Why do the heathen rage and the
people imagine a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves
and the rulers take counsel together against the Lord and against
his anointed saying, let us break their bands asunder and cast
away their cords from us. He that sitteth in the heavens
shall laugh. the Lord shall have them in derision. Then shall he speak unto them
in his wrath, and vex them in his sore displeasure. Yet have
I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion. I will declare the decree. The Lord hath said unto me, Thou
art my son, this day have I begotten thee. Ask of me, and I shall
give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost
parts of the earth for thy possession. Thou shalt break them with a
rod of iron. Thou shalt dash them in pieces
like a potter's vessel. Be wise now, therefore, O ye
kings. Be instructed, ye judges of the
earth. Serve the Lord with fear, and
rejoice with trembling. Kiss the son, lest he be angry,
and ye perish from the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are they that put their
trust in him. May God add his blessings to
that portion of his word. Bobby, if you and Wes will come,
we'll receive the evening When Moses saw Pharaoh and his
armies drowned in the Red Sea and the people of God standing
safely upon the shores of deliverance, he sang a song of praise unto
the Lord. And in the beginning of that
song, he said, the Lord is a man of war. How often he proves it. Throughout the history of the
Old Testament, we see our Lord demonstrating the fact that he
is a man of war in the defense and in the salvation of his people. Even in the garden, our Lord
foiled the schemes of the serpent, and out of the fall, he accomplished
his own purpose of grace, promising redemption to the fallen pair
as soon as sin had entered into the world. Then throughout the
history of the nation of Israel, our Savior granted great illustrations
of his redemptive purpose in the deliverance of his chosen
nation from the hands of their enemies time and time again. Then at last Christ came to deliver
his people from sin, Satan, and the curse of the law. And when
he came, the angel declared his name should be called Jesus for
this very purpose, because he shall save or he shall deliver
his people from their sins. The very name Jesus means deliverer. In the wilderness of temptation,
Christ Jesus overcame the tempter's powers as a man when he foiled
Satan's endeavor to cause him then and there to fall down and
worship him. In the garden of Gethsemane,
our Lord again met the accuser and overcame his power. And then
at the appointed hour, the Son of God thoroughly routed the
enemy, spoiled him, and accomplished redemption for us by his death
upon the cross as our substitute. Having obtained eternal redemption
for us, our Lord Jesus Christ took our sins and the prince
of darkness who held us captive for all those years, and he brought
them into everlasting captivity in bondage to himself. He arose
on high. He was enthroned as the king
of glory, and he reigns there now to save his people from their
sins. Let me read a text to you over
in Psalm 68. In this 68th Psalm, we have a
prophecy of the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, the conquest
of his cross and his glorious ascension. Psalm 68 in verse
18, Thou hast ascended on high. Thou hast led captivity captive. Thou hast received gifts for
men. Yea, for the rebellious also
that the Lord God might dwell among them. Blessed be the Lord,
who daily loadeth us with benefits, even the God of our salvation. He that is our God is the God
of salvation. Unto God the Lord belong the
issues from death. He is the sovereign ruler. He
is the sovereign king. By virtue of his resurrection,
by virtue of his accomplished redemption, He is enthroned in
heaven and gives gifts of grace and mercy for his people, ever
accomplishing deliverance for us. Yet, even now, the Lord is
a man of war. He rides forth in majesty, power,
and great glory, conquering and to conquer. Now, I want you to
see this and I want to show it to you in the picture we will
look at in a few minutes. Either by the irresistible power
of his sovereign grace, or by the irresistible power of his
just wrath, King Jesus will defeat all his enemies and calls every
person in the world, every man and woman who's ever been born
of Adam to bow before his sovereign throne. Turn over to Psalm 89. Let's see what the scripture
says. Psalm 89. Everybody must bow to Christ. The Lord God has given him a
name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every
knee should bow, of things in heaven and of things in the earth
and of things under the earth, and that every tongue should
confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the
Father. Now that simply states this fact. Everybody must bow to Christ. Everybody. You will either bow
willingly right now by the power of his grace in this day of grace
as he speaks to you by the gospel, or you will bow as a trembling
rebel before his throne, acknowledging his sovereign rule and dominion
over you and the justice of the execution of his wrath. Here
in Psalm 89, we read beginning at verse 21, with him my hand
shall be established. mine arm also shall strengthen
him. Look at verse 22. The enemy shall
not exact upon him, nor the son of wickedness afflict him. That
is, man will not be able to harm him, man will not be able to
hinder his cause, man will not be able to stand in his way,
and I will beat down his foes before his face and plague them
that hate him. But my faithfulness and my mercy
shall be with him, and in my name shall his horn be exalted. I will set his hand also in the
sea and his right hand in the rivers. Every knee shall bow,
every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of
God our Father. Now we have a picture of this
in our text this evening in Revelation 19 and verse 11. In this passage, John sees heaven
open. not a window in heaven, not a
door in heaven, but heaven itself is standing wide open and the
Lord Jesus Christ comes forth from the throne of glory riding
upon a white charger like a mighty man of war coming forth to conquer
his enemies. Revelation 19 and verse 11, And
I saw heaven open and behold a white horse and he that sat
upon him was called faithful and true. And in righteousness
doth he judge and make war. His eyes were as a flame of fire,
and on his head were many crowns. And he had a name written that
no man knew but he himself. And he was clothed with a vesture
dipped in blood, and his name is called the Word of God. And the armies which were in
heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen,
white and clean. and out of his mouth goeth a
sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nation, and
he shall rule them with a rod of iron, and he treadeth the
winepress of the fierceness and the wrath of Almighty God, and
he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, King
of kings and Lord of lords. May the Spirit of God who revealed
this vision to John give us hearts of understanding that we may
know its meaning tonight. I call your attention to four
things. We'll note them as we go along. First, we're given
a picture of Christ the mighty conqueror in verses 11, 12, and
13. Now this man, John, had seen
the Lord Jesus in his humiliation. He knew him well, so much so
that in intimacy he leaned upon the Savior's breast. He saw our
Lord not only as he walked the shores of Galilee, and as he
walked upon the sea to meet his disciples, and as he ministered
and preached that Sermon on the Mount, but John saw our Lord
in the Garden of Gethsemane. He heard him in his cry of agony
in that garden, crying, my Father, If it be possible, let this cup
pass from me. And he saw the son of God's sweating
blood falling to the ground. John saw our Lord when he was
in Pilate's judgment hall, beaten and scourged beyond recognition.
And John saw him when he hung upon the cursed tree. He heard
his word spoken from the tree. But now he sees Christ not in
humiliation, but in glory, not as a sufferer, but as the captain
of our salvation, the King of kings and the Lord of lords.
And he sees a warfare taking place upon the earth. The seed
of the woman and the seed of the serpent are in stern conflict.
Truth and error are engaged against one another. The kingdom of light
and the kingdom of darkness are at war. And we see this warfare
and sometimes we see it with great concern. We are like the
old man Eli. We tremble for the ark of God. We sometimes wonder whether or
not things are going the way they ought to go. We wonder how
the war will finally issue in the end. But John sees it and
describes it for us in this vision from heaven's viewpoint. And
I want us by the Spirit of God to see it from that viewpoint
as well. It is written here so that we may clearly see things
as they are seen from the vantage point of the throne of the great
king. This is what we see in the passage. We are soldiers enlisted under
the banner of Christ, pledged to the advancement of truth,
sworn to the precious blood of atonement, the glorious doctrines
of the gospel and the honor of Christ. It'll do us good to stand
like John above the mist of this earth and see the warfare from
the point of view of the king who sits upon the throne. Though
the battle must rage in this earth until the Armageddon is
over, there is no cause for fear. The ark of God is safe. It's
always been safe. The ark of God makes advance
as God would have it to make advance. The cause of Christ
is secure. The church of the living God
will overcome her enemies. Truth shall prevail at last. It shall prevail at last. In
order to stir up our hearts to steadfastness and zeal, even
in the thick of the battle. John gives us this vision of
the triumph and glory of Christ, his gospel, and his church. And
the greater part of the vision is taken up with Christ himself,
the mighty conqueror, our captain, our commander, and our king.
Our mighty Savior comes forth, we see in verse 11, riding upon
a white horse. And I saw heaven opened, and
behold, a white horse and he that sat upon it. We've seen
him before in chapter 6. Revelation chapter 6 in verse
2. And I saw and behold a white horse and he that sat on him
had a bow and a crown was given unto him and he went forth conquering
and to conquer. It's the same person riding upon
the white horse. Now obviously the picture is
purely symbolical. The Son of God does not ride
through the air on a horse. I can't imagine anybody thinking
that he does, but some people are so ignorant of divine truth
and spiritual understanding in the scriptures that they assert
the Lord Jesus Christ comes riding literally upon a white stallion. That's not what the text means.
The text is altogether symbolical. And what our Lord is doing here
is describing for us by John a picture of his sovereign authority
and power. He is described as one sitting
upon a white stallion, charging his foes upon a white horse.
Now, what does that mean? The white horse suggests four
things to us. Christ Jesus, first of all, rides
forth upon a white horse as the leader of a great army because
he is highly honored in heaven. The white horse symbolizes the
one of cheapest honor. It symbolizes the one who stands
in the forefront, the one to whom preeminence is given. I
couldn't tell you how many times in reading history and studying
history, I've seen pictures of various commanders. I've seen
pictures of Napoleon, Napoleon leading his armies, riding upon
a white horse. I've seen pictures of Alexander
the Great leading his armies, riding upon a white horse. I've
seen pictures of General Lee leading his armies, riding upon
a white horse. Why? Because these are the men
who stand in the forefront. These are the preeminent ones.
They're the leaders of the army. They're the ones to whom the
honor is given. And our Lord Jesus is that one
to whom God the Father has given the place of highest honor that
he should have the preeminence. He is that one who in the choirs
of heaven's holy angels is given the highest place of preeminence
and honor, and he is that one who is most greatly honored by
all his saints. Unto you, therefore, which believe,
he is precious, he is great, he is honored, and he is honorable. The Lord Jesus Christ is the
one to whom all honor, all preeminence, and all glory is given. This
white horse also represents our Savior's power and His dominion
as our great captain. The horse, even from ancient
times, symbolized power. Turn over to Job chapter 39.
We read this in one of our services in the last couple of weeks,
and I happened to think of it as I was looking at this white
horse and what it symbolizes. It symbolizes power. It symbolizes
dominion. In Job 39, The Lord is speaking
to Job and he asked him to explain things which he couldn't explain.
And in verse 19, he says, Hast thou given the horse his strength? Hast thou clothed his neck with
thunder? Canst thou make him afraid as
a grasshopper? The glory of his nostrils is
terrible. He paweth in the valley and rejoiceth
in his strength. He goeth to meet the armed men.
He mocketh at fear and is not affrighted. Neither turneth he
back from the sword. The quiver rattleth against him,
the glittering spear and the shield. He swalloweth the ground
with fierceness and rage. Neither believeth that it is
the sound of the trumpet. He saith among the trumpets,
Ha, ha! And he smelleth the battle afar
off, the thunder of the captains and the shouting. That's the
horse mighty. strong, valiant, one made for
war, one made for conquering, one made for rushing against
the enemy. And our Lord Jesus riding upon
the white horse demonstrates His power. You remember what
He said, Thou hast given Him power, authority, dominion over
all flesh. The Lord God has placed in His
hands the total rule of the universe that He should give eternal life
unto as many as Thou hast given Him. Thirdly, the white horse
is a symbol of speed and swiftness. Turn back to Zechariah chapter
10, prophecy of Zechariah chapter 10. The word of the Lord runs
swiftly. He only wills it and his gospel
is spread unto the uttermost parts of the earth. Our dear
friend, Brother Ken Wymer is in Africa laboring for the cause
of Christ. preaching the gospel. Brother
Bill Clark is preaching over the radio stations in Africa,
declaring the gospel of God's grace. And sometimes it seems
so futile. Sometimes the effort seems to
be a wasted effort. Men get discouraged. Their hearts
are downcast and they think, what's the use? What's the use?
What's the use? Nobody pays any attention. Oh,
but if he wills it. The gospel shall flourish in
a day. If he wills it, even in this
place, the gospel of his grace shall spread through this part
of the world and men shall hear his voice and bow before his
throne. He has but to will it, Merle.
That's the reason we call on him. Lord God, speak and let
men hear. Speak and cause the word to run
freely throughout this world. The Lord speaks. and he causes
the gospel to spread and his church is made to be as a swift
running horse for the spread of the gospel. Look here in the
book of Zechariah chapter 10 in verse 3. Look at what it says
in the middle of the verse. The Lord of hosts hath visited
his flock, the house of Judah, and hath made them as his goodly
horse in battle. Oh, now that's what I'd like
to be. his goodly horse riding in the thick of the battle to
declare the gospel of his grace that the word of the Lord may
flourish again in this day, in this generation in which we live.
I picture in my mind the Church of God being much like Paul Revere
in the story we have of our revolution. He rides, and he rides through
the streets, and he cries the warning, and he prepares the
people for battle. And we, as the people of God,
are like that Paul Revere, crying in the streets, warning men of
judgment to come. And the Lord God, speaking by
us, declares to me in the way of life, and he proclaims the
gospel of his grace, and he does it by this matter of his church,
preaching the gospel in the world. were made to be his horse upon
which he rides into battle. And then this white horse represents
the certain and sure victory of our mighty Savior. We've read
in Revelation 6 in verse 2, how that he comes forth riding upon
the white stallion, conquering and to conquer. This one who
rides upon the white horse shall indeed prevail over his enemies.
There's no possibility of failure with him. Whenever Mighty captain or general would
come leading his armies back after the battle. That captain
would come riding always upon a stallion, well-groomed and
well-dressed. Riding, waving the palms of victory,
bringing with him those whom he had brought into captivity,
bringing with him the spoils of victory. And our Lord Jesus,
even before the end comes, is pictured as riding with a conquering
majesty upon the white horse because his conquest is sure.
And then as John looked into the heavens, he saw Christ Jesus
not only riding on this white horse as a mighty conqueror,
but he also saw the character of our Lord. It's one thing to
see a mighty conqueror, but it's something else altogether. Something
else altogether blessed to see that conqueror as one who is
altogether good. And that's what John saw. Christ
Jesus is not only vested with power, total sovereignty to rule
over all things, but he's also one who is perfectly good, righteous
and just in his rule. Notice how John describes him.
And he that sat upon him was called faithful and true. I ask you, is it so? Is it so? He's faithful. He's faithful
and He's true. He's faithful to His people,
faithful to Himself, faithful to His covenant, faithful to
His Word. He's always true. No deceit in
Him. He's always true. No craftiness
in Him. He's always true. Nothing hidden
about Him. He's always faithful and true. He's faithful to His Father.
He came in the fullness of time. fulfilling every engagement that
he had sworn himself to as the surety of the covenant. In the
fullness of time, he came into this world made of a woman, made
under the law to redeem them that were under the law, because
he had sworn himself to do it. In the fullness of time, he came
to the cursed tree, and he set his face like a splint to go
up to Jerusalem, determined to suffer for his people, even to
suffer the fullness of the wrath of God, because he had sworn
himself to it. And in the fullness of time,
he shall come again to gather his elect to himself because
he's sworn to do it. He's faithful and he's true as
he has been. He shall forever be. He's Jesus
Christ the same yesterday, today and forever. No, he is faithful
and true to his enemy, to his friends. He's true to his word
of promise. He's true to his word of grace.
Did he promise to pardon all your sin? He's pardoned all our
sins. Did He promise to receive all
who call upon Him? He's received everyone. Did He
promise to supply all our needs? He supplies all our needs. Does
He promise His presence to protect, to deliver, and to comfort us?
Behold, He is always with us. The Lord's at hand, and He's
faithful and true to His enemies. He's sworn to destroy every adversary. He's sworn to overthrow every
foe in the regions of the damned. And you can mark it down as he
has been faithful to the father and faithful to his people. He
will be faithful to execute judgment upon his enemies. His warfare
is carried on in righteousness. Notice the next line. In righteousness
doth he judge and make war. Mr. Spurgeon said Christ's kingdom
needs no deception. the plainest speech and the clearest
truth. These are the weapons of our
warfare. Our Lord Jesus Christ defeated
Satan by bringing in an everlasting righteousness for his people.
He conquers the hearts of men by the gospel of righteousness,
which we declare, and he will judge every creature in perfect
righteousness by my gospel. And then we're told that his
eyes were as a flame of fire. John looked into his eyes, but
I think as he looked into his eyes, he must have glanced away
very quickly because his eyes were the piercing, burning, dazzling,
brilliant eyes of fire, fire of purity, fire of righteousness,
fire of judgment, fire of truth. His eyes were as a flame of fire. so that they pierce even into
the very heart and soul of a man, and he's able to discern the
innermost thoughts of a man, so that he's omniscient and knows
all things about every man, so that he's omniscient and able
to discern the plots and the craftiness even of the foes of
his people, and thereby able to protect and defend them. The
Lord God, our Savior, has eyes of fire to consume those that
oppose him. And he has eyes of fire to melt
even the hearts of his people. Those hard hearts of ours, his
eyes, just one glance of his eyes, melt the heart. You remember
Peter? In his hardness of heart, in his
stubborn rebellion and unbelief, he trembled and denied the Lord.
And then we're told, and Jesus looked at him. He looked at him
and immediately his heart melted like wax before the sun. Those
eyes of purity and righteousness and yet eyes of tenderness, mercy
and full of grace. And then we're told that our
mighty defender is crowned king of the universe and on his head
were many crowns. We'll not look at that again
this evening. I preached on it last week that he has on his
head by the hand of God He's had the crown of creation placed
on him so that he has made the head over all things for the
good of his church, his body. He has placed upon his head the
crown of divine providence so that he rules over all things
for the good of the church, which is his body. He has placed upon
his head the crown of all grace so that he gives eternal life
to whom he will. This then is the character of
our glorious Savior. faithfulness and truth, righteousness,
purity and omniscience, and sovereignty. Now look at this glorious vesture
which he wears. And he was clothed with a vesture
dipped in blood. He was clothed with a vesture
dipped in blood. I love all that Christ is. I
love all his character. I admire all his works. Wes read that Psalm of David
back in the study. David speaks of his wonderful
works. They're all wonderful. Everything I've ever read in
this book that Jesus Christ did, I admire it. Everything I've
seen in my time that Jesus Christ has done, I admire it. Everything
of his hand is a matter of admiration to his people. But oh, I love
above all else the fact that his whole being has been dipped
in blood. Whenever I think about our great
God and King, I love to see him dipped in blood. We think about
the good shepherd. Whenever you think of the shepherd,
get a picture of him. bruised and mangled and wounded
and his face more marred than that of any man so that he looks
more like a beast than a man and he's covered with blood from
head to foot. Is he a prophet? He's a prophet
who is blood-red. Is he a king? He is a king by
right of his crimson blood. Is he a priest? He is a priest
with blood. Is he a friend? He's a friend
who shed his blood to redeem us. Is he an advocate in heaven?
He is an advocate with blood. dripping from his hands before
the throne of the majesty on high, making intercession for
us. Christ Jesus is seen best and
he's seen in his truest glory only when he is seen as the sin
atoning sacrifice of God's elect. This is the greatest thing he
ever did. This is the greatest thing by which we ever behold
him. He laid down his life for us,
his blood. that vesture dipped in blood.
That is his whole being covered with blood. The blood atonement
is the right of Christ to rule. The blood atonement is the power
of Christ to rule. The blood atonement is the very
glory of the Lamb. His blood is our life. He poured
out his life blood that we might have life by his blood. His blood
is the life and power of the gospel we preach. His blood is
his glory. His blood is the beauty by which
our hearts are conquered by him. His blood is the terror by which
he judges his enemies. Oh, let us ever preach the precious
blood, the blood of Jesus Christ. Paul said, I'm determined to
know nothing among you but Jesus Christ and His blood, Jesus Christ
and Him crucified. It's the blood of Christ that
takes away our sin, the blood of Christ that comforts our hearts,
the blood of Christ that gives us peace with God. His blood,
His precious blood, His garment is dipped in blood. And then
John saw one other thing about the Lord Jesus, which he gives
us. He saw his name. We read here
in verse 12, and he had a name written that no man knew, but
he himself. And then John seems to contradict
himself. He says, no man knew the name
except him. And then he says in verse 13,
and his name is called the word of God. But there is no contradiction. John is simply telling us what
our Lord himself had told us before. No man knoweth the Son,
but the Father. We know that Christ is the Word
of God. He is the embodiment and the
revelation of the glorious triune God set before us in human form. He sets before us the mind, the
will, the heart, the nature, and the very glory of God. He's
the Word of God. They try to illustrate what I'm
saying if they can. As such, Merle Hart, I don't
have any idea what's on your mind. Well, I've got a good idea.
I've got some idea what's on your mind, but I can't really
know unless you form a word and speak to me. And even then, the
word cannot fully express what you are. It cannot fully communicate
to me all that's in you. Follow me? And the Lord Jesus
Christ, while He is the full embodiment of the Godhead, yet
we're so puny, so finite, so fickle, so sinful, we can't possibly
comprehend what the Word is. He has a name written, and nobody
knows its fullness but Him. Nobody knows all that's contained
in Him but Him. Nobody knows the fullness of
His being except He Himself. But knowing that He is the Word
of God, We recognize such mysterious majesty and such majestic mystery
in him that we readily acknowledge our ignorance of him. He is that
gift, Paul says, which is unspeakable, unspeakably glorious, and unknowably
glorious. Who understands the mystery of
his person? This one whom we're talking about
is God Almighty. God Almighty, infinite, eternal,
incomprehensible, holy, immutable, sovereign, great, majestic, righteous,
true, wise, holy, everything that you can possibly imagine
about the greatness of God, He is. And yet this person is a
man, just as real a man as you are right now, just that real
a man, a man, a man of flesh and bones, a man with a feeling
of our infirmities, a man sitting upon the throne of heaven. And
in that man dwells all the fullness of the Godhead in a body. All
that God is, all that God is, God whom the heavens cannot contain,
God whom no man can see, all that God is, is in that man,
Jesus Christ. You want to explain that? You
got that figured out yet? If you do, then tell me this,
explain to me the depth of his love. Eternal, unchangeable, unalterable,
always the same. Love without passion. Love without variation. Love
without Any change, whatever. Love eternal. Love without cause. Love without beginning. Love
without end. We can talk about that kind of
love, but Wes, we don't know anything about it. We don't know
anything about it. We just, we kind of wait around
in the side pools. We don't even think about diving
into the depths of his love. Who understands the wonder of
his redemption? God Almighty, in human flesh,
made to be what God most hates. God Almighty, in human flesh,
made to suffer what only God can cause a man to suffer, eternal
wrath. God Almighty, in human flesh,
made to be sin. He who is life, made to die the
death which we could never have died. who understands the treasures
of his grace. Grace, grace, grace. How I love
the sound of his free, sovereign, eternal grace. And I talk about
electing grace and covenant grace and redeeming grace and immutable
grace and justifying grace and calling grace and preserving
grace and sanctifying grace and glorifying grace. And I don't
even know yet the meaning of the word grace. Grace! That's what he is. He has a name
that no man can name, no man can know, no man can understand. Who understands the blessedness
of his peace? The peace of God that passeth
understanding. This is Christ, our mighty conqueror. He is exalted with power and
glory. He's faithful and true, righteous
and pure, sovereign and good. He is the word of God. Oh, may
he graciously conquer your heart by his grace. But then secondly,
in this vision, we see the armies which follow him. Verse four,
I'm sorry, verse 14. And the armies which were in
heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen,
white and clean. These are they which follow the
lamb whithersoever he goeth. The church of God is a mighty
army steadily advancing through this world under the direction
of the Lord Jesus Christ, our mighty conqueror. John calls
our attention here to four things about the church of the living
God whose names are written in heaven. First, the church of
God marches as many armies under one great captain. Though we
are one in Christ, God's church is scattered throughout all this
world, throughout all the ages of time, as many armies. Though at any one time, in any
one place, we appear to be insignificant, few and weak, the church of God
is as many mighty armies. Many mighty armies. In those
days, in the very beginning, when the Lord God raised up a
people for his namesake, his church. There was in the family
of Adam one son who knew God, his name was Abel, and he was
killed. The Lord God raised up one man,
Noah, who knew God, and that man Noah had a generation of
rebels. The Lord God raised up one man
and one family, Abraham, And Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob brought
forth their sons. And the church of God seemed
insignificant and small, but yet it flourished as it made
progress through the world according to God's decree. And then the
time came when the Lord Jesus Christ himself came into this
world. And he gathered around him a few men, fishermen, insignificant
men, men without great learning or great reputation or great
power, great wealth or great influence, just a small band
of fishermen and a few women. There were a number only about
120, even when he died. And then suddenly by the outpouring
of his spirit in the apostolic days, the church of God grew
quickly from 120 to 3000, from 3000 to 10,000 and on. And it
was scattered by persecution. And now. That church is scattered and
has continued to be scattered, multiplied by the scattering
of God's seed to the four corners of the earth. And here's a little
band, and there's a little band, and there's a little band, and
there's a little band. But always the army is marching under one
banner, under one captain, for one cause. And the cause is the
glory of Christ. The banner is the banner of Christ.
And the cause for which we march and the weapons by which we march
is the gospel of Christ. We march as one mighty army,
engaged in one warfare, engaged for this one purpose. All who
follow Christ are mounted also as their leader is mounted upon
white horses. Not only is his church a mighty
army, but his armies are all mounted upon white horses. What
does that mean? Well, it means as he fares, they
fare, for they're all one with him. Alexander the Great was
a mighty, respected leader by his men, because Alexander the
Great always gave his men as good as he had, always. If his
men were hungry, Alexander would not eat. If his men were thirsty,
Alexander would not drink. If his men walked, Alexander
walked. If his men fought, Alexander
fought. That's the kind of captain Christ
is, Joey. We fare just like he fares. Does he ride upon a white
horse? We ride upon a white horse. Is
he honored? We're honored. The white horse
means the same thing here as it did in the other verse. It
is representative of high honor, great power, wonderful speed,
and certain victory. His church then is an army, a
company of armies riding upon white stallions. And all those
who follow Christ are well-armed. And look at what he says about
their armor. And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon
white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean. Pastor, that doesn't look like
much armor. Is that not a sword or a bow or a shield? or a weapon of warfare of any
kind, not even a derringer hidden somewhere in case of emergency. They have nothing with which
they would engage themselves in battle by their own ingenuity
or their own strength. Their only armor is the bright
white righteousness of Jesus Christ himself. It's the very
same thing described up here when he describes the array of
the Lamb's wife. She's arrayed in fine linen,
clean and white. And this is the righteousness
which we have received of Christ Jesus, our Lord. Clothed in fine
linen, white and clean. Christ, our righteousness, is
all our strength. Christ, our righteousness, is
all our defense. Paul raises this when he says,
Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect? Who is
he that condemneth? It is Christ that died. Yea,
rather, that is risen again, who's even at the right hand
of God, who also maketh intercession for us. And he concludes from
that that nothing shall harm us. Christ, our righteousness,
is our only refuge. Christ, our righteousness, is
our only shield. Though we march with Christ through
this world in hostile enemy territory, we are never the ones who do
the battle. Oh, we're engaged in the warfare,
but the battle is not ours, but the Lord's. And those armies
following this mighty conqueror are assured of victory. In Romans
chapter eight, the apostle Paul says, in him, we are more than
conquerors. Until our captain is taken, not
one of his recruits can ever fall on the field of battle.
Until our captain is taken, his church cannot be stopped. Until our captain is taken, the
gates of hell shall not prevail against his church. John Newton
wrote this word of admonition and encouragement to us. Rejoice,
believer in the Lord, who makes your calls his own. The hope
that's built upon his word cannot be overthrown. As surely as he
overcame and triumphed once for you, so surely you that love
his name shall triumph in him too. Now thirdly, I want you
to see the warfare he wages. Verse 15. And out of his mouth
goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nation.
And he shall rule them with a rod of iron. And he treaded the wine
press of the fierceness and wrath of almighty God. What is this
warfare? There cannot be a war without
weapons. And yet, as we look through the ranks of the armies,
there was not a mention of a weapon among them. But now we see the
captain. the one who rides as our mighty
leader, our mighty commander, our mighty conqueror. And he
has a sword, but he has a sword in a strange place. It's a sword
in his mouth, not in his hand. The sword that he has in his
mouth is the great gospel of his free grace, the sword of
the Spirit. I hear people speak, and I know
they don't mean irreverence by it, but they say, let me have
my sword. Oh, no, this isn't your sword,
Wes. This is his sword. It's his word,
and it is a sword, and he's the only one who knows how to handle
it. He's the only one who knows how to handle it. Men get hold
of it, and it's kind of like giving a sword with razor-sharp
edges to Ryan or Chris. Ain't that foolish? If you give
it to them, let me stay away. I don't want to be around them.
They're dangerous with it. They don't know how to handle it.
Men don't know how to handle this sword. It's a sword in the
mouth of Christ himself and it goes forth from his mouth and
by it he does war. What do you mean he does war?
The sword by which our Lord Jesus conquers the hearts of men is
the gospel of his grace. 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, of
joints and marrow, and is the discerner of the thoughts and
intents of the heart. Oh, if the Spirit of God will
take the sword and pierce your heart, you will fall before Him
wounded and slain, and also healed and raised up by His mighty grace. If He does not subdue you with
the sword of the gospel, If he does not subdue you with the
word of his mouth, he still will subdue you and rule over you
with the rod that's in his right hand. It's the rod of his righteous
justice. He will rule you with a rod of
iron, an unbending, unflexible rod of iron, a rod that cannot
be resisted. that will bring you at last down
into hell. And in the end, the King Jesus
Christ, our Lord, will tread his enemies in the winepress
and the fierceness of the wrath of God. Now, one last thing. I want you to see the reason
for this war. Verse 16, And he hath on his
vesture and on his thigh a name written, King of kings and Lord
of lords. Why is this war waged? The Lord
God is determined to make all Christ's enemies his footstool.
He said, set thou at my right hand until I make thy foes thy
footstool. The Lord God said, I've set my
king upon my holy hill of Zion. You're going to bow before him.
You're going to bow before him. He's determined to make all men
bow before Christ, his son. He's determined to make all men
acknowledge that Jesus Christ, the despised Nazarene, is the
King of kings and the Lord of lords by right. And you'll worship
him as such. You'll worship him as such. Turn
over to Isaiah 45, Isaiah 45. This is what our Lord says. Look
unto me and be you saved, verse 22, all the ends of the earth,
for I am God and there is none else. I have sworn by myself
the word has gone out of my mouth in righteousness and shall not
return that unto me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall
swear. Surely shall one say in the Lord
have I righteousness and strength. I take my place there. In the
Lord I have righteousness and strength. How about you? In the
Lord I have all the righteousness God requires and all the strength
for my journey. He is my righteousness and he
is my strength. Even to him shall men come and
all that are incensed against him shall be ashamed. One of
two ways. You'll come before him ashamed
of your rage and hatred of him and bitter repentance and faith.
or you'll come before him in the day of his fierce anger,
in trembling fear and judgment, and you will be ashamed of your
hatred of him. In the Lord shall all the seed
of Israel, all the host of God's elect, all his chosen ones, all
his redeemed ones, they shall all be justified and they shall
all glory because Christ is the mighty conqueror. March on in
confidence. Children of God, march on to
victory, you soldiers of the cross. Our labor is not in vain
in the Lord. Christ, the mighty conqueror,
shall win the day according to God's own eternal purpose. May the Lord bless you to know
Him, to worship Him, and to follow Him in courage and in strength. Amen.