The Marriage Supper of the Lamb

The Marriage Supper of the Lamb

(No. 2428)

INTENDED FOR READING ON LORD'S DAY, SEPTEMBER 1, 1895.

DELIVERED BY C. H. SPURGEON,

AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON, ON LORD'S-DAY EVENING,
AUGUST 21, 1887.

"And he said unto me, Write, 'Blessed are they which are called unto
the marriage supper of the Lamb.'" Revelation 19:9.

You will perceive that there was an exhortation to John to "Write." Why
was he especially to write these words down? I conceive that it was,
first, because the information here recorded was valuable–"Blessed are
they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb." It was
worth while that this new beatitude should be recorded, so the angel of
God said to the Apostle, "Write." It was also to be written because of
its absolute certainty–"These are the true sayings of God." This
blessedness was not a thing to be spoken of once and then to be
forgotten, but it was to be recorded so that future ages might see that
it is surely so, assuredly so beyond all question! God has bidden this
record to be written in black and white, yes, engraved as with an iron
pen and lead in the rock, forever–"Blessed are they which are called
unto the marriage supper of the Lamb."

It was to be written, no doubt, to bring it under our consideration as
a thing worthy of being weighed, a text to be read, marked, learned and
inwardly digested–not merely spoken to John by the angel of God, but
written by the Apostle at the express order of the Spirit of God. Lord,
did You say to John, "Write it," and shall I not read it? Did you bid
the beloved disciple write it and do You not, thereby, virtually bid me
consider it and remember it? Lord, by Your Spirit, write this message
on my heart, "Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage
supper of the Lamb."

I find that my text is succeeded, as well as preceded, by something
remarkable–"He said unto me, These are the true sayings of God." Lest
any doubt should arise in our minds about the marriage supper of the
Lamb, or about the fact that many are called to that supper, or about
the blessedness of such as are called, the angel says, "These are the
true sayings of God." Some things appear to be too good to be true. We
frequently meet with sinners, under a sense of guilt, who are staggered
by the greatness of God's mercy. The Light of the Gospel has been too
bright for them! They "could not see for the glory of that Light," as
Paul said in describing the appearance of Christ to him when on the
road to Damascus. So, "to make assurance doubly sure," that we may not
question its truth because of its greatness, we have this solemn
declaration especially certified by order of the Lord, under the hand
and seal of the Spirit of God–"These are the true sayings of God." O
Sirs, the Lord Christ will come again! He will come to gather together
His people and to make them forever blessed! And happy will you be if
you are among that chosen company! If you shall meet the King of Kings
with joyful confidence, you shall be blessed, indeed!

You noticed that I read parts of two chapters before I came to my text
and I did it for this purpose. The false harlot-church is to be judged
and then the true Church of Christ is to be acknowledged and honored
with what is called a marriage supper. The false must be put away
before the true can shine out in all its luster! Oh, that Christ would
soon appear to drive falsehood from off the face of the earth! At
present it seems to gather strength, and to spread till it darkens the
sky and turns the sun into darkness, and the moon into blood. Oh, that
the Lord would arise and sweep away the deadly errors which now pollute
the very air! We long for the time when the powers of darkness shall be
baffled and the pure Everlasting Light shall triumph over all! We do
not know when it shall be–

"But, come what may to stand in the way, That day the world shall see,"

when the Truth of God shall vanquish error and when the true Church
shall be revealed in all her purity and beauty as the Bride of
Christ–and the apostate church shall be put away once and for all and
forever!

Time rolls wearily along just now, apparently, and some hearts grow
heavy and sad, but let us take courage. The morning comes as well as
the night and there are good days, not so far off as we have sometimes
fancied–and some of us may yet live to see times which shall make us
cry, "Lord, now let Your servants depart in peace, for our eyes have
seen Your salvation." Whether we live till Christ comes again, or
whether we fall asleep in Him, many of us know that we shall sit down
at the great wedding feast in the end of the days and we shall partake
of the supper of the Lamb in the day of His joy and Glory! We are
looking across the blackness and darkness of the centuries into that
promised millennial age wherein we shall rejoice with our Lord with joy
unspeakable and full of glory!

I. I will no longer delay you from the text. And in meditating upon
this august marriage festival, I want you to notice, first of all, THE
DESCRIPTION OF THE BRIDEGROOM.

There is no marriage without a bridegroom. There is no marriage of the
Church without the appearance of Christ and, therefore, He must be
manifested. He must come out of the ivory palaces wherein He hides
Himself, today, and He must appear in His Glory! And when He shall
appear, what shall be His title? Notice it– "Blessed are they which
are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb."

This term– "the Lamb"–seems to be the special name of Christ which
John was accustomed to use. I suppose he heard it, first, from that
other John called the Baptist, when he said, "Behold the Lamb of God,
which takes away the sin of the world." Isaiah had compared the Christ
to a lamb brought to the slaughter, but he had not really called Him
"the Lamb of God." This beloved John, who knew the Master better than
anyone else, seemed to love constantly to call Him by this most
expressive name.

Now, if in any Book of the Bible we might have expected that our Lord
would not have been called the Lamb, it would have been the Book of the
Revelation. It might seem as if the name, "the Lion of the tribe of
Judah" might appropriately have been used every time, and the name of,
"the Lamb," have been dropped. The name, "the Lamb," seemed suitable
for Jesus here below, despised and rejected of men, led to the
slaughter, dumb and patient beneath the hands of cruel men. The name,
"the Lamb," seemed suitable for Gethsemane, Gabbatha and Golgotha–but
John calls the Savior by this name many times all through this Book of
the Revelation! He writes constantly about the Lamb, the Lamb in the
midst of the Throne, the Lamb leading His people to living fountains of
water. And now the angel tells him to write about the marriage supper
of the Lamb!

This is the more remarkable because, at first sight, it may seem
incongruous to blend these two things together–the Lamb and a marriage
supper. But the incongruity of figures must sometimes be allowed in
order to make more apparent some master Truth of God which must not and
cannot be veiled for the sake of correct rhetoric! It sometimes happens
that language becomes a burden to thought–great thoughts will break
the backs of words and crush them into the dust. So it happens that
comparisons and metaphors crack and break, like rotten wood in the
wind, under the stress of some great master thought which rules the
writer's mind. It matters not whether it is congruous in figure, it is
suitable enough in fact that the wedding at the last should be the
marriage of the Lamb!

What do I infer from this? I gather, in a word, just this, that Christ
anywhere, even in His highest Glory, still wishes us to regard Him as
the Sacrifice for sin. He desires to be viewed by us in His Character
as the Lamb slain from before the foundation of the world. This is a
Character which He never lays aside and it is as the Lamb that He will
manifest Himself in the consummation of all things when His Church is
perfected!

First, as the Lamb, He is the one everlasting Sacrifice for sin. Where
is the lamb that God has provided for a burnt offering? It is Jesus!
Where is the morning and evening lamb to take away Israel's guilt? It
is Jesus! Where is the lamb that bleeds and dies, that with its blood
the lintel and the two side posts may be smeared to secure the inmates
of the house from the destroying angel in Egypt? It is Jesus! All His
life, and in His death, He was no lion, no beast of prey–He was the
gentle, suffering, sacrificial Victim, dying that we may not die,
presenting Himself a Sacrifice acceptable unto God!

Now, because Christ was the Lamb, suffering for sin, and because He
delights to remember that He was our Sacrifice, therefore He is seen in
that capacity in the day of the gladness of His heart. He links the
memory of His grief with the manifestation of His Glory–and as He was
a Lamb to redeem His Church, so does He appear as a Lamb in the
marriage supper of His Glory! One reason why He does this is because He
is especially glorious in the Character of the Lamb of God. I cannot
conceive of our Lord Jesus Christ as ever being less than infinitely
glorious, but, dear Friends, if there is ever a time when we can
appreciate the splendor of His Character more fully than at other
times, it is when He is on the Cross–when He dies, "the Just for the
unjust, that He might bring us to God."

Tell me not of all the Glory which surrounds Him now in the midst of
the Throne–I cannot conceive any Glory exceeding in brightness the
Glory of His self-denial, the Glory of His taking upon Himself the form
of a Servant and, being found in fashion as a Man, becoming obedient
unto death, even the death of the Cross. The glory of men consists in
what they are prepared to suffer for others. The glory of a king must
lie, not in the crowns he wears, but in what he does for his
subjects–and Christ's Glory is most seen in His sacrifice for sinners!
"Greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for
his friends." But Christ laid down His life for His enemies. When the
Lord Jesus Christ put on the bloody shirt in Gethsemane. When He
bedecked Himself with the five bright rubies of His wounds. When He was
adorned with the crown of thorns and, last of all, when He was
decorated with that robe of blood as the soldier pierced His side, then
it was that He was more illustrious than at any time before or since in
the eyes of those who think aright! This is the star in His sky, no,
the sun that eclipses all the stars–that Jesus loved, pitied and had
compassion even to the death upon the sons of men! So, in the day of
His marriage, He comes out, again, in this highest and noblest of
Characters– especially glorious as a Lamb! It is as a Lamb that He
celebrates the marriage supper with His Bride, the Church.

Brothers and Sisters, I think that it is very appropriate for Christ to
appear in Glory as a Lamb, because it is as the Lamb that He has most
fully displayed His love to His Church, to which He is espoused, and to
which He is to be married at that Last Great Day. Beloved, the marriage
supper is a feast of love–there, love is at home. So Jesus, that He
may reveal Himself in His love best of all, appears as a bleeding
Sacrifice on the day of His love's triumph. I do not know how to talk
about this great theme, but this Truth of God rests in my heart and
makes me feel more glad than I can tell. It lies like a cake of sweet
perfume upon the altar of my soul and burns there with the soft bright
flame of love. And I rejoice to know that in the day when Jesus takes
His Church by the hand and leads her Home to His Father's house, He
will appear in that Character in which He most of all has shown His
love to His beloved. You see most of His love when you see most of His
griefs and most of His condescension–and, therefore, in that Character
does He appear at His marriage supper.

There is one other thought before I leave this first point. It is as
the Lamb that Christ is best loved of our souls. At any rate, you feel
your affections most drawn out toward Him who suffered in your place.
Tell me, you who know Him most, you who love Him best, is it not so?
You have seen Him on His Throne, but you have fallen at His feet as
dead, for the sight has been too much for you! But when you have seen
Him on the Cross, oh, then your heart has melted while your Beloved has
spoken to you and you have said, "He has won my heart. Now He has
completely mastered me–I must love Him now." So then, you see, on the
day of His marriage, when He would be best loved, Christ comes unto His
Church robed in that garment in which He appears most lovely in her
sight, and He draws out at that marriage supper, more fully than ever
He did, all the love of all His redeemed for whom He laid down His
life!

Now, you who care not for my Lord as a Substitute and a Sacrifice, will
you be at the marriage supper when He appears as the Lamb? It is as the
Lamb of God that you reject Him! You are willing to take Him, you say,
as a Teacher, or as an Exemplar, but as the Sacrifice for sin you will
not have Him. Then, neither will He have you! In that great day, as you
have disowned the vicarious Sacrifice, He who was that Sacrifice will
disown you! There will be no marriage between your soul and Christ if
you will not have Him as the Lamb, for that marriage feast is to be the
marriage of the Lamb, and of none else. As long as this tongue can move
and these lips can speak, I will preach nothing to you but Jesus Christ
and Him Crucified–that He, who knew no sin was made sin for us that we
might be made the righteousness of God in Him! I know no Savior but
that Christ, "who His own self bore our sins in His own body on the
tree," and who, "when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at
the right hand of the Majesty on high," and now in Glory bears the
marks of the great Propitiation by which His people are saved!

II. But now, secondly, I have to speak a little upon THE MEANING OF THE
MARRIAGE SUPPER–"Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage
supper of the Lamb." What will that marriage supper be? There will come
a time when all God's redeemed shall be saved.

There will come a day when all who have died shall have been raised,
again, from the tomb, and those who remain alive shall have been
changed, so that their corruption shall have put on incorruption, and
mortality shall have put on immortality. Then will the Church be
perfect and complete. No one member will be missing. There will be no
spot or wrinkle remaining in her. Then it shall come to pass that
Christ will celebrate this marriage supper, which will be the bringing
of the people of God into the closest and happiest union with Christ
their Lord in Glory.

Even now the Lord Jesus Christ is no stranger to some of us, and we are
not strangers to Him. Yet there shall come a day when we shall see Him
face to face and then we shall know Him with a clearer and fuller
knowledge than is possible for us today. What that bliss will be, I
cannot tell. Oh, the ineffable brightness when we shall see the face of
Jesus! Oh, the unspeakable sweetness when we shall hear His voice! Oh,
the amazing bliss when He shall manifest Himself to us in all His
Glory! And there will come such a day for all whom He has redeemed, for
all who trust Him and rest in His atoning Sacrifice. That will be the
marriage supper of the Lamb!

That feast will be, like most other marriage suppers, the fulfillment
of long expectation. Our Lord has waited long for His perfected Church.
He espoused Himself to her before ever the earth was, but there was
much to be done before she was prepared for the marriage. The
Bridegroom, too, had to leave His Father and become one with His Bride
by taking upon Himself our humanity. For our sake He quit the thrones
and royalties of Heaven that He might be bone of our bone, and flesh of
our flesh–and here He was born, and here He lived, and here He died!
But still, the Bride was not ready–and it is not till you come to this
chapter that you read, "The marriage of the Lamb is come, and His wife
has made herself ready." Souls have to be saved–new-created,
blood-washed, sanctified, perfected–and the whole of them must be
gathered to make up the body of Christ's Spouse. And when that is done,
and she is all complete, the expectations of the Christ will be
fulfilled at that marriage supper. O Beloved, you do not know the
longings of the heart of Christ for that day of glory! For this He
lived! For this He died! For this He continually pleads that all for
whom He shed His precious blood might be His in that day! That day is
fast coming and when it arrives, then will be the wedding feast above.

Then will be, also, the day of the open publication of the great fact
of mutual love and union. At this moment Christ loves His Church and He
is one with her, but the world, as a whole, does not know it. It does
not know either Him or her, nor does it care about them. But the day
shall come when Christ will bring His hidden people into the light of
day! "Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the Kingdom of
their Father." And then shall the Christ, Himself, also be manifested,
though long hidden! Oh, what a day that will be when the eyes of the
entire universe shall be turned in one direction and the glorious
Christ, in the splendor of His Manhood and of His Godhead, shall take
the hand of His redeemed Church and, before men and angels and devils,
declare Himself to be one with her forever and forever! That will be
the beginning of the marriage supper of the Lamb–it will be the
publication to all of the great fact of mutual love and union!

Moreover, the picture of a marriage supper is intended to set forth the
overflowing of mutual delight and joy. There is too much joy for two!
They are so happy that they invite others to come in and share the
banquet. So, in those days, how delighted this blessed Christ and His
Church will be with one another! How the Church will rejoice in Him!
How He will rejoice in the Church! What hallelujahs will they raise to
Him and oh, with what delight will He look upon all His people and see
in them neither spot, nor wrinkle, nor any such thing–because His
blood has cleansed them and His Spirit has perfectly sanctified them!
Of old it was written, "The Lord your God in the midst of you is
mighty; He will save, He will rejoice over you with joy; He will rest
in His love, He will joy over you with singing." But what will that
rest of love be and that singing of the Christ over His blood-bought
ones when they are all before Him, and all made like unto Himself to
reflect the Glory of God!

Brethren, to add just one other thought, that marriage feast will be
the grandest display of Christ's magnificent generosity in a banquet.
If people ever make a little more show than on other occasions, it is
usually at a marriage feast. And oh, what a show Christ will make that
day! Depend upon it, there will be no little show when He shall come in
the Glory of His Father, with all the holy angels with Him, and with
the very clouds of Heaven to be the dust of His feet! Then shall His
Church come before Him in all the glory He has given to her. Her
raiment shall be of worked gold. There is no luster, no beauty, no
excellence that can be compared with that which Christ will put upon
His Church! She will admire Him and He will admire her. She will bless
Him and He will bless her. Oh, I talk but feebly about lofty things
that need a poet's eye and a poet's tongue! No, put away your
poetry–the most sober language that can be uttered might better fit a
theme in which the highest sublimities must be simplicities! I want you
all to believe that there is to be a day when all the chosen seed,
blood-bought and saved, will make one body–and Christ shall come and
glorify them with Himself in a union that shall never know an end,
though the ages roll along forever and for ever!

III. Now, thirdly, I must speak a little about THE PERSONS WHO ARE
CALLED TO THIS SUPPER. Who are the people who are called to this great
marriage feast?

In one sense, you are all called to it. O my Hearers, there is a call
of the Gospel to each of you! We are bid to preach it to every creature
under Heaven and we do preach it, leaving none of you out. "Whoever
will, let him take the Water of Life freely." "Whoever shall call on
the name of the Lord shall be saved." The call, "Behold, the Bridegroom
comes," is to the foolish virgins as well as to the wise, and if you do
not come, it is not because you were never invited and never entreated
to come to Christ! By the Spirit of the living God, I implore you men
and women to seek the Savior's face! I may never address you all again,
as perhaps I have never addressed some of you before, but by Him that
comes in the clouds of Heaven I entreat you to fly to Jesus, the great
and only Savior! Seek His Grace, now, that you may see His face with
joy in the great day of His appearing!

But this is not exactly what the text means, for, although there is a
blessedness in being called, it curdles into a curse if, being called,
sinners refuse to come to the Savior. Who, then, are they who are
specially called to this marriage feast? Well, first, they are those
who are so called as to accept the invitation. Have you come to Jesus?
Are you trusting Him? Will you have Him? Does your heart say, "Yes"?
Then, He is yours! There was never any unwillingness in Christ to
receive the guilty. The unwillingness is in you–and if the
unwillingness has gone from you, since it never was in Him, take Him
and have Him forever! Take Him and have Him tonight! When Abraham's
servant wanted to take Rebekah to Isaac, her mother and brother said to
her, "Will you go with this man?" So would I say to any young man or
woman I may be addressing, "Will you go with Christ? Will you have
Christ?" If so, He will have you! If you are willing to have Him, you
are among those who are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb!

To help you to judge yourself, here is another test. Those who are
called to that marriage supper love the Bridegroom. He will have no
enemies at His banquet! Do you love Jesus? Does your heart leap at the
sound of His name? Timid trembling woman, do you love Him? You cannot
speak for Him, but you could die for Him? Ah, well, if your heart goes
after Him, His heart has long ago gone after you and you shall be at
the marriage supper! I tell you more–you shall be a part and parcel of
His Bride in the day of His appearing!

Again, those who are called to this supper are made ready. Are you made
ready? You remember that the man who came to the wedding feast was bid
to put on a wedding garment–have you put on the righteousness of
Christ? Has Christ put on you His sanctification? Are you changed in
heart? Without holiness no man shall see the Lord! Has the Grace of God
renewed you? Then you are one of those who shall come to the
wedding–among the blessed who are called to that great marriage feast!

You may help to judge yourself by answering one more question. Have you
any desire to go to that marriage feast? Do you look for Christ's
coming? There are some who are altogether unconcerned about it–they do
not care about Christ or His coming–it is all nothing to them, an airy
nothing! O my Hearer, I trust that you are not of that opinion! But if
you are looking for and hastening unto the coming of the Son of God. If
your faith is resting on His first coming and your hope is in His
second coming–if you see your sin put away by His coming as a
Sin-Offering–and then your sorrow put away by His coming as your
Bridegroom, then, dear Heart, be sure that you would not have these
drawings towards Him unless He had drawn you to Himself! He is drawing
you–therefore, run after Him!

IV. Now, lastly, let us think of THE BLESSEDNESS WHICH IS ASCRIBED TO
THOSE WHO ARE CALLED TO

THIS MARRIAGE SUPPER.

I know that I am speaking to many who are called to the marriage supper
of the Lamb and I want you, my dear Hearers, to enjoy yourselves, for
you have a prospect which blesses you even now. If you are called to
the marriage supper of the Lamb, the text says that you are blessed and
truly blessed you are! "Blessed are they which are called unto the
marriage supper of the Lamb." If you had an invitation to see the
Queen, tomorrow, some of you who are wonderfully loyal would think a
great deal of it, and you would be saying to yourselves, "Well, we are
going home tonight to a very narrow room in a very poor cottage, but we
have something great in prospect tomorrow! And oh, think of this, you
who are poor, you who are pained, you who are very weak, you who are
cast down–within a short time your eyes "shall see the King in His
beauty and the land that is very far off."

It may be only a few days, or weeks, or months–certainly only a few
years at most–and we shall all share the Glory that awaits the Church.
And the Glory of our dear Lord who loved us, and gave Himself for us,
will be ours, and ours forever. I know that you put this great event
far away and say that it is a long way off. But it is not, it is close
at hand! Suppose it were not to come for a thousand years? Yet what is
that but the twinkling of an eye, very soon over? The older men get,
the shorter time seems to be! When I was a child, a week seemed to be a
very long time. You who have grown old know that a year seems to come
and go before you are aware of it. You can say with Job, "My days are
swifter than a runner: they flee away." Yet what matters it if we have
to wait 50,000 years for our bliss? We who have believed in Christ have
the absolute certainty that we shall, one day, stand in the midst of
the splendor of Christ's wedding feast! The nuptials of a king are
usually something very grand, but what will the marriage supper of the
King of Kings and Lord of lords be–when He who is the Son of the
Highest shall take to Himself His fit companion–when it shall no more
be said of the Man, Christ Jesus, that there was found no help meet for
Him, but when He shall take His Church, made out of His own flesh and
shall welcome her unto Himself to go from Him no more forever?

I shall be a part of that Church and you who believe will be a part of
that Church–and we shall all have great honor in being called to such
a future. What bliss to be there! What joy to be there, not as
spectators, but as part of the Bride that shall then be taken by her
Husband! My Soul, you shall swim in happiness, you shall dive in seas
of inconceivable delight by reason of your union with Christ and your
delight in Him and His delight in you! I know no better idea of Heaven
than to be eternally content with Christ and Christ to be eternally
content with me! And all this will happen within a very little time.
Therefore, lay aside your cares, dismiss your fears, murmur no more.
Such a destiny awaits you that you may well be content.

I have heard that when Queen Elizabeth once carried the crown, while
she was a young princess, she found it heavy as she bore it before her
sister, but one said to her, "You will like it better when you wear it,
yourself." So, we have to carry, every day, a weight for Christ, but
oh, when the crown is put upon our own heads and we are in Paradise
with Him, we shall forget the light afflictions which were but for a
moment, as we enter into the enjoyment of the far more exceeding and
eternal weight of Glory! I want you, if you can, to enjoy yourselves
while you think of the honor which is to be put upon all Christ's
people in being married to Him–

"One with Jesus, By eternal union, one,"

partakers of His name, His estate, His Glory, Himself! He shall make us
to sit with Him upon His Throne, even as He has overcome and sits down
with His Father upon His Throne.

Remember, too, we shall be blessed at the marriage supper because no
fear will mingle with our enjoyment. It has been well observed that if
men and women could know all that will happen to them in the course of
their married life, they might, perhaps, not think a wedding day such a
happy day, after all. So soon may love grow cold, so often may promises
be broken and unkindness take the place of affection, that it is but a
dubious joy that surrounds the wedding feast. But once with Jesus at
the banquet above, there will be no such fear! Here, I may have a fear
lest my love to Him should not be true, lest, after all, my following
of Him should be but temporary and not the consequence of the new life
within. But once up there, we shall raise no more questions! We shall
be exposed to no more dangers, we shall no more dread backsliding and
apostasy. Once there, we shall be–

"Far from a world of grief and sin, With God eternally shut in."

Once there, every pain and tear and fear will have gone forever–that
will be a glorious wedding feast, indeed!

My beloved Hearer, will you be there? If there were no Hell, the loss
of Heaven would be Hell. If there were no To-phet, to have missed
Christ's wedding feast were a Gehenna, black enough. If there were no
worm that dies not and no fire that never can be quenched, this were
damnation deep enough–to have missed the kisses of Christ's mouth and
the joy of the everlasting oneness in His Glory. Do not miss it! I
charge you, do not miss it. When some of us shall be flying through the
gates of the New Jerusalem, I trust that we shall hear you as we pass
by and, pausing for a moment to ask, "Who is there?" you will answer,
"I am here, brought to know Christ by your ministry." That shall make
another Heaven to add to our own Heaven! Everyone that we shall see
there, converted by the preaching of the Cross by our lips, or through
the printed sermons, shall multiply our bliss and make us yet
happier–and forever and ever happier, still, in your happiness and
joy!

I have finished my discourse, but I do not like, somehow, to go home
with this thought in my mind–perhaps some of you will miss this bliss!
The muster roll will be read, but your name will not be there! Can you
bear that thought? Remember that if you are not blessed, you are
cursed! If you find not Heaven, you are lost forever! You have often
joined with God's people in singing–

"I love to meet among them now,

Before Your gracious feet to bo w,

Though vilest of them all!

But can I bear the piercing thought–

What if my name should be left out,

When You, for them, shall call?" You cannot be left outside the wedding
feast if you have trusted in Jesus! Then trust Him at once! Rest in
that Lamb who will be your Bridegroom and at whose marriage supper you
shall be present to praise the Glory of His Grace forever and ever!
Amen.

EXPOSITION BY C. H. SPURGEON: REVELATION18:20-24; 19:1-18.

May the Spirit of God take away the veil from our eyes while we read
what was revealed to the beloved Apostle John! Here we have the
prophecy of the destruction of the great anti-Christian system of
Babylon, which, being interpreted, is and can be none other than the
apostate Church of Rome!

Revelation 18:20-24. Rejoice over her, you Heaven, and you holy
Apostles and Prophets; for God has avenged you on her. And a mighty
angel took up a stone like a great millstone, and cast it into the sea,
saying, Thus with violence shall that great city Babylon be thrown
down, and shall be found no more at all. And the voice of harpers, and
musicians, and ofpipers, and trumpeters shall be heard no more at all
in you; and no craftsman, of whatever craft he is, shall be found any
more in you; and the sound of a millstone shall be heard no more at all
in you; and the light of a candle shall shine no more shine in you; and
the voice of the bridegroom and of the bride shall be heard no more at
all in you: for your merchants were the great men of the earth; for by
your sorceries were all nations deceived. And in her was found the
blood of Prophets, and of saints, and of all who were slain upon the
earth. Now, after the false church is put away, the true Church of
Christ shines out in all her glory and purity!

Revelation 19:1-4. And after these things I heard a great voice of much
people in Heaven, saying, Alleluia; Salvation, and Glory, and honor,
and power, unto the Lord our God: for true and righteous are His
judgments for He has judged the great whore which did corrupt the earth
with her fornication, and has avenged the blood of His servants at her
hand. And again they said, Alleluia. And her smoke rose up forever and
ever. And the four and twenty elders and the four beasts fell down and
worshipped God that sat on the throne, saying, Amen; Alleluia. Heaven
and earth are equally glad and they unite to adore the living God when
the great apostasy–that has so long cursed the nations–is hurled into
the sea!

5, 6. And a voice came out of the throne, saying, Praise our God, all
you His servants, and you that fear Him, both small and great. And I
heard, as it were, the voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of
many waters, and as the voice of mighty thunder, saying, Alleluia: for
the Lord God Omnipotent reigns. And His great power is never better
seen than in crushing the powers of darkness and putting the hosts of
evil to the rout.

7-10. Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honor to Him: for the
marriage of the Lamb is come, and His wife has made herself ready. And
to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and
white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints. And he said
unto me, Write, Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage
supper of the Lamb. And he said unto me, These are the true sayings of
God. And I fell at his feet to worship him. And he said unto me, See
you do it not: I am your fellow servant, and of your brethren that have
the testimony of Jesus: worship God; for the testimony of Jesus is the
spirit of prophecy. All worship, therefore, of saints and angels is a
gross error, not to be tolerated for a moment! John was mistaken in
falling down to worship the angel and he was speedily rebuked. And his
mistake was quickly corrected. There is no doctrine that needs more to
be preached, just now, than this message of the angel, "Worship God."
Neither crosses, nor crucifixes, nor holy wafers, nor anything that can
be seen or handled must be worshipped– "Worship God." We still need to
hear God's mighty voice proclaiming from Mount Sinai the great Law.
"You shall have no other gods before Me. You shall not make unto you
any engraved image, or any likeness of anything that is in Heaven
above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under
the earth: you shall not bow down yourself to them, nor serve them: for
I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the
fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them
that hate Me; and showing mercy unto thousands of them that love Me,
and keep My Commandments."

11. And I saw Heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and He that sat
upon Him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He does
judge and make war. Behold your Savior, the Champion of the cause of
truth! His war is not that of the carnal weapon and of garments rolled
in blood. It is a spiritual warfare, but He wins a more glorious
victory than ever sword or gun could gain.

12-14. His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on His head were many
crowns; and He had a name written, that no man knew, but He Himself.
And He was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and His name is
called The Word of God. And the armies which were in Heaven followed
Him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean. All His
true ones, all His faithful ones, all His saints, whether ministers or
not–the heavenly armies–"followed Him upon white horses, clothed in
fine linen, white and clean." Holiness is their armor, light is the
panoply that they wear as they go forward to this holy war.

15. And out of His mouth goes a sharp sword, He puts down vice and evil
of every kind, not with the sword of steel, but with His Word–"Out of
His mouth goes a sharp sword"–

15, 16. That with it He should smite the nations: and He shall rule
them with a rod of iron: and He treads the winepress of the fierceness
and wrath of Almighty God. And He has on His vesture and on His thigh a
name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS. For this Son of God
whom we worship, this Jesus of Nazareth, is Master of all! All power is
in His hand. He is, "KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS."

17, 18. And I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a
loud voice, saying to all the fowls that fly in the midst of Heaven,
Come and gather yourselves together unto the supper of the great God;
that you may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains, and the
flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses, and of them that sit on
them, and the flesh of all men, both free and bond, both small and
great. By this highly figurative language, we are to understand that
when Christ goes forth to war in battling for the truth, and His true
followers come after Him, their victory will be certain– and the slain
of the Lord will be many! We look not for carnage and bloodshed to
establish the Kingdom of Christ in the earth, but this Revelation gives
us a picture of the utter overthrow and destruction of all forms of
error through the power of the everlasting Gospel of Jesus Christ!
Amen, so let it be!

Would God that the King of Kings would mount His white horse at once
and that all His people would follow Him! He will do so at the right
time and then the victory shall be unto God, and to the Truth of God,
and to love, and to peace and holiness forevermore.