Jesus the King of the Church

Scripture Reading

Will you please open in your Bibles with me to 1 Samuel chapter 8. I have no clue what page that is in your few Bibles, but 1 Samuel chapter 8, 249. I'll take your word for it. Alright, 1 Samuel 8. We'll be looking tonight at verses 10-18. 1 Samuel 8, beginning at verse 10. Brothers and sisters, hear now God's Word. So Samuel told all the words of the Lord to the people who asked him for a king.

And he said, this will be the behavior of the king who will reign over you. He will take your sons and appoint them for his own chariots to be his horsemen. And some will run before his chariots. He will appoint captains over thousands and captains over his fifties. Will set some to plow his ground and reap his harvest. And some to make his weapons of war and equipment for his chariots.

He will take your daughters to be perfumers, cooks, and bakers. And he will take the best of your fields, your vineyards, and your olive groves, and give them to His servants. He will take a tenth of your grain and your vintage, and give it to His officers and servants. And He will take your male servants, your female servants, your finest young men, and your donkeys, and put them to His work. He will take a tenth of your sheep, and you will be His servants. And you will cry out in that day because of your King, whom you have chosen for yourselves. And the Lord will not hear you in that day.

Prayer for Illumination

The grass withers, the flower fades, but the Word of our God endures forever. Let's pray. Father, we thank you, Lord, for what could be a hard passage. Lord, we thank you for the wisdom that's contained there in it. Lord, we pray that your Holy Spirit would apply these truths in this passage to our hearts tonight. Lord, we pray that your Spirit would strengthen us and resolve us. And Father, that we might have one King to rule over us, King Jesus. In His name we pray. Amen.

Sermon

You might find it odd to choose a passage like 1 Samuel chapter 8. Hold on, we didn't choose a king to rule over us, we chose an elder. Yeah, that's right, you chose an elder, because we have one king. We constituted the court in the name of that king, Jesus Christ, before this meeting. And so this evening, as we get together and as we work through a little bit of this passage, I want you to know that you did not elect an elder to reign over you as a tyrant. No elder has any right to do that. But even the king of the church, Jesus Christ, does not behave the way Samuel warns the people about here. Make no doubt about it.

The church has one king in head and his name is Jesus Christ. It's upon his head which the royal diadem sits. And so I want to look and just, my hope tonight as we go through this passage is that your heart will be rejoiced as you think about Jesus. Your heart will be rejoiced as you think about your King. So look with me, beginning at verse 11, where Samuel warns the people with the word of the Lord. And he says, this will be the behavior of the King who will reign over you.

And notice after the colon there, he specifically says, he will, and here's the first verb, and this verb is stated again and again and again and again and again. He will take. He will take. He will take their sons and their daughters. He will put men in chariots, and like a coward, He will make some of their men go in front of Him into battle. He will take some of their strongest, most talented fighting men, and He'll stay in the safety, in the rear guard, while letting the advance be killed. He would take their sons and put them as captains. He would take their men and make them plow His ground and reap His harvest and make His weapons of war. Do you see the picture that is painting here? He will use your sons, He will use your children for His military might. He will take them from you. He will take them from you. But this is not how we learned of Jesus. We didn't learn of Jesus that way.

Jesus did not, like David, stay at home when the army went out to war. No, Jesus, Matthew chapter four tells us that when the time of temptation and trial came, he was driven into the desert and there he went toe to toe with our adversary. He didn't put somehow somebody else to go and fight that battle. He fought that battle and he won. Jesus didn't somehow abdicate his responsibilities and enlist his disciples to somehow, I'll tell you what, how about you disciples, you go and be persecuted by the Romans and I'll stay in safety. No, quite the opposite. He let all of his disciples desert him. And he faced the Romans alone.

He conquered sin and death for us as our champion and as our king. He didn't take, but he gave his life as a ransom. The commander of the legions of angels, who at his beckoning call would have done his will. One angel had before wiped out over 100,000 Assyrians. Jesus commanded an army of them. But he didn't make any angel do his bidding. but he faced death himself. Because Jesus is our champion. He's our king who upholds all things by his power. And yet he reigns for our good. See in verse 13, notice what the king will do, this unjust king, he will take Your daughters.

To be perfumers, cooks, and bakers. The idea here again is He's going to take them out of their families, take them out of the prosperity of the home, and He's going to use them for His own service. He's going to put them in places where, yeah, they're going to serve, but they're going to be just put away. Trying to work somewhere else.

But when we come to the kingdom of Jesus Christ, we find Jesus, who instead of taking the daughters out of the home to make them perfumers, what does he do with someone like Mary, who takes the fragrant oil, that nard that would have cost over a year's wages?

As she anointed him for his death, Jesus said, do not, right? Do not dishonor her. What she has done is a noble thing and will be remembered as often as this story is told. Jesus isn't the type of king who takes the daughters out of the homes to go and serve him, but no, he's the one that when the service is done willfully and lovingly for him, he exalts them and honors them. He takes the Lydia's of the world and makes them co-laborers in the gospel. He takes the Phoebes of the world and he encourages them to do their ministry that he has given them to do. Jesus loved and cherished and honored the wisdom, honored the windman who called him Lord. Jesus gives his daughters dignity and honor. Unlike this king who takes, takes, takes. But even in verse 14, Samuel goes on and he says, He will take the best of your fields, your vineyards, and your olive groves, and give them to His servants.

This is the very opposite of what God had promised them was going to happen in the land that they had been given. Remember, God is the one who created the whole earth. He created the entire universe. He gave them the promised land. He gave these Israelites, whom He is talking to, land by lot, each tribe by tribe, family by family, their inherited portion.

And here, instead of the king mirroring the gracious reign of God, takes from them even the gifts that God would give them. He takes their fields, He takes their vineyards, He takes their olive groves, But this is not how God had said he would reign over them.

Actually, in verse seven of 1 Samuel 8, the Lord actually has to console Samuel, and he says to him in verse seven, heed the voice of the people and all that they say to you, for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me, that I should not reign over them. People wanted to be just like all the other nations, but what they didn't realize is that they had the best king in the universe reigning over them. And so you also have the best king in the universe reigning over you.

Jesus does not come so he would take away your inheritance, but Jesus has come to give you life and to give you it abundantly. Jesus came not to strip you of your right to the kingdom, but He has made you sons and daughters, inheritors of the kingdom, making you royal children through His Spirit, by the Spirit of adoption, that you might cry unto God, Abba, Father. Do you see? He's not a king who takes.

He's a king who gives, even to those who are the most unworthy. As we remember, even on the cross, as Jesus is about to die, there is a sinner at His right and a sinner at His left. And one of them goes from sinner to saint real fast. And he cries out to Jesus, and he says, remember me in your kingdom. And how does Jesus respond?

He says, oh, hold on, you didn't give me enough. You haven't done enough for me. No, I'm sorry, you haven't followed me long enough. You haven't paid the dues. There's not enough taxes. No, you can't get into my kingdom. No, what does he say? Jesus tells that redeemed saint on the cross, today you will be with me in paradise. Because that's the prerogative of our king.

Because see, verse 15 through 17 just continues on. Verse 15, He will take. Verse 16, He will take. Verse 17, He will take. A tenth of your grain, a tenth of your vintage, a tenth of your sheep. He's going to take your harvest. He's going to take your manservants, your female servants, your young men, even your donkeys.

Jesus doesn't behave that way. Our king does not come to take, take, take. Jesus himself said, a thief does not come except to steal and to kill and to destroy. But Jesus says, I have come that they may have life and that they may have it more abundantly. Because you see, Jesus is our shepherd king. Jesus isn't just a king who stands far aloof, not knowing who you are and not caring about who you are, but Jesus knows you.

By name. By every hair on your head. And you know Him. You know His voice. Jesus cares for His sheep. And Jesus laid down His life for His sheep. Verse 17 ends with a warning. Not only will He take a tenth of their sheep, but notice the very last warning, and you will be His servants.

I have a slave. You know, this was a common thing in the ancient world where you would have master and slave relationships. It would go all the way through ancient Israel, even through Greco-Roman time, and even during Jesus' time. This is one of the paradigms, this is one of the models that Jesus even uses, right? His followers, his disciples, even call him master. That's what the word Lord means.

They're his servants. But see, in the economy of God, in the way in which Jesus reigns in His kingdom, it's not by tyranny. It's not by despotism. It's not by cruelty and harshness. This is exactly why in Ephesians 6, 9 and Colossians 4, 1, when there are masters in the church, where there are people who own slaves, the Lord tells them, that they must not be unjust, unfair, or threatening. The question is why? Why were the Christians who were the lords or the masters, even at that time in their household, why were they not to act this way? Because you know that you have a Lord in heaven. Do you see? And the Lord in heaven does not behave that way. The master of the kingdom, the ruler of the household of God, does not behave with cruelty, with threats, and injustice. No, Jesus is not cruel, but he calls himself compassionate and merciful.

He showed this in his own life. Even as your High Priest, the book of Hebrews, tells us that He can sympathize with your weaknesses. Jesus has compassion, and He shows that again and again and again in the Gospel. He shows it when the woman who's a widow comes, and she has one son, and her son dies, and the Scriptures tell us Jesus had compassion on her. He had compassion. on the man who had little faith, who also had a sick child. And even though he had little faith, Jesus still cared for him, showed him compassion. When the multitude of people, and this was a mixed multitude of people, gather around in John chapter 4, there's a whole bunch of people, thousands of people, some of them who are going to forsake him in John chapter 6.

They all get together and they're there to be fed. And the scriptures tell us that Jesus had compassion on them for they didn't have food. See, our master is one who is compassionate and merciful. Jesus is the king of the church and of the universe. And for his people, he rules with compassion and with mercy. It's what we find with the man who is possessed by a legion who lived amongst the graves, everybody else deserted him, nobody else wanted anything to do with him, most likely the kids would have been scared every time they heard him crying out in the graves. And yet Jesus had compassion on him, because that's the kind of king you serve. See, Jesus is not harsh, but Jesus is gentle and meek. He's the one who said to the people, come unto me all ye who are weary and heavy laden, I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for my yoke is easy and my burden is light.

He would not reign over his people. Jesus would not reign over his people like Solomon's son, who when they cried out because the yoke was too heavy, he said, my father burdened you with little, I'm gonna burden you with much. That's not how your Redeemer and your Master reigns.

No, Jesus says that He is gentle and lowly. He's so gentle that even when the crowds are surrounding around Him and the disciples decide that they're going to play bouncer because parents are trying to get their little children to Him, And they start forbidding the parents, don't let these kids bother the master. It's Jesus who says, do not forbid the little ones to come unto me. Because Jesus is not harsh, but he's gentle and lowly. Jesus does not breathe out harsh threats to his servants, but he promises them protection.

This is exactly where some of our favorite Bible verses come from in the New Testament. Do not be anxious about anything, but in all things, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. See, Jesus guards even your heart, even your mind. Where anxiety and the world would try to steal your peace from you, Jesus comes and He gives you peace. He protects you even from the things that would try to steal your heart. from Him. Jesus even prays for you. This is one of my favorite things.

Jesus, at the right hand of God the Father, intercedes for me and you. Jesus isn't harsh toward His people, speaking out threats of violence against us, whipping us like a slave driver. but he prays for his people. So I want to finish just reading to you one of my favorite passages of Scripture on our relationship with Jesus and how deep that relationship goes. Romans chapter 8, verses 34 through 39. Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?

Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or peril, or sword, nakedness, As it is written, for your sake we are killed all day long, we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter, yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Nothing can separate you from your King who reigns over you, not taking, taking, taking, making you a servile servant. No, our King of King reigns. Written upon his thigh is that name, King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

Closing Prayer

He rides upon that white steed, and he is coming again to judge the living and the dead. But for us, he's our champion. For us, he's our King. For us, he's our Lord. and he's worthy to be praised. Let's pray. Lord, we thank you that you are the chief shepherd and overseers of your people. Lord, you are the one who has loved us. Lord, yes, you have. Your robe dipped in blood. But it is not ours. Because, Lord, You shed Your blood for us.

And so, Father, we thank You that You have a voice for the wolves. But, Lord, for us, You have tender care. For us who trust in You. And so, Father, we thank You. And we pray, Lord, that in this congregation and in our hearts, that Jesus Christ would reign supreme. that he would be our only hope, our only master, our only Lord. For indeed, he is our Redeemer, and he is worthy to be praised. Thank you, Lord, for all you have done. In Jesus' name, amen.