Revelation chapter 19 in your Bibles. There are many chapters that stand out in our minds as we search and study the Scriptures. But certainly one of the greatest chapters in all the Bible has to be Revelation chapter 19. It's a chapter where the first part of it is devoted to the rejoicing and celebration of heaven over the sovereign work of God in judging sin and preparing the way for the establishing of His kingdom on the earth. It's a chapter which the last half of it is devoted to the events surrounding the return of Jesus Christ to earth at Armageddon and the final destruction of His enemies. In many ways, Revelation chapter 19 is a climactic chapter in the Scripture. as Old Testament has looked forward to the coming of the Messiah, anticipated His death, anticipated His victory over His enemies, anticipated the establishing of the Kingdom on earth, that all comes together in chapter 19 with the return of Christ to earth in great power and glory. The first part of chapter 19 of Revelation is the hallelujah section. of the New Testament. The only place in the New Testament where the word Hallelujah is used, and it's used four times there, as heaven joins together in rejoicing over the work of God in judging His enemies and fulfilling His promises to the redeemed. The 70th week of Daniel is a seven-year period that climaxes with the return of Christ to earth. We have looked through chapter 6 through 18 of Revelation, which give the judgments that will take place during that seven-year period. Now that period is to be drawn to a close with the return of Christ. The final event leading into chapter 19 was the judgment of the harlot Babylon, which was the crushing of the satanic system. that has ruled and controlled the world down through the millenniums of time. With the crushing and destroying of that city, Babylon, and all that it stands for, we have the way prepared for the final step, the return of Christ and the final destruction of all of His enemies. Chapter 19 opened up with a great multitude in heaven saying, Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power belong to our God. Down into verse 5, Give praise to our God, all you His bondservants, you who fear Him, the small and the great. I heard, as it were, the voice of a great multitude, and as the sound of many waters, the sound of mighty peals of thunder, like all heaven, is reverberating, with the sound of celebration. Hallelujah! For the Lord our God the Almighty reigns. We have come to the point that all creation has anticipated. It is the establishing of the grain of God on the earth. You note there are two parts to the celebration going on here. which follow really two parallel lines that flow through Scripture. First is the strong and clear emphasis on the justice of God and His righteousness, which will result in the destruction of the wicked. Many people do not care to hear that emphasis, are unwilling to accept the factualness of it. But the Scripture is clear from beginning to end that God is a just and holy God and He will bring destruction on all of His enemies. When that happens in its final phase, all heaven will celebrate. But there is a second emphasis that is just as clear running through the Scripture. And that is God in mercy and grace has redeemed a people for Himself. He has provided a redemption because He so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son. That redemption will reach its fulfillment and completion with the establishing of His Kingdom on the earth. The curse will be lifted from the creation. The desert will blossom as a rose. and the redeemed will enjoy the glorious presence of God even on earth. That's where we are when we come to verses 7, 8 and 9 of Revelation 19. Two events inseparably joined together are referred to. The marriage of the Lamb and the marriage supper of the Lamb. Two different events yet part of the same event, if you will. Naturally, the marriage supper flows out of the marriage itself. But they have their own unique emphasis. And there is celebration in heaven, rejoicing because the marriage of the Lamb has come in verse 7. Then there is blessing pronounced on those who are invited to join the marriage supper of the Lamb in verse 9. Note verse 7, Let us rejoice and be glad, and give the glory to Him, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and the bride has made herself ready. Let us rejoice and be glad. This is a continuation of the celebration of heaven. It's like a mighty crescendo that builds as the rejoicing over the destruction of Babylon is an evidence that the final phase of God's program in redemption for His creation has now come. In that final phase, we have the fullness of blessing that He has prepared for those who love Him. So, let us rejoice and be glad and give The glory to Him. Give the glory to Him. That is the focus and underlying force in all that happens, that God would be given the glory. You've got to understand, that is going to happen in the destruction of the wicked, as well as the full redemption of the redeemed up in verse 1. as a result of the destruction. Look at the end of verse 1. Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power belong to our God. Why? Because His judgments are righteous and true. For He has judged the great harlot. All the glory goes to God because He has acted righteously in judging sin and the sinners. as we come to the ultimate redemption of the redeemed and the marriage of the Lamb, which is of particular interest to us as a church. Give Him the glory. Why? For the marriage of the Lamb has come. So, God has given the glory both in the destruction of the wicked and in the ultimate redemption of the righteous. God's intentions. are that He, as God, and He alone, receive glory. This stands in strong contrast to the attitude and action of the wicked who continually refuse to give Him the glory. Back in chapter 16 of Revelation, verse 9, as a result of the judgments on the earth, Men were scorched with fierce heat. They blasphemed the name of God who has the power over these plagues. And note that last statement of verse 9. They did not repent so as to give Him glory. Fallen man constantly fights against God, refusing to give Him the glory that is His as God. Let me read you Romans chapter 1, verse 21. where we're told that fallen man suppresses the truth of God in unrighteousness. For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God. They did not honor Him. That word translated honor is the word glorify. They did not glorify Him as God. That's the battle that goes on. Interestingly, in the morning paper, cover of the parade section, is the picture of a prominent psychologist looking into a mirror with googly eyes of love at the image that is seen. For the cover story is on self-love and self-esteem, which is all what? Man attempting to take for himself that which belongs to God. Man refusing to acknowledge he is nothing. God is everything. I am unworthy. He is worthy." So here we see heaven joined together saying, give God the glory for the marriage of the Lamb has come. Back in Revelation 19, the marriage of the Lamb. Now chapters 2 and 3 of Revelation were devoted to letters to the seven churches. Then we looked at the throne room in heaven in chapters 4 and 5. The worship of heaven before the throne of God. You know, the church has not played a role in chapters 6 through 18. Now attention is focused back on the church. For the marriage of the Lamb has come. That is a reference to the marriage of the church. which is the bride of Christ, the Christ who is the groom of the church. Through the Old Testament, Israel was viewed as the wife of Jehovah. We're going to talk more about Israel's relationship to God when we get to chapter 20 and the establishing of the earthly kingdom and Israel's marriage and relationship to God as his wife. I take it the distinction continues to be maintained and will be on down through the kingdom. And that is Israel is the wife of Jehovah. The church is the bride of Christ. We're talking about the marriage of the Lamb, which is the marriage of the church, the bride of Christ to the Lamb. We'll talk about Israel's relationship to God and to the Lamb when we get to chapter 20. The New Testament is clear that the church, which is comprised of all those who have been redeemed by God through faith in Jesus Christ, is viewed as the bride of Christ. Come back to Romans chapter 7, verse 4, drawing an analogy between marriage, husband and wife. And then it is applied in verse 4 of Romans 7. Therefore, my brethren, You also were made to die to the law through the body of Christ, that you might be joined to another. And if you'd read the first three verses, we're talking about marriage here. So we as believers have died to the law that we might be married to another, to him who was raised from the dead. That's Christ. So God's intention is that we be married to Christ and bear fruit for God. The fruit of this union is for God. And there we have the fruit of the Spirit, the beauty of God's character produced in our lives as a result of our union with Christ. Over in 2 Corinthians 11, verse 2, Paul is writing, For I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy, for I betrothed you to one husband, That is to Christ, that I might present you as a pure virgin. I betrothed you to one husband that I might present you to Christ as a pure virgin for the actual wedding. We'll see as we look at the Jewish wedding pattern. We are in the betrothal period. Paul is concerned that we maintain the purity in light of our coming marriage to him. We read for our Scripture reading, Ephesians chapter 5, where the analogy is drawn that husbands loved their wives as Christ loved the church and gave Himself for us. Now, to appreciate the marriage picture that we're talking about, maybe it would be helpful to walk through the steps of the Jewish practice in relationship to marriage, because that's the setting when we talk about marriage. and the marriage of the Lamb, and the church being the bride of Christ, that's coming out of the picture of the Jewish practices of biblical times. They differ some from our practices. So let me walk through the steps with you. You might come back to Revelation chapter 19, because we'll pick up at the appropriate step into chapter 19 and tie them together. If you read Bible encyclopedia or Jewish encyclopedia, they might lay out the steps make six steps instead of five. I saw one writer who condensed them into three, but you'll find each of these steps are there. Sometimes they'll put two or three under one heading and have less headings, but the same order will be followed. The first is the arrangement for the wedding. That often happened long before the wedding would take place. Perhaps the prospective bride and groom would be children. There the father of the groom and the father of the bride would make the arrangements for the coming wedding when it would occur, maybe many years down the road. They would agree on the price to be paid for the bride. That would all be arranged at that time. In the biblical pattern of our marriage to Christ, This step would parallel the work of God in choosing us for salvation before the foundation of the world. In the book of Ephesians, chapter 1, along about verse 4, we are told that God chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world. He selected those who would make up the Bride of Christ. In effect, He chose the bride for His Son. The arrangement was made. Also, back before the creation of the world, the price was settled. Jesus Christ is the Lamb of God slain before the foundation of the world. The plan of God was that the bride price would be the death of His Son. That was seen in Ephesians chapter 5 as well. that he gave himself for the church. That was within the plan of the price to be paid for the bride. The next step in the Jewish practice was the betrothal period. The betrothal occurred when the actual covenant for marriage was established. This would occur at least one year before the actual marriage would take place. This may be, as I say, years after the arrangements were made, but now you have the bride and groom reaching marriageable age. The betrothal is entered into. We call it our engagement period, but it was a more binding relationship. When you were betrothed, that was a formal covenant agreement to marriage. It could only be broken by a divorce decree. You remember in Matthew 1, verses 18 and 19, when Mary and Joseph were betrothed, Mary was found to be with child by the Holy Spirit. Joseph, being a just man, was minded to put her away. That's the expression for divorce. Joseph was prepared to divorce her. is what it says, because that's the way that a betrothal could be ended, only by a divorce, because impurity had been found. And that's why the betrothal period lasted at least a year. It could last longer, but at least a year. Because one of the things that took place there was the purity of the bride was demonstrated. Since there would not be a personal relationship and involvement between the bride and groom during this time, If the bride would conceive, it would be a demonstration she had not been faithful to the one to whom she was betrothed. During this time, the groom would be preparing a place at his father's home for his bride. The bride would be making the preparations that she was responsible for in anticipation of her marriage. With the betrothal, you have the commitment made and the bond formally established. You have all the preparations that will take place on both sides in anticipation for a coming marriage. The parallel for this, for the church, the Bride of Christ is, at the time of our salvation, when we come to personally believe in Christ, when in effect we are committed to Him, By faith, the betrothal is established. We are brought into that binding, unbreakable relationship to Christ. The betrothal has occurred. We're joined in an unbreakable bond, even though we haven't seen him yet. We haven't formally been married. This is the period of time Paul's talking about that we read in 2 Corinthians 11, too. I have betrothed you to Christ as a pure virgin. It was the instrument God used, what? In bringing them to salvation, entering into that relationship with Christ. During this time, our purity is being tested and proved. I want to present you to Christ as a pure virgin, Paul said in 2 Corinthians chapter 11. This process is called the process of sanctification. That's the process we are in as the church today. It was referred to in Ephesians chapter 5. Verse 26, where Christ gave Himself up for the church, that He might sanctify her, cleansing her with the washing of water with the Word. There's that ongoing process as we study the Word of God, and the Word of God is applied to our hearts and lives, that we are refined and purified in preparation and anticipation for our coming marriage to the groom. This period of time will be referred to in a moment in Revelation chapter 19. And the impact of this period of time is of overwhelming importance in the work of God as we are prepared for the marriage of the Lamb. The third step in the Jewish practice was the taking of the bride. What happened here is when the time for the wedding arrived, it was near, The groom would come from his father's home to the bride's home and get her and take her back to his father's home. Often this occurred at night. He would come, get his bride and take her back to his father's home. There the final preparations would take place. The bride would make the final arrangements. Arrangements would be made with her. All the details that need to be done in anticipation. for the actual wedding ceremony and consummation of the marriage. For the church, the picture again is so clear, isn't it? At the rapture of the church, Jesus Christ will come from His Father's home back to earth to get His bride, the church. He will call her to Himself in the air and then He will take the church back to His Father's home. John 14, Jesus said, In my Father's house are many dwelling places. If it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am there you may be also. He was crucified, descended in the first chapter of Acts, returned to His Father's house to make His preparations. We have been betrothed to Him. by God's grace in salvation. We are making preparation through the sanctifying ministry of the Holy Spirit in our walk in godliness at the rapture of the church, which will precede the coming seven-year tribulation that we've been talking about, that is climaxed in Revelation 19 with the return of Christ. Before that seven-year period, Christ will descend in the air. Turn to 1 Thessalonians chapter 4. Paul refers to this event. We'll just pick it up in verse 15. For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord shall not precede those who have fallen asleep. The pointed issue is the relationship of believers in Christ who are alive when Christ comes to those who are dead. Now, this is not the coming of Christ in Revelation 19. I'm telling you, Christ in Revelation 19, in the context of a return to earth, here the bride is caught up to meet Christ in the air. Those alive when Christ returns won't go before those who have died. Verse 16, For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a shout, the voice of the archangel and the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ shall rise first. That we are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. Thus we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore, comfort one another with these words." The dead in Christ. We're only talking about the Church, the Bride of Christ that began in Acts chapter 2 and will be completed at the rapture of the Church. If that would occur today, this afternoon, then the Bride of Christ, all believers from Acts chapter 2 down until that point in time this afternoon, those who have died first, Their bodies would be called out of the grave. They have been absent from the body and present with the Lord, according to 2 Corinthians 5. They will move back into their bodies, which have been glorified. Then all those who are alive and are believers in Christ, part of the bride, will be bodily removed, transformed. 1 Corinthians 15 talks about this, beginning in verse 51. Thus we meet the bridegroom, and he takes us to his father's house. We're taken to the father's house and the final details of preparation for the marriage will occur. You look back in Revelation chapter 19, verse 7, the marriage of the Lamb has come. Note the last part of the verse. And his bride has made herself ready. His bride has made herself ready. This is the bride's responsibility. The part of preparation that rests on the bride. She has made herself ready. I take it that will have reference, as we will see in a moment, to what we have been doing during this time of sanctification. to prepare ourselves for this event. Look back in 2 Corinthians chapter 7. He's not talking about the analogy of the marriage relationship, but the point is the same. There are a variety of analogies used. But note in chapter 7 of 2 Corinthians verse 1, Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God. You see, that's a responsibility we have in preparing ourselves, in getting ourselves ready for the coming marriage of the Lamb. Holy and godly living before our God. In 1 John chapter 3, John says that everyone who has their future hope fixed upon Christ and His coming purifies himself. just as He is pure. People who live with eager anticipation of the coming of Christ are motivated to live purer lives than those who do not. Now, you hear criticisms of the study of prophecy, people saying, I want to study things that are practical and relevant to me now. The most relevant and practical thing you could study is the study of prophecy and the soon return of Jesus Christ. Much of the purity of the church is lost because we are not living in expectation of the return of Christ. Let me ask you, if an angel would appear on this platform, a real angel, and he said, I've come to announce to you at five o'clock this afternoon, Jesus Christ is going to come to call the church to himself, how many of you would go out and commit adultery? How many of you would go home and scheme how you're going to cheat on your income taxes this week? How many of you would go home and say, I've got to get in one last slanderous statement about this person. All of a sudden, everything would what? Be shaped. Christ is coming. The last thing I want to do is get involved in impurity. The last thing I want to do is get involved in dishonesty. The last thing I want to do... Right? Why? Christ is coming. What do I want to do with this day? I want to do all I can to be as ready as I can. Why? Because when you have your hope fixed on His coming, it purifies you. That's the way we're to be living every day. Is there anything you would do differently if you knew Jesus Christ was coming at 5 o'clock today? Then you ought to get home and do it. That's the way we ought to be living. I ought to be doing exactly what I know God wants me to do with this day, because I expect He is coming. When He doesn't, I'm disappointed. Everyone who has this hope fixed on Him purifies himself. That's the bride preparing herself. There is also the dimension of the final preparation of the bride when she's taken to meet the groom and taken to the groom's house. There are final preparations to be made in anticipation for the marriage ceremony. That's true for us as a church. That's called the judgment seat of Christ. There we will have the final purification, if you will, in preparation for our marriage to Christ. We'll look at that in a moment. Look in chapter 19 of Revelation, verse 8. You have a balance here. It's important that we see. The end of verse 7 says, His bride has made herself ready. The bride has responsibility in preparing herself for her coming marriage. But then verse 8 begins, And it was given to her to clothe herself in fine linen. That verb translated, it was given to her, is used some 20 times in chapter 6 to 20 of Revelation. It always refers to something granted by God. So the point of verse 8 is, it was granted to her by God to clothe herself in fine linen. Here at the end of verse 7, you have the human responsibility of the church. And at the beginning of verse 8, you have the divine provision for the church. She made herself ready. He granted to her all that was necessary that she might be clothed appropriately, to clothe herself in fine linen, bright and clean, the dazzling, spotless purity of the bride. She is now finally prepared, clothed in the appropriate garment. It's clean, bright, depicting the purity, the holiness, the cleanliness. And what is the fine linen? The fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints. That's startling. The fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints. And here you see the deeds we have done in this life, the way we have lived, What we have done with our lives as the redeemed has eternal importance and significance. It does not say here that you are saved by your righteous acts. That's an impossibility. This is the marriage of the Lamb. The Lamb is the animal of sacrifice. And it's through His death that He has provided our salvation. But now as those who have been redeemed, we are to be exercising our will to live obediently for Him, to live in all that we do with one focus. I am to be joined in marriage to the Lamb. Do you realize that? If Christ would come this afternoon, Your job, your house, your car, your bank account, your clothes, all those things are gone and over and done. Now, the righteous acts of the saints are all that matter. Turn back to 2 Corinthians chapter 5. What happens after the rapture of the church, Christ comes and gets us in the air, takes us to his Father's house. There is the judgment seat of Christ for the believer called the behemoth seat where we, the redeemed, will stand to be judged on the basis of how we have conducted our lives as His servants. In 2 Corinthians chapter 5, in a chapter Paul was talking about life and death, he says in verse 9, Therefore also we have as our ambition Whether at home or absent, whether at home living in this physical body or dead in this life, absent from this physical body, we have one driving ambition, to be pleasing to Him. Why? For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body." The focal point of the judgment seat of Christ is, what have I done with my life as one redeemed by the grace of God? According to what he has done, whether good or bad, you know, this made an impact on Paul. Note verse 11 begins with, therefore, therefore, knowing the fear of the Lord, we persuade men. You know what drove Paul to carry the gospel to one person after another person, to be abused, to suffer, to ultimately be martyred? The fear of the Lord. I shall someday stand before Him and all that I have done with my life as His servant will be evaluated. If that doesn't cause you to tremble, you don't understand. Paul, the apostle, who had a glimpse into the third heaven. He says, knowing the fear of the Lord. Does that mean he's afraid he's going to go to hell? No. Look back in 1 Corinthians chapter 3. Different analogy here. Different picture. Not a wedding, but a building, but the same point. Paul said, by the grace of God, in verse 10, he was called of God to lay a foundation by preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ. Men and women come to believe, and then we build on that foundation. Verse 11, there is only one foundation. No man can lay a foundation other than the one which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now, if any man builds upon the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each man's work will become evidence. Each man's work will become evidence, for the day will show it. The day we're talking about is the day we just read about in 2 Corinthians chapter 5. We must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ. And on that day, all we have done will be exposed for what it is. It will be revealed with fire. The fire will test the quality of each man's work. If any man's work which he has built remains, he shall receive a reward. If any man's work is burned up, he shall suffer loss, but he himself shall be saved so as through fire. You see, we're talking about a judgment here for believers. And no one is lost because we are here by the grace of God through the finished work of Christ. The God of His grace is giving rewards to those who faithfully served Him. Now, I don't claim to understand all this will entail. I don't believe we can. Sometimes we allow ourselves to be deluded into thinking as Christians, look, I don't care about rewards. It won't matter. As long as I get to go to heaven, it'll matter. Believe God, it will matter. It will make a difference. I really think that on that day, if judgment is to have any significance, if this event is to have any impact, I fear that many of us will stand and say, if I had only known what I know now, I'd live my life differently. Then I would have been more serious about making every day count. You realize this is the only time in all eternity, that means all eternity, this little span of life, in this body is the only time we have to store up those rewards and to prepare for that judgment. What a fearful responsibility it is. But what a tremendous privilege that this little brief period of time that I get so concerned with enjoying But I get too concerned with getting all I can and living life to the fullest. This is the only time in all eternity I have to store up the rewards that will count for eternity. What a privilege! I can use my life every day in light of eternity. But the indication of 1 Corinthians chapter 3 is there are many wasted lives. Much of what we do is simply wood, hay and straw. May get the applause of the world. may make us feel good, but when it comes to the beam of seed, it will all be burned up. What did Paul have? He had nothing, but he had everything. If you measured what he had in life, he had nothing. If you measure the rewards he has today, he has everything. That's what we're talking about. Come back to Revelation chapter 19. The fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints at the end of verse 8. The Bema Seat of Christ has occurred. So all that we have done has been brought before the Judgment Seat. Praise God, all the wood, hay and stubble has been burned up. We're not left to be dressed in that. How this will affect our garments, I don't know. But we are told we are dressed in the righteous acts of the saints. The result of the provision of Christ and how we have lived in light of that provision On this earth, we are now clothed as the bride of Christ. Dazzling white garments. There's another step, and he said to me, write, blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb. The marriage supper of the Lamb in the Jewish practice The bride was taken back to the groom's home. There the final preparations were taking place. Then we would have the marriage ceremony. Some make this a separate step, the ceremony, which we just referred to. Then you have the wedding feast. The marriage ceremony itself was a rather private affair. There the actual commitment in marriage was taken. The marriage itself was consummated. Then the friend. were all invited to a feast to celebrate the wedding. So, we're talking about in verse 9, is a special blessing on all of those who were invited to share in the festivities and celebration of the marriage of the Lamb. The friends that are invited here refer to the saints of the Old Testament and the Tribulation. The wedding feast is none other than the Millennium, the Kingdom of God that will be established on earth. There's a blessing to those who are invited to that, because that event is about to occur, chapter 20. We'll speak of the thousand-year kingdom. There we are in the wedding feast and that celebration. This is pictured back in Matthew, chapter 25. In Matthew 24, you have events surrounding the seven-year tribulation and the return of Christ to earth. That return that is referred to in Matthew 24 verses 29 to 31 is the one that is more in detail described at the end of Revelation chapter 19. Then in chapter 25, you have three parables that depict the judgments that take place of the living on earth at the return of Christ in Revelation 19. It depicts the sifting that will take place. Those who will go into the wedding feast and those who will not. And the first parable is the parable of the ten virgins. Matthew 25 verses 1 to 13. You know, then the kingdom of heaven. Kingdom of heaven is a reference to the earthly kingdom that Christ is going to establish on the earth. Compared to ten virgins, five are prepared for the coming of the bridegroom. Five are not. Now, they are not the bride. They are the virgins. The attendants. Those who will go into the wedding feast. The five unprepared are caught by surprise with the return of the bridegroom. The five prepared are ready. And you know what happens? Verse 10, while they were going away, the five who weren't ready, when they hear He's coming, they go away to try to make preparation. But those who were ready went in with Him to the wedding feast. The door was shut. And He says, when they come, I do not know you. Remember what Jesus said at his return, that we saw him, he said, Depart from me, cursed ones, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels. I never knew you. I never knew you. Beyond the alert then, you do not know the day or the hour. Word of exhortation to Israel. That's the picture. Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding feast. Christ returns. Now there are the saved and the unsaved on the earth. that will go into the feast. They're depicted in the parables of Matthew 25. Also, will be a time for the resurrection of Old Testament saints and tribulation saints, as we'll see in the beginning of chapter 20. They will go into the wedding feast. This is a time of celebration for all the redeemed of God. You know, this gets to be overwhelming. So back in Revelation 19, last statement in verse 9 is, these are the true words of God. These are the true words of God. I mean, this is overwhelming. This is awesome. Make no mistake about it. This will happen with certainty. God has spoken. That is a reminder. We ought to be living in light of it. The times gone by, even we as believers get distracted. We get caught up in the things of this life that won't matter a bit for good at the behemoth seat of Christ. These are the true words of God. There is a final step as we leave the wedding analogy here that you ought to just be aware of. We'll be picking it up later. And that is the home of the bride. Because you have the marriage itself, the marriage of the Lamb. Then you have the wedding feast. Following the wedding feast and its celebration, the bride and the groom settle down in the home that the bride has provided. And after the Millennial Kingdom of chapter 20, we will move into a study of the New Jerusalem. in chapter 21 and the first part of chapter 22. And that's why we see the New Jerusalem described in verse 2 of chapter 21 as a bride adorned for her husband. Here is the home He has prepared. I go to prepare a place for you. Now, following the celebration, we settle down. Here is the place that He has prepared for our permanent dwelling. The impact on John of all of this in verse 10 of chapter 19 is overwhelming. He does what any of us can understand. He falls down on his face and worships the angel who has given him this overwhelming revelation. As understandable as it is, it results in a stern rebuke from the angel. You don't worship angels. He said in verse 10, do not do that. I am a fellow servant of yours and of your brethren who hold the testimony of Jesus. Worship God. There's never any excuse for worship to be diverted to anyone or anything else. Even when that one becomes the vehicle of great and overwhelming revelation, all he is is a fellow servant. Even if an angel would appear here with all the glory and splendor that characterizes those who serve in the presence of God in glory, there would be no excuse or reason for us to bow down and worship Him. He's just a fellow servant carrying out the bidding of the God who deserves worship. I want you to note something here. I am a fellow servant of yours and your brethren who hold the testimony of Jesus. The testimony of Jesus is the testimony that comes from Jesus, the testimony that Jesus bears. In other words, the angel says, I am just like you, John, just like the prophets. I have the word of Christ entrusted to me. I give that forth. You worship God who has given the word through his son. You don't worship the mouthpiece. We're told the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy. I think the best view of this is it's the testimony that Jesus bears that is the spirit of prophecy. What prophecy is all about is the word that Christ has given. This is the way this testimony is used over in chapter 22 of Revelation. For example, verse 9, you know, John does the same thing in Revelation 22, 8 and 9. It's sort of like Peter. You take encouragement that he blunders twice. In verse 8, John falls down at the feet of the angel again. He gets so overwhelmed he can't help himself. He better help himself. He gets the same rebuke. Verse 9, Do not do that. I am a fellow servant of yours and of your brethren, the prophets, of those who heed the words of this book. Worship God. You see, the words of this book are the testimony of Jesus. They're the testimony that Christ has borne from God. Listen to this, Revelation 1-2. John, the bond servant, bore witness to the word of God and to the testimony of Jesus. That's what the book of Revelation is. It's the word of God, the testimony of Jesus, God's word through his son, Jesus Christ. That's what we talk about when we talk about the testimony of Jesus. While you're in Revelation 22, look at verse 16. I, Jesus, have sent my angel to testify to you of these things. It's the testimony of Jesus. Because Jesus sent him. It's the testimony of Jesus. The angel is testifying, saying what Christ has said. Verse 18, Christ speaks, I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book. Verse 20, he who testifies to these things says, I am coming quickly. So the testimony of Jesus is the word that comes from Christ. I'm belaboring this a little bit because you note the angel says, Back in chapter 19, verse 10, I am a fellow servant of yours and your brethren who hold the testimony of Jesus. The angel identifies himself as a fellow servant of those who hold on to the words that have been given by Christ. That's what identifies us as a fellow servant. We're losing our way on this. People say, oh, I believe in Christ. We share our common faith in Christ together. That becomes a meaningless statement, an emotional reaction. We are fellow servants of those who hold on to the words given by Christ. That's why our relationship and bond with others as fellow servants is determined by our agreement on the Word of God. This angel is a fellow servant of those who hold to the testimony of Jesus, who hold to the Word as given by Christ. This is not something, oh, you claim to believe in Christ and I claim to believe in Christ. Our doctrinal differences are not relevant. We are fellow servants. That becomes some mystical, superstitious kind of emotional bond that is not related to what the Word of God is talking about. We are bound together with fellow servants. angels and men alike who hold on to the Word of Christ. That's what this is. It's the Word of Christ. The Word of God. We have been joined together as fellow servants. We've just heard the testimony of Christ regarding these prophetic matters. What is our response as the church? Two things. Number one, we ought to take note. The marriage of the Lamb looms for the redeemed of God today. Are you preparing yourself for that marriage? Is everything you do with your life every day conditioned by the fact, I'm the bride of Christ? Preparing for the marriage of the Lamb? How does what I'm doing today fit with that reality? If it doesn't, we need to make some changes. We are to be purifying ourselves as He is pure. Second, there is a role that the Bride is playing today, mentioned in chapter 22 of Revelation in verse 17. And the Spirit and the Bride, that's the church, the Bride, the Spirit and the Bride say, Come, and let the one who hears say, Come. Let the one who is thirsty come. Let the one who wishes take the water of life without cost. We are fellow servants with the angel who spoke to John. We hold to the testimony of Jesus. He testifies as the book closes. Verse 20, I come quickly. I come quickly. We join with the Spirit of God today in carrying out the ministry of the Word of God, in exhorting men, women and young people, come to Christ. Come, partake of the water of life. He desires to cleanse you, purify you, make you part of the Bride. That's a consuming passion. Have you been fulfilling the role of the Bride? What about this past week? How many have there been that we have exhorted to come to Christ? Have we exhorted to come and take the water of life freely? That's the ministry the Bride has today. The Spirit and the Bride say, come, come. We're reaching out to a lost world with the message of the water of life, inviting them to come and partake, that they might be joined to the Bride of Christ. And in it all, we're to be careful to maintain our purity of devotion to Him. not turned aside even a little bit to the false doctrines and teachings of men who would corrupt the Word and mar our purity. Let's pray together. Father, thank You for the glorious plan You have for the redeemed. That we, the church, are the bride of Christ and someday we will be called into Your presence as the Bridegroom comes to get us, to prepare us Finally, for the marriage of the Lamb. Lord, all the mundane things of this life are put into perspective by the glory of that coming marriage. Lord, forgive us for becoming so entangled with the meaningless, trite, temporal things of this life. For devoting so little of our lives, our time and our abilities to the pursuit of godliness to the extending of the invitation to come in harmony with the Spirit. Lord, I pray that we as a local church, as part of that bride, might be careful. We might join together to live as the bride of Christ in anticipation of the wedding of the Lamb, the marriage of the Lamb. Lord, I pray for those who are here who are yet outside of Christ. May your gracious invitation to them to come Partake at no cost. Be accepted by the gracious ministry of the Spirit in their hearts even this morning. We pray in Christ's name. Amen.