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[0:00] Let's turn back together to 1 Kings chapter 1 and take up the reading again at verse 34, page 335. This is David giving instructions to his servants to make sure that Solomon and not Adonijah was anointed.

[0:23] 1 Kings chapter 1 and verse 34, And let Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet there anoint him king over Israel. Solomon, king over Israel.

[0:35] Then blow the trumpet and say, Long live King Solomon. You shall then come up after him, and he shall come and sit on my throne, for he shall be king in my place, and I have appointed him to be ruler over Israel and over Judah.

[0:49] And Benaiah the son of Jehoiada answered the king, Amen. May the Lord, the God of my lord the king, say so, as the Lord has been with my lord the king. Even so, may he be with Solomon and make his throne greater than the throne of my lord King David.

[1:10] You'll probably be wondering what connection there is between the chapter that we read in 1 Kings and the chapter that we read in Matthew.

[1:29] The 1 Kings chapter where Solomon is anointed king, and in Matthew where the wise men came to visit Jesus as a very, very young baby.

[1:44] The connection can be summed up in two words. Anointed king. Solomon was Israel's anointed earthly king.

[1:57] Jesus was God's anointed heavenly king. And one is a foretaste of the other.

[2:10] Amongst other things about the life of Solomon, there's clear evidence in the story of Solomon that he is a foretaste or a foreshadow of the coming Jesus.

[2:24] And that's the theme I'd like us to take this evening. There are lots of foreshadows in the Old Testament. The Old Testament is full of God predicting and giving a flavor or a taste of Jesus who was to come.

[2:42] And he does that through people. And he does that through stories. And he does it through events. And various times that all point to the coming of God in the person of Jesus Christ and what God was going to do in him one day.

[3:02] It's a bit like there are many, many examples, I suppose, I could choose of how to try and illustrate. It's a bit like when you go into a department or a supermarket, a big supermarket, sometimes you go over to the delicatessen counter and you go over to the cheese counter.

[3:17] You ever gone over there and you see a tray with wee blocks or wee tiny wee bits of cheese on a tray? And that's because there's maybe a new cheese or an unusual cheese that they're trying to draw your attention to.

[3:31] And there's absolutely no way in this whole world that they can possibly, by words, explain to you what this new cheese tastes like. I'm not being trivial. I'm being serious. There's no way in this world that they can possibly explain.

[3:44] Have you ever tried to explain to someone what a cheese tastes like or the difference between one cheese and another? It's impossible. It is completely impossible to do. So what they do is, instead of trying to explain it to you and explain why this new cheese is so wonderful and tastes so great, they give you a wee bit.

[4:03] They give you a flavor. They give you a foretaste because they think that by tasting it that you're going to see and discover for yourself how wonderful this is. And, of course, you're going to buy it.

[4:14] And chances are you will because it probably will be wonderful. And that's the whole point of the exercise. Well, that's what God does in the Old Testament. He knows the whole point of the Bible is God's gift.

[4:27] The greatest, most magnificent gift that anyone could possibly have is God's gift. The Bible is God's announcement. The Old Testament is God preparing his people for the coming of the gift of his son into the world.

[4:44] And there's a sense in which words cannot describe how much they need his gift. And words cannot describe how great this gift is going to be.

[4:56] So what God does is he arranges things, events and people and occasions that give a foretaste of the coming of the greatest gift.

[5:06] So that people can just get a flavor and so that they can know for sure that one day in the fullness of time Jesus is going to be born. They don't have the information. They don't have all the information.

[5:19] They don't know all the details. And yet there's enough for them to put their faith and their trust in the coming promise. In the fulfillment of the promise on the basis of the foretaste themselves.

[5:30] Now there are many ways in which that foretaste can happen, that foreshadow can happen. There were the sacrifices. The sacrifices in which God is showing his people that the great problem that exists between them and him are their sins.

[5:47] The sins that stand between them. But God has made provision for the removal of their sins by the shedding of the blood of the sacrifice. What was that?

[5:58] But was it really that God's way of removing sin is the death of an animal? Of course not. An animal never took away the sins of anyone. But it was God's way of preparing his people for the sacrifice that was going to come in the fullness of time in the person of Jesus Christ.

[6:16] In other words, God through the sacrifices preaching to his people and announcing to his people, this is the way in which I can remove your sins completely.

[6:27] There was Passover. Remember how the lamb was taken? A year old. And it was set apart for the purposes of death. For being put to death. Once again, God showing his people that it is through the death, through the shedding of blood, that he was going to remove sin.

[6:46] And all of these things. And there's not time to go into them all. God has explained to people one day his son is going to come and be their sacrifice on the cross.

[6:56] And by that once for all sacrifice, our sin will be removed completely and utterly on the cross in his finished work as he died.

[7:07] But as well as being a sacrifice, Jesus was going to be a king. He came to be a sacrifice, came to be the lamb of God. But he also came to be a king.

[7:18] And that's what I'd like us to see this evening. The connection between the anointing of Solomon, Solomon being made king, as it foreshadows, looks forward, as it predicts, as it typifies.

[7:36] I want to use theological language. Typifies the coming of Jesus Christ and the anointing of Jesus Christ as our king. And that way, in this chapter, the person who was looking and observing and really trying to understand what God, not just what's happening in history randomly.

[7:57] There was nothing random that happened in the history of Israel. But God is dealing with his people. And he's explaining to them. And the person who's watching and observing all these events and he's trying to understand what God is doing, he's going to be putting it all together.

[8:12] And he's going to be coming to the conclusion that God is a wonderful God who's bringing his purposes to pass. And one day his promise will be fulfilled.

[8:23] And one day the true king will come into the world. So I want us to say two things first. Two things about the king who is appointed in this chapter.

[8:36] And the king who came into the world in the person of Jesus Christ. I want us to say first of all that there is anointing. Verse 38. Zadok the priest, the Kerathites, Jehoiada, went down and made Solomon ride on King David's mule and brought him to Gihon.

[8:54] There Zadok the priest took the horn of oil from the tent and anointed Solomon. Anointed Solomon.

[9:04] If you were going to be a king in Israel, you had to be anointed. And this was a very solemn process where the priest, who, by the way, represented God.

[9:18] So whatever the priest did, God was doing. The priest took a horn of oil or a flask of oil or a container of oil. And he poured that oil on the head of the man who was destined to be made king.

[9:32] Now it's not just a tradition. We do lots of things in this country, especially to do with royalty and monarchy. We'll see that in a few moments of time. We do lots of these things by tradition. These are great traditions. They're stately occasions and state opening of parliament and all these things.

[9:45] And they're traditions that go back to the 15th, 14th, 13th century. And all these things built up over the process of time. This is not a traditional event. This is much, much more important than an observing culture.

[9:58] It was not just the done thing. It was hugely important and significant. And once again, God is speaking to his people. And he's saying three things to his people in anointing King Solomon.

[10:10] He's saying, first of all, that this man is my chosen one. That's the first thing that an anointing meant. You remember, David was anointed. Saul was anointed. And every time someone was anointed, it's as if God is standing there and he is saying to his people, this man is my chosen person.

[10:29] It's the person who I have chosen in order to be king. Now, what does he say again? The link between how God chose Solomon and how God chose Jesus.

[10:45] For example, you see it in the name of Solomon. Do you know what the word, they say that the word Solomon, it means peaceful. Full of peace.

[10:55] Does that not remind you of something? It reminds you of Jesus. One of the titles that Jesus is given in the Bible. He's the prince of peace that opens up for us once again.

[11:06] And again, it opens up the whole purpose for what Jesus came into the world. To bring peace on earth. But it doesn't just consist in making one country stop warring with another country.

[11:16] That's one type of peace. And of course, we wish that that was so. But the peace on earth that Jesus brings is the peace between you and God. Between me and God. And there's only one way that that peace is brought into effect.

[11:30] And that's by removing the hostility that there is between me and God. And of course, that hostility is my sin. That stands between me and God.

[11:41] The great problem that every one of us have. The separation that there is between me and God. And between you and God. Jesus came to remove that separation.

[11:52] So that we could be brought into a peaceful relationship again. That's what Saul of Tarshish. Let me return once again to that great man in the scriptures in the New Testament.

[12:06] That great example of what God did in the life of a person who spent years of his life. Trying to find peace with God by keeping God's law. As a Pharisee, there was nobody. There was no one as faithful and trying to do his best as Saul of Tarshish.

[12:21] And it got him nowhere. Until he met with Jesus and discovered. That it was only through the coming of Jesus and through the death of Jesus. That what stood between him and God was removed.

[12:35] And he said, this is what he said. Therefore, he said, having been justified by faith. We have peace with God through the Lord Jesus Christ. That's the gospel.

[12:46] And that's what peace on earth means. It doesn't just mean some kind of wishful notion of bringing peace and brother to brother and one culture and again. And all of the kind of mushy, cuddly ideas that people have about Christmas.

[13:00] It's all a piece of nonsense. Because the skeptic could quite rightly say, 2000 years. Where's all the peace? There's more war than there ever has been in the world. Where is this peace?

[13:11] But that's why we've got to go to people and we've got to say, well, the kind of peace that the Bible talks about is a basic peace between me and the Lord. And I'll tell you this. Once we get that sorted out, the world will fall into place.

[13:25] The problems in this world, the hostilities, the hatreds in the world, it will all come to nothing. Once you get this peace, this is where it all begins. And unfortunately, people try and they try and effect a false peace from the outside.

[13:41] And it doesn't work. Oh, it works sometimes. It works from the outside. But the kind of peace that the Bible talks about is peace with God. The peace that you know you need this evening if you don't have it.

[13:54] The peace that you would long for this evening. And yet, there is something within you that stands between you and God. It has to be removed. And only Jesus can take that away.

[14:07] Solomon is peaceful. He's the peace. That's what his name means. His name is peaceful. Jesus' name is Prince of Peace. Chosen by God to bring peace on earth.

[14:17] And we're going to see in the weeks that lie ahead, God willing, that his reign, the reign of Solomon, was characterized by peace and prosperity throughout Israel.

[14:29] And how that looks forward. Not to outward monetary financial prosperity. But the prosperity that comes from a life that is at peace with God.

[14:39] Let me ask you this question coming to the end of another year. Do you have that peace with God? Do you have that peace that you're able to go to sleep at night knowing that whatever happens to you, God is in control.

[14:53] And God has his hand upon you. He has called you into his kingdom. Christ has died for you. And even if you have to face death tonight, you know that death for you is a doorway into heaven itself.

[15:04] That's what peace truly is. When you've got that peace with God, you can face any kind of situation. Any kind of trial and difficulty you can face. You can face even death itself.

[15:17] Did you know also that Solomon has another name? It's got another name and his other name is Jedidiah. Jedidiah means loved by God. Loved by God.

[15:31] How does that remind us about Jesus? It reminds us of the unique place that Jesus has in the love of God.

[15:44] The unique place. And it was that announcement that God made. Those of you who are at the Gaelic this morning will forgive me for repeating this. But it just occurs to me today.

[15:55] It occurred to me through studying this passage of how incredibly unique this statement is. When Jesus was baptized in Matthew chapter 3. He was baptized.

[16:06] He came out of the Jordan and a voice. Remember the Holy Spirit came down in the form of a dove rested upon him. And then the voice came from heaven. And this is what the voice said. The voice is the Father. God himself.

[16:17] And this is what he said. He's going to make an announcement about Jesus. He's going to say something to the disciples and to the whole world. Because it was written in the pages of scripture for us.

[16:28] And this is what God wants us to know about Jesus. This is how important it is. You see we very often skip over these things. Partly because we feel that they're too deep for us.

[16:39] But partly because they're not particularly exciting. I hope that will change. I hope that will change. Because as you come to know God.

[16:50] You come to realize that what we think are exciting. The things that are exciting in this world are trivialities compared to knowing God. And this is what God has to say about his son.

[17:02] He said this is my beloved son. With whom I am well pleased. And that was the first time that he said it.

[17:14] It wasn't the only time he said it. You remember later on when Jesus went up the mountain of transfiguration. And his whole appearance was changed before the eyes of Peter and James and John. And when he began to shine with a brightness that was greater than the sun itself.

[17:29] And they saw him. They saw a glimpse of the glory of God in Jesus Christ. And as they did so a voice from heaven came. And this is what the voice said.

[17:40] This is my beloved son. In whom, with whom I am well pleased. I am well pleased. You know what that means? It means that with all my being, says God.

[17:54] I take nothing but utter and complete and eternal delight in this person who is standing before you. And whose glory you can see just a foretaste of.

[18:07] The same as he said when Jesus was baptized. You see this person. Look at him. Look at him. Keep, fix your eyes upon him. And I'll tell you what I think. It doesn't matter what other people.

[18:18] Other people hated him. They threw him out. They mocked him. They scourged him. They whipped him. They decided to have nothing to do with him. They really, they loathed him.

[18:29] It's impossible to describe the extent to which people loathed Jesus in this world. They absolutely hated him. But God is saying, whatever hatred you see in the days that lie ahead.

[18:44] I want you to remember this. What counts is what I think of him. Now you might say, well, what message is there in that? And you know, I was thinking about that earlier on.

[18:56] What message is there in God announcing to the disciples, this is my beloved son in whom I have well pleased. You know, as a minister, I go through all kinds of thoughts and questions and challenges.

[19:10] What am I going to preach on tonight? What stories am I going to tell them? What illustrations am I going to, how am I going to keep their interest? You know, it's a great challenge to any minister to keep the interest of people.

[19:21] It's something that every minister should try and do. To keep the interest. And sometimes he succeeds. Sometimes he fails. But you know, the temptation of when you come across a passage like this is, well, how in the world is this going to keep the interest of people?

[19:38] And then I thought, what are you thinking about? This is what it's all about. This is what the coming of Jesus is all about.

[19:48] And the fact that we may not be interested is evidence of our wickedness before God. If we were right with God tonight, we would be silent as we read those words.

[20:02] This is my beloved son. There would be a stillness about our minds. And there would be nothing but adoration in our hearts. We would love those words with all our hearts.

[20:14] And the fact that we don't love them is evidence of how sinful we are. That's the problem, isn't it? The problem is that God doesn't do anything for us.

[20:25] The way that other things do. The fact that you're not interested in God is that's evidence itself. Of how far away you are from him. Let me ask you tonight.

[20:35] Please ask God to create within you that interest in the gospel if you don't have it. That interest that becomes eternally excited by what God thinks of Jesus.

[20:49] Let me ask you the question tonight. What do you think of Jesus? I'm not sure what your answer to that would be. What's your estimation of Jesus? Well, he's a very good man.

[21:00] He's a figure who rose in history and would remember his birth at this time of the year. I have no doubt but that he was a very special person. A leader. A leader. A person who was prepared to lay down his life.

[21:14] A person who was prepared to teach the most profound teaching. Turn the other cheek. Go the second mile. Sermon on the Mount. All of these things. I have no doubt whatsoever. But that he changed the course of human history.

[21:26] And I owe him my respect. That's what I think of him. Well, that's nonsense. That doesn't go nearly, nearly far enough.

[21:36] I'll tell you what God thinks of him now. You've given him your respect. God says this.

[21:47] I delight in him. The question is not whether you happen to respect Jesus. The question is whether you absolutely love him.

[22:02] Because that's what God does. That's the difference, isn't it? Between God and us. With respect to Jesus. And if that doesn't expose our depravity and our desperate need to be saved.

[22:21] Then I don't know what does. So there's a real challenge in these words, isn't there? It really exposes where we are in relation to God.

[22:31] Jedediah means loved by God. The second thing an anointing meant was that he was set apart. Somebody who was an ordinary person.

[22:42] Before that, he happened to be one prince out of several in the palace. Not particularly destined to be king in the eyes of the world. But all of a sudden, as soon as he was anointed, he is now the future king.

[22:56] Or he is the king. It's a bit like Osama bin Laden at the moment. No, Barack Obama. I'm completely getting carried away in excitement.

[23:09] Barack Obama. He was elected president of the United States. In a few weeks' time, he is going to be inaugurated as president of the United States.

[23:24] But already he has been set apart. He is no ordinary person. He was up to that point. An ordinary person that grew in his popularity and in the way in which people knew him and all the rest of it.

[23:37] And then he was elected. He is now set apart. He is now the president-elect of the United States of America. And that's what it was for a king. Lived an ordinary life, perhaps.

[23:49] Perhaps a privileged life growing up in the palace. But now he is set apart to be king. In other words, God is saying, God is telling us that this man is set apart.

[24:01] He is no ordinary person. He is the one I have set apart. And the third thing that's connected with an anointing was the work that the person anointed was going to do. In Solomon's case, it was going to be the king.

[24:18] To be the king of Israel. In Jesus' case, it was going to be the king of his people. But it was also going to be the bearer of our sin.

[24:28] The sacrifice that he came into the world to accomplish. It's really quite remarkable, isn't it?

[24:41] How that despite all the riches and the glory of Jesus in heaven, the second person of the Godhead in heaven, that he became of no reputation.

[24:54] Made himself, emptied himself, the Greek says. In order for us to become rich. That's what Paul says.

[25:06] This is the grace of God. And that he who was rich became poor. So that by his poverty, we may become rich.

[25:20] But there was, as well as being an anointing, there's a kingship. There's a kingship. And that's where I like to spend the next, just the next five or ten minutes just discussing with you this evening. The kingship. The word for kings and royalty, you know, of course, what it is.

[25:34] It's the word monarchy. We've got a monarchy in this country. And each successive king or queen is the son or the daughter of the last king or queen.

[25:45] It was the same in Israel. In Judah, each king's son ruled after him. Every king in Judah was a descendant of David, their forefather. Why?

[25:56] It wasn't just because it was the traditional thing to do or because it was the done thing. But because God had promised. God had promised David that his throne would be established forever.

[26:09] I mean, that in every successive generation, a son of David ruled after him. If you go through the books of Kings and Chronicles, you'll see that it was always in Judah.

[26:22] And the throne of Judah always went to someone who was a son or a descendant of David. What was so important about that?

[26:33] It was important because it was God working out his promises. And the promise would one day be fulfilled when Jesus, the son of David, a descendant of David, would be born the king of his people, the king of the Jews.

[26:49] And God fulfilled that promise in the fullness of time as time went on in Bethlehem and Jesus who reigned. And Israel also had a king who reigned and ruled.

[27:07] We have a queen who reigns but does not rule. That's what we say. She reigns but does not rule. Have you ever watched the queen's speech? It happened a few weeks ago.

[27:20] You can see it on television. It happens live. It's well worth watching. And one of the things that happens is that the queen goes into the House of Lords and she summons Parliament to come to her.

[27:30] And her representative is someone called Black Rod. And he goes to Parliament. Parliament. And as soon as he approaches the door of Parliament where he's going to give the order to come and meet with the queen, the door is slammed in his face.

[27:44] This happens every year. And he has to knock the door. Three times, I think, he has to knock the door in order to get in, to be allowed in. And of course, the whole idea there is Parliament is independent of the rule of the monarchy.

[27:59] Parliament is elected. We elect our rulers. It's independent of the monarchy. But not so with Israel. The king of Israel ruled and reigned.

[28:10] But that didn't mean that he made up laws just to suit himself for some kind of selfish reasons. He was God's anointed in Israel. And he therefore had the responsibility of making sure that everything he did, he did on behalf of God.

[28:29] He made sure that the rules and the regulations in Israel were God's rules and God's commandments. So that, and here's the point. So that as the people watched him and served him and obeyed him, they once again could hear the voice of God promising that in the fullness of time, the king would be anointed and crowned the king who would fulfill all the promises of God.

[28:56] This was a sermon taking place before their very eyes. It was God preaching to the people. And at first, at least, Solomon fulfilled that. He was a man who lived up to what God required him to be.

[29:11] We'll see in a few weeks' time how Solomon failed as time went on. But there were three things about a king that were special in the eyes of God.

[29:21] Three things that always happened. Three functions that a king always had to fulfill in Israel. Let me just give them to you very quickly. First of all, he was a deliverer.

[29:34] He was a deliverer. He was, in other words, a savior. If you think back to the first king in Israel, of course, who was Saul, as soon as he was anointed king, the first thing he did was to deliver the people of a town called Jabesh Gilead who were surrounded by the Ammonites.

[29:54] And it was the same with David. When David was anointed king, the first thing he did was he was, or crowned king, the first thing he did was he delivered Jerusalem from the Philistines who were threatening and attacking the people.

[30:09] So the king in Israel was seen as a savior. He was seen as a savior. But he was also a ruler. A ruler.

[30:21] But he wasn't a tyrant. He was a ruler on behalf of God. So that, as I said before, the people in his rule were able to perceive the nature and the character of God.

[30:33] And throughout most and not all of David's rule in any way, and throughout the first few years of Solomon's rule, the people just saw exactly that, the nature and the character of God.

[30:44] But thirdly, and this is where Israel's king really stood out from the other kings that were on the earth at the time. He was a shepherd. That meant that he took a personal interest in the needs and the cares and the concerns and the sicknesses and the troubles of his people.

[31:00] He was someone who really genuinely looked after. You remember that David served his apprenticeship looking after his father's sheep. That was deliberate. That was not just some kind of random way of growing up.

[31:17] God tells us that he took David specifically from his father's sheep, from his father's flock. That meant that it was all worked out on purpose beforehand so that David would learn how to look after the people or the tribe of God, the flock of God, by learning how to look after the flock of his father.

[31:41] Do you not see where I'm coming to? Isn't it interesting? It's fascinating. That when you jump to the New Testament and the coming of the Messiah, that throughout the lifetime of Jesus, he was regarded as a king.

[31:58] The shepherds. When the angels came the night that Jesus was born to the shepherds, not to all the nobles and all the dignitaries of Judea, not to the priests or to Herod or to any of these important officials, but he came to the shepherds who were kept on the outside.

[32:21] People didn't talk to the shepherds. They were regarded as unclean. People would cross the street to get away from shepherds. But this was the message that the angels brought to the shepherds.

[32:32] Unto you is born this day a saviour. What does that mean? It means a deliverer. It means someone who delivers from our enemies.

[32:43] What did I just say a king did? Delivered. First hallmark of a king was that he delivered. Unto you is born this day a saviour. Then the angels call him Christ.

[32:54] Have you ever, I'm sure most of us know what the word Christ means. It simply means this. Anointed. Anointed. That's the title that the Bible gives to Jesus.

[33:07] It means God's anointed. The person who God has chosen and set apart and given the work to do. The only person who could fulfill God's work of removing our sin.

[33:18] Christ the Lord. The Lord is another title for king. Saviour. Christ. The Lord. That's the message. Jesus.

[33:29] The baby that was born in Bethlehem today is the king. Saviour. Christ. The Lord. It's the same with the wise men. Who knows how they got to find out about this king that was born.

[33:42] Who knows what kind of tradition they followed or where they looked back to. But somehow in the dim and distant past over the generations. This tradition perhaps going all the way back to Daniel's day and the days of the Persians.

[33:56] Who knows what they saw in the sky. They saw his star. And the star seemed to move and locate itself in some mysterious way above the house where Jesus went.

[34:07] What did they say? They said where is he who was born king of the Jews? We have seen his star in the east and have come to worship.

[34:20] Isn't that extraordinary? Here are these foreign dignities. We don't know who they were. We're not sure who they were. But they were important. They were rich. They were wealthy. They were well to do.

[34:31] They were obviously known in their region. Don't know how many there were. It's a complete myth that there were three of them. We don't know how many there were. Doesn't matter. They came and they came with all their entourage.

[34:44] They came as royal dignitaries. Some traditions say that they were kings themselves. If they were. We don't know. But if they were. Here are kings from afar. Coming to recognize the king that has been born.

[34:57] King of the Jews. And coming to worship him. Not to war against him. But to surrender to him. One day of course. That whole incident.

[35:09] Is such a marvelous foretaste again. Of the day that the gospel would go out to the worlds. And where the worlds. The cultures. And the kingdoms. And the empires of the world.

[35:20] And that's still to happen. Will one day come. And worship. Jesus. I believe that will happen. I probably won't see it. But one day that will happen.

[35:33] We may be in a minority. Minority today. Day will come when. When people in their millions. I believe. Through the power of the gospel. Will worship Jesus.

[35:43] Maybe in another century. Maybe in another millennium from now. That's what's going to happen. I believe the Bible is clear. That that's what the result of the gospel will be in this world. Therefore don't be despondent.

[35:55] About what you're doing for the Lord. Don't be despondent. Your little service for the Lord. God will take it. And he will use it. And these little things. God always combines. To weave into his tapestry.

[36:07] Of will and purpose. And all that God is going to do. So when they came. And when they asked that question. It was like a bolt from the blue. To Herod. Herod who should have.

[36:18] Who should have rejoiced with them. And who should have been just as keen to find him. As they were. But. But. It troubled him greatly. That's what we read. It troubled him greatly.

[36:29] And that doesn't just mean. That he was worried slightly. It was the biggest threat. That he had ever come across. And he had allowed his own personal jealousy.

[36:39] To get to him so much. That there was only one thing. He became so obsessed. With this rival king. That he was prepared to put to death. The little baby boys.

[36:51] In and around the town of Bethlehem. Isn't that horrific? That's the extent. Of our own human sinfulness. And that's what Jesus was up against. In the world. That's what he came into the world.

[37:03] To save us from. Our own sinfulness. In the horror. Of that sinfulness. Jesus was born straight into.

[37:14] The kind of abuse. The kind of cruelty. That we so very often see. On our televisions. He knows what it's all about. That's the kind of world he grew up in.

[37:27] There's nothing that Jesus doesn't know about. There's nothing that happens in our world. That didn't happen in his world. That's why he is so credible. So reachable.

[37:40] So understanding. That's what the way the Bible describes him. He is touched. With a feeling. Of our infirmities. A man of sorrows.

[37:52] And acquainted. With grief. There's nothing. He hasn't experienced. His own birth. His upbringing. His life here. As.

[38:04] A person. As a. As a man. And of course. There were these various points in his life. The time is gone. These various points in his life. Where it. Where it was. Quite obvious.

[38:14] That people tried to make him. A king. Throughout his ministry. There was something. Irresistibly. Royal. About Jesus. But when they tried. To make him a king.

[38:26] He always refused. You ever wonder. Why Jesus. Always refused. To become. A king. When they tried. To make him one. It was because.

[38:38] He was. Born to be. The servant king. And to give. His life. In the first instance. As the ransom. For our sins.

[38:52] Before he rules. He must be. The sacrifice. In order to remove. Our sin. You go through his life. We haven't got time to go through.

[39:02] I think it's fascinating. I think it's fascinating. I did a little. Just a little study. Earlier on. About. About. The references. That are throughout. The life. And the ministry of Jesus. To his kingship. It's quite fascinating.

[39:13] And of course. It comes. It ends with. With what Pilate wrote. When Jesus. Hung on the cross. When he was crucified. Nailed to a cross. This is Jesus.

[39:24] Of Nazareth. The king. Of the Jews. The Jews. Were furious at Pilate. And they said. Don't write that. Write. Jesus. This is Jesus. Who said.

[39:35] He was the king of the Jews. Pilate. Of course. He had had it. By that stage. He said. What I have written. I have written. Never.

[39:47] Was there such a true word. Spoken. This is Jesus. Jesus. The king. Of the Jews. The question is tonight.

[40:00] Is he your king? The question is tonight. How do you respond. To his. Royalty. And his rule.

[40:11] And his authority. For many people. Throughout his life. They were. Happy. To bow to him. And adore him. And worship him. And follow him.

[40:23] But just like. Solomon. When he became king. The kingdom. Was divided into two. There were those. Who were. Who were prepared. To follow Solomon. And to give him. Their allegiance. But there were also.

[40:34] People who had supported. Adonijah. It's the same. With us tonight. When Jesus. Kingship. Is announced.

[40:46] There are those. Who say. Today. I will follow him. And I will. Give my. My all. To the Lord. He is my Lord.

[40:56] And my Savior. He has loved me. With his own. It was his own. Unique love. And what can I do. Except be drawn.

[41:07] To him. In faith. And look to him. In faith. But there are also those. And I hope. Nobody here tonight. Is among them. Who say this. We will not.

[41:19] Have this man. To reign over us. Let's pray. Father in heaven. Once again.

[41:30] We ask. That you will. Still our hearts. And under your word. Lord. We pray that your word. Will come home to us. Under the power. Of the Holy Spirit.

[41:40] Because only you. Can open our eyes. To the majesty. Of King Jesus. Us. We ask. We ask. Oh Lord. That we might see him. In his birth. In his life.

[41:51] In his death. And in his resurrection. And so that we. Like the wise men. So that we may have. That wisdom. That says. We.

[42:03] We have come to. We have seen his star. In the east. And we have come. To worship him. Lord God. You demand nothing less. Than our worship.

[42:14] And our adoration. Our faith. In Jesus Christ. So create that. Within us. We pray. In Jesus name. Amen. Thank you.