Well, good evening. I want to say that if you have something to say to Mike Ross this week from this morning, I've put a forwarding email address and phone number on our website. And you won't have to wait for him to return in two weeks. That's a joke. We would never do that. I might want to. I was actually teasing Mike this week. I was observing that his trip to India made me speculate about his motives for going over there. First, he gets out of preaching two sermons in the book of Revelation. And that means for at least two weeks you can't challenge his interpretation of those passages. And second, he's ensured that if you struggle with my interpretation of the passage tonight, he's as far as ways he can possibly get from any distress I impose on you. And so, I hope that won't be your experience tonight. And actually, Pastor Ross and Miller have far superior motives for leaving us behind for a while. And I hope you'll pray for them daily as they teach and preach the word of God in this great land we call India. We must pray for their rest and their health as well as their effectiveness as ambassadors for Christ. And I'd like to do that now, even before I pray for myself. Would you pray with me? Our Father, we as a family of God, can laugh around this table so to speak about life together. And we thank you for lighter moments, but Father, the truth is Mike Miller and Mike Ross have set up out on a very, very long journey to a faraway place to represent our Christ as his ambassador teaching and preaching in many places. Really, Father, in a culture that is quite foreign to us. And so, we dare to ask that you would even now, as they're on the plane flying across the Atlantic, that you give them refreshment and rest. Father, something that is counterintuitive on an airliner, but praying Father, that you'd accommodate their frailties and weaknesses and protect them from any harm. And Father, to that end, if that happens, Father, they will be very free to speak for you in India. Many, many folks who are coming from some distances, I believe, to hear your word from them and we pray that your blessing would rest on the mall. And Father, for me now is I have this great privilege tonight of sharing with your people from the book of Revelation. Your vision to the apostle John, would you help me do that for Jesus' sake, Amen. Last week Pastor Ross took on the challenge of preaching Revelation chapter 11, verses 1 to 14. One commentator, I consulted acknowledged that this passage is one of the more difficult to interpret in the book of Revelation due to its numerous and various symbolism. This passage stands as an interlude between the 6th and 7th trumpet judgments as Pastor Ross explained. And it concerns itself with preserving the witness of the church in the midst of great persecution. Pastor Ross concluded, if you remember last week with this wonderful consideration of what is known as the Great Puritan Hope. A hope shared by many of our great forefathers in the Reformation, men like David Brainerd and Jonathan Edwards and George Whitfield, it was the hope that fueled the early modern missionary efforts of men like William Carey and those who followed him. And the hope was this, that the testimony of the church cannot and will never be entirely quenched by the enemies of Christ. And that God in His grace and mercy will provide a great harvest of souls in the final days in the midst of and in spite of great tribulation. Appearances can be deceiving. Pastor Ross has been reminding us on going in our study of Revelation 6 through 11, that the best way to think of the seven seals in chapter 6 and 7 and the seven trumpets in chapters 8 through 11 is that they or a recap or a repetition of the same story using different imagery. The seven seals and the seven trumpets are two ways of describing the judgment and the witness and the martyrdom and the victory associated with this cosmic conflict between Christ and His people and their enemies. And so tonight we'll concern ourselves with the seventh trumpet found in Revelation chapter 11 verses 15 through 19. It's a relatively brief passage just five verses but don't let its brevity fool you. It's profoundly important and encouraging a part of John's Revelation. What began in Revelation 8.6 with the first trumpet concludes here tonight with the seventh and last trumpet. Would you take your Bibles then and look with me please at Revelation chapter 11 verses 15 through 19. Remember now this is the word of the Lord.
In the seventh angel, blue is trumpet and there were loud voices in heaven saying, the kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ and He shall reign forever and ever. And the 24 elders who sit on their thrones before God fell on their faces and worshiped God saying, we give thanks to you Lord God Almighty who is and who was. For you have taken your great power and begun to reign. The nations raged but your wrath came and the time for the dead to be judged and for rewarding your servants, the prophets and saints and those who fear your name both small and great and for destroying the destroyers of the earth. Then God's temple in heaven was opened and the ark of his covenant was seen within his temple. There were flashes of lightning, rumblings, peels of thunder and earthquake and heavy hail. Amen. Let me begin by relieving you of any speculation. Revelation 11 verses 15 through 19 is a concise but profound statement of the consummation of Christ kingdom. His victory over his enemies in the final judgment. One commentator says that the seventh trumpet gives us a heavenly vision in which Christ triumphs over his enemies. Another says it this way. With trumpet seven, the peruzia or the second coming of Christ and I might add all it brings has arrived. It's the announcement of history's end. Knowing this should free us to mine this event anticipated by so much of scripture as it is presented to us here by the Apostle John. It is for us to focus for little while this evening on the sure and expected return of Christ. And what we and all of mankind can expect at his coming so knowing that focus with me on our text. As the sixth trumpet concludes in verse 14 of this chapter we read the second woe has passed behold the third woe is soon to come. We're left expecting that the seventh trumpet last will announce the third woe. Probably another plague or some great catastrophe we assume but it doesn't. It's entirely unlike anything announced by the other trumpets. Rather we are met by loud voices from heaven proclaiming victory declaring the eternal sovereignty of God and Christ and the final unrivaled establishment of his kingdom. Listen again to the triumphant proclamation in the seventh angel blew his trumpet and there were loud voices in heaven saying the kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ and he shall reign forever and ever. Who are the loud voices in heaven. Don't doesn't say. He simply says he heard loud voices in heaven not a voice but voices. The singular term loud voice is used many times in revelation I think around 18 and of those only three times is allowed voice mentioned in scenes of worship. But here in chapter 11 verse 15 we read that loud voices in the plural are heard. It is here in revelation where John suggested all of heaven is participating what one author calls a mega symphony. I hope you've already connected some dots of the declaration of the voices to a most famous oratorio by George Friedrich handle known as Messiah. The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ and he shall reign forever and ever. This loud proclamation from the many voices in heaven has also been sung by many loud voices on earth since it was written by handle in 1741. Handle in trying this concise declaration of Christ triumph in the hallelujah chorus of the Messiah and it will likely continue to be sung by us in all Christendom until our Savior returns. There are comments about the hallelujah chorus saying that there is this quote romantic view of handle in the story that while he was composing this piece he imagined seeing heaven before his very eyes and the great God himself and thrown in glory. He continues whatever the origin of the custom the peace has such emotional power that to this day in the English speaking world audiences rise as if in prayer as soon as the opening notes are strong. That's been our experience hasn't it? Look with me at the essence of this concise but glorious declaration of the many loud voices. What are the voices proclaiming? First, they're announcing that there is no longer any confusion about the ownership of the kingdom of this world. That which was in dispute and the source of cosmic conflict is resolved. He says spent himself vying for this world as God's arch enemy since the fall until now he's had considerable power and influence. That's reflected throughout the scriptures. Let's look at some evidence of that. Let's look at this wilderness temptation. Satan's arrogant pride is in full flower as he seeks to dethrone the Son of God with repetitive temptations. Listen to Satan's last effort to impede Christ's mission in Matthew chapter 4 verses 8 to 10. It's very telling and it's like this cosmic role reversal of authority and power. We read again the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. And he said to him, all these I will give to you if you will fall down and worship me. And Jesus said to him, be gone Satan, where it's written you should worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve. Satan for a time by God's decree and with God's permission has exercised great power and control in the kingdom of this world. Jesus refers to Satan as the ruler of this world in John 12-31. The apostle Paul refers to him as the prince of the power of the heir in Ephesians 2-2. And the God of this world and 2 Corinthians chapter 4 verse 4. And the apostle John closes out his first epistle with this observation speaking of Satan and we know that we are from God in the whole world lies in the power of the evil one. The testimony of Scripture is consistent. There has been a life and death struggle over the kingdom of this world. Satan has been doggedly determined to keep Christ from claiming his rightful place. But the voices in heaven are pronouncing that the struggle is over. The kingdom of this world has now become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ and his reign will have no more rivals and it will be everlasting forever and ever. Perhaps the great Christian pastor theologian and statesman of Holland Abraham Kuiper had this passage in mind when he famously said listen to this. There's not a square inch in the whole domain of our human existence over which Christ who is sovereign over all does not cry mine. And that my friends is the essence of the heavenly proclamation. All this is foreshadowed for us wonderfully in Psalm 2. Turn with me please to Psalm 2. I want to read it for you. It's not very long. Why did the nations rage in the people's plot in vain? The kings of the earth set themselves and the rulers take counsel together against the Lord and against his anointed saying let us burst their bonds apart and cast away their courts from us. He who sits in the heavens laughs. The Lord holds them in derision. Then he will speak to them in his wrath and terrify them in his fury saying ask for me I have set my king on Zion my holy hill. I will tell of the decree the Lord said to me you are my son. Today I have begotten you ask of me and I will make the nations your heritage and the ends of the earth your possession. You shall break them with the rod of iron and dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel. Now, therefore, O Kings, be wise, be warned, O rulers of the earth, serve the Lord with fear and rejoice with trembling, kiss the sun, lest he be angry, and you perish in the wafer. His wrath is quickly kindled, blessed are all those who take refuge in Him. The New Testament understands this song not only as the song of David's reign, but also a song that foreshadows what John is witnessing in our text tonight. The kingdom of this world has become the kingdom of our Lord and his Christ and he will reign forever and ever. There are no longer two kingdoms only one. And here's something else, if it's not obvious, let me make it so. Just as there is in John's vision only one kingdom, so also there's only one God. Our text reads that the kingdom has become the kingdom of our Lord and his Christ. John emphasizes the kingship of the Father and the Son. The Father will reign through the Son over His kingdom, the Father and Son are in complete harmony and agreement. G.K. Bill calls it an inseparable unity. The Apostle Paul says it so eloquently and is epistle to the Colossians. I must read it. Beginning in verse 15 of chapter 1, he, that is Christ, is the image of the invisible God, the first born of all creation. For by Him all things were created in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities, all things were created through Him and for Him. And He's before all things and in Him all things hold together. He's the head of the body, the church. He's the beginning, the first born from the dead and in that in everything He might be preeminent. For in Him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell and through Him to reconcile to Himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven making peace by the blood of His cross. And as if to punctuate that wonderful, great observation of Jesus Christ. He says and repeats Himself in chapter 2, verse 9, 10, for in Him again Christ the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily and you have been filled in Him who is the head of all rule and authority. Brothers and sisters, if this proclamation of the heavenly voices and John's vision in verse 15 of chapter 11 is affecting you as it should, you and I should be all but speechless. We should find ourselves agreeing with the writer of Psalm 139 saying such knowledge is too wonderful for me. It is high. I cannot attain it. And with the Apostle Paul in Romans 11, he runs out of words to express God's greatness and magnificence and simply begins to worship saying, oh, the depth of the riches, both of the wisdom and knowledge of God. So in searchable are His judgments and infathomable His ways for from Him and through Him and to Him are all things to Him be glory forever. Amen. Is it any wonder them that we stand every time we hear the hallelujah chorus. That is an all because in addition to the proclamation of the loud voices in heaven, it witnesses something else and it's found in verses 16 through 18. And the 24 elders who sit on their thrones before God fell in their faces and worshiped God, saying, we get thanks to you, Lord God Almighty, who is and who was for you have taken your great power and begun to reign. The nations raged but your wrath came and the time for the dead to be judged and for the rewarding your servants, the prophets and saints and those who fear your name both small and great and for destroying the destroyers of the earth. We meet the 24 elders again who were first introduced to us in chapters 4 and 5. They sit on 24 thrones around the throne of God. They clothe in white. They wear golden crowns. Scholars think that these elders represent the unity of God's people or the entirety of God's redeemed multitude. These 24 elders are predisposed to worship God twice in chapters 4 and 5. They prostrate themselves and sing lavish praise to God and then to His Christ. And here we find them once again, prostrating themselves and extoling the Lord. Note how they refer to the Lord in verse 17. They call Him, the Lord God Almighty, who is and who was. What's missing? Look at Revelation 1, verse 4 with me. There we read, John to the seven churches, they're an agent, grace to you in peace from Him who is and who was and who is to come and from the seven spirits who were before the throne. Look at verse 8, same chapter. I'm the Alpha and Omega, says the Lord, who is and who was and who is to come. The Almighty. And we could go to chapter 4 and verse 8 where we read, holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty, who was and who is and is to come. But in our passage, no longer see referred to as the one who is and who was and who is to come, but simply as the one who is and who was. The reason is one commentator who puts it, there's no more future. For God's awesome power has acted and his eternal reign has begun, we're at the eschaton or the end of time, the final judgment. And what is the content of the worship of these 24 elders? First, they say, we get thanks to you, Lord God Almighty. Giving thanks to our great God is always an order for his grateful subjects. These elders are doing what all gods redeemed are called to do. Giving thanks to the Lord is a prevailing theme in all of the scriptures. And it's absence from the lips of God's people is telling. But what are these elders giving thanks for? We discover that in verse 17. The elders are worshiping and thanking God because as they say, you have taken your great power and begun to reign. It's another way of saying what the loud voices said in verse 15, but their thanks is embellished and enlarged in verse 18. And what is God's powerful reign over his unrivaled kingdom include? We see in verse 18, the 24 elders mentioned three things. First is judgment. The nation's raged, but your wrath came and the time for the dead to be judged. According to some commentators, this is the anticipated third woe mentioned in verse 14. The wrath of God being spent on his enemies and the judgment of the dead who are not in Christ. This judgment that the 24 elders are giving thanks for is the great white throne judgment we read about in chapter 20 verses 11 to 15. It's a fearsome thing to any whose name is not written in the book of life. And if this, the kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, then this judgment is necessary. It's a necessity because the nations have always raged against the Lord and is anointed. We read that in Psalm 2. They must be silenced for the kingdom of this world to become the kingdom of our Lord and his Christ. But the 24 elders also give thanks because the Lord's assumption of his reign is also the occasion of rewards to his servants, the prophets and saints. And those who fear his name, both small and great, who these recipients of God's rewards are in some dispute among scholars. But we can say that it includes at least two groups, the prophets and the saints, described as those who fear his name, both small and great. This understanding would be consistent with Revelation chapter 19 verses 4 and 5 where we read, and the 24 elders there they are again, and the four living creatures fell down and worshiped God who was seated on the throne, saying amen, hallelujah. And from the throne came a voice saying, praise our God, all you had servants, you who fear him small and great. Simon Kistamacher, in commenting on this passage, says that the prophets are a special class of people that includes the apostles and their helpers who were commissioned to convey and write down God's revelation to his people, a special class, special office. In addition, he says there are the saints who are the God fears, both small and great. They are the holy people whom God has sanctified through the blood of Christ, they suffer for his name, exercise patience, and faithfulness for his cause, present prayers to God and are killed for being giants in the faith. These are the ones who fear or revere his name. These are the sorts of people we see described in Hebrews 11 who exercise the simple faith in the face of profound hostility and hardship. Let me read the last verses of Hebrews 11 beginning in verse 32.
And what more shall I say? For time would fail me to tell of Gideon, Barrick, Samson, Jeb the, of David and Sam in the prophets. Who through faith conquered kingdoms and forced justice, obtained the promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, were made strong out of weakness, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight. Women received back their dead by resurrection, some were tortured, refusing to accept release so that they might rise again to a better life. Others suffered mocking and flogging, and even changed an imprisonment. They were stoned, they were song into, they were killed with the sword, they went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, afflicted, mistreated. Of whom the world was not worthy. Wandering about in deserts and mountains and in dens and caves of the earth, and all these, though commended through their faith, did not receive what was promised. Since God had provided something better for us, that apart from us, they should not be made perfect. These were ordinary people, just like us, weak people, with nothing to commend them to God, but a simple faith that exhibited itself at just the right time. By faith, they looked forward to John's vision, here in Revelation 11, 16 to 18, just like we do. And what are the rewards the Lord gives to his faithful servants? Just as we see the judgment described in detail in chapter 20, verse 11 to 15, we see his rewards described in chapter 21, verses 1 to 7, and chapter 22, verses 1 to 5. And I'm going to read these for you, because I want you to be encouraged.
Chapter 21, verses 1 through 7, then I saw a new heaven and a new earth. For the first heaven and the first earth had passed away and the seat was no more, and I saw the holy city. The New Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband, and I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, behold the dwelling place of God is with man, he will dwell with him, and they will be as people, and God himself will be with him as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more. Now, this should be any morning, nor crying, nor pain, any more, for the former things have passed away. And he who was seated on the throne said, behold, I'm making all things new. Also, he said, write this down for these words are trustworthy and true. And he said to me, it is done. I'm the alpha and the omega, beginning and the end. To the thirsty, I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment. The one who conquers will have this heritage, and I will be his God, and he will be my son.
In chapter 22, we read, the angel showed me the river of water of life, bright as crystal flowing from the throne of God in the land, through the middle of the street of the city, also on either side of the river, the tree of life, and its 12 kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations no longer, will there be anything accursed, but the throne of God in the land will be in it, and his servants will worship him. They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads, and night will be no more. They will need no light or lamp or sun, for the Lord will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever. Does that sound like a compelling reward to you? I hope it does. It will be if you're acquainted with life as a fallen and frail sinner in a fallen, hostile world. It does, if you have experienced the brokenness of calamity and estrangement, it does, if you're familiar with the persecution of the nations who rage against our God and is anointed. As I was preparing this, I thought of our Black brothers and sisters who suffered for far too long in the chains of slavery. And my appreciation for them increased as I realized that it was this vision that helped them persevere in a world that was stacked against them. But the 24 elders are not just thanking the Lord for exercising his great power, and in rewarding his faithful servants. They're also thanking him for destroying the destroyers of the earth. In John's time, that was Rome. Revelation 19, verses 1 and 2, is helpful here. After this, I heard what seemed to be the loud voice of the great multitude in heaven crying out, the salvation of glory and power belong to our God for his judgments are true and just for he has judged the great prostitute who corrupted the earth with her immorality and has avenged on her the blood of his servants. The great prostitute, Babylon, is cast in such unflattering terms in Revelation 17 and 18. She represents the world's many, diverse, tempting attractions, accomplishing what prostitutes do best, enticing and luring people away from the Lord to other gods in ultimately destruction. Her great sin and her great destruction is pronounced in graphic detail. In these later chapters of Revelation, we'll read about them. As part of the seventh trumpet, John sees one more thing. And like the loud voices in heaven, pronouncing God's reign in his kingdom and the 24 elders worshiping the Lord for exercising great power in specific ways in ruling his kingdom, this too is wonderfully encouraging. We read in verse 19, then God's temple in heaven was opened and the ark of his covenant was seen within the temple. There were flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder and earthquake and heavy hail. Remember now, this is a vision of the end of time. God has rendered judgment to his enemies and rewards to his people. And now John sees God's temple in heaven opened up and what does he see? He sees the ark of the covenant, the most holy object in the temple. No longer hidden from view by the curtain that stood in the place of the holy of Holies between it, the ark, and God's people on earth. The ark on earth in heaven represent God's dwelling, the place of his presence. And it's now in full view. We can only conclude from this that the covenant of grace is fully realized. He's declaring that henceforth he will no longer be in any way hidden from his people. And so William Hendrixen comments on this verse saying, the ark is a symbol of a superlatively real intimate and perfect fellowship between God and his people. It is fellowship based on the atonement of Christ. Revelation 21, verses 3 and 22, maybe offer the best commentary on John's vision here. Let me read them. After 21, verse 3, and I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, behold the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them and they will be his people and God himself will be with them as their God. And in verse 22, John writes, and I saw no temple in the city where its temple is the Lord God, the Almighty, and the Lamb. Brothers and sisters, the day is coming with the new heavens and the new earth. We will no longer be looking through a glass darkly or dimly, but we will enjoy the unmitigated and blessed 24-7 presence of our great God. And so with this, you ought to ask, why didn't John end Revelation here? What's left to say? Well, we're just halfway through the book. We still have 11 chapters to go. But this vision of John's that we consider tonight does end the first half of Revelation. The Apostle will now transition into the second half of his apocalypse by disclosing in great detail the nature of the cosmic conflict that is even now underway. We will discover a great deal about God's and our about enemies. And we will have the pleasure not just in summary, but in detail of seeing how our Lord achieves the concise pronouncement we read earlier tonight. The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ. And he shall reign forever and ever. The sermon is never done until the preacher provides an application for your life. It answers what I like to call the so-what question. So what am I to think or do in response? How am I to be different? How is my understanding and love for the Lord increased by what I've heard? So let me suggest a few things for you to consider. First, if the Bible explains life as we experience it and it does, Revelation does just that all be it in symbolic form. It explains this great conflict that are behind the distresses of life in a fallen world. Revelation 11 verses 15 to 19 gives us an abridged explanation of final outcomes. God in his Christ now reign over one holy kingdom and that reign will be fully consummated at Christ's second coming second. The wicked will be judged conclusively. And third, the righteous in Christ, both small and great, will be rewarded openly. Perhaps you're not in Christ tonight. You've never acknowledged what the Bible claims about to be true about you and a holy God. I was 23 when I realized that about myself, I encourage you to do what I did then. And that would be to simply get with a Christian friend or a leader to discuss Christ's claims about himself, to be both Lord and Savior of sinners. That would be very important for you to do. And for the rest of us, this is be a wonderful text to meditate upon when the appearance of things in this life leaves you and down. And it is a reason for great optimism and hope for us who are the sons and daughters of God. Be encouraged tonight, persevere. The Lord is near. Pray with me, please. Our Father, thank you for this concise, abridged version of eons of conflict between you and your son and your enemies. Thank you for distilling it for us, so succinctly and so handsomely, so that we can come back to it again and again when our lives and the lives of others around us appear to say something else. Tonight, Father, I pray for those who are perhaps without the Lord Jesus as we talk about judgment and such things, I pray that they would heed my words and seek to know more about what you say about yourself and them and their need. And for the rest of us, Father, meet us in our disappointment and discouragement which comes far too often. Encourage us with hope. I pray in Jesus' name. Amen.