Revelation Chapter 19 Verse 1

• “After these things.”  What things?  The church has been ultimately and finally rescued.  The plagues of God’s passion, the consequence of sin upon earth, complete.  The signs and wonders all spent.  The earth reaped and the essence of evil condemned.  The Great Tribulation concluded and the sound of millions is heard by John, “Praise JA!” 
• Now notice a series of threes as God is introduced by the chorus of heaven.  The first series of three is found here in verse 1, “glory, honor and power.”  And why three?  Why would I even point that out?  Because of course the Bible testifies of the Godhead, three in One!  The Trinity.  God the Father, glory!  God the Son, honor!  And God the Holy Spirit, power!
• And this series of adjectives are really cool in the Greek.  The word for glory, we’ve seen it several times in our past studies, “doxa,” meaning the very nature of magnificence.  The word for honor, “time,” meaning the value or price paid.  And the word for power, “dynamis,” used several times in the Bible to describe the Holy Spirit and is where we derive our word for dynamite!  So cool.  And another three has begun, “alleluia!”  Praise Him!

Revelation Chapter 19 Verse 2

• The world at this point stands afar off screaming, complaining, throwing dust on their heads, weeping and wailing in fear while heaven sings sweetly, “You are true and righteous!”
• Notice, the difficulty, the tribulation upon the temporal and who sings in heaven?  The Christians man.  Now I ask myself, if there is no questioning of God’s righteousness in heaven then why is there in my heart?  From the vantage point of heaven, that which seems so hard and unfair and terrible and unnecessary on earth, is in fact brilliant, perfect and righteous…in heaven…where God is fully trusted man…
• The answer, one I don’t like too much…I’m not faithful.  I’m wrong.  I am not correct and therefore I need help.  I need to change.  Where does my help come from then…a pill, a day off, Dr. Phil…no way, why not try the correct vantage point?!  The perspective perfecter…the Word of God man...
• God’s Word, approached with humility, is powerful.  God’s word, approached with pride…is pitiful.  He has given to us the Words of life, just like Peter confessed face to face with Jesus and yet we complain and complain and complain and complain, why?  Because we a) don’t devour His Word; we b) don’t know His Word; and we c) don’t believe His Word.  Romans 10:17 at work man…
• I know that when I am complaining, dissatisfied, unhappy, and feeling a bit scrappy…it’s because I’ve slipped into a lapse of faithlessness…some have slipped into a lifestyle of it…and as I scrape my fingernails across the chalkboard in my own heart, the host of heaven, which I claim to be part of, rejoices in peace and power…and I repent…of the fornication with the Great Harlot…I’ve been cheating on God…

Revelation Chapter 19 Verse 3

• Second “alleluia.”

Revelation Chapter 19 Verse 4

• A voice from the throne?  Who could this be?  Jesus man, doing what He always has done…glorifing His Father!  What a wonderful example!  Even when it’s time for His long awaited entrance, His long awaited marriage to His bride, His heart and not only that, His action is to what?  Glorify the Father!

Revelation Chapter 19 Verse 6

• Third “alleluia.”  The praise of God…God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit…complete.  Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia.  And notice with the praise complete, so is the picture.  The revelation delivered.  Glory, honor, power…alleluia, alleluia, alleluia…Three in One, the pattern unlocked, the secret shown…we see it don’t we…why?  Because Jesus was obeyed.
• Don’t miss this!  Notice, who gave the command for the third alleluia?  To complete the picture?  It was Jesus and then what do we see?  The heavenly host obeys Him!  Man if we would just hear His Word and be not only hearers but also doers…then the truth of it all will just be delivered right to your doorstep man like the morning paper.  You will understand.  You will surge with strength.  You will break free from the rut…you’ll come alive…if you just complete the alleluias!  Hear the Word…do the Word!

Revelation Chapter 19 Verses 7 – 9

• This is the marriage supper of the Lamb.  The first of two parties, two meals we will see in this chapter.  The first here, the second in verses 17 – 18 which is the supper of the great God.  That’s not a picnic you want to attend because the birds eat the flesh of the armies gathered to battle against God. 
• Here’s the thing though.  Everyone has a reservation at one of the meals.  Whether it’s the marriage supper of the Lamb or the supper of the great God…

Revelation Chapter 19 Verse 10

• John is overcome at what he sees.  He is filled with hope after watching all of the horror of sin unfold…he now sees the wondrous heavenly scene of eternal redemption…and he falls to his face.  Understandable.  You ever been there?  Sin just sucking you dry, stealing so much from you and then you hear the voice of God…you consider His Word and you turn to Him and He just saves you man…just plucks you right out of the mess (internally, not always externally)?  And the train wreck passes you by…that’s my life man…
• Heading to a horrid wreck…but God in His grace called me to Himself…and now I look at what could have been and I’m on my face man…this is understandable by John but notice the angel says, “get up man…worship only God…all I’m doing is showing Him to you.”  And oh by the way, who does he peg here as God?  Jesus!
• And that last statement, so profound.  Oh if we could only get this one last statement right…the testimony of Jesus…His Word, His work, His revelation in your life…is the very spirit of prophecy…in other words, Jesus is the very atmosphere of truth man…power man…purpose man…reality man!  He is what’s going on.  He is what was.  He is what’s coming…worship HIM!

Revelation Chapter 19 Verse 11

• Who is this?  Indeed this is Jesus and notice He rides a white horse...we’ve seen a white horse before haven’t we?  All the way back in Revelation Chapter 6 verse 2 and the rider of that horse was who?  The Anti-Christ!  The descriptions of the riders are very different yet one characteristic is common.  They both make war.  Notice the Anti-Christ goes out to conquer…conquer who, what…you and yours man…but Jesus goes forth in righteousness to make war! 
• Now we don’t have time to fully develop this comparison but that single point alone has profound application in our everyday lives man…are you looking to conquer, get what you want, have it your way…be served or are you looking to make war against all unrighteousness?   Certainly will reveal whom you are serving…which rider…

Revelation Chapter 19 Verse 12

• I like what Courson says about the “many crowns.”  Could they be the crowns given to Jesus by all of the different groups and denominations that crown Jesus king?  Some preach in ties, others in sandals…some rock the organ while others the drums…yet when Jesus returns, we’re all arrayed the same…we’ll see that in a minute…

Revelation Chapter 19 Verses 13 – 16

• The Word of God Himself…in the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God…He is the beginning and the end, the Alpha and the Omega and He’s tatted up…King of Kings and Lord of Lords…He’s pierced…one in each hand, one in His feet, one in His side…and He’s riding deep man because He is so good!

Revelation Chapter 19 Verses 17 – 18

• Armies are gathered against Him…riding out to meet Him and He doesn’t even waste His time or ours…He calls out to nature and says, “handle My light work.”

Revelation Chapter 19 Verses 19 – 20

• Wait…where’s the fight?  Verse 19, they’re gathered…verse 20 it’s over…and nothing even started…why?  Because there’s no fight man…As soon as Jesus is on the scene, it’s over for evil…same for us today.  Just give it all to Him…go all in and for real follow after Him hard and there won’t be a fight…evil will be crushed under His feet and yours…
• And notice immediately the Beast and the False Prophet are cast right then and there into Gehenna, the Lake of Fire…

Revelation Chapter 19 Verse 21

• And with one swoop of the sharp sword, all others that had gathered against God are doomed and the vulchers get ‘em.  And so ends the reign of Satan and evil upon the earth.  That’s it.  Jesus has returned.
• Now as I look back at our studies it’s almost alarming that we spent 13 Chapters discussing the Great Tribulation.  From chapter 6 through chapter 18…plagues, pests, problems…suffering scorching and sorrow…heartache, earthquake and death…and finally when we come to the culmination, the glorious Second Coming of Jesus Christ, we only get one short chapter…why?  Why not spend one short chapter on the Tribulation and 13 chapters on the return of the King of Kings…?
• I believe John is pastoring.  Simple as that.  He’s writing of the New World Order, the global economic system, the mark of the Beast, the Anti-Christ, etc…but he’s also writing this to seven literal churches at the time…described for us in Chapters 2 and 3…and these churches are filled with folks that don’t know how to handle tribulation…problems, issues, hardships, inconveniences even…
• Just like us…Folks that are filled with the knowledge of God, His Word, His truth and then tribulation hits and their spiritual GPS fails…They, us…Christians don’t know how to navigate tribulation well…and so if you look at chapters 6 – 19 holistically, what you see is that knowledge puffs up, but love guides…the marriage supper of the Lamb, that intimacy of being married to Jesus, not just a follower, not just a fan, married man…committed and faithful…is the key to the battle…
• The answer is not optimism or manipulation or even for them to change precisely how you’d have them to be…the answer is for you to grow up…get real about being committed and faithful to the One who is Faithful and True and then the Lord will come again…and there will be no more battle whatsoever…He prepares a meal for us in the presence of our enemies and the Word testifies that surely goodness and mercy will follow you all of the days of our lives and we’ll dwell in the house of the Lord forever…
• The key is not knowledge.  It’s not passion.  It’s not time (“well I’ve walked with Jesus for 30 years).  It’s not even tribulation.  It’s marriage…to the One who has bought us with His blood!