Revelation 19:1-10

Sunday Morning Bible Study

June 3, 2012

Introduction

Do people see Jesus? Is the gospel preached? Does it speak to the broken hearted? Does it build up the church? Milk – Meat – Manna Preach for a decision Is the church loved?

The apostle John found himself caught up into heaven before the throne of God.

He saw Jesus take a scroll from the hand of God that had been sealed with seven seals.

As Jesus broke each seal and unrolled the scroll a little further, events begin to take place, the seven year period we call the Tribulation, the time of God’s wrath.

We’ve now made it to the end of the seven years. God’s wrath has been poured out and we’re seeing the final judgment take place, specifically on this thing called “Babylon”.

We’ve given “Babylon” another title, the “world”.

We saw in chapter 17 that the world involves false religions that entice us away from the true worship of God.

We saw in chapter 18 that the world involves materialism, the “stuff”, the “glitter” that takes our eyes off of God.

God’s wrath has been poured out on the “world”

19:1-10 Heaven’s joy

:1 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!

:2 For true and righteous are His judgments, because He has judged the great harlot who corrupted the earth with her fornication; and He has avenged on her the blood of His servants shed by her.”

:1 multitude – ochlos – a crowd; a multitude

:1 great – polus – many, much, large

:1 loud – megas – great

:1 Alleluia – allelouia – praise the Lord, Hallelujah

The great multitude in heaven responds to the judgment on Babylon with “Alleluia”

From two Hebrew words –

praise – halal – to shine; to praise, boast, be boastful

Yah – Yahh – Jah (Yahweh in the shortened form)

You see the actual two Hebrew words together in Psalm 150:1, translated as “Praise the LORD” –

(Ps 150:1 NKJV) Praise the Lord! Praise God in His sanctuary; Praise Him in His mighty firmament!

Some get confused over the spelling. Is it “Alleluia” or “Hallelujah”?

Both are correct.

“Hallelujah” is closer to the original Hebrew words, while “Alleluia” is straight from the Greek translation of the Hebrew word (though it is missing the breathing mark above the “A”, in essence making it “H-alleluia”)

Some of your Bibles have “Hallelujah” in this passage, others have “Alleluia”

This word (“Alleluia”/ “Hallelujah”) appears four times in our passage – the only four times in the Bible where it is translated “Alleluia/Hallelujah”

The English phrase “Praise the LORD” appears 53 times in the NKJV.

The actual Hebrew phrase (halelu yah) appears 23 times, all in the Psalms, all translated “Praise the LORD”.

:1 Salvation – soteria – deliverance, preservation, safety, salvation

++++ Fourfold salvation: saved from the penalty, power, presence and most importantly the pleasure of sin. (A.W. Pink)

:1 glory – doxa – opinion, judgment, view; in the NT always a good opinion concerning one, resulting in praise, honor, and glory; splendor, brightness

:1 honor – time – a valuing by which the price is fixed; honor which belongs or is shown to one

:1 power – dunamis – strength, power, ability

:2 true – alethinos – that which has not only the name and resemblance, but the real nature corresponding to the name, in every respect corresponding to the idea signified by the name, real, true genuine; true, veracious, sincere

:2 righteous – dikaios –righteous, observing divine laws

:2 corrupted – phtheiro – to corrupt, to destroy

:2 true and righteous are His judgments

The multitude in heaven are saying that God has done a good thing in bringing judgment on the world, on “Babylon”.

Lesson

Trusting God’s judgment

Do you trust the way God does things?

In heaven they do.

:1 Salvation and glory and …

Lesson

Deeper worship

I think that sometimes our worship and praise of God is a bit shallow.

We feel like we’re done when we say “Praise the Lord” or “I love You God”.

We could go a little further in our worship.

The Bible says,

(Ps 68:34 ESV) Ascribe power to God, whose majesty is over Israel, and whose power is in the skies.

Look at the kinds of things those in heaven are proclaiming:

1. Salvation

We are saved by God. We are saved by what He did for us. We can’t save ourselves from our own sins, only He can save us.

He provided for our ultimate salvation when He sent His Son to die on a cross, paying for our sins.

2. Glory

Glory is like a spotlight. Who deserves to be in the spotlight?

We might get excited about meeting a famous movie star, maybe a big sports star, or the latest winner of American Idol.

In reality, the only One who is worthy of a spotlight is God.

And we get to know Him!!!

3. Honor

This is like glory, but instead of having the idea of being in the spotlight, honor is the idea of having “weight”.

Doing something spectacular like winning a gold medal in the Olympics is something worth some honor.

A soldier who has saved his platoon in battle is worthy of honor.

But the heaviest of all honor belongs to God.

4. Power

God can do anything. Nothing is impossible for Him.

All power belongs to Him.

5. Good judgment

The crowd in heaven is extolling God’s great wisdom in His judgment on the earth.

They don’t seem to think that God has made any mistakes in the way things have turned out.

They have even seen the “world” destroyed, but they are confident that God knows what He’s doing.

I like to encourage people in their relationships to take time to think and express their appreciation towards each other.

To grow in your relationship with others – take time to think about what you appreciate about them. How many things can you list? If I asked you to tell me twenty things you appreciate about your spouse, how long would it take you to come up with that list? Have you ever taken the time to tell them how much you appreciate these things about them?

It’s the same with our relationship with God.

What do you appreciate about Him?

Have you taken the time to tell Him?

:3 Again they said, “Alleluia! Her smoke rises up forever and ever!”

:3 Alleluia – allelouia – praise you the Lord, Hallelujah

:3 Her smoke rises up forever and ever

Might be a picture of the judgment of a sacrifice, the smoke rising up.

Perhaps speaking of the eternal nature of Babylon’s punishment.

:4 And the twenty-four elders and the four living creatures fell down and worshiped God who sat on the throne, saying, “Amen! Alleluia!”

:4 worshiped – proskuneo – to kiss the hand to (towards) one, in token of reverence; among the Orientals, esp. the Persians, to fall upon the knees and touch the ground with the forehead as an expression of profound reverence

:4 Alleluia – allelouia – praise you the Lord, Hallelujah

:5 Then a voice came from the throne, saying, “Praise our God, all you His servants and those who fear Him, both small and great!”

:5 Praise – aineo – to praise, extol, to sing praises in honor to God

:5 who fear – phobeo – to put to flight by terrifying (to scare away); to fear, be afraid; to reverence, venerate, to treat with deference or reverential obedience

Gentiles who followed the God of Israel were often called “God fearers”. This could also be Hebrew parallelism, simply another way of describing the “servants”.

:5 a voice came from the throne

This could be God’s voice coming from inside the Temple in heaven.

It could also be a voice of one of the cherubim, who are considered in a sense the “worship leaders” in heaven.

The voice is calling God’s servants to give Him praise.

:6 And 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!

:6 Alleluia – allelouia – praise you the Lord, Hallelujah

:6 Omnipotent – pantokrator (“all” + “power”) – he who holds sway over all things; the ruler of all; almighty: God

:6 multitude – ochlos – a crowd; a multitude

:6 great – polus – many, much, large

:6 the voice of a great multitude …

This is the response to the “call to worship” from verse 5.

John uses the same language that he did back in verse one about voices and a great multitude, but it seems that this time the volume is turned up.

This time the sound is like many waters. (play rushing waters sound)

This time the sound is like “mighty thunderings”, like when the lightning strike is right over your head. (Play thunder sound clip)

:6 Alleluia! For the Lord God Omnipotent reigns!

Lesson

God wins

It is so cool to be on the side that wins.

Illustration

If you have a favorite sports team, you can get pretty bummed when things aren’t going well. It’s hard to root for a team that is losing.

On the other hand, it’s pretty fun to root for a team that’s not only winning, but even better, one you KNOW is going to win.

I don’t like watching the highlights of a game when your team has lost. But I sure don’t mind watching when I know they have won, even if for a time in the game it looks like they are going to lose.

Let me give you a clue as to how things wrap up in this world that we are living in. There will be one final verdict: God is the all-powerful one who wins.

If you have ever wondered if God truly is the One who wins in the end, you will have NO DOUBT at this point.

The world will be utterly defeated.

God is the all powerful One, and He will reign.

Are you “rooting” for the right team?

When George Frederick Handel wrote his famous choral work the “Hallelujah Chorus”, he used three texts from Revelation. (11:15, here, 19:16).

We already saw in chapter 11 where loud voices are saying …

(Re 11:15 NKJV) …“The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever!”

Today’s verse is the beginning of the song.

There is a third line – for bonus points, listen for the third text (from Rev. 19:16, next week).

I want to play the song again for you, but don’t just listen and smile at the music – listen and smile at THE WORDS!!! This is what heaven will be declaring at the end!

Play Hallelujah Flash Mob video

Because we are still living in this present world and because we are still surrounded by such evil and bad things, sometimes we get to wonder if God really does win.

Beloved, He wins.

:7 Let us be glad and rejoice and give Him glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready.”

:7 Let us be glad – chairo – to rejoice, be glad; to rejoice exceedingly

:7 rejoice – agalliao (“much” + “leap”) – to glorify, exult in, rejoice exceedingly, be exceedingly glad

It’s showing your “joy” by leaping and skipping showing ecstatic joy.

:7 marriage – gamos – a wedding or marriage festival, a wedding banquet, a wedding feast; marriage, matrimony

:7 wife – gune – a woman of any age, whether a virgin, or married, or a widow; a wife; of a betrothed woman

:7 made herself ready – hetoimazo – to make ready, prepare; to make the necessary preparations, get everything ready; drawn from the oriental custom of sending on before kings on their journeys persons to level the roads and make them passable; to prepare the minds of men to give the Messiah a fit reception and secure his blessings

:7 the marriage of the Lamb

The typical ancient Jewish marriage went through four phases:

1) The Betrothal (Qiddushin)

The groom travels from his father’s house to the home of his prospective bride, pays the “purchase price” for his bride (dowry), and establishes the official written marriage covenant (kethubah).

The “engagement” could only be broken by divorce. Any unfaithfulness was considered adultery.

Jesus travelled from His Father’s house in heaven to earth, paid for us by dying on the cross, and has given us the “New Covenant”.

2) The Wait

The groom returns to his father’s house to prepare for living arrangements, often by adding rooms to the father’s house.

At the Last Supper, Jesus said,

(Jn 14:1–3 ESV) —1 “Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. 2 In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.

3) The Return

The groom comes for his bride at a time not known exactly to her; she lived in expectation until he surprises her on his return.

This is like the Rapture of the church.

You see this in the Parable of the Ten Virgins (Mat. 25), where the wedding party is waiting for the Groom’s sudden return.

4) The Feast

The groom takes his bride back to his father’s house for the wedding ceremony (Chuppah), to consummate the marriage and to celebrate the wedding feast, sometimes lasting for the next seven days

Some have suggested that the actual Wedding Feast starts when we are raptured, and lasts during the seven years of the tribulation.

:7 the Lamb … His wife

Jesus is the Lamb of God. We, the church, are the bride of Christ.

William Barclay writes that a good marriage contains the same four things that should also be in the relationship between the Christian and Christ:

1. There is love. A loveless marriage is a contradiction in terms.

2. There is intimate communion, so intimate that man and wife become one flesh. The relationship of the Christian and Christ must be the closest in all life.

3. There is joy. There is nothing like the joy of loving and of being loved. If Christianity does not bring joy, it does not bring anything.

4. There is faithfulness. No marriage can last without fidelity, and the Christian must be as faithful to Jesus Christ as Jesus Christ is to him.

(Mt 25:1–13 NKJV) —1 “Then the kingdom of heaven shall be likened to ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. 2 Now five of them were wise, and five were foolish. 3 Those who were foolish took their lamps and took no oil with them, 4 but the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps. 5 But while the bridegroom was delayed, they all slumbered and slept. 6 “And at midnight a cry was heard: ‘Behold, the bridegroom is coming; go out to meet him!’ 7 Then all those virgins arose and trimmed their lamps. 8 And the foolish said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’ 9 But the wise answered, saying, ‘No, lest there should not be enough for us and you; but go rather to those who sell, and buy for yourselves.’ 10 And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding; and the door was shut. 11 “Afterward the other virgins came also, saying, ‘Lord, Lord, open to us!’ 12 But he answered and said, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, I do not know you.’ 13 “Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming.

(Lk 12:35–40 NKJV) —35 “Let your waist be girded and your lamps burning; 36 and you yourselves be like men who wait for their master, when he will return from the wedding, that when he comes and knocks they may open to him immediately. 37 Blessed are those servants whom the master, when he comes, will find watching. Assuredly, I say to you that he will gird himself and have them sit down to eat, and will come and serve them. 38 And if he should come in the second watch, or come in the third watch, and find them so, blessed are those servants. 39 But know this, that if the master of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into. 40 Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.”

(Lk 14:7–11 NKJV) —7 So He told a parable to those who were invited, when He noted how they chose the best places, saying to them: 8 “When you are invited by anyone to a wedding feast, do not sit down in the best place, lest one more honorable than you be invited by him; 9 and he who invited you and him come and say to you, ‘Give place to this man,’ and then you begin with shame to take the lowest place. 10 But when you are invited, go and sit down in the lowest place, so that when he who invited you comes he may say to you, ‘Friend, go up higher.’ Then you will have glory in the presence of those who sit at the table with you. 11 For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”

(Jn 2:1–11 NKJV) —1 On the third day there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. 2 Now both Jesus and His disciples were invited to the wedding. 3 And when they ran out of wine, the mother of Jesus said to Him, “They have no wine.” 4 Jesus said to her, “Woman, what does your concern have to do with Me? My hour has not yet come.” 5 His mother said to the servants, “Whatever He says to you, do it.” 6 Now there were set there six waterpots of stone, according to the manner of purification of the Jews, containing twenty or thirty gallons apiece. 7 Jesus said to them, “Fill the waterpots with water.” And they filled them up to the brim. 8 And He said to them, “Draw some out now, and take it to the master of the feast.” And they took it. 9 When the master of the feast had tasted the water that was made wine, and did not know where it came from (but the servants who had drawn the water knew), the master of the feast called the bridegroom. 10 And he said to him, “Every man at the beginning sets out the good wine, and when the guests have well drunk, then the inferior. You have kept the good wine until now!” 11 This beginning of signs Jesus did in Cana of Galilee, and manifested His glory; and His disciples believed in Him.

(Eph 5:22–28 NKJV) —22 Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. 23 For the husband is head of the wife, as also Christ is head of the church; and He is the Savior of the body. 24 Therefore, just as the church is subject to Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in everything. 25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her, 26 that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, 27 that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish. 28 So husbands ought to love their own wives as their own bodies; he who loves his wife loves himself.

Wiersbe (Rev. 19:1:

Jewish weddings in that day were quite unlike weddings in the Western world. First, there was an engagement, usually made by the parents when the prospective bride and groom were quite young. This engagement was binding and could be broken only by a form of divorce. Any unfaithfulness during the engagement was considered adultery.

When the public ceremony was to be enacted, the groom would go to the bride’s house and claim her for himself. He would take her to his home for the wedding supper, and all the guests would join the happy couple. This feast could last as long as a week.

Edersheim (on John 2)

In such circumstances, we would naturally expect that all connected with marriage was planned with care, so as to bear the impress of sanctity, and also to wear the aspect of gladness. A special formality, that of ‘betrothal’ (Erusin, Qiddushin), preceded the actual marriage by a period varying in length, but not exceeding a twelvemonth in the case of a maiden. At the betrothal, the bridegroom, personally or by deputy, handed to the bride a piece of money or a letter, it being expressly stated in each case that the man thereby espoused the woman. From the moment of betrothal both parties were regarded, and treated in law (as to inheritance, adultery, need of formal divorce), as if they had been actually married, except as regarded their living together. A legal document (the Shitré Erusin) fixed the dowry which each brought, the mutual obligations, and all other legal points. Generally a festive meal closed the ceremony of betrothal—but not in Galilee, where, habits being more simple and pure, that which sometimes ended in sin was avoided.

On the evening of the actual marriage (Nissuin, Chathnuth), the bride was led from her paternal home to that of her husband. First came the merry sounds of music; then they who distributed among the people wine and oil, and nuts among the children; next the bride, covered with the bridal veil, her long hair flowing, surrounded by her companions, and led by ‘the friends of the bridegroom,’ and ‘the children of the bride-chamber.’ All ground were in festive array; some carried torches, or lamps on poles; those nearest had myrtle-branches and chaplets of flowers. Every one rose to salute the procession, or join it; and it was deemed almost a religious duty to break into praise of the beauty, the modesty, or the virtues of the bride. Arrived at her new home, she was led to her husband. Some such formula as ‘Take her according to the Law of Moses and of Israel,’ would be spoken, and bride and bridegroom crowned with garlands.³ Then a formal legal instrument, called the Kethubah, was signed, which set forth that the bridegroom undertook to work for her, to honour, keep, and care for her,⁴ as is the manner of the men of Israel; that he promised to give his maiden-wife at least two hundred Zuz (or more as might be),⁶ and to increase her own dowry (which, in the case of a poor orphan, the authorities supplied) by at least one half, and that he also undertook to lay it out for her to the best advantage, all his own possessions being guarantee for it. Then, after the prescribed washing of hands and benediction, the marriage-supper began—the cup being filled, and the solemn prayer of bridal benediction spoken over it. And so the feast lasted—it might be more than one day—while each sought to contribute, sometimes coarsely,² sometimes wisely, to the general enjoyment, till at last ‘the friends of the bridegroom’ led the bridal pair to the Cheder and the Chuppah, or the bridal chamber and bed. Here it ought to be specially noticed, as a striking evidence that the writer of the fourth Gospel was not only a Hebrew, but intimately acquainted with the varying customs prevailing in Galilee and in Judæa, that at the marriage of Cana no ‘friend of the bridegroom,’ or ‘groomsman’ (Shoshebheyna), is mentioned, while he is referred to in St. John 3:29, where the words are spoken outside the boundaries of Galilee. For among the simpler and purer Galileans the practice of having ‘friends of the bridegroom,’ which must so often have led to gross impropriety, did not obtain,³ though all the invited guests bore the general name of ‘children of the bridechamber’ (bené Chuppah).

:8 And 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.

:8 fine linen – bussinos – a fine linen (garment)

from – bussos – byssus, a species of Egyptian flax; linen made from byssus, very costly, delicate, soft, white and also of a yellow colour

:8 clean – katharos – clean, pure

:8 bright – lampros – shining; brilliant; splendid, magnificent

:8 righteous acts – dikaioma (“work of righteousness”) – a righteous act or deed

:8 arrayed in fine linen

Lesson

Dress appropriately

I imagine that this is where we get the custom of dressing a bride in a beautiful white dress.

In heaven, the dress isn’t made of literal “linen”, but of “righteous acts”.

To be honest, when Jesus found us, He didn’t exactly find us clothed in “righteous acts”. In fact we were pretty pitiful when Jesus found us.

(Eph 5:25–27 NKJV) —25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her, 26 that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, 27 that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish.

This isn’t just an exhortation to husbands in how to love their wives.

This is what Jesus is doing to get us dressed for the wedding.

I apologize if you are offended by some of this next clip, especially when the dress is adjusted, but it’s a great illustration of what Jesus does for us … the extreme makeover done with the help of Photoshop …

Play Photoshop Extreme Makeover

Jesus is the master of the Total Makeover. He goes way beyond giving you a “nose job”, but completely changes our lives.

Some people make the mistake of thinking that if they are going to become a Christian, they have to clean up their life.

The truth is, you need to come as you are.

Jesus is the one who cleans up your life.

He will give you the proper “makeover”

He uses His Word to cleanse us, to show us the kinds of things He wants to do in our lives.

We respond to His Word by receiving His forgiveness and living a changed life.

:9 Then he said to me, “Write: ‘Blessed are those who are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb!’ ” And he said to me, “These are the true sayings of God.”

:9 Blessed – makarios – blessed, happy

:9 called – kaleo – to call; to invite; to call i.e. to name, by name

Perfect tense

:10 And I fell at his feet to worship him. But he said to me, “See that you do not do that! I am your fellow servant, and of your brethren who have the testimony of Jesus. Worship God! For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.”

:10 to worship – proskuneo – to kiss the hand to (towards) one, in token of reverence; among the Orientals, esp. the Persians, to fall upon the knees and touch the ground with the forehead as an expression of profound reverence

:10 fellow servant – sundoulos – a fellow servant, one who serves the same master with another

:10 testimony – marturia – a testifying; what one testifies, testimony, i.e. before a judge

:10 See that you do not do that!

John makes the mistake of getting so caught up in the excitement of the moment and the spectacular things he’s seeing, that he falls down and worships the angel.

The angel corrects him. Only God deserves our worship.

Not angels. Not people.

:10 the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy

The focus of all prophecy in the Bible is Jesus.

Some people want to get caught up in the details of what Babylon is going to look like or the color of the antichrist’s eyes.

Proper study of the prophetic always points to Jesus.

:9 Blessed are those who are called

The “called” are the ones who have received invitations.

Lesson

The Invitation

Jesus told a story about this wedding feast.

(Mt 22:1–14 NKJV) —1 And Jesus answered and spoke to them again by parables and said: 2 “The kingdom of heaven is like a certain king who arranged a marriage for his son, 3 and sent out his servants to call those who were invited to the wedding; and they were not willing to come.

God is the King, Jesus is the Son. The original guest list included God’s chosen people, Israel. But they didn’t want to come to the wedding feast.

4 Again, he sent out other servants, saying, ‘Tell those who are invited, “See, I have prepared my dinner; my oxen and fatted cattle are killed, and all things are ready. Come to the wedding.” ’ 5 But they made light of it and went their ways, one to his own farm, another to his business. 6 And the rest seized his servants, treated them spitefully, and killed them. 7 But when the king heard about it, he was furious. And he sent out his armies, destroyed those murderers, and burned up their city. 8 Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy. 9 Therefore go into the highways, and as many as you find, invite to the wedding.’ 10 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.

Because the original guests didn’t fill up the wedding hall, the king expanded his guest list to include us, the Gentiles.

11 “But when the king came in to see the guests, he saw a man there who did not have on a wedding garment. 12 So he said to him, ‘Friend, how did you come in here without a wedding garment?’ And he was speechless. 13 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.’ 14 “For many are called, but few are chosen.”

What’s the “wedding garment”? It’s the same as the wedding dress that the Bride is wearing.

It starts by opening up your heart to Jesus and asking Him to make you His own.

It’s about letting Him into your life and allowing Him to change you.

The angel said, “Blessed are those who are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb!”

The “chosen” are those who have decided to follow God on His terms. But there’s a blessing just to be “called”, to be honored by God by receiving an invitation. Yet the real honor doesn’t come just by being invited, but by accepting the invitation.

Those of us who are following Jesus are also like the “servants” who get to go out into the highways and invite more guests to the banquet.

That’s what happens when you share your faith with someone.

(Ro 10:13–15 NLT) —13 For “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” 14 But how can they call on him to save them unless they believe in him? And how can they believe in him if they have never heard about him? And how can they hear about him unless someone tells them? 15 And how will anyone go and tell them without being sent? That is why the Scriptures say, “How beautiful are the feet of messengers who bring good news!”

The invitation is meant for everyone.

Everyone in this room has now received an official invitation. We have been blessed to be invited to the Wedding Feast of the Lamb.

How will you “RSVP” to an invitation by God?