This transcript was generated by whisper.ai.

Welcome to Revelation chapter 19, this is day one of our look through this
chapter and it is a wonderful day. Let me remind you of what it feels like when
the tension keeps building. You go to an action movie or one of those kinds of
movies where the tension builds all throughout the movie, that kind of a
tension.

The tension keeps building and the tension keeps building. Sometimes that
happens with relationships, you're with your family for some kind of a holiday
and you think something's going to go wrong because it always has gone wrong and
the longer you're together the more the tension builds. It's sort of like the
feeling of a rubber band, the tension building like the rubber band being
stretched tighter and tighter and it feels like it's going to snap at any
minute.

That's somewhat like what has happened in the book of Revelation as we've read
together through this book. The tension has just kept building. Revelation is
one of the most dramatic tension-filled books ever written.

God wrote it, He revealed it, what's going to happen, it's God's work in history
and there's no more dramatic person at work in the universe. God could write
better screenplays than anyone and He is at work in a dramatic way in this world
in the universe. In the book of Revelation the tension builds, you start out
with these awesome experiences of worship and then the tension builds as the
seals are opened and tragedies come upon the earth and you have trumpets that
sound and more greater tragedies and the bowls are poured out of God's wrath and
you have these great stories of Satan and Babylon the Great and these powerful
figures that march across the human scene, these wars that cover the entire
planet.

The tension is building and building and building until you get to Revelation
chapter 19. I am so glad you are here with us for this study this week. You
didn't stop at chapter 16 or 17 or 18.

In Revelation chapter 19 we're going to look at some of the awesome things that
God does at the end of time. God has a different ending to things than you and I
would ever expect. And as we look together at this different ending, as you
become familiar with the end time events you're going to find some things here
that might even surprise you.

As you look at how God does things you and I tend to think I wouldn't have done
it that way or we think why did God do it that way? We're going to answer some
of those questions. In Revelation chapter 19 and 20 we're going to look together
at five end time events and what they mean to us today.

The five events are number one the wedding supper of the lamb, secondly the
visible return of Christ, third the battle of Armageddon, number four the
millennial reign of Christ, one of the most confusing events to people the first
time they read through Revelation, and then the fifth event is called the great
white throne judgment. This week we're going to look together at the wedding
supper of the lamb, the visible return of Christ, and the battle of Armageddon.
And as we look at these events let me just remind you to understand human
history, to understand what's happening in our lives right now.

You have to understand that many times from the end to the beginning as well as
from the beginning to the end. The Bible helps us to do both. If you want to
understand human history you'd better understand the book of Genesis and what
happened at the beginning because I cannot understand human history unless I
understand what happened in that garden, what happened when Adam and Eve fell.

If I want to understand human history I have to not only understand the book of
Genesis but I'd better flip all the way to the end and understand the book of
Revelation also. I have to understand what happens at the end in order to put
into light what's happening in our lives right now. These great final events
that God talks about in these chapters, they bring light to our lives today.

And in Revelation 19, the tension that's been building, there is a single word
that's repeated again and again and again. It is a tension-releasing word. It is
the word "Hallelujah.

" It is the word "Praise God. " Listen to how many times you hear this word as I
read Revelation 19 verses 1 to 6. After this I heard what sounded like the roar
of a great multitude in heaven shouting, "Hallelujah.

" Salvation and glory and power belong to our God, for true and just are His
judgments. He has condemned the great prostitute who corrupted the earth by her
adulteries. He has avenged on her the blood of His servants.

And again they shouted, "Hallelujah. " The smoke from her goes up forever and
ever. The 24 elders and the four living creatures fell down and worshiped God
who is seated on the throne.

And they cried, "Amen, hallelujah. " And then a voice from the throne saying,
"Praise our God, all you His servants, you who fear Him, both small and great. "
And then I heard what sounded like a great multitude, like the roar of rushing
waters and like loud peals of thunder shouting, "Hallelujah.

" For our God, our Lord God Almighty reigns. Hallelujah, which means praise the
Lord. Hallelujah, which when you come to Revelation 19 means to me, what a
relief.

Praise God. We read way back in Revelation chapter 4 and 5, this worship service
that began. And you had the 24 elders and you had those surrounding the throne.

And now in Revelation 19, here we are worshiping God again, hearing hallelujah
again. After all that has happened, it has not diminished God's praise one tiny
bit. And this one word, this one word hallelujah, praise God.

This word puts all of human history in perspective. If I want to understand
human history, if I want to understand my history, this is a word that I need.
It puts it all in perspective.

All of human history, all of my history is for one purpose, for the praise and
the glory of God. Now, that might be a bit confusing to you. In fact, in verse
5, a voice comes from the throne and says, "Praise our God, all you his
servants, you who fear him, both small and great.

" So here's this voice from the throne of God telling us to praise God. Sounds
very prideful to us that all of human history would be for the praise of God.
Very prideful to us that God would not only encourage us to praise him, he would
command us to praise him.

How proud must God be that he needs so much praise? When we think that way, it's
because we don't understand God. God doesn't need my praise.

He doesn't need your praise. He is all that he ever needs to be without our
praise, but we need to praise him. And human history is only put into
perspective.

My life is only put into perspective when I praise him. So he encourages us to
praise him, not for his sake. He has all that he needs in and of himself.

We praise him for our sake. We praise him because it tells us what is right and
true. God should be praised because he is worthy of our praise.

God should be praised because that is right. God should be praised because that
is true. When God isn't praised, it is a lie.

This world was created by him. It's created for him. All of eternity is created
for him.

When I hold back praise from God, I'm living a lie. I'm living in a false world.
When I allow all the praise to go to myself or someone else, I'm missing out on
the truth of what God has done.

So praising God isn't a matter of feeding God's ego. It doesn't need to be fed.
Praising God is just a matter of recognizing the reality of what he is.

And as we think about praising God here, look at specifically what they are
praising God for. First, hallelujah. Salvation and glory and power belong to our
God.

They are praising God for his power, for his salvation, and the glory that comes
out of that. So in your life, in my life, right now as you're listening to this
today, if you have a relationship with Jesus Christ, you say, God, I praise you.
I thank you for that relationship.

I thank you for your power that you show in my life. I thank you for your glory
that you're going to show into all eternity. Let's not just talk about other
people praising God.

Let's praise him right now. That's what we're made to do. So you praise him for
salvation and glory and power.

You praise him also in verse two, for true and just are his judgments. You
praise him for his judgments because they are always right. In fact, it goes on
to say he has condemned the great prostitute, Babylon the Great, that we looked
at in the last two chapters, which is the world system of selfishness.

This system that sometimes you look at it and you think, what is this world
coming to? Well, that system of selfishness, here's what it's coming to. It's
coming to condemnation.

It's coming to a point of destruction. And so you praise God because he is not
going to let selfishness reign. Just and true are his judgments.

Maybe this week it doesn't feel that way in your life. You've had to face some
situation where it feels like evil is winning out. Right now, you praise him in
your mind, in your heart.

God just and true are your judgments. In fact, it goes on to say the smoke from
her goes up forever and ever. It's always going to be evident that God's
judgments are just and true.

And then in verse six, why do we praise God? We praise him because he has
salvation and glory and honor, power. We praise him because just and true are
his judgments and we praise him because the Lord God Almighty reigns.

He is the king of kings we're going to look at this week. He is the one who is
in control. We've talked about many times through the book of Revelation.

We praise God because God is in control. I may not feel in control. It may not
look to me like he's in control, but that does not mean God is not in control.

Revelation tells us without a shadow of a doubt, I can praise him in any and
every circumstance because he is always on his throne. He is always in control.
As we praised him these last few moments, let's end with a specific time of
praise together.

Would you pray with me? And again, would you just say, Father, I praise you. I
praise you for your love in my life.

I praise you for your salvation, for your power, for your glory. I praise you
that your judgments, they are just, they are true. You can be trusted.

And I praise you that you reign now and you will reign forever. God, you are in
control. I praise you in the name of Jesus.

Amen. Tomorrow, we're going to talk together about the wedding supper of the
Lamb.