COVENANT PULPIT. May 24, 2015 Pastor Bob Petterson. Covenant Church of Naples Ι PCA 6926 Trail Boulevard, Naples (239)

Transcription

1 COVENANT PULPIT HE IS: Gospel Power May 24, 2015 Pastor Bob Petterson Covenant Church of Naples Ι PCA 6926 Trail Boulevard, Naples (239)

2 Have you watched the HBO series, The Game of Thrones? Lots of folks have. It has broken cable records for viewership, and won every award. Critics acclaim it, viewers are addicted to it, and moralists are offended because of its graphic content. [Mothers please don t let your kids watch The Game of Thrones]. This wildly popular series is adapted from George R.R. Martin s fantasy novel which has sold 60 million copies, been published in 45 languages, and topped every bestseller list. This massive book [more than 1,000 pages in length, with 31 major characters, seven kingdoms that occupy mythical Westeros and Essos, and a storyline with mind-boggling twists and turns] tells of a world in violent civil war. Seven families are battling to seize the Iron Throne. None of them will rest until their king sits atop that throne! George R.R. Martin found his inspiration for The Game of Thrones from The War of Roses that plunged England into bloody civil war during the 1400s. Instead of the houses of York and Landcaster fighting for England s throne, the houses of Lannister and Stark fight for the Iron Throne. But The Game of Thrones is no fantasy. Author George R.R. Martin said in a recent interview, Each of us strives to sit on some Iron Throne. Since we were kids we have played king of the mountain. From our homes to our sports arenas, everyone is competing to be number one. The unending intrigue in my stories is a reflection of the never-ending conflict of The Game of Thrones we all play. It s as ancient as the civil war in heaven when Satan and his angels tried to seize God s throne. It is played out in the opening pages of Genesis when Adam and Eve tried to seize control of the Garden of Eden. Geopolitical history [and your own history too] is one of people trying to gain control over their own lives [and everyone else s]. Most of us are control freaks. We just don t want to admit it. We may laugh at Paris Hilton s comment on her reality show, As long as everything is exactly the way I want it, I m totally flexible. But, the truth is, most of us would probably say the same thing. We can relate to supermodel Naomi Campbell s confession: I m not really bossy. I just have a better idea about what you

3 should be doing. But the one place that is hardest for us to control is our own heart. Listen to what George R.R. Martin said in another interview: The great battle between good and evil is within each human heart, and not necessarily between armies of people dressed in white and black. So, who sits on the throne of your heart? Who rules the roost in your home? Who is enthroned in this church? That is the ultimate issue in The Game of Thrones. There are only three candidates: Jesus, others, or you. Most often, if you are like me, you want it to be you. But Jesus has other ideas. He demands the throne. One day he will end, once and for all, this silly Game of Thrones that destroys individuals, rips apart relationships, and plunges the world into chaos and war. He will sit not on the Iron Throne, but the Great White Throne. Even today, he must sit on every throne in this universe, including your heart s throne. Listen to Abraham Kuyper, a former Prime Minister of the Netherlands: In the total expanse of human life, there is not a square inch that Christ, who is alone Sovereign, does not declare, It is all mine! This is the ultimate Square One issue that we must all face square on: Who is going to win this Game of Thrones? You or your wife? Will it be your way or the highway? Jesus s will or your desires? God s Word or the World s way? Forget about how they are playing The Game of Thrones in George R.R. Martin s fantasy kingdoms or Barack Obama s America. Who is going to sit on your heart s throne, rule the roost in your home, or sit as the Sovereign King of Covenant Church of Naples? Jesus wants every square inch of this world, every penny of your resources, and every molecule of your life. This is today s Square One principle: Either Jesus is the Lord of all, or he s not the Lord at all. He demands it all. He does not share thrones. He is not your co-pilot. Your business partner. Your teammate. Your peer. Your buddy. Your Mini Me.

4 We ve accepted him as our Savior. We all need someone to bail us out. But he s more than a Savior. He s our King, Lord, and Master. Does America recognize him as King? Absolutely not! Nor is Jesus the Lord of the White House, State House, court house, schoolhouse, movie house, or most church houses. But that s not the burning issue of our day. Rather, is he the Lord of your house, my house, or this church house? The world that doesn t know Jesus won t turn to him as Savior until his followers have embraced him entirely as their King. Revival has to come to the house of worship before it can come to the nation. It has to come to you before it comes to the church. Our history proves that. Listen to the words of the 1700s Evangelist who shook England and Colonial America, and galvanized a great spiritual awakening that brought about the birth of our nation: Give me one hundred preachers who fear nothing but sin and desire nothing but God, and I care not whether they be clergymen or laymen, they alone will shake the gates of hell and set up the kingdom of heaven on earth. On this Memorial Day, when we realize the high cost that has been paid for our liberty by people who feared nothing but sin, and desired nothing but God, I want to take you to the Gospel of Mark. Jesus has just been baptized in the River Jordan. He now moves boldly up the valley toward the Sea of Galilee where he will preach his great Sermon on the Mount. As he moves forward onto the center stage of world history, he is clarion clear in his message: The time has come. The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news. Mark 1:15 In that simple message are three words that Jesus wants you to grab hold of and take away today: kingdom, repentance, and submission. Tough words for an age of easy Christianity, but words that confront us at Square One. 1. KINGDOM: This is no Game of Thrones. This is the real deal. The kingdom of God has come near. (verse 15) What is the kingdom of God? Let s start with the word

5 kingdom. It s a combination of two old words: king and dom. Dom is the shortened form of the Latin word domini, which means lord. From that Latin word we get our English words, dominate or dominion. A kingdom is wherever a king dominates. It s wherever the king is lord. The kingdom of God is wherever God is Lord, wherever he dominates, and wherever he sits on the throne. Jesus says to everyone he meets, the kingdom of God is near He is saying, in effect, The kingdom of God comes with me. As I get closer to you, so does the kingdom. In short, I am the king of this kingdom. I m coming closer. Are you ready to embrace me? When you embrace me, you embrace God s kingdom. When you enthrone me as your king, and let me dominate your life, then the kingdom is not just near it s here! This is no game. Your future hangs on how you answer this question: Is the kingdom near, is it already here, or is it far away? Are you holding Jesus at arm s length? Or has he gotten into your life, lock-stock-and-barrel? Is he holding your heart in his hands? Then you have a kingdom heart. Does he determine how you think? Then you have a kingdom mind. Does he control where you go, and what you do? Then you have kingdom feet and hands. Does he rule the roost? Then you have a kingdom home. Does he determine what happens in your marriage? Then you have a kingdom marriage. When you come to church, do you say, I want what I want to make me happy. And, if I don t get it, I m out the back door. Or, do you say, I want what glorifies Jesus, even if my desires have to take a back seat. Then you are part of making this a kingdom church. Until he dominates us, he will never dominate the world outside our front door. Jesus said that we should pray this way: Our Father who is in heaven, hallowed by your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. When will your world be a kingdom world? Jesus says that it will be when it looks like heaven. So let s take a quick look into heaven through the eyes of St. John. In Revelation 4:1 we read John s words: After this, I looked and there was a door standing open in heaven. The door is opened. Hold your breath in awe. As you peek in with John, what is the first

6 thing you see? John says, there before me was a throne in heaven with someone sitting on it (Revelation 4:2) These three facts are simple but profound: 1) there is a throne; 2) someone is sitting on it; and 3) it isn t you or me. As Revelation unfolds heaven, we see that God sits on the throne. Jesus sits on the same throne. The Holy Spirit goes forth from the throne. You hear a cacophony of sounds. You see a kaleidoscope of colors, and an exotic array of angels, celestial beings, and saints who have gone on before us. There are only two things that they do: 1) They worship God around the clock. They never stop saying, Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come. (Revelation 4:8) 2) They move immediately and completely to do everything he commands. Heaven is a flurry of activity. His every wish is their every command. But I want to take you back to those words of 24/7 praise: who was, and is, and is to come (Revelation 4:8) Jesus always was the King from all eternity past. That s the was of the past. But he laid aside his kingly glory. He stepped off the throne of heaven, down through the trackless galaxies, and into a peasant girl s womb. He lay in a cradle, wrapped in rags, lived a life of poverty, rode into Jerusalem on a donkey followed by ragtag disciples, and ministered to mostly down-and-outers. He came as a suffering servant, and died a Savior. Now he sits on heaven s throne as ascended King. But it s still the now time: the Jesus who comes to us as a bridegroom, wooing us to come to him. He doesn t barge in. He doesn t demand. He calls. He asks. He even pleads for us to come to him. Our heart belongs to him, but he waits for us to get off the throne, and invite him to sit down on it. He is the king who sometimes waits patiently in line, showing us over and over again how much he loves us, while allowing us to mess up our lives again and again until we ve finally had enough, and give in to his love. But there is the Holy One left to come. This is the King of kings who will come out of heaven in Revelation 19, riding a White War horse, leading the armies of heaven to Armageddon. This is the King who strikes down the nations with a sword coming out of his mouth, whose face is ablaze with glory, and who treads the

7 winepress of the fury of the wrath of God Almighty (Revelation 19:15) Then, the kings who have mocked him will be pulled down from their thrones. Every knee will bow, not happily or willingly, but because they must: Satan, demons, tyrants, skeptics, atheists, pleasure seekers who waited too long, and even religious types. Now he woos us and waits patiently. But an hour is coming when the heavens will open. Listen! Do you hear the hoof beats of the Four Horseman of the Apocalypse? Jesus said then, and he says it with urgency today, The kingdom of God is near. St. Paul said, It s nearer now than when you first believed. (Romans 13:11) Let s stop playing The Game of Thrones. 2. REPENTANCE: The turn is a complete 180. How then shall I respond to the King? Jesus says, Repent (verse 15) The Greek word has one simple meaning: turn around and go in the opposite direction. In the next several verses Jesus puts it this way as he comes upon some fisherman on the Sea of Galilee: Come follow me, and I will send you out to fish for people. (verse 17) Simon and Andrew have to quit following their own dreams, and turn around and follow Jesus in the opposite direction. They have to stop doing what they ve been doing, and do what he calls them to do: fish for people, not Galilee fish. His call will take Andrew all the way to Greece, and death on a cross; Peter all the way to Rome, and being nailed upside down on a cross; Thomas all the way to India; Bartholomew all the way to what is now Russia. I don t know what it means for you to give Jesus the throne of your life. Heaven s will almost always clashes with the ways of this world. Repentance means a total life makeover. Repentance has to do with renouncing sin. What is sin? It is to do the opposite of what God wants you to do. Repentance means turning around, and going his way. It is to follow Jesus in every way, and to every place he calls you to go. Listen to the words of Hugh Halter in his book, Fresh: Bringing the Incarnation Down to Earth: Jesus is not saying, Make sure you say your prayer of repentance, accept Jesus as your Savior, start going to church, and wait for me to come again. He is saying, You can live a

8 radically different life because there is a new world order that just broke into your life. So stop walking in the direction you ve been going, turn 180 degrees, and walk toward me and life in the kingdom of God. 3. SUBMISSION: Every Knee Must Bow. Jesus ends with these words, and believe the good news. (verse 15) The Greek word for believe simply means put your whole trust in what I am saying. Put the whole weight of your life on my words. Give me everything. The good news means that your life is under new management. The King has taken over. This is the holy, holy, holy Lord God Almighty. The mess is about to be cleaned up. First of all, the Savior has paid for your sins past, present, and future. Now the King is going to take over and run your life, fix your world, and give you his power and presence to be victorious. Your life is now going to be high octane, the best-days-are-yet-to-come meaningful. Yes, there will be troubles and trials. But you are going to overcome them all! But you have to submit. Look at the next several verses when you get a chance. Jesus moves up the valley, and everyone and everything has to submit to his power and authority. He has already defeated Satan in the wilderness temptation (verses 12-13) Angels attend to him in verse 15. Heaven is at his beck and call. Disciples follow him. When he comes, Simon and Andrew must leave their nets. (verse 16) James and John must walk away from their boats. (verse 18) Later, Matthew will walk away from his tax collector s booth, Simon the Zealot will put away his sword, and the rest will leave families, homes, and careers. Demons obey. In Capernaum, he confronts a demon-possessed man. He commands, and the demons shriek and flee at his words (verse 25). Would that Christians would be so emotional and obedient! Finally, Sickness Submits. He speaks and sickness must leave Simon Peter s motherin-law. Sick people crowd in around him, and they are healed. (verses 29-34). It is inevitable: everyone and everything must ultimately bow before this King! Have you? Will you? You cannot get beyond Square One until you do! Copyright May 24, 2015 by Covenant Church of Naples, FL /PCA