Revelation 11:14-19 Part 3 Universal Triumph of God’s People on Earth {Part 43 of 63}

I would like this morning to finish up what is three part series dealing with the Old Testament New Testament background to the Declaration we find In Revelation the 11th chapter at the breaking, excuse me, at the sounding of the seventh trumpet. And I see a few new faces this morning and so perhaps a little bit of review will be necessary before we begin today's lesson. To begin that, let's read in Revelation the 11th chapter beginning at verse 15 to the end of the chapter and then I'll try to catch you up on what we have been doing in the past few lessons. Revelation 11:15 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 worshipped 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, and 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 open 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. This sounding of the seventh trumpet is something of a climax to the development in the Book of Revelation up to this point. The Book of Revelation opens, of course, in chapter one with the vision of Jesus Christ, the ascended Savior, and goes on in chapters two and three to give a message from this ascended savior to the seven churches of Asia Minor in John's Day. Chapters 1, 2 and 3amount to 2/3 of the Book of Revelation in terms of its topical outline. For John is told in chapter one that he is to see things which have been he is to write those things which have been, those things which are, and those things which shall be hereafter. Chapter one shows us the vision that he has already seen Jesus Christ, the ascended Savior. Chapters two and three show us the things which presently are the case in the church. And so chapters 1, 2 and 3 finish out 2/3 of the outline. The last third of the outline, however, is the controversial section of the book, chapters four and following the things that shall be hereafter. And chapter four begins now with a vision of the throne room of God in the heavenly places. And we see the sovereignty of God in creation being taught to us there. Chapter five begins the tension and the drama that John is going to reveal for us in the Book of Revelation, where the word goes out, who is sufficient, who is worthy to open the seven sealed scroll that sits in the hand of God the Father? And throughout all of heaven and the throne room of God, no one is found worthy to open the scroll of history, the scroll of God's judgment. But the Lamb of God, he is worthy and he is found, and he comes forth to open the seven sealed scroll. And then each of the seven seals is broken on that scroll, each one of them revealing something of the contents of the scroll when it should be unrolled altogether. And then finally, when the scroll is unrolled, and after a half hour of silence in heaven, with a number of dramatic movements in heaven, the use of angels and so forth to indicate the judgment of God to fall on Earth, finally the scroll is opened up, and we find out that there are to be seven trumpets of judgment sounded. And each one of the seven angels begins to sound their trumpets in succession. And with the sounding of each one of these trumpets, we see more and more clearly set before us the judgment God will bring upon Jerusalem, as he did in A.D. 70 in destroying that wicked city for the crucifixion of His Son. And so the seven trumpets are sounded, and we finally come to the seventh trumpet, which climaxes the series of judgments that are found in that scroll. And we find that with the sounding of the seventh trumpet, there's the declaration that the kingdoms of this world have become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ. A very dramatic moment in the Book of Revelation. It's at this point that the reader is to understand that when God judges Jerusalem, that will be a sign from heaven above that Jesus Christ reigns over all. And that for all of the persecution of the Church and all the troubled days of the Church, and for all of the martyrdom of Christ's people, nevertheless, he is the King of kings and Lord of lords. And in fact, this is not only a climax to this developing drama in the Book of Revelation that Jesus Christ is the king over all the nations of the earth. But it amounts to something of a climax, to a development of theme throughout the Old and New Testaments, beginning in the Book of the Law and working through the poetry of the Old Testament to the history of the Old Testament and the prophets of the Old Testament, we see that God has successively and progressively been revealing that he would rule upon earth that the Messiah who would come would be king over all the nations of the earth, that God would extend his kingdom to earth's remotest ends, so that it would be true in one day that the knowledge of the Lord covers the earth as the waters cover the sea, just pervasively flooding the earth with the knowledge of God and with his saving works. In the New Testament, we see the confirmation of those Old Testament promises of the universal triumph of the kingdom of God. And we began, in the last lesson that I had with you, to look at some of these New Testament confirmations, especially in the Gospels Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. And we looked at one passage in Acts, the Pentecost address of Peter, about the implications of Christ's exaltation. What I'd like to do today is continue that study now looking at the Epistles, and work through to the book of Revelation, and then go back and kind of topically summarize this study of the Old and New Testaments in terms of the universal triumph of God's kingdom on earth. Is there anybody who needs anything answered before we get into this? I realize with my being here only every other week and so forth, that sometimes it's hard to follow this pattern. All right, well, if you know where we are and where we're going, great. Let's jump right into this. Then begin looking at Romans, the first chapter, verses three to five. Whenever my wife wants to embarrass me, she always makes use of illustration from the days when I was teaching the Book of Romans in Manhattan beach, because we started the Book of Romans and I taught for six months, and we were through the first seven verses of the. Of the first chapter. And I'm not really so embarrassed about that, because you must remember that the first seven verses of the Book of Romans summarize the entire Epistle. Paul does this very often in his Epistles. It's notable especially in the book of Galatians, the Book of Romans. But often enough, Paul will use the opening salutation and words of an epistle to summarize the overall message of what he wants to get across in the letter as a whole. And that's what he does in Romans 1. And so as part of that overall summary, I want us to look then at verses three through five. Paul says concerning his Son, who was born of the seed of David, according to the flesh, who was declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the Spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead, even Jesus Christ, our Lord, through whom we receive grace and apostleship unto obedience of faith among all the nations for his name's sake. This is a very terse summary of the Gospel and the apostolic commission that Paul carries. He's speaking of Jesus Christ, who was declared and promised by the prophets of old. He says in verse three, concerning his Son, that he was born of the seed of David according to the Davidic promise that what? God would set a seed upon the throne of David, who would rule over the nations, whose reign would know no end, who would extend his kingdom to earth's remotest ends according to the seed of David, who was born of the seed of David according to the flesh. Okay, so in terms of his. In terms of his human nature, Jesus Christ was born according to the seed of David, according to the promise that he comes to the Davidic line, and according to the promises made to David. Although he was born a human being according to the flesh in the Davidic line, he was declared. Actually, I think the Greek here is better. He was instantiated. He was established. He was declared to be the Son of God. Now, if you just read it that way, you have some difficulty, of course, because Jesus Christ did not become the Son of God at his resurrection. He was the Son of God from the moment of his conception. Of course. And so what we must notice here is that Paul is talking not about Jesus being declared Son of God, but being declared Son of God with power. Now, what is that in contrast to? If he's declared Son of God with power, how was he Son of God prior to the resurrection? Those of you who know your catechism know the two states of Christ, earthly ministry, the states of something, and exaltation. Humiliation and then exaltation. Right. And what Paul is talking about is a Christ who was once Son of God in a humiliated form. Why do we say that? Of course, it sounds funny in terms of 20th century English to speak that way. What is the confession getting at? That Christ went through his ministry in humiliation. Remember Philippians 2, how he humbled himself and did what? Took on the form of what? A servant. And not only that, he died a criminal's death. And so we see the humiliation of our Lord, that he should leave his throne of glory and he should take on the form of a human being, a servant human being of all things, a criminal servant human being. And dies the death of a common criminal. And so he was humiliated that we might have our sins forgiven. But of course, God did not leave His Son in that estate, but rather he raised him from the dead. And in raising him from the dead. He declared that this is the Son of God with power, with exaltation. He shows that Jesus Christ is in fact to be lord over all, who was instantiated as the Son of God with power according to the Spirit of holiness, according to the Holy Spirit, by the resurrection from the dead, even Jesus Christ, our Lord. All right, so now he's. You can see how much theology is involved there. Maybe you can understand why it took six months to go through all this Christology of Paul here in these two verses. But in verse five, notice how Paul goes on to apply this. Through whom? Through this exalted Savior. This one is to be Lord over all. Through him we receive grace and. And through him we received our apostleship. And what was the purpose of Paul's apostleship? What was the goal of his calling? Why was he called? What was he working toward unto the obedience of faith among all the nations for his name's sake. Paul took it as nothing less than his goal but to see all the nations obedient to the Lord Jesus Christ. Of course, you would expect that to be true, given the Great Commission, wouldn't you? Of Jesus, who was raised from the dead, says, all power and authority in heaven and earth is mine. Therefore do what? Make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe whatsoever I've commanded you. And can you be sure that this can happen? Well, what should thwart this? I mean, what should prevent this from happening? Jesus Christ says, all power and authority in heaven and earth is mine. So what can keep the Church from doing this? He adds, at the end of that Great Commission, lo, I am with you always. And so if Jesus Christ is with the Church always to the end of the age, and if Jesus Christ is all power and authority in heaven and earth, and Jesus Christ, who is with the Church and has all power, tells the Church to make disciples of all nations, what shall keep the Church from doing it? Paul said, the goal of my apostleship is the obedience of faith among all the nations. And so this is another confirmation of the Old Testament promise of the universal triumph of the kingdom of God on earth. We see that in Romans 1. Let's look also at Romans 11:25, 32. I don't. Well, we'll come to that in a second. At Romans 11:25, Paul says, For I would not, brothers, have you ignorant of this mystery, lest ye be wise in your own conceits, that a hardening in part hath befallen Israel until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in. A hardness in part hath befallen Israel for a certain length of time. Until when? Until all the fullness of the Gentiles be come in. Until God has done his saving work among the Gentile nations. Until the fullness of the Gentiles saved. Until that time a hardening has befallen Israel. But what's the goal of this verse 26. And so in this way, if you will, another way to translate the Greek. And thus all Israel shall be saved. And thus all Israel shall be saved. How? Because Israel shall be provoked to jealousy when it sees what God has done. What wondrous works and saving deeds God has done among the Gentiles. And so all Israel shall be saved. Even as it is written, there shall come out of Zion the deliverer. He shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob. And this is my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins. As touching the gospel, they are enemies for your sake. But as touching the election, they are beloved for the Father's sake. For the gifts and the calling of God are not repented of. For as ye in time past were disobedient to God, but now have obtained mercy by their disobedience, even so have these also now been disobedient, that by the mercy shown to you they also may now obtain mercy. For God hath shut up all unto disobedience, that he might have mercy upon all. There's a back and forth. Actually, to understand this, we should study the entire 11th chapter of the Book of Romans, so we don't have time to read it all. What Paul is saying is God has judged Israel as a nation. God has hardened the heart of Israel as a nation because of Israel's rejection of his Son, and because of the rejection of Israel in terms of the kingdom of God. The kingdom of God is now given to a nation, producing the fruits thereof. It's given to the Gentile nations, those who are in the election of God, called to be his own. So God's kingdom is now a universal kingdom, and and Israel stands in a position of hardening and a position of judgment. But what shall happen when God brings in all the fullness of the Gentiles? When God does this mighty saving work among the Gentiles, Israel will look upon that and will in jealousy, wish to be part of the kingdom of God again. And so in that way all Israel shall be saved. And so the disobedience of Israel has magnified, you see, the blessing of the Gentile nations, and so also the Gentile nations will return the blessing upon Israel. There's a back and forth procedure here. In fact, Paul earlier in this chapter speaks of Israel as being the natural tree, the natural olive tree being taken out of the way and broken off and only later to be regrafted back into the tree of faith, the olive tree of faith. Paul also says that if the casting away of Israel shall be to the good of the church, to the good of the Gentile Church, what shall it be when Israel is brought back into the kingdom, but life from the dead for the world that is, it's going to be such a marvelous day of Gospel prosperity when the Jews in mass are saved, that we should expect it to be almost like resurrection life. And so Paul says his apostleship has the goal of the obedience of faith among all the nations. And, and he includes in this Israel. And he says that the casting way of Israel shall bless the Gentile nations, and then Israel shall be brought in, and the Gentile nations will be blessed all the more. Then Finally, Romans, chapter 16, verses 25 to 27. Now to him that is able to establish you according to my Gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery which hath been kept in secret silence through times eternal, but now is manifested, and by the scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment of the eternal, God is made known unto all the nations. For what reason? Unto the obedience of faith to the only wise God, through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory forever. Amen. Again Paul begins the Epistle. Paul ends the Epistle. And in between, Paul argues substantially that the goal of the Gospel is the obedience of faith among all the nations. God will not be satisfied with anything less, but that all the nations become his disciples. Well, there's the book of Romans. Very quickly let's look at First Corinthians. And for the sake of time we'll only look at First Corinthians, the 15th chapter, First Corinthians 15. And let me read for you verses 20 to 26. But now hath Christ been raised from the dead. Again you notice the focus in the power of the kingdom of God is found in the fact that Jesus was raised from the dead. But now hath Christ been raised from the dead, the first fruits of them that are asleep. For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so in Christ shall all be made alive, but each in his own order. Christ the first fruits, then they that are Christ at his coming. So Christ is the first to rise from the dead. And his people, all those who are engrafted in Christ, they shall rise from the dead, but in their proper order. They don't rise from the dead immediately. When do they rise from the dead? The Bible says at his coming, when Christ comes again, then his saints shall be raised from the dead. Now keep that in mind that Paul has already isolated the time of the resurrection of the saints at the coming of Jesus Christ. And let's go on in our reading. Then cometh the end when he shall deliver up the kingdom to God, even the Father. All right, so when Christ comes again, his saint shall be raised from the dead. And Paul says, then comes the end. That's the end of all human history. That's the end of God's working through the historical process. And at that point, Christ delivers up the kingdom to the Father. See, that's the consummation of human history. When Christ comes, he'll raise his saints. And then is the end. Let's read on. When he shall deliver up the kingdom to the Father, when he shall have abolished all rule and all authority, power. Also at that time, when the saints are raised from the dead, when Christ has returned, when all of history is consummated and Christ turns over the kingdom of the Father, at that time it will be true that Christ has abolished all rule and authority and power. Verse 25 puts it all together. For he must reign until he hath put all his enemies under his feet. Christ is now reigning as the resurrected Savior, the ascended Lord. And and he shall reign until every enemy has been subdued under his feet. And he shall abolish all rule and authority and power. Verse 26, the last enemy that shall be abolished is death. Now, in terms of the resurrection emphasis of the 15th chapter of First Corinthians, when is death abolished? When the graves are bursting open and death no longer holds the saints of God. When Jesus raises our bodies from the dead, we see that death is no longer an enemy to us, that Christ has conquered death for his people as well. Okay, so let's put this chronology together. Paul says that Christ now reigns as the resurrected Lord, and he shall reign until every enemy has been put under foot. And the last enemy to be put underfoot shall be death. And we know that death shall be put underfoot when Christ returns to raise us from the dead and to turn over the kingdom to the Father. So what is the nature of this age that we now live in prior to the coming of Jesus Christ? What description does Paul give of this age prior to the return of the Lord? It is described under the idiom of Christ subduing every enemy under his feet. And so Paul again is emphasizing that because Christ is all power and authority in heaven and earth, he. He shall reign until every enemy is subdued. Christ will not return until every enemy is subdued, because he'll return at the subduing of the last enemy. That makes sense. And the last enemy is what Death and death is conquered by our resurrection. And so this whole age is an age of Christ extending his rule until there are no further enemies to be subdued. Let's look at Philippians chapter 2, verses 9 to 11 as well. Here the focus of Paul's theology is not so much on the resurrection, although it's included, but on the exaltation, the ascension of Jesus Christ into heaven. Philippians 2, verse 9. Wherefore also God highly exalted him and gave him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow of things in heaven and things on earth and things under the earth. And. And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. And so the name which is above every name that Jesus has been given is the name Lord. But what's interesting is that Paul says the purpose of his ascension, his exaltation, is that, well, one or two people here and there should become Christians and say Jesus is really Lord. No, not at all. Paul says the goal of God's work is that every knee should bow and that every tongue should confess. Now we know, of course, that that shall happen even among the unbelieving populace of the world in the final day, when every knee shall bow because Christ has come in power and every tongue will have to confess the truth that Jesus Christ is the Lord. But you'll notice that while we usually understand that, and I think that's appropriate, it's theologically sound to say that when Jesus comes again, he will have accomplished every tongue and every knee doing what it should do in terms of his lordship. Paul isn't talking about the Second Coming here. He may by implication be referring to it, but he does not directly refer to it. Paul does not say that at the second coming this should happen. He says from the moment of Christ's exaltation that was the goal of God the Father, that he should have glory by every knee bowing to his Son and every tongue confessing. And so Paul's apostleship and the goal of the Gospel is obedience of faith among the nations. Because Christ has been raised from the dead, he is now subduing every enemy until the last enemy is subdued. And when he ascended on high and took his position at the right hand of God the Father, the goal of that activity was that every knee should bow to him as lord. In Colossians 1:27,28, Paul confirms what we've been saying in terms of the goal of the Church and his apostolic ministry, Colossians 1:27, to whom God was pleased to make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles. Now, Paul has referred here to a mystery among the Gentiles, and he tells us what that mystery is, which is Christ in you the hope of glory whom we proclaim this Christ, this one who is the hope of glory, whom we proclaim, admonishing every man and teaching every man in all wisdom lie in order that we may present every man perfect in Christ. Whereunto I labor also striving according to his working, which worketh in me mightily. The working of Jesus Christ, which is mighty in Paul, has this goal that he'll present every man perfect in Christ. I think one of the saddest things about modern evangelistic efforts isn't simply that their methodology often doesn't conform to the to the doctrines of grace as we understand them in this church. But the trouble is that modern evangelistic methods are really far too short sighted in terms of their goal. Paul's goal in his evangelizing was to see that every man was made perfect. Paul said Christ was exalted on high, that every knee should bow to him. Paul said that Christ rose from the dead he and now reign so that every enemy should be subdued. Jesus said that he wanted all the nations to be his disciples. Well, if there is an impetus for missionary activity found in the theology of Paul, I don't think there's any impetus at all. Paul's goal was to see the universal triumph of the Gospel and the kingdom of God on earth universally. He wouldn't sit still still to see just a few men brought in. He wanted all men presented perfect. He wanted every knee to bow. He wanted to see all the nations obedient to the Gospel. In Hebrews the first chapter, verses one to four and well, we have a number of verses in chapter one that play out for us the implications of this theology of Christ's ascension. And I think it'd be well to confirm this from another perspective. Perspective in the New Testament. Hebrews 1. Let me read the first four verses and then verses 8 and 9, then, verses 13 and 14. God, having of old times spoken unto the fathers and the prophets by divers portions and in divers manners, hath at the end of these days spoken unto us in his Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also he made the worlds who, being the effulgence of his glory in the very image of his substance, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he made purification of sins, sat down on the right hand of the majesty on high, having become by so much better than the angels, as he hath inherited a more excellent name than they all right. This is a glorious beginning, of course, to this epistle. And it would take maybe another six months to expound these four verses properly. But what the author of the book of Hebrews is saying is, that Jesus Christ has been appointed by God heir of all things. He is the very effulgence of the glory of God, the very image of God's substance. He upholds all things by the word of his power. All of history is laid in according to his decree. And when he made purification for sins, when he had accomplished our salvation, he sat down his work was accomplished. He sat down at the right hand of the majesty on high. And when he sat down at the right hand of majesty on high, when he ascended to God's right hand, he received a name which is higher than even the angelic name, names that have been given. Let's look at verses 8 and 9 to continue this. But of the Son he saith, or he's already said in verse seven. So much is true of the glory of angels. But verse eight, by contrast to the Son, he saith, thy throne, O God is forever. And the scepter of uprightness is the scepter of thy kingdom. Thou hast loved righteousness and hated iniquity. Therefore God thy God hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows. And so his throne is set forever with a scepter of uprightness. And God has exalted him above all the oil of gladness anoints him above his fellows. Verses 13 and 14. But of which of the angels hath he at any time said, sit thou on my right hand, until I make thine enemies the footstool of thy feet. Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to do service for the sake of them that shall inherit salvation? And so here is this contrast throughout the first chapter between Christ and the angels. Christ has a higher name than the angels Christ has greater promises than the angels. Christ has a higher anointing than the angels. And then finally, since Christ has been raised from the dead and sits at the right hand of God the Father, and since his throne has been established forever, the final contrast is to which of the angels has God ever said, sit thou at my right hand until every enemy is made the footstool of thy feet. Now, a couple of lessons ago, I explained that image of the footstool of his feet. It's a rather dramatic one. It bears repeating. In the ancient world, when a great enemy had been conquered, the sign that your enemy had been subdued, subjected to you, was that he would have to come forth and he would have to put his face to the ground. And the conquering general, the conquering king, would then put his foot upon the neck of the defeated foe. And in that way he became the footstool of his feet. And so next time you pull up a hassock at home so you might watch a TV program, you know, and that becomes the footstool of your feet. You have to apply that, you see, in terms of the ancient image that men would put their feet upon the neck of their enemies and make their enemies the footstool of their feet as a symbol of their total subjection to their power. And Christ has been told by God that he shall reign until every one of his enemies has become a hassock for him, until he puts his foot upon the neck of every man, until every enemy has been subdued, he shall reign at God's right hand. Hebrews 2, 5, 9 carries this out a little bit further. For not unto angels did he subject the world to come whereof we speak. But one hath somewhere testified, saying, what is man, that thou art mindful of him, or the Son of man, that thou visitest him? Thou madest him a little lower than the angels. Thou crownest him with glory and honour, and didst set him over the works of thy hands. Thou didst put all things in subjection under his feet. For in that he subjected all things unto him, he left nothing that is not subject to him. But now we see not yet all things subjected to him. But we behold him who hath been made a little lower than the angels. Even Jesus, because of the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honor, that by the grace of God he should taste of death for every man. For those who are inclined to think that all these promises are for a future age when Christ returns, as the premillennialists say, then he'll start to reign in this mighty way, or when Christ returns According to the amillennialists, then in the consummation age, we'll begin to see Christ fulfilling all these promises. The book of Hebrews says, no, wait a minute. Somewhere it has been testified that he is going to subject all things under his feet. But we don't see everything subjected under his feet now. But we do see Jesus, the one who is in the process of bringing every enemy under his feet. In this present age, we don't await for Jesus. We now see Jesus, the one who has been given this promise. And so in this age, we mustn't think that this is fulfilled in some mysterious, spiritual, esoteric way. That is, all these promises sound so great, as though the kingdom is really going to rule over the world. You see that God's going to send the Gospel to earth's remotest ends, and it's going to have its effect. And the nations are going to be discipled for Jesus Christ. But that's what the promise sounds like. But in fact, what we see happening in the world doesn't appear to match up to that. But the promise is really being fulfilled anyway. That is, we misunderstood it. We were taking it too literally to think that God was going to have all the nations be his disciples. What that really meant, we're told by some commentators, is that God just wanted a few Christians here and there scattered among all the nations of the world. No, no. The author of the Book of Hebrews fully realized that in his day the promise was not complete. He said, we don't yet see all things subjected, but we see the one who is subjecting all things. We see Jesus Christ. And so this is an age of resurrection power, an age of the ascension of Jesus Christ, where he is bringing every enemy successively, slowly, progressively, but nevertheless surely to be his captives. 1 John 5:1:5 is another passage that confirms the Old Testament promises of universal triumph. 1 John 5, the first five. Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is begotten of God. And whosoever loveth him that begat, loveth him also that is begotten of him, whereby we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and do his commandments. For this is the love of God that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome. For whatsoever is begotten of God overcometh the world. And this is the victory that overcomes the world, even our faith. And who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God? Faith is the victory that overcomes the world. But unfortunately, we so often sing that little chorus and we don't have any idea of what that means. This is the victory that overcomes the world, even our faith. And who is he that overcometh the world? You might expect the author to say here, well, Jesus Christ. He's the Lord. Well, Jesus Christ is the Lord. But notice that John figures that if Jesus is the Lord and Jesus is working through his army, his disciples, the church, then we who belong to the church, we who are believers, are the ones who are overcoming the world. Our faith is sufficient to gain victory over the entire world. And this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith. And who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth this Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God. Well, let's look at one more passage now In Revelation, the 19th chapter, which of course, in due time we'll come to, and I'll expound at some length. Let's just read verses 11 to 17 and verse 21 of Revelation, chapter 19. And I saw an angel standing in the sun. And he cried with a loud voice, saying, saying to all the birds that fly in Midheaven, come and be gathered together unto the great supper of God, that ye may eat the flesh of kings and the flesh of captains, and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses, and of them that sit thereon, and the flesh of all men, both free in bond and small and great. Very gruesome picture. There's an angel flying in Midheaven, and he says to all the vultures you see that are flying in the air, he says to these vultures, and great birds come feed upon the. The dead flesh, the corpses. Here in the ancient world, especially in the curses of the covenant of God in the Old Testament, we see that persistently when an army was conquered, when there was a total devastation of an enemy force, that the sign of that devastation was seen that the birds of heaven fed upon the dead bodies. So if you left the battlefield strewn with bodies so that even the birds of heaven could feed upon them, you had won a total victory over your opposition. And what we're being told here is that in terms of the prophecy of chapter 19 in Revelation, God says to his angel that he is to bid the birds of heaven to a total victory feast. The birds are to feed upon the corpses. That's a gruesome picture. But as B.B. warfield has pointed out, the ironic thing, and perhaps maybe it's set in by contrast on purpose by God, the ironic thing is that this gruesome picture of utter victory is really a blessed picture in terms of what the victory has to do with verse 19. And I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies gathered together to make war against him that sat upon the horse and against his army. Now, earlier in the chapter, Jesus Christ has been described as a mighty victor, a warrior coming forth upon a white horse. The traditional sign, of course, of a victor, that he rides a white stallion, and those who follow him, his army, the saints of Jesus Christ, ride upon white horses as well. And so Christ riding upon his white steed and his army following him, are now going to face in battle the beast and the kings of the earth and all the armies of the unbelievers. I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies gathered together to make war against him that sat upon the horse and against his army. And the beast was taken. And with him the false prophet that wrought the signs in his sight, wherewith he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image, they too were cast alive into the lake of fire that burneth with brimstone. And the rest, the kings of the earth and their armies, and the rest were killed with the sword of him that sat upon the horse, even the sword which came forth out of his mouth, and all the birds were filled with their flesh. This gruesome picture that Christ with this sword that proceeds from his mouth, is going to utterly conquer all opposition to him. But what's the sword that proceeds from his mouth? Is it the sword that the premillennialist expects? Christ is going to come forth in some sort of physical warfare and destroy his enemies? If so, why does the sword proceed from his mouth? I mean, I don't think that the Bible is trying to tell us that Christ has some agility in order to carry on physical warfare with the sword from his mouth. What the Bible is saying is this is not a physical sword at all. This is the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. Christ said earlier in the Gospels that his words were spiritual, spirit and life. His words were spirit, the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, which is the preached gospel, and that gospel which Jesus Christ proclaims and which the Church proclaims is going to utterly defeat the kings of the earth and their armies, utterly defeat them. So that in terms of the ancient image, there's not going to be another soldier left on the field. All the birds of heaven will be filled with their flesh as BB Warfield says this is the most dramatic picture in all the Bible of the universal triumph of the Gospel of Jesus Christ on earth. That the Gospel is going to be so victorious that it will overcome all opposition. All right, so we began two lessons ago looking at the Old Testament promises all the way back at the Abrahamic promise that in Abraham, in Abraham's seed, all the nations of the earth would be blessed and Abraham's seed would possess the gates of their enemies. That was fulfilled, of course, in the New Testament in terms of the Abrahamic covenant being fulfilled in the church of Jesus Christ, the church will be as mighty and as numerous as the sands of the seashore and the stars of the sky. In numbers, the 14th chapter in the Law of God, the promise was given that God would be glorified by all the nations on earth. We looked at the Psalms, Psalm 2 and Psalm 22, and Psalm 47, Psalm 86 and 1:10, all of them teaching that Christ should rule over all the nations of earth. And the prophets of the Old Testament, Isaiah, chapters 2:9, 11, 49, 54 and 66, make similar promises. Jeremiah 31, the promise of the new covenant, that it will no longer be necessary for every man to tell his neighbor no Jehovah, for they shall all know me from the least to the greatest of them. Ezekiel 47, the streams of living water from the temple of God will grow deeper and deeper until it's no longer possible to pass through them. Daniel, the second chapter speaks of the growth of the kingdom like a stone that destroys the world empires and grows to be a mountain filling the earth. Daniel 7 speaks of this kingdom as knowing no end. Joel, the second chapter. Amos, the ninth chapter, Habakkuk, the second chapter, and. And Zechariah 2, 9, 13 and 14, and finally Malachi 1. And that's just, you know, touching the tops as we go across. I mean, if we were really going to the theology of all the prophets and the law and the history and all that, we could get even deeper, I think, in terms of the promise of the universal triumph of God's kingdom on earth. And then second lesson took up the Gospels and how the Gospels show us the marriage feast of God and the seed that grows hundredfold and the great catch of fish and the bearing of much fruit, and all these promises that confirmed that the New Testament Church is to fulfill these things. And then, of course, the Book of Acts and the Epistles that we've looked at today. I think I'd like to take just the remaining moments of our class hour to summarize what we can learn from this biblical theological study from Genesis through revelation of the triumph of the kingdom of God. First of all, what is the scope of Christ redeeming work? What is the scope of Christ's redeeming work? Who or how wide is Christ's redemptive benefit? John 1:29 by the way, I think this is the way that Calvinists should treat some of these passages we're going to be looking at rather than feeling embarrassed. So often, you see, Arminians in their soteriology will present passages like that to Calvinists and say, how can you believe that God elects only certain men? Because look what this says here. John 1:29 on the morrow he seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith behold the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world. Well, how can you say God elects only some men? He takes away the sin of the world. The the answer to that is that's precisely what he does. But of course, it's the elect that John is speaking of. Nonetheless, it's just that we must see that God's electing plans are very broad and that God wants to see the day in which the whole world has become redeemed, when every man has bowed the knee to Jesus Christ. John 3:16, 17 the scope of Christ's redeeming work For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. For God sent not the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world should be saved through him. John 4:42 and they said to the woman, now we believe not because of thy speaking for we have heard for ourselves and know that this is indeed the Savior of the world. 1 John 2:2. And he is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only, but also for the whole world. 1 John 4:14. And we have beheld and bare witness that the Father hath said, sent the Son to be the Savior of the world in 1 Corinthians 5, verse 19. I'm sorry. 2nd Corinthians 5, verse 19. Paul speaking of the ministry of reconciliation, to wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself. And so what is the scope of Christ's redeemed? How broad is his saving mercies? As broad as the world. God wishes to see a saved world. Christ came to save the world. Christ will not be satisfied. He will not see the travail of his soul and be satisfied until he has saved the world. And that's why in Revelation 7 we can see the vastness of the redeemed host emphasized by John. The vastness of the redeemed. Revelation 7, 9, 10 after these things I saw and behold a great multitude which no man could number, just like the stars of the sky and the sands of the seashore, which no man could number out of every nation and of all tribes and peoples and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, arrayed in white robes with polish palms in their hands. And they cry with a great voice saying, salvation unto our God who sitteth on the throne and unto the Lamb. And all the angels were standing round about the throne and about the elders and the four living creatures. And they fell before the throne on their faces and worshiped God saying, Amen. Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power, and might be unto our God forever and ever. Amen. The vastness of the redeemed. No man can number the redeemed, and they're out of every nation, tribe and tongue. Christ came to save the world. And when John sees the redeemed stand before the throne of God, he says, they're innumerable, just like the Abrahamic promise. Well, I think we can finish this up quickly. Let's look at the powerful resources the Church has been given to accomplish this end. We've been talking about in Matthew 18, verse 10:10, and Matthew 26:64, and Matthew 28, 18:20, and finally Acts 18:10. All these verses speak of the fact that Christ is present with his church. Moreover, John 14:16 18 and 26:27, and John 16:7, 15, all teachers that the Holy Spirit is constantly present with the church. Christ is present with his Church. The Holy Spirit infuses the church. And let's look at Ezekiel 18:23. I think this is an important passage. Read it very quickly. Ezekiel 18:23. God says, have I pleasure in the death of the wicked, saith the Lord Jehovah, and not rather that he should return from his way and live. God's pleasure is that the wicked should turn from his way and that he should live. So Christ is present with the church. The Holy Spirit is present with the church. It is the Father's delight to save people. Romans 1:16 speaks of the power of the Gospel. When Paul says, for I am not ashamed of the Gospel, for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. And so we have the power of the Savior, the Power of the Spirit, the power of the Father's delight, and the power of the gospel, all present with us. And finally we have the power of prayer. Matthew 21, verses 21 and 22 Matthew 21:21. And Jesus answered and said unto them, verily I say unto you, if ye have faith and doubt not, ye shall not only do what is done to the fig tree, but even if ye shall say unto this mountain, be thou taken up and cast into the sea, it shall be done in all things. Whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing ye shall receive. And so the question becomes, is the church praying for the salvation of the world? Christ says all things you ask for, believing you shall receive. Are we praying for the salvation of the world? Do we see the gospel as the power of God sufficient to accomplish that? Do we understand that it's the Father's delight to save people and that Christ is present with his Church and in His Spirit, giving us the ability to do these things well? The conclusion, including promise, is given in Revelation chapter 2, verses 25 to 27 and Revelation 3, 7, 9 to the churches of Asia Minor. We studied this at some length a few months ago in Revelation 2:25. Nevertheless, that which ye have, hold fast till I come. And he that overcometh, he that keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I give authority over the nations, and he shall rule them with a rod of iron, as the vessels of the potter are broken to shivers, as I also have received of my Father, so Christ promises to his faithful people that they shall rule over the nations. And in Revelation 3:7:9, these things saith, he that is holy, he that is true, he that hath the key of David, he that openeth and none shall shut, and that shutteth, and none openeth. I know thy behold, I have set before thee a door opened which none can shut, that thou hast a little power, and didst keep my word, and didst not deny my name. Behold, I give of the synagogue of Satan, of them that say they are Jews and they are not, but do lie. Behold, I will make them to come and worship before thy feet, and to know that I have loved thee. God says he sets before the church an open door for missionary activity. So even the most high hostile of opposition will have to come and worship at the feet of believers, saying that Christ has loved you. And so if you begin at Genesis and you study all the way to Revelation, you can't help but see the promise of universal triumph for the kingdom of God on earth. And the New Testament confirmation of those promises. You've got to see the scope of Christ's redeeming work as the world. You must see the vastness of the redeemed. You must see the powerful resources of the Church, the presence of Christ, the presence of the Holy Spirit, the Father's delight to save men, the power of the gospel to do that, and the power of prayer to accomplish what we ask of God. And then finally, looking at the open door God has set before us and the promise of reigning with Christ over the nations. Now, in terms of all of that topical and historical survey, now you can see how clear climactic is the Declaration of Revelation 11. And the seventh angel sounded and there were great voices in heaven saying, the kingdoms of this world are become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever. Let us pray. Our Father, we praise your name and magnify your holiness and your power. That you should rule upon earth, that you should take recalcitrant and bent sinners such as we, and turn us into your sons and daughters. That you should change our hearts and take away the stony heart and giving us hearts of flesh. We praise your name that your good news and your gospel is powerful to save men, and that your spirit works to that end, and that you are with the Church, making it possible that the Great Commission should be fulfilled through it. We thank you for your promises and for your power. We thank you for your Son and for your spirit. We thank you for the good news and for the many good things which you have given to us in it. We ask, Lord, that you might so embolden us and so encourage us and strengthen us, that we indeed would be your messenger, that we would beseech the world to be reconciled to you in your Son, Jesus Christ, that we would not hesitate to evangelize for you and to seek victory for the kingdom of God on earth. We ask, Lord, that you would take such efforts, feeble as they may be, and nevertheless bless them by your grace and make them powerful to the end, that the nations of this world shall indeed be the kingdom of our Lord and of his glory, Christ. For it's in his name that we pray all these things, believing amen.