Apocalyptic Thinking

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Apocalyptic Thinking

Kingdom Perspective

October 18, 2024 • Don Willeman

Transcript:

Hello, this is Pastor Don of Christ Redeemer Church. Welcome to The Kingdom Perspective.

In times of great political division, our thinking tends to become what some sociologists have dubbed “apocalyptic.” We begin to believe that what takes place at this moment—in the next election, during the next session of Congress or the next ruling from the Supreme Court—is going to determine the fate of our lives, indeed, the fate of all history. One side says: “If this person wins the White House or this party wins the Congress, we are all doomed.” And the other side says: “If that person wins the White House or that party wins the Congress, we are all doomed.”

Such thinking is not only false, but also revealing. It reveals where our real hope is. (Interestingly, the word “apocalyptic” literarily means to “unveil” or to “reveal”.)

Christians, however, need not think like this—not because there are not issues at stake in any given election or that what happens in Washington is of no significance. Rather, Christians have an anchor that goes beyond the chaos of the present moment. Our hope ultimately does not come from the White House in Washington but from our Father’s House in Heaven. Our hope is not in human power, but in the power God.

As the Psalmist put it:

Some trust in chariots and some in horses,

but we trust in the name of the Lord our God. (Psalm 20:7)

Such confidence allows us to enter the public square, not desperately seeking salvation, but rather seeking to serve. We are free to bring the hope of the true Savior to a world bent on finding it in earthly saviors destined only to disappoint.

Something to think about from The Kingdom Perspective.

“Now I know that the Lord saves His anointed;

He will answer him from His holy heaven

With the saving strength of His right hand.

Some boast in chariots and some in horses,

But we will boast in the name of the Lord, our God.

They have bowed down and fallen,

But we have risen and stood upright.

Save, O Lord;

May the King answer us in the day we call.”

~ Psalm 20:6-9 (NASB)

Weeping over our Worldliness

September 12, 2024 • Don Willeman

Transcript: Hello, this is Pastor Don of Christ Redeemer Church. Welcome to The Kingdom Perspective. Many indications suggest to us that the church in America is not in good shape. What should we do? We should weep over our worldliness and put our trust in God alone. This sense of brokenness—of knowing our neediness as sinners before a gracious but holy God—should characterize the whole of our lives; but all the more so when we see the kingdoms of our world crumbling all around. This crumbling should remind us that God never intended us to trust in ourselves. He never intended us to put our hope in riches or status. Everything is a gift from God, and it given for the service of God and others. That’s why the New Testament writer James presses us: Come now, you rich, weep and howl for the miseries that are coming upon you. Your riches have rotted and your garments are moth-eaten. Your gold and silver have corroded, and their corrosion will be evidence against you and will eat your flesh like fire. You have laid up treasure in the last days. (James 5:1-3) What’s the remedy? James tells us: Repentance—turning our trust away from ourselves to God. Listen to what he says: Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Be wretched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you. (James 4:8-10) Note that well: “Humble yourself and God will exalt you.” You see, repentance never ends with sorrow but always moves through sorrow to exaltation. In the Kingdom of God, the way up is always down. Something to think about from The Kingdom Perspective. “Come now, you who say, ‘Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit’— yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. Instead you ought to say, ‘If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.’ As it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin. Come now, you rich, weep and howl for the miseries that are coming upon you. Your riches have rotted and your garments are moth-eaten. Your gold and silver have corroded, and their corrosion will be evidence against you and will eat your flesh like fire. You have laid up treasure in the last days. Behold, the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, are crying out against you, and the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts. You have lived on the earth in luxury and in self-indulgence. You have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter. You have condemned and murdered the righteous person. He does not resist you.” ~ James 4:13-5:6 (ESV)

The Priority of Knowing God

September 4, 2024 • Don Willeman

Transcript: Hello, this is Pastor Don Willeman of Christ Redeemer Church. Welcome to the Kingdom Perspective. What is the point of life? What is the goal you should be aiming for each and every day? The Bible suggests to us that nothing is more important than knowing God, and nothing is more practical. The great 19th century preacher Charles Spurgeon put it this way: “I know nothing which can so comfort the soul; so calm the swelling billows of sorrow and grief; so speak peace to the winds of trial, as a devout musing upon the subject of the Godhead.” (morning sermon on January 7, 1855, at New Park Street Chapel, Southwark, England) God is our designer (He made us), and God is our destiny (He is our final judge). We were made by Him and for Him. We were made to know Him and be in relationship with Him. But to know and be in relationship with someone requires knowing something about that person. Thus, to begin to know God, we must first know something about Him. So, what can you do to grow in this knowledge about God? I recommend that you grab a classic book that faithfully distills the teaching of Scripture, such as Knowing God by J.I. Packer. If you want to start on a more basic level, try R.C. Sproul’s The Holiness of God. And, if you are looking for something more advanced, you’d be hard pressed to find anything more impressive than the Institutes of the Christian Religion by John Calvin. Bottom line: You should pursue the knowledge of God and make knowing Him your highest goal. Something to think about from The Kingdom Perspective. “When Jesus had spoken these words, he lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, ‘Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you, since you have given him authority over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.’” ~ John 17:1-3 (ESV)

Heidelberg Catechism: Almighty God as our Father

September 10, 2024 • Don Willeman

Transcript: Hello, this is Pastor Don Willeman of Christ Redeemer Church. Welcome to the Kingdom Perspective. What a privilege we have as Christians! There is no greater comfort than the fact that the Almighty Creator of heaven and earth is our Heavenly Father for Jesus’s sake. The Heidelberg Catechism, a doctrinal teaching device developed in 1563 and still used by many churches around the world, nails this fact very succinctly. Listen to question-and-answer number 26: Question 26: What do you believe when you say, “I believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth”? Answer: That the eternal Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who out of nothing created heaven and earth and everything in them, who still upholds and rules them by his eternal counsel and providence, is my God and Father because of Christ his Son. I trust him so much that I do not doubt he will provide whatever I need for body and soul, and he will turn to my good whatever adversity he sends me in this sad world. He is able to do this because he is almighty God; he desires to do this because he is a faithful Father. Because of Jesus, God is not only the Sovereign King of Creation, but also my faithful Father. Remember, Jesus said that not a sparrow can fall to the ground without the will of your Father in heaven (Matthew 10:29-31). Are you not of more value to him than a sparrow? (Matthew 6:26). Something to think about from The Kingdom Perspective. ““So have no fear of them, for nothing is covered that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known. What I tell you in the dark, say in the light, and what you hear whispered, proclaim on the housetops. And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell. Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. But even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not, therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows. So everyone who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven, but whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven..” ~ Matthew 10:26-33 (ESV)