Well, good morning.
Breaking news.
May not be breaking, but it may shock you.
I'm not sure.
It depends how delusional you are.
The world is not working perfectly this morning.
I don't know if you're aware of that.
Even the fact that we have to have a child safety committee, that's sad.
That means that the world doesn't work perfectly.
And maybe your world is not working perfectly this morning.
There's wars going on right now in Ukraine and in Ethiopia and in Yemen.
And those countries' peoples and lives just being broken apart, torn apart.
There's brutal and violent conflicts in Gaza, in Israel, in Haiti, and in Myanmar right now.
The UN says perhaps about maybe half the population in Afghanistan is suffering from hunger.
And the U.S.
has our problems, right?
I mean we could we could list those.
We know those.
And you have your problems, and I have my problems, and we have our own weariness, or we have our own disappointment, our own loss, our own hurt, our own pain.
So how is hope working in the world today?
And how is hope working in your world today?
Christy showed me this video this week.
It's really cute video, if I can use the word cute for video.
This is Bonnie, a grandma, who every morning she walks out onto her front porch to wave to the school children and the school children waving to her on a school bus as they pass.
Let's watch this quick real quick.
So this is hope, but it's not like optimism, right?
We're like maybe, maybe not.
It's not like a, you know, like a little boy taking his baseball glove to the ballpark like he's actually gonna catch a foul ball, right?
Like, really?
Like the math on that's not real good.
The math on this is really good.
Like the school bus is going to come by.
It's confident expectation of something good to come.
That's hope, rock solid hope, something grounded and firm, something assured.
Author John Eldritch says this about hope.
Hope is confident expectation that good is coming.
Something rock solid, something that we can build our lives on.
What would you say is the great sustaining hope your life is?
What is the great sustaining hope of your life?
So we've been studying the book of Revelation.
As soon as you enter the book of Revelation, maybe you recognize how weird and strange that book is, and maybe you've never read it.
We've been studying it for weeks and weeks and weeks, and as we've been studying it, we've realized it's not as strange as we originally thought it was, and it's opening up some really beautiful ideas about God and our lives.
Now, there's all different views of the book of Revelation, and maybe you have a particular view.
We love that you're here.
We are taking, as we've learned, these two big words, the covenantal, a millennial view.
Big words, which means that we don't see all the language in the book of Revelation as literal, but we see a lot of it as symbolic for us.
So John is being a, there's the writer of Revelation, he's a pastor and he's a poet writing the seven churches, not describing a tribulation to come, but our actual tribulation.
These seven churches, hurt and pain, what's going on in their lives.
And then also the hurt and pain we have now.
So all the hurt and pain, disappointment from the first coming of Jesus to the second coming of Jesus, the reality of the world.
That's what John's writing about.
And last week we looked at the seven bowls of wrath.
I mean, that's really the sermon I want to wake up and preach, and I'm sure you just can't wait to go re-listen to that on the podcast, the bowls of wrath sermon.
That's a popular one.
But we did get this story.
We got this imagery of a prostitute named Babylon the Great.
And John's using this as an image of the evil and the oppression of Rome and the evil and oppression of the world.
And then in Revelation 19, it opens up with this prostitute being defeated.
And then we jump into verse 6 as we begin to get a vision of heaven.
So let's read our way through this.
Some Brian read for us, we'll reread some of that and we'll work our way through the chapter.
Revelation 19, 6 through 10.
Then I heard what seemed to be a 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 exalt 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.
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 who hold to the testimony of Jesus.
Worship God.
For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.
So there's going to be two feasts that we see in Revelation 19 as to begin to even imagine what heaven might be like.
And so feast number one is the wedding supper of the Lamb.
This is the imagery John is building for us.
To think about heaven.
And the point number one coming off of the first feast is that heaven brings us forever union with God and forever peace and wholeness for our hearts.
So John sees two feasts as the welcome of heaven.
No suffering, no fear, all joy, all peace, a feast of delight that doesn't end.
No walk of shame at the end of the night, no walk of shame the next morning, none of the questions that plague us, right?
You know the questions.
Am I really enough?
Am I really forgiven?
Will any of this ever be okay?
All those questions gone.
Wow, that's a party.
That's a feast of delight for us.
In 2019, the documentary entitled Fire, the Greatest Party That Never Happened.
Maybe you've seen the documentary on Netflix.
The Fire Festival was branded as the most amazing luxury music festival to ever be held, and it was going to be held on an island in the Bahamas.
And they spent all their money and all their time in marketing the festival with influencers and models on yachts and putting on social media and they got the hype going, but they spent really little time thinking about what it actually means to host thousands of people on a remote island in the Bahamas.
And so as soon as all these people show up, turns out to be misery.
There's food issues and security issues and lodging issues, neglect, eventually lawsuits.
This is what they showed up to.
This is the luxury music festival.
Now, most parties of the world are not that bad, right?
Like that's an extreme example.
That's not that level of disaster in the parties of the world, but this is an image.
The inability of the world to deliver, and we all know this because we've tried it, the inability of the world to deliver this level of perfect joy.
That the images portrayed didn't match the reality of what we actually get.
Now, I grew up with heaven being the great escape from punishment.
And pretty limited to that.
It hasn't been to the last couple of years, maybe being in midlife, I don't know, but also maybe just learning a little bit more.
We're actually the beauty of heaven, the promise of it, of what it would mean for my heart that just is plagued with sin and guilt and shame and these questions, to actually be relieved of that.
Oh man, that's something to actually hope in.
Our home of wholeness and restoration.
And what I keep learning in these days is that part of my discontentment is my sin.
Part of my need to always just need something else.
That is my sin.
And part of it also is just my heart longing for home.
That you and I were not ultimately built for this world.
We weren't created for this world.
And John's giving us a vision of heaven for us where all things are restored and all things are new and all things are at peace, including your heart.
That all the parts of my heart that aren't quite put together and never will be, and your heart that aren't put together and never will be finally is at rest and made whole and new and restored.
In ancient Jewish marriage customs, just to begin to think about what John was writing about when he writes Marriage Supper of the Lamb.
In the ancient Jewish marriage customs, the wedding supper was a big deal.
Big deal.
An engagement would be made, so there would have been a legally binding betrothal made.
The bride's father would pay a dowry, and then preparations would begin to be made for the procession and for the wedding and for the party.
The bride would go and adorn herself.
The groom would go and drink beer and play golf with his friends.
No, no, the groom would they would sing, the groom and his friends.
They would can you imagine us doing this?
Hey, let's go get some torches and light them and sing.
That's what they would do.
And they would walk to go get the bride.
It's kind of cool.
Beer and golf, torches and singing, you know.
They would go and get the bride, and the procession would come back to the home where a great wedding feast would happen for seven to fourteen days.
Right?
You thought your cousin's Catholic wedding service was long.
Like you were like an hour and a half, like let's, you know, like seven to fourteen days, a party, a feast.
This is what John's thinking about.
I don't know.
Like, I don't know where you've been, I don't know what church you've been in, I don't know what you've been reading, I don't know what you've been thinking about, but I know God cannot love you anymore or any less because he already loves you without limits.
And he has a party of grace and welcome for you, a feast of belonging.
This is what, this is our home to come.
And we're getting tastes of it now.
And in Christ we have all this.
Our hearts are actually crying out for it.
Just don't mistake that crying out for I need a new pair of shoes, or I need a new car, or I need a different spouse, or I need a new job.
Sometimes it's just our heart is crying out for our ultimate home.
The heavenly taste of this world, which I love, so many of them, the heavenly tastes of this world, they're revealing, they're wooing us towards the hope of heaven.
Point number two is this only Jesus can satisfy our cravings for absolution, belonging, and validation.
Now, those are the cravings of your heart underneath so many of the other things that we have going on operating in our lives.
Last Sunday, Christy and I celebrated 18 years of marriage.
We're getting to some legitimate amount of years where I can actually start to give some marriage advice.
I mean, I look back 18 years ago.
I mean, we were young, right?
We were in the mid-20s, young 20s.
She was sweet and caring, still is.
Still is.
I've had to catch myself.
She's not in here.
She loved Jesus.
No, she's still sweet and caring.
She still loves Jesus.
But man, she has blossomed into a savvy, smart, and brave woman.
And I've gotten quirkier over the years.
And she still loves me.
Isn't that amazing?
And I love her more now because there's more to know of her.
So I love more of her now.
And yet, here's the thing about this woman.
Even this woman, she cannot solve the deepest longings of my heart.
And it won't surprise you that the reverse is true, right?
Like that's not a surprise.
Like that's abundantly clear that I cannot solve the deepest longings and cravings of her soul.
And you know this.
You know this in your romance.
Or you know this with your spouse.
Don't say amen.
Don't say it.
Don't don't say it.
Don't say it.
You're thinking it.
We can talk about it later.
But you know it.
Because they haven't really lived up to all your hopes.
See, in this way, Jesus is our forever spouse.
When we use that language, sometimes half the room can just be like, and I'm out.
Like, that's weird.
Like it's a way to say Jesus is the absolution you crave for.
Jesus is the validator you crave for.
He's the fulfiller of the deepest longing of your soul that you crave for.
Here's the implication for joy and hope for now.
Here's how it kind of works its way out.
Long sentence, but here it is.
As our hearts are relieved and validated in Jesus, meaning that even your spouse does not relieve and validate you.
And hoping in the wedding supper of the Lamb, our hope of heaven.
Our hearts grow in joy and hope now.
That's how our hearts grow.
In joy and hope now.
Verse 11.
Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse.
The one sitting on it is called faithful and true.
So this is Christ.
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 winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty.
On his robe and on his thigh, he has a name written, King of Kings and Lord of Lords.
So Christ is the loving spouse.
We got that at the beginning of the chapter.
And now we get Christ as a heavenly warrior or a conqueror, a conqueror of evil.
That finally there's a day where there's no more injustice and pain.
That's heavenly.
Four names are given for us in this passage of Christ, faithful and true, Word of God, King of kings and Lord of Lords.
And then in there, did you catch it an unknowing name?
Isn't that interesting?
You see it throughout the scriptures that at times God just floods us with different names for himself.
And then at other times he says, I don't even have a name.
He's like, I have no name.
Lots of names, no name.
See, this is God's way to communicate.
You will never fully get your hearts and minds around me.
I'll give you so many names that you get overwhelmed and you can't understand me.
Or I'll just say, there's not even a name for you to understand me by.
It's a way for God to communicate to us a way to begin to understand Him at the same time to say, Don't think you can begin to solve this mystery.
You won't be able to fully get your hearts and minds around me.
Verse 17.
As this passage we just read leads into this, 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.
Okay, it starts to get a little weird here.
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.
And 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 signs by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshipped his image.
Remember, we talk about anytime the mark is it's just to say that which you are defined by, that which you are giving yourself to.
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 seating it on the horse, and all the birds were gorged with their flesh.
Let's, you know, that's a t-shirt verse for your next student ministry retreat right there.
Feast number two.
I mean, these are two really different feasts, right?
Feast number two, the great supper of God.
And the point is this, and you can go and pick that apart.
There's a great John Stott commentary.
You can go and dig into that for a while, but here's overarching point.
Christ welcomes all forgiven sinners home, conquers all evil, and restores all sadness.
Feast number one, the wedding supper of the Lamb, which is our welcome and belonging through Christ to us.
No questions asked, no riddle by St.
Peter at the gate.
Just a welcome in Christ.
And then the second feast, the great supper of God, which is to say, all sin and all hurt and all evil and all injustice will be finished.
It's a way to say that.
That'll be heavenly.
Now putting these feasts together, we get welcome and joy and belonging without injustice, without hurt, without pain.
See how we need both of these for something to be heavenly?
Toward the end of last year, Christy and I went out of town with four of our best friend couples.
One of those kind of post-COVID trips.
You had it like built up in you.
Like, we gotta go somewhere, we gotta do something.
So we went out of town.
Our our final night, we we went out for like a big dinner.
You know, we kind of ate cheap.
We're like, let's let's let's backload it, let's let's go out one big time.
And I booked the ten of us to the nicest steakhouse in town.
Because there's ten of us, they said, Well, you know, we don't really have a table that fits you, we're gonna have to put you in a back room.
And I like that kind of stuff.
You know, you walk in, you kind of walk by everybody else, like you got something special going on, little VIP room in the back, you know, and so everything was prefixed.
They said, Well, we gotta do prefix, you know.
And so, okay, whatever, just like you pay, try to forget the price, and we go back in there, and it's real fancy schmancy, and we sit around this big table, and we eat and we drink.
There we are after the meal, back in our fancy schmancy room.
And we laughed, and we told stories.
I mean, we've been we've been knowing and loving these people for over 15 years.
And we ate more and we laughed more and we drank more.
And that wonderful thing that ha happens it happens every once in a while.
It only happens at the best of meals, like the best of feasts.
And maybe you've had it happen.
It doesn't have to happen at a fancy schmancy steakhouse.
It can happen at a backyard cookout.
I once had it happen, I was at Long John Silver's chicken plate meal, which is legit, by the way.
That's a legit meal.
With a dear friend of mine.
Man, that was a great, it was an early dinner.
I can still remember it.
In the presence of people who love you, your insecurities and guilt stop.
That's powerful.
Your worries and your shame.
They cease in the presence of that kind of joy.
And the thing that I love the most inside of that kind of love, that's just the taste here, right?
Is you lose track of time.
Don't you love that when that happens?
Right?
You've been to Chili's.
And you got the awesome blossom, the baby back ribs, you're eating the molten chocolate cake.
You get a second glass of wine, you're there for a while.
You're talking with your friends.
And then all of a sudden you go, oh, man, where did the time go?
We've been sitting here for three hours.
Because you're in a feast of delight.
See, revelation is, John's giving this to us.
Just begin to imagine what it might be like to be void of sin and injustice and pain and hurt, all that to be restored and renewed for all the questions inside of us that plague us.
Am I enough?
Am I forgiven?
Will this be okay?
All those to be settled?
And we're at peace, and we're whole.
That's rock solid to hope in.
And that's a feast.
That you will be welcomed.
In Christ you will be welcomed.
No riddle at the gate.
You will be whole, and you will be at peace.
And you're going to be caught up in a party of grace and a party of welcome and joy and newness like never before.
And you will feast.
That is something rock solid for us to hope in.
Let's pray together.
God, thank you for this great imagery for us to even begin to think about how great that day will be when we're actually called home out of a world that makes great promises but doesn't always deliver out of a world where we get tastes of heaven, but they're only tastes.
Out of a world that has so much beauty, and yet it's just a glimpse of how perfect we will one day experience beauty.
Help our hearts to connect even more in the hope of heaven as to grow today in joy and to grow today in hope.
For so many of us this morning, we have some struggle, some weariness, some hurt, some tribulation.
And in the midst of that, as to take the next step, take the next breath, help our hearts know that there is a day, there is a day when all things will be renewed, all things will be restored, and it will be like a feast of delight.
In Christ's name, we look forward.
We look forward to that day.
In Jesus' name we pray.
Amen.