The Bible says that Jesus is touched with the feelings of our infirmities. I don't know if you have anything to be touched how you can't be touched with the feelings of what Kevin just prayed. It's pretty sobering, isn't it? When you think of what is being faced there. Not just the physical loss of a parent, but the loss of a parent who has demonstrated no love for Christ. And that's sobering. And there's a point at which you just have to stop your thinking there. And you can't, you know, if you dwell on those things, it would just simply, it would bury you, I think. And so you can't think about that too long and deeply and just come back to worshiping the Lord because He is worthy to be worshiped, even if our own family members don't worship Him. And we all have family members that don't worship Him. And it breaks our heart because we want them to worship the same God that we know and love and worship and serve. We want them to be followers of Jesus Christ. But our want to just doesn't get it done, does it? Our will is not strong enough to change the will of another person. That's the marvel, really, of the power of Christ is the changing of a will. That's really a greater marvel than walking on water. Although everybody likes to see somebody walk on water, that's what everybody wants to see, but the greater power is the changing of a will. I can tell you that. Well, we're looking at Did I turn that on? We're looking at the truths upon which we stand and we're considering Christ as our mediator. And this is the fourth lesson on this. And we have come to the the last of of the statement. Let me just read the statement again. It's article number seven. Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God, is the divinely appointed mediator between God and man. Having taken upon himself human nature, yet without sin, he perfectly fulfilled the law, suffered and died upon the cross for the salvation of those sinners the Father gave to him. He was buried, and rose again the third day, and ascended to His Father, at whose right hand He ever liveth to make intercession for His people. He is the only Mediator, the Prophet, Priest, and King of His people, and Sovereign of the universe." So as the Mediator, we have seen that Jesus brings heaven and earth together. God and man in one person. We refer to Him as God-man. God slash man. That is somewhat confusing perhaps. Theologians have tried to define very finely what all that means. And even though we can make a statement of faith really grasping that is difficult for our minds. But we know that there's that statement in Colossians that says, in Him, the fullness of the Godhead dwells in Him, in Jesus Christ. The fullness of the Godhead dwells in Him, in the body, I mean, as a man. He is fully God, fully man. So, heaven and earth is brought together. God and man are brought together in Jesus Christ. Upon the earth, God robed in flesh, spoke to the world, and manifested God in person. We know God because of Jesus Christ. God is transcendent in that He is beyond us. We can't grasp infinity, but God humbled Himself to come into this world. And as God robed in flesh, spoke to us as the prophet and communicated God to us in person. God in person came to us upon the earth. Upon the cross, God robed in flesh, bore the guilt of sin that separated birth from heaven, man from God. Sinners who look to Him in faith are filled with everlasting hope because we have a priest. And every sinner needs a priest. It's a fundamental reality. You cannot enter into the presence of absolute holiness without a priest. You've got to have one. You've got to have a mediator. That's what we're saying. You've got to have somebody that's going to go between you and and God and bring you together. In other words, dress you up to be able to go into the presence of God without being consumed, without being cast away, without Him saying, depart from me. And that's the God-man, Jesus Christ. Ascending to heaven after He resurrected, God, robed in flesh, Returned to the glory he had with the Father before the world was so. There is still God robed in flesh. Who represents us? Who is in in heaven and? having fulfilled the work necessary to establish an eternal Sabbath for the people of God, as an eternal rest for the people of God. What we are experiencing right now on the first day of the week is really still, I understand it to still be a shadow. There is a sense in which it is a fulfillment because it's the first day, not the seventh day. So Christ did come and He did die and He did rise again. There is a new covenant, so it's the first day of the week. But it still is, in a sense, a shadow too, because there is an eternal rest yet that remains for the people of God. And so the rest that we experience one day in a week is typical or a shadow of that eternal rest that is still promised to the people of God. And that's because there is one who is God-man. And he is seated. He sat down several times in Scripture. We have that he sat down. He is seated. That means something that's significant. Who is seated right now? It's not simply. God, the son, it's. The God man, son of God, son of man. Who is seated? That's a significant change, really. And. And because of that, man, sinners, can also enter into that place called heaven in the very presence of God. Because there is one who is the God-man who has gone before us and prepared the way. This is huge. The drama of redemption. Sometimes the word drama is used perhaps in a negative way, but really the creation and all that's going on in creation in particular, in the area of redemption, is God working out His plan. It is the drama of redemption and reveals God's love like nothing else. When you stop and think about it, God could have made humans incapable of sinning. I mean, there are angels that have never sinned, right? And if He had done that, He would have preserved absolute perfection. But He didn't do that. He created a human being, that which we know now to be a human being, that once didn't exist now does or did in the beginning when God created Adam, Eve. But the plan of God, the redemptive plan of God brings sinners into His favor by way of the sacrifice of His only begotten Son. And this says to us, among other things, that God wants us to know and experience love in a way we never would have experienced it. I was speaking to a pastor this last week who's going through some very, very difficult things in his life right now, and he's starting out on a series in 1 Peter, and he says it's providential that this was laid upon his heart several months ago, and he's going through 1 Peter. If you know 1 Peter, it's all about suffering and how to deal with suffering as Christians. And he said to me, I mean, this is a man that's going through things. If I were to describe it to you, you would wonder, you know, how can he deal with these things? It's very, very, very difficult. This is what he said to me. He said, I believe that more than anything, God wants His children to identify with His love. And when you stop and think about the redemptive plan of God, I think you will come to see that that is absolutely true. Now, we're not saying that there are not other revelations that God has made of Himself, that He wants the world to know His justice and holiness. All of those things are true. We're talking about His people, you know, identifying with His great love. The means that God has ordained in redemption, and that is His own Son being the only mediator, is the means by which God has, according to Romans 5, manifested His love. Isn't that what He says? God has commended His love toward us. He commends His love in His Son. He commends His love. He's saying, look at My love. Here in His love. You love me, but I love you. You're in this love. Look at it. I want you to look at it. I want you to turn it over. I want you to look at it from every angle. I want you to dwell in this love. I was telling guys that we prayed this morning, if you get Grace Gyms, read Octavius Winslow's article today. It's talking about the ocean of Christ's love. And it's worth reading and meditating upon. And he says, most of us stand on the shore. He says, walk out into it. Get into it. And this is what the Scriptures tell us. You know, keep yourselves in the love of God, Jude says. It's huge. And probably we as Christians do not dwell upon that enough. And that could explain one of the reasons why we struggle with some of the things we struggle with emotionally and even practically. Why aren't we overcomers? Why aren't we more devoted and committed? You're going to hear the message next hour. Why aren't we serving more fervently? Maybe we are not plugged in to the love of God as deeply as we ought to be plugged in. Or maybe we aren't swimming. What analogy do you want? Maybe we aren't swimming in the love of God like we ought to be. Well, thinking of Christ as our mediator should help us. It's God's plan for us. Now, we come today to the resurrected and ascended mediator. who functions as prophet, functions as priest. He doesn't lay aside those functions. But now there is this function that is magnified in his ascension, and that is king. His function is king. Now, he is the mediator. He functions as prophet, priest, and king of God's kingdom. And so our statement says, the king of the church and sovereign of the universe. Now, godly men differ on the details of the reign of Jesus Christ as king. And, you know, if I were to say to you, give me your thought, you know, Jesus Christ is king. Give me your thoughts. It probably would probably be all over the map here this morning. But it all depends on what you know, what aspect of this kingly rule that you're thinking about. I was talking to Ron Crisp. He's not the fellow I was just talking about, but I was talking to Ron Crisp also last week, and he says that this is, he believes, one of the most under-emphasized aspects of the Lord Jesus Christ as mediator. And he says it bothers him that, you know, when you go, the Puritans were these guys that, you know, thought so deeply they wrote massive volumes on every little detail. But they have not written on this. That's what he says. I haven't researched it. He says the Puritans didn't write a great deal on this subject. And he's wanting to write a book on it himself because there are some things that's opened up to his mind in regards to this subject. Well, what's it about? The statement, I believe, that we have sets forth that which can be clearly defended from Scripture, that is, Jesus Christ as a mediator, as a king of the church and sovereign of the universe. It's clear that this statement is not focused upon an ethnic or national relationship, that it doesn't say king of Israel, you know, as a nation. It's not touching upon that aspect of Christ as King, you know, is there a relationship to the physical nation of Israel or not as King? We went through some of that in Romans chapter 11. That's not what our statement deals with here. He says, or our statement says, the church. Well, it says of His people. You know what? Sometimes I have confused things. Our statement says he is the only mediator, the prophet, priest and king of his people. Not sure. Did anybody have the statement in front of you? Because sometimes I get confused because we changed some things in the original statement. What does it say? Article seven. It's of the 20 statement. It's voice is abstract is what we drew these statements from, but we changed some wording around. It's the very end of it. He is the only mediator, the prophet, priest, and king of? Okay. That one does? Okay. Well, what does yours say? Okay. That's the one, it should say His people, and there's a reason for that because there's some confusion. What do we mean by church? And so we changed it. I think the abstract, or Boyce's abstract actually says church. But there's some question about what does that mean? Is it just talking about a local body of baptized believers? Or is it talking about the broader view of what some would call the universal church? And so in order to clarify that, we changed it to His people. He is the Mediator, the only Mediator, the Prophet, Priest, and King of His people. And I need to make sure that our... I need to look at what we have out there on the table to make sure it is in keeping with this updated language, because we went through some revision on that. But do you understand why we're saying that? I mean, is He simply the King of Community Baptist Church? Or is He the King of a much broader body of believers? I would say both. Both are true. I mean, just like He's my King as an individual. So we could say all three of those aspects are true. And so His people, I think, help us to encompass all of those thoughts. This statement, though, is referring to Jesus Christ as King in relation to and in behalf of those who make up that holy nation, the spiritual seed of Abraham, the Israel of God, what I would refer to as what I understand to be the Israel of God. But you see even that phrase there, who is the Israel of God? There are some people who say, well, that's only those who are born of the physical seed of Abraham. I would say, no, the Bible teaches us that it's not just simply being born of the physical seed of Abraham doesn't make you the Israel of God. The Israel of God are those who have the faith of Abraham. That's who I would understand the Israel of God to be. But if you ever run across a Christian who doesn't believe that, don't say you're not a Christian because you don't believe that. There are Christians who disagree on what I just said. Back to our thoughts on Jesus as a mediator, as King. Jesus Christ is recognized in Scripture as reigning since His ascension. Now, God has always reigned. There's a sense in which the kingdom of God has always been. God as ruler, God as sovereign, has always been sovereign, always ruled. You can go back to the Old Testament and the Psalms over and over again. Our God reigns, right? So there's a sense in which God reigns because God is God. But here we're talking about Jesus Christ as the mediator in this kingdom. In other words, Jesus Christ is the person in the triune God who has been given the responsibility, seated upon a throne, to rule over the kingdom of God. The mediator. Okay? Let's look at a couple of Scriptures here. Acts chapter 2. So Jesus is viewed in Scripture as reigning since His ascension. So there's a unique way in which He's reigning. Listen to me. This I think is significant. He's reigning now as the God-Man. Grab onto that thought right there. Not simply God, but the God-Man. He's the mediator. He's reigning in the Kingdom as the God-Man. In other words, seated upon the throne of His Kingdom is A man. That's huge. Acts chapter 2 and verse 30 says, therefore being a prophet, he's just spoken of David in the resurrection. David speaks of the resurrection in this psalm that's being quoted. He says, therefore being a prophet and knowing that God has sworn with an oath to him, that of the fruit of his loins, according to the flesh, he would raise up Christ to sit on his throne, the throne of David. He, seeing this before, spake of the resurrection of Christ, that his soul was not left in hell, neither his flesh did see corruption. By the way, His soul left in hell. Hell there is the word that is, it's not the lake of fire, hell, but rather the grave, the death itself, which is, there's several words, I'm not going to get sidetracked here, but there's several words in Scripture that can be translated hell or death or grave. Verse 32, This Jesus hath God raised up, Whereof we all are witnesses, therefore, being by the right hand of God exalted. And having received of the father the promise of the Holy Ghost, he has shed forth this which you now see in here, for David is not ascended into the heavens. This isn't talking about David, that psalm that he's quoting is not talking about David. But he saith himself, the Lord said unto my Lord, sit thou on my right hand until I make thy foes thy footstool. We'll read that psalm in a moment. Go to chapter 17, Acts 17. And we have a record here of the view of the early disciples of Jesus. But the Jews, verse 5, Acts 17, 5, but the Jews, which believe not, moved with envy, took unto them certain lewd fellows of the baser sort, and gathered a company, and set all the city on an uproar, and assaulted the house of Jason, and sought to bring them out to the people. And when they found them not, they drew Jason and certain brethren unto the rulers of the city, crying, These that have turned the world upside down are come hither also, whom Jason hath received. And these all do contrary to the decrees of Caesar, saying that there is Another king won Jesus. I heard somebody, when I was back in my school days, schooling days, they said nowhere in the Bible does it say that Jesus is king right now. Well, the early disciples said He was. That's the point here. That was the accusation. These followers are saying that Jesus is king. And it was an accusation that was unacceptable because there was only one that was supposed to be bowed down to as king, and that was Caesar. So here we see Scripture is teaching us that Jesus is King, okay? Not shall be, although it's true He shall be, but He is King. Acts chapter 28 and verse 23, And when they had appointed Him a day, there came many to Him and to His lodging, to whom He expounded and testified, the kingdom of God. Now the kingdom of God, if you are thinking of the kingdom of God as a sphere, As having territorial boundaries, you're thinking the wrong way about the Kingdom of God. The Kingdom of God has to do with the rule of God, the reign of God. Not the place, but the power. Okay? Testified the Kingdom of God, persuading them concerning Jesus in relationship to this Kingdom. both out of the law in Moses and out of the prophets from morning till evening. Verse 31, preaching the Kingdom of God and teaching those things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ. If you're going to teach the Kingdom of God, you're going to be teaching the Lord Jesus Christ. He reigns. He's the King in this Kingdom. Look at 1 Timothy 6. I'm going to be looking at a number of Scriptures here as we work through this. Hopefully it will be a help to you. Sometimes I know you can go from verse to verse and it's kind of like you get kind of lulled to sleep just reading verses. I don't want to do that. I want you to see. Our Mediator, Jesus Christ is King. Let's go ahead and read verses 13-15. I'm going to refer to it later as well. I give thee charge in the sight of God, who quickeneth all things, and before Christ Jesus, who before Pontius Pilate witnessed a good confession, that thou keep this commandment without spot, unrebukable, until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, which in His times He shall show, who is the blessed and only potentate, the King of kings and Lord of lords." This is describing Jesus Christ. This One who will come again, who will appear, is King of kings. He is that now. He is the ascended. Lord, who is King in this kingdom." 1 Peter 3 and verse 22. Speaking of the resurrection, in verse 21, verse 22 says, referring to Jesus Christ, 1 Peter 3.22, who is gone into heaven and is on the right hand of God. angels and authorities and powers being made subject unto Him. That sounds like a king, doesn't it? So He is not waiting for a future coronation. You remember Revelation 1 and verse 6 says that, speaking of us, it says, we have been made kings and priests. Remember that verse? We have been made kings and priests. I remember preaching one time in Beverly Manor Baptist Church, a long, long, long time ago, and I made the statement that if we are made kings and priests now, surely Jesus is not waiting to be made king. Now, there are some people that latched on to that. It made some of them happy and some of them sad. Because it sounded like I was preaching against premillennialism, and it sounded like I was promoting amillennialism, and I really wasn't doing either one. I was just making a biblical observation. You can make it. You can fit it into whatever system you want to fit it into, I guess. I'm just saying, I'm not a king before Jesus is. In fact, the reason I am a king or royalty is because my mediator is royalty. I'm one with Him. And I think the Scriptures bear that out. I will say that the full display of His reign is yet to be revealed to all. Presently, we see this reign by faith. I mean, let's be honest, okay? I'llBeHonest.com, okay? Here we go. Does it really look to you as you look around the world that Jesus is reigning? I'm not talking about an illusion here. I'm talking about reality, what you see scientifically with your eye, what you witness. Does it really look that way? And I know you don't want to say, well, no, it doesn't look that way. I know you don't want to say that. But you will convince very few people who don't have faith that Jesus is reigning right now. I'm telling you, we see His reign by faith. In fact, unless you're born again, you can't see the kingdom of God. Oh, I've got to quit preaching. This is teaching time, isn't it? But you can't see the kingdom of God. It all looks like mayhem. It all looks like ain't nobody in control. That's what it looks like. But at the revelation of Jesus, Jesus is coming again. And at that revelation, there will be the recognition of Him as King at that time. There will be an unveiling like has never been seen before. The first time He came, He came as a lowly... He came as a man, servant, in a manger. A king? You've got to be kidding. In a manger? In a barn? On a cross? That's not a king, right? This is one reason why folks love to pick apart. They pick at the resurrection. They don't like the resurrection, because if there is a resurrection, this says more about Jesus than what they want to admit. And so being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore, God also had highly exalted him. And giving them a name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow. That's what you do before a king, don't you? Of things in heaven, things in earth, things under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. I think we can take this message to the world and say, you should be bowing to Jesus Christ. You should be confessing Him. as the Lord. You should be. Well, I don't believe He even exists. You're going to have to deal with that. I'm just telling you, you should. You should. And one day will. 1 Corinthians 15, verse 23 through 26, that every man in his own order, Christ the firstfruits, Afterward, they that are Christ at His coming. There's something that's looming very large in the future of this world. It's the coming of Jesus Christ. Then, and I know your Bible has an italicized word there that says cometh, but you know what? I like to drop that word because, boy, the emphasis just hits you. Then, the end. It's over. when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God." Even the Father. He's ruling, right? He's the mediator. He's ruling over this kingdom. And everything's going just as the resurrected, ascended mediator, God-man, Jesus Christ, wants it to go. And when it's all wrapped up, the imagery here, and I don't fully understand these verses here, but he's going to turn it over to his Father, it says. when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power, for he must reign till he hath put all enemies under his feet." The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death. Looking forward to that day when there will be no more of that to deal with. So the Scriptures recognize, and this is what I've tried to read these few Scriptures to point out to you, the Scriptures recognize that Jesus Christ is reigning since His ascension. The reign of Christ now is the mediatorial rule that He exercises in the Kingdom of God. This is prophesied. There are two major passages in the Psalms. Let's go to Psalm 8 quickly. I guess you could say I'm scratching the surface here. Hopefully, there will be enough of the surface scratch that some of the smell of this mediatorial reign of Christ will come into your nostrils and into your being and be a blessing and encourage you. But, Psalm 8, notice it. Let's just skip to verse 4. What is man that thou art mindful of him? And the Son of Man that thou visitest Him, for thou hast made Him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned Him with glory and honor. Thou madest Him to have dominion over the works of thy hands." This is a reference to Genesis. This is a reference. God made Adam, the first Adam, to have dominion over the works, over the earth. Thou hast put all things under his feet. That was the intent with the first Adam. all sheep and oxen, yea, and the beasts of the field, the fowl of the air, the fishes of the sea, and whatsoever passeth through the paths of the seas." God intended, the revelation, God's revealed will was for man to have dominion over all his creation. Well, something went desperately wrong, didn't it? The first man lost that dominion in the fall. But here's the beauty here of Christ, the God-Man, the Mediator. What man lost in the fall, the God-Man regained and restored and shall restore to perfection as Mediator, the God-Man, the Ruler in the Kingdom. And so, Psalm 8 isn't just looking back at Adam. It's looking forward to Jesus Christ. How do we know that? Well, let's go to Hebrews chapter 2. Hebrews 2 and verse 6, hopefully you can remember what we just read there, at least the gist of it. And then in Hebrews 2 verse 6 says, But one in a certain place testified, saying, What is man that thou art mindful of him? Or the son of man that thou visitest him? That's what we just read in Psalm 8. Thou madest him a little lower than the angels. Thou crownest him with glory and honor, and it set him over the works of Thy hands. Thou hast put all things in subjection under his feet." Back in Psalm, it looks like it's referring back to the first Adam, and I think it is by way of intention. That's what was intended, but man fell. But here, clearly, it's talking of Jesus Christ. The second Adam. And what was lost in the first Adam is regained in the second Adam. For in that He put all in subjection under Him. He left nothing that is not put under Him. But now we see not yet all things put under Him." It's not totally been carried out yet. But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honor, that He, by the grace of God, should taste death for every man. And He goes through this passage here and talks of His conquering over the power of the devil, the power of death. And He is a merciful and faithful High Priest for His people. He is the Mediator, Satan. I don't want to get sidetracked too much here, but I will I'll just let you hopefully see just a little bit here. I'm not in the mind of Satan. I don't know the mind of Satan, not when he fell, nor now I know what the Scriptures tell us, but I don't believe that Satan understood what was going on. I mean, here God made the angels, and then He made this creature called man that was a little lower than the angels. Well, that torqued the devil. He didn't like that. I mean, it just messed with him. You know, here's these human, these people who are less than we are. Well, I'm going to fix God on this one. I'm going to go down, and I'm going to create havoc." And he did, and he tempted Eve. Adam was not tempted. He intentionally went against God. He wasn't deceived, let's put it that way. He wasn't deceived like Eve was. He intentionally went against God, and no doubt in the mind of Satan, he thought he had conquered. He thought he had won. And you know, I have this sense that Satan didn't think for a moment that God would do what God eventually did, and that is to come into the form of... He didn't do that with the angels. He didn't go into the form of an angel to deliver the fallen angels. And so it looks like he did what he did to destroy the work of God. And so what option does God have? Well, just wipe the whole mess out. But God says, no, this all fits into my plan. I want to manifest my love in a way that it never would have been manifested before. And the devil fits into that plan. You know, the devil is not an accident. And so what man lost, man restored. Do you see that? What the first Adam lost, the second Adam restored. What man fell, but man didn't fall in Jesus Christ, you see, the second Adam. He's our Mediator. And so He's reigning. Sin created an insurmountable conflict with creation. At least it seemed insurmountable. But God steps into time and space and becomes our Mediator. Isn't that good? And so the second Adam, God in flesh, is established as the sovereign ruler over all. Matthew 28.18 Jesus said, all authority, all power is given to me in heaven and in earth. Why? I am the God-Man. I'm the Mediator. Not just as God, but as a man. The Mediator. And all power is given to me to restore that which was lost in the fall. And so when he prays in John 17, he prays and he brings that out. He says, I have all power over all flesh. He's praying to his Father. I have power over all flesh. So? That I might give eternal life to as many as you have given to me. Isn't that what he prayed? And it fits. this aspect of Christ the Mediator, His kingly function, the power, the rule. In Ephesians 1, this is a statement of the mediatorial reign of Christ. Ephesians 1. I'm telling you, the Scriptures are full of these expressions. Once you begin to see it, Ephesians 1 verse 20, which He wrought in Christ, this mighty power, when He raised Him from the dead and set Him at His own right hand in the heavenly places. The God-Man here. The Christ. The Messiah. The Anointed One. The Jewish Messiah. He has come. He's been raised. Far above all principality and power and might and dominion. Sounds keenly, doesn't it? And every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come, and hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him that filleth all in all." So in Christ, man's rule of a creation is restored. In some ways, that's to be viewed potentially, because the new heaven and new earth has not yet come. So we anticipate that because we have a Mediator, the God-Man, Jesus Christ. Psalm 110 is also undoubtedly speaking of Christ. I'm running out of time here, but in Psalm 110, Somebody told me that this psalm is quoted in the New Testament more than any other Old Testament Scripture. Now think of the significance of that, because it's talking about the kingly reign of Jesus Christ. And the high priestly work of Jesus Christ as well. It's quoted more than any other. The Lord said unto my Lord, Jehovah said unto my Lord, David is seeing Jesus Christ here. Sit thou at my right hand. That wasn't said to David. And remember, for sake of time, I'm just racing around here in Matthew. Jesus said to those scribes and Pharisees, He said, who was He talking about there? Who is Christ? He said to them. Who do you say that He is? And then he quotes this passage here. And he says David wasn't talking about himself. David saw something that those scribes and Pharisees didn't see. The Lord said unto my Lord, Jehovah said, sit thou in my right hand until I make thine enemies thy footstool. That is quoted a number of times in the New Testament clearly referring to Jesus Christ. The Lord shall send the rod of thy strength out of Zion. Of course, here you get into perhaps some controversy, but the church is the means by which the reigning Christ is sending forth the gospel message in this age in which we live. The Lord shall send the rod of thy strength out of Zion. Rule thou in the midst of thine enemies. The gates of hell shall not prevail against thee. Go. Charge. You can go. Church, you can go into this world with the gospel, the full confidence that Jesus Christ is reigning as King. And because of that, thy people will be willing in the day of thy power, in the beauties of holiness from the womb of the morning. Thou hast a view of thy youth. The Lord has sworn and will not repent. Thou art a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. This is obviously speaking of Christ. Mr. Spurgeon said concerning Psalm 110 and verse 2 about the rod of his strength and so forth, this promise began to be fulfilled at Pentecost and it continues even to this day, Mr. Spurgeon said, and shall yet have a grander fulfillment. O God of eternal might, let the strength of our Lord Jesus be more clearly seen and let the nation see it as coming forth out of the midst of thy feeble people, even from Zion, the place of thine abode. End of quote. And so Jesus reigns now for the sake of His body on earth. We read Ephesians. Every time a soul is saved, there is evidence of this kingly rule of Christ. My kingdom, Jesus said, My kingdom is, King James says, within you. Some translate that among you. I think within you is a proper translation there. The idea isn't that my kingdom is just walking around. My kingdom has affected you. Christ has taken up His rule in you. For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life. What's the next word? Do you hear mediator there? I never saw it until this last week. Through Jesus Christ. What does that mean? Through Jesus Christ our Lord. He is my Mediator. Every time you read, Through Jesus Christ, maybe you ought to be thinking about Christ as your Mediator. Through Jesus Christ. You have everything you have. Through Him. If you have anything from God, it's through Jesus Christ that you have it. Doesn't that magnify Jesus Christ? Like the Father wants His Son to be magnified. This is My beloved Son. Hear ye, Him is the Prophet. Look unto Him and live. He's the Priest. He's your only hope. Bow before Him. Follow Him. He's the King. He's the Mediator. And this rule is going to continue. The reason that I have hope of overcoming sin is because Jesus Christ came to destroy the works of the devil. 1 John 3, verse 8. If I am still in bondage to the works of the devil, I do not know him as my Mediator. Period. Yeah, but I had an experience a long time ago, Preacher. Lots of experiences happen, but is Jesus Christ your Mediator? Is He mine? This rule will continue in this age until He comes again with a brilliant display of royalty and power. And I've got half a dozen verses here we could turn to. I mean, He's going to come in the brightness of His glory. He's going to consume everything. By the brightness of His glory, He's going to clean this whole world up. I love this passage in Revelation. Revelation 17, 14 says, "...these shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them, for He is Lord of lords and King of kings." They that are with Him are called and chosen and faithful. And I do not believe that's to be pushed out into some future kingdom, though I am not saying there is not going to be a future. a kingdom on this earth, a display of the kingdom, the likes of which we've not seen to this point, but I am saying that this is talking about right now. Revelation. I love this as well. The reign of Jesus Christ, the mediatorial reign of Jesus Christ includes the judgment of the world. Revelation 19. Verse 11, And I saw heaven open, and behold, a white horse. And he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True. And in righteousness He doth judge and make war. His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on His head were many crowns, and He had a name written that no man knew but He Himself. And He was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood, and His name is called the Word of God. And the armies which were in heaven followed Him upon a white horse, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, and out of His mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it He should smite the nations, and He should rule them with a rod of iron. treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and the wrath of Almighty God. And He hath on His vesture and on His thigh a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords." That's Jesus Christ. My time's up here. But this reign, this mediatorial reign of Jesus Christ, God, the Father, Jesus said in John chapter 5 that judgment had been given to Him. He's going to be the judge. Acts 17 verse 31, it says that God will judge all men by that one who was raised Jesus Christ. The mediatorial reign of Jesus Christ. You know one thing that's encouraging is I know that the one that's going to judge me is my mediator. I'm thankful I have one who's my prophet, priest, and king. Sometimes when I'm struggling with something, sometimes when I've come into a passage of Scripture that I'm really wrestling with, I just say, I talk to my Savior. And I tell Him, You're my prophet. I need You to teach me. I need You to show me some things. I'm stuck. I'm stuck. Right? He's prophet. Jesus does what He does on behalf of His people. He represents us. I'm thankful for our Mediator. I think this statement probably says a lot more than maybe we had originally thought when we first read it. May our meditations be deep and sweet in regards to our Mediator, the Lord Jesus Christ. We thank You, Father, that You have appointed and anointed Your Son in eternity and came in time. Thank you for the ministry of the Holy Spirit purchased for us that enlightens us, gives us understanding. Oh, I pray that this world would not in any way get in the way of us seeing more clearly what really matters. And that is you, Lord Jesus. We love you. We do want to serve you. Conquer. Conquer. what needs to be conquered in our lives to bring us more into a place of usefulness in your kingdom as we look forward to that eternal glory that's been promised to us because of you. In your name we pray. Amen.