In this sermon, the speaker shares a personal experience of how surrendering their heart to God allowed the word of God to have a deeper impact on their life. They emphasize the importance of being subject to God in all areas of life in order for His word to be powerful. The speaker encourages the audience to seek a revelation of the King, which will reveal the state of their own hearts and bring about new understanding and needs. They also highlight the need to fully surrender to God as King in order to believe and stand on His promises. The sermon references Isaiah's vision of the Lord high and lifted up as an example of the awe and reverence we should have for God.

We got the sun, Richard? Man, I'm kind of bummed that you guys were so excited about the David Crowder CD so much more than you were about the revival book. Maybe that might change by the end, huh? Okay, well let's do something. I need prayer to just share this for several reasons. Let's just pray. Can we do that? Why don't we just invite God's Spirit to continue to move right along and just to open up our hearts. And I know a lot of folks are probably tired from driving and traveling and we'll try not to go too long this evening, but we do want to make this moment count. Amen? So let's just pray. Let's just have a time of prayer inviting God's Spirit. This is not just a preliminary before we get to the talk. Let's pray, alright? Why don't we just thank you, God? We worship you. We just exalt you. We bless your name, Jesus. We thank you for the privilege to worship you. And we give you glory and honor and praise. And Father, we just put on a heart of gratefulness right now. We say you are a good God. We say, God, that your grace is incredible, your love is incredible, your mercy, your kindness, your ways, your judgments, God, your character, all that makes you who you are, Lord. We honor and praise that this evening in Jesus' mighty name. God, thank you, thank you, thank you for all the good things that you do for us. Thank you for the ways you deal with us. Thank you for your love. Thank you, God, for the work that you're doing throughout the world today. God, thank you for your patience, your endurance with us, Lord Jesus. We worship you. We magnify you. God, we just bow our hearts and our knees before you, Lord Jesus. Praise your mighty name. Praise your mighty name. Thank you, God. God, we ask you that you'd have your way in this room, that by your precious Holy Spirit that you would just take over more control of our lives this evening, God. I pray that you would be with our hearts, expand their ability to take in more of who you are and what you want to do in our lives. God, I pray you'd be with my mind, my heart, my focus, my ability to recall and remember, God, different things that you showed me about this material. God, we ask that you would anoint this moment for your glory and for your kingdom, for your sake, God, for your kingdom that you want to advance in the world today, God, in Jesus' mighty name. Thank you, God. Praise you, God. Help us. We humble ourselves before you this evening. We recognize we need more grace. We need more grace. God, we can't do this. We don't even want to try without you. And so we ask you to help us this evening in Jesus' mighty name. God, make this moment effectual. God, make it effective. Make an impact on us, Lord, in Jesus' mighty name. Praise your name, God. Praise your name. Thank you, God. Thank you, God. We give you glory. We give you praise. Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, God. God, we declare that we love you. We love to sing your praises. We love, God, just to spend time with you. We love just to look unto you, God. We love to just occupy the same space that you do, Lord. Thank you, Jesus. God, we love being a part of your family. We love being in relationship with you, God. Thank you, God. Thank you, God. God, praise your holy name. Praise your holy name. Thank you for the worship you filled this place full of, God, this evening. Continue to do that, God. First and foremost, throughout this whole weekend, God, make us worshipers. Those who delight to worship you. Thank you, God. Praise you, Jesus. Praise you, Jesus. Just breathe on us this evening, Lord Jesus. By your Spirit, breathe on us. Settle our souls, our mind, our heart, our attention, our focus on you. God, I just pray that you would remove the scales from our eyes, from our heart, that keeps us from really understanding and knowing you the way we should. God, remove the blinders this evening. Remove blinders and obstacles and walls and barriers and wrong belief systems and our self, God, that obscures a vision of who you are. Jesus, we would see you. We would see Jesus. We desire to see you, Lord, accurately, God, this evening. We desire to see you high and lifted up, Lord. Help us, God. God, remove the veil. Remove the veil. Thank you, God. God, we just affirm, we affirm this evening that because of what you did on Calvary, the veil has been rent. We have access, unlimited access to your throne. God, I pray that each and every one of us this evening would utilize that access, would initiate, apply themselves in faith to entering in to your holy place, God. We ask these things in Jesus' name. Amen. All right. This evening I would just like to share with you some things about how we view God, about viewing God correctly, about having a right understanding about who God is. I believe most of us have a right understanding about who God is to one extent or another. But I believe there is an epidemic within the church in the western world today and that is to take God in parts or to have a partial concept of who God is, to focus on one extent or one set of attributes about God's character at the expense of not considering or taking in other attributes about God's character. So what I want to focus on this evening is the necessity, the absolute necessity of seeing and focusing and recognizing Jesus Christ as sovereign king. Amen. We are part of a kingdom, which means that we as believers of Jesus Christ are at least supposed to be subjects of the king of that kingdom. Amen. But so often we as believers like to focus on the parts about God that are most convenient or suit us best for according to how we like to live our life. Does that make sense? If we like to live our life carelessly and recklessly, it's no wonder that we love to focus on the fact that Jesus is a Savior, Jesus is a Redeemer, Jesus loves to forgive us. Amen. We can camp there. I mean, we need that kind of grace all the time. Amen. But if you're interested in doing kingdom business and expanding His kingdom throughout the globe, you must focus on the fact that Jesus is more than a good shepherd, He's more than a friend, He's more than a father, He's more than a comforter and a counselor, but Jesus Christ is a sovereign king. Amen. Whom to we all must bow our knee and a heart. Amen. But yet we like to focus on the other parts, the more fun parts a lot of times. So I want us just to take a little bit of time to think about and to consider what the Scripture says about Jesus as king. Now why did you guys come to this conference? I suppose many came because you're looking for direction. Amen. Students are very concerned about direction for their life. They realize that they're standing on the threshold, a time, a season in their life in which they are being forced to make very significant decisions about how they're going to invest their time, who their life partner will be, where they'll live and where they're going to spend their energies, what their calling is, what their destiny is supposed to be. Amen. I mean, a lot of you guys, even in this room, why you came to this conference is to hopefully get a better understanding about getting some answers for those kind of questions. Does that make sense to any of you guys in here? Now let me pose a question to you. Are you asking for direction? Are you looking for vision and calling? Are you calling upon the Lord to give you some answers regarding some of these things? But is your Lord, is the God you serve, big enough to answer these questions? See, when you talk about commission, when you talk about calling, when you talk about your place in the Kingdom of God, you've got to address those questions to the King. Amen. And a lot of times we're trying to focus our attention on Father, Friend, Counselor. We're asking this kind of God about decisions in our life, and we need to be focusing more on the King. Amen. Does that make sense to you guys? Let's unpack this just a little bit more. Is your concept of God interfering with your prayers? Many are asking God for divine direction for their lives, or some sense of eternal destiny and calling. Yet the God you serve, is He big enough to answer these questions? We must understand God rightly, or we will never know how to truly live rightly. Amen. Defining and embracing the fullness of God's character and nature is critical if we are to understand how to function fully as Christians in the world today. Your concept of God ultimately defines the nature of your relationship with God. Amen. Fathers, friends, and comforters always console, but sovereign kings give unwavering commands. Amen. God is certainly a Father. He is certainly a precious Father to us all. Amen. He is our friend. How many of us don't delight in the fact that Jesus is my very best friend? Jesus is your very best friend. Amen. I am in no way, in no way trying to attempt to undermine or diminish the reality of the fact that God is our Father, God is our friend, God is our counselor, God is our comforter and the Good Shepherd of our soul. Amen. But that is not all that God is. God is also King, and we must not lose sight of that. A. W. Tozer in his wonderful little book called The Knowledge of the Holy said the following, I believe there is scarcely any error in doctrine or a failure in applying Christian ethics that cannot be traced finally to the imperfect and innoble thoughts about God. The first step down for any church is taken when it surrenders its high opinions about God. Amen. If we are going to believe God for great things, we must affirm that He is a great King. Amen. And Arthur W. Pink in his book on the attributes of God said, An unknown God can neither be trusted, served, nor worshipped. Amen. We sometimes like to entertain fuzzy ideas about God because there is less accountability for ourselves that way. In other words, when you have knowledge about something or about someone, with that knowledge will inevitably come a greater amount of accountability. Amen. And the more intimate we are with who God is, and the better understanding we have about God as the Creator, as the King, it raises our accountability in our life. We will find it less freedom to live our life any way that we perhaps choose. We will find that there are more boundaries for ourselves as we understand more about the King. And this is why sometimes we can subtly fall to the temptation that wants to avoid looking more closely at Jesus as King. Am I making sense yet this evening? If you are interested in expanding the Kingdom, you've got to be interested in understanding who the King is. Amen. You guys, it is ridiculous for us to think that we can effectively expand the Kingdom of God and not be rightly related to the King, not be subject to the King, not be acquainted with the King, not bow our heart and knee to the King. Amen. You cannot expand a Kingdom, advance a Kingdom, and be an ambassador of a Kingdom when you are not subject to the King of that Kingdom. That makes sense. That's pretty simple, isn't it? But yet all over the church we find people who are excited about this missions thing, who are excited about praying, Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven, but yet are trying to find wiggle room, trying to find a space to live their life in the way that they so feel to choose, that is convenient for them. It doesn't work that way. That makes no kind of sense. If we're interested in Kingdom work, we've got to be interested in submitting to the King. Pretty basic. Amen. Nothing deep, nothing new, but these are questions that over and over we must ask ourselves. Amen. You have a relationship with a Savior, a Good Shepherd, a lover, a friend, but what is your relationship like with the King? We cannot advance the Kingdom if we are not subject to the King's authority. Remember, Jesus Christ is a King. Amen. Psalms 22, 27 through 28. Great verses here. All the ends of the world shall remember and turn to the Lord, and all the families of the nations shall worship before you, for the kingdom is the Lord's, and He rules over the nations. Amen. Psalms 47, 2 through 8. For the Lord Most High is awesome. He is a great King over all the earth. He will subdue the peoples under us and the nations under our feet. Sing praises to God. Sing praises. Sing praises to our King. Sing praises for God is King of all the earth. Sing praises with understanding. God reigns over the nation. God sits on His holy throne. Amen. We're not talking about a God that we don't understand. We're not talking about a person, somebody other than the Lamb of God. This is Jesus. Amen. He is the King. Aren't we excited about this kingdom that one day will appear on every corner of the globe? About the fact that every nation, tongue, and tribe will one day bow the knee and worship the King? Amen? If we're going to advance such a kingdom, we ourselves must be those who are subject to the King. Are you interested in finding out where you fit in this kingdom work? You're asking the Lord, Lord God, give me wisdom, give me understanding. What am I supposed to be doing with my life? How am I supposed to invest my life? Where do I fit in the kingdom work? We're asking these kind of kingdom questions while at the same time, sometimes avoiding being subject to the King. You guys, if we are fleeing from being submitted to the King's authority, it will interfere with our ability to get answers to these questions. Amen? We may be praying one thing with our mouth while doing something completely different with our heart. Really, the bottom line of this message this evening is asking us, is our prayer life and our relationship with the King, are they consistent? When we pray, Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth, just like it is in heaven, you have no right to pray that prayer if you're not willing to be a subject of the King yourself. Amen? Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. I never get tired of talking about this. I really don't. What is the activity of heaven like? Every eye is focused on the Lamb. Every tongue worships the Lamb. Every heart is yielded to the Lamb. Every knee is bent before the Lamb. Every eye is focused on Him. Amen? Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done right here in my life. In my community. In my church. Just like it is in heaven. Amen? Again, you have no right to pray that prayer if you have not made a quality decision to be surrendered to the King of that kingdom that you're praying for. Let's look at some other verses. Psalms 103 verse 19. The Lord has established His throne in heaven and His kingdom rules over all. How about Jeremiah 10.10? But the Lord is the true God. He is the living God and the everlasting King. At His wrath, the earth will tremble and the nations will not be able to endure His indignation. Daniel 7.14 Then to Him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion which shall not pass away and His kingdom the one which shall not be destroyed. Praise God. Amen? That is wonderful, isn't it? You know, I love the fact that God is my Father. Myself, I had a very broken relationship with my Father. I don't know how many times the Lord has ministered to me in such deep and significant ways by revealing to me over and over again that He loves me, He wants to nurture me, He wants to deepen our relationship with one another, He wants to be a Father to me. Amen? I love the fact that Jesus is my best friend, that He understands me when nobody else does. Amen? But you know what's better than that? It's the fact that my best friend, the fact that my Savior, the fact that my Counselor and Comforter and Father, it's good to have all those things, but what's better is that all those people, those that operate in those different areas are also my King. Amen? Amen? When your Father is the King, that's a better situation. When your best friend is the King, that's better yet. Amen? Does that make sense? Zechariah 14.9 And the Lord shall be King over all the earth. It's going to happen. It's going to happen. Revelation 11.15-16 And there were loud voices in heaven saying, I don't know about you, maybe you're a little bit uncomfortable with all this loud worship. All these loud voices. Like I said many times before, you better get used to it. Amen? If you're planning on going to heaven anyway, because heaven is filled with loud voices. Amen? Because heaven is filled with worship for the King. And there were loud voices in heaven. I love this. It's not just one voice, but many voices saying, the kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ and He shall reign forever and ever and ever and ever. I like adding those evers, don't you? I love the word forever, don't you? When it comes to relating to the King. When it comes to talking about Jesus. When it comes to talking about the Lamb of God. I just love that word. I don't know why. It seems weird sometimes. But to say it forever. I just like to say it over and over again. Forever with You, Jesus. Forever in love with You, Jesus. Forever praising You. Forever being in Your presence. Amen? Forever. Forever with Him. Amen? Forever and ever and ever and ever. Our one holy occupation is worshiping Jesus forever. Our one delight is being focused on the Lamb forever. Amen? You know, I can't wait. Can you? You know, now my knees start to hurt when I bow too long. You ever have that problem? Well, if you don't, you will. Okay? Just to give you ten years or so. You know, now you raise your arms too long and your hands get heavy. But one day you won't have that problem. You'll be outfitted with a glorified body that can worship the Lamb of God forever. Amen? Forever and ever and ever. You know, now I just sing with all my heart and the voice starts going. You know what I'm saying? You get sore and harsh. You go... Well, you can't talk. You won't have that problem one day. You will be able to sing His praises forever. Amen? I love the fact that God is King. The fact that God is in control. And I know Him. And I am related to Him. And He loves me. And He has forgiven me. And I'm in relationship with Him. Amen? He is King. And He is in control. He occupies the throne. And all of His promises and prophecies and predictions, they shall come to pass. And one day all peoples will worship Him. Amen? Kingdom stuff is exciting, isn't it? But kingdom stuff starts right here. Kingdom stuff. Before we can ever get too excited about all this stuff out here, we've got to ask ourselves, have we made a quality kingdom decision in our own heart? Have we allowed Jesus Christ to rule and reign right here? Amen? Let me read the rest of the verse. We're just getting to the good stuff. Okay, let's start all over, okay? And there were loud voices in heaven. Lots of them saying, the kingdoms of the world have become the kingdoms of our Lord. That's what we're going to sing one day. The kingdoms of the world have become the kingdoms of our Lord. Amen. And of His Christ. And He shall reign forever and ever and ever. And the twenty-four elders who sat before God on the thrones fell on their faces and worshipped God. Praise God in heaven. The elders, they just do what everybody else does. Just worship. Amen? They just kind of are out there in the front to show you. In case you guys forgot how to fall on your faces, this is what it looks like. That's what the elders do great in heaven. Amen? I wish more elders on the earth would do what the elders do in heaven. We'd be in a lot better shape, wouldn't we? And I'm speaking as an elder of my own church. A revelation of the King produces subjects. How can you talk about the King? How can you come before the King? Unless you're interested in being an out-and-out rebel against the King. There's only one kind of relationship with the King as far as a correct-right relationship. If He's King, that means we are the subjects. Amen? If He's in control, if He occupies the throne, that means we bow our knees and we are subject. We are submitted. We are surrendered. He's in control of our lives. Amen? Do you have a relationship with the King or not? Is it a right relationship with the King? A revelation of the King produces subjects. After we become subjects, after we become surrendered ones, after we become ones who have humbled ourselves and allow the Lord to have access to our heart, then He pours His grace in and He takes us from being merely subjects to making us saints. Amen? Those who are sanctified. Now, that's a fancy church word. Amen? That literally means to be set apart. This is my own definition, but I kind of like it. To be exclusively reserved for the glory and the pleasure of Jesus. Amen? We have been created for Him. Colossians tells us all things have been created by Him and for Him. We are God's stuff. Amen? We have been designed to be subject to Him. In fact, we find no greater joy than when we're subject to the King. So we move from the place of merely being a subject to becoming a saint. Those people who have allowed, they're actually bearers of the King's image. Amen? They recognize they are ambassadors of the King and they must be an ambassador in more than merely word, but in the expression and the way they walk. They bear the image of the King everywhere they go. They make people wonder, scratch their head and consider, wow, what's going on with them? They live their life in such a different way. They are subject to a different set of standards. They are subject to a higher authority. They are in relationship with the King. Amen? If you're really subject to Jesus, your life will reflect it. Amen? The way you live will reflect it. The way you talk, what you do with your spare time, what you call entertainment will reflect that you are subject to the King of kings. Amen? If your life doesn't look any different than how the world's living their life, chances are you're not subject to the King. There's no way you can be. Amen? Amen? That's a good place to say amen. The revelation of the King produces subjects, saints and servants. Amen? When you're subject to the King and your life starts to be transformed by the King, you live for the pleasure of the King, to serve the King. A revelation of the King doesn't just leave you in the place of servanthood, but it also makes you a soldier of the King. Amen? Where you will expand the kingdom of this King, the Lord Jesus. You will fight for this kingdom. Amen? You will lay your life down for this kingdom. Amen? You'll go out there to the front lines and get in the trenches because you serve the Captain, the Lord of Hosts. Amen? You bear His standard. You raise it high. And you move forward for the King. Subjects, saints, servants and soldiers. All these people are needed to build a kingdom. It's a wonderful thing to enjoy your relationship with Jesus, for Him to be your friend, for Him to be your Father and Comforter, the One who consoles you. Those are great things, you guys. But it can't be limited to that. In fact, if that's all you know about God, if you haven't understood God as King, you're not worshiping the God of this book. Amen? You know the beauty of Jesus is the fact that He is the most tender, intimate, nurturing person you've ever met, but you add to that the fact that He is a sovereign King and Creator. See, among men, absolute power and sovereign control typically corrupts absolutely. Amen? But the thing that's different about our God is He is almighty, and yet He is tender. And yet He is meek. And yet He is humble. Yet He is loving and patient and kind and bestows grace and mercy. And that's what makes us go, oh my goodness, there is nobody else like Jesus. Amen? I can still remember so clearly right after I came to Christ and the Lord's just ministering to me. I worked in this warehouse, alright? And I had all my little prayer books and little tracts and little Scripture verses. I was totally preoccupied with the Lord and I didn't realize that it was maybe compromising my work ethic at this time. Because I was sneaking out, sneaking beside the big box and reading these verses and just praying and stuff. Then I'd go out and do my job. And I'd go, oh, I've got to look at this Scripture again. I was doing that all day. Just sneaking away to look at these verses. And God was just ministering to me. I mean, I was probably no good to my employer for probably the first few months. I mean, really. I just didn't know better. God kind of tweaked that, adjusted it. But I remember one day so clearly the Lord ministering to my heart. And just in my mind's eye, I just saw these rolling clouds and had such a sense of awe. And the fear of God just came over me as I was just meditating upon the Scriptures. And right on the heels of that came the most tender sense, the most sweet sense of the love and affirmation of God. And I broke. I just started blubbering and bawling right there in the warehouse. You know, as my checklist there was supposed to be pulling parts to go be shipped to someplace else in the country. I'm just a mess. You see, it's the combination of those things married together that makes us go, oh my goodness, there is nobody else like King Jesus. Amen? You do yourself a disservice if you only focus on the more authoritarian parts of Christ apart from the tender parts of Christ. And likewise, you do equal damage to the character of God and your Christian walk if you merely focus on the tender, more affectionate parts of Christ at the expense of focusing on the sovereign, royal, majestic parts of Christ. Does that make sense, you guys? We are those people of the Book who serve a God according to this Book who is both majestic and tender and intimate. Amen? Amen. Another good place to say amen in case you guys didn't notice. Amen. So be it. That's good preaching, David. That's what that means. An accurate and complete biblical view of God as King naturally necessitates submission and consequently prepares our hearts for God's transforming grace. An accurate glimpse of Christ as King turns us from rebels to willing subjects and thus preparing the way for our transformation into saints, servants, and soldiers for the advancement of the Kingdom. Amen? Let's take a little closer look at how catching a glimpse of Jesus as King affects our heart. Now, let me add here, you know, when we look at Scripture and we see some of the great saints of the past and their encounters with a deeper revelation of Jesus as King, some of these events are very sovereign. They were unexpected. They were not sought for. God just kind of broke into their life and gave them a deeper revelation of His royalty and majesty. But as a rule, as believers in Jesus Christ, as those who are Christians, when we get more revelation about Jesus in any area, it's typically because we have taken initiative to get in this book, to get on our knees, and to seek more revelation. Amen? So when I'm urging you to catch a greater glimpse of Jesus as King, to be consistent, to be one who advances the Kingdom as merely the outworking of you being subject to the King, I'm not telling you just to kind of hope that you have a deeper revelation in some abstract, subjective way. Okay? I'm telling you, I'm urging you, I'm encouraging you to get on your knees, to start seeking the Lord in a deeper way to make sure you have an accurate perception of Him. Amen? To get in this book. And most of the saints of God who have discovered a deeper revelation of Jesus as King have been those who have given themselves more diligently to the study of God's Word and more diligently to the place of prayer. Turn with me to Isaiah 6. Isaiah 6. And I've preached from this passage many times and I won't apologize for doing it again. But in Isaiah 6, we find a little bit of an understanding of the principles that take place in the heart of a person that takes them from the place of seeing Jesus more clearly to being surrendered more completely. Amen? Isaiah 6, verses 1-8. In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne. In the year that King Uzziah died. Have you ever noticed that in a time of loss? In a time of trouble? When there's some type of death? That's oftentimes when we get a greater glimpse of who Jesus is. That we get a greater glimpse of the fact that Jesus is King. When we're struggling, we're having trouble coping with life, that's oftentimes when we start looking for a King. Amen? Somebody who has things in control. Somebody who can fix our problems. Somebody who can balance our life and give us a little bit of perspective. Amen? Oftentimes, I even believe that the Lord will allow various trials and troubles and pressures to come into your life to crowd you and corral you to the place where you will discover a more perfect revelation of Jesus as King. Amen? That will serve you better in the days ahead. In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord. I saw the Lord, Jesus, meek and mild, petting lambs. Is that what it says here in Isaiah 6-1? No? I mean, that's some of the stuff that Jesus does, but that's not how Isaiah sees Him here. I saw the Lord sitting on a throne. Sitting on a throne. He occupies the throne. He's in control upon the throne. Amen? That is a very, very comforting truth. Jesus is on the throne tonight. He was on a throne high and lifted up and the train of His robe filled the temple. Above it stood seraphim. Each one had six wings. And with two, He covered His face. And with two, He covered His feet. And with two, He flew. These wonderful angelic beings, these worshipers of God that occupy the same space as the sovereign King of the universe, and they live to constantly revolve around the presence of our sweet Jesus. Amen? I don't know about you, but I'm kind of jealous of these angels. How about you? They share the same confines, the same space as Jesus. They're constantly revolving around the throne, beating their wings of worship to stay as close as they can to the presence of the King. And their heart is drawn out towards the King. They want to be close to the King. They're revolving around the King. Their whole reason for existence is to praise the King. Amen? But though they are constantly in the presence of the King, there's not an over-familiarity that tempts them to take the presence of the King or the character of the King for granted. Amen? This is wonderful about these angels. And this is demonstrated by the fact that though they revolve around His presence over and over, singing His praises throughout all eternity, they are still gripped with a holy fear and hush and awe. And so as a consequence, they cover their eyes. They can't hardly lift their gaze to look at Him. They cover their feet, demonstrating that He is holy. He is utterly different than they are. Amen? They recognize that He is King, but they occupy the same space. Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth, just like it is in heaven. God wants to give us these attributes of fervent worship the same way these angels are demonstrating them here. Amen? Above it stood Seraphim, and each one had six wings. With two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one cried to another and said... Here we go with some more of those loud voices in heaven. Amen? And one cried to another and said, Holy, holy, holy. And just like that word forever, I like to say this one over a few times too. Holy, holy, holy, holy. You know, when you really get in the presence of the King, you don't have to have a great band. You don't have to have the newest cutting edge song, hot worship, passion praise, whatever. You know what I mean? You can sing the same old song over and over and over and over. In fact, sometimes the more simple the song, the better it seems to serve the purpose of the moment. Amen? Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts. The whole earth is full of His glory. Amen? And the posts of the door were shaken by the voice of Him who cried out, and the house was filled with smoke. This is the glimpse that Isaiah gets. He sees the Lord high and lifted up. As I've said before in Isaiah 5, previously in the chapter, I believe it was, four or five, maybe even six times, we find this same prophet of God pointing out the needs of other people's hearts. But now, as a consequence of catching a glimpse of the King, seeing Christ more clearly as King, he sees his own heart more clearly. Amen? This is what happens to us when we see Jesus as King. Amen? When we see Him as King, we naturally will get a greater appreciation for where we are, or rather where we're not. Amen? When we see Him as high and lifted up, when we see Him as pure and holy and altogether different, we start to recognize the needs of our own heart. Seeing Jesus as King gives us a proper view of ourselves. This is demonstrated in Isaiah 6.5. This is the response of seeing Jesus as King. So I said, woe is me, for I am undone, because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips, for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts. Why did Isaiah have a better understanding of the condition of his own heart? Why did he have a more proper perspective of where he really was at? Because his eyes had seen the King. Amen? Until we see God not as merely Savior or Counselor or Comforter or Shepherd. Until we see God as King, we will not see the condition of our own heart. Amen? Remember when Jesus went preaching? What did He say when He first started preaching? He said, repent, for the Kingdom is at hand. Amen? Turn, surrender, submit, because the King and the Kingdom is at hand. When you consider the King, you recognize your need for repentance. You recognize your own need for change. You recognize the condition of your heart and that you need the grace and mercy of God. Amen? And as I've said many, many times before, we as frail human people, we have this nasty habit of not using any more of God's grace than we feel like we need. Amen? And so from time to time, God breaks into our life, and He gives us a deeper revelation of His holiness, His majesty, and the fact that He's King. And we go, oh my goodness, I am so utterly different than He is. I need God's mercy. I need God's grace. I need God's forgiveness. I didn't even see this stuff in my heart! And look where I'm at. So you run. You fall upon His grace. Amen? Woe is me, for I am undone. I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips. How did He know this? For my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts. A revelation of the King reveals to us the state of our own heart. Chances are, if we took more time with this book to consider the King, chances are if we spent more time on our knees asking God to give us a revelation of the King, we'd start seeing new stuff in our heart that we never considered before. New needs in our heart that we never knew that were there. Does that make sense, you guys? This is a generation that is preoccupied with certain attributes about God. And I am convinced that it's rather conveniently working in our own benefit to help us live our lives the way that we want to live them. Let's move on. Let's look at some examples of how when men of God got into the presence of the King, they saw the King, and as a consequence, saw the need of their own heart, and they had a dramatic reaction to God's presence. Revelation 1.17 John, the Apostle John on the Isle of Patmos. Now, we've got to remember who John is. Remember in the Gospel of John? I love this. John never refers to himself by name. When he's talking about himself, he always refers to himself as the disciple whom Jesus loved. Amen? This is a guy who is very secure in his relationship with Jesus. This is a guy that defines his whole relationship with Jesus Christ by the fact that God loves me. Amen? This is not a guy who's wavering and being tossed to and fro about his security in the faith. No way, no how. This guy knows that he's in right relationship with Jesus Christ. The disciple whom Jesus loved. The same disciple who always wanted to be closer in proximity to Christ than anybody else. The same disciple who rested his head upon the chest of Jesus. Amen? John, who had a passion for Christ like nobody else. But yet, when he sees the resurrected Christ, when he sees the same Jesus as King, though he was very familiar, though he was very secure in knowing that God loved him, he has a very, very strong reaction. Amen? And when I saw him, when he saw Jesus with his hair whiter than snow, eyes burning like fire, his tongue like a two-edged sword, in white raiment, in his glory and his majesty, I fell at his feet as dead. As dead. No strength in him. Not feeling any worth in himself. Not feeling adequate. Not feeling sufficient in God's presence. But he laid his right hand on me, saying to me, Do not be afraid. I am the first and the last. Does that ever crack you up when you think about Christ in such a way? I mean, here he is so majestic and glorious and awesome. He says, Now, don't be afraid. What are you talking about, don't be afraid? I'm in the presence of the King! Amen? But this is our Jesus. Coupling this tender aspect of his character with this glory. Amen? How about Ezekiel? In Ezekiel 1.28 This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord. Seeing God upon his throne. Ezekiel is talking about here. So when I saw it, when I saw the Lord exalted, high and lifted up, I fell on my face and I heard a voice of one speaking. Amen? When we really get in the presence of the King, you know, these are dramatic encounters with the Holy God, with the Sovereign King of the Universe. But it still illustrates for us how when we really consider the fact that Jesus is King, we will have a strong reaction. We will recognize the need of our own heart. We will subject ourselves afresh. We will humble ourselves to His ways, His purposes, His agenda. Amen? And Solomon in 2 Chronicles 7 1-4 When God appeared to the people of God and to King Solomon, when Solomon had finished praying, fire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifice and the glory of the Lord filled the temple. And the priests could not enter the house of the Lord because the glory of the Lord had filled the Lord's house. When all the children of Israel saw how the fire came down, the majesty, the glory, the Shekinah of God and the glory of the Lord on the temple, they bowed their face to the ground on the pavement and worshiped and praised Him. There's only one posture that is consistent with the appearance of the King and that's to get on your face. Amen? If you do not have a relationship with Jesus that requires you to get on your face regularly, that requires you to again, over and over again, put all your hopes and dreams and ambitions upon the altar to hold your life's plans loosely, if you don't do that consistently, I will boldly tell you this evening that chances are you are not relating to God accurately according to the Scriptures. You do not have a right relationship with the King. Amen? If you have ever seen Him, if you're walking with the King, you can't help but get on your face regularly. Amen? You can't help but over and over bend your knee and heart to Him. Amen? On a regular basis, you're in the habit of saying, God, here's what I'm hoping to do. These are the plans. These are my dreams. These are the things I believe I'm supposed to be doing. But if there's anything in my plans here that's not in keeping with Your will and Your kingdom purposes, I surrender them. Amen? You got the five-year plan all figured out, folks? You got the blueprint all drawn up? Everything's been set into motion and you're just living your life according to the dreams you've set into motion? Have you subject these things to the King? Amen? Have you let these things be filtered through the King's hands? Amen? It scares us even to talk this way, doesn't it? And in fact, if you don't tremble a little bit, again, at just the thought of these things, you're probably not taking it seriously. Amen? It's all by grace that any of us can even take that step. Let's move on and read the rest of the verse. I want you to notice something else here though. When all the children of Israel saw how the fire came down and the glory of the Lord was on the temple, they bowed their faces to the ground on the pavement and worshiped and praised the Lord, saying, For He is good, for His mercy endures forever. You know, when God breaks in among the people of God, I have found that this is a very consistent song. When God shows up in the Old Testament, they love to sing, For God is good, and His mercy endures forever. Amen? When you're in the presence of the King, when He shows up in a big way, and you realize how holy He is and how unholy you are, you know the only reason why I'm here is because of God's grace. Amen? The only reason I can even occupy this space is because of the mercy of God. And there's only one thing you'll ever sing in the presence of the King. For the Lord is good, and His mercy endures forever. Amen? There won't be anybody patting you on the back or looking at you, or you won't be boasting in anything you ever did or said. Or, yeah, it's because I understand the principles of God, and I did this and that. No way, no how, when you're in His presence, it's all His grace. Amen? When you're in the King's presence, it's because of His mercy that you can even occupy that space. Amen? I'll tell you what, people that get in the presence of the King regularly, they know that it's all by grace. That apart from His grace, one second, and we would be utterly undone. We would be back doing the things that we always did before we knew Him. Amen? Hey, you guys, Christ is our sufficiency. You are totally insufficient in and of yourself. You are totally unclean in and of yourself. You are unworthy. You are incapable of doing anything that has virtue or good to it in and of yourself. Apart from the grace of God, there is nothing good in me and you. Amen? And that's what a revelation of the King underscores over and over. It is all Jesus. It's Jesus. It's Jesus. You can't preach too much about that, because I'll tell you what, we get cocky, don't we? We get a little bit of success underneath our belt. We live for God a couple of months, and all of a sudden, we think we've got it all figured out. We start to boast and then tell other people how they've got it figured out and how they ought to do it sometimes. Realizing it's just the mercy of God so often that's just bailing us, pulling us, picking us up. We better make sure that our boasting is in the Lord. Amen? Our boasting is in the King. The Lord is good and His mercy endures forever. Then the King and all the people offered sacrifices before the Lord. When you're in the presence of the King and you humble yourself before the King and you recognize that it's all by God's grace, suddenly there becomes a willingness, a surrender, a desire to sacrifice, to offer something back up to Him. Amen? A greater view of ourself necessitates greater grace. Isaiah 6, 6 and 7, and then one of the seraphim flew to me having in his hand a live coal which he had taken with tongs from the altar. And he touched my mouth with it and said, Behold, this has touched your lips. Your iniquity is taken away and your sin is purged. One thing I love about Jesus, when He shows up as King, He understands that you're going to see your heart the way it really is. He understands that you're going to recognize you need more grace and mercy. And when you come into that understanding, He is always ready to give it. Amen? God will never, never reveal to you a need for forgiveness or a need for more grace that He isn't ready right then and there to provide. Amen? If you're recognizing even as we're having this talk right now, you're going, oh my goodness, I need more grace. I need help. I need forgiveness. I'm not where I ought to be. I'm not a bearer of Christ's image in the earth. I'm not one who rightly advances His kingdom. There is grace this evening to apprehend, to apply. Amen? He flies to your side with relief for your need of more grace. Amen? And I heard the voice, Isaiah 6.8, of the Lord saying, Whom shall I send? And who will go for us? Then I said, Here I am. Send me. You see how this works? You get a greater glimpse of the King. You get a greater glimpse of your own heart. You recognize your need for more grace. God gives you more grace. Then suddenly you're prepared to advance the King and the kingdom agenda. Amen? You're prepared to advance the kingdom and the King's agenda. And what does Isaiah say? Here I am. Send me. It stirs up within you a heart of sacrifice and a heart that is ready to volunteer and go and surrender to God's agenda. When we get a fresh glimpse of the King, when we get an accurate glimpse of our own heart, and God ministers grace to us, suddenly God's Word has a greater sway and weight in our heart. Amen? How often don't we want to believe God's Word? We want to take it by faith. We want to stand on His promises. But you guys, oftentimes the fact that we have not surrendered completely to Him as King interferes with our ability to believe Him, to fulfill His promises. The weight or sway of a person's words in our life is usually determined by the amount of authority that that person has in our life. Does that make sense? If we have not surrendered to Jesus as King, His Word will not have sway and present to us a sense of moral obligation. Amen? Chances are that until we see Jesus as King, we will not have a sense of moral obligation to the Word of God. Saviors and friends give help and advice and suggestions while kings give commands and direction. How you understand the character of God will be determined by how you understand His Word. You want His Word to have sway in your life? You want to be able to believe God for great things? You have to surrender to the One who is giving you that Word. Amen? Does that make sense to you guys? We've got to be subject to the King. Without being subject to the King, chances are the Great Commission will be merely just another good suggestion. But when we get reintroduced to the King, suddenly that commission has weight and authority in our life to send us places that we were afraid to go before. Amen? The Word of God will not be as powerful in your life as it's supposed to be if you're not subject to the author of the Word. Amen? You know what is really interesting? I remember several years back, God was dealing with my heart and doing a work of real surrender and repentance. And I really started just saying, God, I want to be submitted to You in every area of my life. I want this book to take sway in my life. So I started to work through some issues. And suddenly I found passages and portions of Scriptures that I previously found difficult to believe God about. Suddenly, faith started to bubble up in my heart for those promises. I go, what's going on? I haven't even been focusing on this passage of the Word of God. And the Lord by His Spirit started to show me that by my surrendering my heart in a deeper way, suddenly the whole Word of God started to have a deeper impact on my life. Amen? Sometimes we're trying to trust the Lord to be our protector, to be our provider, to be our helper in certain situations, but because we're not subject to Him in areas over here, the Word isn't as powerful as it was originally designed to be. Amen? Do you need direction for your life? You want information about where you're supposed to go in God's Kingdom? Are you subject to the King? Is the King in control? That's the question this evening. The charge, the challenge tonight is to surrender to the King without any apology. To unreservedly surrender your life to the King. To bow your heart and to bow your knee and say, Lord Jesus, I will allow You to be the King of my life. I will not hold anything back. It kind of scares me. I'm afraid. I don't know what this might mean. I don't know how I might look totally surrendered to You, but I will allow You to be the King. I will trust You. I will serve You. I will obey You. Have you ever made that quality decision? Amen? You will not have a right perception about what you're supposed to do with the rest of your life till you make that decision to make Jesus as King. Amen? It is impossible to really have full insight about the will of God for your life when you're not submitted to the King. Amen? How many different times have we said it tonight? I think a few, haven't we? I don't think it's hurt us though to bear repeating it, has it? The call tonight is to surrender to Jesus as King. Ask Him to give you a fresh glimpse of His authority in your life. Ask Him to give you a more accurate perception of where you are and where your need is. Ask Him. Humble yourself. Get more grace for the condition of your heart. And then say, God, I will open my heart wide to anything You tell me to do and I will go, I will volunteer. Here I am, Lord, send me. Amen? Can we do that, you guys? Are some of you afraid, perhaps, at just the thought of that? That's a natural response. But God is good, isn't He? God is good. He's faithful. He's never broken one promise. He's never been anything but kind and loving and gentle and patient and forgiving and merciful to you. Amen? He has never done one unkind thing to you. He is a good God. The Lord is good and His mercy endures forever. If there's anybody that you can entrust your life to, it is King Jesus. Amen? Let's stand. Let's stand. Shawn, can we just have you come up here and play something appropriate? Thank you, Jesus. Some of you all might be saying, well, boy, this is kind of hard, this is kind of strong for the first rattle out of the box, for right up front. Isn't this where we're supposed to end on Sunday?