Corona Chronicles - Crown of Gold

Welcome back to the Corona Chronicles. We are in chapter 19 now of the book of Revelation. We've just come out of this funeral for Babylon, and we heard a number of voices there from the kings and the merchants of the earth to God's people rejoicing. And now we're approaching a wedding. And we have some Hallelujahs and some rejoicing.

So I'm gonna be reading from verse 1 chapter 19. After this, I heard sounded like the roar of a great multitude in heaven shouting. Hallelujah, salvation and glory and power belong to our God. For true and just are his judgments. He has condemned the great prostitute who corrupted the earth by her adulteries.

He's avenged on her the blood of his servants, and again they shouted, hallelujah, the smoke from her goes up forever and ever. The 24 elders and the 4 living creatures fell down and worshiped God who was seated on the throne and they cried, amen, hallelujah. Well, I guess we're quite familiar with the word hallelujah. You get it in all kinds of songs and popular songs and Christians have it in there. Sort of hymns quite a lot.

But actually this these are the only uses of the word hallelujah in the new testament. Mhmm. It's used 4 times and it's all in this chapter. But the strange thing is that their hallelujah ring are about a funeral. It's it's a strange thing.

So we've had sort of 4 funerals and we're gonna have a wedding. And but they're saying hallelujah not just for the wedding but for the justice that was done -- Yeah. -- in bringing the funeral about. And I guess we've got it's hard to understand that because it sounds sort of cruel. But I guess we've got to think of it in terms of of like we saw a couple of weeks ago, you know, ve day.

That's when a monstrous system has come to an end, the Nazis. There's a party on the streets. There's a hallelujah. Yeah. And when this coronavirus, you know, comes to an end, then we can all get together to party.

There's a hallelujah that the virus has gone. We've we've the system that's kept us in slavery and not able to do the things that we wanted to do, party -- Yeah. -- has come to an end. I think that's what's going on. Yeah.

Definitely. And it's been something that we've been sort of as we've read revelation and we've seen the beasts and we've seen Babylon and we've seen God's people being tormented, We have longed for this moment, haven't we? Yeah. The whole way through, we've been longing for this moment. So it is a real celebration when it is finally dealt with.

Finally. And I I don't I think the what the wonderful thing is that it I mean, it says in verse 1 after this, I heard heard a sound like a roar. You know, again, everything's loud in revelation, but there's this roar of a great multitude in heaven shouting. Hallelujah. You know, this thing that no one's unite the Christians aren't in isolation anymore.

Yeah. They're not the ones being tortured in in little cells because they're following God and they won't obey the system of the world. These are the people that have now come to what God has been organizing for centuries -- Yes. -- this great party where that system of Babylon with all its destruction and selfishness, has come to an end. Mhmm.

And there is a party. And I I think, you know, sometimes, you know, 1 writer said that the idea of heaven scares in more than the idea of hell because it's so so boring in heaven. It is the exact opposite. Yeah. This is the party.

This is the center of the universe. This is where God and his people are celebrating. Yeah. And it makes the sort of the merchants and the kings look really small. You know, they will they were weeping over this little city that was crumbled in in an hour.

You know, that if, you know, that's that's more exciting than heaven, where this is roar in this eternal praising of God. You know, that's that's ridiculous isn't it? Yes. And then in verse 2, we go from the sort of shouting and and we see why they're shouting is because this kingdom This new creation is is based on well, it took it talks about salvation and glory and power belong to our God. For true and just are his judgments.

So we've got we've got now at the foundation of this new creation, truth, justice, salvation, real glory as opposed to that which he's condemned, which is the great prostitute. She's corrupt. She's adulterous. She's killing people. The underlying basis of Babylon is this false lying destruction.

The underlying basis of this new creation, if this God who is 1 of these things. Yeah. And it is it's a wonderful God because you get salvation and glory linking and sort of balancing with his judgments. And we see that on the cross. The cross is the theater of God's what is the what's the expression?

God's glory. God's glory. Yeah. Because you see you see there really clearly how these things go together. You can't have salvation for me and you without the judgment of our sins upon Jesus Christ.

Yeah. And so you you cannot love salvation in isolation. Yeah. It doesn't exist by itself. No.

It has to be dealt. A judgment has to happen somewhere. Yeah. And so That's why we're pre we we had a lawyer judgment because judgment also means salvation. Yes.

Yeah. And that's what Christ was doing on the cross. Mhmm. He's taking our sin and the judgment so that we can rightly live in this new place. Yeah.

Then the second hallelujah and getting first 3 legs shout again, you know, you can't you can't you can't stop them. The smoke of of her goes up forever and ever. That's the end of that horrible system. Yep. But then we've got in verse 4.

The 24 elders and the 4 living creatures fell down and worshiped God, who was seated on the throne, you know. So we go right back now -- Yeah. -- to chapter 4. Yep. If if if anyone remembers.

But 24 elders are the people people of God, 4 living creatures, that's the whole of creation, you know, now. It's this is what it was always meant to be. This is what it God's plan is all about. Yep. The whole everything good in creation.

Yep. The whole of creation, crying out with all the God's people allelujah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Such unity there, isn't there? So different to now. We've talked a lot about the different lies and voices in the world. We often have to be careful. We need to be careful with all the different voices we're here.

Everything and everyone says, amen. Yes. We all we all agree -- Yes. -- hallelujah. Yeah.

That because that's what yeah. That's great. That's what I that's what Amen means, isn't it? I agree. We all agree with this.

We're we're we're there is a real 1 this. Yeah. Absolutely. This is the 1 world where we are together. As opposed to the world that pretends to be 1, but then argues with itself and eats itself and blames everybody else for other that all that -- Yeah.

Things have gone. Yep. Well, I think we'll leave it there, and we come back tomorrow for some more hallelujahs or at least another 1. 20. Yes.