Revelation 1:14-19 Universal Triumph of God’s People on Earth, Pt. 1Greg L. Bahnsen

Let's pray. Lord, we thank you that you have loved us from the foundation of the world, that you have set your affection upon us, and that you in history have demonstrated that love over and over again, especially in the sending of your only son, that he might die as a propitiation for our sins. We ask you, Father, that your wrath would indeed be turned away from us. That you wouldn't see our many transgressions, but that you'd see the righteousness of your son in our stead. We thank you that he has given his life for us, and we pray that his spirit, the Spirit of life, might give us new life that we might live for him. We thank you that you have brought us here to worship you today and to study your word. We ask that you would encourage us with the lesson and the truth that we are about to look into. For it's in Jesus name we pray. Amen. It seems like it's been quite a while since I've been with you because of this conference I had last weekend and being away the weeks before that. But last time I was here we were at Revelation, the 11th chapter, and I'd like to review just a bit this morning. So let's turn to Revelation 11. And we'll begin reading at verse 14. Verse 14 takes up after the discussion of the two witnesses that God has given to Jerusalem to convict Jerusalem, the Jewish state of her sins. The two witnesses, the two prophets of God, have been killed, but they've been raised to new life, ascended to heaven to be seated with Christ. And the two witnesses which stand for the Old Testament economy, the law and the prophets, the civil and the religious combination in Old Testament Israel, have been resurrected to new life in the church of Jesus Christ, because the church is seated with Christ in the heavenlies, as Ephesians 2 says. And we have an indication that the great city which has been persecuting the people of God, which would be the city of Jerusalem, the apostate Jewish state, is then judged of God. Well, after this information is given to us, verse 14 of chapter 11 begins, the second woe is past. Behold, the third woe cometh quickly. And the seventh angel sounded, and there followed great voices in heaven. And they said, the kingdom of the world is become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever. And the four and 20 elders who sit before God on their thrones, fell upon their faces and worshiped God, saying, we give thee thanks, O Lord God, the Almighty, who art and who wast, because thou hast taken thy great power and didst reign. And the nations were wroth. And thy wrath came in the time of the dead to be judged in the time to give their reward to thy servants, the prophets, and to the saints and to them that fear thy name, the small and the great, and to destroy them that destroy the earth. And there was opened the temple of God that is in heaven. And there was seen in his temple, the ark of his covenant. And there followed lightnings and voices and thunders and an earthquake and great hail. Seems like this is an appropriate morning to hear about earthquakes and hail and thunder. But the type that John witnessed here in this vision, of course, far surpasses what we know about today. The significance of the temple and heaven being open and John having a vision of the Ark of the Covenant is what, according to our last lesson. Anybody remember that far back previously, John has been given. These are very significant stagings, if you will, in the drama of Revelation earlier, when heaven is open to John, he says, behold, a throne. There's very significant language having to do with the fact that God is reigning. And John is given a vision of that. When all of history is considered, the thing that John has to remember is that he sees the throne of God in heaven. God's throne rules over all. And now we've gone through a series where John has seen the seven sealed scroll presented. Nobody is worthy in heaven except the Lamb of God to open the scroll of history and God's judgment. And to get to the contents of that scroll, we go through the breaking of seven seals, something of a preliminary or an anticipatory look at what's going to happen once the scroll is opened. And then when the scroll is opened, there is this half hour of silence in heaven, a very dramatic moment, you see, as everybody's waiting to see what God's judgment will be. The angel of the Lord takes coals from the fire of the altar of Heaven and casts them on Earth as the wrath of God now shall fall. And the seven angels of Revelation begin to sound. And so John takes us through the seven angels of Revelation, sounding their trumpets of judgment. And we come then finally to the seventh angel this morning who sounded. And the sounding of the seventh angel indicates that the kingdom of this world has become the kingdom of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. And then the angelic host in heaven, the 24 elders who sit before God on their thrones, they fall down, worship the Lord and sing that the Lord has come and has taken with his great power his kingdom, his reign. He has begun his rule over history. The time of the dead to be avenged has come. The martyrs who have died at the hands of the Jewish state are now getting their vindication in history. God is rewarding his saints and he is destroying those who destroy the earth. It's really quite a marvelous passage, very dramatic. And then John has another one of these dramatic moments. He says, and behold, the temple in heaven was open. Now he's seen the throne of God, but the temple is open. And what's he seeing? The Ark of the Covenant. And then lightnings and voices and thunders and earthquake. And we're to be told it's a very, if you will, pregnant moment. It's very significant that at the very moment when it's declared that the Kingdom of Jesus Christ has come and God has taken his great power and is reigning, John sees the Ark of the Covenant. Now, can you remember what that Ark of the Covenant signifies to John? What it would signify to a Jew who knew his Old Testament, who lived in that culture? Ark of the Covenant, of course, was the sign of the faithfulness of God to Israel. The faithfulness of God. When Israel took the Ark of the Covenant into battle with her enemies, she won. When she forgot the Ark of the Covenant, she lost. The Ark of the Covenant, of course, is also symbolic of and is comprised with the mercy seat of God, where God shows his mercy, where God rules in the midst of his people. So from the mercy seat of God's rule, you see, Israel could be assured of God's presence and God's protection. They could be sure of God's faithfulness to his covenant, the Ark of the Covenant. And so that's what John is seeing as he's told that the Kingdom of Jesus Christ has come. Now, the significance of the fall of Jerusalem, as I've told you any number of times in our previous lessons, is that the Kingdom of God is no longer aligned with the nationalistic state of Israel. The Kingdom of God has been taken from Israel and has been given to a people who are worthy of that, to those who bring forth the fruits of the kingdom. Israel has lost the kingdom and the Church has replaced Israel as the new Israel of God. The Church is now the people of God's possession and choice. And that indicates that the Kingdom of God has come and he is reigning. When God judges the enemies of the Church and when God indicates Israel once and for all, that Israel has been cast off. The seventh angel sounds with the significant word that the kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord. And of his Christ. Now, this morning, what I'd like to do is just to focus on that one theme of the kingdom of the world becoming the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ. Because that's not only something of a climactic point in Handel's Messiah. If you're listening to the music, of course, that's a very significant point in the musical, but it's highly significant in the literature of the Bible, too. I don't know if Handel realized that he was teasing upon one of the climactic literary points of the Bible and had the parallel expression in his music. But the fact is that if you do a biblical theological study, that is a historical study of the development of the idea of God's kingdom and his reign on earth throughout the Scriptures, you'll see that with the sounding of the seventh angel, the climactic angel of the judgment of God against Jerusalem, we have this declaration saying that God has, in his faithfulness, accomplished what he has said throughout the Scriptures. He will do. And I think this morning it would do us well to study what the rest of the scriptures say about this point. The Old Testament is full of promises of the universal triumph of God in history and on earth. And we'll start working through a few of these by beginning at Genesis, the 13th chapter, chapter, verse 16. These are promises of universal triumph in the old Testament. Genesis 13:16. God says to Abraham, of course, and I will make thy seed as the dust of the earth, so that if a man can number the dust of the earth, then may thy seed also be numbered. God is in a covenant relationship with Abraham. God is showing his mercy and his grace to Abraham. God is being a God to Abraham and calling Abraham and his seed the people of God. And God says about the seed of Abraham that it will be so numerous as the dust of the earth that no man will be able to number it. Genesis 22:17. God says again to Abraham, that in blessing I will bless thee. And in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heavens and as the sand which is upon the seashore. And thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies. Very significant. Not only will the seed of Abraham, that is the number of those who are blessed in the Abrahamic covenant, be so numerous that you won't be able to count them like stars and the sand on the seashore, but they're also going to possess the gates of the enemy. That is, they're going to be in virtual control of the earth because they'll have nobody to fear there will be so many who are counted as God's people that there will be no gates of enemies I'll have to worry about. They will possess the gate of the enemy. Of course, the gate was the significant place from which attacks were generated against other people. The gate was the place of ruling in a city. And Abraham has promised that his seed is going to possess the gate of the enemies of his people. In connection with these promises of a widespread number of people to be blessed in the Abrahamic covenant, let's look at Galatians 3:7, 29. Let's remember that Abraham has been promised the followers who are going to be so numerous that nobody will be able to count them, and those who will possess even the gates of their enemies. In Galatians 3:7, we read, know therefore, that they that are of faith are the same. The same are sons of Abraham. And verse 29 says, and if ye are Christ, then ye are Abraham's seed heirs according to the promise. Who was the promise made to Abraham? To whom was that promise made, and in whom is it fulfilled? Well, according to Galatians, the third chapter, the promise was made to Abraham, but fulfilled in Christ. Let me see. Yes, it's 15 and 16. Brethren, I speak after the manner of men. Though it be but a man's covenant, yet when it hath been confirmed, no one maketh it void, or added thereto. Now, to Abraham were the promises spoken, and to his seed all right. And then Paul tells us from his New Testament perspective, he saith not, and to seeds as of many, but as of one, and to thy seed. The promise was made specifically to the singular seed of Abraham, who is Christ. And so it is in Christ that all these promises are yea and amen. It's in Christ that these promises will be fulfilled, and it's in Christ seed. It's in those who are in Christ by faith, and therefore heirs of the Abrahamic promise, that these promises are to be worked out in history. And God promises to Abraham, to his particular seed, Christ, that he'll have a seed that is so numerous that no man will be able to number it, and they'll possess the earth. In Acts the third chapter, verse 25, We read these words, Ye are the sons of the prophets, and of the covenant which God made with your fathers, saying unto Abraham, and in thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed. Of course, this is being addressed to the church here, to those who are believers in Jesus Christ. And what we're being told is that they are the Ones who inherit the promise to Abraham that in his seed all the families of the earth will be blessed. All the families of the earth. There's not going to be a family on earth that doesn't receive the blessing that comes through the Abrahamic covenant because of his seed being so numerous and filling the earth. And so that's a very significant beginning, it seems to me, all the way back in Genesis 13, Genesis 22. In light of the New Testament understanding of these things, the Church has already been told that the people of God are going to have a universal triumph. But in Numbers, the 14th chapter, verse 21, we can move on to a second phase of God's revelation of these matters. Numbers 14:21. We read these words. I'll read at verse 20. And Jehovah said, I have pardoned according to thy word. But in very deed as I live, and as all the earth shall be filled with the glory of Jehovah, because all those men that have seen my glory and my signs which I wrought in Egypt. And he goes on. You notice that it's already understood here at numbers 14. Not just that that's the conclusion of the line of thought, but it is one of the significant premises. It's one of the stepping stones to the conclusion God wants to make that as he lives, he is indeed going to have his glory fill the earth. All the earth will be filled with the glory of Jehovah. As much as you can count on that, you can count on the conclusion that follows. And so in the Abrahamic covenant and in the promise to Moses, we see the universal triumph of God's people. The glory of God is going to fill the earth. In Psalm the second chapter, we begin to see more specifically now how God is going to bring this about. Psalm 2. We'll look just at verses 6 to 8. This morning yet I have set my king upon my holy hill of Zion, I will tell of the decree. Jehovah said unto me, thou art my son. This day have I begotten thee. Ask of me, and I will give thee the nations for thine inheritance, the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession. God is going to give his only son, his only begotten Son, who's going to be the Messianic king. And because of the favor that this king has in the eyes of Jehovah, he can but say that he wants the uttermost parts of the earth for his possession. And God will grant it. Ask of me, and I will give thee the nations for thine inheritance. All the families of the Earth will be blessed in the Abrahamic seed who is Christ the kingly Messiah. All the families of the earth will be blessed. They'll have a multiple seed that will indeed possess the gates of their enemies. And the glory of the Lord will fill the earth because Christ will possess all the nations. In Psalm 22:27 29, we read, all the ends of the earth shall remember and turn unto Jehovah. And all the kindreds of the nations shall worship before thee. For the kingdom is Jehovah's, and he is the ruler over the nations. All the fat ones of the earth shall eat and worship. And all they that go down to the dust shall bow before him. Even he that cannot keep his soul alive. All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn unto Jehovah. And what's very significant to me in this particular passage is that it talks about the conversion of the nations on the earth. All the ends of the earth will hear and turn to Jehovah. This is not something that can happen after Jesus Christ comes a second time. For when Christ comes his second time, there's going to be nothing but judgment awaiting men. And there'll be no opportunity at that point for repentance and entering into the kingdom. Here we're told, though, that there's going to come a time when the very ends of the earth are going to hear. I think here we're to understand the word of God later fleshed out as the gospel. They will hear and turn. They're going to be converted and they're going to come into the kingdom of God. All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn unto Jehovah. All the kindreds of the nations shall worship him. And the reason for that is because Jehovah is the king. His kingdom rules over all. Let's read all of Psalm 47. O clap your hands, all ye peoples. Shout unto God with the voice of triumph. Okay, a victory song is now going to be sung. Why? For Jehovah Most High is terrible. He is a great king over all the earth. And he subdueth peoples under us and nations under our feet. He chooseth our inheritance for us. The glory of Jacob whom he loved. God has gone up with a shout. Jehovah with the sound of the trumpet. Sing praises to God. Sing praises, Sing praises unto our king. Sing praises. For God is the king of all the earth. Singing praises with understanding. God reigneth over the nations. God sitteth upon his holy throne. The princes of the peoples are gathered together to be the people of the God of Abraham. For the shields of the earth belong unto God. He is greatly exalted. That verse nine is very, very important. The princes of the peoples are gathered together. The shields of all the earth. The shield here is a symbol, as it is in the Old Testament, as the protective device God has ordained in nations throughout the world as the political rulers of the earth. The shields of all the earth. The princes of all the peoples are gathered together to be what? To be the people of the God of Abraham. As Abraham was told, in thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed. And they'll possess the gates of their enemies. And now even the political rulers throughout the world are going to be called the people of Abraham. The people of the God of Abraham. They're going to be, you see, the chosen people of God. Abraham himself was. It's already in the Old Testament we have understood the universal triumph of God's kingdom on earth as the nations are converted and even the rulers of the nations are brought into the kingdom. Let's look at Psalm 86, verses 8 to 10. I'll keep working slowly through these because I frankly think that you can say that this theme is there in the Old Testament. You can look at a couple places and maybe you'll appreciate the climactic statement of Revelation 11 about the kingdom of the world becoming the kingdom of Christ. But until you see how often and how persistently and how dramatically the Old Testament presented that, and you can see the anticipation that the people of God may have had as they were awaiting God's universal victory on earth, until you can understand how pervasive that is in the Old Testament, I don't think you can have a significant sense of awe before the declaration that God has now taken his kingdom, his power, and rules in his kingdom, so that all the nations of the earth belong to the Savior. The fall of Jerusalem in AD 70 is God's symbol to us that that is true. Well, let's look at Psalm 86, verses 8 to 10. There is none like unto thee among the gods, O Lord. Neither are there any works like unto thy works. All nations whom thou hast made shall come and worship before thee, O Lord, and they shall glorify thy name. For thou art great and doest wondrous things. Thou art God alone. It is precisely because God has the kind of power which no other pagan deity does that we can be sure that all the nations who have been created by God are going to one day worship before him. Psalm 110, 1, 2, 3 again explains how this will come about. Jehovah saith unto my Lord, sit thou at my right hand until I make thine enemies thy footstool. God is inviting the Messiah, you see, to be his installed right hand man until such a time that every one of his enemies has been subdued. Until he puts his foot upon their neck, he will make his enemies his footstool. It's a very important Semitic image, you see, because when there was a king or a prince or somebody who conquered another people, then the leaders who were conquered had to come and bow down their faces to the earth. And that conquering king would put his foot upon the neck of the enemy that he has conquered. The symbol being that you are now the footstool of my feet. You have become so subjected to my authority that I will use you even as I would an inanimate footstool. And now Jesus is told, you see, that he is going to sit at the right hand of God the Father until all his enemies are his footstool. Jehovah will send forth the rod of thy stroke strength. Out of Zion rule thou in the midst of thine enemies. Thy people offer themselves willingly in the day of thy power in holy array. Out of the womb of the morning thou hast the dew of thy youth. So the day of the power of Jehovah's chosen Son, the Messiah will come, and then he'll rule in the midst of his enemies. Now let me ask you this. Do you. Do you believe that it is possible that Jesus is going to rule in the midst of his enemies in the new Jerusalem? I mean, at that point, will he be ruling in the midst of his enemies? Will he have his foot upon their neck at that point, subduing and subjecting his enemies to himself? No. Because in the new Jerusalem there will be no wicked ones. In fact, that's precisely how Peter characterizes the new heavens and the new earth wherein righteousness dwells. There will be no enemies of Christ to subdue in the new Jerusalem. They'll all at that time have been consigned to the eternal banishment from God and eternal torment. And so what we're reading about here is that when Christ comes and when Christ is exalted to the right hand of God, at that point he will rule in the midst of his enemies. And he'll continue to rule until every one of them has been made the footstool of his feet. When did Jesus come to sit at the right hand of God? At his ascension, of course, in Psalm 110 is quoted significantly in Acts and in Hebrews with respect to the ascension of Jesus Christ, that he has come to sit at the right hand of God so that his enemies will become the footstool of his feet. There is no thought in either the Old or the New Testament that God has some parentheses in his plan for history after the life and death of Jesus Christ, his son. Now, Jesus died precisely that he might be raised from the dead with power and be exalted to the right hand of God. Not so that he might then wait for some already 2000 years and whatever else will be in the Lord's plan, wait parenthetically in patience until the day shall come when he will finally be able to be the one who is invested with power and rules on the earth. He now is invested with power. He was raised from the dead with power he was ascended to God's right hand that he might subdue every one of his enemies. That's the significance of the ascension. Isaiah, the second chapter. We can move now from the Psalms into some of the prophetic passages of the Old Testament. Isaiah chapter 2, verses 2 to 4, tells us by the infallible declaration of God that it shall come to pass in the latter days, the latter days being, of course, a biblical designation for that period between the coming of Christ the first time and his return to earth a second time. And it shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of Jehovah's house shall be established on the top of the mountains and. And shall be exalted above the hills. Of course, that's a promise to little Zion. You see this one of these little hills, that it's nevertheless going to become established above all the mountains of the earth. It's going to have the highest place of dignity and control. And the mountain of Jehovah's house shall be established on the top of the mountains and shall be exalted above the hills, and all the nations shall flow into it. As God raises up his house and his people above all others, then all nations are going to flow into his house. And what is the house of God? How is that understood in the New Testament? The house of God, of course, is his people. It's the church of Jesus Christ. It's the new people of God, God's chosen Zion. In this age, God's church, all nations shall flow into it, and many peoples shall go and say, come ye, let us go up to the mountain of Jehovah, to the house of the God of Jacob, and he will teach us his ways, and we will walk in his paths. For out of Zion shall go forth the law and the word of Jehovah from Jerusalem. And he will judge between the nations and will decide concerning many peoples. And they shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nations shall not lift up sword against them. Nation. Neither shall they learn war anymore. I hope the day will come when you'll have such a craving and a longing in your heart to see that day of peace that God has promised. Significantly, that day will not come until the nations flow into the church, until the mountain of the Lord's house, you see, is filled with all the nations. So at that point they have learned peace. That is, they've learned to be at peace with one another, because they've become at peace with God through the Gospel. And that day they'll not have to war with each other anymore. A day of universal peace hardly needs to be said that there'll be peace in the new Jerusalem. There'll be no beating of swords into plowshares there. Because there'll be no question that all people will be at peace in the very presence of God. But here we're being told of a day in which, significantly, the nations, because they've come into God's house, are no longer going to war with each other. Isaiah 2, 2, 4 gives us that promise. Isaiah 9, 6, 7 again shows us how it will be realized. For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given, and the government shall be upon his shoulder. Unfortunately, in so many Christmas pageants, if you've seen some of those, you're aware of this. Unfortunately, that's where the reading of Scripture usually ends, because we're focusing on the birth of Jesus Christ. And we're told the government will be upon his shoulders. He is God's chosen ruler, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. And of the increase of his government. That government, that God will lay upon the shoulders of his Messiah. Of the increase of his government and of the increase of peace. There shall be no end upon the throne of David and upon his kingdom, to establish it, to uphold it with justice and righteousness from henceforth, even forever. When Christ comes, God's going to put the government you see on his shoulders. He's going to turn over the power of the earth to Christ. The kingdoms of this world will become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ. Because, you see, his government is going to grow and grow and grow. It is going to increase, and peace will increase with it and righteousness and justice on earth will increase with it forever. There will be no end to the growth of God's kingdom. Again, that could not possibly be true. After the Lord comes, there will be no increase in his government. His government will have been completed at that point. In fact, 1 Corinthians 15 tells us that when the resurrection of the dead comes, Christ will turn over the kingdom to his Father, because everything has been consummated at that point. Every enemy will have been subdued. There will be no growth of the kingdom in the New Jerusalem. The New Jerusalem will be the consummation of the kingdom. But here we're told that Christ will come and he'll be born, and God will put government upon him. And that government and its peace and its righteousness and justice is going to increase forever. Unless you have any doubts that that could happen, Notice how Isaiah adds, the zeal of Jehovah of hosts will perform this. If you know that phraseology of the Old Testament, nobody can oppose Jehovah of hosts, Jehovah with all his mighty ones, especially when he takes this zeal in mind to do something. And the zeal of this Jehovah of hosts is going to accomplish it. Isaiah the 11th chapter, verses 1 to Isaiah continues this theme that he has developed in chapter two and nine by saying, and there shall come forth a shoot out of the stock of Jesse, and a branch out of his roots shall bear fruit. Who is the one that comes out of the stock of Jesse? Obviously it's Jesus Christ, David's Son. And the Spirit of Jehovah shall rest upon him, the Spirit of Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of Jehovah and his delight shall be in the fear of Jehovah. And he shall not judge after the sight of his eyes, neither decide after the hearing of his ears but with righteousness shall he judge the poor, and decide with equity for the meek of the earth. And he shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked and righteousness shall be the girdle of his waist, and faithfulness the girdle of his loins. Here's the one who we have been promised, this Son who will be born, this Prince of peace, who will have the government of peace and righteousness, that will never stop in its increase. And in his day the wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid, and the calf, and the young lion, and the fatling together. And a little child shall lead them. And the cow and the bear shall feed, and the young ones shall lie down together. And the lion shall eat straw like the ox. And the suckling child shall play on the hole of the asp. And the weaned child shall put his hand upon the adder's den. They shall not hurt nor destroy an all my holy mountain. Why, how is it going to be possible that the earth could be in such a position of power? Peace. How could it be that the increase of Christ's government has been such that peace now rules on earth? Well, we're told by Isaiah, because I'm sure that Isaiah realizes that even the Jews of old were as faithless as we are today. And they wondered that that was really possible, that God should have such a mighty one to rule on the earth. And why shall it be that they won't hurt or destroy all my holy mountain? Because the earth will be full of the knowledge of Jehovah as the waters cover the sea. And it shall come to pass in that day that the root of Jesse that standeth for an ensign of the peoples unto him shall the nation seek. And his resting place shall be glorious. See, in that day, Christ is going to be an ensign to the people. You have to think of of the tree you see, of the Jewish state being leveled, chopped off. And there is nothing there but a stump anymore. But out of the stump of Israel comes one shoot, you see from the bottom, just one little branch beginning to grow again out of that stump, the branch of Jesse. And from Jesse comes what? David. And then David's mighty son, Jesus Christ. And that will grow so that it will become like a pole, like an ensign to the people. And as that is raised up unto him shall all the nations seek. And when that happens, then of course the earth is going to be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. Not just sporadically or in a spotted way will there be conversions. But it is going to be so widespread that really the image here is like God's flood of judgment. God is once flesh flooded the earth with judgment, he will now flood the earth with his grace. You see, once the flood waters covered the earth and God was leveling mankind because he was angry with their sins. But when Jesus Christ comes as the prince of peace, God will flood the earth with his rule. So it isn't going to be that we have a believer here in one African state and a believer here over in Indiana, and a believer in France somewhere. And then that is called Jesus ruling over the earth. No, it's going to be like the waters when they cover the sea. When the waters cover the sea, they don't cover it just sporadically in little puddles here and there. It's going to be a widespread flood of God's grace to the earth. Isaiah 49, 6. Yea, he saith, it is too light a thing that thou shouldest be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved of Israel. I will also give thee a light to the Gentiles, that thou mayest be my salvation unto the end of the earth. So the Gentiles will be included in the light of God's salvation to the very ends of the earth he shall save. Isaiah 54 Sing, O barren, thou that didst not bear Break forth into singing and cry aloud, Thou that didst not travail with child. For more are the children of the desolate than the children of the married wife, saith Jehovah. Enlarge the place of thy tent, and let them stretch forth the curtains of thy habitations. Spare not, lengthen thy cords, and strengthen thy stakes, for thou shalt spread abroad on the right hand and on the left, and thy seed shall possess the nations, and make the desolate cities to be inhabited. This is always, I think, a good passage to read when a church is considering enlarging the place of its worship, trying to enlarge its sanctuary. Obviously it's not talking about church buildings, it's speaking metaphorically. But in a sense it applies to church buildings. What we should expect with the use of our church buildings. God says, look, don't spare the rope. Lengthen, you see, lengthen your. The curtains here to be spread out in the tent in which the people come in to sit down. He says, strengthen your stakes, because you see people are going to flood in on the right hand and on the left. You don't have nearly a big enough tent in which to take all the people. They're going to be drawn in to his house. The interesting thing here is that Israel is at a very down and weak moment in its history. Israel is like the desolate. It's like the woman who hasn't borne a child. And Isaiah says, almost tongue in cheek, that the children of the desolate will be greater than the children of the married woman. See the one who was barren. Israel is going to bear more children in the long run than those who appear to be the married wives about her. And so lengthen your cords and strengthen your stakes. God is going to Be filling up his tent. Isaiah 66, 10, 14, 18, 21. Rejoice ye with Jerusalem, and be glad for her all ye that love her, rejoice for joy with her all ye that mourn over her, that ye may suck and be satisfied with the breast of her consolations and ye may milk out and be delighted with the abundance of her glory. For thus saith Jehovah, behold, I will extend peace to her like a river, and the glory of the nations shall be an overflow flowing stream, and ye shall suck thereof ye shall be borne upon the side, and shall be dandled upon the knees. As one whom his mother comforteth, so shall I comfort you and ye shall be comforted in Jerusalem, and ye shall see it and your heart shall rejoice, and your bones shall flourish like the tender grass in the hand of Jehovah shall be known toward his servants, and he shall have indignation against his enemies. See, God has sent through Isaiah a terrible prophecy to Jerusalem. Isaiah has told them how God is going to judge Judah, and that it will not escape his punishment. And yet now here is this word at the very end of the prophecy that Jerusalem shall be a delight again. It's like a child who is born and knows the suckling of its mother, the dandling upon the knees that be a child who knows the joy of being cared for. And Jehovah shall be like that to his people. And what's the indication that that shall be true? Verse 18 says, For I know their works and their thoughts the time cometh, but I will gather all nations and tongues, and they shall come and shall see my glory and I will set a sign among them, and I will send such as escape of them unto the nations to Tarshish, Pul and Lud that draw the bow, to Tubal and Javan, to the isles of far off that have not heard my fame, neither have seen my glory and they shall declare my glory among the nations, and they shall bring all your brethren out of all the nations for an oblation unto Jehovah upon horses, and in chariots, and in litters, and upon mules, and upon dromedaries to my holy mountain, Jerusalem, saith Jehovah, as the children of Israel bring their oblation in a clinging vessel unto the house house of Jehovah and of them also will I take for priests and for Levites, saith Jehovah, nobody's going to escape the glory of that day. God's going to send messengers to even the furthest, remotest ends of the world, and they're going to be drawn back, you see, as an oblation, as a sacrifice to God, as an offering up to God. And God is going to make these pagan peoples his Levites and his priests. Any godly Jew would have had to have known what that meant. Israel, the nation of priests before God, was going to be so expanded that all the nations of the earth would be drawn into the kingdom. All the nations of the earth would be Levitical priests before God. And of course, we today have the advantage of seeing the fulfillment of that as the church becomes just that, a priesthood of believers from all the nations on earth. Let's look at one passage in Jeremiah Jeremiah 31, 31, 34 in light of all of these promises in the Abrahamic covenant, in the law of Moses, in the Psalms, throughout Isaiah's prophecy, I think we see throughout all these things the background to what God is going to promise now with respect to a new covenant that he is going to institute. Jeremiah 31. Begin reading at verse 31 as well. Behold, the day is come, saith Jehovah, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, which my covenant they break, although I was a husband unto them them, saith Jehovah. But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith Jehovah, I will put my law in their inward parts and in their heart will I write it. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. What two covenants are being summed up in the new covenant right here? The law will be written in their hearts, of course, is the Mosaic covenant. The law of Moses is now going to be so internalized with power that they won't break the covenant as that was broken at Sinai, but now they will keep it. And then he says, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Of course, that's the Abrahamic covenant being united together with the Mosaic covenant. Both of these are going to be fulfilled. Verse 34 says, and they shall teach no more, every man his neighbor and every man his brother, saying, no Jehovah. Well, I mean, why won't they teach people to know Jehovah? Why won't they be calling upon people to come to a knowledge of God? The prophet says, for they all shall know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith Jehovah, what he's saying is that there will become, hyperbolically, that is by way of exaggeration to make the point. The day is coming where the reason why you won't evangelize is not because you've lost your heart for God, but you will have very difficult time finding somebody who needs to be evangelized. They'll no longer say to their neighbors and to their brothers, know Jehovah from the least to the greatest of them. They'll already know me, saith Jehovah, in that day, the internalized power of the covenant of Abraham and Moses. In that day, the kingdom is going to rule over all. In the day of the new covenant, there's going to be this widespread knowledge of God. And that's just consistent with everything we've read thus far. Let's look at a passage in Ezekiel this morning, also. Ezekiel 47:1 5. Ezekiel is going to have God declare unto him symbolically the kind of prosperity that Ezekiel can expect for the kingdom of God. With respect to the healing waters of the temple, God uses this symbol. And he brought me back unto the the door of the house. And behold, waters issued out from under the threshold of the house, eastward. For the front of the house was toward the east, for the forefront of the house was toward the east. And the waters came down from under, from the right side of the house on the south of the altar. Then he brought me out by the way of the gate northward, and led me round by the way without, unto the outer gate, by the way of the gate that looketh toward the east. And behold, there ran out waters on the right side. You see, the healing waters were flowing from the temple of God. From the throne of God. That, by the way, anticipates the Image In Revelation 22, where from the throne of God and the Lamb in the New Jerusalem flows the river of living water, which is for the healing of the nations, okay? And so this. This healing waters from the temple are flowing. Verse 3 says, when the man went forth eastward with the line in his hand, he measured a thousand cubits. And he caused me to pass through the waters, waters that were to the ankles. The healing waters of God's mercy, you see, are as high now as the ankles of Ezekiel. Again, he measured a thousand. As Ezekiel goes a thousand cubits out further now he causes me to pass through the waters, waters that were to the knees, you see? Now this river is not just petering out. This river is getting deeper as it flows from the temple of God and from the throne of God. And now it's to his knees again. He measured a thousand cubits and caused me to pass through the waters, waters that were to my loins. So from his ankles to his knees to his loins, the waters of God have moved up. Afterward, he measured a thousand. And it was a river that I could not pass through, for the waters were risen, waters to swallow swim in, a river that could not be passed through. At the increase of his government and of peace, there shall be no end upon the throne of David and upon his kingdom. The zeal of the Lord of hosts shall accomplish it. So God will increase his kingdom and increase, you see, the flow of the rivers of peace throughout the earth and his grace. And it's going to be at the very beginning, ankle deep. But as you go down through history, you see, as you go a thousand kids cubits further away, it's not going to be petering out. It's not as though the kingdom's now going to run down, as so many eschatological systems say. By definition, the kingdom must decline. No, you see, the river's going to deepen now to the knees, and then deepen to the loins, and then finally deepen so that no man can pass through that river. It's going to be such a great river of God's grace, which is for the healing of the nations. Well, I don't think we can end this theme of the increase of God's kingdom and its universal triumph on earth without looking @ Daniel the second chapter, verses 35, 44 and 45. Daniel. The second chapter, of course, is the story of King Nebuchadnezzar's dream of this idol that was set up, this idol of a man, in four different sections of different types of metals and combinations of metals. In Daniel 2:35 we read then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver and the gold broken in pieces together and became like the chaff of the summer threshing floors. And the wind carried them away so that no place was found for them. And the stone that smote the image and the stone that smote the image became a great mountain and filled the whole earth. See, this stone cut without hands is going to destroy the earthly empires. And when it does that, it's going to blow them away like dust and like chaff. Fantastic image. You see that? It's really going to pulverize the image into nothing. And then that stone is going to grow and it's going to fill the earth. Verses 44 and 40. In the days of those Kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed, nor shall the sovereignty thereof be left to another people. But it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever. Forasmuch as thou sawest that a stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and that it brake in pieces the iron, the brass, the clay, the silver, silver and the gold, the great God hath made known to the king what shall come to pass hereafter. And the dream is certain in the interpretation thereof. You cannot doubt but that when the kingdom of God comes and destroys, you see these earthly kingdoms. Which is exactly what happened to the Roman Empire, the kingdom of God. The Church destroyed the Roman Empire and replaced it in terms of dominance over the Earth. It began to grow and grow and grow, and God is going to see to it that it encompasses the earth. It will grow to be a great mountain filling the earth. Daniel the seventh chapter will be the last thing we look at this morning. Daniel 7, beginning at verse 13. I saw in the night visions. And behold, there came with the clouds of heaven one like unto a Son of Man. And he came even to the Ancient of days. And they brought him near before him, and there was given him dominion and glory, and a kingdom that all the peoples, nations and languages should serve him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion which shall not pass away, and his kingdom, that which shall not be destroyed. In verses 21 and 22, I beheld in the same horn, made war with the saints and prevailed against them until the Ancient of days came and judgment was given to the saints of the Most High. And the time came that the saints possessed the kingdom. You see, there's going to be this political opposition to the kingdom of the Son of Man. But the saints will possess the kingdom, and they will overcome that opposition. This is not an image of the new Jerusalem. This is an image of antagonism and war upon earth. And then verse 27 finally tells us, and the kingdom and the dominion and the greatness of the kingdoms under the whole heaven shall be given to the people of the Saints of the Most High. His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey him. The day will come when the people of the Son of Man, the people of the God Most High, shall possess all the kingdom under the heavens. Well, we haven't completed the Old Testament, much less looked at some of the passages in the New Testament. We'll do that again later. But when you think about that Abrahamic promise that all the Families of the earth will be blessed in the seed of Abraham, and that seed of Abraham will be innumerable, and they shall possess the gates of their enemy. When you think about the fact that numbers 14 already says the glory of the Lord must fill the earth and salt. Psalm 2 tells us that God will give to his Messianic Son the uttermost parts of the earth. When you think of the promises that Isaiah gives us that God through his Son is going to increase his government and peace upon earth continually. When you see Jeremiah promising that the day will come when all shall know Jehovah from the least to the greatest. When Ezekiel sees the healing stream of waters growing and growing and become deeper and deeper until a river of God's grace is established. When you see Daniel telling Nebuchadnezzar that the increase of God's kingdom that destroys the earthly empires will never end. And when you see him saying that the people of God Most High shall overcome all opposition and possess all the nations and the kingdoms of earth, then you begin to feel the climax. That when the seventh angel sounds in Revelation, the the voices in heaven all cry out that the kingdoms of this world have become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever. Let's pray. Father, we thank you for such marvelous and great promises as you give us throughout your word. We thank you that the zeal of the Lord of hosts does accomplish these things and that the interpretation of them is certain. We thank you that we can see with John the Ark of the Covenant. The Ark of the Covenant of your faithfulness in heaven. That you have indeed, through your Son who is ascended to your right hand, taken with your great power. That you have taken your kingdom and you do now reign. That you are subduing every enemy under the foot of our Messiah and our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Lord, how we thank you that you have subdued us and subdued our hearts. That you have brought us to yourself. We thank you, Lord, that you have made us part of your people and of your kingdom that we might enjoy with all the saints throughout history the universal triumph of your kingdom on earth and through all eternity. Lord, we haven't deserved these blessings and we haven't deserved these promises. And so we thank you from the bottom of our hearts for your grace. Grace and for your goodness to us. And we pray in Jesus name.