During our study of the revelation over the last two years, one of the questions to which we have repeatedly returned concerns the subject of worship. For the simple reason, friends, that the revelation is filled with so much event, more than any other book in all of the Bible, except for the book of songs. The question we've come to again and again has taken a shape, something like this. What can we learn from observing the worship scenes in heaven that in turn might helpfully inform our worship here on earth? Given the fact that the community of heaven is made up of holy angels and holy human beings living in the immediate presence of God, the worship that occurs there, it would seem to me ought to be a trustworthy standard by which we can evaluate our worship. Some are more trustworthy than, say, our own subjective preferences, or the latest worship trends, bads, and so as we've considered the various portraits of worship, chapters four and five, chapter seven, chapter 11, chapters 14 and 15, we've sought to learn something about worship from them, and a couple of common embassies have become obvious to us. For one thing we've discovered that worship in heaven is thoroughly in every way preoccupied with God. In other words, in heaven, the worship is about Him and it's to Him. It declares who He is, what He's like, what He does, and it praises Him for it. No focus on the worship for Himself. Another feature of the worship in heaven is that it is undeniably corporate in its emphasis. No attention is ever drawn to any individual worshipers. Rather in heaven, the singing is always that of a congregation, a group, in fact, most commonly a very large group, sometimes an innumerable group. A third emphasis that we can observe from the worship in heaven is that it is manifestly passionate in its expression, that engaged in the process of worship is the mind of the one doing the worshiping, the emotions of the one doing the worshiping, and the body in fact of the one doing the worshiping. The worship in heaven is loud, instruments are used, crowns are laid at the feet of God, angels fall prostrate before God's throne, all through the revelation, the worship of God is demonstrably passionate in its expression, just as it is, in fact, throughout all of the Bible. Now, friends, of course, this is not to say that what I've just said, He was all there is to say about worship, not by a long shot, but to seek to share these embassies with heaven certainly sets our worship on a proper trajectory. Moreover, we've discovered that worship in heaven, at least as it's recorded for us in the revelation, is shaped by three great themes. Listen to the first. They cast their crowns before the throne, singing, you are worthy, our Lord and God to receive glory and honor and power for you created all things and by your will they existed and were created. God's work of creation is one of the great worship themes in heaven. Here's a second. They sing a new song. You are worthy to take a scroll and to open its seals for you were slaughtered and by your blood you ransomed for God, saints from every tribe and language and people and nation. God's provision of salvation is one of the great refrains of heavenly worship. Now, there's a third theme that shapes the worship of heaven, and though it's often repeated in the revelation, we are not as naturally comfortable with it as we are the other two. And for it, friends, it seems impossible to miss. The nations raged, but your wrath has come and the time for judging the dead, for rewarding your servants the prophets and saints and all who for your name both small and great and for destroying those who destroy the earth. Or again, great and amazing are your deeds, Lord God, the Almighty, just and true are your ways, King of the nations, Lord, who will not fear and glorify your name for you will honor holy. All nations will come in worship before you, for your judgments have been revealed. One of the great worship themes in heaven is God's execution of judgment. A theme dear friends admittedly that is so profoundly dissonant to our postmodern ears. Now, of course, we can easily understand why it is that heaven prays as God for his creative work, and we can easily understand why heaven prays as God for his saving work, but to praise God for his execution of judgment, why? For two reasons that now become apparent to us in this scene of worship. Do you remember the context of this text, chapter 19? In chapter 18, we have been given to hear a five movement oratorio of doom sung in response to God's judgment of Babylon, the harlot, a way of talking about this world system sent in alienation to God. And chapter 19, verses one through ten, is the final movement of this oratorio. It is the triumphant finale. And it's made up of two primary sections that furnish us with the reasons this announcement of doom becomes a basis for praise. Reason number one, because the judgment of God's enemies reveals his glory in a way that nothing else does, it will become very clear to us in verses one through four. Reason number two, because the judgment of God's enemies introduces his people to the ultimate expression of eternal life. It will become plain to us in verses five through ten. So let's begin with reason number one. Doom becomes praise because the judgment reveals God's glory in a way that nothing else does. Verse one, after this or more literally, after these things, and we stop and say, what things, and that is the prior vision of Babylon's violent and irrecoverable demise, especially it as it was so graphically illustrated in the prior paragraph, chapter 18, verses twenty through twenty-four. After these things, I heard what seemed to be the loud voice of a great multitude in heaven saying, hallelujah, salvation and glory and power to our God for his judgments are true and just. He has judged a great whore who corrupted the earth with their fornication and he has avenged on her, the blood of his servants. Once more they say, hallelujah, the smoke goes up from her forever and ever. Now my friends, who is singing these words? Well we know that there's a group involved because verse three says, they said, and verse one tells us that there's a great multitude in view, a great multitude that is very loud but who makes up this multitude? Some people suggest that it's a multitude of angels but there's not the slightest hint in the text that would indicate this. Rather I would ask you to consider the content of this worship. Notice friends, they praise God in particular for avenging the shed blood of the martyrs. Moreover notice this worship includes a salvation theme. Something that angels can never sing because angels do not experience salvation. That's something that only fallen human beings can experience. Notice salvation and glory and power and the idea in the original is belong to our God. Salvation belongs to our God. The very same line sung back in chapter seven, salvation belongs to our God. So back in chapter seven, who sings that line? Another great multitude, an innumerable company of the redeemed from every nation, tribe, people and language, singing loudly. And I would argue then friends on the basis of that that that's who's singing here. In formal theological terms we would refer to this as the church triumphant, that is the church in heaven over against the church militant, the church here on earth, human beings then who have already emerged victoriously from the tribulation of this world and entered into their heavenly home. So what did they sing? It's obvious, isn't it? Four times. We hear that old Hebrew exclamation, hallelujah. Now because of our familiarity with that term, we often forget friends what it is. That term, hallelujah, is not an empty headed emotional exclamation apart from any content. That Hebrew word is a command. Did you know that? Hallelujah, praise Yahweh, praise the Lord. It's a command, praise the Lord. And what's more my friends, whenever that word appears in the Old Testament except for just a handful of times it is always in the second person plural. The idea is, praise the Lord, all of you. The idea is, praise the Lord in a corporate congregational setting. That's what the term hallelujah means. Let me ask you something friends, did you come to this service of worship this morning with the awareness that God himself had commanded you to worship him in the context of his congregation? Hallelujah, praise the Lord, which should always precipitate a question for what? The command is clear, praise the Lord. And we should always say in response to that, okay, for what? Because worship is never ever devoid of content. Emotionalism is never confused with worship, at least not in the Bible, and certainly never in heaven. For what reason is praise for God here demanded? Notice, hallelujah, praise the Lord, why? Salvation and glory and power to our God. Salvation and glory and power belong to our God. And how do we know this to be so? Because he has set them on display in his acts of judgment for his judgments are true and just. His judgments are an expression of his faithfulness. That's really what the first word there means, true. And his judgments are a manifestation of his justice, his righteousness. Do you realize friends why it is that judgment is such a difficult and uncomfortable concept for us to embrace? Is it a lone proof to be a motivation for worship, a subject about which we worship? It's because our preoccupation with judgment is riveted upon the suffering it inflicts rather than on the just retribution that it represents. It is a manifestation of the holy character of God. And because of that, you see, then we as the people of God are commanded to rejoice and praise and worship at that portion of God's glory that is being put on display. It's not as aware that we stand back and look at people in judgment and laugh. Nothing like that, huh? Our side wins, sucker, you know, that's not the idea. This is not a God like us. The bad tempered God, the God filled with spiteful revenge, his judgments are true. His judgments are just manifestations of faithfulness to his word, manifestations of righteousness that seeks the eradication of everything wicked. Now here's the timely example of that very thing. He has judged the great whore that is battle on the harlot who corrupted the earth with her fornication. Why did he judge her? Notice friends, two reasons. I just read to you the first. She corrupted the earth with her fornication. This is why she is being judged. This is why God's judgment on her behalf is referred to as being just or righteous. She corrupted the entire earth. She defiled the earth with her fornication and you know precisely what that language means by now. We've seen it over and over and over again. She defiled the earth by leading its people away from God into idolatry. Look at the second reason. For God's judgment of the great whore, he has avenged on her the blood of his servant. That's why his judgments are true or an expression of his faithfulness. My dear friends, a long time ago, God made a promise to his people. He are the final and ultimate consummation of that people and so these are words that have bearing for us. God says through Moses, praise O heavens, his people, worship him, all you gods, for he will avenge the blood of his children and take vengeance on his adversaries. He will repay those who hate him and cleanse the land for his people. You hear what that is? God says they mess with you and all avenge you with their own blood. It's a part of God's covenant loyalty to us. It's a part of God's covenant fidelity to us. He makes us a promise. They harm you, all avenge your blood. We get another illustration of this sometime later because there is a harlot queen who's involved in ruling the nation of Israel. Her name is Jezebel and she leads the entire nation into idolatry. She kills all of God's faithful servants and so in response, God raises up a military commander by the name of Jehu and he says to him, you shall strike down the house of your master Ahab so that I may avenge, hear that language on Jezebel, the blood of my servants, the prophets and the blood of all the servants of the Lord. God promises Moses, anybody messes with you, all avenge your blood on them. We see that working itself out against Jezebel, God avenging the blood of his people. Now beloved, we come to chapter 19 of the revelation, the end of the whole story of the Bible and we come across the very same language. He has avenged on her the blood of his servants. He's kept his word. And by the way, do you see that word avenge right there? In verse 2. It's only used one other time in all of the revelation in chapter 6, verse 10. You remember? You remember that scene? The martyrs. The martyrs who have died for their faithfulness to Jesus Christ underneath the altar of God crying out how long oh God until you avenge our blood on the inhabitants of the earth. You know what that is, beloved? In chapter 6, it's a plea for God to be faithful to his promise. This judgment here is God's response both to their cry and his own promise. To not execute this judgment, you see, would have left God's character in question. Not only his love of righteousness, but the very integrity of his word, his promise. But God does execute his justice, doesn't he? Which is why we now hear this encore in verse 3. Once more they said, hallelujah, the smoke goes up from her forever and ever. If there is any unique contribution to the praise that appears in verse 3, over against verse 2, it's that while verse 2 extols the fact of Babylon's judgment, verse 3 establishes the finality of it. Would you hear it? The smoke goes up from her forever and ever. It's eternal, it's unending, praising God for his execution of judgment. Yes, and the rightness of it all is so moving, notice what happens in response, verse 4, and the 24 elders, and the four living creatures, the most magnificent of angelic beings, nearest to the throne of God, they fell down and worshipped God who was seated on the throne, saying, Amen. In other words, they declared their agreement with God's people by all means. And they reiterated themselves, hallelujah, praise the Lord, praise God for his judgment. Now work from the bottom up and follow the logic of the argument. God's eternal judgment of Babylon verifies the fact that his judgments are true and just, all of which exhibits the fact that salvation, glory, and power belong to him alone. Salvation in that the judgment of this Babylon has resulted in the final salvation of his people. We'll see that in just a moment. Power in that God has overthrown this vast enemy, glory, because quite frankly God has done it all himself and therefore he deserves all the glory for it. This beloved, you see, is why this song of doom becomes a great and glorious chorus of praise. It's why we're commanded to praise God for his judgments. It reveals his glory in a way that nothing else does, salvation, glory, power, faithfulness, justice, all revealed in judgment. You know, something my friends, to be sure, one of the most difficult questions that we have to face as Christians, as Christians who believe in the sovereignty of God, is the question of evil and why God allows it, better yet, why God decrees it. And I don't know that the Bible itself is burdened to answer that question comprehensively. But one thing you can be absolutely certain of is that one of the reasons God has ordained evil is because the final punishment of it manifests his glory like nothing else. Things about God we would never know where they're not the existence of evil. It's not the comprehensive answer to the question I understand, it's not my burden this morning. It is to make emphatic the fact that judgment does reveal his glory. And beloved, coming back now to this concept of worship, that at the end of the day is what worship really is, isn't it? It's about giving God glory, it's about bringing God glory, it's about acknowledging God's glory, it's about finding our satisfaction, not in a service that is aimed at ourselves, but in losing ourselves in the exaltation of his glory. And this magnificent glory you see is made to be seen with unusual clarity by means of God's execution of judgment, which is why then we must never apologize for it. You must not run from it, or hide from it, or scope away an embarrassment at it. To the contrary, beloved, we praise God for it. For the simple reason that it reflects his glory in a way that nothing else does. Why should we praise God for the execution of his judgment? Well, there's also a second reason. It's because the judgment of God's enemies introduces his people to the ultimate expression of eternal life. Now, beloved, things begin to take a great turn for us. It's because the hinge that swings us into the full and final experience of salvation is God's judgment of his enemies. Now, lest God's people in heaven think that this worship service has come to an end, notice, beloved, verse 5, heaven's call for more. And from the throne came a voice, apparently an angel near to the throne, praise our God, all you his servants, and all who fear him small and great. And make sure you take note of two things. Number one, notice that all God's people are being addressed there. All of them, without respect to race, status, spiritual maturity, small and great. But secondly, notice how it is that they are referred to here in this text. All you his servants, and all who fear him, both of which intentionally remind us of our position before God, something we must never forget when we worship him.
Beloved, if you are a Christian this morning, then God is your father, and you are his child, but he is also always the Lord, and you are also always his servant. Always then in awe of him. And what do we call to do? Praise our God. In other words, this angel near to the throne of God is cheering us on. To more praise. Look at verse six, then I heard what seemed to be the voice of a great multitude. It's the same group that was mentioned back up in verse one, but notice my friends the difference in John's descriptions. Up in verse one, this great multitude is described simply as loud. I heard what seemed to be the loud voice of a great multitude in heaven. Here in verse six, the description becomes more graphic because quite simply the volume gets turned up. Notice the similes, then I heard what seemed to be the voice of a great multitude like the sound of many waters, and like the sound of mighty thunder peels. In other words, the loud voice has now become the deafening voice, the overpowering voice. Crying out, hallelujah, it's a command, remember? And so again, we ask for what reason.
And it's here that we now begin to detect a change in theme.
Praise the Lord, hallelujah, for this is why we should praise the Lord. The Lord, our God, the Almighty, reigns, or more literally in the original has begun to reign. Now friends, it's true that God has always reigned, that he always has been and forever will be eternally sovereign. What is also true, however, is that throughout redemptive history, his reign has always been challenged by rivals seeking to supplant him. That is until this day. Upon the execution of Babylon's judgment, the full and final phase of the reign of God will be ushered in with the eternal subjection of his enemies. Now why do I stress this point? Because that occasion will pave the way for another great day on God's calendar of salvation history. Look at it. Let us rejoice and exalt, given the fact that the Lord, our God, has begun to reign, let us rejoice and exalt and give him glory. Why? For the marriage of the Lamb has come and his bride has made herself ready to hurt, has been granted to be clothed with fine linen, bright and pure, for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the same. Now friends, before we can fully appreciate all that is being said here, we need to understand something of the customs related to marriage during the days in which this was written. The first step in the process of marriage was the betrothal, like our engagement, but much more binding. When the terms of marriage are accepted in the presence of witnesses and God's blessing is pronounced, that groom and bride, not yet fully married, are legally bound as man and wife, which is why, by the way, in Matthew 1, we read that Joseph wanted to secretly divorce Mary, even though they'd not been married yet. They were betrothed. She was found to be with child. He sought to divorce her. That sounds strange to us, until you understand that betrothal means a legally binding commitment. Next comes the interval between the betrothal and the wedding feast, and it's during this period of time that the groom pays the dowry to the bride's father. At the conclusion of this period comes the great procession, and near the very end of that time, that interval, just prior to the procession, the bride begins to do everything she can to make herself beautiful. She's oiled. She's given perfume to wear, and she puts on jewelry in a beautiful dress. The groom, in his finest clothes, accompanied by his friends, who sing and bear torches, they proceed to the home of his beloved. Now, surrounded amidst this great gathering of people, the groom receives her and escorts her back to his own home for the wedding feast, which includes the marriage supper. The whole thing lasting for seven days, sometimes even longer. Now, dear friends, over and over and over again, the Bible compares the love relationship that exists between a bride groom and a bride to that which exists between God and his people. As God's story progresses, in fact, in the fullest sense, it comes to express that which exists between Jesus Christ and the church. And what do we know about that bride? That bride was chosen from before the foundation of the world. And where are we then in this whole marriage process at this very moment that church is betrothed to Jesus Christ? Well, how do we know this? Because he's paid the dowry price. We sing these very lyrics, don't we? From heaven, he came and sought her to be his holy bride. With his own blood, he bought her and for her life, he died. So where are we in this whole marriage process? It's the interval of separation. The dowry price has been paid. Jesus paid for it on the cross. Now, at the end of the age, the bride groom returns accompanied by the angels of glory, he will come to receive his bride. And then the wedding feast begins, not for seven days, my friends, but for eternity. And that you see is what is in view right here when he says, for the marriage of the Lamb has come. And his bride has made herself ready in such powerful imagery, this language of a man and a woman, consummating their relationship in ultimate intimacy. It is you see the final full comprehensive fulfillment of God's covenant promise. They will be my people. I will be their God and I will dwell with them. Redeemer and redeemed in ever increasing intimacy and union and fellowship for all of eternity. The ultimate expression of eternal life introduced you see because God's enemies have been judged, because those who could ever threaten such intimacy have been altogether destroyed. The beast, the false prophet, battle on the harlot, the great red dragon, judged, gone because of that God's people entering into intimacy with him in the fullest and ultimate expression. And that is why you see beloved. We praise God for his judgment. It's why doom becomes worship because it's the thing that God was aiming at from the very beginning, the new heaven and the new earth, the home of righteousness. And by the way, what are we as the church supposed to be doing during this interval between the betrothal and the wedding feast? Well, the end of verse seven implies it, doesn't it? We're to be making ourself ready in anticipation of his coming to get us. We are to be making ourselves ready. But how does the church make ourself ready? Look at verse eight. To her it has been granted to be clothed with fine linen, bright and pure, for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints. Now beloved, you need to have your mind engaged now with me for a few minutes. All right? You need to put your thinking cap on with me here. There is attention in this verse on which hangs one of the most important truths in all of the Bible. Attention that we must never seek to slacken or ease. On the one hand, beloved, take note of the fact that something is done to the bride to make her beautiful. To her it has been granted to be clothed with fine linen, bright and pure.
She's been given clothes that will make her beautiful to her groom. It reminds me of a great Old Testament promise. I will greatly rejoice in the Lord. My whole being shall exult in my God, for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation. He has covered me with the robe of righteousness as a bridegroom decks himself with a garland and as a bride adorns herself with jewels. In other words, in an act of grace, God will beautify his people. By his own sovereign provision, God will clothe his people with robes of righteousness. It will be his doing. We've got the same idea, my friends, in a more familiar passage to us, Ephesians chapter 5, when Paul says, Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her. Why? In order to make her holy by cleansing her with the washing of water by the word, so as to present the church to himself in splendor without a spot or wrinkle or anything of the kind. Yes, so that she may be holy and without blemish. You see what Paul is saying? He's anticipating the wedding day. Christ redeems the church. Christ sanctifies the church so that she will be beautiful to stand next to him on the day of their wedding. So who is that I ask you that fits us for heaven? Who is the one that does everything to prepare us for the wedding day that ultimate experience of eternal life? God does this for us. The Lamb does this for us. Our salvation then will be all of grace. Don't forget that I said that on the other hand. You see the tension here? Not only is something done to the bride, something is done by the bride. This bride has made herself ready. Notice that the fine linen she wears is her own righteous deeds by which she is prepared to enter heaven, to enter into the fullness of eternal life with her groom, Jesus Christ. She makes herself fit for the wedding day. So are we really saved by works after all? Yes.
In so far as you understand that these works are in every way a consequence of God's grace. Look at it closely, friends. Look at it. The church is clothed with fine linen, her own righteous deeds which has been granted to her to wear. That's what we call a divine passive. In other words, God has granted her the grace to perform deeds by which she readyes herself for the wedding day. Are we talking about grace plus works?
What we're talking about, friends, is a grace that works. Don't ease that tension, friends. Grace and works are tightly bound together. Now, it's not that grace and works are interchangeable parts. It's that there never is one without the other. There never is one without the other. Works the verifiable fruit of grace, the God-supplied root, which is why then I would call your attention to this fact that in every single new testament passage that speaks explicitly of the judgment of Christians, works are said to be the criteria by which we will be judged. On the great and final day, we will not stand before God and he will not look invisibly into our hearts and say, have you received the grace of God? He'll look at our works. Why will he look at our works? Because works are so tightly and extricably bound to grace. They're the proof of it all, the verification of it all, the badge of it all. How does Paul say it in Ephesians, chapter 2, for by grace you were saved through faith and that, not of yourselves, it is the gift of God less anyone should boast for why do we always leave off verse 10? We are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. Part of the created miracle of salvation is a passion to obey, a love to obey, a burden to be righteous. There is no such thing, my friends, as a Christian who does not obey Jesus Christ. You understand, friends, practically speaking on a, on a, on a separate issue, a separate front. You understand this is why, this is why we talk to you, friends, the way we do about baptism. This is why we talk about baptism being so important. Baptism is a command.
And it gives us great pause when someone on the one hand professes to be a Christian on the other hand says, I'll get to it sometime. That causes us to wonder, has grace really occurred? It's doubtful.
There is no such thing as a Christian who doesn't obey Jesus Christ. The righteous deeds he's talking about in this context, in particularly, it means not succumbing to the pressure of Babylon's allure, avoiding the idolatry, remaining faithful to Jesus Christ to the variant. By the way, friends, maybe you've been a nerve about it in the past, but now hopefully it'll all come together for you. That's why each of the seven letters indicates that the blessing of eternal life will only be granted to those who, but overcome to the end. Are we saved by our work? Yes. And so far as you understand that those works are the verifiable proof of grace. And the angel said to me, write this, blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb. That's what we call a beatitude, friends. Just like those beatitudes of Jesus in Matthew 5, there are seven beatitudes in the revelation. Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb. Now the word here translated, invited, that's really not strong enough. It's the Greek word Kalat, which means to call a word in the New Testament that is almost synonymous with elect, blessed are those who are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he said to me, these are the true words of God, something we need to remember always beloved when the pressure to compromise with Babylon is great. Blessed are those who are invited called to the marriage supper of the Lamb. Then I fell down at his feet to worship him, so overwhelmed that what he had just heard, the coming of the marriage of the Lamb.
But he said to me, you must not do that. I'm a fellow servant with you and your comrades who hold the testimony of Jesus, worship God. I'm just a messenger, worship God, all of this comes from him. All that I've brought to you is from him for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy. The idea is for the testimony Jesus brings, for the testimony about Jesus Christ, of which all that I have told you has been apart. This is the essence of prophecy. And what is prophecy? It is nothing less than a word from God, so don't worship me, worship him, worship him. And thus this triumphant finale ends as it begins with a command to worship. It's what goes on in heaven. It's what we'll do in heaven. We'll worship God for the execution of his judgment. Why? Because the judgment of his enemies is what will introduce us into the ultimate expression of eternal life. Let me ask you something, my friends, have you been called to this wedding? Do you realize, just as we draw things to a close, that there are two great feasts on the last day. If you like theological terms, there are two great eschatological feasts. This one right here, the marriage supper of the Lamb, believers in Jesus Christ, united together in the most intimate way. But there is another supper. We read about it in verse 17. It is called the marriage supper of God, the great supper of God, I'm sorry, and it is all together different. Then I saw an angel standing in the sun and with the loud voice he called to all the birds that fly in mid-heaven. Come, gather for the great supper of God. Why gather birds together to eat the flesh of kings, the flesh of captains, the flesh of the mighty, the flesh of horses and their riders, flesh of all, both free and slave, both small and great. Every single person who has ever been born will be at one of these two feasts. You will either feast with Jesus Christ or you will be feasted upon. You'll either be at the marriage supper of the Lamb or you'll be at the great supper of God. Have you been called to the wedding feast? Say, well, how can I know if I have been? Answer is very simple. Are you wearing the wedding garments? Have you been granted the righteousness of Jesus Christ?
And is it evident in the way you live that will determine which bank with your present hand? Would you bow your heads with me, please? As Connie takes a moment to play quietly for us, we'd like to give you just a few minutes to ponder what we've said,
to ponder what we trust has been God's word to you and to respond in a way that would be appropriate. Would you take a moment and do that right now? Our Father