CHRIST KING
Christ the King Sunday---2015
The question we are dealing with this week is " if Christ is our King, then why is the world the way it is?" Christians live in the world now, and we wonder if Christ rules and defends us, why does it seem that the world is so difficult to live in with its tragedies, disappointments, and difficulties? I would say our understanding is quite limited and therein lies our problem. No , we are not God, but somehow we try to be little gods, and our thinking therefore is human, and not divine. " For now we see through a glass darkly, but then face to face: now I know in part...." I Corinthians 13:12
Q: How doth Christ execute the office of a king? ---Scots Catechism ( Westminster)
A: Christ executeth the office of a king, in subduing us to himself,1 in ruling and defending us,2 and in restraining and conquering all his and our enemies.3
1. Psalm 110:3. Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power, in the beauties of holiness from the womb of the morning: thou hast the dew of thy youth.
2. Isaiah 33:22. For the Lord is our judge, the Lord is our lawgiver, the Lord is our king; he will save us.
3. 1 Corinthians 15:25. For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet.
Acts 12:17. But he, beckoning unto them with the hand to hold their peace, declared unto them how the Lord had brought him out of the prison. And he said, Go shew these things unto James, and to the brethren. And he departed, and went into another place.
Acts 18:9-10. Then spake the Lord to Paul in the night by a vision, Be not afraid, but speak, and hold not thy peace: for I am with thee, and no man shall set on thee to hurt thee: for I have much people in this city.
The above is the first point today in our thinking about Christ as King. The first point is that we as Christians do have Christ as our King. It may not feel that He rules and defends us, and restrains and conquers all our enemies, but He does. That is God's undeniable truth.
One of the authors who commented on this, John Flavel , said further that "the kingdom of God is within us ( the Christian believer)" Luke 17:21 " The godly may safely trust to Christ's care. Jeremiah 30:11- " For I am with thee" & what it says it 2 Chronicles 16:9 " For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward Him."
2. The world is under God's hand, no matter what we may think it looks like to our human understanding. " All things are under His (Christ's ) feet." Ephesians 1:22....whether we acknowledge this or not, " Ephes 1:11- " In whom also we have obtained an inheritance (Christ), being predestinated according to the purpose of HIM WHO WORKETH ALL THINGS after the counsel of His own will."
If we do not believe this, then we doubt the word God has left us . Yet it seems that evil men have their plans , and they are executed ( the plans). We wonder, what has happened when we see the senseless killing by others in our culture and even in our own country . All men must face the judgment of God , and one day there will be a reckoning that is true to His standard of justice, not man's. Hebrews 9:27 reminds us ," ..it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment."
3. Lastly if Christ is our Ruler, King and Sovereign, what does this require of us? We are His subjects, and we are reminded by the Apostle John in Revelation 1:6 " and hath made us kings and priests unto God..." . One quote kept coming to me as I thought about this thru the week:
Teresa of Avila (1515–1582)
"Christ Has No Body "
Christ has no body but yours,
No hands, no feet on earth but yours,
Yours are the eyes with which he looks
Compassion on this world,
Yours are the feet with which he walks to do good,
Yours are the hands, with which he blesses all the world.
Yours are the hands, yours are the feet,
Yours are the eyes, you are his body.
Christ has no body now but yours,
No hands, no feet on earth but yours,
Yours are the eyes with which he looks
compassion on this world.
Christ has no body now on earth but yours.
Born in Spain, Teresa entered a Carmelite convent when she was eighteen, and later earned a reputation as a mystic, reformer, and writer who experienced divine visions. She founded a convent, and wrote the book The Way of Perfection for her nuns. Other important books by her include her Autobiography and The Interior Castle.
Remember ,
Christ is Lord and King of our Church, and our world and if God calls us to do something for Him , which He does, then we are not to delay but to "try His redeeming works to do." ( as the hymn writer wrote)
Lyrics
1. "1. There is a green hill far away,
2. Without a city wall,
3. Where the dear Lord was crucified,
4. Who died to save us all.
5. 2. We may not know, we cannot tell,
6. What pains he had to bear,
7. But we believe it was for us
8. He hung and suffered there.
9. 3. There was no other good enough
10. To pay the price of sin.
11. He only could unlock the gate
12. Of heav'n and let us in.
13. 4. Oh, dearly, dearly has he loved!
14. And we must love him too,
15. And trust in his redeeming blood,
16. And try his works to do.
17. Text: Cecil Frances Alexander, 1818-1895
18. Music: John H. Gower, 1855-1922 "
It may be small or little just as the young lad in today's Gospel ," ...there is a lad here, which hath five barley loaves, and two small fishes ; but what are they among so many?" John 6
Against the world, we charge in with Christ and His Word realizing we are His kings and priests to do His will and His work in our world and wherever we are in it.
In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost. Amen
The question we are dealing with this week is " if Christ is our King, then why is the world the way it is?" Christians live in the world now, and we wonder if Christ rules and defends us, why does it seem that the world is so difficult to live in with its tragedies, disappointments, and difficulties? I would say our understanding is quite limited and therein lies our problem. No , we are not God, but somehow we try to be little gods, and our thinking therefore is human, and not divine. " For now we see through a glass darkly, but then face to face: now I know in part...." I Corinthians 13:12
Q: How doth Christ execute the office of a king? ---Scots Catechism ( Westminster)
A: Christ executeth the office of a king, in subduing us to himself,1 in ruling and defending us,2 and in restraining and conquering all his and our enemies.3
1. Psalm 110:3. Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power, in the beauties of holiness from the womb of the morning: thou hast the dew of thy youth.
2. Isaiah 33:22. For the Lord is our judge, the Lord is our lawgiver, the Lord is our king; he will save us.
3. 1 Corinthians 15:25. For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet.
Acts 12:17. But he, beckoning unto them with the hand to hold their peace, declared unto them how the Lord had brought him out of the prison. And he said, Go shew these things unto James, and to the brethren. And he departed, and went into another place.
Acts 18:9-10. Then spake the Lord to Paul in the night by a vision, Be not afraid, but speak, and hold not thy peace: for I am with thee, and no man shall set on thee to hurt thee: for I have much people in this city.
The above is the first point today in our thinking about Christ as King. The first point is that we as Christians do have Christ as our King. It may not feel that He rules and defends us, and restrains and conquers all our enemies, but He does. That is God's undeniable truth.
One of the authors who commented on this, John Flavel , said further that "the kingdom of God is within us ( the Christian believer)" Luke 17:21 " The godly may safely trust to Christ's care. Jeremiah 30:11- " For I am with thee" & what it says it 2 Chronicles 16:9 " For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward Him."
2. The world is under God's hand, no matter what we may think it looks like to our human understanding. " All things are under His (Christ's ) feet." Ephesians 1:22....whether we acknowledge this or not, " Ephes 1:11- " In whom also we have obtained an inheritance (Christ), being predestinated according to the purpose of HIM WHO WORKETH ALL THINGS after the counsel of His own will."
If we do not believe this, then we doubt the word God has left us . Yet it seems that evil men have their plans , and they are executed ( the plans). We wonder, what has happened when we see the senseless killing by others in our culture and even in our own country . All men must face the judgment of God , and one day there will be a reckoning that is true to His standard of justice, not man's. Hebrews 9:27 reminds us ," ..it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment."
3. Lastly if Christ is our Ruler, King and Sovereign, what does this require of us? We are His subjects, and we are reminded by the Apostle John in Revelation 1:6 " and hath made us kings and priests unto God..." . One quote kept coming to me as I thought about this thru the week:
Teresa of Avila (1515–1582)
"Christ Has No Body "
Christ has no body but yours,
No hands, no feet on earth but yours,
Yours are the eyes with which he looks
Compassion on this world,
Yours are the feet with which he walks to do good,
Yours are the hands, with which he blesses all the world.
Yours are the hands, yours are the feet,
Yours are the eyes, you are his body.
Christ has no body now but yours,
No hands, no feet on earth but yours,
Yours are the eyes with which he looks
compassion on this world.
Christ has no body now on earth but yours.
Born in Spain, Teresa entered a Carmelite convent when she was eighteen, and later earned a reputation as a mystic, reformer, and writer who experienced divine visions. She founded a convent, and wrote the book The Way of Perfection for her nuns. Other important books by her include her Autobiography and The Interior Castle.
Remember ,
Christ is Lord and King of our Church, and our world and if God calls us to do something for Him , which He does, then we are not to delay but to "try His redeeming works to do." ( as the hymn writer wrote)
Lyrics
1. "1. There is a green hill far away,
2. Without a city wall,
3. Where the dear Lord was crucified,
4. Who died to save us all.
5. 2. We may not know, we cannot tell,
6. What pains he had to bear,
7. But we believe it was for us
8. He hung and suffered there.
9. 3. There was no other good enough
10. To pay the price of sin.
11. He only could unlock the gate
12. Of heav'n and let us in.
13. 4. Oh, dearly, dearly has he loved!
14. And we must love him too,
15. And trust in his redeeming blood,
16. And try his works to do.
17. Text: Cecil Frances Alexander, 1818-1895
18. Music: John H. Gower, 1855-1922 "
It may be small or little just as the young lad in today's Gospel ," ...there is a lad here, which hath five barley loaves, and two small fishes ; but what are they among so many?" John 6
Against the world, we charge in with Christ and His Word realizing we are His kings and priests to do His will and His work in our world and wherever we are in it.
In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost. Amen
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