The King Returns To Conquer Part 2

Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith. One day, Jesus will appear in glory, radiating absolute authority. Descending from heaven, he will slay his enemies with a sharp sword and then set up a world government headquartered in Jerusalem.

Stay with us. From the Moody Church in Chicago, this is Running to Win with Dr. Erwin Lutzer, whose clear teaching helps us make it across the finish line. Pastor Lutzer, I guess the days of democracy are over when Jesus sets up his kingdom. Yes, Dave, for sure the days of democracy will be over. You know, the simple fact is there are many dictators that have existed throughout history and they've always tried to accumulate power, but in the end that power fails them and they die, others take over. In the case of Jesus, he has inherently all power.

Now, the good news is he doesn't just exercise power, but he exercises mercy and justice, a perfect dictatorship, if you want to put it that way, a benevolent dictator, and that day is coming. You know, I'm so glad for the many of you who support the ministry of Running to Win because we can get these messages in 20 different countries of the world. We send them there and they are played and listened to.

Thousands upon thousands of people listen thanks to you. Would you consider becoming an endurance partner? As I frequently say, that is someone who stands with us regularly with their prayers and their gifts. You can find more info if you go to RTWOffer.com. That's RTWOffer.com.

Click on the endurance partner button, or if you prefer, you can call us at 1-888-218-9337. If you would want more people to listen to messages like this, thanks in advance for helping us. And now we once again exalt Christ, King of Kings, Lord of Lords. 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 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 well. 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.

A 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 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 overexaggerate 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, 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 sing His praises, and I'll reign with Him through all eternity.

Amen. This is Pastor Lutzer. As I share my heart with you today, I want you to know that when I read the book of Revelation, I see two different groups of people. Those who have trusted Jesus, Jesus Christ, of course living in bliss forever in His presence, and then as we shall still learn in this series of messages, there is also in the Bible the doctrine of hell. There's something within me that says, isn't there an intermediate place? People who are too good to go to hell but not quite good enough to get to heaven? Well, that does not exist. Either you have trusted Christ as your Savior or you haven't.

It's that clear. If you have never believed on Him, I urge you today to trust Him, to say to Him, I realize that I am a sinner, and I am in need of grace and forgiveness, and receive Him personally right now. And I want to thank the many of you who support the ministry of running to win.

If you're blessed as a result of these messages, it's because other people have contributed to this ministry so that you could hear these sermons. Would you like to become a contributor? Would you like to become an endurance partner, someone who stands with us regularly with their prayers and their gifts? If so, if you want more info, go to RTWOffer.com. That's RTWOffer.com.

When you're there, click on the endurance partner button. Or if you prefer, call us at 1-888-218-9337. Let me give you that phone number again, 1-888-218-9337.

You can write to us at Running to Win, 1635 North LaSalle Boulevard, Chicago, Illinois, 60614. Coming, a thousand years of enforced peace on earth under the rulership of Jesus Christ. This utopia will be centered in Jerusalem. What the UN could never do, Jesus will do. And next time on Running to Win, we'll learn all about the millennium. Thanks for listening to our series on the return of Christ. For Dr. Erwin Lutzer, this is Dave McAllister. Running to Win is sponsored by the Moody Church.