Sermon Tone Analysis

Text: Revelation 11:15-19

Theme: Thy kingdom come, thy will be done.

Date: 08/12/2018 File name: Resurrection26.wpd

ID Number:

The last trumpet judgment is about to sound, precipitating the outpouring of seven bowls full of God’s wrath described in chapters 15-18.

The Trumpet Judgments will seem mild in comparison to the wrath of God about to be poured out upon the disobedient, and unrepentant inhabitants of the Earth.

But first we are given a glimpse of the crowning in heaven of God’s rightful king.

Revelation 11:15 is one of the most exciting verses in the New Testament ... “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 Christ, and he will reign for ever and ever.””

(Revelation 11:15, NIV84).

Here is the answer to the prayer that millions of believers have prayed since the disciples first came to Jesus and asked Him, “Lord, teach us to pray,” and Jesus responded, “Pray like this, ‘Our Father who is in Heaven, holy is your name.

Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is heaven.”

Have you ever prayed that prayer?

Then Revelation 11:15 is the answer to that prayer.

God’s Kingdom is about to be realized.

His will on Earth is going to be fully and perfectly implemented just as it has always been perfectly implemented in Heaven.

With the sounding of the Seventh Trumpet a new world order is about to be enforced.

I. THE TRIUMPHANT CRY

“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 Christ, and he will reign for ever and ever.”

(Revelation 11:15, NIV84)

1. there are two competing kingdoms in this universe

a. there is the kingdom of the world, dominated by Satan, who is the god of this world

b.

there is the kingdom of God, ruled by the Creator of the universe

c. the Kingdom of the World is visible

1) it seems so real and substantial

d. the Kingdom of God is invisible

1) to many it seems unreal and insubstantial

2. each one has its own values, goals, loves, interests, and priorities

a. you are either a citizen of the Kingdom of the World, or a citizen of the Kingdom of God

3. whichever one you are part of will determine your destiny

A. THE KINGDOM OF THIS WORLD

1. the world, as we know it, has many cities, and many peoples, many cultures, many linguistic groups, many religions, and many kingdoms

a. Revelation has consistently reminded us that the atoning blood of Jesus has purchased for God persons from every tribe and language and people and nation (Rev.

5:9)

b. yet, in Rev. 11:15 the Apostle John refers to the kingdom — singular — of this world

1) John knew, just as Augustine knew in his work City of God, and Bunyan knew in his allegory Pilgrim’s Progress that the many cities, many peoples, and many kingdoms of this world are, in reality, all one city, one people, and one kingdom

2) they are all influenced, guided, and deceived by Satan — the god of this world

3) and they are all in fundamental rebellion against God

“And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, 4 in whose case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.” (2 Corinthians 4:3–4, NASB95)

c. Augustine distinguished between the eternal City of God and the temporal City of Man — two rival cities shaped by opposing loves and working toward different ends

1) they are kingdoms in conflict

2) you are born into the City of Man, but must be born again into the City of God

d. similarly, John Bunyan refers to the City of Destruction vs. the Celestial City

1) the City Destruction stands as a symbol of the entire world as it is, with all of its sins, corruptions, and sorrows

2) no one remaining in the City of Destruction can have any hope of salvation

3) convinced that the city is about to be obliterated by the wrath of God, a man named Christian — Bunyan’s central character — flees and sets out alone on a pilgrimage which he hopes will lead him to the Celestial City, where he can enjoy eternal life in the happy company of God and the Heavenly Host

2. as we reach this part of the Book of Revelation, we’re 3 ½ years into a period known simply as the Tribulation ... the last 3 ½ years are going to be Great Tribulation — a time in world history that Jesus said, has not occurred since the beginning of the world until now, nor ever will (Matthew 24:21, NASB95)

a. and in the same breath, Jesus says “If those days had not been cut short, no one would survive, but for the sake of the elect those days will be shortened.”

(Matthew 24:22, NIV84)

3. the kingdom of this world is on the doorstep of final judgment that culminates in the Second Advent of the Lord Jesus — it is his kingdom come

a. it is such a sure event that the voices in heaven declare that the kingdom of this world has become — present tense — the kingdom of our Lord and his Christ

B. THE KINGDOM OF OUR LORD

1. it will be a true new world order

ILLUS.

In the Persian Gulf Crisis of 1990 the country of Iraq, under Saddam Hussein, invaded and conquered Kuwait, it’s oil-rich neighbor to the south.

Many feared that Hussein would not stop with Kuwait, but would also invade Saudi Arabia.

The invasion was met with international condemnation and brought immediate economic sanctions against Iraq.

The United Nations condemned Iraq, and the world prepared for war.

President George Bush deployed US forces into Saudi Arabia, and he began to put together an array of nations forming the largest military alliance since World War II.

President Bush came on television, and he talked about how all of the nations of the world were assembled against the Babylonian bully, Saddam Hussein, and how the U. N. was meeting and passing resolutions, and how allies were gathering together.

And over and over again, our President referred to a “New World Order” represented by the 39 nations allied against Iraq.

In 1991, shortly after the end of the 1st Gulf War, President Bush said in a speech, "Now, we can see a new world coming into view.”

2. during the 20th century any number of world leaders have spoken of a new world order

a.

President Woodrow Wilson used the term when he called for a League of Nations after World War 1

b.

U.S.S.R. President Mikhail Gorbachev and American President George H. W. Bush both used the term to try to define the nature of the post Cold War era, and the spirit of great power cooperation that they hoped might materialize

ILLUS.

For those of us who lived through the Cold War, with its Berlin Crisis, Cuban Missile Crisis, “duck-and-cover” drills, brutal and oppressive socialist regimes murdering millions of their own citizens in the name of the proletariat, only to finally witness socialism’s collapse in much of the world, with the breakup of the old Soviet Union did it seem as though a new world order, had indeed, arisen.

3. the term "new world order" has been used to refer to any new period of history where a dramatic change in world political thought and the balance of power have taken place

a.

I tell you all of that to tell you this ... the new world order we now live in is simply the same old world order only with different players, different bullies, and different crises

b. the many cities, many peoples, and many kingdoms of this world remain influenced, guided, and deceived by Satan — the god of this world

4. but Revelation 11:15 assures believers that there is an earth-shaking new world order coming

a. it is the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ

5. from John’s perspective, the utter defeat of Satan and his cohorts has taken place

a. they were usurpers of world power; now Christ is the victor and will reign

b. the long rebellion of the world against God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ is about to end

II.

THE THRONE ETERNAL

“ ... and he will reign for ever and ever.”

(Revelation 11:15, NIV84)

1. the annals of world history are full of stories of men and women who attempted to usurp power from legitimate rulers

ILLUS.

The most famous biblical example is King David’s son, Absalom, who attempted a coup d'etat and sought to seize the power of the throne from his father.

David, however, remained God’s anointed king over Israel, and ultimately defeated his son’s followers, and Absalom was killed.

2. the greatest usurper in the history of the universe is revealed in the Book of Isaiah

“How you have fallen from heaven, O morning star, son of the dawn!

You have been cast down to the earth, you who once laid low the nations!

13 You said in your heart, “I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God; I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly, on the utmost heights of the sacred mountain.

14 I will ascend above the tops of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.” (Isaiah 14:12–14, NIV84)

a. here is the story of an angel named Lucifer who actually thought he could usurp God

b. in the Revelation 12:9 he is revealed as the great dragon, the serpent of old who is called the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole

1) in 2 Corinthians 4:4 the Apostle Paul refers to Satan as the god of this world-age

c. like Absalom, Satan’s rule is brief, and is about to meet with disaster — his forces will be defeated, and Satan will ultimately be thrown into the Lake of Fire

ILLUS.

The greatest hymn to come out of the Protestant Reformation, was penned by Martin Luther, and reminds us that Satan’s doom is sure.

It is based on Psalm 46, and celebrates the sovereign power of God over all earthly and spiritual forces, and of the sure hope we have in him because of Christ.

In the first stanza, Luther wrote of the Devil, “ ... For still our ancient foe Doth seek to work his woe; His craft and power are great, And armed with cruel hate, On earth is not his equal.”

But the third stanza rings out with our ultimate victory.

“And though this world, with devils filled, Should threaten to undo us, We will not fear, for God hath willed His truth to triumph through us.