Brother Mike Ministries

The many days of Judgment Day began on May 21, 2011!  
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ETERNAL LIFE: No Longer Possible!! ***

Whoso keeps the commandment shall feel no evil: and a wise man's heart discerns [will know] both time and judgment - Ec. 8:5

Revelation 19 Commentary, Part 2 (verses 6-10)
By Brother Mike (10-6-13, 60 minutes) 



In our last study, we had just finished verse 5 of Revelation 19 where a voice came out of the throne, saying, Praise our God, all ye his servants, and ye that fear him, both small and great. Through this verse we had learned that to Praise our God was a command to all God's elect who were represented by all ye His servants, and ye that fear Him, both small and great. What I didn't mention was that this command is in the present tense and active voice of the Greek, which means that the command to God's elect to Praise our God should be ongoing or continuous praise. To express this meaning in the verse, it could be translated like this:

And a voice came out of the throne, saying, Be always praising our God, all ye his servants, and ye that fear him, both small and great

This command to praise our God always has an impact on me. Does it have an impact on you? Praise the Lord in His majesty, praise the Lord in His power, praise the Lord in His glory and in His honor. Praise the Lord for His salvation. Praise Him for His judgment on the great whore; in deed, His righteous judgment. Praise Him for avenging the blood of His people, and praise Him that the great whore, Babylon the Great, the churches, the world, the kingdom of Satan have all been spiritually destroyed by the removal of salvation from their midst, and letting them be hardened in their own sin which is surely leading them to death. Praise the Lord! 

Now in that we, God's people, are being commanded to always be praising God during this Day of Judgment after May 21, 2011 is responded to in our next verse, which brings us to verse 6 of Revelation 19: 


Verse 6: 

6 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 .  

Here we read of the voice of God's elect responding to the command in the previous verse to always be praising God by saying, Alleluia: for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth. Notice that God's elect are here in this verse represented by three voices: the voice of a great multitude, the voice of many waters, and the voice of mighty thunderings. By mentioning three voices, the Lord is making it known that it is His purpose (see Meaning of Bible Number 3 ) for the elect to be continuing to say, Alleluia: for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth . . . We know that it means to be continuing to be saying these things because the word translated as saying in our verse is a present tense and active voice participle, which means that the present action of saying is ongoing or continuous.

But the Lord is doing more than just revealing that it is His purpose for the elect to be continuing to say, Alleluia: for the lord God omnipotent reigneth . . . He is revealing something more about the elect by mentioning them in the 3 voices. First, we are told that they are the voice of a great multitude. This word translated as a great multitude is a translation of the two words, ochlou pollou, that we saw back in verse 1 where they were translated as much people. So, whatever the case, whether it is to be translated as a great multitude or as much people, this is revealing that the voice of God's elect consist of the voices of a whole lot of people.

Next, we are told that God's elect are also represented as the voice of many waters. What could the voice of many waters mean? Actually, we are told what the many waters represent in Revelation 17:15, which is a description of the many waters that the great whore sits upon in Revelation 17:1. There we read in Revelation 17,

15 And he saith unto me, The waters which thou sawest, where the whore sitteth, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues

So the voice of many waters represents the voice of peoples, multitudes, nations, and tongues. This simply reveals that the voice of God's elect consists of more than just a great multitude or much people, but it consists of different people groups, different nations, and different tongues (languages). In other words, the voice of God's elect consist of the voice of people from all over the world in different people groups, different nations, and in different languages, and when you put them all together, they are a great multitude of people. 

Finally, we are told that the voice of God's elect is represented as the voice of mighty thunderings. So we ask why is the voice of God's elect likened to the voice of mighty thunderings? Thunder is representative of God Himself as we read in Mark 3, 

Mr 3:17 And James the son of Zebedee, and John the brother of James; and he surnamed them Boanerges, which is, The sons of thunder

Here we find that James and John were named The sons of thunder, which was just another way of saying that they were sons of God. The thunder, then, represents God. But the noise of thunder represents God speaking as, for instance, in John 12, 

28 Father, glorify thy name. Then came there a voice from heaven, saying, I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again .
29
The people therefore, that stood by, and heard it, said that it thundered . .

And, again, in Revelation 6, 

Re 6:1 And I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals, and I heard, as it were the noise of thunder, one of the four beasts [living creatures=God] saying, Come and see

From these passages we can conclude that thunder or thunderings are representative for God speaking. Therefore, in that the voice of God's people is likened to the voice of great thunderings must mean that they are the ones who speak for God. They are His mouthpiece. Their voices are identified with God's voice, and to hear them as they declare the Word of God is one and the same as hearing God.

We further see that the voice of God's elect is likened to thunder in Revelation 14. There we read, 

Re 14:2 And I heard a voice from heaven, as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of a great thunder: and I heard the voice of harpers harping with their harps .
3
And they sung as it were a new song before the throne, and before the four beasts, and the elders: and no man could learn that song but the hundred and forty and four thousand, which were redeemed from the earth

Notice in this passage that the voice of a great thunder is identified with the voice of harpers harping with their harps. We know that the voice of harpers refers to the voice of God's elect in heaven who were saved during the Church Age since they are a part of the 144,000, which were redeemed from the earth. So what we have found in all this is that the voice of God's elect is likened to thunder, and the voice of God is likened to thunder, and this is understandable when we realize that the elect are God's mouthpieces who speak forth the Word of God. 

Now let's return to our verse in order to refresh our minds as to what we are talking about. The verse reads, 

6 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 .

What we have found so far is that the voice of a great multitude, and the voice of many waters, and the voice of mighty thunderings are all representations of the voice of the elect who were commanded in the previous verse to be always praising our God (verse 5), and who in this verse are obeying the the command. What we have learned by these representations is that the voice of God's elect consists of a great multitude of differing people groups, nations, and languages worldwide, and the voice of the elect is as mighty thunderings because God's voice is like mighty thunderings for whom the elect speak. 

Now, moving on further with this verse, we are told that the apostle John heard the great multitude of God's elect from all over the world in differing people groups, nations, and languages, and who speak the Word of God, saying, Alleluia: for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth. Alleluia is the Hebrew word for praise the Lord, and the reason God's elect praise the Lord is not only in obedience to the command back in verse 5 to be always praising Him, but because the Lord God omnipotent reigns. Actually, the verb reigns is in the aorist tense which places the action of the verb at one specific point in the past, and the word for omnipotent is always translated as almighty except here, so our verse should look like this: 

6 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 Almighty did reign .  

This verse is not saying that the Lord God Almighty reigns (present tense) as it appears in the King James, but it is saying that the Lord God Almighty did reign at a point in the past. According to the context which is praising the Lord for having eternally brought judgment upon the great whore, and having avenged the blood of His servants on May 21, 2011, this date must be the point in the past when the Lord God Almighty did reign. So this is revealing that the Lord God Almighty did reign on May 21, 2011 when He brought judgment upon the world, and it is because of this that God's elect are saying, Alleluia, praise the Lord. Why are they saying, Alleluia? for the lord God Almighty did reign when He brought His righteous judgment on May 21, 2011. 

And how was the Lord God able to bring judgment on May 21, 2011? Well, He was not only able to bring such a judgment because He did reign at that point of time, but because He is the Lord God Almighty. Nothing is beyond the scope of Him being able to accomplish. First of all, He is Lord so that all things living and nonliving are under His sway, and He is Almighty, which means that nothing is powerful enough to thwart His will. Everything He determines, therefore, will come into being. He can just speak the Word, and the world comes into existence, or goes out of existence. He can just speak the Word, and the storm is calmed. Or simply say the Word, and the one who is sick is healed. There is absolutely nothing that the Lord can't do. So that judgment did come on May 21, 2011 with the door to heaven having been closed forevermore is certainly within the realm of God being able to have accomplished. What we, the elect, are left with to say is simply, Alleluia, for the Lord God Almighty did reign, which leads us to the rest of the praise of God's elect in the next verse.  


Verse 7:

7 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

In this verse, the praise from God's elect continues. They are saying, Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honor to him. The two verbs in this sentence, be glad and rejoice, are very similar in meaning as both verbs can mean rejoice, be glad, rejoice exceedingly, and even be exceedingly glad. The verb be glad is most often translated as rejoice, and the verb rejoice is also most often translated as rejoice. So I imagine that the King James translators decided to make a distinction between the two different words by translating one as be glad and the other as rejoice. Indeed, it could have even been translated, Let us rejoice and be glad, or even, Let us rejoice and be exceedingly glad, which would be exactly how the two same words are translated in conjunction with one another in Matthew 5, 

Mt 5:12 Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you

This latter translation, Let us rejoice and be exceedingly glad, is the one that I prefer. Also, the word honor in our original verse, which says, and give honor to him, is almost always translated as glory. So now, preferably, our verse reads, 

7 Let us rejoice and be exceedingly glad, and give glory to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready .

Now let's look more closely at the verbs rejoice, and be exceedingly glad. The verb rejoice is in the present tense and active voice of the Greek, which means the action is in the present and ongoing. Therefore, Let us rejoice means let us rejoice ongoing or continuously in the present. The verb be exceedingly glad is also in the present tense, but it is not in the active voice; it is in the middle voice of the Greek. This means that the action of the verb, be exceedingly glad, is also ongoing in the present, but the action is in the interest of the subject, us in Let us. In other words, Let us rejoice and be exceedingly glad in the interest of ourselves. We can understand why the being exceedingly glad is in the interest of ourselves because the whore has been righteously judged, and our blood has been avenged, and the marriage of the Lamb did come. Furthermore, these are all in the interest of ourselves because they have drawn us so very close to the glorification of our bodies, and the eternal life in the new heaven and earth for which we, God's elect, so long and groan for. As we read in Romans 8,  

Ro 8:23 And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body .  

And, 

2Co 5:2 For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven .
3
If so be that being clothed we shall not be found naked
4 For we that are in this tabernacle do groan, being burdened: not for that we would be unclothed, but clothed upon, that mortality might be swallowed up of life
.  

Next, based on the things which were previously said, our translation should now read,  

7 Let us rejoice ongoing and be exceedingly glad (in the interest of ourselves), and give glory to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready

We, as God's people, are not only to praise Him, and to rejoice ongoing and be exceedingly glad, but we are to give glory to Him. Actually the Greek reads, and give the glory to Him. This is not just any old glory, but this is the glory to the highest possible degree that we should give to Him. Therefore, to give the glory to Him is to ascribe to Him esteem in the highest, majesty in the highest, honor in the highest, brilliance to the greatest, brightness to the brightest, splendor to the fullest, magnificence in the highest, excellence to perfection, preeminence to the greatest, dignity to the fullest, and grace to the most completeness, to name just a few. But to glorify Him also means to bring our thoughts, words, and actions in complete subjection to Him. As we do this to the best of the ability to which He has given us, we glorify Him. 

Now let's return to our verse to make a couple more corrections. Besides the correction made, which gives the glory to Him, there are two more corrections which should be made. The verb is come in the sentence the marriage of the Lamb is come, and the verb hath made in the sentence his wife hath made herself ready are both in the aorist tense, which means the action of both these verbs should take place at a point in the past and not in the present as it wrongly appears in the King James Bible. The verse would be best translated like this: 

7 Let us rejoice ongoing and be exceedingly glad (in the interest of ourselves), and give the glory to him: for the marriage of the Lamb did come, and his wife did make herself ready .

This reveals that the marriage of the Lamb did come at some point in the past, and also His wife did make herself ready at some point in the past. And, according to the context, which is in the Day of Judgment after May 21, 2011, we know that this point in the past must be Judgment Day on May 21, 2011. This is important because it places the marriage of the Lamb on May 21, 2011, which now gives a time frame for the marriage wherever we find it in scripture. For instance, in the parable of the 10 virgins, it is stated, 

Mt. 25:10 And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came; and they that were ready went in with him to the marriage: and the door was shut

Because we have learned that the marriage took place beginning on Judgment Day of May 21, 2011, we know that they that were ready went in with him to the marriage, and the door was shut on May 21, 2011. This helps us tremendously when attempting to unravel this parable because we now know that everything in the parable is centered upon May 21, 2011 when the marriage began, and the door was shut. Let's spend a little time with this parable by first reading it. It reads,  

Mt. 25:1 Then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins, which took their lamps, and went forth to meet the bridegroom .
2
And five of them were wise, and five were foolish .
3
They that were foolish took their lamps, and took no oil with them :
4 But the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps .
5
While the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept .
6
And at midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him .
7 Then all those virgins arose, and trimmed their lamps .
8
And the foolish said unto the wise, Give us of your oil; for our lamps are gone out
9 But the wise answered, saying, Not so; lest there be not enough for us and you: but go ye rather to them that sell, and buy for yourselves .
10
And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came; and they that were ready went in with him to the marriage: and the door was shut

11 Afterward came also the other virgins, saying, Lord, Lord, open to us .
12
But he answered and said, Verily I say unto you, I know you not .  

The first thing brought to our attention in this parable are 10 virgins. These 10 virgins represent the completeness of all those who claim to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. They are all called virgins because they all at least outwardly appear to be Christians, and so have their sins paid for through the Lord Jesus. But outward appearances can be deceptive because what we find is that 5 of these virgins were wise, and five of these virgins were foolish. This immediately reveals that some of these virgins were saved, and the others, although they appeared to be Christians, were unsaved since in the Bible the wise represent the saved while the foolish represent the unsaved. The number 5 is used to represent both the wise and the foolish because like a two-sided coin, the number 5 can represent those under judgment, or it can represent those who are saved (see Meaning of Bible Number 5 ). In this case, it is being used to represent both the saved and the unsaved; hence 5 were wise, and 5 were foolish. This doesn't mean there were literally 5 wise and 5 foolish virgins, or that half were wise and half were foolish, but it is just a symbolic number, which signifies either judgment or salvation. 

Now we are next told that the foolish had no oil for their lamp, but the wise had oil for their lamp. The oil represents the Holy Spirit, and their lamps represent the Word of God, so what we are being told is that the foolish had no Holy Spirit to make them able to understand the Word of God, but the wise had the Holy Spirit which made it possible for them to understand the Word of God, and so be prepared to meet their Lord. Once again, it is clear by all this that the foolish are unsaved while the wise are saved. 

Next, we are told, While the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept. This refers to the whole period of the church age when Satan was allowed to sow tares among the wheat while they all slumbered and slept. We read of this in Matthew 13,  

25 But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way

Indeed, Satan was so successful in sowing tares while everyone slept that by the end of the church age in 1988, there were more tares or unsaved people in the churches than wheat or saved people. 

But now at midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him. Then all those virgins arose, and trimmed their lamps. This cry made at midnight represents the gospel call and the warning of Judgment Day approaching that went out into the whole world for more than a decade prior to May 21, 2011. It is spoken of as having taken place at midnight because it took place at a point during the Great Tribulation and judgment upon the churches (a great time of midnight darkness), which lasted from May 21, 1988 to May 21, 2011. Anyway, it was at a time during this time of judgment upon the churches that all the virgins arose and trimmed their lamps. When they began to hear around the world the warning of Judgment Day approaching on May 21, 2011, they arose and attempted to prepare themselves for the return of the Lord. But there was a problem with the foolish virgins, for they had no oil to keep their lamps burning, and their lamps went out. Without oil to keep their lamps burning, they were not able to understand the scriptures and the things of salvation and the end time in order to be prepared for the Lord's coming, so they went to the wise virgins - the saved - and asked them for some of their oil. But that could not help them because it is not human beings who can save people, but it is God alone; only He can give people the oil they need to become saved, and the understanding of scripture to so prepare people for the coming of the Lord. So the wise told them to go ye rather to them that sell, and buy for yourselves. But instead of going directly to God through Christ and plead for the gift of salvation, they went to the churches in an attempt to find truth where there was no truth. The churches could not only reveal to them the true way of salvation, but they told them that no man knows the day and hour, so don't believe those who are warning you about the upcoming Judgment Day on May 21, 2011. 

Now the result of all this was that while the foolish or unsaved sought for the Holy Spirit in the churches where their was no Holy Spirit ever since the end of the church age on May 21, 1988, the bridegroom came; and they that were ready - the saved or wise - went in with him to the marriage: and the door was shut. And when did this all take place? Well, we know based upon Revelation 19:7 that we previously discussed, that the marriage did begin on May 21, 2011. So when the bridegroom came; and they that were ready went in with him to the marriage: and the door was shut was on May 21, 2011. This means that the bridegroom (Christ) came, spiritually, and the saved went in with Him to the marriage, spiritually speaking, and the door to salvation was shut on May 21, 2011. No longer could anyone be saved ever again. 

Next, we are told in the parable that Afterward came also the other virgins, saying, Lord, Lord, open to us. This reveals that all the unsaved Christians are still trying to get into heaven after May 21, 2011. As we read in Matthew 7, 

22 Many will say to me in that day [the Day of Judgment after May 21, 2011], Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works ?
23
And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity

This is the similar reply that the Lord gives to the unsaved virgins or Christians in our parable of the 10 virgins who are saying, Lord Lord, open to us

12 But he answered and said, Verily I say unto you, I know you not

By saying, I know you not, or I never knew you: depart from me, you that work iniquity, He is saying to all the unsaved Christians in the days after May 21, 2011 that salvation has ended, and it is too late, so depart from me. But these unsaved Christians are arguing with God saying that salvation has not ended, and, besides, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? But, in response, because the door to heaven has been shut, the Lord says, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity. This is simply letting them know that it is too late, and, therefore, your sins cannot be paid for, ye that work iniquity

Now let's return to our verse in Revelation 19. Once again we read, 

7 Let us rejoice ongoing and be exceedingly glad (in the interest of ourselves), and give the glory to him: for the marriage of the Lamb did come, and his wife did make herself ready .

There is something which should be said about that the marriage of the Lamb did come: This cannot mean that the marriage of the Lamb was completed on May 21, 2011. Why? Because the bride, God's people, have not as yet received their immortal bodies. This will occur on the Last Day of this world. So we must understand that the marriage of the Lamb did come on May 21, 2011 means that the wedding has come, but it will not be complete in marriage until the end of the world; only then will the marriage of the Lamb be complete when the elect receive their new, immortal bodies fit to live in the new heaven and earth in complete intimacy with the Lord their God forevermore. 

Next, we read that not only did the marriage of the Lamb come, but His wife did make herself ready. This all took place on May 21, 2011. But how could it be said that His wife did make herself ready on May 21, 2011? In answer to this, we must remember that the wife of the Lamb (Jesus Christ) is the body of the elect, and until every single last individual of that body which the Lord predestined to salvation had become saved, the body of elect would not yet be ready for her husband. But, since all of the Lord's elect were saved by May 21, 2011, it could be said on that date that His wife did make herself ready.  

But what does it mean that His wife did make herself ready? This seems to say that the elect made themselves ready, or that they saved themselves to be ready on May 21, 2011. Ultimately, we know that this is not the case, for it is God which works in [the elect] both to will and to do of his good pleasure (Php. 2:13), so ultimately, it is not the elect who prepared themselves, but it was God working through them that made them ready. But, nevertheless, the works that God does through His elect are so closely identified with the elect that it could be said, as it does here in this verse, that they did make themselves ready. This should only be said though with the realization that the works which the elect did in preparation for the marriage of the Lamb were all of God. As we read in Ephesians 2, 

Eph 2:10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them


Verse 8:  

8 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

This verse reveals that it was granted to the wife of the Lamb (the elect) that she should be arrayed in fine linen. The verb was granted is in the aorist tense and passive voice of the Greek, so it means that at one point in the past, it was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen. The King James Bible does a fine job of translation in this case. We also read, that she should be arrayed in fine linen. The verb be arrayed is in the aorist tense and middle voice of the Greek, which once again points to the action of the verb having taken place at one point in the past, but because it is in the middle voice, the action of the verb, be arrayed, is in the interest of, or on behalf of, the subject, she. To express this in the translation, the verse could be translated like this: 

8 And to her was granted that she should be arrayed [in the interest of herself] in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints

We begin to understand why to be arrayed in fine linen is in the interest of her (the wife of the Lamb) when we realize that the fine linen is representative of the salvation of Jesus Christ. To be arrayed in the salvation of Christ is, of course, in the interest of the wife of the Lamb (the elect). 

A very important point to bring out in this verse is that it says that it was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen. It wasn't that she took it upon herself to be arrayed in fine linen; that is, arrayed in the salvation of Jesus Christ, but it was granted to her. Indeed, this is the only way that God's elect could have ever been arrayed in the salvation of Christ. They had to be granted salvation. This is simply another way of teaching the doctrine of election. No one can take to themselves to be saved, but they must be granted salvation through the divine election of God. As Christ taught, 

Joh 15:16 Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you . . .  

And, 

1Pe 2:9   But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light .  

And,  

Eph. 1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ :
4
According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love :
5 Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will ,
6
To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved

Now we have already alluded to the fine linen being a representation of the salvation of Jesus Christ that all saved individuals are clothed in, but our verse actually says that the fine linen is the righteousness of saints. So how can the righteousness of saints be the salvation of Jesus Christ? First of all, we must understand that the righteousness of saints is not referring to the righteousness of a few people who have been deemed to be saints by the Catholic Church, or by anyone on this earth. No, rather, the saints are all those who have been saved by Jesus Christ, and their righteousness has nothing to do with their own righteousness, but it has to do completely with the righteousness of Christ in that He came to this earth on their behalf, lived a perfectly righteous life on their behalf, and died for all their sins so that His righteousness could be imputed as their righteousness because all their sins had been paid for, and so in the eyes of God it could be as if they are perfectly righteous. So what is the righteousness of saints? It is the righteousness of Jesus Christ, which is just another way of saying, the salvation of Jesus Christ. The fine linen, then, that the wife of the Lamb (God's elect) were granted to be arrayed in is the righteousness of saints, which is the righteousness of Christ, which is the salvation of Jesus Christ. 

It is now quite understandable as to why this fine linen is clean and white. It is clean and white because the fine linen represents the salvation of Jesus Christ whereby all the sins of those who wear the fine linen have been washed away; that is, they have been made clean and white in the eyes of God. 


Verse 9:

9 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

This verse begins with, And he saith unto me. The verb translated as saith both in the first part and the latter part of the verse is in the present tense and active voice, which signifies ongoing action in the present. So although the verb can be translated as it is in the King James Bible, in order to better realize the ongoing action of the verb, it is more descriptively translated as And he is saying unto me

Next, the verb translated as are called in the sentence Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb is in the perfect tense and passive voice of the Greek, which places the completed action of the verb, having been called, in the past as does the English perfect tense, but, unlike in the English, the state of having been called in the past is carried on into the present. To express these meanings in the verse, the translation could look like this:  

9 And he is saying unto me, Write, Blessed are they which are in the present state of having been called [that is, they are called as the king James translates the verse] unto the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he is saying unto me, These are the true sayings of God .

Now let's consider the notion of having been called. In the Bible, there is the general call of the gospel which goes out to every human being in the world such as is seen in the verse: 

Mt 22:14 For many are called, but few are chosen

And there is the effectual call of the gospel which actually saves particular individuals throughout the world as seen in Romans 8: 

Ro 8:30 Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified .  

Obviously, the ones having been called to the marriage supper of the Lamb are only those who have been effectually called; that is, they have been saved. No wonder they are said to be blessed. Having been saved (effectually called) means they have been blessed with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places (Eph. 1:3), and are called unto the marriage of the Lamb, which spiritually began on May 21, 2011, and which will reach its climax on the Last Day of this world when God's people will be blessed to receive their new heavenly bodies, and when the marriage of the Lamb with His elect is then completely consummated forevermore. This is when both in spirit and body the elect will be made to be in perfect union with their Lord.

Finally, we read, And he is saying unto me, These are the true sayings of God. This assures us that all those who have been called (saved) unto the marriage of the Lamb are blessed, and everything that was said until this point is true, for these are the true sayings of God


Verse 10:

10 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

In this verse, after the apostle John heard the person saying, Write, Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb, and then, These are the true sayings of God, which is the same person whose voice originally came out of the throne, saying, Praise our God, all ye his servants, and ye that fear him, both small and great (verse 5), we read that the Apostle John fell at his feet to worship him. And he said unto me, See thou do it not: I am thy fellow servant, and of thy brethren that have the testimony of Jesus: worship God: for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy. Apparently, the apostle John became so overwhelmed by first hearing this voice which originally came out of the very throne of God (verse 5), and then, finally, both hearing and seeing the person from which the voice was coming, that he thought it could be God. He, therefore, fell at his feet to worship him. From this we learn that those already in heaven must look and sound most glorious. We get some understanding of how we will appear in heaven through 1John 3: 

1Jo 3:2 Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is

Exactly what it means by when he shall appear, we shall be like him is not perfectly clear, but it certainly must mean that we, like Him, will appear in heaven most glorious. To say that we shall be like Him is just an incredible statement of wonder and awe. We get a description of how our Lord, and, therefore, His people must appear in heaven by the apostle Paul's description of seeing Christ as recorded in Acts 26: 

Ac 26:13 At midday, O king, I saw in the way a light from heaven, above the brightness of the sun, shining round about me and them which journeyed with me .

We also get a picture of how our Lord and so His people must appear in heaven in the transfiguration as recorded in Matthew 17:    

1 And after six days Jesus taketh Peter, James, and John his brother, and bringeth them up into an high mountain apart ,
2 And was transfigured before them: and his face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as the light
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3 And, behold, there appeared unto them Moses and Elias talking with him
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4 Then answered Peter, and said unto Jesus, Lord, it is good for us to be here: if thou wilt, let us make here three tabernacles; one for thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elias .
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While he yet spake, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them: and behold a voice out of the cloud, which said, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him .
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And when the disciples heard it, they fell on their face, and were sore afraid

From descriptions such as these, we get an idea of how Christ must appear in heaven. And, because Christ's people in heaven will appear like Him (1John 3:2), no wonder the apostle John upon hearing the voice of one of God's elect in heaven, and then actually seeing one of God's elect in heaven, fell down at his feet to worship him. As I said, John probably thought that he was going to worship God. 

But in response to the apostle John beginning to worship one of the elect in heaven, the elect person says to John, See thou do it not: I am thy fellow servant, and of thy brethren that have the testimony of Jesus: worship God: for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy. Here we see the humility of the elect person in heaven, which is most certainly a good example to follow. Even though this elect person both sounded and looked quite glorious, and he could have easily relished in the worship of the apostle John, he would not and could not do such a thing, for he new that everything that he was, and had become, was completely a gift and due to our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, all worship was due Him and not to the undeserving servant who owed everything that he had become to the one and only Almighty God. We, too, should have this attitude. Everything that we are; everything that we have become; everything that we shall become; everything that we have; every gift or talent we possess; every bit of glory we may have attained to, or will attain to; everything comes from, has come from, and will come from the Lord. Therefore, how can anyone of us glory in ourselves, or let anyone else glory in ourselves. No, we are all merely fellow servants, and of thy brethren that have the testimony of Jesus: worship God alone! And, when [we] shall have done all those things which are commanded [us], say, We are unprofitable servants: we have done that which was our duty to do (Luke 17:10). 

Now there is something else that we should bring up with respect to the apostle John having fallen down at the feet of his brother to worship him. There seems to be a natural tendency within the human psyche to virtually worship one of our fellow human beings if they are particularly gifted in one or more areas. I speak in particular here of say an incredibly gifted Bible teacher, for instance. Because this person may have an uncanny ability to teach, people will just automatically believe everything he says. Instead of being like the Bereans who searched the Bible daily to make sure what was being said was actually truth (Acts 17:10-11) , they have come to depend on their teacher, or their pastor, and, as such, they have come to rely on him for truth. He actually becomes the Word of God for many. O brothers and sisters, this should not be the case. I don't care if the teacher seems to hold truth in so many subjects, this does not mean that we should not be open to search out a matter just because we have been taught to the contrary. Chances are because the teacher is human, he has some errors somewhere. Yes, this is a wise saying: never come to rely on just one teacher, but remain open to the Word of God. He is who you worship. You do not worship man, but you worship God. Therefore, simply view a teacher as a gift from God for your help in searching the scriptures, but he is only human, and, as such, he can only help you to a degree, but in order to move on to the full stature of maturity in Christ Jesus, we must go beyond the teacher and search the scriptures ourselves with much prayer. As we do this, we will probably discover that there is an error here or there in what we have been taught. We remain thankful for the gift of teachers and preachers, for we cannot deny the great help we have received from them, but we recognize that they need help as well, so when we have come to a truth that one of our teachers have not yet come to, or that he holds to falsely, we should share it with our teacher in love. As the scripture declares,  

Ga 6:6 Let him that is taught in the word communicate unto him that teacheth in all good things .

In this way, the whole body of Christ will come to greater and greater maturity, and God will be worshipped and not man. Beloved, do not worship idols! 

Now before ending this study, let's briefly look at the last part of our verse. Remember our verse says, 

10 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

Why does the elect person in heaven say to John, worship God: for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy? Well, what the elect person is communicating here is that the spirit of prophecy that I have declared to you in the previous verses is the testimony of Jesus, so worship Jesus; don't worship me, for I am just a messenger of the testimony of Jesus. Instead worship God, Jesus, who is the spirit in the message of which I have declared to you. What you have done John is mistaken the messenger for the spirit of the message. Don't worship the messenger, but worship the spirit of the message, which is God.  


Now may the Lord bless thee, and keep thee; may the Lord shine His face upon thee, and be gracious unto thee; the LORD lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace .

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