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Amen. Now, if you would uh turn with me in your scriptures to Revelation 19 as we complete our uh discussion of table fellowship, we're going to talk about the the ultimate
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uh agape feast, the marriage supper of the lamb. But um revelation is not a book for re
0:30
refrigerator magnet refrigerator magnet texts although it is it is used that way. It is absolutely uh not that is not a good hermeneutic. Revelation is a is an apocalyptic
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writing uh which means it it very graphic and word pictures and it sets a a full mural uh of of graphic visual writing into
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which each part must be set and kept. And so I want to start in Revelation 19 um a little bit earlier and um let's see which verse
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Well, we'll start in in verse one. Um, the title of over the paragraph in in my Bible is the four-fold Hallelujah. After these things, I heard as it were a loud voice of a great
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multitude in heaven, saying, "Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power belong to our God, because his judgments are true and righteous, for he has judged the great harlot who was
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corrupting the earth with her immorality, and he has avenged the blood of his bondervants on her." And a second time they said, "Hallelujah! Her smoke rises up forever
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and ever." And the 24 elders and the four living creatures fell down and worshiped God who sits on the throne, saying, "Amen. saying, "Amen. Hallelujah." And a voice came from the
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throne, saying, "Give praise to our God, all you his bondervants, you who fear him, the small and the great." And I heard as it were the voice of a great
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multitude and as the sound of many waters and as the sound of mighty peels of thunder saying, "Hallelujah, for the Lord our God, the Almighty reigns." The
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four-fold hallelujah. The first two being the hosts of heaven. Again, this is the imagery um that that requires a kind of a thorough reading and rereading of
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Revelation and and um painting the the the the grand mural of the book before really trying to understand the
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individual parts. But you have the hosts of heaven uh which are probably the angelic hosts which we know from the from revelation and from other scripture are themselves
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are themselves um stratified into different hierarchies of angelic of angelic beings. Then the 24 elders and the four living creatures which of course come from earlier um but also from Daniel and
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you know other places they they chime in with their hallelujah. And then finally, the the multitude that could not be count, the sound of many waters, the peels of thunder. These are the
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redeemed. These are those who fear God. Uh these are believers and they join in with the hallelujah, the Lord our God, the almighty reigns.
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Um then immediately after that and again I think this is uh you know just kind of a very uh surface presentation of this but I think
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the four-fold hallelujah are kind of the dinner bell because immediately afterward we read let us rejoice and be glad and give glory to him for the marriage of the
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lamb has come and his bride has made herself ready and it was given to clothe herself. She was given to clothe herself in fine linen, bright and clean. For the fine linen is the
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righteous acts of the saints. And he said to me, write, blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he said to
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me, these are true words of God. Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb. So again, this is this is the ultimate
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table fellowship. Um, and this is the the meal as it were. And if you if you want to take it literally, that there's going to be a grand feast. I mean, that that certainly
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wouldn't offend me. Um, I I do think it's it is more metaphorical that the entire new creation is going to be like a feast.
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Um, but I don't think we'll be sitting at the table all the time. I mean, I think that there's there's more to it than that. It really represents the
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culmination of culmination of salvation. That that word is is a fluid word. We we tend to think um that saved
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is just kind of a point act in time when you were saved. Um, but biblically the word salvation. We're saved. We're being saved. We will be saved. And this
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picture of the marriage supper of the lamb is is really, as I said, the culmination of that. It's it's like the the epitome, the apex of the mountain of salvation. Uh, it is it is filled with
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hallelujah and with joy, with blessing. So the question I want to discuss today is you know it says blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper
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invited? Well for that I want to turn back to Matthew to a couple passages in Matthew. Matthew 8, the first first passage, if you want to turn with me,
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8, because um this is a this is a very important question. It's it's kind of parallel to the question in the Psalms, who may ascend your holy hill. But this this
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whole idea throughout uh the history of human religion is basically uh who's going to make it and who isn't. You
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know, even even the the Norse um belief that that if that if a warrior dies with his sword in his hand, he will be transported to Valhalla, but otherwise
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he will roam the the underworld without any any battles, without any honor, without any glory. You know, there's always this idea, who's in, who's out, how do I get in, how do they stay out?
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Because it's usually an us versus they type of situation. And and so the questions who who may ascend your holy hill or who are invited to the marriage
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supper of the lamb that those those questions are usually uh phrased in a surprisingly what not exclusive
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way. In other words, the general answer is not who you think. You know, it's it's not necessarily a description exactly of
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those who will, certainly not by name. There's no nationality that, okay, you're a Jew, therefore you're going to the supper. It's usually phrased, you know, only those whose hands are pure,
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you know, whose whose heart is pure. Well, that that cuts out a whole lot of people. uh a and normally as we see in Matthew 8 the answer to the question who
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are invited is is somewhat shocking to those who have assumed that they are in and others are out. Um Matthew 8 um
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starting in verse 10 um find that now when Jesus heard this he marveled. Now, okay, the back backstory. Uh, this is the faith of the
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centurion. Uh, whose servant was very very ill on the point of death. And Jesus said, "I will come and heal him." And the man says, "No, you don't need to come. Uh, I too am a man under
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authority. I say go and they go. I say come and they come. All you need to do is say the word." And Jesus marvels. And um he says, "Now when Jesus heard this,
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he marveled and said to those who were following, truly truly I say to you, I have not found such great faith with anyone in Israel. And I say to you that
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many shall come from east and west and recline at the table with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. But the sons of the kingdom
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shall be cast out into the outer darkness. In that place there shall be weeping and nashing of teeth. So they will sit down at the
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table with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob. Again, you don't necessarily have to connect the two. And if you're dispensationalist, you won't connect the two because this is a completely
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different this is for Jews. And the marriage supper of the lamb is for Gentiles. That's that's the church. Um that's not what the Bible teaches. These
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are in fact the same table. Uh because it talks about the kingdom of heaven. This is this is the the Lord in his consumative glory with gathering all
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um he makes a very surprising statement and it's very hard for us being Gentiles 2,000 years removed from the setting to realize how radical the things Jesus said. We're going to be looking, Lord
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willing, on Thursday night about just how astonishing it would have been to hear someone say, "If you do not eat my flesh and drink my
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blood, you have no part of me. Drink your blood." That was a capital offense in Judaism. So, he said things that were
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just completely uh overturning the sensibilities of those who heard him. and and this this is one of them says many will come from east and west. Now
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that that that's not the diaspora that that that's kind of a a phrase because he's doing it in reference to a gentile centurion and this man's amazing faith
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which was greater than any had found in Israel. And so in the context he's he's basically saying there a whole lot of people that are going to be at the feast and sit down with the patriarchs and you're not. the sons of
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um the implication of what he says in again in context in relationship to the centurion, many in the world will sit down with the patriarchs at the table in the kingdom of heaven and you will not. So many
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not. Now the context also hinges on faith. The faith that the centurion displayed was was implicit. he had a better understanding of who this man was and who uh in whose authority this man
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operated than most of Israel. Um and and Jesus marveled at it that it was it was so great. so great. So I think clearly the idea of of faith
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of believing um is prerequisite to attending the attending the marriage supper of the lamb or sitting at the table with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob or being grafted in as Paul would
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put it in um in Romans. Then in Matthew 22, we have a parable that is of the same um genre as
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as what we're talking about here. Again, I I do want to say from a hermeneutical point of view, not everybody agrees that you can take these different passages
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and equate them. There there is a hermeneutic that again it's mostly associated with fundamentalism and that is aligned with
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dispensationalism that will not allow uh cross fertilization of metaphors that whenever the scripture speaks of something in a certain way
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that you must take it as an independent uh testimony of of biblical truth. And the only times that you can cross-fertilize is for example when the
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same term is used like levan. Okay. Um and and so and then then then then you get into problems too because um sometimes levan is bad and sometimes
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levan is good and and so you don't you don't really know what to do with that. I I don't want to I just I don't want to make it or take it for granted that everybody accepts the idea that what
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what is referred to in Matthew 8 is the same as Matthew 22 is the same as Revelation 19. That's the view I'm taking, but I I lay that out there u in
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case you uh you disagree. But Matthew 22 uh the first 10 verses are a parable. And Jesus answered and spoke to them, saying in par again in parables,
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saying, "The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a wedding feast for his son." Now, that that's a pretty good illusion to the marriage
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supper of the lamb. Okay, I think that's a that's a fair connection. Um, and he sent out his slaves to call those who had been invited to the wedding feast,
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and they were unwilling to come. Again, that that is a reference to the sons of the kingdom. Again, I think again, I think the connections, yeah, the metaphor is
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different. This is a parable. Um, but you you really can't weave together scripture as a whole. If you treat every thread as an independ independent spool,
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you know, you you've got to stand back and say, "Oh, the wedding feast for his son. Oh, marriage supper of the lamb." Okay. The those who were invited, which are clearly the the Jews,
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they were unwilling to come. And he sent out other slaves, saying, "Tell those who have been invited, behold, I have prepared my dinner. My oxen and my fattened
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livestock are still are all butchered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding feast." But they paid no attention and went their way. one to his own farm, another to his business, and
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the rest seized his slaves and mistreated them and killed them. This would be the prophets. And then, of course, later the apostles and evangelists and the martyrs of the
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church. They killed them. But the king was enraged and sent his armies and destroyed those murderers and set fire on their city.
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Then he said to his slaves, "The wedding is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy. Go therefore to the main highways, and as many as you find there,
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invite to the wedding feast." And those slaves went out into the streets and gathered together all they found, both evil and good. And the wedding hall was
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filled with dinner guests. Now, I'm not going to go on because it's gets a little bit confusing um because just in summary, there was there were those there who weren't dressed properly um and they were cast out into the house.
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So, there's there's a mixture of of gathering, but then there's also winnowing that's going on. The the point I want to show here though is there's first a separation. Those who expected,
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those who were invited proved to be unworthy. In fact, they proved not even willing to attend. certainly not wanting to attend and and so they're destroyed.
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And I think that may be an illusion to AD.70 where the the the ultimate destruction of Jerus of Israel was manifested by the Roman armies. Now,
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that doesn't mean the Romans were the king. No, it's not. They were instruments of God's hands every bit as much as the Babylonians and the Assyrians were in the past. But the the
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um the wedding feast is going to go on. Okay, that that's kind of the point is that though those who are not worthy, so in Matthew 22
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Now how did they prove unworthy? Well, they proved unworthy because unwilling. They were unworthy because the cares of of their life, their farm, their business um and but also their
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their enmity toward the king seizing his slaves and killing them. They had nothing against the slaves personally. Their enmity, their their um their anger
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and their homicidal uh psychosis was against the king himself. So they were unworthy, because
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who expected were not evable if you get into the parable and you don't want to overthink a parable but uh when you get into the parable and you think about the the farmer the
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businessman um c certainly those who seized the slaves and and killed them should have expected retribution from the king. What about the others? I I'm just I'm too
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busy. I'll I'll catch the next one. You know, I don't know that they were that they were necessarily consciously rebellious as they were subconsciously
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ignorant and just um the the situation the cares of this world choked out the the fruit of the seed that was sewn. Um and and so you have you have different
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classes of unbelief in the world. You have active malicious unbelief that seeks to do harm to God's kingdom and to his people. But I think you also have
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and maybe this is the larger number. You have corn you have a passive apathy. It just can't be bothered. I I have I have I have things to do. I have responsibilities. Uh I don't have time
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for that. Uh my my my deadlines coming up and I need to get my work done and so I I don't have time for church. I don't have time for fellowship. Tim
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Oh, Ariel, sorry. Seems to understand to understand authority that Jesus didn't find the
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Yeah, I think we could and I appreciate that comment. Um I don't know exactly when we'll get to Romans 13, but we're Lord willing next week we'll start again that journey. Um but you know Christians
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really need to think about this idea of the the the chain of authority and by whose authority things are being done um in in the world. Tim and then Abigail
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ide that that moves that's moving along where I'm going. Um because what I want to get to today is the and leave you with is the idea that that this uh this call to attend the feast has already
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gone out. That again, one of the one of the most detrimental errors of dispensationalism is to think that that call is not going to go out until the
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tribulation or the millennium. No, it's been going out for 2,000 years. And if we understand that that the the king's destruction of the unworthy
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um people was already took place and we realize that the the call is going out. You you can't wait until I mean
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it's the again the parable of the of the 10 virgins. you you can't wait until the last moment or or think, you know, I I'll have time for that when I'm retired or um as as many people do, young
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people, they really don't start attending church until they have children. Like like this is something that that's good for children, but it's I don't I'm just too busy for it on my own. Um the call is has already gone out
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and is going out. uh and and his servants are still being seized and murdered, you know, and so um you know, you think of someone like Octave who
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who's in a very dangerous place in Turkey. In fact, he can't even live in Turkey. He lives in Georgia and then drives into Turkey. Um but but um his his life is in danger all the time.
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optional, right? That's a that's a good point. Yeah.
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right? It's not uh RSVP2 or um you know see my registry at uh that's not how it goes. says this is an imperative because it comes from the king and I it always reminds me of the way my father assigned
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a duty to me. He would always said would you please do such and such and I never thought to say
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no. I I knew that that invitation was an imperative. That request was a command, but it was just done in a in a very gentile manner that would go away quickly if I were to refuse the invitation. Aaron and then Ariel. The
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insult is personal. It is not to lose the serious authority behind it. The insult is personal. This is a matter of
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personal rejoicing to the king to be show up to your own father's birthday. That's you're saying
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something, right? At least an apathy, if not an antipathy. Yeah. And I think the apathy and antip antipathy are both uh manifestations of
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also is that the near fulfillment proving the prophecy to be true? Yeah, I think so. If they're still killing his servants, there will be another there'll be another burning of those people. Yeah, that's the judgment. Um,
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definitely. And and I think there are other intermediates. I mean, I don't think that God is is no longer active in the world. I I do think that um that he is still sovereign as he has always been
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and the affairs of man as Paul says at on the Aropagus in in Athens. You know, he says it's God who appoints the the times and the boundaries of of all mankind. I think he is still he's still
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very much in charge of elections and wars and and those types of things. And I and I I don't think we can necessarily uh read his providence that way. I don't think we should and say this or that was
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clearly a judgment of God, but I think he's still doing that. But ultimately, I think there was the the initial the 8070 uh which a number of places in the
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gospels Jesus alludes to that judgment and but I think the mistake that many in in evangelicalism make is to say that was it. No, no, no. That's just that's
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just the one that says everything else is going to come to pass. James
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Yes, the widowing is there there are many. He says this phrase evil and good. And when we read that we think, well, what do you mean evil? There's no evil people in the kingdom. How do how do you get in the wedding feast if you're evil?
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Um actually to for a Jew um that would more mean Gentiles and Jews. Okay. uh as Paul says in Galatians, we looked at last week and he says to Peter, you
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know, we are not sinners from the Gentiles. Um so there was there was an idea that anyone outside of Israel was already evil. So what he's saying here
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is they're going to bring in it's going to be that broad drag net of the other parable. But anyone who's not clothed in the proper attire, which again Paul will
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explain to us later is the clothing of Christ himself, the righteousness of God in Christ. If if you're not if you're not you don't show up in Christ. And maybe this will capture
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religious people. You know, again, they certainly think they're getting in. Um but you know, you're not going to fool the Lord. He he can tell a a sheep from
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a goat. He can tell a wolf in sheep's clothing. And he can certainly recognize someone who is not clothed in him. And as he goes through the the the feast,
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anyone who who is there, and I think maybe this is the winnowing of the of the outward church, um again, we're talking about people, again, I guess this is the point. We're talking about people who expect to be
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there who aren't going to be there. And those in these parables, those who are there, possibly never expected to be there. You were once not a people, but
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now you are the people of God. You were once not shown mercy, but now you have been shown mercy. Okay, this unexpected surprise of who's actually going to be
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there and those who think they are and and aren't. And I think this continues throughout times to to go back to what Ariel said. I think this is entirely
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prophetic and it is ultimately prophetic. Uh and ultimate prophecies don't necessarily wait dormant until the
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moment of fulfillment. that they're active. They're constantly being fulfilled. And then at a point in time, the consummation of the ages, they will be fulfilled. I think in every
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generation, this is happening because as the writer of Hebrews says, it is appointed to man once to die and then the judgment. I don't there's no hope after death. And so, the invitation is
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for this life. Today, when you hear his voice, do not harden your heart. Okay? today when you hear the invitation don't think well I'm I'm too busy um you know
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as as the the rich man tonight your life will be required of you so is the gospel going out compelling people like the gospel is going out you're going to be
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there you are you are very heard of Jesus Christ the gospel is going out compelling these people in but when you come through the door you have
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to Jesus Christ. And if you refuse him for whatever reason, you're inside that gospel created. Yes. And yet
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the judgement is going to be what are you wearing? Yeah. And the judgment begins at the household of the Lord. And those are the ones that there will be those in the church who have who have
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voiced a profession. Simon Magis for example was baptized. Um but they are not regenerate. they they will not bear fruit. Uh they are simply there and there are many who who are there because
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of it's their familial heritage. Um they're they were born and raised Presbyterian. So you know and and so they're they're self assured. Um but in
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the Armenian the Armenian system every service ends with an invitation. The apostles didn't know what an invitation was. It was an imperative. Peter, Paul,
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Peter of the day of Pentecost, Paul in in in Athens, um God has now appointed a time where all men everywhere are to repent. Repent is not an invitation,
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it's a command. So again, it's like my father asking me to do something. It was an invitation to serve that I very much knew was a command and that I should not
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turn down. Um, and and that's just a a very poor analogy, but we we've gotten into this mindset that we're inviting people, you know, uh, choose Christ. And
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there's kind of nami pami, it's up to you idea that that you you can choose when in fact it is a it's an imperative, Ariel, then well, I guess
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trying to clarify what I'm saying. I guess I'm not talking about those who are in the church and maybe actually everyone exposed to the gospel. Oh yeah.
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That's compelled. That's compelled. Yeah. Maybe against their will. They may never act. They may never believe. They may never think they're in. But they've
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heard the gospel and the power of the gospel is bringing them inside this. But if they don't believe, they're not
32:53
putting on the garment that I I would say that that if you hear the gospel, let's let's say you you hear the gospel once and then that's it. You you
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you reject it and go on your way. I don't I wouldn't think you're you're in the feast. I think that's where I went with your what you were saying is that those who continue to expose themselves
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to the preaching and teaching of the gospel and of God's word, they are those who have come into that that walled off area that that banquet room as it
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were when in the judgment when the king comes through the banquet room, he's going to winnow that crowd and those who are not dressed in the robes of righteousness in Jesus Christ will be cast out into outer
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darkness. Uh so when there is I think uh as as Jesus indicated to Capernaum and to Bethada and to Chazin, you know, he
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said if I had gone to Sodom and Gomorrah, if I had gone to Nineveh, they would have would have repented. But one greater than than Jonah is here, you know, one greater
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than than Abraham, one greater than those who spoke to those places is here. And so in the judgment, those towns are going to rise up. Just think about this.
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Sodom is going to rise up in judgment of you. I mean, Sodom is a is a is a metaphor of wickedness. And and so I think that that those who have heard the
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gospel, which is now most of the western world at least, will be head to held to a much higher judgment of condemnation than those throughout the the millennia
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and even in the world today who have not even heard of Jesus Christ. And there are still people in the world today who've have never heard the gospel.
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Certainly, it's a much smaller number than was in in in the first century. Um, but yeah, the gospel is a an imperative, not just an invitation. It's a command
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to respond and to join the feast to honor the king and his son. Aaron, we're going to spend a little time fleshing this out in the coming weeks. But what
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makes all the difference in it being an imperative is a willing heart. And for a willing heart, the imperative is a privilege. ask something of me, I'm
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110. He will make his people willing in the day of his power. So, this is not coercion. This is what the Armenian argues against the the idea of of election is that God drags people
35:41
kicking and screaming into heaven. Um, well, if if that's what it would take, I'd be okay with that. You know, think about it. If you know, if you're being
35:51
drugged kicking and screaming from from in front of a of a of a speeding 18 wheeler, that that's a good thing. But that isn't even the case because he
36:01
makes his people willing in the day of his power. That's regeneration. And so the invitation, the imperative becomes an invitation. And and we we think of it of an invitation because it says,
36:12
"Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the lamb." We we are blessed but we understand that that blessing was not coming from our own willingness but rather from the regenerative power of God in the gospel.
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But then there is there are also the the other plots of seed some that spring up and and and rejoice in the gospel but they have no root and when things get hot or uh other weeds that or the birds
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you know the only one of those four plots bore fruit which means only one of them from a farmer's perspective and there are many people who want to want to say all plots but the ones that the
36:50
birds ate all of the others were saved some were carnal Christians some were true you know spiritual Christians, think of it from a farmer's perspective. He's not just concerned
37:01
with the seed germinating and creating a plant. Oh, look at so pretty and green. If it doesn't bear fruit, it's a complete waste, isn't it? It's a loss
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and sometimes a tragic and traumatic loss. So from a perspective of agriculture, only one plot was
37:26
fruited. Well, yes. Yes, it was it was a hypocrite in that sense. And it's also, you know, the other seed might have been eaten by pigeons, which we will then eat on our
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table, you know. So, at least it fattened up the I there it is worse for those who spring up and look good, look like they're going to bear fruit and
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then don't who who's for whom the the message doesn't even take root. Uh that's that's uh I think that is absolutely right. But let's let's quickly go on to the practical application of this. Um and
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what? What will be the seating arrangements in the in the kingdom at the table? the table? You know state dinners they have a particular seating arrangement and the lord himself uh says that when you know
38:23
when you come to before the king don't don't sit yourself way up front sit sit down lower so that you know if if you are certainly more worthy then you will
38:33
be honored by the king say no no no come come up here and sit by me rather than saying to much humiliation what are you doing there get get down to your place
38:44
you know so there even in scripture there's this idea of of uh of seating arrangement and and I think we all maybe subliminally some more consciously uh
38:54
more boldly will talk about this but let's let's let's look at it this way. Are we going to be seated by
39:08
denomination? Well, if so, Baptist will be up front because the Lord says those who are least will be greatest. Okay. But that is not how it's it's visioned. If you were to look at a a
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denominational, especially in Western Christianity, a denominational seating chart, okay, we'd be looking up a table first at the Presbyterians and then at the Anglicans and Episcopalians, right?
39:29
Until we finally saw the Lord seated at the head of the table. That that's how there is that sort of mental hierarchy within Christianity. Now, we all know that's completely bogus that it's it's
39:41
not going to go that way. We're not going to be seated by denomination. But it also means that we're not going to be seated around the people with whom we are most comfortable in this life. Okay.
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So, are we going to be seated by um by ethnicity, skin color, or sex? And I guess what I'm saying
40:09
here, will the table look like most of our churches look today? I don't think so. I think once again our expectation is going to be blown away.
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In fact, I think there will be um hopefully not in a small congregation like ours, but as we drive to church, we pass um one very large church, a campus,
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um and you know, just all these different buildings and there's probably 10,000 people that that can that claim to be members of the church. I don't know if it's quite that high, but still
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a lot of people. And I guess they're all kind of expecting that that in the kingdom at the table they'll they'll all have their place together.
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To answer this question, do we need to look that passage where someone
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Well, I think that will definitely enter into it. Yes. Uh that's a good comment. Yeah. Right. Yeah. Right. Yep. Yep. Uh that that's a good word,
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bunote. Um that that that hopefully we'll we'll at least make it to the smoking section. Um I I do think that the judgment is going to be a surprise
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for all of us in some way. In some it'll be a very negative surprise in that they will be found to be not properly attired and they will be
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cast out. In others, it will be a a somewhat negative surprise in that all of their works will be burned up and the righteous clothes of the saints are
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their righteous deeds. Revelation 19. So they will find that the works that they did were wood, hay, and stubble. They themselves will be saved. So in a sense,
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they'll still be blessed because they'll still be there. Um, and it's it's like David says, I I would I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of the Lord than to dwell in
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the palaces of the mighty. I mean, give me the lowest possible job in the kingdom of heaven is better than the greatest in the world. So, there'll still be that blessing, but then there'll be others who will be like uh
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the the sheep who say, "Lord, when when did we feed you? When when did we give you water?" You know, when did we minister to you? And he says, "When you did it unto the least of these, my
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brethren, you did it unto me." They'll be surprised because they're they're sitting up near the head of the table. And they thought during life they had no contribution, you know, they never
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published anything. They never gave any lectures. They never they weren't pope or they didn't do it, you know, all and and yet they're going to they're going to find themselves highly honored because their faith was great. Okay. And
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so, yeah, I think that judgment is going to be the winnowing. I do think you can connect these things. The winnowing is is part of that judgment where we all stand before the seat of Christ. Um I
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think we know we're not going to be, you know, but I also I want to throw in one last thing that that I hope doesn't offend over
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incredibly Godestablished important institution. Family is our stability. It is our um framework of processing the world. It is
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the way God has ordained us to come into the world to grow and to develop but also to maintain a a a structure of stability that helps us withstand the
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world. And when the family is believing that's all to the better. But I will say that stability can also turn into
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stagnation. And when we in all these three and and there are more. When we consciously maintain our comfort zone here, when we refuse to go outside our
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comfort zone comfort zone here, I think we're going to experience the most discomfort there. Does that make sense? I'm not saying we're going to
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lose our salvation, you know. Now, I'm not saying we're going to be cast out into outer darkness where there's weeping and nashing of teeth. That's not what I'm saying. What I'm saying is there going to be a lot of people who
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are going to be surprised in one way or another as to how things shake out. And I think there's a sense at which when we sit down, I don't think we're going to sit down by reformed Baptists this
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section, Presbyterians over there. I don't think that's at all the way the feast is going to look. I also don't think I don't even know that we will
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have skin color in the kingdom. I personally think we will. But actually, I think that if we don't, then according to the principle of scripture, we'll all
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be black, but we won't all be white because that's what everybody down here thinks we should be, or at least everybody in our realm. Okay? It's not going to be that way. It's going to be overturned.
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It's going to be completely different. I also think I mean Jesus makes the comment in in in the kingdom there's neither marrying or giving giving in marriage. Um I'm not saying that
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husbands shouldn't sit with wives or families shouldn't sit together at the fellowship lunchon. I'm just saying these are things we're comfortable with. This is what the church looks like today. We are we are entirely white. Now
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I'm not saying that there's any way of going out and highways and byways and compelling blacks and Hispanics to and Asians to come in. I'm not advocating that. But I am saying that as we look at
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the world, we ought to look at it through the lens of the marriage supper of the lamb. That's Christ's body and
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that's who we will be sitting with and eating with and having coineia with in the new earth. If we're not preparing for that now, even just with our
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attitudes and our and our prejudices and our judgments, we're not going to be ready for it then, and it's going to be a major shock. Well, let's close in
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prayer. Father, we do ask that you would continue to teach us with your word and to and to challenge us and to rebuke us, to reprove us, to train us in righteousness that we might indeed bear
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fruit. We pray that you would help us by your Holy Spirit to challenge our own comfort zones to receive others who are
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in Christ but are not in our socioeconomic or ethnic or national group knowing that all who are in Christ
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are brothers and sisters and those who are in Christ are blessed because they have been invited to the marriage supper of the lamb. Father, we pray that your church might
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mirror that supper even even to a small extent here on earth that we might be better prepared for it when it comes in your second coming. We ask for your
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glory to be manifested on the earth as the waters cover the sea. And we ask it be done through the church by the Holy Spirit. And in the name of Jesus Christ,
