| henning_8_18_13_am.mp3 |
Here is the text of the sermon, which is slightly different than the actual message: ...........................
There are a lot of problems in the world. Talk about an understatement. Think about it: you could walk up to ANYONE, and if they were honest, there’s something you could pray for them about. Think about a time you’ve been stuck in traffic on the expressway, when the road is a parking lot. Each car has at least one person with at least one large problem. The sheer number of problems in the world is staggering.
And so is the magnitude of the problems in the world. I go out to the Tim Horton’s on Grand River to meet people from time to time. I don’t usually watch TV but they’ve got it on there. Sometimes I just have to take off my glasses, rub my eyes, and say “Oh my goodness, did I actually hear that?” Think about some of the natural disasters. Did you know a volcano just killed six people in Indonesia? Think about the problem of diseases. It would be strange to meet someone who doesn’t have a family relative that’s died from cancer.
Or what really bothers you is the stuff that one human being can do to another human being. You think of cases like Gosnell or the problem with child sex trafficking. These are things that I can’t even think about. I do my best to avoid them and change the subject. It can be depressing and angering. I used to be able to talk about abortion. I can’t do that anymore. Not after having my own kids. It would be impossible for me to not lose my temper if I had a conversation with someone who was pro-choice. The point is, there are a lot of problems in the world.
Of course, this is not the way our planet was originally designed. In Eden, there was work. There were challenges. But the world without the disaster of the curse was paradise. Man was designed to live forever. And again, this is the way God designed it, which means this is the way God wants it. But as sin entered into the world, that state of bliss was lost. Adam and Eve are expelled, the thorns rose, Cain and Able grow up, and the problems pour in. Eventually the lifespan dwindles down from being measured in centuries to being measure in decades.
We read of humanity’s original position in Gen. 1:27-28 “So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. 28 Then God blessed them, and God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth." The word for subdue means to conquer or rule it. We were intended to be the masters of creation.
In David’s words in Psalm 8 “3 When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, The moon and the stars, which You have ordained, 4 What is man that You are mindful of him, And the son of man that You visit him? 5 For You have made him a little lower than the angels, And You have crowned him with glory and honor. 6 You have made him to have dominion over the works of Your hands; You have put all things under his feet, 7 All sheep and oxen— Even the beasts of the field, 8 The birds of the air, And the fish of the sea That pass through the paths of the seas.”
But that position has been lost. Man has not conquered nature. Man has not conquered tsunamis and earthquakes and cancer and Alzheimer’s. Mankind does not rule over but suffers under these things. As he contemplated Psalm 8, the writer to the Hebrews put it so simply “But now, we do not see all things subjected to him.”
WHAT IS GOD GOING TO DO?
Mankind has been in this situation for so long, it seems impossible that the world would ever go back to the way it was designed. Books that describe Utopias and Edenic conditions, are in the fantasy section of the library. You know, the Bible is such a book…and it’s not fantasy. The Old Testament prophets foretold of a time when the curse would be reversed. We often call it the millennium. The Bible calls it the Kingdom of God.
The title of my sermon is “The Miraculous Millennium.” And I’m excited about it. The purpose of my message is for you to be more excited about this great coming kingdom as well. I want us to catch this excitement by looking at the OT prophets, the works of Jesus Christ, and also the works of his ambassadors.
When John the Baptist and the Lord Jesus arrive on the scene, the Jews were excited about it as well. It had consumed their mind as they waited for God’s promised time of unprecedented peace and prosperity. In fact, the main theme of Jesus’ ministry is this: the kingdom of God. In fact, we could go so far as to say that’s the theme of the whole Bible. So it was heavy on the minds of the Jews as the Lord Jesus arrived. Not only did they suffer from the problems of disease and natural disaster, but they also were an oppressed people. They were in bondage to the Romans and they yearned for the time that God would finally put the world right side up.
They were right for waiting for the kingdom of God, contrary to what some people say. I feel like saying, what's wrong with your head? Actually, the problem is an insufficient OT base. Their prophets clearly foretold of such a time. Sometimes we can be so heavy on the NT that we miss the significance of what was promised in the NT because we don’t realize the background of the OT. I want to spend some time reading about OT’s description of this wonderful time for this very reason.
Let’s look at how they described the reverse of the curse of nature. Go to Isaiah 30:23. Mark Twain is attributed as saying “Everybody talks about the weather, but no one ever does anything about it.” Well, God’s going to do something about it. “Then He will give the rain for your seed With which you sow the ground, And bread of the increase of the earth; It will be fat and plentiful. In that day your cattle will feed In large pastures. 24 Likewise the oxen and the young donkeys that work the ground Will eat cured fodder, Which has been winnowed with the shovel and fan. 25 There will be on every high mountain And on every high hill Rivers and streams of waters, In the day of the great slaughter, When the towers fall. 26 Moreover the light of the moon will be as the light of the sun, And the light of the sun will be sevenfold, As the light of seven days, In the day that the Lord binds up the bruise of His people And heals the stroke of their wound.”
Isaiah 32:15, reads “the wilderness becomes a fruitful field, And the fruitful field is counted as a forest.”
Ezekiel 34: “25 I will make a covenant of peace with them, and cause wild beasts to cease from the land; and they will dwell safely in the wilderness and sleep in the woods. 26 I will make them and the places all around My hill a blessing; and I will cause showers to come down in their season; there shall be showers of blessing. 27 Then the trees of the field shall yield their fruit, and the earth shall yield her increase. They shall be safe in their land; and they shall know that I am the Lord, when I have broken the bands of their yoke and delivered them from the hand of those who enslaved them. 28 And they shall no longer be a prey for the nations, nor shall beasts of the land devour them; but they shall dwell safely, and no one shall make them afraid. 29 I will raise up for them a garden of renown, and they shall no longer be consumed with hunger in the land, nor bear the shame of the Gentiles anymore. 30 Thus they shall know that I, the Lord their God, am with them, and they, the house of Israel, are My people," says the Lord God. '"
Hosea 2:18 “In that day I will make a covenant for them With the beasts of the field, With the birds of the air, And with the creeping things of the ground. Bow and sword of battle I will shatter from the earth, To make them lie down safely. 19 "I will betroth you to Me forever; Yes, I will betroth you to Me In righteousness and justice, In lovingkindness and mercy; 20 I will betroth you to Me in faithfulness, And you shall know the Lord. 21 "It shall come to pass in that day That I will answer," says the Lord; "I will answer the heavens, And they shall answer the earth. 22 The earth shall answer With grain, With new wine, And with oil;
Isaiah 11:"6 The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, The leopard shall lie down with the young goat, The calf and the young lion and the fatling together; And a little child shall lead them. 7 The cow and the bear shall graze; Their young ones shall lie down together; And the lion shall eat straw like the ox. 8 The nursing child shall play by the cobra's hole, And the weaned child shall put his hand in the viper's den. 9 They shall not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain, For the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord As the waters cover the sea. 10 "And in that day there shall be a Root of Jesse, Who shall stand as a banner to the people; For the Gentiles shall seek Him, And His resting place shall be glorious."
Isaiah 35: 5 Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, And the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped. 6 Then the lame shall leap like a deer, And the tongue of the dumb sing.”
Isaiah 33: 24 And the inhabitant will not say, "I am sick";
Those are a few scriptures that describe the coming age as a time when God reverses the curse in nature, of famine, of hurricanes, and storms, and earthquakes, and even the nature of animals will change.
When we talked earlier about the many problems in the world, the things that really make our flesh crawl is hearing what people do to other people – bombings, rape, trafficking, abortions, things like that. The thing that the Jews were really looking forward to was the end of this influence of the wicked. It’s the same thing that we look forward to. There are so many OT Scriptures that speak to this, but for the sake of time we’ll just give a couple.
Isa. 2: 2 Now it shall come to pass in the latter days That the mountain of the Lord's house Shall be established on the top of the mountains, And shall be exalted above the hills; And all nations shall flow to it. 3 Many people shall come and say, "Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, To the house of the God of Jacob; He will teach us His ways, And we shall walk in His paths." For out of Zion shall go forth the law, And the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. 4 He shall judge between the nations, And rebuke many people; They shall beat their swords into plowshares, And their spears into pruning hooks; Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, Neither shall they learn war anymore.”
Amos 9: 8 "Behold, the eyes of the Lord God are on the sinful kingdom, And I will destroy it from the face of the earth; Yet I will not utterly destroy the house of Jacob," Says the Lord. 9 "For surely I will command, And will sift the house of Israel among all nations, As grain is sifted in a sieve; Yet not the smallest grain shall fall to the ground. 10 All the sinners of My people shall die by the sword, Who say, 'The calamity shall not overtake nor confront us. '
HOW WILL HE DO IT?
This miraculous, spectacular era was the great hope of the Jews. They were waiting for a very real, a very literal Utopia. It involved deliverance from natural catastrophes, deliverance from economic depressions, deliverance from physical sicknesses and diseases, deliverance from the animal world, and deliverance from evil men.
Moreover, their hope (and ours too) should be for more than deliverance, but subjugation. Not just escape from under but rule over. “Subdue the earth” was man’s original position. “All things under his feet.” God created man to not only escape natural calamity, but to rule nature itself.
Mankind is in the position where it needs this great change to occur because of sin. Sin entered the world, and death by sin. Sin is the real root, and all these other things are the fruit. So if this glorious age will dawn, not only will the economic, military, social, etc. problems have to be dealt with, but the root cause of it all will have to be dealt with – sin.
For a long time, People have been fighting against these enemies, trying to bring in God’s blessing. Some see sickness and disease and fight against it by dedicating their lives to medicine. Some see political problems and fight against them by petitioning the government, or even overthrowing the government. Some see the moral problem and start causes to fight against the evils of society. As noble as these endeavors are, and I’m really not trying to disparage them, let me state the obvious: none of these methods will achieve victory. Even if we make progress in medicine, progress in politics, progress in economics, progress in morality, there’s nothing we can do to deliver a death blow to any of these problems. Again, to use the expression in Hebrews, after all man’s fighting “We do not see all things in subjection under his feet.” Do you know what his next words are? They’re wonderful. “But we do see Jesus.”
The Jews were anticipating a very real and very literal kingdom and in that state of expectation, John the Baptist arrives on the scene and his message is “the kingdom of God is at hand.” The spotlight then focuses on the Lord Jesus, and His message is the same, “the kingdom of God is at hand.” At hand. It doesn’t mean that it’s here, but that it’s near. The long time of waiting was almost over. John was the voice of one crying out in the desert, "Behold, I send My messenger before Your face, Who will prepare Your way before You." 3 "The voice of one crying in the wilderness: 'Prepare the way of the Lord; Make His paths straight.”
This kingdom they preached was never redefined into purely spiritual terms.
The Kingdom of God could not come by military strategy or scientific discovery. Like Daniel said, it would be like a stone cut without hands.
But as people back then listened to the preaching of Jesus of Nazareth and heard him talk about the nearness of the kingdom, they would have asked a most logical and obvious question – “Can this man do it?” Where everyone else failed miserably, could he possibly succeed? Christ’s answer to these necessary questions was “Though you do not believe in Me, believe the works.”
People must have wondered, “Could this Jesus of Nazareth solve the problem of sickness? After all, the kingdom of God would be a place where, according to Isaiah 33:24, no one will say “I am sick.” Think of verses like Matt. 4:23-25, “And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease among the people. 24 Then His fame went throughout all Syria; and they brought to Him all sick people who were afflicted with various diseases and torments, and those who were demon- possessed, epileptics, and paralytics; and He healed them. 25 Great multitudes followed Him—from Galilee, and from Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea, and beyond the Jordan.”
In the kingdom, Isaiah 35: 5-6 Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, And the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped. Then the lame shall leap like a deer, And the tongue of the dumb sing.” Remember the amazement when He gave sight, “Since the world began it has been unheard of that anyone opened the eyes of one who was born blind.”
People must have wondered, “Could this Jesus of Nazareth solve the problem of famine? After all, the kingdom of God would be a time when “the trees of the field shall yield their fruit, and the earth shall yield her increase.” Well, see him feed thousands with a couple loaves of bread and a few fish. See him take washing water and turn it into wine.
People must have wondered, “Will he be able to subdue animals?” See him ride on a donkey that had never been ridden on, see him as master of the fish so that when they go fishing, the nets almost break and the boat almost sinks. See him summon a fish with the exact amount of money for the tax.
People must have wondered, “Could this Jesus of Nazareth solve the problem of natural catastrophes? Witness him as he calms the storm, “peace be still” and as he walks on water.
People must have wondered, “Can this Jesus of Nazareth fix the real problem, the problem of sin.” That’s harder to see with the eyes. But He proved it nonetheless. He said in Luke 5:24, “But that you may know that son of Man has power to forgive sin, he said to the sick of the palsy, take up your bed and walk.”
The Lord Jesus had all the credentials to prove He was the Christ. That’s what His miracles were about – giving evidence that the kingdom of God was near and that He was actually able to bring it in. “But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, surely the kingdom of God has come upon you.”
That’s an important point. It’s not that God the Son is nicer than God the Father. As little as Griffith is, he has tried the tactic of asking mom and when that doesn’t work, ask dad. And he’s not even two! I’m sure that people who had these problems asked God in prayer for deliverance again and again. And God said “no.” But when they ask Jesus, the answer is “yes.” Not because Jesus is a softy, but for a specific purpose. TO show that he really was the Christ, the king, the one who could bring in the miraculous millennium.
Now, the Lord Jesus had this incredible power. That’s exciting. But it doesn’t stop there. He preached the kingdom of God and to convince his listeners, he gave the accompanying miracles. But He wanted the message of the imminent kingdom to spread like wildfire. As things were getting close to the time of decision, he chose 12. Let’s read about it in Matthew 10. Verse one says “1 And when He had called His twelve disciples to Him, He gave them power over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease.” Skip down to verse 5. “5 These twelve Jesus sent out and commanded them, saying:" Do not go into the way of the Gentiles, and do not enter a city of the Samaritans. 6 But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. 7 And as you go, preach, saying, 'The kingdom of heaven is at hand. ' 8 Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out demons. Freely you have received, freely give.” Then if you skip down to verse 23, “When they persecute you in this city, flee to another. For assuredly, I say to you, you will not have gone through the cities of Israel before the Son of Man comes.” So they are in crunch time, the 11th hour. It’s like when Harold Camping had his followers believing that the rapture would happen May 23 and it’s April. (As an aside, the Son of Man does not come in power because He was rejected. Take the time to reread chapters 11 and 12 in this light and it will just come alive to you.)
After they return, he sends out the 70. You can find that in Luke 10. Let’s look at 8-12, “Whatever city you enter, and they receive you, eat such things as are set before you. 9 And heal the sick there, and say to them, 'The kingdom of God has come near to you. ' 10 But whatever city you enter, and they do not receive you, go out into its streets and say, 11 ' The very dust of your city which clings to us we wipe off against you. Nevertheless know this, that the kingdom of God has come near you. ' 12 But I say to you that it will be more tolerable in that Day for Sodom than for that city.” They then return in verse 17, 17 Then the seventy returned with joy, saying, "Lord, even the demons are subject to us in Your name." 18 And He said to them, " I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. 19 Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you. 20 Nevertheless do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rather rejoice because your names are written in heaven."
Can you imagine the excitement of being one of those 70 or one of the 12? Can you imagine waiting with your people for so long for the kingdom of God and then for it to come so close to landing? This is the real deal. Healing the sick! Raising the dead! Casting out demons! You don’t need to worry about things like food! All this stuff really happened. It happened by the Lord Jesus and he gave that power to “ordinary people” like you and me and they did it too! And this was all a little foretaste of the miraculous millennium.
Do you remember when the Canaanite woman comes to the Lord Jesus and wants the demon to be cast out of her daughter?” The Lord had told his disciples that that sort of ministry was only for the lost sheep of the house of Israel, because the kingdom had to start with them. He Himself says to her in Matthew 15:24, “I was not sent but to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” Wanting something as incredible as her daughter’s demon to be cast out, what we would consider absolutely a fantastic miracle, do you remember what she refers to it as? “Scraps that fall from the master’s table!” As great as all this stuff was that went on in the Lord’s earthly ministry – it was just scraps compared to the real feast to come. Doesn’t that just excite you about what the kingdom of God must really be like if in comparison to it, things like exorcisms are just puny crumbs?
Folks, I take the words of Jesus seriously. He said " Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father. 13 And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14 If you ask anything in My name, I will do it.” When He withered the fig tree, the disciples were amazed. And the Lord said, “Oh that, that’s nothing. That’s just a scrap. The days are coming in which we will be able to say to a mountain get up and go into the sea and it will actually happen. Control over creation is included in having “all things subjected under our feet.”
WHEN WILL HE DO IT?
Let me point out to you something that should be super obvious. This isn’t happening today. There isn’t even anything happening that could compare with one of the smallest miracles in the NT, let alone something that would begin to qualify as a “greater work” than what Jesus did! So let me state the obvious, we are not in the kingdom of God. Some people take that verse about casting the mountain into the sea and they change it something like being able to pay your electric bill. NO! He really meant something fantastic and incredible, like moving an actual mountain. And the qualifier is not some sort of faith that no human being could ever contain. Just believe it and you will do greater works than Christ. The problem is that we’re not in the kingdom. We are still waiting, and, like Peter said, “hastening the coming of the day of God.”
You know, I’m convinced we’ve got the greatest view of miracles out there. I do believe that God does the miraculous – take Bob for example. But that’s not what the Bible means when it talks about “power.” If we see a sick person, we pray for God’s will to be done and the grace to accept it. But when someone with power sees it like Peter, he says to the lame man “In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk!” and yanks him by the hand with the confidence that he’s healed the lame man. God’s desire for you is that you too would be that kind of person.
Please do not misunderstand me. There are a lot of people who believe in so called miraculous healings and the prosperity gospel. Do you know what their problem is? They don’t believe in it enough. Power is being able to talk myself into having a good interview? Prosperity is a two car garage? They’ve set their sights too small. Our response isn’t that they should take a lesser view of miracles, but that they should take a bigger one. And by taking a bigger one, realize that something as spectacular as what the Bible envisions just isn’t happening. That doesn’t mean that it won’t happen. It will, when Christ returns and sets up the kingdom of God. So yes, we DO believe in miraculous headings, we DO believe in prosperity, in being healthy, wealthy, and wise, we DO believe in speaking in tongues, we DO believe in signs and wonders, we believe in them so much that we recognize this hooey that you see with Benny Hinn isn't the real deal. We aren't satisfied with the cheap imitation stuff and we are waiting for the real thing.
My main purpose in delivering this message is to get us more excited about what will happen in the kingdom of God. When we get a bigger picture of the greatness of the kingdom, we’ll be more likely to reorient our priorities in light of it. So when we talk about greatness in the kingdom, that’s a fantastic concept. When we talk about ruling, that isn’t a metaphor for something that doesn’t mean anything. It means ruling! Triumphing over our enemies and also ruling over nature and animals. It means greater authority in the coming kingdom.
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