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| Order Of Worship (Liturgy) *Song of Adoration: Hymnal #92B “It Is Good to Sing Your Praises” Song of Confession: Hymnal #43B “Judge Me, God of My Salvation” *Song of Preparation: Hymnal #23B “The Lord’s My Shepherd” Scripture Passage: Revelation 19 Message: Two Mighty Feasts *Song of Response: Hymnal #380 “Crown Him with Many Crowns” *Doxology: Hymnal #9B:1 “Wholehearted Thanksgiving” |
Beloved Congregation of the Lord Jesus Christ,
Revelation is a book about contrasts. We have seen them time and again in our study of this important book of the Bible. There are two sides in the battle. There are two kinds of angels, fallen and elect, there are two kingdoms, one of darkness and one of light. The great Dragon seeks to deceive the nations and church with the two beasts, the great prostitute, the great city of Babylon. But, in the end, Jesus is victorious.
In chapter 17 we saw the judgement of the great prostitute and in ch. 18 the judgment of Babylon continues. Rev. 18 is a funeral for Babylon and Revelation 19 is a wedding for the Lamb. On top of that, we see this morning, two great feasts. One is the intimate, loving marriage supper of the Lamb and the other is the dreadful great supper of God. The contrast cannot be greater. Our theme is The return of Christ will result in two great feasts.
- Marriage Supper of the Lamb (v. 1-10)
- Great Supper of God (v. 11-21)
I. Marriage supper of the Lamb (v. 1-10)
Our text begins with praise in heaven. We are introduced to the term Hallelujah. This Hebrew word, meaning praise the Lord makes it into much of our songbook. However, this is the only chapter in the whole New Testament where this Old Testament word is used. It is used 4 times in Revelation 19 and this is the chapter most used for the words of the Hallelujah chorus in Handel’s Messiah. What is the cause of this glorious doxology?
The judgment of Babylon has taken place. In chapter 17 Babylon is identified with the great prostitute and in chapter 18 she is called Babylon. Babylon really was the corrupt, false church. She led many astray and sought to deceive the faithful. The faithful bride of Christ struggled in the wilderness all of those generations waiting for the coming of Christ. The time period of our text is at the final judgement when Christ returns. Everything is being put in order. At the judgment, there is no more deception. Skip down and read verses 15-16. We will get there shortly.
Notice that it is the church who is worshipping God, pictured here in verse 4 as the 24 elders and the 4 living creatures, who are likely archangels before the throne. This worship builds and builds and then we come to verse 6 where it hits a crescendo (read). This is the point of song that because of its beauty, majesty, volume is enough to give one goose bumps or move one emotionally to tears. “Hallelujah! For the Lord our God the Almighty reigns.” This isn’t just beautiful musically or poetically, think of what is being sung. Have gone through the wilderness of this world and having been told all the lies of the evil regarding God almighty, on that glorious day of vindication, all is made right.
It is a horrible injustice to be wrongly convicted of a crime. Once in awhile, new evidence shows the innocence of someone who has been in prison for decades. They are finally released. There is no way to give back decades of someone's life. But on that day of release, with teary eyes all around, the innocent man or woman is finally vindicated. This is how it is at the return of Christ. The man falsely accused knew he was innocent, but many around him doubted it. The difference for us, is we are not innocent, but Christ was in our place. Our vindication on that day will be all because of Christ. Then what happens? A wedding.
Read verses 7 and 8. In order to understand the imagery of the wedding supper of the Lamb, we have to understand 1st century Jewish weddings, which are very different than Western weddings. For one thing, what we call an engagement, would have been called betrothal. This took place in front of witnesses and it involved agreeing to the terms of the wedding, especially the dowry or bride-price. After the betrothal, the man and woman were considered married. This is why Joseph, who was righteous had planned to divorce Mary, his wife before they had come together. After the betrothal agreement, the woman would go back to her parents house and the man would work to make enough money to pay the dowry. Once he had enough money, he would give it to the bride’s father to purchase his bride. Once that happened, he would return home and dress in his best clothes and gather his closest friends and they would walk to the home of the bride, who had been getting prepared and he would take her to his home or his parents home. Then the festivities would begin. During that weeklong of festivities, the marriage supper would take place. This is what is in mind in our text.
All Christians are betrothed to Christ. Read II Cor. 11:2-3. Samuel Stone wrote in 1866, “…from heaven he came and sought her to be his holy bride; with his own blood he bought her, and for her life he died.” For the preparation of the marriage supper, the bride had been getting herself ready. Think of a bride today even and the all the prep that goes into the days before the wedding. The wedding morning she is probably getting her hair done, probably nails freshly done, etc. In our text, notice how verse 8 describes how she is clothed. That might sound surprising. This obviously does not mean that the works of the saints cleanse and purify her, but what they do is they identify her and even beautify her. Even though it is certainly Christ who initiates the wedding feast by his return, the bride, which is the church (Hos. 2:19-20; Isaiah 54:5-8; Eph. 5:26-27), has a responsibility to ready herself. This is with godly living, the righteous deeds of the saints.
To use marriage language, a man and a woman want to marry a virgin. They don’t want someone with a list of previous lovers, etc. They want someone who saved themselves for them, for marriage. Think of this in terms of righteousness and Christ. If you believe, that means you are betrothed to Christ. When the bridegroom comes to fetch his bride, which is the church, what will he find? That is a question everyone has to ask individually. We know that salvation is all of grace and sanctification is as well. But that doesn’t mean we are passive.
The angel speaking to John, so overwhelmed him in verse 10 that he wrong bows down to him, only to be rebuked. He is reminded to worship God.
Before we move on, let’s pause a moment on think of the return of Christ. Charles Spurgeon said that every day Christ doesn’t return should sadden us. It will be glorious. The language used in our text is the language of the greatest celebrations that can be imagined, a marriage feast, a time of celebration and joy. Christ paid the dowry with his precious blood, and he is coming to take us, his bride to himself. We have a husband in heaven who cares for his bride, the church. Worship him.
II. The Great Supper of God (v. 11-21)
Now, in great contrast, we come to a second supper. Here is a continuation of the judgement of Babylon that began back at the end of ch. 16 and continued through chapters 17-18. Here is the conclusion. A difference from previous visions, is that this isn’t the behind the scenes look into heaven, verse 11 says he looked and heaven opened. All will see this glorious event. Behold, a white horse. He isn’t alone. The armies of heaven, all in white, followed on white horses according to verse 14. Like Gandalf the White charging into battle with his whole host with him to defeat the enemy. The rider on the first white horse is the Lord Jesus Christ. He is faithful and true, his eyes are flames of fire, he wears many crowns. He is the ruler, and as an echo of Psalm 2, he will rule them with a rod of iron. What a glorious description we have through verse 16. Turn back to Psalm 2:6, 10-12 (read). This is a glorious and a frightful vision.
At this point, there isn’t a possibility of changing sides. You can say on the day of Christ’s return, actually, maybe I do want to be the bride and not one of those who will be devoured.
For the wedding feast, verse 9 said, “Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.” Now, another invitation goes out. This invitation goes out to the carnivorous birds. Verse 17 calls out to the birds, “Come, gather for the great supper of the Lamb.” (keep reading through 18). An ancient battlefield would attract the vultures and then the wild animals would come.
Years ago while salmon fishing in British Columbia I saw a feeding frenzy by gulls and bald eagles. Salmon would swim upstream to where they were born and either lay eggs or fertilize eggs and then they would die. They would turn on their side and float down river. As soon as the turned belly up, gulls would swoop down and land on the fish and eat out their eyeballs. Then they would leave. The eagles would eat the flesh of the salmon that died. The invitation in the second half of this chapter is very different than the first.
Those consumed under the fury of the wrath of God were all who were not part of the bride. Small and great, slave and free, kings, captains, mighty men, etc. not a single one would escape. Who is carrying out such a horrific punishment? Back in verse 16 he has a name written on his robe and thigh, “King of kings, and Lord of lords.” Back in verse 13 he is called the word of God, which we know from John 1 is a reference to Jesus Christ.
So, it all is decided through Christ. What is one’s connection to Christ. He calls, through the preaching of the Word, all to place their faith and devotion to him. There isn’t another way. The world has been warned, time and again. The allurement of the prostitute has been too great for many. Babylon is their home and they have no care for Jerusalem, the great city of God. The picture of our text is graphic. This would be rated R, but it would be far scarier than a WWII movie or Braveheart or something like that. This has a finality to it. Back in verse 13, the white robe of Christ is dipped in blood. But that’s not his blood. That, in echoing Isaiah 63, is the blood of his slaughtered enemies. This is the price of treason. It should surprise no one. Jesus warned time and again. No one talked more about hell in the Bible than Jesus did. The double-edged sword of Christ (from vs. 15), continues to work through the preaching.
Remember, this is symbolic. This is a horrific picture, but it is a description of the final judgement and punishment of the wicked. The beast and his host tried to fight one last battle, Rev. 16:16 says it happens at a place called Armageddon. The beast and his host lose. They are throne into a lake of fire that burns with sulfur. Read verse 20-21. The battle at Armageddon isn’t a long drawn out affair. We don’t see any little skirmishes and no one dies on the side of Christ. The reason why this is the case, is because Jesus has already won. The cross and resurrection secured the victory.
You see, everyone will be going to a feast at the end of it all, when the New Jerusalem will be ushed in, as we will see in the coming chapter. Everyone will go to a supper. They will either eat or be eaten. Picture this battlefield of dead bodies with the birds of prey devouring the flesh of man, scavengers summoned by God himself. It is a grisly picture and you might be thinking, why do we need to hear about this? We need to be aware of the horrible consequences of following the beast, when we listen to the deceptions of the lying false prophet of this world. When we do no distance ourselves from everything that leads us away from the truth of the gospel, then there is a humiliating and disastrous price to pay.
But, there is good news. The evil armies will not make it. They have no chance when Jesus begins his final clean-up and judgement. For the bride of Christ, the marriage supper of the Lamb awaits. For those who reject the Savior, another supper awaits them. Which supper are you going to attend? Believe on the Lord and get ready for the wedding feast. Amen.
* As a matter of courtesy please advise Rev. Steven Swets, if you plan to use this sermon in a worship service. Thank-you.
(c) Copyright 2025, Rev. Steven Swets
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