-U3F9kYQeV4

Well, please stand for the reading of God's Word. Last week I read from Isaiah 25, and this week I'm going to read from Isaiah 26. But if you remember, in Isaiah 25, the Lord promises in verse 6, the Lord of hosts will prepare a lavish banquet for all peoples on this mountain.

And so, looking toward the future, Isaiah 26 picks up that same theme. In that day, this song will be sung in the land of Judah. We have a strong city. He sets up walls and ramparts for security. Open the gates that the righteous nation may enter. The one that remains faithful, the steadfast of mind, you will keep in perfect peace, because he trusts in you.

Trust in the Lord forever. For in God the Lord, we have an everlasting rock. For he has brought low those who dwell on high. The unassailable city, he lays it low. He lays it low to the ground. He casts it to the dust. The foot will trample it.

The feet of the afflicted, the steps of the helpless. The way of the righteous is smooth. O upright one, make the path of the righteous level. Indeed, while following the way of your judgments, O Lord, We have waited for you eagerly. Your name, even your memory, is the desire of our souls.

At night, my soul longs for you. Indeed, my spirit within me seeks you diligently. For when the earth experiences your judgments, the inhabitants of the world learn righteousness. Though the wicked is shown favor, he does not learn righteousness. He deals unjustly in the land of uprightness and does not perceive the majesty of the Lord.

Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we come before you, bowing our hearts before you, because indeed, Father, you are majestic. You are the one who is to be worshipped and honored. Father, we thank you for just how mindful you are of your people, that you call people out of their unfaithfulness to a life of faithfulness to you.

And it is only by your grace and mercy that such happens. Father, we look to you. We look to your Son, who gives us perfect peace in his sacrifice, the blood of the new and glorious covenant that is everlasting. Father, you have forever settled us and put us at perfect peace with you.

And Father, we see that now by faith, we understand that and have experienced that spiritually, even in this world. But, Father, we look for the day where the faith shall be sight, where you will indeed return, and you have purposed and decreed that there will be a celebration upon planet Earth.

The rain, your reign, Father, likened to a great marriage celebration. And so, Father, we now look forward to that and welcome it in advance. Father, help us even now to walk in your ways, to rejoice in the works that you have laid before us individually and as a church, and to embrace them with great enthusiasm as we ready ourselves and look forward to the day of your great return.

Father, we thank you for all this, and may you be exalted here today in Christ's name. Amen. Well, once again, good morning and welcome. Please turn in your Bibles to Revelation chapter 19. I want to read to you verses 9 and 10 this morning. Revelation chapter 19, verses 9 and 10.

Verse 9. Then he said to me, Write, blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he said to me, These are true words of God. Then I fell at his feet to worship him, but he said to me, Me, do not do that.

I am a fellow servant of yours and your brethren who hold the testimony of Jesus. Worship God, for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy. So, as we come back today, this is the third hallelujah, as I have called them, in verses one through eight. The hallelujah chorus, really you can see it beginning in verse 6.

Then I heard something like the voice of a great multitude, and like the sound of many waters, and like the sound of mighty peals of thunder, saying, Hallelujah, for the Lord our God, the Almighty, reigns. This is the third in series of these hallelujah choruses, the only place hallelujah is used in the New Testament, and the last song in the book of Revelation.

The first one, if you look back at verses one and two, it's the first hallelujah chorus. Hallelujah, begin to end of verse one. Salvation and glory and power belong to our God because his judgments are true and righteous, for he has judged the great harlot who is corrupting the earth with her immorality, and he has avenged the blood of his bondservants on her.

And a second time, this is the second hallelujah song. They said, hallelujah, her smoke rises up forever and ever. And the 24 elders and the four living creatures fell down and worshiped God who sits on the throne, saying, Amen, hallelujah. With an emphatic end statement of affirmation from the living beings.

Those first two hallelujah choruses look backwards. They look back on what God had done in judging. He exercised his reign. He reigns and he exercised that judgment in removing the harlot and her influence. But this last one, beginning in verse 6, this third hallelujah chorus, is looking forward to what that paves the way for.

Looking forward, the call to worship is looking forward to what the judgment on Babylon makes way to happen. What does it make way to happen? God's reign upon the earth, as it is in heaven. God's reign. And so as we started looking at this, we realized in verse 6 that the great celebration is the Lord, our God, the Almighty, reigns.

It's about his reign. But as we keep going, We recognize very quickly that he is going to describe this reign as a wedding celebration. Now, when you're thinking about it, we sang about it in some of these songs today. There's great theology in a lot of the Christmas hymns that we sing, by the way, speaking of a golden age yet to come.

The days are going just as the prophets said, and a day is coming when he will reign upon the earth. All that is spoken of, and certainly see that here in our text. A wedding celebration is how God characterizes his second coming. And so you think about that for just a moment.

The coming of Christ. Think of the joy that is associated with a wedding. Think about the celebration. Think about the blessing. Think about all that goes into a wedding. And it's upon this basis, in verse 7: let us rejoice and be glad and give the glory to him, for the marriage of the Lamb has come and his bride has made herself ready.

The Lamb is taking a bride. And that is going to be the occasion of celebration of all human history. This is a high point in human history, it's the high point in relevatory history. History. The Lamb is taking a bride. And as we keep going in the days ahead, it's an army bride.

It's a bride coming with him to rule and to reign. But all the joy of blessing that is accompanying a groom getting married. But it's also about the bride. You think about in verse 8, it was given to her to clothe herself in fine linen, bright and clean.

For the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints. So the marriage supper, we began working our way through this passage last time. There's a groom, as you would have in any wedding celebration. There's also a bride. That's another element. That we've already looked at. Today we're going to look forward at the guest list.

There is also a guest list that is also customary with a marriage celebration. And that's where we'll pick up this morning. Look at verse 9. Then he said to me, Write, blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb. And there's the command, put this in writing.

Let this forever be written down. Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb. The second coming is likened to a wedding celebration, the moment the groom and the bride come into the banquet hall. Think about that moment. That's the celebration. The union has taken place.

And in ancient times, these wedding feasts could go on for a week, some even longer. But a seven-day wedding celebration was not unfamiliar. So you can think about this as a period of time, a golden age, a time of celebration when the bride and the groom come into the banquet hall.

This is the analogy that the Spirit of God is using to communicate the days ahead. There are great days ahead for planet Earth, for those who are in Christ, like a wedding celebration. But think about it. In every wedding meal that I ever attended, you can think about what is the desire.

As I walk into the banquet hall and I see all the decorations and I smell the foods and I see the things ready to be served, there is a desire. On the part of the groom and on the part of the bride for people to enjoy and celebrate.

In fact, a lot goes into how they want to bless their guests. And so they go to great lengths to plan and to plan the event and to make sure their guests are blessed. So you think about that. Special music, food, a special place is selected, all of that.

That's what's necessary to make the celebration a celebration. These are all components. And even when I was a little kid, I remember going to weddings, and I knew that once I was in that banquet hall, whatever they had planned, I was part of. I was among the blessed.

Whatever, and it was, you guys go to weddings all the time around here. And it's great. It's good. But as you go in, you come under the blessing and celebration of the groom and the bride. And not only that, the father of the bride, the father of the groom.

It's just everyone comes together to celebrate. And once the bride and groom come in, the celebration begins in earnest. That's what is being portrayed before us, and especially with this emphatic statement: Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb. Now, as you can imagine, you're probably already thinking in your mind, this is an interpretive issue.

Who are these people? Who are these people? Is there one blessed group of people or two? Is the blessed category the bride or the invitees? If you think a little bit, how are we to understand this analogy? Is there one group of blessed people here, or are there two?

If so, who are they? What appears a very simple statement all of a sudden gets, wow, where is this going? How do we think about this? Well, so I'll give you the options: one or two blessed groups. So we'll go down. If it's one group, this is, as many would assert, the bride is the redeem of all.

All time, and so are the invited. They too are the redeemed of all time. So you've got two people. You've got one group, and you just happen to be players on both sides. On one hand, you're the bride, on the other hand, you are the guests. And so this view mixes up the metaphor and applies two aspects of it to the same people.

And there are a whole bunch of variety of views within this. And the support that many go this route will rely upon the wedding metaphors in the Gospels. And they'll cite these Gospel, these metaphors, and these wedding metaphors, which are abundant in the Gospels, where many times Jesus is referring to his followers as those invited to the feast.

Therefore, the thinking is, since that's the way Jesus does it in the Gospels, that must be the same way he's using this metaphor here. And so, therefore, there's one group of blessed people, and that one group of blessed people is both bride and the invitees, the redeemed of all time.

You and I would be on the one hand the bride, and on the other hand, the blessed invited group. One of the Problems with this view is that it assumes the same metaphor must be used the same way. Just because Jesus uses a metaphor in the Gospels in one way doesn't mean that he always uses that same metaphor in every way.

For instance, leaven. Leaven is in some parables, in most parables, used as something bad. Or the analogy is often that it's referring to something bad. But in some cases, it can be good, like the gospel, that leavens the whole earth, goes through. So there's a problem with that, just and it makes the authority not the text that we're reading, but another text and an aspect of something out of the gospels to have the authority over the Revelation 19.

Scripture certainly interprets scripture, but each is allowed and must be allowed to make its own contribution to the relevatory scene. Another problem with this view is that it destroys the natural understanding of the analogy. A bride is not invited to her own wedding. I'm sure a lot of you have been married in here, right?

I don't have to see hands, but you've probably heard. Have gone through a process, or you're going through the process of planning a wedding, or you've planned a wedding, or you're helping somebody. Did any of you brides, did you receive an invitation to your own wedding? I would venture to say probably none of you did.

I bet you you didn't send an invitation. Oh, yeah, we got to make sure I'm invited to this. Because if I don't show up, there's no wedding. No, it destroys the analogy. If there was only one blessed group, why not just say, Blessed is the bride to avoid confusion.

There's such thing as I call 30,000 foot above hermeneutics and 2,000-foot above hermeneutics. What I mean by that, there's a way to fly over a text from high up and just say, look, this is just one big blessing. Everybody's blessed here. There's one group of people being blessed.

We can see they're blessed, and that's going to go on for eternity. And wow. And it's true. You can see the blessing here. But then if you fly a little bit closer, you start noticing there's a little more topography on the ground. And you start being able to see a little more detail.

There's a distinction. The custom, there is a distinction in the custom between the bride and those who are blessed, and those who are invited. And still, some will insist that she is, the bride is also the guest. The problem with that is she certainly, and even those who would press the issue, certainly would admit that she cannot be the same in the same sense of the word.

She certainly is not invited in the same way the guests are. The bride and groom is the occasion for the celebration. The groom does not marry the guests. Doesn't happen that way. Do you see the problems when you start, you just start saying, okay, we're going to make this say there's one blessed group and void the distinctions, and then all of a sudden you've got, you've destroyed the analogy that's being used to communicate truth.

No, the reality is there are two, at least two, certainly, two blessed groups here. The bride, she is certainly in a blessed condition. Her clothing, she comes with the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. She is the affection of the Lord. Lamb, blessed. But then there is this statement that the invitees are also blessed.

Put this in writing: blessed are those who are invited. So then, who are these? Well, you've got several options, but certainly honoring the text, you've got another category. Well, you've got Old Testament saints, or you've got the tribulation saints, or you've got the faithful who survived the tribulation who didn't take the mark of the beast.

There are any number of people or future saints who would be born and come to faith in the millennium or some combination of all the above. There are plenty of categories. The church has been raptured out. The church is now with Christ, clothed with Christ, and returning with Christ.

Now, some would put the Old Testament saints in that category. But one thing is clear is that the Old Testament saints, the tribulation saints, as you keep reading in Revelation chapter 20, they are going to be resurrected and part of this golden age. The return of Christ, this banquet celebration.

So they're all going to be there. But in what capacity? They're blessed. There are no second-class sinners. Citizens in heaven. Think about this. As you think about, we know from science, no two snowflakes are exactly alike. In fact, no two flowers are exactly alike. Each is uniquely shaped by its own set of internal driving forces or external conditions in which it is shaped.

And the same is true for people. None of us are exactly the same. Even if you're twins, there's a factor that there is variety, there is distinction. Same is true about nations. They're not all the same. There's distinctions. Same is true about our roles in heaven, our roles in God's kingdom, our roles in the church.

There is a lot that we share in common, but there are distinctions. God is a God who loves distinctions. He loves variety, and he loves bringing that variety together in a beautiful spectrum of his glory. A masterpiece. There are no second-class citizens in heaven. Heaven, but peoples and nations all have distinct roles, and that's to His glory and to His praise.

You know, we all have a small part in the coming age, we all have a small part, but we're given the privilege. The privilege of being part of it all is to see it all, and yet, often we want to make heaven about us. I am the bride, I am the blessed, I'm the one sitting on the throne, I am, I am, and you come up with the theological position that all of a sudden sets yourself in every place, every kind of description of blessing, because you want to make heaven all about you.

Or there is certainly a tendency. But let me tell you something: we have a small part in serving a king whose glory doesn't diminish, but expands. The end of the increase of his glory doesn't ever cease. We're small, but the glory of it all is that we get to behold it.

It's a great evil. To want heaven to be all about us, it's about him. Are you content with serving a Christ whose glory is only going to increase forever and ever? Or are you going to go down that evil path of Satan who says, I can't stand it that way?

I want to be exalted. I want a place in the spotlight. That's, my friend, the path of evil. It is a great evil to want heaven, to want this life to be all about us. But in all this distinctiveness of heaven, there is also great unity. We also see this beauty in nature.

A butterfly is not a lion, but they both contribute to the beauty that we see all around us. And so it is with us. And so it will be with his kingdom. Each and every role is assigned according to God's over-the-top goodness, his superb wisdom, and his absolute sovereignty.

He knows what he's doing, and so when he Calls out one category as blessed and another category is blessed. Don't be afraid to let that inform you about what is coming ahead. Suppose for a moment I decided to leave the pastorate and take over a restaurant chain. Get into the take over some kind of restaurant chain business.

It would be a disaster, tell you that up front. My wife knows that. But think about it. Let's suppose I want to take over a hamburger or a pizza chain restaurant. We have some people that know how to make pizza around here. So what would I have to do?

Okay, I'm going to take over this, I'm going to become a pizza magnet, and I am going to take over this chain of pizza restaurants. What am I going to have to do? Think about it. Well, first of all, I'm going to have to pay the purchase price.

I have to do whatever is necessary so that I have legal entitlement to the assets of that pizza chain. I would also have to make all the legal arrangements, pay the price, and set a date to which that ownership is transferred into my name. And guess what? On the day that that transfers over to me, I would have to have an army ready to.

To go, wouldn't I? I'd have to have an army already assembled, already ready to step in to this pizza chain business. Now, I'm not, I wouldn't need an army with machine guns and a big appetite to eat pizza, would I? That'd ruin it, right? I don't need just a bunch of people who can eat pizza.

I need what? I need cooks, cashiers, financial officers, people to handle the supply chain, HR, personnel, and yes, even attorneys might even have a place in this takeover. Marketer, you get the picture. I would need to show up with an army to administer all aspects of this pizza chain.

Now, think about this: Christ is coming to take over the earth and all of its administrative functions. Everything from law, everything from production, everything across the board. And so, you think about as you keep reading, we understand that he's going to come and he's going to bring in his bride to administer his reign.

He's going to rule the nations, and he's going to rule the nations. Through his bride. People that he has called out from all different tribes and peoples and nations who have been faithful to him, who are married to him, who have put on his righteousness, and who are going to be devoted and carrying out.

This is what's going to make the golden age golden. He is going to rule and reign through them. That's how this, and this is why it's such a celebration. The bride does not come to conquer. As we keep reading, she's going to follow the Lamb. God is going to set up the throne.

God is, after the seven trumpets and the seven bold judgments, then in comes Christ and his army bride. She follows him. He does not follow her. The bride does not conquer and set up a throne for Christ. Christ conquers as king of kings and lord of lords, and he administers his reign through his bride.

She was created to reign with him. She was redeemed to reign with him. She was purchased to reign with him. She is created to be his helpmeat. Not because he needed one in the same sense that Adam did, but she was created to enjoy intimate relationship with him and share his glory.

You see, one of the great tragedies in Israel's history was rejecting Christ. A second great tragedy was Israel's rejection of his bride. Both come to bless. That's the union between them. And there is going to be a celebration that follows when they return. Look back, verse 9. Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.

Put this into writing. This is another blessed condition. We've already looked at several. This is the fourth blessed condition. You remember in Revelation 1:3, the blessed are those who read and hear and heed the things that are written in this book. Revelation 14, 3. 13, blessed are those who die in the Lord from now on.

Blessed are those who die, being faithful to what God has called them to do, dying in the line of service. Revelation 16:15, blessed is the one who stays awake and keeps his clothes, so that he will not walk about naked and have his shame exposed for all eternity.

Blessed. And then you come to Revelation 19:9. Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he said, These are the true words of God. So think about the marriage supper of the Lamb, the Lamb coming in with his bride. That's the vision.

That is the picture that is being painted here for the second coming. Then there's this expression at the very end of verse 9. These are the true words of God. To what are the these pointing to? What are the these to what is being referred? These, these. Well, certainly, it's a fitting conclusion to all that's been said.

Remember, at the end of chapter 16, you have the seventh bowl poured out, and then in chapter 17, 18. You have the additional information about the fall of Babylon the Great, and it begins in 17:1. Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and spoke to me, saying, Come, I will show you the judgment of the great harlot who sits on many waters.

So it's this angel that starts telling John all of this, and then it comes to a conclusion in verse 9. These are the true words of God. Same angel speaking. So it's a fitting conclusion. And then John is going to respond in verse 10. Then I fell at his feet.

So that is a unit that describes Babylon the Great's religious and economic fall. It's also a fitting conclusion to the hallelujah choruses, the one, two, and three. But the expression certainly, and it may include what I just said, but it certainly relates to the immediate announcement of blessing.

It's unusual to have this kind of a statement. Put this in writing. Blessed are those who are invited. And what this does is it prepares us as the readers for what's coming next. The beginning in verse 11, we have the second coming of Christ. Verses 1 through 10 give us a little bit of an introduction to that.

And it puts it in the context of a wedding supper feast, blessing for all, and wants to highlight how wonderful this event is going to be. There's nothing like it in human history. Well, let's look at John's response to it, verse 10. Then I fell at his feet to worship him.

But he said to me, Do not do that. I am a fellow servant of yours and your brethren who hold the testimony of Jesus. Worship God, for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy. Now think about this. This angel has come, one of the ones that poured out the plague upon the earth, and then comes and explains, gives, takes him, and he gets to the end of this.

And John is so overwhelmed by what he saw that he falls down. With the intention to worship the angel. Look at this. Then I fell at his feet. It's like I prostrated myself to worship him. Very express. John is taking the posture of worship to worship. Very unusual.

Think about how overwhelming this is. What could possibly move someone like the Apostle John to the point of angelic to worship an angel? He is part of a community that condemned such. Maybe he didn't realize it was the angel talking. Maybe he yielded to some kind of temptation.

Or perhaps he was just so beside himself that he was just so overwhelmed and he falls and assumes the position of worship in order to worship. And I think it's the latter. He was just so overwhelmed. But regardless, The angel is quick to stop it. Look at what he says.

It's really a short statement. You see not. It's really, see not. That's really what he says. See not to that. In other words, see to it that you do not do that very quickly. Yeah, stop. Very quickly. He puts an end to it real quickly. And then he explains why.

But you think about just for a moment what's happened here. You think about when one is overwhelmed by a biblical truth, there can often be a tendency to worship the one who brings that truth rather than the one who gave it. To be so, and I think that could be, we can elevate people.

We can worship even people who bring the word. We can worship those who sing the word. For whatever reason, we can worship those who explain. The angel is here saying, You don't do that because it is his truth. The angel is like, Lord. Look, I am a fellow servant of yours who hold to the testimony of Jesus.

You worship God, for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy. It's his truth. He's the one who is revealing who Christ is, he is the one who purposed this from the beginning. Humanity would be married to God's Son. It is his truth. The testimony of Jesus comes from God.

It doesn't come from angels. It doesn't come from people. And so worship him. Put yourself into a state of worshiping him. That's the angels. But I love what the angel says here, just as a little window into angelology. You want to understand angels? Listen to this. I am a fellow slave of yours.

I am a fellow slave. I am a slave together with you. You and I are part of a body that serves the brethren who hold to the testimony of Jesus. Don't you? Love that we have a common purpose with angelic beings. They too are fellow servants with God's people, serving the best interests of the witness of Jesus Christ.

They serve those, look back at those who are holding on to the testimony of Jesus. And so worship God. There is no worship in heaven toward any creature, whether angelic being or person. You worship God and let us promote his worship. There's a statement here. Look at the end of verse 10.

For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy. I love how John Valvard comments on this phrase. It says, This means that prophecy at its very heart is designed to unfold the beauty and loveliness of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. In the present age, therefore, the Spirit of God is not only to glorify Christ, but to show believers things to come as they relate to His person and majesty.

You remember what Jesus told His disciples? In John 6, 13. He was preparing them for his departure and what would soon hit them. Verse 13 says, But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. For he will not speak on his own initiative, but whatever he hears, he will speak.

And he will disclose to you what is to come. He will glorify me, for he will take of mine and will disclose it to you. All things that the Father has are mine. Therefore, I said that he takes of mine and will disclose it to you. A little while, and you will no longer see me, and again, a little while, and you will see me.

What's being said here is that Christ is not only the major theme of Scripture, but also the central theme of prophecy. Prophecy designed to unfold the beauty and loveliness of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. And so that is why you are to worship God. The Spirit of prophecy is about elevating and exalting him.

And that's true with any spirit today. If it's truly of God, it's going to be about promoting Christ, not promoting self, not promoting how well you are gifted or anything else. It promotes Christ. Well, as we think about this and bring this to a conclusion, these first 10 verses of chapter 19 are an introduction to the dramatic second coming of Christ, which picks up in verse 11 and goes through the rest of the chapter.

It is the high point of human history. God's actual kingdom is coming to earth. A golden age is coming, unlike any other age, and it will be ushered in by the seventh trumpets, the seven bowls, and Christ's bodily return with his bride. And this is the closest thing.

A wedding celebration is the closest thing we can conceive of or compare what this new era is going to be like, where the groom, the bride, the father, the family, the friends, the servants are all present, celebrating together. This is the thing that God has looked forward to for the whole of human history.

This is what it means to be made in his image, and they will be in, the number will come in, and they will be completed, and they will be transformed, and they will be glorified, and thus faith. What God says. Let us make man in our image and let him rule and reign over the earth.

That's the future of planet Earth. No matter what kind of convulsions and struggles and everything that Earth is going to go through before it gets to that point, God tells us this, and Christ gave His Spirit to tell us these things ahead, to keep us from stumbling, so that we would stay in the face, hold on to the testimony of Jesus, and be active, readying ourselves by embracing the good works that God has for us today.

That is how you prepare: embrace the good works that God has set before you. Walk in them. That is how the bride readies herself. We can celebrate these things in advance. We can embrace the good works that God has set before us. And we can hold on to the testimony of Jesus and rejoice in doing so as we look forward to this day.

Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we thank you that we are in such a great company. Father, that there are layers to this blessings that you have for earth and your people that we can't even begin to get. Our minds around. We rejoice that in all of the provisions that you have made for your bride as we travel this earth now.

Father, help us to be all about you, to love you, and to carry out those tasks as that love for you shows up in the way we relate to one another. Help us to be active and to be quick to throw off the stained garments and the patterns of sin and selfishness and thinking that elevates us.

Father, may you be exalted. May you be first place. May we be that purified bride. Keep cleansing us, not only in position. We know that we are secure, but in our conduct. Father, may we be a ready bride. May you find us active in the works that you've given us.

Thank you, Father. Thank you for this church. Thank you for this morning. Thank you for this season that we can look at the manger and put it in the context of the cross and put it in the context of the resurrection and put it in the context of your second coming.

Father, we thank you. It is your desire to rule and reign, and it is a good Good desire to do so, and good for us, and so we welcome that rain in Christ's name. Amen.