 Let's open our Bibles to the book of Revelation. We're in chapter 19. We're going to be looking today at verses 11 Verse 11 to the conclusion verse 21 the return of the Lord Jesus Christ And John mentioned several things a couple of things I'd like to repeat We do have our men's conference fellows coming up in June and we look forward to having that We're still working on a couple of the elements of it, but it's in the middle It's actually on I think the 12th of June. So we're looking forward to having that We invite you to be part of that and also we do have like a Monday night with the young adults We do have a Tuesday morning men's study. We have our Wednesday We are looking at the book of Job and I invite you to be with us on Wednesday also and as mentioned we do have hopes and plans and it does look like it's going to be able to take place to go to Israel and We have John had mentioned I think we have 195 people we have signed up with the desire to go that it doesn't mean that they're gonna go They just would like to go But we usually see about a quarter or more of those who signed up they actually do go so we're looking forward to it very much and if you've never been to Israel and And all I I would highly recommend that you go and I know it's a big expense but it's well worth it and Love to have you with us as we go. God willing this upcoming next year. We're looking at the end of March And the first week or so of of April. That's what we're looking at But we'll be able I hope this week to firm those things up in the other information So you might want to stay in contact with us and I do hope again I do hope you'll you'll be able to go with us now. We're gonna we're gonna be in revelation 19 we're looking at a very Incredible subject. I mean something I've been looking forward to not just because I'm studying the book of revelation But because all believers are to to be looking forward to being with Christ or to see the return of the Lord And as I've been telling you revelation is not is not a book that's filled with With easy to digest teachings. I mean sometimes we may come to church and we may say to ourselves I don't understand that I don't get that that doesn't make sense to me and that's understandable So this is one of those studies that is I I'm going to do a lot of looking at my notes again Because I want to give to you as proper information as I can And again, we have some of our I've been walking with the Lord for a long time And and this is information you've heard before and it'll help you and others who perhaps have never even heard this It may be new information to you and it may it may kind of overwhelm you in some ways But you know what just listen to it and digest what you can and And and we'll move on you grow up grow more up in your your faith and and the Lord will give you more and more Inside over over time. So don't get this discouraged, you know It's it is it is a subject that is a pretty heady subject, you know when I first got saved You know that That was something I was taught. I didn't realize I didn't hear I'd never heard anything of the rapture didn't know anything of the second coming And so much of what I heard was brand new information and and It was hard, you know for me to get it But it's taken years and I can tell you now after 50 years I still don't get it but it's fun to try and so Hopefully we'll have a good time together that song that we just sang, you know That song came out of the Jesus movement And I had talked to Jared our worship leader and I said I think that's an appropriate song because What we had when we first got saved those of us who came out out of that movement Was the was the expectation of being with Jesus Christ to see him face to face and And so the idea that one day I'd see him actually has propelled me through 50 years of walking with the Lord And so sometimes people think well, how how do you remain faithful to the Lord? You just every day look forward to seeing him every day And so we get a chance to look at what has been called the return of Jesus Christ to the second coming And so we'll begin reading here in chapter 19 at verse 11 I'll read verses 11 through 16 Give you a prolonged introduction as I normally do and then move into the passage revelation 19 beginning at verse 11 reading to verse 16 John writes Now I saw heaven opened and behold a white horse And he who sat on him was called faithful and true And in righteousness he judges and makes war His eyes were like a flame of fire And on his head were many crowns He had a name written that no one knew except himself He was clothed with a robe dipped in blood And his name is called the word of God And the armies in heaven clothed in fine linen white and clean Followed him on white horses Now out of his mouth goes a sharp sword that with it he should strike the nations And he himself will rule them with a rod of iron He himself treads the wine press of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God And he has on his robe And on his thigh a name written King of kings and Lord of lords So let me begin by Pointing out the obvious as we look around the world. We see that there is a hunger amongst the people of the world a hunger for peace It's not even necessarily a hunger for world peace so much as a hunger for personal peace You see many refuse to listen to what God's word says about peace And they reject what he says completely. They don't realize that Being at peace in the world begins really at being at peace with God When you look at the word gospel and you think of the message of the gospel One of the things that might help you when you hear of this good news gospel means good news When you hear the word gospel or the message of the gospel something that might help us Is to understand that the gospel in scripture is spoken of in this way It is spoken of as a message of reconciliation The gospel is God's message of reconciliation reconciliation speaks of two people at war two warring parties That come together with terms of peace And as the terms of peace are accepted hostility is is ended The gospel is God's terms of peace And in this gospel you might find this interesting perhaps you already know this but in the gospel God's terms of peace are Unconditional surrender The gospel doesn't call for us to have kind of like an armistice or a treaty No, it is an un an unconditional surrender And so those terms of peace are presented to us in what is called the gospel And when we surrendered to his terms of peace we came to peace and now we're at peace with God Those of us who were believers now we're at peace with God and because we're at peace with him We can live at peace with those around us And then that came through faith Because we have taken him by his his word and and we've sought his forgiveness and and we've once again Been in fellowship with him in romans 5 verse 1 it says therefore having been justified by faith We have peace with God through our lord jesus christ So when the gospel is preached and people are invited to come to christ Well, there are people who listen they respond and they say yes, but there are many who refuse That message those terms of peace. Well, that's ignored As a matter of fact the thought of turning from sin for many people is actually offensive Now that reminds me of something that that we read in the book of Jeremiah in the old testament in chapter 6 You see Jeremiah a prophet proclaimed that that god was bringing judgment But the people he was speaking to refused to listen to what he had to say So Jeremiah responded to their rejection in chapter 6 verse 10 To whom can I speak and give warning? Who will listen to me? Their ears are closed so that they cannot hear the word of the lord is offensive to them. They find no pleasure In it no one's going to take the time to listen. It's what he's saying much less respond to what is being said You see god's command for them to repent offense them. They feel wronged by it They find no pleasure in it Because it inflames them as if they've been personally injured when somebody hears the word of conviction Sometimes they take it out on the messenger as if the messenger made up that message But all we are as as preachers of the gospel are just proclaimers of what god has said We didn't invent the message What we did is we simply have been called to be faithful in presenting it But not everybody likes to hear that proverbs 15 12 says and like this mockers resent correction So they avoid the wise. We don't want to hear it. Don't tell us about it Well, what was true then remains true until jesus returns to planet earth People are longing for peace And false prophets false teachers have lied to them They're crying out peace when there is no peace God had given warnings for people to avoid false prophets, but from the beginning they've refused to listen to the warnings We've seen in the book of tribute in the book of a revelation that during the tribulation Many listen to what the false prophet is saying And this came even though they had been warned about it many times Jesus had warned them. He said avoid the prophets that are to come In matthew 24 24 and 25 he said for false christ and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders To deceive if possible even the elect See i have told you beforehand therefore If they say do you look he's in the desert don't go out or look he's in the inner rooms do not believe it So jesus gave warning about false teachers and paul did too in second thessalonians chapter 2 verses 9 and 10 He said the coming of the lawless one the antichrist is according to the working of satan with all power signs and lying wonders With all unrighteous deception among those who perish because they didn't receive the love of the truth that they might be saved Well part of the problem about listening to false prophets is they give you false hope Jeremiah once again in chapter 23 verse 16 said it like this He said this is what the lord almighty says Do not listen to what the prophets are prophesying to you. They fill you with false hopes They speak visions from their own minds not from the mouth of the lord Earlier in chapter 6 of jeremiah verse 14. He said they dressed the wound of my people as though it were not serious Peace peace they say when there is no peace So false teachers false prophets are have gone out. Then you have the false prophet We've seen this as we've gone through revelation who comes out before the uh the antichrist and he and he's doing false signs False wonders and and he's compelling people to worship the antichrist And so for a while during the tribulation there is a short lived peace According to first thessalonians chapter 5 verse 3 it says when they say peace and safety Then sudden destruction Comes upon them as labor pains upon a pregnant woman and they shall not escape So the only way things will get any better is when the lord returns Now we've been looking at this tribulation And we've seen that the tribulation is a time of unprecedented sorrow and pain It's a time unprecedented in human history antichrist will establish his rule Demons infest the earth god's wrath is poured out and seal trumpet and bold judgments Evil permeates the entire earth Christians are slaughtered Well again, jesus made it clear that the time of tribulation would be horrific in matthew 24 22 He said unless those days were shortened no flesh would be saved But for the elect's sake those days will be shortened So as we arrive at this portion of scripture antichrist capital is devastated People when they see the devastation of commercial Babylon begin to mourn and begin to wail They're hardened And they're unrepentant even at the destruction of Babylon As we've gone through the the book of revelation we've seen that during the seven years That the raptured church has been in heaven awaiting its marriage And before this celebration takes place there's going to be a battle The armies of heaven and hell will meet in what is called the final battle the battle of Armageddon And jesus's enemies will be vanquished And when this occurs his kingdom will be established he will rule And he will reign Now there's so much that's tied to his return Satan and his false prophet will be imprisoned in the lake of fire jesus has crowned the true king He begins to rule and reign with a rod of iron in Jerusalem. We'll see that in just a moment But one of the things that we need to remember is this is that the return of christ is what believers have been waiting for And here's something for you one way to evaluate your relationship with jesus christ is simple Do you want to see him? I've had people tell me this it's kind of hard to believe sometimes, but it's true I've had people say well, you know, I do want the lord to return, but I want to get married first And I say so you want to go through tribulation, huh? Really, you know, oh, I want to have children. So you want to go to hell. Is that what you're saying? Wow, let's get even worse But here it is one way to evaluate your relationship is do you desire to see him? Do you want to be with him? You see in 2 Timothy chapter 4 verse 8 Paul said there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness Which the lord the righteous judge will give to me on that day and notice he says and not to me only But also to all who have loved his appearing The desire to see him and to be with him. So today we have a preview of coming attractions. We have The return of Jesus Christ Now chapter 19 as I've already mentioned and I'll give you a little background to remind you of this Chapter 19 picks up where chapter 16 concluded It's at the conclusion of what are called the bull judgments the most serious of all the judgments When we looked at verses 1 through 10, we saw heaven explode in praise to God because evil on earth has been judged We saw how God judged Babylon And his judgment has been declared to be true and righteous in in in doing so He he had avenged the blood of the martyrs who had been crying out For justice in revelation 6 verse 10 it says that they cried with a loud voice saying How long oh lord holy and true until you judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth? Well in bringing judgment heaven rejoices and heaven worships him And it's it's a time of praise and I pointed out that angels old testament saints tribulation saints are all praising God And the reason why they're they're doing so is because he reigns We looked at what is called the married supper of the lamb That's where the church the bride of christ is joined to jesus in its deepest intimacy And now we move to what every believer is to long for the second coming of jesus christ Again in verse 11 he said I saw heaven opened And behold a white horse And so in chapter 4 we saw at verse 1 how john had said a door is standing open in heaven And that's the door that basically in a way let john in Well this time heaven is opened in order For jesus to leave to come out It's it's time for jesus to be revealed for who he is Now when we look at the return of christ to planet earth, it's what is called an essential for those who take notes It's an essential of the christian faith and essential It's one of those things that that is very important for us to embrace and hold fast to in faith You see there are certain things that are actual beliefs that constitute what is called the basic christian faith We believe in biblical inerrancy meaning that the original manuscripts are inspired and without error We believe in the virgin birth. We believe in what is called substitutionary atonement. Jesus died on the cross for us We believe in a literal resurrection. These are essentials But we also believe in jesus returning. It's called the doctrine of the second coming It's been said that in the 216 chapters of the new testament There are over 300 references to the return of jesus christ 23 of the 27 new testament books mentioned his return The second coming is part of the earliest statements concerning the christian faith We had what is called the apostles creed that to this day continues to be repeated It's a statement of faith that was first mentioned around 390 ad many of you know the apostles creed or perhaps you're familiar with it I was taught the apostles creed when I was eight years old And and you may remember it even as I recited to you actually read it to you to make sure I had word for word perfect I believe in god the father almighty creator of heaven and earth And in jesus christ his only son our lord Who was conceived by the holy spirit born of the virgin Mary suffered under Pontius pilot was crucified died and was buried He descended into hell on the third day. He rose again from the dead He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of god the father almighty from there He will come to judge the living and the dead I believe in the holy spirit the holy catholic the word catholic means universal the holy catholic church The communion of saints the forgiveness of sins the resurrection of the body and life everlasting amen From then he shall come to judge the living and the dead. It's part of the earliest creeds that we have It's an essential to our faith Jesus christ is returning And believers in all the ages have had a desire for the lord to come All the way back in the book of isaian chapter 64 verses 1 and 2 we read Oh that you would ren the heavens and come down that the mountains would tremble before you as when fire Sets twigs ablaze and causes water to boil come down to make your name known to your enemies Cause the nations to quake before you You see the church is to fully expect the return of christ and we're to live longing to see him The writer of hebrus in chapter 9 verse 28 said it like this He said so also christ died only once as a sacrifice to take away the sins of many people He will come again, but not to deal with our sins again This time he will bring salvation to all those who are eagerly waiting for him So we've been taught to expect his return. We've been told prepare yourself In first john 3 2 and 3 john said it like this. He said beloved Now we are children of god And it has not yet been revealed what we shall be but we know that when he is revealed We shall be like him for we shall see him as he is and he went on to say and everyone who has this hoping him Purifies himself just as he is pure Well during the tribulation As we've seen earth will be in incredible chaos and destruction The antichrist has been masquerading as messiah Under his rule and reign the earth is undergone devastation We've seen the plagues and the earthquakes the death the pollution persecution That's become the norm Satan and demons the antichrist a false prophet sinful mankind are uniting to oppose god And men are hearing the message because there are the witnesses who are sharing and they're hearing this message of reconciliation But they refuse to repent they harden their hearts and they fight against god and they fight against his gospel Well, we'll see that the forces of heaven and hell are going to meet In a great battle the battle of armageddon And it's at this time that jesus's enemies are vanquished his kingdom will be established Zechariah chapter 14 again in the old testament verses three and four says the lord will go out and fight against those nations As he fights in the day of battle on that day His feet will stand on the mount of olives east of Jerusalem And the mount of olives will be split in two from east to west Forming a great valley with half of the mountain moving north and half moving south And so what we're seeing here is the return of jesus christ And notice again in verse 11 how it begins. It says I saw heaven opened and behold a white horse So heaven is opened And jesus comes out And is bringing judgment on earth In matthew 24 verses 27 through 31. He said as lightning that comes from the east Is visible even in the west So will be the coming of the sun of man Wherever there is a carcass there the vultures will gather Immediately after the distress of those days the sun will be darkened The moon will not give its light The stars will fall from the sky The heavenly bodies will be shaken At that time the sign of the sun of man will appear in the sky And all the nations of the earth will mourn They will see the sun of man Coming on the clouds of the sky With power and great glory And he will send his angels with a loud trumpet call And they will gather his elect from the four winds From one end of the heavens to the other And so john says I saw heaven opened letting jesus out And behold he says a white horse he speaks of the white horse Now think of that for a moment and let me remind you of something that recently We observed Remember that on palm sunday How that on palm sunday the lord jesus christ entered into the city of jerusalem And on that day He entered in On a donkey In the gospel of john chapter 12 verse 15 it says fear not daughter of zion Behold your king is coming seated on a donkey's colt You remember that you remember the teaching You remember that jesus christ was fulfilling what zechariah and chapter nine had prophesied concerning the king coming on this On the fall the the cold of a donkey And you remember how he came in and they began to put out the palm branches as he entered in And and some were coming from the top from the top of the hill there others were coming out of the gates of jerusalem And the two crowds converged and as the two crowds were converging they were dropping palm branches and and dropping down Various objects before him and they were crying out and they were saying ozanna ozanna, which the word ozanna means save now Then they said blessed is he who comes in the name of the lord ozanna in the highest And then jesus had come and as he he waited for a moment And he wept over jerusalem instead of you to know this day But but you didn't and he speaks concerning the fact that they missed the moment when messiah entered in And it's a very dramatic time, but he came in on a donkey. Why did he come in on the donkey? Well, we know because when when a king came in peace the king would ride on a donkey And so the first time jesus entered in he came on a donkey, but this time He's on a war horse The bible says that he's on a white horse and and all we need to do is remember that victorious roman generals would ride upon white horses in processions called triumphs or victory Victory processions and and the victorious general would come in and he would come in on a white horse And so this is a picture of jesus christ coming as a conqueror He's now seated on a war horse not a donkey But a war horse and he's going to complete his victory This is a white horse. Why is it a white horse? Well, because it represents the spotless unblemished holy character of jesus christ In first peter 119 that verse tells us that we've been cleansed with the precious blood of christ like that of a lamb without blemish or spot So the horse that he's riding reveals that he's come to vanquish his enemies And notice who is riding on that horse It says he verse 11 who sat on him was called faithful and true and in righteousness. He judges and makes war Faithful and true the perfect picture of our messiah He's the one who's always faithful to his promises and he's the one who always speaks the truth Obviously that is in contrast to the lies of antichrist and the false prophet Notice again in verse 11 in righteousness. He judges and makes war Because he's faithful and because he's true his judgment must be and will be righteous His words are true So he must judge the unrighteous In acts chapter 10 verse 42 we read he commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he jesus Was is the one who was ordained by god to be judge of the living end of the dead In act 17 verse 31 it says that he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness By a man whom he has appointed and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him From the dead so verse 11 in righteousness. He judges but as a king He makes war now In his earthly ministry jesus is revealed very often as compassionate And kind because he is When matthew wanted to describe him he spoke of him in this way in matthew 12 verse 20 He said a bruised reed. He will not break a smoldering wick He will not snuff out Till he has brought justice through to victory jesus is described to us many times in the new testament as compassionate and kind When he spoke of himself remember it in matthew 11 29 He said of himself that he's gentle and lowly in heart But here he's revealed as the warrior king In righteousness. He judges and he wages war And His judgment has been poured out His judgment has been poured out in the seal judgments in the trumpet judgments And in the bowl judgments So we've seen that judgment comes but now we see him Waging war when you read your bible There is an interesting song. It's called the song of moses It's found in exodus chapter 15 and it's a song that he composed after After god had given them that miraculous deliverance by opening the sea and allowing them to proceed On dry ground and to be saved from pharaoh and his armies and and so moses Wrote what is called the the song of moses and and a couple of the verses of that song go like this The lord is my strength and song He has become my salvation. He is my god. I will praise him my father's god I will exalt him then he says this the lord is a man of war The lord is his name The lord is a man of war The lord is his name And this is what we're seeing here because notice verse 12 his eyes were like a flame of fire And on his head were many crowns I want you to think of that for just a moment when it says his eyes I don't know if you've ever taken the time when you read your bibles I don't know if you read and stop meditate and consider what it's taking place but Do it and and think of it like this when he says his eyes were a flame of fire The eyes of jesus christ Well, his eyes were filled with compassion. We know that why Because matthew tells us that he saw the people And he was compassionate towards them Because they were like sheep without a shepherd So we know that jesus when he looked at the people that there would have been a compassion that came out of his eyes If you wait he saw that he looked at them with compassion There was a time when there was a uh, uh, a funeral procession There was a woman who was unnamed her She's simply referred to as the widow of nane a small city there in in in israel And uh, she was Bearing her her son her only son were told in scripture and and jesus looks at this This widow and this procession There's no doubt in his heart that you could see the compassion Of of the of the man jesus christ to the point where he he actually raised this widow's son from the dead There he is at the At the tomb of his dear friend lazarus He had received word from From lazarus his sister that the one whom you love is is nigh into death Hurry quickly He's gonna die and we know the story of how that jesus came and but he came days later so When they saw him they said if you'd only been here on time But he's been dead now for four days and he said where did you lay him? They took him to the place where he had been laid and and and he says he says Open up the tomb and and they said and what he's been dead now for four days He stinks there's a smell of death. There's a smell of rot Within four days they began to putrify. He he stinks and the scripture jesus the shortest Shortest verse in the new testament jesus wept So these are the eyes of compassion These are the eyes that saw the the the people without a shepherd. These are the ones the eyes that saw the woman who Who had lost her son? This is the one who wept The ties his eyes are filled with tears as he saw The place where they buried his friend these are the same eyes by the way that When jesus was being Mistreated and beaten in the night that he had been betrayed and the apostle peter had been there warming himself at the enemy's fire and and jesus had been going through severe beating and in pain and And they began to lead him out and And the bible tells us very clearly that that that peter turned and saw jesus and their eyes met These were the eyes of the one who forgave Someone like the apostle who had denied him So you read your bible consider that for a moment consider the time said he saw so much and and consider how he How he would look how he would see the children and and the eyes that christ would have with the babies when When the mamas would bring their babies to jesus and they'd say can you can you bless them? And and when jesus would see the hurt and when when that that man was lowered from from the roof and and Placed in in front of his feet and he's just looking at and the man Who's who's who can't walk his friends had lowered him through that broken roof? You know that man can't move and he's looking at christ You can imagine how he's looking at jesus, but you can also imagine how jesus was looking at him Your sins are forgiven This is the one when you read your bible so very often would look upon the crowd The the one who would have compassion would describe themselves as being gentle and humble But now the bible says his eyes are like a flame of fire It's a difference now His eyes are flashing if you will with the flame of judgment These eyes are searching. They're exposing. They're observing And the penetrating and he sees everything clearly by the way his judgment is not clouded In heber's 4 13 it says nothing in all creation is hidden from god's sight Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account And so jesus has eyes that are a flame of fire in verse 12 says and on his head were many crowns He had a name written that no one knew So the many crowns simply reveals that he is the king of the whole earth. He's the king of kings Remember again on earth they crowned him they crowned him with a crown of thorns But now he wears the crown of the king Now when it says in verse 12 and this is interesting and i'll touch it for just a moment He had a name written that no one knew except himself. Let me tell you that name No, I don't know it Nobody does The way I read the bible is if it doesn't tell me then I don't speculate So we don't know you simply know that it's a name That is known only to himself But he continues in verse 13 and he says he was clothed with a robe dipped in blood And his name is called the word of god This blood he's clothed with a robe dipped in blood This blood is not the blood that he he poured out on the cross when he bought us when he purchased our redemption The blood that we see here is a picture of judgment See the blood that we see is a picture of the blood of his enemies That he has slain isaas 63 verses 2 and 3 Why is your apparel red and your garments like one who treads in the wine press? I have trodden the wine press alone and from the peoples no one was with me For I have troddened them in my anger and trampled them in my fury Their blood is sprinkled upon my garments and I have stained all my robes So this is a blood of the enemies that are slain in some wonder well wait a minute Why has his garments Been splattered with blood he hasn't gone into the final battle. Why is there blood on his robe? And this is something that ought to encourage every believer The answer is that he has fought for his people throughout Our history this isn't his first battle It's a picture of his final battle Now notice his name verse 13 is called the word of god When it says his name is called the word of god This is what you call one of the titles of messiah In the gospel of john in chapter 1 verse 1 it says in the beginning was the word the word was with god the word was god When you get to verse 14 and the word became flesh and dwelt amongst us And so jesus title is the word of god. This is one of his titles and that's why it says his name is called the word of god He's the word of god. He is the visible representation of the invisible god In colossians 1 19 paul said it pleased the father that in him all the fullness should dwell speaking of christ In colossians 2 verse 9 in him in jesus dwells all the fullness of the godhead bodily And so he is the word of god In verse 14 it continues and said the armies in heaven clothed in fine linen White and clean followed him on white horses And that's interesting. I can't ride a horse I'm gonna have to learn pretty quickly The raptured saints we are included in what are called the armies Of heaven in colossians chapter 3 verse 4 paul said when christ who is your life appears Then you also will appear with him In glory these armies of heaven. Let me look at them for a moment with you The armies of heaven are old testament saints. They are the raptured saints. They are the bride that we see The tribulation saints Angels so those consist of what is referred to as the armies of heaven Now paul in second thessalonians chapter 1 verses 7 through 9 said it like this He said god will provide rest for you who are being persecuted and also for us When the lord jesus appears from heaven He will come with his mighty angels in flaming fire Bringing judgment on those who don't know god And on those who refuse to obey the good news of our lord jesus They will be punished with everlasting destruction Forever separated from the lord And from his glorious power You see when the sixth bold judgment was poured out The armies of antichrists and armies began to gather The kings of the east as we saw in revelation 16 have assembled They're joined by antichrist seven remaining kings according to daniel chapter 7 During this time babalon is destroyed antichrists moves against drusselm The armies are now gathering for an assault Psalm chapter 2 verses 1 and 3 says why do the nations conspire? and the people Plot in vain the kings of the earth rise up the rulers band together against the lord against his anointed Saying let us break their chains. Let us throw off their shackles And so all of this is occurring and jesus responds notice verse 15 It says out of his mouth goes a sharp sword that with it he should strike the nations He himself will rule them with a rod of iron. He himself treads the wine press of the fierceness and wrath of almighty god And so jesus responds the sword that comes out of his mouth reveals his power The power of his word he's doing what he said he would do He's bringing judgment. He had warned them. That's the whole thing in the preaching of the gospel. There's a continuous warning for the things that are to come And that when the gospel is preached and when we speak concerning the return of christ and things related to that There's always a warning when the gospel is proclaimed and people who don't know jesus hear it They're being they're being warned. They're being told these are the things that are going to happen You need to come to faith in christ You need to turn away from your wicked ways when my father and mom were not saved I got saved and I was there in the in the kitchen. That was what motivated me. That's what I was taught I was taught if if you don't know christ you go to hell There is a place called hell you are going to go there and I believed it then I believe it now And my mom and my dad That's why I shared with them and that's why I told my dad what I told him You're a good man dad best man. I'll ever know But you will be the best man in hell if you don't give your heart to christ I love you daddy, and I don't want to go to heaven without you That's what motivated me Because that's the warning and I was taught that from the earliest age of christianity from the time I got saved at 20 You need to be right with god You need to give your heart to christ you can't be playing with god And if you tell him you're going to follow him it needs to be sincere and real It can't be one of the things that you say to a friend just to get over on them or a girl just to get with her It's got to be the truth. It's got to be something you mean with all sincerity And that's why I held back for so long when I heard the gospel I didn't want to do that because I didn't want to be a hypocrite But the day I gave my heart to christ it was forever It wasn't just for this moment or this week or this month It's been for the last 50 years and it goes into eternity because that's what you do when you respond to christ That's how it works And so the sword Reveals the power of christ What he has said he will do And he comes and he kills the wicked The rest of the world the unredeemed That survived this because he kills those in armageddon But there are others who are surviving that aren't this particular location Well, ultimately what happens is there's what is called the judgment of the sheep and the goats Jesus mentioned that taught us that in Matthew 25 31 through 46 Well, this judgment that we're looking at here is going to be swift But it's also a model of how he's going to rule Notice again in verse 15 he himself will rule with it says a rod of iron A rod of iron is a picture of absolute authority Men are required to serve him To conform to his law And they will face immediate penalty if they don't He's going to judge all sin He's going to bring swift judgment on those who disregard him And psalm 2 verses 8 and 9 it says only ask And I will give you the nations as your inheritance the ends of the earth As your possession you will break them with an iron rod And smash them like clay pots Notice how in verse 15 he himself treads the wine press of the fierceness and wrath of almighty god and on his Verse 16 and he has on his robe and on his thigh a name written king of kings And lord of lords He has the absolute right to rule Because he is absolutely triumphed over his enemies Well as this is taking place verse 17 I I saw an angel standing in the sun He cried out with a loud voice saying to all the birds that fly in the midst of heaven Come and gather together for the supper of the great god That you may eat the flesh of kings the flesh of captains the flesh of mighty men The flesh of horses and of those who sit on them and the flesh of all people free and slave both small And great wouldn't what a picture I don't even like to think of that I really don't I mean what a picture remember In the the fifth bowl judgment how that the sun at that time had been darkened you saw that in chapter 16 Well, it would seem that darkness has ended the sun is now shining But the angel is standing in the light of the sun, but he's even more brilliant than the sun And again instead of what we had seen last time the supper of the lamb Well, the birds Eat the flesh of the conquered And this invitation Is given before jesus actually comes in judgment. We'll see that in a moment The dead bodies Will be strewn over the 200 mile length of the battlegrounds there when you think of armageddon There armageddon is an area it's it's in miguito, but the the the The area is not just a small area. It actually goes a great distance And so this this dead bodies are going to be strewn according to revelation 14 20 The wine press was trampled outside the city blood came Out of the wine press up to the horses bridles for 1600 furlongs. That's 200 miles And so this is taking place here and invitation is given because a slaughter is occurring And he says in verse 19. I saw the beast the kings of the earth And their armies gathered together to make war against him who sat on the horse and against his army And so there's a gathering a rebellion a desire to battle the beast is his ten kings the armies They've gathered to fight against the lord They gather together awaiting the rider of the white horse And then what happens is there a great big fight? No verse 20 The beast was captured with him the false prophet who worked signs in his presence By which he deceived those who received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image These two were cast alive into the lake of fire burning with brimstone You know, there was a time when when as a young believer There were people who were or were saying well that there is a god And then there the god of light and then there's the god of darkness And there are different religious systems that actually teach that zoroastrianism is one that speaks of the The god of light the god of darkness and they're basically Co-equal if you will and there were those who were believing that that that satan and that god Almighty are equal the bible doesn't teach that the bible didn't teach that at all There's never been a point in the scripture that you'll ever see that that god says oh no, what am I going to do satan showed up You never see that you never see that you know, it's it's because it's not true You know, I want you to see this because it doesn't talk about a big old war as a matter of fact What you might find interesting is this we don't even fight We though armies of heaven. We're just there watching our king Just demolish these monsters. We just to go. Yeah lord way to go. Thank you, jesus We don't even fight you can stand there swinging around if you want that's okay You can do any good No, it's the lord he does it with the sword of his mouth in other words And I don't want to say this In a way that that that is um improper But all this time so many people have been afraid of satan He has no power over you He does not He does not If god is for us paul said who can be against us if god is for us who can be against us nobody nobody Oh, I could tell you stories about that one, but i'll just say it like this The lord taught me a long time ago I don't have to be the baddest guy in the room I just need to be friends with the one who is That's the truth when I was in the world. I didn't have to be a fighter. I just had a new look know the guy who could He's picking on me. All right. I'll take him out. Thank you Listen, I have a friend Who is the baddest one in the universe? I don't know how else to say it I'll say it like that The baddest one in the universe and guess what? He's my brother He's jesus And so jesus yes when jesus i'll give you a story one story one story story time I was six years old. Yes I was at one time six And I went to school in monobello in a school called freemond elementary I say that because sometimes people from monobello Say I went to that school and I'll say yeah, I remember you know I And you know I went there for a little while And I was I have any friends. So I was walking on the playground I have a brother who's a couple years older than me I was walking on the playground one one day and some kids were playing kickball and the ball rolled to me and They said hey give us the ball, you know, and they said it in a way that I didn't like So I picked up and I kicked it in the opposite direction go get it yourself Well, they didn't like it And so a guy jumped on me Little older than me I still remember his angry face as he was trying to strangle me And I was kind of laughing you like this is kind of weird. Why are you doing this? It's just a ball go get it But this angry face true story this angry face that he was showing to me he was really mad for some reason Changed to one of pain I use this close to me And so I'm looking at him and his face from this Well, I looked over my his shoulder and my older brother Frankie Was behind him and had grabbed him by the neck with his thumb and his forefinger And was squeezing it and the kid was doing this and my brother pulled him off See, I've never forgotten that So jesus That's jesus he does it for me. That's why That's why you don't have to fear I mean my pastor taught it something a long time ago. He said when you see jesus is afraid then maybe you should be But if you never see him afraid, then maybe you don't need to be Just makes sense to me. What's he afraid of he's not afraid of anything. He's not afraid of anything This is not even a fight He just he comes down. Well, it's over. That's that's what happens. It's done The beast was captured with him the false prophet who works signs in his presence These people who are looked at is so fierce and so awesome and to be worshiped immediately. They're dealt with And it says they were cast alive into the lake of fire burning with brimstone And so the first they are the first ones to enter into what has been called the permanent place of eternal Incarceration they're cast into that next week. We get to see a see a second phase of this But it goes on to say in verse 21 and the rest were killed with the sword Which proceeded from the mouth of him who sat on the horse and all the birds were filled with their flesh The armies exterminated There will be judgment as mentioned the sheep and goat judgment And those who rejected mercy received judgment I've had more than one conversation with people who said well, I'll hear you another time Maybe some other time. I'm not ready right now when I was first witness to when people first share with me about the gospel I was I was a young you know a younger teen And I remember the first time somebody spoke to me about Jesus Christ and I was on the beach and you know enjoying the sun and and The girls in the bikinis and everything else, right and I'm thinking now He said, you know, you need Jesus Christ this guy still remember me standing with his bible some young guy And he's looking at me and I'm thinking are you kidding me? I was 16. Are you kidding me? I said not I'm not Look around you You think I want to Not enjoy what's in front of me. I want to have as many girls as I can I want to have I want to drink as much as I want. I want to do as much dope as I Is like are you kidding me? But I I remember saying, you know, I think what you're saying is true And I did intellectually I think what you're saying is true. There is a god and and there is a messiah jesus I had been taught that and yes, you know, there is a heaven. I didn't know too much about how I didn't I don't know if I even really thought of that, but I said, yeah, there is a heaven Yes, I want to go to heaven. Those are all things but I remember saying I'm not ready. I'm not ready I've got things to do. I got things to do. I've got more misery to go through I've got more misery to go through More pain more sorrow more heartache more Evil I can't tell you what took place between the time I was 16 first here in the gospel in 20 when I got saved But if I'd have if I'd have known That I'd be in jail with a friend vomited in my face and the cops laughing Look at this look at this and my friend bill who became a police officer and still teases me about this But when bill was there puking on me and I was saying stop it bill and he was saying I can't Man they ought to do that for one of the beer commercials. Hey guys drink this and look what can happen Yeah right You know what i'm talking about some of you know what i'm talking about Some of you pretend you don't know but you know Is there anything you wish you would have avoided before coming to christ anything? Are they hard in their hearts? When you reject mercy You receive judgment He's tried to teach that i'll close with this I used to try to teach that to my kids and I told my david when he was a young kid. I said son You did something that you had to really get a spanking for But i'm going to teach you something it's the word grace and it means unmerited favor And though I should spank you for what you did I'm going to give you grace Learned this lesson my son. Thank you daddy fine a week or two later. He did something wrong And I said oh son and he said dad grace grace daddy grace. I said nope judgment you know When you when you reject grace You only have judgment Never forget that You reject mercy You leave yourself for judgment They did not want god's grace and mercy And they ended up with this judgment So scripture teaches us and i'll close with this scripture To live a life separated to the lord and to live With expectation In titus chapter 2 13 we wait for the blessed hope the glorious appearing of our great god and savior Jesus christ We wait for that blessed hope We wait to see the one who is our hope and we prepare ourselves And that moment when we'll see him is not that far away Don't convince yourself that it's a long distance away I promise you You will discover should the lord give you Strength to live many years You're going to discover how quickly your life has passed by And for those of you who are parents of adult children, you know what i'm saying You once had a small baby And now that baby's married giving you small babies And it's like you blinked your eye How did this happen? How did they get so old? And i stayed so young how did that happen? And then And then you can see whether god answers all prayers because i prayed me you have a child as bad as you were to me Father we bless you and we thank you lord for indeed we do look forward To being with our king jesus who is king Of kings He is lord of lords he is The one who loves us and who gave himself for us And he's returning He came as messiah But the next time he comes as judge So i asked that we might Never take that for granted And i asked that you would just work in our hearts lord. We've heard the message We know that we're sinners. We know we need your grace and forgiveness We know the blood of christ Your son cleanses us from all sin I asked that we have applied that i prayed that every person watching this in here has applied that blood As my faith received that washing know you And even as our eyes are closed for a moment, perhaps there are some right now who need to get right with the lord You need to give your heart to christ You may be watching online. You may be in an overflow. You may be in this room But if you know you need prayer and you need to get right with the lord before i close I want to pray for you that you might open your heart and be with them And so if you know that you need him right now, you need to be right Would you raise your hand and let me pray for you right where you're at? Just raise your hand so i might see your father you see these hands You know the reason why they're being raised to you father in jesus name I pray that you would reach down and touch these whose hands are raised And father that you would just touch them in such a way that their lives forever will be changed May your holy spirit work in them deeply Washing cleansing and empowering That they might live for you From this moment on lord, I pray that they would know you hunger for you and follow you work in them lord transform them And be glorified in them So as our our hands are raised to you we pray that you would reach down And touch and we give you thanks for this now lord and bless you. Thank you. We receive Thank you. You can put your hands down And jesus i ask that you keep moving in all of us to your glory in your name amen