Hallelujah

Revelation 19:1-3

Revelation 19:1–3 (ESV)

After this I heard what seemed to be the 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,

and has avenged on her the blood of his servants.”

Once more they cried out,

“Hallelujah!

The smoke from her goes up forever and ever.”

Let me help you win a trivia contest at the Mexican restaurants.

What word do you hear in church regularly that is used only 4 times in the entire Bible?

Hallelujah - or if you read the King James - Allelulia.

Now, to make you even more invincible, what chapter of the Bible contains all 4 Hallelujahs?

If you said chapter 19 of the book of Revelation, you’d be spot on.

All four times the multitudes in heaven, the 24 elders and four living creatures and all of the people of God shout hallelujah, it’s right here.

Chapter 19 and it makes sense.

You want to know why?

Two words.

After this.

It is hard to have a hallelujah until you have had an after this - in fact, I will go so far as to say that you cannot have a hallelujah, without an after this.

Let’s talk about this.

The immediate antecedent of the “After this” in verse 1 is the destruction of Babylon the great.

Babylon represents all of the world systems that demand our worship - in our world it’s governments and political parties and corporations - everything that glories in its accomplishments at the expense of all that is right or good.

Babylon is that thing that not only wants you to follow it, it demands you follow it.

Sometimes it is as overt as a presidential executive order and sometimes it is as covert as sports program requiring your families’ participation 24/7/365.

For the people in John’s day, you’ll remember, the government so intruded into every aspect of their lives and was so demanding of allegiance, that being a Christ follower could cause you to lose your life.

If not martyrdom, starvation.

You couldn’t get a job unless you toe’d the party line.

You couldn’t get a job unless you did what the government told you to do.

Christians suffered a lot of stress.

Every Christian was looking for their “after this.”

How long is this going to last?

This seems like it’s never going to end?

I don’t know how much more of this I can take?

Have you ever heard anyone say that?

Have you ever said that?

You know, you know, you can’t live in “this” forever - there has to be an “after this.”

And when you get to the after this, then you can have your Hallelujah.

What is Hallelujah?

It’s a compound word that means Praise Yahweh - Praise the Father.

The only way you can say Hallelujah and mean it, if if you’ve had an after this.

In order to worship, we must know that we’ve been somewhere that we didn’t like.

It wasn’t the right place for us to be.

And now we aren’t there because God was faithful and true.

He did what He said He was going to do.

He delivered us - He gave us our After This.

And once we have our after this, we can say, Hallelujah, and mean it.

There is an old hymn we used to sing when I was young and the dinosaurs roamed the earth.

It was written in the mid to late 1800’s and the title is Count Your Blessings.

When upon life’s billows you are tempest tossed,

When you are discouraged thinking all is lost.

Count your many blessings, name them one by one.

And it will surprise you what the Lord hath done.

That song aggravated me.

I’m in the middle of whatever, and you want me to count my blessings.

You want me to say - look at how good I really have it.

I have no reason to complain.

Life is so much better for me than anyone in any other country.

I just need to count my blessings - and that’s not what this song says at all.

This song is saying, look back at all of your times of this.

Times of hardship, or pain, of angst, of worry, of fear, of sickness, of heartbreak and see how many times Jesus delivered you.

Look back and see all of the “after this” Jesus has given you.

And when you do that, you’ll be encouraged because you know He’s going to give you an after this again.

Because He is faithful and true.

And see, and see, Revelation 19 is a celebration of the final after this.

The Father has promised for ages that one day, He will put everything under Jesus feet.

Listen to this, Isaiah 11:1-5

Isaiah 11:1–5 ESV

There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit. And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord. And his delight shall be in the fear of the Lord. He shall not judge by what his eyes see, or decide disputes by what his ears hear, but with righteousness he shall judge the poor, and decide with equity for the meek of the earth; and he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked. Righteousness shall be the belt of his waist, and faithfulness the belt of his loins.

We read this at Christmas because it talks about the Messiah being born, but it’s more than that.

700 years before Jesus was born, Isaiah wrote what the final “After this” was going to look like.

Jesus will have wisdom and understanding.

Jesus will counsel and might.

Jesus will know all things and have awe and reverence and love for His Father.

And He will delight in His Father.

And because of that - he will judge the people the right way.

There will be no partiality, no favoritism, no bribes or harsh sentences rendered because they weren’t the rich and famous.

People who have no voice, Jesus will judge them with equal justice - Just like He does the most eloquent attorney.

And by His word, He will wipe out evil and hardship and sickness and death and pain and grief on the earth.

By the very breath of His lips - by the very words crossing His lips, He shall kill the wicked.

Look here, is that not what verse 2 says?

His Judgments are true and just.

What every Christian of every age has been waiting for has happened - what Isaiah prophesied has happened.

After this - every evil that has ever touched you - every deception - all deceit - it is all crushed under His feet.

Justly, truly, fairly.

At last, after all this, our Deliverer comes.

Revelation 19:4-5

Revelation 19:4–5 ESV

And the twenty-four 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.”

We don’t know who the voice from the throne is - it’s not God the Father - it’s someone standing close by.

And they tell “all you his servants,” that’s me and you - all of us.

Whether you are a big dog daddy or whether you have the dirtiest of the dirty jobs.

Praise Him - you shout your hallelujahs.

Revelation 19:6-10

Revelation 19:6–10 ESV

Then I heard what seemed to be the voice of a great multitude, like the roar of many waters and like the sound of mighty peals of thunder, crying out, “Hallelujah! For the Lord our God the Almighty reigns. Let us rejoice and exult 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.

In their day, a marriage consisted of two parts.

First was the betrothal.

The marriage was arranged - the man and the woman vowed their faithfulness to one another - and then the groom left.

He went to prepare a place for him and his bride to live and the bride had no idea how long that would take.

So she would work as quickly as she could to have everything ready for the wedding so that at a moment’s notice she could be ready.

One day the a groomsman would blow the shofar - the trumpet - and the bride would hear it.

The bride would dress herself quickly in fine linen, bright and pure.

Her dress would be evidence of her preparation - of how she had worked to get ready - to be ready for her groom.

Her works were proof devotion - not that they made the groom want to marry her - but they proved her love for the groom.

She would put on her wedding dress and her attendants would dress up as quickly as they could.

The groom would come and they would have a loud parade all of the way to his parent’s house.

Everyone in town would know a marriage was taking place - the groom had come for his bride.

And after all of that, they would have a party - a banquet - a giant feast where everyone would celebrate and dance and laugh and be so very happy.

Because the groom was faithful and true and he came to claim his betrothed.

Revelation 19:11-16

Revelation 19:11–16 (ESV)

Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse! The one sitting on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war.

Makes war - do not misunderstand the Lord.

He is not some creamy, weak-kneed, soft-speaking, white robe wearing flower child.

Jesus is coming as a warrior to avenge God’s name and to avenge God’s people.

His eyes are like a flame of fire,

We talked about this a long time ago - His eyes are piercing.

He sees through the smoke and mirrors, he sees through empty words and promises.

He sees to the very heart and soul of every person who has ever lived.

And those who are His, He delivers them to His “After This,” and to those who aren’t His, He makes war.

Do not for one skinny minute think that everyone on the earth will be saved.

That there are multiple ways to heaven.

That a good God would not sent people to hell.

There is one way to salvation and one only, Jesus is the Way, the Truth and the Life.

His faithfulness during the betrothal was proven by His faithfulness to die for His bride.

Even when she was weak and heard the voice of other suitors and sometimes was swayed, Jesus never did.

He lived a perfect life - perfectly obedient to the Father.

Fulfilling every moral law of God.

He was crucified and died for His bride.

And God raised Jesus back to life - to get to this day - to gather His bride.

And to avenge God’s name and the blood of His people.

And on his head are many diadems, and he has a name written that no one knows but himself.

While the beast had a few crowns, Jesus has many crowns.

Not a crown like you and I will wear, ours is a crown of victory - that we were faithful to conquer to the end.

His crowns are all crowns of power - because Jesus has proven worthy.

He died for His bride - He rose for His Father - and now all things are placed under Jesus’ feet.

He is clothed in a robe dipped in blood

This isn’t His blood - Jesus doesn’t need to be washed in His own blood.

He is a warrior and the image John is painting is a warrior in battle whose garments are splattered with the blood of His enemies.

The robe He is wearing isn’t a white robe like one of our baptismal robes.

It’s a warrior’s garment.

Jesus is charging onto the landscape - horses nostrils flared.

He is doing battle - and every enemy of God is falling at His feet.

and the name by which he is called is The Word of God.

He was in the beginning with God.

And now He’s at the final de-creation so the final creation can happen.

And the armies of heaven, arrayed in fine linen, white and pure, were following him on white horses.

There is a lot of discussion about who these armies of heaven are - I think it is us.

I think it is every Christian from every age throughout all time and space.

Everyone who was cleansed of their sins - who knows that they know that they know that they are living in their after this - we are all there.

From his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron.

There is no literal sword swinging from His mouth.

What is living and active and sharper than any two edged sword?

It’s the word of God.

And with His words, He breaks His enemies into a million pieces.

A rod of iron was specifically used by warriors to break heads and break things.

He will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty.

Let the word of God explain this:

Isaiah 63:2-6

Isaiah 63:2–6 ESV

Why is your apparel red, and your garments like his who treads in the winepress? “I have trodden the winepress alone, and from the peoples no one was with me; I trod them in my anger and trampled them in my wrath; their lifeblood spattered on my garments, and stained all my apparel. For the day of vengeance was in my heart, and my year of redemption had come. I looked, but there was no one to help; I was appalled, but there was no one to uphold; so my own arm brought me salvation, and my wrath upheld me. I trampled down the peoples in my anger; I made them drunk in my wrath, and I poured out their lifeblood on the earth.”

Why is God so angry?

Because He is holy.

He hates sin.

He gives everyone a chance - multiple chances - to believe in Him, to follow Him, to do what is right and holy under the Spirit’s direction.

But those who refuse - again, God’s own words.

Psalm 5:4-6

Psalm 5:4–6 ESV

For you are not a God who delights in wickedness; evil may not dwell with you. The boastful shall not stand before your eyes; you hate all evildoers. You destroy those who speak lies; the Lord abhors the bloodthirsty and deceitful man.

God hates all evildoers.

Those who reject Him and continue to reject Him until their death.

They won’t see a bright light and enter into some utopian nirvana.

Well, keep listening.

On his robe and on his thigh he has a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords.

For the one we worship, there is no King more powerful.

There is no Lord no noble.

Jesus is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

Revelation 19:17-21

Revelation 19:17–21 ESV

Then I saw an angel standing in the sun, and with a loud voice he called to all the birds that fly directly overhead, “Come, gather for the great supper of God, to eat the flesh of kings, the flesh of captains, the flesh of mighty men, the flesh of horses and their riders, and the flesh of all men, both free and slave, both small and great.” And I saw the beast and the kings of the earth with their armies gathered to make war against him who was sitting on the horse and against his army. And the beast was captured, and with it the false prophet who in its presence had done the signs by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped its image. These two were thrown alive into the lake of fire that burns with sulfur. And the rest were slain by the sword that came from the mouth of him who was sitting on the horse, and all the birds were gorged with their flesh.

If you have lived in Georgia for more than a minute and you take a moment every now and then in the summer to look up into the sky, you’ll know what I’m talking about.

Sometimes when you stand out in your yard, particularly in the summer, you can look up and see buzzards circling high in the air - sometimes so high they are little dots against the sky.

They are circling, looking for food.

They are nature’s vacuum cleaner.

Anything that dies, they swoop in to clean it up.

How do you know something is dead nearby?

You won’t see one buzzard circling, you’ll see a whole bunch of buzzards circling.

And they circle lower, and lower and lower until they land beside the carcass of a dead animal.

Mostly you’ll see them next to a road kill deer, having a feast.

This angel - standing in the sun for the entire world to see - calls every carrion from around the globe to the final battle.

This is Armageddon - whether it happens on the plains of Meggido or whether it happens world wide is inconsequential.

This is the end.

Now here is what I find amazing.

For 18 chapters, we’ve read of the struggles of the Church with Satan.

He is a fierce adversary who seeks to deceive and destroy us.

Spiritual warfare is real and it’s happening right now.

But on this day - this last day after this, with no drama and no effort, the Antichrist and the False prophet are captured and - listen - thrown alive into the lake of fire that burns with sulfur.

It burns hot.

It stinks as it burns.

It sticks to their flesh and it can’t be washed off.

And this lasts for eternity.

And it took no effort from Jesus at all.

And then, for all of the forces gathered together to fight Jesus, Jesus speaks a word “and the rest were slain.”

If you have ever doubted Jesus’ ability to save you, to guide you through your challenges and your hardships and your disasters, don’t doubt.

With a single word, Jesus conquers all of the evil that ever was.

Why doesn’t He do that now?

Have you counted your blessings?

He has given you multiple “After this” in your life - by His word - guiding your heart and His word keeping you safe from the evil one.

He’s already doing it - battles big and small - but one day sooner today than yesterday, He’s going to do it for good.

He is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

He is our Savior.

And His name is Jesus.

And because of Him, we live after this.

Amen and Hallelujah.

Let us pray:

You can’t have a hallelujah until you have had an after this.

Have you had your after this?