Kingdom Come

Revelation 11:15-19

The seventh angel sounded his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven, which said:

“The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and He will reign for ever and ever.”—Revelation 11:15 (NIV)

In John chapter 18 verse 36, when Jesus answered Pontius Pilot concerning Him being a king, He said “My kingdom is not of this world.  If my kingdom were of this world, then my servants would be fighting, that I not be delivered up to the Jews but as it is My Kingdom is not of this realm.” (NASB)

Sweet Turning Sour

Revelation 10:1-11:14

Good morning!  We’re closing in on the midpoint of the book of Revelation.  Before we get into today’s passage, I’d like to keep with the pattern of giving a short recap of where we’ve been over the past weeks.  I don’t know about you, but I find myself struggling a bit to keep things in order in my mind.  There are a lot of seals and trumpets and bowls and things going on.

Let’s look at a power point slide with a graphical display of the chapters.  The first glance is as series of blocks which correspond to each chapter of the book.  There are 22 chapters in Revelation.

Unrepentant

Revelation 9

Welcome! This past week the small fall break team from NC State was here. Their visit was brief, but they spent a day on campus doing surveys and sharing the gospel with all who would listen, with all who were curious; we estimate that the gospel was shared between 10 and 15 times, and seeds of Christian thought were planted in other cases as well. We used a custom survey this time, and the results were interesting. I thought you might want to hear the questions.

1. Of the following, which gives you the greatest fear? (a) Ebola (b) Terrorism (c) Economic collapse (d) Solar storm (e) Manmade environmental disaster (f) Natural disaster (g) Other

Blasts

Revelation 8

Let’s review where we have come from so far in Revelation. This book starts out with John’s vision of Jesus, who gives him the seven letters for the seven churches. Then we have the vision of the throne in heaven, attended by the four living creatures and the 24 elders offering worship and praise. Then we have the scroll with seven seals, which only the Lamb is able to open. And we have the worship of the Lamb by every creature in heaven and on earth. As the Lamb opens the first four seals four horsemen are summoned by the four living creatures: a white one representing conquest, a red one for war, a black one for famine, and a pale one carrying Death, followed by Hades (or hell) and given power over a fourth of the earth, to kill by violence, starvation, disease, and attacks by wild animals. So we have a picture of all the bad things happening on earth, down through history, under the control of Almighty God.

Made White With Blood

Revelation 7

So, where are we at this point in the story?  In Revelation 1-3, John has a vision of Jesus.  Then we read about the letters that were to be sent to the seven churches.  Then John shares another vision in Revelation 4:1 which says, “After this I looked, and there before me was a door standing open in heaven. And the voice I had first heard speaking to me like a trumpet said, ‘Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this.’”  

Whereas the first 3 chapters talk about something in the present during John’s time, he seems to switch his focus to some future time.  “The voice” told him that something would take place “after this.”  We don’t really know how far in the future he’s talking about yet.  We just know that God is about to share prophecy about some future events.  In Revelation 4, God gives us a picture of what worship is like or what it will be like in heaven. 

Who is Worthy?

Revelation 4:1-5:14

Welcome! Today we continue our series in the Book of Revelation. I want to start by looking at the big picture of what we have seen so far. In Chapter 1, we begin with brief prologue, a statement that this book is a revelation, a revealing, an unveiling from Jesus Himself, given by His angel or messenger to His servant John, and it says that all who hear this message and take it to heart will be blessed. The book then opens with a greeting from John to the seven churches in the province of Asia. John states a greeting not only from John himself, but also from God; he then praises God and quotes Him as the Alpha and Omega.

John then explains that he was on the island on Patmos when he was “in the Spirit,” and a messenger with a voice like a trumpet told him to write down what he would see and send it to the seven churches. John was then given a vision of seven golden lampstands, representing the churches, and Christ among them, awesome in appearance, glowing, afire, holding seven stars in his right hand, with a sword coming from his mouth. Jesus in this vision identifies Himself and instructs John to write what he has seen, what is now, and what will take place later. Bible interpreters and commentators wrestle over what this means, trying to decide if parts of the vision refer to the past, even John’s past, part to the present, and part to the future, but I think this is not the plainest meaning of what is going on. Perhaps all Jesus meant is that John was to write down his initial vision, that of the messenger, then this vision, and then the vision or visions that would follow.

...Let Him Hear

Revelation 3:1-22

Good morning!  We’re going to continue today on the series in Revelation.  I have to confess that am still a little bit in shock that we’re actually doing a series on Revelation.  Carl had said enough times in the past that he wouldn’t choose to do a series on Revelation.  In March, when he read through the whole book of Revelation in a single morning, he said it might happen, that the Lord was opening that door as it were.  Then, we put it on the schedule, but I still didn’t really think about it.  We announced it to the church.  It seemed more certain, but it hadn’t happened yet.  Then, two weeks ago Carl opened the series.  Then, it should have hit me right?  We’re really doing it now.

But for me, it wasn’t until I sat down and started preparing this message that a wave of shock came over me again.  We’re really going to do it.  We’re going to do a series on the entire book of Revelation.  We’re not going to pick and choose.  We’re not going to skip over stuff.  We’re going to go through every verse in the book.

It is such a good thing for us to do.  As Carl already shared that first week, “Blessed is the one who reads the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear it and take to heart what is written in it.”  (Revelation 1:3)

He who has an ear...

Revelation 2:1-29

In Carl’s introduction to the book of Revelation last week he reminded us of the wonderful promise at the beginning that states that we are blessed to hear this book and take it to heart. As I looked at Chapter 2 for today, I was so blessed that I wrote one of my longest messages yet – only to realize that today is a Sharing Sunday, which means it should be a short message. So I had to do some painful pruning. There is so much in this chapter.  So without further ado, let’s pray and dig into this rich passage.

I wanted to say something about the symbolism that we find in Revelation and how sometimes literal pictures are not very helpful – at least I don’t find them so. Rather than considering a question like, How could Jesus speak with a double-edged sword coming out of His mouth? It is more helpful to think about what the sword might mean, in the light of other scriptures. The sword is the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, dividing soul and spirit, and judging the thoughts and attitudes of the heart, as it says in Hebrews 4:12. The word of God is able to pierce through the junk that may be in my mind, will, and emotions – the impurities in my soul – to touch the core of who I am, my eternal spirit, which is where I can truly connect with God. That’s the sword coming out of Jesus’ mouth. It’s the word of God that lays bare who we are deep inside, at our very core, where it really matters.

Do Not Be Afraid

Revelation 1:1-20

Welcome! Today we begin a new series on the book of Revelation. At one time I believed we would never do a series on this book, because of the difficulty of understanding it, but as the leaders of the church met together and prayed together, the idea of going through this book began to grow and take root, and so, here we are. 

I have to confess that one of the reasons I was previously resistant to doing a series on this book was one of fear. Would we look foolish? Would it create conflicts because of strongly held opinions? Would people just not be interested? And so the title today, “Do Not Be Afraid,” is as much for me as it is you. I believe we can trust God and the Holy Spirit to give us spirits of humility as we look inside this book, and we can also trust Him to reveal to us exactly what He wants to reveal to us, to help us understand exactly what He wants us to understand. We do not need to fear diving into this book. 

This book was written by John, understood to be the same author as the author of the Gospel of John as well as the letters known as I John, II John, and III John. One reason we can be pretty certain of this is that Justin Martyr, who lived from 100-165 AD, wrote that it was this same John, and he personally knew Polycarp, who was one of John’s closest personal disciples. Irenaeus also confirms the authorship in letters written about the same time.

Praise in Unity: Psalms 133 & 134

Welcome! Today we finish our series on the Psalms of Ascent, Psalms 120-134. These psalms are a collection, indicated in the original Hebrew as “of ascents,” or “degrees” or “steps.” We have mentioned repeatedly in this series that they may have been recited as the Israelites made their regular pilgrimages from around Israel to Jerusalem for important religious holidays. As a modern culture I think the setting of these psalms may be somewhat hard for us to relate to. We don’t walk any great distances singing spiritual songs together. Instead we drive in a nice air-conditioned car with the radio going on in front while the non-drivers watch movies, listen to music on headphones, or play games on their cell phones. 

I don’t think I’m a Luddite, but I do think we have lost something important as a culture, and we are continuing to lose it more and more day by day as we get ever more entranced by our electronic devices: we are losing our sense of community. The sense of community in residential neighborhoods has been steadily disappearing for at least the last 40 years.