Place Your Confidence in Christ Your King!

Last Sunday of End Time, Christ the King 11/21/21 Daniel 7:13-14 Place Your Confidence in Christ Your King! I. He alone is the divine King. II. He alone rules an eternal kingdom. “I’ve got a place to hang my hat.” I don’t hear that saying as much as I used to. Perhaps that’s due to the fact that men and women today don’t wear hats as much as they did 50-75 years ago. In those days, generally, if you went out into public, you wore a hat. And that meant you needed a place to hang it once you got inside a building. For instance, I’ve been in old churches that have clips at the bottom of the pew in front of you which are there to hang your hat. The point of the saying is that you need somewhere dependable to hang your hat. You don’t want it to fall off something and get ruined. You want something dependable. So, what can you hang your hat on today, figuratively speaking? What can you depend on? What agencies, structures, entities, institutions can you depend on? Whom can you trust? Unfortunately, we’ve learned not to place our absolute trust in anything. Just when we depend on something to help us out, it crumbles beneath us like a house of cards. Even if you have a signed contract in your hand, beware! Contracts can be broken. There are usually legal ways to get out of them. Being unable to trust anything creates a very desperate world. People all over the planet are looking for something, someone, some institution to hang their hat on because issues, problems, and crises surround us. Do you share that analysis of our lives in this world? Then it’s a good thing you’re here in person or virtually this morning. As I mentioned at the beginning of our service today, we’re celebrating the final Sunday in the church year, Christ the King Sunday. We’re celebrating the truth that Jesus is our eternal King. And there’s something—or I should say “Someone”—to hang your hat on. In fact, I urge you to do that very thing this morning. Place your complete confidence in Christ your King! May this word of our God through his prophet Daniel accomplish that very thing in us! Part I. If you had to choose an animal to represent your city’s mayor, our state’s governor, or our country’s president, which animal would you choose? Perhaps you’re thinking, “Pastor, that’s kind of silly, isn’t it? Why would I choose an animal to represent one of my government officials?” Because that’s what Daniel saw and records for us in Daniel 7. He had a series of visions from the Lord in which he saw four succeeding governments, including the current Babylonian government under which he was living. Each of those governments was represented by an animal. Now, don’t go thinking any of them were cute little lap dogs or purring kittens. No, they were ferocious beasts, some unlike anything we have on earth. Two of them are described as tearing their victims apart. Not a pretty sight! And then Daniel saw the vision before us this morning. Listen to his description of it once again. “In my vision at night I looked, and there before me was one like a son of man, coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into his presence. He was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all peoples, nations and men of every language worshiped him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed.” How different! What a contrast! Daniel no longer saw powerful, vicious rulers. He saw Christ the King! Notice his first descriptor. He calls him a son of man. That’s a name Jesus often used for himself during his earthly ministry. That name emphasized that Jesus came to this earth as our brother, fully human. Instead of being some super-power far above us, he became one of us. He knows what we go through each day in this world of sorrows because he went through it. There’s someone you can hang your hat on! But there’s more. Daniel describes him as coming with the clouds, approaching the Ancient of Days, and being led into his presence. Sounds heavenly, doesn’t it? Exactly! Your King has every right to be in heaven and freely make his way around heaven because Jesus is much more than a son of man; he’s the very eternal Son of God. He lives in the presence of God because he is God. You have a divine King. Now there’s someone you can hang your hat on! Finally, Daniel saw that Jesus was given all power and glory. Please don’t think that Jesus was given something that he didn’t already possess. As the eternal, divine King, Jesus has eternally possessed divine omnipotence and glory. It’s his essence and it always will be. Now there’s someone you can hang your hat on. Today we celebrate Christ the King. He’s not just anyone’s King; he’s your King. And because of who he is, you can always count on him. There’s no king like him. Place your complete confidence in Christ your King! He alone is the divine King. After Daniel saw visions of violent kingdoms that abused their power and authority, he saw your King, Jesus Christ. Instead of tearing his opponents apart, your King offers himself up and dies for all people, for you. He did so in order to make you a member of his eternal kingdom in which he rules with all power and authority in order to bless you eternally. And he’s doing exactly that for you today. Nothing can thwart his eternal plans for you. But there are times when we struggle to believe that truth. We wring our hands over the affairs of our lives and our world. We worry about our health issues, our financial issues, our relationship issues. A crisis strikes us personally, and we doubt his rule over our lives. Or, the guilt we harbor over past sins convinces us we don’t really belong in his kingdom. Is Jesus your King by faith or not? Indeed, he is! As the only divine King we can take him at his word. We are his redeemed, forgiven children. We are members of his kingdom by faith in him. He does rule over his kingdom for our good, in order to bless us eternally. So, place your complete confidence in him! Part II. Imagine if you could see 500 years into the future. What do you think you would see? And would it delight you or frighten you? In a way, the Lord allowed Daniel to see 500 years into the future, and what he saw was heavenly! After four world powers had come and gone, the Lord established another kingdom ruled by a King that was worshipped by “all peoples, nations and men of every language.” It must have thrilled Daniel to know that, after the turmoil caused by the next four world powers, God would establish such a glorious kingdom. And what’s more, it was a kingdom that would never end. Daniel wrote, “His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed.” How that must have comforted Daniel! Here was a kingdom that would never be destroyed. No matter how often and how powerfully the enemies of Jesus would attack his kingdom, they would not win. His kingdom would always endure. His kingdom is an eternal kingdom. And you’re a member of it by faith in Jesus! So now, let me ask you. What do you see in your future? Well, the Lord doesn’t share all the details of your life with you. He doesn’t reveal your future joys and hardships, your successes and your losses, your many blessings or the ones you won’t have. But he does share with you the big picture, the eternal picture. Daniel sees you in this vision. You are one of the people of every nation and language worshipping Christ your King. Daniel sees you among the hosts of saints in heaven, who live in the presence of their King forever and ever. Imagine: no more worries, no more doubts, no more fears. Just bliss in the kingdom that Jesus won for you. I’m sure you have some earthly hopes and plans for your future. But how certain are you that you’ll attains them? You’re not alone. No one can be. But here’s something to hang your hat on. You have the promise of Christ your King that you will enjoy life in his kingdom forever. So, put your complete confidence in Christ your King! He alone rules an eternal kingdom. There are voices in our world which encourage us to find our hope for the future in science, in our government, in a robust economy. Don’t get me wrong. All these are blessings from our God. But none of them can solve our biggest problem, which is our sins. And none of them can provide a solution that will last very long, and certainly not forever. Only Jesus your King can do that. And he has already done it. You’re exactly where he wants you to be—in his kingdom by faith in him. You’re in that kingdom so he can bless you with life with him. And that’s a kingdom which will stand forever, the only kingdom that will stand forever. Are you looking for somewhere to hang your hat? Hang it on Christ’s kingdom! Are you looking for someone on which to hang your hat? Hang it on Christ your King. Place your complete confidence in him! You’ll be eternally glad you did. Amen.