All right, we're continuing together our study in our church's catechism, the Baptist catechism, and we're dealing with question 30. And question 30 says, or asks, how does Christ execute the office of king? And so we have said that all the work of Jesus is summarized in these three offices. Jesus works as a prophet to teach us, a priest to forgive us, and a king to rule us. And so we've been looking at his rulership. And the answer is Christ executes the office of a king in, number one, subduing us to himself, number two, in ruling us, number three, in defending us, and number four, in restraining and conquering all his and our enemies. Now, previously, we have looked at how Christ executes the office of a king in subduing us to himself. And we talked about the fact that we're all born rebellious, defiant, and depraved, and darkened. And Christ as King comes and He conquers us by regeneration. He takes out our old nature, He gives us a new nature, He removes the veil of blindness. that Satan has over our eyes and thereby he converts us. And we looked at the example of Saul of Tarsus and how that Christ as Lord simply converted the man against his will that he previously had by changing his nature and thus changing his will. And so he went from wanting to slaughter all of those who served Christ to being the greatest apostle to those who love Christ that history has ever known. And so instead of attacking the Lord, he then said, Lord, what will thou have me to do? And so we see that Jesus as King subdued this defiant, rebellious sinner and brought him to saving faith. Then secondly, we saw that Christ executes the office of a king in ruling us. And so he doesn't just save us and say, well, now that you're saved, go do whatever you please. He says that we are to make disciples of all nations, we're to baptize them, and then we're to teach them to observe all things whatsoever he has commanded us. And so we saw that Jesus is certainly a savior. But Jesus is also the Lord. And that's our memory verse today. As you have therefore received Christ Jesus, the Lord, so walk you in him. So we received Christ as Lord. When we became saved, and then that's how we also walk in relationship to Him all the rest of the days of our life, we do so recognizing Him as Lord. And so Christ is our judge, Christ is our lawgiver, and Christ is our King. In every respect, he is the authority in our lives as believers. Well, that brings us then to our new material today. And the third point of the answer in our catechism, it says Christ executes the office of a king in number one, subduing us to himself, number two, and ruling us. And now today, number three, in defending us. Now, it's the nature of a king that he not only rules his subjects, but he also defends them against other kings who want to come and take them for their subjects, right? And so a king is no king if he doesn't defend his kingdom. And defending his kingdom means, of course, defending his subjects, because a king with no subjects has no king at all, right? And so Christ has brought us into his kingdom. Christ rules us. And then when someone or something comes along and attacks that kingdom and those subjects, Jesus stands up and he defends them. And so when we submit to Christ as Lord, part of the bargain or part of the benefit that flows out of that is that he then becomes our defender. As opposed, you know, before he was against us, and now he is for us. So he's against those who rebel. He is for those who submit to him. Now, let's look at a couple of passages. I want to look first of all at the book of Jude. And Jude, of course, is just before Revelation. And I want you to notice Jude 1 in verse 1. It says, Jude, the servant of Jesus Christ, and the brother of James, now notice, to them that are sanctified by God the Father, and, here it is, preserved in Jesus Christ, and called. And so those who have been sanctified in God the Father, that is those who are saved, those who have been transformed, those who have been set apart to God, receive a particular benefit as a result of that. As a result of being sanctified in salvation, we are now preserved by Jesus Christ. So it's not like we keep ourselves in this spiritual warfare. Someone keeps us. And that person who keeps us, of course, is Jesus Christ. And so we are under assault from the world, the flesh, and the devil. And Jesus comes along and he defends us from all three of those. Now, Romans chapter 8 and 28 is probably one of the most well-known and well-loved verses in the entire scriptures. It says, and we know that all things work together for good to them that love the Lord, to them who are the called according to his purpose. Now, if all things are going to work together for good to those who love the Lord, then someone's got to be working that stuff together so it is good. And so we recognize that Jesus as Lord runs the universe and he runs the universe in such a way that everything that occurs to believers works out for their good. Nothing ever works out for their harm. Now, the good that everything works out for is for their preservation and their sanctification and their Christ likeness. Because the very next verse says, for whom he did foreknow them, he did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. And so the conformity to Christ is the good which all things work together for. What's the greatest tragedy that could happen to us? What's the greatest injury that we could experience? It would be to be separated from Christ and to become less and less like Christ. Okay? And of course, the greatest good that could happen to us is to be preserved in Christ and to become more and more like Christ. And so that's the good. that the king manages his kingdom in such a way as to infallibly produce in every single circumstance. And so Satan comes along and he tries to inflict injury on us, for example, by filling us with riches, health and wealth. You think, oh, isn't that good? Well, it's not good at all. if it drives you away from Christ. You remember in the book of Proverbs, Solomon prayed, Lord, don't give me more than I should have, lest it makes me presumptuous and makes me think I don't need you. And so Satan can work things together for bad that on the surface look like good things. And God works things for good that on the surface look like, you know, really bad things. But when you look at the outcome of the event, that's the basis upon which you judge whether that thing was good or whether it was bad that happened in my life. And that's why oftentimes we really can't pass judgment on that till long after the event. And we see what fruit did it produce, right? And so that's why the Bible says, trust in the Lord with all your heart and don't lean on your understanding in all your ways. Acknowledge him. OK, is because, you know, we are not in a position to pass judgment on what happened to us until after we see the good that came out of it. And a lot of times the good that came out of something isn't seen for a very long time. So for example, was God working all things together for good when Joseph was sold down into Egypt? Well, yeah, but you couldn't see the good until like 20 years later. And in the meantime, you got to trust that the king of all the earth is doing the right thing in the way in which he's ruling and managing the affairs of my life. So he defends us by preserving us and by working all things together for our good, because what does Satan want to do? He wants to assault us. Now, you remember when Jesus was talking to Peter, he said, Simon, Simon, Satan has desired to have thee that he may grind thee as wheat. He says, but I prayed for you. that your faith fail not. And when you are converted, strengthen your brethren." Remember the passage? Okay? So, what is Satan trying to do? He's trying to work all things together for evil. And Jesus said to Peter, I'm not going to let him do that. I'm going to defend you. And he did. And so, while Peter had a great deal of difficulty in his life, a great deal of pain, sorrow, Ultimately, none of it hurt him. Same way with Job, had a great deal of pain and sorrow and difficulty in his life, but ultimately, none of it hurt him, and ultimately, all of it worked together for good, and in it and through it, God defended him. So when God defends us as our king, that doesn't mean we're gonna be pain-free. It means we're gonna be injury-free. Now, when Paul had his thorn in the flesh, did that cause some pain? Sure. Okay. But did it hurt him? No. In fact, it was a means of preservation. He says, I had this thorn in the flesh, lest I should be exalted above measure, lest I should get proud. And so God was defending him from becoming proud by bringing the thorn in his flesh. And Paul had to embrace that by faith and say, OK, Lord, you know, I prayed three times that you would take this away. You obviously don't see that it's best to take this away. So therefore, I'm going to just trust you knowing that you are working this together for my good, too. Now, if you really don't have faith, you can't do that. Because you really don't believe through the pain that God loves you, God is defending you, and God is making you more like Jesus. And that that's all better than health and wealth and a pain-free life. Okay? Only faith, true saving faith, can grasp hold of that. And that's why a lot of people fall away when those kinds of things come. All right. Then let's look at Revelation chapter nine. And we've been preaching through Revelation, so you know exactly what this passage means now. And we see how we're defended from Satan and from his assaults. Revelation nine, verses one to four. And the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star fall from heaven to the earth, and him was given the key to the bottomless pit. That's of course, the fall of Satan that we read about in Revelation 12. Remember when he got kicked out of heaven. Okay. And he opened the bottomless pit and there arose smoke out of the pit as the smoke of a great furnace. And the sun and the air were darkened by reason of the smoke of the pit. And this is the deception and the lies that come out. We're going to be talking about today the flood that came out of Satan's mouth. It's the same thing, okay, that pursued after the believers, right? Wasn't able to reach them. Verse 3, And there came out of the smoke locusts. These are the demons, remember? came out of the smoke locusts upon the earth, and unto them was given power, as the scorpions of the earth have power. And it was commanded them, here it is, that they should not hurt the grass of the earth, neither any green thing, neither any tree, but only those men which have not the seal of God in their foreheads." So if you have the seal of God in your forehead, the demons can't hurt you. They can hurt all the other people. But they can't hurt you. So what God does is for every saved person, metaphorically, he's talking about this stamp of ownership. A seal was a stamp of ownership, okay? You know, a lot of times when people own tools, they'll engrave their initials or they'll engrave their driver's license number into it. So it doesn't get stolen, right? And that's your seal. OK, and God, as it were, has put his stamp on us of ownership for us. It's the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit. He is the seal and he speaks of it as being in their foreheads. And the idea here is that when the demons see the seal of God, the stamp of ownership in the lives of the believers, they have to turn away. They can't touch us. And this is the ridiculous notion or shows how ridiculous it is that people teach that believers can be demon possessed. It's an utter theological impossibility. They have the seal of God on their foreheads. And so what does Jesus do? He not only defends us against the wicked, he defends us against the devil. And he has the devil on a leash. I mean, even before the fall, you remember Satan couldn't touch Job unless God gave him permission. And he can only go as far as God allowed him to go. And God only allowed him to go as far as would further sanctify and preserve Job in his godliness and Christ-likeness. All right. Then, Let's turn to Luke chapter 10, the gospel of Luke chapter 10. This is a passage we've looked at several times as we preach through Revelation. And I want to look at it again just to kind of further cement it into your mind. In Luke chapter 10, notice verse one. It says, after these things, the Lord appointed other 70 also and sent them two by two before his face into every city and place, whether he would come. And he said unto them, the harvest truly is great, but the labors are few. Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest that he would send forth labors into his harvest. Go your ways. Behold, I send you forth as lambs among wolves. neither carry purse, nor script, nor shoes, and salute no man by the way. And into whatsoever house ye enter, first say, Peace be to this house, and the Son of Peace be there. Your peace shall rest upon it. If not, it shall return to you again." And he goes on and says, Verse nine, heal the sick that are therein and say unto them, the kingdom of God has come near unto you. So basically he's taking these 70, he's sending them out as missionaries to go into the cities ahead of him and to preach the gospel. And he says to them, as you're going, I will take care of you and I will provide for you and I will protect you. Now notice the outcome, verse 17. And the 70 returned again with joy, saying, Lord, even the demons are subject unto us through thy name. In other words, they were able to cast out demons as they went out on this missionary journey that Jesus sent them to carry out. And as this report came to Jesus, Jesus had a response. And that response is in verse 18. And he said unto them, I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven. Now we saw this in Revelation chapter 12, didn't we? In verses 7 to 12. And there, remember, Michael and his angels fought with Satan and his angels and cast him out of heaven. And in the casting out of the demons while Jesus was on earth was the foreshadowing, the harbinger of the fall of Satan himself. And so Jesus here is prophetically looking forward to the event that would occur upon his ascension. And he was saying, I am seeing and seeing something that is so certain. I am seeing it as though it has already occurred that Satan has fallen from heaven. That is, he's been deposed. He's been dethroned. He's been defeated. That's what the fall from heaven to earth signified and indicated. All right. Now, here's the outcome of that verse 19. And behold, I give you power to tread on serpents and scorpions. And the serpent here is none other than Satan himself. He's the old serpent, the devil. that appeared in the Garden of Eden. And the scorpions are none other than the locusts who came out of the pit with the sting of scorpions in their tails, remember, in Revelation 9. And so what he's saying is that, behold, I give you power to walk over the top of Satan and his demons. When it talks about serpents and scorpions, those are metaphors for Satan and his demons. And over all the power of the enemy, That is, instead of Satan and the demons having power over you, you're going to have power over them. Their power isn't going to be stronger than your power. And he says, and here it is, and nothing shall by any means hurt you. And so, Jesus is saying, I'm going to defend you from being injured by Satan. Now, that doesn't mean Satan isn't going to assault us. It doesn't mean he isn't going to attack us. It doesn't mean he's going to bring difficulty and pain and heartache and sorrow into our lives. But it isn't going to hurt us. That is, it's not going to drive a wedge between us and our Savior. It's not going to harm our sanctification. And it's not going to hinder our entrance into heaven. And if those things are secure to you, you're fine, no matter whatever else happens to you. And so the point is, is that as our King, Jesus defends us. He defends us against people. He defends us in all circumstances, and he defends us in spiritual warfare with Satan. Now, of course, we could multiply this with zillions of examples, but this is the general thrust of what our catechism is talking about when it says that Christ executes the office of King in defending us. So we don't have anything to fear from people. Don't have any fear from circumstances. Don't have anything to fear from Satan because someone is defending us and preserving us and working all things together for good and giving us victory over all of those things. Okay. Any questions about that? All right, well then let's move on to the last point of our question and answer. How does Christ execute the office of a king? In subduing us, in ruling us, in defending us, and then fourthly, in restraining and conquering all his and our enemies. Now, the restraint means that the enemies are on a leash. They can do some things, but they can only go so far, and they only are able to achieve what Christ allows them to achieve. If you have a dog, and the dog is on a leash, the leash limits the activity of the dog, right? And he can't do anything except what you allow him to do. Now, you can have him on a short leash, like two feet long, or a long leash, 20 feet long, and the length of the leash that you give to the dog determines the scope of his activity, right? And that's exactly the way Satan and his demons are. They're on a leash. And they can't do any more than what God gives them scope and liberty to be able to do. Morning, Josh. And so anyway, that's the restraint. And then of course, conquering, that's defeat and destruction, right? And ultimately, the conquering is going to be when Satan, his demons, and the people who have his mark, are all cast into the lake of fire. Now, all the non-elect, without exception, all have the mark of the beast. And we're going to see that as we get into Revelation chapter 13. The Mark of the Beast isn't something that happens right at the end in tribulation times or whatever like Tim LaHaye says. The Mark of the Beast is something that every unbeliever has just like the seal of God on the forehead is something every believer has. Okay? So people, demons, and Satan, those are our enemies, right? Unsaved people is what I mean to say. Unsaved people, Satan, and demons are our three enemies. And guess what? They're all going to be cast into the lake of fire. So not only does he restrain them while they're allowed to function, he then conquers them, defeats them, destroys them in the end. So let's look at this together. Now, let's look first of all at Mark. Chapter 1. Mark 1, we'll start reading in verse 21. And they went into Capernaum, and straightway on the Sabbath day he, Jesus, entered into the synagogue and taught. And they were astonished at his doctrine, for he taught them as one that had authority and not as the scribes. And there was in their synagogue, a man with an unclean spirit. And he cried out saying, let us alone. What have we to do with thee, thou Jesus, son of Nazareth? Art thou come to destroy us? I know thee who thou art, the Holy one of God. Now an unclean spirit is just Satan. I mean, just a demon, right? Okay. And the reason why they're unclean is because they're morally impure. They're fallen. Okay. Verse 25, And Jesus rebuked him, saying, Hold thy peace, and come out of him. And when the unclean spirit had torn him and cried with a loud voice, he came out of him. Now here's our verse. And they were all amazed, insomuch that they questioned among themselves, saying, What thing is this? What new doctrine is this? Now here it is, for with authority he commandeth he even the unclean spirits, and they do obey him. Now, there was never a time when Jesus commanded any unclean spirit, and the unclean spirit said to Jesus, go take a hike. Right? Okay. Every single time, without exception, when Jesus confronted demons, they obeyed him. They did what he told them to do. And if that meant going into the pit, they went into the pit. If that meant going out of the person, they went out of the person. Whatever it was he told them to do, they always did. And so he restrained them. He conquered them. He defeated them. He dealt with them as he pleased. Now let's turn to Psalm 110. And we want to see the emphasis here on the restraining and conquering work that Jesus does with reference to His and our enemies. Now, Psalm 110 is a prophetic declaration of the kingly and priestly activity of the Lord Jesus when He comes. And this psalm is quoted more in the New Testament than any other psalm. It's quoted like six or seven times. I've forgotten the exact number. but many times and always with reference to Christ. So Psalm 110 verse one, the Lord, that's God, the father said unto my Lord, that's God, the son. See David speaking here. So he talks about God, the father, the Lord said unto my Lord, that's Jesus. Sit thou at my right hand until I make thine enemies thy footstool. So, As Jesus ascended to heaven, he sits at the right hand of the father. The father says to him, I'm going to subdue all of your enemies under your feet. Now, verse two. The Lord shall send the rod of thy strength out of Zion. Rule thou in the midst of thine enemies. So the father gives all authority in heaven and earth to the son. And he says to the son, here's the rod of authority, rule your enemies. Verse three, thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power. And the beauties of holiness from the womb of the morning thou hast to do of thy youth. So this king who has this rod has some people. And those people are going to be willing to enter his kingdom, embrace his authority, and carry out his will in the day when he exercises his power in saving his elect. And what are they going to see in their king? The beauties of holiness from the womb of the morning. And the idea is that the womb of the morning, the womb brings forth birthright, the beginning of the day, the sun starts to rise and it bursts forth and the sunrise is just beautiful and lovely. And so as Christ, the day star, arises in the hearts of his people, his beauty shines forth and they just delight in his wonderful person. Now his priestly office, verse four, The Lord has sworn and will not repent, thou art a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. Okay. So that's just kind of tossed in there. And then there's a return back to the issue of Christ's kingly rule. Notice verse five. The Lord at thy right hand shall strike through kings in the day of his wrath. He shall judge among the heathen. He shall fill the places with the dead bodies. He shall wound the heads over many countries. And here is a picture of the triumph of Christ over all those who oppose him. Now there are his people that are spoken of in verse three, thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power. And then there's his enemies. Okay. And of course, there also are enemies, if they're Christ's enemies, what's he going to do with them? Verse five, he will strike through them. And the idea is that, you know, with the potter's vessel, right? You have this clay pot, and then you have this piece of half inch rebar, right? And you go, boom, and the rod goes right through it, right? Completely destroys it. And that's the picture here. He will destroy. He will strike through. That is, cut him in half. Kings in the day of his wrath. He shall judge among the heathen and fill the places with the dead bodies. He shall wound the heads over many countries. And the picture here is a military victory, right? And military victory is a metaphor for the triumph Christ will have in the spiritual battle with all of His and our enemies. So the point is, is that they will be restrained, okay? They will be subdued under his feet, and of course, ultimately, they will be conquered, and they will be cast into the lake of fire. Now, let's turn to 1 Corinthians, and we'll see this in the New Testament. 1 Corinthians 15. And this was our memory verse previously. First Corinthians chapter 15 verses 25 and 26. First Corinthians 15. Well, we've got to go back up and get the context, right? Let's look at verse 20. 1 Corinthians 15, 20. But now is Christ risen from the dead and become the firstfruits of them that slept. For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. But every man in his own order, Christ the firstfruits, afterward they that are Christ's at his coming. So, He goes from the resurrection to the second coming of Christ. In one little sentence there, right? Now notice verse 24, Then cometh the end, when He, that is Jesus, shall have delivered up the kingdom unto God, even the Father. When He, Jesus, shall have put down all rule, and all authority, and power, for He must reign till He has put all enemies under His feet. Now, where did we read about enemies being under the feet of Jesus in Psalm 110, verse one, right? Okay. So both the Old Testament and the New Testament recognize that when Jesus comes, he sets up his kingdom. And as he rules that kingdom, he restrains every enemy that would oppose it and ultimately defeats and destroys every enemy that comes against it. And so our memory verse today, Psalm 2, let's just look at that and we'll close because we're out of time. Psalm 2. We see the rebellion of the enemies. Psalm 2, Why did 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, saying, Let us break their bands asunder and cast their cords from us. So there's this defiant rebellion of fallen humanity spurred on by Satan that rises up against Christ and against God. Now, Does God defend himself in his kingdom and his people? Clearly. Verse four, he that sits in the heaven shall laugh. The Lord shall have them in derision. It's laughable that they would think they could fight against God and win. Then shall he speak to them in his wrath and vex them in his sore displeasure. Verse six, yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion. That's Jesus. Jesus says, I will declare the decree. The Lord God the Father has said to me, thou art my son, this day have I begotten thee. There's his birth. Ask of me and I will give thee the heathen for thy inheritance and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession. There's his exaltation. Remember, we saw the same thing in Revelation, right? Where it says the woman brought forth the man child, he rules the nation with a rod of iron, and he's caught up to heaven. I mean, you go from birth to ascension like in one verse. And once again, we go from His birth to His authoritative ascension and mediatorial rule in just, you know, two verses there. Here's the rule, the authority Jesus has, verse 9. Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron. Thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel. Here's the counsel. Be wise now, therefore, O you kings. Be instructed, you judges of the earth. Serve the Lord with fear and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the son, that is kiss his feet in submission, lest he be angry and you perish from the way when his wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all they who put their trust in him. And so we see here very clearly that Jesus is going to restrain and Jesus is going to conquer all his enemies and our enemies. There are those who are the blessed, and they are the ones who put their trust in Jesus. They're the ones who submit to His sovereign authority. They, metaphorically speaking, kiss His feet in submission, like they used to do to the kings. When you wanted to show submission to the king, you'd bow down and kiss the king's feet. And that's the imagery here. And so the point is, is that He will restrain and conquer all His and all our enemies. Now, when is this all going to happen? Revelation chapter 20. It tells us the exact date, right? Revelation chapter 20. At the end of this age, Satan will be loosed for a little while from deceiving the nations. He hasn't been able to deceive all the nations together and get them all to form a transnational coalition against Christ and his people, but he eventually is able to achieve that. 7. And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison, and shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle, the number of whom is as the sand of the sea. And they went up on the breadth of the earth and surrounded the camps of the saints. And the beloved city, now here it is. And fire came down from God out of heaven and devoured them. And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night forever and ever." Now that is restraint and that is conquering. Puts them in the lake of fire forever. Are they conquered? Are they restrained? His enemies, our enemies, boom, that's where they all wind up. So, this is our king, and this is how he rules, and this is what he achieves on behalf of his people. Alright, we're done. Any questions? Alright, then next week we will proceed to question 31. And we'll start to talk about Christ's particular saving work and what does Christ's humiliation consist. And so talks about his incarnation and what that involved. And then of course, his exaltation and what that involves. All right, let's pray together. Father, we're so grateful to have such a King who subdues and restrains our enemies. And therefore, we don't need to fear what wicked people under his control can do to us. We know they can do nothing without your permission. And if you permit, then you shall work it together for our good and your glory. And so, Lord, we just pray for grace to trust and not be afraid to recognize that whatever you allow Satan to do, he's on a leash. And ultimately you only allow him to do that which serves your purposes and achieves the good of your people and the growth of your kingdom. And so Father, may we trust and not be afraid and recognize that indeed we have the power to tread on Satan and his demons and that ultimately they cannot hurt us. Father, thank you for defending us and giving us a King who gives us protection and deliverance and triumph. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.