Good morning. My name is Billy Nye. I'm one of the associate pastors here at Christ the King.
And I would like to welcome you to open your Bible if you have one.
If you don't, there's one in the pew in front of you.
And open to the very end of the book, the very end of the Bible, the book of Revelation.
And we are toward the end, only a couple chapters away, chapter 19.
Chapter 19 in the book of Revelation.
Longing.
Longing is a powerful force.
Our lives tend to be governed by longing.
People will do some pretty astounding things and will endure some very difficult things
because they are longing for something.
It doesn't matter whether you are very young or very old.
You have longing.
An infant longs for her mother's milk and lets everybody within a one mile radius know that she is longing for her mother's milk.
A five-year-old yearns for his next Lego set.
At least five-year-olds in our household do.
A teenager longs for her driver's license and the independence to make choices on her own.
A young man desires to meet and to be with the love of his life.
A young married couple longs for financial stability or for children.
And if God grants those children, those longings change.
Then they long for a nap or a quiet evening on the couch.
And once you hit middle age, your longings start becoming more for retirement.
A rest from your labors.
Our longing is never over, is it?
And whether those longings are fulfilled with good gifts that God does give,
or whether those longings end in disappointment and they linger,
we continue to long.
We are a longing people.
But it is very important that we make sure that our greatest longings,
our strongest longings are good ones.
Because our longings shape our living.
If you're joining us for the first time this morning,
we've been journeying through this book of Revelation.
And Revelation has a way of shaping our longings.
Two weeks ago, Pastor Mike showed us from chapter 17 in Revelation,
this very nasty lady named Babylon.
She is a prostitute.
And the prostitute Babylon stands for the whole system of the world
that is set up in opposition to God and opposition to God's people.
She sells pleasure and possessions, but at a high price.
She costs something.
Your allegiance.
Your allegiance to her master, the beast, and his master, the dragon.
And we are told not to marvel at this world system,
this cultural and social force that seduces us with her pleasure and possessions.
We are told not to long for her trinkets.
And last week, Pastor Matt helped us see from Revelation 18 the reason why.
Because Babylon is going to meet a soon and sudden end.
So, we need to set our affection not on the allure of this world's pleasures and possessions,
but we are to hate everything that Babylon stands for.
And to come out of her.
And to live in this world as exiles with longing.
Not for this world.
But longing, hungering for our true home to be with Jesus.
And this morning, our longing is going to be sharpened and nourished.
You might be saying,
Billy, I listened pretty carefully to what Caleb read just a few minutes ago.
I didn't hear the word longing.
Can you show that to me in Revelation 19 somewhere?
Yes, I can.
You did not hear longing.
You heard celebration.
Did you hear all those hallelujahs?
All that praise?
Four times.
It shows up.
A lot of intense joy in God.
Do you know why?
Because longing is about to be satisfied.
Heaven's longing is about to be fulfilled.
And if heaven longs for it,
then we, as heaven citizens who are in exile in the world still,
we must long for it too.
And we must live for it.
But what is it?
What is this it that we should be longing for and living for?
What is this it that heaven is celebrating the fulfillment of?
It's this.
Look at verse 1.
Hallelujah.
Salvation and glory and power belong to our God.
Look at verse 6.
The end of verse 6.
Hallelujah.
For the Lord our God, the Almighty, reigns.
Verse 6 summarizes it beautifully.
What are we supposed to be longing for?
What has heaven been longing for for so long?
And now it's about to come about.
And heaven's going crazy because of it.
It's this.
It's God's full and unchallenged rule over all things.
His triumphant reign over his victory.
Over his enemies.
And it's near.
It's very close.
That's what heaven's been longing for.
In fact, that's what the whole Bible has been longing for.
That's what history has been longing for.
Before sin entered the world, before humans embraced Satan's rule, Satan's authority, the universe was enjoying God's good and unchallenged rule.
No one questioned the creator's authority and his goodness.
But then mankind said, no.
We want to be kings ourselves.
And by doing so, all of creation has been subjected to chaos and disorder, to death, to decay, to corruption and evil.
And we feel it right now.
We feel the uck of it.
But now, in Revelation 19, we get a delightful picture that God's great victory, his full and unchallenged rule over all things, is close.
It's very near.
And heaven's longing is about to be fulfilled.
And we, now, here, must long for it and live for it now.
In fact, if we were to squish what this passage means for us into one sentence, it would be this.
If we long and live for God's triumphant reign now, we will not be disappointed then.
So, let's proceed into the details of this text together with this big, huge truth in the back of our minds.
And we're going to see two reasons in the two sections of this text, verses 1 to 5 and then verses 6 to 10.
Two reasons why we should long and live for God's triumphant reign now.
Here's the first.
First, God's unchallenged rule means our future relief and vindication.
God's unchallenged rule means something very special.
Our future relief and vindication.
Look at verse 1.
After this, or literally after these things.
That's pointing right back to Revelation 18.
Right on the heels of Babylon's predicted doom, John hears a sound.
I heard what seemed to be the loud voice of a great multitude in heaven crying out.
Apparently, at a 1992 game against the University of Nebraska football team,
the cheers at Husky Stadium at the University of Washington reached an ear-splitting 133.6 decibels.
That is 13 decibels louder than a thunderclap.
Now imagine the sounds.
Not of 100,000 people, but hundreds of hundreds of hundreds of thousands.
The redeemed, combined with rank upon rank of angels.
The entire population of heaven is saying,
Yes!
They're raising this resounding shout of praise because God's going to get victory.
Our human ears would just be done.
And forget about it.
There is so much joy and festivity going on with God at the very center of it all in heaven.
Hallelujah!
Four times.
Verse 1, and verse 3, and verse 4, and in verse 6.
We hear this big command to praise God.
That Hebrew word, hallelujah, we're used to hearing it in lots of different songs,
but it means hallelujah, y'all praise Yah, Yahweh.
Y'all praise Yahweh.
You praise Yahweh.
It's a command.
Praise Yahweh, everybody.
Yahweh is God's covenant name, his personal covenant name that is known to his people.
And this word, hallelujah, it's the only place in the New Testament that it shows up,
it's right here in this chapter.
It shows up in the Old Testament in Hebrew, but it's the first time it shows up in Greek,
and the last time it shows up in the Greek New Testament.
We should get the sense of, wow, what is going on in this passage?
What is going on that four times hallelujah is bam, bam, bam, bam?
Well, heaven's rejoicing because God's great victory is very near.
God is going to win the day and save his people forever.
Salvation and glory and power belong to our God.
We've heard something similar back in chapter 7 when God's saints are gathered together,
and they say, salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne and to the Lamb.
So the gathered body of redeemed sinners in heaven,
probably a bunch of angels all are rejoicing over this,
but this praise is not just from them.
Look at verse 4.
The 24 elders and the four living creatures,
they fall down and they worship God who is sitting on the throne saying,
Amen, hallelujah.
And then comes this throne, this voice that's from the throne itself,
probably an angelic messenger sent on God's behalf says,
Praise our God, all you his servants, you who fear him, small and great.
Man, it's just this, heaven is resounding with praise.
Verse 4, verse 2.
For his judgments are true and just.
For he has judged the great prostitute who corrupted the earth with her immorality
and has advantaged on her the blood of his servants.
God is going to put Babylon down and heaven is going nuts.
And it's jolting because we've just heard from chapter 18,
this mourning, this sadness, this loss,
the kings of the earth, the merchants, the sailors,
they're all saying,
Oh, the source of our selfish gain and profit is gone.
What are we going to do now that Babylon has fallen?
And then all of a sudden, heaven's like,
Yeah!
It's just jolting, the change of tone.
It might be a cause for sadness if your intimacy is with the world,
knowing that the world is going down.
It is cause for great joy and celebration for those whose hearts are set on heaven.
And as you notice verse 3,
this victory is permanent.
It's going to last forever.
The smoke of her burning goes up forever and ever.
Babylon's not going to come back.
Okay, so it's evident.
Heaven has been longing for this victory
and now is celebrating it.
And this is why.
Babylon's doom is our relief and vindication.
In verse 2, it's very clear.
It's right for God to judge Babylon,
the great prostitute.
Because she corrupted the earth,
she shed the blood of God's servants.
Church, while we still live and breathe,
we are in exile.
The church has never been at home while still in this world.
In fact, the moments when she feels most at home in the world
is when she is least at home in heaven.
We live in Babylon by necessity.
We live here.
We can't get away from it.
We live in a social and cultural system
that is fundamentally opposed to God.
And because it's opposed to God,
it's opposed to us, his people.
And it has been this way for 20 centuries.
It was this way when John dipped his pen in ink
to write down this vision.
It is this way now,
and it will continue to be this way
until God puts Babylon down.
And it's helpful to keep in mind
how the people receiving this book,
originally, the seven churches of Asia,
how they would have felt about hearing this great joy
over God's full and unchallenged reign coming
and Babylon being put down.
Lots of these churches were suffering intense persecution.
Keep a finger in this passage.
Flip back to chapter 6.
Revelation chapter 6.
Look at verse 9 of Revelation 6.
And then they were told,
God's people have been and are and will be persecuted.
And when his people are persecuted,
God doesn't just shrug his shoulders and say,
oh man, not again.
There is a limit to how much he will allow.
And when his saints ask how long,
he says, just a little while longer.
And I will avenge you.
I will vindicate you.
And when his vindication comes,
it will be sudden and terrible,
as we saw back in chapter 18.
You don't mess with God's people and get away with it.
But he will vindicate his people.
He will be seen to be right.
Relief and vindication is coming
for those of us who live in Babylon.
Imagine how the members of the church in Smyrna,
one of the seven churches of Asia,
imagine how they would have felt when they heard this.
Jesus had just told them in chapter 2,
he said, be faithful unto death.
And it's going to be that way for a couple of you.
How do you think they would have heard this?
They'd be thinking, I might have Roman soldiers
kicking down my door any minute,
but Babylon ain't going to last.
I might have to be faithful unto death,
but my God will triumph over my enemies,
and he will vindicate me in the end.
I just need to hold on so that I can overcome.
Imagine today how our brothers and sisters in Pakistan
woke up this morning.
They didn't know if this Lord's Day today,
May 12th, would bring for them
from their Muslim countrymen hate, persecution,
or fellow saints in Iran,
or those who had just experienced
the bombings in Sri Lanka.
It's not going to be that way forever.
There will be relief,
and there will be vindication.
God is going to rule triumphantly
over his enemies.
Now, we can hear that,
and we're like, okay, good.
That's good for them.
I don't really feel that myself right now, though.
We don't really feel that opposition
in our corner of the world at the moment.
But there is more to the world's opposition to us
than violent persecution.
There are endless attempts to seduce us
away into her corruption.
Do you see that in verse 2?
Who corrupted the earth with her immorality?
As Matt encouraged us last week,
we must see through the seductive advances
of the world to make us long
for what she can offer,
what the prostitute can offer.
Instead, we've got to hate
all that Babylon stands for,
which is the worship of self.
We must hate it.
We must long for a greater object
of our affection.
And that fight,
that longing,
that struggle,
it takes energy.
It's hard.
The struggle against sin is real.
Many of us in the room
are feeling that right now.
But here's the beautiful news
of God's great victory.
It ain't gonna last.
Relief is coming.
Your struggle against sin
is just for a while.
Your struggle against
whatever temptation
Satan is throwing your way
is going to be temporary.
So hold on.
Hold on.
We need to long
and live
for God's unchallenged rule.
It's coming.
And when it does,
we will not be disappointed.
Here's the second thing.
Let's look at the second section
of our text this morning.
The second reason
that we are to long
and live
for God's triumphant reign
is found in verses 6 through 10.
It's this.
God's unchallenged rule
means
our forever union
with Jesus.
God's unchallenged rule
means our forever union
with Jesus.
If you thought
the sound of great praise
in verse 1
was spectacular,
it's tripled
in verse 6.
Then I heard
what seemed to be
the voice
of a great multitude
like the roar
of many waters
and like the sound
of mighty peels
of thunder
crying out.
Not just a great crowd.
Not just a stadium
full of people
but Niagara Falls
combined with
a raging thunderstorm.
It just staggers
the imagination
to try to conceive
of a massive thunderstorm
raging over Niagara Falls
in the middle
of a football stadium
of millions of people.
But that's the effect
that John's trying
to get across.
Major noise.
Basically,
the roof of heaven stadium
just got blown off
by the roar
of its citizens
going absolutely wild.
I thought
the joy
was really evident
in verse 1
in this
hallelujah chorus
but now,
whoa!
Look at the last half
of verse 6.
Hallelujah!
for the Lord
God,
the Almighty
reigns.
This is heaven
sounding
a similar
triumphant note
as verse 1
but it's just
amplified.
At last!
Finally!
God's rule
and reign
is coming
fully and finally
and His enemies
are going to be
vanquished.
But it's not just
that His enemies
are vanquished.
Take a second
to think of
your favorite
epic movie.
They tend to star
Russell Crowe
or Mel Gibson
but whichever one
you've got
in your mind
just
think of
epic movie,
okay?
When do you
as the viewer
experience
the greatest
sense of relief
and satisfaction
when you watch
movies
like that?
It's when the good
guy finally beats
the bad guy,
right?
it?
Well, yes
but there's
something else.
It's not just
that, is it?
It's not just
vindication.
It's not just
triumph.
It's when the good
guy beats the bad
guy so the good
guy can have his
girl.
Right?
The story ain't
over until the bad
guy dies
and the good guy
and his girl
are finally
together forever.
Well, heaven
is not just
celebrating
because God's
enemies are
going down.
Heaven is
celebrating
because God's
going to finally
get his girl.
Look at verse
seven.
Let us rejoice
and exult
and give him
the glory
for
why so much
joy?
For the marriage
of the Lamb
has come.
God's triumphant
reign doesn't
just mean that
he vindicates
his people.
It means that
he also is going
to have his
people.
He's going to
marry his
people.
Back in
biblical times,
the whole
marriage process
looked something
like this.
The prospective
groom would
head from
his father's
house to
the prospective
bride's
father's house
and negotiate
a betrothal
with him.
He would have
to pay a price
for the bride
and then the
groom and the
bride would
legally be
declared married
after the
price was
paid.
After the
payment happened,
the couple
would then
drink a cup
of wine
together to
seal and
ratify the
fact that
this was a
legit union.
This marriage
was going to
be a new
covenant of
these two
people together.
But then,
that wouldn't
be it.
They would
be legally
married,
but they
would not
consummate the
union.
They would
not be
physically
intimate for
about a
year.
The groom
would go
home to
his father's
house and
he would
begin preparing
a place for
his bride and
preparing the
wedding feast.
This could
take a while,
about a year.
While he was
away working on
her behalf,
she would be
waiting faithfully
for him,
but not just
twiddling her
thumbs.
She would be
waiting faithfully,
not making any
commitment with any
others, but
also preparing
herself.
A lot of work
that goes into
being, not just
the wedding, but
creating a new
life with her
future husband.
So she began
preparing herself
actively for this
wedding day.
Then he would
come suddenly,
usually in the
middle of the
night, and that
was part of the
fun, didn't know
when he was
going to come,
and then the
wedding feast
would begin.
It would be
joy.
Throughout the
Bible, the
relationship between
God and his
people has often
been compared to
a marriage.
God is the
groom.
He's the
initiator in the
relationship.
He comes to his
people, and he
desires to bring
her into a
healthy, exclusive,
protected, intimate
relationship with
himself.
And God makes all
the arrangements.
He does all the
work.
First, he saves her
from the bad guy
way back in Exodus.
Remember that?
He delivers her from
slavery to Pharaoh,
but not just that.
He brings her into
a promised land, a
place where she is
going to be with
him forever.
But the very sad
part of this story,
the tragedy of it,
is that God chose a
very unfaithful bride.
Right away, before
they even got to the
promised land, she
started turning away
to other lovers.
Remember the golden
calf?
She started falling
to seductions of
false worship, the
old Babylon, and she
was turning away from
her faithful bridegroom.
The Old Testament
prophets would often
compare Israel to an
unfaithful wife, panting
after lovers, running
headlong away from her
husband.
It's in Ezekiel 16 and
Jeremiah 2.
The whole book of
Hosea is all about
this.
But then we come to
Isaiah 54.
And God, he does
discipline his people.
He sends his wife
away.
He briefly abandons
her to her own
self-worshiping
devices.
But then he makes
the most profound
promise.
For the Lord has
called you like a
wife deserted and
grieved in spirit,
like a wife of youth
when she is cast off,
says your God.
For a brief moment I
deserted you, but with
great compassion I will
gather you.
In overflowing anger
for a moment I hid my
face from you, but with
everlasting love I will
have compassion on you.
And then about 700
years later, breathing
the air of planet
earth as God made
flesh, Jesus Christ
spoke these words.
Can the wedding guest
feast when the
bridegroom is here?
He began pointing to
himself.
He's saying, I'm here.
The bridegroom is
back.
And he didn't just
show up just to hang
out.
He showed up to do
what he promised to
do in Isaiah 54.
To gather his bride
back to himself in
great compassion and
everlasting love and to
win her heart back to
him from her
faithlessness.
In essence, he came
back to re-betroth her
to himself.
To pay the price, to
drink the cup, and to
betroth her to himself
in love.
So, he's having his
last meal with his
disciples in John 13
through 16.
He drinks the cup of
the new covenant of
betrothal and points to
the price he was about
to pay, the shedding of
his own blood.
And he also promised
that he was going to go
away for a period of
time to prepare a place
for his bride and his
father's house.
And he gave his bride
instructions of how to
be faithful in the
meantime until he comes
back.
because he's going to
return soon and
suddenly to take her
home to be with him
forever.
And here.
Revelation 19, verse 7.
Heaven is trembling
with anticipation.
God's great unchallenged
rule is not only going to
trounce the bad guy.
God's unchallenged rule is
also going to bring about
the wedding feast.
God is going to get his
girl.
Church, do you know
something that's
ridiculously amazing?
We are the girl.
We are the bride.
We are the objects of our
bridegroom's great affection.
And he's coming back for us.
Sinful, weak, foolish,
faithless, bumbling us.
Just let that sink in for a
minute, people of God.
We are the bride of the
Lamb.
Why would he want to be with
me forever?
Why would he love me?
Why would he pay a price
for me?
Why would he go to prepare
a place for me?
We, fellow sinners,
this truth should melt our
hearts and convince us of
our God's immense love for
corrupt and faithless people
like us.
The God of endless days
died to betroth himself to
you forever.
And he has gone away to
prepare a place in his
father's house for us and he
will come soon and suddenly
take us to the joyful
wedding feast.
It doesn't mean that we're
anything lovely in
ourselves.
I know that about me.
I think you know that about
you.
He doesn't love us because of
something in us.
He loves us because he loves
us.
And it is his love for us
that makes us lovely.
Speaking of lovely, look at
the last part of verse 7.
And his bride has made
herself ready.
It was granted to her to
clothe herself with fine
linen, bright and pure, for
the fine linen is the
righteous deeds of the
saints.
Church, listen carefully to
what God's word is telling
us.
While we live here in
Babylon, our primary
occupation must be preparing
ourselves for the wedding
feast.
Let's pretend a young
couple get engaged to be
married.
They are officially
betrothed, rings and all.
The wedding date is set and
the groom-to-be is busy.
He's finding an apartment
for them to live in.
He's arranging the wedding
venue.
He's securing an
officiant.
He's visiting caterers.
He's making plans for the
honeymoon, et cetera, et
cetera, et cetera.
All the while, the bride
spends the months of her
engagements, going out with
friends, taking a couple
vacations by herself, sitting
on the couch, watching
Netflix the rest of the time.
And the day of the wedding
arrives.
And her phone goes off.
Beep, beep, beep, beep,
beep.
Wedding today.
She gasps.
She doesn't have a dress.
She doesn't have shoes.
She doesn't have jewelry.
She doesn't have
bridesmaids' dresses.
She doesn't have a hair
appointment.
Nothing.
She just shows up at the
wedding, sheepish, in sweats
and a t-shirt, completely
unprepared.
Let that not be us, church.
Let that not be us.
Our greatest longing and our
greatest goal in living now is
to prepare ourselves for the
wedding day then.
To be with Jesus forever.
How are we going to do that?
Notice the end of verse 8.
The beautiful wedding dress that
she has on is the fine linen of
righteous deeds of the saints.
Bright and pure.
Now what are those righteous
deeds?
And how do we clothe ourselves
with those righteous deeds?
It's all about living a life of
faith in response to this grace
of being betrothed to our
bridegroom.
It means longing for our true
husband and living in a way
that's pleasing to him.
It means setting our affection on
him alone.
Not giving away to the
seductions of Babylon's false
worship of self.
It means laying our lives down
in love for each other.
In all of our relationships.
Marriage, children, friends,
family, everything.
It means laying our lives down.
It means walking in humility.
It means avoiding moral
compromise at work.
It means caring for outsiders
in our community.
It means guarding our mouths
against speaking gossip and
disciplining ourselves to speak
the truth even if it hurts us.
It means refusing to complain
or grumble by resolving to
trust God in every situation.
It means putting all of our
energy into learning and loving
our God's commands in his word.
It means confessing our sin
and turning from it daily.
Taking up our cross and
following the lamb wherever he
goes.
And you might be thinking
that sounds really hard.
Look at that beautiful phrase
in verse 8.
It was granted.
In other words
all those righteous deeds
that we are to walk in
are enabled.
Do you hear that granted language?
It's grace language.
It's enabled by the grace
that purchased us
as his bride
in the first place.
It's like this.
We aren't his bride
because we've put on
the righteous deeds.
We put on the righteous deeds
because we are his bride.
And there's one more way
that we can prepare ourselves
for that day.
Look at verses 9 and 10.
It's by pondering the joy
of being at that feast.
There's this final reminder
of the goodness
and the privilege
that we currently have
as those who are invited
to the great wedding feast.
The angel tells John
write this down.
It's always good to pay attention
when an angel tells you
to write something down.
So let's listen.
Blessed are those
who are invited
to the marriage supper
of the lamb.
It doesn't say blessed are they
when they get there.
It says blessed now
are those
who are invited now.
It's zeroing in
on the present blessing
of trusting the promise
of that future hope.
This is the fourth time
that word blessed
has shown up
in the book of Revelation.
It's kind of woven
in and out
of the book of Revelation
and it's meant
to communicate to us
if we listen to these words
in the book of Revelation
now
and we savor
what they mean
and we ponder it
and we seek to
bring that into
the soil of our hearts,
it's going to bring
present joy
and blessing
now.
So if you've trusted
in Jesus Christ
you are his forever.
You are called
to the feast.
You are invited
to the greatest joy
ever known
around God's table
at the wedding
of Jesus
and his bride.
In fact the promise
is so staggering
in verse 10
John bows down
to worship
the one who speaks it
to him.
The trustworthiness
of the word
and the glory
of what he was
experiencing
this promise
it was so much
for him.
It was too much
for him
and so he was tempted
to worship the angel
who just relayed
the message
but the angel
says don't worship me
I'm just a fellow servant.
The promise
of the wedding feast
is meant to bring
present blessing
for those of us
who hold
to the testimony
of Jesus
now.
It's a little morsel
of goodness
that's meant to
nourish your soul
with longing
so that your living
might be that
of a bride
who is preparing
herself
and waiting
for her groom
waiting for the
day when he
comes to take
her to himself
and if you take
a little peek
at the very next
verse in verse 11
you'll see that
he's coming
riding on a white
horse
see that next week
he's coming
church
he's coming
for you
his triumphant
reign is coming
long for it
live for it
and you will not
be disappointed
when he comes
by way of
response
let me just
ask you a few
questions
to consider
do you
share
heaven's joy
at the thought
of God's
forever
rule
do you
share
heaven's joy
do you
also
long
for God's
unrivaled
kingdom
if you do
continue to
set your
heart
on that
blessed
reminder
that you
are
personally
invited
and that
you yourself
are a member
of that
bride
that was
purchased
at the
price
of
the
lamb's
blood
if you
don't
if that
does not
strike
joy
at least
a little
bit
in your
heart
or if
that joy
is fuzzy
then consider
this second
question
what does
bring you
joy
what do
you celebrate
and rejoice
in
if the
objects
of your
affection
are only
things that
don't last
things of
Babylon
then chances
are your
heart belongs
not to
the bridegroom
but to
the prostitute
to
allegiance
not to
the true
king
but to
the beast
come out
there's no
joy there
there's no
lasting
fulfillment
there
revelation
does not
give us
the option
of
neither
rejoicing
in Satan's
rule
nor in
God's
rule
there's no
third way
we either
delight in
the fact
that God
is our
king
or we
delight in
the fact
that we
are our
own
kings
or queens
and if
that is
the truth
then we
are in
league
with the
beast
and the
prostitute
there's no
third way
don't try to
ride the
middle
it's either
one
or the
other
if you
do
share in
the joy
of heaven
though
at least
a little
bit
there's that
there
it's a seed
it's planted
it's bearing
fruit in your
life
then you're in
the fight
against Babylon
you're struggling
against setting
your heart
on the things
of this world
then if that's
you consider
this final
question
is Jesus
your bridegroom
calling you
to prepare
yourself
in a particular
way
today
is there a
sinful habit
that he has
made you aware
of this week
that you know
you need to
put off
you know you
need his grace
to put off
to put away
to come out
of
or is there
a habit
of righteousness
that you know
that he is
calling you
to put on
how can you
make effort
today
grace enabled
effort
to prepare
yourself
actively
today
this week
for the
wedding feast
may God
give us
the grace
that we need
to faithfully
respond
to this word
let's pray
to that end
father you
have sent
your son
to betroth
himself
to a bride
forever
and your
unchallenged
rule is
soon coming
when you
will vanquish
your enemies
and you
will bring
the wedding
feast
about
God
would you
please
change our
longing
from anything
that's said
on this
world
to your
unchallenged
rule
help us
to long
for that
day
to long
for the
wedding
feast
to long
to be
with you
in our
union
with you
forever
give us
grace
God
to put
aside
to put
off
that
which
does not
bring
ultimate
and lasting
fulfillment
give grace
now
minister to
each one
of us
by your
spirit
we pray
in Christ's
name
amen