Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Danae and I were leaving Brazil after a mission trip and we were flying somewhere over South America. I've tried to figure out exactly where this was because it was late at night, most people on the plane were asleep.
[00:00:19] But since I haven't figured out where exactly we were flying at this time area, I think it was in the Andes Mountains.
[00:00:29] And all the passengers began to pull up the windows on the plane and they began to look down and there was an active volcano, somewhat active volcano.
[00:00:40] And I remember looking from. Looking from this plane upon this volcano and how stunning it was from where we were, there was lava boiling out of the top, down the side, and it was beautiful. It was absolutely breathtaking. And you could see it very vividly at night from the plane.
[00:01:03] But the reality is, from the plane, it was extremely quiet and peaceful.
[00:01:10] And that is why we were able to kind of be taken back by the brilliance of this volcano in the plane. It was harmless, it was quiet, it was almost like watching kind of a slow motion video in its brilliance.
[00:01:30] And the reality is down below, probably anyone who would have ever been close to this volcano, it would not have been peaceful, it would have been hot, it would have been terrifying, it would have been breathtaking, but in a horrific way.
[00:01:50] EXPLOSIONS and we get to Revelation 15.
[00:01:55] What God does is he takes us out of the fire of his judgment that's coming on the earth.
[00:02:05] He takes us above it all, into heaven, around the throne, to look down upon his justice that we're going to see that will be unfolded in the world from a place of peace.
[00:02:19] And as we move into this last section of Revelation, in many ways it is terrifying. We've already seen that throughout the book of Revelation. The end is terrifying, it is awful.
[00:02:33] But what God wants us to see from heaven, his vantage point, his perspective, is that the believer will see these things unfold in a place of peace.
[00:02:49] Just to review the Book of Revelation, remember this is a letter that is written to churches who are suffering persecution under the rule of Rome. You cannot lose that and understand the Book of Revelation. We, we don't rip it out of its context.
[00:03:09] These believers had to read these letters, these seven churches as it circulated, and understand what God was saying to them.
[00:03:18] We saw in verses in chapters four and five, the encouragement that God gives these churches who are enduring persecution, the encouragement for them to persevere. He takes them into heaven.
[00:03:33] He takes us into heaven. And as they endure the Emperor's injustice, we see a just King, Jesus, who is ruling over it all, that God is still in control and These believers would be encouraged as they suffer.
[00:03:50] And then in chapter six through nine, we see exactly what Jesus is doing in the world now. He's ruling and reigning from heaven.
[00:04:00] And then we've seen these seals and these trumpets and what we're about to see, these bowls of judgment. What Jesus is doing right now is he is shaking the world.
[00:04:10] He is warning them the same way he warned Egypt and Pharaoh, I'm coming to get my people. And so as you look around the world and you see things that are terrifying, you are to have peace that Jesus is ruling and reigning. You are to see the world around you in light of his throne.
[00:04:33] In chapters 10 through 14, there is a bit of an excursus through a parenthesis, we might say in these chapters where we step back and we see redemptive history.
[00:04:48] There's the story of the snake and the woman that takes us from the beginning to the end. And we see ultimately that Jesus is going to defeat the snake, the serpent. And we saw that very specifically in the story of the unholy Trinity, Satan and the two beasts, the Antichrist figure and the spirit of the Antichrist. We see that believers who continue to cling to Christ were, will defeat them, will overcome in the end, and they will be those who are gathered above in worship even as God's final judgment falls on the Earth. Now, chapter 15 transitions us back to these visions of judgment. But before we dig into the visions of judgment that we'll see in the bowls, what God wants us to see here is, is the peace in heaven as judgment unfolds on the earth. We are to see it from Heaven's perspective. And that's what we begin to see in verse one. Notice then I saw another sign in heaven. This is just the next thing that John sees. Remember, he sees these apocalyptic visions, symbolic visions that are to capture the imagination, that are to capture our heart as we think about the world behind what we see, where God is ruling and reigning and unfolding his plan. That is what is being described in these visions.
[00:06:30] The real life events that have, that are and will take place.
[00:06:37] John sees through these visions and this is the next vision. Notice great and amazing.
[00:06:44] Seven angels. And so what is the next vision? It is of seven angels. And notice how they're described. Great and amazing. They are big and they are awful and they are terrifying. We've got to, we got to work on our angelology as we've talked about through Revelation. These aren't naked babies playing a harp on a, on a cloud.
[00:07:13] These are terrifying, wraith like creatures.
[00:07:17] And these creatures will bring about judgment on the earth. In verses 5 and 8 next week, we'll see that they come from the presence of God. And notice there are seven of them in the book of Revelation. Seven means perfect. It means complete.
[00:07:36] These angels will bring about God's complete and perfect justice on earth. They will be assigned as his messengers of judgment to open up what we will see. These bowls of wrath that are described here, notice as plagues.
[00:07:55] The word plague means to it is the imagery of a blow or a strike.
[00:08:02] And so these angels are assigned by God to strike the earth in judgment.
[00:08:09] But it's called. He refers to these, these judgments as plagues. As we talked about so much in Revelation to take our mind back to Egypt, what did God do before he rescued his people from Egypt? He sent in plagues. He struck Egypt over and over 10 times to say, I'm coming to get my people. Let them go.
[00:08:32] The same thing is going on here. God is striking the earth because he's coming to get his people. But notice what these angels are responsible for are the last plagues. For with them, notice the text.
[00:08:49] The wrath of God is finished. What we're going to see in the bowls next week, the plagues. This is God's final wrath. This is God's final judgment that will be poured out on the earth. And these angels hold these bowls which are boiling over with volcanic justice that they are going to pour out on the earth before God ultimately brings everything to an end.
[00:09:18] But notice what else he sees.
[00:09:21] Where are the people of God?
[00:09:24] What's going on in heaven as this judgment comes upon the earth to offset this terror, notice verse two.
[00:09:35] I saw what appeared to be a sea of glass mingled with fire.
[00:09:42] Now, when we think about the sea in the Bible, it is meant to conjure up images of mystery.
[00:09:52] Think about being on a lake at night.
[00:09:55] Think about looking across the ocean at night when it's dark and it is so vast and expansive and you don't know what's out there, what could be out there in the depths of the sea?
[00:10:10] In the Bible, the sea is often mentioned as this place of mystery, this place of chaos, this place of judgment. We think about God using the flood to judge the world. We're going to talk about Pharaoh being judged in the Red sea.
[00:10:27] In Revelation 13, verse 1, we see the beast arises from this sea. This is a place of evil and wickedness.
[00:10:37] In chapter 17, verse 15, we see rebel nations are associated with the sea.
[00:10:45] In chapter 20, verse 13, we see the sea is referred to as the grave.
[00:10:50] In chapter 21, verse 2, we see in the end the sea will be no more.
[00:10:56] And so the sea here is to cause us to think about chaos, destruction, judgment that's coming upon the earth. But notice how it's described. It is a sea of glass.
[00:11:12] So what is terrible and chaotic and destructive from heaven's perspective looks like glass.
[00:11:19] It is calm from God's perspective.
[00:11:23] Now this is the sea of glass that's mentioned in Revelation chapter 4, verse 6, which is before the throne of God.
[00:11:32] And just what it means is from God's perspective, from his rule, what would be chaotic and destructive, evil and wicked, is under control.
[00:11:43] It's calm, it's peaceful.
[00:11:47] You see, we often see the world from here.
[00:11:50] You think about a beautiful rug, and from above it's beautiful. There's the designs, there's all of the colors. But if we flipped it over the bottom, we don't even know what it looks like.
[00:12:05] It's tangled and knotted.
[00:12:08] And from our perspective, we can't understand or see what God is doing.
[00:12:13] And even in these judgments, we don't see it God's way.
[00:12:17] But if we flip the script and we saw it from heaven, we would see God is in control and it is like peaceful glass.
[00:12:29] He's in perfect control.
[00:12:31] And we have to see it from God's perspective.
[00:12:35] But notice what we also see here.
[00:12:38] Y' all must be praying. My voice is getting better as I talk. I just keep talking.
[00:12:43] Notice what is around or who is around the sea of glass.
[00:12:49] And also those who had conquered.
[00:12:52] So this sea of glass that is at peace before God, around this sea of glass, we're going to see those who have conquered.
[00:13:02] Now, the word conquered, it is actually the word Nike. It's where we get the word Nike.
[00:13:07] It doesn't mean just do, means to overcome.
[00:13:12] And it means to conquer.
[00:13:15] And here we see those who have conquered. Notice the beast.
[00:13:20] Remember these. Remember these terrifying spiritual beings, Satan and the two beasts, the Antichrist and the Antichrist spirit. Here we see there are those who have conquered them. And notice its image. We said that often refers to rulers, specifically the images of Rome, the statues of these gods.
[00:13:44] They have overcome all of these things that the beast has used in the world to destroy the church.
[00:13:51] So those who have conquered, and I think this is just a summary, I think they represent the church at the end, they have conquered the beast and all the beast has used in the world the images to destroy the church and the number of its name. Remember we talked about the mark of the beast 666, which is the number of man.
[00:14:16] These are those who have conquered the beast by not worshiping a man, by not worshiping an idol. And in Revelation, chapter 12, verse 11, we see specifically how these. How they've conquered, it says, and they've conquered by the blood of the Lamb. So they believed in Christ.
[00:14:36] And by the word of their testimony, not only did they believe in Christ, they declared the word of Christ. For they love not their lives, even unto death, those who believe the gospel, those who have trusted in Christ and witnessed the Gospel, they loved Christ more than their own life. And this is how we conquer.
[00:15:00] We believe in Christ.
[00:15:02] We declare the word of Christ. No matter what, we cling to Christ to the very end.
[00:15:09] Even in the face of death, we never let go.
[00:15:14] And here, those who never let go of Christ are, from the perspective of heaven, at perfect peace as they watch God's judgment unfold on the earth. But notice what they're also doing. They are standing.
[00:15:30] Remember In Revelation, chapter 5, the Lamb is standing, the Lamb who was slain. And it is a picture of resurrection.
[00:15:39] So these are those who are in Christ who have been resurrected from the dead. And they are at perfect peace as God's judgment is cast on the earth. Notice they are beside the sea of glass with harps of God in their hand.
[00:15:53] These are instruments reserved just for the worship of God. Notice harps of God.
[00:15:59] And they are instruments that convey peace. Think about David, who played the harp for Saul to bring about peace.
[00:16:09] And here there is a symbol of peace for those who have clung to Christ to the very end. And so we see from heaven's perspective as judgment is unleashed on the earth. We're going to talk about that next week. The people of God are calm before the throne of God.
[00:16:26] The redeemed stand in this place of perfect peace.
[00:16:32] You see, many of us, when we said we're going through the Book of Revelation, a lot of us were just scared to death.
[00:16:41] Maybe it's how we grew up hearing about the Book of Revelation.
[00:16:46] Maybe you've read the Book of Revelation and you didn't understand a lot. But, you know, there's a lot of judgment in Revelation.
[00:16:56] What God does in Revelation is say, don't be scared.
[00:17:01] See this from my perspective.
[00:17:03] It's the same thing I would often do with our kids when there was a thunderstorm or something that would scare them. An animal.
[00:17:12] And I had one particular child who was scared of everything right here.
[00:17:21] And I would often have to get down in her face and go, look at me. Am I scared?
[00:17:27] Am I scared of this dog?
[00:17:29] Am I scared of this thunder? No. Don't you dare be scared. Don't be scared. I'm not scared. You shouldn't be scared.
[00:17:36] That's what God does in the book of Revelation.
[00:17:39] It's going to be scary times, things that are terrifying. But look at me.
[00:17:44] I'm not scared.
[00:17:46] I'm in control.
[00:17:47] I'm ruling, I'm reigning. And this is what we are to remind ourselves when we are scared, when we are terrified, when we look around and we're worried about the fire and the flood, we are to look at our Father in heaven and say, he's not scared.
[00:18:04] He's in control.
[00:18:06] And that is the picture of peace that we see here in the first two verses. But notice verse three. Look at verse three.
[00:18:14] We see that we have peace in heaven because we have the whole story.
[00:18:18] Notice verse three. And they sing.
[00:18:21] So they're at peace before God. They see judgment unfolding on the earth. Notice it is mingled with fire.
[00:18:29] Fire is a purifying judgment that comes on the earth.
[00:18:35] We go back to the promise God made after the flood, that he would not judge the world with water again, but fire.
[00:18:43] And so from heaven, the people of God see this brilliance. It is breathtaking. It is beautiful from their perspective because they're at peace. And what does this invoke? THEY sing Their peace leads to praise.
[00:19:00] Now imagine through this soundproof glass of heaven, the world below is raging.
[00:19:08] But in heaven, you hear the song of the redeemed.
[00:19:13] That's all you hear is worship in heaven as justice unfolds on the earth. And notice what they sing. The song of Moses, the servant of God, which we referred to earlier in our worship service.
[00:19:28] This is the song that was sung after the people of Israel passed through the Red Sea.
[00:19:36] Pharaoh and his army is being crushed behind them.
[00:19:41] And so God passes over their sin in Egypt, leads them out of bondage.
[00:19:47] Pharaoh's army is bearing down upon them. The Red Sea opens up. They go through.
[00:19:54] And then Pharaoh and his armies are crushed. They're destroyed.
[00:19:59] And as they look upon this judgment in water, horrifying sight.
[00:20:07] Horses, chariots, floating to the top.
[00:20:12] Destruction that they know is beneath their feet. What do they do?
[00:20:17] Let's have a worship service.
[00:20:19] Let's sing.
[00:20:21] And Moses led the people of. Or the people of God were led in what's called the Song of Moses here, which in Exodus 15, verse 1 begins, I will sing to the Lord, for he has triumphed gloriously.
[00:20:36] The rider and his horse he has thrown into the sea. And it goes on to describe how God has plundered Egypt beneath their feet and has rescued them and given them salvation. This is the song, part of the song, an aspect of the song that we hear in heaven, the Song of Moses.
[00:21:00] But notice. And the Song of the Lamb.
[00:21:05] Now we know the Song of the Lamb from chapter five. It is a new song that the people of God sing in heaven. Which is worthy is the Lamb who was slain, who redeemed us. A kingdom of priests from every tribe, every tongue, every nation. That's the Song of the Lamb.
[00:21:22] But here they sing what seems to be at first, both.
[00:21:28] I don't believe this is two songs.
[00:21:31] I don't believe it's some kind of mashup.
[00:21:34] I believe it's actually one song.
[00:21:38] And I believe what he's saying here is that the Song of the Lamb fulfills the Song of Moses.
[00:21:46] The Song of Moses is often referred to as the first song in the Bible.
[00:21:51] But here we have the last song in the Bible, the Song of the Lamb.
[00:21:55] And the song is incomplete until we get to the Song of the Lamb.
[00:22:00] Here, the Song of the Lamb has fulfilled the song of Moses.
[00:22:05] You see, the Red Sea rescue was just temporary.
[00:22:09] And it was just rescue from Pharaoh and his armies and Egypt and slavery and bondage. It was temporary.
[00:22:17] We even see the story continues with a lot of heartache and a lot of judgment after the Red Sea rescue. Why?
[00:22:25] Because we need to be delivered from sin and death, ultimately.
[00:22:29] And the Red Sea was a picture of that.
[00:22:32] It was a shadow of that.
[00:22:35] And when we get to the Lamb, we see the real thing. We see deliverance to the cross through the resurrection. And we see this Song of the Lamb is not temporary, it's eternal.
[00:22:48] You see, in heaven right now, Moses sings the song that he sung at the Exodus.
[00:22:57] He sings of this man of war who triumphed.
[00:23:02] But he does so looking in the eyes of Jesus.
[00:23:06] That's what he's describing here.
[00:23:09] We've seen the end of the story.
[00:23:11] We've seen what Moses did not see. We've seen this amazing event at the Red Sea. We've seen its fulfillment. We've seen even more than Moses saw. Peter would tell us the angels in heaven, even during the time of Moses, looked down to see something even more glorious that now we see and we experience.
[00:23:35] We've seen more than Moses, and we can sing more than Moses could at the Red Sea.
[00:23:42] You see, our song in worship is meant to tell the whole story.
[00:23:46] We have the whole story because of Jesus. We can sing the old rugged cross as though we have been there 10,000 years.
[00:23:57] We sing both.
[00:23:59] We don't just look back on the song of Moses out of its context.
[00:24:04] We look on the song of Moses in light of Jesus. He is the man of war who has defeated sin and death.
[00:24:13] In heaven, there is the whole story of worship. And our worship here today is to reflect heaven.
[00:24:22] That's what we come in here to do. And we say Jesus is the end of the story. He. He is the fulfillment of the story. That's why we sing about Jesus. We don't sing about generic transformation and winning and breakthrough.
[00:24:39] Now we think about Jesus because we know in Jesus all of the things that we're longing for, all of the deliverance, all of the winning, all of the breakthrough, all of the transformation only happens in Jesus.
[00:24:54] So we sing of Jesus. He fulfills it all.
[00:24:58] He's the lamb that was slain, that defeated my sin and death. And so as I face depression, I sing about Jesus because I see through it to the end.
[00:25:10] And Jesus rules and reigns, and I will be with him forever, tranquil, in peace, before his throne, before all that seeks to harm me and cause me fear here.
[00:25:24] So we come in here today and as parents, you may be in the worst season of your life as a parent.
[00:25:31] It's not the end of the story.
[00:25:33] Jesus is.
[00:25:35] Jesus is. He will rule and reign forever. You may be lonely.
[00:25:40] That's not the end of the story. Jesus is. So we sing about Jesus. We sing about the whole story. We don't let these things tell the whole story because we understand Jesus is at the end.
[00:25:55] We will have our sins forgiven. We will stand with him in peace forever.
[00:26:00] And so what we see here in this next section is what we see in heaven is described. The worship in heaven is described in a string of Old Testament passages.
[00:26:13] You could really chop this up in many verses that you see in the Psalms and even in Isaiah.
[00:26:21] And what John is doing here is brilliant.
[00:26:25] He knows his Old Testament.
[00:26:27] He chops all of these verses up that you would just pull out of the Psalms, pull out at Isaiah. And he's calling it what? The Song of the Lamb.
[00:26:38] And so the songs that were sung in the Old Testament are now in heaven being sung to Jesus the as the fulfillment and are to be seen in light of Jesus.
[00:26:48] They're not disconnected from Jesus. Just before Jesus now we open up the psalms and we read them in light of Jesus. He is the king singing with us the psalms.
[00:27:00] And that's what John's doing here. And he begins, great and amazing are your Deeds.
[00:27:05] This refers to the redemptive acts of God in Deuteronomy, chapter 28, verse. The plagues on Egypt are called God's great and amazing acts.
[00:27:17] Notice he says, O Lord God the Almighty, you are a sovereign ruler. The prophets often use this term to refer to Jesus or to refer to God who now we know as Jesus, as this warrior king.
[00:27:31] Note this is being sung to Jesus in heaven.
[00:27:36] Great and amazing are your deeds, Jesus.
[00:27:39] O Lord God the Almighty, that's who Jesus is.
[00:27:43] Notice Jesus character that is being sung just, which means right Jesus, you are right and true are all your ways.
[00:27:55] All he does is right.
[00:27:58] All Jesus does is right.
[00:28:01] Because why?
[00:28:02] He is the only one who is inherently righteous.
[00:28:06] So all he does is true to his character. He never does wrong by us, by God in any way. Does he ever do anything that is wrong. This is his character. And notice, O King of the nations, you are the only righteous king of the world. The world and the nations don't acknowledge Jesus right now, but in heaven there is the declaration. No Jesus, you are the ruler and and you will rule over all the nations. You are just and you are right and you are true. Great and amazing are all of your deeds. You are this warrior king, Jesus.
[00:28:43] But as we think about his character, we think about him being just and true.
[00:28:52] That's cause for concern for us, right?
[00:28:56] If Jesus is always right true, how can we have peace?
[00:29:05] We would say, Jesus is right and true, so he's going to judge all his enemies.
[00:29:13] If Jesus is right and true, he will judge all sin.
[00:29:18] And at first you may say, well, that sounds good.
[00:29:21] All the people in the world that I think are sinful will be judged.
[00:29:26] All the people in the world that are my enemies will be judged.
[00:29:30] Even as we look back through history and we see wicked tyrants and people who've done horrible things, Jesus is going to judge them as king of the nations. Why? Because he is right and he is true and all his ways and his deeds are amazing. And he's going to judge all cities sin. So how can we have peace in heaven?
[00:29:55] Because the truth is, God can't look past your sin and my sin.
[00:29:59] Then we get to evaluating sin. Well, whose sin is worse?
[00:30:04] I'm not that bad.
[00:30:06] But if he's right and true, he has to judge all sin.
[00:30:10] God can't look past your sin because you're special.
[00:30:14] He's not going to let you in anyway.
[00:30:17] That's not what's going to happen.
[00:30:19] Why?
[00:30:20] Because if he did, he would be wrong and untrue.
[00:30:24] He's not going to do that.
[00:30:26] See, you don't want a judge that's corrupt, do you?
[00:30:30] A judge that just looks past sin or makes arbitrary decisions about who's guilty or the crime. We say that judge is corrupt.
[00:30:41] We don't want a corrupt judge who's determining if we get into heaven or not.
[00:30:47] No, we want to judge. That is true and is right.
[00:30:52] It's not that God arbitrarily determines what is right and good.
[00:31:00] And he's told us what the rules are.
[00:31:03] To get into heaven, you have to be perfect because heaven is a place of perfection and holiness.
[00:31:10] And you don't get in if you're not righteous like Jesus.
[00:31:14] That's the line.
[00:31:16] So how does he show us mercy and remain just and true to his character? How does that happen?
[00:31:23] Well, we will only have peace in heaven. We will only get into heaven because of the justice of God. That's the only way you'll get in.
[00:31:31] But how does that happen for you and I who are sinful?
[00:31:35] Well, the Bible teaches us at the cross, mercy and justice have kissed.
[00:31:43] Mercy and justice have come together at the cross.
[00:31:48] At the cross, you have justice.
[00:31:50] Sin is paid for under the just wrath of God.
[00:31:55] It is paid for. So we can say to God, you are just and true. You've never acted in a way that is contrary to your character.
[00:32:07] But at the cross, we have mercy. Why?
[00:32:10] Because the judge dies for us.
[00:32:13] And he is the one who purchases our justice by dying for us. You see, at the cross, God's justice was not set aside for you.
[00:32:23] It was satisfied for you.
[00:32:26] He satisfied the justice that you deserve for your sin. And you got to understand this. He did not compromise himself to love you.
[00:32:36] God didn't say, I'm just and I'm right and I'm true. But to love them, I got to deny who I am in some abstract way, whimsical emotion. He didn't compromise himself at the cross.
[00:32:53] He is just and the justifier.
[00:32:57] And here is the truth that gives us peace for a zillion years.
[00:33:03] A zillion. And even more.
[00:33:06] He will never compromise himself by choosing not to love you ever after. He has accepted the justice of the cross for you. Did you get that?
[00:33:20] He didn't deny himself at the cross.
[00:33:23] So he's not going to deny himself ever again.
[00:33:26] He promised to you. If you believe in my son, I. I will accept his payment for you. He's not a liar. He's just and true.
[00:33:36] A million years from now, he's not going to decide to not Be that way towards you forever.
[00:33:44] That is the unshakable reality of the gospel. That God in Christ loves you now. And according to his justice, he can never stop loving you. He. He has bound himself to you in that way according to his justice at the cross.
[00:34:01] And this, we see, is what heaven worship is like. The content of it.
[00:34:09] It's not abstract.
[00:34:12] It's about who God is and what he's done.
[00:34:16] It's reality, it's fact.
[00:34:19] We don't turn into zombies floating on clouds, mumbling in joy. I don't know if you can do that. Mumbling in what are just being meandering in joy. I guess.
[00:34:35] I did not take off medicine.
[00:34:37] Some of you may think that.
[00:34:40] No, we sing about facts, about who God is.
[00:34:45] And I need some of you to get this today. I need to get it.
[00:34:49] I know some of you struggle in this way. And so just lean in for just a moment.
[00:34:56] God's commitment to you is not based on how you feel. He feels about you.
[00:35:05] Write that down.
[00:35:07] God's commitment to you is not based on how you feel. He feels about you.
[00:35:14] That changes all the time.
[00:35:17] It's based on who he is, just and true, and what he has done at the cross. And that's what we'll sing about forever. That's why we'll never be kicked out of heaven. Because he's just and true.
[00:35:30] That's why our worship.
[00:35:32] Our worship cannot be trying to feel a certain way about how God feels about us.
[00:35:40] Where we're just sort of hypnotized by abstract lyrics and feelings of a reckless force of nature.
[00:35:50] What is all that?
[00:35:52] What makes us feel a certain way in the moment.
[00:35:56] But it's not latched to anything real.
[00:35:59] God is just and God is true. And how do I latch myself to that? I sing about the cross a lot because that's where I find his justice. And rock solid, unshakable, unchanging assurance of his love for me now and forever at the cross.
[00:36:20] I'm not trying to just work it up abstractly.
[00:36:24] No, I go to the cross and I sing about the cross.
[00:36:30] I stay at the cross.
[00:36:34] I plant my emotions and my thoughts in this unshakable mountain of hope. The Bible talks about God's justice being like a mountain. It can't be moved.
[00:36:48] Sing that song.
[00:36:51] It's just as mountains, it'll never be moved. It is an infinite, eternal mountain.
[00:36:58] And on that mountain is a cross where God's justice has been provided for me. And I latch myself to that now and forever. And that is the anchor we have, the peace we have. That's how we join the peace of heaven. Because that's what heaven is talking about. It's justice and the cross and we join heaven. And so when I'm in the throes of the kids screaming, when I'm in the throes of trying to figure out my schedule and my body budget, and then there's conflict at work, and then I look at the news and, oh, there's a ceasefire. And then there's not a ceasefire. And my soul, I see the gas prices and my soul is in an angst. What do I do?
[00:37:46] I want to have peace.
[00:37:48] Oh, I go back to the cross.
[00:37:51] I'm at peace with God and all this stuff that's happening in my life, in the world.
[00:37:57] God sees through a sea of glass, perfect and calm, and he's in control. And one day I will stand there with him before him and declare the same thing. I have to press that in my soul because of the cross, because of God, who God is.
[00:38:15] I don't jump away and make things up about God. No, he's just. And he's true. And we've seen it at the cross.
[00:38:22] Notice verse 4.
[00:38:24] We have peace in heaven because of the justice of God, and then we have peace in heaven because there are no idols in heaven. Notice verse four.
[00:38:33] I'm slowing down today. I know it's taking more time. We'll get out of here, okay? We'll be all right.
[00:38:39] Notice. Who will not fear means to bow down in reference.
[00:38:43] Understanding who God is. This is what wisdom is.
[00:38:46] You bow before God, you acknowledge who he is. He's the Creator, he's the sustainer. You're not.
[00:38:52] All men will come before God and acknowledge this.
[00:38:56] And heaven declares this. Heaven declares to us that he is the Lord and he will be glorified. Remember we talked about in Revelation, worship and the Word worth.
[00:39:07] There's a day coming where everyone will lay on the scales before God.
[00:39:12] The worth of God, everything they are forever. They will declare the worth of God. They will glorify his name. They will say, your name is exalted above all names. Notice. For you alone are holy. This means to be set apart.
[00:39:26] So, Jesus, you will be bowed before by everyone. And everyone will make much of your name forever. Because you are holy. You are set apart.
[00:39:38] Now, this section, the verses before come from various psalms, even Isaiah 42.
[00:39:47] Here this Psalm comes, or this part of the song comes from Jeremiah 10.
[00:39:54] It is where the prophet is describing all other gods and I need to set Apart in this moment, the word stupid.
[00:40:05] I know some of you parents don't like that word.
[00:40:09] And kids in the room, you need to obey your parents.
[00:40:13] Just like when they tell you to tuck your shirt in. Come to church. That's what you need to do.
[00:40:18] Pastor Jeremy is 49 and gained weight over the winter, so he doesn't tuck his shirt in.
[00:40:26] The kids, you need to obey your parents. If they say don't. If they say don't, say or call someone stupid. Don't. Do is a biblical word, though.
[00:40:37] And in Jeremiah 10, it's used over and over, the word stupid.
[00:40:44] God calls idolatry stupid. Over and over he says idols are stupid.
[00:40:52] The people who make them are stupid.
[00:40:55] And it is stupid to worship them.
[00:40:58] And why is that?
[00:41:00] Because they are made of metal and iron, wood. They're made with a hammer.
[00:41:06] You use your nails, you shape them, you decorate them. What can an idol do? Why would you worship an idol? And the point is, why would you worship anything other than Jesus?
[00:41:18] Idols don't bring you peace.
[00:41:20] He even Sundays in Jeremiah 10, your idols are like scarecrow in a cucumber field, can do nothing.
[00:41:31] Maybe it gives you some sort of sentimental feeling about your weak, pathetic gods, but it's like a scarecrow. It's nothing.
[00:41:40] They can't speak. You have to carry them. They can't walk.
[00:41:44] But the point is, why would you give all of your time and attention over to something that you create?
[00:41:49] Why would you give your time and attention, your resources, your life over to something that is created?
[00:41:55] No. God is the Creator and he created you.
[00:41:59] That's why we read as we continue, all nations. And here this is taken from Psalm 86, verse 9. All nations you have made.
[00:42:09] You have made all the nations. They're around making these little idols, but you made them.
[00:42:14] And they will come and they will acknowledge this. And they will worship you, for your righteous acts have been revealed. There is coming a day when everything will be brought to conclusion in Christ.
[00:42:28] And all of God's righteousness and justice will be unveiled in perfection. Meaning he will judge all sin and he will fulfill all of his promises to his people. Those are his righteous acts that will be revealed in the end.
[00:42:43] And every person, every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus is Lord on that day.
[00:42:53] And they will realize that they were stupid for worshiping anything other than Jesus. You and I will come to terms with that.
[00:43:03] And that is what the worship of heaven is declaring us to us right now.
[00:43:08] In essence, that's what worship should be, is repentance.
[00:43:12] Of idolatry.
[00:43:14] In some sense, that's what it is.
[00:43:17] We come in here today and we say, I've trusted in things that could not save me.
[00:43:23] I trusted in myself.
[00:43:25] I trusted in the government. I trusted in my spouse. I trusted in these things. Money that I find security in. I trusted in these things all week, and they didn't do anything for me.
[00:43:39] And that was stupid.
[00:43:42] And we turn to Christ and we say, this is full wisdom and this is the only thing that makes sense. We do that week after week. We join heaven in doing that. We say, I can't fix my problems. I can't cover my sin. But Jesus has is and will.
[00:44:01] And we will have peace in heaven because our idols won't be there.
[00:44:08] We will worship Jesus and him alone.
[00:44:12] Our hearts will be given over to Jesus, the one who stepped through the glass into the fire of judgment, immersed himself into the waters of our judgment, endured wrath on the cross, and set our feet in the heavenly places of peace.
[00:44:32] And we will worship him forever. There will be no idols in heaven. Those things that cause you such stress and anxiety because you give yourself over and you trust in them.
[00:44:42] Even the idol that you look in the mirror, your heart won't be given over to that idol. It'll be given over to Jesus. Because you'll see him in full glory forever.
[00:44:56] And on that last day, you'll have peace.
[00:45:00] When the story is completed, justice comes, all the idols are washed away. You will have peace.
[00:45:08] You long for that.
[00:45:12] You long for that. I hope you do.
[00:45:16] I hope you long for such peace.
[00:45:19] And I hope this week from your perspective, at times, this world can feel like fiery waters of wrath and cause a lot of angst and anxiety and worry and fear in your life. And you can feel like you're being swept away.
[00:45:36] Here's what I encourage you to do this week.
[00:45:39] Soundproof, soundproof your worship by seeing things from the sea of glass where God is ruling and reigning and Jesus is king.
[00:45:51] And take some time this week to sing the end of the story.
[00:45:55] Jesus wins. He rules. He reigns.
[00:45:57] Reflect on his justice at the cross.
[00:46:00] He's not going to compromise himself today or forever to love you and realize he is holy. He's set apart.
[00:46:09] Anything you give yourself over to now doesn't compare to him.
