Revelation 19

What makes a good ending to a story?

Here’s four things I’d say make a great ending: The good guys win. The bad guys get their just deserts. There’s a wedding. And you finish on a song. Doesn’t that make for a great ending? It’s not just kids who love those pantomime happy endings. We all love it when the bad guy gets what’s coming to him... When the good guys win through... The happy marriage at the end... And you end on a song… There’s something hugely uplifting about a story that wraps up with that kind of exultant victory.

Even when you read a fictional story like this or watch it on TV, it changes you. How much more should God’s word change us as it tells us the truest story with the happiest ending and it doesn’t concern other people over there – these words are about you and me.

Because you and I are actually in the bible. Did you know that? There are certain scenes in the bible where you’re actually in the frame, and verses 1-8 is one of them. If you’re a Christian – you are in this scene. Your voice is one of the voices from the great multitude that John heard. In this scene the camera is panned right back. But if the camera zoomed in enough from the billions to the millions to the thousands, to the hundreds and down to just one face – it could pick you out. You are in this scene if you are a Christian. And what are you doing?

You’re saying ‘Hallelujah’ – verse 1, verse 3, verse 4 and verse 6. It’s a Hebrew word that means ‘Praise the LORD.’ And in particular Hallelujah comes up most in the Old Testament book of Psalms – which are songs to God. The collection of Psalms finishes with 5 Hallelujah Psalms in which all creation is drawn up in praise to the LORD. Because according to the bible that is where everything is headed. Everything is headed towards praise, worship and singing. One day the whole creation will be released into noisy, joyful world-wide praise.

Can you imagine the noise being described here?

Verse 1: the roar of a great multitude in heaven shouting: Hallelujah

Verse 3: again they shouted: "Hallelujah!

Verse 4: the four living creatures and the 24 elders (you might expect a bit of reserve and decorum from them, but no) they cried: "Amen, Hallelujah!"

Verse 5: we read about a voice from the throne – probably it’s Jesus Himself. He’ll surely quieten things down and ask for a bit of calm. This is heaven after all. No – He’s encouraging it. He’s leading it: He thinks there should be more so He says: "Praise our God, all you his servants, you who fear Him, both small and great!"

And so, verse 6, in response: Then I heard what sounded like a great multitude (there’s you and me, part of the great multitude), like the roar of rushing waters and like loud peals of thunder (not just peals of thunder, loud thunder), shouting: "Hallelujah!

And what causes us to praise God like this?

Well we’ve thought of what makes for a happy ending. We’ve seen the singing, but here we also see the victory of good, the defeat of evil and the wedding.

First the victory of good: Verse 1 - Salvation and glory and power belong to our God. Verse 6: Hallelujah! For our Lord God Almighty reigns. There will be a day when the almighty power of God is the only power reigning in the world. No more evil, death, sickness, sin – no more devil, no more beast, no more false prophet, no more Babylon. The Lord God Almighty will take His power – the power He has always had – but He will take it up and reign in unopposed glory. And on that day His servants (you and I if we’re Christians) will shout Hallelujah, because the good guys have won.

But also we see here the bad guys getting what they deserve. Verse 2:

for true and just are his judgments. He has condemned the great prostitute who corrupted the earth by her adulteries. He has avenged on her the blood of his servants." ³ And again they shouted: "Hallelujah! The smoke from her goes up for ever and ever."

There will be an almighty Hallelujah when God’s enemies are condemned. They will not get away with mutiny. They won’t get away with opposing God and they won’t get away with oppressing His people.

In Revelation the bad guys are in four categories. There’s Satan at the top, then he has two evil minions – the beast and the false prophet. And then there’s everyone who follows the beast – and those people are represented by Babylon, the great prostitute. So there’s Satan at the top, the beast and the false prophet under him, and there’s Babylon that follows along. And as the bad guys are judged in Revelation, they are judged from the bottom up. So first we saw Babylon judged in chapters 17 and 18 especially. And that’s what they’re singing about here in v2. Next the beast and the false prophet are condemned, that’s in v20 of this chapter. And finally Satan himself is judged in chapter 20. So there will be a comprehensive overturning of everything evil in the world. The bad guys get their come-uppance, and we shout Hallelujah.

But we see another reason to shout Hallelujah – v7.

⁷ Let us rejoice and be glad and give him glory! For the wedding of the Lamb has come, and His bride has made herself ready. ⁸ Fine linen, bright and clean, was given her to wear." (Fine linen stands for the righteous acts of the saints.) ⁹ Then the angel said to me, "Write:`Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb!'"

Why is every happy ending about the guy and girl finally getting together? Because the ultimate happy ending is the marriage of Christ to His people. History is heading towards that wedding. And there are two ways that our involvement is described in this wedding. In verse 7 we see the bride and in v9 we see ‘those who are invited.’ And the question is, who’s the bride and who are those who are invited, are they different people? I think the best way to understand this is that we, together, are the bride of Christ – corporately, as the whole church, we marry Jesus. Individually we are those who are invited to the wedding supper. The whole people of God enter into a marriage relationship with Jesus and every individual is invited to celebrate this union.

And, verse 9, we are blessed if we’re at this feast. Blessed really means ‘happy.’ We are happy if we’re at this feast

A couple of months ago I was reflecting on Luke’s Gospel and how Jesus is either at or speaking about 14 different dinner parties. He said ‘The Son of Man came eating and drinking.’ He spent His time welcoming sinners and eating with them. He died at the Passover Feast as the true Lamb. He left His followers a meal to remember Him by. And He was always directing us ahead to the great feast in the kingdom of God. That’s where everything is heading. True life together and true life with God is a life of feasting. Good food, good wine, good friends, good singing – this is where it’s all going if we have said ‘I do’ to Jesus.

But if not – there’s another supper written about here. And Revelation wants us to compare and contrast the suppers.

¹⁷ And I saw an angel standing in the sun, who cried in a loud voice to all the birds flying in mid-air, "Come, gather together for the great supper of God, ¹⁸ so that you may eat the flesh of kings, generals, and mighty men, of horses and their riders, and the flesh of all people, free and slave, small and great."

It’s eat or be eaten. Feast with Jesus or be feasted upon by the birds. All those who are not at the wedding supper are those who follow the beast to destruction. And verse 21 says the birds will gorge themselves on their flesh.

Here is deliberately stark imagery because we are faced with a deliberately stark choice: Eat or be eaten. Feast with Jesus or be feasted upon by the birds. Two suppers – one is incredibly wonderful, the other is incredibly awful. Which one will we be at?

Well it all depends on our relationship to Jesus. Are we married to Him? Have we heard Jesus say to us personally those marriage vows: ‘All that I am I give to you and all that I have I share with you.’ Jesus offers us His righteousness – represented in v8 by , His riches, His future, His eternal life. Have we accepted that and said to Him ‘All I am I give to you and all I have I share with you’? If we have then nothing will separate us from Jesus – for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health even and especially in death – we are His forever. Jesus’ righteousness, His riches, His future, His eternal life is ours. But if we never say ‘I do’ to Jesus. If we go through life spurning this offer – if we jilt Jesus, then that’s a wicked thing to do. If we do that we mark ourselves as His enemies. And there are only two suppers to find yourself at. Either the marriage supper or the bird’s supper. And it all turns on our relationship to Jesus. Who is Jesus to you? Is He Lord and Judge and Friend and Heavenly Spouse? Or do you leave Him at the altar, and live life for yourself ignoring the greatest love ever shown. Do you love Him or spurn Him?

How do you see Jesus? Because Revelation is about seeing the real Jesus. That’s what Revelation reveals. The book is not named revelation because it reveals freaky visions. The book does not begin with the words: “The Revelation of strange heavenly apparitions.” It doesn’t begin “The Revelation of end times events.” It doesn’t begin “The Revelation of heaven” or “The Revelation of how to worship God.” It’s “The Revelation of Jesus Christ.” That’s what Revelation reveals – Jesus. More than anything else, the book reveals Jesus. Not first and foremost human history or the end of the world. Not first and foremost the workings of heaven or a blueprint for worship. First and foremost it’s the revelation of Jesus Christ. Primarily, He is the One revealed in this book.

So let’s spend the last few minutes examining the portrait of Jesus we see before us. Look with me from v11:

¹¹ I saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True. With justice he judges and makes war. ¹² His eyes are like blazing fire, and on his head are many crowns. He has a name written on him that no-one knows but he himself. ¹³ He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and his name is the Word of God. ¹⁴ The armies of heaven were following him, riding on white horses and dressed in fine linen, white and clean. ¹⁵ Out of his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations. "He will rule them with an iron sceptre." He treads the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God Almighty. ¹⁶ On his robe and on his thigh he has this name written: KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.

How do you picture Jesus? Revelation shows us the real Jesus. In chapter 1 we saw Him as the Priestly Son of Man. In chapter 5 we saw Him as the sacrificed Lamb who stands at the centre of God’s throne, the centre of all history. In chapter 7 He was the Shepherd who leads His people to streams of living water. In chapter 19 verse 7 we’ve just seen Him as the Heavenly Bridegroom. Now we see Him as the Ultimate Warrior, the Ultimate Good Guy, riding into town on a white horse, dressed in a white robe dipped in blood. You don’t turn up to a fight wearing white unless you’re confident. And Jesus is more than confident He is supreme. He is glorious. Verse 12: Eyes like blazing fire – who could ever face Jesus down? No-one. Who could ever answer Jesus’ words – verse 15, His tongue is a sword that strikes down not just soldiers but nations. Who could ever outrank Jesus, verse 12, there are many crowns on His head and there’s a tattoo down His thigh declaring Himself ‘King of Kings and Lord of Lords.’ Don’t mess with this Guy.

In verse 19 the beast and the kings of the earth face off against Jesus to make war against Him. But verse 20, the fight doesn’t even happen. The beast is captured. Have you ever seen the photo of Mohammed Ali standing overSonny Liston having knocked him out. The caption reads – first round, first minute. No contest. King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

Have we domesticated Jesus? Have we diminished Him in our thoughts. Jesus is always greater than what we imagine. And He bursts all our categories. Let me highlight three surprises that we find with Jesus’ identity.

Surprise number one: Jesus is a Lover and a Fighter.

You know the saying ‘I’m a lover not a fighter’ – well Jesus is both the Heavenly Bridegroom (v7) and the Ultimate Warrior (v11). A Lover and a Fighter. Don’t reduce Jesus just to a lover, don’t reduce Him just to a fighter – He is both.

Second surprise: Jesus is the explanation of God and He’s infinitely mysterious. You see Jesus is the Word of God (v13) – Jesus is God speaking to us. He is the communication of God, the explanation of God. Everything God wants to say to the world is wrapped up in the Person of Jesus. When you see Jesus, when you hear Jesus, when you receive Jesus, you see God, you hear God, you receive God. Jesus is the Word of God – He makes God known. But Jesus is also infinitely mysterious. Verse 12 – He has a name written on Him that no-one knows but He Himself. Jesus lays bare the deepest things of God, but at the same time, He is always beyond our grasp. We can never say ‘I have sussed Jesus.’ There is always infinitely more to Jesus than we will ever know. So that’s the second surprise – Jesus is the Word of God and a great mystery to us.

Third surprise: Jesus is faithful and true – in judgement. Verse 11 – Jesus is described in words that we usually associate with spouses – faithful and true – so we’re not surprised to hear that our Heavenly Husband is faithful and true. But how does He show Himself faithful and true? Verse 11: With justice He judges and makes war. Jesus proves Himself utterly trustworthy by defeating all His enemies. He gains our trust because, verse 15, “He treads the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God Almighty.” We trust Him because He is Judge. Sometimes we think we trust Him in spite of His fearful judgements on the wicked. The Bible says we trust Him because we have seen how utterly opposed to evil He is. Jesus shows Himself faithful and true, because He is the Judge.

So how does Jesus look to us? This tattoed Warrior on a white horse, this Utimate Lover who is also the Ultimate Fighter, the Word of God who will always remain beyond our comprehension, the One called Faithful and True, who proves it in judging and making war on evil. Do we warm to Him? Or are our hearts cold to Him?

Revelation is here to set Jesus before us again. It is here to win our hearts. So does Jesus have our hearts this evening?

Remember there are only two suppers in this chapter. The wedding supper for those who love Jesus. The birds’ supper for those who spurn His love.

If you haven’t said ‘I do’ to Jesus. Tonight is the night, don’t leave Jesus at the altar. Say yes to His invitation and share in His glorious future. And if you are a Christian, be assured that Jesus wins. He has secured for us the ultimate happy ending. In fact it’s a never-ending happy ending. Whatever we’re going through, Jesus is leading us to this conclusion.

Emma hates sad endings to films. Hates them. Many films we’ve abandoned because it becomes clear that this is going to end badly. But what if I was able to guarantee her – I promise no matter how it looks now, the good guys win, the bad guys get what’s coming to them, there’s an exuberantly joyful wedding and it all finishes on a song. That would help us get through the film, no matter how bad it seemed.

We can get through whatever we’re facing right now because Jesus has guaranteed for us: The good guy win. The bad guys get their come-uppance. There’s a cosmic wedding celebration and we will sing with never-ending joy.

I’m going to close by playing the Hallelujah chorus from Handel’s Messiah. If you don’t know anything else about classical music, I’ve bet you’ve heard this. It was inspired by Revelation 19. Listen to these words, and know that this is where we’re heading.

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