King Me

And as part of this series, we're also going to have a little bit of fun with it. And we want you to uh uh help us out with that. We'd like to get you get selfies with the uh Burger King crowns on. We've got some examples are going to put up here on the screen for you. Uh some of the folks have already done that. So, here we have some coming coming up here. And each week we're going to choose out the king andor the queen of the week. the one who has the best pose up there also. And so they're gonna kind of file through those and I'm going to give a gift card to the ones that have the best pose.

So you can do it as a selfie and uh send it to one of the staff uh uh by text or otherwise or you can put it onto our Facebook page for the church as well. And uh doing that. Yeah, you got Pastor Andy there. He's always a character. And uh so got some of our teenagers as well. And so we uh we are excited about that and we're going to be sharing with that as we go through here. And so we have uh coming up here we're going to have the king and the queen of of the week this first week here and uh showing there. And so the king and the queen of the day goes to go ahead and show it. There we are. They did the best job of posing.

So Zeke, come on up here. I got a Starbucks card for both you and your wife as well. And so I'm going to go ahead and give these to you also. So, if you uh want to earn a gift card, we're going to have different gift cards each week. You get get up there and get a pose. The crowns are up here and you can either take the picture or our church photographer can do that as well and doing that. But this is a series that uh really I I've preached it before and it just God has just put it on my heart to preach it again. A number of years ago we did it and and it just challenged my heart as we studied through in 1 Corinthians 10 11-13.

I'm going to read these to you. It says, 'Now all these things happened unto them for examples, and they are written for our admonition upon whom the ends of the world are come. Wherefore let him that thinkketh you stand to take heed lest you fall. There are no temptation taken you but is common to man. But God is faithful who will not suffer to be tempted above that you are able, but will with the temptation also make a way to escape that you may bear it. See, God gave us these characters, these people in the Old Testament as examples to you and I. Some are good examples that we should follow.

Some are bad examples that we should learn from, but they're examples for us to learn from in our own lives. And I believe there's some great lessons that we can learn from the kings of the Old Testament. If you'll turn over to 1st Samuel chapter 8, 1st Samuel chapter 8. And again, we um number of years ago, we I was playing chess with my grandson Joshua. And uh they're coming in two weeks. I'm excited about that. happened back here in Hawaii for a couple months or so. But uh I was playing checkers with him and as I was playing checkers with him, he was still fairly new at the game and and uh and I I wasn't going to let him win.

I mean, if he wins, he's going to have to earn it. Okay. And uh so we were there playing checkers and all of a sudden I realized, uh-oh. And I went in there and I moved the checkers one, two, three, and took three of his men there and I said, "King me." And of course he kind of grudgingly said, "What did you do?" And he put the king on there. But uh you know, uh king me, you and I are called to be kings. The Bible tells us that in Matthew 6:33, "But seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you." And God has called us to be joints with the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords.

But he wants him to be king in our lives. In 1st Samuel chapter 8 and beginning with verse number six, the Bible tells us that but the this thing the thing displeased Samuel when they said give us a king to judge us. And Samuel prayed unto the Lord. And the Lord said unto Sam, you hearken to the voice of the people and all that they say unto thee, for they have not rejected thee, but they have rejected me, that I should not reign over them, according to all the works which they have done since the day even unto this day, wherewith they have forsaken me, and served other gods, so do they also unto thee.

Now therefore, hearken unto their voice. How be it yet protest solemnly unto them, and show them the manner of the king that shall reign over them. So they came to Samuel who was the prophet and was leading the nation said we want to have a king and and and and God said,"Well, go tell him what's going to happen." Skip down to verse number 19. Nevertheless, the people refused to obey the voice of Samuel. And they said, "Nay, but we'll have a king." Samuel told him, "Listen, if you have a king, he's going to rule over you. He's going to take your your money. He's going to take your people. He's going to do all these things."

But they said, "We want to have a king." Verse number 20. That we also may be like all the nations and not our king may judge us and go out before us and fight our battles. And Samuel heard all the words of the people. And he rehearsed them in the ears of the Lord. And the Lord said to Samuel, "Hearken unto their voice and make them a king." And Samuel said to the men of Israel, "Go ye every man onto a city." See, they wanted to have a king. And so often you and I are the same way. Instead of letting God rule in our lives, we want to take control. We want to rule in our own lives. You know what?

Jesus is the king of kings and the lord of lords. In 1 Timothy chapter 6 and verse number 15, which in the times he shall which in his times he shall show who is blessed only potentate, the the king of kings and the lord of lords. You see Jesus Christ is the king of kings and he's the lord of lords and we need to worship him as the lord and as the king in Matthew 2:es 1 and 2. Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east Jerusalem, saying, "Where is he that is born the king of the Jews? For we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him."

In verse 11, when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down and worshiped him. And when they opened their treasures, they presented them gifts, gold, and frankincense and myrr. I hope you came to church this morning not only to hear the preaching of God's word, but came to worship the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. We need to bow down before him. We need to worship him and give him the honor and the glory that he deserves. In Esther chapter 4 and verse 11, uh, all the king's servants and all the people, the king's provinces do know that whosoever, whether man or woman, shall come unto the king into the inner court who is not called, there is one law of his to put him to death, except such to whom the Lord, the king shall hold out the golden scepter scepter that he may live.

But I have not been called to come into the king these 30 days." Esther needed to go before the king to plead for the people. But but the king, you you could not just come into his presence. You had to be called into his presence. You had to be received into his presence. And I'm thankful that we have a a king and we have a lord that we can come boldly unto his throne. In Hebrews chapter 4 verse 15- 16, for we not a high priest which cannot be touched with the feelings of our infirmities, but was in all points tempted like as we are yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly unto the grace, the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

I'm so thankful that at any time, at any place, you and I can come into the throne room of God. That we can come boldly before the king and present to him our needs and present to him our our desires and just to come into his presence. But we also need to not only come to his presence, but we need to humble ourselves. Go over to Philippians chapter 2. Philippians chapter 2 and look at verses 5- 11. Philippians chapter 2 and beginning with verse number five. Philippians chapter 2 and verse number five. Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus. Who being in the form of God thought not Robert equal with God but made himself of no reputation and took upon the form of a servant was made in the likeness of men.

And be found in fashion as man. He humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore God hath also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name, that the name of Jesus, every knee should bow of things in heaven and things in earth, and things under the earth. And you and I, we need to bow to the king because one day every knee will bow and every every tongue shall confess that he is Lord, that he is king. And you and I need to come into his presence to worship him. We need to come into his presence because he invites us to come. But we also need to come humbly before God.

And in James chapter 4 and verse number se 10, the Bible says, "Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord and he shall lift you up." And that's the challenge. You know, when the Bible talks about humbling ourselves, that's something that we do. You see, we can either humble ourselves or God will humble us. You say, "Well, how do you humble yourself?" To humble yourselves is acknowledge the greater and that is God. To humble yourselves is to is to pray and to call upon the Lord. That's humbling. To say, "God, to confess our sins to God is humbling ourselves." We need to come before the King of Kings in humility because he has called us into his presence.

He has opened up his throne of grace to us that we can come to him. And we need to give them the honor and glory that he deserves. In 1 Timothy chapter 1 and verse 17, it says, "Now unto the King, eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God, be honor and glory forever and ever." Amen. I hope that you and I will honor him by our lives, that we will give glory to him. And and that's our purpose in being. That's the reason we're here as a church today is to give him the honor and the glory that he deserves. You see, he is the King of Kings. He is the Lord of Lords. And you and I need to make sure that we come into his presence in obedience and and to honor and to glorify him.

In Romans chapter 6, turn over there if you would. Romans chapter 6, we need to obey him in Romans chapter 6 and beginning with verse number 12. Romans chapter 6 and verse number 12. Let not sin therefore reign or rule in your mortal body that you should obey it in the lust thereof. Neither yield your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin, but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God. For sin shall not have dominion over you or rule over you. For you're not under law, but under grace. You see, God wants us to submit to his control in our lives.

You know, so often we are controlled by sin and we are controlled by this flesh. But God wants us to bow down before him and obey him and and give control of our lives to him to put him on the throne of our lives. And we need to yield ourselves to God. So he is the king of kings and the lord of lords. Don't reject your king. Back in 1st Samuel chapter 8, uh the people of Israel rejected God as king. Again verse 6 it says but this thing displeased Samuel when they said give us a king to judge us and Samuel proved unto the Lord prayed unto the Lord and the Lord said unto Samuel hearken unto the voice of the people and all that they say unto thee for they have not rejected thee but they have rejected me that I should not reign over them.

And so many of us we've rejected him as the king of our lives. We'd rejected that control in our lives. You know, one of the reasons that they were rejecting Samuel as as a leader is because of his children. Look at 1st Samuel chapter 8. And look at verses 1-5. It says, "In it came to pass when Samuel was old that he made his sons judges over Israel. Now the name of his firstborn was Joel and the name of his second Abi, and they were judges and Beersa. and his sons walked not in his ways, but turned aside after Lucer, and took bribes, and perverted judge judgment. Then all the elders of Israel gathered themselves together, and came to Samuel and to Rama, and said unto him, "Behold, thou are old, and thy sons walked not in thy ways.

Now make us a king to judge us like all the nations." The reason they were rejecting God is not because of who he was, but they reject him because of the people represented him. You know, I I don't want to be that person. I I don't want to be that person that is re that people reject the gospel because of my testimony. I don't want to be that person that when people I work with say, "Well, I don't want what he's got." I I want to be the person that they see in my life the true kingship of God, the true honor of God. And don't be that person that people reject God because of your testimony. As we go through this series on King Me, we're going to find that there was 10 good kings.

And out of those 10 good kings, five of them had good parents and five of them had bad parents. Uh but not all the good parents turned out good. Not not all the kings with good parents turned out good. And not all the kings with bad parents turned out bad. You know what the sad truth is? This is we are not raising our children for God. You know, it's great that you serve the Lord. It's great that you're faithful to God, but we need to pass that down to the next generation. And and as we go through this series, I want to understand as I read through this series and study their lives, why did good kings have bad kids?

And why did bad kings have good kids? What is it that we have to do to make sure the next generation lives for the Lord? Samuel was a great prophet of God. He was one of the greatest prophets of God that ever lived. And yet his s sons did not turn out well. And just because you're a Christian, just because you come to church does not mean your children could turn out for the Lord. There are things that you can learn in this series. There's things that you can learn from these kings to make sure you don't make those same mistakes. In Romans chapter 2 and verse 24, it says, "For the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles through you as is written."

You see, I don't want I don't want God's name be blaspheing because of me. I don't want people to reject the gospel because of my testimony. I want to make sure that I am a good testimony for the Lord. I don't want to be the one that people blame for not coming to church, for not coming to God, not submitting to him. You see, the problem is many of us, we live like there is no king. In Judges 17 and verse number 6, it says, "In those days, there was no king in Israel, but every man did that which was right in his own eyes." And that same thing is repeated in Judges 21:25. And so often that's what happens in our lives.

We live, we're Christians, but we live like there's no God in heaven. We live like there's no king on his throne. We live like we can choose what we want to do because it's right in our own eyes instead of doing what's right before God. And the challenge is that we would not live a life that is selfish and self-centered, but we would live a life where the throne of God is at the center of our lives. In Proverbs 14:12, it says, "There is a way which seemth right unto man, but the end thereof of the ways of death." And that same verse is repeated again in Proverbs 16:25. You know, when God repeats himself, it's for a reason.

You know, sometimes when my kids were little, I would say to them, "Don't make me say it again." And I'd say it again. You know, one of the big problems in parenting, I think, is this is that we we teach our kids, they don't have to listen until a certain point. You don't have to listen till I've said it five times. You don't have to listen, obey until I raise my voice to a certain tone, to a certain level. We we kind of teach that to our children. Let me challenge you. Teach your children to obey the first time they're told because that's how we ought to be with God as well. We ought to obey the first time we're told.

God ought not to have to repeat himself to us. You see, we want to do what's right in our own lives. We want to see what seems right to us instead of doing what's right because he's the king. And we need to have him to be the king of our lives. You see, the problem is we want to be like everybody else. Look at 1 Samuel chapter 8 and look at verse number five. and said unto, "Behold, thou are old, and thy sons walk not in thy ways. Now make us a king to judge us like all the nations." Go over to verse number 20. He said, it says, "The Bible says that we also may be like the nations and that our king may judge us and go out before us and fight our battles."

You know, we look out at the world, we say, "I want to be like them, but they're not doing so well." You see, folks, we we want to be like everyone else. But Romans 12:1-2 says, "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable on him, which is your reasonable service, and be not conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove that good and acceptable and perfect will of God." I I've learned in my life, it seems right to me, it's probably wrong. I want to go back and say, "What's right to God?"

proving what is acceptable unto the Lord. It tells us in Ephesians chapter 5. And and we want to do what's right before God, not what everyone else is doing. Everyone else is going to hell without Christ. Go over to Matthew 7 if you would. Matthew 7. Matthew 7 and 13 and 14. Matthew chapter 7 and begin verse number 13. Enter in at the straight gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the way that lead to destruction. Many there be which go in there at. Because straight is the gate, narrow is the way which leadth unto life, and few there be that find it. If you're going to do what everyone else is, the majority of people are on their way to hell without Christ as their savior.

They're already condemned. The Bible tells us in John 3 and:e 18 and John 3:36 that they're condemned already because they do not have Christ as their savior. The way to heaven is a narrow way. Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh unto the father but by me." And we need to realize if I'm going to do what everyone else does, I'm going to go straight to hell without Christ as my savior. You see, Jesus is the only way. John 14:16, I am the way, the truth, and the life. Don't reject him. In John 12:48, it says, "He that rejecteth me and receiveth not my words hath one that judges him.

the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in that last day. You see, when you reject Christ as your savior, you're already condemned. You're already on your way to hell. And the only way to stop it is to trust him as your savior, to receive him and to believe in his name and his his sacrifice upon the cross. See, if ever you ever you ever tell your kids something like this or you ever had your mom and dad tell you tell you this when you were younger, if everyone else jumped off the cliff, would you jump off also? You remember that statement? You know folks, the Bible says in Revelation 20 and:e1 15, "And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire."

If everybody else is going to go to hell, do you want to go to hell? Don't jump off that same cliff. You see, you and I need to make a choice. If you're going to do what everyone else does, then you're going to die and go to hell without Jesus Christ as your savior. But if you want to go to heaven, you need to trust him as your savior. You need to put your faith and trust in him and him alone. For whosoever shall call upon the name of the lord shall be saved and you need to call upon him as your savior and put your faith and trust in him. But you know Christian also everyone else can do it but you cannot.

In 1 John chapter 3 and verses 1-3 it says behold what manner of love the father hath bestowed upon us that we should be called the sons of god. Therefore, the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not. Beloved, now are we the sons of God. It does not yet appear what we shall be. But we know that when he shall appear, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. And every man that hath this hope in himself uh purify himself even as he is pure. You see, you and I need to understand that what the world can do, you and I cannot do because we are the sons of God. We are the children of the king.

We are God's children. And as God's children, I can't do what everyone else does. I need to live differently. I need to live a life that is separated unto him. A life that honors and glorifies him. You see, they wanted a king because they wanted to be like everyone else. But if you're going to be like everyone else, then you're going to die and go to hell without Christ as your savior. And if you're a Christian, you're a son of God. You're a daughter of God. You're a daughter of the king, a son of the king. And that means you need to do things that you got to do live differently than everybody else because you're his child.

As we go through the series, what I want you to see was what kind of kings did they get? They asked for a king and what did they get? In Psalms 106 and verse number 15, the Bible says, "He gave them requests but sent leanness onto their soul." God said, "Let them have their king, but make sure they understand there's a price to pay." And they paid a price for having their king. And Lord, when God gives you his your way, it's not always worth it. It's not worth it at all. You see, they got what they wanted, but they paid the price for that. Four kings were over the united Israel when all the tribes were together.

and and out of the four of them, Saul, who he started good. He was the first king. He started good, but then he went bad. And then his son, Ishbath, uh Saul's son, we don't know much about him because he wasn't a king very long. And then David came along, and of course, David was a man after God's own heart. He failed in many ways, but he was a godly king. And then there was Solomon, who was good, and then he was bad. He was the wisest man that ever lived, but he sure made some very stupid mistakes and su stupid decisions in his life. And we're going to learn from those kings. There was 19 kings over the northern kingdom.

You remember the that they separated there was 10 tribes in the north and two tribes in the south. And and those that northern kingdom was 10 uh there was 19 kings and all of them were bad. those kingdoms just rebelled against God and and went their own way and and they never had one good king in all those years. But then in the southern kingdom, they had 20 kings in the southern kingdom. That was the kingdom of Judah. There was eight good kings, 11 bad kings, and there was one who was bad but repented and became good. And each of those kings, we can learn from their lives and learn what they did right and what they did wrong and how we can uh apply these things in our life as well.

And and and here's what one a verse I want you to see. First Kings chapter 9:es 4 and 5. It says, "And if thou will walk before me as David thy father walked in integrity of heart and in uprightness to do according to all that I've commanded thee, and will keep my statutes and judgments, then he says, then I will establish the throne of thy kingdom on upon Israel forever, as I promised to David thy father, saying, There shall not fail thee a man upon the throne of Israel." See, God said to every king after David, "Listen, I want you to be like David." Now, you and I know about David. He wasn't a perfect man.

He wasn't a perfect king. He He committed adultery. He committed murder. But yet, he was a man after God's own heart. He was a man that was willing to confess his sin. He was a man that was willing to humble himself before God. He was a man that even though he struggled with sin, through God's grace, he was forgiven. and he was able to continue on in his walk with the Lord. And that's the challenge I want to give you in this series. I want to challenge you that God's not asking us to be perfect because we're sinners by nature. We have this old flesh that we struggle with. And every one of these kings, they had something they struggled with something in their lives.

But yet, they overcame those struggles and they followed the Lord. In 2 Kings chapter 14:3 it says, "And he did that which is right in the sight of the Lord, yet not like David his father. He did accord to all things as Joash his father did." Here was a king that was good, but he didn't quite come up to standard. Then in 2 Kings chapter 16 and verse number two, it says, "20 years old was Ahaz when he began to reign and reigned 16 years in Jerusalem and did that did not that which was right in the sight of the Lord his God like David his father." Here was a king that that didn't do the right things.

And then 2 Chronicles 17:3, "And the Lord was with Jehoshaphat because he walked in the first ways of his father David and sought not unto Balam." You know, David started out well and then he messed up. And here was a king that he he walked in the first ways of David in the integrity of his heart. Then 2 Chronicles 34 and verse number two and three, he did that which was right in the sight of the Lord and walked in the ways of David his father. and declined neither to the right hand nor to the left nor in the eighth year of his reign. While he was yet young he began to seek after the God of David his father.

In the 12th year he began to purge Judah and Jerusalem from the high places and the great and the gro graves and the carved images and multit images. Here here's the challenge I want to give you in this series is God said in first Corinthians he said listen I am giving you these stories for a reason. You know, many of you have not read the Old Testament because you kind of get bogged down in there and it's tough to read. But there's a purpose for the Old Testament. And one of the purposes, these stories are not just stories. These are people that are examples to you and I. Examples for our life.

He says, I want you to learn the good from their lives. What did they do right? David was a man after God's own heart. But I also want you to learn from the bad of their lives. What did they do wrong? And how can you and I not make the same mistakes that they made? You see, one of the advantages I have as being 70 years old, I'm at a place in my life where I can tell you, listen, this is what I did right and this is what I did wrong. And this is what I wish I would have done differently. And this is what the Old Testament is about. The Old Testament says this is what they did right. This is what they did wrong.

And this is what you should do differently. And so I want to challenge you during this series. I want to challenge you to go into the Old Testament and read these stories. Read through 1 and 2 Samuel. Read through 1 and 2 Kings. Read through 1 and 2 Chronicles. Read the stories of these kings and and compare them one to another and and say, "God, I want to I want to learn the lessons of their lives. These were real people that struggled with the same things, many of the same things you and I struggle with." And and we can learn from the lessons of their life. They were far from perfect. Acts chapter 13 and verse 22 says, "I have found David, the son of Jesse, a man after my own heart, which shall fulfill all my will."

Now, David was a man after God's own heart, but he was a man that failed in many ways. And God's not looking for us to be perfect, but he's looking for us to be perfecting. He's looking for us to learn from the lessons of those that have gone before. Our ultimate standard is not the kings of the Old Testament. Our standard is Jesus Christ. In Romans chapter 8 29 is for whom he did forno he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his son that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. God wants you to be like his son the king of kings and the lord of lords. He wants us to be like Jesus.

And during this series that ought to be our goal. Now as we go through this series you're going to find a lot of information about the different kings. For example, the youngest king was 7 years old when he started. Now, could you imagine bowing down to your seven-year-old? Could you imagine doing that? Uh something like this right here. Uh could you imagine bowing down to your sevenyear-old? Uh that was one of the kings. And uh the oldest was 42 years old. Anybody in here 42 will admit they're 42 years old? Anybody here? Anybody? All right. I've got a gift card for you. All right. See, when you're honest, you get rewarded for that.

All right, there we are. So, a California Pizza Kitchen gift card there. But, uh uh you know what? To me, this is when the Bible begins to open up. When you begin reading the Bible and say, "These are real people with real stories that live real lives." And try to imagine what would have been like for a 7-year-old to become king. what would have been like to become king at 42 years old. You know, five of um turn over to 1 Timothy chapter 4. 1 Timothy chapter 4 if you would. Whatever their age, God called them to be the right kind of king. In 1 Timothy 4, excuse me, and:es 12-6, the Bible says, "Let no man despise thy youth, but be thou an example of the believers in word, in conversation, and charity and spirit and faith and purity, till I come give attendance to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine.

Neglect not the gift is in thee, which was given thee by prophecy, with laying on the hands of presbyter. Meditate upon these things. Give thyself holy to them that thy profiting may appear to all. Take heed unto thyself and unto the doctrine. Continue in them for in doing this sh thou shalt both save thyself and them that hear thee. The youngest king in in the Old Testament there was one of the best kings. And it's not a matter of age. It's a matter of obedience, obeying the Lord. Five of the kings were children when they started. Eight of them were in their 20s when they started. Of the eight good kings, four had good parents and four had bad parents.

Again, I want to challenge you parents. There is lessons that you can learn from these kings. What did they do right? What did do wrong? Why did their children turn out good or bad? What are the lessons that I can learn in my own life? And that's what we're going to look at. The shortest reign was only 3 months. The longest was 55 years. The average was 19.7 years. Go over to Ecclesiastes chapter 9 if you would. Ecclesiastes chapter 9 and verse number 9 through 12. Ecclesiastes chapter 9 beginning verse 9. Live joyfully with the wife whom thou lovest all the days of the life thy vanity which he given thee under the son all the days of the vanity.

For that is thy proportion in this life and thy labor which thou takest under the sun. Whatsoever thy hand findth to do, do it with thy might. For there is no work, nor advice, nor knowledge, nor wisdom in the grace whether thou go in the grave whether thou goest. I return said unto unto the son that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favor to men of skill, but time and chance happen to all of them. For man also knoweth not his time. As the fishes that are taken in an evil net, and the birds that are caught in the snare, so are the sons of men snared in evil times when it falls suddenly upon them.

You don't know how long God's going to give you to serve him. You don't know how long your life is going to be. And that's why it's so important to take full advantage of those years and to use them for the glory of God. In Hebrews 9:27, the Bible says, "Appointed a man once to die, but after this to judgment." Listen folks, don't wait to get saved. 2 Corinthians 6:2, "Behold, now is accepted time. Behold, now is the day of salvation." Don't put that off. The king that ruled for only 3 months, uh, he didn't know it was going to be 3 months. And you don't know how long your life is going to be, but make sure you're saved.

Make sure that you're going to fully reign with him and and and and live your life for him. In John 1:12, but as many as received him, to them gave the power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name. God wants you to be a joint heir with Jesus Christ to enjoy that kingdom that he's going to give you in your life. So redeem the time. In Ephesians 5:16, redeem the time because the days are evil. One of my favorite kings to study in the Old Testament is Hezekiah. And Hezekiah was one of the two best kings of all of Israel. But you know, at the end of his life, he was sick and he asked God if he could have an extra 15 years to live.

And God granted his request. And you know those 15 years he did bad. All those years of good in the last 15 years that God gave him extra, he messed up totally. And sometimes we think, well, if I just had more time. Listen, if you can't use the time that you have to serve the Lord, don't ask God for more time. You see, we need to use what God has given us. In Psalms 90 and verse number 10, the days of our years are three score and 10. And if by reason of strength they be four score years, yet is their strength uh in labor and sorrow. For it is soon cut off, and we fly away. So teach us to number our days that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom.

Folks, God's given you this day to serve him. This is the day which the Lord have made. I'll rejoice and be glad in it. This is the day that I'm going to serve God. Don't wait for later. Don't put it off for some time in the future. You don't know how much time you have, but this is the time that God wants you to serve him. So do what you're going to do for God today. In Hebrews chapter 3 and:e1 15 while it is said today if you will hear his voice harden not your heart as hearts as in the provocation. Today God wants to challenge you to be the king and the queen that he's called you to be. To be the prince and the princess of God to be that child of God that honors him that glorifies him that worships him and obeys him.

to be one that lives a life that is good and right before God. Philippians 1:21, the Bible says, "For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. But if I live in the flesh, this is the fruit of my labor. Yet what I shall choose, I what not." Somebody once said it this way, "It's not the number of days in your life that count. It's the life in your days." As we go through this series, I want to challenge you. Be that king. Be that queen that God has called you to be. Make sure that he is on the throne of your life. That first of all, he is your savior. But not only your savior, but also your lord and your king.

Don't try to rule in your own life because what seems right to you is is wrong. It's what's right before God, proving what is acceptable unto the Lord. That you might live a life that glorifies and honors him. Not one that reject him because of how you live, but one that people will look at and say, "That's what I want. I want God to be the king of my life." And that's the challenge I want to give you as we go through the