B)
There are the Press reports
/ the interviews / all these attempts to get
people interested in the fight
C) And there is a certain bit of Jockeying
going on between the fighters to
gain crowd support
1)
So
that when they step into the ring crowd w/ them
D) Then on the night of the
fight there are all the fights on the Undercard
the pre-fights before you get to the MAIN EVENT !!!!
1)
The FINAL
SHOWDOWN
Here in the 2nd
half of Rev. Ch. 19 we come to the MAIN EVENT -
THE FINAL SHOWDOWN
- Battle of Armageddon
A)
Now we have seen the build
up concerning this Showdown It has been mentioned in Ch.s 14,16,17,
B) We have seen how Satan has influenced the Crowd ( the inhabitants of the earth) to Join in this great Battle against God
1)
We
have seen the
fights on the Under Card the Judgements that have occurred during
the Trib. Ch.6-18
A)
But everything we have read & studied up to this point has all
been leading to Ch. 19 THE MAIN EVENT /
FINAL SHOWDOWN
1)
But
what we are going to find is / it is not much of a fight at all !!
Very Quick Battle !!!!!
READ
V.11-16
Now we have seen in
the Previous Chapters how Satan was Described as this Evil Dragon & the
AntiChrist as the BEAST
A) But here John begins by giving us a Description of GENERAL JESUS & Who is with as He comes to the Battle !!!!
AA)Incredible Description of the Lord -
Note several things :
1st THAT HE COMES RIDING ON
A WHITE HORSE !!!!
A) Consider the Contrast to how John was used to seeing Jesus / When Christ was on the Earth John followed him 3yrs
1)
they walked where ever they went ONCE A
DONKEY (humility) but now Jesus
is on a Horse what is the Significance ?
A)
A
Horse was a symbol of Wealth only those who were really wealthy would travel
by horse in those days KINGS & PRINCES
1)
Jesus
is the KING OF
KINGS / PRINCE OF PEACE - So
it was a Symbol of Honor !!!
But it was also a Symbol of Power : To
the Jews the employment of the horse in warfare was unusual, it indicated great force/ Great Armies
A)
Jesus
comes as the ALL
POWERFUL ONE !!!!! No one can stand against Him
B) He comes not just on a Horse but on a White Horse THIS SPEAKS
OF VICTORY
1)
When
a Roman general would return from the Battle & where he had been Victorious
He would ride in on a white horse / Captives in tow
C)
Here Jesus is seen Returning riding on a WHITE HORSE why because
He is the Victorious
ONE !!!
So He comes riding
on a White Horse / the 2nd thing to note is He is called faithful
& True !!!!
A) Now
we have noted in Previous studies How those in heaven who encounter the Lord Never question
what He does
a) We might do that here but in Heaven the Perspective is Different They see all that the Lord is doing & respond
True
& Righteous are Your Judgements / Just & true are Your Ways Lord you
are faithful in all that you do !!!!!
C)
Which tells me the more Heavenly minded I become here / the closer to
the Lord that I get the more time I spend in His Presence
1) The Less I will be prone to question God & His decisions
LISTEN
The more mature a person becomes the less they QUESTION
A) Doesnt Necessarily mean that they understand More but they
have come to Believe that whatever the
Lord does in their life
1)
whatever He Chooses for them - it is RIGHTEOUS & TRUE !!! IT IS RIGHT ON!!! IT IS GOOD / He is faithful & true !!!!
A)
Think
about this past year past decade/ Hasnt the Lord been Faithful & true in
Your life Personally ? He is the Ultimate Faithful Friend !!!!
1)
Has
He ever Deceived You - / Has He ever forgotten You ? / Has He ever failed You
?
C) Some of you have gone through some real HEAVY TRIALS, death of loved ones a Husband a wife
/ Financial loss / Trials w/ Kids
1)
There are times in the mist of those
heavy Trials where the thought might come to our minds God has abandoned
me !!!
D)But
as soon as we come out on the other side of that Storm / if not before
we see How He was w/ us all along working / moving
1) He was
taking care of Us !!! - If you have
walked w/ the Lord any
length
of time this is one thing attest to He is Faithful & True
1)
Lord I Believe but help my unbelief !!!!! - He is faithful to do that
Next John says v.12 His Eyes were like a flame of fire !!!!
A)
What a Contrast to
the Look that John was used to seeing when he looked into the eyes of Jesus
John had seem his eyes filled w/ tears / wept over Jerusalem/ At Laz. Grave side .
1) He saw the gleam in His eye as He beheld the faith of the Centurion
A) He saw the love in His eyes as He looked at people !!! COMPASSION But Now those eyes were A BLAZE !!!!
1)
Fire speaks of Judgement - eyes
that are piercing and penetrating
Heb.4: 13 And there is no
creature hidden from His sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes
of Him to whom we must give account.
A) We are told in Ex.24: 17 The sight of the glory of the LORD was like
a consuming fire on the top of the mountain in the eyes of the children of
Israel.
C) Heb.12:29 For
our God is a consuming fire.
D) It is a very
RADICAL & Ominous description of the Lord
But Listen if the You Know the Lord The Lord who is a
Consuming fire doesnt want to Burn you up / Doesnt Desire to toast you
A)
He
wants to Consume You so that Your Life will Burn Brightly for Him !
1)
But
if it is in the Fire Place it is very warm & Inviting !!!!
B) If you know the Lord walking
in Fellowship w/ Him those eyes are comforting &
assuring !!!! Warm & Inviting
Rebellious Eyes are piercing Convicting
1) But if You dont know the Lord those EYES are terrifying because one day stand before Him & be Judged
A) That will be the case of those on the earth at the time of His coming who are gathered to fight against Him at this battle
1) They will be consumed by His gazed & Stripped of all their false allusions of Grandeur They will see themselves as Doomed !!!
From
the eyes John Noticed the Crowns !!!! v.12
Many Crowns
A)
The only time that John saw Jesus wearing a Crown
Prior to the vision in the book of Rev.
B) Was the Crown of THORNS at His Crucifixion that Crown was crushed upon His head blood filled His Face !!!
1) The Kind : Great Crowns Beautiful/
Stupendous / Glorious !!!
1)
Crown
as the Creator
2)
Sustainer
3)
King
of Kings
4)
The
Head of the Church /
Next
John says in v.12 He had a Name written that no
one Knew except himself Something of Himself that was still a Mystery
A)
Name Speaks of NATURE This most likely means that the
nature of Jesus Christ is INCOMPREHENSIBLE to the
human mind
COURSON :Name speaks of nature so this verse suggest that due to
the fact that there is a part of Him that is not understood by any but Himself
we will be amazed when we see Jesus because none of us knows Him presently the
way that we will one day Know Him eventually. The neat this is we are going to
spend ETERNITY exploring THE nuances of
his nature Astounded by His Beauty/ Awed by His Holiness/ Amazed at His Love
which right now we only see through a glass dimly ( 1 Cor. 13:12 )
B)
Long
to See Him !!! So cloudy so many struggles in the flesh
Fatigue / sickness / distractions - ( All gone Just Him)
Next v.13 His Garment Robe dipped in
BLOOD
Spurgeon
- John saw one thing more, namely,
his vesture was dipped in blood, this
is the grandest thought about our Master that wherever he may be, that he is
ever a red man wearing the bloody garment. As the atoning sacrifice he is at his
best. We love him as we see the white
lily of his perfect nature, but the rose of Sharon is the flower for us, for
its sweet perfume breathes life to our fainting souls.
As the blood is the life of the body , so is
HIS BLOOD life to us the life of the
gospel, the life of our hopes: and how I
delight to think that, though he
rides the white horse, he has never
striped off the bloody shirt in which
he won our redemption.
He is coming to lay
claim to that which He has redeemed and He comes bearing the Evidence of the
Price that He Paid
A) In doing so There is that constant reminder of what He did for us
that magnifies His Love for us
B) I dont think any of us are
going to fully understand the full implications of our REDEMPTION
until we get to heaven
NEXT v.13 There is a Name that is Revealed The Word of God !!!
A) John 1
1In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and
the Word was God. 2He was in the beginning with God. 3All
things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made14And
the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as
of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.
C) Jesus is the Word made flesh - & He has given us the written word to reveal Himself to us
1) Jesus
declared in the VOLUME OF THE BOOK IT IS
.. OF ME
! In other words this book is all
about me / Purpose is to Pt. You to me !!!
D) The clearest method this side of Heaven for getting to Know Him is in studying His word ( Why we give such a Place to study here )
1)
It is the only way to truly
draw near to God get to Know Him
A) Not going to happen in readying all the books in the Left behind series As good as that may be !!!!
1)
Not going to happen
by sitting on the beach & Meditating / or Chanting up in the Mts
E)The
way to know God is to study His Word !!!!! Jesus is
that Word
But why would this be
the name that He is wearing or that is revealed at this time of His 2nd
coming :
A) There are over 100 names given for Jesus in the Bible Each one describes a different aspect of His Character & Ministry
B) SO Why Here at the 2nd coming Is He simply referred to as the Word of God ? TWO REASONS
C) 1ST It is a Statement of Revelation it is all ENCOMPASING
1)
All that could be
Known of Him all the other names & Titles are revealed in the Word
A) But 2nd It is a Statement of Condemnation Jesus is returning here to Judge the World
1) The indictment against the World is Written in Bold for all to see He is the Word of God
All who have rejected
Christ are going to see that they are w/ out excuse Because in order to
reject Christ You have to reject this
A) People say : I dont believe in the Bible never looked into it
B) Amazing book stands up to the strictest
textual Criticism it has been found
to be more reliable than any Literary work in History
1)
Amazingly put together
1500 yrs / 3 Lang./ 40 authors / diff. Professions ( Yet from Beg. To
ending it points to Christ )
A)
Amazing : Yet
people say Well
the Bible is full of Contradictions -
Yet if you say SHOW ME ONE -
they cant find any
1)Time Article - Gospel according to
Reynolds
Price (Jesus at 2000)
So When Jesus comes
at the 2nd coming to Judge
He is revealed as the Word of God because this is the indictment against man
A)
They had the Truth before them in Black & white
So when people say : I dont like what you are saying or that is just your opinion I say
take it up w/ God it is His opinion not mine
B) Hosea declared : My people are destroyed for lack of Knowledge because they
rejected the Knowledge
1)
It wasnt that it was
not available to them but the real problem was that they ignore the Knowledge
Ignored the truth
C)
John said it well 3:19And
this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved
darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. 20For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not
come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed
The next thing that John sees is who is
With Him !!! v.14
14And the armies in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and
clean, followed Him on white horses.
A)
Now understand we are not
coming back to fight but we are coming back to observe Him secure the Victory
B) Notice how we
come back riding on white horses speaks
of our Victory in Him
1)
And clothed in White Linen
!!!! Which speaks of our Righteousness in Him / He has robed us in His
RIGHTEOUSNESS
A)
Now
everything that man has longed for since the beginning of man that peace /
fulfillment / contentment / Purpose for living
1)
Is
going to be revealed in Us when we return w/ Him
A)
I
believe that we are going to be a Visible Illustration of what man could have
experienced it will be seen in our Countenance when we return
1)
Shinning
in Glory the Glory of Christ Shown round us
A) Men are going to realize that the very thing that they
longed for they could have experienced had they only followed Christ
1)
Seeing
Him in His Glory & us w/ Him will be as a picture stuck in their minds
haunting them for all eternity !!!!
A)
Eph. 6:17 the sword of the Spirit, which is the word
of God:
Hebr.
4:12 For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and
sharper than any two edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul
and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts
and intents of the heart.
B) Just HOW powerful is the Word of God? Gen. 1:1 In
the beginning God created
..
told
that God CREATED it HOW did God
create?
1) He
spoke it into existence
Hebr. 11:3 Through faith we
understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which
are seen were not made of things which do appear.
E)
God spoke into existence the world that
we live in
The
WORD OF THE LORD IS POWERFUL Doesnt return void
A) We need to realize it get it out / Share it quote it Proclaim it /
B) Guy who asked Spurgeon
: How do we defend the word Spurgeon said the word is like a Lion do you need to
defend a Lion Just let it out of its cage & it will do its thing
!!!!!
C) If we could only realize the POWER of the Word of God
1) We in that day when He returns to this earth & we accompany Him
Picture this event : All of the powers of man are gathered
against Him to destroy Him at His coming
A)
The World comes together for this final showdown - And Jesus
will just SPEAK and the battle is over
2Ths. 2:8 Declares that they will consumed by the WORD of his
mouth, and destroyed by the brightness of his coming:
Watch how this plays out
Read v.17-Ch.20:3
So the armies of the world that are loyal to the Anti-Christ are
gathered together to prevent the return of Jesus Christ
A) Psa. 2 gives us insight
into this scene
Why
do the nations rage, And the people plot a vain thing?
2The
kings of the earth set themselves, And the rulers take counsel
together Against the LORD and against His
Anointed, saying,Let us
break Their bonds in pieces And cast away Their cords from us.
B) Man has been trying forever to throw off the authority of God
AND Revelation 19 is the FINAL attempt
C) The armies of the world THAT
could do nothing but fight against one another are now found ALIGNED with one another against
God
1) NOTE: The greatest moment of unity in the history of the world will occur as a result of hatred against God
Now TODAY We would
stand in awe of such a collection of military technology and MIGHT gathered together in one force
A) BUT - God looks at them as nothing more than FAT GRAPES
waiting to be trampled in a wine press
Psa. 2 :4,5
Continues He who
sits in the heavens shall laugh; The LORD shall hold them in derision Then He
shall speak to them in His wrath, And distress them in His deep displeasure:
B) They
gather come together like some TOUGH GUY we
will show you
Jesus will LAUGH at them & then speak will destroy them with His Word
C) Like a heavy wait fight one punch & it is over KNOCK OUT !!!!!
D) The nations are Destroyed - & v.20 tells us that the AntiChrist & the False Prophet become the first inhabitants of Gehenna Lake of fire
1) Millions
are going to follow !!!!
Notice also the Ease at Which Satan is captured Ch.20 we
are told that An Angel not even an Arch Angel/ key in one hand / chain in the
other
A) So Basically this Angel lays hold of the Dragon w/ one hand & he cast him into the bottomless pit where he is locked up for the Millennium
B) Locked up & shut up no more accusations / no more temptation / no more deception for 1,000 yrs
1) Now in our study next time we will discuss How & why he is going to be released for a short season !! / But Satan is bound at this time !!!!
Now
this is amazing to me Satan spends 7 yrs plotting this battle
A) 7 Yrs putting the AntiChrist into Place 7 yrs setting up His system 7 yrs getting things in place for this battle
1)That is going to end in a MOMENT - the Spoken Word of the Lord !!
But This gathering of the NATIONS testifies to the INCURABLE INSANITY of
sin
A) Satan who COULD NOT prevail against Michael the Archangel actually thinks that he can prevail against God
A) Man has been warring against God for 6,000 yrs even though he has been defeated time and again
C) We see this INSANITY growing as we see man this war going on today that will culminate at Armageddon
1) The HUMANISTS making war against God and those who believe in God They don't want the name of God mentioned in schools
D) They
protest nativity scenes in public places
1) They produce T.V. shows and movies that ridicule Jesus and those that
believe in Him
A)
This INSANITY will only grow more intense until man is
INSANE enough to think that He can stand toe to toe with God Himself
NOTE: Fighting against God is not merely the act of radical
humanist/atheists
A) You are fighting against God whenever you DO NOT DO what God has said
B) There will be those people who call themselves Christian but in reality have been FIGHTING against God
Luke 6:46 46But why do you call Me Lord, Lord, and
not do the things which I say? 47Whoever comes
to Me, and hears My sayings and does them, I will show you whom he is like:
48He is like a man building a house, who dug
deep and laid the foundation on the rock. And when the flood arose, the stream
beat vehemently against that house, and could not shake it, for it was £founded
on the rock. 49But he who heard and did nothing is like a man who built a
house on the earth without a foundation, against which the stream beat
vehemently; and immediately it £fell. And the ruin
of that house was great.
C) People who profess Christ wonder why their life is a mess Summed up in this statement they are fighting against God
1)
And
there will be those who profess to know Christ who will have Him say to
them Matt. 7:23 And then I will declare to them, I never knew you; depart
from Me, you who practice lawlessness!
Rev. 19 is about two Feast : Wedding feast v.7-10 and the
feast of God prepared by God for the Birds The Choice is up to You