[0:00] This message was recorded at Vision Baptist Church in Alfred, Georgia. It is our prayer that you'll be blessed by the preaching of God's Word. I hope you'll turn back to Matthew 14 where we're going today. As you're turning there, when I was in college, I made some money by campaigning for a local candidate for politics.
[0:17] I don't even remember what he was running for. I know I wasn't registered to vote there, nor did I have any idea of the issues, but I knew that he paid decently. And so I campaigned for him and went door to door and handed out leaflets and things like that, even though I didn't really know the person or that I have an investment in it.
[0:35] But I do know King Jesus, and I know he's worthy of talking about, and I know he's worth telling other people about. And so I hope to make much of him today. You're probably glad that the voting time is over for this season because you get tired of those campaigns where they sling mud.
[0:50] I find them quite humorous, and they're effective, right? Because after all the commercials are done, you don't want to vote for anybody. So that means their commercials work. You think everybody's a bad guy, but you get tired of it.
[1:01] And my mom always said you shouldn't talk bad about anybody but the devil. Well, I plan to do that today. I plan to talk bad about the devil because he stinks. The king of this world, he absolutely stinks.
[1:13] That's my first point today. When you're the student pastor, you try to make your words sound prettier so people don't know how young you are. But my first point today is, hey world, your king stinks. And he really does.
[1:24] He uses and abuses people. And we have a king in Jesus that is worthy of worship today. And I hope we see that because as we've been going through it, we've been seeing aspects of the kingdom.
[1:35] And we've been seeing a loving father. We've been seeing our king. And then in the middle of it, which would seem to be out of rhythm, we have 12 verses that talk about another king. A king named Herod.
[1:45] And I think in contrast, we're going to see that the king of this world and those that are controlled by this kingdom, it's just not pretty. They're not loving. They're not caring. But if we look at our king Jesus, we know that he is.
[1:58] So Herod, the Punic king. I even asked Andrew if he would help me because Andrew knows where to find things in archives. And I said, you know, there's all these mudslinging campaigns. And there was Herod who was over a fourth of the kingdom.
[2:09] And I'm sure he wanted to own more of the kingdom. He was a wannabe king. He was a patriarch, meaning he's over a fourth of a kingdom. And it was over the area in which Jesus lived. And so I asked Andrew if he would help me find a video, maybe when he was running for his throne, if he made a video or if his opponent did and he found me something.
[2:29] So let's watch that. Herod the Tetrarch comes from a long line of horrific Herod politicians. He had an incredibly vile party that ended with John the Baptist's head on a charger.
[2:40] Fact. He does not care what is best for the people. He only cares to cater to his evil wife. Fact. He has a long record of only doing things that would save face in front of his friends.
[2:53] Fact. It will be business as usual if he becomes the king. A vote for Herod would be a vote for a kingdom that would stink. Fact. Paid for by the Ag Council of people who do not want their kingdom to stink.
[3:05] All right. So I don't know if you heard that. Paid by the Ag Council of people who don't want their kingdom to stink. And I can't believe he found that. He had to go way back into the archives there. So we read in our story.
[3:15] We've already read the text today. In case you weren't here when we read it. But we heard the story. It started off saying Herod. And then we have a flashback. That during that time in verse number 14. In that time Herod the patriarch.
[3:27] Which is when it said at that time. Meaning at the time that the people were rejecting Jesus as king. We saw it in the chapter before. They said you may be supernatural. But you're not of God.
[3:38] You're of the devil. And they had drawn a line there in the sand. And they said they were rejecting him. And the people were rejecting him. And he's going to flee. Because it isn't time for him. For the father.
[3:49] For him to be recognized as he is. And so at that time. This puny king named Herod. In verse number 1. He heard of the fame of Jesus.
[4:00] And some of the background information on Herod. You know there's four Herods. You can get confused when you're reading. In the Bible. There's Herod the great. Which slew the children. At the time of Jesus' birth.
[4:11] He was killing them. And then we get to the second one. Which is the one we're looking at here. Herod of Antipas. The younger son of Herod the great. And he was the ruler now. And he was over a fourth of the kingdom.
[4:22] Which is the area where Jesus would have grown up. Where his hometown would have been. And then Herod Agrippa. He is the Herod which slew James. And imprisoned Peter. And he was the grandson of Herod the great. And Herod Agrippa the second.
[4:34] He was the Herod before whom Paul tried. And is the great grandson of Herod the great. So it's a long line of horrific Herod politicians. Of people. And in this story we find that.
[4:46] He's going to get. John the Baptist's head is going to be put on a charger. I decided to leave the head part out today. Alright. And just go with this. Keep it G rated. Instead of PG 13. But it's going to end up putting the head of John the Baptist on this.
[4:59] John the Baptist that lives by values and priorities of a different kingdom. So we're seeing the kingdoms collide together. We're seeing the kingdom of darkness and the kingdom of light come together.
[5:11] And we're going to look at who wins and who always wins. And his mistress here. Herodias. She. A very evil woman. So John the Baptist comes to him.
[5:22] And he sees his lifestyle. And he says that is not lawful. The way that you're living is not lawful. He stood for the truth. He knew the ramifications. But he had to speak for it.
[5:33] He said that any kind of a sexual deviation outside of a husband and a wife is wrong. And he stood for it. Even though it was going to cost him his head being placed upon a charger.
[5:44] He still did this. Herod here knew that he was a good man. This story is found in three of the gospel records here. And in Mark it says that he knew that he was a good man. But in Matthew he says that he feared the people.
[5:57] And so he knew he couldn't kill John the Baptist. Because if he did there would be an uproar. So he puts him in prison. Because he's getting pressure from Herodias. Because she couldn't stand that he had exposed them and their truth.
[6:11] Because he had taken as a mistress his brother's wife. And she was consumed with hate. This Herodias. What an unloving mother. What she had asked her daughter to do.
[6:23] There was a party. It was called Herod's party. Which became an expression. You know in that day if somebody was throwing a big party. They would say man this thing is going to be off the chain. It's like a Herod party. I'm not sure if they would say off the chain.
[6:34] But the expression Herod party is true. Which means that they are just going to have this vile horrific party. Whether they be thrown by men. That's all over there. Be drunken.
[6:44] And just anything their imagination could come up with. They would have. Somebody an unknown person said this. The history of the world is the history of women telling their husbands behind closed doors.
[6:55] What they really want to happen. And we know why that's unknown don't we. Nobody's signing their name to that. And so we see that in this scenario. I don't know if that's true. In that scenario. She's calling the shots.
[7:06] And she's saying to him. I want his head. And she was mischievous. So Herodias. She tells her daughter. That during this party. You need to come out and dance.
[7:17] And you need to tempt Herod. So that he wants to give you whatever it is. That you ask for. He even says that he will give up in Matthew. Up to half the kingdom. As he's there drunken.
[7:28] Filled with lust. And coveting. And all these things. History tells us that Herodias' daughter. Goes on later to marry her half uncle. Which means that she becomes her mother's sister-in-law.
[7:41] And her aunt. And her aunt. Anybody from West Virginia in here? Alright. So the rest of you know. That's not a good thing. Is it? Alright. I can make fun of West Virginia. Because I'm from Kentucky. And so you shouldn't take any offense there.
[7:53] But it's just that unloving mother. Who is using her daughter to achieve something. Because she's so consumed with this rage. John the Baptist spoke truth. I can't handle the truth.
[8:04] John the Baptist must die here. And he's desperately wicked. Jeremiah tells us. Who can know the heart? It is desperately wicked. And we're seeing that. Inherit here. And you know.
[8:15] In all of us. Without Jesus Christ. Is the potential for all of this. Being without Christ doesn't mean we're as bad as we could be. But it means that in our faculties. We have that ability.
[8:26] That there's nothing that's going to stop us from hitting that rock bottom. And this guy was turned over. He's a puppet on a string. Of another king. Another kingdom. And he's just living it out.
[8:37] He's trying to gather and take whatever he can. He's overtaken by his own lust. He even says things and he regrets it. But because of his pride. He won't repent. He won't change his direction.
[8:49] He won't do it. He had a guilty conscience. Why is it? Not just because John the Baptist did amazing things. Was a good man. And so did Jesus. But the reason that when Herod saw Jesus. He thought it was John the Baptist.
[9:00] Is because he had this guilty conscience. Because these 11 verses here are a flashback. To something that had already happened. And his guilty conscience said. I killed John the Baptist. And now he has come back to haunt me.
[9:12] And I see it. Maybe some of you read an article recently. A man had committed a crime 17 years ago. And he started to get text messages from Walmart. That said that his prescription was ready.
[9:23] By a lady's name. And he killed a lady 17 years ago. And he didn't know her name. And so now he is getting text messages. Saying your prescription for Ashley Smith is ready.
[9:36] And then he got a coupon in the mail. From Walmart. And he thought somebody's got my number. They know what I've done. And he goes and he turns himself in. Because he has that guilty conscience.
[9:47] And the lead detective on the case says. This is common. That people would commit a crime. And then years later. They can't overcome that guilt. And they would turn themselves in for it.
[9:58] And that's where Herod is right now. He has this remorse. He has this guilty conscience. He knew that he killed John the Baptist. And now he sees the life of Jesus. And he's fascinated by him.
[10:08] He puts him in the jail. He can't kill him because of fear of all that. But it says in verse number 9. And the king was sorry. Nevertheless for the oath's sake. And then would sit with him at meat.
[10:20] He had remorse. But nevertheless he did not change. He knew what he was doing was wrong. But he did not have that power to overcome sin in his life. He appears to be unobservant.
[10:32] Because he said that he heard of the fame of Jesus. He is the ruler over the same area. Even though we don't see that Jesus came to where he was at up to this point. He should have known what was going on at the fame of Jesus.
[10:44] And he knew of John the Baptist. So he should have known who John the Baptist was preaching about. But sometimes a man's heart can be so filled with darkness that he can't even see the light when it is shined right in front of him.
[10:56] And we experience that. How do people still not understand the gospel and hear the gospel in such an area that seems saturated with the gospel? Because they spend their whole lives looking the other way when the conversation goes up.
[11:08] I was with my father-in-law yesterday. And he never passes a good yard sale or an estate sale. I don't know what we were supposed to be doing. But that's what we ended up doing. And that's why we were so late there.
[11:18] Sorry about that. And we went into this house. And this man was talking to us about football. And they were just having a great conversation. And as is the tradition of my father-in-law, he pulled out a gospel track.
[11:29] And he said, let me tell you about the team I really cheer for. And he pulled out a track about Jesus. And that guy was out of there. Which had left the room for us to buy whatever we wanted. Right? And so it's a good technique. I don't know that man's heart.
[11:41] He might have to go somewhere. But it's very likely that here's light. And so he had to flee. Because he had spent a whole lot of his life trying to run from what ought to be obvious to us. That there's another king that deserves to have rule over your life.
[11:54] And so we run from it all the time. Maybe he was busy throwing parties. Mark 6 says that he's always throwing a party for the elite. He had never heard. But he might have heard.
[12:04] But he never investigated the claims of Jesus. He could have found out all he wanted. He could have said, bring me Jesus. I want to talk to him. But he stayed busy in his life. He heard about Jesus.
[12:15] But he never just sat down and said, I need to come to a decision on this man. He had been blinded by the God of this world. And when I say that this, hey world, your king stinks. Some of you would say, well, Satan really isn't the king of this world.
[12:28] And it's true in the fact that he has no rights to it. But in 2 Corinthians 4, 4 it says, So we see here that he, Herod, resembles his father.
[12:48] Not Herod the Great, but Satan. Why is he living like he's doing? Why is he so cowardly? Why is he running from truth? And it's not because he comes from Herod the Great.
[12:59] And not because of those things. But because his father is the father of lies. And it is Satan. And the characteristics of this fallen kingdom. We learned just a couple chapters ago in Matthew 12, 26.
[13:12] It says, if Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself. How shall then his kingdom stand? These are the words of Jesus in red letters saying that Satan has a kingdom. And if he's fighting against himself, how can it stand?
[13:24] Satan really thinks he has complete control ever since the garden. To the point in Luke chapter number 2, he brings Jesus up to this high mountain, to this high point. And he says, look out over all the nations of the world.
[13:36] They are mine to give to you. He believes it belongs to him. He thinks that back in the garden he took control of it. He doesn't recognize that our God and King is sovereign. And that it's only the image of control that he has at this time.
[13:51] And 1 John 2, 15 and 16 kind of gives us the anatomy of this kingdom and what goes on. And it says, love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
[14:03] For all that is in the world is the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life is not of the Father, but of this world. So Herod, he thinks he's the king of a kingdom, but he's really just a puppet.
[14:16] He's just really a servant for a much bigger kingdom that he has fallen to. It is what we were once part of, the kingdom of darkness, and now we've been transformed into the kingdom of life.
[14:28] And so he's powerless. No matter how much power he thinks he has, he is puny and he's powerless. Herod is simply a picture and miniature of how the world responds.
[14:39] It's going to love its sin. It will hate the word of God that condemns that sin. It will be irrational in its fear. It will continually misunderstand the Savior. And it will seek the silence of those who stand for him and his gospel.
[14:52] So why do we have a story of another king? Because in contrast, we see that the king of this world, he stinks. And that he hurts people. And all he has for you is decoration at a party that puts your head on a platter.
[15:05] All he wants to do is use you to his ends. He has no care for you. And those are our friends and family that are still in that kingdom. We should, our heart will be moved with compassion for them.
[15:18] So secondly here, hey world, your king stinks. And then I'd like to say, hey Christian, look at the faithfulness of our brothers in the story. In this story, we not only see Herod and all the details, but we also get to see some of our own people.
[15:32] John the Baptist, it says he's a faithful messenger. In John 1.5 it says, And the light shineth in darkness, and the darkness comprehended it not. And there was a man sent from God whose name was John.
[15:46] That John the Baptist was a man sent from God. And even though he seems like he has no control in this story, he is a person with self-control. He is the person that loves the truth. He is the person that is marching to the beat of the right king, our king Jesus.
[16:01] Jesus, it goes on to say in verse 7 in that same chapter, The same came for a witness to bear witness to the light that all men through him might believe. And he said, I would rather die than deny the truth.
[16:13] Place in a position or look for a position that when he saw sin, he just had to look the other way. He just had to compromise. But he said, king, it's not lawful. What you have done is not right.
[16:24] You have stolen from your brother. What you have done is wrong on so many levels. And he had to stand for the truth. Because in standing for the truth, it should have awakened Herod to his need of that Jesus because he is a sinner.
[16:37] As a teenager, I found this book and it was called Jesus Freak. And what it was, it was just a remaking of Fox's book of Martyrs. And up to that time, my idea of what a Christian that was dedicated was very limited.
[16:51] But I'll never forget about reading about those martyrs and all the things that they had done when they stood before death's door. And all they had to do was deny the truth.
[17:02] And they said, I can't because I marched the beat of a different drummer, which is King Jesus. I don't live by the rules of this kingdom. I am from another kingdom. I am from another world.
[17:12] And I was inspired. And now we have Jesus' book of Martyrs. That Jesus here, they tell the story in God's word of John the Baptist and preserve it for us so that we can know and be encouraged.
[17:24] On Veterans Day, we would honor our soldiers. And on this day as well, we should honor this Christian soldier and John the Baptist who could have compromised, but he didn't. He was going to tell the truth and it should encourage us today.
[17:37] He died alone in a prison cell after years of faithful ministry. Jesus comes on the scene. Jesus increases and he decreases and he dies all alone in that cell there.
[17:50] As Herod says, go and find John the Baptist. He's in prison and chop his head off. He not only pointed faithfully to the law in order to declare the sin, but he also pointed faithfully to Jesus and declared, Behold the Lamb of God, which takes away the sins of the whole world.
[18:05] And at his death, there was gathered a small crowd of people, but they were loyal and they were family. Herod throws big parties and everybody comes. John the Baptist dies and people will risk their life to come and get his body.
[18:19] So we look at our brother John the Baptist. We ought to be encouraged today that in spite of obstacles, we should live by another kingdom. We should listen to another king. But then we see these disciples and these disciples are like the Navy SEALs of the disciples of Christians.
[18:33] That as he is there, without his head, his body is there and they risk their life to go in there and to get their body and to show honor unto John the Baptist who had taught them about kingdom, about Jesus.
[18:47] So we saw the kingdom of darkness, which controlled Herod. Now we see the kingdom of light. God has graciously delivered you from the power of darkness and conveyed you into the kingdom of his son of who we now love.
[18:59] And the role that we play in this world, Matthew 5 says, We should let our light shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your father, which is in heaven. That now we live to let people know about the kingdom that we are part of.
[19:13] The kingdom is not of this world. In John 18 it says, Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight. But I should not be delivered to the Jews.
[19:24] But now is my kingdom not from hence. That in every scenario, when you look at those that follow Jesus, they don't react. But they respond to a greater truth that Jesus has told them how they should live.
[19:37] And so we have the story. We have the tale of two kings. We have the king of this world. We have King Jesus. We have the kingdom of this world, the kingdom of darkness. And we have the kingdom which we have been now brought into here.
[19:48] It's the story of opposing kingdoms. Every man in here should know that we were not, if it wasn't for God's grace, that if we were put in this story and given the same level of power and given the same opportunity, it's very likely that we would have done the same thing if we were still part of the kingdom of darkness as puppets on a string.
[20:07] Neither John or Herod were kings, but they lived their lives based upon the rules of differing kingdoms. And we not only win in the end, but we're winning now. In this story, who's the hero?
[20:19] It's John the Baptist. He stood for truth. He died and immediately heard, well done, my good and faithful service. How from the view from heaven, who won the story? It's John the Baptist.
[20:30] We read in the Bible of a place called Armageddon. At the end, we know that we will ultimately win. The end of the story in Revelation 17, 14, as we look forward and we see ourselves in the future, it says, Then shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them.
[20:45] For He is the Lord of the Lords and the King of kings, and they that are with Him are called and chosen and faithful. Don't think for a minute that we are the underdogs in this story. Don't think that King Herod won that day, or he'll win on any day.
[20:59] It says of Satan that he is the dragon that will power the beast. The world system in Revelation 13, 4. They worshiped the dragon which gave power to the beast. Satan and his followers will be destroyed by the light of His word.
[21:12] Speaking about that time of Armageddon, 2 Thessalonians, It says, And when shall the wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of His mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of His coming?
[21:23] That we live in the in-between. That there's a kingdom, and this world doesn't recognize it, but the day will come. And so every one of us here had to make a decision of what team that we will be on.
[21:35] And in the sight of heaven, it was Herod who perished, not John. Herod may have felt like he won that day, but he was losing that day. John the Baptist died and he heard, Well done, my good and faithful servant, because he had won.
[21:49] So different kings and different kingdoms, so it's different priorities. Different kingdoms, so there's different response to truth. John the Baptist says, I love truth so much that I can't deny it even if it costs me my life.
[22:00] Herod says, I hate truth so much that if you're going to tell it, I'm going to have to cut your head off. And you've got to ask yourself today, how do you respond to truth? And it's all going to be determined by how you view the king.
[22:12] Who is your kingdom and what kingdom do you live for? Herod was selfish. He was a glutton. He lived motivated by self-preservation and fame. Even though he made that promise to that girl that was dancing and she said, I'll give you John the Baptist's head.
[22:26] He knew that it was wrong. But because everybody around him was looking at him and he wanted to maintain his fame there and reputation, he had to continue on doing wrong.
[22:37] He couldn't do right even when it was staring him in the face. He was a puppet to his own desires and fears. And John the Baptist did not count his life dear unto himself, but he wanted to honor God.
[22:52] One man said it this way. He said, If you did not understand what God was doing in this world and you see John the Baptist dying all alone in a prison cell while there's Herod in a party getting whatever he wants, you would say, what is the benefit of serving this king?
[23:18] Why would I want to be part of this kingdom? But we understand there's something much greater. In Matthew 14, 12, it says, And the disciples came and took up the body and buried it and went and told Jesus.
[23:31] I would encourage you to circle those two letters, it. Circle it once and circle it twice. How exciting is this that John's disciples went to get it? Not to get John the Baptist, but to get it.
[23:43] To go and get a body. body. Because John the Baptist knew that he had a soul that was going to live for all eternity and it belonged to Jesus. And he knew a body he had was going to be laid down at some point for some reason.
[23:55] And so it might as well be laid down to honor Jesus when given the opportunity. So the disciples did not go get John the Baptist. They went to get it, the body. And so you see Herod, controlled by the desires of the flesh, who couldn't make any wise decision on how mud or how clear it was.
[24:10] And then you have John the Baptist looking at his life as it was nothing, because he had an eternal perspective on his life. John knew his soul had a body and it was not the other way around.
[24:21] So there's a different man because he lived by the rules of a different king. And I just want you for a little bit to behold our king. Someone you would run to in a time of need. I love it there.
[24:32] It says the disciples, they went and they got the body. And in verse number 12, they came, they took the body, buried it, and they went and told Jesus. What a wonderful king that we have, that in a time of need, we could run to him.
[24:46] And it said, Jesus, John the Baptist that you love, John the Baptist that told us about you, he died. And he would say, come with me, I will care for you. He provides passage for them so that they could spend time together.
[24:59] Behold our king is somebody you can go to in a time of need, because he doesn't want to take advantage of you as the king of the world. He doesn't see you as a pawn, but he sees you as somebody that he died for. He's moved with compassion in verse number 14 here.
[25:12] And we read all through the gospels here that he cleansed the leopard in the sight of a large crowd. He cured a centurion servant. He raised Peter's mother-in-law from a sick bed. He cured a woman in life-draining flow of blood.
[25:24] He raised the dead girl to life. He gave sight to a blind man. He gave voice to a mute man. Everywhere he went, he demonstrated that he was a compassionate king. Even in Matthew chapter number 14 and verse number 18, when they said, we have to send them away, a large crowd came to them, and there was no food.
[25:41] And they say, let's send them away. And he said, bring them hither to me. He is a king that would not send people away. He is a king that says, even though regardless of the amount of resources, I can feed the 5,000.
[25:54] Tinsley has been telling me this story that she learned in children's church on a Thursday night of Badshack, Meshack, and Mexico. You ever heard this story? Badshack, Meshack, and Mexico.
[26:05] And she says, Dad, Badshack, Meshack, and Mexico. They were in this fiery furnace. The king threw them in the furnace. The king didn't care about them. The king hated them.
[26:15] And they put them in the furnace. And when they came out, they didn't smell like smoke. They weren't burned. Because there was another person in the furnace with them, Dad. There was a fourth man in the furnace.
[26:28] That the king of this world would throw you in that fire and say, I have nothing care for you. You are just a pawn to me. And our king shows up in that furnace. And it's just not just another man.
[26:39] But it was King Jesus that said, hello, Meshack, Badshack, and Mexico. You know for the rest of time, nobody is going to get your names right. It's just a sense of humor. And he's there.
[26:50] And they got to see him and his majesty. And we worship his majesty. What a loving God. Send them away. I can't take them. He said, don't send them away. I'm King Jesus.
[27:01] Hey, young boy, you want to see a miracle? Come up here. I'm going to do something amazing with your life. And I'm going to feed all these people. And you think you just came today to see a show? I'm going to use you to feed everybody in attendance today.
[27:14] Because that's the king that we serve. And he is wonderful. And he is King Jesus. And he will be with you even in that fire. Regardless of the circumstances.
[27:25] Because Badshack, Meshack, can't even say it right. Those three guys, they said, we're not going to bow to the king of this world. We'll wait until our king shows up. We're not going to bow. Don't know what's going to happen.
[27:36] The people that threw them in the fire, they caught on fire because it was so hot. Their king commanded them to do it. So they did it. But they said, we'll just wait until we see our king, Jesus. And he'll say, you're right.
[27:46] You shouldn't have bowed. They're going to bow to a king. But they were waiting for the right one to come. And our king is creator and redeemer. This is a true story from India that in 1580, there's a territory that said they had this wild horse come in.
[28:02] And nobody could claim they could tame the horse. And they were a little bit superstitious. And they said, whoever can tame this horse will be the ruler of our kingdom. And there was a pilgrim.
[28:14] Don't think Thanksgiving in America. Just think person traveling through, okay? And so there's a person traveling through, and he tames the horse. And even until this day, there is an area in India of nearly 800 square miles with 200 people whose family rules over it because their ancestor in the 1580s tamed a horse.
[28:35] And because of that, he laid claim upon a kingdom. What a funny thing, isn't it? When we think about kingdoms, there's a series of books from Hunger Games, The Divergent. Everybody's interested in different kingdoms.
[28:47] And how would somebody take lead and control? And how does King Jesus take control? He's king. He's also the creator. And if that wasn't enough, he's also the redeemer.
[28:57] That not only did he create you for worship, that when you were bought in the sin, that when you had rebelled against you, and when we were like Hosea's wife there upon the slave block, who did not deserve his love, he bought us back.
[29:11] And so he deserves to be our king. He created us, and he redeemed us. And because of this, I want to encourage you to live the kingdom life. We see in this contrast here between a horrible king and Herod, which is the puppet on a string, living by the rules of a different kingdom, and John the Baptist was just empowered by the king of heaven.
[29:29] We see that we can live a kingdom life here. It is possible to live a life that is a response to what we know about the kingdom and not just a reaction to the things of this world. John the Baptist, I'm going to cut your head off, and I'm going to put it on a charger if you do not deny the truth.
[29:45] He says there's a greater truth that I cannot deny because I love my Savior. John the Baptist, it was to tell the truth and not to die. The honor is God, and he made a wise choice.
[29:56] I do not know what it is for you today, but I bet you know what it is if you look for it in your life. Where do you live the kingdom life? Where in your life are you living by the rules of something greater than what you're seeing?
[30:10] How is it that everybody around you, you're making the same decisions that they are, knowing that you live by a different set of principles, that you live by a different motivation, you live by a different set of priorities.
[30:23] What might be good for them isn't good for you because you have a different king, and we should trust the outcome of following the truth more than our self-planned course of compromise. We should trust God.
[30:34] He didn't have a plan. He just told the truth. I've been preaching it on the river, the gospel. Given the opportunity, he's going to just trust God, and he says, I don't have to have a plan. I'm just going to trust him.
[30:45] So we're reminded here that regardless of all the circumstances we live in and all the pressures of this world, we can live by a higher standard because we have a better king. Secondly, in the kingdom life, we respond differently to the truth.
[30:59] We don't show sorrow but nevertheless continue the same. Here is his word, and it changes our way of thinking. That when Jesus says something, we believe him. The disciples say, we've got to send everybody away because there's no food.
[31:11] Well, King, Jesus said, that's not a problem. Get everybody to sit down. And the disciples said, you're the king, and you get to decide the way that I think. The world's way of thinking is there's not enough food to take care of everybody, but Jesus says there is enough food, and the disciples said, okay, you're right.
[31:28] And that's what happens, that the word of God being the mind of Christ changes us. When our way of thinking says, no, this isn't possible, or I should do this, the Bible says, no, that's not the case. You're like, okay, you're right.
[31:40] Even though I don't see it, even though I don't understand it, and I have no idea how you're going to feed all these people, if that's the truth you say that I'm going to live by, then that is what's going to dictate the way that I act and the way that I live.
[31:52] And then we look to a person and not a plan to bring us comfort in the time of need. Herod was left always trying to figure things out. I'll just put John the Baptist in prison. I won't kill him.
[32:02] I'll satisfy my wife, and I will satisfy the world, and I won't get hurt. And he was always having to manipulate, but not John, the disciples. They just went to Jesus. They didn't have to figure things out.
[32:13] They just said, our heart is heavy. John the Baptist has died, and they took it to their king, because their king did not leave them to figure it out themselves. And we have different motivations in this kingdom.
[32:25] Herod was motivated by fear and greed, and our king is motivated by compassion. And what are you motivated by? Would you look at your calendar, and you say, am I so busy living this rat race because I'm so afraid that I won't be taken care of?
[32:39] I'm so afraid that I'm going to miss out on something. What are your motivations? And then we look at a king that's motivated by compassion, who's motivated by a love for people. What's motivating you today?
[32:51] And if you say that Jesus is your king, then you have no reason to be motivated by these lesser things. You have no reason to be living like Carid. You have no reason to be running away, around, afraid, always trying to perform for yourself.
[33:03] Be motivated by something greater. Be willing to love more and to give more, because you know that you serve a different king. People will follow us out of the kingdom of darkness.
[33:15] Brother John showed this verse to me last week, and I keep thinking about it. And it's Zechariah 8.23. Speaking of the end times, it says, Thus saith the Lord of hosts, In those days it shall come to pass, that ten men shall take the hold of all languages of the nation, even shall take hold of the skirt of him that is a Jew, saying, We will go with you, for we have heard that God is with you.
[33:39] We will go with you, for we have heard that God is with you. During a time where everybody is deceived and following the wrong king, there will be a group of people that says, I am going to serve King Jesus, and people around them are going to say, they're going to take hold of them, and we said, We have heard that our God is with you.
[33:58] I know this is painfully simple, but we live in a world that does not have King Jesus. We live in a world that serves a king, that wants to abuse them.
[34:09] He may want to do it late night on the bar scene, so they wake up the next day feeling miserable, or he may want to do it on Sunday in the religious scene, so they feel so good about themselves, they don't have need for Jesus on Monday.
[34:21] But it doesn't matter. Different strategies, but it's the same game plan. You can worship anybody, except you can't worship Jesus, and he is going to use you for his own purposes.
[34:33] And I hate him, and I hope you hate him, and I hope that you give your life campaigning for King Jesus, that you tell this world that your king stinks, that you can live for something so much more wonderful.
[34:47] Not just the king that when he's done with you, he's going to put your head on a charger, but we have a king that in time of need, you can run to him. Not a king that says, if you're the only kid that has a basket of fish and two loaves, I'm going to take that from you.
[35:00] But a king that says, let me take your little life and what you have, and share it with the whole world. Not a king that's motivated by greed and conceit, but a God that is motivated by love and compassion, that gives us value in our lives.
[35:13] And our kingdom is better, and our king is worthy of worship. And I hope you know that today. I hope you're encouraged by it. Because I know you don't see evidences of the kingdom.
[35:24] I know that it's hard to live from Sunday to Sunday with people that live by a different set of rules. I know it's hard to say yes when everybody around you is saying no. I know it's hard for you to believe the truth, even when you don't know how he's going to take care of it.
[35:39] And then John the Baptist said, I don't know what's going to happen here, but I have to obey my king. It's a wonderful thing. Because you know what God did in that story? He made a hero out of John the Baptist. And today I am provoked to good works.
[35:52] I honor King Jesus. And in his death, he made much of Jesus. Because he did it in his life. And he lived by a different set of standards. And are you living your life according to the terms of your kingdom or that of the opposing kingdom?
[36:08] You should choose this day who you will serve. I choose to stand with King Jesus. And I pray that you will as well. And as we pray here in a second, would you ask the God of heaven to search your heart and say, where is it that there's fear and motivation in my life that acts like I don't have a good king?
[36:24] Where is it that I don't trust you as I should? And behold our king, that knowing him for who he is ought to give us the confidence to live in this kingdom as one who understands we have a greater and loving king.
[36:39] Heavenly Father, I thank you for your word. I thank you for the contrast here. Thank you for those disciples and for John the Baptist who would live by a different set of standards.
[36:50] Who would live by something greater than what they could see, but they would trust in you during a difficult time. I don't know what's on the heart of my brothers and sisters today, Lord, but I know they have the struggle as we all do to live like we belong to your kingdom now and to not live by the rules of this world.
[37:09] And I pray that they'll be encouraged today knowing that you're a good king and they will worship you in your majesty and they will know that you can be trusted, that you are always looking out for them, that you want what's best for them and for your glory and they will take the steps of faith needed as they follow you.
[37:26] This message was recorded at Vision Baptist Church in Alfredo, Georgia. For more information, log on to www.visionbaptist.com where you can find our service times, location, contact information, and more audio and video recordings.