[0:00] chapter 19. There's only 22 chapters. I mean, it's almost over. It'll only be a couple more months. He said jokingly, nobody laughed.
[0:22] We get a breath of fresh air this morning in the text of Revelation as we have heard a lot of bad news. We've heard a lot about judgment, about God's justice, which He deserves.
[0:40] But here we get a little positive note. We get a little scene in heaven of worship. Worship, worship. Praise, praise, praise. And so, it is my hope that the Lord encourages you with this today as we walk through this book that shows us behind the scenes the things that we see in our world are not the full reality.
[1:07] What this book of Revelation is showing us is what the real reality is. What seems, seems like God is not just. It seems like God is not holy.
[1:19] It seems like God is not reigning, and yet, behind the scenes, He is completely reigning. He is in full control, and He deserves our honor.
[1:30] But there will be a day, and Revelation describes this, there will be a day when it will not be a question whether He is reigning.
[1:43] And so, that's what we read of today. So, if you're able, please stand as I read from Revelation chapter 19, looking at verses 1 through 10.
[1:57] So, following the visions of chapter 18 in the fall of Babylon, John says this, After this, I heard what seemed to be the loud voice of a great multitude in heaven crying out, Hallelujah!
[2:14] salvation and glory and power belong to our God. For His judgments are true and just. For He has judged the great prostitute who corrupted the earth with her immorality.
[2:31] And He has avenged on her the blood of His servants. Once more, they cried out, Hallelujah! The smoke from her goes up forever and ever.
[2:44] And the 24 elders and the four living creatures fell down and worshipped God who was seated on the throne saying, Amen! Hallelujah!
[2:57] And from the throne came a voice saying, Praise our God! All you His servants! You who fear Him! Small and great!
[3:09] Then I heard what seemed to be the voice of a great multitude like the roar of many waters like the sound of mighty peals of thunder crying out, Hallelujah!
[3:29] For the Lord our God the Almighty reigns. Let us rejoice and exult and give Him the glory.
[3:41] For the marriage of the Lamb has come and His bride has made herself ready. It was granted to her to clothe herself with fine linen bright and pure.
[4:01] For the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints. And the angel said to me, Write this.
[4:12] Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he said to me, These are the true words of God.
[4:24] Then I fell down at His feet to worship Him. But he said to me, He must not do that. I am a fellow servant with you and your brothers who hold to the testimony of Jesus.
[4:40] Worship God for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy. So it reads.
[4:53] Let us pray. Father, grant us as always your eyes to see, your heart to receive and your spirit, Lord, to illumine us.
[5:09] We pray this in Christ's name. Amen. Please be seated. Amen. Jesus spoke about weddings and marriages several times.
[5:34] Spoke of Himself as a groom. And He told the parable in Matthew 22 comparing the kingdom of heaven to a king who gave a wedding feast for his son.
[5:52] Now remember, the parables were comparisons. They were mysteries that were to be interpreted. And so this is a parable, He says, of a king throwing a wedding feast for a son.
[6:07] So king, son, hmm, who might that be referring to, right? So He tells the story, this king wanted to throw a wedding feast for his son. So He sent out invitations.
[6:18] He invited people to come. But the invited guests would not come. So then He sent out more invitations.
[6:29] More invitations. And they gave excuses. Or they ignored the invitation. Or, in some cases, abused and killed the messengers.
[6:46] So in that case, the king became angry. Still no one would come to the king's wedding feast for his son. So then He instructed His messengers to go out everywhere.
[7:00] Go out into the roads and the byways, wherever you can. Gather as many as you can find so that my wedding hall is filled. And when the wedding feast came, the king comes into the feast and he sees one particular guest who is not dressed in wedding attire.
[7:23] In other words, dressed improperly. And he asks the guest, how did you get in here being dressed as you are? And the man was shamefully silent.
[7:35] So the king ordered his servants, cast him out into the outer darkness. eyes. And then Jesus said that the meaning of this parable is that many are called, few are chosen.
[7:57] Many are called, few are chosen. Many are called, God calls, calls, calls everyone. God invites everyone to come, but few come.
[8:14] Few. The ones you would expect to come don't come. The ones who in the world seem to be the more worthy ones, they are too busy.
[8:26] They have other things or they are annoyed with that. So God must go to the, beat the bushes. Get anyone.
[8:37] why would so many not want to come to the kingdom of heaven? Many are called, few are chosen.
[8:53] Revelation 19, the one new thing that comes up in this chapter, in this section, is the mention of the marriage of the lamb. We've not seen that before.
[9:04] We've seen other things that we're going, celebrating here in chapter 19. We've seen God's salvation and glory and power be praised before. We've seen his judgments, that his judgments are true and right.
[9:16] Those have been praised before. We've seen that God reigns before. That's not new. The one thing that's new in this passage is the announcement of the marriage of the lamb.
[9:29] That's brand new. I've not heard of that before. The marriage of the lamb. And the bride, his bride. And so what is being shown to us in this symbol is at the very end of history, we will see the fulfillment of this great promise of the new covenant that they will all know me.
[9:55] Not just that they will all serve me and worship me and bow down to me and honor me and obey me, but they will know me as a wife knows a husband with intimacy, with warmth, with tenderness.
[10:19] They will know me in a new way. This will be different. This is why there is so much praise in heaven at the end.
[10:39] So chapter 19, now we come across another marriage scene. Marriage scene, sorry, got marriage on my mind. Boy, could I tell you stories? No. Get on.
[10:55] Worship scenes. Worship scenes. So we've seen several in our study of Revelation as we've gone through all these chapters, 18 chapters, now we're entering chapter 19. Do you realize how many worship scenes we have seen?
[11:09] This is now the seventh worship scene. Hmm, book of sevens, I wonder if that's significant, right? And sometimes this major theme of the worship of God gets lost in all the details of the book of Revelation because we focus on this symbol and that symbol and this is going on and that's going on.
[11:31] But what we've seen as we kind of step back and look at this is, okay, the story develops, worship breaks out. Develops a little further, worship breaks out.
[11:43] Develops a little further, more worship. So seven times in this book, worship breaks out. In other words, it's not just a book about telling you how the future will unfold or how the present life will unfold.
[12:01] But more importantly, what it directs us back to is it's all about Him. Like we say at the beginning of every service, it's all about Him.
[12:14] We're here for Him. We benefit from that. We're encouraged by that. We come to serve one another. But ultimately and finally, it's all about Him.
[12:27] He is the beginning and He is the end. He is the Alpha. He is the Omega. He is the first. He is the last. So here we are again.
[12:39] So, so, so, so, so, reminisce with me briefly. Chapter 4. How was, how was God worshiped? Chapter 4, we see a throne room.
[12:50] We see everything that is described in relation to God. There are things, there is God who is on the throne. There are things around the throne. There are things that come from the throne. There are those who are before the throne.
[13:03] Again, everything gets, is described in relation to the throne. So the throne is central. The throne is it. We are defined by Him, not the other way around.
[13:17] We only understand ourselves in relation to Him. So what is described in chapter 8? How is He worshipped? Verse 8. Excuse me, verse chapter 4. What did I say?
[13:29] I don't even know what I said. Chapter 4, He's worshipped as creator. So verse 8, the four living creatures, each of them with six wings full of eyes all around within.
[13:39] Day and night, they never cease to say, holy, holy, holy is the Lord God, the Almighty, who was and is and is to come. And then whenever the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to Him who is seated on the throne, who lives forever and ever, then the 24 elders fall down before Him who is seated on the throne and worship Him who lives forever and ever, and they cast their crowns before the throne, saying, worthy are you, O Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power.
[14:10] Why? For you created all things, and they exist by your will. They exist by your will.
[14:24] He didn't just wind up the clock and let it go. They exist moment by moment by your will. He's worshiped as creator.
[14:36] Chapter 5, Jesus the Lamb comes forward. He is worshiped as a redeemer. Verse 9, they, chapter 5, verse 9, they sang a new song saying, worthy are you, the Lamb, to take the scroll and open its seals.
[14:49] Why is He worthy? For you were slain and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and every language and people and nation. And you made them a kingdom and priests to our God and they shall reign forever.
[15:05] And it keeps going on. Verse 12, the angels cry out, worthy is the Lamb who was slain to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing.
[15:18] And then every creature, verse 13, all over creation say, to Him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever.
[15:30] And the four living creatures say amen and the elders fall down and worship. More worship. We go over to chapter 7 and there's more worship. We see the scene in heaven. In chapter 7 verse 9, we see this great multitude that is made up of all these same people, all these saved people in heaven from every tribe and people language standing before the throne, clothed in white robes, palm branches in their hands and they're crying out with a loud voice, salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne and to the Lamb.
[16:05] and then all the angels break out standing around the throne and around the elders and four living creatures they fall on their faces before the throne and they worship God saying amen, blessing and glory and wisdom and thanks and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever.
[16:23] Can we come out, can we get any more descriptions of what he's worthy of? Right, on and on. Then we go over to chapter 11. There's more. After the seventh trumpet, right?
[16:39] Yes. Chapter 11, verse 15, the seventh trumpet is blown. This is the end, right? It is one of the descriptions of the end. In fact, it's parallel with chapter 19.
[16:51] What happens in the seventh trumpet? Look what happens. Then the seventh trumpet blew his trumpet. Seventh angel blew his trumpet and there were loud voices in heaven. It's always loud, isn't it? Loud voices saying, the kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ and he shall reign forever and ever.
[17:08] There's the eternal, final, ultimate, consummate reign. And the 24 elders who sit on their thrones before God fall on their faces, get off their thrones and fall on their faces and worship God saying, we give thanks to you, Lord, God, the Almighty.
[17:23] There's that tri description of God again. We see over and over again, Lord, God, Almighty, who was and who is and who was, instead of saying who is to come, they say, for you have taken your great power and begun to reign.
[17:38] So not is to come, but has now come and is now reigning. So they praise God there. We see it again and again.
[17:49] Chapter 14, one of the angels who gives messages calls out with a call to worship. Where is it? Verse 7, he said with a loud voice, fear God and give him glory.
[18:01] Why? Because the hour of his judgment has come. Worship him who, again, back to creator, who made heaven and earth, the sea and the springs of water. Worship him as creator. So we've seen God worship him chapter 4 as creator, chapter 5 as the redeemer, chapter 7 as the savior, chapter 11 as the eternal king, 14 as the judge and creator, and now in chapter 15, verse 3 and 4, he's worshipped as the almighty.
[18:32] 15, 3, they sang the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the lamb saying, great and amazing are your deeds, O Lord, the God, the almighty.
[18:44] There's that triple name again. Just and true are your ways, O king of the nations. Who will not fear, O Lord, and glorify your name? Why? Because you alone are holy.
[18:56] You alone deserve it. All the nations will come and worship you for your righteous acts have been revealed.
[19:08] You will be displayed for who you are. And then again in chapter 16, we saw as the bowls are poured out, as the third bowl is poured out, the angel of the waters says, verse 5, just are you, O holy one, who is and was, for you brought these judgments, for they have shed the blood of saints and prophets and you have given them blood to drink, eye for eye, drunk for drunk.
[19:39] Verse 7, yes, Lord God, the almighty, there it is again, Lord the God, the almighty, true and just are your judgments. So he's honored as a holy judge.
[19:51] And now in chapter 19, we come to the seventh worship scene. Do you think worship's important? I mean, even in the midst of everything going on, that maybe in our eyes in this world seems bad, but revelation is showing us God's in control.
[20:17] God is pouring out, he is sending, he is working through this, he is on his throne, he is to be worshiped. But there will be a day, beloved, when there will be no doubt about who is on the throne.
[20:39] We, by faith, do not doubt that. We believe Jesus is on his throne, as 1 Corinthians says, that he is putting his enemies under his feet until finally he puts death under his feet and it's done.
[20:56] We believe that, but we don't see that. We see glimpses here and there. We see when people get saved, we see all. We see when people get healed, we see ah.
[21:10] We see when the lost are found. Okay, he's taking battle. He's defeating the dragon. We see when we struggle with temptation and somehow by crying out to him, we overcome.
[21:27] We see, okay, yeah, he's on his throne. But there will be a day when it will not be a question.
[21:39] There will not be a voice raised in counter point. So, we see here in chapter 19, the first 10 verses, two parts to this scene.
[21:54] We see verse 1, he hears a voice, right? And then again, verse 6, he hears another voice. That seems like a lot louder voice. So, there's two voices that he hears and two praises.
[22:10] So, verses in 19, 1 through 5 is the first praise of God, and it's a praise for his salvation that comes through judgment.
[22:22] And then in verse 6, we will see a second voice that cries out, hallelujah, God reigns. And that reign particularly is manifested in the marriage of the Lamb.
[22:38] That solidifies, that shows us, that this is the final done reign. Now the marriage. The groom has brought the bride.
[22:51] Okay? So, two exaltations here. So, the first one we see in the first five verses is an exaltation, a praising of God, a hallelujah for our final salvation that comes through judgment.
[23:04] So, let me put it this way. It's an exaltation for our final salvation by judgment that rouses, that stirs a massive praise. I was trying to find a word more than great praise, or big praise.
[23:20] Massive. And I did it because of how it's described. I want you to note the praise. Praise is expressed, first of all, verse one, as a mega voice.
[23:31] It says, verse one says a loud voice. Well, the Greek word is mega. Sorry, does that mean loud, big? So, I'm just going to call it a mega voice. Mega, big, loud.
[23:44] It's a mega voice, and it's the voice of not just one. Even though he says, I heard a voice, but it's a voice or a sound that comes from a great multitude.
[23:57] So, that's why I'm saying massive. It's mega loud and mega people. Now, we're not told what this multitude consists of. Is it angels?
[24:07] Is it saints? Is it both? Doesn't matter. What the focus is what matters. What they say is hallelujah. By the way, I've intentionally spelled it correctly on your outline.
[24:22] It's not a J, it's a Y. We're speaking a Hebrew word. No J's in Hebrew. Yah, yah, yah, yah, yah.
[24:35] Yah, praise, yah, hallelujah. Yah. Four times in these six verses. Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah.
[24:46] Reminds me of an old youth song. Remember? Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah. Praise you, the Lord. Praise you, hallelujah.
[24:57] Okay. I don't know, I'm sorry, that's what pops into my mind when I say, hallelujah, hallelujah. But that's Hebrew.
[25:08] Hallelujah. Praise the Lord. Hallel, the hallel songs of the Psalms, Psalm 111 through 118, each begins with hallelujah, not ja, yah, yahweh, praise, yahweh, that's what it means.
[25:24] And they praise him because his judgment shows his salvation. Notice he's connecting those two things. Hallelujah, salvation, glory, power belong to our God.
[25:38] Why? For his judgments are true and just. So salvation, glory, and power are displayed in his judgments. So there's a connection between judgment and salvation. But we've seen that before.
[25:50] In fact, that's a common theme throughout the Bible. Noah and his family are saved through the judgment of the flood. Lot and his family, well, his daughters end up being saved through the judgment of Sodom and Gomorrah.
[26:08] He has to be dragged out, but he's saved. Israel in Egypt are saved through the judgment of Egypt. Believers, are we saved through judgment?
[26:22] What was this? It's a cross. Yeah, what is it? What was it though? It was a judgment. He took our judgment.
[26:36] He bore our judgment. That's how we're saved. We're saved through judgment. And our final salvation will be through judgment again. judgment.
[26:47] The judgment of those who have corrupted the earth and have spilled our blood. The final salvation.
[27:03] So, how are they saved? Again, it's explained by verse 2 why salvation is in this judgment. For his judgments are true and just. They're true. They're real.
[27:13] They're valid judgments. His judgments are just, which means they are fair. They are deserved. He judges who?
[27:27] He judges the great prostitute. We saw last time, or last few chapters, that the word prostitute is not a literal prostitute, but it's a symbol, a picture. And it's a picture of false worship.
[27:38] It's a picture of idolatry. Because God seems to take it personally when we seek other gods. He sees it as I made you, you are mine.
[27:50] I made you for my glory. I made you for my pleasure. I made you for my fellowship. Not that he needed fellowship, he had fellowship, but he wanted that.
[28:01] And then we go and do our own thing. He calls that prostitution. I'm your husband, you leave me?
[28:14] I'm your maker, I'm your creator. And so he calls it prostitution. And Israel struggled with that from the beginning. The very first sin.
[28:27] What was Eve tempted with? Has God really said it? Questioning God. This God you're worshiping, can you trust him? Has he really said that?
[28:40] Has he said that? Getting her to question and leave him. Adam was a big help, wasn't he? Where are we going now? Had full brain power back then too.
[28:54] Right? Dude, got to have discussion with that guy, not that I can blame him. So he talks about this justice that comes in two ways.
[29:07] He condemns the corruptor of the earth. This prostitute who has corrupted, has seduced the world to follow a God we can control, to follow a God that gives us instant pleasure, to follow a God that gives us what we really want, not what we need.
[29:27] Right? So he punishes, he condemns the corruptor and he vindicates the saints at the same time. Who are these saints that are vindicated?
[29:38] We'll remember all the way back in chapter 6. Right? The fifth seal is open. Right? And we see this picture in heaven of these souls who had been martyred, the souls of the martyrs, under the altar of God where God is worshipped.
[29:55] And they're the picture of prayer coming up. Right? So it's all the saints who have suffered and died for Jesus are there and they're calling out, how long, oh God?
[30:08] So I, does time pass in heaven? It's eternal, right? But there they are in heaven saying, how long? Huh. I don't know.
[30:20] Maybe it's just a picture. How long a Lord before you judge and avenge us on those who killed us? And here's the ultimate answer.
[30:33] They're answered. God is judging and taking vengeance. Then finally we see in verse 3 this praise just explodes.
[30:44] It's established. There's a second hallelujah in verse 3 hallelujah. The smoke is going up forever and ever. In other words, smoke is the after effect, right?
[30:54] It's the proof that the punishment has been done, the judgment has been done. Smoke going up, it means it's final, it's finished. And so they say, thank you Lord.
[31:09] And then verse 4, the heavenly court, the 24 elders and the four living creatures, they affirm the whole thing. Amen, hallelujah, two Hebrew words.
[31:20] By the way, to me, I think that's proof that the language in heaven is Hebrew. I don't know what you want, but it's not going to be French, not going to be English for sure. Seems to be Hebrew.
[31:33] Because here they are, they're speaking Hebrew. They're not speaking Greek, they're not speaking French, they're not speaking English, they're speaking amen, hallelujah. Every time I say hallelujah, no hallelujah, remember Manny Mill?
[31:47] Remember Manny Mill? Manny Mill is a Cuban friend of mine who was saved under Colson's ministry in prison and came out and now he's an on-fire preacher and a disciple of prisoners coming out of prison.
[32:04] But he would, hallelujah, and maybe that's not how you say hallelujah. Hallelujah. He was great. So this was for Manny, not that Manny.
[32:18] I'll have to send it to him. And then we're told verse 5, there's a voice from the throne, another voice from the throne.
[32:29] Well, we've already heard from the 24 elders and the four living creatures voice from the throne. That's either the one seated on the throne or the one who's in the midst of the throne, which is the lamb, one or the other, they say worship God.
[32:46] Or one of those voices say worship God. Who? All his servants and all who fear him. God. You join in on that?
[33:05] Sometimes, you know, how much does our soul rule us? You know, sometimes when you're feeling physically not well, it's hard to feel like praising.
[33:20] Some of you've gone through sicknesses lately and you feel rotten, right? And this pain that I've been suffering from for a while, not really suffering, I have a low threshold, that's all.
[33:35] It just distracts my mind. It's hard to be there, the soul. And I've been thinking of that Psalm 42 lately because it's like my soul thirsts, but my soul is also downcast.
[33:48] At the same time. So I'm trying to learn that, okay, when it's downcast, it's thirsting for God. It's odd. Yeah, the only answer for my downcast soul is Him.
[34:05] No earthly thirst can quench that. No pill, no exercise.
[34:16] Exercise helps, but it also hurts. why does recovery hurt so much? I don't know.
[34:27] It makes us look for heaven. Yeah. So why do we praise God? Let me bring this practical here. Why do we praise God?
[34:37] Well, there's many reasons we praise God. We just had a time of sharing what do you have to praise God for, answer prayer, et cetera. So we can say a lot of things we praise God for, but in general we can say, well, we can praise Him for His past mercy, His present grace, and His future salvation.
[34:59] Listen to the way Peter expresses it, 1 Peter 1. He says, blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who, according to His great mercy in the past, has caused us to be born again.
[35:14] Praise Him for His past. He caused us to be born again. He caused us to be born again. I didn't cause me to be born again. I tried for years, couldn't do it.
[35:25] He caused me to be born again. And then He goes on to what? To a living hope, present, a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to a future, to an inheritance that's imperishable, undefiled, unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God's power, present, are presently being guarded through faith for what?
[35:52] For a future salvation, for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. Wait a minute, I thought we are already saved. No, we are saved and we're being saved and we will be saved ultimately.
[36:05] That's what Peter's saying, it's a past, present, future. We bless Him for all of that. It's so grand. In this He says you rejoice though, okay, he's a realist, we're not blind here, we're not ignorant.
[36:20] In this you rejoice though, now for a little while, a little while, 40 years, 50 years, 70 years, a little while, if necessary, you've been grieved, okay, he's honest, isn't he?
[36:32] You've been grieved by various trials so that the tested genuineness of your faith, oh, that's what's going on. Yeah, the trials are a test to prove the genuineness of your faith, your real faith.
[36:49] Doesn't walk away, no, still believe. More precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire, your faith may prove, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.
[37:04] That's in heaven. You know that your faith will get praise? Your tested faith that has endured will get praise and honor and glory.
[37:16] Cool. In other words, he's going to say, well done. Well done. I know how hard it was. Well done. He goes on, he says, though you have not seen him, now back to reality here again, though you have not seen him, you love him, and though you do not see him now, you believe in him.
[37:42] See, it's by faith. And rejoice with joy that's inexpressible and filled with glory. How many got that? They got that? Because I'm missing that lately.
[37:54] Rejoice with joy inexpressible. Okay, maybe it's inexpressible in my full of glory for that future thing, obtaining as the outcome of your faith the salvation of your souls.
[38:10] Do you rejoice in God? Do you praise him for his past mercy? That he would cause you to be born again?
[38:23] That he would do what you couldn't do? for his ongoing grace and power to keep guarding you. That even though you wander, he brings you back.
[38:34] Even though you fall, he helps you back up. As he prayed for Peter, right, that your faith won't fail. But even in your falling, your faith won't fail.
[38:46] In fact, you'll be stronger because you're more aware of your failure. Do you rejoice with inexpressible joy for the final salvation yet to come?
[39:00] Well, if you don't, I hope the next part causes you to think that way. So John hears in verse 6 a second voice. First voice praising God for the salvation by judgment.
[39:14] The second voice now exulting for God's irrefutable reign and the Lamb's marriage that excites thunderous praise.
[39:28] That's a mouthful. I was trying to be eloquent here. They exult in God's irrefutable reign and the Lamb's marriage.
[39:45] And those two thoughts, the irrefutable reign and the marriage of the Lamb excites a thunderous praise. Because look at how it's described in verse 6.
[39:56] It's an even bigger voice, right? I heard another, what seemed to be a voice. Well, it was a voice of a great multitude, so mega multitude. It's also like a voice of many waters.
[40:07] Oh, so we call that the roar of many waters. And it's also like the sound of mighty peals of thunder. Or the voice of mighty thunder.
[40:21] So what do you call all that? It's a great multitude, it's a roar of waters, and it's a mighty thunder. What do you call all that? Thunder, that's all I could come up with.
[40:33] Maybe I should have used massive on this one. So, this celebration, the focus is on the Lord God. God, it's actually Lord, the God, the Almighty reigns.
[40:47] And here is this reign, this is about his ultimate, final reign. This is at the end of history. This is not Jesus sitting on his throne right now, slowly putting his enemy.
[40:59] He is reigning, he is ruling, and his rule is absolute. His rule is really undeniable, though others will deny it. We're talking about a reign in heaven that will be indisputable, unquestioned, conclusive, unresisted, undenied.
[41:26] Because now it's denied, now it's questioned, now it's resisted. But there will be a time when every knee will bow.
[41:37] Every knee. heaven, earth, under the earth, don't care where, every knee will bow and every tongue will confess, will agree.
[41:50] Not just, yeah, he's God. No, he's God. At the name of Yeshua.
[42:04] Again, Hebrew, it's pronounced with a Y, not a J. Yeshua, Yeshua, or Yehoshua, depending on the form.
[42:16] Yesu, Jesus. Joshua, right? Yeshua. Good name, man.
[42:31] Yeah. Yeah. And what is the effect? Verse 7. Notice this. So, verse 6, hallelujah, for the Lord our God, the Almighty reigns, more call to worship, verse 7, let us rejoice and exult and give him glory.
[42:51] Kind of a triple trifecta there of worship. Why? For the marriage of the Lamb has come. See, that's the impact of God's eternal reign. of the very end.
[43:04] Now, he can bring his bride. In the Bible, there's two phases to marriage. In our day, we do what? We call it engagement and then wedding, right?
[43:17] Right? It's similar, but the impact's different. In the Old Testament, they didn't call it engagement, they called it betrothal. You are betrothed.
[43:29] It doesn't mean you lie in a trough. I don't know, but I don't think so. You're betrothed. There's a contract. Because remember, Mary was betrothed to Joseph.
[43:43] They had not yet come together. They were not yet married, but they were betrothed. And so when he found out she was pregnant, being the righteous man that he was, he sought to divorce her secretly, not shame her.
[44:02] I have to do the right thing, I have to divorce, but I'm not going to expose her. And then the angel comes and says, don't do that. No, no, no, no, she has not been unfaithful, right?
[44:17] But she's your wife, she's already considered his wife. And it would have taken a divorce to undo the betrothal. So see, it's a little different.
[44:28] And then once the wedding day comes, then you have a great feast. Remember, Jesus went to a wedding. By the way, it wasn't in a church, was it? Never find in scripture that weddings were in churches or synagogues or temples.
[44:43] They're at somebody's home. So Jesus goes to a home where there's a wedding. So when the wedding day comes, what happens? Well, the bride is at her house. What happens is the groom does a processional and his party.
[45:00] Remember the virgins with the lamps waiting for the groom to come, right? And then they wait too long and then the boy goes out, right? Another parable about marriage. But they go and they get the bride. Could be middle of the night.
[45:12] We don't know. But he gets the bride and what does he do? He takes the bride back to dad's house, his house, his own house.
[45:27] Because scripture says a man shall leave his father and mother and go cleave to his wife and they become one flesh.
[45:41] marriage. So marriage has two things. So who's this bride in this marriage of the lamb? Marriage of the lamb. It is the church.
[45:54] Because we see in the explanation, so he says, the bride, look at verse seven, the marriage of the bride is, marriage of the lamb has come and his bride has made herself ready. who is granted to her to clothe herself with fine linen, bright and pure, for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of who?
[46:13] The saints. So the saints are the bride. Saints are the righteous deeds, are the fine linen. The fine linen belongs to the bride. Now that's a whole curious thing.
[46:27] The bride has made herself ready. Okay, here's the should sermon, right? Here's what you got to do to get ready for Jesus, to be a good, ready bride, right?
[46:40] So thou shalt what? Stop doing this and that and that and that and better do this and better always be here and never, you know, going on vacation or anything or getting sick, you know, on and on and on.
[46:55] The shoulds, we've all heard that stuff and it makes us feel great, doesn't it? No, so she's made herself ready. How? What does it say? She's made herself ready, comma, it was granted, given, gifted her to clothe herself with fine linen.
[47:15] And then we're told the fine linen are the righteous deeds of the saints. So question, is it a gift or is it a work? Fine linen is the works, right?
[47:26] The righteous deeds, right? But it was given to her to clothe herself. What's the gift? Jesus' righteousness.
[47:40] So we come to the cross, right? To the place of judgment for salvation. And what do we do? We give him our cloak.
[47:50] We give him our dirty clothes. and he gives us his blood soaked, clean, washed robes to wear. So we're not clothing ourselves with our own clothes.
[48:03] That would be the mistake. We're clothing ourselves with the gifted clothes. The clothes of our elder brother, our Savior, who, just like Jacob wore Esau's furry coat, right?
[48:20] We get one much better than that. We get a nice bloody one that makes us white and bright and clean. But it says it both ways.
[48:31] It's both a gift and a work. It's both a gift and a fruit because now we've been given the power in that act of salvation. We're given the power.
[48:42] We're caused to be born again, right? So now we're alive. Now I can see. Now I can hear. My lameness now can walk. So now I'm given the ability to put on his clothes.
[48:57] Put on the Lord Jesus Christ. Right? Put off the old clothes. Put on the new clothes, Ephesians 4. Right? Not a duty, but a power, an ability.
[49:14] Does that make sense? Now I get my fruit. As I abide in him, I bear fruit. I don't produce the fruit. I abide in him. Through him comes the power and the life to bear fruit.
[49:30] So it's all credit to him. So then we see a second picture in verse 9. Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper.
[49:41] So we have a bride and then we have guests. Who are the guests? We've got two different groups here? Or just two different pictures?
[49:54] So Revelation has given us lots of different pictures of a different way to look at it. So, yes, we're the bride. We're also the guests. We're also the guests.
[50:05] Jesus' parable in Matthew 22, remember, spoke about one guest that wasn't wearing the right clothing. He was, right?
[50:17] He was improper. Well, how do I wear the right clothing? What's that about? Is that kind of, you know, what if he's poor? What if he just came from a job? What if it, it's not about that.
[50:28] He was silent. He knew he should have. And the clothing is free. It's a gift. Right? So, blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the lamb, the feast.
[50:47] Here again, we have a picture with this marriage. Why did God choose this picture? Why marriage? There's lots of pictures, lots of symbols in the Bible, but in terms of our relationship with God, he gives us this picture of marriage.
[51:04] marriage. Now, if you've had a bad marriage, maybe that affects that picture. But imagine that it's a marriage with Jesus.
[51:18] Okay? Why that picture? What is the picture of marriage? What is being portrayed with that? What brings this to another level?
[51:34] We're with God? We're blessed in heaven? Why does he want us to know this? Because he's not just our king and I'm a servant.
[51:47] He's not just our lord and I am his slave. And it's not just that now I'm his friend. There's a picture that God intended from the beginning.
[52:01] Because what's the first statement he makes after he creates Adam and Eve. Therefore, a man shall leave his father and mother and cleave to his wife and two shall become one.
[52:15] There's such a closeness, a communion, a tenderness, an intimacy, a relationship. That's what it's picturing. Relationship. Then we have an interesting little side note in verse 10.
[52:37] Apparently John's not perfect. John says after he hears these words, he doesn't know who's speaking. In verse 9, my text says the angel said, but in the original text it doesn't say, it doesn't identify the speaker, it just says he said.
[52:51] So we don't know who it is. We didn't know it was an angel. I mean, we heard lots of voices in this section, so all of a sudden there's a singular he said. Who's that?
[53:02] Is that? But obviously John is wrong because John, verse 10, John falls down at his feet to worship and he said to me, you must not do that. Because I'm just the same, I'm just a fellow servant.
[53:19] If he's an angel, and that's the thing, he's glorious and mighty and that can be confusing. So we're kind of wondering what's going on in John's head. Was he just confused and didn't know who the speaker was?
[53:32] Did he think it was Jesus? Because chapter one, he fell at Jesus' feet, and Jesus didn't tell him don't do that, just said, it's okay, it's me.
[53:43] So here, is he confused? Is he overwhelmed? Is he simply caught up in the glory and boy, I want to worship too? Whatever it is, he's corrected.
[53:55] Worship God alone. As glorious and mighty and awe-inspiring as an angel would be, right, if we see an angel in their glory, that would be tempting.
[54:12] Oh, remember the angels always, the first words out of an angel's mouth is usually, fear not, right, because they're fairly intimidating, I imagine, when you see who they are.
[54:25] So, he's still a servant, so he's not to be worshipped, he's just a, he's just a created servant.
[54:38] And then he corrects him, he says, you know, I'm a fellow servant with you and your brothers who hold to the testimony of Jesus, I'm one with you, I'm a testifier of Jesus, worship God.
[54:51] And then he gives a reason, for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy, interesting phrase, for the testimony of Jesus, the witness about Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.
[55:08] What's that mean? Right? There are many ways that could be taken. The testimony of Jesus, that could be testimony from Jesus or testimony about Jesus, of doesn't tell us which way that goes, and then the spirit of prophecy.
[55:26] Is it the spirit-infusing, inspiring prophecy? In other words, the capital T spirit or, right, or the spirit of prophecy?
[55:41] The attitude, the inspiration of, the ofs are not defined here. Could go either way.
[55:54] What does it most likely mean? See, we're back, in Revelation, we're back to, okay, what's most likely? Is that when we testify about Jesus, that is, that is, in a general sense, the spirit of prophecy.
[56:10] Prophecy is proclaiming. We are taking then the role of the prophet, not the Old Testament prophet, but a New Testament prophet, proclaiming what is true. Or it could simply be, the testimony that comes from Jesus is the spirit speaking to us.
[56:32] Either way is fine. So, let's end with this. I want to return to our reason for why we praise him.
[56:43] because he is irrefutable in his reign and the lamb, the lamb's marriage. Who is this bride? I want to explore that a little bit more.
[56:54] Yes, it's the church, but how is the church? How are we, in some sense, married to Christ? We're already betrothed. We're waiting for him to take us to his home, right? I go to a place, I prepare a place for you, I will return and bring you to that place, right?
[57:09] The whole picture of that marriage. So, what does this mean? That we are married, that we are the bride of Christ. So, Paul talks about this.
[57:19] In fact, Paul, in Ephesians 5, calls it a mystery. Interesting that he uses that word. That's the revelation word for symbolic things. You know, the mystery of the lampstands.
[57:30] Well, those seven lampstands are seven churches. The mystery of the, you know, the seven angels. Well, those seven, no, never mind. You know, the seven heads below is this, and the seven horns, are this, or ten horns.
[57:47] I'm bad when I go off of memory. So, who's this bride? So, here's what Paul says. Marriage is a mystery. In other words, it's a symbol. So, for the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its savior.
[58:07] Now, as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit in everything to their husbands. So, there's a comparison between Christ as the husband, church as the wife.
[58:19] Husbands, love your wives. How? Like Jesus, like Christ, loved the church, and gave himself up for her. Now, the church is called her. You okay with that?
[58:32] It's not mad, it's just literary. Gave himself up for her, so that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of the water with the word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish.
[58:57] See the picture? Here's the bride who now has these new clothes. She's bright and clean and pure. Because why? Because Christ has come and taken her. In the same way, husbands should love their wives as their own bodies.
[59:14] He who loves his wife loves himself, for no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church.
[59:26] Christ loves the church because we are members of his body. A husband loves his wife like he loves his own body. Jesus loves the church because we are his body.
[59:43] We are his bride. Therefore, a man shall, here we go, back to Genesis 1, a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife and two shall become one flesh.
[59:54] this mystery is profound. I am speaking that it refers to Christ and the church. Picture of intimate relationship.
[60:07] relationship. And it's the picture of this intimate relationship between Christ and the church that gives husbands the clue as to how they love their wives.
[60:21] It is this church and Christ relationship that gives wives understanding in how to love their husbands. It's not the other way around.
[60:32] It's Christ and the church is the model. How has the bride made herself ready?
[60:42] Well, she's been loved by Christ. She's been cleansed and washed. She's been made holy. How did Jesus do that for his bride? He gave himself up for her.
[60:53] He lays down his life. He pays the debt so she can be cleansed and washed. What does his bride do in return?
[61:05] Well, according to Ephesians 5, she submits to him. And the word means voluntarily, willingly, yields to him.
[61:18] Say, well, it's easy with Jesus. I don't know about my husband. That's why God put it in there. It's a nice test, isn't it? She gives him all she has because he deserves all.
[61:33] He has freed her from her sin and her guilt and her shame and he's made her, how did he describe it? He presents the church to himself in splendor. Notice, he does all this for her so that he might present her back to himself.
[61:50] That's how Ephesians puts it. He's not just done all this for her and then, you know, put her on a shelf. He does all this for her so that he might present her to himself so he's betrothed her and then he will come and present her to himself when everything's done.
[62:10] So, do you look forward to that day and you will see him? I'm looking forward more and more when we will rejoice, when we exalt, if not, maybe some here who do not look forward to that day.
[62:32] If you do not, you have been invited by Jesus himself to come to him. Come.
[62:45] He's the ticket holder. He's the only one that can make it possible. He simply says a word and you're in. And you're not just in, you're changed.
[63:00] What will you do with that invitation? Let's pray. Father, we thank you for this picture of worship.
[63:10] Honestly, Father, to me, it sounds overwhelming to have that much praise. It makes this body tired.
[63:26] Yet, Lord, I know that you're describing a day when we will be free of limitations. When we will be in a different, new, glorious, powerful body.
[63:39] And so, Father, we look forward to that, not just for what we get, but what we get to give to you. We get to honor you more, truly.
[63:50] Our worship now is in weakness. Our worship now doesn't have our whole heart and our whole mind, our whole soul, or for certainly our whole strength in it, though we may desire that.
[64:07] one day, oh Father, we're going to be able to give you the glory you deserve. And...