Christ's Second Coming: The Glory and the Woe That Follows

The second woe is past; and, behold, the third woe cometh quickly. And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever. And the four and twenty elders, which sat before God on their seats, fell upon their faces, and worshipped God, Saying, We give thee thanks, O Lord God Almighty, which art, and wast, and art to come; because thou hast taken to thee thy great power, and hast reigned. And the nations were angry, and thy wrath is come, and the time of the dead, that they should be judged, and that thou shouldest give reward unto thy servants the prophets, and to the saints, and them that fear thy name, small and great; and shouldest destroy them which destroy the earth. destroy the earth...: Or, corrupt And the temple of God was opened in heaven, and there was seen in his temple the ark of his testament: and there were lightnings, and voices, and thunderings, and an earthquake, and great hail. - Revelation 11:14-19

    'And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever' (Revelation 11:15)

    It is impossible for us to know whether we are living in the times described as the first woe, where false religion engulfs the world (9:1-12), or in those times described as the second woe, when the worship of God appears to disappear from the earth (9:13-21; 11:7-10). It is impossible for us to know, because God does not intend for us to know (Acts 1:7). He simply warns us of what we must expect in this world, so that we will not be surprised when it happens. Believers experience enough of heresy, apostasy, violence, and war in every age to keep them living upon the tiptoe of faith, looking for Christ's glorious second advent, which John describes in the last part of Revelation 11 (vv. 14-19) as the third woe. For the ungodly and unbelieving, Christ's second coming and the judgment that follows it will be a time of great woe. But for Christ and his people, it will be a time of great glory. In these verses, John shows us the significance of the day of judgment as it relates to the triune God, the Lord Jesus Christ, believers, and unbelievers.

    There is a day of judgment coming in which God will judge all men by Christ Jesus (Acts 17:31)

    Everyone will be judged according to exact righteousness and justice. The standard of judgment will be God's holy law, his entire revealed will. We will be judged out of the books of God, in which all our earthly thoughts, words, and deeds are recorded (Heb. 9:27; 2 Cor. 5:10-11; Rev. 20:11-12; Matt. 25:31-46). In that great and terrible day of the Lord, every man shall receive exactly what is due to him. None will be punished who do not deserve to be punished. And none will be received into heaven's bliss and glory who do not deserve it. All who are found guilty of any sin, of any infraction of God's holy law, shall be forever cast into hell. Those who are perfectly holy shall enter into heaven (Ps. 24:3-4; Rev. 21:27; 22:11). The only hope any sinner has of eternal salvation and acceptance with the holy Lord God is that he might be saved through the merits of our almighty, all-sufficient substitute. And the only Substitute there is for guilty sinners is the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God!

    Christ, by his own precious blood, has washed away the sins of his people. They are no longer recorded in the book of God's law and justice against them (Isa. 43:25; 44:22). In that great day when God opens the books, he will find no sins recorded against those for whom Christ died (Jer. 50:20). Their sins were imputed to Christ. He was punished in their stead. By his blood, he fully satisfied the penalty required by God's law for their sins. Christ paid their debt to God's law. Now they have no debt to pay. Moreover, the Lord Jesus Christ is ‘THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS’ (Jer. 23:6). His righteous obedience to God is imputed to all who trust him. In the sight of God's law, according to God's own record books, every believer is perfectly righteous.

    The day of judgment will be a day of great glory, joy, and praise for God's elect

    (vv. 15-17)

    If we are in Christ, united to him by faith, washed in his blood and robed in his righteousness, the day of judgment will not be for us a dreaded day of doom, or even of sorrow, but a day of victory, triumph, and glory. We are to look upon the day of judgment with sobriety, but not with fear. I cannot find a single believer in the Word of God who looked upon that great, final day with dread or fear, not even one! In the Bible, God's saints are described as a people who looked upon the glorious day of the Lord with hope, expectation, and desire (1 Thess. 4:13-18; 2 Thess. 1:7-10; 2 Tim. 1:12; 4:6-8; Titus 2:13; Rev. 1:7). They did so because they trusted the merits of Christ and the promises of God. Today, multitudes who profess to trust Christ, live in fear and dread of that day. Why? There can only be one reason: They expect God to deal with them in that day, not according to the merits of Christ, but according to their own merits.

    The vision John here gives of that great day portrays all the elect, angels and men, gathered around the throne of God. No tears of sorrow are found in their eyes. No punishment is inflicted upon them. No reward is withheld from them. No heads are hanging in shame. No reminder is made of their sins, because Christ put away their sins forever when he died! There is nothing in the picture here given but joy, glory, and exultation among the elect at the bar of God. Nothing but bliss and glory awaits God's saints on the other side of the grave. John describes three things in particular for which elect angels and men give praise to God.

    1. They give praise to God and Christ because it is his right to sovereignly rule over all things, both by creation and by redemption

    This world belongs to Christ, because he is God who created it (John 1:1-3; Matt. 20:15), and because as the God-man Mediator he purchased it (Isa. 53:10-12; Heb. 10:10-14). Jesus Christ is the absolute monarch of the universe (John 17:2). He always does his will in all things.

    2. They praise the triune God for the evident display of Christ's sovereign power and dominion in that day

    When the day of the Lord is fully come, the royal sovereignty of King Jesus will be universally evident. In that day, Christ will assert his royal rights, exert his royal power, and visibly take possession of his universe. Then all opposition to him will be completely abolished. All creation shall see and acknowledge that God has put all things under his feet (Isa. 45:22-25; Phil. 2:9-11).

    3. This elect multitude rejoices, gives thanks, and praises Christ for the fact that his glorious reign shall never end

    ‘He shall reign for ever and ever!’ The rule of Christ shall not continue for a thousand years and then cease, as many suppose. He shall reign for ever! His dominion is an everlasting dominion. When the end comes, Christ the Mediator shall deliver up his kingdom to God the Father. He will present his church before the throne of the triune God in all its glorious perfection and completion. But he shall never relinquish his dominion as our Mediatorial King. In that glorious day, our King shall fully receive the reward of his labor as our Mediator (Ps. 2:7-11; Dan. 7:13-14; Isa. 9:6-7; Luke 1:31-33; 1 Cor. 15:24-28; Eph. 5:25-27; Jude 24-25). ‘None shall ever wrest the sceptre out of his hand’ (Matthew Henry).’He must reign!’

    The day of judgment will be a day of just vengeance upon God's enemies (v. 18)

    Let every rebel be warned! Let every unbeliever tremble! Let every persecutor and abuser of God's elect shake with fear! God will avenge his own elect. Christ will punish his enemies with everlasting destruction. But even the manifest wrath of the Almighty will not change the hearts of sinners. Even in that day, we read that ‘the nations were angry’ with God! Only grace brings repentance (Rom. 2:4). Those who live as rebels and die as rebels shall be rebels forever. And every rebel will get exactly what he deserves from God. The eternal misery of the damned will be a matter of strict justice. And the glorious, eternal reward of the righteous will also be a matter of strict justice (Ps. 11:5-7).

    The day of judgment will be the beginning of perfect, everlasting communion between God and his people (v. 19)

    John sees the sanctuary of God in heaven standing wide open. Even the holy of holies is open and perfectly accessible. Nothing is veiled. Nothing is hidden. The ark of the covenant, so long concealed from men, is now in open view. What does this mean?

    That ark, with its mercy-seat, was the symbol of God's presence and glory in the Old Testament. The fact that it is now open declares that God will forever dwell with his people in intimate, glorious, uninterrupted fellowship (Ex. 25:22). Through the sin-atoning sacrifice of our Lord Jesus Christ, and in his glorious Person, we shall forever be accepted of God. This opening of the temple of God and the appearance of the ark of the covenant means that the covenant of grace, with all its promises and blessings are ours forever in Christ. But for the wicked and unbelieving, it means wrath, banishment, and death. It pours out upon the lost nothing but wrath, flashes of lightening, peals of thunder, quaking, and destructive hail to beat them down into hell forever! Let all who are wise heed the words of God's prophet - ‘prepare to meet thy God!’