Enter with Thanksgiving!—Revelation 11:15-19
Notes
Transcript
My family visited last week. Many of you interacted with them. My folks came. They’ve been here before many times. But, my brother and his family from southern TX also came. My kids were so excited for them to come. We cleaned the house. We tried to get school done sooner.
I was just sitting down to a cup of tea and relaxing to read my book. All of a sudden, I heard this scream from down the hall: They’re here! The kids ran through the house. Maggie was taking a nap at this time. And I knew she wasn’t taking a nap anymore. Because my brother and his family had finally arrived.
The moment when anticipation finally is fulfilled. There is joy.
Have you ever experienced that?
One day, all of creation will.
We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption to sonship, the redemption of our bodies.
Since Adam and Eve ate the fruit in the Garden of Eden, all of creation has been groaning. Yearning for the time when our king will come to make all things right.
It’d been about 2 years since my brother had been here last, maybe a little longer. Our excitement was great enough.
The world has been waiting for 8000 years or so.
The prophets throughout the years, before Jesus came, looked forward to the time when God would make all things right:
“See, I will create
new heavens and a new earth.
The former things will not be remembered,
nor will they come to mind.
But be glad and rejoice forever
in what I will create,
for I will create Jerusalem to be a delight
and its people a joy.
I will rejoice over Jerusalem
and take delight in my people;
the sound of weeping and of crying
will be heard in it no more.
When he comes, yes, he will rejoice over his people, but his people will be rejoicing. An eternal party as we live and do what bring us the most pure satisfaction and glory in his presence.
Truly, he will come with a shout.
“Shout and be glad, Daughter Zion. For I am coming, and I will live among you,” declares the Lord.
Can you imagine what that day will be like, when all those who are his will run and say: “he’s here!”
Christ’s return will bring exultation!
This is what John sees in his next vision. After seeing the angel who said: There will be no delay. After seeing the vision about the 2 witnesses, John is hurtled back into his vision about the 7 trumpets. He had seen the first 6. Now, he sees the 7th. And there is rejoicing!
The seventh angel sounded his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven, which said:
“The kingdom of the world has become
the kingdom of our Lord and of his Messiah,
and he will reign for ever and ever.”
And the twenty-four elders, who were seated on their thrones before God, fell on their faces and worshiped God, saying:
“We give thanks to you, Lord God Almighty,
the One who is and who was,
because you have taken your great power
and have begun to reign.
The nations were angry,
and your wrath has come.
The time has come for judging the dead,
and for rewarding your servants the prophets
and your people who revere your name,
both great and small—
and for destroying those who destroy the earth.”
Then God’s temple in heaven was opened, and within his temple was seen the ark of his covenant. And there came flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder, an earthquake and a severe hailstorm.
Christ’s return brings exultation! We will see that when he comes he will rule the world, he will judge the world, and he will be with the world.
Will you pray with me?
1. Christ Rules
1. Christ Rules
Christ is coming. When he comes, he will rule the world.
The seventh angel sounded his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven, which said:
“The kingdom of the world has become
the kingdom of our Lord and of his Messiah,
and he will reign for ever and ever.”
Jesus is currently up in heaven, waiting for the time when all the prophecies will be fulfilled and God the Father tells him to go and seize his throne.
He came 2000 years as a ruler:
For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given,
and the government will be on his shoulders.
And he will be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Of the greatness of his government and peace
there will be no end.
He will reign on David’s throne
and over his kingdom,
establishing and upholding it
with justice and righteousness
from that time on and forever.
The zeal of the Lord Almighty
will accomplish this.
Those of us who have placed our faith in Jesus experience his kingship:
For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves,
We see his hand throughout the world, completely in control. He is the ruler. But, he hasn’t seized his kingdom yet.
As Paul told the Athenians:
From one man he made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands. God did this so that they would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from any one of us.
“Therefore since we are God’s offspring, we should not think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone—an image made by human design and skill. In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent. For he has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed. He has given proof of this to everyone by raising him from the dead.”
He is waiting, for the fulness of time, to come as ruler, to be the fulfillment of the prayer that Jesus taught: your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.
As Daniel saw in the future:
“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 nations and peoples 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.
This 7th trumpet is the start of that.
The seventh angel sounded his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven, which said:
“The kingdom of the world has become
the kingdom of our Lord and of his Messiah,
and he will reign for ever and ever.”
I would love to dive into the feast of trumpets and how it points to Jesus’ second coming. But, I don’t have time.
He is coming as ruler. But, what does this mean?
It means that there will be no one in his kingdom that doesn’t have him as king.
As Paul wrote:
Therefore God exalted him to the highest place
and gave him the name that is above every name,
that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.
Which points back to Isa 45 23
By myself I have sworn,
my mouth has uttered in all integrity
a word that will not be revoked:
Before me every knee will bow;
by me every tongue will swear.
When Jesus is physically here, no one will be able to say: he is not my God. He is not my king.
Now, there will be still those who don’t want him as king. The 7th trumpet ushers in Jesus’ Millenial reign. We’ll talk about this in the future. This isn’t paradise yet. People will still have kids who turn away from Jesus, even though he has subdued evil, defeated his enemies, and brought creation brought under God’s perfect will.
He is coming to rule the world, and that will be great. It will be as close to paradise as it can get before paradise actually happens.
2. Christ Judges
2. Christ Judges
But, when he comes to rule, he is coming to judge as well. In response to the voices in heaven:
And the twenty-four elders, who were seated on their thrones before God, fell on their faces and worshiped God, saying:
“We give thanks to you, Lord God Almighty,
the One who is and who was,
because you have taken your great power
and have begun to reign.
The nations were angry,
and your wrath has come.
The time has come for judging the dead,
and for rewarding your servants the prophets
and your people who revere your name,
both great and small—
and for destroying those who destroy the earth.”
Who is he going to judge? Well, he will judge those who are destroying the earth. What does this mean? This refers to humanity who refuse to submit to God.
“How ironic that these people live for the earth and its pleasures, yet at the same time are destroying the very earth that they worship. When man forgets that God is the creator and he is the creature, he begins to exploit his God-given resources, and this brings destruction.”
When the destruction comes, the nations, the people against God become angry and they begin to actively work against him.
Why do the nations conspire
and the peoples plot in vain?
The kings of the earth rise up
and the rulers band together
against the Lord and against his anointed, saying,
“Let us break their chains
and throw off their shackles.”
Paul writes in Romans about this:
They exchanged the truth about God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. Amen.
Against these people, those who do not follow Jesus, even if they seem to be great, moral people, Jesus is coming in judgement.
Rev 19 and 20 speak about this judgment. Jesus comes and wages war on those who refused to follow him in this life, those who are still alive at that point in time. And they die at his hand.
After the 1000 year reign, he will raise all those back to life and he will judge them.
Anyone whose name was not found written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire.
Why? Because God cannot have anything sinful around him. His holiness drive all impurity away to the farthest spot imaginable. The Lake of Fire.
Jesus doesn’t just come to judge the wicked. He comes to judge the righteous.
At his coming, there will be an initial resurrection, tribulation saints will be raised back to life and will reign with Jesus for the 1000 years. At the end of that time, the rest will be raised, and Jesus will welcome all those who had placed their faith in him during this life, who had their name written in the book of life, he will usher them into paradise.
What a glorious day that will be. Talk about living on shouting ground.
There is a simple divide between those who are judged and those who are welcomed into paradise.
The 24 elders call them:
The nations were angry,
and your wrath has come.
The time has come for judging the dead,
and for rewarding your servants the prophets
and your people who revere your name,
both great and small—
and for destroying those who destroy the earth.”
People who revere your name.
Paul says it this way:
for, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
John writes this way:
Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God—
We realize who we are, separated from God because of our sin, and we cannot do anything about it. And we fall before Jesus and place our faith in him. We declare that he is God and that he died on the cross for our sins, doing everything that we could not do.
In that moment, our names are placed in the book of life, and our line at that judgment day changes.
Christ is coming. He is coming to rule. He is coming to judge.
3. Christ Abides
3. Christ Abides
Christ is coming to abide with us.
Immanuel.
“The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”).
After the trumpet sound. After the loud voices. After the 24 elders praise.
Then God’s temple in heaven was opened, and within his temple was seen the ark of his covenant. And there came flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder, an earthquake and a severe hailstorm.
The ark of the covenant was the symbol of God’s presence with his people. This physical stuff is a normal side effect of God’s presence.
Think about Israel in front of Mt. Sinai. They had escaped Egypt. They are going to the Promised Land and God meets them at Mt. Sinai to give them the 10 commandments and the Law.
On the morning of the third day there was thunder and lightning, with a thick cloud over the mountain, and a very loud trumpet blast. Everyone in the camp trembled. Then Moses led the people out of the camp to meet with God, and they stood at the foot of the mountain. Mount Sinai was covered with smoke, because the Lord descended on it in fire. The smoke billowed up from it like smoke from a furnace, and the whole mountain trembled violently. As the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder, Moses spoke and the voice of God answered him.
Trumpet, physical chaos, presence of God. But, even there, God was hidden. The people couldn’t see him. Even Moses couldn’t see him. He saw his glory. He experience the awe of the presence, but he couldn’t see him.
The ark of the covenant, the symbol of God’s presence, was designed to be hidden when in the tabernacle or temple. The unholy couldn’t see it. Only the high priest, once a year, could enter behind the curtain and purify that room, but that was only after he had purified himself. Even then, he wore bells and had a rope tied to his leg, just in case he died in the presence of the Ark. Because those who are unholy could not enter God’s presence.
And here, when Christ comes at the end of time, the temple is opened and the presence of God is not hidden from his people any longer.
Those who have been purified by the blood of Jesus Christ, spilled on the cross, get to have fellowship with Jesus.
In this life, we get a taste of it. But, soon, Jesus will split the eastern sky,
After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever.
Can you imagine what it will be like to see God?
There will be the fear, because who can look at the holy God.
John experiences a taste of this at the beginning of his letter to us. He sees Jesus glorified, in his holiness and glory. His reaction:
When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. Then he placed his right hand on me and said: “Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last.
Yeah, we will experience that fear. But in the face of that fear, that awe, Jesus will hold out his hand and say:
“Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world.
At the moment, the flood of love and joy that will come over us. The shouts, the laughter, the singing and dancing.
We will see the literal fulfilment of psa 100:
A psalm. For giving grateful praise.
Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth.
Worship the Lord with gladness;
come before him with joyful songs.
Know that the Lord is God.
It is he who made us, and we are his;
we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.
Enter his gates with thanksgiving
and his courts with praise;
give thanks to him and praise his name.
For the Lord is good and his love endures forever;
his faithfulness continues through all generations.
Our praise right now is nothing compared to what will be then, when Christ comes to rule, judge, and abide.
I’m looking forward to that day. Will you be there with me? To look and shout: He is here!
