Hopefully some of you will remember that last year in Sunday school we spent some time learning about the rise of liberalism in the mainline Presbyterian denomination. And one of the catalyzing events was a famous sermon that was preached by Harry Fosdick. He preached that sermon on March 21st of 1922. The sermon was entitled, Shall the Fundamentalists Win? Fosdick was convinced that the church needed to pay less attention to orthodoxy. She needed to be willing to compromise things like the virgin birth and the bodily resurrection of Jesus if the church really wanted to be useful to modern 20th century man. Now, one of the things that made Fosdick's sermon so influential during that period of time is it had the backing of J.D. Rockefeller. Rockefeller paid to print off 130,000 copies of Fosdick's sermon and sent a copy of that sermon to every Protestant minister they could find an address for throughout the United States of America. Rockefeller really wanted liberal Protestantism. And to his credit, he was willing to put his money where his mouth was. Whereas the preacher of Ecclesiastes says, there's nothing new under the sun. And the Rockefeller Philanthropic Foundation is now, in our day and age, supporting a group called the After Party. And it's a group that's no less dangerous to evangelicals than Fosdick Sermon. The after party is a group of professing Christian men, Curtis Chang, David French, and Russell Moore. And the goal of this group, one of the primary goals of this group, is to urge evangelical pastors to disengage from the culture wars, to basically play nice. They're creating Bible studies, again, that David French and Russell Moore are strenuously pushing to encourage evangelicals to repent of their right-wing political idolatry. And I have to say, I'm indebted here to the fine work of Megan Bichon, a Christian reporter who did a bit of digging into this foundation. And what she discovered about the after party is that they support various pro-LGBTQIA groups. They support hardcore green New Deal groups and an immigration policy that has almost no interest in any kind of border. And while they claim to be pro-life, one of the things these Bible studies are going to sneak in is that abortion really shouldn't be a primary driver in how one votes. All this to say, their desire to set aside political idols and their call to a ceasefire in the culture wars is disingenuous. Curtis Chang and Russell Moore are both registered Democrats, which is a free country. The truth is they're not really bothered by Christians who are politically active. They're bothered by the number of evangelical Christians who have a different political opinion and will vote against their ideas. I mean, one of the things that's really fascinating, and again, Megan Bashan discovered this, is that the Bible studies that are going to be going out that are meant to encourage evangelicals to avoid any kind of right-wing political identity and to exit the culture wars, they're actually gonna be launched first in swing states. Like Ohio, I'm sure that's perfectly innocent, right? You see, under the rubric of don't be a culture warrior and repent of your political idolatry, they have their own political agenda. Two reasons I share this this morning. First, the desire to keep faithful Christians out of the public life, no matter who does it, is the work of the Spirit of Antichrist. It's the animating spirit of Antichrist who wants to exclude the purposes of God, the Word of God, the values that God inculcates into His image bearers. It's the spirit of Antichrist that wants those excluded from the body politic. So when a leader is raised up who's willing to be casual toward abortion or affirming toward the sexual insanity of our day and then tells believers to back off, it doesn't matter how big their smile is, it doesn't matter how nice their suit fits or how winsome their words are. It's demonic. So that's the first thing. And second, it's not just Russell Moore and David French who are trying to issue a cease and desist order on culture wars. It's also coming from certain quarters in our reformed community. But here's one of the things we're going to learn this morning as we continue on in our study of Revelation 13. You're in a culture war. Period. You might not like that. Sometimes I don't like it. You might choose to ignore it. You might even decide to lay down your arms, but all that's gonna accomplish is to make you vulnerable. The simple truth is God's people are in a war, and a lot of that war is gonna take place in culture. And the only issue is will you stand for Christ Or will you simply surrender? And the one who most wants the surrender is the devil. Well, let's seek the Lord's face and we'll get to work. Pray with me once more. Our great God in heaven, we bless your great name. We thank you that we can gather around in sweet fellowship, listening and hearing your word read and taught. We pray that you give us listening ears, receptive hearts, that these words will accomplish your good purpose, and we know that they will. We know that your word will never return void. So have your way with us. Speak to us. Your servants listen. Amen. Let me ask you to turn in your Bibles to Revelation 12. We're actually gonna start reading in verse 17 and read down through chapter, excuse me, verse 10 of chapter 13. Revelation 12.17 down through chapter 13 in verse 10. This is the Word of God. And the dragon was enraged with the woman and he went to make war with the rest of her offspring who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus. Then I stood on the sand of the sea, and I saw a beast rising up out of the sea, having seven heads and 10 horns, and on his horns 10 crowns, and on his heads a blasphemous name. Now the beast which I saw was like a leopard. His feet were like that of a feet of a bear, and his mouth like the mouth of a lion. The dragon gave him his power, his throne, and his great authority. And I saw one of his heads as if it had been mortally wounded and his deadly wound was healed. And all the world marveled and followed the beast. So they worshiped the dragon who gave authority to the beast. And they worshiped the beast saying, who is like the beast? Who is able to make war with him? And he was given a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies. And he was given authority to continue for 42 months. And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God to blaspheme his name, his tabernacle, and those who dwell in heaven. It was granted to him to make war with the saints and to overcome them. And authority was given him over every tribe, tongue, and nation. All who dwell on the earth will worship him whose names have not been written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. If anyone has an ear, let him hear. He who leads into captivity shall go into captivity. He who kills with the sword must be killed with the sword. Here's the patience and the faith of the saints. Grass withers, the flowers fade, but the word of our God endures forever. May it bless it to our hearts this morning. Dearest congregation of our Lord Jesus Christ, we began looking at chapter 13 in our previous study, and it would be helpful to take a couple minutes and review. The backdrop, of course, of chapter 13 is chapter 12. The backdrop is really the fiery red dragon, who is Satan. who deviously determined to destroy the promised Messiah and God's church. But what we learned when we were studying chapter 12, praise God, the dragon failed because our God is sovereign and through Christ's death and resurrection and ascension, a death blow was struck to the evil one and he was cast down to earth. And the mortally wounded dragon who is enraged with the church, now commits all of his energies to oppose God's people in the world and to make war on the church. Now moving into chapter 13, we learn that the dragon has a pair of accomplices, the beast from the sea and the beast from the earth. Now, these three, the dragon and the beast of the sea and the beast of the earth, they make up an unholy trinity, an unholy trinity that is diabolically committed to the destruction of the people of God. And this pseudo trinity reminds us of one of the main lessons we learned last time about the devil, that is he's a master counterfeiter. They say that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, but the devil doesn't imitate God from a place of admiration. He imitates God to deceive and destroy and to accrue to himself worship and admiration that belongs to God alone. He wants what belongs to the Lamb of God. Counterfeiting is the currency the devil trades in. And that's put on display in this emergence of an unholy trinity. The beast of the sea represents the devil infiltrating and manipulating the state, the civil authorities, again, with a purpose to destroy the church. And the beast of the earth, which Lord willing we'll look at next week, represents the devil infiltrating and manipulating religion to pervert the church and to promote false worship. So the beast of the sea is a picture of Antichrist, and the beast of the earth is a picture of the false prophet. And remember, this is an important thing to keep in the back of your mind. At the end of the age, scripture makes it clear that there will be an actual Antichrist, there will be an actual false prophet. But we make a grievous mistake if we fail to realize that prior to the end of the age, the spirit of the Antichrist and the spirit of the false prophet are going to be constantly waging war against us. In other words, Revelation isn't merely warning about events that will come at some future date. It's here to help God's people recognize in every age, even this one, the tactics of our enemy. and the kind of force he will exert against us." Now, the vivid imagery there in verses 1 and 2 we learned is a composite picture of the prophecy in Daniel 7. In the prophecy of Daniel, he sees four distinct creatures, a lion, a bear, a leopard, and a fourth beast that's just exceedingly terrible. And they represent four successive empires, the Babylonian Empire, the Persian Empire, the Greek Empire, and then finally the Roman Empire. And what Daniel's vision was meant to communicate is that pagan, godless nations would regularly run roughshod over the people of God. And it was to prepare the church by letting her know that she will have to, at times, endure a series of God-hating governments. It's hard for us to accept this reality because we haven't experienced that much. Not in our nation, but it's been very common throughout the history of the world. As I said last time, John's original audience would have recognized that they were living through the earthly reign of Daniel's fourth beast, the Roman Empire. And that'll be relevant in a couple weeks when we get to the number of the beast, which is 666, because we're gonna see those numbers actually correspond to the wicked Emperor Nero. But we don't want to miss it. John intentionally, intentionally provides us a composite picture of those four beasts. He doesn't separate them. And I'm convinced John does this so we don't get fixated on one nation and rather recognize the beast of the sea as representative of the persecuting power of Satan manifested in all the anti-Christian kingdoms and governments that exist throughout the church age. Keep in mind, there are two ways to know the degree to which a nation is functioning under the sway of the spirit of Antichrist. First, it'll be a government that will make it a matter of policy. to harass and persecute those who are faithful to Christ. So whenever a nation or a government establishes laws that seeks to criminalize or even disincentivize Orthodox Christians from living out their faith, dear ones, please listen to me, that is not merely political tyranny. It is that, but it's also the spirit of Antichrist and we have to recognize it as such. The reason we have to recognize it as such is because we have to know the problems we're facing, the issues we have to deal with can't be solved merely at a ballot box. We need to bring the word of God to bear. We need to be men and women who are earnest in our prayer, crying out for righteousness and justice. So first, whenever nations are doing things that make Christianity illegal or disincentivizes faithful Christianity, spirit of the Antichrist. And second, the second way we identify it is that it'll be a government that assumes for itself the prerogatives of deity. So for example, when our magistrates think they can redefine marriage, Something only God can do. Or they think they can redefine what it means to be made in the image of God who made us male and female. These aren't people who merely have a different political persuasion. This is the spirit of Antichrist. So when the government exerts its great power for tyrannical purposes that are contrary to God, or if they start making declarations that are God-like, It is demonic. This is what we're gonna pick up this morning. In our previous study, we began to look at the way the beast counterfeited the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Look there again at the first half of verse three. And I saw one of his heads, as if it had been mortally wounded, and his deadly wound was healed. Now I believe I mentioned this last time, there are some who think this is describing the Roman Empire. Because when Nero committed suicide in 68 AD, the Roman Empire was thrown into chaos. It probably seemed like the Roman Empire was dying. But a decade or so later when Domitian became emperor, It seemed as though the empire was resurrected. That's a reasonable interpretation, by the way. And to be sure, Nero was a self-exalting beast. But I think a better interpretation is that this is a picture of the dragon when he received the mortal blow to his head when Christ accomplished his saving work. Remember again, what we learned in Revelation 12, the backdrop of that chapter is really Genesis 3.15, where God promised a redeemer who would crush the head of the serpent. And that's just what happened. The devil's a defeated foe, and yet he's not going to stop pursuing God's people. Here's how Gregory Beal, one of the great scholars on the book of Revelation, puts it. Satan's wound appeared to be fatal, and indeed, it really was. Nevertheless, the devil's continued activity through his agents make it appear to John as though he's overcome the mortal blow, dealt him at Christ's death and resurrection. So the devil is going to exert his remaining power, corrupting and perverting governmental structures through the beast of the sea. And as he garners more and more civil power, The world's gonna be in awe of him. Listen again to the rest of verse three and verse four. And all the world marveled and followed the beast. So they worshiped the dragon who gave authority to the beast, and they worshiped the beast, saying, who's like the beast? Who's able to make war with him? We've talked about this a couple times. I mentioned this earlier. We have to be able to discern that this is talking about something that will happen in time and space at the consummation of the ages, but it's also something that we can expect to see unfold throughout the ages. And so one of the things this is telling us is that immediately prior to the return of Christ, there will be a single world government. And we know what it will be like, at least we have some sense of what it will be like, but that's not how the world will see it. They're not going to see a one world government as repressive. In fact, the masses will delight in the beast and all that his powers have been able to accomplish. They're going to see advances in science and technology. They're going to experience the peace that stems from having one world government. and it's gonna produce exactly what the devil wants. Worship. They'll worship his beast. But the spirit of Antichrist is pursuing that worship now. Remember, that's what the devil always wanted, right? from Isaiah 14, we're told he wanted to be exalted. He wanted his throne to be higher than God's. He wanted that worship that belonged to God. He even wanted Yahweh to bow down before him. And under the spirit of Antichrist, he gets some of that. And isn't it interesting how many tyrants and dictators and other brutal leaders almost always come on the scene like a savior, like an angel of light? That's true for most of the great tyrants and cultural bullies that have ever emerged on the world stage. They show up and they promise deliverance from some sort of horrible circumstance and the people buy it. Think of Hitler. He offered himself as a kind of Messiah after Germany had been devastated in World War I. And eventually Hitler was virtually deified and nothing less than full devotion to Hitler was accepted in Nazi Germany. I'm sure there were times when they gave the Hitler salute and Germans were on the verge of crying out, who is like Adolf? Who is able to make war with him? There were time in the mid late 1930s when it seemed like he was invincible and unstoppable and he would be the great savior of Germany. And people often ask the question, how did all those smart people follow such an evil man? It's because we don't rightly reckon with the depravity of the human heart. And the reality is, Men and women, even fallen men and women, they look around, they see the world's not right. They see there are things that are corrupted and broken and they're desperately, constantly looking for a savior. And if they don't bow the knee to the savior who lived and died and rose for his people, they will inevitably bow the knee to an anti-savior who is a counterfeit because everybody is pursuing a savior. You'll either pursue the true Savior who is gentle and lowly and merciful and kind, or you will pursue a Savior who is a tyrant and a dictator. And most of the world will pursue the tyrant and the dictator and give them just what they want, worship, worship and adoration and praise. Rick Phillips. offers the church a helpful way to think about this. He writes, whenever we're called to give unquestioned allegiance and worship to a human ruler, we should see him as the beast behind which stands Satan in his desperate bid to usurp God's throne. This is not to say that all government's evil. Paul used his Roman citizenship and was often helped by honest Roman officials. The beast is seen when government takes the place of God in our lives. Dr. Vern Poitras puts it this way. In democratic countries, listen, this is very insightful. In democratic countries, Satan wants people to look to the state as if it were Messiah. When the government is set forth as the remedy for all ills, economic, social, medical, moral, and even spiritual, and the idolatry of the state usurps the place reserved for the lamb alone." Now, it's not my intention to work this out much beyond what Dr. Poythress tells us, but this is one of the reasons Christians have historically been, in our country, big advocates for personal liberty, because the degree to which you give the state authority is the degree to which they have the right to expect your worship. And make no mistake, they will expect it. Well, the beast knows to garner this worship that he so desires, he has to crush those who worship the lamb. Listen again to verses five and six. And he, again, this is the beast of the sea, he was given a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies, and he was given authority, content to contend for 42 months. Then he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God to blaspheme his name, his tabernacle, and all those who dwell in heaven. Now you may have picked up As we're reading through Revelation 13, how often the word blaspheme is used. Back in verse 1, the beast has a blasphemous name. Verse 5, he has a mouth to speak great blasphemies. Verse 6, he opened his mouth with blasphemies to blaspheme, right? So the beast, not surprisingly, is a blaspheming machine. That is, once the beast really overtakes the civil authority, there's not going to be any subtlety in his control or his purposes. He's gonna slander God. He's gonna slander the saints, both in heaven and on earth. And he's gonna make it his purpose, his mission, to crush every vestige of Christianity and every vestige of the goodness of God's people, because they stand in the way of his worship. Now, I do have to offer a caveat here. We mustn't think, and Dr. Phillips alluded to this, we mustn't think that all governments are going to fully be under the control of the devil, certainly not all the time, right? When we read Romans 13, it tells us that the civil government, is a gift from God, right? And in fact, those who serve as civil magistrate in Romans 13 are called God's own ministers, his deacon. It's the word diaconate, right? So there's a sense in which our political leaders are meant to be civil deacons. That's God's design. And we don't want to overlook that. And one of the things that's ought to cause in us is a desire to pray for our government, as I said, to speak God's word prophetically to them, to hold their feet to the fire, because we do have that ability at this point. But a time will come when we don't, when we will simply be crushed. And we don't know what the providence of God will be. We don't know if our nation will exist another 250 years or another two years. We're called to be faithful where we are, when we are. That's now and here. So he is intent on blaspheming. Again, when you see governmental structures saying true worship is bad, That's from the devil. I have to think we were seeing a reverberation of this during the COVID issue, when churches were closed for months after months after months, and God's people didn't gather for worship, right? And why didn't they gather for worship? Because the beast, the beast said, let's keep them from worship, not something else. Well, we see in verse 7 that it is going to appear as though the beast is truly invincible. It was granted to him to make war with the saints and to overcome them. An authority was given him over every tribe, tongue, and nation. It was granted to him by whom? God. That's an important little blessing in this text, right? We understand nothing is happening outside of the providence and purposes of God. And see, that's the comfort we have as we labor and engage in some of these issues. God is powerful. God is in control. I had a conversation with a minister just not even a week ago. And I talked about trying to get him involved in going to town meetings and this kind of thing. He said, I just don't think it'll make a difference. And I said, you're a Calvinist. You're a Calvinist. Your preaching doesn't make a difference if God doesn't change their heart. You don't think God can change the king's heart? Well, one of the things we see in verse seven is this desire. this reflection of insidious hatred that the beast has for the saints. And as I said in the introduction, we can speak often about culture wars, and to be sure, often people who wear the label of culture warriors, they're dolts, right? They're just mean people who want to be mean, and they cloak it in the rubric of Christianity. But having said that, just because there are certain sinners who function to something in a certain way doesn't mean we shouldn't be engaged. And one of the things this passage keeps emphasizing is that the spirit of Antichrist is going to be pushing, and if God's people don't push back, the devil will win. God has given us the tools, the armor, the resources. He's given us prayer. He's given us a mighty sword, even the Word of God. Well, the passage begins to offer some encouragement. Sure, things are gonna be horrible. We're given this picture that the devil is eventually going to have a global movement. Every tribe, tongue, nation, But that's what Christ has, isn't it? He has got a kingdom that expands through every tribe and tongue and nation. And we're told something very powerful in verse eight. All who dwell on earth will worship him whose names have not been written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from before the foundation of the world. This is a wonderful promise because what we're being told is if you're a believer, if you've been regenerated by the power of the Spirit, the devil will not deceive you. He cannot and will not deceive you. deceive God's elect. Now, as history unfolds and has unfolded for the past 2,000 years, the reality is God's people are often persecuted. God's people have been martyred. I recently read that over 10,000 Christians were martyred in 2023. So that's going to happen. But before the foundation of the world, God wrote the name of his people in his book. And so you are secure. Think about that. As the world crumbles, it's disintegrating in immorality. Your name is written in the right book, the book that secures and promises you have an everlasting inheritance with Jesus Christ. That's remarkable, isn't it? It's a remarkable encouragement to know that before God said, let there be light, You were written down in the Book of Life. You were the object of His love, and you cannot be snatched out of His hand. You cannot be snatched by the devil. They may confuse and adapt multitudes of people to their evil ways, but not one elect will be among that number. Right? Because as Paul says in Romans 8, nothing can separate us from the love of God that's in Christ Jesus. And then finally, I'm going to skip to verse 10. There's a wonderful encouragement here. He who leads into captivity shall go into captivity. He who kills with the sword must be killed with the sword. Here's the patience and the faith of the saints. Now, there are some who believe this is talking about persecution, but this is actually a quote from Jeremiah 23, and that's not what it's talking about. What this is telling us is that the devil's minions who function as the spirit of Antichrist Those who would lead God's people into captivity, ultimately, they will be the ones led into captivity. Those who are killing God's people with the sword, they will be destroyed with the sword. And you see, here's the encouragement we have for perseverance. Here's the patience and faith of the saints, that in the end, Christ is going to win. That's precisely why the beast of the sea and the dragon are so fierce. They know their time is short. And I simply want you to have this truth fixed in your mind. The elect will not be deceived because greater is he who is in you than he who is in the world. So we can look at a world that's spiraling out of control and have confidence that God has us. We have gospel promises and we will be with him. We will be the victors. Amen. Let's pray. Father, we thank you and bless you for your word, even words that are difficult and can be hard to take in. And we're thankful that even when we read about devastation at the hand of the evil one, we are surely secure. And you will not let a single one of us go. Our names are written in the Lamb's Book of Life and they'll never be erased. And we pray that that gives us the kind of holy confidence we need to be valiant for Jesus Christ, in whose name we pray. Amen. Well, brothers and sisters, as we prepare to come to the Lord's table, as you know, the invitation to come to The table is extended to all those who are trusting in Jesus Christ alone for their salvation. Those who know Christ has offered a once-for-all sacrifice on their behalf, and you're trusting in that sacrifice as your only hope for salvation, not your merits. but the merits of Christ. If that describes you and you're a member in good standing of a Bible-believing evangelical church, then please do come and feast with and upon the Lord. Now, what I'm doing right now is I'm fencing the table. That's what the Reformed called this. And it's important to understand, we are not fencing the table to protect the table for Christ. We're fencing the table to protect you from Christ. not to come and take this covenant meal unworthy. It is for those who believe and for those who are walking in that cycle of repentance and faith. If that describes you, then please do enjoy this wonderful communion. Now, as we come to the table, we also confess what we believe using the Apostles' Creed. You can find that in the back of your hymnal on page 851. And this is simply you saying you believe the core tenets of biblical Christianity. Page 851, Dear Christian, what do you believe? I believe in God the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth. I believe in Jesus Christ. who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried. He descended into hell. The third day he rose again from the dead. He ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty. From there he shall come to judge the living and the dead. I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Holy Catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen. Let me ask you to give your attention to the reading of God's word. I'm going to read Hosea 2. verses 16 through 20. Then skip ahead and read from Revelation 19 verses 6 through 9. Then I have a meditation from Reverend Howard Griffith. But first hear God's Word. Hosea 2, verse 16, and it shall be in that day, says the Lord, that you will call me my husband and no longer call me my master. For I will take from her mouth the names of the Baals, and they shall be remembered by their name no more. In that day I'll make a covenant for them with the beasts of the field, with the birds of the air, and with the creeping things of the ground. Bow and sword of battle I'll shatter from the earth to make them lie down safely. Yes, I'll betroth you to me forever. Yes, I'll betroth you to me in righteousness and justice, in loving kindness and mercy. I'll betroth you to me in faithfulness, and you shall know the Lord." Then Revelation 19. And I heard, as it were, the voice of a great multitude, as the sound of many waters, and as the sound of mighty thunderings, saying, Hallelujah, for the Lord God omnipotent reigns. Let us be glad and rejoice and give Him glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready. And to her it was granted to be arrayed in fine linen, clean and bright, for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints. Then he said to me, Right, blessed are those who are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he said to me, These are the true sayings of God. I'm going to read this meditation. You can follow along in your bulletin or simply listen. On the last day, when God's judgment is complete, the great throng of the saints will raise their voices in glorious praise. John heard the sound like the roar of many waters and like the sound of mighty peals of thunder. Their combined voices make such a great sound. They press each other to be exceedingly glad because God has finished His work of judgment. Now the full realization of His covenant has come. The marriage of the Lamb has come. God has removed Babylon from the earth. The bride has made herself ready. God granted that we should be clothed with fine linen. God will reward the perseverance of His people with fine linen, bright and pure. These are the saints' righteous deeds. Of course, from the beginning to the end of God's plan, all these are His gracious gifts. They're the good works for which He has created them. This wonderful clothing shows the beauty of Christ our Savior. Those who receive the white robes are the same ones who, early in Revelation, have washed in the blood of the Lamb. Christ's blood brought forgiveness and the power of the Spirit to overcome temptation at last. On the last day, we will have the joy of the bride. God will reward us and we will rejoice in that reward without boasting or self-assertion, something we struggle with today. At the center of all will be Christ, the lamb, who purchased us with his blood. Every bit of it is the fruit of his free grace. We will all rejoice together, but their clothes cannot be considered white until each member has completed the process of perseverance. For now, we must strive against the world, the flesh, and the devil. But there is more. We're called the bride of the Lamb. The personal tender picture is that of the happiness of bride and bridegroom. God's promise to Hosea will finally be fulfilled. I will betroth you to me forever. I'll betroth you to me in righteousness and in justice, in steadfast love and in mercy. I'll betroth you to me in faithfulness and you shall know the Lord. All our waiting will be over. The delight of our hearts, now separated from us because He's in heavenly glory, will have come to receive us to Himself. You have yearned for that moment. It'll come soon. And from that moment on, you will know only more and more of the love of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. This is the blessing that God has in store for the whole church. Our great prize will be that we reflect the very glory of Christ. We will be the bride adorned for her husband, having the glory of God. Beloved, you will soon gather at that feast. Today, eat this bread. and drink this cup as a foretaste of that joyful, blessed meal. Receive Christ again, who is your strength to continue the battle. Jesus Christ overcame. He'll fight for you and enable you to overcome. Soon you will sing with a voice like mighty peals of thunder, hallelujah, for the Lord our God the Almighty reigns. Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb. These are the true words of God. Let's pray. Father, we thank you that you have given us this covenant meal. We are thankful that We take the bread and the cup and it reminds us of all that Christ has done for us. That he gave his body and shed his blood for our sins but it does indeed also hold out the promise that you will return for us. That even now you are preparing a glorious place for us and you will come back and you will take your bride to yourself. and we will feast at that glorious marriage feast of the lamb. And that will be the first taste of everlasting glory and everlasting joy with you. As we take this cup and we take this bread this morning, confirm our faith, give us confidence that that's our destiny, that we will be with you at that great banquet we ask in Jesus' name, amen.