The King Returns To Conquer

When history culminates in the return of Jesus, democracy will have run its course. He will rule with a rod of iron. He will appear in glory, radiating absolute authority. As he descends from heaven, he will destroy his enemies with a sharp sword and then set up a world government headquartered in Jerusalem.

These future events are outlined in the Bible and it's certain they will come to pass. From Chicago, we welcome you to The Moody Church Hour, a weekly service of worship and teaching under the ministry of Dr. Erwin Lutzer. Today, we continue a ten-part look into the future we're calling When He Shall Come.

Later in our service, we'll witness the time when he returns to reign. Pastor Lutzer comes now to open our service. We come together today to worship, to give him our praise, our adoration, and ourselves. Wilbur Chapman was an evangelist who lived during the days of D.L.

Moody. Chapman also enjoyed writing hymns and the one that we are going to sing was written by him, Jesus, what a friend for sinners, Jesus, lover of my soul. Friends may fail me, foes assail me, he, my savior, makes me whole. Isn't it wonderful that God gives to people the ability to put into words ideas and thoughts that you and I have in our hearts and now we can sing them together.

Perhaps it's been a busy week for you, it has been for me. So let us take a moment to simply silence our hearts before the Lord, invite him to speak to us in a very specific way, and then we shall stand to sing Jesus, what a friend for sinners. Father, draw our hearts toward you, toward one another.

We pray that all of our thoughts shall be focused this morning and that we might be aware of your presence and in giving ourselves to you that you might be honored. In Jesus' name, amen. Jesus, what a friend for sinners, Jesus, lover of my soul. Friends may fail me, foes assail me, he, my savior, makes me whole. Hallelujah, what a Savior. Hallelujah, what a friend. Safe in heaven, deep in life, he is with you here. Jesus, what a kind and keeper, while the tempest still is crying.

Storms about me guide your faith in me, my pilot, here's my cry. Hallelujah, what a Savior. Hallelujah, what a friend. Safe in heaven, deep in life, he is with me to defend. Jesus, I will now receive him, for ever only give my life.

He has prevented me from giving my life. I am his and he is mine. Hallelujah, what a Savior. Hallelujah, what a friend. Safe in heaven, deep in life, he is with me to defend.

Good morning. I'd like you to follow along with me in your bulletin as we read together from Colossians chapter 1, verses 11 through 20. May you be strengthened with all power according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy, giving thanks to the Father who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities, all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that everything he might be preeminent.

For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.

Amen. Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Come to God's almighty Son!

Hallelujah! Come to God's almighty Son! Come to God's almighty Son! Come to God's almighty Son! Come to God's almighty Son!

Come to God's almighty Son! Come all ye faithful, all ye faithful, in all His sabbath, all ye faithful. In all His love, in all His sabbath, all ye faithful. And in His grace and glory, In His grace and glory, in His grace and glory, In His grace and glory, hallelujah, hallelujah, Hallelujah, hallelujah, to God our mighty Son! Some praise, some glory, some joy, some praise, Some glory, some joy, some praise, The glory, glory, songs of joy.

The glory, glory, songs of joy. Hallelujah, God to God Almighty Son, Christ the Almighty Son, Hallelujah, God to God Almighty Son. Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord in all his sons and all his souls. Praise the Lord in all his sons of joy. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord in all his sons of joy.

In all his sons of joy. Today I have the privilege of speaking to you about the most dramatic, spectacular event in all of history that is still to take place. It is not only spectacular from the standpoint of Earth, but nothing like it has ever happened in the universe before, and nothing else like it will ever happen again. I'm speaking to you about the glorious return of Jesus Christ. And it's an event that we can all look forward to, but also, may I say, that it is going to involve us. As a matter of fact, the return of Jesus, this return of Jesus, will eventually affect all the people on the whole Earth who have ever lived, either directly or indirectly.

And for those who are alive, the billions that are alive, what an event it is going to be. I need to warn you in advance that parts of this are going to be shocking, because we usually don't think of Jesus in the way that I'm going to preach him today. But if we accept that Jesus, the loving Jesus, we need to understand that with that love, there is also meticulous justice.

So I invite you to open your mind, your heart, to God and to his word. Now, when we think of the return of Jesus, as I've mentioned, it is best for us to understand it in two phases. In earlier messages, we talked about the rapture of the church when we are taken up. And if you look at 1 Thessalonians chapter 4, you'll notice that it is quite a different event than the passages we're going to return to today, because that is the glorious appearing of Jesus that takes place. And today, we're speaking about the glorious, visible appearing of Jesus on planet Earth.

And what an event that will be. Just hang on to your seats, because you wouldn't believe it unless it were in God's word. Now, let me say also that the reason for this is, first of all, to judge the Earth.

You will be surprised at the unstoppable tsunami of justice that is hurled upon the planet, almost affecting our sensibilities. But also, another reason is so that the Jewish people who are alive at that period of time will believe on Jesus. You remember, it says, Paul says, and so all Israel shall be saved. There are going to be a remnant of Jewish people who, when Jesus appears, will recognize him as Messiah, and they will be saved, and they will go into what we call the Millennial Kingdom. You say, well, what's the Millennial Kingdom all about? I'm so glad that you asked.

You're a little bit ahead of me, but I'm always glad when you're thinking. And the answer is, the next message in this series is on the Millennial Kingdom, and I hope to answer at least a few of your questions at that time. Another reason is to show the absolute superiority of Jesus as King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Now, before we open the Bible, I have to ask this question. What will be going on on Earth when Jesus appears? Antichrist will be in full bloom. If you were with us last time, you know that the mark of the beast will be given to people. And if you don't accept the mark, you will be put to death.

We talked about that. During the last 3 and 1 half years, he has awesome power, and all that dwell upon the Earth and worship him, except those whose names were written in the Lamb's Book of Life, as we covered in the last message. But Antichrist, Satan, who governs him, he reads books on prophecy. He knows what the Bible teaches.

He knows exactly what it teaches. He probably understands prophecy a lot more than we do. And he knows that soon Jesus is going to appear.

And what he wants to do is to initiate one more solemn, massive assault on Jesus. And that's why in the 16th chapter of Revelation, you can read this on your own. But in verse 16, that's the only reference to what we call Armageddon, the plain of Megiddo about 60 miles north of Jerusalem. And so the Battle of Armageddon is in full swing.

What is the Battle of Armageddon? It says in the previous verses in Revelation 16 that the dragon, you remember the unholy trinity I explained last time, the dragon who is Satan, the beast who is Antichrist, and then the false prophet who is representing the Holy Spirit in this godless satanic trinity, they open their mouths. And from their mouths, evil spirits come. And these spirits are sent throughout the whole earth to gather people together in Jerusalem.

Now, the reason that they give for the gathering might be varied. Maybe they're going to say, we're going to take on Antichrist. But Antichrist knows exactly why they are gathering. It says in the Bible in Revelation to be there for the great war of God in the day of God Almighty. Final showdown, final massive showdown between Satan and Jesus. And that's the situation into which Jesus comes. Now, for every verse of scripture in the Bible that talks about the first coming of Jesus, there are eight that refer to his second coming. So I have many options. And I'm going to ask you, though, I've chosen three of the most prominent.

And we're going to look at all of those. And I hope that you have your Bible with you so that you can turn with me to three passages of scripture all describing the same event, but helping us to understand it from a different point of view. The first one is Zechariah chapter 14, Zechariah 14. Take your Bible and turn with me to Zechariah. If you find it hard to find Zechariah, remember, go to the division between the Old Testament and the New Testament.

Go back four or five pages because after Zechariah, there comes Malachi. So you're almost near the end of the Old Testament. I'm going to pick it up in verse 14.

Excuse me. I'm going to pick it up in chapter 14 of verse 1. Behold, a day is coming for the Lord when the spoil taken from you will be divided in your midst. For I will gather all the nations against Jerusalem to battle and the city shall be taken and the houses plundered. There's going to be actually warfare house to house in Jerusalem when all the nations are gathered there. And then you'll notice it says in verse 3, then the Lord will go out and fight against those nations as when he fights on the day of battle.

Now catch this. On that day, his feet shall stand on the Mount of Olives that lies before Jerusalem on the east. And the Mount of Olives shall be split into from east to west by a very wide valley so that one half of the mount shall move northward and the other half southward. Wow, Jesus is going to come back to the Mount of Olives.

How appropriate that his feet shall stand there. In the days of Ezekiel the prophet, we learn that the Shekinah glory left the temple area, Ezekiel said. And then it went through the Kidron Valley and it disappeared over the Mount of Olives. How appropriate that the Shekinah glory, which disappeared over the Mount of Olives, that that glory should now return in the person of Jesus triumphant, the one who embodies the very glory of God. Furthermore, it is appropriate because Jesus ascended to heaven from the Mount of Olives. And you remember how the disciples as they were looking up and Jesus disappeared behind the clouds, and by the way, he's going to come back with the clouds as we shall see. But when Jesus disappeared, you remember two men were there, two angels actually, who said, why do you keep gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus who has gone up from you into heaven will likewise come back from heaven. And this is that event right there in the Mount of Olives. And that's why I always say to people that if you haven't had an opportunity to go to Jerusalem in this life and you won't have that opportunity, if you hang on to this message, I'll show you that if you're a believer, you're going to be there. And it's going to be the best tour group that you've ever seen in your life. And Jesus is going to be your leader.

I mean, it is just unbelievable. You read this and you say, Lord, why not today? But I have to finish this message first. Now, Jerusalem, the Bible says, is going to be the capital of the world. And if you read the rest of the 14th chapter, it's got all kinds of symbolism. It's talking about living water coming from Jerusalem.

It's talking about the name of God on horses, bridles, symbolic of the fact that God is going to be everywhere. And this is the millennial kingdom that I'm going to speak about next time. But there's something else that is going to happen. And that is, I told you earlier that a Jewish remnant is going to believe on Jesus. You say, well, where are you getting that? That's a good question.

Whenever you hear somebody speak, you should always say, now where is he getting that from? So let me tell you, you have your Bible open to Zechariah 14. Go back a chapter or two to chapter 12. You'll notice it says in verse 10, I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabits of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and pleas for mercy, so that when they look on me, on him whom they have pierced, they shall mourn for him as one mourns for an only child, and weep bitterly over him. They are going to deeply regret that they misread the signals that they didn't understand that Jesus was the Messiah. Look at what it says in chapter 13, verse 1. On that day there shall be a fountain opened for the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to cleanse them from sin and uncleanness. Verse 9, and I will put this third into the fire.

Two thirds of the people are going to be killed, by the way. That's what it says in verse 8 during the Great Tribulation, horrendous things happening. But notice verse 9, I will put this third into the fire and refine them as one refined silver and test them as gold is tested. They will call upon my name, and I will answer them. I will say, they are my people, and they will say the Lord is my God, just as Paul wrote in the book of Romans. And so all Israel, a generation of Jewish people that are alive when Jesus Christ comes, are going to believe on Christ, be cleansed from their sins, and will enter into the Millennial Kingdom. Because after all, God even has some promises that he made to Abraham and to his descendants that haven't been fulfilled yet, as we shall see next time.

And of course, it's not only Jewish people. There will also be Gentiles who will be there in the Millennial Kingdom, those who trusted Christ during those difficult days during the Tribulation period. So that's the story from Zechariah. Jesus comes to the Mount of Olives.

It is a spectacular return, but it's also worldwide. For this, we have to turn to the book of Matthew. And you remember in a previous message, I spoke on Matthew 24 when we were talking about the Great Tribulation.

But now I pick it up in Matthew 24 at verse 27. Jesus is saying that, you know, if somebody says the Christ is over here, he said, don't believe him. Don't even go see the guy, somebody who says I'm the Christ. Don't even go see the imam or the man for whom some Muslims are waiting because they believe that he is the Messiah.

When he speaks, you don't even have to listen to him. Because if it were the real Messiah, it says in verse 27, for as the lightning comes from the east and shines as far as the west, so will the coming of the Son of Man be. Wherever the corpse is, there the vultures will gather.

That'll become clear in a few moments. Immediately after the tribulation of those days, the sun will be darkened. The moon will not give its light. The stars will fall from the heaven. The powers of the heaven will be shaken. Then will appear in heaven the sign of the Son of Man. And then all the tribes of the earth will mourn. And they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call. And they will gather his elect from the four winds from one end of heaven to the other.

Talk about a worldwide event. The Bible says that every eye shall see him. Now, how can that be possible? People have said, well, if Jesus ascends to the Mount of Olives or descends to the Mount of Olives, every eye can't see him. Well, maybe television cameras would pick that up.

I'm sure they might. But maybe the infrastructure has been broken. And maybe we are without electricity. I can't prove this scripturally. But I would like to think that when Jesus begins to come out of heaven, and this will become clear in another passage, I think that the sign of the Son of Man is going to appear. And of course, as the world turns on its axis over a period of days, they continue to see Jesus in all of his splendor and in all of his glory appearing and coming to earth. So in that sense, if it happens over a period of time, every eye will see him, as the Bible says. Notice that when he comes, there are going to be all of these convulsions of nature. The sun is going to be darkened.

Of course, the moon will not be giving its light because the moon does nothing but reflect the light of the sun. The stars of the heaven are going to fall. I mean, you talk about a cataclysmic event, and you have it here. And then the scripture says the tribes of the earth will mourn. And some will mourn because they recognize Jesus as the Messiah, as we read in the book of Zechariah moments ago. Other people are going to mourn possibly because they're going to mourn over their sin, yes, and believe on Christ. Others are going to mourn in agony and reject Jesus.

But all the tribes of the earth will be aware that Jesus has arrived bodily on planet earth and that he has descended to the Mount of Olives, which is next to Jerusalem. Now, you'll notice it says he sends his angels to gather his elect. And these angels, which are asked by God to gather the elect, some of the Christians, of course, have been hiding in caves.

Some of them have been all over. Some of the Jewish people who have believed, and now many are believing in Christ, the angels are sent to be God's gatherers to gather the elect. Now, all of that seems strange to us.

It seems so foreign to our sensibilities. But think about this for a moment. When Lazarus died, Luke 16, it says that angels carried him into Abraham's bosom. It says that the angels accompanied him. I suspect that when a Christian dies, it is entirely possible that they see angels who take them to wherever Jesus designates they be.

And that is to paradise. So the angels are sent to gather his elect from all over the world. The second coming, the glorious appearing of Jesus, is spectacular. But let me say that the glorious appearing of Jesus not only is spectacular, but it is worldwide. As the lightning comes from one side of the sky and goes to another, so will be the sign of the Son of Man, which I interpret to be Jesus Christ's coming itself. Well, now we get to a passage in which you and I are intimately involved. If you want to know what will we be doing if you believe in the pre-tribulational rapture, we'll be in heaven during the tribulation.

But imagine this. You, my friend, as a believer, are going to be part of this glorious appearing. Of all the passages in the Bible that I love the most, we'll give you also some chills, is the 19th chapter of the book of Revelation, where we have a more detailed description of this same event, the return of Jesus.

And we learn that it is a very victorious event. Revelation 19, you have to see this now with your own eyes. Revelation 19, and we're invited to use our imaginations.

I will comment on the text in a moment after I have read it. Verse 11, Revelation 19. 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. 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. No doubt as to who that is who returns to the earth. Now, let's look at the text more carefully.

The means of transportation is a white horse. Should we take it literally? Possibly not. John is receiving this revelation. And John would understand by this revelation that what we have here is the triumph of Jesus, most assuredly.

Jesus absolutely triumphant. Because in those days, the Romans as victors always rode on white horses. And I think it was during Julius Caesar's reign that he was allowed to ride on a chariot drawn by white horses. So what John wants us to understand is the triumph of Jesus. And he is depicted as coming on a white horse, totally victorious, totally unquestioned authority. So you have the white horse.

That's the means of transportation. His name is faithful and true. Now, there are dozens of names that have been given to Jesus throughout the Bible that we could quote today. Why faithful and true? Because he said that he was going to return. And here he is. He's as good as his word.

Amen. Donald Gray Barnhouse, a pastor of another generation, said that there was an unconverted minister who was visiting a woman in the hospital who was about to die. You know that there are unconverted ministers, don't you? And she was so assured of heaven that the young minister felt that it was his responsibility to warn her about being presumptuous about having that kind of assurance. And she said to him, if when I die I find myself among the lost, God will have lost more than I will.

He said, how so? She said, I would have lost my soul, but he would have lost his good name. After all, if Jesus promises eternal life to those who believe on him, is he believable? Are his promises true? Can you count on those promises even when judgment seems to be coming? Will he be there for you when you die? Because he says, I'll never leave you nor forsake you. And if you believe on me, you have eternal life.

Tell me, will he be there for you? Yes, amen. He is faithful and true.

Now let's look at his appearance. Look at, oh, by the way, in righteousness. You'll notice that it says, in righteousness he makes war. And everything in this passage, though it becomes very gruesome, remember it is righteous and true and just. Now notice what it says. Verse 12, his eyes are like a flame of fire.

We have to stop there. These are the eyes that were born in Bethlehem that had to adjust to the dim light of a stable. These are the eyes that wept over the city of Jerusalem. These are the eyes of compassion that all of us associate with Jesus. But these are the same eyes. They are of the resurrected Christ, of course. But this is the same Jesus as painted in the New Testament as we look at his life and death and burial.

It's the same Jesus. And now his eyes are like a flame of fire. As he's coming, people say, God didn't see what I was doing.

I did it in secret. And his eyes will pierce at them. And they all will know that he can see right through them. These eyes are symbolic of the omniscience of Jesus. Nothing has escaped his sight or his knowledge. The Bible says all things are naked and open onto the eyes of him with whom we have to do.

Wow. So his eyes are like a flame of fire. You'll notice that it says on his head are many diadems. A diadem, you say, well, how could he wear many?

Actually, many of them were like headbands filled with jewels and other expensive ornaments. And when one man would conquer a country, that king would then take the diadem of the other king whom he conquered, and he would wear it because that would now be symbolic of the fact that I've conquered you. Jesus has many diadems.

You know why? Every country and every kingdom of the world is his. And all the diadems of the world are on his head. Jesus has many diadems.

We continue. You'll notice it says that he has a robe dipped in blood. That robe is not a robe symbolizing his death, but it is a robe dipped in blood of judgment, as the book of Isaiah makes very clear. Garments dipped in blood, symbolic of the fact that judgment is coming to planet Earth, and it is a very, very severe judgment. But now I want you to notice. I told you that you would be involved in this if you're a believer.

Notice what the text says. And the armies of heaven arrayed in fine linen, white and pure, were following him on white horses. Who are these armies of heaven arrayed in fine linen?

Fortunately, we don't have to guess. Earlier in the chapter, you'll notice that it talked about the marriage supper of the lamb, and it spoke about those who were arrayed in fine linen. And it's talking about believers. It's speaking about those who are arrayed in white, because their sin has been covered by Jesus Christ's death. And because of that, they too are able to come with Jesus and come with Jesus. And the church, which has been raptured in heaven, now returns with Jesus.

And look at the text. I'm not making it up. We get the same means of transportation as Jesus himself. We too come with white horses, however symbolic that may mean. And we get to come and to return with Jesus. We participate in his victory. We follow him to victory as he descends to the Mount of Olives and begins to slay those who have been his enemies. We are there too.

And we get to participate. Now, there's no evidence that we do any fighting. And the reason that I think that we don't have any weapons and the reason that we don't have to do any fighting is because Jesus actually does it all. Jesus slays the wicked. And how does he do it? Does he take a sword and kill them one by one? No, the Bible says the sword that comes out of his mouth is the word of God. He does it by his command. As the text says in the last verse, it talks about Jesus, the word of God.

He speaks it, and it happens. Think of the power of Jesus. Think of the fact that when he was here on Earth and you have a storm that was taking place on Galilee and Jesus speaks to the storm and says, be still. Calmness.

The wind stops blowing. Jesus comes to the tomb of Lazarus and says, Lazarus, come forth. And he's coming out staggering, but he's alive and he's there even though he was laid in the grave four days earlier. It is by the command of Jesus that he fights. I told you last time that in 2 Thessalonians, the Apostle Paul helps us to understand how Jesus fights and how he destroys the wicked. And it says this. He destroys them by the breath of his mouth.

They're gone. All the enemies that have been arrayed against him find themselves helpless in the presence of Jesus. And he comes and the Bible says that on his robe and on his thigh is written King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Don't ever put Jesus on the same shelf as Muhammad or Krishna or Buddha or any of the other prophets.

Don't ever put them on the same shelf. This one is King of Kings and Lord of Lords over all the prophets of the world and over all the religions of the world. In the New Testament when we think about Christmas, we discover that Jesus came to redeem. Now Jesus comes to judge. One other thing I want to point out before I summarize this for us. You'll notice it says in verse 17, then I saw an angel standing in the sun and with a loud voice.

This gets gruesome now, I warn you. He called to all the birds that fly directly overhead, come gather for the great supper of God to eat the flesh of kings and all those others. Wow.

Couple of things. First of all, the angel invites the birds of the heavens to come because the vultures, you remember the words of Jesus where the carcass is, the vultures are. The vultures are going to have lots to eat. And notice that the angel proclaims this before Jesus has slain anyone by the word of his mouth. The angel knows that this is a done deal. It's not true that the battle has taken place yet. The battle isn't over, but hey, the battle is over. Jesus has come.

The battle is over. And so what happens is here in this text, the angel announces it ahead of time that Jesus has come. And then the beast and the false prophet, we mentioned this last time, they're cast into the lake of fire. There is a message in this series going to take place on the great white throne judgment, and we will talk about hell at that time. But the reason that they are instantly cast into the lake of fire, getting ahead of everybody else, is because of their influence. Remember this, the sufferings of hell are not the same for everyone by no means. Those who knew better and then misled others, their suffering is going to be greater.

The impact of that and the import is unbelievable. But we'll get into that when we talk about the great white throne judgment. What I'd like to do is to just summarize a few ideas in your mind. The first is this, that in terms of lessons, I want to say a word about Jesus, this Jesus that we're talking about. You know the Jesus who was born in Bethlehem, who is loved by everybody?

Oh, isn't that ever sweet? Here's a little baby, and he touches our heart at Christmas, and all of us rejoice in that, and I preach on that all the time, and we love the Christmas story. Remember that there's more to Jesus than just the loving Jesus, who perhaps is the one who is misinterpreted today as a Jesus with endless compassion. He does have endless compassion, but he's also a Jesus of judgment.

Perhaps I could put it to you this clearly. And as clearly as I would like to put it is this, it is not possible for us to overestimate Jesus Christ's hatred of sin. That's why you have such a tsunami here of judgment taking place. But having said that, I want to also say that it's not possible for us to over exaggerate Jesus Christ's love for all those who believe on him. In fact, his love for them is like the love that he has for his father, and his father has for him. It is absolutely overwhelming, the love that Jesus has, as we see in John chapter 17. So when you talk about Jesus, you can talk about the compassionate Jesus, and well you might, but remember, it says in 2 Thessalonians that when he returns, and it's speaking of this event, he will return in flaming fire, taking vengeance on them that know not God and obey not the gospel. That's Jesus too, the same Jesus. And we need to keep that in mind. Second, I want to say a word about salvation, a word about salvation.

This is very crass, in a sense, and I've debated as to whether or not I should say it, but I am going to say it. In this passage, in the 19th chapter of Revelation, there are two suppers. There's the marriage supper of the Lamb, and then as the angels said, there is the great supper of God. Two suppers, but two different destinations, two different kinds of people. There are those who are not in the church, there are those, you see, who are clothed in white. They attend the marriage supper of the Lamb, and then there's another supper here, and I guess to put it a little more clearly than I should, you either participate in the supper of the Lamb or for the birds at least, you become the supper.

That's what the text is saying. And you know what makes all the difference is the white robes. You see, we have the robe of righteousness credited to us, and we stand clothed in that righteousness. My friend, have you ever even thought of the amount of sin that is covered by the white robe?

I'm thinking about you, by the way, and I'm thinking about myself. Think of the difference it makes when you are clothed in the righteousness of Jesus and you go into heaven as if you are Jesus, because it has nothing to do with you really. It is the free gift that Jesus gives to those who believe on him.

Isn't that amazing? So my friend, if you've never believed on Jesus, please, after this message, don't think that you will have an excuse when you stand before God. You won't. I'm inviting you to get a robe, a white robe. Jesus will give it to you if you come to him. So please don't say, in the day of judgment, I'm going to say I didn't hear and I didn't understand. I'm helping you to hear and I'm helping you to understand. There's a final word, and that is the obviously two different destinies here. And we'll talk about that in another message. Here you have the saints who are with Jesus forever, and then you have those who are in the lake of fire forever.

And the division is eternal and endless, all because some trust Jesus and receive the free robe. And others say, I think I'll stand on my own, like one man told me on a plane. I'm going to do OK. I'm going to stand on my record.

My dear friend, you stand on your record, and you're not going to do OK. You have to stand on Jesus Christ's record. Now, friend, do you understand why we sing, All Hail King Jesus, All Hail Emmanuel, King of Kings, Lord of Lords, Bright Morning Star? Throughout all eternity, I'll stand on my own, and through all eternity, I'll sing his praises, and I'll reign with him through all eternity.

Amen. Let's all stand to sing it right now, would you please? All Hail King Jesus, All Hail Emmanuel, King of Kings. On today's Moody Church Hour, Dr. Erwin Lutzer spoke about when he returns to reign, the glorious appearing of Jesus when every eye shall see him.

Next time, what it will be like when he reigns in his kingdom. This entire series can be yours on CD as our thank you for your gift of any amount to support The Moody Church Hour. Just call us at 1-800-215-5001.

When you call, mention the series, The King is Coming. Call 1-800-215-5001, or write to us at The Moody Church, 1635 North LaSalle Boulevard, Chicago, Illinois, 60614. Online, go to moodyoffer.com. That's moodyoffer.com. Join us next week for another Moody Church Hour with Dr. Erwin Lutzer and the Congregation of Historic Moody Church in Chicago.