Done Day 11 Reconciled Redemption
May 26, 2023
Alive,Faith,Glory,Joy,Welcome,Worship
Discover the original intent of Scripture. Make good application to our everyday lives.
Become equipped to correctly handle the Word of Truth!
Revelation 19:1-9
After this I heard something like the loud voice of a vast multitude in heaven, saying,
Hallelujah!
Salvation, glory, and power belong to our God,
2 because his judgments are true and righteous,
because he has judged the notorious prostitute
who corrupted the earth with her sexual immorality;
and he has avenged the blood of his servants
that was on her hands.
3 A second time they said, Hallelujah! Her smoke ascends forever and ever! 4 Then the twenty-four elders and the four living creatures fell down and worshiped God, who is seated on the throne, saying, Amen! Hallelujah!
5 A voice came from the throne, saying, Praise our God, all his servants, and the ones who fear him, both small and great!
6 Then I heard something like the voice of a vast multitude, like the sound of cascading waters, and like the rumbling of loud thunder, saying, Hallelujah, because our Lord God, the Almighty, reigns!
7 Let us be glad, rejoice, and give him glory, because the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his bride has prepared herself. 8 She was given fine linen to wear, bright and pure. For the fine linen represents the righteous acts of the saints.
9 Then he said to me, “Write: Blessed are those invited to the marriage feast of the Lamb!” He also said to me, “These words of God are true.”
3 A second time they said, Hallelujah! Her smoke ascends forever and ever! 4 Then the twenty-four elders and the four living creatures fell down and worshiped God, who is seated on the throne, saying, Amen! Hallelujah!
5 A voice came from the throne, saying, Praise our God, all his servants, and the ones who fear him, both small and great!
6 Then I heard something like the voice of a vast multitude, like the sound of cascading waters, and like the rumbling of loud thunder, saying, Hallelujah, because our Lord God, the Almighty, reigns!
7 Let us be glad, rejoice, and give him glory, because the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his bride has prepared herself. 8 She was given fine linen to wear, bright and pure. For the fine linen represents the righteous acts of the saints.
9 Then he said to me, “Write: Blessed are those invited to the marriage feast of the Lamb!” He also said to me, “These words of God are true.”
The Original Intent
1) What does this passage tell us about the end of time? (verses 1-9)
At the end of time, God will destroy sin and the source of sin. In verse 2, God judges the “notorious prostitute” referencing the actual city of Babylon. More deeply, however, the Lord God is judging the symbol of what Babylon stands for within the broader scope of Scripture. Babylon represents the highest symbol for immorality and the chief seat of idolatry. (Got Questions)
The word used for prostitute in the Greek is porne, signifying “a prostitute, a harlot, one who yields herself to defilement for the sake of gain.” (Studylight.org) In conveying judgment over Babylon, God proclaims judgment over all idolatry, meaning all things that counter the right rule and reign of the Lord God.
All manner of worship of anything or anyone that does not worship the One True God will be eliminated until all that remains is a harmonious and cooperative worship of His goodness and power and salvation in spirit and truth. (John 4:23-24)
Following this true and righteous judgment, there will be a wedding feast to celebrate the final victory of the consummation between the Bride (the Church made up of genuine believers in Jesus) and Christ. (Revelation 21:12-17)
The Everyday Application
1) What does this passage tell us about the end of time? (verses 1-9)
From God’s preserved words in Revelation 21:4, we know important details about the end of linear time on earth when all tears will be wiped away. Sin, and the source of sin, will be eliminated once and for all. We can’t fathom what this will be like while we live so entangled by the fleshly desires of sin that battle to overtake us. (Hebrews 12:1, Galatians 5:17)
To ask a fish to imagine a non-aqueous life would be beyond comprehension; we are that fish living in a world of sin. To ask us to imagine a life free from sin, both ours and the sin around us, in others and the world, is unfathomable.
Regardless of our ability to comprehend the magnitude of this existence, we surely will experience freedom we have never imagined. There will be joy, abounding love, pervasive peace, and a complete absence of all things rooted in the broken emptiness of sin. No longer will we harbor fear, act selfishly, or endure the hardship that comes from oppression or addiction. We will, at last, be unhindered.
True to His faithful Word and character, Jesus will complete everything He has promised. The “end of the age” is earmarked for complete restoration and full redemption. Those of us who have chosen to accept God’s invitation to join Him in sweet relationship will be fully with Him face to face while also enjoying the perfect, unified joy of relationship with one another as believers in Jesus. No sin will encumber us; death and suffering will simply cease to exist, forever swallowed up by life! (2 Corinthians 5:4)
This knowledge of what is to come and will last forever is what made Paul unable to say whether it is better to live or die. (Philippians 1:21-24) This confident knowing allowed Paul and James to encourage us to persevere in suffering because we recognize troubles are truly light and momentary when held against the backdrop of the beautiful, promising reality of eternity with Jesus. (James 1:2-4; 2 Corinthians 4:17-18)
The Original Intent
2) What is the appropriate response to God’s just actions? (verses 1-9)
This passage is filled with images of complete, unadulterated worship in spirit and truth. Nothing detracts the worshippers from the object of their delighted adoration, The Lord God.
The people worship with their whole bodies, falling down as their mouths can’t help but proclaim, “Hallelujah!” as they join together with angels, elders, four living creatures, and the whole Body of Christ. Together, with one united voice that sounds like rushing waters with a thunderous roar, they worship the Only One Worthy of Worship. (verse 6)
Every praise, and cry of faith when we cannot see, we have given to the Lord God in our time on earth points forward to this eternal refrain of victorious “Hallelujah!”.
Our response to the culmination of God’s promises is deep, unified worship alongside every other believer in heaven and on earth. Unfathomable!
The Everyday Application
2) What is the appropriate response to God’s just actions? (verses 1-9)
One glorious day, all true believers will worship with our bodies and voices in response to the flawless beauty of God Almighty. (Revelation 4:8) Until then, we are still called to worship the Lord with our whole lives.
Romans 12:1-2 describes the call on Christ-followers to give themselves, together with each other, as a unified “living sacrifice”, which is our “true worship”. This happens practically as we pattern our everyday lifestyles in a manner reflecting genuine heart-worship. As we wait for Jesus to fulfill all His promises, we worship Him with hope, assured of the Life that is certain to come; we worship in faith, looking with eyes that see what is yet unseen. (Hebrews 11:1)
When the end of time has come and we are united with Him and other believers, free from all sin, we will worship in pure spirit and sheer love. Nothing will hold us back from giving God all glory He deserves for Who He is and what He has accomplished for us. We will delight in Him as a bride delights in her beloved husband and He will receive us as a husband delighting in His Bride whom He has desired and given everything for.
Knowing this deep love of God and the future that awaits us, results in worship even now. We don’t wait for the end to worship the Timeless God, even though we, along with all creation, groan inwardly for the end of suffering and Jesus’ soon return. (Romans 8:22-25, Revelation 22:20) We can choose worship now. Our hosannas, “God save us,” become our hallelujahs “Praise the Lord!” when we worship in faith with our eyes set firmly on the “yet to come”. We no longer cry out for God to do this or do that, instead, we choose worship simply because of His good, gracious, kind, just character that we know will one day right all things.
The Original Intent
3) How is the Bride to prepare herself now in preparation for the Groom’s coming at the end of time? (verse 7)
Matthew 28:16-20 records Jesus’ clear missional plan for Christ-followers, “Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe everything I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
Christ’s mission encompasses at least four missional directives for the global Church as we await His return, but each are wrapped within His overarching command to simply and profoundly love God and love others. (Matthew 22:37-40) One simple mission requiring a lifetime of discipline and surrender to the Spirit.
Christ commands us to 1) make disciples of all nations, 2) baptize believers in the Name of the Triune God, 3) teach believers to follow Jesus, and 4) remember we are never accomplishing Christ’s mission without Him.
In Jesus’ day, sought-after teachers were surrounded by followers who adhered to their teaching; these were disciples. In appointing His own disciples as “disciple makers”, Jesus was giving them His authority as teacher. Just as they had learned from Him, so they were to invite others to learn from them. (1 Corinthians 11:1, John 15:16)
In Scripture, a person’s “name” represented the wholeness of their character. To baptize into another’s name was an alignment with their character. Christ assigned believers to be baptized, set apart, for the mission of living according to His Name as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. No part of God, His character, or His mission could be excluded from this appointing. (Isaiah 43:7, Revelation 3:12)
In His earthly ministry, Christ was known as Teacher. (Luke 18:18) He stated He was our example, teaching us how to love others in the pattern of how God loves us. (John 13:15) Christ alone is the Good Teacher; none compare to Him.
Christ concludes His commission to mission with a command to remember His constant presence; He is with us “to the end of the age”. (Matthew 28:20) Though He was sending His disciples out as “sheep among wolves”, His presence would comfort, guide, and protect. Christ, the promised Messiah, proved to be Immanuel, “God With Us”. (Isaiah 7:14)
The Everyday Application
3) How is the Bride to prepare herself now in preparation for the Groom’s coming at the end of time? (verse 7)
Disciple. We are to testify of Jesus to the world around us for the purpose of demonstrating what it looks like to follow Jesus in real life. Would you follow a fitness guru who lived on pizza and ice cream while channel surfing? No. Neither should we expect “disciples” to follow us as we lead them to Jesus unless we are authentically practicing following Jesus ourselves.
Baptize. In baptizing others, we are helping new believers take their first step of obedience in following Jesus as they publicly declare their faith and alignment with God’s name, character, and mission. Baptism represents the internal decision an individual has made to die to their old pattern of sin and live a new life by walking in the mission of Christ by His powerful Spirit.
Teach. We are to teach believers, one another, to observe everything Jesus commanded in His Word. This necessitates being intimately familiar with His teachings and choosing to consistently walk in them while leaving ourselves transparently open to accountability within the context of biblical community.
Remember. God is a present God and there is nowhere we can escape His presence. (Psalm 139:7-12) Sometimes it feels as if God is remote and detached, especially when we face struggles for following Him. Christ’s words remind us to hold to the truth that He is a “with us” God. He intimates this truth by telling us His sheep hear His voice. We know we belong to Him and have cultivated a relationship with Him when we hear and recognize His voice in our spirits as we seek to follow Him. He is near; His presence is marked with gentleness! (Philippians 4:5)
We do not serve a God who came and left, but a God who is present and active. When we remember this, we do not rely on ourselves to live out His mission, but rest upon his constant presence.
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