The Glory of God Revealed

Guest (Male): Our security is not found in a church, state, economic union; it's found in Jesus. He is the only one that can save us. He is the only one that can redeem us. He stands for us as the great High Priest in the sanctuary, and He is coming again to take us home. This is HopeLives365 with Pastor Mark Finley. Today's message: The Glory of God Revealed. Enjoy, and remember you can always catch up with past messages and stay updated with HopeLives365 and Pastor Mark by going to HopeLives365.org. Stay with us for a free Bible study offer later in this program. And now, Pastor Mark Finley.
Mark Finley: We're coming to the climax of the book of Revelation. This climax is an incredible, gorgeous climax. It's really encouraging. In fact, Revelation chapter 19, that we'll be focusing on today, begins with a song of praise for the Christ that has victory over the principalities and powers of hell. John says in Revelation 18:1, "After these things I saw another angel coming down from heaven, having great authority." Now this angel has great authority or power. The earth is illuminated with his glory and he cries mightily. We talked a little bit about this in our last program. We call this the loud cry, the final invitation of Christ pictured by an angel crying mightily. This is the final gathering in of the harvest of the world. This angel has great authority or great power. God's last-day message goes with great authority to the world. It goes with great power. At a time when church and state unite, at a time when humanity unites under a religious confederation, at a time when humanity says in this church-state union that unless you go along you'll be imprisoned, you can't buy or sell, there'll be a death decree, the earth will be illuminated with the glory of God because the truth of God will triumph. The Holy Ghost, the Holy Spirit will move powerfully among God's people. You see, there's a counterfeit spirit and there's a genuine spirit. There's a mighty revival and there's a false revival. And the earth, the Bible says, will be illuminated or lighted with what? The glory of God. The darker the night, the brighter the light. This message of Jesus will not end as a candle with a flicker; it won't be blown out by the breezes of evil. The earth is going to be illuminated with the glory of God. The beast is not going to have the last word; Jesus is. Where sin abounds, grace doth much more abound. One of the most encouraging verses in Revelation is found in Revelation 18:1, the verse we're studying. John says, "I saw this." John says it's not make-believe; it's not something that's fable. He says, "I saw another angel coming down from heaven with great power and the earth is filled with his glory." What does he cry? He cries mightily with a loud voice saying, "Babylon is fallen." The confused religious systems of this world with their spiritualism, with their dependence on man, with their confusion, with their traditions, with their false worship and all of that, they have fallen. They now become the habitation of demons. Satan takes control of them; he deceives people. The Bible says all nations have drunk of the wine, Revelation 18:3, of the wrath of her fornication. It's a union of church, state, and economic powers. So you have this false religious system, this confused religious system that commits fornication with the kings of the earth, the political powers. That's Babylon, false religion. They unite together and the merchants of the earth join them. That's the economic powers. This union provides such a power block in the world that it seems to be bringing in a new age of world peace and prosperity and security for a short period of time. When religious and political and economic powers unite, it appears that great peace and prosperity are coming to the world. But look at verse 4: "I heard another voice from heaven saying, 'Come out of her, my people, lest you share in her sins, lest you receive her plagues, for her sins have reached to heaven and God has remembered her iniquities.'" Just like the days of Noah, soon the people that were in were in and the people that were out were out and the door was shut. Everybody had made their final decision. And I believe God is giving a final appeal to the world today. But one day the accumulated figures of sin and apostasy of the world will be such that God's hand will write across the sky symbolically, just as He wrote on the wall of Belshazzar's banquet hall, "Mene, Mene, Tekel, Upharsin. Thou art weighed in the balances and found wanting." This is the end of the nation of literal Babylon and we will have the end of the nation of spiritual Babylon as well. There is a boundary upon which God does not allow people to go. There is a line they cannot cross. We live in a society today where it looks like everything is just going on and on and on. But the accumulated figures of sin are rising and rising and God sends His message out. But there is a point where God says, "That's enough." Why isn't there enough already? Before Jesus comes, three things are going to happen specifically. First, the accumulated figures of sin will give a demonstration to the whole universe that if God does not step in, things will become so bad in selfishness and jealousy that the world will destroy itself. Shakespeare said, "All the world is a stage and all the men that are in it are actors." Our little universe is demonstrating something. It's a stage before the universe. It's demonstrating that if the universe turns its back on God and lives a sinful, selfish life, there'll be sickness, suffering, death, and disaster all over the place. And we see that happening. So three things are going to happen before Jesus comes. First, the accumulated figures of sin and apostasy and rebellion of this world are going to reach a height where God says it's enough. Second, in contrast, God is going to have a people that are totally committed to Him. He will reveal through them the character of His love, and the whole world will be able to see the character of His love through His people. Every seed will go to harvest. That's what the whole harvest principle is about. The Bible says in Mark chapter 4 that first the seed, the grain, then the full corn in the ear, then the harvester sticks in his sickle, harvests the earth. You're going to see the harvest of golden grain. That's the harvest of God's people who love Him so much and are so totally committed to Him that the whole world, at a time of wickedness, will see a people with undivided affections, totally sold out for Christ. On the other side of the question, you'll see a people who are totally sold out to Satan. We've not seen that yet. What will happen in the world when you get people who have drifted away from Christ even now the Holy Spirit is appealing to them? But there will be a time when probation is closed, they make their final irrevocable decision. That's why the Bible says in Revelation 22 verses 11 and 12, "He that is righteous let him be righteous still. He that is holy let him be holy still. He that is unholy let him be unholy still. He that is filthy let him be filthy still." Two classes will be developed. And then in verse 12 Jesus says, "Behold, I come quickly; my reward is with me." So you're going to see two classes develop: the righteous, the unrighteous; the clean and the filthy; the holy and the unholy. We've not seen yet what will happen in the world when you see this people who are totally, totally, absolutely committed to satanic principles. They've drifted away from Christ. The evil spirits have controlled them and it is going to be a situation where evil is manifest in ways it's never been manifest before. Right now there are three classes in the world: those that are totally for Christ, those that are rebelling against Christ, and there's a middle class. But what's going to happen now we have the righteous and the unrighteous and you've got this middle ground, people who are deciding? When those two things polarize, and we see that happening right now, the wicked will get more wicked, the unrighteous are getting more unrighteous, the righteous will get more righteous. And God Himself will allow this to happen so there'll only be two classes, two classes sold out for Christ. So the wicked are going to get more wicked, the righteous are going to get more righteous, and thirdly, the gospel's going to go to the whole world. When all these three things meet, when the wicked seal the cup of their iniquity, when the righteous are totally committed to Christ, when the gospel goes to the whole world before the whole universe, Jesus will say, "See here, my people, I'm going to go get them." They've revealed before a waiting world and a watching universe my love in the most difficult circumstances. Revelation 18:5 says her sins have reached to heaven. That's the accumulated figures of sin. God has remembered her iniquities. Verse 6 says, "Render to her just as she has rendered to you." That's Revelation 18 verse 6. "And repay her double according to her works." Have you heard anybody say you reap what you sow? No farmer would sow one seed if they reaped what they sowed. You reap what you sow only in kind, never in quantity. If I plant one corn kernel, do I expect to get one kernel back to eat? If I did, would I plant it? If I plant one apple seed, do I get one apple seed back? If I plant an apple seed, I will get it back in kind; I'll get apples. But what do I expect? I expect a whole apple tree, right? When you make a decision in your life to do what's right, you reap what you sow in kind but not in quantity. You make a decision to do what's right and good things begin to happen to you in your life. What you get of the action you do is far greater than the simple act. It's the same thing with evil. Think about it. You reap what you sow only in kind, never in quantity. A guy goes out here tonight and he drinks at a bar. He gets in his car, crosses the medium, kills a seventeen-year-old kid. He's put in jail for vehicular homicide. He reaps what he sows only in kind, but what he's reaped is far greater than the act of one glass of alcohol, one glass of beer or whiskey. Some guy goes out in the back of a car and gets some girl pregnant. He finds out she's been sleeping around with four other guys and develops HIV, and he's HIV positive. He reaps what he sows for years from that act, but it's much bigger than the act itself. See, the reason I want to help young people not go down the path of evil and make real mistakes in poor choices is because I know that every seed you sow, every seed you put in the ground reaps an apple tree. So if we reap what we sow, why does the Bible in verse 6 say, "Render to her just as she rendered to you, repay her double to her works, in the cup which she has mixed, for her double"? If you do righteousness, you get a double mixed to you. If you do evil, it grows and it gets out of control in your life. In the measure that she glorified herself and lived luxuriously, in the same measure give her torment and sorrow. For she says in her heart, "I sit as a queen and am no widow." Why is she no widow? Because the church has united with the state and she thinks that she is the royal queen of authority for a little while because the merchants jump in and there's this temporary period of illusionary peace before the crisis breaks. The true queen is the one who comes to Jesus. She is the prince or princess of Christ. It's the bride of Christ that's the queen.
Guest (Male): We'll be right back with Pastor Mark Finley. We thank you for listening and hope you're enjoying today's message. Our mission is to attractively present the Christ-centered biblical truths of scripture in a practical, relevant way to people around the world so that they may experience the abundant life that Christ offers. If you want to learn more about the Bible, check out our free Bible series at globalbibleschool.org. That's globalbibleschool.org. Discover answers to your deepest questions straight from God's word. And now, back to Pastor Mark Finley.
Mark Finley: This false religious system cannot deliver world peace. It can't deliver security. And ultimately the kings of the earth see they followed a fable and they've been deceived and they begin to weep. Verse 10, Revelation 18, standing at the presence for fear of her torment saying, "Alas, alas, that city Babylon." The false political system, false religious system, that mighty city, in an hour your judgment has come. What happens with the merchants of the earth? The merchants of the earth will weep and mourn over her because nobody buys their merchandise anymore. They don't buy their gold or silver. There's an economic collapse. Verse 14, "The fruit that your soul longs for has gone from you." Here is this political, religious, economic union. The fruit your soul longed for: your soul longed for peace, your soul longed for security, your soul longed for abundance. You cannot get that in a counterfeit union of politics, religion, and the economic resources of the world. They cannot deliver you the things your soul longs for. They are gone in an instant. The only one that can apply and supply what your soul longs for is Jesus Christ. Jesus says, "I can meet every need you have. I am the pearl of great price. I am the riches your soul longs for. I am the water of life that can quench the inner thirst of your soul. I am the bread of life that can feed the longing of your heart." Remember what it says in the Song of Solomon about this beautiful parable of love. Her lover says, "I have found Him whom my soul loveth." When you find Jesus, you find Him whom your soul loveth. He's the only one that can provide for you peace that your soul longs for. What is Revelation 18 saying to the church? It is saying to the church that the worldly materialistic system that puts confidence in the things of the world will ultimately let you down. Verse 17 says, "For in one hour great riches come to nothing." They're gone. Verse 20 says, "Rejoice over her, O heaven, and you all the apostles, the prophets, for God has avenged you on her." Verse 23, "And the light of the lamp shall shine in you no more." What's the lamp? Remember Psalm 119 verse 105: "Thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light to my path." God's word doesn't shine to them anymore. The voice of the bridegroom and the bride will not be heard in you anymore, for your merchants were the great men of the earth. By your sorcery all nations were deceived. They were deceived by spiritualistic sorcery. Church and state and economic powers unite. The evil spirits came in and through Satan they were deceived. The evil spirits brought them together.
Guest (Male): Our security is not found in a church, state, economic union; it's found in Jesus. He is the only one that can save us. He is the only one that can redeem us. He stands for us as the great High Priest in the sanctuary, and He is coming again to take us home. Revelation 18 talks about the destruction of an earthly system that is temporary. Revelation 19 talks about the establishment of a heavenly system that's eternal. Revelation 18 says that you have the destruction of everything that is temporary. And Revelation 19 you have the establishment of everything that is permanent. And Revelation 18 you have weeping and wailing. You have weeping and crying because they put their confidence in an economic, political, religious union. They see it collapse before their eyes.
Mark Finley: In a day, it's gone. But notice the contrast. In Revelation 18 there is weeping because that which is temporary has slipped away through their fingers. In Revelation 19 you have a different scene. It says Revelation 19, "After these things I heard a loud voice of a great multitude in heaven saying, 'Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and honor and power to the Lord our God. True and righteous are His judgments because He's judged the great harlot Babylon who corrupted the earth with fornication. He's avenged her blood.'" That's Revelation 19:1 and 2. Verse 3, it says, "And they said Hallelujah and her smoke rises up forever and ever." And the twenty-four elders say Hallelujah. Verse 6, Revelation 19, "And I heard as it were the voice of a great multitude." That's the voice of the redeemed who are translated and brought up to heaven. "And the sound of many thunders saying, 'Hallelujah! For the great God omnipotent reigns. Let's be glad and rejoice.'" Here's something solid. Here's something permanent we can find our security in Christ. We can find everything our soul longs for in Christ. So the scripture says, Revelation 19, "Let us be glad and rejoice for the marriage of the Lamb has come and her wife has made herself ready." Now who's the Lamb? Jesus. Who's her wife? Bible says the wife is the New Jerusalem, the city of God. Jesus is united with His city, but it also says that the bride of Christ is the church or the people of God. So the people are in the holy city and that makes up, constitutes the bride of Christ. Now there are four Hallelujahs that we find in this great song in Revelation chapter 19. The first Hallelujah says I heard a loud voice, that's the angelic voice saying, "Hallelujah." Now before in Revelation 18:1, the loud voice gives the call for men and women in this false religious system to come out. Now you have the angelic voice saying, "Hallelujah, they have come out." In verse 3 you have the second Hallelujah. In verse 4 you have the third Hallelujah. In verse 6 you have the fourth Hallelujah. Now let's look at those Hallelujahs. Revelation 19, and I want to pick up this Hallelujah in verse 6. The angel says, "Hallelujah, for the Lord God omnipotent reigns. 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." This is the fourth Hallelujah. Why four? Remember you have four winds holding back the winds of strife on the earth in Revelation 7. They're holding back the winds of destruction, devastation. What does four represent? It represents universality or the points of the compass. All through the universe from north to south to east and west, the four points of the compass angelic beings are singing Hallelujah, Hallelujah. There's not one voice of weeping in the universe. There's not one voice of despair in the universe. There's not one voice of pain in the universe. There's not one voice of suffering in the universe. There's not one voice of death in the universe because at this point the entire universe sings Hallelujah because something is going to take place, and what is it? The marriage supper of the Lamb. There is a long table and Jesus comes and sits there. The redeemed from all ages come and find their place. They eat the fruits of the tree of life, the marriage supper of the Lamb. There is a seat for you there. Jesus has prepared a place for you there. Sometime ago my wife and I had quite an amusing experience. In those years we were traveling in itinerant evangelists, might go from city to city and would hold evangelistic meetings. We had a little trailer that we brought with us. We're up there in Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island. I was just a young evangelist then. We had a great time. In those years I recognized that the great strength of any public evangelistic meeting is that you have to have Bible workers that are studying the Bible with people in their homes. So this is what I did and I looked for young people 18 to 22 years old, top quality, bright brains. And I'd find them anywhere I could and I looked for the sharpest, most intelligent young people and I'd say to them, "Look, I have no money to pay you, but I'm willing to give you what I have, willing to share with you what I know, and if you'll make a commitment to come with us for a year, you can live in our home and we'll provide food for you all out of my salary." And you know, I don't do this anymore. But we did it in those days. And so we'd take these young people, four at a time, and every day I'd study the Bible with them, pour into their minds every single thing that I know about the Word of God. We'd train them and they would go out into the cities where I would go to hold these meetings and they'd go into the homes and study the Bible with people and bring them people to our meetings. Well, these young people today are scattered all over America, all around the world, really. They're leaders in the Christian faith, many of them in pastors. It's wonderful for me to go and to see them as the many of them have now, after living in our home, gotten the spirit of service and they've gone out to preach the Word of God. When we had these pretty large numbers in our home, my wife and I, four young people, sometimes five or six we'd have, I also have children. And so one night my wife and I were studying the Bible with the kids and she was feeding them. And we'd feed often 10 to 12 people every day in those days just on my salary. Five days a week we'd go study the Bible with people and I'd preach. One day a week was garden day and we all went out and worked in the garden. We grew food. We used to can about 3,000 quarts of fruits and vegetables each year. That was the only way we could survive. We'd put up 1,000 quarts of applesauce and 400 or 500 quarts of tomatoes. And my wife would teach the girls who came to us how to make bread. That's the way we'd survive. We did it all on my salary. But here's the interesting thing: we would set the table every night because we had big breakfasts and we'd be off in our Bible work and off in our preaching, sometimes not get home till later on. So we always set the table at night. We'd set it for about 12 people. One time after our meetings we were preaching and it must have been 10:30 at night, we got home. We invited some extra people over to our house just to share with them. And they walked in and they came into the dining room where the table was set for these 10 to 12 young people. They began to look around; it was 10:30 at night. They saw the table set and one of the young men looked up and said to my wife, "You folks really eat late here, don't you?" Just as we had set the table then to get ready for the morning, but we set it in the night. I wonder now if God is setting His table. I wonder if God has a name tag there for you with your name on it. There's a special place that God wants you to sit. I don't want to miss my place. The things of this earth grow strangely dim in the light of His glory and grace. In Revelation 19 verse 9, it says, "But he said to me write: Blessed are those who are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb." You are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb. You have an invitation to the wedding. God is going to formally present Christ there before all the redeemed. The universe will sing, they will sing praises to His name. Imagine it: we're at the marriage supper of the Lamb. Everything to delight the eye and tempt the taste is there. He has prepared a healthful banquet for us. And the redeemed of all the ages are there and the Father stands up and says, "I want to introduce you to Jesus." And Jesus steps forward and He says, "I am so glad you're here. My sacrifice on the cross was worth it. The blood shed for my hands was worth it. The blood that flowed down my temples was worth it. The spear wound in my side was worth it. Bearing the sins and griefs of all humanity on the cross and bearing the weight of the sins of the world that crushed out my life. All of this was worth it because you are here."
Guest (Male): You've been listening to Pastor Mark Finley. We hope you enjoyed today's message and that it increased your faith in God and His Word. If you'd like to learn more, Pastor Mark invites you to visit globalbibleschool.org for an inspiring interactive Bible study experience. That's globalbibleschool.org. And now, a final thought from Pastor Mark.
Mark Finley: We begin to sing, "Worthy, worthy is the Lamb to receive blessings and honor and glory because You redeemed us by Your blood." We will never cease praising Him for His goodness and His mercy. I want to be there, don't you, at the marriage supper of the Lamb? I want to live with Jesus forever where there is no sickness or suffering or heartache or death. If that's your decision, why not right now make that commitment as I pray? Father in heaven, we thank You with all of our hearts for Jesus. We thank You that He's redeemed us by His grace, pardoned us. We thank You that we can live in heaven with Him forever. And one day we long to be at the marriage supper of the Lamb. Keep us faithful to that day in Jesus' name. Amen.