Thanks for listening to the audio of this weeks message. The sermon this week is part of our Thy Kingdom Come series, our key scripture is Revelation 1:4-6. If you have any questions about this sermon please email us at PBCFrankfort@gmail.com and be sure to include the episode title in your message.
This sermon was presented on 9/22/24
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you're listening to Sermon audio from Providence Baptist Church be sure to check out pbcfringford.org for more information if you have a Bible with you know hope you do it's turn to Revelation 1 if you will Revelation 1 we're gonna be in verses 4 through 6 today as we kind of wrap up this mini series of this month about praying that kingdom come and we have a service next week still to go of course with our Lord's Supper lunch and next week about the Lord's Supper meal as a kingdom meal and what that means but this is kind of our last message this week for this month about praying the kingdom to come and I've titled this one the kingdom as community if you were here for the first week and you can recall back or perhaps you listened some other time other than that Sunday I pointed us back to the reality that the kingdom of God is always about people not property and property they're specifically meaning land that yes there was a promised land that God was moving his people towards yes there is a promised land for us one day that's coming a new heavens and a new earth but the very first instruction of God dealing with his kingdom was in Exodus 19 verses 3 through 6 where he tells the people of Israel I will make you a kingdom of priests it was about people it wasn't about land it was about their lives and what their lives were supposed to be and look like and how they were tasked with the mission of then expressing and demonstrating the kingdom of God in their midst wherever they were that initial call carries over into the New Testament and into the application of the church now both Jew and Gentile all who have believed in Christ through faith and grace and I read this to you that week I'm gonna read it to you again 1 Peter 2 chapter chapter 2 verse 9 and 10 you are not like that for you're a chosen people you are royal priests a holy nation God's very own possession as a result you can show others the goodness of God for he called you out of the darkness into his wonderful light once you had no identity as a people but now you are God's people once you received no mercy now you have received God's mercy so Peter picks up on that New Testament piece of that the promise of God making people a kingdom of priests now carries over into through the new covenant into the church just a couple pages to your right in the book Revelation Revelation 5 we were in Revelation 5 one of the very first sermons of the year we were in our worship series and Revelation 5 beginning verse 9 the elders have fallen down before the lamb they hold the prayers of God's people and they sing a new song that says you're worthy to take the scroll and break its seals and open it for you were slaughtered and your blood has ransom people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation and you've caused them to become a kingdom of priests for our God and they will reign on the earth and that Revelation 5 passage not only pointing to worship but pointing to the reality of every tribe every people every tongue every language that the church collectively Gentile and Jew alike no matter the nationality no matter the ethnicity no matter the social class no matter any of that that the world seeks to divide us by all of the church collective becomes this kingdom of priests and so we're going to talk about that today from the aspect of that we are a community we are a community as a kingdom of priests before the Lord and so if you would stand with me in honor of God in his word as our read Revelation 1 verses 4 through 6 to start us today this letter is from John to the seven churches in the province of Asia grace and peace to you from the one who is who always was and who is still to come from the seven fold spirit before his throne and from Jesus Christ he is the faithful witness to these things the first to rise from the dead and the ruler of all the kings of the world all glory to him who loves us and is freed us from our sins by shedding his blood for us he has made us a kingdom of priests for God his Father now glory and power to him forever and ever amen Lord we do thank you for today and we thank you for the opportunity that's set before us and all that has been done to this point and all that will be done from this point forward may it truly be to bring honor and glory to you may we submit ourselves Father both as the preacher and the listener both as the saint who is found through grace and the sinner who is yet redeemed today may we be found faithful to this text faithful to these words and may we be found faithful to the spirit that moves among us and that we would be willing and able and ready to at the end of our time together today do whatever is necessary in whatever we are called to do by the Holy Spirit of God to submit and yield our lives to Christ to submit portions of our lives that we've yet to give over to him whatever the case may be however we are called Lord do so by the power in the presence of your spirit by the truth of your word that we may be challenged and changed and leave this moment different from how we came in it's in your son's name I pray and I ask these things today amen you can be seated why do I work use the word community here that we are a community of a kingdom of priests Webster's defines community in this way a unified body of individuals with common interests and characteristics dictionary.com is similar it's a social religious occupational other group sharing common characteristics or interests but I like this distinction that it makes and perceived or perceiving itself as distinct in some way from the larger society with when with in which it exists and so the community of the kingdom of priests the community of faith of those of us who are saved by grace through faith we are to have common characteristics we are to have common ideals and interest in goals but we are to also perceive ourselves as different from the culture in which we exist. Jesus himself brought that to the forefront as he stands before Pilate and Pilate says are you the king of the Jews and Jesus answers at one point and says my kingdom is not of this world that does not mean did not mean that he had not inaugurated God's kingdom into this world it did not mean that he had not brought the beginnings of God kingdom God's kingdom into this world but he was telling Pilate and telling us and telling everyone else who would read those words my kingdom does not operate in the way this world operates and so there has to be a distinction for those of us who are part of a community known as a kingdom of priests that we operate in a different way individually and collectively than the culture in which we exist. Robert Weber in his book The Younger Evangelicals puts it this way the church is now the sign instrument and foretaste of the coming kingdom and the church's mission is to show the world what it looks like when a community of people live under the reign of God and that last sentence of course being an implication that we are a kingdom and we have a king and the king is not me and the king is not you and the king is not a prime minister nor a president nor a governor nor anybody else the king is Jesus and he has instituted the kingdom of God in our very midst by his coming and so let's walk through this a little bit dealing with verses 4 5 and 6 here in Revelation and the first part from verse 4 is this we are a community of diverse people and circumstance we are a community of diverse people in circumstance though we have common goals and interest and ideals and and though we should have as a community one focus which I'll talk about in just a little while we are different people in circumstances look at verse 4 this letter is from John to the seven churches in the province of Asia I'm going to stop there for just a moment these seven churches are listed in Revelation chapter 2 and 3 they are Ephesus Smyrna, Pergamum, Thatera, Sardis, Philadelphia and Laodicea and if you're a student of the book of Revelation or if you studied through Revelation or you just it's piqued your interest and you read some things about it you know that there are those who look at these seven churches and go well they represent periods of time within church history and there's a reality there that we can look at these churches and and pick out a little bit of that kind of thinking right and that kind of application that we can see throughout times in history where these things that these churches are dealing with the church collectively has dealt with more or less but I always remind people when we're reading Revelation we're reading a letter that was written to people then and so what what is said to these seven churches doesn't bring them a lot of comfort doesn't bring them a lot of help if it's only for the future so he's speaking to them now and their time with this letter and I want to always walk through these seven churches for just a moment the church in Ephesus and I'm just giving you a synopsis here you can read chapters two and three this week on your own to get a bigger picture if you want to but the church at Ephesus was commended for their hard work and their endurance but they were rebuked for their lack of love for Jesus and one another the church at Smyrna was reminded that although they were poor by worldly standards they were rich and they were encouraged because they were facing slander and they were going to be facing a suffering a persecution that was yet to come the church at Pergamum was commended for staying firm in their faith even though one of their own had died a martyr for the faith but they were rebuked for harboring false teachers in their midst who were dragging people away from the true gospel of Jesus Christ the church at Thyatira was praised for their love faith servants endurance and their increased improvement in all those areas but yet were warned because they were allowing a woman in the in the spirit of Jezebel from the Old Testament to teach falsely in their midst and to lead God's people into immorality and idolatry the church at Sardis some were encouraged there for their consistent walk in the Lord but there were others who were rebuked by the Lord for having an appearance of being spiritually alive but in all actuality being spiritually dead in Philadelphia they were experiencing slander and rivalry and testing from the Jews around them and they were promised that a great period of testing or tribulation was to come but that a way of escape or a way of protection would be provided for them and then finally the church of Laodicea most most prominently in that issue with them they were rebuked for being lukewarm followers of Christ neither hot nor cold just lukewarm and Jesus encouraged them to be the pick hot or cold because that lukewarm he would be they would be removed spit from his mouth. In T. Rutgers some churches needed encouragement while others needed stern rebuke there is no sign of a universal problem affecting them all and so why this little exercise of walking through these seven churches well these seven churches that verse 4 says this letter is from John to the seven churches in the province of Asia these seven churches are going to be called in verse 6 a kingdom of priests and if I were to describe a Christian person in the way that these churches are described if I was to describe a church present day in the way these churches are described if I was to describe a pastor or a priest or a youth minister or worship leader or a Sunday school teacher or someone that has a leadership role in the church in the way that these churches were are described I doubt we would walk away thinking they are great representations of the kingdom of God and yet to be a kingdom of priests is exactly what it means that we are a representation of the kingdom of God these churches are lacking in love these churches are tolerating false teaching these churches are giving way to immorality an idolatry in their midst and yet they're going to be referred to as having been made a kingdom of priests the church is a very diverse community different people with different strengths and weaknesses different people with different sins that they grapple with and others grapple with different people who are experiencing different things and situations in life than others none of the seven churches although there is some overlapping issues of persecution the reality of it is they're all facing very different things and so in the community of a kingdom of priests what we find is we're a very diverse people you are not experiencing likely the same issues trials and tribulations as necessarily the person next to you in front of you are behind you we as a church are likely not experiencing the same things as a church across the field or behind the holler or down the road or whatever the case may be and so there's an implication here both in the local church level and the universal church level that even though our lives are junky and even though our lives are struggles and even though there are things in our lives individually and collectively that we can be commended for but also things that we can be condemned for or rebuked for the Lord knows us and he is yet to still call us a community of a kingdom of priests notice the greeting that's given in verse four to you grace being that unconditional undeserved kindness of God peace being that that complete wellness that complete whole being the Hebrew term the Shalom of God the peace of God grace and peace to you now again we we kind of have the advantage of knowing what comes in chapters two and three we would not anticipate grace and peace coming to such people we would not anticipate grace and peace being the things that are offered to people who are tolerating false teachers in their midst yet that exactly as exactly what is happening and notice who it's coming from grace and peace to you from the one who is who always was and who is still to come from the sevenfold spirit before his throne and from Jesus Christ it is this picture in Revelation of the Trinity his father the God the father the one who was is and is to come now if you're like me you probably more recognize that phrase with the description of Jesus but here in Revelation it's used as the description of God the Father it's used here it's used again in verse eight of chapter one it's used again in chapter four verse eight it's used in chapter 11 and verses 17 and 18 as a description of God the Father who his eternal he was he is and he is still yet to come fully is God the Holy Spirit your translation may instead of saying sevenfold spirit may say the seven spirits before the throne but why why would we say that this is a description of the Holy Spirit I want to read to you from Isaiah chapter 11 verses one and two out of the stump of David's family will grow a shoot yes a new branch bearing fruit from the old root and the spirit of the Lord will rest on him so first description it is the spirit of the Lord the spirit of wisdom and understanding the spirit of counsel and of might the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord a sevenfold description of the work of the Holy Spirit from Isaiah 11 verses 1 and 2 that John then references here in Revelation 1 but the Holy Spirit works in these ways among us even as he is before the very throne of the Father and then God the Son the grace and peace comes from the one who is always was and is still to come from the seven fold spirit before his throne and from Jesus Christ and I think there are two very important understandings for us here today with this these words from John one is that God the Father God the Son and God the Holy Spirit know exactly what's going on in your life in mind and God the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit know exactly what's going on in the life of all of our lives collectively as a church and God the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit know exactly what's going on in the collectiveness of all the churches of God and there's not one thing that lays hidden from them there's not one thing that lays hidden from their knowledge but yet with that knowledge we are offered grace and peace yes there's rebuke yes there's correction yes there's discipline yes there's challenge you're you're doing well in these areas but you need to step it up here but with all the knowledge that God the Father and God the Son and God the Spirit have of my life and yours grace and peace is poured out upon us that leads us to our second point that we are community loved and freed look at verse five and following from Jesus Christ he is the faithful witness to these things the first to rise from the dead the ruler of all the kings of the world all glory to him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by shedding his blood for us we are a community of priests who are loved and free the the new living translation adds an extra all glory piece here in the middle most translations simply have it at the end of verse six they added here in verse five all glory to him doesn't really matter where it's added or how it reads the point is that Jesus is worthy he's worthy of honor he's worthy of glory he's worthy of praise he's worthy of applause he's worthy of this because he is the faithful witness to the message of God what does it mean that Jesus is the faithful witness it means he did what Israel could not Israel as a kingdom of priests were to be God's faithful witness on the earth they were to be the ones whom he would pour out through his power in his spirit and they would demonstrate and show and be the people who would act as priests mediate between the rest of the world and God and they failed so Christ came along and did that he became the faithful witness to the message and the story of God the Father he was the first to see resurrection he is the first first fruit the first born of resurrection meaning that the promise of resurrection for you and for me and for all who believe in him is guaranteed because he did it first and he is the king of all the kings of history he's the king because he has a kingdom and this kingdom is his people not just a simply a piece of land not not something geographically marked by boundaries that we that we have in our political world today he is a king because he has a kingdom and he's worthy of all this for three things the first two of which we'll look at here in verse five all glory to him he's worthy of it because he loves us because he loves us what a simple message that he loves us some of your translations used loved in the past tense but are our best most oldest Greek manuscripts use the present tense loves and it's a present tense that points to Jesus continual love for his people John of course the writer of Revelation here the recorder of Revelation he writes of Jesus love in particular in his gospel and in the first letter of first John in a way in which very few New Testament writers write about Jesus love why some people point to the reality the scripture tells us that John was the disciple that Jesus loved John had a favored love from Christ and because he experienced that he then wanted everyone else to know that same love people ask me all the time why are we supposed to witness why are we supposed to evangelize why are we supposed to share our faith well let's just go past all the scriptural understandings that is part of our mission and our task and let's just get to this if someone loves you in an incredible way don't you want others to know that particularly if that someone can love them in that same way you might not describe the love for your husband or for your wife or something in a in a way to someone else that you're describing them they can love you that way too because that's going to create some problems right but we're called to demonstrate we're called to share we're called to faithfully proclaim the love of Christ and when he has loved us in the way that he loved us when he loves us in the way that he loves us is there not anyone in our life that we can share that with there's not anyone who's lacking in that that needs to know it I think we often view the love of God through the sun as being just this past action but the reality of it is what the Scripture tells us is that he loves us continually daily hour by hour minute by minute even in our need for rebuke even in our need for correction even in our need for discipline he loves us the second piece of it is this all glory to him who loves us and has freed us from our sins the second cause of all glory to Christ is because he is freed us from our sin some of you may recall the words from Paul's letter to the Colossians that I used a few weeks ago he has rescued us God has rescued us from the kingdom of darkness transferred us into the kingdom of his dear son who purchased our freedom and forgave us of our sins let me ask you what does it mean for you today to know that you're free free from the penalty of sin free from the mastery of sin free from the shame and the guilt and all the things that come along with being in sin what does it mean for you does it mean enough for you and me that we would want others to experience that as well does it mean enough for you and me that we don't want to walk back into those shackles that he has freed us through the cross it does make a distinction here the first verbiage that we looked at of loving us is present tense continual but now John uses words that is past tense he has freed us it's as if if you want to think about it this way if you're like a science fiction nerd or something that when someone today says yes to Jesus it's as if they get wrapped up in a portal on travel all the way back to the day of the cross and at that cross they exist and at that cross Jesus died and at that cross he shed his blood and at that moment they're forgiven not in this moment not in this present moment that it happens here and it happens for all time for all who believe and so because of that we have been freed and so brother and sister in Christ what that means is that anytime we are enslaved yet again to sin anytime you and I put the shackles of sin back upon ourselves anytime you are our captive to any sin that we struggle with or suffer with is because we have willingly stepped back into that relationship he has freed us we have done the ones who've done the enslaving at that point and yes I know we have an enemy that tempts and yes I know we have an enemy that comes at us with all those things but we are walking in Christ as freed persons by the shedding of his blood now one of the things I think personally the way john words at the way he does to him who loves us and freed us from our sins is because when we enslave ourselves again and when we shackle ourselves again and when we become captive to those things again the thing we need to be reminded of the most is that he still loves us that he loves you it is hopefully the way a parent parents a child it is hopefully the way you've been parented and no parent is perfect on these on these issues but it's hopefully where when a child deserves rebuke and deserves correction and and deserves discipline that the parent follows that up with come here give me a hug sit in my lap let me tell you that I love you let me give you a kiss let me whatever it is to communicate to that child yes this is not something for you to be engaged in or yes you were wrong in not doing what I told you to do but I love you because when the child experiences that they still may not like the correction and the discipline and the rebuke but at least there is a security for them because they know they're loved how much more infinitely greater is it that we need to know that when we as freed persons enslave ourselves again to sin that there is a savior who says to us come here to me I love you I love you and all these things are accomplished by the shedding of his blood for us at the cross and there's a third thing that he deserves glory for which we find there in verse six he has made us a kingdom of priest for God his father all glory and power to him forever and ever that in spite of needing rebuke that in spite of needing correction then in spite of needed discipline then in spite of still falling short then in spite of still occasionally enslaving ourselves to sin again in spite of still occasionally putting on the shackles of sin of sin willingly he still looks at you and me and says you are a kingdom of priests now touched on this the very first week what does a priest do they proclaim the truth of God they serve God and the people of God and not only the people of God but they serve and intercede and mediate on behalf of all peoples and this was the plan for Israel I will make you a kingdom of priests you will be my workmanship you will be my showmanship you will take to the nations this understanding of who I am as God and my love for my creation and Israel failed repeatedly repeatedly repeatedly so Christ comes along and becomes the faithful witness that Israel could not be and then he comes along and invites you and me into that community of being priests in all of our struggles and all of our weaknesses and all of the things that should certainly disqualify us from having such a such a task given to us he yet still calls it to us now there were a line of priests in the Old Testament that served and so one wonders why were there specific priests who did specific things if all of Israel was called to be a kingdom of priests God is the God of order not chaos he is the God of order and precision not confusion and so can you imagine if on the day of atonement all of Israel had to come and provide sacrifice and offering for their atonement for their sins can you imagine the tab tabernacle or the temple or the all of Israel was coming and trying to fulfill the priestly duties it would have been chaos it would have been madness it would have been overrunning of one another and so God did indeed set up a line of priests in the Old Testament to handle certain duties but it was not at the expense of or not to dismiss the rest of Israel from their responsibilities but it was therefore to do it in a very orderly manner in orderly fashion Paul hints to a similar New Testament style setting in Ephesians 4 verses 11 through 13 these are the gifts Christ gave to the church the apostles the prophets the evangelists the pastors and teachers and their responsibility is to equip God's people to do his work and build up the church the body of Christ this will continue until we all come to such unity in our faith and knowledge of God's son that we will be maturing the Lord measuring up to the full and complete standard of Christ quite honestly some have taken the Ephesians 4 passage and they've they've wanted to highlight those giftings the apostle the prophet the pastor the teacher and they've wanted to kind of create a separate class there to do the work of the kingdom but understand what the scripture says it's just the opposite they are to equip the community of the kingdom of priest to do the work of the kingdom is not for a soul few to go out or for a soul soul few to be aware of God's word and empowered by his spirit and doing what he's calling us to do now there are select few called to equip in specific ways so that many will go out and carry on the work of the kingdom a kingdom of priests now and I want to remind you of Peter's words again I'm going to go back to first Peter 2 9 you are a royal priest a holy nation God's very own possession as a result you can show others the goodness of God Peter's not preaching or writing there to just a select few he's writing to all who are in Christ and so there's a there's a there's an understanding here for us that God has created this way Jesus has made us a kingdom of priests that we would be about his work and look at what he says again in verse six he has made us a kingdom of priest for God his father simply put that in doing all this not only we're serving Jesus we're serving the father as well and how do we serve the kingdom how do we serve the father Matthew 6 33 seek first the kingdom of God in all that we do in Revelation 5 10 in Revelation 20 verse 6 the same terminology is used of God the father that we've been made up kingdom of priests for him specifically and so our lives as priests become sacrifices to the father we're not making sacrifices on our behalf of ourselves we're not offering sacrifices on behalf of others because Christ has been the ultimate supreme final sacrifice but we offer our lives our time our talents everything that we have up to him we offer our lives to become the conduit or the connecting point to proclaim God and his love for people and the excellence and demonstrating of his kingdom and our lives begin to be given over to worship of him and him alone all glory to the father all glory to the son all glory to the spirit that we too quickly imagine i'm not worthy of such a task but i want to remind you of what Jesus has done for you he loves you he has freed you from that which would entangle you and keep you from preventing such a task he has called you you may not believe it about yourself but he believes it about you and i want to remind you of something that i've reminded us many times over the past seven years that when the New Testament letters are written to the churches and if you know those churches of the New Testament you know there's some messed up churches what does he Paul Peter what do they always call them saints they might be saints that are sitting but they're saints and what is a saint but a priest the word saint means set apart holy set apart for a purpose set apart for God it's exactly what a priest is set apart holy for the purpose of God and so you and i may not think ourselves worthy of such a task that's where we then get ourselves back to the truth of God's word and who Jesus is because he has thought us worthy of such a task he thinks us worthy of such a task and he will continue to think us worthy of such a task up until the day that we draw our last last breath and no longer have that task in front of us he has made us a kingdom of priests we focus this month on praying for the kingdom to come and i believe part of those prayers need to be that we understand our role and our mission and part of that means we've got to shift our thinking about the kingdom of god the kingdom of god is not that which is one day we're going to be in possession of the kingdom of god is now the kingdom of god is here it is as Jesus said in Luke's gospel in your midst within you and so what we have to be reminded of is the kingdom of god is just essentially that which Jesus is king over and if you are in christ by virtue of faith or grace he is king over you he is king over me and that means wherever you go and wherever i go and whatever you do and whatever i do that is where his kingdom goes his kingdom goes with you to work his kingdom is with you when you arrive back at home his kingdom is present wherever you recreate on and on and on we could go with examples but hopefully you get the point the kingdom of god is not something that when we enter those outer doors of the foyer that we walk into the kingdom of god and then when we exit those same doors we leave the kingdom of god behind the kingdom of god goes with us everywhere we go and i'm just going to be a hundred percent honest with you here it's one of the reasons i get in particular for an area of our society really sort of jacked up and crazy and my wife will attest to this when people say things like well god's not allowed in public schools so long as there is a christian believer and so long as there is a christian teacher and administrator he's allowed in public schools and if we extract all those then he's not there but because the kingdom is within every believer he's there he's there in the midst of all the corruption of washington d c he's there in the midst of all the corruption of every state house in this in this union he's there in the midst of all the immorality throughout all the media centers of this nation he is there through every human being every man woman boy and girl who is part of the kingdom and a priest so the question is what do we do with that and unfortunately for far too long what we've done with that is we've said well you know the pastors will take care of the kingdom work the youth pastors they'll they'll train up my kids to be kingdom people the worship pastor they'll they'll they'll they'll train us in how to really praise the kingdom the the kids ministry people they'll they'll train the missionaries we'll send them some money and they'll do the kingdom work and i assure you i make very few guarantees but i assure you there's no place in scripture that you can validate any of those points that what god has done in and through jesus christ and to every person who claims to be a christian who claims to be saved by faith through grace he has made you part of a kingdom of priest to proclaim to demonstrate to give witness to the beautiful incredible kingdom of god and so as we pray for the kingdom to come let us pray that for our lives that we would no longer be willing to stand by and let someone else do that work that we would no longer be willing to stand by and say well i'm not qualified for that work because in christ you're fully qualified that we would no longer stand by the side and just so well you know uh the the way god really wants me to do this is just to support with some money i don't have to be actually about kingdom work i guarantee you can't find that in scripture either let us be a kingdom of priests who demonstrate proclaim live out the fullness and the goodness of god and his kingdom in the midst of a culture who's so desperately desperately desperately needs it thanks for listening if you have any thoughts questions or prayer concerns please email us at pvcfrankford@gmail.com (gentle music) [BLANK_AUDIO]
