[0:00] Now, let's turn to that passage that we read last, Revelation chapter 19. I'd like to look at the whole of that passage that we read.
[0:18] We come in this passage to the description of the final fall of the enemies of Christ, especially the enemies that are described as the beast and the false prophet.
[0:34] Remember that we're dealing here in this section, chapters 17 to 19, with the downfall of what we may call the dragon's helpers, those influences and forces and powers that Satan has arraigned against the work of Christ in this world, described under the titles Babylon, the beast and the false prophet.
[1:03] And so, as we near the end of this section, we come to the description of the final overthrow of the beast and the false prophet. Remember, the beast standing for the world as considered the center of anti-Christian government.
[1:21] In other words, the exercise of evil, of the devil's influence, in the whole realm of politics and government. And also, the false prophet.
[1:34] Again, the world considered from the point of view as the center of anti-Christian religion. And the picture throughout the book of Revelation is of this influence, aiding and abetting the persecuting power of the anti-Christian government.
[1:53] And of course, in the first instance, many of these things got their contemporary expression in John's day in the power of Rome itself.
[2:03] But of course, the book of Revelation is not limited to describing the phenomenon of Rome, nor simply its downfall. But it is describing, as we've seen so often throughout the book, the whole history of this opposition to the Lord and his anointed, which is doomed to ultimate failure.
[2:26] And that is the theme of the book of Revelation. We saw in chapter 17 and verse 14, really, what is the theme of the book. They will make war against the Lamb, the Lamb, the Lord Jesus.
[2:40] But the Lamb will overcome them because he is Lord of lords and King of kings, and with him will be his called, chosen, and faithful followers. So then we come at the end of this section to this description of the final overthrow of these influences.
[2:58] And here it is being tied very specifically to what we call the second coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Called the second coming, of course, because the first coming of our Lord was the incarnation.
[3:14] Christ coming, being born of a virgin, being born in a stable in Bethlehem. Coming in many ways incognito.
[3:25] Coming to his own, but his own did not receive him. Coming in great weakness. Coming to suffer and to die, and yet to win a glorious victory over sin and evil.
[3:40] But the second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ will be different, because then the Lord Jesus Christ will be revealed in all his glory. Revealed as what he actually is.
[3:54] The eternal Son of God, and the King of kings, and Lord of lords. And it's something of that marvelous event that has been described here in these verses.
[4:05] You remember that as we move towards the end of the book of Revelation, we are getting more and more emphasis on what we call the last things. Each of those sections that we've looked at are made up of two or three chapters each.
[4:19] Each of them has got something to say of the whole sweep of history. And at the beginning of the book, these sections deal largely with history as we are now living in it.
[4:33] Dealing with those processes of opposition and persecution of the church. And also the victory of Jesus Christ in this process of time and history.
[4:45] But as we move more and more towards the end of the book, the emphasis in each section falls more and more firmly upon the final victory of Christ at the end.
[4:56] And so we see here that we are introduced to that final and great victory of Jesus. Now notice that the focus of this chapter, indeed the focus of the whole book, is upon the person of Jesus Christ himself.
[5:12] And it will help us to guard against error in this whole field of looking at what the Bible has to say about the future. If we never let it out of our minds that the focus of God's revelation in the scriptures, whether it concerns the past, the present, or the future, is Jesus Christ himself.
[5:36] And that is what we see in the book of Revelation. Never for a moment is it let out of sight that the Lord Jesus Christ is the one through whom everything is decided.
[5:49] And he is the one who finally puts an end to evil in this world. And so we see this focus upon Jesus made very much by this little conversation that takes place between John and the angel.
[6:02] Remember here the angel who is really kind of acting as an interpreter for John, explaining the visions to him. Because remember what we have is a series of visions or pictures, we might say many of them moving pictures, presented before John of Jesus Christ and of other scenes.
[6:25] And these, in many cases, have to be interpreted for John so he understands what is meant by them. John is not seeing here the actual history of this world actually taking place.
[6:38] But he is seeing, we might say, a visual representation of that as it was played before him in this revelation that Jesus gave to him.
[6:49] And so this angel is seeking to help him and to explain him and to lead him through many of these. And he is trying to write about those who were invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb, that they were blessed.
[7:07] That is in verse 9 here. And we thought about something of that last week when we saw the great contrast between Babylon, the great prostitute, and the bride of the Lamb, the bride of Christ, the church of Jesus Christ.
[7:23] And here is this marvelous statement of the great importance of the call of God, calling people into that relationship to Christ, calling them into the church of Jesus Christ, so that one day those who are believing in him, those who are trusting in him, will be at what is called that great wedding supper, that great celebration of God's people in heaven.
[7:52] And so he emphasizes that by saying these are the true words of God. This is the very truth of God, that this describes the true situation.
[8:06] It may seem otherwise in the history of this world. The Christian church, poor, despised, neglected, laughed at, ridiculed, scorned, but yet the truth is that they are invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb.
[8:18] And John seems to be so overwhelmed by this revelation of God's grace that he falls down at this angel's feet to worship him.
[8:31] It's as if for a moment John has really forgotten his place and forgotten what he knows, and he falls down to worship this angel.
[8:41] He is so overwhelmed by the message that the angel has brought to him. But he said to me, do not do it. It's a very sharp rebuke that he receives from the angel.
[8:52] Do not do it. I am a fellow servant with you and with your brothers who hold to the testimony of Jesus. You see, the angel is placing himself and every other creature on a totally different plane from Jesus Christ.
[9:11] They are only those who bear witness to Jesus. They hold the testimony of Jesus. And the testimony is what's given by a witness.
[9:23] He says, worship God, for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy. He's saying, the whole point of what I am doing here, revealing some of these things concerning the future, revealing those purposes of God to you, the whole purpose of it is that it ties in with God's revelation in Jesus Christ.
[9:48] The testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy. Now, whatever else that expression means, and it is a very full one indeed, it means this, that at the very heart and core of prophecy, of God's revealing of himself, and revealing even things concerning the future, at the very heart of it, is Jesus Christ.
[10:13] That is the whole point of it. He is the focus and fulcrum of all that the Bible has to say concerning God's purposes. The testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.
[10:28] The angel was putting himself firmly in his right place, and he was putting John firmly in his place. They were those engaged in this great work of prophecy, and the spirit of that prophecy, the whole genius of that prophecy, is to focus upon Jesus Christ, to give testimony to him.
[10:51] And so then, the scene is laid, in that little conversation, for the next great vision. And this is one of the key visions in the book of Revelation of Jesus Christ himself.
[11:05] We had one glorious vision of Jesus Christ right at the beginning in chapter 1. You remember when John saw this one like a son of man, and the great description that is given of his glorious appearance.
[11:19] Some of it is repeated in later parts of the book, particularly in the letters to the churches. But here, we have a different vision of Jesus Christ.
[11:30] Now, notice that in the book of Revelation, there are these different visions, and there may be things in them that seem to differ one from another.
[11:41] We shouldn't let that bother us, because here, we're not being presented with what we may call a sort of realistic picture of what Jesus looks like.
[11:53] What we're being presented with is a truth concerning what he is, and what he does. For instance, the best illustration of this is in Revelation chapter 5, where he's presented as a lion, and as a lamb, almost in the same breath.
[12:09] Now, to us, such things are impossible to even visualize. Yet, the truth of Scripture is that he is both. He is the great lion of the tribe of Judah, the majestic, the all-powerful, the all-conquering.
[12:22] Yet, he is also the lamb, the one who, in his innocence and purity, offered himself in helplessness upon the cross.
[12:34] Christ. And these pictures, these very powerful visual images express to us great and deep truth concerning the person and work of Christ.
[12:47] And so, we come now to another of those pictures given us of Christ. And this is different from some of the others that have proceeded, in fact, from most of the others that have proceeded.
[12:59] Although, we see here John taking up a representation of Christ that was mentioned very briefly at the beginning of chapter 6. The beginning of chapter 6, when the lamb opened the first of the seven seals, then John heard one of the four living creatures say in a voice like thunder, Come, I looked, and there before me was a white horse.
[13:23] Its rider held a bow and he was given a crown and he rode out as a conqueror bent on conquest. Now, when we looked at that, we linked it up with this passage here in Revelation chapter 19 and saw the comparison and saw that here was really been described the same person, the Lord Jesus Christ, the rider upon the white horse.
[13:46] Now, it's very difficult to go through this vision here that's given to us in any kind of systematic way and try to break it down into three or four points or whatever we would like to break it down into.
[13:59] And it seems to my mind as I struggled with this that we were being taught something by that very fact. That here, John was being taught and the whole Christian church was being taught that there is no way that we can break down into some kind of little system of our own this glorious person, Jesus Christ.
[14:20] Image is heaped upon image, statement upon statement, and there doesn't seem to be any kind of necessary connection between what comes before and what follows on.
[14:31] We have, overall, this great impression of one who is riding on a white horse. And then there are various details of this picture built up, not in any kind of order.
[14:44] It is as if this suddenly was revealed to John, this overwhelming vision of this one riding forth on a white horse. And, as you know, in a situation like that where you suddenly see something very breathtaking, you notice first this detail, then that detail, and then the next, and perhaps they have no sort of logical connection between them.
[15:08] And it seems that that is what is happening with John's mind here. And he just pours out all these particular details in the description of this one. So we'll just have to work through these briefly, one by one, and try to see the great picture that has been built up of Jesus Christ.
[15:28] Notice, first of all, that he saw heaven standing open. Now, this is different from anything else that has proceeded in the book of Revelation. One time at the beginning of chapter 4, when he moves from the earthly scene more into the heavenly scene, he saw a door open in heaven.
[15:50] It's as if he could sort of peep through this door as if a curtain was drawn aside and he could see some of the spiritual, eternal realities that are going on all the time.
[16:01] But normally, he couldn't see them. But this is something radically different. It's not a door open in heaven, but it's heaven standing open. It's as if the whole skies have been torn apart and that part of the universe which normally is unseen to us suddenly became visible to him.
[16:21] And what he saw was this one riding on a white horse coming, coming towards him, coming right into the historical situation of this world.
[16:36] And this rider, we're told here, is called Faithful and True. Now, these are the first, this is the first title that's given to this rider.
[16:49] There are four names referred to, three of which are given and one of which is said to be unknown except to the rider himself, except to Jesus Christ.
[17:00] That might be one way of kind of systematizing what is said in these few verses concerning Christ, to look at those four names. And I toyed with that idea and attempted it but it didn't really cover everything that is said here concerning Christ.
[17:15] So we must work through each one at a time. But here emphasized he's called Faithful and True. In other words, it's what is stated again later on in different ways.
[17:28] He is the Word of God. He is the one who is the true, exact impression of what God is. He is the one who is faithful and faithfully representing God.
[17:44] He is the one who faithfully keeps the promises of God. He is the one who is absolutely true to himself. He is the one who keeps what he himself proclaimed concerning his second coming.
[18:02] He said that he would return one day and come he does. With justice he judges and makes war. Here the great emphasis upon his justice, upon his coming in judgment.
[18:21] The picture here throughout this passage is of someone as a great commander, a great leader of an army coming to war. and that is the picture that is taken right through this section and it has a kind of surprising end, a kind of almost twist in the tale because there is this great picture built up of a great army coming to do battle and then on the other side another army preparing to do battle and we expect a great war but no such war ensues.
[18:55] This is something that recurs again in the book of Revelation time and again. But he comes obviously as one who is coming in justice.
[19:06] One who is coming to avenge great wrongs. One who is coming to put things right. Now there are perhaps great and helpful examples of this kind of thing that we could draw from history or from literature of all different kinds but one of these examples that certainly appeals to me and perhaps some of you here who have read the book would be the example from the book called The Lord of the Rings by Tolkien.
[19:35] In that book there are many different aspects to that but one of the key themes of it is this great war against evil that is taking place in the world that is pictured in that book.
[19:48] Towards the end of the book there are indeed a series of great battles and conflicts but some of the descriptive language that is used in these passages particularly concerning one of the leaders in the army that are coming to set things right Aragorn the great king some of these passages reflect a great deal of what is said in the scriptures concerning Jesus Christ.
[20:19] One who is coming the section of that the book in fact is even called The Return of the King one who is coming to claim his rightful kingdom and one who is coming with great vengeance against those who have destroyed and darkened his kingdom those who have exploited and those who have enslaved.
[20:43] That kind of picture is very helpful in understanding what John is saying here and what was revealed to John this one coming on the white horse coming as a king of kings coming to avenge all wrongs and to set everything to right.
[21:02] Notice his eyes are like blazing fire again we must take that in itself because if we just pass by and try to link it in with other things we'll miss the key thought of it.
[21:13] A reflection of what was said in chapter 1 again the same truth his eyes are blazing fire and we notice there that it was a statement a description that would sum up his penetrating vision so that there was nothing hidden from him.
[21:32] He was able to discern everything that was going on so that what he was going to do would be absolutely fair and just and also surely here there is a great description of the majesty of his person and that people would be unable to withstand his great anger and wrath against sin.
[21:57] His eyes are like blazing fire and on his head are many crowns. Again another description introducing another detail in the vision but a very central one.
[22:08] Here is the one who is described as king of kings and lord of lords and in token of that on his head are many crowns. Now this is the crown of royalty that is described here.
[22:19] Sometimes the word crown in the Bible in the New Testament means the crown of the victor, the crown of the one who won at the Olympic Games.
[22:30] But this is the crown of kingship, the royal crown. And notice there is not just one crown but many crowns. He is the high king over all kings. All authority has been derived from him.
[22:43] And finally he will put all authority under his feet. He is the one who rules over the whole of this universe. He has a name written on him that no one but he himself knows.
[22:55] The second name that is mentioned here but this time it isn't given to us. It is written on him but no one knows it but he himself. What can it mean? Some people have thought it is really referring to one of these other names that is given in the passage such as it says that the name was written on his robe and on his thigh king of kings and lord of lords.
[23:16] But then what would be the point of giving us that and then saying that it was not known to anyone but himself? It seems to my mind that here we are being given yet another detail of this vision of Jesus Christ.
[23:31] There was something about him that was very mysterious. There is a name of his that no one else knows. And it would seem to refer to the great majesty and uniqueness of his person.
[23:47] We know so much about Jesus Christ. So much has been revealed concerning him. But yet there is a great mystery about his person also. He is true man.
[23:59] He is the Messiah long promised and long awaited. But he is also the eternal son of God. The word of God. The very express image of God.
[24:12] And in that relationship of God the son to God the father there is surely a great mystery that our minds cannot fathom. And also in the great uniqueness of his person being a divine person yet taking to himself a human nature.
[24:28] A great mystery. And so though much is revealed concerning Jesus Christ let us never imagine that we know all that there is to know about him. There are yet mysteries untold and mysteries that may never be unfolded concerning him.
[24:46] A description here that sums up the great mysterious majesty of Jesus Christ. He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood. Another detail as John sees this rider riding forth.
[25:03] The picture is almost as if he is galloping past him and he is noticing just these different details. A robe that is dipped in blood. That has been dipped in blood. Now again it is difficult to discern the meaning of all these details and maybe we have to ask again as we have to do often in the book of Revelation.
[25:23] Ought we to pinpoint each of these details and draw something from it? Well it is dangerous perhaps always to draw out every one of these details. but it would seem that in this vision particularly each of these little snippets of information that John is giving are sort of standing almost in isolation from the others.
[25:45] Complimenting the others but standing as a unique thing in itself and something that has meaning and significance in itself. And this one some people would see it relating to what's said later that he treads the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God Almighty.
[26:04] And very much this picture here is tied in with what we read in Isaiah chapter 63 where we read about the one coming from Edom dyed garments from Bozrah and the whole idea there is of one whose garments are stained with blood.
[26:20] And particularly in that passage and in this passage also the stress is upon that this is the blood of his enemies. that here is one coming in judgment.
[26:32] But there is an interesting almost play on ideas in both these passages because the same one who is coming in judgment is the one who himself has experienced judgment.
[26:47] This one who is now coming as the great judge of all mankind and the great avenger of every wrong. He is the one who himself experienced the vengeance of God against sin and he himself shed his blood upon the cross.
[27:09] So let us never forget as we are presented with this glorious picture of Christ that it is the same one. It is the lamb as well as the lion. And if we have not known him as the lamb of God if we have not known him as the one whose own garments were dipped in blood by his own death then one day we will know him as the one who is the great lion of the tribe of Judah the great avenger of every wrong the one who will trample us under his feet.
[27:47] And there can be no other way no other choice concerning Jesus Christ. This is the picture presented of him consistently in scripture.
[27:58] And his name is the word of God summing up all that we know of the uniqueness of his person the word of God he is the one who expresses the very mind of God the purposes of God he is the one who speaks into this world for God he reveals God and he still is and he remains so and will so forever be the one who is the word of God to us.
[28:25] We will learn of God in heaven through Jesus Christ and go on in knowledge of him for all eternity. The armies of heaven were following him riding on white horses and dressed in fine linen white and clean.
[28:40] Here is a picture not just of one rider yes one great rider on a great white horse ahead of them all but yet a great army following him. Is this army a representation of the angelic hosts or is it a representation of the Christian church because of the emphasis upon those dressed in fine linen white and clean tying it back to the description of the bride given earlier in this chapter.
[29:08] It may be indeed that it encompasses the whole idea of all those who are servants of God for did not the angel just there in the few words before link himself to John as being fellow servants of God in the testimony of Jesus Christ.
[29:25] But at any rate the picture here is of one who has got a great and mighty host who are under his command and who are part of his world and part of his kingdom.
[29:37] Out of his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations. Again this ties in with the description of him as the word of God because we are told that the word of God is like a sharp two-edged sword and we notice this description of Jesus again given in chapter 1 the sharp two-edged sword proceeding out of his mouth.
[30:00] Now immediately if we haven't realized it before this dispels from our mind any notion that we are being presented here with a realistic physical picture of Jesus Christ.
[30:12] It is a picture an image that we are being presented with to teach us a truth. A sword doesn't come out of a normal person's mouth but the picture is being presented so that we will understand the great majesty and power of this one.
[30:28] The word of God proceeds from him he is the word of God but the word of God proceeds from him and not only is it a word of healing and a word of help as it is being presented to us in this age in which we live a word of the gospel but it is also a word that will become a word of destruction as a sword may be used not only to defend but it may be used to attack and to destroy and this time comes and is described here when the Lord Jesus Christ comes as the avenger and judge and the one who wields this word of God as a sword so that at his word all his enemies are put to confusion and defeat.
[31:16] We're told that out of his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations he will rule them with an iron scepter and this detail culled from Psalm 2 the picture there of the Lord's anointed the Messiah the Christ and he is the one who rules the nations with an iron rod and it's a most interesting picture this because the word rule doesn't just mean what it does to us our idea of authority and a king it really is the idea to shepherd and that was the fundamental notion of kingship in the Old Testament and that was why in the purpose and providence of God the great king of Israel was David who was the shepherd boy he came as the one really typical king of the Old Testament and it was set forth quite clearly that he was to be the shepherd king and he was to rule his people as a shepherd looks after his sheep now there is great comfort and encouragement for the Christian in knowing that the Lord is our shepherd but you know there's another side to the shepherd's work particularly in the east in this time in which the Bible was written the shepherd not only had to feed his sheep to care for them but he also had to protect them he had to protect them against wild animals he had to protect them against sheep stealers and he didn't protect them just by saying boo to these enemies he protected them by wielding his rod against them by wielding his club against them as David did catching the bear by his beard or the lion and killing him now that is the picture of the shepherd that is the picture of the shepherd king and that is the picture that is fulfilled ultimately in Jesus Christ you see we cannot be squeamish or lily-livered about this whole truth concerning
[33:31] Jesus Christ because our ultimate salvation depends upon his finally putting evil in its place evil cannot be allowed to prosper because it will grow like rank weeds to destroy everything that is good and beautiful it must be finally destroyed for the sheep to be protected the sheep's enemies have to be destroyed for the beautiful bride of Jesus Christ to exist for all eternity in glory and in perfect happiness the enemies the despoilers of that bride must be destroyed and so Jesus Christ comes when he comes when he returns in vengeance against his enemies and ours he treads the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God almighty this description taken again from the passage we read in
[34:33] Isaiah 63 the whole idea of someone who is coming to trample down his enemies so that they are all put under his feet on his robe and on his thigh he has this name written and this is the sum of it all king of kings and lord of lords now if we have followed thus far through the book of revelation we surely have had our minds cleared of false notions of the lord Jesus Christ he is the savior he is the one to whom we look for our salvation the one who is compassion the one who is love the one who gave himself for us but he is also lord of lords and king of kings he also is the one who rules over every kind of power and authority the one who one day will return and put all those authorities under his feet whatever those authorities may be at the time when he comes whether they are of the superpowers as we presently know them today or some future and perhaps much more sinister superpowers no matter how powerful or how vaunted their might may be they will all be under his feet lord of lords and king of kings then we have at the end of this section the great description of the final defeat of the foes of jesus christ and it's described in the terms in which a battle a great battle would be described in the ancient world first the scene is set by the angel who is standing in the sun on a marvelous picture there of someone who is dominating the whole world who is outlined silhouetted against the sun almost and calling to all the birds of the air to come and to gather for the great supper of god what a contrast this supper to the wedding supper of the lamb here the picture being used of a great battle a great destruction and after such a battle after corpses lying on the ground birds of the air the carrion coming and feeding upon them that's the picture that is being presented and remember here we're being presented with a visual representation of what is to take place
[37:12] John is not actually seeing what is going to take place at the end of the world we should disabuse our minds of the idea that here we're seeing a physical representation of what Armageddon or the end of the world is going to be like but rather it is summing up to us the absolute destruction and annihilation in that sense of the army of the evil one in opposing Christ they are called then to that great and horrific and grotesque supper of God the destruction of all his enemies then I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies gathered to make war against the rider on the horse and his army here we have this very dramatic confrontation we've had the picture presented to us of the Lord Jesus at the head of his great army and then we have the beast and the kings of the earth all drawn up over against him picture being presented here that towards the end of the world it would seem there is very much this concentration of the power of evil into opposition against Jesus
[38:27] Christ already we've had described how Babylon goes by the board it is the power of the beast that destroys her the whole idea that everything that is set forth as seductive and attractive about the world all that goes by the board all that becomes irrelevant when the final issues are made very clear that it is between Satan or Christ and the whole emphasis is upon the sheer naked power and control of the kingdom of evil as if all of this has come to its great climax it is as if almost the devil is thinking that he has got control of the whole world and suddenly at the great height of this power the heavens are rent and the Lord Jesus Christ comes in majesty and every foe flees before him and falls on their faces to the ground such as the majesty and wrath of his coming because there is no battle there is no battle there never will be any battle never will be any toing and throwing between one side and the other when the Lord
[39:49] Jesus Christ returns yes we are engaged in a warfare now yes there is defeat and there is victory on little levels in our present history but when Jesus Christ returns there will be no war there will be no battle he will speak and his will will be imposed he will slay them with the word of his mouth we read that immediately the beast was captured and with him the false prophet who had performed the miraculous signs on his behalf with these signs he had deluded those who had received the mark of the beast and worshipped his image here we have this little description given again of what their work was deluding people enslaving people drawing people away from Christ keeping them under the dominion of Satan the two of them were thrown alive into the fiery lake of burning sulfur the description here being given we're introduced to this description of hell where evil is finally restricted and where evil is finally we might almost say allowed to burn itself out eternally and that is the ultimate end of rebellion against
[41:16] Jesus Christ whether we are considering those who seem to be leaders in this those who have wielded and exercised authority in this world and used it for their own aggrandizement used it for evil purposes used it in opposition to the church of Christ or whether we are considering someone who simply said I refuse to give my life to Jesus Christ I want to hold on to and to cling on to all the the tattered and filthy ideas of my own self-centered life the place we're told at the end of this chapter of all such opposition to Jesus Christ is in that eternal death so we have this picture at the end of the chapter of the great and complete destruction of all enemies of Christ the rest of them were killed with a sword that came out of the mouth of the rider on the horse and all the birds gorged themselves on their flesh the picture of a great battle having taken place although no such actual battle did take place but the picture of it having taken place and the absolute destruction that followed it because the Lord
[42:39] Jesus Christ by his coming has put all enemies under his feet well then there again we're presented with yet another very solemn picture concerning Jesus Christ and his kingdom and his kingship over the world concerning the realities of the future that lie before us these things challenge us and challenge us more seriously tonight to take them seriously and to realize that this is the real world that is being described by John described albeit in vision in picture form in prophecy but this and not the fond imaginings of 20th century man this is the real world one day the Lord Jesus Christ will return and he will require an account of everyone and he will bring vengeance upon all those who have opposed him and rejected him but let us be quite clear on this that time has not yet come we do not know when it comes we're given no specific guidance as to when that time is to come but we know this that now is the day of salvation still tonight as this is in our minds and being proclaimed to us tonight is a time of salvation the one who one day will come in vengeance as the lion of the tribe of Judah is now offering himself to all here as the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world the one who was crucified for sinners the one who took the wrath of God upon himself and who did so for all those who would trust in him and he asks us tonight to come to come to him and to receive that great gift of eternal life that begins now and stretches out for all eternity into the glorious new heavens and new earth which we'll go on to read of in the last chapters of the book so he says come and the spirit of God says come and the bride of Christ says come we're told that specifically at the end of revelation the bride of Christ the church every Christian here tonight says to you if you're not a Christian come come and know this glorious one that we know as our friend and savior the one who is mighty to save let us pray our loving heavenly father we do thank you for the most serious warnings that you give us in your word we thank you that you do not hide things from us that we need to know although they may not be very appealing to us at first sight you warn us concerning the dangers even as a parent warns his child concerning the dangers of fire the dangers of water you warn us concerning these things and Lord none of us can say that your warnings in any way have been frivolous or light that they did not give us a true picture of the awesomeness of the judgment of God against sin and the glory and majesty of the person of Christ we thank you that you are faithful and true revealing yourself as you really are and revealing the future as it really will be we pray gracious Lord
[46:39] that you would use those words of scripture to come home to our hearts and minds and to bring home to us the great eternal reality of two places and two ways and that you say to us choose life Lord accept us through Jesus Christ and pardon our sins and cause us to know his life and his strength and his happiness and his joy now and forever to thought happen and to reality and