The marriage of the Lamb signifies the ultimate union of Christ with His church, a glorious event that follows the judgment of Babylon and precedes Christ's reign on earth. The bride, comprised of all believers from Pentecost to the rapture, prepares herself by having her righteous deeds evaluated at the judgment seat of Christ, adorning her wedding garment with works done for Him. This preparation ensures she is a pure and beautiful bride, worthy of Christ's eternal affection, while Old Testament saints and others will attend as guests at the marriage supper. The sermon also details Christ's triumphant return as King of kings and Lord of lords, executing judgment on rebellious nations and casting the beast and false prophet into the lake of fire, ultimately establishing His righteous reign.
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Well, we're so glad that a few of you were delighted to come to the wedding and to the honeymoon that follows the wedding in our scripture today. For you should be interested because you're going to be there. We come to Revelation chapter nineteen and we'd like to follow the lesson sheet on page number twenty nine. And we have covered... particularly in the closing moments of last week's lesson the first five verses of that nineteen chapter and if you will for just a moment or two let me refer to your lesson sheet and we'll cover that outline of chapter nineteen verses one through five where we have following the great destruction of Babylon we have heaven rejoicing over Babylon's judgment in the first five verses Let me just carry through with the thoughts that are expressed.
God in heaven rejoices over what man esteems his greatest calamity, when the false church will be destroyed. And then also, we have also the fact that the basis of the rejoicing in heaven, God's judgment, true and righteous. May I just add a word, and I think it would be proper to do so. when we shall be there and know these judgments being poured out we shall acknowledge God is true we shall acknowledge God is righteous in the judgments that have taken place and then Babylon's judgment is everlasting forever and forever and then you have the elders the living creatures uniting in the rejoicing in verse four and then in verse five The throne speaks and calls for praise.
And another reason for praise comes in what follows. But let me begin reading in chapter nineteen at verse six. And let me read through verse ten. For here we have that great event that is yet to take place for which the Lord longs and for which many saints are praying. Even so come Lord Jesus. John writes to say, And I heard, as it were, The voice of a great multitude, As the voice of many waters, And as the voice of mighty thundering, saying, Hallelujah, for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth.
Let us be glad and rejoice. Give honor to him, for the marriage of the Lamb is come, And his wife hath made herself ready. To her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen. White, clean and white, for the fine linen is the righteous nesses, is the proper translation, literally meaning the righteous deeds of the saints. And he said, Come to me right, blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he said unto me, These are the true sayings of God. And I fell at his feet. to worship him. And he said unto me, See thou do it not.
I am thy fellow servant, and of thy brethren that have the testimony of Jesus. Worship God, for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy. May God add his blessing to the reading of this section of the chapter. Note with me, and we will follow carefully the outline on your lesson sheet. For we come to that great blessed event, and what a glorious thing it will be, the marriage of the Lamb. Oh, beloved, we cannot say enough for that blessed prospective event that is yet to be. But look at your lesson sheet saying as you have in verses six and seven, the emphasis of great hallelujah.
And I'm sure we all know the word hallelujah means in the Hebrew language. Praise ye the Lord. You'll find the expression again and again. In the book of the Psalms particularly, hallelujah. Praise ye the Lord. May I give you another thought in relation to the coming glory of the kingdom when Christ will reign. Read the hundred and fifty of Psalm, the closing Psalm. And just by way of merely expressing the outline of the whole book, It begins in chapter one with one who is a godly person and also the opposite and ungodly. And all the way through the book of the Psalms, you've got experiences of the godly and the ungodly, the righteous and the unrighteous.
But when you come to the end of the book of the Psalms, it indicates in the last few number of the Psalms, the earth is to be filled with the praises of the Lord. Psalm one hundred and fifty as a hallelujah in every verse. And the psalm closes saying, Let everything that hath breath praise the Lord. Hallelujah will be the language. Now may I state very carefully and look on your lesson sheet. We've got two reasons for the hallelujahs being great. First of all, the Lord God omnipotent reigneth. His kingdom is now to be established. Please note the words.
Look better in your chapter in the Bible. Note what it is said. As you look at verse five, praise our God, O ye servant, ye that hear him both small and great. And then you hear the voice of the multitude saying, and at the end of verse six, hallelujah, for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth. And let me give you the significance. There's no present application to that. Though it's true, he is omnipotent. Though it's true, He reigns behind the scenes that are all taking place upon the earth. But what is involved here? The false church has been destroyed and the Lord Jesus, as we shall see in our chapter, is about to come to the earth and claim the kingdoms of the earth for himself and manifest the time when the Lord God omnipotent will reign over the earth.
Now may I contrast the fact he's not reigning over the earth today. sin and death and Satan lawlessness unrighteousness but what will it be when that moment comes when at the end of the great tribulation period when at the destruction of the false claimant of being the bride of Christ is completely destroyed and then becoming destruction upon the leaders of that satanic trinity is about to take place but before it does there comes the marriage of the lamb but it indicates the moment comes when the Lord God is going to take the reign of the kingdom through his beloved son I wish he were here but he will be here soon but now go to the next thought that we have not the hallelujah is not only for that but the marriage of the lamb is to take place and the false bride is gone please let me point out that I think we should carefully we did last week perhaps the preceding one too before the Lord takes his bride the church
there is that it must be the destruction or the removal of every claim of a false character before he will take his true bride I'm sure most of you if not all you've been to a wedding ceremony have you ever heard the preacher say when thus the bride is about to exchange and the groom, the blouse. Is there anyone that would object? It can be sometimes a tense moment maybe. Not always. But any objections to the ceremony.
But let me give you the thought. Here in our chapter all the objections are removed. Hallelujah. The bride's ready. And any objection that could come without has been destroyed. So how precious it will be for the moment. Now look, if I may say with you, look, the coming of the marriage. Look at the, very good of verse seven. Let us be glad and rejoice and give honor to him. For the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his wife has made herself ready.
Oh, the marriage, please note something very precious, very different from an earthly wedding. This is called the marriage of the Lamb. You know the main person in a wedding upon the earth, the one who is the most attractive person at the wedding is not the bridegroom. incidentally he's got to be there but the most attractive person for the wedding has the limelight is the bride herself just the opposite in this heavenly wedding I remember reading someone wrote it it was very it was very well done and perhaps a little peculiar to say but someone wrote a wedding ceremony in a newspaper trying to describe the bridegroom all the way through the wedding.
And incidentally at the end mentioned that the bride was so-and-so. Well, you know, that sounded ridiculous and it was according to Hersey custom. But he did it to point out the difference between the marriage of the lamb. The lamb. He's the leading person. And it's called not the marriage of the church, but the marriage of the lamb. The moment when he will take his bride. Please note your lesson sheet, please. I want you to know what we have on it. We have, who is the bride? Well, we have from Ephesians five. Christ loved the church and gave himself for it.
Then he might sanctify and cleanse it by the washing of water by the word. And listen to the twenty-seventh verse. That he might present it to himself. A glorious church. Not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing. The bride is the church. Please let me particularly emphasize again. Only one class of people, redeemed people, will constitute the bride. Beginning at Pentecost and concluding with the rapture of the church. All who were brought into the body of Christ. And made part of the bride of Christ the church. And the Lord is going to be united to them.
And the church will be united to him. In eternal matrimony. In that blessed relationship. Let me read what we have in the paragraph. It is comprised of all believers in Christ. From Pentecost to the rapture, no other saints belong to the bride. Please let me say, there are other saints. We'll see that. But the only saints who constitute this precious relationship, which will be an eternal one, are the saints that are saved in this period of the church history. And blessed to realize that. When you stop to think of it, some of us brethren really appreciate we've never been a bride before.
that the joy of recognizing all the saints constitute the expression, the bride. You have in Revelation twenty-two, six, where we shall reach in our closing moments. You have the spirit and the bride, say come. And the language of the bride should certainly be, come, Lord Jesus. But then note the second thought on your letter. How does she prepare her wedding garment? Note the end of verse seven. His wife hath made herself ready. Now one can recognize in an earthly wedding there's much preparation.
And if you want my humble, candid opinion, it's a bride that has more to do with the preparation and more responsibility to make the preparation. And one can recognize, I recall my daughter in plans of getting married. I said before the marriage even took place, I said, I'm going to sing that astrology when it's over. The preparation is much. Now what's the preparation for the bride here? His wife hath made herself ready. Note the lesson sheet telling him, we'll mention it carefully. Note, how does she prepare a wedding garment? The beauty of it is determined by the Lord at the judgment seed of Christ.
As we can find in Romans fourteen, first Corinthians three, as well as second Corinthians five. Now just a reference. You may all be familiar with the fact that the Lord is going to appraise all the believers that constitute the church and what is called the beamer or the judgment seed of Christ. For what we have done for him, whether good or bad, That which is good will receive its reward. That which has been bad in our Christian testimony will be destroyed, as we well know from the context of First Corinthians three. Let me just point out what the Apostle Paul writes in verse twelve of that chapter.
There will be gold, silver and precious stones. There will be wood, hay, stubble. These illustrate the character of the wood. It's not your salvation that will be in question. No, my fellow believer, you settle that here. And what a joy to know it is settled when you come to the Lord Jesus and trust him as your Savior. You believe he did it all. And your sins are forgiven for time and for eternity. And there's no condemnation when you're in Christ Jesus. And it's not a question of being worthy for heaven.
It is a question that the judgment seat of Christ are being prepared for the Lord to enjoy your wedding garment. And you and I contribute to the beauty of that garment. First of all we know he has made us righteous through his own sacrifice by grace. But then on the other hand he's going to take what we have meant to him, the deeds we have done for him. the service that proves from the tests of the fire gold remains silver remains and precious stones they stand the test wood hands double which you can collect a lot of easily burn up thank God burn up and all that is left is what will be upon the wedding garment now let me give you the thought it's not very clear in scripture the time, the moment, the particular time for the judgment seat of Christ.
But I do believe this, first of all, let me quote Ephesians five twenty-seven, he will present the church to himself, a glorious church. Let me quote John fourteen three, I will come again and receive you unto myself. And there you have the assurance You and I, belonging to the church, the whole body, we're going to meet the Lord Jesus, our Savior, face to face. There'll be a private presentation. When he comes for his bride, he will have claimed his bride for himself. Now there's coming, as we are reading here, a public celebration when the bride is married to the bridegroom.
And the bride has to make herself ready. I wonder if the time element, just before the wedding, the judgment seat of Christ comes. So that he can look upon his bride without seeing any flaw. Her testimony, it was bad. Remove. And you've got to confess. There's been some bad testimony by the church. and thy individual believers upon the earth. The Lord said, that's not going to be on your wedding garment, but what you've done for me and what you were for me, that will adorn your wedding garment and add beauty to it. Now notice we read on.
Let me go to verse eight, if you please. To her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white. For the fine linen, note, if the righteousness, let me say literally, if they properly should be, the fine linen is the righteous act or the righteous deeds the righteousnesses of the saints what they've done for him beloved please let me state this the blessed Lord Jesus so faithfully will reward his servants and will bring that blessed appraisal that will adorn the bride for his beauty for him to enjoy and may I give you the contract When he looks at that bride, what does he see?
Go back to chapter seventeen, will you please? And let me point out what he does not see. Will you look with me in chapter seventeen at the false church? Let me read verse four only. The woman was arrayed in purple, scarlet color, decked with gold, precious stones, pearls. There you have the outward literal, material adornment. of the false church upon the earth. But when you look at the bride, she's just a pearl of one great beauty, pearly white, the purity of the church.
Did you remember the parable the Lord Jesus told him, Matthew thirteen, I think verse forty-five and forty-six, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchant man seeking goodly pearls. Who when he had found one pearl of great price went and sold all that he had and bought it? One pearl of great price. That pearl is not Christ. That pearl is the church. He's the one who has bought it. And you think of the unity of that church. One. You think of the beauty of it. A pearl. You think of the value of it. Great price. He bought it with his own precious blood.
And now go back to our chapter and note then. As you read in verse eight. To her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white. For the fine linen is the righteousness of the saint. Note on your lesson sheet. The wedding garment is the righteous character of her life for Christ upon the earth. It is not the judicial righteousness which we obtained upon believing on Christ, as we well know, but all we have done for him. Since he saved us, he will contribute. to the splendor of our wedding garment. Oh, beloved, Brother Howard and myself were speaking together, preceding our meeting, of giving out tracts for the Lord.
And, oh, beloved, let me please state, that's just one field of labor that many others, if you can't preach, you can give out tracts, which oftentimes, as young believers, we have done again and again and again. But then, No. What's done for him? He's going to be on the wedding garment. Maybe somebody threw the tractor away. But the Lord saw you give it. Then at that coming day, I'll tell you frankly, and I say it very earnestly and confidently, I believe and I expect to see more fruit of the judgment seat of Christ than I've seen down here. For my Lord. There's many a time, I say frankly, there's many a time one can preach and preach your heart out and see visibly no result.
Ah, we never know. And I want to say frankly, some of the deepest joys that ever come to me in serving the Lord is to find out later on somebody either got saved or got blessed particularly by the message. One thing is certain. The Lord knows. And what we do for him, and may I give you this encouraging word, and counsel, myself, I need it to, do what you can for the Lord. Do it for him. Let me put it another way, if I may.
Don't do it for the church. You're serving a bigger mass than the church. In fact, the whole church should be serving the Lord. Where Paul wrote to the Corinthians, rather, he said, we are God's fellow workmen. We are laborers together with God. And my beloved fellow believing, let me please say this. And I say this humbly, but I say it faithfully. Too many Christians leave all the supposedly in their actions and attitudes. They leave all the work of the Lord to the preacher. That's wrong. Every brother and sister is a minister, a servant.
And beloved, whatever you do, it may be a kind word, it may be a kind deed, it may be even a smile of encouragement, it may be whatever kind of ministry that you can do, do it for the Lord. Do it for the Lord. May I also go on to say, it can be in your material giving. The Lord loves the cheerful giver. And what a joy to recognize. Nothing at the judgment seat of Christ will be overlooked. And let it be an encouragement. And God grant will not have too much wood hair and stuff on. But all that wedding garment will be for his eyes. To enjoy the beauty.
Now as you come to verse nine. And you please know. Let me go to look on your lesson sheet. On the lesson sheet. See rather. The brightest churches to share. in his exaltation, his affections and his joys forever. She will be the perfect object of his eternal love and delight. Did you ever go to a wedding? I'm sure you have. You know, I will say frankly. I say very frankly. Sometimes in some wedding ceremonies they've had a special solo. Oh, perfect love. Only going to be one perfect wedding.
The bride will be in such a moral and spiritual condition. The worthy object of his perfect affection forever. Amen. I think of the time. Very frankly, when I was married and a good friend, we were married about the same time, both of us. About a year later, we were comparing notes. He said to me, you know, Charlie, when I got married, I thought she was perfect and she thought I was. And she said, Boy, he said, I found out different, especially about myself, he said. Well, beloved, tell me, who hasn't? If they're honest. Ah, but think of this. He looks upon the bride in perfect beauty, arrayed not only with his righteousness that has been imputed to her.
Ah, but he says, I appreciate what you did for me. while I was waiting for you to come. And my beloved, please let me say, let me give you this thought. Whatever you do, do it for him. Do it for him. He'll never lose its reward. And I think of the Lord saying when he was here, not even a cup of cold water, given in the name of a disciple, we'll lose its reward. And after all, may I give you the thought. Why does she make herself ready for him to enjoy us? Hallelujah. For him.
You and I are... You know his one thing about going to heaven. We oftentimes think of it in a selfish way because we're going to be there. Wait a minute. What about him? A dear old brother I knew very well. He lived to be ninety-eight. but I recall very often in my meetings in the north some of the conference sessions we had I recall sometimes when we sang that old hymn when all my labors and trials were on and the chorus came along just to be near the dear Lord I adore will through the ages be glory for me oh that will be glory for me he said wait a minute folks let's sing a different glory for him glory for him Glory?
We're sure. Look, let me tell you something. Who's going to be the most delighted person at the wedding? The bridegroom? The Lord Jesus. And me, I tell you, he's waited a long time, as we know. But he'll be the happiest person. And won't it be a precious privilege? He'll look upon you and me and all the redeemed saints of the church. and have a perfect object of affection for his heart forevermore. Now let me give you another thought we should never forget. The church is going to be the nearest object to his heart of all the saints of all ages.
That's why you've got the title, the bride. That's why it's a marriage. No other body of saints in the Old Testament or in the New Testament after the rapture of the church, will have such a distinct honor. And what grace and mercy you and I can acknowledge he has shown to us. Now will you please note, verse nine, he said to me, Right blessed are they which are called unto the married supper of the land. And he said unto me, These are the true sayings of God. Now here you have, if I may suggest, you got the guests at the wedding. You've got to guess in verse nine, the friends of the bridegroom.
We have a reference in John chapter three, verse twenty eight and twenty nine. Well, when John the Baptist, when others saw that John the Baptist was losing his disciples and many of them were going to follow Jesus, many, many people commented and told John, you're losing your followers. That's all right, John says. He must increase, I decrease, but the friend of the bridegroom rejoices. And John the Baptist speaks of himself as a friend of the bridegroom in that chapter, John III. He's going to be at the wedding. May I go even further? And I may say, this may be not according to the teaching of some in evangelical circles.
I believe the Old Testament saints will be there. Are you going to have a wedding without guests? and a supper without guests. May I give you the thought, the supper comes before the honeymoon goes on. The supper comes before the church with Christ goes out of heaven, descending as we shall see. And oh, how precious it will be to realize there are guests at the wedding, the friends of the bridegroom. Now, if you go to verse ten, please note, I fell at his feet to worship him. That is the angel who was telling John these things. But he said unto me, See, thou do it not. I am thy fellow servant.
Of thy brethren that is the testimony of Jesus, worship God. For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy. Our beloved letters realize Jesus is indeed, as John is overwhelmed by the fact. And he starts to worship the angel. Well, no, says the angel. I'm just a fellow servant with you, equal with you in serving my Lord. And so John is brought face to face with the fact he should worship God, none other. The angel would not accept worship from him. And wonderful to see, he calls the prophecy of this wonderful book, Revelation, the testimony of Jesus, all the way through.
Now shall we go to what follows? As you go to verse eleven into this chapter nineteen. Here we have, if I may say, we have the journey of Christ with all of his saints and the armies of heaven as they come down to the earth. Let me read in verse eleven, please. And as we look at verse eleven, please note the description. John says, I saw heaven open. And behold, a white horse. And he that sat upon him was called faithful and true. And in righteousness he doth judge and make war. Ah, this is where heaven opens.
Not for someone to come in, but for someone and others to come out. Remember in chapter four and verse one, John heard a voice saying, Come up hither. And there was a door opened in heaven for John to go in. Now you come to the conclusion of the book. Excuse me, where the judgments of God are to be poured out in their finality and Christ is to come personally in his glory and in his appearing of honor to take the kingdoms of the world. Heaven is open that he might come in. And you please note carefully, behold a white horse, the symbol of victory, the symbol of a conqueror.
In chapter six and verse one, we had a white horse there. But it was the symbol of a man conquering the nations of the earth below to take them and rule over them. But here it is the Lord Jesus coming out in victory to the earth. And you know this title. He's called Faithful and Truth. Our precious to realize. Note that title. The worthy one it means. Faithful, truth. Beloved, may I contrast these two words. Faithful and true. We've had them before as before. In chapter three of the Revelation, the church that he wrote to Philadelphia, or to Laodicea rather, he presented himself as the true and faithful witness.
And the Amen. But here is one, in contrast to all other men, all other persons, all other human beings, faithful, true. And it comes thus with the title, faithful, true. And beloved, let us acknowledge how worthy he is to take the kingdoms of the earth. And then we go further. And he comes, what for? No. In righteousness he does judge and make war. Yes, in righteousness he comes. Note your lesson sheet as we follow that description. He comes in penetrating judgment with universal glory and possessing an impenetrable character to execute vengeance, as you have in verse twelve and thirteen.
Notice he comes from here. Oh, may I... Will you go to the second Thessalonians for a moment? Thought comes to me. Let me go with the second Thessalonians. It's a contemporary scripture in chapter one. I would like you to note let me read verse seven and read if I may through verse nine only seven and nine through nine to you who were troubled rest with us when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels no doubt not only saints from contemporary scriptures in Matthew as well as here angels come with the armies of heaven we read In flaming fire, taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, who shall be destroyed or punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and with and from the glory of his power.
Beloved, may I say, if I can only put it in some expression of words to imply and to impress you as well as my known heart, the glory of the power of its coming. Oh, beloved, what a difference. What a contrast to its first coming to the earth. It's coming in power. It's coming in glory. And as he comes, his eyes, note them in chapter of our scripture in Revelation. His eyes as a flame of fire. On his head many crowns or diadems. And he had a name written that no man knoweth but he himself. And he's clothed with a mixture dipped in vesture dipped in blood. And his name is called the Word of God.
Note your lesson sheet for just a moment. Let me point out the description that we have here. I like to read it under letter D. As you read the description, it's penetrating judgment. It's with universal glory. You remember chapter one, verse seven, the theme of the book. Behold, he cometh with clouds, and every eye shall see him. Even David pierced him, and so on. Universal, glory. Beloved, please let me give you another thought. Do you remember the transfiguration scene? I'm sure you do.
How the faith of the Lord did shun. shine with the brightness of the sun and his garment was as glistening as the white. Please let me say the world is visibly going to see the coming of the Lord from heaven above in power and glory. Now may I contrast again the rapture of the saints will not be visible to the world and we meet the Lord in the air when we are caught up together. but when he comes to the earth visibly every eye will see him coming down with universal glory please note upon his head many diadems it says many crowns I used to wonder how could he wear more than one crown at a time but if the Greek word means diadems which was this I give you the suggestion you find it in the Old Testament some of the prophecies that the monarchs of old sometimes they had a It might have been a circlet of silver and even of gold or even of ribbon for that matter.
And for every kingdom that they ruled over, they'd have a circle round their head representing each kingdom that they ruled over. In other words, many nations, many diadems. And here's our Lord. On his head many diadem, meaning he's going to be the king over every nation. over all the nations of the earth they're going to be under his sway and they will and then please note I he had a name written there no man know it but he himself can I pause for just a moment there's a verse I may have a reference to it I'm not sure I don't think I do but there's a there is a reference in Matthew eleven and you'll find it in verse twenty seven where the Lord Jesus said no man knoweth the Son but the Father and may I humbly say and I covet that you will have the same feeling of heart that is mine the greatness of our adorable Lord both God and man the greatness of this person is beyond our comprehension I
cannot express I could not even comprehend how great he is. No man knows it, but he himself. And the Father knoweth the Son only. So we can realize the worthiness of that blessed person when he comes to reign. And with a vesture dipped in blood, very typical of that vesture being dipped in the blood of his enemies. and then the name that is called the word of God we have the living word of God and we have the written word of God the Bible is the written word but in that written word we see the living word our Lord Jesus now we have the armies coming with him please note that on your lesson sheet we have the triumphant armies that are coming they are the saints of God even Jude mentions behold the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints now let's read The armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, primarily, without doubt, the references to the saints, particularly coming, robed as they
are in that garment of righteousness, white and clean, and their righteous deeds. Oh, beloved, may I say this, one cannot even comprehend it, but oh, how we can meditate upon the truth of it. When the saints come down from glory, when the world looks at the saints today, what do they see? Well, they see some very perhaps poor examples at times. They wonder what we're like at times. They may not be able to understand why we should think so much of God and Christ and of His Word. But when they see us coming down from heaven with glory, they'll have to acknowledge we were right in trusting the Savior and oh beloved may I be reminded with you that the word of God said this is the time that we suffer with him then it will be the time we come down with him in glory and as Paul well writes that the trials the troubles the afflictions of our present time are not worthy to be compared to the glory which shall be revealed in us and oh beloved may I say the armies of heaven We come down.
And may I point this out. Look, let me clear up one thing. We're not coming down to fight. He does all the fighting. He does all the fighting. Look in Zechariah, will you please? Chapter four. Chapter ten. And verse four. Zechariah chapter ten and verse four. Lovely words in this great prophecy of Zechariah. Please note these words. And you'll enjoy the thought of it when he comes to do the fighting. Chapter ten verse four. Let me read verse four. The prophet writing out of Judah came forth the corner or the cornerstone. Out of him the nail.
Out of him the battle bow. Out of him properly rendered the exactor or the glorious and demonic and king. Now please let me say this. You've got four divine titles there by the prophet given to the Lord Jesus. He's the cornerstone for Israel. He's the nail for Israel. He's the battlebow for Israel. He's the king that will be Israel's glorious Messiah. Now there are four messianic titles. They belong to the Lord. He's the cornerstone upon which the nation of Israel can only be centered.
and set upon and will someday to the glory of the Savior and the nation and the remnant. He's the nail. Read Isaiah chapter twenty-five sometimes and verses twenty-two and on. And you find him called the nail, meaning upon him shall be hung the glory of his father's house. Silent of old in the glory of his, of the treasury of his house. He hung the golden vessels of honor and glory, shields and many other vessels of glory, of gold upon those nails. And it was the expression of the glory of the house of the Lord and the treasury of the Lord. But then you've got the title of the battleboat.
If you've read your Old Testament carefully through, have you ever noticed that now and again, God said to Israel, you don't need to fight, I'll do the fighting. And I hope my fellow believer you'll let the Lord do your fighting for you too. Don't you try to fight. You'll get licked somehow. Or you'll get a bruise. Let me quote Romans eight thirty-seven. We are more than conquest through him that loveth us. One dear brother stood up in a prayer meeting one night. A dear brother, he was not a preacher, but he got up and testified to his fellow believers as he read the words, We are more than conquerors through him than loveth us.
And he says, Brethren and sisters, what is a conqueror? Oh, we know what a conqueror is. A conqueror is a person who wins by fighting. But what is more than a conqueror? That's someone that wins without fighting. The Lord fights. The Lord gets the fighting. He's the battleboat. And of course, he's going to be the exact monarch, the royal monarch over Israel and over the whole world. But go back to Revelation. I want you to know what follows very carefully. As we read in verse fifteen. Now you see, he does the fighting in verse fifteen. Out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nation. Beloved, you and I are just going to see him do it.
He doused the fight out of his mouth, shot two-edged swords. With it, he will smite the nations. Oh, beloved, let me again say from Zechariah, beautiful prophecy. He's the battle bow. He's the battle bow. May I give you the thought? In Isaiah ten-four, you've got the two advents of Christ, the first two titles. Where is the cornerstone and the nail? And don't forget as the nail he hung upon the cross of Calvary and bore your sins. And you can cast all your burdens upon him. But as the battle ball and as the mighty monarch, that's his second advent.
He's coming again. And here we have it in our chapter in Revelation. And out of his mouth goes a sharp two-edged sword that with it he should smite the nations. And note, he shall rule them with a rod of iron. He treadeth the winepress and the fierceness and the wrath of Almighty God. And he hath upon his vesture, on his thigh rather, a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords. Oh, beloved, what glory will be his? What glory will be his? Please let me read, if I may, in your lesson sheet. Under the last section, his judicial action upon the rebellious nations, As we find him, he executes final judgment.
He comes to establish his throne. He comes to subdue all kings. He comes to be supremely exalted, as we have just read. And we can see the truth of it in Psalm chapter two. And now we come to the end of the chapter, what is called the great supper of God. Let me read it quickly. You go to the, if I may, in verse seventeen and eighteen. I saw an angel standing in the sun. He cried with a loud voice, saying to all the fowls that fly in the midst of heaven, Come and gather yourselves together under the supper of the great God, that he may eat the flesh of kings and flesh of captains, flesh of mighty men, flesh of horses and of them that saith in on them, and the flesh of all men, both free and bound, both small and grave.
Do you recall in chapter sixteen we read of Armageddon? We read of the gathering of the armies of the nations? Beloved, please let me humbly say that plainly the nations will be represented. I'm reading some of them, one of the most excellent Bible scholars that I do enjoy in his writing is a brother by name of William Kelly of the past century. And I recall reading, though he lived in England, and he lived in England at the prime of England's great glory as a nation. As he comments upon this one verse, he declares, are those kings and are those armies that will be gathered together?
He said, Great Britain will be there too. Oh, beloved, please, solemn thought. Our nation will be represented in rebellion, final rebellion against Christ as he descends from heaven. They're gathered together, but it's going to be the great supper of the great God. And oh, what a supper? The fowls of the air gather together to feast upon the carcasses. Oh, may I say lovingly, I say with a heavy heart, I say, I wish I could weep over it as I should.
What is the world coming to? I get so personally convicted in the fact I may be very careless in the concern that I should have. What's going to happen to the world? I recall in my earliest Christian days in the early part of this century when the Lord saved me. There was a great movement that was called post-millennialism, when many in the church believed that they would conquer the world converted all and laid at the feet of the Lord Jesus by the preaching of the gospel.
Oh, no. We're losing ground that way. In fact, that was not the purpose. According to, as you may read in Acts chapter fifteen, the purpose of this age God is taking out of the nations men and women who believe on him. He's not trying to convert all the nations. He's trying to save men and women out of the nations. And when God saved you and me, He saved us out that He might bring us into heaven. And beloved, when you realize that the unsaved who will be in that day rebelling against Him at the final rebellion of Armageddon, They'll become the victims of the slaughter as well as the ravenous eating of the birds and the plows that will be gathered.
But now note verse nineteen and twenty in the closing. I saw the beast, the kings of the earth and the armies gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse against his army. Please note carefully, there are other events relative to the closing of that age of the Gentiles, I know. But here you find they're gathered. I don't believe that they have come to Palestine for the purpose of meeting the Lord. But his coming surprises them. And his coming is a danger from heaven above. And then they seek to fight against him that is upon the horse and against his armies.
But it's futile, absolutely senseless. Now know verse twenty. The beast was taken. That's the great siddle head of the empire of the last days as we saw in chapter thirteen and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast and they and them that worshipped his image these both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone now may I give you the solemn thought note on your lesson sheet we've got mention of the great supper Note number three on the last final section.
The final overthrow and the eternal judgment of the beast and the false prophet and the nations and the armies of the nations. And note next. The beast and the false prophet are the first inhabitants of the lake of fire. Their wickedness is so great to God, they do not die. They are cast alive into the eternal abode. They are still there when the devil is cast into the eternal habitation and destination too, in Revelation twenty, and their torment is forever and ever. Beloved, may I say this? Let me just make the contrast. These two men, the beast and the false prophet yet to come, they will be the two most vile men that will have ever lived in all of humanity.
But so unworthy of even a judgment The character of their testimony and of their lives, if such, they are not worthy to be judged. But immediately they are the first to arrive in the lake of fire, the eternal doom. They get there before the devil himself, whom they worship, as we shall see. But oh, what terrible characters they must and they will be. But now one can recognize, let me read the last verse, The remnant were slain with the sword of him that sat upon the horse. Which sword proceeded out of its mouth?
And all the fowls were filled with their flesh. Oh, let me repeat again. Got two things. I mentioned at the beginning. We've got the marriage. And then you've got the work. What a honeymoon, huh? Well, beloved, listen. Let me say this lovingly. We will acknowledge. Lord, true and righteous are your judgments. You're settling the great problem of the earth and cleansing it from its unrighteousness and taking the kingdoms of the earth to reign over it for a thousand years of glory and honor yourself. Beloved, we shall share that glory.
Not only that, I believe we'll share the joy of seeing him vindicated. And if there's a person that needs to be vindicated, it's the Lord Jesus. The world crucified him and set away with him. We will not have this man to what? Rain over us. But he's coming back. I wish he were here. But praise God he will be through. Shall we pray? Beloved and blessed Father, what a bright, blessed prospect for all who were thine.
What comfort and encouragement, in the midst of a scene of much discouragement, oftentimes heavy hearts, troubled minds, uneven weak bodies. Oh, we thank you for the blessed truth of the Lord Jesus is coming again. And we say with heartfelt sincerity, even so come Lord Jesus. Lord Jesus, we pray one thing specially, that as we separate we may not forget. We are weaving our wedding garments for thee to enjoy. We humbly pray that in all earnestness we shall serve thee.
in humbleness and faithfulness till we see your face to face. Lord, the most menial service that may be ours to do, please help us to do it for thee. It will never be in vain. That which may never be seen by others, and if seen oftentimes could be misunderstood, Lord, Help us to serve thee for thine honor and glory till you come. We ask it as we dismiss in thy precious name. Amen.