A Study in Psalms - Psalm 110

There was a writer for the Washington Post Magazine, I think it was in 2007, wanted to conduct an experiment to test people's perception. So he asked a very famous violinist to perform incognito at a train station in the nation's capital one January morning. As he was there, almost everyone walked by him, not knowing, looking at him. He played six classical pieces, but only a few people actually stopped to listen to this man. After 43 minutes, there was $52 had been dropped in the hat, and only seven people stopped and listened for any amount of time.

In all, there's a video, and I watched it today, you should watch it, Google, the time violinist Joshua Bell went busking, busking is when they play in the subway and no one noticed. But in all, 1,097 people walked by, 27 people gave money, but only seven stopped to listen for any length of time. One lady gave 20 bucks because she recognized him. Yet, two days earlier, this man, Joshua Bell, used the same $3.5 million Stradivarius violin for a sold-out concert where people paid $100 each to listen to him perform.

The idea of a person not being recognized for his greatness isn't new. It happened to Jesus Christ. John says in John 1, 10, he was in the world and the world did not know him. Why did people who had been expecting the Messiah give Jesus such a cold reception? Well, one reason, they were surprised. Just as people today didn't expect a famous magician to be playing in a subway station, the people in Jesus' day did not expect the Messiah to be born in a stable. They also expected him to be a political king, not a head of a spiritual kingdom.

The people in the first century were blinded to God's purpose in sending Jesus into the world. He came to save people for their sins, but most people didn't recognize him. One of the main reasons that the people didn't recognize him was because of the Jewish leaders. The Jewish leaders helped blind the eyes of the Jews and they threatened to kick anybody out of the synagogue if they believed in Jesus. The Jewish leaders did not want a Messiah to come and take away the sins of the world. They hated Jesus.

They wanted to destroy him. So they were always asking questions, always testing, always trying to trap him. Just listen to some verses in Matthew real quick. I'll just stick with Matthew. Why does your teacher eat with the tax collectors? Matthew 9-11. Look, your disciples are doing what's not lawful to do on the Sabbath, that's picking the grain. Matthew 12-2. Teacher, we wish to see a sign from you. Matthew 12-38. The Pharisees and scribes came to Jesus in Jerusalem and said, Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders?

They do not wash their hands when they eat. Matthew 15-1. And the Pharisees and the Sadducees came to him to test him, to ask him to show them a sign from heaven. Matthew 16-1. Teacher, why doesn't your teacher pay the tax? Matthew 17-24. And the Pharisees came to him, tested him, saying, Is it lawful to divorce one's wife for any cause? Matthew 19-3. And then when he entered the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came up to him as he was teaching, saying, By what authority are you doing these things, and who gave you the authority?

But the climax comes in Matthew 22. I won't read it tonight because it's 46 verses long, but I call Matthew 22 the great question chapter. It begins with the parable of the wedding feast. Do you remember that parable? And in the end, there's a man trying to get into the wedding feast, and he doesn't have wedding clothes. That would be the religious leaders who thought their self-righteousness and their power position would get them into heaven, but Jesus says they'd be thrown out where there were gnashing of teeth.

So then we have a series of three questions by the religious leaders. First off, the Pharisees and the Herodians got together.

That's interesting in itself because those two groups hate each other. But they didn't hate each other enough. They hated Jesus more to try to trap Jesus. So they went to Jesus, and you know that famous question, is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar or not? They wanted to plot him to be able to call him a traitor if he said something about not paying the taxes. And Jesus looked at them and answered and said, Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's. When they heard it, it says they marveled and left him and went away.

It's almost surreal, these questions. You have the Lamb of God, you have the omnipotent, omniscient God who created the heavens and the universe, who knows all things, versus these religious leaders and their highly educated system, and they're talking to Jesus, but they don't believe him, even though they've seen the miracles. So then it says, question two, the Sadducees came to him, and they got asked the dumbest question ever asked in the Bible, but it's about the Levite marriage, when a man dies, leaving his wife without children, and a brother had to marry that woman.

So the Sadducees, who do not even believe in the resurrection, ask the question about this man marries this woman and he dies, seven brothers die, so whose wife is going to be in heaven? Well, Jesus says you're wrong because you don't know the scriptures nor the power of God.

Stinging rebuke. He says in the resurrection they're neither going to marry nor given in marriage, but will be like angels in heaven. As for the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was said to you by God? I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob. He is not the God of the dead, but the God of the living. And the crowd heard it, and they were astonished at Jesus' teaching. So after a while it says that when the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together again for another chance.

This time they sent a lawyer to talk to Jesus, and he asks a very good question from the Bible. Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the law? So Jesus Christ, who knows all scripture, quotes the Shema from Deuteronomy 6-5 and Leviticus 19-8. Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and mind. And the second was to love your neighbors yourself.

And they were done. But then Jesus turns the tables on the religious leaders. We have the fourth series of questions, and these are by Jesus. So Jesus actually asks four questions. And the first one is, when the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them a question saying, what do you think about the Christ?

That's question one. Right after that, whose son is he? And they said to him immediately, the son of David. That was a very easy question, because they had memorized the psalm that we're going to read tonight, Psalm 110. Everybody knew that Christ was the son of David. He was going to be a man in the lineage of David. That was the easy question. But Jesus continued. He said to them, how is it then that David in the spirit calls him Lord, saying, the Lord said to my Lord, sit at my right hand until I put your enemies on your feet.

That's Psalm 110 verse 1 that we'll look at tonight. Then Jesus says, if David calls him Lord, how is he his son?

And no one was able to answer him a word, nor from that day did anyone dare ask him any more questions. Jesus used the psalm that we're going to look at tonight to prove his deity, not as a son of man, but as the son of God and the true Messiah.

And he silenced the Pharisees. Let's read Psalm 110. It's a very short psalm. It's only seven verses, but it may be one of the most important psalms. I've been looking at this one for three years, actually scared to teach it. It's so deep and so wonderful. Psalm 110 says a psalm of David. The Lord says to my Lord, sit at my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool. The Lord sends forth from Zion your mighty scepter. Rule in the midst of your enemies. Your people will offer themselves freely on the day of your power in holy garments.

From the womb of the morning, the dew of your youth will be yours. The Lord is sworn and will not change his mind. You are a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. The Lord is at your right hand. He will shatter kings on the day of his wrath. He will execute judgments among the nations, filling them with corpses. He will shatter chiefs over the wide earth. He will drink from the brook by the way. Therefore, he will lift up his head. I can't stress how important Psalm 110 is to Scripture. The New Testament cites Psalm 110 more frequently than any other Old Testament text.

Matthew, Mark, and Luke all record the story I read to you about the tricky questions that religious leaders were asking. Matthew gives a little more detail. But all three of the synoptic gospels quote that story in Psalm 110. Dr. Jing's voice says that Psalm 110 is quoted or alluded to at least 27 times in the New Testament. It is considered the greatest messianic psalm there is in the Bible. You may know some other messianic psalms. Psalm 2, Psalm 22, which we studied about two months ago. Psalm 45, Psalm 72, and Psalm 110 are the main five messianic psalms.

Let's look at our superscription we have because it's very important. It says a psalm of David. Because David wrote this psalm, it becomes a very significant factor in interpreting this psalm. It's important that David was the author because Jesus quotes that David, speaking in the power of the Holy Spirit, that David was a prophet here writing by the inspiration of the Scripture. There is nothing in this psalm about David, about his life or an event in David's life. It is about a king, an eternal king, the Messiah.

Edward Reynolds, a Bible expositor who lived about 300 years ago, said, There are few, if any, articles of that creed which we all generally profess, which are not plainly expressed or most evident implication crouched in this little model of Psalm 110. Reynolds saw the teaching of the doctrines of the Trinity, incarnation, sufferings, resurrection, ascension, and intercession of Jesus Christ, and the communion of the saints, the last judgment, and the remission of sins, and life everlasting. One other author said to the modern reader, Psalm 110 is full of puzzles.

To the early church, it was full of treasures. The main idea in this psalm is about a victorious king. God himself seats this victorious great king at his right hand and promises to subject the king's enemies to him. There are three points, if you have an outline. The coming Messiah as a king, the coming Messiah as a priest, and the king-priest conquers. Let's look at the first three verses, one to three.

First off, you have a proclamation, the first proclamation. And I'm just going to say, the Lord says, and I'll stop right there. Here we have a prophecy of a future king who will be exalted to the right hand of God and participate in his authority and power. We will see that prophecy ultimately fulfilled in our Lord Jesus Christ. So notice when it says, the Lord says.

Maybe you have an LSB translation which says, Yahweh says. In the Hebrew, Yahweh is the first word, but we attach the.

This is an Old Testament characteristic familiar with prophetic literature. You see this 21 times in Isaiah, 167 times in Jeremiah, and 20 times in Zechariah. The Lord says. This is a powerful introduction. It's an announcement. It's a proclamation with divine authority and extreme importance when we see the Lord says. But the full sentence says, the Lord says to my Lord. There are three people involved in that little sentence right there. And this is extremely important to capture and understand the psalm tonight.

So, number one, it says, the Lord. That's Yahweh. Capital L-O-R-D. Secondly, you have the word my. That's David. David's talking about my. The one who wrote the psalm. And thirdly, you have the word in smaller capitals, L-O-R-D.

That's David's Lord. And that's translated Adonai. So, Jesus argued that the word Lord implied is one superior to David. So, the literal translation here, Yahweh says to David's Adonai. Interesting, like Psalm 2, verse 7. We have the first person of the Trinity talking to the second person of the Trinity, having a conversation, a prophecy.

So, remember when Jesus says, who's the Christ? Who's the son of David? That was an easy answer. But when Jesus says, when he quotes Psalms 110 and says, you know, David speaking in the Holy Spirit says, the Lord says to my Lord, sit at my right hand until, like, your enemy's your footstool.

That easy answer all of a sudden became very profound and a searching question. If David had called his natural, physical descendant, the Messiah, his Lord, it could only be because the one to come has to be greater than David was. And the only way that could happen is if the Messiah was more than a mere man. He would have to be a divine Messiah, who is God. So, the answer to the question that Jesus asked, that they didn't answer, what do you think about the Christ? Whose son is he? The answer is, he therefore must be both the son of David, his humanity, and the son of God in his divinity.

How could David's Lord be David's son? The only way was by incarnation, and the eternal son of God had to come to earth as a human, born in the family of David. This is so important. Turn with me to Acts 2, in the first sermon on the Day of Pentecost.

Peter's going to use Psalm 110, one of the 27 quotes or allusions there. And I'm not going to read the whole message that Peter read, but go to Acts 2, verse 29. Peter's preaching the message on the Day of Pentecost, and he says in verse 29, This Jesus God raised up, and of that we are all witnesses. Being therefore exalted at the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this that you yourselves are seeing and hearing. For David did not ascend into the heavens, but he himself says, he'll quote Psalm 110, 1, The Lord said to my Lord, sit at my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool.

Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified. So what Peter is arguing is that Jesus is raised from the dead, he's exalted at the right hand of God, therefore he is the Lord and the Christ, because he's God's son as well as David's son. Therefore he is David's Lord. David was a prophet writing Psalm 110 when he saw the humanity and the divinity in the nature of Christ. I won't go there tonight, but the writer of Hebrews will quote Psalm 110, 11 in Hebrews 1, 13 to prove that Jesus is greater than angels.

So you have this first sentence that is the first proclamation or oracle in Psalm 110, that David writing as a prophet, prophesying the future, in the power of the Holy Spirit saying, Yahweh says to my Adonai, God the Father says to my Lord, the Messiah.

Let's look at the position of the son. Continue in verse 1, God the Father says to his son, sit at my right hand. Go back to Psalm 109, and you know, there's always connections between the Psalms. So when you read a Psalm, sometimes you got to go back to the previous Psalm and look at the connection.

But in Psalms 109, the very last verse, verse 31 says, For he stands at the right hand of the needy one to save him from those who condemn his soul to death. So there, here in Psalm 109, verse 31, we see God standing at the right hand of his beloved to defend and save them. But here in Psalm 110, the very next verse, we see the Messiah sitting at the right hand of God. There are 21 references in the New Testament. I'm sorry, there are 21 references in the Bible to Christ being seated at the right hand of God, after his resurrection and ascension.

Only two are in the Old Testament. Psalms 110.1 and Psalm 16.11, which says, And then there are so many verses, I could read them all, 21, but I'll just give you a couple tonight. If you want them, you can come up and get them later. But Colossians 3.1, probably familiar with that one. Hebrews has a bunch of them. Hebrews 1.3, Hebrews 1.13, Hebrews 8.1 says, So there are 21 references in the Bible about the Messiah Christ sitting at the right hand of God. Sitting at the right hand of God refers to the Messiah's presence in heaven with the Father.

And it means he shares his majesty, he shares his authority. To sit at one's right hand was more than an honor, it means that you share in the ruling. So Jesus Christ is ruling and reigning today. He's over heaven and earth today, but he sits at the right hand of God. Derek Kidder makes the following points in his Psalm commentary. This position makes the Messiah greater than David and greater than angels. Acts 2.34 and Hebrews 1.13. God exalted him in heaven, Acts 5.30-31. Messiah is both a savior and an intercessor, Acts 5.31 and Romans 8.34.

The Messiah being seated signifies his completed work. That's why in the cross he said it is finished, Hebrews 10.11-12. The Messiah is sitting waiting for the final surrender of his enemies, Hebrews 10.13, 1 Corinthians 15.25-26. Let's move on to the promises. There are three direct promises in the rest of verse 1 and then on to verse 2. So there's a promise that God will defeat his enemies. You have the sentence, until I make your enemy a footstool. Now in Psalm 99.5 it says, exalt the Lord, worship at his footstool, holy is he.

Psalm 132.7 says, let us go to the dwelling place, let us worship at his footstool. So if you're a believer of our Lord Jesus Christ, someday in heaven you are going to worship at God's footstool. But in the context of Psalm 110.1, it's not worship, it's warfare. The phrase means to make your enemies as footstool means to defeat them, to humiliate them. To make the enemies a footstool, it's an ancient Near Eastern metaphor for absolute control. You remember in Joshua 10, Joshua conquers the five kings and he tells his army commanders, come here, put your feet on the necks of those kings, which symbolically means that you have defeated them and you are victorious.

It just means that the victory is assured. God promises his son Jesus that ultimately there will be a victory. The enemies are real, but they're not to be feared. The battle is the Lord and he is not ours. All of God's enemies will be defeated. I don't know if you saw today in the news, three churches burned in Pakistan yesterday, or just a false rumor that some Christian had desecrated the Koran. In India last month, 220 churches burned in the state of Manipur, probably don't even hear about that.

In China, if you read the latest magazine from Voice of the Martyrs, they're acquiring cameras at all the Christian churches, they're forcing Christian churches to sing patriotic songs, they have the recognition of all the people going into the church, they're closing churches, cracking down on churches. These are all God's enemies. But they are going to be crushed and God the Father says to Jesus, I'm going to make your enemies your footstool. The second promise is the promise to extend the Messiah's kingdom.

And it says in verse 2, the Lord, Adonai, sends forth from Zion. King David and Solomon would extend Israel's borders to the farthest extent before the split kingdom. But when the Messiah comes, he's going to rule and reign over the whole earth. Zion is the future location from which the Messiah will rule over the whole earth. Psalms 2-6, Psalms 48-2, Isaiah 24-23, and I'll say more about that in a couple of weeks when we look at Psalm 122.

But Psalm 87 says in verses 1-3, On the holy mount stands the city he founded. The Lord loves the gates of Zion more than any dwelling place of Jacob. Glorious things are spoken, O city of God. It's Yahweh himself, God the Father, who enables the Messiah to rule over the whole earth. And then you have the phrase, your mighty scepter. That means the strength of his rule or his omnipotent power. He will extend it. Then you have the sentence, rule in the midst of your enemies. Another translation has, have dominion in the midst of your enemies.

It extends to all of God's enemies. You know, when you're worried, you're not supposed to be worried, we're not supposed to be anxious, but sometimes when you hear about Iran, and they're building that nuclear program, I'm worried for Israel, but this month at Christ Community Church, I hope you're praying for the peace of Israel and that God will deal, be it ever so severely, with the enemies of Israel. But you know, when I hear about Iran building their nuclear weapons and what they're trying to do, when I hear the threats, you know what you need to do if you're anxious or worried?

Go to Psalm 2. It's another messianic psalm. I taught it about four years ago, but let me just read you Psalm 2.

It's a short psalm. It says, That's against God the Father and the Messiah. And you've got to love Psalms 2, verse 4. Then He will speak to them in His wrath and terrify them in His fury, saying, I love that verse in Habakkuk 2, verse 14 says, Why? There won't be any wickedness when the Millennial Kingdom starts. There won't be sin there. There will be sin later, but there'll be peace, there'll be righteousness, and Jesus Christ will be ruling and reigning from Jerusalem to the ends of the four worlds.

Let's look at the third promise. It says, This is really interesting. It says, Do you know what we're going to be doing in heaven someday? You know, Virginia, she will want to see Ray someday, right? You want to see your loved ones? But you're not going to heaven to see your loved ones, okay? I know you want to. You're going to heaven to see our Lord Jesus Christ. But you're going to be a volunteer in the greatest army ever assembled, the Lord's army, okay? This army will be all volunteers. There won't be a draft.

There won't be a conscription. There'll be young men, and I guess women, eager to serve the king in this war. So they're going to be volunteers. Number two, they're going to be dressed, it says, in holy garments.

Holiness characterizes the people who serve the Messiah. There's not going to be any sin in heaven. Thirdly, it's going to be a great multitude.

It says, What is that metaphor? What is that poetic language? Well, it just means, in the morning there's a lot of dew, okay? And so it's saying that there's going to be a lot of youths who will be abundant to serve the Messiah. So what do we learn from this first part?

The coming Messiah is a king. David is writing as a prophet in Psalm 110, prophesies that the Messiah will be a king who will sit at the right hand of God while all his enemies will be destroyed and his kingdom will extend to the whole earth. You know, when I came back from Ethiopia, I was about 10 years old, and my parents went to a church that supported them in Pomona called Grove Street Bible Church, and it was a small church, and it's no longer in existence, but we had a pastor, Charlie White, served in World War II, and he would teach Sunday school before he'd preach.

Do you remember your Sunday school songs? This one's from about 55 years ago, or 50 years ago, but it's called, I'm in the Lord's Army. Do you remember that one? Anybody know it? Okay, I'll try to do it, but I'm the worst singer at Christ to Be Church, but it says, I may never march in the infantry, ride in the cavalry, shoot the artillery, I may never fly over the enemy, but I'm in the Lord's Army. Yes, sir. I'm in the Lord's Army. Yes, sir. I'm in the Lord's Army. Some great day, we're going to be in the Lord's Army, and it's going to be the greatest army assembled, a victorious army.

Meanwhile, Jesus Christ is sitting at the right hand of God, ruling all things in heaven, and all things on earth. So, you can either obey this king, or you will become a footstool for God the Father. So, the application, we need to think of Jesus Christ today as he is today. We need to think of Jesus sitting in an exalted position at the right hand of God. Don't think of Jesus as a baby in a manger, that's the past. Don't think of Jesus on the cross, that's the past. Think of where Jesus is right now, sitting at the right hand of God, ruling, reigning, waiting until his enemies are put under his footstool.

Walter Chantry said, anyone who has caught a glimpse of the heavenly splendor and the sovereign might of Christ would do well to imitate the saints of the past. It is only appropriate to worship him with deep reverence. You may pour out great love and recognition of your personal relationship with him. He is your Lord, you are his, and he is yours. However, you are not pals. He is the Lord and Master, you are a servant and a disciple. He is infinitely above you in the scale of being. His throne holds sway over you for your present life and for assigning your eternal reward.

A king is to be honored, confessed, obeyed, and worshipped. Let's move on to point number two, the coming Messiah as a priest, verse four.

All the Messianic Psalms that I read, the five of them, present Jesus Christ as a king. But only Psalm 110 presents the Messiah King as a priest also. So now in verse four, we have a second proclamation or a second oracle.

And before we get to that, it says, the Lord is sworn and will not change his mind. So it's so important that God is sworn and secondly, God will not change his mind.

And you know there's no greater oath than one by God. This oath is unchangeable. And what is God sworn? He's sworn this oath irrevocable and permanent forever. And that's the second priesthood of Melchizedek.

And he says, you are a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. So if verse one of Psalm 110 is quoted like 21 times, this verse here is quoted at least six times, almost exclusively in Hebrews. So at least 27 times, Psalm 110.1 and Psalm 110.4 are quoted in the New Testament. So this second priesthood, you know there's only two priesthoods established by God.

You have the Aaronic priesthood, and you know that was reserved for the descendants of Levi, right? You had to be from the tribe of Levi. But then we have this new Melchizedek priesthood. And Lance has taught on this, because we went through the book of Hebrews where Melchizedek is mentioned eight times. He's first mentioned in Genesis 14, right?

A thousand years later, he's mentioned in Psalms 110. And then another thousand years later, in the book of Hebrews. This Melchizedek has no beginning. He has no successors. It says he's a priest forever. And Hebrews 7.4 says, think how great he is. And you know the story. There's only three verses in the Bible about Melchizedek in Genesis. In Genesis 14.18.20, it says, after Abraham defeated the four kings and rescued his nephew Lot, it says, Well, we studied a lot on Melchizedek, as he's mentioned eight times in Hebrews.

The second time Melchizedek is mentioned is in our Psalm 110. This Melchizedek is not, as Lance has explained before, the pre-incarnate Christ, but he's a typology of Christ. His priesthood was universal, royal, righteous, peaceful, and unending. One author said there are five facts that are about this priesthood. Number one, this priesthood is God-appointed, not inherited, like the other priesthood.

This priesthood is irrevocable, for it is underscored with a divine oath, God will not relent or change his purpose in regard to this priesthood. His priesthood is singular. This oath concerns only one person, not a priestly dynasty that continues on when someone dies. This priesthood is eternal. He's a priest forever. An eternal priesthood conferred on a single person can only be fulfilled on a person who lives forever. And number five, this priesthood is unique, for it's according to the manner of Melchizedek.

Melchizedek was a priest-king of the Most High God. He has no ancestors mentioned. One must conclude that he got this priesthood from divine appointment. James Montgomery Boyce gives three things this priesthood does for us. This priesthood changes the hearts. This priesthood of this king-priest, who's the Messiah, changes stone-cold hearts. We become new creations in Christ. You know, the old things are gone, the newest comes. 2 Corinthians 5.17. This priesthood made a real atonement. The old sacrifices under the Aaronic priesthood only covered the sins, but this priesthood of Melchizedek removes sins forever.

And number three, this priesthood is superior because it does not need to be repeated. Christ died for sins once and for all. Hebrews 10.12 says, When Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God. So what's the application in point two for this believer-priest? Do you believe in this believer-priest? Jesus Christ died on the cross for our sins. Tom Mason shared on Sunday, have the Son, don't have the Son. Someone got really offended about that, and they probably won't come back to Christ's community church.

Well, I just appeal to you tonight that believe in this priest, trust in this priest, because this is the guy, Jesus Christ, who made atonement for your sins. Don't walk away, don't reject him. 1 Peter 2.24 says, He, who is Jesus, himself bore our sins in his body on the tree that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed. If you've never come to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ, if you're confused, see me, see Lance, see Roger after church. Let's move on to the last point, the king-priest-conquers.

So in verses four to six, we saw the fulfillment of those verses in the book of Hebrews. Here in verses five to seven, the ultimate fulfillment is going to be in the book of Revelation, and that great day when we have the battle of Armageddon. You know what I find interesting in verse seven, remember I mentioned about the army of volunteers? He doesn't say anything about the army of volunteers, because God doesn't really need us, does he? But Revelation says there is an army from heaven and we'll be there.

But God's the one who's fighting this battle. So you have two points, the conflict and the conquest. First off, the conflict.

It says, the Lord is at your right hand. He will shatter kings on that day of His wrath. He will execute judgment among the nations, filling them with corpses. He will shatter chiefs over the whole wide earth. So the scene is of one giant climactic battle. Yahweh stands at the right hand of Messiah during this battle. Together they strike through the adversaries. This day of wrath is the final showdown with the forces of evil. We already read Psalms 2-9, remember what it said? You shall break them with a rod of iron and dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel.

I think we have time, so let's turn to Revelation 19. Revelation 19. And just read a little bit about this great and final battle. Okay? And I want to emphasize one point in it. But Revelation 19, verse 11 says, Then I saw heaven open, and behold, a white horse. The one sitting on it is called Faithful and True and in Righteousness. He judges and makes war. His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are many diadems. And he has a name written that no one knows but himself. He is clothed in a robe dipped in blood, and the name by which he is called is the Word of God.

And the armies of heaven, that's the armies from Psalm 110, verse 3, that we're going to be involved in. And what's it say? Arrayed in fine linen. That's what Psalms 110 says. In holy attire. White and pure. We're following him on white horses. I don't know if we're going to have machine guns. I don't know what we're going to have, lightning bolts. But we're on white horses, apparently. Verse 15 says, From his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron.

I don't think he needs us, right? But we're there. He will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty. On his robe and his thigh he has a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords. Then I saw an angel standing in the sun with a loud voice. He called to all the birds that fly directly overhead, Come gather for the great supper of God, eat the flesh of kings, the flesh of captains, the flesh of mighty men, the flesh of horses, the riders and the flesh of all men, both free and slave, both small and great.

And I saw the beast and the kings of the earth with their armies gathered to make war against him who was sitting on the horse and against his army, against us. And the beast was captured, and with it the false prophet, who in the presence had done signs by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who had worshipped his image. These two were thrown alive in the lake of fire that burns with sulfur, and the rest were slain by the sword that came out from the mouth of him who was sitting on the horse, and all the birds gorged with their flesh.

So he's going to shatter all the kings of the earth that are going to make war against the Messiah. He's going to execute judgment on them, and it says he's going to fill their corpses, and you see the graphic language fulfilled in Revelation 19. He's going to shatter them. Secondly, the conquest.

The last verse. He will drink from the brook by the way, therefore he will lift up his head. I don't know if you notice, in my ESV Bible, we have six times, he will, he will, he will, he will, depending on your translation, it may say five times.

When the enemies fall, the Messiah will press on to victory. We have a picture here of a soldier chasing a fleeing army. He delays his pursuit only long enough to refresh himself at a stream. Then he continues the relentless chase. It's a picture of complete victory. When it says he will lift up his head, that's what a victorious king will do. The last two Sundays, our brother Tom Mason said eloquently and simply, there are only two groups of people. Have the Son, have eternal life. Do not have the Son, do not have life.

Alexander McLaren said two to three hundred years ago, the choice for every man is being crushed beneath his foot or being exalted to sit with him on the throne. Revelation 321 says to the one who conquers, I will grant him to sit with me on my throne as I also conquer and sat down with my father in his throne. It's better to sit with him on his throne than to be his footstool. So I've given you some application tonight, but three things in closing. We should be warned. We should be warned. You know, only fools are going to persist in this rebellion.

You know, I think of the Chinese president who says he's going to eradicate Christianity in ten years. He's a fool. He's just purifying the church. The church is pure because those people will die for Jesus Christ. I think of the two pastors in Eritrea that have been in jail for 14 years. They actually released some of the pastors this week, praise God, but the two that have been in jail for 14 years are still there if you want to see the voice of the martyrs and read about it. But there are countries, Eritrea, Nigeria, the Islamic countries, that are all in rebellion.

You know, there's a warning to them. That's why we need to tell people about Jesus. You persist in this rebellion, you will be crushed, you will be defeated. Number two, we should be willing.

We should be willing to offer our lives to Christ to serve in this army. We need to be serving in the Lord's army here at Christ Community Church. If you're not, you're going to be serving Him later, and you're going to regret not serving Him here. So I encourage you to be part of the Lord's army here as well as you will be when you get to heaven. And number three, we should be assured that God is changing hearts all over the world through this priestly ministry of Jesus Christ.

He's bringing men and women into His kingly service. Colossians 3, verses 1 and 3 says, Our lives are now hidden with Christ where He is seated at the right hand of God. This is where our life is hidden in absolute safety. One day, when the coming King Messiah comes, when the coming Messiah priest comes, this King priest, the Lord Jesus Christ, comes, we too, like verse 7 says, will drink a refreshing victory from the brook. We will have our heads held up high as we share in the final glory. Let's pray.

Father in heaven, would it be one person tonight that is in rebellion against God? Would it be tomorrow, the next day, that we'd have a chance to talk to our relatives who are in rebellion against God because they don't have this son? Father, may they turn to Jesus Christ, the King high priest gave His own life, a sacrifice for the sins of the world, and He offers anyone who will come to Him to receive them, that they'll be called children of God. May you give us chances to share with those who are in rebellion.

May you continue to do that great work of saving people. We saw this firsthand in Argentina just a few weeks ago. Father, we do pray that as the Heavenly Father tarries, as Jesus sits at the right hand of God, we know that someday it's going to be too late. Give us opportunities to share while we can. Build Christ Community Church here in West Covina, Baldwin Park, and beyond. May we leave here tonight telling people about Jesus, that they would turn to Him. In Jesus' name, amen.