows us that this child that's born, he was not carrying around the literal name of Immanuel, his literal name was Jesus, that's what he was known as, but his name was called Immanuel because that means God with us, and Jesus Christ truly was God with us, living and walking amongst man. God was manifested in the flesh. Now as we get into chapter 2, look what it says in verse number 1, it says, Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem, saying, Where is he that is born what? King of the Jews. And this is a theme that you're going to see all throughout the book of Matthew. We don't even have time this morning to go to the scores of places where Christ's kingdom or the fact that he's the king or the king of the Jews is mentioned. But in chapter 2, it's brought up again, Where is he that is born king of the Jews? For we have seen his star in the east and are come to worship him. When Herod the king had heard these things, he was troubled and all Jerusalem with him. Verse 4, And when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, he demanded of them where Christ should be born. And they said unto him, In Bethlehem of Judea, for thus it is written by the prophet, And thou Bethlehem in the land of Judah are not the least among the princes of Judah. For out of these shall come a what? A governor that shall rule my people Israel. So if he's to be the governor that would rule the people of Israel, then it's clear that he is the king of the Jews. Go to chapter 3. It says in verse 1, In those days came John the Baptist preaching in the wilderness of Judea and saying, Repent ye for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. And this is just one of many scores of mentions of Christ's kingdom or the kingdom of God or the kingdom of heaven. Look at verse 13. Then cometh Jesus from Galilee to Jordan unto John to be baptized of him. But John forbade him, saying, I need to be baptized of thee, and comest thou to me? And Jesus answered and said unto him, is the first thing that we see Jesus say in the New Testament, Suffer it to be so now, for thus it becometh us to fulfill all righteousness. Then he suffered him. And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water, and lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and lighting upon him, and lo, a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. So we see that even just a casual reading of Matthew chapters 1, 2, and 3 nails down all kinds of important doctrine about Jesus Christ, about his divinity, about his mission, about baptism, about all these different doctrines that people today are often so confused about. But God right away lays these things out in the first few chapters. You see, Christ baptism is a very significant event. Now what does it mean? What does it represent? Well, there's a lot going on here at Christ baptism. First of all, when we see the Holy Spirit descending like a dove and lighting upon him, this is Jesus Christ being anointed with the Holy Spirit, which fits perfectly the theme of the Gospel of Matthew of Jesus Christ being the King of the Jews, of him being a king. In fact, the very word Christ means anointed. You say, well, how do you know that? Well, because back in Psalm 2, it says, The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together against the Lord and against his anointed. Well, that same verse is quoted in the New Testament in the Book of Acts as that they take counsel against the Lord and against his Christ. So we see that that verse is quoted in the Old Testament as his anointed, New Testament as his Christ, because Christ is just the Greek word to go with the Hebrew word that means anointed. And we know also that Christ and Messiah both mean the same thing. Messiah is that Hebrew term for the anointed, and Christ is that Greek term for the anointed, and all three of these are used together in the Bible as exact synonyms, anointed, Christ or Messiah. And so if Jesus Christ is the anointed, what is he anointed? He's anointed the King of the Jews. It says in Acts 10, 38, how God, actually it's tied in with his baptism, because if you start in verse, you don't have to turn there, but in verse 37, it says, That word I say ye know, which was published throughout all Judea, and began from Galilee, after the baptism which John preached, how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost, and with power, who went about doing good and healing all that were oppressed to the devil, for God was with him. So Jesus Christ, he gets baptized by John the Baptist. He's anointed by the Holy Ghost. That's where the Holy Ghost descends upon him, and he goes out and does all of his great works and his great miracles. So in Jesus Christ baptism, we see the anointing of the Holy Ghost. The other thing that's interesting about Christ baptism is that all three members of the Godhead are present. Jesus Christ is being baptized. The Holy Ghost descends from heaven like a dove, and then there's a voice from the Father in heaven saying, This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. So here's some great doctrine you can get on baptism right here from this passage. Number one, it's crystal clear that Jesus Christ was baptized by immersion. He was not sprinkled. He was not poured, but actually he was dunked. That's why the Bible says in verse 16, And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water. He went down into the water, and he came up out of the water, and every baptism in the New Testament is like that. They go down into the water. They come up out of the water. But not only that, it makes perfect sense why at the end of the book of Matthew in chapter 28, Christ would command to baptize in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. Why did Jesus command to baptize in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost? And here at Christ baptism, who do we see present? The Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. I'll tell you exactly why. It's because baptism pictures the resurrection of Jesus Christ. So right away at the very beginning of his ministry, at the beginning of the New Testament, we see the foreshadowing of Jesus Christ's death, burial, and resurrection. You see, when you're standing up in the water, that's a picture, or sitting up in the water, that's a picture of Christ on the cross. And then when you go under the water, that's a picture of his burial. And when you come up out of the water, that's a picture of Christ's resurrection. That's why often when we baptize people, we'll say something along the lines of, buried in the likeness of his death, and raised to walk in newness of life, alluding to Romans chapter 6. Or, buried in the likeness of his death, and raised up in the likeness of his resurrection. It's a picture of the resurrection of Christ, and it makes perfect sense that it would involve all three members of the Godhead, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, because of the fact that all three members of the Godhead were active in the resurrection of Jesus Christ. You see, the Bible tells us that God the Father raised up Jesus Christ from the dead. But then Jesus Christ said of himself also, destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up. And it also talks about the Holy Spirit of God raising up Christ from the dead. Now, oneness, Pentecostal, fools, and modalists, and false teachers will say, oh, well they're all the same person. You know, Jesus is the Father, the Father is Jesus, and the Holy, you know, it's just one person in three different modes. Wrong. The resurrection took all three, collectively, to raise him from the dead. He was raised by the Father, he was raised by the Son, and he was raised by the Holy Ghost. All three. Now, what if I were to say, you know, that a certain shed was built, and I said that shed was built by Dominique, it was built by Dustin, and it was built by Jared. The logical conclusion would not be that those three are all one and the same person, but that rather they all three worked on that project. And so baptism makes perfect sense being in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, since it was Father, Son, and Holy Ghost who raised up Jesus Christ, and so when we baptize in that name, that's what we're picturing, the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. This is why a Jesus-only baptism is not biblical baptism. This whole Jesus-only movement that goes back to 1913 with the Holy Roller charismatic revival at the Royo Seco campground where a bunch of tongue-talking maniacs are running around saying that, you know, we need to baptize in the name of Jesus only, and they've been doing it ever since. That's not biblical. It was the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost involved in Christ's resurrection. It was the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost present at Christ's baptism, and it's the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost in whose name we baptize, when we baptize. We do it on behalf of representing or by the authority of all three, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. Flip over, if you would, in your Bible to John chapter 1, John chapter number 1. We're going to look at a lot of other scripture on Jesus Christ being the King of the Jews. While you're turning there, I'll read for you from Hebrews chapter 1 verse 8. The Bible says, but unto the Son he saith, Thy throne, O God, is forever and ever. A scepter of righteousness is the scepter of Thy kingdom. So notice it's being said unto the Son, Thy throne, O God, is forever and ever. Why? Because the Son is God. Under the Son he saith, Thy throne, O God, is forever and ever. A scepter of righteousness is the scepter of Thy kingdom. Thou hast loved righteousness and hated iniquity. Therefore God, even thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows. And that oil of gladness represents the Holy Spirit when it says that Jesus Christ was anointed with the oil of gladness above his fellows, meaning that he was anointed with the Holy Ghost more than anyone else. God gave not the Spirit by measure unto him, according to John chapter 3. And in the Old Testament when kings were anointed, sometimes that's when the Holy Ghost would come upon them. If you remember when David was anointed, the Holy Ghost came upon him from that day forward. And so Jesus Christ, when he was anointed by the Holy Ghost, that was a picture of him being the king of the Jews. And again we see that unto the Son he saith, Thy throne, well who says that to the Son? The Father says that to the Son. And it says, therefore God, even thy God, referring to God the Father, hath anointed thee the Son with the oil of gladness above thy fellows. Look if you would at John chapter 1 verse 49. Let's look at some scriptures on how did Jesus react when he was called the king of the Jews or when people referred to him as the king of the Jews. Did he affirm what they said or did he tell them, no, that's not what I am, that's not who I am, that's wrong. It says in John 1 49, Nathaniel answered and saith unto him, Rabbi, thou art the Son of God, thou art the king of Israel. Jesus answered and said unto him, because I said unto thee, I saw thee under the fig tree, believeth thou? Thou shalt see greater things than these. And he saith unto him, verily, verily, I say unto you, hereafter ye shall see heaven open and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man. So he praises Nathaniel's belief when Nathaniel says, you're the Son of God, you're the king of Israel. He doesn't say, well, I'm the Son of God but I'm not the king of Israel. He just says, hey, blessed are you that you believe that. And so he's praised for believing that. And by the way, you'll notice all these mentions of the Son of God and the Father and everything like that. This is obviously alluding to the Trinity. And the Trinity is the doctrine that God is composed of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost and these three are one. One what? One God. One God. It's a bare record in heaven. Three witnesses. Three persons. One God. The Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost collectively make one God, not three gods, and not will Jesus is God the Father shape shifted into the Son. Those are false doctrines that our church has never believed and never stood for and are fighting right now because of the heresy that was brought into our church several weeks ago. You say, you just keep kicking a dead horse. Well, you know, I'm just going to keep kicking it and kicking it and kicking it until we can make a glue factory out of it and just keep beating on that dead horse until we all come to the unity of the faith. You know, and thank God, I believe that everybody hears in unity, amen? That the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost being distinct persons in the Godhead is a biblical doctrine, but I just want to make it crystal clear that the views that were expressed in the three sermons that I just preached a couple weeks ago, that's what we believe around here. That's where I stand and I don't want there to be any doubt. That's what I believe. My whole life, I talked to my mom and she said that's what she believes. She listened to all three of my sermons and said, I believed that my entire life since I was 10 years old. She said, every church I've been in has always been strong on the Trinity and she said, I've never even heard of this other doctrine, this oneness teaching, this modalist doctrine. Let's move on. Let's go to Luke chapter 1, Luke chapter 1. We're going to go from Luke chapter 1 to Mark 15 to give you a heads up. So we're going to Luke chapter 1. Nathaniel was praised for saying that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. He's praised for saying that Jesus Christ is the King of Israel. Look at Luke chapter 1 verse 32, he shall be great and he shall be called the Son of the Highest and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David. So that right there again, we see Jesus Christ being the King of the Jews sitting on the throne of his father David, the Son of God. And he shall reign over the house of Jacob forever and of his kingdom there shall be no end. Go over to Mark chapter 15. And let me just kick that dead horse, let me just kick it one more time, okay? No both or not. Well it's both. It's both three persons that make up one God and it's also one person that appears in three and four. Wrong. It's not both, it's just the Trinity. And everything else is false. Period. Well, so and so said, I don't care who said it. It's not both, it's the Trinity, stupid. Let's move on. Okay, where are we at? Mark chapter 15. Look at Mark chapter 15. It says in verse 2, And Pilate asked him, Art thou the King of the Jews? And he answering said unto him, Thou sayest it. So that right there is an affirmation from Jesus Christ that he's the King of the Jews right there. Look at verse number 9. But Pilate answered them saying, Will you that I release unto you the King of the Jews? For he knew that the chief priests had delivered him for envy. But the chief priests moved the people that he should rather release Barabbas unto them. And Pilate answered and said unto them, What will ye then that I shall do unto him whom you call the King of the Jews? And they cried out, Crucify him! Now isn't that interesting? He asked him, he asked Jesus, Pilate says, Are you the King of the Jews? And his answer is, Thou sayest it. You're saying it. Now that's kind of a cryptic answer, isn't it? He said the same thing in Matthew 27, 11, you don't have to turn there, but it says, And Jesus stood before the governor, and the governor asked him, saying, Art thou the King of the Jews? And Jesus said unto him, Thou sayest. And then if you would, flip over to John chapter 18, John chapter 18. This is also recorded in Luke. Luke 23, 1 says, And the whole multitude of them arose, and led them unto Pilate. And they began to accuse him, saying, We found this fellow perverting the nation, and forbidding to give tribute to Caesar, saying that he himself is Christ the King. And Pilate asked him, saying, Art thou the King of the Jews? And he answered him and said, Thou sayest it. So we see in Matthew, Mark, and Luke that the answer is just given as, You said it, thou sayest it. But look at John, we get a little more detail. Look at John chapter 18, verse 33. The Bible reads, Then Pilate entered into the judgment hall again, and called Jesus and said unto him, Art thou the King of the Jews? Jesus answered him, saying, Sayest thou this thing of thyself, or did others tell it thee of me? Pilate answered, Am I a Jew? Thine own nation and the chief priests have delivered thee unto me. What hast thou done? Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews. But now is my kingdom not from hence, or not from here. Pilate therefore said unto him, Art thou a king then? Jesus answered, Thou sayest that I am a king. To this end was I born, what was he born for, to be a king? He was born to be the King of the Jews. That's why there's so much emphasis on that, surrounding the birth of Christ. That's why they're bringing him gold and frankincense and myrrh, and that's why the prophet in Luke chapter 1 proclaims him to be the King of Israel, that he's going to reign on that throne. He says, To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth, everyone that is of the truth heareth my voice. Then Pilate entered into the judgment hall again, and called Jesus, and said unto him, oh whoops, I'm sorry, I already read that. Verse 38, Pilate saith unto him, What is truth? And when he had said this, he went out again unto the Jews, and said unto them, I find in him no fault at all, but ye have a custom that I should release unto you one at the Passover. Will ye therefore that I release unto you the King of the Jews? They then cried they all again, saying, Not this man, but Barabbas. Now Barabbas was a robber. If you would flip over to Matthew chapter 21. Matthew chapter 21, you're in John 18, flip over to Matthew 21. Matthew chapter 21. So we see that exchange between Jesus and Pilate, but then we also see a time when the soldiers mock Jesus Christ, and when they mock him, they mock him for being called the King of the Jews. You're turning to Matthew 21, but in Matthew 27 it says, And when they had platted a crown of thorns, they put it upon his head, and a reed in his right hand, and they bowed the knee before him, and mocked him, saying, Hail, King of the Jews. John 19, 3, they said, Hail, King of the Jews, and smote him with their hands. And there was a sign that was put up above his head, and what did the sign say that was above his head? This is Jesus, the King of the Jews. All four of the gospels record it, and in John they get mad, and they come to Pilate and say, Well write not the King of the Jews, but that he said, I'm the King of the Jews. Pilate answered, What I've written I've written, and he left that to stand. Look at Matthew chapter 21. The Bible reads in Matthew 21, 4, All this was done, that it might be fulfilled, which was spoken by the prophet, saying, Tell ye the daughter of Zion, behold, thy king cometh unto thee, meek and sitting upon an ass, and a colt the full of an ass. And this is, of course, Jesus Christ's triumphal entry into Jerusalem on what we know as Palm Sunday, and it was to fulfill the King coming in, the King of who? The King of the daughter of Zion, which is, of course, referring to the Jews. You don't have to turn there, but Mark 11, 10 says of the same passage, Blessed be the kingdom of our father David, that cometh in the name of the Lord, Hosanna in the highest. John 12, They took branches of palm leaves, and went forth to meet him, and cried, Hosanna, blessed is the King of Israel, that cometh in the name of the Lord. And Jesus, when he had found a young ass, sat thereon, as it is written, Fear not, daughter of Zion, behold, thy king cometh, sitting on an ass's colt. And this is just a small sampling. I mean, this is something that the Bible hammers over and over again, but especially the book of Matthew has this as a great theme over and over and over again. Go to Matthew, chapter 27, flip over to Matthew 27. Matthew chapter 27, the Bible reads in verse 40, and saying, this is when they're mocking Jesus on the cross, Thou that destroyest the temple, and buildest it in three days, save thyself, if thou be the son of God, come down from the cross. Likewise also the chief priests mocking him with the scribes and elders said, he saved others himself, he cannot save. If he be the King of Israel, let him come down from the cross, and we will believe him. He trusted in God. Let him deliver him now, if he will have him, for he said, I am the son of God. Hey, if he's the King of Israel, come down from the cross, they say. If you're the son of God, save yourself and us. Mark 15 says the same thing, let Christ the King descend now from the cross, that we may see and believe, and they that were crucified with him reviled him. Luke 23, and saying, if thou be the King of the Jews, save thyself, they said, over and over again. Go to Hebrews, chapter number 7, Hebrews chapter 7, so it's crystal clear that Jesus Christ is the King of the Jews. That's what he was accused of, that's what he was mocked, that's what he was ridiculed. Every time someone said it to him, he affirmed it. When Nathaniel said it, he affirmed it. He said he was blessed for believing. All the prophets prophesied, and they said it. All those scriptures was fulfilled. He had that pedigree of that genealogy in chapter 1. He had those kingly gifts that he was receiving in chapter 2. He was anointed in chapter 3. His very name means the anointed, the Messiah, the Christ, the King of the Jews, the King of Israel, the King of Zion. But not only that, he always has been the King, and he always will be the King of the Jews. Even before, this is pretty interesting, even before Jesus Christ walked and talked on this earth, born of Mary, born of Bethlehem's manger, and living on this life, and getting baptized, and preaching the gospel, he actually was the King of the Jews even before that. Even into the Old Testament, he was the King of the Jews, Jesus was. Because in Hebrews chapter 7 verse 1, it says, for this Melchizedek, watch this, King of Salem. Now Salem is short for Jeru-Salem, Jerusalem. Later that place, Salem, would be known as Jebus, and then later it would be known as Jeru-Salem, which is a combination of the root words of Jebus and Salem coming together to form the name of that city, Jerusalem. And so Melchizedek, the King of Salem, which is tantamount being the King of Jerusalem, it's the same location, priest of the Most High God, who met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him, to whom also Abraham gave a tenth part of all, first being by interpretation, King of Righteousness, and after that also, King of Salem, which is King of Peace, because Salem means peace, sort of like the word that we all know Shalom means peace. Without father, without mother, without descent, having neither beginning of days, nor end of life, but made like unto the Son of God abideth a priest continually. You see, Melchizedek was not just an ordinary man who had his priesthood, he had his lifetime, and then he died, and then another priest came along and took his place. That was the Levitical priesthood. It was like that. It was passed down through the generations because each priest would die, and he would pass on to be with the Lord if he was saved, and then there'd be another priest. But this man, Melchizedek, was without father, without mother, without descent, having neither beginning of days, nor end of life, but made like unto the Son of God. So this wasn't an ordinary guy who was born as a baby and grew up and lived and died. This man, Melchizedek, from the Old Testament, was an Old Testament appearance of the Lord Jesus Christ. He was an Old Testament appearance of the Son of God, and he still to this day abides a priest. And Jesus Christ's priesthood, where Jesus Christ is the high priest, is known as the priesthood after the order of Melchizedek as opposed to the Levitical priesthood. The Levitical priesthood of the Jews has been replaced by the priesthood after the order of Melchizedek, who was that man of the Old Testament who met Abraham. He was without father. He was without mother. He was without descent. He had neither beginning of days nor end of life, but he was made like unto the Son of God and abides now even a priest continually. Now this is not the only Old Testament appearance of Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ appeared multiple times throughout the Old Testament. You say, how do you know that? Because the Bible says, no man hath seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him. So any time we see a bodily appearance of Jehovah in the Old Testament, it has to be the Son of God. It has to be God the Son. It has to be Jesus. Why? Because the Father, you can't see his face and live. That's why Moses, when he wanted to see the face of God the Father, was told that he could not. And that's why God had to put Moses in the cleft of a rock and cover him there with his hand and pass all of his glory by. And then just as he's departing, just when the very tail end of God's glory is departing, he removed his hand and allowed Moses to just get a glimpse of just the rear part of God and Moses' face shone so much after seeing that sight that they had to put a veil over his face. People couldn't even look at him. Now because of that story, which was pretty familiar to the children of Israel, that story, because their most important scriptures were the Torah, the law, the Genesis through Deuteronomy, right? That's their primary scripture in the Old Testament. That was their main book, the law of God. Well, they knew it pretty well. And so that's why throughout history, sometimes the Lord would appear unto someone and they'd get freaked out saying, we're going to die because we've seen the Lord. And they couldn't understand why they didn't die. You know, if Moses couldn't even hardly behold the hinder parts, okay. But the reason why is that the Son of God appears in the Old Testament. That's why in Genesis 18, and this is a clear passage, in Genesis 18, the Lord Jehovah himself, capital L, capital O, capital R, capital D, in Genesis 18, the Lord appears unto Abraham. And he walks up to him flanked by two angels. Those are the two angels that would be sent to Sodom to see if they had done altogether according to the cry of it. And when the Lord comes up and flanked by these two angels, he speaks with Abraham, he eats and drinks with Abraham. So this wasn't just a spirit or an apparition. He eats and drinks with Abraham, then he sends the two angels to Sodom. The two men go walking towards Sodom and you know who's left alone there, according to the Bible, with Abraham is the Lord. The Lord Jehovah is left there talking with Abraham. So how does that work? Why? Because that was the Son. That was the Son of God right there. That was Jesus himself that was there, a pre-incarnate manifestation of the Lord Jesus Christ or, you know, the fancy theological term is a Christophany where, you know, he appeared in the Old Testament. And that's not the only time. He appeared there to Abraham. It couldn't have been God the Father. God the Father doesn't take bodily form and eat and drink and talk to people. And it couldn't have been the Holy Ghost because, again, the Holy Ghost doesn't walk up in flesh and bone eating and drinking with Abraham. No, no, no. It was none other than Jesus himself. It was an Old Testament appearance of Jesus Christ. And then that's why it even says later in the chapter kind of an enigmatic verse. It says that the Lord rained down fire and brimstone from the Lord out of heaven. So you got the Lord raining brimstone from the Lord. Why? There's two there, the Father and the Son. And so that's very clear even in that passage. So Melchizedek is another Old Testament appearance of Jesus Christ in Genesis 14. And then Genesis 18 is yet another Old Testament appearance of our Lord Jesus Christ. And look, that shows us, of course, another great proof of the deity of Christ that he's fully Jehovah. He's fully God. He's fully the Lord, right? He's every bit as much God as God the Father is. But the difference is that he could dwell among men and men could behold him and speak to him primarily in his earthly ministry but even in the Old Testament. What about Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego? When Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, the three children, are thrown into the fire, what happens? Nebuchadnezzar looks in and says, whoa, I see four men walking, loose, walking in the midst of the fire. And the form of the fourth, it's not God the Father, it's the Son of God, okay, appearing in the Old Testament. So this garbage that, oh, Jesus didn't come into existence until the New Testament. It's baloney. Once you know the New Testament, he's all over the Old Testament. He's everywhere. It's all throughout, even in bodily form. It's everywhere. So Jesus Christ was the King, when he appeared in the Old Testament, what's his title? King of Salem, King of Righteousness. I submit to you that he's always been the King of Israel. He's always been the King of the Jews. He's the King now. He was the King while he was on this earth and he will always be that great King of the Jews. In fact, one day he's coming again and he will rule over the entire earth but he will rule from Jerusalem, the city of David, and he will be seated upon the throne of his father David, the Bible tells us. That's where he's ruling from because he's that King of the Jews. Go if you would to Psalm 2. Psalm 2 will close in Psalm 2. And while you're turning there, let me point out Revelation 17, verse 14 says, these shall make war with the Lamb and the Lamb shall overcome them. For he, the Lamb, is Lord of Lords and King of Kings and they that are with them are called and chosen and faithful. Not only was Jesus the King in the Old Testament, not only was the King while he walked on this earth, not only is he going to be the King at his second coming, but not only just King of Israel, King of Zion, King of the Jews, he will be the King of the whole earth. He's always been the Lord of the whole earth. He'll always be the Lord of the whole earth and he was the Lord of all the earth even while he walked this earth. Now why all the emphasis on King of the Jews? Well because of the fact that he came first to his own and those were the chosen people in the Old Testament and so he went to them as the chosen people and they were to receive him as their King but they rejected him as their King. They said we have no King but Caesar. His blood be on us and on our children and they rejected him as their King. Therefore today the Jews are not saved. They're on their way to hell because they do not confess that Jesus Christ is the son of God. They do not believe in him as their Messiah. They're doomed. They're damned but he is still their King whether they know it or not. They're in open rebellion to their true King, to their rightful King and they're looking for the Messiah and the Messiah has already been around and the Messiah is not far from them. He's nigh unto every one of them and if they would just confess with their mouth the Lord Jesus and just believe in their heart that God raised him from the dead, they'd be saved. He's their King. He's their rightful King. He's the God of the whole earth. He's the Savior of all men, even those who don't even believe in him. He's still their Savior but if they do not believe in him, if they don't acknowledge him as their King, acknowledge him as that anointed Messiah, they will be doomed just like everyone else. See just because there's a King doesn't mean that everyone in the Kingdom is submitted to him or that everyone on the earth submits that King as rebellion today. There's rebellion just as Jesus gave the parable where he likened himself unto a great King and they said, we will not have this man to rule over us. We don't want him to rule over us. He's still the King though and what's he going to do? He's going to execute judgment and he said, bring those men hither before me, those men who didn't want me to rule over them, slay them before me and they're going to be cast into a furnace of fire and there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth, the Bible tells us. That Jesus Christ, the rightful King of the Jews, the rightful King of Israel will one day have the glory that he deserves even on this earth when he sits on that throne in Jerusalem and he has his 12 apostles judging the 12 tribes of Israel in that land. You say, oh, the Jews are going to get saved, no, no, no. They're going to be destroyed. The unbelieving Jews are going to be destroyed but remember, there's something that happens pre-millennial, it's called the resurrection, right? It's called the first resurrection. It's called the rapture and that's going to take place first and all of the Old Testament saved saints, the true Israel is going to be resurrected and born again, children of God from, from Christ until now are also going to be raised and all the saved of all ages are going to be raised from the dead and that resurrection and that land of Israel over there will be inhabited by godly, saved, righteous Israelites of all 12 tribes and Jesus will literally rule and reign over them, fulfilling all promises, fulfilling all scripture, fulfilling all prophecy but he'll also reign over the whole earth. That's just going to be the headquarters of his kingdom but before that, there's going to be a counterfeit, the anti-Christ who's going to go to Jerusalem and try to do the same thing, not through the power of God, not through the Holy Spirit and not by being this same Jesus, he's going to be someone totally different claiming to be another manifestation of God, a fourth mode of God. Seriously. You see, the Bible says this same Jesus which is taken up from you into heaven shall so come in like manner as you've seen him go into heaven. See Jesus Christ, he ascended up in a cloud. That exact same person that went up in that cloud, that same Jesus who right now is physically literally seated at the right hand of the father up in heaven, that same Jesus is going to come back, not a different Jesus, not mode number four, no, no, no, Jesus Christ himself, the son of God, the eternal son of God, the eternal word made flesh will come back and he will be the same Jesus but here's what's going to, another guy is going to come along and just claim to be a manifestation of God, a fourth mode of God. You see, all the false religions of this world, they believe in the oneness of God. What do Muslims emphasize? The oneness of God. God has no son, they say. If you've ever read the Koran that comes up over and over again, God has no son, God has no son, God has no son, that's what they brainwash, 1.6 billion Muslims to believe. Not only that but the false religion of rabbinical Judaism or the religion of the Pharisees that we have today at synagogues all over America and all over Israel and other parts of the world, that rabbinical Jewish religion, they emphasize the oneness of God. In fact, they change scripture. Scripture tells us, Hear O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord. He's one Lord. They change that in their prayers to, Hear O Israel, the Lord our God is one. Now leaving off that last word makes a big difference because instead of saying he's one Lord, he's one God, now it's just he's one. And then you go out soul winning and you run into the turbined Sikhs and what do the Sikhs tell you? God is one. You run into the Baha'i faith. God is one. God is one. God is one. The Muslims, the Jews, you talk to Hindus, they believe in the oneness of God. Just Google the word oneness, it's all Hinduism that comes up. They believe in the oneness of God. See our God as Christians is different than all these other gods. But today what's the teaching? Oh, we all worship the same God. Isn't that what they're teaching in the end times? The end times heresy is that we all worship the same God. You'll hear a lot of Christians, even if they're anti-Islam, saying well we worship the same God with the Jews. No I don't. I worship the Trinity. Totally different God. I don't worship the God of the Jews. Why? Because if you don't have the son, you don't have the father. But if you have the son, then you have the father also. And so in order for the whole world to rally around one God, it's going to have to be a oneness style God. It can't be the Trinity. It's going to have to be a oneness God. Hinduism is going to love that. They've been talking about oneness all along. They're going to love it. The Muslims are going to love it. These modalist oneness Pentecostals are going to love it. All these false religions can rally around. They're one singular, indivisible God. Well if God's so indivisible, then how did Jesus Christ, who was God in the flesh, the Son of God, say, my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? And don't tell me he was wrong. Jesus was never wrong. Jesus was the truth. Jesus was incapable of speaking a lie. And he said, hey, why? He didn't say, did you forsake me? He said, why did you do it? Why did you do it? Why hast thou forsaken me? It's an end times heresy of a God that is not composed of Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, but is a oneness, singularity, indivisible, and so forth. Look at Psalm 2. Let's close on this. The second coming of Jesus Christ as a great King. The Bible says, why do the heathen rage and the people imagine a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves and the rulers take counsel together against the Lord and against his anointed. And in the New Testament, this is quoted as against the Lord and against his Christ. Now this is what we see happening today. We see all the kings of the earth taking counsel together, uniting, the United Nations, for example, right, joining together. And it's not pro-Jesus. It's not pro-Christianity. It's not pro-God of the Bible, the triune God. No, no, no. It's against the Lord. It's against the Lord and it's against Jesus Christ himself, the anointed. And here's what they say. Let us break their bands asunder and cast away their cords from us. They're saying we don't want the Lord to rule over us. He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh. The Lord shall have them in derision. Then shall he speak unto them in his wrath and vex them in his sore displeasure. Yet if I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion, I would, look at that, I've set my king upon my holy hill of Zion. Who's talking? The Father. And when he said, hey, I'm setting my king, who's he setting up? Jesus. Now before this, the imposter, the devil, sets up his king, the anti-Christ. It says the dragon gave him his power, gave him his authority. But the true Jesus will be set on the throne by none other than God the Father. God the Father says, I have set my king upon my holy hill of Zion. I will declare the decree the Lord has set unto me, thou art my son. This day have I begotten thee. Ask of me and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession. Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron. Thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel. Be wise now, therefore, oh ye kings. Be instructed, ye judges of the earth. Serve the Lord with fear and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the son lest he be angry and ye perish from the way when his wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all they that put their trust in him. So when Jesus Christ returns, he's coming as a king. He's coming to rule. He's coming to reign. It's going to be this same Jesus. It's not going to be, oh, we all believe in the same oneness, God, and now he's appearing in a fourth mode, totally, you know, oh, this different guy, it's just another manifestation of the true God. And by the way, I even asked, I even asked one of these heretics that we threw out of our church, Elliot Ray, I said, so is God, does he just appear in three modes? And he said, well, no, it could be more, but those are just the main three. So you can see how this doctrine is perfect, perfect for the Antichrist. And I think that's why this is coming up, because it's not just happening in our church, it's actually happening all over. Because I've been seeing stuff pop up, even a month before we found out about this, I saw other teachers on YouTube coming out with it. And I've been hearing a lot of buzz about it. It's a big thing. You know, the devil is moving. It makes sense. But when Jesus Christ comes, and here's what I want to leave you with, the thought today, is why get up and preach about Jesus being the King of the Jews? You know, why get up and prove that? Why get up and show all that scripture? Why emphasize the book of Matthew? Why look at chapters one, two, and three, how they're all pointed to Christ as King? Why does this matter? Well first of all, we need to lay down foundational fundamental doctrine solid, so that we're always standing on a firm foundation on what we believe. So it's always good to lay down some things in concrete, where there's no doubt about them. And one of those is the fact that Jesus Christ is the King of the Jews, and that he pre-existed as King, and that he will always exist as King. But the practical application of this message is the fact that we need to look at Jesus Christ as our King. We need to have the respect for him that he deserves as a King. And we need to understand that as a King, that means he's the boss. He makes the rules. He has the right to tell us what to do, where to go. He says here that he will rule. Look at verse number eight, ask of me and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession. Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron. Thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel. Does that sound like a pretty soft rain? Pretty relaxed, pretty laissez-faire kingdom? No, and when this is quoted in the New Testament, it says it this way, he shall rule them. You're looking at Psalm 2, verse 9, I'm going to quote for you Revelation 2. You look at Psalm 2, verse 9, I'm going to read for you Revelation 2. It says, he shall rule them with a rod of iron, as the vessels of a potter shall they be broken to shivers, even as I received of my Father. So right there, it's crystal clear that when Christ comes back to reign, it's not going to be a free-for-all, it's not going to be anything goes, it's not going to be a bunch of sodomites getting married and a bunch of pot smoking everywhere and just a bunch of just porno and just strip clubs and just bars everywhere. You know what? Jesus Christ is going to clean up this town, I mean it's true. He's going to clean things up, that's why people aren't going to like him. But after a thousand years of his righteous reign, what's he going to do? He's going to have to put down a great rebellion. Why? Because people don't want him to reign over them. There's still going to be a lot of unsaved people and they want to just have free wickedness and just free sodomy and whoredoms and perversion and ungodliness and he's going to shut it down. And if you want to know what kind of a kingdom he's going to have, I'll tell you exactly what kind of kingdom he's going to have based on the laws that he already laid out in the Old Testament that the children of Israel never fully implemented. The children of Israel, because they're human, because they're not perfect, because they made mistakes, they never fully implemented his system. And it's going to be cool to see it actually work. You know what I'm saying? Like I'm looking forward to see, because a lot of people are like, oh, it'll never work. I'm looking forward to seeing it work. You know, the exact laws. And look, if you don't think Leviticus 2013 is coming back, you're crazy. Like you don't understand the rod of iron. You know what I mean? You don't understand the fact that Jesus Christ is not coming to just be a figurehead. He's not coming to be the Queen of England, folks. He is going to rule with a rod of iron and you know what, anybody rebels against him, he's going to dash them in pieces like a potter's out. He's just going to shatter them like pottery. He's just going to break them with a rod of iron. I mean, he's not going to put up with anything. It's going to be a serious raid. But I'm looking forward to seeing the peace, the prosperity, the happiness, and just to, you know, it's just going to be great that you can just show everybody my system's better. When the year of Jubilee is implemented, children of Israel never followed that commandment like they should have. Man, just seeing the year of Jubilee implemented from Leviticus, just seeing all the right laws, everything just by the book, amen? And just to see how it's going to work so well. And of course, there are going to be wicked people who just thrive on wickedness and they don't want to live a happy, prosperous life. But it's just good. You know what we're going to be thinking in the millennium? We're going to be thinking back and thinking, man, there were so many dumb things about the United States, you know what I mean, that we thought were good or there were so many dumb things about the Republican platform or the Democrat platform, like, man, why didn't we think of some of this stuff because Jesus is going to roll it all out and it's going to be great. It's going to be the best thousand years that this earth has ever seen. And it's going to be unique because after the millennium, when he delivers up the kingdom to the Father, at that point, the great white throne is going to take place and what happens at the great white throne? All the unbelievers are cast into the lake of fire for good and when we go into the new heaven and the new earth, it's only going to be just the saved. It's only going to be, everybody's going to be perfect. There's no sorrow, no crying, no death, that's all over. But during the millennium, there are still going to be a lot of just natural human beings, both saved and unsaved. In addition to those who've been resurrected, us, since we're living in this era, we will be immortal at that time because we'll have already been risen from the dead and be immortal but there will be other human beings that are carry-throughs from the tribulation, God's wrath, and that period that go into the millennium. Some of them are going to get saved, some of them aren't, they're going to have children, some will be saved, some won't. And you say, well, if Jesus is physically on this earth, everybody's going to be saved. Well, he's already been here once and everybody didn't get saved. Yeah, but when they see the miracles, well, he showed some miracles back then too. Well seeing is believing, well, maybe not because some people just don't want to believe. They've shut their eyes so that they won't see, they've stopped their ears, their ears are dull of hearing. It hardened their heart, blinded their minds. Jesus Christ ought to be the king in our lives right now. He's eternally king. And so we need to right now acknowledge him as our king and realize that his commandments are not optional, his commandments are not suggestions, he's the king. And we ought to bow our knee to the king every day and get on our knees before the king, salute him, praise him, worship him, give him the glory that's due unto his name every day and allow his word and his commandments to guide our lives. How do we live our lives? According to his word, according to what he says. Why? Because he's the boss, he's the lord, he's the king. He said, you know, you call me lord lord and then you don't do the things that I say. That's what Jesus said while he was on this earth. If we believe that he's a king, we need to treat him like the king of kings that he is. Let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer. Father we thank you so much for your word. Watch this. The husband of Mary of whom was born Jesus who is called Christ. So the Bible is always careful to tell us that Joseph is not the literal or biological father of Jesus Christ. Jesus was born of a virgin and so it says that this kingly line here goes to Joseph who was the husband of Mary and it was of Mary that Jesus who is called Christ was born. Jump down to verse 18. Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise. When as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together she was found with child of the Holy Ghost. Then Joseph, her husband being a just man and not willing to make her a public example, was minded to put her away privily but while he thought on these things, behold the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost and she shall bring forth a son and thou shall call his name Jesus for he shall save his people from their sins. Now all this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet saying behold a virgin shall be with child and shall bring forth a son and they shall call his name Immanuel which being interpreted is God with us. Now Matthew chapter 1 is a very significant chapter because God chose to put this as the opening chapter of the New Testament. I mean think about that. This is probably, man the title of my sermon this morning is Jesus the King of the Jews. Jesus the King of the Jews. Now the four gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, they all emphasize different things. They have different points that they focus in on and one of the great emphases of the book of Matthew is on the fact that Jesus Christ is the King of the Jews and that comes out right away here in chapter 1 when we start out with this long genealogy. It starts out in verse number 1. It says the book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham. The thing that's established in verse number 1 is that Jesus Christ is both the son of David referring to the king David and that he's the son of Abraham because he's the king of the Jews. Then it has this big long list of names and if you jump down to verse 6 you'll see it says Jesse begat David the king and David the king begat Solomon of her that had been the wife of Uriah and Solomon begat Rehoboam and Rehoboam begat Abiah and on and on it goes listing through the kings of Judah that we know from the Old Testament showing that Joseph who was the adoptive father of Jesus Christ or stepfather or the one who raised him, the one in whose household he was born was of that kingly line and kingly descent. That's why the Bible says in verse number 16 and Jacob begat Joseph one of the most read chapters in the entire Bible because even if people don't get that far in their reading, they're going to start reading the New Testament. They're going to read Matthew chapter 1. They're going to read chapter 2. They're going to read chapter 3. They're at least going to start there. You know, along with Genesis 1, Matthew 1 is going to be one of the most read chapters and God chose, God ordained, God allowed that this chapter would be the first chapter in our New Testament and so he's laying down some important truths right from the beginning so that if we start reading the New Testament, we know who we're reading about. We know what the story is about and right away we get into the fact that Jesus Christ is the son of David. Jesus Christ is of the Jews but not only that, Jesus Christ was God in the flesh. That's established right away in chapter 1 because he says that all this was done to fulfill the scripture that said a virgin, not a young woman or a maiden, a virgin shall be with child and shall bring forth a son and they shall call his name Immanuel which being interpreted is God with us. So the Bible right away shows us that this child that's born, he was not carrying around the literal name of Immanuel. His literal name was Jesus. That's what he was known as but his name was called Immanuel because that means God with us and Jesus Christ truly was God with us. Living and walking and repent ye for the kingdom of heaven is at hand and this is just one of many scores of mentions of Christ's kingdom or the kingdom of God or the kingdom of heaven. Look at verse 13, then cometh Jesus from Galilee to Jordan unto John to be baptized of him but John forbade him saying I need to be baptized of thee and comest thou to me? And Jesus answered and said unto him is the first thing that we see Jesus say in the New Testament. Suffer it to be so now for thus it becometh us to fulfill all righteousness then he suffered him and Jesus when he was baptized went up straight way out of the water and lo the heavens were opened unto him and he saw the spirit of God descending like a dove and lighting upon him and lo a voice from heaven saying this is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased. So we see that even just a casual reading of Matthew chapters 1, 2, and 3 nails down all kinds of important doctrine about Jesus Christ, about his divinity, about his mission, about baptism, about all these different doctrines that people today are often so confused about but God right away lays these things out in the first few chapters. You see Christ baptism is a very significant event. Now what does it mean? What does it represent? There's a lot going on here at Christ baptism. First of all when we see the holy monks man, God was manifested in the flesh. Now as we get into chapter 2 look what it says in verse number 1. It says now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king behold there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem saying where is he that is born what? King of the Jews. And this is a theme that you're going to see all throughout the book of Matthew. We don't even have time this morning to go to the scores of places where Christ's kingdom or the fact that he's the king or the king of the Jews is mentioned. But in chapter 2 it's brought up again where is he that is born king of the Jews for we have seen his star in the east and are come to worship him. When Herod the king had heard these things he was troubled and all Jerusalem with him verse 4. And when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together he demanded of them where Christ should be born and they said unto him in Bethlehem of Judea for thus it is written by the prophet and thou Bethlehem in the land of Judah are not the least among the princes of Judah for out of these shall come a what? A governor that shall rule my people Israel. So if he's to be the governor that would rule the people of Israel then it's clear that he is the king of the Jews. Go to chapter 3 it says in verse 1 in those days came John the Baptist preaching in the wilderness of Judea and.