The King's Court

So let's get into the sermon. I wanted to remind you that last week we looked at the doctrine of the Nicolaitans, and in order to introduce that, I went back into history and reminded you about Greek civilization and some of the tenets of the Greek civilization. The Greek civilization was one of the greatest that the world has ever known. They were people who were always seeking to be better than themselves. They had a very good training system.

They were able to have made tremendous advancements that are still with us today in mathematics and science and medicine. But all that was good with them. It could have led some of the people who came into the church at that time to always keep seeking and not realizing and just clinging to the truth when they found it. So they would keep looking and they would keep going on. The doctrines would start doing things as they began to lean on their own understanding. It's a lesson to us to, when we find the truth, hold on to it.

Today I want to go back in history to talk about a different subject and this time about a governmental system that has been with mankind really since the beginning of time. For the last couple hundred years we have lived under a democracy and all of us in this day and age, it's kind of rare that we have anything like monarchies in the world. One monarchy that's very visible is a very benevolent monarchy over there in England and the other monarchies that may be less known there we don't have, you know, we don't have kings that behaved the way the kings did really all through history.

And so I kind of wanted to remind us about what all the rest of humanity has lived under, you know, that we, you and I, haven't had that either opportunity or that that curse to live under because mankind under under kings has had an interesting history. You know, you've lived under a bad king, you know, boy, life is going to be tough. If you lived under a good king it was going to be better, but you were always at the beck and call of the king, you were always prone to his or or subservient to his whimsy to what his desires were.

Somehow, when kings were made, everything revolved around them. And when you think about it, that's a very unnatural thing for to have one man who the whole world, his world revolves around. You know, you've seen the pictures, you've seen the movies, you've read in history books where people just, I mean, they would bow to kings, some kings would, you know, they kind of saw themselves as God. And it would be a very difficult thing to be a king with all the notoriety, with all of the pomp and circumstance and all the conditioning of the people that whenever the king came into the room, you bow.

You know, in some cases you don't even look him in the eye because that was shown as a sign of disrespect. You're not even worthy to look at a king. And you watch these things on TV and some plays it can seem kind of romantic or interesting, but to live in that environment had to be something that is just a very trying thing for people to do.

You know, the king, the king, the king would see himself often as God. He would dictate what religions were. The world at that time was every, everyone did the same thing. And if you ever crossed the king, you know, you could find your head lopped off, right? It was just, it was a world that we can't even imagine, but it was a real world. We are just very blessed to not live in a world like that.

You know, one of the other call marks of the kings and the monarchies, they always had a court. They always had people that surrounded them. And when you watch movies and you read into what's going on there, this court, this group of people, and it was a substantial group of people, they were kind of like the king's household, you know, the Bible talks about the Pharaoh's household, and we'll read that in a minute. They were with the king day and night.

You know, they didn't have, if a king wanted something, he wanted to tell his courier, go right outside that door and bring so and so in. There's something I want him to do. And so, people just spent their days in the king's court. There were lawyers, there were financial people, there were clergy, there were people who were commanders of armies, just about anything the kingdom would want. The king had a court. And as you watch and read history, you watch some of the movies that are there, some of the historical dramas, and you know, they're sometimes fictionalized, you can imagine why people would want to be part of that court. It would be an honor to be in the king's court. I want to be in his presence all the time. When he needs something done, I can't wait for that door to open and my name to be called to get in there and see the king and hear what he has to say. But then your job, your job was just do what he said, whether you agreed with it or not. Because if you didn't do it, you stood to be to stand the public humiliation of being dismissed from the court, or worse, be killed, be executed, because you defied an order or dared, dared cross him in some way. You had to be very, very aware of everything that you were doing in that day and age. And even though there was so much of a risk to being in a king's court, people still wanted to do it. I mean, they, they, it was, it was an honor. It was, you know, if I can be in the presence of the king, then I, my life has just had meaning. And so, you know, we get this picture and as you think back into the things that you've, you've read and seen, you, you know, this is, this is what history has been up until the last couple hundred years.

Part of the reason this country was formed was to get away from a king who was trying to exact his will on everyone. And the people that found this country believe there should be freedom of choice, freedom of religion, freedom to assemble, freedom to do these things. It was that that was the first time something like that had happened on earth, and then the whole world has followed because they see the benefit of it. All those people, those millions, if not billions of people who lived before, they never had the opportunity, you and I did. They always lived under an autocratic system, a monarchy. And we can look at that and say a monarchy is a very dangerous thing to have.

And indeed, in the man, in the hands of man, a monarchy is a very unhealthy and unnatural thing to have. But it's been with us and it's part of the, part of the Bible. Let's go back and look at, you know, a few things in Israel's past. Back here in Genesis 50, we see the same thing that we can see in the movies that we read in the history books that has been with us forever, and it was way back here at the time of Joseph. In fact, Joseph was part of Pharaoh's court. He was one of those, one of those guys who was held in high esteem. The Pharaoh looked to him, and when, you know, Jacob was able to, you know, tell him what his dream was, Pharaoh said, you're the guy, Jacob. You're gonna, you're gonna handle all this for us here. And Joseph became a very respectful, or very respected member of Pharaoh's household, as it's called.

Let's look at Genesis 50, because as, and see, just this, what we're talking about, what it was like back in that time. Here's Joseph, I mean, very committed to God, but he was in the, he was in the king's court and very well respected. Genesis 50 in verse 4. I'm gonna read from a newer translation, God's word translation. You read from, from the, whatever you have in your lap there, the King James or New King James. And here's what Genesis 50 verse 4 says. It says, when the days of mourning had passed, Joseph said to Pharaoh's court, if I have found favor in your eyes, speak to Pharaoh for me. Tell him, my father made me swear an oath and said, I'm about to die.

Bury me in the tomb I dig for myself, or dug for myself in the land of Canaan. Now let me go up and bury my father, then I will return. Pharaoh said, go up, bury your father, as he made you swear to do.

So Joseph went up to his father, to bury his father. All Pharaoh's officials accompanied him, the dignitaries of his court, and all the dignitaries of Egypt. So Joseph was part of that system. Joseph was there. He was a member of the King's court. He was held in high esteem. He was on notice when Pharaoh called, Joseph, you'd better be ready to answer. And that meant you better be in his presence and ready for him anytime, day or night, that he might call on you. And Israel lived there in that type system for all the centuries they were in Egypt. It started off very good. Pharaoh very much respected Joseph. He very much respected, you know, what was going on at that time. But as time went on, we know that the Israelites became slaves. As a new king came in, he totally, he totally turned the table on him. Now they were going to be slaves. Now they were going to be just people that he would work and work to death, and he would reject their God, and he wouldn't remember anything about what Joseph did. Now they were at the beck and call and at the whimsy of a new pharaoh who just made their lives miserable. And they lived that way for centuries.

And their life was in bondage. So it's interesting that when Israel, when God freed Israel, what did they want? Did they say, we never want, we don't want any king telling us what to do?

No? What they wanted when they came to the Promised Lands, we want a king.

We want a, we want a king. And after all the bad experiences that they had with kings, that was the government that they wanted. You know, God says, you know, this is Samuel, he wanted to be their king.

But no, they wanted a physical king. And so they had a series of physical kings. And those physical kings behaved, you know, some were very good, like David, Josiah, Hezekiah, others were very bad and led the people astray and were much like the Gentile kings that were before them.

You know, David, let's go back to, or forward to 1 Samuel.

You know, David was anointed king. He was someone that God had chosen. And he found himself not exceeding to the kingship at that point. He had to be a member of Saul's court for a while. He had to work with Saul, someone who came to hate him and wanted him dead. But let's look at 1 Samuel 19.

Kind of get a picture of Daniel before he became king. And what Saul expected of him. 1 Samuel 19 verse 1. Saul spoke to Jonathan his son, to all his servants, that they should kill David. Here's a king. We know what Saul's problem with David was. He was jealous of him. He saw the people, you know, pretty much look at David very highly and knew that he was the anointed one. But here he had this power, that they should kill David. But Jonathan, Saul's son, delighted greatly in David. And Jonathan told David, saying, My father Saul seeks to kill you. Please be on your guard until morning, and stay in a secret place and hide. And I'll go out and stand beside my father in the field where you are, and I'll speak with him about you. Then what I observe I will tell you. Thus Jonathan spoke well of David, to Saul his father. Jonathan, who was a member of the king's court as well, he was a son, so he could give that king an opinion of his. Other people who might have spoken up for David might have found themselves dismissed or worse. Jonathan spoke well of David to Saul's father, and said to him, Don't let the king sin against his servant, against David, because he hasn't sinned against you, and because his works have been good toward you. For he took his life in his hands and killed the Philistine, and the eternal brought about a great deliverance for all Israel. You saw it and rejoiced. Why then will you sin against innocent blood and kill David without a cause?

You've got the power to do it. You've got the authority to do it. But why would you do this?

Saul, Saul listened to the voice of Jonathan, and Saul swore, as the Lord lives, he won't be killed.

Well, good for Jonathan and good for Saul to listen to to wise counsel. And then Jonathan called David, and Jonathan told him all these things. So Jonathan brought David to Saul, and he was in Saul's presence, as in times past. There he was. He was back in Saul's court. And the newer translations will say, there was David back in Saul's court. He was there with Saul every day.

He was now reinstated in that with that honor, if you will. But it didn't last long because in chapter 20 we see, you know, here's David. And part of what his responsibilities were is of being part of the king's court. In chapter 20, you know, we have the new moon approaching, and apparently the king's court all gathered for dinner on a new moon evening. In verse 5, it says, you know, David said to Jonathan, tomorrow's the new moon, and I should not fail to sit with the king to eat.

Well, it wasn't David alone. We see as we go down through the verses, the whole court was there with the king. That's kind of what they did. They were always together. And I should not fail to sit with the king to eat, but let me go that I may hide in the field till the third day at evening. And then he goes through and he tells him, you remember the story, you know, if your father misses me at all, because David believes Saul is going to try to kill me. Right? And so, so they, Jonathan and David make this plan. We drop down to verse 24. We see that the plan really, that is what Saul had in mind. Verse 24 says, David hid in the field. And when the new moon had come, the king sat down to eat the feast. Now the king sat on his seat, as at other times, on a seat by the wall, and Jonathan arose. And Amner sat by Saul's side, but David's place was empty. So here we have every, the whole court was, the whole court was there eating with Saul. That was what they were supposed to do.

They're in his household. They're in his presence. They're in his court. They're at his beck and call.

But David's seat is empty. Now where could David be? Don't you know that when a king commands you to be someplace, that's where you're supposed to be? Nevertheless, verse 26, Saul didn't say anything that day, for he thought, well, something's happened to him. He's unclean. Surely he's unclean.

And it happened the next day, the second day of the month, that David's place was empty.

And Saul said to Jonathan and said, why hasn't the son of Jesse come to eat, either yesterday or today?

Doesn't he know what's going on with him, that he isn't here in my court?

Well, Saul became very angry, and David knew, and Jonathan knew, that there was going to be this, so that David, that Saul wanted to kill him. So he had this example again here of a Bible, this time Saul over Israel, but not a good king. Not a good king. Taking matters into his own hands, doing things he shouldn't do, I will kill. I will kill this man. And, of course, God took the kingship away from Saul. We go forward to Daniel. We see Daniel also and his friends brought from Judah in the court of Nebuchadnezzar. Daniel 1, verse 3 says, the king instructed, and here again in God's word version and in the New International version, as they look at what this means, you know, what these means, they use the word court. The king instructed Ashman as the chief of his court officials. It says to bring some of the children of Israel and some of the kings of Sezins and some of the nobles. So we have Daniel now in the court of Nebuchadnezzar, the first world ruling kingdom, if you will. So we have these things that are happening, and we see throughout the Bible, there's these monarchies that are everywhere.

And we would think a monarchy is a very bad thing. Certainly the people that came and came over to America thought a monarchy was a very bad thing, even though it had been the way of government throughout mankind's history until recently. We might look at a king's court, and certainly the king's court, they were there, and you know, as they were there supporting their king, they had to learn some difficult lessons. You know, they had to be well prepared in what they were doing. They had to be loyal to the king. They had to go through some rigorous training.

They had to be well versed in the laws of the land and what the respect of the land, what the respect of the king was, and the protocols that were expected. They had to know all these things, because if they messed up even a little, their lives could be, their lives could be over. But they were willing to do that, because the honor of being in the court of a king was just something that was just very alluring to them. And yet what we look at what's ahead for mankind, we know that there's a monarchy in our future. Whenever that monarchy comes that we read in Revelation 13, it's going to be a very bad monarchy, a very bad king. But then following that monarchy, then we have a king of kings and a lord of lords that's all over the earth.

And that's a very good kingdom, a kingdom that will last forever and ever and ever.

Is the problem with kings? The system of government? Or is it the problem with man?

Is it the problem with man? So look at Proverbs 29. Proverbs 29 and verse 2.

When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice. We can look at the kings of Israel. They wanted a king, and we have all the history of all these kings of Judah and all these kings of Israel.

When the righteous were in authority, the people rejoice. The land was at peace. The land was happy.

But when a wicked man rules, the people groan.

So the problem isn't with the government. The problem is with people. Whenever you have a man without God's Holy Spirit leading something and looking at himself as he's the preeminent one, boy, you have all sorts of problems that can develop. History shows that. The Bible shows that.

You know, we can look at our lives and see this. But what brings us home for us today is, in our lifetimes, probably, right? We don't know how far it is in the future. You and I will be living in a monarchy. We'll be living under the sway of a king who has control of us. And then, for the rest of eternity, we will be living under a king who has control of us. It won't be a democracy like we live in today. This democracy, for this time and today, is tremendous and awesome and has given us all an opportunity to live and to worship the way we want and to develop our potential. For those of us who God has called, it's an opportunity for us to be developing our potential for what God has in mind for us. Not just who we are today, but what it says in Revelation. Kings, priests, members of His court, things that are very real in our lives. Let's go back or let's go forward to Revelation 4. Let's paint a little vision again here of things that very well might happen in our lifetime. We're at that time in history when we watch everything going around us that sometime in the future, however far, many of us sitting in this room and listening today will be seeing these type of events we talk about today in our minds. And it's time for us to start visioning these things. Let's first look at the monarchy, if you will, in heaven. Revelation 4. We talked about this on our recent Bible study, on our Wednesday Bible studies, but let's go back and look at this again and get a picture of God's throne. He is king. He is the supreme being of all the universe, and that's a word that's understated. He says in verse 4, around the throne. Well, you know we have kings who have thrones, you know, every king who's ever been a king has a throne. Around the throne were 24 thrones, and on the thrones I saw 24 elders sitting, clothed in white robes, and they had crowns of gold on their heads. So you kind of get this picture. Here's God's court. You got these 24 elders sitting around there, there with him, there with him. Verse 6, before the throne there was a sea of glass like crystal, and the midst of the throne and around the throne were four living creatures full of eyes, in front and in back. And then it describes what those four living creatures were like. There they are, sitting before God's throne, day and night. We'll see in a minute. The four living creatures, verse 8, each having six wings, were full of eyes, around and within, and they don't rest day or night. They are there in God's presence. They are there as part of His, around His throne, as is Jesus Christ, and other things as you read through Revelation 4. They don't rest day or night saying, Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come. That's their loyalty. That's their outlook on life. That's what they do. They are consistently praising God. You know, the kings of the earth, they always wanted to be praised. They wanted people, you're the preeminent one. You're the greatest king that this country has ever had. You're the greatest king in the world, right? That's what Nebuchadnezzar wanted.

That's what most kings want. I am the greatest. I'm going to leave my legacy.

Well, there's one who's great, and that's God. They, rightly, praise God day and night. All the all the other monarchies and kingships of the world, they're praising a man because they need to.

Now, whenever the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to Him who sits on the throne, who lives forever and ever, the 24 elders fall down before Him who sits on the throne. They worship Him who lives forever and ever, and they cast their crowns before the throne saying, You're worthy.

And, of course, it's leading in here to the opening of the scroll, the seven seals.

But you see a very well-orchestrated system in heaven. You see the king on his throne. You see his court sitting around him. You see Jesus Christ walking around that court. You see others that are there. They are worshiping God. And in that environment, there is joy. There is peace. There is focus. They are all committed to the plan of the king of the, again, for lack of a better word, universe, right? Of infinity. They're all committed and they're all in one accord.

And there is joy in this kingdom. In Psalm 16, Psalm 16 and verse 11, Psalm 16 verse 11, David writes, he says, You, speaking of God, you will show me the path of life.

In your presence is fullness of joy. And as you look at heaven, you see, there's no, I mean, everything that we read there, there is joy. There is anticipation. There are people working together in one accord. I hope it's, you know, if we look at that court, we think, I would like to be part of that court. I'd like to be in God's presence every day. I'd like to be supportive and do the things that he said. You know, we have no idea what the 24 elders, what their real commission is. We have no idea really what the four living creatures do. We have insights, a little bit of what God says, but they have a mission, just like, just like, you know, the military men and kings, physical kings courts, just like the finance guys, just like the lawyers, just like the clergy and everything else. In your presence is fullness of joy. At your right hand are pleasures forevermore.

Well, here's a really good kingdom. Everyone should be able to be part of that. Everyone should want that. And as we study about God's kingdom and how it's set up, you know, especially as we live in a world that we live in today, and we look at everything that's going on and have to wonder, where is the future? What is it that can possibly, what is possibly going to come out of the next few years in this nation, in this world? Even more so, we should be looking at God's kingdom, and when we pray, thy kingdom come, knowing what we're talking about and understanding there's a kingdom that every single human being should have the opportunity to be part of. Every single human being should be able to have this. And God has opened our minds today that we can even live the laws of that kingdom today and have that benefit. In Romans 14, Romans 14, you know, a time here where Tal is speaking to the Romans about, you know, don't get yourselves all bent out of shape about this one who's only eating vegetables, this one who doesn't, you know, is worried about this meat and that meat. You know, we kind of live in a similar today where, you know, we can find ourselves having little controversies over this and that, and we might read in Romans and think, really? I mean, they were arguing in bickery and having themselves discord over that, and yet we look at some of the things that we can argue about today, and we see we're very similar, just in a different way. For Romans 14 and verse 17, you know, Paul writes, or he says, breaking into the sentence, he said, the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but it is righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. It is righteousness. It is peace. It is joy.

Sounds like a kingdom that we should aspire to. It sounds like a kingdom that we would want to be part of. It is a kingdom that God has called you and me today to be part of if we choose to accept that call. You know, he's working with us, and we, you know, have heard these things for years. Now it's time to start really paying attention to what it is and understanding that there is training and there is preparation, and we're not going to be part of a king's court, and we're not going to be kings, or whatever God has in mind for us, unless we start doing the things that He says and take it seriously. Let's go back to Revelation 20. Hereafter, the impending kingdom that we'll get to, the beast power, it's called in the Bible, it's an evil monarchy and evil kingdom that's going to be coming on the earth preceding the return of Jesus Christ and His kingdom being established. But in Revelation 20, verse 4, you know, it's speaking about you and me. Again, verses we've read a long time. Today we read them and it's like, oh, this could be in our lifetimes. This might not be a thousand years off. This might not be 50 years off. This might not even be 10 years off. It might be. No one knows. In verse 4, Revelation 20, says, I saw thrones and they sat on them, they being the first fruits, the people resurrected, and the first resurrection, and they sat on them, and judgment was committed to them. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their witness to Jesus and for the Word of God, who hadn't worshipped the Beastars image, that evil monarchy that's coming on the earth, who hadn't worshipped the Beastars image, and hadn't received His mark on their foreheads or on their hands. And they lived and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. They're in His presence. They're with Him. They're part of what His ruling domain is, we could say. They're part of His court. With Him and serving in the ways that He has, even with that title of King themselves. Let's drop down to verse 6. Blessed and holy. See that? Blessed and holy. These are words written to you and me and everyone who God calls. Blessed and holy is He who has part in the first resurrection. Over such the second death has no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and they shall reign with Him a thousand years. That's your calling. That's my calling if we choose to accept it. When Daniel went into the King's court as a young man, he went through a period of training so that he could do the things that he needed to do, and he had to learn the ways of the Babylonians, but he couldn't become part of it. But he did it. You and I are in training now for what God has in mind for us. And you know what? As we live in this society, we have to learn to live by its laws, not becoming part of this world, but learning the things of God as we go through this world, just like Daniel did, just like Joseph did, just like others before us did, so that we can be used by God as he trains us and makes us ready for what it is he has in mind for us, which is a tremendous, tremendous calling in our lifetimes, possibly. You know, if we were in chapter 20, if you go to chapter 21, you look at verse 4, and after the time of that millennium, which is ahead of us, you know, we see that the physical earth and the physical earth is wiped away. In verse 4...

Oh, no, I went to verse 3. Verse 3, I heard a loud voice from heaven saying...in verse 1, it talks about the earth and heaven, first heaven and earth being passed away. And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them. They shall be his people. God himself will be with them and be their God. He'll be dwelling with God in his presence day and night. Always. That's a reality. That's what we have to look at and realize. This is what God has called us to. It's time to put away the playthings and the imaginary things and get real that this is what God has called us to. Are we taking the time we have now to seriously get ready for what that calling that God has given us is? Other people down through the age, they would do it for a physical king. Wow, I can be in the king's court? Man, I will learn every protocol I need to learn. I will do whatever I can to be in the king's presence. What an honor!

And yet we have that honor. But maybe today we don't appreciate what it means to be a kingdom and to have a king and a righteous king that is ruling over us and that provides everything good for us. Let's stick in Revelation. Let's go back and look at this monarchy that's going to occur before the return of Jesus Christ because it's a monarchy totally different than what you and I live in today. You and I haven't been part of this at all. Revelation 13. Let's pick it up in verse 11. We know the first part of Revelation 13 talks about this beast power. It's a king that's going to be on the earth. He's going to exalt himself above all other people. He wants the world to worship him. That's what kings do without the Holy Spirit. They look at me, look how great I am.

It's my ideas and I want the entire world and every subject of mine to do what I say. We read, you know, here he is. He's speaking blasphemies against God and we're told he gets his power from Satan, not from God. He gets his power from Satan because Satan works in monarchies too.

In verse 11, we see that this king has a court and here's a little beast that's part of doing his bidding for him. I saw another beast coming up out of the earth and he had two horns like a lamb and spoke like a dragon and he exercises all the authority of the first beast in his presence. Big beast says, little beast, you can do whatever you want. I just want these people to bow down and worship me. I want them to follow me the way I say to follow and you know what? Make their lives miserable. In fact, kill them. If they don't do what we say, lop their heads off.

Let them be among the beheaded that we read about in the Bible. He exercises all the authority of the beast that is first beast in his presence and causes the earth and those who dwell in it to worship the first beast whose deadly wound was healed. He performs great signs so that he can make fire come down from heaven on the earth and the sight of men and he deceives those who dwell on the earth by those signs which he was granted to do in the sight of the beast, telling those who dwell on the earth to make an image to the beast who was wounded by the sword and lived. He was granted power to give breath to the image of the beast that the image of the beast should both speak and cause as many as would not worship the image of the beast to be killed. Tough, tough times, tough, tough times coming on the earth when this power appears on earth and it is ahead, he causes all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hand or on their foreheads, and no one may buy or sell except one who has the mark or the name of the beast or the number of his name. Do you want to live in that kingdom? Do you want to live under that domain? Would you want to be part of that king's court? It's an evil kingdom. It's an awful kingdom. It'll bring disaster on this earth, disaster that people can't even imagine.

It gets its power from Satan. It gets this influence from Satan. Nothing wrong with the king, nothing wrong with the court of the king, nothing wrong, but there is a problem when the influence is not God. The Spirit is not of God, but the Spirit is of Satan. You know, it's very interesting when we read about Satan back in Ezekiel 28 that God likens him to a king. You ever notice that?

In Ezekiel 28, he talks about the prince of Tyre, he talks about the king of Tyre, and then he goes into the description of Satan, what Satan was like before he became Satan and what resulted in his becoming an adversary of God, the enemy of God. Let's go back to Ezekiel 28 and we get some clues of what a really bad kingdom is like that none of us would want to be part of, but we also learn some things about what it means to behave, what we need to be like, and what a good kingdom and a kingdom under God would be like. Ezekiel 28 verse 1, Ezekiel says, the word of the Eternal came to me saying, Son of man, say this to the prince of Tyre. And it's obvious as we go through the chapter, we're not going to go through the entire chapter, but it's obvious that he is talking about Satan here, but he's saying, look, the prince of Tyre, this is the spirit that's in princes, this is the spirit that's in the kings of the world. It's the spirit that was in Satan that led him to not be a good member of God the king's court. He says, because your heart is lifted up and you say, I'm a God. I sit in the seat of God's, in the midst of the seas, yet you're a man and not a God, though you set your heart as the heart of God. Now we can pause. I mean, Satan was there, right?

Satan was part of God's court before he turned against God. Let's go on in verse, verse, well, nope, I gotta get ahead of myself here. Let's drop down to verse 4. With your wisdom, he says, and your understanding, underline and highlight the words, your, your wisdom and your understanding, not God's wisdom and God's understanding, with your wisdom and your understanding, you have gained riches for yourself. You've gathered gold and silver into your treasuries.

By your great wisdom in trade, you have increased your riches, and your heart is lifted up because of your riches. Notice how many times the word your is in there? With kings of the world, it's too much about them, too much about the person. What can I, I need to be the richest person. I, all about me. What can I do? And here, God is saying this to this prince of Tyre. If we go forward to verse 12, we see God continuing. He says, this time, Son of man, take up a lamentation for the king of Tyre, and say to him, thus says the Lord God. And obviously, the physical king of Tyre wasn't what God is describing here. It's obvious that he's talking about Satan, right?

And here's the same spirit of Satan that led him to rebel against God, be a traitor to God, that is in the spirit of the king of Tyre. You were the seal of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. You were in Eden, the garden of God. Every precious stone was your covering.

Sardius, Topaz, diamond, barrel, onyx, jasper, sapphire, turquoise, emerald with gold. The workmanship of your temples and pipes was prepared for you on the day you were created.

You were created, Satan, to be part of my court, part of my servants, part of someone who would be in my presence every day. I gave you this position. I gave you everything you needed, just like God created the 24 elders to be what they need to be, just like he created the other beings in heaven to be what they needed to be. He gave him everything. He was so high up. You were the anointed cherub who covers. I established you. You were on the holy mountain of God. You walked back and forth in the mystifier of his stones. You were in my court. You were perfect. You did everything right from the day you were created. Ah, until iniquity was found in you. You sinned, verse 16. Therefore, I cast you as a profane thing out of the mountain of God, and I destroyed you, O covering cherub, from the midst of the fiery stones. And then he describes what happened to him. You were lifted up by pride. You corrupted your wisdom for the sake of your splendor. And he was cast out of God's kingdom. He was cast out of God's court. No longer was an audience. No longer part of that circle where there's joy and peace and accord. Satan was a traitor. You know what Satan did? As he watched what God had up there, he wanted to be like God. God's king. I want to be king. I want everyone looking at me. I want to have all these things, all these beings around me, praising me and worshiping me and telling me how wonderful I am. I want to be that.

He wasn't interested in doing what was for God. But then Satan took that same thing of God, and in his kingdom he promulgated it across the earth. Oh, there's kings. We all want to be like a king.

We all want to be everyone bowing down to us and honoring us. And that's what happened with Satan. You know, we can learn some things, you know, through here.

You know, Satan wanted to be like God, but he wasn't God because he negated everything that was important about being a member of the ruling family or the court of God.

Five things we can look at. He was filled with pride. Now, this is his kingdom, right? His kings and the way the kings under Satan would rule, the way we look at the king that's going to come on this earth in Revelation 13. Filled with pride, that was Satan, would lean on his own understanding. He thought that he knew more. He knew more than the king. I didn't read Ezekiel 28.

Yeah, verse 28 or chapter 28 and verse 3, Ezekiel says, there's no secret that could be hidden from you. You know it all. Satan, you know more than me. Kind of, you're the one who's got the secret knowledge and you're always going to be looking. Always going to be looking for more. He leaned on his own understanding and wanted to do things his way. He multiplied riches and goods in glory for himself. He was self-centered. He is a sinner, disobedient to the king, and he was a traitor.

He led people in revolt against God, and a third of the angels went his way. In modern, in a modern, in the history of kings, any of these things would have resulted in the death of that person.

Traitors, there was no mercy. They were just killed. If they disobeyed the king, physically they were killed. If a king found out that someone was there looking to multiply his own treasures and make himself rich at the expense of the king, he was dismissed from the court, probably killed and lost everything he had. If someone else was filled with pride and didn't humble themselves before that physical king, the king would immediately not like him and remove him from his court because the only one that could have pride was that king. Satan did it all wrong, but you know we have to do it all right. We can learn from his mistakes. What does it mean?

What does it mean to serve God? What does it mean to be in his court? What does it mean to be prepared by God? What is he looking at from us? Well, we talked about five things there. But you know, we wrap all those things up into one word, and that one word is loyalty. Being loyal to God, being loyal to him in our heart, mind, and soul, it encompasses everything that we are completely subservient and completely yielded to him. We know he is God. We know he is good. We look to the future, and we completely yield ourselves to him and prostrate ourselves before him. Let's look for the rest of the service here. Let's look at just God's word on how we would honor our king and what our lives will be like for eternity, lives that God is preparing us for now. He finds some very instructive verses. Let's look first here in Deuteronomy 17. God knew that when Israel came out of Egypt, and after they went through a period of Judges, they were going to want a king.

And he didn't want them to want a king, but he knew their people of the world are under Satan's influence, and so they're going to want a king over them. Just like the nations around them, that's kind of what people do. In Deuteronomy 17, beginning in verse 15, he kind of gives, or he doesn't kind of, he gives instructions to kings, you know, what his kings should be like.

Let's look at them. He says, you know, that you're going to want a king in verse 15, you shall surely set a king over you whom the Lord your God chooses. Let me pick the one who will rule over you. And so God did choose Saul, and we saw what Saul's problems were. He gave in to the things of Satan being a king after the order of Satan, but then we see David. David was a man after God's own heart. He embraced the words of God, and he became who God wanted him to be as a king. You shall set a king over you whom the Lord your God chooses, one from among your brethren.

You shall set as a king over you. Don't set a foreigner over you who is not your brother.

And then he says exactly what, you know, Satan did. And we're going to see in a minute that Solomon followed the same thing as the kings of the world. Verse 16, he shall not multiply horses for himself, nor cause the people to return to Egypt to multiply horses. For the Lord has said to you, you shall not return that way again. I've called you out of Egypt. You're not going to go back and do the things the way the Egyptians did. I've called you to a kingdom, and you're going to live by those standards. You're going to live by those that way of life, and you're going to build that into your life. Don't look back. Leave it behind. Neither shall he multiply wives for himself, lest his heart turn away, nor shall he greatly multiply silver and gold for himself. Okay, here's what the dangers for the king are. I'm the preeminent one. I should be the richest, and everything should be inure to my benefit. This is what it needs to be. And God says to the kings, don't go into it for that.

That's what the kings of the world do. That's what Satan did. That's his spirit. I'm going to enrich myself by this position that I have. Don't multiply wives for yourself. Lest your heart turn away.

Lest your heart turn away, you keep your heart loyal to me, God says. No split loyalties. No foot in the world and foot in the church or with God. One God, one king, completely loyal to him.

Don't let anything come between you and your God. You keep your focus on him, and don't let anything take that loyalty away because God wants us to be his only God, our only king, as it says in the first commandment. Verse 18, it shall be when he sits on the throne of his kingdom, he'll write for himself a copy of this law in a book from the one before the priests to leave vice, and it will be with him, and he will read it all the days of his life, that he may learn to fear the Lord as God and be careful to observe all the words of this law and these statutes.

Well, same thing we should be doing, right? Looking at this book, this is the way of life.

This is the Word of God. This is the protocol. This is the way we do. This is the way things will be done in the kingdom. This is the way things must be done in our lives today. If God is going to see in us, in you and me, someone who can do this as part of his household, as part of his family, as part of his group that he looks at, as part of his court, that will do what he says to do.

You have to know it. Just like the people who went into the court, they had to learn the protocols, because they could really mess up if they let something slip. We have to know the protocols.

We have to know what God is looking for in us. You tell them, write it. Write it out.

Keep it in front of you every day. Why? Verse 20, that his heart may not be lifted above his brethren.

I'm not going to have a king. A king after my own heart isn't going to be one of these prideful people like Nebuchadnezzar or others that we can read through in history that most kings have fallen prey to pride, that his heart may not be lifted above his brethren, that he may not turn aside from the commandment to the right hand or to the left, and that he may prolong his days in his kingdom. That means, you know what? When I call you and you follow it, I want you there forever.

And if you're not there forever, it's because you haven't been doing what I'm saying. I don't want to dismiss you from my court. But if you don't do what I'm saying, you will be dismissed from my court. Well, we'll dismiss ourselves by not following God's law explicitly and completely, that he may prolong his days in his kingdom, heal his children in the midst of them.

Let's look at a few of the kings here in 1 Kings. There's some interesting verses that we find in as we look at people like Solomon and David and Hezekiah, and I'm not going to go through all of them, but let's look at a few of the things here in 1 Kings and the Chronicles. 1 Kings 8, verse 61.

Talking about loyalty and that we must be loyalty to God, and that encompasses everything.

Verse 61, I'm reading from the New King James here. It's going to say something different if you have the Old King James in your lap. He says, Let your heart therefore be loyal to the Lord our God, to walk in the statutes and keep his commandments as at this day. How are we loyal to God? Well, we walk in his commandments as it is this day. The Old King James says that you would have a perfect heart before God. There's a Hebrew word, 8-0-0-3. I didn't write down the Hebrew word.

And we see this word pop up when it's talking about loyalty. The New King James will always translate it loyal, but there's this perfect heart that's developed. God says, This is what I'm looking for. And we go through and we see some of the things that are here. Verse 61, walking in his statutes, keeping his commandments as at this day.

Well, we have a Supreme King. It only stands to reason that we would follow his world. That's just understood. Kings of the world aren't going to have people who disobey them and do their own thing. Why would God do the same? 1 Kings 11, verse 4. This is comparing Solomon. We know that Solomon kind of went astray. He started off very good. But then he didn't pay attention to Deuteronomy 17. 1 Kings 11, verse 4, It was so when Solomon was old that his wives turned to his heart after other gods. Solomon became a traitor. He bowed down to other gods. He led other gods into that.

His heart wasn't loyal. When Solomon was old, his wives turned to his heart after other gods. And his heart was not loyal to the eternal his God, as was the heart of his father David.

Solomon didn't have a perfect heart. Solomon sinned against gods. Solomon turned to other gods. Solomon betrayed God. He didn't keep him first. He kept to got other gods involved. But David did, we're told in that verse. His heart was perfect. And you know, we never see David. David never bowed to another God, like so many of the kings of Israel and Judah did.

Now, God doesn't want any of us bowing to another God. As we go through our lives and as we prepare, God's not going to have anyone in his kingdom. That's an idolater, right? I didn't read Revelation 20, 21 in there, verse 8, where it says, talks about who will be in God's kingdom. It says, but you know, the cowardly, the unbelieving, the idolaters, the liars, the sexually immoral, none of them are going to be in the kingdom of God. It's like, you know what? If they don't overcome that in their life, if they don't become people of perfect heart, they won't be in my kingdom. It's God's will. That's the way God does things. That's why he gives us his Holy Spirit, so that we can overcome. And as we read his Bible, we see what we need to overcome. And we have to be purposed in our mind that we will and we want and we desire to be part of that kingdom. That we see it and not just something that we look at and say, oh, that's a nice story. That's something to be thinking about. No, it's something to be living. It's something to be first and foremost in our lives today as we go about our things. How am I pleasing God? What is it in my life that needs to be cleaned out so I can become a perfect heart, you know, like David? Let's go to 1 Chronicles. 1 Chronicles 29. Well, here. 1 Chronicles 29. You know, this is where David has learned he's not going to build the temple of God. His son Solomon was going to build the temple. And David, of course, is disappointed, right? He wanted to do it. With his heart, you know, he really wanted to build the temple of God. And God told him, no, you're not going to do it. You know, David could have had an awful attitude. What? I'm not going to get to do that. You know, I'm going to sulk for a while.

I'm going to go off and do something else and whatever. And how, you know, God, he should have let me do it. He didn't do any of those things. You know what? David just turned to God. It's like, if, hey, that's God's will, I will do what God wants me to do. I will prepare what God wants me to go.

I will go where God wants me to go. Wherever he puts his name and whatever he says, I'll do it.

I'm not going to sulk and have my own way. Because David could have said, you know what? I'm going to do it anyway. I'm going to do it anyway. No, David didn't have that attitude at all. Verse 9.

You know, so he talked to his people. And actually, he's very positive about it. You know what?

Solomon's going to do with that? That's God's will. Let's take up an offering. And the people saw David's response. No attitude among David at all. The people, verse 9 says, rejoiced. For they had offered willingly, because with a loyal heart they had offered willingly to the Eternal, and King David also rejoiced greatly. See what they did? I mean, wow! Look at that. They did what God said to do. They didn't have an attitude and say, I'm doing it my way anyway. You know, this is different.

He had a loyal heart. He was perfect. The King said it. You do it. You just do it.

Verse 19. As David is praying about his son Solomon, it says, give my son Solomon a loyal heart to keep your commandments and your testimonies and your statues, to do all these things, and to build the temple for which I have made provision. We've taken up the offering, God.

Give him that perfect heart. Well, Solomon started off right, but he let the things of the world crowd in. And over the course of his kingship, he let go of what he had at the beginning. He let it go, and he lost. He lost it, and he turned against God in his heart. Go back to chapter 28.

28 and verse 9.

As for you, again David talking here, as it is for you my son Solomon, know the God of your father and serve him with a loyal heart, or as it says, a perfect heart and with a willing mind.

For the Lord searches all hearts and understands all the intent of the thoughts.

If you seek him, he'll be found by you, but if you forsake him, he's going to dismiss you forever.

You know, he's watching. He wants what's right for us. He's searching, and we pray, search my heart.

But then we have to be willing to do the things to put those things out and not turn against him, because we certainly don't want to find ourselves people who would be dismissed from the king's court.

That would be a terrible, terrible thing to happen to any of us. And finally in 2 Chronicles 16.

Why did I turn to 2 Chronicles 16 and verse 9?

You know, we talked a Bible study to again about the eyes, that the eyes of the four living creatures and the eyes that go out over the earth. Here in 2 Chronicles 16, verse 9, you know, Asa, Asa, another one who started off very loyal to God, completely trusted in him. And then as time went on, he began to trust in alliances and began to trust in physicians and whatever, and lost what God had given them. In verse 9 of chapter 16, it says, For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth to show himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to him.

Do you want God to be on your side? Do you want God to show himself strong for you?

Be loyal to him and everything that that means. In this he tells Asa, you've done foolishly.

Therefore, from now on, you will have wars. This is what you chose. And you know what? From here on out, Asa, you made the choice. You're going to pay the price. You will reap what you have sown.

It's a lesson for us, too. As we know we are to be loyal to God, trusting in Him, relying in Him, not looking to the world for the things that that we need. Well, I can see my time is running out here, so I'm not gonna I'm not going to talk about humility. I think we know about humility.

Actually, we got started a little late, didn't wait today. Yeah, we did get started a little late today. Okay, good. Thank you. You know, let's turn to Acts 5. Let's do a New Testament chapter here, or verse as well. Here in Acts 5, we have Peter and the apostles. Of course, in Acts 2, we have the Day of Pentecost. In Acts 3 and 4, they're healing people. The Sanhedrin, they don't like what they're doing. It's like, what? I thought we thought, you know, they thought we put Jesus Christ to death, and here's these people doing these things. We don't want them to do that anymore. So they call Peter in and they say, you know, you're not going to do this anymore under pain of death. And so in verse 24, oh, I'm in Acts 4. Okay, Acts 5.

And verse 28, I want, okay. The the council tells them, didn't we strictly command you not to teach in this name? And look, you filled Jerusalem with your doctrine, and you intend to bring this man's blood on us. You know, we told you, don't talk about this man Jesus Christ. We put him to death. We don't want to hear it. And they were under that law at that time. They were under that domain. And so their job was to submit as they could. But we do see that, you know, even as we submit, and God teaches us to submit in the world we live, you know, even if it's, you know, with the things that we are carrying with us today that we have with us as we submit. But there comes a time when it comes between God and man's law, really God's and man's law, that we wouldn't.

Peter and the other apostles answered and said, we ought to obey God rather than men.

The God of our fathers raised up Jesus whom you murdered by hanging on a tree.

Him God has exalted to his right hand to be prince and savior, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins. And we are his witnesses to these things and so also is the Holy Spirit, which God has given to those who obey Him.

Without God's Holy Spirit, we're not good members of any court. Without God's Spirit, there is no good King. Without God's Spirit, there is no hope for humanity. Without God's Spirit, there is no good monarchy. With God's Spirit, it is a perfect, perfect, perfect existence.

And we need to be people who respect God, see ourselves in where God wants us to be, and learn His way. I'm going to close with just two more scriptures here. I will give you 1 Peter 2, 13 that you can read later. 1 Peter 5, 5 and James 4, 7 about submitting to God.

Just as we would submit to a king, and people down through the ages have, trying to think which one I want to do first here. Let's go to Deuteronomy 30 first.

God's instructions to us. You know, when we look at these things and we realize what God is preparing for us to be, and that has to become real to us. This is real what we're living. This is real what God has called us to. These are real things that God is looking at us now to see what we're doing. As Peter says, judgment is now on the house of God. It's too late when Jesus Christ returns. The time is now. Deuteronomy 30, let's look at what, you know, some of the things that we've talked about here that God commands. You know, words that should inspire us, words that should make us stand up and say, God, I want to be everything you want me to be.

Let's begin in verse 9 of Deuteronomy 30. The Lord your God will make you...

Now, let's look at verse 8. You will obey the voice of the Lord and do all his commandments, which I command you today. The Lord your God will make you abound in all the work of your hand, in the fruit of your body, in the increase of your livestock, and in the produce of your land for good. For he will again rejoice over you for good as he rejoiced over your fathers. He's talking about the people returning to him, but these are promises to us. He will provide all these things for eternity if you obey the voice of the Lord your God, to keep his commandments and his statutes, which are written in the book of the law, and if you turn to the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, if you are completely loyal to him in every way, shape, and form. For this commandment, which I command you today, it's not too mysterious for you. It's not far off.

You know, you've got it in our laps. We can read it every single day of our lives.

There's no secret. God tells us exactly what we need to do. The thing is, do we want to do it?

Is it important enough to us? Do we have the vision that we say, yes, I want to be there? Yes, I want to be part of what God's plan is. It's not in heaven that you should say who will ascend into heaven for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it.

It's not beyond the sea that you should say who will go over the sea for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it. But the word is very near you. It's in your mouth and in your heart that you may do it. We know it. It's up to us whether we'll be a good members of the court.

It's up to us whether we would be even be in that court. See, I've said before you today, life and good, God says, death and evil. I've given you, I've opened the door, but you have to choose which door you're going to walk through. And that I command you today to love the Lord your God, to walk in His ways, keep His commandments, His statutes, and His judgments, that you may live and multiply, and the Lord your God will bless you in the land which you go to possess.

When Jesus Christ returns, you'll be there. If you do these things, there's no secret to it.

God's opened our minds to it. But if your heart turns away, if you let other gods come in and steal your loyalty, if you start giving them the credence in your life rather than turning to me, if your heart turns away so that you don't hear—and some of us need to underline that you don't hear, that we become dull appearing, that we hear these things and think, then hearing that forever doesn't apply to me—but if your heart turns away so that you don't hear and are drawn away and worship other gods and serve them, I announce to you today that you will surely perish. You'll be dismissed. You're going to be seen as a traitor to God. You will betray Him, and you'll lose your life. I announce to you today you shall surely perish. You shall not prolong your days in the land which you cross over the Jordan to go in and possess.

I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you. I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing. I've opened the door. I've given you what you need.

And He says, choose life, that both you and your descendants may live, that you may love the Lord your God, that you may obey His voice, and that you may cling to Him, for He is your life and length of your days, that you may dwell in the land which He swore to your fathers to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob to give them the same promise that God has given us to be in His kingdom. You know, those words should resonate with us. Those words should be in the back of our minds when God says He's done that. They should be a motivator to us. They're the words of life.

God's given it. He opened the door for us, but it's up to us to walk through it and do it.

Let me then read a psalm, a psalm of David, because you know we read that David, we know that David is a man after God's own heart.

And when we read the words of David, we can learn a lot about him, what he grew into during his years of training, and he made some mistakes along the way, just like you and I make mistakes along the way. But he turned his heart to God, and he never turned to another God. He never put his trust in anything another God besides God. And here in Psalm 101, as we read through it, this would kind of be something that you and I could look at it. Here's a man that was led by God's Spirit, and the words he say could kind of be, you know, I need to echo in my heart what David is saying here. David was a king. He had a court. Some commentaries will tell you, as David was looking at his court, who he was going to fill his court with, this is the type of people he was looking for. You know what? It's the type of people that God is looking for. Let's read through it.

Psalm 101. I'll sing of mercy and justice to you, O Lord. I will sing praises. You know, we go back to Revelation, and we see, sing the beings up there singing praises to God. I will behave wisely in a perfect way. There's that same word, perfect, that is translated loyal in other places. I will behave wisely in a perfect way. Oh, when will you come to me? I will walk within my house with a perfect heart. I'll walk within my house with a perfect heart. I will set nothing wicked before my eyes. Not pornography, not all the movies, not even some of the TV shows that are there. I will set nothing wicked before my eyes. I will guard my heart, and I will guard my mind. I hate the work of those who fall away. You know what? They're disloyal. They're not counting as important what God has given them. I hate the work of those who fall away. It won't cling to me. I won't follow those examples. I will follow the example of those who remain loyal to God. A perverse heart shall depart from me. I will not know wickedness. Whoever secretly slanders his neighbor, him I will destroy.

I'm not going to listen to this. I want people who are taking to heart the control of the tongue.

Whoever secretly slanders his neighbor, him I will destroy. The one who has a haughty look and a proud heart, him I will not endure.

Humility at the base of everything that God has called us to be, and something we always need to be praying and asking God to continually clear the pride of our hearts because it can affect all of us. My eyes will be on the faithful of the land. Isn't that a beautiful statement?

You know, when I look at the people that I'm going to have part of my court, my eyes are going to be on the faithful of the land. Not the one who were screaming the loudest that they are all important and have all the things that I need and whatever. They're going to be on the faithful of the land or the loyal of the land. I know what characteristics I'm looking for, and these will be the people that I will surround myself with. My eyes will be on the faithful of the land that they may dwell with me. He who walks in a perfect way, he shall serve me. He who works the seat shall not dwell within my house. He who tells lies shall not continue in my presence. He's talking about his court here, the people that he surrounds him with himself, that he's going to have work for him, that he's going to send out, and that are part of his household. Early I will destroy all the wicked of the land that I may cut off all the evildoers from the city of the Lord.

You know, some kind of a job description, if you will, in Psalm 101. Something we can look at and say, am I doing that? I want to do that. I want to be what God wants me to be. I want to be part of his court. I want to be loyal to him. I hope, I hope that that's what we all want and desire.