Welcome to the To Faithful Men podcast. This project started in 2006 to preserve old sermon and study tapes of Wiley Flanagan, Hassel Wallace, and Mike Strebel. 2 Timothy 2 says, And the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also. Verse 9 says, he saith unto me, write, blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb." Now, the called are the called. Now, this is a second call. This is not a calling to life, it is a calling to the feast, showing an invitation that that there's going to be a great feast day. Now that's what Jesus promised in the New Testament, you know, with reference to that many would come from the east and the west and north and the south and they would sit down in the kingdom of God. In other words, it's a symbolic picture, a gesture of the eternal state of Christ and his people and of the redeemed. that there's going to be, there's nothing in the Jewish thought, nothing portrayed the relationship of the redeemed as a marriage or as a feast, a festival. That was a day they, of course, they reclined around on one another's, as the picture Bible talks about the bosom, John, you know, laying on his bosom. Now that was a, it's a picture of contentment, it's a picture of delight, of perfect happiness, all right? And that's the description given here of the marriage feast. And he saith unto me, these are the true sayings. Now you have no date given, a wedding why you always have a you put out send out a date don't you and you send out a place where it's going to occur where it's going to take place but here we have no wedding date given no wedding place given it just says blessed are they that are called see to the wedding to the marriage feast but it uh doesn't tell you whether it's in heaven or on earth But I understand the Bible to teach that this will take place upon the earth, on the renewed earth, and that we will, as Revelation 21 and 22 describe. All right, he said these, and he saith unto me, these are the true sayings of God. And I, well, of course, there's no other kind of sayings of God, the true sayings. What he's emphasizing is these sayings are of God. They're God's sayings, they're God's words. And I fell at his feet to worship him. Evidently John, see now when John, back in verse one it says, and after these things I heard a great voice. And it was sounded as a much people and so on. See, I mean, that's the way he described it. And evidently, at first, he understood it. But the more that this person taught, the more he thought that it was God. And evidently, in so doing, he fell at his feet to worship him, as verse 10 says. And he said unto me, See thou do it not. I am thy fellow servant and thy brethren that have the testimony of Jesus. Worship God, for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy. Now the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy. Is it what Jesus said about himself? Is it what Jesus claimed to be? Is it the work that Christ did for us? or is the testimony of Jesus the witness given to Jesus by the servants? Now, if it's a first, you would call it a subjective phrase. But if it's the latter, it's known as an objective testimony. are praised. It's something that the children of God do, the servants of God, attribute to Christ. In other words, they are saying it's their faithfulness to Christ. Now, when John began writing the book, he tells us that he was on the Isle of Patmos because of the testimony and of the word of God, the gospel of God. Well now, why was he there? Mr. Bullinger says that there were no such things as the seven churches of Asia Minor at the time that John went out on, was carried, or went to the Isle of Patmos. He tells us that he went there on an evangelistic tour. He went over there to preach. Now, did he go over there to preach? Did he go over there to receive this message of the book of Revelation? Or did he go over there because he was preaching the gospel of Christ and was faithful to the Word of God over in Ephesus in Asia Minor? And was he driven to the Isle of Patmos because of his faithfulness to the Word of God? Now, that's the same thing we have here. language. How are you going to interpret it? Well, I believe that he was driven or taken as prisoner to the Isle of Patmos because of the fact that he was actually preaching the gospel and telling all throughout Asia, the world, where there was emperor worship. where people said, well, Caesar is Lord. Well, I think John was saying that Jesus was Lord, and because of bearing his faithful testimony to Jesus. Now, that's the spirit of prophecy. In other words, that's what the prophecy wrote about, prophesied. Prophecy spoke of that time, of the faithful witness to the Lord Jesus. Now, certainly, Christ bore testimony to his faithfulness, to the fact that he came to do the Lord's will. And if so, well then that's one thing. But then Jesus preaching about something, see, puts it in the active sense. The other is one that's born to. The other is buried. It's almost like active and passive voice, anything in that category. For the testimony, he says, I am thy fellow servant and of thy brethren that have the testimony of Jesus. Now, what is the testimony of Jesus? He tells us there, for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy. In other words, the words of God. Now when Jesus took the disciples on the way to Emmaus, he took them aside and he started opening up the scriptures concerning the things that was written concerning him. Where? In Moses and in the prophets and in the Psalms concerning him. Alright, now that's the spirit, that's the testimony of prophecy. See, that was what the prophet said. Now when Jesus pointed out that those words and those predictions concerned him, how that he must suffer, how that he would suffer and then die and rise again, that is what later the disciples, the apostles, were preaching. And that's why I think John was on the Isle of Fatima. just priested too long, he was just too faithful to suit the rulers and the enemies at that time and therefore they put him on the Isle of Patmos and after having been there the Lord certainly revealed to him the book of Revelation. Now when it says the true sayings and he saith unto me these are the true sayings of God, that doesn't mean that just the things concerning the marriage of the Lamb. Certainly the marriage of the Lamb are true sayings of God, what it said about it. But it includes the whole book because as far from Revelation 1 to here, to the end actually, because this was given to John and he had it all before he ever wrote it. Now there was no question that John wrote a little, made notes here and there. But John was in vision seeing all of this. But after the vision passed, he wrote down by the inspiration of God what he had seen. And that's how we have this book. Now, the book of Revelation was written to the churches, as you well know. And you know that chapters 4 through 18 have been taken up with the tribulation, with trouble, with persecution, with trials, with judgments. But now, in chapter 19, we begin with the hallelujah chorus in heaven. And people are shouting, they're rejoicing, because the judgments have been finished, you see. Now, if according to dispensationalists, the rapture takes place at chapter four, and that the church is in heaven, and that then it would have been It looks like the writer devoted a lot, the greater portion of the book of Revelation in vain if it did not pertain to the church. See, what they call the church to us, and to us the church also, but we have different meaning as to the same word. Now, I point that out simply to show that the part that we're affixing to deal with is going to show us, we're going to study, and in our study here, we're going to find out when this takes place. In other words, can the wedding, can the marriage supper take place before the resurrection? You've got to have the resurrection of the deity in Christ before you have a marriage. We haven't come to the resurrection. Nowhere in the book of Revelation has there been any hint, any suggestion that the righteous dead have been raised. Verse 11 begins a description of the return of Christ to the earth. And yet, it's not a detailed description, just as the marriage supper of the Lamb. You have nothing said about the bride, other than how she was dressed. That she's made herself ready, she's ready for the wedding, and that's all it was said about. Go with that again. Revelation chapter 19 verse 11. And I saw heaven open, and behold a white horse, and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war. His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns, and he had a name written that no man knew but he himself. and he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood, and his name is called the word of God. And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean. And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations, and he shall rule them with a rod of iron, and shall, and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Here is a picture according to Post-Millennius. This represents a symbolic representation of the conquering of the gospel as it's proclaimed. The rider upon the white horse are the ministers of God going forth proclaiming the gospel of God until the whole world. This is to them a holy war. It's the war of righteousness against evil. But now, of course, we don't believe there's much sympathy with that view today, but that was the prevailing view for many years in America. Then, those that interpret the Bible symbolically, tells us that this is a battle of righteousness against evil and the victory, the righteousness becoming, being victorious. But any man, any person reading this can see that there is a description here of a great host in heaven following a leader. Now many of them will tell you that this is a heavenly scene, that the white horse is circling heaven with the other horses following that horse. That they don't come to the earth, that the horse is not earthbound. Well, it doesn't say that he comes to the earth, this passage. That's true. And they say it's simply a John Saw vision that takes place in heaven, has nothing to do with the world, with the earth. But it is simply a rejoicing, a victory that Christ has won, and they're celebrating it in heaven. Now that's to me a far-fetched interpretation. So certainly it's symbolic, certainly I don't believe that they are necessarily white horses, that is horses of like people ride, it's a symbolic way, certainly, of portraying something that's real. It's portraying the coming of Christ and his armies, his heavenly hosts. It says, And I saw heaven open, and behold, a white horse, and he that sat upon him was called faithful and true, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war. Now, if you explain the horse away as being a reality, something that is real, or the picture of a reality, then you've got to explain the reality of the person away likewise. Because here is someone on it, on the horse. and in righteousness he doth judge and make war. Now it doesn't say that he makes war with ammunition, powder, or with bow and arrow, or with swords. The only sword that's mentioned in this passage is one that comes out of his mouth, which is his word. But This is, he's certainly not coming on a peaceful mission right here. He's not describing something about, but he's to make war of some sort. His eyes were as a flame of fire. Now that's not a picture describing a man fixing to talk about peace. He's not presenting A love message here, but his eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns. Now, I don't think he had a stack of crowns that reached to the, and that he was doing a balancing act with all those crowns upon top of there, see? I don't believe it's that, but the many crowns shows that he's victorious, he's conquered everything, every face, every, he's lord, he's king over all sorts of realms and every realm over which a crown is a symbol of. Many crowns. And he had on his, and on his head were many crowns and he had a name written that no man knew but he himself. Well, If no man knows it but him, I ain't no use us trying to find out what it is. You know, you tell me what it is, I can't tell you what it is. And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood. All right? Here's a vesture. Here's his clothing. Symbolic of the blood, his own blood, his own sacrificial blood. or it may have meaning with reference to the mission on which he's come. The blood of the armies of this world, in other words, showing that he's triumphed over in war, you see. The armies and his name is called the Word of God. If the name in verse 12 is the same as the name in verse 13, then he's telling us what that name is, the word of God. So at least he's identified these expressions tell us that this person evidently is not an angel. The scripture says, describes him as faithful and true, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war. This is the only holy war that will ever take place upon this earth. Every war that history has described or known or unknown even to history has been a war of wickedness come from some evil sinful motive. But here is one who comes from heaven and in righteousness he doth judge and make war. Now this judge, the word judge, as we'll see a little later, doesn't mean that he's going to stop and pass sentence on somebody. And that's the authority of the judge. But now, when you read in the book of Judges, talking about, and so-and-so judged Israel, he judged Israel for so many years, 20 years, 30 years, or 42 years or so. Well now, that doesn't mean that he had a court session and he held court for 42 years, you see. But that he reigned. But there were judicial decisions to be made during that reign, see. And those were made. But it speaks of his authority to reign. Now, you remember verse 6 closed by saying, For the Lord God Omnipotent reigneth. And yet he wasn't reigning. It's an announcement of his reign. He's now coming, and we're now describing what he saw in heaven, and he sees this person who was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood, and his name is called the Word of God. That's John's favorite expression. In fact, he's the only one that uses that expression. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. And the Word became flesh among us. So he says, and then, and the armies which were in heaven. Now, if you're a dispensationalist, you're going to say that these armies consist of human beings. That it's a redeemed, that it's a church. It's a rapture. But you'd have to say that the armies in heaven would be confined to the people that are redeemed from Pentecost to the rapture. And then possibly heavenly hosts joining them. But the armies would consist and do consist, as far as the dispensation is concerned, to refer to the bride, to the Lamb's wife. But now, the Bible gives no indication, and it simply says that the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses. That means the heavenly hosts, a great innumerable number of angelic beings as far as I'm concerned until I read where man's inhabited heaven and constitute the bride up there. Well then I take it that anytime I read of a heavenly host, a being in heaven, whether he be referred to as an elder or as a living creature or as a cherub or as an angel, it's an angelic being as far as I'm concerned. one that God created for heaven. Now in here, the angelic host come with the Lord and I maintain that this is a picture of Christ coming from heaven to the earth. For this verse and the next will indicate. And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, quiet and clean. And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations, and he shall rule them with a rod of iron." Now he's coming, he smites a nation. Well now then, it's certainly true that his word is powerful enough, at his will he could from heaven say the word and the armies of this earth would be completely destroyed. But now that if you are a post-millennialist, you are saying that these armies are, that this word is the word of God, it's the gospel that proceeds from his mouth, see, and that the armies are broadcast in that message and it conquers evil, the evil forces. of the world. But now, this says that he should smite the nations and rule them. Well, where are the nations? On earth, aren't they? Certainly, not even dispensations would admit that these nations are in heaven. All right? So, from his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations, and he shall rule them with a rod of iron. And he treaded the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. Not one sword, not one word comes from the armies. Not a thing said about what the armies of heaven do. All they're doing, all it says here is they followed him. They're with him. And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, King of Kings and Lord of Lords. And I saw an angel standing in the sun, and he cried with a loud voice, saying, To all the fowls that fly in the midst of heaven, come and gather yourselves together unto the supper of the great God, that ye may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains, and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses, and of them that sit on them, And the flesh of all men, both free and bond, both small and great. Now you just count the word flesh in verse 18. The flesh of kings, flesh of captains, flesh of mighty men, flesh of horses, and the flesh of all men, both free and bond, both small and great. Now that's a pretty good dish of meat, isn't it? And that's a rather, quite a mixture of meat. Now this is an angelic and an angelic being cried with a loud voice saying to all the fowls that fly in the midst of heaven or in mid-heaven. Now they don't fly up in eternal in the presence of God, that's not where they are. They're in the atmospheric heaven. It doesn't say that but that's what it means isn't it? in the mid-heaven, it said mid-heaven in the Greek actually, the original, not in the midst of heaven. They're not flying, it's not a, but the realm of the fowls of the air is in the atmospheric heavens. If they get beyond that, well, of course they couldn't live. But now he's calling to, there's an invitation, it said, now come and gather yourselves together unto the supper of the great God. Well now, are they going to, who are they going to eat? What are they going to eat? They're only going to eat what is slain by the sword that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. And I saw the beast and the army and the kings of the earth and their armies gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse and against his army. All right, now, where are these people? What's the abode of the beast and the armies that are gathered together to make war against Christ? They're on the earth. It doesn't say they are, but that's where they are, isn't it? But now, what I'm trying to show you is how that the Amens And the postmens tell you that this is not a literal scene, that this doesn't have anything to do with the earth. But this is certainly describing the object of the coming, the destination of the rider on the white horse is this earth. He's on his way. And this is the second coming of Christ. Now, this passage tells us nothing. This description says nothing about God's people. Describes it. In 1 Thessalonians 4, it speaks only of God's people. 1 Corinthians 15 speaks only of the resurrection of believers, children of God. Here, instead of the emphasis being on what about the people of God? It's not mentioned yet, see? Not one word. But the Lord and the heavenly hosts proceed against the armies of the earth, the kings of the earth. Now the Euphrates under the seventh bowl judgment was dried up in order that the kings of the east might come against the Lord, Jerusalem and the Son of God. Now he says, and the beast, and I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse and against his army. Now notice, it would appear, if you don't include all of the book of Revelation, it would appear that this is every king on earth and this is every army on earth and that everybody that's hostile to God is fixing to be killed. But now, keep it in its context, in its setting. And I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse and against his army. And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshiped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone. Now then we have the identity of the beast here and the false prophet. It tells us that the beast was taken. Well now who is he? That's the one described in the 13th chapter. So he had been killed There was a lot of people that died alright in the past judgments. But the beast wasn't. The false prophet that made the image to this beast, he wasn't destroyed. So, but now, he was taken and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image, These both, two persons, were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone. Now brother, they don't ever come out of there. There's no other judgment for these two persons. This is final. And the remnant, the remainder, were slain with the sword of him that sat upon the horse. Now the fowls didn't get to eat them beasts, see, but now they get to eat the flesh of these. Which sword proceeded out of his mouth, and all the fowls were filled with their flesh. Now this remnant this remainder, this rest, the rest of them, these are soldiers, these are people that are masked in militant array against the Son of God. So, it doesn't describe the whole population of the earth, but where the Lord appears when he returns. against the armies of this earth.