Go a little deeper
Pastor Keith Kirkpatrick walks through Revelation 19 as the celebration following Babylon’s fall. He presents prophecy as guidance that points toward Jesus rather than merely predicting events. He explains hallelujah as praise to God for his faithfulness, justice, and victory, while acknowledging the painful tension of waiting for that promised future.
The central image is a wedding. Pastor Keith Kirkpatrick contrasts modern Western weddings with the lengthy Jewish betrothal and multi-day celebration, then reads Revelation 19:6-9 as the marriage supper of the Lamb. Jesus is the groom and the church is the bride, and the message turns to what the groom says about her rather than her past. He is candid that earthly marriage is hard, that two sinners becoming one is not easy, and that the church has its own failures, yet argues that the church remains Jesus' plan and that hope belongs in him rather than in leaders.
The chapter closes with the rider on the white horse: faithful and true, crowned, robed, named the Word of God and King of kings. Pastor Keith Kirkpatrick ties this imagery to the sword from his mouth, which is his word, and urges listeners to treat Scripture as a weapon and a source of courage. The message ends with judgment imagery, a warning about the flesh and the mark of the beast, an invitation to receive Jesus, and a prayer releasing burdens and sin, followed by a call to stand and sing.
Take this with you
Hallelujah is the chapter's anchor
Pastor Keith Kirkpatrick notes that hallelujah combines Hebrew words for praise and the Lord, and that Revelation 19 is where the term appears in the Bible. The praise is grounded in who God is, not merely in the fall of the wicked, which he explicitly says believers should not celebrate.
Waiting is the honest tension
The message names waiting as painful and uses everyday examples like fast food and picking up teenagers. The Psalms are cited to show that Scripture itself instructs and models waiting, including raw lament. A vacation-planning illustration frames heaven as a destination worth thinking about now.
The wedding reframes identity
In Revelation 19's marriage supper imagery, attention normally goes to the bride, but here the bride is what the groom says she is. Pastor Keith Kirkpatrick applies this to the church: not perfect, sometimes badly hurt by leaders, yet still Jesus' plan, which he grounds in Jesus' promise in Matthew 16:18 that opposition will not overcome the church he builds.
Worship belongs to God alone
When John falls at the angel's feet in Revelation 19:10, the angel refuses worship and identifies himself as a fellow servant. Pastor Keith Kirkpatrick uses this to warn that anything given ultimate worth, whether career, addiction, or family, becomes misplaced worship and will eventually disappoint.
The sword is his word
Pastor Keith interprets the sword imagery in Revelation 19 as Jesus’ word. Connecting it with Hebrews 4:12 and Ephesians 6:17, he teaches that Scripture exposes what should change, encourages courage, and helps believers resist temptation.
The conversation,
in their words.
Transcript from the recording’s captions. Select any timestamp to hear the original audio.
throughout history humanity has sought a variety of different means to find hope some go after religion still others seek spiritism some spirits that are out there others go to astrology while some go after hedonism maybe if i just found some pleasure i would have some hope some when they cannot find hope they turn to a substance maybe that which is in a bottle or a pill or something you smoke so many different means to try to find some hope in this world that we live in and and one might ask in their hearts if there's only one god
and if he's a good god and he's worthy of worship then why is the whole world not just holding hands singing kumbaya maybe it's because we don't know what kumbaya means or hakuna matata i mean why aren't we just all getting along why isn't there more peace and love in this world if god is good and if god is love why is it why is the world so messed up as you turn to the scriptures we start to understand why as you go to the last book of the bible revelation the author john turns our attention to why there's so much division in this world why there's hatred why there's racism why evil things exist
there's a force behind all of these things and what we learn in the book of revelation which is a book of prophecy the only book of prophecy in the new testament that god alone gives us hope peter writes in second peter chapter 1 verse 19 he says and we have the prophetic word more fully confirmed to which you will do well to pay attention i just want to bring that to you this morning you would do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place so a prophetic word will will actually be like a light in a dark place that until we are with god eternally we're in a dark place and we need some
light and that's what the book of revelation does for us it's like a lamp in a dark place where we're stumbling in this metaphorical midnight called life and some of us keep stubbing our little toe and breaking it again and again anybody else do that at middle night and this is our spiritual lives and we're looking for hope and god's word illuminates so that we will know the way the way to what the way to eternal life and until that time we see this battle between good and evil this war between light and darkness if you're just joining us as we study the book of revelation let me give you a quick recap the author's name is john and the purpose of the book of revelation
is jesus christ in the opening words he tells us in revelation chapter 1 verse 1 it is the revelation of jesus christ those five words will change everything the revelation of jesus christ will change your life it's changed my life this book is all about jesus as we read this book we've got to look at it through the lens of understanding jesus even greater it's not just understanding future events about who where how these things happen it's all about jesus and when we begin to understand that we have a revelation of jesus and it changes us now jesus gives the author john a divine outline so that we'll better understand the book he says in revelation 1 19 he tells john
right therefore the things that you have seen those that are and those that are to take place after this that's the outline of the book the things he sees that's jesus the things that are that's the church that's the church age church history it's what we're going through right now and there will come a time when that's up and the things that are to take place after this that's the greek word meta everyone shout metatauta metatauta now you speak greek it means after these things after the church ages over in the future we see jesus still reigns he's still supreme overall we see in that time there will be a seven year tribulation time a judgment upon an unbelieving world we see that god will have his way and his say last week pastor david
powerfully preached about a prostitute this prostitute is apocalyptic imagery for babylon babylon is this apostate evil way this system if you will that is religious in that it takes our eyes off of god it's economic and that it depends on the ways of this world and it's governmental in that you put your trust in people instead of trust in god and this babylonian way has existed for a very long time we go back to babel and then the babylonian empire and of course at the time of this writing in the first century it was none other than rome we see that this evil exists to take our eyes off of god and what we find in the book of revelation chapter 17 and 18 as
as pastor david shared with us is god tells us not to go into her and it's a graphic imagery but it's this this picture that she will corrupt you this is not life-giving that one day babylon this prostitute will fall and in the midst of this we see in revelation 17 verse 14 they that's this corrupt system they will make war on the lamb who's the lamb jesus is always safe come on to shout jesus in church i love it the lamb is jesus christ now if you think about this the imagery here why would you wage war on a lamb i mean lambs are so cute truth be told you don't need to make war with a lamb i mean you just slaughter a lamb
right well jesus is the imagery of the lamb it's a picture of the great sacrificial lamb that he died on the cross metaphorically like the sacrificial lamb for our sins now revelation 4 says he's not just the lamb he's the lion and the lamb and this corrupt system this way of life will declare war on the lamb and the lamb will conquer them for he is the lord of lords the king of kings and those with him that's the church are called and chosen and faithful that's who you are in jesus you're called you're chosen you're faithful now throughout this serie i've i've jokingly told you i read the end of the book and jesus wins i've told you that because
next to this bible verse in my bible i've written in the margins jesus wins it's a reminder that no matter what we're going through no matter how powerful the government looks no matter what's happening in this world you could read the end of the book and jesus will win and we witness that god will have his way and as we enter into revelation chapter 19 john the author tells us there is great celebration that all that is wrong will be made right with god his kingdom will be established revelation 19 starting with verse one after this what's the greek for that metatalta come on meta that's the future after this i heard what seemed to be a loud voice of a great multitude in
heaven crying out hallelujah salvation and glory and power belong to our god for his judgments are true and just for he has judged the great prostitute who has corrupted the earth with her immorality and has avenged on her the blood of his servants once more they cried out hallelujah the smoke from her goes up forever and ever and the 24 elders this represents all of god's people and the four living creatures fell down and worshiped god who was seated on the throne saying amen hallelujah and from the throne came a voice saying praise our god all you servants you who fear him small and great
metatauta after this babylon has now fallen god has given the instruction to celebrate in revelation chapter 18 we're told rejoice over her o heaven and you saints who are the saints the saints are the believers in jesus when you believe in jesus you become a saint this is so important that you know who you are you might feel like an ain't but if you believe in jesus you're a saint a saint is not someone that dies and one day they get voted into sainthood according to the bible you are a saint in jesus the word saint means you're set apart when you have jesus you're no longer who you used to be you're set apart for his purpose so now god instructs and says rejoice over her the fallen babylon o
heaven you and you saints and apostles apostle means sent by god and prophets you speak god's word for god has given judgment for you against her we rejoice not just because the wicked fall and we don't rejoice not because the evil are are going to get what they deserve so many christians today are are celebrating when wicked people fall or do bad things we don't celebrate that bad things happen we celebrate and rejoice because of who god is he does what he says he will do he is what he says he is he is faithful and true he is just he is a judge he is sovereign which means he is completely in control and in revelation chapter 19 we see the fulfillment of this instruction
they're now rejoicing they're proclaiming with a loud voice as if it's heaven's song in chapter 19 verse 1 hallelujah salvation and glory and power belong to our god in the days of this writing domitian was the emperor of the roman empire his favorite title for himself was lord and god he was a powerful emperor and john points towards the future the metatarta and says domitians rule will not last there's one true lord there's one true god and he's worthy of praise how many of you have heard the word hallelujah before by a show of hands
this is one of the most familiar words around the world in fact whatever culture you go to in whatever language they speak the word hallelujah sounds the same you go to africa asia south america you will find that the word hallelujah sounds so similar in every language alleluia hallelujah the word hallelujah is a hebrew word in fact if you were to search the bible and scour and look for that word that every one of you have heard before the only place you find it in the bible is revelation chapter 19. so many things we've heard before so many things we do in our lives point back to this book of revelation the word hallelujah is a beautiful word
it's a combination of two hebrew words hallel which means praise and yah which means the lord yahweh yahweh is the hebrew word for lord that we have translated in english now hallel is throughout the bible in fact the psalms command us instruct us exhort us to halal to praise when you turn to the psalms you find songs and poems and here's the instruction praise the lord praise the lord praise the lord and there's a variety of reasons to praise the lord praise the lord for who he is praise the lord all you sayings praise the lord hello praise the lord hallelujah and so here we have the culmination of all of history coming to an end
and the message is hallelujah praise the lord can you shout hallelujah we cry hallelujah because of who god is he wins he's victorious he's almighty god he's the same yesterday today and forever so we join with heaven's song when you hear the word hallelujah and it reminds you that in the end we're going to praise the lord there's one lord there's one god and he alone is worthy of our praise and at a time in this world that much like the first century when john writes this book it appears that there's so much evil it appears that there's so much corruption it appears that at a time when when we we long to preserve our own lives we do everything we can to live it's what we've
experienced the last year there's only one that's worth living for oh at a time when we go after an economic system that we try to stimulate we try to say we need money to to be satisfied and to have hope in the society that we live in there's only one that controls all everything is his at a time that we seek to find fulfillment and purpose in our lives that is found in jesus and right now we're in the tension of the waiting we're not yet there yet and as we wait we remind ourselves we're not the first to wait i don't know about you but i hate to wait when i go to a fast food restaurant and
i talk into the box i expect my food to be ready when i come up to the window it's like magic and when it's not i'm like why why didn't it happen just because something inside me i hate to wait i've got teenagers and when i go to pick them up from somewhere i just let them know one word and they're they're to be obedient to this one word i say here and i expect they're gonna run to the car with joy my father's here i'm so thankful that you took time out of your busy day to pick me up and travel me and your car but instead the worst words that i get are just a sec because i know that a sec is not a second that means 5 10 15 20 30 minutes of me probing and prompting i'm still here because i hate to wait
and we're not yet there i would love to say we wake up and we shout hallelujah because we know god's worthy of praise but we're in the tension of the waiting the psalms declare dozens of time an instruction to wait psalm 27 verse 14 wait for the lord be strong and let your heart take courage wait for the lord psalm 38 15 but for you o lord do i wait it is you o lord my god who will answer and some of us still ask the question why wait why why is there waiting why is the waiting so painful why are relationships so hard why are finances so hard why can this world be so difficult to
to to just just exist and to try to find hope and i want you to know that we're not alone in this this pain in the waiting the psalmist declares in psalm 69 verse 3 i am weary with crying out my throat is parched my eyes grow dim with waiting for my god i so appreciate the rawness and the authenticity of the scriptures that it doesn't hide the reality that we're going through some pain as we wait for the day that we proclaim hallelujah you know when you book a vacation you you book a vacation to a destination you've never been to before you do research you study you see
pictures you read reviews and you're like this place looks awesome i want to go there and make some memories so you you you book the tickets you've got the date you've got the tickets and now what do you do you don't just put off the thought of that vacation it starts to consume your mind when you're at work you're not really at work you're thinking of that vacation you're wondering what that experience is going to be like you're going through all these things in your mind you're getting ready in your mind when you're mowing the lawn you're actually there in that vacation place you're thinking about the future but you're you're waiting and i want you to know we're in that tension right now that our destination is heaven and it's going to be great jesus is our ticket to heaven but right now we're waiting and you
should allow it to consume your mind you should you should think about it when you're at work you should think about it when you're mowing your lawn it should be so much inside of you that you're wondering what this experience is going to look like you're wondering how loud are you going to be able to cry hallelujah because our god is worthy of praise hallelujah hallelujah because of all that god has done oh this destination will be greater than anything we can fathom and it's worth a celebration we read about a wedding that will happen on that day it's a wonderful wedding in fact some of your subtitles to this text in your bibles may say the marriage supper of the lamb and the reason it's subtitled that way
comes from the text we're about to read and i want to clarify in advance that when we read through the scriptures we can't just read through our western modern contemporary eye you see that the jewish way of marriage was much more significant than the western wedding see when we get married today we throw invitations we let people know there'll be a wedding ceremony people make plans they they come on that particular day there's a wedding ceremony that may last a few minutes then you eat food then you dance and you go home all in the same day and then someone's married does anybody else think that maybe it should be a little more significant than that maybe some tests to be taken and let's try this out for do you know what you're doing like let's just really make sure maybe that's because i've officiated weddings before like
marriage is hard right well in the jewish culture in the hebrew form of marriage there's not just a wedding ceremony and you may be familiar with this process with the christmas story there's an engagement there's a long betrothal period and then there's the marriage and the marriage is is not just one day it will last a week and everyone's invited and you just eat lots of food and you drink lots of wine and there's lots of dancing i mean this is like this is like a celebration because they've been waiting they've been getting ready and now there's this marriage supper it's it's awesome i don't know about you but i'm saying let's go back to the jewish way of weddings right everybody pitches in together now we see one day there'll be a wedding let's read this in revelation 19 verse 6
then i heard what seemed to be like the voice of a great multitude like the roar of many waters and like the sound of mighty peels of thunder crying out remember john is using this apocalyptic writing to stimulate our imagination oh the crackling of thunder the roar of the of the rushing waters imagine these waterfalls and all together they're crying out hallelujah for the lord our god the almighty reigns let us rejoice and exalt and give him the glory for the marriage of the lamb has come and his bride has made herself ready it was granted her to clothe herself with fine linen bright and pure
for the fine line and is the righteous deeds of the saints and the angel said to me write this blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the lamb and he said to me these are the true words of god there are not many true words today that we can trust in when you watch the news not everything you hear is true i know that's a shock for some of us not everything you see on social media is true when you turn to your truth i wonder what truth you're you're believing and you're hoping and what truth are you obeying in your life some people and i'm shocked how many people turn to horoscopes
or other forms of astrology or some type of mysticism of i just want to know more about myself and i take a test and it's going to pop up who i am my spirit animal and what it should have been named and we just turn to all these different when you read a horoscope there might be some truth in it but you've got to understand the principles of how the enemy works and we've studied this throughout the book of revelation satan is a liar he's the father of lies jesus says it's his native tongue it's what he does best but satan from the beginning wanted to get eyes off of god and he disguises himself as light so he's not the light he's not the truth but he wants to look like the truth so the greatest thing satan can do is detour you to make you think is truth or have some truth in it but it's not the whole truth
so in your life if there's one thing you could hold fast to what john's told here by this angel these are words that are true if you know wake up and dream about something dream about this wedding jesus in this illustration is the groom and the church is the bride there's going to be a wedding a union not just any get the western wedding out of your mind there will be a great wonderful celebration of god's people the church uniting with jesus in fact on this side of heaven marriage was always meant to be an example of our relationship with god paul when he writes to the ephesians in chapter five covers families because we need some teaching on family and he gets to the end of chapter five and he talks about marriage he says this in chapter 5 verse 31
therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife and the two shall become one flesh he's quoting genesis this was god's plan marriage between a man and a woman a husband and wife come together the two become one this mystery he says is profound that's where he should have shall amen this is this is profound this is this is weird this is crazy this is why would god do this and i'm saying that it refers to christ and the church so our relationships here on earth are meant to mimic our relationship with god and a marriage is the perfect example of this
that you should have mutual submission of loving one another serving one another of sacrifice but all it takes is about five minutes into a marriage to realize how hard it is it got serious real quick marriage is hard no exception i never heard of someone saying all my marriage was perfect well i don't want any marriage advice from you because it's not true you get two centers together and there's supposed to be one not easy to do but god says i want you to work on this i want you to get to know each other i want you to love it i want you to quit thinking about yourself and think about that other person and it's just this crazy mystery that that represents our relationship with god now i don't know about you but i know
that i know no person that wakes up and has a perfect relationship with god 24 7. some days you'll be like god you didn't exist i don't feel loved by you i'm not sure and our relationship on this side of heaven with god is a lot like marriage but i've got good news for you this groom that's represented in this wedding one day is perfect he's faithful he'll never leave you he'll never forsake you he'll never stop loving you this groom is so good he's just waiting for you to get ready for this wedding this groom just wants to love on you like you've never been loved before this groom looks at you and sees the beauty and says i want to commit to you for ever this is so good but right now we're in the waiting and in the waiting we look forward to this revelation 19 verse 7 tells us let us rejoice and exalt over this
some translations say let us rejoice and be glad the word exalt translated from the greek is triumphalation you should like be celebrating the reality that one day you get to be with god forever you should be rejoicing and triumphant elation you should be so glad that you get to you get to be with this metaphor of marriage with god forever this is something to celebrate the only other time we see this phrase rejoice and be glad is found in the book of matthew chapter five jesus is in what's called the sermon on the mount and at the beginning of the sermon there's the beatitudes the beatitudes mean the blessings and jesus tells you how you can have a blessed life blessed means a deep happiness and after telling us blessed are our blessed are blessed are at the very end of the
beatitudes jesus says in matthew 5 verse 11 blessed are you so you want to be blessed blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account then here's that phrase rejoice and be glad for your reward will be where great in heaven for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you so when you believe in jesus you're looking forward to one day being with him and some people are going to call you crazy some people will call you a jesus freak some people will say you're going to be religious some people say oh you're one of those church folk some people are going to say oh you hypocrite some people are going to say you're a sinner how could you be a part of this following jesus thing oh some people will say all kinds of things about you
you say yep that's the god i serve now i want to tell you this you want to make a groom angry you just talk bad about his bride you do not show up to a wedding and say you sure you want to marry her i've seen her before like she wasn't always faithful to you like we are the her we are the church you want to know how to make god angry you just speak ill of the church i know the church is messed up i'm messed up let me tell you go try to find a perfect church don't go because it will no longer be perfect
because there's no perfect people none of us nowhere anywhere i know the church has messed up before some people want to say i don't want to be a part of the church well i tell you the church is god's plan jesus says in matthew 16 verse 18 he's talking to peter he says i will build my church this is so important that you understand that the church is not man's idea it's god's idea and jesus promises and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it listen listen pastors they will let you down some have abused their power and it's been terrible and if you were hurt by a pastor i'm sorry for that that's real that's painful that's because satan is real and he tries to slip
into the church pastors have committed moral failures and they've fallen far we don't put our hope in preachers we don't put our hope in the leadership of the church our hope is in jesus christ and this is his plan throughout history we can see that satan tried to stop the church from the beginning you know christians when john writes this book in the first century they were being thrown into arenas and ripped apart by lions because they believed in jesus they were put on stakes and lit on fire to light up the streets and they would burn alive they were put in prison they were put to death john's on the island of patmos for preaching about jesus that did not stop the church they survived the roman government when the roman empire fell throughout the centuries it looked like the church
was almost over when it looked like satan got a hold of it through religion i'll tell you that god has always had a remnant he's always had a plan and a purpose the church will survive because it's the plan of jesus and even today we look around the world you you can't buy a bible in north korea yet there's christians there in china you can't just grow a church however you'd like to grow a church and call it whatever you want to call it but yet the church is growing in china in egypt they continue to to ignite bombs on easter sunday the greatest celebration of the resurrection of jesus that doesn't stop people from worshiping jesus you cannot stop the church this is god's plan and normally at a wedding or our attention is turned towards the bride
i've never been to a wedding where people leave saying oh man that groom looked good today i wonder how much money he spent on his hair and that suit it just made him look good like those curves it did everything about that groom looked good we don't do that nobody even cares about the groom he just like stands up there until the bride comes then the bride comes everybody stands up gets out their cameras and all of a sudden they're taking pictures of the bride and with the kingdom of god it's a flipped script it's all about the groom but the bride is who the groom says she is not what you've done not where you've been but who he is and when john hears these words this angel says these words are true you can imagine john's saying say what
what this is going to be uh john hears this we're told in verse 10 when he hears this message he's overwhelmed about what he's hearing and he says then i fell down at his feet the feet of the angel that's telling him this to worship him but he said to me you must not do that i'm a fellow servant with you and to your brothers who hold to the testimony of jesus worship god for the testimony of jesus is the spirit of prophecy jesus is the light jesus is the one to be worshiped not me the angel says now this will not be the last time john does this he also does it in revelation 22 when he hears about heaven he's like oh i've got to worship you for giving me this message and the angel's like don't do it because angels are not meant to be worshiped colossians 2
18 tells us angels should not be worshipped it doesn't matter if you're a little old lady or a little girl no one should worship angels there's only one to be worshipped it's the first of the ten commandments you should worship the lord our god there's he's only only one there's not many ways to god there's one way to god and he alone is worthy of our worship now i want to remind you who this author is this is pastor john this guy has studied the word of god the bible he's he he knows this is the revelator god gave him the revelation this is john who's known as as the one whom jesus loved this is john the apostle sent out by jesus this is john the disciple a student of jesus and he worshipped that which is wrong which is a warning to our hearts that we
can worship that which is wrong as well and it may not be an angel it could be your career it could be an addiction it could be a family member we can all worship is giving worth to something more than god so if there's something in your life that you're giving more time in your mind and your heart and your finances if you're giving that your hope that that's what worship is and it will let you down there's only one worthy of worship and john goes on to describe scribe him look at verse 11. then i saw heaven opened up and behold a white horse the one sitting on it is called faithful and true and in righteousness he judges and makes war his eyes are like flames of fire on
his head are many diadems and he has a name written that no one knows but himself he is clothed in a robe dipped in blood and the name by which he is called is the word of god and the armies of heaven arrayed in fine linen white and pure were following him on white horses from his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations and he will rule them with a rod of iron he will tread the wine press of the fury of the wrath of god the almighty and on his robe and on the thigh he has a name written king of kings and lord of lords john gives us in just a short period of time an entire synopsis of the book of revelation revelation chapter 1 starts off with
similar language it's this apocalyptic imagery again does jesus really have white hair and eyes of flames of fire no it's meant to be a description he's eternally wise he's he has all eternal knowledge the eyes represent knowledge and because he has all knowledge he's able to judge perfectly with eyes like flames of fire he goes into the description the very thing that happens to him in revelation chapter four heaven opens up and he's caught up into heaven and now we see heaven opened up again and this time with a rider on a white horse this is not the first time we see a rider in revelation chapter 6 at the beginning of the tribulation one came in on a white horse but he was a fraud it was an enemy
it was an image that satan is constantly a counterfeit this is we read here the faithful and true one revelation 19 11 and because he is the one that is faithful and true we can know that he is a conqueror everyone shall conquer a conqueror that wherever he goes he's going to do the truth revelation 19 11 the one sitting on is called faithful and true and in righteousness he judges and makes war he can make war because he is the conqueror we see in verse 12 and on his head are many diadems does jesus have a whole bunch of crowns on his head no it's an image that there's no royalty like him he's the king of all kings at the second half of verse 12 tells us he has a name that no one knows this reminds us that we can spend
eternity getting to know jesus and there's more to learn this is so important that you get excited about this do you know why most marriages grow cold because they become familiar once a couple gets to know each other it starts to get boring there's nothing that exciting anymore and you start to think it would be more exciting with another person i've spent years and decades with this prayer i'm not sure i want to continue in this relationship anymore i know everything about them but if you go back to the beginning when you start dating it's exciting you want to know everything about that person what do you love you love flowers i'm gonna get you flowers you love chocolates i'm gonna get you chocolates you just love everything you want to know everything about them i mean when you're dating you you care about the stupidest things like breathing right you see i just love the way you breathe loudly
i just i love it i just want to align my breath with your breath let's come on has anybody tried to do that you aligned your breath with their breath and then you almost die trying to like breathe like they're breathing was i the only one you think your snore is so cute like and then after a while this gets so familiar you say will you quit snoring i know you like flowers i know you like chocolate i'm tired of getting you those things and we lose the relationship because we forget that there's more to learn and this is where marriage needs to represent our relationship with god where you want to pull out of them what god sees there is more to know your best days are not behind you they're still ahead of you
this is where you got to work on it just like you have to work on your relationship with god and one day in heaven you're going to keep discovering there's more there's more i mean a million years into this you'll be like hey jesus what's that name i'm not telling you yet a billion years into this oh jesus i've learned so much about you tell me more i'm not yet a trillion years into this it's going to get better and better as you see who he actually is he's more than just that in verse 13 he he's clothed in a robe dipped in blood there's this crazy imagery here of judgment and it takes us to isaiah 63 if you're taking notes it's worth reading the whole chapter isaiah the prophet would look forward to the christ that he alone is able to judge he tells us in isaiah 63 verse 2 why is your apparel red in your garments like
his who treads in the wine press it's an image of jesus he takes out his sickle and he swings it and the judgment has come on those who have chosen to sin on those who have rejected god and they've refused the free gift of forgiveness and grace there is a great judgment and what he does is true for he is we're told in verse 13 the word of god that's his name that's who he is john when he writes the biography of jesus life he starts off in his opening line on jesus life he says in john chapter one verse one in the beginning was the word now who's the word jesus in the beginning was the word and the word was with god and the word was god we use words
to understand we use words to describe if you want to understand god get to know jesus he's the word now how do you get words you use letters as warren weirsbee calls jesus he is the divine alphabet throughout the book of revelation jesus is called the alpha and omega those are two letters of the greek alphabet he's the beginning and he is the end that's why this is the revelation of jesus christ he's a conqueror and he does not come alone he does not need any help but we're told in verse 14 he has a great army and this army looks a lot like the bride they're wearing what is correct what is right they're dressed appropriately they too come on white horses and he is a conqueror because of
what he has for a weapon out of his mouth we're told in verse 15 comes a sharp sword this sword is his very word we start to understand this in hebrews 4 12 when we're told for the word of god is living an active it's sharper than any two ed's sword see god's word can go to places no one else can go there are many times on a sunday someone will come and say you were speaking just to me that was the exact word i needed right now that's exactly what i'm going through and it has nothing to do with me that's the word of god and it got into your heart god's word went out and when his word goes out there is no void god has his way faith comes from hearing hearing through the word of christ and this word will cut off that in your life which shouldn't be there and when you have his word you start to
fight with it just as jesus did when he was tempted he said it is written when he was tempted again he said it is written when he was tempted again he said it is written for paul tells us that we should armor up in this war of life and he tells us god has given us a weapon which is ephesians 6 17 and he gave us the sword of the spirit which is what the word of god you want to be in the spirit you get in the word of god you want to be inspired you get in the spirit you go to the word of god god's word will never leave you the same see satan does not want you to spend time in the bible he knows full well the more you get into the bible the more you're going to get to know god the more courageous you're going to get the more bold you're going to get the more you'll understand how loved you are and called by god
but the more you get into this book the more you understand he's already one he is a conqueror on his thigh is the greatest name he is the king of kings some want to say this is a tattoo but it's on his robe and on his thigh this is just who he is the king of kings and the lord of lords this is the most victorious name one could ever have he's greater than any king he's greater than any general he's greater than anyone that's ever lived he's greater than caesar he's greater than genghis khan he's more of a warrior than napoleon or any other before him he is the great i am and not only is he a conqueror wherever he goes he's victorious in his conquest i want to finish the book of uh not the book the chapter 19. i'm going to read this quickly and i want you just to see what jesus is able to do i want to read verse 17
through 21 we see his conquest and we see this graphic image then i saw an angel standing in the sun with a loud voice he called to all the birds that fly directly overhead come gather for the great supper of god this supper will be nothing like the marriage supper eat the flesh of the kings the flesh of the captains the flesh of mighty men the flesh of horses and the riders and the flesh of all men both free and slave both small and great and i saw the beast the beast is the antichrist anti means against this is the ruler that was against jesus and his followers and the beasts and the kings of the earth with their armies gathered to make war against them who was sitting on the horse and against his army and the beast that's the antichrist was captured and with it the false prophet who in
its presence had done the signs by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshipped its image remember the mark of the beast is 666 it means the way of man get your eyes off of god and do the ways of man you you've given into the antichrist as you put your hope in the wrong things and one day they're captured and we're told these two were thrown alive in the lake of fire that burns with sulfur and the rest were slain by the sword that came from the mouth of him who was sitting on the horse and all the birds were gorged with their flesh this is a grotesque image flesh is repeated over and over and over again flesh reminds you of our carnality our mortality
flesh reminds you of man it's literally the image of who we are it is by its very presence the mark of the beast when we say you know all my life is dependent on who i am i want greater health i want greater finances i want greater when it's all about me this is the image at the end of revelation your flesh will not last flesh will fail you people will fail you when you put your hope in the ways of man at the end of the day it will not last jesus says in john 3 6 that which is born of the flesh is flesh and that which is born of the spirit is spirit so how can you be born of the spirit you believe in jesus and jesus tells us in the same chapter chapter three says when you believe in him you're born
again not of the flesh but of the spirit god gives you his very spirit that you're now no longer alone you now when you your heart stops beating you actually live you get to be a part of this wedding ceremony but for those who are of the flesh who have rejected the grace of god there's a real penalty see the flesh does not give you life jesus says in john 6 63 it is the spirit who gives life the flesh is no help at all the words that i've spoken to you are spirit and life god wants the best for you he wants you to know why you were made he wants you to know how you can have hope and it's found in jesus and in the end we learn that the antichrist and the false
prophet will be will be forever in hell they're thrown verse 20 into the the lake of fire that burns with sulfur hell is a real place hell is the opposite of heaven and that is the absence of the presence of god jesus describes himself as living water that will never go dry hell is described as a lake of fire it's we don't want anybody to go to hell and you don't need to see salvation and the free gift of eternal life is found in jesus christ that you can know with confidence who you are because of who he is i want to close with these last words found in second corinthians
paul is talking to the church and he reminds us in chapter 5 verse 6 so we are always of good courage like when jesus says in john 14 let not your hearts be troubled like the psalmist said wait for the lord be strong and courageous so paul is speaking to the church we are always of good courage for we know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the lord we're not at our final destination yet you should look forward to the destination so don't get too comfortable so he says this for we walk by faith not by sight so i'm not just going to live for the things i can see i'm going to go after that which i can't see then he goes on to say in verse 8 yes we are of good courage and we would
rather be away from the body and at home with the lord we should get more excited about being with god in heaven than we do about the things on earth see to be absent from the body with jesus is to be present with the lord that's worthy of reflecting on thinking about living for be of good courage give your burdens to jesus give your sins to jesus give your dreams to jesus give your destiny to jesus today i want to give an invitation right now if you've never received jesus you can right now see the scriptures teach us today is the day of salvation not another day not a better day you can have jesus right now but it will require everything
i want to trick you into thinking that if you follow jesus you're not going to have pain or problems no we'll still be in the waiting but it's worth it because now you have the hope of heaven and if you want that today you escape hell in jesus you are sealed by the holy spirit you have the free gift of eternal life the hope of glory if that's you and you want it right now i'm going to ask you to be bold and just put your hand up right now say i want jesus i want to surrender my life to jesus right now this may be the most courageous thing you'll ever do in your life i want to pray with you i want you to take that step of courage and boldness right now is there someone here today might be someone watching online right now maybe you're in your home we want to give you next steps that you can make that decision if you're watching online we're going to
give you a link is there anyone here right now this is the decision that will change everything see i didn't grow up in the church i had no hope of having grown up i was a fearful little boy i was confused for a lot of reasons but at 15 i gave my life to jesus that's when i slipped up my hand i'll give you a chance right now that's you and you want to surrender it all if your heart's beating you've got butterflies in your stomach that's probably you i want to make sure that you respond to this today if you're the one watching at home right now and that's you i want to pray with you prayer is just talking to god there are no magic words you don't have to say the right things
it's just getting real with god he's big enough to handle everything so let's pray together god we want to give you our hearts if there's someone here today that wants to surrender their life to you jesus we trust that you are able after you pray something like this in your heart i believe in you jesus today i follow you forgive me of my sins i receive your holy spirit that prayer changes everything and you don't stop right now you keep praying now lord i pray over your church i know many have made that decision lord and i trust that that is true but yet they're still burdened by the ways of this world so god i want to give to you what only you could handle you said to all of you who are heavy laden and burdened come to me and i will give you rest
my friend if asked you in prayer right now would you turn over your burdens to jesus release them now in jesus name i know so many of you today are still living in sin you're stuck in an addiction you keep going back to something in your life i want to challenge you in this moment of prayer to release it to jesus right now that today that stronghold would be broken in jesus name lord by the your very blood i pleaded over your people that sins would stop today in jesus name i pray that you would make someone sick to their stomach every time they want to go back to that thing maybe it's marijuana lord maybe it's pornography maybe it's alcohol maybe it's just something simple like a cigarette that's just stopping them from having joy in you we know that you love us no less you
love us so much that we can give you our sins so that we could be set free so i plead your blood jesus oh i pray that you're getting real with god in your heart right now he is the conqueror he is victorious so that you can be victorious so lord i plead over your church that we would represent more of who you are that we would love like you we would live like you we ask for the help of your holy spirit jesus you told us we'd have power when the holy spirit comes upon us that we would be your witnesses so now in this moment of of surrender we we give you our lives we want to be your witness i pray over your church that if we leave here we would not be the same if you're in agreement friends would you just shout amen amen that means let it be true
it means so be it if you're able can we just remind our hearts while we're here today as we sing to him that we would get ready that we would be the bride that's ready for jesus return that we would be the ones that celebrate if you're able come on stand to your feet let's sing to our god let's get ready in our heart
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Hope in a world that looks for it everywhere
Pastor Keith considers where people seek hope and why a world created by a good God remains divided. Drawing on 2 Peter 1:19, he presents prophecy as guidance from God and reads Revelation as exposing evil while directing hope toward Jesus.
2 Peter 1:19 · Revelation 1:1 · Revelation 1:19
- Where do you personally look for hope when life feels uncertain, and how does that compare with what this message describes?
- Pastor Keith uses 2 Peter 1:19 to present Revelation as guidance rather than only a map of future events. How does that shape the way you read it?
- How does Pastor Keith explain the presence of evil and division in the world?
Learning to celebrate what God has done
After Babylon falls, heaven is instructed to rejoice, and Pastor Keith Kirkpatrick insists that celebration is about who God is rather than satisfaction at the downfall of the wicked. The word hallelujah, a Hebrew combination meaning praise the Lord, becomes the chapter's refrain and is tied to God's victory over every rival power.
Revelation 19:1-5 · Revelation 17:14
- Pastor Keith Kirkpatrick says Christians should not celebrate when wicked people fall. How do you hold that alongside the joy of justice being done?
- What does the meaning of hallelujah add to your understanding of praise?
- Where in your life is it easiest to praise God, and where is it hardest?
The tension of waiting
Pastor Keith Kirkpatrick is candid that we are not yet at the destination and that waiting is frustrating, using drive-thru and teenage-pickup examples. Psalms of waiting and lament are cited to show that Scripture does not hide the pain. A vacation planning illustration encourages listeners to let the hope of heaven occupy their thoughts now.
Psalm 27:14 · Psalm 38:15 · Psalm 69:3
- What are you currently waiting on, and how does the pastor's reading of the Psalms speak to that?
- Psalm 69:3 is quoted to show that Scripture does not hide the pain of waiting. How does that affect the way you view seasons of waiting?
- The vacation image suggests hope should occupy your imagination. What would that look like in an ordinary workday?
The marriage supper of the Lamb
Pastor Keith Kirkpatrick explains the longer Jewish betrothal and celebration to show that the wedding imagery in Revelation 19 is far larger than a one-day ceremony. Jesus is the groom and the church is the bride, and the message turns to what the groom says about her. He also speaks frankly about how hard earthly marriage is.
Revelation 19:6-9 · Ephesians 5:31
- Pastor Keith Kirkpatrick says the bride is defined by what the groom says about her rather than by her past. Where do you tend to build identity from your own record instead?
- How does honesty about how hard marriage is shape the way you read a wedding image of Christ and the church?
- How do the Jewish wedding customs described here convey the anticipated celebration and union with Jesus?
- The message says the groom is perfect and faithful even when we feel distant. What makes that hard or hopeful for you?
The rider on the white horse and the word of God
John is shown a rider called Faithful and True, crowned, robed in blood, named the Word of God and King of kings. Pastor Keith Kirkpatrick reads the imagery as a portrait of Jesus' supremacy and perfect judgment, and interprets the sword from his mouth as his word, which equips believers for temptation and daily life. The section ends with the beast and false prophet judged and the invitation to receive Jesus.
Revelation 19:11-16 · Isaiah 63:2 · John 1:1 · Hebrews 4:12 · Ephesians 6:17 · Colossians 2:18
- What does it mean practically that Jesus' weapon is his word rather than a literal blade?
- How does Pastor Keith Kirkpatrick describe misplaced worship in terms of time, attention, finances, and hope?
- How does the picture of Jesus as faithful and true strengthen you when leaders or institutions have let you down?
Answers from this recording
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What is the meaning of the word hallelujah in this message?+
Pastor Keith Kirkpatrick explains hallelujah as a Hebrew combination of hallel, meaning praise, and yah, referring to the Lord. He notes that the word appears in the Bible in Revelation 19 and that it sounds similar across languages and cultures. Praise in this chapter is grounded in God's character, salvation, glory, and power, and in the fact that he reigns. The call is to join heaven's song because of who God is, not because of circumstances.
Why does Pastor Keith Kirkpatrick spend so much time on Jewish wedding customs?+
He argues that modern readers can miss the weight of the marriage supper imagery if they picture a single short ceremony. The Jewish pattern he describes includes engagement, a lengthy betrothal, and a multi-day celebration. That backdrop makes Revelation 19 read as a long-awaited union rather than a quick event. It also supports his claim that Jesus is the groom, the church is the bride, and the bride is defined by what the groom says about her rather than her own performance.
What does the message say about the church and its failures?+
Pastor Keith Kirkpatrick is direct that the church is messed up and that some pastors have failed morally or abused power. He offers sympathy to those hurt by a pastor and says hope should rest in Jesus, not in preachers or leaders. At the same time, he presents the church as Jesus' plan, citing Matthew 16:18, where Jesus promises to build his church and says opposition will not overcome it. He adds that anyone who finds a perfect church should not join it, because none of us is perfect.
How does Pastor Keith Kirkpatrick interpret the sword coming from Jesus' mouth?+
Pastor Keith interprets Revelation 19’s sword imagery as Jesus’ word. Connecting this with Hebrews 4:12 and Ephesians 6:17, he teaches that Scripture reaches a person’s inner life, exposes what should change, and gives courage. He also presents Jesus’ use of Scripture when tempted as the pattern for resisting temptation.
