Judgement

Rev 20:12 And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done.

Here is the day we're so desperate to avoid. We may seek to convince ourselves that this day will not happen, or that if it does we will be alright. But the reality will not be good news for us. This day is the reason we each need a saviour. This day is the reason Christ was born. This day is the reason Christ died. No-one will be shown righteous by their deeds. Only those who's name is in the Lamb's book of life will avoid judgement. Grace is what we need. Grace is what we are now offered.

Boy am I a mupet

It's all very simple really. I got inappropriately annoyed at the tv remote going missing and punched a box in a fit of anger. Unfortunately the box was on the floor. The box broke - the floor didn't - my hand did. Doh.

That Great City

Rev 18:1-2 After this I saw another angel coming down from heaven, having great authority, and the earth was made bright with his glory. And he called out with a mighty voice, “Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great! She has become a dwelling place for demons, a haunt for every unclean spirit, a haunt for every unclean bird, a haunt for every unclean and detestable beast.�

This morning as we were getting up Helen told me that people were queing from Christmas Day evening for the opening of the sales on Boxing Day! Listening to the radio on my way home from dropping friends off on Christmas Day I discovered that there were special sales online that were for Christmas Day only. It made me sad that not even one day in the year was spared from the constant treadmill of buying and selling. That people just had to spend and get.

I've joked on FB and Twitter that Westfield (huge shopping centre in West London) is a temple and people go there to worship - but really that is exactly what it is. The temples of Revelation's Babylon - the great city - are not religious but materialistic. They are shops that sell everything we want but don't need. The warning in Revelation 18 is for the church not to get involved in her spiritual adulteries; not to go chasing after these things instead of God. Too often, I must be honest, my eye is distracted by the swing of her hips and the seduction of her advertising boards.

"Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great." So much evil is perpetrated in the pursuit of wealth. The love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. The judgement of God will fall in a single day.

The wonder of God is that out of the adulteries of the great city he rescues people for the heavenly city. He walks in, and just like the gates of hell, the gates of Babylon will not prevail against him. Where his justice turns Babylon into a wilderness fit only for the unclean, his grace takes the adulterers and makes them clean and pure, fit to be his own beloved bride.

I wonder this sales season who you will chase after - the shiny showy luxuries of the great city, or the Lamb who was slain to make you pure, blameless and beautiful in his sight.

Lunchtime Bible reading

Rev 15:3 And they sing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, “Great and amazing are your deeds, O Lord God the Almighty! Just and true are your ways, O King of the nations!�Rev 15:4 Who will not fear, O Lord, and glorify your name? For you alone are holy. All nations will come and worship you, for your righteous acts have been revealed.”����������