Resurrection in 1 Corinthians 15 (6) - The Reigning Christ

We're going to sing firstly tonight from Psalm 138. Psalm 138, that's on page 431,

and verses 1 to 5.

Thee will I praise with all my heart. I will sing praise to thee before the gods,

and worship will toward thy sanctuary. I'll praise thy name even for thy truth and kindness

of thy love, for thou thy word has magnified all thy great name above. Psalm 138, these verses 1 to 5.

Thee will I praise with all my heart.

Before the gods and worship will toward thy sanctuary.

I'll praise thy name even for thy truth and kindness of thy love, for thou thy word has magnified

all thy great name above. Thou didst me answer in the day when I to thee did cry.

And thou, my fainting soul, with strength didst strengthen inwardly.

All kings upon the earth that are shall give thee praise, O Lord.

When I say from thy mouth shall hear thy truth and faithful word.

Ye in the righteous ways of God, with gladness they shall sing.

For great's the glory of the Lord, who doth for ever be.

Now we're going to join together once again in prayer. Let's call upon the Lord in prayer.

Lord, our gracious God, we know that these words we have been singing concerning you are true,

that you have not brought us to any other conclusion, but that this is your truth

when you speak about yourself through the word.

We thank you tonight, Lord, that you have reminded us once again of the greatness that belongs to you.

The greatness that belongs to you as it belongs to no other.

The greatness by which we find ourselves in your presence, exclaiming that you alone are God and worthy of our worship.

And we thank you, Lord, for this occasion once again when we are able to come before you to worship you.

Help us at all times to count it our great privilege to come into your presence,

to be together as a people, a worshiping people, a people seeking the Lord while he is to be found

and calling upon him while he is near.

And we ask tonight, Lord, that you would meet with us.

Your promise is that you will draw near to those who draw near to you.

We pray that this may be our very experience this evening.

You know each one of us here. You know us collectively.

You know the very thoughts of our minds.

You know the anxieties of our hearts.

You know all the things that trouble us and the things that give us to be glad.

And we bless you, Lord, that in regard to all of these and every aspect of our experience,

that you minister to your people that grace which daily keeps them and daily guides them and daily feeds them.

And we ask that tonight your grace will indeed be evident to ourselves.

Lord, we thank you that as we are in your presence,

so you assure us that you take such an interest in your people as to provide for them through the gospel.

We give thanks for the fellowship of your people,

for the fellowship that your people are,

as they come together to be a people,

together brought by the Lord himself to be a people noticed in the world,

a people whose testimony it is that the Lord is their God

and that you are indeed the one to whom they are answerable

and also the one they seek to commend to the world around them.

We ask, Lord, your blessing even more than we can ask or think to do for us

and to do for us abundantly through your Holy Spirit.

We thank you that as we wait upon you,

your promise is that your Holy Spirit will take the things of Christ

and show them unto us.

And we thank you for all the times that this has happened previously in our experience.

But we pray that it will be our experience once again.

And to that end, O Lord, open up your word for us, we pray.

Open up our minds to receive it.

Take away from us all that might resist your own call upon us through the gospel.

And come once again, we pray, to melt our hearts

and to bring us into that proper, willing and loving subjection of our lives to you.

We pray for your blessing, O Lord, for all the gatherings of your people,

wherever they are in the world tonight.

We know that you have a people in such different circumstances to ours.

We pray for them as we pray for ourselves.

We pray for your church worldwide.

We pray for all, O Lord, who confess you

and seek to have that confession made known in the presence of the world,

even the presence of a hostile world from time to time.

And we pray that you would bless every effort made, Lord, by your people

to spread the gospel abroad,

to testify to you and to bring the message of Christ,

crucified and risen from the dead before a lost world.

We ask your blessing, Lord, to be with all tonight

who are engaged in different types of activities that support your cause.

We pray for those of our own number who are involved locally with such things.

We pray, Lord, for Road to Recovery, for David and his leadership of that group,

and for all who receive benefit from it.

We pray for street pastors.

We ask, Lord, for them as they go about from week to week

and meet with various people and seek to bring them help practically

and at times spiritually too.

We pray for them.

We pray for their safety.

We pray that you would keep them, Lord, from week to week.

And we ask that you would help them as they go about

such an important task in our community.

We pray that you would bless those who care for others in their illness.

We pray for our hospitals and for our care homes.

We thank you for that provision that is made for us there.

We pray for those tonight, Lord, who are ill,

those who belong to us as families or in the congregation here

and who are at this time confined through illness.

We pray for those receiving treatment,

those anticipating such in days to come.

We pray for those who have been through surgery

and those anticipating that too.

We pray, O Lord, for them and all the fears that might accompany

such times and experience in their own lives.

We ask, Lord, that even if the fears are still there,

that you would give to them the calmness of heart

that would come to trust in you and know you

and know your presence with them.

We ask, too, again for our children

and pray that you would bless them at this time

and bless all those who are parents, grandparents.

We think especially, Lord, of parents who belong to us

whose concern for their children is that they be protected

from the evil of various types that are in the world,

protected from a kind of suggested proposals that come to them,

O Lord, from different quarters that would seek to lead them away

from your truth and from walking in the ways of the Lord.

Remember them here in this congregation itself, O Lord,

and bless to them the teaching they receive in their homes,

in the church and Sunday school,

and other ways in which your own word is set before them.

We pray that you would bless all the efforts made

and all who make the effort to teach our children,

our young people, the things of the gospel.

We ask for our schools that you would bless them, too,

all whom we know of our own number,

our teachers there and head teachers.

We pray your blessing for them, O Lord, in difficult times.

We ask that you bless the Education Authority

and all others, Lord, who are involved in the well-being of our young people.

Lord, protect us, we pray, from the ways of the evil one

and grant that we may overcome him with your truth

and with the power of your truth.

Remember, too, we pray at this time our nation,

and, Lord, we ask that you would give us direction,

that you would give us to know your guidance at this time

and your blessing.

Restore to us, we pray, the years the locusts have eaten,

as your prophet said long ago.

So, we pray that all that has happened, Lord,

over many years in taking the power of the gospel

to be reduced so much in our midst,

that that would be pleasing to you, Lord, to restore.

Hear the prayers of your people in that regard.

Establish your kingdom, we pray, throughout the world,

that your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

Grant us now your blessing as we wait upon you here,

pardoning all our sin for Jesus' sake.

Amen.

Amen.

Let's continue to praise God.

We're singing this time in Psalm 87.

Psalm number 87.

Again, it's in the Scottish Psalter, page 342.

This is a psalm, a short psalm,

that speaks of God's favor of his people, of his church.

His church is represented here by Zion and Zion's gates,

and the great and glorious future that belongs to God's people.

Upon the hills of holiness he his foundation sets.

God, more than Jacob's dwellings,

all delights in Zion's gates.

Things glorious are said of thee,

thou city of the Lord.

Rahab and Babel, I, to those that know me, will record.

And so on.

These verses of Psalm 87, to God's praise.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Physiom 87, to all the hills of holiness.

On the hills of holiness he his foundation sets.

God, more than Jacob's dwellings, all delights in Zion's gates.

Things glorious are said of thee, thou city of the Lord.

Rehob and Abel, I to those that know me will record.

Behold him, Titus, and with it the Lamb of Palestine.

And likewise, Ethiopia, this man was born there.

And it of Zion shall be said, this man and that man there was born.

And he that is most high himself shall establish her.

When God the people writes, he'll count that this man born was there.

There be that sing and play and all my well springs in the air.

Now we have two readings of Scripture this evening.

First of all, in the book of the Revelation, chapter 19.

Revelation 19 · chapter mention

Read the passage there from verse 11 down to verse 21 to the end of the chapter.

And then we'll turn to 1 Corinthians 15, where we've had some studies for a time.

And reading verses 20 to 28.

So firstly, it's in Revelation, chapter 19, and from verse 11.

Revelation 19 · chapter mention

Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse.

The one sitting on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war.

His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are many diadems.

And he has a name written that no one knows but himself.

He is clothed in a robe dipped in blood, and the name by which he is called is the Word of God.

And the armies of heaven, arrayed in fine linen, white and pure, were following him on white horses.

From his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations.

And he will rule them with a rod of iron.

He will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty.

On his robe and on his thigh he has a name written, King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

Then I saw an angel standing in the sun, and with a loud voice he called to all the birds that fly directly overhead,

Come, gather for the great supper of God, to eat the flesh of kings, the flesh of captains,

the flesh of mighty men, the flesh of horses and their riders,

and the flesh of all men, both free and slave, both small and great.

And I saw the beast and the kings of the earth with their armies gathered to make war against him

who was sitting on the horse and against his army.

And the beast was captured, and with it the false prophet,

who in its presence had done the signs by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast

and who worshipped his image.

These two were thrown alive into the lake of fire that burns will suffer,

and the rest were slain by the sword that came from the mouth of him who was sitting on the horse,

and all the birds were gorged with their flesh.

And some verses now from 1 Corinthians 15.

I will read verses 20 to 28.

But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead,

the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.

For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead.

For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive,

but each in his own order.

Christ the firstfruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ.

Then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father,

after destroying every rule and every authority and power.

For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet.

The last enemy to be destroyed is death.

For God has put all things in subjection under his feet.

But when it says all things are put in subjection,

it is plain that he is accepted who put all things in subjection under him.

When all things are subjected to him,

then the Son himself will also be subjected to him

who put all things in subjection under him,

that God may be all in all.

Amen.

May God bless to us reading those two passages of his word.

Before we turn to 1 Corinthians 15, let's sing once again.

This time in Psalm 110.

And sing Psalms version, Psalm 110, verses 1 to 5.

Psalms 110:1–5

This is one of the great messianic psalms.

Psalms to do with the Messiah, with the Savior, with the Lord.

Quoted in the New Testament.

Quoted even by the Lord himself.

The Lord said to my Lord, sit here at my right hand,

until I make your foes a stool on which your feet may stand.

The Lord will make your reign extend from Zion's hill.

With royal power you'll rule among those who oppose your will.

When you display your power, your people flock to you.

At dawn arrayed in holiness,

your youth will come like dew.

Unchangeably the Lord with solemn purpose swore,

just like Melchizedek,

you are a priest forevermore.

The Lord's at your right hand.

There he will ever stay.

He on his day of wrath will crush

the kings who bar his way.

These five verses,

in Psalm 110,

the Lord said to my Lord,

The Lord said to my Lord,

sit here at my right hand,

until I make your foes a stool on which your feet may stand.

The Lord will make your reign extend from Zion's hill.

With royal power you'll rule among those who oppose your will.

When you display your power,

your people flock to you.

At dawn and haine in holiness,

your youth will come like truth.

Unchangeably the Lord with solemn purpose swore,

just like Melchizedek,

you are a priest forevermore.

The Lord's at your right hand.

There he will ever stay.

He on his day of wrath will crush

the kings who bar his way.

Please turn with me now to 1 Corinthians chapter 15.

1 Corinthians 15 · chapter mention

We'll begin reading at verse 22.

We're looking tonight at verses 24 to 28 especially.

We can begin reading at verse 22.

For as in Adam all die,

so also in Christ shall all be made alive.

But each in his own order,

Christ the firstfruits,

then at his coming,

those who belong to Christ.

Then comes the end,

when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father

after destroying every rule and every authority and power.

For he must reign

until he has put all his enemies under his feet.

The last enemy to be destroyed is death.

And so on to the end of verse 28.

In recent days,

I've been noticing,

in social media especially,

when anticipating the coronation of King Charles III,

as he'll be,

a number of people keep putting up posts saying,

he's not my king.

Of course,

they have every freedom to do that.

I don't know if they're people of independence mind

or whatever it is

that brings them to say that.

But as we anticipate this coronation coming,

people have such a view of it

as says,

well,

he's not my king.

It's a personal opinion.

It's a personal decision.

It's something that they have chosen.

They're not going to acknowledge him as king

for themselves personally.

And they have freedom to do that.

Of course,

they're entitled in a personal freedom way

to think that and to say that.

But that doesn't mean that

what they're really saying

makes the kingship of Charles

no longer relevant

or inapplicable.

They may very well choose to say,

he's not my king,

but in a political sense,

he is the king of the nation.

He is the king over the nation.

And so,

while people have the freedom to say that of him,

that does not displace the fact

that politically he's going to be

crowned as the king

of the United Kingdom.

That is something

that still remains in place

despite people maybe saying,

well,

he's not my king.

And there's something like that

in the way that people think about Jesus.

The way they think about Jesus Christ

as the king,

as he's mentioned here

and spoken of in Scripture,

as we read,

for example,

in Revelation chapter 19,

Revelation 19 · chapter mention

as we read the Gospels

and find the inscription

that was placed over him

at the crucifixion.

This is Jesus of Nazareth,

the king of the Jews.

Jesus,

as a king,

brings that reaction

on the part of some people,

on many people,

sadly,

who will say,

well,

he's not my king.

People who don't want to have

Jesus rule over them.

People who want to

just be free

of anything to do

with Christ,

with God,

with this idea

that somehow or other

there is an authority

greater than themselves

or greater than in this

earthly life.

And so you'll find that

this is the same,

really essentially,

that they say of Jesus

and of his kingship.

Many are adamant saying,

well,

he's not my king

and he never will be my king.

And that's how things

are going to be

until the king returns.

That's how it's going to be

until the end of the age.

There will still be some people

that say,

well,

he's not my king

and he's not going to be my king.

But he is the king.

And as he will come

at that last day,

as we'll see here

briefly tonight,

every knee shall bow

and every tongue

will confess

that Jesus Christ

is Lord

to the glory

of God the Father.

We can say as often

as we like

in this world,

well,

he's not my king.

But every single person

saying that,

as well as those

who say he is my king,

are going to come

when the Lord appears

to bow in his presence

and acknowledge

that even if it is not

willingly on their part,

he is the king.

He is the Lord.

And that's the situation

that you find here

in these verses

in 1 Corinthians 15,

1 Corinthians 15:23–28

verses 23 to 28,

describes the situation

as it is now

and will be

until the Lord returns.

And then when the Lord returns,

certain things

then fall into place.

So let's look at these verses

in regard to Christ.

And this is a passage

that's dense.

It's a passage

that's got difficulties in it,

but we don't shirk

the difficulty

and there's nothing wrong

with saying,

even as preachers

of the gospel,

well, there are one

or two things

that I don't quite understand

and can't get

to the depths of.

We're dealing

with God's Word.

We're dealing with God.

We're dealing

with the Lordship of Christ.

We're dealing

with the reign of Christ.

We're dealing

with the greatness of Christ.

You can't fit that

into a mere human mind

like ours.

But we can still come

and fall in His presence

and say that He is

indeed our King.

So first of all,

how is this connected

with the resurrection?

We've been looking

through the passages

we've gone through

this chapter

at how Paul

is demonstrating

the reality

of such a thing

as resurrection,

beginning with the resurrection

of Jesus Himself

and arguing

that if Jesus

is not risen,

then there is no hope

for mankind.

There's no hope for us.

We're still in our sins.

But of course,

He's now saying

that He is,

of course,

in verse 20,

but in fact,

Christ has been raised

from the dead.

And following on

from that,

we've seen last time

how He spoke about Him

as the firstfruits

and the firstfruits

of those who have fallen asleep,

those who are Christians

who are no longer

in this world.

So resurrection

is spoken of here

as in a particular order.

You see what He's saying

in verse 23?

This shall also happen,

He says,

but each in his own order.

Christ the firstfruits,

then at His coming

those who belong to Christ.

Now He's talking here

about an ordered series

of events

to do with resurrection,

to do with the conquering

of death,

which is what resurrection is

on the part of God's people,

on the part of Christ Himself.

What He's saying here

is that each in his own turn,

Christ the firstfruits.

That's already taken place.

Jesus has been raised

from the dead.

Jesus is no longer,

in terms of His body,

it's no longer

in the grave,

in the sepulcher.

He rose triumphantly

on the third day,

and since then

been exalted to heaven.

His resurrection

is first in that order.

And He talks about it here again

as firstfruits,

similar to the same

as He's mentioned

in verse 20.

Remember,

we mentioned then

that firstfruits really means,

going back to Leviticus 21,

the firstfruits of the harvest.

Israel were ordered by God

to take the firstfruits

of the harvest,

to bring that into

the house of God,

to wave that before the Lord

because it was dedicated to Him.

In other words,

it was saying,

the whole harvest

actually belongs to You,

O Lord,

but You have given us

the privilege

of having that harvest

to ourselves.

Here are the firstfruits.

We're offering that to You.

Remember,

we said that

the firstfruits

are really a sample

of the harvest

that was to follow.

And indeed,

the firstfruits

indicated that the harvest

was certain to follow.

If there's a firstfruits,

obviously there's a harvest there,

and if the firstfruits

are evident

and brought into

the house of God,

it follows that

the harvest

is going to follow it.

And that's what He's saying

with the resurrection.

The firstfruits,

Jesus the firstfruits,

in His resurrection,

well,

that's taken place.

And because that's taken place,

the rest of the harvest,

the resurrection of God's people

to everlasting life,

that is made certain.

That is guaranteed

because they are connected

to Jesus.

They are actually,

this is actually a pledge.

The fact that He has risen

from the dead

is God's pledge

that God's people

will rise from the dead

and share together

in that eternal life.

If Jesus has been raised

from the dead

as He has been,

as Paul is saying,

then it follows that

there is a resurrection

for God's people

to eternal life.

You cannot think of

Jesus being raised

from the dead

without having connected

to that inseparably

the resurrection

of His saved people,

the resurrection

of His whole redeemed church.

And you notice here

the language that's used

is at His coming.

That's the first thing.

He says,

Christ the firstfruits.

Then at His coming,

those who belong to Christ.

In other words,

that's what's still

waiting to take place.

It is made certain

by the fact that

He is risen from the dead,

but it will take place

at His coming.

When He comes,

when He returns

to this world,

then this will take place.

Those who belong to Christ

will be raised from the dead.

And that word

coming,

that is coming,

it's an important word.

It's a word which

in the ordinary sense

of usage

was often used

of an emperor

or a king.

Think about the emperor

or the Roman emperor

at the time

of Paul himself.

Well,

if the emperor

or somebody

of that high rank

was coming to a place,

this is the kind of word

they would use.

It's a word that really means

here is an arrival

that's filled with splendor,

that's got some significance

about it more than most.

And the word that's used here

as Paul uses that word,

it's not just,

it's not used for an emperor

or for a king

in the normal sense,

it's used here of Jesus.

At His coming,

at His arrival,

at His glorious appearance,

those who belong to Him

will actually be raised

from the dead.

And we spoke about

the coronation

of King Charles.

We still don't know

exactly what that's going

to involve

in terms of ceremony,

but I'm sure

it'll have its own grandeur

even if it's scaled back

compared to previous times.

It'll still have its own

pomp and ceremony

and grandeur

and all the regalia

of kingly office

will be on display.

And it'll be a grand occasion

and people will actually admire,

and mostly will admire,

the magnificence of it.

But even if you multiply that

a thousand times,

it's still just a pale shadow

of glory compared

to the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Because when He arrives,

it just won't be a few people noticing

or a few hundred or thousand people

actually watching it.

It'll be the whole earth.

It'll be the whole universe.

It'll be the whole creation

involved in this dynamic event.

An event unlike any other

that went before,

apart from perhaps His death

and resurrection.

Because it's the creation

being brought to

its final conclusion,

and it's God's people

raised from the dead

at His arrival,

and it's Christ displayed

in all the magnificence

of His risen glory,

of His glorified splendor,

of what He is

as the King of kings

and the Lord of lords.

And there is to be a splendor

and a greatness

and a grandeur

of that arrival

that is just unparalleled.

You cannot really find

anything adequate

to picture it,

to give an illustration of it.

And you and I will be there.

Even if it's a thousand

and more years from now,

you and I will be there.

You and I will be witnesses of it.

You and I will be taken

into the event

because that event

will embrace all humankind.

The question, of course, is,

and we'll see it later on as well,

what will your relationship

be to the King?

Will you be invited

to the marriage supper,

to the reception of the Lamb?

Will you be among those

that are welcomed

into the banquet?

Will you be outside?

Will you not have

a personal relationship

with this grand,

wonderful, glorious King?

Well, this is

one of the great questions

that were posed

by the likes of Revelation

in the chapter that we read.

They're a very graphic description.

But this is the King

in His glory.

So, resurrection

in a particular order

comes to its climax,

if you like,

with the arrival of the King.

When He Himself will come,

then they will be,

those who belong to Him,

will rise at His coming.

And then He says,

then comes the end

when He delivers the kingdom

to God the Father

after destroying every rule

and every authority

and power,

for He must reign

until He has put

all His enemies

under His feet.

Now, what is He talking,

what is He talking about here

when He says,

then comes the end?

The end of what?

Or what is meant by

the word end

in that context?

Then comes the end.

It's obviously something

related to the arrival of Christ

or as soon as Christ has arrived

and the King has come,

then comes the end.

And the end here really means

the end of this present age.

The end of things as we know it

in the world as it is

and has been since the fall of man.

The end in the sense

in which a new age

will come at His coming,

at His arrival.

You remember how

2 Peter puts it,

the new heavens

and the new earth

for which God's people

are eagerly waiting

and anticipating

which will be following

the resurrection

or associated with

the resurrection.

Remember there in chapter 3

of Peter

how he's dealing with those

who are scoffing

at this idea

that Jesus is returning.

And all of this,

all these years have gone by,

they're saying,

and yet,

where is the promise

of His coming?

All things are continuing

as they were

from the beginning of creation.

We've stopped believing

in the coming of Jesus.

This passage is saying

that was in the Apostles' day.

Even more so is it the case now.

But he says,

do not overlook this one fact,

beloved,

that with the Lord

one day is as a thousand years

and a thousand years is one day.

God doesn't measure

His diary by years

in our way of calculation.

God has His own plan.

And however many years

it may be

in our calculation of things,

as far as God is concerned,

He knows the exact moment

in the history of this world

when the King will arrive,

when He will come.

But he goes on to say,

the day of the Lord

will come like a thief.

Then the heavens

will pass away with a roar

and the heavenly bodies

will be burned up

and dissolved

and the earth

and the works that are done on it

will be exposed.

Since all these things

are thus to be dissolved,

what sort of people

ought you to be

in lives of holiness

and godliness,

waiting for and hastening

the coming of the day of God,

because of which

the heavens will be set on fire

and dissolved

and the heavenly bodies

will melt as they burn.

But according to His promise,

we are waiting for

new heavens

and a new earth

in which righteousness dwells.

See, that's the culmination

of redemption.

That's the end point

of God's redemption

when God's people are raised

to share together with Christ

the glories of the kingdom,

the glories of Christ's reign

in heaven.

And this is what history

itself is developing towards.

We think of history

as we look out

over the history of mankind,

the history of the world,

as far as we're able to do that.

Where is history heading?

Where is history taking us?

Well, some people will say,

well, you can never be sure about that.

How can you actually know

what's going to happen next year?

Never mind in X number of years,

a hundred, a thousand years,

whatever it might be.

Well, the Lord is saying,

you should know where history,

as a Christian,

you should know where history is heading.

It's heading to the return of Christ.

It's heading towards

the coming of the King.

It's heading towards

the final establishment

and consummation

of the kingdom of God in Christ.

That's where it's heading.

That's where time is heading

to that definite point,

the end,

when the King

will arrive in His glory.

But that's also

not just the terminus

of history,

it's the terminus

of your Christian hope,

isn't it?

Because every single person

that has the Christian hope

is hoping towards

that final end of things

that the Bible describes.

Your hope

is not something uncertain.

You might complain

that it's not as strong

as you would like it to be,

but it's a positive hope

because it's looking towards

this final conclusion of things

at the return of Christ

when the dead will be raised,

when the Lord's people

will be raised,

at His coming.

Your hope

is towards His coming.

Romans chapter 8,

Romans 8 · chapter mention

these great words

that Paul wrote there

to the Romans.

And verses 19 to 25 especially,

where he says,

For the creation

is waiting with eager longing

for the revealing

of the sons of God.

For the creation

was subjected to futility,

not willingly,

but because of Him

who subjected it

in hope

that the creation itself

will be set free

from its bondage to decay

and obtain the freedom

of the glory

of the children of God.

And so on.

It goes on,

speaking about ourselves,

groaning,

having the first fruit

of the Spirit,

having the Spirit of God

as the first fruits in us

that guarantees the harvest

of eternal life

in its fullness

at His coming

and subsequent to His coming.

And that's the terminus.

The terminus of your Christian hope

is the same terminus

as the terminus of history

tied inseparably

to the coming of Christ.

Do you have that hope?

Are you hoping for the best

in this sense?

Is your hope and trust

in the Lord Jesus Christ,

this King of kings

and Lord of lords?

Surely your hope

is not anchored

in something less than that,

something uncertain,

something belonging

to this world,

something belonging

to the philosophies

of this world,

something belonging

to your own imagination,

to your own reckoning,

something belonging

to those who will bring

you a sense of history

without God involved.

The Christian hope,

this hope that the apostle

speaks of,

is a positive thing,

a hope that looks forward

to the King's coming,

to the arrival of the great

King of kings

and Lord of lords.

And then he says,

then comes the end,

we've mentioned the end,

when he delivers the kingdom

to God the Father

after destroying every rule

and every authority

and power,

for he must reign

until he has put all

his enemies under his feet.

The last enemy

to be destroyed

is death.

What are we to make of this?

Well, he's speaking here

about the reign of Christ,

and that's a reign

that's presently underway.

And has been

ever since he rose

from the dead,

and especially since

he ascended to glory.

He's saying here that

he delivers the kingdom

to God the Father.

Think about Jesus

and the mission

the Father gave him

as he was sent into this world

and came willingly

as the servant of the Father.

As you find himself

speaking of it often,

especially in John's Gospel.

If you think about

all that Jesus came to do

was in terms of

establishing a kingdom,

a kingdom of God

where God reigns

and where his people

will be his willing subjects

forevermore.

It's to establish that kingdom

that Christ came.

And that involves

all that he did

while he was in this world.

It involves his death

on the cross,

his obedience to the Father,

his resurrection from the dead,

his ascension to glory,

and it will involve

also his return,

his coming,

as this passage puts it.

And all of that being involved,

that is how the kingdom

will be established,

will be finalized,

will be consummated.

And when it reaches that end,

when it reaches that point,

when everything about the kingdom

is finally ready and finished,

and there's nothing else to do,

when all his enemies,

as he puts it here,

he must reign

until he has put all his enemies

under his feet.

Every rule,

every authority,

every power,

including that of death.

When that is the case,

you can just,

if we can imagine it this way,

speaking with all reverence here,

you could say,

Jesus is saying to the Father,

the Son,

saying to the Father,

Father,

you sent me into this world

of human beings,

I took human nature to myself.

I died on the cross,

I rose from the dead,

I am ascended to glory,

I am sitting at the right hand of God,

and then I have come back to the world

to be the judge of the world.

Father,

here is the kingdom

that you sent me to accomplish.

I deliver it now to you.

I am giving it to you

because I have finished it.

It's accomplished.

It's done.

And because it's done,

I'm handing it to you

as the one

who sent me into the world

to accomplish it.

I've been your servant,

I've reigned in heaven

towards the accomplishment

of all things,

the conquering of all our enemies.

Every rule,

every authority,

every power.

But he says,

he must reign

until he has put all his enemies

under his feet.

You see what that is saying?

Jesus is reigning

from heaven tonight.

He's reigning despite the fact

that you look out in the world

and think that it's just chaos

and think that people

actually have it in themselves

to reign instead

of what we present

as God in the gospel.

That reign of Jesus

is presently taking place.

Every single person in here

that's been converted to Christ

and by Christ,

by the Spirit of God,

is itself another building block,

if you like,

in the kingdom of God.

There is another bit of evidence

really for us

that Christ is reigning.

That Christ's reign includes

the bringing in of His people.

Every single time someone

comes to know the Lord savingly,

there is the Lord's reign

in evidence.

It's taking place.

It's adding to the number

of the saved.

Here you are tonight

as a Christian

and you're happy to acknowledge,

surely, I know you are,

that you haven't converted yourself,

that you haven't made yourself

a new creation,

and you're happy to confess

that He has chosen you

and He has changed you

and He has brought you

and He has drawn you

and He has changed your life

and He has turned your life around

and that itself

is a demonstration

of His reign.

Because without the reign of Christ,

nothing of that would take place.

how can you possibly think of

those who are spiritually dead

like you and I are ourselves,

coming to have life,

coming to know of eternal life

being given to us?

It's Christ's reign, you see.

It's Christ from His throne above.

It's Christ the King

that's brought about that change

in your life.

And it reaches its finale

at the return of Christ.

He says here,

the last enemy

that shall be destroyed

will be destroyed

to be destroyed is death.

Here he is talking about

every rule,

every authority,

every power.

For Him must reign

until He has put all His enemies

under His feet.

You might think tonight

that in Eastern Europe

Putin is undisputedly in charge.

He's not.

He's under the reign of Christ.

Christ.

You might think

that all other things

that have happened

in the history of the world

have demonstrated

that somehow

God is not in control.

That's not the case.

He must reign

until He has put all His enemies

under His feet.

And that's what will take place

finally and demonstrably

at His coming.

It reaches its finale

at the resurrection

of God's people,

at the return of Christ.

You see how this chapter ends?

You might think it's

a long way away yet

before we reach the end,

but anyway,

this is how it finishes.

He says,

when this perishable,

verse 54,

puts on the imperishable

and the mortal

puts on the mortality,

then shall come to pass

the saying that is written,

death is swallowed up

in victory.

O death,

where is your victory?

O death or O grave,

where is your sting?

What is that saying to us?

It's saying to us

that this has not yet fully

been revealed.

The saying,

death is swallowed up

in victory,

it still awaits fulfillment

in its totality.

Why is that?

Because it's not fulfilled

in its totality

until the last believer

is raised from the dead.

then shall be brought

to pass the saying

that is written,

death is swallowed up

in victory.

The victory in principle

is already accomplished.

Jesus has done that.

But the final demonstration

of that victory,

when all of God's

redeemed people

will be raised from the dead

to be with Him,

well, that's still

in the future.

The D-Day of redemption

has taken place,

to use a World War II analogy.

But victory in Europe day

followed after that,

sometime after that.

D-Day wasn't the end,

although it was the final

or main principle of victory.

And so it is with the Lord.

He has died.

He's risen from the dead.

He's reigning from heaven.

He's bringing His people

to know Himself.

He's actually progressing

the work and the growth

of the kingdom.

And when He comes,

that'll be it.

Then comes the end.

And when that comes,

and He delivers up

the kingdom to the Father,

He'll be saying,

Lord, Father,

here is the result

of all that I accomplished,

of all that I came to do.

And then there's one other thing.

When all things are subjected to Him,

then the Son Himself

will also be subjected to Him

who put all things

in subjection under Him,

that God may be all in all.

All these are difficult words,

words that we can't have confidence

that any particular view,

and there are many views

of what these words mean,

that any view is superior

to the other.

But I think the best I've seen

in looking at how to try

and bring out the meaning

of these verses

is good old Matthew Henry.

Because this is what Matthew Henry

says about these final verses

in this passage

from verse 28 there.

Upon His ascension,

Jesus had power given Him

to govern and protect His church

against all its enemies,

and in the end destroy them

and complete the salvation

of all who believe in Him.

This is not a power

appertaining to Godhead as such,

but power given and limited

to this special purpose.

And although He who has it

is God,

yet inasmuch as He

in this whole dispensation

acts not as God

but as mediator,

He may properly be said

to have this power

given to Him.

Jesus as mediator.

He may reign as God

with power unlimited,

and yet may reign as mediator

with a power delegated

and limited to these

particular purposes.

That's to say,

bringing His people in

and completing the kingdom.

The Redeemer must reign,

He went on to say,

until His enemies be destroyed,

and the salvation of His church

and people accomplished.

And when this end is attained,

then He will deliver up

the power which He had

only for this purpose,

though He may continue

to reign over His glorified church

in heaven.

And in this sense,

it can be said that He shall reign

forever and ever.

Well, that's maybe something

you'd find difficult

just by just having it read out.

But what Henry was saying

was that Jesus,

as the mediator

between God and His people,

was given certain powers

to accomplish these things.

And once He has accomplished them,

which will be at His return

once it's finished at that point,

He will hand the kingdom

to the Father

and continue to reign over His people

to all eternity.

But that power

was given for a specific purpose

as the mediator

of His people.

Well, what are we going to make of this?

It's a passage full of rich theology

but difficult things.

I hope you've been able

to follow the main gist of it,

at least,

because it really is

all to do with Christ.

It's all to do with Jesus.

Yes, it's about the resurrection

of God's people.

Yes, it's about hope

for the future

connected to that resurrection

and the resurrection of Christ.

Yes, it's all that.

But it's really about Jesus.

And if you take nothing else

from that this evening

but this fact

that Jesus as the King

is the King that you need

and the King you must have

in your place,

then you have benefited

from this half hour.

What practical use

can we make of it all?

Well, two things.

Christ is reigning now.

As you look out over that world

and I look out over that world tonight,

with all its chaotic scenes,

with the war,

with the devastation,

with everything that you see

that puts people's lives

into turmoil,

with everything that's happened,

even the natural order of things,

you might with others

be tempted to reach that conclusion.

This is just disorganized chaos.

And if God exists,

then He has lost control.

Friends,

Jesus is reigning.

And He must reign

and will reign

till He has put all His enemies

under His feet.

I cannot explain to you tonight

how all of this

is fitted together

in the plan of God.

I can't explain to you tonight

why God leaves such things

as they are,

whether it be a time of war

or famine

or loss of life

or devastation

or earthquake.

I can't say to you tonight,

here is my reason

and I know it's sure

and true

as to why this is the case

and why God

has left it this way

for this particular time.

That's in the King's hand.

That's the King's prerogative.

Don't doubt Him

just because you don't understand

His ways in their totality.

Jesus is reigning.

This is what it's saying.

He must reign until,

yes,

but all His enemies

are under His feet.

And remember that too, friend.

When personally you are perplexed,

when you have troubles

individual to yourself,

when you have difficulties

and struggles

even in your faith,

when you may feel at times depressed,

when you're hurting inside,

when you think you can't share that

with anyone else,

when you are anxious

over your own life

or anxious over the lives

of loved ones connected with you,

or anxious even as you look out

over the world,

when you look into yourself

and have all of this

from time to time

that you detect

in your own thoughts

and in your processes

of your mind

and emotions,

never forget

that Jesus is reigning.

Never forget

that all the details

of your experience

come under His reign.

Everything that's been

in your life,

that is in your life,

that will be in your life,

none of that is outside

of the throne of heaven.

None of that is outside

of the prerogative of Christ.

None of that is outside

of the grasp

of the King of kings

and Lord of lords.

None of that is outside

the purpose of God

in placing these things

in His providence

in your life.

It's not as you would have

organized it

or I would have organized it.

It's not as we would have

purposed it.

It's not fitted together

as we might think best.

But He's the King.

He's the Lord.

He's the sovereign.

And He's the one

who is reigning.

And there are no defects

in His reign.

That's the first point.

Christ is reigning now.

And finally,

second point,

by way of practical application,

not only is Christ reigning now,

but Christ is available now.

This reigning Christ,

this Christ who is on the throne

of the universal,

ready,

this mediator,

this glorious person,

He is available now.

You're here tonight

and you haven't yet

given your life to Him.

You haven't yet surrendered

everything by way of

your heart's resistance

to Jesus

and the claims

of His kingship.

You're still holding back

from giving your life

to Him.

You're still saying,

well,

I'd love to do that,

but there's just one thing

or this thing or other

I'm not sure about yet.

Whatever

is in your resistance

to the kingship of Christ

over your life,

give it to Him.

because not only

is He reigning,

not only is He available,

but as the available

reigning King,

He's calling to you

through the Gospel.

And He's calling to you

through the Gospel

to take Him as He is,

to take Him at His word,

to take Him as your King,

to take Him as your Savior,

to take Him as the one

who will always look after you

on into eternity.

We began by saying

there's so many

that are presently saying,

well, He's not my King.

And I hope there's no one

here tonight

who will leave this building

and be saying that

about Jesus.

No one.

Why would there be?

But rather that you'll be

like the psalmist

in Psalm 105,

that's 145,

in the Scottish Psalter

version of it.

O Lord,

You are

my God

and King.

Thee will I magnify

and bless.

I will Thee bless

and gladly sing

unto Thy holy name

always.

Lord,

You are my God

and King.

May God bless

His word to us.

Lord our God,

we give thanks

that as Your word

reveals

Your kingship to us,

that we are constrained

by Your Spirit

to come to bow

in Your presence.

We thank You

for the beauty

of Your kingship.

We thank You,

Lord,

for the comprehensiveness

of Your kingship,

for the way

that You are reigning

over all things,

and for the way

that the prospect

of Your appearance

fills Your people

with awe

and yet with gladness,

that there will be

a point coming

in the history

of the world

when everything

will be put right

and when the King

himself will show

that He is the King.

O grant, O Lord,

that we yearn

towards that day

with faith,

with trust,

with confidence

in You

as our Savior King.

Be with us now,

we pray,

for Jesus' sake.

Amen.

Let's conclude

by singing now

to God's praise

in Psalm 22,

Psalm 22,

Psalms 22:27–31

verses 27 to 31.

Significant

at this great psalm

which deals

so much in the first part

of it with sufferings

that are associated

with the Lord,

where the Lord

found Himself,

indeed,

in the words of the psalm

at the beginning,

in terms of His forsakenness.

Yet we come

at the end of this psalm

to see the triumph

of the King,

the triumph of the Lord

over all of creation.

From verse 27,

the whole earth

will remember Him

and turn towards

the Lord their God.

all peoples

will bow down to Him,

the nations

of the world abroad.

On page 27,

verses 27 to 31.

Amen.

Amen.

The whole earth

will remember Him

and turn towards

the Lord their God.

All peoples will bow down

to Him,

the nations of the world abroad.

and over nations

He is King,

the rich of all

the earth will peace

and worship

with an offering.

All those whose destiny

will humbly kneel

before His throne.

They cannot keep

themselves alive

for they depend on Him

alone.

Posterity will serve the Lord.

a generation

still to come

will tell our people

yet on board

the righteous acts

that He has done.

I'll go to the main door

after the benediction.

Lord our God,

we pray that You would

bless us now

as we anticipate

a time of fellowship.

We pray that You would

bless what is prepared

for our bodily needs.

We thank You for

all who have provided

them for us.

We pray for Muriel

as she comes once again

to speak of her work

in Cambodia

and her anticipation

of returning.

Lord, we pray that all

of her preparations

will go smoothly for her.

We pray that You would

continue to watch over her

and protect her

and use her.

And we ask that as we hear

tonight of her work there

that as our prayers

go with her

so also may

our prayers continue

to remember her before You.

And now may the grace

of the Lord Jesus Christ

the love of God the Father

and the communion

of the Holy Spirit

be with you now

and evermore.

Amen.