The book of Luke chapter number 1. Luke chapter number 1, and we'll look at some things here. And the attitude of the Christmas time together, I guess you could say. We'll do our best, Luke chapter number 1. Alright, Luke chapter number 1 and then we'll go to probably Isaiah chapter number 6 here in just a second. So if you want to find that here in just a minute, Isaiah chapter number 9, Luke chapter number 1. In Luke chapter number 1, you'll find in verse number 30, the Bible says, And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary, for thou hast found favor with God. And behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name Jesus." Notice verse 32 and verse 33. He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest. And the Lord God shall give unto him, Jesus. Notice, the Lord God, Jehovah God, shall give unto him, Jesus, the throne of his father, David. And he shall reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there shall be no end. Heavenly father. I pray to bless your word tonight. We thank you for these that have gathered on a cold wednesday night for lord prayer meeting bible study I pray to bless us now in jesus name. We pray. Amen. The bible says that jesus christ was born by the Virgin Mary, and the angel told her that she's going to conceive in her womb, bring forth a son. She's going to call his name Jesus. And this Jesus, this baby, this virgin-born Son of God, He's going to be great. He shall be called the Son of the Highest. And this, my friend, is the theme of the whole Bible. This is the theme of the whole Bible right here. And the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David. He shall reign over the house of Jacob. That's the nation of Israel. He shall reign over the house of Jacob. Forever and of his kingdom there shall be no end now I know that you think or a lot of people think I don't know what you think But I can tell you this a lot of people think that the theme of the Bible is John 3 16 for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son to whosoever believed in him should not perish but have everlasting life and that's a good verse and And a lot of times we read the Bible, we look at the Bible, we think, we just pick out the verses that pertain to us and they say, the whole focal point is about a, it's not about you. It's not about me. It's about a king and his kingdom. The whole Christmas season, the whole Christmas story is based upon a king and his kingdom. It's not John 3, 16. It's not none of those verses which we love and appreciate in salvation by the grace of God. We love it. But the theme of the whole Bible is a king and his kingdom. Let me prove my point. Salvation is mentioned 164 times in the Bible. The word saved is mentioned 104 times in the Bible. Born again, being born again, mentioned three times in the Bible. Now, the word kings is mentioned 334 times in the Bible. Kingdom is mentioned 369 times in the Bible. You even got books in the Old Testament, first and second, kings, talking about kings in a kingdom. Throne is mentioned 176 times. The wise men in Matthew chapter 2, they came to King Herod and they said, now this is, get the amusement, get the, this is amusing to me. They go, the wise men, go to King Herod. Somebody that's already king of the Jews. Are you with me? And the wise men, how many ever there were, they came and said, hey, King Herod, where is he born this day, king of the Jews? You're looking at a king, an earthly king, a small K, and you ask the small K king, where is he that is born capital King of the Jews? See, the whole Bible, the theme of the whole Bible is about the king and his kingdom. Now, look at Isaiah chapter nine, Isaiah chapter number nine. Isaiah, Old Testament, chapter 9. Here's a verse we read about in... around Christmastime, rather. Isaiah chapter 9, verse number 6. For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given, and the... what? Government shall be upon his shoulder. And his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, and the Prince of Peace. Notice verse 7. Of the increase of his what? And peace there shall be no end. Upon the what? Throne of David, and upon his what? Kingdom to order it to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even forever the zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform This I can promise you this the Bible is true There is a king coming and he's coming to set on the throne of his father's David in the city of Jerusalem Forever and ever and ever that's what Christmas is all about and Christmas is not about a fella dressed up in a red suit. Christmas is not about that. Christmas is not about all of the fun, and I'm all for the fun for the kids, and to a certain degree, I just don't like lying to them. You don't want your kids lying to you, don't lie to them. Hello. We're not here to get on that tonight, as I can already tell some of y'all. And we tell our kids there's a guy up there at the North Pole. He's going, we've never been up there, we've never seen it. But he lives up there, and he's coming down here to give you gifts. He knows when you're sleeping, he knows when you're awake, he knows when you've been bad or good, so be good for goodness sake. And then your kids grow up, and they're like, and they realize you've been funnin' with them the whole time. You mean there's really not a guy up there that brings gifts and he knows when I'm sleeping, he knows when I'm awake, he knows everything about me? Nah, we're just kidding. I was just having fun with you. Then, they reach the age of accountability. We tell our kids, hey, there's a guy up there that you've never seen before. He sent his son Jesus Christ to this earth to die for the sins of the whole world. And if you put your faith and trust in him, that guy that we've never seen, he lives in a place way up there that we don't know nothing about. And we go be with him forever and ever and ever. Mom and dad, are you telling me another guy up there? And you're wanting me to believe that story too? Oh, the devil's real tricky, isn't he? That wasn't a part of the lesson. I just thought we'd plow that field while we was at it. The Bible is about a king and his kingdom. Now, let me give you this. Matthew chapter 5. I don't have time to turn there. But in Matthew chapter number 5, it gives us two kingdoms. God, the kingdom of God, which is in red. You'll see the little stars in red. The kingdom of God. Then Matthew chapter 5 gives us the kingdom of heaven Matthew chapter 5 says God is on his throne up in heaven where God said the third heaven where God abodes the kingdom of God And then he says on this earth kingdom of heaven on this earth. There's a king down here as well and And in the creation, God planted Adam in the garden and made him king, king over the kingdom of heaven. God, the kingdom of God, came down to the garden of Eden. And the kingdom of God and kingdom of heaven were together like this. And Adam and God, that's how Adam and God could walk in the cool of the day, hand in hand. Talk back and forth just like they were personal friends. Kingdom of God, Kingdom of Heaven was joined together on this earth in a place called Eden. You say, you mean Adam was a king? Yes, Adam was a king. Matter of fact, Luke chapter 3 calls him the son of God. A son of God. And so the kingdom of God has to do with sons of God. The kingdom of heaven has to do with God's dealing with His people pertaining to the nation of Israel. Both of these kingdoms are all together. Garden of Eden, there's Adam walking together. Everything's perfect. You say, Adam was a king? Yes. He told Adam, I'll give you dominion. What's dominion? dominion over the fish of the sea, over the fowl of the air. Adam, I'm going to make you king. The kingdom of heaven you how do you keep it right in your mind kingdom of God that's up there where you can't see Kingdom of heaven is down here heaven on earth That's how you keep it right in your mind heaven on earth Jesus taught his disciples to pray our Father which art in heaven hallowed be thy name thy kingdom come Thy will be done on earth Earth kingdom of heaven as it is in Heaven kingdom of God Kingdom of God came to heaven on in Eden. They were together like this Then all of a sudden something happened and I think y'all know what happened in the book of Genesis Genesis chapter 1 verse number 1 in the beginning God Watch this kingdom of God has no beginning, you know, I know because the first Verse in Genesis chapter 1 in the beginning God in the beginning kingdom of God was already there didn't have a beginning In the beginning God created the Heaven so the kingdom of heaven had a beginning Kingdom of God has no beginning Kingdom of heaven has a beginning And he begins the kingdom of heaven on this earth. I'm not even gonna tell you who the first king was. You wouldn't believe me if I told you. I tried that last night. They didn't believe me either. Adam made Adam the king over kingdom of God, kingdom of heaven, down on earth until something happened. Something happened. In Genesis chapter three, now stay with me, Genesis chapter three, The serpent, more subtle than any beast of the field, Lord God it may, snuck in there, said, yea, hath God said. Adam took of the grape vineyard, the grape vine that was there. Eve also, sinned, entered into their bodies. The kingdom of God says, bye-bye. Kingdom of God's gone. Kingdom of God can't be down here with sin. Can't be down here with sin. Kingdom of God says, I'm gone. See you. Matter of fact, I'm kicking y'all out of the kingdom of God. Kicking you out. Both kingdom of God, kingdom of heaven. Get out. I'm going to put a, it's all in Genesis chapter three. Put us, put us a chair over there. He going to swing a sword to protect you from the tree of life. Can't go back in there no more. Get out. Then, later on, this kingdom carries on with people like Noah. Noah, king. He failed. You know how I know he failed? Noah's ark. The flood came, destroyed the whole earth. His sons took over after that. Guess what? They were trying to be kings of the earth and the kingdom of heaven just carries on through here. Kingdom of Heaven carries on. Noah couldn't do it. His sons couldn't do it. Noah ended in a flood. His sons ended at the Tower of Babel. Then come along a fellow by the name of Moses. Y'all remember Moses? Moses delivered his people. There you go. Here we go. Kingdom of Heavens. Here we go. He's a king. Guess what? That ended bad. Egyptian bondage. Here we go. And then all of a sudden we go on down through here all of a sudden the people said we want a king God says, oh you want a king? I'll be glad to be your king. Oh, no. No, we're not talking about you God We want one we can see feel and touch get our hands on And so God said well you pick you out one. They picked out Saul. God says I don't like him They said well we do God, we're not concerned about what you like. It's about us. God, it ain't about you. It's about us, what we want. And they said, all right, help yourself. King Saul, see what you get out of him. They didn't get much out of him. He failed. King David came down. He was actually God's pick. King David. King Solomon come down there. King Solomon. Then the kingdom got divided. All of that failed. They went into Egyptian captivity by all the Babylonians, Medo-Persia, Greece, all that kind of stuff. Nineteen different kings. None of them worked. None of them worked. And then, and you write this verse down because I don't have time to turn to it. It'd take us all night to even find it. Lamentation, chapter 5. In Lamentation chapter number five, verse one through 16, Jeremiah says, we have lost the crown. Matter of fact, I think I got it wrote down somewhere. Matter of fact, I'll read it to you. Here's what it says. The crown is fallen from our head, woe unto us that we have sinned. And the kingdom of heaven says, bye-bye. The kingdom of heaven goes into captivity. Babylonians, I don't know, four or five kingdoms there. Medes, the Persians, all of that. And then, hang on, some of you are going. We're going somewhere, hang on. Cyrus, King Cyrus. King Cyrus was a Gentile king, he was a king over Persia. He says this, he says, hey you Jews, I tell you what y'all, I'm gonna let y'all do something. I'm gonna let y'all go and rebuild Jerusalem and the walls and the temple on the Temple Mount. I'm gonna let y'all do that, we're gonna let y'all do that. Isn't that odd? Now, get the picture, big picture. See, it's more than just John 3, 16. Here's the big picture. It's about a king and a kingdom. Watch this. King of Persia, not God's king, but he says, hey, Israel, I'm gonna let y'all go back in Jerusalem, build a big old temple there on the Temple Mount, rebuild the walls. Nehemiah tells you all about rebuilding the walls. Isn't it odd that he says y'all can go rebuild just prior to Christmas? the birth of the king of the Jews. Isn't that odd? They built the temple, they get it all together, and this, that, and the other, and then all of a sudden, Born to you this day in the city of David is a Savior, which is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign unto you, you shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. And suddenly there was a multitude of heavenly hosts praising God and saying, glory to God in the highest and on earth, peace, goodwill toward men. Jesus Christ is born. And Matter of fact, I think somebody like John the Baptist or something, John the Baptist says, hey, the Lord is coming. Prepare ye the way of the Lord. Matter of fact, John the Baptist says, repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Boom. There the kingdom of heaven shows up again. Kingdom of heaven. Repent, kingdom of heaven. Jesus, Matthew chapter 4, Jesus preached, repent, repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. I'm here. I'm here to be your king. You need to repent. Repent from what? Repent from your sin and get the kingdom of heaven taken away from you. Repent. Repent. And so John the Baptist is preaching that. Jesus is preaching that. Man, they're preaching up a storm. It's all about a king and his kingdom. Jesus, Matthew 13, gives about seven or eight parables dealing with the kingdom of heaven, the parables. Kingdom of heaven is like a sower. He goes to sow a seed in his field. Kingdom of heaven is like whatever, the 10 virgins, the five wives, five foodies. Kingdom of heaven is like the wheat and the tares You got it? Kingdom of heaven! Kingdom of heaven! Jesus says, I'm here. Kingdom of heaven, dealing with what? Nation of Israel. It's an earthly kingdom. Earthly kingdom, something you can see with your eyes. Kingdom of heaven, something you can see with your eyes. It has to do with signs and wonders, because Jews are involved. has to do with all the miracles and signs. That's why Jesus turned the water into wine. That's why He healed blind Bartimaeus. That's how He raised Lazarus from the dead. That's why He healed Jairus' daughter. That's why He did all these miracles. It's because the kingdom of heaven is at hand, and Israelites are involved, and they require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom. Now take your Bible. Take your Bible and turn to John 19. John 19. John 19. John 19. John 19, verse 14. Verse 14, the Bible says, And it was the preparation of the Passover, about the sixth hour, and He said unto the Jews, Behold, your what? Israelites, this is your king. Verse 15, but they cried out, away with him, away with him, crucify him. Pilate said unto them, shall I crucify your, what? The chief priests answered, we have no king but who? Kingdom of Heaven says, bye-bye. And they took Jesus to the cross and crucified the king of the Jews. And the Jew says, we don't want you as our king. We have King Caesar. We don't want you. Crucify him. Crucify him. The kingdom of heaven stops. There's no more that God can do. You don't want, I brought you a king. I said he was gonna be born in the city of David. I said he was gonna be born in Bethlehem. I said the scepter will not leave his hand. I said here he is, he's Jesus, he's born, king of the Jews, here he is. They said, we don't want it. Just history repeats itself. They said, we want a king. They said, I'll give you David. Uh-uh, we want Saul. Come here, we got a king. We want a king! I'll give you Jesus. No, we don't want Jesus. We want Caesar. Kingdom of Heaven? Okay. That's fine. I can't do nothing else but help. I can't help you no more. Then guess what happens? Kingdom of God steps back on the scene. Actually, both of these are in view at the same time, but I ain't got time to tell you that. There's the Kingdom of God. You say, preacher, what's the kingdom of God in this age right here, the church age? Kingdom of God? How do I get in the kingdom of God? Well, the Bible says in 1 Corinthians 15, I forgot the verse, but it's 50-something. It says, flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God. You can't go to heaven like you are. You can't go to heaven in your body like you are. You're sinful. That's why when the rapture takes place, our bodies change in a moment, twinkling of an eye. Why? So you can get the kingdom of God. But the Bible says in John 1, verse number 11, He came unto His own. His own received Him not. But to His many, leave it Him. Help me. But to as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God. Remember, Adam was called a what? Son of God. That's why God, that's why both of these could be in existence at the same time. He's son of God. Nobody else is called a son of God. Until, boom, here. You're a son of God. You're saved, son of God. And Ephesians chapter 2 says you're seated in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. I'm a part of the kingdom of God. Positionally, I'm up there. Waiting on my body to catch up. I got saved, I'm already up there. I'm already in the kingdom of God. Positionally speaking, I'm just sort of... Every now and then, you just do like it. Because one is, you do like it, and the rapture takes place, you'll just be just a smidgen already there. Just every now and then, you're in Walmart, just do that. They're like, what are you doing? Well, I'm doing rapture drills. What's that? Well, I'm waiting on the Lord to come. Say, you're nuts. Oh yeah, but we're screwed on the right boat. Hallelujah. Kingdom of God! How do you get a part of the Kingdom of God? You can't get in your flesh and blood, can you? You can't enter the Kingdom of God. How do you go in? You've got to be chained to the moment of twinkling of an eye. Kingdom of God has to do with sons of God. Kingdom of God, sons of God. Kingdom of Heaven has to do with Israel. Here we go. Here. Boom! That leaves Kingdom of God's in view. Now, rapture takes place. Boom! Here we go. Rapture takes place. Son of God stops. Guess what comes back into play? Now, I left out tribulation. Okay, I know. I got that. I run out of room. You couldn't tell. Take your Bible and turn to Revelation 19 real quick while we find a quitting spot. Revelation 19. Revelation 19, about verse number 11. About verse number 11 it says, Behold a white horse, and he that sat upon it was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he does judge and make war. His eyes were a flame of fire, and on his head were many and he had a name written that no man knew but he himself. He was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood. His name's called the Word of God. And the armies which were in heaven followed him on white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean. Out of his mouth goeth the sharp sword. With it he should smite the nations. He shall rule them with a rod of iron. He treadeth the winepress of the fiercest of the wrath of Almighty God. He hath on his vesture and on his thigh, stay in your seat, don't get excited, a name written King of kings and Lord of lords That's what Christmas is all about That's what the king is coming to establish his kingdom Angel told Mary What did you tell Mary? His name shall be he'll be called Jesus. He'll be the son of the highest the most high He shall rule on his own Father David's throne. And of his kingdom there shall be no end. Unto us a child is born. Unto us. Unto us a child is born. Unto us a son is given. And the government shall be upon his shoulder. His name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace. And the increase of his government and of his kingdom It's all about a kingdom. It's all about a king and a kingdom. Now tonight, what do you pick? On the cross, Pilate said, it's your king. Sunday after Sunday, Sunday after Sunday, people walk out of here and go, he's not my king. Give us Obama and crucify Jesus. I don't even feel right saying that. I got in convictions just kidding about that. You'd be surprised at the people. Give us somebody, because it's all about me. Give me somebody to help me pay my bills. Give me somebody where I don't have to do nothing. Oh yeah, give me some. This is the oddest Christmas message I've ever preached in my life. Same principle. Give us a king that'll do something for us. Hey, when he comes, it ain't about you. It's about him. That's what Christmas is all about. by the king and his kingdom. It's going to go back to where the kingdom of God, kingdom of heaven, was down on this earth in Eden until sin entered. Guess what? Kingdom, the devil's gone, thousand year, bound up in the bottomless pit, kingdom of God, kingdom of heaven, joined together again and set down on this earth together. You say, prove that. the new Jerusalem coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. The kingdom of God, the new city, new Jerusalem, there's the bride coming down to sit down with the kingdom of heaven, the nation of Israel, join hands. and bow down to the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. The only one you ever should bow down to. That's what Christmas is all about. A king and his kingdom. All right. Let's have some prayer requests. Thank the Lord for the Bible. Amen. Remember Chad, my nephew, Chad and Lindy.