Sermon Tone Analysis

INTRODUCTION

Does anybody else remember growing up in church and singing that song, “hallelu, hallelu, hallelu, hallelujah… PRAISE YE THE LORD!” Then the sides would switch, “PRAISE YE THE LORD, halleljuah!” and people would get all mixed up (even though it’s not really difficult.)

It was a class favorite at vbs and youth camps back in my day.

Well that word shows up repeatedly in our passage today but nowhere else in the entire New Testament.

hallelujah - is a transliteration of a Hebrew word that literally means “Praise God.” Hallel - praise ; yah - God.

God is worthy to be praised.

There are probably many reasons why you might look at things in your life and say “hallelujah.”

This morning we’re going to look at a song in Revelation 19 and examine some additional reasons for why we ought to Hallelujah.

Context to Chapter 19

For you math whizzes in the room, Revelation 19 comes after Revelation 18.

Those of you who’ve been with us for a while know that Revelation 17-18 deal with the fall of a place called Harlot Babylon.

Revelation is apocalyptic literature and so it uses symbols and imagery to communicate truth.

Harlot Babylon is the symbol for a city of sin.

Babylon represented the centralization of idolatry, decadence and sensual indulgence.

Not only did she promote sin and disobedience to God, she also participated in the persecution of Christians and death of God’s saints.

Revelation 18 describes her downfall and it ends with a call for Christians to rejoice in her downfall.

Revelation 18:20 (CSB)

20 Rejoice over her, heaven,

and you saints, apostles, and prophets,

because God has pronounced on her the judgment she passed on you!

The invitation to rejoice is accepted in Revelation 19.

The chapter opens with John hearing the loud sound of a vast multitude in heaven saying...

Revelation 19:1 (CSB)

Hallelujah!

Salvation, glory, and power belong to our God,

Worship = Gratitude, Reverence & Trust

What’s going on in this passage?

Heaven is rejoicing in the destruction of evil by the Lord Jesus Christ.

He has come and he has judged the this godless city, the false Christ and his false prophet.

Who are these singers?

They are the people who’ve been delivered from the tribulation inflicted on them by Satan, his false Christ and this harlot city of Babylon.

In some ways you could count yourself as part of this vast multitude that will one day sing from heaven.

(I believe it’s the same vast multitude from Revelation 7:9.)

Notice what they sing: “Hallelujah!

Praise God.

“

Why? Three words: salvation, glory and power belong to our God.”

He alone is savior.

He is alone is glorious.

He alone is able.

SALVATION: There are are other people who promise to save but they can’t save like only God can.

GLORY: There are other people who impress and are glorious but only God’s glory can outshine the sun.

POWER: There are people and things that possess great power.

But there is no power in this world that is greater than God’s power.

NOTHING is impossible with our God.

Three words.

Each of them important.

I love what William Barclay says about this verse.

Each of these three great attributes of God should awaken its own response in the heart of man.

The salvation of God should awaken the gratitude of man; the glory of God should awaken the reverence of man; the power of God is always exercised in the love of God and should, therefore, awaken the trust of man.

Gratitude, reverence, trust--these are the constituent elements of real praise.

Gratitude, Reverence, Trust - these are the elements of real praise.

This is what it means to raise a hallelujah.

Is your life characterized by these things?

Is it characterized by gratitude for God’s salvation, awe and reverence in the face of His Glory and trust and dependance on his power to do all things?

Why Praise Him?

If not, my prayer this morning is that you’ll see at least TWO reasons why your life SHOULD be marked by this kind of praise.

Revelation 19 presents TWO primary GROUNDS for praise.

And we need to become familiar with them and comfortable with them.

In both categories there’s a call to PRAISE GOD for WHO he is and WHAT he will do.

In verses 1-5 it’s what he will do in his judgment on sinners.

In verses 6-10 it’s what he will do in His blessing of the saints.

This WILL BE our future song.

So if it’s a song we will sing in the future.

Then it’s wise for us to learn how to sing it today.

We will start with verses 2-5.

His Judgment On Sin

Revelation 19:1-5 establishes the praise of God for who He is and what He will do in his judgment on sinners.

In particular his judgment of Babylon, the notorious prostitute.

Revelation 19:1–5 (CSB)

1 After this I heard something like the loud voice of a vast multitude in heaven, saying,

Hallelujah!

Salvation, glory, and power belong to our God,

2 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.

3 A second time they said,

Hallelujah!

Her smoke ascends forever and ever!

Righteous Judgment

When it comes to God’s judgment of sin and the centralization of sin in places like Babylon (or others like it) - the emphasis is on God’s righteousness in executing judgment.

“His judgments are true and righteous.”

Just the other day I was listening to a woman talk about why she struggles with putting her faith in Jesus.

She pointed to all of the suffering in the world.

(kids getting cancer, needless gratuitous suffering)

She’s not alone in thinking that.

There are things that happen on this side of heaven we do not understand.

The enemy whispers in our ear and says, "If your God were so loving, or if your God cared, then why would this happen?"

Others raise the question of “Why would a loving God send x, y or z person to hell when they don’t deserve it...”

At one level, we can’t know for sure God’s reasons for allowing certain evils to take place on this world.

But what we can know is that whatever those reasons are - they are right and true.

And on that day we will sing… “God I couldn’t see it then but I can see it now… I didn’t understand when it happened, I kicked, I screamed, I threw my fist in the air.

But now… now that your kingdom has been established … now I see.

Now I understand.

You’re ways are not just higher than my ways… not just different.

They are TRUE and they are RIGHT”

So when it comes to God’s judgment of sinners we can praise him because his judgments are RIGHTEOUS.

Retributive Judgment

But the song doesn’t stop there.