The Gruesome Call

Father, we confess before you that we don't really like hearing warnings from you.

We confess before you, Father, that there's a big part of us who would like you to be more like a care bearer than the living God.

And so, Father, we confess before you that we do not like hearing warnings.

And, Father, we also confess before you that our yearnings and longings for your promises are also very weak.

So we ask, Father, that your Holy Spirit would come and fall upon us gently and deeply as we think upon your word.

We ask, Father, that you fan into flame within us a deep remembrance of your warnings

and that you would fan into flame within us a deep longing and yearning for you.

For you yourself and for the promises that you make to your people.

Jesus' name. Amen.

Please be seated.

I'm going to talk about hell next week.

Now that I've got your attention, I'm going to talk about hell next week.

And the reason I am is because, and you might have noticed in the text that Ken just read to us a few moments ago from the book of Revelation,

that it ends, or close to the end of it, you have two characters thrown into the lake of fire.

And this image of the lake of fire is in the text this week, so I could talk about hell this week.

But the image of the lake of fire is in next week's reading, which is Revelation chapter 20,

Revelation 20 · chapter mention

in an even more powerful sense, because this week, if you were listening very closely,

you'll know that God puts, and I'll talk about this a bit more in a moment,

the beast and the false prophet in the lake of fire.

And next week, the text will have the dragon, who's the devil,

and death, and all of us who are not in Jesus thrown into the lake of fire.

So I thought that what I would do is that rather than talking about the lake of fire both weeks,

I'll talk about it next week.

So if at the end of the sermon you think, oh, George is dodging,

I'm going to talk about some gruesome things today.

But if you're thinking I'm dodging that, then I just want to let you know that I'm not dodging it at all.

We're going to talk about it next Sunday.

And I mention this specifically so that you could pray for me, that I do it well.

You might not know this.

I can't remember if I've said it before,

but I've developed this simple thing that I try to pray for myself every day

as I'm working on the sermon,

and the sermon every day leading up to the Sunday, at least a little bit.

And part of the things I pray for is I use the acronym FACES as I pray.

And I really like it because I do two things when I use it.

First of all, I think I have God call up to my mind different faces in the congregation

or different faces of people that I've been talking to about Jesus who don't come to any church.

And I pray for you.

Not every one of you every time, but I'll think, you know, Father, you know, when this, you know,

and I don't want to start naming your names, but, you know, as I open the word, as we gather,

you know, please help the word to really touch this person.

I mention you by name.

And FACES is also an acronym, and it's, I'll tell you sort of the order,

and then you can see how it fits into a word.

I pray that as I open the Bible and as I teach that my teaching will be simple,

that it will be clear, that it will be apt, that it will be faithful to the Bible,

and that it will exalt Jesus and exalt God.

And if you put that in an acronym, I pray that I'll, what I say will be faithful to what the Bible says,

that it will be apt, that it will be clear, that it will exalt God,

and that it will be simple.

So every week, I pray for FACES.

I pray other things as well for my sermon as well.

So please pray for me over this coming week, and pray FACES.

Pray for me for FACES, and pray for FACES in the congregation as well,

so that when we talk about this very difficult text about the Lake of Fire,

that I will be, that FACES will characterize what I have to say.

So next week, I'll talk about the Lake of Fire.

But this week, we still have, at the end, the second half of the text is pretty gruesome.

But before we get to the gruesome part, we have to see what leads up to the gruesome part.

So if you have your Bibles with you, and hopefully you do,

if you could open your Bibles up to Revelation chapter 19.

Revelation 19 · chapter mention

And if you've forgotten your Bibles, at the front of the church here, there's three Bibles,

and you can feel free to take one of them if you want.

Just get up out of your seats, come and take them.

You can keep it as a gift, or you can return it afterwards.

And if you're not that familiar with the Bible, the book of Revelation is very easy to find.

It's the last book in the Bible.

And Revelation 19 is right towards the end.

And so those of you who are tracking how we're going through it next week,

it's Revelation 20, then 21, then 22.

And let's start reading.

Because the first part is very glorious.

It's a very, very interesting text, Revelation 19.

It has both two of the most profoundly beautiful images of salvation

and the future for us to long for, which defy our imagination,

and it also has something gruesome, all in the same text.

And it begins like this, Revelation chapter 19, beginning at the first verse.

Revelation 19 · chapter mention

After this, I, that's John, heard what seemed to be the loud voice

of a great multitude in heaven crying out,

Hallelujah!

Where are the kids to help us, eh?

Okay.

Salvation and glory and power belong to our God,

for his judgments are true and just,

for he has judged the great prostitute who corrupted the earth with her immorality

and has avenged on her the blood of his servants, his slaves, his doulos.

And just sort of pause there for a second.

I didn't actually believe this at first when I was preparing my sermon,

and I actually checked on it.

But it's very, very funny.

Actually, hallelujah is a great Christian word.

And we said it quite a few times earlier on in the service.

We're going to say it a few times before the service is over.

But did you know, I didn't know this.

Maybe you did know this because you're a better Bible scholar than me.

But the word hallelujah only occurs four times in the New Testament.

And all four times that hallelujah occurs are in the first six verses of Revelation 19.

In fact, when I came across that, I actually checked on a computer concordance to see if it was true.

Like, I actually doubted it.

And it's true.

It's a very, very common Old Testament word.

But in the New Testament, it only occurs four times.

And those four times are in the first six verses of the book of Revelation.

And it means praise God.

Praise God.

It's a call of acclamation.

It's a call of encouragement for others.

It's a personal call.

I'm praising you, God.

Others, come on, join me in praising God.

Hallelujah.

And it's as part of this great song that's sung by the great multitudes of heaven.

Hallelujah.

Salvation and glory and power.

Salvation doesn't belong to me.

Salvation doesn't belong to a church.

Salvation doesn't belong to an institution.

Salvation doesn't belong to a political philosophy.

It doesn't belong to an ideology.

It doesn't belong to a social class.

It doesn't belong to an economic class.

Salvation and glory and power belong to our God.

And that's the great cry.

And not only are they praising God and shouting hallelujah,

because salvation and glory and power belong to God,

but the specific focus of the praising of God and the singing of hallelujah

is because he is true and just,

and now he has acted with truth and justice in judging evil.

God is praised because he is true and just,

and now he has acted with truth and justice in judging evil.

That's why he's praised.

That's sort of the heart of it.

That's what the for is for.

If you know salvation and glory and power belong to our God,

for his judgments are true and just,

for he has judged the great prostitute.

And in terms of who this great prostitute is,

if you're guests here, it's a bit of a confusing image.

But we've been going through the book of Revelation.

We started at chapter 1, verse 1,

and we're going to go right through to the end.

We're basically preaching through a chapter week, most weeks.

And there's sort of four primary actors in the book of Revelation

who are, in a sense, the organizers, the cheerleaders,

the tempters, the enforcers, the source of longing and yearning

that all are in rebellion against God.

Four, in a sense, primary actors or images of actors

that, in a sense, work with us as human beings

in rebellion against God.

And in chapters 17, 18, and 19,

it's been talked about the judgment of Babylon,

or of the great prostitute.

And it's an image of the city organized in rebellion against God.

Babylon, or the great prostitute,

sometimes in the book of Revelation,

it's referred to as Jerusalem,

sometimes as Rome, sometimes as Egypt,

uses a variety of different things.

But it's a consistent image of the city.

In a sense, that's politics, of culture, of entertainment,

of everything that the city represents.

And we understand cities as a powerful type of image.

And it's the city organized in rebellion against God.

And that's what's being judged here.

And as I've said in the weeks that have gone before this,

in some ways, there's both a future and a present aspect of this image

of a city organized in rebellion against God.

That, unfortunately, in every city, so to speak, in the planet,

even in the best, we can get the whiff of Babylon.

And in some cities, there is the stench of Babylon.

And that's the present day.

And those of us who are called to positions of leadership in government,

or in the economy, or in law, or culture,

are, in a sense, reminded by the book of Revelation

to be sensitive to the smell of Babylon

that develops in your city, in our city,

and to act against it.

Because this text isn't teaching anarchism,

that no city should exist.

At the end of the book of Revelation,

it pictures kings and leaders of the world coming to Jesus.

So it's not condemning politics per se,

but it's warning us that in every city

there is at least the tiniest whiff of Babylon,

and we should resist it.

We should not be enticed by it.

We should flee it,

and we should pursue that which honors and glorifies God,

and which is for the true good of the city.

But there will come some day

when there will be that great city,

which only is of,

which is, in a sense, is Babylon.

And here we see in the book of Revelation

that even though there can be some cities

that just seem unbeatable

and unbelievably influential,

and it's impossible for us to imagine

a time or a day

when their influence will wane

or will go away,

that salvation and glory and power

belong to our God

and that Jesus is King of kings

and Lord of lords.

And those parts of a city

whereby there is the stench of Babylon,

where there is, in fact,

profound injustice,

the murder of the innocent,

where there is, in fact,

profound oppression and injustice,

where there is, in fact,

the exaltation of evil,

and there is, in fact,

the bold, self-confident,

blaspheming of God

and denouncing God

and turning it back on God

and exalting of self

and all of the terrible evil

and the evil that befalls human beings

as a result of such evil

and the great evil

that even as that

has a great terrible consequence

on ordinary human beings,

yet so many ordinary human beings

yet still have a great love

and a yearning for Babylon.

And even though Babylon

seems to be so completely

and utterly undefeatable

and will not be turned back,

there is, in fact,

a God who does exist

and Jesus is King of kings

and Lord of lords

and he will judge Babylon.

And we will see his judgment.

And when we see his judgment,

we will realize that he is just,

he is judged with complete fairness

and even with mercy

and goodness and truth

and that there is no excuse

and there can be no complaint

because of the perfect justice

of his judgment.

And we will see that perfect judgment

and praise God

and say,

Hallelujah.

Hallelujah.

The living God is just

and at the end

he will be known as just

and no one will have

a valid complaint against him.

The living God is just

and at the end

he will be known as just

and no one will have

a valid complaint against him.

As I've been a Christian longer,

I know that there's lots

of terrible evil.

Lately, for a variety of reasons,

I've come across

quite a few documentaries

all around the Holocaust.

And actually,

so there's been several weeks

in a row that my wife and I

and the kids at home,

we've watched on a Friday

or a Saturday night,

I think maybe once on a Sunday,

documentaries connected

to the Holocaust.

And I in my own life

have seen evil.

I've done evil myself.

I've been at the receiving end

of evil.

But you know what?

And I've had to hear

and deal with questions

about what happens

to people who don't know

about Jesus

and all of that.

And all I can tell you is,

especially as I've read

the book of Revelation

and as I study

the book of Romans

and the longer that I'm a Christian,

all I can tell you,

and as I start,

as I have,

as increasingly,

but not as fast

as I wish it was,

as I'm gripped by the gospel,

I have just had

an ever deeper confidence

and sense

that while I can't explain

why things happen

and what the meaning

of events are,

and that's because

I'm not God,

I just have had

an increasing sense

that the Bible is true,

that the gospel is the true way

to understand the Bible,

and at the end of all things,

whatever ends up happening

and however things

will all work out,

that at the end of the day,

the true God

that truly does exist,

the living God

who does exist,

I will see

and you will see

that he has always acted

with justice and truth

and mercy and goodness,

that I will have

no complaint

nor will you,

and that no human being

will have a valid complaint

against God

or any excuse,

and I am not God

and I don't know

what's going on

behind the scenes of things,

but I've just had

an increasing sense,

an increasing confidence

that this is true.

Let me just give you

a little tiny, tiny, tiny

illustration of what that's like.

I should have done it

before I said those things.

It's the problem

of not always reading

from a text when you preach.

This past Wednesday night,

a group of about

nine or ten of us

fed the poor,

and we now,

every second month,

we'll be partnering

with Jericho Road,

and on Wednesday nights,

a group of us

will have the opportunity

to go to their

Wednesday evening thing

where approximately

100 to 150 poor

will come,

and we get to feed them

and spend time with them

and to serve them,

and that's going to be

a regular part of our ministry.

It's going to be

every second month,

and we just did it

for the second time

this past Wednesday night,

and when I arrived there,

the guy asked me,

he said,

the guy who organized this,

you're a pastor,

how about would you like

to talk,

you know,

they always do a 10-minute

or 15-minute little

Bible presentation

in the middle of the evening,

and they said,

you're a pastor,

would you like to do this

in 45 minutes,

and the guy's at Pentecostal,

like, you know,

Anglicans,

we think we have to

pray a long time

before we preach,

but you know,

Pentecostals,

God love me,

he says,

you're a pastor,

you should be able

to get up and preach,

and I said,

sure, I'll do that,

I'll do that,

so I went back

to get my Bible,

which was in the van,

and as I'm walking back,

a street person

whom I've talked to

several times before,

just at the corner up here,

if I'm pointing the right way,

at Daly,

and King Edward,

and he says,

he stops me,

he says,

oh, you know,

friend,

I'm just trying to get

an extra dollar

or two together,

I want to go to Subway

to get a sandwich

because I'm hungry,

and I stop,

and I look at him,

and I say,

friend,

this is your lucky day,

I'm just one block away

from where my church

has brought loaves

and loaves of sandwiches

and soup

and cookies,

you can come with me,

and you can have

as much to eat

as you want,

and he mumbled

and said,

well,

you know,

maybe after I've gotten

a few dollars

because I need something

to drink

and get some cigarettes,

maybe I'll come over

to get some sandwiches,

and I'm just saying

all that

because you see,

if somebody from the outside

was just looking

at me

and this guy,

and he has his hand out

and the person

maybe knows

that I'm a Christian,

a follower of Jesus,

and this guy

has his hand out

and he doesn't hear

the conversation,

all he does is see us

and he sees me smiling

and maybe he thinks

I'm smiling at him,

mocking him,

and then he sees me

walking away

without putting any money

in his pocket,

maybe they'd say to them,

look at those Christians,

they don't care about the poor,

they're all just full

of pious talk,

you know,

blah, blah,

woof, woof,

yada, yada,

but you know what,

they didn't actually

hear the conversation

and see what went on,

they didn't hear me say

this is your lucky day,

you can come over here

and you can have sandwiches

as much as you want,

you can have soup

and you can have

homemade chocolate chip cookies,

all they would have seen

from a distance is that

and I guess

as I've been a Christian

longer and longer

and as I've come

to know Jesus

more and more

and trust the word

more and more,

I just have this deep sense

that there's a lot

of really terrible things

that go on in the world

and there's some

really terrible things

that have befallen you

who are here in this room

and there is some

terrible things

that you have maybe done

who are here in this room

and maybe some of us

have an unrecognized anger

against God

and complaints against God

and all I'm saying is

that this text

is telling us

that at the end

of the end

of the end

of the end

in the last days

the Bible is teaching

that when God

reveals all

all that has gone on

and all that he's done

and when even after death

he continues to act

and work

that we will have

this sure and certain

knowledge

that God is just

and true

and merciful

and good

that he has acted

with justice

and truth

and mercy

and goodness

and not a single

person

who's ever lived

will have

a valid complaint

or valid excuse

and the saints

will sing

with all the angels

hallelujah

salvation

and glory

and power

belong to our God

for his judgments

are true and just

now some of us

might say

when we're listening

to this

you're going to get

to the gruesome part

I know

and I know

you're going to

talk about

the lake of fire

next week

I'm going to

give you a pass

on that

so you can talk

about that

next week

but it does

sound a little bit

George

as if

you know

worship God

or he's going

to punish you

and that's actually

a very very

common

actually there's

many Christians

at different times

in history

who've had

that type

of a sense

that as long

as I live

a good life

God won't punish me

that Christianity

is a type of religion

about doing

particular types

of good works

and if you don't

do good works

God will zap you

and it's really

as if it's a type

of behavior modification

policy of avoiding

being zapped

by God

but Revelation 19

not only is a celebration

of who God is

is true and just

and good

and merciful

and that there will

come a time

when every person

will see and understand

that he is good

and true

and just

and merciful

and there will

be no excuse

and no complaint

but the Christian

faith is so much

more than that

and now we come

to two of the

greatest images

of salvation

in the Bible

and it starts

at verse 3

once more

they cried out

Revelation 19

Revelation 19:3

verse 3

Hallelujah

the smoke

from her

goes up

forever and ever

and the 24 elders

and the four living

creatures

fell down

and worshipped

God

who was seated

on the throne

saying

Amen

Hallelujah

and from the throne

came a voice

saying

Praise our God

all you his servants

you who fear him

small and great

then I heard

what seemed to be

the voice of a great multitude

like the roar

of many waters

and like the sound

of mighty peals

of thunder

crying out

Hallelujah

for the Lord

our God

the Almighty reigns

let us rejoice

and exult

and give him the glory

for the marriage

of the Lamb

has come

and his bride

has made herself

ready

it was granted

her to clothe

herself

with fine linen

bright and pure

for the fine linen

is the righteous

deeds

of the saints

the redeemed

are the bride

of Christ

the redeemed

are the bride

of Christ

it's this powerful

corporate

image

at a worldly level

some of us

in this room

are well off

and some of us

are poor

some of us

are smart

some of us

are dumb

some are old

some are young

some are white

some are other colors

black

Chinese

Asian

all over the world

some of us

are married

some of us

are single

some of us

vote conservative

some of us

vote liberal

some of us

vote NDP

some of us

have university

education

some of us

are maybe

high school

dropouts

whole range

of things

that define us

in terms of

Canadian culture

and society

but all of those

things are

completely and

utterly relativized

when we put

our faith

and trust

in Jesus

and there's

this corporate

image

that the church

and here

when it's talking

about the church

it's also

talking about

the Christians

who've gone

before us

it's talking

about Augustine

and Luther

and Calvin

it's talking

about John

of the cross

it's talking

about Eric

Liddell

it's talking

about Hudson

Taylor

it's talking

about you

and me

and the image

is that

at the end

of the end

of the end

of the end

those of us

who are in

Jesus

we are described

as the bride

of Christ

who in a sense

marries

Jesus

and the image

it's a great

corporate image

of the church

and it's this

image of great

intimacy

and affection

and compassion

with no exit

strategy

see that's what

a great marriage

is

in a great marriage

there's

great intimacy

and affection

and companionship

and love

and revealing

of self

and there's

no exit

strategy

and this image

of revealing

and being revealed

of intimacy

of companionship

that will go on

for all eternity

is described

as happening

to those

who are in

Jesus

corporately

as a body

together

not alone

the redeemed

are the bride

of Christ

to tell you

the truth

I sometimes

when I think

about this image

I get frightened

I get

it's a type

of intimacy

which is

too much

and I'm not

saying I get

frightened

it's not a sign

of my holiness

it's a sign

of my fleshliness

all of us

on one hand

long and yearn

for intimacy

and on the other

hand we have

fears of intimacy

and this Bible

passage

is providing

this spectacular

image

of what our

end is

in Christ

our destiny

is in Christ

some of us

here this morning

are living with

regrets

some of us

here this morning

in terms of the

eyes of the world

have been failures

some of us

here this morning

are struggling

with great problems

the Bible here

is not trying

to deny

or deride

any of those

things

but the Bible

here is trying

to say

that we can

ask God

to fan

and to flame

within us

a deeper

longing

and yearning

for this

our true

destiny

it's not

trying to

call us

to long

and yearn

for something

that's purely

self-centered

or just

completely

and utterly

imaginary

the Bible

here is telling

us that this

is the real

end and destiny

of even the

least human

being

who puts

their faith

and trust

in Jesus

even the image

of the Lamb

those of you

who are a bit

familiar with

the Bible

the way

that John

when he writes

his gospel

introduces

Jesus

he introduces

John the Baptist

as the greatest

of the prophets

and why is

John the Baptist

the greatest

of the prophets

well one of the

fundamental reasons

is that if you

read

the books

of Moses

and if you

read Isaiah

and you read

Jeremiah

and you listen

to David

and there's

in the midst

of all of this

passage of scripture

there's these

shards of light

and shards

and bits and pieces

of images

that point to Jesus

and you read

let's say a psalm

and you pick out

a word or a shard

and you realize

in the flow

of all of this psalm

that's just talking

about all sorts

of other things

there's a tiny

little bit of a window

into a tiny little

bit of an image

of who Jesus is

and what makes

John the Baptist

the greatest

of the prophets

is that one day

he's walking along

and he sees this man

walking along

over there

and he sees the wind

blowing in that man's hair

and maybe there's some

of the leftover lunch

that that man

has just eaten

and you can see

little bits of parsley

and little bits

of pita bread

in his beard

and he's walking along

and John the Baptist

turns to his disciples

and said

behold the Lamb of God

that takes away

the sin of the world

right there

standing

right there

that's him walking

all the prophets

for 1400 years

which have given

bits and pieces

of images of Jesus

and what God

is going to do

and John the Baptist

is the one

who can say

that guy

right there

walking right in front

of you right now

behold

the Lamb of God

who takes away

the sin of the world

that's him right there

you can't get greater

than that

can you

we'll see

in a moment

that the Bible

says that

in a sense

testifying to Jesus

and pointing to Jesus

that's the essence

of all prophecy

it means that

you and I

can be prophets

like John the Baptist

behold Jesus

and so the same

Lamb of God

who takes away

the sin of the world

the Bible

points this

picture of

intimacy

that he who has

taken away

our sin

calls us

to be

his bride

and it's a

corporate image

not alone

but together

not just in our day

or our denomination

but in

all churches

that are

where there are

true Christians

for all time

together

the bride of Christ

it's a powerful

and a beautiful image

and we can see

now here

the last few chapters

of the book of Revelation

one of the things

that it's doing

it's posing before us

the question

what do you long for

and what do you fear

this week

I was at a

sort of a gathering

of a group of people

and there were a wide

range of ages at it

and there was this one

fellow who was talking

about how

he hadn't seen

his financial advisor

in a couple of years

and he's not a guy

that has a government

pension

he's a guy

like maybe some of us

that you know

you have to save up

enough money to retire

and so

for those of us

who have to save up

enough money to retire

the question always is

how much money

do you need

before you can retire

and so this fellow said

you know

I hadn't seen

his financial advisor

in a little while

and I saw him

and it was sort of

good news

but he told me

that I have enough

because I haven't spent

a year and a half ago

I was going to run out

of money at 89

and now he said

because I haven't spent

as much money

and my investments

have done really good

I can live to 91

but he said

the day after I turn 91

I'm broke

I will have no money

and he said

I'm 78

that's only 13 years

from now

and I'm feeling

pretty healthy

so he asked us

what he should do

I told him

he should take up

smoking

that would help

shorten his life

so he wouldn't have

to worry about

living past 91

but the Bible text

is putting before us

what do we fear

do we fear God

do we

do we

are we aware

of his justice

what do we fear

do we fear

do we fear

not having money

do we long for money

do we fear

getting old

do we fear

not being beautiful

or not being young

or not being smart

or not being successful

do we long and yearn

for success

and money

and youth

and what is it

we long for

and what is it

that we fear

and the Bible

is setting before us

the most profound

and practical questions

about the deepest part

of what it means

to be human

and to set before us

what actually

should we be longing for

and what actually

should we be fearing

and the text

which we're going

to look at

in a couple of moments

is what we should

in fact

that's what we should fear

but before we get there

before we get to the

gruesome part

the Bible sets before us

what we should long for

and the Bible

sets before us

that no one is born

as part of the bride

of Christ

we need to be redeemed

you see that's why

it's so important

for us to point

to Jesus

the Lamb of God

who takes away

the sin of the world

because no one

is born

as part of the bride

of Christ

we are all born

needing

the Lamb of God

who takes away

the sin of the world

and as we put

our faith and trust

in Him

we become

the bride of Christ

the other image

is also a very

very wonderful image

and it's in verses

9 and 10

and the angel said to me

write this

blessed are those

who are invited

to the marriage supper

of the Lamb

and he said to me

these are the true

words of God

then I fell down

at his feet

to worship him

but he said to me

you must not do that

I am a fellow servant

with you and your

brothers and sisters

who hold the testimony

of Jesus

worship God

for the testimony

of Jesus

is the spirit

of prophecy

one of the reasons

why I said

what's the book

of Revelation all about

the book of Revelation

is about Jesus

it's not about

becoming a genius

figuring out

all the things

that are going to happen

in the last days

it's not about

figuring out

what OPEC is

or whether

Russia is Gog

and Magog

it's not all about that

although it might

touch on those things

that the book of Revelation

is a book about Jesus

what he's done

what he's doing

what he will do

why?

because the testimony

of Jesus

is the spirit

of prophecy

and the book of Revelation

is a book of prophecy

it's all about Jesus

but you notice

at the beginning

that wonderful second image

verse 9

and the angel said to me

write this

blessed are those

who are invited

to the marriage supper

of the Lamb

and he said to me

these are the true words

of God

second image

to long for

that what is heaven?

heaven is an

unending feast

with Jesus

and with God

and with all the saints

heaven is an

unending feast

with God

and in this feast

of God

we cannot drink

so much alcohol

that we will get drunk

or get liver poisoning

and we cannot eat

so much

that our cholesterol

level will kill us

and we cannot

eat so much

that we still

cannot run

and run

and run

and run

and run

and run

and run

and run

and every bite

of this feast

will be both

the most satisfying

bite

and the most

satisfying sip

that you have ever

had in your entire life

and at the same time

it will create

within you

a desire for more

of an even

greater filling

and that next bite

will be even greater

than the one

that you had before

that next sip

will be even greater

than the one

you had before

and at the same time

that it is greater

than the one

that you had just had

it will create

within you

yet a deeper longing

and yearning

for the next bite

and the next sip

and you will have

that bite

and you will have

that sip

and you will say

that is an even

greater pleasure

than what I had before

and there will be

a longing

for an even greater one

and the image

of the feast

is an image

of an infinite

longing

and yearning

that will just

grow and grow

and grow

within us

and that our future

is to be so fed

and so nurtured

and so filled

and being able

to drink of God

and of his pleasure

and of his goodness

that every sip

is a greater sip

than the one before

and creates a greater

longing and yearning

which God himself

fulfills

and even the longing

and the yearning

itself

is a pleasure

and that is what

ordinary people

like you and me

are invited to

by Jesus

go back

and read the accounts

of Jesus

in the Lord's Supper

and Jesus

is providing

a 20,000 feet

in the sky view

all of his disciples

are

they're puzzled

about how he said

he's going to be

betrayed

and Jesus knows

that over the next few days

they are not going to

show up very well

that they are going

to leave him

they are going to

flee him

they are going to

hide

they aren't going

to believe

any of the things

he said to them

they are going to

believe that he

completely and utterly

died

they are going to

believe that he is

a complete and utter

failure

they are going to

abandon him

they are going to

deny him

and that even when

women tell him

that he is risen

from the dead

they are not going

to believe the women

and Jesus gives them

a 20,000 foot in the sky

thing before it all

happens

and he says

what has he said

this is my body

which is broken

for you

and he said

this cup

is the cup

of my blood

which is shed

for you

and then he says

what does he say

I will not drink

of this blood

again

this cup

again

until I drink

it with you

in my kingdom

it is a pointing

and a picture

towards the

messianic feast

what is one of the

things that you can

do as you come

to communion

what is one of the

things that you

can pray for

as you come

to communion

one of the

things that you

can pray

as you come

forward to

communion is

dear God

please grow in me

fan into flame

within me

a longing

and yearning

to be with you

and to partake

of that feast

with you

that will

characterize

my relationship

with you

for all eternity

thank you for

Jesus and his

death upon the

cross

thank you that

that is the

means by which

I when I

receive what he

has done for me

and trust him

as my savior

that my destiny

every lord's

supper is an

invitation for us

to remember our

destiny in

Jesus

that we

will one

day

pillars

of dust

who yet

bear the

divine image

who have been

redeemed by

Jesus and the

holy spirit

lives in us

a pillar of

dust

who can be

felled by the

smallest

microbe

but our

eternal destiny

is to be

filled

with a

with such

pleasure

and such

longings and

yearnings which

are pleasure

themselves

all because

of Jesus

it's in this

comment

it's in this

context that we

can hear

of the

judgment

it's the

the great

Babylon has

been judged

we'll talk

more fully

about this

next week

I'm just

going to

really read

the text

to you

the text

is providing

before us

a question

what is it

you fear

and what is

it you

dread

what is it

you long

for and

yearn for

are you

really being

wise

are you

being honest

am I

being honest

about what

I really

long for

and yearn

for and

what I

fear and

what I

dread

am I

being

honest

do I

realize

the depth

of my

idolatry

do I

realize

the depth

of my

anger

just this

week in

a coffee

shop

over the

last couple

of months

I've started

to become

a little bit

friendly with

a guy who's

a very

very

very

devout

atheist

and he

showed me

something that

he'd just

read

he'd just

written

and I

read it

and you

know he

walked away

and then later

on he came

up to me

and asked

me what I

thought about

it

and I

read it

and it's

gosh is

this man

angry at

God

like he

he says

these things

and all I

can see is

this guy

is so

angry

and so

angry at

God

I don't

know how

I could

talk to

him about

it

and so he

asked me what

I thought

and I said

well you

wrote your

heart

and that

actually seemed

to really make

him happy

but that's my

response actually

that's the

Holy Spirit

doing that

that's not

George being

smart enough

the fact of

the matter

George is

thinking this

guy's so

angry I

don't know

what on earth

to say to

him

I mean that's

one of the

reasons why at

the heart of

evangelism is

prayer

because the

fact of the

matter is is

that all of

us struggle

with a certain

degree of

anger against

God or

indifference to

God or

contempt of

God and

for some of

us it's not

just something

that's part of

our lives in

some small way

some of us

it consumes us

and only the

Holy Spirit can

break something

like that

only our

patience and

our love and

companionship and

friendship but

it's primarily the

Holy Spirit doing

that to pray for

such people consumed

with an anger

against God

in this text

we've just been

told that we

are how blessed

it is if you

were invited to

the marriage

supper of the

Lamb and

that's the true

word of God

and now you

see a different

invitation that

comes and

God doesn't

invite people to

be angry at

him he doesn't

invite people to

come and try to

wage war against

him he only

invites us to

the marriage

supper of the

Lamb that's all

he invites us

to he only

invites us to

be the bride of

the Lamb that's

what he invites

us to but for

the beast and

for the false

prophet and

earlier they

were the ones

who helped to

form Babylon

organized in

rebellion against

God who

organized people

in anger and

rebellion against

God the

invitation comes

to the

carrion birds

the vultures

to eat on the

flesh of those

who come in

anger and

rebellion against

God because

their doom is

certain all I

will do is read

the text and

then we will

stand and then

we will pray

then I saw

heaven opened

and behold a

white horse

the one sitting

on it is called

faithful and

true and in

righteousness he

judges and makes

war his eyes are

like a flame of

fire and on his

head are many

diadems and he

has a name written

that no one knows

but himself he is

clothed in a robe

dipped in blood

and the name by

which he is called

is the word of

God and the

armies of heaven

arrayed in fine

linen white and

pure were following

him on white

horses from his

mouth comes a

sharp sword with

which to strike

down the nations

and he will rule

them with a rod of

iron he will tread

the wine press of

the fury of the

wrath of God the

almighty and on

his robe and on

his thigh he has a

name written king

of kings and

lord of lords

then I saw an

angel standing in

the sun and with

a loud voice he

called to all the

birds that fly

directly overhead

come gather for

the great supper of

God to eat the

flesh of kings the

flesh of captains the

flesh of mighty men

the flesh of horses

and their riders and

the flesh of all men

both free and

slave both small and

great I saw the

beast and the

kings of the earth

with their armies

gathered to make

war against him

who was sitting on

the horse and

against his army and

the beast was

captured and with

it the false prophet

who in its presence

had done the signs

by which he deceived

those who had

received the mark of

the beast and those

who worshipped its

image these two were

thrown alive into the

lake of fire that

burns with sulfur and

the rest were slain by

the sword that came

from the mouth of him

who was sitting on the

horse and all the

birds were gorged

with their flesh

please stand

let us bow our heads

in prayer

father you know

better than we do

what we long for and

what we yearn for

you know father how

many of us are

conscious of our

struggles with

longing and yearning

for things that

have some

importance but not

the type of ultimate

importance that we

put on them and

you know how many of

us father aren't even

aware of how much we

are controlled by

longings and yearnings

for success and

success in the eyes of

people we don't even

like and how much we

are controlled by

things like money and

and and and a