3.4.25 5.15.2022 The Kingdoms of this World

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Entice:

Today I am going to preach one of my most ambitious sermons ever! By "ambitious" I mean biting off more than I may be able to chew. We are going to discuss how John describes the divine rule of Jesus in the book of Rev.

There is a misconception about the book of Revelation. Many are convinced that it describes a nip and tuck battle between good and evil, God and Satan, Christ and antichrist. That this contest is in doubt till the very end when Jesus nails a three-pointer at the buzzer, hits a walk-off home run, or scores a game-winning touchdown.

Actually,

the victory of Jesus,

it was a blowout.

The outcome in the Book of Revelation is never in doubt! From chapter 1-22 the victory we have in Jesus is consistently proclaimed and we are repeatedly reminded of His Lordship.

Engage: Why the misconception? There are many reasons. I can only briefly mention a few.

Our perception is limited.

it sure"looks like we're losing."

A shift in our conception of "empire"

in general, and

our relation to government

in particular.

The Enlightenment....

and the emergence of individual rights,

representative government,

and “secular” society,

And let’s face it...

People like "cliff-hangers."

Expand: When Constantine converted and brought the empire with him, he was not Interested in the theology of Jesus. He wanted the throne of Jesus.

Constantine wanted Jesus’ throne

Not His Theology

After years of persecution the Church found this victory more tempting than torture, did not see it as a threat, and surrendered. Ever since there has been a struggle to figure out how it is that Jesus shares His authority and power with the other institutions of our lives. The equation is stark and should give us pause.

Empire+Kingdom=Empire.

State+Church=State.

Earthly dominion+heavenly dominion=Earthly dominion

Always.

Without exception.

Because

Jesus does not share His authority.

Lordship is not plural, shared, or merged. Constantine was the first, but he was certainly not the last to lust for power, glory, authority, and dominion. However, Jesus owns the throne and won the throne!

Excite: Jesus is Lord! His authority is established by right of creation and extended through the conquest of the cross. John writes to remind us of the scope of Jesus' authority.

Explore:

Jesus Reigns! Everywhere and for all time.

Explain: Throughout the Revelation this rule finds several expressions:

Body of Sermon: It is expressed in the...

Visible Church

Direct Words

We were reminded of this in the first three chapters of the book where John is directly addressing the 7 churches with his own words of encouragement and in the letters filled with the words of Jesus.

Next the church is

Depicted in Worship

We saw this a couple of week ago in Revelation 4 and 5 where heavenly and earthly worship are linked. It is continuously depicted throughout the book in passages like this

Revelation 11:15–19 ESV

15 Then the seventh angel blew his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven, saying, “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever.” 16 And the twenty-four elders who sit on their thrones before God fell on their faces and worshiped God, 17 saying, “We give thanks to you, Lord God Almighty, who is and who was, for you have taken your great power and begun to reign. 18 The nations raged, but your wrath came, and the time for the dead to be judged, and for rewarding your servants, the prophets and saints, and those who fear your name, both small and great, and for destroying the destroyers of the earth.” 19 Then God’s temple in heaven was opened, and the ark of his covenant was seen within his temple. There were flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder, an earthquake, and heavy hail.

And...

Revelation 19:6 ESV

6 Then I heard what seemed to be the voice of a great multitude, like the roar of many waters and like the sound of mighty peals of thunder, crying out, “Hallelujah! For the Lord our God the Almighty reigns.

The church is also

Described in Witness

Revelation 12:10–11 ESV

10 And I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, “Now the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ have come, for the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God. 11 And they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death.

The Lordship of Christ is on the lips of every believer when we say Jesus is Lord. And we say that because of the

Victory of the Cross.

Which is the next expression of the Lordship of Christ in the book of Revelation. John reminds us of the

Resurrection and Redemption

Revelation 1:5–6 ESV

5 and from Jesus Christ the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of kings on earth. To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood 6 and made us a kingdom, priests to his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.

You will recall that in Rev 5 the victory of the cross is described as the Lamb’s

Right to open the book of Life.

Revelation 5:5–6 ESV

5 And one of the elders said to me, “Weep no more; behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has conquered, so that he can open the scroll and its seven seals.” 6 And between the throne and the four living creatures and among the elders I saw a Lamb standing, as though it had been slain, with seven horns and with seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth.

And throughout the book, salvation comes down to God’s people--

Rescued by the Blood of the Lamb!

Revelation 7:9–17 ESV

9 After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, 10 and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” 11 And all the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, 12 saying, “Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever! Amen.” 13 Then one of the elders addressed me, saying, “Who are these, clothed in white robes, and from where have they come?” 14 I said to him, “Sir, you know.” And he said to me, “These are the ones coming out of the great tribulation. They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. 15 “Therefore they are before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple; and he who sits on the throne will shelter them with his presence. 16 They shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore; the sun shall not strike them, nor any scorching heat. 17 For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd, and he will guide them to springs of living water, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”

John has described the Church as the people of Gods rule, and the passion as the means of proclaiming God’s rule. Finally, we need to be reminded that His Lordship implies

Vanquishing all Challengers.

Political

Revelation 17:1–2 ESV

1 Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and said to me, “Come, I will show you the judgment of the great prostitute who is seated on many waters, 2 with whom the kings of the earth have committed sexual immorality, and with the wine of whose sexual immorality the dwellers on earth have become drunk.”

Social/Cultural

Revelation 18:1–9 ESV

1 After this I saw another angel coming down from heaven, having great authority, and the earth was made bright with his glory. 2 And he called out with a mighty voice, “Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great! She has become a dwelling place for demons, a haunt for every unclean spirit, a haunt for every unclean bird, a haunt for every unclean and detestable beast. 3 For all nations have drunk the wine of the passion of her sexual immorality, and the kings of the earth have committed immorality with her, and the merchants of the earth have grown rich from the power of her luxurious living.” 4 Then I heard another voice from heaven saying, “Come out of her, my people, lest you take part in her sins, lest you share in her plagues; 5 for her sins are heaped high as heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities. 6 Pay her back as she herself has paid back others, and repay her double for her deeds; mix a double portion for her in the cup she mixed. 7 As she glorified herself and lived in luxury, so give her a like measure of torment and mourning, since in her heart she says, ‘I sit as a queen, I am no widow, and mourning I shall never see.’ 8 For this reason her plagues will come in a single day, death and mourning and famine, and she will be burned up with fire; for mighty is the Lord God who has judged her.” 9 And the kings of the earth, who committed sexual immorality and lived in luxury with her, will weep and wail over her when they see the smoke of her burning.

Religious

Revelation 19:1–10 ESV

1 After this I heard what seemed to be the loud voice of a great multitude in heaven, crying out, “Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power belong to our God, 2 for his judgments are true and just; for he has judged the great prostitute who corrupted the earth with her immorality, and has avenged on her the blood of his servants.” 3 Once more they cried out, “Hallelujah! The smoke from her goes up forever and ever.” 4 And the twenty-four elders and the four living creatures fell down and worshiped God who was seated on the throne, saying, “Amen. Hallelujah!” 5 And from the throne came a voice saying, “Praise our God, all you his servants, you who fear him, small and great.” 6 Then I heard what seemed to be the voice of a great multitude, like the roar of many waters and like the sound of mighty peals of thunder, crying out, “Hallelujah! For the Lord our God the Almighty reigns. 7 Let us rejoice and exult and give him the glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his Bride has made herself ready; 8 it was granted her to clothe herself with fine linen, bright and pure”— for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints. 9 And the angel said to me, “Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.” And he said to me, “These are the true words of God.” 10 Then I fell down at his feet to worship him, but he said to me, “You must not do that! I am a fellow servant with you and your brothers who hold to the testimony of Jesus. Worship God.” For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.

Shut Down:

The root of collective rebellion is found in Genesis 11. The beginning was there at the building of that monumental tower, on the plain where a city built on empire would first be built. Sinful humanity unintentionally created an enduring symbol of sinful resistance against our rightful ruler. Babel becomes Babylon becomes Rome becomes any nation which claims higher allegiance than God and His Christ.

From the beginning of organized politics, it tends toward absolutism and demands absolute allegiance—because fallen humanity always elevates self, until it submits to the rightful Lord.

It is no accident that much of the vocabulary we now think of as "religious" was, in the first century, primarily political and social. Jesus shattered the claim of any and all political, social, or cultural superiority. Jesus is Lord. The empire did not accede to this new reality. So, for the first 250 years of Christian history the Empire sought to stamp out the christian proclamation of the Lordship of Christ, until Constantine became Christian and drug the Empire with him.

In a new environment of more direct self-involvement, we are asked the question again.

Revelation 11:15 ESV

15 Then the seventh angel blew his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven, saying, “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever.”

Whose side are you on? This is the question God's Word asks of us this day.