Heaven's Hallelujah Chorus! - Part 1

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Today we come to Revelation 19. Last week we surveyed chapters 4 through 18, which detail the events of the tribulation. I wanted to survey it, to bring all of us up to speed on Sunday morning with what we have been studying over the last two years on Sunday night. But this morning, we begin on the Lord's Day (morning) to study together the book of Revelation, and we begin where we left off on Sunday night, and that is with chapter 19, and specifically chapters 19 through 22, which speak of the last things. 

Here is a structure of the rest of this book. Chapter 19 speaks of the second coming as well as the defeat of antichrist at Armageddon. Chapter 20 is the binding of Satan, the millennial kingdom: Our Lord reigns on this earth for a thousand years, then Satan is temporarily loosed, and his final defeat, and chapter 20 finishes with the last judgment, that is, the great white throne judgment of all unbelievers of all time. Chapters 21 and 22 introduce us to the new heavens and the new earth. That's where we're headed. But the first ten verses of chapter 19 introduce us to these last things. Let's read it together, Revelation 19:1-10: 

After these things, I heard something like a loud voice of a great 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 corrupting the earth with her immorality, and He has avenged the blood of His bond-servants on her." And a second time they said, "Hallelujah! Her smoke rises up forever and ever." And the twenty-four elders and the four living creatures fell down and worshiped God who sits on the throne saying, "Amen. Hallelujah!" And a voice came from the throne, saying,

"Give praise to our God, all you His bondservants, you who fear Him, the small and the great." Then I heard something like the voice of a great multitude and like the sound of many waters and like the sound of mighty peals of thunder, saying, 

"Hallelujah! For the Lord our God, the Almighty, reigns. Let us rejoice and be glad and give glory to Him, for the marriage of the Lamb has come and His bride has made herself ready." It was given to her to clothe herself in fine linen, bright and clean; for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints. 

Then he said to me, "Write, 'Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.'" And he said to me, "These are true words of God." Then I fell at his feet to worship him. But he said to me, "Do not do that; I am a fellow servant of yours and your brethren who hold the testimony of Jesus; worship God. For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy."

These verses tell us that at the end of the tribulation, just before Christ returns, all heaven will suddenly erupt in deafening, unrestrained praise of Almighty God. Verse 1 tells us when this will happen, notice, "after these things." These things refers back to the detailed destruction of Babylon, recorded in chapter 18. Just to remind you, Babylon will be the world's last great empire and its greatest empire, ruled over by a ruthless dictator the Bible refers to as antichrist. It will be, as well, a vast religious, political and commercial system that will stand opposed to God. And Babylon also represents the capital city of that great empire. In chapter 18, God announces the coming destruction of Babylon, and the entire world mourns, but heaven rejoices. In fact, the verses we just read is really heaven's response to an angel's call for praise over Babylon's destruction. Back in 18:20, look at it, the angel says, "'Rejoice over her, O heaven, and you saints and apostles and prophets, because God has pronounced judgment for you against her.'" So, when God announces the destruction of the world's greatest and last empire, earth will mourn. But earth's lamentation will be followed by heaven's celebration. 

There are four hallelujahs in these verses. You saw them as I read. There's one in verse 1, then in verse 3, verse 4, and verse 6. These four hallelujahs will end up expressing for us four great reasons for heaven's praise. And they're the reasons that you and I should offer our praise to God as well. Let's look at them together. The first reason for heaven's praise, and for ours, is that divine justice is finally done. He begins in verse 1 by telling us the source of this praise. Notice verse 1, "After these things I heard something like a loud voice of a great multitude in heaven." A similar phrase to that occurs throughout the book of Revelation, describing the powerful voice of an angel. And since the redeemed join in later in this song, down in verse 4, it's likely that this does mean an angel. But it's not just one angel. Notice verse 3 says, "[And] a second time they said"; this is rather the angels of heaven. 

Scripture doesn't tell us exactly how many angels there are, but we do know that, just a few chapters before, 200 million demons invade the earth. Scripture tells us a third of the demons fell. So just doing the math, we know that there are at least 400 million holy angels. Hundreds of millions of angels will join their mighty voice in this one magnificent, awe-inspiring song. And John says what he heard, notice, was "something like a loud voice of a great multitude." So, it's like one voice, hundreds of millions of angels with mighty voices. Can you imagine what that will be like? That's the source of the praise. 

But notice the first reason for praise: Verse 1 goes on to say they were saying, "Hallelujah!" Hallelujah. We sometimes throw this word around carelessly. Don't ever do that again once you understand it. This is actually a Hebrew word. The word hallelujah is a Hebrew word that was transliterated into Greek and then transliterated from Greek into English in our bibles. So, hallelujah is actually a Hebrew word. This is the only place in the New Testament where this familiar Old Testament word occurs: Four times, in this one chapter, in heaven, at the end. It consists of two Hebrew words, this word hallelujah. First of all, it consists of the verb hallel, which means to praise, and Yah, which is a shortened form of God's personal name, Yahweh. So literally, it means praise Yahweh. By the way, that tells us that the Old Testament name of God is His personal name forever. It will be a name that we use in heaven. The Hebrew word hallelujah occurs 24 times in the Psalms, either at the beginning of a psalm, at the end of the psalm, or both. In fact, if you want to see it at both, Psalms 146-150 all begin and end with this phrase, this expression. So, it's a call to praise Yahweh. And the first reason that heaven erupts in a call to praise is because divine justice is finally done. 

Now, as the angels begin this song, they first emphasize that God's perfections guarantee justice. Look at verse 1, "Salvation and glory and power belong to our God." Literally, these perfections are of God. They belong to Him by nature and right. He should be praised for His salvation. That is, He is a Savior by nature, and He will ultimately and finally rescue His people. He should be praised for His glory, the greatness, the heaviness, the weightiness of His moral character. And He should be praised for His power. God has unlimited power to do whatever He chooses to do. His power is only limited by two things, His will and His character. God uses His glorious power to finally save His people. And these perfections guarantee that justice will be done for His people and for His enemies, because He is a God marked by moral perfection, by power, and because He's a Savior, He will do justice for His people. And here, God saves His people by bringing justice on those who persecuted and martyred them; in other words, on antichrist and on antichrist's empire. You know, these perfections in God should evoke responses from us. I love the way Donald Macleod puts it. He says, "His salvation should awaken our gratitude, His glory should awaken our reverence, and His power should awaken our trust." So, God's perfections guarantee justice. 

But the angels go on to say that God's decisions display justice. Notice verse 2, "Because His judgments are true and righteous." The angels first praise God's justice; in a general sense, all God's judgments. By the way, the word judgments here means His legal decisions, the judgments He makes from the bench of His throne. All of His legal decisions are true. That is, they always are valid. They perfectly fit the crime. God has never made a wrong call from the bench. And His judgments are righteous, they are fair, they are deserved. Everyone gets exactly what they have earned and deserved. So, His decisions display justice. The angels go on to say God's actions achieve justice. In the rest of verse 2, the angels describe how God's justice has expressed itself, specifically. Notice, they say, "For He has judged the great harlot." That's a reference to the destruction of antichrist's empire, both its religious system in chapter 17 and its political and commercial power in chapter 18. And there are two reasons the angels give that God was just to judge her. Notice who, that is, she, the harlot, Babylon. Antichrist's empire was corrupting the earth with her immorality. She was leading to the moral ruin of earth's people through false religion and her sinful practices. And now antichrist's capital city and his empire, with its false religion and its corrupted power and wealth, have received God's justice. Listen, don't ever forget this. In the moral universe — not talking now about the physical universe — in the moral universe that God has established across the world, breaking God's moral law brings just as certain a result as breaking the law of gravity. What you sow, you reap. 

There's a second reason God's justice against Babylon is fully justified; not only because she was corrupting the earth, but notice, verse 2 goes on to say, "and He has avenged the blood of His bond-servants on her." Now, when you hear the word avenge, maybe your mind goes back to some old westerns where somebody's carrying out personal revenge. That's not the spirit of this word at all. In fact, the word avenge, the Greek word, means to inflict an appropriate penalty for a wrong done. That's what God's doing, and He's avenging, notice, "the blood of His bond-servants." That refers to the slaughter of God's people because of their faith during the tribulation. Many will come to faith during the tribulation, as you can see back in chapter 6 and 7 of this book. And millions will be slaughtered by antichrist and his henchmen. In fact, look back at 18:24: In the capital city of antichrist, "'[And] in her was found the blood of prophets and of saints and of all who have been slain on the earth.'" In other words, it was from that capital that antichrist will make sure that Christians are hunted down across this planet and killed. And God will avenge their blood on Babylon. This answers the prayer back in 6:10 where the souls cry out, O God, "'How long?'" How long? God will bring justice to those who killed His people, and heaven will celebrate. 

Now, please be careful. Don't misunderstand this celebration. In heaven, the angels are not finding joy — neither do saints find joy — in the death and destruction of the wicked. How do I know that? Because God Himself doesn't. Ezekiel 18:32, God says [He finds] no delight, no joy in the death and destruction of the wicked. "'Repent and live.'" That's the heart of God. So, heaven here is not finding some sadistic pleasure in the destruction of all of these people. Instead, heaven rejoices. That justice is finally done. We understand this. I mean, when we hear of the execution of a mass murderer, we're glad. We're glad that it happened, not because we find sadistic joy at the suffering of that person, but we're glad that justice has finally been done for the victims and for the families of the victims. That's the idea here: The just penalty against the one who has caused the suffering of many innocent victims. That's exactly how the angels and believers will respond when antichrist's empire is destroyed. Justice has finally been done. God's name has finally been vindicated. Innocent saints who have been slaughtered by the millions during the tribulation will have finally been avenged. This is the justice of God.

Christian, can I say to you, have you ever thought about this? One of the greatest comforts in this life, a world that is filled with injustice, is knowing that someday God will set everything right. He's a God of justice. You look around us in the world, you read your newsfeed. You look at even what's unfolding now, and you see injustice everywhere. You see injustice in our nation. You see injustice as innocent people are killed in war around the world. Injustice everywhere. And if you're a Christian, if you're [a believer] made in the image of God, which you are, your heart resonates and says, "When is there going to be justice?" Maybe you have been horribly sinned against at a personal level, maybe because of an incident or a series of incidents in your life; your life has been forever changed. And the person, the perpetrator behind that sin, is unrepentant or appears even to have gotten away with it. Listen, don't believe that for a moment. God wants you to know that He is a God of justice, and justice is coming. Years ago, I heard an old southern Baptist preacher put it this way, and he was absolutely right. He said, "The judgments of God often have leaden heels and move very slowly, but they always have iron hands and crush completely." God is a God of justice. You know, we should celebrate that. As far as I know, there is only one Christian psalm that celebrates the justice of God. It's written by Andrew Peterson. I love it. You've heard me quote it before. He writes this: 

If a thief had come to plunder when the children were alone, if he ravaged every daughter and murdered every son, would not the Father see this?  Would not His anger burn? Would He not repay the tyrant in the day of His return? Wait. Await the day of his return.

Not a single sin. Think about this for a moment. Not a single sin that has ever been committed by one person on this planet, not a single sin, will ever go unpunished. Because God is a God of perfect justice. There's only two ways that that justice will be meted out. If you refuse to repent and believe in Jesus Christ, you will face justice yourself, and you will endure the justice that your sins have earned before God for all eternity in a place that Revelation calls "the lake of fire." The only other option is you will repent and believe in Jesus Christ. And on the cross, Jesus got the justice your sins deserved, and therefore God can forgive you. But every sin will be punished one way or the other. My plea to you this morning is, if you've never trusted in Jesus Christ, you need to understand it's not going to go well with you at the judgment. God is a God of perfect justice. He has a perfect record; we'll see it in Revelation 20. He's never forgotten a single sin you've ever committed. You've forgotten, but He hasn't. And you will be called to account for that. And you will get exact, perfect justice, exactly what you have earned with your life of rebellion when you stand before Him. I plead with you this morning, run to Jesus Christ for forgiveness through His life and death and resurrection. That's your only hope of someone else getting the justice you deserve. Heaven will celebrate when divine justice is finally done. 

But there's a second reason for heaven's praise in our text, and it's that human rebellion is finally over. Again, he begins in verse 3 with the source of praise, "And a second time," — in other words, this is the same angel chorus from verse 1, these hundreds of millions of angels are continuing to sing, and now they articulate the second reason for praise — verse 3 goes on to say, and "they said, 'Hallelujah!'" Praise Yahweh! Why? "'Her smoke rises up forever and ever.'" Together they call for Yahweh to be praised because the smoke from the destruction of Babylon, antichrist's capital city and his empire, rises up forever and ever. Back in 18:8, when God announces the destruction of Babylon, he says this: "She will be burned up with fire; for the Lord God who judges her is strong." And here we learn that the smoke from that fire that destroys Babylon will go up forever and ever. That's a figurative expression because obviously, eventually, this earth will be destroyed, and a new one created. It's a figurative expression to say that God's judgment on Babylon will be permanent and irreversible. If you're familiar with your Scripture at all, you know that at the beginning of human history, in Genesis, chapter 11, the ancient city of Babylon symbolized rebellion against God. There, a tower's built, and rebellion is expressed, and God scatters them and gives them different languages, and that's where we are today. At the end of human history, its namesake, Babylon the Great, the capital city of antichrist's empire will also be the center of, and will perfectly symbolize, human rebellion against God. And it will be destroyed, and its smoke will go up forever and ever. Heaven will celebrate when it has been permanently, finally, totally destroyed. Why? Because it's a reminder that human rebellion is done. It's over.

We tend to want God to judge, but we want Him to judge the worst sinners. Let's just be honest. When we think about this, we tend to think, "Okay, yes, I want God to judge rapists and child abusers and murderers and terrorists," and rightly so. But sometimes we struggle when we think about God punishing the good people we know. Folks, when we think like that, we've really misunderstood the nature of sin. Every sinful thought, word, and action is filled with evil. I mean, just think about the first sin. Think about the fact that the mess this world is in stems from one sin. What was that sin? Eating a piece of fruit that God had forbidden. You say, "Why? How bad could that be?" Well, just think for a moment with me about the sins contained in, included in, the sin of eating that piece of fruit. This is not an all-inclusive list. It's just a representative list. Here are some of the sins involved with the simple eating of that piece of fruit: There was pride. There was lust. There was ingratitude. There was selfishness. There was a failure to love God, a failure to love others. There was a flagrant disregard for God's goodness and grace. There was a violation of God's holiness. And there was terrible, horrible unbelief in what God had said. No wonder the world was plunged into sin and death. But, folks, listen. Every sin you and I commit is filled with just that much evil. And ultimately, even the smallest sin is an egregious act of rebellion against the King of the universe. And when God finally ends mankind's rebellion, heaven will celebrate. 

Donald Macleod relates the story of a Bible teacher at a west African bible college. And one of the students in that college asked, "So when Christ returns with a shout, what will He shout?" And the bible teacher said, "He'll shout, 'Enough!' Enough starvation, enough suffering, enough terror, enough death, enough indignity, enough hopelessness, enough sickness, enough disease!" Macleod goes on and adds, "Enough corruption, enough dishonesty, enough perversion, enough violence, enough adultery, enough disobedience to parents, enough abuse of children, enough cheating, enough blasphemy! And enough irreverence toward God! Enough!" One day, human rebellion will finally be over, and all heaven will break out in its own hallelujah chorus. 

There's a third hallelujah, and the reason for it is that Christ's kingdom has finally come. We see this in verses 4-6, Christ's kingdom has finally come. Again, he starts with the source of praise. This time, two other groups joined the angelic chorus. Notice, he says, "And the twenty-four elders and the four living creatures." Now, we've looked at these before, but for those of you who weren't with us, let me just bring you up to speed. There are two views about the identity of the twenty-four elders. Some say it's an order of angelic beings, maybe the cherubim or the seraphim, or perhaps an unknown order of angels. The other view says no, these twenty-four elders represent a group of humans, either Israel, the New Testament church, or both. So, who are they? Well, let's go back to 4:4. This is the first time we meet them, and in this text we get some important clues as to who these twenty-four elders are. [Revelation] 4:4, notice, "Around the throne were twenty-four thrones." Thrones implies that whoever these elders are, they're engaged in ruling and reigning. And Scripture nowhere describes angels as reigning. In fact, Hebrews 1:14 says they are servants, ministers of the redeemed. On the other hand, saints are often described as ruling with Christ. Revelation 2:26-27, to the church in Thyatira, Christ says, To "'"[he] who overcomes,"'" that is, to the true believer, "'"and he who keeps My deeds until the end."'" Again, the characteristic of a true believer. "'"To him"'" — to the true believer — "'"I will give authority over the nations; and he [shall] rule them with a rod of iron, as the vessels of the potter are broken to pieces, as I also have received authority from My father."'" Believers will rule with Christ. Chapter 5:10, "'You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to our God; and they'" — believers — "'will reign upon the earth.'" So that clue points toward these being believers. [Revelation 4:4] goes on to say they're "clothed in white garments." Now, that can be true of angels. Some other texts, they're referred to that way, but in Revelation, it's most often used of the saints. We'll see it even later here in chapter 19. One final clue, and I think this one's conclusive. Verse 4 goes on to say, "Golden crowns" are "on their heads." Scripture never describes angels with crowns, but it often describes believers as having crowns. Chapter 2:10, "Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown" which is "life." So, when you put all the evidence together, I'm convinced that the twenty-four elders are not angelic beings, but rather represent believers. Many think that they're only New Testament believers, and that's certainly possible. People we love and respect would come to that position. 

But why are there twenty-four elders? I think it's because they represent all believers, Old Testament and New Testament. Think about the math for a moment. Twelve elders represent the leaders of the twelve tribes of Israel, which in turn represent all true believers in Israel. And even though they're not part of the rapture of the church, according to Daniel chapter 12 — their resurrection comes later — their redeemed spirits are already in heaven. The other twelve elders represent the twelve apostles, which in turn represent the New Testament church. It's interesting that the new Jerusalem, the capital city of the new earth, according to Revelation 21, will have twelve gates with the twelve names of the tribes of Israel and twelve foundation stones with the names of the twelve apostles. In other words, there are twelve and twelve, making twenty-four, meaning there is a united people of God. The twenty-four elders represent the redeemed of the Old Testament and the New Testament. In addition, back in our text, Revelation 19:4, John adds, "The four living creatures," literally the four living ones. As I argued when we met them back in chapter 4, these four living ones are likely a distinct class of angelic beings not mentioned in other places in Scripture. They are the exalted guardians of the throne of God.

Both of these groups, all of the redeemed, Old and New Testament, and these exalted guardians of God's throne, they join in the praise. And verse 4 says both groups "fell down and worshiped God who sits on the throne." This is a physical response of worship and reverence and adoration before God on His throne. That physical expression of worship is followed by the call to praise in verse 4. These groups were saying, "'Amen. Hallelujah!'" probably quoting Psalm 106:48, which is the only other place in the Bible where these two words come together. Amen. That's another Hebrew word, again transliterated into Greek and then transliterated into English. So, when you say the word amen, you're saying a Hebrew word. It's a word that expresses full agreement with what has been said or prayed. It means let it come to pass, may it be so. In other words, these two groups, all believers of Old and New Testament, as well as these amazing living creatures around the throne of God, they are in full agreement with what the angels have said before them. And then once again comes the call to praise Yahweh. 

This third hallelujah doesn't bring a new idea, but rather just echoes and affirms the previous one. Praise Yahweh! Hallelujah! And then verse 5, "And a voice came from the throne," so separate from the voices of the angels we've already seen, separate from the redeemed and the four living creatures. There comes now another voice, and this voice comes from the throne. The Greek word from here doesn't mean out of in the sense that it has to be the one sitting on the throne. It can simply mean from the direction of the throne. And this voice is not likely to be that of God or of Christ, because, notice, he refers to God as "our God" and calls for everyone to "give praise to our God."  In Revelation, the only other beings connected to the throne of God are the cherubim, who support His throne. So, I think it's likely this voice comes from one of them. But regardless, notice, verse 5 says, this voice was saying, "Give praise to our God." This angelic being addresses and calls for praise from, now, an even wider circle: "All you his bond-servants, you who fear Him, the small and the great." This voice calls on all who were slaves of God, all who fear Him, so redeemed humans, angelic beings, small and great, regardless of their standing. This is a call for the universal praise of God. Every holy angel and every redeemed saint will join in one great choir of praise. What in the world will that sound like? Well, John uses three similes to capture what it will be like. Verse 6, "Then I heard something like the voice of a great multitude." It will sound like the greatest crowd ever assembled. Most of us, the largest crowd we've ever been a part of is 100,000 in a football stadium or a soccer stadium. And when 100,000 people rise up with one voice, it is deafening and overwhelming. Can you imagine what hundreds of millions will sound like? And then he says, "And like the sound of many waters." It'll be like the deafening roar of Niagara. It'll be "like the sound of mighty peals of thunder." In north Texas, we understand that it will sound like the same simultaneous peals of thunder in a massive supercell thunderstorm, all at one time exploding from multiple locations. Together, every angel and saint in heaven will call with one mighty thunderous voice for the universe to praise Yahweh. And it's because of the third reason for praise. Verse 6 says, "'Hallelujah!'"

Now, in case you think I've lost count, that's the fourth hallelujah in their heavenly chorus. But this fourth hallelujah introduces us to two more reasons for praise. A third reason in verse 6 and the fourth reason in verses 7-10 which, Lord willing, we'll examine next week, but notice, first of all, the third reason that they call the universe to praise Yahweh is there in verse 6, "'Hallelujah!'" Praise Yahweh! Why? "'For'" — because — "'the Lord our God, the Almighty, reigns.'" Now, I can tell you that those believers sitting in those small churches in Asia Minor, when they heard this read for the first time in their churches, they were shocked. Because it's interesting and ironic that the emperor Domitian, who was ruling Rome at the time that John wrote this letter and at the time that it was read to those churches in Asia Minor, Domitian had claimed for himself the title "our Lord and God." John says, "Not so fast." In contrast to a frail, weak human who soon returned to dust is the Lord our God, the Almighty. God is referred to as "the Almighty" nine times in Revelation, but only once in the rest of the New Testament. So where does this expression come from? [It] comes from the Old Testament. In the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Hebrew Old Testament, this word is used most often to translate the Hebrew expression the Lord of hosts or the Lord of armies. You see, the focus in this word is not on the fact that God has unlimited power, though of course, He does. The focus of this word, almighty, is on His power to rule and to control. Nothing happens outside of His powerful control. He is sovereign. That's what almighty means. He just showed that power, that sovereign power, in destroying history's greatest dictator and history's greatest empire. For seven years — think about this — for seven years, antichrist and his capital city and his empire will appear absolutely invincible. And at God's decision, now there's nothing left but smoke. This call of

praise is grounded in the reality that because our God is almighty — here's the point — Christ's kingdom has come. Look again at verse 6: "'For the Lord our God, the Almighty, reigns.'" Now, the tense of this Greek verb, reigns, isn't saying what you might think. It isn't saying that God simply continues to exercise His sovereign control of the universe, which, of course, He does, but that's not what this is saying. We could translate the tense of this verb like this: The Lord our God, the Almighty, has begun to reign. In other words, His reign is now taking a new and different form. This is referring to the inauguration of God's reign, specifically in and through His Son, the Messiah. Later in chapter 19, beginning in verse 11, Christ returns in the second coming, and He defeats his army, the armies of antichrist, at Armageddon. In chapter 20, verses 4-6, Jesus will establish His millennial kingdom, and He will reign on this earth, renewed and restored for a thousand years. That's what this is celebrating. 

Go back to Revelation 11:15: "Then the seventh angel sounded; and there were loud voices in heaven, saying," — here it is — "'The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Messiah; And He'" — the Messiah — "'will reign forever and ever.' And the twenty-four elders, who sit on their thrones before God, fell on their faces and worshiped God, saying, 'We give You thanks, O Lord God, the Almighty, who are and who were'" — notice this — "'because You have taken Your great power and have begun to reign.'" [It] doesn't mean He wasn't reigning over the universe before. It means this is a new expression of His reign when He will give His Son a kingdom in which He will rule and reign over this world for a thousand years.

Believer, think about this: For 2000 years, Christians have prayed the Lord's Prayer. I did this morning. And what do we pray in that prayer? "Your kingdom come." And when it does, all heaven will break loose in hallelujahs. "Your kingdom come." In this scene, heaven celebrates and praises Yahweh that that prayer that Christians have prayed for so long is about to be answered. Christian, listen: This passage calls you to join heaven's celebration. Listen: This describes what you and I will do. This is us. This describes us in the future in the Lord's presence. But this is also a call to join heaven's celebration today and to lift your voice in hallelujah! Praise Yahweh! Why? Because one day divine justice will finally be done. One day human rebellion will finally be over. One day Christ's kingdom will finally come. 

In one of my favorite songs, another by Andrew Peterson, he says it so well:

Do you feel the world is broken? We do.

Do you feel the shadows deepen? We do. 

But do you know that all the dark won't stop the light from getting through? We do. 

Do you wish that you could see it all made new? We do. 

Is all creation groaning? It is. 

Is a new creation coming? It is. 

Is the glory of the Lord to be the Light within our midst? It is. 

And is it good that we remind ourselves of this? It is. 

Is anyone worthy? Is anyone whole? Is anyone able to break the seal and open the scroll? The lion of Judah, who conquered the grave, He was David's Root and the Lamb who died to ransom the slave. Is He worthy? Is He worthy of all blessing and honor and glory? Is He worthy of this? 

And heaven's answer is, He is. 

Let's pray together. Father, our prayer is, "Your kingdom come." Lord, I pray that in this dark world, this broken world, Lord, help us as believers to remember that You've written the end of the story and that Jesus wins. Lord, help us even today to anticipate the praise that we will one day offer in Your presence. Help us to remember, O God, as we live in this world, that one day divine justice will be done. Help us to remember that human rebellion one day will be over. And Lord, help us to remember that one day Christ's kingdom will in fact come, and He will rule in righteousness, on this planet, for a thousand years, and we will reign with Him. Father, help us to lift our eyes from the difficulties and troubles of our lives and remind ourselves that this life is not all of our story. It's not even really the beginning of our story in the ultimate sense. It's just a prologue to the story of our life that a new creation is coming. Help us to live like citizens of the new heavens and the new earth as we live, looking for the blessed hope, the glorious appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, and seven years later, the establishment of His kingdom. I pray as well, Father, for the person here this morning who doesn't know Christ. Help them to see that justice is coming. And the only way that that justice can be averted is if Christ bears on their behalf. Lord, may they repent and believe in Him today. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen.