Revelation, chapter 19. Revelation, chapter 19, verse
1. The Scripture says, And after
these things I heard a great voice of much people in heaven
saying, Hallelujah! salvation and glory and honor
and power unto the Lord our God. Picture here the scene in your
minds as you are able to see what John the Apostle saw. He peers into heaven and sees
a great multitude of people praising God. And this multitude of people
are all lifting up their voices, but John here says he heard only
one voice. After these things I heard a
great voice, one voice, lifting up together a great multitude
but one voice, and all of them saying the same thing. Hallelujah! Praise Jehovah. That's what that means. It means
praise God. Praise God. For all salvation,
honor, and power belong unto God. Belong unto Him. Is this not the cry of every
gospel believer? Every believer in Jesus Christ.
Is not this your voice? This is our voice. And yet, though
there are a multitude of us, though there are many of us,
though there are a remnant of people, yet all of us say the
same thing. Praise God. We all say the same
thing because we are one body in Christ. We say salvation,
glory, and honor and power belong unto God. This is the cry of
every believer in Jesus Christ. But this praise, this honor that
John is hearing from the church comes at a certain time. It says after these things. In 1 Corinthians chapter 15,
and I believe when I just read that earlier, 1 Corinthians 15,
24. I'm not mistaken. Hold on. Yes.
Then cometh the end. This is it. After these things. What things? The end of all things. Specifically mentioned in the
previous chapters, he is talking about the destruction of the
great whore. the great whore of Babylon. He says, True and righteous are
his judgments, for he hath judged the great whore, which did corrupt
the earth with her fornication, and hath avenged the blood of
his servants at her hand. Who is this great whore? that is being judged. After the
judgment of the great whore, then comes the praise of the
saints to God. Who is this great whore? It is nothing more or less than
false religion. False religion. In verse 2, it says, true and
righteous are his judgments of this great whore, which is false
religion. Look over in Ezekiel. There's
plenty of places I can go to show you that God is looking,
looks at false religion as a whore, as a whore. In Ezekiel chapter
16, Ezekiel chapter 16 and verse 35, He's talking about Israel going
away after other gods. After other gods. 35, verse 35. He says, Wherefore,
O Harlot, hear the word of the Lord. Thus saith the Lord God,
Because thy filthiness was poured out, and thy nakedness discovered
through thy whoredoms with thy lovers, Here it is, "...and with
all the idols of thy abominations, and by the blood of thy children
which thou didst give unto them." The children of Israel at this
time, they had under a wicked king, they had worshipped a god
called Moloch. Moloch was a god in which they
gave their own children to birth. I'll tell you what, abortion
is exactly the same thing, only the God has changed to pleasure.
Self. That's the God Moloch today.
People are causing their children to be killed for the sake of
their own pleasures. That's abortion. That's idolatry. It's wickedness. Israel was causing
their children to fall in the fire before a false god, and
God calls them a harlot. False religion is very often
pictured as whoredoms or adultery. Going away from God and worshipping
another god. Another god. Now, in the eyes
of the natural man, false religion, false free will works religion,
are very attractive. Now, you picture a harlot. And that harlot, what does she
do? Does she dress up in her robe and kind of slippers and
curlers? No, she makes herself attractive. She's trying to allure men. She's trying to bring them in.
to her den. She's trying to bring them in,
and that's what false religion is. It's very attractive, very
attractive to the natural man. The god of false religion is
attractive to the flesh, but I tell you, her ways lead to
death. Her ways lead to hell. She kisses
men with the lips of her praise, telling men that you're sovereign. That's what false religion today
is telling men. You're sovereign. God's done
all He can do. He sent His Son to die and He
loves you, but you must make the decision. That is a whore's
religion. A whore's religion. It's a false
religion. It sounds pleasing to the natural
man. Natural men flock to it. They
run to it. They say that you're not so bad.
You know, all you've got to do is fix up your life. All you've
got to do is rearrange some habits. You know, change... How many
times I hear this relationship religion? You know, you've just
got to build relationships. That's all it is. You've got
to stop tearing down relationships. Start building friendships and
things. That's not going to save you. They whisper to you, you're
not so bad. God will accept you if you do
your best. That's a lie. They cause men to commit fornication
with the false Christ, who they say died for all men to make
salvation possible, but left the success of His death up to
the will of man. And because of this worship of
a false Christ is appealing to the flesh, it seems that false
religion flourishes in this world. It does, doesn't it? It flourishes. It grows. It grows so fast. They are always appealing to
the senses of man. But all who trust in God, in
this God, this false God, and follow this false religion, shall
one day, when all things are come to an end, God is going
to remove the veil. God is going to expose false
religion for what it is. Nothing but a dirty whore. That's
all it is. False religion is nothing but
a dirty whore that will be punished forever. All who trust in such
a God and follow such a God as that will endure the wrath of
God forever. when the end cometh." Friends,
judgment is coming. I know that people say, well,
all things are continuing the same way they were. You know,
you talk about Jesus coming. Well, that just doesn't seem
real. Hasn't everything continued from the beginning? Yeah. But
I tell you, He's coming. He is coming. Judgment is coming.
The end of all things is coming. And one day, Jesus Christ will
divide all men into two groups. He tells us this in the parable
of the goats and the sheep. He said, when the kingdom of
God has come, all the goats shall be put on his left hand, and
all of the sheep shall be divided to his right hand. And he shall
say unto the sheep, Come, you blessed of my Father, inherit
the kingdom prepared before the foundation of the world for you. When I was hungry, you fed me.
When I was naked, you clothed me. When I was alone, when I
was outside, You took me in. And what does the sheep say?
The sheep say, Lord, when did we do these things for You? We
are sinners. When did we do these things for
You? But the goats shall be gathered
on the left hand. The goats are those that are
hated of God. Hated of God. They are sinners. who have not and will not believe
on the Son of God, but rather they trust in their own works.
They have committed fornication with the great whore, mixing
works and grace together. These shall be cast out into
hell, where the fire is not quenched, where the worm dieth not, and
the Scripture here, listen, it says, her smoke The smoke of
her burning rose up. How long? How long? Forever and
ever! With no end. With no end. Friends, the cause of the praise of those
in heaven. Listen to me. The cause here
in our text of those praising God in heaven is the burning
of those in hell. Her smoke rose up and what did
they say? Hallelujah. Praise God. Praise God. Consider this truth. When God's
saints ascend into heaven and see those people that they loved
on earth, they wept for on earth, they prayed for on earth, they
begged them to come to Christ, they witnessed to them over and
over, they brought them to the service, praying that God would
be gracious to them, weeping over them. But now, Their love is no longer
divided between God and their family. Between God and those
they prayed for. But their love is toward God
alone. One day, believer, our love will
not be divided. One day, when this world ends,
all of the weeping we do for everyone that is lost will cease. And our hearts will no longer
be divided between them and God. It will be God alone. God alone
who we love and praise. Consider this. Now their love
is not divided anymore, but to God alone. All their tears are
forever wiped away, and they shall not weep over them anymore,
nor shall they plead for them anymore, or pray for them anymore. But as their smoke rises up from
hell, they'll say, Hallelujah! Praise God for it! Praise God
for it. mothers shall see their children
and children their parents husbands shall see their wives and wives
their husbands but now that all sin is removed and we have a
holy mind the holy mind of God we shall rejoice and praise God
for his holy justice even as the smoke of their burning rises
up to God It was not Abraham, remember
the Lord Jesus telling us the history of the rich man and Lazarus.
It was not Abraham and Lazarus weeping, was it? They were not
weeping. They were comforted. It was the
man in torment who was weeping. It was he who was tormented. But we are comforted. They were not the least bit tearful
for that man. who has been in hell over 2,000
years. Not one tear has fallen from
Lazarus' face since that day he fell. His body fell into the
ground. Remember Jerusalem. Christ, the
Judge of all, who punishes Jerusalem for whom He once wept. Isn't
that so? When He came into Jerusalem,
He wept over Jerusalem. But I tell you, His weeping is
past. Paul is now singing praises unto
God for those kinsmen of his flesh who he once would have
given his very soul for. He's no longer weeping. And even
so, shall all the children of God on this day, the end of all
things, when every sin is punished, Rejoice when all false religion
and sin is forever removed from us and Jesus Christ is the eternal
object of our affection forever. I know that many of you have
children you weep for. And God knows you weep for them
and pray for them. But herein is your comfort. One
day, God will wipe every tear from your eye. And they won't
hurt you anymore. I've seen it. I've seen parents
weeping for their children, begging them to come to Christ. But you
take comfort, dear child of God. One day your weeping will cease.
And you will praise God like you want to. I know you do. John sees this scene before him. And now, look in verse 5. In
verse 5, John hears a voice. John hears a voice come out of
the throne of God, saying, Praise our God, all ye His servants,
And you that fear Him boast small and great. John hears a command. A command. They come from the
throne of God. And this voice that comes from
the throne of God is the one who sits on the throne. Who sits
on the throne. And what is His command? His
command is, praise our God. Praise our God. Jesus is the Word of God. He who is God, the eternal Word
of God. When He made all things, who
made all things, and by Him all things consist, seeing that judgment
is coming, seeing that the day is fast approaching, He commands
us. Praise our God! This is the command
to everyone now, before the end of all things. He sends out His
gospel message. Praise our God. Praise our God. Seeing that this day is approaching
and all false religion will be burned, should you not then forsake
all false religion and turn to Christ? Should you then, seeing
that the end is coming, forsake your works, forsake your will,
forsake all that you have and cling to Christ by faith? The Word of God is now preached
unto you. It is now preached to you as
it comes from the throne of God. You know, I'm not standing here
by my own authority. I'm not here to give you my opinion
of things. I'm here to tell you how things
are as God says they are. My opinion don't matter. The
only thing that matters is thus saith the Lord. Whatever God
says, that's what matters. That's what's true. And the word
that I speak to you this morning is a command. Not a request. Not an invitation. A command. Praise our God. Praise our God. God is worthy of your praise.
You should praise Him. You should praise Him. This is
the word of Jesus Christ, the great Son of God, equal with
the Father and the Spirit. And yet it was purposed that
in Him should all the fullness of the Godhead dwell. That is,
that He should be the only mediator between God and men. The only
way that you can praise God is through Him. God gives your praise,
my praise, if we were to offer our best. If you were to be the
most sincere, religious, moral person in the world, and you
were to go to God with your praise, God would cast you into utter
hell. That's how much your praise deserves.
It deserves hell. The only way we can praise God
is through a mediator. Someone who must stand between
us and God. And it is the Son, Jesus Christ,
the only one who stands between us and God. And it's the only
way you can know God. You can know God, except through
the Son. Matthew chapter 11. Matthew chapter
11 and verse 27. Jesus Christ says, all things
are delivered unto me of my Father. Listen, no man knoweth the Son, but the Father. Neither knoweth any man the Father,
except the Son. and he to whomsoever the Son
will reveal Him." Do you realize that you cannot know God except
Jesus Himself reveal Him to you? Knowing God is not a matter of
will or decision. It is a matter of divine intervention. It's a matter of revelation.
Revelation. Jesus tells His disciples, I
am the way, the truth, and the life. No man comes to God but
by Me. Do you get that? The only way
you'll be able to praise God is through Jesus Christ. Therefore, Jesus was purposed,
this is why He was purposed to become a man, the Father, having
from eternity loved a people, covenanted to save a people for
Himself, put them in Christ. This is what He tells those Pharisees. Jesus tells those Pharisees who
would not believe, they did not believe, and He says, you believe
not because you are not of My sheep. He said, My sheep hear My voice,
and I know them, and I give unto them eternal life. You see, the Lord Jesus Christ has
a sheep. He has a flock of people that
God gave Him. Seeing then that all in Adam
died, even the elect of God died in Adam. Man's race was ruined. You see, Adam was not just the
first man, but he was the representative. He was a representative man. I know you can't wrap your minds
around this, except God reveal it to you, but when Adam sinned,
so did you. When Adam died, so did you. So
did I. We died when he sinned. So then all man is ruined. No man can come to God except
the Father draw him. Except the Father draw him. And it was by a representative
man that all sinned and died. Even so, by a representative
man comes salvation. Jesus Christ is also a representative
man. He was not a representative man
for all the human race. He was a representative man for
those that God gave Him. He came into this world as a
man so that He should obey the law of God for His people. He came in the flesh. And He being born without sin,
And being God could not sin and in perfect obedience, listen
to me, He made a righteousness. He made a righteousness. In our
text, this is that righteousness that the bride is adorned with,
that she is given fine linen, clean and white, for this is
the righteousness of the saints. And this righteousness was made
by Christ in His obedience, and it was given to us. Our sins
were imputed to Him, and His righteousness was imputed to
us. See then why Jesus Christ says,
Praise our God. Because He was made man. He was
made subject to God. He was made a servant of God. And so then He says that His
God is your God. And your God is Christ's God. Seeing that he was made subject
to God, he is also showing us that he is not ashamed to be
called our brother. I wouldn't let that come off
my lips if he didn't say it. Because I tell you what, I'm
ashamed of myself. I'm sure that if you saw every
thought in my mind, you would not come near me. You would be
ashamed of me. But I tell you, my Redeemer is
not ashamed of me. He's not ashamed to be called
my brethren. He was made like unto our sinful
flesh, yet without sin, and He loved us so much that He ransomed
us. He paid by His one blood offering. for our sins and God hath highly
exalted him and given him a name above every
name that at the name of Jesus Christ every knee shall bow I don't want to bow don't worry
you will you'll bow now or you'll bow in hell, but I promise you,
you will bow. Your stubborn will will be broken. Every person in heaven and earth,
demons and Satan himself will be crushed under the weight and
authority of Jesus Christ and they will bow. They will bow. Oh sinner, how can you, praise
God, how can you obey such a command as this? How can you be accepted
with God, seeing you have defiled yourself with the great horror
of false religion, seeing you have rebelled and cursed God?
How shall your vile and wretched praise be accepted before God? How can God be just and justify
the ungodly? Here it is. Believe on the Lord
Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. Oh, this is a glorious
message. This is a glorious message to
a man who can't praise God. Who's been given a command to
praise God and you can't. And I tell you, only through
the Mediator you can praise God. Believe on Him. Trust His grace. And your praise will be accepted. Accepted. Oh sinner, repent from
your sins and believe on Christ. Repent from your self-righteousness
and believe on Christ. Repent from your evil works and
believe on Christ. Repent from your good works and
believe on Christ. Turn from yourself and turn to
Christ. And whosoever believeth, whosoever
shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved. Saved. Saved. Come to Christ
now with no plea but guilty. Come to Christ as you are now. Now, if you tarry till you're
better, you will never come at all. You wait till you're better, you'll never come. You ain't
getting any better, you're getting worse. Are you thirsty? for righteousness. Now, I'm not asking if you want
a cure for your troubles in this world. I'm not asking that. To believe on Christ will only
increase your troubles. You hear me? To believe on Christ
will only increase your troubles. Now, what I told you, Cook, What
I told you and your brother when you walked into this place and
you believed. I told you your world would turn upside down.
Has it not? Has it not for every one of us? Has it not? Our troubles
increase. This world hates Christ and they'll
hate you if you believe on Him. Jesus promises no such relief
from the consequences of your foolish, sinful life. Sure, He
can. He can deliver you from the consequences. But to come to Christ and believe
on Him is a spiritual thing. It's not a carnal matter. It's
a spiritual thing. It's a spiritual matter that
is all done by God the Holy Spirit. He takes the righteousness and
blood of Christ and gives it to you as you believe on Him. This is a miracle. Listen to
me, false religion, false religion will tell you salvation's easy.
Salvation's easy. When the Lord Jesus Christ said,
it's impossible. With Men. His disciples asked
Him, Who then shall be saved? He said, With men it is impossible. It's impossible. Salvation is
a miracle. God must create in you a new
heart. And it's out of this new heart we believe on Christ alone
as all our salvation. It's then we see we need Him. I tell you, I believe on Christ
because I must have Him. I must. Once I must have this world.
I remember that. I remember one time I must have
this world. I must have my flesh. I must
have my sin. But now, I must have Christ. And to hell with the rest of
the world. to hell with this flesh and the things of this
life. I must have Him. I see my need. Do you see your
need? Do you see your need? Hast thou believed on the Son
of God? Is this now your heart's affection,
that He is all your righteousness and all your atonement for sin?
Have you heard His command to praise our God and have you obeyed
that command? You have if you've believed on
Jesus Christ. You've obeyed that command. And
you know what? You won't ever stop. You won't
ever stop obeying that command. Is this not wonderful to our
ears that God now accepts our praise? And look at your text
again, quickly. I'll try to come to a close here. He says, Praise our God, all
you servants, and you that fear Him. Listen to this. Both small
and great. Both small and great. The apostle before in Corinthians
tells us that the church is a body. One body. But yet in your body
you have many members. You have hands and feet and ears
and eyes and each one have different functions. But is any one of
them unimportant to you? If I were to take your little
finger and say, is that important to you? Well, if that's not important,
let's just cut that off. What do you think? No. No, I
want that. No, it's important to me. Friends,
you are the body of Christ. He is our head. And every member
has its place. Every member of the body has
its place. Remember the parable of the talons? He gave one man five talons and
one man two. One man two talons. Now both
of these were faithful men. But the scripture has said, not
many wise and not many noble, not many great men are called.
So then surely among us, there are a lot of us with two talents.
Isn't that right? I identify with that man. But it's not the amount of talents
that matters, but that we should praise God
with what He has given us. Believer in Christ, are you small
in faith, few in gifts? Do not fret. Praise our God,
both small and great. Praise Him where you are and
with what you have. Can you preach? Preach at every
open opportunity. Can you give? Give all you have
for the service of the gospel. Can you comfort the brethren?
Can you clean? Can you serve? What can you do?
Whatever you do, do with all your might. And do it as unto
the Lord. For the praise and the glory
of Jesus Christ. And look at verse 6. It says,
And I heard, as it were, a great voice, a great multitude, and
as the voice of many waters, as the voice of mighty thundering,
saying, Praise Jehovah! Hallelujah! For The Lord God,
omnipotent, reigneth. Believer, consider this, that
your Savior, who has commanded you to praise God, given you
all that is required to praise God, He reigneth. What does the word omnipotent
mean? It means all powerful. all-powerful. This should give you a great
amount of comfort to know that your Savior reigns. Do you realize that there is
nothing that happens in this world without His direct permission?
Nothing. Praise God. Why? For the Lord Jesus Christ reigneth. He reigns ruling over all things. Behold, your crucified Savior
who died for your sins and raised for your justification has all
power given to Him and so that nothing happens without His decree. But whatever happens in time
and providence, be assured of this, He will not fail to bring
you to Himself. When all things end, when this
is all over, we're going to see how all things
in time and providence worked to bring us to glory. All things. All things that are happening
to you now are because Christ commanded
them to. Should we not be content then
with all things? What should we say, seeing that
Christ reigns over all things? Let us be glad and give honor
to Him. For the marriage of the Lamb
has come, and the wife has made herself ready. And to her was
granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white,
for this is the righteousness of the saints. I pray this morning
that you would hear the command from the throne. I pray that
Jesus Christ would reveal himself so that you can praise God. And let us look forward to the
day when all things end. And all we will do for eternity
is praise God without sin. Without sin. No more crying. No more sorrow. No more separation. Then God will be all in all. I pray God blesses to you. Let's
stand. We'll be dismissed in prayer.