Revelation 19 verses 1 through 10. These are God's words After these things I heard a loud voice of a great multitude in heaven saying Hallelujah salvation and glory and honor and power belong to the Lord our God For true and righteous are his judgments because he has judged the great harlot who corrupted the earth with her fornication and he has avenged on her the blood of his servants shed by her and Again, they said, Alleluia. Her smoke rises up forever and ever. And the 24 elders and the four living creatures fell down and worshiped God, who sat on the throne saying, Amen, Alleluia. Then a voice came from the throne, saying, Praise our God, all you his servants, and those who fear him, both small and great. And I heard, as it were, the voice of a great multitude, as the sound of many waters, and as the sound of mighty thundering, saying, Hallelujah, for the Lord God Omnipotent reigns. Let us be glad, and rejoice, and give him glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his wife has made herself ready. And to her it was granted to be arrayed in fine linen, clean and bright, for the fine linen is the righteous act of the saints. Then he said to me, Write, blessed are those who are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he said to me, These are the true sayings of God. And I fell at his feet to worship him. But he said to me, See that you do not do that. I am your fellow servants and of your brethren who have the testimony of Jesus. worship God for the testimony of Jesus as the spirit of prophecy. Amen. So far the reading of God's inspired and an errant word. When the harlot is judged, the last day has come and it is time for a new round of praise. We praise God for his great acts in his plan of salvation as queued here by the four living Creatures and the 24 elders who fall down and worship God we've seen this two other times once in chapter 4 on account of creation and once on in chapter 5 on account of redemption and so here we have the third time the trifecta of completed on account of the consummation, the finishing of all things. So we praise God for his attributes as shown in his works, particularly in the judgment of the harlot, we praise him for his truth and righteousness, and in the marriage of the bride to the lamb, we praise him for almighty love. In the Judgment of Harlot, we praise him for truth and righteousness. Verse two, for true and righteous are his judgments. So his truth and his righteousness are shown by his judgments. And this in three different ways. He is true and righteous to the harlot. He is corrupting her, punishing her, sorry, for her corrupting influence. He has judged the great harlot who corrupted the earth with her fornication. and punishes her for her fornication. He's also true and righteous with respect to the saints, avenging their blood. You see that in the end of verse two. He has avenged on her the blood of his servants shed by her. So there's not just truth and righteousness toward the harlot, there's also truth and righteousness toward the saints. And then there's truth and righteousness towards the the greatness of the sin being matched by the greatness of the punishment. Verse 3, Alleluia, her smoke rises up forever and ever. And so we praise God for his truth and righteousness. The praise of the last day is not just praising God for his truth and righteousness, it's praising God for his almighty power. And the great display of his almighty power is not the punishing of the harlot, but the marriage of the bride. Look at verse 6 where this attribute of God, His omnipotence and His reigning are praised. Hallelujah for the Lord God omnipotent reigns. And this is on account, verse seven, of the marriage of the lamb, having come and his wife having made herself ready. God's way of displaying his power most in all that he has planned to do is not by condemning, but by saving. It is a greater display of the power of God to save sinners even than to punish them. And so he shows himself Lord God omnipotent, When the marriage of the lamb comes and the wife is ready because not only has her guilt been atoned for which of course took the almighty miracle of the incarnation and the cross and the resurrection But she has been conformed to the Sun she has been fit for her marriage to the lamb which is the almighty work of his spirit and which produces even righteous acts of the saints, end of verse eight there, which are the fine linen of the bride. The lamb has loved his unworthy bride, he has betrothed her to himself, and he is right now fitting her for himself, and in the last day, when she has been perfected and made ready, it will be the greatest display of both almighty power and divine love. And so the last day is this day of great praise, and we respond to that in part by serving the interest and participating in God's work in bringing that praise about. This is what the angel is doing. This angel is not the one. who summons the worship in verse five. I'm pretty sure the voice is the Lord Jesus' because it says the voice comes from the throne and the response to, praise our God, all you his servants, those who fear him, small and great, is this massive multitude in verse six. And the Lord Jesus goes from commander in chief of the army of heaven to worship leader in chief of the assembly in heaven. But the one who's speaking in verse 9 is the angel that has been John's guide, one of the angels who had had the seven bulls, you remember. And we know that he's just an angel because of the way that he responds when John falls at his feet to worship him. It's very interesting, John is not just going by appearances. The angel sounded like the Lord Jesus because he spoke what was true. And when he said, these are the true sayings of God, he falls at his feet to worship him. He makes this mistake. But we would do well to be like John and to perceive the Lord Jesus, especially by his words. Anyway, it does turn out to be just an angel and he says, see that you do not do that. I'm your fellow servant and of your brethren who have the testimony of Jesus worship God. Hebrews 1.14 tells us that angels are all ministering spirits sent out to serve those who are inheriting salvation. But we find out in verse 10 when the angel says, fellow servant, that this is our job too. We are supposed to be servants of those who are inheriting salvation. And especially if we know. that when the marriage supper, marriage feast of the Lamb comes, that it will be the greatest display and praise of the power and love of God. And so when he says, write, in verse nine, that's for us to read and hear, blessed are those who are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb. And one of the things we need to do then, whether it's in evangelism, or discipleship is to summon people to the marriage supper of the Lamb, to summon sinners in evangelism and tell them of the salvation that is offered to them in the Lord Jesus Christ, to summon saints who are still sinful. and yet whose sanctification is part of the clothing, the fitting of the bride with her fine linen. And so when we help one another grow in the grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ, help one another love and obey God, we are participating in fitting the bride with her fine linen for her wedding day. And so there is great incentive there. So we praise God for his acts and his plan of salvation. We do this especially praising him for his truth and righteousness in the judgment of the harlot and praising him for his almighty love in the marriage of the bride to the lamb. And one of the ways that we respond then to this praise that is coming is by serving the saints and summoning, announcing to people the blessedness of being called to the marriage supper of the Lamb, to which too we should attend, we should desire to attend. And so be saved and sanctified and look to God for these things. Amen, let's pray. Father, thank you for reminding us of how everything ends. Help us, Lord, to live in light of the end today and every day. Give us to praise you from our hearts for everything that we see in creation and redemption and even looking forward to the consummation. Give us to help others to come to the marriage supper of the Lamb and grant that we ourselves would come, we ask in Jesus' name. Amen.