Allen Jackson - A Triumphal Procession - Part 2
If the response to the threat of the Satan’s roar is to resist him, if you want to spend time in the presence of the Lion of Judah, I would submit to you that we want to become better at giving expression to worship. And I want to push that a little further with you. In 2 Corinthians chapter 2 in verse 14, it says: «Thanks be to God, who always leads us in a triumphal procession in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of him». Seems like a pretty passive verse, but there’s something in there that I think is really helpful to us. It says that God always leads us in a triumphal procession in Christ. The words are a little bit… perhaps lost on us.
New Testament was written in Greek, predominantly in the first century. And in Rome when a general had a victory, a particularly remarkable victory, he was rewarded with a triumph. It was a parade, a processional, through the streets of Rome with the plunder of whoever was conquered. So a triumph is not the winning of a victory. The triumph was a celebration of a victory that has been won. Do you recognize the difference? We talk about a triumph. We’re not saying, «Oh, you’ve had a great victory,» because that’s the way we use the word today. You were triumphant. You won. It’s not the way the word was used and it was defined to the audience when this was written.
A triumph was the celebration of a victory that had been won. If a professional sports team wins a championship, it’s not uncommon for them to have a parade in their home city. That would be a triumphal parade. The victory was won weeks before, typically, or days before on some competition, field of competition. So when it says here that «God leads us in a triumphal procession in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of him,» we are the evidence of a victory that has been won. So that when people see our lives, they go, «You know, there’s no explanation for that other than God. Maybe I should check that God thing out». Are you with me?
Now, I want to go back to the passage in Revelation 5. Look at Revelation 5 and verse 5 again: «One of the elders said to me, 'Don’t weep. The Lion of the tribe of Judah, the root of David, has triumphed.'» He’s not saying he had a victory. God responded to what Jesus did in such a way that we have become the demonstration of the victory that Jesus had. And the message to John in Revelation 5 is, «You don’t have to weep. There’s one with the authority to open the scroll because he has a triumph. You’re a part of the display». The book of Revelation opens and God said, «You know, I have a message for the people in the earth. How will we get it to them»? And the answer comes, «I have a servant».
You and I are an expression of the victory that Jesus won. This is very much a part of the New Testament. There’s a spirit. You see, if you don’t believe there was really a conflict, if you don’t believe the roar of the lion that would destroy you is real, then you will undersell the victory of the Lion of the tribe of Judah. And you’ll be ashamed of him, you won’t want to be in that triumphal procession. You’ll hide it, you’ll deny it. You’ll tone it down, you’ll mute it. You’ll be more proud of your affiliation with the University of Tennessee or the Titans, or whomever you follow, than you are of your affiliation with Jesus. It renders us mute in the face of a godless culture because we don’t wanna make waves, we don’t wanna forfeit a business opportunity.
Well, we’re not worshiping the Lord with our resources and our strength and our wisdom because we’re hitting the mute button when we should be a part of a triumphal procession that everybody sees us goes, «Oh, they’re identified with him». We’re not resisting the enemy. We’re not participating in the triumph of the Lion of the tribe of Judah. And I think, far too often, we get the language in this and we get stuck in the words and we don’t know if we believe in demons and well… stop. You can see the conflict in the earth. Are we willing to be a part of that triumphal procession? Look in Philippians 2, verse 5. Says: «Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus».
That’s pretty straightforward. You need the same attitude that Jesus had. Do you know God cares about your attitude? Some of you just have an attitude. That’s not really what he’s saying. And then he describes the attitude that Jesus modeled. «Being in the very nature God, he didn’t consider equality with God something to be grasped. He made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death, even death on a cross»!
The cross was the death, a humiliating death. It wasn’t a heroic death or an accidental death. The cross was a humiliating death. You’re tortured to death in public as a criminal. Powerless, typically naked, hungry, and thirsty. So the description of Jesus and the last time Jesus was presented to the secular world was on a Roman cross, broken and defeated, hungry, thirsty, and naked, in want of all things. That’s the attitude described. There’s a lot of parallels there with the components of worship that were described in Revelation 5. I’m not gonna take the time to go back and draw the parallels, but verse 9 is the pivot point. It says, «Therefore».
«Therefore» is a summary word. It’s a word of conclusion. Because Jesus did that, because he was willing to do that, «God exalted him to the highest place and God gave him the name that’s above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven, on earth, and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father». Jesus’s death on the cross was the accomplished victory. What did Jesus say? What was the last thing he said on the cross? «It’s finished». «It’s finished. I’ve done what I was asked to do». And then God’s exaltation is the triumphal celebration. Jesus had those things before he came to the earth, before the incarnation. But because he was willing to go to that cross, now you and I can be included in his triumph.
You see, we’re not in a power struggle with evil, it’s a confrontation of truth. It’s why when we go silent and we won’t speak the truth and we won’t tell the truth, then we become deceptive, we participate in the deception, and we won’t say the emperor has no clothes. We’re aligning ourselves with the roar of Satan. Look at Matthew 28. This is Jesus post-Resurrection. «The eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. And when they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted».
Responses to Jesus are still pretty much in those same categories. Post-Resurrection, resurrected Christ, disciples… This isn’t the mob from the streets of Jerusalem. These are the disciples that went to the place Jesus told them to gather, and when Jesus got there, some worshiped. I’m glad you’re seated because this is shocking. After the Resurrection, we watched him die. He is back. He told them where he would meet them. There’s a gathering of people who imagine themselves to be disciples and some worshiped. And some, what? Some doubted. What can we deduce from that?
Well, I would submit to you that we better be prepared for the challenge of doubt, that there’s gonna be some thoughts that you and I are gonna have to face that are not going to be faith-filled, that won’t always encourage us to yield to God, to worship God, to submit to him. Because if they’re standing in the presence of a resurrected Lord and they know the backstory, they’re firsthand witnesses to it, that’s a pretty powerful lie that you could get into your head that would cause you to doubt and not to worship.
So you and I better be prepared. We better have some plan. We better understand. I pay attention to people that put doubt in me. I don’t spend very much discretionary time and sometimes I don’t have discretionary. I’ve got assignments and responsibilities, but I don’t spend very much discretionary time with people that sow doubt in my life about honoring the Lord. It’s too important to me. I want people that will encourage me. And I don’t mean, like, flattering encouraging me. I mean, I like to be with people that are struggling to do their best for the Lord, to take those next steps, to overcome, to not yield, to not give in.
«Some worship, some doubted». We’re gonna do this. «Then Jesus came to them and said, 'All authority in heaven and earth has been given to me. Therefore», there’s that word again. You ought to circle it. When you find a «therefore» in the Bible, this was the advice I was given as a young man, when you find a «therefore,» find out what it’s there for. «Therefore you go and you make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I’ve commanded you. And surely I’m with you to the very end of the age». The only promise of his abiding presence is if we accept the assignment. He said, «All authority has been given to me. Now you can go, go in this triumphal procession. I won the victory. Now you can go be a part of the parade».
Can you imagine? We didn’t win the victory. We didn’t make the sacrifice. We didn’t do all those things. We received a free gift, that we’ve been invited into the parade. Then we say, «Well, you know, do I have to identify»? Oh, but you can. «You know, I’m the only Christian where I work». Have a parade. «You know, my family, they’re not believers, they’re doing all these», I know, go have a victory parade. The holidays are coming.
Matthew 16:18, Jesus said, «I’ll build my church, and hell won’t overcome it». Maybe more literally, hell won’t be able to withstand it. You know, the most common form of warfare in the first century was siege warfare. You know, one of the ways of unpacking human history is when methods of warfare change. World War One was trench warfare. They dug these big trenches and they shot at one another over the land in between. Some of you saw «War Horse,» World War One and trench warfare. American Revolution. They hired mercenaries, they hired people to fight and you can put on bright red coats, line up in rows, and march towards your enemy.
And so the first century, the primary method of warfare was a siege and an army, if you had decided to attack a city, the best defense, the most, the well-defended cities had walls around them. And typically, they were difficult. The point of the wall was it was too difficult for an advancing army to overcome it, so the most vulnerable point on a city was the gates. Typically made out of wood, so you could either batter them with some sort of battering ram or you could burn them.
And Jesus is using that imagery. He said, «I am going to build the church. I’m gonna build my church, not a congregation, not a denomination. I’m gonna build the people of faith in the earth. And the gates of hell won’t be able to hold it out». It’s not a picture of a besieged church. It’s a portrayal of the church having surrounded the enemy. And the gates won’t be able to keep us out. Why? Because the Lion of the tribe of Judah has triumphed. And we’re a part of that triumphal procession. I’ll tell you: The most exciting opportunity of our lives and, I think, of this generation is the great privilege of being a part of Jesus establishing his church in the earth in a new way. We’ve been in retreat for several decades and we’re moving forward again. It’s exciting.
Look at Ephesians 1:22: «God placed all things under his feet,» Jesus, «and appointed him to be the head over everything for the church». These are all the results of the victory he won. All of these things, these statements made about Jesus, came to him because what he was willing to do that we read in Philippians 2: He humbled himself and became obedient. That whole list when it says your attitude should be like this. He’s the head over everything for the church.
Look at Colossians 1:15: «He’s the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by him all things were created: things in heaven, on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. He’s the head of the body, the church; he’s the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead». Do you understand that statement? He’s not the first person in the Bible raised from the dead. We find people raised from the dead long before we get to Jesus. There’s more in play here, more than we have time to unpack in a great deal of detail, but it says that he’s the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all Creation. By him all things were created. Jesus’s curriculum vitae is being established as being present as the Creator of all things.
So he’s speaking about something that happened long before the Romans marched through the Middle East. But then he brings in this notion that he’s the head of the church, the firstborn from among the dead. What did God say to Adam and Eve? That the day of when they ate from that tree they would die. They didn’t die physically. They lost their relationship with God. They hid from God. They recognized frailty and vulnerability where they hadn’t had it before. So Jesus was more than just physically resurrected. The Bible refers to him as the second Adam. «A totally new creation,» the Bible says, when we’re in him.
So this description in Colossians, as remarkable as it is about Jesus, he was the beginning, before time. He stepped into time, humbled himself, did those things. He won a victory to be the firstborn from among the dead so that in everything he might have the supremacy. So there may be two lions stalking the earth with very much diametrically opposed objectives, but we shouldn’t imagine that their power is similar. Jesus has won a total, complete, eternal, irreversible victory over Satan and his kingdom. That’s good. And you and I are the triumphal procession in Christ. But Satan’s still present. So we see expressions of evil in the world and they touch our lives and we’re pulled into this conflict.
Say, «Well, I don’t like that». Duly noted. Doesn’t change the reality. I don’t like the fact that ice cream’s fattening, but it would be better if you took note of that. Sorry, I didn’t call you fat. There’s a whole new order ahead of us. The victory that Jesus won will ultimately transform this earth. But we’re not there yet. The judgment of God will be visited fully upon Satan and his kingdom. But we haven’t experienced that yet. We have a couple of windows, a couple of pictures in scripture, of what that will look like. Would you like to see 'em, just quickly?
Look at Isaiah 11. It says: «The wolf will live with the lamb, and the leopard will lie down with the goat, and the calf and the lion and the yearling together; and a little child will lead them». We’ll let the kids play with the wolves and the leopards. We won’t be anxious when the kids hang out with the lions. I don’t think that’s some metaphor. I think we will see that. There’ll be a change in the nature of Creation. We live in a broken world. We live in a world that’s so messed up, people walk into a school and murder children. And we’re so perverse, we won’t say our character’s broken.
«The cow will feed with the bear, and their young will lie down together, and the lion will each straw like an ox. And the infant will play near the hole of the cobra, and the young child will put his hand into the viper’s nest. And they’ll neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain, for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea».
There’s something better coming. You know, I know when… there are times and seasons in our lives and when our faith is young, we’re not sure if serving the Lord’s a good idea. Because we think the world holds so much and ungodliness is such an enticement but I hope you’re moving towards a place where you think, «There’s just not much in the world apart from the Lord that I’m interested in». I mean, I like the earth that God created. It’s beautiful. It’s spectacular, but I’m talking about the invitations that come from the satanic roar. They’re invitations to destruction. How many times do you have to choose a destructive path before you’ll say, you know, «That really was not pleasant»?
Recognize the enticement and recognize the outcome on the other side of the enticement, the destruction. How many times do we have to walk destructive paths before we’ll say, «I don’t think that’s the way I want to go again»? There’s something better. I wanna be all in with the Lord. Look at Isaiah 65: «'The wolf and the lamb will feed together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox, but the dust will be the serpent’s food. And they’ll neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain, ' says the Lord».
There’s something better coming, folks. And it’s all made available to you and me, not because we sit in the right building or we wear the right clothes or we eat the right foods, but because of the victory that Jesus won. And in God’s amazing mercy and grace, he’s invited us into this triumph. The Lion of the tribe of Judah has triumphed. And he is worthy. And because he’s worthy, we get to join the parade.
Now, there is a spiritual battle raging in the earth. Surely you can see expressions of it. We’re not powerless. We’re not called to be spectators. We’ve been called to resist him, to stand firm in the faith, understanding it may even elicit some suffering when we do so. But to remember that our brothers and sisters throughout the earth are having to endure as well. We’re not alone, we’re not by ourselves. We’re a part of this triumphal procession in the earth. Not to be squandered on our selfish comfort and convenience. I brought you a proclamation from Psalm 34. I thought it was an appropriate way to wrap this up. Won’t you stand with me? Even at home. Psalm 34, it’s the first 5 verses. Can we read them together as a proclamation from our own lives? It’s very helpful to say for yourself what the Word of God says about you. That’s how you give application. It’s how you release the authority that’s present in the Word of God. Say it together:
I will extol the Lord at all times; his praise will always be on my lips. My soul will boast in the Lord; let the afflicted hear and rejoice. Glorify the Lord with me; let us exalt his name together. I sought the Lord, and he answered me; he delivered me from all my fears. Those who look to him are radiant; their faces are never covered with shame, amen.