Father, even as we stand or sit here this morning, you know the different desires that are rattling around within us.
Father, you know that some of us have desires and longings which we're trying to push away, and we should try to push away.
Some of us, Father, have desires within that we should be pushing away, but in fact we're not at all.
Some of us, Father, have desires that we're confused about.
Some of us, Father, have desires that we know are good and we puzzle over them.
And Father, we could go on about our desires, but Father, we know as we stand or sit in your presence this morning that you know the desires of our hearts,
that you look into each and every single one of us who is here and see, you see what is going on in terms of our desires and our longings and our yearnings,
our imagination, our fears.
Father, we acknowledge before you that you are sovereign, that you are good, that you are kind, that you are filled with mercy, that you are mercy.
And we invite and give you permission, Father, for you to speak into our lives today, this morning, that your word would speak into our lives,
that you, Father, that you would fan into our desires that we should have, that you would help us turn from desires that we should not have.
And Father, we invite you to come into our lives and into our desires.
And we ask that you would do that in a saving way and in a sovereign way.
And so, Father, pour out your Holy Spirit upon us as we hear your word.
Work in us.
And this we ask in Jesus' name, your Son and our Savior.
Amen.
Please be seated.
Oops.
I have sort of a bit of an apology.
Not an apology.
Sort of a bit of a clarification or qualification of something that I said last week.
I made a slightly disparaging remark last Sunday.
Just slightly disparaging about radio preachers in the book of Revelation.
And after the service, somebody pointed out to me that I'm a radio preacher.
And the person who pointed it out to me, not only that they'd known this, it would have been even funnier,
but if you listen to the last two times I spoke on the radio, I spoke on the book of Revelation.
And in fact, on Tuesday, I go in to take my next sessions, and I'm going to speak on the book of Revelation.
So it's sort of a funny type of humbling thing for me to have made a disparaging comment about myself.
But you can pray for me.
On Tuesday morning, I tape some sessions.
I share a spot on CFRA radio at 6.30 in the morning, Sunday mornings, with three other pastors.
And so approximately every fourth week, I'm on the radio at 6.30 in the morning on CFRA on Sundays.
And so you can pray for me about that.
When can we begin?
That's sort of a very, very common type of question.
People might sort of wonder, when can we begin a family?
When will life really begin?
There's an old joke, maybe you've heard it before.
A rabbi, an Anglican minister, and a Catholic priest were walking along,
and they were having an argument about when life began.
And the Anglican minister said, oh, you know, life begins when the baby comes out of the womb.
And the Catholic priest said, no, no, no, that's a terrible thing to say.
Life begins at conception.
And then the rabbi smiled and said, you're both wrong.
Life begins when the kids move out and the dog dies.
Anyway, so we constantly ask the question, when will life begin?
When can we start doing things?
When can we, you know, start working on a mortgage?
When can we save money?
When could we tithe?
When can we be generous?
When can we begin a relationship that could be permanent?
We as a church, on one level, are always sort of struggling a little bit with when we can begin.
In particular, since we walked away from our building two and a half years ago
and moved into rental facilities and stuff like that,
it often seems as if certain types of ministries and all can't begin
until certain other external things start to happen.
And the Bible text that we look at today, it doesn't answer all of the questions about when we begin,
but it does have some actually very, very interesting and powerful things to say to churches
and to Christians in terms of at least part of the Christian life and church life
in terms of when certain things can and should begin.
So it would be a great help to me if you turn in your Bibles to Revelation 7.
Revelation chapter 7.
And let's hear what the Bible has to say about this.
Some of you who might not know some things about our church,
two and a half years ago we walked away from our building
and separated away from the Anglican Church of Canada.
And part of the reason we did that was to be connected to the global Anglican Futures movement
of which we are a part.
And, you know, for somebody like myself,
who spent all of his life up until two and a half years ago
being in churches with buildings,
it's a real learning curve,
trying to have an imagination and a will
which reflects not owning property.
And I know that there's a lot of people who get excited by that,
but some sort of struggle with it.
And this text, believe it or not,
will sort of speak into it a little bit,
at least in terms of how we should pray.
And here's how it begins.
Revelation chapter 7, verse 1.
After this I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth.
Actually, you know what?
Let's go up a few verses
to what's just happened before this.
What's happened in the book of Revelation?
In our church we preach through books of the Bible generally.
That's how we,
that's sort of what we do on Sundays.
And so we're going through the book of Revelation.
And, you know, in chapter 1 you sort of get an introduction to the book.
Chapter 2 and 3 there's stories or words that Jesus has to seven different churches.
In a sense that's seven different ways to enter into the book of Revelation.
Sort of almost like an examination of conscience
that challenges us as we go into the rest of the book of Revelation.
And then in chapter 4 there's a vision of God in heaven.
Chapter 5 there's a vision of Jesus in heaven.
And then last week we looked at chapter 6,
which is that the same one who redeems us,
which is Jesus,
is the one who has control over the future.
From the moment of the crucifixion and resurrection
until he comes back,
that the same one who redeems us
is the one who controls the future.
And so last week we saw these judgments of God
that were coming out.
And in chapter 6,
that's what we're just going to do,
it's like the sixth judgment is the sixth seal is opened.
And just look maybe at verse 14.
This is the sixth seal,
the sixth sort of judgment,
the sixth thing which is sort of happening on the earth.
And it says,
the sky vanished like a scroll that is being rolled up
and every mountain and island was removed from its place.
Then the kings of the earth and the great ones
and the generals and the rich and the powerful
and everyone,
slave and free,
hid themselves in the caves
and among the rocks of the mountains,
calling to the mountains and rocks,
fall on us and hide us from the face of him
who is seated on the throne
and from the wrath of the Lamb.
For the great day of the wrath has come
and who can stand.
And that's sort of where the action's taken us to right now.
And it's a very, very gripping type of image.
It's an image of,
in some ways,
all of the people on the earth
who've turned their back on Jesus
and the offer of redemption.
And they have,
there's chaos going on all around them
on a physical level.
And they have this sense
that they're somehow under the judgment of God.
And at the same time
that they have this sense
that they're under the judgment of God,
they also have a sense of his face.
That it's his face,
that it's God responsible for this.
And they actually even have a sense of his face.
Not just his presence,
but his face.
And the mystery of the text
is that even though they have this sense
of the face of God looking at them
in this time of chaos,
they turn not to the face of God,
but to a rock
and say to the rock,
hide us.
Who can stand?
It's a very, very gripping image.
That they turn their back
on the face of God.
They have this sense.
How many people would love to have
a sense
or to see the face of God?
And the text implies
that these people
in some ways
know the sense,
the face of God,
but turn from the face of God
to speak to rocks.
That they be delivered.
And then it's right after that,
verse 7,
chapter 7, verse 1.
And after this,
I saw four angels
standing at the four corners of the earth,
holding back
the four winds of the earth
that no wind might blow
on the earth or sea
or against any tree.
Then I saw another angel
ascending from the rising of the sun
with the seal
of the living God.
And he called with a loud voice
to the four angels
who had been given power
to harm earth and sea,
saying,
do not harm the earth
or the sea
or the trees
until we have sealed
the servants
of our God
on their foreheads.
Now just sort of pause here
for a second.
You know,
I watch lots of movies.
Not all good movies as well.
I don't know how many of you
have seen the X-Men movies.
But if you've seen
the X-Men movies,
you have an insight
to this biblical text
that the rest of you
don't have.
And that is,
for those of you
who've seen the X-Men movies,
what is it that Dr. X can do?
You know how one of the things
that Dr. X can do
is let's say,
you know,
we're all doing this
and I'm up here
and all of a sudden
Dr. X,
I don't know,
Wolverine's going to come
wandering in the room
and I'm,
all of a sudden,
I freeze,
we all freeze.
It's as if
for the whole room
he has the power
to suspend time
and it's almost as if
for those who he wants,
they're outside of time
for a moment
and they can,
you know,
they can walk around
the cafeteria,
you know,
juice or pop
is being thrown
and it all stops
and they can have
this conversation
that goes on
while there's chaos
or other things going on
that's all just stopped
and that's the image
of what's happening here.
Chaos is going on
and all of a sudden
it's as if chaos
is going on
and it just stops
and in the midst
of the chaos
it's as if
John has this vision
of,
outside of time
of a conversation
going on
between angels
and to John
to tell him something
and what he says
is
in verse 3
do not harm
the earth
or the sea
or the trees
until we have
sealed the servants
of our God
on their foreheads.
So,
here's the thing,
the first point
if you could put it up.
Even while the earth
is in chaos
God is sovereign
and seals
ordinary people
for himself.
Even while the earth
is in chaos
God is sovereign
and seals
ordinary people
for himself.
Sealing
in this particular case
in the ancient world
that would be
like
you get something
like wax
doesn't have to just be wax
but something
which is melted
and you put it
on something
and the king
or the important person
would have a ring
or some other object
that could be pushed
into the wax
or some other thing
which is melted
and it would leave
an impression
in that
and that's sealing
something.
And so in the ancient world
there's three
connections
to being sealed.
To seal something
means to authenticate it
or it means
to signify possession
or it means
to signify protection.
So what's
so the three things
that sealing means
is that it either means
that it's authenticating
something
it's signifying
possession
of something
or it's signifying
protection of something.
So here
the image is
that
the lamb
who is the redeemer
is in control
of the future
as part of the future
is there's these things
that are going on
in the planet
the things that are
going on in the planet
the question within
all of the things
in the question
of the planet
is will suffering
incline my heart
towards God
or away from Him?
Will suffering
incline my heart
towards God
or away from Him?
And in the midst
of all of this
chaos
which is going on
and all this stress
which is going on
that in the midst
of all of this
we have this image
that in the midst
of it
that God
is sealing
ordinary people
for Himself
It means that when I put my faith and trust in Jesus, when an ordinary person like you puts your faith and trust in Jesus and what he's done for us on the cross,
that God, as one of the things that he does to us as a response to us putting our faith and trust in the salvation which is offered to us through Jesus
and what he wins for us on the cross, is that God seals me.
He seals you.
It's as if he puts a tattoo on your forehead.
Not a scary tattoo.
But a good one.
And he does that to signify that you're authentically his.
That you are authentic.
That you really are his.
That you really belong to him.
And that he really will, in an ultimate sense, from the point of view of all eternity, that you will now be under his complete and full protection.
And that is given to the ordinary person who puts their faith and trust in Jesus.
Even while the earth is in chaos, God is sovereign and seeks ordinary people for himself.
Seven years ago or so, while I was still part of the Anglican Church of Canada, I went to a synod.
Maybe it was the second to last synod that I ever attended.
And there was a guest speaker.
And the guest speaker was the Archbishop of the Sudan, the head of the Anglican Church in Sudan.
And as some of you know, it's been very, very hard.
It was very, very hard for Christians in Sudan for a long time.
Many of them were captured.
They'd be sold into slavery.
They would be killed.
Terrible, terrible things.
And he came and spoke to our diocesan synod.
And everybody was asking him all these questions about slavery and the poverty and et cetera, et cetera.
And so I got up and I went to the mic.
And I said to him, Bishop, does evangelism still happen in Sudan, even though all these terrible things are happening?
Or has it stopped you from doing evangelism?
And it was so wonderful.
I wish it was filmed.
And he burst into a huge smile.
And he said, oh, God has been very good to us in the midst of all these trials.
He said, our church has been growing.
He said, I go into a village.
And one of the things I will do is I will visit some of the individual Christians.
And then I go into the center of the square in the village.
And I open my Bible.
And in a loud voice, I tell people about Jesus and what he's done for us on the cross.
See, here's the thing.
For a lot of us in the West, we wait until we have our own resources before we think that life can go on.
So for churches, we think if the economic indicators aren't going the right way for us,
if the culture isn't drawing people to us but pushing people away from us,
if the demographics are against us, if the building ownership is against us,
and it's as if we constantly are waiting for the culture to turn, the economics to turn,
the possession issues to turn, and we keep waiting,
even though we don't have to deal with even remotely the type of chaos that they do,
let's say, in Sudan,
we keep waiting for external things to be ready and set so that we can begin.
And this text is saying that what this archbishop in the Sudan,
he understood Revelation 7.
I mean, our prayer should be that we could be like the church in the Sudan.
Hopefully God grant us not to suffer that type of persecution and poverty and oppression.
Father, may you spare us from that,
and may you have mercy upon our brothers and sisters in Sudan
and other places in the world that have to live under that.
But even in the midst of chaos, with earth and chaos,
God, the sovereign God, is still sealing people, ordinary people for himself.
And the question for churches and the question for Christians
isn't when will the culture allow us to do things again,
or when will our owning of buildings allow us to do things again,
or when will whatever allow us to do things again.
It's to say, Father, what divine assignments do you have for me?
What divine assignments do you have for my church?
Father, deliver me from thinking that everything depends upon my resources
or the external things being completely and utterly correct
before I can pray or act or seek to obey you and bring you glory.
Deliver me from thinking that I...
Deliver us from thinking it's all about our resources
and all about external things.
And help us to hear the voice of God
and seek to be obedient in telling people about Jesus and ministry.
That even in the midst of chaos, God is sealing people for himself.
Now, sometimes Christians fight amongst themselves about things.
We're all sort of familiar about...
Maybe we're most familiar about the way that Christians maybe fight about
whether you could speak in tongues or not.
I didn't have a fight this past week,
but I had sort of a sincere conversation a little bit
with my trainer of the book of Revelation.
The fact the person who really knew the book of Revelation very, very well,
and he knew that I'd just done chapter 6.
He knew I was going to do chapter 7.
And so he asked me, he said,
George, okay, you know, the things in chapter 7,
like when are they happening?
Like, are you like a preterist and think that it all happened like in the year 90?
Do you think you're like an amillennialist
and it's all sort of happening right now?
Do you think it's like going to happen just before the Great Tribulation?
Do you think it's going to happen in the middle of the Tribulation?
Do you think it's going to happen after the Tribulation?
George, what do you think?
And I had a very simple answer for him.
You can all write it down.
Like, he asked me, which one of those things do you think it is?
And I had a very simple answer.
The answer is yes.
Yes, all of those things.
Like, all of the above.
Like, why do you have to choose one in particular?
But while we're sort of familiar with maybe Christian's fight,
I mean, he was all ready for a fight with me
about whether I was going to be a preterist, an amillennialist,
a premillennial dispensationalist,
historic premillennialist, pre-trib, mid-trib, post-trib.
He was ready for a fight on this particular issue,
and he didn't quite know what to say when I said yes to all of them.
But a very, very more modern type of a disagreement amongst Christians
is over politics.
And so it, you know, churches,
there's some churches that their great dream would be,
maybe more emergent churches,
or maybe more what we would call liberal churches,
their great dream would be to have somebody from the Green Party,
or the NDP attend their church or speak on a Sunday morning.
And there's other churches,
and their great dream would be to have some great general
from the United States military come and speak,
or some football, college football coach.
And the sort of the left-wing type Christians
look down their noses at right-wing type Christians
and say, look, look at that.
They've got all their identity and everything all confused.
And the more right-wing Christians look down their noses
at those left-wing Christians
and say they've got their identity all confused.
They're completely and utterly captivated by politics.
And the left-wing Christians look at the right-wing Christians
and say, you've got all, like, completely captivated by politics.
And both of us can sort of look at each other about that
and have problems with the other.
But the text in Revelation says something very, very powerful about this.
But let's continue reading.
Revelation chapter 7, verse 4.
So remember, verse 3 was about having the servants of God
sealed on their foreheads.
In verse 4, I heard the number of the sealed.
I heard the number of the sealed.
144,000 sealed from every tribe of the sons of Israel.
And then it goes through 12,000 of Judah, Reuben, Gad, Asher,
Naphtali, Manasseh, Simeon, Levi, Issachar, Zebulun,
Joseph, and Benjamin.
Some of those words, I don't know if I pronounced them correctly,
but I said them confidently,
so now you all think that's the right way to pronounce them.
But you go through this long list.
And then verse 9,
Now here's the very interesting thing about this text.
There's lots of very interesting things about this text.
And I didn't catch this when I was reading it the first time.
I've read it many, many times.
It was only when I had to study the text that I noticed it.
Like, it begins in a very curious way in verse 4.
I heard the number of the sealed.
144,000 is a symbolic number.
It's a number of completion.
12 times 12 times 1,000.
It's a number of completion.
From every tribe of the sons of Israel.
But for a devout Jew listening to it,
there's something, a variety of things,
which are really odd about this text.
As the angel starts to speak out loud,
it's all Israel,
so John's going to expect something,
but the list is an odd list.
It's Israel, but not Israel.
There's a tribe missing.
Dan is missing.
And there's something else odd about it.
There's sort of two different primary ways
in the Old Testament that the tribes are listed.
And this does neither of them.
And it does something contradictory.
You see, there's also a half-tribe mentioned.
Usually in the Old Testament,
when they're listing tribes,
they say either neither of the half-tribes
or both of the half-tribes,
because Joseph had two sons,
Manasseh and Ephraim,
and usually they mention just the two half-tribes,
but it mentions Joseph,
and one of his sons,
but not the other's son,
and Levi's included,
and it's puzzling.
And ten and a half of these tribes
in the 8th century B.C.
were taken away to Assyria and disappeared.
Nobody knows whatever happened to them.
In fact,
Mormons believe that North American aboriginals
are the lost tribes of Israel,
which is why Jesus,
after he rose from the dead in Jerusalem,
had to come here and preach to them.
There was a movement in the 19th century in England
called British Israelism,
believing that the English people
were the lost tribe of Israel,
and therefore all of the promises to Israel
in the Bible were applied to them.
But the tribe,
ten and a half of the tribes disappeared.
They got lost from history,
and yet they're mentioned,
and a half-tribe's missing,
and Dan's missing.
And then,
it's a little bit like,
those of you might remember,
in Revelation chapter 5,
there was a similar type of funny thing.
John hears
that this mighty act
is going to be done
by the lion of the tribe of Judah,
and then after he hears this,
he gets an opportunity to see,
and he's expecting to see a lion,
and what he sees is a little tiny lamb.
Bah!
He hears lion,
sees bah!
Bah!
And here,
he hears Israel,
but then as he's hearing Israel,
he's getting puzzled,
and then what does he see?
He sees
what's in verse,
my page is flipped,
he sees what's in verse 9,
a great multitude
that no one could number
from every nation,
from all tribes,
and all peoples,
and all languages
standing before the throne.
he's surprised.
It helps to show
that the number is symbolic,
and that somehow or another
that God is making this new thing,
this new Israel,
that those who are healed
aren't just,
here's how I put it,
and please take it
with a grain of grace.
Put it up on the screen, please.
God does not want
more Canadians
or Africans,
gays or straights,
men or women.
He seeks
more
douloses.
I don't know how to spell it.
It's D-O-U-L-O-S
with an apostrophe at the end.
God does not want
more Canadians or Africans,
gays or straights,
men or women.
He seeks
more
doulos.
If you go back up
to verse 3,
it says,
do not harm the earth
or the sea
or the trees
until we have sealed the,
then the word there
translated as servant,
some of your Bibles
might say slaves,
is the word doulos.
And
some of you have heard me
say this before,
the problem with the word
doulos in modern English
is that neither servant
or slave
is a very,
very good word.
Many of us,
when we hear the word servant,
we think of
TV series like
The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.
Come on, we do.
And, you know,
often in American films,
the servant
is the smart,
confident one
in the family, right?
The whole family
is dysfunctional
except the servant.
Well, that's not
what this text means,
okay?
And the other thing,
we hear the word slave,
we think of things
like 12 years a slave.
We think of the
terrible, terrible,
terrible things
that happened
on the slave plantations
in the Caribbean
and the United States.
And that's not what,
that's not really
what's meant either.
That's why often
I use the word doulos
because it,
it, it,
I mean,
it means both servant
and slave,
but it's something different
in the ancient world.
But the primary idea
behind it does,
just like with sealing,
has the idea
of possession
and under authority.
Like, in some ways,
the image of private
would be better,
but in terms of
if you're in the army.
You know,
if you just get,
you get,
I've never been
in the military,
but if you come in
as a lowly private,
the distance
to general
is really high.
That's really high.
You don't,
you don't get any,
you don't,
you don't get
bossed anybody around
if you're just
a brand new private.
You're,
you're under authority.
And,
and that's in a sense
what's just being
communicated here.
And,
and you see,
what's being communicated
here is that
God doesn't want
Canadian Christians,
African Christians,
gay Christians,
straight Christians,
male Christians,
female Christians.
He's looking for doulos.
His doulos.
You see,
what happens
when we respond
to Jesus
and put our faith
and trust in him
that amongst other things
is not only are we sealed,
but we're also given
a new identity
and a new destiny.
We're given a new identity
and a new destiny.
And our primary identity now
is that I am the doulos
of the living God.
I am the doulos
of the lamb
who was slain
to redeem
gays and straight
Africans
and Canadians
and Asians
and men
and women
for God.
And so,
what that means
is that,
you know,
part of what it means
to grow as a Christian
is the question
before us is
do I grow
into my new identity
or do I grow away
from my new identity?
God wants me
to grow into
my identity
that I understand
that even though
I am a Canadian
and I live in Canada
and all of that,
that my primary identity
is his doulos,
that the dream
of my heart
should be
to be his doulos,
that even though
I'm in Canada
and I should be
praying for the blessing
of Canada
and I should seek
the good of Canada
and there's nothing wrong
with serving
in the armed forces
or serving on
Parliament Hill
or serving in
industry
or serving anything
that,
but that my primary
identity
that when it is
for me to grow in
to understand
first and foremost
where my citizenship
and my identity
comes from
and it comes from
being his doulos
first and foremost
and it not only
gives me a new identity
it gives me
a new destiny
and the question
before me
in growing as a Christian
is will I grow
into my destiny
or away from my destiny?
You know,
growing away
from my identity
is to think
that being a Canadian
or being right wing
or being
whatever it is
is more important
than my identity
as a Christian
that that's the
fundamental thing
that determines
my walk with Jesus
and in terms
of my destiny
it's that we become
insular
that we lose
this sense
that every doulos
of Jesus
is called
to be a world
Christian
that we have
an obligation
in our community
to the arts community
in the gay community
in the entrepreneurial
community
in the bureaucrat
community
and the university
community
in the poverty
community
and the poverty
workers community
and that we have
an obligation
not just to the tribes
and nations
and languages
in our city
of those who speak
Arabic
and those who speak
French
and those who speak
English
but to the ends
of the earth
that we are to pray
that as we grow
in our walk
with Jesus
that we grow
into an appreciation
of our destiny
to look
not with fear
and loathing
from a right wing
or a left wing
view of the world
but to see the world
is ripe for harvest
and that God
has called us
to tell tribes
and nations
and languages
and people
the good news
that they can be
sealed by the living God
and can belong
to him forever
and can have
the end
of what they were
made for
which was to know
and to be reconciled
to the living God
that that
is possible
for them
now some of you
might be troubled
by some of what I said
I've now had
six kids
graduate from university
and of course
sons-in-laws
and daughters-in-law
and all like that
and I ask some of them
some of them take courses
in this area
and if they talk
about missionaries
in University
at University of Ottawa
I mean we all know
how they're going to talk
about missionaries
at University of Ottawa
they don't say
woohoo
missionaries rock
they don't say that
they say missionaries
are bad
they're terrible
that it's imperialism
colonialism
triumphalism
it's pride
it's coercion
and that's the way
and so
for me to talk
about this type
of identity
is actually
sort of
it really goes
against the grain
of educated culture
and popular culture
in Canada
and so some of us
if we're honest
are a little bit
troubled by it
but in fact
if you listen
to how it's described
here
it's the most
profoundly
unproud
untriumphalistic
uncoercive
thing imaginable
and it's profound
good news
listen to it again
verses 9 and 10
after this
I looked
and behold
a great multitude
that no one
could number
from every nation
from all tribes
and all peoples
and all languages
standing before the throne
and before the Lamb
clothed in white robes
with palm branches
in their hands
and crying out
with a loud voice
what do they cry?
this folks
is dynamite
against pride
this folks
is dynamite
against presumption
and arrogance
and colonialism
and triumphalism
what is the cry?
salvation belongs
to our God
who sits on the throne
and to the Lamb
salvation belongs
to our God
who sits on the throne
and to the Lamb
and in the original language
it could be translated
it should be
it's more literally
salvation belongs
salvation is
of our God
and in Greek
the word
of our God
here
there's two different ways
it can be translated
into English
the same
one Greek word
means both
but we don't have
an English word
which is the same
and of
in this particular text
in the original text
can either mean
possession
or causality
and so it's either
saying
and so the ESV
some of your translations
will translate
a little bit different
because translators
have to make a choice
so it's either saying
that salvation
belongs to God
or salvation
is caused
by God
and so our English
we have to choose
one or the other
and translate it into English
but the original language
is saying both
it belongs to him
and it's caused
by him
here's the dynamite
if you could put
the next thing up
here's the dynamite
no person
no family
no philosophy
no spirituality
no institution
owns salvation
salvation
only belongs
to God
and to the Lamb
no race
no color
no educational attainment
no socioeconomic status
or wealth
or bank account
owns salvation
I do not own salvation
this church
does not own salvation
the Anglican Network
in Canada
does not own salvation
the Roman Catholic Church
does not own salvation
Canada
the United States
the military industrial complex
the Green Movement
none of them
own salvation
only God
owns it
salvation
only belongs
to God
and to the Lamb
no person
no family
no philosophy
no spirituality
no institution
owns
salvation
it is of God
it belongs to Him
what does this mean?
there are many people
there are many
spiritualities
there are many
philosophies
there are many
ideologies
that teach in fact
that some of us
are doomed
and that we cannot
do anything about it
and this says
that is not true
are you an untouchable
in India?
are you
a despised person
in China?
are you
are you mentally
handicapped?
are you
poor or broken
or alcoholic
or some type of
broken and despised
whatever it is
the way that the
left despise
or the right despise
because
salvation
is belonging
to God
and the God
that is revealed
here
is a God
that desires
people
from every nation
every people
every language
every state of life
to be with Him
in Heaven
it means that
there is no one
who is doomed
by external
or internal
forces
that what some
Muslims teach
that in the moment
of your conception
in the womb
that God
writes on you
whether or not
you will go to Heaven
or whether you will not
that that is not true
that salvation
belongs to God
and that every person
can say
I cannot trust in myself
I cannot achieve myself
God
salvation belongs to you
may you grant that
to me
may you bring that
to me
may that come to me
may I dwell in that
it belongs to you
and I desire
what only you have
and what I can never have
by my own power
or my own accomplishments
Father will you give me
Lamb of God
who is slain for me
will you give me
what belongs to you
and God not weighing
our merits
but pardoning our offenses
will so give it
there is hope
for the despised
of the earth
there is
it undercuts
pride
and presumption
it means that
my grandchildren
can't say
I don't have to deal
with these matters
my papa's a pastor
my kids can't say
I don't have to deal
with these matters
my dad's a pastor
we can't say
I don't have to deal
with these things
I'm a Canadian
Canadians get what
they want
it deals with
all pride
it undercuts
all pride
all presumption
yet at the same time
it gives us
a very very secure
thing
friends there are
times in our lives
if some of you
are young
maybe it hasn't
happened to you yet
but you live long
enough
you deal with
illness
you deal with
failure
you deal with
depression
you deal with
sadness
you deal with
things that just
don't work out
and if salvation
is something
that depends
upon you
you wonder
if there is
any hope
as you hear
the cry
of heaven
that salvation
belongs to
our God
then my hope
is secure
and it's not
pride
it's not
presumption
nothing in my
hands I bring
not weighing my
merits
not weighing my
accomplishments
not looking at
my race
not looking at
my sexuality
not looking at
any of these
things because
it belongs to
God and he
gives it to
those who
call out to
him with a
broken heart
to give me
what only you
have and what
only you can
cause
and that is the
message that we
can take to the
untouchables
to the despised
to the powerful
to the rich
to the educated
a few years
ago at our
evening service
I used to
have an evening
service and
when we had
interns at that
time there was
a brief period
where our
evening service
had all these
guys and gals
with PhDs
like if you
only had a
master's degree
you were like
uneducated in
the crowd and
I'd have these
interns and they
were terribly
intimidated
and I said to
one of them
listen I went
over what he'd
done as his
sermon I said
listen don't try
to impress
these PhDs
with educate
like listen
you try to
start talking
about when
things change
in western
civilization
they'll just
you know what
I said every
one of these
guys and gals
in that room
they all struggle
with pride
they all struggle
with envy
they all struggle
with sloth
and with lust
and with greed
and with gluttony
they all have
problems with
their kids
and their
wives
and their
boyfriends
or their
husbands
like give
them Jesus
don't try to
intellectually
impress them
tell them that
salvation belongs
to our God
and not to the
University of Ottawa
or Carleton
or Oxford
or Cambridge
but salvation
belongs to
our God
just sort of
in closing
I don't have
the time
to really
develop it
here's the
final thing
when I came
to this
church quite a
few years ago
and I was
trying to figure
out what I
should share
with them
with my vision
and all of
that type of
thing
and after a
couple of
years I came
across this
guy who asked
a very very
useful and
helpful question
and asking
this question
is a very
very helpful
question
I think it
was called
it was a
long article
called 10
questions for
the rest of
your life
and one of
the questions
was imagine
that you're
like 80
years old
85 years
old
90 years
old
and you're
looking back
on your
life
what is it
that you'll
wish you
hadn't achieved
or tried to
do
that's a
very very
very helpful
question
and in
fact I
found it
very very
challenging
and thought
provoking
and you
see that's
one of the
functions
of all of
these visions
of heaven
you know
palm branches
might not do
it for you
but look
again here
at verse
9 and 10
and 11
and 12
after this I
looked and
behold a
great multitude
that no one
could number
from every
nation from
all tribes
and peoples
and languages
standing before
the throne
and before
the lamb
clothed in
white robes
with palm
branches in
their hands
and crying
out with a
loud voice
salvation
belongs to
our God
who sits
on the
throne
and to
the lamb
and all
the angels
were standing
around the
throne
and around
the elders
and the
four living
creatures
and they
fell on
their faces
before the
throne
and worship
God
saying
Amen
the blessing
and the
glory
and the
wisdom
and the
thanksgiving
and the
honor
and the
power
and the
might
be to
our God
forever
and ever
Amen
and the
question is
at the end
of your life
do you want
to be there
should that
or can
that
be your
supreme
ambition
put up the
next slide
growing a
biblical
longing for
heaven
will heal
order
and ground
my dreams
and yours
I write
my so that
you write it
down in your
notes
you're speaking
about yourself
growing a
biblical
longing for
heaven
will heal
order
and ground
your dreams
see the text
doesn't say
that we all
become monks
that we all
become nuns
it doesn't say
that we all
become pastors
of churches
it's all
nations
all peoples
all people
groups
but it
it sets
before us
this biblical
notion of
heaven
and it's
to clarify
within us
if my
should that
not be my
supreme
ambition
that I
not by
my own
merits
but by
the shed
blood of
Christ
and what
he has won
for me
on the
cross
that I
will one
day stand
with angels
and archangels
and the entire
created order
that I
will stand
before the
living God
unashamed
clothed with
a righteousness
and a favor
from God
that is not
my own
but is given
to me
freely and
utterly
by Jesus
and what he
does from
the cross
and should
that not
be my
supreme
ambition
that then
can put
into place
some of
my other
ambitions
let me just
tell you
very briefly
how it
worked in
my life
I know
I'm a
pastor
but here's
how it
worked in
my life
I realized
when I
asked this
question
that to
myself
and I
looked at
this text
that I
did not
care
at the
age of
90
if God
lets me
live so
long
at the
age of
90
I will
not
care
if I
have
ever
been
a
bishop
I
have
actually
become
a
canon
but I
said I
wouldn't
care if
I've
ever
become
a canon
or a
bishop
a dean
been in
a famous
church
had any
particular
honors
you know
there's
three types
of things
that at
the end
of the
day
that I
would
wish
that
at 90
I would
look back
and hope
that I
could do
and one
of them
is that
God
this is
something
private and
personal
but some
of you
have heard
it
that God
would use
me
and that
I would
be willing
to take
the risks
that in
a city
like
Ottawa
God
would
build
a church
like
All Souls
Langham
Place
or St.
Ebbs
or St.
Aldate
in Oxford
and some
of you
don't know
what those
churches
are
but that
if God
there was
no such
church
like that
in Ottawa
and if
God
would
use
me
if I
would
be
willing
to
take
such
risk
only
God
could
build
it
but
that
I
would
be
willing
to
take
such
risk
that
such
a
church
where
God's
word
is preached
where
missionaries
are sent
out
where
people
are
equipped
to
live
godly
lives
in
their
place
of
work
whether
it's
the
BBC
or
university
or
washing
dishes
that
God
would
use
me
in
such
a
way
and
I
realized
that
at
the
end
of
the
day
what
I
would
hope
at
90
is
that
if
God
not
only
grants
me
such
strength
but
my
wife
that
I
am
still
married
to
Louise
and
that
we
love
each
other
and
that
if
God
grants
me
such
strength
at
90
that
my
kids
when I
die
will
be
standing
with
me
there
in
heaven
and
my
grandkids
and
their
husbands
or
wives
and
that
forms
my
prayers
and
that's
for me
as a
pastor
for
some
of
you
have
this
dream
to
be
an
entrepreneur
or
to
be
a
great
teacher
or
to
write
sonnets
or
to
you
know
or
just
to
be
a
great
dad
or
great
mom
and
there
will
be
practical
things
in
terms
of
your
life
that
are
all
ordered
towards
this
supreme
ambition
but
as
the
gospel
grips
us
and
as
we
long
for
heaven
then
growing
a
biblical
longing
for
heaven
will
heal
order
and
ground
my
dreams
in
yours
but
stand
never
too
late
to
be
sealed
by
the
living
God
and
it's
never
too
late
to
have
a
biblical
longing
for
heaven
order
and
ground
your
dreams
you're
never
too
old
so
the
question
is
what
is
the
Holy
Spirit
convicting
you
of
this
morning
let's
bow
our
heads
in
prayer
father
some
of
us
are
afraid
of
the
Christian
faith
thinking
that
it
will
mean
that
we
will
no
longer
ever
have
any
dreams
that
as
we
get
closer
to
you
we
will
have
to
become
a
monk
or
a
nun
or
a
missionary
father
some
of
us
might
become
monks
or
nuns
or
missionaries
but
father
we
give
you
thanks
and
praise
that
just
as
salvation
is a
complete
and utter
gift
that
only
you
possess
that
you
will
give
to
us
that
you
have
not
made
us
all
to be
completely
and
utterly
alike
but
that
you
father
desire
to
as
you
save
us
to
heal
us
to
point
us
in
the
right
direction
to
help
us
to
grow
into
our
identity
to
grow
into
our
destiny
and
by
so
doing
to
become
free
we
ask
father
that
your
holy
spirit
would
move
mightily
in
our
lives
that
your
holy
spirit
would
instill
and
inflame
and
inspire
within
us
a
biblical
longing
for
heaven
an
appreciation
of what
your
son
did
for us
on
the
cross
and
how
when
we
put
our
faith
and
trust
in
him
you
take
ordinary
imperfect
people
like
ourselves
and you
seal
us
authenticate
us
as
yours
that
you
claim
us
as
your
own
possession
and
that
you
will
protect
us
father
help
us
to
go
into
our
identity
and
destiny
and
grant
us
such
a
longing
for
heaven
a
biblical
longing
for
heaven
that
our
dreams
will
be
will
be
ordered
and
our
dreams
will
be
clarified
and
purified
renewed
and
revived
and
all
of
this
we
ask
in
the
name
of
Jesus
your
son
and
our
savior
amen