Series: Rev’d Up 16
Thesis of Series: We need to get Rev’d Up for Jesus’ Second Coming as we look at what is happening to our society and world. Many are saying the time is near and Revelation tells us to be ready at a moment’s notice. So, let’s get Rev’d up and be ready to meet Jesus!
Key Scripture Text: Revelation 12:11: “They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death.”
Review of the book of Revelation:
This writing unveils to us Jesus Christ – “The Beginning and the End”
This book presents 7 churches, 7 seals, 7 heads of a Beast-like Kingdom, 7 trumpets, 7 bowls of God’s Wrath, and 7 reasons why we as Christians should “Be Happy” in spite of false prophets, antichrists, worldly demonic kingdoms, war, famine, God’s Judgement, persecution and even the partial destruction of the earth.
The ultimate blessing in this life which should make us smile in the trial is Jesus – The One who was! Who is! And Who is coming again!
Sermon: Rev’d Up – pt. 16 Revelation 19-20
Thesis: We need to remember the blessings of Revelation as we go through the trials and tribulations of Life and the battle between Good and Evil. We also need to know we are as the Church the Bride of Christ and this great celebration is Coming soon, we need to know that because we partook of the 1st Resurrection the second death has no power over us – in other words those who are faithful to the Lord until the end do not need to fear The Great White Throne Judgment!
Scripture Text:
Revelation 19:1-21(NIV)
1After this I heard what sounded like the roar of a great multitude in heaven shouting: “Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power belong to our God,
2for true and just are his judgments. He has condemned the great prostitute who corrupted the earth by her adulteries. He has avenged on her the blood of his servants.”
3And again they shouted: “Hallelujah! The smoke from her goes up for ever and ever.”
4The twenty-four elders and the four living creatures fell down and worshiped God, who was seated on the throne. And they cried: “Amen, Hallelujah!”
5Then a voice came from the throne, saying: “Praise our God, all you his servants, you who fear him, both small and great!”
6Then I heard what sounded like a great multitude, like the roar of rushing waters and like loud peals of thunder, shouting: “Hallelujah! For our Lord God Almighty reigns.
7Let us rejoice and be glad and give him glory! For the wedding of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready.
8Fine linen, bright and clean, was given her to wear.” (Fine linen stands for the righteous acts of the saints.)
9Then the angel said to me, “Write: ‘Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb!’” And he added, “These are the true words of God.”
10At this I fell at his feet to worship him. But he said to me, “Do not do it! I am a fellow servant with you and with your brothers who hold to the testimony of Jesus. Worship God! For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.”
11I saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True. With justice he judges and makes war.
12His eyes are like blazing fire, and on his head are many crowns. He has a name written on him that no one knows but he himself.
13He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and his name is the Word of God.
14The armies of heaven were following him, riding on white horses and dressed in fine linen, white and clean.
15Out of his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations. “He will rule them with an iron scepter.” He treads the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God Almighty.
16On his robe and on his thigh he has this name written: king of kings and lord of lords.
17And I saw an angel standing in the sun, who cried in a loud voice to all the birds flying in midair, “Come, gather together for the great supper of God,
18so that you may eat the flesh of kings, generals, and mighty men, of horses and their riders, and the flesh of all people, free and slave, small and great.”
19Then I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies gathered together to make war against the rider on the horse and his army.
20But the beast was captured, and with him the false prophet who had performed the miraculous signs on his behalf. With these signs he had deluded those who had received the mark of the beast and worshiped his image. The two of them were thrown alive into the fiery lake of burning sulfur.
21The rest of them were killed with the sword that came out of the mouth of the rider on the horse, and all the birds gorged themselves on their flesh.
Revelation 20
The Thousand Years
1And I saw an angel coming down out of heaven, having the key to the Abyss and holding in his hand a great chain.
2He seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil, or Satan, and bound him for a thousand years.
3He threw him into the Abyss, and locked and sealed it over him, to keep him from deceiving the nations anymore until the thousand years were ended. After that, he must be set free for a short time.
4I saw thrones on which were seated those who had been given authority to judge. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony for Jesus and because of the word of God. They had not worshiped the beast or his image and had not received his mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ a thousand years.
5(The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended.) This is the first resurrection.
6Blessed and holy are those who have part in the first resurrection. The second death has no power over them, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with him for a thousand years.
Satan’s Doom
7When the thousand years are over, Satan will be released from his prison
8and will go out to deceive the nations in the four corners of the earth—Gog and Magog—to gather them for battle. In number they are like the sand on the seashore.
9They marched across the breadth of the earth and surrounded the camp of God’s people, the city he loves. But fire came down from heaven and devoured them.
10And the devil, who deceived them, was thrown into the lake of burning sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet had been thrown. They will be tormented day and night for ever and ever.
The Dead Are Judged
11Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. Earth and sky fled from his presence, and there was no place for them.
12And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books.
13The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and each person was judged according to what he had done.
14Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death.
15If anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.
Introduction:
The Great Prostitute and the Spirit of Babylon are destroyed and all of Heaven rejoices over this eradication of evil from this world. God avenges the blood of all the saints she killed. God is praised in this judgment for being in control, and for being true and just in His judgments.
From the annellation of the evil woman we have a celebration being announced that the faithful bride of Christ will receive another blessing which of course the Great Prostitute will not receive because she has been destroyed.
I. The 4th Blessing of Revelation – a reason to Be Happy!
a. So, we have the 4th Blessings of Revelation – or a reason for God’s saints to be happy in the midst of judgment – destruction – blood shed and evil. The faithful ones get invited to the Wedding Supper of the Lamb! Which will be a great feast in Heaven to celebrate the Bride of Christ (The Church) marrying Christ before all of Heaven.
i. So, we have a comparison between a faithful woman and a unfaithful woman and the vision of what will happen to each one in the end of time as we know it.
b. This symbolism of Christ as the bridegroom and the church as the bride is very powerful – let me explain why! To help us understand this analogy we need to understand the 8 steps of a Jewish Marriage.
i. STEP 1 - The Beginning
1. The grooms father usually made and approved the choice of the bride for his son.
a. Today most people in America would be appalled of this system of marriage. But it's true in those days and in some parts of the world today people did not fall in love with each other before the wedding. Marriages were set up and pre-arranged according to a plan.
b. When a young man saw a girl he liked he would consult with his father about the idea of marrying her. Sometimes it was approved but other times it was not and consultations would direct the young man to the right woman.
2. When the bridegroom's father approved the choice of the young man or made his choice for him then the young man would go to the bride's house and speak with the father of the Bride.
a. Upon permission by the father and an agreed upon dowry would be promised or paid then the bride’s father would permit the marriage.
ii. STEP 2 - The groom's promise
1. The groom upon receiving permission would then make a covenant promise which included 4 steps.
a. The groom would first make a covenant or contract promise to marry the bride.
i. Something like " I Michael McCartney son of Robert McCartney promise to marry Kathy Converse daughter of Rudy Converse in sight of God and these witnesses."
ii. I then would then drink a cup of wine with the bride’s father, her and witnesses signifying the sealing before God and all of this marriage.
iii. Then after the drink or toast I would pay Kathy’s dad Rudy Converse father of the bride the agreed upon price.
1. I paid Kathy's dad 1 million dollars for Kathy. I got her for a great price. She's been worth every dime. What do you think!
2. I asked Tiffany about if she wanted me to pick out her husband she Immediately said "NO WAY!!" I kind of like the idea of getting paid to let my daughters get married.) I think a million a piece is a bargain!
a. Vernon we need to talk! I paid a lot of money for your wedding?
iv. The reason the father was entitled to money was that in Jewish custom It was believed that since the bride did not work the fields like a son then the father should be compensated for the expenses he incurred raising her for the groom.
1. The ceremony and price paid by the groom showed how serious he was about marrying her.
b. The groom after paying the price would then make a speech that would say "I go to prepare a place for you."
c. Step 3 - Groom prepares a place for the bride
i. Groom works hard and diligently preparing for his Bride and waiting for his father’s approval and that everything is ready.
ii. During the wait:
1. The contract, cup, and money were the bride’s assurance that the groom was coming back. Upon completion of this the groom would leave for a while to prepare the place. The groom would have to build a chamber or house for his new bride. It took quite an amount of work on the groom’s part to build a first class bridal chamber.
2. If anyone asked the bridegroom, during the building process when he would be getting married he would say, "I don't know, only my father knows." You see the groom could not go back and claim his bride until the chamber or building was approved by his father as ready.
a. The chamber was where the marriage would be consummated see Song of Solomon.
d. Step 4 - The Bride waits
i. She is anticipating the groom’s arrival.
ii. It’s a time of patience and faithfulness:
1. During this time the bride waited with dignity. She would wear her veil whenever she went out, in order that some young man would not try to initiate a contract or relationship with her. Now she was called set apart, consecrated bought with a price. In effect she was no longer her own person, but an individual contracted to her bridegroom.
2. She conducted herself with respect using her time to prepare for married life.
3. She always waited hoping this would be the very night. She did not want to be caught away from home when the bridegroom came. The tradition was that he would come at night unexpectedly like a thief to get his bride.
a. It really was unexpected to a degree. They did not have phones in those days – so they could talk every day!
e. Step 5 - The Bridesmaids
i. Unmarried friends who attended the Bride and also provided light for the groom would come at that night.
1. She would be waiting with friends and sisters and they would have oil in their Lamps in case the groom did choose to come at night.
f. Step 6 - The Bridegroom Comes
i. The groom's men would run ahead and shout that he was coming. As soon as the bride heard the shout she knew she was as good as married.
1. While the father and brothers turn their heads the bride and her friends would be swept off into the night.
2. The whole wedding party went back to the groom's house to meet the guests.
g. Step 7 - The Bridal Chamber
i. The Bride and groom enter the chamber were the marriage is consummated.
1. The wedding party waited outside the chamber - there would be a large crowd of wedding guests- friends of the groom's father awaiting the news. Then the bridegroom would tell a trusted friend through the door that the marriage was consummated. Then the celebration would start.
a. This would last seven days the celebration and the couple would not be seen for seven days.
b. The next time the crowd would see the bride, she would have her veil off and would be a wife, not a bride.
h. Step 8 - Married Life Begins
i. At the end of seven days of celebration the bride and groom would come out now husband and wife.
ii. Then there would be a grand marriage supper, what we call a reception.
1. Everyone would congratulate the couple and there would be wonderful joy.
2. Then the couple would leave to take up residence in the husband's house.
3. They would reside in the kingdom he had prepared.
i. Conclusion: On the two thoughts found in Rev.19:9:
i. Blessed is everyone invited to the celebration - All (THE BRIDES) Christians before the rapture. All the guests are those saved after the rapture.
j. Note – Jesus is coming to gather His bride and His people – this is what is described in the rest of Chapter 19!
i. Time is moving toward a climatic point where there is the final showdown between God’s Forces and Satan’s Forces. Revelation gives us a vision of what that battle will look like. There will be a line drawn in the sand by God and people will have to choose which side of the line they are on.
ii. Jesus will be at the center of this epic battle! He will slay all those with the Sword of the Spirit who oppose God and His Word and ways.
1. The prophet and antichrist (The Beast) will be cast into the lake of fire. Satan will lose this Battle again and this time cast into the Abyss for a 1,000 years only to be released for a short time and then he too will be cast into the Lake of Fire spoken of in Chapter 20.
II. Chapter 20 reveals the 5th Blessing of Revelation which is the blessing or reason to be happy of partaking in the first resurrection.
a. Rev. 20:6 “Blessed and holy are those who have part in the first resurrection. The second death has not power over them, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with him for a thousand years.”
i. The Greek word for resurrection, anastasis, literally means, “To stand again. ’In the pagan world it was associated with cycle of nature and the nature gods, or the survival of a ‘spiritual part’ of a person after death.” Because of Jesus Christ and His standing up again from the dead, resurrection has come to mean the restoration of the whole self by God who gave life and creates it a new in the heavenly kingdom.
1. New Testament accounts of Jesus’ resurrection fall into three categories: the empty tomb, appearances of Jesus before the ascension, and appearances of Jesus after His ascension (Holman).
2. The term first resurrection means coming to life under Christ’s rule. It’s the idea of choosing to die to self and being brought back to life spiritually. It’s like the vision of Ezekiel min which he saw the dry bones brought back to life in Ezekiel 37:1-14.
a. The point here is that Ezekiel sees into the future and makes us aware that God is able to take dead lifeless bones and bring them to life again. God is able to breath life into dead people.
ii. In the New Testament Jesus’ preaching presupposed a doctrine of resurrection. Opposition by the Sadducees, who denied the resurrection, gave Jesus the opportunity to assert His own though on the matter ( Mark 12:18-27; Matt. 22:23-33; Luke 20:27-38; and compare with Deut. 25:5-10)
1. The point Jesus makes is that God is the God of the living not of the dead.
a. John’s Gospel presents Jesus as the mediator of the resurrection who gives life to believers (John 6:53-58). Jesus is proclaimed in John 11:24-26 the resurrection and the life. Jesus highlighted the resurrection of the righteous and pointed to the lost eternal punishment with no resurrection (Matt. 8:11,12; 25:31-34, 41-46; John 5:28-29). In the post resurrection of Jesus he demonstrated a spiritual and physical body (John 20:19,26; 20:20,27:21:13,15) (Holman).
b. The point of this information is to show you that Jesus is the one who gives life. He is the one who resurrects and gives eternal life to dead people.
i. Paul also addressed the importance of the resurrection in I Cor. 15 where he emphasizes it’ importance.
1. The point Paul declares is that if you do not believe in the resurrection of Jesus Christ and the believers, then you have no hope and we are still embellished in the sin nature.
b. We have briefly explored the importance of the resurrection but we need to look at our text in Rev. 20:1-6 and discover its implication to us.
i. Historical Setting of Rev. 20:1-6: This is an end time setting will transpire’s after Satan is seized and placed into the Abyss for 1,000 years by the rider on the White Horse Jesus Christ.
1. The blessings of partaking in the first resurrection and its link to holiness.
2. Let me answer the question “What is a Blessing?”
a. Holman defines for us Blessings and it’s opposite cursing. Blessing and cursing are primary biblical emphasis, as reflected in the 516 uses of words such as bless (1320, blessed (285), blesses (10), blessing (70), and blessings (19); and the 199 occurrences of such words as curse (97), cursed (74), curses (19), and cursing (9).
b. In the New Testament the word “bless” often translates makarios, meaning “Blessed, fortunate, happy.” The special characteristic of New Testament uses of “bless” and related words is close relationship to the religious joy people experience from being certain of salvation and thus of membership in the kingdom of God. “Bless” occurs in the New Testament only ten times, in contrast to 122 Old Testament ocurreneces. The New Testament never uses ‘blesses” and uses “blessing” only 17 times. It is reasonable to conclude that the primary use of the blessing concept in the New testament is that of “blessed” as opposed to the verbal emphasis on ‘Bless”.
ii. The term blessing asserts how wonderful it is to be apart of the first resurrection because of it’s many benefits.
1. Let me answer another question you may have “What is Holiness?”
a. Holiness is God’s character. It‘s uniquely His only! But this is the intended goal of mankind in God’s eyes. Holiness is essential to understand because it applies to God, to worship, and to God’s people.
b. Holiness explains God but in Scripture God also sets persons, places and things aside as holy. They are made holy by His presence.
c. A Christian is made holy by sanctification. This sanctification is done through salvation and God’s presence coming into the forgiven individuals heart.
i. To be holy is a prerequisite to be able to participate in the first resurrection and to receive all its benefits.
d. Holman also informs us that Holiness was God ‘s command for all that came into His presence. This was required of the priests in the Old Testament. The Holiness code is found in Lev. 15. God commands the people to obey this code in all parts of their lives. They were to be holy because he was holy. He also made it clear that sin and disobedience made an individual unholy and they had to be a sacrifice to cleanse the individual so they were acceptable to God.
i. I Cor 1:2; 3:17 calls the Christian to live a holy life. It’s the Holy Spirit that will lead the saints to live holy lives.
ii. John D. Watts notes, “They (Christians) are holy inasmuch as they receive and submit to these saving and sanctifying agents” (Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit).
1. The Scriptures assert and link holiness as the condition to be able to partake of the first resurrection. It’s imperative to see and understand that holiness comes from accepting Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior and then God gives you the gift of holiness like a present. Then the Holy Spirit teaches you and directs you on how to hold onto to this God given gift.
2. Catch the thought, “People are blessed because of holiness and this condition enables you to partake of the first resurrection.”
iii. The benefits of the first resurrection have eternal value.
1. The benefit of the first resurrection is that the second death has no power over the individual.
2. Rev. 20:6, 11-15 teaches us that the second death is the final separation from God. It occurs after one has died literally and then they appear before the Lord. This has to do with spiritual death and no eternal bliss in Heaven.
3. Revelation reveals what happens to a person who is overpowered by the second death.
a. There are images of the Lake of fire Rev. 20:14
b. It’s a lake of burning sulfur Rev. 21:8
c. There are some who stress the literal separation from God and the hopelessness of this condition.
d. There is reference to eternal blackness.
e. The important point to grab a hold of is that for those who are blessed, who are holy they will not partake at all of the second death. Instead they will hear the words from the Lord “Well done though good and faithful servant.”
4. The one benefit of the first resurrection is the individual gets to enjoy all the blessing of living in Heaven with the Lord. We will explore this in chapters 21-22.
iv. The second benefit of the first resurrection is that the people will be priests of God and Jesus Christ.
1. This honor entitles the person to be able to go into the presence of God with petitions and prayers. An honor that the Old Testament speaks about was only done by a faithful few.
2. I Peter compares Christians to living stones, “Built into a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.” (2:5).
3. The emphasis here is that individuals themselves can now come to God like the priests of the Old Testament. They can come and give “Living sacrifices to God.”
4. The big difference here is the ability to come into God’s presence without being a priest.
5. This tells us that we are all made into priests by what Jesus Christ did on the cross.
a. Romans 12:1 highlights for us, “I appeal to you therefore, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.”
i. The Old Testament showed that the priests of the Old Covenant offered animal sacrifices upon the altar.
ii. But now the New Testament tells us that we are all to offer up living sacrifices to God directly. This was made possible by the Sacrifice Jesus made on the cross for all of us. His life for our lives.
iii. In this passage we are instructed to offer up our bodies as a living sacrifice to God. This is to be a day-by-day commitment.
iv. Once again revealing the privileges we have in Christ.
b. Other Biblical examples of the Priestly Functions of a priest.
i. We are urged to pray for one another. This is the priestly function of intercessory prayer to God.
c. We are urged to confess our sins to one another and to bear one another’s burdens. The role of the ancient priest was to receive confessions from the people and then convey them to God on behalf of the individual so they could receive forgiveness.
i. Today we all have the ability and privilege to help others out by praying for them.
ii. How well do you do at this?
d. We also can bring others to Christ – To God. We do this by telling the Good News and encouraging people to give their hearts to Christ. The ancient role of the priest was to be the gap between God and the people (Information from Wayne Ward).
e. The other benefit is that we will reign with Him for a thousand years.
i. The thousand years is called the millennium a term not found in the Scriptures but taken from the Latin to express the thousand years mentioned six times in scripture.
ii. The Millennium is a thousand years of peace where Christ reigns on the earth and sets up His kingdom. Satan is bound for this 1,000 years.
iii. The meaning of the thousand years and the relation of Christ’s future coming to them have given rise to various millennial views.
iv. Evangelical Christians hold three main views:
1. Amillennialism
2. Dispensationalism
3. Premilllennialism
f. The other benefit is that we receive new resurrected bodies.
i. These bodies will be different from our present bodies (I Cor. 15:53,54; Phil. 3:21).
ii. Somehow it will look like the same body but it will be different. It will not be physical but spiritual.
iii. The nature of the resurrected body.
1. It will be spiritual (I Cor. 15:44)
a. It will be a body adapted to the use of the soul in it’s glorified state, and to all the conditions of the Heavenly realm.
2. It will be glorious incorruptible and powerful.
3. Like the glorified body of Christ (Phil. 3:21).
4. Immortal Rev. 21:4
c. Review: The Blessing’s of the first resurrection:
i. No part of the second death.
ii. We will be priests of God and Christ.
iii. We will reign with Christ and be leaders
iv. We will receive resurrected bodies.
v. We will be holy.
vi. We will be blessed beyond measure.
Conclusion:
We conclude chapter 20 with the Great White Throne Judgement.
11Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. Earth and sky fled from his presence, and there was no place for them.
12And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books.
13The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and each person was judged according to what he had done.
What do we need to know from these two Chapter of Revelation?
Answer: We need to remember the blessings of Revelation as we go through the trials and tribulations of Life and the battle between Good and Evil. We also need to know we are as the Church the Bride of Christ and this great celebration is Coming soon, we need to know that because we partook of the 1st Resurrection the second death has no power over us – in other words those who are faithful to the Lord until the end do not need to fear The Great White Throne Judgment!
Why do we need to know this?
Answer: Because knowing these truths will encourage us and enable us to be happy in the trial and tribulations of life. Because believing these blessings will fuel our fire to share the truth of Jesus with others in spite of their acceptance or rejection of the Truth.
What do they need to do?
Answer: We need to tell people that God and Jesus will judge their lives on what they did or did not do for the Kingdom of Heaven. There is a day when each of us will stand before God and give an account of our life and our choices. The Bible is clear there is a judgment day coming in spite of some of the teachings out there of no Judgment!
Why do we need to do this truth?
Answer: We have a responsibility as the Bride of Christ to spend time with Jesus – we have a responsibility to share why we are connected to Him and How He wants to connect with others too. We need to proclaim his Truths – His Word even if people reject it and persecute us for sharing it. When we allow His heart to be implanted in our souls we will not be afraid to proclaim the truth of God in a society filled with lies and deception.
