Sermon Notes of New Hope Member Jim Petty's Sermon on September 9, 2018: "The kingdom of God Enters The Ungodly World System" [In today's sermon, New Hope member Jim Petty shows that through the coming of Jesus Christ, God s plan to redeem humanity from Satan s dominion has begun.] Notes Introduction: We need to understand that we, as Christians, are also involved with Jesus in rescuing mankind. When Jesus began His ministry, He was a Light to Israel and His disciples and said that they were to go into all the world. And so the church age began where Jesus would be in various individuals, which He would chose, to take His message. Jesus not only said, I am the Light, but He also said, You are the light. So, the Triune God entered into those He chose and selected to be a part of His team who were going to conduct the rescue of mankind. And so, instead of one light burning in Israel, now today in the globe of 7 billion people, we have lights burning all over the world as God continues to proclaim His truth to the world. Now, let s stop and ask the question, What s it like to be a part of God s rescue team? since we have been chosen to be part of the greatest rescue team ever put together in the history of mankind. The rescued and the rescuers: Could you imagine what it was like during World War II for those troops who landed at Normandy Beach in France to rescue and free Europe from this terrible oppression that they were under? You can imagine what a source of elation it was for them to rescue these people. And the people of France were also elated as they saw the Allied soldiers advancing towards their villages, towns and cities to rescue them from their terrible oppression. There had to be a lot of hugs and kisses given to those soldiers. So there should be joy for us as we participate in the rescue of mankind. Living in southern California, we familiar with rip tides. When we go out wading in the ocean just off shore, we can feel the pull of the water on your legs. And when the waves get powerful, they can take you right out into the ocean, and there s nothing you can do to prevent it, even though you struggle against it. And when you think it s all over for you, suddenly you see the life guard, who is trained to rescue people, coming towards you on his paddle board.
2 You are so relieved to be rescued that all you want to do is to hug him. Rescue causes elation. Personal example: Jim was driving on the freeway one day and came up over the crest of a hill and saw a car, completely stopped in his lane, facing him. He was able to stop in time without hitting the other car, as cars whizzed by on both sides of the freeway. The driver of the other car was a lady, who had her hands over her face and was just sobbing. Jim was able to get out of his car and go over to the other vehicle and knocked on the lady s front window. She told him that a semi had hit her car and spun her around so that she was now facing on-coming traffic. He told her that if she couldn t get off the freeway, both of their cars would probably get hit by oncoming traffic in a fatal accident. Jim told her to follow him to get off the freeway to go over to the side. With his flashers on, Jim cautiously moved over to the side of the freeway when the traffic had subsided and she courageously turned her car and followed him. Miraculously, both of them made it over to the side of the freeway. Because she was in so much shock, Jim decided to stay with her in her car, until she was able to continue driving. She told Jim at least 15 times, Thank you, thank you, thank you so much. She was just so happy to be rescued. And Jim felt pretty good, even though he didn t take any credit for doing this rescue. But being involved in a rescue is tremendous. And so that s what the church, comprised of all of us, is doing for mankind we are carrying out what Jesus began to do so long ago. The apostle John wrote about it in this manner: 1 John 2:8, The darkness is passing away and the true light is already shining. This indicates the present and continuing demise of this ungodly world system by God Almighty. All of these world s various systems government, judicial, educational, etc. will be gone and will be changed when Jesus comes back to rule the earth. How did the world come to be in darkness? It s important for us to understand this. 1 John 5:19, The whole world lies in the power of the evil one. So let s find out how this came about, because it originally wasn t this way.
3 Ezekiel 28:12, Thus says the Lord God, You had the seal of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. So this is a celestial being that had these incredible characteristics. 14) You were the anointed cherub who covers; and I placed you there. You were on the holy mountain of God. So, this celestial being was at the top position of all the angels. And he was very close to God. He was bright and shinning, according to Isaiah. He had everything going for him. 15) You were blameless in your ways from the day you were created until unrighteousness was found in you. And all of a sudden, as Timothy tells us, pride entered into this top-of-the-line angel. 16a) By the iniquity of your traffic (KJV) Traffic, or going about. Hence, it meant slanderer, in a moral sense (Bullinger s Companion Bible Notes). We find out that his name is Satan, which means he s the enemy, because he has turned against God. And another part of his character is that he is a slanderer. He went and talked to the other angels about his preconceived idea about God s unfairness. 16b) You were internally filled with violence, and you sinned; Therefore I have cast you as profane from the mountain of God. Satan, with a third of the angels he had influenced, had the idea of taking over God s throne. Pride causes you to lose your wisdom. Can you imagine he wanted to fight against God? And God cast him out of heaven. Luke 10:18 Jesus told them: I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. The earth is Satan s new abode. Scripture tells us that He is the prince of power of the air. (Ephesians 2:2) And yet God allowed Satan to go to heaven occasionally as Job tells us, which is hard for us to understand. So, this is where sin began. God creates mankind: God s purpose in creating mankind to for us to be ultimately be with Him in the kingdom as a ruling family with Him.
Genesis 2:15, The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and keep it. This verse goes far beyond Adam s landscaping and agrarian duties. The words work it and keep it are better translated as serve and guard it (Expositor s Bible Commentary) and indicate priestly duties. The historian Origen tells us that Adam was the first high priest. The information that God was telling Adam, God wanted him to communicate that to humanity how to live within God s context. Adam was called to guard the truth of God because there would be danger coming from someone who wanted to change and distort God s truth. Pulpit Commentary puts it this way: Doubtless there is here an ominous hint of the existence of that adversary against whom Adam was appointed to watch out for. And you ll notice the same thing happened just before Jesus began His ministry. At the end of Jesus 40 day fast, Satan tried to attack and deceive Him with words, just like he did with Adam. Satan even quoted Scriptures to Jesus to get Him to disobey the Father. We know that Christ defended against Satan and defeated him, which caused Satan to slink away. That was the beginning of the change of rulership. Genesis 3:14, And the LORD God said to the serpent: Because you have done this, cursed are you from among all cattle, and from among all beasts of the field; upon your belly shall you go, and dust shall you eat all the days of your life. This is figurative language here please don t take it literally. We know that people die from snake bites. In essence, God is telling us that Satan is a deadly creature. This verse shows that there is a penalty for Satan to pay because of what he did. Satan s future was predicted. He would eventually no longer be able to bite, meaning spread poison about God s word. He would be on his belly which is a non-attack position. It hasn t happened yet, but it will be accomplished completely in the future. Eat the dust it s figurative language to indicate that Satan, in the future, will be reduced to a condition of shame and contempt becoming the lowest of the low. Revelation shows the fulfillment of this, even though he is still allowed to function today. Revelation 20:3, and he (an angel) threw him (Satan) into the abyss, and shut it and sealed it over him, so that he would not deceive the nations any longer. Now back to Genesis 3. Genesis 3:15, And I will put enmity between you (Satan) and the woman and between your seed and her seed. He will crush your head and you will bruise his heel. 4
5 So, notice that it was predicted that there was going to be enmity and conflict between Satan and Jesus. History records Satan s overarching purpose was to kill off the human line that would produce the one who would be fully human as well as being the divine Son. We know that Jesus has defeated Satan and his ways and Jesus will ultimately crush Satan. Romans 16:20, The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. Examples of Satan s efforts to thwart God s plan: 1. Individual - Cain slew righteous Abel. o Cain wanted to worship God his own way and not follow God s desires as his brother Abel did. o Cain was jealous of his brother Abel and the blessings God had given him, so Cain killed him. o So then God began to work through Seth. Gen 4:25, God has appointed me (Eve) another seed instead of Abel (Seth). 2. National After the flood, God worked through Shem, one of Noah s sons. o But, Ham tried to usurp the chosen line of Shem through whom a land would be promised. o And even in the Promised Land, the Canaanites (Canaan was a son of Ham) tried to wipeout the children of Israel. o Satan was trying to destroy the human line that leads to the Messiah. 3. Kingdom - God showed Nebuchadnezzar that his kingdom, the first kingdom, and all succeeding kingdoms (organized by Satan) would fall in defeat to the Kingdom of God. o Nebuchadnezzar immediately set out to thwart God s plan by trying to unite his pluralistic country under one common religion. o Babylon represents the world s system of kingdoms. 4. The King of Kings o When Jesus was about to be born, Satan tried to kill him through King Herod. o Satan is referred to as an enemy 36 times and as a slanderer 33 times in the Bible. Rev. 12:4, And the dragon stood before the woman who was about to give birth, so that when she gave birth he might devour her child. 5. The Church o Satan is after the church today. o He orchestrates hostile forces against the church. o He does this by having governments try to corrupt or even destroy the church. o Even in our country, we see rulings that go against Christianity, like whether to bake a cake or not for some one s wedding. o It s a changed world today.
6 o Jim just recently read that a Supreme Court Justice said in 1847 that the Bible should be in every school and taught in every school in the United States. o Now what would happen, if a Supreme Court Justice said that today? o So, when we go out there with a message of peace, we shouldn t be surprised when we meet hostility. o Satan even tries to corrupt or destroy the church though a false gospel message. o We see that in the 7 churches that are described in Revelation, chapters 2 and 3, concerning their problems of false doctrines. o So, it s the job of the church to keep the gospel message pure and clean. o Satan is still active today, as Paul warns us in 2 Corinthians. 2 Corinthians 11:14-15 - Satan masquerades as an angel of light. 15) His servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness. Concluding comments: The true gospel message is Jesus is King and our Ruler. He rules in love, and brings salvation to those who believe and respond to it. There is no compromise with this message because Jesus says I am the way the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me (John 14:6). This message gives problems and difficulties to various people, because they feel that one view is as good as another. But the message of Jesus is exclusive and that s where the tension comes in. We are to go out in graciousness and humility with e gospel message in respect for others who are not yet believers, as Jesus did, even though they may be hostile. God always keeps His promises and this is what will eventually happen as described here in Revelation 21. Revelation 21:3-4, Behold the dwelling place of God is with man, and He will live with them. 4) He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, no more death, mourning, crying or pain, for the old order has passed away. The relationship between God and humanity will be restored that was broken by Satan in the Garden of Eden. When Jesus comes back the second time, everyone and everything will be healed. What an honor and a privilege it is to be involved with Jesus in rescuing mankind by sharing the good news about Jesus Christ with them. Closing prayer