The Everlasting Praise of Heaven: Rejoicing in the Lord - Glorious Hope | Studies in Revelation

But for now, we'll read these first 10 verses of chapter 19 of

Revelation.

After this I heard what seemed to be a loud voice of a great multitude

in heaven crying out Hallelujah.

Salvation and glory and power belong to our God.

And 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.

And the 24 elders and the 4 living creatures fell down and worshiped

God, who was seated on the throne, saying, I Amen.

Hallelujah.

And from the throne came a voice saying, praise our God, all

you his servants, you who fear him, small and great.

Then I heard what seemed to be the voice of a great multitude, like

a 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 exalt 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.

Amen.

This is the word of God.

I wonder what makes you really happy.

And we'll each have a different way to answer that.

Perhaps happiness comes from when you hear good news about a family

member.

Maybe happiness is about being recognized for something you've achieved.

Or happiness comes from being with people whom you love and whom

who love you in return.

And it may be that not one of these things make you happy, but

a combination of multiple things or events that bring real

happiness.

And I have to say I sat down and I thought, what does make me

happy?

Well, I was happy when I saw that England, Mexico would return

to one o' clock this morning because I was panicking that I might

have to have results up on the screen here.

You know, every blow by blow play, in case you were getting anxious

of what was going on.

That made me very happy.

That FIFA, after my phone call with them, they decided to move it

Back to one o' clock this morning or tomorrow morning.

Then I thought, you know what?

I just love ice cream.

I love a big bowl of ice cream.

I'm not allowed a big bowl of ice cream.

I always have to go for a small cone.

That's what I'm told.

But I do love a big bowl of ice cream.

And then I just love the contentment.

I love the contentment of sitting in a chair with a cup of

coffee and reading a book.

It doesn't sound spectacular, I know, but these are the things

that do my heart good in one way or another.

It's real happiness because it's something that's within, that

it lasts for the moment.

And in that moment, nothing really can take away that experience.

The reason why I prompt us to think about deep happiness is because

I want us to try and capture a term from Scripture that perhaps

is hard to articulate without muddying its definition and its true

meaning.

Because the expression that we're drawn to in Revelation 19 is

that of rejoicing.

Because that is what we see in this chapter.

And by way of a quick recap, here is what has been happening in

the last number of chapters.

In chapter 16, we were introduced to the seven bowls of

God's wrath.

And these bowls were poured out on sinful, rebellious humanity.

And even though the men of the earth question the fairness of their

severity, John tells us that they are fair and they're just, because

they come from a just and fair God.

In the seventh bowl, we heard a loud voice declaring to humanity

a truth that it needed to hear.

And there we read in chapter 16 and verse 17, the seventh angel

poured out his bowl into the air, and a loud voice came out of

the temple from the throne saying, it is done.

The Lord declares now to humanity that his punishments are

over and they're ended.

And that is it.

There is no more.

It's not that humanity has now got off and can get back on.

There's nothing left of humanity for them to get on with.

Because this is a moment of great celebration for God's people

and a moment of great fear for those who rebelled against Him.

Before their eyes, the great prostitute Babylon, representing

all the evil of the world, falls from the favor of the world

around her.

She is burned up.

She's destroyed forever.

And those who benefited from her are left at a distance, not knowing

what to do, but realizing that everything they had built their life

upon was now gone, and they too would face the same punishment

as the great city.

Now, as we move on into chapter 19, we don't see, we hear,

because John tells us in verses 1 and 2.

After this, I heard what seemed to be the loud voice of a

great multitude in heaven.

And this is what he heard, them 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.

John hears the voices of thousands upon thousands, if not

millions upon millions, crying out in praise of God.

And what we're about to hear is the victory song of heaven and

comes from a place of deep rejoicing of the victory of the Lamb.

Now, whenever I asked us what mix us deeply happy, you'll have

known for quite a while.

I've told you, rejoicing and joy is not happiness.

It's not that kind of emotion.

But deep happiness is the best, the closest we can get to it,

because what we're seeing here is not happiness.

Because happiness will disappear when bad news comes.

What we're seeing here in heaven, and the greatest earthly

emotion we can express that will get us anywhere close to it,

but yet falls far short, is a natural response to the perfect One

who makes us holy and makes us true before the Father's throne.

Because that's exactly where God's people are, before his throne.

And the voices in heaven cry out hallelujah.

And they ascribe salvation and glory and power to God.

In this Word, we see the contrast between the judgment of

the rebellious and the joy of the redeemed.

The people of God have been saved from the evil witch, the monster

who tormented them relentlessly.

And God has now shown himself glorious and powerful by delivering

his people and judging their great enemy.

And that's what verse two tells us.

God's judgments are true and they're just.

No one can question him because he is completely fair.

The judgment is not arbitrary.

In fact, it's quite the opposite.

God's judgment of Babylon agrees with justice and is the right

thing to do.

In other words, God's justice would be called into question if

he did not judge Babylon, if he did not judge the unrepentant

sinner.

And what's the perspective of heaven?

Well, the saints rejoice because they see that God has put

everything right.

The regime of the great harlot has been destroyed forever, and the

world can enjoy the peace and harmony God intended for it from

the outset.

The judgment of the harlot is fitting because of her harmful impact

on the earth.

She corrupted it with her immorality.

That's what the song tells us.

And again, the focus is not explicitly on sexual sin, though

it is likely to be included.

Sexual immorality here, as we've seen in other passages, is

often signifying the idolatry of Babylon and her refusal to worship

the one true God.

Babylon's passion is to see all people everywhere worship the

beast and not worship the one true God.

But the judgment, it's fair, it's just, but it's also warranted

because of the martyrdom of God's servants.

Did you pick that up?

That God has avenged their blood.

Where have we seen this blood before?

Well, the blood of the martyrs on the altar where their cry came

for how long?

And now we see the blood of the martyrs is avenged.

And avenged does not signify a crazed or unrestrained vengeance.

Instead, it signifies the just punishment deserved by those who

have murdered the people of God in all of history.

As we go into verse three, it repeats the Hallelujah refrain, but

gives us an insight into what they are seeing from heaven.

Their praise comes as they see the smoke of Babylon rising forever.

They're full of praise when they see the justice and rightness

of God's judgment on their great enemy.

Because the judgment is permanent and it's irreversible.

For the smoke of Babylon ascends forever.

And this is what was foretold by the prophets in the Old Testament.

Babylon will never rise again.

Her reign is over now.

This is not deep happiness and glee that we're seeing here in heaven.

This is rejoicing in the very work of God and the fulfilling of

all his covenant promises to his people.

And this is a wonderful moment to behold.

And there's a great sense of the delight and the joy that will

be ours when we see the end of all things and the end of evil, the

end of sin.

But do you know that rejoicing doesn't come naturally to us?

I'm not suggesting we're unhappy people.

I'm not suggesting we have a negative bent.

But rejoicing doesn't come naturally.

And we know this because all we have to do is look back to chapter

18.

Remember the poor souls back there?

They looked on.

And as they looked on at the destruction of Babylon, what did

they do?

They wept.

For she was no more.

They're sorry to see her go.

They're not found among the redeemed because they love the things

of the world more than Christ.

They're not rejoicing.

It doesn't come Naturally to them.

Rather, they're weeping and sorrowful because everything they

know is gone.

And they will face the same judgment.

And this is a warning to us.

It's a warning to us that we need to rejoice in the destruction

of evil and not be sorrowful in it.

Now, that means we need to pay attention to the Lord.

We need to pay attention to his way.

After all, that's why the redeemed are in heaven, because they

have.

They've paid attention to who Christ is.

They have not rejected him.

And their rejoicing is not glee, but rather an understanding

that God is just and fair.

And what about those who weep?

Well, there's no joy found in them.

They cry and they cry and they cry.

No tear will be wiped from their eye because they have rejected

and the time has gone for them to repent.

Verse 4 draws us to the center of heaven, to where the 24 elders

and four living creatures fall down in worship before God, who is

on his throne.

And they cry, amen.

Hallelujah.

Do you remember last week I told you that there was no exact

phrase in the Bible called everlasting or total praise?

There is one everlasting praise, and that's what it is there

before you in Revelation chapter 19 and verse 4.

Revelation 19 · chapter mention

Amen.

Hallelujah is everlasting praise, because amen means agreement

and Hallelujah is jubilant praise.

And so when you put these two together in the realms of heaven,

it is everlasting praise.

And as they sing these everlasting words, they receive a

response in verse five.

And look where the response comes from.

It comes from the A voice comes from the throne saying, praise

our God, all you his servants, you who fear him, small and great.

A voice comes from the throne.

And this is truly a phenomenon.

We only see it on two other occasions in Revelation, chapter

Revelation 16 · chapter mention

16, and we will see it again in chapter 21.

And once again there's a call to praise God, presumably again,

for his saving intervention of his people by taking them away from

Babylon as they look on to her destruction.

Because in judging Babylon, which He must do, he must judge this

sinful world, God also saves his people and delivers them from

his enemies.

You see, with judgment comes salvation.

And these images are regularly given to us in the Old Testament

when God is victorious over his enemies, be they Egypt, Assyria,

or Babylon, he also saves his people.

He was victorious over Egypt, and the people were led through the

Red Sea and redeemed.

The Lord defeated Assyria and the people went home.

And now Babylon, she is destroyed.

And judged, and the people are saved for all eternity.

So all of God's servants, those who fear and honor him, whether

they're insignificant or influential in the world's eye, are

called, are summoned to praise God for who he is and what he has

done.

And I wonder, do you notice in these verses that the praise comes

after the judgment, not before?

And that's significant for us.

For as long as unbelievers are alive, we are to pray for their salvation.

But on the last day, after history has concluded, we will see

that the judgment of God is right and true and just and complete.

None of us will question whether those who are in hell should

be there or not.

For then we will see the perfect rightness and goodness of

God's judgment.

But in this time, while there is still time, we must be praying

for the lost and for the rebellious, that they will come to

Christ for salvation and and so escape such terrible punishment

that is waiting for them.

And that's why, again, I invite you to join us on Tuesday

morning at half past seven where we pray for the salvation of

the lost.

We pray for our front line of mission, which is right here.

We pray that rebellious and sinful souls will come to Christ

for salvation and so that those we know and love will escape

such terrible punishment that at this moment they rightly deserve,

but because of Christ, they can be redeemed.

But the scene of joy continues as John again hears the multitude

of voices.

And this time he returns to how they've been described before.

Again he hears, and we're told that they're loud and they're strong.

They cry out in verses six through to verse eight.

Hallelujah for the Lord, our God, the Almighty reigns.

Let us rejoice and exalt 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.

Believers are here told to rejoice and exalt and glorify God,

because the wedding of the Lamb is at hand, as hinted at by

isaiah in chapter 61.

And one of the remarkable features of this section is the irrepressible

gladness that's bursting through the text.

It's hard to imagine anything more joyful than a wedding.

And this is the wedding of all weddings.

I do enjoy a good wedding.

Now, don't ask me how to define a good wedding, because I'm

not sure how I would define that.

All weddings are good, surely.

I love the service.

I love the hymns.

I love the food and I don't mind a wee boogie on the dance floor.

Weddings are good, but it is interesting.

Wise words once shared with many a pastor from a gentleman called

legend.

Duncan said, as pastors, we run to funerals and walk to weddings.

See, weddings are where no one wants to hear about Christ.

We're too happy, caught up in the day.

Funerals make us more confronted with the realities of

who we are.

But this is not like a wedding here on earth.

We can picture the greatest wedding, but that wedding will be

over 1, 2 in the morning and that's it done.

What we're looking at here is a truly joy filled moment that is

ours because all our marriages, all marriages of this

world are modeled after Christ's relationship with the church.

And we have been prepared and are being prepared for this.

And what we read here for the Lord's relationship to Israel is

also explained in terms of bride and groom by many of the prophets.

And so the wedding of the Lamb tells us of the consummation of God's

purpose in history, signifying his desire to be in relationship

with human beings.

The bride the church must be ready to marry the Lamb, as is further

explained to us in verse eight.

And if you look at the text there we have it on the screen, you'll

see that the bride is prepared for the wedding to the Lamb, wearing

the proper clothing.

Her adornment consists of fine linen.

It's bright and it's pure.

Now, two things are said about the bride's adornment here in Revelation

19.

First, the fine linen is given to her by God.

The goodness of the bride is a gift of God, not as a result of the

inherent virtue or wealth of the bride.

And so as the church, there is nothing of ourselves that makes us

ready.

It is only by the gift of God.

Second, the adornment of the bride stands for the goodness actualized

in her life.

The fine linen of the bride in Revelation, John explains, just represents

the righteous deeds of the saints.

And so here the bride's apparel stands in contrast to the

fine linen of Babylon.

We saw this in other chapters of how Babylon was described with

its wealth and its opulence, how it was dressed and all the jewels

that it went after.

But you see, whenever fine linen is described in Babylon, it's

not talking about the righteous deeds of her.

Rather it is accusing her of how she's been filled with luxury

and debauchery.

But now in heaven, the bride is ready because she has lived a

holy life, has done what is pleasing to God, and has not followed

the pathway carved out by Babylon.

Still, the righteous deeds of the bride are the result of God's

work in her life.

And with this song rising in his ears, John is given the instruction

by the angel before him.

In verse nine, 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.

John is to make sure that we get the full picture of what the

rejoicing in heaven will be like.

He is told to tell us that it is the greatest blessing to be invited

to the marriage supper of the Lamb.

Blessing that comes from God alone.

No feast compares to this feast.

And the joy at this supper is incomparable to any joy on earth.

The angel also affirms that his words are the true words of God.

And that's important for us because the promises are so great

and so stunning and so different from life on earth with

its sorrows and its sufferings.

We need to be assured that what we read here is true, that they

will become a reality.

And here we have glorious hope in what the Lord will do for his

people.

And let's be honest, what great news we need to hear on a weekend

such as this, with sadness in our hearts.

For a day is coming when we will be lifted from this world and

its pain and misery and brought into the presence of our

Savior for all eternity.

And picture it.

Eternity is a place of abundance, a place of true joy, a

place of true love, and a place of perfect blessing.

And we can be sure of it tonight.

All we need to do is respond to Jesus, to know him truly as our

Savior.

And because of him and God's work in us to make us righteous,

then we are invited to the greatest wedding feast you can ever

imagine.

And verse 10 tells us how to do this.

But John doesn't get it right.

Did you notice that he was so overcome by what he saw and what

he heard, he falls down at the feet of the angel, angel.

And look what happens.

Then I fell 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.

John's actually rebuked here by the angel and told not to worship

him, as he, like John, is just a fellow servant of the Lord.

John is commanded to do what we're all commanded to do, and that

is to worship God.

That is the appropriate response.

And that's what we need to hear our lives must be of the worship

of God, of who he is.

It's not simply tripping off my words or trying to remind us of

the first catechism we learn of what I say morning and evening

to go and glorify God and enjoy him forever.

That's what worship Father of God is, to glorify him, to enjoy

him and to know that it is forever.

This is what we're called to do.

This is the response that is appropriate and acceptable to God.

Now you'll have noticed there, the closing line of verse 10.

It speaks of the testimony of Jesus as being the Spirit of prophecy.

Well, John here is telling us that spirit inspired prophecy focuses

on the testimony given by and the testimony about Jesus Christ.

Believers are to worship God and to be God centered.

But prophecy also points us to the centrality of Jesus and His majesty

and his greatness, and the fact that he truly is our Savior.

And so, as we conclude this evening, our response to this text

is to worship God.

All too often we think of how that works externally.

But the Lord requires our hearts to be his because that is

where true worship comes from.

And so we must respond to Christ so that we can know our invitation

to the marriage supper of the Lamb.

Knowing that we are among the redeemed and not among the rebellious

and the lost, I urge you tonight to worship God, to know his

full salvation.

After all, that's what many of the Psalms have told God's people

for generations.

Psalm 96, verse 9, being one of them.

Psalms 96:9

Worship the Lord in the splendor of holiness.

Tremble before him all the earth.

Rejoice and tremble.

Know who our God is and worship Him.

What gives you deep happiness?

That's the best we can get to in our human experience before we

get true joy.

Joy is that peace that surpasses all understanding.

Joy is knowing that we can go through the hardest moments of life

and it's okay.

But joy is also knowing that we're going through the happiest

moments of life and that it is truly the Lord's blessing to us.

We're called to rejoice and tremble for who God is.

Our great and our wonderful God.

And our response to him is, is to worship him.

All because of Jesus.

He is our Savior, whom we must trust this night not to walk out

this door and think we can do it on our own, because we cannot.

If that's how we think, we will be left with the weeping.

We will be left looking at Babylon as she is punished and is

to be found no more with her smoke rising for all eternity as

a testimony of her punishment.

So turn to Jesus.

Look to him.

No true glorious hope that sees us beyond this night, tomorrow

and the next day and the next that will take us into heaven and

that great throne room where we are called to worship God.

And we will have an everlasting praise of amen and hallelujah.

Let us pray.

Our Father God, we thank you for your word that shows us what

a future in Christ looks like and what a wonderful.

What a wonderful balm for our hearts this evening that the reality

of the redeemed who die on earth that they are present with

you in heaven awaiting our coming to that wonderful wedding

feast of the Lamb.

Lord, may we leave with our hearts full of joy because of that.

May we leave with our hearts full of joy because of salvation

in Jesus.

May we leave with hearts full of joy because of the destruction

and the punishment that is right, just and fair of this world

that rebels and is sin filled.

Father, may we rejoice in a Savior who calls us to trust in him.

So hear us as we cry out to you, as we respond and as we look

to you to lead us ever on.

And we ask it in Jesus name, Amen.