Worship Programs

Theme:

"Kingdom Power"

Second Sunday in Advent -

Sermon Outline

YOUR KINGDOM COME -

IN FULFILLMENT

Revelation 11:15-19

In the Old Testament, Isaiah foretells the coming of the Kingdom in prophecy.  Toward the end of Revelation in the New Testament, we see the coming of the kingdom in fulfillment.  The Book of Revelation looks ahead to the time when the Lord is going to return.  John writes to reveal that the concluding showdown between God and Satan is coming soon.  Although Satan will increase his persecution of those who follow Christ, they are encouraged to remain faithful even if it means their death.  They are sealed against spiritual harm and ultimately will win out when Christ comes again.  Then the wicked will be destroyed and God’s people, citizens of heaven, will enter an eternity of blessedness.

1.  THE KINGDOMS OF THIS WORLD

Look at Revelation 11 and notice the kingdom coming not only in prophecy but also in fulfillment.  In verse 15, “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.”  How interesting it is to notice what happens next.  The 24 elders who sat on their thrones before God fell on their faces, and they worshiped God! 

Who are these elders who fall on their faces to worship God?  Perhaps they are older men, men who now have the ability to look at life and see all of the conflict, all of the evil in the world, but now get a vision of someone who says, “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ.”  It is thought that they are representative either of the whole company of believers in heaven or an exalted angelic order worshiping and serving God there.  And so, they fall on their faces and worship Him who begins to reign and who reins forever and forever.

They are people who have a true perspective on life and they see that, unless God steps in and does something, nothing is going to happen in terms of the chaos in the world.  So this is what they do.  They say, “We give thanks to you, Lord God Almighty, the One who is and who was, because you have taken your great power and have begun to reign.  The nations were angry; and your wrath has come.” 

The wrath of God comes because the nations are angry.  You know why they’re angry, don’t you?  It’s clear to see in Psalm 2.  The reason the nations are angry and the people are angry is because they don’t want God to rule over them.  They want to do it their way.

“The kings of the earth take their stand and the rulers gather together against the Lord and against His Anointed One.  ‘Let us break their chains, they say, and throw off their fetters.’”

2.  THE KINGDOMS OF OUR LORD

Then the Bible says, “The One enthroned in heaven laughs; the Lord scoffs at them.  Then he rebukes them in his anger and terrifies them in his wrath, saying, ‘I have installed my King on Zion, my holy hill.’”  And so Jesus comes, and the Bible says, “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he will reign for ever and ever.”  The first thing that happens is that the wrath of God comes against the kingdoms of this world, which are in rebellion against him.

Secondly, in Chapter 11 of Revelation look at the middle of verse 18 where John says the following, “The time has come for judging the dead, and for rewarding your servants the prophets and your saints and those who reverence your name, both small and great - and for destroying those who destroy the earth.”  When the Lord comes, He will reward His saints, small and great.  This takes us back to 2 Corinthians 5:10, “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due him for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.“  Thus begins the supreme reign of Christ, but also a gracious reward will be given to the saints both great and small as well.  Then the elders announce that the time has come for “destroying those who destroy the earth.”

Now try to visualize the scene described in verse 19.  “Then God’s temple in heaven was opened, and within his temple was seen the ark of his covenant. And there came flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder, an earthquake and a great hailstorm.”  In Revelation, thunder and lightning always denote an important event associated with the heavenly temple.  This is a symbolic picture of God’s faithfulness, somewhat like the rainbow given to Noah.  God is saying in effect, “You can be sure that I am going to fulfill these promises.” 

We’re thinking today about the coming of the Lord Jesus.  Christmas is all about getting a focus on the kingdom.  To be kingdom-focused is to be Jesus-focused. 

Michael Card in his book, “The Promise,” talks about Jesus being our everything.  “All we could ever imagine, could ever hope for, He, Jesus, is.  He is the Wonderful Counselor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace whose first coming already has transformed society but whose second coming will forever establish justice and righteousness.  All this and infinitely more alive in an impoverished baby in a barn.”  That’s what Christmas means, to look in a place where you would least expect to find anything you want.  There to find everything that you could ever want.  Who ever would have believed that in a baby the world would find everything that it ever wanted?  And yet that’s what happened.

3.  THE COMING KINGDOM

Listen to what Ray Stedman has written about the coming kingdom:  “What a privilege God has given to us to be able to read the last chapters of the history of the earth.  You can read ahead and see where it is all going to end.  The time is coming, this book teaches, when Jesus shall reign over all the earth.

“Righteousness shall be the characteristic of the times, not unrighteousness as now.  In that day, all drug traffic will cease.  All abortion mills will be closed.  Divorce will be unheard of.  Families will live together in beauty, in peace and in harmony.  Wars will cease throughout the earth.  Crime statistics will drop to zero.  Sex scandals will never be known.  Truth will be taught again in the schools . . . In the beautiful words of scripture, righteousness will cover the earth as the waters cover the sea.  Brothers and sisters, let us not lose hope but encourage one another with the certainty of the glory to come.” 

That’s what Christmas is!  Your kingdom come!  Fulfillment and prophecy.  Prophecy and fulfillment.  One day the disciples watched as Jesus prayed.  When He was through they said, “Lord, “teach us to pray.”  And when He taught them to pray, this is what He said, “After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed by thy name.  Thy Kingdom come.  Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.  Give us this day our daily bread.  And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.  And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen” (Matthew 6:9-13, King James Version).  Before He ever asks or encourages us to pray for ourselves, He says,” Pray for the kingdom to come.”   

We thank God that Jesus has come, and we thank Him that He’s coming again.  We thank God that we have One upon whom we can depend, who is a Wonderful Counselor in the midst of our confusion, who is a Mighty God in the midst of our weakness, who is an Everlasting Father in the midst of our abandonment, and who is the Prince of Peace for our troubled hearts.