Father, we thank you that you love us.
We thank you that your son came to die on the cross for us.
We thank you, Father, that he has defeated in his death upon the cross and in his resurrection
all sin, all death, and all hostile spiritual powers.
We ask, Father, as we gather now to hear these words of the Bible
and to think about these words and to pray about these words,
we ask, Father, that your Holy Spirit would move deeply in our minds and hearts and wills,
that we will receive what you desire to give us in your word.
And we know, Father, that you have something that you desire to give everyone who is here.
So, Father, in your mercy and kindness, deliver us from hardness of heart.
Grant us a soft heart willing to hear your word.
Make us good soil so that we will receive your word and bear fruit to bring you glory.
And all this we ask in the name of Jesus, your Son and our Savior.
Amen.
Please be seated.
So, I've had an interesting time this week.
If you're a guest at Church of the Messiah,
we want to make disciples gripped by the gospel who bring glory to God.
We want to be used by God as he builds a prayerful Bible teaching evangelical church
in the heart of the city with a heart for the city and the world.
And so, one of the things we do is we preach through books of the Bible.
And we're preaching through the book of Revelation.
And that's why we read Revelation chapter 9.
And I've had an interesting week thinking and praying about it and studying it.
And if you were listening to Laurier read, and we're going to look at the Bible text in a moment,
every Sunday, if you forget to bring your own Bible,
we always have some Bibles up at the front or by that door.
And you're welcome to keep the Bible if you want or return it afterwards.
But if you're listening to this text,
a third of all the people on the earth die.
Great torment.
I have to confess, I like watching certain types of movies.
And every time one of the verses, I come across one of the verses in this text,
I think of the Wolverine.
And many of you who have seen the last movie with the Wolverine,
I mean, the rest of you, it's like I'm speaking in hieroglyphics.
But if you watch or follow that at all,
longing for death but not being able to find it,
speaks a lot about Wolverine and a lot of his character.
But it's a very, very stark text.
And it could lead us to say, is God cruel?
Is God cruel?
Why does God seem to order demons to hurt people?
Why is such crazy stuff in the Bible?
Isn't this proof for some people that only crazy people,
not rational or well-educated people, would take the Bible seriously?
Because this is just crazy.
And it seems to portray a God that just seems to be cruel.
And it seems to talk about things that just aren't true
to well-educated, well-adjusted people.
So, given that that's,
I don't know if any of you are thinking that,
but I could well imagine that if I was to say,
I'd like you to share this Bible text with your office workers
or your classmates on Monday,
you might have some apprehension about what they would think.
So, it would be a great help to me and to you
if you were to get your Bibles
and turn to the last book in the Bible,
and the book of Revelation,
and turn to chapter 9.
And let's look and see more carefully
what it is that the Bible says and doesn't say.
In fact, I actually think that as we look at this text,
we see that this is a very robust, thick, deep text of the Bible,
which actually has profound things to say about human nature
and about God and about good and evil.
In fact, I think it's,
if we grasp it in the context of other spiritualities and philosophies,
that we will just be completely struck
by how deep and wise the text is,
even though at first it looks very, very frightening and daunting
and seems to say terrible things about God.
So, let's just start at verse 1.
And just, actually, we're going to start at verse 13 of chapter 8.
And just if you want to sort of have a bit of the flow of the Bible text,
what it is, is in around chapter 5,
there's a, chapter 4, there's a vision of God in heaven.
Chapter 5, there's a vision of Jesus on the throne in heaven.
He's pictured as the Lamb who was slain.
And chapter 5 sort of begins with this idea that God knows the future
and he has a scroll and only the Lamb who's slain is able to take the scroll,
the sort of the things that are going to happen in the future,
only the Lamb, Jesus, is able to take it from God's hand.
And then in chapter 6, we see Jesus starting to open the scroll
by opening the seals.
And as he opens it, there's a series of judgments.
And then in chapter 7, there's a bit of a pause.
And in chapter 8 that we looked at last week, the final seal is opened.
There's silence in heaven.
And then the seventh seal enters into seven new judgments
described in terms of trumpets.
And the image is that all of heaven adores the Lamb.
Then the prayers of the saints come up to Jesus.
And as a result of the prayers of the saints coming up to Jesus,
an angel takes fire from heaven and he throws, hurls the fire down at the earth.
And the fire that comes down to earth appears in seven different forms as these seven different trumpets.
And last week we looked at four.
And at the end of the four, in verse 13, this is what happened.
Then I looked and I heard an eagle crying with a loud voice as it flew directly overhead.
And he said,
Notice that again.
They were told not to harm the grass of the earth or any green plant or any tree.
But only those people who did not have, do not have the seal of God on their foreheads.
And they were allowed, that's these locust type creatures, were allowed to torment them,
that's the people, for five months, but not to kill them.
And their torment was like the torment of a scorpion when it stings someone.
And in those days, here's the Wolverine text,
in those days people will seek death and will not find it.
They will long to die, but death will flee from them.
Now just sort of pause here for a second.
Here's the first thing to see in the text.
Remember we began by saying, like, this just sounds crazy, it sounds cruel.
Why does God seem to order demons to hurt people?
But here's the thing that the text, I'm going to show you in a second,
but here's the thing, Andrew, if you could put it up on the screen.
God is absolutely sovereign over every demon,
and he restrains them until their inevitable judgment.
This text, not only here, but the rest of the text,
and I'm sort of giving away a bit of the ending
by adding the word inevitable,
telling you what's going to happen in chapters 19, 20, 21 and all.
But what this text is showing is that God is absolutely sovereign
over every demon,
and God restrains them until their inevitable judgment.
One of the things that happens in the book of Revelation
is that they use a variety of different images for angels and for demons,
and so sometimes you have to just be careful and read slowly and meditatively
and look at the context to sort of keep things straight.
And so the angel here isn't an angel that begins the whole thing,
and it's an image of the angel descending with great speed.
So the trumpet's blown,
and an angel with great speed descends.
An angel comes from God,
and he goes,
and he opens
the door
which leads to the bottomless pit,
the abyss.
And the abyss,
all the way through the book of Revelation,
is portrayed as a type of prison
where demons and the devil
are held.
In other words, they're restrained.
Why?
Because God is sovereign over them.
Because Jesus has triumphed
over all hostile spiritual forces
in his crucifixion and resurrection.
And the text doesn't make any comment
about whether all demons were there or all that,
but it's just giving you this image
that God restrains them,
and he goes,
he sends an angel,
the angel lets the demons out,
and the demons, of course,
come flooding out,
they escape,
but even as they escape,
God sets limits on them.
And he says to them,
he says that they're not allowed
to harm the trees
or anything like that.
They're only allowed to harm
people who do not have
the seal of God on their forehead.
And they're not even allowed to kill them.
And in everything about it,
we just see this picture
of the demons doing what they desire to do,
but even what they desire to do,
that God, who's sovereign over them,
restrains them.
That's why the text is showing
all the way through chapter 9
and all the way through
the book of Revelation,
that God is sovereign
over every demon,
and he restrains them
until their inevitable judgment.
And it's obvious
that these are demons,
not animals.
They're coming from the bottomless pit,
from the abyss,
from a place
that God has contained them.
That's not what normal locusts look like,
and as we're going to see
in a couple of minutes,
they don't look at all
like normal locusts.
They don't act like normal locusts.
It's a way of picturing
demons swarming
and of being inhuman
and anti-human
and destructive.
Yet God is sovereign
over them.
And so,
but here's the question
that some of us might say.
If you look at it
very carefully,
like, you know,
he told them what to do
and et cetera, et cetera.
But the fact is,
why would God still allow
such demons
to come out from a place
where he has bound them
to hurt anybody?
Like, why would God allow that?
Isn't that almost the same
as him causing it?
And that's a very,
very good question.
Well,
to start to answer that question,
let's look at verses 7 to 12.
In appearance,
the locusts were like horses
prepared for battle.
Notice all the way
through this description,
like, like, like, like.
In appearance,
the locusts were like horses
prepared for battle.
On their heads
were what looked
like crowns of gold.
Their faces were like
human faces.
Their hair
like woman's hair.
It means they had long hair.
I was in a church
back,
I'm, I'm, I'm,
I'm a hundred million years old.
And in, in the 70s,
I grew up in a church
that always had these
prophecy conferences
all of the time.
And, you know,
in like,
like 1975 or 76,
it was very, very uncommon
in conservative
baptisty type churches
to have anybody
in the church
who had long hair.
So there's a whole pile
of people looking one way
and then there was me
with my hair
halfway down my back
at that point in time
and dressed in jeans
and all,
which everybody
was dressed in suits.
And there was
this prophecy conference.
I stuck out
like a sore thumb
and there was a guy
drawing a picture
of the devil
and demons
and he said,
looking around the room,
let's make him a hippie.
Wasn't trying
to single me out
at all.
I felt very welcomed,
actually,
by this guy.
Anyway, so verse 8,
their hair
like woman's hair
and their teeth
like lion's teeth.
They had breastplates
like breastplates
of iron
and the noise
of their wings
was like the noise
of many chariots
with horses
rushing into battle.
They have tails
and stings
like scorpions
and their power
to hurt people
for five months.
That's actually
a restraint,
again,
is in their tails
and they have
as king over them
the angel
of the bottomless pit,
sort of an arch demon,
maybe the devil himself
and his name
in Hebrew
is Abaddon
and in Greek
he is called
Apollyon,
destroyer
and destruction.
The first woe
has passed
before two woes
are still to come
and you're saying,
George,
how does this
exactly help you
at all?
Well, here's the thing.
Here's the point.
If you could put it up
on the screen, Andrew.
What the text is showing
is that demons
are real
and they hate
their devotees
and turn on us
when they can.
I spent a long time
trying to think
of whether I should
say turn on them
or turn on us
and I decided
with us.
You can ask me
about it
or we can debate it
over coffee
if you want,
but demons are real
and they hate
their devotees
and turn on us
when they can.
And so,
here's how you should
interpret this language
is it's,
you know,
here's the thing.
I think it's,
my daughter-in-law,
my son Jesse
was just telling me
about his wife,
my daughter-in-law,
Kavita.
You know,
she did an engineering
degree at Waterloo
so she's really smart
and she's really good
with numbers
and Jesse says
you can tell Kavita
like a phone number
or some other type
of number
and she just
remembers it
and,
you know,
her ability to do math
in her head
and all that,
she's this really good
number person
and there's some people
in the congregation
they've told me
about how they live
in a world
where numbers
are really,
really important
and,
in fact,
there's all these
numeric things
that go on
in the Bible
that sort of
help them to understand
that the Bible
has to be the Word of God
and for a lot of us
numbers
and all these
numerical things
and our eyes
start to glaze over
and all,
but for people
who really numbers work
there's lots of things
in the Bible
about numbers
that communicate to us
and for some of us
it's poetry,
for some of us
it's more like
philosophical types of stuff,
for some of us
it's narratives
and for some people
what they really need
is powerful images
and because the Bible
is written for everyone
it means that
there's some parts
of the Bible
that people are going
whoa,
look at that,
that just so sticks with me
I can really understand that
I can really remember that
look at those numbers
and other people
it's not that at all
and so what the Bible
here is talking about
it's all the way through
it's making a very,
very strong claim
that demons are real
that demons are
spiritual beings
or creatures
that were originally angels
that rebelled against God
and in their rebellion
against God
they not only hate God
they hate people
they hate those
who bear the image of God
and that's human being
every human being
whether it's a
whether they're a poor person
or a rich person
a smart person
or a dumb person
whether they're
profoundly handicapped
or whether they're
the world's greatest athlete
every human being
is made in the image of God
bears the image of God
and demons are portrayed
in this text
as being real
and as they hate God
they also hate human beings
because we bear
the image of God
and are made
in the image of God
and so this text here
it's not to be taken
that somehow
the demons have
all these things
but it's to communicate
for those of us
that images
stick in their heads
that if I was to give you
you know five points
and the five points
wouldn't stick in your head
but you just hear
this description
and the image of them
being like horses
in the ancient world
it means that they're
powerful
it means that they're
bred for war
it means that they're
bred for aggression
in the Roman world
the hooves of the war horses
would often have like
they'd shoe them
and they'd have
they would be sharp
so that they would cut
and the breastplate
so once again
that they're ready for battle
and that they have protection
and everything
and the long hair
is that they're
like the barbarians
that the Romans
were starting to know of
and in other words
they were other
and they were dangerous
and they were fearful
and they were powerful
and they were organized
and they were a swarm
and it's trying to communicate
truth about demons
that just using words
will not do
for some people
and so it's a series
of word pictures
to try to communicate
the reality
and the nature
of demons
that demons are real
and they hate their devotees
and turn on us
when they can
but then the question still is
why is it that God
allows them
to come out
well first of all
look back up
at verse 4 again
they were told
not to harm
the grass of the earth
or any green plant
or any tree
but only those people
who do not have
the seal of God
on their foreheads
this is a very very
this in the next trumpet
it's a very very
unique type of teaching
in the scriptures
and it's showing
how demons
turn on their own
people who have
given themselves
to evil
have given themselves
consciously to demons
those who believe
that by practicing
white magic
or using spells
or potions
are in touch
with the demon
the spiritual world
which is in rebellion
against God
and we think
it makes us stronger
and we think
it puts us in contact
with stronger things
and it does put us
in contact
with stronger things
and maybe
in the short run
things seem to work
but the Bible here
is giving us a picture
of the end game
and from the end game
these powers
that we dabble with
it's not talking about
anything now
about Christians
it's talking about
those who have not
given their lives
to Jesus
and these demonic powers
will turn on them
because ultimately
they hate them
you know
it's very very interesting
that
often here in the west
when we think
of Buddhism
or Hinduism
when we think
even of Islam
in a good sense
because it's a
complicated thing
our culture
with Islam
we tend to think
of philosophical
high
high-end philosophical
versions of Buddhism
or Hinduism
or Islam
and even when we think
of secularism
and agnosticism
we tend to think
of high-end
ones
that are more abstract
and philosophical
but the very interesting
thing is
in every one of those
cultures
apart from the high-end
there is the reality
of a fascination
with demons
and a worry about demons
if you were to go
I've never been to Thailand
but if you were to go
to China
or you go to Thailand
you see
you see idols
everywhere
there is a concern
with spells
and with evil spirits
and bringing misfortune
upon you
it's true in Islam
it's true in India
it's true in China
it's true in Thailand
and even here
in the educated west
it's true here
you go to any chapters
and you see the wide
range of bookstore
in the bookstore
given over to
occult types of matters
that even
and this isn't just
something that
the really uneducated
people are fascinated with
it's true
even if you have
your bachelor's degree
or your master's degree
or your doctorate
or multiple doctorates
there's this fascination
with it
and the interesting
thing about it
is that these
philosophical forms
of Hinduism
and Buddhism
and Islam
and secularism
that they actually
are sort of powerless
they're powerless
against this
widespread
worry
and presence
of practice
of magic
and concern
about demonic
types of things
that there's a type
of disconnect to
in Christianity
what often appears
in certain circles
as philosophical
Christianity
actually isn't a
higher form of
Christianity
it's residual
Christianity
but the Bible
as you go into
the Bible
and understand
Christianity
from the Bible
and from Jesus'
own words
you see that it's
a very robust
and thick faith
that talks
about the practical
things
that attract
and frighten
and bind
and repel
both ordinary
people
and educated
people
and what
this text
is showing
here
is a certain
type of way
that God
sometimes
how it is
that God
acts
towards us
as human
beings
I've been
a few times
on my travels
when I've been
at some type
of a conference
I've been
away from my
wife and kids
I've been
at some type
of a conference
and I've been
right next
to a casino
and I'm
not boasting
here about
how strong
I am
at resisting
temptation
but I can
tell you
that those
I think it's
three or four
times I've
stayed either
right next
door or
across the
street from
a casino
and I've
never gone
into it
once
why?
I have
going to a
casino to
gamble
I have
zero
temptation
for it
okay
two dollars
to a
one-armed
bandit
or a coffee
at Starbucks
like I don't
even think
about that
for a
millisecond
of a second
a muffin
or a scone
or a
one-armed
bandit
I don't
even think
about that
for a
millisecond
like it
has no
attraction
to me
I'm going
to stop
giving you
any
illustrations
because you
realize how
many sins
I'm actually
deeply tempted
to
but gambling
is one that I
have absolutely
zero temptation
to
I could stay
in the casino
and I
wouldn't put
a penny
in a
one-armed
bandit
I just
maybe I
would once
just say
how it
worked
but it
wouldn't
even be
temptation
it would
just be
I wonder
how this
works
I've always
seen movies
that would
be it
and then
I'd go
buy a
coffee
preferably
an Italian
roast
or French
roast
something nice
and dark
but the fact
is that
there are
many things
in my life
that I'm
tempted to
evil things
that I'm
tempted to
and in
the book
of Romans
it gives
a very
philosophical
description
of how
that works
and here
we see
in the book
of Revelation
it gives
an image
picture of
how it
works
and how
it works
it's as if
there are
different currents
in my life
it's as if
there are
rivers
inside of me
rivers
that have
a current
towards
something which
is wrong
maybe it's
slander
maybe it's
pride
maybe it's
anger
maybe it's
gluttony
maybe it's
lust
I mean
it's going
to be
there's going
to be
different streams
within every
human being
there are
like
it's as if
there's
a current
going on
in my life
and
what it is
is the Bible
has this idea
of what's called
common grace
that
God
generally
restrains
the strength
of the current
in our lives
and doesn't
usually
allow the current
to have
full reign
in our life
so it's as if
I am a boat
tied to a rock
or a dock
and the boat's
in a current
and for some
things it's as if
I'm very tightly
tied
I can feel
the strength
of the current
and partly
I resist it
by my will
and by my
disciplines
but partially
it's just God
holding me
against the current
but what the Bible
pictures here
is that sometimes
the way that
the judgment
of God works
it works in
one of two ways
sometimes what
happens
it's as if
he takes the
rope that ties
me so that
I'm not being
taken with the
current
and he lets
it out a hundred
feet
he lets the
rope out a hundred
feet
and the current
takes me
bang against rocks
bang against trees
who knows what
happens
I get to
experience the
strength of the
current that by
God's common
grace
he usually is
holding me back
but even then he
might just let it
out a hundred
feet
and sometimes
the Bible
says he
unties the
rope all
together
and I
experience
the full
strength
of the current
towards doing
wrong
that I have
within me
and so what
we see here
is that
the fact of the
matter is
demons and
idols and
evil don't
restrain
evil
they actually
only want
to harm
us
evil is
harmful
to us
demons
will
harm
us
idols
say that if
we serve
them
love them
obey them
trust them
and hope
in them
that they
will make
us greater
and stronger
but they
will only
harm
us
they are
either
powerless
or they
are
harmful
and sometimes
what God
does is not
only does he
not only is a
type of a
judgment upon
us in our
continued resistance
against him
but it's also
sometimes an
act that God
allows to
happen in the
hope that we
will realize
what's going on
in our lives
and that we
will say
why is it
that even
though I can
begin the day
saying that I
will not be
angry at my
wife or will
not be angry
at my kids
but before you
know it
as the day
comes a
moment will
come when I
realize I
have a choice
to say
something angry
to them
or hurtful
to them
or sarcastic
or demeaning
to them
and I don't
want to do
it
I plan not
to do it
but then the
time comes
and I
choose it
I choose
it
and why
is it
that there
are things
like that
within not
only me
but every
human being
and maybe
for some
it's anger
as I said
maybe for
some it's
a sexual
thing or
pride or
revenge or
ingratitude or
whatever but
it's not as if
there's just a
group of people
here who have
no currents in
their lives
and the others
who have
currents
it's in us
and the Bible
here is trying
to teach us
that sometimes
God allows
this to happen
in our lives
and he doesn't
cause it
because generally
he's restraining
it but he
does it
to allow it
that we
might realize
our need
for God
to work
that we
might realize
that our
philosophical
things
our theological
things
our disciplines
are the
things that
we're trusting
in
that these
things are
just not
ultimately
they do
not have
the power
to ultimately
change us
or transform
us to have
us to be
the type of
free human
being that
God
we know
ultimately
desires us
to be
that we
need
God
to act
Revelation
showing us
this in
picture language
demons are
real and
they hate
their devotees
and turn
on us
when they
can
that's why
if you could
put the next
thing up
Andrew
the Bible
underneath this
text and
underneath the
whole book of
Revelation
through the
book of
Revelation
it's trying
to teach us
that human
beings are
created to
know God
and be
free
but we
turn time
and time
again to
idols
demons
and evil
that human
beings are
created to
know God
and be
free
but we
turn time
and time
again to
idols
demons
and evil
I'm not
going to
comment on
verses 13
to 19
you can read
it later
it's a
second
snapshot
only in
this
particular
case
the demons
are allowed
to actually
kill up
to a third
of the
people who
have not
given their
lives to
Jesus
how does
this all
work out
here's how
it all
works out
folks
I don't know
how it works
the book of
Revelation is a
book about
Jesus
what he's
done
what he's
doing
what he
will do
on one
hand
everything in
the book
of Revelation
is true
of human
existence
between the
death and
resurrection
of Jesus
until the
end of the
ends
and in
some way
there's
something
that's
always true
about this
at every
point in
time in
human history
and there
might be
times
I mean
Bonhoeffer
who was
writing during
the days of
Nazi Germany
he ultimately
died by direct
orders of
Hitler
because Hitler
wanted him
dead
he was a
devout
Christian
and he
at times
wondered if
in fact
images of
the book of
Revelation
and demons
were almost
made visible
I mean
how could
you not
watch
Hitler
and those
grand
spectacles
and watch
the book
burning
and know
about
Auschwitz
and know
of the
terrible
things
that are
going on
and not
wonder if
demons
were walking
the earth
and so
on one
level
it's true
of human
experience
it's somehow
true of
all of
this time
and there's
no doubt
that there
will be
some final
time
close to
the end
when
we'll see
that this
is just
somehow or
another
perfectly
fulfilled
I don't
know how
it would
look
but it
wants us
to understand
that it's
always
the case
but that's
what's
going to
happen
I'm not
going to
read verses
13 to
19
you can
read it
yourself
but after
the sixth
trumpet
look at
verses
20 to
21
remember I
said
that human
beings are
created to
know God
and be
free
but we
turn time
and time
again
to idols
and demons
and evil
and that's
what the text
says
I got it
from the text
look verse
20 again
the rest of
mankind
the rest of
humanity
who were not
killed by
these plagues
did not
repent of
the works
of their
hands
nor give
up
worshipping
demons
and idols
of gold
and silver
and bronze
and stone
and wood
which cannot
see or hear
or walk
nor did they
repent of
their murders
or their
sorceries
or their
sexual
immorality
or their
thefts
and there's
sort of
three categories
here
there's a
picture of
the works
of their
hands
which is
just like
an idol
which is
nothing
worshipping
of demons
and idols
as the
book of
first
corinthians
talks about
sometimes
an idol
is connected
to a
demon
and then
there's the
outright
connection
to demons
and then
there's the
fact that
we ourselves
willfully
choose
things
that we
willfully
choose
evil
and it's
providing
this
remarkable
sense
that even
though
terrible
things can
happen to
us
and as
it's been
shown
repeatedly
in the
book of
revelation
that we
might even
have a
sense
that God
exists
but rather
than this
making us
desire to
call out
to God
for mercy
and help
it leads
us to
shake our
fist at
God
and it's
and
all of
the telling
us of
this
is so
that we
could
God
communicates
this to
us so
that we
can see
this and
realize it
about
ourselves
and he
does it
so we
can realize
it about
our friends
and neighbors
so that we
will pray
greatly for
them
and so
that we
can search
and realize
that we
need to
call out
to God
for mercy
every
Sunday at
the church
in your
bulletins
we have
two
different
things
one of
them is
called
there's
a blog
you can
always
read
but there's
something
called
growing
and grace
and there's
always
something
and this
Sunday
it's at
the back
about
going
deeper
and the
going
deeper
is a way
you can
go do
some
Bible
studies
about
things
connected
to the
text
the sermon
that's
happened
to get
some of
the background
and some
other
perspectives
on it
and the
growing
in grace
which is
usually on
the insert
like this
it has
a variety
of different
attitudes
and prayers
and Bible
memory
verse
connected
to the
sermon
and this
week
you'll notice
the three
attitudes
one of them
is that
idols and
demons
always lie
and tell me
I cannot
have new
life in
God
through
grace
the idea
of these
attitudes
is for us
to think
about them
throughout
the week
to have
it
become
part of
how we
understand
the world
that idols
and demons
always lie
and tell me
I cannot
have new
life in
God
through
grace
that's
a lie
every one
of the
people
who in
a sense
would go
through
what's
described
in
Revelation
chapter
9
the whole
reason
it's
described
is so
they can
ask God
for new
life
through
grace
the second
attitude
the devil
harms
his own
God
saves
his own
and then
the third
one
which is
what I
really
want
for some
of us
here's
a main
thing
for us
to pray
into
I have
two
problems
with
idolatry
first
I worship
idols
second
I rarely
recognize
that I
worship
idols
and that's
something
for us
to pray
into
friends
but here
I thought
about this
all week
whether I
would do
it
and I
decided
I would
I don't
talk about
this very
often
and I'm
going to
say something
I just
ask you
a little
bit of
grace
for me
but
some
of you
might
know
that
this
congregation
actually
I think
it's
in about
two weeks
time
will be
the
sixth
anniversary
of us
leaving
the
Anglican
Church
of
Canada
there's
maybe not
many people
in the
room
who were
part of
the
congregation
six years
ago
when we
made that
decision
and that
that led
three and a half
years later
to us
after lawsuits
walking away
from a
building
and a
whole range
of financial
assets
and
and we
did it
because
the
Anglican
Church
of
Canada
created
the
doctrine
and began
the
practice
of
blessing
same
sex
marriages
and
the
text
here
actually
says
something
very
powerful
about
why
we
felt
we
had
to
be
willing
to
lose
a
building
and
take
a
position
which
is
profoundly
unpopular
in
Canadian
culture
but we
felt
bound
to
do
it
and
it
can
be
seen
here
in
verse
20
remember
after
having
all of
this
description
of
demons
and
the
lack
of
God
loosening
the
cords
and
these
things
that
happen
to
people
the
torment
and
them
having
on one
level
to
realize
that
even
as
they
devote
themselves
to
demonic
stuff
that
the
demons
actually
still
hate
them
and
turn
on
them
and
there's
this
puzzling
comment
deeper
cry
for
people
to
heed
and
to
turn
because
the
rest
of
mankind
who
were
not
killed
by
these
plagues
do not
repent
of the
works
of their
hands
nor
give up
worshipping
demons
of idols
and silver
and bronze
gold
silver
and bronze
and stone
and wood
which cannot
see or hear
or walk
nor did
they repent
of their
murders
or their
sorceries
or their
sexual
immorality
or their
thefts
and the
word
translated
their
sexual
immorality
as part
of the
porneia
word
teaches
friends
the
bible
teaches
that
god's
intention
for us
as human
beings
not that
sexual
knowing
is bad
or sexual
stimulation
is bad
but that
for those
who are
called
to enter
into it
that god
limits
sexual
stimulation
and sexual
knowing
between
one man
and one
woman
exclusive
of all
others
with the
intent
that as
they enter
into this
relationship
called
marriage
that they
intended
for life
and so
sexual
immorality
the
porneia
word
group
says
that
any
sexual
stimulation
or sexual
knowledge
outside
of marriage
of one
man to
one woman
is sin
and in
fact it's
actually a
sign
here
a specific
sign
of a lack
of repentance
and a
hardness
of heart
to god
see in
marriage
in marriage
of one
man to
one woman
god has
provided in
a sense
a path
the bible
doesn't portray
marriage as
just a mere
contract between
two consenting
adults about
financial and
sexual and
child raising
relationships
bible doesn't
put it in that
way at all
it understands
marriage as a
form of
holiness
a form of
holiness
whereby a
man will
give himself
in all
senses including
sexually to
his wife and
his wife
will give
herself sexually
and in all
other ways to
her husband
and that
is a form of
holiness
that's blessed
and so for
a church
to say
that a
sign of
rebellion
is blessed
in the
context of
revelation
nine
is a
horror
it's a
horror
now some of
you might say
george are you
saying that the
people in this
church are all
just a bunch of
goody two-shoes
that they've
never had any
type of sexual
temptations or
sexual indiscretions
are you saying
that it's only
perfect people in
here not at all
if all of a
sudden an
angel was to
appear in the
room and he
and the angel
makes me say
all of those
who've at any
point in time
violated this
pornea
commandment
could you
stand my
guess is that
just about every
single one of us
would stand
and in fact
if the angel
said okay those
who have violated
this this past
week stand
we would probably
be shocked at
how many of us
stand
so that the
text is not
at all
saying
anything at all
about us
the stand
and this text
it's not saying
anything at all
about us being
particularly
brilliantly good
it's actually
saying
I got something
out of order
in my talk
Andrew if you
could skip
to the fifth
point
this is what
it's saying
actually go back
to the fourth
God always
preserves
goodness
restrains evil
judges evil
and freely
offers me
grace and
mercy and
redemption in
Jesus
God always
preserves
goodness
restrains evil
judges evil
and freely
offers grace
and mercy
and redemption
and Jesus
that's what the
Bible says
and so for us
as a congregation
when we hear
this sign of
rebellion
I mean on one
level
I don't know
how many of you
have either
dreamed of stealing
or cheated on
your income tax
or did some
other type of
thing this past
week
maybe there's
nobody here
who's murdered
anybody this
past week
although the
Bible says
that to really
hate your
brother and
call him
names is a
type of
murder
and I
don't know
how many of
us have
maybe struggled
with pornography
or other
types of
things or
maybe other
types of
sexual stimulation
or sexual
knowing outside
of marriage
but this text
it's all
calling us to
receive mercy
from God
and it
actually helps
to illustrate
and we're
going to close
by looking at
Colossians 1
it helps
us to
understand
a very
powerful
image of
salvation
in the
Bible
so if you
could just
turn to
Colossians
chapter 1
verses 11
to 14
we'll see
how
Revelation 9
is trying to
help us to
understand what
it is that
only God
can do
and what
we need
God to
do
Colossians 1
verses 11
14
may you be
strengthened
with all
power
according to
his glorious
might
for all
endurance
and patience
with joy
giving thanks
to the
Father
who has
qualified
you
to share
in the
inheritance
of the
saints
in light
he has
delivered us
from the
domain of
darkness
and transferred
us to
the kingdom
of his
beloved
son
in whom
we have
redemption
the forgiveness
of sins
verse 13
he has
delivered us
from the
domain of
darkness
and transferred
us to
the kingdom
of his
beloved
son
in whom
we have
redemption
the forgiveness
of sins
here's what the
bible is telling
us
the fifth point
Andrew
when I turn
and put my
faith in
Jesus
he transfers
me from the
domain of
darkness
into his
kingdom
and he
seals me
as his
own
forever
you see
what we're
seeing in
revelation
19
is what
we're
seeing
in a
sense
the
domain
of
darkness
and
what the
text
is saying
it isn't
saying
that George
you have
to pull
yourself
up by
your
bootstraps
you have
to
figure out
spiritual
disciplines
you have
to figure
out all
of these
types
of
things
you have
to
go to
therapy
so you
can
understand
the roots
of your
genetic
inheritance
and your
family of
orange
inheritance
and you
have to
do all
these
rules
and you
have to
be good
and you
have to
be good
and you
have to
be good
and then
somehow
or another
you force
your way
into the
kingdom
of God
and now
you're
here
and now
you can
look down
on those
who aren't
there
the Bible
is saying
something
completely
and utterly
different
it's saying
that if you
understand
revelation
9
and if you
understand
the book
of
revelation
you will
understand
cannot get
from the
domain of
darkness
into the
kingdom of
God
the kingdom
of heaven
and become
citizens of
it
all we can
do is
call to
God for
mercy
and God
does what
no human
being can
do by
themselves
in their
own power
by their
rituals
by their
therapies
by their
disciplines
by their
successes
by their
failures
by their
wounds
God does
something
that no
human being
can do
is that when
we put our
faith and
trust in
Jesus and
what he did
for us on
the cross
that God
takes somebody
like me
and somebody
like you
and he
takes us
and he
moves us
into his
kingdom
and when
he moves
us into
his kingdom
and we
get there
and then a
week later
a month
later
a year
later
and we
say to
Jesus
did you
realize
when you
move me
from the
domain of
darkness
into your
kingdom
do you
realize
how strong
the current
in my
life is
towards
same-sex
sex
do you
realize
how strong
the pull
within me
is towards
pornography
do you
realize
how much
anger I
have in me
do you
know how
much I
hate
do you
understand my
racism or
my anti-semitism
and if we say
that to Jesus
he's not going to
say oh good grief
I didn't know
about you
I'm going to
kick you back
out here
I thought I was
only taking a
perfect Sinclair
that's not how it
works at all
that knowing
that knowing the
power of the
currents in our
life we call
out to God
for mercy
and he does
what I can
never do
he moves me
into his
kingdom
and when he
moves me
into his
kingdom
he takes
Sinclair from
the moment of
Sinclair's
conception to
the moment of
Sinclair's
death with
all of the
currents and
all of the
problems and
all of the
wounds and
all of the
strengths he
knows all
about it and
he moves me
into his
kingdom and he
seals me as
his own
forever he
does this
for me
because of
Jesus's death
upon the
cross for me
he does not
weigh my
merits he
pardons my
offenses
and it is in
the context
of being in
his kingdom
that then I
can say God
I have this
current
I don't
know help
me to help
me not to
go help me
to restrain
it helped
me to
incline my
heart away
from thievery
to generosity
and incline
my heart away
from adultery
or fornication
towards my
wife
incline my
heart from
lies to
speaking the
truth
father you
know you
transferred me
knowing what
was going on
and still you
accepted me
still Jesus
was able to
move me into
this it's in
that context
that we can
honestly talk
to God
and he
day by
day
sometimes
quickly
sometimes
slowly
can change
us
please stand
so what
about you
what about
me
some of
us here
today
we were
thinking
maybe as
we were
going on
saying
George
you know
I can
never get
into this
Christian
thing
because I'm
not like
you
you realize
that
those who
are sealed
by the
blood of
Jesus
sealed by
the Holy
Spirit
moved into
the kingdom
of God
it's not
God
counting our
merits
or looking
at how
wonderful or
strong we
necessarily
are
but he
does something
we cannot
do
and so we
have an
invitation
if you've
never done
it to say
to Jesus
Jesus have
mercy on
me
thank you
for what
you've done
for me on
the cross
move me
from the
domain of
darkness
move me
from
Revelation
9
into
Colossians
1
use your
own words
you can
just say
God
I'm in
Revelation
9
I want
to be
in
Colossians
1
and only
you can
do it
thank you
that you
do it
thank you
for Jesus
and what he
did upon
us on
the cross
and for
others
we have
to pray
into the
idolatries
that we
still struggle
with
the currents
that we
still struggle
with
and say
Father
I thank
you
that you
brought me
into your
kingdom
not weighing
my
merits
but pardoning
my
offenses
Father
I just
surrender
before you
and open
myself
for you
for your
Holy Spirit
to move
deeply
in my
life
to deal
with those
things
that I
cannot have
victory
in my
own
power
please
help me
thank you
for your
mercy
let's bow
our heads
in prayer
Father
we all
give you
thanks
and praise
that you
know us
completely
and utterly
perfectly
you
know
every
current
towards
evil
that
every
one
of
us
has
within
you
know
Father
those
things
that we
delight
in doing
that are
wrong
you
know
those
good
things
that we
delight
in not
doing
you
know
you
know
you
know
Father
those
of us
who
have
opened
ourselves
up
to
demons
and
knowing
all
this
about
us
still
you
love
us
still
your
son
died
on
the
cross
to
redeem
us
still
your
son
died
to
defeat
sin
and
death
and
all
hostile
spiritual
powers
upon
the
cross
and
Father
still
you
ask
us
to
call
out
to
you
for
mercy
that
you
turn
no
one
away
who
calls
to
you
Father
we
give
you
thanks
and
praise
for
this
Father
we
call
out
to
you
for
mercy
we
thank
you
for
the
gift
of
Jesus
we
thank
you
that
by
faith
in
him
we
can
be
part
of
his
kingdom
that
you
do
this
not
us
and
Father
for
those
of
honor
and
glory
help
us
to
be
gripped
by
the
gospel
and
bring
transformation
to
our
lives
so
that
more
and
more
of
what
characterizes
each
of us
as
each
of
us
blesses
your
holy
name
and
brings
you
glory
and
all
this
we
ask
and
thank
in
the
name
of
Jesus
your
son
and
our
savior
amen