Sermon - Your Family in Faith - The Overcomers

John says, Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.

Church, that's where history's going.

It's not moving toward chaos and defeat, despite what our politicians want us to believe.

History is moving toward a wedding feast in the Lamb.

Jesus Christ is the center of it all.

Welcome to the Church of the Lakes weekly sermon podcast.

We're so glad you joined us and we're honored to hurt our spiritual journey.

This year, Church of the Lakes is focusing on the 15th of Michael and all we do by living honored by the way of the world of public.

Today, Pastor Jared Friedman continues our sermon called The Book of Cards, which comes from the Book of Revelation.

The title of today's message is Your Family and Faith.

As the Bride of Christ, receive God's grace, reflect Christ's transforming love, and continually prepare ourselves for his return.

Today we are continuing on in a series of messages out of the book of Revelation.

We've been there since week seven of eight.

We'll uh you know clean it up next week.

Uh the good news of today is going to be a more uh uplifting sermon for those of us who are in the family of God.

Uh with that said, let me tell you where we where we were last week and get us up to speed because we're missing a huge section today.

We're going from Revelation 13 all the way to Revelation 19.

And I quickly want to just fill in those uh missing chapters.

Uh in chapter 13 last week, uh we saw that there is a beast of the earth that is demanding our allegiance and the world's allegiance.

Uh the chapter 13 ended with that infamous number 666, you know, the almost seven, and how often the beasts of the world get us to chase the almost sevens in our contexts.

Well, then in chapter 14 and 15, we had a little breath of hope because even though the beasts of the earth are trying to demand our allegiance to hell, uh, we have a lamb that is holding us in the palm of his hand, and God's judgment against evil.

Hear me, church, it's coming.

It's coming.

And we get that in Revelation 16, 17, and 18.

What we see is that there are seven angels that are pouring out what are known as the bowls of wrath, of God's wrath.

Uh, what is God's wrath?

It's this picture of God's righteous judgment against the world that is persistently rejecting him.

So back in Revelation 11, when we were in that portion of the book, we saw God's judgment being poured out, but he also in that moment was raising up witnesses to call people to repentance, to call people in the faith in Jesus Christ.

It's kind of what I try to do every week here at church.

But in 16 and 17, we get this picture that guess what?

It's too late.

God's judgment is coming and it is just.

His wrath is going to be unleashed.

Chapter 17 and 18, we see the fall of Babylon.

2,000 years ago, um, people of God reading Revelation would have seen Babylon as symbolism for the great Roman Empire.

Uh, we now know it's not just the great Roman Empire, but rather Babylon is a symbol for the world's corrupt systems of power, of wealth, of rebellion against God.

Uh, everything that once appeared so powerful, so permanent, so unstoppable comes crashing down.

Friends, here's ultimate reality.

The beasts of the world cannot save you.

Though they demand your allegiance, they cannot save you.

Babylon cannot stand, and evil will not have the final word.

I don't know about you, but I know what side of the line I want to be on.

Friend, repent and believe the good news of the gospel.

Alright, now we arrive in chapter 19.

Suddenly John hears something completely different.

Not the cries of judgment.

What John hears is the sound of worship.

A great multitude declaring, hallelujah, for the Lord our God Almighty reigns.

And what does John see?

He hears worship, he sees a wedding, the marriage supper of the Lamb.

Church, don't miss the contrast.

While the kingdoms of our world come crashing down, the kingdom of Jesus Christ stands firm.

Cannot crumble.

And Christ is preparing his bride for the wedding.

This is where Scripture is taking us today.

Revelation 19, starting in verse 6.

Listen to John writing under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit these words.

Then I heard what seemed to be the voice of a great multitude, like the sound of many waters and like the sound of mighty thunderpeals, crying out, Hallelujah! For the Lord our God almighty reigns.

Let us rejoice and exalt and give him glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready.

To her it has been granted to be clothed with fine linen, bright and pure.

For the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints.

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 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 comrades who hold the testimony of Jesus.

Instead, worship God.

Lord God, I thank you so much for this morning, the chance we have to gather as one faith family to worship you, to turn our focus upward, to be reminded that it is the blood of Jesus that saves.

So, God, I ask the midst of these next few moments that I, as I offer reflection on your life-giving word, that you just bless the words of my lips, the meditation of all our hearts, that they be of profit to us and acceptable to you, for you indeed are our rock and our redeemer.

Amen.

Let me ask you a question.

Can you remember the last time you received a wedding invitation?

I just didn't officiate a wedding yesterday here, so it's a very recent memory for me of when I last received a wedding invitation.

But can you think of the last wedding invitation that you received in the mail?

You get it, you open the envelope, you see what it is, you check the day, you look at your calendar, you see if you can attend, then you realize, man, I gotta actually spend money and buy a gift for this couple.

And what do you do, Amazon, or do you just give money?

And most of us do what?

We just give money.

But here's something that we often overlook, and it's so simple when we get a wedding invitation in the mail.

The reality is you receive that invitation because somebody wants you there.

Like you're not simply attending an event, you are being invited, welcomed, into a celebration.

In church, that's the picture John gives us here in Revelation 19.

After all the judgment, after the collapse of Babylon, the corrupt powers and systems of our world, John hears something extraordinary.

Wedding bells.

It's the marriage supper of the Lamb.

Here's what I want us to understand this morning as we unpack Revelation 19: Jesus didn't just come to save you, He came to invite you to bring you into a family.

And we're not talking about how we're walking toward a wedding day alone.

We are actually walking toward that wedding day together.

Again, as one people.

Here's the first thing I see out of Revelation 19: Jesus is preparing a people, not merely saving individuals.

Look at verse 7.

The marriage of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready.

Notice what John sees.

Not a collection of individual believers, he sees a bride.

Friends, all throughout scripture, God often describes his relationship with his people using the language of marriage.

We see this in the prophetic work of Hosea.

Hosea was a literal illustration of God's Hesib love, his unfaithful, unconditional love to his people, in that Hosea, who again represented God's love for his people, was called by God to marry a prostitute named Gomer.

And even though that prostitute Gomer would continually be unfaithful to you, you are to continually bring her back into your home because that's the way I love my people.

It's a Hesed love, a faithful, unconditional love.

Then we get into the New Testament, Ephesians chapter 5.

Ephesians 5 · chapter mention

Paul tells us that Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her.

Why does he give himself up for her?

Well, to make her holy.

To present her to himself as radiant and without blemish.

Church, Jesus didn't shed his blood on the cross simply to give each and every one of us an individual ticket to heaven.

He shed his blood on the cross to create a redeemed people that belong to him.

And I really think that's an important nuance to kind of unpack because we live in a culture that prizes itself on independence and individualism.

Do we not?

We're about individualism or independence, not interdependence.

But the church is about interdependence, the way God sets it up.

I mean, even in the church, like I how many of us say, I don't need anybody?

I can worship Jesus on my own.

I don't need the church.

About 15 years ago, there was this big tagline that was running through the American uh landscape.

It's I love Jesus but I hate the church.

Have you heard that?

Do you know how silly that sounds?

I mean, it sounds so, you know, cutting edge.

I love Jesus but not the church.

You know, give a middle finger to organize religion.

And I'm here going, hold on a second.

If Jesus equates his relationship to the church as a bride and a bridegroom, when you say, I love Jesus but hate the church, what you're saying is I love the groom but not the bride.

Can you I can't imagine if one of you today called me up on the phone and said, Hey Jared, I want you over for dinner tonight.

We love you.

We're gonna pull out the fine china, best flaming yon you'll ever eat, it will melt in your mouth.

I'll give you all the fixings.

Oh, but by the way, one stipulation.

Tell that brat Meredith to stay home.

We cannot stand her.

How's that gonna make me feel?

And yet we say we love Jesus, but not the church.

Friends, that is not the picture we get in Scripture.

I say it all the time.

You and I, we need to have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.

We do.

But that relationship is never to be lived out in a private way.

I would go so far to say if you cannot faithfully live the Christian life in isolation.

We need one another.

I mean, think about it.

When Jesus taught his disciples how to pray, he didn't say, When you pray, pray like this, my Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name.

No, he says, when you pray, pray like this.

Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name.

When Paul's writing to the early church, a number of his letters, he doesn't describe the people of God as independent spiritual contractors.

He calls us the body of Christ.

And now John, in the culmination of God's redemptive work here in Revelation 19, says he doesn't see thousands and thousands of disconnected individuals.

What does he see?

He sees a bride, one people belonging to one Savior.

And church, hear me, that means something for us today.

Church of the Lakes, here, please hear this.

It's simply not a place you attend on Sunday morning.

What we're going for here is we are people to whom you belong.

A family who grows up together, where we encourage one another, at times frustrate one another, but carry one another's burdens nonetheless.

Or we help one another follow Jesus more faithfully and pursue holiness more deeply.

We are, we say it often, the one another religion.

150 times in the New Testament, we get these commands littered all throughout the New Testament, these one another commands.

You're of the people of God, you are to love one another, encourage one another, show hospitality to one another, care for one another, admonish one another, bear one another's burdens, so on and so forth.

Now, the goal with the one another commands is that we're doing that amongst ourselves so well and in such a healthy way that the world on the outside of us is so compelled to want to come and take part because the community is so, so healthy.

Friends, here's the reality: nobody overcomes alone.

We need one another.

Now, I know that sounds like a four-letter word when it comes to the culture in which we've been raised in, that it feels weak that we need one another, that we really are willing to acknowledge that.

But here's the reality: that's not weakness at all.

It's God's design for human beings.

But there's something else about this family.

Not only are we to take care of one another within the family of God, we don't merely exist for ourselves.

Which brings us to the second truth.

Yes, God is preparing a people not just merely saving individuals, but also the family of faith is to reflect the love of the Lamb, not only within the family, but outside of the family.

Look at verse 8 again.

The bride has been given fine linen, bright and pure.

John actually tells us what that fine linen is.

He says it represents the righteous deeds of God's saints, of God's people.

Now, don't miss the order.

The bride is given the clothing from the bridegroom.

Like, like she has not earned that clothing.

She does not deserve that clothing.

It is unmerited favor from the bridegroom, which we know to be what?

Grace.

But grace doesn't just save us into the family of God.

Grace is called and has the capacity to transform us within the family of God.

We call it sanctifying grace.

What's sanctifying grace?

Sanctifying grace is when we allow God to do his work within us by perfecting us in love, producing within us holiness, helping nurture along the fruit of the Spirit that we received upon profession of our faith in Jesus, because we're given the Holy Spirit, and these are the fruit of the Spirit that we're called to nurture.

We allow the sanctifying grace to make us people of compassion, people of love, people of generosity, people of sacrificial service.

In other words, the bride begins to look like the bridegroom.

Use this illustration before, but have you ever seen couples that have been together 40, 50, 60 years?

Some of you aren't here today.

I got news for you.

If you're here, you kind of look like your spouse.

And the reason you look like your spouse is because you have spent so much time together in relationship, pursuing a relationship, that you get to the point 40, 50, 60 years into it, where you start talking the same, looking the same, acting the same, idiosyncrasies and mannerisms are all the same.

You look like one another.

Why do I use this illustration?

That's how it is to be with us in Christ.

We are in such a deep and abiding relationship with Him.

We're pursuing this relationship, we're going deeper with Him in this relationship that 40, 50, 60 years out, guess what?

We start looking like Jesus.

So, what does Jesus look like?

He moves towards the broken, not away from them.

He welcomes the forgotten, he doesn't dismiss them.

He restores the wounded, he doesn't just look at them and say, that's that's bad.

He brings hope and help where there is no hope or help.

And church, that's what his people are called to do as well.

Let me give you a quick picture of that.

I want to kind of refer back to what we're doing over in Sierra Leone right now with helping children worldwide.

Uh about six years ago, I met a man named Paul Smith.

Uh Paul Smith uh had an accident that left him paralyzed from the waist down.

And in an agrarian society, if you are a man running a family and you can't work, your family has become destitute pretty quick.

And uh to add insult to injury, I think his picture's up on the screen, to add insult to injury, his wife left him.

There's you're no good for me anymore.

So she left him with the kids in their humble abode, their humble home.

And Paul is to the point where he cannot provide for his kids, let alone his own self.

And so what he does was he puts his children on his wheelchair and wheels them down to what was known as a child rescue center.

Child rescue center was an orphanage that was created after the years of this horrible civil war in Sierra Leone, where many kids were left to wander the streets as orphans.

They brought those kids in to care for them, but they've transitioned in recent years from a child rescue center to a child reintegration center.

And that's where the advocacy comes in.

They're realizing that institutional life for kids is not good.

It's got to be family-based care.

So, how do we transition a model to actually make it be a hand up and not just simply a hand out?

And so the child reintegration center has become the new reality.

And it was about the time it was starting to transition from a rescue center to a reintegration center that Paul Smith shows up at the CRC.

And uh I can't imagine that as a parent, to be honest with you.

Like I love my child so much, knowing that I can't care for them, that I gotta give them up to somebody else to care for them.

Because they're gonna have more of a future with that person than they're gonna have with me.

And you just kind of think of that anguish of Paul's reality.

Now, let's turn the story where it gets a little brighter.

Uh, the CRC engaged Paul and they took hold of their children, but what the CRC didn't see was just simply children who needed help.

What they saw under that was a family that needed reunification, that needed restoration.

They cared for Paul's children for a season, but they also came alongside Paul.

They trained him, they educated him, they equipped him, they got creative with him, they provided him a microfinance loan where he went out and used that loan to buy himself a TV and do a little renovation into a little corner of his humble house, and he created a little movie theater where he could show soccer games to the local community.

I know soccer is not really big here, but it's huge over there in Africa.

And he charges ticket prices for people to come in and watch the games.

Well, now he's generating his own resources, his own income, and he's able to not only take care of himself, but guess what?

The CRC was able to reunite his children back into his own home.

Man, how awesome is that! Friends, this is not just simply charity at its finest.

What this model is, is in practice, it is the restorative power of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Like they didn't simply just help children survive.

What they did was reunite an entire family.

And that's what happens when the family of faith reflects the heart of our Savior.

We don't simply look at brokenness and say to ourselves, well, that's unfortunate.

We move into it.

We invest, we sacrifice, we help restore that which has been broken.

And that's why I think the family empowerment advocacy, see it advocacy, is such a great next step for the work that we're doing there as Church of Lakes over there.

You know, we're participating in what God is doing, not trying to start something and asking God to join us.

We're saying this is where God's working, and we want to join him and partner with him in that work.

Why?

Because that's what Kingdom of God people do.

Every act of love, every act of service, every act of generosity becomes yet another glimpse of the bride preparing herself for her bridegroom.

Which brings us to our final truth in Revelation 19.

Friends, the family of faith, we're getting ready for a wedding.

Isn't that awesome?

We're getting ready for a wedding.

Look at verse 7 again.

His bride has made herself ready.

Church, wedding, I from what I hear, there's a lot when it comes to wedding preparation.

Is that a fair statement?

I mean, I just kind of showed up at my wedding day, but most people tell me there's a lot of preparation and wedding plannings.

This wedding, however, is different.

How's it different?

The bridegroom has actually done all the work necessary to secure the marriage with the bride.

Through his death and resurrection, Jesus has paid the price, and now his bride is being prepared.

How?

Through the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit, through worship, through obedience, through loving one another, even when it's hard to love one another, through bearing witness to a watching world, through acts of mercy.

By remaining faithful, when following Jesus is going to cost you something.

Church, we're getting ready for a wedding.

And that changes how we live today.

Every time we extend forgiveness to somebody else, we're getting ready for a wedding.

Every time we shine the light of Christ and extend his love to another person, we're getting ready for a wedding.

Every time we serve somebody in need, every time we stoop low to help lift somebody up, we're getting ready for a wedding.

Every time we we help someone who doesn't know Jesus Christ is Lord and Savior, know Jesus Christ is Lord and Savior, we're getting ready for a wedding.

And we're helping one another get ready.

Listen, I don't I don't know many of your situations, but I know some of them.

So please hear this.

There will be a day that the struggle is over.

Friend, the dragon has been defeated.

The suffering will end.

And the people of God will gather before the Lamb.

And there will be a celebration unlike any celebration we have ever been a part of.

The marriage supper of the Lamb.

Can you imagine it?

People from every nation, every tribe, every tongue, every ethnicity, every generation gathered all together.

Not because we've earned a place, but because Jesus has invited us.

John says, Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.

Church, that's where history is going.

It's not moving toward chaos and defeat, despite what our politicians want us to believe.

History is moving toward a wedding feast, and the Lamb Jesus Christ is the center of it all.

So let me ask the question: are you ready?

Not are you attending church?

Not are you doing good deeds?

Not are you doing enough religious exercises?

No.

Do you belong to Jesus Christ?

Because the invitation to the wedding feast is not earned through our goodness church.

It is received by faith in the one who gave his life for us.

Jesus died for our sins.

His blood was shed for our redemption.

And he rose from the grave.

And today he's inviting each and every one of you into his family.

You know, maybe you've been trying to do it alone for too long.

Maybe you've been wounded by people who should have loved you the most.

Maybe you've drifted from the church and you're trying to find your way back.

Maybe you've never surrendered your life to Jesus and trusted in the blood that is enough for your salvation.

Listen, if that is you, today the bridegroom is calling out.

Come to him, receive his grace, become part of his family.

And church, for those of us who already belong to Jesus, maybe we have forgotten what it means to belong to one another.

We've been spectators and not participants.

We've grown comfortable when God has called us to love courageously.

Maybe today the Holy Spirit is starting to tap into your heart and asking the question: will you help my bride get ready?

Will you love?

Will you serve?

Will you invest?

Will you help carry someone else's burdens because nobody overcomes alone?

As we move into the next window of worship, I want to do what I do each week, and that's just open the altar rail to you and invite you to come and kneel.

Listen, if you are here today and you have never surrendered your life to Jesus, but you feel the Holy Spirit calling you into that relationship with Jesus, make kneeling at this altar rail a declarative statement that you now trust that the blood of Jesus shed on the cross satisfies the wrath of God and invites you into salvation.

Maybe you've wandered from the faith and you're feeling this poll to return to Him.

If so, come to the altar rail.

Maybe you've been walking in this season of isolation and you feel all alone, and the Lord needs to restore the reality that you are not alone.

If that's you, come.

Maybe God is stirring in your own soul a need to renew your commitment to his church and his mission.

If that's you, come.

Friend, this altar rail, yes, is for those who seek salvation, but it's also for those in the church who seek sanctification, who want to express gratitude, who simply need to need healing in some capacity, mind, body, or soul.

I promise you, this altar rail not only is open and you're invited to come, but there is a blessing waiting for you if you truly seek that.

Friends, let's ask the Holy Spirit to prepare us, to make us holy, to make us courageous in love, to make us a people who reflect the heart of the bridegroom.

Because, church, we are not simply attending a wedding, we are being prepared for one.

And one glorious day we'll gather around that table, and there will be no empty chairs among those Christ has redeemed.

No more separation, no more sorrow, no more brokenness, only the Lamb and his people together forever.

Hallelujah.

For the Lord our God Almighty reigns.

Praise be to God.

I'm gonna pray.

We're gonna stand and sing.

I'm gonna open the altar rail and offer you the invitation to come and receive a blessing from the Lord.

Heavenly Father, we want to thank you that through the precious blood of Jesus Christ, you have redeemed us from sin.

You have welcomed us into your family.

Lord, will you forgive us for the times that we've tried to walk alone or we've failed to love one another as you have loved us?

Holy Spirit, continue today your sanctifying work within us.

Make us a people who reflect the heart of the bridegroom, Jesus Christ.

God, teach us to love sacrificially, to serve courageously, to carry one another's burdens daily.

And now, Lord, as we come to this moment of worship, would you stir our hearts to respond to your presence?

God, so often that the best way to respond to what you're doing inwardly is to do something physically.

So, Lord, whether we need to surrender our lives more fully to you or seek a deeper work of sanctification or just simply express our gratitude for your faithfulness or come before you in a need of healing.

God, give us the courage to come to this altar this morning and kneel before you.

Lord, prepare us.

Prepare all of us for that glorious day when we will stand together at the marriage supper of the Lamb.

And until then, oh God, keep us faithful to Jesus, faithful to one another, for we belong to the Lamb and we belong to His family.

It is in the mighty and victorious name of Jesus Christ I pray all of these things.

And all God's people's son.

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