Worship and Victory

So now we are quickly drawing to a close the pouring out of the wrath of God.

God has stated what he sees in Babylon, symbolic of the Roman Empire, the blood of Lamb’s martyrs and stadning in opposition to God and the people of God.

We see that God’s justice upon that empire is complete and thorough.

What happens next is the worship of God almighty the justice brought by judgments against Rome.

Revelation 19:1–6 NASB

1 After these things I heard, as it were, a loud voice of a great multitude in heaven, saying, “Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power belong to our God; 2 because His judgments are true and righteous; for He has judged the great harlot who was corrupting the earth with her immorality, and He has avenged the blood of His bond-servants on her.” 3 And a second time they said, “Hallelujah! Her smoke rises up forever and ever.” 4 And the twenty-four elders and the four living creatures fell down and worshiped God who sits on the throne saying, “Amen. Hallelujah!” 5 And a voice came from the throne, saying, “Give praise to our God, all you His bond-servants, you who fear Him, the small and the great.” 6 And I heard, as it were, the voice of a great multitude and as the sound of many waters and as the sound of mighty peals of thunder, saying, “Hallelujah! For the Lord our God, the Almighty, reigns.

Are you ready for the message God has for us today?

Cool let’s dig in!

The Fourfold Hallelujahs

A contrast to the laments of chapter 18 are the hallelujahs of these verses

There are four hallelujahs -

verses 1-2

verse 3

Verse 4

3. verse 6

God has poured out his wrath on the Roman Empire who was actually serving the dragon and the beasts.

They had led many into there idolatry and violence.

They were guilty of the blood of the martyrs and God poured out his wrath in response.

God is here worshipped and praised because his judgments are righteous and true.

God is long suffering, but even that comes to end at some point as seen here in Revelation.

This speaks to those who say God is just angry and dulls out retribution and wrath on a whim.

In Revelation we actually see that God has been so patient, waiting to allow time for repentance.

He has sent message after message but they did not respond and even at the last minute we saw angel with an eternal gospel providing one last chance.

The Wedding Feast of the Lamb

Bruce Metzger, “After celebrating the destruction of the profligate city, Babylon, the larger and more important part of the songs of praise looks to the future, the perfect union of Christ and His bride, the church.”

This concept of the relationship between God and his people as a marriage is not new in the Bible.

Consider just one example of many from the Old Testament Isaiah 54:1-8

Isaiah 54:1–8 NASB

1 “Shout for joy, O barren one, you who have borne no child; Break forth into joyful shouting and cry aloud, you who have not travailed; For the sons of the desolate one will be more numerous Than the sons of the married woman,” says the Lord. 2 “Enlarge the place of your tent; Stretch out the curtains of your dwellings, spare not; Lengthen your cords, And strengthen your pegs. 3 “For you will spread abroad to the right and to the left. And your descendants will possess nations, And they will resettle the desolate cities. 4 “Fear not, for you will not be put to shame; Neither feel humiliated, for you will not be disgraced; But you will forget the shame of your youth, And the reproach of your widowhood you will remember no more. 5 “For your husband is your Maker, Whose name is the Lord of hosts; And your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel, Who is called the God of all the earth. 6 “For the Lord has called you, Like a wife forsaken and grieved in spirit, Even like a wife of one’s youth when she is rejected,” Says your God. 7 “For a brief moment I forsook you, But with great compassion I will gather you. 8 “In an outburst of anger I hid My face from you for a moment; But with everlasting lovingkindness I will have compassion on you,” Says the Lord your Redeemer.

How beautiful is that picture as God through His prophet speaks to how important that relationship is to Him

Being in a covenant like marriage with a people who were rejected. As long as they keep to the covenant they will be care for and loved by God like a husband to his wife.

This concept carries into the New Testament as well Ephesians 5:25

Ephesians 5:25 NASB

25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her;

We are reminded then in Revelation of how important that relationship is to God. He has cared for and given to this relationship and has just brought justice to the harm done against his bride.

Now preparations are made for a celebration

Verse 9 mentions a wedding feast, mentioning of the great wedding feast is a signal that the climax of the drama in Revelation is at hand

Here in this interlude is a great celebration a wedding feast where God eats with his people and clie rates with them

In what is to come God deals with the dragon, the beasts, and all those who follow them in leading nations and kings against his people and spilling their blood

Bruce Metzger, “The ultimate outcome cannot be in doubt, but there are some surprises a head, with the suspense of the drama sustained to the conclusion.

All the mentions of wedding feast in scripture has at last come to pass in this passage.

N.T. Wright, “This is what the world had been waiting for, ever since Genesis 1, ever since the covenant with Abraham, ever since the covenant with Moses, ever since the renewal of the covenant promised and the time of exile.”

What a wonderful celebration that will be, there will come a day when we will assemble with all the others invited to the great wedding feast.

John’s Mistake

In all this excitement of this vision and what it is revealing John begins worshipping the angel. This is of course a mistake.

John must not confuse the messenger with the message.

The four hallelujahs that opened the chapter remind us that worship belongs to God almighty

Maybe Johns mistake serves as a warning to his readers who might be tempted to bow in idolatry.

It serves as a challenge for people of every generation

We are reminded throughout the book of Revelation the focus of worship belongs to God Almighty and Lamb alone!

N.T. Wright, “Jesus shares the throne of God, Jesus shares the worship which is due to the one God and Him alone.”

How often people forget as they worship and serve the creature rather than creator.

In our post-modern world self is worshipped above all else.

Many are trying to force others to enter into that warped reality.

Where people are deceived into thinking they can identify as anything they want and ignore how they were created.

This is done in worship of self.

A question we must ask ourselves who is the god on the mantle of our life?

When John bows in worship to the angel notice what the angel states - verse 10

The Angel is no greater than John, he is just the messenger not the message, that belongs to the Lamb.

Battle Preparations

What comes next is heaven’s preparation to enter the battle.

The dragon, the sea beast, and the earth beast (renamed here the false prophet), have assembled those fighting with them, now it happens in heaven.

Here is what John sees first Revelation 19:11-13

Revelation 19:11–13 NASB

11 And I saw heaven opened; and behold, a white horse, and He who sat upon it is called Faithful and True; and in righteousness He judges and wages war. 12 And His eyes are a flame of fire, and upon His head are many diadems; and He has a name written upon Him which no one knows except Himself. 13 And He is clothed with a robe dipped in blood; and His name is called The Word of God.

Now we see Jesus riding a horse. The descriptions should sound familiar

Faithful and True - A contrast to the Roman Emperors Revelation 3:14

Revelation 3:14 NASB

14 “And to the angel of the church in Laodicea write: The Amen, the faithful and true Witness, the Beginning of the creation of God, says this:

Eyes like flame of fire - Revelation 2:18

Revelation 2:18 NASB

18 “And to the angel of the church in Thyatira write: The Son of God, who has eyes like a flame of fire, and His feet are like burnished bronze, says this:

On his head are many diadems (crowns). A hint to his royalty - Isaiah 9:6

Isaiah 9:6 NASB

6 For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; And the government will rest on His shoulders; And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.

His name is the The Word of God - John 1:1

John 1:1 NASB

1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

John 1:14 NASB

14 And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.

It is this title for me that serves as the greatest evidence that the author is John the apostle, because in the New Testament he is the only author to use this phrase in reference to Jesus

Gordon Fee, “One should note that the description of Christ as the divine warrior takes up almost half of the narrative of the last battle.”

This is the far reaching victory of Jesus on the cross. Victory here in revelation is victory over all pagan power.

Victory over violence itself.

Thus, “As John’s readers know well by now, the actual weapons which Jesus uses to win the battle are His own blood, His loving self-sacrifice.”

We should also note that these weapons are divinely powerful, not physical

Ephesians 6:10–12 NASB

10 Finally, be strong in the Lord, and in the strength of His might. 11 Put on the full armor of God, that you may be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.

Also 2 Corinthians 6:7

2 Corinthians 6:7 NASB

7 in the word of truth, in the power of God; by the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and the left,

2 Corinthians 10:4 NASB

4 for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses.

It is easy to forget that this is a spiritual battle not a physical battle.

This is a battle by the way that has already been one, because we are reading from victory not to victory.

We know how this battle ended. Satan and his forces were defeated!

Conclusion

Notice the record of their defeat - Revelation 19:19-21

Revelation 19:19–21 NASB

19 And I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies, assembled to make war against Him who sat upon the horse, and against His army. 20 And the beast was seized, and with him the false prophet who performed the signs in his presence, by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image; these two were thrown alive into the lake of fire which burns with brimstone. 21 And the rest were killed with the sword which came from the mouth of Him who sat upon the horse, and all the birds were filled with their flesh.

Once we recognize who Jesus is and the significance of his victory in death, there will be no doubt then in the final outcome.

To this, there must be no compromise.

This is where many in the church, big C church, are failing and following the lie rather than the truth!

Going in the same direction as society!

A process question to ask yourself, what has Revelation revealed as the outcome of believing the lie?

Who is the author of the lie?

When he goes to the lake of fire all who believe his lie will follow Him there.

We will see this next week when God deals with them in judgment.

Where will you be in judgment?

Do you see the message, you Life need not end in death, if can end in life, an abundant life.

You are here today a demonstration that there is still time.

Maybe you are struggling, the influence of society is pulling on you.

We are seeing who is behind that influence, who is pulling the strings in society.

So do you want to follow God, or do you want to follow Satan. The choice is yours.

Why not come to the altar this morning and chose life! Chose to follow the Lamb!