Good morning. Please open your Bibles to revelation 17.
In our culture, Armageddon is shorthand for any cataclysmic, catastrophic, apocalyptic event. In 1998, it was the title of a Bruce Willis movie about a meteor heading toward earth.
In July 2011, the city of Los Angeles announced that a ten mile stretch of Interstate 405— one of the most heavily congested highways in the country, would be shut down over the weekend to make repairs on the Mulholland Bridge. Journalists quickly termed it “Carmageddon.”
In 2014 (I actually lived through this one), Nashville, Tennessee was forecast to get 2-4 inches of snow. Instead, we got 8-13 inches of snow, and it fell so quickly that every interstate became a parking lot. What was normally a 20 minute drive from the LifeWay building downtown to my house took four hours. That day will live forever as Snowmageddon.
Then there’s the game that is played every year in the United States between Thanksgiving and Christmas Day. The game is to see how long you can go without hearing the MOST ANNOYING CHRISTMAS SONG EVER: “Last Christmas, by Wham.”
That’s right: Whamageddon 2025 begins this Thursday. May the odds be ever in your favor.
So with all these pop-culture “-mageddons,” you’d expect that when we finally get to the real Armageddon in Revelation, we’re about to read the story of the ultimate end-times showdown—the universe-shaking clash between good and evil.
The biggest surprise for a lot of Bible readers is that the final chapters of Revelation don’t describe an apocalyptic battle. The word Armageddon only appears once— in Revelation 16:14-16
Revelation 16:14–16 ESV
14 For they are demonic spirits, performing signs, who go abroad to the kings of the whole world, to assemble them for battle on the great day of God the Almighty. … 16 And they assembled them at the place that in Hebrew is called Armageddon.
They gather against God, but they never ever get a shot off. Fast forward to Revelation 19:13-15 (It’s on the bulletin cover)
Revelation 19:13–15 ESV
13 He is clothed in a robe dipped in blood, and the name by which he is called is The Word of God. 14 And the armies of heaven, arrayed in fine linen, white and pure, were following him on white horses. 15 From his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron. He will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty.
… and there they are gathered, but Jesus shows up, and His name is king of kings and Lord of Lords, and he’s got a sharp sword in His mouth, which is the Word of God, and then and angel announces to all the buzzards and vultures, “dinnertime…” and that’s all she wrote.
Armageddon? Armageddaboutit.
Revelation does not show us an epic battle. It shows us a victorious Savior whose word alone ends the battle before it begins.
And that brings us right back to the heartbeat of this entire series: It’s not going to be a split decision. It’s not going to be a TKO.
The outcome isn’t in question. God wins.
The victory isn’t pending. God wins.
It isn’t up for grabs. God wins.
And when God wins, believers don’t have to live in fear of the end times.
So with that in mind, let’s stand as we read God’s Word together. This is Revelation 19:1-4
Revelation 19:1–4 ESV
1 After this I heard what seemed to be the loud voice of a great multitude in heaven, crying out, “Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power belong to our God, 2 for his judgments are true and just; for he has judged the great prostitute who corrupted the earth with her immorality, and has avenged on her the blood of his servants.” 3 Once more they cried out, “Hallelujah! The smoke from her goes up forever and ever.” 4 And the twenty-four elders and the four living creatures fell down and worshiped God who was seated on the throne, saying, “Amen. Hallelujah!”
This is the word of the Lord. Thanks be to God. Let’s Pray.
What you are going to see in our outline this morning is four sets of twos: Two Women, Two Songs, Two Feasts, and Two Riders.
Anytime you see two of something, that means there is going to be a choice between one of them or the other. This morning, I’m going to ask you two make a choice.
• Which woman is going to represent you?
• Which song is going to be in your mouth?
• Which feast will you partake in?
• Which Rider will you follow?
[Pray]
1. Two Women: Babylon Falls, The Bride Rises (Revelation 17-19:10
In Revelation 17-19, John shows us a vision of two women. And as any country music singer will tell you, two women is one woman two many. So which one do you identify with?
First, there’s The Woman on the Beast, AKA Babylon the Great (Revelation 17–18)
John sees a woman who has dressed herself in purple and scarlet, glittering with gold and jewels. She is every inch the image of human seduction — power, luxury, pleasure, pride.
She is riding on a scarlet beast covered in blasphemous names. This is another image of the false Christ or the Antichrist we talked about last week.
This is a great reminder of the way Satan works. He doesn’t show us evil as ugly or horrifying. He wraps it up in beauty and seductiveness. Think about it. Would anyone be tempted to follow the beast if it looked like a monster? No. Instead, it will look like a beautiful woman. It will look like political power. It will look like the answer to all your problems.
Revelation calls her Babylon the Great. John’s readers would have identified her with Rome, but really Babylon is a stand-in for any empire that promises to give us everything we need, without the need for God: power. economic security. Sexual gratification. The illusion that you can have everything you need or want without depending on God for it.
Babylon is what humanity builds when it tries to have the kingdom without the King.
And at first glance, she looks unstoppable. Kings court her. Nations drink from her cup. Merchants depend on her wealth.
But in chapter 18, the façade collapses in a single sentence:
“Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great!” (18:2)
What took centuries to build, God brings down in an instant.
B. The Bride of the Lamb — Revelation 19:1–10
Imagine if this were a movie. You’d have the camera doing a slow pan across the ruins of a city— then the camera would pan up, and the smoke and flames and dust and rubble would begin to give way to clear sky and brilliant sunshine and clouds. And we would go from battlefield to banquet.
If chapter 18 is a funeral, chapter 19 is a wedding. It is a description of when the Bridegroom (Jesus) is united with His bride, the church.
Look at verses Revelation 19:7-8
Revelation 19:7–8 ESV
7 Let us rejoice and exult and give him the glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his Bride has made herself ready; 8 it was granted her to clothe herself with fine linen, bright and pure”— for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints.
Revelation describes the people of God making themselves ready to meet Jesus. The image is of a bride who has “made herself ready” She spent weeks shopping for the dress. She had someone do her hair, her nails.
She’s clothed in linen, bright and pure. In our culture, wearing a white dress on your wedding day signifies that the bride is a virgin “for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints” (19:8).
Now, if we aren’t careful, we can read this as the things we do to be righteous. Yes, Revelation says the bride “made herself ready,” and that her linen is “the righteous deeds of the saints.”
But don’t misunderstand: the very next sentence says those garments were granted to her. It’s a passive verb.
The Bride doesn’t make herself pure. She simply puts on the purity God pronounces.
The righteousness that clothes the Bride is not self-reightousness; it is imputed righteousness.
She isn’t stitching her own wedding dress—she’s wearing the one Christ purchased for her. And her radiance is something God weaves into her life by His grace.
The Groom provides the purity.
The Groom pronounces the righteousness.
The Groom prepares the deeds.
The Groom gives the desire to do them.
Now compare that to Babylon.
Babylon’s not wearing white. She isn’t the pure and spotless bride.
She dresses herself in purple and scarlet.
She decorates herself with gold and jewels.
She creates an image of beauty she can’t sustain.
Her glory is purchased, performed, projected — but not real.
Babylon’s beauty is the beauty of self-effort:
Look at me. Approve of me. Desire me. Fear me.
And isn’t that exactly how we so often live?
We try to make ourselves worthy.
We try to make ourselves lovable.
We try to make ourselves impressive.
We try to make ourselves holy by polishing the outside while hiding the inside.
Where Babylon tries to impress, the Bride simply reflects.
Where Babylon is alluring, the Bride is pure.
Where Babylon builds her identity, the Bride receives hers from Christ.
This is one of the most liberating truths in all of Revelation:
You don’t have to make yourself beautiful in God’s eyes.
He makes you beautiful in His eyes.
Not through cosmetics but through character.
Not through performance but through purification.
Not through achievement but through atonement.
The Bride shines because Christ has washed her,
claimed her, covered her,
and called her His own.
And here is the practical question Revelation presses on us:
Are you spending more energy building the image of Babylon—
or allowing Jesus to build the beauty of the Bride in you?
Are you chasing approval… or receiving grace?
Are you projecting spiritual strength… or admitting spiritual need?
Are you stitching together your own identity… or putting on Christ?
Are you Babylon, or the Bride?
One is destroyed, one is delivered.
We took our time on that first one because it’s the most personal. God the Father has invited you to be part of the wedding feast—and whether you accept that invitation changes everything else. It changes the song you will sing. It determines your destiny—destruction or deliverance.
So with that, let’s look at the next contrast:
Two Songs
The first is the song of the kings of the earth. It’s a dirge, a lament, a funeral procession in minor key.
An angel sings the first stanza: Revelation 18:2
Revelation 18:2 ESV
2 And he called out with a mighty voice, “Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great! She has become a dwelling place for demons, a haunt for every unclean spirit, a haunt for every unclean bird, a haunt for every unclean and detestable beast.
Another angel sings the second stanza— and notice that even in the funeral dirge, there’s a word of redemption for God’s people: Revelation 18:4
4 Then I heard another voice from heaven saying, “Come out of her, my people, lest you take part in her sins, lest you share in her plagues;
Finally, the people of the earth join in on the third stanza:
Revelation 18:10 ESV
10 They will stand far off, in fear of her torment, and say, “Alas! Alas! You great city, you mighty city, Babylon! For in a single hour your judgment has come.”
Revelation 18:17 ESV
17 For in a single hour all this wealth has been laid waste.” And all shipmasters and seafaring men, sailors and all whose trade is on the sea, stood far off
When Babylon falls, the kings lament, the merchants weep, the shipmasters mourn.
Not because they loved Babylon—
but because they lost Babylon.
When idols die, the worshipers always grieve—not out of affection, but because their source of pleasure, wealth, identity, or security is gone.
Babylon teaches us a sobering truth:
Anything you trust more than God will one day break your heart.
So let me bring this home:
• When your favorite Bible teacher or worship leader experiences moral failure, is your faith shattered?
• When your preferred politician is brought down by scandal, does your world collapse with him?
• When the celebrity or athlete you obsess over reveals they’re just as human as you are, does something inside you crumble?
Revelation says: Don’t be surprised. Tt’s inevitable.
Babylon always falls.
But that’s only one song.
Because in the very next breath, Revelation lifts us into heaven and lets us hear a different anthem entirely—the wedding song of Heaven! A song no empire can silence:
Revelation 19:1–2 ESV
1 After this I heard what seemed to be the loud voice of a great multitude in heaven, crying out, “Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power belong to our God, 2 for his judgments are true and just; for he has judged the great prostitute who corrupted the earth with her immorality, and has avenged on her the blood of his servants.”
Did you know this is the only time in the NT the word Hallelujah is used? It’s a Hebrew word: Hallel— praise, and Yah, short for Yahweh.
While earth weeps over Babylon, heaven praises God.
While idols collapse, the redeemed celebrate the God who never does.
While the world sings, “Alas!”
Heaven sings, “Hallelujah!”
And here’s the piercing question Revelation presses into our souls:
Which song will you sing when the idols of this world fall?
Will you mourn what you’ve lost—or rejoice in the God you’ve gained?
Two Feasts — The Table of Joy or the Table of Judgment (Revelation 19:6–10, 17–21)
1. The Marriage Supper of the Lamb — A Feast of Joy
Revelation 19:9 says:
“Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.”
This is the feast for the redeemed —
the table where grace becomes sight,
where the Bride meets her Bridegroom,
and where celebration never ends.
And if you think about it…
this is not the first time Jesus offered a feast.
In John 6, Jesus said:
“Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood,
you have no life in you.”
At the Lord’s Table,
Jesus makes Himself the main course —
the One who is broken for us,
the One whose blood is poured out for our forgiveness.
At communion, the Lamb gives His body to save His people.
2. The Great Supper of God — A Feast of Judgment
But in Revelation 19:17, another feast is announced:
“Come, gather for the great supper of God…”
Only this time, people aren’t gathered to the table —
they are on the table. Look at the next verse:
18 to eat the flesh of kings, the flesh of captains, the flesh of mighty men, the flesh of horses and their riders, and the flesh of all men, both free and slave, both small and great.”
The birds are summoned not for celebration,
but for judgment.
It is the tragic reversal of John 6:
Those who refuse to receive the body and blood of Christ become the bodies consumed in judgment.
If you will not take Christ as your feast, you will be the feast.
At the first table — Jesus is broken for you. Poured out for you. Consumed for you.
At the second table —
you are consumed because you rejected Him.
Here is the sobering truth Revelation presses on every heart:
You will attend one feast.
The table of mercy… or the table of wrath.
You will feed on Christ… or be food for judgment.
You will rejoice with the Bride… or fall with Babylon.
And the invitation is open today.
Two Riders — The Antichrist or Christ? (Revelation 19:11–21)
We’ve seen two women — Babylon and the Bride.
We’ve heard two songs — the Dirge and the Doxology.
We’ve looked at two feasts — communion with Christ or consumption in judgment.
Now Revelation brings us to two riders —
and this is the moment everything has been moving toward.
1. The First Rider: The Great Imitator
In Revelation 6, the very first seal revealed a rider on a white horse.
He looked impressive.
He wore a crown.
He carried a bow.
He rode out “conquering, and to conquer.”
To earthbound eyes, he looks like a savior.
But he’s a counterfeit — an imitation Christ,
a substitute savior who conquers without redeeming
and promises peace without repentance.
He represents every false hope humanity has ever chased:
• political saviors
• military powers
• charismatic leaders
• spiritual impostors
• the seductive lie that we can fix ourselves without God
He conquers, but he cannot save.
He imitates, but he cannot redeem.
He rides a white horse, but he is not the Word made flesh.
This is who the world follows.
This is the rider we choose when we put our hope in anyone or anything other than Jesus.
2. The Second Rider: The Faithful and True
But then the heavens open — and the real Rider appears.
Revelation 19:11:
“Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse!
The one sitting on it is called Faithful and True.”
Everything the first rider pretends to be, this Rider truly is.
• His robe is dipped in blood — not the blood of His enemies,
but the blood He shed at the cross.
• His name is The Word of God — the same eternal Word of John 1.
• His weapon is His mouth — the sword is His Word, not a blade.
• His armies follow, but they never swing a sword — because they don’t need to.
There is no battle. There is no duel. There is no struggle between equals.
Evil assembles.
Jesus appears.
Game over.
The beast and false prophet are captured — not conquered after a struggle, but seized instantly by the supremacy of Christ’s word.
When Jesus shows up, evil doesn’t fight — it folds.
The armies don’t resist — they collapse.
The enemy doesn’t negotiate — he is neutralized.
Here’s the stunning truth about Armageddon:
There is no Armageddon. Not the way the world imagines it.
Not the way Hollywood sells it.
There is no long war. No dramatic swordplay.
No cosmic tug-of-war.
There is only the appearing of the King of kings
and the Lord of lords
and the immediate triumph of His word.
The most important question Revelation asks you is this:
Which rider are you following?
The Antichrist who looks powerful…
or the Christ who is powerful?
The Antichrist who promises everything…
or the Christ who purchased everything with His blood?
The Antichrist who conquers by deception…
or the Christ who conquers by truth?
The counterfeit Imitator… or the conquering Faithful and True?
Because the end of the story is certain:
Only one rider wins.
Only one word stands.
Only one King reigns.
And when Jesus wins — His people win with Him.
So here we are at the end of the message.
Two women — Babylon or the Bride.
Two songs — the dirge or the doxology.
Two feasts — communion or consumption.
Two riders — the imitator or the incarnate King.
But at the end of Revelation, the contrasts collapse into one simple truth:
When Jesus wins, His people win with Him.
And when Jesus judges, those who rejected Him fall with Babylon.
And the question Revelation presses on every heart in this room is this:
Which side of that victory are you on?
Not, “Did you grow up in church?”
Not, “Do you believe in God?”
Not, “Do you think you’re a good person?”
But this:
Are you sealed by the Lamb?
Have you trusted Jesus to save you from your sins?
Have you come to the Bridegroom as part of His bride?
Because there will come a day — Revelation says it plainly —
when the door of mercy closes,
when the window of repentance shuts,
when the sky splits open…
and there will be no more time to choose.
Today you can come to the marriage supper of the Lamb.
Today you can receive the righteousness He gives.
Today you can walk out of Babylon and belong to Christ.
But tomorrow is not promised.
So as we sing, come.
Come to the altar.
Come to the Lamb.
Come to the King who has already won.
Come — while the invitation still stands.
