[Chapter 19-2] Only the Righteous Can Wait in Hope for Christ to Return (Revelation 19:1-21)
(Revelation 19:1-21)
In
the previous chapter, we saw how God would bring His fearful plagues to
this world. In this chapter, we now see Christ and His glorious army
fighting against and overcoming the army of the Antichrist, throwing the
Beast and his servants into the lake of fire alive, killing the rest of
the Antichrist’ army with the sword of the Word coming out of the
Lord’s mouth, and thus finally ending all His battle against Satan.
The
substance of this chapter can be divided into three main topics: 1) the
raptured saints’ praise of God for bringing the judgment of the great
plagues to this world; 2) the proclamation for the coming of the
marriage supper of the Lamb; and 3) the Lord’s descent from Heaven with
the army of Jesus Christ.
We
must all realize that God will most certainly and soon fulfill
everything that He has said to us through the Book of Revelation.
The Judgment of God!
Those
who believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit and have thus
become the people of God through faith will be praising Him for saving
them from all the sins of the world. Let’s take a look at verses 3-5:
“Again they said, ‘Alleluia! 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! Alleluia!’ Then a
voice came from the throne, saying, ‘Praise our God, all you His
servants and those who fear Him, both small and great!’”
Hebrews
9:27 tells us, “And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after
this the judgment.” Man is to be judged before God once, but the
sentence of this judgment is final and will not be reversed. With His
one-time judgment of everyone for his/her sins, in other words, God
would render His eternal judgment by throwing the sinners into the fire
that burns forever. This is why the Bible tells us that “her smoke rises
up forever and ever.”
Some
people might think and say, “Once you die, that’s the end of it.” But
this is man’s own thought, not God’s. Because everyone has both a body
and a soul, whether people believe in God or not, they all know
instinctively that God exists, and that sooner or later they will all be
judged for their sins before Him.
As
there exists a realm of spirits for people, they know that God, though
unseen by their eyes, still exists. The realm that can be seen by the
eyes of the flesh does not last forever, but there exists the eternal
realm of truth, unseen by our eyes. Material prosperity on this earth
while thinking of only money and pursuing only material greed cannot be
mankind’s reason for being; its true purpose is to enter into the
eternal realm of blessing by knowing God, the Creator of the whole
universe, and by knowing and believing in the gospel of the water and
the Spirit given by Him.
Not
only must we know what God has told us, but we must also believe in it.
We must not end up in hell by believing and trusting in just our own
thoughts alone. Before facing eternal suffering for our sins, we must be
forgiven of all our sins and receive eternal life by believing, while
on this earth now, in the gospel of the water and the Spirit given by
Jesus.
For
everyone, life on this earth is too short. Just as the sun rises and
falls everyday, the short journey of our lives ends too quickly,
fruitless and meaningless, as if we had been running like a squirrel on a
treadmill. Even if you were to live for a hundred years, you couldn’t
really say that you’ve lived that long.
If
you subtract the trivial rounds of your daily life, such times spent
while sleeping, eating, going to washrooms, and doing other such mundane
things, from your whole life span, you are actually left with very
little time. While you see the things that you had already seen since
your birth, and while you meet the people whom you had already met
before, your hair has turned all gray, and all of a sudden you find
yourself facing your own end.
The
only reason as to why our life as the saints are not meaningless is
because we, having been born into this world, have met the Lord who has
come to us through the water and the Spirit, believed in Him, and thus
received the remission of all our sins. How fortunate and thankful we
are! Had it not been for the Lord who came to us through the water and
the Spirit, we would all be bound to enter the eternal fire and suffer
in it.
Whenever
I think of this, it still gives me scares, and I come to thank the Lord
once more. Hell, which came into existence because of Satan, is the
most horrendous place, where the suffering is so great that one would
rather wish to die, yet would not be able to do so. It is a place where
fire and brimstone burn forever.
To
know the gospel of the water and the Spirit given by Jesus correctly,
and to thus receive the Holy Spirit, one must first meet God’s servants
who have already encountered this gospel of the water and the Spirit and
who have already been born again. Living as a Christian, whoever wants
to find the answer to the question of being born again by the water and
the Spirit and of receiving the Holy Spirit can have everything resolved
by believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit.
The
Bible tells us that the Spirit of God is given as a gift to all those
who receive the remission of sin by believing in the gospel of the water
and the Spirit (Acts 2:38). Only those who have the Holy Spirit in
their hearts by being forgiven of all their sins through their faith in
the gospel of the water and the Spirit can be said to have the correct
faith in Jesus, and only those with this faith can enter into the
eternal Kingdom of God (John 3:5). Whether one is blessed or cursed is
determined by whether or not one has received the remission of sin by
believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit.
Clothed in Fine Linen, Clean and Bright
Those
who think of their future and want to resolve their present problem of
the remission of their sins are the ones who are wise and blessed.
Though one may have lived a checkered life full of shortcomings, if
he/she has believed in the gospel of the water and the Spirit and
received the remission of sin and the Holy Spirit into the heart, then
this person has lived the most successful life of all.
Revelation
19:4-5 says, “And the twenty-four elders and the four living creatures
fell down and worshiped God who sat on the throne, saying, ‘Amen!
Alleluia!’ Then a voice came from the throne, saying, ‘Praise our God,
all you His servants and those who fear Him, both small and great!’”
Here,
the phrase “(to) fear Him” means to accept the Word of Jesus Christ
into one’s heart and to live according to His guidance. Only those who
have been forgiven of their sins can see and praise God in the Kingdom
of Heaven. But those who have not thus received the remission of their
sins will suffer in the burning fire of hell and curse God.
Let’s
continue with verses 6-8: “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! 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. 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.’”
It
says here that the Apostle John heard the sound of praise, sounding
like the voice of a great multitude, the sound of many waters, and the
sound of mighty thunderings. This sound was none other than the sound of
those who have received the remission of sin gathered together and
praising God. This song of praise was made of, first of all, praising
God for allowing them to come under the reign of the Almighty God, to be
ruled by Him, and to live with Him in glory. All these things have made
the saints overwhelmingly happy and joyful and give great glory to God.
So, they cannot but praise Him, shouting, “Let us be glad and rejoice
and give Him glory.”
Second,
the saints continue with their praise: “for the marriage of the Lamb
has come, and His wife has made herself ready. 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.” What does this mean? It means that
just as He has promised mankind, Jesus would return to this earth, marry
those who have received the Holy Spirit by believing in Him and by
being born again, and live and dwell with them forever.
Marriage
is the union of a bridegroom and his bride. When Jesus returns to this
earth, in other words, He would accept and live with only those who have
been born again of the water and the Spirit. And it means that He would
build His Millennial Kingdom and New Heaven and Earth to live with the
saints forever and ever. The brides’ glory of living with this
Bridegroom is so great that it is beyond description. Just by thinking
of it, our hearts swell with happiness.
When
the world where Jesus Christ will reign comes, His brides will be
extremely happy, beyond what words can describe. How happy would they be
when they are reigned by the Good Shepherd? Because Jesus Christ is the
Bridegroom of absolute goodness, so would His reign be of absolute
goodness and perfection. He will reign over the Kingdom of Heaven.
The One and Only Gospel That Would Qualify You for Heaven
For
one to receive the Holy Spirit and enter Heaven, he/she must believe
solely in Jesus’ baptism and blood. Because our Lord came to this earth
to save all the sinners from all their sins by taking all such sins of
mankind onto Himself, He had to be baptized by John. Having thus
received His baptism, Jesus Himself was then crucified on the Cross in
our place, was judged for all our sins, rose from the dead again, and
became the Lord of eternal salvation for those who believe.
This
Lord will now return to the earth, embrace His people who have become
His brides through faith, and live with them forever. Those who have
become His brides will now live with the Lord on a new earth, a glorious
and glorifying blessing for the brides. The saved children of God will
thus give glory to Jesus Christ by praising Him forever. These people
who are to be reigned by God will rejoice in their happiness. And for
this joy, they will give all glory to the Bridegroom.
The
whole mankind has been waiting for this event since the very creation.
This event is fulfilled when Jesus returns, lifts up those who have
received the Holy Spirit, and lives with them. God has made a new world
for mankind and is waiting for us. We exist for this, and for this we
have been born into this world.
As
the main passage tells us, “His wife has made herself ready. And to her
it was granted to be arrayed in fine linen, clean and bright,” God has
clothed those who believe in Jesus Christ in clean, fine linen. Those
who believe in this Word, in other words, have received the remission of
sin and their hearts have turned white as snow.
Like
this, the brides of Jesus Christ are already prepared beforehand with
the gospel of the water and the Spirit. By hearing and believing in the
gospel of the water and the Spirit while on this earth, one can be born
again as Jesus Christ’s bride. This faith is what makes you Christ’s
bride, and this faith is what qualifies you to enter Heaven.
Those Who Wait in Hope
The
main passage tells us, “Blessed are those who are called to the
marriage supper of the Lamb!” With what kind of faith should those who
have received the remission of their sins live? The brides who have met
their Bridegroom Jesus and are living in glory must live their lives in
faith and hope, looking forward to the day of their union with this
Bridegroom.
As
the world gets darker and darker, there is still hope for the saved
brides. This hope is none other than waiting for the day when Jesus
Christ, having prepared the New Heaven and Earth for His brides, would
return to take them away. The Bridegroom will resurrect all His brides
then, and give them eternal life. The world in which the Bridegroom and
the brides are to live forever is a place that is free from evil, has no
sin, and lacks nothing. The brides wait only for this day. This is why
those of us who have received the remission of all our sins live with
such faith and hope.
The
brides who are now living in the present era, in particular, also have
many shortcomings of the flesh. But as 1 Corinthians 13:13 tells us,
“And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these
is love,” because the Bridegroom has thus loved His brides, He would
cleanse away all their sins with His baptism and accept them as His
perfect brides.
This
world is running toward its final demise and has no hope left in it.
But even as everything is moving ever closer to destruction, the brides
must live their lives with their special hope. The time for the
fulfillment of this hope is now nearing us. The whole world is now at
the risk of crumbling down from earthquakes. The day has neared for
everyone in this world to disappear like the extinct dinosaurs of the
ancient times. All of a sudden, this world will simply fall down.
Every
bride, however, has hope, for when time comes, the bodies of the brides
will be transformed into perfect bodies, and they will live with the
Lord, who has become their Bridegroom, forever and ever. The brides,
therefore, must preach the gospel of the water and the Spirit more
faithfully to the worldly people of this era.
Let Us Believe in the True Word of God!
Jesus
tells us in John 3:5, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born
of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.” What,
then, is the gospel of the water and the Spirit? The Bible tells us,
first of all, that “water” refers clearly to the baptism of Jesus, and
is the antitype of salvation (1 Peter 3:21).
When
Jesus turned 30, He went to John, who had been baptizing the people of
Israel in the Jordan River. Jesus tells us that John the Baptist was the
representative of mankind and the last High Priest of the Old
Testament. Meeting this John, Jesus received His baptism from him, which
fulfilled all the righteousness of God (Matthew 3:15, 11:11-14). The
baptism that Jesus thus received was the eternal offering through which
all the sins of the world were passed onto Christ Himself.
The
incarnation of Jesus through the Holy Spirit, His baptism, His blood
and death on the Cross, and His resurrection and ascension—all these
things were the works of the Holy Spirit. When one believes that Jesus
came to this earth and made, through the water and the Spirit, all
his/her sins disappear at all once, he/she can then become a righteous
person, freed from sin, and a bride of Christ. This is not something
accomplished by man’s thoughts, but it comes from the thoughts of God
Himself.
The
truth is that the water, the blood, and the Holy Spirit are the three
essential components for the salvation of mankind from sin, and none of
them can ever be absent at all. The Bible elaborates on this clearly and
exactly in chapter 5 of 1 John. It tells us that these three elements
of the water, the blood, and the Holy Spirit are one in all, and that
our salvation from sin cannot be whole and approved if any one of them
is missing.
When
we know and believe in this truth, that the perfect salvation is to
believe in these three―the water, the blood, and the Holy Spirit—we can
then realize and accept the love of Jesus that has saved us, and thus
our hearts can actually become completely sinless. The Bible promises us
in Acts 2:38, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name
of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the
gift of the Holy Spirit.”
What,
then, is this Word that enables us to receive the Holy Spirit? This is
none other than the Word of Jesus’ baptism (the water), of His death on
the Cross (the blood), and of His being God, resurrection and ascension
(the Holy Spirit). This Word of salvation had actually been prophesied
in the writings of Moses and other prophets of the Old Testament, and
was fulfilled and testified in all four Gospels of the New Testament.
Also, the “eternal salvation of atonement completed at once,” which is
detailed in the Book of Hebrews, testifies repeatedly to the
righteousness of God, which we have received through our faith.
Though
everyone in this sinful world is living a life of the flesh that falls
far short before God, he/she must receive the remission of sin offered
by God, and live one’s life by placing his/her hope in Heaven. This is
the gift of God that He has given to mankind. We must all receive this
grace given to us freely. Believing in the Word that our Lord would
return, build His new Kingdom, and let us live in it is our true hope.
We must live with this hope, and this is what I most fervently believe.
Do
you know how widespread sin is in this world? Compared to the time of
Noah’s flood, the sins of this era are far more spread. In Noah’s time,
seeing that the thoughts of mankind were always evil, God had decided to
destroy the first world with flood, told Noah to build an ark, and
saved those who entered this ark by believing in His Word.
Though
God had said that He would most certainly judge the world with water,
only Noah’s family of eight believed in His Word. They thus made the ark
over a hundred-year period, and entered it to escape the flood. When
they did so, God began to bring His judgment to the first world. The sky
turned dark all of a sudden, and torrential rain began to rain. Perhaps
in just an hour, the water might have reached as high as the third
floor. So it rained for 40 days, submerging the whole world under water.
Just
as Noah and his family had entered the ark believing that a new world
is about to be opened, you and I must live this age in hope. Just as
they could build the ark for a hundred years because they had believed
in God, I believe that we, too, must persevere and preach the gospel.
God told Noah, “Make yourself an ark" (Genesis 6:14). This Word tells us
that ‘for us to defend our own faith,’ we must first devote ourselves
to the Lord and to preach the gospel.
Though
the born-again have hope, there is no hope for those who do not believe
in the gospel. There is only despair for these unbelievers of the
gospel. Regardless of whether people believe in the gospel of the water
and the Spirit or not, we must still preach it to them with faith. The
present age is the kind of time when people must believe in this true
gospel as soon as possible. Those who believe in the gospel that we
preach will find happiness, but those who do not believe in it will only
be cursed. The latter—that is, those who do not believe in the
gospel—are the fools who will receive God’s eternal judgment and be
thrown into hell.
Do
not lose your hope. If the righteous were ever to lose their hope, only
death would await them. If we have no hope, we would have neither the
desire, nor the interest, nor any more reason to live on. Let us,
therefore, live with hope.
In
today’s age, those who believe in Jesus and have thus been born again
are the truly happy ones. For mankind, its only hope left is to receive
the remission of sin—that is, there is no other hope but to receive the
Holy Spirit. When people are forgiven of all their sins, they can have
hope and live happily forever, but if they are not, only destruction
would await them, for they would not have received the Holy Spirit.
It
is because I have received the remission of all my sins that I can live
through today’s world with hope. It is my hope and prayer that you,
too, would live your life with this hope. I pray that you would not
attach yourself to the vain thoughts of the world, but instead live your
life as the wise bride, loving your fellow righteous brothers and
sisters, helping them to stand firm in Christ, not losing your faith,
waiting for the Bridegroom, and meeting Him when He finally comes to
take you away.
I thank God for enabling us to live in His glory.
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