Tag: worship the King

March 24th 2024, Palm Sunday: Evan Millership

Published on by Penuel Baptist RochLeave a comment

To view this service, please click on the link to our YouTube channel: https://youtu.be/SUqvXJhy3vQ?si=s_bunqfEA5OPudfv

Luke 19:28-44 Worship to the King

Here, we find a great procession, the beginning of something so much better. The disciples are praising God. They have no idea about what is to happen, but for Jesus the cross is so much bigger now. As He rides into Jerusalem, He knowns His time on earth is about to end. It is a very intense period of a few days. Easter is my favourite holiday because Jesus came to die for me and for you. If you read through the rest of the account of Jesus life on earth and it does not thrill your hearts, it is a wasted week. If it doesn’t thrill your heart that Jesus went to the cross for you, your time is wasted. The worship of the disciples should be an example for us. Jesus should thrill our hearts. It should bring us to worship.


Why worship Jesus? What is the point?

Because:

  1. The King has come.
  2. The King is worthy of praise.
  3. The King cares for you.

What is worship?
“As it is my eager expectation and hope that I will not be at all ashamed, but that with full courage now as always Christ will be honoured in my body, whether by life or by death. 21 For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.” (Philippians 1:20-21). John Piper’s commentary on these verses is very helpful. When we deal with the Bible, words matter. The writer, Paul, does not want to be ashamed, he wants to have courage. He is in prison because he believes in Jesus. He is writing to the Philippians from prison. He wants courage so Christ will be exalted in his body, whether by life or death. To exalt something is to put something higher than yourself. Paul wants to worship Jesus with every ounce of his existence in every interaction he has. Not just in life but in the moment of death, Christ will be exalted. “

For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.” (v.21). This verse echoes what Paul has already said. He wants to worship Jesus. To live is Christ. Do you strive like Paul? To die is gain – the desire to see Christ Himself and be with Him in heaven. To pass through death is gain. What is gain? Death and all that it holds is better by far than anything found in the world around us.

So, what is worship? John Piper summarises it by saying, “The inner essence of worship is to experience Christ as a more satisfying treasure than anything found in life and anything found in death.” To live for Christ is to experience Christ as a more satisfying treasure. It matters how we worship and what we think worship is.

Why should we worship?

  1. The King has come (Luke 19:28-36).

Jesus is going towards Jerusalem. He rides on a colt. This is very important. Jesus is about to show that He is the promised King the people have been waiting for. God has seen the trouble of Man, seen our problem and broken world around us, seen our greatest problem – sin. Throughout the Old Testament God promises a Saviour will come – not just to His people, but to the world,

“Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion!
    Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem!
Behold, your king is coming to you;
    righteous and having salvation is he,
humble and mounted on a donkey,
    on a colt, the foal of a donkey.
10 I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim
    and the war horse from Jerusalem;
and the battle bow shall be cut off,
    and he shall speak peace to the nations;
his rule shall be from sea to sea,
    and from the River to the ends of the earth.
11 As for you also, because of the blood of my covenant with you,
    I will set your prisoners free from the waterless pit.
12 Return to your stronghold, O prisoners of hope;
    today I declare that I will restore to you double.
13 For I have bent Judah as my bow;
    I have made Ephraim its arrow.
I will stir up your sons, O Zion,
    against your sons, O Greece,
    and wield you like a warrior’s sword.
          Zechariah 9:9-13.

Jesus is fulfilling this prophecy, this promise. Zachariah goes on to say that the great enemy, death, will be defeated. Peace will rule. True hope has come at last. Jesus riding on a donkey, people praising His name, shows that the King has come. If you are not trusting in Jesus, death is the final enemy. Jesus has come to die in place of the enemies of God. The King has come!

  • The King is worthy of praise (verses 37-40).

As Jesus goes down the Mount of Olives the disciples joyfully praise God for all the miracles they had seen. The crowd want to see more (v.38 – from Psalm 118). Then the Pharisees come along and say if Jesus is King, that is blasphemy. Jesus answers by saying, “If they keep quiet, the stones will cry out.” You can imagine what they’re response would be. He is saying, ‘You humans are the only ones who can refuse to praise God. But the rest of creation, the trees, the mountains, the clouds, are all there to bring glory to God. Even the pebbles at their feet. Everything was made for the glory of God, everything that is musical, everything that is tasteful, everything that is good in this world is there to portray the goodness of God (Colossians 1:16).

  • The King cares for you (Verse 41-44).

As He approached Jerusalem Jesus wept over it. It matters who Jesus is. We’re not told to worship a rogue dictator, we’re told to worship Jesus. Jesus weeps. The King will come one day. We are meant to be a beacon on a hill. The Jews turned away from God and want nothing to do with Jesus. They did not see the hand that was offered to save them. If you miss the hand of Jesus to save you, there is no other hand. He weeps. He doesn’t want to see people die. He wants people to turn from their evil ways. Turn to Jesus and live.

He is worthy of praise. God himself has come to you. The disciples worshipped him. I want Christ to thrill your heart because He is amazing! Everything points to the cross – what He will do for you and for me. The cross is personal. For those who don’t trust Jesus we see what will happen in verses 42 to 44. Why will you die when Jesus has come to give you life? The King Has come. Jesus thrills His disciples. Will you be thrilled?

September 17th 2023: Benjamin Saunders

Published on by Penuel Baptist RochLeave a comment

Matthew 2: 1-12

In this passage we see the seed, the offspring of David come true, which we read about earlier in 2 Samuel 7: 8-9. We come face to face with Christ, coming face to face with the world. God himself came into the world. He came into the world in human flesh, He came into the world He had made. The kings came to worship the one who was born king. He was born King by virtue of who He is. No one needed to anoint Him king, He is King. He came face to face with all kinds of people. Here, He came face to face with shepherds (Luke), even with kings. And now He comes face to face with you. This is how we come to know Him. He meets you. How do you respond?

Here, we see two groups of people and how they respond.

The wise men. How do they respond?

They searched, “Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.” (Mathhew 2:2). They followed a special star, which has now gone, so they go into Jerusalem in order to ask where is the king of the Jews? They sked for help. They Keep searching because they know this is serious business. They have come a long way. It would have cost a lot of money to travel and it would have been very dangerous. They would have come with caravans, people to protect them and food. When they get to Jerusalem, they keep going. It was serious business. They risked their safety, leaving no stone unturned. Do you know it’s serious? Have you come this morning knowing it is serious and important? They undertake take a serious search. They go to the king because they’re really intent on finding this king.

After they searched, they rejoiced. To rejoice is to be very joyful, very glad and to show it. People know when you are rejoicing. Matthew says they rejoiced exceedingly, in a great manner. Matthew makes the point these men were very seriously happy. They were overwhelmed with joy. Why? It was not because they saw Christ, “When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy.” (Matthew 2:10). They rejoiced when they saw the star. This might seem strange, but it is the sign that they know they are very nearly there. All the expense, all the time, all of the searching, has nearly come to an end.

Why are they so happy? Not only had they reached the end of their journey, but they know the king of the Jews is very good news for them. Do you know it is very good news for you? You need to rejoice like this. “Behold” (Matthew 2:1), is a very special word. It doesn’t mean to look or see. Here, it tells you something very dramatic is about to happen, to be explained. “Behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem.” (Matthew 2:1b).

‘Wise men from the East’ is a surprise! They were not in the right group of people, people of Israel. It’s a surprise wise men from the east came. For them it didn’t matter they had been brought up not worshipping God. It is good news for everyone.

Rejoicing is not the end of the story. The wise men came and do what they’ve come to do – they worship Him. The journey, the search they entered undertook, the joy they felt, are all to worship him. They came to worship him. All their actions are all related to this one purpose – to worship the King of the Jews. How strange a situation. Men in caravans come to a small village, go to a home, see a mother and child, and fall on the floor to worship someone they think is a king. The child has no royal mother or father; they weren’t well off. There is nothing to indicate a king lives here, except the star. They trust the prophecy they’ve read is true. They worship Him. They lift up and exalt, while at the same time going down. They fell on the ground, they didn’t kneel. The fell on the ground, flat on a dust floor, to worship. To put ourselves down is to humble ourselves. It is to adore Him. It is to acknowledge the other person is higher than us, to acknowledge He has power over us.

The wise men continue to worship; they open their treasures and give Him very expensive gifts showing status, power and wealth. To offer is to give a sacrifice. That is what worship is – themselves down, Christ high and giving valuable things from their lives. The wise men worship the King and Him only. They give their gifts to the toddler. Nothing is directed at Mary. His kingship is total now, even as a toddler.

Christianity is worship of Christ, following Him only, not Christ and scripture. We worship Christ. All of the worship, all of the adoration, all of the sacrifice is made to the King. This is how you should respond to the King – put yourself low down, acknowledge you are lower than Him, and that He is more than you. You are not to be adored, He is to be adored. You give Him everything, your time your money to support His people – the church. Can you honestly say that you are like the wise men? Come, acknowledging this is serious business. Come happy to be face to face, to worship the King. Are you happy to see chapel? Are you excited when you approach the building? We are here by God’s grace. The building is not important but what goes on is.

The contrast to the response of the wise men is seen in Herod. Are we like Herod and those like him? “When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him,” (Matthew 2:3). Herod was troubled. He doesn’t hear a king is born, he hears a threat. Herod hears the news and is troubled. See this contrast between the wise men and Herod. Are you worried about the things you’ll have to give up? Do you worry what being a citizen under this King will do for you?

Herod also searched (verses, 3/4, 7/8).  He brings the chief priests and scribes. He wants to see is the threat real and if so, what can he do to avert the it. He asks the wise men to search diligently (Matthew 2:8). He was desperate to find out, not just after this short period, but he continued to look his whole life. He was persistent in looking for this child and to kill him. What do you search for?

Herod And the wise men had the same information. Herod also had information from the chief priests and scribes. Do you look to and listen for reasons not to change? Herod was very angry when he found he had been tricked. If you are like that, you need to change and be like the wise men, ready to search and worship.

Herod didn’t want the King. He rejected the King and did his best to kill him, “Then Herod, when he saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, became furious, and he sent and killed all the male children in Bethlehem and in all that region who were two years old or under, according to the time that he had ascertained from the wise men.” (Matthew 2:16). Before this he was a horrible man, he continued to be a horrible man. Rejection is so total. Herod is happy to have children murdered. That is what rejection is. If you reject the King, you reject him totally. Do you reject the King? You may say, ‘I haven’t had children killed or murdered,’ but you do not have to be angry and active to reject the King. You can be passive and not listen to everything about Jesus – that is rejecting the King.

The King is King whether you believe it or not. If you don’t accept the King, you are in error. This King became so poor that you became so rich. He came to be betrayed. He came to be murdered by people He had made. This King who came to the cross, to take the punishment for sin, came for a single purpose – to get to the cross. Who is your king?

When the King returns all those who reject Him will be killed (Luke 19). In the history of the human race we know, until recently, a traitor would be killed. We might not like that, but this will happen when the Lord Jesus returns. They will be made to bow before they are killed. They will be made to bow down now to this King who died on the cross, the man who came into the world with the express purpose to die for your sins.

If you reject this king, it is your fault. Bow down now. He is worthy. Become a citizen of the Kingdom of heaven. Worship the Lord Jesus Christ.