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00:08
Welcome everyone. This is Russ Scalzo Chronicles of the End Times. Good to be with you today as we continue our study. And now, we're going to look at the transition from the Battle of Armageddon to the millennial reign of Jesus Christ. One thousand years of the Lord himself enthroned in Jerusalem and ruling with a rod of iron and with those who love Jesus ruling and reigning with him.
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00:39
Every time I say that, I find it hard to believe that we would rule and reign with Jesus Christ. But that's who God is. God is a sharer. He loves to share; he loves to give. He is extremely generous in all that he does. Why else would he put up with us, really? I mean, you think about it. I don't know about you, but I have enough flaws and enough failures in my life that I can think about, and the devil likes to jump up and down on my head about it. But as long as I continue in the vine, as long as I continue to walk with Jesus, though I fall seven times, the Lord will pick me up. Remember when Peter asked him, Lord, how often will my brother sin against me? And I forgive him as many as seven times. Jesus said to him I do not say seven times, but 77 times. He's saying, you just keep forgiving, and I'm so thankful for God's forgiveness of my life, and I hope you are too. That is the heart of God. He wants to give us every opportunity to walk with him and so we'll be able to rule and reign with Christ for those thousand years. And that is what we're going to look into today, as the battle of Armageddon winds down and the judgment of the nations takes place, and the great worship that breaks out, and the celebration that takes place and the marriage supper of the Lamb. What an amazing time. Let's check it out. So, let's read chapter 19. Very powerful chapter. I think it sets the stage for what we want to talk about today.
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02:18
After this, I heard what sounded like the roar of a great multitude in heaven shouting Hallelujah. Salvation and glory power belong to our God, for true and just are his judgments. He has condemned the great prostitute who corrupted the earth by her adulteries. He has avenged on her the blood of his saints. And again, they shouted Hallelujah. The smoke from her goes up forever and ever.
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02:45
The twenty-four elders and the four living creatures fell down and worshipped God, who was seated on the throne, and they cried Amen, hallelujah. Then a voice came from the throne saying Praise our God, all you, his servants, you who fear him, both small and great. Then I heard what sounded like a great multitude, like the roar of rushing waters and loud peals of thunder shouting Hallelujah for the Lord. God, Almighty reigns. Let us rejoice and be glad and give him glory, for the wedding of the Lamb has come, come, and his bride has made herself ready. Fine linen, bright and clean, was given to her to wear. Then the angel said to me right, blessed are those who are invited to the wedding supper of the lamb. And he added these are the true words of God.
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03:44
So, where is all this worship coming from? Who is doing it? All of heaven, all the angels of God, all his created creatures are worshiping him, and along with them is the church, the raptured church, and all those who were martyred during the tribulation, those who were martyred during the tribulation. Millions upon millions, untold numbers are shouting, and that's why it sounds like a mighty river and peals of thunder. Can you imagine? I can only equate this to back in the day when we used to go to the Jesus festivals in the 70s. I remember camping out and sitting on top of one of the hills in mountains there in Pennsylvania, and we woke up, and those who already had gone down to the stage where the worship was going on. It was early in the morning, and there were 40,000 of us worshiping God. It was the most amazing thing that I have ever heard. It just echoed off the hills. But that is a drop in the bucket compared to what this is describing. Just imagine the sound of all this worship and the absolute joy that finally, this false church and this system slaughtered so many that would not yield and would not take the mark and decided I'm standing for Jesus.
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05:12
Then a voice came out from the throne saying praise our God, all ye servants, you who fear him, both small and great. I don't know who that was, some kind of Holy Spirit worship leader up there, I suppose. I don't know who that was, some kind of Holy Spirit worship leader up there; I suppose. But the response is absolutely amazing, beyond words. And then the angel says write this down Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb. These are the true words of God. Then John falls at his feet to worship him, but the angel says do not, for I am a fellow servant with you and with your brothers. I love that scripture. So now we get to the marriage supper of the Lamb, and that's the celebration of all those who are lovers of God, who would not yield to pressure, who would not yield and cower, but they stood strong and would not stop testifying about how great our God is.
06:18
It is so important that we stay faithful, and I know this world is a rough place to live in, and we all come against the enemy's schemes. We must stay in the word. We must stay strong and love people, but always declare the truth. In John, chapter 15, verse 26, when the counselor comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father, he will testify about me and you also must testify, for you have been with me from the beginning. Jesus expects us to testify; he expects us to stand up for him and we walk with him, and we obey his commands. In chapter fifteen of John, verse twelve says my command is this: love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no man than this that he lay down his master's business. Instead, I have called you friends for everything that I have learned from my father. I have made known to you. You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last.
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07:37
So on to the marriage supper of the lamb. There's a lot written about this, and some of it can be quite confusing. But to get a clearer picture of it, let's think of it in Jewish tradition. Normally, the wedding did not take place at the home of the bride. The established custom was to hold the wedding in the bridegroom's house or his parents. The bridegroom fetches the bride and brings her to his house, where the bridal table and chamber are ready. So, if we look at it that way when the rapture occurs, and the Lord takes the bride, the fateful out, he's bringing the bride to his father's house, and that's where the marriage takes place. Remember, in John, chapter 14, verse 3, Jesus says If I go to prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you unto myself that where I am there, you may be. Also, From that scripture, it seems Jesus is going to rapture the church and take them up to his father's house, where the wedding ceremony will be done. Then the question is the marriage supper of the lamb immediately after that? In heaven, as some believe. Or is it on the earth? Because the angel did say blessed are those who are invited to the wedding supper of the lamb. It could mean that after the battle of Armageddon, that is the marriage supper of the Lamb. It could mean that after the battle of Armageddon, that is the marriage supper of the Lamb and all of Israel saved, Israel at this point is invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb. I also have to bring to our attention that these chapters, such as chapter 19, are 21 verses. But in those 21 verses, there is a lot going on, and it's not all going to happen in a couple of days.
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09:30
And, as I mentioned before many times, the book of Revelation is not in chronological order. It jumps around. But if we understand the theme and the progression of it, then we can put those pieces in the correct place because then it jumps to verse 11, where John sees the Lord, Jesus Christ, on the white horse leading the armies of heaven. Let's take a look. I saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse whose rider is called Faithful and True. With justice, he judges and makes war. His eyes are like blazing fire and on his head are many crowns. He has a name written on him that no one knows but he himself. He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood and his name is the Word of God. The armies of heaven were following him, riding on white horses, dressed in fine linen, white and clean. Out of his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations. He will rule them with an iron scepter. He shreds the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God Almighty, and on his robe and on his thigh, he has a name written: King of Kings and Lord of Lords.
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10:45
So, right away, there are some things we notice right that jump out at us. One we know that he is the faithful and true one, and he's coming for one reason to judge and to make war. And he has many crowns upon his head. He is Lord of Lords, king of kings. He's dressed in a robe dipped in blood; in this case, this is not his own blood. This represents the blood of the nations, this represents war, and the armies of heaven are following him. And what do they look like? Well, they're riding on white horses, like he is, but they're dressed in fine linen, white and clean. That's a reference back to the bride of Christ, to the righteous. So, all of heaven is emptying out the saints of old, the warrior angels, his created beings, they're all following him. Then it talks about how out of his mouth comes a sharp sword that is going to strike down the nations. That's the truth. He is the truth, the light and the way. Then it says he will rule them with an iron scepter. We see that reference all the way back in Psalm 2, where it talks about the same thing: he's coming, and he will rule with an iron scepter. He treads the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God Almighty. He treads the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God Almighty, and it talks about his robe and his thigh. It talks about on his robe is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.
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12:11
Many times, when we read in the Old Testament or we read prophecies like this, we kind of clean them up in our mind that you know the word of God is going to come out of his mouth and people are just going to bow and are going to be disintegrated, or you know something like that. But it becomes very clear that, that is not the case, as we read on in chapter 19. It says I saw an angel standing in the sun who cried in a loud voice to all the birds flying in midair Come gather together for the great supper of God, so that you may eat the flesh of the kings and generals and mighty men of horses. It is not a pretty sight. These are the kind of things, you know, we really don't like to concentrate on or read about. It's so much nicer to read about the Gospels and some really pleasant stories in the Old Testament.
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13:06
It's so important for us to realize the necessity of the cross. Without the cross, without salvation, without repentance, without coming to Jesus, without being born again, without having a confrontation with the Lord, there is no salvation. Now, what we're looking at here is those who have already taken the mark of the beast, committed themselves to Satan and the armies of the world who have aligned with him. So, there's no mercy going on here. We've passed mercy to judgment, and now John sees something really strange. It must have been really weird to him. Then I saw the beast and the kings of the earth, and their armies gathered together to make war against the rider on the horse and his army, but the beast was captured and with him the false prophet who had performed miraculous signs on his behalf. With these signs, he deluded those who had received the mark of the beast and worshipped his image. The two of them were thrown alive into the fiery lake of burning sulfur. The rest of them were killed with the sword that came out of the mouth of the rider on the horse, and all the birds gorged themselves on their flesh.
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14:24
Aren't you glad you listened to this podcast? Hang in there, good stuff is coming. I think it's very easy for us to see how we could get to this point as we look at everything that's going on in the world today. Just like Hitler said, you give me your children until they're five and they'll be mine forever. Jesus had a statement to say about that. He said that anyone who leads these little ones astray pulls them away from me. It would be better for them if they tied a millstone around their neck and were thrown into the sea. Have you ever seen a millstone? It's not small, it's gigantic. Jesus was making a point. So, in this world today, adults can do what they want. They'll have to answer for themselves. But when you pervert children, pushing them in a direction of unrighteousness. Well, the word speaks for itself. Let's move on.
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15:21
Okay, we're going to move on to chapter 20, but we're only going to do the first paragraph because we're getting a little long in the podcast today, and I like to keep it around the 15-minute mark or so. So, let's read that first paragraph, chapter 20. And I saw an angel coming down out of heaven, having the key to the abyss and holding in his hand a great chain. He seized the dragon, that ancient serpent who is the devil or Satan, and bound him for a thousand years. He threw him into the abyss and locked and sealed it over him to keep him from deceiving the nations anymore until a thousand years were ended. After that, he must be set free for a short time. We're going to get into that next, but we can see here that God sends one angel, not an army, not Michael the archangel, no one of notoriety. He sends an angel, and he seizes the dragon Satan, lucifer the great deceiver and he throws him into the abyss and seals it. And that last paragraph is something we all scratch our heads about. After that, he must be set free for a short time because God knows people; as sad as that is, there'll be millions at the end of that thousand years who will rebel.
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16:44
This is Russ Scalzo for Chronicles of the End Times. I hope you're being blessed by this. I know it can get pretty heavy at times, but it gives us balance and helps us to appreciate our salvation and all that Jesus has done for us. God bless, keep looking up. The King is coming.
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