Ordered Faith

Father, your word sometimes is, at least on the outside, very, very hard to us, hard for

us to understand.

And Father, we know you, we trust you, we know that your son died on the cross for us,

that he died out of love for us.

We understand, Father, that every part of the Bible points to your son's death upon the cross,

and that your son's death upon the cross points to every part of the Bible and makes it clear.

So we ask, Father, that your Holy Spirit would gently but deeply fall upon us this morning.

Make us disciples gripped by that gospel so that we will live for your glory.

And this we ask in the name of Jesus, your Son and our Savior.

Amen.

Please be seated.

Thank you.

This week I had yet another interesting conversation at a coffee shop.

There's this fellow who sees all the time.

We've talked a few times.

He's a devout atheist, a sort of an aggressive atheist.

And we've had a few conversations around that, just short ones in the Starbucks.

But this week he paused and he said, you know, every day I come into this Starbucks and I see you.

He doesn't see me every day, but every day I come in, you're always reading these really big fat books and studying.

Like, what are you doing?

And I said, well, I'm, you know, I'm trying to prepare for my sermon, et cetera, et cetera.

He said, do you read, like, other books?

Like, do you just read the Bible and books connected to the Bible?

I said, no, no, I read a couple of newspapers most days.

I read a novel a week, sort of on average.

I, you know, watch movies and television.

And that sort of reassured him that I was at least vaguely normal.

And then we had a little bit of a conversation about his expectations about what people would be like who read the Bible.

But one of the things, so one of the things I've noticed just this past week,

I've noticed it for quite a while, but it really struck me,

two different things on television that I've watched this week.

The first one is on The Amazing Race.

I don't know how many of you watch The Amazing Race.

I'm the main one in my family who likes watching it.

But one of the things I've noticed this year is the amount of prayer on The Amazing Race.

And before you maybe get all excited and think that The Amazing Race is turning into some type of a Christian show,

you know, it's very, very curious because it's always a very type of,

and obviously, you know, in The Amazing Race, they have hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of hours.

If you don't know what it is, it's a group of teams that are on a race around the world.

And it's sort of everywhere they go, they get something that tells them where they have to go,

and they have to complete some task.

And as you make each stage or don't make it, you get eliminated until there's one team left that wins a million dollars.

And that's how it works.

But it's amazing some people who, and their prayers seem to be highly, highly, highly utilitarian.

Not in terms of Jesus, they might mention Jesus, but often it's just God.

And it's often really very focused to help them get a particular task.

And when I watch it, it's always very hard to figure out what on earth is sort of going on with them.

That it almost seems as if, as we'll talk about a little bit later,

that the God that exists is a God that exists just to meet their needs.

And that's often what it seems to come across when you watch all of the show

and just see the way they relate to each other and the way they talk.

Another thing which happened just, I think, within the last week on prayer,

I also watched this TV, a series of BBC movies called Wallander.

And I think they're really superbly acted.

It's all about a Swedish police detective.

And in one of the older episodes that I was watching this week on Netflix,

it was the episode after he had done a particular tragedy.

I'm not going to tell you what it is in case you watch the series,

so I don't give any spoiler alerts.

But a particular tragedy had befell him.

And he had gone through a deep period of darkness,

trying to come to terms with how it was that he was able to do something like that.

And he's having a conversation with another police officer, former police officer.

And the police officer asks him, did you pray?

Do you ever pray?

And if I was a really cool pastor of a big megachurch,

at this point in time, this is where I would have it up on the screen,

just as I would have some of these utilitarian prayers from The Amazing Race on the screen,

I'd have this Wallander moment where he perfectly responds with a look of complete,

he's just completely and utterly incredulous.

And he says to the cop, who asks him if he prays,

he says, like, why on earth would I do that?

Like, why on earth would I do that?

Even though he's wrestling with the fact that he'd done something quite horrible,

and it's been quite a shock to him that he would do something that was so,

at least that he understood as being horrible.

Now, I'm obviously not a very, very cool pastor,

because not only do I not have the video clip up there,

but today we're looking at Revelation 16 and the seven bulls of the wrath of God,

which is not particularly what cool pastors would talk about.

But it would be very helpful if you turned to Revelation 16.

And Revelation 16, which we could look at just all about end time things,

and I'll make a little bit of a passing reference to it.

But Revelation 16 is a very, very interesting reflection on how it is that we live our lives.

How is it that we deal with things that we've done that sort of purify ourselves about ourselves?

How is it that we fit in prayer, whether it's utilitarian or otherwise,

or whether it's even worth our time to pray?

And Revelation 16 is actually,

when you sort of take some time, get over the shocking imagery in it,

and spend some time looking at it and allowing the text,

asking the question text and letting the question ask us text

is actually a very, very profound introduction to how it is that, in fact,

we structure and people structure our lives.

So Revelation 16, if you're a guest here, not familiar with the Bible,

it's the last book in the Bible, it should be easy to find.

Chapter 16, and here's how it begins.

Then I heard a loud voice from the temple telling the seven angels,

go and pour out on the earth the seven bowls of the wrath of God.

Now just sort of pause right here.

Here's sort of my first point, if you could put it up, Andrew.

And today I have sort of more talking points than I usually do in my sermon,

and I apologize that they're not in the notes,

but if you go on the webpage, I think tomorrow,

if you don't have time, if those of you take notes,

they'll be on the webpage.

And here's the first thing to observe.

Because he loves us, the living God warns us of the world's last night.

I get that imagery from C.S. Lewis in an essay that he wrote once.

Because he loves us, the living God warns us of the world's last night.

And so what's happening here, if you're familiar with the flow of the book,

is that we have a series of judgments.

And if you go back and look at them,

there were a series of seven judgments earlier on in the book

where many of them led to a quarter of the earth being touched.

And then there is, a little bit later,

a series of seven judgments

that involve a third of the world being touched.

And now this is the last cycle of judgments.

And in these judgments, all of the world is touched.

In fact, actually, I'm not going to talk about it today

other than just to sort of point something out

that this series of judgments is different than the other two.

As we get deeper into the text,

you'll see that in this series of judgments,

the only people who are affected by it

are people who are in rebellion against God.

So if you were doing a series of talks in the book of Revelation

where you were concerned all about end time events,

this is the sort of time when you try to fit in the rapture

or the tribulation and all that type of stuff.

And I'm just going to mention that that's a feature of the text.

I'm not going to actually talk about it very much,

but I wanted you to notice it.

And the reason I want you to notice it

will be familiar in a moment.

Well, the reason I want you to notice it is this,

that all the way through these bold visions of what happens,

these are ones that are, in a sense,

talking about the world's last night,

the end of the end of our created order

before God brings in a new created order

and there's a last judgment.

And all of the other different cycles of judgment,

we can understand that on one hand

they're pointing to something in the future,

but also on one hand they're talking about something

which happens right now.

But this series really is talking primarily about the end.

But it's talking about the end in a way

which is highly relevant to right now.

And so it's going to be very, very hard,

and I'm not going to attempt to do it.

I'm not going to attempt to try to figure out

what part of these images are symbolic

and what parts of the image are literal

because, frankly, how could I possibly know

the answer to that question?

And, frankly, how could anybody possibly know

the answer to that question?

The important thing is to remember what's said

so that if by chance, or if by providence, I should say,

we are there as the world's last night finally arrives,

if we are familiar with the text,

then we can notice and understand what's happening.

And so that's going to be my focus on it

because the focus is on how shall we then live?

How shall we then live in light of the text?

And so in all of these series of judgment visions,

these seven, what we need to understand

is that God has this written for us because he loves us

and because he wants to begin a conversation with us

in light of them.

It's upsetting to many of us

because we don't really understand.

In our age, we increasingly don't understand

what conversations are.

We're more familiar with negotiations

that in relationships, often we're not really trying

to have a conversation with another person

to know the other person.

We're trying to negotiate what we want them to do

or what we want them to allow us to do.

And this text, God is not interested

in having a negotiation with us,

but he is very interested in having a conversation with us.

And so this text, like all of scripture,

every single word of scripture

is an invitation from God

for you and me to have a conversation with him.

And that's what's happening here.

And so because he loves us,

because he loves us,

the living God warns us of the world's last night.

And that's what these visions are going to be all about.

Now, some of you might say,

George, you know, okay,

so I know you're going to sort of,

I've heard that you're going to go through the text

and you're going to talk about each verse here,

at least read it and say a few things about it.

But I remember a few things about what Jeremy read.

And while you've been talking,

I've been sort of reading ahead a little bit.

But, oh, George, come on.

Like, this text is so out of step with Canada.

Like, this text is so out of step with Canada.

And it's so out of text,

out of touch with spirituality.

Like, it just sounds like doom and gloom religion.

Like, I don't even quite know why to bother with it.

It just seems to be so completely and utterly out of step

with how us modern or postmodern people

understand and process and the language.

It's out of step, George.

And if any of you thought that,

that's a really good thought because it is.

It is.

But the question is, what is the text trying to do?

And is it, in fact, opening up to us

an area of conversation

that many in our modern world

are completely and utterly missing?

Well, let's continue reading.

And we'll start to see.

So, verse 2.

So the first angel went

and poured out his bowl on the earth.

And harmful and painful sores

came upon the people

who bore the mark of the beast

and worshipped its name.

Just pause.

You'll notice the mark of the beast

in a couple of the earlier sermons

where the mark of the beast and all was mentioned.

What this means is these are people

who the mark of the beast shows

that they pledged their allegiance to the beast,

which is sort of like a false god,

part of the false trinity.

And they pledged their allegiance to the beast

and they worship him.

And notice that these swords just fall on them.

That's what I mean by...

I'm not going to talk about that.

I don't know what that's going to mean

when the world's last night happened.

I don't know what it means.

But you should see it and know it, right?

And then the next verse 3.

The second angel poured out his bowl into the sea

and it became like the blood of a corpse

and every living thing died that was in the sea.

Now just sort of pause there for a second.

This is not a very positive text, eh?

At least not on the surface.

Here's one of the things, you know.

If you go to a church that just wants to give you

a positive hour and a half vibe every Sunday,

then it usually means that it's not actually going to try

to touch us at a deeper level.

And texts like this that are more angular and pointy,

they touch us at a deeper level.

And if we allow them, if we spend some time with them,

they start to penetrate into how we actually see the world

and understand the world

and what it is that God is inviting us

into a conversation about

and where that conversation could end up going.

And here's the thing.

You could put up this next point.

And I'll try to explain what it means.

It sounds a little bit funny,

but I think it's an important point.

And it comes out in how strange and different the text is

from what we would expect as Canadians

a spiritual text to be.

And here it is,

that meeting with the living God

is not meeting myself.

Meeting with the living God

is not meeting myself.

Much of contemporary spirituality

is really about meeting yourself.

I'm not saying that it's every single person who meditates

and every single person who does yoga

and every single person who does a series of self-help seminars, etc.

I'm not saying that every single person who does it is doing this.

And whether it's recognized or not,

a lot of what happens,

whether it's through exercise or through yoga

or time in the wilderness,

is actually just an opportunity

for a person to meet themselves

and discover how wonderful they are.

And I'm not saying that to belittle,

because,

but it is,

that somehow or nothing,

I was really struck on the Saturday paper,

I read the National,

I looked at the National Post and the Citizen,

and here the National Post

would be sort of understood in popular parlance

as a right-wing paper,

whatever that means in Canada.

And the Citizen is sort of a bit more left-wing or centrist,

and I'm not going to get into a debate

as whether which is right,

which is left,

but here's the thing,

in both of them,

they had lots of things about retreats,

about mindfulness,

about yoga retreats,

about a whole series of things.

And it's not only been on the Saturday paper,

but all this week,

there's been a series of things about it.

And, you know,

I read it because I'm curious

to try to figure out how people think, right?

How do people think?

And it really struck me that at the heart of it,

at the heart of it,

and you can,

I can understand,

because I'm a Canadian,

I breathe Canadian air,

and I can understand the pull

and the draw and the attraction of it,

but it's really all a series of spiritual practices

that will obviously help you to be more healthy

or calm, etc.

There's a utilitarian aspect to it,

but the God that you meet is yourself.

The encounter you have is with yourself.

And so,

when we're used to looking at spiritual texts,

if you were to go and maybe in the coffee shop

or your office or your neighborhood

and people are all excited about a new thing

that looks really encouraging,

and if you maybe think about it,

I'm just throwing it out there,

you can think about it,

but is it really ultimately at the day

just some different way to meet yourself?

And if that's what gets Canadians excited

and we come to this text,

and this text is not like this at all.

Why?

Because this text is implying,

not implying,

it's saying that there is a living God

who's completely and utterly other

and different than you and I.

I mean, there's other texts here

which talk about how close the living God is to us,

so close to us that we can sometimes

mistake ourselves for him,

but it fundamentally is talking about

the complete and utter difference of God

and how different he is,

and it's a conversation not with myself.

The Bible's not inviting me

into having a conversation with myself.

The Bible's inviting me to have a conversation

and know the living God

who's completely and utterly other.

And that's why the text is like this.

I've been married for a very long time now,

not long enough.

I'm looking forward to being married to Louise

for a long time

unless Jesus comes back first.

And so it's been a long time,

but here's the thing.

When you're single,

maybe this is just a single guy thing,

I don't know,

but it's easy to imagine

the ideal wife,

the ideal girlfriend,

and it's easy to think about

the ideal wife,

the ideal girlfriend.

Ideal wife and girlfriend

never tells you

you've done something wrong,

you've hurt her feelings,

you've ignored her,

you've been lazy,

you've been self-centered.

I don't know,

maybe your ideal girlfriends

were very different than mine.

And then you meet a real person,

and they're angular.

By angular,

it means they have pointy bits

that aren't bad pointy bits.

They have bad pointy bits

just like yourself.

I mean,

that's one of the things about marriage

is discovering that you're both sinners,

right?

And that's why you need Jesus

to be the Savior and the Lord

in your marriage.

But, you know,

with a real person,

there's pushback.

And so,

if marriage is not about

me marrying somebody

who,

and a lot of the way

that modern people

talk about marriage

is they're looking

for a soulmate.

And if you look behind

and underneath

the conversation,

they're looking for somebody

who will adorn

and support

their own particular,

their projects

around themselves.

themselves.

But it's not really a matter,

but marriage is not about

finding somebody

who's going to just,

just end up

in the sense

adoring you

and allowing you

to do what you want.

It's about,

it's a deep encounter,

a deep,

it's an invitation

to a lifelong deep encounter

with the reality

of another person.

That's what distinguishes

a quest for true marriage

from just being enamored

with a fantasy.

And in the Bible,

there's this invitation

not to meet yourself,

although when you meet

the living God,

you will understand yourself.

I will understand myself

in a,

there's a,

I will start to understand

myself in a very true

and deep manner.

There's an invitation

for profound,

deep self-knowledge

in the gospel.

But at its heart,

it's an invitation

to meet the other

and other,

the true and living God,

the creator and sustainer

and the end of all things.

Immense,

and yet immensely loving

and immensely true

and always completely

and utterly himself.

and that's the invitation

to meet him.

And these texts

don't fit in

with how we Canadians

want them to fit in

because it's beckoning us

to a vastly different conversation

than just

a deeper journey

into ourselves.

some of you might say,

okay, George,

that's sort of interesting,

but one moment, George.

Look at all these bulls

falling on people.

Like,

I don't know, George,

isn't it maybe a little bit

like if God has to resort

to threats like this

that there's something

lacking in him?

Well,

that's a good question.

Let's look a little bit further

and see how the text

works itself out.

Let's read verses four

and following.

The third angel

poured out his bowl

into the rivers

and the springs of water

and they became blood.

Just sort of note

that the sea had become

blood like a corpse

and now this drinkable water,

springs and rivers,

they became blood.

And I heard the,

just as a bit of an aside here,

like in a modern,

in the modern world,

who is the one

group,

at least in terms

of our popular imagination,

that would like it?

Vampires.

Not really making a joke,

but it's true, right?

Vampires would be excited

if the rivers

and the streams

were filled with blood.

And throughout most

of the world's history,

in cultures,

there are dark gods

and dark goddesses

who exist to drink

the blood of humans.

And so,

in a modern world,

it's a world

where vampires

are at home.

in the world

of this text

when it was written,

it's describing

a world

where dark gods

and goddesses

are at home.

But it's profoundly

unhuman,

and humans

can't truly live there.

So,

the verse four again,

the third angel

poured out his bowl

into the rivers

and the springs of water

and they became blood.

Now,

there's going to be

a change.

All of the other bowls,

every one of them,

there'll now be a comment

on the bowl.

And the first comment

is going to come

from God's perspective.

Here's the comment.

And I heard the angel

in charge of the waters

say,

Just are you,

O Holy One,

who is and who was.

For you brought

these judgments.

For they have shed

the blood of saints

and prophets,

and you have given them

blood to drink.

It is what they deserve.

And I heard the altar

saying,

Yes,

Lord,

God,

the Almighty.

Actually,

it should literally be

Lord,

the God,

the Almighty.

True and just

are your judgments.

Now,

this is a real surprise.

Excuse me.

This is a real surprise.

This is,

so the third bowl

has come.

It's now picturing

a world

where only dark gods

and dark goddesses

are at home

and can roam the land.

it's profoundly

a place

where humans

don't really fit.

And the comment,

the first comment

on this

comes from angels

that this shows

the justice

and the truth

of God.

It's a very,

very,

very puzzling

reaction.

It's a puzzling

reaction to us.

And why is it

puzzling to us?

Part of the reason

it's so puzzling

to us

is that probably

every single one

of us

to some extent

believes that

the God that exists

exists to meet

my needs.

I don't really think

he exists to meet

your needs,

by the way.

He just exists

to meet my needs.

And you're all saying,

one moment,

he exists to meet

my needs.

Sucks to be you,

George.

He exists to meet

my needs.

And we might not

even be aware of it,

but that's so deeply

ingrained in our culture

and in the way

that we approach

the texts

that it would be

very interesting

to see,

to think,

that as these,

whatever these

symbolize,

whatever these visions

are going to actually

look like

when they work

themselves out

in history.

And I don't know

what's going to be

symbolic and what's

historical.

I don't know that.

But if we remember

the text,

it will become

clear to us

if we live through it.

And it's,

I can easily

imagine that

there will be

a whole pile

of people

writing books

on the problem

of evil

and why it is

that God

is allowing evil

and will spend

our time

trying to justify

the evil

in the world

and how it

goes along

with the

existence of God.

But this text

is saying

that what's

happening here

in the world's

last night

reveals

and displays

the truth

and justice

of God.

God is

in the world's

God.

Because you see,

if there really

is a true

and living

God that does

exist

who's completely

and utterly

other,

and if in fact

our world

is organized

and my life

is organized

around such a

way that I

think that God

only exists

to meet my

needs,

and that can

only be true

if I think

I'm greater

than God

and stronger

than God,

and if I am

completely

and utterly

addicted

to that belief,

then I will

find all of

these things

that are

happening

a profound

offense.

A profound

offense.

That's why

I put the

point for this

in these words,

if you could

put it up,

Andrew.

Who or

what

failed?

The true

and living

God

or a false

God?

Who or

what

failed?

The true

and living

God

or a false

God?

This text,

by the way,

all of

chapter 16,

if you wanted

to see a bit

of a way

that it's

modeled,

it's modeled

on the

Exodus story.

If you go

back and read

the book

of Exodus

and see

the different

plagues

and everything

like that

and how

in Exodus

God's people

are protected

from them

and it's a

revelation

of his

sovereignty

and it's

a revelation

that the

gods that

the Egyptians

and the

Israelites

themselves

trusted in

are shown

to be

completely

and utterly

helpless

and bankrupt

and for us

in our age

and we

worship

capitalism

and socialism

and central

planning

and individual

planning

and initiative

and technology

and technique

and human

creativity

and we

worship

ourselves

and our

own ability

to manage

things

and we

worship

our own

understanding

of the world

and the universe

that we

don't really

we rarely do

things that are

wrong

that are our

own fault

and that we

can control

things and that

bad things don't

happen to good

people and if

bad things happen

to another person

it's because they're

not really learning

how to do things

properly but people

who've learned how

to manage the

techniques and

manage the secret

can do this and

can do that and

we can just meditate

and we'll get

centered and in

this entire world

all of these

understandings have

failed

and the text

is revealing

that

the gods

that we put

our faith

and trust

in are

failing

they failed

my ability

to control

myself

and have

my own

prosperity

it's all

failing

and so the

question is

in the text

is who's

failing

the true

and living

God

or false

gods

that we put

our faith

and trust

in

and this

is a surprising

and shocking

thought

and it's not

where we thought

we'd go

when we began

this text

we did not

think that it

would challenge

what it is

that we put

our faith

in and our

trust in

what is it

that we serve

and love

and obey

and trust

and hope

in

and that it

would reveal

that in fact

we maybe

worship ourselves

in some way

and see the

world centered

around us

or just in

service to us

or having to

bow to us

or fit to us

and on top

of that

we worship

the government

and we worship

capitalism

and we worship

Canadianism

as if somehow

Canadians have

some divine right

to always be

prosperous

or always be

successful

or always be

better than

the Americans

or always be

better than

the English

or Europeans

or Chinese

or whatever

it is

and we have

all of these

things that we

just sort of

assume and love

and worship

and trust

and hope

and we don't

identify them

and this text

is picturing

a day

when every

God

fails

the true

and living

God

reveals the

failure

of every

false

God

that's what

the text

is describing

it's asking

us

you and me

to consider

now some of you

might say

I don't think

I live by faith

George

I don't think

I have gods

that I worship

you know

it's interesting

you know

in the

amazing race

I think you can

see it often

in the way

people pray

it's a little bit

hard because

you know

maybe in the

bigger context

it's just

they're really

they do

see themselves

as giving

themselves to

God who is

bigger than

them

and the God

who is bigger

than us

does ask us

to bring our

needs to him

and maybe

if we were

to see all

of the film

footage

that's what

we would

understand

is going

on

maybe they've

just edited

to make

it look

like they're

trying to

rub a genie

in a bottle

to get the

genie to do

something for

them

it could

very well

be that

that's what's

happening

with the

editing

of the show

you never

know with a

show like

The Amazing

Race

how they're

making people

look

it could be

completely

opposite

than what

they really

were

happening

in real

life

but even

if you take

that Wallander

episode that I

began the

sermon with

and one of

the things

which is

sort of

very very

sustained

throughout

these very

very well

done

series of

nine different

short BBC

movies hour

and a half

movies is

that the

consistent

atheism of

Wallander

and the

consistent idea

that there is

no God

that there's

you die

and that's

just it

which is

partly why

it so

wonderfully

acted like

why on earth

would I pray

like why on earth

would you even

think that I

would pray

like why on earth

would anybody

pray

but at the

same time

as he

regularly

wrestles

with all

sorts of

failures

you see

that there

are things

that he does

serve

that he does

love

he does

obey

he does

trust

he does

hope

in

that he

has his

own

very high

view of

himself

even as

he lives

selflessly

that there's

a series

of things

which he's

completely

and utterly

committed to

and the

Bible here

is going

to suggest

that we

have

that in

fact

every

single

person

lives

by faith

this will

start to

come out

in these

next few

verses

verse 8

cost my

time

verse 8

the

fourth

angel

poured

out

his

bowl

on

the

sun

and

it

was

allowed

to

scorch

people

with

fire

they

were

scorched

by the

fierce

heat

and remember

I said

that all

of the

bowls

from now

on

will

always

include

a

response

and how

is it

that

people

respond

and they

cursed

or

blasphemed

the name

of God

who had

power

over

these

plagues

they

did

not

repent

and give

him

glory

the

image

by the

way

here

on this

seal

is almost

like

an

opposite

of

Pentecost

the

image

is as if

fire

itself

comes down

and touches

people

and scorches

them

in Pentecost

it was

like

tongues

that

appeared

like

fire

that was

the

coming

of

the

Holy

Spirit

that

led

forth

in

people

singing

God's

praises

and shouting

God's

praises

in the

tongues

of

every

person

who

was

there

and

now

it's

almost

like

a

fell

Pentecost

it's

a

judgment

Pentecost

and

the

fire

comes

and

scorches

and

suffering

rather than

inclining

people's

hearts

to search

for the

living

God

and

rather

than

this

suffering

leading

people

to

recognize

that

the

gods

that

they

put

their

faith

and

trust

in

that

they

are

failing

that

they

are

failing

that

they

are

failing

that

they

are

failing

poured out

his

bowl

on

the

throne

of

the

beast

the

center

of

the

beast's

authority

and

its

kingdom

was

plunged

into

darkness

people

nod

their

tongues

in

anguish

and

curse

the

God

of

heaven

for

their

pain

and

sores

and

they

did

not

repent

of

their

deeds

just

sort of

pause

here

one

of

the

ways

remember

you

might

not

remember

but

when

we

were

looking

at

the

other

cycles

of

judgment

John

could

understand

a

contradiction

just

like

you

and

me

he

can

understand

that

the

fourth

bowl

the

sun

is

so

bright

and

so

powerful

that

some

fire

is

scorching

us

and

now

all of

a

sudden

it's

dark

he

can

understand

these

things

so

the

way

for

us

to

read

it

and

understand

it

I

don't

read

that

many

fantasy

novels

but

those

of

you

who

read

fantasy

novels

where

there's

a

quest

involved

what's

one of

the

things

that

you

have

to

do

in

the

quest

often

you

have

to

remember

the

words

of the

prophecy

you have

to remember

the words

of the

ancient

document

or what

the

seer

said

or

something

like

that

and

often

what

happens

in

quest

novels

fantasy

quest

type

novels

is

that

people

keep

forgetting

the

different

things

and

so

they

get

off

track

and

they

get

brought

back

back

on

to

track

and

that's

the

dynamic

of the

story

goes

and

it's

the

same

type

of

thing

which

is

happening

here

with

the

Bible

it's

just

really

a

matter

of

us

what

will

the

world's

last

night

be

I

don't

know

what

what

matters

is

remembering

what

matters

is

remembering

that's

what

matters

okay

and

when

it

seems

to have

different

contradictions

that's

not

a

contradiction

it's

inviting

us

to

understand

what's

going

on

and

the

image

I

used

to

use

if

those

of

you

who have

never

met

my

daughter

Victoria

for instance

if there's

people who have

never met

my daughter

Victoria

maybe

Louise and I

would show you

seven

really good

pictures

of

Victoria

and if

we showed

you seven

different

pictures

of

Victoria

maybe

one of

her

looking

very

intent

and

focused

maybe

one of

her

laughing

maybe

one

looking

at

one

of

her

children

maybe

one

of

her

just

doing

a

task

or

whatever

and

if

I

picked

seven

really

good

pictures

if

you

tried

to

take

the

seven

pictures

and

manually

put

them

all

together

to

create

one

image

you

wouldn't

actually

recognize

Victoria

at

all

would

you

I

think

she'd

have

seven

noses

that

would

throw

you

off

right

off

the

bat

because

in

real

life

she

only

has

one

right

she'd

have

maybe

13

or

14

years

to

do

it

but

what

would

happen

is

if

you

look

at

all

seven

and

then

if

you

met

my

daughter

Victoria

maybe

even

after

seeing

them

if

you

saw

her

in

the

Rito

center

without

me

or

Louise

or

if

you

saw

her

out

of

the

context

you'd

say

that's

George's

daughter

Victoria

and

not

only

would

you

be

able

to

recognize

you

have

a

bit

of

a

sense

from

seven

pictures

as

to

her

nature

and

her

character

and

so

something

like

that's

probably

going

on

here

how

it's

all

going

to

put

together

God's

in

control

of

that

I

don't

have

to

sort

that out

I

just

have

to remember

the

seven

but

here's

the

point

notice

the

responses

now

remember

in

the

third

bowl

we

see

God's

commentary

on

what's

going

on

and

here

we

begin

to

see

the

responses

of

people

to

having

in

a

sense

their

gods

fail

the

revelation

of

their

gods

completely

and

utterly

failing

and

what

we

see

is

this

since

every

person

the

fourth

point

since

every

person