Rev 19:16, And on His robe and on His thigh He has a name written, "KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS." Amen.
	We have spent a couple of Sundays looking at the Old Testament prophet’s declaration of Christ as the KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS. This has always been the plan and purpose of God in the giving of His Only Begotten Son. From eternity, He determined that all of creation, the creation that He, Himself, put into place, will give homage and adoration to God, the Son. 
This was foreseen by those to whom God revealed this wondrous truth. The prophets ascribed to Christ, the worthiness and the triumph which they beheld in His promise. Those who heard and studied the scripture often thought merely in terms of the Children of Israel. They approached the Lord’s sovereignty on the grounds of how He would lead the earthly kingdom of God’s Chosen People. That was their interpretation of what they were reading and studying.
	However, this was too narrow a focus, as we find in the New Testament writings. Christ is not just the Savior of the Jews. God had far more in mind in the placement of His Son above every name that is named. He also included the Gentiles into the Kingdom of Jesus Christ. This is where we will spend the bulk of this morning’s consideration. We will look at the Kingship and the Lordship that was truly established in Jesus Christ, the Son of God. It so far transcends any earthly rule or authority and extends beyond any limits of time.
	John 3:31-36, "He who comes from above is above all, he who is of the earth is from the earth and speaks of the earth. He who comes from heaven is above all. "What He has seen and heard, of that He bears witness; and no man receives His witness. "He who has received His witness has set his seal to this, that God is true. "For He whom God has sent speaks the words of God; for He gives the Spirit without measure. "The Father loves the Son, and has given all things into His hand. "He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him." 
	Everything, as we read in this passage, is set in the Son. Only in our believing that God sent His Son do we have eternal life. This far exceeds the mere 80 or so transitory years of this earthly life. In Christ, we are brought into the heavenly realm with our faith and our hope and our administration of power and government from above.
	This is a vital key to understand as we consider Jesus Christ. As was true when He walked on this earth, there are many who only see Him as establishing some kind of earthly rule and authority whereby we Christians will rule the world on His behalf. This is not too dissimilar from the viewpoint that was prevalent within the inhabitants of Jerusalem, as evidenced on what we call Palm Sunday. 
John 12:12+13, On the next day the great multitude who had come to the feast, when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, took the branches of the palm trees, and went out to meet Him, and began to cry out, "Hosanna! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel." 
They were looking for Jesus to set up an earthly kingdom in which the Roman occupation would be overthrown and the people of Israel would once again rule themselves. They put their hope and their faith and their understanding into their earthly circumstances, thinking that the Christ would make their earthly lives better and more fulfilling. They sought Him for what He could do for them in relieving their physical ordeal. When He did not do that, they turned on Him, in their bitter disappointment. They even called for the release of Barabbas, rather than Jesus. In their utter selfish disillusionment, they chose to honor and reward a murderer and a thief rather than the very Son of God.
	 The Apostle Peter set before those who would listen the truth of exactly Who Jesus was and the kingdom that was heralded in Him. Acts 2:29-36, "Brethren, I may confidently say to you regarding the patriarch David that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. "And so, because he was a prophet, and knew that God had sworn to him with an oath to seat one of his descendants upon his throne, he looked ahead and spoke of the resurrection of the Christ, that He was neither abandoned to Hades, nor did His flesh suffer decay. "This Jesus God raised up again, to which we are all witnesses. "Therefore having been exalted to the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He has poured forth this which you both see and hear. "For it was not David who ascended into heaven, but he himself says: 'The Lord said to my Lord, "Sit at My right hand, Until I make Thine enemies a footstool for Thy feet. "' "Therefore let all the house of Israel know for certain that God has made Him both Lord and Christ — this Jesus whom you crucified." 
	This is the reality that needs to be in place within our hearts and minds as we reflect on His Kingship and Lordship. God has made Him both Lord and Christ. He is our salvation and He is the Lord, the King of the entire universe, including our very lives. He is a personal Savior and Lord, Who works to our best interests as we listen and obey. He does not promise to take away our troubles or to make our lives easy. Far from it! He allows us to be in those situations and those circumstances in which He can prove Himself mighty to save and to deliver, not just for our sakes, but for the sakes of those who are intently watching how we live on this earth. 
This is something around which we need to wrap our entire process of thinking. We no longer live for ourselves on this earth. We are no longer our own to do as we want and will. We belong to Him and as He is the Sovereign of the universe, He is the sovereign of our every course of thought and action. We belong wholly to Him and are to do only those things which please Him as we live on this earth. Our lives are to manifest, in reality, and in truth, and in endurance, and in perseverance the place of honor that He holds on the throne of our hearts. This is how He is now livingly proclaimed throughout this world. 
Rom 10:11-17, For the Scripture says, "Whoever believes in Him will not be disappointed." For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, abounding in riches for all who call upon Him; for "Whoever will call upon the name of the Lord will be saved." How then shall they call upon Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach unless they are sent? Just as it is written, "How beautiful are the feet of those who bring glad tidings of good things!" However, they did not all heed the glad tidings; for Isaiah says, “LORD, who has believed our report?" So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ. 
We will not be disappointed as we count on Christ to be our Lord and Savior. He will prove Himself over and over again. What we need to do, however, is to make certain that we are giving ourselves wholly to His work in our lives. As we read …faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ. 
We learn the Word of Christ as we give ourselves to Him in His capacity as Lord and King. He makes Himself, the Living Word, fully the manual of our lives. We do not live by laws written as the best directives and guidelines that man can concoct. That is why it is so vital that we commit ourselves to read and to study and to feast upon His Word. That is why we must give ourselves to come together in a complete unity of heart and spirit to embrace all that He has for us as His flock, in singleness of heart and purpose, to receive the feeding of His hand. We live fully under the reign of the Word of God, in subjection to the Holy Spirit as He guides, directs, interprets and orders the paths of our feet. 
This does not, by any measure, mean that we disobey the national, state, and civil laws of those governmental systems that God has placed over us. That would be in complete disobedience to His very Word as we read in Rom 13:1. Let every person be in subjection to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those which exist are established by God. We look at those with the governmental power, as we have already seen, as only having their influence because it is given to them by God. We do follow the guidelines that are established by our civil authorities up to the point at which they become a matter of disobedience to God. When we are faced with obedience to man or obedience to God, we must always choose to obey God, because we recognize Him as Supreme over all.
We have this in the example of the Apostle Paul, formerly Saul. He was of the ruling religious order, working under the direct command of the high priest to eradicate the very name of Jesus of Nazareth from all remembrance. He was following very explicit orders and he was carrying them out to the utmost of his abilities. He was attacking and imprisoning the members of the early church without let up. His heart was complete obedience to God in the very manner in which he could best be of service as he understood his mission in life. 
Then, on that road to Damascus, everything changed within his sphere of understanding and comprehension of what it meant to serve God with all his heart and with all his strength. He met the Lord Jesus Christ, face to face. The allegiance that he owed to his concept of what was pleasing to God and to his superiors was utterly devastated! He ultimately came to realize that his was a service unto God in the name of Jesus Christ. And, even more astonishing, that service was for the very sakes of the Gentile nations, those whom he had been taught over and over again were of no value and to be completely shunned. 
1 Tim 1:15-17, It is a trustworthy statement, deserving full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, among whom I am foremost of all. And yet for this reason I found mercy, in order that in me as the foremost, Jesus Christ might demonstrate His perfect patience, as an example for those who would believe in Him for eternal life. Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen. 
	The Apostle Paul acknowledged and accepted the love of God in Jesus of Nazareth as the Messiah. He saw Him in His place of authority and power and dominion as the Lord of lords and King of kings. What Paul had to offer was only through the grace and the power and the mercy of God Almighty in proclaiming the risen Lord of all creation. From that place of authority, he was commanded to share the gospel of Jesus Christ to the entire known world, and that is what he did. He took no distinction between Jew and Gentile, but simply preached the Word of Jesus Christ wherever God sent him.
	This brings us back, then, to the Book of the Revelation of Jesus Christ. Rev 1:4-8, John to the seven churches that are in Asia: Grace to you and peace, from Him who is and who was and who is to come; and from the seven Spirits who are before His throne; and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the first-born of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To Him who loves us, and released us from our sins by His blood, and He has made us to be a kingdom, priests to His God and Father; to Him be the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen. Behold, He is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see Him, even those who pierced Him; and all the tribes of the earth will mourn over Him. Even so. Amen. "I am the Alpha and the Omega," says the Lord God, "who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty." 
	The chorus throughout our studies has ever been the Lordship of the Son. We have become the very instruments of His Word, as His Church, as the Body of Christ. We have a very unique and very urgent place in the heart of God for the sake of the lost of this age. We are the living testimony of the One, the Only One, by Whom anyone can come into this eternal life. We are ministers of the very kingdom in which we currently reside. 
This is not for the time to come, but for the very salvation of our family members, our workmates, our schoolmates, our friends, and for those whom God brings into our lives on a daily basis. As He is Lord, so are we called to share the same Good News as did the Apostle Paul and the Apostle Peter and the Apostle John and all those, throughout the span of time, who have preceded us in declaring the Lordship of Jesus Christ.
	Rev 15:3+4, And they sang the song of Moses the bond-servant of God and the song of the Lamb, saying, "Great and marvelous are Thy works, O Lord God, the Almighty; Righteous and true are Thy ways, Thou King of the nations. "Who will not fear, O Lord, and glorify Thy name? For Thou alone art holy; For all the nations will come and worship before Thee, For Thy righteous acts have been revealed." If we truly want to sing this chorus to the glory of God, we must first completely come to terms with the fact that Jesus Christ is not a safety valve, just for emergencies. He is not merely a safety net to catch us when we fall. He is not simply a crutch to help us limp along through the hard times. He is the Lord of lords and the King of kings! He deserves our unhindered allegiance every moment of every day! We must come to the place that apart from Him we would utterly perish because we cannot and never will be able to make it on our own! He is not a future king, He is the King today! We do not hope to serve Him someday; we serve Him now, this very instant! When He speaks, we listen! Where He sends, we go! What he commands, we do, now and forever! So be it!
And on His robe and on His thigh He has a name written, "KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS. Amen.

This morning’s benediction is Rev 22:1-5. And he showed me a river of the water of life, clear as crystal, coming from the throne of God and of the Lamb, in the middle of its street. And on either side of the river was the tree of life, bearing twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit every month; and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. And there shall no longer be any curse; and the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and His bond-servants shall serve Him; and they shall see His face, and His name shall be on their foreheads. And there shall no longer be any night; and they shall not have need of the light of a lamp nor the light of the sun, because the Lord God shall illumine them; and they shall reign forever and ever. Amen.