Morning Sermon

April 20, 2008

King of Kings

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Remember what this book of Revelation is all about. It is, "The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show His servants." It is the revelation, the unveiling, the disclosure and declaration of Jesus Christ. And that revelation is to be, as John writes, of "things which must shortly take place."

So we've studied a lot of those things. My emphasis has been upon those things taking place shortly, the judgment which would come upon the nation of Israel and the city of Jerusalem for their rejection of the Messiah, Jesus. That judgment was pictured in those three separate cycles of the seven seals, the seven trumpets, and the seven bowls. And it was a judgment that would take place within that generation of John's as well as give us a picture and demonstration of the judgment that would take place when Jesus returns at the end of the age. And so now that that description of judgment is finished, we return to the central theme of this revelation, the glory of Jesus himself. Remember how this chapter began,

Rev. 19:1 "After these things I heard a loud voice of a great multitude in heaven, saying, "Alleluia! Salvation and glory and honor and power belong to the Lord our God!"

I believe that John has now shifted his focus to what lies ahead, the judgment to come, particularly as we studied last week,

v.7 "Let us be glad and rejoice and give Him glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready."

And so we continue today with the first of the final seven visions, each one beginning with those words, "Now I saw..." And what does John see? He sees heaven opened! Can you imagine? Then he sees a white horse.

John has seen that before, just at the beginning of the first seal. The white horse carried the king who would execute his just judgments.

Rev. 6:1 Now I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals; and I heard one of the four living creatures saying with a voice like thunder, "Come and see." 2 And I looked, and behold, a white horse. He who sat on it had a bow; and a crown was given to him, and he went out conquering and to conquer."

So we come back to that white horse, with an even clearer connection established between,

I. JESUS AND THE WHITE HORSE. The white horse is the symbol of Jesus' victory, his dominion and authority. In chapter 6, he held a bow and wore a crown. He is pictured as going out to conquer. And here in chapter 19, the conquest is at hand.

v.6 "Alleluia! For the Lord God Omnipotent reigns!"

What a marvelous symbol it is,

A. The symbol of the white horse. Jesus is riding out of heaven, across all the nations of the world, riding in conquest as any general of an army would do, held up majestically before all the people upon his horse.

But look how Jesus is described. Look at what John writes in this revelation of Jesus.

v.11 "And He who sat on him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and makes war."

There is,

B. The declaration of Jesus' righteousness. He is given names and titles that no mere man could rightly. The glory that is ascribed to him is perfect glory. He was called Faithful and True. Faithful, perfectly and completely faithful. And true, the very definition of truth.

Remember who Jesus is, not merely the revealer of truth, but the essence of truth itself.

John 14:6 Jesus said to him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me."

I am the truth! The very embodiment of truth, truth in the flesh; the revelation of God in the flesh.

And faithful. Thus we read of Jesus,

2 Tim. 2:13 "If we are faithless, He remains faithful; He cannot deny Himself."

That's what it means for Jesus to be faithful. He cannot deny himself. Unfortunately, you and I can. We can proclaim to belong to Christ, we can claim to love God, and then become unfaithful to that promise. It is the nature of our sinfulness to do just that. To deny what we truly believe. That is part of the human struggle,

Rom. 7:15 "For what I am doing, I do not understand. For what I will to do, that I do not practice; but what I hate, that I do. 16 If, then, I do what I will not to do, I agree with the law that it is good. 17 But now, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me. 18 For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells; for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find. 19 For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice. 20 Now if I do what I will not to do, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me. 21 I find then a law, that evil is present with me, the one who wills to do good. 22 For I delight in the law of God according to the inward man. 23 But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members."

That's our wretched condition, and our only hope is as Paul writes in the next verse,

Rom. 7:24 "O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? 25 I thank God--through Jesus Christ our Lord!"

We are, by nature, unfaithful. Jesus is, by definition, Faithful and True. Indeed,

1 Cor. 1:9 "God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord."

That faithfulness was declared back in the Old Testament as well, Deut. 7:9 "Therefore know that the LORD your God, He is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and mercy for a thousand generations with those who love Him and keep His commandments."

Or as we read in the midst of the, Lamentations 3:22 "Through the LORD'S mercies we are not consumed, Because His compassions fail not. 23 They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness."

But there is more of Jesus' righteousness to be declared, namely his judicial righteousness. The righteousness of his judgments. And of the conquest of his enemies.

v.11 "...And He who sat on him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and makes war."

Oh how we wish for such righteousness in the courts of our own land. How we wish for judges and judgments that demonstrate righteousness. Right-ness. Integrity. Virtue. In this world, we often have to put up with far less.

But not with Jesus. Everything he does is right. Perfectly just. Including these judgments we have studied throughout this book. And harsh judgments they have been, but righteous, because Jesus is righteous. And the judgment at the end of the age will be righteous as well. And it will be righteous because it will be deserved. Earned. By the wickedness of men.

2 Peter 3:7 "But the heavens and the earth which are now preserved by the same word, are reserved for fire until the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men...10 But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up."

And so we worship him.

Ps. 96:11 "Let the heavens rejoice, and let the earth be glad; Let the sea roar, and all its fullness; 12 Let the field be joyful, and all that is in it. Then all the trees of the woods will rejoice before the LORD. 13 For He is coming, for He is coming to judge the earth. He shall judge the world with righteousness, And the peoples with His truth."

Similarly, Is. 11:3 "He shall not judge by the sight of His eyes, Nor decide by the hearing of His ears; 4 But with righteousness He shall judge the poor, And decide with equity for the meek of the earth; He shall strike the earth with the rod of His mouth, And with the breath of His lips He shall slay the wicked. 5 Righteousness shall be the belt of His loins, And faithfulness the belt of His waist."

"The day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men." That's what lies ahead when Jesus returns on the white horse, to make war!

And notice something else. He won't be alone. He will have a great army. Just look at the description of,

C. Jesus and his armies. v.14

Who are they? The saints. Christians. Believers. The same group as were mentioned in,

Rev. 17:14 "These will make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb will overcome them, for He is Lord of lords and King of kings; and those who are with Him are called, chosen, and faithful."

The chosen, the elect. Those for whom Christ has died, those whom Christ has redeemed. And they are the faithful, the believers.

Sometimes we forget that when Jesus returns, the saints will be with him. This is what we read about that second coming of Jesus,

2 Thes. 1:6 "...since it is a righteous thing with God to repay with tribulation those who trouble you, 7 and to give you who are troubled rest with us when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with His mighty angels, 8 in flaming fire taking vengeance on those who do not know God, and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 These shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power, 10 when He comes, in that Day, to be glorified in His saints and to be admired among all those who believe, because our testimony among you was believed."

But it is not simply that we will be waiting for him. Those who have died in Christ shall be with him!

1 Thes. 3:13 "...so that He may establish your hearts blameless in holiness before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all His saints."

With all his saints! That is the armies heaven of Revelation 19:14. And what about believers who are still alive when Jesus returns with all his saints? Paul answers that, too.

1 Thes. 4:16 "For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord."

So those who are alive shall meet the Lord in the air, joining those armies in heaven. v.14

Just look at us! We have white horses, too. If I were to suggest that, apart from biblical revelation, I would fear that I might be bordering on blasphemy. That we, as followers of Jesus Christ, would be riding the same animal as he in this day of triumphant judgment. But so we will!

And don't miss our clothing, either. We shall be "clothed in fine linen, white and clean."

Remember last week, Rev. 19:7 "Let us be glad and rejoice and give Him glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready." 8 And to her it was granted to be arrayed in fine linen, clean and bright, for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints."

So we're the bride, "prepared as a bride adorned for her husband." We have clothes given to us, the glorious righteousness of Jesus himself, with which to adorn ourselves. And we join him in his triumphant victory. So Paul blesses the church at Rome with this benediction,

Rom. 16:20 "And the God of peace will crush Satan under your feet shortly. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you."

You see, the church will be with Jesus when he returns on his white horse. And surely he returns for the day of judgment. So we come to,

II. JESUS AND THE JUDGMENT OF GOD. Just look at what follows, v.15-16

Let's look first at the sword. Or, I should say,

A. The power of the sword. When Paul describes the power and authority of the civil governments of this age in Romans 13, he writes,

Rom. 13:4 "For he is God's minister to you for good. But if you do evil, be afraid; for he does not bear the sword in vain; for he is God's minister, an avenger to execute wrath on him who practices evil."

So there, clearly, the right to "bear the sword" means the right to execute wrath. That expression derives from the obvious power of the sword to actually take life. Thus the power to "bear the sword" is the power to enforce the law and to punish lawbreakers, ultimately unto death.

So Jesus has the power of the sword, and it is a sword that proceeds out of his mouth. We read in Revelation 1 that it is a sharp two-edged sword.

Rev. 1:16 "He had in His right hand seven stars, out of His mouth went a sharp two-edged sword, and His countenance was like the sun shining in its strength."

It was clearly the sword of judgment, the judgment pronounced by the word of God.

Rev. 2:12 "And to the angel of the church in Pergamos write, 'These things says He who has the sharp two-edged sword...16 'Repent, or else I will come to you quickly and will fight against them with the sword of My mouth."

That image of a two-edged sword is, of course, is found first in, Heb. 4:12 "For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. 13 And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account."

Thus the sword is brandished by the prophetic speaking of the Word of God, and even in the Old Testament we have this reference to Jesus,

Is. 49:1 "Listen, O coastlands, to Me, And take heed, you peoples from afar! The LORD has called Me from the womb; From the matrix of My mother He has made mention of My name. 2 And He has made My mouth like a sharp sword; In the shadow of His hand He has hidden Me, And made Me a polished shaft; In His quiver He has hidden Me."

So the warning is appropriately given. Jesus bears the sword of,

B. The wrath of God. With that sword he shall inflict the wrath of God in judgment upon all the nations of the world.

v.15 "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."

And that judgment, that rule of the nations is the expression of God's wrath.

v.15 "He Himself treads the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God."

So there are the real grapes of wrath! And that's an image we have seen before in the image of judgment found in,

Rev. 14:14 "Then I looked, and behold, a white cloud, and on the cloud sat One like the Son of Man, having on His head a golden crown, and in His hand a sharp sickle. 15 And another angel came out of the temple, crying with a loud voice to Him who sat on the cloud, "Thrust in Your sickle and reap, for the time has come for You to reap, for the harvest of the earth is ripe." 16 So He who sat on the cloud thrust in His sickle on the earth, and the earth was reaped. 17 Then another angel came out of the temple which is in heaven, he also having a sharp sickle. 18 And another angel came out from the altar, who had power over fire, and he cried with a loud cry to him who had the sharp sickle, saying, "Thrust in your sharp sickle and gather the clusters of the vine of the earth, for her grapes are fully ripe." 19 So the angel thrust his sickle into the earth and gathered the vine of the earth, and threw it into the great winepress of the wrath of God. 20 And the winepress was trampled outside the city, and blood came out of the winepress, up to the horses' bridles, for one thousand six hundred furlongs."

The horses were walking in the blood of the winepress of God's wrath. So great and so terrible is his judgment, that it is pictured by the image of blood flowing high and wide. As the wine flows out of the grapes in the great winepress of God's wrath. Now that's not an image you will hear a lot about in the modern, successful, comfortable church of our day. Maybe you ought not to simply live your life according to the slogan, "What would Jesus do?" For this is what Jesus does...

v.15 "He Himself treads the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God."

And the blood that flows out of that winepress is,

C. The blood of the wicked. Blood they shed as the just punishment for their own sins. That image of blood takes us back to, v.13

We read of that, too, in the prophecy of the Old Testament. Here is a description of the judgment of God upon the nation of Edom.

Is. 63:2 "Why is Your apparel red, And Your garments like one who treads in the winepress? 3 "I have trodden the winepress alone, And from the peoples no one was with Me. For I have trodden them in My anger, And trampled them in My fury; Their blood is sprinkled upon My garments, And I have stained all My robes. 4 For the day of vengeance is in My heart, And the year of My redeemed has come. 5 I looked, but there was no one to help, And I wondered That there was no one to uphold; Therefore My own arm brought salvation for Me; And My own fury, it sustained Me. 6 I have trodden down the peoples in My anger, Made them drunk in My fury, And brought down their strength to the earth."

What we are left with is a final declaration of,

D. The ruler above all others. v.12

His eyes see all things and he knows all things. And he wore many crowns, for he is victorious many times over. And what is his name? The word of God!

And as if that weren't enough, v.16

King of kings and Lord of lords. That's whom we worship, and that's who will execute God's just judgment upon the wicked. He is the one who will rule the nations with a rod of iron.

So it is that Jesus is proclaimed, Psalm 46:10 "Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!"

That is the call to us today, as we study this glorious passage. "Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!"

Surely he will, for we know what God will declare to the rebellious nations of the world in that judgment, a declaration we ought to proclaim today as well.

Ps. 2:4 "He who sits in the heavens shall laugh; The LORD shall hold them in derision. 5 Then He shall speak to them in His wrath, And distress them in His deep displeasure: 6 "Yet I have set My King On My holy hill of Zion." 7 "I will declare the decree: The LORD has said to Me, 'You are My Son, Today I have begotten You. 8 Ask of Me, and I will give You The nations for Your inheritance, And the ends of the earth for Your possession. 9 You shall break them with a rod of iron; You shall dash them to pieces like a potter's vessel.'"

That Psalm ends with a warning and a blessing. A warning to those who are rebellious.

Ps. 2:10 "Now therefore, be wise, O kings; Be instructed, you judges of the earth. 11 Serve the LORD with fear, And rejoice with trembling. 12 Kiss the Son, lest He be angry, And you perish in the way, When His wrath is kindled but a little."

But then, a blessing. Ps. 2:11 "Blessed are all those who put their trust in Him."

I proclaim that warning and that blessing today. Warning to those who would fall under the wrath and curse of God, for their refusal to repent of their sins. The warning is clear. Jesus15 Now out of His mouth goes a sharp sword, that with it He should strike the nations. And "treads the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God."

But the blessing is sweet, for the blessing is for those who will join Jesus in that judgment. The blessing is for the great multitude of believers, the great multitude of heaven, including all of you who believe in Jesus for your own eternal salvation.

Rev. 19:1 "After these things I heard a loud voice of a great multitude in heaven, saying, "Alleluia! Salvation and glory and honor and power belong to the Lord our God!"

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