Beacon Sunday Service: February 4th, 2024

So can we all rise for the Lord worship this morning? It says this the Lord sits in the wrong word. The Lord sits in the road as heather. Therefore, let us hand. Let us worship the Lord in the splendor of voice.

All powerfully is always with us. They just continue acknowledged that truth just through the Son Jesus Christ that he has come and lived and died. Let's work in for our sins, and I have just worked in my soul.

This morning we will profess our faith using the new city catechism. And this question answered will be just the hope we have in everlasting life. Here's the question. What hope with everlasting life hold for us? Together. It reminds us that this present body is not all that is.

Good morning, everyone. At this time we're going to have a confession of sin. It's twofold for our ministry where we have a time of corporate confession where we together will ask the Lord and plead that our transgressions will be taken away. Even though we know that as Christians, our salvation, our salvation has already come through the blood of Jesus Christ. But it's a reminder, and it's our hearts being open to the Lord and just sharing it together in one voice. And then secondly, after that, we're going to have a silent personal time of confession where you will just share with the Lord your personal struggles and the sins that you've been dealing with this past weekend in your life ongoing.

So together let's go over the first part of this confession of sin. Have mercy on us, O God. According to your abundant mercy, law our transcription.

Amen. Let's not take any time for our first one.

Come now. Let us breathe them together, says the Lord. Though your skins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as stone. Though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool. Today we have a couple prayer requests. One is a follow-up to the Peck family prayer request that we had last week. Baby Penny Peck was born at a healthy 6.4 pounds.

But the journey is going to be long still for them. So let's pray for the baby to stay healthy, to feed well, to rest well, even for the mother to recover well and for them to find good rest for Daniel, the father to be the support, give him strength as well to pick up where it needed the gas that needs to be filled as he's the main caregiver at this moment. So let's just pray for the Peck family. And yeah, I just sounds straight together.

Comes from Papin Madison as a first one request for his son.

He says in the next two weeks, and he would like to be able to perform those without the pain. So let's lift up Pastor Madison first.

We pray for uh blessing upon Daniel as well that you would give him strength during this time, that he would be a good system of support for Tammy and Penny. Uh, and we also left up little Iris as well, the big sister. We just pray that you will watch over her as she transitions to having another little person in her life, um, that she would be gracious and understanding and that the transition to being a family floor would be a smooth one. We pray for Pastor Dean's son Curtis that uh the kidney stones that he's experiencing at this moment would be broken up uh and passed through, Lord, that so that he may be able to do your work, the work that his heart desires to do. We pray for his body not to fail him, uh, and even if it takes a few hours or however the process may go, that he will endure the thing uh so that he will be able to do your good work.

Uh, we pray for also his ministry work in the Philippines that uh the work that he sought to do, but it would not be in vain that ultimately your will be done, and that people will come to Christ because he has gone and they're going to serve you, Father. So we pray for those two things, those two prayer topics, and we just left it up to you in Jesus' name we pray. Children who dismiss for San Isabel, please have a good class with teacher Stephen. As the children are babies and miss, I'm gonna go over a few uh announcements. The first announcement is that uh our uh sister church KPC is having her anniversary. I think it's either the 45th or 46th anniversary, I think they're the same age as my sister.

So uh they've been here for such a long time in this community, and they wanted to actually celebrate it with us. So they invite us um right after service to come and eat lunch. Um granted they may not have space for us, but they want to provide food for us to have lunch together, and maybe we can just have it together uh within the meeting here in our sanctuary. So that's the next next Monday, February 11th. Um as we share the text uh welcome a new member to their family baby penny. Um, and then there's gonna be a uh a meal training set up for them. It's probably a Google Sheets. Uh but Daniel hasn't really gotten back to us about how he would prefer the dietary restrictions they have, when they want to start it, when we can actually go and visit them.

Uh so more details have come. We'll probably send a group email to you all, but uh just keep in mind maybe something that you'd like to put for their family. Um next week is also the speaker bowl. Um we're gonna be having the fellowship at the Limbs House. It's a potluck, and so just so that we don't have too many overlapping items. Stephen will send out an email with maybe uh uh just categories uh and things that we can kind of just share on that list so that we can each other. Uh last is our offering. Um, if you're a guest today, we don't ask that you give, but if you're a member, we pray that the Lord has blessed you in your life. Um, we have our the option, then low cash and check. With that, I have the pleasure of welcoming back our brother Troy, Pastor Troy Lambert.

Uh he last spoke with us on October 15th. Uh, as a reminder, Pastor Troy was ordained as a pastor of the Reformed Baptist Church in Riverside in 2019, and he has attended there since 2001 and been involved in preaching, teachings on musical counseling, according to DBS, and Reformation events. He has also done various evangelical outreaches to the church's community. He's been married to his uh lovely wife Melissa since 2005, has three lovely children. Um, they also started a company called Five Souls Media, where they make short films and learn about church history in fun ways. So let's give him another round of applause.

There we go. All right. Alright, now it's on the good to see everybody. Thanks for having me back out again.

Our friend Matt Tiffany Frewer and their two kids came with us as well. So if you haven't had a chance to meet them, we've made it a good friends of our family for so long and members at our church. And we were excited because they wanted to come along and meet you guys. You can uh turn to the book of Revelation, chapter one, where we'll be at today. Bring greetings from the Reform Baptist Church in Rivers by California. And uh we're thankful for our relationship with you that's developed over the last few years. And um, it's um we're praying that the Lord leads you through the time if you're looking for a pastor and thankful that he's provided a um you know an interim pastor, but uh soon we'll be ministering with you guys, but that's a that's a real blessing.

Um 2024. Here we are. A lot of people have predictions about what this year may look like, and a lot of concerns, a lot of fears, of course, like an election year here in the United States, and that has already proven to be quite interesting. Uh all sorts of craziness going on there, it seems. You look around the world, you've got wars in the Middle East, wars in Asia, wars in Africa, wars of South America, rumors have war, um, will China invade Taiwan? Will authority authoritarianism continue to spread around the world, even here in California? We are concerned at that time that the certain laws that are passed seem very draconian. Um culturally, we are seeing uh an unprecedented change in the culture here in the United States.

Um, and what I'm talking about is particularly a delusion that is spreading all over, uh, particularly a blatant attack of God's created order. You look at Genesis chapter one and you see how God made men and women in his image, male and female, he made them. Um counter to that, we're seeing an unprecedented um celebration, and actually even an encouragement towards transgenderism, just promote it as its natural, whatever your sexuality is, is the flavor of the day, just pursue it. Basically, at the end of the day, the pleasure of pursuit or the pursuit of pleasure is what is being promoted all around us, and this has really led for the first time in American history, um, a change in that I do hear, but I hear that the real problem is Christianity, and if only you Christians would just be accepting and loving everybody, then we could all just get along and have a great day.

Um you hear more and more. Well speak, the problem is because you believe in one God. It's because you believe you preach an exclusive Christ who claims he's the only way. It's because you claim that certain actions are sinful, because you teach that people are in the barrels and God created gender binding because you teach that male and female are equal in the sight of God and yet they have their own unique roles, God given roles and marriage and family because you claim that Christ only died for his chosen people, because you claim that Christ rose again in his kingdom is above all kingdoms because of all this exclusive talk. You guys are the real haters. You're the real problem with what's going on.

You guys need to be silent, you need to be quiet, you need to listen. Have you heard that? You need to just listen. You shouldn't even have access to the public sphere. You should just shut up and get on the right side of the street. Does that resonate with you? We do hear more and more of this around it. So as we look, we're only one month in 2024. January was already doozy. What is coming? What are we facing as Christians? Am I advice of going one page of bad news is to that the rest of this time is I want to encourage us, brothers and sisters, with the good news of Jesus Christ. In fact, right there at the beginning of revelation is the reminder that this is the revelation of who? The Antichrist.

The revelation of the troubles that are soon to come. No, this is the revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show to his service, the things that must take place. And so this is a letter that originally written to seven churches in a particular area of what we call modern Turkey today, Asia Minor. That was true that faith in persecution were already having persecution coming upon them, or even those who were beginning to lose their first love. They were beginning to cool, they were becoming, they were drifting to a certain degree. And so Jesus Christ in this love writes the church at that time a great letter. A great letter of challenge. Like if you're drifting, come back to Christ, come back to your first love.

And if you are hurting, Christ is still on the throne. Christ's still in control. Don't be worried about what is going on. God and all of his wisdom, all his love and compassion for his first century church, and yes, even today, in the 21st century, he gave John this great letter. You know, Revelation literally just means the unveiling. To encourage his people to keep looking to Christ, to keep seeing that Christ is on this throne, and that the Lamb will win, and that evil will never thwart God's plan. Christ is always with his people, and he is always in control. Is that not good news? That's how we are to live as Christians. So right here in the very beginning, I want to look at these uh first few verses.

Let's start reading verse one. We're just going to read verse eight verses here. The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave to him to show his servants the things that must soon take place.

Even to all that he saw. Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy. And blessed are those who hear and keep what is written in it. For the time is near. Verse 4. John to the seven churches that are in Asia. Grace to you and peace from him who is and who was and who is to come. And from the seven spirits who are before his throne, and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of kings on earth, to him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood, and made us a kingdom, priest to his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Behold, he is coming with the cloud, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him, and all the tribes of the earth will wail on account of him.

Even so, amen.

Who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty. Let's just pray once again. Heavenly Father, we are thankful for these precious words revealed by your son Jesus Christ to our brother, a servant of yours, the apostle John. Lord, we are so thankful that in your enforcement, you have given words to your church to encourage us to have hope, to be reminded that no matter the circumstances around us, to know that to no matter how it seems to be dark around us, that in Christ there is always light. In Christ there is always in Christ, there's always peace, and we can trust him in the good times and in the bad times. So, Lord, we pray, help us to understand these words. Holy Spirit, give us ears to hear.

But the words of Christ are to us today. Minister to us, we ask. Jesus holy name we pray. Amen. So the point I want to just really look at verses 4 through 7. And they break down pretty neatly into a greeting that God gives, a great reading. Then John breaking out into great worship as he thinks about who God is. And then finally, there is a great promise given by Christ. In this reading in verse 4, we find a very common expression that just a few months ago we did here when we began our time together. Great and peace. Over and over and over. This is such a prison expression to one another that comes from God Himself. Great to you, and peace from our Trinitarian God, who is and was and who is to come.

Everyone agrees that this is a Trinitarian expression. The infinite and eternal God, the omnipresent Holy Spirit, uh, even here reflected in some sort of um metaphorical way of the seven spirits, seven being perfection, but agreed from the Holy Spirit as well as Jesus the Christ, the Messiah. Our evangel, our God with us. And Jesus, it says, is faithful in his witness. Then when we appear in our presence, walking this earth, his gospel proclamation was faithful to his heavenly father. And he lived, and he died, but he rose again. And as the mediator, he is our prophet, he is our priest, he is our king. And what is it that our creator God, our Savior God, our all-powerful and tribune God wants us to have in this world as his people?

Grace, peace. Is that not what the world? Now I know the world doesn't really yearn after God. The Bible clearly says that noble seeks after God. But in in our fallen image bearer of sins, there is a striving for great, there's a striving for peace, but we cannot find this in this world. We can't. Free grace, the removal of wrath, the pouring out of God's blessing upon blessing upon those who he has forgiven. And being given God's perfect record. Being adopted into the family of God. When you ponder, do we just not want to sing amazing grace? How sweet the found, the saved or rich. I mean grace is truly amazing. And then peace. What peace do we really have without Christ? Over and over the scriptures declare that we have been justified through faith.

We have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. That's what Romans 5 once says.

He says that Jesus made peace by the blood of his promise. And so not only do we have peace with God, but he comes and he gives us peace with each other. Peace in our own lives. Jesus knew he was leading us in a broken world, a sinful and dark world. But on the eve of his crucifixion, what did he promise? He promised that he would send the Holy Spirit, the great helper. And he said that he was going to leave with his people peace. My peace I give to you. I do not give it to you as the role of us. Do not let your hearts be troubled. Do not be afraid. Brothers and sisters, when you read from Genesis or Revelation, this is God's message to these people. I'm reading through the book of Joshua now.

And over and over, what does he say to Joshua? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid. Well, how is this possible? We're we're human beings with our honor since yourself. We get afraid so quickly. It is only possible because God is abiding with us through his Holy Spirit. Because Paul said to the Corinthians, we are the temple of God. And we have to be reminded, just like Joshua, over and over and over. That's what Jesus, that's what God. And you can say Jesus, because Yahweh, there were definitely manifestations, histologies that happen here. But over and over and over, Joshua has a reminder, be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid. Tonight I'm going to be preaching out of communion service back at a church.

I will be looking at Joshua 1. And I looked at the year from Matt Tippius with a little uh preview here of a time when I was at Disneyland. Have you ever been at Disneyland when it was stacked? Spack to the gild of Islam. I'm walking down as a five-year-old with my mom and dad in a summer day down Main Street. And I think I followed my dad. The guy turns around. It's not my dad. That fear that strikes me.

Where is it? It's so frightening as a kid. I can still feel it now. Thinking about it. And then out of the word. But hey, my dad probably never even lost me. I lost my dad. He's just, you feel that hand on your shoulder. You hear his voice, done, and hear it. And it's what peace enters into your life. What hope comes back to your life? I'm no longer an orphan kid anyway. My parents are here, found, I'm not lost. I mean, I know it's a weak example, but that is what the Lord is saying to us. Be strong, be courageous. Grace and peace. Do not be afraid. I am with you. John is reminding us that God has given and will continue to give his precious people. Grace and peace throughout their life. And throughout this revelation, time and time again, we are reminded to do one thing.

What is that one thing? Look for Jesus. Look at what he is doing. He isn't absent out in some distant part of the universe playing video games. Oh, I lost track of time. I guess we've got to get back to that church. There's heavy doing. He hasn't left our universe completely. He's not some multiverses. Everybody loves to talk about now. And he's like, oh well, I could care less. Look at the end of verse 5. What does it say? What is Jesus doing right now? And this is not just found here. It's just found throughout scripture. What is he doing right now in verse 5? He is the ruler of the kings of earth. Is that not what he said just before he ascended into heaven? I have been given all authority.

Jesus, our Mosaic, our faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead is the ruler over every king, every prime minister, every president, every government, every authoritarian dictator that exists out there. None of them have power on their own. You name a leader, and guess what? Yes, him down. Christ is ruler over him. He won't admit it this life unless God does some amazing work in his life. But he only has power because God has allowed that. And a truth, this truth causes John to do what? John doesn't break into fear of the coming antichrist. It's a break into fear about Caesar. What does he do? He breaks into worship. This is a doxology here. After thinking about who God is, that you know he is eternal, that he is in control and he's all powerful, that he wants to give his church grace and peace.

John breaks into worship. What does he say there at the end of verse 5? To him who loves us and is freed us from our sins by his blood and made us a kingdom priest to his God and Father. To him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. That's just power give the target to say that.

Similar worship is like this later in this chapter, in chapter 19. Worship breaks out as Christ and God's dominion is proclaimed in the marriage. The marriage of the supper of the Lamb, that great feast. John 19, if you want to keep your finger here, you can look at John 19 starting verse 6. It says, Then I heard what seemed to be the voice of a great multitude. I love this is so descriptive. Like the roar of many waters. If you ever stood there or as it's rushing by, or maybe the ocean out here in Santa Monica is crashing after the water being so loud. And the idea is like more than the Rose Bowl game where everybody's cheering all at once. There's a voice of a great multitude, like the warm waters, and like the sound of the mighty peal of thunder, crying out, what did they cry out?

Hallelujah! For the Lord our God, the Almighty reign, let us rejoice and exalt and give him the glory for the merit of the Lamb has come. And his bride has made herself ready. It was granted to her to clothe herself with fine linen and bright and pure. For the fine linen is the rifest deeds of the saints. King James Virgin echoed exactly what we sang a couple months ago at Christmas time. If you put in the CD of Handel's Messiah and listen to it, maybe put it on Spotify. Hallelujah for the Lord God, a little later in chapter 19, Jesus is declared what? Be not king whatever and ever.

You get what Handel was writing over 300 years ago. It's debatable whether Handel really knew the Lord or not. The guy named Charles, who wrote out all the words, pulling out all the truth from the old testament to the new testament about Christ, about Jesus as Messiah. He was a believer. And he believed, how do we reach the lost world? They're not coming to church here in the middle of the 18th century anymore. London's growing darker and darker. How do we reach the world? I know what we're gonna do. We're gonna write a musical. We're going to pack it full of scripture. We're gonna point people to Christ. And I tell you, I'm gonna listen to it again this year.

It is this classical piece, nearly 350 years old. We all know, oh yeah, hallelujah. Unfortunately, probably go up from a car commercial when somebody gets a new car and a movie when a girl decides to go on a date with a guy. It totally misses the point. Because what it's referring to is right here in chapter 19, that Christ is King of Kings. It's singing hallelujah, hallelujah, and then the refrain from the you know, and he shall reign forever and ever. Hallelujah, that's your thing, praise the Lord. Because Christ is going to reign forever and ever and ever. He is the king of kings, he is the Lord of the Lord. That's what is happening here. They're being stirred up in worship. It's a very bold statement, isn't it?

I think many of our leaders today, if we were able to have Gather Luce and walk in this door, sit down and say, Gavin Jesus. Do you know you are uh governor of California? Not because of an election, but because God pleaded there? He'd be like, well, hold on now. Okay, you're a little fun there. No, no, seriously, Christ is the king. He's the king of the world, and the only reason you're a tactical right now is because he let you be there. So go read Psalm 2. You really need to pay attention to Psalm 2, because he's laughing at you right now because you think you are powerful, but you have no power aside from what God has given you. Recently I was reading something that John Piper wrote, and I found it very helpful.

But to help us understand what does it mean that Christ is king? What does it mean that he has all authority over earthly powers? The first point he he said was that Jesus controls who will be king and who won't be king. All authority have been given to me in heaven and on earth. No one in our office in a public office today, no judge in a courts, no king and a palace is there without Christ's appointment. Whoever would be the president of the United States here at the end of this year, did not sneak in, did not lie their way in, they're not cheating. They may have done that. But whoever is president at the end of this year is the president that the Lord said, I will put into power. Now it's hard, isn't it?

It's hard to hear that. But listen to the second point. We know this is true, but the Bible tells us it's true. The second point is this. Jesus regulates what the kings on earth do. Sometimes he holds back evil. That happened just a few months ago. There was a law that was that had been approved by Excit and had been approved by our representatives there in Sacramento. And the law basically said if parents do not affirm their kids' gender identity, they can take it away from them. And I was like, oh my goodness, Lord, is this going to be the one that's going to cause an answer to the problem? We already seen it, but like I don't want to live in it. That's really fearful. But what is the reason?

Now let me rephrase that. For the very reason that Christ could be authority of Muslim did a sign. Now, I know that it is selfish because he had a political presidential ambition. And that was too radical for us to the United States. But you know what? The Lord still used that to hold back that kind of evil. If World War III breaks out in 2024, guess what? Christ allowed it. Yes, for the advancement of his kingdom. That's the thing that we have to look at. Every heavily, every bad thing that's happening, we need to look beyond it. Even though we can be despondent, even though we can be confirmed about the state of our world.

But everything that happens, we need to go, how is the Lord using this for the advancement of his kingdom? Because brothers and sisters, what did Jesus say himself? I will build my church and what? The gates of hell will not be.

And yet they estimate, I don't know, the numbers have shot my head, there maybe a couple million Christians in that entire large nation. The Tommy have come in, the communist butcher, I mean, whatever in they did not, they held to the very strong atheistic view of communism. They butchered Christians for decades, it was a close country to protect it. But when we look at 40, 50 years of the suffering that happened there, now we're talking tens of millions of Christians in China. John Piper shared a story about how he was at a conference, and there were some Chinese brothers there talking with him. And this was back to you in a little bit of China opening up more. And they were excited. Oh, this is great.

And it looks like the church is having more freedom, more opportunities would be openly. This is good news, and they said, No, it's not. We don't want that if that remains what you are in the Western world. Because in the Western world, we see a lazy Christianity. We see a bored Christianity. And what we have with Christ, even under authoritarianism, we don't want to lose that closeness that we have to Christ. I found that very challenging. It's very challenging. We need to be reminded that God's kingdom is always regulating what kings are doing around the world. God moved Caesar to count the people in Rome in order to bring Mary for an answer to Bethlehem to fulfill prophecy. That is unbelievable.

And the Lord is doing that time and time again. We don't have the list of all the ways that God uses wicked rulers to advance his kingdom. You think of even the story of Jacob and Joseph going into Egypt. A rich but godless land, and yet God's people grow in abounding numbers. And hundreds of years later, even in the face of persecution, Moses is called out to take his people out. They went in a small little tribe, they come out a mighty army of people. God used that for his purposes, for the advancement of his kingdom. Thirdly, God puts rulers into authority, God controls what they are doing in authority. He also has authority to claim citizens everywhere. From all nations, from all states upon the face of the earth.

I love this place, right? I mentioned King John Moon, right? North Korea, one of the most persecuted places, and not the most persecuted places for a Christian to live. And guess what? There are Christians living right now. They live there, you know probably better than me, under horrible circumstances. I got the privilege of leaving one several years ago at a conference who had escaped and gone out. And it's a horrible place to live as a Christian. Yet, Kim Jong-un cannot say, no, Jesus, you can't have any of my people. Jesus goes, guess what? He's my left. I'm claiming him. She my left, I'm claiming him. There's no place in the world to keep Christ out. I had the privilege of going to Cuba several years ago.

The church is growing there. It's growing by leaves and mouths, even though a few decades ago they burned all the Bibles. All authority in heaven and earth has been given to me. Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations. This means that missionaries are the true ambassadors for the true king. And they can go anywhere. No one has a right to keep them from calling the following Christ for salvation. Fourthly, he will triumph and he will bring all his saving purposes to victory. The reign of Christ over the king on earth today means he will triumph and bring all his saving purposes to victory. Christ cannot be defeated. They tried. Rome, the world power of its time. Jerusalem, the religious power, right there in the face of Jesus.

They conspired together to get rid of this troublemaker who claimed to be the king. And guess what? They killed him. They killed him. But Jesus right here says, I don't even love the way he says it. I am the one who died and who lived again. That is unbelievable. He said, I'm the firstborn from the dead. And then look down at verse 17 there. We didn't read it, but look at what he says. Fear not, I am the first and the last, the living one. I died, and behold, I am alive forevermore. I have the keys of death in Hades. What can the kings and the world do to Jesus? They tried their best. They actually killed him. But he rose again. Finally 5th, Christ is ordering the world for the good of the church.

This one is so important to us to remind us, hinting at that earlier. God put all things under Christ's feet and has made him the head over all things for the church. That's what Paul told the Ephesians. In Ephesians chapter 3, Paul says that he was called to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ and to bring to light for everyone what is the plan of the mystery hidden for the ages in God. Listen to this. Who created all things so that through the church, the manifold wisdom of God might be made known to the rulers and authorities of heavenly places. Brothers and sisters, whether we're a small congregation, or whether we're a larger congregation down the road, no matter where we're at, God chose to make known the manifold, what is it saying there?

To make known the manifold wisdom of who he is through his church. I find that amazing. Not from the crypto arena where the Grammys are going to be happy to mile from here and down the road. In my mind, I'm like, oh Lord, you need those cameras, you need those blitzy screens, you need those starlets, you need to have the one billion people around the world who are going to live stream it and see it. No, no, no. He didn't choose the things that the world didn't would be wise. The best way to promote, he chose the church to be the one that proclaims who he is. In other words, John wants us to know that the authority of the Christ, of Christ, over the kingdom of the first is designed to bring grace and peace to his people and his church.

And as often through persecution and suffering. How is it that Paul and Silas, having been whipped and thrown into a dungeon, were singing praises to God there in the first century? How was it? Have you ever heard of perpetual in the second century? A young follower of Christ, a young mother with a baby who was captured and thrown into prison and told, unless you recant Christ, you're going to be put to death. And she went. And her and her friends were put in a Colosseum and ripped to shreds by lions. How is it that Latin or Ridley in England in the 16th century preached the gospel as they were tied to the state, be burned to death? The answer is time and time again. Because they knew Christ will come from.

And they knew to be a servant in the household of God was better to be in the presence of the emperor, the president of the presence of the grand, all the riches that the world could offer. To be just the adornment in the presence of the king of the world was better. And they all feel great confidence that nothing happens outside of his sovereign hand. So there was a great greeting, a reminder of who God is. And then this broke into great worship, knowing that he is in control, that he is on his throne, that his glory and dominion are forever and ever and ever. And I'll know, I'll be the first to admit. As I look at the news, my wife will be the first to help me admit it that I can go, oh, what's going on?

What's happening in our world? I can't believe it. We had to tell our kids, like, we want you to know that we try not to get caught up in this. But the world wasn't like this when we were in high school. The world is like this five years ago. Things that just seemed to be unleashed. It seems to be just out of control. But Christ was reminding us.

Whether we were the most whitewashed tomb hypocrites or just the most worldly living after our own flesh, somewhere on that spectrum, we deserve God's wrath ourselves. We were filthy vessels of wrath. But God in his kindness, in his grace, washed us clean by the blood of Christ. He set us apart by the Father. He has loved us as his children. And he's called us to be a part of the kingdom of God. You see the importance here. Christ has no need of America or China or Kenya or any other political government in this world. Because he is not building a political kingdom. Remember, Satan tried to offer him all the powers of the world. You know, what was it that the vision that Satan presented him there in Matthew 4, that great temptation.

All of this, all the power, all of the wealth. You combine every single nation on the face of the every great empire, the face of this planet, combine them. You can have all that if you just would worship me. What an absolute joke that was. Jesus responded, worship the Lord your God and serve him only. There are times when the nations seem more benevolent than others. That's God's common grace. But Christ is not building an earthly kingdom. He is calling his elect from every corner of this world into his kingdom for the worship of God. After all, that's what John means when he says he made us a kingdom of priests for the worship of God. Brothers and sisters, I'm so blessing with you this morning.

It is a privilege to meet Christians. All over. I've had a small inkling. I've been able to travel to Kenya and been able to travel to Europe and different parts of the United States. Our church has helped plant church down at Tijuana, Mexico. To meet Christians and to worship our God together. It resonates with our soul. This is why that great song then seems my soul. We feel it because it's what we're made for. We were made to worship God and to enjoy God and to glorify him in all that we do. And this is happening right now all across this planet. And I want to have you, but the older I'm being, the more I am in your.

Zealous to do good deeds, even if the rest of the world is not. To him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. Even in our suffering, even in the difficulties we face in this world, Christ can be and he will be glorified in that suffering. And in these difficulties, we are proclaiming the gospel and Christ's dominion over all of the world. Dear church, I want you to be reminded of this reality. That right now, even though small we might be, we are proclaiming beyond the walls, the people walking up and down the street, the people driving down the street, going, look at those people. They actually go to church on Sunday. I didn't know anybody who does that anymore. Or maybe they don't even care.

Or maybe they're ready to throw our jets. I don't know. But we are taking God's rightful dominion as we gather together, as we sing, as we preach, as we pray together, uh, as we bear one another burdens, as we talk with each other, as you're heading to help those in need, as pastors of various churches or helping the counseling as we partake in the Lord's Supper, as we see people baptized. All this is part of the conquest of Christ's kingdom over the world. That should excite us. That should make us eager to gather together with God's people in the Lord's head. You are an ambassador, planting a flag on the beachhead of the enemy. And Christ is saying, mine. And these are my people. And I'm going to work through them to shine the light of glory all around Los Angeles.

Even in the glory of ML. You are proclaiming Christ is risen. Christ is reigning. And Christ is coming back again. And that's the promise that we see here at the end. As this wraps up this little section here, behold he is coming with the clouds. And every eye will see him, even those who pierced him, and all the tribes on the earth will wail on account of him. The word that we know, we just said this earlier in our service. The world as we know it is going to come to an end. And the Lord says there are going to be two types of people left on the planet. Those who worship him and those who will wail before him. So it says right there. All tribes of earth will wail on his account. As sure as the promise of the Messiah will come the first time, his second coming is sure.

It's coming. It's going to happen. But unlike the first time, when he came veiled, and when he came to proclaim the gospel, and when he came to rescue sinners, this time he's coming back, not just as king, but as judge. And that acts upon you, doesn't it? That punch of the pack, whatever everyone says. But those who are not fallen will away. And those who are worshiping for all of eternity.

And I wonder how many Christians have read this over the last 2,000 years and found great encouragement. That Christ is on his throne. They gave hell of a lot previously. This is good news of great joy for us. Let's be praying that the Lord uses us as his ambassadors to proclaim the good news beyond the gates of your church here in your workplace and your families. And those of you pass by at the grocery store. There are many here in Los Angeles. Many that don't know Christ. But would it be that we could see in our lifetime? A unique move of God. A unique moment in time where he takes the darkness all around. And many are called into his kingdom to worship him, to enjoy him forever. Let's be praying for that.

Let's be praying for one another that we would remain faithful and hopeful and joyful, even if the clouds are given dark. Literally, man figures a thing. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we're grateful for your word. We're grateful for your mercy. Oh, we're so grateful for your grace. And the peace that comes in knowing that sins are forgiven, that we are right with you, and that we have the privilege to live as your sons and daughters in your kingdom. What a blessing that is. Lord help us to live for your glory, help us to be bold for your name, help us to seek the lost, and to encourage our brothers and sisters to stay faithful, to be strong and courageous, to not be afraid, knowing that you are with your people.

That's good news. Thank you for your mercy and your grace. And we pray this in your senior house and wish the darkness of this world is a hold of Christmas will be open together on Jesus and Russian changing the same.

Closing Benediction here. Obviously, we have the great words I mentioned from Joshua chapter one, he's wrong and creators, do not be afraid, for I am with you. At the end of the very end of Revelation, Jesus who testifies all over Britain here and says, Surely, I am coming soon. And our Lord Jesus.