Praying in Times of Trouble
Psalm 77
Praying in Times of Trouble
Psalm 77
Main Idea: In times of trouble, we must keep remembering and meditating on God’s faithfulness to us in Christ.
I. Crying Out (77:1-3)
Rather than ignoring the pain, turning inward in despair, or venting to others, Asaph is committed to “crying aloud to God” in honest prayer (1 Thess. 5:17). Though he is in a ‘day of trouble,’ his ‘soul refuses to be comforted,’ and his remembrance and meditation of God only produces further ‘moaning’ and ‘fainting,’ he commits to wrestling with the Lord in lament.
Hebrews 5:7: In the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to him who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverence.
“Praying in the midst of pain isn’t a guarantee the emotional struggle will immediately lift. He’s praying, but it’s not bringing immediate comfort or resolution. His prayers are not ‘working.’ Yet, he still prays. You need to know that lament does not always lead to an immediate solution. It does not always bring a quick or timely answer. Lament isn’t a simplistic formula. Instead, it is the song you sing believing that one day God will answer and restore. Lament invites us to pray through our struggle with a life that is far from perfect.”
~ Mark Vroegop, Dark Clouds, Deep Mercy: Discovering the Grace of Lament
II. Asking Honest Questions (77:4-9)
Asaph’s trouble runs deep enough for him to lose sleep and become speechless (77:4). Even as he considers God’s mighty deeds in the past to try and find consolation during his sleepless tossing, this search only increases the contradiction of his present experience.
This "diligent search” of his own soul leads to Asaph asking six specific questions (77:7-9):
Will the Lord “spurn” forever?
Will he never again be favorable?
Has his steadfast love ceased?
Are his promises at an end for all time?
Has God forgotten to be gracious?
Has he in anger shut up his compassion?
In his questions, Asaph is not merely “venting” or blowing off steam in anger; all of his questions are directly related to God’s self-disclosure of his very character and nature.
Exodus 34:6–7a: The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin…
“The Psalmist is not just being a stoic and gritting his teeth till the storm passes. Nor is he simply venting his feelings. He redirects his thoughts and feelings toward the truth about God… The psalmist is arguing against his own heart, which had ruled that things were hopeless.”
~ Tim Keller, The Songs of Jesus
III. Remembering God’s Faithfulness (77:10-15)
Asaph keeps on “remembering” and “meditating” until a turn happens in his soul in 77:10, as he makes an “appeal” to a higher power and authority than his experience (cf. Ps. 111:3-5). This kind of remembering and meditation take both effort and time.
“The central Biblical strategy for coming out of darkness and discouragement and doubt is a conscious effort of the mind. Notice these strong words of intentionality: remember, ponder, and meditate… These are conscious acts that he chooses to do. This is the fight of faith. This is the fight for delight. This is the opposite of passivity and resignation. This is a strategy of life.”
~ John Piper, “I Will Meditate on All Your Work and Muse on Your Deeds”
As Asaph’s perspective is drawn up into worship of God, he praises God’s faithfulness, stirring his own soul to remember:
The Lord’s Holiness (77:13a): Though we do not always understand, we trust God’s ways are higher than our ways (cf. Isa. 55:8-9)
The Lord’s Greatness (77:13b-14): He is the God who works wonders and has made his might known in the past
The Lord’s Care (77:15): He has redeemed a people to himself and is working all things for their good
As this turn happens in the Psalm, Asaph’s attention moves away from his own trouble and predicament (18 references to “I” and “me” in 77:1-6) to the praiseworthy attributes and work of the Lord (21 mentions of God in 77:13-20). This is always the trajectory of prayer of lament as we move from heartache to hope and pain to praise.
IV. Meditating on God’s Salvation (77:16-20)
As Asaph’s prayer and song builds to a crescendo, his mind is drawn to God’s mighty salvation in the Exodus (Ex. 14) and in the wilderness at Sinai (Ex. 19). Asaph is reminding his own soul and the people of God that because the Lord has been faithful in the past, there is no reason to doubt his faithfulness in the present and in the future, despite what trouble they experience.
The Psalm ends with a reminder that the mighty God who delivers his people in glory and splendor is also a tender and near shepherd (77:20), present with his people through the wilderness and trials of life.
“Our central meditation ought to rest on the eternal excellencies of God in his holiness and how those perfections are known to us in Christ, who is the same, yesterday, today, and forever. This foundation underpins the logic of remembering. We do not remember the exodus simply because it is vaguely encouraging to see what God did in the past; we look back to that event because it foreshadowed a later, timeless, supreme, wonderful work of redemption in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.”
~ Christopher Ash, The Psalms: A Christ-Centered Commentary (Vol. 3)
Romans 8:31–32: What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?
Keeping Your Gospel Mind
Psalm 73
Keeping Your Gospel Mind
Psalm 73
Main Idea: The remedy for spiritual myopia is a gospel-centered view of eternity.
"This passage is an Old Testament case study about what happens to the life of a believer when he loses sight of eternity. It demonstrates graphically how it is nearly impossible not to lose your gospel mind when you fail to live with eternity in focus. I think Psalm 73 has never been a more important passage than it is for us today. It speaks to the anger, angst, and discouragement in many of us. It addresses a question that burdens and disheartens many of us. Why does it seem like so many ungodly people prosper, while so many believers seem to have such a hard time? Why does it seem like my commitment and obedience are for nothing? Where have all the promises of God gone? Where is God in all the chaos? Psalm 73 lives in the gap between the 'already' and the 'not yet,' the very place where all of us live. If you're not going to lose your gospel mind, you need to make Psalm 73 a very familiar friend."
~ Paul Tripp, Do You Believe?
I. Is God Just? (73:1-12)
“The wicked not only flaunt God’s commands, instructions, and boundaries, they boast and brag that they have escaped his knowledge, implying that he is not up to the task of enforcing his own policies. They despise God and think themselves superior to him, and thus their ability to evade him.”
~ James Hamilton, Psalms: Evangelical Biblical Theology Commentary
II. Is God Worth Following? (73:13-17)
“The psalmist’s logic in 73:13–14 is straightforward: if the wicked are not going to suffer for their misdeeds, why should the righteous punish themselves and endure God’s discipline as they strive for holiness?”
~ James Hamilton, Psalms:Evangelical Biblical Theology Commentary
"You cannot properly understand the moment that you're in unless you are making sense of it in light of what is to come. The terrible spiritual tension that Asaph is experiencing as he is trying to understand himself and others, with all of its envy and discouragement, is resolved only when he begins to look at the very same things with eternity in view."
~ Paul Tripp, Do You Believe?
III. Is God Satisfying? (73:18-28)
A gospel-centered view of eternity corrects my vision by telling me …*
I have been designed with bigger concerns than a right-here, right-now focus on my wants, needs, and feelings.
The goal of this moment is not to use all of my resources to turn now into as much of paradise as I can afford.
Where and when my only true satisfaction will be found and what is truly important.
What I should be investing my resources in today.
The danger of giving way to the temptation to worship the creation and not the Creator.
Of the grace I need to fight the value battles that will wage war in my heart.
Of the hope I have when I get my values completely wrong.
*Adapted from Paul Tripp, Do You Believe?
The Marriage of the Lamb
Revelation 19:6-10
The marriage of the lamb
Revelation 19:6-10
Main Idea: We prepare for the marriage of the Lamb through grace-fueled repentance, faith, and worship.
I. The Lamb (19:6, 10)
Revelation continually emphasizes that what awaits us at the end of time is the reign of Triune God over all of creation. The chaos of the world right now, seduced by the influence of the great harlot (17:1-6), the mighty beast (17:8-13) , and the ancient serpent (12:1-9) over the kingdoms of this world will one day come to a definitive and decisive end (cf. 12:11; 17:14).
Revelation 11:15: Then the seventh angel blew his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven, saying, “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever.”
John is so overcome by the glorious, good news of this vision that he begins to worship the messenger (19:10). He is quickly reminded that the angel is a “fellow servant” and he must worship God alone. Though this “unveiling” seems almost too good to believe, John is reassured that the testimony and revelation of Jesus are true.
II. The Bride (19:7)
The announcement of the certain reign of the Lord and the Lamb over all of creation should produce rejoicing, exultation, and glory from his people, because it ushers in the long-awaited “marriage of the Lamb.” The picture of the Lord as the groom and his people as the bride is found all throughout Scripture (cf. Isa. 54:5; 62:4-5; Jer. 3:20; Hosea; Mt. 22:1-14; 25:1-12) and finds its consummation here.
In the time of the Bible, weddings had the following pattern:
The couple would become “betrothed” (engaged), often arranged ahead of time
The groom would pay a “dowry” to the father of the bride during
The wedding would begin with a processional of the bride to the home of her husband; great preparations were made for this presentation to her groom
The groom then receives his bride and the lengthy (often week-long) wedding feast begins
“The kingdom and the marriage are two aspects of the same reality, when God will finally be our all in all (1 Cor. 15:28), with no more distance, no more absence, no more waiting, but faith finally turned into sight, hope into possession, and earthly sorrows into pleasures forevermore... Unlike the marriage of the Lord with his old-covenant people Israel, which failed miserably, now the bride is so fully prepared for the approach of her glorious husband that she will be unable ever to spoil this eternal marriage.”
~ Ray Ortlund, Marriage and the Mystery of the Gospel
III. The Dress (19:8)
The clothing for the bride of the Lamb is meant to be in contrast to the gaudy appearance of the harlot (cf. 18:16). This “dress” represents both sides of our salvation, both our justification and our sanctification:
Justification: “it was granted to her to clothe herself with fine linen, bright and pure…” (cf. 7:14; Eph. 5:27; Matt. 22:11-14)
Sanctification: “... for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints.” (cf. Isa. 61:10; Eph. 2:10; 1 Jn. 1:9)
Titus 2:11–14: For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.
“The gospel calls us to cleanse ourselves from everything dishonorable (2 Tim. 2:21) and to reach by faith and repentance for everything excellent (2 Pet. 1:3-11). This is the bride’s part, for the strong hope of that glorious wedding celebration above acts upon us now with purifying power (1 Jn. 3:2-3). And it is important to see that the bride does not wait to prepare herself until after all her oppressors have been judged and dispensed with… the church remains under pressure during her season of preparation. But her calling is not to defeat her enemies; her calling is to make herself ready for her groom.”
~ Ray Ortlund, Marriage and the Mystery of the Gospel
IV. The Invitation (19:9)
The angel tells John: “Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the lamb” (cf. Lk. 14:15) This is the fourth ‘blessed’ promise of Revelation (cf. 1:3; 14:13; 16:15). We resist the seductive ploys of the great harlot of Babylon by living our lives in anticipation for this immeasurably great and endlessly glorious banquet feast that awaits the saints in the future.
Isaiah 25:6-9: On this mountain the Lord of hosts will make for all peoples
a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wine,
of rich food full of marrow, of aged wine well refined.
And he will swallow up on this mountain
the covering that is cast over all peoples,
the veil that is spread over all nations.
He will swallow up death forever;
and the Lord God will wipe away tears from all faces,
and the reproach of his people he will take away from all the earth,
for the Lord has spoken.
It will be said on that day,
“Behold, this is our God; we have waited for him, that he might save us.
This is the Lord; we have waited for him;
let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation.”
Hallelujah!
Revelation 18:20-19:5
Hallelujah!
Revelation 18:20-19:5
Main Idea: We are summoned to join the hallelujah chorus of heaven because Babylon will be judged and defeated.
I. The Harlot Condemned (18:20-24)
While the kings of the earth (18:9), merchants (18:11), and sailors (18:17) “weep and mourn” over the fall of Babylon, the “saints, apostles, and prophets” are commanded to rejoice in God’s judgment over the great harlot and the wicked city (18:20; cf. Rev. 6:10).
Jeremiah 51:47-49: Therefore, behold, the days are coming
when I will punish the images of Babylon;
her whole land shall be put to shame,
and all her slain shall fall in the midst of her.
Then the heavens and the earth,
and all that is in them,
shall sing for joy over Babylon,
for the destroyers shall come against them out of the north,
declares the Lord.
Babylon must fall for the slain of Israel,
just as for Babylon have fallen the slain of all the earth.
The mighty angel throws a “great millstone” into the sea (cf. Jer. 51:60-64), symbolic of the total and complete judgment that will be poured out on Babylon. The emphasis of Babylon’s final judgment is on what will be “no more” (6x):
No more music (18:22a)
No more industry & work (18:22b)
No more light (18:23a; cf. 21:23)
No more weddings (18:23b)
The reason for Babylon’s judgment is threefold:
1. Self-glorification (18:23c; cf. Gen. 11); Babylon’s merchants were pridefully the “great ones” of the earth, who propped themselves up by exploitation and greed.
“The chief purpose of humanity, according to [Revelation], is to glorify God and to enjoy him, not to glorify yourself and enjoy your own achievements. Self-glorification necessitates judgment in which a forced humbling occurs. It is idolatrous for Babylon and her allies to call themselves “great.” This title is reserved only for the true God. To focus on humanity as the center of everything and to forget God is the greatest sin.”
~ G.K. Beale, The Book of Revelation (NIGTC)
2. Deceptive influence and seduction of the nations to idolatry (18:23d)
3. Persecution and violence toward the prophets and saints (18:24). “It’s important to think of judgment and its horrific finality not primarily in terms of the suffering it inflicts but in terms of the just retribution it represents.” ~ D.A. Carson
II. The Hallelujah Chorus (19:1-5)
After John is shown the final judgment and the end of Babylon, the worship in heaven is unveiled to him. The “great multitude in heaven” cries out with a loud voice: “Hallelujah!” (lit. “Praise God!”; 4x in Rev. 19; cf. Ps. 146-150).
This burst of ‘Hallelujah’ praise is because of:
God’s salvation: He rescues us out of Babylon by the victory of the Lamb (cf. 12:11; 17:13; Eph. 1:3-14).
God’s glory: He is eternally ‘weighty,’ significant, and consequential.
God’s power: He alone is ‘immeasurably great, not mighty Babylon or Rome (cf. Eph. 1:19-20).
God’s perfect justice: He has avenged Babylon in righteousness for her immorality. (19:2a; cf. Rom. 12:18)
“That’s the goal of everything the angel has been revealing. That’s what the whole book of Revelation is about. That’s the point of all God’s judgments, all God’s dealings with the world. All God’s plans for history from beginning to end have this one goal— worship God! Don’t worship the wealth of Babylon, don’t worship the power of Babylon, don’t worship the pleasures of Babylon, and don’t even worship the holy messenger who brings you the news that Babylon has fallen forever. Worship God! ... God let John hear the celebration of heaven so that in his exile and his suffering he might join in and worship God. And John wrote it down in a book so that we might listen to the worship of heaven and join in.”
~ John Piper, “Worship God!”
In response to the loud, exuberant, joyful worship of heaven, the twenty-four elders (representing the totality of God’s people) and the four living creatures (representing all of creation) join the chorus: “Amen. Hallelujah!” (2 Cor. 1:19-20). As the hallelujah chorus swells, a voice from the throne summons all of God’s servants, “small and great,” to join in worship (19:5; cf. Ps. 115:13).
“Corporate worship is the declaration in the midst of Babylon that we will not be drawn into her harlotries because we have found in God the satisfaction of our souls. Corporate worship is the public savoring of the worth of God and the beauty of God and power of God and the wisdom of God. Worship is an open declaration to all the powers of heaven and to all of Babylon that we will not prostitute our minds or our hearts or our bodies to the allurements of the world. Though we may live in Babylon, we will not be captive to Babylonian ways. And we will celebrate with all our might the awesome truth that we are free from that which will be destroyed... Corporate worship is the blatant, public savoring of God in the midst of a seductive Babylonian culture. Worship is the flagrant, open enjoyment of God as the fountain of life. It is a public declaration that God is more to be desired than all the pleasures of Babylon.”
~ John Piper, “Worship God!”
Psalm 150:6: Let everything that has breath praise the Lord! Praise the Lord!
Come Out of Her, My People
Revelation 18:1-20
Come out of Her, My People
REvelation 18:1-20
Main Idea: We who belong to Jesus are free from Babylon and commanded to break up with her.
I. What is Going on Here?
God is bringing judgment on Babylon.
Babylon is iconic as not just a place or an empire, but as a pattern of power opposed to God. As such, Babylon symbolizes political power used unjustly, economic exploitation, cultural arrogance, and moral corruption.
Revelation 18 predicts the utter and final fall of Babylon as a fiat accompli which occurs in history at the return of Jesus. (Revelation 19)
1. Why is Babylon judged? For her iniquities.
“Her sins are heaped high as heaven and God has remembered her iniquities.” (18:5)
She glorifies herself imagining she is entitled to the outlandish luxury she enjoys at other’s expense. So established is her mark on human history, she thinks she can never be dethroned. But her extensive network of seduction, commerce and might is nothing more than a "dwelling place for demons, a haunt for every unclean spirit” and beast. Her unequalled might amounts to nothing but smoke and debris before the Lord God almighty who has judged her.
2. How is Babylon judged? Suddenly and completely.
“Her plagues will come in a single day, death and mourning and famine, and she will be burned up with fire.” (18:8)
Whereas the plagues of Egypt played out over weeks and months, the plagues Babylon faces will happen “in a single day,” more specifically, “in a single hour!” Even those drunk with the wine of her excesses will recognize it for what it is: JUDGMENT (18:10)
In the ancient world, as in our own, fire is representative of total loss. When a thing is “burned up,” it will never be repaired. It will never be seen again. The “smoke of her burning” is the only thing left to prove she was ever there.
3. What reaction does Babylon’s destruction produce? It depends on your relationship to her.
There is weeping and mourning among those who had become dependent upon her and entangled with her in her crimes. (18:9-19) This community is made up of:
“All nations (who) have drunk the wine of the passion of her sexual immorality,”
“The kings of the earth (who) have committed immorality with her,”
“The merchants of the earth (who) have grown rich from the power of her luxurious living.” (18:3)
II. What are We to Do?
Come out of her, my people
A death sentence has just been passed on “Babylon the great.” We are to decisively, determinedly, and definitively “break up with” Babylon, “lest you take part in her sins, lest you share in her plagues; for her sins are heaped high as heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities.” (18:1-5)
The text lists two reasons for this “break up”
1. We can neither resist her wiles nor escape her plagues if we stay.
Keep in mind that “all nations have drunk the wine of the passion of her sexual immorality, and the kings of the earth have committed immorality with her and the merchants of the earth have grown rich from the power of her luxurious living.” (Rev 18:3) You are a fool to think that you shall resist or escape what these could not.
2. We do not belong to her.
We are GOD’S PEOPLE. We belong to Him because He loves us and has freed us from our sins by Jesus’ blood. The very Son of God was slain for us, and by His blood He ransomed a people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation, and Jesus has made us a kingdom and priests to God, and we shall reign on the earth. (Rev. 1:5-6; 5:9-10)
We may reside in the precincts of Babylon and live out our days under her dread shadow - just as John was in exile on Patmos and his readers lived out their lives under Rome’s heavy hand - but we no longer belong to her.
III. How are We Supposed to Do it?
While this specific passage only gives the high-level command, keep in mind that the entire Revelation was written to seven churches just like ours. These people in the churches were the “my people” to whom the voice from heaven was speaking directly.
1. Repent
The first step to breaking up with Babylon is brutal specificity and ruthless honesty about the sins she has lured you into with an eye to killing them! Repentance requires admitting the specific ways in which we are “drinking the wine of her sexual immorality” and forsaking it.
Repentance is not a generalized uncomfortable feeling about some vague shortcoming you may or may not have. It is a specific awareness of a pattern of behavior that is either luring you into bed with Babylon or proof that you are already in bed with Babylon.
2. Remember
The second step is to remember Whose you are and re-orient your identity to Jesus and to Jesus alone. It is this remembering that strengthened the suffering saints in Smyrna to “be faithful unto death” (Rev 2:10) and enabled the succeeding saints in Philadelphia to “hold fast what (they) have, so that no one may seize (their) crown.” (Rev 3:11)
3. Overcome
Those who “overcome” are those who “conquer.” This idea shows up in each of the letters to the seven churches. It refers to those now anchored in Christ who re-structure their lives to pursue holiness and love, purity and peace, righteousness and virtue. This kind of life is made possible because they hear and obey “what the Spirit says to the churches.” (Rev 2:7,11,17 26; 3:5,12,21)
4. Rejoice.
This is how we know we have “broken up with” Babylon. At one time in our lives, we were “drunk” at her party along with everyone else. For now, we are forced to live in the shadow of her tenement and endure the humiliations and persecutions she doles out to her former lovers. But we are looking for Jesus and we know how the story ends. God gives judgment for His people against her. She burns, we live. “Rejoice over her, O heaven, and you saints and apostles and prophets!” (Rev 18:20) THAT IS US!
Beauty & The Beast
Revelation 17:1-18
Beauty & The Beast
REvelation 17:1-18
Main Idea: We must resist the deadly seduction of Babylon and faithfully follow the Lamb.
I. The Harlot (17:1-6, 18)
John is given another look at the coming judgment and the end of history (cf. 16:17-21) through the fate of the “great prostitute.” John is given an ‘apocalypse’ into her identity, immorality, and influence from one of the angels of judgment.
Her Identity: The Harlot is revealed to be “Babylon the Great, the mother of prostitutes” (17:5; cf. 14:8; 16:19). “Babylon” is an example and ‘type’ of all nations who seek to deify themselves and therefore hate the Lord, his anointed, and his people (cf. Gen. 11; Dan. 4:30).
“Babylon cannot be limited to any one individual or institution or nation or city. You can’t point to any one location or country on a globe and say, ‘That alone is Babylon.’ You can’t confine Babylon within any particular geographical or territorial boundaries. Babylon is found wherever and whenever there is Satanically inspired deception and idolatry. Babylon is the symbol of all worldly entrenched opposition to Jesus Christ.”
~ Sam Storms, Our God Reigns
Her Immorality: The sexual immorality of the Harlot is symbolic of idolatry, spiritual adultery, and unfaithfulness to God. Her immorality is expressed through deceptive seduction or persecution against the saints (17:6). She is profiting off her immorality, holding a “golden cup” full of her “impurities and abominations” (17:4).
Her Influence: The Harlot is arrayed with royal clothing, gold, silver, and beautiful pearls. She allures and holds sway over:
“The kings of the earth” (17:2a)
“The dwellers on the earth” (17:2b; unbelievers throughout Revelation); she is "seated on many waters” (17:1), later identified as “peoples, multitudes, nations, and languages” (17:15).
1 John 2:15–17: Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world. And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.
II. The Beast (17:7-13)
The ‘beast’ that the harlot rides has already been introduced in Revelation 13; it is supporting and upholding the harlot in her immorality and sinful influence over the world by providing political support and military might.
Just as before, the beast is merely a Satanic “parody” of the true Lord:
The Lord: “who is, who was, and is to come” (1:8; 4:8; 11:17; 16:5).
The beast “was, and is not, and is to come” (17:8); it ‘is not’ because of the finished work of Christ, who has overcome all the cosmic forces of evil that stand against him (cf. Col. 2:15). It ‘is to come’ because this powerful figure seems to have a resurrection from a mortal wound (cf. 13:3), but it is only to rise to destruction (17:8, 11).
The beast’s “seven heads” are a clear reference to Rome, a city built on “seven mountains” (17:9). However, the scope of the beast’s power extends beyond Rome; the seven heads and the ten horns likely represent the fullness of oppressive power throughout the ages. As powerful as a Rome-type power seems at any given time, they ultimately rise and fall, and will “only remain a little while” (17:11).
“The people in the churches who first received John’s letter would have found it difficult to envision a day when Rome would fall. But that day came, just as it has come for so many world powers since then… every human government has a shelf-life. One day all the many ‘isms’ that have such a grip on the many cultures of the world - classism, racism, materialism, consumerism, egoism, hedonism, humanism - will no longer rule the day. Every kingdom will one day give way to the true kingdom.”
~ Nancy Guthrie, Blessed: Experiencing the Promise of the Book of Revelation
III. The Lamb (17:14-17)
Despite the harlot’s seductive influence and the beast’s power, we are told of their sure and ultimate defeat:
The Lamb will conquer them (17:14). As the “Lord of lords and King of kings” he will overcome evil once and for all - and he will bring with him “those who are called and chosen and faithful.”
The Lord will turn evil against itself (17:15-17; cf. Gen. 50:20; Acts 2:23)
Psalm 2:1–6: Why do the nations rage
and the peoples plot in vain?
The kings of the earth set themselves,
and the rulers take counsel together,
against the Lord and against his Anointed, saying,
“Let us burst their bonds apart
and cast away their cords from us.”
He who sits in the heavens laughs;
the Lord holds them in derision.
Then he will speak to them in his wrath,
and terrify them in his fury, saying,
“As for me, I have set my King
on Zion, my holy hill.”
“The harlot Babylon allures with pleasure that leads to the embrace of death and despair. The Savior Jesus calls with life from God for those who believe. The only blood he bears is the blood he shed in our place, to free us from the penalty of our sin. The key to Christian living, then, is in part to see the ugly destruction of the harlot who rides the beast. An even greater key is to see Jesus, who is altogether lovely, and who imparts true beauty, life, and glory to those who take the cup of life from his hands.”
~ Richard Phillips, Revelation
All or Nothing
John 6:60-71
All or Nothing
John 6:60-71
Main Idea: As the Bread of Life, Jesus is all or nothing.
I. The Scandal of Christ (6:60-62)
As the crowd following Jesus continues to “grumble” (cf. 6:41, 61) about his teaching about flesh, blood, and belief, they conclude: “This is a hard saying… who can listen to it?” Jesus’ teaching is not “hard” because it is complicated but because it is difficult to accept in humility.
Hebrews 4:12–13: For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account.
Jesus knows what’s going on and asks a pointed question: “Do you take offense at this?” The grace that Christ offers is a ‘scandal’ for two overarching reasons, because it tells us:
You cannot save yourself (cf. Naaman, 2 Kings 5)
Jesus is the only way to eternal life (cf. 14:6)
Jesus warns that if we are offended (‘scandalized’) by his words, what lies ahead on the road to his ascension back to heaven will be even more offensive (cf. 3:13-15; 8:28; 12:32). The cross is the ultimate scandal and offense (cf. Gal. 3:11; 1 Pet. 2:8).
1 Corinthians 1:18, 22-24: For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God… For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.
II. The Spirit of God (6:63-65)
Jesus distinguishes two responses to the scandal of his grace. You can either work according to the…
“Flesh” by your own strength, power, and intellect, which is “good for nothing” (cf. 6:28)
‘Spirit” who brings us new life in Christ (cf. 3:5-8)
John 1:11–13: He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.
Jesus continues to make clear that the only way to embrace the scandal of grace is if the Father draws those who belong to him (cf. 6:44). This “granting” is accomplished through the word of Christ and the regenerating, illuminating work of the Holy Spirit (cf. Acts 16:14; Rom. 10:17).
III. The Words of Life (6:66-71)
What began as a crowd of 5,000(+) following Jesus now dwindles further as “many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him.” Jesus is unimpressive with the crowds and he seems unbothered by the leaving of these so-called disciples (cf. Matthew 13:1-9, 24-30).
With only the twelve remaining, Jesus asks them: “Do you want to go away as well?” Every part of Peter’s answer is correct:
“To whom shall we go?”
“You have the words of eternal life”
“We have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God”
While Peter responds correctly, Jesus continues to invite him (and all of his true disciples) to a posture of humility: “Did I not choose you?” (6:70; cf. Matt. 16:16-17). The twelve can’t take credit for their position nor should they presume upon being part of the “inner circle” of the disciples, since one of them was to betray Jesus.
“Jesus has chosen and called them, but they are free – free to be with him or to leave him. Jesus will never cast out any who come to him. But neither will he cajole, persuade, or bribe anyone to remain. His company will therefore always include those who do not believe and who will in the end betray. To believe is to have been brought to the place where you know that you have to rely completely on Jesus, and on Jesus alone.”
- Lesslie Newbigin, The Light has Come
Come, Eat, and Live
John 6:35-59
Come, Eat, and Live
John 6:35-59
Main Idea: Jesus is the satisfying, sovereign, and sustaining bread through His sacrificial life to all those that come to Him.
I. Satisfying Bread
John 6:35: Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.”
“The crowds are ready to believe that Jesus can give them what they want but they have not yet seen that He is what they need.”
~ Lesslie Newbigin, The Light Has Come
“Many follow Christ for loaves, but few for love; many follow him to be useful, not to be precious.”
~ Thomas Brooks
Jesus is satisfying bread because:
There is no other bread like Him
He’s bread given from the Father (v. 32)
He is the true bread from Heaven (v. 32)
John 6:36: But I said to you that you have seen me and yet do not believe.
II. Sovereign, Gracious Bread
John 6:37: All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out.
John 6:44: No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day.
There are 2 impossibilities in 6:44
No one can come to Jesus apart from God drawing
Jesus failing to raise up on the last day every person that God draws to Him
Genesis 37:4: But when his [Joseph’s] brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers, they hated Joseph and could not speak peacefully to him.
John 6:45: It is written in the Prophets, ‘And they will all be taught by God.’ Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me.
“I asked for questions. One lady, in particular, was troubled. She said, "This is the most awful thing I've ever heard! You make it sound as if God is intentionally turning away men who would be saved, receiving only the elect!" I answered her in this vein: "You misunderstand the situation. You're visualizing that God is standing at the door of Heaven, and men are thronging to get in that door. And God says to various ones, 'Yes, you may come, but not you, or you, or you—yes, you may come, and you, and you, but not you, etc.' The situation is hardly this! Rather, God stands at the door of Heaven with His arms outstretched, inviting all to come. Yet all men without exception are running in the opposite direction towards Hell as hard as they can go. So God, in election, graciously reaches out and stops this one, and that one, and this one over here, and that one over there, and effectually draws them to Himself by changing their hearts, making them willing to come. Election keeps no one out of Heaven who would otherwise have been there, but it keeps a whole multitude of folks out of Hell who would otherwise have been there! Were it not for election, Heaven would be an empty place, and Hell would be bursting at the seams!" That does put a different complexion on the thing, doesn't it?”
~ Mark Webb, What Difference Does It Make?
III. Sustaining Bread
John 6:37: ...whoever comes to me I will never cast out.
“They have been given over to Christ, and committed to His charge and care.”
~ George Hutcheson, Exposition of John
Jesus will not lose but keep:
1. The quantity of every soul and body of the believer
John 6:50: This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die.
2. The quality of our souls
IV. Sacrificial Bread
John 6:51: I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.
Isaiah 53:5: But he was pierced for our transgressions;
he was crushed for our iniquities.
Revelation 7:9-10: 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!”
Hebrews 2:13: Behold, I and the children God has given me.
“And when the census shall be read of all the children of the living God, not one of the blood-bought and blood-washed shall be absent. They shall all come to Christ in heaven as they all come to Christ on earth”
~ Charles Spurgeon
Eating is Believing
John 6:35-59
Eating is Believing
John 6:35-59
Main Idea: Jesus is the Bread of Life for today and tomorrow; therefore, come and eat.
I. Drawn by the Father (6:35-48)
“Jesus’ confidence does not rest in the potential for positive response amongst well-meaning people. Far from it: his confidence is in his Father to bring to pass the Father’s redemptive purposes: All that the Father gives me will come to me. Jesus’ confidence in the success of his mission is frankly predestinarian.”
~ D.A. Carson, The Gospel According to John (PNTC)
Summary of the section:
The Father gives a specific group of people to the Son.
The Son comes down from Heaven to do the Father’s will.
The Father’s will is for the Son to lose none of them but raise them on the last day.
These people come to the Son by looking at him and believing.
The Son gives them eternal life.
The Son will raise them on the last day.
No one can come to the Son unless the Father who sent the Son draws them.
II. Sustained by the Son (6:49-59)
John 6:40: For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.
John 6:54: Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.
“Yahweh is Lord of History, who orchestrates and arranges the world as he pleases. He is never faced with a world that is not of his own making, and so does not need to adjust to it. Rather, he arranges the world to be just the sort of world he wishes to speak into.”
~ Peter Leithart, Creator
“Throughout chapters 2 and 3, the author carefully monitors the man’s ongoing relationship with his Creator through the theme of eating. At first, God’s blessing and provision for the man are noted in the words: ‘from all the trees of the garden you may freely eat’ (2:16), recalling the good gifts in chapter 1 and the pronouncement that all was then ‘very good’ (1:31). Then, in chapter 3. It was precisely over the issue of ‘eating’ that the tempter raised doubts about God’s ultimate goodness and care for the man and his wife (3:1-3). Finally, the man and the woman’s act of disobedience in Chapter 3 is simply though thoughtfully described as ‘she ate it … and he ate it.’ It is no surprise, then, that the author calls attention to precisely the aspect of eating in his description of the judgment on the man: (vs. 17). Such a focus on eating. Which seems to dominate the author’s depiction of the Fall, is connected with the author’s interest elsewhere in the importance of eating and its association with humankind’s relationship to God.”
~ John Sailhamer, The Pentateuch as Narrative
Isaiah 55:1-3: Come, everyone who thirsts,
come to the waters;
and he who has no money,
come, buy and eat!
Come, buy wine and milk
without money and without price.
Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread,
and your labor for that which does not satisfy?
Listen diligently to me, and eat what is good,
and delight yourselves in rich food.
Incline your ear, and come to me;
hear, that your soul may live;
and I will make with you an everlasting covenant,
my steadfast, sure love for David.
Seek the Bread of Life
John 6:22-34
Seek the Bread of Life
John 6:22-34
Main Idea: Seek Jesus as the only one who can satisfy the hunger of your soul.
I. Are You Curious about Jesus? (6:22-24)
Colossians 1:16-17: For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.
“You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it rests in you.”
~ Augustine, Confessions
II. Are You Seeking Jesus? (6:25-27)
“They had not reflected on the spiritual significance of the sign they had seen…They were moved not by full hearts, but by full bellies.” ~ Leon Morris, The Gospel According to John
“It's called selfism, the fastest growing religion. They just dress it up and call it "Christian.” Don't be deceived by this funny biz. If you come to Jesus for money, then He's not your God, money is! Jesus is not a means to an end. The Gospel is He came to redeem us from sin. And that is the message, forever I yell. If you're living your best life now you're headed for hell!” ~ Shai Linne, “Fal$e Teachers”
“The Lord Jesus, we should never forget, is still the same….He reads the secret motives of all who profess and call themselves Christians. He knows exactly why they do all they do in their religion. The reasons why they go to church….all are naked and opened to the eyes of the great Head of the Church.” ~ J.C. Ryle Expository Thoughts on the Gospels: John, 3 Vols.
III. Do You Believe in Jesus? (6:28-34)
1 Peter 1:23: Faith does not come from seeing but believing the Word of God.
“We must read our Bibles, like men digging for hidden treasures. We must wrestle earnestly in prayer, like men contending with a deadly enemy for life. We must take our whole heart to the house of God, and worship and hear like those who listen to the reading of a will. We must fight daily against sin, the world, and the devil, like those who fight for liberty….This is “labouring”. This is the secret of getting on about our souls.”
~ J.C. Ryle, Expository Thoughts on the Gospels: John, 3 vols.
Philippians 3:8: Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.