I thank you, worship team, for blessing. Well, as many of you know, we have been taking this month to do a Christmas sermon series. A whole bunch of Christmas we have been enjoying this month. It's been fun. I risked some individuals thinking that I might be a little off my rocker. Because they told me that they were thinking that when we started our sermon series in Genesis chapter 3 with the fall of man and sin coming into the world. And that was a Christmas message. And they were like, what in the world? Are you sure about this guy? And Lord willing, we have kind of taken a look at that and so many aspects of our promised Savior. Like I mentioned, we looked at Genesis. We saw that promised seed of the woman would come and crush the serpent's head. And we saw that destroying blow coming through his death on the cross, which instead of impeding God's plan, actually fell right in line with his plan to conquer sin and death and change hearts, moving sinners from wanting to love and serve and obey Satan to out of a changed supernatural heart wanting to serve love and honor and obey God. We saw moving forward in history the promised one coming that would be born of a woman, born under the law, a foreshadow of Jesus coming and being born, not just of a woman, supernaturally without the aid of a human father, but being born as a Jewish man under the law. Doing so perfectly, actually obeying the law perfectly, fulfilling all righteousness, even doing things that really didn't have to do like being baptized. But he fulfilled all righteousness. He accomplished what the law could not do. Weakened by the flesh, Paul says in Romans 8 3. God did by sending his own son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh. That perfect life of Jesus demonstrated in his active obedience, fulfilling all righteousness. And we saw so many of these aspects in the Christmas time. There are so many things that you could talk about in the advent, the first advent, the first coming of the promised Messiah. And we've explored some of them meticulously. But no doubt, we need to understand the second advent, to really understand full orb, full picture, what is going on in the coming Messiah. What are all of those promises? What are we to expect? No doubt, we need to understand that there is a purpose. There is an end goal. There is an actual fulfillment to some of those prophecies that we read in the Old Testament, like Isaiah 9-6, that the government will be upon His shoulders, and there will be no end to His kingdom? That doesn't happen with baby Jesus laying in a manger, but it comes to fruition. There's so much in the Christmas story that's focused on the humiliation of Christ. Him coming in the form of sinful flesh, being born in the likeness of sinful flesh, and dying on the cross. And those certainly are foundational and core to understanding authentic biblical Christianity. But we must understand that there is something else absolutely essential to that coming Messiah, that king who was promised and who came. And that is that he's coming again. He's coming again. He is no longer meek and mild, laying in a manger. He is coming again. He has now taken his seat with the Father, and he is interceding for the church. He is advancing his kingdom through his body, through the authority given to him by the Father in heaven and on earth. This morning, we will slightly adjust our focus from the manger to the throne, to the throne that is coming. We're going to look forward to what is in our future. Namely, we will look forward to a time when all of these things come to the culmination and Christ will be leading a time when the king returns. No effort to understand truly what the church has in the promised Messiah is complete without understanding How it all comes to fruition. How does the end play out? This glorious, kingly return of the Lord, the King of Kings, is something often repeated in the Old Testament. The Bible just overwhelmingly does not leave this promised king of king and lord of lords meek and lowly lying in a manger. The overwhelming testimony of the scripture is this is a conquering king. The king of kings and the lord of lords. Just listen to Psalm 93. This is incredible. The Lord reigns. He is robed in majesty. The Lord is robed. He has put on strength as His belt. Yes, the world is established. It shall never be moved. You are from everlasting. The floods have lifted up. Oh, Lord, the floods have lifted up your voice. The floods lift up their roar mightier than the thunders of many waters, mightier than the waves of the sea. The Lord on his on high is mighty. Your decrees are very trustworthy. Holiness befits your house. Oh, Lord, forevermore. Makes you want to put your war paint on for Jesus, like, let's go! Maybe just me. I mean, it is absolutely staggering and overwhelming when you see the depiction of the conquering, mighty King of Kings and Lord of Lords in Scripture. It's amazing. And one of those depictions we see in Zechariah. Zechariah, if you've not turned there, and if you have a new Bible, it's the section of your Bible, all the pages are stuck together. Minor prophets. But if you go to Matthew and you just go left, it is right before the Italian prophet Malachi. Awesome, four of you got that. And we're looking at Zechariah 14. Zechariah 14. Zechariah 14, the last chapter of that minor prophet. What we see here is the coming of the Lord. This is the second advent. It's absolutely staggering. I'm going to read the first five verses in one of my new favorite translations. It's the Legacy Standard, so it might be a little bit different than yours. The rest of it I'll be reading in the ESV, but I just love some of the rendering here. Zechariah 14, beginning in verse 1, Okay, full stop. Let's explain that really quick. Everywhere in the Old Testament, when you see capital L, capital O, capital R, capital D, that is a referent to the name of God, the divine name of God, Yahweh. Some say Jehovah. More appropriately, probably Yahweh. And so, in that translation, they've just decided, hey, let's just translate all of those Yahweh, so that there's not a confusion. This is not talking about Lord in a kingly sense. This is Yahweh. This is God. Verse 2, Indeed, I will gather all the nations against Jerusalem to battle, and the city will be captured, the houses plundered, the women ravished, and half of the city will go forth in exile. But those of the people will not be cut off from the city. Then Yahweh will go forth and fight against those nations as the day when he fights on a day of battle. And in that day, his feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, which is in front of Jerusalem on the east. And the Mount of Olives will be split in its middle from east to west by a very large valley, so that half of the mountain will move toward the north and the other half toward the south. And you will flee by the valley of the mountains, for the valley of the mountains will echo to a zeal. Indeed, you will flee just as you fled before the earthquake of the days of Uzziah, king of Judah. Then Yahweh my God will come and all the holy ones with him." As we continue to unpack this chapter, and we'll try to move quickly, so listen fast, but we will see that The king returns for some specific reasons. We'll see that the king returns to deliver Jerusalem. To deliver Jerusalem. This is an incredible scene here. Zechariah has been prophesying about the severe judgments that are going to come in the tribulation period that will be poured out as a judgment on the earth. and in particular on the house of Israel. And if you're sitting there thinking, please tell us how this has any value about Christmas. We'll get there, okay? We'll get there. But now, Just so we're clear, I believe, and this church would teach, just talking to our leaders, that we're on the same page here, that we believe in a pre-tribulation rapture of the church. We're talking about the tribulation time, seven years of brutal tribulation, war, all kinds of craziness happening on the world. But before that, the church is caught up in the air with the Lord, and we escape that. And then there is massive tribulation going on on the earth. And For more about that, the rapture text, there's a lot about that in 1 Thessalonians 3 and 4, verses 13 through 18. But here in Zechariah, Zechariah is talking about toward the end of that tribulation, there is this judgment that's coming on the world, judgment that's coming on the nation of Israel, and then Yahweh, Jesus, is coming and he is going to deliver Jerusalem. But notice he's delivering Jerusalem from the nations who are waging war and sieging war against Jerusalem by the hand of Yahweh. God brings them to actually judge Jerusalem and then Yahweh comes to deliver So there is a judgment and a deliverance that comes, and there's a purpose behind this judgment. Zechariah even begins his book with warning that this judgment is coming. In chapter 1, beginning in verse 14, He says this, So the angel who talked with me said, Cry out, thus says the Lord of hosts. I am exceedingly jealous for Jerusalem and for Zion. I am exceedingly angry with the nations that are at ease. For while I was angry but a little, they furthered the disaster. Therefore, thus says the Lord. return to Jerusalem with mercy. My house shall be built in it, declares the Lord of hosts, and the measuring line shall be stretched out over Jerusalem. Cry out again, thus says the Lord of hosts. My city shall again overflow with prosperity, and the Lord will again comfort Zion and again choose Jerusalem. I lift my eyes and I saw, and behold, four thorns. And he goes on and just depicts this mercy of the Lord that is poured out on Jerusalem post their being judged in a massive way through the nations. Now, we see this kind of destruction going on, just depicted in Second Peter, chapter three, verse 10. Peter says this, but the day of the Lord, I mean, that should just, if you're wanting to add, like, sound and music to your Bible reading, whenever you read the day of the Lord, it's like, dum, dum, dum. This is like. big time destruction. The day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done in it will be exposed. The scene is the latter half of the tribulation called the Great Tribulation. Just a couple more verses to unpack this. wild destruction going on in that time. Revelation chapter 16, beginning in verse 14. for they are demonic spirits performing signs who go abroad to the kings of the whole world to assemble them for battle on the great day of God the Almighty. So here's what's going on. These demonic forces are moving in the nations and the leaders of all of those nations are coming against Israel. Any shocker that that's gonna happen? Right? I mean, we don't get our eschatology from the newspaper, but like, pay attention, right? The whole world is against Israel, even those who for a long time were for Israel, like, hey, we need to be careful here, are starting to turn and support others, and really chastise Israel. Now, we can't go with Israel on every single thing, right? But one thing is clear, that is God's chosen people. And he's not done with them. Verse 15 of Revelation 16 says, Behold, I am coming like a thief. This is the Lord speaking. Blessed is the one who stays awake, keeping his garments on, that he may not go naked and be exposed. And they assembled them at the place that in Hebrew is called Armageddon. This is it. Like when we watch movies that are featuring good and evil and war and all this, all of that stuff is nothing, nothing compared to this. Every single army assembled against Jerusalem. This is something that won't even fit on the motion picture screen. We can't even depict it. We can talk about it and try to understand a smidgen of it. This is overwhelming. And so Jerusalem is receiving judgment, the world is receiving judgment, but the king returns. And I tell you what, there are a few things that I just love hearing when people are sharing their testimony. You know, one of those things is, and then Jesus showed up. It gives you chills, right? It's like, this is what was going on in my life, and this is where I was at, and I was not following the Lord. I was doing all these things, and then Jesus showed up. And then they have this like personal testimony about how the Lord moved in their life to draw them out of darkness into his glorious light, deliver them from sin and radically change them. And just like, yeah, right? I mean, that is this spiritual battle that is happening supernaturally in hearts. And this is depicted in this world front battle. And I tell you what, Jesus shows up in a big way Exodus 15, 3, the Lord is a man of war. The Lord is his name. Isaiah 42, verse 13, the Lord goes out like a mighty man, like a man of war. He stirs up his zeal. Man. That's a Jesus that I want to stand behind and go, let's go, I'm following you, right? He's large and in charge. Revelation 19, 11 through 20. So we can just like fully wrap our minds around. This is Jesus. Then I saw opened. I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse. The one sitting on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war. His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are many diadems. And he has a name written that no one knows but himself, and he is clothed in a robe dipped in blood, and the name by which he is called is the Word of God. The armies of heaven arrayed in fine linen, white and pure, were following him on white horses. From his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron. He will tread the winepresses of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty. On his robe and on his thigh he has a name written, King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Then I saw an angel standing in the sun, and with a loud voice he called to all the birds that fly directly overhead, gather for the great supper of God to eat the flesh of kings and flesh of captains, the flesh of mighty men, the flesh of horses and their riders, and the flesh of all men, both free and slave, both small and great. And I saw the beast and the kings of the earth with their armies gathered to make a war against him who's sitting who was sitting on the horse and against his army and the beast was captured and with it the false prophet who is in the presence had done the signs by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshipped his image its image these two were thrown into the lake of fire that burns with sulfur And the rest were slain by the sword that came from the mouth of him who was sitting on the horse, and all the birds were gorged with their flesh." Good night! How about that for a bedtime story? Good night! Don't do that. You know that text back in Zechariah 14, he ends off in that first portion, verse 5, says, I was like, what is that? Angels? Anybody else? Yeah. Everyone who, by God's grace, know him in a saving way now. before that time. We're coming with Him. 1 Thessalonians 3, verse 13, Man, it's incredible. To not be there is to be receiving judgment. I don't know about you, I'm overwhelmingly thankful that I am in Him and know that in that day, on that day, I will be with Him, coming with Him, and He will be my leader and my King and my Lord. I tell you what, There are people right now, I'm fast forwarding in the sermon, but we get there. But there are people right now that are not, are not in the Lord. And right now, unless they repent and turn from their sins and place their faith in Christ and understand truly what it means to celebrate Christmas and all that is Christ for us, they will receive judgment. They will be on the receiving end of that sword coming from his mouth, the word of God. They will be slain. Staggering. Not only does the king return to deliver Jerusalem, but the king also comes to establish his earthly kingdom. Look back to Zechariah chapter 14. We pick it up in verse six. On that day, there shall be no light, no cold, no or frost. And there shall be a unique day which is known to the Lord, neither day nor night. But at evening time, there shall be light. On that day, living water shall flow out of Jerusalem, half of them to the East Sea and half of them to the Western Sea. And it shall continue in summer as in winter. And the Lord will be king over all the earth. On that day, the Lord will be one and his name one. Oh, man. Maranatha. Come, Lord Jesus. Right. I mean, isn't that the heart behind us praying the way the Lord would have us pray? Lord, teach us to pray. And how do we pray? Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Like, rule and reign. Conquer. sin and Satan and use us as instruments for that conquering to communicate the gospel. And there will be a day coming when that will come to full fruition and he will be king over the earth. On that day, the Lord will be one and his name won. This is the beginning and setting up of the millennial reign of Christ, the thousand-year reign of Christ, the literal 1,000 years of Jesus actually ruling and reigning as King of Kings and Lord of Lords from Jerusalem. Amazing. Amazing. The King of all the earth, Revelation 7.14, They will make war on the lamb and the lamb will conquer them. For he is Lord of lords and king of kings. And those with him are called the chosen and the faithful. Like he's going to win. He is going to win. This is Jesus Christ who will be ruling on the throne of David. Promised from long ago. 2 Samuel 7 verse 13, And he shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. Like, it's one thing for us to say some of those Christmas verses, like Isaiah 9, 6, For unto us the Son is given, and the government will be upon his shoulders, and there will be no end to his kingdom. What does that mean? This. He's actually coming and going to rule and reign in a kingdom in Jerusalem for a thousand years, righting all wrongs for a thousand years, bringing everything in creation under His foot. It's incredible. Promise from long ago. In fact, Right in the very Christmas story, you get a peak to this. You get a nod to this. In Luke 1, beginning in verse 26, in the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph of the house of David, and the virgin's name was Mary. And he came to her and said, Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you. But she was greatly troubled at the saying and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be. And the angel said to her, Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, and he will be great and he will be called the son of the Most High and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father, David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever and of his kingdom. There will be no end. Incredible. This Jesus promised of old would rule and reign on the throne of David in Jerusalem. Isaiah 24 verse 23 says this. Then the moon will be confounded and the sun is shamed for the Lord of hosts reigns on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem and his glory will be before his elders. It's amazing. You know, what is there in the Temple Mount now? What's there? Is it the temple? No, it's not the temple. What is it? Like interactive, what is it? The Dome of the Rock. The Dome of the Rock. A building dedicated to worship a false god and a false message. leading many, many, many, many people away from the one true and living God. And on the inside of that building, it is written, Far be it for God to need a son, the very son. That very son will come on that spot, descend from heaven and declare and wage war against the world, against the princes, against the kings of the world who come against Jerusalem and will declare and set up his earthly kingdom right there. Wow. I mean, cataclysmic destruction and redistribution of the world will be going on in that spot. Not only will the king return to deliver Jerusalem. Not only will the king come to set up his earthly kingdom, but the Lord comes to receive worship from the nations. To set up worship from the nations, to change hearts, and to direct the worship of the nations to the one true and living God. Turn back to Zechariah if you've left there. Zechariah 14, looking at verse 16. I know we've skipped some, but, you know, we've got things to do. Beginning in verse 16, Then everyone who survives this war that King Jesus sets up against the rulers of the nations and against the world, Zechariah says in verse 16 of chapter 14, He changes hearts. He redirects haters of God to become worshipers of God. They come on broken, bended knee. Submission. Verse 17, And if any of the families of the earth do not go up to Jerusalem to worship the king, the Lord of hosts, there will be no rain on them. So there will be continued judgment on those who do not come and worship the King, the only King. And if the family of Egypt does not go up and present themselves, then on them there will be no rain. There shall be the plague which the Lord afflicts the nations that do not go up to keep the Feast of Booths. This shall be the punishment to Egypt. the punishment to the nations that do not go up to keep the feasts of Booth. And on that day there shall be inscribed on the bells of the horses, Holy to the Lord. And the pots in the house of the Lord shall be as the bowls before the altar. And every pot in Jerusalem and Judah shall be holy to the Lord of hosts, so that all whose sacrifice may come and take of them and boil the meat of the sacrifice in them. And there shall no longer be a traitor in the house of the of the Lord of hosts on that day. And that's just kind of there's a reference of like a Canaanite. So basically a someone who is not worshiping the Lord, like those who don't worship the Lord will be judged and be brought into submission during this time, during this season, this thousand year reign of Christ on the earth, bringing everything in subjection under his feet. It's incredible. This is exactly what we see in Psalm 2. I think about this Psalm when I see the world and the nations raging against God and His Word and rejecting what God says in His Word. Psalm 2 reads this way, Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain? I mean, that's happening on a minor scale in the world. Any world leader who hates God and hates His word refuses to submit to the Son, refuses to submit to the King. But there is a full culmination of this where the whole entire world comes against Jerusalem and comes against Jesus. And it does not end well for them. Verse 5 of Psalm 2, Then he will speak to them in his wrath. Oh, I'm sorry. Verse 4 is crucial. He who sits in the heavens laughs. The Lord holds them in derision. Then he will speak to them in his wrath and terrify them in his fury, saying, Ask for me. I have set my king on Zion, my holy hill. So that's what God says to the raging nations. Oh, you want to rage? You want to oppose me? Guess what? Oh, there is a terrifying king who I have set on my holy hill. And you're going to have to reckon with him, and it's not going to end well. Verse eight. Verse 7, So God is saying, I'm giving all of this to you. This all belongs to you, and you're going to subdue it and rule and reign. You shall break them with a rod of iron and dash them to pieces like a potter's vessel. Now therefore, O kings, be wise, be warned, O rulers of the earth. Serve the Lord with fear and rejoice with trembling. Here it is. Kiss the son, lest he be angry and you perish in the way, for his wrath is quickly kindled. Blessed are those who take refuge in him. I mean, we see the end where even when the entire world forces come against Jerusalem and King Jesus, the end is not good for them. King Jesus wins and they will either perish or submit and render worship. We know how the end plays out. We know how the end plays out. So. In conclusion. What does this mean for us? All of these things are future. Right? All of these things are future. But we're reminded that, number one, that God is a covenant-keeping God. He's a covenant-keeping God. Even though, even in our day, there is an increased opposition to the nation of Israel, God's chosen people, God will bring judgment to them because they've rejected the Son. They've rejected their Messiah. He will bring judgment, but he will also deliver Jerusalem. We're reminded that God is actually trustworthy and faithful. He is trustworthy and faithful. Paul says this in Romans 11, verse 28 and 29. As regards the gospel, he's talking about the nation of Israel, they are enemies for your sake. But as regard to election, they are beloved for the sake of their forefathers, for the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable. Because guess what? If God can make promises to a chosen people and say, these are for you, But then sort of rework those and say, never mind, they're actually for these people over here, and those promises go away. How do we know that the promises that we have in Christ don't go away? But God demonstrates that He is faithful to His promises. He is faithful to his promises, and he will preserve a remnant people, and he will shower them with grace and cause them to turn and to, as Zechariah 12, verse 10 says, they will actually turn and look upon him as one mourns for an only child, and they will bitterly weep over him as one weeps for a firstborn. That the nation of Israel, who once rejected the Messiah, will through this judgment be drawn into repentant faith, and they will look upon the Messiah, who for 2,000 years they've been rejecting, and they will finally realize, whew, we've blown it. We've blown it. They will pray a prayer of repentance that we see in Isaiah 53. Upon Him was the chastisement that brought us peace. He was wounded for our transgressions. The day and a time that We are in now is very different than that future time. That future time is coming, and it is set, and King Jesus will rule, and He will reign, and He will execute justice. But there is a time that we are in now, awaiting that time for Him to set up His earthly rule and reign. And we're stewards of that time that we are in. What time am I talking about? It was the time of the Gentiles. time of the church to begin to continue to advance the kingdom, to proclaim the gospel, and to share Christ and allow God to use us in that message to draw sinners out of darkness into his glorious light. So what we're supposed to do? Jesus' own words in Luke 21, verse 24, he says this, I mean, even right now and through that tribulation time, there is a sense in which God is saving not only Jews, but also Gentiles. Romans 11, verse 25. Paul says this, lest you be wise in your own sight, we do not want you to be unaware of this mystery, brothers. A partial hardening has come upon Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. And in this way, all Israel will be saved. God's got that, and He's got a plan that He has brought in this partial hardening to the nation of Israel. There will come this ultimate judgment that will even draw more out of darkness into His glorious light, and they will turn and look upon Him whom they have pierced. But right now, we are in a time of the Gentiles. Time in this season where in the midst of the partial hardening there, God has called us, who were not a people called by His name, but Gentiles, who in His incredible grace has given us the message, the gospel message, the power of God unto salvation, to go out into the world and preach the gospel. This is the time for disciples of Christ to be making disciples, to communicate the gospel, to advance the kingdom. For a time is coming when the door will shut, like the door of Noah's Ark shut and there was no more permitted to enter. A time is coming and the door is going to shut. That's a scary time that we read about. It's coming. I don't know when it's coming. None of us do. It's going to come like a thief in the night. Now is the time. Now is the time for pastors to equip the saints for the work of the ministry. Now is the time for those who have been equipped to engage themselves in the work of the ministry and advance the kingdom and communicate the gospel, to be engaged in those things and recognize where you have shortcomings, to seek equipping and training so that you can be a sharp tool, an instrument in the Lord's hand to advance His kingdom. The time is now. for us to let the voice of the shepherd through his word go out into any place and every place and to anyone who will give us a listening ear that the sheep might hear his voice and come to the shepherd and be saved. And for maybe the first time, finally have darkened eyes, opened up, and hard hearts beat again and realize everything that they've missed in the purpose and reason for the season to be a little too cheesy. But we who know Him in a saving way know those things. And it is not only for us to enjoy, but for us to be reminded of the stewardship responsibility we have, because there is coming a day when there's no more time. But now is the time for us, church, to be engaged with the gospel for His glory. Let's pray. Father, we thank You. We thank you for Christ. We thank you that indeed you are seated at the right hand of the Father. You are interceding for the church and there will come a day, this great day, when you will come. Lord, we thank you for the grace.