Transcription
There are only 43 monarchies left on Earth—only 43—most of which are ceremonial in nature. It is more common today to have presidents and prime ministers; in some areas, we sadly know there are dictators. As our politics and democracies have evolved, the world has deteriorated. A global think tank issued a report on the world in 2024, stating that the year will be a time of "ballots and bullets." Elections held in more than 70 countries will serve as a stress test for democracy. We don't know where this situation will lead us, but ladies and gentlemen, there is one thing we can predict with certainty: one day, the world's throne will be occupied by Jesus Christ, King of the Jews, King of Israel, King of Kings, and King of all the world.
Remember, it is through the lens of biblical prophecy that we should view the conflicts of today and find our hope for tomorrow. I want to talk to you about the glory, majesty, power, and authority of King Jesus and His kingdom. He is the redeeming King, and we see that in the way He is addressed in the Bible. This is straight from the Scriptures; let me cycle through these names, as they are all interesting.
First of all, the Bible refers to Jesus as the King of the Jews, which is significant because this title is mentioned only twice in the Bible—at the birth of Jesus and at His death. Remember that at His birth, the wise men said they had come to seek out "He who has come as the King of the Jews." When Jesus stood before Pontius Pilate, the governor asked Him, "Are you the King of the Jews?" to which Jesus replied, "It is as you say." Addressing the mob before Him, Pilate shouted, "Do you want me to release to you the King of the Jews?" Their response was, "Crucify Him!" Pilate then handed over Christ for crucifixion, ordering that a sign be nailed atop the cross, which read "The King of the Jews." This title was echoed throughout Jesus' life: by the Magi, the magistrates, the mob, and ultimately by Jesus Himself.
The Bible also tells us that He is the King of Israel. In John 1:49, Nathaniel says to Jesus, "Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the King of Israel." On Palm Sunday, as men and women celebrated Jesus' arrival in Jerusalem, they sang, "Hosanna! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord, the King of Israel." Five days later, as Jesus suffered on Golgotha, one of His enemies shouted sarcastically, "If He is the King of Israel, let Him come down now from the cross, and we will believe Him." According to this and other Scriptures, Jesus is the rightful, everlasting heir to the throne of David.
Furthermore, the Bible tells us that He is the King of Kings. In the book of Revelation, there is a beautiful picture that describes Jesus in heaven just before His return; on His robe and on His thigh is written, "King of Kings and Lord of Lords." We live in a disturbed world; let us not doubt that or debate it, for we know better. None of today's politicians, leaders, villains, or rogues will ever gain supreme authority—not even the coming Antichrist. All will falter; all will fail, for only Jesus is King of Kings and Lord of Lords. One day, every knee shall bow, and every tongue shall confess that my King is King of Kings and Lord of Lords.
One of the things that surprises people about the kingdom—the Millennium, the coming golden age—is that it will not just happen in the Middle East. When Jesus sits on the throne in Jerusalem, He will govern the entire world. That's why His fourth title is King over all the Earth. The prophet Zechariah adds this title to our Lord, declaring, "The Lord shall be King over all the Earth, and in that day it shall be said, 'The Lord is one, and His name is one.'" When King Jesus reigns over the Earth, every knee shall bow, and every tongue confess. He will rule over the entire world.
Finally, He is the King of Glory. This last royal title is found in Psalm 24, which reads, "Lift up your heads, O ye gates; and be lifted up, ye everlasting doors, and the King of Glory shall come in. Who is the King of Glory? The Lord of hosts; He is the King of Glory." That is our Lord's Millennial title. He is the King of the Jews, the King of Israel, the King of Kings, the King over all the Earth, and He is the King of Glory. He alone is truly great—our Messiah, our intercessor, the compassionate servant, the humble teacher, and the selfless Savior.
But never forget this: He is Christ the King. This speaks to His sovereignty, asserting that He is in charge of it all and that His word is the final word. Nothing can stabilize our emotions like remembering that we have a King in heaven who is in charge. He commands, He controls, and nothing is exempt from His preeminent power. That is why so many people find Him to be an anchor for their souls.
Is He your King? I know He is your Savior if you are a Christian, but it is one thing to have Jesus as your Savior and another to have Him as your King. He doesn’t want to be just a resident in your life; He wants to be the President of your life. When you put Him on the throne, you are saying, "Lord Jesus, thank You for being my Savior. Now I want to take this moment to ask You not just to be my Savior, but I’ve been trying to handle a lot of things on my own, and I’m making quite a mess out of it."
So, I’m going to put You on the throne of my life and will not do anything unless we discuss it and I get Your go-ahead on it. You may think, "That’s kind of simple!" But it’s dynamically life-changing when you do that. When you realize you're not the pilot but the co-pilot, you put Jesus where He wants to be. One day, He will be King on the outside, ruling over you from that perspective, but now He wants to be King on the inside.
He wants to be your King. He’s my King. The Bible also states that not only is He King now, but one day He will reign over the Earth. When Jesus came the first time, He came as a redeeming King and established a group of followers. We, His followers, come to the church every weekend to celebrate that we love God and Jesus, and we know He is the King.
Most of the Bible is full of Scripture telling us what will happen when Jesus returns at the end of the tribulation and sets up His kingdom on Earth. Many believe this will be a reversal of the curse. In the early chapters of the Bible, we see what happened when sin entered and the curse was placed upon the world. If Adam and Eve hadn't sinned, we would be living in a much better world. But that world is coming back, and in the Kingdom, we'll have the world we would have had if there had been no sin.
Robert Strauss, a brilliant political strategist who served under several presidents from Jimmy Carter to George H.W. Bush, made an interesting statement about the world in which we live. He said, "Everybody in government is like a bunch of ants on a log floating down a river, and each of them thinks he’s guiding the log but is just going along with the flow." Isn't that true? Have you ever noticed how the self-importance of government officials makes everyone think they’re running the show? They’re not running the show; they’re just going with the flow. This can also be said of all the rulers of history—all have died or will die, and none has risen from the dead.
All of them have dominated the headlines for a time, but none has divided history in two like Jesus did. The rulers of this world enjoy limited authority for a limited time, while only Jesus possesses infinite authority for all eternity. There will never be a time when He is not King.
What will it be like when Jesus is King? I want to give you a little taste of that today. First of all, when He reigns on this Earth, His kingdom will be universal; He will rule over a universal kingdom. Our Lord’s kingdom will be based in Jerusalem, Israel, representing an expanded geography and ultimately becoming the dominant nation on Earth.
You know, Israel gets a lot of attention for a nation that is just 70 miles wide and 263 miles long; it appears to be a little postage stamp on the map, surrounded by nations that want to annihilate it. Yet from that place in the Millennium, our Lord’s reign will spread northward to Russia, eastward to Asia, southward to Africa and the Pacific Rim, and, praise the Lord, will spread westward into Europe and the Americas. The entire globe will spin under the axis of Jesus, and all the nations will sway to His authority.
We need to remember that when we read the headlines; one day, all of this craziness is going to stop, and we won't have to deal with it anymore. His kingdom will be universal, as the Scriptures say: "He is the King over all the Earth."
Additionally, His kingdom will be physical. This King will have an intimate relationship with His subjects, and nothing expresses this better than how He will deal with the infirmities that may enter the kingdom. The eyes of the blind will be opened, the ears of the deaf will be unstopped, the lame will leap like deer, and the tongue of the dumb will sing. For water shall burst forth in the wilderness and streams in the desert. The miraculous presence of the Lord will change everything; sickness will be destroyed, and all maladies will cease to exist.
The same prophet assures us that they shall build houses and inhabit them; they shall plant vineyards and eat their fruit. They shall not build and another inhabit; they shall not plant and another eat. For as the days of a tree, so shall be the days of my people, and my elect shall long enjoy the work of their hands.
Thus, the kingdom will be universal, physical, and, of course, spiritual. His kingdom will be a time of spiritual revival, during which Satan will be bound, and Jesus will be in control. We will witness an unprecedented heart awakening in history. According to Zechariah, the entire nation of Israel will return to Jesus. Zechariah 12 states, "I will pour on the House of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the spirit of grace and supplication. Then they will look on Me whom they pierced, and that day a fountain shall be opened for the House of David and for the inhabitants of Jerusalem for sin and for uncleanness."
During the Millennium, what is happening now will be reversed. When I first started preaching years ago, there was a general understanding and appreciation—an awe—for the things of God. Even non-Christians respected those who were; many would say they'd be Christians if it weren’t inconvenient. Unfortunately, that’s no longer the case.
As pastors and teachers, we must realize that we cannot assume knowledge of the Bible and Christianity as we once could. Many people have attended churches where the Bible is not taught regularly, so you may assume everyone knows something and then find that they don't. This is not because we're ignorant; it reflects the state of our world.
But listen to me: when Jesus is on the throne again, the knowledge of the Lord will fill the land. You will be able to talk to anyone about Jesus, and they will all know about Him. It won't matter who you are or where you’ve been; you could run into someone and say, "How’s Jesus doing with you today?" because everyone will know the Lord, and His name will be on the tongues of all during the Millennium. What a day that will be!
His kingdom will be spiritual, universal, physical, and ethical. There are a few things that won’t be present in the Kingdom: no more homelessness, no more riots, no more anti-Semitism, and no more thievery. Think of all the evils in our world that will be completely eradicated in His kingdom. The white-hot holiness of King Jesus will purge them out, and we won't live in a world troubled by all the evil that makes us wonder why nothing is being done.
Isaiah states that the King's delight is in the fear of the Lord and that He will not judge by the sight of His eyes or decide by the hearing of His ears; instead, He will judge with righteousness for the poor and make equitable decisions for the meek of the Earth. He shall strike the Earth with the rod of His mouth and with the breath of His lips shall slay the wicked. The psalmist adds that the King will judge your people with righteousness, bringing justice to the poor. He will save the children of the needy and will deliver the needy when they cry out, lifting up the poor and those without help.
When King Jesus is on the throne, the nation and the world will be filled with the knowledge of the Lord. Finally, the kingdom is eternal. One of these days, the Thousand-Year reign will be over; the Bible says the kingdoms of this world will become the kingdoms of God—the kingdoms of eternity. This will be a transition as we move from the Thousand Years to eternity with the Lord Jesus. He is King forever and ever, and that is what we are looking forward to.
We have a King who will never outlast Himself. He will never be replaced. We don't have to worry about His successor because He couldn’t have one. He has no predecessor either; He is the Holy King and lives in the ever-present. All these wonderful things I’m saying about Him—He’s my King, the King of my heart. He sits on the throne of my life, and I love my King. I am so honored to serve Him, and I hope you feel the same way.
This King, who will one day reign on this Earth, is the same King who wants to reign in your life and sit on the throne of your heart. You don't have to do life alone. You don’t have to make those mistakes and wonder why you did them. The same Sovereign King, who is at the throne of the Father, wants to be on the throne of your life right now.
On Earth, He is the King. As I stated earlier, there are only 43 monarchies left on Earth, and most are ceremonial in nature. It is more common today to have presidents and prime ministers; in some areas, we sadly know there are dictators. As our politics and democracies have evolved, the world has deteriorated. A global think tank issued a report on the world in 2024, stating that it will be a year of ballots and bullets. Elections held in more than 70 countries will serve as a stress test for democracy.
We don't know where this is all going to lead us, but ladies and gentlemen, one thing can be predicted with certainty: one day, the world’s throne will be occupied by Jesus Christ, King of the Jews, King of Israel, King of Kings, King of the whole world. Remember, it is through the lens of biblical prophecy that we should view today’s conflicts and find our hope for tomorrow. This is where we are headed; things are going to improve. They may get a little worse before they get better, depending on how long the Savior waits, but we have a great future ahead.
A travel magazine recently published an article about the seven most beautiful thrones in the world. Three of them are in India, one is in Russia, and there's a dragon throne in China. The sixth throne is St. Edward's chair in Westminster Abbey, and the seventh is the silver throne of Sweden, designed to express purity. You can find all of these thrones in history books, and you’ll find the silver throne in the Hall of State in the Stockholm Palace. But none of these seven thrones is truly significant—some are used ceremonially, but most are mere tourist attractions. Their glory has faded, and their power has seeped away.
It makes you wonder, what kind of throne will King Jesus have? I want to conclude today by telling you that His throne is under construction. One day, He will have a throne in Jerusalem, and it will be something to see. But there is one other throne I want to tell you about, and that is the one that matters most. It is the throne God has placed in our hearts.
Of all the kingly titles of Jesus Christ, the one that is most personal to you and me is when we say, "Lord, You are my King." I vacate the throne of my heart, Lord, and I give it to You. I want You to rule and reign in my life. Under my control, I make too many mistakes and get into too many messes. Forgive me for ever thinking I could be my own monarch or chart my own destiny. So here and now, I say, in the words of an old hymn, “King of my life, I crown You now; thine shall the glory be.”
The moment we receive Jesus Christ as Lord, a coronation takes place inside of us; Jesus becomes the King of our lives, and we give Him the glory. Therefore, I urge you to let Jesus Christ be your King. You may wonder how that will change you. You won’t go off doing crazy things without discussing them; you will talk to the Lord about everything.
You might think, "He’s not it." Oh yes, He is! He is your King, and you are His subject. He wants to know what's going on in your life, and He will provide direction. He will guide you to the right Scriptures, sermons, and people. He will show you the way; you can count on it.
You can either attempt to live life as a Christian on your own and feel miserable and frustrated or you can install Jesus Christ as King on the throne of your heart and watch Him accomplish what He wants to do. He desires to make His name famous through the influence that you give Him. I hope you will choose to do that. Furthermore, He cannot be your King unless He is first your Savior.
You cannot place Jesus Christ as King on the throne of your life unless you have invited Him to forgive your sins and become a Christian. Only Christians can install Jesus as the King of their lives. So, as we close today, I will ask the question I have been asking every week, and I won’t stop: Is Jesus Christ not just your King, but your Savior? Have you ever trusted Him, asking Him to forgive your sins and come into your life?
Thank you for joining us on Turning Point, where Dr. Jeremiah has shared how we can be kingdom-ready, living expectantly for Christ's Thousand-Year reign in the Millennium. Your first step towards living in the Millennium is knowing Jesus Christ on a personal level. To help you, Dr. Jeremiah would like to provide you with two resources: the first is a booklet titled "Your Greatest Turn," which will assist you in beginning your relationship with Christ, and the second is our monthly devotional magazine, "Turning Points," to provide encouragement and inspiration throughout the year.
These resources are yours completely free when you contact Turning Point today. Next time on Turning Point, we will discuss one of the most significant facts about this coming age of peace—the total absence of Satan throughout the entire time. The world will be free of Satan for 365,000 days, or 1,000 devil-less years. Join Dr. Jeremiah next time for his message, "No Devil Here."