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SERIES: THE REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST, WEEK 74

TITLE: THE COMING OF THE KING OF KINGS

TEXT: REVELATION 19:11-16

INTRODUCTION: (1) THE TWO ADVENTS, THE TWO COMINGS OF CHRIST TO THE EARTH ARE IN SHARP CONTRAST, THEY ARE RADICALLY DIFFERENT.

* IN HIS FIRST COMING JESUS CAME IN HUMILITY, BORN IN A MANGER FOR THERE WAS NO ROOM FOR HIM IN THE INN.

** IN HIS LIFE HE SUFFERED HIMSELF TO BE ABUSED AND BUFFETED BY HIS ENEMIES, EVEN TO THE POINT OF HAVING HIS CREATURES, A PART OF HIS CREATION SPIT UPON HIM, BEAT HIM AND CRUCIFY HIM. HE CAME AS THE SAVIOR.

*** YET IN HIS 2’D COMING TO EARTH HE WILL NOT BE COMING IN HUMILITY, BUT ROYALTY. HE WILL COME AS A JUDGE, AS A WARRIOR, AND WILL COME TO RULE AS KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.

**** NOW THIS ADVENT, CHRIST’S 2’D COMING, IS ONE THAT IS THE CULMINATION OF REDEMPTIVE HISTORY AND WILL USHER IN HIS KINGDOM.

(2) AND GOD’S PEOPLE THROUGHOUT REDEMPTIVE HISTORY HAVE EAGERLY ANTICIPATED THE RETURN OF THE LORD JESUS CHRIST TO DEFEAT HIS ENEMIES AND SET UP A PURE GOVERNMENT THAT WILL BE UPON HIS SHOULDERS.

* AND THE CRY OF GOD’S PEOPLE IS HOW LONG? HOW LONG WILL SIN AND EVIL AND DICTATORS APPEAR TO BE IN POWER?

** HOW LONG UNTIL A BETTER DAY COMES? HOW LONG UNTIL WE HAVE A LEADER THAT HAS ABSOLUTE INTEGRITY AND ALWAYS TELLS THE TRUTH? HOW LONG UNTIL THE WAR AGAINST GOD ENDS?

*** FOR FROM THE TIME WHEN SIN ENTERED THE EARTH IN GENESIS 3, THE HISTORY OF MANKIND HAS BEEN DEPARTURE FROM GOD AND DEFIANCE OF GOD.

**** BUT ONE DAY THAT WILL END AND THE REBELLION WILL BE PUT DOWN AND GOD’S ENEMIES VANQUISHED.

(3) AND ZECHARIAH HAD THIS MOMENT, THIS TIME BEFORE HIM WHEN HE WROTE THIS IN ZECHARIAH 14:3&4:

V. 3 – THEN THE LORD WILL GO FORTH AND FIGHT AGAINST THOSE NATIONS, AS WHEN HE FIGHTS ON A DAY OF BATTLE.

V. 4 – IN THAT DAY HIS FEET WILL STAND ON THE MOUNT OF OLIVES, WHICH IS IN FRONT OF JERUSALEM ON THE EAST; AND THE MOUNT OF OLIVES WILL BE SPLIT IN ITS MIDDLE FROM EAST TO WEST BY A VERY LARGE VALLEY, SO THAT HALF OF THE MOUNTAIN WILL MOVE TOWARD THE NORTH AND THE OTHER HALF TOWARD THE SOUTH.

* AND THEN THE WORDS OF CHRIST POINTED TO THIS TIME WHEN HE SAID IN MATTHEW 24:29&30:

V. 29 – BUT IMMEDIATELY AFTER THE TRIBULATION OF THOSE DAYS THE SUN WILL BE DARKENED, AND THE MOON WILL NOT GIVE ITS LIGHT, AND THE STARS WILL FALL FROM THE SKY, AND THE POWERS OF THE HEAVENS WILL BE SHAKEN.

V. 30 – AND THEN THE SIGN OF THE SON OF MAN WILL APPEAR IN THE SKY, AND THEN ALL THE TRIBES OF THE EARTH WILL MOURN, AND THEY WILL SEE THE SON OF MAN COMING ON THE CLOUDS OF THE SKY WITH POWER AND GREAT GLORY.

** AND THEN THE APOSTLE WOULD BE INSPIRED TO SAY THIS IN II THESSALONIANS 1:7-10 (READ 1:7-9).

*** V. 10 – AND TO WAIT FOR HIS SON FROM HEAVEN, WHOM HE RAISED FROM THE DEAD, THAT IS JESUS, WHO RESCUES US FROM THE WRATH TO COME.

**** AND THEN JOHN, THE AUTHOR OF THE BOOK OF REVELATION WOULD WRITE THIS IN ITS OPENING CHAPTER IN REVELATION 1:7&8 –

V. 7 – BEHOLD, HE IS COMING WITH THE CLOUDS, AND EVERY EYE WILL SEE HIM, EVEN THOSE WHO PIERCED HIM; AND ALL THE TRIBES OF THE EARTH WILL MOURN OVER HIM. SO IT IS TO BE. AMEN.

V. 8 – “I AM THE ALPHA AND THE OMEGA,” SAYS THE LORD GOD, “WHO IS AND WHO WAS AND WHO IS TO COME, THE ALMIGHTY.”

(4) NOW THIS FUTURE TIME OF GLORY FOR CHRIST AND HIS OWN AND JUDGMENT AND MOURNING FOR HIS ENEMIES IS THE SUBJECT OF OUR STUDY TODAY IN REVELATION 19:11-16.

* FOR IN THIS PASSAGE WE SEE THE GLORIOUS EVENT OF CHRIST’S SECOND COMING AS HE COMES BACK AS KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS, NOT AS A REJECTED KING AT HIS FIRST COMING WHEN THE PEOPLE DECLARED, WE’LL HAVE NO KING BUT CAESAR.

** NO, AT THIS COMING IN REVELATION 19:11-16 HE COMES BACK AS THE ABSOLUTE SOVEREIGN, THE MIGHTY KING OF THE COSMOS, AS THE KING OF ALL KINGS AND LORD OF ALL LORDS.

*** THUS I’VE TITLED MY MESSAGE TODAY: “THE COMING OF THE KING OF KINGS.”

**** AND UNDER THAT THEME AND TITLE WE’LL LOOK AT 5 MAJOR POINTS AS WE STUDY REVELATION 19:11-16.

(5) NO. 1 WE’LL LOOK AT CHRIST’S ATTRIBUTES, HIS ATTRIBUTES IN V. 11; NO. 2 HIS APPEARANCE IN VV. 12&13; NO. 3 HIS ARMY, V. 14; NO. 4 HIS ARSENAL, V. 15; AND NO. 5 HIS APPELLATION, V. 16, MEANING HIS IDENTIFYING NAME, HIS TITLE, HIS DESIGNATION.

* AND WITH THOSE POINTS AS OUR ROADMAP TO FOLLOW, LET’S JUMP RIGHT IN TO OUR STUDY BY FOCUSING ON OUR 1ST POINT, HIS ATTRIBUTES. LOOK AT REVELATION 19:11 PLEASE.

I. HIS ATTRIBUTES, (READ V. 11)

A. NOW FIRST OF ALL IN V. 11, JOHN SEES HEAVEN OPENED, OR AS TRANSLATED IN THE NIV, HEAVEN STANDING OPEN, WHICH ACCORDING TO SOME SCHOLARS IS A BETTER TRANSLATION SINCE THE VERB OPENED IS A PERFECT PARTICIPLE IN THE GREEK.

* WITH THAT SAID, JOHN SAW HEAVEN OPENED IN HIS VISION IN REVELATION 4:1 AND WAS TAKEN UP IN TO HEAVEN.

** NOW HERE IN REVELATION 19:11, HE IS NOT TAKEN UP TO HEAVEN, BUT SOMEONE WILL COME FROM HEAVEN.

*** AND THAT SOMEONE IS ON A WHITE HORSE.

**** AND WHITE MOST LIKELY PICTURES THE UNBLEMISHED, SPOTLESS, ABSOLUTELY HOLY CHARACTER OF THE RIDER.

***** BUT ALSO IN JOHN’S DAY, WHITE HORSES WERE RIDDEN BY VICTORIOUS ROMAN GENERALS THROUGH THE STREETS OF ROME TO PROCLAIM HIS VICTORY OVER HIS ENEMIES.

1. IT WAS THEIR TRIUMPHANT PROCESSIONAL TO DISPLAY THEIR TRIUMPH OVER THEIR ENEMIES.

* AND LIKEWISE CHRIST’S WHITE HORSE IS A SYMBOL OF HIS COMING TRIUMPH OVER THE FORCES OF WICKEDNESS, OVER HIS ENEMIES.

** NOW NEXT IN V. 11 WE START TO SEE THE ATTRIBUTES OF THIS VICTORIOUS RIDER. AND THERE ARE THREE.

*** FIRST HE IS CALLED FAITHFUL. AND WHAT A GREAT ATTRIBUTE. CHRIST IS RELIABLE, DEPENDABLE AND TRUSTWORTHY IN FULFILLING HIS PROMISES.

**** BUT NOT ONLY IS HE FAITHFUL, BUT ALSO TRUE. AND WHAT HE SPEAKS IS ALWAYS TRUE, HE IS THE WAY, THE TRUTH AND THE LIFE.

2. HE CANNOT LIE, HE CANNOT EXAGGERATE, HE CANNOT EMBELLISH, FOR TRUTH AND BEING TRUE TO HIS CHARACTER IS A PART OF WHO HE IS AND HIS BEING.

* BUT NOT ONLY IS HE FAITHFUL AND TRUE, BUT HE IS ALSO RIGHTEOUS, FOR “IN RIGHTEOUSNESS HE JUDGES AND WAGES WAR.”

** AND HERE HIS HOLY SINLESS NATURE DEMANDS A HOLY RIGHTEOUS RESPONSE TO SIN.

*** AND HIS WORK OF JUDGMENT AND WAGING WAR AGAINST HIS ENEMIES IS A HOLY RESPONSE, A RIGHTEOUS RESPONSE, IT WILL BE WITH DIVINE RIGHTEOUS RETRIBUTION.

**** AND WHAT WE’LL SEE IN V. 11 AND THE REST OF THE VERSES TODAY IS JESUS AS HE RETURNS AS THE WARRIOR KING.

3. HE WILL COME AS A JUDGE TO WAGE WAR AGAINST HIS ENEMIES.

* AND WHEN HE CAME THE FIRST TIME JESUS WAS JUDGED BY PILATE, HEROD, ANNAS AND CAIPHAS.

** BUT THIS TIME HE COMES IN JUDGMENT, A VICTORIOUS FAITHFUL AND TRUE RIGHTEOUS JUDGE.

*** AND HERE IN V. 11 WE SEE THESE ATTRIBUTES OF CHRIST IN HIS 2’D ADVENT.

**** AND LET ME PAUSE HERE BEFORE WE GO ONTO V. 12 FOR CLARIFICATION.

4. IN OUR STUDY OF SCRIPTURE WE DIFFERENTIATE BETWEEN THE RAPTURE AND CHRIST’S 2’D ADVENT OR COMING TO EARTH WHICH I CALL HIS REVELATION.

* FOR AT THE RAPTURE, THE SNATCHING AWAY, THE TRANSPORTING OF THE BRIDE OF CHRIST, CHRISTIANS WILL MEET THE LORD IN THE AIR IN I THESSALONIANS 4:13-18.

** AT THE REVELATION OR 2’D COMING HERE IN REVELATION 19 AND PASSAGES I READ IN MY INTRODUCTION, JESUS COMES TO THE EARTH, TO THE MOUNT OF OLIVES.

*** AT THE RAPTURE CHRIST COMES FOR HIS SAINTS, AT THE 2’D ADVENT CHRIST COMES WITH HIS SAINTS AND ANGELS.

**** AT THE RAPTURE CHRIST TAKES HIS SAINTS TO HEAVEN TO HIS FATHER’S HOUSE TO BE WITH HIM IN JOHN 14:1-3.

5. WHEREAS AT THE 2’D ADVENT THEY COME FROM HEAVEN TO THE EARTH WITH HIM WHEN JESUS COMES TO JUDGE AND WAGE WAR.

* AT THE RAPTURE ONLY THE SAINTS WILL SEE CHRIST, AT THE REVELATION, EVERY EYE WILL SEE HIM AND THERE WILL BE GREAT SIGNS IN THE HEAVENS.

** AND LASTLY, ONE OF THE KEY COMPONENTS OF CHRIST’S 2’D ADVENT TO EARTH IS JUDGMENT, WHAT WE SEE HERE IN REVELATION 19:11 AND THROUGHOUT THE VERSES WE WILL STUDY TODAY.

*** AT THE RAPTURE THERE IS NO HINT OF JUDGMENT BUT JOY, AS OUR BODIES ARE RESURRECTED IN I CORINTHIANS 15:51-57 FOR AT THE RAPTURE THE RESURRECTION OF THE JUST TAKES PLACE.

**** AND OUR POSITION IS THE RAPTURE TAKES PLACE BEFORE THE TRIBULATION AND KICKS IT OFF AS THE HOLY SPIRIT, THE RESTRAINER OF SIN IS TAKEN OUT OF THE WAY, AND THE CHURCH DOESN’T GO THROUGH TRIBULATION AS PROMISED TO THE CHURCH OF PHILADELPHIA IN REVELATION 3:10 AND COMMUNICATED IN I THESSALONIANS 5:9 AND PICTURED IN THE LORD BRINGING LOT OUT OF SODOM BEFORE IT’S JUDGMENT AND BRINGING NOAH AND HIS FAMILY THROUGH THE FLOOD, PROTECTING THEM FROM JUDGMENT.

6. BUT IN CONTRAST THE REVELATION OR 2’D COMING OF CHRIST TO THE EARTH TAKES PLACE AFTER THE TRIBULATION BRINGING IT TO A CLOSE, WHICH BY THE WAY DURING THIS 7 YEAR JUDGMENT, IN REVELATION 6-18, THE WORD CHURCH IS NOT USED ONE TIME, BUT NUMEROUS TIMES IN CHAPTERS 2&3.

* SO IN OUR STUDY TODAY, WHEN I MENTION THE 2’D ADVENT OR COMING, I’M TALKING ABOUT CHRIST’S COMING TO THE EARTH, AS HE COMES TO MAKE WAR AND HIS ATTRIBUTES OF BEING FAITHFUL AND TRUE AND RIGHTEOUS ARE COMMUNICATED.

* NOW WE MOVE FROM HIS ATTRIBUTES TO HIS APPEARANCE. LOOK AT V. 12 PLEASE.

II. HIS APPEARANCE, (READ V. 12)

A. NOW IN VV. 12&13 WE WILL SEE 4 THINGS THAT HAVE TO DO WITH CHRIST’S APPEARANCE, HIS EYES, HIS HEAD, HIS NAME AND HIS CLOTHING.

* AND FIRST OF ALL, “HIS EYES ARE A FLAME OF FIRE.”

** NOW THIS DESCRIPTION IS GIVEN OF CHRIST’S EYES EARLIER IN REVELATION IN CHAPTER 1:14 AND CHAPTER 2 VERSE 18.

*** AND HERE AGAIN IN REVELATION 19:12 HIS EYES ARE PENETRATING, SEEING EVERYTHING FOR NOTHING GET PAST HIM, READ HEBREWS 4:13.

**** BELOVED, NOTHING ESCAPES THE PENETRATING PIERCING VISION, HE HAS OMNISCIENT EYES THAT FLASH HERE WITH THE FIRE OF JUDGMENT.

1. NOW AGAIN WE SEE A DISTINCT CONTRAST FROM CHRIST’S FIRST COMING AND 2’D COMING, FOR IN HIS FIRST COMING WE SEE TEARS IN THE EYES OF CHRIST AS HE WEPT OVER JERUSALEM AND WEPT WHEN TALKING WITH MARY AND MARTHA IN JOHN 11:35 OVER THE DEATH OF LAZARUS THEIR BROTHER.

* AND CHRIST’S EYES REFLECTED TENDERNESS AS HE GATHERED CHILDREN TO HIMSELF IN HIS FIRST ADVENT.

** BUT HERE IN HIS 2’D ADVENT HIS EYES ARE AS A FLAME OF FIRE, THESE ARE THE BLAZING EYES OF A WARRIOR KING, AN INCANDESCENT BLAZE OF THE EYES WHICH REBELLIOUS PEOPLE WILL BE JUDGED.

*** NOW NEXT ON CHRIST’S “HEAD ARE MANY DIADEMS.”

**** AND CONTRAST THAT WITH THE REALITY IN HIS FIRST COMING, WHAT WAS ON HIS HEAD?

2. A CROWN OF THORNS, NOW IN HIS 2’D ADVENT MANY DIADEMS, CROWNS OF ROYALTY DIGNITY, CROWNS OF SOVEREIGNTY.

* AND HE HAS MULTIPLE CROWNS BECAUSE WE WILL SEE IN V. 16, HE IS THE KING OF ALL KINGS, AND IS OVER EVERY KING AND RULER OF THE WORLD, AND HE HAS THE RIGHT TO RULE EVERY LAND AND EVERYTHING.

** AND WHERE AS A KING IN DAYS GONE BY WOULD WEAR A CROWN THAT SIGNIFIED HIS RULE OVER ONE LAND, ONE COUNTRY, ONE AREA, BUT CHRIST HAS MANY CROWNS FOR HE IS OVER EVERY COUNTRY, EVERY AREA AND EVERY LAND.

*** NEXT, HE HAS A NAME WRITTEN ON HIS PERSON WHICH NO ONE KNOWS EXCEPT HIMSELF.

**** AND ALL SPECULATION OF WHAT THAT NAME IS, IS POINTLESS AND VAIN, FOR THE TEXT CLEARLY AND PLAINLY STATES THAT NO ONE KNOWS IT EXCEPT CHRIST.

3. AND THERE IS A NAME THAT PROBABLY WILL REMAIN SECRET UNTIL HE STARTS TO REIGN BUT UNTIL THEN THERE ARE STILL HIDDEN THINGS THAT ARE NOT REVEALED THAT ARE A MYSTERY.

* BUT CONTINUING TO MOVE ON, MORE ABOUT CHRIST’S APPEARANCE IS REVEALED IN V. 13, AND SPECIFICALLY HIS CLOTHING. LOOK AT V. 13 PLEASE.

B. READ V. 13. NOW DESCRIBING THE FINAL ELEMENT OF CHRIST’S APPEARANCE, JOHN SEES THAT HIS ROBE, HIS VESTURE, HIS TUNIC THAT HE IS WEARING IS DIPPED IN BLOOD.

* AND SOME SUGGEST THAT THIS BLOOD IS REPRESENTATION OF THE BLOOD HE SHED ON THE CROSS AS THE LAMB.

** BUT I DISAGREE WITH THAT, FOR CHRIST’S APPEARANCE HERE IS NOT AS A LAMB, BUT A WARRIOR.

*** THE ISSUE HERE IS NOT REDEMPTION, BUT JUDGMENT. THE TIME OF JUDGMENT HAS COME.

**** AND THE BLOOD HERE IS THE BLOOD THAT WILL BE SHED IN VV. 17-21 AS ARMAGEDDON TAKES PLACE. IT IS IN THE BLOOD OF HIS ENEMIES AND THE CARNAGE OF THIS BATTLE.

1. FOR WE WILL SEE IN V. 15 THAT CHRIST TREADS THE WINE PRESS OF THE FIERCE WRATH OF GOD.

* AND THE PICTURE HERE IS COMPARABLE TO GRAPE JUICE SPLASHING ON THE WINETREADER IN THE WINE PRESS.

** AND WE HAVE THE PICTURE IN ISAIAH 63:1-6 WHERE IT SAYS:

V. 1 – 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.

V. 2 - WHY IS YOUR APPAREL RED, AND YOUR GARMENTS LIKE THE ONE WHO TREADS IN THE WINE PRESS?

V. 3 – 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.

V. 4 – FOR THE DAY OF VENGEANCE WAS IN MY HEART, AND MY YEAR OF REDEMPTION HAS COME.

V. 5 – I LOOKED, AND THERE WAS NO ONE TO HELP, AND I WAS ASTONISHED AND THERE WAS NO ONE TO UPHOLD; SO MY OWN ARM BROUGHT SALVATION TO ME, AND MY WRATH UPHELD ME.

V. 6 – I TROD DOWN THE PEOPLES IN MY ANGER AND MADE THEM DRUNK IN MY WRATH, AND I POURED OUT THEIR LIFEBLOOD ON THE EARTH.

*** NOW AGAIN THE PICTURE WE HAVE IS JUDGMENT, NOT REDEMPTION AS WE GO BACK TO REVELATION 19:13.

**** BUT ONE LAST THING IN THIS VERSE, HE HAS ANOTHER NAME THAT IS IDENTIFIABLE BY JOHN, “THE WORD OF GOD.”

2. AND WHAT AN APPROPRIATE NAME FOR CHRIST.

* CHRIST IS THE WORD, THE LOGOS OF GOD, MEANING THE REVELATION OF GOD. FOR A WORD IS A MEANS OF EXPRESSING THOUGHT.

** AND IN CHRIST, GOD HAS FULLY EXPRESSED HIMSELF TO MAN, JESUS IS THE FULL EXPRESSION OF THE MIND, WILL AND PURPOSE OF GOD.

*** AND NOTE THAT JOHN IS THE ONLY BIBLICAL AUTHOR WHO USES THIS WORD TO TALK ABOUT CHRIST AS THE REVELATION OF GOD AS GOD.

**** FOR IN JOHN 1:1-3 JOHN WOULD BE INSPIRED TO SAY: (READ THEM AND JOHN 1:14).

3. AND THEN AS JOHN OPENS HIS FIRST EPISTLE IN I JOHN 1:1 HE SAYS: “WHAT WAS FROM THE BEGINNING, WHAT WE HAVE HEARD, WHAT WE HAVE SEEN WITH OUR EYES, WHAT WE HAVE LOOKED AT AND TOUCHED WITH OUR HANDS, CONCERNING THE WORD OF LIFE.”

* AND SO JESUS IS THE WORD OF LIFE, THE WORD AND THE WORD OF GOD HERE IN REVELATION 19:13. AND AGAIN WHAT A WONDERFUL NAME FOR GOD THE SON WHO COMES AS A GENERAL IN WAR, AND AS WE MOVE ON WE SEE THIS GENERAL’S ARMY. LOOK AT V. 14 PLEASE.

III. HIS ARMY, (READ V. 14)

A. NOW FOLLOWING THEIR HEAVENLY GENERAL, THE ARMIES WHICH ARE IN HEAVEN FOLLOW THEIR COMMANDER RIDING WHITE HORSES.

* AND THIS ARMY CAN BE IDENTIFIED FROM THEIR CLOTHING HERE AND FROM THE SCRIPTURES.

** AND FIRST FROM THEIR CLOTHES, FOR THIS CLOTHING IS THE ATTIRE OF THE BRIDE OF CHRIST IN REVELATION 19:7&8, THE CHURCH, WHAT WE STUDIED LAST WEEK.

*** BUT ALSO THE TRIBULATION BELIEVERS ARE PICTURED WEARING WHITE ROBES IN REVELATION 7:9.

*** AND THEN IN MATTHEW 16:27 AND MATTHEW 25:31 WE SEE CHRIST RETURNING IN HIS 2’D ADVENT WITH HIS ANGELS, READ MATTHEW 16:27.

**** AND THEN WE ARE REMINDED IN JUDE V. 14 WHICH SAYS: IT WAS ALSO ABOUT THESE MEN THAT ENOCH, IN THE SEVENTH GENERATION FROM ADAM, PROPHESIED, SAYING, “BEHOLD, THE LORD CAME WITH MANY THOUSANDS OF HIS HOLY ONES.”

1. AND HOLY ONES ARE PROBABLY SAINTS, BUT COULD BE ANGELS.

* AND ALL TOLD AS WE ADD REVELATION 17:14 TO THE MIX OF ALL THESE TEXTS WHERE CHRIST IS IDENTIFIED AS LORD OF LORDS AND KING OF KINGS THOSE WHO ARE WITH HIM ARE THE CALLED AND CHOSEN AND FAITHFUL, WHICH PROBABLY REPRESENTS ALL BELIEVERS OF ALL TIME INCLUDING O.T. SAINTS.

** SO ALL TOLD, THIS ARMY IS MADE UP OF THE BRIDE, TRIBULATION SAINTS, ANGELS AND MOST LIKELY O.T. SAINTS. WHAT AN ARMY!

*** BUT ONE LAST THING HERE IN V. 14, THIS ARMY IS A NONCOMBATANT ARMY, FOR THEY HAVE NO WEAPONS, THEY ARE UNARMED.

**** FOR CHRIST ALONE WILL DESTROY HIS ENEMIES, SO THE SAINTS DO NOT COME TO FIGHT, BUT TO REIGN WITH CHRIST.

2. BUT ALTHOUGH THIS ARMY HAS NO ARSENAL, CHRIST DOES, AND HIS ARSENAL IS DESCRIBED IN V.1 5, WHERE WE’LL SEE OUR 4TH POINT TODAY, THE ARSENAL. LOOK AT V. 15 PLEASE.

IV. HIS ARSENAL, (READ V. 15)

A. NOW CHRIST COMES BACK TO WAGE WAR, AND FIRST OF ALL IN HIS HOLY ARSENAL COMES A SHARP SWORD THAT COMES OUT OF HIS MOUTH TO STRIKE DOWN THE NATIONS.

* AND SIMPLY CHRIST WILL CONQUER BY HIS WORD, PORTRAYED THAT WAY IN OTHER SCRIPTURES.

** FOR IN II THESSALONIANS 2:8 IT SPEAKS OF HOW CHRIST WILL DESTROY HIS ENEMIES, WHOM THE LORD SHALL CONSUME WITH THE SPIRIT OF HIS MOUTH.

*** AND THEN ISAIAH 11:4 SAYS: “BUT WITH RIGHTEOUSNESS HE WILL JUDGE THE POOR, AND DECIDE WITH FAIRNESS FOR THE AFFLICTED OF THE EARTH; AND HE WILL STRIKE THE EARTH WITH THE ROD OF HIS MOUTH, AND WITH THE BREATH OF HIS LIPS HE WILL SLAY THE WICKED.”

**** AND SO CLEARLY THE WORD OF GOD, THE LORD JESUS WHO SPOKE THE WORLD INTO EXISTENCE, NOW SPEAKS AND HIS ENEMIES ARE DESTROYED.

1. AND THIS IS THE FIRST OF 3 FIGURES USED IN V. 15 TO DESCRIBE THE IMAGE OF THE COMING OF CHRIST.

* NO. 1 THE SWORD WHICH COMMUNICATES THAT HE IS A WARRIOR AND DESTROYS THE NATIONS ON THE EARTH THAT OPPOSE HIM.

** NO. 2 IS THE ROD THAT PICTURES HIM AS A SHEPHERD.

*** AND THIS MAKES REFERENCE TO PSALM 2:8&9 WHICH SAYS:

V. 8 - ASK OF ME, AND I WILL SURELY GIVE THE NATIONS AS YOUR INHERITANCE, AND THE VERY ENDS OF THE EARTH AS YOUR POSSESSION.

V. 9 – YOU SHALL BREAK THEM WITH A ROD OF IRON, YOU SHALL SHATTER THEM LIKE EARTHENWARE.

**** AND HERE RULING AS SHEPHERD MEANS DESTROYING THE ENEMIES OF HIS SHEEP AND PROTECTING THEM, THE WOLVES AND PREDATORS WILL BE DESTROYED.

2. AND THIS ROD WILL NOT BREAK FOR IT’S MADE OF IRON.

* AND AS CHRIST DESTROYS HIS ENEMIES AND RULES IN HIS KINGDOM, HE WILL SWIFTLY JUDGE ALL SIN AND INSTANTLY PUT DOWN ANY REBELLION AS WE WILL SEE IN REVELATION 20:7-9.

** BUT NOT ONLY IS CHRIST A WARRIOR FROM THE PICTURE OF A SWORD, AND A SHEPHERD RULING WITH A ROD, BUT ALSO A FARMER WHO TREADS HIS WINE PRESS.

*** FOR AT THE END OF V. 15, “HE TREADS THE WINE PRESS OF THE FIERCE WRATH OF GOD, THE ALMIGHTY.”

**** AND AS WE STUDIED EARLIER IN REVELATION 14:18-20, THE VIVID PICTURE OF THE WINE PRESS IS A CLEAR AND FEARFUL IMAGE OF GOD’S WRATH.

3. FOR IT COMES FROM THE ANCIENT PRACTICE OF STOMPING ON GRAPES AS PART OF THE WINE-MAKING PROCESS.

* AND THE CRUSHING AND SPLATTERING OF THE GRAPES SYMBOLIZES THE POURING OUT OF THE BLOOD OF CHRIST’S ENEMIES.

** AND THIS IMAGERY IS USED IN JOEL 3:12-14 WHERE THE MESSIAH THE LORD JESUS JUDGES HIS ENEMIES. IT SAYS:

V. 12 – LET THE NATIONS BE AROUSED AND COME UP TO THE VALLEY OF JEHOSHAPHAT, FOR THERE I WILL SIT TO JUDGE ALL THE SURROUNDING NATIONS.

V. 13 – PUT IN THE SICKLE, FOR THE HARVEST IS RIPE. COME, TREAD, FOR THE WINE PRESS IS FULL; THE VATS OVERFLOW, FOR THEIR WICKEDNESS IS GREAT.

V. 14 – MULTITUDES, MULTITUDES IN THE VALLEY OF DECISION! FOR THE DAY OF THE LORD IS NEAR IN THE VALLEY OF DECISION.

*** NOW AS WE GO BACK TO REVELATION 19:15 CHRIST TREADS THE WINE PRESS OF NOT JUST THE WRATH OF GOD, THE ALL-MIGHTY ALL POWERFUL ONE, BUT THE FIERCE WRATH OF OMNIPOTENT GOD WHO IN HIS HOT HOLY ANGER WILL JUDGE SIN.

**** AND AT THE RETURN OF CHRIST WE WILL LIT. SEE, SINNERS IN THE HANDS OF AN ANGRY GOD.

4. BUT TO FINISH TODAY, I MUST MOVE ON TO OUR LAST POINT, HIS APPELLATION, CHRIST’S IDENTIFYING NAME HERE, HIS TITLE, HIS DESIGNATION. LOOK AT V. 16 PLEASE.

V. HIS APPELLATION, (READ V. 16)

A. NOW ON HIS BLOOD STAINED ROBE AND ON HIS THIGH, LIT. ACROSS HIS CHEST AND HANGING DOWN HIS UPPER LEG AS HE RIDES, HE HAS A FINAL TITLE OR MARK GIVEN.

* AND I LOVE IT, FOR IT CONVEYS THAT HE IS THE SOVEREIGN OF THE UNIVERSE, THE REAL POTENTATE, THE TRUE KING, THE REAL KING, THE FINAL KING, IT COMMUNICATES HIS SUPREMACY.

** FOR THE NAME WRITTEN IS KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.

*** BELOVED, JESUS IS THE KING OF THE ONES REIGNING AND THE LORD OF THE ONES RULING, THE SUPREME KING, THE SUPREME LORD, THE KING OF ALL KINGS AND THE LORD OF ALL LORDS!

**** AND HERE AT LAST ON THE EARTH, THE ONE WHO HAS A RIGHT TO RULE AND THE WISDOM TO RULE WILL RULE AND REIGN.

AND IN WRAP UP: (1) WITHOUT TRYING TO SOUND POLITICAL, I’M NOT VERY ENCOURAGED AND OPTIMISTIC ABOUT THOSE WHO ARE RUNNING FOR THE HIGHEST OFFICE IN OUR LAND IN THIS ELECTION YEAR.

* BUT I AM GREATLY ENCOURAGED THAT ONE DAY, THE ONE WHO IS PERFECTLY QUALIFIED AND ABSOLUTELY RIGHTEOUS WILL RULE THE WORLD.

** BELOVED, DON’T LOSE HOPE, A BETTER DAY IS COMING. THIS CURRENT WORLD SYSTEM IS NOT OUR HOME, WE’RE JUST PASSING THROUGH.

*** BUT ONE DAY WE WILL REIGN WITH THE TRUE KING.

**** AND ULTIMATELY IN OUR TEXT, WE HAVE THE ANSWER TO PILATE’S MOCKING QUESTION IN JOHN 18:37.

(2) AND IN OUR TEXT WE HAVE THE ANSWER, HE IS NOT ONLY A KING, BUT THE KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.

* AS PAUL SAID IN TALKING ABOUT GOD ALMIGHTY IN I TIMOTHY 6:15&16: “HE WHO IS BLESSED AND ONLY SOVEREIGN, THE KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS, WHO ALONE POSSESSES IMMORTALITY AND DWELLS IN UNAPPROACHABLE LIGHT, WHOM NO MAN HAS SEEN OR CAN SEE (SPEAKING OF IN OUR NATURAL STATE AND BEHOLDING HIS GLORY) TO HIM BE HONOR AND ETERNAL DOMINION! AMEN.”

** AND I SAY AMEN, AMEN AND AMEN!

** BELOVED MY ONLY APPLICATION HERE IN MY CONCLUSION IS REJOICE AND REST AND REFLECT ON THIS GREAT TRUTH AND YOU WILL BE ENCOURAGED, FOR THIS CURRENT WORLD SYSTEM WITH CORRUPTION, LIES AND DIRTY POLITICS IS ONLY TEMPORARY, A BETTER DAY IS COMING.

*** SO I CLOSE WITH PHILIPPIANS 4:4-7 (READ THEM AND PRAY).