Sermon: The Kingdom of God Scepter Bearer
#1893-AM
Martin G. Collins
Given 12-Sep-26; 65 minutes
description: The seventh trumpet announces the decisive transition from human rule to the everlasting Kingdom of God, when Jesus Christ returns as King of Kings and reigns with a scepter of righteousness. Scripture traces this royal authority through God's promises to Abraham, Judah, and David, culminating in Christ, whose rule will replace the world's corrupt systems with perfect justice, mercy, and authority. While awaiting His return, believers are called not to obsess over when He will come, but to prepare by allowing the King to reign within them now. Through trials, perseverance, character, and hope, God shapes His people into the likeness of Christ. This living hope motivates holiness, obedience, and overcoming, so that when the King appears, His faithful followers may share in His eternal Kingdom.
transcript:
Imagine standing in front of a world that is completely out of control. That's not too hard to imagine, is it these days, it seems. Governments are rising and falling, nations are angry, wars are raging. People are losing confidence in their leaders and justice seems uncertain. Truth is often rejected, and humanity appears incapable of solving its deepest problems. And then suddenly the trumpet sounds, not the sound of another human announcement, not the, not the beginning of another political campaign. Not the arrival of another temporary leader. But the trumpet of God. The heavens open and Jesus Christ, the true king, returns with power and great glory. The governments of this world have reached their limit. Human relationship has run its course. The age of man is coming to an end. And Revelation 11:15 gives us the breathtaking announcement. The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and His Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever. Think about what that means. Deeply think about what that means to you personally. For thousands of years, humanity has experimented with every form of government imaginable kings, emperors, dictators, democracies, republics. Countless political systems have promised peace, prosperity, justice, and security, but none has solved the fundamental problem of human nature, and we've heard a lot about that. And being God's church, we've been working on it for years and we will continue to work on it. The feast of Trumpets points us to the moment when God Himself intervenes and when Jesus Christ returns. He doesn't come merely to improve the world. He comes to replace it. He comes as conqueror and deliverer. He comes as King of kings and Lord of Lords, and he comes to establish the kingdom of God on earth. And in his hand will some will will be something that tells us exactly what kind of king he will be. A scepter And it's more important than you realize. Please turn with me to Hebrews 1 and verse 8. A scepter is not merely a beautiful piece of royal decoration. Throughout history, it has represented authority, power, justice, and rulership. But scripture reveals something far greater. Hebrews 1 and verse 8. Your throne, oh God, is forever and ever. A scepter of righteousness is the scepter of your kingdom. That changes the way we should look at the feast of Trumpets. This is not merely a day of catastrophe. It is not merely a warning about the collapse of human civilization. It's a day of hope. Because behind the sounding of the trumpet stands the king whose government will never fail. Whose judgment will be righteous and whose power cannot be challenged and whose reign will never end. The question before us is not simply when will Christ return. The far more important question is Will we be ready for the king and his kingdom already and is his kingdom already ruling in our hearts? Will we be ready for the king and will his kingdom already be ruling in our hearts? Today we will follow the remarkable story of the scepter of the kingdom of God, from God's promises through the history of kingship. To its ultimate fulfillment in Jesus Christ, the one who alone has the right to rule. Now as we follow that scepter, we will discover that God's kingdom is not merely something we are waiting to see. God is preparing us to become part of it. To become part of it. We cannot properly understand human history without first seeking to understand, if only in part, God's divine purpose. And this is true whether we are speaking of God's creative act in which He formed man of the dust of the ground or of His mighty deliverance of Israel from Egypt. It is also true of the glorious incarnation of his only begotten Son or of the things to come when Jesus Christ, the righteous judge and King, comes to bring this present age to its final condemnation. And when we study end time prophecy, we must always keep two facets in focus. The incompatibility of human knowledge with, with seeing, with foreseeing the future. That first one is The incompatibility of human knowledge with foreseeing the future and the absolute certainty that God's will is perfectly accomplished. Please turn to I Corinthians 13 and verse 8. And we must be humble enough to say with Paul that we know in part, and we prophesy in part, and we now see dimly in a mirror. I Corinthians 13, we are going to read verses 8 through 13. You're very familiar with these verses? I Corinthians 13:8, love never fails. But whether there be, there are prophecies, They will fail, and whether there are tongues, they will cease. Whether there is knowledge, it will vanish away, for we know in part and we prophesy in part. We do not know the whole story, we only know bits and pieces. Verse 10, and when that which is perfect has come, then that which is in part will be done away. That means we will have a complete picture, complete, accurate and true picture. Verse 11, when I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, and I thought of this I thought as a child. But when I became a man, I put away childish things. For now we see in a mirror dimly. But then, Christ returned, then face to face, now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I am also known. Verse 13, and now by faith, hope, love, these three. But the greatest of these is love. So the feast of Trumpets, despite its heavy emphasis on a very on very dangerous troubles, is overall a day that should give all of us great and the greatest hope. It can lift, encourage, inspire and give life meaning and purpose. It fills us with hope and gives us, gives our energy the right direction, but it also has its somber, painful, and destructive side. Let's turn over to Matthew 24 and verse 30. We must also hold fast to the hope that when that which is perfect has come, that which is in part will be done away, and the wait and wait with assurance that the time is coming when we shall see face to face the one revealed at the end of the ages. It is a day of rejoicing, like the weekly Sabbath, holy to the Lord. The Feast of Trumpets marks a pivotal turning point in world history. It pictures the transition from the age of man, darkness, and Satan to the age of God, the World Tomorrow, the millennium, and the kingdom of God. Matthew 24:30-31:30. Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory, and He, He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together His elect from the four winds from one end of heaven to the other. As a part, as part of God's redemptive plan, Christ comes again in clouds with a shout, the voice of an archangel and the trumpet of God. As we heard earlier, it is a very noisy time but a very exciting and joyful time. Now turn over to Revelation 11 in verse 15. Jesus Christ's direct intervention in world affairs at the 7th and last Trump will conquer and demolish the world's Babylonian system of government, completely replacing it with God's government. Here in Revelation 11, we are going to read verses 15 through 18 and the section is heading in my Bible is the 7th trumpet, the kingdom proclaimed. Verse 15, then the seventh angel sounded, and there were loud voices in heaven saying, The kingdoms of this of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever. And verse 16 and the 24 elders who sat before God on their thrones fell on their faces and worshiped God, saying, We give you thanks, O Lord God Almighty, the one who is and the one who was and the one who is to come. Because you have taken your great power and reigned, the nations were angry, and your wrath has come. And the time of the dead that they should be judged and that you should reward your servants, the prophets and the saints and those who fear your name, small and great, and should destroy those who destroy the earth. Now flip over to Leviticus 23 and verse 23 to tie in the feast of trumpets. And the command to do that. The feast of Trumpets celebrates the second coming of Jesus Christ, the conqueror and deliver, to intervene in world affairs, resurrect the first fruits, and establish the kingdom of God on earth. And here in Leviticus 23, we will read verses 23 through 25, and this is parallel to Numbers 29:1 through 6. Leviticus 23 and verse 23, the Lord, then the Lord spoke to Moses saying, speak to the children of Israel, saying, in the 7th month, on the 1st day of the month, you shall have a Sabbath rest, a memorial of blowing of trumpets, a holy convocation. You shall do no customary work on it. And you shall offer an offering made by fire to the Lord. Repeatedly Jesus warned us to wait and watch for His coming. The church's genuine urgency for God's kingdom to come and replace Satan's world has sometimes been expressed as impatience for the, for Christ's return, which would establish God's government on earth. Now flip over to Acts 1 and verse 6. This same impatience characteristic of the church today affected Jesus' disciples nearly 2000 years ago. He corrected them for their impatience to know the time of his second coming. There have been many people, I would say hundreds if not thousands of people who have tried to calculate the day and the hour of Christ's coming. This is a reprimand for spending too much time doing that. Acts 1:6 through 11. Acts 1:6, therefore, when they had come together, they asked him saying, Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel? And he said, this is Christ said to them, It is not for you to know the times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority, but you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you shall be witnesses to me in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria to the end of the earth. Now when he had spoken these things while they watched, he was taken up, and a cloud received him out of their sight. And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel, who also said, Men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus who was taken up from you into heaven will so come in like manner as you saw him go into heaven. So during Jesus' ministry on earth, the disciples continually wondered about his kingdom and when it would come and what would their roles be. In the traditional, in their traditional view, the Messiah would be an earthly conqueror who would free Israel from Rome. But the kingdom Jesus spoke of was first spiritual, established in believers' hearts and lives, and God's presence and power dwell in believers through the Holy Spirit. So like other Jews, the disciples were aggravated under Roman rule, and they wanted Jesus to free Israel from Roman power and then make him their king, but it was far too soon. Jesus replied that God the Father sets the timetable for all events, whether worldwide, national, or personal. If you want changes God is not making right now or right away, do not grow impatient. Instead, trust God's timetable. And submit to his will. The New Testament often portrays Jesus as King. And this portrayal has roots in the Old Testament Davidic kingship and the Old Testament Messianic idea. Matthew 1:1 and Romans 1:3 reaffirm that Jesus was the son and is the descendant of King David. The English word messiah comes from The Old Testament Hebrew word meaning anointed one. And in the Greek New Testament, Messiah is Christo. Where we get the term Christ. Jesus the Christ is thus the anointed King par excellence from the, from David's line. Numerous Messianic prophecies in the Old Testament look ahead to him. And Jesus is the Son of God and the Son of David because any Davidic king was God's Son. The images of human and divine kingship are finally and uniquely united in Jesus Christ. Now please turn over to Mark 14 in verse 61. In the Gospels, Jesus is called Son of David, King of the Jews, king of Israel, primarily by his opponents during his trial before Pilate. However, in response to the high priest, he openly acknowledges his kingship. Mark 14 will read verses 61 and 62. Verse 61, but he that is Jesus kept silent and answered nothing. Again, the high priest asked him, saying to him, Are you the Christ, the Son of the blessed? And Jesus said, I am. That is referring to him being the Christ or the Messiah, and you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the of the power and coming with the clouds of heaven. Now, Revelation climaxes in Jesus Christ's kingship, and he is the King of kings and Lord of Lords. In Revelation 17:14 says, these will make war with the the Lamb, and the Lamb will overcome them, for he is Lord of Lords and King of kings, and those who are with him are called chosen and faithful. Hopefully, that's you and I, chosen and faithful. Most of Revelation proclaims God's victory over evil powers. Jesus Christ is the exalted King overall, and every knee will bow to Him. Now Matthew 27:29 records that a reed was placed in Christ's hand as a mock scepter. As a mock scepter. of kingly kingly authority. A reed was placed in Christ's hand as a mock scepter of kingly authority. When Christ returns to earth, he will take the scepter of the kingdom of God and symbolize kingship, righteousness, power, and authority. What is the history of this scepter? From early times, a staph receptor has signified secular or religious authority. Egypt used scepters as early as the 15th century BC. And Cyprus as early as the 12th century BC. Among the early Greeks, the scepter was a long staff used by older men, particularly elders, and later by others in authority such as judges, military leaders, and priests. Under the Romans, an ivory scepter marked consular rank. Victorious generals who received the total imperator also used it, and under the Roman Empire, the emperors used an ivory scepter tipped with a golden eagle. So throughout secular history, even the scepter has meaning of power and other things. The history of the biblical scepter begins with a twofold promise to Abraham. The Bible calls the scepter the spiritual and royal promise of one seed. Calls it the spiritual and royal promise of the one seed, the Messiah, salvation through Him and kingship. But the material and national promises include national wealth, prosperity, and power, and possession of the Holy Land, and those are called the birthright in the Bible, the birthright. Now God made these two promises, the scepter and the birthright, unconditionally to Abraham, and then repromised them to Isaac and Jacob. And after Jacob, these two promises became separated. Now the scepter promise of the kingly line culminated in Christ and the promise of grace through him were handed down to Jacob's son, Judah, the Father of the Jews. And so as we go through this history, it takes a little bit of thinking. So those who love history, you'll love it. Those who aren't, your eyes might glaze over, but I apologize, but this is important information. The scepter promise of the kingly line culminated in Christ and the promise of grace through Him were handed down to Jacob's son Judah, the Father of the Jews. Now, Moses records Jacob's prophecy in Genesis 49:10. And it says there the scepter, and in the margin it says symbol of kingship, shall not depart from Judah nor lawgiver from between his feet until Shiloh comes. Shiloh, of course, is a code word for the Messiah, and to him shall be the obedience of the people. So Shiloh prophetically refers to the Messiah as the King of Peace or as the seed of Abraham. And then between Moses and Saul, God ruled Israel through judges. God was the ruler. He was the king, so to speak when Israel was ruled through judges. The birthright scepter promises remained with the 12 tribes of Israel. Now the birthright was passed down through the tribes of Joseph, namely Ephraim and Manasseh, while the scepter promise. Descended through Judah. Now the Israelites, however, grew dissatisfied with God's direct rule and demanded that God appoint a king in I Samuel 8:7-9. And God chose Saul to the Saul of the tribe of Benjamin as the first human king of Israel, but Saul refused to obey and was rejected. I'm simplifying this, of course, there is more detail to it. His successor was a young man of Judah, David, son of Jesse. And once God chose David and his house, the scepter passed down the Jewish kingly line as Genesis 49 and 10 had foretold. I Chronicles 29:23 records, quote, Solomon sat on the throne of the Lord as king instead of his father David, his father, and close quote, and every king of the Judaic royal lineage since then. Now because of Solomon's sins, especially idolatry, God took the nation of Israel, composed of the 10 tribes of the 10 northern tribes from his son Riaboam and gave it to a servant, Jeroboam. You find that in First Kings 11:31 through 37. Now the 10 tribes were known by the ancient names Israel. The tribe of Judah with additions from Benjamin and Levi remained under Riabo and became known as Judah or the house of Judah. Two different nations here, Israel and the house of Judah or Judah or the tribe of Judah. Riboam ruled the new, much smaller kingdom of Judah, not the kingdom of Israel. God kept His promise to David by not abolishing the scepter promises to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He left a son of this promise seated on the throne over. Only one tribe, and at the same time he punished Solomon by taking away the nation of Israel. So for the first time, the birthright and scepter promises were divided between two nations, between Israel led by Ephraim and Manasseh, and they received the birthright while Judah held the scepter, meaning the kingship. Now Jeremiah 39 and 6, if you'll turn with me there. Let's turn to Jeremiah 39:6. Now for many generations, Israel and Judah remained separate nations in adjoining territories, each with its own king. Because of their sins, the house of Israel, along with the birthright was driven into a Syrian captivity between 721 and 718 BC. The house of Judah was taken into Babylonian exile in 3 stages. Between 604 BC and 585 BC, the last occurring during the reign of King Zedekiah. And that's what we pick up here in Jeremiah 39:6-7. Then the king of Babylon killed the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes in Ribla. The king of Babylon also killed all the nobles of Judah, and moreover, he put out Zedekiah's eyes and bound him with bronze fetters to carry him off to Babylon, and that's where he died in prison. So Zedekiah was dead and all his male heirs. So no male heirs to the throne of Judah survived to inherit it. However, Jeremiah records that Zechariah's heirs did survive. Jeremiah 43:5-7 records that Johannon took all the remnant of Judah, including the king's daughters, that is Zedekiah's daughters. Jeremiah and Baruch into Egypt. And they eventually escaped with Jeremiah. Now let's have a flashback to Judah's time. This is like an NSAID At this point, an explanation of Genesis 38:27-30, which describes the birth of Pharez and Zerah, Judah's twin sons, is essential. This is back to Judah. He's having 22 sons. They're twins. The firstborn was royal seed. And he and his line would carry the scepter throughout history. Zara reached his hand out of the womb, and a scarlet thread was tied around it to mark him as the firstborn. However, or but, Zara pulled back his hand, and Ferres was born first, causing a breach. The midwife exclaimed, How, how did you break through? This breach is upon you. Therefore, his name was Ferrez. A breach is an infraction or a violation of a law, obligation, tie, or standard, or a temporary gap in continuity. Eventually this breach would need to be healed. End of the inset. Now let's flash back to Zedekiah's time. Please turn with me to Ezekiel 21:25. Now, many of Zarah's descendants became wanderers journeying north among the Scythian nations and later migrated to Ireland in the days of King David. Meanwhile, the Judah, Phares, David, Zedekiah line held the scepter. Jesus Christ is also of this line, as Matthew 1. Uh, chapter one and Luke chapter 3 show. So since David's dynasty has promised to remain on the throne forever through all generations, and that's stated in II Samuel 7:16, the healing of the breach could could occur only through a marriage between a Pharaoh heir to the throne and one of the Zerah line. Remember, the Pharaoh line was Uh, the line of Judah and the Zara line was the line that uh that traveled up and ended up going through Europe and then ending up in Ireland. Ezekiel 21:25 to 27 foretells this. Now to you, O profane wicked prince of Israel, that's Dedekiah. Whose day has come, whose iniquity shall end. Thus says the Lord God, Remove the turban and take off the crown. Nothing shall remain the same. Exalt the lowly, that is Zerah's line, and abase the exalted, that is Pharah's line. Verse 27 is the key. Overthrown, overthrown, I will make it overthrown. It shall no longer, it shall be no longer until He that is Christ comes whose right it is, and I will give it to Him. Because the prophecy uses overthrown 3 times, the throne was to be overturned 3 times. So let's see how God removed the crown of David from the ruling line of Phares and placed it on the head of a descendant of Zerah, thereby healing the breach. God's scepter promise. Given to the tribe of Judah in Genesis 49:10, passed from monarch to monarch within David's royal house. However, when Jerusalem fell to Babylon, the direct mail line was severed when Zedekiah was killed and his Male heirs as well. While fleeing Jerusalem for Egypt, the prophet Jeremiah was entrusted with King Zedekiah's daughters. Their story reveals how the breach between Judah's two sons, Pharaoh and Zerah, was healed. Now God removed the crown of David from the ruling line of Pharaoh and placed it on the head of the descendant of Zerah. Now this was the 1st overturn in those 3 overturns. Uh, from from Ezekiel 21:27. According to Anglo-Israelite tradition, in 569 BC, an elderly white-haired patriarch, sometimes called a saint, came to Ireland, which had been colonized centuries earlier by both Israelites from the tribe of Dan and Jews of the line of Zera. With the old patriarch. As an with the old patriarch was an eastern king's daughter named Tea Tefi. That's T E A T E P H I or Tamar Tefi. The old man was Jeremiah and the princess was a daughter of King Zedekiah of Judah. Now Jeremiah's party also included a prince, the son of the king of Ireland. Who had been in Jerusalem during the Babylonian siege, and there he met Tia Tefi and they married shortly after Jerusalem fell in 585 BC. Their young son, now about 12 years old, accompanied them to Ireland. Upon descending his father's throne, the Irish prince took the name or title Herrimon, H E R R E M O N. According to tradition, this haremone is related to an earlier figure called Gide the Haremone, who was placed in the time of King David. So Guide the Hermon lived at the time of King David. And so his line became a royal line or had been a royal line through Ireland as Zedekiah's daughter Tiatefi was heir to David's throne when Herimon, a descendant of Zera, married this princess, a descendant of Pharaz, and their son sat as king over the Israelites and the ancient breach was healed. Now this dynasty continued unbroken through all the kings of Ireland. It was overturned and transplanted to Scotland around AD 487. And when a prince when a prince of Ireland's royal line was crowned King Fergus the First. In AD 1603, it was returned a third time again and translated transplanted to England when Scotland's James the Sixth was crowned James First of England. A line that continues to this day down to King Charles III. Now this is Information that has gotten from multiple, many, many sources, different ancient writings and things like that, and it's the best the church has been able to come up with as far as the the explanation for these overturns. And these overturns fulfill the prophecy in Ezekiel 21:25 to 27. Um Continuing on, the British monarchy employs two scepters in its regalia. The scepter with the cross, known as the Royal Scepter, holds the world's largest cut diamond weighing 530 carats. It was mined in South Africa. Symbolizing the monarch's power as ruler of his people, it is known as the ensign of kingly power and justice. The ensign of kingly power and justice. The second scepter, so as they are being crowned, they are handed two scepters, one in each hand. The second scepter, the rod with the dove, is a slender golden rod set with 199 diamonds, 58 rubies, 10 emeralds, and 4 sapphires, and it symbolizes the king's paternal role as guardian and guide. Now from the earliest times it has been known as the rod of equity and mercy. This the dove is said to symbolize divine inspiration. So during the coronation service, the archbishop places the royal scepter in the king's right hand, and then he places the rod of the dove in the king's left hand, and this is what he says, quote, God, from whom all holy desires, all good counsels, and all but just works do proceed. Direct and assist you in the administration and exercise of all those powers which he hath given to you. Be so merciful that you do not that you be not too remiss. So execute justice that you forget not mercy. Punish the wicked, protect the cherish and cherish the just, and lead your people in the way wherein they should go. Close quote. So that's the, the tradition of the history of those and the explanation of those three turnings and that's the best we can offer. Um. We need more information in one sense, but in another there is enough information to tie those together. Please turn to Luke 1 and verse 31. When Christ returns to Earth to rule, He will assume an existing throne. Luke 1 verses 31 through 33. Verse 31, and behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a son and shall call his name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the highest. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David. In verse 33, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever and of his kingdom. There will be no end. And as you know, the, from this, the lines of Ferrez and Zara came from uh. From Jacob, Jacob, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and then Judah. And then the Ferres and Zara Revelation 22:16 says Jesus is both the root and the offspring of David. As the root, the throne is his is his by right as The divine king of Israel. Now secondly, as David's lawful, fleshly offspring, Jesus can also claim the throne by inheritance, continuing David's dynasty forever. Turn with me to Jeremiah 33:14. The prophet Jeremiah further affirms that Christ will come to sit on an existing throne. And he was imprisoned in Jerusalem when he wrote Jeremiah 33, a prophecy about events at Christ's return. Here in Jeremiah 33, we are going to read verses 1415, and 17. Behold, the days are coming. This is verse 14 of chapter 33. Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, that I will perform that good thing which I have promised to the house of Israel and to the house of Judah. In those days and at that time, I will cause to grow up to David a branch of righteousness, and he shall execute judgment and righteousness in the earth. And jumping down to verse 17, for thus says the Lord, David shall never lack a man to sit on the throne of the house of Israel. So when God inspired his prophet to write these words, David's throne was being uprooted from Judah. Yet God had already arranged for his dynasty to rule in other lands until Christ came and claimed it for Himself. Thus the scepter promise in Genesis 49:10 10 continues until it culminates at Christ's return. The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet until Shiloh the Messiah come. The apostle Paul writes in Hebrews 1:8, quoting Psalm 45 6-7, but to the son he says, Your throne, oh God, is forever and ever a scepter of righteousness is the scepter of your kingdom. A scepter of righteousness symbolizes a righteous government. The Greek word behind scepter is rabos, R H A B D O S in its transiteration, meaning a ruler's staff or scepter. The same word is rendered as rod in the Book of Revelation. For example, in Revelation 2:27, it says, He shall rule them with a rod of iron, and they shall be dashed to pieces like the potter's vessels. So the word rule is translated from the Greek word pomeo meaning to tend as a shepherd govern. Guide His rod of iron is a scepter of strength and power. The same idea appears in Revelation 12 and verse 5, quote, She bore male child. Who was to rule all the nations with a rod of iron, and in Revelation 19:15, now out of his mouth goes a sharp sword. And that with it and that with it he should strike the nations and he himself will rule them with a rod of iron. Please turn with me to I Corinthians 15 and 24. Now Jesus Christ will rule with power and authority, judging the nations. And that word Poo is a gentler word for rule than other Greek terms. He would, he, he would have shepherded the nations with a gentle rod, but because of their hardened unbelief, he will have to rule them with a rod of iron. At his return to Earth, when he sets up the kingdom of God, he will occupy the greatest position of rulership under God the Father. And here in I Corinthians 15, we are going to read verses 24 to 28. I Corinthians 15:24. Then comes the end when he that is Christ delivers the kingdom to God the Father, when he puts puts an end to all rule and all authority and power, for he must reign till he has put all enemies under his feet. The last enemy that will be destroyed is death. For he has put all things under his feet. But when he says all things are put under him, it is evident that he who put all things under him is accepted. Verse 28. Now when all things are made subject to him, then the Son Himself will also be subject to him that is God the Father who put all things under him. Uh, that God may be all in all. So along with his throne, And his crown, Christ will receive the scepter of the kingdom, a scepter of righteousness that serves as both shepherd's staff to guide with mercy and equity, and a rod of iron to rule with absolute kingly power and authority. Now what do we need to face? The trial of waiting for Christ's return. What do we need to face the trial that we are going through in a sense of waiting for Christ's return? Please turn to Romans 5 and verse 3. Trials test our faith and encourage perseverance. In Romans 5 and verse 3. We're going to read down through verse 5. Romans 5:3, and not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance and perseverance character and character hope. Now hope does not disappoint because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who is given to us. Now here Paul explains what tribulation will do in Christians' lives and why this is reassuring. So, what benefit does tribulation or trial bring? Paul names one here. Tribulation produces perseverance. And the ESV, a version of the Bible, translates it as endurance. So we have perseverance and we have endurance as part of the meaning. The full meaning of the word perseverance becomes clear when we consider it along alongside the word for tribulation. Which occurs just before it in the Greek text. And as Paul says, produces perseverance. Tribulation here is from the Greek word that suggests pressing something down. It's used to crush olives, to extract oil and to press grapes to make wine. So perseverance is, this is the way you feel while you're being persevered is, is pushed down. With that in mind, consider perseverance. The Greek word translated as perseverance has a prefix meaning under or below. So the second part of the Greek word meaning abode and living or living place. So the whole Greek word means to live under something. To live under something. If we take this word together with the word tribulation, we get the full idea of enduring difficult circumstances with patients, patient endurance. We get the full idea of enduring difficult circumstances with patient endurance. So we express the idea positively, positively to each other by saying hang in there or keep moving forward and other, you know, little quips. So we hang in when the going gets tough, as it usually does sooner or later. So this separates the immature person from the mature one. Usually the immature believer tries to avoid difficulties and escape them. The mature Christian remains under fire and does not abandon his conviction. In James 5:8, James urges us to strengthen our hearts. What does he mean strengthen our hearts? We can't stand idly by during this waiting period. We must do whatever it takes to affirm our faith. It must be it must be firm and unwavering. Not indecisive or unsettled. The clause in James 5:8 translated as establish your hearts is rendered in the New Testament Greek as strengthen your hearts, and this phrase suggests that we need solid support to remain steadfast during trials. And this requires consistent self-examination and an intimate relationship with God and with the brethren. Please turn over to Proverbs 4 and verse 23. Now God inspired King Solomon to emphasize the importance of establishing your heart. Faith without works is a dead faith, therefore, it does not produce perseverance, endurance, or hope. Proverbs 4, we are going to read verses 23 through 27. Verse 23. Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life. Put away from you a deceitful mouth and put perverse lips far from you. Let your eyes look straight ahead and your eyelids look right before you. Ponder the path of your feet and let all your ways be established. Do not turn to the right or to the left. Remove your foot from evil. So our faith must be undergirded, must undergird any tendency toward a faint heart and make it strong. We must know whether our beliefs or preferences or convictions. A preference is something we like better than something else. It is the desire for something we hope to have. It is our first choice, but not our only choice. That's a preference. Conviction is a firm belief we are willing to suffer for even to the point of death, and it is the only choice we will make. An established, diligent heart is convicted. Now what is unique about the Christian's hope? First John 3:1 through 3 speaks of people who have hope, hope in Him, hope in Jesus Christ, which ultimately is hope in God the Father. The Christian has a hope unique to himself. It is a hope of being like Jesus Christ. We shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. Would anyone feel fulfilled if their hope were only to stand on the sea of glass and be forever free of sorrow, toil, and pain? And that will certainly be a breathtaking. However It is a future blessing that offers general hope, but it is not enough to sustain hope that purifies. As wonderful as it may seem, if, if we could sit forever on a green flower-covered mountain, drink, and drink rivers of milk and eat hives of honey. It would not be enough to fully satisfy us. But after all, the real truth, the truth contained in these metaphors and figures, and the underlying, and underlying them all is that the kingdom, a, a true Christian seeks is a spiritual one. It is the kingdom of becoming like our Lord. Being like Jesus Christ will consist in our shaping our sharing in His power, His joy, and His honor. It lies mainly in our being spiritually and morally like Him. It is being purified even as he is pure. If we become like Jesus Christ in his character, pure and perfect, we will share in all his joys. So what is our hope? That we shall be like him, that is our hope. Every person sees morally what he, he himself is. A person who is bad sees evil. He's blind to good. The person who is partially like Jesus, Has only a partial view of Christ. Now you might know your own character by your own view of Jesus Christ. So do you see Christ clearly? Because if you do not, neither do you see your own self and your sins clearly. It is the pure in heart who see God because God, the inexpressibly pure one, can only be seen by those who are themselves pure. And when we are perfectly pure, we will be able to understand Christ and when we understand Christ or see Him as He is, as we will at His appearing, we will be like Him, free from sin, pure and perfect. He is conqueror over sin and death. He is excellent in his virtue and holiness, and he has conquered all the evil powers. Romans 8:37 says, yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. Now this then is our hope that we will be like our master when we see him as he is, and why do we expect this? What is the basis of our hope? We need not expect to become like Christ because of anything in us by nature or any efforts that we can make on our own, although our efforts are necessary because faith without works is a dead faith. So the basis of it all is of course divine love. Now notice what begins I John 3 and verse 1. Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God. So we expect to become like Christ, the beloved of God, because we too are beloved of God. And it is in keeping with the nature and purpose of God's love to make us like God. And we therefore expect that divine love working with divine light and purity will make us light and pure as well. Paul goes on to say that we have been called the sons of God and that we truly are God's sons, and that is another basis of our hope. We hope to become like Christ because the sons of God are like one another, and it is God's purpose that Jesus Christ be the firstborn of many brethren. Romans 8:29 says, whom he did foreknow he also did predestine to be conformed to the image of his son that he might be the first born among many brethren. So our bodies will be conformed to God's body. We will be, we will not be conformed to be like an angel or a superhuman being. We will be conformed to be like Christ's body in his image. Please turn over to I Peter 1:15. Now, since we are adopted into the divine family and are to be made like our elder brother, we believe we will one day become like Jesus Christ in his perfection. And we are now the sons of God and we will become like Him as we pure as we purify our conduct and attitudes to conform to His image. First Peter 1:15 and 16, you have memorized. But as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, because it is written, Be holy, for I am holy. So we will be made similar to or identical with. And our bodies will be similar to God, God's in some aspects and identical with God's in others. We will not be in the image of angels, but we will be, we are being created spiritually in God's image. So Jesus the apostle John says it is, it has not been revealed what we shall be, and he means we do not know the specifics, but we do know in general what we will be, we will be like Jesus Christ. And we are the only creatures God has created who have been given the Spirit of God and are being conformed to His image. This hope of being conformed to the image of God and Jesus Christ is what motivates a person to purify himself. Now it is the impetus that drives a person toward Christian overcoming and growth because it assures us of the right direction and propels us toward the kingdom of God. We are going to be well above the angels in the image and in the mind of the Son of God, who is worshiped by angels and is worthy of worship. We will be like Him. So this introduces another element of our hope that we are now one with Jesus Christ and therefore when he shall appear. We shall be like him and we shall be one with him. He is hidden from the world and the world did not know him. Therefore, we are hidden and the world does not know us for who we really are. They might see that we are good people, but they do not understand who we really are. He is to be revealed and there is to be a day of his unveiling to the world, and when he is revealed, we will be revealed too. Knowing that we are united to Christ by sacred spiritual bonds, we therefore expect that when we see Him as He is, we will become like Him. Now still, for the, for simplicity's sake, it is right to say that the basis of our hope lies entirely and through him. Every man that has this hope in him purifies himself. All true hope is the hope in and through Christ. He's the one who gives us the spirit, gives us the power to be able to Uh, purify ourselves, so to speak. If your hope rests on yourself, it is a delusion. If your hope rests on any earthly priest rather than on this one great high priest Christ, it is a lie. If your hope stands with 1 ft on the work of Christ and the other on your own resolutions or merits, it will fail you. Hope in Him is the only hope acceptable to God, and the only hope able to bear the weight of your burden. The only hope that will endure the test of your dying hour in the day of judgment. So our hope of becoming like Christ is a hope in and through Christ. And we trust and depend on Him, and if he does not make us like Himself, our hope is lost. Ultimately our hope is in the Father, but only in and through Christ. Now we come to the practical application of one of First John 3 and verse 3, which addresses how hope shapes a person's character. It says there, everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself. It does not puff him up, it purifies him. So when God makes us his children, he removes the evil heart from our flesh, and when he shows us his love, his great love, he humbles us and lays us low so that neither expectation of God's kingdom nor absolute perfection ever exalts us to pride. A person who has this hope of perfection in himself. finds that it does not give him license to sin. If a Christian could live as he liked, he would live without sin. But as Cory, as Paul said the things that he wanted to do, he did not do, and the things that he did do, he did not want to do because it was sin that dwelled in him. Paul wrestles with this in Romans 7:18. And this is the way he worded it specifically, for I know that in me, that is in my flesh, nothing good dwells, for to will is present with me. But how to perform what is good I do not find. So a Christian with God's spirit wants to do the right thing, yet human nature tends towards sin. And the renewed heart desires the unrenewed heart desires sin while the renewed heart obeys God. And when he has changed us, he he had. He can give us not only hope but also full assurance of that hope. Uh, that our hope will come true. And this hope then does not puff up or lead to license. You can see why gratitude leads to holiness. Anyone who feels that God has saved him and is on the path to becoming like Christ will ask. Now that I owe all this to God, how can I show my gratitude to Him? But where there is a, is the good hope of God's kingdom, we naturally recognize that God's love, and that God loves us so much and has provided such a glorious future for us that we want to obey Him in all things, and we want to serve Him with our whole heart and body. And we are empowered to do that by His Holy Spirit. And when the Spirit leads us, we find that holiness aligns with our expectations. We expect to become like Christ and the most natural thing is to seek it as to seek it now. Now if God intends to make us His heirs or make us heirs of immortality to dwell in His presence, does it seem right to live as the world does now? How many of us live like the world does now? I think we all do, to some extent, because the world is constantly bombarding us. The natural fitness of things. Under the blessing of God's spirit, leads the child of God to purify himself because he expects to become completely like Christ. Let's turn over to Romans 6 and verse 19. Now true Christians will never live as slaves to sin because God has transformed their hearts at conversion, and they grow in the love of righteousness and in the obedience to God's word. Now before conversion, we were wholly given to sin. After conversion, we should be holy, given to God. We must devote more energy to promoting God's way of life than we once devoted to worldliness. The apostle Paul illustrates energy in the holy life by comparing the rewards of two forms of servitude. That of the world and that of God. And here in Romans 6, we are going to read verses 19 through 22. I speak in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh, for just as you presented your members as slaves among cleanness and of lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves of righteousness for holiness. For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. But, or rather verse 21, what fruit did you have then in the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death. But now, having, having been set free from sin and having become slaves of God, you have your fruit to holiness and the end everlasting life. So Paul's illustration of slavery underscores the importance of giving oneself wholly to God rather than to sin. And when people are unbelievers, they are completely captivated by sin, and the result of such sin is death. Sin always brings destructive consequences to, to people's lives. So Paul tells us that the fruit of living righteously as slaves of God is holiness. And this service to God produces holiness, whereas slaves to uncleanness, that is the world, and our human nature produce evil. In his, in this service that leads to holiness, slaves of God receive important benefits, whereas in the service to sin, they experience many evils. Now we look to God for all purity, believing he is its creator, and God through the Holy Spirit works in everyone who has true hope. And we strive to be purified and we use every means to overcome sin and to walk in righteousness. Let each of us always examine ourselves or himself. When a person has true hope in Christ, he purifies himself by drawing on the power of the Holy Spirit within him to overcome the sin and weaknesses he has discovered within his own human nature. The king is coming. The question is, will you be ready? The message of the Feast of Trumpets is ultimately a message of hope, and one day the final trumpet will sound and Jesus Christ will return, not as a helpless infant or a rejected teacher. In not wearing a mock scepter placed in his hand at his crucifixion, he will return as the rightful King of kings. In his hand will be the scepter of righteousness. The governments of men will finally give way to the governments of God. The confusion, the injustice, the violence, the suffering, and the rebellion of this age will not continue forever. Jesus Christ will reign. And his reign will be different from every human government because his kingdom will be founded upon righteous justice, mercy, and truth. But his, but this message is deeply personal to each one of us. We are not merely waiting for Christ to establish his kingdom on earth. God is preparing us to live and reign with Him. The question is not simply whether we believe the king is coming, but are we allowing the king to rule on us today? Is his righteousness governing our choices? Is his word directing our steps? Is his spirit changing our character? Are we becoming more like Jesus Christ? Because First John 3 and 3 tells us that everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself. Our hope in Christ's return should not be should not make us passive. Not sitting back and putting her feet up on the desk. It should be us. It should make us faithful. It should give us strength when trials come. Patience, when God's timing seems slow, courage when the world grows darker, and determination when we struggle against sin. We might not know the exact hour. The disciples wanted to know the timing, but Christ told them to trust the Father's authority and remain faithful. So we do not have to know when the when the king will come. We only need to be ready when he does. And when the trumpet finally sounds, may we not be found looking backward and with regret. May we be found standing firm in faith, persevering in trials, overcoming in sin, serving God, and faithfully waiting for our King. Because the day is coming when every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. And the world may be uncertain, but God's purpose is certain and absolute. And human kingdoms may rise and fall, but God's kingdom will never end. Earthly rulers may disappoint, but our king will never fail, and the scepter of his kingdom will be a scepter of righteousness forever. The king is coming, and the kingdom is coming, and by God's grace may we all be there to share in his reign.
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