REVELATION LESSON 38

    We will begin this lesson in Revelation 19:1 "And after these
things I heard a great voice of much people in heaven, saying,
Alleluia; Salvation, and glory, and honour, and power, unto the Lord
our God:"

    In the last lesson, we saw the terrible destruction of Babylon.
The scene totally changes here to heaven. We hear the voices of the
redeemed. This "...great voice..." here is because of the number of
people speaking. It is not the magnitude of each voice. These words of
praise here are focused on the Lord Jesus Christ. The redeemed are the
ones who are praising. There are not enough adjectives in the
dictionary to say enough about what Jesus has purchased for us all.

    Revelation 19:2 "For true and righteous [are] his judgments: for
he hath judged the great whore, which did corrupt the earth with her
fornication, and hath avenged the blood of his servants at her hand."

    It appears that those who were redeemed, were looking on from
heaven and approving of the destruction of Babel. There is a
reassuring tone here telling the Lord that He was justified in His
judgement.

    In this verse above, it reestablishes the belief that there was a
city and an apostate church.

    This "...fornication..." was spiritual in nature. This "...avenged
the blood...", probably, had to do with the Romans being involved in
killing the saints.

    Revelation 19:3 "And again they said, Alleluia. And her smoke rose
up for ever and ever."

    This is just a statement telling us it will never be built again.

    Revelation 19:4 "And the four and twenty elders and the four
beasts fell down and worshipped God that sat on the throne, saying,
Amen; Alleluia."
    Revelation 19:5 "And a voice came out of the throne, saying,
Praise our God, all ye his servants, and ye that fear him, both small
and great."

    These twenty-four elders, I believe, as I said before, are two
groups of twelve, twelve disciples and twelve Old Testament prophets.
These are actually representative of the church.

    The "...four beasts...", as I said before, are two fold. They are
the gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, and they are also the
spirits nearest the throne.

    This "...voice..." was from the throne area. This probably was
from the elders or the beasts.

    "...Amen..." means so be it.  This is just another expression of
worship here.

    Revelation 19:6 "And I heard as it were the voice of a great
multitude, and as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of mighty
thunderings, saying, Alleluia: for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth."

    "...many waters..." indicate large amounts of people. These are
those spiritual descendents of Abraham which God promised him would be
as the sand of seas for number. So vast a group that they are without
number. These are the faithful. When this group of literally billions
and more speak, the volume would be so great as to sound like
"...mighty thunderings...".

    This name used here, pertaining to our Lord, is a very strange
one.  This is the only place in the Bible where the word
"...omnipotent..." occurs. Omnipotent means absolute and universal
sovereign. When you couple that with "...Lord...", which means supreme
in authority, and "...God...", which means supreme diety; you have an
overwhelming understanding of Who this is.

    Then we look at "...reigneth...".  This has no time element
attached.  It means continually reigns. If I say any more here, I will
mess it up. Come back to this from time to time and contemplate on
this name.  It tells it all.

    Revelation 19:7 "Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to
him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made
herself ready."

    This is in total contrast to the harlot Babylon. Here we see the
chaste virgin (faithful to Jesus).  At a marriage, there is rejoicing
and giving of honour. The strange thing to me, is that Jesus would
even have us. We have been washed in His blood, and we have on our
white wedding garment ready for the wedding. I believe the word
"...Lamb..." is used here, instead of one of the other names of Jesus,
to show that we have been cleansed by His sacrificial blood.

    Revelation 19:8 "And to her was granted that she should be arrayed
in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the
righteousness of saints."

    Just as I said above, these robes have been made white by the
blood of the Lamb. This "...righteousness..." was not ours until we
received the Lord Jesus into our lives and took on His righteousness.
Our own righteousness had been as filthy rags, but Jesus replaced the
filth with His righteousness. Just like, as many other places in the
Bible, "...her..." does not mean just women. All believers in the Lord
Jesus Christ are the bride of Christ, whether they be male or female.

    I would like to say a few words about this "...linen...". In the
tabernacle in the wilderness, the High priest wore a very ornamented
robe with a breastplate of all sorts of jewels when he represented God
to the people; but when he went into the Holy of Holies, he wore pure
white linen. You see, all of the fineries of the world mean nothing to
God. This tells us something about our approach to God. Salvation is
simple. It is not complicated.  Just bare all to God. He knows all
there is about us already. We do not have to pretend to be something
we are not. He accepts us plain and simple.

    Revelation 19:9 "And he saith unto me, Write, Blessed [are] they
which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he saith
unto me, These are the true sayings of God."

    This is spoken to John. John was not to explain what he heard, but
to say specifically what this angel told him to say. Those who attend
this marriage supper, make up the bride.  These are the faithful
Christians.  Truly you would be blessed to be forever joined in Holy
union with the Lord Jesus Christ.

    Revelation 19:10 "And I fell at his feet to worship him. And he
said unto me, See [thou do it] not: I am thy fellowservant, and of thy
brethren that have the testimony of Jesus: worship God: for the
testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy."

    John here was so awed by all of this, that he fell at this angel's
feet to worship. The angel quickly tells John not to worship him.
Angels are not to be worshipped.  Only God should be worshipped.

    Notice here, that this angel tells John that he is his fellow-
servant and his brother. This tells me that the dead in Christ are
part of the ministering activity that originates in heaven.

    So many people have visions of their relatives who have long since
gone to be with the Lord. Do you suppose that we believers, who go to
be with the Lord, are used as ministering spirits to help those who
are still on the earth? Pray and ask God to reveal to you why the
angel called John "...fellow-servant..." and "...brethern..." and I
will pray also.

    The "...testimony of Jesus..." is what the whole Bible is about.
Without Jesus, there would be no salvation. The Old Testament points
forward to Jesus, beginning in Genesis. The New Testament is the "last
will and testament" of Jesus, and to receive our inheritance, we must
read the will.

    If you preach on prophecy, you are bringing the testimony of
Jesus.  If you understand the testimony of Jesus, then you must preach
and prophecy so that others may live.  This testimony here is not
Jesus giving it, but we believers who testify of the Lord. Whoever
this angel is, he, too, had the testimony of Jesus.

    Extra scriptures to study: Jeremiah 51:25, Psalms 134:1, Psalms
93:3, Ezekiel 16:7, Hosea 2:19, St. John 3:29, Ephesians 5:25, Romans
1:1, 2 Peter 1:1, and Matthew 4:10.

    Memorize Revelation 19:8 and Revelation 19:9.

                       Revelation Questions 38


1.  In V-1, this great voice from heaven was whom?
2.  What were they saying?
3.  Who are these people?
4.  What two words describe His judgements?
5.  Who had He judged?
6.  What had she corrupted the earth with?
7.  Whose blood had He avenged?
8.  Those looking from heaven approved what?
9.  What kind of fornication is this?
10. What did the "avenging the blood" probably mean?
11. Who said Amen, Alleluia as they worshipped around the throne?
12. The voice that came out of the throne said what?
13. Who were the twenty-four elders?
14. What are the four beasts?
15. The voice of this great multitude was as the voice of ----------
    --------.
16. Chapter 19 of Revelation is the only place in the Bible that this
    name describing God is used. What is it?
17. What does it mean?
18. What does Lord mean?
19. What does this particular rendition of God mean?
20. What does "reigneth" mean?
21. "Let us be glad and rejoice and give honour to him: for the
    -------- of the ------ is come..."
22. Who are the chaste virgin?
23. Why is the word "Lamb" used here to speak of Jesus?
24. What is the "righteousness of the saints" that they are clothed
    with?
25. Who is the bride of Christ?
26. What does the linen garment tell us about salvation?
27. Who are the Blessed?
28. Why did John bow to this angel?
29. Why did the angel tell John not to do this?
30. What is the testimony of Jesus?
31. Do you suppose that we believers, who go to be with the Lord, are
    used as ministering spirits to help those still on the earth?
32. What is the theme of the Bible?
33. What is the New Testament?
34. How can we collect?
35. If you understand the testimony of Jesus, what must you do?
36. Write Revelation 19:8.
37. Write Revelation 19:9.
38. Summarize this lesson in your own words.