The Battle of the Ages — Ian Paisley

You'll find an authorized version of the Holy Scriptures in the pew before you. If you pick it up, turn with me, please, to the last book of the Bible, the book of Revelation. Revelation, and we're going to read together at the chapter 19.

The 19th chapter of the book of the Revelation. And we are reading from verse 11 to the end of the chapter. Revelation, chapter 19, verse 11 to 21. On the Lord's Day morning, we read it together. We don't mumble it like Episcopalians.

We read it like good, sound Presbyterians. Let's read the word at verse 11 of the 19th chapter of Revelation. And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse. And he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True.

And in righteousness he doth judge and make war. His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns. And he had a name written that no man knew but he himself. And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood, and his name is called the Word of God.

And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean. And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations. And he shall rule them with a rod of iron.

And he treaded the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. And he had on his vesture, on his thigh, a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords. And I saw an angel standing in the sun, and he cried with a loud voice saying to all the fowls that fly in the midst of heaven, Come and gather yourselves together unto the supper of the great God, that ye may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains, and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses, and of them that sit in them, and the flesh of all men, both free and form, both small and great.

And I saw the beasts, and the kings of the earth, and their armies gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse, and against his army. And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image.

They both were cast alive into a lake of fire, burning with brimstone. And the remnant were slain with the sword of him that sat upon the horse, which sword proceeded out of his mouth, and all the fowls were filled with their flesh.

Ending the reading at verse 21, and God shall stamp with his seal of approval and blessing this reading from his most holy and precious word. Turn with me please to the 19th chapter of the book of the Revelation.

The Final Battle of the Ages

The book of the Revelation, chapter 19. Here in these verses that I have read to you this morning, and we have read together, we have the grand finale of the battle of the ages. The battle between the true and only living God, and the God of this world, Satan himself.

And here we see this battle in its finality, as heaven is opened. And we are able to look into the great eternity, and view the eternality of the tremendous victory that Christ shall gain finally over all the enemies of the gospel.

The Captain’s Names: Faithful, True, and the Word of God

In reading this portion of scripture, there are seven things that need to be noted. First of all, we have the names of the captain of oars. We have the vision of the white horse, and he that sat upon him, and he bears five.

He is first of all, faithful. Secondly, he is true. Thirdly, he is the word of God. Fourthly, he is the king of kings. And lastly, he is the Lord of Lords. So we lift our eyes heavenward, towards eternity this morning.

And we look to the great captain of oars salvation. And thank God, every believing child of God knows that the captain of his salvation is faithful. We live in a world of faithlessness. Faithlessness is the characteristic of sin and sinners, and of the whole fallen human race.

But thank God, the captain of oars salvation is faithful. But then notice that as added to this, he is true. I remember the day I was sealed. I rested my soul for salvation on that great text. Him that cometh unto me, I will in no wise cast out.

And I found out, hallelujah, that it was true. And it has been true ever since. What God says is true, because Christ our Savior is the truth. I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh unto God but by me, he says.

So he is true. And I can testify, and I am eighty years of age, I hope to live until I am a hundred. And I can testify that he has always been true. I have my faults and my follies, my sins and my wickedness.

But Christ is always true. How true is Christ. He is true incarnate. But then he is something more. Look at verse 13. He is the Word of God. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him, and without him was not anything made that was made. The Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.

The Word of God. He is infallible. He is the Word of God. He is not only infallible, but he is the Christ whose Word abided forever. Heaven will pass away. Earth will pass away. But the Word of God will never, ever.

And then we notice he is king of all kings. All kings must bow before him. And if they do not bow in time, they will bow in eternity. For every knee shall bow, and every tongue shall confess. And then he is Lord of all.

To our blessing. What a Savior he is. But then, secondly, if you look at this passage of Scripture, you'll find the nature of his... First of all, we have the names that he is called. Then we come to the nature of his task.

Christ’s Righteous Judgment and War Against Sin

And what does he do? Look at verse 11. In righteousness he doth judge and make war. Man has fought many battles in his day. But there has never been, in all the annals of man's wars, a real war that was not without the stain of sin on both sides.

Thank God, Jesus Christ is the one who, in righteousness, he doth judge and make. Christ's battles are stamped with righteousness. And please note that he makes his judgments first. Then he makes the war.

Every man is judged and righteously judged before God makes war upon him and his way. Oh, thank God for the righteous war that Christ has waged against sin, that we might be delivered from sin. Oh, thank God for the righteous war he has waged against Satan, that we might be delivered from sin.

Oh, thank God for the fearful war of righteousness he has waged against man, that we might be saved from sinful man. Christ's wars are wars of purity, wars of truth, wars of righteousness, wars of faithful.

And we can look today down the history of the many awful struggles that the church of Christ engaged in. And how their enemies conquered them and put them through bloodshedding, through torture to the inquisition chambers and to all the rest.

But above it all, there was one who was making war in righteousness. And God's church will never be stamped out. And God's work will never be stamped out. And God's people will never be stamped out. We are on the winning side.

Why? Because of the nature of Christ in judgment, in righteousness, he doth judge and make war. But then look with me for a moment at the nobility of his person. You see at verse 12, we look into his eyes and they are aflame of fire.

The Crown of Creation and Christ’s Providence

Oh thank God for the searching eye of the Christ of God whose eyes are aflame of fire. The day that you were converted, the eye of Christ searched you. And exposed to your view the hideousness of your totally deprived soul.

And you saw yourself no saint. You saw yourself as a poor, wretched, guilty, hell deserving sinner. That who shall deliver me from this sin of my heart. Oh the fire of Jesus. He baptizes with the Holy Ghost and with fire.

We need for fire we plead. Shem the fire. The fire will meet our every need. Shem the fire. For grace to ever do the right. For power to conquer in the fight. For strength to walk this world in white.

Shem the fire. His eye is aflame of fire. But notice secondly, it tells us here something more. It says, on his head where many we have looked into his eyes. Now we look to his brow. The head that once was crowned with thorns is crowned with glory now.

A royal diadem adorns the mighty victor's brow. And what do we see here? We see him clothed with the crown of creation. I laugh when I hear on the radio and television these evolutionists. And you know they have it down to a tee haven't they?

Things happened 300 million years ago. They didn't happen 300 million years ago in one month. They always have it in nice rounded figures. Wonderful people. But I love that verse. Nothing was made but he made it.

He made it all. He wears the crown of creation. And thank God he wears the crown of a new creation. For of any man be in Christ he is a new creature. Old things have passed away. Behold all things have become new.

He wears the crown of providence. How wonderful providence works out its ways. I finished preparing for the Christian ministry. I didn't know where I was going to preach. And one day there was a big cattle seal in a place called Ballyclare.

And two prominent seals men and men who were brought up in the cattle trade met. They were both Christian. Greatly blessed under the ministry of W .P. Nicholson. And one of them said to the other, Our church is on the Raven Hill Road.

We have no preacher. Things are very bad. We have empty seats. And there is no one to preach. And the other man said, Well we had a young preacher preaching for us last Sunday. And he said he was a talker.

And he said you should get him and hear him. So this man took the address of the young preacher which happened to be me. And I got a letter from the Raven Hill Road from our old church saying would I come and preach.

I was only 19 years of age. And I went along to preach. I remember my text. I preached upon the last verse of Isaiah chapter 53. Where we read those wonderful words that finishes off that chapter. The great things that Christ has done.

He has divided the spoiled with the strong. He has poured out His soul unto death. He has been numbered with the transgressors. He bare the sin of many. And He made intercession for the transgressors.

And the people enjoyed the message. And eventually called me to preach on this road. Cattleman in Valley Claire providentially met. I had preached the Sunday before in one of the churches to which one of them attended.

And that's why I'm on the Raven Hill Road today. The providence of God. God, our God, our Savior wears the crown of providence. And all things work together for good to them that love the Lord. To them who are called according to His purpose.

Christ’s Blood and Sacrificial Dedication

But notice there's something more. There is not only the eyes with the flame of fire and the nobility of Christ's person. There's not only the various crimes. The crime of creation. The crime of grace.

The crime of providence. The crime of the church and so on. But there's something about Him here. Look at verse 13. He was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood. That vesture dipped in blood is the symbol of Christ's agonizing earnestness.

And life-sacrificing dedication. He gave His life. What is His life? The life of the flesh is in the blood. He gave us life. A ransom for our soul. And thank God the highest nobility of Christ's person is His precious, precious blood.

When Christ comes back to this earth, He will wear a vesture dipped in blood. Because the blood is the life. Oh precious, precious blood of Jesus. Shed on Calvary. Shed for rebels. Shed for sinners. Shed, thank God, for me.

The Holy Armies and the Weapon of Holiness

But fourthly, notice the number of His armies. It says here that when He comes, He comes with the armies which were in heaven followed Him. You know, Christ in this portion of Scripture has armor, as we shall see, and weapons.

But those that follow Him have no weapons at all. There's no mention of any sword. Or shield. Or spear. It just tells us this. It says concerning these armies that follow Him, they're clothed in fine linen, white, and armor, and the weaponry of the church.

What is it? It's holiness. It's purity. It's a pure church that wins the battle. It's a pure man that wins the victory. Holiness is the weapon that this world fears. It's Robert Murray McSheehan who said, The devil doesn't worry if the preacher's a clever preacher.

He doesn't worry if the preacher is a scholarly preacher. He doesn't worry if the preacher is an eloquent preacher. But the devil is scared out of his wits if the preacher is a holy preacher. The strength of the church doesn't lie in any skill, but conformity.

And when we're conformed to Christ, we have a power no devil in hell can shake. And we have a strength that no devil in hell can overcome. That's why God has called His church to put on the fine linen that's white.

Oh, for a church that is pure through the washing of the blood of the Lamb. Oh, for a church that has on the garments of Christ, which are clean and white. Oh, for a church whose members are noted not for anything of earth.

But they're noted with the fact that the diadem of heaven is theirs. They are clean that bear the vessels of the Lord. A holy church, a holy preacher, a holy Christian is the one that brings catastrophe to the devil and victory and conquering power to.

Then we have also here the naming of the weapons in the hand of the Captain of Salvation. Out of his mouth goeth a sharp. And this sword is a smiting sword. As a sword, it is the word of His mouth. And with that word, He will bring all men eventually to conformity to His law and to His will.

I was greatly struck when studying this portion of Scripture with verse 12. He had a name written that no man knew. But I have spoken to you of five names that He has in this. But there is a name that no one knows.

In heaven, when you get to heaven, your whole heaven will be spent learning. That name which at this moment is unrevealed and is known only to Himself. But in the glory land, the people of God will learn the fullness of His name.

You know what the Bible says? It says, I have not seen. No man's eye has ever seen. The ear hath not heard. No ear has ever heard. Neither hath it entered into the heart of man. No man can ever imagine it, but see it.

The ear cannot hear it. It has not entered into the heart of man. What? But God has prepared up there in the glory land. Every day they are learning the new name of Jesus. I hear the shouts of the saints today.

As a new revelation of Christ is in the glory land. And every glorified saint with the white robes upon them are shouting the praises of Jesus. I long for the day when I shall join them in the great revelation.

When Christ shall tell us the full meaning. The angel came and said to Mary, call His name Jesus from their sins. And in heaven we'll learn what it is to be really and truly saved from our sins. Note also, not only have we the sword to punish and the rod to order men to keep God's commandments.

But I was struck with the fact of His third weapon. What was the third weapon that Christ had? The sword? Yes. The rod? Yes. But He treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. And I stopped as I read that.

And I said, Lord, what is this weapon to me? It is the foot of my Son. Remember, pray it as enemies beneath His feet. Remember the promise given to our fallen first parents. The devil. There's a day coming when the Almighty Christ will tread all His foes beneath His feet.

The powerful weapon of all. The blessed treading of the feet of Christ upon the heads of all those who rebel. And then, finally, we have the fact of this great victory. He's going to have His vesture and on His thigh.

Christ’s Final Victory as King of Kings

Why on His thigh? That takes me back to the old wrestler called Jacob. His thigh had to be touched before the Lord got the victory. And Christ has written upon His thigh, King of kings and Lord of lords.

Jacob, the supplanter, he went over the brook and he was whole and he was straight. But in that battle of wrestling, God took the crookedness from Jacob. He was limping. They had been touched. It was Israel.

When God touches us and takes the twist out of us, the Lord Jesus Christ shows to us the fact that on His vesture and on His thigh there is a name written, King of kings. Everyone in this service will crown Christ the King of kings and the Lord of lords in their lives.

Amen and Amen. Let's bow our heads in prayer. Father in heaven, we thank Thee for the sweetness of Thy word, write it upon all our hearts. And O God, may we see Jesus and may we sing and may we shout the victory in His name.

And everybody say, Amen.