Revelation 19 - Verse by Verse Bible Study

By Pastor Steven L Anderson

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January, 2013

Revelation chapter 19, beginning in verse number 1, the Bible reads "And after these

things I heard a great voice of much people in heaven, saying, Alleluia; Salvation, and

glory, and honour, and power, unto the Lord our God". Let me just first emphasise again,

the phrase that keeps coming up over and over again in the book of Revelation which is AFTER

THESE THINGS. Ten times in the book of Revelation you see AFTER THIS, or AFTER THESE THINGS.

So the idea that Revelation is completely out of chronological order does not hold up.

The first half of Revelation chapter through are in chronological order. Then in chapter

, we jump back to the birth of Christ. And chapters through are in chronological

order. So when he says "after these things", what things is he referring to? Well in chapters

and , we saw the destruction of Babylon, the judgment of Babylon. And in chapter ,

it said that that destruction took place over the course of ONE DAY. The destruction in

chapter . And even more specifically, it said "in ONE HOUR is her judgment come". So

he says "Alleluia; Salvation, and glory, and honour, and power, unto the Lord our God".

Now that term "Alleluia" is a pretty interesting term. It's only found in Revelation . And

it's found several times in this chapter, and nowhere else. What does it mean? Well,

you've probably heard the term "hallelujah". People say that all the time. And although

it's not found in the Bible in that way, "hallelujah" is basically the Hebrew equivalent of this

Greek word "Alleluia". And what it is, is Hebrew for "praise the Lord". Or "praise JAH",

specifically. Turn back in your Bible to Psalm , and let me show you that. Psalm , verse

. Because if you remember, in the Hebrew tongue, the Lord's name was Jehovah. That's

how we transliterate it into english. Some people will break it down as "Yahweh", or

have other ways that they pronounce it. Obviously it's impossible to know exactly how it was

pronounced so many thousands of years ago. We don't have a tape recording that we could

go to. And Hebrew is a language that fell off the face of the earth for some time as

a spoken language of everyday vernacular. But, look down if you would at Psalm , verse

, the Bible says "Sing unto God, sing praises to his name: extol him that rideth upon the

heavens by his name JAH, and rejoice before him." So see there is a command to praise

the Lord by his name JAH. Now, these days, the only people that you will ever find usually

referring to God as "JAH" are who? The rastafarians, right? People like Bob Marley, or that whole

crowd, that will talk about JAH, and they will refer to God as JAH. But the Bible does

tell us to praise the Lord by his name of "JAH". And if you look at the word written

down, "hallelujah", the last three letters are what? "JAH". "Alleluia" without the "H"

and without the "J", is basically just a Greek version of "hallelujah". It's basically just

the word "hallelujah", or "praise JAH", brought into then brought into the english language.

And so basically, when you say "hallelujah", you're obeying Psalm :, by praising the

Lord by his name "JAH". And so it says that they're saying "Alleluia; Salvation, and glory,

and honour, and power, unto the Lord our God:" Look at verse . "For true and righteous are

his judgments: for he hath judged the great whore", that's what we saw in chapter ,

"which did corrupt the earth with her fornication, and hath avenged the blood of his servants

at her hand. And again they said, Alleluia. And her smoke rose up for ever and ever."

Now, what does that mean, that "her smoke rose up for ever and ever?" Well this goes

back to chapter . Look at verse , the Bible says "The same shall drink of the wine

of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and

he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in

the presence of the Lamb: And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever:

and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth

the mark of his name." So these are very sobering verses from Revelation , verses and ,

about people who will suffer the torment of everlasting fire. The Bible says in Matthew

chapter , that he'll say to those on the left hand, "depart from me, ye cursed into

everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels". It says "these shall go into

everlasting punishment, but the righteous into life eternal." Hell, or the lake of fire

IS an EVERLASTING punishment. The Bible says the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for

ever and ever, and they have no rest day or night, who worship the beast and his image,

and whosoever recieveth the mark of his name." So when it says in chapter , verse , "her

smoke rose up for ever and ever", basically we are talking about the eternal torment of

hell. He says in verse number there, "And the four and twenty elders and the four beasts

fell down and worshipped God that sat on the throne, saying, Amen; Alleluia. And a voice

came out of the throne, saying, Praise our God, all ye his servants, and ye 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 thunderings, saying, Alleluia: for

the Lord God omnipotent reigneth." Now this is also the only time that the word "omnipotent"

is used. It's "all powerful". "Omni" means "all", like in "Omnivore". "Carnivore" eats

meat, "herbivore"eats plants, "omnivore" eats all things, being both meat and plants. "Potence"

means "powerful". So the Bible says that God is omnipotent, meaning he is all powerful.

Now, you've probably heard the song, "the hallelujah chorus", from Handel's Messiah.

It's a really famous song. (Sings). Really famous. And then it says "for the Lord God

omnipotent reigneth". Well, it's interesting because.... Who has heard that song? Pretty

much everybody has heard that song. Well, later on in that same song, the Hallelujah

chorus, it says "the kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord and of

his Christ, and he shall reign for ever and ever". And that's the rest of the song. Well,

that quote is from Revelation chapter , when the seventh trumpet sounds, which is

the final judgment of God's wrath, the seventh trumpet and the seventh vial are happening

at the same time of course. I covered that in great detail in my Revelation sermon,

and proved that. But the seventh trumpet and the seventh trumpet, he says right after that

trumpet is sounded, "The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord,

and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever." And that's the same time period

we're dealing with in Revelation . So you know, the author of that song got it right,

by putting those two scriptures together, from Revelation and Revelation . Because

remember, the whore was judged, and Babylon was judged within the scope of the seventh

vial judgment. Because remember when the seventh vial was poured out in chapter , that's

when Babylon came into remembrance before God, to give unto her the cup of the wine

of the fierceness of his wrath. That took place with the seventh vial. So what we're

seeing in chapter , which started with "After these things", and which specifically alludes

back to the fact that he has just judged the whore, proving chronological order... This

shows that chapter 's events take place AFTER the seventh trumpet. AFTER the seventh

vial. That's where we are chronologically. We're at the very end of Daniel's th week,

aren't we? Because we've already gone through the tribulation, the rapture, all of God's

wrath being poured out. Now we're at the very end of the week as it were, and all of the

wrath has been poured out, and here it all is culminating. It says here, "Let us be glad

and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb IS COME, and his wife

hath made herself ready." So, when the Bible says "the marriage of the Lamb IS COME", that

doesn't mean it came a long time ago. That doesn't mean it came several years ago. It's

saying right now, it IS COME. That is what that verb tense means there. And he says "his

wife hath made herself ready". Verse , "And to her"- meaning to the Lamb's wife, "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 saith unto me, Write, Blessed are they

which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he saith unto me, These are

the true sayings of God." So in this passage here, in chapter , we understand the timeframe

of the marriage supper of the Lamb. We understand the timing of when the marriage of the Lamb

comes. AFTER the whore is judged, AFTER the vials of the wrath have been poured out, we're

at the very end of the th week, and we're just getting into the point where Jesus Christ

is about to rule and reign and set up his kingdom. That's when he says "the marriage

of the Lamb is come". Now, why is this important? Well, there are alot of people out there who

teach that the marriage supper of the lamb takes place Before this. I mean, that is the

prevalent teaching that's out there. And you will often tell people, "hey, the rapture

takes place AFTER the tribulation, as it says in Matthew ". Of course, the whole years

is not called "the tribulation", if you follow the sermons up to this point, you know that.

Only everything before the sun and moon being darkened is called "the tribulation", and

after that is where Christ comes in the clouds at the rapture. But here is what they'll say,

"well, the rapture takes place BEFORE the tribulation, because we have to go up to heaven

to celebrate the marriage supper of the Lamb, and we're going to be up there for seven years,

celebrating the marriage supper of the Lamb, then we're going to return with Christ in

chapter ." Now is that consistent with what we see here in chapter ? No. Because according

to Revelation , the marriage supper of the Lamb takes place at the very END of the week.

So how are they teaching a pre-trib rapture that involves the marriage supper of the Lamb.

Show me one shred of evidence that says that the marriage of the Lamb comes at the beginning

of Daniel's th week, or that it's at the beginning of the tribulation, or that it's

before the tribulation. There's no evidence for that whatsoever. The marriage supper of

the Lamb takes place in Revelation . So here is what some people will say, they'll

say "well Pastor Anderson..."- and I've heard this MANY times... "Pastor Anderson you've

got to understand Jewish wedding custom, is a seven day wedding feast. And so that seven

day wedding feast of Jewish custom is what we see with the seven years of Daniel's th

week. So we're going to be up in heaven for that entire years, celebrating the Jewish

wedding according to Jewish custom." Well, first of all, there is NO SUCH CUSTOM is the

Bible of a Jewish seven day wedding. Now, I had one person even tell me, they said "Pastor

Anderson, I've heard all your preaching about the fact that the rapture is post-tribulational,

it comes after the tribulation, but before God's wrath. I've heard you preach about a

post-trib, pre-wrath rapture." And they said "what you're saying, it makes alot of sense,

it's lining up with the Bible." But they said "I CANNOT accept it! Because we know that

it would violate the seven day marriage custom of the Jews". I'm not kidding, somebody literally

said that. Now, I've scoured the Bible. I've searched the Bible from one end to the other,

and I cannot find this seven day Jewish wedding. I just can't find it! They're saying "you

don't understand!" And one preacher got mad at me, and said "don't you know anything about

Jewish weddings?" And I'm searching the Bible, I'm going from Genesis to Revelation. I DO

NOT SEE ANYWHERE in the entire Bible, a seven day Jewish wedding. Now, who in the world

wants to go to a wedding for seven days anyway? I mean, I don't know about you, but when I

go to a wedding, the shorter the better. I don't want to be in some wedding that goes

on for five hours. I don't want to go to a seven hour wedding, let alone a seven day

wedding! That's overkill. But they say "no, no, Pastor Anderson, it's not in the Bible,

you need to go talk to Rabbi so and so... He'll tell you all about this Jewish wedding

custom." Well first of all, I don't talk to people named "Rabbi", because the Bible said

I'm not supposed to call anybody Rabbi, or that I should never be called "Rabbi". So

anybody who is calling themself "Rabbi" is in direct contradiction of Jesus Christ's

teaching in Matthew , when he said "BE NOT YE CALLED RABBI, for ONE is your MASTER, even

CHRIST." Christ is the only Rabbi I talk to. And the only one that I call "Father", is

my Father in heaven, by the way. Not a Catholic priest, who dresses like mumma and calls himself

papa, and acts like a homosexual. I'm not going to go to some Rabbi to figure out what

I believe about the second coming of Jesus Christ. And if there is some Jewish custom

that's not in the Bible, that would fall under "avoid Jewish fables". I don't want to hear

about all this Jewish culture and Jewish custom if it's not biblical, I don't want to hear

it! And so they say "talk to Rabbi so and so, you'll get this." Now, I will say this.

I did find one seven day wedding in the Bible. One. Go to Judges , I'll show you. You say

"well, Pastor Anderson, you just said that the Jewish wedding, there's no such thing

as the seven day... Now you're saying you found it!" No, I found a Philistine wedding

that was seven days. So instead of these pre-tribbers talking to me about their seven day Jewish

wedding, why don't they just come out and say what it really is? "Pastor Anderson, it's

the Philistine wedding. Don't you know Jesus Christ's second coming is going to be patterned

after a seven day Philistine wedding? That's what they ought to be saying. But that doesn't

sound as good as "the Jewish wedding". So you're not going to hear them saying that

anytime soon. Now, don't get me wrong. There are alot of weddings in the Bible. Remember

when Jesus attended a wedding with his disciples? Jesus used alot of illustrations about weddings?

The Bible records alot of weddings in the Old Testament, it records alot of weddings

in the New Testament. They're all just a one day thing. I mean they all just... Is that

weird to you? Every wedding I've been to in my entire life was on one day. Who has ever

been to a wedding that lasted more than one day that's here tonight? No one. Because no

one has ever been to a wedding that lasted more than one day, because that would be abnormal.

And that's why every wedding in the Bible from Genesis to Revelation is a one-day thing.

Except there IS one seven day wedding... Look at Judges . It involves the Philistines.

What happened is, Samson, who is a man of God... He sees a woman of the Philistines

and he wants to marry her. Now this is something that the children of Israel were not supposed

to be doing, they're not supposed to be marrying these ungodly heathen, the Philistines. But

Samson made alot of mistakes in his life. Look at verse , it says "And Samson went

down to Timnath, and saw a woman in Timnath of the daughters of the Philistines. And he

came up, and told his father and his mother, and said, I have seen a woman in Timnath of

the daughters of the Philistines: now therefore get her for me to wife. Then his father and

his mother said unto him, Is there never a woman among the daughters of thy brethren,

or among all my people, that thou goest to take a wife of the uncircumcised Philistines?

And Samson said unto his father, Get her for me; for she pleaseth me well." Jump down to

verse number . "So his father went down unto the woman". So where did they go down

to? The land of the Philistines, right? So his father goes down to the Philistines, he

goes down to this woman in order to get married, "and Samson made there"- in the land of the

Philistines- "and Samson made there a feast; for so used the young men to do. And it came

to pass, when they saw him, that they brought thirty companions to be with him." And so

on and so forth. Jump down to verse . "And she wept before him the seven days, while

their feast lasted: and it came to pass on the seventh day, that he told her, because

she lay sore upon him: and she told the riddle to the children of her people." And on and

on, it says "the men of the city said unto him on the seventh day before the sun went

down", they gave them the riddle, and I'm not going to go into that for the sake of

time. But what do we see here? The only seven day wedding feast in the Bible, and that wedding

feast is marrying a heathen girl in a heathen land, following the heathen customs of the

Philistines. Look, the book of Leviticus lays out all kinds of feasts. It gives great detail

about feasts in Leviticus and elsewhere. But there is no mention of a wedding feast.

No mention of a seven day feast. No mention of that in the feasts of the Lord. And many

of the feasts of the Lord, do pertain to the second coming of Christ. But there is NO WEDDING

FEAST mentioned. And the weddings and wedding feasts that are mentioned in the Bible that

are not this Philistine version, they're just a one day thing. So don't let people get you

confused into thinking that the jews had a seven day wedding custom. That's not scriptural,

that's not in the Bible. And I don't care what antichrist Rabbi so and so says. I'm

going to stick with the scripture. And so I'm not going to sit there and confound the

clear teaching of Jesus in God's word, because of what some Rabbi says a Jewish custom was,

that's not even in the Bible, it's a Philistine custom that we find in the Bible. So go back

to Revelation chapter now that we've cleared that up about these wedding feasts and so

forth. So where does the wedding supper happen, according to the Bible? Where does the wedding

take place? It happens in chapter , which is at the very end of the seven years. Now,

you say "well Pastor Anderson, it says there his wife hath made herself herself READY,

so that PROVES that all the saved have been up in heaven for the last seven years getting

ready." Now, why in the world would it take seven years to get ready for this wedding?

I know women take a long time to get ready, but goodnight. Now, first of all, we believe

that the rapture takes place AFTER the tribulation, but before God's wrath is poured out. Well,

the pouring out of God's wrath takes place over the course of approximately days.

Isn't that enough time to get ready? We're going to be up in heaven for over three years.

That should be plenty of time for his wife to make... I mean, ANY woman could get ready

in that amount of time. I don't care how long she stands in front of the mirror primping.

And I'm being silly, but, of course that is plenty of time for the Lamb's wife to make

herself ready during that time. It says "to her was granted", verse , "that she should

be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of

saints." And this is why when women get married, they wear what? A white dress. Picturing purity.

Picturing righteousness. Picturing cleanliness. And you know what that is a picture of, by

the way? Virginity. And so, that's why it's important that we realise that God expects

women and men BOTH to be virgins on their wedding day. That is God's will. It is God's

plan. Because remember, compare the bride here of Christ, with the great whore in verse

. It says "she corrupted the earth with her fornication." Right? The Lamb's wife on the

other hand was granted to be arraigned in clean and fine white linen, because that's

the righteousness of saints. And so we need to apply that to ourselves. If you're a young

person and you're single, you need to understand that fornication is filthy, it's wicked, and

that God expects cleanliness and godliness and purity. And when you get married, you

should be pure on your wedding day, according to the Bible. Very important. And it says

"And he saith unto me, Write, Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper

of the Lamb. And he saith unto me, These are the true sayings of God. And I fell at his

feet to worship him. And he said unto me, See thou do it not: I am thy fellowservant,

and of thy brethren that have the testimony of Jesus: worship God: for the testimony of

Jesus is the spirit of prophecy." So the one who is showing him these things is also a

man. Is also one of the prophets. Is also one of the servants. And he is refusing to

be worshipped by John. Because we should never bow down and worship anyone except God. The

Bible is clear about that from Genesis to Revelation. So, he says in verse number ,

"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 doth judge and make war." So here comes, out

of heaven, a man on a white horse, his name is Faithful and True, he is the Judge, he

makes war. Verse , "his eyes were as a flame of fire"- reminds us of the description of

Jesus Christ in chapter , "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 of course we know that this is Jesus Christ,

because the Bible says "for there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the

Word and the Holy Ghost, and these three are one." And all throughout the Bible, we see

it put as "the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost", for example in Matthew . And so

what we need to understand is that Jesus Christ IS the Word of God. The Bible says "In the

beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God... And the Word

was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only

begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth." Now, many people will try to separate

the WRITTEN word of God, from Jesus Christ the Word of God. And they'll say "well, the

Word of God is just a name that we call Jesus, or that the Bible calls Jesus, but it doesn't

really mean that he is the Word of God." Because look, is there any question that the book

I'm holding in my hand is the word of God. The Bible is the word of God. All throughout

the Bible, the word of the Lord, or the Word of God is something that is used in reference

to the scriptures. And so obviously, this physical book itself, the leather and the

paper is not the word of God. But the words in this book, are the word of God. The words

of the Bible are the word of God. The words of the scriptures are the word of God. Now,

don't let it bother you that he is called the "word of God", SINGULAR, and these are

the WORDS of God, because often the scriptures are called SINGULAR, the word of God. For

example, people would come to the prophet in the Old Testament and say "what is the

word which the Lord hath spoken?" They're not looking for one word, are they? What they

say when they say "the word of God", they mean that they want to hear God's words. Now,

the Bible is the word of God. Jesus is the word of God. And look, to try to separate

the two is ridiculous. And people have mocked me and attacked me for believing that basically

the word of God is God. Basically, that the Bible is God. And they say, "Oh, you're worshipping

a physical book!" No, I'm not saying a book. I'm saying the words in the book are God.

That's why when Jesus Christ said "except ye eat the flesh and drink the blood of the

Son of man, you have no life in you", they were confused by that saying. And he said

unto them "It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that

I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life." He said "Except ye eat the flesh

of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you." He said it's actually

not the flesh per se, of his physical body, but it's the SPIRIT that quickeneth, or gives

life. The words that I say unto you, they are spirit, and they are life. That's why

the Bible said "Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth and the life, no man cometh

unto the Father but by me". So Jesus said I AM THE TRUTH. But then he said in John :,

"Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth." You see Jesus Christ and the Word

are inseparable, because Jesus Christ was the word of God made flesh, and dwelt among

us. More evidence of this is the fact that the man on the white horse who is Jesus Christ,

whose name is called the word of God, he has a name, look at verse , that is called "Faithful

and True", in chapter . The physical person riding on the white horse is called Faithful

and True. His name is called the Word of God. Look what the Bible says about the word of

God in chapter . Just a few pages to the right. "And he that sat upon the throne said,

Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and

faithful." So not only is the word of God, SINGULAR, faithful and true, the WORDS are

faithful and true. Then in chapter , verse he says "These SAYINGS are faithful and

true, and the Lord God of the holy prophets sent his angel to shew unto his servants the

things which must shortly be done." So the Bible is very clear that Jesus Christ and

the word of God are one and the same. Jesus is perfect. The word of God is perfect. Jesus

is sinless, the word of God has no errors in it. The word of God IS God. So if you want

to know God, the Bible says "we have the mind of Christ". And the context there in st Corinthians

, is about the word of God. And so, the Word is Jesus, Jesus is the Word. And the scriptures

are the written version of the word of God. And so don't separate those two things. So

here we see Jesus Christ, the Word of God coming on a white horse. It says in verse

, "And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen,

white and clean. And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword". What does that represent?

Well, the Bible says "For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any

twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints

and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart." The quick and powerful

word of God is coming out of the mouth of Jesus Christ, he is the Word. It says in verse

number , "And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations:

and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness

and wrath of Almighty God." We'll get back to that, about him ruling with a rod of iron.

Verse , "And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS,

AND LORD OF LORDS. 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 ye 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." So this

is announcement in verses and is that a major slaughter is about to take place.

He is calling out to the fowls and to the birds, saying that they're about to eat the

flesh of the carcasses of all these people that are listed there. All these mighty men,

these warriors, these kings and fighters. A slaughter is going to take place amongst

these armies. People are going to be killed, and the birds of prey will eat their flesh.

Now, this is how the seven year period ends. And this is how the millenium begins, okay?

This slaughter that's about to take place is known as "the battle of Armageddon". It

was alluded to in chapter , when the Bible talked about how God is going to gather the

armies together of the kings of the earth, into a place called in the Hebrew tongue,

Armageddon. Well, here is where they've gathered together, against Jesus Christ, to make war

with the Lamb, and where they're going to be defeated. Look what the Bible says in verse

. "And I saw the beast"- referring to the antichrist- "And I saw the beast, and the

kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against him that sat

on the horse". So they're making war against Jesus, and against his army. "And the beast

was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which

he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his

image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone. And the remnant

were slain with the sword of him that sat upon the horse, which sword proceeded out

of his mouth: and all the fowls were filled with their flesh." So when this army shows

up, the two leaders, meaning the antichrist and the prophet, they're cast alive into the

lake of fire. And the remnant of the people there, the armies that are there following

them, are killed with the sword that proceeds out of the Lord Jesus' mouth. So are all of

these people getting killed or what? Yeah, they're all slaughtered, aren't they? The

fowls were filled with their flesh. The antichrist and the false prophet are cast into the lake

of fire, and the armies that followed them are all slaughtered by the sword that comes

out of the Lord Jesus' mouth. And their dead carcasses are left there to be eaten by the

fowls of heaven. Then we go straight into the millenium, in the next chapter. In Revelation

chapter , we have right away, in the first few verses of chapter , Satan is bound and

put in the bottomless pit for years. And Jesus Christ begins his year reign

on this earth. Let's talk about this event that we saw in chapter . It's characterised

by Jesus Christ coming from heaven on a white horse with the armies in heaven following

him. He comes to this earth, he basically does battle with the antichrist and false

prophet, and he defeats them and destroys them. And then he sets up his millenial kingdom.

That's the event that we see in Revelation , right? Well, many people teach erroneously

don't they? That the entire seven year period of Daniel's th week, is known as "the tribulation".

I mean, how many times have we all heard it? "Seven years tribulation". I mean, if I have

heard it once, I have heard it times. "Seven years tribulation, seven years tribulation,

the seven year tribulation." We've all heard it a million times. Well let's stop and think

about this. Go to Matthew if you would. Keep a finger in Revelation , but go to

Matthew . I mean, let's face it, those who believe in a pre-trib rapture, they all, they

ALL say that the tribulation lasts for years. I mean, we can just start visiting the websites

of Baptist churches, and pretty much almost every statement of faith on the website of

every baptist church, or every evangelical church would say "the rapture is imminent,

followed by a seven year period of tribulation, blah blah blah". They all just teach this,

like a parrot, repeating this over and over again. "Bawk! Seven years tribulation... Bawk!

Seven years tribulation!" Without even thinking about it. Because there is NOWHERE in the

Bible that says "the tribulation lasts for seven years." But that's what they believe,

don't they? So correct me if I'm wrong, but according to their definition which says that

the tribulation lasts for years, wouldn't that mean that Revelation is the end of

what they call "the tribulation"? We know Revelation is the end of the seven years,

and he is setting up his millenium, right? So if Revelation is the end of the seven

years where he sets up his millenium, and they're calling the whole seven years "the

tribulation", they're saying that Revelation is the end of the tribulation aren't they?

Okay, now look at this. Matthew , here is a real clear scripture. Verse says this,

"Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon

shall not give her light". Now you and I know, when we see after the tribulation of those

days, and the sun and moon are darkened, we know that that's referring to Revelation ,

where the sun and moon are darkened. The ONLY place in Revelation where the sun and moon

are darkened, and the stars fall. Where those three things happen. That only happens in

Revelation . So we know that when the Bible says "Immediately AFTER the tribulation of

those days, the sun shall be darkened and the moon shall not give her light, and the

stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers in the heavens shall be shaken", we know that's

Revelation ! That's the only time in Revelation that that happens. But remember in the warped

view of the pre-trib rapture, the tribulation lasts for years. So therefore, they're saying

that when the Bible here says "Immediately after the tribulation", that means after the

seven years. So now we are talking Revelation , in their warped view. We know this event

takes place in Revelation . After the tribulation of the first five seals, but before God's

wrath is poured out, with the trumpets and vials. Let's keep reading in chapter . It

says "and THEN shall shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall

all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds

of heaven with power and great glory. And he shall send his angels with a great sound

of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end

of heaven to the other." And then he mentions the fig tree, which is mentioned in Revelation

. Wow, imagine that. So here we see that according to the Bible, AFTER the tribulation

Christ comes in the clouds, the trumpet sounds, and the elect are gathered. Obviously, we

believe that that is the rapture. Because when the Bible describes the rapture in st

Thessalonians , it talks about Christ coming in the clouds, a trumpet sounding, and him

gathering up the saved unto himself, the saved are caught up together to meet him in the

air and so forth. So we believe rightly so, that Matthew matches up perfectly with

st Thessalonians . They both have the Lord descend, they both have a trumpet sound, they

both have the believers gathered, or caught up together to be with him in the clouds.

But in the warped mind of those that believe in the pre-tribulation rapture, they say "no,

no, Pastor Anderson, Matthew , it CANNOT be the rapture, it CANNOT be the events of

st Thessalonians , because it says AFTER the tribulation, and we know that the rapture

comes before the tribulation." How do you know that? The Bible says it's after. Oh,

but we just know it's before. Well how? Do you have a verse that says "before the tribulation"?

No, there's no verse in the entire Bible that says it's before the tribulation. But they

"just know that". Well they're wrong! Because the Bible says that it happens after the tribulation.

But they say "no, no Pastor Anderson, you're mixed up here". This is what they say. "You're

mixing up the rapture and the second coming." Well here is the problem with that. In st

Thessalonians , it calls the rapture "the coming of the Lord." And we know he already

came in Bethlehem's manger, so if it's the coming of the Lord- unless it's "coming .",

that's the second coming. I mean, I don't think it's the third coming. So obviously,

Jesus Christ coming in the clouds at the rapture in st Thessalonians , is called "the coming

of the Lord", that's the second coming. But here is what they say. "No, no, Pastor, you're

mixing it up". And when they say "second coming", you have to understand where their logic takes

them. Because they have this warped view of every chapter of Revelation. So you have to

try and figure out what these people even believe. Because when they say "second coming",

they're referring to Revelation , where Jesus comes on a white horse. So, let's delve

into the warped view of the pre-trib rapture. The pre-trib rapture teaches that when Jesus

comes on a white horse in Revelation , that's the second coming of Christ. Now look, don't

let it bother you that there's a coming before that in the clouds in st Thessalonians ,

that's called "the coming of the Lord", don't let that bother you, that's "coming .".

"The second coming is in Revelation , when he comes on the horse". So, let me just summarise

it for you. According to what we believe, who believe in a post-tribulational, pre-wrath

rapture, we believe that Matthew matches up with st Thessalonians . We believe Matthew

is about the rapture, and it's saying it's after the tribulation. Those that are pre-trib

on the other hand, they believe that Matthew matches up with Revelation . Because

it's after the tribulation in their mind, that's the seven year period. And they say

"no, no, Matthew is talking about when he comes on the white horse in Revelation

", and that's what they call the second coming. Now, just put aside all preconcieved

ideas for a moment. Just put aside what you know for a second, and just think for a second.

We've got three passages of scripture. We've got st Thessalonians , everybody agrees

that it's the rapture. We've got Revelation , everybody here agrees that that is a different

event then the rapture. That is Jesus coming on a white horse, to fight the battle of Armageddon.

Then we've got Matthew . Pre-tribbers are saying Matthew lines up with Revelation

. Post-tribbers, that are pre-wrath, we believe that Matthew lines up with st

Thessalonians . So who is right? You know what? If we were to find ANYBODY who hadn't

already been indoctrinated on this subject, ANYBODY that had not been indoctrinated, any

child, any adult, man, woman, boy, girl, on this PLANET who had not already been indoctrinated

or taught anything about the subject, and just start with somebody who didn't know anything

about this subject, and had not already been brainwashed into thinking that things mean

a certain thing. If we showed them these three passages and said "which two of these three

go together and which one is a different event? Matthew , st Thessalonians , and Revelation

?" If we were to put these passages in front of somebody who had not been indoctrinated

and just said "tell me which of these two go together?" Anyone, anyone, anyone, would

put st Thessalonians and Matthew and say "these two go together, and Revelation

is a different event". Proving that the pretrib rapture is FALSE, and that a post-trib

rapture is scriptural. And again, when we say "post-trib", we're not saying "post seven

years", we're saying "post tribulation", which is everything before the sun and moon are

darkened. According to Jesus and according to Revelation . Before the wrath is poured

out, which comes after the sun and moon are darkened. Now, why would anyone- man, woman,

boy, girl, young, old, look at that and say "Matthew and st Thessalonians go together,

Revelation is a completely different event"? Here is why, because there is a HUGE difference

between Jesus coming in the clouds, and Jesus riding a horse. Now isn't the horse a pretty

big difference? Is Jesus riding a horse in Matthew ? There is no horse mentioned. But

in st Thessalonians , and Matthew , we see so many things that do line up. For example,

Matthew and st Thessalonians both have a trumpet sound, right? Show me the trumpet

in Revelation . No trumpet. No trumpet in Revelation , but there is a trumpet in st

Thessalonians and Matthew . Okay, score a point for post-trib. The Bible says in Matthew

, that Jesus comes in the clouds. In st Thessalonians , Jesus comes in the clouds.

Revelation , no clouds. Score another point for post-trib. Okay, in Revelation there

is no mention of the saved being gathered, the elect being gathered, the saints being

caught up, the saints being brought together. But in Matthew , it says he will gather

his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other. And in st Thessalonians

, it says that we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together to meet him in

the air. Score another point for post-trib. Okay, how about this? Matthew , says that

Jesus is coming in the clouds. st Thessalonians says we which are alive and remain unto

the COMING of the LORD are going to be caught up with him in the clouds. So both st Thessalonians

and Matthew talk about a coming in the clouds. But in Revelation , is that called

the coming of Christ? Is there a word in Revelation that says "this is the coming of the Lord,

this is the coming of Christ, this is the second coming of Christ"? No, there is no

word there that has anything to do with coming. The word "come" is not found, except when

he is talking to the birds saying "come and eat flesh". So I mean, this is the birds coming...

So, what I am saying is, you can compare them, and I strongly encourage you to do so. If

you are sceptical when I say the pre-trib rapture is a lie. And you are like "I'm not

sure, I've heard it so many times..." This will put the final nail in the coffin for

you, of the pre-trib rapture. Take Revelation and put it side by side with Matthew

and st Thessalonians . We know st Thessalonians is the rapture. We know Revelation is

a separate event where he comes on a horse. Not coming in the clouds, no trumpet, those

who believe in a pre-trib rapture, they want Matthew to match Revelation . See if

it matches. It doesn't at all! Now look at Matthew next to st Thessalonians , does

it match? It matches, perfectly. And so that should be enough right there to show you.

Go back to Revelation , to show you that the pre-trib rapture is false. And to show

you also that anybody who is saying that the tribulation lasts for years is wrong. Because

at the END of the seven year period, we see events that are nothing like the events that

are described as being after the tribulation in Matthew , rather we see those events

in Revelation matching Matthew perfectly. So let's finish up here in Revelation .

It talks about these armies being gathered together. Keep your finger in Revelation ,

we're going to turn to one last place, Psalm . Psalm ties in nicely with Revelation

. Go to Psalm . Right in the dead centre. If you just let your Bible fall open to the

dead centre you will be in Psalms. It says in Psalm , "Why do the heathen rage, and

the people imagine a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers

take counsel together, against the LORD, and against his anointed", so we see the kings

of the earth gathered together against the Lord and against his annointed. This verse

is quoted in the New Testament as "against the Lord and against his Christ" in Acts chapter

. "Annointed" means "Christ". It says here, "Let us break their bands asunder, and cast

away their cords from us. He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the Lord shall

have them in derision. Then shall he speak unto them in his wrath, and vex them in his

sore displeasure. Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion. I will declare the decree:

the LORD hath said unto me, Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee. Ask of me,

and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the

earth for thy possession." So he is giving unto Jesus Christ ALL of the WORLD as his

possession. The uttermost parts of the earth for his possession. And it says "thou shalt

BREAK them with a rod of iron; thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel."

So Jesus Christ is going to break them with a rod of iron and dash them in pieces like

a potter's vessel. "Be wise now therefore, O ye kings: be instructed, ye judges of the

earth. Serve the LORD with fear, and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son, lest he be angry,

and ye perish from the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all they

that put their trust in him." Over and over again the Bible talks about Jesus Christ ruling

and reigning with a rod of iron. In Psalm , it's characterised as him BREAKING the

nations with a rod of iron. It says in verse of Revelation , "And out of his mouth

goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall RULE THEM

with a rod of iron". So here we see the fulfillment of Psalm , where the kings of the earth have

banded together against Christ, and he will destroy them, and he will rule the nations

with a rod of iron. Now, it says in verse number , "And I saw the beast, and the kings

of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse,

and against his army." So they're gathered against Christ, against the Lord's annointed.

That want to make war against him. Now let me ask you something. Does verse say that

every person on the planet is gathered together to make war with Christ? Every human on the

planet? No, it doesn't. Because alot of people mistakenly believe that in Revelation ,

every unsaved person is slaughtered on the planet, every unsaved person dies. And then

people will then create this false dilemma, or this false paradox by saying "well, if

Jesus returns and slaughters all the unsaved, who is going to populate the millenium? Who

are we going to rule and reign over in the millenium? We know that there are people in

the millenium who will die. We know that there are people in the millenium what are not resurrected

saints, so how did they get there?" Look, this is a question that people ask all the

time, and I've been asked "who populates the millenium?" And it all comes from just the

mistake of thinking that "in Revelation , God slaughters every unbeliever there." Is

that what it says? So they've created this false dilemma. "Who populates the millenium?"

The people that are on the earth that are still alive after God pours out his wrath?

Now, are alot of people going to be killed in the process of God pouring out his wrath?

No question about that. We know that with the sixth trumpet judgment, one third of the

population are going to be wiped out. But there are today over seven billion people

on this earth. Even if you wipe out many billions of them, there are still billions more to

populate the millenium. And you say "well, wait a minute Pastor Anderson, what about

the people that took the mark of the beast?" But what you have to understand, is that the

antichrist's terror with the mark of the beast is cut short with Christ coming in the clouds.

By the time Christ comes in the clouds, every unbeliever has not recieved the mark of the

beast yet. There are children who have not recieved the mark of the beast and there are

people who have not recieved the mark for whatever reason. Not that they're saved, but

look, there are alot of people that are not comfortable with recieving the mark of the

beast, I'm sure. Even if they're not saved. The Bible says that all that dwell upon the

earth shall worship him, whose names are not in the book of life. Well, people who have

had their name removed from the book of life are reprobates. They no longer even have the

opportunity to get saved. And again, I've already covered it in other sermons that everybody's

name starts out in the book of life, the Bible never talks about people's names being added,

it just talks about people's names being removed. And so God wants everyone to be saved. That's

why a little baby, when they die go to heaven, because their name is still in the book of

life, they've not yet known the difference between good and evil, or had the opportunity

to be saved. And that's a whole other sermon to prove that babies or small children who

die go to heaven regardless. So what we see here is that people who worship the antichrist

are the people whose names are not in the book of life. Reprobates. But also, anyone

who worships the beast, BECOMES reprobate. Thier name is removed from the book of life.

Because anyone who recieves the mark of the beast is doomed and damned and their is no

hope for them. But what we have though, is that at the end of the seven year period,

there are many many people on this planet, who although they are not saved, they did

not recieve the mark of the beast. And perhaps even some who did recieve the mark of the

beast may still be alive at this point. Those people will go into the millenium. Because

of the fact that the Bible teaches nowhere that God slaughters all unbelievers, before

the millenium. What he says here is that the beast and the kings of the earth and their

armies gather together to make war with him that sat on the horse, and verse it says

"the remnant were slain with the sword of him that sat upon the horse, which sword proceeded

out of his mouth: and all the fowls were filled with their flesh." So according to Revelation

, verses and , who is killed? Well, all the kings of the earth are killed. Because

they've been decieved by the three unclean spirits of Revelation to come to this battle

of Armageddon and be destroyed. So all the kings of the earth are definately killed at

the end of the seven years, right before the millenium. Who else is killed? All of their

armies. So all of the armies. But look, is everybody in the army? Is everybody in the

military? It's not like the whole of South America is going to be empty, Australia is

going to be empty, Africa is going to be empty, because "everybody on the whole planet gathered

to Armageddon". No. Who gathered to Armageddon? The kings of the earth and their armies, they

will be wiped out. There are still going to be people living in all parts of the world

who have survived the horrible plagues. And those who survive the horrible plagues of

the wrath of God will be alive and will enter the millenium. Now they will not be ruling

and reigning in the millenium, will they? WE will be reigning in the millenium, won't

we? They will be the ones we are ruling over. They will be the ones that will get on board

with God's program of government, and with God's rules and with God's leadership. Let

me just close with one final thought about the millenium. In the millenium, the Bible

says that Jesus Christ will be ruling and reigning with a rod of iron. That doesn't

sound like he is going to be playing games. That sounds like he is going to have all power

and authority on this earth. Now, remember we talked a little earlier about how Jesus

is the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God? And we think about the word

of God, a portion of the word of God would be the books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus,

Numbers and Deuteronomy, which we call the "law". And the Bible says "the law of the

Lord is perfect, converting the soul". And we know that alot of the things in the first

five books of the Bible were symbolic or pictures of things to do with Christ and his sacrifice.

For example, the offerings and so forth. We know those things have been done away in Christ.

Those things will never be brought back. But, there were alot of laws in the first five

books of the Bible that had to do with civil government. For example, how to order the

affairs of a society. For example, if someone steals, what's the punishment? They pay back

fourfold, or fivefold. If someone commits adultery, what's the punishment? Being stoned

with stones? If a person commits murder, what's the punishment? Death penalty. These are civic

punishments for crimes that take place, and that took place during the time when God ruled

over the children of Israel in the Old Testament with the system of the Judges. Let me tell

you something. When Jesus Christ comes back to this earth, he's not going to roll out

the United States constitution and say "alright everybody, time for a perfect government!

Time for a thousand year reign of Christ. It's all over again. And we're going

to have the constitution of the United States". Who thinks that Jesus is going to use the

constitution of the United States as his model? No, this is what he is going to model the

government on. It's going to be modelled on Exodus, it's going to be modelled on Deuteronomy.

Look, God's law was perfect the first time. It was man that messed it up. And look, it

will be the system of Judges that God will institute. And guess who the judges are going

to be? The saints, the believers. They will be the judges, they will be the rulers of

tens, the rulers of thousands. And look, if you want to know what the government is going

to be like during the thousand year reign of Christ, study God's model of perfect govenrnment

in the Mosaic law, that's what it's going to be like. And people get all upset and angry

when you preach "Leviticus : says if a man also lie with mankind, as he lieth with

a woman, both of them have committed an abomination: they shall surely be put to death"... Let

me tell you something. That will one day be the law of the land. There is going to come

a day on the soil that you are standing on when that will become the law of the land,

to put homos to death by stoning. Because Jesus Christ is going to rule with a rod of

iron, and he is going to institute the laws that governed civic government. And you say

"oh, we're under grace, you're bringing us back under the law!" No, I'm not bringing

back the animal sacrifices. I'm not bringing back stuff that was done away in Christ. I'm

talking about specific government rules that say "hey, if you murder, you are going to

be killed, or if you steal, you pay back fourfold." There is no prison in the Bible as a punishment

for God's people. That was something that man used. God always used the punishments

of death penalty, stripes, meaning a beating, or a monetary fine, paying back fourfold,

or exile, being cut off from amongst the people. Being kicked out of the nation. Well here

is the thing, when Jesus Christ is ruling and reigning over the whole earth, there is

no place to be kicked out to. So basically, the punishments are going to be death, beating

and monetary fines. It's really going to be a very libertarian government. If you look

at the government that God laid out, it's a very minimal government. I mean, our government

today in the United States has so many laws, you couldn't fit them in this auditorium,

even if you printed them in point font. The books would fill this whole room. Whereas

these are all of God's laws. So it's going to be a very minimal government. It's going

to be a small amount of laws. But they're going to be enforced with a rod of iron. And

it's going to be great. I mean, I can't wait to have that truly free libertarian society.

The Bible says, where the spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. Not talking about the

libertarian party, talking about libertarian principles of total freedom, no income tax,

no big government, no police state like we have now, not all these codes and statutes

and regulations for everything that you do. Man, it's going to be freedom. But it's going

to be God's kind of freedom. There are certain things you can't do. Don't commit adultery.

Don't be a queer. Don't kidnap anybody. Don't steal and everything will be fine. So anyway,

just some food for thought about the millenial reign of Christ, of which laws are going to

be instituted. The US constitution? No. The Holy Bible will be the law of the land, when

Jesus is ruling and reigning. He is the word. This is what you're going to reign with. And

by the way, I bet you people who know this book really well are going to be ones who

puts in positions of authority. Let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer. Father

we thank you so much for Revelation , it's a great chapter. First of all, just starting

out the chapter by praising and glorifying you. Alleluia. But not only that, it gives

us a great image of Christ coming on the white horse with all the saints dressed in white

to destroy and defeat the antichrist and the false prophet, to slaughter the kings of the

earth, to slaughter their armies, and to set up a perfect and just year reign. Father

please just shine the light of the glorious gospel through this preaching and through

your word, and help many people to be saved through your word being preached door to door

and from the pulpit dear God, that they would not be on the wrong side of this battle. And

in Jesus' name we pray, amen.