WEBVTT 00:00:00.440 --> 00:00:07.440 So, we've been invited to think of a moment when the foundations of everything that is 00:00:07.440 --> 00:00:15.380 known are shaken. Let me take you back in history to 410 AD, as a shocking piece of 00:00:15.380 --> 00:00:23.460 news spread around the world that Rome, the eternal city, had fallen. Creating shock, 00:00:23.460 --> 00:00:30.039 this news spread in Europe and Asia, all the way to Africa, 800 years of security gone 00:00:30.039 --> 00:00:36.579 overnight. And this message reached a guy called Augustine. You may have heard of Augustine in North 00:00:36.579 --> 00:00:43.400 Africa. And people were panicking and fearful. And Augustine made it his mission to help especially 00:00:43.400 --> 00:00:49.120 Christian people to respond to this sense of fear and panic, to encourage believers to recognize, 00:00:49.119 --> 00:00:56.219 where is true certainty found? Where does true security rest? And he wrote a letter, 00:00:57.339 --> 00:00:59.320 and this is what he wrote to a group of Christians, 00:00:59.719 --> 00:01:08.159 there will be an end to every earthly kingdom. Do not be surprised that the world is losing its grip 00:01:08.159 --> 00:01:15.519 and is full of pressing tribulations. The world is passing away. The world is short of breath. 00:01:15.519 --> 00:01:23.539 Do not fear. Do not fear. Your youth will be renewed as an eagle. And then a few years later, 00:01:23.579 --> 00:01:29.140 he wrote this massive book called The City of God. And he has this contrast between the eternal city, 00:01:29.219 --> 00:01:37.060 the city of God, versus the earthly city, which is doomed to destruction, like we just read in Revelation 18. 00:01:37.060 --> 00:01:45.500 And so the question that we need to ask is, where is our citizenship? What is the foundation of our life 00:01:45.500 --> 00:01:51.159 built on? Am I focused on living for the here and now, or do I have a focus and a security that's based 00:01:51.159 --> 00:01:59.540 in eternity? It's this theme that Revelation keeps coming back to. The message of Revelation 18 follows 00:01:59.540 --> 00:02:07.060 the same lines as Augustine. It makes clear this world, the world system, Babylon, is passing away. 00:02:07.560 --> 00:02:13.740 It makes clear that Jesus is coming back. There is a future day of judgment. He will establish the 00:02:13.740 --> 00:02:19.240 kingdom of God. And if we want to live without fear and insecurity, we need to trust in Jesus. 00:02:20.700 --> 00:02:26.219 When our foundations are shaken, sometimes that happens as a society, sometimes in a family, 00:02:26.219 --> 00:02:34.060 sometimes personally, it invites the question, in what do I trust? Our standing or falling depends 00:02:34.060 --> 00:02:41.240 on the foundations that we build on. And so Revelation 18 comes in a sense as a word of encouragement 00:02:41.240 --> 00:02:50.659 to Christians, as a reminder, we don't belong to Babylon. Babylon, which stands for opposition to God 00:02:50.659 --> 00:02:57.939 in every age and generation. It says you belong to another city, and you belong to God. We're to go 00:02:57.939 --> 00:03:02.539 out to God, to be called out by God, to live with the value system of heaven, the value system of Jesus, 00:03:02.680 --> 00:03:08.479 and to wait for his return with hope. But for each of us, we can hear this as God's word to us, 00:03:08.539 --> 00:03:13.900 because Jesus here is telling us in vision form what is coming one day, inviting us to think, 00:03:13.900 --> 00:03:21.719 how should I respond to the reality of this message? Am I ready for this day? Two things that we're 00:03:21.719 --> 00:03:26.439 going to see. The first is this, that judgment is announced. It's there in the first eight verses. 00:03:27.099 --> 00:03:31.780 So the section begins with this loud voice from the angel, glorious angel that comes from heaven. 00:03:32.840 --> 00:03:38.719 And the angel's bringing the verdict from God's courtroom on Babylon. Babylon, through the Bible, 00:03:38.719 --> 00:03:45.060 sometimes it's a symbol of pride, Tower of Babel. Sometimes it's a symbol of wickedness, 00:03:45.500 --> 00:03:51.740 the Babylonian empire. And here it's become, attached to Rome, the city of Rome, a symbol for 00:03:51.740 --> 00:03:57.159 opposition and oppression. So it's used differently through the Bible, but with the same idea. And what 00:03:57.159 --> 00:04:07.780 we discover in Revelation 18, that before pride, pride comes before a fall. So in verses 2 and 3, 00:04:07.780 --> 00:04:13.900 when judgment is announced, we discover the cause and effect of judgment. So there is this picture 00:04:13.900 --> 00:04:18.959 of the great fall from glory. Fallen is Babylon the great. She's become a dwelling for demons and a haunt 00:04:18.959 --> 00:04:26.899 for the impure spirits. Here is a great city now captured as a ghost town. Here is a city that once 00:04:26.899 --> 00:04:33.240 was unmatched for power and wealth, but is now unclean and unfit for life. Here is a picture of a 00:04:33.240 --> 00:04:42.160 great civilization, a society that now lies in ruins. And so the question then becomes, well, why has this 00:04:42.160 --> 00:04:50.879 happened? And the answer is in verse 3, begins with, for, for all the nations have drunk the maddening 00:04:50.879 --> 00:04:55.819 wine of her adulteries. And we understand that here is a city that seemed to be at the center 00:04:55.819 --> 00:05:04.459 of a value system. And this city of man will fall because of its weak foundations. Here is a group of 00:05:04.459 --> 00:05:11.600 people that have the wrong focus and the wrong worship. And we see it in our text. The problem 00:05:11.600 --> 00:05:20.100 that we find in Revelation 18, the problem we so often find in our own human hearts, is that temptation 00:05:20.100 --> 00:05:27.840 and tendency to live for now and to forget there is eternity. The operating principles that we find in 00:05:27.840 --> 00:05:33.160 Babylon, they make absolute sense if this life is all there is. You know, if it's just this, if we just 00:05:33.160 --> 00:05:37.320 live and then we die, then absolutely we should just try and squeeze as much happiness out of it and try 00:05:37.320 --> 00:05:44.700 and grab everything we can. But if there's eternity, then that changes everything. But we get a glimpse of 00:05:44.699 --> 00:05:52.599 what these people in Babylon have been living for. They've been living a life that's based on their power. 00:05:53.000 --> 00:06:00.539 And they've been leading the kings of the earth to follow their way. The imagery of verse 3 reminds us 00:06:00.539 --> 00:06:09.899 that here is a society that values and uses, and often abuses, sex and pleasure. The maddening wine of her 00:06:09.899 --> 00:06:18.959 adulteries is not a positive image. Here is a society that's based on personal greatness, the name, the status, 00:06:19.099 --> 00:06:28.439 Babylon, the great. But now there is this fall. And it's the Bible's way of reminding us that there will be an 00:06:28.439 --> 00:06:38.039 ultimate fall if we give our hearts to those things. If we choose created things over the Creator. There's nothing 00:06:38.040 --> 00:06:44.760 wrong with power and sex and pleasure and luxury and status if we receive them as good gifts. 00:06:46.260 --> 00:06:50.120 But there's everything wrong with them if we treat them as if they are God. 00:06:51.400 --> 00:06:59.280 If we pursue what is temporary over what is eternal. There's a text in Romans chapter 13, 00:06:59.640 --> 00:07:04.939 verse 12, that uses this image of the dawn. It says, 00:07:04.939 --> 00:07:10.500 the night is nearly over and the day is almost here. So, picture the dawn. You know that moment 00:07:10.500 --> 00:07:14.980 where there's both darkness and there's light? You begin to see the first glimpses of the sun coming, 00:07:15.040 --> 00:07:19.839 but it's still darkness. And Paul uses that imagery to say to Christians, to say to the world, 00:07:20.079 --> 00:07:25.040 don't be fooled. Recognize what's passing away, which is darkness. Recognize the light is coming, 00:07:25.860 --> 00:07:27.459 and therefore, he says, live in the light. 00:07:27.459 --> 00:07:36.719 In a sense, that makes sense. In our context here, recognize that there is a world that is passing 00:07:36.719 --> 00:07:42.539 away. We're invited to live in the light. We're invited to live in God's light. John Piper, the 00:07:42.539 --> 00:07:46.359 Bible teacher, actually has a book called Living in the Light. And what he does in that book, 00:07:46.399 --> 00:07:51.479 it's a really helpful book, is he looks to expose some of these idols, these things that we live for 00:07:51.480 --> 00:07:59.600 in culture. So, he looks at the power of money and sex and the power of power itself, and understands 00:07:59.600 --> 00:08:07.720 that these are God's good gifts, which will either be to us a way to glorify God, a way to love and to 00:08:07.720 --> 00:08:15.240 serve others, a way to show whose kingdom we truly belong to, or those gifts will become a massive 00:08:15.240 --> 00:08:23.540 temptation. They'll become our source of identity, and they'll become, if we make them ultimate, a threat 00:08:23.540 --> 00:08:30.840 to our very souls. And so, there's this warning of the cause and effect. And then there's the call 00:08:30.840 --> 00:08:39.919 in verses 4 and 8. Did you hear the call, verse 4? Come out to escape judgment. Verse 4, come out of her, 00:08:39.919 --> 00:08:46.439 my people, so that you will not share in her sins, so you will not receive any of her plagues. This is 00:08:46.439 --> 00:08:53.799 actually an old command. Jeremiah 51, verse 44 and 45, the people of God are told to come out of 00:08:53.799 --> 00:08:59.360 Babylon. Babylon's about to get judged, and so they're supposed to run for their lives to escape 00:08:59.360 --> 00:09:05.559 that judgment. And the call is the same. There's two good reasons. Did you notice the reasons in verse 4? 00:09:05.559 --> 00:09:11.099 Come out from Babylon. Come out from that old way of life, because one, you don't want to share in her 00:09:11.099 --> 00:09:17.679 sins, and two, you don't want to share in her judgment. We don't want to share in her sins, 00:09:17.779 --> 00:09:23.419 those sins, verse 5, which are piled up to heaven. And again, I think that's drawing on the imagery of 00:09:23.419 --> 00:09:29.899 the Tower of Babel. Tower of Babel in Genesis 11, God's created beings who were supposed to worship 00:09:29.899 --> 00:09:35.239 God, who were supposed to fill the earth with God's glory. Instead, they pile together into this one city, 00:09:35.240 --> 00:09:39.659 and they decide they're going to make this great big tower as a monument to themselves, 00:09:39.779 --> 00:09:46.120 to the glory of self, to reject God, to replace God. It's like sin piled up to heaven. 00:09:47.320 --> 00:09:51.480 And the warning comes, don't be part of the world that says no to Jesus as King. 00:09:52.279 --> 00:09:56.500 Don't be part of the world that says, I want my own glory rather than giving glory to God. 00:09:56.500 --> 00:10:07.059 Come out so you don't share in her judgment, is what verse 4 says. And maybe you notice verses 6 to 8, 00:10:07.139 --> 00:10:14.340 this idea of when God's judgment comes, the nature of its coming, give back to her as she has given. 00:10:15.340 --> 00:10:23.139 There is this justice, God is just, and the idea what you do to others, God will do to you, 00:10:23.139 --> 00:10:29.860 is the warning. So, in verse 7, here is a people who, they should be giving glory to God, 00:10:29.919 --> 00:10:36.819 but they're taking glory to themselves. And so, there is judgment. Again, in verse 7, 00:10:37.120 --> 00:10:43.620 living in glory and luxury, this gift of resources that should be used to serve others is being hoarded, 00:10:44.159 --> 00:10:46.580 exploiting others to gain for oneself. 00:10:46.580 --> 00:10:57.000 Trust and security that should be found in God. Instead, there is a group of people who are finding 00:10:57.000 --> 00:11:01.560 their security in themselves, in their status. Well, we've always been strong and secure and 00:11:01.560 --> 00:11:10.560 wealthy and influential, and that'll never change. In refusing God, they will face the judgment of God. 00:11:10.559 --> 00:11:18.099 And so, the section begins, ends with a warning, therefore, in one day her plagues will overtake her. 00:11:19.279 --> 00:11:25.500 Book of Exodus, all those plagues as God's judgment, the Lord's judgment, which is sudden. 00:11:26.739 --> 00:11:33.979 And so, Jesus announces this coming judgment and gives it as a warning. It's very clear judgment will 00:11:33.980 --> 00:11:43.639 fall on those who oppose God, on those who rob God of glory, on those who seek pleasure and don't pursue 00:11:43.639 --> 00:11:51.759 life with God. And so, there's a warning to a city. Maybe we know the legend of another city, 00:11:51.920 --> 00:12:00.820 the city of Troy. Remember the story of Troy? The Greeks brought a wooden horse to the gates of Troy. 00:12:00.820 --> 00:12:07.520 Troy opened the gates, thought this was a wonderful gift, wheeled the horse into the center of the city. 00:12:08.140 --> 00:12:13.660 Darkness came, night fell, some soldiers piled out of the horse, opened the city gates. By the next 00:12:13.660 --> 00:12:24.300 morning, Troy was destroyed. We need to watch our center. We must not get comfy with sin, 00:12:24.299 --> 00:12:34.519 invite anything into the center of our lives that is not God. We need to be careful not to push God out 00:12:34.519 --> 00:12:44.000 of the center to place ourselves there, because nothing else has the ability to satisfy like God, 00:12:44.000 --> 00:12:53.860 and only God deserves all true glory, the central place in our lives. So, what should we do? 00:12:55.419 --> 00:13:02.340 We should listen to this warning. We should come out. Part of that coming out is to show that we 00:13:02.340 --> 00:13:08.200 belong to a different city. We belong to a different country. We come out to show, I belong to the Lord. 00:13:08.200 --> 00:13:15.420 I want to live to show that my citizenship doesn't belong to this world and its values, but it belongs 00:13:15.420 --> 00:13:21.259 to the value system of heaven. We want to come out to show that we are different, to show that Jesus is 00:13:21.259 --> 00:13:30.980 our center. He is our source of identity. He is our true treasure. We want to live by His values, 00:13:31.980 --> 00:13:37.820 and we want to do that in such a way that we show the world that there is a different way to live. 00:13:38.200 --> 00:13:46.780 There is a better way to live, that we're invited to go out to love and to serve others in Jesus' name, 00:13:47.200 --> 00:13:50.520 because we've come out to Jesus, and we belong to Him. 00:13:53.220 --> 00:14:02.300 We also need to come out to see the cross of Christ, to see Jesus dying outside the city in our 00:14:02.299 --> 00:14:10.799 place and for our city. We need to come out to recognize that He came to that place in order to rescue us, 00:14:11.799 --> 00:14:15.979 that by ourselves, each one of us, we have a pile of sins piled high to heaven, 00:14:16.500 --> 00:14:20.819 and Jesus was willing to come and to forgive those sins by dying for them on the cross. 00:14:20.820 --> 00:14:28.560 We deserve to drink that cup of God's anger, but Jesus drinks it for us. We deserve to be overtaken 00:14:28.560 --> 00:14:34.640 by God's judgment, but Jesus is overtaken by God's judgment on the cross. He is ready to lose His life 00:14:34.640 --> 00:14:40.780 so you and I can experience and enjoy eternal life as citizens of an eternal kingdom with strong 00:14:40.780 --> 00:14:47.640 foundations. So, we need to come out to belong to Jesus and to find life from Jesus. 00:14:47.639 --> 00:14:54.779 So, that's the first thing we see, that judgment is announced. The second thing we see is judgment in 00:14:54.779 --> 00:15:01.879 action. This is really from verse 9 to the end of the section. And again, just to get us into 00:15:01.879 --> 00:15:10.699 the mindset of this section, there was a terrifying book that was published at the end of last year 00:15:10.700 --> 00:15:19.640 by a journalist called Annie Jacobson called Nuclear War. You can read it, you can listen to her talking 00:15:19.640 --> 00:15:26.540 about it. She interviewed loads of policymakers, read lots of declassified documents, and she recognized 00:15:26.540 --> 00:15:32.640 this, that there's a very real prospect of if nuclear war ever happened, that in the time that we would 00:15:32.639 --> 00:15:40.720 spend in our church service, you know, one hour or so, that is as much time as it would take for the 00:15:40.720 --> 00:15:48.439 whole of civilization to collapse. For untold horror. She plays out this scenario, and all it would take 00:15:48.439 --> 00:15:57.100 would be a little over one hour. We hope and pray that that never happens. But within our lifetime, 00:15:57.100 --> 00:16:04.659 for most of us, there have been sudden and shocking moments that have utterly changed history. 00:16:06.379 --> 00:16:16.420 Many of us, we will remember where we were on 9-11, when the planes crashed into the Twin Towers. 00:16:17.700 --> 00:16:26.519 Less than two hours for them to fall in their entirety, for 3,000 to be killed, for Western society, 00:16:26.519 --> 00:16:35.460 indeed the whole world, to be changed in a moment. And we don't even need to go that far back. Think 00:16:35.460 --> 00:16:42.379 about coronavirus. Remember how rapidly things change from absolutely normal to hearing a report 00:16:42.379 --> 00:16:49.360 or two about this kind of strange flu that was emanating from China. It seemed to be a problem over 00:16:49.360 --> 00:16:55.980 there. Within just a few days, we had global lockdown. We had the breakdown of everything that 00:16:55.980 --> 00:17:04.960 we'd ever known. Such a short time. So, keep those ideas in focus, because Revelation 18 prepares us 00:17:04.960 --> 00:17:12.460 for the reality that God's future judgment will come suddenly and shockingly. We get the sense of 00:17:12.460 --> 00:17:22.460 the shocking speed in verses 9 to 19 in these songs or laments of woe. The imagery here is really a funeral 00:17:22.460 --> 00:17:32.840 scene. And what's being mourned over is the death of a city, the death of this world system, the death of 00:17:32.840 --> 00:17:38.100 Babylon. And so, you have people that are gathering around the smoking ruins, and they're singing these 00:17:38.100 --> 00:17:44.420 songs of lament, because everything that they've known and built their life on is now gone. So, we hear it 00:17:44.420 --> 00:17:49.080 from the terrified kings. Verse 9, when the kings of the earth, who committed adultery with her and 00:17:49.080 --> 00:17:55.000 shared her luxury, see the smoke of her burning, they will weep and mourn over her. Terrified at her 00:17:55.000 --> 00:18:01.960 torment, they will stand far off and cry, woe, woe to you, great city, you mighty city of Babylon. In 00:18:01.960 --> 00:18:11.340 one hour, your doom will come. From power and wealth to doom in one hour. Verse 15, we find the 00:18:11.339 --> 00:18:18.740 merchants. So, you recognize this city was obviously a huge world trading hub, people coming in and out, 00:18:18.819 --> 00:18:30.179 bringing their wares. In one hour, verse 15, verse 16, verse 17, in one hour, such great wealth has been 00:18:30.179 --> 00:18:38.959 brought to ruin. Same for the sea captains. Those who've made their living, benefited from this trade, 00:18:38.960 --> 00:18:46.120 they recognize, verse 19, wealth to ruin in one hour. 00:18:48.180 --> 00:18:53.259 It's Jesus' way of warning us of the reality. Here is a way of life, a world system, a set of 00:18:53.259 --> 00:18:59.799 structures. People had always built their life on it. It will be torn down in a moment. 00:18:59.799 --> 00:19:08.559 Just like 410 AD, Rome, the eternal city, the empire that would last forever, gone like every other 00:19:08.559 --> 00:19:16.379 empire before it and since. Like every civilization in history, one day it will come to an end, 00:19:17.379 --> 00:19:23.419 either in history or the return of Jesus. So, there is this sense of the shocking speed when judgment 00:19:23.420 --> 00:19:29.200 comes in action. But the second thing to notice is to hear the sentence that's passed. 00:19:30.400 --> 00:19:35.080 Verse 20 to 24, if we were at a funeral and lamenting over the death of the city, 00:19:35.320 --> 00:19:41.440 now we're back in the courtroom. Now, we've got the sense that God is the judge, 00:19:42.440 --> 00:19:46.900 and the prisoner is brought in to await sentencing, and the prisoner is Babylon. 00:19:46.900 --> 00:19:55.440 Babylon, which represents the world system, a group of people who turn their back on God and on Jesus, 00:19:55.580 --> 00:20:01.480 the Savior, those who choose to live for now in comfort and pleasure rather than to be right with God 00:20:01.480 --> 00:20:07.380 and live for eternity. And again, there's the sense of how sudden and shocking the judgment will be. 00:20:07.480 --> 00:20:13.780 In verse 21, there's an angel who picks up a boulder like a big millstone and throws it into the sea. 00:20:13.779 --> 00:20:20.500 I imagine all of us maybe at some point have done that at the seaside, that sense of finding the 00:20:20.500 --> 00:20:25.519 biggest rock you can and fling it in, and you see the water come up, and you're trying to get the 00:20:25.519 --> 00:20:31.099 biggest wave and the biggest splash you can. It gives us a sense of the suddenness, the violence 00:20:31.099 --> 00:20:40.200 of this instant judgment. And then we get the sentence passed, here is the end of the world. 00:20:40.200 --> 00:20:50.940 The crimes have been listed, now the sentence is passed. It begins with a reality of deafening 00:20:50.940 --> 00:20:56.400 silence. The music harpists, musicians, pipers, trumpets will never be heard in you again. 00:20:56.400 --> 00:21:01.519 No more music, no more art, no more beauty, no more joy in this city. 00:21:05.680 --> 00:21:08.600 No worker of any trade will ever be found in you again. 00:21:09.640 --> 00:21:13.340 No more business, no more trading, no more buying and selling, no more productivity. 00:21:15.460 --> 00:21:19.340 The sound of a millstone will never be heard in you again. No more food production, 00:21:19.339 --> 00:21:27.059 no more making of the bread. No more lightness, the light of a lamp will never shine in you again. 00:21:27.980 --> 00:21:30.720 Voice of bridegroom and bride will never be heard in you again. 00:21:32.559 --> 00:21:40.039 That happiness, those family gatherings, those weddings, that joy, it's gone on that day 00:21:40.039 --> 00:21:49.859 for the city that says no to Jesus. Jesus tells a story, maybe it's familiar to many of us, 00:21:49.920 --> 00:21:57.700 of two house builders. There's one man, he builds his house on rock, and there's one man who builds 00:21:57.700 --> 00:22:02.399 his house on sand. The two houses look the same, the foundations are very different. And then the 00:22:02.399 --> 00:22:09.859 storm comes. Ultimately, that storm speaks to us of the day of judgment. And when the storm comes, 00:22:09.859 --> 00:22:16.759 the foundations are revealed. The house that's built on the rock stands. The life that's built 00:22:16.759 --> 00:22:24.419 on Jesus and his word stands. But the house built on sand, without the solid foundation, it falls. 00:22:25.779 --> 00:22:32.219 That's what we have in Revelation 18. One other thing we have in Revelation 18 when it comes to 00:22:32.219 --> 00:22:37.899 judgment is verse 24, in her was found the blood of prophets and of God's holy people, 00:22:37.900 --> 00:22:41.940 of all who've been slaughtered on the earth. Here's one other thing that's going to stop. 00:22:42.700 --> 00:22:50.000 The killing of God's people will stop. The oppression of the church will stop. And that explains why 00:22:50.000 --> 00:22:56.700 there's the joyful song of verse 20. I wonder if you found it a bit jarring to come to that song, 00:22:56.800 --> 00:23:04.100 rejoice, rejoice, rejoice, for God has judged her. With the judgment she imposed on you, 00:23:04.099 --> 00:23:11.779 she has been judged. There's joy for the people of God because part of Babylon's reason for existing 00:23:11.779 --> 00:23:16.859 is to make life miserable for the people of God, to attack and to hate and to destroy. 00:23:17.799 --> 00:23:22.259 And so there is joy because there is a day coming when God will step in decisively, 00:23:22.899 --> 00:23:28.699 when he will punish all wrong in the end. That the day of Jesus' return is both God judging the earth 00:23:28.700 --> 00:23:35.580 and also of Jesus establishing an eternal kingdom of peace. And so there is good news and there is hope 00:23:35.580 --> 00:23:48.240 because of that. So Jesus announces that judgment is coming, and Jesus pictures this judgment in action. 00:23:48.240 --> 00:23:59.319 But why does Jesus do it? Why does he give this vision to us? It's because Jesus wants us to prepare 00:23:59.319 --> 00:24:07.640 for this coming crisis, and Jesus wants us to be ready for his coming, for his return. 00:24:08.500 --> 00:24:17.420 So remember in Matthew chapter 24, we read just that little section, Jesus teaching there, 00:24:17.420 --> 00:24:23.539 where he made plain that the timing for this final judgment is unknown. People be going about their 00:24:23.539 --> 00:24:29.860 business, just like they did in the day of Noah before judgment came at the flood. It will take the 00:24:29.860 --> 00:24:38.720 world by surprise, but it will come. And within his teaching, he gives us some instruction. What should we do? 00:24:38.720 --> 00:24:46.200 Jesus, the one who came on a loving rescue mission to save people, to bring people to God and to eternal 00:24:46.200 --> 00:24:52.799 security, what does he say we should do? He said in verse 42 of Matthew 24, keep watch. 00:24:54.960 --> 00:25:01.380 You don't know what time Jesus is coming back, so keep watch. Live with eternity in view. 00:25:01.380 --> 00:25:11.000 Don't settle down in Babylon. Don't get comfy in this culture and embracing the values of this culture. 00:25:11.160 --> 00:25:18.300 Remember, heaven is our true home as the people of God. It's all too easy as a minority, isn't it, 00:25:18.300 --> 00:25:24.000 that we would just go with the flow of culture to be unthinking in the value systems that we take on. 00:25:24.000 --> 00:25:32.279 It's very easy to be focused on self and to be focused on now, but we realize that's what brought Babylon 00:25:32.279 --> 00:25:42.539 into judgment. So, part of this keeping watch involves a daily determination by God's grace to be different, 00:25:43.440 --> 00:25:52.039 to be transformed by living for Jesus. But he also tells us in verse 42, you also must be ready. 00:25:52.039 --> 00:26:02.599 How do you and I get ready for the return of Jesus? The simple answer is we place our faith in him. 00:26:04.519 --> 00:26:13.099 We trust to him and not to ourselves. We look to Jesus, the judge who came and was judged in our place, 00:26:13.500 --> 00:26:19.700 so that we don't have to be judged, so that when the end comes, 00:26:19.700 --> 00:26:27.600 we know that joy comes. When the foundations are shaken and everything that we know disappears, 00:26:27.720 --> 00:26:33.420 we still have security because we've built our life in this city that has foundations. 00:26:35.460 --> 00:26:40.240 In just, I guess, in a couple of weeks, we'll be in Revelation 21. We get this wonderful image of a 00:26:40.240 --> 00:26:45.460 wedding, and there is Jesus, and he's the bridegroom. And the bride is the new Jerusalem, 00:26:45.460 --> 00:26:50.160 the city of God that comes down from heaven so that Jesus and his church are together forever. 00:26:50.840 --> 00:26:58.240 To be ready means to be part of his people, part of that kingdom, by turning away from sin and trusting 00:26:58.240 --> 00:27:06.620 in him. Augustine, back in 410 AD, did the church in his day a great service. 00:27:07.480 --> 00:27:13.660 Here is how to respond to a great crisis. Here is how to counter fear with faith. 00:27:13.660 --> 00:27:18.660 You know, he looked to point people away from the temporary and the fading to what is eternal. 00:27:19.840 --> 00:27:24.640 He reminded them, here is your eternal king. Here is the one you should give your love and loyalty to, 00:27:24.680 --> 00:27:30.300 and you don't need to live with fear when you're part of his kingdom. Jesus does the same thing for 00:27:30.300 --> 00:27:38.500 us here. In his love and in his kindness, he would make us shockproof. He would give to his church a 00:27:38.500 --> 00:27:46.880 solid foundation as we anticipate this coming crisis, his return, his judgment, his return to judge the 00:27:46.880 --> 00:27:54.140 living and the dead. If we trust in Jesus, if he is where we look for our greatest safety, 00:27:54.980 --> 00:28:02.099 our deepest sense of security, our most powerful hope in all this world, 00:28:02.099 --> 00:28:11.419 then we can live without fear. We can live with faith. We can live ready for Jesus' return. 00:28:15.839 --> 00:28:25.000 Who or what is our foundation? What is our life built on? Are you ready for Jesus' return? 00:28:25.000 --> 00:28:39.059 Who or what is our foundation? Are you ready for Jesus' return? You know what it is? 00:28:39.059 --> 00:28:39.059 00:28:39.059 --> 00:28:43.960 You know what it is. You know what it is. You know what it is. You know what it is. You know what it is.