Well, with all of that said, I invite you to take your Bible and turn to Revelation 19:11-16. We’re in a series of your visiting called Things to Come. We’re looking at prophecy. We’re looking at the future as described by Jesus and prescribed by scripture. We’re looking at the great turning points and tipping points of history that still lie ahead of us. We have looked at the signs that will mark the last days. We’ve looked at the rapture of the church. We’ve looked at the judgment seat, we’ve looked at the tribulation period, the rise of the Antichrist. We’ve looked at the battle of Armageddon and for two weeks we looked at the future of the nation of Israel, which is God’s special people. And so this morning we’re going to look at the second coming of Jesus to earth with his saints.
And then next Sunday morning we’re going to look at the Millennial Kingdom and then we’ll do Easter. And then in the other side of Easter, we will take a look at the great white throne, a terrifying portrayal of the judgment of the unsaved on a final day. And ultimately then the last message will be the new heaven and the new Earth. I hope you realize that our eternal existence is not up there. It’s down here in an earth that’s been remade and you’re going to love that study. But this morning we’re looking at the second coming of Jesus, a message I’ve called the big reveal because the book of Revelation is about the unveiling of the glory of Jesus Christ post resurrection and ascension, and here we have the big reveal when he comes back in power and in glory. Revelation 19:11-16, follow along in your copy of God’s word.
Now I saw heaven opened and behold a white horse and he who sat on him was called faithful and true and then 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 of in heaven clothed in fine linen, white and clean followed him on white horses. That 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 winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. And he has on his robe on his thigh a knee him written King of Kings and Lord of Lords, composer and musician.
Johann Sebastian Bach was known sometimes by his family to sleep more than he should and they had an interesting way of dealing with this as he slept in, as he extended his nap time. And what they would do as a family was they would go to a piano in the home and they would play a composition that he would know maybe even something he wrote, but when they got to the final note, they would stop. And this would trigger him and he would immediately awake out of his sleep and he would go to the piano and he would play the final chord. He couldn’t stand the final note being left hanging. And given the shape of the world today, I think all of us are like that. We get a collective sense, don’t we? That God’s grand composition is almost played out. The last days are here.
We’ve seen that throughout this study. As we look out on our world, the days of lot and Noah are here. There are wars and rumors of wars. Jerusalem and the nation of Israel is a cup of trembling among the other nations, plagues, earthquakes, false Christs, apostasy within the church. Men are lovers of pleasure rather than God. We could go down the list. The last days are here. It seems that God’s grand composition is almost played out. We’re just waiting for the final note to be struck. Now what is that final note? Well, it’s the visible, physical, glorious return of Jesus to planet earth. It’s the second coming of the Savior. It’s the last note on the final page of God’s song of triumph over sin, death and hell. History awaits the grand consummation of the ages when Jesus comes back and puts his feet on the Mount of Olives and claims the earth for himself. The one who came in grace the first time will come in glory the second time.
I like what Angel Martinez, a southern Baptist evangelist of years ago said. The second coming is not only essential to the church, it’s essential to the Godhead. The visible return of Christ is the compilation and completion of what God intends to do with and for the human race. It is important to the purpose of God. I love this. The incarnation without the coronation would be like height without depth. West without east, day without night. Man cannot reform Bethlehem and deny all of it. The two intrusions, the first and second coming are essential to the summation of God’s intent for sinful man. He who has come, says the Hebrew writer, will come and he won’t tarry. That’s where we’re at here in our series of things to come. We’ve worked our way through many of the events that lie ahead of us and we come this morning to look at Revelation 19:11-16.
Now let me put this text in its context. This is one of the great chapters of the Bible because it spells victory. It announces triumph not only for Christ but for the church and for Israel, this is a great chapter. We have the marriage supper of the lamb, the wedding between Christ and the church, the bride and the bridegroom. We have the return of Jesus to earth with his church to set up his kingdom. We have the final defeat of the antichrist and the false prophet. This is a wonderful capstone on the death, burial and resurrection and ascension of Jesus Christ. It is what my friend Dr. Ed Hindson calls the final apologetic. He’s got a wonderful little commentary and Revelation and he says, this scene is the final apologetic on Christ because it answers all the questions about Christ that silences all the debates about Christ.
Here we see who he is and all his glory and in all his majesty. Here is the final apologetic. Here is the big reveal. So you remember back in chapter 1:1, this book is called the Revelation of Jesus Christ. It’s not the Revelation of St. John the Divine, it’s the revolution of Jesus Christ. You saw that the word revolution, apocalypses is a word that means to unveil. Maybe a plaque on a wall or a statue of someone important in a city is covered and veiled with a curtain and there comes a moment when the string is pulled and there is the unveiling, the apocalypses. What we have in the book of Revelation is a revealing of who Jesus is now post-resurrection, post ascension, he’s risen, he’s seated, he’s radiant and he’s returning in power and glory. The final apologetic.
In his book on the second coming, John MacArthur tells about being in Kazakhstan for a week of meetings. It was focused on training pastors about the doctrine of the church and it was all day long. He was three four days into it. By about Thursday he says they were well into the epistles. And on a lunch break, the pastor who had organized the conference took John MacArthur aside and said, you know what? A lot of the pastors are asking, when are you going to get to the good part? And John goes, “What do you mean the good part?” Well, the good part when Jesus comes for his church at the rapture and then later with his church at the Revelation, my friend, that is the good part. And here it is in Revelation 11:19, sorry, verses 11:16. So let’s look at this text. There’s three things about the big reveal, the coming of Jesus to earth with his saints. Number one, he comes visibly.
Number two, he comes victoriously. Number three, he comes vengefully, it’s all here in the text. Let’s begin with this first thought. He comes visibly verse 11. Now I saw heaven opened, something’s being revealed here we’re about to see something and behold, take a look at this, a white horse and he who sat on the horse was called faithful and true and in righteousness he judges and makes war. Jesus comes visibly. John is writing, don’t forget to a persecuted church. It’s 1895 and Nero has passed and now the mission is at the helm of the Roman Empire and there’s been a fresh outbreak of persecution.
And so John writes this letter, this vision, this prophecy to the churches in Asia Minor which are described in chapters two and three. And what he draws to this persecuted church is set before them, a sight for sore eyes. You know what? There’s coming today when the heavens will open and he who has come welcome and won’t tarry. You’ll notice the phrase here or the word behold speaks of a new emphasis. Typically. Hey, take a look at this. I’m about to share something significant and new that warrants your attention. Here John invites fixation on a matter of Christian truth. John invites them to give fixation to this truth that Jesus is coming again in power and glory because it’s a game changer. It is the glorious sight of King Jesus visible return to earth to establish his kingdom. Now you remember back to the Gospels just as the heavens opened for the coming of the Holy Spirit on Jesus.
Remember that seen of this baptism in Luke 3:21-22, the heavens open and the spirit and the symbol of the shape of a dove come down and lights on Jesus and baptizes him with power for his earthly ministry. Just as the heavens open for the coming of the Holy Spirit. On Jesus, someday the heavens will open again for his return. At the second coming. Let me put it another way, going back to the gospels and the early part of the book of Acts. At the end of his first coming, the heavens opened to let him in. Remember that scene in Acts 1:9-11, his ascension and Jesus is received up into the heavens and the angel says to his disciples, “Man of Galilee, why do you stand here looking up into the heavens?” This same Jesus that you saw go up into the heavens will return again in like manner.
At the end of his first coming, the heavens opened up the let him in. Now at his second coming, they’re going to open to let him out to come back in power and glory and establish His kingdom and judge his enemies and rescue the living saints of the tribulation period. Now there’s three things about His coming visibly. Number one, it’s a promised return. It’s a promised return. This idea of the heavens opening and Jesus returning in power and glory and everyone seen it and beholding it well that’s found back in Matthew 24 verse 30 where Jesus says then the sign of the son of man will appear in the heaven and in all the tribes of the earth will mourn and they will see the son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and glory.
So what we see described here in Revelation 19 has already been promised back in Matthew 24, but it’s also promised at the beginning of this book, Revelation 1:7, behold he is coming with clouds picking up the images of Matthew 24 and every eye will see Him, even they who pierced Him and all the tribes of the earth will mourn because of Him. So this event that we’re looking at has been promised. There are many other promises attached to the second coming, but here is the promise of His return. So this is a promised return and it’s just a reminder that the word of God, that the Old and New Testaments has many promises regarding the return of Jesus. Mark Hitchcock in his book, The End, says this, “Jesus return is explicitly referred to 1800 times in the Bible just as a round number, 1500 times in the Old Testament, 300 times in the New Testament.”
Listen to this, the second coming is mentioned 23 of the 27 books of the New Testament. Out of the New Testament 260 chapters there are 318 references to the second coming, which means that there’s a reference to the second coming in every chapter and more. The second coming is mentioned at times for every reference to his first coming and for every mention of the atonement and the shed blood of Christ on the cross there are two references to the second coming. This is a prominent doctrine. This is a paramount truth and here we see it being fulfilled here in Revelation 19. So we have the visible return of Jesus, we see that it’s promised and S second we see that it’s physical. It’s physical, we’re going to be able to see Him. This isn’t a spiritual return or a secret return.
Jesus did come spiritually in the coming of the Holy Spirit, but even though he promises to come to His disciples spiritually, that doesn’t abrogate the earlier promise that He will come physically to receive them unto himself that where He is, they also may be in the father’s house. And again, Jesus will meet us in the valley of the shadow of death and come to His people. But again, that does not in any way cancel the multiple promises of His physical visible return to earth. And not only is His return physical in that he’s in his resurrected state, it’s to a literal location. Zechariah 14:1-4 tells us that his feet will touch the Mount of Olives. That’s one of the highlights of our trips to Israel when we sit across from the city of Jerusalem and imagine the Lord Jesus touching the Mount of Olives and entering the city.
We could go back to Acts 1:9-11. Jesus left earth from the Mount of Olives and the angels say, “Hey, as you saw him go, so he will come in like manner.” He left the Mount of Olives and He’s coming back to the Mount of Olives. It is a physical return. It’s not spiritual, it’s not secret. In fact, according to Revelation 1:7, every eye will see him, every eye will see him. How is that possible? Well, there are several theories about it. One of the theories is Jesus may remain suspended in the air among the clouds until the earth has rotated on its axis in a 24-hour period and every eye will see Him possible.
Also, it could be fulfilled just in a miraculous act that although Jesus comes in a moment, touches down on the Mount of Olives, God supernaturally at that moment transmits the reality of that to every human heart and every human mind or it could be televised, take your pick. Could be televised with today’s 20-hour cable news with media platforms, with mobile phones, those in Jerusalem who see that event take place, all of a sudden it will be breaking news on CNN and the world will see Him.
In fact, speaking about CNN, it’s interesting that cable news really began with CNN. Media mogul, Ted Turner, had a vision for a global 24-hour news network and am amazingly none of the big networks ever imagined such a thing. And when he suggested that none of them were interested, CBS, ABC, NBC, they all had global news divisions that spanned the world, but they were simply happy to tell you the news in a 30-minute segment or a 60-minute segment every evening. But Ted Turner broke the category of news-gathering and he hired Bernard Shaw who was previously with ABC and he launched a cable news network CNN on June 1980.
Here’s what he said. Quote, “We won’t be signing off until the world comes or sorry, we won’t be signing off until the world ends. Well, given the ratings, that might not be true. But isn’t it amazing At the beginning of CNN he says, we won’t be signing off until the world ends. We’ll be on and we will cover the end of the world live. Well, maybe so, maybe so. And every eye will see him and those who pierced will mourn because of him. So this visible return is promised. This visible return is physical and I want to remind you, this aspect of Jesus’ return is phased. It’s a phased return.
Go to verse 14, we’ll come back to it when we look at the armies in heaven, but on the armies in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean followed Him on white horses. Now the armies of heaven, we believe to be a combination of both human and angelic beings. The church-age saints will be in heaven. They’re in the father’s house. The married Supper of the Lamb will take place prior to this event and Jesus will return with both an army of angels and a host of human spiritual warriors who have been glorified and you notice they will follow him out of heaven. And I think that’s important. Don’t miss that. This is a coming of Jesus, not for the saints, but with the saints. Verse 1 Thessalonians 4 tells us we’ll be caught up to meet him in the air. How does that jive with us being in heaven and returning with him to the earth? Well, it jives if you believe in a pre-tribulational rapture and a post-tribulational revelation, which is the conviction of this church, its elders and deacons and it’s in our statement of faith.
The rapture for the saints takes place before the tribulation. John 14:1-6, one Thessalonians 4:13-18 and then you have the revelation of Jesus Christ and power and glory with the saints at the end of the tribulation. Revelation 19:14 and then Jude verses 14. Jude 14 is a beautiful verse. It says that Jesus is going to return with 10 thousands of thousands of saints. What a beautiful picture. In fact, we can contrast those realities and it’s helpful to do that, isn’t it? Again, I quoted Dr. Ed Hindson in his book on Revelation in another book of his, the global warning. He compares the rapture of the church with the glorious appearing of the Lord Jesus Christ. And I think it’s helpful number one if you’re going to compare them at the rapture. Christ comes for believers in the air.
At the revelation, Christ comes with believers to the earth that the rapture of the church will be taken to heaven, to the father’s house, will be caught up to be with the Lord in the air and so shall we be with the Lord forever. But at the revelation, Christ sets up his kingdom on earth. We return with him and we reign with Him. That the rapture, it will occur at any time it’s imminent and requires no signs. But the second coming cannot occur until the end of the tribulation. A seven-year period, the 70th week of Daniel, and there are numerous signs that precede it. Earths plagues, earthquakes, wars, rumors of wars in the gospel being preached all around the world. The rapture affects only believers. The second coming, the Revelation affects all of humanity. One is a time of joy, the other is a time of mourning.
You’ll notice in Matthew 24:30 and in Revelation one seven that when Jesus returns it says on the earth or the nations will mourn because of him. Do you know why? Because the game’s up, the day of visitation is over. The door of opportunity has been slammed in their face and those who haven’t received Him will be rejected by Him. He who was the savior will now be the judge at the rapture. Satan is not bound but wreaks havoc on the earth. But at the revelation, Satan is bound in the abyss for a thousand years at the rapture. Christ’s own will see him at the revelation all the earth will see him at the rapture. The seven-year tribulation follows at the revelation the 1000-year rain follows.
It’s a wonderful, helpful comparison that you need to think through that plays into the idea of is the rapture of the church or post-trib. I like the story of the Christian woman who was once telling her pastor about her assurance of salvation and how she’d punched her ticket to heaven through faith in Jesus Christ. And she said to him, “I have taken a one-way ticket to glory and do not intend to come back. To which her pastor replied, “You are sure going to miss a lot.”
I’ve taken a round trip ticket. I’m not only going to meet Christ in glory, but I’m coming back with Him in power and glory to the earth. We didn’t take a one-way ticket to heaven my friend. We’ve got a round trip ticket. We’re coming back with Christ with the saints. So Christ is going to come visibly. Number two, Christ is going to come victoriously. You’ll notice in the verses that follow verse 11, this glorious description of Christ riding on a white horse, faithful and true, who comes to judge and make war, who wears many crowns, whose robe is dipped in blood, whose name is the word of God, who strikes the nations with His condemning word, who rules with a rod of iron, who tramples under foot rebellious mankind in the winepress of his wrath. Everything about that is triumphant victorious. The first time Jesus came, He came in grace with His true glory veiled.
That’s why Paul says, “Had they known they would never have crucified the Lord of glory,” but they misunderstood him and they missed him. The first time He came, He came in grace with His true glory veiled, but when he comes the second time, He will come with his glory unveiled. The revelation of Jesus Christ. That’s why I called my message here the big Reveal. Matthew 24:30 tells us he’s going to return in power and glory. The first time he came, He came to Jerusalem, humbly riding on a donkey. The second time He comes to Jerusalem, He will come astride a white horse in the victory formation. Now, I don’t take the white horse literally. I don’t think you have to. I think there’s symbolic language in the book of Revelation, but remember, even symbolic language has a literal image or implication in mind and whether you take the white horse literally or symbolically, the meaning is this, that Jesus rides out of heaven.
Jesus emerges out of heaven victorious in triumphant because the image of the white horse is taken from Roman history. The Bible knowledge commentary says it was customary for a triumphant Roman general to parade on the via Sacra, a main thoroughfare in Rome followed by evidence of his victory in the form of booty and captives. That’s the image Paul sets before the Corinthians, right? Christ is always leading us in victory or in triumph. This is the triumphant procession of a Roman general returning from war and the white horse He would ride on was a symbol of that victory. Now whether you take it literally or symbolically, the meaning is the same. Jesus will emerge from heaven, so to speak, ride out of heaven, and he will come with the redeemed saints and he will come with a host of angel armies and He will come back to earth to announce His triumph, which was established by the way in His death, burial, resurrection, and ascension.
Let me say two things about His coming victoriously. I want you to see what I call His depiction. I want you to see His dominion. There is an unveiling of Christ here. There is a revealing of Christ here that you and I don’t want to miss. He’s no longer the babe of Bethlehem. He’s no longer the suffering servant. He’s the king of kings and Lord of lords. The glory which he had before the foundation of the world which was veiled in human flesh and hidden during his incarnation except for flashes of it and miracles that glory has returned to Him.
We see him figure, don’t we in chapter one and some of that language reappears here in chapter 19. This is Christ risen. This is Christ ascended. This is Christ seated. This is Christ glorified. This is the Lord of Lords and the king of kings and here we have what I call his depiction. We need to update our worship with this depiction in mind. This is the Christ we worship. This is the Christ who among us as he’s pictured in Revelation two and three, taking note of your worship, your commitment, your discipleship, my preaching, my life, my marriage, and he’s got eyes that are like a flaming fire. He looks and he judges and he weirs. Notice He’s the rider on the white horse. We’ve already touched on that which speaks of His victory. He’s called faithful and true. You’ll get that in chapter 3:14 also, which speaks of his integrity.
He keeps His promise and He’s promised to return and he will keep that promise. All the promises of God are yes and amen in Him. He judges on wages, war in righteousness. He came the first time as the Savior. He will come the second time as judge to judge those who have rejected him as Savior. See again, hHe’s got eyes or a flame of fire. Revelation 1:14 as well as our tax. It speaks about his penetrating look, His omniscience, His knowledge of all things. When he judges, he judges with complete knowledge and he judges fairly and he sees what we have hidden and he exposes it. He wears many diadems on his head, which is also fine in chapter 6:2. In fact, this is the verse here, verse 12, where he wears many crowns on his head. That’s the verse from which we get our hymn crying hymn with many crowns, the lamb upon the throne. This is it. And I think it just speaks of his sovereignty.
He is sovereign over many spheres. First Philippians 2:5-11 would remind us he’s Lord of things under the earth, on the earth and above the earth. He wears many crowns, many diadems. His name is unknown. Since it’s unknown I have nothing to say. He is clothed in a robe dipped in blood. We’ll get back to this, but is this His own blood? Is this a symbol of His redeeming work on the cross for mankind? I don’t think so. The context of judgment, the context is 17-21 is the slaughter of the enemies of God at the battle of Armageddon. And I think when Jesus walks the winepress of the fierce and awesome wrath of God, the blood of His enemies will splatter.
It’s a terrifying image of Jesus robe dipped in the blood of his enemies. That’s not the Jesus you hear preached in most pulpits today. It’s not the Jesus the society will accept OR documentaries are made of. He’s called the word of God and out of his mouth goes this sharp sword. He will rule with a rod of iron that’s straight out of Psalm 2:9 and he trades the winepress of the fierce wrath of God and is written on his garment and on his thigh. This name king of kings and Lord of lords. That is an awesome awe-inspiring depiction of the Lord Jesus Christ and I would remind you this is who He is.
This is Christ with his glory returned. This is not a soft, sanitized version of Jesus who pats children on the head, wouldn’t harm a fly, loves everybody sends no one to hell. I mean that’s the version of Jesus most people get who basically came to say one thing, do unto others is you would have them do unto you. Live by the golden rule. Now this is no softer sanitized version. The filter of his incarnation is being removed and now we see him unveiled not as he was but as he is. Ever. Think about that little phrase in one John three, one to three where John says this one Christ shall appear, we shall be like him for we shall see him.
What does it say? As he is not as He was in obscurity in Bethlehem, the son of a carpenter, not as He was with nowhere to lay his head, not as He was hanging naked on a cross with the soldiers gambling for His garments. No. As He is that time of loneliness, misunderstanding, battered and wounded on the cross for our sins, that time is over and now he will be revealed in all his glory. This is the Christ you must deal with. This is the Christ who exists in heaven the day who’s returning tomorrow. I know what I find to be true. I think it was Irwin Lutzer who gave me this thought. The less the world knows about Jesus, the more they love him. See, they like the sanitized version.
They like the clip and paste of Jesus. I like this bit and I like this bit. Let’s put that together. That’s the Jesus we like, but now this is a full portrait of him. The less the world knows about Jesus, the more they love Him, the more they know Him, the less I like Him. This is the Jesus who will come in power and glory and the nations to hell. This is the Jesus who will come someday sir and tell you to depart from him because he doesn’t know you because you don’t know Him. You’ve refused to repent. You’ve refused to accept His death on your behalf. You’ve refused to bow the knee to His Lordship and live the life that you have that he gave you for His glory.
I like the words of Peter Guzmich who was the president of the evangelical seminary in the former Yugoslavia and he would say this to his students and to his seminarians quote, “in going out to evangelize in Yugoslavia, I frequently tell our seminary students that our main task may be simply to wash the face of Jesus.” What did he mean by that? Hey guys, go out and wash the face of Jesus. What he meant by that was that the face of Jesus has been so dirtied and distorted by bad theology and liberal Christianity and secularism and atheism and humanism and communism that we need to go out and wash his face and get rid of all the lies and misunderstandings that people have of him and let them see him in all his glory and in all his grace. It’s not what Revelation 19:1-11-16 does for us to washes the face of Jesus.
It washes away the spittle and the blood that marked His face when man hung him on a cross washes away the bruising from the fists that punched His cheeks. Now we see Him risen and glorious, king of kings and Lord of lords. None of you see His depiction. I want you to see His dominion. We’re looking at Christ not only returning visibly but victoriously and we’re picking up this thread again of triumph and victory and we’re picking up this idea that He wears many crowns and He rides on a victorious stallion and He’s king of kings and Lord of lords.
He’s going to return in triumph, he’s going to lead the church in Israel and triumph over their enemies and his enemies. He’s going to make war, he’s going to reign and he’s going to come and do several things that will manifest His power and glory. Remember, He’s not coming to do something new. He’s coming to do something more on the basis what he has already done. We know from Colossians 2:14-15 that upon on the cross and with his resurrection, He spoiled principalities and powers. He triumphed over sin and death and hell, and while that triumph was real, the manifestation of it was limited. So when He returns in power and glory, He’s going to manifest what’s already been true, that Satan is defeated, sin has been answered, death is being conquered and he is Lord. What will he do? Well, He’ll come to fulfill his promise to come.
We see in verses 17-21 He will come to defeat the antichrist and the kings of the world that have gathered in Megiddo to move towards Jerusalem and Christ will slaughter them in the valley of Jehoshaphat. He’s coming to regather and redeem and restore faithful Israel. We saw that, didn’t we? They’ll come that moment on the brink of destruction and devastation that the deliverer will come out of Zion and all Israel will be saved. He’s coming to judge the living at the judgment of the sheep and the goats, Matthew 25. He will determine of the Gentile nations who enters the kingdom and who does not. He will come to resurrect the dead that is the dead Old Testament saints and the dead martyrs of the tribulation. He will come to bind Satan for a thousand years as He establishes his kingdom and then he will come to not only establish His kingdom but to bring about a new heaven and a new earth.
That’s His dominion, that’s His triumph made manifest. That’s the big reveal. Before I leave that thought and we get to our last thought, this is a triumphant moment that’s being depicted before us. This is the moment that the saints of God have imagined and waited for throughout millenniums, the triumph of Christ, the rule of righteousness, the extinction of wickedness. In fact, for 18 long and lamentable chapters we have waited for this moment. I like what Phil Moore, a British Baptist pastor says in his book in Revelation, this is the moment you have been waiting for. Better than the moment when Superman to save Louis Lane better than the scene in Commando. When Arnold Schwarzenegger finally puts on his camouflage and weapons and saves his kidnapped daughter. Better than the moment when the Ace poker player smiles and reveals his winning hand. This is the moment when Jesus Christ rides out to war.
Up until this moment, 18 chapters of anticipation, tribulation and expectation has gripped our stomachs with righteous indignation, with each succeeding chapter of blasphemy and justice. We long more and more for Jesus to rise up upon his throne and assert his powerful rule. Revelation is deliberately structured in the run-up to this passage to make us cry like David in the book of Psalms. Arise oh Lord, let not man triumph. Let the nations be judged in your presence. Strike them with terror oh Lord. Let the nations know that they are but man, suddenly our prayers are answered, the darkness clears. This is the moment that God places Trump card and silence falls.
This is the moment that Jesus Christ rides out to war and no one and nothing can resist. It’s the great moment depicted for us and we’re going to be part of it. We’re going to ride out with him to triumph and we’re going to see justice established righteousness, reigning and those who have troubled the church trouble themselves. What a word of consolation to the suffering saints of the church age. What a word of consolation to the martyred saints of the tribulation.
We might lose some battles along the way, but we will win the war because he leads us in triumph. The gates of hell will not prevail. You know the story but I’m going to tell it again because it’s appropriate to this point and we move on of the Semney students who were playing basketball in a gym outside their facilities that they got an afternoon of the week and as they were leaving the court to go and get shard up and go back to school and they noticed that the janitor was sitting on the bleachers reading his Bible and one of the seminarians asked him, what are you reading? He said, I’m reading the book of Revelation. Well, the guy had just done a class on the book of Revelation and he felt he was none the wiser for it.
It’s a difficult book. They understand all of its language and its symbols and its pictures, and so he thought he had teased the janitor with, well, do you understand that? And his surprise, the janitor with a voice of confidence and clarity, he said, well, I do and with tongue in cheek he said, what do you mean you do? Well, what’s its meaning? To which he replied, it means Jesus is going to win and that is the meaning of the book of Revelation and you get behind all the events and when you’ve heard all the noises and you’ve seen some of the horrors that will unfold. In the end, Jesus is going to win and we’re going to win with him.
By the way, C. S Lewis in his captivating work, Screwtape Letters depicts the devil as a figure called Screwtape and he’s given advice to another figure called Wormwood, his nephew, his favorite demonic recruiter on earth and he exhorts him of these words, quote, “The church is a fertile field. If you just keep them bickering over detail, structure, organization, money, property, personal hurts and misunderstandings. One thing you must prevent, don’t ever let them look up and see the banners flying. For if they ever see the banners flying. We have lost them forever.”
Oh, my friend. In a world marked by famine and sex trafficking and injustice and murder and conflict and wars and especially the persecution of God’s people. It’s hard to see the banners flying, but they are. Can’t you hear them fluttering as Jesus rises from his throne and marshals the armies of heaven and gets ready to come and take what is his planet earth? He’s coming visibly. He’s coming victoriously. Finally, He’s coming vengefully. This is strong medicine. This won’t be heard in your average pulpit. This is what’s being toned down from the mouths of preachers today. The doctrine of God’s wrath, the reality of a place called hell, and the fact that those who reject Jesus Christ will be damned forever. That’s the context of our passage.
Jesus is coming to crush His enemies. Verses 11:16 are followed in verses 17-21 by description of the bottle of Armageddon, which turns out to be a slaughter where the carcasses of man and the flesh of human beings will become a great supper for birds of prey and vultures. It’s a horrible image, but it’s real. Because 2nd Thessalonians 1:3-10 tells us he’s coming with vengeance and he will destroy his enemies with his breath. I mean, look at the language of what we have been studying here as we move to a close, He comes to judge and make war, war with who war with those who make war with Him and His people and His gospel. He comes with a robe dipped in blood, their blood, the blood of His enemies. He comes with the armies of heaven. He comes to smite the nations with his mouth, He comes with to rule with the rod of iron. He comes to tread the wine press of his wrath.
Let’s expand on those images for a few moments. He comes to make war. You see, the first time Jesus came, He came to make peace and He made peace through the blood of His cross. That’s what Paul tells the Ephesians and the Colossians. Jesus offered his life as an act of propitiation, a big word that means satisfaction. See, you and I have sinned. We have broken the law of God. We’ve taken His name in vain. We have thought lustfully, we have committed adultery, we have coveted, we have not kept His day. We have fallen short of His glory. We’re in arrears, but God sent His son to satisfy the just demands of his holiness and law because Jesus broke no law. Jesus was sinless dying for sinners. And so Jesus comes the first time to make peace through the blood of His cross, but He will come the second time to make war with those who reject such peace.
I want you to know today, sir, madam, this is the day of visitation. This is the day of salvation. The door in the God’s presence is a jar and Jesus is the door. Get a hold of him and go through by trusting in Him, but if you failed to do that, make no mistake about it. He who is willing to be your savior will also be your willing judge. He comes to make war with those who reject his peace while he is the lamb, he is also the lion and he will defar his enemies. You’ve got this idea of His robe dipped in blood. I’m going to combine that with the idea also. Verse 15, that He treads the winepress of the fierceness of the wrath of Almighty God. The blood on his garment is not His own blood, it’s the blood of His slaughtered enemies immediately in the context.
It’s the kings and nations of the world that have risen up against God in the battle of Armageddon. It’s the Antichrist and the false prophet, but it speaks more largely to those who reject God who are in this world without God and without hope. In fact, this image of blood on the garment goes back to Isaiah 60:1-3 when God does battle with his enemies. Now since the context is the battle of Armageddon, it’s interesting in Revelation 14:20, that image is used again and it says by the time God has walked or trod the winepress of His wrath that the blood of man, His enemies will stretch for 180 miles long and will be four foot deep and will go to the bridle of the horse.
Are we to take that so literally that we believe that blood will fill a landmass in Israel four feet deep? Possibly. But I think the winepress image alerts us to a different angle on that. Now, a winepress was a large stone or a large cistern that had been hewn out of stone. In the middle of it was a hole and beneath that there were vessels or vats to collect the wine from the grapes that would be trampled and often in fact always for the most part this was during a time of celebration and so when the harvest was brought in, the grapes were put in the cistern.
Two or three people would jump in and they would trample the winepress and the wine would… The grape juice would go into the vats. But in the joy and jumping up and down with all the grapes were being splattered all over the place, the wine juice would splatter up onto their garments, up to their waist. And so certainly that’s the image that God’s wrath will be so fierce against mankind who have spurned His love, exhausted His patience that when Jesus tramples them underfoot that the solder will be so large that and so fierce that there’ll be a splattering of blood up onto his garments. He comes with the armies of heaven.
We said that’s a army made up of humans and angels. He comes with the saints according to Jude 14, we know that He will return with angels according to Matthew 24. It’s probably church-age saints and then Old Testament believers raised at a second coming tribulation saints who were martyred raised that is coming combined with angel armies. You’ve got this sharp sword that comes out of His mouth. Remember Jesus is described in are text as the word of God and he’s going to slay His enemies and slaughter those who oppose God’s rule with a sharp sword out of His mouth.
This fight will be over before it starts. I’ve said this a couple of times in this series. It could be well be that Jesus will come in power and glory with the armies of heaven and as the armies look up to fight Him, he’ll just say drop dead because His word is powerful as his word brings life, it also brings death. The sword is a symbol of the deadly, hurt and power of Christ’s words. Ephesians 6:17 and Hebrews 4:12-13 tells us about the word of God being a sword. We see the power of His word, don’t we? When he says to Lazarus, come forth, we see the power of His word when he says to the storm, be still, when they went to arrest Him in John 18:6, he spoke and it said those who went to touch Him staggered back and fell.
We see the power of His word and He will come and out of His mouth will come a sharp sword, a condemning world. What will strike the nations. Depart from me, you wicked. I love what J. F Kennedy said about Churchill during the Second World War, the speeches that Churchill gave to rise the British people and to bring hope to the allied advance. He said this about Churchill. “He mobilized the English language and sent it into battle.” Well, my friend, He who is the word itself, will do battle with his word to the slain of his enemies and He will indeed rule them with the rod of iron Psalm 2:9 and smash them like pieces of pottery.
Let me finish what we have just said and what you’ve just heard makes this generation squeamish because they’re not comfortable with the whole council of God. They want the cut and paste Jesus. They want slices of the gospels, but the doctrine of God’s judgment is real and the doctrine of hell is true. There’s people today that want to pour cold water on the idea that God is a consuming fire. They want to brush the ashes of Sodom and Gomorrah under the carpet, but I want to remind you that the doctrine of God’s wrath in the light of God’s holiness and man’s sin is part of the revelation of God’s character. God’s wrath is His settled hostility toward all sin, your sin, my sin. When we commit sin, God has got a settled hostility towards us and our sin and that sin must be judged either in us or in Christ who was judged on our behalf.
Yes, God is loving. Oh, he is loving beyond measure, but he’s holy and that of his love. He provided a way for us to escape His judgment and His wrath. He commanded his love toward us and that while we were yet sinners and God’s saddled, hostility was toward us. Christ died for us to just for the unjust bearing our PN bearing, our punishment and our penalty. God has commanded His love toward us, but if you reject that love, damnation, awaits. Don’t skip over that little part of John 3:16.
We love to quote it. “For God so loved the world that he gave His one and only son that whosoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life.” My friend, God has commanded his love towards you. Christ has died for you and if you put your faith where God has put your, you will not perish. But if you spurn that love, you will perish. Inhale, cast from the presence of God forever. God has judged sin in Christ and if you’re not in Christ, God will judge sin in you. That’s why you must flee the wrath to come. Flee the wrath to come.
When I got saved an old man, John Foster took me under his wing and he told me about his conversion and how he was stopped one day on a little side street in Newtonards, in Northern Ireland by a man stirring the gospel and he said to him, “Young man, there is a heaven to gain and there is a hell to shun.” And that lived with him and he bowed the knee to Jesus Christ and accepted what Christ had done on his behalf. And that still rings true. Sir, madam, young person, there is a heaven to gain and there is a hell to shun and you need to flee from the wrath to come.
Matthew 24:44 was the text God used in my life to bring me to faith in Jesus Christ. Be ready for in such and ours you think not the son of man comes. Are you ready for Jesus coming? It will be visible, it will be victorious, and it will be vengeful toward those who have still reject Him. My friend, there’s a heaven to again and accept Christ and shun the danger of and flee from the wrath to come. Father, we thank you for our time in the word this morning sobering, but also uplifting and alleviating. We thank you that there’s a final note to be struck when it comes to the human story.
Well, thank you. We have hope that the final chapter will right all wrongs, that will bring righteousness to the foreground, that will banish wickedness and all that produces death and hurt and tears. We long for that date. That’s why John ends the book of Revelation, even so come Lord Jesus. We want to be on that winning side. We want to enjoy the millennial kingdom. We want to return from heaven with Jesus to see Him glorified and the church vindicated before a watching world that has laughed at us and mocked us and murdered us and marginalized us.
But Lord, what will be a glorious moment for us, will be a terrifying moment for those we know who still don’t know you. And so may they flee the wrath to come. May they see the prairie fire of God’s judgment headed their way, and may they go to the scorched ground of Calvary where the fire once fell and where fire has fallen, fire cannot come. And so may they put their faith in Jesus who will see of them from the wrath to come. And these things we ask and pray in Jesus name. Amen.