Wednesday, February 7, 2024

We thank you for the opportunity to pray for our brothers and sisters. We know that they're in your hands and we get to, and we thank you for that. Lord, we pray that as we go to your word, that your Holy Spirit would speak to us and it would be clear.

And Lord, we pray that your spirit would also move in us that we would live out these truths in our lives so that more brothers and sisters would be added to us. We thank you for your plan of salvation.

We thank you for your kingdom. And we thank you that you are sovereign king over it and that nothing can thwart your will. And we trust in that as we think of those that are lost and the opportunities that we have to speak to them.

We pray all these things in Jesus' name, amen. So yesterday, I think it was yesterday, Tuesday, there was an event at the Capitol. There was a couple of events at the Capitol. One of them was Abolition Day.

They were going to talk to the different, the House and the Senate about a bill getting rid of chemical abortion. So Roe versus Wade was overturned, but there's still chemical abortion is still legal.

And so they're trying to outlaw that. And there's also the bill that Michael had brought up that was going to put regulations on families that were either moving districts, wanting to homeschool, find alternative schooling, that they're creating a database where you have to report all these things, whoever's in the House and those types of things.

And so there was an event yesterday to go and speak to civil magistrates about these things. And so where, whereas the church, do we have the ability to do that thing? How is it that we have this opportunity to appeal to them and say, this is not right.

Adam, Israel, and the Failure of Dominion

And so last week we talked a little bit about the ages to come that were ending that Paul talked about, and then the age to come eternal life. And so we look forward to eternal life, but what about now?

What's going on now as we live our lives here with an eye to the resurrection? And because of that, we have hope for the future, but how do we live our lives now? And so I wanted to talk a little bit about the nature of the kingdom and how we are to live.

So if we start with creation and Adam, Adam was created and put in the garden, and he was commanded to have dominion, to be fruitful and multiply and take dominion of the earth. But we see that in Adam, he abdicated that role and sin entered and because of sin death, but he was supposed to take dominion and we see that he failed in doing that.

Going forward, God continues to work with man and we get to the founding of Israel and Israel has made a great nation. And so, because this man did not keep dominion, maybe this nation would be what would fix things.

Israel’s Calling to Be a Light to the Nations

So in Deuteronomy chapter four, verse six through eight, it reads this way. Deuteronomy chapter four, six through eight. Starting with verse five, surely I have taught you statutes and judgments just as the Lord my God commanded me, that you should act according to them in the land which you possess.

Therefore, be careful to observe them for this is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the peoples who will hear all these statutes and say, surely this great nation is wise and an understanding people for what great nation is there that God has so near to it as the Lord our God is to us for whatever reason we may call upon him.

And what great nation is there that has such statutes and righteous judgments as are in all this law, which I set before you this day. So we see that Israel was supposed to be an example to the other nations.

They were given these laws and they were supposed to be righteous. There's places in the scripture where they were supposed to be a light to the Gentiles. Now, did this happen? No, Israel also abdicated its role.

Just like Adam before, Israel was given these laws and the nations surrounding Israel were supposed to see these laws and say, what an amazing God they have. A God that is so near to them that gives them righteous and good laws.

But they didn't keep these laws, they didn't follow them. So they abdicated. So more time goes on from Adam to the forming of Israel. We have the wandering in the desert. More time continues and Israel continues to fall into sin, to seek after other gods, to mix with the other nations.

And we have this interesting statement in Jeremiah chapter three. Jeremiah chapter three, six through eight. It says, the Lord said, excuse me, the Lord said also to me in the days of Josiah the king, have you seen what backsliding Israel has done?

She has gone up on every high mountain and under every tree and there played the harlot. And I said, after she had done all these things, return to me. But she did not return and committed adultery, excuse me.

But she did not return and her treacherous sister Judah saw it. Then I saw that for all, excuse me, then I saw that for all the causes for which backsliding Israel had committed adultery, I put her away and given her a certificate of divorce.

Yet her treacherous sister Judah did not fear, but went and played the harlot also. So we see that from the garden, when Adam walked with God, there's separation after the fall, a degree of separation.

Then we see continued where God visits different prophets and then he gives prophets to Israel and they continue to fall away and we see an increased separation occurring all throughout the Old Testament.

Until we get to a time of silence between the Old Testament and the New Testament, there's a long period of silence where things are happening and God is obviously sovereign over the affairs of men, but there's no voice from God in this period.

So what's happening during that period is Adam abdicated, Israel abdicated and the surrounding nations grew in size, grew in dominion. And so we see that Egypt puts Israel in slavery for 450 years. We see the Pharaohs are in charge and oppress God's people.

And then after they leave, we have Edom, which attacked Israel and didn't allow them to pass through their land to get to the promised land. Now, Edom had had kings for a long period of time. Israel did not.

And one of the reasons there's this divorce is because Israel asked for a king. They said, we don't like how things are going, so give us a king. And God says, it's not you that they're rejecting, the prophet, it's me that they've rejecting.

They do not want me to rule over them, they want a man to rule over them. And God grants them their requests and they have kings. And there's this interesting statement. In the book of Judges, the phrase, they did what was evil in the sight of the Lord happens seven times.

These are the judges and the kings. And we see this pattern that the judges can't save Israel, the kings could not save Israel. And they're being oppressed by all of these surrounding nations, Egypt, Edom, and then Babylon takes them into captivity.

And then to pile on top of that, their own nation, Jerusalem, Israel, oppresses them. The kings, their kings that they were supposed to be trusting, did evil in the sight of the Lord and did not steer them in the right direction.

So we see this dominion going in the wrong direction. It was supposed to be Adam, it was supposed to be Israel, that was a light to the Gentiles. And instead we see these foreign kings oppressing God's people.

Daniel’s Vision of the Kingdoms and the Son of Man

Until we get to Daniel. So if you'll turn to Daniel. And this is kind of the height and where we start to see a promise for change. So Daniel chapter two, with the failure of Adam, the failure of Israel to bring the nations to God, the nations are left to their own devices.

Until we get Nebuchadnezzar. Nebuchadnezzar has a dream in chapter two. Let's start with verse 37. You, O king, are king of kings. Now that's interesting. Where else do we hear that title used? Here in the Old Testament, we hear he's calling Nebuchadnezzar the king of kings.

He is the height of all of the Gentile kingdoms. So according to the world, this is the man. He is the king of kings. So it says, but you are king of kings. For the God of heaven has given you a kingdom, power, strength, and glory.

And wherever the children of men dwell, or the beasts of the field and the birds of the heaven, he has given them into your hand and has made you ruler over them all. You are the head of gold. So not only do we have the title king of kings, but we have something that sounds similar to what was supposed to be given to Adam.

He's ruling over the beasts of the field and the birds of the heavens. They've all been given over to Nebuchadnezzar. Not God's people, but the Gentile nations, because God's people did not follow in God's commands.

And so we have this dream. You're familiar with the statue. You have the head of gold, and then there's the silver, and then bronze, and then iron. And a great deal of effort is spent on trying to figure out what are these four kingdoms?

What are we looking at here? The Nebuchadnezzar, obviously he's the head of gold because it says it. Then what? What's after that? If we look at verse 38, it says, wherever the children dwell, or the beasts of the field, the birds of the heaven, he has given them into your hand and has made you ruler over them all.

You are the head of gold. But after you shall arise another kingdom inferior to yours. Then another, a third kingdom of bronze, which shall rule over the earth. And the fourth kingdom shall be as strong as iron, insomuch as iron breaks in pieces and shatters everything.

And like iron that crushes that kingdom will break in pieces and crush all the others. Question, is the point of this passage to figure out what those kingdoms are? Is that what Daniel is getting at? A great deal of effort is put there and maybe we can even get some clarity.

So let's go to chapter seven. So here we've got this division of four kingdoms. It specifically says that they are kingdoms, but in Daniel chapter seven, we get beasts. Well, this is interesting. Daniel chapter seven.

He has this vision and again, there's four beasts. Now it says, let's look at verse 16, I believe. Actually starting 15. I, Daniel was grieved in my spirit within my body and the visions of my head troubled me.

I came near to one of those who stood by and asked him the truth of all of this. So he told me and made known to me the interpretation of these things. Those great beasts, which are four, are four kings, which arise out of the earth.

Okay, so now we see a parallel between the statue of Nebuchadnezzar and these sequential question in Daniel seven is the point of Daniel seven to figure out what these kingdoms are. Is that what he's driving at?

Okay, let's turn to Daniel chapter nine. And again, to describe those beasts, a great deal of attention is given to figuring out what those beasts are given their descriptions. So the first beast is a lion with eagle's wings, a bear.

The second one is a bear with three ribs in his mouth. Then you've got a leopard with four wings of a bird. And then you've got a beast with iron teeth, trampling feet. It's different than the others.

It's got 10 horns. It's got a little horn coming up. It's got the eyes of a man. It's got a mouth that speaks pompous words. And so people try to take those descriptions and say, okay, what does all this mean?

Let's figure out what that kingdom is. But I would say that's not what Daniel is trying to get at. So if we look, we've got all of these different descriptions, four kingdoms. And then again, mention of four kingdoms.

But the point is that these things testify about Jesus. The things in the Old Testament testify about Jesus. Let's not get, let the details confuse the issue. So hold your place in nine. Go back to chapter two for a moment.

Nebuchadnezzar has this vision. There's four kingdoms. But what does it say in verse 31? In verse 31, which is what he's building to, you've got these four sequential kingdoms of man, which Nebuchadnezzar is the king of.

And it says this in verse 31 through 35. You, O king, were watching and behold a great image. This great image whose splendor was excellent stood before you and its form was awesome. The image was a head of gold, chest of arms of silver, its belly and thighs of bronze, its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of clay.

You watched while a stone was cut without hands, which struck the image on its feet of iron and clay and broke them in pieces. Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver, and the gold were crushed together and became like chaff from the summer threshing floors.

The wind carried them away so that no trace of them was to be found. And the stone that struck the image became a great mountain and filled the whole earth. So here we see what Daniel is driving at. We've got four kingdoms that are going to be destroyed by a stone that was cut without hands.

And then that stone will grow to fill the whole earth. Same thing in Daniel chapter seven. Turn to Daniel chapter seven. This is where we learned about the beasts. Look at verse 13. He's given this vision.

He has this vision of the beasts. He's greatly terrified, particularly by the fourth beast. He says it was terrifying. But then there's an interruption between the interpretation and the vision. He has a vision of the ancient of days.

And in verse 13, it says, "'I was watching in the night visions and behold,' excuse me, "'behold, one like the son of man "'coming with the clouds of heaven, "'he came to the ancients of days "'and he brought him near before him.

"'Then to him, the one like the son of man, "'then to him was given dominion and glory "'and a kingdom that all peoples and nations "'and languages should serve him. "'His dominion is an everlasting kingdom "'which shall not pass away in his kingdom, "'the one which shall not be destroyed.'".

He's driving at something. And the further and further we go in Daniel, we get more hints, not about the kingdoms, although there is details about it, but he's pointing to now a person, a person that will receive a kingdom.

Look, stay in seven, look at 44 and 45, excuse me, 21, verse 21 through 22. So there's gonna be a king, one like the son of man, he's gonna receive a kingdom. Verse 21, "'I was watching and the same horn was making war "'against the saints and prevailing against them "'until the ancients of days came "'and a judgment was made in favor "'of the saints of the most high.

"'And the time came for the saints to possess the kingdom.'". And then in verse 23, following, he gives us more descriptions about the beast. And then look at verse 26 and 27. "'But the court shall be seated "'and they shall take away his dominion "'to consume and destroy it forever.

"'Then the kingdom and dominion "'and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven "'shall be given to the people, "'the saints of the most high. "'His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom "'and all dominions shall serve and obey him.'".

This is what Daniel is driving at. The kingdoms of men coming into contact with the kingdom of God. And so we've already got hints, we have this son of man who approaches the ancient of days and he will receive this kingdom.

And it says that this happens within that fourth kingdom, whatever that fourth kingdom is, but we see that it happens then. Let's turn to Daniel nine. And this is where we get specifics. In Daniel chapter nine, and again, a lot of detail is spent trying to figure out who this prince is, who this anointed one is.

But I think by looking, not at the timing, we can get confused and there's 70 weeks and 60 times. If you try to figure it out and we get out our calculators and try to pinpoint, what is he saying that will happen?

What is this person going to do? So if you look in chapter nine, let's start in verse 25. Know therefore and understand that from the going forth of the command to restore and build Jerusalem until Messiah, the prince, there shall be seven weeks and 62 weeks, the street shall be built again and the wall even in times of trouble.

After the 62 weeks, Messiah will be cut off, but not for himself. And the people of the prince who is to come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary. The end of it shall be with a flood. Till the end of the war and desolations are determined, then he shall confirm a covenant with many for one week.

But in the middle of the week, he shall bring an end to sacrifice. So listen to this part. He will bring an end to sacrifice and offering and on the wing of abomination shall be one who makes desolate until the consummation, which is determined, is poured out on the desolate.

What is it?

Look back at verse 24. This is where we get the overview. 70 weeks are determined for your people and for your holy city to finish the transgression, to make an end of sins, to make reconciliation for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy and to anoint the most holy.

This is talking about Jesus. Now, do I think that it's helpful that we know when Jesus came and we can figure out what kingdom was reigning when Jesus came? Yeah, sure, that can be helpful. But the driving point about Jesus, and this is talking about his kingdom and what did Jesus do in his earthly ministry?

It says that in Matthew 3, real quick, kind of a side note. There are other places in the Old Testament that talk about this kingdom. So we went through Psalm 2 and it uses the terms like king, the anointed one.

It says kiss the son. So we see a relationship there. Kiss the son, lest he be angry. We see the talk about a kingdom. Again, Israel would be familiar with this. Isaiah, the famous Christmas passage, a child will be born, upon his shoulders will be the government.

It talks about an everlasting kingdom. The Jews would be familiar with this. When John the Baptist comes on the scene and Jesus says that the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than John the Baptist, he has a confrontation with the religious leaders in his day.

And he says, who told you to flee from the wrath of God? And he tells them, produce then fruits worthy of repentance. This is what he has to say to the religious leaders at the beginning of Matthew. He's arrested and he's beheaded.

At the end of Matthew, Jesus has a confrontation with the religious leader. And in Matthew chapter 21, he says, therefore I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a nation bearing the fruits of it.

Speaking of repentance, and whoever falls on this stone will be broken, but whoever on it falls will be ground into powder. So we see a reversal. That fourth kingdom, it said that it had a clay feet, but it would trample all the kingdoms around it into powder.

Here it says, anyone that falls on Jesus and does not repent will be crushed into powder. What is Jesus given? He's given a rod of iron in Psalm 2 and in Revelation. And it's in order to dash the nations that do not repent.

So Jesus is this king. If you remember Jesus' discussion with Pilate in John chapter 18, let's go ahead and turn there. John chapter 18, starting in verse 35. This is at just prior to his crucifixion.

He's in Pilate's court. And in verse 35, Pilate answered, am I a Jew? Your own nation and the chief priests have delivered you to me. What have you done? Jesus answered, my kingdom is not of this world or that it's not in this world.

He's saying that it's not of this world. He does not get his power from this world like the Gentile nations who had this system. But Jesus' kingdom is not of this world. Continuing on, if my kingdom were of this world, my servants would fight so that I should not be delivered to the Jews.

But now my kingdom is not, excuse me, but now my kingdom is not from here. Pilate therefore said to him, are you a king then? Jesus answered, you say rightly that I am a king. For this cause, I was born.

And for this cause, I have come into the world that I should bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears my voice. So here we see that Jesus is that king that Daniel was saying about.

And not only that, he is bringing that kingdom. Is at hand, if I cast out demons, the kingdom of God is among you. It's in your midst. So the kingdom of God is coming in conflict with the kingdom of man.

So Jesus is that anointed king. We are in that kingdom. The first Adam's side was pierced to bring about a bride. And both of them were told to take dominion and they abdicated. The second Adam's side was pierced for his bride and all dominion and all glory and honor was given to him.

And he has all of that dominion. And in that dominion, we're told, therefore, go. All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore, go, because we are his bride. The second Adam, or excuse me, the first Adam was told to take dominion of the beasts of the field and the birds of the sky.

He did not do that. So that dominion fell to the Gentile nations. But the second Adam has all dominion and he has a rod of iron to put the beasts of Daniel. All of those kingdoms that are described as beast, Christ takes authority over them.

He takes dominion over them to bring them to heel. Israel was supposed to be a light unto the Gentiles and they abdicated that role. But then we're told in Jesus's birth that he is the light, that he is the true Adam.

And if we are in him, then we will be saved. So what is, we see that there were four kingdoms. And again, can it be helpful to look at what those were and the timing and what Jesus did?

Sure.

Can it help us to understand things about the Bible? Yes, for instance, the fourth beast, the fourth kingdom in Daniel is the same beast in Revelation. And so when we see that that's the same beast and that Jesus came during the dominion of that fourth beast we see that Revelation is about his kingdom.

It's about Jesus. Not necessarily nitpicking and trying to find all these different details and tie it into what's happening now. It's about Jesus's reign. That's what it's about. And so what is the scope?

How does the Bible describe this kingdom? It says it's like the sands of the sea, the stars of the sky. It's like a king that has gone off to receive a kingdom. It's a mountain that fills the whole world.

It's a little bit of leaven that leavens the whole loaf of bread. It's a mustard seed, which is the smallest of the garden plants that grows into a tree that fills the garden and all of the birds roost in its branches.

It's like a field that bears fruit to be harvested in its season. So from this, we see that this is a worldwide dominion. Now, whether you believe that the earth is physically going to pass away and there'll be some type of cataclysmic event that shakes up heaven and earth and the earth is destroyed or not, the overwhelmingly proclamation of the Bible is optimistic that this kingdom is victorious on this earth.

And so I wonder if you would, as a reminder to ourselves, how did Jesus teach us to pray? If you would say the Lord's prayer with me. Our Father, which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on 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. Amen.

Prayer, Rulers, and Daily Christian Living Under Christ’s Kingdom

So Jesus is teaching this to his disciples. This is how you ought to pray. While you are living in this kingdom, this is how you ought to pray, that his kingdom come, his will be done, that we would not fall into temptation, that we would forgive others.

This is how we are to live. And interestingly enough, this is how the kingdom advances and by doing these things. In Timothy, it says this. So we have, this is how we are taught to pray. In 1 Timothy 2, it says, therefore I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions and giving of thanks be made for all men, for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet, peaceable life in all godliness and reverence, for this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.

So here we have kings and rulers, we should pray for them, right? We think things are going bad and it's their fault. We want to leave peaceable and quiet lives. Pray for your rulers, pray for those that are over you, because they have a degree of authority, but it's an authority that is underneath an ultimate authority.

Titus 2 .2, teach older men to be temperate, worthy of respect, self-controlled, sound in faith and love and endurance. Likewise, teach the older women to be reverent in the way they live, not to be slanderers or addicted to much wine, but to teach what is good.

Then they can urge the younger women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled and pure, to be busy at home, to be kind and to be the subject to their husbands' so that no one will malign the word of God.

Similarly, encourage the young men to be self-controlled in everything. Set them an example by doing what is good. With these things, we're not to lose hope in doing good, right? The details of the end are not up to us, but we are told how to live in this kingdom.

And it's an encouragement to me because when I read these things, I see it here. I see it among you. I see these things happening. And so the kingdom is going forward. Same thing in Ephesians. So just kind of an over, Ephesians 6, 5 and 6.

Wives, submit to your husbands. We also have husbands, love your wives. Children, obey your parents. Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger. Slaves, be obedient to your masters. These are things that happen in day-to-day life.

He's telling us how to live. We also have passages and teachings that seem very dire. And the end is coming. It's the last days. It's the last times. Many will pass away. But then there's encouraging verses that talk about the hope to come, eternal life.

And with those, it's always paired with righteous living, looking to God as our hope. And how do we live in light of the age to come? And it's because God is in control. God is the king over all of it.

He is sovereign over all of it. It is now his kingdom and we are living in it. And so we can walk in that hope and we can walk in that light. Any questions or comments?

Yes.

You mentioned the Psalms earlier.

Mm-hmm.

Well, again, so the Psalms were typically songs that would be sung. And I know that I use songs to teach my children and they stick. And so just by quoting a part of a song, Psalm, I'm sure that it was pulling all kinds of stuff up for them.

You start talking about a king and like, yeah, that's David's king. Now, we already know that there's a temptation because they already asked for a human king like the other nations. So then Jesus shows up and says, I am that king.

Their mind goes to sweet. It's time to overthrow the Romans. This is the kingdom. It's a human king, but they did not grasp that not only was he human, he was also divine. And it's not just the Romans he's overthrowing.

It's all the nations that are his. And the Psalms teach that. And it was obviously the Gentiles were supposed to come in. They were supposed to be a light for the Gentiles and they failed that. So I'm sure as Daniel is pulling things in, it's pulling things to their mind.

And just like, that's what we do now. We're like, that reminds me of this. Now, any other comments or questions?

Yes.

Yes.

Yeah. Yeah.

So there are some that would use passages and that might try to incite violence saying, well, you're no longer a recognized authority. And so we are going to protest and incite violence and those types of things.

But that's not what we see. We see that Christ's kingdom is grown through the proclamation of the gospel, the good news of the gospel. And so as far as examining authorities, we see an awful lot is, let's call it long suffering.

Peter talks about obeying the emperor as supreme. Even in Revelation where it's talking about submitting to leaders, Romans 13. But that's not an ultimate thing. If they ask you to do something that is contrary to the word of God, there's a level of disobedience in order to obey.

Christ, the king. And you're like, I'm not trying to say you are not a recognized authority. I'm saying, because I recognize your authority, I'm gonna submit to a higher authority and call you to repentance.

And so there's, obviously there's different levels of that. And what does that look like? I think there needs to be a lot more discussion about those things. And then when the government becomes tyrannical to the point where it is killing its citizenry, obviously that's a horrible thing.

But there's different responses. There's preaching that needs to take place, teaching, and then also we see a great deal of people moving. That is one way that the gospel spreads. Whenever people leave in order to find a place where they can live peaceful and godly lives, there's opportunities for the gospel to go to different people groups.

So I think there needs to be a lot more discussion. But there are a lot of opportunities for us to speak to our civil magistrates. And the gospel needs to go forth either way. If they are a Christian and they're not living as they ought, they need to repent.

What is the answer if they're not a Christian? You need to repent. You also need the gospel. And so either way, if the person is claiming to be a Christian or is not, it's Jesus as Lord. And are you recognizing it as Lord, both with your mouth and with your actions?

All right, let's pray. We thank you for this evening, Lord. We thank you for your word. We thank you for its clarity. We thank you that you have sent your son to die on a cross after living a perfect life, raising him from the dead.

We thank you that you sent your Holy Spirit, that we could be conformed into his image. We thank you that we are not bound by laws, but that we are pointed to you as our example and fulfill the law of Christ by being made more into your image.

Lord, we pray that you would help us with this. We know that we fall short, but we pray that you would continue to change our lives so that we would be bold and equipped to preach this good news that we have been given to those around us, to the civil magistrates, to the whole world, that your kingdom would be advanced and you would be glorified.

In Jesus' name we pray, amen.