WEBVTT 00:00:00.160 --> 00:00:03.820 Hey, I'm going to invite you today to Revelation chapter 19. 00:00:04.460 --> 00:00:07.700 It's where we find ourselves, Revelation chapter 19. 00:00:07.880 --> 00:00:14.500 And as we get into this chapter, I want you to know, out of all the chapters of Revelation, I pick my favorite and it's Revelation 19. 00:00:14.500 --> 00:00:18.190 So I get to talk about my favorite chapter in the book of Revelation today. 00:00:18.900 --> 00:00:25.920 But one of the reasons I love this chapter is because it's a unifying chapter to the entire narrative of the 00:00:25.920 --> 00:00:27.080 Bible. 00:00:27.400 --> 00:00:29.180 And when you read Scripture, you come to find out. 00:00:29.180 --> 00:00:34.870 Out of the 66 manuscripts that make up our Bible, there is one grand story that God is telling us. 00:00:35.160 --> 00:00:40.890 And it's the redemption of God made known for us because of what he's done for us. 00:00:41.060 --> 00:00:48.540 It's a grand redemption story that is the narrative of the Bible, and it is important for us to know that, in an intellectual sense, 00:00:48.540 --> 00:00:50.580 that the Bible is one grand narrative story. 00:00:50.660 --> 00:00:57.840 All of it points to Jesus and ultimately what he does for us so that we can find freedom in him that is intellectually important to know, 00:00:58.640 --> 00:01:06.220 but it's also intended for us to make it personal that while you look at the narrative of God's redemptive story, it's 00:01:06.220 --> 00:01:11.000 also critical to recognize that God continues to tell that story in us every day. 00:01:12.100 --> 00:01:16.360 And hopefully you can say that about your life this morning and your relationship to Jesus. 00:01:16.380 --> 00:01:23.420 And if not, by the end of this, I hope that you have found your identity in Jesus, because one of the most profound things of the Bible 00:01:23.420 --> 00:01:30.580 is no matter how much you continue to study it, and it's important to study it, it's also how it becomes this intimate expression of what Jesus 00:01:30.580 --> 00:01:31.780 has done for me. 00:01:31.840 --> 00:01:33.180 And I can know him personally. 00:01:34.100 --> 00:01:41.140 And one of the joys that I have as a pastor is getting to hear that redemptive story in your life over and over, how God is moving 00:01:41.140 --> 00:01:46.580 in each one of our hearts and lives to bring about his story of redemption in our lives, transformed in him. 00:01:46.780 --> 00:01:48.240 And you don't have to be a pastor to do that. 00:01:48.260 --> 00:01:51.180 All you have to do is talk to people to know that story. 00:01:51.480 --> 00:01:53.680 But it's a beautiful work that God does in us. 00:01:53.700 --> 00:01:59.820 In fact, it tells us if you ever read the book of Ephesians chapter two, verses eight and nine. 00:02:00.060 --> 00:02:02.350 It reminds us those famous verses. 00:02:02.780 --> 00:02:08.620 For by grace are you saved through faith, and that not of yourselves it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. 00:02:08.979 --> 00:02:13.650 So our salvific work is not achieved by anything that we're doing, but what Jesus has done on our behalf. 00:02:13.920 --> 00:02:15.880 It's a gift not of works. 00:02:16.260 --> 00:02:20.400 But then it goes on and says in verse ten, and you're created in Christ Jesus for good works. 00:02:20.420 --> 00:02:25.880 So now it's saying that you are you are God's masterpiece, and his hand is painted all over you. 00:02:25.880 --> 00:02:27.600 His beauty made known in your life. 00:02:28.220 --> 00:02:35.640 And, for me, I, even in my own life, find that reflected in what Jesus has done in my heart as 00:02:35.640 --> 00:02:42.940 I've come to know this story in a in a personal way, that there is definitely a major transition in my life in who I was before Jesus 00:02:42.940 --> 00:02:44.520 and now who I am because of Jesus. 00:02:45.420 --> 00:02:52.700 I think it's beautiful if you grew up in a in a home that knows the Lord and at a young age you come to know Christ and you don't carry the battle wounds 00:02:52.700 --> 00:02:53.540 of this world. 00:02:54.140 --> 00:02:55.720 But for me, that wasn't the case. 00:02:55.720 --> 00:03:02.920 I came to know Christ in college and who I was before Jesus and who I am now because of Jesus is a drastic difference in 00:03:02.920 --> 00:03:08.240 my life, and it's something I've never got over and something I know for the rest of eternity. 00:03:08.280 --> 00:03:09.540 I will never get over. 00:03:09.640 --> 00:03:15.470 Just the goodness of knowing Christ and the richness of walking with him daily. 00:03:16.300 --> 00:03:23.110 And as I think about what it is to know Jesus, I also recognize that we walk in a broken world and none of us do it perfectly. 00:03:24.460 --> 00:03:28.300 And so as you look at Revelation chapter 19, that's what we're going to talk about today. 00:03:28.700 --> 00:03:31.440 Is living resolved despite adversity? 00:03:32.580 --> 00:03:39.780 How do I not only come to know Christ, but really just continue to honor him with our life, knowing that we live in a fallen and broken world? 00:03:40.660 --> 00:03:44.040 And Revelation 19 really begins to open up that can of worms. 00:03:44.120 --> 00:03:51.360 And recognizing the worship of God's people in position with this one individual identified 00:03:51.360 --> 00:03:57.640 for us that wages war against God's people and also lures this world into Temptation. 00:03:58.860 --> 00:04:01.520 And if I give you point number one, we'll read the verses after this. 00:04:01.580 --> 00:04:05.020 But in order to live, live resolved, despite adversity, we've got to do this. 00:04:05.060 --> 00:04:08.660 We must all acknowledge we have a problem that needs conquered. 00:04:09.920 --> 00:04:11.640 We have a problem that needs conquered. 00:04:11.640 --> 00:04:18.700 Meaning, I don't want to be so arrogant as to come across saying this now that I know Jesus, my life is perfect and everything is just dandy. 00:04:19.899 --> 00:04:23.600 But to realize that I'm not perfected yet in Christ. 00:04:24.580 --> 00:04:27.120 And so I still walk in a fallen and broken world. 00:04:27.200 --> 00:04:29.140 And I'm susceptible to temptation. 00:04:29.820 --> 00:04:31.170 But man, I want to honor Jesus. 00:04:32.680 --> 00:04:39.760 I want my life to live for Jesus and to make Jesus known and to glorify God and the way I conduct myself 00:04:39.760 --> 00:04:41.710 and be a blessing to others. 00:04:42.180 --> 00:04:46.380 I hope all of my days of my life are faithful to the Lord in that. 00:04:46.680 --> 00:04:46.720 But. 00:04:46.800 --> 00:04:51.460 But I know that in the flesh has the ability to rear itself up at any time. 00:04:51.460 --> 00:04:51.580 So. 00:04:51.980 --> 00:04:54.100 So how can I be faithful to do that? 00:04:55.020 --> 00:04:57.480 Revelation chapter nine, verse one says this. 00:04:57.480 --> 00:05:04.360 After this, I heard what seemed to be the loud voice of a great multitude in heaven, crying out, Hallelujah! 00:05:04.360 --> 00:05:07.500 Salvation and glory and power belong to our God. 00:05:07.760 --> 00:05:11.860 So it's recognizing we're true glory is to be attributed. 00:05:11.900 --> 00:05:15.310 But then it says, verse two, for his judgments are true and just. 00:05:15.460 --> 00:05:22.740 For he has judged the great prostitute who corrupted the earth with her immorality, and has avenged on her the blood of 00:05:22.740 --> 00:05:23.650 his servants. 00:05:23.940 --> 00:05:27.140 Once more they cried out, Hallelujah! 00:05:27.140 --> 00:05:29.980 The smoke from her goes up forever and ever. 00:05:30.920 --> 00:05:37.120 So in Revelation we've discovered together these two kingdoms positioned against one another. 00:05:37.240 --> 00:05:37.400 Right? 00:05:37.400 --> 00:05:40.440 There's the kingdom of God for which we are created to belong to. 00:05:41.200 --> 00:05:48.220 God's original design with creation was to know him intimately, intimately in relationship, and to glorify him and all that we 00:05:48.220 --> 00:05:48.420 do. 00:05:48.460 --> 00:05:53.960 That's why he told Adam and Eve in the garden, be fruitful, multiply, and bless to take the Garden of Eden and spread it all over the world. 00:05:54.020 --> 00:05:54.880 So that was God's kingdom. 00:05:55.340 --> 00:06:02.540 But man men rebelled against that and in so doing brought destruction on humanity and on this world. 00:06:02.540 --> 00:06:09.460 This world that we live in is not the it's not the world that God intended, but it's the world that we discover because of rebellion against him. 00:06:10.680 --> 00:06:17.720 And this is represented Revelation through through the idea of a fallen Babylonian society, a kingdom of Satan, one 00:06:17.720 --> 00:06:21.020 that's identified as following this great prostitute. 00:06:22.480 --> 00:06:24.290 And this idea of this prostitute is important. 00:06:24.340 --> 00:06:31.440 In fact, when we look at Revelation 19, we're going to see three figures that are talked about and understanding how these figures play out in 00:06:31.440 --> 00:06:38.460 our own relationship with the Lord is significant for us, and especially in terms of being faithful to 00:06:38.460 --> 00:06:39.370 God with our lives. 00:06:40.400 --> 00:06:47.460 But we've got to acknowledge that in the midst of this calling to glorify God, as you see expressed in this passage, that 00:06:47.460 --> 00:06:55.180 there is there is one who wages war against us, who desires to tempt us, and is seen as this great prostitute and 00:06:55.180 --> 00:07:03.080 this idea of this great prostitute is this temptation to lure you into spiritual adultery? 00:07:04.540 --> 00:07:11.700 It's as if to say this, that your heart was intended to belong to someone, but instead 00:07:11.700 --> 00:07:19.100 of giving your heart there, your heart is raptured or captured by something else or someone else. 00:07:19.340 --> 00:07:26.400 And you give yourself over to its pleasures for your purposes and forsake the one you were intended to belong 00:07:26.400 --> 00:07:26.900 to. 00:07:28.200 --> 00:07:34.430 In fact, this idea of the prostitute helps us really think about what drives sin. 00:07:35.420 --> 00:07:39.050 The idea of sin we talk about in terms of spiritual adultery. 00:07:39.280 --> 00:07:46.320 What this great prostitute represents, it's helping us realize that, the idea of sin is simply more than just something 00:07:46.320 --> 00:07:51.560 that you do that's wrong in another way, I could say it like this. 00:07:51.600 --> 00:07:58.960 The idea of Christianity is in living a Christian life is more than just simply a duty, a job that you live 00:07:58.960 --> 00:08:06.000 out, but rather at the root of either one of those things is what your positioning your heart towards. 00:08:06.380 --> 00:08:07.640 Meaning when. 00:08:07.800 --> 00:08:15.120 When I sin long before my sin becomes an action, there's already a captivation of my 00:08:15.120 --> 00:08:20.560 heart to belong to whatever that action will entail, right? 00:08:20.560 --> 00:08:26.970 Before I ever do something, I've already given myself over to it for which my conduct would be made known. 00:08:28.020 --> 00:08:35.110 It's why in Proverbs chapter four verse 23, you're told as people in this world guard your heart, 00:08:35.880 --> 00:08:38.559 for from it flows the wellspring of life. 00:08:40.059 --> 00:08:47.120 It's why in Matthew chapter 12, Jesus says to us in verse 34, out of the heart, the mouth speaks. 00:08:49.000 --> 00:08:55.720 Meaning what drives what you do and what you say is something deeper at the core of what you're giving yourself over to. 00:08:56.880 --> 00:09:03.190 And if you want to know what drives sin in our lives, what breeds that temptation is the seed of sin is made known in our heart. 00:09:03.220 --> 00:09:06.590 And then when it's birthed, it gives way to our actions. 00:09:07.780 --> 00:09:15.180 But long before it becomes an action where we where we should find ourselves as people rather than walking in the path of sin, is to recognize that that's what 00:09:15.180 --> 00:09:16.900 the great prostitute wants to do. 00:09:16.920 --> 00:09:19.710 It wants to take my life and lure it into this temptation. 00:09:19.900 --> 00:09:22.400 But my heart is intended to belong to the Lord. 00:09:22.400 --> 00:09:23.920 It was created for him. 00:09:26.280 --> 00:09:33.600 In fact, one of the ways that you can tell what truly has your heart is 00:09:33.600 --> 00:09:36.920 seen by moments of reflection. 00:09:37.980 --> 00:09:40.800 When you have times of peace. 00:09:41.960 --> 00:09:49.540 What I mean is, when you're the busyness of life subsides and you're left unto yourself, where 00:09:49.540 --> 00:09:50.390 does your mind go? 00:09:52.060 --> 00:09:53.100 What do you think about? 00:09:54.860 --> 00:09:56.380 What does your heart long for? 00:09:57.760 --> 00:10:02.740 It's an indication of where you are belonging, right? 00:10:02.800 --> 00:10:09.980 Or we could say it this way when with the resources that you have in life, the talents, the 00:10:09.980 --> 00:10:14.440 time, the possessions that you carry, what do you devote those things to? 00:10:16.180 --> 00:10:23.340 And Jesus very pointedly said at one point that where your money goes, that's an indicator of where your heart is, where your treasures 00:10:23.340 --> 00:10:23.900 are. 00:10:24.860 --> 00:10:28.760 It's taking those resources and attributing them to something that's identifying for us, an idol. 00:10:28.760 --> 00:10:36.200 Now, I'm not saying to all of us that if you're if your heart's really given over to the Lord and your free time, everyone needs to sit and rock in a corner and just say to themselves, 00:10:36.360 --> 00:10:37.860 just thinking about God, just thinking about God. 00:10:37.880 --> 00:10:44.940 You know, I'm not trying to make us weird, but what I'm what I'm trying to say is what I'm trying to say is in those moments, what's directing 00:10:44.940 --> 00:10:45.360 your heart? 00:10:45.360 --> 00:10:49.070 Are you saying, Lord, you, my heart belongs to you and you're guiding me. 00:10:51.060 --> 00:10:58.200 So therefore, Lord, as I think about making a decision, how do I navigate that knowing that you are Lord of my 00:10:58.200 --> 00:10:58.460 life? 00:10:59.820 --> 00:11:07.220 God, how do I dedicate myself to things in this world, knowing that you're your king, sovereign over me? 00:11:08.700 --> 00:11:15.920 So the trajectory of my life is indicated by really the thing of which I've given my heart to. 00:11:17.160 --> 00:11:25.840 And here in this passage, you see how God's people are expressing that in light of this great prostitute, they're 00:11:25.840 --> 00:11:27.950 recognizing, here's this moment at her downfall. 00:11:28.280 --> 00:11:30.610 But yet the attitude of their heart is one of praise. 00:11:31.860 --> 00:11:33.120 And you see that in this word. 00:11:33.420 --> 00:11:34.080 Hallelujah. 00:11:34.980 --> 00:11:37.080 This is the word give praise to God. 00:11:37.080 --> 00:11:38.440 The Hallelujah or Hallel. 00:11:38.660 --> 00:11:41.020 And your is the word for Yahweh at the end of Hallelujah. 00:11:41.960 --> 00:11:47.530 So this is giving praise to God, and it gives us the reason why they're giving praise in these verses. 00:11:47.580 --> 00:11:48.650 We'll look at it in just a second. 00:11:49.140 --> 00:11:51.730 But one of the things I want you to recognize in this passage. 00:11:52.020 --> 00:11:54.000 Is this word Hallelujah. 00:11:54.860 --> 00:11:55.980 It's used here in verse one. 00:11:56.200 --> 00:11:56.940 It's used in verse three. 00:11:57.240 --> 00:11:58.820 It's used again in verse four and verse six. 00:11:59.620 --> 00:12:04.480 Those are the only four verses in all of the New Testament that the word Hallelujah is used. 00:12:05.660 --> 00:12:12.450 In fact, when you read the Bible, the only other section where you truly find the word Hallelujah is in the Book of Psalms. 00:12:13.220 --> 00:12:15.100 And you don't find it even throughout all of Psalms. 00:12:15.140 --> 00:12:19.240 You don't find it really until Psalm 100 to 100 and 50 or 150. 00:12:19.240 --> 00:12:22.700 It's peppered in those last 50 psalms of the 150 Psalms. 00:12:23.760 --> 00:12:24.420 This word. 00:12:24.420 --> 00:12:24.960 Hallelujah. 00:12:26.020 --> 00:12:30.820 And I love that this is the only place that this word is used in the New Testament. 00:12:30.840 --> 00:12:32.480 Not because I don't think we should use it. 00:12:32.500 --> 00:12:39.880 I think it's an important word to use, but it's as if to say, we we're saving this moment in God's redemptive 00:12:39.880 --> 00:12:47.020 story, being told for a particular place, because there's no better word to express how significant this 00:12:47.020 --> 00:12:48.420 is for our lives. 00:12:49.400 --> 00:12:52.120 So Hallelujah, praise God. 00:12:53.520 --> 00:13:00.660 And when I, when I, when I picture this, what's taking place in these first three verses that John's having this moment as he's writing to us this letter in 00:13:00.660 --> 00:13:04.320 Revelation, here's John, he's experiencing this worship. 00:13:04.320 --> 00:13:11.460 And when you consider what John is saying here, this is all of God's people throughout history that belong to Jesus, 00:13:12.120 --> 00:13:17.700 gathered together in one place, lifting up their voices in unison and in praise to God. 00:13:18.520 --> 00:13:20.260 How powerful this would be. 00:13:21.240 --> 00:13:25.620 At one time when I was in high school, I had the opportunity to go to an NBA game. 00:13:25.700 --> 00:13:33.220 It was my first NBA game I got to go to, and I watched the Charlotte Hornets versus the Boston Celtics, which that year I 00:13:33.220 --> 00:13:35.460 think they were more terrible than the jazz are this year. 00:13:36.040 --> 00:13:37.250 So it wasn't a great game. 00:13:37.840 --> 00:13:42.600 But when I got there, it was it was in Charlotte and there was a massive blizzard. 00:13:42.640 --> 00:13:44.080 Two feet of snow. 00:13:44.220 --> 00:13:46.070 City of Charlotte doesn't even own a snow plow. 00:13:46.640 --> 00:13:49.140 And so it was like me and five people that made it to this game. 00:13:49.780 --> 00:13:56.900 And they actually the storm was so bad they delayed the game by an hour, and anyone that showed up on time, they actually got to let you go down on the court and meet all 00:13:56.900 --> 00:14:03.240 the players and the coaches and the only player that was worth anything on either of those teams at that time was Kevin Garnett. 00:14:03.260 --> 00:14:07.140 I got to meet Kevin Garnett, but the rest of them didn't last long in the NBA. 00:14:07.220 --> 00:14:14.260 But one thing I found out when that game started, the game started and we went to our seats that we were assigned 00:14:14.260 --> 00:14:21.040 to, but there were so few people there that they let you sit courtside if you wanted to, but not having a crowd there. 00:14:21.360 --> 00:14:27.590 The game was so boring that no one at that point, when they announced you can sit next to the on the courtside, no one even cared. 00:14:27.640 --> 00:14:28.050 No one moved. 00:14:28.820 --> 00:14:29.960 We all just sat in our seats. 00:14:30.060 --> 00:14:34.450 I mean, people all the way up in the in the nosebleeds, they're like forget it, it's not worth the walk. 00:14:34.680 --> 00:14:39.440 And you begin to realize how much a crowd makes a difference and just appreciating the moment. 00:14:40.260 --> 00:14:42.250 And here's John in this moment. 00:14:42.860 --> 00:14:48.780 And he's hearing, could you imagine the power of one voice through a multitude of people just praising God? 00:14:48.780 --> 00:14:50.440 How incredible this would be. 00:14:51.320 --> 00:14:54.520 Can I can I tell you one of the reasons this is a little bit selfish of me? 00:14:54.620 --> 00:14:58.660 Many of you might think when we gather in worship, the reason I sit up front, if you know my seat, it's right here. 00:14:58.800 --> 00:14:59.550 No one ever take this. 00:14:59.980 --> 00:15:00.200 But. 00:15:00.500 --> 00:15:02.920 But if the reason I sit there, it's not because I'm a pastor. 00:15:03.020 --> 00:15:03.870 I could sit anywhere. 00:15:03.940 --> 00:15:04.700 That doesn't matter. 00:15:05.680 --> 00:15:10.420 But the reason I sit there is because of moments like this in Revelation 19. 00:15:11.440 --> 00:15:18.660 This is where I think to myself, this opportunity to gather in God's people and worship really is as close as I'm going to get on this earth to what's being described 00:15:18.660 --> 00:15:25.540 here, that I get to sit in the front and be engulfed by the sounds of your voices being lifted up and praise to your King. 00:15:26.580 --> 00:15:33.760 And it just it reminds me of this passage, like I said, one of my favorite passages to reflect on what it means 00:15:33.760 --> 00:15:37.880 to be before the presence of this king who has given everything for me. 00:15:39.060 --> 00:15:42.160 I mean, what word could you possibly use to express this? 00:15:42.160 --> 00:15:44.140 But hallelujah, praise to him! 00:15:44.920 --> 00:15:52.240 And it goes on to tell us why they're motivated this way in the midst of the temptation of this prostitute, here they are pursuing 00:15:52.240 --> 00:15:52.860 their king. 00:15:52.900 --> 00:15:55.140 And they're not perfect, but they're pursuing their king. 00:15:55.180 --> 00:16:02.710 And remember, I told you Revelation for us is this is a book written in the midst of persecution, and God's people are being worn down by this persecution. 00:16:02.940 --> 00:16:05.220 But John's writing and saying, don't lose hope. 00:16:05.980 --> 00:16:10.200 Continue to worship Revelation as a worship book, saying, Look to Jesus. 00:16:10.300 --> 00:16:11.740 It's going to be fulfilled. 00:16:12.180 --> 00:16:16.300 All the promises will come true, and every bad thing done to you will become undone. 00:16:16.540 --> 00:16:23.820 This is that's what this book is about, motivating the soul and the trouble that we experience in life and the richness of who Christ is, that may we may 00:16:23.820 --> 00:16:26.020 glory in his presence forever. 00:16:26.100 --> 00:16:31.240 And if you look in verse two, it goes on and tells you why, it says, for his judgments are true and just. 00:16:32.440 --> 00:16:36.660 So they're saying, look, this is why we're worshiping God at the at the very end of verse one. 00:16:36.800 --> 00:16:39.160 Hallelujah, salvation and glory and power belong to our God. 00:16:39.160 --> 00:16:39.930 And here's why. 00:16:39.980 --> 00:16:40.840 Because he's true. 00:16:42.380 --> 00:16:45.500 Everything that he said, every promise being fulfilled. 00:16:45.520 --> 00:16:50.120 The grand story of God's redemption made known and he is just to fulfill it. 00:16:50.220 --> 00:16:53.620 He's the one that has the power to execute all that he's promised. 00:16:54.620 --> 00:16:57.280 And so they're seeing all of this culminated in history. 00:16:58.160 --> 00:16:58.160 And. 00:16:58.440 --> 00:17:00.460 And John's experiencing this rejoicing. 00:17:00.500 --> 00:17:03.160 And in verse three once more they cried out, Hallelujah! 00:17:03.160 --> 00:17:05.150 The smoke from her goes up forever and ever. 00:17:05.480 --> 00:17:12.900 So there's this finality to this that when you even think about this morning, the weight that's on your own shoulders and the stress of life, 00:17:12.900 --> 00:17:20.380 all of that being undone and the presence of God, every terrible thing that's happened to you in life, all 00:17:20.380 --> 00:17:26.380 of it made untrue because the presence of Jesus and his justice over you. 00:17:27.700 --> 00:17:29.280 And so they're rejoicing in this. 00:17:29.280 --> 00:17:36.300 And then in verse four and five, he goes on and he says, and the 24 elders and the four living creatures fell down and worshiped God, who 00:17:36.300 --> 00:17:38.680 was seated on the throne saying, Amen. 00:17:38.720 --> 00:17:39.760 Hallelujah. 00:17:39.840 --> 00:17:46.480 And from the throne came a voice saying, Praise our God, all you his servants, you who fear him, small and great. 00:17:47.640 --> 00:17:52.340 And so the thing that's driven them forward is this reverence for who God is, this fear of the Lord. 00:17:53.040 --> 00:18:00.120 I mean, out of all the things in life, you could entrust yourself to the great authority who is only worthy, for that is 00:18:00.120 --> 00:18:01.240 the Lord himself. 00:18:01.320 --> 00:18:06.180 And so these are God's people that are walking in life in reverence of who he is. 00:18:07.300 --> 00:18:08.940 And that's what I want for me. 00:18:08.940 --> 00:18:10.120 That's what I want for you. 00:18:10.180 --> 00:18:11.340 I hope you want it for yourself. 00:18:12.200 --> 00:18:19.020 But how do I do this faithfully, knowing that there is the this brokenness in life. 00:18:19.020 --> 00:18:22.470 And there's a problem that we all face that needs conquered. 00:18:22.560 --> 00:18:23.420 How do we do this? 00:18:23.860 --> 00:18:26.100 And I want us to consider this in the next few verses. 00:18:26.100 --> 00:18:28.010 We're only going to look at the first ten verses of Revelation. 00:18:29.460 --> 00:18:36.320 But just two, two thoughts I want us to focus on as we consider our own life in faithfulness to Jesus. 00:18:37.660 --> 00:18:38.750 It says this in your notes. 00:18:38.880 --> 00:18:45.720 Therefore I will number one, root myself in God's promises. 00:18:47.000 --> 00:18:50.010 I will root myself in God's promises. 00:18:50.760 --> 00:18:53.780 So this is what the early church has done here in this passage. 00:18:54.960 --> 00:18:56.780 And they've found God to be faithful. 00:18:57.520 --> 00:19:02.860 But this is what God's calling is for us to root ourselves in his promises. 00:19:02.940 --> 00:19:09.510 And I love the richness of this passage and how John describes it for us, because he introduces us to another figure here. 00:19:09.720 --> 00:19:13.200 And this figure becomes important for us to understand the theme of the Bible. 00:19:13.200 --> 00:19:20.220 He says, verse six, then I heard what seemed to be the voice of a great multitude, like the roar of many waters, and like the sound 00:19:20.220 --> 00:19:23.220 of mighty peals of thunder, crying out, Hallelujah! 00:19:23.420 --> 00:19:26.880 For the Lord our God, the Almighty reigns. 00:19:27.040 --> 00:19:30.630 The image that John has here is very similar to what you find in the Exodus story. 00:19:30.740 --> 00:19:34.860 When God gives his Ten Commandments the power of God's presence made known. 00:19:35.400 --> 00:19:36.960 And so they're hearing this. 00:19:36.960 --> 00:19:38.740 And then verse seven, he says this. 00:19:39.420 --> 00:19:43.900 Let us rejoice and exult and give him the glory. 00:19:43.940 --> 00:19:46.240 For the marriage of the lamb has come. 00:19:47.440 --> 00:19:49.900 The marriage of the lamb has come. 00:19:51.240 --> 00:19:51.360 The. 00:19:51.640 --> 00:19:55.880 This phrase is rich with imagery in the Bible. 00:19:56.620 --> 00:20:03.380 And when you think of how God's people are celebrating the presence of the Lord, I think all of it is culminating in this idea. 00:20:04.100 --> 00:20:06.600 The marriage of the lamb has come. 00:20:06.600 --> 00:20:10.780 It's this moment as God's people, we should look forward to. 00:20:10.820 --> 00:20:12.960 The marriage of the lamb has come. 00:20:13.080 --> 00:20:19.140 There's a the idea of a dowry, really that's being painted for us here in this marriage of the lamb. 00:20:19.140 --> 00:20:24.840 But when John is saying this, it's important for us to recognize he's mixing metaphors. 00:20:25.600 --> 00:20:32.820 He's taking the idea of the lamb and what it represents, and the idea of marriage and what it represents for your relationship 00:20:32.820 --> 00:20:39.220 and mine, which means for us this morning, all of us are being painted as a bride, right? 00:20:39.220 --> 00:20:40.800 So this is significant, right? 00:20:40.800 --> 00:20:46.900 We went from this lure, this temptation, this giving of our life to this prostitute who's just using us. 00:20:48.140 --> 00:20:55.540 And ultimately, we're using her to now being embraced as a bride that belongs to something different, 00:20:55.560 --> 00:20:56.420 someone different. 00:20:57.360 --> 00:20:58.920 And this is what you're made for. 00:20:59.740 --> 00:21:06.980 Now I know, guys when I tell you you're a bride, it's not something we necessarily get excited 00:21:06.980 --> 00:21:07.800 about. 00:21:07.900 --> 00:21:09.390 I can't wait to be someone's bride. 00:21:09.620 --> 00:21:10.000 Right? 00:21:10.080 --> 00:21:12.980 But here's something I think that's critical for us to know. 00:21:13.080 --> 00:21:18.560 A lot of Scripture is written from a masculine standpoint, and a lot of the images are drawn from a masculine standpoint. 00:21:19.280 --> 00:21:21.420 And so you can tolerate being a bride just for today. 00:21:21.500 --> 00:21:21.980 Okay. 00:21:22.040 --> 00:21:25.960 So but this imagery is important for all of us to know. 00:21:26.880 --> 00:21:28.800 And why is John saying this? 00:21:29.600 --> 00:21:36.560 You know, when you think about the idea of a bride in the Bible, the Bible begins with a picture of a bride. 00:21:37.800 --> 00:21:41.080 And here it is, the Bible's ending again with a picture of a bride. 00:21:42.440 --> 00:21:46.500 And even when you turn to the Gospels, for example, you were to read the Gospel of John. 00:21:47.460 --> 00:21:48.900 Revelation is written by John. 00:21:48.940 --> 00:21:50.500 But that's not the only book John's written. 00:21:50.500 --> 00:21:53.720 He's also written some letters, three letters, epistles. 00:21:53.720 --> 00:21:55.340 And then he's written the Gospel of John. 00:21:56.000 --> 00:22:02.540 And when you read the Gospel of John, it gives this grand introduction to Jesus in the first 18 verses of chapter one. 00:22:02.600 --> 00:22:09.960 If you want to know a theological understanding of who Jesus really is, first 18 verses of John articulate for us theologically 00:22:09.960 --> 00:22:17.890 who Jesus is, and then the rest of the book is sharing how Jesus then lives out, that theology of who he is. 00:22:18.140 --> 00:22:23.540 And one of the first things that you come to in John chapter two is a miracle that demonstrates who Jesus is. 00:22:23.600 --> 00:22:26.990 In fact, you see many miracles that demonstrate who Jesus is. 00:22:27.240 --> 00:22:34.620 Now, I want you to know if I were in charge of, like, the PR firm for introducing Jesus to this world, the way 00:22:34.620 --> 00:22:38.160 that I would choose to do it is much different than the way John chooses to do it. 00:22:38.740 --> 00:22:44.480 I mean, I would be like, okay, let's let's send out invites to every rich, Powerful, popular. 00:22:44.480 --> 00:22:48.810 Whatever person you can think of, let's get the biggest stadium we can find. 00:22:49.120 --> 00:22:53.010 We need some pyros, we need some smoke, we need some whatever. 00:22:53.600 --> 00:22:55.540 Like big band performing before this. 00:22:55.560 --> 00:22:59.200 I mean, he's going to have like, this WWE introduction out into the audience. 00:22:59.200 --> 00:23:00.520 We're going to say, here he is. 00:23:00.520 --> 00:23:00.880 Right. 00:23:00.920 --> 00:23:04.340 That would be more like my idea of how we should introduce Jesus to this world. 00:23:04.420 --> 00:23:05.050 We got to go big. 00:23:06.700 --> 00:23:10.680 But when you read the Gospel of John, that's not how John introduces Jesus to the world. 00:23:11.560 --> 00:23:18.860 In fact, when John starts talking to us about the miracles that Jesus performs to validate who he is as the Messiah, I think out of all the miracles that 00:23:18.860 --> 00:23:23.280 we know Jesus does in the gospel, I would be like, let's lead with resurrection, resurrecting people from the dead. 00:23:23.280 --> 00:23:24.040 How about that one Jesus? 00:23:24.440 --> 00:23:25.180 He did that one a couple times. 00:23:25.580 --> 00:23:26.440 Let's start with that one. 00:23:26.440 --> 00:23:27.560 Let's go big. 00:23:27.620 --> 00:23:32.300 But the first miracle John chooses in John chapter two is turning water into wine. 00:23:33.460 --> 00:23:34.700 Now that is bizarre to me. 00:23:34.720 --> 00:23:36.320 I don't know about you, but I find that weird. 00:23:36.580 --> 00:23:41.770 Out of all the things you could pick, like blind man can see and a lame man can walk. 00:23:42.680 --> 00:23:42.820 Yeah. 00:23:43.020 --> 00:23:44.960 Any resurrecting the dead, any of those things? 00:23:44.980 --> 00:23:47.800 But he chooses turning water into wine. 00:23:47.800 --> 00:23:48.900 Now, why in the world? 00:23:49.100 --> 00:23:52.280 And then when you read that miracle, it's even more bizarre. 00:23:53.020 --> 00:23:56.900 Like when Jesus's mother comes to him and says, Jesus, they're running out of wine. 00:23:56.900 --> 00:23:58.320 This will be embarrassing for the family. 00:23:58.380 --> 00:23:59.320 Do something. 00:23:59.380 --> 00:24:12.900 And in verse four, this is what Jesus said, woman, what 00:24:19.110 --> 00:24:23.290 does this have to do with me? 00:24:31.480 --> 00:24:33.440 My hour has not yet come. 00:24:33.440 --> 00:24:43.420 When I read that, like I'm picturing in my mind, Jesus must 00:24:43.420 --> 00:24:46.900 be a teenager because he's saying his mom, I'm on the couch right now. 00:24:46.900 --> 00:24:47.340 I'm not getting up. 00:24:48.260 --> 00:24:52.160 That's what I feel like Jesus is saying here, right? 00:24:52.160 --> 00:24:59.220 And so when I read verse four, I'm like, oh, miracle's not going 00:24:59.220 --> 00:24:59.670 to happen, okay. 00:25:01.940 --> 00:25:06.440 You know, but then you read verse five and it says this. 00:25:06.440 --> 00:25:46.260 His mother 00:25:46.260 --> 00:25:55.820 said to the servants, do whatever he tells you, which I found so weird because I thought, Mary, he just told you he wasn't going to do anything 00:25:55.820 --> 00:25:55.820 right. 00:25:55.820 --> 00:26:13.660 That's what I and for my 21st century mind, might perceive Jesus as saying, 00:27:00.020 --> 00:27:54.980 until I understand what Jesus actually means by what he says, because the idea that Jesus is Saying, what of 00:27:54.980 --> 00:27:58.960 what Jesus is saying here becomes critical for us to understand this passage and what John is getting at. 00:27:59.540 --> 00:28:10.380 What Jesus actually says is my hour 00:28:10.380 --> 00:29:37.620 has not yet come. 00:29:37.620 --> 00:29:39.960 And what Jesus means by this is I'm going to do the miracle. 00:29:39.960 --> 00:29:49.640 But 00:30:12.000 --> 00:30:12.000 this isn't the real miracle, right? 00:30:12.000 --> 00:30:21.760 Jesus is in a 00:30:21.760 --> 00:30:34.220 wedding, but he's 00:30:34.220 --> 00:30:34.220 saying to his mom, but mom, this isn't the real wedding. 00:30:34.220 --> 00:30:36.080 Jesus has his eyes on something greater. 00:30:36.380 --> 00:30:36.500 So Jesus is willing to do the miracles, but he wants us to know that this isn't the miracle. 00:30:36.500 --> 00:30:51.820 So his hour has not yet come. 00:30:52.680 --> 00:31:03.800 And then as you turn through the pages of the Gospel of John, when 00:31:03.800 --> 00:31:06.460 you get to John chapter 14, Jesus says something interesting here. 00:31:10.100 --> 00:31:19.740 This is to put 00:31:19.740 --> 00:31:21.760 it in a context. 00:31:26.950 --> 00:33:35.740 Jesus is at the final hours of his life. 00:33:35.740 --> 00:34:50.340 He's in the 00:34:50.540 --> 00:34:58.640 final night of his life when 00:34:58.640 --> 00:35:08.000 he's about to be 00:35:08.000 --> 00:35:11.810 betrayed and he's in the upper room with his disciples. 00:35:12.500 --> 00:35:14.300 And then he gives this interesting statement. 00:35:15.240 --> 00:35:17.160 He says, let not your hearts be troubled. 00:35:18.980 --> 00:35:20.380 Believe in God. 00:35:22.260 --> 00:35:23.280 Believe also in me. 00:35:24.040 --> 00:35:24.960 In my father's house, for many rooms. 00:35:24.960 --> 00:35:33.200 If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? 00:35:33.780 --> 00:36:40.520 And if 00:37:11.560 --> 00:37:13.220 I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and will take you to myself. 00:37:13.220 --> 00:37:13.220 That where I am, you may be also. 00:37:13.220 --> 00:37:21.520 If you remember in these moments Jesus 00:37:21.520 --> 00:37:23.980 in the upper room with his disciples, he's celebrating Passover. 00:37:23.980 --> 00:37:35.160 And the Passover was what they have celebrated for hundreds of years, from 00:37:35.160 --> 00:37:39.280 the days of Moses, when God delivered them from Egypt to slaves, and the first night that there was a Passover. 00:37:39.280 --> 00:37:41.800 God tells them to take a lamb. 00:37:44.420 --> 00:37:55.040 This is where in Revelation 19, John's mixing metaphors, the marriage supper of the lamb. 00:37:55.040 --> 00:40:18.540 And they were to take that lamb and sacrifice that lamb, and they would apply the blood 00:40:18.540 --> 00:40:26.460 of that lamb to their doorposts, that when the death angel came through Egypt to bring judgment, anyone that applied the 00:40:26.460 --> 00:40:29.980 blood of the lamb to their life, that death angel would pass over and they would be set free. 00:40:30.200 --> 00:40:30.200 And so that lamb became this ultimate image of the one lamb who would truly liberate his people, which is Jesus. 00:40:30.200 --> 00:40:30.240 And now, in these final moments, Jesus is celebrating Passover with his disciples as that final lamb, the true Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world. 00:40:30.264 --> 00:40:30.264 world. 00:40:30.264 --> 00:40:30.264 As John says in chapter one, verse 29. 00:40:30.264 --> 00:40:30.264 But when Jesus is celebrating Passover, we now honor that as communion. 00:40:30.264 --> 00:40:30.264 But when Jesus is celebrating Passover, he breaks communion with his disciples. 00:40:30.264 --> 00:40:30.264 And what's taking place here is what's being described in John chapter 14. 00:40:30.264 --> 00:40:30.264 This picture of communion is also represented as a dowry in the first century when a young man wanted to marry a young woman, he would go meet with the father of the bride, and he would talk to the father about a dowry that he would pay to the father in order to receive that bride to himself. 00:40:30.264 --> 00:40:30.264 And when the father and that son came to an agreement, they would partake of communion with the bride to say that the agreement has been made, and now these two will be wedded. 00:40:30.264 --> 00:40:30.264 But before that wedding took place and the marriage was fully consummated, they would partake of communion. 00:40:30.264 --> 00:40:30.264 That young man would get up from that table, and he would go home and immediately start building a place to receive his bride unto himself. 00:40:30.264 --> 00:40:30.264 And in John chapter 14, this is exactly what Jesus is describing for you and for me, that he has come to pay a dowry for your life. 00:40:30.264 --> 00:40:30.264 And the dowry was agreed upon with the father, and the dowry payment was his life for you and for me, that sacrificial lamb. 00:40:30.264 --> 00:40:30.264 He has given everything for you that your heart would then belong to him. 00:40:30.264 --> 00:40:30.264 And now we find ourselves in this position as God's people, waiting for that moment when he will return to receive us to him. 00:40:30.264 --> 00:40:30.264 And my father's house are many mansions. 00:40:30.264 --> 00:40:30.264 If it were not so, I would have told you. 00:40:30.264 --> 00:40:30.264 Behold, I go to prepare a place for you, that where I am, there you may be also. 00:40:30.264 --> 00:40:30.264 What's interesting in Jewish law during this time period is once that young man and that young woman agreed upon that dowry, and they partook of communion together. 00:40:30.264 --> 00:40:30.264 When that young man left to prepare a home for his bride. 00:40:30.264 --> 00:40:30.264 If anything happened to that young man, if that young man was to pass away, that young lady would have been considered a widow in society. 00:40:30.264 --> 00:40:30.264 She belonged to him. 00:40:30.264 --> 00:40:30.264 Because the same thing is true for you and for me. 00:40:30.264 --> 00:40:30.264 Jesus paid a dowry for you and for me with his life. 00:40:30.264 --> 00:40:30.264 The sacrificial lamb. 00:40:30.264 --> 00:40:30.264 Sometimes people have this erroneous idea. 00:40:30.264 --> 00:40:30.264 They think that the payment needed to be made to Satan. 00:40:30.264 --> 00:40:30.264 Which is not true. 00:40:30.264 --> 00:40:30.264 The payment was made to the father because God is a holy God and we as people lie in his wrath. 00:40:30.264 --> 00:40:30.264 But Jesus covered us in grace by giving his life for you and for me, that the righteousness of Christ could be made known in us. 00:40:30.264 --> 00:40:30.264 We belong to him. 00:40:30.264 --> 00:40:30.264 So that when you go on in this gospel story and you get to John chapter 16, look what Jesus said. 00:40:30.264 --> 00:40:30.264 He said, I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. 00:40:30.264 --> 00:40:30.264 When you're concerned about your future, it's hard to have peace. 00:40:30.264 --> 00:40:30.264 But when you know your future is secure, there is peace for the soul. 00:40:30.264 --> 00:40:30.264 You think in this upper room the disciples have been told Jesus is going to die. 00:40:30.264 --> 00:40:30.264 And now they're not only worried about Jesus, they're worried about themselves. 00:40:30.264 --> 00:40:30.264 And all that they've worked for these last three years is just evaporating before their eyes. 00:40:30.264 --> 00:40:30.264 And now they're concerned what's going to happen. 00:40:30.264 --> 00:40:30.264 And Jesus is helping them to understand this is exactly this is exactly working or working itself out exactly as he has determined. 00:40:30.264 --> 00:40:30.264 And so verse 33, because of that, he says that you would have peace. 00:40:30.264 --> 00:40:30.264 He says, in the world you will have tribulation. 00:40:30.264 --> 00:40:30.264 But take heart. 00:40:30.264 --> 00:40:30.264 I have overcome the world. 00:40:30.264 --> 00:40:30.264 And then chapter 17, it starts when he when he had spoken these words, he lifted up his eyes to heaven and said, look at this, Father, the hour has come. 00:40:30.264 --> 00:40:30.264 Glorify your son that your son may glorify you. 00:40:30.264 --> 00:40:30.264 Finally, Gospel of John chapter two Jesus said to his mother, my hour has not yet come. 00:40:30.264 --> 00:40:30.264 I'm here for a wedding, but not this wedding. 00:40:30.264 --> 00:40:30.264 And now, in John chapter 16, the dowry is being paid for his bride. 00:40:30.264 --> 00:40:30.264 His hour has come. 00:40:30.264 --> 00:40:30.264 Jesus giving everything for. 00:40:30.264 --> 00:40:30.264 For you and for me. 00:40:30.264 --> 00:40:30.264 And this. 00:40:30.264 --> 00:40:30.264 The Bible begins to paint this incredible picture of what this marriage is about in Christ. 00:40:30.264 --> 00:40:30.264 That your heart is made to belong to him. 00:40:30.264 --> 00:40:30.264 And so therefore, when you think about how do I be faithful to the Lord? 00:40:30.264 --> 00:40:30.264 First I've got to root myself in his promises to understand what Jesus has done for my life. 00:40:30.264 --> 00:40:30.264 That as he's given his heart for me, he's given his life for me so that my heart would belong to him. 00:40:30.264 --> 00:40:30.264 I'm created for him. 00:40:30.264 --> 00:40:30.264 So that then. 00:40:30.264 --> 00:40:30.264 Point number two, we would embrace. 00:40:30.264 --> 00:40:30.264 I would embrace my Christ given position. 00:40:30.264 --> 00:40:30.264 I would embrace my Christ given position. 00:40:30.264 --> 00:40:30.264 You no longer belong to the broken world that we live in, but rather you belong to a different kingdom because you belong to a different king, not the great prostitute, but to Christ himself. 00:40:30.264 --> 00:40:30.264 And in being his bride there is this identity that you take on. 00:40:30.264 --> 00:40:30.264 And so in verse seven, second half of the verse, it says, And his bride that's the third figure, and his bride has made herself ready. 00:40:30.264 --> 00:40:30.264 It was granted her to clothe herself with fine linen, bright and pure. 00:40:30.264 --> 00:40:30.264 For the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints. 00:40:30.264 --> 00:40:30.264 And the angel said to me, write this blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the lamb. 00:40:30.264 --> 00:40:30.264 And he said to me, these are the true words of God. 00:40:30.264 --> 00:40:30.264 Then I fell down at his feet to worship him. 00:40:30.264 --> 00:40:30.264 But he said to me, you must not do that. 00:40:30.264 --> 00:40:30.264 I am a fellow servant with you and your brothers who hold the testimony of Jesus. 00:40:30.264 --> 00:40:30.264 Worship God, for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy. 00:40:30.264 --> 00:40:30.264 So here you see in verse nine, he John, is being told by the angels, right? 00:40:30.264 --> 00:40:30.264 This invitation, this is something all of us want to RSVP to. 00:40:30.264 --> 00:40:30.264 We definitely don't want to miss this. 00:40:30.264 --> 00:40:30.264 We want to belong to this because Jesus has given this invitation to you to be his bride. 00:40:30.264 --> 00:40:30.264 And so for you to receive this identity and stand in this position is significant for our lives. 00:40:30.264 --> 00:40:30.264 And he tells us that we have made ourselves ready by taking this invitation from Jesus. 00:40:30.264 --> 00:40:30.264 We have made ourselves ready. 00:40:30.264 --> 00:40:30.264 Now we could ask the question, what does that look like? 00:40:30.264 --> 00:40:30.264 Do I need to do something? 00:40:30.264 --> 00:40:30.264 Do I have to perform in a certain way to make God's God's love avail to me so that Jesus will receive me? 00:40:30.264 --> 00:40:30.264 And the answer is that for us, it's not about what you do. 00:40:30.264 --> 00:40:30.264 It's about what he's done. 00:40:30.264 --> 00:40:30.264 In fact, if you were to read Revelation chapter seven and verse 14, it describes the way the church has prepared themselves for this moment and what it says is they have taken their garments that are filthy, and they have dipped it in the blood of the lamb to make themselves pure. 00:40:30.264 --> 00:40:30.264 It's the righteousness of Christ made known. 00:40:30.264 --> 00:40:30.264 In fact, in John chapter six, verse 28 and 29. 00:40:30.264 --> 00:40:30.264 At one point Jesus was asked, what must we do to avail ourselves to God? 00:40:30.264 --> 00:40:30.264 And Jesus responds, believe in the one who gave himself for you. 00:40:30.264 --> 00:40:30.264 The perfection of Christ made known in our life now, certainly because of that, will do things for him. 00:40:30.264 --> 00:40:30.264 But it's not what makes us righteous. 00:40:30.264 --> 00:40:30.264 It's Jesus alone who makes us righteous. 00:40:30.264 --> 00:40:30.264 Who paid that dowry for you and for me. 00:40:30.264 --> 00:40:30.264 Which is why this idea of marriage is so important when you think about, out of all the things God could have used to communicate, what a relationship with him was like, he uses marriage quite often. 00:40:30.264 --> 00:40:30.264 And marriage represents a few things for us one. 00:40:30.264 --> 00:40:30.264 It's comprehensive meaning. 00:40:30.264 --> 00:40:30.264 When you read about marriage in the beginning of Genesis, God says to Adam and Eve that two shall become one flesh. 00:40:30.264 --> 00:40:30.264 That you belong together. 00:40:30.264 --> 00:40:30.264 You're intertwined to each other. 00:40:30.264 --> 00:40:30.264 And so when you live your life, you're mindful of how that impacts both of you and the decisions that you make. 00:40:30.264 --> 00:40:30.264 And the same is true for us in the Lord, that my heart doesn't belong to anything else but him. 00:40:30.264 --> 00:40:30.264 And so therefore, as I think about his promises and what he's done and the position it now puts me, I am mindful of that as the way I live my life, because my life is for a different glory than the things of this world. 00:40:30.264 --> 00:40:30.264 In addition to that, when you think about marriage, it's it is binding legally in the sense that when two become one, whatever you have as a single, you now own together. 00:40:30.264 --> 00:40:30.264 So if you're full of debt, welcome to the debt. 00:40:30.264 --> 00:40:30.264 Right? 00:40:30.264 --> 00:40:30.264 But with Christ, what do we get? 00:40:30.264 --> 00:40:30.264 The richness of who he is made known. 00:40:30.264 --> 00:40:30.264 The wealth of Jesus poured over us. 00:40:30.264 --> 00:40:30.264 That's why the Bible tells you in first Peter two nine that you are a royal Priesthoods that you belong to him. 00:40:30.264 --> 00:40:30.264 And all that is Jesus is yours. 00:40:30.264 --> 00:40:30.264 And not only that, the idea of marriage is the most intimate of relationships, which is where you're created to be in the Lord. 00:40:30.264 --> 00:40:30.264 Your life was made for him. 00:40:30.264 --> 00:40:30.264 And the idea of him giving his life as a dowry, his heart totally laid down for you, is to give you this invitation that you may know him in a personal way, as he has made himself known to you. 00:40:30.264 --> 00:40:30.264 Walking with the Lord. 00:40:30.264 --> 00:40:30.264 And then it says in verse ten that the testimony at the very end for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy. 00:40:30.264 --> 00:40:30.264 And here's what John is saying. 00:40:30.264 --> 00:40:30.264 This is the point of all of the Bible. 00:40:30.264 --> 00:40:30.264 The spirit of prophecy is in reference to all of Scripture. 00:40:30.264 --> 00:40:30.264 All that's been recorded to you in God's Word. 00:40:30.264 --> 00:40:30.264 The whole theme, the whole point was Jesus made known the redemption story of God in your life? 00:40:30.264 --> 00:40:30.264 In fact, one of the things that makes the Bible an incredible work of literature, even if you just if you just set God aside for a minute from a humanistic standpoint, the Bible is a marvel that no book in all of antiquity can even compare to it. 00:40:30.264 --> 00:40:30.264 Because when you think about the themes of Scripture, what you see in this illustration, every, every white line there on the bottom represents a chapter of the Bible. 00:40:30.264 --> 00:40:30.264 That longest line there in the very middle is Psalm 119. 00:40:30.264 --> 00:40:30.264 It's the longest chapter in the Bible. 00:40:30.264 --> 00:40:30.264 It's by far the longest chapter in the Bible. 00:40:30.264 --> 00:40:30.264 In the book of Psalms is the middle of the Bible. 00:40:30.264 --> 00:40:30.264 So that's why you see Psalm 119 right there in the middle. 00:40:30.264 --> 00:40:30.264 But all those lines represent books of the Bible. 00:40:30.264 --> 00:40:30.264 And then these arches are how the Bible is interconnected, the grand themes of Scripture being told over and over so that we can see the Jesus as the main character in all of it. 00:40:30.264 --> 00:40:30.264 And here's why this matters is that when you think about how the Bible was put together, you're talking 1500 years over 40 authors, three languages, three continents, one theme, one theme. 00:40:30.264 --> 00:40:30.264 There is nothing that compares to that. 00:40:30.264 --> 00:40:30.264 I can't even keep a train of thought for five minutes. 00:40:30.264 --> 00:40:30.264 Right? 00:40:30.264 --> 00:40:30.264 One theme over this long. 00:40:30.264 --> 00:40:30.264 It is incredible how God's grand story has been told for you and for me. 00:40:30.264 --> 00:40:30.264 And this is what John is saying as you look at this idea of this lamb who's come for us giving everything to this dowry that we might belong to him. 00:40:30.264 --> 00:40:30.264 He's saying the spirit of prophecy, this is what this has all been about, the freedom that you have in Jesus. 00:40:30.264 --> 00:40:30.264 There's nothing better you can do in these moments than just rejoice over a God who is faithful for you and for me. 00:40:30.264 --> 00:40:30.264 How do I then remain faithful? 00:40:30.264 --> 00:40:30.264 Saturating myself in the promises of God, walking in the position that God has given me so that I may honor God in all that I do to never get over this. 00:40:30.264 --> 00:40:30.264 This story is the story of God over my heart and yours. 00:40:30.264 --> 00:40:30.264 That the Bible is more than just this intellectual assent, but it becomes personal. 00:40:30.264 --> 00:40:30.264 I'll end with this. 00:40:30.264 --> 00:40:30.264 We're going to partake of communion together in just a minute. 00:40:30.264 --> 00:40:30.264 But there's a famous reformed teacher by the name of John Knox. 00:40:30.264 --> 00:40:30.264 He was he was a pastor during a time period where it was very difficult to pursue Jesus and Christians were being persecuted. 00:40:30.264 --> 00:40:30.264 But at the end of John's life, it was known of John that on his deathbed he requested, he said, would you please read Isaiah 53 for me? 00:40:30.264 --> 00:40:30.264 Because it's the passage for which my soul was at first anchored in him. 00:40:30.264 --> 00:40:30.264 As for John Knox, at the end of his life, he came to this place of Scripture that defined for him the kind of man that he would be because of who Christ was. 00:40:30.264 --> 00:40:30.264 If you ever read Isaiah 53, it's that passage that prophetically declares that Jesus is going to give his life for us on the cross. 00:40:30.264 --> 00:40:30.264 And John found his identity there. 00:40:30.264 --> 00:40:30.264 Now, I want you to know all the verses of the Bible are important, but there are certain verses of Scripture that become these pinnacle places where we root and anchor our identity and the way we choose then to live our life because of it. 00:40:30.264 --> 00:40:30.264 And just like John found himself in Isaiah 53, I think Revelation chapter 19 is another one of those chapters that reminds us of how fortunate we are because of the grace of God made known. 00:40:30.264 --> 00:40:30.264 God didn't owe me anything. 00:40:30.264 --> 00:40:30.264 And because of that, I'm a hellbound sinner. 00:40:30.264 --> 00:40:30.264 But yet he gave me everything and giving me himself that I could find freedom in him. 00:40:30.264 --> 00:40:30.264 And because of that, then I am a person of peace and hope in this world, because the promises of God made known in my life.