Celebration and Consummation

Well, if you have your Bible, and I hope you do, turn to Revelation chapter 19.
I want to thank Kendall White for her last Sunday for bringing God's Word to us
and taking us into Psalm 130, and a great job of helping us see what the Psalmist
had for us in that passage. I also want to let you know, Marianne and I were with
several dozen pastors and their wives in the Dominican Republic this week for a
pastor's and wives retreat as a part of the Great Commission Collective, which our
church is a part of. This is a network of churches that are committed to planting
churches and strengthening pastors so that the gospel can expand here in the US and
Canada and around the world. It was a good time of fellowship and rest and
relaxation, a good time to connect with others, and we enjoyed the time being away,
thank you for your prayers for us while we were gone.
It was 18 years ago on December 13th in 2006 that after an eight -month manhunt,
U .S. military forces, this is Task Force 121, targeted a farm near the Tigris River
and in Iraq and ultimately successfully ended what was known as Operation Red Dawn.
They captured Saddam Hussein, who was known as the Butcher of Baghdad and they
turned him over to the new Iraqi regime. He was eventually convicted of crimes
against humanity for the brutal death of, as a dictator in Iraq,
was sentenced to death by hanging, which was carried out December 30th, 2006. This
was the response. There was jubilation. There was celebration in the streets.
In fact, there was joy as a huge statue of Saddam was pulled down.
Some of you remember these images from when this happened 18 years ago. A dictator
had been toppled. Liberation had come and the Iraqis were free.
And when we get to Revelation 19, we see a scene in heaven that is not unlike
what was taking place in Iraq 18 years ago when they were liberated from their
dictator. The past two chapters that we've looked at, chapters 17 and 18,
we have seen the fall of Babylon, the great. We have seen the enemies of God and
his people who built their godless empire and amassed power apart from God.
They persecuted God's people, they put God's people to death. We see them now
finally and fully defeated and we see Babylon destroyed. Babylon the Great is no
more and now in chapter 19, the scene shifts to heaven. We see the response in
heaven to the fall of Babylon. We see how God's people responded when Babylon is
destroyed. And there's a lot for us to see in the first 10 verses of chapter 19.
And here's the main thing I want us to think about or one of the main things for
us to think about as we look at these verses. Is it right for us as Christians
who have been taught by Jesus that we are to love our enemies and pray for those
who despitefully use us, is it right for us to celebrate when the wicked are
defeated?
When Saddam is captured and executed, when bin Laden is found and killed,
is it right for us to celebrate when that happens or should we be sorrowful for
the loss of an enemy here. How does that fit in with the command to love our
enemies when we see someone defeated? So think about that as we read through and
see what's going on in heaven with the announcement of the fall of Babylon. We're
gonna read Revelation 19 verses one through 10. You follow along as I read, this is
God's word for God's people. The Bible says, "After this, I heard what seemed to be
a loud voice of a great multitude in heaven,
crying out, "Hallelujah! 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. 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." And the 24 elders and the four living creatures fell down and worshiped God,
who was seated on the throne, saying, "Amen, hallelujah." And from the throne came a
voice saying, "Praise our God, all you His servants, you who fear Him,
small and great." 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 under crying out
hallelujah for the Lord our God the Almighty reigns let us rejoice and exalt and
give him the glory for the marriage of the Lamb has come and his bride has made
herself ready it was granted her to clothe herself with fine linen bright and pure.
For the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints. And the angel said to me,
"Write this, 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." Then I fell down at his
feet to worship him. But he said to me, "You must not do that. I am a fellow
servant with you and your brothers who hold to the testimony of Jesus. Worship God
for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy. Amen.
May God add this blessing to this reading of his word. The grass withers and the
flower fades. The word of our God will stand forever. There are two scenes in this
text which divide up pretty easily. We have the scene in heaven. It's a worship
celebration that is taking place as Babylon is defeated. That's verses one through
five. And then the second scene is the celebration that takes place, which is called
the marriage supper of the lamb. That's in verses six through ten. And we're going
to look at both of these scenes and see what's going on in both of these. And And
along the way, I want us to think about how we should respond when God brings
judgment on the wicked. So this first scene, the multitude in heaven, who worship
God as Babylon is destroyed. John sees, he says in verse one, a great multitude.
And this takes us all the way back to Revelation 7. That was the last time we saw
a great multitude. Too many to number is what it says in Revelation 7, people from
every nation, every tongue, every tribe, standing around God's throne and worshiping
Him. This multitude is everyone who has died in Christ before the second coming of
Jesus. So this multitude is the population of heaven standing around the throne of
God, all those who have died in Christ. And the first thing they cry out is
hallelujah. Now hallelujah is two Hebrew words put together. "Halel" which means
praise. "Yah" which means Yahweh. Praise Yahweh. That's what hallelujah means.
Praise the Lord. Is hallelujah. Interesting note here. The word hallelujah is only in
two books in the Bible.
Do you know that? We think it's such a common word. It's everywhere. It's here in
Revelation four times. Where's the other place? It's in the book of Psalms. Twenty
-four times you find Hallelujah in the book of Psalms. And if you read the book of
Psalms, the last word at the end of Psalm 150 is "Hallelujah." And when you get to
Revelation chapter 19, as things are wrapping up, the last word is hallelujah.
It is that final declaration in the Psalms and here in Revelation that we are
praising the Lord. And we are praising the Lord here. It says,
"For three things, God is the possessor of salvation, glory and power." You see that
in verse one, "God is the sole possessor of salvation." Jonah said the same thing
when he was in the belly of the big fish. Jonah, as he cried out, said,
"Salvation belongs to God. Salvation is of the Lord." You will not find salvation
anywhere else. It does not belong to anyone else. No one possesses it except God.
He alone owns salvation. It is his to own. There's no one else who can forgive
your sins. There's no one else who can transform your life. There's no one else who
can promise you a hope and a future. That is salvation. That's what God gives to
his people. He alone offers it. And He alone is worthy of glory.
The Psalmist in Psalm 115 says, Not to us,
O Lord, not to us, but to your name be glory. God alone is worthy and deserving
of praise and honor and glory. He owns it. We give glory to pop stars or to
athletes or to captains of industry or to leaders in government. Tonight,
there are millions of people who will tune in and watch as people are handed little
statues, giving glory to actors or actresses who have performed well in the past
year, and they will be noted as the best actor or best actress of this year. They
will have their moment of glory, but glory belongs to God.
That's why the Bible tells us, "Give glory to God alone." And power belongs to God
as well. These voices in and are saying, God only you can save us. God only you
deserve glory, it belongs to you. And God, the powerful people on earth, have no
power except that which you have given to them or allowed them to have. Now think
about the condition at this time. They're living under Roman domination when John is
writing this. It seems like Rome is all powerful and John is seeing in his vision,
the angel saying, "No, no, Rome has no power except that which is unloan from God.
Power belongs to God, and he may let human agencies function with power,
but he is the one who is in control of all power." This multitude is worshiping
God because he alone is a possessor of salvation and glory and power.
It all belongs to him. And because his judgments, according to Psalm 1,
his judgments are just and true, or true and just. And this is key. What we see
happening in chapters 17 and 18 with the fall of Babylon is happening and has
happened because God is saving his people, glorifying himself and demonstrating his
power in the fall of Babylon. And it is right for him to do it. What he's doing
is right and just. When the people of Babylon experience destruction,
they are getting what they deserve. It is right for him to pour out judgment on
them. In fact, what God is doing when he judges Babylon is he's answering a prayer
that the martyrs prayed back in Revelation chapter six. That was nine months ago
that we were there. So you, I'll forgive you if you've forgotten that. But in
Revelation chapter six in verse nine, when the fifth seal was opened,
the Bible says, this is John saying, "I saw under the altar the souls of those
"who had been slain for the word of God "and for the witness they had borne, the
martyrs. "They cried out with a loud voice, "'O sovereign Lord, holy and true, how
long before you will judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?"
And they were each given a white robe and told to rest a little longer until the
number of their fellow servants and their brothers should be complete, who were to
be killed as they themselves had been. So God says, "I'm going to answer your
prayer, but wait a little longer." Well, when Babylon is defeated, the prayer of the
martyrs is being answered. The destruction of Babylon is the verdict of God avenging
the death of the martyrs who died because they refused to deny Christ and remain
faithful and endured all the way to death. Back in chapter 18 the kings of the
earth saw the smoke rising from the destroyed Babylon and they mourned and they
grieved and now in heaven they see the smoke rising and going up forever and ever
and they don't grieve, they rejoice. They say, "Hallelujah, praise the Lord." The
people on earth see what's happening to Babylon and they grieve, the people in
heaven see it and they say, "This is God being holy and just "to accomplish his
purposes." And note that that smoke goes up forever and ever. In other words,
the fire that signals the destruction of Babylon never goes out.
The judgment of Babylon is an eternal judgment. It is forever.
The punishment that accompanies the fall of Babylon is eternal punishment. Now we
could stop and explore that for a while this morning, but we're just going to move
past it. Just a reminder that God's judgment is just and his judgment is
everlasting. And I know people push back on the horror of eternal punishment of the
wicked, the idea of an eternal hell, and it's right to push back. We should recoil
at that thought, at that idea. But we have to ultimately embrace the fact that the
Bible teaches that those who cling to the ways of Babylon and who refused to bow
to Jesus. Those who reject him, who turn from him, who will not bow and eat him,
they're going to face eternal conscious torment. The smoke will go up forever and
ever. God's judgment is true and just.
So this celebration in heaven that's taking place because of the destruction of
Babylon, the 24 elders and the four living creatures who we first met back in
chapter four, who are around the throne. They are participating in this celebration.
This is the last time we will see them in Revelation. We've seen them at various
points throughout the book, but this is the last time they're mentioned. And just as
a reminder, this represents the saints from the Old and the New Testament, 12 tribes
of Israel, 12 apostles. Those are the 24 elders, and the four living creatures
represent the totality of redeemed humanity throughout the earth.
So I want us to pause here and just think about this scene. When the news reaches
heaven that Babylon the Great has been destroyed, and the enemies of God have been
defeated, and have been consigned to eternal punishment, and the smoke goes up
forever and ever, the people of God, shout with a loud voice, "Hallelujah, praise
the Lord, amen." They are jubilant. They are celebratory.
They're rejoicing. People are going to be punished eternally, and the saints are
rejoicing. Does that sound wrong to you?
There's a tension here, right? We want to see evil
vanquished. But something in us says, "Do people really have to suffer forever?
People who we know who seem nice enough, who they can be kind and polite and they
just don't go to church, they just don't see God the way we see God. They have to
suffer forever."
This is hard. By the way, if it's not hard for you To wrestle with this, there's
something wrong there.
If you don't wrestle with this, something's not right. Anyone who says, "I don't
have any problem with this," is either perfectly sanctified or you're lying or you're
hard -hearted.
This is a difficult truth to embrace.
Yesterday, in my Bible reading program, I got to Deuteronomy chapter 7, 5 through 7,
and in Deuteronomy 7, it's where God tells the people you're about to enter the
Promised Land, and when you go into the Promised Land, there will be seven tribes
there, and you are to utterly destroy them. The Hittites, the Jebusites, the
Gurgisites, the Canaanites, the Amorites, the Parasites, the Hivites, you destroy them
all. Wipe them completely out. Men, women, children, animals,
put them all to death, show them no mercy. That's what it says in Revelation 7,
or excuse me, in Deuteronomy 7, show them no mercy. Really?
So here's what we have to understand
about the people on earth who stubbornly, continuously,
hardheartedly reject the grace of God over and over again. God is extending grace
all the time to everyone on the face of the earth. The sun came up this morning,
that is the grace of God. We have air to breathe, that's the grace of God. So God
is pouring out his grace in so many ways and people are utterly rejecting that and
here's what you have to understand. What you're seeing of their rejection
is like a little, like a little tiger cub.
So you look at it and you go, well, sure, they're pushing back, but it's not a
big deal. Well, every little tiger cub grows up to become an attacker,
a tiger. You may see your friends, your neighbors, your coworkers who are only
mildly rejecting God. They're in their infant stages of their rebellion.
When somebody has a hard heart, over time that heart will become harder and harder,
and their opposition to God will become stronger and stronger. And it's unalterable
and has to be destroyed in order to be dealt with.
There's no way to break through to it. God knows what happens eventually with every
unbelieving heart. It metastasizes into something more deadly and more dangerous.
It's where we're headed.
If our thoughts and feelings about God's final judgment, this is what...
I didn't know Who said this? Who said this? Have I got a quote coming up here?
Yes, I knew it was somebody. This is what Rick Phillips says. He says, "If our
thoughts and feelings about God's final judgment differ from the song of praise
above, it calls for us to ask how worldly ideas have shaped our thoughts concerning
sin, God's holiness, salvation, and judgment. When we think of people, perhaps even
those we love, having to suffer eternal torment, we ought to resent not the justice
of a holy God, but the evil of sin.
So let me ask you, when you think about God's judgment, do you think of it the
way the Psalmist talks about it in Psalm 104, when he prays this prayer, he says,
"Let sinners be consumed from the earth, let the wicked be no more blessed the
Lord, O my soul, praise the Lord.
Would you love to live in a world where there is no more evil, no more wickedness,
no more barbarism, no more sin? Well, there are only two options for us to have a
world where wickedness is gone. Option number one is people repent and bow the knee
to Jesus. Option number two is that evil is judged and done away with by God.
Those are your two options. People either need to be converted, confess their sins,
bow their knee to King Jesus, have God begin the work of removing the evil from
our hearts, or the evil has to be condemned, judged, removed.
That's what the Psalmist is saying in Psalm 104. And it's what we long for and
it's what God has promised he will do.
It's what the fall of Babel on the Great represents. It's the end of evil.
So let me just ask you, do you recognize that there's evil in your heart?
Right?
It's there. You know it's there. And sure, you can think of people who have more
evil in their heart than you do. We can all do that. But that's not the way we
do it. It's not like, well, yeah, I have evil, but I'm not as bad as so -and -so,
okay But you've got you got evil there. It's there for all of us and You might
say, you know, I'm not I'm sure I'm not perfect, but I'm not really evil. I mean,
isn't that too harsh a word to use? Well, the Bible says that unbelief
Is evil Unbelief is rebellion against God. A refusal to believe and trust in Jesus
is wicked. Anytime you say, "I know better how to run my life than God knows." I'm
going to do what I think is the right thing to do. You are manifesting unbelief
and wickedness.
And it's there in all of us. So the question for us this morning is, has God
forgiven your rebellion against him? Have you turned from it have you said Lord I
want to follow you and received his forgiveness and grace or are you persisting in
your stubborn, unrepentant, hard -hearted refusal to follow Jesus?
Are you refusing to surrender your life to him? If you are, then what's ahead for
you is the destruction of Babylon,
the judgment of that evil. But if you have turned to Christ and surrendered your
life to him, then what is ahead for you is God's grace. You can be around the
throne with the others saying, "Hallelujah, the Lord our God, the Almighty reigns."
The saints in heaven celebrate the news that Babylon has fallen and evil has been
judged, and we should celebrate that too. God's ways are perfect, His justice is
perfect, and how He will deal with it is perfect. We should long for those we know
and love to turn away from sin and to turn to Christ, and at the same time we
should long for a day when sin is eradicated, evil is done away with, and defeated.
We ought to join now with the multitude in Psalm 19 and say, "Hallelujah and amen
for God accomplishing His ways." We should celebrate with them the fall of Babylon
because that is what opens the door for the new heavens and the new earth which
we're going to see in Revelation 21 and 22. This also opens the door for the
second scene in Revelation 19. We see the worship service taking place in heaven,
but there is also the marriage supper of the Lamb. And the scene here shifts to
verse 6 as John hears what he says seems to be the voice of a great multitude. It
sounds like the pounding of many waters, rushing waterfalls. It sounds like loud
thunder. In other words, it's loud. What he hears is loud. It's like the sound of
a crowd in the fourth quarter at the football game when the team has one more stop
before they win the game. The crowd is deafening, crying out. But at the football
game, all you're hearing is cheering. Hear in heaven what you're hearing is not just
loud shouting. It is hallelujah for the Lord, our God, the almighty reigns. Let us
rejoice and exalt and give him the glory "for the marriage of the Lamb has come,
"the bride has made herself ready." The destruction of Babylon the Great is what
brings the climax of redemptive history. It's a scene where Jesus the bridegroom is
being presented with his bride. The bride in chapter 19 is intentionally contrasted
with the woman that we saw in the immortal, the immoral woman, the harlot in
chapter 18, she was full of immorality and idolatry. This bride now is the pure and
spotless radiant bride. And this metaphor of the bride in the bridegroom as a
picture of us and our relationship with Christ, the church and Christ,
this is something that you And throughout Scripture, Jesus talked about it in the
New Testament. There are lots of metaphors in the New Testament. So Jesus says, "I'm
the good shepherd, you're the sheep. I'm the vine, you're the branches. You are the
adopted children. I'm your older brother." Lots of metaphors like that, but this
bridegroom metaphor is one that we see throughout Scripture. In John chapter 3,
Jesus talks about when the bridegroom comes. In Ephesians 5, there is the picture of
husbands and wives, and this is a mystery, it's representing Christ and the church.
In the Old Testament, Psalm 45 is the royal wedding psalm that gives hints to the
bride and the bridegroom relationship. Isaiah 62 mentions it, Jeremiah 2 mentions it,
the whole book of the song of Solomon, some see it as an allegory of the
relationship between Christ and the church. But here's the key to understanding this
bride -bridegroom metaphor. We need to understand how marriages and weddings took place
in the time of Jesus, the time when this was written. I'm going to tell you what
it was like to get married back in Jesus' day or in Old Testament Israel, and see
the parallels between the wedding ceremony and our salvation as we go through this,
okay? So in the Jewish culture, the first step in two people becoming husband and
wife was for the establishment of a covenant. This is where either a groom or his
father would go to the bride's father and would establish an agreement,
a covenant, to join this couple, the groom and the bride. They would spot a woman.
They would say, that's the one we want. They would go to her father. And they
would say, we want to establish a covenant with you that is a bridal covenant. And
there would be a bride price that would have to be paid in order for that bride.
That would be negotiated with the father of the bride. So they would pay that bride
price that that the bridegroom would then have to pay. Once the agreement had been
sealed, the future bride and her suitor would then seal the deal themselves.
They would share a cup of wine together that would be their part of this covenant
where they are pledging themselves to one another as they are now betrothed in the
sharing of that cup of wine. The groom would pay the bride price, and then he
would leave the bride, and he would go back to his father's home, his father's
land, where his father had whatever piece of property he has. And he would start to
prepare a place for himself and for his bride
on the father's property. So the father had land, he had a home on the land, the
groom would come, he would take a plot of land, and he'd start to build a home
that he and his bride were going to live in. And he would say before he left the
bride something like, "I'm going to my father's house to prepare a place for you,
and I'll come again and receive you to myself that we can be there
forever." And he couldn't just run home and put together a lean -to or a tent, no
matter how much he wanted to get married. No, he had to build and construct
something that ultimately his father signed off on before he could go back and get
his bride. So he went to build this dwelling place for him and for his bride,
and then he had to get his father's sign off. Meanwhile, the bride is back waiting
for her groom to come. She doesn't know when it's going to happen. They're
betrothed, in the Jewish culture, it means the marriage has not yet been consummated,
but it's as if she is already married. She's been bought with a price. She's been
set apart from the other women. The betrothal was binding and was only broken if
the bride was unfaithful to her husband. That was the only grounds. That's why
Joseph, when he learned that Mary was pregnant, thought he would put her away
quietly. She had broken the covenant. But when the angel came to him and said, no,
that's not what happened, he agreed to continue to marry her. She had to remain in
a constant state of readiness. She did not know when her bridegroom would come to
get her. So she had to be ready every day and every night. She was not sure of
the day or the hour. When she went to bed at night, she would light a lamp and
put it in the window, which was a signal that she was ready. It was a signal to
her groom, "This is where I am. Come get me." She would make sure there was plenty
of oil in the lamp so that it would burn all night and not go out, because she
was constantly being ready for this, and this could go on for months or years while
she's waiting for him to come.
Meanwhile, if people would ask the bridegroom when he can go get your bride, he
would say, "Only my father knows the answer to that one.
It's only when he lets me go after I've built the dwelling place." Finally,
the father would give the word, the son could go, the bridegroom and his groomsmen
would saddle up and they would ride off to gather up the bride. They would most
often show up at night and as they approached her dwelling place,
her city wherever she was living, as they got near, one of the groomsmen would
sound a trumpet to let the people in the town know that these were not invading
marauders coming in, but the trumpet was sounded to say we're coming for the bride
and then they would come in with a loud shout because this was a festive night and
they were coming to gather the bride and with their arrival. The bride would hear
the trumpet and the shouting she knew the time had come, she would ready herself,
the groom would come in, he would snatch her up and take her away,
take her off with the wedding party and with her bridesmaids. And when they got to
the father's compound, to the new house, the dwelling place he had built, the first
thing that would happen was that the bride and the groom would have time to
consummate their marriage, and then there would be a great feast that would last for
seven days, feasting and celebrating at the marriage of the bride and the groom.
That's pretty amazing, right? But you hear that story and laced all through that
story is this metaphor of salvation and God how He will one day come to receive
His bride. It's baked into the customs of the culture. So the language that we're
familiar with, language like I go to prepare a place for you, you've been bought
with the price, no one knows the day or the hour. This is all comes out of that
wedding culture that the Jews were so familiar with. And that's why when we get to
Revelation 19 and we see this wedding feast taking place where the bride and the
bridegroom are finally united, the relationship has been fully consummated, and now
they are celebrating what has come to pass.
And verse 7 says that the bride has made herself ready. Now let me think about
that with me for just a second. The bride has made herself ready. She continued to
live in a perpetual state of readiness and expectancy. She kept her lamp burning,
she kept the light on, she remained faithful until the groom arrived, which is what
we're called to do. To live in a constant state of us for the arrival of the
king. We don't know when it's gonna come, but we should be keeping our lamp oiled
up. We should be remaining faithful. We should keep the light on. Is that how
you're living? Are you living expectantly? Are you living aware of the fact that
today could be the day that Jesus could come at any moment? Are you expectant?
Are you faithful? And And I notice here in Versailles, I think this is significant,
it says, "It was granted her to clothe herself with fine linen, bright and pure."
Again, it's a contrast to what we saw the woman in the previous chapter who was
clothed in scarlet and purple and lots of jewelry to look alluring. This woman is
clothed in white and pure and radiance. But note that it was granted to her to
clothe herself. This is key. This woman could not put on these garments on her own.
She couldn't decide to dress herself in the wedding garment. It had to be granted
to her. She was given permission to put on these wedding garments.
You can't make yourself ready for Jesus to come and you.
You can't decide on your own. I'm going to clean myself up and get ready for Jesus
to come. It has to be granted to you. It is only by God's grace that we can
become ready for the bridegroom. But once it was granted to her, what did she do?
She clothed herself.
So when it's granted to you, there's a responsibility for you to make sure that you
are in that state of readiness, that you're clothed yourself, that you have adorned
yourself to be ready for the bridegroom. I love that word adorned. That's a word
that we find in Titus chapter 2. Women are told in Titus chapter 2 that they are
to adorn themselves with the kind of virtuous character that adorns the doctrine of
God. In other words, people should be able to look at your life and see the
goodness of God, the kindness of God, through the character that you exhibit. How we
live, how we act, the choices we make, the words we speak, how we treat others,
our behavior either makes the Gospel look radiant and glorious or it soils the look
of the Gospel.
We are to keep putting off what the Bible tells us to put off, Things like anger,
wrath, malice, slander, abusive speech, and we're to be putting on what the Bible
tells us to put on. We're to adorn ourselves with kindness, compassion, humility,
gentleness, meekness, those godly virtues. In fact, look at the last line of verse
8. It says, "The fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints." This woman is
putting on her righteous deeds. That's the wedding garment she's wearing, righteous
deeds. She's been granted the privilege of putting these on.
She's been given the grace to put these on. And now she has to put them on.
These righteous deeds that God has given her permission to put on. Does your life
adorn the gospel?
And I'll make this really hard for you. Is that true when the pressure's on? It's
easy for your life to adorn the Gospel when the sun is out and the sky is blue
and life is good. And there's plenty of money in the bank and everybody's healthy.
Your life can adorn the Gospel just fine because it's easy. But when the pressure
gets turned up, when things are not going well,
Does your life adorn the gospel? When you suffer, when people are annoying you,
does your life adorn the gospel?
It's in the hard times when our lives are put to the test.
And when you demonstrate the fruit of the Spirit in the midst of adversity and
suffering,
That's when your life really shows forth the gospel. Nobody's impressed when you have
joy on a good day,
but people take notice when there's joy in the midst of adversity,
hardship and troubles.
Do you serve the Lord with gladness even when it's hard?
If Jesus came back in the middle of one of your tantrums, one of your pouty
moments,
when you're venting or you're angry or you're annoyed or you're indulging some secret
sin, if he arrived and said, "I'm here,"
would you be ashamed?
Or would you be ready?
Now, listen, the good news is there is grace in the moment. God understands our
weaknesses and frailties. The disciples fell asleep when Jesus told them to stay
awake.
The standard here is a high standard. God understands our weakness,
but the question is, are we seeking to adorn the gospel in our lives.
And by the way, it's not just about how you respond in the face of adversity. Are
you being proactive to love and serve other people?
Is that something you're initiating?
That's how we dress for the wedding.
That's how you Put on the wedding gown so you're ready when the groom comes.
This portion of Scripture ends with a blessing, a testimony, and a warning. I want
you to see these as we wrap up. Verse 9, the blessing, the angel says to John,
"Write this, blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb."
This is the fourth of seven attitudes or blessings in the book of Revelation.
There are seven blessed statements that are made, and this is number four. The first
one we saw back in Revelation 1 verse 3 where it said, "Blessed is the one who
reads aloud the words of this prophecy. Blessed are those who hear and who keep
what is written in it, for the time is near." You will be blessed if you pay
attention to God's word and what He's saying to you. Revelation 14 -13, "Blessed are
"The dead who die in the Lord from now on, "blessed in deeds as the Spirit, "they
may rest from their labors, "for their deeds follow them. "You are blessed if you
die in the Lord, "because there is peace for you on the other side of that."
And Revelation 16, 15, "Blessed is the one who stays awake, "keeping his garments
on, "that he may not go about naked and be seen
You are, you are blessed if you're living in a state of readiness, clothed in grace
throughout your life. And now we come to this, blessed are those who are invited to
the marriage supper of the Lamb. Nancy Guthrie says the joy of our lives, the
blessing of our lives now and into the future is that we've been invited to the
marriage supper of the Lamb, not simply as guests, but as the bride. There is
nothing more blessed than that.
There is nothing so bad that can happen to you today that nullifies the greatness
of that.
That's good news.
The testimony of the angel in verse nine, these are the true words of God.
So we've seen the Blessing, this is the testimony. The angel wants the original
readers and readers throughout church history and in our day to understand that when
you're facing persecution and adversity and you're thinking this is overwhelming, I
can't handle this, and you're thinking, can it really be true that God has redeemed
me and that there's a future and there's a hope? He wants you to know God's word
is true. You can count on it. God cannot lie, he not break his promises, this is
from God. In the midst of adversity, when all of this might sound like just a pipe
dream, like a fantasy, John is reminding the angel, this is a promise you can take
to the bank. This is God's word, you can count on it. Though there's the blessing,
there's the assurance, or the testimony that this word is true, and then finally
there's a warning, John is so overcome by what he sees here, that he falls down
and starts to worship the angel. And the angel, of course, rebukes him and says,
"Get up, I'm a fellow servant, you don't worship me, "we worship God." You don't
worship the messenger, you don't even worship the message, you worship the one who
is behind the message, the God who is the author of the message. That's who we
worship. And that takes us back to where we started this whole thing.
Hallelujah, Hallelujah, salvation, and glory and power belong to our God. He alone is
worthy of worship.
The news of the fall of Babylon has prompted celebration and worship in heaven.
It leads to God and His people being united as one people together with Him
So the question for us is, do these ten verses thrill your heart
in the way that they thrill the hearts of those who are already in glory?
The people who are there are thrilled by this news. Are you thrilled as you read
these verses?
Can we join our hearts this morning with the hearts of those who have gone before
us who are in heaven today, who see this clearly and who shout in a loud voice,
hallelujah, praise the Lord. He alone is worthy of praise.
The Lord Almighty reigns. Can our hearts join with theirs and say amen? Hallelujah.
Pray with me. Father we do want our hearts to be united with the hearts of those
who have gone before.
Lord, we confess to you that your ways, which are not our ways, your ways are
perfect and right and true. Your testimonies are right.
And Lord, we thank you that you have determined that evil will be done away with,
That justice will be accomplished That vengeance will be achieved but
Lord we thank you for your grace Your grace that means that we do not have to
Fear that day
But that we can be prepared We can put on
the good deeds that you've called us to put on and ready ourselves for the day of
your coming. Lord, I pray for anyone here who's not ready for that day. I pray
that you would awaken them to see with new eyes today, what they need to see.
Awaken them to the reality of the evil in their own heart and the need for that
evil to be dealt with by your grace.
We ask this in Jesus' name, amen.