[0:00] Wow, you really believe that? You sing that and believe that? Nothing? That's kind of bold, isn't it?
[0:18] Yeah, it is true, isn't it? Well, we were making progress. We got all the way through Revelation 20, and now here we go back.
[0:33] Here we go back. We're doing a review. We like to do this every seven, eight weeks or so, 12 weeks, whatever. Whenever Rick reminds me, we should do it.
[0:46] Try to gather sections. We look at a lot of detail. We look at a lot of specifics, especially in this book, that kind of are like, okay, how do we read that?
[0:56] So it's good after a while to kind of just step back, take a big picture. Okay, what have we learned? What are we seeing? So we can kind of get a grasp again what this book is really about.
[1:13] So we're going to do that today. I'm going to review. We have four chapters, 17, 18, 19, and 20. I think that's four, right? That's what we're looking at today.
[1:26] So I thought about reading all four chapters all at once. I thought, man, let's not do that. So I'm just going to read the first two, because that's what we'll talk about first.
[1:38] 17 and 18. We'll discuss that, and then I'll read 19. We'll discuss that, and then we'll read 20. We'll discuss that. That way it's kind of fresh. I don't expect you to remember what was seven weeks ago when we were in 17.
[1:51] So I'll try to review this. So if you're able and you'd like, please stand as I read from Revelation chapter 20. If it gets too long, sit down.
[2:03] You're okay. All right. Revelation 17. John says, Then one of the seven angels who have the seven bowls came and said to me, Come, I will show you the judgment of the great prostitute who is seated on many waters, with whom the kings of the earth have committed sexual immorality, and with the wine of whose sexual immorality the dwellers of the earth have become drunk.
[2:39] And he carried me away in the spirit into a wilderness, and I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast that was full of blasphemous names, and it had seven heads and ten horns.
[2:55] The woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet and adorned with gold and jewels and pearls, holding in her hand a golden cup full of abominations and the impurities of her immorality.
[3:12] And on her forehead was written a name of mystery, Babylon the Great, mother of prostitutes and of earth's abominations.
[3:22] And I saw the woman drunk with the blood of the saints, the blood of the martyrs of Jesus. When I saw her, I marveled greatly.
[3:35] But the angel said to me, Why do you marvel? I will tell you the mystery of the woman and of the beast with seven heads and ten horns that carries her. The beast that you saw was and is not and is about to rise from the bottomless pit and go to destruction.
[3:55] And the dwellers on earth whose names have not been written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, they will marvel to see the beast because it was and is not and is to come.
[4:08] Now, this calls for a mind with wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman is seated.
[4:20] They are also seven kings, five of whom have fallen. One is, the other has not yet come. And when he does come, he must remain only a little while.
[4:32] As for the beast that was and is not, it is an eighth, but it belongs to the seven and it goes to destruction.
[4:45] And the ten horns that you saw are ten kings who have not yet received royal power, but they are to receive authority as kings for one hour together with the beast.
[4:57] These are of one mind. And they hand over their power and authority to the beast. And they will make war on the lamb. And the lamb will conquer them.
[5:12] For he is Lord of lords and king of kings. And those with him are called and chosen and faithful. And the angel said to me, the waters that you saw where the prostitute is seated are peoples and multitudes and nations and languages.
[5:32] And the ten horns that you saw, they and the beast will hate the prostitute. They will make her desolate and naked and devour her flesh and burn her up with fire.
[5:43] Why? Why? For God has put it into their hearts to carry out his purpose by being of one mind and handing over their royal power to the beast until the words of God are fulfilled.
[5:58] And the woman that you saw is the great city that has dominion over the kings of the earth. After this, I saw another angel coming down from heaven, having great authority.
[6:12] And the earth was made bright with his glory. And he called out with a mighty voice, fallen, fallen is Babylon the great. She has become a dwelling place for demons.
[6:26] A haunt for every unclean spirit. A haunt for every unclean bird. A haunt for every unclean and detestable beast. For all nations have drunk the wine of the passion of her immorality.
[6:40] And the kings of the earth have committed immorality with her. And the merchants of the earth have grown rich from the power of her luxurious living.
[6:55] Then I heard another voice from heaven saying, Come out of her, my people, lest you take part in her sins. Lest you share in her plagues.
[7:06] For her sins are heaped up, high as heaven. And God has remembered her iniquities. Pay her back as she herself has paid back others.
[7:18] Repay her double for her deeds. Mix a double portion for her in the cup she mixed. As she glorified herself and lived in luxury, so give her a like measure of torment and mourning.
[7:33] Since in her heart she says, I sit as queen, I am no widow. And mourning I shall never see. For this reason her plague shall come in a single day.
[7:49] Death and mourning and famine. And she will be burned up with fire. For mighty is the Lord God who has judged her.
[8:03] And the kings of the earth who committed immorality and lived in luxury with her will weep and will wail over her when they see the smoke of her burning. They will stand far off in fear of her torment and say, Alas, alas, you great city, you mighty city Babylon.
[8:19] For in a single hour your judgment has come. And the merchants of the earth are weeping and mourning for her since no one buys their cargo anymore.
[8:33] Cargo of gold, silver, jewels, pearls, fine linen, purple, cloth, silk, scarlet cloth, cloth, all kinds of scented wood, all kinds of articles of ivory, all kinds of articles of costly wood, bronze, iron, marble, cinnamon, spice, incense, myrrh, frankincense, wine, oil, fine flour, wheat, cattle and sheep, horses and chariots, and slaves.
[9:02] That is, human souls. The fruit for which your soul longed has gone from you and all your delicacies and your splendors are lost to you never to be found again.
[9:19] And the merchants of these wares who gained wealth from her will stand far off in fear of her torment, weeping and mourning aloud. Alas, alas, for the great city that was clothed in fine linen and purple and scarlet, adorned with gold, with jewels, with pearls.
[9:38] For in a single hour all this wealth has been laid waste. And all the shipmasters and the seafaring men, sailors, and all whose trade is on the sea, in other words, the working class, stood far off and cried out as they saw the smoke of her burning.
[9:55] What city was like the great city? And they threw dust on their heads, and they were weeping and were mourning, crying out, Alas, alas, for the great city, where all who had ships at sea grew rich by her wealth.
[10:14] For in a single hour she has been laid waste. Rejoice over her, O heaven, and you saints and apostles and prophets. Why?
[10:25] For God has given judgment for you against her. Then a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone and threw it into the sea, saying, So will Babylon, the great city, be thrown down with violence, and will be found no more.
[10:46] And the sound of harpists and musicians and flute players and trumpeters will be heard in you no more. And a craftsman of any craft will be found in you no more.
[10:57] And the sound of the mill will be heard in you no more. And the light of the lamp will shine in you no more. The voice of the bridegroom and bride will be heard in you no more. For your merchants and the great ones were the great ones of the earth, and all the nations were deceived by your sorcery.
[11:19] And in her was found the blood of prophets and of saints and of all who have been slain honor.
[11:31] So it reads, let us pray. Father, we pray in these minutes that, Lord, you'd help us to focus on the big picture, help us to see the big story, the big impression that this apocalypse is giving to us.
[11:48] Help us to see what you want us to see. And Father, we pray as well that we will come away today knowing better what we're to do with this.
[12:04] Though we may not know the details, that we may fully get the message of what you want to impress upon us. We pray this in Christ's name.
[12:14] Amen. Amen. So as you look at this book, everybody look at this book.
[12:29] This is a very, very important book in my life. As you look at it, does it look like it's an exciting book? Does it look like it's a tantalizing book?
[12:41] Does it look like it might be a fascinating book? What? You can't judge a book by its cover?
[12:55] This book was a game changer in my life. It's called, Emanuel, Grammar of the Greek New Testament, by Dana and Manti.
[13:09] You got this one? I don't. You need this one. Got it. It is fully marked. All that great stuff, James, of syntax, grammar.
[13:22] The reason that book, what? Words that aren't there. Words that aren't there. The reason this, so I took Greek for two years in college, okay, learning, memorizing, you know, okay, okay, so I can read it, so.
[13:36] First year in seminary, this book showed me how to interpret those words. Showed me the difference, all that made. You can actually take a sentence as complicated as Paul in Ephesians 1, and you can break it down and see exactly what he was saying without any confusion.
[14:02] Game changer for me. I didn't have to read Swindoll MacArthur to see what they thought it meant. Nothing against Swindoll MacArthur.
[14:16] I could just read this. I could diagram it, and I can pick it apart, and I could write down, so that's what it means. Now, that doesn't excite you, but that excited me.
[14:29] That changed everything. I could read the Bible for myself. I could study the Bible for myself. I could see what the big guys, the scholars, said, and I could say, yeah, no way.
[14:42] No, read it honestly. No more twisty. Anyway, so, you can't judge a book by its cover, right?
[14:53] All that to say you can't judge a book. Appearances can be deceiving. People are not always what they seem.
[15:07] So, when Jesus came on the scene, what did people see? He was not what he seemed. He was not. As Isaiah said, he had no majesty.
[15:20] No beauty that we should desire him. He was just a fisherman. No, not even a fisherman. He was a he was a carpenter. What are carpenters like, James?
[15:34] I don't know. They're all scarred up, and you know, whatever. He wasn't, he didn't look like a king. He didn't look like the son of God should look.
[15:46] Appearances can be deceiving. People were deceived by his appearance. The church. Oh, now. The church. You and me. You here.
[15:59] Spread across the world. What does the church look like? I mean, the church on earth. What does it look like? Are appearances deceiving?
[16:11] I mean, because the church is pretty unimpressive looking. Pretty unremarkable. And by worldly standards. Right? Just, just very misunderstood. Very weak.
[16:23] A lot of flaws. They all have to have that bumper sticker that says, you know, Christians are forgiven, not perfect. As if, you know, okay, we get it.
[16:36] Playing with you. And yet, the church, that very imperfect group of people that Jesus loves, he will make the most beautiful of all his creations.
[16:51] We're going to get to that in a couple of weeks. Chapter 21. He's going to adorn her like no one's been adorned. She's going to reflect his glory like nothing else.
[17:05] Appearances can be deceiving. So in Revelation 17 and 18, in fact, all through Revelation, we've been seeing that not everything is as it seems.
[17:19] Revelation is showing, it's uncovering for us what's behind the scenes. We think things are going badly. We look at the world, we see, oh, look at the mess. Look at everything going wrong.
[17:30] What is our future? Doesn't look good. Our government's not real smart. Well, just be honest. Well, they are smart, they're just not wise.
[17:43] They're not wise. That's the problem. Right? They're not serving the people. But they're like every other government.
[17:55] Right? So, what is Revelation showing us? Well, it's pulling off the cover of the book and showing us what's really there.
[18:09] So, here in chapter 17, we see beauty and the beast. we see a woman who's described as beautiful. She's adorned in jewels and fine clothing, scarlet and purple and she's a queen.
[18:25] She's gorgeous. She's beautiful. But what does Revelation call her? Prostitute. Ooh.
[18:38] See, Scripture, Revelation calls it what it really is. Her appearance is deceiving. It's seductive. And then the kings.
[18:49] The kings, they don't call them kings. Revelation doesn't call them kings. Rulers of the earth. What does Revelation call the kings? Beasts. Beasts.
[19:02] They're just beasts. Deceptive beasts. Animals. So, not everything is as it seems and this Revelation is showing us behind the scenes what we don't see normal, what we don't see on the news, what we don't hear on the news, what we don't hear from at work, what we don't see as we're going through life.
[19:32] We're seeing things that seem to go down and Revelation is saying there's a there's a purpose. It's going to a certain direction. And one of the reasons some things seem to fall apart is because God has put it in their hearts to destroy themselves.
[19:53] So, okay. Introduction. So, we're going to review here these four chapters. Briefly look at the back of your outline. You'll see a structure on the back and the very bottom.
[20:07] I just wanted you to see their structure and balance and pattern and symmetry to this whole book. It begins with a vision in the first three chapters. We see the Lord revealed and he writes to seven churches.
[20:23] Why seven churches? In that day there was many, many other churches. There weren't just seven churches but he writes to seven. Why seven? Because seven is representative of all the churches.
[20:35] So, we get to start to recognize what one of the mysteries are. We see this number seven all the way through the book and we learn that that number is representative.
[20:45] Not just that there's only seven but representative of all. Because of the seven churches that he writes to what happens to the church of Rome? That was a huge church. What about the church of Corinth?
[20:56] They weren't mentioned. We have lots of churches that weren't mentioned that we know were there at the time. So, just representative. So, we see an imperfect church. That's how the whole vision begins and then as we come to the end of the book notice at the very bottom the next A is that the book ends with another vision but now of the same church perfect in glory.
[21:21] here we are on earth we're imperfect. We got flaws. We got stuff we need to correct. We got stuff we need to repent of but then this shows the church in glory.
[21:31] Then in the middle we see the different judgments. We see the seven seals right that are the beginning of judgments. They already the not yet. We see those seals as Christ is opening the seals on the scroll right these judgments come out and the last ones the sixth and seventh seal opens.
[21:50] The sixth seal gives us a very quick snapshot of the end of the world because the stars fall sky vanishes right mountains are removed the whole thing it's like cosmic end.
[22:04] So, it's kind of a quick view of the end. Then we get to the trumpets the trumpets get more intense the plagues these are called plagues and they're plagues on the ungodly and the great city so we start to focus on the great city and the seventh trumpet the last trumpet is once again the end the announcement of the end.
[22:25] So, we see that the seven are representative of God's judgments and they begin the time of Christ and they follow through to the very end. Then you go down to the bowls the bowls are kind of a balance of the trumpets as again they're talking about plagues on the ungodly and the great city and there the bowls are told we're told are the finish of God's wrath they are the completion of the wrath whereas the trumpets are more of the beginning the plagues are the end.
[22:55] Then we see the world's final judgments which balance the opening seals but there in the middle there in the middle is the heart of the book the heart of the message the heart of the revelation from chapter 12 to 14.
[23:11] it shows us the visions of the war of the ages it began before Christ was born the dragon is right before the woman who's going to give birth and he's already looking to devour the child and what happens?
[23:31] Well he does kill that child but then the child raises up and ascends to heaven and sits at the right hand of the father in heaven and as soon as that happened what happens next in Revelation 12?
[23:44] Then there's war in heaven and Satan's kicked out out you're out no more accusations right so then he takes his war on the church and so chapter 12 gives us this picture of the war of the ages the dragon against the saints the dragon against the saints and the saints conquer this invincible appearing dragon right dragon seven headed dragon how do you conquer that?
[24:16] How does a lowly little saint conquer a dragon? Oh bring out a big sword right there in the middle tells us they conquered the dragon how?
[24:29] By the blood of the lamb and by the word of their testimony that's it that was their sword the word is their sword so that's the heart of it so just wanted you to see kind of where we've been where we're going it's kind of a balance it's a symmetry it begins with the imperfect church ends with the perfect church starts with already and not yet judgments ends with final final final judgments and in the midst of all that is the church at war I'm convinced you may not be and you don't have to be I'm convinced that revelation is showing the same things over and over from different perspectives okay so that's that I want you to notice right off the top before we begin the session in your outline that I put down a number of practical things under the title come out of her my people there's a number of practical applications in these sections we see them
[25:31] I just listed them there 17.9 this calls for wisdom we need to discern the mysteries not everything is as it seems 18.4 come out of her come out from Babylon why because her beauty seduces to your destruction not as seems 18.20 rejoice God has given judgment for you against her she will not always get away with it she seems to get away with it now the world just keeps getting the way it is and getting worse revelation is telling us it won't always be that way God has a plan he will make it right and then again 19.5 praise our God the Lord the Almighty reigns in other words he is and will make it right so and then there's a couple of blessed statements blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the lamb that's a good deal blessed is the one who shares in the first resurrection definitely a good deal how do
[26:33] I get into that one how do I share in that one how do I get invited to the marriage supper of the lamb too how do I get that that's because then you don't suffer the second death anyway so I want you notice there are practical things okay now chapter 17 and 18 notice the progression here chapter 17 and 18 describe the end of Babylon that code word for the world okay chapter 19 describes the end of the beast right those code words for world leaders and those who lead us into false worship of idolatry and then chapter 20 shows us the end of the dragon see so we go from the end of Babylon end of the beast and the end of the dragon the ultimate the dragon Satan the ultimate causer of evil who works through the beast are his servants who work through the world which is their seduction so okay so let's start with 17 and 18 Babylon what do we learn about
[27:36] Babylon not a good place we live there what what what what is God showing us in this word this code word it's not it's not the world would not call itself Babylon this is the Bible's description of the world right the world would not call itself a prostitute that's what God's calling the world because it's seductive full of distractions beautiful though and we notice the things that the world has right the merchants have all these wares right is there anything wrong with the gold and silver and the pearls no in fact God's going to use those very same thing and adorn his bride with those things so it's not those things that are bad right that's not the point so what what's the point here what's what is this
[28:36] Babylon it's deceit it deceives it is idolatry now idolatry is not a not a big New Testament word it's a big Old Testament word because remember that's God used that word a lot and we're using it here because the language of Revelation 17 and 18 reflect the language of the old prophets who were always saying to Israel you have gone astray you're going after other gods that's idolatry repent and turn back to God so it's a picture of that's why she's called a harlot you are leaving God your husband for another woman is the picture see you're being seduced away from God the only one who deserves our worship and you're worshiping something less that's idolatry idolatry is simply right worshiping anything in the place of
[29:38] God looking to something else for my security my identity my hope it could be as simple as family remember Naomi Naomi didn't want much she just wanted her husband and her two kids and then she wanted grandkids that's all she wanted and God took it all away and we saw that that was her idol because when God took all that away she was steaming mad at God you did it right so that was her idol God took care of her right she ended up with a baby in her lap and it was different than what she thought but quite an important baby so idols remember it doesn't mean it's some kind of little figurine it could be anything it could be money career it could be even just simple family right my dream right bigger small yeah
[30:42] Diane well by the deceit Babylon is taking away our focus yes on Yahweh yes and we are I think by the metaphor we are going to those things rather than relying on right on the source for the supply rather than the source being God the triune God so I've defined Babylon as the economic idolatrous system right okay because in chapter 18 it's quite clear that wealth and riches are part of this whole Babylon thing the kings look for luxury the merchants look for wealth and even the working class just the sailors the guys that swab the decks right load the trucks those guys are still getting rich and they're hoping to get richer by this whole system and then it's idolatrous because it's about loving those things they banked everything on that and when it all ends they're over we just lost everything right so they are people that live the focus upon the world things and not upon the focus of the
[32:06] Lord right yeah so I'm looking for them instead of looking to God as my security so what did Jesus say wherever your treasure is that's where your heart is and you can't have two masters if if you love God and you also love the world well Jesus you can't do that you'll love one and hate the other right so where are your treasures that's really I think that's what Babylon represents what John calls the love of the world first John two do not love the world or the things of the world remember then he defines it in three things lust of the eye things that are beautiful things that look good like that woman and all the jewels lust of looking better lust of being beautiful nothing wrong with being beautiful nothing wrong with right
[33:07] Paul says yeah no Peter says to wives he says right let not your adornment be merely external don't make that the focus it's okay he's not saying don't braid your hair he's saying merely that but the focus should be the heart right God's looking for that heart so balance what else Yeah it's throughout 17 and 18 you just see the sin being described as one of sexual immorality yes and one of the questions I had for you was I noticed that you did not read the word sexual in 18 3 and 18 9 it's unnecessary and I was just wondering what your thought was it's unnecessary it's yeah it's just the word immorality yeah right and it's symbolic of union right so the kings are uniting with the world so the government unites with the world system and the government controls that world system for us promoting trade denying trade changing the tax you know many many ways right mortgaging our future they're already you know the end of 17 talks about how the beast and the kings get together and they destroy the harlot they destroy the world system why would they do that well why are they doing it now right they're doing it not ultimately but they're doing it small ways already they're just you know because it's not really about us it's about whatever profits them at the moment
[35:01] I just think it's interesting though that focus on sexual morale yeah in that we understand that the most important thing with regard to our connection with God is relationship and we use marriage as an indication of what that relationship should look like right and there is nothing more destructive to a relationship than adultery right so right and that's kind of all through here this woman is a prostitute right illegitimate right picture where you're abandoning your blessed union with a unblessed union yeah so it's symbolic but yeah that's that captures union more than anything and intimacy and this woman rides on the beast the beast subtitle world governments carry the world system that's how they work what else yeah so you have repeatedly said that this is ongoing since the resurrection of Christ and that's my view yes so even like the
[36:35] Puritan government you would apply that kind of I would not say this is strict application to every single earthly government I would say worldly governments some governments can have a good start our government had a pretty good start I thought at least George I like George but I won't talk about him he had a Judas on his covenant so that does yeah I mean I can tell you from reading a lot about George that George did not was not out to deceive anybody he didn't even want the honor he just did it because he's a patriot but the men that followed him you know kind of gets further from purity and honesty until you get to Abe right he was honest right
[37:41] I don't know huh it's in his name yeah I don't know I haven't read about him so I can't but in general you know so government I mean Rome had a good deal for you know they rose because they were doing some right things right so right and it's not that they're all evil all the time that sometimes we actually have some good governors don't we we know we can have good mayors right so we know that so that's possible sometimes so so yeah it doesn't mean carte blanche all of them are the beast but we are we have our how can I say this we are responsible to know yes our scripture yes
[38:44] God and prayer and to recognize what could be a deceiver or the world systems or so so so that's good distinction so how then do we apply this it says we need wisdom right about this whole issue we need wisdom in regard to the beast and in regard to the woman so how do we respond to government we have some very clear teaching about how we respond to government as Jesus said hey there's his image it's all about him so give back to him what right so pay your taxes wait a minute I'm paying taxes to a corrupt government well at the time of Jesus there wasn't a more corrupt government than what he said to pay and nothing our government is doing that well some of it gets pretty close to what they're doing so yeah there's a phrase used two times in 8 and 11 when it talks about the beast it was and is not and is about to come yeah three times was and you look at that we talk about this it's that persistence of evil that yeah we do have this timeline but there is this persistence of evil that's always there and that's what's interesting so if you distinguish that a little bit it talks about the kings right the five and then the one and then the one to come but then talks about this beast as an eighth kind of thing as if no that's so he's backing up and saying there's here's the beast overall the beast overall which is a servant of
[40:25] Satan right is is and at the same time is not and is about to come and go to destruction so what he's saying is it is and it isn't which is it he doesn't describe the other kings that way just the beast in general so he is and he isn't what is he he's a sham he's a deceiver he's only looks like he's come back he's not resurrected like Jesus resurrected that's the real deal you know the whole remember the trinity you got father son holy spirit and then you got dragon beast false prophet he's just copying everything god does right counterfeit but with no real substance so
[41:27] I'm glad you brought that up because he's a sham did the king really come back from a mortal wound no but he's revived he just keeps coming back it's like the cat came back the next day he just keeps coming back got nine lives seven lives whatever eight lives what else do you see how we doing oh my gosh okay okay anything left on 1718 yeah what I'm just thinking is the scripture that says we're to live in the world without being of the world and it's like how do we yes how do we do this it's really hard to resist you know we're to follow the laws of the land right kind of like submitting yes to a spouse absolutely unless it comes to the point of sin or going against what God has it's a real so yeah so we are taught very clearly in scripture we obey government we honor the king honor the office right but both
[42:44] Jesus and the apostle showed us there are times that you don't obey government when it directly conflicts with God right shut your mouths and don't talk about this Jesus sorry gotta not obey you on that one so we have to have wisdom in walking with the spirit in terms of okay where does that go where does that go I mean COVID is kind of a an example of that kind of thing do I do that it's a mandate do I do it or do I not do it so I have freedom as a citizen you know we live in a country where I can actually you know have my own rights at least on paper so yeah so you gotta work that out yourself right so yeah one quick thing before you leave that I think the focus of this although everything about us living in this world we focus on leaders and what leaders do focus on the leaders and obeying the leaders the focus of this I'm convinced is in 184 come out of her my people yes this is the warning to us yes we use the leaders as an example and an indication of what's to come but we need to be focused on how this impacts us there is a book that
[44:03] Don and I read this summer and one of the phrases that came out of that book are are you an admirer of Christ or a follower of Christ an admirer of Christ is somebody who thinks man Jesus is this great guy he did these great things he sacrificed for others a follower of Christ means that I'm willing to suffer to honor him is the church really willing to suffer to honor him are we willing to come out of this world that we live in and be a follower of Christ or are we just going to admire Christ so what does that look like what does come out of her mean because we still have to do business right we still have to obey but in what sense do we come out he's not asking us to be a commune in the mountains right out of the world no Jesus never intended that or to be in the world or to be lights in the world salt in there so in what sense do we come out not to have a relate well you have to have some kind of a relationship with the world
[45:14] I mean I still use money take the idolatry out of it so it's about heart how about the sermon on the mount what about it since we've been going through it and we've been reading it isn't that what we're to look like like the beatitudes to be and yeah that's a transformative experience that came up in class this morning huh oh did it yeah I mean the beatitudes are really the core of the new testament oh yeah somewhere on the mount is yeah that's the rock from five to seven and I think that is where to be pictured where to be the light so that's a great example so Delinda brought that up about the beatitudes when we're talking about the world coming out the world so look at the beatitudes blessed are the poor in spirit the broken well that's not a great thing in the world to be broken blessed are those who mourn blessed are those who are hungry meek and meek and all these persecuted right so those are counter to the world so that's the kind of person we strive to be right to be the broken and I mourn and I because that to get real comfort isn't to take drugs to get real comfort is to get out right to
[46:54] God and let him heal me but it's not as quick as right and we have the horizontal relationship and then we pick who our master is and where our treasure is we don't worry about right clothes food but I think others pick up on that I think that is the whole light on the hill so to come out of the world does that mean you gotta get rid of your TV stop going to movies that's where some people go I'm just asking you think about that it's not a doesn't it depend on what causes you to stumble okay okay yeah Rick was talking about putting that saying from I forget where it is is Job I shall put no unclean thing before my eye put that right on the TV what am I watching then right good question so yeah you take it you go to the Holy Spirit go to the
[48:02] Lord and say okay Lord what what do I need to do in this regard what's my purpose right so if I'm going to live for Christ if I really am going to be a follower of Jesus and not just an admirer of Jesus what does that look like for me how does that look like how I live at home how I spend my time how I spend my leisure guys how I spend my leisure how I am at work how do I speak my neighbor do I get together with my neighbor do I go see my neighbor at all do I just wave and say yeah have fun with the snow you know do I do I go over and blow dry her driveway it takes longer but it still gets such a wordsmith right so yeah so see where that works
[49:03] I mean we have to God God knows that we are smart enough to take his simple come out of her and then work with him individually what does that look like work with him in our marriage what does that look like work with him in our family in our church what does that look like for us and how he's created us how he's called us he's called all churches the same thing but he hasn't called little log to the same as every other church we have a particular no thank you we have a particular mission he's opened a door for us across the street right he's given us a certain kind of people that are different stones that he's put together here to accomplish a particular thing right here right on this little hill yes gee who could we reach out to has God brought us anyone how many six days now we have wonderful visitors six days a week downstairs yeah yeah six days a week yeah gee should we just ignore them yeah we that's our heart we want to reach there we how lord can we can we reach out to these dear folks who are honest in their struggle yeah that's our target group right there they know they're broken like I hope we all know we're broken so we can identify with those dear folks downstairs we want them to come up maybe not here somewhere but yeah
[51:06] God's brought that when I got here we had one meeting Wednesday night then he added a men's group then he added a I don't know all of a sudden we got with COVID all sudden we got one or two more I think we got oh okay can we come to your church the other church won't let us meet here because of COVID meet here it's okay if you meet here bless your hearts I mean that in the right way yeah Georgia that's not what it means in Georgia bless hearts all right I think we're out of time or we've been out of time I don't know so in the last couple of minutes any thoughts reflections questions driving issues for 19 and 20 well but I mean I mean what
[52:15] I'm saying is I mean if you walk away say but I didn't get to ask that question I don't mean lots of questions I mean a driving one like what about that is there burning ish thank you that's better anything like that millennium we got that right we got that all figured out no big deal thousand years we know what that is huh yes thousand years there you go it is what it is I think it's interesting that the bible clearly states just very simply anybody who feels like they lack wisdom just ask and ask with faith yes convinced god will give it to you because you're asking because he told you to when you ask you can be assured that his answers are already on the way and be ready because it may come in a way you don't expect right
[53:26] I want to know who the antichrist is now probably not going to give you that but a discernment of what that whole issue is yeah thank you brother okay tough stuff next week we have a privilege of a guest speaker flying in from monument excited and two weeks two weeks we finally get to where my wife wants to go heaven two weeks chapter 21 she's been saying when do we get to chapter 21 how long are we going to be in judgment so no she doesn't sound like that I'm sorry dear am I invited to the call all right so
[54:28] I need a better way to say that right so we get to begin to look at what eternity looks like in a couple of weeks we get to the good stuff I mean what is more appealing to us we've been going through stuff that's maybe hard not maybe definitely hard and some of it it's like rejoice over someone else's judgment I struggle with that so now we get to rejoice over stuff okay now I get why we rejoice over the tears being wiped away no pain anymore okay I get that I'm all for it so just prepping you okay let's pray and close huh father thank you for your word though we don't grasp it all and father we recognize as as your children that many of your children can look at some of these things in different ways and that's okay we don't have to figure out every detail what we do want to hear from you is the big picture not just that you win but all the sub parts of that that you are daily in control that you are daily ruling that we are reigning with you in some sense we are living out a life like
[56:05] Jesus lived that is victorious over an incalculable enemy and so father we thank you for the picture we get and the hope we get and the certainty we get from your pictures here in revelation we thank you in Christ's name amen amen