 But today we're going to look at something that I chose to simply entitle here in chapter 19 verses 1 through 10, heaven rejoices. Heaven rejoices. And so beginning at verse 1, Revelation 19, after these things I heard a loud voice of a great multitude in heaven saying, alleluia, salvation and glory and honor and power to the Lord our God, for true and righteous are his judgments because he has judged the great harlot who corrupted the earth with her fornication and he has avenged on her the blood of his servants shed by her. Again they said, alleluia, and her smoke rises up forever and ever. And the 24 elders and the four living creatures fell down and worshiped God who sat on the throne saying, amen, alleluia. Then a voice came from the throne saying, praise our God, all you his servants and those who fear him both small and great. And I heard as it were the sound of a great multitude as the sound of many waters and as the sound of mighty thundering saying, alleluia for the Lord God omnipotent reigns. Let us be glad and rejoice to give him glory for the marriage of the Lamb has come and his wife has made herself ready and to her it was granted to be arrayed in fine linen clean and bright for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints. Then he said to me, right, blessed are those who are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb. He said to me, these are the true saints of God. And I fell at his feet to worship him and he said to me, see that you do not do that. I am your fellow servant and of your brethren who have the testimony of Jesus. Worship God for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy. Well, throughout the Bible, as you know throughout the Bible, men are commanded to give praise to God. Throughout the scriptures from the old to the New Testament, you find commands in Scripture that basically commands us to bless the Lord, to praise the Lord. Psalm 103 verse 2, bless the Lord, oh my soul, forget not all his benefits. Don't forget the blessings that God brings into your life. Psalm 95 1 and 2, oh come let us sing to the Lord. Let us make joyful noise to the rock of our salvation. Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving. Let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise. We praise God for salvation. Psalm 22 26, the afflicted shall eat and be satisfied. Those who seek him shall praise the Lord. May your hearts live forever. We thank God for his provisions. Psalm 106 1, praise the Lord. Oh give thanks to the Lord for he is good. His mercy endures forever. We praise God for his goodness. Just today, I was in my office. I got a call and I was asked, could you go up to the front? Somebody wants to see you. And so I went up to the front and was speaking to one of the, somebody who used to be here for many years had been here. She and her husband have since moved, but she was there in the front. She wanted to come and speak to me for a moment and she and her mama. And as I came and was talking to them for a moment, the mama was talking to me and said, you remember you prayed for me? And I said, of course, of course I do. I said, Marie and I, as a matter of fact, I was telling this lady, I said, Marie and I, just this week have been talking about you, wondering how you are. It's a blessing to see you. You see, she had come and it was in church on Sunday and she had come up afterwards and it's spoken to me and had said, can you pray for me? She had, she was in fourth stage cancer and she said, can you pray for me? And I said, well, of course, of course. And we anointed her with oil and we prayed for her. And I have spoken to Marie recently and I was saying, I wonder how she is just this recently. And so there they are in the front. And I have to be honest with you. I have to be honest. Oh, man of faith that I am. I thought maybe we're going to hear some bad news. Maybe I'm going to hear some bad news. And so she says, I just wanted to tell you that I was doing my devotions recently. She said, the Holy Spirit spoke to me and said within my heart, my daughter, you are healed. And she said, I thought what an odd thing to experience. She said, but something within me left in response. And I said, praise you Lord. She said, and I had to go in for a checkup. She said, and the doctor who checked me, they called me after the checkup was completed and said, we don't know how to explain this. But we can't find any cancer in you at all. We can't find it. You know, we, you know, I have to be careful with this because I said, you have made my day. I am so blessed to hear this. How beautiful it is to praise the Lord for his goodness. And of course, there are some who will immediately say, but what about those who have not been healed? And they've died. I guarantee you, even those who have not been physically healed and have died, I guarantee you, none of them are complaining right now. I guarantee you, if they knew Jesus Christ, you think they'd say, oh, please bring me back. You know, bring me back. I want to go. I want some more misery. No. No, I've already said, I'll say it again. If, you know, I die and people say, oh, Lord, in Jesus' name, raise him from the dead. If I come back, I will kill you. I don't, I don't, I don't want to come back here. I don't. I want to be with the Lord, don't you? And that's why we praise him. See, you praise the Lord. You know, God is good. Either way you win, either way you win. Now what's interesting here, as we look at Revelation 19, what is interesting here is, is God is actually being praised, but he's being praised for judging the wicked. Now, isn't that interesting? He's being praised for judging the wicked. Now, I want to develop this because that's kind of a deep thought. And not that I'm going to give you deep thoughts, but that is a deep thought. You see, ultimately, that is something that those who are righteous, and I say righteous, not self-righteous, is a difference. That is something that those who are righteous really could understand. It's what they desire, because it's not that we have a desire for people to get what they deserve, because all of us deserve judgment, but we have been blessed to have received his grace and mercy. So that's not what I would be saying, and that's not what Scripture is saying. What we rejoice in, ultimately, is that God himself and his holiness has vindicated. You see, truly righteous people long for a better world. Don't you? We're holiness and righteousness actually do rule. And when you live in the world as we do, we're in the world, but not of the world. At least that's what Jesus said. There are times when your soul can really be agitated by the things that are going on, the things that are done, the injustices, and the various sins that seem to be celebrated, and your love for Christ and your desire to see God's holiness throughout the world is ridiculed and mocked. And there can be in your spirit a sense of longing for God and his holiness to be vindicated. We all know by name the man Lot, and in the Old Testament Lot was an individual who lived in a very evil place in a very evil time, and he lived in Sodom, Gomorrah in that region there, and he lived in Sodom, and Peter speaks concerning what he went through living in such an evil city. It's found in 2 Peter 2 verses 7 and 8. It says there at the same time, God rescued Lot out of Sodom because he was a good man who was sick of all the immorality and wickedness around him. Yes, he was a righteous man who was distressed by the wickedness he saw and heard day after day. Sodom, not Gomorrah. Sodom, he was from Sodom. But what I wanted to point out, he was a righteous man who was distressed by the wickedness he saw and heard day after day. You're not self-righteous. Listen carefully. You're not self-righteous when your heart grieves over the evil that you see. You're not self-righteous. Jesus wasn't self-righteous when he walked into the temple and saw the way that they were carrying on in that temple and fashioned that whip and drove the money changers out. It is written, My Father's house shall be a house of prayer. You have made it into a den of thieves. There is a time when righteous indignation ought to well up within us and know we don't do crazy things and know we don't say, Oh, you're going to burn. Well, I'm glad. No, God weeps for the lost and we ought to too. And so I want to be very careful even as I point this out because this is what we see, a great multitude in heaven that are actually rejoicing because it's time for the wicked to be truly judged. You see, God has said that he will judge the wicked. Sodom 96 verses 11 through 13 says, Let the heavens be glad. Let the earth rejoice. Let the sea and everything in it shout his praise. Let the fields and their crops burst forth with joy. Let the trees of the forest rustle with praise before the Lord for the Lord is coming. He is coming to judge the earth. He will judge the world with righteousness and all the nations with his truth. You see, when evil seems to triumph, righteous people groan and begin to long for justice. As it says in Psalm 94 3, Lord, how long will the wicked? How long will the wicked triumph? We already saw in Revelation chapter 6 verses 9 and 10 when the Lamb broke the fifth seal, I saw unto the altar the souls of all who had been martyred for the word of God and for being faithful in their witness. They called loudly to the Lord and said, Oh sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long will it be before you judge the people who belong to this world for what they've done to us? When will you avenge our blood against these people? Well, the time has come and so heaven begins to rejoice because that time has arrived. Now, some could say heaven's rejoicing over the judgment of the wicked seems cruel. Well, they need to understand that these people had the greatest opportunity to repent in history. When you consider Revelation, even as we have, when you consider that within Revelation, there's been a tremendous outpouring of God working amongst people and they've rejected it. Then that gives you understanding. You see, they saw the judgments. They heard the gospel preach that 144,000 evangelists, the two witnesses, the angel that was preaching the everlasting gospel. They saw a huge amount of people saved, a huge amount of people who came to faith in Christ. As I was mentioning recently, the tribulation is going to be a time when more people come to Christ probably than any time in history. And so these are people who have obstinately refused the gospel. They have refused to the end in the midst of all the judgment, in the midst of everything that they've seen. They have continued to reject. They have had opportunity, ample opportunity to place their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, yet they refused. In Hebrews 4, verse 7, the writer writes, again, he designates a certain day saying in David, today, after such a long time as it has been said, today, if you will hear his voice, do not harden your hearts. I have, perhaps somebody in this room will actually break what I was about to say. Maybe you'll prove me wrong, but I have never met anybody. I have never met anybody who has ever told me after getting saved. I have never met anybody who has ever told me a wish I'd have waited longer to get saved. Have you? Have you ever met somebody who says, you know what? I didn't sin enough. I wish I had five more years of sin. Four more years. I have never met anybody who regretted coming to Christ, but I have met them, those who have said, would to God I had responded earlier. My life would have been saved. So much pain. My life would have not impacted people as negatively as it did right here in this auditorium, this church sanctuary. Years ago now, finished giving a Sunday morning service. Step down right at the foot of this platform. Young man walks up off to my left here, right there, I remember. And he says to me, I'd like to talk to you for a minute. I said, okay. He said over a year ago, I went to church at Ontario High School and I walked in and I enjoyed the music. And then you came out. And as you spoke, I got so angry at you that I said, I'll never come back to that church again. And I said, well, bless you, my son. Thank you. He said, and I left angrily. He said, what you said made me so angry. And I said, really? And he said, yeah, I just wanted you to know. He said, and so I left angrily. He said, but he said around a year or so after that, I was driving down the street pipeline here. He said, and I saw a line of cars that were entering into this parking lot. And it was Easter. He said, I was looking for a church to go to on Easter. He said, and so I pulled into line. He said, it just was too long. I didn't want to wait. I went somewhere else, but I determined that I would come back the following week. And he said, and I did. And he said, so I sat out here. And once again, he said, I enjoyed the music. Then you came out and your point. I said, really? He said, yeah, he said, but this time he said, I listened to what you had to say. And I gave my heart to Christ. And I said, well, bless the Lord. He says, I'm not through. I said, what else do you have to say? He goes, well, I need prayer because he said, I received a phone call. And it was from a woman that I had been intimate with. And she had gone to the doctors and she had had tests done. And the doctor pronounced her HIV positive. And her task was to contact those she had been intimate with to let them know so that they could go and receive testing. And so that they could contact any that they'd been intimate with after they'd been intimate with her in the event that they're transmitting HIV to others. He said, and so I went and I received tests. He said, and it turned out positive. He said, I got a second call from her and she said that she had a second test and the second test had come out negative. And I ought to go and be retested. And he said, and I did. And I was greatly hoping that the first test also was wrong. He said, but it wasn't. He said, Pastor, he said, I have HIV and HIV positive. And I need prayer. You know, I'll tell you this. This young man received prayer and he received care and he received love. And he received that for the few years that he had to live. And I and others, other pastors, other ministers in our church performed his funeral when he died. He did die. I have full blown AIDS and he died of that disease. But I couldn't help but reflect on the fact that he got AIDS in between the first time he came and rejected the message. And the second time he came and received it would to God that people would respond the first time God speaks to him. Don't put it off. Today is the day of salvation. For had he received Christ and begun to live for Jesus, he would still be alive now serving the Lord Jesus Christ. Keep that in mind. Keep that in mind. These people have hardened their hearts. They have obstinately refused what God has offered them. And so they're being judged. This rejoicing, by the way, it's not simply because God judges stiff neck centers. This rejoicing is because Jesus finally gets the glory that he deserves. It's because Jesus will be crowned earth's true King. Now, as we look at chapter 19, let me say this. Chapter 19 resumes where chapter 16 concluded. Remember with me in chapter 16 of Revelation. Chapter 16 concluded with the seventh bowl judgment. And chapters 17 and 18 spoke of Babylon's judgment, religious and commercial Babylon. So chapter 19 begins with a response given to the invitation that had been recorded in chapter 18 at verse 20 where it is said there, Rejoice over her, O heaven, and you holy apostles and prophets, for God has avenged you on her. And so he's saying rejoice heaven, rejoice apostles, rejoice prophets, God has avenged you on her. And so that's the response. That's the rejoicing. And he says, I heard a loud voice of a great multitude in heaven. So this response follows the destruction of Babylon in all its forms. John MacArthur said something that I thought worthy of adding to my notes. I thought it interesting. John MacArthur, in reference to all the cataclysm, all the ecological destruction, when you look at the various judgments that have come upon the earth, John MacArthur said this, I've told environmentalists that if they think humanity is wrecking the planet, wait until they see what Jesus does to it, which is true, which is true. Now J. Vernon McGee, some of you know him, some of you know of him, a very, very charming saint of the Lord, powerful man of God. His voice has still heard on many radio stations throughout the world, though he's been with Jesus for a number of years now. J. Vernon, you know, he's always, you guys have heard him, you know, my beloved, you know, he's just a great, tenderhearted man. But J. Vernon McGee wrote this. He said Revelation 19 marks a dramatic change in the tone of Revelation. The destruction of Babylon, the capital of the beast kingdom, marks the end of the great tribulation. The somber gives way to song. The transfer is from darkness to light, from black to white, from jury days of judgment to bright days of blessing. This chapter makes a definite bifurcation, which means to divide into two forms, a definite bifurcation in Revelation and ushers in the greatest event for this earth, the second coming of Christ. It is the bridge between the great tribulation and the millennium. You see, Jesus said in Matthew in chapter 21 at verse 22, for then there will be great distress unequaled from the beginning of the world until now and never to be equaled again. If those days had not been cut short, no one would survive. But for the sake of the elect, those days will be shortened. So this chapter actually is the fulfillment of that promise. Now, that's your introduction. Let's look at the chapter. In verse 1 through 3, after these things I heard a loud voice of a great multitude in heaven, saying alleluia, salvation and glory and honor and power to the Lord our God, for true and righteous are his judgments because he has judged the great harlot who corrupted the earth with her fornication. He has avenged on her the blood of his servants shed by her. Again, they said alleluia and her smoke rises up forever and ever. Now, when he says after these things, I heard a loud voice of a great multitude. Now, when he speaks concerning this great multitude, the choice of words could be a general reference to all people in heaven. But he is more than likely referring to the martyrs that we saw in chapter 6 verses 9 through 11 and in chapter 7. Because in Revelation chapter 7 verse 9, it reads, after this I looked in there before me was a great multitude that no one could count from every nation, tribe, people in language, standing before the throne and in front of the lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. So he's more than likely referring to the martyrs there, as he's speaking concerning this great multitude. But notice what they are saying there in verse 1. They're saying alleluia, salvation, glory, honor and power to the Lord our God. So what you have here is a lesson for the church in a certain sense, and that is this is uninhibited praise. Here's a question for you and it just popped into my old mind. Do you think when you're in heaven, do you think that when you're in heaven and you're worshiping the Lord, do you think, and you will, there's a place where people don't worship the Lord, you're not going there. In heaven, heaven is filled with praise of God. Do you think that you will be thinking of what the person next to you sounds like? Do you? Have you thought about that? Do you? And there are, you know, you say, well of course not, because we're all going to have perfect angelic voices. Maybe you will, maybe you will. Or maybe we will all sing like Pee Wee Herman. We don't know that, do we? Why would you think that we wouldn't be aware of the people's voices next to us? And the answer quite obviously is because we are caught up with worshiping God and you don't notice somebody next to you when you worship God. You just don't. Because why? You're worshiping God. You're not singing to the person standing in front of you. I have to be honest with you, I sit in the front row here. I don't worry about singing into somebody back of their head. I don't worry about that. I do worry about causing the band to go off key if they hear me. Uninhibited praise, does it mean that you're rolling on carpets or bouncing around or swinging on chandeliers? It means that God is receiving what he rightly deserves. Your full attention and your full praise, your full worship. Heaven is filled with that, guys. It's filled with this kind of praise. And that's what you're seeing here. You're seeing them as they are praising God. It's interesting. This I think is interesting. The word hallelujah here, as you see it in the New Testament. That's what we would call the Greek transliteration of the Hebrew word hallelujah. The word hallelujah is simply praise the Lord or praise you the Lord. When you say hallelujah, you're simply saying praise the Lord. So hallelujah is used only four times in the New Testament and all four times are found here in chapter 19. Now there had been a question asked by those who are martyred. Revelation chapter 6 verse 10, they called out in a loud voice, how long sovereign Lord holy and true until you judge the inhabitants of the earth and avenge our blood. So their question is being answered. He has avenged them on Babylon. Notice with me salvation, glory, honor and power to the Lord our God. Now salvation refers to deliverance. Glory refers to God's moral glory and judgment. Honor refers to what he deserves. Power refers to what he displayed in judging Babylon. Now he said in verse 2, true and righteous are his judgments because he has judged the great harlot. So Babylon's judgment has been declared. Notice with me true and righteous. He's judged this great harlot Babylon and he has avenged the blood of the martyrs. Remember it's God who brings vengeance by the way. Romans chapter 12 verse 19 says vengeance is mine. I will repay say at the Lord. Vengeance is mine. Very, very dangerous when we decide to take personal vengeance. My pastor Chuck taught us a lesson I've never forgotten. Chuck said this. He said, listen, he said, I could try and get even. He says, but I'm not always successful in doing so. Or I can trust the Lord to get even. He said, who do you think I'm going to go with that? I go with the Lord because he's righteous and true and he's holy and he knows exactly how to deal with the situation in ways that I wouldn't know how. So vengeance belongs to the Lord. In Psalm 19 verse nine, the fear of the Lord is clean enduring forever. The judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether and God judges in a righteous way and he makes the proper judgment. He says in verse three again, they said, alleluia. Her smoke rises up forever and ever. When he says her smoke rises up, this doesn't speak of smoke constantly forever and ever rising from the city because smoke cannot rise forever. What it is speaking of is the judgment. The judgment that has been brought upon her lasts forever. In verse four, the 24 elders and the four living creatures fell down and worshipped God. Again, am I saying that we as a church did just all fall down? But I do believe that there are times when you may be by yourself in your home. And it's just you and Jesus. I wonder how many of you actually seek that experience. Just you and the Lord. I'm going to assume that many of us do. You're there and the Lord. Just you and Jesus. Just sitting wherever in your inner bedroom or in front room and nobody's there. And it's just time with God. It's God time. It's nobody watching. Nobody is just you and the Lord. And your heart becomes overwhelmed with just thinking about what God has done. Maybe you're reading your devotion. Maybe you're thinking about a study that you're hearing on the radio. And you have this opportunity. And you may kneel next to your couch and you may put your face on the cushions. And before you know it, you're just before the Lord just saying, God, you're just too much. You have been so good to me. You have been so good to me. I had a dream last week. And in my dream, I was sobbing in my dream. And my wife, Maria, she gets concerned because I'm sobbing in my dream and I'm actually crying next to her. And she reaches over and she grabs my shoulder. Are you okay? And it was a dream. It was a dream. And I was still emotional, right? And I say, oh, I'm fine, baby. She gets concerned, you know, for me. Are you okay? Oh, I'm fine. I said, you know what? I was just in my dream, worshiping God. And I was telling him, how good you have been to me. You've loved me. You forgave me. It was in my dream. And it was so real. I was before him. It was so real that I broke down. And I love those moments in my life where God has broken through in that way. But in heaven, it's not that we're going to have tears of sorrow. But in heaven, there'll be such great joy. Such great joy. You have been so good to us. And that's what they're doing. Hallelujah, praise you, the Lord. You have been so good. And they're before him. And they're worshiping. Now, in verse 4, it speaks of the 24 elders and four living creatures. We were introduced to them in chapter 4. Verses 5 and 6 continuing. It says, then a voice came from the throne, saying, praise our God. All you his servants and those who fear him, both small and great. As it were, the voice of a great multitude as the sound of many waters and as the sound of mighty thundering, saying, hallelujah for the Lord God. Omnipotent reigns. It says, praise our God. All you his servants. All you his servants. The word servant is really a common word to refer to those who are believers in Christ. We who are Christians are servants. We're servants of the Lord first and foremost. We are God's children, but we are also his servants. There's an interesting passage in Luke chapter 17 verses 7 through 10 where Jesus says this. He said, which of you having a servant plowing or tending sheep will say to him when he's come in from the field, come at once and sit down to eat? But will he not rather say to him, prepare for my supper, encourage yourself and serve me till I have eaten and drunk? And afterward, you will eat and drink. Does he thank that servant because he did the things that were commanded him? I think not. So likewise you, when you have done all those things which you are commanded say, we are unprofitable servants. We have done what was our duty to do. See, to get to that point in your life requires a lot of dying to self. I have to be honest with you. I had as a young man this attitude, God, you owe me. You owe me. I remember one time, you know, I was so mad. I used to actually, you know, I don't know what the proper word is, but I was totally disrespectful to the Lord. I would speak out loud. I'd say, how come you did this and why are you doing that? I can't believe it. I used to talk to God like that. And I'd get mad at him. I went and got my hair cut. And I was going to go to Biola and I had long hair. You know, I'd grown my hair long again and now I have to go get it cut. Oh, I don't want to get it cut. But I went to get it cut. When I got it cut, I went to this guy who used to cut my hair before I had gone into the military. When I got out of the army, I had let my hair grow for about a year and it was growing long again. And I liked it long, but Biola had regulations and you have to cut your hair. So I thought, well, this guy used to give me a good haircut and I went to him and I said, could you give me a haircut? And he said, yeah. And I'm there in the barber's seat and I used to have a Harley and I had ridden my bike there to get my hair cut. He cuts my hair and then he says, how do you like it? And he turns me around and I look in the mirror and he had given me this huge pompadour. I couldn't believe it. I was so angry. I didn't need a helmet. I mean, there was so much hairspray. So much hairspray. If I'd have fallen off that bike and hit my head, I'd have cracked the asphalt. I mean, he had sprayed it rock hard. I went home. I washed my hair and I started yelling at God. I can't believe it. A stinking haircut, just one haircut and you don't even allow that in my life. And I was riding my bike and I hit a turn. I turned right and dropped the bike. Just dropped it. Boom! When I was yelling at God and the bike spun and I went flying off it right in the middle of an intersection. And then I jump up and I grabbed the bike and you got all this adrenaline rush and you lift the bike and drag it off to the side and I specifically heard the Lord say, you want to yell at me some more. Okay, maybe that's my imagination. Some can say that but I have never forgotten that. Do you want to yell at me some more? I stopped yelling at God. I really did. I stopped yelling at God. I said, you know, it's good. It's cool. We're good, Lord. We're good. See, I had to learn that though I am a son yet I am his slave. You do not speak to the master like that. You're a servant. Paul was a great man, unequaled in his ministry. How did he view himself? In 1 Corinthians 15.9 he said it like this. He said, I am the least of all the apostles and I'm not worthy to be called an apostle after the way I persecuted the church of God. In 1 Corinthians 9.19 he said, for though I am free from all men I have made myself a servant to all that I might win the more. How do you see yourself? To be served or to serve? Jesus asked that question. He said, who's greatest at the table? The one who serves or the one who's being served? He says, is it not the one being served? He says, but that's not how it's going to be with you. Greatness in the kingdom of God isn't going to be determined by the amount of people that serve you. Greatness in the kingdom of God is determined by the amount of people you serve. Greatness in the kingdom is service. And so when you see that begin to identify I am a servant of the king. Though I am his son, I am his servant. Keep that in mind because that's what we really are. Now this is a praise and praise is coming in a general sense from heaven. Angels, Old Testament saints, Tribulation saints are included. Verse 6 points out it's the sound of many waters. The thunderings of this gives insight into the great masses of voices that you hear. Now unbelievers obviously are not here because unbelievers don't praise God and unbelievers do not give him glory. He says in verse 7, let us be glad and rejoice and give him glory for the marriage of the Lamb has come and his wife has made herself ready and to her it was granted to be arrayed and fine linen clean and bright for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints. He said to me, right, blessed are those who are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb. He said to me, these are the true saints of God and I fell at his feet to worship him. But he said to me, see that you do not do that. I am your fellow servant and of your brethren who have the testimony of Jesus. Worship God for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy. Now the marriage, the marriage of the Lamb has come. Marriage customs vary in different lands. We know that. And very in ancient times had a variety of ways that a marriage custom would be established. They generally have three basic elements, though. One is you have what is called the betrothal. And that would be a marriage contract between parents and that included a dowry, speaking of ancient Israel. Second, you had what was called the escort. That was speaking of the bridegroom who was accompanied by his friends when he went to pick up the bride. In Israel, they escorted the bride to the groom's home that he had prepared for her. And that's something you'll actually find in Matthew 25, 1-13 in the parable of the Ten Virgins. Then you have the marriage supper of the feast in which the bride is brought to a great festive meal. And that's what we're seeing. This symbolism is fulfilled in the church. You have the betrothal. That occurs at what we call redemption. Paul in 2 Corinthians 11, 2, and 3 said it like this. He said, I'm jealous for you with a godly jealousy. I promise you to one husband to Christ so that I might present you as a pure virgin to him. But I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent's cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ. So the betrothal occurs at redemption. Then you have the escort. The escort in that ceremony is the rapture. The bridegroom comes and receives his bride. Then you have the marriage supper, which is what we see in this passage. If you take notes, Ephesians 5, verses 25-27, husbands love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word and to present her to himself as a radiant church without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish but holy and blameless. So Christ is the husband. The church is his bride. And so this is that marriage supper of the lamb. It says in verse 8, to her it was granted to be a raid in fine linen, clean and bright, for fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints. Now, as he had stated a moment before the wife, the bride has made herself ready. The Lord Jesus Christ has cleansed the bride by his blood and secondly, she by nature has a righteousness that is similar to the holy angels and she is living in a spiritually prepared way to be with him. And so this is speaking concerning that. But he also says in verse 9, blessed are those who are called to the marriage supper of the lamb. The wife is distinguished from the multitude. Brides normally aren't sent, sent invitations to their own weddings. So the wife is distinguished from this multitude. So you have the church, the church that had been raptured, the church that had been on the face of the earth, but you also have those who came to faith in Christ during the tribulation who were present and they're pictured as guests, as well as Israel believers, pre-Christ believers. It's simply a picture of the celebration that Christ will have with the church in his marriage and all the guests and all who are there are celebrating along with him. What's also interesting in verse 9 is how he says these are the true sayings of God. Now, I'll say this briefly and then we're going to move to a conclusion. John was in Patmos. He was exiled to have this vision, this revelation to see all this glory and all these things and you imagine what that would be like to see all of these things, these judgments and seal judgments and trumpet judgments, bowl judgments, cataclysms, beheadings. I mean he's seen so much and it could have been something that within him as he's seen and taken all of this in it would have been overwhelming. But then he comes to the conclusion he sees this amazing scene of celebration and rejoicing. Even though the church during his day was under attack and even though he was exiled the thought of triumph would be difficult but in the midst of what he was experiencing he's given hope just to hold on. Trust the Lord. When my kids reach this certain age sometimes they could be a bit concerning to Marie and me and I got into this mentality and I told it to Marie and I said this my children's lives are books that are being written chapter by chapter. Some of those chapters are good and some of them you'd like to rip right out of that book. They're not. But the final chapter hasn't been written. The final chapter hasn't been written. I can hold on because I know it's going to end well. It's going to end well. And you know John he sees these things but the final chapter. All of that pain and all of that suffering but the final chapter and he holds on. He says I fell and I fell at his feet to worship him. He said don't do that. He fell at the feet of this angel and the angel says no you don't worship angels and you don't worship his servants. You worship God. And finally the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy. The central message of both the Old and New Testament is Jesus the Messiah. For us to receive God's affirmation of our ministry Jesus must remain at the center of it. Now if I were speaking to pastors I have a whole lot to say about that. One verse. Jesus is the center of your ministry. It can never be anything else. Ministry cannot be built on personality. It cannot be built on popularity. Ministry cannot be built on simple musical expression. High energy praise. Ministry. All true ministry is built on Jesus Christ. It has to be. He is that solid rock. He is that king. He is the center of the universe. He is the one to be worshiped and praised. And he is the one that all of us in this room ought to give our full allegiance to. To Jesus Christ and no one else. That's the center of prophecy.