Revelation 19 (3 of 5) — Leonard Ravenhill

Enter again into thy gates with thanksgiving and into thy courts with praise. We thank you for this simple and yet this very expensive way of coming into your presence. We recognize again it's through the blood of the everlasting covenant.

It is of your mercy that we're not consumed. It is that boundless love of yours that you sought us when we didn't seek for you. Maybe many of us would have to testify as a hymn writer said I had long withstood his grace.

Long provoked him to his face and would not hearken to his call and grieved him by a thousand falls. Depth of mercy can there be mercy still reserved for me. Can my God his wrath forbear me the chief of sinners spare.

But we thank you that there was an eye that pitied us. We thank you you had a heart that loved us. We thank you you had an arm long enough to reach us and strength enough to lift us and power enough to liberate us and mercy enough to take us into your family that even now not when we get to heaven and pass into that eternal bliss but even now you said and even now we're the sons of God.

The Word as Light, Guidance, and Comfort

We come to thank you for your word tonight. It certainly is a lamp to our feet in this dark day in which we live. It is a map to guide us from the city of destruction to the city of God. It is a jewel that flashes with fresh wonder and illumination each time we turn the pages just as if we turn the diamond in the sun and its different colors would flash upon us.

We thank you it is a well of water from which we drink on our pilgrimage through this dry and thirsty world where there is nothing to satisfy us save this life giving water. We thank you that it is a pillow on which often we rest not just a weary head but a weary heart and a weary spirit.

We thank you it comforts us in our times of being disturbed. We're equally grateful it disturbs us when we're too comfortable. We thank you that it shows us the despair of man and yet it shows us the marvelous way of deliverance from that awful despair that sin brings.

Again we thank you tonight that we can say we know in whom we have believed and we're persuaded that he is able to keep that which we have committed unto him against that day. May this word tonight be like coming as hungry people to a banquet to find the stimulating food.

May it be oil that will anoint our eyes you told one church to buy eyes off. We're told in that city they made it they exported it and yet the city that sold it needed it. And Lord we don't know how much we need that touch of thine until the moment you put that touch upon us and we wonder why we've been so long in spiritual ignorance.

We thank you then for the word we thank you for martyrs who burned at the stake to give it to us. We thank you for the prophets who dared to speak out in their day when they were out of step with a world that was out of step with God.

National Repentance and the Restoration of the Church

The longing of our hearts is that you'll turn us again as a nation. We have no confidence in the White House our confidence is in God's house. When the glory is restored when the voice again is heard when the dross is taken out when the temple is cleansed when the people are pure in heart when the longing is not for any aspiration or denominational pride or sectarian distinction.

But to exalt the one who is indeed the altogether lovely and the fairest of ten thousand to our souls. We thank you we're not languishing on beds of sickness in institutions tonight. We're glad we're not in prison halls like some dear saints in Russia and China and elsewhere.

Forgive us as a nation we're so self-satisfied and as a church we're too weary to get to the house of God mostly during the week. We are not just people who go one day a week we go one hour a week now.

It will get less perhaps if we can manage it that way. Have mercy on us give us we pray thee again as we've so often prayed the chance to dig around the tree before it's cut down. To fertilize it once again with our prayers our intercession and our desires to see Jesus Christ exalted.

Grant that this meeting will bring glory to your wonderful name. And we'll give you thanks in that name that is above every name. The name of Jesus our Lord. We're going to look at the verse that we've looked at so often lately and haven't got too far with it the book of the revelation and the 19th chapter and verse 7.

The Marriage Supper of the Lamb

Revelation 19 and verse 7. Let us be glad I'm glad it doesn't say let them be glad or we might be a bit discouraged but it ropes us in so let's cheer up tonight. Let us be glad and rejoice and give honor to him for the marriage of the lamb has come and his wife has made herself ready.

Brother Herb and I were praying today and as we prayed this thought came to my mind about hymns. We didn't sing any tonight we sang songs but usually we sing hymns. And as we were singing as we were praying this morning this thought came to me that most hymns are really sermons set to music.

That's what they really are. Particularly in the case of Wesley. John Wesley carved out a marvelous theology and his brother set it to music. Now not many people read Wesley's hymns pardon me Wesley's sermons but they should and they do sing Wesley's hymns.

All over the world they'll sing next Sunday love divine all love excelling and a host of other hymns. Hark the herald angels sing they'll be singing that before too long. He's got good theology even in drunken people will be singing at Christmas mild he laid his glory by born that man no more may die born to raise the sons of earth born to give them second birth.

They don't know a thing about it but they sing it. And so again I appeal to you when we do use a hymn book which is normally done here when you come in either spend your time in praying or select a hymn would you do that.

And I think about the children are going to push a little more responsibility on Betty she needs it. And that is on a Saturday morning I think it would be nice if the children chose a hymn each week. Let them choose one hymn and then somewhere in the meeting Betty will say this hymn was chosen.

We won't know who chose it but some of the children are a bit shy. Not all of them but some are and it will be nice if if the children chose a hymn. And then I think we'll restore the old English habit of trying to bring a little short story.

Because the older people always listen to my stories. They don't always listen to my preaching but they do like the stories so I make a bargain with you. You select a hymn and tell Aunty Betty which it is and then I'll bring you a story each week.

If I can manage to find them. If I can't I'll make them up. It's what lots of other people do anyhow. All right. Another thing came to me in prayer today was this. You see there are only two classes of people in the world.

Not the rich and the poor or the black and the white or the intellectuals and the ignoramuses. There are just two kinds of people in the world. The saved and the lost. And you know the difference is as simple as this.

That the sinner has all his pleasure right up to the point of death and after that it's eternal misery. The Christian has a lot of sorrows until he gets to death but after that it's eternal joy. Now make up your mind which way you're going to go.

The guarantee is in the world he shall have tribulation. But once this little thread of life snaps like that, it's eternal bliss forever and ever and ever for the redeemed. When the sinner dies all his joys are behind him and all his sorrows are ahead of him.

When the Christian dies all his sorrows are behind him and all his joys are ahead of him. I think it was when Oliver Cromwell was dying and everybody gathered round. Oh this man's been leading England so long and they were all so miserable and and he rallied his feeble energy and he said well can't any of you praise the Lord?

Well if you die conscious I hope you'll be as happy and victorious as that. Can anybody here praise the Lord he said? Well it's a good thing to be able to praise him. But that's that's a very simple distinction isn't it?

That really the the the sinner gets all he's going to get of joy and happiness and thrill to the edge of eternity and after that eternal misery. The believer may have a thousand difficulties but once the thread of life goes brother after that it's glory and adoration and man it's going to be the most well uh it even exhausted the language of the apostle Paul because he said he couldn't describe it and if he couldn't I'm not going to even try.

Well maybe I'll withdraw that maybe I will try a bit tonight. All right the text again is let us be glad and rejoice and give honor to him for the marriage of the Lamb has come and his wife. Do you notice the change?

In the previous chapter it is the bride but a bride isn't a wife. She's going to be you see her going into the church and you say that's the bride she isn't the wife yet but she goes through a a contract shall we say and then she becomes the bride and here she becomes the wife and here it says his wife hath made herself ready.

Human Depravity and the Need for True Repentance

I don't know any way to describe to you the ramifications the variations of human depravity. I remember not too long ago we were going through a certain place and we were staying in a hotel and in that hotel there was a school for artists and uh well you had to have it explained it was art otherwise you wouldn't have known some of it but some of it was pretty good.

You know it suddenly struck me like this those people basically have what seven colors. Isn't it amazing these paint shops advertise on tv and say we have 1400 colors now that's nonsense there's only seven colors there are variations of every color sure enough but somebody takes just an ordinary paint box there's no design and they start doing this and look what they bring out of it.

Somebody else uses the same basic colors and they do this and you find a hundred different people produce a hundred different things with seven basic colors. Now by the same token the the the possibilities of depravity are I don't know I suppose they're beyond any human computation but there are some basic things that men do evil men do they cheat they lie they steal and they rob.

I have a friend who's blind he's in England and he was going to a shop and he took what you would call a five dollar bill and he he knows I don't know how he knows well I think it's the only one he had and he paid with this five dollar bill and he put the the change in his pocket and as he went out of the shop somebody jostled him and not till he got home did he discover that somebody had stolen all his change and he's a rather poor man.

I think that's despicable I think stealing is bad but when you steal from the blind I think you're pretty depraved. But you know there's something even worse than that we're accustomed to it it doesn't trouble us anymore and that is to some people anyhow when they're dying they'll send for a priest and the priest pronounces a word absolve odious and he gives them what they call in their theology extreme unction and they die happily because a priest pronounced a word now what an awful thing to steal a man's soul.

To tell him he's going to heaven because you sprinkle him with some kind of holy water or something and after you pronounce that and made the sign of the cross with oil that man somehow slumbers and thinks that he's got it made.

I say it would be an awful thing to wake up in hell after you've been deceived on the last breath you had while you were on earth. But I'm not so sure that it's there's less guilt on some of the preachers in the evangelical courses these days.

You know come up to the front say a prayer and uh just pray the sinner's prayer that's all God asks of you God be merciful to me a sinner amen amen no no no no nonsense. Jesus made it very clear that what he was out to establish was a kingdom.

As I reminded you there on on Sunday that when Nicodemus came he did not come asking to be saved. He came positively saying master you see at the end of the previous chapter the second chapter there in John Jesus shall we say had dazzled them they were mystified.

He demonstrated his power and they saw the miracles. But Jesus did not commit himself to them because he knew what was in the heart of man. They would follow him as a leader. Lots of people want his leadership.

They don't want his lordship. And there is no leadership without lordship. We've no right to ask people to be saved. People say will you take Jesus as your savior. Where does the scripture say that the scripture says he is our lord and savior Jesus Christ.

And the first thing remember that Jesus said to Nicodemus was listen if you want to enter the kingdom. Do you remember the man dying on a cross. Somehow something got into his mind and he he muttered out there in his agony.

Remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom. And right from the first moment they hung over Jesus what was what was very hostile in those days. You see the first announcement. Where was this. Where is he that is born a savior.

No no no. Where is he that is born the king of the jews. The eternal purpose of god away there in eternity was not merely to snatch you and me out of hell. That is a fringe benefit. In one sense it is to raise us to sonship.

It is to raise us to kingship. It is to give us participation in the kingdom that will last forever and ever and ever. And the redemptive work of Jesus Christ is that he might establish that kingdom and reign over it whose right it is to take the throne.

Well then how do you enter the kingdom. We enter the kingdom this way. We enter it by repentance and repudiation. Except a man repent of sin he cannot enter into the kingdom of God by the very fact he repents of sin.

He's acknowledging he's done wrong. He's been with the wrong group. He's done the wrong things. So when he repents it's not merely an action to God in which I say Lord I identify myself with my sins. I say this that God has been right all the time and I've been wrong.

I say that God is right if he cast me into hell. But in his mercy he says no he he'll forgive me. If I repent all right then negatively I repent of my sin. The very fact I repent of my sin means I step out into another area.

I leave the kingdom of darkness. I come into the kingdom of light. But then there's something else that's demanded of me. I was reading this and it's a very wonderful chapter which we couldn't penetrate tonight.

The Kingdom of God and the Cost of Discipleship

The 14th chapter in the gospel recorded by Luke. But you remember that Jesus says look here is a man he makes a supper. I reminded you it the other day and he went around and he said is everything in order.

Yes invite the people to come in. They wouldn't come. This is a picture I believe of the kingdom. You see Jesus says two things. The negative too which we don't like usually he says two things about this kingdom.

My kingdom is not of this world. If it was they'd never have crucified him. If his kingdom was of this world he wouldn't have waited for Nicodemus to come to him. He'd have been knocking on Nicodemus his door at midnight to try and get favor with the Sanhedrin.

If his kingdom was of this world he'd have been after the Romans seeking somehow to get some power with the with a hierarchy that was ruling over the nation. If his kingdom was of this world he'd have gone to the scholars the Greeks who had great power.

Let me remind you again because if this doesn't tickle you inside or do something that sister there says sometimes sister Pat something tickles are inside or stirs are inside. It stirs me inside. When I remember this that Christianity was not served up to the world on a silver platter.

Christianity wasn't dispersed with a bunch of nice men sitting together. It wasn't taken to the officers club of the Roman Empire who happened to be dominated. Christianity was born in a sophisticated world.

It was born in a totalitarian world. It was born when the nation was in slavery. Now that's a pretty grim place to be born isn't it. It's just as though you had dropped parachuted into Russia tonight and you got down into a hellhole there where they were discussing the merits of Lenin and Trotsky and all the other guys.

And you suddenly come and start talking about Jesus. Man they they give you the boot get out of here. And particularly when you come in and say well this person we're talking about is going to be a king.

What. Well he's a challenge to Caesar. If he's going to be a king he's going to be a prophet. Then he's a challenge to the Old Testament. He's going to be a priest. He's a challenge to the hierarchy. Jesus says my kingdom is not of this world.

It's not of this world for those reasons that it doesn't come offering to parley with the world. Jesus didn't reason with the world. He set up a standard in the midst of it. His kingdom is not of this world.

Because everything in this world is destructible and his kingdom is indestructible. Every other kingdom you sit down and you have discussions and you make laws. He doesn't make any laws with anybody. He gives them and we either obey or we disobey.

And then in Romans 14 you remember that Paul says the kingdom of God is not meat and drink. That's pretty rough on us isn't it. The kingdom of God is not meat and drink. What is it then. It's righteousness and peace and joy.

You see if if the kingdom of Jesus of anything less than that you could you could thrust a sword through it. How can you thrust a sword through an idea. Mm-hmm. You can't kill a philosophy. You can kill the men who who multiply or propagate that philosophy.

But you can't kill a philosophy. You can only destroy what is visible and the kingdom is invisible. You know there was a certain cathedral in Europe and I don't know who designed it but it was at the entrance as you came in there was a thing that looked like a massive stone umbrella a central pillar and out of it went branches this way that stone beautiful.

All people admired it and said that's about the most marvelous piece of gothic architecture I've ever seen. You know there's only one thing wrong with it. What's there. Well you know there's a lot of mining round here and and supposing they they cut a cavity under this Cathedral.

We know it's going to happen. Well that central pillar holds the whole thing up. And if you take the base away the house will come down. Well you know that was all true. Except one thing it wasn't until after some years they were they were busy under there doing some more kind of I don't know what they're doing kind of surveying.

Do you know what we've done. No we've cut the whole foundation of the pillar away. Oh man that the Cathedral will come down. Somebody said why hasn't it come down already. It's being cut away for about four years.

So they went and they searched the the work of the artist and they discovered this that he'd written somewhere in fine print. Don't have any trouble about this central pillar holding the building up. Because really it's only an ornamental pillar.

It's actually the building that's holding the pillar up. It's the foundation that's secure. And you know so many times people have almost almost buried the church. Voltaire contemporary of John Wesley.

Oh he had a heyday he said in a house one day there in France you know a hundred years from this day there'll be no Bibles except in museums. No Bibles. Just be people will have grown up. They'd be too intelligent to read the Bible.

And they had quite a party. They were ready to bury Christianity. You know it's nice to get the relatives to a funeral and get the wreaths and choose the hymns and prepare the eulogy. You just need one thing to have a successful funeral.

That's a corpse. And for some strange reason Christianity refuses to die. Oh they've written the epitaph for it. They've got songs ready to sing over it. They there's somebody with his hand on the bell.

You know ready to toll the bell and say hey hear ye hear ye the Christian message has gone. And Christianity that no sir it doesn't do that. It's rather like tennis and stream which says men may come and men may go but I go on forever.

The kingdom of Jesus Christ is not meat and drink but righteousness. And you can't destroy righteousness. Righteousness is that which is God has worked in us and righteousnesses are the things which work out of the righteousness he put in us.

Righteousness is the root and righteousnesses are the fruits of the righteousness which is which is within us. And therefore you cannot destroy righteousness. And joy is that overflow that we know that we're his and we have the ecstasy.

We have a foretaste as the hymn writer says oh what a foretaste of glory divine and peace a peace that passeth all understanding. These are ours. Now Jesus as I said he's talking here in this 14th chapter about a man that had a supper and he called his friends and so forth and so on.

But he lays down a law of the kingdom. You see there are some people who say it's fun to be a Christian. Well they never read the Bibles. That's all. They read comic stories. It isn't fun to be a Christian.

It's a task. It demands discipline. Because you see we live in a day again when when people want to be followers but not this disciples. Jesus didn't say going to all the world and get people saved. He said going to the world and make disciples.

And disciples mean discipline. It means we're under orders. None of the hierarchy in a church but orders from above from the master above. And therefore we are disciples we are disciplined. We are people under orders.

And Jesus says listen this is what you do when you have a feast. Never invite anybody to your table that can invite you back again. Run your house like that. Don't think many of us do. But I'm telling you what Jesus said not what we wanted to say.

He says if you're making a feast never invite anybody to that feast who will call you again. And he says one of them that sat at meet with him heard these things. And he said unto him blessed is he that shall eat bread in the kingdom of God.

Oh you thought there's gonna be something better than that. You can eat bread down here. Black bread brown bread rye bread other bread gonna eat bread in the kingdom of God. But wait wait he says blessed is he that shall eat bread in the kingdom of God.

Well what's he just been saying. He's just been saying you. You know you never invite anybody to the house that can can invite you back. Well don't you real I are you so sleepy tonight. Don't you realize this.

That once day once down. Once you sit down at that table you'll never be able to repay him. You'll still be hanging on his mercy. He's gonna take us into his table and there's no chance of returning. You can't say Jesus.

I live on 46th Avenue you know on that little suburb outside of the pearly gates. And I want you to come to that. No no sir it's all over. Blessed is he that shall eat bread in the kingdom of God. Now the people wouldn't come in.

So what does he say. He says go out into the city and bring the naked and the blind and the poor and the wretched and so forth. And there weren't great multitudes to him. They followed him and he turned to them and said if any man come unto me and hate not his father his mother wife children brethren and sisters yet and his own life also he cannot be my disciple.

And who so doth not bear his cross and come after me cannot be my disciple. Now listen. The next part is this. Which of you intending to build a tower sit us not down first and counter the cost. Or what.

Man going to an army doesn't first sit down and see if he has more men that can fight with him than those coming against him. Now the preacher says you see you to sit down and count the cost of discipleship.

That's not what he's saying. I believe what Jesus is saying here. Look is this. Listen for 30 years for 30 years I've been counting the cost of taking up my cross. For 30 years. I've been thinking over what's going to happen in my kingdom and I've come to this conclusion that no man is going to come into my kingdom.

I'm not going to carry all the cross. I'll carry my cross. You carry your cross. Now negatively I say it is this that a man renounces his sin. He repents of his sin. And immediately he repents of his sin.

He gives up his old way. Like somebody said to a man one day who's a drunkard and a liar and he gambled and smoked did every devilish thing. And and he said well yeah I sure I'd like to get rid of my sins my guilt my my my my conscience troubles me and I have bad nights.

I dream about it now I fear hell sometimes. But say if if I got saved would I would I have to give up all my old companions. And the preacher said oh no no no oh well that's that's a relief. No I said if you get really saved you won't have to give them up.

He'd give you up immediately. You renounce your sin and become a new creature. You don't have the interest. You don't have the desire. You don't have the appetites. Therefore you give up your sins. You give up the gang you're running with as it were.

But now positively you take up your cross. And you know what. As soon as you take up the cross just as you rejected the world the world will reject you because you've taken up your cross. And I can still hear dr. Soto's are saying Len you know the man that was carrying his cross.

You knew one thing about him. He wasn't coming back. So many of us want to play at carrying our cross. Jesus I my cross have taken all to leave and follow thee destitute despite forsaken. Beautiful. But that's not the thing is is have we done it.

If a man will not take up his cross now you say it's fun. It's real fun to be a Christian. Some guy says listen how funny this is. If your hand offend you cut it off. I don't see much funny about that.

Do you. For it is better to enter into life name 43rd verse of the 9th chapter of Mark. It is better to go through life named. You realize that if you literally had a hand cut off do you think you'd be handicapped.

Would I be handicapped the rest of my life. I surely would. But he says it's better what to go into a heaven having two hands. No better to go into heaven with one hand. In fact he says a little later in the 45th verse.

If thy foot offend thee cut it off. It is better for thee to enter halt into life than having two feet to be cast into hellfire. He said in verse 47 if thine eye offend thee pluck it out. It is better for thee to enter into the kingdom of God with one eye.

Oh we don't. Oh man if you make it as difficult as that you know what. We won't get really people who get people saved. Well I've got news for you. We're not getting people saved. We're getting people to become church members.

We're getting people to become nice and decent and give up a few lousy habits. But you see I can do everything. I can beat my breast I can fast I can pray I can swear a thousand allegiances to God. But when I've done everything in the way of repentance and repudiating the world and even taking up my cross I need a of things.

I need the blood to cleanse me. I need the witness of the Holy Ghost from heaven to say that God has done this miracle in me. And I need my name writing in the Lamb's Book of Life. Because if it's not there there's no chance of me getting into the kingdom.

That's why I say it's a terrible thing to say to a dying man oh I give you the blessing of the church absolve. Oh dearest you're gonna make it. It's a lie. Martin Luther raised his voice against that.

There's a priest of that day by the name of Tetzel. And he ran up a list a price list of sins. It's so much you pay so much to the church to get absolution for lying so much for adultery so much for stealing so much for murder.

And he became a terrible period of indulgences. And that was the final thing that fired. I believe Martin Luther he rebelled against it. You know we accept it today. It doesn't worry us too much. It's just done.

And if you raise your voice against it you're a bigot. Particularly in these days when well not only the sheep meet together but the goats get there and a few skunks these days and they have a meeting and you're supposed to pronounce your blessing on it.

There is nothing that divides more than preaching the Word of God rightly dividing the Word of Truth. And brother we're gonna get back to that before too long easy believism. It's got to go. We've had too much of it.

Christ’s Sacrifice and the Coming Kingdom

Jesus says in essence he says listen before I entered this. You see you say well I I thank the Lord that he came in a manger. And oh wait a minute you missed you missed about a thousand million years.

If you start at the manger so happened that he was with the father before the world was so happened one day that he took off his eternal robes and laid them down. And the angels must have been mystified maybe terrified.

Have you ever felt what the have you ever wondered what they felt like when they went back to heaven without without Jesus huh. When they hovered there and the the babe was born and those angels shouted their hallelujahs and stood up those sleepy shepherds.

And then they went back to heaven. And for 30 years they watched him. Hmm never had a home never had a dime to his name never had any creature comforts. What is he doing. Well he's beginning that marvelous marvelous marvelous work of redemption.

You see this is why it says in this chapter I reminded you before I heard as it were a multitude as the sound of many waters. I've ever heard the ocean when it's rawed at night and come dashing up on a beach and blasted against the rocks.

And he says not only many waters as a voice of mighty thunderings. My wouldn't it be wonderful if you could somehow get the noise a taping of the noise of Niagara Falls and then get a taping of the Victoria Falls in Africa and and a taping of the Angel Falls down in Brazil there and then some other Falls and put them all together.

If you could get a recording of all the thunderstorms that have ever existed since the creation began. And you put all that noise together and listen it will be like a whisper because this is the triumph this is the consummation of all that Jesus did before eternity and right through life.

Look at him going up there. He's faint. He's being pushed around. They put a robe on him. They put a reed in his hand to suggest his kingdom and his his authority is about as strong as that reed that shakes in the wind.

And one man comes up and gets a mouthful of flame and spits it down that holy face. Another man takes his beard and snatches it till the flesh comes out and he's faint. He's being pushed from Caiaphas to Herod and Herod back to Pilate.

And his body because he was human is feeling the exhaustion. And he's staggering up the hill with a cross that two men would have to carry normally. As he staggers up that hill the spit is running down his face.

And they're blaspheming and ridiculing. And I think if you'd got near enough you'd have heard Jesus saying darling I'm doing it all for you. He's the King of Kings. He's the Lord of Lords. He's the bridegroom of bridegrooms.

What did Rockefeller give his bride. Tinsel. What is Jesus going to give his bride. He is the King of Kings. He is the Lord of Lords. She is the bride of brides. And all heaven is going to break out. Man alive when you hear that a choir of what.

10 ,000 times 10 ,000 what a hundred million plus thousands of blood. And the orchestra has 144 ,000 playing their hearts and singing and shouting. Worthy is the Lamb that was slain the voice of many waters and thundering saying alleluia alleluia.

That's a great word. We're the only people in the world that has it. Not the earth has it in their language. I don't mean in the English language. I mean that language of the Word of God. You the Jews had it sure in the Old Testament.

But you won't find it in the Buddhist language. You won't find it in other languages. Not in the way that it's expressed here. Remember in the previous chapter when the whole system and collapse. You see in the in the seventeenth chapter there's a woman a dirty rotten woman.