The Kingly Priest Who Reigns Forever

This morning we're in Psalm 110, and again it is in your bulletin if you like, and you may want to refer to your bulletin for just a minute here at the outset. Psalm 110 — you may ask, "Well, why are we doing Psalm 110? We just started the book of Hebrews and we're two sermons into that book." The reason why we're reading Psalm 110 is that many scholars believe the book of Hebrews is simply an exposition of Psalm 110. In the Old Testament there are many symbols and types that point forward to Christ, all the way from the very beginning. In Genesis 3:15, at the garden, God promised Eve that from her seed there would be one who would crush Satan's head. We have the story of redemption unfolding, and it's progressively revealed throughout the various covenants in the Old Testament, and it culminates in Christ. But when we look at the Old Testament, who the Messiah would be and what His role would be is a little bit mysterious. You don't find it all in one place, exactly spelled out, right? We find that in the New Testament, which explains the Old Testament to us. But one of the places that we look to is Psalm 110, and we look to Psalm 110 because that's where Jesus looked, and that's where Peter looked, and that's where Paul looked, to explain who the Messiah is, what His role would be, what His ministry would be, and exactly how He'd go about saving His people.

On your handout, there is Psalm 110 printed there, and over on the left-hand side you'll notice all those annotations are all from the book of Hebrews. Okay, that's a lot of them. Hebrews quotes Psalm 110 time and time again to show that Christ is the Messiah, that He is the prophet, that He is the priest, that He is the King, superior in every way to the old covenant or the Levitical law, and He is the Mediator of the new covenant. We're not going to go through all those today because of time, but I want you to be a good Berean and take that home over the next few weeks and make that part of your Bible study. Over on the right-hand side of this handout, you'll see all the various places outside the book of Hebrews that quote Psalm 110 — and that's just some of them. All together, there are more than 30 different either quotes or allusions in the New Testament to Psalm 110. So it's a very important text for understanding who the Messiah is and what His ministry would be.

If you're taking notes today, the title of the sermon is "The Kingly Priest Who Reigns Forever." The Kingly Priest Who Reigns Forever. That's the identity of the Messiah. And let's begin by looking at verse 1.

In verse 1, you're going to find that Christ is God. Christ is God. We find that in verse 1. "The Lord says to my Lord." Now this is a Psalm of David. David wrote this about a thousand years before the incarnation of Christ. And he says to the Lord — notice the Lord in your Bibles is in all capital letters. That refers to God's proper name, Yahweh, the God who is. "I am who I am." That's His name. That's the name He revealed to Moses at the burning bush. That's His proper name, "I am." He says, "I am," or the Lord, "says to my Lord." Now notice that "my Lord" is not in capital letters. That's lowercase. And that is Adonai. Adonai is a name that's often used of the Lord, of God. It can also be used of a king or a superior. It simply means a sovereign one. David is saying that Yahweh — he actually has here an ear, so to speak, given to him by God to actually hear a conversation in the Trinity. He's saying, "God the Father, Yahweh, says to my Lord, my superior." Now who could be David's superior? David was king of Israel. No one was superior to David.

But God is using David as a prophet here to speak of Christ. Christ is Adonai. Christ is God. He says, "The Lord says to my Lord, sit at My right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet." This is the first divine oracle — divine speech of God here in verse 1 and verse 2 — where Yahweh is declaring the Messiah to be God, and in verse 2 to be king. We'll see that in just a minute.

This is what's called an enthronement pronouncement. We believe that in ancient Israel, they used Psalm 110 along with Psalm 2 at the coronation of all their kings. This would be read and recited by the people because it speaks of a king coming into his throne. Jesus used this actually in conjunction with Daniel chapter 7, where Daniel 7 talks about the Son of Man coming before the Ancient of Days on the throne and being given dominion over all peoples that lasts forever. This is basically Christ being exalted to the right hand of God after His death, burial, and resurrection. He was always king, but now the God-Man — the God who has taken on flesh in His incarnation — ascends to the very throne of the universe and is declared to be Yahweh, declared to be Adonai.

Jesus cites this in Matthew 22:43–46, also Mark 12:35–37, and also in Luke 20:41–44. And when He does so, He's demonstrating that the Messiah is David's superior, that He's David's Lord. Let me read to you from Mark 12:35–37.

"And Jesus answered and said, while He taught in the temple, 'How is it that the scribes'" — those would have been the Jewish experts in the law, the ones who copied it by hand and the ones whom the Sanhedrin asked for advice on how to interpret the law — "'say that Christ, the Messiah, is the son of David? For David himself said by the Holy Spirit, 'The Lord said to my Lord, sit at My right hand till I make your enemies your footstool.' Therefore, David himself calls Him Lord. How then is He his son?' And the common people heard Him gladly."

He's asking the people, "Who could be greater than David? Which one of his descendants could even be greater than David? None but the Messiah." And the common Jewish people heard Him gladly because they had the right understanding that the Messiah would be God. Now He uses the same line of argument — recorded in Matthew 22 — when He's speaking to the Pharisees, and they did not receive it so well. He asked them the question and they refused to answer it, because they knew that if they answered and said, "Well, he can call Him Lord because He's the Messiah," that would show that Christ was the Son of God — and they refused to do that.

So Christ uses this text to show that the Messiah is Lord, that He is God. This became part of the very first exposition of the gospel on the day of Pentecost. Peter in Acts 2:34–36, on the day of Pentecost, is explaining to them what they're seeing. We know the Bible tells us that He ascended on high and He gave gifts to men. We see this outpouring at Pentecost. And Peter says that David prophetically spoke of His throne. David died and he never got to see a successor on his throne before all eternity, but now we see that in Christ. Christ has ascended the throne of David at His ascension. He sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty. And Peter says in Acts 2:34–36, "For David did not ascend into the heavens, but he says himself, 'The Lord said to my Lord, sit at My right hand'" — he's quoting Psalm 110 — "'till I make your enemies your footstool.' Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ."

He's declaring in the Spirit that Christ is God, that Christ is Lord. Not only was Jesus as Lord part of the very first gospel proclamation, but it became the very first creed of the Christian church. What did the Christian church say? Jesus is Lord, right? And we see that reflected in Philippians chapter 2, where it talks about the humiliation of Christ, how He humbled Himself and made Himself of no reputation, but then what does it say? Philippians 2:10 says, "That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven and of those on earth and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father."

In this proclamation, God says, "Sit at My right hand," in verse 1. "Sit at My right hand." Sitting at the right hand of God is the highest place of honor, is it not? It's the highest place of glory, but it's more than just sharing in the honor and sharing in the Father's glory. It's an actual participation in His dominion, a participation in His reign. By exalting Christ to His right hand, He's acknowledging that Christ is God. He's sitting on the very throne of God, ruling over the world. He says in verse 1, "Until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet."

That may seem like strange language for us today, but it goes back to the ancient Israelites and what would happen when you conquered a people. You would humiliate them, mocking them, by bringing their kings and putting them literally under the feet of the conquering king. You would step upon their necks. It was a symbolic way of saying that you had vanquished your enemies.

And Christ as King will vanquish all of His enemies. It started at the cross, and it will consummate at His return. The application is this: every knee will bow to the Lord Jesus Christ. If you have not bowed the knee, bow now. Bow now while you can come to Him as a gracious king, right? Not as a king who comes in judgment. Now is the time to be right with the Lord, to repent and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.

So verse 1 gives us: Christ is God. Verse 2, we see Christ is King. This is a continuation of this royal enthronement. It says in verse 2, "The Lord Yahweh will stretch forth Your strong scepter from Zion, saying, 'Rule in the midst of Your enemies.'"

He tells the King to rule. He tells Christ to rule in the midst of His enemies. That word rule — we see it at the very beginning, in Genesis chapter 1. God gives Adam and Eve a mandate. Adam was supposed to be a type of Christ. He was supposed to be a king and supposed to be a priest. And we see this in Genesis 1:26, "Then God said, 'Let Us make man in Our image, after Our likeness, to rule.' This word to rule is the exact same word used in Psalm 110:2, to rule in the midst of your enemies. 'To rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air.'" Then this mandate is repeated two verses later in Genesis 1:28, "Then God blessed them, and God said to them, 'Be fruitful and multiply, fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion — have rule — over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, over every living thing that moves on the earth.'"

Mankind was supposed to fill the earth and subdue it. The man failed, didn't he? Adam and Eve were not kings and queens for long at all in the garden.

Later in Israel's history, and in the history of redemption through the Mosaic law, God gave instruction for kings in Deuteronomy chapter 17. In Deuteronomy 17, you find that the king of Israel was supposed to consult with the Levitical priest and ask them how he could please the Lord. And not only that, the king was supposed to take the book of the law, the Torah, and write it out by hand. Why would that be necessary for a king to do? So that he would know God's law. So he could faithfully keep God's law. So he could punish the oppressors and reward the righteous, that he could look after the widow and look after the stranger and look after the fatherless. That's what a good king does.

Jesus is that King. He is the good King. He is the One who has dominion over the entire world, and He's the One who perfectly obeys God, right? He's the only King who has ever perfectly obeyed God and kept all the statutes and all of His ways. Revelation 1:5 says, "From Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler over the kings of the earth." Christ is the One who rules over the kings of the earth. He's the faithful witness to God, and He sits at the right hand of God as King.

Where is the right hand of God? It's everywhere, right? Because God is omnipotent. There's nowhere where He doesn't reign, right? It says that His strong scepter is stretched into the world. He says that the Lord will stretch Your strong scepter from Zion, saying, "Rule in the midst of Your enemies." The scepter isn't just in heaven. It stretches into the world, right? How does God reign in this world but through His Word? That's part of the way He does it. Did we not just repeat earlier Romans 1:16? "I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes." Right? Through the gospel, God subverts kingdoms. Through the gospel, God — Christ as King — delivers those who are imprisoned and in darkness, who are in the domain of the devil, deceived in the clutches of the devil, and brings them into the kingdom of life, right?

In Hebrews chapter 1, which we'll get to in a few weeks as we go through Hebrews, Hebrews 1 actually takes Psalm 110 and combines it with Psalm 2, which is another coronation, or kingly, song — a song of His enthronement. And in Psalm 2:6–8, it says, "Yet I have set My King on My holy hill of Zion. I will declare the decree: the Lord has said to Me, 'You are My Son, today I have begotten You. Ask of Me and I will give You the nations for Your inheritance and the ends of the earth for Your possessions.'" All Christ has to do is ask and He gets the nations for His inheritance, for His possessions, right? And doesn't He do that? Remember right before Christ's ascension, at the Great Commission? What does Jesus say? "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations," right? We have a part in His kingdom, right? To make disciples of all nations.

The application is this: the Messiah's universal reign is realized in Christ. He rules all in heaven and on earth below through His gospel. He subdues kingdoms, He tears down strongholds, and He sets people at liberty. He is the perfect Ruler. When we look at our kings today, we see imperfect kings, right? We see imperfect presidents, imperfect prime ministers. Their maleficence and lack of dedication is only temporal. It's by God's design for a purpose. But it will be fully realized and come to pass completely when the King returns, will it not? So trust the King. Make Him the King of your life — that's the application for number two.

Number three, verse 3: "Your people will volunteer freely in the day of Your power, in holy array from the womb of the dawn. Your youth are to You as the dew." For verse 3, you can say, "Christ is the captain of His people. He is the Lord of hosts."

Verse 3 says, "Your people" — the NIV says, "Your troops" — because it can be translated people or troops, a congregation ready for battle. "Your people will volunteer freely." There'll be a free-will offering is what it literally is in volunteer freely. In the day of His power, because Christ is King, the people whom He has set free willingly and gladly serve Him. Christ has no conscripts. He has no draft, right? When He saves a man, a woman, a boy, a girl, they freely love Him for His salvation. They freely know He's the one who has saved them and they want to follow Him, because He's the One who has saved them from their sins.

He says in verse 3, "Your people will volunteer freely in the day of Your power." That can be translated, as it is in the NIV, the day of battle or the day of conflict, or it could be the day of virility, the day of strength. And it pictures Christ as a triumphant King whose followers gladly follow Him. In World War II, there was a famous general you've probably heard of, a very colorful man named George Patton, right? And he was a general whose soldiers were furiously loyal to him. They wanted to fight. He was called Old Blood and Guts — that was his nickname, right? And they followed him into battle. Well, the same with us and our Savior. Wherever He goes, we freely serve Him.

It says in verse 3, "In holy array from the womb of the dawn, your youth are to You as the dew." Now in this section of verse 3, the Hebrew is difficult. Most scholars say it refers to one of two things. Either Christ is in holy array — holy garments. He is a pure King dressed in white, marching to battle in His youth and in His vigor. It's His holiness, His virility, His strength with which He marches into battle. That could very well be what it's speaking of. It also could be describing — and this is what I think it's describing, because of the context here — the array of His people, who are going to be like Him, marching in His holiness, marching in His vitality, marching in His very life, right? As the king goes, "I want to be like the King. I'm going to wear the uniform of the King."

It says, "From the womb of the dawn, your youth are to You as the dew." This could be explaining the youthful vigor and energy of the Messiah, but it could also very well be describing His people as those who are from the dawn, those who are from the dew of the morning. Let me explain that. Have you ever seen dew form? Usually it comes at night, right? And then it's revealed in the morning on the grass. Well, is not the church formed in the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ? United to Him — He is our death, our burial, and our resurrection. Think back to the book of Genesis, when God made Eve for Adam. He caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and He wounded Adam's side, took a rib out of him in his deep sleep, and He formed Eve. In the same way, the church was formed in the deep sleep of Christ's death. And it's because of His death and resurrection that we have life, that we have been redeemed, right? And what do we see at Pentecost? At Pentecost, we see the outpouring of Christ giving His gifts to men, pouring out His Spirit upon them — the dew of the morning, if you will — where He gives them His life, His vitality, His vigor, and His holiness, right?

The application is this. Are your garments holy? Do you have vigor? Do you have life that only Christ can give you? Look what Jesus says in John 10:10: "The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly." Only in Christ will you ever find life.

Uncle Sam recruits for his army, doesn't he? He says, "I need a few good men." Not our Lord. Our Lord says, "I'll take you if you're bad, and I'll give you My goodness. I'll give you My holiness. I'll give you My vitality. I'll give you My vigor. I'll give you My youth. He takes your ashes, and He makes you new." Right? So my encouragement to you is to seek life, vitality, vigor — only from Christ. Nowhere else is it even possible.

In verse 4, we see that Christ is the great High Priest. In verse 4 is actually the central part of this Psalm. This Psalm is a beautiful Hebrew poetic expression — a chiasm is what they call it, where it is an example of Hebrew parallelism. The main point is in the middle of the Psalm, and it radiates out from the middle. For example, in verse 1, you see the Lord being enthroned, and in verse 7, you see the enthroned King as one who leads in refreshment and victory. In verse 2, you see the reign of the King being inaugurated. In verse 6, you're going to see His judgment being inaugurated. In verse 3, it talks about Christ being the captain, the Lord of hosts. And the parallel in verse 5 is that He is the One who conquers, who shatters the kings. In verse 4 is what it all hinges on: that Christ is our great High Priest.

The reason that Christ can be your King, the reason that He can deliver you from the domain of death, is that Christ made atonement for your sins as Priest. Let's look at verse 4. "The Lord has sworn and will not change His mind, 'You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.'"

Here He is in His second oracle, His second proclamation. He says, "Not only are You King, but You are Priest." He's combining these two offices in the office of the Messiah. You remember in Israel's history, priests and kings were of different tribes and could not be one and the same. What tribe did the priests descend from? The Levites, exactly right. The kings came from what tribe? The lion of the tribe of Judah, exactly right. So a priest cannot be a king and a king cannot be a priest.

We see one of the successors of David — Uzziah — who was a great king. He served over 50 years, one of the best kings in Israel's history. But towards the end of his life, he tried to force his way into the temple and to offer up incense, to do a priestly duty. Because of that, he was removed and God gave him leprosy, because he was trying to take a role that was not his.

But before the Levitical law, before there was even the tribe of Judah, before there was even the tribe of Levi, there was a man in the book of Genesis named Melchizedek. We actually see this in Genesis 14. Abraham goes to rescue Lot. Lot is his family, and his family has been taken captive by some warrior kings, so he goes and rescues them. And upon his victory, as he returns, he meets a man named Melchizedek. It says in Genesis 14:18, "Then Melchizedek, king of Salem, brought out bread and wine. He was the priest of God Most High." Catch that — he's king, but he's also priest. Melchizedek means king of righteousness. That points forward to Christ, right? Who is the righteous One. And he was the king of Salem — that passage tells us Salem means peace. Christ is our Prince of Peace, right? Many scholars believe that Salem was an antecedent of Jerusalem, the city of peace, right? Where Christ rules from. And on top of that, he's the priest of the Most High God.

And so what God is saying here in verse 4 is, "The Lord has sworn and will not change His mind, You, the Messiah, are a priest according to the order of Melchizedek." He's saying, "You are a different thing than we've seen before — even greater than Melchizedek. You're like Melchizedek, but You're superior to Melchizedek, in that You are King and You are Priest combined into one. You are the great King and the great High Priest. You are the One who brings peace and righteousness to all men."

Hebrews grabs onto this. We're going to see this as we study the book of Hebrews — that it says Christ is the One who fulfills the old covenant, ushers in the new covenant, supplants the law by giving us a new covenant, a new law of righteousness that's found in Him. I want to read to you briefly from Hebrews 7:11–13. "Therefore, if perfection were through the Levitical priesthood, for under it the people received the law, what further need was there that another priest should rise according to the order of Melchizedek, and not be called according to the order of Aaron? For the priesthood being changed, of necessity there is also a change of the law — a new covenant is being made. For He of whom these things are spoken belongs to another tribe, from which no man has officiated at the altar" — the tribe of Judah."

Then in Hebrews 9:11–12 and also verse 15: "But Christ came as High Priest of the good things to come, with the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands, that is, not of this creation, nor with the blood of goats and calves, but with His own blood He entered the Most Holy Place once and for all, having obtained eternal redemption. And for this reason He is the Mediator of a new covenant, by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions under the first covenant, that those who are called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance."

Under the Levitical law, the Aaronic priesthood, they were figurative. They were placeholders. They were to point us to Christ, right? To show us what a priest would do. A priest made sacrifice and interceded for his people, and Christ is our sacrifice, and He is the intercessor at the right hand of God the Father Almighty. So not only was it figurative, it was also impotent. The Levitical priest — their sacrifices could not take away your sins. They were ineffectual, right? The blood of bulls and goats — what does that teach you about morality? It cannot suffice for the blood of Christ. His perfectly satisfied sacrifice, offered once and for all, for us, right?

Also, the Levitical priesthood was sinful. The priest would make propitiation not only for the sins of the people, but also for himself, right? Because even as priests, everything they did would be tainted, so they needed redemption themselves. But what about Christ? He is the spotless Lamb of God who laid down His life for us in our stead, in our place. And the Levitical priesthood was temporary and successive. One priest would die and another one would take his place. Not Christ — He is a Priest who is eternal, right? Who reigns forever as not only King, but also as Priest. And He ever lives to intercede, right? So Christ is superior in every way.

The application for number four is this: as King, Christ delivers us from the domain of sin and death — only because as Priest, He makes us at one with God. He makes atonement for us by His very own blood. Revelation 1:5–6 says, "From Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead and the ruler over the kings of the earth, to Him who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood, and has made us kings and priests to His God and Father, to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen."

Our King and Priest has washed us and made us kings and priests in Him, right? We participate in His work.

Number five, verse 5: Christ is the returning conqueror. "The Lord is at Your right hand. He will shatter kings in the day of His wrath." Some translations such as the NIV say, "He will crush kings in the day of His wrath." When you hear that, does it remind you of what God promised Adam and Eve in Genesis 3:15? That from her seed, He would raise up One who would crush the head of the serpent, right?

Christ will return as a conquering King. It says, "In the day of His wrath." The day of His wrath literally means a day that His nostril flares. Because a person who's wrathful — their nostrils are flaring, right? But God's wrath is never an unhinged wrath. He never flies off the handle. It's a holy wrath, constantly burning because it proceeds from His holiness. God must hate sin or He would not be a good King. He would not be a proper judge if He didn't, right? He must hate sin and He must uphold righteousness. So He must punish the wicked and He must reward the innocent. That's upholding His very being. That's what it means to be a holy God, right? It's His self-affirmation and His self-willing through His reign.

Both of these — His wrath and His nostrils flaring, the day of His fierce anger — are used elsewhere in Scripture. In Isaiah 13:9, there's a prophetic oracle spoken against Babylon, and it says, "Behold, the day of the Lord comes, cruel, with both wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate and to destroy its sinners from it." When Christ comes as conqueror, it's an exercise of His holy wrath.

And we see this echoed in the book of Revelation. Revelation 6:12–16 says, "I looked and He opened the sixth seal, and behold, there was a great earthquake, and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became like blood, and the stars of heaven fell to the earth, as a fig tree drops its late figs when it is shaken by a mighty wind. Then the sky receded as a scroll when it is rolled up, and every mountain and island was moved out of its place. And the kings of the earth, the great men, the rich men, the commanders, the mighty men, every slave, and every free man hid themselves in the caves and in the rocks of the mountains, and said to the mountains and rocks, 'Fall on us and hide us from the face of Him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb.'" Here you see both His kingship — Him who sits on the throne — and also His priesthood — the wrath of the Lamb. Verse 17: "For the great day of His wrath has come, and who is able to stand?"

The application is this. Don't wait until that day. If you're not right with the Lord, turn to Him. Yes, the wrath of the Lamb will be fierce, but it's the wrath of the Lamb. If you turn to Him now, He's the spotless Lamb of God that was slain for you. You but trust in Him. Turn to Him now. You will not be in the day of His wrath. You'll be in the day of His favor when He returns.

Psalm 2:10–12, that other great messianic psalm of coronation, says, "Now therefore be wise, O kings. Be instructed, you judges of the earth. Serve the Lord with fear and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son, lest He be angry and you perish in the way when His wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all those who put their trust in Him." Put your trust in Him. Receive His blessing and not His wrath.

In verse 6, we see that Christ is the returning Judge. He says, "He will judge among the nations. He will fill them with corpses. He will shatter" — the word shatter here again means crush — "He will crush the chief men over a broad country." When He says He will shatter the chief men, it can also be translated He will crush the head over a broad country.

When Christ returns as Judge, it will be the high point of His exaltation. His exaltation began in His resurrection, His ascension, and His enthronement, and now His heavenly session at the right hand of God Almighty. But when He returns, His rule and His might will be on full display. The Savior who once suffered at the hands of sinners will now make all things right. Those who laugh and scoff and mock and scorn will at that day face true justice when He returns.

John 12:48 says, "He who rejects Me and does not receive My words has that which judges him. The word that I have spoken will judge him in the last day." When Christ comes, He comes in judgment. And the basis of His judgment is twofold. One, it's the law of God — in other words, His very character. Do you measure up? And who of us could stand before a holy God? None of us could. The second ground of His judgment is His marvelous grace. We find in Romans 3:20–22, "Therefore, by the deeds of the law, no flesh will be justified, will be declared right in His sight. For by the law is the knowledge of sin. But now the righteousness of God, apart from the law, is revealed, being witnessed by the law and the prophets, even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ, to all and on all who believe." Those who trust in Christ are declared righteous because they are united to the Righteous One. So in the day of His judgment, are you going to stand in your own works? Are you going to stand in the righteous works of the Lord Jesus Christ?

The application is this: are you trusting your goodness? Are you trusting your merits? What ground do you stand upon? You try to stand upon your heritage — my parents were Christians. I have a good reputation. I've done a lot of good charitable deeds. That will be wood, hay, and stubble in the day of His judgment. But if you stand on Christ, you stand on the rock, and no storm can blow you over.

Revelation 20:11–15 says, "And I saw a great white throne and Him who sat on it, from whose face the heaven and earth fled away, and there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and the books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books. The sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them. And they were judged, each one according to his works. Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire." Trust in Christ. Be in His Book of Life. Look to His favor as Judge.

Verse 7, lastly: Jesus is exalted above all. We see that in verse 7. "He will drink from the brook by the way. Therefore He will lift up His head." When it says this King, this Priest, will drink from the brook by the way, it means one of two things. Either the picture here is of a king who is pursuing his enemies valiantly and vigorously, who stops for water and then continues on pursuing and defeating his foes — which Christ will. He must reign till all things have been put under His feet. That last enemy, death, is cast into the lake of fire. Or more probably, this is referring to the drinking of the cup — to the humiliation of Christ that preceded His resurrection. His sufferings that He went through, the humility and the passion. He suffered greatly before His victory. And as we know, if we suffer with Him, we will also be raised with Him.

Whichever one it is, both describe the work of the Deliverer. The King defeating His adversaries, or Christ in His suffering by which we are set free. It says, "He shall lift up His head." He's going to be delivered from His work, His suffering, His agony, into His exaltation, into His great glory. And every single one of us has our head lifted up in Christ if we are united to Him by faith. His exaltation is our exaltation.

It says, "He will drink from the brook by the way, therefore He will lift up His head." Some translations say "He will lift up the head" or "a head," which could mean every single one of us. 1 Corinthians 2:9 says, "But as it is written, 'Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him.'"

Revelation 3:20–21 says, "Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in and dine with him, and he with Me. To him who overcomes I will grant to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne."

He desires our fellowship. The application is this: exalt Christ. Let everything in your life exalt Christ. You're going to be exalting Christ for all eternity. He is your King. He is your Priest. He is the One who has delivered you from death. Exalt Him, and His exaltation is yours because He graciously shares His rule and reign with us for all eternity.

Let's bow our heads in prayer. Lord Jesus, You are amazing. We praise You that You are the Priest, You are the King who reigns forever. I pray that You would have Your way here today, that there would be people who would volunteer to follow Christ today. I pray that You would be the lifter of our heads, that we would bask in Your glory forever. It's in Christ's name we ask this. Amen.