Maybe you've come this morning to this building and you are overwhelmed by your circumstances.
You are so overwhelmed you can't get past today.
You think that chaos reigns. I mean, that's where you are. That's where you're living at.
You need something to bank on.
Or maybe you've come here this morning and this might not be easy to hear, but let's just be honest with each other.
You're bored. Christianity is boring.
Jesus is boring.
You need some fresh wow.
You need to be awed by the Savior.
Or maybe you've come and you've just been preoccupied with things.
Busy, busy, busy.
Good things, but preoccupied with them.
So much so that you've lost sight of what Jesus has called His disciples to be about.
Making disciples of the nations.
And so this morning you need a bit of a sober encouragement.
A sober wake up call.
Or maybe you've come this morning and you've just been adrift.
Your devotion to Jesus is just kind of distracted.
And what you need is another kind of wake up call.
A call to a full and exclusive devotion to the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.
You know what you need this morning, brothers and sisters?
If you fall into any of those categories.
And I fall into each one sometime during every day.
Alright?
If you need some...
If you see in that, what you need is a renewed vision of the Lord Jesus Christ.
And in the book of Revelation, chapter 19, verses 11 through 16, God delivers.
He delivers.
He gives you a vision of the coming Christ.
Your Christ.
Your Savior.
That is to compel you.
That is to strengthen you.
That is to have the effect of producing in you a perseverance to follow Jesus no matter what comes.
Revelation 19, verses 11 through 16 gives us a view of our glorious, risen, returning King.
Speaking of views, do you know what a view master is?
One of those little red things.
It's got the black kind of click thing on the side.
And what you do is you have these white discs with pictures in it.
And you drop it in.
And you click it.
And you're like, oh, that's awesome.
Clickety-click, click, click, click.
And you just kind of scroll through a bunch of things on a variety of different subjects.
Well, your Bible is like God's view master.
And there are a variety of discs that he has in the Bible for you to be compelled by.
To be taught by.
To be spurred on by.
And so imagine this book.
All right, all right, all right.
Everybody, get your Bible out.
All right.
There's some in the pews.
Here's what I want you to do.
I want you to put the spine of your Bible up to your eyes like a view master.
I just personally want to see it from up front here.
And so this book is God's view master for you to see things as they really are.
And so in this book, let's say we put in the film of Christ's birth, click.
There's an angel speaking to Joseph, click.
Angel speaking to Mary, click.
They're on their way to Bethlehem, click.
Oh, there's Jesus in the manger, click.
Click.
Oh, angels, myriads singing praises to God in the darkness around Bethlehem to shepherds.
Click, click, click, click, click.
Wise men bowing before him.
Oh, click, click, click, click.
Awesome, awesome.
Let's put another disc in.
The life of Jesus.
Life in ministry.
Oh, he's tempted in the wilderness, but not sinning once.
Click.
Oh, there he is again.
Preaching, teaching with authority like nobody else.
Click.
Oh, with just words, raising people from the dead.
Click, click, click, click, click.
He's awesome, isn't he?
Let's put another one in.
The crucifixion of Jesus.
Now, this is a disc that should get a lot of use for you.
Jesus.
He's betrayed with a kiss.
Click.
He's given over to the Sanhedrin.
Trial one.
Click.
Before Pilate.
Before Herod.
Click, click, click.
Look.
Soldiers beating him.
Soldiers mocking him.
Soldiers putting a crown of thorns on his head.
Click, click, click.
Scourged.
Click.
Cross on his back.
Carry to Golgotha.
Click, click, click.
Click.
Nails in his wrists and in his feet.
Put up on the cross.
Darkness covers the land.
Click, click, click.
Now we put the sound in.
Eloi, Eloi.
Lama Sebektani.
My God, my God.
Why have you forsaken me?
The curtain is torn from top to bottom.
Click, click, click, click, click.
Your salvation is accomplished.
Let's put another one in.
The resurrection.
Click.
Empty tomb.
Jesus rode to Emmaus.
Jesus eating fish with his buddies up in the upper room.
Click, click, click, click, click.
Jesus, Mount of Olives.
He commissions his disciples to go make disciples of the nation.
Jesus ascends.
This book gives you a view of your Savior.
It's God's kindness to you.
Click, click, click, click, click.
All of our clicking so far has been on what Christ has done.
And so this morning what I want to do is put in a disc into your viewfinder called The Return of Jesus Christ.
I want you to get a good look.
And it has an intended effect.
God has Revelation 19, 11 through 16 in your Bible for a reason.
It's to encourage you.
To strengthen you.
Now, I don't know what goes through your mind when you hear the book of Revelation.
Ooh.
But when God had John write these things down, and when they arrived, when this letter arrived to its original audience in the first century,
it was arrived to a group of Christians who were being persecuted for their faith.
They were being challenged.
They needed to be strengthened.
They needed to be encouraged to press on in faithfulness to Jesus.
And so this book of Revelation, which we're going to just crack open today,
this whole book, not only was it intended for the encouragement of the first century Christians,
it's intended for the encouragement of 21st century Christians for this church this morning,
for us living in Kenosha in 2016.
Do you need encouragement?
God's going to deliver it.
Revelation 19, 11 through 16 is a glorious picture of our returning king.
And just to be forewarned, when he comes back, we're going to see a picture here of him coming back as a warrior.
Triumphant conqueror.
Coming back to wage war.
To carry out justice.
Peace.
And so, as we're about to look at this passage and read it,
hey gang, you know, chaos isn't in control.
Evil doesn't have the final say.
God's in control.
And Jesus is sitting on G, waiting for O to come back and make all things right.
So, would you open up your Bibles, if you haven't already, to Revelation 19, verse 11.
And now, children, if I can have your attention,
this is the time where I want for you to draw a picture for me,
and I would love to see it after the service.
I'm going to read this passage, and there's going to be some images that go into your head.
Try to draw a picture of that.
I would love to see that afterwards.
Revelation 19, 11-16.
May God bless the reading of His Word.
Then I saw heaven open, and behold, a white horse.
The one sitting on it is called Faithful and True.
And in righteousness he judges and makes war.
His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are many diadems.
And he has a name written that no one knows but himself.
He is clothed in a robe dipped in blood.
And the name by which he is called is the Word of God.
And the armies of heaven arrayed in fine linen, white and pure,
were following him on white horses.
From his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations.
And he will rule them with a rod of iron.
He will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty.
On his robe and on his thigh, he has a name written.
King of kings and Lord of lords.
Amen.
This passage is a glorious picture of our returning king.
And there's a whole lot of descriptions of our returning king in this,
but what I want you to see this morning are the four titles given to Jesus.
There are four of them.
And they're all given for your encouragement to press on.
Let me show you the...
I'll just name them and then we'll come back to them.
The first one is in verse 11.
It's the trustworthy title.
Faithful and True.
The second title is found in verse 12.
It's the mysterious title.
A name written that no one knows but himself.
Verse 13 is the sobering title.
The Word of God.
You may say, well, how is that sobering?
Wait till you see the context.
And the last title, verse 16, is the supreme title.
The glorious title.
The King of kings and the Lord of lords.
Each title in its own right is an encouragement.
When you take them all together,
your encouragement should bloom into worship.
So let's jump right in.
The trustworthy title found in verse 11.
Faithful and True.
John writes,
Then I saw heaven open, and behold, a white horse.
The one sitting on it, it's called Faithful and True.
And in righteousness, he judges and makes war.
Well, verse 11 opens with the opening of heaven.
A revelation.
And God gives John this vision of the returning Christ.
And what does he see?
He sees Jesus mounted on a white horse.
And what you need to know is that at that time,
a white horse represented conquest.
Victory, triumph over one's enemies.
Caesar's would ride into Rome on a white horse,
or following white horses.
Victorious.
Victory won.
And so John starts this description saying,
Done!
Victory won!
But John doesn't stay focused on that white horse.
He actually focuses the rider,
on the rider of the white horse.
The one who accomplishes the victory.
And John calls our attention to that first title,
Faithful and True.
But can we just ask a question?
Of all the titles,
why does he start with Faithful and True?
Why that title?
And here's a second question.
Faithful and True to what?
Let's answer those starting with a second.
Faithful and True to what?
Here's a clue.
If you turn back into Revelation chapter 3,
if you turn back to Revelation chapter 3,
and you look at verse 14,
and if you remember,
at the beginning of the book of Revelation,
the risen Christ talks to John and says,
Hey, send out seven letters to seven churches,
and here is the last letter to the church of Laodicea,
and this is how it begins.
And to the angel of the church in Laodicea,
write the words of the Amen.
The faithful and true witness.
It's a clue.
What do witnesses do?
They bear testimony.
They bear testimony to the truth.
They're faithful to their word.
And so, what is Jesus faithful and true to?
He is faithful and true to His word.
So why does John the Revelator begin with this title?
Because Jesus has already said that He's coming.
He's being faithful and true to what He's already said.
That He's going to return and come back and judge the world,
wiping out His enemies and vindicating His saints.
In Matthew 24 and 25,
Jesus spends a long discourse
in talking about the end times and of His return.
There's overlap with what we're talking about this morning
in Revelation 19.
And what we learn from Matthew 24 and 25 is
that no one knows the day or the hour of Jesus' return.
No one does.
Well, one person does.
One person has it on his calendar
with permanent marker
and that's God the Father.
The day's set.
But nobody else knows.
And so He will come back suddenly.
And when He comes back,
He will hold all His own accountable.
That's the point of the parable of the ten virgins.
The parable of the talents.
Be faithful while He's gone
because He's going to come back
and hold us to account.
But not just that.
When He comes back,
He will judge all the nations.
Separating the sheep from the goats.
That's what He said in Matthew 24 and 25.
So why does John start with faithful and true?
Here is the first title.
Because Jesus is being faithful to what He said.
He's come back to do what He said He would do.
He's told us,
I'm going to return.
I'm going to bring with me fullness of justice to all.
So, let's say that you're in need of encouragement this morning.
You're overwhelmed by your circumstances.
You feel like chaos reigns.
Well, what this title, faithful and true,
should do is say no.
Chaos doesn't reign.
Evil doesn't have the final word.
Jesus has spoken.
He's coming back.
And here we have a picture of His return.
It's going to happen.
You can bank on it.
There's something else you need to know.
This title, faithful and true,
presumes something else.
It presumes God is in control of all things.
That God is working all things out
according to His good purpose.
He's reigning over all.
Orchestrating all things.
Even hard things.
He's orchestrating it all
for His good and gracious purpose.
So, if you're discouraged today,
you know what you do?
You focus your heart on that day.
That day when Jesus comes back.
That day when He comes back
to make all wrongs right.
Faithful and true is a trustworthy title
that should encourage
your discouraged heart.
Our God is in control.
He's coming back.
And He knows you.
Let's look at the mysterious title.
Verse 12.
A name written that no one knows
but Himself.
Look at verse 12.
His eyes are like a flame of fire
and on His head are many diadems,
many crowns.
And He has a name written
that no one knows but Himself.
So, if I'm understanding this right,
John is saying,
He's got flames of fire,
many crowns,
and by the way,
He's got a name
that He knows
that you, reader,
do not know.
How does that make you feel?
Make you feel out of the loop
a little bit?
Make you feel like you don't
fully know this one?
That there's mystery
to Him still?
Another way to talk about it is
He knows everything about us.
We don't know everything about Him.
At the beginning of verse 12,
He says,
His eyes are like a flame of fire.
What does fire do?
Well, it warms you
and we're plenty warm right now,
aren't we?
It also gives light.
The eyes of Jesus
are flames of fire
of an intense omniscience
that knows everything.
He sees everything in you.
He sees everything in everyone
in every place
at every time.
He knows everything
about us,
but we don't know
everything about Him.
You know what this makes Him?
This makes Him
the most interesting man
in the world.
My son and I
were recently driving together
and we heard
a Dos Equis commercial
about the most interesting
man in the world.
You know,
that guy that says,
stay thirsty,
my friends.
I tried my accent
with Mary Nichols today
or this week
and she goes,
that sounds French,
not Spanish.
Well,
so I thought,
okay,
let's see if there's any quotes
on the internet
from the most interesting
man in the world.
And of course,
I found the top 100 quotes
of the most interesting
man in the world.
Here are some of the ones
I found most interesting.
And I was laughing
in my office
out loud.
This week.
This first one is
very compelling.
When he drives a car
off the lot,
its price increases
in value.
The most interesting
man in the world.
Once a rattlesnake
bit him,
after five days
of excruciating pain,
the snake finally died.
If he were to punch you
in the face,
you would have to fight
off a strong urge
to thank him.
Superman has pajamas
with his logo.
Sharks have a week
dedicated to him.
He once made
a weeping willow laugh.
Roses stop
to smell him.
Bigfoot tries
to get pictures of him.
He never wears a watch
because time is always
on his side.
He has won the
Lifetime Achievement
Award twice.
If opportunity knocks
and he's not at home,
opportunity waits.
This guy's amazing.
His blood smells like cologne.
On every continent
in the world,
there's a sandwich
named after him.
International respect.
Panhandlers give him money.
His pillow is cool
on both sides.
He taught
Chuck Norris
martial arts.
Once he ran
a marathon
because it was
quote unquote
on the way.
The police
often question him
just because
they find him interesting.
If he was to pat you
on the back,
you would list it
on your resume.
He's considered
a national treasure
in countries
he's never visited.
The most interesting
man in the world.
And he happens
to drink Dos Equis beer.
Stay thirsty,
my friends.
When you read
a bunch of quotes
like that,
it doesn't take much
to realize
that human beings,
we want to be
in awe of someone.
It's deeply ingrained
in each of us.
It's built in.
This is just a creative
funny way to express it.
And we all know
that the Dos Equis
beer commercial guy
is just an actor.
He's really not
the most interesting
man in the world.
In other words,
if this guy
who's the most interesting
man in the world,
the best thing
that he can say
is stay thirsty,
my friends.
come on.
Come on.
Forget about it.
How about this?
The real most interesting
man in the world
said in John 4
to the Samaritan woman,
this water that I give you
to drink,
drink it
and you will never
be thirsty again.
The most interesting
man in the world
is not the beer guy.
It's the rider
on the white horse.
He has a name
that only he knows.
With just words,
he spoke into
our planet,
the universe.
With just words,
he rose people
from the dead.
With just words,
we'll just see in a moment,
with a word,
he strikes down
the nations.
patience.
He's the most interesting
man in the world.
We don't know
everything about him,
but what we do
and even what we don't
adds to his mystique.
And the result
is awe.
Have you lost
some of the wow factor
over Jesus?
Are you bored
with Jesus?
That speaks more
of you than of Jesus
because he's not boring
and he knows it.
Be encouraged.
Be awed
by Jesus.
Savor the Savior.
You cannot fully
comprehend him.
Now, if you're sitting here
and you're like,
man,
I'm a little bored.
I need a little
what do I do?
Can you just hang out
in Revelation 9,
11 through 16
all week?
Seriously.
Just read it every day.
Say,
God,
would you awe me
with Jesus?
And then read it.
See what happens.
Or you can read
John 1
or you can read
Hebrews 1
or you can read
Colossians 1.
A lot of the ones.
John,
Hebrews,
Colossians.
There's a lot of
big Jesus action
in your Bible.
He's a mysterious guy.
The most interesting man
in the world.
And he's riding
this white horse.
Let's look at this
sobering title
in verse 13.
He's clothed
in a robe
dipped in blood.
Makes you wonder
whose blood it is,
doesn't it?
He's clothed
in a robe
dipped in blood.
And the name
by which he is called
is the Word
of God.
Now,
the same guy
who wrote
the book of Revelation,
he wrote
the Gospel
of John 2.
The Apostle John.
And in the Gospel
of John,
chapter 1,
the Apostle John
describes Jesus
as the Word of God.
The same kind of language
he's using here
in Revelation 19.
And what that is getting at
is this.
Jesus is the ultimate
divine
self-expression
of God.
He explains them.
Jesus,
the incarnate Word,
the Word in the flesh,
is the greatest
self-revelation
of God.
John 1.18.
And so,
with that in mind,
we come back to
Revelation 19.13
to this title,
The Word of God.
And it's carrying
the same kind of meaning.
Revelation.
The writer on the white horse
is revealing
something about God.
God's active
self-disclosure
in the person of Jesus.
But what you need
to understand is
in this passage,
there is a real
sobering nuance.
We see that
in verses 14 and 15.
The incarnate Word of God
leads out in
the army of heaven.
And they're clothed
in fine linen,
white and pure,
riding white horses.
That's you and me.
I don't care if I've got
a big horse
or a little horse.
I'm just going to be
on a horse following Jesus.
That's awesome.
We're with Him.
Protected by Him.
But what I want you to see
is in verses 14 and 15,
there are three
acts of judgment
by the Word of God.
You ready?
Look at verse 14.
And the armies of heaven
are raided and fine linen,
white and pure.
Excuse me.
15.
From His mouth
comes a sharp sword
with which to strike
down the nations.
Jesus comes back.
He's the Word of God.
God's self-expression.
Active self-expression.
And we read here
that He strikes down
the nations.
All who oppose Him.
He strikes down the nations
with this broad sword
that is coming out of His mouth.
It's a word of judgment.
In verse 21,
John comes back to it.
It says,
the rest were slain
by the sword
that came from the mouth
of Him
who was sitting on the horse.
Jesus wins the victory
not with weapons,
but with a word spoken.
What you understand here,
it's violent.
It's judgment.
The incarnate Word here
is a word of God's judgment
on the enemies of God.
Let's look at that second picture.
The Word of God rules
with a rod of iron.
And He will rule them
with a rod of iron.
It's actually speaking
of an iron shepherd's club.
And John is drawing off
of a prophecy of the Messiah
in Psalm 2, verses 8 and 9.
If you want to flip back there
to Psalm 2,
it would be good for you to see.
To see that this is in your Bible.
I'm not making this up.
This is that great psalm
about the coming Messiah.
And His reign over the nations.
Verse 8,
Ask of Me
and I'll make the nations
your heritage
and the ends of the earth
your possession.
Verse 9,
You shall break them,
the nations who oppose Him,
You shall break them
with a rod of iron
and dash them in pieces
like a potter's vessel.
The image John is painting here
is not of a Messiah
who comes back
and keeps the nations in lines
with an iron scepter,
but the returning Messiah
who is dashing to pieces
all who oppose Him
with an iron shepherd's club.
Psalm 2.
That's what's happening here.
Our warrior king has returned.
It's violent
and it's judgment.
Let's look at this third picture.
It's very sobering.
And He,
the Word of God,
will tread the winepress
of the fury
of the wrath
of God the Almighty.
I doubt that you have a winepress
in your house.
Maybe you do.
But back in the day,
a winepress was a big vat
and after a grape harvest,
they dropped the grapes in it
and through a couple different means,
they would apply pressure down
upon the grapes.
And they would squash the grapes,
causing the grape juice
to squeeze out.
And there would be this little hole
in the bottom of the vat
and the grape juice
would flow out
and from that
you could make some wine.
This isn't in here
to give you instructions
of how to make wine.
This is in here
to help you understand
what Jesus is going to do
when He comes back.
He is going to be
the force applied
to the winepress
of destruction,
of judgment
on all who oppose
God and His purposes.
Jesus,
the incarnate Word of God,
is the executor
of God's judgment
on the nations
who will not bow their knee
to King Jesus.
You can't miss
that Jesus is treading
the winepress
of the fury
of the wrath
of God Almighty.
Why is God so angry?
He hates sin.
Always has.
Always will.
Whether it's the Old Testament
or the New,
God is opposed to it.
He's holy.
And He will carry out
judgment on it.
All three of these.
All three.
Whether it's the sword,
whether it's the shepherd's club,
whether it's the winepress,
all of these are images
of Jesus,
the incarnate Word of God
as the executor of God's judgment
on the rebel nations.
He returns violently
against all who oppose Him.
It's a sober word,
isn't it?
But blessed and safe
are those who have already
bowed the knee.
We're riding behind them
on white stallions.
But for those
who haven't repented,
haven't bowed the knee
to Jesus,
Jesus comes back
to shed blood.
That's the blood
on His robe.
It's the blood of the nations.
His robe is dipped in blood.
This is terribly sobering,
isn't it?
I don't tell this to you
joyfully,
but soberly.
How can this be encouraging?
Two ways.
The first is this.
This is a sober encouragement
to you to take stock
of your life.
To take sin seriously.
To not minimize it.
God does not minimize sin.
He gave His Son for sin
or He's going to come back
and judge it violently.
So the question I have
for you this morning
is have you been washed clean
by the blood of Jesus?
Can you say yes?
The second way
this is a sober encouragement
is more bigger picture
for us as a church.
When Jesus comes back,
He's going to execute judgment, right?
He's going to execute judgment
on sinners who haven't yet
bowed the knee.
And for those of us
who have,
by God's grace,
bowed our knee,
we're surrounded by people
that if Jesus were to come back,
they're under His sword.
They're under His club.
They're in the wine press.
Do you see where this is going?
It should have a sobering effect
on us.
Now we can get preoccupied
with things in our own lives.
Good things.
And we can get busy
doing things
that are things we need to do.
But they can become
first things
when they're not.
What this sober vision
of the Word of God does
is compel us
to be about His mission.
To make disciples
of the nations.
We've been entrusted
with the message
of reconciliation.
We have the message
of peace.
We can help people
not fear the wrath
of God to come
by telling them
about what the King's
already done for them.
The title,
Word of God,
given the context,
is that Jesus
is God's decisive
word of judgment.
And it should be
sobering to us.
The last title is this.
It's the supreme title
and we see it in verse 16.
On His robe
and on His thigh
He has a name written
King of Kings
and Lord of Lords.
This title
is the climax
of all the titles.
And it seems like
when you read
the description
that it's written
twice.
But the reality
is this.
Jesus is on His war horse.
His robe
would have been
draped over His thigh.
And so,
it's King of Kings,
Lord of Lords.
But what I want
to draw your attention to
is where it's at.
The perspective
John has given.
Your eye level
with King Jesus' thigh.
Reading King of Kings
and Lord of Lords.
Do you know what that means?
You're looking up to Him.
He's high and lifted up.
Supreme over all.
Supreme over you.
He's exalted
over all.
On His head
are many diadems,
verse 12.
Many crowns.
He reigns over all.
He alone
has the rightful claim
to rule
all the people
and places
on the earth.
Psalm 2.8
The nations
are His heritage.
The ends of the earth
are His possession.
Revelation 19
He comes back
to claim them
as His own.
If you were to read on
for the rest of
the book of Revelation
from here,
you would see
the King of Kings
and Lord of Lords
doing some amazing things.
The King of Kings
and Lord of Lords
completely wipes out
all of His enemies.
Including the beast.
Including the false prophet.
Including Satan himself.
Even death and Hades
He throws into
the lake of fire.
King of Kings.
Lord of Lords.
Jesus.
The King of Kings
and Lord of Lords
takes up His place
on the great white throne
of judgment
and He judges
all the dead.
He separates them out
like sheep and goats.
And those who are not
written in the Lamb's book
of life
He casts into
the lake of fire.
But for all who are
written in the Lamb's book
of life,
all who have
bowed the knee
to Jesus
by grace
have seen Him
for who He is,
the King of Kings
and Lord of Lords
comes back
with the new heavens
and the new earth.
He wipes away our tears.
He dwells with us.
He's with us
for eternity.
I want to clarify
just one thing.
When Jesus comes back,
He doesn't become
the King of Kings
and Lord of Lords
at that point.
He is the King of Kings
and Lord of Lords
right now.
He's reigning now.
And He is poised
to come back
at an unknown hour.
So this title,
King of Kings
and Lord of Lords
should compel you
to devote yourself
fully and exclusively
to Him.
To worship Him.
To live for Him.
So let me just
wrap it up
by saying this.
Be encouraged
by Revelation 19,
11 through 16.
Be encouraged.
If you're overwhelmed,
you can bank
on Jesus Christ
coming back.
If you're bored,
be awed
at this Savior
who defies
your comprehension.
If you're preoccupied,
be sobered up
with His mission.
And if you've been
adrift,
in your devotion,
He is your King of Kings
and Lord of Lords.
Don't give up.
Let me pray.
God in Heaven,
we do thank You so much
for Revelation 19,
11 through 16.
God, we pray
that You would use this
now and throughout
the week
to stir us
to be faithful.
To press on.
Lord Jesus,
we don't want to live
for anybody but You.
we praise You
and trust our lives
to You.
In Your name we pray.
Amen.