The Two Suppers

The Two Suppers

Introduction:

A small child, sitting in church asked his father, “Dad, what is a Christian?”

The father replied, “A Christian is a person who loves and obeys God. He loves his friends and neighbors, and even his enemies. He prays often, is kind, gentle, and holy, and is more interested in going to heaven than in all earthly riches. That, son, is a Christian!”

The boy looked puzzled and thought for a minute, then asked, “Have I ever seen one?”

When people see you do they see a Christian? We live in a culture that is constantly defining sin downward. What was once detestable is now acceptable. What was once wrong is now right. The devil is very clever. He knows that men want to be good and it is our nature to want to be perceived as good. So he deceives people into believing that what is evil, is actually good. Isaiah said 'woe unto them who call good evil and evil good, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter, who put darkness for light and light for darkness.'

Preachers must preach the word to convict and reprove people of their sins. The problem is that no one wants to come to church to feel criticized, and pastors don't want to risk losing members so they figure its best not to talk about sin altogether. But if the church does not define what sin is through the Bible then rest assured the devil will define what it is through the world. We are seeing it every day! And there will be consequences church! There will be consequences for your obeying Christ or disobeying him!

Some of you might remember when I came and preached a message about the two judgments. There is the Bema seat judgment and there is the great white throne judgment, one is for believers and the other is for the damned! (By the way if you have any questions about what will happen in the last days, the rapture, the millennium, the tribulation. the mark of the beast, what's the difference between the rapture and the second coming of Christ, the new Jerusalem, prophecy etc. just ask me after church) This morning I bring a similar message of the two Suppers. Its similar in that it shows there are two types of people, two walks of life, and ultimately two destinies.

If you are any type of student of prophecy or of the Bible, You can not escape the obvious signs that we are living in the final days before the rapture of the church. As the end is drawing near and our life on earth is almost over. I want to take the opportunity this morning to explain something that you may have not known before about what will happen after the rapture. (I'll have to come back some other time to give you more details.) But In the new testament there are four suppers mentioned. First, There is The Marriage Supper parable which is used as a metaphor for Heaven where Jesus explains that there will be many people who will give excuses for resisting the invitation to be saved and because of that there is so much room in heaven that Jesus calls us to go anywhere and everywhere to find anyone to come and fill it up. Second, is the Last supper where Jesus explains his death and resurrection to his disciples and calls for all of us to always remember the sacrifice through the blood and the body for our sins. But it is upon the last two Suppers mentioned in Revelation. These two suppers are different than the other two suppers because the two in revelation are coming in the future.

Transition: They are conveniently found in the same chapter in the same book in Revelation 19. Let's look at the first; The Marriage Supper of the Lamb in Revelation 19:7-10

The Marriage Supper of the Lamb

"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; it was granted her to clothe herself with fine linen, bright and pure”— for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints. And the angel said to me, “Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.” And he said to me, "These are the true words of God.” 10 Then I fell down at his feet to worship him, but he said to me, “You must not do that! I am a fellow servant with you and your brothers who hold to the testimony of Jesus. Worship God.” For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy." Rev. 19:7-10

First it is important to understand the Jewish customs of the day to understand why these things were described the way they were. Weddings to the Jews usually happend in three stages: First, a marriage contract was signed by the parents of the bride and bridegroom - This began the betrothal period - what we would today call the engagement.