If you want to open up your Bibles to Revelation 19, 11 through 21.
It was so sweet singing with you all this morning.
Man, that was good.
Hey, it is mid-May.
We are entering wedding season.
Woo!
I know at least one couple are going to be getting married here pretty soon.
And it's not infrequent to have weddings in this room.
But imagine that this coming June, you've been invited to a wedding.
And it turns out it is the most unusual wedding you've ever been to.
You get there at 1245.
Get here because it's a 1 o'clock sharp wedding.
You take your seat.
Let's say you're on the groom side.
You know the groom.
1 o'clock sharp.
The families are seated.
And then the procession of the wedding party takes place.
And so you have groomsmen in tuxes and bridesmaids.
And the matching kind of bow ties and cumberbuns with the whole dress.
The whole thing looks great.
And so they come down.
And here's the preacher standing right here.
And they come down.
They take their sides and form the wings.
And it's really cool.
And then this is where things get unusual.
Because usually the groom is out at this point.
But there's no groom.
And the preacher seemingly completely ignorant of that says,
All rise.
Which is everybody's cue to stand up and turn and look back at that door right there.
Because when that door opens, you're going to see the bride.
And holding on to her is her father.
And it's exactly what happens.
And the dad walks his bride down the aisle.
And her dress is spectacular white.
Of the finest linen, pure and bright.
And the father walks the bride down to the preacher.
And then the preacher says this.
He asks,
Who gives this woman to be married to this man?
This, wait.
Wait.
And at that moment,
while everyone is still standing,
from the back door
comes a sound.
Clip-clop.
And at that moment,
the groom makes his entrance.
And he steals the show.
Last week,
Billy preached a wonderful sermon
that showed us the marriage supper of the Lamb.
That day that every Christian is longing for.
To be reunited in person
with our risen King,
Jesus.
And this morning,
I get to show you
the glorious coming of the Lord Jesus.
Jesus.
It is his return.
It's known as his second coming.
It's the appearing of the Son of Man.
It's what we were just singing about
when we were singing,
How does it go?
And all will be made right
when you appear.
In Revelation 19,
7 through 9,
we are given a picture of the bride
at the altar,
waiting for her groom,
dressed in white,
pure,
and bright.
But we're not given a picture of the groom.
That's why 1911 through 21 is here.
The groom makes his entrance
and he steals the show.
So,
this morning,
I get to point you
to the second coming of Jesus
and I'm guessing
there's going to be
three responses in the room.
Some of you,
your hearts are going to drop
because you're going to be like,
Oh no,
he is coming.
Some of you are going to
have your hearts,
it's going to be like this.
You're going to be like,
Nah,
it can wait.
you'll have an indifferent response.
But others of you,
hopefully most of you,
your hearts are going to rise.
When you see the descriptions
of the risen,
returning Jesus,
your heart is going to rise
and you're going to be saying,
Oh yes,
don't stop,
keep telling me about that.
You see,
the doctrine
of the return of Jesus,
it is essential
to the testimony of Jesus.
And the doctrine
of the return of Jesus
is a prophecy of Jesus.
And so here we see
the fulfillment of it
and it's glorious.
Jesus himself
talked multiple times
about that.
He will come back.
In 2531,
he says,
When the Son of Man
comes in his glory,
you have at the end of Matthew
parable after parable
of the coming of Jesus Christ.
So this morning,
may your heart rise
at the sight
of the coming
of your long-awaited bridegroom,
Jesus.
And here's the point.
When Jesus comes back,
when he bodily comes back
for all to see,
he will come
in unrivaled glory
to utterly destroy
all of his rivals
in an uncontested victory.
Unrivaled glory,
uncontested victory,
we see that
in Revelation 19,
11 through 21,
11 through 16,
you see his unrivaled glory,
and in 17 through 21,
you see his uncontested victory.
And brothers and sisters,
let your heart rise to it.
So let's look at this together.
Let's see this unrivaled glory
at his glorious coming
in verses 11 through 16.
Robin, thanks again for reading.
Let me just point you
to several things
in these few verses.
In verse 11,
we see John says,
Then I saw heaven opened.
When you read of heaven opening,
it is this clue
that there is a vision at foot.
Heaven's perspective.
And we're told,
Behold, a white horse.
A white horse would have
pinged every reader
in the first century.
They know exactly
what's being talked about.
Because Roman generals
and emperors
in the first century,
after a military conquest,
they would enter Rome
riding a white horse.
It's a symbol of victory.
But on this white horse,
you don't have
a Roman general or emperor.
On this white horse,
you have the bridegroom.
And what follows
in 11 through 13,
just these few verses
are seven descriptions
of the rider
on the white horse.
You ready?
You ready for your hearts
to rise?
Are you ready to see
your unrivaled king?
The first thing we notice
in verse 11,
this first description
is actually a name.
It's the name
faithful and true.
The one sitting
on the horse
is called faithful and true.
Faithful means trustworthy.
True means the real thing.
And that is in direct contrast
to the beast
who is anything but faithful
and anything but true.
He sits on a throne of lies.
This one riding on this white horse
is faithful and true
to all of his promises.
He's faithful and true
to this one great promise
of when the Son of Man
comes in His glory,
here He is
coming in His glory.
He's faithful and true
to His bride,
unlike the beast,
who kills His lady,
the prostitute.
He's faithful and true
to His Father.
The second description
is in verse 11 too.
In righteousness
He judges and makes war.
Because this rider
is faithful and true,
no one can say
at His judgment
or when He makes war
that these things
are unjust.
Have you heard
of just war theory?
He is the personification
of just war theory.
All that He does
is completely right.
So the judgment
and the war
that He's bringing with Him,
He is the divine warrior coming.
No one can say
that it's wrong.
No one can say
this is unfair.
In righteousness
He makes war and judges.
Verse 12,
we see the third description.
His eyes are like
a flame of fire.
We came across
these fire eyes
early in the book of Revelation
in chapter 1 verse 15
where the risen,
reigning,
and radiant Christ
is pictured with these fire eyes.
And then in the church
of Thyatira in 2.18,
again you see the fire eyes
and He knows everything.
Those eyes.
Those eyes see all
with a burning purity.
He is looking right now
into the depths
of your soul.
verse 12,
the fourth description,
on His head
are many diadems.
A diadem
is just another way
of talking about a crown.
And we've come
into contact
with crowns
in the book of Revelation
earlier.
It's just interesting
whose head they're on.
For example,
in 12.3,
on the head of the dragon
are seven diadems.
And in 13,
verse 1,
on the beast's
seven heads
are ten diadems.
So,
what is a diadem?
Well,
it's a crown
and what it represents
is
a domain.
An area
or a people
of reign.
And if you remember
from our study
of the book of Revelation,
seven
and even ten
have this,
carry this sense
of completeness.
And so,
the dragon
and the beast
are making
these false claims
just by their diadems
that they rule
over all.
Have you ever seen
a boxer,
a championship boxer
enter a ring?
He's got his belt on
and if he's like
the welterweight champion
of this federation
and this continent
and he has other belts
with him too,
his entourage following
are usually carrying
the belts.
And so,
he gets into the ring
and he's like,
yeah!
And all of his entourage
are like,
yeah,
yeah!
He reigns,
man!
These aren't boxing belts,
these are diadems.
Crowns that represent
domains over people
and places.
Did you notice
how many diadems
are on the rider
of the horse?
Many.
You can like,
and miss it.
Unnumbered.
They're not numbered.
You're left thinking,
how many?
Too many to count?
More than seven.
More than ten.
Rightful claim.
Crown him with many crowns,
the one who's on his horse.
He has the diadem
of the United States
of America.
He has a crown,
a diadem that says
Northern Hemisphere,
Southern Hemisphere.
Our solar system,
our universe,
all the micro,
many universes.
He even has a diadem
with your name on it.
rule over your life.
The fifth description
is actually
the second name.
He has a name
that no one knows
but himself
in verse 12.
What does that mean?
Well, it means two things.
First is this.
There are things
about our warrior bridegroom,
the divine warrior,
that we just
cannot comprehend.
He is
an unfolding mystery
to us.
Unfathomable.
It's not that we can't know him.
We can know him truly.
We will just never know him
exhaustively.
So, if you think
your idea of heaven
is showing up
and you're like,
I'm bored with Jesus,
it's way beyond that.
He's unfathomable.
You're not going to get bored
with him.
And if you're bored
with Jesus now,
that means
it just says more about you
than about Jesus.
Jesus.
There's also,
at this time,
when this was written,
an ancient belief
that if you knew
the name of a God,
you were able
to control that God.
And so,
here's what that getting at.
Jesus says,
there's parts of me
you don't know anything about.
You can't control me.
He's sovereign.
He does what he pleases.
He's sovereign overall.
There's nobody in the room
that can control Jesus.
Nobody on the planet
that can control Jesus.
In Psalm 115,
we read,
our God is in the heavens.
He does all that he pleases.
And when Jesus comes back to earth,
he will do all that he pleases on earth.
There's no created thing
that can control him,
that can command him,
that can constrain him.
He has a name
that no one knows but himself.
The sixth description.
Verse 13,
he has a robe dipped in blood.
He's clothed in it.
It's a reference back to Isaiah 63,
one through six,
where the Messiah
will tread upon his enemies
in the winepress of God's wrath.
It's a picture of coming judgment.
You've heard of a mullet before, right?
All business in the front,
party in the back.
Jesus is all business.
He's got a robe dipped in blood,
and you're going to see that robe
in just a second.
It's going to come back on the scene.
The seventh description
is the third name in verse 13.
It's the third of four names
we see in this whole passage.
The third name is the word of God.
You've heard that before
from something John has written
in John 1.
In the beginning was the word,
and the word was with God,
and the word was God.
He was in the beginning with God,
and the word became flesh
and dwelt among us.
We beheld his glory.
You see,
Jesus is the living explanation
of God on earth.
His life shows us God.
He is God.
But remember,
this passage has to do
with his return
and final judgment.
So here's what that means.
His first coming
was love incarnate.
His second coming
is judgment incarnate.
This word
is the final word of God.
The final word
of incarnate judgment
writing on a white war horse.
Is your heart rising
to any of these?
You take all these
seven descriptions together,
and there are seven.
And it's a picture
of the unrivaled glory
of the returning Christ
full and complete.
Let your heart rise
to that.
That's not all we see here.
It's not just
we see his,
these descriptions
of who he is.
We see somebody
coming with him.
Not just as unrivaled glory,
he has with him
an unarmed army.
Did you see that
in verse 14?
And the armies
of heaven arrayed
in fine linen,
white and pure,
were following him
on white horses.
Who are these people?
Well, the dead giveaway
is in what they're wearing.
They're arrayed
in fine linen,
white and pure.
And if you look
back at 1908,
when Billy preached
last week
in this description
of the bride,
it was granted her,
it's all grace,
to clothe herself
with fine linen,
bright and pure.
It's the church.
It's us.
Riding on horses
behind our Savior.
Riding into the great
final battle of Armageddon.
It's us.
But let me tell you something.
This linen that we're wearing,
it's kind of like
satiny silk,
beautiful.
I mean,
it's like PJs.
It's like you're wearing pajamas.
It's lovely,
breezy,
loose,
wonderful.
Why is an army
wearing PJs
into battle?
I think it's a good question.
Why are they wearing armor?
Why are they brandishing swords?
They have no fear.
You're going to see
in just a minute
that they're lined up
against them
as the beast
and the armies
of the earth.
Why aren't they afraid?
Because they're following
faithful and true,
the one whose name
he alone knows.
They're following
the word,
the final word of God,
the King of kings
and Lord of lords.
He's going to fight
the battle.
He's going to fight
and he's already won.
He's already conquered
at the cross
and so we will ride out
with him
to watch him
consummate the victory
that he won
at Calvary.
We're not going to be there
to help him.
We're going to be there
to witness it.
All of us
who are crying out,
how long,
oh Lord?
How long?
How long
until you vindicate us?
This is it.
And you'll have
a front row seat
on a horse.
Can you imagine
yourself riding out
on one of these
white stallions
following after
your risen,
radiant,
and king
who has returned?
This week
I have been imagining
that very thing
and many of you
have come into my mind
as I look left
and right.
Who is on
these white horses
wearing their PJs
with me?
following after
our great king.
He's won the victory
and he will complete it.
When we ride out together,
we're riding out
as those who know
we have faithfully
endured for Jesus
and we will then witness
his uncontested victory
over all of his rivals.
So we've seen
his coming
in unrivaled glory.
Now we've seen
his coming
with his unarmed army
and PJs.
And now I just want
to quickly show you
that when he comes,
he's bringing
universal judgment.
It's in verses 15 and 11.
Excuse me,
15 and 16.
Notice,
in verse 15,
the instruments
of judgment
from his mouth
come a sharp sword
to strike down
the nations.
It's a reference
to Isaiah 11, 4.
It's a prophecy
of the Messiah
coming to conquer.
Jesus fulfills that.
Verse 15,
he will rule the nations
with a rod of iron
in his hand.
Behind that is Psalm 2, 9,
another messianic psalm.
The Messiah,
God's king,
will be victorious
over the nations
that oppose him.
And then,
he will tread
the winepress
of the fury
of the wrath
of God Almighty.
That's his feet.
Mouth,
hand,
feet,
sword,
rod,
winepress.
The winepress,
as I mentioned earlier,
is,
the background
is Isaiah 63,
1 through 6.
And again,
it's the Messiah
treading upon
the winepress
of God.
And the blood
of the enemies
of God flow.
It's a picture
of crushing.
The Messiah,
when he comes,
he comes back
to violently judge
and conquer
his enemies
in righteousness.
Those three instruments,
sword,
rod,
winepress,
should remind you
of three words.
Vengeance
is mine.
wine.
This is God
vindicating
himself
and us
on that
great
and awful
day.
What gives
him the right?
What gives
Jesus the right
to this
kind of business?
verse 16
where we see
the fourth name
of this rider.
It's a reference
back to the robe,
the robe dipped
with blood.
It's pulled back
and you can see
on the thigh
of this rider,
King of kings
and Lord of lords.
The title of
universal authority
over all.
And you might be
asking,
well,
why is it on
his thigh?
If you were
standing on the
ground
and the returned
Christ came
riding up to you
on his war horse,
do you know
where your eyes
would fall?
On his thigh.
He'd be
mounted
over you.
King of kings
and Lord of lords.
It's not the first
time we saw
this title.
It shows up
in 1714
when the
beast comes out
to make war
against the lamb.
We learn that the
lamb will conquer
them for he is
Lord of lords
and king of kings
and those with him
are the called,
the chosen,
the faithful,
us.
He wears all the
diadems.
He is all authority
and he will
exercise it
completely
when he comes.
Are you
seeing his
unrivaled glory?
No one's like
him.
We've seen
his coming glory.
We've seen
his coming army.
We've seen
his coming
judgment.
We've seen
these four names,
faithful and true,
true,
a name that only
he knows,
the word of God,
king of kings
and lord of lords.
We're going to
come back to
those names
at the end
of the sermon.
But now,
I've got to
show you
his uncontested
victory over
all of his
rivals.
We've seen
his unrivaled
glory.
Now,
let's look at
his uncontested
victory over
all of his
enemies.
Verses 17
through 21.
These five
verses,
they picture
that great
and final
battle of
Armageddon
that we
read about
already in
chapter 16
under the
sixth bowl
judgment.
But what's
interesting about
this is that
this passage
portrays that
battle as
a supper.
Verse 17,
the great
supper of God.
the great
day of God's
wrath has
come,
616.
And last
week,
Billy showed
us that
the marriage
supper of
the Lamb,
blessed are
those who
are invited
to that
supper to
be reunited
with the
Lamb.
Not so
with this
supper.
This isn't
a blessed
supper.
This is a
supper of
the cursed.
In 17
and 18,
we see
an angelic
invitation
to the
supper.
Verse 17,
an angel.
Who does
the inviting?
An angel,
a great
angel,
standing in
the sun
high up,
so you'd
be like
squinting.
In a
great voice,
he throws
out an
invitation.
Who does
he invite?
Verse 17,
a great
come.
All the
birds that
fly directly
overhead,
come.
Gather for
the great
supper of
God.
The guests
at this
supper are
not people,
they're birds,
and not just
any birds.
Vultures.
Do you know
what a
turkey vulture
is?
Those
bald-headed
beasts,
they survive
by eating
roadkill?
These
vultures
are being
called not
to eat
roadkill,
but war
kill.
It's
gruesome.
It's not
stated explicitly
in this text,
but we know
from 1616
where this
supper is
going to
take place.
It's in
Armageddon.
And
here's the
gruesome
punchline
of this
whole picture.
It's
what's
the main
course.
It's not
what's
being
served,
it's
who's
being
served.
Did you
notice that
when Robin
read?
Look at
verse 18.
They're being
summoned to
this great
supper of
God to
eat the
flesh of
kings,
to eat
the flesh
of captains,
to eat
the flesh
of mighty
men,
the flesh
of horses
and the
riders.
And then
it goes
really broad,
the flesh
of all
men,
both free
and slave,
both small
and great.
All
humanity
in opposition
to God
is the
main course
at the
great
supper
of God.
It's a
serious
business
business.
They
ride out
to
Armageddon
actually
thinking
that they
have a
shot
against
the
lamb,
but what
all heaven
knows
is that
there is
no contest
here,
that these
rebels
opposing
the lamb,
this is
the meal
arriving.
They
it's
gruesome,
it's
sobering,
and what
I just
need to
say,
what it
is not,
this is
not the
blessed
marriage
supper
of the
lamb,
this is
the
anti-supper,
the
cursed
supper
of judgment
on the
beast
and all
with him.
It's
very
sobering,
this
angelic
invitation
goes out
to gather
vultures
for a
feast of
human war
kill.
He's
coming
in its
serious
business.
We see
the
invitation
in 17
and 18
and then
we see
the supper
served up
in 1921.
In 19,
the beast
and the
kings of
the earth
line up
to make
war against
the one
sitting
on the
horse.
You see
this in
1616
and 1714,
this squaring
off with
the lamb,
faithful and
true.
The one
whose name
that only
he knows
because you
can't
control him.
He's the
final word,
the king
of kings
and the
lord of
lords.
They have
no idea
who they're
squaring up
against.
They must
be out
of their
minds.
They've
been terribly
deceived.
Their
wicked
hearts
have been
deceived
by the
beast
on his
throne
of lies
and his
false
prophet
who
has been
spinning
these
lies
to
cause
these
wicked
human
beings
to
actually
think
that the
beast
is
their
savior.
And we're
watching this
knowing that
this battle
for these
armies is
a fool's
errand.
Take a
last look.
That's their
end.
They don't go
beyond Armageddon.
Verse 20,
the best word I
can use for this
verse is
anticlimactic.
You come off
verse 19 and
you have these
two armies
squaring off
against each
other and
you're like
thinking,
oh man,
this is going
to be a
fight.
This is going
to be like
two towers
kind of
battle.
But there's
no battle.
There are no
clanging swords,
no arrows
flying.
I mean,
we're in our
PJs.
There's no
conflict.
There's no
and the
beast was
captured and
with it the
false prophet
who in its
presence had
done the
signs by
which he
deceived those
who had
received the
mark of the
beast and
those who
worshipped
its image.
I mean,
it's so
anticlimactic.
His final,
the final
victory of
the returning
king is so
uncontested.
It is
anticlimactic.
historic.
You just
don't get the
sense that
he breaks a
sweat.
He is the
king of kings
and lord of
lords.
He's got all
the diadems.
With his
word,
Martin Luther,
with one,
just one
word,
he shall
fell him.
the beast
and the
false prophet,
the second
and third
members of
the anti-trinity
are easily
captured.
No fight.
They are
thrown alive
into hell,
the lake of
fire,
where they
will be
tormented
day and
night,
forever and
ever.
We read
that in
Revelation
20.
What's
interesting is
that the
order in
which the
enemies of
God first
appear in
the book
of Revelation
are reversed
in their
destruction.
Let me
show you.
In chapter
13,
the rising
of the
dragon,
actually the
falling and
throwing down
of the
dragon.
In
chapters
14,
we see
both the
beast and
the false
prophet
introduced.
In
chapter 17,
it's the
prostitute.
Chapter
18,
it's the
downfall of
the
prostitute.
Chapter
19,
it's the
downfall of
the false
prophet and
the beast.
In
chapter 20,
we will
see in
just a
couple weeks
the devil,
the dragon
himself,
gets hip
tossed into
the lake
of fire.
The
risen,
radiant
Christ
returns in
his unrivaled
glory to
bring utter
destruction on
all his
rivals in
an uncontested
victory.
Supper is
served.
All
remaining
humanity
in verse
21,
stripped of
beast and
false
prophet.
They're
slain by
the sword
that comes
from his
mouth.
With
just one
word out
of the
mouth of
faithful and
true,
out of
the final
word of
God,
king of
kings and
lord of
lords,
they're all
undone.
We don't
even enter
the fray.
We're there
to witness.
And one of
those gruesome,
gruesome
pictures at
the end of
21 and all
those vultures,
they ate
until they
could eat
no more
of flesh,
of the flesh
of Christ's
rivals.
That's a
dishonorable
death.
Gruesome.
sobering,
but settling.
This victory
is secure.
In 11
through 16,
we've seen
the unrivaled
glory of the
returning Christ
and in 1721,
we see his
uncontested
victory.
The point of
all this is
that when
Christ returns
as he promised
he would,
he will
come in
unrivaled
glory to
carry out
an uncontested
victory.
Now the
question becomes
how do you
respond to
that?
Three heart
responses.
The first one
I can imagine
is this,
your heart
drops.
You're in
your seat
right now
saying,
oh no,
I'm on the
wrong side
of the
rider.
I'm on the
wrong side
of the
battle line.
I've been
living a life
in opposition
to him
because you
know that
his fire
eyes see
right through
you.
There's nothing
hidden from
his sight.
You know
that if he
came back
today on
the clouds,
you would,
Revelation 1
7,
wail with
the rest
of the
nations of
the earth.
Judgment
has come.
It's real
guilt.
You've
really sinned.
You've
really
disobeyed
God.
You're
not making
it up.
It's
true.
And you're
accountable.
And it
can result
in fear.
You're
heart
dropping.
Well,
I've got
really good
news for
you,
fearful
one.
Did you
know that
you don't
have to
fear the
coming of
the rider
on the
white horse?
You can
actually welcome
it?
How so,
you say?
How can I
welcome that
dread warrior?
Well, the
rider of the
white horse,
he's faithful
and true.
He's got an
unknown name
that only he
knows.
He's the
final word of
God.
He's the
king of
kings and
lord of
lords.
But he's
also the
lamb who
was slain.
And he
was slain
for you.
he shed
his blood
that you
could be
delivered.
This
rider,
he's coming
in glory
the second
time.
But the
first time
he came,
he came
full of
grace to
rescue
sinners from
their sin
through his
blood.
What your
fear is
showing is
that you're
actually in
need of
his grace,
of his
forgiveness,
of his
rescue.
So you
go to
him.
You confess
to him
that you've
been opposed
to him,
that you've
been disobeying
him, and
he has
promised to
forgive you
and wash
you clean
to give you
a new set
of clothes,
fine linen,
pure and
bright.
So run to
him today,
fearful one.
You don't
need to be
afraid anymore.
But there's
another group
of people
here this
morning that
your heart's
not dropping,
your heart's
indifferent.
You're thinking
things like
this,
oh that
can wait.
I don't
need to
make a
decision about
Jesus.
When confronted
with these
glorious truths
about the
final appearing
of the
Son of
Man,
you're like,
eh,
that's nice.
It's because
you're on
the fence.
You see the
two options
before you,
you see
that the
way that
leads to
destruction
is the
way that's
being waved
on by the
false prophet,
excuse me,
the false,
the great
prostitute.
She's saying
to you,
come and
enjoy my
delights.
And you
and your
heart are
thinking things
like this.
Oh man,
I'm not sure
if I want to
give that up.
I really
like her
delights.
But you
also know
the way
that leads
to life
and that's
through the
lamb.
And in
order to
bear his
name,
in order to
follow after
him on a
horse,
you need to
forsake the
world.
You must
hand over
the diadem
with your
name on it.
That's the
rule of your
life.
and you
hand it
over to
the lamb
and says,
I'm all
yours.
You know
that's the
case.
You're on
the fence
between living
for Babylon
and living
for the
lamb.
You're
wondering,
is he
worth it?
Well,
if you're a
fence rider,
you're making
a tragic
mistake.
You
think that
the temporary
delights of
Babylon are
more wonderful
than the
eternal glory
of following
Jesus.
So just to
bring this
home to you,
let me ask
you a question
from the
text.
You tell
me, in
this text,
when the
risen Christ
returns,
who's
experiencing
the greatest
joy in
that moment?
those who
are following
after the
risen,
reigning,
and returning
king on
their white
steeds,
or those
who are on
the other
side of
the battle
line,
whom the
risen king
is coming
to judge,
on that
day whose
heart is
full of
joy.
life.
If Jesus
were to
come back
today,
and he
found you
on the
fence,
you would
find yourself
under his
judgment,
but you
still have
time.
You just
need to go
tell the
risen lamb,
you've been
indifferent,
you've been
unwilling to
hand him
over your
diadem,
and then you
do that in
faith.
you don't
know what
tomorrow holds.
There's a
third group of
people here.
It's not
people's hearts
falling with
oh no,
it's not
people with
indifferent
hearts saying
oh that can
wait,
it's the
blood bought.
Your hearts
rise,
you say oh
yes,
you hear about
these wonderful
descriptions of
the son of
man in his
final coming,
and you're
like yes,
yes and
amen.
Every name
you hear,
it puts
strength in
your heart.
His coming
doesn't
frighten you.
His
uncontested
victory sobers
you, but it
doesn't frighten
you.
You long
for him.
You see
yourself on a
white charger
riding behind
our warrior
king.
it's not a
hard thing to
imagine in
light of what
he's done
for you.
So this
morning, if
your heart is
rising, be
encouraged.
He is
coming and
we're one
day closer
to his
coming.
Don't give
up.
Don't
compromise.
Stay focused.
Stay true.
Be faithful.
But I've
been around
the block, so
I know that
someone who
gets encouraged
on a Sunday
can, on
Monday, find
themselves greatly
discouraged.
So this
week, I want
to put something
before you.
A way to
remain strong
this week.
To be
encouraged by
the promised
second coming
of Jesus.
And here's how
I want to do
it.
It's all in
the names.
Pray his
unrivaled names
to him this
week.
Pray them.
All week
long, this
past week, I've
been addressing
our Lord Jesus
with these
lovely names.
And it has put
strength in my
heart.
It goes
something like
this.
Oh Lord Jesus,
you are faithful
and true.
You will no
go.
You will not
go back on
your promises
against me.
You will never
leave me nor
forsake me.
You will be
true to your
word.
All the way
to the end,
you are faithful
and true.
Do you think
you can do
that this
week?
And then
there's the
name that
only he
knows.
Pray this.
Oh, Jesus,
I can't
comprehend you
fully, but I
can know you
truly.
Would you
show me your
glory?
Would you
reveal yourself
to me in
ways I can
know?
And I dare
not try to
control you or
to command you
or to constrain
you because
you're
uncontrollable.
Do you think
you can do
that?
Do you think
that's going to
put strength in
your heart when
you pray to him
like that?
The word of
God.
Oh, Jesus, you
are the word of
God, the logos
of God.
Thank you for
revealing yourself
to me.
Thank you for
giving me eyes
to see.
Thank you for
showing me that
you are my
salvation.
and I fear
not the sword
of your mouth
because you
willingly bore
God's judgment
for me already
and I look
forward to
that day.
Do you think
you can pray
that?
King of kings
and Lord of
lords,
I submit
myself to
you.
Vengeance is
yours, not
mine.
I trust that
to you and I
also entrust all
of who I am
to you.
With the
diadem of my
life, today
you have
dominion over
all of who
I am.
You can do
that.
Imagine you're
at the most
unusual wedding
this June.
The bride is
entered and the
preacher has
just asked who
gives this woman
to be married
to this man
and from the
back of the
sanctuary with
everyone standing
up, you start
hearing this
clip-clop,
clip-clop.
The groom
has made his
entrance.
He's riding
his white
stallion
through those
doors,
coming down
this aisle
and he's not
wearing a
tuxedo, he's
wearing his
marine dress
blues with a
chest full of
medals and as
he slowly
walks down
this aisle,
everyone standing
in the room
is just reading
what's written
on his
thigh.
This morning
we've looked
at the
return of
our king,
our bridegroom,
the return
of the divine
warrior,
unrivaled in
his glory
and uncontested
in his victory.
let that sit
in your heart
and rise.
He is
worthy.
Let us
pray.
God, thank you
so much for
Revelation 19,
11 through
21.
Would you
impress these
great truths
into our
hearts and
may our
response be
pleasing to
you.
In Jesus'
name,
amen.
Amen.