1 00:00:00,560 --> 00:00:02,960 Welcome to the Illuminate Church podcast. 2 00:00:03,400 --> 00:00:05,520 We hope today's message is encouraging to you. 3 00:00:10,440 --> 00:00:13,520 Welcome to all of you, welcome everybody who's watching online. 4 00:00:13,520 --> 00:00:15,400 If you're brand new to illuminate church. 5 00:00:15,560 --> 00:00:19,200 We help people find abundant life in Jesus and I pray that 6 00:00:19,200 --> 00:00:24,400 that happens for you starting today in Jesus name, Amen, man, 7 00:00:24,520 --> 00:00:27,040 Come on. It's the Advent season, which if 8 00:00:27,040 --> 00:00:29,400 you're not familiar with what that word means, it means the 9 00:00:29,400 --> 00:00:32,800 anticipation of the arrival of Christ. 10 00:00:32,800 --> 00:00:38,720 As kids we anticipate with great joy the gifts, but as we grow in 11 00:00:38,720 --> 00:00:43,600 our maturity, we anticipate the giver of gifts. 12 00:00:45,760 --> 00:00:52,200 What are you here? We as believers who hold high 13 00:00:52,200 --> 00:00:55,640 the name of Jesus, fill our hearts with anticipation, not 14 00:00:55,640 --> 00:00:58,240 for the gifts, but for the giver of gifts. 15 00:00:58,240 --> 00:01:03,240 And the church says Amen. Come on, y'all already drinking 16 00:01:03,240 --> 00:01:06,760 too much eggnog? I can tell nobody knows what a 17 00:01:06,760 --> 00:01:08,160 nog is. You don't want to find out. 18 00:01:09,760 --> 00:01:12,880 It's not good. I want to give a huge shout out 19 00:01:12,960 --> 00:01:17,320 to Ronnie Antoine and the Kasen family and all the incredible 20 00:01:17,320 --> 00:01:23,360 volunteers and our staff that made a dream come to life. 21 00:01:23,920 --> 00:01:28,360 We bought this property in 2018, we opened the property in 2024. 22 00:01:28,360 --> 00:01:31,920 And the entire time we have dedicated this part of this land 23 00:01:31,920 --> 00:01:35,440 out here as an advanced space where the community could gather 24 00:01:35,440 --> 00:01:38,440 here. And for the first time ever, we 25 00:01:38,440 --> 00:01:42,200 finally had an event out there on Friday night and nearly 600 26 00:01:42,200 --> 00:01:49,320 people showed up to watch a movie you can watch on your 27 00:01:49,320 --> 00:01:52,320 couch. Like, what is the deal? 28 00:01:52,320 --> 00:01:53,680 The deal is people want community. 29 00:01:53,680 --> 00:01:55,520 People want to be around the church. 30 00:01:55,520 --> 00:01:58,720 We watch the greatest Christmas movie that there is. 31 00:02:00,440 --> 00:02:06,160 Fight me if you want the Grinch, the animated version, such a 32 00:02:06,160 --> 00:02:09,360 salvific salvation story right in the middle of this. 33 00:02:09,360 --> 00:02:12,040 If you have eyes to see some people say Home Alone. 34 00:02:12,040 --> 00:02:14,240 And I say, if Home Alone is your favorite movie, then you need to 35 00:02:14,240 --> 00:02:18,640 go home alone right now. Go ahead. 36 00:02:18,680 --> 00:02:22,600 It is a good movie. OK, but huge deal. 37 00:02:22,920 --> 00:02:25,680 I walked up to the property. I was handing out stickers and I 38 00:02:25,680 --> 00:02:28,440 immediately walked to this one family like, hey, have we met 39 00:02:28,440 --> 00:02:29,720 before? And they're like, this is our 40 00:02:29,720 --> 00:02:34,560 very first time ever to illuminate was to come see the 41 00:02:34,560 --> 00:02:36,280 Grinch with us. And they said we're going to be 42 00:02:36,280 --> 00:02:38,720 here on a Sunday morning. They have a cheer competition 43 00:02:38,720 --> 00:02:39,840 this morning. So they're not here. 44 00:02:39,840 --> 00:02:41,280 I make them stand up when we shout. 45 00:02:41,440 --> 00:02:45,160 But as Kayla Koala, I'm not saying that, right? 46 00:02:47,000 --> 00:02:50,480 Oh man. And Jermaine, her husband and 47 00:02:50,480 --> 00:02:55,480 their kids, Aiden and Elena, and their last name, Ingram. 48 00:02:55,480 --> 00:02:59,320 Hey, never met him before. So my long last brother. 49 00:02:59,360 --> 00:03:02,120 And it's awesome. Anyway, nobody cares. 50 00:03:03,720 --> 00:03:07,200 I also want to make this mention before I jump into the message 51 00:03:07,240 --> 00:03:09,480 today that on Tuesday we sent an e-mail. 52 00:03:09,480 --> 00:03:11,560 Out. If you did not receive the 53 00:03:11,560 --> 00:03:15,080 e-mail, stop by connect Central. They can take your e-mail and we 54 00:03:15,080 --> 00:03:17,400 can make sure you're on the list or you can open up the Church 55 00:03:17,400 --> 00:03:20,560 Center app right now and you can, well, don't do it right now 56 00:03:21,040 --> 00:03:24,560 after the service and you can read the e-mail for yourself. 57 00:03:24,560 --> 00:03:29,200 The e-mail, the entire e-mail is about where are we going now as 58 00:03:29,200 --> 00:03:31,880 a church? What's the future for Illuminate 59 00:03:31,880 --> 00:03:33,400 Church? By the way, I just got to, I'm 60 00:03:33,400 --> 00:03:37,040 having ADD moments right here to forgive me, but Aaron Fabian is 61 00:03:37,040 --> 00:03:40,280 sitting right here and she decorated with Raquel. 62 00:03:40,640 --> 00:03:44,320 I mean, the entire lobby, those gigantic Christmas trees, the 63 00:03:44,320 --> 00:03:47,480 wreaths, all of that. She did that. 64 00:03:49,360 --> 00:03:51,120 I saw her on the top of the trees. 65 00:03:51,120 --> 00:03:53,880 I saw her under the trees. I saw her in the trees. 66 00:03:55,400 --> 00:03:58,680 She was mostly happy. You know how Christmas trees do, 67 00:03:59,000 --> 00:04:02,000 you know, You know, I'll say this on Christmas Eve again, but 68 00:04:02,000 --> 00:04:06,240 if you have a fake tree, anyone means you have a fake Jesus. 69 00:04:12,880 --> 00:04:15,720 If you have a real tree in your house, I know I'm looking at all 70 00:04:15,720 --> 00:04:16,320 these trees. Like what? 71 00:04:16,320 --> 00:04:17,240 All these trees are fake. What? 72 00:04:18,160 --> 00:04:19,440 OK, I'm stepping back. Stepping. 73 00:04:19,720 --> 00:04:21,959 Come back. So I sent out this e-mail, 74 00:04:22,079 --> 00:04:24,680 right? The emails about the future of 75 00:04:24,680 --> 00:04:28,240 Illuminate Church and in it we laid the vision. 76 00:04:28,240 --> 00:04:30,360 Anyone get the e-mail? We have over 2000 people have 77 00:04:30,360 --> 00:04:33,080 opened the e-mail. If you haven't seen this yet, we 78 00:04:33,080 --> 00:04:35,160 have three major initiatives that will be happening in the 79 00:04:35,160 --> 00:04:37,680 next 5 to 10 years. Number one, it is time for 80 00:04:37,680 --> 00:04:40,520 Illuminate Church to open the Illuminate Church Academy, which 81 00:04:40,520 --> 00:04:43,840 is a school that is Christ centered and and affordable 82 00:04:48,080 --> 00:04:50,920 Christ centered. Jesus said everything. 83 00:04:50,920 --> 00:04:53,320 We are going to indoctrinate children with the right thing, 84 00:04:53,320 --> 00:04:54,520 which is. Jesus. 85 00:04:55,960 --> 00:04:58,640 And it'll be affordable, which is incredible for a private 86 00:04:58,640 --> 00:05:00,080 school to be affordable. But this is going to be 87 00:05:00,080 --> 00:05:05,920 affordable #2 we are opening a center and all these names are 88 00:05:05,920 --> 00:05:07,560 placeholders I put. That in the e-mail, we're not 89 00:05:07,560 --> 00:05:10,520 sure exactly, but we're calling it now, Radiant Health and this. 90 00:05:10,520 --> 00:05:13,320 Is a Health Center, not like a hospital, but it's meant for 91 00:05:13,320 --> 00:05:16,360 body, mind, soul and spirit. If you're hurting in any way, 92 00:05:16,360 --> 00:05:19,280 you will know I can go here and I can get help. 93 00:05:19,280 --> 00:05:21,920 If you just want to get healthier in any way, you know, 94 00:05:21,920 --> 00:05:26,200 I can go here and get help for finances, for parenting, for 95 00:05:26,880 --> 00:05:30,160 biblical encouragement, licensed mental health counselors who are 96 00:05:30,160 --> 00:05:33,760 full of the Holy Spirit helping to heal what has been broken. 97 00:05:33,880 --> 00:05:36,840 We're talking about what else am I talking about? 98 00:05:36,840 --> 00:05:38,080 So many. There's going to be a gym in 99 00:05:38,080 --> 00:05:42,960 there. You can actually, wow, go ahead. 100 00:05:43,320 --> 00:05:45,680 I think we're going to make the. Gym as like there's female time 101 00:05:45,680 --> 00:05:48,040 at the gym and then there's man time at the gym. 102 00:05:49,080 --> 00:05:53,040 Just just going to be different. It's going to be modesty because 103 00:05:53,040 --> 00:05:55,120 modest is the hottest. Amen. 104 00:05:57,960 --> 00:06:02,720 You heard it here, 10th. All of these things are coming. 105 00:06:02,720 --> 00:06:05,000 And then thirdly, we want to continue to fulfill the Great 106 00:06:05,000 --> 00:06:07,280 Commission, which is to. Go and make disciples of all 107 00:06:07,280 --> 00:06:09,800 nations, which means if you're not growing as a church, you're 108 00:06:09,800 --> 00:06:11,120 not fulfilling the Great Commission. 109 00:06:11,200 --> 00:06:14,000 However, churches get so large that they're no longer a local 110 00:06:14,000 --> 00:06:15,280 church. They're an event that people 111 00:06:15,280 --> 00:06:16,640 attend. And we don't want that. 112 00:06:16,640 --> 00:06:19,480 We never set out as a church to become a mega church. 113 00:06:19,640 --> 00:06:22,120 Amen. So here's what we're doing as we 114 00:06:22,120 --> 00:06:24,080 grow and continue to fill these seats. 115 00:06:24,200 --> 00:06:27,320 You'll see it Christmas Eve, every seat will be full, right? 116 00:06:28,200 --> 00:06:30,560 We're going to unload people from this campus and say, hey, 117 00:06:30,560 --> 00:06:34,760 we're going to launch a church down in Haines City or over in 118 00:06:34,760 --> 00:06:37,880 Loftman or up in winter Garden. Who knows where the Lord is 119 00:06:37,880 --> 00:06:39,240 going to lead us. Some of you are sending the 120 00:06:39,240 --> 00:06:41,760 emails like, but what here that where are they going to launch 121 00:06:41,760 --> 00:06:44,360 churches or we're going to launch campuses of illuminate 122 00:06:44,360 --> 00:06:47,520 church, but every one of those campuses will have a live 123 00:06:47,720 --> 00:06:49,920 preacher. We won't ever do the screen kind 124 00:06:49,920 --> 00:06:52,960 of preaching where the guys up there on the screen because the 125 00:06:52,960 --> 00:06:58,400 Lord said in a season of screens, be authentic, be real 126 00:06:58,640 --> 00:07:00,760 in front of people. So that's what's happening. 127 00:07:01,080 --> 00:07:03,840 A lot of you open the e-mail, but not enough of you are 128 00:07:03,840 --> 00:07:05,760 responding. At the very bottom of the 129 00:07:05,760 --> 00:07:08,920 e-mail, it says, click this link and tell us that you're in. 130 00:07:09,280 --> 00:07:11,880 Say I'm in with you. It encourages the staff. 131 00:07:11,880 --> 00:07:14,960 It gives life to the vision. It gives agreement between us 132 00:07:15,040 --> 00:07:17,840 that you're believing with us for God to do these incredible 133 00:07:17,840 --> 00:07:20,000 things. So look at the e-mail, get the 134 00:07:20,000 --> 00:07:21,600 e-mail. If you need help, go to Connect 135 00:07:21,600 --> 00:07:23,120 Central. They can help you download the 136 00:07:23,120 --> 00:07:25,560 app and sign up. So you get on our e-mail list 137 00:07:25,560 --> 00:07:27,240 and get those emails. Are we all good? 138 00:07:28,280 --> 00:07:30,360 All right, let's turn it in. You good mezzanine. 139 00:07:32,560 --> 00:07:34,880 I love you. Today we start our Christmas 140 00:07:34,880 --> 00:07:39,040 series, Jesus the one and only. It's been a theme you've already 141 00:07:39,040 --> 00:07:42,040 been singing this morning here, Pastor Kim sharing he is the one 142 00:07:42,040 --> 00:07:43,640 and only. There's no one above him, beside 143 00:07:43,640 --> 00:07:46,800 him, beneath him. He stands alone as the singular 144 00:07:47,040 --> 00:07:50,560 king. And we're going to discover what 145 00:07:50,560 --> 00:07:52,760 that means today through this series. 146 00:07:53,000 --> 00:07:54,440 And I'm really glad you're here. Just. 147 00:07:54,800 --> 00:07:57,480 So glad you're here. Christine and I, we have three 148 00:07:57,480 --> 00:08:00,120 kids, Owen, Audrey and Eli. And I want to tell you, this 149 00:08:00,120 --> 00:08:01,960 won't shock you. And it's probably similar to you 150 00:08:01,960 --> 00:08:05,440 if you have kids or if you're in a family and other people got 151 00:08:05,440 --> 00:08:08,280 kids running around at the beginning of their life, even 152 00:08:08,280 --> 00:08:11,480 before they're born. You begin to wonder, what will 153 00:08:11,480 --> 00:08:16,080 this kid become? What will they achieve? 154 00:08:16,800 --> 00:08:19,200 What will be? Academically, athletically, 155 00:08:19,200 --> 00:08:22,200 relationally, and you kind of make all these guesses, 156 00:08:22,200 --> 00:08:26,360 prognostications in your mind of what your kids might become. 157 00:08:26,440 --> 00:08:28,880 But really, the truth is parents, you can agree you got 158 00:08:28,880 --> 00:08:34,360 no clue of the journey and the adventure and the incredible 159 00:08:34,360 --> 00:08:38,159 life giving thing that it is to parent kids, but you really? 160 00:08:38,600 --> 00:08:40,760 I mean most of my parenting life, that's how I felt. 161 00:08:40,760 --> 00:08:44,200 Just clueless. I have no idea where this is 162 00:08:44,200 --> 00:08:46,040 going. God, we're just trusting you. 163 00:08:46,280 --> 00:08:49,320 No clue. I want you to know today that 164 00:08:49,320 --> 00:08:54,680 God in His sovereignty, never, ever, ever ever felt this way 165 00:08:55,400 --> 00:09:02,080 about His Son Jesus. From Jesus very first breath 166 00:09:03,560 --> 00:09:10,160 until his last breath, God knew it All in all of its detail, 167 00:09:10,680 --> 00:09:17,560 100% of it, Everything that we now know as biblical history in 168 00:09:17,560 --> 00:09:20,360 the past. God knew his biblical prophecy 169 00:09:20,640 --> 00:09:25,040 before it happened and he spoke to it and then watched it become 170 00:09:25,040 --> 00:09:27,080 fulfilled one after the other, after the other. 171 00:09:27,080 --> 00:09:30,600 God knew the entirety of the life of His Son. 172 00:09:31,760 --> 00:09:35,840 As this Christmas season starts the celebration of the beginning 173 00:09:35,840 --> 00:09:41,440 of Jesus story, I want to take you to the end of the story so 174 00:09:41,440 --> 00:09:46,880 that we can get a picture of who this baby Jesus is and forever 175 00:09:46,880 --> 00:09:50,880 will be what God knew Jesus was the entire time. 176 00:09:50,880 --> 00:09:54,080 And I'm not talking about the cross because for many of us 177 00:09:54,080 --> 00:09:55,760 that's where the story of Jesus ends. 178 00:09:55,760 --> 00:09:58,440 The moment that he took my sins upon the world and he saved me 179 00:09:58,440 --> 00:10:01,000 because the story is about me. So the end of the story is the 180 00:10:01,000 --> 00:10:04,200 cross or the resurrection. I'm not even talking about the 181 00:10:04,200 --> 00:10:07,000 ascension. I'm talking about the Book of 182 00:10:07,000 --> 00:10:09,520 Revelation, of something that has yet to happen. 183 00:10:10,720 --> 00:10:15,600 When a cataclysmic battle occurs on the earth, in Israel, 184 00:10:15,600 --> 00:10:20,560 northern Israel, in Megiddo, the valley, the Jezreel Valley, you 185 00:10:20,560 --> 00:10:22,280 can go. There and stand there and see it 186 00:10:22,280 --> 00:10:25,000 by the wayside. Note, I just met this week with 187 00:10:25,000 --> 00:10:26,920 a guy named Avishai in my office. 188 00:10:26,920 --> 00:10:29,560 He lives in Jerusalem. He leaves the Tour Company that 189 00:10:29,560 --> 00:10:31,920 we had partnered with to go. Earlier this year but we had to 190 00:10:31,920 --> 00:10:33,240 cancel because of safety reasons. 191 00:10:33,560 --> 00:10:38,040 We're starting to replan a trip to take the church to Israel, so 192 00:10:38,040 --> 00:10:39,800 get yourself ready. Come on. 193 00:10:41,040 --> 00:10:43,240 So I get to say in the message all the time, you can go see it 194 00:10:43,240 --> 00:10:45,840 with us in Israel, because you will see it with us in Israel. 195 00:10:46,000 --> 00:10:50,160 So this battle is happening, the battle that ends all battles and 196 00:10:50,160 --> 00:10:53,960 the battle is between the beast and his legions that are 197 00:10:53,960 --> 00:10:55,840 partnering together. The beast and the legions are 198 00:10:55,840 --> 00:10:57,640 partnering together. Now the beast you might think is 199 00:10:57,640 --> 00:10:59,560 like a dragon or a mythical beast. 200 00:10:59,560 --> 00:11:03,600 It's actually a person that the Bible calls a beast and the 201 00:11:03,600 --> 00:11:08,000 beast overseas the evil empire, which in the end is A1 world 202 00:11:08,000 --> 00:11:09,800 government with one world currency. 203 00:11:09,920 --> 00:11:12,960 And everyone is following deceived by the beast. 204 00:11:13,360 --> 00:11:15,280 And it says the legions are with him. 205 00:11:15,800 --> 00:11:18,800 And these armies are the armies of every nation, led by the 206 00:11:18,800 --> 00:11:21,800 kings of every nation. So the kings of all nations at 207 00:11:21,800 --> 00:11:25,040 the end of time will be aligning themselves with this one world 208 00:11:25,040 --> 00:11:28,480 leader who is the beast. And they've come to wreak havoc 209 00:11:28,480 --> 00:11:32,440 and destruction on the earth to put into bondage all of those 210 00:11:32,520 --> 00:11:37,600 inhabitants of the earth. It looks like victory for them 211 00:11:37,720 --> 00:11:41,080 is assured, and defeat for humanity is also. 212 00:11:41,080 --> 00:11:43,560 Assured. No hope. 213 00:11:44,040 --> 00:11:47,400 Very stark place, very dangerous place to be. 214 00:11:47,400 --> 00:11:54,120 But then, in a scene that many war movies try to capture the 215 00:11:54,160 --> 00:12:00,040 essence of, when defeat seems certain, suddenly on the 216 00:12:00,040 --> 00:12:08,360 horizon, a hero emerges, his army standing by Revelation 217 00:12:08,360 --> 00:12:12,240 Chapter 19 this is. The story of Jesus I saw heaven 218 00:12:12,240 --> 00:12:15,880 standing open and there before me was a White Horse whose rider 219 00:12:15,880 --> 00:12:20,480 is called Faithful and True name #1 There's going to be 4 names 220 00:12:20,600 --> 00:12:24,040 in this passage. With justice he judges and wages 221 00:12:24,040 --> 00:12:27,240 war. His eyes are like blazing fire, 222 00:12:27,360 --> 00:12:30,920 And on his head are many crowns. Like are they stacked up or they 223 00:12:30,920 --> 00:12:31,680 sprout? I don't know. 224 00:12:31,680 --> 00:12:34,640 Lots of them up there. He has a name, a second name 225 00:12:34,640 --> 00:12:37,920 written on him that no one knows but he himself. 226 00:12:38,120 --> 00:12:42,360 I wonder what that is? Verse 13 He is dressed in a robe 227 00:12:42,360 --> 00:12:46,280 dipped in blood and his name is the word of God. 228 00:12:47,040 --> 00:12:49,160 Third name. The armies of heaven were 229 00:12:49,160 --> 00:12:52,080 following him, riding on white horses and dressed in fine 230 00:12:52,080 --> 00:12:54,720 linen, white and clean. Coming out of his mouth is the 231 00:12:54,720 --> 00:12:57,320 only weapon that's used during this war. 232 00:12:57,320 --> 00:13:01,960 This war is a sharp sword with which to strike down the nation. 233 00:13:02,760 --> 00:13:04,640 He will rule them with an iron scepter. 234 00:13:04,880 --> 00:13:07,480 He treads the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God 235 00:13:07,480 --> 00:13:09,920 Almighty on his robe. Look at this. 236 00:13:10,120 --> 00:13:13,000 And on his thigh he has written this name. 237 00:13:13,240 --> 00:13:19,120 King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Come on. 238 00:13:19,360 --> 00:13:21,680 Some of you in your mind are seeing Gandalf coming over the 239 00:13:21,680 --> 00:13:23,600 hill. I'm seeing the King of the 240 00:13:23,600 --> 00:13:27,360 universe. The general of the Angel army is 241 00:13:27,360 --> 00:13:29,920 descending upon the beast and his legions. 242 00:13:29,920 --> 00:13:31,680 And the. By the way, the battle's quick. 243 00:13:33,960 --> 00:13:37,320 The beast, the false prophet, or thrown into the eternal lake of 244 00:13:37,320 --> 00:13:39,640 fire. They go there before Satan 245 00:13:39,640 --> 00:13:43,320 himself eventually goes there, and with the sword out of his 246 00:13:43,320 --> 00:13:46,840 mouth, he destroys those who are seeking to destroy the people he 247 00:13:46,840 --> 00:13:51,280 loves. King of Kings and Lord of Lords. 248 00:13:51,280 --> 00:13:57,800 The whole world will see it. But the first time Jesus came, 249 00:13:59,720 --> 00:14:03,720 nobody saw it. Almost everybody missed it. 250 00:14:06,920 --> 00:14:11,640 A king was among them. Not just a king, but the king. 251 00:14:12,600 --> 00:14:15,360 This is who Jesus was and ISM forever will be. 252 00:14:15,360 --> 00:14:18,560 This is who God knew Jesus to be before he breathed his first 253 00:14:18,560 --> 00:14:20,120 breath. He is King of kings. 254 00:14:20,120 --> 00:14:22,560 He is Lord of Lords. He is leader of leaders, the 255 00:14:22,560 --> 00:14:25,520 reigning ruler of all. That's why the Bible says that 256 00:14:25,520 --> 00:14:29,640 one day every knee will bow and one day every tongue will 257 00:14:29,640 --> 00:14:31,360 confess. Whether they're believers or not 258 00:14:31,360 --> 00:14:35,320 believers, they will be under the authority of God and say he 259 00:14:35,400 --> 00:14:39,920 is Lord. There is no higher authority. 260 00:14:40,160 --> 00:14:41,680 This is the king who was able to deliver. 261 00:14:41,680 --> 00:14:43,120 This is the king who was able to conquer. 262 00:14:43,120 --> 00:14:46,240 This is the king who is able to overcome all sin, all death. 263 00:14:46,240 --> 00:14:48,680 This is the King who is coming to establish his Kingdom of 264 00:14:48,680 --> 00:14:51,240 peace and unity. His name is Say it one more 265 00:14:51,240 --> 00:14:56,200 time, you better. Believe it and the people missed 266 00:14:56,200 --> 00:15:01,080 it this series. What I'm wondering is, are you 267 00:15:01,080 --> 00:15:07,160 missing it too? And to put it a better way, I 268 00:15:07,160 --> 00:15:09,320 hope that this series, at the end of it, you can say I'm not 269 00:15:09,320 --> 00:15:16,120 missing the King. You may know I'm a Savior. 270 00:15:16,440 --> 00:15:20,440 And I hope that you do. If not, make today your day that 271 00:15:20,440 --> 00:15:22,760 you receive him as Savior when he takes away the penalty of 272 00:15:22,760 --> 00:15:28,280 sin, the penalty of death, spiritual death, and gives you 273 00:15:28,280 --> 00:15:30,800 eternal life. I hope you know I'm a Savior. 274 00:15:30,800 --> 00:15:33,040 I know you know him as baby Jesus away in a danger. 275 00:15:33,080 --> 00:15:37,600 No, whatever. But do you know him as king? 276 00:15:40,200 --> 00:15:44,040 Do you serve him as a sovereign one? 277 00:15:45,320 --> 00:15:47,320 That's what we're going to wrestle with together in this 278 00:15:47,320 --> 00:15:49,880 series. The one and only. 279 00:15:49,880 --> 00:15:52,880 Some did during Jesus day recognize him as king. 280 00:15:52,880 --> 00:15:55,200 Very few, in fact, I want to read to you. 281 00:15:56,640 --> 00:15:59,520 The part of Scripture where the first people to really 282 00:15:59,520 --> 00:16:00,960 understand that he's king arrive. 283 00:16:00,960 --> 00:16:03,360 If you have a Bible, you want to open it to Matthew chapter 2. 284 00:16:03,560 --> 00:16:06,760 If you also want to flip to the left and have a finger, a pencil 285 00:16:06,760 --> 00:16:09,400 or somebody, somebody's money, whatever, you stick something in 286 00:16:09,400 --> 00:16:12,640 your Bible to let you know. We're also going to 1st Kings 287 00:16:12,640 --> 00:16:13,760 10. Raise your hand if you need a 288 00:16:13,760 --> 00:16:15,240 Bible. We'll be glad to bring those to 289 00:16:15,240 --> 00:16:18,040 you. You can also follow along in the 290 00:16:18,360 --> 00:16:20,080 Church Center app. The message notes all the 291 00:16:20,080 --> 00:16:23,480 scriptures are there. Matthew chapter 2. 292 00:16:23,680 --> 00:16:24,920 We're coming right down to the front. 293 00:16:25,520 --> 00:16:26,680 We're coming. Here we come. 294 00:16:27,360 --> 00:16:28,840 Bibles. Once you get a Bible right. 295 00:16:30,200 --> 00:16:32,480 There we go, man. Love it. 296 00:16:32,960 --> 00:16:34,320 Have we got one to you yet? No. 297 00:16:34,520 --> 00:16:35,400 No. That's why you're raising your 298 00:16:35,400 --> 00:16:36,240 hand. Like, no duh. 299 00:16:38,400 --> 00:16:40,200 Coming to you. Thank you so much. 300 00:16:40,240 --> 00:16:45,000 Ushers. 2 claps of the ushers. Let's try that again. 301 00:16:45,000 --> 00:16:50,040 Two claps of the ushers. Yes, Matthew, Chapter 2. 302 00:16:50,040 --> 00:16:53,840 Are you ready to say yes? Now I got to tell you this. 303 00:16:54,400 --> 00:16:56,320 I'm going to be reading and teaching a lot. 304 00:16:56,320 --> 00:17:00,520 You're going to feel like whiplash and you be like settle 305 00:17:00,520 --> 00:17:02,280 down and just read the scripture. 306 00:17:02,280 --> 00:17:03,680 Pastor will. I will. 307 00:17:03,680 --> 00:17:06,800 But are you are you are we OK? OK, good. 308 00:17:07,800 --> 00:17:09,960 Matthew chapter 2 verse one after Jesus was born in 309 00:17:09,960 --> 00:17:13,640 Bethlehem in Judea during the time of King Herod Magi, 310 00:17:13,640 --> 00:17:17,200 everyone say Magi from the east came to Jerusalem. 311 00:17:17,200 --> 00:17:19,160 Magi. This is not a word we use 312 00:17:19,160 --> 00:17:20,560 anymore. It feels like Yoda. 313 00:17:20,599 --> 00:17:25,760 We like what is this magi in week 3 on December 21st, 2 weeks 314 00:17:25,760 --> 00:17:28,560 from the day I'm going to teach you about the Magi. 315 00:17:28,720 --> 00:17:33,000 It is fascinating that God picked them to be the ones to 316 00:17:33,000 --> 00:17:36,160 come and announce the King but for dead today. 317 00:17:36,160 --> 00:17:40,280 What you need to know are these are ancient astrologers very 318 00:17:40,280 --> 00:17:44,040 studied and looking to the sky. Because God does speak in the 319 00:17:44,040 --> 00:17:47,480 sky, He sent his *. For Jesus, the sun stopped and 320 00:17:47,480 --> 00:17:49,560 stood still in the Old Testament. 321 00:17:49,560 --> 00:17:52,120 And there are these ancient astrologers, meaning that what 322 00:17:52,120 --> 00:17:56,760 has been learned by their ancestors has been passed down 323 00:17:56,760 --> 00:18:00,080 to them over generation as tried and true practices. 324 00:18:00,200 --> 00:18:03,440 And something that they have studied and known and prophecies 325 00:18:03,440 --> 00:18:06,120 that have come together makes them realize a king has been 326 00:18:06,120 --> 00:18:08,440 born in Bethlehem. And we're going. 327 00:18:12,400 --> 00:18:16,960 Verse 2 and ask these magi asks where is the one who has been 328 00:18:16,960 --> 00:18:23,080 born king of the Jews? He was not born Prince of the 329 00:18:23,080 --> 00:18:25,760 Jews. This is important. 330 00:18:26,280 --> 00:18:30,480 Most kings aren't born kings. They are born Princess and then 331 00:18:30,480 --> 00:18:34,440 they grow up and one day eventually become King or Queen 332 00:18:34,760 --> 00:18:38,160 Jesus from his birth. From the very beginning, there 333 00:18:38,160 --> 00:18:41,040 was no time that he was not. King. 334 00:18:42,160 --> 00:18:46,440 Amen. We saw his star when it rose, 335 00:18:46,440 --> 00:18:49,000 and I've come to worship him. When King Herod heard this, he 336 00:18:49,000 --> 00:18:51,640 was disturbed and all Jerusalem with him. 337 00:18:51,840 --> 00:18:56,040 Meaning, wait a second, Herod is saying what's going on? 338 00:18:56,040 --> 00:18:59,000 The people are saying you mean to tell us a king has arrived in 339 00:18:59,000 --> 00:19:03,680 Jerusalem and we had no idea. Yeah, that's exactly what's 340 00:19:03,680 --> 00:19:06,000 happening. The king has arrived in 341 00:19:06,000 --> 00:19:09,360 Jerusalem and you all completely missed it. 342 00:19:09,360 --> 00:19:12,160 Verse 4, when he had called together all the people's chief 343 00:19:12,160 --> 00:19:14,760 priests and teachers of the law, he asked them, where is the 344 00:19:14,760 --> 00:19:17,280 Messiah, where the Messiah was to be born? 345 00:19:17,360 --> 00:19:21,360 And then the people quote back to him, Micah the prophet Micah 346 00:19:21,360 --> 00:19:24,200 in the Old Testament, this is where you find this prophecy in 347 00:19:24,200 --> 00:19:28,120 Bethlehem, they say in Judea, for this is what the prophet has 348 00:19:28,120 --> 00:19:30,880 written. But you, Bethlehem and the land 349 00:19:30,880 --> 00:19:33,560 of Judah are by no means least among the rulers of Judah. 350 00:19:33,560 --> 00:19:37,160 For out of you will come a ruler who will shepherd my people. 351 00:19:37,160 --> 00:19:39,760 Israel, the Savior will be born in Bethlehem just. 352 00:19:40,000 --> 00:19:43,960 A few miles from Jerusalem you can walk between them. 353 00:19:46,720 --> 00:19:48,880 Verse 7. Then Herod called the Magi 354 00:19:48,960 --> 00:19:51,480 secretly. And found out from them the 355 00:19:51,480 --> 00:19:53,440 exact time the star had appeared. 356 00:19:53,440 --> 00:19:56,600 He sent them to Bethlehem and said, go and search carefully 357 00:19:56,600 --> 00:19:59,080 for the Child. As soon as you find Him, report 358 00:19:59,080 --> 00:20:02,520 to me so that I too may go and worship Him. 359 00:20:04,080 --> 00:20:08,240 He lying, he no speaketh the truth. 360 00:20:10,200 --> 00:20:12,800 If you're familiar with the story of King Herod, he is 361 00:20:12,800 --> 00:20:16,320 threatened by the arrival of another king and so he sends 362 00:20:16,520 --> 00:20:20,560 these magi as his spies to find out where the new king is so 363 00:20:20,560 --> 00:20:22,320 that he. Can go and destroy him. 364 00:20:22,320 --> 00:20:25,480 In fact, later in the scripture we read that King Herod sends 365 00:20:25,480 --> 00:20:29,240 out a decree. Any child 2 year, any male child 366 00:20:29,240 --> 00:20:33,520 two years and younger must be executed in his Kingdom. 367 00:20:33,960 --> 00:20:37,400 This is why Jesus and Mary and Joseph flee down to Egypt for a 368 00:20:37,400 --> 00:20:40,360 little bit. To get out of that, this also 369 00:20:40,360 --> 00:20:45,560 tells us that the that the magi came later than we think. 370 00:20:46,680 --> 00:20:48,640 You know, we see them in our nativity scenes. 371 00:20:48,640 --> 00:20:51,120 The Magi are there, the wise men are there with their gifts, but 372 00:20:51,120 --> 00:20:53,760 they were not there. The day that Jesus was born, 373 00:20:54,120 --> 00:20:56,920 they came up to two years later. That's why Herod said I got to 374 00:20:56,920 --> 00:20:59,200 kill everybody two years and later. 375 00:20:59,200 --> 00:21:01,040 By the way, how many Magi were there? 376 00:21:02,400 --> 00:21:05,160 Not three. I set you up again. 377 00:21:05,320 --> 00:21:08,120 I apologize. We say 3 because there's three 378 00:21:08,120 --> 00:21:11,520 gifts, but really there was probably more like 12 magi that 379 00:21:11,520 --> 00:21:15,280 showed up bringing these three kinds of gifts. 380 00:21:15,840 --> 00:21:18,840 You'll understand that they came later too, when we read in just 381 00:21:18,840 --> 00:21:20,840 a second that they didn't come to the Manger. 382 00:21:20,840 --> 00:21:24,040 They went to the house where Mary and Joseph were living. 383 00:21:24,040 --> 00:21:26,320 Verse 9, Let's pick it up. After they had heard the king, 384 00:21:26,320 --> 00:21:28,640 they went on their way, and the star they had seen when it arose 385 00:21:28,640 --> 00:21:31,000 went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the 386 00:21:31,000 --> 00:21:33,480 child was. When they saw the star, they 387 00:21:33,480 --> 00:21:36,520 were overjoyed. I'm coming to the house, this 388 00:21:36,720 --> 00:21:37,720 house. Notice house. 389 00:21:38,000 --> 00:21:41,560 They saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down 390 00:21:41,560 --> 00:21:44,400 and worshipped him. Then they opened their treasures 391 00:21:44,400 --> 00:21:46,560 and presented him with gifts of gold. 392 00:21:46,560 --> 00:21:48,880 Everyone say gold. Frankincense. 393 00:21:48,880 --> 00:21:52,200 Say frankincense and myrrh. Yeah. 394 00:21:54,480 --> 00:22:01,720 The wise men, the Magi, brought gifts to Jesus because he's a 395 00:22:01,720 --> 00:22:04,600 king. This is not a new practice. 396 00:22:05,120 --> 00:22:07,040 It's what you did when you visited a king. 397 00:22:07,040 --> 00:22:10,480 You brought gifts to celebrate the wisdom and the royalty and 398 00:22:10,480 --> 00:22:13,720 the power of these great kings. It's an ancient practice. 399 00:22:13,720 --> 00:22:20,840 King Solomon, who is King David's son, also experienced 400 00:22:20,840 --> 00:22:24,160 this. He, according to God, is the 401 00:22:24,160 --> 00:22:28,000 wisest man other than Jesus to have ever lived. 402 00:22:29,320 --> 00:22:33,120 And this wise king experienced this practice of people bringing 403 00:22:33,120 --> 00:22:35,320 gifts. First kings chapter 10 flipping 404 00:22:35,320 --> 00:22:40,600 your bibles way to the left first kings when the king of. 405 00:22:40,600 --> 00:22:43,800 Sheba had heard were in verse one when the queen of Sheba had 406 00:22:44,000 --> 00:22:47,360 heard about the fame of Solomon and his relationship to the 407 00:22:47,360 --> 00:22:51,120 Lord. She came to test Solomon with 408 00:22:51,120 --> 00:22:53,600 hard questions, arriving at Jerusalem with a very great 409 00:22:53,600 --> 00:22:58,080 caravan with camels carrying spices, large quantities of gold 410 00:22:58,080 --> 00:23:01,040 and precious stones. She came to Solomon and talked 411 00:23:01,040 --> 00:23:03,640 with him about all that she had on her mind. 412 00:23:04,880 --> 00:23:10,400 She brought gifts of gold to the one that she thought was wise, 413 00:23:10,480 --> 00:23:14,320 she knew was wise she knew was in relationship with the Lord. 414 00:23:14,320 --> 00:23:16,760 And by the way, she wasn't the only one. 415 00:23:17,040 --> 00:23:20,360 Solomon is the known king of Splendor was used to the so many 416 00:23:20,560 --> 00:23:23,560 gifts brought because they recognized his wisdom and his 417 00:23:23,560 --> 00:23:26,360 relationship with the Lord. Gifts brought constantly. 418 00:23:26,880 --> 00:23:32,120 Mostly it was gold. I got me some gold right here. 419 00:23:32,200 --> 00:23:33,960 Pure gold. 1 ounce of. Gold. 420 00:23:33,960 --> 00:23:37,760 This little coin in my hand is worth $4200. 421 00:23:39,000 --> 00:23:40,680 Look at that, isn't it pretty shiny? 422 00:23:41,360 --> 00:23:43,520 They brought this. To Solomon. 423 00:23:43,600 --> 00:23:45,080 Let me read more. You're going to see a lot of 424 00:23:45,080 --> 00:23:47,000 gold here. First Kings chapter 10, verse 425 00:23:47,000 --> 00:23:49,000 14. The weight of the gold that 426 00:23:49,000 --> 00:23:56,240 Solomon received yearly every year was 666 talents. 427 00:23:57,840 --> 00:24:01,840 And like I is that a lot? I don't. 428 00:24:01,840 --> 00:24:07,400 Know that could be 666 pennies for all we know. 666 talents of 429 00:24:07,400 --> 00:24:20,240 gold is 25 tons of gold worth in American dollars. 3.2 billion. 430 00:24:20,240 --> 00:24:21,720 I'm getting a little over emphasis, aren't I? 431 00:24:22,320 --> 00:24:28,560 Calm down, $3.2 billion of gold brought to him annually. 432 00:24:30,000 --> 00:24:33,160 Every single year. You're going to hear a whole 433 00:24:33,160 --> 00:24:36,800 bunch of gold now reading on verse 15, not including the 434 00:24:36,800 --> 00:24:39,120 revenues from merchants and traders from all the Arabian 435 00:24:39,120 --> 00:24:40,760 kings and the governors and the territories. 436 00:24:40,880 --> 00:24:44,400 King Solomon made 200 large Shields of hammered gold, 600 437 00:24:44,400 --> 00:24:46,520 shekels of gold with into each shield. 438 00:24:46,640 --> 00:24:49,360 He also made 300 small Shields of hammered gold with three main 439 00:24:49,480 --> 00:24:52,320 menas of gold in each shield. The king put them in the palace 440 00:24:52,320 --> 00:24:54,480 of the forest of Lebanon. Then the king made a great 441 00:24:54,480 --> 00:24:57,440 throne covered with ivory and overlay with fine gold. 442 00:24:57,640 --> 00:25:00,960 The throne had 6 steps and its back had a rounded top on both 443 00:25:00,960 --> 00:25:03,560 sides of the seat where the armrests and lions standing 444 00:25:03,560 --> 00:25:06,040 beside each of them. 12 lions stood on the 6 steps. 445 00:25:06,200 --> 00:25:09,640 Each one had one at one step, or I'm sorry, one at either end of 446 00:25:09,640 --> 00:25:11,720 each step. Nothing like it had ever been 447 00:25:11,720 --> 00:25:15,640 made for any other Kingdom. All King Solomon's goblets were, 448 00:25:15,720 --> 00:25:18,720 you bet, gold, and all the household articles of the Palace 449 00:25:18,720 --> 00:25:20,560 of the Force of Lebanon were also pure gold. 450 00:25:20,680 --> 00:25:23,200 Nothing was made of silver because it was trash. 451 00:25:24,520 --> 00:25:27,200 Silver was considered of little value in Solomon's days. 452 00:25:27,720 --> 00:25:31,120 The king had a fleet of trading ships watch this at sea during 453 00:25:31,920 --> 00:25:35,840 along with the ships of Hiram once every three years. 454 00:25:35,840 --> 00:25:40,080 This fleet returned carrying gold and some silver, ivory and 455 00:25:40,560 --> 00:25:43,480 apes and baboons, which is fun. Don't know why. 456 00:25:44,680 --> 00:25:46,200 Hey king, we brought you about. Boom. 457 00:25:47,200 --> 00:25:50,520 I would have preferred a. Giraffe OK, whatever. 23 King 458 00:25:50,520 --> 00:25:52,920 Solomon was greater in riches and wisdom than all the other 459 00:25:52,920 --> 00:25:58,360 kings of the earth. There was no king greater, 460 00:25:58,520 --> 00:26:02,640 wiser, or richer than Solomon. Think of that. 461 00:26:03,080 --> 00:26:05,520 The whole world sought audience with Solomon to hear the wisdom 462 00:26:05,520 --> 00:26:07,920 God to put in his heart. Verse 25. 463 00:26:07,920 --> 00:26:12,360 Year after year, everyone who came before the king brought a 464 00:26:12,360 --> 00:26:14,520 gift. Articles of silver, gold, robes, 465 00:26:14,640 --> 00:26:19,320 weapons, spices, and horses and mules, and apparently apes and 466 00:26:19,320 --> 00:26:22,520 baboons. Now watch this. 467 00:26:22,520 --> 00:26:25,080 Remember, Solomon's the wisest man other than Jesus to ever 468 00:26:25,080 --> 00:26:28,520 live, and he's used to this practice of people bringing him 469 00:26:28,520 --> 00:26:31,760 the gold, people bringing to him tribute. 470 00:26:32,960 --> 00:26:35,920 And then the wisest man to ever lived writes something. 471 00:26:36,000 --> 00:26:38,680 If the wisest man to ever live write something, do you think we 472 00:26:38,680 --> 00:26:42,960 should pay attention to it? OK, let me ask the people over 473 00:26:42,960 --> 00:26:46,560 here if the. Wisest man to ever live wrote 474 00:26:46,560 --> 00:26:47,960 something. Do you think we should read it? 475 00:26:49,000 --> 00:27:01,760 Y'all y'all y'all online? Solomon wrote a song. 476 00:27:04,000 --> 00:27:08,200 We have it in our Bibles, in the book of Psalms. 477 00:27:08,600 --> 00:27:10,720 It's a Song of Solomon. He writes it. 478 00:27:10,720 --> 00:27:13,640 It's not about himself. He writes it about one who is to 479 00:27:13,640 --> 00:27:18,480 come. Psalm 72, verse 10. 480 00:27:19,080 --> 00:27:23,600 May the kings of Tarshish and of distant shores bring tributes to 481 00:27:23,800 --> 00:27:27,000 him. May the kings of Sheba and Seba 482 00:27:27,000 --> 00:27:29,120 present him gifts. May all the kings bow down to 483 00:27:29,120 --> 00:27:32,640 him, and all nations serve him, for he's a different kind of 484 00:27:32,640 --> 00:27:34,880 king. Watch what he'll do, for he will 485 00:27:34,880 --> 00:27:38,480 deliver the needy who cry out, the afflicted who have no one to 486 00:27:38,480 --> 00:27:40,520 help. He will take pity on the weak 487 00:27:40,520 --> 00:27:42,320 and the needy and save the needy from death. 488 00:27:42,320 --> 00:27:45,040 He will rescue them from oppression and violence, for 489 00:27:45,040 --> 00:27:47,200 precious is their blood in the sight. 490 00:27:47,320 --> 00:27:52,200 Long may he live. May gold from Sheba be given 491 00:27:52,200 --> 00:27:54,520 him. May people ever pray for him and 492 00:27:54,520 --> 00:27:58,360 bless him. All day long as Solomon had gold 493 00:27:58,480 --> 00:28:02,160 laid at his feet because of his royalty and his power. 494 00:28:02,160 --> 00:28:06,520 So one day Solomon is saying a new and greater king will come 495 00:28:06,520 --> 00:28:09,640 and gold will also be laid at his feet. 496 00:28:09,840 --> 00:28:15,000 His name, of course, is Yeah. Jesus is the new Solomon. 497 00:28:16,200 --> 00:28:23,040 Jesus is the greater Solomon. I want to show you a picture of 498 00:28:23,040 --> 00:28:27,920 a nativity, a crush. Here it is. 499 00:28:29,120 --> 00:28:32,200 I'm going to ruin. Nativities for you for the rest 500 00:28:32,200 --> 00:28:37,120 of your life right now. And I for that I apologize, but 501 00:28:38,120 --> 00:28:44,600 at least as far as I know, every nativity that's ever been made, 502 00:28:45,400 --> 00:28:49,600 or maybe ever will be made has something missing. 503 00:28:52,440 --> 00:28:56,640 Now it's rhetorical so don't answer out loud, but what is 504 00:28:56,640 --> 00:28:58,200 missing from this nativity scene? 505 00:28:59,040 --> 00:29:00,560 I'm sorry for the trees if you can't see them. 506 00:29:00,760 --> 00:29:04,360 You can move to the middle if you what's missing? 507 00:29:06,160 --> 00:29:07,960 We got Jesus and Mary and Joseph. 508 00:29:07,960 --> 00:29:11,280 You got a few hamburgers, or they're hamburgers to be in the 509 00:29:11,280 --> 00:29:18,880 back cows. You got the shepherd's notice. 510 00:29:19,000 --> 00:29:20,920 This is accurate. There's no wise men there, no 511 00:29:20,920 --> 00:29:23,560 magi, just the shepherds who are there. 512 00:29:23,560 --> 00:29:29,120 What's missing? You ready to know? 513 00:29:32,160 --> 00:29:40,720 Where are all the people? Where are they? 514 00:29:42,840 --> 00:29:46,760 God and his infinite wisdom and grace, mercy to us says I'm 515 00:29:46,760 --> 00:29:49,960 going to grand open the Kingdom of heaven on earth and to do 516 00:29:49,960 --> 00:29:52,320 what I'm sending my Son. I've been telling you for 517 00:29:52,320 --> 00:29:55,720 generations, prophetically and in the stars, that my Son is 518 00:29:55,720 --> 00:29:57,520 coming. Here's the grand opening. 519 00:30:00,880 --> 00:30:05,240 And that's all that showed up. That's it. 520 00:30:08,440 --> 00:30:11,080 Jesus himself in Matthew chapter 12 speaks of this. 521 00:30:11,760 --> 00:30:14,320 He says the queen of the South, which is the queen of Sheba, the 522 00:30:14,320 --> 00:30:18,480 same same lady will rise at the judgement with just this 523 00:30:18,480 --> 00:30:22,200 generation and condemn it, for she came from the ends of the 524 00:30:22,200 --> 00:30:23,960 earth to listen to Solomon's wisdom. 525 00:30:24,240 --> 00:30:27,960 And now something greater, the one that Solomon prophesied 526 00:30:27,960 --> 00:30:32,520 about, the greater 1 is here. And everybody missed it. 527 00:30:36,160 --> 00:30:39,080 Few shepherds came. The magi came with their gifts. 528 00:30:39,080 --> 00:30:41,600 Maybe we call them wise men not because they're great 529 00:30:41,600 --> 00:30:44,640 astrologers, but because they were the first to recognize 530 00:30:44,920 --> 00:30:49,600 Jesus as king. And you guys are wise, you Magi 531 00:30:49,600 --> 00:30:51,160 and. In their wisdom, perhaps 532 00:30:51,160 --> 00:30:55,080 inspired by God, these magi brought Jesus three significant 533 00:30:55,200 --> 00:30:58,720 prophetic gifts. And in this series, what we want 534 00:30:58,720 --> 00:31:01,680 to do is say What did each of these gifts mean about Jesus? 535 00:31:02,240 --> 00:31:04,840 And what do each of these gifts call out to us, from Bethlehem 536 00:31:04,840 --> 00:31:08,280 all the way here to Kissimmee, asking us, pleading with us to 537 00:31:08,280 --> 00:31:11,880 do and how to live? Maybe this is a better way to 538 00:31:11,880 --> 00:31:13,800 say it. If he is your King, then what 539 00:31:13,800 --> 00:31:18,280 gift to him are you bringing the match? 540 00:31:18,280 --> 00:31:23,040 I brought gold, frankincense, and myrrh today as it was the 541 00:31:23,040 --> 00:31:25,560 first gift and I've already been talking about a lot of it. 542 00:31:26,240 --> 00:31:29,080 I want to consider the gifts of gold. 543 00:31:30,160 --> 00:31:34,080 Two things with the gift of gold signifies about Jesus #1 gold 544 00:31:34,080 --> 00:31:41,040 signifies the royalty of Jesus. Gold was the gift brought to 545 00:31:41,040 --> 00:31:44,320 kings. Gold, though it's rare now, was 546 00:31:44,320 --> 00:31:48,600 very rare in Jesus's day. I have some gold coins, literal 547 00:31:48,600 --> 00:31:53,400 gold coins in my pocket. In my pocket I have $60,000. 548 00:31:54,920 --> 00:31:58,320 And that crazy, it's right here, here, come look at all this. 549 00:31:58,720 --> 00:32:01,040 Can you see that? I'm afraid to drop them because 550 00:32:01,040 --> 00:32:03,960 they don't belong to me. Can you see the gold? 551 00:32:04,400 --> 00:32:08,560 Can you see the gold mezzanine? Was that a yes? 552 00:32:09,120 --> 00:32:16,240 Because it sounded like $60,000 of gold. 553 00:32:19,000 --> 00:32:21,080 That's more money than I've ever held in my life in one hand. 554 00:32:21,080 --> 00:32:24,120 I don't know where to put them. I'm putting back here. 555 00:32:26,840 --> 00:32:33,080 I want to take one out though. In Jesus day this is $60,000. 556 00:32:33,520 --> 00:32:35,360 I'm sorry. In our day these coins are worth 557 00:32:35,360 --> 00:32:38,720 $60,000. In Jesus day they're worth $1.86 558 00:32:38,960 --> 00:32:43,160 million. That's how rare gold was and a 559 00:32:43,160 --> 00:32:49,000 gram of gold today cost $135. A gram of gold in Jesus's day, 560 00:32:51,080 --> 00:32:56,720 the Scripture says, is 12 days wages, which if you take Florida 561 00:32:56,720 --> 00:33:00,600 minimum wage and take two weeks of five days of work, that's 10 562 00:33:00,600 --> 00:33:06,720 days, and then add two more. Do all the math, it's $1440.00. 563 00:33:07,720 --> 00:33:12,920 So for them is 135. For us it's 1440 and they 564 00:33:12,920 --> 00:33:18,680 brought this gold to Jesus. If you were to bring this amount 565 00:33:18,680 --> 00:33:23,720 of gold to Jesus and lay it at his feet, it's the ancient 566 00:33:23,720 --> 00:33:27,640 equivalent of walking into a hospital room with a briefcase 567 00:33:27,640 --> 00:33:31,240 full of hundreds of thousands, if not $1,000,000 in saying 568 00:33:31,360 --> 00:33:34,360 we've come to give this to your baby and then you lay down on 569 00:33:34,360 --> 00:33:40,520 the floor and worship this baby. That would be interesting if it 570 00:33:40,520 --> 00:33:42,600 was you or I. But imagine like 3 of the wisest 571 00:33:42,600 --> 00:33:46,080 people on the entire planet like Elon Musk, somebody from Europe, 572 00:33:46,240 --> 00:33:48,520 somebody from Asia, somebody from Africa, whatever. 573 00:33:48,600 --> 00:33:53,640 The wisest of the wise gathered together and brought one baby 574 00:33:53,920 --> 00:33:59,000 $1,000,000 briefcase. Because of social media, we 575 00:33:59,000 --> 00:34:01,240 would all take note in Jesus day. 576 00:34:01,240 --> 00:34:02,880 The magic. I did it and nobody knew. 577 00:34:04,520 --> 00:34:07,000 They all missed it. I'm putting this back away. 578 00:34:08,880 --> 00:34:11,560 Yeah, by the way, I will not have with these with me. 579 00:34:11,560 --> 00:34:17,120 After service, somebody sat at my car like, hey pastor. 580 00:34:17,239 --> 00:34:24,199 Kim Yeah, All I'm trying to say is this gold is an extravagant 581 00:34:24,199 --> 00:34:28,199 king level gift. It speaks to the royalty of 582 00:34:28,320 --> 00:34:30,199 Jesus. It would have stunned anyone who 583 00:34:30,199 --> 00:34:32,760 heard it, but nobody showed up to hear it. 584 00:34:33,360 --> 00:34:35,560 One of the magi turned and they're like, we come to worship 585 00:34:35,639 --> 00:34:36,960 Jesus and they're the only ones there. 586 00:34:36,960 --> 00:34:39,000 They're like, where is everybody? 587 00:34:40,600 --> 00:34:42,320 Gold signifies the royalty of Jesus. 588 00:34:42,320 --> 00:34:45,120 Gold also symbolizes the divine presence and glory of God. 589 00:34:46,000 --> 00:34:48,679 In the Old Testament, the New Testament, and what's to come in 590 00:34:48,679 --> 00:34:51,199 the Old Testament, Solomon builds the temple and this is 591 00:34:51,199 --> 00:34:52,920 what we read in First Kings chapter 6. 592 00:34:52,920 --> 00:34:56,639 He prepared the inner sanctuary within the temple to set the ark 593 00:34:56,639 --> 00:34:58,000 of the covenant of the Lord there. 594 00:34:58,000 --> 00:35:00,920 I need to pause because not everybody knows what the temple 595 00:35:00,920 --> 00:35:03,120 is. In Jesus's day they didn't have 596 00:35:03,120 --> 00:35:05,040 tons of churches. They had synagogues and places, 597 00:35:05,240 --> 00:35:08,880 but they only have one major temple on the Temple Mount. 598 00:35:08,880 --> 00:35:11,600 If you come with us to Israel, you will see where this temple 599 00:35:11,600 --> 00:35:14,440 was. And in this place God will come 600 00:35:14,440 --> 00:35:17,840 and meet with them, His divine presence and His glory fully 601 00:35:17,960 --> 00:35:19,200 there. We'll talk more about this in 602 00:35:19,200 --> 00:35:25,120 the coming weeks. And because it's the Lord God 603 00:35:25,840 --> 00:35:31,880 and his divine presence, Solomon decorates it specifically in a 604 00:35:31,880 --> 00:35:34,920 way that's worthy of the king. Verse 20. 605 00:35:34,920 --> 00:35:38,480 The inner sanctuary is 20 cubits long. 20 wide, 20 high. 606 00:35:38,480 --> 00:35:40,600 He overlaid the inside with pure gold. 607 00:35:41,320 --> 00:35:44,200 He also overlaid the altar of cedar with pure gold. 608 00:35:44,200 --> 00:35:47,240 Solomon covered the inside of the temple with pure gold, and 609 00:35:47,240 --> 00:35:49,720 he extended gold chains across the front of the inner 610 00:35:49,720 --> 00:35:52,920 sanctuary, which was itself overlaid with gold. 611 00:35:52,920 --> 00:35:56,760 So we overlaid the entire interior of this beautiful 612 00:35:56,760 --> 00:36:00,800 massive temple with gold. He also overlaid with gold the 613 00:36:00,800 --> 00:36:04,200 altar that belong to the inner sanctuary. 614 00:36:04,320 --> 00:36:08,440 This gold representing, representing divinity and glory, 615 00:36:08,440 --> 00:36:10,040 the power in the presence of God. 616 00:36:10,040 --> 00:36:14,200 Now consider when the magi bring gold and give it to Jesus. 617 00:36:14,200 --> 00:36:19,080 The magi could be giving a nod to Jesus as the new temple. 618 00:36:19,880 --> 00:36:23,840 He now is the divine presence and power of God, which is a 619 00:36:23,840 --> 00:36:27,240 wrath of claim in Jesus's day. Because the temple to them was 620 00:36:27,240 --> 00:36:30,040 the central feature of their entire culture. 621 00:36:30,760 --> 00:36:33,280 And they're now saying, well, now instead of bringing gold to 622 00:36:33,280 --> 00:36:36,120 the temple, we brought gold to the new temple. 623 00:36:36,480 --> 00:36:38,760 The gold was brought to Solomon to adorn the temple. 624 00:36:38,760 --> 00:36:41,520 The gold was brought to Jesus because he is the new temple. 625 00:36:41,520 --> 00:36:45,360 So in the Old Testament, we've got the temple covered in gold. 626 00:36:45,440 --> 00:36:48,800 In the New Testament, the magi bring to the gold to the new 627 00:36:48,800 --> 00:36:51,560 temple. And in the last of days and 628 00:36:51,560 --> 00:36:55,400 Revelation 21, this heaven and this earth that we're currently 629 00:36:55,400 --> 00:36:57,680 living in will be wiped away along with all of its 630 00:36:57,680 --> 00:37:00,480 brokenness, all of its illness, all of its sin. 631 00:37:00,480 --> 00:37:03,360 And God will establish a new heaven and a new earth, and he's 632 00:37:03,360 --> 00:37:04,800 going to put a city on that earth. 633 00:37:04,800 --> 00:37:06,000 It's called the new. To Jerusalem. 634 00:37:06,400 --> 00:37:10,440 And in Revelation 21 it says that entire new city is made. 635 00:37:10,440 --> 00:37:14,720 The entire city, your houses, the restaurants are made of 636 00:37:14,720 --> 00:37:17,880 gold. The streets are paved in gold. 637 00:37:17,880 --> 00:37:23,680 Follow the yellow brick road. Gold is the recognition of God's 638 00:37:23,680 --> 00:37:28,720 royalty, His divinity, His presence, His glory, His power, 639 00:37:28,720 --> 00:37:31,600 His authority, the end breaking of his Kingdom. 640 00:37:31,600 --> 00:37:35,840 A new king is here and that's why they brought him gold. 641 00:37:35,840 --> 00:37:40,080 So because that's true as the magi saw it, what does it mean 642 00:37:40,080 --> 00:37:42,400 for us? What do we do now? 643 00:37:43,360 --> 00:37:47,240 The better way for me to say it is what, excuse me, are you 644 00:37:47,880 --> 00:37:58,120 bringing your gold to God? Are you bringing gold to Jesus? 645 00:37:58,600 --> 00:37:59,640 We're like, well, how do I do that? 646 00:38:00,200 --> 00:38:01,800 I don't got a pocket full of gold. 647 00:38:04,080 --> 00:38:05,760 Gold coins. Me neither. 648 00:38:05,760 --> 00:38:11,120 This is somebody else's. How do you bring it two ways #1 649 00:38:12,920 --> 00:38:14,480 live as a son or daughter of royalty? 650 00:38:16,200 --> 00:38:19,600 If by bringing gold means that we're recognizing the kingship 651 00:38:19,800 --> 00:38:23,400 of Jesus, then for us to bring our gold means that I will live 652 00:38:23,400 --> 00:38:25,960 as a son or daughter of the King and that. 653 00:38:25,960 --> 00:38:29,200 Way I'll let people know that number one, there is a king and 654 00:38:29,200 --> 00:38:34,600 #2 he's my king. What does that mean? 655 00:38:36,240 --> 00:38:40,280 Well #1 if you want to live as a son or daughter of royalty, walk 656 00:38:40,280 --> 00:38:44,360 in your true identity. What if you were to wake up 657 00:38:44,360 --> 00:38:47,480 every morning and start with this foundation? 658 00:38:47,840 --> 00:38:51,440 Or if somebody spoke a word against you or you got bad news? 659 00:38:51,600 --> 00:38:52,920 Are you going through a troubling time? 660 00:38:52,920 --> 00:38:56,680 What if this is your foundation? I am a daughter. 661 00:38:56,880 --> 00:38:58,920 Of the King. I. 662 00:38:59,120 --> 00:39:04,000 Am a son of the King. What if you actually believed it 663 00:39:06,240 --> 00:39:11,040 to the extent that you lived it? I'm a son of the king. 664 00:39:11,040 --> 00:39:13,080 I'm a daughter of the king. And then because of it, I have 665 00:39:13,080 --> 00:39:17,080 all rights and privileges of the crown, which we here in America 666 00:39:17,080 --> 00:39:19,680 don't really fully understand. Any Brits in the house right 667 00:39:19,680 --> 00:39:21,520 now? You could give us a lecture. 668 00:39:22,040 --> 00:39:23,120 Yeah. Hello, Justin. 669 00:39:23,160 --> 00:39:23,680 Good to see you. I. 670 00:39:23,760 --> 00:39:24,960 Don't know why I did that, sorry. 671 00:39:27,720 --> 00:39:36,120 Forgive me, better don't as I understand it with my limited 672 00:39:36,120 --> 00:39:38,640 understanding of kingship and royalty. 673 00:39:40,360 --> 00:39:42,400 The. Sons and daughters of the Crown 674 00:39:43,480 --> 00:39:48,720 are bestowed with wealth, status and protection. 675 00:39:51,000 --> 00:39:53,160 Prince William waiting to become King. 676 00:39:54,040 --> 00:40:00,320 He is bestowed with wealth and status, His Royal Highness and 677 00:40:00,320 --> 00:40:04,120 protection. And all of this, the wealth, 678 00:40:04,120 --> 00:40:09,000 status, and protection of an earthly Prince or Princess, is 679 00:40:09,000 --> 00:40:15,120 bestowed upon them by a limited monarch, one who has limited 680 00:40:15,120 --> 00:40:22,080 power, limited resource, and 0 power in the supernatural. 681 00:40:24,440 --> 00:40:28,120 And that's what they get. If you're an earthly Prince of 682 00:40:28,120 --> 00:40:30,800 Princess, but if you are an heir to the throne, which when you 683 00:40:30,800 --> 00:40:33,720 become a believer in Jesus, the Bible says you're an heir to the 684 00:40:33,720 --> 00:40:35,800 throne, you're a Prince and a Princess. 685 00:40:36,160 --> 00:40:41,800 You get your rights and privileges from an unlimited 686 00:40:41,880 --> 00:40:47,800 infinite king, which means the rights and privileges of a son 687 00:40:47,800 --> 00:40:48,360 or. Daughter of the. 688 00:40:48,360 --> 00:40:50,800 King means you have infinite wealth. 689 00:40:50,960 --> 00:40:54,040 Believe it, you have infinite status. 690 00:40:54,160 --> 00:40:56,520 Believe it, you have infinite protection. 691 00:40:56,520 --> 00:40:58,400 No weapon formed against me shall prosper. 692 00:40:58,480 --> 00:41:02,960 Not even death shall threaten me because of my king. 693 00:41:04,720 --> 00:41:08,880 That would be terrible if you had a wealthy king who was 694 00:41:08,880 --> 00:41:13,840 stingy. And this is typical in most 695 00:41:13,840 --> 00:41:16,040 kingships. They have all the wealth and 696 00:41:16,040 --> 00:41:19,120 everyone else is suffering. It'd be all equally terrible if 697 00:41:19,120 --> 00:41:22,080 you had a very generous king who happened to be extremely poor. 698 00:41:23,120 --> 00:41:24,880 He's ready to give us everything, but he got nothing. 699 00:41:26,520 --> 00:41:31,440 How great is it that you have a king who is both wealthy and 700 00:41:31,440 --> 00:41:36,080 generous, and everything that he has he gives to you? 701 00:41:36,560 --> 00:41:40,120 It's why Peter writes that his divine power has given us 702 00:41:40,760 --> 00:41:44,600 everything for life and godliness, for the knowledge of 703 00:41:44,600 --> 00:41:47,760 Him who called us according to his own glory and goodness. 704 00:41:47,920 --> 00:41:52,240 He has given us everything we need to have a mindset shift. 705 00:41:52,680 --> 00:41:54,280 Mindset shift. Careful. 706 00:41:58,600 --> 00:42:02,680 Because the mindset of one who does not see themselves as a 707 00:42:02,680 --> 00:42:04,800 daughter or son of the King is scarcity. 708 00:42:05,640 --> 00:42:08,400 And Jesus didn't say I've come to give them life and life more 709 00:42:08,400 --> 00:42:14,680 scarce, more striving. He said I've come to give you 710 00:42:14,840 --> 00:42:19,160 life and that abundantly. I have a heavenly Father who is 711 00:42:19,160 --> 00:42:21,800 wealthy, I have a heavenly Father who's generous, and I 712 00:42:21,800 --> 00:42:24,480 have a Heavenly Father who's pouring out his blessings on me. 713 00:42:24,600 --> 00:42:27,880 It may not look like financial, in some ways it can be, but 714 00:42:27,880 --> 00:42:32,160 typically the most generous, godaciously, audaciously, not 715 00:42:32,160 --> 00:42:35,280 godaciously, well, we can say godaciously generous thing 716 00:42:35,280 --> 00:42:38,080 that's ever happened is him giving his his Son. 717 00:42:39,000 --> 00:42:43,000 Has anyone ever been more generous than giving us that 718 00:42:43,000 --> 00:42:45,320 everything else is extra everything else? 719 00:42:45,840 --> 00:42:48,600 Is blessing walk in your true identity? 720 00:42:48,600 --> 00:42:50,960 By the way, if you're a Prince or Princess of the Kingdom, that 721 00:42:50,960 --> 00:42:57,280 is what you are, meaning you're not any. 722 00:42:57,280 --> 00:43:02,000 Other thing than that, whatever you said to yourself in the 723 00:43:02,000 --> 00:43:04,920 mirror what others others have said to you, we should not 724 00:43:04,920 --> 00:43:07,840 diminish our true identity in any way. 725 00:43:07,840 --> 00:43:13,480 You are a Prince or a Princess of the Kingdom period in Jesus 726 00:43:13,480 --> 00:43:17,640 name. So if we want to bring our goal 727 00:43:17,640 --> 00:43:20,680 to God to signify to the world that he is a king and he is my 728 00:43:20,680 --> 00:43:23,120 king, the first thing I'm going to do is live as a son or 729 00:43:23,120 --> 00:43:25,880 daughter of royalty, which means to walk in my true identity, but 730 00:43:25,880 --> 00:43:27,920 also it means I need to walk in obedience. 731 00:43:27,920 --> 00:43:32,600 Everyone say obedience, Hallelujah. 732 00:43:33,520 --> 00:43:39,440 We love obedience, don't we? When we obey God, what's 733 00:43:39,440 --> 00:43:42,000 happening is he has set up a perfect Kingdom rule. 734 00:43:43,280 --> 00:43:45,920 Perfect Kingdom order. This is how things will work in 735 00:43:45,920 --> 00:43:47,880 the Kingdom. When you live like this, people 736 00:43:47,880 --> 00:43:50,760 will see that I'm the king. We teach in life, Step 2 that 737 00:43:50,760 --> 00:43:55,400 you are a brand ambassador for the king and we want to be the 738 00:43:55,400 --> 00:43:58,440 kind of brand ambassadors that give glory to our king. 739 00:43:59,000 --> 00:44:00,880 Says he has given his life for me. 740 00:44:01,320 --> 00:44:05,440 He has replaced my rags for his riches and I want my life to 741 00:44:05,440 --> 00:44:07,760 give him glory. And the way that I do that is by 742 00:44:07,760 --> 00:44:10,160 obeying his Kingdom order. And people will look and see 743 00:44:10,160 --> 00:44:12,200 why, and they give. Glory to your Father in heaven. 744 00:44:14,400 --> 00:44:15,520 And when we don't obey and they say. 745 00:44:15,520 --> 00:44:21,200 Wow, that's your God. That's what following God looks 746 00:44:21,200 --> 00:44:22,680 like. Like. 747 00:44:22,680 --> 00:44:24,520 No, no, it's not. I'm, I'm right now in a 748 00:44:24,520 --> 00:44:26,800 disobedient phase of my life and everything that's happened in my 749 00:44:26,800 --> 00:44:29,920 life is this toxicity and the sin and this brokenness. 750 00:44:30,000 --> 00:44:33,040 Instead, I want to start obeying the Lord and allow His goodness 751 00:44:33,040 --> 00:44:34,520 and His blessing to flow. Which by the. 752 00:44:34,520 --> 00:44:38,040 Way We obey Him to give Him glory, but we secondarily obey 753 00:44:38,040 --> 00:44:43,360 Him because it benefits us every time you obey God. 754 00:44:43,400 --> 00:44:45,400 I don't know what the outcome will be, but I know it'll be 755 00:44:45,400 --> 00:44:48,440 good. You may heard me say this 756 00:44:48,440 --> 00:44:51,840 before, but you never know what's on the other side of the 757 00:44:51,840 --> 00:44:54,560 door of obedience until you. Walk through it. 758 00:44:54,560 --> 00:44:57,600 The door of lust is here, and sexual promiscuity and 759 00:44:57,600 --> 00:45:01,040 drunkenness and ego and idolatries and angers and fits 760 00:45:01,040 --> 00:45:03,000 of rage. You name it, they're all here. 761 00:45:03,040 --> 00:45:05,360 And God says walk through this. Door to give me glory. 762 00:45:05,480 --> 00:45:07,600 And by the way, when you get to the other side, you're going to 763 00:45:07,600 --> 00:45:12,200 love it. Follow me, follow my word, obey 764 00:45:12,400 --> 00:45:15,640 these commands. Therefore your good and people 765 00:45:15,640 --> 00:45:19,320 will know I'm your king. This is how we bring them our 766 00:45:19,320 --> 00:45:20,840 gold. I'm going to live in my 767 00:45:20,840 --> 00:45:22,920 identity. I'm going to walk according to 768 00:45:22,920 --> 00:45:24,880 His word. And here's the last part. 769 00:45:25,640 --> 00:45:30,360 If we want to show people He's our king that will embrace 770 00:45:30,360 --> 00:45:33,520 yourself, then we need to give God our treasure. 771 00:45:34,720 --> 00:45:39,880 You're like, oh, there it is. Church is talking about money. 772 00:45:40,000 --> 00:45:42,040 I'm telling you the reason people don't like talking about 773 00:45:42,040 --> 00:45:44,680 money in churches, because a lot of churches have abused money. 774 00:45:45,400 --> 00:45:49,120 A lot of pastors have taken the money and run, right? 775 00:45:49,400 --> 00:45:51,920 And here's the shame of it all. Jesus talked about money more 776 00:45:51,920 --> 00:45:53,800 than he talked about anything else, More than heaven and hell 777 00:45:53,800 --> 00:45:55,720 combined, more than prayer, more than faith. 778 00:45:56,640 --> 00:45:59,000 The Word of God speaks about this because God knows it's a 779 00:45:59,000 --> 00:46:01,760 struggle for us, and so he wants to give us freedom. 780 00:46:01,760 --> 00:46:03,920 And the church needs to speak about what Jesus speaks about. 781 00:46:03,920 --> 00:46:05,080 I'm going to speak about it here. 782 00:46:06,000 --> 00:46:14,160 If the magi were to show up next Sunday with their gold, if they 783 00:46:14,160 --> 00:46:17,120 were to walk down this aisle next Sunday in their ornate 784 00:46:17,120 --> 00:46:18,280 robes, we're all here worshipping. 785 00:46:18,280 --> 00:46:19,960 All of a sudden everyone's like, what is going on? 786 00:46:19,960 --> 00:46:21,840 Who are these people? Where they coming? 787 00:46:22,040 --> 00:46:27,080 And they brought bucket loads of gold and they were to lay it 788 00:46:27,120 --> 00:46:30,240 upon the altar as an offering to the Lord. 789 00:46:31,480 --> 00:46:34,680 Can you imagine this moment? This is what the Magi did. 790 00:46:34,680 --> 00:46:39,280 They brought the equivalent of millions of dollars to Jesus and 791 00:46:39,280 --> 00:46:44,040 laid it at his feet. When they did that, would it 792 00:46:44,040 --> 00:46:47,120 make you think these things? Is is my current giving? 793 00:46:47,960 --> 00:46:52,200 Does it look like I recognize the same king that the Magi did? 794 00:46:55,120 --> 00:46:59,440 Am I giving extravagantly and sacrificially as they did, or am 795 00:46:59,440 --> 00:47:05,920 I giving nothing or my tipping got it, was a good week. 796 00:47:05,920 --> 00:47:09,600 So here's 5 bucks. We'll just give this a little 797 00:47:09,600 --> 00:47:12,920 bit to your Kingdom. Let me tell you this, it's never 798 00:47:12,920 --> 00:47:17,280 about equal amount. Not everybody here has got a 799 00:47:17,280 --> 00:47:20,200 pocket full of gold coins. Me neither. 800 00:47:21,120 --> 00:47:22,960 Not everyone has millions of dollars of gold. 801 00:47:23,640 --> 00:47:26,920 To the Lord Jesus, it's always about equal sacrifice. 802 00:47:27,040 --> 00:47:30,160 In the book of Mark, in the book of Luke, Jesus is standing at 803 00:47:30,160 --> 00:47:32,840 the temple watching what people put into the offering. 804 00:47:32,840 --> 00:47:34,120 Do you think he still does that today? 805 00:47:36,160 --> 00:47:38,160 He's. Watching and people are coming 806 00:47:38,160 --> 00:47:40,160 by, they're throwing in money, and then a little widow comes 807 00:47:40,160 --> 00:47:45,800 over and all she has in her possession, the entirety of her 808 00:47:45,800 --> 00:47:49,480 bank accounts is 2. Pennies, mites, MITES. 809 00:47:50,280 --> 00:47:53,760 And she puts everything that she has into the offering. 810 00:47:53,760 --> 00:47:56,320 This is worth 2 pennies. It's nothing in terms of 811 00:47:56,320 --> 00:47:59,760 financial value. And Jesus says out of his own 812 00:47:59,760 --> 00:48:08,600 mouth, this woman has given out of her poverty and everyone else 813 00:48:08,600 --> 00:48:10,160 has given out of their abundance. 814 00:48:11,240 --> 00:48:16,320 She's given more than anybody else, this woman more. 815 00:48:16,840 --> 00:48:18,800 We think the number matters to God. 816 00:48:18,800 --> 00:48:25,440 It's the sacrifice and the extravagance of the gift that 817 00:48:25,440 --> 00:48:29,560 moves his heart and declares to the world that he is king. 818 00:48:29,560 --> 00:48:32,200 Extravagant means like, I wouldn't do this for myself, but 819 00:48:32,200 --> 00:48:38,600 I will do it for Jesus. It's over the top, but he's 820 00:48:38,600 --> 00:48:40,480 worth. It sacrificial looks like I will 821 00:48:40,480 --> 00:48:44,480 forsake something in my life so I can bring a better gift to the 822 00:48:44,480 --> 00:48:45,960 Lord. Let me tell you, in your tithes 823 00:48:45,960 --> 00:48:48,840 and your offerings, if it's not costing you, hurting you, you 824 00:48:48,840 --> 00:48:52,520 might not be doing it right. And by the way, the hurt only 825 00:48:52,520 --> 00:48:55,600 starts from the beginning. As soon as you learn to be 826 00:48:55,600 --> 00:49:00,000 generous with the Lord, you find out that there's no cost at all. 827 00:49:00,880 --> 00:49:02,880 I said it before, I'll say it again, you can. 828 00:49:03,000 --> 00:49:06,440 It's harder to get us a person who's already tithing to stop 829 00:49:06,760 --> 00:49:08,440 than it is to get a non tither to start. 830 00:49:08,440 --> 00:49:11,080 Because the person who's tithing has seen the goodness of the 831 00:49:11,080 --> 00:49:16,000 Lord in their life as they bring their gold and worship. 832 00:49:17,760 --> 00:49:23,960 Matthew chapter 6 verse 21 Jesus says these famous words about 833 00:49:23,960 --> 00:49:26,080 finances. I hope that you've heard this 834 00:49:26,080 --> 00:49:30,760 before says for where your treasure is, there your heart 835 00:49:30,760 --> 00:49:34,360 will follow after the treasure leads the heart. 836 00:49:34,360 --> 00:49:36,720 The magi knew this before Jesus spoke it. 837 00:49:36,880 --> 00:49:40,360 They come to the Manger with their treasure. 838 00:49:41,960 --> 00:49:44,320 And maybe I read it too quickly and you didn't notice it like, 839 00:49:44,320 --> 00:49:46,360 well, are they just walking around finding kings and tossing 840 00:49:46,360 --> 00:49:48,680 out money? No, with Jesus they laid down 841 00:49:48,680 --> 00:49:52,240 the treasure, and it says they bowed down and loved on Him, 842 00:49:53,560 --> 00:49:57,960 worshipped him, treasure and heart going hand in hand. 843 00:49:59,040 --> 00:50:03,520 The gold wasn't kept, it was surrendered to the king. 844 00:50:04,200 --> 00:50:06,600 I want to tell you this morning, Jesus is still worthy of our 845 00:50:06,600 --> 00:50:11,120 most extravagant, sacrificial, joyful offerings, not because he 846 00:50:11,120 --> 00:50:14,680 needs our money, but because we need to give them to him in 847 00:50:14,680 --> 00:50:19,240 order to say to him and to the whole world, You are my King, 848 00:50:19,960 --> 00:50:22,600 you and none other, you and you only. 849 00:50:22,680 --> 00:50:25,080 And by the way, whatever is your king, whoever is your king will 850 00:50:25,080 --> 00:50:28,840 order your. Life, you want it to be Jesus 851 00:50:31,160 --> 00:50:35,520 last question, then we'll pray. Is he your king? 852 00:50:36,120 --> 00:50:40,960 It's not a yes or no question. Your answer is in the way that 853 00:50:40,960 --> 00:50:43,760 you live and in the way that you give. 854 00:50:44,960 --> 00:50:49,560 That will be your answer. In the name of the Father, Son 855 00:50:49,560 --> 00:50:51,440 and Holy Spirit. Would you bow your heads, close 856 00:50:51,440 --> 00:50:54,840 your eyes? Would you just repeat these 857 00:50:54,840 --> 00:50:58,160 words after me saying Holy Spirit everybody? 858 00:50:58,160 --> 00:51:06,080 Holy Spirit, what is it that you wanted me to learn today to do 859 00:51:06,200 --> 00:51:09,520 starting today? Now just be quiet there a moment 860 00:51:09,520 --> 00:51:10,840 and let Holy Spirit speak to you. 861 00:51:11,240 --> 00:51:13,600 Just keep asking the question until you get an answer. 862 00:51:13,600 --> 00:51:18,000 He is faithful. Those who ask will receive an 863 00:51:18,000 --> 00:51:27,030 answer. Is He asking you to rise up in 864 00:51:27,030 --> 00:51:31,190 your identity, to no longer feel like you have to eat the crumbs 865 00:51:31,190 --> 00:51:34,070 of life, but that He has blessed you with wealth and status and 866 00:51:34,070 --> 00:51:37,840 protection? Is He asking you today to walk 867 00:51:37,840 --> 00:51:39,400 in obedience? Maybe you've been out of line 868 00:51:39,400 --> 00:51:43,560 somewhere and He's calling you back into alignment for His 869 00:51:43,560 --> 00:51:50,800 glory and for your benefit. Or maybe, just maybe, money is 870 00:51:50,800 --> 00:51:54,680 an idol to you and you feel it impossible to give. 871 00:51:55,400 --> 00:51:58,080 But today He's touching your heart, saying, I want to bring 872 00:51:58,080 --> 00:52:07,920 my gift to Jesus. Finally today there may be 873 00:52:07,920 --> 00:52:10,920 somebody here who who has yet to join the royal family. 874 00:52:11,960 --> 00:52:14,280 Today is your day to say yes Jesus, I want in. 875 00:52:14,800 --> 00:52:16,280 I want to be your son. I want to be your daughter. 876 00:52:16,280 --> 00:52:18,200 I want to be a Prince, I want to be a Princess. 877 00:52:19,320 --> 00:52:22,320 The Bible says if you believe in your heart and confess with your 878 00:52:22,320 --> 00:52:24,600 mouth that Jesus is Lord, you will be saved. 879 00:52:25,200 --> 00:52:28,760 So let's pray that now together. Every voice saying Father in the 880 00:52:28,760 --> 00:52:34,680 name of Jesus I recognize. That I am a Sinner in need of a 881 00:52:34,680 --> 00:52:40,560 savior and I confess and I believe that Jesus is Lord. 882 00:52:41,760 --> 00:52:44,880 I receive you, Jesus as my Savior. 883 00:52:45,440 --> 00:52:48,760 Come into my life and live your life through me. 884 00:52:50,760 --> 00:52:53,880 Thanks for joining us today. We hope God is speaking to your 885 00:52:53,880 --> 00:52:56,440 heart through this message. If you'd like to connect with 886 00:52:56,440 --> 00:53:04,080 us, you can text Connect to 4:07 588-0115 or visit Illuminate dot 887 00:53:04,080 --> 00:53:06,240 Church. Have a great week.