The word “Celebrate”, what does it mean? To celebrate is to engage in merry-making. So that when we are looking at this, we are looking at two different words concerning the king, which are: Celebrating and Heralding the King. To celebrate is to engage in merry-making in honor of a special one or a special occasion. And “Heralding” is a sign that something is about to happen. So, when you herald, you are saying something big, something important, something phenomenal is about to happen. So, we are looking at these two in unison.
Who is the king? Follow me to Zechariah chapter 14; who is the king we are heralding and celebrating? Zechariah 14:9. “The Lord will be king over the whole earth…” Not some part of it, but over all of it. “On that day there will be one Lord, and his name the only name.” So, if we are talking about the king, we are talking about the Lord. Who is the Lord? We are talking about the trinity; God divine; the Father, the Son and His Spirit. The Lord shall be king, the Father shall be king, the Son shall be king, the Holy Spirit shall be king over all the earth. This is a prophesy, it said ‘in that day’, the Lord shall be one. We celebrate them in unison, we herald them in unison and His name is one. This is the foundation upon which we are building in this piece. The Lord shall be king; I love that word.
Who is a king? For you to be a king you have a domain. You have a territory in which you are ruling. So, the Bible says ‘the Lord shall be the supreme and sovereign ruler over all the earth’, and in that day He shall be the Lord is one and His name is one. So, who is the king that we are celebrating and heralding? The Lord! He is the owner; we celebrate Him because He is the owner. And we are going to see beyond that. The reason why we keep celebrating and heralding is because there is something special about this king. He is not one of those kings of the earth, He is not one of those kings and paramount rulers that we are familiar with on the earth that sit down in their place of comfort and do the things that they please. No! he is different, He is special, He is worth celebrating, He is worth heralding, He has done what no man or king has ever done.
Revelations 11:15. “Then the seventh angel sounded: And there were loud voices in heaven, saying, “The kingdoms of this world have become; remember where we read in Zechariah 14 verse 9 was a prophesy. It said and the Lord shall be king. Now, Revelations 11 verse 15 says that the angels sounded; that this has come to pass, this have become a reality, that the kingdoms of this world has become the kingdoms of our Lord; ‘the Lord shall be king’. The kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever!” He shall reign for a season? No! He shall reign for ever and ever. That’s the king we celebrate, that’s the king we herald.
He does not expire with age, He does not get dethroned by a council, He does not get banished by an offense, He is the king that reigns forever and ever, He is worth celebrating and heralding. John 18:27. We are looking at why this king is special. The Bible says: “Pilate therefore said to Him, “Are You a king then? “Jesus answered, “you say rightly that I am a king. Did He deny? No! He said you say rightly; you are correct I am a king. “For this cause, I was born, and for this cause, I have come into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice.”
Pilate asked Jesus; are you a king then? Remember what Jesus said in verse 36; Jesus answered, He said My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, my servants would fight, so that I should not be delivered to the Jews; but now My kingdom is not from here.” So, the man got confused, he said ‘are you then’; if you say your kingdom is not from here; are you then still a king? He said yes you speak rightly, but my kingdom is not here. Because if my kingdom is from here, I will be bound by the elements of here. He said my kingdom is not from here. He said for this cause, I was born. He was born king. No man installed Him king, He was born king. That’s the king we celebrate and we herald. He is worth celebrating.
Isaiah 9:6-7 also shows us something. Now this He said about Him being born King, Isaiah 9 verse 6 to 7 also corroborated it. It says: “For unto us a Child is born.” So, when Jesus was saying in John 18 verse 36 to 37, He said for this cause, I was born. So, it had been prophesied concerning Him in Isaiah 9 verse 6. It says; “for unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given; and the government will be upon His shoulder.” The authority, the rule; another word for government is the rule. Kings rule; the reign shall be upon His shoulder. We are talking about the child that is born. “And His name will be called Wonderful” He is a wonderful king. Have you seen a wonderful king? King Jesus is wonderful. Counselor, – the counselling king, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. 7 Of the increase of His government, His rule and reign and peace There will be no end. That’s why He reigns from everlasting to everlasting, forever and ever, there is no end. Upon the throne of David and over His kingdom, to order it and establish it with judgment and justice from that time forward, even forever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.” This is the king we are talking about, king Jesus.
Jesus Christ is the king, and He is worth celebrating and heralding. And in Revelations 17, because all these is just to show us in the pages of the Scriptures, because Jesus said; all Scriptures speak of me, they testify of me. Every word testifies about Jesus. Revelations 17 verse 14. “These will make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb will overcome them, for He is Lord of lords and King of kings; not he will be, He is; and those who are with Him are called, chosen, and faithful.” The lamb; Jesus Christ, He is! He is will not be installed when you praise Him. don’t think when you don’t celebrate and praise Him, it will reduce His kingship, He is King of kings and Lord of lords.
It said those that are with Him are called chosen and faithful. And because they are the chosen and faithful, they celebrate and herald Him and they are not tired of it. Revelations 19:16. “And He has on His robe and on His thigh a name written: KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.” Just as the Scripture said according to the law of the Medes and Persia, whatever has been written has been written, sealed and established forever and ever. It said on His robe and on His thigh a name written King of kings and Lord of lords. It is publicly proclaimed even the devil knows that Jesus is the King. Even the forces of hell know that Jesus is king. The Kingship of Jesus is undeniable; the kingship of Jesus cannot be ignored. He is King. So, when you know who He is, you know who you are in Him. We celebrate because He is not a selfish king. He became king for us. And I want us to see that in Revelations 5, it’s a lengthy read but we will take our time to look at it.
Revelation 5:1-4, the Bible says:
“And I saw in the right hand of Him who sat on the throne a scroll written inside and on the back, sealed with seven seals. 2 Then I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, “Who is worthy to open the scroll and to lose its seals?” 3 And no one in heaven or on the earth or under the earth was able to open the scroll, or to look at it.”
Including the devil. Did you see the realms that were mentioned specifically? No one in heaven, or on earth, or under the earth was able to open the Scroll or to look at.
“So I wept much, because no one was found worthy to open [a]and read the scroll, or to look at it. 5 But one of the elders said to me, “Do not weep. Behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has prevailed to open the scroll and to lose its seven seals.” 6 And I looked, and behold, in the midst of the throne and of the four living creatures, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as though it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent out into all the earth. 7 Then He came and took the scroll out of the right hand of Him who sat on the throne.”
They said who is worthy? To take the scroll, look upon it and open its seal. Then He came. Who came? Jesus the Lion of the tribe of Judah. Our king is not a fearful king, our king Is not a king that is afraid of responsibility, our king is a king that is alive to His responsibilities. That’s why we celebrate and herald Him. It says; He came and took the scroll out of the right hand of Him who sat on the throne;
8 Now when He had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each having a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. 9 And they sang a new song, saying they had to celebrate. Do you see the reason we need to celebrate? The four living creatures and the elders, they sang a new song; and see the song they sang; “You are worthy to take the scroll, and to open its seals; For You were slain…" Remember yesterday when we were talking about redemption, the things that Jesus did. The Bible says because He had prevailed.
Did you see that in verse 5? It says; behold the lion of the tribe of Judah the root of David has prevailed. We don’t have a king that is trying to prevail, He has prevailed to open the scroll and to lose its seals. And see the song they sang; you are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seal, for you were slain and have redeemed us to God by Your blood. Have you seen a king that can give up His blood for His own people? Have you seen a king that secured His own domain by His blood? Scarcely for a good man will anyone die. The Bible says while we were yet sinners, while we were wallowing in our sins and iniquity, Christ Jesus died.
What a king. The Bible says you have redeemed us to God by your own blood. Who does that? Jesus! Out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation, 10 And have made us-you have glorified us, that’s why God King of kings and Lord of lords, He does not become a king and become comfortable in His royalty, He makes all His citizens royal with Him. why won’t we celebrate Him? it says He has made us kings and priests to our God; And we shall reign on the earth.” When we look deep at the things Christ has done for us, we will know that He is a worthy king, you will not be cajoled to celebrate Him, you will not be cajoled to herald Him, you will know He is worthy, the 24 elders and the living creatures sang you are worthy, who can do these things?
He was comfortable in heaven, seated in royalty. See the glory He had, and He stepped down into earth and took this mortal flesh so that He can secure His domain by His blood. He said you have made us kings and priest; we can stand before God because of you. Have seen a situation where a man does another man well you will see the gratitude; you will see how that man will celebrate that man that has done him well. Can any man do for us what Christ has done for us? He has done so much for us, the Bible says the reason why we can cry out Abba Father is because of you, the reason why we can come boldly to the throne of grace that we might obtain mercy and find grace to help is because of you. The 24 elders said you have redeemed us. They were also included.
They said lamb of God; by reason of the sacrifice, we have been redeemed. You have made us kings and priest to our God and we shall reign. Before you came, we were slaves, we were preys in the hands of the devil, we were subject to futility but we shall reign on the earth because of you. If we enjoy any liberty in the spirit, it is because our king gave it to us. There are sometimes we don’t understand the import of what Jesus did, if there is anything we enjoy as a liberty, as children of God, it is the benevolence of the king. That’s why when we say thank you Jesus, when we celebrate, when we worship Him, He is even worth more that’s why you should never allow any man to keep you silent.
There is a song that says; “I will not be silent; I will always worship you; as long as I am breathing, I will always worship you.”
The song says always because His goodness to us is always. His faithfulness is always; His mercy is always. His grace is always. So, why won’t our worship be always? Why won’t our praise be always? Why won’t our celebration be always? He is worth more. Glory to God! that’s our king. Then it showed us something. I am going to read two accounts; the account of Matthew and the account of John. We will start with the account of Matthew 21 verse 1 to 11.
“Now when they drew near Jerusalem, and came to Bethphage, at the Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples, 2 saying to them, “Go into the village opposite you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her. Loose them and bring them to Me. 3 And if anyone says anything to you, you shall say, ‘The Lord has need of them,’ and immediately he will send them.” When you come to the Lord the King, you come like a colt and a donkey that has been tied, and loosened. And if anyone challenges the authority of Christ in your life, He said what is the response? “The Lord has need of them.” You are free because the Lord has need of you. You are at liberty to serve Him because the Lord has need of you. And after then, they brought the donkey and the colt they laid their cloths.
What does cloth represent? The 24 elders cast their crowns, they laid their cloths and set Him on them. In celebrating and heralding the king, we let go of ourselves you cannot celebrate Him the way He should be celebrated if you are holding unto yourself. They took their cloths and laid their cloths on them and set Him. in celebrating and heralding the king, the king must be highly exalted above all. Nothing in our lives must be more important than Him. there must be nothing that we cannot laydown for Him to be glorified over. And a very great multitude spread their cloths on the road, others cut down branches from the tree and spread them on the road. They gave Him access; they used their own possession to create an entry for Him. that Lord have your way.
9 Then the multitudes who went before and those who followed cried out, saying: – that’s heralding! “Hosanna to the Son of David! ‘Blessed – something is about to happen, something great is about to hit the earth, Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!’ Hosanna in the highest!” That’s heralding. 10 And when He had come into Jerusalem, all the city was moved, saying, “Who is this?” 11 So the multitudes said, “This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth of Galilee.” Who is this person that moved the city in such a manner? Who is this person that moved this family in such a manner? Who is this person that moved this man in such a manner? It is Jesus. Can we celebrate and herald Jesus to that point? And say who is this person that made you like this?
It is Jesus; that’s how we celebrate Him. We celebrate Him for the world to hear, for the world to know the things He has done. The account of John concerning this particular event. John 12 verse 12 to 19.
“The next day a great multitude that had come to the feast, when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, 13 took branches of palm trees and went out to meet Him, and cried out: “Hosanna! ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!’ The King of Israel!” 14 Then Jesus, when He had found a young donkey, sat on it; as it is written: 15 “Fear not, daughter of Zion; Behold, your King is coming, sitting on a donkey’s colt.” 16 His disciples did not understand these things at first; but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things were written about Him and that they had done these things to Him.”
Do you know what is wonderful about our king? The Bible says in prophecy, He said every knee shall bow; when you bow what are you doing?
Worship! Every knee shall bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus is Lord. It is better you willingly do it, it is better you do it in understanding. Its better you do it as a free choice, not when you are compelled with many choices and regrets. So, whether the world likes it or not this our king must be celebrated, this our king must be heralded and we rather be the chosen and the faithful that are with Him right now doing it.
“Therefore, the people, who were with Him when He called Lazarus out of his tomb and raised him from the dead, bore witness. 18 For this reason the people also met Him, because they heard that He had done this sign. 19 The Pharisees therefore said among themselves, “You see that you are accomplishing nothing. Look, the world has gone after Him!” And that’s it! the world must come after Him. so, when we are heralding and celebrating Him, we do it unapologetically. He is not a king that you are begging people, cajoling people to come to Him. He is too big they will still come. Because that prophecy must be fulfilled. Every knee shall bow, none excluded and every tongue confess.
How do we celebrate and herald our king? We will look at three points there; how do we practically celebrate daily in our lives and herald our king? Matthew 24 verse 14. “And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come.” This is Jesus speaking; this king will be heralded in all the nations, the end that we are praying about will not come until we have heralded, and celebrated Him in every nation. So, we must do it, it’s a task. So, what does that mean?
#1. We must preach Him and teach Him.
how do we celebrate and herald the king practically? We must teach Him and preach Him. Acts 5:42. “And daily in the temple, and in every house, they did not cease teaching and preaching Jesus as the Christ.” Daily they did not cease. To celebrate and herald Him, we must preach Him and teach Him. Acts 8:5. “Then Philip went down to the city of Samaria and preached Christ to them.” That’s how we herald and celebrate Him; by preaching and teaching.
#2. Announce Him and His workings.
Luke 24 verse 4 to 6. “And it happened, as they were greatly perplexed about this, that behold, two men stood by them in shining garments. 5 Then, as they were afraid and bowed their faces to the earth, they said to them, “Why do you seek the living among the dead? 6 He is not here, but is risen! Remember how He spoke to you when He was still in Galilee.” What did the angels do? They announced Him. Why are you looking for the living among the dead? He is not here; He is risen as He has said.
Luke 2 verse 10. “Then the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people.” This was when Jesus was born and the shepherds at that time were amazed at what has happened. And while they were watching behold the angels of the Lord came celebrating Him, announcing Him, good tidings of great joy. That’s the king. That’s why the gospel of Christ is good news. You must announce Him and His workings, His abilities you must announce it. and that’s why when you are preaching the gospel, you can’t but speak of the things that He has done that He died and on the third day He resurrected.
He appeared before His disciples in His glorious body before He was ascended. Meaning there was no burial site of Jesus anywhere on the earth, there is no rotten bones anywhere. That same glorious body is seated with the Father. So, we must announce it, it is supernatural, it’s amazing. It is special, we must let the world know.
#3. Praise Him and worship Him.
Luke 2 verse 13 to 14. “And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying: 14 “Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace, goodwill toward men!” Bless Him, proclaim Him. I want to read Psalm 111 very interesting Psalm; we will read from verse 1 to the end. This is how to herald Him.
“Praise the Lord! I will praise the Lord with my whole heart, In the assembly of the upright and in the congregation.2 The works of the Lord are great, Studied by all who have pleasure in them.3 His work is honorable and glorious, And His righteousness endures forever.4 He has made His wonderful works to be remembered; The Lord is gracious and full of compassion.5 He has given food to those who fear Him; He will ever be mindful of His covenant.6 He has declared to His people the power of His works, In giving them the [b]heritage of the nations.7 The works of His hands are verity and justice; All His precepts are sure.8 They stand fast forever and ever, And are done in truth and uprightness.9 He has sent redemption to His people; He has commanded His covenant forever: Holy and awesome is His name.10 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; A good understanding have all those who do His commandments. His praise endures forever.”
Praise Him and worship Him. What I like in this Scripture is the part that said; “the works of the Lord are great, studied by all who have pleasure in them.” Do you know if you sit down and look at Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, the bits that were recorded about what Jesus did on the earth you will praise Him, you will worship Him? because He came to show us the power that He has given to men. He came to show us the life, the victory that man can now wield. He came to show us that we can actually proclaim life unto the dead. He came to show us that we can ray for the sick and they can be healed, He came to show us that we can lay hands on the demon possessed and they will recover. He came to show us the possibilities of the life we have in God, that He has redeemed us to.
Worship Him, because as you praise and worship Him, you are celebrating and heralding Him. these are the practical means for which we herald Him. We herald Him also because the king is coming, He is coming in His glory. Do you know what they said to the Apostles in Acts 1 verse 10, they said why are you looking so intently? They said this same Jesus that you see taken away from you will come in the same manner. And it’s going to happen. But while we are waiting, what did He say; occupy till I come. He said I am coming and my reward is with me to give to everyone according to His work. How do you occupy till He comes? Celebrate and herald Him, preach Him, teach Him, announce Him and His workings.
Let the world know that Jesus is Lord. It’s important. As believers, when we do this, our hope comes alive more in Him. If you do nothing to celebrate and herald Him, you would realize that your love would wax cold. But when you celebrate and herald Him, you will find yourself on fire, you are burning. Because there is something about spiritual consciousness, when you become conscious spiritually, it fans you to flame. The Bible says because they could not retain God in their knowledge they were given over to a reprobate mind. Meaning that if you retain God in your knowledge, you will be given over to spiritual encounters. You will enjoy the life of God. Do you have that commitment this morning? To celebrate and herald the king all our days we can’t be tired. Because the life He has given to us transcends now.
If we are tired now and we go to the place of eternity where there is no time, when you are not trying to cook or do anything, you have the liberty to behold Him, you are not trying to peep, you are seeing Him face to face, how will your excitement be? We practice from here; we exercise from here. We have our senses exercised from here by reason of use. Can we practice that celebration and honor of Him this morning? As we celebrate and herald Him in worship and in praise and say Lord Jesus, I celebrate you. Thank you, Lord.
