The Return of Jesus
Revelation • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
0 ratings
· 6 viewsNotes
Transcript
We are going to try cover chapter 19
QUESTIONS:
What is spiritual adultery?
Unfaithfulness to our commitment to God
Participating in patterns of sin
Unfaithfulness to the body of Christ and to the mission that Christ gave to the body
Rejecting the will of God
Supporting anti-God propaganda, even under religious terminology
Compromising their faith under worldly pressures
Who is Babylon the Great?
THE CITY OF THE WORLD’S SYSTEM
Think of her as the Babylon of Nebuchadnezzar who tried to force Shadrack, Meshack, and Abednigo to be un faithful to Yahweh.
In Paul’s day she would have been Rome who persecuted and hated Christians and tried to force people into unfaithfulness
Babylon the Great is the spirit of a nation who tries to impose immorality on it’s people.
TV shows on television (rarely bleeping out curse words and especially taking God’s name in vain”
Culture that desperately tries to make Sunday another day of the week mostly because of financial profit
The nation wide promotion of LGBTQ
The nation wide promotion and service of abortions and abortion clinics
I copied this:
By the age of sixteen the average child raised in the United States has witnessed “as many as 400,000 sexual references, as well as 200,000 portrayals of violence, including 33,000 murders, on television and in movies.” One horror filmmaker admits that “often the murders are filmed from the point of view of the murderer,” but then amazingly protests that this does not lead horror fans to identify “with the psychopathic killers”! Statistical evidence is now clear that such entertainment media violence desensitizes us to real violence, helping to produce violence among a generation raised on it
What will happen to the people who remain with Babylon the Great?
She will be judged
They will be judged with her
How will this judgement come against her?
Instantaneous
Who does Scripture say this judgement benefits? (18:20)
the saints, the apostles, the prophets
INTRODUCTION
The judgements come in three cycles of 7. After each cycle we see the coming of Jesus which is why I believe each cycle gives a different description of the same judgements.
The seventh bowl judgement consisted of:
Natural disasters (100 lb hailstones, earthquake)
The judgement of the Babylon the Great and her lovers
The return of Jesus and the doom of the beast and false prophet (tonight)
Next week we will talk about the Millenium period
Chapter 19 is meant to contrast the judgement that is coming to the great HARLOT
IN OTHER WORDS, WHAT WILL HAPPEN TO THOSE WHO REMIAN FAITHFUL TO CHRIST?
The Reign of God Begins on Earth
The Reign of God Begins on Earth
Revelation 19:1–6 “After these things I heard something like a loud voice of a great multitude in heaven, saying, “Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power belong to our God; because His judgments are true and righteous; for He has judged the great harlot who was corrupting the earth with her immorality, and He has avenged the blood of His bond-servants on her.” And a second time they said, “Hallelujah! Her smoke rises up forever and ever.” And the twenty-four elders and the four living creatures fell down and worshiped God who sits on the throne saying, “Amen. Hallelujah!” And a voice came from the throne, saying, “Give praise to our God, all you His bond-servants, you who fear Him, the small and the great.” Then I heard something like the voice of a great multitude and like the sound of many waters and like the sound of mighty peals of thunder, saying, “Hallelujah! For the Lord our God, the Almighty, reigns.”
This passage shows us the great celebration at the fall of Babylon
We ended last week with discussion on this subject because it seems ungodly to rejoice in so much destruction
But this is not a celebration because people are dying and cities wiped out, but a celebration about wrongs being made right.
Those who killed the saints are being judged for it
Justice is being served to those whom it is due
And we are to be people who are in favor of justice, it is a part of the character of God
When the world system is destroyed, the reign of God on earth begins in a visible reality
There are essentially two kingdoms now: the kingdom of this world and the kingdom of God
Revelation 11:15 “Then the seventh angel sounded; and there were loud voices in heaven, saying, “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ; and He will reign forever and ever.””
This was the 7th trumpet
Nearly the same idea is presented here but from a different angle. The Kingdom of this world is gone! And the Kingdom of God has come in its fullness
QUESTION: What challenges do you face living for the kingdom of God in the presence of this worldly kingdom
The Marriage Supper of the Lamb
The Marriage Supper of the Lamb
Revelation 19:7–10 “Let us rejoice and be glad and give the glory to Him, for the marriage of the Lamb has come and His bride has made herself ready.” It was given to her to clothe herself in fine linen, bright and clean; for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints. Then he said to me, “Write, ‘Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.’ ” And he said to me, “These are true words of God.” Then I fell at his feet to worship him. But he said to me, “Do not do that; I am a fellow servant of yours and your brethren who hold the testimony of Jesus; worship God. For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.””
The marriage supper of the Lamb
The church is the bride of Christ. And the relationship that the church has with Jesus is like that of a marriage between a woman and man. This is what Eph 5 teaches us. This marriage supper in this passage is the day of the actual wedding ceremony when we become permanently and physically united with Christ.
What is our relationship to Jesus now?
It is like an engagement awaiting this actual wedding day.
In the first century men would be engaged to their wives before they actually married them. But that engagement was very serious. If you remember Jospeh was engaged to Mary, found out she was pregnant, and was going to divorce her. Engagement was a legal matter. It could only be broken by an actual divorce.
When the wedding day arrived, the groom would go the bride’s house and claim her for Himself. He would then take her to His house for the wedding supper, and a celebration would take place for sometimes up to a week.
That is what we see here. This actual physical uniting of the church and Jesus forever.
Matthew 26:29 ““But I say to you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in My Father’s kingdom.””
This vision is a fulfillment of that verse.
Application: We are engaged to Jesus. We love Him even though we have not seen Him. We obey Him even though we have not heard His audible voice. We follow looking forward to this day when our faith will become sight.
The Bride has made herself ready
How has she made herself ready?
(v 8) Because she is clothed in fine linen…which is the righteous acts of the saints
Now this is not something that she simply is associated with, she wears them, she is clothed by them, they characterize who she is
Here are some from this book:
They are faithful
Revelation 17:14 ““These will wage war against the Lamb, and the Lamb will overcome them, because He is Lord of lords and King of kings, and those who are with Him are the called and chosen and faithful.””
Faithful means you do what is expected of you. You can be trusted, you can be counted on, you show up regardless of the situation, in a marriage you would be counted faithful
They maintain their testimony
Revelation 6:9 “When the Lamb broke the fifth seal, I saw underneath the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God, and because of the testimony which they had maintained;”
It means to continuously profess Jesus to a lost and dying world despite hardships and persecution.
It means we remain a faithful witness
They persevere despite hardships
Revelation 13:10 “If anyone is destined for captivity, to captivity he goes; if anyone kills with the sword, with the sword he must be killed. Here is the perseverance and the faith of the saints.”
This means there is no turning back no matter how hard it gets.
Luke 9:62 “But Jesus said to him, “No one, after putting his hand to the plow and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.””
They obey God’s Commands
Revelation 14:12 “Here is the perseverance of the saints who keep the commandments of God and their faith in Jesus.”
That is whatever God tells us to do, we do it.
The coming of Jesus
The coming of Jesus
Revelation 19:11–19 “And I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse, and He who sat on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and wages war. His eyes are a flame of fire, and on His head are many diadems; and He has a name written on Him which no one knows except Himself. He is clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God. And the armies which are in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, were following Him on white horses. From His mouth comes a sharp sword, so that with it He may strike down the nations, and He will rule them with a rod of iron; and He treads the wine press of the fierce wrath of God, the Almighty. And on His robe and on His thigh He has a name written, “KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.” Then I saw an angel standing in the sun, and he cried out with a loud voice, saying to all the birds which fly in midheaven, “Come, assemble for the great supper of God, so that you may eat the flesh of kings and the flesh of commanders and the flesh of mighty men and the flesh of horses and of those who sit on them and the flesh of all men, both free men and slaves, and small and great.”
“He who sat on it is called Faithful and True”
I want us to just think about those words that describe the Lord Jesus. Jesus is faithful and will never desert us. People will leave us, our jobs will fire us or close the doors and no longer support us, BUT Jesus will never be unfaithful.
He will always make sure your needs are met
He will impart wisdom and knowledge to you
He will guide you
He will comfort you
He will take you home to heaven with Him when you die
When we commit to cling to Him and put Him over every other thing on this earth, that faithfulness is guaranteed to you.
No one can give you the faithfulness that Jesus can give
No thing can give you the faithfulness that Jesu can give
“From His mouth comes a sharp sword, so that with it He may strike down the nations”
What is this? It is His word of judgement.
Jesus does not need to take up an actual sword and go toe to toe with all the enemies of the earth. He can simple pronounce judgement upon them, and they will fall.
In the same way God spoke this world into existence, and how spoke healing into existence, and He cast out demons with a command, and the wind and waves obeyed Him, so His words alone are sufficient enough to eradicate the worst forms of evil.
Application
QUESTION: If the words of Jesus have that much power, What does that say to us about the Word of God we hold in our hands?
Do any of you ever underestimate the power of God’s Word?
Isaiah 55:11“So will My word be which goes forth from My mouth; It will not return to Me empty, Without accomplishing what I desire, And without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it.”
We must not forget the great power the Word of God has.
(v 17) “Come assemble for the great supper of God, so that you may eat the flesh of mighty men”
This is designed to contrast to the wedding feast of the Lamb.
There will be great celebration by the people of God feasting and eating, drinking wine in the presence of Jesus BUT HERE it is the people who will be served as the feast to the birds.
Notice that all men are grouped together here: small, great, kings, free men and slaves. There is no longer any status when this world ends.
The Final Victory
The Final Victory
Revelation 19:19–21 “And I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies assembled to make war against Him who sat on the horse and against His army. And the beast was seized, and with him the false prophet who performed the signs in his presence, by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image; these two were thrown alive into the lake of fire which burns with brimstone. And the rest were killed with the sword which came from the mouth of Him who sat on the horse, and all the birds were filled with their flesh.”
This is the battle of Armageddon
The beast and his army standing against Jesus and His army.
This is not to symbolize the strengthening of evil, an actual event that will take place at the return of Christ.
QUESTION: How does the Antichrist get people to gather with him to fight against the Lord?
Revelation 16:13–14 “And I saw coming out of the mouth of the dragon and out of the mouth of the beast and out of the mouth of the false prophet, three unclean spirits like frogs; for they are spirits of demons, performing signs, which go out to the kings of the whole world, to gather them together for the war of the great day of God, the Almighty.”
The devil sends out false propaganda pursuading/deceiving people to join his army.
The beast, the false prophet were thrown into the lake of fire or hell. This is the final destination where Satan, death and hades will also be cast in the next chapter.
