Louie Giglio - Our God Reigns
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Well, we’re coming down to the finish line in our collection on the Book of Revelation, and I only have a few more weeks to say that we’re studying this book. I’m still getting encouragement every week; people are loving the Revelation series. So, I’m like, okay, I still have work to do. Revelation 19— we’re coming down to the wire. Revelation 19 and 20 are all finished and done, and then we see the new heaven and the new earth coming. But today, we’re in Revelation 19, where some amazing pictures of Jesus are being shared about what is and what is to come. It says in verse one, «After this, I heard what sounded like"—that’s our key phrase—"the roar of a great multitude in heaven shouting, 'Hallelujah! '» Can we all do that together? «Hallelujah!»
Now, let’s put a little more life and spirit into it: «Hallelujah!» Interestingly, as we’re getting into this, this is the only place in the New Testament where the word «Hallelujah» is found—only in Revelation 19. It appears several times throughout this text. So, when we get to «Hallelujah,» we’ll say it together because it’s not a common expression in the New Testament. Yes, it’s in the Old Testament, but this is the only place in the New Testament. «Salvation and glory and power belong to our God, for true and just are his judgments.»
There are about to be some judgments, but know that his judgments are true and just. He has condemned the great prostitute, Babylon. Remember, in the chapter before, we saw the great city and all of its enticing allure, pulling people away from the true path of God. But Babylon now has fallen; it has collapsed from the inside, and now there’s a celebration happening in the heavenlies. She corrupted the earth by her adulteries, but this God who is true and just has avenged her on the blood of his servants. In other words, Babylon wasn’t just an alluring city; it was set against the prophets of God and the saints of God. And again, they shouted—what did they shout? «Hallelujah!» Why? Because «the smoke from her goes up forever and ever.»
In other words, the city is forever finished. The twenty-four elders and the four living creatures—these that we saw in the early part of Revelation—fell down and worshiped God, who was seated on the throne, and they cried, «Amen! Hallelujah!» Then, a voice came from the throne saying, «Praise our God, all you his servants, you who fear him, both great and small.» In other words, it doesn’t matter in this moment whether you’re at the top of the ladder or the bottom, whether you’re the richest or the poorest, whether you’re the highest or the lowest. In this moment, everyone is equal before God. Praise God, all servants, those who fear him, great and small!
Then I heard what sounded like a great multitude, like the roar of rushing waters and like loud peals of thunder, shouting, «Hallelujah!» I don’t think we can quite get to the roar of rushing waters and the loud peals of thunder, but «Hallelujah!» This word means «Praise Yahweh! Praise Yahweh!"—a name that Jewish people wouldn’t even speak or write; they would replace it with «Lord» (Adonai) because Yahweh was considered so holy and so set apart. And now, what we’re saying is, «Praise Yahweh!» Hallelujah! Notice with all the «Hallelujahs,» there’s an exclamation point. This isn’t some boring church gathering; this is praise at the highest level! «Hallelujah! Praise Yahweh!» Just noting that so that we understand it gets rowdy in heaven. For our Lord God Almighty reigns. Let us rejoice, then, be glad, and give him glory.
Now, a shift happens. We’ve seen the fall of Babylon and applauded for it—praise God for the fall of Babylon! Praise God that the lost city is finished, and the last city is right on the horizon. But now, a new subject enters into the praise: «Give him glory, for the wedding of the Lamb has come.» Heaven is leaning towards a culminating event, and that event is not necessarily the second coming of Jesus—although that is in Revelation. Heaven is culminating with a wedding feast, a wedding celebration. The wedding is that of the Lamb—Jesus Christ himself—and his bride, the church, are coming together in a celebration with eternal ramifications. The good news is that his bride is you and me, the church, everyone redeemed and saved by him. The bride has made herself ready. Fine linen, bright and clean, was given her to wear. The fine linen stands for the righteous acts of God’s holy people.
Then the angel said to me, «Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb!» Exclamation point! «Hallelujah! Praise Yahweh!» And blessed is everyone who got an invitation to the wedding supper of the Lamb of God. Did you get your invitation? Because it’s not just about dying tonight; it’s about if your life ends, do you have an invitation to the wedding supper of the Lamb? Things are shuffling quickly for us, aren’t they? It’s not just about moving from one destiny to another; it’s about a feast—a celebration, if you will—a wedding taking place and an invitation that you either have or do not have. The angel added, «These are the true words of God.» At this, I fell at his feet—whose feet? The angel’s feet—to worship him. But he said to me, «Don’t do that! I am a fellow servant with you and with your brothers and sisters who hold to the testimony of Jesus. Worship God, for it is the spirit of prophecy who bears testimony to Jesus.»
What is this saying? It’s saying that this is so spectacular that John gets caught up in the moment and falls at the angel’s feet because there’s so much splendor all around him. This happens again a little later in Revelation. The angel’s like, «No, no, no! I’m just a messenger here. Worship God.» Then we see the page turn again. I saw heaven standing open, and there before me was a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True. With justice, he, this rider, Jesus, judges and wages war. His eyes are like blazing fire, and on his head are many crowns. He has a name written on him that no one knows but he himself. He’s dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and his name is the Word of God. The armies of heaven were following him, riding on white horses and dressed in fine linen, white and clean. Coming out of his mouth is a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations. He will rule them with an iron scepter—this is quoting the Psalms. He treads the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God Almighty. On his robe and on his thigh, he has this name written: King of Kings and Lord of Lords.
I saw an angel standing in the sun, who cried in a loud voice to all the birds flying in midair, «Come, gather together for the great supper of God!» So, we have the marriage supper of the Lamb, but this is a different kind of supper coming now. «So that you, these birds of the air, may eat the flesh of kings, generals, and the mighty of horses, and their riders, and the flesh of all people, free and slave, great and small.» Then I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies gathered together to wage war against the rider on the horse and his army. But the beast was captured. Remember, we saw a few chapters back the dragon, Satan, manipulating the beast of the sea, which is the political power in authority. Now we see the beast of the earth, the false prophet, who is animated and given power by the systems and structures. The beast, the system, is captured, and the false prophet, who had performed the signs on its behalf—deluding those who had received the mark of the beast (the 666) and worshiped its image—the two of them, the beast and the false prophet, were thrown alive into the fiery lake of burning sulfur. The rest were killed with the sword coming out of the mouth of the rider on the horse, and all the birds gorged themselves on their flesh.
Thanks be to God for the power of his word! Revelation says, «Blessed are those who read this word aloud and those who hear it,» because God wants to open up our understanding today of how things are right now and how they will be forever. He’s trying to underscore again: Things aren’t the way they seem to our human eyes and understanding. There’s something else going on in the world and in the spirit that is greater. What’s going on in the world and in the spirit that is greater is that Jesus is King of Kings and Lord of Lords. There’s a time now where there will be kings, but only one King of Kings. There will be lords, but there is only one Lord of Lords.
It’s important to note in this text that when we see heaven standing open in verse 11—"I saw heaven standing open"—what John saw is not something, but someone. When I saw heaven standing open, there was before me a white horse whose rider is called Faithful and True. So, when we’re digging into Revelation, we’re not looking for something; we’re not looking for a diagram or a playbook or a timetable. When we open Revelation, it is, in fact, the revelation of Jesus Christ, and he is the one we see in the midst of it all.
Just note again who he is: Yes, he is the one calling us to the wedding feast. Yes, he is the Lamb of God slain before the foundation of the world. Yes, he is our Savior, but he is fierce in every way. His name is Faithful and True, and with justice, he wages war. In other words, if you want war with God, you’ll get war with God. This chapter ends with a horrific picture. Someone today might say, «Come on! I thought our God was a God of love! I thought he was a God of mercy! I thought he was kind! I thought he was a heavenly Father!» But at the end of it all, he’s calling the birds of the air, saying, «Hey, if you want to eat, come eat here; there’s going to be a wipeout!» Why? Because those people want war, and if you want war with God, you’re going to get war with God.
But he is going to end up King of Kings and Lord of Lords. His eyes are like blazing fire—what does that mean? It means he’s consuming; the dross is burning away. On his head are many crowns, and he has a name written on him that no one knows but he himself. In other words, we don’t know everything there is to know about Jesus. We know enough about Jesus to trust him fully with our lives and follow him all of our days, but we don’t know everything about him. He’s got a name that he reserves for this moment that nobody knows except himself. He’s dressed in a robe dipped in blood.
Notice that at this big battle, where the kings of the earth, the beast, and all the kings of the earth are aiming to take out Jesus—they’re coming for war with him—they come to this battlefield, and the blood has already been shed! The battle has already been won! He’s dressed in a robe dipped in blood because the battle was won at Calvary—not on this day. The battle was already won when Jesus gave his life for the sins of the world, descended into the depths of the earth, and beat hell, sin, death, and the grave. He’s showing up to the showdown already dipped in blood, saying, «The battle isn’t going to be won here today; it was already won on that day!»
Well, how do we know that? Because the armies of heaven were following him, riding white horses and dressed in fine linen, white and clean. You don’t go out to battle dressed in fine linen, white and clean; you go out to a situation that has already been settled. You’re going out to ultimately view the Victorious One who’s just going to show up, and by his very nature, his truth and word—that’s what’s coming out of his mouth! This sword is the word of God, and by his own word, he’s going to finish the darkness. We’re riding in fine linen, white and clean—not because we’re going to wield weapons of war, but because we are riding with the one who already has accomplished the victory.
Coming out of his mouth is a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, and he treads the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God Almighty. On his robe and on his thigh, he has this name written: King of Kings and Lord of Lords. When I read this in my translation of Scripture, it was all caps, so I went and looked in the Greek, and in the Greek, it is all caps. It says, «Written on them» and then a colon, and then in the Greek, this reads: King of Kings and Lord of Lords. That’s the name on his robe and on his thigh. I thought about that; I remembered from days gone by that the thigh, the femur, is the longest and strongest bone in the human body. It is the hardest bone to break. So, it’s significant that the name is written on the longest and strongest bone in the body: King of Kings and Lord of Lords.
This is our God, and this is who we are worshiping today: King of Kings and Lord of Lords. That King and that Lord is inviting you into an intimate relationship with him, whereby he would see you as his bride. When we see this phrase, «Hallelujah! Blessed are those who have been invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb,» an image would have been in John’s mind right away. Anyone in New Testament times would have had that image in their minds because weddings happened differently then than they do now. A groom, if you will, would go to the house of the bride-to-be and he would purchase her. This sounds a little contractual, I know, and it still happens in a lot of places in the world right now. But he would then purchase the bride, and once that happened, a contract was established and a covenant was entered into. That covenant was sealed with a cup of wine shared together, and in that moment it would be spoken, «This is a new covenant.» Then the gentleman would leave; he would go back to his father’s house and build a room in his father’s house for his bride, who is now contractually married to him. Normally, this would take about a year, and when the room was finished, the groom would get all dressed up in festive clothes, announce, «I’m going to get my bride!» He’d take his best man or a couple of mates with him and return to the bride’s house. Tradition dictated he would come at midnight. They generally knew he was on the way; word would get out, so they would know he was getting closer. But at about midnight, he’d come and announce, «I’m here for my bride!» The bride would come out, light her lamp, and be prepared and ready because while he was building the room, she had been getting ready. Now, because she was expecting his return, she was found ready. In that moment, when she comes out with her people, there’s a big celebration, and then the two of them go back to the father’s house, and the wedding festival begins in full earnest. Everything begins—the wedding supper now is on! Amazing, right?
So, we have a wedding on the horizon, and we had a meal that changed history at the Last Supper. Jesus lifted the cup of wine and said, «This is a new covenant, purchase price paid.» Then Jesus left and went to his father’s house. He said, «Don’t let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. In my father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I’m going there to prepare a place for you, and if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me, that you also may be where I am.» So, he’s preparing right now a place for you in his father’s house. Why? Because he wants you to be with him! He doesn’t want you to just get to heaven; he wants you to be with him. If he wanted us to simply arrive at heaven, we’d get in seat 7G, and off we’d go! Instead, your groom is coming back in a processional of great festivity to say to you at the midnight hour, «I’m here for my bride!»
The tricky part is, and we’ve seen this recorded in the Gospels, that everybody won’t be ready. It says in that parable of the ten virgins that half of them fell asleep. It took longer than they expected, and they ran out of oil for their lamps. When the groom came, they couldn’t get their lamps lit, so they had to go off to get more oil. By the time all that happened, they didn’t make it into the wedding feast. He’s saying to you and me today, what’s the point of Revelation 19? Well, there are a lot of points: Babylon has fallen, hallelujah, praise Yahweh. But now it’s time for this wedding feast—that’s what he’s saying! The beast and the false prophet are in the lake of fire forever—alive in the lake of fire forever. But what he’s really saying to you and me is here’s the key to the whole story: Are you the bride of Christ? And if you are, then in this moment, in the meantime, where we’re living right now, you’re betrothed to him. You are engaged to him, if you will, and the question, as Darl Johnson says, is all about fidelity. Everything now gets reframed because sin isn’t just a bad choice; it’s adultery between me and the one who is coming for me.
In this in-between time, will we be found faithful to Jesus? It’s interesting, if you want to dig a little bit under the surface, that at the Last Supper recorded in Matthew’s Gospel, do you remember they sang a hymn and then went out to the Mount of Olives? So, all that supper happens: The feet are washed, the bread is broken, the wine is lifted. But then they sing a hymn and go out. What did they sing? Well, they sang one of the Hallelujah hymns—Psalm 113, 114, 115, 116, 117, 118. These are the Passover Psalms celebrating God’s deliverance of his people out of Egypt. Psalms 113 and 114 were sung before the Passover meal was eaten, and 115, 116, 117, and 118 were sung after the meal was eaten.
So Jesus and his followers would have sung one of those or all four before they went out, and all of those psalms are the Halal Psalms—praise Yahweh! And they don’t return to the New Testament account until the very end of Revelation in chapter 19. From the Last Supper to the wedding supper of the Lamb, Hallelujah! Praise Yahweh! Hallelujah! The price is paid! Hallelujah! A contract is sealed! Hallelujah! I’m going to my Father’s house and preparing a place for you! Hallelujah! I’m coming back! I’m coming at the midnight hour! But don’t fall asleep on me because I’m coming for my bride, and I’m coming to take her to the wedding supper of the Lamb. It is a forever celebration of the price paid for the ones I love, and I’m underscoring to you today that I’m not looking for members; I’m not looking for attenders; I’m not looking for givers, and hello, I’m not looking for workers!
Oh yes, the laborers are few, so go out into the fields; yes, give and be generous; yes, come and show up. But God’s not looking for church members. He’s not looking for church attenders. He’s not looking for tithe givers. He’s not looking for door holders and workers; he’s looking for lovers! He’s looking for lovers! He shed his blood for love, and he’s coming back! Why? To take you, please see this with me, to be with me that you also may be where I am! Did you know that at the heart of it all, God made you for relationship with him? That’s what’s at the heart of it all! Don’t let the great lost city steal you away from the Lamb of God. The beast and the false prophet—they’re done; the lost city is done! But what is lifted up for us today is a wedding feast. Make yourself ready and keep your lamp burning.