Message
Who Is Jesus?
The Coming King
Revelation 17:14, 19:11-16
05-05-19
As believers in our Savior Jesus Christ, we have so much to celebrate. We serve a living Savior, not a dead warrior. Last week we saw how that Jesus stood before His disciples with the wounds of His death, yet He lives in victory. Jesus ascended to heaven and is seated on the right hand of the Father. Jesus is the Lamb of God, the King of Heaven, and I trust He is the Lord of your life. Lets’ crown Him in song this morning as we sing “Crown Him with Many Crowns.”
Crown Him with Many Crowns # 45
In our “Glimpse of the Throne Room” series we saw the One coming out from the throne who was worthy to open the seals on the scroll of our eternal inheritance described as the Lamb (Revelation 5:6). The Lamb that comes out from the throne has visible deadly wounds upon Him, yet He is standing, He is alive!
One of the characteristics we have discussed in our “Who Is Jesus?” series is Jesus, The Lamb. Jesus is referred to directly as “the Lamb” 36 times in the Bible. We find it only once in the Old Testament. Isaiah 53:7 refers to the Messiah Jesus as a Lamb that is led to the slaughter. The Ethiopian Eunuch was led to faith in Jesus by Philip explaining how Jesus fulfilled this prophesy in Isaiah (Acts 8:32). John the Baptist pointed out Jesus as the Lamb of God twice (John 1:29, 36). Peter tells us that we are ransomed from our sin by the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot (1 Peter 1:19).
But of the 36 times the word “Lamb” is used of Jesus in the Bible, 31 times it is in the book of Revelation. The book of Revelation is mostly about end time events and the believer’s eternal state. In fact, 13 of the 22 chapters of the book of Revelation deal with Tribulation judgment. 4 chapters talk about our eternal inheritance as believers. But what is made clear over and over is that the reason Jesus can execute judgement or give eternal inheritances is because He is the Lamb. That is what makes Him worthy.
We have talked about Jesus as our Passover Lamb. This is the picture of innocent blood shed to save those who are condemned to death. In Egypt the Passover Lamb died to save the first born. Jesus is our Passover Lamb in salvation. We have talked about Jesus as our sacrificial Lamb. Pure, innocent blood was shed as a covering for sin in the sacrifices of the Old Testament. Jesus was the once for all perfect sacrifice for sin. We have talked about Jesus as our substitute, taking our sin, our shame, our cross. We have talked about Jesus as the One who rose victorious over sin and the grave.
Last week we saw Jesus as He stood in front of His disciples in resurrected form with the wounds that prove His death. Now I ask you, how vividly does that relate to the Lamb that comes from the throne with the deadly wounds of sacrifice and yet stands alive? Having just celebrated the resurrection of our Lord, this is very significant. We serve a living Savior, not a dead warrior.
In the end times, Revelation 17:14 tells us that because Jesus is the Lamb, . . . personages called the anti-Christ, the false prophet, and the world system will mount up every effort and come against the Lamb in full force.
They will make war on the Lamb, and the Lamb will conquer them, for he is Lord of lords and King of kings, and those with him are called and chosen and faithful."
Why? Why is the Lamb an object of such hatred? Because the Lamb has conquered the grave. The Lamb has rich wounds of a sacrificial death for all who will believe in the Lamb as their Lord of lords and King of kings. The sacrificial Lamb is the coming King.
Communion
Let’s celebrate Jesus the Lamb who is King of kings and Lord of lords with a responsive reading and song.
Crown Him Lord of All - Reading # 42
Crown Him King of Kings - Song # 44
King of Kings – Song # 199
Review
This series of messages has been very powerful. When we begin to get a hold of who Jesus is and what He has done for us, it is life changing. Those who come to grips with the reality of Jesus in their hearts and their lives, will experience transformation well beyond their imaginations.
Jesus: The Great I Am – He is God eternal
Jesus: Name Above All Names – born as a human servant to die
Jesus: The Lamb – He became the sacrifice for all humanity
Jesus: The Condemned – He took our condemnation
Jesus: The Resurrection – He was victorious over death and hell
Jesus: The Revealed One – He has been revealed for all to believe
Jesus: The Coming King – Lord of lords and King of kings
Persecution of the Godly (2 Timothy 3:1-13)
I don’t know about you, but often I find myself discouraged by all that is going on in our day. When we look at the prevalence of sin in our world and even in the church, we are disheartened and wonder, what is the use of trying to live for Jesus? We see Christian denominations compromising the truths of Scripture in order to be accepted in our sinful culture. We see people who claim to be Christians who no longer desire to be a part of a community of faith because they either don’t have time, they don’t care, or they say people at church are hypocritical. We live in a day when it may cost you financially to stand true to your beliefs. Persecution is one thing, but if I have to give up my standard of living, we really cringe at the thought of that. But God has told us that this is what it will be like in 2 Timothy 3.
Verses 1-5
But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people.
Verses 12-13
Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, while evil people and impostors will go on from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived.
But I am here to tell you that no matter what we think we must give up or go through in this life, it is not much compared to what the Lamb went through. We can be courageous and be strengthen in our faith because we serve not just a living Savior, but a Coming King. We can expect persecution. It will be more and more difficult to live out our faith in these last days, but God’s judgment is not far off.
God’s Judgment (Revelation 6-18)
As we studied through the book of Revelation in our Wednesday class a year ago, one thing became very evident. The judgments of the tribulation period will the be the most difficult time to stand true to the Lord. Yes, the church will be raptured before the tribulation period and yes, there will be people who come to know Jesus as Lord and Savior during the tribulation period. But even in light of all the earth wrenching disasters that will take place, most people will shake their fist at the face God and put their faith in the one world system run by the anti-Christ. But keep in mind that God will judge righteously. You must tell everyone you know and love, God will judge righteously.
Toward the end of the tribulation, this one world system, which is called Babylon in the book of Revelation, will collapse like a house of cards. We are told that there will be great mourning over the collapse of this one world system because it will affect everyone financially (Revelation 18:11-13). By the end of chapter 18, we have seen thirteen chapters of God’s judgment against a world that refuses Him. Do those you love know that?
In Revelation chapter 10 we have a picture of John consuming the words of the scroll of God’s judgment. When he does, John says that the judgments of God taste as sweet as honey in the mouth, but as bitterness in his stomach. God’s judgments are sweet because we want God to rule and reign with all honor and exaltation that He deserves. But it will be bitter as we understand the doom for all who are unsaved as they face the ultimate end of God’s judgment.
Heaven Rejoices (Revelation 19:1-6)
After the world wide control of the anti-Christ has collapsed, John records for us a great celebration that will be taking place in Heaven. Let’s read a few of those verses in Revelation 19.
Revelation 19:1, 5, 6
After this I heard what seemed to be the loud voice of a great multitude in heaven, crying out, "Hallelujah!
Verse 5 and 6
And from the throne came a voice saying, "Praise our God, all you his servants, you who fear him, small and great." Then I heard what seemed to be the voice of a great multitude, like the roar of many waters and like the sound of mighty peals of thunder, crying out, "Hallelujah! For the Lord our God the Almighty reigns.
Then verses 7-10 tell us about the grand and glorious Marriage Supper of the Lamb when the bride of Christ, the church, celebrates their union with the Lamb of God. What a glorious time we have to look forward to as we celebrate in the glories of Heaven our union with the Lamb of God, our Savior and our Lord. Then for a 1,000 years Jesus reigns as King of kings and Lord of lords with believers reigning with Him. Oh, we look forward to that day.
The Coming King (Revelation 19:11-16)
I want to close this morning by looking at Revelation 19:11-16 about our coming King. I shared a verse from Revelation 17:14 before Communion which talks about when a 10-nation confederacy of this world will make war against the Lamb. You see, when the things of this world begin to go bad, the world will turn against the Lamb. But that verse says that the Lamb will conquer because He is Lord of lords, and King of kings. Which means, Jesus is Lord, capital “L,” of all the lords, little “l,” of all the earth. Jesus is King, capital “K,” of all kings, little “k,” of all the earth. He is Lord of lords and King of kings.
In other words, at the second coming, Jesus comes not as a Lamb for the slaughter, but as the True King of all. He is the coming King. This is the culmination of all redemptive history. Jesus is the warrior King who faces all who are left to oppose Him in the greatest battle of all time called the Battle of Armageddon. Let’s read Revelation 19:11-16.
Revelation 19:11-16
Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse! The one sitting on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war. His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are many diadems, and he has a name written that no one knows but himself.
He is clothed in a robe dipped in blood, and the name by which he is called is The Word of God. And the armies of heaven, arrayed in fine linen, white and pure, were following him on white horses.
From his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron. He will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty.
On his robe and on his thigh he has a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords.
This is commonly called the second coming of Christ. At His first coming He rode into Jerusalem in humility upon the colt of a donkey. At His second coming Jesus rides on a white horse in triumphant victory. Our text tells us that Jesus is called Faithful and True. He judges righteously. His eyes are piercing like a flame of fire as He examines the depths of the human heart. He has many crowns and a name that no one knows. He wears a robe that is bloodied from judgment. He is called the Word of God, indicating to us that He is the revealer of God.
Who are the armies of Heaven in verse 14? This is all the church saints, the Old Testament saints, and tribulation saints. We are arrayed in white linen, indicating the pure white righteousness of Christ that we wear. But the saints are not armed, and we do not come to destroy the enemy, Jesus alone will do that.
The sharp sword from His mouth indicates the deadly power of His words and He alone wields the sword of His mouth. With His spoken word, Jesus will strike down the nations that come against Him. As a vivid picture this battle is described like grapes being stomped in the winepress of God’s wrath for sin. We cringe at the image of the Battle of Armageddon. Isaiah 63:2-3 describe the splattering of blood on the robes of God’s righteousness like the splattering of grapes stomped. Revelation 14:20 describes the blood flow as high as a horse’s bridle. Jesus is identified as the King of kings and Lord of lords.
As horrible as all this sounds, we must remember all that Jesus went through to bring salvation from sin. We must remember that those in the tribulation period have been given all the opportunities they could want to repent and turn from their sin. But over and over they chose to stand in opposition to God. Though, the end of their life on earth will not be pretty, certainly their eternal destiny is even worse. Those who do not receive Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior with be cast into eternal separation from God, in a place of eternal death and punishment.
Conclusion
You might be saying right now, “Man, Pastor Mike, that’s a really awful way to end your series on ‘Who Is Jesus?’ Can’t we just skip these parts of the Bible?”
The reality is that every human being stands as a sinner before a holy God. We stand as rebels or enemies in opposition to the One who created us. Our eternal destiny was chosen when the first humans chose to go against the holiness of God. We are born as sinners. God would be just and righteous in sending Adam and Eve and all humanity into eternal separation from Him in a place of punishment. After all, that was the conditions established by God with Adam and Eve if they chose to eat from the forbidden tree, eternal death. But God in His grace chose not to do that. God has given us the opportunity to be rescued from this reality. Through the righteousness of Jesus Christ, we can be saved and spend eternity with Him in the glories of Heaven.
We love to talk about the love of God, His mercy, and His grace. But we must keep in mind that God is righteous and just, also. His holiness demands a payment for sin and Jesus made that payment if we will simply accept Him as our Lord and Savior making Him the King of our lives.
We live in a world today when God is trampled upon and even so-called Christians live as if He doesn’t exist. When Jesus Christ returns at His second coming, there will not be anything take place that is not righteous and just. That will be a sweet taste as we see His rule and reign as the coming King. But it should also put in our stomachs a bitter feeling knowing that many who we know and love will face the wrath of the coming King.
Do you talk to those you love about their eternity? Are you concerned enough to tell them about Jesus, the coming King?
You Are Holy