A Signet King (Hg 2:20-23)

WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.120 --> 00:00:35.200 ME. Let's turn to God's Word and Hagi, Hagai Chapter two. This 2 00:00:35.320 --> 00:00:39.719 is the second time the Lord speaks to his prophet gives him a word to 3 00:00:39.719 --> 00:00:45.439 speak on this day. It is a word that is of great encouragement to 4 00:00:45.560 --> 00:00:51.960 us. Let's give our attention to God's word. Hagi Chapter Two, Verses 5 00:00:52.000 --> 00:00:58.280 Twenty through twenty three. The word of the Lord came a second time to 6 00:00:58.359 --> 00:01:03.359 Hagi on the twenty four day of the month. Speak to cerebel Zerebebel, 7 00:01:03.480 --> 00:01:08.200 governor of Judah, saying I am about to shake the heavens and the earth 8 00:01:08.359 --> 00:01:14.879 and to overthrow the throne of kingdoms. I am about to destroy the strength 9 00:01:14.959 --> 00:01:19.000 of the Kingdoms of the nations and overthrow the chariots and their riders, and 10 00:01:19.159 --> 00:01:25.159 the horses and their riders shall go down. Everyone by the sword of his 11 00:01:25.239 --> 00:01:29.799 brother on that day, declares the Lord of hosts. I will take you, 12 00:01:30.000 --> 00:01:34.719 who os a rebel, my servant, the son of Sheltiel, declares 13 00:01:34.760 --> 00:01:38.040 the Lord, and make you like a signant ring, for I have chosen 14 00:01:38.120 --> 00:02:00.879 you. Declares the Lord of hosts. Amen. You may be seen in 15 00:02:01.000 --> 00:02:07.919 the genealogies, in the gospels, for them, in Matthew and Luke's Rebebel 16 00:02:08.120 --> 00:02:15.120 is mentioned as one of the great ancestors of our Lord, Jesus Christ. 17 00:02:15.400 --> 00:02:21.479 He is part of the family history, which is to say he's part of 18 00:02:21.479 --> 00:02:25.560 our family history. He's a father in the faith. He is one who 19 00:02:25.599 --> 00:02:30.879 has come before us. He is part of this great history of people and 20 00:02:31.120 --> 00:02:38.080 the Lord is used to accomplish his purposes in our world, in our lives, 21 00:02:38.120 --> 00:02:43.360 in your life, and even until the very end of the world, 22 00:02:43.400 --> 00:02:50.439 when all of these things that are promised here, I'm come to completion and 23 00:02:50.639 --> 00:02:57.199 consummation. Family Histories can tell you a lot right you can learn about your 24 00:02:57.199 --> 00:03:01.000 own family. We like to study our own geneology. You sometime, I'm 25 00:03:01.159 --> 00:03:07.360 or if we show up at a family reunion, we look at other people 26 00:03:07.360 --> 00:03:09.800 and we say, these people look kind of like me. And even if 27 00:03:09.840 --> 00:03:14.159 you're in a family that perhaps you've been an adopted to and you don't look 28 00:03:14.199 --> 00:03:20.759 like the others, it's still is so meaningful to know the people who are 29 00:03:20.879 --> 00:03:27.719 part of your story. Whether it's genetics or not, we have been adopted 30 00:03:27.719 --> 00:03:32.120 into the family of God. We have been brought into a promises through his 31 00:03:32.159 --> 00:03:38.479 son, good things and this word in Haggi, this prophecy that comes to 32 00:03:38.759 --> 00:03:45.240 Zarebabile is part of our story. It's part of the story that God has 33 00:03:45.280 --> 00:03:53.479 been developing and progressing and and accomplishing ever since the beginning of the world. 34 00:03:53.479 --> 00:03:58.680 And what ultimately is revealed to us, what Jesus reveals to us here, 35 00:03:58.840 --> 00:04:05.120 is the certainty of his kingdom and our election in him. He reveals these 36 00:04:05.159 --> 00:04:12.000 things to us here so that we wouldn't be afraid when things shake and things 37 00:04:12.000 --> 00:04:15.399 shaken our world, when things shake in our lives, and when things shake 38 00:04:15.519 --> 00:04:21.240 on the last day, when the Lord Jesus Returns, he tells us what 39 00:04:21.319 --> 00:04:25.399 he tells us here, so that we wouldn't be afraid, but so instead 40 00:04:25.480 --> 00:04:31.600 we would trust in him and give God our phrase. So what does he 41 00:04:31.680 --> 00:04:35.439 say? Well, the Prophet, the word of the Lord, comes to 42 00:04:35.480 --> 00:04:39.519 Hagi on this twenty four day of the month, and he comes and he 43 00:04:39.600 --> 00:04:44.879 speaks to ze rebel, the governor of Judah, the son of Shealtiall, 44 00:04:44.920 --> 00:04:49.160 as we have heard his name several times throughout this book, you'll remember he's 45 00:04:49.199 --> 00:04:56.160 one of those who came from a came with the other exiles back by order 46 00:04:56.160 --> 00:05:01.759 of Cyrus, into the promised lamb, come back and called to lead these 47 00:05:01.759 --> 00:05:09.319 people in in rebuilding the temple. You remember that they've faced difficulty, they've 48 00:05:09.360 --> 00:05:14.040 struggled. The enemies around them have pressed upon them, there have been plots, 49 00:05:14.040 --> 00:05:16.199 there have been all kinds of things that have caused them to want to 50 00:05:16.199 --> 00:05:20.639 give up, and for a time they did. God is calling them back 51 00:05:20.680 --> 00:05:25.120 to continue the work. You remember, back in the beginning, he says 52 00:05:25.160 --> 00:05:31.920 you live and paneled houses. Well, my house remains unfinished. So now 53 00:05:31.959 --> 00:05:36.160 he speaks in particular to the leader, one of the leaders of these people, 54 00:05:36.240 --> 00:05:42.800 the governor of Judah. And what does he say? He says two 55 00:05:42.839 --> 00:05:46.920 things. He gives him a word that speaks of shaking and a word that 56 00:05:47.000 --> 00:05:53.160 speaks of blessing. First, the word of shaking. What does he say? 57 00:05:53.279 --> 00:05:56.680 He says, I am about to shake the heavens and the earth. 58 00:05:56.720 --> 00:06:01.000 This reminds us that this is no small shaking, as God understands. What 59 00:06:01.040 --> 00:06:04.959 he is about to do, as God tells us and wants us to understand 60 00:06:04.959 --> 00:06:10.000 what he is about to do, is is going to happen on a large 61 00:06:10.000 --> 00:06:16.839 scale, a cosmic scale, a creation level scale. This is not some 62 00:06:17.120 --> 00:06:23.560 small local conflict, but this shaking of the heavens and the earth indicates some 63 00:06:23.959 --> 00:06:30.279 kind of creation wide judgment, a judgment that will happen even in both realms, 64 00:06:30.279 --> 00:06:34.199 heaven and earth. This could refer both to all of the world skies 65 00:06:34.240 --> 00:06:39.720 and seas, or could refer, as I think it does, to the 66 00:06:39.800 --> 00:06:45.680 spiritual realm as well as of the earthly realm. God being the one who 67 00:06:45.720 --> 00:06:49.000 made both of these realms in the beginning of the world, making the heavens 68 00:06:49.040 --> 00:06:54.839 and the earth, he will now shake both of them. Charles Feinberg, 69 00:06:54.879 --> 00:06:59.800 and Old Testament scholar, points out the universal judgment of the Lord, not 70 00:06:59.839 --> 00:07:03.120 just in heavens and earth, but in the word throne. Maybe you notice 71 00:07:03.199 --> 00:07:09.720 this. In Verse Twenty Two. God says he's going to overthrow the throne 72 00:07:09.800 --> 00:07:15.120 of the kingdoms. Fineberg says, and I think he rightly concludes, that 73 00:07:15.199 --> 00:07:21.000 this is because God sees the world system of kingdoms ultimately is as one the 74 00:07:21.040 --> 00:07:26.199 powers of this world, the things that is world and and ultimately those under 75 00:07:26.240 --> 00:07:35.040 Satan himself who will be overthrown. This world constantly prides itself on building and 76 00:07:35.160 --> 00:07:41.920 achieving. We measure these things. We measure success by wealth, by power, 77 00:07:41.959 --> 00:07:47.519 by strength of armies, by number of munitions, by political cloud, 78 00:07:47.639 --> 00:07:54.959 by heritage, by skill, all kinds of things which do provide a measure 79 00:07:55.000 --> 00:08:01.480 of success in the world. You can build the Tower of Babel, but 80 00:08:01.600 --> 00:08:09.639 it only goes so high before judgment comes and before God shows us that ultimately 81 00:08:09.680 --> 00:08:13.279 it's it's not about the things that we build and our strength and our pride, 82 00:08:13.639 --> 00:08:18.279 that's about him, that the things of this world, even the best 83 00:08:18.279 --> 00:08:24.000 things of this world, are not good enough to earn us a place in 84 00:08:24.040 --> 00:08:28.120 heaven. They don't even begin to compare to the new heavens and the new 85 00:08:28.160 --> 00:08:33.960 earth that God is giving to us in Christ, the Kingdom of Heaven that 86 00:08:35.080 --> 00:08:41.000 is not of this world, that is unshakable. This is what God gives 87 00:08:41.039 --> 00:08:48.879 to us in revelation fifteen. We hear this. Then the seventh angel blew 88 00:08:48.000 --> 00:08:52.480 his trumpet and there were loud Voices in heaven saying the Kingdom of this world 89 00:08:52.679 --> 00:08:58.159 has become the Kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, that he shall 90 00:08:58.159 --> 00:09:05.639 reign forever. Amazing word, a word of confidence, a word of glory 91 00:09:05.679 --> 00:09:13.559 and a word that is completely and entirely a found in the name Jesus Christ. 92 00:09:13.600 --> 00:09:16.720 These things are not just promisided at the end here that we see them 93 00:09:16.720 --> 00:09:22.279 promisied, prophesied, promiside. That's a good word and I keep using that. 94 00:09:24.799 --> 00:09:28.360 In the Old Testament Iszekiel, thirtsand eight hundred and twenty one, I 95 00:09:28.360 --> 00:09:33.480 will summon a sword against God and on my mountains, declares the Lord God, 96 00:09:33.519 --> 00:09:39.360 every man's sword will it be against his brother Zachariah, f thirteen, 97 00:09:39.440 --> 00:09:43.360 fourteen thirteen. And on that day a great panic from the Lord shall fall 98 00:09:43.440 --> 00:09:46.879 upon them, so that each will seize the hand of another and the hand 99 00:09:46.960 --> 00:09:52.399 of the one will be raised against the hand of another. If you've been 100 00:09:52.720 --> 00:09:58.720 with with us as we've been going through Ezekiel in the evenings, you know 101 00:09:58.759 --> 00:10:05.120 that there are these images that God uses and where God particts, picks Particular 102 00:10:05.240 --> 00:10:11.440 Kingdoms and he shows how their downfall will be their pride, not just their 103 00:10:11.519 --> 00:10:16.000 internal pride, but the expressions of their pride. Tire, for example, 104 00:10:16.159 --> 00:10:22.879 he compares to this great ship he he thinks about he compares this great kingdom 105 00:10:22.919 --> 00:10:30.000 and he and all of their sea activity, at all their water based economic 106 00:10:30.120 --> 00:10:35.600 mad power, and he says indeed, this this kingdom, is very great, 107 00:10:35.720 --> 00:10:39.799 but that ship Sanks, sinks. It's kind of like the titanic right 108 00:10:39.840 --> 00:10:45.399 in our own previous century. Right, the ship that can never sing, 109 00:10:45.559 --> 00:10:48.600 named after the Gods, right the titans, it goes out on the waters 110 00:10:48.720 --> 00:11:00.240 and then down it went. Man Often, always in his sinfulness, putting 111 00:11:00.279 --> 00:11:03.840 pride in himself and his accomplishments, in the things that he can do. 112 00:11:03.919 --> 00:11:07.480 And they work for a time, they bring success and blessing for a time, 113 00:11:09.519 --> 00:11:16.159 but they do not bring the ultimate blessings of the Lord. And when 114 00:11:16.159 --> 00:11:18.279 we trust in them, when we put our hopes in them, God will 115 00:11:18.279 --> 00:11:22.080 bring them to an end. And so here the way of this expressed is 116 00:11:22.120 --> 00:11:26.840 man against man, which is maybe the ultimate expression of this. Instead of 117 00:11:26.879 --> 00:11:33.039 mankind assembling together the throne, singular throne of all the kingdoms, and rising 118 00:11:33.120 --> 00:11:41.440 up as one unified power, what happens conflict? Man does not join together 119 00:11:41.480 --> 00:11:48.639 in some kind of great utopia that then becomes this divine nation. No, 120 00:11:48.879 --> 00:11:56.039 brother against brother, man against man, and this is how they die, 121 00:11:58.480 --> 00:12:01.919 a great shaking of the ovens and the earth. And this is exactly what 122 00:12:03.000 --> 00:12:05.399 Haggi is pointing to, as well what the other prophets point to, which 123 00:12:05.559 --> 00:12:13.840 on reveals also in revelation. The strength of this world will be its own 124 00:12:13.919 --> 00:12:22.480 undoing and we cannot put our trust in it. However, a second thing 125 00:12:22.480 --> 00:12:28.600 will happen, a blessing, a blessing that comes to this king, despite 126 00:12:28.639 --> 00:12:33.639 the shaking of the kings and the Kingdom's God has chosen this man to stand, 127 00:12:33.759 --> 00:12:39.720 Zerebebel, governor of Judah, son of Shell Teel, despite the shaking 128 00:12:39.759 --> 00:12:43.039 of the kings and the kingdoms, the Lord of hosts, the one who 129 00:12:43.080 --> 00:12:48.960 is the captain of the Great Angelic Armies, he will cause this man to 130 00:12:48.039 --> 00:12:54.279 stand, and we know more than just as a rebebel, those who are 131 00:12:54.360 --> 00:12:58.399 under him in Judah and the Kingdom of God. And remember, is a 132 00:12:58.440 --> 00:13:03.360 Rebebel as a governor. And that sounds important, but not from the perspective 133 00:13:03.399 --> 00:13:07.759 of everybody, maybe not even from the perspective of Zarebebel. He is a 134 00:13:07.799 --> 00:13:11.720 governor under the King of Persia. This is a this is a province in 135 00:13:11.759 --> 00:13:16.639 some way, of a of a great empire. He owes authority to those 136 00:13:16.639 --> 00:13:22.720 who are are higher than him. But what does the word of God say 137 00:13:22.720 --> 00:13:26.320 here about him? How is a rebebel supposed to think about himself? He 138 00:13:26.360 --> 00:13:31.120 is supposed to understand himself, though, a governor of Judah, as something 139 00:13:31.240 --> 00:13:35.200 much higher, as though one who rules within the empire of Persia. He 140 00:13:35.279 --> 00:13:41.600 is to consider himself as one who is like a signet ring of God the 141 00:13:41.759 --> 00:13:50.240 king. A signet ring was a tool, an item that was used to 142 00:13:50.279 --> 00:13:54.679 give honor, often, I'm an authority, to those who bear it, 143 00:13:54.919 --> 00:14:01.759 or it in particularly revealed and marked that a person was representing, or had 144 00:14:03.279 --> 00:14:09.679 was representing the name of someone else. It marked that they had received this 145 00:14:09.759 --> 00:14:15.879 thing from someone who gave it to them. Now there is a place in 146 00:14:15.919 --> 00:14:18.120 the Bible where a signet ring comes up and it's very interesting in light of 147 00:14:18.159 --> 00:14:24.759 this passage, and I think it will cause us to praise God. Zerubbabel 148 00:14:26.159 --> 00:14:28.919 is the governor of Judah. As the son of she altiol, he comes 149 00:14:28.919 --> 00:14:33.279 from the tribe of Judah, and this tribe of Judah's of course, named 150 00:14:33.320 --> 00:14:41.960 after the fourth son of Jacob Judah, and Judah, the namesake of this 151 00:14:41.000 --> 00:14:46.559 governor of this tribe of this land, got himself in a bunch of trouble 152 00:14:46.679 --> 00:14:50.639 one time all around a signet ring, not all around in signering involving a 153 00:14:50.679 --> 00:14:56.000 signet ring. He was traveling one time and he saw a woman by the 154 00:14:56.039 --> 00:15:03.000 side of the road, her and he goes to her and he says I'll 155 00:15:03.039 --> 00:15:07.399 give you a I think it was a goat or and she says, I 156 00:15:07.399 --> 00:15:09.799 don't want that, I want your ring, I want your signet ring, 157 00:15:09.840 --> 00:15:13.519 I want your staff, and he gives it to her. And as a 158 00:15:13.519 --> 00:15:20.039 promise, and there will something come later. Here's what genesis thirty eight eighteen 159 00:15:20.120 --> 00:15:24.440 says. What, what pledge shall I give to you that this other thing 160 00:15:24.480 --> 00:15:28.559 will come? And she replies, your signet and your cord and your staff, 161 00:15:28.600 --> 00:15:31.799 that is in your hand. So he gave them to her and went 162 00:15:31.840 --> 00:15:37.440 into her and she conceived by him. Well, as it turns out, 163 00:15:37.440 --> 00:15:41.399 this woman was not just any woman. It was his daughterinlaw, a daughter 164 00:15:41.519 --> 00:15:50.759 in law who he was not treating well and who concocted this plan so that 165 00:15:50.799 --> 00:15:56.799 she could conceive of this child. And it worked and ultimately he was exposed. 166 00:15:58.320 --> 00:16:00.799 He she is. She, her name is Tamar. Perhaps you know 167 00:16:00.879 --> 00:16:07.000 the story. She's brought out for illegitimately conceiving this child. A penalty is 168 00:16:07.039 --> 00:16:12.919 about to happen and then she reveals, by way of the SIGNET, the 169 00:16:14.120 --> 00:16:22.039 cord the staff, who's the child was. It was Judas. Judah says 170 00:16:22.080 --> 00:16:30.159 her righteousness is more than mine. Judah is a shamed Judah sees his sin, 171 00:16:30.799 --> 00:16:33.200 he sees the way in which he has he has done wrong and he 172 00:16:33.279 --> 00:16:38.240 is openly and publicly embarrassed and all of these these things happen and they're recorded 173 00:16:38.240 --> 00:16:45.080 there in scripture of Judah, of Judah. But of course that's not the 174 00:16:45.159 --> 00:16:48.759 end of the story, and what we see is that God uses these events. 175 00:16:48.799 --> 00:16:59.320 He uses these events to bring about children who eventually are the child who 176 00:16:59.360 --> 00:17:03.080 is eventually the father of Sheltiel, who's the father of a rebel who is 177 00:17:03.120 --> 00:17:08.240 one of the grandfathers of Christ. God through this sin, he redeems it 178 00:17:08.279 --> 00:17:15.279 and he brings good out of evil. Where Judah passed this signet ring on 179 00:17:15.400 --> 00:17:22.079 in sin and in a sinful moment, God then takes his grandchildren and turns 180 00:17:22.160 --> 00:17:26.599 them into a signet ring, a mark of God's own authority, a mark 181 00:17:26.640 --> 00:17:33.640 in which God is not doing evil, but massive amounts of good, of 182 00:17:33.759 --> 00:17:40.920 redemption, of salvation, of healing and even the forgiveness of sins. It's 183 00:17:40.960 --> 00:17:42.799 a mark in a way. It's a sign, in a way, of 184 00:17:42.839 --> 00:17:49.839 God's turning things around, another example of him using these dark marks in family 185 00:17:49.920 --> 00:17:59.599 histories and turning them into into things that he brings blessings out of ultimately, 186 00:18:00.039 --> 00:18:03.400 is a rebel is a sign, another sign, and many of them God's, 187 00:18:03.440 --> 00:18:07.519 many signs of God's work in the world, a sign that, despite 188 00:18:07.599 --> 00:18:11.920 the shaking of the Kingdoms, God's kingdom will stand. And how will we 189 00:18:11.960 --> 00:18:22.119 know? Well, look at Zerebebel, look at Judah. And why is 190 00:18:22.519 --> 00:18:25.400 that volt of as we come to the end of this passage, why is 191 00:18:25.400 --> 00:18:30.440 the rebel will chosen? He's chosen, because he's chosen. He's chosen because 192 00:18:30.480 --> 00:18:36.319 the Lord has chosen him. God does not tells a rebel, look at 193 00:18:36.359 --> 00:18:40.559 all of your great accomplishments, your leadership has been fantastic. Ever since you've 194 00:18:40.599 --> 00:18:44.799 gotten back. It hasn't been. He doesn't tell as a rebel. Well, 195 00:18:44.839 --> 00:18:48.799 you've come from this great line of people who've done all these excellent things, 196 00:18:48.960 --> 00:18:55.839 many of the people in Judah's line and complete failures. No, he 197 00:18:55.920 --> 00:19:00.440 says, you can have confidence in these things, for I have chosen you. 198 00:19:02.640 --> 00:19:07.240 That's it. In other words, God takes his confidence, which is 199 00:19:07.279 --> 00:19:11.640 perhaps in his power and his strength and his paneled houses in this city, 200 00:19:11.759 --> 00:19:18.079 perhaps his PA. His confidence is in his over Lord in Persia. Perhaps 201 00:19:18.079 --> 00:19:21.839 his confidence is in making sure nobody's mad with him on the other sides, 202 00:19:21.839 --> 00:19:26.480 and God says. Enough of that, none of that. Put your confidence 203 00:19:26.599 --> 00:19:30.799 in me. Do not be afraid when the shaking of the NASANS come, 204 00:19:30.960 --> 00:19:36.440 come, because you are my servant, I have chosen you and I have 205 00:19:36.559 --> 00:19:41.279 made you like a signet ring. So when Zerebebel gets nervous, what should 206 00:19:41.279 --> 00:19:47.039 he say to himself? He should say I'm okay, because I have been 207 00:19:47.160 --> 00:19:52.160 chosen by God. I will serve God, because I have chosen, been 208 00:19:52.279 --> 00:19:59.000 chosen by God. His election by God points up both to the object of 209 00:19:59.000 --> 00:20:04.000 his faith, his Lord, and the reason for his obedience his Lord. 210 00:20:04.240 --> 00:20:11.839 Because of his election, God will be his everything at all times, even 211 00:20:11.839 --> 00:20:18.480 when Judah, even when Zerebebel doesn't remember it and beloved. The same is 212 00:20:18.519 --> 00:20:25.680 true for us as believers. We are those who have been chosen by God, 213 00:20:25.960 --> 00:20:30.759 elected by him. Our certainty lies, therefore, not in ourselves, 214 00:20:30.839 --> 00:20:33.200 not in the kingdoms of this world, not in our own righteousness, but 215 00:20:33.400 --> 00:20:41.400 in him and his choosing. Our faith in Jesus will not put us to 216 00:20:41.440 --> 00:20:47.039 shame, because he's the fulfillment of all of these promises and these prophecies, 217 00:20:48.200 --> 00:20:53.319 going even further back than we've already gone, going back to when Judah received 218 00:20:53.359 --> 00:20:59.160 a blessing and it was promised that through Judah, he would rule over his 219 00:20:59.240 --> 00:21:03.680 people. Or listen to Isaiah, for unto us, a child is born, 220 00:21:03.799 --> 00:21:07.039 to us a son is given, and the government shall be upon his 221 00:21:07.079 --> 00:21:12.240 shoulder. His name shall be wonderful counselor mighty God, everlasting father, Prince 222 00:21:12.279 --> 00:21:15.960 of peace, of the increase of his government and of peace. There shall 223 00:21:17.000 --> 00:21:21.759 be no end on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish 224 00:21:21.759 --> 00:21:25.880 it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness. From this time forth 225 00:21:26.079 --> 00:21:33.319 and forevermore, the zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this. Going 226 00:21:33.359 --> 00:21:37.799 back to Adam, even when God promised to Adam and Eve a seed, 227 00:21:37.839 --> 00:21:44.799 a son who would come and conquer, conquersate, I'm going to Abraham, 228 00:21:44.839 --> 00:21:48.480 when he promised to see that would be preserved, that would come and be 229 00:21:48.519 --> 00:21:52.319 a blessing to all of the nations of the world, this seed that would 230 00:21:52.440 --> 00:21:56.839 rule would be a son of Abraham, a son of David, a son 231 00:21:56.880 --> 00:22:02.799 of Judah, a son of Sheltiel, a son of Zarebabel, and he 232 00:22:02.880 --> 00:22:08.079 came. He came. When we get into the genealogies that I mentioned, 233 00:22:08.079 --> 00:22:12.200 at the beginning, in Luke, for example, and Matthew, we read 234 00:22:12.279 --> 00:22:17.200 that Jesus is a son of Judah, that he was from the house in 235 00:22:17.240 --> 00:22:22.240 the family of David, and this son of David who came to to bring 236 00:22:22.279 --> 00:22:30.160 all things into the consummation thell. That's what exactly that's exactly what he did. 237 00:22:30.000 --> 00:22:37.200 It's like God just won't stop. It's it's as if he just won't 238 00:22:37.240 --> 00:22:42.160 give up. It's as though he makes these promises in his zeal is so 239 00:22:42.240 --> 00:22:47.839 zealous and his power is so mighty and his graciousness is so good that he 240 00:22:47.960 --> 00:22:55.720 just keeps going and going and going until he accomplishes his end, despite our 241 00:22:55.880 --> 00:23:02.599 sinful plans, despite our fears, despite the powers of this world and Satan 242 00:23:02.640 --> 00:23:07.759 doing everything he can to undo and break the bonds between the Lord and his 243 00:23:07.799 --> 00:23:14.640 anointed one, between the Lord and his anointed people, between God and the 244 00:23:14.920 --> 00:23:23.359 those whom he has called according to his purpose. But nothing stops our Lord, 245 00:23:23.640 --> 00:23:29.240 nothing stops his zeal. He keeps going and going, even though the 246 00:23:29.400 --> 00:23:33.799 world rejects King Jesus, hangs him on across shames him, even though the 247 00:23:33.920 --> 00:23:40.039 leaders and the nations would despise him, the leaders of Israel, even the 248 00:23:40.119 --> 00:23:45.400 nations of the world, the empire at that time Rome, though they hung 249 00:23:45.440 --> 00:23:49.279 him on across though they shamed him and put fear into all his disciples that 250 00:23:49.680 --> 00:23:56.039 ran and went into hiding for fear of the Jews, none of us would 251 00:23:56.039 --> 00:24:02.599 stop the Lord from doing his work. And we know that, don't we? 252 00:24:03.720 --> 00:24:08.880 Jesus, our King, the King of Judah, the lion of Judah, 253 00:24:08.880 --> 00:24:15.480 the son of Zerebebel, the Chosen One of God. He rose from 254 00:24:15.519 --> 00:24:22.119 the dead and he empowered and he commissioned those who were formerly afraid to go 255 00:24:22.160 --> 00:24:30.039 and spread this good news of his kingship throughout the world. Jesus then ascended 256 00:24:30.119 --> 00:24:33.319 into heaven and now reigns. He poured out his spirit on us and is 257 00:24:33.359 --> 00:24:40.359 now shaking the world. He shakes loose our sins, he shakes loose our 258 00:24:40.400 --> 00:24:45.880 false idols, are guilt, our shame, so that we rise up as 259 00:24:45.960 --> 00:24:52.599 those who have been released from prison, so that we can walk freely and 260 00:24:52.759 --> 00:25:00.400 the power of his good news, Jesus bringing many sons into his glory and 261 00:25:00.559 --> 00:25:03.920 this work that he has begun, that we see as you look around at 262 00:25:03.920 --> 00:25:10.960 your brothers and sisters among you around you. This is a work that he 263 00:25:11.119 --> 00:25:15.279 will bring to completion. Of course he will. This is God we're talking 264 00:25:15.319 --> 00:25:19.720 about. This is our Lord, who has done all of these things for 265 00:25:19.920 --> 00:25:27.039 thousands of years and will not stop until it is all accomplished in his perfect, 266 00:25:27.079 --> 00:25:33.359 perfect timing, this work that he completes on this cosmic scale of the 267 00:25:33.400 --> 00:25:41.960 heavens and the earth and on the individual scale of your heart and your body, 268 00:25:42.359 --> 00:25:48.519 which he promises, will rise from the dead into the glory of the 269 00:25:48.640 --> 00:25:55.920 Kingdom of God. Just before the passage we read in Romans Eight, thirty 270 00:25:55.920 --> 00:26:00.160 one through thirty four, there's this verse, and those whom he predestined he 271 00:26:00.240 --> 00:26:06.279 also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom 272 00:26:06.319 --> 00:26:11.839 he justified he also glorified. You know all this, God is revealing to 273 00:26:11.920 --> 00:26:21.640 us the absolute certainty of his kingdom and of our election in him, all 274 00:26:21.720 --> 00:26:30.720 of which belongs to US simply by receiving it and resting in it, by 275 00:26:30.759 --> 00:26:41.000 giving our sins to God and receiving all of his blessings in Christ. John 276 00:26:41.079 --> 00:26:48.440 Calvin wrights this, for whenever impediments and difficulties come in our way, calculated 277 00:26:48.480 --> 00:26:53.240 an interesting word that he uses, their calculated to drive us to despair when 278 00:26:53.279 --> 00:26:57.599 we think of the restoration of the church. This prophecy here in how I 279 00:26:59.200 --> 00:27:03.599 ought to come to our minds, which shows us that it is in God's 280 00:27:03.680 --> 00:27:08.599 power and that it is in his purpose to overtonne overturn all the kingdoms of 281 00:27:08.640 --> 00:27:14.359 the earth, to break chariots and pieces, to cast down and lay prostrate 282 00:27:14.400 --> 00:27:21.319 all writers, rather than to allow them to prevent the restoration of his church. 283 00:27:22.440 --> 00:27:26.240 Jesus is revealing this good news to us today so that we have strength 284 00:27:26.279 --> 00:27:33.599 and confidence in him. When our world shakes, when the world shakes, 285 00:27:33.240 --> 00:27:38.480 when your individual personal world shakes, or the little world for the ground shakes 286 00:27:38.559 --> 00:27:42.680 under your feet and earthquake, or when the whole heavens and the earth seem 287 00:27:42.720 --> 00:27:51.680 to be falling down around you, know that we have a kingdom and an 288 00:27:51.759 --> 00:27:56.640 unshakable king that will last forever, chosen by God, even God himself, 289 00:27:56.880 --> 00:28:03.920 the Lord of hosts, our Savior. Let's pray