Because He Sat! — Thaddeus Barnum

Christ, Almighty God, Father of glory, give us a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of your Son who is at your side. Fill us with your Spirit and give us, Lord, grace to live in the power of your holy name.

To you, Lord, we commend ourselves through Christ our Lord. Amen. Good morning and Happy New Year to you. This is a unique year because this is the 250th anniversary of All Saints Church and so there'll be all kinds of celebrations this year of the faithful testimony of the Lord Jesus Christ to the people of God in this place for these 250 years.

The Lord’s Promises in an Unstable World

And there's no better time on January 1 to come and offer ourselves, our bodies, our souls unto the Lord for a new year. And so I pray as we come to the scriptures today that we might receive a strengthening of faith.

Just no idea what's coming ahead of us, do we? No idea in this unstable world what this coming year will be like. But there are promises found here in Scripture and one in particular I'd like to make my appeal to you this morning, found in Psalm 110.

Focusing now on verse 1 where it says, the Lord said to my Lord, sit at my right hand until I put enemies, your enemies, at your feet. Now this great verse of Scripture is recording not just a fundamental doctrine of the Bible but an historical fact, an event that has happened where the Father, maker of heaven and earth, has said to his beloved son, sit at my right hand on the real inauguration day, the coronation day, and the promise that he will put all enemies under his son's feet.

Now this verse actually dominates from that point on especially as we come into the New Testament. Our Lord used this verse at just the right time. He was facing his accusers. They were trying to trick him and finally he just was done with them.

And he said, Psalm 110 verse 1, we all know that David wrote this, King David, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. We all know that when the coming King comes he is David's son. Now how is it when David spoke these words, the Lord said to my Lord, how is it he calls him Lord if he's his son?

And they're really bright people but they didn't know the answer. They were stunned. They couldn't respond. They didn't know how, if the coming Christ is David's son, why would David call his son Lord?

And they got be twixt and be dazzled and bewildered. They didn't know how to respond to him. They didn't know the answer was standing right there in front of them. King of kings, the son of David, the son of the Father.

He also used this verse at his trial. He was silent during most of it, but when they pressed him, when they asked him, are you the Christ, the Son of God? He said to them, and you shall see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of power and coming with the clouds of heaven.

You'll see it. See, Jesus knew that these words of Psalm 110 belonged to him, that there was coming a coronation day, a day in history when he would sit at his father's right hand, having accomplished all things, and the enemies would be put under his feet.

Moses’ Raised Hands and the Victory of the Seated King

This picture is utterly simple. The Bible makes it simple. At one point in the history of Israel, they were coming out of Egypt. They were tired, and they were faint, and they were weary. And the Amalekites, an enemy, came up and attacked them from the rear, and especially those who were lagging behind.

And so Moses, he said to Joshua, get an army together. You go and fight them, but as for me, I'm going up to the mountain. And when I go to the mountain, I will hold my scepter high. And when my scepter is lifted up, the enemy shall not win.

What a picture. The altar that day would be called, the Lord is my banner, because that's the banner, that's the picture. There he is, his hands lifted, the battle won. Of course, Moses got tired himself, his hands started to fall.

And the moment his hands began to fall, the enemy started to win. So they took old Moses, they sat him down, and Aaron came on one side, Hur came on the other, and they lifted Moses' hands so that they would stay steady.

And when Moses sat and the hands were raised, the enemy could not win. Oh, did you get that? When the king sits, the battle is always won. When the king has his hands lifted up, doesn't matter what battle you're in, if you can see him, battle is won.

I take great comfort in this, because this is the essence of what it means for the king to take his seat. It's not Joshua's brilliance, it's not Joshua's might, it's not Joshua's strategy that won the battle that day.

It was the Moses upon the mountain, with his hands lifted up, that won the battle that day. You and I, no matter what battle we're in, our king sits today, our king reigns today. Coronation Day has already come.

Christ the King and Priest After the Order of Melchizedek

Psalm 110 makes it a little more complicated, because we find in verse 4 that this king who will be seated on Coronation Day is also priest. And the Old Testament does not know that conversation. In the Old Testament, the priest came from the tribe and the people of Levi.

The king came from the tribe of David and the tribe of Judah. You never had a king that was a priest, and you never had a priest that was a king, except for one little tiny excerpt in Genesis with this priest king called Melchizedek.

But other than that, the two never met. But this king that is coming will be after the order of Melchizedek. He will be king and he will be priest. And the king, why, he takes care of the battle on the outside.

But the priest, he takes care of the battle on the inside. Did you get that? That's where sin rages, where the devil torments, where the things we want to do we don't do because of the nature, the principle of sin within us.

Priest deals with the things on the inside. This one coming that will sit on Coronation Day will deal with both, but it's not possible. Priest, dear friend, in the Old Testament, no priest, no priest ever sat.

No, no priest. No, no. No priest ever sat. On the day of Yom Kippur, the priest would go into the Holy of Holies with the blood of goats. He'd go in once a day to the throne, the mercy seat, with the cherubim wherein the Lord sat enthroned.

Psalm 99 verse 1, the Lord enthroned above the cherubim. The priest, the high priest, once a year on Yom Kippur would come in with the blood, of course with the blood, without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins.

Hebrews 9, 22, without the shedding of blood, he'd come in with the blood. He would put the blood of goats on the mercy seat and he left no sitting upon the throne. When this one comes, he will bring in the blood that lasts once for all, the blood upon the mercy seat, and then this priest will sit.

Thank you so much. Thank you so much. Call me. That will be the day of the final Yom Kippur. This king, this coronation, it will be finished. The Old Testament waits for him. The Old Testament waiting for this king, this priest.

The Promised Davidic King and the Incarnation

We just heard it sung at Messiah. We heard it in the readings. Unto us a child is born, to us a son is given. The government shall be upon his shoulder. His name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end. On the throne of David and over his kingdom to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore, the zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.

Peace on the outside. Peace on the inside. And that's why when Gabriel came to Mary, these are the words that he used. The angel coming to the Virgin Mary saying these words, and this one you shall call Jesus.

He will be great. He will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever and of his kingdom there will be no end.

And you can see the platform of the Gospels ready to come at you. The king is about to take the stage. The priest is about to take the stage in splendor, in royalty, in majesty. But then you start reading the Gospels and it doesn't happen.

It's so surprising. John the Baptist, he looks at him when he's coming down, first sight of him, he looks at him and he says behold. He doesn't say behold, Son of David, King of Kings, he's come. He does not say behold, the high priest, the one after the order of Melchizedek, he has come.

No, no. John the Baptist says behold, the Lamb of God takes away the sin of the world. It's as if Jesus our Lord, not only did he not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but nor did he regard his majesty, his royalty, his splendor, his glory, something to be grasped.

He came among us in humility. Almost nobody through the Gospels sees him as king. Oh, a few people do. Bartimaeus the blind man, Lord have mercy upon me, Son of David, he knew. The Syrophoenician woman, the one who was not even a Jew, she knew.

The song on Palm Sunday, people celebrating Hosanna to the Son of David, they knew. Very few people knew that the king had come. Because this king, this priest, had his first job to do, to bear the iniquity of us all.

He made himself of no reputation. The Father laid upon him the sins, the iniquity of us all. It is utterly ironic. Upon the cross of Calvary, well that's precious offering, the Lamb of God slain for us and for our salvation, that Pilate would have put above his head these words, this is Jesus, King of the Jews.

Oh, he didn't understand. King of Jews, King of Kings, Son of David, upon the cross, the crown of thorns, which is really the crown of his glory, because he loves you that much, and me that much, and all people for all time, that that precious blood would buy and redeem and ransom and restore all those who would come in mercy to him to receive.

And when that precious blood was offered to the Father on that final Yom Kippur, when the high priest uttered the words, it is finished, on the third day, the Father raised him from the dead. The kingdom of the devil from Genesis 3 on is over.

His power, his tyranny, his reign is over. There's a new king in town on the third day. The chains are off because now the king is here. And when the king comes, and when the king reigns, the kingdom of peace begins.

The Ascended King Reigns with All Authority

Which is why on Easter night, his first words to his disciples, what first word was just that? Peace, he said. Peace without, and peace within. You are accepted by the Father by what Jesus did upon the cross of Calvary.

For 40 days he told the disciples the kingdom of God, what it was like, and what would happen. He would tell us that though the devil be defeated, he has a short time, and he will wreak havoc. Revelation 12 says he's come down to earth and he is ticked.

He is. He knows his time is short, and he thinks he's still reigning. But Jesus made sure we knew, all authority in heaven on earth is mine. All authority in heaven and on earth, the king is here. And on the 40th day, oh you can't see it, but on that 40th day when the clouds took him up in glory, do you know what happened that day?

On that day he arrived in the courts of heaven. The father seated his son at his right hand. And he has been reigning ever since. Reigning in glory, sitting in power to this day. World doesn't get this.

The world doesn't know this. The world can't see this. Blinded by this. Blinded by the God of this age. They cannot see. They think inauguration is happening in 20 days. That's what they're concerned about.

They think Christianity, like all religions, is powerless, meaningless. Oh you say Jesus is upon the throne, Buddha, Mohammed, whoever. What really matters is this. What's gonna happen with a nuclear arms race?

That's the issue. What's gonna happen with homeland security? Are we gonna build the wall? Will there be extreme vetting? Will we build up our armies? Our military? We'll strengthen it. We have enemies.

The Church’s Forgiveness in Charleston

Do you know that eight days ago on Christmas Eve it was the first time I had ever, in all the years I've served the Lord, the first time an archbishop ever sent out an email to all the bishops to send to all the clergy that ISIS had targeted Christians to kill on Christmas Eve.

Did you know that? By the nighttime it was on the media that there was a list of churches that ISIS was going to come and kill. Take over the Christians. Kill the Christians. Shut up the Christians. That's what the world thinks today.

Oh my friends, the Christian response has always been the same. We can see. ISIS isn't in power. The devil's not in power. Let me be very practical. You remember what happened 18 months ago down in Charleston at Emmanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church when somebody came in and shot nine people including the pastor.

Do you remember that? Terror, darkness, horror. What was the church's response? It says the amazing piece of the world couldn't believe it. Well why can't you believe it? It's always been the story. You think Caesar reigns but we have another king in town.

His name is Jesus. We know how to forgive. You can kill us but we'll be back because you can't control us because there's a king seated today upon the throne and we can see him. We know him. The poor world, they don't get this.

The Priestly King Brings Forgiveness and Peace

They think that we're educated. They think we're sophisticated. We think we're ever better than the primitives because we've advanced so much. You go to their funeral services and they don't need a savior.

They don't talk about forgiveness. They just say everybody goes to heaven. Why? Well because they don't know. They're playing fantasies. They don't understand the devil that's tormented them and blinds them.

They cannot see the king upon the throne. He is the one as priest that can forgive us our sins. Free us and set us free and know the peace of God inside of us that passes understanding. There is no battle too strong.

There is no storm too big. The Lord himself does not reign over it for us. This is why the New Testament is so strong on this language. So strong on this language. In Ephesians 1 it says that the father raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand far above all rule and authority and power and dominion.

And he has raised you up and seated you with him in heavenly places. And so dear friends seek the things if you've been raised up with Christ keep seeking the things above where Christ is seated at the right hand of God.

You can see. That's the point about being a Christian. And even the Old Testament knows this. I mean it's amazing that before it even happened before he even sat the Old Testament saints already knew that though he wasn't here yet he reigns.

Though he isn't here yet he's Lord. Habakkuk at the end of Habakkuk chapter 3 he says you know the fig tree though the fig tree should not blossom and there be no fruits on the vines the yield of the olive should fail and the fields produce no food no food though the flock be cut off from the fold though there be no cattle in the stalls hungry famine it doesn't matter.

I will praise the Lord. I will exalt in the Lord. So what happened to Job. He lost everything except his dear wife. He lost everything and he said naked I came from the womb naked I'll depart the Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away.

Blessed be the name of the Lord. Praise be the name of the Lord. He's reigning today reigning over all things. Do you believe do you know. See this is where we have got a message and that's why the the writers of the the New Testament that the writers as they went into the post-christian era it was actually written in the Creed.

The Creed, the Heavenly Session, and Christian Hope

Always remember on the third day he rose again in accordance with the Scriptures he ascended into heaven. He is seated on the right hand of the Father. He will come again in glory to judge both the living and the dead.

He reigns today. My friend Errol and I got a chance to visit my friend our friend that we've known for over 30 years this past week Jim and Francis have just been in our life for so long. This past June I think it was she was diagnosed with inoperable lung cancer and as she went through the next six months and the cancer began to take her body.

She fell into a coma in the early part of December. And a hospice nurse was there at their home several times a day and and Francis just went into a quiet sleep. And well Jim my friend he you know he he just praises Jesus.

I can't. He just knows how to praise Jesus. My that bother you the way I said that he he just loves to praise Jesus. And he began to pray over his wife and sing songs to praise the Lord and ask him to preside in this room.

Preside over his wife. And she woke up her eyes. He said. Her eyes were translucent. It was like 50 years ago when he was 18 and a half and he first saw that beautiful face. Her eyes so blue. She said Jimmy so beautiful.

He's just so beautiful. Hospice nurse did not. I've never seen anything like this. And she was bawling. The Lord was so present. Oh Jimmy it's so beautiful. The next day she was back into a coma. And Jimmy just did it again.

He just began praying in the spirit praying over his wife praying Lord to bless his wife to preside his lordship. He sits as Lord today over his wife the midst of the song. All she did was lift her hand open her eyes and point home.

Chariot was here. Chariots had come. Oh death. Where is your sting. Oh death. Where is your. And two weeks ago today at 815 in the morning she got on that chair and went home. There's no battle that you have to face in 2017 that is too big for you because your Lord sits upon.

Standing Together Under the Reign of Christ

If you walk alone because you think you can handle things alone the devil will pick you off. I promise you. He always wants to isolate us in our sins our addictions our stories. Never walk alone. Take up the Bible and read it this year.

Get ready for the battles in front of you. Get in a regular discipline of prayer. Help the poor. Take care of the needy. Forgive those who have hurt. You do all the things that are right to do as it is in your rights.

Do under the power of the Lord inside of you. Make sure that you've committed yourself to Jesus. Know that there will be battles in front of you. But here it is. The world will promise you instability.

But I promise you from the scriptures as true as they are. Our Lord reigns today and there is utter stability. We are upon a foundation that cannot be shaken upon a kingdom that will not be moved. A king that will reign forever.

The world cannot see it. World cannot see it. The world will see it one day. Because one day the Son of Man it says in Matthew 25 31. One day the Son of Man he will come. He will sit upon his glorious throne.

And he will divide the sheep from the goats. All people all time will stand before him. Oh you don't understand this world. You think it might be Mohammed. You think it might be Buddha. I'm so sorry it's not.

It's not. The father has appointed his son judge of the living and the dead and his kingdom. The father has designated him. Worship him. Honor him. When you honor the son you honor the father. When you honor the father you honor the son.

And it is the job of the Holy Spirit to give glory and praise to him who sits today. No battle too big no storm too raging. Where our king does not reign today. Give yourself to him this year with all that you are all that you have.

And let's watch him reign over us. Amen. Let's.