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People love the study of end times. They love it. You probably love the study of end times. My question this morning is, why do you like to study end times? What about it makes it fascinating to you? Finding out when the Lord will return?
Well, we don't know exactly, of course. Studying the details of how it will all happen, what precipitates the Lord's return? Maybe you just study it because you're curious. But if you had to boil down the study of end times, the study of eschatology, into one topic, into one focus, what would that focus be?
I love to study end times, but the main reason you should study end times is this, that it puts the focus on the Lord Jesus Christ. If you get caught up in all the charts and the graphs and the dispensations and all these other things, you might lose the fact that end times is about Jesus returning.
Can you imagine Jesus is physically going to return to this earth? It's amazing. Jesus will come back. Sinclair Ferguson said, when we think about the last things, we must never allow our minds to be diverted from this principle, that the last things, like the first things, are the things of Jesus Christ.
You study the end times, you study eschatology, the last things because they focus on the Lord Jesus Christ. Even the ancient creeds, they knew that. The Apostles' Creed said, from thence He shall come to judge the living and the dead.
Jesus is coming back to judge. The Nicene Creed, Jesus shall come again with glory to judge both the living and the dead. The Athanasius Creed, from thence He shall come, Jesus, to judge the living and the dead, at whose coming all men must rise with their bodies and are to render an account for their deeds.
Everything about eschatology should have its centerpiece in the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ. Well, let's take our Bibles and turn to the book of Malachi as we continue to work through this minor prophet that has a major thrust.
The book of Malachi talks about the Lord's return and then we'll look specifically about Christ, regarding Christ coming in the book of Revelation for the end of the message. What will Jesus do on this earth?
What will He accomplish? Why is it important for Him to return? Now, as you know, Malachi loves to ask questions and then give answers. And the questions tend to come from people who have the wrong attitude and then God, through Malachi, answers appropriately.
Remember what's going on in Malachi? They're back in the land, the Israelites are, but not anything good is happening. Economically, not too much happening. Socially, not too much happening. Religiously, not too much happening.
And they feel like, you know what? God's just not blessing us. We're doing the right things. We're going through the motions. He calls for sacrifices. We give them. He calls for giving and we give. He calls for all kinds of things, but we'll just put in the least amount of effort.
The minimal amount we'll do for the Lord. And God rises up as a witness against that. And remember in chapter 2, verse 17, which should be really the new chapter 3, that's the best chapter break, but it's in our English Bibles, chapter 2, verse 17, you have wearied Yahweh with your words.
Figure of speech, of course, the Lord doesn't get tired. But you say, how have we wearied Him? By saying, everyone who does evil is good in the sight of the Lord. After all, they're getting all the blessings.
And He delights in them. Or by asking, where is the God of justice? I mean, when I watch Malachi, when I hear Malachi, when I even read it myself, I think, do you know what? It's so easy to see what other people do wrongly, but it's kind of hard to see in my own life what I do wrongly.
And the grumbling against the Lord, and the bitterness against the Lord. I mean, it's obvious to me that's wrong. And then I think in my own life, what do I do? How do I fight against spiritual discouragement and apathy?
Where is the God of justice? Do you see that there at the end of verse 17? Where's the God of justice? Where's the God of justice? They're so mesmerized, so transfixed with other people and themselves, they forgot to think about the Lord's return.
It's like they've been hypnotized, and you stare at yourself long enough, you're going to be spellbound and transfixed with yourself versus thinking about the Lord. What about these other people, Lord?
Instead of, well, what about me? That's a trap. And so God answers in chapter 3, verse 1, and we saw this two weeks ago, that there is going to be a judgment. First the forerunner, then the Lord will return.
Chapter 3, verse 1, Behold, I send my messenger, of course we know that's John the Baptist, and he will prepare the way before me. Preaching repentance and preaching smooth out the rough places in your life.
The Lord's coming back. And the Lord whom you seek, where's the Lord? Where's the God of justice? Where is the God of justice? That God of justice will suddenly come to his temple, and the messenger of the covenant in whom you delight, behold, he is coming, says the Lord of hosts.
The Lord is going to come back, and you are calling for justice for other people, but you're the one also who is going to receive that justice. Now God has sent many messengers, hasn't he? Zephaniah, Zechariah, Haggai, Habakkuk, Isaiah.
He sent angels as messengers, but he's going to send his son to come back to the earth. I don't know about you, but I need in these days, especially when I read the news, what's going to happen to all these unjust things?
What will happen to these unjust people? Where's the God of justice? You read the newspaper. Won't someone do something? Many times in my life I've thought to myself, if only my dad were here, he could take care of this.
He could fix the car. He could... I remember once I was down in New Bedford, and there were some drunk ladies sitting by us, and my mom was there, and Kim, and the kids, and I let them go on and on, and they were foul-mouthed, and finally I just said, Then it's like, we're going to get him.
We're going to kill you. We're going to do all this stuff, and I just was thinking to myself, if only my dad were here. Golden gloves, boxer. I mean, if only dad were here, he could fix everything. Many times here at the church over the last 19 years, I've thought to myself, boy, how do you get out of this predicament?
I need help. I need wisdom. If only John MacArthur was here, he could figure it out for me. I mean, I need some external help. And if I need the help, sort of the other elders. Yet, Jesus is personally going to come back.
And I think what we forget is, maybe like these Israelites in Malachi, mesmerized by current events, mesmerized by the wicked, Jesus is going to come back. He literally is going to come back. Now, the first time, of course, He comes back as a Savior to sinners, and He's born, and He's put in a manger, in a stable.
And He's a humble man. He's a son of a carpenter. He rides into Jerusalem on a donkey. He's the Prince of Peace, Savior. But Jesus is going to come back another time. And He's going to come back to rule and to reign and to make sure all injustice is taken care of.
And He won't be coming on a donkey next time. Jude says it this way. I mean, it's just chilling. Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousands of His holy ones to execute judgment on all and to convict all the ungodly of all their deeds of ungodliness that they have committed in such an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things that ungodly sinners have spoken against Him.
Did you know the Savior is going to come back as Judge? Warren Wearsby has a wonderful way about his writing, and he said this describing an evangelist that he heard tell the story. In a frontier town, a horse bolted away and ran away with a wagon that had a little child in it.
Seeing that the child was in danger, a young man risked his life to catch the horse and stop it. The child who was rescued grew up to be a lawless man, and one day he stood before a judge to be sentenced for a serious crime.
The prisoner recognized the judge as the man who, years before, had saved his life. So he pled for mercy based on that experience. But the words from the bench silenced all pleas. Young man, then I was your Savior, today I am your Judge, and I must sentence you to be hanged.
Savior and Judge, the same person. Let's take our Bibles and turn to the book of Revelation. Revelation chapter 1, please. Revelation chapter 1. My main purpose this morning is to show you Jesus Christ and to remind you that the focus of all eschatology, yes, the focus of the Old Testament, yes, the focus of the New Testament, it's all the same, Jesus Christ.
When Jesus was on the Emmaus Road in Luke 24 and He talked about the Old Testament, bearing witness to Him, the Messiah. John chapter 5, Jesus says, these Scriptures bear witness of Me. So let's not fall off the theological cliff and say, well, but eschatology is all about future events and black hawk helicopters and other kind of things.
This event that we're going to read about in the book of Revelation is what one man called the most dramatic event of all history, the most dramatic thing ever. And even Time magazine in the 60s, you know what a magazine is, you young people?
Time magazine, said the only thing that could command a larger headline in Time magazine than Neil Armstrong walking on the moon would be the second coming of Christ. That's the only thing that's bigger.
I mean, it's certainly the most prophesied event of the Bible. So much divine revelation given to the second coming of Christ Jesus. And what I love about the book of Revelation, it's opposite of how the modern scholars talk about it or even modern writers, T .S. Eliot.
This is the way the world ends, not with a bang, but with a whimper. And I want to say, you should read Revelation. Robert Frost. Some say the world will end in fire. Some say ice. You should read the book of Revelation.
George Bernard Shaw. The book of Revelation. A curious record of a drug addict's visions. You should read the book of Revelation. And here's the thing about Revelation. Before you start thinking about bold judgments, before you start thinking, I know what some of you are thinking.
Some of you are already thinking, I'm pre-mill. I'm post-mill. I'm a-mill. You know, and everybody jokes around, well, you know, I'm pan-mill, it'll all pan out. I've got a better one. How about, I'm pro-mill.
Who wouldn't be for a millennium? But before you think about any of those thoughts, and no matter where you come down on that eschatological spectrum today, you will all agree with me that the focus of end time is Jesus is coming back.
In the book of Revelation, let me just read to you some of the descriptions of Jesus, and then we'll look at chapter 1 today and chapter 19. To answer the question that Malachi's readers had, where's the God of justice?
In the book of Revelation, Jesus is described as faithful witness, firstborn from the dead, ruler over the kings of the earth, alpha, omega, beginning, end, the one who is, the one who was, and the one who is to come, the almighty, the first, the last, the son of man, the son of God, the one who is dead but who is now alive forevermore, the one who is holy, the one who is true, the amen, the faithful witness, the true witness, the beginning of the creation of God, the lion of the tribe of Judah, the lamb who was slain, the lamb on the throne, the Messiah who reigns forever, the word of God, the king of kings, the Lord of lords, the root and offspring of David, the bright and morning star.
That's all talking about Jesus. The focus of the book of Revelation is Jesus. And you see in chapter 1, verse 1, don't you, in the book of Revelation? The revelation of Jesus which God gave him to show his servants, or bondservants, the things which must shortly take place and he sent and communicated it by his angel to his bondservant, John.
Revelation, what's that mean? It just means to uncover. It means to disclose. It means to unveil. We get the word apocalypse from it, but it just means to uncover so everyone can see. And it's like we get a little mini-peak into the inner Trinitarian workings.
You notice the text says this is a revelation that the Father gave the Son. Look at which God, the Father, gave him, the Son, to show his bondservants. Now Daniel says you've got to seal this truth up.
It's sealed truth. You can't show other people. But these words are not to be sealed up. These words don't talk about the humiliation of Jesus in the first coming, in his incarnation. They talk about his exaltation and who he is.
Jesus returns. One commentator says, and we get to eavesdrop. This is what the Father told the Son and we get to be in on it. It's fascinating. And once it starts, it goes fast. Do you see the text? It must soon take place.
Shortly. Soon. It's like a cascade. Once it starts, you can't stop it. And it goes very quickly. Verse 2, "...who bore witness to the word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, even to all that he saw.".
And look at the blessing. Look at the beatitude. Are there beatitudes in Revelation? Yes, right here. "...Blessed is he who reads those who hear the words of the prophecy and heed the things which are written in it, for the time is near.".
And now we have a salutation from the Trinity. John 4 to the seven churches that are in Asia. Grace to you. There's your Greek benediction and peace. There's your Jewish one from him who is and who was and who is to come.
That's the Father, the Eternal Father. And from the seven spirits who are before his throne, that's a designation of the Holy Spirit. And from the Son. And from verse 5, Jesus Christ. The faithful witness.
The firstborn from the dead. The ruler of the kings of the earth. To him who loves us. Maybe if memory serves me, that's the only time in the New Testament where it's a present tense. He loves us. And he's loving us right now.
Of course, he showed his love at Calvary. Demonstrated his love there. But hear the word love. He loves us and he released us past tense from our sin by his blood. When you know that he made you to be a kingdom priest to his God and Father, you can't help but say, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever.
Amen. And like a good writer, you give a preview so you're drawn in. And here's the preview, verse 7. You want to know what the whole theme of the book of Revelation is about? Behold, he, talking about Jesus, 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. Even so, amen. Is there anything outside of God's wisdom, knowledge, discernment? No. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first letter of the alphabet.
The last letter. Full revelation. Full intelligence, says the Lord God, who is and who was and is to come, the Almighty. Can you tell me more about the head of this church? Who the leader is? Yes, verse 14.
His head and his hair were like white wool. He's holy. Like snow. And his eyes were like a flame of fire. He could see through everything. He's omniscient. His feet were like burnished bronze. It's not about judgment.
The brazen altar was where judgment happened. For sin. It's like stamping out all sin that has been caused to glow in a furnace. And his voice was like the sound of many waters. He has authority. His right hand?
He held seven stars. Sovereign over all the church. And out of his mouth came a sharp, two-edged sword. His face was like the sun shining in its strength. And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as a dead man.
He laid his right hand upon me saying, Do not be afraid. I'm the first and the last and the living one. And I was dead and behold, I'm alive forevermore. And I have the keys of death and Hades. What a great compassionate assurance from Jesus to John.
And then the outline of the book given in verse 19. Write therefore the things which you have seen, the things which are, and the things which shall take place after these things. If you think eschatology is about charts and graphs and reading the newspaper, hoping to find hints of every little detail, you've missed it.
End times is about Jesus returns. Now let's go to the return of Christ in Revelation chapter 19. Revelation chapter 19. Remember, the theme here this morning is all of eschatology focuses on the person and work of Christ Jesus.
Well, I know there's more. I know there are other details. But you've got to get the big picture before you get the details. And the big picture is it's a revelation of Jesus Christ. It's all about who Jesus is.
If I could be pastoral for a second, and I was playing with Noah Mercedes the other day and I thought, I can tell I'm getting old because I feel like a grandpa. My kids, I'd be saying, no, don't touch that.
Don't do that. And then you're around other people's kids and 55 years old, it's like, okay, whatever. Break that glass orb. What do I care? But anyway, I feel more like of a grandfather now and pastoral.
And some of you are thinking, Mike, if that's pastoral and grandfatherly. But I have grown over the last 18 years. Slow but sure, I believe in progressive sanctification. Pastoral speaking, though, if you love eschatology, I just hope instead of having me eavesdrop and hear you argue about Amill and premill and dispensational premill and historic premill and you can feel the hair on the back of your neck go up because your friends don't agree.
I hope at the end of the day, the focus is I hear you talking about Jesus. Where's the talk about Jesus? You get the young, energetic bucks and the ladies as well and it's all this intense argument over the millennium.
Okay. I mean, I guess we could go to Revelation chapter 20. It's worth talking about. But my point is this. As you talk about it, may it lend itself to talk about Jesus. And all my Amill friends said amen, right?
A premill friend said amen. It's a revelation about Jesus that the Father gives to the Son and we get to see behind the curtains. And if you remember who Jesus is and that He's coming back, then the right things start to happen.
You'll say, well, in the light of my Lord's soon return, I don't have to worry about the current events. So I can be concerned and pray, but Jesus will take care of that. I can worry about my own sanctification.
So instead of saying, look at all these other people, look at how they prosper. No, no. He's coming back and He saved me and He's redeemed me. He loves me, as Revelation 1 says, and I want to be at my post when He returns.
I don't want to be off sleeping in AWOL. I want to make sure that when Jesus returns, I'm doing the right thing. And so the book of Revelation chapter 19, it starts off with a real hallelujah chorus and then moves into the second coming of Christ Jesus.
What's happened between chapter 1 and chapter 19 is basically the letters to the churches in chapters 2 and 3 that Jesus writes to them. The focus of those letters is Jesus is writing them. You get taken up into heaven in chapter 4 and chapter 5 of Revelation, and things are going to be so bad on the earth that you're going to go, is God just?
Is He kind? Is He holy? Those are answered there. And then the tribulation starts 6 to 18 and we come to this chapter, chapter 19, but before the second coming is what I call the real hallelujah chorus.
Four hallelujahs praising God for who He is or what He's done. Chapter 19, verse 1. And after this I heard what seemed to be like the loud voice of a great multitude in heaven crying out. It's a megaphone is the Greek word.
Loud voice. Crying out, Hallelujah. Salvation and glory and power belong to our God. Just before the second coming, you hear this bellowing out. God is a God who saves. Hallelujah number 2. He's also to be praised for His justice because His judgments are true and righteous for He has judged the great harlot who is corrupting the earth with her immorality.
He has avenged the blood of His bondservants on her. And the second time they said, Hallelujah. Her smoke rises up forever and ever. Hallelujah number 1. God's a Savior. Hallelujah number 2. He judges sin and sinners.
Hallelujah 3. Just praise God for who He is, for Himself. Verse 4, And the twenty-four elders and the four living creatures fell down and worshiped God who sits on the throne saying, Amen. Hallelujah.
Permanently sovereign on that throne. A voice came from the throne saying, Give praise to our God, all you His bondservants, you who fear Him, the small and the great. Present tense. Keep on giving God praise.
Don't stop praising God. Hallelujah. He's a Savior. Hallelujah. He's a judge. Hallelujah. He is who He is. Sovereign. Verse 6, And I heard, as it were, the voice of a great multitude and the sound of many waters.
It is the sound of mighty peals of thunder saying, there it is, number 4, Hallelujah for the Lord God, the Almighty reigns. Ever get a marriage announcement in the mail? Here's one. Will somebody answer the question?
No. Well, you will, and they expect gifts. Registries online now. I go to some of the registries online. How? Some kind of, you know, if it's not KitchenAid, I don't want it. That's why husbands have biceps.
Right? Got to see if your new husband's a man. And there's a little bit of discussion about the bride here, but the real focus is on the groom. And it's kind of opposite of normal because for us in our Western culture, the focus is all on the bride.
Here comes the bride. Everybody looks. When the bride comes down the aisle, you all stand up, and the focus is on the bride. Well, there's a little notice of the bride, but the focus here is all on the groom.
But let's take a look at verse 7 first. Let us rejoice and be glad and give glory to Him. For the marriage of the Lamb has come and His bride has made herself ready. You can study Hebrew weddings to understand all the different aspects of that.
And it was given to her, verse 8, to clothe herself in fine linen, bright and clean. And we get to know what this linen is. It's the righteous acts of the saints. And He said to me, verse 9, Right, blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.
And He said to me, These are the true words of God. And then strangely, I mean, if we were there, it wouldn't be so strange, but we can tell now on this side of the cross that it's strange. And I fell at His feet to worship Him.
He said, Do not do that. I'm a fellow servant of yours and your brethren who hold the testimony of Jesus. Worship God. For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy. And now comes the description of the groom, Jesus Christ.
Now remember, when Jesus comes the first time, babe in a manger, sweet, and who doesn't like a Christmas card? Little baby Jesus. And even Jesus, He's a friend to sinners and eats with tax collectors.
And now this Jesus is portrayed in Revelation chapter 19, 11 to 16. He's a warrior. He's a warrior. It's clear language. It's chilling language. And He's not coming back on a donkey this time. Where's the God of justice?
Wilbur Smith said, This paragraph has always seemed to me almost too overwhelmingly glorious for exposition. But we'll give it a try because it focuses on the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, think like a person would back in those days.
What's the biggest spectacle that existed in those days? It was called a triumph. It was like a victory parade. In the Roman days, if you killed enough people as a Roman general, 5 ,000 minimum people, and brought back enough of the spoils and the booty and some of the army that you'd captured, you'd come back into Rome and the Senate votes whether you get to be praised or not.
And it's called a triumph. It's like a parade. And if you were a general back in those days of the Roman army, you would want that. That was the best. It wasn't I was a four-star general, five-star, I became the Secretary of State.
No, you wanted to have a triumph after you, named after you, to honor you for some extraordinary triumph. One person said back in those days, if you've never seen a triumph, you haven't seen anything at all.
But the last triumph was in 350 A .D., Belisarius, until Revelation 19. Now sometimes we like to say Jesus walks into Jerusalem or He sits on the donkey as it goes into Jerusalem. And what do we call that?
Before Jesus is crucified, He rides a donkey in, and we call that what kind of entry? Triumphal entry. So bad. So wrong. Because this is the triumphal entry. That was the humble entry. This is Exodus 15.
The Lord is a warrior. The Lord is His name. Son of man coming in glory. And you're going to notice, if I could use Paul's words, I determine to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified.
It's all about Jesus. Revelation, eschatology is all about Jesus. Have I said that before this morning? I have. So see, I want you to study eschatology because you're going to be talking about the conqueror.
Here, Revelation 19, verses 11 -16. What does it mean where Jesus is described as the lion of the tribe of Judah? Answer this passage. Look back at verse 10. I fell at His feet to worship Him. He said, don't do that.
If this angel isn't the right one to worship, who is the right one to worship? Is there anybody deserving worship? And the answer is yes, verses 11 -16. Jesus prophesied of in Zechariah, the Lord will go forth and fight against those nations as when He fights on a day of battle.
And in that day, He will stand on the Mount of Olives, which is in front of Jerusalem on the east. The Mount of Olives will be split in its middle from the east to west by a large valley. And look at the introduction, chapter 19, verse 11.
And I saw heaven opened. It's like, behold, out of nowhere, I saw heaven opened. And the text is in the Greek, it's open, and it just stays open. No need to close it anymore. Jesus is going to come through the heaven.
Disclosure of Jesus. You know, you walk up to a door, and somebody opens it for you so you can go through. And it's just language of here He comes, heaven opens, and here comes Jesus. Now, if you like to take notes, and you like to have an outline, let me give you an outline describing Jesus here in verses 11 through 16.
Ten brushstrokes of the portrait of the triumphant Messiah. It's all about Jesus. Ten descriptions of Jesus upon His promised return. Did not Jesus promise He would come back? And here's His second coming.
Number one, He rides on a triumphant horse. That's the first brushstroke. It's all about Jesus. And what kind of horse does He come back on? Riding on a what? A white horse. Hey, back in those... Did I just say, hey?
I just said, hey. Like when I asked Pastor Steve, have you ever met a demon-possessed person? He said, I don't know if he was demon-possessed or not, but he was eating his arm in jail. I said, eating his arm?
Figuratively? No, he was eating his arm literally. I said, what did you say to him? We were doing a radio show, and I said, what did you say? He said, hey, you. That's how you cast out demons, I guess.
Hey, you. He stopped. So I just said hey to you. I'm not exactly sure why. But back in those days, the general had a white horse. It's the victory horse. Round horses might be fine. Black horses, Appalachian horses.
You get the white one if you're the general who's holy and victorious. Who's royal. Homer said, white horses are the best horses. It's a sign of triumph. He comes to do battle. He's not the meek and lowly one anymore.
And by the way, he's not waving a white flag. He's on a white horse. He's coming with the clouds. Remember Revelation chapter 1 says that. Secondly, the second brush stroke that makes you think Jesus is returning.
It's all about Jesus. Where's the God of justice? Well, he's described here as faithful and true. We're learning all about the groom, Jesus. He's faithful and true. Jesus fulfills His promises because His character demands that He triumph.
Notice the text, verse 11. He's faithful and true. Faithful to shelter His own, of course. Faithful to obey His Father's commission and die on behalf of the bride, of course. But here it's faithful to judge and to make war.
Jesus will return. And you can count on it. He's absolutely trustworthy. Present tense again. He's always faithful. He's always just. So you'd expect Him to come back. He is not like the deceiving dragon.
He is not like the false prophet. He is not like the false worshippers. I'm going to come back. It reminds me of the dad who used to put his kid up on a ledge and say, jump to me. And the kid would finally get enough gumption at two or three years old or five years old to jump.
And at the last second, the dad would pull his hands away to let the children fall onto the ground and cry. And the dad would say, the lesson is, you can't trust anybody. Happy Father's Day. He's always faithful.
And when He said, I will come again, He's going to return. You're like, yeah, but it sure has been a long time. He's trustworthy and faithful. The world seems like it's so chaotic. Who could ever do anything?
He's faithful. He's true. Matter of fact, His mercies are new every morning. Great is His what? Faithfulness. Psalm 89, God's faithfulness surrounds Him. Psalm 36, His faithfulness reaches to the skies.
All language of don't forget God is faithful. In an unfaithful world, God's faithful. And He said, I'm coming back. In this particular case, He's coming back to judge sin and sinners. Thirdly, He rides on a white horse.
He fulfills His promises. Third, His triumph is righteous. His victory is righteous. A description of who Jesus is as John describes Him. In righteousness, verse 11, He judges and wages war. I have a book that's four views of the rapture.
Four views of the millennium. Four views of hell. Five views of the law. You have all these books. And I have one on the war. And some people don't believe in just war. Do you believe there's a just war?
Is there ever a just war? The answer has to be yes because Jesus is coming back for the just war. There may be more, but this one certainly is just. In righteousness, He judges and wages war. There's going to be no person who would say, Well, we can't really judge these people because our prisons are full.
Can't really judge these other people because the jury's hung. The juries have agendas. They've been purchased by the mafia. No. He's coming back because His judgments are righteous and true. The angels knew it in Revelation 16.
For they poured out the blood of the saints and the prophets that you have given them blood to drink. And the angels all said of God's judgment, They deserve it. They deserve it. He judges and wages war.
Isaiah 42, The Lord will go forth like a warrior. He will arouse His zeal like a man of war. He will utter a shout. He will raise a war cry. He will prevail against His enemies. Fourth. The fourth brush stroke.
Painting Jesus as the triumphant Messiah. His eyes demand triumph. Verse 12. His eyes demand triumph. Did you notice all eschatology is focused on Jesus? Verse 12. His eyes are a flame of fire. Piercing.
Penetrating. X-ray like. He can see through all the sham. That's the idea. Can anything escape His notice? Proverbs 15. The eyes of the Lord are in every place watching the evil and the good. Nobody is going to fake Him out.
Nobody is going to say, Well, what I really meant by this was such and such. He sees through fraud. He sees through deception. One pastor wrote, When He first came, His eyes sparkled with tenderness and joy as He gathered little children to Himself.
As He expressed His love to the poor and needy. His eyes glowed with compassion as when a single look on guilty Peter melted Peter's heart and made him weep bitterly. His eyes were filled with tears as He looked over the city of Jerusalem and wept.
And He shed tears from those same eyes at the grave of Lazarus. But the day is coming. When those eyes flash with fire. When they are penetratingly burning eyes, probing the darkest recesses of every human soul and purifying with judgment.
Number five. His crowns demonstrate triumph. His crowns demonstrate triumph. Verse 12. Upon His head are many diadems. What's a diadem symbolize? Sovereignty. And while the dragon might have a diadem, the beast might have a diadem, He has diadems.
How do we understand that? When David conquered the Ammonites, He said, Give me the crown of the king and put it on my head. Because I'm sovereign now over that nation. He took the crown of the king from his head and it was a talon of gold and it was placed on David's head.
I vanquished you and now I'm king over you. And Jesus has not one diadem, but many diadems. I accumulate all the crowns of all the world powers. Every rule and every authority and power. First Corinthians 15 language.
Number six. Number six. In the middle of all this, you stop and think for a second. What am I not thinking about? Well, I'm not thinking about a variety of my physical troubles, financial troubles, world troubles, current events, because my eyes are focused by faith through God's revealed scripture.
Jesus is coming back. Number six, the sixth brushstroke. We've seen that he comes back on a horse. He fulfills his promise. He's righteous. His eyes demand triumph. He's got the crowns and his name reveals his authority to triumph.
His name reveals his authority to triumph. Verse 12. Oh, this is good. He has a name written upon him, which no one knows except himself. It's indescribable. Nobody knows. And please, whatever you do, don't go up to one of the elders and ask, what's that name after the service?
I don't know. Did you know that back in those days, whoever was superior had the option of telling the inferior person in rank of society, I can decide to tell you my name or I don't have to. If I want to tell you my name, I can, but I'm over you, I'm above you, I'm superior to you, and I don't have to tell you my name.
Now, some people think, if you knew someone's name back in those days, you could have a magic power over them, so Jesus doesn't want to get any kind of magic power over him. You think that's a good translation?
That's about as good as taking a black orb that's got a white eight on it and say, should I take my dad out for Father's Day today? Maybe next year. Number seven, found in verse 13, his robe displays triumph.
His robe displays triumph. Verse 13, and he is clothed, literally with a robe baptized in blood. It's anticipating the bloodshed that's coming. And you know, you go over to some grapes back in those days, and you have bare feet, and you slosh around, and you get some stains on your robe.
Why? Because you've got to stamp pretty hard to get all those skins off those grapes and all those seeds out of those grapes, and it just splashes up, and that's the language, except it's not grape juice.
It's blood. The Messiah is slaughtering his enemies, and there's blood everywhere. You've got the white horse, the white saints, the white clouds, and blood everywhere. This is language of Isaiah 63. For the day of vengeance was in my heart, and my year of redemption has come, and I looked, there was no one to help.
They made them drunk in my wrath, and I poured out their lifeblood on the earth. I have trodden the wine trough, and their lifeblood is sprinkled on my garments, and I stained all my raiment. He's coming back to judge.
Where's the God of justice? Number eight, His name creates triumph. His name creates triumph. It's all about Jesus. Eschatology is about the Lord Jesus Christ. What's He called here? Verse 13, And His name is called the Word of God.
You can study this on your own, but when you think of the Word of God, many things should come through your mind, including, in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God, and all things came into being by Him.
The Word creates. He creates with the Word. He Himself, Jesus, is the final authority, the final revelation, the perfect revelation of Jesus. His creative Word can take care of Satan, enemies, and everyone else.
Number nine, Two more. Number nine, His sword wields triumph. Verse 15, And from His mouth, you can see the symbolic language here, can't you? Comes a sharp sword, sickle-like sharp, so that with it He might smite the nations, to kill, dealing out retribution who do not know God, and to those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus.
2 Thessalonians 1. And then finally, verse 15, number 10, And His iron scepter gives triumph. He will rule them with the rod of iron. He Himself is the emphatic, intensive pronoun. He Himself treads the winepress of the fierce wrath of God, the Almighty.
And what's the summary? Verse 16, Here's the summary, And on His robe and on His thigh, He has a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords. Now, please don't begin to tell me, you know, especially you young kids, Dad, I want to get a tattoo because Jesus had a tattoo.
What would Jesus do? And some people use this verse to justify tattoos. You know what I think about tattoos? I'm not a legalist or anything like that, but I also don't like to wear bell-bottom jeans the rest of my life, but that's another discussion for another day.
If a man is, a general is up on a white horse, His robe just naturally opens, and what you would see, eye level, is the thigh. It's obvious for everyone to see, He's the King of kings and Lord of lords.
The garment just falls open right at the thigh, and you see His thigh. That's what your eye level would come across. It's obvious who He is. He's the universal sovereign warrior. And when you double the name, it's emphatic.
He's not just the King, but of all kings, He's the King of kings. He's not just the Lord, but of all lords, He's the Lord. Paul says that in 1 Timothy 6 as well. Sovereign, King of kings, and Lord of lords.
This is all triumphant language. And what are we doing? Well, if you look for us, I did skip a verse, didn't I? The armies of heaven, arrayed in fine linen, white and pure, were following Him on white horses.
He's the one that does the judging. He's the one that has a sword. He's the warrior language, Messiah. So I have a question. When you read eschatology, do you focus on the Lord Jesus Christ? When you read the newspaper, or CNN, or the Drudge Report, do you think of the Lord Jesus Christ?
And by the way, if you're not born again, He's coming back for you. And He's going to judge you. And He's going to damn you. And He will execute victory over you, unless you've been covered by the blood of the Lamb in faith in Christ Jesus, where He would, in His compassion and love, receive the punishment you deserved at Calvary.
He was raised from the dead. Jesus is coming again. For the sinner, that's the worst news ever, because his long suffering is over. But for the saint, Lord Jesus, please come back. So next time you read eschatology, think of Jesus.
And the next time you read the newspaper, think of Jesus' return. Father, I thank You for our time in Your Word today. I thank You that the day of the Lord will come, like a thief. And the heavens are going to pass away.
There's going to be a roar, intense heat, and the earth is going to be burned up. But we want that day to come, in the sense that we want Your Son to make everything right. But we have loved ones who aren't Christians, and we grieve.
And so, Father, would You do a mighty work in the hearts of people, maybe our own children, our spouses, our parents, because it's going to be a day of Jesus' triumph, and we want them to be friends, not enemies.
Your Son said He would come back, and we're trusting that He will. We don't know when, but we know He will. So help us to fix our hope on Him, His return, and we thank You for this in Jesus' name.