This transcript was generated by whisper.ai.

We're continuing our look together through Revelation chapter 11, day 4 today.
We're going to focus on verses 15 to 18. In these verses, it's going to begin
with the seventh angel sounding his trumpet.

And you would think that immediately after that happens, all of a sudden the
judgments that are going to come out of that trumpet sound, the bowls of wrath
that are going to be poured out after that trumpet sound will begin to happen.
But that's not true at all. We're going to have a couple of pauses, a couple of
interludes before that even begins.

Listen to what happens, beginning in verse 15 to 18. The seventh angel sounded
his trumpet. 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
forever and ever.

" And the 24 elders who were seated on their thrones before God fell on their
faces and they worshiped God saying, "We give thanks to you, Lord God Almighty,
the one who is and who was, because you have taken your great power and you have
begun to reign. The nations were angry, for your wrath has come. 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.

" Here we are, verse 15, Revelation 11, all seems finished, the seven bowls of
wrath about to be poured out, but before that happens, John takes us back to
heaven and he gives us a glimpse of the end of the story. He gives us a glimpse
of where all of this is heading. Right after this seventh angel sounds the
trumpet, then we go not to earth but immediately back to heaven, and we hear
based on that these words, "The kingdom of this world has become the kingdom of
our Lord and of his Christ, and he will reign forever and ever.

" If you listen to any music at all, you've heard Handel's Messiah at one time
or another, and the words from the Messiah that ring in most of our minds
forever and ever and ever and ever, they come from these verses. The kingdom of
this world has become the kingdom of our Lord. Before we see the final, final
tragedies that come upon this earth, we see why they're coming.

The kingdom of this world has to become the kingdom of our Lord, and so the
kingdom of this world is going to be done away with, and the kingdom of our Lord
is going to last forever and ever and ever. This is the final reign of Christ,
and in the final reign of Christ we see here the judgment of the nations and the
reward of his servants, and tomorrow we're going to see the eternal temple of
God. The focus to me of these verses, in fact a focal point in the entire book
of Revelation, is this phrase, "The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom
of our Lord.

" That is what God is working to do. "Thy will be done on earth as it is in
heaven. " That is what God is working to do.

That is the prayer that God is working to answer, as we've said before as we've
walked through this book. That is what is being completed in the time of
tribulation, and as that is being completed, the kingdom of this world becomes
the kingdom of our Lord. As that is being completed, two things will happen to
two groups of people.

There are those who are part of his kingdom, and there's another group of
people, those who are trying to establish their own kingdom. And depending on
where you are, which group you're in, you're going to see different things
happening. First, there are those who are trying to establish their own kingdom.

In these verses they are called the nations. The nations are very angry. Why are
they angry?

The same reason any of us get angry, they're not getting their own way. They're
not getting what they want. They want their own kingdom.

They want their own way. As long as people set themselves up to be God, God's
kingdom on this world cannot be established. Whether it's some dictator in some
country that's taking advantage of his people, allowing them to starve while he
lives in luxury, or whether it's some parent in some family who's abusing a
child in order to somehow calm their own shame or think that they will.

Anytime someone sets themselves up to be God over someone else, God's kingdom is
not established. And God's not going to let that go on forever. This is when
it's coming to an end in these verses.

As long as the nations set themselves up to be God, God's kingdom cannot yet be.
So he is going to judge those who set themselves up to be God and separate them
from him. And he will include those who trust him as Lord and God.

That's the second group that's here. The time has come for judging the dead and
for rewarding, in verse 18, your servants, the prophets, and your saints, and
those who reverence your name, both small and great. There is no distinction.

Like, well, that's a great servant of God. They're going to really get rewarded.
And that's a small servant of God.

Well, they won't get rewarded. No, all are going to be rewarded because it's
about God's kingdom. And it's about God's reward.

Verse 18 really sums it up. The time has come for judging the dead, for
rewarding your servants, the prophets, and your saints, and those who reverence
your name, both small and great. And then that verse ends by saying, and
destroying those who destroy the earth.

That's a very powerful phrase to me. Why is God going to judge? Because those
who are going their own way, those who are setting up their own kingdom, they
are the ones who are destroying this earth.

It began in the Garden of Eden when Adam and Eve started to go their own way. It
happens in my life, in your life, and we decide to go our own way. Our sin is
what is destroying this earth.

So God's going to judge our sin so that He can create a new heaven and a new
earth where there is no sin. There's only holiness. We live in a time, we live
in a period of time where there is great concern over this earth, over the
environment of this earth.

And I believe we should be concerned. The truth of the matter is, at the
beginning of time on this planet, God set us up to be managers of this earth. He
made us responsible over this planet, and we're to manage it well.

We're to manage the physical part of it well. But we should never miss the point
that's in these verses. There's something deeply significant here.

The greatest cause of destruction on this earth is our sin. That's what caused
the fall of this earth. That's what is going to cause these final calamities.

Now, in no way does that take away our responsibility to care for this planet, a
responsibility that's been given to us from the beginning all the way until now.
But recognizing that it is our sin in the end that's going to destroy this
earth, it should keep us from shifting the blame to someone else, which is what
I see people love to do when it comes to their sin. I see Christians do this.

We love to sit in church and talk about the sin, the sins of those who aren't in
church, and act as if we are morally superior to them. It makes us feel better
about our sin. I see people who are not yet believers in Christ do this.

And oftentimes now they're doing it over these environmental issues. I feel
morally superior to you because I'm driving a Prius. And somehow because of
that, I have the moral high ground.

The truth of the matter is we're all sinners. The idea of taking good care of
this earth, that's an entirely different issue. This earth is going to be
destroyed in the end because of our sin.

And we all stand equally in need of the cross. We all stand equally in need of
God's love. We all stand equally.

We all stand equally before Christ. And He equally is willing to forgive every
one of us. So instead of feeling shame because of some loud voice of someone
else telling you how bad your sin is when they look like their sin isn't that
bad, or instead of deciding on blame and you being the one that is shouting to
the other person, let's all just stand before God and realize we've all sinned,
we've all fallen short of the glory of God.

And in the end it is our sin that's going to cause this earth to pass away. But
in the end we have the offer of forgiveness. We have the cross of Jesus Christ
and we can become His brothers and sisters and spend eternity with Him in this
new heaven and this new earth, in His kingdom.

The kingdom of this world will become the kingdom of our Lord. I want you in
that kingdom. So as we pray today, you've never said to Jesus Christ, "Jesus, I
need your forgiveness for my sin.

" I'm tired of letting others shame me or blaming others and covering it over.
Right now, right before you, honestly, I say, "Lord, I'm sorry for my sin and I
thank you for your forgiveness. I thank you for the new life that you can give
only in Christ.

" And Lord, all of us together, we look forward to that day when the kingdom of
this world will become the kingdom of our Lord and you will reign forever and
ever and ever. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. Join us tomorrow.

We're going to see together a vision of God's temple in heaven.