The King's Battle

Christmas 2021 – Battle for the King

Kingdom vision = Proper perspective

· Keeps you from wasting time battling flesh and blood - people vs principalities

The battle is not about you, but the King in you

Unite around the King

Definition of King - Highest POSITION, RESPECT, HONOR

· Highest POSITION – a male ruler of a country who usually inherits his position and rules for life

· Highest RESPECT – a boy or man who is highly respected and very successful or popular

· Highest HONOR – a boy or man who is awarded the highest honor for an event or contest

Kings’ Prophecy

Gabriel to Mary:

Luke 1:32–33 NLT

32 He will be very great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his ancestor David. 33 And he will reign over Israel forever; his Kingdom will never end!”

Military Operation

Raniero Cantalamessa points out, ‘In the tales of medieval battles, there always comes a moment when the orderly ranks of archers and cavalry and all the rest are broken and the fighting concentrates around the king. That is where the final outcome of the battle will be decided. For us too, the battle today is taking place around the King: it is the person of Jesus Christ himself that is the real point at issue.’

Ranks broken = intercessors, ministers, believers have failed

– sleep, ignorant, apathy, etc.

Attack the Head

Salute – Military

Salute – never in the field, reveals (exposes) the commander to harm

Battle = Strike the Shepherd

Shepherd – strike the Shepherd, sheep scatter

Matthew 26:31 NLT

31 On the way, Jesus told them, “Tonight all of you will desert me. For the Scriptures say, ‘God will strike the Shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.’

Battle = Steal the King

· Object of Chess: capture the opponent’s king

· If the king is captured, the game is over

· Jesus never has a checkmate

· The King of Kings always has another move

3 kings – 3 battles

1. Herod = political battle – battle for HEADS

2. Wise Men – spiritual battle – battle for HANDS

3. Jesus – battle for HEARTS

The Battle centers around AUTHORITY

Pharisees –

1. Who are you - who gave you the right?

2. By what authority do you do these things?

3. Where do you come from?

· People loved what Jesus DID, but disliked what he SAID when it came to His kingship

· People never had a problem with Jesus’ miracles, healings, feedings, signs, wonders

· But things turned ugly when Jesus asserted or conformed His authority!

· Thousands came to be FED yet they FLED when Jesus said He was the Manna

· Pharisees locked horns when Jesus forgave sins, healed on the Sabbath, and confirmed He was the Son of God

The battle is about Jesus, not you

Same Battle, New Generation

Don’t take spiritual attacks personally

· People attack God’s PERSON, through His PEOPLE

· Since man cannot attack God directly, he attacks God indirectly, by attacking His people.

Keep your focus on the King

· Big picture vs squabbling over details

Education

· The battle is not about evolution – it’s about refusing to submit to an all-knowing KING who created everything

· Represented by King Herod

· Education = HEADS

· Evolution – there is NO God, so we can:

· 1 – do what we want = sin, oppression, abuse, take advantage

· 2 – be accountable to no one

Pandemic

· The battle Is not about a global pandemic – but about the lack of repentance to a HOLY King who can cure everything and block the enemy of destruction

Economy

· The battle is not about the economy – but about a people who have robbed a RIGHTEOUS King of His tribute (Malachi 3)

· Israel always prospered when they honored God as their King with their tribute and offerings

· A nation will not prosper when they withhold form God the King

Politics

· The battle is not about politics (president) – but about the allegiance to the King of every nation.

· Examples – red vs blue state, republican vs democrat,

RACE

· The battle is not about RACE – its about uniting under the King of every tribe and tongue

Revelation 7:9–10 NLT

9 After this I saw a vast crowd, too great to count, from every nation and tribe and people and language, standing in front of the throne and before the Lamb. They were clothed in white robes and held palm branches in their hands. 10 And they were shouting with a great roar, “Salvation comes from our God who sits on the throne and from the Lamb!”

Religion

Attack = one world religion

Answer = the dominance of King Jesus

Philippians 2:8–11 NLT

8 he humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal’s death on a cross. 9 Therefore, God elevated him to the place of highest honor and gave him the name above all other names, 10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue declare that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

The King’s Dominion = Israel

· That’s why her enemies are trying to amass nuclear weapons in order to “wipe Israel off the map”

The King’s CAPITOL = Jerusalem

· That’s why her enemies try to divide the holy city (holy capitol) for so long and try to keep the King’s people out of their own land

The King’s TEMPLE = Mount Moriah

· That’s why the Temple Mount is the most hotly contested piece of real estate in the world

The King’s PEOPLE = Jews, Christians

· Jesus was attacked – Now the church is attacked - because of King in us! – we are Kings’ kids

· That’s why the Jews have been persecuted, ostracized, marginalized, slandered, lied about, ignored, boycotted, divested, sanctioned, expelled, hated, murdered and routinely singled out as evil by the United Nations

· That’s why her enemies shout in unison – death to America and death to Israel

· That’s why there is rampant anti-Semitism – even on American college campuses

· That’s why the Bible is banned from schools – including prayer in Jesus’ name, Bible clubs, visiting chaplains or ministers while at the same time tolerance and promotion of almost any other faith – including promotion to favored status

Pastor Nicky Gumbel

The theological battles of the twenty-first century are not those of the eleventh century, which divided Catholic and Orthodox churches. Nor are the battles those of the sixteenth-century Reformation. The battle today is the same as the battle of the first century: is Jesus the universal Savior?

· Christians from all churches – Catholic, Orthodox, Protestant and Pentecostal – believe in Jesus as our Savior, the Messiah and the Son of God.

· To be a Christian is to be a follower of Christ.

· All followers of Jesus are children of God (John 1:12).

· This makes us brothers and sisters.

· Furthermore, if we belong to Christ, the Holy Spirit lives in each of us (Romans 8:9).

· What unites us is infinitely more important than what divides us.

· Therefore, the battle should never be with our brothers and sisters in Christ.

· In-fighting distracts and destroys.

· Focus on the real battle, which is around the King.

The King’s Book = the BIBLE

· That’s why there are so many arguments about religion, Christianity in particular

· That’s why God’s body is divided into hundreds of factions – in order to keep us weak through division.

· That’s why there is such animosity toward the Christian faith, Bible archeology, Bible history, and Bible prophecy, in the media

· Society, in general seems to be tolerant of any book, secular or religious, except the Bible

Jesus is KING of Kings

1 Timothy 6:15–16 NLT

15 For at just the right time Christ will be revealed from heaven by the blessed and only almighty God, the King of all kings and Lord of all lords. 16 He alone can never die, and he lives in light so brilliant that no human can approach him. No human eye has ever seen him, nor ever will. All honor and power to him forever! Amen.

Revelation 19:11–16 NLT

11 Then I saw heaven opened, and a white horse was standing there. Its rider was named Faithful and True, for he judges fairly and wages a righteous war. 12 His eyes were like flames of fire, and on his head were many crowns. A name was written on him that no one understood except himself. 13 He wore a robe dipped in blood, and his title was the Word of God. 14 The armies of heaven, dressed in the finest of pure white linen, followed him on white horses. 15 From his mouth came a sharp sword to strike down the nations. He will rule them with an iron rod. He will release the fierce wrath of God, the Almighty, like juice flowing from a winepress. 16 On his robe at his thigh was written this title: King of all kings and Lord of all lords.

Closing – God looks for His people to BUILD UP the hedge and stand in the gap

Lord, help us to focus on the real battle and unite around Jesus.: our Savior, Messiah and Son of God.