And He Shall Reign For Ever and Ever

Q: What does the Bible say about God's sovereignty?

The Bible emphasizes that God is sovereign over all creation, reigning supreme and controlling all events to fulfill His divine purpose. The sovereignty of God is a central theme in Scripture, highlighting His ultimate authority over everything that happens in the universe. Revelation 11:15 declares that 'the kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ.' This signifies not only God's right to rule but also His active governance of all affairs. To truly understand the gospel, we must grasp that Christ's work and His reign are inseparable; for, if He is not sovereign, His victory over sin and death is rendered ineffective. The good news is that our Lord Jesus Christ reigns forever and ever, ensuring that all creation serves His eternal purpose.

Q: How do we know Jesus reigns as King?

Jesus' reign as King is affirmed in Scripture, particularly through His resurrection and ascension, where He is declared to be Lord and Christ. The affirmation of Jesus as King is not merely a theological assertion but a declaration grounded in biblical prophecy and fulfillment. In Acts 2:36, Peter proclaims that God has made Jesus both Lord and Christ. This coronation was manifested through His resurrection, which established His dominion over death and sin. Furthermore, the book of Revelation illustrates ongoing spiritual realities where Christ's authority is displayed over all nations and realms. His kingship is proven to be everlasting, ensuring that every knee will bow and every tongue confess that He is Lord, confirming the truth of His reign throughout history.

Q: Why is it significant that Christ reigns forever?

Christ's eternal reign assures believers of His control and the eventual fulfillment of God's redemptive plan. The significance of Christ's eternal reign lies in the assurance it provides to believers. In a world that often seems chaotic and out of control, the fact that Christ reigns forever serves as a profound comfort. Revelation 11:15 clearly states, 'He shall reign forever and ever,' which indicates that no event or ruler can thwart God's purposes. This reign guarantees that His redemptive work continues and that in the fullness of time, all things will be brought together under His lordship. It reassures us that even amid trials, He is orchestrating everything for His glory and our ultimate good, culminating in a restored creation where sin and suffering are eradicated.

Q: What is the essence of the Gospel according to Reformed theology?

The essence of the Gospel is the proclamation of Christ's sovereignty and His redemptive work on behalf of sinners. In Reformed theology, the essence of the Gospel encapsulates the idea that Jesus Christ reigns supreme and has achieved salvation for His people through His life, death, and resurrection. This is vividly expressed in Luke 1:32-33, where it is prophesied that Jesus will reign over the house of Jacob forever. The Gospel is not just about individual salvation but encompasses the entirety of Christ's lordship over all creation. As believers, we acknowledge that the good news is tied to the acknowledgment of Christ's authority, which ensures that His work is fulfilled. This perspective challenges self-centered notions of faith and heralds the majesty of Christ, calling all to submit to His sovereign will.

Q: How should Christians respond to Christ's sovereignty?

Christians should respond to His sovereignty with worship, surrender, and a commitment to live under His lordship. The response of Christians to Christ’s sovereignty should be characterized by genuine worship and a heartfelt surrender to His lordship. Acknowledging that 'the kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord' (Revelation 11:15) leads to a recognition of His authority over every aspect of our lives. This relational dynamic fosters a lifestyle of obedience and reverence. It encourages believers to share the Gospel, proclaiming the good news of His reign to a world desperately in need of His grace. Submission to Christ's authority brings assurance and hope, as we trust in His perfect plan for our lives and the unfolding of history.

If you'll be opening your Bibles
to the book of Revelation chapter 11, certainly good to be among
you this morning. I rejoice anytime that I'm able
to meet with the people of God. Thankful that I happen to be,
by the grace of God, one of them. Truly a blessing that we don't
understand how great it is to be one of God's people, one of
God's children. Beloved, what love, what grace,
what mercy the Father hath bestowed on us that we should be called
the children of God. It is easy, I believe at least
it's easy for me because nearly all my contact with human beings
is with those who profess to be the people of God. As a pastor,
my most common interactions with people are the church folk. They
are the members of the congregation where I am. They are my friends. They are my family. When I travel,
I'm generally speaking traveling to where there's a group of people
who most rightly could be called the people of God. And because
we have our lives so much in that context, we sometimes forget
what the Apostle said. Remember that at that time, and
he goes through a series of descriptions of our condition apart from God,
darkness, ignorance, deceiving, deceived, hated and hateful,
and finally, the most devastating things, without Christ and without
hope. Oh, if we could remember, if
we could conceive of how awful it is to not be among the people
of God, we would be more thankful Wouldn't we? That we can say,
yes, I know God. Better yet, I'm known of Him. But it's good to be among you.
There's no more delightful people in all the world than those who
love God. Because God has not only been
delighted in them, He's made them delightful. I know we got
our problems, don't we? We can rub each other the wrong
way. But the fact is, there's nobody I'd rather be with other
than the Lord Jesus Christ. There's nobody I'd rather be
with than one of His. And probably because in being
with them, I'm reminded of Him. I love music. I love music of
all types. I like everything from high classical
music blues and jazz and rock and roll, some country, most country actually. I like
it all. All of it has its way of speaking. But if you were to ask me what
is my favorite piece of music, There is one piece of music that
it never fails to stir me. That every time I hear it, it
is almost more than I can take. It's commonly referred to as
the Hallelujah Chorus. In truth, its title is simply
Hallelujah. And in Handel's work, The Messiah,
Every piece of music, it has a name and then it says who's
supposed to sing it. And so you got this, you know,
solo, this duet, and Hallelujah is to be sung by the entire chorus,
or as we would say today, choir. And how fitting. For the Hallelujah is not to
be sung by one believer or two, or a quartet, but the entire choir of God's
people. But the Hallelujah Chorus comes
from several texts in the book of Revelation. The text that
says, Hallelujah, for the Lord God Omnipotent reigneth. Possibly borrowing from what
our brother read in Isaiah, that those who come and preach good
tidings, which by the way, had that been translated into Greek
and then translated into English, would have said, who preach the
gospel? Because the word normally translated gospel in the New
Testament simply means good news or good tidings. When the angel
said to the shepherds, I bring you good tidings of great joy. That translation, good tidings,
or the word translated good tidings, is the word that almost everywhere
else is translated in our English Bibles as gospel. I bring you
the gospel. How beautiful on the mountains
are the feet of him who brings the gospel, the good news, proclaims
peace, that brings good news of good things that saith unto
Zion, What? God loves you and has a wonderful
plan for your life. God's done all he can and the
rest is up to you. Thy God reigns. And if there's any reason for
any of us here to say Hallelujah, which by the way means praise
to Jehovah. That's what that word means. Praise to Jehovah. Most of the
time, in fact, I don't think you find it anywhere in the Old
Testament, though it's there in Hebrew. It's in the King James
Version. It's almost always translated,
Praise ye the Lord. But it's the Hebrew word, Hallelujah,
and you find it then in the book of Revelation. Because John borrowed
a lot from the Old Testament scriptures in writing that book.
Hallelujah. And if there's any reason to
say hallelujah, any reason to shout such a word of triumph,
and glory, and joy, and exultation, I mean, all those ideas rolled
together. Any reason to say that, it's
this. The Lord, Jehovah, God omnipotent reigns. What good is a Savior that's
not in control? What good is a Savior who can
have His plan overthrown because of unforeseen circumstances or
obstacles that He cannot overcome? If you're drowning out in the
middle of the pool A lifeguard comes out there. You may appreciate
all of his efforts. You may think he's a nice guy
for coming out there. But he's no good as a lifeguard
if he's not equal to and surpassing the power and authority of the
waves. If he cannot control the situation,
he can't save you. If he's not greater than the
trouble, then he's in trouble. Hallelujah. The Lord God omnipotent
reigns. And the music, and like I said,
it's certainly among my favorites, if not my favorite piece of music.
This chorus, or what's to be sung by the chorus, the entire
choir, hallelujah, the music entwines with the words as nearly
perfectly as a human could ever get them to do. And it goes to
another text in the middle, and it's our text for this morning. Revelation 11 verse 15, the seventh
angel sounded, and there were great voices in
heaven saying, the kingdoms, and this is what provides the
text for the middle of the Hallelujah. The kingdoms of this world are
become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ. And He shall
reign forever and ever. Now this is the end, the goal,
if you will, the purpose to which all history has been moving. Some would say it's the goal
or purpose to which all history is moving. And I don't mind that
altogether, except for this fact. This is something that's already
happened. This is not something we look for, it's something that
has already been done. Now we may say he is bringing
all things into captivity under His feet, and that's an ongoing
thing. But that doesn't mean that anything that exists or
has existed is not under His feet. The only reason that they're
still being brought under the feet, the dominion of the Lord
Jesus Christ, is because new things are coming to pass. New
people are being born all the time. And all of these things,
the moment they appear, they are put under His feet. Everything
is under His feet now and anything to come, the moment it comes,
it's under His feet. He reigns. Everything that has
to do with this world is in captivity to the will and power of the
Lord Jesus Christ. It always has been in the sense
that He has been That Word from God from the very beginning,
and the Word of God never fails. But here in the book of Revelation,
what John is telling to these persecuted and somewhat beleaguered
saints is this, don't worry. I know it looks to you like it's
all out of control. Your brethren are being persecuted.
Some of them are being killed. The apostles are dying off. Everything
that is associated with the life you knew up to now, you see it
going away. The church suffers. It suffers
from those on the inside who would bring in all kinds of destructive
divisions and heresies. It's suffering from the outside
as those who feel threatened by the sovereignty of Jesus Christ
rise up and kill those who would name the name of Christ. The
beast rises up out of the sea. The beast rises up on the earth.
The false prophet. It looks like all is lost. And
John says, don't you worry. Don't you worry. the Lord God
Omnipotent reigns. And the kingdoms of this world
are become the kingdoms of this Lord God Omnipotent and the kingdoms
of His Christ. And He shall reign forever and
ever. This is to what the world has
been moving. It was the purpose for which the world was created.
If you look over to Ephesians chapter 1, You ever heard people say, what
in the world is going on? Do you know who knows what in
the world is going on? Believers in the Lord Jesus Christ.
We know what's going on. Now there's a difference between
what's happening and what's going on. What's happening is merely
made up of the various events we see. What's going on is what
those events are going to bring to pass. The purpose for them. And here's what's going on. Verse
9 of Ephesians 1. God, having made known unto us
the mystery of His will according to His good pleasure which He
hath purposed in Himself. Now what's He saying? God has
told us, those who have been chosen, those who have been redeemed,
those who have been enlightened to the truth of the Gospel, He's
made known to us what He's doing. The end to which all of His providential
decrees is moving. And it's this, verse 10, that
in the dispensation of the fullness of times, in other words, when
we get to the end of everything, when all that's said and done
has been said and done. He might gather together in one
all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are in
earth or on earth, even in Him." What's he saying there? Well,
that phrase there, might gather together in one, it all comes
from a very simple, or actually a single word, I believe. But
we would say it brings together under one heading, is what he
means. Anybody that's ever had to keep
books, you know what a spreadsheet is. Because you've got to keep track
of what kind of expense each thing is. And you've got a column. And up at the top is a heading.
Mortgage. Another heading, utilities. Another
heading, auto expense. And so your expenses come under
a lot of different headings. In God's world, everything comes
under one heading, Christ. Christ. Everything is about Him. You've heard that phrase, why
does it always have to be about you? And that pretty well is the way
the world works. Everybody wants everything to be about himself.
God is insistent that everything be about His Son. In this world, the things that
are happening in it, everything is happening under the heading
of the exaltation of Jesus Christ. The things we know about, even
the things we don't know about. What we consider big and powerful
events, and small and insignificant events. And sometimes that which
we consider to be small and insignificant, turns out to be among the most
significant things. Nearly 2,000 years ago, The Roman procurator of Israel
was confronted by a rabble of Jews upset at a young preacher
and miracle worker. And they wanted to crucify him.
And he thought, and I guarantee this was going to these Jews,
what did I do for the emperor to send me here? They're nothing
but trouble. It's early in the morning. I
was asleep. They woke me up. And they want
me to make a judicial decree. And he looks at me and says,
I don't see anything wrong with this guy. Ain't no fault in him. And they said, crucify him, crucify
him. And eventually, Pilate gave in. Now from the world's view, Pilate
was the big guy that day. He was the one in charge. He
was the important one. But you know, nobody else in
the rest of the world, anybody outside of Jerusalem, they didn't
know what was happening. It didn't come out in the Roman times the
next day that Jesus of Nazareth had been crucified. Had there been an internet, it
wouldn't have showed up on a drudge report. Maybe somebody in Jerusalem would
have tweeted it to somebody else, but they wouldn't have had any
idea what it meant. And yet it was the most momentous
event that ever happened on the face of the earth. And the Lord Jesus was in complete
control of everything that happened that day. Pilate said, take him and crucify
him. Because Jesus said, Pilate, you're
going to say, take him and crucify him. Our Lord is King everywhere at
all times. It is what this world has been
heading to all along. And when time is done, it's going
to be evident to everyone that that's what time was about. This
world was not created so that there would be humanity. This
world was created as a stage upon which the Lord God of all
would glorify his son, the Lord Jesus Christ. That's its purpose. And that's why you can see that
the flesh is enmity with God. Because the flesh is all about
the exaltation of self. We all do want it to be about
us. And as long as we think things
are about us, we are working contrary to God's purpose where
He says all things shall be about Christ. And we have to be very careful.
For we claim to believe God through Christ. We say that Jesus Christ
is our Savior. Saying is easy. Oh, it's so easy. And we come like this and worship.
And that's the right thing to do. But is our worship about Him? Or is it about us? Are we here? And, you know, there
is somewhat we could glory in after the flesh if we wanted
to. And we do want to. Let's just admit it. We're flesh. And we like the glory of the
flesh. And we like the pat on the back. And we can boast about,
you know, we're small and we struggle. But I'm determined
this is how I'm going to work. I'm making it about you. It's
not about you. It's not about your struggles.
It's not about your sacrifice. It's not about your confessions.
It's not about your church attendance. It's not about your faith and
free and sovereign grace. It's about the free and sovereign
Savior. Now, I say that not as a harsh
rebuke to any of us. In fact, I was thinking this
morning, when should we be harsh with the people of God? Almost
never, almost never. God isn't very harsh with them,
why should we be? I say things like this, actually,
if there's any harshness in it, simply that our flesh might understand
and acknowledge it's being offended. Because the flesh of the believer
is as offended by the gospel as the flesh of an unbeliever. And our flesh needs some offending.
Lest we believe that what we are doing in the flesh is of
any account whatsoever. It's about Him. It always has
been and it always will be. It says that every knee shall
bow and every tongue confess that Jesus is Lord to the glory
of the Father. It could have just as well been
put that every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that
all along it's been about Him. And when it's all said and done,
everybody's going to realize it was. Some to their great joy,
some to their great sorrow. But everybody's going to realize
it. It was about Him. Three observations about this
scripture in the book of Revelation. The kingdoms of this world are
become the kingdoms of our God and of His Christ. Some of the
old Greek manuscripts put that in a singular, the kingdom of
this world is become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ.
I'm not enough of a Greek scholar to look back into those ancient
manuscripts and say, well, this one's more reliable than that
one. I don't know. I know this to me as I understand
what the scriptures are saying all together. It's better to
keep this in a singular because it's not just as though the kingdom
of the United States and the kingdom of England and the kingdom
of Iran and all that come under the control. It's true that they
are his kingdoms. But the point here is that the
kingdom of the world of humanity All men, for you see, we like
to think that we in the United States are a whole lot different
than they are over there in the Mideast where they worship Allah.
Or over there in the Soviet Union where they almost worship nobody.
Or down there in Brazil or down there or over in Africa or somewhere
in the primitive tribes where they worship who knows what.
We like to think we're different. We like to think that we think
different. Well, I'll be honest with you, I'd rather live here
than any of those places. But we are the same. We are by
nature just like everyone else is. We Americans, we red, white,
and blue Americans, we are full of self. We red, white, and blue
Americans are just self-righteous as can be. We just tag the name
of Jesus Christ on our self-righteousness. That's all we've done. We're
idol worshippers like they are in the rest of the world. And we think that man is something.
You know, everybody gets wound up
about 666. Remember when Ronald Reagan was
president? Some said, well, Ronald's got
six letters, Wilson's got six letters, and Reagan's got six
letters. That was his name, Ronald Wilson Reagan. So he must be
the beast. The number of his name is 666. What does that name
mean? The scriptures tell us exactly
what it means. Or people say, it's the devil's
number. No, it's not. It's man's number. It's the number
of man. And the United States is as much
about man as any other country in the world. And Jesus Christ is Lord of the
entire kingdom of man, the kingdom of this world. And he may raise us up good leaders, and
He may hand us awful ones. The United States is His to do
whatever He wants with, to accomplish His purpose. And whether our
freedoms are maintained, or if we suddenly or inch by inch descend
into tyranny, we will be accomplishing the
exaltation of the Lord Jesus Christ. And every American, Republican,
Democrat, Independent, Libertarian, whatever, will bow the knee and
say Jesus is Lord. The kingdom of this world, with
all its rebellion against God, with all its vicious attacks
against the people of God, is firmly within the hand of the
Lord Jesus Christ. And as He turns the heart of
the king any way He wants, so He turns the whole kingdom any
way He wants. He causes them to rise up, and
then He puts them down when He's done with them. And He raises
up another, and then puts it down. These three observations, if
you'd look at Luke chapter 1, verse 29. What is being said here in the
book of Revelation is nothing more and nothing less than a
fulfillment of what the angel said to Mary with regard to the
Lord Jesus Christ. And it also will teach us how
to interpret Old Testament sayings and all this all the remarks that the Bible
has to say about the Jewish nation. In Luke chapter 1, I had a lot more verses. Okay,
verse 32. I can't have time to read everything
I have written down here. The angel is talking to Mary
about Jesus. You'll call His name Jesus. In
verse 32, He shall be great, and He shall be called the Son
of the Highest. And the Lord God shall give unto him the throne
of his father David. And he shall reign over the house
of Jacob forever and ever. Now, actually this message I preached
at home last week and the week before somebody had posted a
video on Facebook of a performance of the Hallelujah Chorus done
by the choir at King's College of Cambridge University. And
it was beautifully done, all-male choir. They had young boys singing
the soprano part, and they did a magnificent job. And the orchestra
was made of instruments as they would have appeared back in the
1700s. I bet you I've played it a dozen
times, maybe more. But I kept thinking of that line,
and He shall reign. And I thought, you know, that's
not the only place that I remember those words in the Scriptures.
I couldn't remember just where it was, but, and He shall reign.
And so I looked it up on one computer Bible I've got, and
here it is. As our Lord is about to be made
flesh, and dwell among us, the angel says, here's his name,
Jesus, and he shall reign. Now here it says, over the house
of Jacob. And then it goes on to the same
words forever and ever. And we see from this, that when
it talks about the house of Jacob, it's not just saying, that this
applies to the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. God
purposefully hid for His own, and when I say purposefully,
I mean for whatever His purposes were. He spoke in such a way
that while the truth was told, it wasn't always revealed in
the way He spoke, when He spoke in the Old Testament. And let
me show you that. If you look over at Ephesians
chapter 3, You know, not Mary, the mother of the Lord
Jesus, or any of His apostles understood the greatness of the
work of the Lord Jesus Christ until it was revealed to them.
Because as our Lord is about to ascend into glory after His
death, burial, and resurrection, and spend 40 days teaching Even after all of that, they
said, well, now, is this when you're going to restore the kingdom
to Israel? And if the Lord didn't know all
things, I'm sure what he would have done. And the Lord, but the Lord understood
why they didn't understand, and he didn't get frustrated like
we get frustrated with people. And he simply said, it's not
for you to know the times or the seasons. which the Father
hath set by his own power." It also wasn't yet time for them
to know not only the times and seasons, it wasn't even for them
to know the significance of everything yet. But Paul says here in Ephesians
chapter 3, verse 3, Paul's talking about
his ministry and his apostle. How that by revelation he made
known unto me the mystery, as I wrote a foreword, a few words,
whereby when ye read, ye may understand my knowledge in the
mystery of Christ, which in other ages was not made known unto
the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles
and prophets by the Spirit, that the Gentiles should be fellow
heirs and of the same body and partakers of the promise in Christ
by the gospel. Paul said, Nobody knew this until
God revealed it to me. God also said it to Peter, but
Peter didn't catch on so good. We don't easily give up our religious
prejudices, do we? And Peter was at first the apostle
of the Gentiles, but he just couldn't quite handle it. It
was kind of tough for him to really accept them on the same
level as a Jew, as a fellow heir. I'm sure he understood in his
heart, but he still wrestled with it in his way of thinking.
That's why he ended up sitting at, you know, changing tables
there in Antioch and sitting with the Jews and disassociating
with the Gentiles. And behold the glory of the sovereignty
of the Lord Jesus Christ. He took the most Jewish man there
ever was and made him the apostle of the Gentiles and taught him
and changed his heart. that He laid down every glory
there was to be found in being a Jew, and He could embrace those
Gentiles as though He had been their brethren, or they had been
His brethren from the very beginning. Why? Because the Lord Jesus told
Him. He said, as much as the Lord
said, when they told my mother that I would reign over the house
of Jacob, you got to understand that house of Jacob is a whole
lot bigger than Israel. The Gentiles are fellow heirs
and of the household of Jacob. For they bear Jacob's name by
nature, Scoundrel, Cheat, Ne'er-do-well. And only by grace do they ever
obtain that other name, Israel, one who prevails with God. We're not just preaching to Jews.
Why? because they are not the only
ones impinged by the phrase, the house of Jacob. The whole
world is in the hand of the Lord Jesus Christ, that he may save
all of his Jacob's out of it and make them into Israel's. Secondly, in these three observations, that this message The kingdom of this world has
become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ. It is the
essence of the gospel. Now, I almost hate to say the
essence of the gospel because there's nothing about the gospel
that you can take out of the gospel and the gospel be the
gospel. But there is a certain amount
of reason in this, that all that our Lord did in working out a
righteousness, and suffering as the substitute for sinners
and raising from the dead. All of that means nothing and
will accomplish nothing if he is not the absolute sovereign
to ensure that all his work bears the fruit that it was intended
to. See what I mean? If he's not
in charge, nothing's going to come of all that that he did. And so when I say it's the essence
of the Gospel, just as our brother read in Isaiah chapter 52, thy
God reigns. That's the Gospel. And what does
Peter, the apostle, say on the day of Pentecost? And if I understand
right, I know we're not a liturgical church here, and none of our
churches are. We don't have a religious calendar.
But this is Pentecost. I think I saw that on the Internet
today. 50 days, isn't it, after Easter. So today is the day of Pentecost,
celebrated in some churches, and we're going to read what
was said on Pentecost in Acts 2, verse 36. Acts 2, verse 36, the day of
Pentecost, the first time that the gospel is going to be preached
in its full-blown revelation. Up till now, it's been kind of
shadowy. Types and pictures. Now we're going to say it plain.
And here it is. Therefore, let all the house
of Israel know assuredly that God hath made that same Jesus
whom you have crucified your personal Savior. He has made him the doormat you
walk across to get to heaven. He hath made Him to be Lord and
Christ. You see, when we look at the
book of Revelation, we're not looking at a series of events
in history, so to speak. We're looking at symbolic revelations
of things which God has done. And when the Lord Jesus Christ
ascended unto glory, the kingdoms of this world were made His. That was His coronation. They
were always His by right. Now they are His publicly. God
crowned Him with glory and honor, set Him over everything. This
is the one in charge. If you want something done, ask
Him. I commit all things into His hands.
And Peter was not talking about something yet to come. An event
that will happen one of these days when they rebuild the temple
in Jerusalem and all the Jews come back and have a revival
and Jesus comes back and snatches a bunch away and comes back seven
years later and does it, comes and gets some more. No, it's
not like that. This making for this coronation
of Christ happened before the day of Pentecost. Because on the day of Pentecost,
Peter says, it's done. And He shall reign forever and
ever. The Lord Jesus Christ is not
trying to reign. He's not becoming king. He is. And never will it be that He
is not the king. And third observation. that this
truth, that the kingdoms of this world, or the kingdom of this
world is become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ, it
is the ultimate judgment of this world. You say, well, it's good news. Good news to His world, but not
to this one. In the flow of Revelation, in
the book of Revelation, it says that there was a scroll sealed
with seven seals. That scroll represents the purpose
of God in bringing all things under the headship of Jesus Christ.
And there was only one worthy to open those seals, to bring
all this to pass, and it was Christ Himself. And as He brings
all these things to pass, He gets to the seventh seal. which
we know that seven is the number of perfection, completion or
ultimate or whatever. And he opens that seal and the
result is that seven angels with trumpets are revealed. And I tell you, every time one
of those angels blows his trumpet, something awful happens to this
world. Judgment comes on this world.
There's something comes out of the sky like a blazing mountain.
Star falls from the sky. Earthquakes, all this kind of
stuff. All these tokens of judgment. To the human mind, these are
tokens of judgment. And interestingly enough, after
the fourth angel sounds his trumpet, someone says, woe to the earth. by the reason of the three yet
to come. And I remember reading that and
I think, whoa, the earth by the next ones. What about these four
already? Falling stars, blazing mountains,
bitter waters. And the fifth trumpet sounds
and the sixth trumpet sounds and there's destruction and plague. They're all working up to the
seventh trumpet. because that's going to be the
ultimate judgment. Compared to whatever it is the
seventh trumpet's going to do, these blazing mountains, falling
stars, earthquakes, plagues, destructions are but
a preview. And we read back in the book
of Revelation, Chapter 11, verse 15. Well, we'll read 14. The second woe is past, and behold,
the third woe cometh quickly. And the seventh angel sounded,
and there were great voices in heaven saying, The kingdoms of
this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ.
And he shall reign forever and ever. The Lord Jesus Christ came into
this world to save his people. And part of saving his people
involves the destruction of everything that stands opposed to him. Now, let us put this in a political
context, which is a sense how this is being done and what we
can understand. Imagine a man who is harsh, mean, tyrannical. We got people like that in the
United States of America. But we don't worry about them. For the most part, they're nobodies. Most of us, the worst will ever
come of them, we might have to work for one of them. But at
least at the end of the day, we get to go home. They are basically no threat
to us. because they have no power or
authority to do anything to us. It's in their nature to be that
way, but they don't have the position to do it. Now, what
then would be a great judgment of God upon this nation if one
of those fellows ever ended up in the Oval Office? And he had
the power to do what it was in his heart to do. Now, our Lord
Jesus, I don't want to cast him in the evil light as a harsh
tyrant. I'm only using this by way of
illustration. The world stands opposed to him
and he stands opposed to the world. The world doesn't care
because they do not perceive that he's in charge. But when they find out he's in
charge, what are they going to say? Oh, woe is us. You know, when Peter preached
on the day of Pentecost and declared this very message. And there's
all those people from the house of Jacob, both those who are
naturally of the house of Jacob, and there were many Gentiles.
They call them God-fearing Gentiles from all the countries. And they're
all there standing, listening to Peter. And he declares that
Jesus has been made Lord and Christ. And what did they do?
Say hallelujah? Did they say, this is the best
news we've ever heard? They said, oh, brethren, what
are we going to do? What are we going to do? We crucified
this man. We showed our rebellion. We showed
our hatred. And now he's in charge. When they said, what should we
do? I know this is speculation on my part, but I'm trying to
think what would I have said if I were standing there listening
to that? I don't think that they were saying, what should we do,
as though they expected Peter to tell them anything. I don't think they asked that
because they thought that there was anything they could do. I
think that the sense of their words were, what in the world
are we going to do? He's in charge. And we're on the wrong side. Woe be on the earth. Jesus is Lord. And I'll tell you, he's no tyrant
in the way we think of the word tyrant. For a while they said,
what in the world are we going to do? There was a response. Peter didn't say, sorry guys.
It's all over. He said, repent and be baptized,
every one of you, for the remission of your sins. And you will receive
the gift of the Holy Spirit. And with many other words he
spoke to them. He explained to them. that this king is a gracious
king and he sits upon a throne of grace and he can be entreated.
And if you just bow, just repent, that means give up your rebellion,
stack arms, surrender. And he said with many other words,
he says, save yourselves from this rebellious world, this rebellious
generation. He's going to destroy it. The
woe has come upon the earth, save yourself from it. Out, change
sides. Bow to Him. Now, if you have
bowed to Him, if you can say from your heart,
hallelujah, the Lord God omnipotent reign. Boy, it's good news then
to find out His Son is on the throne and He shall reign forever
and ever. It's good as we see so much of
this world running contrary to the way of God, the way of Christ. And as we see, and sometimes
I get a little fearful with some of the things I read going on.
This country, which we love so dearly, is our own home and we
cherish its blessings and its liberties so much. But even as
we see that, Fading away, something more serious
is happening. A greater and greater animosity
towards Christ and His people is growing. And that could mean things would
get tough for us or for our children who are believers or their children. I don't know how long something
like this would take, but the time will come When in the good
ole USA, it'll be dangerous to confess the name of Christ. About
the worst you'll get now is to lose some friends. They may come when you lose your
life. In fact, if the Lord lets things go, that's exactly what'll
happen. But you know what? They'll still be his kingdom. And every American will still
be doing exactly what Jesus Christ determines, as well as every
Mexican and every Frenchman and every British guy and every Muslim
and every communist and every fascist. They're all doing exactly
what Jesus determined that they would do. He is not upset. He is not frustrated. He's not
afraid. He's not disappointed. He reigns
and that forever and ever.

And He Shall Reign For Ever and Ever

What does the Bible say about God's sovereignty?

How do we know Jesus reigns as King?

Why is it significant that Christ reigns forever?

What is the essence of the Gospel according to Reformed theology?

How should Christians respond to Christ's sovereignty?

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And He Shall Reign For Ever and Ever

What does the Bible say about God's sovereignty?

How do we know Jesus reigns as King?

Why is it significant that Christ reigns forever?

What is the essence of the Gospel according to Reformed theology?

How should Christians respond to Christ's sovereignty?

Sermon Transcript

About Joe Terrell

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