Vision of Triumph

I read the story recently of a butler who served for a number of years in the grand 17th century

Belton House in Lincolnshire in England. As part of his duties, he regularly dusted, in fact I think

he dusted daily and he polished pretty regularly, a World War II bomb that had been dropped on the

grounds of Belton House by German bombers. One day, while polishing this thing, he actually

managed to even knock it over and it fell on his foot while he was cleaning, so it caused him a

great deal of damage. Anyway, one Easter weekend, something like 24 years after it was put on display

at the house, an army officer was visiting Belton House and this officer noticed to his horror that

this bomb was in fact still life and was capable of levelling the entire estate. The place was

evacuated, as you can imagine, and the Royal Air Force, the bomb disposal unit was called in and

the bomb was disposed of. But imagine discovering that you've been cleaning this thing with chemicals

for 24 years, polishing a live bomb that, and you've even dropped this thing on your foot, and at any

point this thing could have exploded. It's possible to live with danger and to be totally unaware of it.

In fact, we can even convince ourselves that we are indestructible, that things will go on as they are

forever. The number of people that I've dealt with as a pastor over the years, who even in their senior

years, still assume that they are indestructible. And it takes an expert analysis, a medical specialist,

or an apocalypse to persuade us of an alternative view. Apocalypse is a Greek word,

which means revelation. It means unveiling of things that were not previously known and which cannot be

known unless they are unveiled to us. And that's what the book of Revelation is. This book is not given

to us to satisfy our curiosity about events in the future. It is given to open our eyes.

to prod us to come awake to reality and to stimulate reforming actions in our lives.

What the book of Revelation does for us and what it's been doing for us in these past weeks is opening

our eyes to the Christian worldview. And that worldview, very simply, is that the crucified,

resurrected Jesus of Nazareth, who was in history, died in history, rose in history, is the one who now

has ascended and reigns over all history and time in eternity. His people suffer on earth with joy while

being threatened and seduced by the powers and the cultures of their day, whatever it is and wherever

they are in the world. And yet what we also discover is that this God is in control at every point

throughout the chaos of history. And he has declared that he will come again and he will judge all

humanity and wind up history as we know it. And the call of Revelation is for Christians to remain faithful to

the good news. And the good news about Jesus and the good news about him as we wait for his return to wind up history

and bring us into his perfect presence forever. And so the challenge of Revelation all the way through,

on every occasion, as it is again today, live for the lamb, not for the beast. That's the challenge.

Live for the bride, groom, not the prostitute. Eternal things, not temporal, to please God rather than

anger him for his eternal city rather than the lake of fire. That's the call right through Revelation

as we have had right from the beginning. And so now as we come to the end, we get to the final

destination. That's where we're up to, the final destination. So I've got an outline for today's talk

on the St. Paul's app. It'd be good if you could go there. Also get your Bibles open. We're looking

sort of across Revelation 17 to 19. You'll notice three points in the app. The prostitute and our

problem, the lamb and our solution, and the bride and living for future hope. So first of all, and most

of the time is on the prostitute and our problem. Chapters 17 and 18, we're introduced to a new figure

in the storyline. It's a woman. She's mysterious, but her title captures for us who she is. 17 verse 5,

Isaiah 17:5

Babylon the Great, the mother of prostitutes and of the abominations of the earth.

Now, it is possible for us to plunge into the extravagant imagery of these chapters to try and

come up with an impressive display of convincing explanation of exactly who in history this woman

is astride and who the scarlet beast is, as well as the seven heads, the seven hills, the seven kings,

Babylon, and all the rest. What we need to do with the book of Revelation, I said right from the

beginning, is to step back. Just step back and have a look. Notice, as you read through the text,

the seven of the book of Revelation, the seven kings, the seven kings, the seven kings, and the seven kings,

the seven kings, and the seven kings, and the seven kings. The seven kings, the seven kings, and the seven kings.

This woman represents the problem with the world. Twice in chapter 17, verse 8, we're told that the beast

once was, now is, and yet will come. In other words, this beast manifests itself in one form,

then it passes away, and then it will come back in other forms. That is, this is just simply another

one of the parodies of God that we've had right through, as we read in chapters 1, 4, and 11.

In chapter 17, verses 10 and 12, the angel speaks of coming kings and transfers of power.

In Daniel 7, in the Old Testament, the same language is used to describe successive kingdoms and empires.

The symbolic numbers 7 and 10 in Revelation 17 don't refer to specific kings.

Instead, John is highlighting the way that the beast manifests itself in power in reoccurring

political empires and systems and societies throughout history.

Even though the woman, even though the woman rides on the beast and rules over the kings in 17, verse 7,

and then again in verse 18, we see in verse 16 of chapter 17, that they turn on her and they destroy her.

Such as the city of Rome itself.

The all-powerful Rome, which is in the background here as John receives this revelation.

Rome itself will be destroyed by the very empire it built in AD 410.

What we see here is Babylon.

In chapters 17 and 18, it represents human society without God.

Human society with all its violence and oppression and corruption and injustice and rejection of God.

And it's saying here, societies come and go.

Kingdoms rise and they fall.

And it will go on and on and on.

And each one in its various forms will do exactly the same.

Stand against God as rule of all.

See, what happens here with the book of Revelation is that the major themes that are set up at the beginning of the Bible

sort of all get intertwined and come to their conclusion at the end of the Bible.

The threads all come together.

The theme of Babylon and society against God is drawn to a close here as well as they celebrate in chapter 19, the end of Babylon.

Babylon features in the Bible as early as Genesis chapter 10, verse 10.

Genesis 10:10

And it is likely linked to the Tower of Babel in Genesis 11.

The symbol of the godless society, proud society in its attempt to storm the heavens, dethrone God and take glory for themselves and make a name for themselves.

Babel and Babylon are interchangeable.

Throughout the Bible, Babylon came to stand for all that oppose God, all the empires and societies and peoples that oppose God.

Daniel chapter 4, verse 30 is a great example where we have the egotistical Nebuchadnezzar declaring,

Daniel 4:30

Is not this the great Babylon that I have built as my royal residence?

By my mighty power and for the glory of my majesty.

All this sin of human society, all of its rejection of God the creator is in chapter 19, verse 2, described as adultery.

Prostitution.

Prostitution.

All human sin is described as adultery.

Prostitution against God.

And this too is one of the great themes of the Bible from beginning to end.

What we see in the Bible is that God doesn't relate to people primarily as a king to subjects or even as a shepherd to his sheep, but as a husband to a wife.

God's plan from the beginning of creation was to have a solemn and a binding relationship with his people as binding and as comprehensive and as intimate as marriage.

It's the kind of relationship with God that we were created for.

No other religion dares talk about a relationship with God like biblical Christianity.

Human sin, therefore, is depicted as adultery.

Sin is loving anything more than God.

Sin is giving the title of our hearts to anything more than God.

Sin is giving the center of our emotions and our imagination to anything apart from God.

God doesn't just want us to rely upon him like a shepherd.

He wants us to love him like a spouse.

And sin is where we love anything more than God.

Sin is where we love anything more than God.

Holidays, he takes long trips around the world with her.

And finally, his wife confronts him about this other relationship.

And he says,

I really don't understand why you're getting so upset, frankly.

You know, you've got my name, got my surname.

You've got my money.

I pay the bills.

I cut the grass.

I seriously do not understand what the problem is and why you're getting so worked up.

The wife says, but I don't have your heart.

Something else has your deepest affections of your heart.

Now, most of us are sitting there and going, what sort of an idiot would say that?

Well, who would ever say, what's the problem here?

So here we go.

Do you say you believe?

Are you baptised?

You go to church.

You pray the Lord's Prayer.

You work at obeying the Ten Commandments.

And yet something else actually has the affections of your heart.

There is something else that you are actually truly living for and has captured your imagination.

Could be a career.

Could be family.

Could, in fact, be religion.

It could be children, relationships.

It could be a political cause.

It could be your bank accounts.

It could be a social cause.

It is possible to give money to God our money.

It's possible to give God our money and to take his name for ourselves.

And yet something else has the title over our hearts.

For those who use social media, what do your posts and your likes reveal about what has captured your heart?

Now, surely, as mere creatures, we don't expect our creator to overlook this.

Sin is spiritual adultery, which means it's more than just breaking the rules.

Very important for us to grapple with that.

It is so much more than just breaking the rules.

It's walking all over the heart of our creator.

Sin breaks his heart.

It destroys his relationship with him.

And unless we see human sin as spiritual adultery, we will never grapple with the seriousness of it or the emotional devastation it actually is.

It is so much more than breaking a rule.

It is crushing a heart, the heart of the God who made us for himself.

When we see this prostitute here, we see the fatal attraction of the human race.

You see, it's one thing to be friends with someone.

It's another thing to go to bed with them.

That changes everything.

And as James pointed out to us last week, Satan consistently parodies God.

Evil consistently parodies good.

The power and the affluence of society is seductive simply because it offers us what God offers us.

We love money because it offers us what God offers us.

You've got a guilty conscience.

You've got enough money to buy the right lawyers.

You can get yourself clean.

It offers us what God offers us.

Get really sick.

Get the right amount of money.

You can get the best doctors to heal you.

Even John, the apostle, the one who from the very beginning received the vivid vision of the glorified Lord Jesus standing amongst his church.

The one who is said in John's gospel, the disciple who Jesus specifically loved.

We are told here when he gets a vision of this prostitute riding the beast, he is mesmerized.

Verse 6, chapter 17.

When I saw her, I was greatly astonished.

Attracted.

And then the angel said to me, why are you astonished?

The power and the glory of the human society is seductive.

Even John needed the angel to grab him and slap him out of it.

And so that's why it's crucial that we see in chapters 18 and 19 the end of Babylon.

With all that it promises, it merely seduces you into destruction.

Reading from verse 21 of chapter 18.

Then a mighty angel picked up a boulder the size of a large millstone, threw it into the sea, and said,

With such violence the great city of Babylon will be thrown down, never to be found again.

Now this is not rising and falling.

This is never to be found again.

This is the end.

Of all the rises and fallings, this is the end.

The music of harpists and musicians, pipers and trumpeters will never be heard in you again.

No worker of any trade will ever be found in you again.

The sound of a millstone will never be heard in you again.

The light of a lamp will never shine in you again.

The voice of a bridegroom and a bride will never be heard in you again.

In other words, no continuing on in society, no joy, no celebration.

Your merchants were the world's important people.

The rich people were the important people.

But by your magic spell, all the nations were led astray.

The point is, it will come to naught.

It promises so much, and it delivers death and destruction.

Revelation, this book, wakes us up to the fact that we are living with danger every single day,

and we cannot see it, and the point of revelation is to help us see it.

We are polishing the bomb every day of our life.

And what this book tells us is the author of time itself had to be written into the very drama

to help us to see it.

And he's calling us to evacuate.

Evacuate, evacuate Babylon.

Do you see the seduction?

For instance, take...

Here's an exercise.

Just this next week.

In this coming week,

look at the advertising across various media platforms

and engage with the message.

Not just the pictures.

Engage with the message.

And notice the seduction.

They offer power, peace, status, paradise, performance, freedom,

spirituality, comfort, enlightenment, friendship, life, reconciliation,

identity, escape, balance, and future.

That's just one week.

And that's advertisements for coffee, cars, phones, holidays, cosmetics, and shoes.

It's appalling.

$10 billion a year is spent on advertising in this country alone

with quasi-religious promises of meaning and fulfillment and hope

in items that are created and can never produce it.

It's all about what we worship.

It's about what has captured our hearts.

American Pastor David Platt observes that North American Christians

give 2.5% of their income to the local church

and that local churches give 2% of their income to world mission.

Now, we've got to bear in mind here that Revelation chapter 5,

Revelation 5 · chapter mention

as we've already seen, is that mission to the nations

is part of what it means to grapple with the cross.

It's part of what it means to come to Christ.

And yet, every $100 that American Christians earn,

they give 5 cents to global mission.

5 cents.

Surely, that's got to be a good measure to the extent

by which we are seduced by Babylon

rather than being captured by a biblical worldview

of the end of Babylon.

Now, as you're aware, we've been heard about it this morning.

We're seeking to raise $10,000 to support the Klintos family,

our global mission partners in Africa,

doing a very strategic ministry.

And as of 7 a.m. this morning,

I note that we've raised $5,584.

Project finishes tomorrow.

I think we've got some work to do this afternoon.

Secondly, the lamb and our solution.

Now, this prostitute in chapter 17

represents our biggest problem,

that is, spiritual adultery.

We are given the solution to our biggest problem in the lamb.

The only thing that can turn us

from spiritual adulterers, prostitutes,

into a pure bride,

is the blood of Christ.

The one whom Revelation has already declared earlier on

as the lamb of God.

The lamb is the only one

who can cure us from our fatal attraction to Babylon.

Now, the John who wrote this vision,

this vision was given to,

also is the John who wrote the Gospel of John.

And so, as we come to chapter 19,

what is sitting in the background of Revelation 19

is John chapter 2

John 2 · chapter mention

and the wedding at Cana in Galilee.

Now, this is the wedding

where they run out of wine

and Mary comes to Jesus and says,

you might want to do something about that.

Now, this is crucial.

You know, these are wedding feasts

that go on for days

and wine was essential,

part of that celebration,

the joy of the celebration.

And all of a sudden,

they've run out of wine.

It's a social crisis in the first century.

And Mary comes to Jesus and says,

verse 3, chapter 2,

they have no more wine.

Woman, Jesus says,

why do you involve me?

My hour has not yet come.

So, crisis time,

no wine at the wedding.

And Mary comes and says,

Jesus, no wine.

And Jesus' reply is,

I'm not ready to die.

That's what he says.

Because every time he refers

to this hour or his hour

in John's gospel

is a reference to the cross.

His death on the cross.

And so he says to Mary,

I'm not yet ready to die.

And Mary's like,

you know, what's that got to do with it?

You know, like, we just need wine.

You know, Jesus, go to your room.

I mean,

what is going on here

at the wedding of Cana?

Well, throughout the Old Testament,

especially in places like

Isaiah 62, Ezekiel 16, Jeremiah 2,

God reveals himself to be

the bridegroom of his people.

And then,

in Matthew chapter 9,

Matthew 9 · chapter mention

the Pharisees come along to Jesus

and they complain to him

about his disciples

because they're so loose

with the Jewish rituals and practices.

And in verse 15 of Matthew 9,

Jesus says this to them,

See what he's saying there?

He said,

I am the bridegroom.

I am the bridegroom.

I am God.

I'm the Lord of my people.

So in John chapter 2,

John 2 · chapter mention

he's saying,

at the wedding of Canaan,

he's saying,

Mother, you are right.

There is no joy at a wedding

without the wine.

It's part of the celebration.

And if my people,

if my bride is going to fall

into my arms with joy,

then I'm going to have to die.

The bridegroom is going to have to die

for the bride.

And so on the night that he was betrayed,

he took the cup of wine

and he says,

this represents my blood.

This represents my blood.

We have no joy.

We have no hope

of a marriage feast with God

forever

unless his blood is shed

for the punishment of our sin.

He drinks the cup

of God's righteous anger

and justice

because we deserve

for our adultery.

That's the cup he had to drink for us.

And the only way

that we will ever participate

in a wedding feast of joy

forever with Jesus Christ,

the Lamb of God,

is that he has to go to the cross

in history

and to take up

the cup of justice

and anger from God.

He had to drink the cup

of God's wrath in history

so that we could drink

the cup of joy

for all eternity.

And that's why we have

the victory cry.

That's why we have

this roar of triumph

from heaven

in chapter 19,

verse 6.

Hallelujah!

For our Lord God,

Almighty,

reigns.

Let us rejoice

and be glad

and give him glory.

For the wedding

of the Lamb

has come

and his bride

has made herself ready.

Fine linen,

bright and clean,

was given

her to wear.

His blood

is shed

and our sins

are wiped clean,

pure,

as white as snow.

And his offer

of forgiveness

of sins

is simply that,

it is free.

we didn't achieve it.

We didn't launder

our own sins.

He did it all.

Our filthy rags

of sin and righteousness

have been swapped

by bright,

clean clothes

of linen

made clean

by Jesus.

The Lamb,

the Lamb

is our only solution.

And this brings me

to the final image

that we have here.

for all who put

their trust

in the Lamb

are the bride.

Now there might be

a few blokes here

who are struggling

with the idea

of being a bride

of Christ.

You know,

it's like it's

messing with your

masculinity

or something like that.

Then again,

Galatians chapter 4

Galatians 4 · chapter mention

says that all of us

are sons of God

and so,

you know,

in the end

we've all got

some adjustments to make.

So let's just bear

with it on this one.

It changes a lot

when you realise

that you're in a

marital union

with God

and not just simply

a king subject

or shepherd sheep

relationship.

Firstly,

it means that you

have a legal relationship.

In every culture

around the globe,

if you are poor

but you marry

someone rich,

you become rich.

although we are

all spiritual

adulterers,

when we come

to Jesus

by faith

and accept

his death

on our behalf,

his perfect

righteousness

becomes ours.

He doesn't just

cancel our debt

against God

and bring us

back up to square

zero.

His pure record

of righteousness

becomes ours.

All of it

is ours.

And if you

are a Christian,

that is you now.

That is your status

before God now.

Secondly,

being Jesus' bride

means that we're

in a comprehensive

relationship.

Marriage impacts

every area

of your life.

Everything.

There is no such

thing as his

and hers.

You cannot

compartmentalise it

in just a couple

of parts.

The marriage

refers just to

the bed,

but, you know,

not to my

hobbies,

for instance.

The vows

are very clear

in the marriage

ceremony.

With all

that I am

and all

that I

have,

I honour

you.

The word

all,

all,

is comprehensive

as it always

is.

So,

relationship

with Jesus

touches every

aspect of

your life.

Thirdly,

it's an intimate

relationship.

Relationship

with Jesus

requires contact.

It's the love

of Christ

poured into

our hearts

and our hearts

being poured

out to him.

And so,

I want to keep

asking you this

as we've done

several times.

What is your

devotional life

like right now?

Does it exist?

Is it just a matter

of read the Bible,

keep the devil away

kind of thing?

A chapter a day

keeps the devil away?

Or is it,

you know,

what is it?

Is it,

you're pursuing

actual intimacy

with your lover?

Could your

devotional life

be described

as intimate

right now?

Fourthly,

our relationship

with Jesus

is to be fruitful.

When we put

our lives

in Jesus'

hands,

we bear fruit.

It's one of the

absolute

certainties.

When we put

our lives

in his hands,

we bear fruit.

And fruit

is the outward

working of an

inner life.

That is,

when Jesus'

love pours

into my

heart,

it transforms

who I am.

It transforms

my priorities,

my life,

my attitudes

from the

inside out.

So in such

a way

that I pursue

Jesus'

priorities

and I pursue

his character.

Lastly,

this relationship

with Jesus

is comforting.

At the

wedding feast

in Cana,

which is

obvious now

to us

in John

John 2 · chapter mention

chapter 2,

Jesus sat

amongst the

joy of

this wedding

feast

and it was

pretty obvious

that he was

pondering

his coming

sorrow on

the cross.

That's

obvious.

But because

he went to

the cross,

we can now

sit amongst

all the sorrow

of this world

with all the

chaos and the

carnage and the

sin and the

injustice of this

world and we

can ponder

the coming

joy of the

wedding banquet

in his

presence.

It's

comforting.

So friends,

whether you've

got a good

marriage,

a bad

marriage,

you've got no

marriage but want

a marriage,

or you've had a

marriage but not

anymore,

whatever your

status, that

covers everyone

here basically,

whatever your

status,

there is only

one spouse

that can give

you the joy

and the

fulfillment that

you need.

Babylon cannot

provide it for

you,

only Jesus

Christ.

And this is

what awaits

all those who

accept the

invitation to

the feast.

And this

invitation is

your invitation,

every single

person who

hears these

words.

Chapter 19

verse 9,

then the

angel said to

me,

write this,

blessed are

those who

are invited

to the

wedding supper

of the

Lamb.

And that

is your

invitation right

there,

right now.

It's like

John getting

out and he's

writing the

wedding invitations

and dispersing

it to all of

humanity.

The invitation

is there,

come to

Jesus,

experience his

love, his

acceptance, his

relationship, and

his eternal

joy.

Believe in

Jesus, trust

in the work of

the cross that

he's done for

you.

Do it

today.

Get

connected with

us online,

send us an

email, speak

to one of the

staff or a

friend who's

brought you

here today.

In chapter

18, John

calls us to

leave Babylon.

It's not a

call to a

new geographical

location like,

hey, you

know, let's

leave Sydney

and move to

Orange.

He's not

talking about

that.

It's an

ideological

shift is

what he's

calling us

to.

He's calling

us to

adopt a

different set

of values,

a different

set of

priorities,

a different

allegiance,

a different

object of

worship.

He is calling

us to be

citizens of

the wedding

feast of the

Lamb.

the message

of Revelation

is that

that is the

only alternative

to the

fate of

Babylon,

the city

of God.

It is a

call here to

a new city,

a different

city, a

city where

there's no

pain, no

loss, where

there is just

gain and joy

increasing

forever.

Which is

what you

were made

for.

But I'm

getting ahead

of myself

because we're

going to talk

more about

that city

next week.