Kingship of Christ in Revelation 11:15-18

Pastor Martin tells of a congregation family who took a cross-country trip in a converted fire wagon. The head of household gives each member a camera with a different theme — people, places, events, close-ups. They cover the same trip from start to end multiple times, each cycle emphasizing different things. So Revelation cycles us through the same span of history six or seven times under different figures.

And the illustration that I lay before you derives from a fact of our own congregational history during this summer. One of our families made a cross-country trip in a converted fire wagon. And some of you remember us praying for that family as they made their way from New Jersey all the way across to California and back again. Now imagine, they didn't do this, but imagine for the sake of illustration, if before they left, the head of the household of the family that made the cross-country trip in the converted fire wagon should hand out four cameras to four different members of the household.

5:15 - 5:54 Read in full sermon

Coming home, the family arranges the photos not chronologically but in cycles — all the people pictures together, then all the places, then all the events, then the close-ups. Revelation does the same: each cycle brings us from John's day to the consummation under a different angle.

Someone else says, well, I have a different idea. Why not put them in cycles? Let's take all the film and all the developed pictures from the people camera and let's put them all together in the first three pages. So we'll have all the people that we met from New Jersey to California and back again.

9:01 - 9:22 Read in full sermon

Driving home: The divine government is real. It is universal, but it is disputed. It is opposed. It is hated.

Pastor Martin cites Herman Hoeksema preaching through Revelation: Christ presently reigns, but His rule is disputed by the devil and the rebellious nations. The seventh trumpet announces the day His rule becomes undisputed and unrivaled.

But now listen carefully. It has been a disputed rule and reign. And Huximah dared to preach through the book of the Revelation and did an admirable job. When he was preaching on this very question that ought to arise said this, In answer to this question, it must be said that God is indeed sovereign all through the history of the world.

22:06 - 22:33 Read in full sermon

Picture a wealthy benevolent man who owns acres of choice land. He lets squatters live on it, hunt, plant, and reap. But he announces the day is coming when he will dam the stream and flood the area to make a lake — every squatter must move. Some scoff, some are slow to leave, some hope it will go away. Pastor Martin then turns the parable on the unconverted hearer.

Let me illustrate something of the danger of your plight, you who are unconverted. Picture with me a wealthy man who owns acres of land, choice land. And he's a benevolent man, and he wants to make the best use of that land for his and subsequent generations. And in cooperation with the government, he's decided that a certain area would make an excellent lake, and they'd make a dam that would provide electricity.

34:48 - 35:14 Read in full sermon

The point: Don't smart-mouth God — every objection of the squatter perishes when the floodwaters come.

It is His world, not yours. His breath, not yours. Every breath you draw, every meal you eat, every joy you taste — all on land you do not own. You hold squatter's rights only by His mercy. The eviction notice has gone out: His Son shall have a universal kingdom.

Do I need to make the application for you? You live on God's earth. It's His world, not yours. It's His breath, not yours.

37:40 - 37:53 Read in full sermon

The point: Give yourself to adoration in prayer, blessing the King in the lampstands, the Lamb in the throne, the King of the new earth.

Picture one — Christ in the midst of the seven lampstands, governing His church. Picture two — the Lamb in the midst of the throne, administering history. Picture three — the universal King ushering in the new heavens and new earth. Together they form the complete portrait of Christ's reign.

Everything else simply expands upon it. Now look at the picture. In the opening vision, there was Christ under the figure of that august being like unto a Son of Man, in the midst of the lampstands, with His feet of burning brass, ready to crush His enemies and the enemies of His church, clothed with a garment down to the feet gird about the breast with a golden girdle all the signs of His royal majesty He in the midst of the church And the first message comes to that first church saying Thus saith He that walketh in the midst of the candlesticks or the lampstands.

40:30 - 41:18 Read in full sermon

The point: Stop running to prophecy conferences identifying Gog and the kings of the East — get prostrate before your Redeemer King.

Pastor Martin contrasts true comfort with the 'drivel' of prophecy conferences identifying Gog and Magog with Russia and the kings of the East with China. The people of God need to be prostrate in adoration before the King, not chasing newspaper headlines.

What do the people of God need? They don't need to waste their time running to so-called prophecy conferences while people tell us that Gog and Magog is Russia and the kings of the east of China and there's going to be 200 million horses and the Russians are already now a man. Oh, that rubbish! She rubbish!

44:02 - 44:23 Read in full sermon