Monday, April 26, 2010

834- God’s Economics Part 2

May 2, 2010

Sermon: #834

Part 2 God's Economics

Introduction: Question, was Jesus poor? Were the "heroes of the faith" in the Bible poor men and women? Is it good and holy to be poor – a pauper?

Matthew 17:24 - 27 (NKJV) ²⁴When they had come to Capernaum, those who received the temple tax came to Peter and said, "Does your Teacher not pay the temple tax?"
²⁵He said, "Yes."
And when he had come into the house, Jesus anticipated him, saying, "What do you think, Simon? From whom do the kings of the earth take customs or taxes, from their sons or from strangers?"
²⁶Peter said to Him, "From strangers."
Jesus said to him, "Then the sons are free.
²⁷Nevertheless, lest we offend them, go to the sea, cast in a hook, and take the fish that comes up first. And when you have opened its mouth, you will find a piece of money; take that and give it to them for Me and you."

Jesus
Born in a borrowed stable, but not because Joseph did not have funds to pay for a motel room.
Luke 2:1 - 7 (NKJV) ¹And it came to pass in those days that a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered.
²This census first took place while Quirinius was governing Syria.
³So all went to be registered, everyone to his own city.
⁴Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David,
⁵to be registered with Mary, his betrothed wife, who was with child.
⁶So it was, that while they were there, the days were completed for her to be delivered.
⁷And she brought forth her firstborn Son, and wrapped Him in swaddling cloths, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.

Psalm 24:1 - 2 (NKJV) ¹The earth is the Lord'S, and all its fullness,
The world and those who dwell therein.
² For He has founded it upon the seas,
And established it upon the waters.
Supplied with wealth as a baby
Matthew 2:7 - 11 (NKJV) ⁷Then Herod, when he had secretly called the wise men, determined from them what time the star appeared.
⁸And he sent them to Bethlehem and said, "Go and search carefully for the young Child, and when you have found Him, bring back word to me, that I may come and worship Him also."
⁹When they heard the king, they departed; and behold, the star which they had seen in the East went before them, till it came and stood over where the young Child was.
¹⁰When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceedingly great joy.
¹¹And when they had come into the house, they saw the young Child with Mary His mother, and fell down and worshiped Him. And when they had opened their treasures, they presented gifts to Him: gold, frankincense, and myrrh.
Had His own treasurer

John 12:4 - 6 (NKJV) ⁴But one of His disciples, Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, who would betray Him, said,
⁵"Why was this fragrant oil not sold for three hundred denarii and given to the poor?"
⁶This he said, not that he cared for the poor, but because he was a thief, and had the money box; and he used to take what was put in it.
Abraham

Genesis 24:32 - 35 (NKJV) ³²Then the man came to the house. And he unloaded the camels, and provided straw and feed for the camels, and water to wash his feet and the feet of the men who were with him.
³³Food was set before him to eat, but he said, "I will not eat until I have told about my errand."
And he said, "Speak on."
³⁴So he said, "I am Abraham's servant.
³⁵The Lord has blessed my master greatly, and he has become great; and He has given him flocks and herds, silver and gold, male and female servants, and camels and donkeys.

Job 1:1 - 3 (NKJV) ¹There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job; and that man was blameless and upright, and one who feared God and shunned evil.
²And seven sons and three daughters were born to him.
³Also, his possessions were seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, five hundred yoke of oxen, five hundred female donkeys, and a very large household, so that this man was the greatest of all the people of the East.

Solomon

Ecclesiastes 2:4 - 10 (NKJV) ⁴I made my works great, I built myself houses, and planted myself vineyards. ⁵I made myself gardens and orchards, and I planted all kinds of fruit trees in them.
⁶I made myself water pools from which to water the growing trees of the grove.
⁷I acquired male and female servants, and had servants born in my house. Yes, I had greater possessions of herds and flocks than all who were in Jerusalem before me.
⁸I also gathered for myself silver and gold and the special treasures of kings and of the provinces. I acquired male and female singers, the delights of the sons of men, and musical instruments of all kinds.
⁹So I became great and excelled more than all who were before me in Jerusalem. Also my wisdom remained with me.
¹⁰Whatever my eyes desired I did not keep from them.
I did not withhold my heart from any pleasure,
For my heart rejoiced in all my labor;
And this was my reward from all my labor.

There is nothing wrong with being wealthy!

Psalm 112:1 - 5 (NKJV) ¹Praise the Lord!
Blessed is the man who fears the Lord,
Who delights greatly in His commandments.
² His descendants will be mighty on earth;
The generation of the upright will be blessed.
³ Wealth and riches will be in his house,
And his righteousness endures forever.
⁴ Unto the upright there arises light in the darkness; He is gracious, and full of compassion, and righteous.
⁵ A good man deals graciously and lends;
He will guide his affairs with discretion.

Proverbs 8:17 - 21 (NKJV) ¹⁷I love those who love me, And those who seek me diligently will find me.
¹⁸Riches and honor are with me,
Enduring riches and righteousness.
¹⁹ My fruit is better than gold, yes, than fine gold,
And my revenue than choice silver.
²⁰I traverse the way of righteousness,
In the midst of the paths of justice,
²¹That I may cause those who love me to inherit wealth,
That I may fill their treasuries.

Proverbs 10:15 (NKJV) ¹⁵ The rich man's wealth is his strong city;
The destruction of the poor is their poverty.

Ecclesiastes 5:18 - 20 (NKJV) ¹⁸Here is what I have seen: It is good and fitting for one to eat and drink, and to enjoy the good of all his labor in which he toils under the sun all the days of his life which God gives him; for it is his heritage.
¹⁹As for every man to whom God has given riches and wealth, and given him power to eat of it, to receive his heritage and rejoice in his labor—this is the gift of God.
²⁰For he will not dwell unduly on the days of his life, because God keeps him busy with the joy of his heart.

Who or what do you trust in?

Genesis 26:12 - 14 (NKJV) ¹²Then Isaac sowed in that land, and reaped in the same year a hundredfold; and the Lord blessed him.
¹³The man began to prosper, and continued prospering until he became very prosperous;
¹⁴for he had possessions of flocks and possessions of herds and a great number of servants. So the Philistines envied him.

Philistines and Pharisees will always envy the man God blesses!
Mark 10:29 - 31 (NKJV) ²⁹So Jesus answered and said, "Assuredly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or lands, for My sake and the gospel's,
³⁰who shall not receive a hundredfold now in this time—houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions—and in the age to come, eternal life.
³¹But many who are first will be last, and the last first."
ILL: I want to give a personal testimony of the truth of this – Mary and I had to "give up" my Mother and Father when I received Jesus as my Lord. We sold our first house to go into the ministry, Mary had to leave her brothers and sisters, - we have seen God restore my parents, Mary's brothers and sisters, and we have received a hundredfold – but the persecutions have come and mainly from other Christians.
The place of God's blessings
1 Kings 17:1 - 16 (NKJV) ¹And Elijah the Tishbite, of the inhabitants of Gilead, said to Ahab, "As the Lord God of Israel lives, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, except at my word."
²Then the word of the Lord came to him, saying,
³"Get away from here and turn eastward, and hide by the Brook Cherith, which flows into the Jordan.
⁴And it will be that you shall drink from the brook, and I have commanded the ravens to feed you there."
⁵So he went and did according to the word of the Lord, for he went and stayed by the Brook Cherith, which flows into the Jordan.
⁶The ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning, and bread and meat in the evening; and he drank from the brook.
⁷And it happened after a while that the brook dried up, because there had been no rain in the land.
⁸Then the word of the Lord came to him, saying,
⁹"Arise, go to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and dwell there. See, I have commanded a widow there to provide for you."
¹⁰So he arose and went to Zarephath. And when he came to the gate of the city, indeed a widow was there gathering sticks. And he called to her and said, "Please bring me a little water in a cup, that I may drink."
¹¹And as she was going to get it, he called to her and said, "Please bring me a morsel of bread in your hand."
¹²So she said, "As the Lord your God lives, I do not have bread, only a handful of flour in a bin, and a little oil in a jar; and see, I am gathering a couple of sticks that I may go in and prepare it for myself and my son, that we may eat it, and die."
¹³And Elijah said to her, "Do not fear; go and do as you have said, but make me a small cake from it first, and bring it to me; and afterward make some for yourself and your son.
¹⁴For thus says the Lord God of Israel: 'The bin of flour shall not be used up, nor shall the jar of oil run dry, until the day the Lord sends rain on the earth.'"
¹⁵So she went away and did according to the word of Elijah; and she and he and her household ate for many days.
¹⁶The bin of flour was not used up, nor did the jar of oil run dry, according to the word of the Lord which He spoke by Elijah.

ILL: Mary and I have never had the ravens feed us but we have had the widow provide when we were down to the last bit of food in the house.
When you are out of work and out of resources, take whatever God provides but do not stop sowing!

Conclusion: It's all about obedience and faith.

Malachi 3:8 - 15 (NKJV) ⁸"Will a man rob God?
Yet you have robbed Me!
But you say,
'In what way have we robbed You?' in tithes and offerings.
⁹You are cursed with a curse,
For you have robbed Me,
Even this whole nation.
¹⁰Bring all the tithes into the storehouse,
That there may be food in My house,
And try Me now in this,"
Says the Lord of hosts,
"If I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you such blessing
that there will not be room enough to receive it.
¹¹"And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes,
So that he will not destroy the fruit of your ground,
Nor shall the vine fail to bear fruit for you in the field,"
says the Lord of hosts;
¹²And all nations will call you blessed,
For you will be a delightful land,"
Says the Lord of hosts.
¹³"Your words have been harsh against Me," says the Lord,
"Yet you say, 'What have we spoken against You?'
¹⁴You have said,
'It is useless to serve God;
What profit is it that we have kept His ordinance,
And that we have walked as mourners before the Lord of hosts?
¹⁵So now we call the proud blessed,
For those who do wickedness are raised up;
They even tempt God and go free.'"

What? Tithes and Offerings
Where? The storehouse
The challenge? "Test God"
Why? "You have said, "it is useless to serve God" – you do not trust HIM!
The Promise – TRUST HIM AND SEE!

Thursday, April 15, 2010

833 – God’s Economics

April 25, 2010
Sermon #833

God's Economics

The United States is in an economic crisis. Our forefathers built the nation and its laws (the constitution and bill of rights) upon two things. A democratic republic and a capitalistic economic system, which is Biblically based.

Matthew 25:14 - 29 (NKJV) ¹⁴"For the kingdom of heaven is like a man traveling to a far country, who called his own servants and delivered his goods to them.
¹⁵And to one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one, to each according to his own ability; and immediately he went on a journey.
¹⁶Then he who had received the five talents went and traded with them, and made another five talents.
¹⁷And likewise he who had received two gained two more also.
¹⁸But he who had received one went and dug in the ground, and hid his lord's money.
¹⁹After a long time the lord of those servants came and settled accounts with them.
²⁰"So he who had received five talents came and brought five other talents, saying, 'Lord, you delivered to me five talents; look, I have gained five more talents besides them.'
²¹His lord said to him, 'Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.'

²²He also who had received two talents came and said, 'Lord, you delivered to me two talents; look, I have gained two more talents besides them.'
²³His lord said to him, 'Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.'
²⁴"Then he who had received the one talent came and said, 'Lord, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you have not sown, and gathering where you have not scattered seed.
²⁵And I was afraid, and went and hid your talent in the ground. Look, there you have what is yours.'
²⁶"But his lord answered and said to him, 'You wicked and lazy servant, you knew that I reap where I have not sown, and gather where I have not scattered seed.
²⁷So you ought to have deposited my money with the bankers, and at my coming I would have received back my own with interest.
²⁸So take the talent from him, and give it to him who has ten talents.
²⁹'For to everyone who has, more will be given, and he will have abundance; but from him who does not have, even what he has will be taken away.

Introduction: A talent in Roman days was not your gift; it was a Roman coin. Jesus started the parable by saying this is what the Kingdom of God is like, and then He gives us the economics of the Kingdom.

The person who will not invest and improve what he has is a "lazy servant" and will lose even what he has.
Proverbs 12:24 (NKJV) ²⁴The hand of the diligent will rule, But the lazy man will be put to forced labor.

Whatever feeds you – rules you!
ILL: Egypt
Genesis 41:46 - 57 (NKJV) ⁴⁶Joseph was thirty years old when he stood before Pharaoh king of Egypt. And Joseph went out from the presence of Pharaoh, and went throughout all the land of Egypt. ⁴⁷Now in the seven plentiful years the ground brought forth abundantly.
⁴⁸So he gathered up all the food of the seven years which were in the land of Egypt, and laid up the food in the cities; he laid up in every city the food of the fields which surrounded them.
⁴⁹Joseph gathered very much grain, as the sand of the sea, until he stopped counting, for it was immeasurable.
⁵⁰And to Joseph were born two sons before the years of famine came, whom Asenath, the daughter of Poti-Pherah priest of On, bore to him.
⁵¹Joseph called the name of the firstborn Manasseh: "For God has made me forget all my toil and all my father's house."

⁵²And the name of the second he called Ephraim: "For God has caused me to be fruitful in the land of my affliction."
⁵³Then the seven years of plenty which were in the land of Egypt ended,
⁵⁴and the seven years of famine began to come, as Joseph had said. The famine was in all lands, but in all the land of Egypt there was bread.
⁵⁵So when all the land of Egypt was famished, the people cried to Pharaoh for bread. Then Pharaoh said to all the Egyptians, "Go to Joseph; whatever he says to you, do."
⁵⁶The famine was over all the face of the earth, and Joseph opened all the storehouses and sold to the Egyptians. And the famine became severe in the land of Egypt.
⁵⁷So all countries came to Joseph in Egypt to buy grain, because the famine was severe in all lands.
- Where did Joseph get the grain? – from the Egyptians
- Who did Joseph represent? – Pharaoh, the government of Egypt
- How did the government redistribute the gain? – sold it equally.
- What happened to God's people?
  
  Exodus 1:8 - 14 (NKJV) ⁸Now there arose a new king over Egypt, who did not know Joseph. ⁹And he said to his people, "Look, the people of the children of Israel are more and mightier than we;
  ¹⁰come, let us deal shrewdly with them, lest they multiply, and it happen, in the event of war, that they also join our enemies and fight against us, and so go up out of the land."
  ¹¹Therefore they set taskmasters over them to afflict them with their burdens. And they built for Pharaoh supply cities, Pithom and Raamses.
  ¹²But the more they afflicted them, the more they multiplied and grew. And they were in dread of the children of Israel.
  ¹³So the Egyptians made the children of Israel serve with rigor.
  ¹⁴And they made their lives bitter with hard bondage—in mortar, in brick, and in all manner of service in the field. All their service in which they made them serve was with rigor.
- Study the process;
  - Need
  - Taxation
  - Redistribution of wealth
  - Slavery
- Whatever you depend upon becomes your God!
  Matthew 6:24 - 34 (NKJV) ²⁴"No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.
  ²⁵"Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing?
  ²⁶Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?
  ²⁷Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature?
  ²⁸"So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin;
  ²⁹and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.
  
  ³⁰Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?
  ³¹"Therefore do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?'
  ³²For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.
  ³³But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.
  ³⁴Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.
  ILL: Look into the history of the Socialist Russian Union. From Socialism as an economic system, to Communism as a political system to Atheistic belief is a process.
  Pius XI famously wrote, "no one can be at the same time a good Catholic and a true socialist."
  Other Christian critics, such as Doug Bandow, have alleged that the government compulsion necessary for Socialism contradicts the Apostle Paul's advice: "Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver." (II Corinthians 9:7) Bandow continues: "Most important, the Christian faith recognizes that all human institutions are flawed, and that sinful men are likely to misuse their power."
The Jews desired to return to Egypt because of the dangers of living by faith.
The ultimate government control
Revelation 13:15 (NKJV) ¹⁵He was granted power to give breath to the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak and cause as many as would not worship the image of the beast to be killed. ¹⁶He causes all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hand or on their foreheads, ¹⁷and that no one may buy or sell except one who has the mark or the name of the beast, or the number of his name. ¹⁸Here is wisdom. Let him who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man: His number is 666.
ILL: This is economic & social equality – small and great, rich and poor, free and slave!
- The economic history is : Barter – metal coins – paper money – paper checks – electronic transactions – worldwide electronic transactions –barcode

God's program

Genesis 13:1 - 17 (NKJV) ¹Then Abram went up from Egypt, he and his wife and all that he had, and Lot with him, to the South. ²Abram was very rich in livestock, in silver, and in gold.
³And he went on his journey from the South as far as Bethel, to the place where his tent had been at the beginning, between Bethel and Ai,
⁴to the place of the altar which he had made there at first. And there Abram called on the name of the Lord.
⁵Lot also, who went with Abram, had flocks and herds and tents.
⁶Now the land was not able to support them, that they might dwell together, for their possessions were so great that they could not dwell together.
⁷And there was strife between the herdsmen of Abram's livestock and the herdsmen of Lot's livestock. The Canaanites and the Perizzites then dwelt in the land.

⁸So Abram said to Lot, "Please let there be no strife between you and me, and between my herdsmen and your herdsmen; for we are brethren.
⁹Is not the whole land before you? Please separate from me. If you take the left, then I will go to the right; or, if you go to the right, then I will go to the left."
¹⁰And Lot lifted his eyes and saw all the plain of Jordan, that it was well watered everywhere (before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah) like the garden of the Lord, like the land of Egypt as you go toward Zoar.
¹¹Then Lot chose for himself all the plain of Jordan, and Lot journeyed east. And they separated from each other.
¹²Abram dwelt in the land of Canaan, and Lot dwelt in the cities of the plain and pitched his tent even as far as Sodom.

¹³But the men of Sodom were exceedingly wicked and sinful against the Lord.
¹⁴And the Lord said to Abram, after Lot had separated from him: "Lift your eyes now and look from the place where you are—northward, southward, eastward, and westward;
¹⁵for all the land which you see I give to you and your descendants forever.
¹⁶And I will make your descendants as the dust of the earth; so that if a man could number the dust of the earth, then your descendants also could be numbered.
¹⁷Arise, walk in the land through its length and its width, for I give it to you."

How did Abraham get so rich? It's called "walking by faith" and "free enterprise"
Genesis 14:17 - 23 (NKJV) ¹⁷And the king of Sodom went out to meet him at the Valley of Shaveh (that is, the King's Valley), after his return from the defeat of Chedorlaomer and the kings who were with him.
¹⁸Then Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine; he was the priest of God Most High.
¹⁹And he blessed him and said:
"Blessed be Abram of God Most High, Possessor of heaven and earth;
²⁰ And blessed be God Most High,
Who has delivered your enemies into your hand."
And he gave him a tithe of all.
²¹Now the king of Sodom said to Abram, "Give me the persons, and take the goods for yourself."
²²But Abram said to the king of Sodom, "I have raised my hand to the Lord, God Most High, the Possessor of heaven and earth,
²³that I will take nothing, from a thread to a sandal strap, and that I will not take anything that is yours, lest you should say, 'I have made Abram rich'—

What is your excuse?
Proverbs 26:13 - 16 (NKJV) ¹³The lazy man says, "There is a lion in the road!
A fierce lion is in the streets!"
¹⁴As a door turns on its hinges,
So does the lazy man on his bed.
¹⁵The lazy man buries his hand in the bowl;
It wearies him to bring it back to his mouth.
¹⁶The lazy man is wiser in his own eyes than seven men who can answer sensibly.

ILL: We were living in Philadelphia when I was a small boy. The family desperately needed funds. My Mother went to Fox Fur Co. to look for work. "I'm sorry Mrs. Willis; I have no need of any employees at this time," the manager told her.

A wealthy woman came in while mother was standing there. She was complaining the way her new mink coat hung.

"Here," mother said and took a razor blade from a dish and cut the beautiful fur. The woman turned red in the face the manager became furious. "Where are your sewing machines? "mother asked. The manager pointed to a back room. Mother disappeared and reappeared in a few minutes holding up the coat. "Is that the way you wanted it to hang?" she asked. The woman, very pleased, said, "Yes, how much do I owe you?"
"Ask my boss," mother replied. She became a head designer for Fox fur!
That is called faith, fear gives excuses. "There is a lion in the road." Faith does something about it!

ILL: I got myself fired from a radio job. I was down and out for the count. My dad asked me what I wanted to do and I told him "work in radio."
"Well, go do it!" he said.
"No radio stations are hiring."
"Go work for nothing until the man recognizes that he needs you," was his answer.
I did! Within two weeks, I was employed by that radio station.

Conclusion: The real problem is – Who is your God? Who are you trusting in – the Government or Jesus?

Romans 14:22 - 23 (NKJV) ²²Do you have faith? Have it to yourself before God. Happy is he who does not condemn himself in what he approves.
²³But he who doubts is condemned if he eats, because he does not eat from faith; for whatever is not from faith is sin.

The Jews in the Exodus had a choice. In Egypt the government provided – but it was slavery. In the wilderness, they had to trust in God for their substance – that was the only path to freedom!

Tuesday, April 13, 2010

832 - The Mystery of the Four Cups Part 3

April 18, 2010
Sermon #832

Part 3 The Mystery of the Four Cups

Introduction: On Easter Sunday, I presented a table upon which were four cups. They are symbolical of the cups of the Jewish Passover and of the Jewish Wedding. I stated that they corresponded to the four expressions of redemption in Exodus 6:6-7.

Exodus 6:6 - 7 (NKJV) ⁶Therefore say to the children of Israel: 'I am the Lord; I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, I will rescue you from their bondage, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great judgments.
⁷I will take you as My people, and I will be your God. Then you shall know that I am the Lord your God who brings you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians.

I will bring you out (Jesus became sin for us in the garden)
I will deliver (Jesus bought us on the cross)
I will redeem (Jesus takes the Church with Him)
I will take you (The Church becomes His wife)
- 1^st Cup – He becomes sin
- 2^nd Cup – He pays the price for our redemption – the Cross
- 3^rd Cup – He takes us to the Marriage Supper of the Lamb
- 4^th Cup – The cup of consummation (or the cup of witness)

The upside-down cup

Psalm 75:1 - 8 (NKJV) ¹We give thanks to You, O God, we give thanks! For Your wondrous works declare that Your name is near.
²"When I choose the proper time,
I will judge uprightly.
³The earth and all its inhabitants are dissolved;
I set up its pillars firmly.
Selah
⁴"I said to the boastful, 'Do not deal boastfully,' And to the wicked, 'Do not lift up the horn.
⁵Do not lift up your horn on high;
Do not speak with a stiff neck.'"
⁶For exaltation comes neither from the east
Nor from the west nor from the south.
⁷But God is the Judge:
He puts down one,
And exalts another.
⁸For in the hand of the Lord there is a cup,
And the wine is red;
It is fully mixed, and He pours it out;
Surely its dregs shall all the wicked of the earth drain and drink down.

Where are the Bride and Bridegroom?
1^st Illustrated scene: Bride and Bridegroom are seen under the Chuppah with wedding guests seated at a table.
Psalm 27:3 - 6 (NKJV) ³Though an army may encamp against me, My heart shall not fear;
Though war may rise against me,
In this I will be confident.
⁴One thing I have desired of the Lord,
That will I seek:
That I may dwell in the house of the Lord
All the days of my life,
To behold the beauty of the Lord,
And to inquire in His temple.
⁵For in the time of trouble
He shall hide me in His pavilion;
In the secret place of His tabernacle
He shall hide me;
He shall set me high upon a rock.
⁶And now my head shall be lifted up above my enemies all around me;
Therefore I will offer sacrifices of joy in His tabernacle;
I will sing, yes, I will sing praises to the Lord.