Revelation 18:20
Let There Be Praise
This section of Revelation is something of a PraiseFest. Psalm 147:1
says "it is good to sing praises unto our God." We have read through
four praise sections in the book of Revelation so far.
\\#Rev 4:8-11\\
\\#Rev 5:8-14\\
\\#Rev 7:9-12\\
\\#Rev 11:15-17\\
We will glean through this section and see three more praise sections
to our God.
Some say they don’t want to go to heaven because all we will do there
is praise God.
1. First, anyone who would say that probably does not need to
worry about it as they likely will not be going.
2. Second, I don’t think that is all we will be doing there. God
created us with creativity and a mind to work. I am sure He
will have something for us to do.
3. All human beings would get tired of doing the same, singular
thing forever; but God is going to recreate us so that we are
more spirit than we are now.
Reminders:
1. Revelation 16 God had the seven angels pour out the last seven
judgments on the earth.
a. We are not told the details of when they were poured out or
how rapidly they were poured out, but we were told what
someone said when the last vail was being poured out:
Rev 16:17 …there came a great voice out of the
temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, It is
done.
b. That would indicate that by the time the last angel poured out
his vial, we either were AT or were NEARLY AT the end of the
Tribulation.
2. Revelation 17-18 described the fulfillment to the message the
angel gave:
Rev 14:8 …Babylon is fallen, is fallen….
a. In those chapters, religious Babylon fell, called the Great
Whore \\#Rev 17:1\\, political Babylon fell, called the Ten
Horns \\#Rev 17:12\\, and economical Babylon fell, called
among other things "the great city" five times in chapter 18.
b. Again, no information is given as to the time of these
destructions, but by their placement in the back of the book
of Revelation, it would be logical to assume that by the time
all three are destroyed we are AT or NEARLY AT the end of the
Tribulation.
I. God is praised for what He has done.
Rev 18:20 Rejoice over her, thou heaven, and ye
holy apostles and prophets; for God hath avenged
you on her.
A. This command is being given in chapter 18 either at or nearly
at the end of God’s destruction of Babylon.
B. \\#20\\ This command is directed to the heavens and among the
holy apostles and prophets.
1. Few will be praising the Lord on earth at this time for
the earth will be a shredded, smoldering, heap of ruin.
except perhaps for a few pockets that have been spared
because they sheltered the people of God.
2. Listen to what the Bible describes in chapter 18:
a. \\#8\\ mourning
b. \\#15\\ weeping and wailing
c. \\#19\\ weeping and wailing
3. But this verse tells us that there will be praise in
heaven!
a. I suspect that although this praise is commanded from
the holy apostle and prophets, that it will be
welcomed by all those who have suffered at the hands
of the anti-Christ, his cruel regime, or even the
world at large.
b. This is a change in attitude. Remember the Fifth
Seal?
Rev 6:9 And when he had opened the fifth seal,
I saw under the altar the souls of them that were
slain for the word of God, and for the testimony
which they held:
10 And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How
long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge
and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the
earth?
C. What has God done that the heavens should offer up praise?
1. He has destroyed the anti-Christ’s system.
2. Although the Ten Horns (or whatever number of them still
rule) will follow the anti-Christ to the bitter end, the
religious and economical arms of his system will be left
in total ruins by the this time.
3. Their destruction is described:
Rev 18:21 And a mighty angel took up a stone
like a great millstone, and cast it into the sea,
saying, Thus with violence shall that great city
Babylon be thrown down, and shall be found no
more at all.
4. As far as the Ten Horns, if their armies are what was
described in Ezekiel 38-39, then whatever part of them
that will be left will move to advance against the city
of Jerusalem for THE final showdown; but that is all that
is left of the Devil’s exotic plot to overthrow God!
5. And thus shall be fulfilled a promise made to the devil
before man was ever created:
Is 14:12 How art thou fallen from heaven, O
Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut
down to the ground, which didst weaken the
nations!
5 Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to
the sides of the pit.
16 They that see thee shall narrowly look upon
thee, and consider thee, saying, Is this the man
that made the earth to tremble, that did shake
kingdoms;
D. God is to be praised for what He has done!
II. God is praised for who He is.
Rev 19:1 And after these things I heard a great
voice of much people in heaven, saying, Alleluia;
Salvation, and glory, and honor, and power, unto
the Lord our God:
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.
3 And again they said, Alleluia. And her smoke
rose up for ever and ever.
4 And the four and twenty elders and the four
beasts fell down and worshipped God that sat on
the throne, saying, Amen; Alleluia.
A. \\#19:2-4\\ also contain praise about WHAT God has done.
1. Specifically His destruction of the Great Whore.
2. But \\#19:1\\ directs praise to WHO God is.
B. Notice the word "Alleluia."
1. The last syllable is "yah" and it short for the first
syllable in Yahweh, the Hebrew name for God.
2. "Allelu" means praise.
3. When put together, they say "Praise God!"
C. Why are they praising God?
1. Because salvation is God’s!
a. This is listed first.
b. Why?
(1) Perhaps because of a conflict in OUR interests!
(a) Perhaps salvation is listed first because
that is what the choir singing the praise
needed the most!
(b) There is nothing we need more than for God
to take dirty, rotten sinners, cleanse
them, and make them into the very image of
His Son.
(2) But may I also suggest that this is listed first
because salvation is God’s greatest work?
(a) It was a great work when this God stood on
the edge of nothingness and with nothing
but His Word and His will spoke the
universe of worlds, stars, and of
unimaginable glories into existence.
(b) And, yes, it is a great work that God knows
everything happening everyWHEN, and every-
where, including things that have happened,
are happening, and will happen.
(c) And, yes, it is a great work that God rules
every creature, including every person,
every atom, and ever molecule without
any effort whatsoever.
(d) But I believe all of those things pail in
comparison to His work of making the unholy
holy, the sinful sinless, and the vile
clean.
(e) What greater work is there than to offer a
world of carnal, flawed, fallen,
rebellious, and devil-loving sinners life,
liberty, and the love of God, then to take
those who accepted that offer and remade
them from stem to stern, from inside to
outside, from the gutter most to the
uttermost into the very image of Himself!
c. Salvation, my friend, is listed first because it may
be God’s greatest work ever!
2. Because glory is God’s!
(a) The best definition I have ever heard of glory is that
glory is an outward manifestation of God’s inward
goodness.
(b) If that is the case, all glory is God’s.
(1) Whatever else has glory has been lent it by God.
(2) Like a fingerprint is left by the touch of a
man’s hand, so glory is left on an object when
touched by God’s hand.
(c) So what do we have to praise God about?
(1) He touched us!
(2) God left His glory on us!
3. Because honor is God!
(a) Honor as it is used here is exaltation and praise.
(b) There is no one and nothing more worthy of honor
than God!
4. Power is God’s!
(a) The reason the praise being offered in this text is
being offered is because God just demonstrated His
power.
(1) God will have completed battle with the devil
and will have swept his religions, his systems,
his powers and his demons into the trash heap
of hell.
(2) And within just a few verses, we will read how
the last of the devil’s army will be destroyed,
how the Beast and the False Prophet will be
pitched into hell, and how Satan will be cast
into the bottomless pit for 1,000 years.
(b) Friend, let me tell you that there is no God like
this God in power, honor, glory and salvation.
D. God is to be praised because of who He is!
III. God is to be praised because of what He is doing.
A. God is describing the marriage of the Lamb to the church and
the great supper that follows.
Rev 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.
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.
7 Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honor to
him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and
his wife hath made herself ready.
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.
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.
B. If we are to have a Marriage Supper, we must have…
1. A Groom.
a. \\#7\\ Referred to as the Lamb.
b. By now, we should all know that term is a reference to
Jesus Christ.
c. Charles Spurgeon pointed out that is an odd name to
call Jesus now.
(1) Now as the Lamb of God is judging the work, the
anti-Christ and his system, and the devil, a
more fitting title would be the LION.
(2) But Jesus could have referred to Himself as
anything: the Messiah, the Savior, the Redeemer.
(3) Why does He continue to call Himself the Lamb?
(4) There is only one answer: He prefers it.
(a) Of all the gifts that God gives us through
all eternity, the one that Jesus will want
us to remember the most will be the gift
of His sacrifice on the cross.
(b) Let’s remember the Lamb!
2. A Bride:
a. The New Testament indicates the Bride is the church.
b. \\#8\\ Our apparel is described.
c. Both in our culture and the Hebrew culture, the
wedding was planned mostly by the bride and her
family.
d. Certainly, the wedding dress was selected by the
bride; but not here.
(1) Here, the dress will be handspun by the Groom, by
Jesus Himself.
(2) And it will be woven of the righteousness of the
saints.
(3) But the saints have NO righteousness.
(4) So this garment will be made by the righteousness
of the Groom which has been given to the Bride.
C. And if there is a Marriage Supper, it stands to reason that
there should be a marriage!
1. However, we are never the marriage is never described in
the Bible.
2. Some might argue that the parables Jesus gave in Matthew
give us some details, and they would be correct; however,
the marriage itself is never described.
3. Why?
a. Who can know what the Bible does not say?
b. But it may be because this marriage is too special to
to open to man’s speculations.
c. It is our custom for the groom not to see the bride
until she walks down the aisle.
d. Perhaps it is God’s desire that the bride not see any
aspect of the wedding until she shows up, fully
gathered and completely clothed in righteousness.
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