Heavenly Hallelujah Chorus - Revelation 19:1-6

Welcome to God First with Brian C. Thomas, a program committed to encouraging you to put God first while viewing life through the window of the Bible. Now, in honor of the one and only true God, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, let's join Brian C. Thomas for today's message. What an honor, what a joy, what a privilege it is to be with you once again today to share the sacred holy word of our great Lord God. Do you ever stop and think about that at times that when we look at the scriptures, the holy scriptures, this is God speaking to us, the supreme being, the creator of all things. And he is sharing his himself to us through his holy word. And it is just a joy again.

It's a privilege. And I am so humbled that God allows us to be able to have this kind of fellowship with him, with his holy and sacred word. I want to begin today by asking you the question, do you give genuine praise to our Lord God? I mean, do you really during your time alone, do you just have moments when you just stop and give him thanks when you just stop and give him praise? Or is it only when you're in church during a service and there is the worship leader giving you the instruction to clap your hands, to lift your arms, to lift your voice? Is that the only time you give him praise or or do you just on your own during church service decide you want to give him praise? And again, during your free time, do you genuinely give praises to our Lord God? You know, 25 years ago, you would have never caught me during a church service just standing and lifting my arms in praise and say hallelujah, clapping.

You never would have saw that. But as time has gone, as my relationship with the Lord has matured, as I realize more and more his love for me and as my love for him has grown, and as I realize more and more what he did for me in dying for my sins and then how he just blesses me over and over and over again. And I do not deserve it. And it just brings me to a point that I say, how can I not give him praise? And so no one has to instruct me during a church service to stand to my feet, to lift my arms and to clap my hands. And and when I'm alone, I just have moments when I just I just go down before before the Lord. And I just say, Lord, I thank you. I honor you. I give you praise. You are the one who deserves all the praise. And I just say, Lord, thank you. I don't deserve any of your blessings, but you continue to bless me, Lord. And I just give you thanks and honor and praise. So the question I want you to ask yourself today is we are coming to Revelation chapter 19.

Do you give genuine praise to our Lord God? Because the idea, the thoughts of Jesus reigning on the earth, it should bring rejoicing to the heart of the believer. But there are some out there that the thought of Jesus coming to the earth, they're indifferent to it.

It doesn't seem to be a big deal. There are some who even will scoff at it. They tend to think of words to say, well, you know, people have been saying that for years and he still will not come back. You know, and that's fulfillment of scripture that that would be scoffers in the last days concerning his return. So I want I want us to think to ourselves, to examine our hearts. Do we give genuine praise and are we excited at the thought of our Lord Jesus coming to reign on the earth? So, again, we're looking today at Revelation chapter 19.

So please turn over there with me to chapter 19. We're going to look at verses one through six again, Revelation chapter 19, verses one through six. Our text tells us after these things, I heard a loud voice of a great multitude in heaven, saying, Hallelujah. Salvation and glory and honor and power belong to the Lord, our God.

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. Again, they say, hallelujah.

Her smoke rises up forever and ever. And the twenty four elders and the four living creatures fell down and worshiped God who sat on the throne saying, amen. Hallelujah. Then a voice came from the throne saying, praise our God, all you his servants and those who fear him, both small and great. And I heard, as it were, the voice of a great multitude as the sound of many waters and as the sound of mighty thundering, saying hallelujah for the Lord God.

Omnipotent reigns. Heavenly Father, we thank you, Lord, for your great and holy word again. Lord, we count it an honor and a privilege to to be able to study, Lord, to hear a word from you as you speak to us through the scriptures. And it is my prayer, Lord, that all things that are spoken, that would be nothing but sound doctrine. And may you be honored and glorified in all things in your name, Jesus.

Amen. As we look at verse one, I think about the hallelujah course from Handel's Messiah. That course is considered the most inspirational expression of praise in the field of music. And it is a wonderful course.

I just love to hear it. But the the thought, though, of this praise makes me also think of the fact that it is going to be eclipsed by the magnificent hallelujah heavenly course that is going to come in the future, which is the source of Handel's inspiration from the scripture. And we have seen that to understand revelation, one must understand whether a scene or event is taking place in heaven or on earth. And what we find here is this great contrast between the destruction of Babylon in Chapter 17 and 18 to the song of praise here in Chapter 19. And so this explains to us the specific relationship to time and location, because, you see, the two previous chapters were foretelling the impending doom on the earth.

Other rejectors of Christ. In this chapter, chapter 19, it gives us a view of the rejoicing in heaven that breaks out upon God's judgment upon Babylon. This is the reaction to the triumph of good over evil, of Christ over Antichrist, of God the Father over Satan and the Holy Spirit over the spirit of evil from the false prophet. And so as we look at this text, the angels around the heavenly throne, they have been anticipating this moment ever since the fall of Adam.

Heaven is going to rejoice while the people on earth will weep over the destruction of the prostitute Babylon. Now, present day, only those who have voluntarily bent the knee to Jesus are able to enjoy the blessings of true worship, which is an integral part to emotional desires. But if you look at Philippians Chapter 2 verses 8 through 11, it speaks of a time when it is going to be praised, whether it's voluntary or involuntary. Philippians Chapter 2 verses 8 through 11 tells us and being found in appearance as a man.

He humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. Therefore, God also has highly exalted him and given him the name which is above every name that at the name of Jesus, every knee should bow of those in heaven and of those on the earth and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. What a powerful passage this is when I think about every knee is going to bow and every tongue is going to confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.

And it says that every creature, so not just human beings, but every creature, and it says not only those on the earth, but those under the earth. That means every thing that has lived is going to give praise to our great Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. What a magnificent time and day that will be when we hear all of creation in unison, bowing down and crying out that Jesus Christ truly is Lord.

I so much look forward to that day. Now, the question, though, when we look at this, this heavenly hallelujah course, is this the same great multitude that we saw back in Revelation chapter seven, verse nine? Some believe that this is an allusion to the martyr dead of the tribulation, while others believe it includes all believers, meaning Old Testament saints and the church age saints and the tribulation saints. I tend to lean towards thinking that this is not the same as those in Revelation chapter seven.

But I think there is room that is open for debate. But the main thing is I try to caution people. Don't get caught up in minute details to the point that you lose sight of really what is the main thing.

And as we say, let the main thing be the main thing. And the main thing is that this is going to be a great time of rejoicing in heaven of the victory of our great Lord God. Now, when we look at Revelation chapter 19, it is the only chapter in the entire New Testament where the word hallelujah is found. It appears four times in Revelation chapter 19. It is an Old Testament word taken from the Psalms. It means praise the Lord.

We look at Psalms chapter 146 through 150. It outlines the many things that we should praise the Lord for, including his judgment. We find that salvation, glory and power are words to express praise because the salvation of our Lord is the deliverance from eternal damnation for us. We should praise him for his glory, for his moral glory and judge him in judgment and then empower his his might in execution of judgment upon the great harlot. So our Lord is worthy of the glory. He is worthy of the honor. He is worthy of the praise. And as I asked the question in the beginning, do you give him genuine praise that really flows from your heart while you are alone?

Or or even if it's in church, do you genuinely praise him or do you only do it when instructed to do so? Verse two, we see here that the calls for the judgment is expressed. The great harlot that we saw in Chapter 17, referring to the false religion. But mankind has also made a religion out of commercialism and out of government. We see that today.

Look at the the way whenever it comes time for political race, the way in which people act. And they do so many things to which they they feel like they are trying to gain this perceived power and and fame and money because mankind has made a religion out of it. And we saw that described in Chapter 18. And so Babylon likely refers to the combination of the three that prostitutes for the lust of money, for the lust of material, for the lust of power. And these three evils have been the characteristics of the unregenerate since before the flood of Noah's day. But the destruction that we see here represents more than just the city of Babylon.

It includes all that Babylon has stood for since the days of Nimrod. And in verse three, we find that it says again, they said, hallelujah, her smoke rises up forever and ever. The judgment is final and eternal, never to resurface. Our Lord is victorious.

And again, what a great and beautiful scene this is. We see in which all of heaven is giving praise to our great Lord. And I look forward to that day when we will join in with him and give glory and honor to our wonderful Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

We're going to pause for a brief announcement, but please don't go away. We will be back with more from Revelation Chapter 19 concerning the hallelujah heavenly course. You are tuned into the God first program. You are listening to Brian C. Thomas on God first. For more of Brian's teachings, please visit God first dot org to browse our extensive library of material. There you will find devotionals, blogs, articles and audio messages available as MP3 downloads on various topics such as salvation, Bible prophecy, marriage and the significance of Lesson Israel, just to name a few.

You can also sign up for our monthly newsletter and visit our Web store. So please visit us at God first dot org. Now, let's return to the conclusion of today's message. Welcome back to the program, as today we are looking at Revelation Chapter 19, looking at this beautiful heavenly scene of this hallelujah course. And the question of today is, again, do you give genuine praise to our Lord God? Are you grateful to him for what he has done for us?

Are you grateful to him simply because he is the supreme being who created all things? And for that alone, he is worthy to be praised. Are you grateful for the fact that he stood in our place and he died for us? He took upon him what we deserve because all of us have seen the Bible says all have seen and fallen short of his glory.

And what we deserve is eternal damnation. But Jesus paid the price for us. He died for us. Do you give him praise? Do you worship him?

Do you give him honor for doing so? And then do you praise him? Do you give him genuine praise for the many blessings that he bestows upon us every day?

And he does bless us all, even for those who have not received him, because the Bible tells us that the sun shines on the just and the unjust. And so do you give our Lord genuine praise is the question of today. As we continue with our text, as we come to Revelation, chapter 19, verse four, we find there that the 24 elders in the four living creatures, they are falling down and they are worshiping God who who sits on the throne saying, amen, hallelujah. These 24 elders are not strangers to us. We have seen them in chapter four revelation.

And I think that is very well that when we look at these 24 elders, that it is the combination of the 12 sons of Jacob, plus the 12 apostles. And then these four living creatures are also not strangers to us. They also appear in Revelation chapter four.

We found the description where they have eyes all around. And then it says one has the face like a lion, one the face like a calf, one the face like a man, one with the face like an eagle, and each has six wings. So they are around the throne and they join in in praising our Lord God. What a beautiful scene this is, as again, heaven is joining in and giving praises to our great Lord. And when it comes to the 24 elders, I want to point out to you that they express themselves five times in the book of Revelation. And each time they are mentioned, it is in praise and rejoicing and worship. We find them in Revelation, chapter four, verse 10, where they are honoring God for his creative power.

So, again, do you give God genuine praise for the great creator that he is? We also find them in Revelation, chapter five, verses eight through nine, as they worship the lamb who was found worthy to take the scroll. And the lamb was found worthy because Jesus died for our sins as the sacrificial lamb.

He was perfect. And he came and died for us. And they give him praise for being found worthy to take the scroll, the title deed to the earth. We also saw them in Revelation, chapter seven, verses 11 and 12, where they are celebrating the arrival of the multitude in heaven. They're rejoicing over those who have received Jesus as Lord and Savior and are now coming to be in the presence around God's throne. Revelation 11, chapter chapter 11, verses 16 through 18. They are worshiping the announcement that the world has become the kingdom of Christ. And then here in chapter 19, verse four, they are rejoicing over the destruction of Babylon. So we see them giving praise, giving worship to our great and wonderful Lord.

Verse five. There's this voice that comes from the throne saying, praise our God, all you his servants and those who fear him, both small and great. So there's this voice that is evidently from an angel given the command to praise. Now, I've heard some people complain at times about being given to a command to praise when in a worship service during corporate worship. And of course, I don't want you to praise only at those moments. But what we see here is that this angel is given a command is telling is telling them the angelic host to give praise to our Lord saying, praise our God. All you his servants, those who fear him, both small and great. So we should always be willing and desire to give praises to our Lord. All in heaven are willing servants of God. But, you know, sadly, some of the angels chose to leave in rebellion with Satan and some human beings today choose not to serve God in this life. And so here we have a mixture of celestial and human voices that are voluntarily giving praise to our Lord God. You know, folks, the whole purpose of mankind is to glorify God.

Our purpose is not to achieve happiness. So many people make that false claim. And I was watching recently an interview where there were these women, three women, they were each confessing that they had had abortions. And they each said that they did so because having a baby would hinder their goals that they wanted to achieve in life, hinder their happiness that they felt would come through achieving some some worldly goal like a career. And as I sat there and I just thought how sad it is that to them, their perceived happiness outweighs the life of that baby in their womb, that baby that the Bible says is created in the image of God.

And what better? Joy can a woman have in life than to be able to bring one of God's create creatures that is created in his own image into the world? I mean, you tell me what what what career, what job, what accomplishment will bring you more joy than that to to to be able to be a part of the miracle of bringing life into the world. But we're in a time now in which mankind thinks that our own selfish desires is what we're here for. But the Bible nowhere says that we are here in order for us to achieve personal happiness. But instead, we are here to glorify God. But the thing about it is God and his greatness, God and his love, is that when we do glorify him, we will in turn as a byproduct, we will then also have happiness.

We will have joy because he is going to bless us not only in this life, but in eternity. But mankind is out to please self. And the Bible says that would be the climate of society in the last days that that man would be lovers of pleasure, lovers of self. And we certainly see that happening in our world on today. And so the people who refuse to be his servant, they do not function according to his pleasure.

Thus, they live in a life of disobedience. And if you want to gain entrance to heaven, it is gained only through faith in Jesus Christ, not only as savior, but as Lord and savior. And this is by voluntarily submitting to him as master. As Jesus said in his word that if you want to be a follower of him, you have to die to self.

You have to deny yourself. Take up the cross and follow him. But so many today do not want to deny themselves. So many today want to follow their own way. They want to follow their own desires instead of following the wheel and the way of what our Lord wants.

And he should be our first. And that is why we here at our ministry, we are God first, because it is all about putting God first. It is that his will be done, not our will, because he is the one who created us. He is the one who created all things. He is the all knowing one. He is the all wise one.

And so our Lord knows best. And if we please him, then we in turn will be blessed as a result. So as we come to the last verse, verse six, 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 hallelujah for the Lord God omnipotent reigns. This song that we're looking at here today serves as an announcement of what will soon occur in prophetic sequence, which is the rulership of our Lord God through his son Jesus. And shortly after this is when Jesus will come to the earth to set up his earthly kingdom. You know, that prayer that we learned way back when we were kids, the Lord's Prayer of Matthew Chapter six in verse 10, we say your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. When Jesus comes back, that will be fulfillment of that prayer.

I think a lot of people don't think about it when we're we're given the lowest prayer that we're actually speaking prophecy. We're actually saying that, Lord, come back to the earth to set up your kingdom. We are looking forward to that day. And the thought of this causes great rejoicing in heaven. And it should cause great rejoicing to all believers on the earth. But sadly, there are many today who claim to be believers in Jesus Christ, but his return to the earth brings no joy to them. It brings no excitement to them. As a matter of fact, there are some that it even brings dread to.

And if that is you, I want you to repent. I want you to seek God so that you will have the joy in your heart at the thought of our Lord coming to rule and reign on this earth when we will be with him face to face. You know, I often think about how when when we go to funerals, there is often mournful type of tunes that are played on the organ during a funeral recession. You know, music that typically makes you feel sad because, again, it is a sad occasion. But I heard an account once of a funeral in which instead of playing this mournful music that we so often hear on the organ, they instead play the Hallelujah Chorus, Handel's triumphant Hallelujah Chorus.

This is what was playing as the friends and family passed by the casket. And the family chose to do this because they said, well, now he is with the Lord. This is a time to rejoice.

Yes, they missed him. But they said he is now with our Lord Jesus Christ and the day is coming when he's going to rise again, when Jesus comes back to set up his earthly kingdom and he's going to live forever and rule and reign with our Lord. And I just thought how wonderful that perspective is. And that is how we should all think of it. When a believer in Christ dies, the Bible says to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. And so they are going into the presence of our Lord God.

And that is something that should bring joy to our hearts. And we know and trust in the day in which Jesus Christ is coming back again and when he does. First Thessalonians Chapter four says the dead in Christ shall rise first at the sound of the trumpet and at the shout of the archangel. And then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them to meet the Lord in the air. And the day is going to come when we will all come back with him to the earth to where he will rule and reign. And the Bible says every knee shall bow and every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.

What a great and wonderful day that will be. Before we close, let us look to our Lord. Heavenly Father, we thank you, Lord, for this day. We thank you, Lord Jesus, for your great sacrifice, dying for our sins so that we might have eternal life. Lord, we give you honor. We give you glory. We give you praise.

Lord, it is my desire that all would have that desire in their hearts to give you genuine praise, to realize what you did for us, to realize your sacrifice and how you didn't have to do it. But you came to the earth. You became one of us and you came and died.

You allowed yourself to be tormented, to be tortured, to be beaten because of your great love. You died on the cross, but you didn't stay in the grave. You conquered sin.

You conquered death and you rose. And now you are at the right hand of the Father, waiting for the command to come back for your people. And, Lord, we look forward to that day when we not only praise you on today, but we will praise you in your kingdom for all of eternity. What a great and wonderful Lord you are. We thank you, Lord. We give you honor. We give you glory. We give you praise. And as we depart today, Lord, we remember to pray for the peace of Jerusalem, blessings over the great nation of Israel, and unto you, the only wise God, to be glory through Jesus Christ forever. Amen. And as we depart today, Lord, we pray for the peace of Jerusalem, blessings over the great nation of Israel,