Two Suppers & Armageddon Revelation 19 Greg L Bahnsen {Part 58 of 63}

We have a lot of ground to cover today and a very important chapter in the Book of Revelation. So I think we'd better get started. Let's turn in our Bibles to Revelation, the 19th chapter, and I'd like to read the chapter for you in preparation for today's lesson. Revelation, chapter 19. You recall that John has seen in any number of images and by any number of metaphors, the fall of the Roman Empire and the city of Rome itself. Now, chapter 19. After these things, I heard as it were, a great voice of a great multitude in heaven, saying, hallelujah. Salvation and glory and power belong to our God. For true and righteous are his judgments. For he hath judged the great harlot, her that corrupted the earth with her fornication, and he hath avenged the blood of his servants at her hand. And a second time they say, hallelujah. And her smoke goeth up for ever and ever. And the four and twenty elders and the four living creatures fell down and worshipped God that sitteth on the throne, saying, amen, Hallelujah. And a voice came forth from the throne saying, give praise to our God all ye his servants, ye that fear him, the small and the great. And I heard as it were the voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of mighty thunders, saying, Hallelujah. For the Lord our God, the Almighty reigneth. Let us rejoice and be exceeding glad, and let us give the glory unto him. For the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready. And it was given unto her that she should array herself in fine linen, bright and pure, for the fine linen is the righteousness of the saints. And he saith unto me, write. Blessed are they that are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he said unto me, these are the true words of God. And I fell down before his feet to worship him. And he saith unto me, see thou do it not. I am a fellow servant with thee and with thy brethren that hold the testimony of Jesus. Worship God. For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy. And I saw the heaven opened, and behold a white horse. And he that sat thereon called faithful and true. And in righteousness he doth judge and make war. And his eyes are a flame of fire, and upon his head are many diadems. And he hath a name written which no one knoweth but he himself. And he is arrayed in a garment sprinkled with blood. And his name is called the Word of God. And the armies which are in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and pure. And out of his mouth proceedeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations and and he shall rule them. With a rod of iron he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness of the wrath of God the Almighty. And he hath on his garment and on his thigh a name written, king of Kings, Lord of Lords. And I saw an angel standing in the sun, and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the birds that fly in midheaven, come and be gathered together unto the great supper of God, that ye may eat the flesh of kings and the flesh of captains, and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses, and of them that sat thereon, and of the flesh of all men, both free and bond and small and great. And I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies gathered together to make war against him that sat upon the horse and against his army. And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought the signs in his sight, wherewith he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image, they too were cast alive into the lake of fire that burneth with brimstone. And the rest were killed with the sword of him that sat upon the horse, even the sword which came forth out of his mouth. And all the birds were filled with their flesh. We have here a scene of two supper. First of all, the supper of God the Almighty, and secondly, the supper of Gospel prosperity. You see, first, the supper of the lamb, the supper of the marriage, the lamb, and secondly, the supper of the birds of the air, as they feed upon the corpses of all those that have been slain in the battle between the Gospel and the forces of secularism. Now one must make up his mind when he comes To Revelation, the 19th chapter, as to what shall be made of the previous chapters in the book of Revelation, and whether one takes a literal or a metaphorical or literal or figurative approach to the book. When you get to chapter 19, you have to put away all of the this is a possible theory. That's the possible theory and all that. And you've got to come down on something because you're not going to be able to get through chapters 19 and 20 without some definite idea of what the structure of the book has been, that is, where it's going and therefore what place chapter 19 and chapter 20 have, and the overall picture. And you have to make up your mind as to what principles of biblical interpretation you'll be using in the Book of Revelation. Now, throughout our discussion of the Book of Revelation, I have alluded over and over again to premillennial commentators on the book who try to balance what is an obvious use of figurative language with their literal interpretation, or try to balance a reference, John referring to things in his own day, with the fact that their system of eschatology demands that John be speaking of the days before the final end. And we come to another illustration of that today, which I want to begin with in Robert Mounts's commentary. You'll notice that John twice in chapter 19 stresses that this warrior upon a white horse has a sword proceeding from his mouth. Now, anybody who is sensitive to doing biblical theology, or if you will, doing thematic studies, the use of literary images in the Bible will certainly know what the sword from Christ's mouth means. What is the word of God? It is the sword of the spirit. Jesus says, my words are spirit and life. Alright, so there is, you see, the sword of the spirit coming from Christ's mouth, which is the preaching of the Gospel. It's the word of God who has the sword proceeding from his mouth. Christ doesn't battle with the sword in his hand. Now, I'm using this, we're going to come back to it later, but I'm using this because I think it's such an obvious reference to the word of God being preached. However, if you believe that this scene of judgment in Revelation 19 is in fact the scene of actual physical slaughter in the battle of Har Magaddon, often called Armageddon, if you believe this battle of Harmageddon is in fact a literal political battle with iron swords and machinery and all the rest, then you're going to have some difficulty interpreting the idea of the sword proceeding from Christ's mouth. Because then you'll have Christ coming forth doing what really amounts to absolutely incredible stunts, acrobatic things, that is killing people with a sword from his mouth. Now, Mountz has written a very intelligent premillennial commentary on the Bible Book of Revelation. He's not going to want to be stuck with that kind of conclusion to his premillennial interpretation. So I want you to hear just in a couple of sentences, what he says at the end of his commentary in this chapter. He says, the armies of Antichrist are. By the way, it's not Antichrist. Remember, Antichrist applies to what any force which is contrary to Jesus Christ, especially those who are apostate in the Church. Nevertheless, he's speaking here of the beast. The armies of the beast or Antichrist are killed by the sword which proceeds from the mouth of the Messiah. While this is obviously not to be understood as a literal sword, again, he doesn't want to get stuck with that. Neither is it to be taken as a metaphor for the Gospel message, or if it's a metaphor for the Gospel message, which you have as a post millennial chapter of the Bible, because that means this sword is going to conquer all opposition. So he doesn't want it either way. So what's he say? The scene is one of judgment and the sword is the proclamation of divine retribution that slays all those, all who have, in the final alignment of loyalties, arrayed themselves against God and the forces of righteousness. The supper of God is ready and the vultures gorge themselves on the flesh of the wicked. I get the idea that it's not to be taken literally, but it is nevertheless a story about a literal battle and there's going to be a great slaughter when Christ returns and fights the battle of Armageddon. I think we can do a little bit better if we let the Bible interpret itself toward that end. Before we get into chapter 19, I want to review with you three themes that have come up in the Book of Revelation thus far. Those of you who have been with me this year and a half or so that have been going through the Book of Revelation will perhaps appreciate this more than those who are hearing it for the first time or haven't been with the class very long. But you must remember that from chapter one on, we've been rehearsing all the background and all the themes and the theology that leads up to this chapter. And I want to give you three of those dominant themes that will help you understand what John is trying to say in Revelation 19. The first of those themes, those dominant, predominant themes in the Book of Revelation is that of conquering or overcoming. Remember that each one of the seven churches was given a message and an exhortation from the Spirit of God to conquer. The word means to be victorious, to conquer or to overcome. You can translate it as you wish. Each of the seven churches is to overcome, just as Jesus himself conquered and overcame. We read that in Revelation 3, verse 21. In fact, Jesus, who is viewed as a slain lamb with seven horns, remember the the metaphor of perfect might, the horn a symbol of strength, and seven being, of course, the designation of perfection. So here the lamb slain with perfect might, the one who is the lion of the tribe of Judah conquers to open the seven sealed scroll. It's because Jesus has overcome, because he's victorious, that he can open that scroll. And when that scroll is opened, the first scene that we see is a rider upon a white horse given a crown. So here's Christ crowned so that he might reign. In Hebrews, the second chapter, we see that this is the Son of man who receives a crown. Revelation 14, verse 14, we see that Christ receives a crown. And so now back to chapter six again. This rider upon the white horse goes forth, according to the Bible, conquering and to conquer. So already John is just, you know, weighing down his image about victory for Jesus Christ. Every one of the churches is to be victorious because Jesus was victorious. Christ, who is the Lamb of God with all strength, has overcome to open the scroll. When he opens the scroll, he comes forth riding on a white horse, conquering and to conquer. Now, John portrays the church as conquering, just as Christ himself has conquered. In the letters to the seven churches, we've already noted that. But it's of interest that Revelation, the Book of Revelation, parallels the other literature written by John in the New Testament in presenting that theme. In John 16:33, the gospel of John, we read that Jesus has conquered the world. And then in first John, chapter 2, verses 13 and 14, chapter 4, verse 4, and chapter 5, verses 4 and 5, John says that believers overcome the wicked one, that believers overcome the Antichrist, and that believers overcome the world. You see how John is very fond of that word about conquering or overcoming, being victorious. Christ has conquered the world, and believers, John says, have conquered the wicked one, have conquered antichrist and have conquered the world. All right, so we see the theme of conquering. Now, the second theme that we see in the Book of Revelation we've already we've looked into it is the theme of Christ's reign and the co rule of his saints over the earth. Christ is reigning over the earth, and he gives his saints to reign with him. John presents Christ as having a mighty dominion, as having taken power, as having reigned, and as possessing worldwide rule. First of all, notice that in Revelation 1:6, very beginning of the book, John ascribes mighty dominion to Christ throughout all ages. Mighty dominion. And that declaration in Revelation 1:6 parallels. You'll see the literature of First Timothy 6, verse 16, in the context of Christ being designated King of kings and Lord of Lords. He's said to have a mighty dominion. In 1st Peter 4:11, Christ is said to have a mighty dominion, and that's in preparation for the persecution and suffering of the saints at the hands of Satan. And in Jude 25 Christ is said to have a mighty dominion. And in Jude 25 the mighty dominion of Christ encourages the saints that the Lord is able to keep them from falling. In Ephesians 1:19, 21 let's turn and look at that. We'll see that this mighty dominion was wrought by Christ in his resurrection, so that he has now been set above all rule, authority, and all lordship. Ephesians 1:19 and what the exceeding greatness of his power to us ward, who believe according to that working of the strength of his might which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead and made him to sit at his right hand in the heavenlies, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come. The Bible teaches us also that Christians have been empowered by this dominion of Christ so that they can endure being those who are delivered, you see, out of the power of darkness by the one who is above all thrones, rulers, and authorities. Look at Colossians 1:11, 13 and 16. Colossians 1 at verse 11 strengthened with all power according to the might of his glory, unto all patience and longsuffering with joy. Verse 13 who delivered us out of the power of darkness and translated us into the kingdom of the Son of His Love, in verse 16. For in him were all things created in the heavens and upon the earth, things visible and things invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things have been created through him and for him. And thus believers partake with Christ in this mighty dominion, and are thereby triumphant over the powers of darkness. Paul is teaching us. Being empowered with the Lord's mighty dominion, Christians can withstand even the devil. Ephesians 6:1011 says, because of the mighty dominion of Christ, we can withstand Satan. Now the particular way in which the Lord's mighty dominion was seen to increase the word of God and to prevail according to Acts the 19th chapter. In Acts 19:19 20, we see that because Christ has this might and dominion, all the sorcerers gave up their magical arts and gave up their books. So Revelation 1:6 says, Christ has this mighty dominion. Playing upon the background of New Testament themes already then in Revelation 11:17, we note that in the light of Christ's reign over the world kingdom, A multitude praises Christ, who was and is in for taking power. And having reigned, having been resurrected from the dead, Christ must reign until all his enemies have been put under his feet. That's what Paul teaches in 1 Corinthians 15:25 now that declaration of Paul in 1st Corinthians 15:25 is really an allusion to Psalm 110, verses 1 and 2, where the Lord is said to sit at Jehovah's right hand until all enemies are his footstool, and he rules in the midst of his enemies with a strong rod from Zion. That passage is quoted throughout the New Testament, by the way, in Acts 2 verses 20 excuse me, Acts 2, verses 33 and 36 in Romans 8:34, 37 in Ephesians 1:22 and so on. All right, so Christ has been given a mighty dominion. Revelation says, he has been given reign, so that he has taken his power and now reigns. And then John also tells us that the mighty dominion and powerful reign of Christ, which have been just discussed, have a universal extent. In Revelation 5:13 every creature ascribes mighty dominion to Christ the lamb. In Revelation 15:3 he's designated king of the nations, and we are assured that all the nations will come and worship before him because of his righteous ordinances in Revelation 15:4. Of course, that's the teaching of the Old Testament as well. I mean, John is piling up a lot of Old Testament theology in this book of Revelation when he says these things. Look at Psalm 86:9. Psalm86 9 says, all nations whom thou hast made shall come and worship before thee, O Lord, and they shall glorify thy name. Look at Isaiah 66:23 and it shall come to pass that from one new moon to another, and from one Sabbath to another, shall all flesh come to worship before me, saith Jehovah. Look at Malachi 1 11. For from the rising of the sun, even unto the going down of the same, my name shall be great among the Gentiles and in every place incense shall be offered unto my name, and a pure for my name shall be great among the Gentiles, saith Jehovah of hosts. All these passages. Then the greatness of the Lord's name means that all the nations are going to come and bow down before him. All the nations will come and worship him. And from the rising of the sun till the going down of the same that is, everywhere that the sun shines, there's going to be pure incense offered to his name there's going to be a pure worship offered to God. Of course, the 72nd Psalm, Psalm 72 preeminently brings out these truths. In that psalm we're taught that peace is going to result from the righteousness of the Messiah's reign in accord with the law of God. We're taught that those who flourish in response to the Messianic reign, we're taught that those who follow the Messiah are going to flourish and that the Messiah's reign is not going to be of a military nature. Rather, the world is going to come and bow at his feet because of the way he has delivered the oppressed and the afflicted, and they're going to all his enemies lick the dust. The psalmist says that will result in reverence to God. In fact, the 72nd Psalm says that the growth of the Messiah's reign can be illustrated by the amazing increase of a handful of corn on the top of the mountains, which of course is, I think, a background to Jesus own parables of the growth of his kingdom. The extent to which the Messiah's reign shall grow is worldwide, according to Psalm 72. Verse 8 of Psalm 72 says it will grow to the extremities of the earth, and it will be all inclusive. It will include the nomads, the kings, and even the enemies of all the nations of the world. And we see that taught in the 22nd Psalm, in the 67th Psalm, in the 138th Psalm. It's also taught in Isaiah 2:2, 4 and Habakkuk 2:14. We could go on and on. Okay, now this is the background then of John saying that Christ has taken this reign, this reign which the Old Testament already predicted. In Revelation 12:5, John tells us of a man child being born who will rule all the nations with the rod of iron. Of course, an allusion to Psalm 2. In Hebrews chapter 1, verses 2 and 5, we see that this psalm about Jesus taking his reign and ruling over the earth began with his ascension. That when he was seated at the right hand of God, he took his reign, and he is now bringing all enemies into submission under his feet. There's just so much material here that it's hard to decide what stuff to to cut out for you. Revelation 1:5 and Revelation 12:10 explain that Christ is reigning, and that's because Satan has been cast down from heaven. And in the Book of Acts, you'll see that Christ is in fact fulfilling the great commission of bringing all nations under his authority, as the apostles and the disciples see mighty conversions of people. And often enough, the very language of the book of Revelation referring to the reign of Christ and His mighty dominion is used to explain that. Well, I want to get on to the third theme here as background so we can study chapter 19 we've spoken of John already emphasizing in the book of Revelation the mighty dominion of Christ, and secondly, the reign of Christ. The third theme which we've seen over and over again, is that this conquering and reign of Christ is going to be international. The world is going to be transformed. John has taught us already by this kingdom of Jesus Christ. In Revelation 10, verse 11, John was told that he must prophesy again. And in that verse we see that his prophecies are over extensive are numerous peoples, nations, languages and kings. And in terms of the scope then of that prophecy over all these nations, tribes, languages and people, we see in Revelation 14:6 that the Eternal gospel is to be proclaimed to every nation, tribe, tongue and people. And then in Revelation 15:4, the song of Moses and the Lamb declares that all the nations shall come and worship the Lord, which is of course the Old Testament references we've looked at already. John sees justified believers who praise the Lamb as an innumerable and extensive multitude from every nation, tribe, people and language in Revelation 7, verse 9. And the new song which is sung to the Lamb says that Christ has redeemed men from every tribe, language, people and nation, and made them a kingdom that now reigns on earth. Revelation 5, verses 9 and 10. And I think the universal scope of that redemption is clear, isn't it, from the adjective all and every which John uses. You see, he keeps piling up all these every tribe, tongue, language and people over and over again. The accumulated effect is rather universal. Every nation shall render praise to the Savior. Each language will harmonize in the song of Moses and the Lamb. All the tribes will embrace the eternal gospel. And so it's rather appropriate that the great voices in heaven heard by John saying in Revelation 11:15, the kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever. The theme of the universal extension of Christ's kingdom transforming the world can't help but remind us of the prophecies of Daniel. I believe Daniel, seeing the Son of Man in a vision, says, there was given him dominion and glory, and a kingdom that all the peoples, nations and languages should serve him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed. Daniel 7:14. In the second chapter of Daniel's prophecy, Daniel had seen an image that represented the four world empires. And then he sees a stone cut without hands come and destroy that image. And then that stone grows to fill the earth, being the fifth world empire, the kingdom of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Daniel 7 says, and the kingdom and the dominion and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven shall be given to the people of the saints of the Most High. His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey Him. I wish we really had time to go through all these notes that I prepared, because once you do a study of the extent of God's kingdom in the Old Testament in the apostolic writings and then come to the Book of Revelation, it's amazing to see how much of that John has woven into his picture. And it's also, I think, rather overwhelming in terms of the message of victory that the Gospel is to have. 1 Corinthians 11:3 Paul says, Christ is the head of every man in Acts 10:36, that he is the Lord of all he is the promised seed of Abraham, in whom all the families of the earth are to be blessed. Acts 3:25 so God no longer allows all the nations to walk in their own ways, but he commands all men everywhere to repent. The Holy Spirit has been poured out upon all flesh, and God has visited the nations so that all may seek after him and believe. Hence Paul is delivered through tribulation with an end toward making all the nations hear the Gospels. 2nd Timothy 4:17 he is given to preach to the nations and enlighten all men. Ephesians 3:8:9 in fact, the apostolic aim of Christ's church is to present all men perfect in Christ. Colossians 1:27 all the nations are commanded to praise the lord in Romans 15:11 and all Israel, we're told, shall be saved. Romans 11:26 Indeed, every knee shall bow, and every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. According to Philippians 2. All the nations, including Israel, then, will submit to the Gospel. For by Christ's resurrection he has been constituted the Son of God with power, and through him the Church receives grace for the purpose of obedience of faith in all the nations. Romans 1:4,5 Paul says at the end of the Book of Romans that the mysterious plan of God to extend salvation on an international scale is made known unto all the nations for the obedience of faith. Romans 16:26 Scripture teaches us, moreover, that all nations will not come to the obedience of faith in one dramatic or climactic moment or a sudden upsurge. Rather, the kingdom of this world shall become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ in accordance with the program of the Great Commission, and thus the worldwide turning to the Lord and faith will occur in terms of a growth and an increase of Christ's kingdom in the world, as the Church makes disciples of the nations. Christ's kingdom doesn't come immediately and permeate the world and overcome it instantaneously, but is rather a stone that grows to be a mountain filling the whole earth. And in Psalm 72, in the parables of the kingdom in the New Testament, in Ezekiel 47, all these images of gradual growth are given. Remember, Ezekiel 47 tells of those healing waters flowing from the temple of God, which begin ankle deep. Then they grow to be knee deep, and then they up to the loins of Ezekiel. And finally they grew to be a great river which could not be passed through. Jesus speaks of first the blade and then the ear, and then the full head of corn. And in First Corinthians 15, Paul says that Christ is reigning until all his enemies are put under his feet, and the last enemy is death. And here's the image of gradual, you see conquering until everything has been included in the reign of Christ. Well, the Old Testament, the New Testament, and especially Johannine literature in the New Testament stress then the mighty dominion of Christ, the fact that he has taken reign and that he's going to have an international kingdom. And against that background, I think we can understand what Revelation 19 is saying. Revelation 19, verses 1 to 6, we see a response to chapter 18, verse 20. Remember, in chapter 18, where we see the fall of the harlot, the fall of Rome, we read in verse 20, rejoice over her, thou heaven, and ye saints, and ye apostles, and ye prophets. For God hath judged your judgment on her. Okay? God has said you should rejoice that I am destroying your enemies. Chapter 19 begins that rejoicing. And after these things, I heard, as it were, a great voice of a great multitude in heaven saying Hallelujah. Salvation and glory and power. You notice that there are three groups here that sing Hallelujah. That's what's common to all of them. This is, in a sense, the Hallelujah chorus. Not what we usually think of in terms of Mendel's Hallelujah Chorus. But John sees the great multitude. He sees the 24 elders. He sees the four living creatures all responding. Hallelujah. What does Hallelujah mean? It comes from the Old Testament, Hallel and Jaheim. Praise to Jehovah, right? And why should Jehovah be praised? A number of psalms begin this way. Hallelujah. And the psalms that begin that way are usually psalms speaking of how God has defeated the enemies of his people. And so, Hallelujah. Salvation, glory and Power belong to our God. The advent of our glorious Savior has brought about the deliverance of his people from an empire which was thunder to be indestructible. Rome has fallen. Rome has been burned. And so salvation, glory and power are ascribed to God. Here you see is the judgment of that great harlot which John had been told he would see in chapter 17. And here those who have been persecuted, those who have been martyred by Rome's hand, are avenged just as they had cried out for in chapter 6, verse 10, so forth in verse 3. We read in chapter 19 that this fall of Rome will never be forgotten. And it hasn't been forgotten to this day and it never will be forgotten. And one of the reasons it won't ever be forgotten is because the fall of Rome is going to bring in a new era for the Church of Jesus Christ. See, the fall of Rome is going to then leave room only for the growth of God's kingdom. As the four empires now that Daniel saw in his prophecy have been destroyed. That stone cut without hands is going to replace them. And that's what John sees here. That stone replacing the kingdoms of the world. And that stone is replacing the kingdoms of this world through the preaching of the Gospel, the sword from Christ's mouth. In Revelation 19:5 we see the designation the small and the great. That's a phrase denoting an all embracing and a far reaching crowd, isn't it? It's applied to the rebellious in chapter 13. It's applied to the God fearing in chapter 11 in this place it's applied to all those who are God's servants and those who fear and reverence him. All right, the immense throng then the small and the great. All those fearing God sing Hallelujah because the Lord reigns. In Psalm 22, verse 28, that's precisely the wording we find. Hallelujah because the Lord reigns. And in Psalm 22:28 it's interesting to see that the reason the Hebrew people were to sing Hallelujah because the Lord reigns is given an explanation. Because all the ends of the earth shall remember and turn unto Jehovah, and all the kindreds of the nations shall worship before thee. Because the royal reign is the Lord's and he is the ruler over the nations, said the psalmist. The one who is this Lord to reign over the nations is Jesus Christ, who by his ascension has been constituted Lord and Christ, and he awaits the subjection of all his enemies. We go on then to the supper of the Lamb. Moving on in Our lesson John says, let us rejoice, verse seven. Let us rejoice and be exceeding glad, and let us give the glory unto him. For the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready. Now we know that the wife of the Lamb is the church of Jesus Christ. That's rather evident from Ephesians 5. And the imagery of God's people being wedded to him is common in the Old Testament in Isaiah 54, Isaiah 62, and Jeremiah 3. Indeed, Ezekiel 16 teaches that because of their marriage to Jehovah, God's people will be clothed in fine linen, and they'll be in covenant with him, and they'll know Jehovah. All men, from the greatest to the least of them, said Jeremiah, shall know Jehovah in that great day of the new covenant which is coming. And so those who are under this new covenant in Christ, the Lamb of God, are also described as espoused to Christ and married to him. Paul uses that imagery in 2nd Corinthians 11, verse 2. Also Ephesians 5. As we've already said now, in its richest meaning, of course, that symbolizes union with Christ. To be married to Christ means to be in union with Christ. The Old Testament had taught that to be married is to become one flesh. And the church is said to be the body of Christ. One flesh with him they are to be. 1st Corinthians 12 and Ephesians 1, Ephesians 4 and Colossians 1 all speak of the church is the body of Christ. And in John 17, Jesus Himself had said that his people were one with him. The mystery of Christ in us, Colossians 1, verse 26, is the great mystery spoken of by Paul in likening Christ and his church to a husband and a wife in Ephesians 5. Now in Revelation 19:8, the lamb's wife is given to be clothed in fine linen, bright and clean. And the clothing contrasts that greatly with the harlot. The harlot that had the sumptuous dress was to be an ugly picture of debauchery. And now the church of Jesus Christ is described as having fine linen, white and pure. And that linen is said to be the righteousness of the saints. Some of your translations will say, that's the righteous acts of the saints. But clearly, since this linen is given to the saints, it's not something they have done, it's something which by God's grace they received. It's their justification in the eyes of God. Revelation 198 speaks of this linen, this clothing, being given to the saints. And that's an allusion to Isaiah 61:10, where we read, I will greatly rejoice in Jehovah, for he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation. He hath covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decketh himself with a garland, and as a bride adorneth herself with her jewels. So there you see, in the setting of a marriage, well, it's a marriage setting. The clothing of righteousness, the robe of righteousness is given. And John is playing upon that Image In Revelation 19 here, interestingly, if you look at Isaiah chapter 61, it continues. For as the garden causes the things that are sown in it to spring forth, so the Lord Jehovah will cause righteousness and praise to spring forth before all the nations. So there again we see this theme woven in and out in and out throughout the Bible. All the nations are going to worship the lord. And verse 9 says, and he saith unto me, write, blessed are they that are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb. Clearly, this is to be pulled out and given some emphasis. It's not often that John is given a direct command to write something in the Book of Revelation, but here, one of the two or three times he is write this down. And this is the third, I think, of the seven Beatitudes of the Book of Revelation. Blessed are they who are bidden to the marriage supper of the Lamb. Well, what is the marriage supper of the Lamb? Well, the Lamb is Jesus Christ, the bride is his church. The marriage refers to the covenant God has with his people, a covenant that has been made possible because the Lamb of God has shed his blood. And those who come to this marriage supper wear robes of righteousness that are given to them. The word in Greek for righteousness is of the same. Cognate is cognate to the word for justification. Those who have been justified by God graciously. These robes of justification, these robes of righteousness have been given to them, will now come to the covenant supper of the Lamb of God who shed his blood. Now, any number of commentators will refer to this marriage supper of the Lamb then, as some kind of eschatological feast at the very end of the world or in all eternity. We're going to have, if you will, this marriage supper of the Lamb. I don't believe that's what John is referring to. Of course, it's too late to bid people to the marriage supper of the Lamb after Christ returns. I rather think that we must find here a supper which typifies the covenant blessings of God, as the Lamb of God shed his blood for the justification of his people. Anybody think of such a supper in the New Testament? Well, there is a parable of a wedding feast, and that may be in the back of John's mind. But where does the Bible teach us of a supper that speaks of Christ shedding his blood for the justification of his saints? A Lord's Supper. Precisely. I think that's what the marriage supper of the Lamb refers to here. Blessed are all those who are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb. Those who come to the communion table, you see, are coming to the marriage supper of Christ, coming to that covenant meal with him that replaces Passover in the Old Testament, the New Testament. Because Christ is our Passover lamb, he bids us to a supper with him in covenant union with him, so that we are married as his bride to him. So John is told. This is what is important to remember. Blessed, happy are those who are bidden to the Lord's table. Now, it's important to stress that word bidden, or perhaps better translated, called. Blessed are those who are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb. That is to say, blessed are those who have the opportunity, through the preaching of the Gospel, to hear the good news of God and are enjoined to come to the supper of Jesus Christ. Blessed are those that will hear and come. Now, what have we been saying throughout this lesson? I realize been kind of, you know, stilted up at this point because all the stuff I had the information to get out. But the Old Testament and the New Testament both are stressing that all nations will hear the Gospel and come and worship before him. All the enemies of Christ will lick the dust. All enemies are going to be subjected under his feet. All nations will worship Jehovah. All men shall know me from the least to the greatest, according to the prophecy of Jeremiah. So now John says, blessed are those who are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb. So those are the true words of God. Herb, I have a question then, keeping this in mind. In Matthew 26:29, when Jesus said, I will not drink henceforth of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father's kingdom. Would you see this as symbolic of the Lord's Supper, so that each time we're taking the Lord's Supper, we're drinking it meal again. That's the way I've understood it. Yes. Christ was saying until. See, here's at the Last Supper, right? You're referring to Jesus is Saying, the next time that we partake of this supper, the Lord's Supper, it will be in the kingdom of God. Now, Jesus said, of course, at his trial that henceforth you will see what the Son of Man see. And he referred to the fact that he would be coming in the power of his kingdom. Those who were then persecuting him would not die before they saw the kingdom of God instituted. So Christ, by his resurrection, has then inaugurated the new era of his kingdom. And now he draws all men to himself. And so in the Lord's Supper, we do, I think, sup with him according to that prophecy. Well, now, John, having said that, we are to rejoice over the fall of Rome, because after all, the kingdom of Jesus Christ will take its place. Having said that, blessed are those who are bidden to the marriage. Supper of the Lamb begins a new vision. Verse 11. And I saw the heaven opened, and behold a white horse. And he that sat thereon called faithful and true. It's interesting that John doesn't begin the prophecy by saying, and I saw the heaven open, and behold Jesus Christ riding upon a horse. And then going on to say these things about Jesus Christ. John is taken immediately by the fact that there's a white horse. Now, what was a white horse symbolic of in the ancient world? Victory. Those who conquer. Those who were, you see, military conquerors rode white horses. And John doesn't leave it, just that Jesus Christ rides the white horse, which it's rather, what extraordinary. Be difficult, you know, to get a white horse. But those who did have these rare white horses were the conquerors. He also says that those who follow him in heaven are riding upon white horses as well. Verse 14. And the armies which are in heaven followed him upon white horses. So he sees an army of white horses, an army of victorious conquerors, Jesus Christ and those following him. All right, we're going to go very quickly over this section of description. You'll notice that in verses 11 to 16, most of the descriptions of Jesus Christ come out of chapter one, the vision of the ascended Messiah. That glorious picture of Christ in chapter one now is going to be used as background. Here John sees the heaven opened, and he sees that white horse. And he that sat thereon was called Faithful and true Designations of Christ from earlier in the Book. In righteousness he judges and makes war. His eyes are a flame of fire. Reference to chapter one. Upon his head are many diadems, Many crowns on one head. Why? You figure out why Christ would wear many crowns? Wouldn't one be enough? No, because John wants to indicate that all sovereignty is his. He's going to reign over every nation, you see. He's going to be a king over every king. And so all those crowns are his. And upon his head are many diadems. He has a name written which no man knoweth, that refers to the mysterious nature of Christ. He has a character which only Christ himself knows. He's arrayed in a garment sprinkled with blood. How is Christ going to conquer these people? Going to conquer these people by shedding their blood. You know, in the history of premillennial interpretation of this book, that's what we were told, that Christ conquers people physically. He sheds their blood. But here Christ comes, and before the battle even begins, his garments are sprinkled in blood. I think it's interesting that the language of sprinkling in blood comes from the Old Testament sacrificial system. Christ, the Lamb of God, who shed his blood is going to conquer people by the Gospel, by his gracious acts, not by violent acts. He comes forth with a garment sprinkled in blood or dipped in blood. And his name is called the Word of God. Clearly remember John's Gospel begins in the beginning was the Word. Here's the word of God, verse 14. The armies which are in heaven followed him upon white horses. They too shall be victorious. They're clothed in fine linen, white and pure. The righteousness of the saints. God has graciously saved his people, and now they follow their conquering ward into the battle. And out of his mouth, John says, proceeds a sharp two edged sword. The Word of God is sharper than any two edged sword, said Hebrews in the fourth chapter. In Ephesians 6 we learned the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God, is part of the Christian armor. And so out of his mouth proceeds the sharp sword, the word of God, that with it he should smite the nations. And when he does so notice, he is going to rule them with a rod of iron. And he that treadeth the winepresseth the fierceness of the wrath of God the Almighty. And he hath on his garment and on his thigh a name written. You mustn't miss what John is saying. What usually goes on the thigh? Here's a man riding a white horse, right? He's going into battle. What belongs on his thigh? His sword. And so down his thigh in the place of the sword, John sees written this name, King of kings and Lord of lords. Jesus doesn't need a physical sword, but in terms of his office as the king. Over all kings in terms of his utter sovereignty and lordship, he is going to rule. Then verse 17 gets us to the battle itself. We see that Christ has come on this white horse ready to conquer many crowns on his head, the sword from his mouth. The armies in heaven are following him. And then John says, I saw an angel standing at the very high point of the sky at the sun. And he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the birds that fly in midheaven, come and be gathered together to the great supper of God. The that ye may eat the flesh of kings and the flesh of captains, flesh of mighty men and horses and them that sat there upon the flesh of all men, both free and bond, small and great. It's a very grisly picture. In the Old Testament, especially in Ezekiel's description of the battle of Gog and Magog, this imagery is used. What does it portray? However, we aren't literalist here. We're not expecting a day in which the birds of heaven are actually going to feed upon the corpses of all men, upon the earth, the small and the great, in every class of men. What is this image about? Remember, you want to interpret the Bible correctly, you've got to interpret it according to the intention of its author. Now, for this author, John, what would an image of birds feeding upon your enemies typify? Typifies? Utter victory. See, it's not just that you put your enemy to flight, it's not just that you take them captive, but here you leave them dead upon the battlefield. And so it was said, you see, as a taunt against an army that you were fighting against. The birds of the heaven will eat your flesh. Which is to say we will leave every one of you dead upon the battlefield. Now, while that's a grisly picture, it's a picture of victory. Utter victory. Not one will be left. And so John is saying that this angel is declaring the outcome of the battle. Already the angel is declaring that the preaching of the Word of God is going to be utterly victorious, so that none stands in its way. OT Alice said in prophecy in the Church, those who do not accept the view that a millennium in the sense of a visible reign of Christ on earth is described in chapter 20, find here in chapter 19 a symbolical description of the triumph of the cause of Christ through the proclamation of the gospel. And they find support for this explanation in the fact that the rider on the white horse is called the word of God and that the sharp two edged sword proceeds out of his mouth, which suggests that the battle in which he is engaged, despite the martial and even gory imagery, is to be fought in the realm of moral and spiritual ideas and not with carnal weapons. And I want to read for you perhaps one of the finest pieces out of all of the corpus of B.B. warfield. Warfield's wrote an awful lot of fine things, but I'm particularly attached to these two paragraphs I'm going to read out of his article the Millennium and the Apocalypse, because I still remember very vividly when I was in college and studying madly these issues and trying to make sense of the Book of Revelation, that it was that afternoon that I read Warfield's article, and reading these particular paragraphs that I decided that my amillennial convictions just wouldn't hold up any longer. Warfield finally convinced me, and so I'd like to read that for you. It's his commentary upon Revelation 19, verses 17 through 21. He says it is a vivid picture of a complete victory, an entire conquest that we have here, and all the imagery of war and battle is employed to give it life. This is the symbol, the thing symbolized is obviously the complete victory of the Son of God over all the host of wickedness. We are not to think, as we read, of any literal war or manual fighting. Therefore the conquest is wrought by the spoken word, in short, by the preaching of the Gospel. In fine we have before us here a picture of the victorious career of the Gospel of Christ in the world. All the imagery of the dread battle and its hideous details are but to give us the impression of the completeness of the victory. Christ's Gospel is to conquer the earth he is to overcome all his enemies. There is, of course, nothing new in this. The victory of the gospel was predicted over and over again, even in Old Testament times, under the figure of a spiritual conquest. It is thus also that Paul pictures it. What we have here in effect, is a picture of the whole period between the first and second advents, seen from the point of view of heaven. It is the period of the advancing victory of the Son of God over the world, emphasizing in harmony with its place at the end of the book the completeness of the victory. It is the 11th chapter of Romans and the 15th of 1 Corinthians in symbolical form. As emphatically as Paul, John teaches that the earthly history of the church is not a history merely of conflict with evil, but of conquest over evil. And even more richly than Paul, John teaches that this conquest will be decisive and complete. The whole meaning of the vision of 19 verses 11 to 21 is that Christ Jesus comes forth not to war merely, but to victory. And every detail of the picture is laid in with a view precisely to emphasizing the thoroughness of this victory. The Gospel of Christ is John being witness, complete, completely. To conquer the world, the Gospel assuredly must be preached to the whole world as a witness before the Lord comes. These visions seem to go farther and to teach that the earth, the whole world, must be one to Christ before he comes. And that is precisely this conquest of it that he is accomplishing during the progress of the interadvental period. Well, the choices, I think, are laid out rather clearly before you. You may see this as a literal battle, the battle of Haremagedon, where Christ comes doing calisthenics with a sword in his mouth and physically slaying all his opposition. You may read it in premillennial style, or you can do what the intelligent premillennialists do today and say, well, obviously Christ is not going to come literally doing these things, but it is going to be a literal battle nonetheless. That is, you can try to mediate the figurative and the literal readings of it, or you can take it in the way which I think is rather obvious, that the sword from Christ's mouth is the sword of the Gospel being proclaimed and that Christ is riding a white horse and Christ has many crowns upon his head because he's going to be utterly victorious in the preaching of the Gospel. Now, if you see this as the preaching of the gospel, then rather than a physical battle, then you must ask yourself, how victorious will the Gospel be? And Warfield has said very plainly, this whole picture of the birds of heaven feeding upon the corpses of the armies who were in opposition to the Gospel is but a symbol for the utter victory that will belong to Christ as he preaches the Gospel through his church. John is witness to the fact that the entire world is to submit to the preaching of the gospel. Verse 21 emphasizes it. Again, just so that you won't miss the point. The rest were killed with the sword of him that sat on the horse, the sword which came forth out of his mouth. They were conquered by the Gospel, you see, not conquered in any physical way. That is, upon some battlefield where genuine swords and and armor used. Daniel had said that there would be a stone cut without hands that would come and smash the world empires, that the fourth world empire, which we know to be Rome, would be destroyed in that day, and that upon the fall of Rome that stone would grow to be a mountain filling the earth. That God's kingdom, you see, would permeate the entire earth. That all the nations, as the Old Testament prophets had said, all the nations and all men, the smallest to the greatest, would come and worship before God. In the Book of Revelation, John clarifies what that stone is. That stone that destroys the world empires is not Judaism. The first half of the Book of Revelation shows that Judaism, you see typified in Jerusalem is going to fall. In the second half of the Book of Revelation, he shows the fall of the Roman Empire. And having shown us the fall of the Roman Empire and the rejoicing of all those who are saints over that fall, he says, blessed are those bidden to the Lord's table, and how many shall be bidden? The gospel proclaimed from Christ's mouth. That sword from his mouth is going to conquer all men. It will be a kingdom that grows, filling the earth. And that's why, upon reading Warfield's commentary in the Book of Revelation, at that point, it didn't seem to me that all millennialism could stand any longer. Premillennialism is really quite impossible, I think, given any number of things in the Bible, and especially the way we must interpret the Book of Revelation and our millennialism simply does not do justice to the universal victory which is the predominant theme of the entire book. And it certainly will not abide Chapter 19. Are there any questions you have on this chapter before we go next week into what is the most controversial chapter of the book? Chapter 20, Dealing with the millennium itself. So anybody who doesn't think that the sword from Christ's mouth is the preached gospel, Anybody have any trouble with that? Everybody understand the vision of the gory victory? The birds of the heaven is a traditional symbol for victory in the ancient world, yes. Yeah. But that's why the curse of the covenant is given just that way, because it's a sign. That's how utterly God will punish those who violate his his precepts. All right, well, let's pray. Our Father, we thank you that you in your grace should clothe us with the robes of righteousness, that you should mercifully justify us even while we are in our sins, and that you should call us to partake of the Lord's supper, that we might be those privileged to partake of the marriage supper of your son. We thank you, Father, for such privileges. And we ask that in utter gratitude to you and dependence upon you, that we would now take up our responsibility to follow your son, that conquering warrior, and that we might follow him into that victory which is belonging to the gospel, that that prosperity which you have promised through all of your prophets and apostles would be seen. We ask you, Lord, that you might empower the preaching of the Gospel. And in our day, that you might bring revival in our day, that you indeed might have the kingdoms of this world bow before your son, Jesus Christ, and honor him as Lord of lords and King of Kings. We ask you, Father, that the church might prosper, that your word might take effect throughout the world. We ask you, Lord, that all the kingdoms of the world would become the kingdom of your Son. That we might rejoice together with all the saints in that kingdom which is going to be everlasting and which even now is international in its extent. For it's in Jesus name we pray. Amen.