Marriage Supper of the Lamb

(with revised ending)

I. Introduction
A. This is one of the most precious passages in all of Scripture! It’s not the Grand Canyon of the Bible, but I’d say it’s the Bryce Canyon of the Bible. How many of you have ever seen Bryce Canyon? I get choked up just thinking about it.
B. Remember that we’ve been introduced to two women in Revelation, just like the two women of Proverbs. One represents all the sinful pleasures and temptations of the world. And the other represents the people of God, the bride of Christ. One has a cup full of abominations, the other is enrobed in the righteous acts of the saints.
C. Back in Rev.18, in the description of the fall of Babylon, the great prostitute, we read in Rev.18:23 that human life would so devastated that on earth there would no longer be the “voice of bridegroom and bride.”
D. Then the first part of Rev.19 is the saints’ joyful worship in response to God’s destruction of the great prostitute, Babylon. But in today’s passage it evolves into a celebration of what is being done to the other woman, the bride of Christ. She is getting married! Today we talk about the joyful celebration of the marriage of the Lamb to His bride in Rev.19:7.
E. Last week we covered through Rev.19:6, but today’s section begins in the middle of a quote, so I’ve included v.6 in this week’s reading just for context. But out attention today will begin with v.7.
F. Rev.19:6-10 Then I heard what seemed to be the voice of a great multitude, like the roar of many waters and like the sound of mighty peals of thunder, crying out, “Hallelujah! For the Lord our God the Almighty reigns. 7 Let us rejoice and exult and give him the glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his Bride has made herself ready; 8 it was granted her to clothe herself with fine linen, bright and pure”— for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints. 9 And the angel said to me, “Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.” And he said to me, “These are the true words of God.” 10 Then I fell down at his feet to worship him, but he said to me, “You must not do that! I am a fellow servant with you and your brothers who hold to the testimony of Jesus. Worship God.” For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.
II. Explanation
A. Revelation 19:7-8a Let us rejoice and exult and give him the glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his Bride has made herself ready; 8 it was granted her to clothe herself with fine linen, bright and pure”
1. “Let us rejoice and exult” or “Let us rejoice and be glad”
a. The opening words of the verse, Let us rejoice and be glad, are found in two other places in Scripture, each of which is relevant here:
(1) Ps.118:22-24, where there is rejoicing because God has caused the stone the builders rejected to become the chief cornerstone.
(2) Matt.5:12, where Jesus tells us to “Rejoice, and be glad (when we are persecuted), for your reward in heaven is great, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” And Rev.19 is that time they receive that reward in heaven.
2. “the marriage of the Lamb has come”
a. God created marriage to reflect and signify the union between Christ and His church.
b. You see, Jesus Christ gave up His life in order to win Himself a bride. He had all honor and glory as God, and yet gave it up to become a man, and to live a life of humiliation & servanthood, and eventually dying a shameful criminal's death on a Roman cross. Although He was sinless, He willingly took upon Himself the punishment for sin that His people deserved. He gave up His honor and His blood in order to purchase a people to be His own, a people who would be called by His name, a people who would love Him and believe in Him, honor Him and obey Him, a people to be His bride. And one day, at the end of history, this glorious union will be finalized.
c. And all the human love stories, whether true or fictional, are designed only to give us a glimpse of the beauty & ecstasy, the romance & devotion, the passion & satisfaction of Christ and His people becoming one. It will be the ultimate “happily ever after” with the one you love – forever.
d. Eph.5:25-32 Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, 26 that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, 27 so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish...31 “Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” 32 This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church. (See 2Cor.11:2-4; Ezek.16:4-14.)
e. And now in Rev.19:7, the wedding announcement has come. After so much waiting, the time has arrived! The marriage of the Lamb to His bride has come!
3. “his Bride has made herself ready 8 it was granted her to clothe herself with fine linen, bright and pure”
a. Just as in earthly wedding, the bride of Christ works hard to make herself ready. She chooses a beautiful dress, she has her hair done just so, she puts on her make-up. She seeks to make herself beautiful for her groom.
b. Notice the tension here. She “makes herself ready,” but also “it was granted her to” do so.
c. The first places the emphasis on the bride’s responsibility in making herself ready, the second on God’s gift to enable her to do so.
d. It reminds us of Philippians 2:12-13, “Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, 13 for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.”
B. Rev.19:8b “(...it was granted her to clothe herself with fine linen, bright and pure”)— for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints.
1. There are a number of references to believers being clothed with white robes in Revelation (3:5-6, 18; 6:11; 7:13-14, 21:2-4). In Rev.7:14, for instance, it says the saints have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.
2. But here in the context of the bride being presented to her Lord, apparently part of the adornment of the bride of Christ (Rev.21:2) is her righteous deeds, in much the same way that she is presented before Christ without blemish in Eph.5:27.
a. The translation here is difficult. There are other things it might refer to. But if this is the right interpretation, if on her wedding day she is adorned with the many righteous deeds done by all the saints down through history, sure these deeds have been purified by our Intercessor and Mediator.
b. It reminds me of the story of the little child who brought her mom a beautiful bouquet of flowers, saying, “I picked them myself.” And that was true, but her dad had weeded out the dead flowers, the broken flowers, and the grass, and arranged it in a lovely way. That’s the way our righteous acts get presented to the Father. Jesus weeds out all the impurities first.
3. And it is certainly true that our deeds will be with us for eternity, which is an awesome thought.
C. Revelation 19:9-10 And the angel said to me, “Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.” And he said to me, “These are the true words of God.” 10 Then I fell down at his feet to worship him, but he said to me, “You must not do that! I am a fellow servant with you and your brothers who hold to the testimony of Jesus. Worship God.” For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.
1. In v.9a The angel commands John to write: “Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.”
a. Here the picture changes a little, for whereas in vv.7–8 the corporate church is pictured as the bride, now individual believers are portrayed as being invited to the marriage supper.
(1) The same thought is present in 12:17, where the woman is the church and her seed as the individual members of the church.
b. The word “invited” (literally “called”) here underlines God’s sovereign role in salvation. The calling here is choosing, it’s effectual calling, like when Jesus called Lazarus from the tomb (Jn.11, see Rev.17:14).
c. “Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb” reminds of Matt.13:16-17 where Jesus says, “Blessed are your eyes, for they see, and your ears, for they hear. 17 For truly, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.”
d. But the angel doesn’t want John just to move on to the next thing. He wants to reaffirm to John (and to us) the importance of what he had just said...
2. 9b And he said to me, “These are the true words of God.”
a. “Amen!” “That is absolutely true!” “You can say that again!”
b. You see, we are so blessed, but we so often are not impressed by how blessed we are!
(1) This invitation is enough reason to live a whole life full of joy.
(2) Lord, forgive us that this does not carry the weight with us that it deserves to carry!
c. It is similar to Rev.21:5, when God says to John, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”
d. The words of Revelation are trustworthy and true! The words about the wedding supper of the Lamb are trustworthy and true! The words about how blessed it is to be invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb are trustworthy and true and glorious!
e. In fact, it is so wonderful that it tempts John to worship the angel delivering the message.
3. 10a Then I fell down at his feet to worship him, but he said to me, “You must not do that! I am a fellow servant with you and your brothers who hold to the testimony of Jesus. Worship God.”
a. These truths are so magnificent that godly and knowledgeable men will have trouble holding themselves back from worshiping the one who announces them. The temptation of the hearer of God's word is sometimes to worship the messenger. They shouldn’t, of course. But that’s how beautiful the message of the word of God is.
4. 10b "For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy."
a. There is no punctuation marking the ancient Greek manuscripts of the NT, so the periods and commas and question marks and quotation marks are added by the translators to help us see what they think is going on.
b. The fact is, we don’t know where this quote ends, and whether it includes the last sentence about the testimony of Jesus. It could be being spoken by the angel to John, or it could be being spoken by John to us. But it doesn’t really matter. The point is the same:
(1) The truths which Jesus has given to us come through prophets/messengers. (They are hardly ever spoken to us directly from God.)
(2) So, remember that! Don't worship the messenger, don't worship the one who gives it to you.
(3) Maybe it would be helpful here to talk about what a prophet is. A prophet is a messenger chosen by God to receive a message from Him to communicate to others.
(a) Usually we use the word prophet to refer to humans and not angels, but this is what angels do too. In fact, the word ‘angel’ actually means messenger.
(4) So, prophets are just messengers, just spokesmen. They may deliver messages which are divine, but they are not. That’s the point here. “Those giving testimony to Jesus are prophetic people, so don’t worship them.”
c. Usually when the Bible mentions prophets it is exalting them, but here it is putting them down. Why? Because usually they are being compared to ordinary men, here they are being compared to God Himself.
d. When you're talking relative to God, even angels are basically on our level. Though they are incredibly powerful and wise and glorious, they are much more like us than they are like God. And we are both servants and worshipers – and perhaps spokesmen – of God.
III. Application
A. Rev.19:7 tells us that the bride of Christ makes herself ready and puts on white garments. This implies that she begins from a place of not being ready and not being clothed in righteous garments.
B. This is consistent with Eph.5:26-27, which talked about how the Lord sanctifies his bride, cleansing her by the washing of water with the word, so that He might present the church to Himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish.
1. Well, the fact is, right now in this age the church has lots of blemishes, lots of ugly spots.
2. Remember the sad condition of the churches in Rev.2-3:
a. The church of Ephesus had abandoned the love for Christ which they had at first (Rev.2:4).
b. Pergamum & Thyatira were putting up with false teaching, including teaching which encouraged sexual immorality (Rev.2:14-15; 2:20).
c. Sardis had a reputation of being alive, but inside they were dead (Rev.3:1).
d. Laodicea was lukewarm and made Jesus feel like vomiting (Rev.3:15-16). (See also Rev.2:5; 3:3.)
3. Lots of blemishes!
4. To dwell above with the saints in love, that will be glory. But to dwell below with the saints I know, that’s a different story.
5. This is just the way it is!
6. You are going to spend eternity with some:
a. People you didn’t like.
b. People who hurt you.
c. People you didn’t respect.
d. People you didn’t agree with.
e. People who didn’t like you.
f. People who didn’t treat you very well.
C. But the church is not defined by her blemishes. The church is defined by her destiny, by what she will become.
1. The biggest thing about the church is not her ugly spots but how much she is loved by Christ,
2. So many people stay away from church because of all the blemishes. But they forget how much Jesus loves His church. So much that He died for her sins!
D. And that brings us to our next point: Fortunately, the church is fixable.
1. She can’t fix herself. And we can’t fix her either.
2. God’s people are only fixable because the all-powerful Jesus – He loves them.
3. One day we will be spotless! We will no longer be limited by our own sinfulness. We will no longer see as through a glass dimly, but we will see Him face to face! Our relationship with Christ will no longer be impaired by wrong thinking and unholy fears and unrighteous desires. We will know Him without limit or constraint.
E. And one of His main tools to fix us is trouble and opposition.
1. Here is a shocking thought: the existence of Babylon served as a necessary preparation for the bride’s marriage to the Lamb. The oppression of Babylon and the temptation of the great prostitute are the fire God uses to refine the faith of the saints in order to prepare them to enter the heavenly city (see 2:10-11; cf. also 6:11; Rom. 8:28f.; 1Pet.4:12, 19; Phil.1:28-30).
2. Babylon’s existence provided the occasion for believers to be prepared and refined so they could enter the eternal kingdom.
3. But we view those who cause us pain as undesirable obstacles to be removed, rather than seeing that God has placed them in our lives to bring forth His character in us in the face of suffering.
4. Our earthly comfort isn’t what’s important. What’s important is Christ being formed in us.
5. The fact that God detests the wickedness of Babylon – and that He will certainly judge it – does not prevent Him from using it to accomplish His purposes in our lives.
F. Do you not long for this? Do you not long to be married – to Jesus?
1. Do you not long to be presented to Jesus without spot or blemish and kissed by Him and received by Him and embraced by Him?

IV. Lord’s Supper
A. 1Corinthians 11:26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.
B. Rehearsal = communion