Final Justice: The Return of Christ, Part 1

today on grace to you you know what we need to be saying to this world forget the issues of justice on a human level and realize you will face the justice of god and this will be a justice that you will not want if you have rejected his son saints along for this because we have nothing to fear if you're not in christ you may think you want justice that you will not want the justice you will receive for rejecting god's son what in the world makes us so embarrassed about the gospel i determined to know nothing among you except jesus christ and him crucified [Music] [Music] revelation 19 verse 1. after these things i heard something like a loud voice of a great multitude in heaven saying hallelujah salvation and glory and power belong to our god because his judgments are true and righteous for he has judged the great harlot who was corrupting the earth with her immorality and he has avenged the blood of his slaves on her and the second time they said hallelujah her smoke rises up forever and ever and the 24 elders and the four living creatures fell down and worshiped god who sits on the throne saying amen hallelujah and a voice came from the throne saying give praise to our god all you his slaves you who fear him the small and the great and i heard something like the voice of a great multitude and like the sound of many waters and like the sound of mighty peels of thunder saying hallelujah for the lord our god the almighty reigns it is time for praise it's time for the ultimate hallelujah chorus to be sung jesus christ is about to return the actual return begins to be described in verse 11 and we'll get to that next time but by the time we reach chapter 19 we have been through some incredible future history something we will never do historically because we will be taken out before the events of the tribulation but though we will not be there historically we are able to see that period prophetically we are able by reading the book of revelation to pass through the fascinating furies of the coming time of tribulation we have seen jesus christ the worthy lamb take the scroll the title deed to the universe from the hand of the father in heaven and begin to unroll the scroll to take back the universe which the usurper satan has ruled and as he unrolls the scroll he unleashes furious judgments seal by seal the scroll has been unrolled seven different judgments are unpacked out of the seventh judgment comes seven more judgments described as trumpet judgments and more rapid fire succession out of the seventh trumpet comes seven more judgments called the bold judgments which are even more rapid and so seven seals and seven trumpets and seven bowls sequentially mound up the escalating fury of god as his judgment is unleashed in the world and during that period of time the tribulation it is called the gospel of grace will be preached the church will have been raptured the gospel will be preached it will be preached by 144 000 12 000 from every tribe of israel will be converted it'll be preached by two living witnesses it'll be preached by angelic beings in heavens that all is laid out in the previous chapters through all of the time of god's judgment god is also saving those who come to him following the last bowl which is the last phase of the seventh trumpet which is the last phase of the seventh seal all the judgment has ended and it's time for christ to come back and judge and set up his kingdom his coming is described in chapter 19 verses 11 and following and his kingdom is described thousand-year kingdom in chapter 20 and we're going to look at all of that in the days ahead i think we've all had enough of what's going on down here on earth we'd like to see what the lord has planned from heaven what's all the rejoicing in chapter 19 what are they rejoicing about the destruction of the world's evil system the judgment of evil unbelieving sinners and the establishing of the victorious kingdom and glory of jesus christ this is the moment that all human history has been waiting for this is the moment that all heaven has been anticipating in fact it is a recurring theme in the book of revelation if you go back to chapter four in revelation and look at verse eight four living creatures this is a view of heaven each one of them having six wings full of eyes around and within and day and night they do not cease to say holy holy holy is the lord god the almighty who was who is and is to come and when the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to him who sits on the throne to him who lives forever and ever the 24 elders representing the church will fall down before him who sits on the throne and worship him who lives forever and ever and will cast their crowns before the throne saying worthy are you our lord and our god to receive glory and honor and power for you created all things and because of your will they existed and were created chapter 5 further heavenly praise i saw verse 6 between the throne with the four living creatures and the elders a lamb standing as if slain having seven horns and seven eyes which are the seven spirits of god or the seven fold spirit sent out into all the earth and he came and took the book out of the right hand of him who sat on the throne when he had taken the book the four living creatures 24 elders fell down before the lamb each one holding a harp and golden bowls full of incense which are the prayers of the saints and they sang a new song saying worthy of you to take the book and break its seals for you were slain and purchased for god with your blood men from every tribe and tongue and people and nation you have made them to be a kingdom and priests to our god and they will reign upon the earth then all of these beings are saying in verse 12 worthy is the lamb that was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing and every created thing which is in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea and all things in them i heard saying to him who sits on the throne and to the lamb be blessing and honor and glory and dominion forever and ever and the four living creatures kept saying amen and the elders fell down and worshiped this is all the praise of heaven mounting up as it gets closer to the return of christ holy angels saints triumphant gathered together in heaven anticipating this incredible culmination the return of jesus christ the shouts of joy are to be expected then aren't they they're anticipated all the way through the book of revelation chapter 4 chapter 5 chapter 7 chapter 11 chapter 15 chapter 16 you have the shouts of the saints rejoicing over the coming of christ so i need to be obvious and say this is where our minds need to be this is where our thoughts need to be those who have prostituted the church's role in the world to preach the gospel to try to fix the world have as i said earlier follow a false religion as we come into chapter 19 this is the seventh time we have a vision of heaven in revelation and what we hear is what we always hear hallelujah verse one hallelujah verse three hallelujah verse four hallelujah verse 6 hallelujah why all the hallelujahs there are several reasons one reason to begin with salvation has come salvation has come secondly justice has come thirdly rebellion has ended fourthly god reigns and fifthly the church the bride has been joined to the bridegroom christ before we look at those reasons for rejoicing look at verse 1. after these things that covers a lot doesn't it after these things bridges the tribulation to the millennial kingdom after the destruction of the false religious system as described in chapter 17 after the destruction of the global economy chapter 18 after demons have led the armies of hell to the plane of armageddon after all of that the lord returns just to remind you of that chapter 16 verse 13 out of the mouths of the dragons and out of the mouth of the beast satan and his agents out of the mouth of the false prophet three unclean spirits like frogs there are spirits of demons performing signs they go out to the kings of the whole world to gather them together for the war of the great day of god the almighty behold i'm coming like a thief blessed is the one who stays awake and keeps his clothes so that he will not walk about naked and men will not see his shame and they gathered them together to the place which is in hebrew called har megiddo the demons gather the forces to the plane of megiddo which is in the north part of israel to fight against the returning christ that battle is about to start that battle will end the time of the tribulation we're at the prelude to that and all heaven is rejoicing now let's look at specific reasons why and we'll not be able to give them a lot of attention you can do that on your own the first reason is because full salvation has come i heard something like a loud voice of a great multitude in heaven saying hallelujah salvation and glory and power belong to our god here is the anthem of full deliverance from sin i heard something like a loud voice a composite of the angelic hosts of heaven and the saints joining in it's it's a loud voice it's a great multitude saints and angels and by the way there are millions and millions of holy angels there are 200 million demons mentioned in chapter 9 200 million demons and only a third of the demons fell so there's double that number of holy angels so you have millions hundreds of millions of holy angels and add to that the saints and what are they saying hallelujah that word doesn't appear in the new testament anywhere but in this chapter it appears about 20 sometimes maybe 24 25 times in the old testament never appears in the new testament it's reserved for this chapter hallelujah hallelujah but even in the old testament it was connected to the deliverance of god's people from wickedness psalm 104 35 let sinners be consumed from the earth and let the wicked be no more bless the lord o my soul hallelujah hallelujah even when the wicked are destroyed word essentially means praise the lord it's a transliteration praise the lord and of those 24 25 times in the old testament they're all in the psalms it begins and ends 15 psalms particularly those in the great hallel psalm 104 to 109 and the hillel of egypt 113-118 and all of them celebrate deliverance from the wicked it's associated with god's judgment on the wicked oppressors of his people and his glorious rescue of his people hallelujah is reserved for the joy of deliverance from the wicked praise the lord salvation and glory and power belong to our god the world is never going to be right until it's under the control of god that will be the day of his glory that will be the day of his power that will be the day of his sovereign rule his glory his power and everything will belong to him the first cause of rejoicing praise is because the lord is going to bring full final salvation from all wickedness second justice will be meted out verse 2 because his judgments are true and righteous for the first time in human history since the fall his judgments are true and righteous here is the joy of accomplished judgment you know what we need to be saying to this world we need to be saying to this world forget the issues of justice on a human level and realize you will face the justice of god that's the message and this will be a justice that you will not want if you have rejected his son [Music] all of you who are working for justice on a human level need to be far more concerned about true justice when it's meted out by god his judgments will be true his judgments will be righteous saints long for this because we have nothing to fear if you're not in christ you may think you want justice but you will not want the justice you will receive for rejecting god's son of course we want a world of justice it's what believers desire good news it's coming it is coming when the lord establishes his kingdom it will be a kingdom of perfect justice swift and perfect justice verse 15 of this 19th chapter a little preview of what's to come he will rule with a rod of iron immediate painful if necessary unrelenting justice his judgments are true and righteous we know that because he judged the great harlot who was corrupting the earth with her immorality and he has avenged the blood of his slaves on her by the time we get to these hallelujahs god has already judged the great harlot that's from chapter 17 the false world religious system and he has also judged the system babylon which is another part of that harlotry that has corrupted the earth with her immorality the harlot had her day now judgment judgment will come the satanic antichrist anti-god system is being permitted now under the control of satan to lure and delude and seduce and deceive and debauch and corrupt the world with abominations that will only escalate and get worse and worse but judgment will come [Music] and all those who are screaming for justice today will not want the justice they deserve god's ways are absolutely just this language is barred from deuteronomy 32. his judgments are true and righteous those who in this world have caused the moral ruin of so many will themselves be destroyed and the ones who killed the saints will themselves be slaughtered full salvation for the redeemed and justice for the christ rejecters and heavenly hallelujahs are unleashed because it's time for truth and righteousness and justice there's a third component to the praise verse 3 because rebellion has ended second time they said hallelujah her smoke rises up forever and ever the whole world system is smoldering the smoke is because of the fire the fire is the fire of judgment back in verse 18. they saw the smoke of her burning as the lord torches the world system the destruction is much like the destruction of sodom and gomorrah back in genesis 19 or even the destruction of edom that isaiah talks about in isaiah 34. the fire will come burn the embers will cool the ash will blow away there will be an eternal fire for those who reject christ that will never die however it's all over now persecution's over false religion is over materialism is done evolution injustice wickedness immorality up in final flames the end of man's advancing quote-unquote world a global disaster as god torches every human institution religious and economic and the rebellion that started with adam and eve in the garden has finally been judged no wonder heaven responds with hallelujah hallelujah salvation has come hallelujah justice has come hallelujah rebellion has ended and fourthly hallelujah because god reigns verse 4 and the 24 elders representing the church the four living creatures described as angels early in the book fell down and worshiped god who sits on the throne saying amen hallelujah the praises always belong to god but it was denied to him now the 24 elders the four living creatures this is the saints and angels fall down worship god who sits on the throne the group of elders he's always been on the throne surrounded by them in heaven always been on the throne surrounded by the angels in heaven but now he's established his throne on the earth and in his creation amen hallelujah that combination comes from psalm 106 48 the close of the doxology at the end of book 4 of the psalter affirming agreeing praise praise the lord amen amen means so be it let it happen the volume begins to increase and a voice came from the throne saying give praise to our god all you his slaves you who fear him the small and the great then i heard something like the voice of a great multitude and like the sound of many waters and like the sound of mighty peals of thunder saying hallelujah for the lord our god the almighty reigns. the volume swells the voice comes from the throne no doubt a notable angel saying give praise to god present imperative keep on giving praise to god don't stop all you his slaves refers to believers all of those who are in heaven you who fear him worshiping saints small and great in heaven all are leveled right all intellectual ability social strata all accomplishments all levels of progress in life all distinctions all ranks are all dissipated into nothingness and we all become one in that worshiping community of glory for centuries we have been saying your kingdom come your will be done on earth as it is in heaven and then when we get there we can say it has been done the redeemed throughout heaven respond immediately to the command to give praise and millions upon millions upon millions of voices at the top of their heavenly glorified capacity are shouting and making noise that can only be described in terms of verse six like the voice of a great multitude like the sound of many waters like the sound of mighty peels of thunder just imagine the most loud thunder you have ever heard right on your head and having that hit you at the bottom of niagara falls and you might have a small idea of the noise adding their praise to the angels is the praise of the saints hallelujah our lord god reigns he is king this is another reference to the hillel in psalm 113 to 118 the psalms closed 146 to 150 actually with a celebration of god's glory daniel described this moment when he said i saw in the night visions one like to the son of man brought to the ancient of days and there was given to him dominion and glory and a kingdom that all peoples nations and languages should serve him and when gabriel announced to mary the child to be born do you remember what he said he shall be great and shall be called the son of the highest and the lord shall give unto him the throne of his father david and he shall reign and jesus said in matthew 25 when the son of man shall come in his glory and all the holy angels with him then shall he sit on the throne of his glory tyrants despots petty rulers godless governments shall be no more war shall be no more inequity shall be no more justice and righteousness will rule the earth and the lord will execute that with a rod of iron truth peace righteousness justice salvation will dominate the kingdom of christ [Music] this is where we need to have our minds and our thoughts the folly of trying to fix the fallen world looks even more stupid when compared to this there will be a day of justice a day of salvation a day when all rebellion has ended when god reigns [Music] next week on grace to you history does not quietly and gradually merge into the kingdom of christ as the post tribulationalists the reconstructionists would like us to believe the end of human history will come with violence fiery judgment the whole earth bathed in blood on that great day of god almighty this is the end of man's day the prophet's called the day of the lord

Channel: Grace to You

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Keywords: John MacArthur, Bible, Preaching, Christianity, Expository, Exposition, Sermon, Jesus, Christ, Grace to You, eschatology

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Length: 28min 30sec (1710 seconds)

Published: Sun Jun 13 2021