How's everybody doing today?
Awesome.
We like to start every Sunday with saying welcome to anybody that's joining us here
in our room for the first time here in the sanctuary, or if you're joining us online
for the first time.
We want to say welcome to all of you.
We're so glad you're here to worship with us today.
I am Pastor Nathan and this morning we are stepping away from the judgment and the horror
of the last moments of the tribulation period to witness the biggest, grandest, most joyous
celebration of all time.
It's the great celebration that Christians of all ages have looked forward to from the
very moment they said yes to Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior.
Today we're looking at the marriage feast of the Lamb in Revelation 19 and this is awesome.
This is the culmination of everything.
This is the culmination of the engagement that we are now a part of.
This is the picture of the promise to come.
It is everything we are looking forward to.
I believe that every believer, and if you don't, maybe pray to get there, but every
believer longs for heaven.
We long for the day when we're no longer here but we're with him.
When we're free from the challenges and the difficulties and the issues of this life and
we're in heaven in perfection and joy face to face with our Creator and our Savior.
That is really what makes heaven heaven.
It's Jesus.
Jesus is what makes heaven heaven.
Jesus, being face to face with him, is it.
That's what we're looking forward to.
It's not the golden streets or the crowns we'll be wearing.
It's not the mansions that he talks about as he says, I'm going to go to prepare a place
for you.
It's Jesus.
It's him.
It's his presence and us being there with him.
That is what makes heaven heaven.
It's very similar to the picture of what makes any marriage a marriage.
When two people are coming together in marriage, the marriage isn't the house.
It's not about the car, the animals, the pets, the dogs, the cats, the stuff.
It's not about any of that.
A marriage is about the people, the couple, the two that have come together, the two people
who have committed to one another as we do here on earth in poverty or in wealth and
sickness or in health.
The last handful of months we've been going through prophetically, what we the church
are never going to have to go through historically as we have been studying this great tribulation
period.
We've studied now through the whole tribulation period as it has been revealed to the apostle
John.
Every little detail of this period of time, this last seven years of earth's history
referred to collectively as the day of the Lord.
Our study started of this time with the scroll being taken by the lamb from the right hand
of the father.
And then we saw each of those seven seals broken one after the other, each ushering
in judgment from God upon an earth and a people that had embraced sin and rejected him.
Then we saw the seven blasts from the seven trumpets, each one a continuing escalation
of the judgments of God as they fell upon the earth.
Then we saw the seven bowls of judgment poured out on the earth.
And as we studied that when that seventh bowl was poured out, that was it.
It was over.
It was done.
Tribulation, the day of the Lord, all of the destruction and horror of God's judgments
upon the earth and upon mankind were now finished.
And so here in Revelation 19, now we get to the good stuff.
We get to the good stuff.
We get to much that stands in huge contrast to what we've been studying.
And today as we look at the first 10 verses of Revelation 19, we're going to see a scene
that is taking place exclusively in heaven.
A beautiful picture.
A picture of our future as believers, as those who have trusted Jesus Christ for our salvation.
A beautiful picture of what's to come for all who believe in Jesus Christ.
And it's amazing.
But first, we're going to worship him because we're not there yet.
We're looking forward to this day.
But today we do get to praise our God for his just awesomeness, his almighty nature,
his love.
I mean, there is so much to praise Jesus for here and now in this life as we look forward
to that day where we're reunited with him face to face.
So let's pray and then let's worship.
Father God, we love you so much.
We're so grateful.
Lord, we look forward to the day where we get to stand with you.
Lord, where this relationship that you have characterized as a marriage, Lord.
God, where this relationship is fully brought together, fully reaches its full conclusion,
God.
Lord, we are united with you forever in paradise, face to face forever, God.
Enjoy.
And Lord, as we look at this picture today of this moment to come, God, we're going to
see such great celebration.
We're going to see such joy.
We're going to see just overwhelming hallelujah and God, we're so excited.
Lord, I know some of us in this life as we live through this life, even as believers,
sometimes we could lose sight of this marriage feast to come and we could get caught up in
the difficulties and the challenges.
And Lord, I pray today, God, your spirit, as your spirit falls upon your people, that
we would have a renewed excitement as we're reminded again at the future to come for those
who have trusted in you.
Lord, bless us today.
Speak to us today.
We love you so much.
It's in Jesus' name we pray.
Amen.
All right.
We are in Revelation chapter 19 and I can't think of a better portion of scripture to
be able to teach on Thanksgiving week.
Weddings are definitely moments of great celebration.
I'm sure all of us have been to a wedding at one point or another.
There's just so much joy and just excitement that happens at a wedding.
Myself, I'm not married.
I am happily, contentedly single.
Just throwing that out there.
Okay.
I'm open to whatever God wants, but over the course of my life, I've had the opportunity
to be a best man eight times.
I've officiated numerous weddings at this point as a pastor.
I've even MC'd and DJ'd a couple of receptions and I think in at least one occasion, I did
all four in the same wedding.
So, you know, the common thread that I've always seen in wedding celebrations is joy.
There's just so much joy.
There's so much celebration and exuberant emotion and excitement activity.
Yeah, there's stress and there's nerves and all that, but the joy that comes in a marriage
celebration, a joining of two people is just amazing.
And today in Revelation 19, John records for us the heavenly multitudes praising God as
the marriage feast of the Lamb is about to begin.
Now the context of this, however, needs to be understood through the wedding customs
of the day because wedding customs do change from culture to culture and they kind of change
over time and regardless of the time and the culture and all of that, there are some elements
that are commonly seen across all of that.
Weddings commonly have attendance, right?
There's a public that is there.
There's friends and family and coworkers there to witness this wedding, to be a part of it.
Obviously, there's the groom and the bride and the bridesmaids and the groomsmen and
all of that.
But then as a course of the whole thing, there's song, there's music, there's this joyous celebration
and in Revelation 19, 1 through 10, we see all of that.
However, as we will see later, the cultural lens of Jewish wedding customs at the time
give this whole thing just a beautifully rich and deep application to our lives today even
beyond what you might be familiar with in modern wedding customs.
But in every marriage ceremony that I've had the privilege to officiate, I always open
with a few lines and I say this.
Marriage is not the invention of man but of God.
Its purpose resides within the purpose and plans of God.
It's to honor God because it was created by God for the glory of God.
And that's what marriage is really all about.
This is what Ephesians chapter 5 teaches us as Paul through this wonderful chapter gives
very practical instruction to husbands and wives here on earth.
But after Paul gives this very practical instruction in Ephesians chapter 5 verse 32 regarding
marriage in general, this is what he says.
This mystery is profound but I am talking about Christ and the church.
And the first part of Revelation 19 gives us a glimpse into this mystery that he's talking
about here and what it all means.
And so read with me in Revelation chapter 19 starting in verse 1.
God says after this I heard something like the loud voice of a vast multitude in heaven
singing hallelujah salvation glory and power belong to our God because his judgments are
true and righteous because he has judged the notorious prostitute who corrupted the earth
with their sexual immorality and he has avenged the blood of his servants that was on her
hands.
A second time they said hallelujah her smoke ascends forever and ever.
Then the 24 elders, excuse me, and the four living creatures fell down and worshiped God
who is seated on the throne saying amen hallelujah.
A voice came from the throne saying praise our God all his servants and the ones who
fear him both small and great.
Then I heard something like the voice of a vast multitude like the sound of cascading
waters and like the rumbling of loud thunder saying hallelujah because our Lord God the
Almighty reigns.
Let us be glad rejoice and give him glory because the marriage of the lamb has come
and his bride has prepared herself.
She was given fine linen to wear bright and pure for the linen represents the righteous
acts of the saints.
Then he said to me right blessed are those invited to the marriage feast of the lamb.
He also said to me these words of God are true.
Then I fell at his feet to worship him but he said to me don't do that.
I'm a fellow servant with you and your brothers and sisters who hold firmly to the testimony
of Jesus.
Worship God because the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.
You know you open this section there John says in verse 1 after this after all the lamenting
and the wailing and the woe at the fall of Babylon the great that we've been studying
through Revelation chapter 17 and 18.
After all of this after this judgment this final pouring out of God's wrath against sin
and mankind's stubborn rejection of him his judgment poured about on the Antichrist in
the system of government and control that he created and the false religious idolatry
that just permeated the world after all of that.
He says he hears something like the loud voice of a vast multitude in heaven.
Now something like that's that idea of where he hears something and it reminds him of what
a vast multitude would sound like.
Now have you ever been to a place where there's a vast multitude of people and they're all
talking or singing at the same time and there's just this loud noise this loud din going on.
It's similar to that is what he's talking about or if you've ever been somewhere at
a conference like we would just recently our men's ministry we went to the Calvary Chapel
men's conference just a short while ago and I can't tell you how refreshing it was to
be in a room with 7,000 men right.
Like dudes don't always like to sing it's just a problem some of us have right.
But I'm in a room with 7,000 guys and the voice the noise that is just rising up as
we're all praising God together was just amazing.
It was just amazing and the picture here of what John is describing it's this picture
of great joy great excitement great celebration worship praise going up to the Almighty.
Now in these verses we see that there are several voices and they come from several
different places in the chapter but collectively everybody that is here are the attendants
these are those that are at the marriage feast the marriage celebration of the Lamb.
In verses 1 through 3 we see that the voice comes first from this vast multitude.
Now the vast multitude that phrase the group of people it's referring to was first introduced
to us in Revelation chapter 7 where it told us that there was a vast multitude John saw
which no one could number before the throne and before the Lamb.
Now this vast multitude was seen right after we were introduced to the 144,000 Jewish evangelists
right we know these are Jewish individuals because we are given the specific 12 tribes
that they are from so they're not the Jehovah's Witnesses they're not any other cult group
they are very specifically Jewish people sealed during the tribulation time who I believe
then go out and preach the gospel because right after they're introduced we're introduced
to this vast multitude.
And in Revelation chapter 7 verse 14 one of the elders those elders that were already
there tells John who this vast multitude was and he says these are the ones coming out
of the great tribulation they washed their robes and made them white in the blood of
the Lamb.
And so that's where we introduced to this vast multitude as people who didn't believe
in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior prior to the tribulation starting but came to believe
in Jesus during the tribulation period many of them of which it tells us in Revelation
were slaughtered for their faith they were they were killed for their faith.
So in the progression of things we have the church age that we're in now people getting
saved the gospel going forth we believe that that Christ will then return and rapture the
church out of the world at point which the tribulation will start and there's still people
on the earth.
And during this seven year period there's these hundred forty four thousand Jews that are
preaching the gospel around the world there's these two witnesses in Jerusalem that are
preaching it even tells us that there's gonna be angels flying through the heavens preaching
the gospel and people are going to get saved.
Now these are people are collectively referred to as tribulation saints these are people
who got saved during the tribulation period.
That's the first voice in verse four we're introduced to the second voice it's the twenty
four elders and the four living creatures collectively it tells us that they're bowing
before the Lord and they're worshiping God.
Now the elders are introduced to us the first time in Revelation chapter four verse four
we're going to talk a little bit more about them later but the elders I believe represent
the church they represent the church that is raptured into heaven prior to tribulation
starting these are the people that are today that have given their life to the Lord today
that are taken out before God's wrath is poured out upon the earth and then you have these
four living creatures which are just very strange looking as the description in Revelation
is told to us but they're very special exalted order of angelic beings that have a very special
ministry right there around the throne of God.
Then in verse five we hear a voice coming from the throne of God commanding everybody
to praise God and then in verse six we come back to the vast multitude again who are still
praising God but but when we come back to him it's a little bit louder it's a little
bit more intense it's a little bit more crescendoed if you will but in these ten verses we see
that as these voices are singing we see a word that is repeated over and over in this
section.
Did you notice what word was repeated over and over in these ten verses of Revelation
19?
It's the word hallelujah.
We're familiar with that word aren't we?
We say it often many worship songs we sing have it in their hallelujah.
This is a very very important word we see it in verse one verse three verse four and
verse six three times this word hallelujah is is sang out by the vast multitude once
it's sang out by the twenty four elders and the four living creatures.
This word hallelujah or in older translations of the Bible is hallelujah right that's just
a transliteration of the same word it's a Hebrew word that essentially means praise
the Lord.
That's what we're saying when we say hallelujah we're saying praise the Lord right.
Now in verses one through three we're going to see that he is praised for his victory
over his enemies.
In verses four through six we're going to see that he is praised for his sovereignty.
In verses seven we're going to see that he's praised for his eternal communion his eternal
communion and connection with his people.
Now this word hallelujah it actually occurs a lot in the Old Testament but I was intrigued
to find out that in the entire New Testament the only place this word hallelujah appears
is right here in Revelation 19.
It doesn't appear anywhere else in the New Testament and I thought well that's interesting
I mean as much as we hear it in worship songs I thought it was like every other verse right.
But it's only here in Revelation 19 and I thought well that's very very interesting
you know what does that mean what could that mean.
Well I think a part of it is in verse six we see that the praise that is being brought
by all these voices it's so loud it's described like the sound of cascading waters like the
rumbling of loud thunder and so what we see is passionate vibrant loud worship from God's
people and this praise is so intense this praise is so loud this praise is so just overwhelming
that hallelujah is the only word that can that can express what is going on it's the
only word that that is grand enough to express it's like it's like through the entire church
age the entire New Testament age if you will and then all the way through tribulation this
word biblically was reserved for this very moment.
This is how wonderful this time is this is how magnificent this moment is and why well
because the most I believe hallelujah is the most appropriate word to celebrate what God
has done to celebrate the pilgrimage of his people to celebrate that that the suffering
of his people is over to celebrate that the persecution all of that it's done right tribulations
over at this point we're past it there's no more suffering and persecution for believing
in Jesus and more importantly his people are home they're home they're face to face with
the bridegroom the marriage is being finalized and all of heaven just rejoices without restraint
and this wonderfully specific word is used to encapsulate the wonder of the moment hallelujah
you guys see how awesome that word is it's not just the thing we throw at the end of
a line in a worship song hallelujah praise God for we are home and it is done this is
what is taking place here and incidentally that's exactly how it's going to be when we
get to heaven we're not going to get to heaven and be like oh shoot I wanted to get married
I never got to get married oh dang it I wanted to have kids I never got to have kids some
of us think that way don't we and I think it's just in many levels natural right we
have plans we have goals we have desires we have things we want to experience in this
world and then we get saved and we're like we can't wait to get to heaven just hold on
until I do this but I'm telling you what we see here is when we get to heaven not for
a second are we going to go oh man I didn't get to do that or do this or I didn't get
to it's going to be hallelujah everywhere it's going to be joy and celebration and exuberance
because the best has arrived being with Jesus in paradise forever face to face every possible
experience here on this earth is nothing in comparison is nothing and so they all celebrate
and they celebrate for a few different reasons here as I mentioned the first one is they're
celebrating for their salvation look at verse 1 it says this vast multitude they say hallelujah
and they say salvation glory and power belong to our God now today even today we honor and
celebrate God because of his authority to bring salvation to us we celebrate him for
that we praise him for that not that he not only that he brought it but he has the authority
to bring it he has the right the power the everything to decide how salvation comes what
is required for salvation right people argue that all the time well I don't think it's
fair God requires you're not God he's God we're his creation it's enough that he even
created a means for us to be restored to him let alone everything else that comes from
that we're going to talk about that on Wednesday but but the power that he has the salvation
he's brought to us and salvation involves a lot you know I mean like when when you say
I'm saved what do you mean what do you think of most might think primarily of one aspect
of salvation when they say I'm saved what we might typically think of when we utter
that phrase we tell someone I'm saved we think I am saved from the penalty of sin right I'm
saved from the penalty that's that's what happens the moment anybody genuinely asks
Jesus to be their Savior when they come to that place where they are radically choosing
to to yield their life to let go of their vices and their sins to let go of their own
will and say God I don't want the judgment like I'm so sorry forgive me we are saved
from the penalty of death the penalty that is due is erased from our ledger because
Jesus made the payment on the cross and it's applied to you it's done right you're saved
and that's a wonderful thing it's the idea is that I'm never going to have to go to hell
for breaking God's law that's something to rejoice over praise God hallelujah but that's
not all that salvation is salvation means so much more than just being saved from the
penalty of sin it also means that you're being present tense ongoing saved from the power
of sin day by day moment by moment so past tense the moment you accepted Jesus you were
saved from the penalty the ledger was was was wiped out but then every day forward from
that you are then being saved from the power of sin where because of the power of the Holy
Spirit living within you the Bible tells us you now have the ability to say no to sin
not that we do in every circumstance sometimes we know I should say no and we say yes anyways
different Bible study but we're saved from the power prior to Christ we were slaves to
sin the Bible tells us you couldn't say no you thought you could say no but you were
really in the grip of sin and Satan but the Holy Spirit comes in your life you're set
free and you could say no I don't want to do that anymore that's not who I am anymore
and you have this power you didn't have before to say no and incidentally that's one of the
major lies of the devil in the life of a believer you can't say no you have to give in you have
to do it it's a lie from the pit of hell because you have the power if you have been saved
if the Holy Spirit dwells within you you have the ability to say no to sin but then salvation
also means that one day you will be saved from the very presence of sin itself that
the temptations won't even exist there will be no presence of sin there will be no devil
tempting you there will be no flesh tempting you you will be completely saved from the
presence and that's the ultimate effect of salvation in our lives and this is what we're
celebrating in Revelation 19 right the culmination of all that and they're worshiping and they're
praising God for it so they celebrate him for salvation and then they celebrate God's
judgment and we've seen this a couple times already through Revelation right verse 2 it
says they said hallelujah salvation glory and power belong to our God because his judgments
are true and righteous because he has judged the notorious prostitute who corrupted the
earth with her sexual immorality and he has avenged the blood of his servants that was
on her hands a second time they said hallelujah her smoke ascends forever and ever and so
we mentioned this in our last study that that when we look at this type of stuff we could
look at it and go man that that that man that's kind of insensitive right and although this
might seem insensitive it might seem uncaring it might seem callous right that in the face
of all the devastation and all the destruction and all that has happened on earth and the
loss of Babylon and in all of the the the just the horror of all of that that heaven
is rejoicing and celebrating and some might go well that seems kind of mean but you got
to have context you got to have understanding you got to have perspective because the fall
the fall of all that Babylon stood for is what is being rejoiced here all that Babylon
stood for its false blasphemous idolatry its rejection of God the one true God and its
elevation of self as God with its indulgence and its excesses and its abuse of power its
persecution and violent slaughter of those who believed in Jesus especially during the
tribulation period right we've read in the past that that when the mark of the beast
comes on the scene and the image of the beast comes on the scene that there will be enforced
worship and if you don't worship the image you will be executed you will be killed and
the people saying no I'm not going to worship that image are going to be the people who
are saying I'm not doing it because of Jesus the the vehement rejection of Jesus alone
is God that is going to be during the tribulation period this is all that Babylon stands for
and again this in the face of the 144,000 witnesses and the two witnesses and the angels
flying through the air the the brutality that Babylon stood for especially when it's brutality
against those who stand for Jesus you remember when the two witnesses were killed in Jerusalem
it says they just left their bodies to rot in the street the whole world saw it and then
they had a worldwide celebration giving gifts to one another all of that fallen done judged
over yeah hallelujah absolutely hallelujah it says his judgments are true and righteous
he's being worshiped because his judgments are true and righteous that phrase there means
there's there's no question there's no argument on whether what he has done is right and good
there is no question there's no place there's no opportunity to go well maybe he was a little
harsh no it's going to be absolutely understood that it was absolutely right and appropriate
what God did and it's to be celebrated and then in verse four we see the elders and the
creatures worshiping God for his salvation and his judgment along with this vast multitude
it says then the 24 elders and the four living creatures fell down and worshiped God who
is seated on the throne saying amen and hallelujah now these 24 elders as I mentioned earlier
they were first introduced to us in Revelation chapter 4 verse 4 this was right after John
was caught up into heaven prior to the tribulation time beginning and it told us there in Revelation
4 4 as John was see in the throne room of God it says around the throne were 24 thrones
and on the throne set 24 elders dressed in white clothes with golden crowns on their
heads now again these 24 elders are in heaven with God prior to the tribulation happening
all right and I believe that these represent the church the church that is raptured into
heaven in the same way that John was called up into heaven they're already there in heaven
prior to the tribulation this is the church the church of today's age raptured into heaven
prior to God pouring out his wrath upon the earth now again and I've mentioned this I
think a bazillion times throughout Revelation I understand there are different interpretations
of this and there are different views on who these people are and what they represent and
I respect that but this is my view this is what I see in the scriptures here but to answer
the question why do I believe these 24 elders represent the church the first is that they're
called elders that word elders is a is a word in the Bible that is only ever applied to
human men it's never applied to angels and that's one of the alternate interpretations
oh these elders are angels well there's nowhere in scripture do we ever see angels being called
elders all right they're called other things but never elders it tells us that these 24
elders sit on thrones around the throne of God this seems to indicate that they are ruling
with Christ who is on that throne right it's God on the throne we're gonna see the Trinity
together and the Trinity separate all the way through Revelation but the church is repeatedly
said throughout scripture to rule and reign with Christ in heaven and so we see these
24 elders sitting on thrones ruling and reigning there in the throne room of God with God it
says they're dressed in white and this is something that is commonly used to symbolize
saved people that when someone gives their life to the Lord it's the righteousness of
Christ that is imputed onto people and it is seen as pure white clothing and linen and
so again these aren't angels or something else these are symbolized as people who are
saved and then they're welding wearing golden crowns crowns are another thing that nowhere
in scripture are ever promised to angels nowhere in scripture do we ever see angels wearing
crowns right but conversely there's a lot said about the church God's people given crowns
as rewards for their life of obedience to God here on earth Paul says that crowns are
given to those who win the race scripture tells us in second Timothy 4 8 and James
1 12 it talks about these crowns being rewarded to God's people and so we see these 24 elders
sitting on thrones dressed in white wearing the crowns so that's why I believe that they
represent the church and then additionally in Revelation chapter 5 we see these same
elders it tells us that they're holding up bowls to God and these bowls represent the
prayers of God's people the prayers of the church and so elders we understand in New
Testament theology elders are representatives of the church representative of the church
there are the people that that serve on behalf of God and so again this picture of these
elders being people who represent the church as a whole we see that they're in heaven prior
to the seven seals prior to the seven trumpets prior to the seven bowls which is the tribulation
period and that's why I believe in a pre tribulation rapture of the church I believe there's a
picture here of that and so these elders and these four creatures which are these very
strange angelic creatures it tells us that they they fell down and worshiped God here
and they also said hallelujah that picture of falling down is is the idea of prostrating
oneself before a king right in ancient times you would go into the king's throne room and
you would fall down on your faith as a face as a sign of reverence and respect and that's
the idea here so verse 5 now we see the third voice a voice came from the throne saying
praise our God all his servants and the ones who fear him both small and great this is
another thing that has a couple different interpretations some believe that this voice
coming from the throne is the voice of Jesus himself I believe it's more likely to be a
voice of one of the angels that serve around the throne because he says praise our God
right and then right after that he says all his servants and that phrase all his servants
is like inclusive of the speaker right hey everybody let's praise our God all his servants
me included and so this is why I believe that this is a picture of possibly one of the angels
around the throne but what I do see here is what a fantastic picture of what being a worship
leader is here right what do worship leaders do they stand before the people of God and
they draw these people of God in they lead the people of God into praising our Lord and
so as they worship leaders and worship teams as they get up to lead in song they're not
just like hey I'm gonna play a song for you hope you like it right what they're doing
is they're leading you they're instructing they're commanding if you will much like what's
happening here what they're telling the body praise our God all of us his servants together
praise with us and that is the goal of worship to glorify God not to glorify ourselves worship
is not to well I need to get in the right headspace for the Bible study Pastor Nathan
teaches for a long time as you know no that's not what worships for worship isn't to manipulate
us emotionally although yeah music does have an emotional element and that's okay but the
point of worship is to glorify God is to communicate to God how we feel about him and for him to
let him know to ascribe to him all that he is and just say God you are so awesome that's
what worship is all about and that's what's being commanded here praise our God when it
says the ones who fear him both small and great that word fear is reverence respect
awe and his majesty and holiness and so verse 6 we've celebrated his salvation we've celebrated
his judgment now we celebrate the dominion of God where John says then I heard something
like the voice of a vast multitude like the sound of cascading waters and like the rumbling
of loud thunder saying hallelujah because our Lord God the Almighty reigns although
the the the singer or the speaker if you will has you know changed through this section
right first we saw John hearing the vast multitude then we saw him hearing the 24 elders and
the four living creatures then he heard a voice from the throne and now we're back to
the vast multitude even though that has been changed and the idea here is this is a unified
altogether collective moment of praise going on in heaven right John is simply describing
the elements of this celebration as he is focusing in on them so the first thing he
described was this vast multitude and then he goes oh and then the 24 elders and the
living creatures and then whoa I heard a voice and then that vast multitude they just got
louder right so it's not that they're doing it in turn it's not like they're doing a
row row row your boat you know kind of like each one's doing a verse after it's it's all
happening together this collective celebration but verse 6 does give us the idea that the
worship is crescendoing in volume as he describes this sound of cascading waters and the rumblings
of loud thunder you know and I've said before and I'll say it again if you don't like loud
worship heaven might be a little difficult for you it's gonna be loud now I think what
loud is to you is how you're gonna hear it right it's gonna be perfect it's gonna be
perfection right what loud is to me for most people is like why are you trying to kill
me and so what's gonna be loud for me I'm gonna be like oh this is amazing and it's
gonna be loud for you too and it's gonna be amazing right it's gonna be wonderful it's
gonna be perfect but the greatest height of praise on earth is is is a dim shadow of what
heaven is going to be the most exuberant worship concert worship moment worship time
that you can have anywhere here on earth is a pale comparison to what it's gonna be like
in heaven and this crescendo comes as we're we're reaching the consummation of all of
God's plan for history right now Spurgeon he described this this way and I thought it
was a neat quote he said we ought not to worship God in a half-hearted half-hearted sort of
way as if it were now our duty to bless God but but we really felt it to be a weary business
and we would have to get through it as quickly as we could and be done with it and you know
the sooner the better he says no no he was all that is within me bless his holy name
come my heart wake up and summon all the powers which wait upon thee mechanical worship he
says is easy but worthless come rouse yourself my brother rouse thyself oh my own soul I
think Spurgeon understood what worship was and he's celebrating the people here are celebrating
they're celebrating that the dominion the rule of God his reign has finally come now
you might be saying well hasn't God always reigned right he is God Almighty after all
yeah but God at times has yielded authority and control especially during the tribulation
period we see that that he gave evil men and evil spirits lots of freedom lots of authority
lots of ability to to do what they were going to do he gave that over but but here in Revelation
19 what we're celebrating is that's done we've reached the end of that wickedness is no longer
allowed to to rule and reign evil is no longer allowed to rule and reign right those prayers
that many of us have prayed over the years when we hear about some horrible crime some
terrible thing taking place and we go God why would you allow that this is the moment
where he says I'm not allowing it anymore it's done he's judged it it has fallen and
now he is in full control of everything without any of what was prior now you'll notice he
is called here the Almighty that word Almighty means having all power all rulership it means
having power unlimited in every capacity that's who God is the Almighty I want to encourage
you to think about think about that the next time you think you can't carry your burdens
and your problems to him that he is the Almighty he is unlimited in every capacity I think
sometimes we're struggling with things and we're like I can't pray about that God's not
going to listen to me God doesn't care about that sometimes we're even tempted to think
oh he can't he can't do anything about that right a lot of us go through extended challenges
in life and we're praying for people and we're like gosh that's it's been a year five years
ten years and their hearts not changing and God are you ever gonna and we start to think
maybe God can't I want to encourage you to put those thoughts out of your head God is
unlimited in every capacity you guys remember the story of Abraham and Sarah when he was
about a hundred she was in her 90s God shows up one day and says hey you guys are gonna
have a kid and that's exactly what Sarah started doing she laughed it tells us in scripture
she laughed I'm 90 that ship has sailed God biological impossibility we're talking about
here and so she laughs and I love the story because God goes why are you laughing and
she goes I didn't laugh and he's like yes you did I heard you right but then he asked
a very important question he asked her is anything too hard for the Lord is anything
too hard for the Lord you know when you face difficult situations where the resolution
or the solution seems impossible you can't forget that with God all things are possible
all things are possible with God I wish I could tell you how but I can't I wish I could
tell you this is how God's gonna you know sometimes in in counseling the toughest times
for me as a pastor and in in counseling is is when someone is is desperate and they're
asking like how is this gonna work when is this gonna change and outside of times where
God has just given me supernatural revelation there's times where I'm like I don't know
and that's heartbreaking for me because I just I want to fix it I want to tell you what
the answer is and and really the answer is with God all things are possible is anything
too hard for the Lord no so trust him trust him that's the idea that's the council and
this is this is what he said to Sarah and we'll go yeah but we cannot measure what's
possible with God by our own limitations and understanding we can't nothing is impossible
for him no matter how impossible it seems for us and if he hasn't answered it yet or
if he hasn't resolved it yet then it's a process of waiting and exercising that supernatural
patience that you also got to pray for God help me wait help me trust so now verse 7
we get to the time where they celebrate that the time has come for the lamb to be joined
first people it says let us be glad rejoice and give him glory because the marriage of
the lamb has come and his bride has prepared herself she was given fine linen to wear bright
and pure for the fine linen represents the righteous acts of the saints then he said
to me right blessed are those invited to the marriage feast of the lamb and he also said
to me these words of God are true now there's a lot of symbolism here and and and because
of this union between between God and his people is so close it's so intimate God has
chosen to use the the the marriage between a man and a woman to be that picture that's
what Ephesians 5 teaches us right that the the picture of the relationship God wants
to have with you look at a marriage between a man and a wife the closeness the union the
intimacy the the all of it's like world that's why God cares so much about Christian marriages
because they are living testimonies of the relationship God wants to have with the world
and when a Christian marriage is falling apart the world goes haha any relationship with God
must then also fall apart right there's there's a witness to that and that's why God has so
much to say about marriages and how husbands and wives treat each other and dwell together
and love one another and all of that stuff but here in this we see that it's the marriage
of the lamb and the lamb is Jesus right he is he is called that numerous times he is
the lamb who was slain but in this context here the lamb is the bridegroom in this wedding
and then of course the bride here the bride those that have prepared themselves it's it's
it's the church of Jesus Christ it's his people it's those that have been saved and born again
those that have put their trust in him Ephesians 5 25 and 27 talks about this 2nd Corinthians
11 2 talks about this and we're seeing it here again in Revelation 19 but when you go
through scripture there's there's about 700 some odd different titles for Jesus Christ
he's called numerous different things different titles for him but why here at his wedding
did he choose the lamb right why why was why is that the title chosen I believe it's because
when we see him as the lamb it brings to mind all that he did for us his bride it brings
to mind his shed blood it brings to mind his great sacrifice you know that that kindness
right the Bible says that it's his kindness that draws us to repentance right when we
realize we've sinned and then we realize that God loved us so much he goes look I died for
your sin I paid the price right that those are the things that that initially drew most
of us to him I haven't met very many people there are some out there but I haven't met
very many people that that came to their moment of salvation through a wonderfully logic apologetic
argument now it does happen I'm not going to I'm not trying to in any way diminish apologetics
it's important but overwhelmingly in my own experience the people that I know that have
come to Christ although they had apologetic questions and they were like what about the
Trinity and what if you know and all this when they come to the moment where they go
I have done this and he's willing to forgive me of that that is the moment that most commonly
I see is the moment of salvation for people where they realize how much he loved them
and that's why I believe he uses the picture here in this wedding feast is it's the lamb
it's not the the marriage feast of the conqueror it's not the marriage feast of the the I mean
just all the different it's the marriage feast of the lamb because as we are joined to him
we never want to forget what he did for us never want to forget what he did for us but
but what's the deal what's the focus on the feast here right this is where we need to
look at ancient Jewish wedding customs to get a better understanding and so I'll go
through this a little fast but back in the day surprise surprise there was not much dating
if any dating at all there was no apps right there was no swipe left swipe right there
was none of that right in ancient Judaism and in many ancient cultures marriages were
pre-arranged by parents of children when the kids were still young they were pre-arranged
is is this family and this family would would say you know what we're gonna arrange that
that my son and your daughter when they are of age that they're they will marry one another
and and you know continue that for for different reasons and and even today in many cultures
pre-arranged marriages are still the norm now I know that that the idea of a pre-arranged
marriage has kind of like a negative connotation today you know I don't have time to dig into
all of that but I will say this that there is a difference between a pre-arranged marriage
and a forced marriage okay there's a difference between the two but suffice it to say that
I read a quote from a guy who grew up in India a Christian man and he said it wasn't until
I got to America that I had ever heard of the concept of divorce and in in in his interview
and stuff one of the things he said is is in eastern cultures commitment comes before
the emotion of love right it's commitment that leads to love and so the idea of what
love is is a commitment to another that is then followed by emotion that comes with that
commitment and he said in western cultures what he's seen is that love is is seen as
an emotion first before a commitment thus commitment in western cultures is based upon
whether or not you feel the emotion of love and that's why in western cultures in America
the divorce rates like 50 percent even within the church because people think well if I
don't feel the emotion anymore why am I going to waste my time being married to this person
and so the commitment is sacrificed because the emotion isn't felt interestingly enough
in 2021 there was a study done on pre-arranged marriages around the world and what they found
is that in in in most of the cases or the cases that they studied in pre-arranged marriages
they found that the divorce rate was four percent but in non-pre-arranged marriages
it's 50 percent you know again I don't have time to dig all to the details of it but to
get back to the context of ancient Jewish wedding customs in a wedding in ancient Judaism
the couple was pre-arranged and there was the idea that this is the person you're committing
to and the emotion will follow but when the actual time for the marriage came there was
kind of like three phases to the marriage phase one was was called the betrothal it
was the formal engagement process which lasted about a year and so the the people had come
of age and they go okay betrothal process has begun for the next year you guys are going
to court you're going to get to know each other even more there's no physical contact
of any kind you're just going to talk it's that whole idea and and in the culture this
betrothal period was so important that the only way you could break the engagement was
to actually write a certificate of divorce right it was like it was like you were married
already the commitment was already there but they were developing the relationship through
the the courting process and in that first phase you lived on the promise that in a year's
time we will be fully married right phase two was the wedding day there was a day where
the bridegroom was like all right today's the day maybe he was getting his house ready
maybe he's doing things he's like all right so he would get dressed up and he would get
all his dudes with them and and they would go to the bride's house and they would get
the bride and they would take her and the groom the groom would take her and and they
would take her back to his house to then have what was phase three but this whole idea of
the wedding day the challenge for the bride was that she had no no idea exactly when the
bridegroom was going to show up right nowadays in many cases and if I'm putting you on blast
I apologize but in many cases it's the wedding and everybody's waiting for the bride to show
up she's late you know she's still getting ready what's going on right in those days
in cultures like this it was the bride was like I've got to be ready because he could
show up any moment and I have to be ready when he shows up and so she was all dressed
and ready to go and of course there was an idea that like we're in the season when he
can show up but I don't know exactly when that time's gonna be and so the bride would
get herself prepared get herself ready for this moment that would come suddenly and then
phase three is what was called the marriage feast and that's what we're looking at here
in Revelation chapter 19 that the bride or the bridegroom would bring the bride they
would come to his home and then there'd be this huge celebration and song would break
out the celebration would ensue this was the culmination of all that we've been waiting
for and this is the idea of Revelation 19 that the feast is taking place right we're
in phase three after which Jesus then returns to earth with us his bride sets up his kingdom
and then we have what is called the millennial kingdom of Christ here on earth which is somewhat
like a thousand year honeymoon if you will with Christ on earth ruling and reigning now
you'll notice in verse seven it says that the bride has prepared herself right she has
prepared herself and you might go well how do we do that because in the culture the bride
had to get ready the groom could show up any time right I believe you know when you look
at the phases you know we're currently in phase one of the marriage as Christians here
on earth we're in the betrothal period there's no physical contact we can't even see Jesus
physically right he's in heaven at the right hand of the father but we're talking to him
through his word we pray we're getting to know him we're building that relationship
and we need to be ready for the day he shows up to take us phase two is going to be the
rapture of the church when he says all right I'm here let's go Thessalonians talks about
the trumpets gonna sound he's gonna call us we're gonna meet the Lord in the air and then
there's gonna be this phase three the feast the celebration now some commentators look
at the moment we're raptured in the church that's when the feast starts because culturally
the feast can last many days there's cases where the wedding feast lasted weeks of celebration
until the consummation of the marriage and that idea and so some believe that that when
the church is raptured in a pre tribulation understanding that the feast begins and then
for seven years we're celebrating the now we're here at the end of tribulation where
we're now gonna celebrate the final moments that the feast is done the the wedding is
finished and finalized so anyways but it says that the bride prepared herself and when we
ask the question well how do we prepare ourselves first you prepare yourself by genuinely putting
your full faith and trust in Jesus Christ for your salvation that's the first step to
be the bride of Christ you've got to become part of the bride of Christ and you become
part of the bride of Christ the church by giving your life to him by acknowledging that
you've broken his law by calling out to him and saying God save me that that's the process
there it's following him now and giving up everything that he says no to it's saying
God I'm gonna yield my my my sins I'm gonna step away I'm gonna let go of all that and
be obedient to you that's the first step of the process but verse 8 you'll see there it
says she was given fine linen to wear then it represents the righteous acts of the saints
you see every single Christian believer saved Christian believers gonna be at this wedding
because the Bible tells us it's through faith that we are saved not by works at least anybody
should boast but the bridal garment we're given to wear seems to be somewhat connected
to or based upon our preparation the life we live here and now our life of obedience
to the Lord there's different places where God talks about rewards given out to those
in in in a reflection of the life they lived here on earth so although we are saved by
faith there is this concept in scripture that the position we have in the millennial kingdom
the rewards we are granted are determined by how we lived our life here and now how
we used our time how we used our talents our gifts all of that Paul in first Corinthians
speaks of rewards for the work we do here on earth in obedience to Jesus Christ and
he mentions the first Corinthians he says each one's work will be tested for quality
right what you did in your life here as a Christian it's going to be tested for quality
meaning was it about and for Jesus or was it really for and about you did you spend
your time talents and resources on selfish pursuits or did you spend it in obedience
to God doing what he what he would want you to do what he's called you to do and Paul
says in first Corinthians that some people's works won't result in any rewards he says
specifically they will experience loss and they will be saved as if by fire meaning the
idea is like you just you just made it in so if you're saved you're as saved as any
other saved person is you're saved you're going to heaven amen hallelujah but when it
comes to reward when it comes to position in the future kingdom some aren't going to
have a whole lot stored up you guys understand the concept there so in the picture of this
garment that is given by Jesus to the bride to wear your garments going to be determined
on how you lived your life for Jesus you're saved you're at the marriage feast you're
going to heaven you're there but there's a step after that and coming to to your reward
and so the hope is that every believer grows and matures in this life this life here in
their service and obedience to God that they grow to the place where their service and
obedience to God just becomes natural part of their expression of faith where we live
faithful in choosing selflessness and generosity and in sacrificial service over selfishness
over greed over devotion to self over anything else and the results of all that is seems
to be what we're closed with at the marriage feast and so it's closed real quick on verse
10 says then I fell at his feet speaking the angel speaking of the angel John felt the
feet of the angel to worship him but he said to me don't do that I'm a fellow servant
with you and your brothers and sisters who will firmly to the testimony of Jesus worship
God because the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy now I'm not entirely sure
why someone like John the apostle would do this right some seem to think that that he
felt the angel represented God at this moment some commentators think or suggest that John
was just just overwhelmed with excitement and odd everything he was seen but regardless
he fell down at the feet of the angel and to worship him it says but we know and I believe
John knows to worship is to go only to God in any and all circumstances but notice the
angel didn't go okay you could worship to me and then and then I'll take that to God
because God's busy he's too busy for you to worship him directly so I'll serve as the
angel doesn't say that the angel doesn't say you need to make your confession to me and
I'll take it to God the angel doesn't say go talk to Mary Jesus's mom because Jesus
is kind of busy right now getting married he doesn't say any of that when it comes to
worship it goes to God and God alone yeah this angel is a supernatural being but he
says I'm a fellow servant the angel this supernatural being probably of incredible power is like
I am a fellow servant before God Almighty this angel is saying to John where we're on
the same level we're created beings called to worship God and God alone and so he says
worship God because the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy that's an interesting
phrase here but the idea is that everything that has existed never will exist is about
Jesus it's all about Jesus God in the flesh it's always been about Jesus it will always
be about Jesus every word of prophecy pointed to Jesus prophecy proves the truth of Jesus
prophecy at its very heart is designed to unfold the beauty and loveliness of our Lord
and Savior Jesus Christ it all is about him now some of you have heard this before but
for the sake of you that haven't I want to go through this real quick about a third of
the entire Bible is prophecy predictive prophecy and in the Bible there's about 330 predictions
very specific predictions regarding the Messiah Jesus Christ there are predictions about his
actions about his character how he would live where he was born how he would die his burial
his resurrection about 330 right a man named Peter Stoner who was a mathematician wondered
what are the odds of one man fulfilling 330 prophecies about the Messiah and as he started
to embark on that he went 330 is a lot let me start with eight what are the odds of one
man fulfilling eight of the 330 prophecies born in Bethlehem you know all of these very
specific things and so when he mathed it all out what he found is that the odds of one
man fulfilling eight of the prophecies that Jesus fulfilled is one to ten to the seventeenth
power that's ten with seventeen zeros after it that's the odds of one man fulfilling just
eight of the prophecy and Jesus fulfilled many many more and some people go okay ten
with seventeen zeros how do I visualize that this is how he visualized it if you took the
entire state of Texas which is massive and you filled the entire state of Texas two feet
deep with silver dollars right silver dollars yeah silver dollars I don't want somebody
to come back to me it wasn't silver dollars silver dollars okay two feet deep the whole
state miles and miles about the entire state two feet deep and as you were filling it you
took one of those silver dollars you marked it with some some mark and you just tossed
it somewhere in the state then you took a person blindfolded them took him to the border
and said wander the entire state of Texas wander through dig through this two feet deep
of silver dollars and the first one you grab has to be the one with the mark on it that's
the odds of one person fulfilling eight of the prophecies that Jesus fulfilled then he
went on to say what about sixteen and and I don't have time to get into that because
it's just insane but the point is this Mohammed Buddha Krishna Shiva the 330 million gods
of Hinduism none of them have the profits the testimony of prophecy none of them have
that none have the testimony of perfectly fulfilled prophecy like Jesus Christ does
that is why I believe Christianity is true and all the others are false prophecy authenticates
Christ and so the angel says John write this down blessed are those invited to the marriage
feast of the lamb the invitation has gone out the invitation has been going out have
you accepted it will you accept it God has sent the invitation to you he wants you to
be a part of the bride of Christ he wants you to be a part of his family and every single
time you've heard the gospel preach the invitation has gone out to you what's really great about
the invitation is the price to go has already been paid to there's no ticket price there's
no cover charge you get to go for free you just have to accept his payment on your behalf
and God loves you so much he he chose this metaphor a bridegroom loving his bride to
show you how much he loves you and that should strike joy into your heart you know most grooms
I've spoken to over the years they don't remember much of their wedding day without seeing pictures
or videos right they don't remember the flowers the color of the flowers they don't ever remember
what the pastor says they don't necessarily always remember the color of the dresses or
the songs played right there's I don't remember all that but I haven't yet met one groom that
doesn't remember the moment they saw their bride the moment she came out the door started
walking down the aisle arrayed in her wedding gown ready to meet him not a single one has
forgotten that moment everything else but that they don't forget church you are the
bride of Christ Jesus has eyes only for you he loves you so much he loves you with a love
that is beyond all understanding and if you're not a part of that the invitation goes out
to you to be part of that to experience his love to experience his salvation forever don't
reject that let's pray father we thank you so much for your word we thank you so much
for everything Lord you've done for us everything you give us everything you do for us everything
you will do for us God Lord we trust you in all things and God we know that we're in this
period where we're we're betrothed to you Lord we're in this we're in the engagement
time right now God because we can't see you physically but God we will one day and we
so look forward to that Lord we know that during this time our call is to get to know
you so that we become more like you that we would share you with this world of evil and
hate and a world full of people who just hate you their creator and God we look forward
to the day in the moment where you will show up and take us because it is the wedding day
and Lord I pray that each one of us would live lives where we are ready for that God
that we wouldn't be caught unaware Lord you even had parables about that in the gospels
but Lord we would be ready not left behind but ready ready to be received up to you in
the air God invited to that wedding feast where our forever in perfection and paradise
paradise and joy with you will be fulfilled Lord we look forward to that moment we look
forward to that feast and that celebration we look forward to the coming kingdom but
God most of all we look forward to your face to see you to stand with you in a perfect
love with a perfect salvation and if you don't know Jesus today just call out to him and
say God forgive me of my sins I've sinned against you I deserve judgment but Lord I
hear the invitation I hear your invitation to come Lord I am dirty I am filthy with sin
but forgive me I believe you will forgive me God because you love me cleanse me give
me a robe of pure white linen help me to live a life of obedience to you until you come
that God I would one day stand with you face to face father we just thank you God help
us to tell more people about you because there are so many that need to hear the truth help
us to live for you God in obedience fill us with your joy fill us with your peace fill
us with an eager anticipation for your coming we can't wait to see you Lord we love you
so much in Jesus name we pray amen let's worship guys.