Sermon by Pastor Dale Wolcott
May 11, 2002
Then I heard the sound of massed choirs, the sound of a mighty cataract, the sound of strong thunder:
"Hallelujah! The Master reigns, our God, the Sovereign-Strong! Let us celebrate, let us rejoice, let us give Him the glory! The Marriage of the Lamb has come!
"His wife has made herself ready. She was given a bridal gown of bright and shining linen. The linen is the righteousness of the saints."
The angel said to me, "Write this: ‘Blessed are those invited to the Wedding Supper of the Lamb."
* * * * *
The kingdom of heaven is like a certain king who prepared a wedding banquet for his son, and sent out his servants to call those who were invited to the wedding. . . .
So those servants went out into the highways and gathered together all whom they found, both bad and good. And the wedding hall was filled with guests.
But when the king came in to see the guests, he saw a man there who did not have on a wedding garment. So he said to him, "Friend, how did you come in here without a wedding garment?"
And he was speechless. Then the king said to the servants, "Bind him hand and foot, take him away, and cast him into outer darkness; there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth."
* * * * *
I saw Holy Jerusalem, new-created, descending resplendent out of Heaven, as ready for God as a bride for her husband. I heard a voice from the Throne: "Look! Look! God has moved into the neighborhood, making His home with men and women!
"They’re His people, He’s their God. He’ll wipe every tear from their eyes. Death is gone for good --- tears gone, crying gone, pain gone --- all the old order of things gone."
* * * * *
And the One sitting on the throne said, "Behold, I make all things new."
(Scripture references are from the New King James Version except as noted)
If you were to have the privilege of attending a Jewish wedding, you might be surprised to see how it ends. There is a wine goblet from which the couple have both drunk, symbolizing the mingling of their lives into one. Then at the conclusion of the ceremony, the groom takes that goblet, puts in on the ground, and crushes it with his heel. This is to remind the couple, and all the witnesses, that even amidst the greatest joy, there will also be sorrow.
Ray McAllister & his wife Sally are Jewish and also Christian, so they had planned a Christian Jewish wedding, with unfermented wine for the unity goblet. Their wedding date was set for September 13, 2001.
Can you imagine the mixed emotions at that wedding celebration, just two days after September 11! At the conclusion of the ceremony, Ray took the goblet and placed his heel on it. Later he said that his stepping on that glass was his memorial to those who had lost their lives in the terrorist attacks.
After the wedding, Ray wrote this poem:
A symbol of unity
And birth
Trampled flat beneath my forceful step.
It lies before me
Now reduced to a heap of rubble
Broken
Shattered
Irreplaceable.
And so it remains
A constant reminder
That with every shout of joy on earth
There looms a shriek of pain
And outside every house of laughter
Somewhere
A child must cry in the night
And that for the riches of my salvation
Messiah had to come
Himself
To tumble crushed
Broken
Shattered
To cut a covenant of love and grace
So I might stand
On that bright marriage day
When Heaven’s Groom of truth and glory
Will call
His people Home.
[Quoted in "The Pastor’s Net," a service of Michigan Conference Communication Dept., Oct. 7, 2001]
Dear Father, it’s almost wedding season. Spring has sprung, and as we see the budding green on the trees all around us, we also see the signs of eternal spring; we can tell that history’s greatest wedding is just around the corner. Teach us how to be ready for it as we open this great prophecy of Revelation, chapter 19, in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Earlier in this series we discovered that chapter 14 is the pivot point of the book of Revelation. Before chapter 14, each of the prophetic sequences sweeps down through history, from John’s time to the end of time.
Then three angels announce that the hour of judgment has arrived, and from there on, everything in the book has to do with the end times — the judgment time.
Chapter 15 Prelude to the Bowl Judgments
Chapter 16 Seven Last Plagues
Chapter 17 Judgment of the Great Harlot
Chapter 18 Fall of Babylon — urgent final invitation to "Come out of her, my people"
Then, in chapter 19, the heavenly choirs start to sing: "After these things I heard a loud voice of a great multitude in heaven, saying, "Alleluia! Salvation and glory and honor and power belong to the Lord our God!" (vs. 1) In verse 4, the elders and the living creatures join in: "Amen! Alleluia!" And then John says, "I heard, as it were, the voice of a great multitude, as the sound of many waters and as the sound of mighty thunderings, saying, Alleluia: for the Lord God omnipotent reigns! Let us be glad and rejoice, and give Him glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come…." (verses 6, 7)
It’s time for the wedding! Jesus is coming! This is the climax of the whole Bible — the fulfillment of the Advent hope! The rest of verses 7, 8, & 9 talk about preparation for this greatest wedding in history. We’ll come back to this later, but for now, let’s go down to vs. 11 & notice the entry of the bridegroom:
"Now I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse. And He who sat on him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and makes war." The Bridegroom is a warrior, and it appears His wedding is going to take place on a battlefield! Note vs. 13: "He was clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God." He wears a blood-soaked tuxedo to His wedding! The wedding day is not only a day for rejoicing, it’s a day that includes pain.
"Now out of His mouth goes a sharp sword, that with it He should smite the nations" (vs. 15). There’s a battle on the wedding day! "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" (vs. 17).
But the chapter ends by describing the victory of the Bridegroom: "And the rest were killed with the sword which proceeded out of the mouth of Him who sat on the horse" (vs. 21). Then chapter 20 describes the 1,000-year honeymoon, and chapters 21 & 22 tell how the newlyweds finally move into their permanent home. What a great conclusion to the greatest love story in human history — the marriage of Jesus to His beloved bride.
But now let’s go back to chapter 19:7, and see how this story wears overalls. How does the bride get ready for this wedding? It says, "His wife has made herself ready."
Who is this bride? Instinctively we say, "the church." But chapter 21 tells us very plainly that "the bride, Lamb’s wife," is "the great city, the holy Jerusalem" (vs. 10) — a very concrete, real city with walls, gates, foundations, a golden street, etc. Remember the story of the wedding banquet in our scripture reading, from Matthew 22? In that parable, we’re not the bride, we’re the guests. That’s the way it is in Revelation 19, too: "Blessed are those who are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb" (vs. 9). We’re not the bride, we’re the invited guests!
Now, if the bride is the Holy City, New Jerusalem, how does she get ready for the wedding? Where is the Holy City right now? It’s up in heaven. Before Jesus left this earth, He said, "In my Father’s house are many mansions.... I go to prepare a place for you." So that’s what’s going on in heaven at this moment, as we speak.
But what does Revelation 19 say about how the Bride --- the Holy City --- gets ready for the wedding? Note vs. 8: "To her it was granted to be arrayed in fine linen, clean and bright, for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints." Is this talking about a city or about people? It sounds like people, doesn’t it?
So something is happening up there in the Holy City, right now, in preparation for Jesus’ return, that has to do with us down here! The Bible calls that heavenly-and-earthly preparation "the Judgment."
Revelation 14:7 tells us it’s already going on — "the hour of His judgment has come." Daniel 7 describes how it began in heaven before Jesus returns to earth; Daniel 8 pinpoints the time when it began: the year 1844, at the conclusion of the 2,300 days/years.
How does this judgment work? Whenever anyone of us accepts Jesus as Savior & Lord, the Bible says our names are "written in heaven" (Luke 10:20), in "the Lamb’s book of life" (Rev. 21:27). The Bible says that as Christians, "our citizenship is in heaven" (Philippians 3:20). In fact, in God’s reckoning we are already, at this moment, seated "in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus" (Ephesians 2:6). Paul explains this by saying, "You died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God" (Colossians 3:3).
In God’s mind, His way of looking at things, we’re already up there! So God’s New Jerusalem is already populated, in His mind, in His heart – the roster of citizens is there! You are there, I am there, if we’ve accepted Jesus. And in the great pre-advent Investigative Judgment, God is making it clear to the onlooking universe exactly why He is willing to not only put sinners’ names in His book in heaven, but to actually, physically, literally, bring sinners (or I should say, ex-sinners) into heaven.
And in that process, the Bible also says that some names, once written in that book, may have to be blotted out (Rev. 3:5) -- there’s pain connected with this wedding! But when Jesus comes, there’ll be a perfect match between the records of saved people in heaven and the lives of saved people on earth!
That’s what the parable in Matt. 22 is talking about, and that’s what Rev. 19:8 is talking about: "To her it was granted to be arrayed in fine linen, clean and bright, for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints."
So the Bible teaching of the investigative judgment — God’s wedding preparation — tells us two very important things:
#1 How we live matters to God. "The fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints." Nothing that defiles is going to enter that city (Revelation 21:27). The Bible is crystal clear that sin and heaven are incompatible. If I hang onto sin, I lose heaven. I need a character that is fully Christlike in order to be a permanent citizen of the New Jerusalem.
#2 The only way I’ll ever get that wedding garment is by receiving it as a gift. Verse 8 says, "To her it was granted to be arrayed in fine linen." This is what we call "righteousness by faith." In Jesus’ parable about the investigative judgment (Matthew 22), the king comes into the banquet hall before the wedding begins, and investigates. He sees someone without the wedding garment which He Himself has provided to every guest. So He says, "Friend, where’s your wedding garment? Where’s your fine linen? Why is it that I can’t see the character of Jesus in your life, your actions?" And it says, the man was speechless. He had nothing to say; absolutely no excuse.
When Jesus dipped His wedding robe in His own blood at the cross, He made full provision for your wedding robe, the robe of your character, to be as white as the driven snow. If you fully trust Him, He’ll give it to you.
So don’t focus on your defects. Just keep gazing at Jesus, and if you do, He’ll finish what He’s started in your life (Philippians 1:6). It’s a promise! The only names that will be blotted out of that Book of Life are the names of people who decided they’d rather hang onto sin than let Jesus take it away.
And if you keep looking at Jesus, I can promise you, "the things of earth will grow strangely dim in the light of His glory and grace." The Bible says He "is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy" (Jude 24, KJV).
That, my friend, is the endtime Gospel in a nutshell — that is Revelation in Overalls.
August, 1914. A young explorer by the name of Ernest Shackleton set sail from England for Antarctica at the helm of a 300-ton Norwegian vessel he had named the Endurance. Shackleton had been to the Antarctic a number of times before; this time he was determined to do what no one had yet done — be the first to cross the Antarctic continent from one side to the other, on foot.
Shackleton wasn’t alone. Twenty-seven other men thought enough of his leadership to sign on for the expedition. By mid-January, they were just one day out from their jumping off place on the Antarctic mainland — and that night, the ice pack closed in around Endurance. In a few weeks, the sea ice literally crushed the hull of the Endurance, in spite of its three-foot-thick Norwegian timbers. It was the beginning of a twenty-month ordeal.
Eventually the men were able to set up a temporary camp on a chunk of icy rock known as Elephant Island. From there, Shackleton & four others set out in a small boat for South Georgia Island where they could find help and organize a rescue expedition. Amazingly, they made it to South Georgia, then hiked nonstop for 36 hours all the way across that desolate island to a whaling station and civilization.
Shackleton was safe, but he couldn’t rest. "Over on Elephant Island", he wrote later, "twenty-two men were waiting for the relief that we alone could secure for them. Their plight was worse than ours." He had promised he would come back and get them safely home.
Finally, on August 29, 1916 — more than two years after the Endurance had set sail from the home port — Ernest Shackleton stood on the bridge of the tugboat Yelcho and scanned the ice pack off Elephant Island. Endurance hadn’t endured. But what about his men? Were they still there? And could he reach them?
The offshore ice seemed solid. How would they ever get through? If his crew was still alive, how much longer could they hold out? Suddenly he noticed a narrow lead of open water.
He steamed in, and as they approached the shore he turned his binoculars towards the little makeshift camp on the beach —and let out a shout: "They’re all there!"
Not only were they all there, they were all ready. In minutes, the twenty-two men and their gear were aboard the Yelcho, and within an hour the tugboat was back in open water — just in time, because opening in the ice floe closed up right behind them.
As they stood on the deck sailing away from Elephant Island, Shackleton turned to one of the men and said, "Well, you were packed and ready, weren't you?"
"Yes, we were, sir. We never lost hope. We believed you would come for us. You had promised, and we expected you; so each morning we rolled up our bags and packed our equipment, so we’d be ready when you got here." [Sources: www.antarcticconnection.com/antarctic/shackleton; Charles L. Paddock, Signs of the Times, June 14, 1932]
One of these days, our Commander Jesus is going to come back and rescue His crew from Earthly Island, and take us home for the wedding. As His heavenly tugboat sails down through the clouds, I can imagine He’ll turn His binocular vision toward Midland, Michigan, and scan the shore to see who’s ready.
By God’s grace I hope He’ll be able to shout to the angels, "They’re all there! Pick them up and bring them home!" And we’ll look up and say, "We never lost hope; we knew you’d come for us, so we were packed and ready."