The Return of Jesus Christ
Revelation 19:11-21
May 14, 2017
This morning we finally come to the climax.
This morning we see the event for which this entire book was intended.
It is the return of Jesus Christ.
As we said last week,
It is the most anticipated event in the heart of every believer.
After Jesus died and rose again, He was speaking with His followers.
Acts 1:6-11 “So when they had come together, they were asking Him, saying, “Lord, is it at this time You are restoring the kingdom to Israel?” He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or epochs which the Father has fixed by His own authority; but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.” And after He had said these things, He was lifted up while they were looking on, and a cloud received Him out of their sight. And as they were gazing intently into the sky while He was going, behold, two men in white clothing stood beside them. They also said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into the sky? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in just the same way as you have watched Him go into heaven.”
• No doubt the disciples were ready for Jesus to begin His earthly reign immediately.
• They wanted Him to rule and reign and bring peace on the earth that very instant.
• However, Jesus understood the necessary and coming time of redemption which was about to come on the earth.
• Jesus knew the gospel was to be preached and the entire host of the elect, both Jew and Gentile must hear the gospel and believe.
• And during this period, Jesus would ascend to the Father where He would take His seat at the Father’s right hand and perform His High Priestly work of interceding for believers.
However, no sooner did Jesus disappear from their sight
Then did the disciples receive an angelic message.
“This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in just the same way as you have watched Him go into heaven.”
That was certainly not the first time they had heard this promise.
John 14:1-3 “Do not let your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me. “In My Father’s house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. “If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also.”
Jesus had told them He was leaving and would return,
But we often wonder how serious they took that statement from Him.
However on this day, as He disappeared they received the promise
That He would return just as He had departed.
And that return became without a doubt
The most anticipated event in the life of the church.
They New Testament writers could not stop focusing on the fact
1 Corinthians 1:7-8 “you are not lacking in any gift, awaiting eagerly the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ, who will also confirm you to the end, blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
1 Corinthians 4:5 “Therefore do not go on passing judgment before the time, but wait until the Lord comes who will both bring to light the things hidden in the darkness and disclose the motives of men’s hearts; and then each man’s praise will come to him from God.”
1 Corinthians 11:26 “For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes.”
Philippians 3:20-21 “For our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ; who will transform the body of our humble state into conformity with the body of His glory, by the exertion of the power that He has even to subject all things to Himself.”
Colossians 3:4 “When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory.”
1 Thessalonians 1:9-10 “For they themselves report about us what kind of a reception we had with you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve a living and true God, and to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, that is Jesus, who rescues us from the wrath to come.”
1 Thessalonians 2:19 “For who is our hope or joy or crown of exultation? Is it not even you, in the presence of our Lord Jesus at His coming?”
1 Thessalonians 3:12-13 “may the Lord cause you to increase and abound in love for one another, and for all people, just as we also do for you; so that He may establish your hearts without blame in holiness before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all His saints.”
1 Thessalonians 4:15-17 “For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord.”
1 Thessalonians 5:23 “Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete, without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
2 Thessalonians 2:1-2 “Now we request you, brethren, with regard to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, that you not be quickly shaken from your composure or be disturbed either by a spirit or a message or a letter as if from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come.”
1 Timothy 6:13-14 “I charge you in the presence of God, who gives life to all things, and of Christ Jesus, who testified the good confession before Pontius Pilate, that you keep the commandment without stain or reproach until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ,”
2 Timothy 4:1 “I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by His appearing and His kingdom:”
Titus 2:11-13 “For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men, instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly, righteously and godly in the present age, looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus,”
Hebrews 9:28 “so Christ also, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time for salvation without reference to sin, to those who eagerly await Him.”
James 5:7 “Therefore be patient, brethren, until the coming of the Lord. The farmer waits for the precious produce of the soil, being patient about it, until it gets the early and late rains.”
1 Peter 1:7 “so that the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold which is perishable, even though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ;”
1 Peter 5:4 “And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory.”
1 John 2:28 “Now, little children, abide in Him, so that when He appears, we may have confidence and not shrink away from Him in shame at His coming.”
1 John 3:2 “Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we will be. We know that when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is.”
Jude 14-15 “It was also about these men that Enoch, in the seventh generation from Adam, prophesied, saying, ” Behold, the Lord came with many thousands of His holy ones, to execute judgment upon all, and to convict all the ungodly of all their ungodly deeds which they have done in an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him.”
Regardless of who was preaching, or who they were preaching to,
Or what they were preaching about;
The writers of the New Testament always held in their gaze
The promise that Jesus would return.
This return became the main emphasis for their preaching.
This promised return was always at the forefront of their minds.
• They anticipated it
• They expected it
• They longed for it
And it is the return of Christ which is the main point of this book.
John previewed that event in:
Revelation 1:7 “BEHOLD, HE IS COMING WITH THE CLOUDS, and every eye will see Him, even those who pierced Him; and all the tribes of the earth will mourn over Him. So it is to be. Amen.”
The whole book of Revelation has been about building to this very climax.
Namely that Jesus Christ will return and reign
Despite the rage of the enemy and despite the rebellion of humanity.
NO ONE CAN STOP HIM.
And that is where we find ourselves this morning.
• We return to that chronological flow which we left at the end of chapter 16.
• We have now had 7 seals opened, 7 trumpets blown, and 7 bowls of wrath poured out.
• Man has been beaten and flogged and punished and disciplines heavily by the Lord for their rebellion.
On this day, the total and final reckoning for man has come.
The King is returning.
3 Things we can easily see.
#1 THE APPEARING
Revelation 19:11-16
The obvious thing that we see first and foremost about these 6 verses
Is how much different they are to any picture of Jesus
We ever saw in the New Testament.
• We’ve read the stories about Jesus walking the roads of Galilee.
• We’ve seen Him touch lepers
• We’ve seen Him eat with sinners
• We’ve seen Him have compassion on the sick
• We’ve seen Him show mercy to tax collectors
And even when men attacked Him, instead of fighting back
The Bible says He just entrusted Himself to Him who judges righteously.
HE BORE IT.
One of the most fitting passages to describe His earthly ministry:
Matthew 12:18-21 “BEHOLD, MY SERVANT WHOM IHAVE CHOSEN; MY BELOVED IN WHOM MY SOUL is WELL-PLEASED; I WILL PUT MY SPIRIT UPON HIM, AND HE SHALL PROCLAIM JUSTICE TO THE GENTILES. “HE WILL NOT QUARREL, NOR CRY OUT; NOR WILL ANYONE HEAR HIS VOICE IN THE STREETS. “A BATTERED REED HE WILL NOT BREAK OFF, AND A SMOLDERING WICK HE WILL NOT PUT OUT, UNTIL HE LEADS JUSTICE TO VICTORY. “AND IN HIS NAME THE GENTILES WILL HOPE.”
• He wasn’t a brawler or intimidator.
• He was meek and mild and compassionate and gentle.
• Isaiah said He would be like “a root out of parched ground”.
• He was gentle, He was compassionate.
And that almost makes this scene seem like we’re talking about a different person altogether, for that is not at all what we see here.
(11) “And I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse, and He who sat on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and wages war.”
The last time we saw “heaven opened” was Revelation 4,
And that was to let John in. This time it is to let Jesus out.
And He comes on “a white horse” like the conquering general.
(Remember Antichrist mimicked this earlier)
Only this rider is “called Faithful and True”.
This is the first of 4 times we get a reference to His name.
And this first time when talking about what He is called
We see a reference to absolute faithfulness and truth and sincerity.
And it is a reference to the fact that He will judge just like He said.
“in righteousness He judges and wages war.”
People are always quick to remember the promises of Jesus
To forgive or to save or heal or to deliver.
Very few people seem familiar with His promise to judge and wage war.
John the Baptist started the announcement:
Matthew 3:11-12 “As for me, I baptize you with water for repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, and I am not fit to remove His sandals; He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. “His winnowing fork is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clear His threshing floor; and He will gather His wheat into the barn, but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”
But Jesus quickly seconded it:
Matthew 16:27 “For the Son of Man is going to come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and WILL THEN REPAY EVERY MAN ACCORDING TO HIS DEEDS.”
And here we find One
Who is living up to that promise of righteous judgment.
Going on in the explanation, John says:
(12) “His eyes are a flame of fire, and on His head are many diadems; and He has a name written on Him which no one knows except Himself.”
The fire in His eyes, is exactly what it says.
• He is angry.
• He is not coming in compassion.
• He is not coming to save.
• He is coming to judge.
And He is coming to rule and to reign for “on His head are many diadems”
That is many crowns.
He rules everywhere and everyone.
And again we get a REFERENCE TO HIS NAME, only this time it is said that “He has a name written on Him which no one knows except Himself.”
It speaks of His mystery, but also of His transcendence.
• He is above us.
• He is beyond us.
• He is not under us,
• He does not answer to us,
• He is not being judged or scrutinized.
• It doesn’t matter if you have His birth certificate…
• It doesn’t matter if you can see His tax returns…
• It doesn’t even matter if you know His name,
• HE DOESN’T ANSWER TO YOU.
He is here to judge men, not to be judged by them.
(13) “He is clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God.”
Many have wondered why the robe is already “dipped in blood”
Since the battle hasn’t even started yet?
Well this isn’t His first battle, it’s just His last.
He has been at war judging men since the beginning.
• Who do you think it was who sent the great flood?
• Who do you suppose it was that rained fire upon Sodom?
• Who was it that crushed the armies of Pharaoh?
• Who knocked down the walls of Jericho?
• Who toppled the kingdoms of Assyria and Babylon and Greece and Rome?
This isn’t His first battle.
Isaiah 63:1-6 “Who is this who comes from Edom, With garments of glowing colors from Bozrah, This One who is majestic in His apparel, Marching in the greatness of His strength? “It is I who speak in righteousness, mighty to save.” Why is Your apparel red, And Your garments like the one who treads in the wine press? “I have trodden the wine trough alone, And from the peoples there was no man with Me. I also trod them in My anger And trampled them in My wrath; And their lifeblood is sprinkled on My garments, And I stained all My raiment. “For the day of vengeance was in My heart, And My year of redemption has come. “I looked, and there was no one to help, And I was astonished and there was no one to uphold; So My own arm brought salvation to Me, And My wrath upheld Me. “I trod down the peoples in My anger And made them drunk in My wrath, And I poured out their lifeblood on the earth.”
He has always been a righteous judge and punisher of the wicked.
This isn’t a new role.
And that is why “His name is called The Word of God”,
Because He is a righteous judge and the inflictor of judgment.
Remember the writer of Hebrews?
Hebrews 4:12-13 “For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are open and laid bare to the eyes of Him with whom we have to do.”
This judge has gazed upon men through the glass of His word
And His judgments have never ceased to be true or binding.
And now He is come to repay with a final judgment.
(14) And the armies which are in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, were following Him on white horses.”
• These are the redeemed, both of earth and from the tribulation.
• These are also the angelic armies and the heavenly host.
All of heaven has mounted to come to earth and do battle
With this great king in His great work of judgment.
Only these have no weapons, and they don’t need them.
(15-16) “From His mouth comes a sharp sword, so that with it He may strike down the nations, and He will rule them with a rod of iron; and He treats the wine press of the fierce wrath of God, the Almighty. And on His robe and on His thigh He has a name written, “KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.”
On the day of the battle, He does all the fighting.
It is His judgment and His power.
And the scene is as DIFFERENT FROM THE GOSPELS as we can imagine.
• The first time He came He rode a donkey, a beast of burden into Jerusalem. This time He rides a white horse.
• The first time He came His eyes were filled with mercy and compassion, and “seeing the people He felt compassion for them.” This time His eyes are a flame of fire, feeling only judgment for wicked of the world.
• The first time He came He wore a crown of thorns, but this time “many diadems.”
• The first time He came He wore a robe stained in His own blood, this time He wears a robe stained in the blood of His enemies.
• The first time He was followed by 12 earthly disciples, this time the armies of heaven are by His side.
• The first time He spoke words of salvation, this time out of His mouth comes a sharp sword of judgment.
• The first time He offered His yoke to people with a heavy burden this time He will rule them with a rod of iron.
• The first time He walked the dirty roads of Palestine, this time He treads the wine press of the wrath of God.
• The first time His name was Jesus (Yahweh Saves) this time His name is “Faithful and True, The Word of God, King of Kings, and Lord of Lords”
You see the difference?
He is not returning to save sinners, He is returning to judge them.
Christ is coming as a Warrior to destroy the wicked.
Isaiah 59:15b-21 “Now the LORD saw, And it was displeasing in His sight that there was no justice. And He saw that there was no man, And was astonished that there was no one to intercede; Then His own arm brought salvation to Him, And His righteousness upheld Him. He put on righteousness like a breastplate, And a helmet of salvation on His head; And He put on garments of vengeance for clothing And wrapped Himself with zeal as a mantle. According to their deeds, so He will repay, Wrath to His adversaries, recompense to His enemies; To the coastlands He will make recompense. So they will fear the name of the LORD from the west And His glory from the rising of the sun, For He will come like a rushing stream Which the wind of the LORD drives. And to those who turn from transgression in Jacob,” declares the LORD. “As for Me, this is My covenant with them,” says the LORD: “My Spirit which is upon you, and My words which I have put in your mouth shall not depart from your mouth, nor from the mouth of your offspring, nor from the mouth of your offspring’s offspring,” says the LORD, “from now and forever.”
It is the overlooked reality of our world that God judges sin.
But God does judge sin and the agent of that judgment is Christ.
He is both the standard and the executioner of that judgment.
John 5:21-29 “For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, even so the Son also gives life to whom He wishes. “For not even the Father judges anyone, but He has given all judgment to the Son, so that all will honor the Son even as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him. “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life. “Truly, truly, I say to you, an hour is coming and now is, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live. 26 “For just as the Father has life in Himself, even so He gave to the Son also to have life in Himself; and He gave Him authority to execute judgment, because He is the Son of Man. “Do not marvel at this; for an hour is coming, in which all who are in the tombs will hear His voice, and will come forth; those who did the good deeds to a resurrection of life, those who committed the evil deeds to a resurrection of judgment.”
Acts 17:30-31 “Therefore having overlooked the times of ignorance, God is now declaring to men that all people everywhere should repent, because He has fixed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness through a Man whom He has appointed, having furnished proof to all men by raising Him from the dead.”
• Christ is the judge.
• Christ will judge.
• And Christ is the standard of that judgment.
He came once in humility offering salvation to the masses.
But the masses rejected Him and now,
Humanity will pay for their offense toward God.
THIS APPEARING IS ABOUT JUDGMENT.
The Appearing
#2 THE ANNOUNCEMENT
Revelation 19:17-18
This is a pretty revealing statement that is made here.
We have an angel stand directly in front of the sun,
Where everyone can see him.
And he gives an invitation to the battle.
Only the invitation isn’t to anyone who wants to come and fight the coming king.
The angel already knows who will win that battle.
The invitation is to the buzzards and the ravens and the vultures.
Why?
Because in just a few moments this battle field is going to be absolutely littered with dead bodies and someone has to clean up the mess.
So the angel cries to the birds:
“Come, assemble for the great supper of God, so that you may eat the flesh of kings and the flesh of commanders and the flesh of mighty men and the flesh of horses and of those who sit on them and the flesh of all men, both free men and slaves, and small and great.”
The buffet is about to be open.
And this shouldn’t surprise anyone.
Ezekiel 39:17-20 “As for you, son of man, thus says the Lord GOD, ‘Speak to every kind of bird and to every beast of the field, “Assemble and come, gather from every side to My sacrifice which I am going to sacrifice for you, as a great sacrifice on the mountains of Israel, that you may eat flesh and drink blood. “You will eat the flesh of mighty men and drink the blood of the princes of the earth, as though they were rams, lambs, goats and bulls, all of them fatlings of Bashan. “So you will eat fat until you are glutted, and drink blood until you are drunk, from My sacrifice which I have sacrificed for you. “You will be glutted at My table with horses and charioteers, with mighty men and all the men of war,” declares the Lord GOD.”
Even when the disciples wanted to know where the Second Coming would take place, Jesus answer was this:
Matthew 24:27-28 “For just as the lightning comes from the east and flashes even to the west, so will the coming of the Son of Man be. “Wherever the corpse is, there the vultures will gather.”
That is to say, it won’t be hard to tell where He is.
It will be the place with all the dead bodies
And all the vultures feeding on them.
WHAT ARE WE TO MAKE OF THIS ANNOUNCEMENT?
Simply this:
THERE IS NO CHANCE THAT HE WILL LOSE WHEN HE COMES.
His reign and His victory have already been determined.
Remember Psalms 2?
Psalms 2:7-9 “I will surely tell of the decree of the LORD: He said to Me, ‘You are My Son, Today I have begotten You. ‘Ask of Me, and I will surely give the nations as Your inheritance, And the very ends of the earth as Your possession. ‘You shall break them with a rod of iron, You shall shatter them like earthenware.'”
This was never in doubt.
• Even when He was born and was a little baby, the wise men called Him the One “who was born king of the Jews”
• Even at His death Pilate recognized Him as a King and hung a sign on His cross which said, “King of the Jews”
IT HAS NEVER BEEN IN DOUBT.
He is going to return
He is going to kill His enemies
He is going to reign
And the angel’s only real ambition
Is to prepare the birds to clean up the mess.
The Appearing, The Announcement
#3 THE ADVERSARY
Revelation 19:19-21
Well despite the absolute certainty of His victory,
It does not stop the enemy from waging war against Him.
After all, if you will remember the Lord actually opened the way for them to get to this battle field by drying up the great river Euphrates to make it possible.
He gathered them all in like fish in a barrel.
And their rebellion never ceased.
(19) “And I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies assembled to make war against Him who sat on the horse and against His army.”
Well there he is, in full pomp and arrogance ready to overthrow Christ.
He has been saying that he can, and on this day he will actually try.
Now, at this point I want you to let Hollywood help you out a little.
I know most of you have probably seen one of these battle movies.
• Many of you have seen movies like Lord of the Rings and those never ending
battle scenes between men and orks, and things like that.
• If those are out of your style, I’m sure the rest of you have seen John Wayne in
the Alamo.
The point is, we have come to the standoff.
One army squaring up against the other
And we are ready for the battle of the ages.
We expect a long fight to the death with many casualties on both sides.
NOPE
(20-21) “And the beast was seized, and with him the false prophet who performed the signs in his presence, by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image; these two were thrown alive into the lake of fire which burns with brimstone. And the rest were killed with the sword which came from the mouth of Him who sat on the horse, and all the birds were filled with their flesh.”
There is no battle.
Because on this day the patience of God and the long-suffering of God
Has fully reached its end.
On this day, at this minute, time is up, and it is all over.
The God of the Universe pronounces death and they all die.
• All those miraculous signs the Antichrist performed…
• All those supernatural powers the Antichrist demonstrated…
• All that pompous talk the Antichrist spewed…
• It all amounts to nothing.
AND THE POINT COULD NOT BE CLEARER.
Everything we see in this text points to Christ as the Judge of men.
AND THIS IS THE JESUS OUR WORLD REFUSES TO ACCEPT.
(They scoff at a Jesus who will judge the world)
But do you see who He is?
Do you see what He will do?
• There is no escape.
• No one who refuses Him survives.
• He will return.
• He will crush His enemies.
• And He will reign upon the earth.
Now the Bible expects that upon hearing this message many will scoff.
TURN TO: 2 Peter 3:3-10
Peter knew that mockers would come mocking.
They would say, “Well then where is this Jesus you’ve all been waiting for?”
That is to say, they think judgment is a myth.
They don’t really think God will do it.
To them Peter responds, “Then go back to Genesis 6 and see that God already did it once.”
When Jesus returns to destroy the world,
That won’t be the first time, it will be the second.
He’s already done it once, and He will do it again.
So why haven’t we seen it?
(8-10) “But do not let this one fact escape your notice, beloved, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years like one day. The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance. But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, in which the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be burned up.”
We currently live in the day of God’s patient waiting.
But please don’t miss what He is waiting for.
The Lord “is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.”
He is simply waiting for men to repent.
But there will come a day when His patience will have reached its max.
The obvious point to you and I is to repent before it is too late.
• Today, Jesus Christ holds out His hand as the Savior of the world, and for all
who will repent of their sin and place their faith in Him, they will find forgiveness and rest.
• For those who refuse to repent, and slap the hand of Jesus away, they have
only one other day to look forward to and that is the day in which He will return to destroy His enemies.
My encouragement to you is for you to give up fighting against Him
And to submit to Him, because you cannot win.
Hebrews 10:26-31 “For if we go on sinning willfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a terrifying expectation of judgment and THE FURY OF A FIRE WHICH WILL CONSUME THE ADVERSARIES. Anyone who has set aside the Law of Moses dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. How much severer punishment do you think he will deserve who has trampled under foot the Son of God, and has regarded as unclean the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has insulted the Spirit of grace? For we know Him who said, “VENGEANCE IS MINE, I WILL REPAY.” And again, “THE LORD WILL JUDGE HIS PEOPLE.” It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God.”
