Who Sits on The Throne

Texts: Zechariah 9:9, Matthew 2:1-2, John 19:19

9 “Rejoice  greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold,  your King is coming to you; He is just and having salvation, Lowly and riding on a donkey, A colt, the foal of a donkey. —Zechariah 9:9 (NKJV - New King James Version)

1 Now after  Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold,  wise men  from the East came to Jerusalem,
2 saying,  “Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we have seen  His star in the East and have come to worship Him.” —Matthew 2:1-2 (NKJV - New King James Version)

19 Now Pilate wrote a title and put it on the cross. And the writing was: JESUS OF NAZARETH, THE KING OF THE JEWS. —John 19:19 (NKJV - New King James Version)

BACK IN THE DAY…
I laughed out loud the other day, when I heard a teenager say…BACK IN THE DAY…
I said, for you…that would be - YESTERDAY…

Did you know that Back in the day..in 1976 when I was born,

• you could buy a gallon of gasoline for about .59 Cents?
• You could buy a hamburger for about .25 Cents…

Did you know that back in the day…

• Thomas Edison first introduced the public to the electric light bulb at the 1883 Southern Exposition, held in Louisville.
• Mother’s Day can trace its origins to Henderson, KY. Back in the 1880s, a teacher named Mary Wilson is credited for recognizing her mother on that day. Since 1916, it is an official holiday.
• Kaelin’s restaurant in Louisville stands by being the first restaraunt to serve cheeseburgers in 1934.
• Duncan Hines is much more than a brand of cake mix. The man behind the brand, Duncan Hines, was born in Bowling Green in 1880.

We like looking back at what happened BACK IN THE DAY…
But the truth is, sometimes we don’t see it all the way it really was…

We seemed to look fondly at the past…
The idea is that if you go back, it’s really great, “Back then, it’s great.”
Like, right now, what’s it like nationally, internationally?
Wars. Disappointments. Lack of security. Fearfulness. “But back in the day…”

What? Like back in what day?
Back in the Second World War?
Back in the Vietnam War?
How about we go way back?
How about we go to the fourteenth century BC?
Any of us remember that time? No?
Well, let’s take a quick walk down that corridor…

It was complete chaos then. In fact, the word on the street was “Everybody did what was right in their own eyes.”

And so the people said, “The way we’ll fix this is if we can get a king. If we get a king, it’ll be fine.”

So they got a king. And guess what? It wasn’t fine. In fact, they had a whole succession of kings.

And by the time they were all finished, the spotlight was still scanning the horizon in the hope that “perhaps there will be another king who comes who will actually be able to do all the things that we long for”
— maybe a king who could bring peace and righteousness and justice on the earth, a king like that.

And then, all of a sudden, you turn pages in your Bible, and here you have these wise men from the East we read about in Matthew chapter 2.

And they have taken this incredible journey, following the stars and putting together what’s going on astrologically with all they’d been reading in their books and so on.

And they arrive, and they say, “Where is he that is born [the] King of the Jews?”

And, of course, while they had been studying and searching, Mary had been visited—as we’ve been singing and talking about for the past month,

Mary had been visited by an angel who gave her the astounding news that she was going to have a baby, that this baby was going to have a throne, and that he would reign on this throne forever and forever. (Luke 1:26–33)

Of course, that was all “back in the day.” But of course, we know about this King.
He was born in a stable. He was a very nice person and healed people, and people liked to talk to him.

People who were broken would often seek Him out.
People whose lives were upside-down were excited to come to him.

Religious people didn’t really like him that much. They actually opposed him.

Eventually, the King was put on a cross after He’d been given a crown, but it was a crown of thorns.

And then they took Him down from that, and they placed Him in a borrowed tomb.

But you know, the cross is empty, and the tomb is empty, but His throne is occupied—because He is the ascended Lord and King;

that the baby born in a manger is none other than the Word made flesh that dwells among us, (John 1:14) as John says.

The REAL reason JESUS comes to rule and to reign is to subdue our rebellious hearts.

“GOD LOVES US SO MUCH, EVEN DESPITE OUR REBELLION, THAT HE HAS COME TO SEEK US AND TO SAVE US!”

Many people think that if we just could put some more bits and pieces together of our world, all would be well.

Well, it would be well, except that we’re people. And as a result of that, we’re selfish.

We like the idea of being entirely in control of our whole operation.

Maybe you think that’s a little severe. Let look at something… It’s a circle.

Now let me interpret the circle for you.
It’s a throne.
On the throne is S for self, and outside the circle, the circle representing a life, is Jesus.

This is a picture of life as natural human beings.

We do not love God (we were made to love Him).
We do not serve God (we were made to serve Him).
We’re actually rebels against God.

And yet God loves us so much, despite our rebellion, that he has come to seek us and to save us.

He’s stepped down into our neighborhood to make Himself known, and then He stepped up onto that cross in order that He might bear our punishment.

Now, there’s the picture: self on the throne, Jesus outside of the circle.

Second picture:

Jesus on the throne; self is inside the circle.

Because when Jesus comes to sit on the throne of my heart, He doesn’t erase me; He doesn’t do away with you.

He made you the way you are, with all your background, with all your gifts, with all your failings, with everything there.

And He comes in order to take control.

Now, because I’m a rebel, I don’t want anyone taking control.

I want to decide what I want to do about everything in my life. I’m a control freak.

In Revelation, and specifically in chapter 4 we read about the ONE WHO SITS on the THRONE…
Just a spoiler alert…when this life is all said and done…there will only be ONE ON THE THRONE…
And here’s the kicker….it’s not me, and it’s not YOU!
We need to put the right King on the throne of our lives now in preparation for Eternity!

If Jesus is on the Throne of my life, then I will obey His Word for me.
I will submit to doing things His way, and not try to continue to do things my way…

Attending church doesn’t make you a Christian any more than you sitting in a garage makes you an automobile.

We have to allow Jesus to be in control…of our thoughts, our actions, our reactions (ouch..)!

We allow Jesus to be the King of our hearts, our desires, our pasts, our present, and our future!

Let’s put the two circles up together, and let me ask you a question:

Which circle— and don’t answer out loud (as it might be embarrassing, maybe)— which circle would you say represents your life:
Jesus on the throne or self on the throne?

Second question: Which circle would you like to represent your life?

Do you want to run your own life?
French Existentialist philosopher (1905–1980)
Sartre said, “That God does not exist I cannot deny,” and then he adds, “That my whole being cries out for God I cannot forget.”

“That God does not exist, I cannot deny, That my whole being cries out for God I cannot forget.”― Jean-Paul Sartre

In other words…“I don’t believe he exists, and yet there is a longing inside of me that only God can fill.”

The reason this church exists first and foremost is to help people KNOW GOD and FIND FREEDOM, DISCOVER PURPOSE and then MAKE A DIFFERENCE!

The invitation JESUS extends to us is straightforward.

In your mind you’re saying, “You know, back in the day…
Back in the day, I believed this. Back in the day…”
Now maybe it’s your children and your grandchildren that are encouraging you to come.

They don’t know about your “back in the day.”
Others, of course, have no “back in the day.”

But what if this were to be the day when the enthronement took place— when, right now, right here in your heart of hearts, you are ready to say,

“Jesus, I want to submit to you as my King and my Lord; I want to look to you today as my Savior”

You turn from doing life your way, and you move in HIs direction.

You are baptized in water in the Name of Jesus Christ to have all of your sins washed away…

And with full surrender of yourself to Jesus - He takes His rightful place on the throne of your life.

And He fills you with His Spirit and His power…

— Who knows but maybe about thirty years out from now, you’ll be at another New Year’s Eve service, and you’ll say to somebody, “You know, back in the day…

Back in the day, there was a dude named Dummitt.

I remember he showed us two circles, and he really ticked me off, ’cause he said that I was on my own throne.

But you know what? I was. And that’s the best revelation I ever had, and it helped me take the steps that changed my life.