Christ Rules Now As King And Priest

Tonight I’m going to focus on the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. And I’m going to seek to show you from Scripture three things: who He is, where He is, and how He got there. And I do guarantee you that if you can receive this revelation of Scripture it will change you. You will go out of this place tonight a different person, because this revelation changes people.

I’d like to turn now to Psalm 110 and read the first four verses. The first verse of Psalm 110 is quoted four times in the New Testament, which probably makes it the most quoted passage of the Old Testament in the New. Psalm 110 the first four verses.

“The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool. The LORD shall send the rod of thy strength out of Zion: rule thou in the midst of thine enemies. Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power, in the beauties of holiness from the womb of the morning: thou hast the dew of thy youth. The LORD hath sworn, and will not repent, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek.”

Now in the three synoptic gospels Jesus takes verse 1 and directly applies it to Himself. He claims to be that greater Son of David whom David addressed as ‘my LORD.’ So we know on the highest authority that these verses refer to Jesus Christ. And we see that in verse 4, God the Father makes a statement to Christ the Son which is backed up by an oath, the highest form of divine assertion, the highest emphasis that can ever be given to truth when God both says it with His word and confirms it with His oath.

“The LORD hath sworn, and will not repent, Thou [Jesus Christ at My right hand] art a priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek.”

Now this introduces us to one of the most fascinating and profound themes of Scripture which is the person in the order of Melchizedek. It’s a remarkable fact that a great part of the epistle to the Hebrews is based on this person, Melchizedek. And yet if you look in the Old Testament there are just about three or four verses only that speak of him—Psalm 110 verse 4 and Genesis 14 verses 18 through 20. Those are

the only places in the Old Testament where he’s spoken of. So you cannot measure the importance of something by the number of verses that are given to it, because actually in some sense this is almost a pinnacle of divine revelation concerning Jesus Christ, and yet it’s built on so few verses.

Now I want you to turn with me or follow me as I turn to Hebrews the sixth chapter and the twentieth verse. Verse 19 shows us to where these words are referred. It says:

“Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and stedfast, and which entereth into that within the veil; . . .”

‘The veil’ is the second veil, so once again we’re destined to go into the Holiest, the Holiest of All, the Most Holy Place. And then, speaking about this area beyond the second veil, the writer of Hebrews says:

“Whither [that is into the Holiest of All] the forerunner is for us entered, even Jesus, . . .”

Why is Jesus called ‘the forerunner’? For us, what does that indicate? It indicates that He’s gone there on our behalf to make the way open for us to follow Him there. That’s the meaning of that. So Jesus, who has been made an High Priest forever after the order of Melchizedek—that refers, of course, to Psalm 110 verse 4. And then the next verses, the first verses of Hebrews chapter 7, unfold truths about Melchizedek:

“For this Melchisedec, king of Salem, priest of the most high God, who met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings, and blessed him; to whom also Abraham gave a tenth part of all; first being by interpretation [or translation] King of righteousness, and after that King of Salem, which is, King of peace; . . .”

We don’t need to go further. There’s the essence of the revelation. First of all, Melchizedek was a priest; but secondly, he was a king on two counts. First of all, his name, Melchizedek, means in Hebrew ‘King of righteousness.’ Melchi is ‘king’; zedek is ‘righteousness.’ Secondly, by location, it’s stated in Genesis 14 that he was king of Salem, and Salem, the writer of Hebrews points out, is the same as the modern Hebrew word shalom, which means ‘peace.’ So this person is priest and king—king of righteousness and king of peace.

Now what the writer of Hebrews is emphasizing is the union of kingship and priesthood in the one order, because you’ll bear in mind that I pointed out to you last night, under the Levitical covenant kingship and priesthood were totally severed. A man who was a king could not be a priest and a man who was a priest could not be a king. And the two kings that transgressed that, Saul and Uzziah, were both severely judged by God for it. So under the Levitical order there was a separation in which kingship went to the tribe of Judah and priesthood went to the tribe of Levi. But under this order, the order of Melchizedek, which is not the Levitical order, kingship and priesthood are united in one person.

Now we turn to Genesis chapter 14 and we look at the other text in the Old Testament where Melchizedek is introduced. Genesis 14 verses 18, 19 and 20. Abraham, who is the central figure here, had just won a great victory over some kings that had invaded the area and taken captive the inhabitants of Sodom including his nephew, Lot. He had defeated those kings and released those captives and was returning victorious from the battle. And it’s very interesting, as he returned from the battle two kings met him. This is a real crisis in Abraham’s experience. One was the king of Sodom offering him the contaminated wealth of Sodom. The other was Melchizedek, the king of Salem, offering him the blessing of the most High God. And I think it’s most significant that, in some sense, Abraham had to reject the offer of Sodom before he received the blessing of Melchizedek. And I think there are times in our lives when God tests us: Will you settle for the contaminated, the defiled, or will you settle for nothing less than God’s best? And so we read here that after the king of Sodom had met him, then in verse 18 Melchizedek met him.

“Melchizedek king of Salem brought forth bread and wine: and he was the priest of the most high God. And he [Melchizedek] blessed him [Abraham], . . .”

And the writer of Hebrews says without all contradiction, ‘the lesser is blessed of the greater.’ The one who blesses is greater than the one who is blessed. So Melchizedek was greater than Abraham. And he said:

“Blessed be Abraham of the most high God, possessor of heaven and earth: and blessed be the most high God, which hath delivered thine enemies into thy hand. And he [Abraham] gave him [Melchizedek] tithes of all.”

Now there isn’t much there, but what is there is tremendously significant. Notice that Melchizedek first gave to Abraham. Abraham did not first give to Melchizedek. And Melchizedek gave Abraham something that Abraham had not given him. This is significant because under the Levitical priesthood, the Levitical priest never gave to the people before the people had first given to the priesthood. They only gave back what they had first received from the people. But here, with Melchizedek, the initiative is with him and not with Abraham. And notice that he brought forth two extremely solemn and sacred symbols— bread and wine. He shared the bread and the wine with Abraham.

Now this, of course, leads our minds on to the moment at the close of Christ’s ministry where He was at the Last Supper table with His disciples and He took forth bread and wine and shared them with His disciples. And you’ll not find any other place in between where those two emblems are used in that way. So when Jesus gave the bread and the wine to His disciples, He was telling them by that act, ‘I’m from the order of Melchizedek and I bring forth these sacred symbols which no other order has the right to handle.’ And, of course, every time we partake of the communion, we are acknowledging the fact that Jesus Christ is our High Priest after the order of Melchizedek.

Then you notice that Abraham in return gave him tithes, or a tenth, of all. And so we have to see that the communion and tithing both pre-date the Law of Moses. Neither of them was instituted for the first time under the Law of Moses, and I believe they are both a part of the priesthood of Melchizedek. In Hebrews it says of Melchizedek, or Jesus Christ as the high priest after the order of Melchizedek, ‘He receiveth the tithes of his people.’

Sometimes, you know, we have the attitude: Do I have to give my tithes? But it would be better if we turned it around and say, Will He receive my tithes?’ The real blessing is the fact that He’ll receive them. Have you ever thought about it that way? And I believe these are both eternal ordinances for the people of God—the bread and the wine—to receive the tithes to give. They were not initiated with the Law of Moses, they did not pass away with the Law of Moses.

And so we see here then this picture of Melchizedek, the king of Salem (which is peace), the king of righteousness, the priest of the most high God, offering the sacred symbols of bread and wine. And he is the pattern of Jesus Christ as our High Priest after the order of Melchizedek.

Now Psalm 110 pictured Jesus Christ at God’s right hand in that order as the high priest after the order of Melchizedek. Now I want to take you through a brief course of Old Testament Scriptures and then of New and show you how Jesus Christ got to that place at God’s right hand. And I want to begin in Psalm 2, Psalm 2. We’ll read the entire psalm which is not long. Again this psalm is frequently quoted in the New Testament. We’ll read it in sections. The theme of this psalm really is God’s order for the government of earth. And it opens with a picture of rebellion by earth’s rulers against God and against God’s appointed ruler.

“Why do the heathen [or the nations] rage, and the people [that’s probably Israel] imagine a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD, and against his anointed [which is His Christ], saying, Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us.”

This, of course, was quoted in Acts chapter 4 by the believers gathered in prayer in Jerusalem. They pointed out that the kings of the Gentiles, Herod and Pontius Pilate, and the rulers of the people of Israel, had gathered together in deliberate rejection of God’s appointed ruler and Messiah, Jesus Christ. So here we see earth’s rulers take their stand in rejection of God’s appointed ruler, the Messiah Jesus Christ. But then the veil is drawn back from the scene in heaven which natural eyes cannot see, and we see the reaction and response of God in heaven to this act of earth’s rulers. And it says:

“He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the Lord shall have them in derision.
God laughs at the attempts of men to reject the rule of Jesus Christ on earth.
Then shall he speak unto them in his wrath, and vex them in his sore displeasure. [And this is what he says:] Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion.”

God says, ‘You may say and do what you please, but you cannot change this fact: that Jesus Christ My King is forever established as My chosen ruler on My sacred hill of Zion.’

And then we have a response of Jesus Christ, the Son, to God the Father. There’s a dialogue here between the Father and the Son, and in verse 7 the Son speaks and He says:

“I will declare the decree [which God the Father has given]: the LORD [God the Father] hath said unto me, Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee.”

The Father speaks to the Son and says, ‘Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee.’ Now I ask you, which day was that? It was one specific day. Which was it? The resurrection day, that’s right. God the Father begat Jesus Christ the Son, from the dead, by resurrection.

Now we have scriptural proof of that. Keep your finger in Psalm 2, turn to Acts 13 verse 33. Paul is preaching to the Jews in a synagogue in a certain city of Asia Minor and this is what he says:

“And we declare unto you glad tidings, how that the promise which was made unto the fathers [and was made in Psalm 2], God hath fulfilled the same unto us their children, in that he hath raised up Jesus again [resurrected Jesus]; as it is also written in the second psalm, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee.”

So you see, the apostle Paul, endorsed by the Holy Spirit, refers that begetting on that day to the day in which God the Father raised Jesus Christ the Son from the dead. He begat Him again from the dead and the one who was the begotten from the dead became the ruler of the kings of the earth. And then the Son goes on and He further declares:

“[The Father has said to Him:] Ask of me, and I shall give thee the [nations] for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession.”

It’s very interesting about ‘the uttermost parts of the earth.’ That phrase occurs a number of times. And Brother Baxter, I’m sure, will endorse what I say, that if you look at a globe and you take the point where those words were spoken, which was the city of Jerusalem, and you trace out the furthest inhabited part of the earth, you arrive at the east coast of New Zealand. This is a geographical fact which the New Zealanders are very conscious of. And when I was there this past Christmas, some of the brethren, some of the spiritual leaders, had taken this Scripture that Christ is entitled to demand the uttermost part of the earth for His possession, and they had claimed their nation of New Zealand as a possession for Christ. And I’ll tell you, that’s the way it’s going. It is indeed. All right, verse 9:

“Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.”

Now the last three verses are counsel to earth’s rulers, as to how they can change their rebelliousness and come into a right relationship with God through Jesus Christ. And I believe this counsel is highly relevant today. I believe this is the message that we have to give to the rulers of earth today, because the governments of this earth are in chaos. They’re toppling, they’re confused, they’re uncertain, and even the men at the top don’t have the answers. And I believe the time is going to come very shortly, in fact it’s already begun, when they’re going to turn to the Spirit-empowered, directed church of Jesus Christ and say ‘What are we to do?’ And I believe that this is the divine answer that we have to give them.

“Be wise now therefore, O ye kings: be instructed, ye judges of the earth.”

You remember that in the Revelation, the angel told John the Revelator, ‘Thou must yet stand again before kings and nations and people and prophesy unto them.’ I believe is to be fulfilled.

“Serve the LORD with fear, and rejoice with trembling.”

What a beautiful combination that is, isn’t it? It’s good to rejoice, but rejoice with trembling. Never lose your sense of the awe of God even in the midst of all your rejoicing. And then verse 12:

“Kiss the Son [the kiss of reconciliation, peace and submission], lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all they that put their trust in him.”

Well, that’s just a brief exposition of Psalm2. But the central part is the declaration of God the Father that He has set Jesus Christ, the Son, as His king upon the holy hill of Zion, and then the response of the

Son when He declares the Father’s decree. The Father said to Him:

“Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee [from the dead to be the ruler of the kings of the earth].”

Now turn to Psalm 89 verses 20 through 27, and we have the other half of the dialogue. This is really a very fascinating theme to study. Psalm 89 is what is called a Messianic psalm. In other words, it speaks about the Messiah, though the name ‘David’ is used, the primary reference is not to David but to his greater son, Jesus Christ the Messiah. And so I’m going to take that for granted without trying to establish it and I’m going to read from verses 20 to 27. The Lord is speaking. He says:

“I have found David my servant; with my holy oil have I anointed him: [made Him my Messiah, my Christ.] with whom my hand shall be established: mine arm also shall strengthen him. The enemy shall not exact upon him; nor the son of wickedness afflict him. And I will beat down his foes before his face, and plague them that hate him. But my faithfulness and my mercy shall be with him: and in my name shall his horn be exalted. I will set his hand also in the sea, and his right hand in the rivers. [Now is the rest of the dialogue.] He shall cry unto me, Thou art my father, my God, and the rock of my salvation.”

You see, you take Psalm 2:7 and Psalm 89 verse 26, you have the complete dialogue. The Father said to the Son, ‘Thou art my son, this day have I begotten thee…’ The Son said, ‘Thou art my Father, my God and the rock of my salvation.’ In what way was the Father the rock of Christ’s salvation? How did the Father save Christ? Well, keep your finger in Psalm 89 and turn to Hebrews 5:7 for a moment, speaking about the agony of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane just before His passion, it says—and notice this is referred to—, is related to His position as a priest for it says in verse 6:

“As he saith also in another place, Thou art a priest for ever, after the order of Melchisedec [That’s Hebrews 5:6]. Who in the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and supplications, . . .”

Notice offered up is the priestly word; He’s our pattern, His sacrifices were prayer. He didn’t offer the Levitical sacrifices, but He offered the spiritual sacrifices which are our pattern, His prayers and His supplications after the order of Melchizedek. When He’d done that:

“and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him from death, and was heard in that he feared; . . .”

So He cried to the Father in His agony to save Him from death, and He was heard. His prayer was heard because of His reverent submission.

Now did the Father save Him from death? What’s the answer? Yes, He did. I just checked on the Greek of this to make sure. The word from is eke out of. Jesus died, but the Father saved Him out of death and in this way He became the rock of Christ’s salvation. So the resurrected Christ now cries, ‘Thou art My God, and the rock of My salvation.’ The Father has said, ‘Thou art My Son, this day have I begotten thee by resurrection from the dead.’

“Now turning back to Psalm 89, we find the final declaration in this particular section, verse 27: Also I will make him my firstborn, higher than the kings of the earth.”

Now when a father speaks, the best word to use is not firstborn, which is essentially the mother’s part, but first begotten, which is an equally valid translation. So he is the first begotten of the Father. First begotten from what? From death. That’s right. And because He’s the first begotten from the dead, He’s also the ruler of the kings of the earth.

Now turn to the New Testament to Revelation 1:5. Without going into the background, this is part of the opening salutation. The greetings are from the Father, the Spirit, and the Son, verse 5:

“And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth [prince or ruler].”

Now notice there are three statements made there about Jesus. Number one, He’s the faithful witness; number two, He’s the first begotten of the dead; number three, He’s the ruler of the kings of the earth. You see, this lines up directly with Psalm 2 and Psalm 89. And also, there’s a logical sequence there. First of all, He was the faithful witness. Where did He bear witness? Before the Jewish court and before Pontius Pilate. Pilate said to Him, ‘Art thou a king?’ and He said, ‘Thou sayest I’m a king.’ In other words ‘I am a king.’

“For this purpose was I born, and for this cause came I forth, [to do what?] to bear witness to the truth.”

How that thrills me! You see, it’s kingly to bear witness to the truth. It’s not kingly to be afraid of the truth. It’s not kingly to compromise about the truth. Jesus said, ‘I cannot compromise. I am a king.’ And previously the high priest had said to him, ‘Art thou the Christ, the blessed?’ And He said, ‘Thou sayest.’

In each case, it was His own testimony that condemned Him. He was never condemned on the testimony of others. Had He chosen to compromise or even to keep silent, He would never have been condemned. But He came as a king to bear witness to the truth, and because of His confession they put Him to death. But because of His confession God raised Him from the dead. Praise the Lord! God vindicated His Son. Two human courts had condemned Him—the religious court of the Jews, the secular court of the Romans. And they must have had an inkling that somehow that wasn’t the end of it all, because they took the most elaborate precautions to keep Him in the tomb. When you read it, it’s almost comical. There was this man horribly mutilated and totally dead, they rolled the grave stone in front of the tomb, the Sanhedrin set their seal, the Roman governor put his watch of soldiers, and they said, ‘We’ll keep Him there.’ They must have felt somehow insecure, because normally once a man is totally dead you don’t worry much about him. But on the third day, God reversed the decisions of the human court, vindicated His Son, the stone was rolled away, the seal was broken, the watch fainted and Jesus Christ came forth, vindicated in His righteousness because of His testimony.

And let me apply this truth, friends: If we are faithful in our testimony God will ultimately always vindicate us.

Okay. And because He’s the first begotten from the dead, He’s the ruler of the kings of the earth. See. It unfolds through Psalm 2, Psalm 89, and Revelation chapter 1.

Now I want to go a little further into this and I want to take three portraits of Christ from the Scriptures. Two from the New Testament and the third form the Old, all unfolding the person of Jesus Christ and His position and His authority. I’m persuaded that as we move through the dark and troublesome days in which we find ourselves with fear and uncertainty on every side, we’ve got to have a deeper grasp of Bible truth. And we’ve got have, above all, a clearer vision of who Jesus is and where He is and how He got there, because when we really know that, there’s no more need for anxiety or fear or uncertainty. So that’s really my purpose tonight to bring to you this revelation of Jesus Christ. Let’s look, first of all, in Hebrews chapter 1 beginning at verse 1 and reading the first 3 verses:

“God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, . . .”

But the Greek says ‘in his Son.’ It’s not merely that the Son was superior to the prophets, but it was a totally different way of speaking. God merely took the lips and the pen of human men and spoke His words through them. But when the Son came, God was in the Son. He spoke in the person and character and life and ministry of the Son. It was a totally different kind of speaking. We need to see that.

Then He declares the nature of the Son, and there are seven successive statements made here about Jesus Christ. We’ll read them and then I’ll analyze them briefly.

“…whom he hath appointed heir of all things [1], [2] by whom also he made the worlds; [3] who being the brightness of his glory, [4] and the express image of his person, [5] and upholding all things by the word of his power, [6] when he had by himself purged our sins, [7] sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high; . . .”

You’ll see the theme of Christ sitting at God’s right hand runs all through this. All right. Let’s look at those statements briefly.

“[For] us there is but one God, the Father . . . and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom He [the Father made] all things.
And in the first chapter of John you remember it says:
All things were made by Him, and without Him was not anything made that was made.
So He was the maker of all things, the Creator.”

Let me pause for a moment to show you this beautiful simple parable in nature of the Godhead. You see if we look at the sun, S-U-N, the natural sun, we never see its substance. Scientists don’t know fully what the substance of the sun is. No one has ever seen it. What do we see? We see the brightness, effulgence, the glory, but even that we wouldn’t see if it were not for one other factor. What’s that? The rays of light that bring it to our eyes. So we have the substance, the glory, and the rays of light. And this is a simple parable of the Godhead. God the Father, the substance; God the Son, the glory; and the Holy Spirit, the one who brings it to us so that we can see the glory of Jesus, and the Father revealed in the Son.

All right. Then the fourth statement, ‘He’s the express image of God’s person.’ This word is taken from a word that means ‘the imprint left by a seal ring in hot wax.’ The parable is this. God the Father is the ring, Jesus Christ is the imprint left by that ring in visible form. In other words, He’s the perfect impression in visible form of the nature of the invisible God. You don’t see the seal ring, but you see the imprint it has left in the wax.

And then it says, the fifth thing, that ‘He upholds all things by the word of His power.’ Not merely did He create all things, not merely is He the heir of all things, but He also keeps all things in being by the same word by which He brought them into being. And it impresses me to think that as He hung on the cross it was His word that kept that cross in being.

Now those first five statements relate to Him as God. The last two statements, six and seven, relate to Him as man.

The sixth statement: ‘he had by himself purged our sins.’ He became the sin offering. He was the Lamb of God who took away, who bore away sacrificially, the sin of the world.

And having been the sin offering He then became the high priest to administer the benefits of that offering, and He says the seventh statement ‘He sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high.’ One of the key words in Hebrews is the word sit. And you’ll notice how many times it emphasized how Jesus sat down. Why did He sit down? Because He’d never have to do any more.

You see, the writer of Hebrews emphasizes about the Levitical priests that they always stood, that they never sat down, always ministering the same sacrifices which could never take away sins. But He says this man after he’d offered one sacrifice for sin forever, sat down. Praise God! Jesus is seated. He’s relaxed. I don’t believe that He’s straining over from the throne with white knuckles on the banisters of glory, wondering if everything’s going to turn out all right. I think He’s in perfect tranquility and confidence there at the Father’s right hand. He knows He won the victory. He knows He’s never going to have to fight that battle again. He knows that the devil’s defeat has been secured once and for all by His atoning death and His triumphant resurrection.

Now let’s turn to Colossians chapter 1, Colossians the first chapter and again we take a series of statements made about the Lord Jesus Christ. Beginning at verse 14 of Colossians chapter 1, Colossians 1:14:

“In whom [Christ] we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins: . . . And then follows this series of seven statements which I’ll read and then we’ll briefly analyze.
(No. 1) Who is the image of the invisible God,
(No. 2) the firstborn of every creature [we’ll look at that a little later]:
(No. 3) For by him were all things created [that’s verse 16],
[Verse 17, No. 4] And he is before all things,
[verse 17 again, No. 5] by him all things consist.
[And then the two final statements in verse 18] He is the head of the body, the church:
[and] He’s the firstborn [the beginning of the new order].
So we’ll go through now quickly and look at those statements.”

Statement number one in verse 15: ‘He’s the image of the invisible God.’ He’s the invisible God made visible. It’s interesting the Greek word image is icon, which gives us the word that’s used in the Eastern Orthodox Churches, the word ikon. You’ve probably heard of that. It’s spelled I-K-O-N. That’s exactly that word. You know their churches are full of images of Christ and the Virgin Mary and saints and so on. They call them ikons. But the interesting fact is it definitely ‘a visible image.’

Now I understand that God, in His Word, has forbidden us to make any image of God. You know why? Because God has His own image and we can’t improve on it. You know what God’s image is? It’s Jesus Christ, that’s right. He has an image. It’s really effrontery to try improve on God’s own image. So Christ is the image or ikon of the invisible God.

He’s the firstborn of every creature. That’s a misleading translation. I’m not going to go into my reasons for saying it, but I like to substitute for the word ‘born,’ begotten, because it’s the activity of the Father. He’s the first begotten before all creation. The emphasis there is on the contrast between begotten and created. Jesus Christ was not created—the Jehovah’s Witnesses are wrong when they declare that He was—He’s begotten. I believe the Athanasian Creed from the first word to the last—begotten, not created. And having been begotten, He was then the one who created all that was created. But He is the first begotten, and in John 1 He’s called the ‘only begotten of the Father before all creation.’

Then in verse 16: ‘By him were all things created.’ We’ve seen that’s already stated in Hebrews. The fourth statement in verse 17, ‘he is before all things.’ He is eternally existent, not he was, but he is. And you remember what He said to the Jews when they challenged Him? He said, ‘Before Abraham was, I am.’ Not I was, but I am.

And then the fifth statement, ‘By him all things consist.’ He holds everything in being. That’s the same as in Hebrews, ‘He upholds all things with the word of his power.’

And then the two statements—these five statements that we’ve seen relate to Him as God, now the two final statements again relate to Him as man.

‘He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning the first begotten from the dead.’ Let’s take the first picture first. The church is His body, He is the head over the body, the church. And that’s stated again in Ephesians 1, ‘God gave Him to be the head over all things to the church which is His body.’

And then He’s the ‘first begotten,’ not before all creation, but ‘from the dead.’ This is the same statement that’s made in Psalm 89 and Revelation 1.

So God begat His Son again from the dead by resurrection. So you see that in a certain sense death and the grave become the womb out of which the new creation is brought forth.

And now going back to the picture of the head and the body, and viewing this as a birth out of the grave, and taking the picture of the natural birth of a child, what is the first part of the body that normally emerges from the womb—the head. And when the doctor sees the head what does he know? The body is on the way. And praise God! the resurrection of Jesus, our Head, is the guarantee that the body is going to follow. His resurrection is the guarantee of our resurrection.

And then Paul sums it up by saying, ‘That in all things he might have the preeminence’—or ‘be the first.’ And He’s the first in both orders. In the first creation He’s the first begotten before all creation, but in the new creation He’s the first begotten from the dead, the beginning or the new order and the head of the church which is His body.

All right. Now then we’ll turn to the Old Testament for our third portrait. We’ll go to the prophet Zechariah. Now if you have problems about Zechariah, he lives rather near the end of the Old Testament—in fact there are two prophets at the end, Malachi the last one. Go back from Malachi you’ll find Zechariah. We’re going to go to the 6th chapter of Zechariah and we’re going to read from verse 11 through verse 13.

Now of course this is Old Testament prophecy, and it’s done in images and types and shadows, but it is a clear reference to Jesus Christ. The type that is chosen here for Jesus Christ is Joshua, the son of Josedech, who is the high priest of Israel in the time of Zechariah. And, of course, as the high priest of srael, as a type he typifies Jesus Christ, our High Priest, after the order of Melchizedek. So the type is very clear. Now the instructions were, without going into the background of it, in verse 11:

“Then take silver and gold, and make crowns, and set them upon the head of Joshua the son of Josedech, the high priest; . . .”

Now here is a very interesting thing. Going to the New Testament for a moment, there are two words for crown, that’s to say, in the King James Version. There are two quite different words that are translated ‘crown.’ The first Greek word is stephanos, which gives us the English name Stephen, which means a crown, in the sense of a laurel wreath and was the recognized reward for a victor in the Olympic Games. What today is honored by a gold medal, in those days was honored by a laurel wreath. So that crown is the reward of victory in conflict.

The other word that’s translated crown in the King James in the New Testament is the Greek word diadema, which gives us the English word diadem, which is completely different. It’s a crown that represents royalty. Now since Zechariah talks about silver and gold, we know that it’s the diadem that he’s talking about, not any kind of prize for victory. It’s the mark of royalty.

Now notice this apparent conflict because Joshua was a high priest of the tribe of Levi, but Zechariah’s told to make crowns or diadems which are the mark of royalty, and place them on the head of this high priest, which was contrary to the order of the Old Testament. So we see that Joshua, which incidentally is the same name in Hebrew as Jesus, becomes a type of Jesus Christ as priest and king after the order of Melchizedek. In Revelation 19, I think it’s 12, when Christ is seen in vision proceeding forth at the head of the armies of heaven riding upon white horses it says:

“…on His head were many crowns… [the Greek word diadem.]”

Why did He wear many crowns? Because He’s King of kings and Lord of lords. All the crowns of all royalty on earth belong to Him. So there we have the introduction.

“Now going on to verse 12, this is the message that’s given.
Thus speaketh the LORD of hosts, saying, Behold the man . . .”

Let’s stop there. Do you think that Pontius Pilate knew that he was quoting Zechariah in John 19:6 when he brought Jesus forth and said, ‘Behold the man’? I don’t think so. But he was, and God intended it. And you see, Jesus Christ is the Man. In this Old Testament passage we don’t perceive from divinity to humanity as we did both in Hebrews and in Colossians, but we perceive from humanity to divinity. So Jesus Christ is the Man. And that’s true. He’s the only man who was what every man should be. If you want to know what a man should be, look at Jesus. He is the man in every aspect, in every relationship.

Now there are seven statements made about Him as the Man. Number 1 and I’m going through them here:

“…[his] name is The BRANCH; (Number 2) and he shall grow up out of his place, (Number 3) and he shall build the temple of the LORD: [And this is so important that it’s repeated, but it’s still one statement.] Even he shall build the temple of the LORD; (Number 4) he shall bear the glory, (Number 5) he shall sit and rule upon his throne; (Number 6) he shall be a priest upon his throne: (Number 7) the counsel of peace shall be between them both.
Once again we’ll analyze briefly those seven statements.”

Number 1, His name is the BRANCH. This is an accepted Old Testament title of Messiah. It’s used in Isaiah 11:1, Jeremiah 23:5. Isaiah 11:1 says:

“There shall come a rod out of the stem of Jesse and a Branch shall grow out of his roots: . . .
[Jeremiah 23:5] The LORD . . . will raise [up] . . . a righteous Branch [unto David], and a King shall reign and prosper, . . .”

So Branch means He’s the Messiah, He’s the root and offspring of David. That’s the first statement— His name is the Branch.

Number 2, ‘He shall grow up out of his place.’ You know I get so absorbed with that statement, that simple statement means so much to me, because before you can grow you have to find your place. And furthermore, you grow up and downwards. So many people I know want to grow downwards. They want to start at the top and work down. And I meet so many children of God that never found their place. They can’t grow because they’re not in their place. In order to grow you’ve got to find your place. And, friend, you start at the bottom like Jesus. Isaiah 53:2 says, what?

“He shall grow up before him as a root out of a dry ground, and as a tender plant.”

So there was Jesus in the dry ground of backslidden Judaism, in a humble home, in a despised city growing up before the Lord. Friend, if you want to grow up, start by getting down. All right. Before honor is humility. And you can’t grow spiritually until you find your place. No plant ever grows that’s in a different place every day is it. So many of you are rolling stones that gather no moss, but you don’t bring any fruit either. All right. ‘He shall grow up out of his place.’

The third statement: ‘He shall build the temple of the Lord.’ What’s the temple of the Lord for us today? The church of Jesus Christ. What did He say in Matthew 16:18?

“…upon this rock I will build My church.”

Those who know Greek will I think agree with me, all the emphasis of language is on the word my. I will build My assembly. There’s a lot of assemblies around. There were in His day. Every city/state had it’s own assembly. The Jews had their assembly, but Jesus said, ‘I’m going to build My assembly.’ You know what I believe? The only church He’ll own is the one He’s permitted to build. If He’s not permitted to build it, He won’t own it. ‘I will build My church.’ And this is so emphatic in the mind of God that it’s repeated.

“…and he shall build the temple of the LORD: [all the emphasis is on the word he] Even he shall build the temple of the LORD;”

The next statement: ‘He shall bear the glory.’ The Greek Hebrew word for glory is kabod, which is directly related to the Hebrew word for heavy, which is kabed. And glory has been defined as ‘worth’ and ‘weight.’ That’s why in the Old Testament gold is a type of glory, because it’s weighty and it’s worthy.

And in the New Testament Paul makes a play on words. I don’t whether you’ve ever noticed it. In 2 Corinthians chapter 4 verse 18, he says:

“Our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more eternal and exceeding weight of glory; . . .”

Did you ever think about glory as a weight? You see, in the Old Testament initially it was a man’s substance. It was his wives, his cattle, and so on. Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, they were men who had glory—they had weight and worth in the eyes of those round about them because of their substance, their possessions. But there’s a higher kind of glory, but it’s a weight. And you there’s only one person that can carry that weight—that’s Jesus. He shall bear the glory. If God put the glory on you and me we’d crumple under it, but He can bear the full glory.

The next statement is ‘He shall sit and rule upon his throne.’ What kind of a person rules on a throne—a king. So He’s to be a king.

But the next statement is what? ‘He shall be a priest upon his throne.’ So here we have the order of Melchizedek, the king and the priest combined.

And the final statement: ‘And the counsel of peace shall be between them both.’ Between the two of them. The Hebrew says the word two is there.

Now stop and take a deep breath. Who are the two? Somebody said priest and king, but I don’t believe that. You could be right, but as Bob Mumford says, ‘How can I help if I’m right.’ I tell Bob I quote him when I say that statement—it sounds humbler. All right.

Now I don’t accept that. Who are the two? Father and Son. That’s what I believe. There they are sharing the throne, perfect harmony between them. The Son says, ‘Father, do You think We ought to?’ and the Father says, ‘Go ahead, it’s a good idea.’

And again we have this same beautiful picture that in the Godhead there is plurality. I hope that doesn’t shock you. I believe totally in the unity of the Godhead, but the Hebrew word that used for one ehad is one which contains plurality. The spies who went in and brought out the grapes of Eshcol, it was one cluster but it had maybe hundreds of grapes on it. And when God created man and woman He said ‘The two shall be one’ the Hebrew word is ehad. There’s another Hebrew word yahid which means absolute unity. And mistakenly, from Maimonides onwards, the Jewish people have said, ‘I believe with absolute conviction, that God is one’ and they’ve used the word yahid, and that’s the basis of their error. God is not yahid, He’s ehad. He’s one unity with plurality within it.

And so here we have the statement between the two—the Father and the Son—there’ll be the counsel of peace. There’ll never be a disagreement. You know why? Because they are perfectly united in the Spirit. And you know what Jesus prayed? Isn’t that fascinating, in John 17, that all believers can be one in exactly the same way as the Father and the Son are one, which is how? In the Spirit, the unity of the Spirit.

All right. Let’s take those seven statements and just sum the up and move on. Behold the Man. Seven statements:

Number 1 His name is the Branch, the Messiah, the fulfillment of the promises to David. Number 2 He shall grow up out of His place, He took His place in a home in Nazareth, a humble man, a carpenter’s son.

“Number 3 He shall be the building of the temple which is the church.
Number 4 He shall bear the glory.
Number 5 He’ll be a king upon His throne.
Number 6 He’ll be a priest upon His throne.”

Number 7 there’ll be perfect harmony between the Father and the Son upon the throne. All right, now we have taken a kind of journey through the Scriptures to trace the nature and the path of Jesus to the throne. Now let’s go back, to conclude our message, to Psalm 110 and let’s just kind of fill in the details here, because Psalm 110 presents Him as being there. And I believe this is a very present truth for the church of Jesus Christ. Verse 1:

There’s an until. Jesus Christ is there for a certain time. He is sitting on a throne which is not His own. It’s the Father’s throne. One day when the Father’s time comes and all His enemies have been brought into subjection, He will sit upon His own throne. Matthew 25, ‘When the Lord shall come He shall sit upon the throne of His glory.’ That’s His. Meanwhile the Lord, His Father, is making His enemies His footstool. You see, I don’t believe Jesus Christ is going to have to do any more fighting except maybe for one encounter with the Antichrist. And I’m prepared to leave the Antichrist to Jesus to deal with. I don’t know how you feel about that. I know I’ve some friends who want to be heroes, but I don’t want to be one of them. I believe the Lord is going to deal with the Antichrist. That’s my personal conviction, but basically the fighting of Jesus is over. He won His battle, now God the Father is dealing with His enemies.

“Secondly,
The LORD shall send the rod of thy strength out of Zion: rule thou in the midst of thine enemies.”

Now that second phrase is vital. Most Christians believe that Jesus will be ruling in the Millennium, or whatever you like to call that. But that’s true, but it’s not where we’re at. We aren’t in the Millennium, and I don’t believe in postponing all my blessings to the Millennium. Some people believe they’ll be healthy in the Millennium. Why not be healthy now? That’s what I believe.

Now the Scripture reveals that Jesus Christ is ruling now. Do you believe that? Yes He is. In the midst of His enemies. His enemies are on every hand, they’re active, they’re vociferous, they’re vicious, they’re cruel. But nevertheless, Jesus is now ruling, and we are ruling with Him. To me, it’s much more exciting to be ruling now than it will be to be ruling in the Millennium. There won’t be much challenge in the Millennium. Now is the challenge. It thrills me what God does in the midst of His enemies. See, some Christians say, ‘Well, when all the enemies are gone, then we’ll have the victory.’ No. It’s when the enemies are all around you that the victory is worth having.

“You see the famous psalm, the Shepherd’s Psalm, Psalm 23, David said:
Thou preparest a table before me [where] in the presence of mine enemies. [And what else does God do?] Thou anointest my head with oil, my cup runneth over. [Where? In the presence of mine enemies.]”

That’s where it matters. Don’t wait for the future to have the victory. Because Christ has the victory now and He wants to share it with us now, in the midst of His enemies. In fact, I believe He’s dependent upon us to demonstrate His victory. Let’s look at the first half of verse 2:

“The LORD shall send the rod of they strength out of Zion: . . .”

Now these are Old Testament titles and pictures. The word rod (metteh) means ‘that which is stretched forth,’ and it’s a type of authority and rule. There are two Old Testament uses of the word which are significant. First of all, when Moses was sent to deliver Israel out of Egypt he said, ‘God, I don’t have anything. What can I do it with?’ God said, ‘What have you got in your hand?’ Moses said, ‘A rod.’ God said, ‘That’s all you’ll need.’ And when Moses went back, all he had to do was stretch out his rod and with his outstretched rod he took over the control of Egypt out of the hands of Pharaoh. He said, ‘Pharaoh, I’m telling you when the flies are coming, I’m telling you where it’s going to be dark, I’m warning you that the locusts are coming.’ Pharaoh didn’t rule Egypt. Moses ruled Egypt with a rod. The rod outstretched is a type of divine authority exercised over kings and nations.

Now the significant thing is that the rod is to be stretched out of Zion. What is Zion? I believe the Scripture answers us if you turn to Hebrews the 12th chapter verse 22, without going into the background:

“But ye [New Testament believers] are come unto mount Sion, [We’re not going to come, we have come. Please notice everything that we’re talking about today is in the past tense.] But ye [have] come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels, to the general assembly and church of the firstborn, wh[o] are [enrolled] in heaven, . . .”

So Zion is the place of the assembly of the church. ‘The firstborn whose names are enrolled in heaven.’ There are two words used. One is ekklesia, ‘the church,’ the other is the Greek word, panegyris, which means ‘a very gorgeous solemn dignified assembly,’ something like the commanding officers’

inspection, or a royal inspection of all the troops of a nation. So this is a very, grand, glorious, dignified, orderly picture which is set before us, of the church met in solemn assembly, under divine authority and in divine order. And that is what Zion speaks of.

So going back to Psalm 110: The authority of Jesus Christ will be stretched forth out of Zion. In other words, when God’s people come into divine order and meet in divine order under divine authority, then the rod of Christ’s authority will be stretched forth over the nations and their governments. But, notice who stretches forth the rod. It’s not Christ. It’s the Lord. Now I don’t believe that’s Christ. I don’t believe that’s God the Father, I believe that’s God the Holy Spirit. Here we have the Trinity in action—the Father on the throne, with the Son at His right hand, the Spirit in the midst of the church sending forth the authority of Jesus Christ out of God’s people assembled in divine order through what?—through prayer. We come back to it. We reign by prayer. So when God’s people meet in divine order, when the Holy Spirit is allowed to have His way, then the rod of Christ’s authority in prayer is stretched out to control earth’s rulers and governments and nations.

Beautifully enough the other Old Testament picture of the rod is the symbol of Aaron’s office as high priest in Numbers 17. Every one of the heads of the tribes of Israel was given a rod and his name was marked on his rod. And then, to vindicate Aaron as high priest, you remember God caused the rod of Aaron within one day to blossom, to bud, and to bring forth almonds, fruit. This is a type, of course, of the resurrection of Jesus Christ which vindicated Him as God’s High Priest.

So the rod has the name of the ruler on it. Aaron’s rod had Aaron’s name on it. So the authority is in the name of Jesus. Now you get the total picture. The church met in divine order, the Spirit of God moving and working in the midst of the church, and then through prayer the Holy Spirit extends the authority in the name of Jesus and brings earth’s rulers and governments into subjection for the purposes of God. Praise God!

Now, we’ve got one more verse, that’s verse 3. We could stop there but it’s too good to stop really. You know, I mean these truths, we’re getting so near the climax now.

“Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power, in the beauties of holiness from the womb of the morning: thou hast the dew of thy youth.”

Now the Hebrew of that verse is very terse and condensed. And if you look at the modern translations, almost every one of them differs from every other one. So I think that gives me liberty to produce my translation, which I call ‘the Prince Version.’ Now I am not an expert in Hebrew. I’ve studied Hebrew at the Hebrew University and I can read biblical Hebrew without any trouble, and I’ve studied the other translations, and I’ve tried to find the meaning and I believe I’ve come up with the right version. As I say, as Bob Mumford says, ‘How can I help it if I’m right?’ All right, so I’m going to read to you from my little outline ‘the Prince Version,’ and then I’ll explain why. No, I think I’ll explain why first and then read it.

All right. ‘Thy people’—no change there. You notice the words ‘shall be’ is in italics, which means, of course, that they’re not there in the original. There’s no verb in the original. ‘Willing,’ but the Hebrew is the plural noun, it’s ‘free will offerings,’ which is much more, I think, significant. Thy people are free will offerings.

You see, God doesn’t want your talent, He doesn’t want your money, He doesn’t want your time, He only wants one thing—that’s you. And He’s not settling for less.

I heard a rather good story told about Vep Ellis about an Indian in a gospel service, an American Indian somewhere. And he came under conviction when the appeal was made so he thought he ought to do something. So he came up to the altar and he placed his bow and arrow on the altar and said, ‘Indian bring bow,’ but he didn’t seem to get any real peace or satisfaction. So he thought maybe he ought to do something more, so the next time he came back with his blanket, and he said, ‘Indian bring blanket.’ Went back, but still he didn’t have peace. So he thought the most valuable thing I have is my horse, so he went outside and he fetched his horse. He led his horse up to the altar and said, ‘Indian bring horse.’ But still there was no inner peace. So the fourth time, he came forward he said, ‘Indian bring Indian.’ And that’s what God is waiting for. He wants you to bring you, and He’s not settling at this time for anything less.

‘Thy people are free will offerings.’ You, yourself are the free will offerings. You don’t offer God your money, because God is very wise. He knows when He’s got you, He’s got your money, He’s got your time, He’s got your talent.

All right. ‘In the day of thy power.’ The word power in Hebrew is saba, which is the normal Hebrew word for army. So it’s in the day of God’s army that we’re talking about. There’s a specific time here, the day of God’s army.

“‘In the beauties of holiness,’ we don’t need to change to that.”

‘From the womb of the morning’ Now, where there’s a womb there must be a birth. And where there’s a morning, there must have been a night. So the picture to me is a long, dark night, but at the end of it there’s a birth. Out of the womb of darkness in the night there comes forth a birth, which is beautiful in the glory of holiness.

‘And it’s like the dew.’ What is more beautiful than when the sun arises and you see the dew sparkling in the first rays of the morning sun on the grass. It’s a very fresh, beautiful picture. And then there are the words ‘thy youth.’ Well, now this can be rendered various ways, but I believe it’s collective—thy youth: the youths who’ve offered themselves as free will offerings in the day of God’s army are to be brought forth by a birth after a long dark night out of the womb of darkness in the beauty of holiness like the dew on the grass.

I mean, you can render it many ways, but that’s the picture. It speaks of a birth out of darkness. It speaks of the restoration of beauty and holiness and freshness to God’s people. It speaks of young people being summoned as free will offerings into an army.

It’s very interesting. There are seven pictures of the church in Ephesians, as far as I know, and I don’t know whether I can give them to you now. The first one is the assembly, the second one is the body, the third one is His workmanship, His masterpiece, the fourth one is the family, the fifth one is the building, the sixth one is the bride, and the seventh one the army.

You know, I’m always impressed by the fact that after you’ve had all the beautiful tenderness of the bride, you suddenly move on to the military discipline and toughness of the army. But I’m convinced of

this, personally, that if I don’t take my place in the army, I won’t have my place in the bride. And you know what I discover? It’s my experiences in God’s army that fit me to take my place in the bride. It’s the battle that makes me tender. That may not be true with you, but it’s true with me. It’s when I’m in the hard place, the conflict and fighting, that my relationship of bride to bridegroom with Christ develops. So we have an army. Now let me read you my translation.

“Thy people are free will offerings in the day of assembling thy army, in the beauty of holiness like dew at dawn thy youth [collective] breaks forth by a birth from the womb of night.”

Praise God! I was preaching this message somewhere and there was a young man who drifted into the meetings. His name was Shelby Rogers. He’d been a Hippie. God had gloriously saved him, baptized in the Holy Spirit, and given him a ministry, and he turned up in my meeting somewhere with his guitar. And I was preaching on this theme, though not so thoroughly as I’m doing here tonight, and he began to join in and play his guitar and minister with me. And he was really—he’s quite a character. He got the message. He sat in the front row and he wrote everything down with notes.

So I was preaching on being king and priest and the next night he came back and he gave his little testimony. He said, ‘This morning in my motel,’ he said, ‘I was in the restaurant and I had eaten my breakfast, and I said to the waitress, ‘Where do I pay my bill? Do I pay you?’ And she said. ‘No. You pay the manager.’ So he said, ‘Where’s the manager?’ She said, ‘He’s over there by the cash desk. He may not look like a manager, but he is.’’ So this young man said to her, ‘Well, as a matter of fact, I’m going to tell you something about myself. I may not look like a king, but I am.’ And she said, ‘Oh, really, is that so.’ And he said, ‘What’s more, I’m a priest too.’ So he’d really got the message.

And he came that evening and when I preached on the Psalm 110, he taught us a chorus. I don’t know whether any of you know it. I can’t sing it, but some of you may have heard it, but it’s got this message perfectly. And the words go like this:

“There’s a light shining forth
I can see it on the horizon
’Tis the army of God
Preparing for war.
Coming conquering, victorious
O’er the army of Satan
Nothing shall stand
Before the army of God.”

And that’s what I see. The army of God being assembled, coming conquering victorious for the army of Satan and nothing shall stand against them, and primarily it will be an army of young people. Glory to God.

You know, ten years ago, both in Canada and in the States the youth were the problem. Today they’re the solution. Isn’t that a miracle? What a change in ten years amongst the young people. And this is what God’s predicted here: an army of young people.

Let me show you two or three other Scriptures and we’ll close, but they all relate to this. Turn to Matthew 24 for a moment, Matthew 24 which is the chapter which is depicting the end times and the days before the return of the Lord, Matthew 24 verse 3. And the disciples came to Jesus and they said:

“Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the [age]?”

Now notice the question. What shall be the sign of thy coming. Not the signs but the sign. And Jesus then proceeded to give them various signs, but He didn’t answer their question until He got to verse 14, and then He answered their question. Now you look at verse 14 and you’ll see it’s the answer.

“And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.”

That’s very specific. The end will come when the gospel of the kingdom has been preached in all the world for a witness to all nations. Therefore the ultimate responsibility and activity of the church is to preach the gospel of the kingdom in all the world for a witness to all nations. Now we don’t, we’re not authorized to preach a gospel, we’re authorized to preach the gospel of the kingdom.

The gospel of the kingdom is the gospel that declares that Jesus Christ is king. And the Scripture says

in 1 Corinthians 4:20:

“The kingdom of God is not in word, but in power.”

It’s a gospel that demonstrates the power of the risen Christ in signs and deeds and mighty wonders. Ecclesiastes 8 says:

“Where the word of a king is, there is power.”

It’s not an empty gospel. It’s not theology, it’s not a half gospel that says God can forgive your sins but He can’t heal your body. It’s the total gospel that Jesus and the apostles preached, attested with signs, wonders, miracles and mighty deeds. And this gospel of the kingdom has to be preached in all the world for a witness to all nations. And God is now recruiting an army to go out and preach that gospel.

“Now notice, going on in Matthew 24 verse 32 through 34:
Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh: So likewise ye, when ye see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors. Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled.”

There is a specific end time generation, and when we see all the signs fulfilled which Jesus spoke about, we know that we have come to that generation. For my part I am deeply convinced that we are living in that closing generation.

Now turn back to the Old Testament for a moment and see two passages in the Psalms that speak about this closing generation. Psalm 22 and then Psalm 102, but let’s look at Psalm 22 first for a moment. Psalm 22 reading from verse 28:

“For the kingdom is the LORD’S: and he is the governor among the nations.”

Notice that. God is the ruler amongst the nations. Leave out verse 29 because it’s rather complicated, verse 30:

“A seed shall serve him [the Lord]; it shall be accounted to the Lord for a generation. They shall come [this seed that shall serve him], and shall declare his righteousness unto a people that shall be born, that he hath done this.”

God declares there will be a seed that will be brought forth, by a birth out of the womb of darkness, that will be accounted to him for a generation. And this seed brought forth will come and declare God’s righteousness to a people, a vast concourse of people who shall be born in time to hear the message. I believe God is bringing forth the seed, He’s assembling the army, and the people that are to hear the message are being born.

I venture to say this, and I travel widely and I hear many reports, in spite of all the evil and all the disasters and all the tragedies in the earth, there never has been a time in human history when more people wanted to hear the truth about Jesus Christ, then there are today. Whether you go behind the Iron Curtain, the Bamboo Curtain, wherever you go there is a deep, deep longing in the hearts of men and women who’ve never known anything about Christianity to hear the truth about Jesus Christ. A people is being born to whom the army, the seed, is to take the message.

“Now turn to Psalm 102 for our closing Scripture, verse 13:
Thou [it’s the Lord] Thou shalt arise, and have mercy upon Zion: for the time to favour her, yea, the set time, is come.”

The psalmist predicts that there will be a set time in God’s calendar. A time solemnly set apart. The same word is used in Hebrew for the solemn festival days under the Mosaic covenant. Each one was called a moed, a ‘set time, a day set apart for God.’ There’s a set time in human history when God is going to arise and have mercy upon Zion, the assembled company of His people. And Zion, I believe, covers two peoples—it covers the church and it covers Israel. And we are living in that set time when God is showing sovereign mercy and favor—not that we deserve it—but it’s God’s faithfulness upon His peoples—Israel and the church.

“Leave out verse 14, though it’s a good verse, but time doesn’t permit, verse 15:
So the [nations] shall fear the name of the LORD, and all the kings of the earth thy glory.”

Again we’re dealing with the nations and the kings. This visitation of God upon His people is going to cause awe upon all the nations and the rulers of the earth and it’s going to bring grave glory to God. Verse 16:

“When the LORD shall build up Zion, he shall appear in his glory.”

You see that? So one of the greatest surest signs that the Lord is about to appear is that He’s building up Zion—the church and Israel—the vine and the fig tree of Joel. Verse 17:

“He will regard the prayer of the destitute, and not despise their prayer.”

Notice Brother Watt pointed out this afternoon, even though God has promised to do it, He demands our prayer for its fulfillment. Verse 18:

“This shall be written for the generation to come [this is the generation that it speaks about, the generation that closes this age]: and the people which shall be created shall praise the LORD.”

You notice again there’s the generation and the people. The generation that are the seed brought forth, the army that will carry the message, and the people that shall be born—it says in Psalm 22 and Psalm 102—shall be created to do what? To praise the Lord.

You see, for nineteen centuries Christians have been so slack and so negligent about praising the Lord that God says, ‘At the end of the age I’m going to create a people to do it.’ Hallelujah! Glory to God. All right, I believe those days are upon us. I believe we’re living in the times of the restoration of all things. I believe that heaven had to receive and retain Jesus Christ until these times. But now that the Lord is building up Zion, I look confidently for Him to appear in His glory. And meanwhile, He’s assembling an army. Bless the Lord. And the requirements for that army are that you be a free will offering. That’s what God demands, nothing less. Total, unreserved commitment to the Lord Jesus Christ.