Word of Salvation – Vol.49 No.13 – April 2004

 

The King is Crowned!

An Ascension Sermon by Rev S Bajema

on Philippians 2:9-11

 

Scripture Readings: Acts 1:1-11; Psalm 110; Philippians 2:1-11

 

Congregation of our Lord Jesus Christ.

To be “exalted to the highest place” and to be given “the name above all names” must surely rank as the greatest of all honours. And for one to be given this by none other than God Himself must definitely make this the greatest honour.

So tremendous is this phrase, so overwhelming is its meaning, you can’t help but notice a contrast with what was there before. Note, Paul says, Jesus is given “the name above all names.” There’s a difference drawn between what Jesus Christ had before and what He has now.

Now, this cannot bring us to conclude, however, that Jesus was not quite complete before His work among us. It is, though, a clear evidence that something has happened. Jesus had, after all, just completed His work. And more that simply being a job, His work was and is the most marvellous thing! So much does it show how He has poured everything into it, that it follows He is entitled for this honour.

This is not because He has done something to deserve it. That takes away from His divinity. Rather, this – His doing and dying for His people – stands for all eternity to see! As much as we can describe it with an earthly illustration, it is like the coronation of a sovereign. That’s something we haven’t seen within the British Commonwealth for quite some time! Over fifty years!

But when it happens it is an awe-inspiring and solemn occasion. With four distinct parts to the ceremony, there is the overwhelming confirmation of the new king or queen’s position.

For there is, firstly, the introduction. This consists of the entry, the recognition, and the oath. Then there is, secondly, the consecration of the sovereign by anointing. Thirdly, there is the investiture of the anointed sovereign with the royal robes and insignia culminating with the crown. And the fourth and concluding part is the enthroning and homage paid by all.

So how much doesn’t Paul’s description come alive as the Heavenly Coronation! This is THE LORD’S POSITION. The first aspect to our text.

In a way, congregation, it’s no surprise we can draw the correlation between the earthly and the heavenly crowning for much of what occurs in a coronation today is from the Bible. And we can especially read about it in the way the Old Testament kings of Israel and Judah were crowned. That’s an image which would have been clear for the Jews to whom the apostle writes. And the Greeks and other gentiles would have been familiar with the crowning of the Roman Emperor.

As we see, then, this most awesome scene before us, let’s consider one part in particular, the part which for our Lord gives Him “the name that is above every name.” You see, a normal part of the introduction for a coronation is the announcement of who this person is. How exactly is he or she able to present themselves so that they receive the crown?

Well, that person’s other titles will be all read out. He is the Lord of this province; he is the Duke of that Duchy; he is the Viscount of so and so place; he is the knight of such and such an order. The list will be long. Such a one can only come as far as this by already being fully noble and royal. But as those listening will know, the title this person will get in this crowning will be far greater still than all those others combined! Not that it wasn’t his position before he was crowned – this caps it all off!

And still, congregation, the title of an earthly king or queen is exactly that – a title. His or her new name doesn’t necessarily reflect their character. In fact, their behaviour even in coming into possession of the title may been far from anything we regard, or society would agree, as ‘kingly’. Who could forget the way Napoleon snatched the crown off the Church Archbishop and placed it on his own head!

But with the king of kings – He who reigns omnipotently over them all and before whom they will one day bow – His name shows His supreme worth. He is everything the perfect ruler should be! This is… THE LORD’S POSITION.

The apostle Paul is by no means the first to affirm this by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. We also read of how another great king – David himself – sang of the great sovereign in Psalm 110. There he said, in verse 1, that “the LORD” who is God Almighty, Elohim, says to “my Lord” who is Jesus Christ, the Saviour, “Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.”

God’s right hand is the place of power. Our Apostles’ Creed uses the phrase about the right hand of God to mean, as we confess in Lord’s Day 19. There in Answer 50, it says, “Christ is ascended into heaven, there to show He is head of His Church, and that the Father rules all things through Him.”

This was pointed to already in the Old Testament where it is, as it were, concealed; now in the New Testament the Kingship of Christ is decisively revealed! Now no holds are barred as the impact of His Kingship has been poured out upon His citizens at Pentecost and ever since. The apostle takes a phrase well known to the Jews from Isaiah chapter 45, and he, too, sings in this ancient hymn. For in the verses 22 to 24 the prophet declares this great king’s ruling decree:

“Turn to me and be saved, all you ends of the earth; for I am God, and there is no other. By myself I have sworn, my mouth has uttered in all integrity a word that will not be revoked. Before me every knee will bow; by me every tongue will swear. They will say of me ‘~In the LORD alone are righteousness and strength’.”

And then Isaiah concludes: “All who have raged against him will come to him and be put to shame.” It’s precisely here where we move into a second aspect of the text. This is… THE UNBELIEVER’s DEPOSITION.

We must not forget, congregation, that our text comes after the terrible battle our Saviour fought while on this earth. That battle had reached its fiercest in the final days of the Passion. There He suffers the most brutal punishment and painfully dies. This King has won the greatest victory. By His doing and dying Christ defeated the most hated foe!

And those forces of the enemy, those unbelievers who only believed in themselves, fall deposed. Whatever they thought they had before has gone! They paid the price of their own folly. And how clear that foolishness is now – too late though it is! But wallowing around without the leader they had; especially since their own sin had been their ruler, THE UNBELIEVER’S DEPOSITION makes them confess at last who is truly King!

And yet, dear friends, this is no confession of contrition. Oh, they regret what they did, like a gambler rues the money he’s just lost on a horse, the pokies, or the card table, but it’s not the change within. When verse 10 says that every knee shall bow, this isn’t a mass conversion! You see, they thought they had their man lined up for the coronation ceremony. They lived for their own king, which is their very own sin. Though what did that bring?

History has provided many examples of pretenders to the thrones of different countries. Adonijah certainly tried, as we read in 1 Kings chapter 1. He got some very powerful friends to help him take the throne after his father David. But he, like so many, failed. They couldn’t be accepted as what they weren’t, even if at first they seemed to succeed.

There were others who did succeed, though. Like the Grimaldi’s in Monaco they managed to stay on as rulers. But His Story, the history which matters for all eternity, shows how the satanic pretender could never have the credentials to be enthroned on high. Oh, he may well have been the prince of this world, the ruler over the hosts of darkness, but his titles didn’t add up when it really mattered. The fallen angel was never entitled to be anything but a fallen angel, and all those with him as well. He never had any shred of worthiness which could be worshipped! They who are “under the earth” – those damned to hell, human beings and angels – will confess Christ to their remorse. Too late for anything else then.

But brothers and sisters, boys and girls, you yet have the opportunity to receive Christ now! Paul tells us this very clearly in 2 Corinthians 6 verse 2′ “I tell you, now is the time of God’s favour, now is the day of salvation.”

After death and when this human history ends with the final judgment of Christ, as it will soon, it’s just too late! The shout of the archangel with the trumpet call of God, and the adoration of ten thousand times ten thousand saints, will be devastatingly echoed from down below by the hopeless cry of despair of those who didn’t repent!

Oh, dear friend, may this not be you! Please, for your soul’s sake, but above all for the Lord’s sake, heed the words David sings in Psalm 2 verses 11 and 12: “Serve the LORD with fear and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son, lest he be angry and you be destroyed in your way, for his wrath can flare up in a moment.”

Indeed, His wrath could fall on us any moment! And which nationality will we have then at the ultimate census? For so great is the Son’s glory that every knee simply has to bow! Oh, what a day that will be! Though what a day it is today – because that universal confession is well on the way!

For much as it may seem that this world is still winning, and the enemies’ counter attacks are so crippling, yet Christ is King! The turning point in this war has been won. Jesus is spreading abroad in our hearts His power to bring to Him everything. The Great Commission is being fulfilled. Though, now, we have moved to the third aspect of our text. This is… THE CHRISTIAN’s DISPOSITION.

This is what Isaiah also brought out, at the end of chapter 45. He is prophesying further, after the shame upon those against the LORD. In verse 25 he declares, “But in the LORD all the descendants of Israel will be found righteous and will exult.”

Oh, yes, we’ll be happy alright! And far more thrilled than any victory we have experienced here on earth. Because there is a bigger picture! That’s a phrase used often nowadays; this expression of putting our perspective “in the big picture.” And what it means can be shown by what an athlete said once after having won a race against the top runners in the world.

She was asked how she felt having won this race. She responded that it was only one race, and a minor race at that; and that she had to put it in “the big picture.” She felt she couldn’t judge on that race – there was the illness of that other runner, the climatic conditions, and so on. What was important was how she would go over time; how her running would be in six months’ time at the world championships, or the next year at the Olympics.

Dear believer, it might sometime seem that Jesus is never coming back. You could be even feeling right now that He doesn’t rule in your life, for it’s like you are being drawn into so many sinful desires. And those unbelievers look like they’re doing so well. That’s why you have to put it in “the big picture.” You and I have to take to heart exactly why Paul uses this descriptive song to the Lord Jesus Christ in his letter to the Philippians.

And that is to see the big picture; to realise again the attitude of the great King, who even now – precisely now! – is ruling through everything. With His example before us, how can we be anything but devoted citizens? And what glory our lives will also bring to the Father of the King! That’s where our text ends. The song has its final crescendo, “to the glory of God the Father.”

The whole hosts of saints will join to sound His praise. With the multitude of angels above we may sing the same chorus here below. Because this, brethren, is the song of lives living the life of the Name! Every tongue will be confessing that “Jesus Christ is Lord.”

And then that coronation scene comes alive so much more. For looking on are the people – the subjects of this Sovereign being crowned. In earthly coronations the people may be called upon to symbolically give their assent – because then it’s clear the monarchy is based upon the people’s will and consent. With this heavenly coronation, however, while we certainly are to affirm the great occasion, it is not now by our approval through living as citizens of His Kingdom!

This is what Paul brings home very much further on in this letter. There he pleads with the believers in chapter 3 verses 17 to 20:

“Join with others in following my example, brothers, and take note of those who live according to the pattern we gave you. For, as I have often told you before and now say again even with tears, many live as enemies of the cross of Christ. Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach, and their glory is in their shame. Their mind is on earthly things. But our citizenship is in heaven.”

Friend, how are you looking upon this coronation ceremony? Are you so proud that this One is your champion, your Saviour, your Master? As you go home today, as you go back into your work or study this week, will this scene stay in your picture? Because the apostle goes on to say what being a heavenly citizen means. In the verses 20 and 21 of chapter 3, he says, “And we eagerly await a Saviour from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies to be like his glorious body.”

You know, changing our lives now to be more like His life is His victory happening in our lives. And as our sanctified lives work in our families, our church, and our society, it means Christ is being crowned in those places, too! It’s His reign!

Congregation, that’s one precious heritage we have – the vision of the Kingdom. It’s not just individuals who have personal faith, important as that certainly is, but families and societies are growing into communities of Christ. That’s the big picture which many aren’t seeing today. And yet it’s this very scene which Jesus Christ can re-create through you again. As we bow in the deepest humility before His Name, we share in His Kingship. It was for His own that He came and became the Name above all names.

Hallelujah! Let the shouts of joy ring out! Long live the King!

Amen.

PRAYER:

 

Let’s pray…

 

Dear Lord Jesus,

may we be your loyal and faithful subjects, always keen to bring your rule into our hearts and lives, and into the life and soul of this nation we live in. We pray for those believers actively involved in crowning you in this city and in this country and in this world. And we pray that many other believers may also come to see that you have to be King in our homes, our schools, our work places, and in the assemblies of government. We pray this for our Queen, that the Christian faith she professes may be her own personally. For the sake of your Name, the name which is above every name, the Name that will be confessed by all. Amen.