All for the Kingdom
Sermon Podcast
The Lord is King Forever, Psalm 10
This world is corrupted and filled with wickedness. Psalm 10 addresses the wickedness of this world and the destruction that such evil brings, particularly to the weak and vulnerable. However, you must be careful not to assume that the wickedness exposed in Psalm 10 applies to someone else. This psalm does not confront the classical atheism of those who openly reject the existence of God but functional atheism of living as though there is no God.
The psalm calls believers not to settle for the things of this world but to long for the kingdom to come when the king who is king forever will fully reign.
And while there is an opportunity, it beckons all to bow the knee, confess Jesus as Lord, and surrender yourself to the king who is king forever.
Becoming Great, Matthew 18:1-4
Being great is a desire that is common to every generation and every culture. In Matthew 18:1-4 the disciples revealed that their concern about the kingdom Jesus promised to establish was who among them would be the greatest. The disciples were not immune to this desire to convert their relationship with Jesus into positions of importance in the kingdom He was establishing. They hoped to enjoy the highest and most important positions in His kingdom.
Their desire for greatness led them to ask Jesus who among them would be the greatest in the kingdom. However, the answer He gave was not what they expected. Jesus taught them to seek what matters and find greatness through repentance.
Victory is the Lord's, Esther 7-10
In these final chapters of the book of Esther, we see how the Lord delivered His people from the murderous threats of Haman and provided for Esther and her cousin Mordecai. We see how God historically worked through the people and events of the day to bring about His will and provide for His people. This testimony gives us reason to rejoice in the present, knowing that God is equally working in our day. Evil is still present and dangerous, yet Christians do not fear, for we know that Jesus will return to once and for all defeat evil and perfectly establish His kingdom. These four chapters are not a perfect 1 to 1 testimony to what it will be like when Jesus returns, but they do bring us great encouragement. We can rejoice in the testimony that, like how God defeated the evil Haman and gave victory to the Jews over their enemies, so will God once and for all defeat evil when Jesus returns and gives His people perfect victory.