Sermon Tone Analysis

What is the purpose of the book of Revelation?

Why was it written?

Who was the book of Revelation written to?

The testimony of Jesus Christ given to John was for local churches.

The message of this book is intended to be intensely practical for members of local churches.

It is intended to bring blessing into our lives, right now (today), if we read, hear, and keep what is written in it!

Must keep this in mind as we study Revelation 19.

Revelation 19:1-9 is actually the concluding section 17-18 which describe the demise of Babylon.

Revelation 19:1-10 is a response to the angel’s invitation to the heavenly host to rejoice!

It is the description of the loudness of enthusiastic rejoicing that replaces the silence of the destroyed city of Babylon.

Revelation 18:21 (ESV)

21 Then a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone and threw it into the sea, saying, “So will Babylon the great city be thrown down with violence, and will be found no more;

Revelation 18:22 (ESV)

22 and the sound of harpists and musicians, of flute players and trumpeters, will be heard in you no more, and a craftsman of any craft will be found in you no more, and the sound of the mill will be heard in you no more,

Revelation 18:23 (ESV)

23 and the light of a lamp will shine in you no more, and the voice of bridegroom and bride will be heard in you no more, for your merchants were the great ones of the earth, and all nations were deceived by your sorcery.

In contrast to the deafening silence of Babylon due to God’s judgement is the enthusiastic rejoicing of the heavenly host!

This enthusiastic rejoicing is accomplished by means of four songs.

One of the few times the NT deals with the idea of singing.

I think we also learn much about the idea of proper worship from this passage as well.

SONG #1

What is the content of this first song?

What is the basis their praise?

By what truths do they offer God worship?

The heavenly host is celebrating God’s judgement of the great prostitute!

Let that thought sink it a moment.

What will God’s judgement of the great prostitute, Babylon, involve?

How can the heavenly host offer worship to God for this?

Do we like worshiping God this way?

What kind of attributes of God do we normally like to think about when we worship God?

If we never worship God for his true and just judgments what kind of effect will that have on the church?

On our lives personally?

“What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us.” —A.W. Tozer

“It is impossible to keep our moral practices sound and our inward attitude right while our idea of God is erroneous or inadequate.

If we would bring back spiritual power to our lives, we must begin to think of God more nearly as He is.” —A.W. Tozer

“O Lord God Almighty, not the God of the philosophers and the wise but the God of the prophets and apostles; and better than all, the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, may I express Thee unblamed?”

“They that know Thee not may call upon Thee as other than Thou art, and so worship not Thee but a creature of their own fancy; therefore enlighten our minds that we may know Thee as Thou art, so that we may perfectly love Thee and worthily praise Thee.” —A.

W. Tozer

Proper worship requires replacing erroneous views of God with true views of His majesty as defined by the Scriptures

Song # 2

Who are the ones singing this song?

“They” same great multitude of loud voices in heaven as in v. 1. Probably angels.

What is the content of the second song?

How is this song different from the first song?

This is somewhat of an encore of the first song, but there is a heightening of the praise being offered.

In what way does the second song heighten the message of the first?

“The smoke from her goes up forever and ever.”

Lit.

“The smoke from her keeps on going up forever and ever.”

This song highlights that the city’s destruction is final, complete, and irreversible.

Will the smoke of the city of Babylon never burn out?

What about when God destroys the present earth and sky (heaven)?

So the flames that destroy the city will burn out in time.

So how do we understand forever and ever?

Perhaps for the following 1,000 year period of the Millennial kingdom the smoke of Babylon will billow as a testimony to the faithfulness of God, the certainty of his victory, and the permanence of His kingdom!

Beyond this 1,000 period of time we must view the eternal fate of individuals intimately connected with the city.

Proper worship of God requires that we consider the outcome of the wicked

What happens to our worship when we don’t consider the outcome of the ungodly?

Why would we want to be like the nations in our worship?

Like the wicked?

Like the ungodly?

In what ways can our worship be like the nations?

Song #3

Who is singing this song of worship?

Who are they worshiping?

What is posture of their worship?

What voice is speaking in v. 5? From the direction of the throne, not the one sitting on the throne itself.

What is the attitude of right worship called for in v. 5? fear

Who is to offer praise to God? His servants/slaves, small and great.

Why are they offering such humble awe-filled worship to God?

In response to what God is about to do!

What is God about to do?

Judge the wicked and bring in the kingdom!

God is about to bring to fruition his eternal will of the kingdom!

He alone is able to provide this kind of salvation.

He alone has this awesome glory.

He alone has this kind of unlimited power!

Proper worship of God requires a fearful respect of His awesome majesty

Song #4

Who is singing this song?

Redeemed church saints?

Or all the heavenly host of angelic beings (part of the subject of this song is on the Bride herself, awkward for the Bride to sing about herself)

What is the largest chorus of voices you have ever heard?

Dawson McCallister rally in DC (10,000’s of voices)

What is the content of their song?

The Lord our God Almighty reigns.

This great and mighty song of songs is praising God because the Satan’s world-power is about to be demolished and the kingdom of God, promised for so long, is about to be established.

God will REIGN!

The figure of marriage denotes the intimate and indissoluble union of the community of believers with the Messiah.

The wedding image for the Jews was a more intimate aspect of the kingdom of God

When will the marriage supper of the Lamb take place?

Quotes from Robert Thomas:

The normal understanding would be that the event, coming after the destruction of Babylon and at the end of the Great Tribulation has the second coming of Christ to earth as its climax (Walvoord, Beasley-Murray).

This fixes the place of the feast as on earth and the time as during the Millennium.

Yet it cannot transpire on earth in a completed sense until after the Millennium when the rest of the faithful from the thousand-year period combine with the martyrs and other saints to complete the body of the redeemed (Charles).

The language of 21:2, 9 is quite explicit regarding the bride in the new heaven and the new earth (Lee).

The better part of wisdom is to include both the Millennium and the new heaven and the new earth as the prolonged wedding feast of the Lamb and His bride (cf.

19:9).

It will commence with Christ’s glorious appearance to initiate His kingdom on this present earth.

One further matter of reconciliation requires a separation of the wedding itself (19:7) from the wedding feast (19:9).

It is necessary to have the marriage initiated in heaven after the Rapture of the saints, because when Christ’s army of saints return with Him to earth, they will have already put on their wedding apparel (19:8, 14).