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The son has finished his breakfast now,
the father has explained to him about the different Kings.
They discussed, David, and Solomon, Nebuchadnezzar,
So, now, the boy says to the father,
"Dad, please tell me. I have been patiently waiting,
"I want to know dad, who was that man hanging on the cross,
"and why did it say 'King of the Jews' over his head."
The dad, in a quite surprising move,
opens his Bible and he says, "Son the truth about the matter
"is I do not know who that man was.
"I do not know why it said King of the Jews.
"I do not know why earlier this week he was riding a donkey,
"and the people were shouting Hosannah,
"something that can only mean, please save.
"I do not know why son. I do not know why he was on the cross."
The son's mouth drops open.
Until now, his dad knew everything.
The father pulls his son's chair over to him and he says,
"But son, you and I are going to sit down here today
"and we are going to open up these Old Testament scriptures,
"and we are going to see if we can find out
"just who, exactly, that man was.
"Let us start where we started last time, shall we?
2 Samuel 7:12 "And when thy days be fulfilled,
"and thou shalt sleep with thy fathers, I will set up thy seed
"after thee, which shall proceed out of thy bowels,
"and I will establish his kingdom.
"He shall build an house for my name,
"and I will stablish the throne of his kingdom for ever."
"So son, what do we know?"
"Well, we know that after David would die,
"someone from the lineage of David would sit on his throne,
"and not only that it would be a throne
"and a Kingdom that would last forever."
And they continue to read
down through the history of the Kings.
And they get to the prophet Isaiah. And he reads,
"And it shall come to pass in the last days,
"that the mountain of the Lord's house shall be established
"in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted
"above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it.
"And many people shall go and say, Come ye,
"and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD,
"to the house of the God of Jacob;
"and he will teach us of his ways,
"and we will walk in his paths:
"for out of Zion shall go forth the law,
"and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem."
"All nations..,dad, what does that mean?"
"Maybe, son, that means it will not be for only Jews anymore."
"So, what does it mean the law will be from Zion
"and will go forth from Jerusalem?"
"I guess that means, the law will start in Jerusalem.
"For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given:
"and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name
"shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God,
"The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.
"Of the increase of his government and peace
"there shall be no end, upon the throne of David,
"and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it
"with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever.
"The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this."
And so the Father says, "Did you see that son,
"here is another passage talking about someone who would
"have the government, he would be called Wonderful, Counselor,
"the mighty God, the Father of eternity, the prince of peace.
"So whoever it would be, he would give the throne of David
"and his kingdom and there would be no end."
And they continue to read and now they get to Daniel
and they read about Nebuchadnezzar.
The boy says, "Hey, I remember this."
But, they come to Daniel 2:44.
"And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven
"set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed:
"and the kingdom shall not be left to other people,
"but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms,
"and it shall stand for ever."
The boy says, "I remember, it will not be a kingdom
"set up by the hands of man, nor left to the hands of men,
"and it will be a kingdom that will last for ever.
"When will it come dad?"
"I do not know son, but I know this:
"There have been four kingdoms since Nebuchadnezzar ruled.
"So, it has to be sometime while the Romans are still in charge."
And the boy asks,
"You mean it might even happen in my lifetime?"
"Yes, son, it could."
And the son is full of excitement.
"Let us keep reading, come on."
They have read for hours now,
and the father says, "Why do not we eat lunch first?"
The boy says, "Come on dad,
"we are almost to the end of the book.
"Please, can we finish it?"
So, reluctantly the father agrees.
And they continue to read.
They turn to the book of Micah 5:2.
"But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little
"among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee
"shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel;
"whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting."
The son stops his father as he is about
to breeze past that passage.
Wait a minute dad.
Read that one again please.
"But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little
"among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee
"shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel;
"whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting."
"So that says the ruler will come
"from a place called Bethlehem. "Right?"
"Very good son, you are quite a good little student.
"The ruler that is going to reign on David's throne
"is going to be from the little city of Bethlehem.
"So son, what have we seen thus far?"
They go back and start writing things down.
1. God would give David an heir
who would sit on his throne for ever.
2. This new law and this new Kingdom
would start in Jerusalem.
3. The ruler would be called Wonderful, Counsellor,
The mighty God, the father of eternity, The Prince of Peace.
4. It would happen in the days of the Roman Empire.
5. This ruler would be born in Bethlehem.
"So," the father says, "We need to keep these things in mind son.
"Okay?" So, the son finishes writing them down,
as the father continues to read. He reads through Micah,
and Nahum and Habakkuk, Zephaniah Haggai,
And then he gets to the book called Zechariah.
And he stops as he reads chapter 6 verse 13.
"Even he shall build the temple of the Lord;
"and he shall bear the glory,
"and shall sit and rule upon his throne;
"and he shall be a priest upon his throne:
"and the counsel of peace shall be between them both."
The father says, "Hmmm, that is very interesting.
"Look at that son. See that,
"this King would sit upon his throne, and at the same time
"he would be a priest upon his throne.
"Now, whoever this king would be,
"he would be both priest and King."
And the son says, "Have we ever had one of those?"
He says no.
"There was a man that our Father Abraham paid tithes to,
"a man named Melchizedek, but I do not think we have had one
"who would be both Priest and King.
"So now he is going to be Priest and King at the same time."
They keep reading and they get to chapter nine,
and all of a sudden, he reads verse nine
when he comes to a complete stop.
In fact he closes the book.
"What dad? What? Why did you stop?"
"Did you hear the last verse son?"
"What about it? What was it?"
So, he slowly opens the book again, and reads Zechriah 9:9.
"Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion;
"shout, O daughter of Jerusalem:
"behold, thy King cometh unto thee:
"he is just, and having salvation; lowly,
"and riding upon an ***, and upon a colt the foal of an ***."
"What dad what about it?"
"Remember last week, when you asked me about that man,
"the one who was riding on a donkey and the colt
"and the people were calling him Hosanna,
"which means, salvation please?"
The son says, "Yes, dad, I remember that."
"Read this verse my son."
So he slowly reads the verse.
"Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion;
"shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold,
"thy King cometh unto thee:
"he is just, and having salvation; lowly,
"and riding upon a Donkey,
"and upon a colt the foal of a donkey."
And they stare blankly at one another for a minute,
and then the boy asks the question
that the father knew was coming.
He said, "Dad, did you not say
"that the man hanging on the cross was that same man?"
The father looks at his son and says,
"Son, that is enough reading for now.
"I need to get up and make us some lunch."
Needless to say, it was a quiet afternoon in their house.
The father and the son have come to realize,
perhaps they put their ruler upon the cross.
But, did the man who died on that cross
fit all these criteria?
God would give David an heir
who would sit on his throne forever.
This new law and this new Kingdom
would start in Jerusalem.
The ruler would be called Wonderful, Counsellor,
The mighty God, the father of eternity, The Prince of Peace.
It would happen in the days of the Roman Empire.
This ruler would be born in Bethlehem.
Would he be both King and Priest upon the throne?
Is he the king that rode the donkey?
Now, folks that is the question.
Is this Jesus the one who died on the cross?
Is he the one that fits all these things?
So, that brings us to the New Testament.
First clue: God said he would give him the throne of David.
Now turn to Matthew 2:1.
"Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea
"in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men
"from the east to Jerusalem." Remember Micah 5:2,
"He was to be born in Bethlehem."
So, he was born in the right place.
Matthew 2:2 "Saying, Where is he that is born King of the Jews?
"for we have seen his star in the east,
"and are come to worship him.
The wise men heard about the birth of Jesus
and look what they asked.
They said, "Where is the King of the Jews?"
So, it appears we have the right baby.
If there is any doubt, turn to Luke chapter one.
The angel, Gabriel, told Mary prior to the birth of Jesus,
"He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest:
"and the Lord God shall give unto him
"the throne of his father David:
"And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever;
"and of his kingdom there shall be no end."
Luke 2:25 "And, behold, there was a man in Jerusalem,
"whose name was Simeon; and the same man was just and devout,
"waiting for the consolation of Israel:
"and the Holy Ghost was upon him.
"And it was revealed unto him by the Holy Ghost,
"that he should not see death,
"before he had seen the Lord's Christ.
"You will not die until you see the savior.
"And he came by the Spirit into the temple:
"and when the parents brought in the child Jesus,
"to do for him after the custom of the law,
"Then took he him up in his arms, and blessed God,
"and said, Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart
"in peace, according to thy word:
"For mine eyes have seen "thy salvation"
So God told Simeon he would not die before he saw the Christ,
and they took Jesus to see him
and see what he says in verse 30.
"Let me depart this life, for my eyes have seen thy salvation."
Now look at verse 36.
"And there was one Anna, a prophetess,
"And she coming in that instant gave thanks
"likewise unto the Lord, and spake of him to all them
"that looked for redemption in Jerusalem."
So, these two inspired people claimed about this little baby,
that he was going to be the Savior.
Then as Jesus and His older cousin John grew up,
look, John the Baptist proclaimed the coming Kingdom,
saying, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand."
"Kingdom of heaven" and "kingdom of God"
are used interchangeably in Matthew's gospel.
It is very close by. That is what at hand means.
Jesus began His ministry saying the same thing,
"Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.
Repentance as a prelude to experiencing the kingdom
indicates that it is a spiritual reality.
So, keep this in mind too, in order to enter the Kingdom,
one thing you must do is repent.
Now, we are going to skip forward in the life of Jesus.
In fact we are going to fast forward
to the last week of his life, in Matthew 21:2 said,
"then sent Jesus two disciples, Saying unto them,
"'Go into the village over against you,
"'and straightway ye shall find an *** tied,
"'and a colt with her: loose them, and bring them unto me.
"'And if any man say ought unto you, ye shall say,
"'The Lord hath need of them;
"'and straightway he will send them.
"'All this was done, that it might be fulfilled
"'which was spoken by the prophet, saying,
"'Behold, thy King cometh unto thee, meek,
"'and sitting upon an ***, and a colt the foal of an ***.'"
Did we see that before?
Yes, back in Zechariah nine.
"And the disciples went, and did as Jesus commanded them,
"And brought the ***, and the colt,
"and put on them their clothes, and they set him thereon.
"And a very great multitude spread their garments
"in the way; others cut down branches from the trees,
"and strawed them in the way. And the multitudes
"that went before, and that followed, cried, saying,
"'Hosanna to the Son of David:
"'Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord;
"'Hosanna in the highest.'"
Here he is Hosannah, a word that means "salvation please."
And, he is called the Son of David.
But, while he was there, they wanted to make him
an earthly king, and he escaped from them
and refused to be the earthly king.
And now we fast forward from Sunday to Friday.
Jesus has been arrested and one reason he was brought in
was because they said He claimed to be king.
In John 18:33, Pilate brings Jesus in and asks him
if he is a king and in verse 36 Jesus says,
"'My kingdom is not of this world:
"'if my kingdom were of this world,
"'then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered
"'to the Jews: but now is my kingdom not from hence.'
"Pilate therefore said unto him, 'Art thou a king then?'
"Jesus answered, 'Thou sayest that I am a king.
"'To this end was I born, and for this cause came I
"'into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth.
"'Every one that is of the truth heareth my voice.'"
Jesus makes a couple things clear here.
He came to this world to start his kingdom,
but that his kingdom was not of this world.
Now, what did Daniel say?
"It would be a kingdom not made with the hands of man."
That fits quite nicely with what Jesus said.
Then at his trial, remember, they put
purple robes of royalty on Him, put on a crown of thorns
and gave Him a mock sceptre to ridicule His kingship:
John 19:1 "Then Pilate therefore took Jesus, and scourged him.
"And the soldiers platted a crown of thorns,
"and put it on his head, and they put on him a purple robe,
"And said, 'Hail, King of the Jews!'
"and they smote him with their hands."
He did not necessarily mean it. But it was still a fact:
He had just struck the King of the Jews.
Pilate presented the battered Jesus to the mocking crowd,
saying, "Behold your King!" John 19:14.
In fact, that brings us back to that little boy,
and the sign that he saw that read, "Jesus, King of the Jews."
John 19:19 "And Pilate wrote a title, and put it on the cross.
"And the writing was, Jesus of Nazareth the King of the Jews.'"
Here is a man who is to start a Kingdom, and is about to die,
and he still had not started it yet. How do we know?
Turn to Luke 23:50.
"And, behold, there was a man named Joseph, a counsellor;
"and he was a good man, and a just:
"(The same had not consented to the counsel and deed of them;)
"he was of Arimathaea, a city of the Jews:
"who also himself waited for the kingdom of God.
"This man went unto Pilate, and begged the body of Jesus."
Here was a man who was still waiting
for the Kingdom to be established, after Jesus died,
and, so, it is this case. Jesus indeed died.
This is where the majority of the world misses it.
They believe that since he died, he did not start his kingdom.
But, friends, in a few days
the day of Pentecost was the beginning of the kingdom.
How do we know that?
Let us just turn over to it, shall we?
But, let us not forget about the little boy and his father.
Roughly fifty days have passed since they had read
their old testament scriptures together that day.
Fifty days had gone by since they thought of that man
riding the donkey, since they studied about the man
who was called King of the Jews.
In fact, they had gone back to their regular routine of life.
The boy went back to school, the father went back to work
and life continued to go on.
But, it is the day of Pentecost, and the boy and his father
are attending all the festivities of the Passover.
They hear a spectacular sound,
a sound as of a mighty rushing wind.
Before long, some Galileans are standing before the crowd
and they are speaking in different languages.
Peter and the rest tell them that it was by the power of God
that this was happening; but then they start to preach
a full out sermon. "Ye men of Israel, hear these words;
"Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you
"by miracles and wonders and signs, which God did by him
"in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know:"
And those words catch the Father's attention,
and the boy's as well. Why?
Because 50 days ago they wondered who that man was
and now a person who has the ability to do miracles
stands before them and he mentions this man.
The sermon continues in Acts 2:29.
"Men and brethren, let me freely speak unto you
"of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried,
"and his sepulchre is with us unto this day.
"Therefore being a prophet, and knowing that God
"had sworn with an oath to him, that of the fruit of his loins,
"according to the flesh, he would raise up Christ
"to sit on his throne."
And now, they get it.
David was a prophet, and he saw that Christ was to be the one
who would sit upon his, David's throne.
"This Jesus hath God raised up, whereof we all are witnesses.
"Therefore being by the right hand of God exalted,
"and having received of the Father the promise
"of the Holy Ghost, he hath shown forth this,
"which ye now see and hear."
"For David is not ascended into the heavens:
"but he saith himself, 'The LORD said unto my Lord,
"'Sit thou on my right hand.'"
Here it is, back in verse 30. David was a prophet
and said Jesus would sit on his own throne, and now he tells us
where his throne is at... the Father's right hand.
"Until I make thy foes thy footstool.
"Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly,
"that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified,
"both Lord and Christ."
So, he says David did not ascend to heaven, but Jesus did,
and he is at the right hand of God.
The boy says, "How could He be King?
"He has no crown, he has no throne and he has died."
But, the father says "Son, I finally get it.
"It was not an earthly kingdom.
"We have been looking for an earthly kingdom
"but it is not going to be one.
David's throne is in Heaven, and this man who was on the cross,
"he rose from the dead and now he is sitting on that throne.
"He is King and He is Priest."
"Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart,
"and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles,
"'Men and brethren, what shall we do?'"
The father gets it and he shouts out,
"What must we do? We have killed the son of God,
"the one who is upon the throne of David. What do we do?
"We are in sin we have defied the ruler we have killed
"the only one who could save us, what shall we do to be saved?"
Acts 2:38 "Then Peter said unto them,
"'Repent, and be baptized every one of you
"'in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins,
"'and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.
"'For the promise is unto you, and to your children,
"'and to all that are afar off, even as many as
"'the Lord our God shall call.'"
He listens closely, and he says, "Son, did you hear that?
"We can be saved. He can still save us."
"And with many other words did he testify and exhort, saying,
"'Save yourselves from this untoward generation.'
"Then they that gladly received his word were baptized:
"'and the same day there were added unto them
"about three thousand souls."
When were they added?
When they were baptized.
What were they added to?
Look down to verse 47.
"Praising God, and having favour with all the people.
"And the Lord added to the church daily
"such as should be saved."
Folks, they were added to the church.
Jesus says that his kingdom and the church are the same thing.
But that is a different story,
But we want us to understand some things
about what we've talked about.
All these kings who have sat upon these different thrones,
leading to the one king.
The kingdom that would be established and set up forever.
And just like the father, he had missed it all of those years,
He had wanted the kingdom to be an earthly kingdom,
But it was not going to be an earthly kingdom.
And so, he understood then,
that it was going to be a heavenly kingdom.
Are you a part of that heavenly kingdom?
You can be.
The kingdom that is known as the church.
If you want to be a part of the kingdom,
just do what Peter had told those people on Pentecost to do.
He said repent. Repent of your sins,
that means change your mind about living a life of sin.
These people had sinned in killing the Christ
and they needed to be forgiven of it.
And so the first thing Peter says is that you need to repent.
He then says to be baptized.
What does it mean to be baptized?
To be, the word is literally, immersed.
To be immersed in water in order for
the forgiveness of sins.
Notice it does not say to be sprinkled or to be poured,
but really to be immersed in water
for the forgiveness of sins.
The kingdom is Christ's kingdom.