REDEEMED: Creation (Marriage Supper)
[Read Revelation 19:1-9]
There’s a lot of talk about polarization today, isn’t there? For the past six or seven years, people have been noticing this polarization increasing and increasing. We watched this polarization get to an intense point the summer of 2020 and following. And, to be honest, the polarization hasn’t really gone away, has it? It’s still there, hanging out under the surface. It’s kinda like a disease that’s still in the body, but is lying dormant for a while. I think we all feel it at the moment. I think we all recognize that it will only take one wrong move and the polarization will fire up again and cause some destruction. People were worried it was going to happen surrounding the recent Roe vs Wade decisions. People are worried that some new policy will cause it to flare up again. There’s this tension we’re living in.
Yet, in the midst of that tension, I think it’s important to remember that this isn’t new. This has been the case for millennia that there is polarization in the world. It’s always been there. Yes, there are times when it lays dormant for a while and it seems like it has gone away—and we hope that it’s gone away for good—but then something happens and it flares up again.
Yet, this polarization has been in the world ever since sin entered the world through Adam and Eve. We read this statement in Genesis 3 from God: “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring” (Genesis 3:15, ESV). There’s going to be enmity between the woman and the serpent and between her offspring and the offspring of the serpent. Another way to say that is that there’s going to be polarization in the world between the children of the woman and the children of Satan. And that polarization will exist until the final death blow is dealt to Satan at Jesus Christ’s return.
Understanding this is essential to understanding the book of Revelation because that is the central theme to Revelation. It’s a book about the polarization between the children of the woman and the children of Satan. Or, another way to put it, it’s a book about the polarization between the Kingdom of God and the Kingdom of Satan. That’s the central theme to the book of Revelation. That’s the picture it’s repeatedly painting over and over and over again, trying to help us rightly understand and see this polarization that’s currently in the world and will be in the world until Jesus Christ returns and deals the final death blow to the Kingdom of Satan. That’s why there’s such vivid imagery and a multiplicity of images because the Kingdom of Satan takes on numerous forms in the world and manifests itself in many different ways. So, we’re given image after image after image of the Kingdom of Satan. And in contrast—or in polarization—to the Kingdom of Satan, we are also given multiple images of the Kingdom of God that stand in stark contrast to Satan’s kingdom.
One of those images that comes through clearly in this morning’s passage is the contrast between The Prostitute and The Bride. That’s another image of this polarization that I’ve been talking about. The Prostitute is another image of the Kingdom of Satan, and the prostitute is contrasted with The Bride, which is the picture of the Kingdom of God. And right now, as one commentator wrote, The Bride and The Prostitute are living together under the same roof. They’re living together in the same world—which is why there’s such polarization.
I mean, just take a moment to think about the imagery being painted here. Can you imagine the turmoil and the polarization that would be present in a home if a bride and a prostitute lived together—the prostitute always trying to lure the husband away from his bride and entice him to commit adultery. Can you imagine the mistrust and anger and frustration and hurt and fear and sadness and…present in that home? It would be a crazy situation. It would be filled with anger and frustration and polarization. And, THAT’s the picture given to us of the world we’re living in.
I want to take a moment for us to get a clear picture of The Prostitute because The Prostitute is a clear picture of the brokenness in our world. So, everything we talked about in our section on Brokenness is contained in this image of The Prostitute. In Revelation 17 we’re given this description of her: “The woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet, and adorned with gold and jewels and pearls, holding in her hand a golden cup full of abominations and the impurities of her sexual immorality.” (Revelation 17:4, ESV). She is dressed beautifully with purple fabrics—the fabric of the rich and royal. She is adorned beautifully and richly with gold and jewels and pearls. So, the immediate picture of her is that she is attractive and rich and powerful and wealthy. On the surface, she’s the type of woman every man wants, which is why she’s such a temptation.
Yet, in her hand she is holding a cup, and that cup is filled with the abominations and impurities of her sexual immorality. So, while she looks attractive and beautiful and tempting on the outside, her actions and motivations are filled with immorality and abominations and adultery. There’s nothing good about this woman.
Rather, in chapter 18 it says, “For all nations have drunk the wine of the passion of her sexual immorality, and the kings of the earth have committed immorality with her…” (Revelation 18:3, ESV). So, the nations have drunk from her cup of immorality and abomination and they have committed immorality with her. They’ve fallen into temptation and united themselves to this prostitute and all of her wickedness and immorality and abomination. And this has been true of all the nations and the kings of the earth. That’s why our current passage describes the Prostitute as the one “who corrupted the earth with her immorality…” (Revelation 19:2, ESV). Because she has enticed the nations to unite themselves to her and join her in her immorality, she has corrupted the whole earth with her immorality. So, it’s a pretty stark picture of what’s happening in the world today—and the brokenness of the world today.
Yet, we also read this, “for her sins are heaped high as heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities.” (Revelation 18:5, ESV). Or, another way to translate this is that God has remembered her unrighteousness. God hasn’t looked the other way as the Prostitute has went around corrupting the world. He has been watching and waiting to act. He has remembered all of the unrighteousness of her deeds. In the end, he brings judgment upon her. The whole of chapter 18 describes this judgement that is brought upon the Prostitute for his unrighteousness. Because 18 covers much of this ground, we get one line in this morning’s passage saying, “Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power belong to our God, for his judgments are true and just; for he has judged the great prostitute who corrupted the earth with her immorality, and has avenged on her the blood of his servants.” (Revelation 19:1–2, ESV). So, God has acted and will act to bring judgement upon the Prostitute. In the final day, he will act with finality in that judgement upon the Prostitute and she will be taken care of forever. We read, “The smoke from her goes up forever and ever.” (Revelation 19:3, ESV).
There’s actually a word before that statement about the final judgement of the Prostitute. The whole verse reads, “Once more they cried out, “Hallelujah! The smoke from her goes up forever and ever.”” (Revelation 19:3, ESV). People praising God for the judgment that He has brought upon the Prostitute. On the one hand, I think we know that is good and right, but on the other hand I think it makes us a little squeamish, doesn’t it? Should we really praise God for judgment taken upon the Prostitute or should we mourn? I think it’s important to remember that we can praise God for his judgments because we know that God’s judgments are good. Yet, we must also be careful not to praise God or celebrate His judgements in a sinful way. We are not to rub it in people’s faces. We are not to taunt them with God’s judgments. We are not even called to celebrate people’s downfall. I think we can mourn someone’s downfall and celebrate/praise God for his judgment at the same time.
In contrast to this picture of the Prostitute, we see the picture of The Bride. And I think it’s a beautiful contrast to what we’ve just seen, but remember contrast is just another word for polarity or polarization. This is a polarizing picture. When we see the picture of The Bride, we see the polar opposite of The Prostitute.
I think it’s important to notice that things get a little rowdy in this next portion of the text. Sure, the great multitude was loud and praising God for his salvation of his people and judgement upon the Prostitute, but now that they are about to talk about The Bride and the Wedding, they get really loud: “Then I heard what seemed to be the voice of a great multitude, like the roar of many waters and like the sound of mighty peals of thunder, crying out, “Hallelujah! For the Lord our God the Almighty reigns.”” (Revelation 19:6, ESV). I think it’s an important reminder that the people praised God for his judgment, but they REALLY praise God for his Bride. They REALLY praise God for his work of salvation.
That leads us to this line: “Let us rejoice and exult and give him the glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come…” (Revelation 19:7, ESV). They are rejoicing and praising God because the marriage of the Lamb has come—it’s finally here and they’ve been waiting for it for so long. Now, when the day arrives, they rejoice.
But notice what this marriage is called. It’s called The Marriage of the Lamb. That’s really important because there are many other images of Jesus Christ throughout the book of Revelation, but the one that’s used is the image of the Lamb. And in Revelation it’s the image of the Lamb that was slain to pay for the sins of his people—his bride. That’s what this is all about. This wedding is about a groom that laid down his life to save and deliver and purchase a bride for himself. Remember that we talked about this a couple weeks ago. Ephesians 5 says, “Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her,” (Ephesians 5:25, ESV). Christ loved the church by giving himself as the sacrificial Lamb so that he could one day have his bride—and we see that pictured in this passage of Revelation.
This picture stands in stark contrast to The Prostitute. The Prostitute lives for herself and devours everyone who worships her and unites themselves to her. She doesn’t lay down her life for her worshipers. She doesn’t commit herself to her worshipers. She uses them and abuses them and takes advantage of them and uses them up and throws them aside. In contrast, we see Jesus Christ, who lays down his life for those who worship Him and unite themselves to him. He lays down his life so that they can build them up and give them life.
That leads to the next part of this picture. We read: “The marriage of the Lamb has come, and his Bride has made herself ready; it was granted her to clothe herself with fine linen, bright and pure”— for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints.” (Revelation 19:7–8, ESV). The bride has made herself ready for the marriage. She is dressed in fine linen, bright and pure. She’s ready to be fully and finally united to her groom—her Savior.
Then we read this line that gives us some pause. We read that the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints. That gives us pause because it makes it seem like the Bride has earned her salvation through her good deeds—that the bride has made herself ready for the wedding based on what she’s done—and that seems to fly in the face that we are saved by grace through faith, not a work of our own, so that no one can boast. So, what’s happening here?
There’s one phrase in this passage that we cannot miss. It is “it was granted her to clothe herself…” (Revelation 19:8, ESV). “Granted” could also be translated “Given.” The fine linen she is wearing—the clothes that are bright and pure—the righteous deeds she is wearing—were given to her. They are not her own. They were given to her by… Who? Who gave her the bright and pure clothes of a righteous life? Jesus Christ—the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. He gave her her wedding clothes. He gave her the righteous life that prepared her for the wedding. She didn’t earn it. She didn’t deserve it. It was given to her as a gift from her groom as part of his salvation. Remember, that was also part of Ephesians 5: “Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her…so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish.” (Ephesians 5:25–27, ESV). You could also say he gave himself for her so that he could clothe her in righteous deeds that would prepare her for this beautiful wedding of the Lamb at the end of history.
Again this is a reminder that our faith and our works—our faith and our lives—are deeply connected. James says that we cannot say we have a true faith if our lives haven’t been changed by that faith. Martin Luther was fond of saying something like, “We are not saved by works, but by a faith that works” —a faith that changes the way we live. And that change in our lives—and any good thing we’ve ever done in our life—is because Christ gave it to us. They were all gifts from the Lamb of God—our groom—so that no one can boast.
Again, this picture is contrasted with the Prostitute. Who does the Prostitute clothe? Nobody but herself. The Prostitute only lives to meet her needs, to serve herself, and in a way that she receives all of the glory and honor and power. We read, “She glorified herself and lived in luxury…” (Revelation 18:7, ESV). In contrast, we see Jesus Christ—the Lamb of God—who lives for the glory of his father, who gives himself so that others would be redeemed and provided for, who lays down his life so that his bride would be clothed with righteousness and live a changed life. The Prostitute corrupts and defiles those who unite with her, but The Lamb of God purifies and sanctifies and makes hole those who unite themselves to him.
The final picture we’re given in this passage is of the wedding reception. We read, “Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.” (Revelation 19:9, ESV). We are not just united with Christ and made holy—if that weren’t enough. Rather, after the wedding, after our union with Christ, we will spend the rest of eternity celebrating that union at the wedding supper of the Lamb. As I’ve mentioned multiple times before, this is the image given of heaven—eating and drinking and celebrating our marriage with the Lamb of God who took away the sins of the world. And, to tie all of this back to my sermon from a few weeks ago, this meal will be one of constantly being filled and satisfied and expanded and satisfied and expanded and satisfied for eternity. It’s an eternal feasting and celebrating.
Again, contrast this with the Prostitute. She tries to hold her own feast, but her cup is filled with sexual immorality and unrighteousness. Her feast is filled with drunkenness and immorality. Her feast will end and it will end in agony and judgment. In contrast, the wedding supper of the Lamb will never end—it will last for eternity. We will be eating and drinking at the table of goodness and mercy and righteousness for the rest of eternity. We will eat and drink in a way that fills us up and satisfies us repeatedly. It will be a joyous celebration that never ends.
As we wrap up this sermon—and this series—I thought it was important for us to see this polarity clearly—the polarity between The Prostitute and The Bride—because this is the world we live in now. The Prostitute and The Bride are living together in the same house. With that in mind, there are two things we need to remember when thinking and talking and living out our sexuality in the world.
The first is a question: Who will we be wooed by when it comes to our sexuality? Will we allow ourselves to be wooed by the Prostitute that looks beautiful and powerful and rich and royal on the outside but devours everyone who unites themselves to her? Will we allow ourselves to be wooed by the Prostitute that does everything for herself and for her glory? OR will we be wooed by Jesus Christ, who lays down his life for his Bride, redeems and restores his Bride, sanctifies her and makes her beautiful, then marries her and commits to celebrating with her for eternity? Who will you be wooed by? Who will you give your life to—including your sexuality?
That leads to the final reminder: the reminder that it will not always be this way. The Prostitute and the Bride will not always live under the same roof. One day, Jesus will come and will boot the Prostitute out of the house—along with everyone who has united themselves to her. It’s a reminder that all the brokenness we see in this world will have one of two outcomes. All of the brokenness in the world will either be judged and destroyed by Jesus Christ OR that brokenness will be redeemed and restored through Jesus Christ. Those are the two options.
And that reality must change the way we live right now. In particular, that reality must change the way we live out our sexuality right now. We don’t have to settle for our own current sexual brokenness, whatever that may be. We are not stuck in it, no matter how difficult it may seem. There is hope that Jesus Christ can bring redemption and restoration to your sexual brokenness and the sexual brokenness of your friends and family members and you can experience that when you turn to him in faith. You can get a glimpse of that redemption and restoration in this life—little tastes of it—and then you can long for the day when that brokenness will be completely renewed and restored and you will spend eternity eating and drinking and being satisfied by your Savior Jesus Christ.