I know you're in a series on
the end, and we see this up on the screen, and the end, of course,
is referring to the end of human history, and the end of the world,
and the end of the way things are right now, and what will
happen next. Thank you so much. What will
happen next as the end comes together? Let's just rehearse
this for a moment. If the Lord was to come tonight,
there'll be the rapture of the church. The Bible says, the Lord
himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, the trumpet of
God and the voice of the archangels. And the dead in Christ shall
rise first. And then we who are alive and
remain shall be caught up to meet the Lord in the air. And
thus we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one
another with these words. And so when the, what is next
on God's calendar, there'll be a trumpet blast. The Lord will
descend from heaven, He will appear in the skies, and everyone
in this room who is a born-again believer, everyone who has repented
of their sins and surrendered their life to the Lord Jesus
Christ will be caught up in a moment in the twinkling of an eye. And
this corruptible will put on incorruptible, and this perishable
will put on imperishable, and just like that we will be face-to-face
with Jesus Christ. And then he'll take us home,
and he's preparing a place for us right now. Jesus said, let
not your hearts be troubled. You believe in God, believe also
in me. In my Father's house are many dwelling places, and if
it were not so, I would have told you. But I go and prepare
a place for you, that where I am, there you may be also. So how
special must heaven be if the Lord has been preparing it for
the last 2,000 years? If He spoke everything into being
in six days, how special must our Father's house be in heaven
that He's taken 2,000 years to prepare for us? And so we will
be caught up, and those who are not believers, true believers,
will be left behind. And that will begin a period
called the tribulation. And I know you talked about that
last Wednesday evening, and the tribulation will be a seven year
period of time that will be hell on earth. It will begin with
all unbelievers. There will be people who will
come to faith in Christ, especially Jews, during the tribulation. But it will be a time when the
seal judgments will be poured out upon this earth and the trumpet
judgments and the bowl judgments. and the Antichrist, and this
whole world will be in a time of great tribulation, such as
the world has never seen before. God has it all wired. God has
a plan. God, from before the foundation
of the world, God has already predetermined and God has prescripted
how everything in history is going to come to its appointed
end. And at the end of the tribulation,
at the end of the seven-year period of time, What we're going
to look at tonight will take place. It's going to be the most
glorious moment in the history of the world, apart from the
death of Jesus Christ upon Calvary's cross. What we're going to look
at tonight is the actual second coming of Christ. And I want
to tell you, if this doesn't light you up, if this doesn't
excite you, then you're hopeless right now, okay? Because this
is going to be the most thrilling moment in the history of the
world when the Lord Jesus Christ will actually touch down on this
earth and He will, we're going to look at it, but He will fight
the battle of Armageddon He will conquer. He will have the devil
cast into hell. He'll have the beast and the
great prophet thrown into the abyss. And after that, He will
begin to rule and reign for a thousand years here upon the earth. Listen,
we're on the winning side. We are on the winning team. And
in the end, it will never be more obvious that Jesus Christ
is a sovereign Lord of heaven and earth, and that you and I
are a part of His winning kingdom. Now, if you have your Bibles,
and I trust that you do, I want you to turn with me. There is
only one passage that we really could lock in on tonight. This
is the greatest passage of all on the second coming. It is Revelation
chapter 19. And I want to read the passage
first. And what we're going to do tonight is we're just going
to examine what this says. Revelation chapter 19, beginning
in verse 11. This is this is the end. This is the end of human history
as we know it. This is the end of the world
as we know it. This is the second coming of
Jesus Christ. Now, I want to begin reading
in verse 11, and I'm going to read through verse 16. If time
permits, we'll look into a few more verses after that. But notice
what this says, beginning in verse 11. John is the writer. John is on the island of Patmos. He's in the middle of the Aegean
Sea, and he's in the Spirit on the Lord's Day, and God is giving
him a vision. God is giving him the revelation
of the future, of the end. And this in verse 11, everything
in human history has led up to this grand climactic moment. So verse 11. And I saw heaven
opened and behold, a white horse and he who sat on it is called
faithful and true. And in righteousness, he judges
and wages war. His eyes are a flame of fire,
and on his head are many diadems. And he has a name written on
him which no one knows except himself. He is clothed with a
robe, dipped in blood, and his name is called the Word of God.
And the armies which are in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white
and clean, were following him on white horses. From his mouth
comes a sharp sword, so that with it he may strike down the
nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron. And he treads
the winepress, of the fierce wrath of God the Almighty. And on His robe and on His thigh,
He has a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords. When you think of the Lord Jesus
Christ, this is Jesus as He is. This is not the meek Messiah.
This is not the humble carpenter from Galilee. This is not the
Jesus of the first coming. This is Jesus, sovereign King
of heaven and earth, King of kings and Lord of lords, dominant,
overseeing, ruling, and reigning. This is Jesus as He is and Jesus
as He will come. And what a difference. When Jesus
came the first time, He came in lowly submission. When He
comes again, He will come to conquer and to kill. When He
came the first time, He wore a crown of thorns. When he comes
again, he will have many diadems upon his head. When he came the
first time, he rode a lowly donkey into Jerusalem. When he comes
again, he will be riding a white steed in full gallop, descending
out of heaven and coming down upon this earth as a great conquering
general. When Jesus came the first time,
he had tears in his eyes as he looked at Jerusalem. When Jesus
comes again, His eyes will be a flame of fire. He will be on
fire as He will penetrate into every heart. When He came the
first time, He was struck down and nailed to a cross. When He
comes again, He will smite the nations and utterly destroy them. with a rod of iron. This is Jesus
as he is and as he will return. And what a difference from his
first coming to his second coming. Well, let's look at this. Let's
see the end. Let's see the second coming of
Christ. And I want to set before you
several headings that will help us work our way through this
passage. I want you to note first Jesus's
appearing. I want you to see his appearing
as he will burst onto the scene of human history. This will be
the darkest hour of human history. The whole world is ready to explode
and to go up into smoke. The whole world will be gathered
together to fight the battle of Armageddon in the Middle East. And at this climactic moment,
as armies are pouring into the Middle East to the valley of
Megiddo, when Napoleon saw this battlefield, he said, it is the
greatest battlefield on planet Earth. It is just north of Jerusalem. And there the armies of the world
will gather and they will try to annihilate the nation Israel. Not a far stretch from what is
going on in the world right now. You and I may be living in that
last generation upon the earth, that last generation that will
be alive when Jesus Christ returns. And right now, God is moving
the nations, and He is putting them on the chessboard of this
world, and He is putting everything and everyone in their right place.
And at the appointed time, Jesus will burst onto the scene, and
He will appear. And notice what we see. Verse
11, And I saw heaven opened. At this point, the world will
be in total darkness. Literally the sun will be turned
to black. It will be pitch black, dark
throughout the whole world. And this door will open. On the
other side of the door is heaven. Heaven is full of the glory of
God. Heaven is full of the bright, shining light of the glorious
presence of God himself upon his throne. And when this door
opens, there will be a bright, shining light that will come
pouring out of heaven and will light up the universe. This door
is opened not to let John in, but for Jesus to come out. And so I saw heaven opened, and
behold, a white horse." This plays off of the conquering generals
of Rome, when in the first century, when generals would amass thousands
of soldiers in chariots and they would go to the extremities of
the Roman Empire. They would subdue and they would
conquer nations and they would capture all the booty and they
would string up their captives on chains behind their chariots
and they would return back to Rome and there would be this
glorious victory parade and the conquering general would ride
on a white horse. And everyone would turn out.
And on this white horse, he would proceed down the center street
of Rome and make his way to Caesar's headquarters. And he would, on
this white horse, was clearly known as the conqueror, the general. And behind him would come his
armies, and then behind his armies would be his subdued enemies. As John sees this vision of the
return of Jesus Christ, he sees Jesus coming, not on a lowly
donkey. not in a posture of humility
or submission, he sees Jesus on a white horse as a triumphant
general and as a conquering king who is coming down from heaven
to this earth to do business with every unbeliever. Now, notice Behold a white horse,
and he who sat on it," you know who this is, it is none other
than the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. He who sat on it is called, note
these two words, faithful and true. He is faithful to all of
his promises and his word. The entire Bible says that Jesus
is coming at the end of the age. And Jesus here comes now faithful
to the word of God, faithful to every prophecy, faithful to
every warning that is issued in Scripture that men must repent
and turn in faith to Jesus Christ, Jesus has now come to back it
all up. He is faithful and He is true,
meaning He is the real, genuine, authentic Messiah. There have
been imposters. There have been counterfeit messiahs
who have appeared on the human scene and who have tried to control
the world. There have been the Hitlers and
the Napoleons. There have been the Caesars who
have, in their little moment in time, have tried to put their
arms around the globe and to control everything, and none
of them have ever succeeded. But when Jesus comes back, he
is the true King of kings and the true Lord of lords, and he
will come back and he will establish control over everyone and everything. He is faithful and true. Now,
notice at the end of verse 11, and in righteousness, he judges
and wages war. He's not coming back to a picnic.
When Jesus comes back, he is coming to wage war. This will be the just war of
all just wars. He has every reason to rage war
against this world because this world has spit in His face. This
world has turned away from His Word. This world has rejected
the gospel of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. This world has
blasphemed Christ. and curse the name of Christ. This world has used the name
of Jesus Christ as an unclean thing. And when Jesus comes back,
He is coming back to wage war and to utterly destroy and to
kill with and to slaughter the entire world of unbelievers. And there will be no time to
repent. There will be no opportunity
to get right with Him. Sinners have had their day and
their hour and their opportunity as peace has been offered to
them. But in this day, when He returns,
He is coming not to save. He is coming not to forgive.
He is coming not to offer mercy. He is coming on a holy mission
to wage war and to slit the throats of every unbeliever and to cast
them down into hell forever. And it is absolutely right. In
fact, it is long overdue. And in the fullness of time,
he is coming back filled with righteous indignation and filled
with holy anger filled with wrath and fury and vengeance. Vengeance
is mine, says the Lord. I will repay. That day is coming. You mark it down. God has said
it in his word. It will come to pass. This is
Jesus is appearing. Now I want you to note second.
Not only is appearing. Please note His authority. Verse
12 speaks of His sovereignty, speaks of His supreme authority. As the Lord Jesus comes back,
please note in verse 12, His eyes are a flame of fire. His eyes are like lasers that
are coming out of the sockets. He sees with x-ray vision. His
eyes are on fire and cuts through every facade, sees through every
wall, sees into every heart. sees and knows perfectly every
mind and every soul. He sees the truth exactly as
it is in every life and nothing escapes his notice as he sees
into the very depths and the souls of everyone in this world. Hebrews 4 and verse 13 says,
and there is no creature hidden from his sight. But all things
are open and laid bare to the eyes of him with whom we have
to do." Now, notice next in verse 12. This is an extraordinary. This is mind-boggling. This is
as big as it gets. And on his head, there are many. many diadems. Diadems are just stacked up on
his head. There's a difference between
a crown that you and I will receive in heaven and a diadem. You and I will receive crowns
and the crowns that we will receive will be like the gold medal That
they give in the Olympic Games. It will be a recognition that
we ran the race well. And we will be given a crown
as soon as we have this crown, we'll cast it back at his feet.
But Jesus has no such mere crown. He has no gold medal. He has a diadem. A diadem is
what sits on the head of the king when the king is seated
upon his throne. A diadem represents sovereignty
and authority. The one who has the diadem, every
knee bows. Everyone does his bidding. He
but speaks and it is done. He has many. Many. It's unlimited sovereignty. He has so much power and so much
authority. That every molecule in the universe
obeys his command. Many diadems. And notice what
it says next at the bottom at the end of verse 12. And he has
a name written on him. which no one knows except himself. You know what this means? He
is so sovereign. He is so in control. He is so
supreme. that none of us in this room
tonight and no one around the world can even begin to imagine
nor comprehend how totally, absolutely, entirely, completely sovereign
that he is. He alone can even begin to comprehend
how sovereign he is. No matter how in control you
think of Christ at this moment, it is inconceivable to our minds
the infinite, absolute, unlimited sovereignty of the Lord Jesus
Christ. He has a name regarding His sovereignty
that no one even knows. No matter how sovereign you think
of Christ, It it pales into insignificance. Compared to the totality and
the reality. Of how in control he is, he is
causing all things to work together for good. The very hairs of our
head are numbered. There is not a sparrow that falls
apart from the Lord. The casting of the lot into the
lap, it's every turning up is from the Lord. The heart of the
king is in the hand of the Lord. As rivers of water, he channels
it whichever way he wills. The eternal destiny of every
man and every woman lies in his hands. He has authority to save,
he has authority to damn. He has authority to consign to
hell. He has authority to forgive.
And to lift up to heaven. Every eternal destiny in this
room tonight. Is marked. And determined. By this one who has many diadems. You must know him if you're to
go to heaven. If you do not know this Christ.
You will be damned forever in the bowels of hell. Throughout
all of the ages to come. He is that sovereign. Jesus is
authority. Notice third his attire. Verse 13 notice how he is dressed. Notice how he is attired as he
comes back. He is attired in garments of
war and judgment. And let me say, we make no apology
for this. We glory in this. We rejoice in this. Notice verse
13. He is clothed with a robe dipped
in blood. I want you to know this is not
His blood. His blood was shed 2,000 years
ago. He said it is finished. No more
blood of Christ would be shed. He paid the price for our sins
once and for all at Calvary's cross. This blood is in anticipation
of the blood and the carnage of the battle of Armageddon.
And it is so certain that the blood of his enemies will be
shed. That as he descends from heaven
and as he comes back to this earth, it is so certain it is
so sure their blood is already on his garments. It is irreversible. It is immutable. It is irrevocable. It cannot be changed. He is coming
back to slaughter. Every unbeliever at the Battle
of Armageddon. Notice it says his name is called
Word of God. This refers not to the written
word of God. The word. Word. Means a revelation. Of what cannot
be seen. When I speak words. It is a revelation
of what you cannot see, which is in my mind and in my heart. It is by words. That thoughts
are communicated and made known. Jesus Christ. Is the word of
God. He is the revelation, he is the
disclosure, he is the manifestation of God. What we know of God,
we see perfectly in the Lord Jesus Christ. And as he comes
back, this is the word of which John mentions in John 1 verse
1. In the beginning was the word, and the word was with God, and
the word was God. And the word became flesh and
dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory. Glory is of the only
begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. As Jesus
comes back, he is the revelation of God. He is the revelation
of God's holiness, the revelation of God's righteousness, the revelation
of God's wrath, God's anger, and God's fury upon sinners. Jesus is the personification
perfectly of every attribute of God. He is the image of the
invisible God. Colossians 1 verse 15. And as
he comes back, there is a full disclosure of God in Christ. When Jesus came the first time,
he came as a bondservant. He came as a slave. And there
was a veiling of the glory of God in Christ. But when Jesus
comes back, there is a full disclosure and a total unveiling of the
awesome holiness of God. I want you to note forth in verse
14, I want you to see his armies. In verse 14, we read. and the
armies which are in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean,
were following him on white horses." Who is this army? What is this
army? They are in heaven as Christ
descends through this door that is opened in heaven and comes
back on this white horse. He is leading this army. This
army is following in behind him and they are clothed in fine
linen. They are dressed up. They are
white and clean following him on white horses. We know exactly
who this is. Right across the page in verse
8 of the very same chapter, it was given to her, to the bride
of Christ, to clothe herself in fine linen, bright and clean,
for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints. Who is this army? This army is
the redeemed of the Lord Jesus Christ. These are the saints
of God dressed in white linen. They are on white horses, and
they are coming in behind Christ. In chapter 1, verse 7, when John
records the second coming of Christ, it appears as though
clouds are rolling in the sky as Jesus descends. This is the
appearance of the saints of God dressed in white linen on white
horses following in behind Christ. It looks like clouds upon clouds
upon clouds rolling in the sky. As we, the redeemed of the Lord,
will return with Christ, in conventional warfare, the army goes first
and the general is safe behind. But not in this war, in this
battle, the general is out ahead, Christ is leading this charge,
and we are coming in behind Him, but the battle belongs to the
Lord. Notice verse 14, in armies in
heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, were following
him. One day that will be you and
that will be me. Every one of us who know the
Lord Jesus Christ. We will be in this stampede,
descending down from heaven, bursting upon the scene of this
world. We will be with him and we will
be returning behind him. Now notice verse 15. I want you
to see number five. Not only his attire and not only
his armies and not only his authority and not only his appearing. But
I want you to note in verse 15 his avenging. Because as he comes
back, he comes back not for any negotiations. He comes back not
for any peace talks. He comes back, not for any bargaining. He comes back, and immediately
there will come out of His mouth a sharp, two-edged sword, and
it will be with this sharp, two-edged sword that He will utterly destroy
His armies. I want you to see how powerful
and how holy is the Lord Jesus Christ. Look at verse 15. A sharp sword. This is not the
written Word of God. This sharp sword is not Hebrews
4 verse 12. The Word of God is living and
active and sharper than any two-edged sword. No, this sword is the
sword of judgment. It is the sword of His power
to destroy and to kill and to slay and to shed blood, from
his mouth a sharp sword." Now, note this. With it, he will strike
down the nations. He's going to bring them down.
He's going to cut them down just like a lawnmower would go through
grass and literally just cut it up and spit it out. That's
what Jesus will do when he comes back. There will be no talk.
There will be no second chance. There will be no opportunity
to get it right. That time is long since passed. When he bursts upon the scene,
he is angry. He is full of wrath. He has fury
coming out of his nostrils. He is descending down from heaven,
and He will strike down the nations. He will slaughter the nations.
This world will be a killing field. Turn back for a moment
to chapter 16. I want you to see the battle
of Armageddon. This is no picnic. This is no
light time. In Revelation 16 and verse 12,
we're going to get to verse 16. It is the only place in the Bible
where the term Armageddon is found. This is the battle of
Armageddon. Armageddon is a place on a map. I've stood there. It looks like
one massive football field in every direction. It's as flat
as a ping pong table. And all around it are mountains. All around it are rising hills. And it looks like a football
stadium with rising grandstands. And then out in the middle is
just flatlands. It is huge, as far as the eye
can see in every direction. And it will be into the valley
of Megiddo that the armies of the world will gather. God is
going to put a hook in their jaw, and God is going to bring
them from the north, from the south, from the east, And there
will be a military buildup in the Middle East like the world
has never seen. Hundreds of thousands. Of military presence. Pouring
into the valley of Megiddo. And when Jesus descends out of
heaven. He will annihilate. every one of them and cast them
down into the flames of hell forever. Do you have a picture
of Jesus like this? This is not Jesus meek and mild. Look upon this little child. This is Jesus with fury and righteous
indignation, coming to kill and destroy the world. Look at this. Revelation 16 verse 12. The sixth angel poured out his
bowl on the great river, the Euphrates. This is a real river
that runs Through the middle through this through the Middle
East. It runs right through Iraq. Do you think it's any coincidence
that when you pick up the newspaper tomorrow morning? That we're
still talking about what's going on in Iraq? And what's going
on in Iran? And what's going on in the Middle
East? And what's going on in Egypt? And what's going on in
Israel? There's no reason. Do you know
how big Israel is? Geographically. It's the size
of Dallas Fort Worth. It's just a tiny little spot. And the whole world to this very
moment. continues to revolve around this
little sliver of land. It's about 30 miles this way,
about 70 miles this way. You can just walk it on foot. And all of the nations of the
world are pent up, about to collide Because of nations posturing
themselves around what's going on in this area, do you think
it's any coincidence? That the massive oil fields of
the world. Are right there where the Euphrates
River is. And that the whole world is dependent
upon what is going on around the Euphrates River. Time doesn't permit it. If we
were to read Chapter 17 tonight in Chapter 18 of Revelation,
we would read that the economy of the whole world is dependent
upon what's of a product that's being exported on ships that's
coming out of what was once Babylon is now Iraq. and where Kuwait
is. And that when this product that
is exported goes up in smokes, it will bring the economy of
the entire world into bankruptcy. And it says that all of the merchants
in all of the great cities of the world will begin to weep
And we'll begin to mourn because of what is going on in this little
area in the Middle East. In the end. It's happening before our very
eyes. And whether Jesus comes back tonight or whether Jesus
comes back in a thousand years. It is undeniable. that what we
read as the primary piece of real estate on planet Earth,
God has said it will take place in this very region that we see
about to go up in smoke before our very eyes tonight. Look at
verse 12. Revelation 16, verse 12. This is at the end of the tribulation. The sixth angel poured out his
bowl on the great river, the Euphrates. And its water was
dried up. So the flowing of the river Euphrates
will be dried up. And we say, what's the purpose
in that? Why would the river Euphrates be dried up? Note the
end of verse 12. so that the way would be prepared
for the kings from the east, that there would be a massive
military buildup of kings leading their armies into the Middle
East, to the valley of Megiddo, and to aid their advance into
this area, God will have the river Euphrates dried up so that
they will come from the east. You say, well, what is to the
east? Well, there's Iran, there's Afghanistan, there's India, there's
China. There are the super powers. There's
Korea, North Korea. There is what President Bush
called the evil axis. These nations tonight are building
up their nuclear power and they are organizing themselves for
war. Kissinger, his new book just
came out two weeks ago, entitled On China, and has talked about
the major superpower of the world that the United States cannot
afford to have a confrontation with, the kings of the East in China. Whether that is these kings or
not, we do not know. But it does not stretch our imagination
to have our Bible in one hand and a globe in the other and
the news in the other. And we scratch our heads and
we go. This is exactly like God said
it would be in the end. So look at this. Verse 13, and
I saw coming out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the
mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet,
three unclean spirits like frogs. For they are spirits of demons
performing signs which go out to the kings of the whole world
to gather them together for the war of the great day of God the
Almighty. God will use demon spirits to
go out to the kings of the great nations of the world to arouse
their anger and to provoke their pride and to cause them to advance
into the Middle East and they will come from every different
direction and they will be pouring into this area And at the end
of verse 14, he says, it is to gather for the war of the great
day of God the Almighty. There is coming a battle that
will make World War I, World War II, the Civil War, Gulf War
I, Gulf War II, the Korean War, every war that's ever been fought
in the history of the world, look like a VBS play. compared
to the great day of God's war at the end of the age. That day
is coming. Notice verse 16. And they gathered them together,
the demons inciting the kings to lead their
armies into the Middle East They gathered them together to the
place which in Hebrew is called Har-Magedon, or Armageddon, which
literally means Mount of Megiddo. It is to the north of Jerusalem,
north and west, and there the armies of the world will gather
in the last days. And as they are there by the
hundreds of thousands into the millions, that is when that door
is going to open. And it is that moment when this
horse will come descending out of heaven with many diadems upon
the head of him who sits upon the horse and his garments already
stained with blood, the blood of his enemies. Out of his mouth
comes a sharp two-edged sword. It is the second coming of Jesus
Christ. This is not going to be like
some procession in a wedding. That's just going to be a sweet
little processional of Jesus descending out of the clouds
and Jesus walking down the aisle of history and of this world,
and there's sweet music being played. And everyone is smiling,
and everyone is happy, and Jesus now comes on the scene. No, the
end of the world, the end of history will be Jesus descending
on this white horse, and with this sword coming out of His
mouth, He will literally slit and slay and slaughter those who have opposed Him and
who have rejected His gospel and who have refused God. Notice what it says in verse
15, he will strike down the nations. And he will rule them with a
rod of iron. They will be like little clay
pots. Sitting on a rock. There will
be Russia. There will be Egypt, Libya, Saudi
Arabia, Iraq, Iran, Ethiopia, North Korea, China, Afghanistan,
Pakistan, India, United States, Germany, France. England. Cuba. It will come pouring into
this area if this were to happen anytime soon. And when Jesus
descends. He will destroy them with a rod
of iron like smashing a clay pot until the clay pot is obliterated
into 10,000 pieces, until it's just a little poof of smoke,
of dust. That's what Jesus is going to
do to the nations. of this world. He treads the winepress of the
wrath of God. Have you ever seen a picture
of someone treading a winepress? It would be a large vat, tall,
large. They take grapes. They put the
grapes into this large tub. People pull up their robe or
their skirt. They take off their shoes. The
grapes are laying there in the bottom of the wine press. And the person with their feet. And just smashes all those grapes. until they're pulverized and
all the juice flows. That's what Jesus is going to
do to human bodies. And the blood will begin to flow. And the prophet said, says that
the blood will be so high, it will be as high as the horse's
bridle. It will be a deluge of human
blood that will begin, it'll be like a flash flood. So much
blood because Jesus will tread the winepress of the fierce wrath
of God. This word wrath comes from a
Hebrew word that means heavy breathing. to be so angry and so full of
fury. There is no hesitation on Jesus'
part. He is full of wrath and fury
and vengeance in his second coming. and he will tread the winepress
of the wrath of God and the blood will begin to flow. Notice verse 16. And on his robe and on his thigh,
it's like a sash is across his chest There's a name written on this
sash. On his chest. As he is treading
down. The nations of unbelievers. Who would resist God? Who are
angry with God? Who want to annihilate all the
Christians who want to remove the nation Israel? He has written. King of Kings and Lord of Lords. He is so sovereign that all of
the kings of the world and all of the lords and all of the princes
and all of the judges. Are under his heel. As he exerts
his supreme authority. I want you to note finally, and
we're and we're finished. Chapter 19, verse 17. It becomes even more gory. This
is in our Bible. Then I saw an angel standing
in the sun, verse 17. And he cried out with a loud
voice, saying to all the birds which fly in midheaven, come
assemble for the great supper of God. What will be served at the great
supper of God? What will be the food? What will be presented? What
will be eaten? What will be devoured? Come,
assemble for the great supper of God, so that you, saying this
to the birds, that you may eat the flesh of kings and the flesh
of commanders and the flesh of mighty men and the flesh of horses
and of those who sit on them and the flesh of all men, both
free men and slaves, great and small. This angel will command
these birds to fly out of the midair and they will descend
down. After Jesus has destroyed them,
all of the birds of the air will consume them and pick their carcass
like vultures descending down out of the sky and eat their
eyeballs and eat their skin and eat their brains and eat their
body and drink up their blood. God will utterly use these birds
to wipe them up. Verse 19. And I saw the beast, that's the
Antichrist, and the kings of the earth, those under the sway
of the Antichrist at the end of the tribulation. I saw the
beast and the kings of the earth and their armies assembled to
make war against him who sat on his horse and against his
army. These millions of soldiers pouring
into the valley of Megiddo to fight the battle of Armageddon
against Israel, to annihilate Israel. And when Jesus comes
back, He will destroy them all. That's what verse 19 is saying.
Jesus will have the final say in human history. Verse 20, and
the beast was seized and with him the false prophet who performed
the signs in his presence by which he deceived those who had
received the mark of the beast and those who worshipped his
image. These two, referring to the beast and the false prophet,
were thrown alive into the lake of fire which burns with brimstone. That is hell. They will be thrown
into a Pacific Ocean. A fire. To be burned forever and ever
and ever and ever. Yet they will never be consumed.
Yet they will never have one moment. Of comfort. They will have no relief. They will be on fire and in fire,
drowning in fire, as though they were dropped into
a volcano that is spewing out lava that is on fire. And they will be given a body
by God, adapted for their environment in hell, in which their Sensitivities
to pain will actually be heightened. And they will feel the fire of
hell in every pore of their body. Forever and ever and ever and
ever. And then God will take every
Christ will take every unbeliever. and throw them into the lake
of fire. And there will be the weeping
and the gnashing of teeth as sinners are enraged in anger
against God in hell forever. And Jesus will put the seal on
the top of hell and it will be sealed shut. And no one will
ever escape the flames of the fire of hell forever. And Jesus will not only be in
heaven, but Jesus will be in hell. And Jesus will be inflicting
wrath upon wrath upon wrath in hell forever. You can read Revelation 14, 9,
and 10 when you get home. And it says, sinners in hell
are in the immediate presence of Christ. Jesus is everywhere. And he's even in hell. Inflicting
wrath. Upon wrath forever and ever. Where do you want to be? If you've
ever heard the truth in your life. You've heard it tonight. There's hell. And there's heaven. And hell will be filled with
church members. It'll be filled with good kids.
It will be filled with teenagers who grew up in Christian homes
and who came to church and who brought their Bibles, but who were never born again.
and who never committed their life to Jesus Christ. Hell will be full of people who
just went along with the Christian crowd but never personally surrendered
their life to Jesus Christ and never came to know Him. As we look at this, this begs
this question. Do you know Jesus Christ? If
he were to come back tonight, the Lord himself to send from
heaven with a shout, the trumpet of God, the voice of the archangel,
the dead in Christ shall rise first. Would you be caught up
to meet the Lord in the air? Or would you enter into the great
tribulation? And if you've heard all of this
gospel that you hear in this church and from this ministry,
and you don't know Jesus Christ, and you go into the tribulation,
2 Thessalonians 2 says that God will send you a diluting influence
so that you will not believe the truth. If you're going to be saved,
if you're going to know Christ, You must believe now. Before
the before the end. It will be too late then. I want
to point you back to his first coming. Why did he come the first time?
He came to seek and to save that which is lost. He came not to
be served, but to serve, to give his life a ransom for many. Why
did he come the first time? He came that he might save his
people from their sins. He came that He might go to a
cross and there be lifted up, there to be crucified for sinners,
to bear their sins in His body upon that tree, to become a curse
for us before God, and through the shedding of His blood and
the laying down of His life, to provide the only way of salvation,
which is through faith in Christ alone. That's why He came the
first time. And he now offers himself to everyone who is in
this room. No matter who you are or what
you are, no matter what your past or what your present, he
offers to you forgiveness. He offers to you heaven. He offers
to you eternal life. He offers to you forgiveness
of your sins. And if you refuse that offer,
Hell cannot be hot enough for you. The gospel was offered, you were
urged to come to Christ, but you hardened your heart, you
remained in your sin, and when the end comes, You will be cast
down with the beast and the false prophet and all that would rise
up against God. And so if you've never been saved.
If you've never committed your life to Jesus Christ. This is
not a fiction, this is not. This is not a make believe this
is more real. Than anything that's ever happened
in your life. This day is coming. This is an
hour of grace. It is an hour of salvation. It
is an hour of forgiveness. And if you're to have Christ,
behold, now is the accepted time. Behold, today is the day of salvation. He who hardens his heart, being
often reproved, shall suddenly be cut off in that without remedy.
But Jesus says to everyone in this room tonight, Come unto
me, all you who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give
you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn
of me, for I am meek and lowly in heart. And you shall find
rest for your souls, for my burden is easy and my load is light. Jesus says, if any man thirsts,
let him come unto me and drink. And out of his innermost being
shall flow rivers of living water. Jesus invites you to come to
himself. Jesus calls you to come to himself. He offers to you the forgiveness
of your sins. And if you have never believed
upon Christ, I would urge you. Don't leave here tonight without
Christ. Come up to one of the pastors,
come up to one of the leaders and say, I need to talk to you. About becoming a Christian. The
end is coming. And the end is coming sooner
than any of us have any idea. Prepare. Your soul. To receive Christ. And when Jesus comes back. It's
going to be serious. It's going to be real serious.