Christmas may be “the most wonderful time of the year” but it’s also one of the most expensive times of the year. One report estimates that an average household will spend almost $2500 this season on festive food, decorations, and gifts. But even beyond the financial cost, Christmas also can carry a relational cost with family tensions and social divisions being exacerbated. There can be an emotional expense with the season sparking loneliness, sadness, and grief. Finally, the holiday can take a chronological toll, jamming calendars with events, parties, and other time-filling, energy-stealing happenings. 

There’s no doubt that Christmas can be costly. It always has been, ever since the very first Christmas when “the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.” But it’s not just the birth of Christ that’s pricey. Following Christ is expensive as well. The question becomes, are these prices worth paying?

There are many words we could use to describe Jesus’s birth: miraculous, humble, anticipated, needed, epic, joyful, and merciful. But one word we cannot use is secretive. The coming of Jesus was not classified, hidden, or undisclosed. It was unmistakable, being both predicted before it happened and announced after it happened. And, ultimately, that leaves all people without excuse. The revelation of Jesus Christ puts all people to a decision: will we respond with rejection or adoration?

Hope is a wonderful thing. Hope is faith directed towards the future. It is confidence in what is to come. For Christians, our future is a glorious thing. This is the key teaching in the book of Revelation and it is the key in Paul’s epistles to the Thessalonians as well. Seven of the eight chapters in these two books highlight the coming of the Lord. All through these two letters, the Holy Spirit is wanting us to embrace this hope. It is what we need to strengthen us for living today.

From the beginning, God’s desire was to reign over his creation through a mediator. To that end, the King of the universe placed representative images of himself in his creation to fill his creation and rule his creation (Gen 1:26–28). But, alsofrom the beginning, Satan’s desire was to usurp God and set himself up as sovereign. He deceived God’s first kingdom mediators, prompting them to rebel against the King rather than represent the King (Gen 3:1). 

In spite of the catastrophic effects of this fall, however, the original plan was never abandoned and God promised to one day establish a pristine, curse-free, never-ending global kingdom (e.g., 2 Sam 7:12–13; Ps 2:1–8) within which he would dwell with his creatures and over which he would eternally rule through a perfect Mediator (e.g., Isa 9:6–7). Revelation 20 predicts that time, a future moment when King Jesus will stomp sin, restore what was lost, and sit on his throne.

At long last, the Apostle John is shown the culmination of God’s future wrath against and destruction of all sin. To this point it had been revealed that Jesus Christ—the Lamb who was slain and is, thus, worthy (5:6, 12)—will one day initiate, oversee, and enact righteous judgement upon the whole world. Natural disasters and unnatural disturbances, fear and famine, death, darkness, and demonism will be unleashed. While the church will be exempt from this time (3:10), those who come to faith during this time will likely be martyred (6:9–11). As the prophets predicted (Dan 12:1; Joel 2:2) and Jesus affirmed, it will be a season of chaos “such as has not occurred since the beginning of the world until now, nor ever will” (Matt 24:21). 

But it all comes to an end with two banquets, one of celebration and one of condemnation. And a study of these two future suppers can prepare God’s people today to partake in another supper, the Lord’s Supper, one of commemoration, purification, and anticipation.

A message shared by Lew Worrad on November 5, 2023 at Oakridge Bible Chapel.

Satan had just brought his antichrist and false prophet into the world to deceive and destroy (13:1–18) when John sees the Lamb standing unfazed on the heavenly Mount Zion (14:1–7). Harps are being played, songs are being sung, and gospels are being preached when, seemingly out of nowhere, an angel flies overhead declaring, “Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great” (14:8). What immediately follows is reverent celebration in heaven and more devastation on earth (15:1–16:18) before a similar refrain is heard: “Babylon the great was remembered before God, to give her the cup of the wine of his fierce wrath” (16:19). 

With so much chaos being poured out on earth and on so many people, why does this ancient city receive a divine call-out? What’s so special about Babylon, how is she uniquely punishable, and what does her eventual fall have to teach the church today?

Throughout human history, God has stayed his hand of retribution, being “patient toward us, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance” (2 Pet 3:9). But God’s patience with rebellion does not mean forgetfulness of rebellion. In fact, Paul teaches that the unrepentant are “storing up wrath for [themselves] in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God” (Rom 2:5). It is as though the sin in this world is building-up pressure like water against a dam until, one day, God will open his holy spillway, unleashing his just anger so as to punish evil, prompt faith, and bring restoration. Ultimate rest comes on the other side of wrath and perfect peace arrives after divine punishment. 

Revelation 15 and 16 mark the near-culmination of this time of great testing, a finish line that prompts celebration in the heavens, sends devastation upon the earth, illustrates the corruption of the human heart, and provides much-needed exhortation for the waiting church today.

A message shared by Nate Vellekoop on October 15, 2023 at Oakridge Bible Chapel

There’s nothing quite like a good comeback story. You know the type: when a person, group, or team seems so down-and-out, so defeated, and so oppressed and yet finds a way to climb back into contention, grab success, find safety, and even secure victory against all odds. These tales are surprising, satisfying, inspiring, and exciting. 

While it may seem near-blasphemy to call the eventual-and-total victory of Jesus Christ “a comeback story,” there are sections of Scripture that record the Lord snatching a big win from, what seems like, the jaws of defeat. For example, in Revelation 12 and 13, Satan has the upper-hand, the blue-chip players, home-field advantage, and is running up the score before, all of a sudden in chapter 14, Jesus says, “no more games” and dramatically and definitively turns the tables. For those who know the power and character of God, this is not a surprising comeback but it is satisfying, inspiring, and exciting.