Transcript

As we close our conference this morning, let’s go to the last book of the New Testament, the book of Revelation 19. I want to preach to you on the theme “Jesus is Lord of All.” Jesus is Lord of all. Revelation 19, we’ll begin in verse 11 and go through verse 21. John is seeing these visions and he’s recording them for us and we come to this momentous event that has all of our hope invested in it. John writes, verse 11,

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. 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. 13 He is clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God. 14 And the armies which are in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, were following Him on white horses. 15 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 treads the wine press of the fierce wrath of God, the Almighty. 16 And on His robe and on His thigh He has a name written, “KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.” 17 Then I saw an angel standing in the sun, and he cried out with a loud voice, saying to all the birds which fly in midheaven, “Come, assemble for the great supper of God, 18 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.” 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. 20 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. 21 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.

In Jesus’ first coming, he travels into Jerusalem just a few days before his crucifixion on a donkey’s colt, the foal of a beast of burden, and that’s exactly where the world would like to keep him: meek, lonely and humble. In fact, the world really wants a marshmallow Jesus. He’s sweet and you can mold him into whatever shape fits you. But really the reality is and we learned this preaching through the book of Luke that very often Jesus showed bold authoritative firmness in dealing with people. On one occasion, he was invited to a Pharisee’s house to eat supper and he goes as the guest in the house and during the dinner he calls the Pharisee a wicked man and a robber. Now, that’s just not dinner etiquette, you understand, that’s bold and authoritative. In fact, the truth is Jesus came to fulfill the Father’s will and when it was proper, he showed manly courage in being humble and lowly and meek, and when it was proper, he showed manly courage in being firm and bold and authoritative.

Jesus is a man’s man and a true man and when he returns again, friend, he’s not going to return in reference to suffering for sin but in punishment of sin and in rescue of the redeemed. He’s not going to come again meekly and lowly on a donkey’s colt but he will come boldly and majestically on a white charger. He’s not coming again veiled in his glory and his majesty, he’s returning as King of kings and as Lord of lords. He is returning as the only one true Lord of all. Now, when I use the word “Lord” or “Lordship” in this sermon, I’m primarily referring to the fact not that he is boss and master, that’s always true, but that he is the true full and final fulfillment of the concepts that we will put forth. He is the ultimate definition, the completion of these glorious things.

Let’s notice it in our text as we begin, I. Jesus is Lord of faithfulness. He’s Lord of faithfulness. In verse 11 John says, I see this vision, the “heaven is opened, and behold, a white horse, and He who sat on it is called Faithful and True.” It means Jesus is a promise keeper. He’s faithful. He is the essence of what being faithful is. Now, you and I may try to be faithful and we may intend to be faithful but we are neither omniscient nor omnipotent. There may be some things we don’t know that happen that keep us from fulfilling our word, there may be some events bigger than we can handle; we meant well when we promised something but we may not with even the best intentions be able to keep it. But Jesus is not like that. He is fully, wholly faithful. He was faithful and he will be faithful with his covenant with Israel, Noah, Abraham, David and the covenants he made with them. And he will be faithful to his covenant to Israel to redeem her, to return to her, and to reign with her. He’s going to be faithful with his covenant to the church. The rapture has already occurred in my opinion and in my eschatology, and he was faithful to do what he promised to do. As Brother J. so wonderfully and powerfully preached to us last night about the fact that not everyone is going to sleep, there is going to be a time when Jesus appears and he will call his own to him and many will miss death. He will be faithful to his church.

I remember hearing Dr. Rogers talk about a true story off the coast of Florida. A man and his young daughter were swimming out in the ocean and it was quite calm and they were both pretty good swimmers but she was just a little thing and they had gotten out and the current had taken them way far out from the coast and finally the father realized, “I’ve made a terrible terrible mistake. I cannot possibly get her and I both in to the shore.” So this father says to his little girl, “Sweetheart, you know how daddy taught you that you can float on your back all day long and it takes almost no strength at all? Sweetheart, you float on your back. I’m going to have to go in and get some help and get a boat but you just keep floating on your back and I will come back to get you.” He swims all the way into the shore and he finds the Coast Guard and they go out in a boat. Several hours have passed. They finally find that little girl and she’s just floating on her back and they pluck her up out of the water and he grabs her and says, “Sweetheart, how did you do it! How did you hang on! How did you stay!” She said, “Daddy, you told me to float on my back and you’d come back to get me.” Listen, Jesus said he’s coming back to get us. He’s coming back to be with us. He’s coming back to redeem us. He’s coming back to always dwell with us and he will be faithful.

But not only will he be faithful to Israel and to the church, friend, he’s going to be faithful to execute all of the judgments that he has threatened. You see, our flesh would like for Jesus to return and all this bad stuff just kind of be a real quick thing and over with and we just want to prompt focus on the glories and the wonders. Well, that’s good and that’s going to happen but the Bible text causes us to have to wrestle with the great injustice that has been going on against the name and the glory of God and how a holy and just God is going to remedy that before the eternal state is established. He will be faithful to carry out the threatening judgment he has promised.

Well, not only is he Lord of faithfulness, secondly notice: he’s Lord of judgment. He is Lord of judgment. In our text he says there in verse 11, “and in righteousness He judges.” You see, being all righteous mandates that he is judge. Being all righteous includes he has judgment. Now, in amplifying of this, the Bible says, “His eyes are a flame of fire.” What does that mean? Well, whatever else that means, it means he is omniscient. His eyes penetrate through and see everything because, you see, to be a righteous judge you have to know everything. And he is omniscient, he knows everything and he is a righteous judge. The flaming eyes of introspective holy judgment will penetrate to the core and all will be exposed before his eyes. Isn’t that an awesome thought? Today we have fake news and a spin and a twist and a distortion and an out-of-context all the time that occurs. It occurs in our homes. It occurs in our marriages. It occurs in our schools, in our factories, in our streets, in our sidewalks and all over the news media. But I’m telling you there is one coming that when he looks, he sees exactly what the truth is and it will all be exposed because he is the one true righteous judge. He sees omnisciently everything.

I remember reading about in 2 Kings 6 that the king of Aram kept trying to attack Israel and every time he attacked Israel, they would be ready. Wherever he tried to attack, they would already have their army there ready to defend it. And Aram got his associates together and his court together and said, “Now wait a minute, one of you is a spy. Somebody is telling the king of Israel our attack plans because they are always ready for us when we attack.” And then the Bible tells us in 2 Kings 6:12, one of them spoke up and said, “No, my lord king, but Elisha the prophet who is in Israel tells the king of Israel the words that you speak in your bedroom.” In other words, Elisha hears from the God who knows everything. Boy, wouldn’t that put a little fear of God in you if you thought, “Dear heavens, if this God is revealing to their prophet what I say in my bedroom, there is no hope.” That’s the kind of God he is.

Matthew 10:26 reminds us, Jesus speaking, “Therefore do not fear them, for there is nothing concealed that will not be revealed.” Now listen to that, there is nothing concealed that will not be revealed. Aren’t you glad that all the hidden stuff and wickedness in your heart is already washed out by the blood of Jesus? But everybody who is not with Christ, they are going to be so exposed. I mean, those flaming eyes of judgment will expose the evidence of man’s guilt. All the paper façades of self- righteousness will be burned up and removed. All excuses, all arguments, all religious works and all human morality will be consumed and man will be left stripped naked and exposed as the bvile sinner that he is. For centuries man has paraded the earth in his pomp and pride, forming philosophies and religions to cover and excuse sin. Have you ever thought of the day when people would cover and excuse sin the way our culture is today? But his piercing eyes, eyes as a flame of fire, John says, will not be fooled by the façade but will penetrate and remove it so as to reveal the sinner and the fool beneath the façade. John says he’s coming in righteous judgment with eyes as a flame of fire. Instantaneously all the guilt and all the sin of all of those who do not know Christ will be exposed and it will be so obviously, utterly, clearly aware they deserve judgment. There will be no discussion about it. There will be no question. It will be axiomatic: they are guilty.

He’s Lord of faithfulness. He’s Lord of judgment. Thirdly, he’s Lord of war. Did you know that? Jesus is Lord of war. He says here in verse 11, “in righteousness He judges and wages war.” Don’t you listen to the liberals who try to teach you about a marshmallow cupcake Jesus. I’m telling you, Jesus is returning as Lord of war. Behold, the Lord God, the Son of Man, is a man of war. Now, it all started with the breaking of the seals as recorded as John began to see the revelations, then the trumpet judgments, then the bowl judgments, but now it’s different, now he personally comes to make war. For centuries, the Lord Jesus has offered peace through his shed blood and now he makes war over that same blood. You see, human sin has reached the high watermark and it must be put down by force of arms. This is what was recorded in Psalm 45:3-4 as prophetically the psalmist wrote, “Gird Your sword on Your thigh, O Mighty One, In Your splendor and Your majesty! And in Your majesty ride on victoriously, For the cause of truth and meekness and righteousness; Let Your right hand teach You awesome things.”

Now, we have often said in terminology in the human experience, kings and potentates and monarchs and presidents, that they were fighting a war that had a righteous cause but in reality there has not been a righteous cause as his cause is righteous. You see, we are creatures, we are the created. Our wars are one finite creature fighting another finite creature. But he, Jesus, is Creator. He has final and absolute right over his creation and his holy character leads him only in righteous acts. His holiness is the criterion by which he wages war so if he comes back and says, “I must wage war,” that is the righteous and just thing to do. No other ever has or ever could execute war in holy righteousness as he will. This phrase “in righteousness He wages war,” separates him from all others who have ever acted to execute a war. Now, we hear about from the Islamic religion that they have holy wars. We’ve heard a lot of talk about holy wars through the centuries. There has never been a holy war but this one will be a holy war. He is Lord of war.

Do you know why he is Lord of faithfulness and why he is Lord of war and why he is Lord of judgment? Because he is Lord of all. You can’t name anything he’s not Lord of. He fills them to the full. He gives them their complete definition.

IV. He’s Lord of sovereign rule. You say, “Pastor, you’re going pretty quick through these points.” Well, I’ve got 10 of them so I don’t want to be here all morning. He’s Lord of sovereign rule. Verse 12, John sees the vision of this one coming on this white horse and he says, “on His head are many diadems.” It’s the word for “crown.” Many crowns. He has many crowns because he has all royalty and he has many crowns because it signifies all authority has been given over to him. Now, we live in a day and throughout the centuries kings have worn crowns. The pope wears a crown. The antichrist kingdom is symbolized by crowns. The 10 kings of the tribulation all have crowns. But all authority will be removed from them and it’s going to be given to Christ.

He comes not only as the warring king and as the judging king, he also comes as King of kings. The King of heaven – now listen – the King of heaven is coming to be the King of earth. Now, think about that. Donald Trump, get out of the way. Pope, take your silly party hat off your head. The King of heaven is coming to be King of earth. Hallelujah! What a thought. Well, those who he has chosen for himself and those for whom he has paid for with his own blood will also be ruling with him and they will reclaim the entire physical universe from Satan. In Revelation 5, among other things when he takes the scroll, he’s taking the title deed to planet earth so now this King of glory returns to reclaim what is rightfully his. The King of heaven is coming to be the King of earth.

The text also says not only this but he’s going to rule them with a rod of iron. That’s in verse 15, the last part. He will rule when he gets here with a rod of iron. Now, this is a powerful symbol. It’s a symbol of rule and it’s a symbol of authority. It means the unyielding and unthwartable rule of Christ. He will be the undisputed, unthwarted, absolute dictator of planet earth.

A rod of iron. Now mind you, this is not a shepherd’s staff. A shepherd’s staff is used to guide and to correct and guard sheep. Now, when he establishes the millennial kingdom, he’ll rule with a shepherd’s staff but that’s not yet. This is a crushing rod of iron. For these, he comes not to guide them with loving discipline, but he comes to execute rule and authority over them with a crushing rod of iron because he comes as Lord of sovereign rule.

5. He is Lord of unknowable greatness. Somebody will see Jesus in the new kingdom and say, “How can you describe him?” He’ll say, “I can’t describe him, you’ve just got to go look at him. It’s unknowable. It’s indescribable. His glory, his wisdom, his beauty, his excellence, his dignity, his righteousness, his justice, his composite character makes up a holiness. I just can’t tell you about it. It’s just beyond description.” The Bible says in verse 12 as John is seeing this revelation, “He has a name written upon Him which no one knows except Himself.” He’s got a name that no one knows except himself. Now, in Scripture a name reveals something of one’s character but Jesus is divine. He’s God therefore there are so many aspects of his nature that are incomprehensible to the finite human mind. I think this also speaks of the fact that there is a specialness and there is a uniqueness between God the Father and God the Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.

You know, in our families sometimes when maybe a little child or a little grandchild comes along, we give them a little nickname and we don’t share that hardly with anybody else. It’s just so special, it’s only our little nickname. And sometimes lovers will give one another little nicknames. We can’t talk about some of those in public because they are special, they are our wife, they are our husband. We have a little nickname. I think that’s part of what this is saying. God the Father has given a name for his precious Son that no one knows but them. And I like what one scholar said, he said that what’s happening here when he comes forth out of heaven, he will come in such vast unknowable greatness, in heights of glory and majesty that no one knoweth the depths of but himself. Friend, we serve and we are waiting for one who is such a being. He is unknowable. Lord of unsearchable greatness.

6. He’s Lord of retribution. He is Lord of retribution. Verse 13 says as John is seeing this one come out of heaven and he is riding on this white charger, verse 13, “He is clothed with a robe dipped in blood.” That is the blood of retribution. That is the fulfillment of 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.'” I think what Jesus is saying here, “I looked around and there was no one qualified, no one of a holy righteous character who could bring the just wrath of God but me alone. No one but me alone.” And then he continued on, “I trod down the peoples in My anger And made them drunk in My wrath, And I poured out their lifeblood on the earth.” Brothers and sisters, listen to me, the ranting, railing and reviling of fools that reject God will be stopped one day and their punishment will be severe. He is Lord of retribution. This blood on his garment is the blood of retribution. It’s the blood of his enemies that the book of Revelation tells us will rise up to the bridle of the horse.

Who is this, you might ask, and how can he that comes to judge sinners and slay them and splatter their blood? Well, he is God the Son, coequal with God the Father. As John 5:22 says, “For not even the Father judges anyone, but He has given all judgment to the Son.” You see – listen – for days and months and years and decades and centuries, God reached in love to man through the death of his Son but man callously rejected God, ignored him, despised him and denied him. Man mocks his name, taking it in vain. Listen, anyone who begins to view God or speak of God contrary to his true nature, that’s taking his name in vain. It doesn’t just mean using a dirty word in connection with the word G-o-d, that’s included, but anytime a preacher, a teacher, a housewife, a mother, a student, a rap artist or anybody else speaks of God, the Lord, in a way that’s inconsistent with how he has revealed himself in his holy word, that’s taking his name in vain and he will come in retribution against that. Did you hear me? So the next time Chance the rapper or anybody else takes the stage somewhere and starts thanking the Lord, you need to listen closely to find out what Lord is he talking about. Does the God he knows, worships and describes, and does his life fruit look like the holy true God of Scripture? If not, he’s taking the Lord God in vain and God will return to judge that.

Today we have rebellion against parents encouraged and we call that healthy self- expression. An affair for many decades now has been just, “Well, it’s just, adultery is now just an affair that one has,” I should say. Fornication is now acceptable. It’s supposed to be just an understandable part of dating and courtship. Sodomy is encouraged and promoted and celebrated in the streets of our country and around the world. All of that is contrary to the holiness of God. He comes with a robe dipped in blood because he will trod out the wine press of the fierce wrath of God the Almighty. He comes as Lord of retribution.

You have noticed that God has become cool, haven’t you? You have noticed that God has become acceptable? But that’s this modern, popular, pop God and he’s just the making of man’s imagination. They are making the Lord out to be cool, corrupt, vile and unholy just like they and their culture is. God has something to say about this in Psalm 50:16, 17 and 21. “But to the wicked God says, ‘What right have you to tell of My statutes And to take My covenant in your mouth? For you hate discipline, And you cast My words behind you.'” In other words, you don’t go to the book to find out what I’m like and what it’s like to serve me. Verse 21, “These things you have done and I kept silence.” Now, here’s the phrase that grabs me, “You thought that I was just like you.” You are vile, you are corrupt, you use filthy language, you live in immoralities and perversions, yet you talk about your Lord and you love Jesus and you serve God. He says, “Here’s what you’re doing: you’re twisting me into a corrupt, unholy mold like you.” You have learned from this pulpit, have you not, that God’s wholly unlike us. He is holy and transcendent in excellencies beyond and above us.

Well, my friend, all of us, all of us, all of us take the name of the Lord in vain. Now, once we are saved, we start a new path of striving not to, amen? To honor that name and learn the truth of his character from the word and uphold that, but aren’t you glad, aren’t you glad, aren’t you glad that we are not going to be the victims of this retribution and merely and only because of the unmerited favor of grace that saved us through Christ Jesus.

He comes as Lord of retribution. Hallelujah! Praise his name! He comes as Lord of redemption. Lord of redemption. Look at it there in verse 13, “He is clothed with a robe dipped in blood.” This must also speak of redeeming blood because in all the prophetic literature, you see him coming in wrath and retribution but also in saving redemption.

They go together. Listen, he can’t save and redeem justly – now listen to me – he can’t save and redeem justly if he doesn’t judge and bring retribution justly. Justice requires both: a just redemption for his own and a just punishment of those who are not his own.

So this robe dipped in blood is the blood of redemption. Satan is called the accuser of the brethren and should any demon or the devil himself accuse Jesus of unjustly pardoning the souls of his elect, he wears the blood. “How can you claim this group as your own, as cleansed ones and holy ones and redeemed ones?” He says, “Look at this blood. I have justly cleansed them, redeemed them and imputed to them my very righteousness.” And I’m telling you when Jesus says, “I come bearing the redeeming blood,” Satan’s mouth is shut. He has no grounds whatsoever for our accusation.

In ancient days, the king would send his herald into the cities to announce some new edict and how were the people to know when this man came through their town that he was really from the king and the edict was authentic? Well, he came and he would show them the papers from the king and attached to the paper would be a wax doplet, if you will, and pressed into that doplet was the king’s signet ring so when they saw that impression, they knew that it was authentic. It was the seal of authority. And when Jesus comes and says, “I’m coming to claim my own for myself, blessing them with everything that I am and all the goodness for all eternity,” and should one say, “That’s not just,” he will say, “I come with the authenticating seal of authority, my blood I shed for them.” He comes as Lord of redemption.

Well, he comes, number 8, VIII: as Lord of revelation. Lord of revelation. Verse 13 in the last phrase it says, “and His name is called The Word of God.” Interesting, “His name is called The Word of God.” You see, just as a word expresses the thought of an individual, so Christ is the expression of God. He reveals God. We reveal thoughts from one human mind to another human mind through the vehicle of words. Christ is the eternal Word of God. Christ reveals God to men. He embodies in human form the very immutable authoritative truth of God. He is God. He is very much God as much as God the Father is God. Hebrews 1:3 says he is the exact representation of God’s nature. He’s not, look, he’s not mostly God or almost God or three quarters God or bigger than us but not quite God, he is fully deity. If you want to see God, look at Jesus. If you want to hear God, listen to Jesus. If you want to find God, come to Jesus. He’s not just a prophet to show the way, he’s the Word of God, the embodiment of God. He is the way. I’d like to say that the Bible is the perfect written word of God or the perfect word of God in written form, and Jesus is the perfect Word of God in bodily form. He’s the incarnate Word.

A true story, a pastor contacted me one day and he was having trouble with a deacon in his church and the deacon didn’t like his preaching of Ephesians and the deacon said, “I wish you would quit preaching Ephesians and just preach Jesus.” Now, if we knew the truth behind that, what that means is, Brother J., that in days past there had been a pastor there who preached the marshmallow Jesus, not the real Jesus, which you always leave feeling blessed and up and happy because he’s just sweet and moldable to whatever we want him to do. But the only problem is that most people that get to know the marshmallow Jesus go to hell. They are the objects of the retribution of God. A pastor loves you when he preaches the truth. He loves you when he preaches the truth.

And that’s one of the reasons why I don’t really care for red letter Bibles. Don’t go and throw your Bible away, okay? That’s not what I’m saying but this whole book is his word. This whole book is his word. You see, through Luke he dictated the book of Acts, and through Paul he dictated Romans and 1 & 2 Corinthians and Galatians and Ephesians and Philippians and Colossians, 1 & 2 Thessalonians, 1 & 2 Timothy, Titus, Philemon and Hebrews. Through Peter he dictated 1 & 2 Peter. Through Jude he dictated Jude. And through John he dictated 1, 2, 3 John and Revelation. Yeah, the Gospels are foundational and essential but Jesus continues his counsel and his truth to the churches through holy apostles who were superintended on by God and penned the perfect word of God, the New Testament. He is the Word of God and all of the books of the Bible are God breathed. It’s Jesus speaking to us. He is Lord of revelation.

9. He is Lord of final victorious conquest. He is Lord of final victorious conquest. Now, we have some victories down here. We have some victories and God can use a crooked stick to hit a straight line. Did you know that? I don’t know, I’m not a prophet, I’m not the son of a prophet like Amos said, but sometimes God does something in countries and nations and churches where he gives us some advantage. He gives the people of God a blessing, if you will, a new open door, a new security, a new promotion, if you will, but it just seems to always go back again. But there is one day when Jesus returns it will be – listen – the final victorious conquest.

The Bible says in verse 16 he comes bearing that title across his chest, “King of kings and Lord of lords.” This is the third name given to him. In verse 12 we saw that he has a name no one knows but himself. In verse 13, we saw his name is the Word of God. And now thirdly, he is the King of kings and the Lord of lords. Pilate, calling Jesus in to interrogate him said, “This is Jesus the Nazarene, King of the Jews,” and put it over his head as he was crucified. Well, Pilate was partially right but he wasn’t totally right. He’s not just King of the Jews, he’s King of everything. He’s King of kings.

Man has honored many kings and man has served many lords but none compare with him. He isn’t just another King, he isn’t just another Lord, he is King of kings and he is Lord of lords and every king must yield to him and every knee must bow to him. That’s when Isaiah 9:6 will be fulfilled, “For a child will be born to us,” that’s his first coming, “a son will be given to us; And the government will rest on His shoulders,” that’s his second coming, the one we’re looking at, “And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.”

Final victorious conquest. You know, have you ever thought about the only thing Jesus knows is victory? Even your football team got beat in the national championship. Even the greatest dynasties in sports we follow, you just name the person, name the country, name the entity, none of them know total victory but Jesus does. Look, Jesus came to the earth and when he came to the earth he faced the cross, he faced death, he faced hell and he faced the grave and he came back from all of them victorious. He only knows victory.

Look at verse 15, “From His mouth comes a sharp sword.” So he’s going to come warring with this sharp sword in his mouth. It’s a figure of his spoken word is his great armament, his great weapon. “So that with it He may strike down the nations, and He will rule them with a rod of iron; and He treads the wine press of the fierce wrath of God, the Almighty.” So Scripture tells us that the armies of this world amass great stores of military might and they’ll all line up against him but these weapons are formed by the mind and the hand of man but Jesus’ weapon is not formed by mankind, Jesus has a destroying weapon which is the word he speaks. You see, he needs no physical might for his power is far above the physical realm. He has moral and spiritual power. He has all power. He is omnipotent. And by the way, Jesus didn’t develop this power or purchase his power, he is this power.

When he returns, the armies of the earth are aligned against him and he will unleash power against them with the spoken word. I can just kind of see it in my mind as the heavens open and Jesus descends out of heaven on a white horse bearing that title King of kings and Lord of lords. I just love that because it’s to say immediately, “You thought you were in charge. You thought you could rule things the way you felt best. You thought you could follow your own lust, dreams, ambitions and ideas and not yield to me. Here I come.”

He has the armies of heaven with him. I believe that’s the raptured church and maybe some other saints. And it’s as if Jesus gets in maybe the second part of our atmospheric heavens and he sees that great a massing of all the armies and all the commanders of the earth aligned together to war against him and thwart his return. It’s as if Jesus pulls back on the reins of that white charger and stops him and puts his hand up and halts all the army of heaven and he looks down on them for a little bit and as John Phillips says, he pauses, he looks and he says, “Drop dead.” And all of them are killed immediately. “Drop dead.” He’s coming with such mighty power and such final victorious conquest. I mean, before the hoof of his white charger touches the surface of the earth, he will utter the word and the enemies of God will perish. You and I are going to be standing around saying, “We wondered and worried and wringed our hands and stayed up at night wondering what was going to happen to our kids and Jesus comes back and speaks one word and removes the whole problem.” Hope in him, brothers.

Then the Bible talks about a great supper. Look at verse 17, “Then I saw an angel standing in the sun, and he cried out with a loud voice, saying to all the birds which fly in midheaven, ‘Come, assemble for the great supper of God.'” By the way, you are coming to supper. Did you hear me? You are coming to supper. You’ll either be at the marriage supper of the Lamb or you will be the great supper of God but you are coming to supper.

The birds are summoned, the Bible says. The battle is yet to be fought but the omens are dreadful. Moment by moment the sky will grow darker with these birds of prey. Every vulture, every buzzard, every raven, every eagle, will obey God’s summons. They are invited to the supper of God and they are the guests. Satan’s armies are doomed and the fierce fowls now it and they have come to bury the dead in the name of the living God.

Wow. “Harsh,” you say. “Pastor, calloused, cold, cruel.” You’ve got to grasp the infinite weight of man’s sin against an infinitely holy God. You see, we want God to be pulled down. No, we want to be right up there where he is and if he is who he says he is, this type retribution is just and right and good.

They tell us during World War I that the total war related dead was about 40 million. World War II, the total war related dead is about 60 million. The slaughter of this will radically exceed those.

Verse 21 now, “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.” The Gentiles will now have all power removed from them. The time of the Gentiles will now have come to an end. All government will now at length be settled and centered in the Prince of the kings of the earth, the King of kings and the Lord of lords.

Now, then we know there is an interval but turn over, if you will and it’s my last Roman numeral point, X: he is Lord of the all glorious eternal state. Lord of the all glorious eternal state. Look at revelation 21:1. John sees something else, “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there is no longer any sea. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, ‘Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people,'” that’s lordship, “‘and God Himself will be among them, and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away.’ And He who sits on the throne said, ‘Behold, I am making all things new.’ And He said, ‘Write, for these words are faithful and true.'” The fulfillment of Revelation 11:15 where John saw this and heard this, “Then the seventh angel sounded; and there were loud voices in heaven, saying, ‘The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ; and He will reign forever and ever.'”

Heaven will come to rule on earth. Now listen, in that day, all that is of the earth will be perfectly pure and perfectly spiritual. Now, we’ve lived our whole lives, well, that’s worldly, that’s fallen, that’s of the earth, that’s warped and bad and he said, well, these things are spiritual and right, but on that day that’s all going to be removed. Everything will be spiritually good: poetry, art, science, social life will at once and for eternity all be both worldly and Christian. So we say, “Even so, come Lord Jesus. Reign on, King eternal. Reign on, Lord of all.” And all of God’s people said, Amen.