Sermon Tone Analysis

| *The Glorious Return of Jesus Christ \\ (Revelation 19:11–21)* |

*/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 wine press 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.”/*

*/Then I saw an angel standing in the sun, 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, so 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, and small and great.”/*

*/And I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies assembled to make war against Him who sat on the horse and against His army.

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 worshiped his image; these two were thrown alive into the lake of fire which burns with brimstone.

And the rest were killed with the sword which came from the mouth of Him who sat on the horse, and all the birds were filled with their flesh./**

*(19:11–21)

 

Intro.

A century ago most people believed that history was progressing inexorably toward a man-made utopia.

The Industrial Revolution, the march of scientific discovery, and the increasing pace of social reform seemed to augur nothing but brighter days ahead.

Today, however, two world wars; innumerable regional, civil, and national wars; countless acts of terrorism and senseless violence; and the nearly complete collapse of moral values make such rosy optimism seem quaintly naive.

§       The Bible teaches that things will be wonderfully better, but only after they become unimaginably worse.

§       There is only one solution for the world’s problems: the return of its true King, the Lord Jesus Christ, to establish absolute monarchy and unilateral authority in His earthly kingdom.

§       Only under His rule will there be peace instead of war, justice instead of inequity, and righteousness instead of wickedness.

§       But that glorious event will not occur without fierce opposition from Satan, his demon hordes, and the world of wicked sinners.

§       The Tribulation, the seven-year period immediately before Christ’s return, will see the greatest of all human world empires, headed by the evil genius known as Antichrist.

§       The earth will be infested with demons, those who have been here all along, those cast from heaven with Satan (12:9), and those released from imprisonment during the Tribulation (9:1–10, 14–20).

§       The Tribulation will also be a time of escalating human wickedness, despite the unprecedented outpouring of God’s wrath in the seal, trumpet, and bowl judgments.

Stubbornly hardening their hearts against the truth of the gospel, people even then will obstinately refuse to repent (9:20–21; 16:9, 11).

§       Even the destruction of Antichrist’s magnificent capital city of Babylon (chaps.

17–18) will provoke loud laments, but no repentance.

§       But while chaos and turmoil reigns on earth during the Tribulation, the raptured church will be presented in heaven.

§       The church, the bride of the Lamb, will be eagerly awaiting the marriage supper of the Lamb in the millennial earth (19:7).

§       But before that wonderful celebration can take place, the warrior King must win the final battle.

§       The forces of heaven and hell will meet in the climactic slaughter of human history, the Battle of Armageddon.

At that final holocaust, man’s day will end, all of Christ’s foes will be vanquished, and His kingdom will be established.

§       God’s people throughout redemptive history have eagerly anticipated the return of the Lord Jesus Christ to defeat His foes and set up His kingdom.

§       That will be the time when

a.   the destruction of Satan is completed (Gen.

3:15; Rom.

16:20),

b.  when the true King receives the ruling scepter (Gen.

49:10),

c.   when God will establish the throne of David’s greater Son (2 Sam.

7:13; Isa.

9:7),

d.  when the Son will rule the earth with a rod of iron (Ps.

2:6–9),

e.   when the armies of Gog and Magog will be shattered (Ezek.

38–39),

f.    when the nations will be judged (Joel 3:1–2, 12–14) after their defeat in battle by the returning King (Zech.

14:3–4),

g.  when Jerusalem will be the center of Messiah’s kingdom (Zech.

12:3–9),

h.  when the angels will gather the wicked for judgment (Matt.

13:41–42; 25:41),

i.    when the wicked will face God’s wrath and indignation (Rom.

2:5–9), and

j.    when the Lord Jesus Christ will descend visibly (Rev.

1:7) from heaven in flaming fire, bringing retribution on the persecutors of His people (2 Thess.

1:6–9; cf.

Rev. 6:9–11).

§       The second coming of Jesus Christ is thus the culmination of redemptive history.

a.   Believers of all ages have eagerly anticipated that glorious event (cf.

Isa.

64:1–2).

b.

In fact, the apostle Paul defined Christians as those “who have loved His appearing” (2 Tim.

4:8).

c.

Many believers, however, are enamored by the things of the world and do not love Christ’s appearing as they should.

d.  Certainly the Tribulation believers will have no such problem.

They will be persecuted, hunted outcasts (cf.

13:17), living constantly under the sentence of death (13:15) in an unspeakably vile, demon-infested world.

Christ’s coming will be what they long for and pray for.

§       So important is the second coming of Christ that the Bible lists several compelling reasons why Jesus must return to earth.

a.   First, the numerous promises of God in Scripture, such as those noted above, demand Christ’s return.

b.

Likewise, the promises of Jesus Himself also demand His return (e.g., 3:11; 22:7, 12, 20; Matt.

24:27, 30, 37–44; 25:31; 26:64).

c.

The guarantee of the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of truth (John 14:17; 15:26; 16:13), is another reason that Jesus must return, since He inspired the New Testament writers to write of Christ’s return (cf. 1 Cor.

1:7; Phil.

3:20; Col. 3:4; 1 Thess.

4:16–17; Heb.

9:28; James 5:7–8; 1 Pet.

1:13; 5:4; 1 John 3:2).

d.

If Christ does not return, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit would be guilty of making false promises—which, of course, is impossible, since God is incapable of lying (Num.

23:19; Titus 1:2; Heb.

6:18).

e.   God’s plan for the church also necessitates Christ’s return.

He must take her to heaven to present her in preparation for the marriage supper of the Lamb (19:7–10).

f.    Jesus must also return because of God’s plan for the nations—their judgment (14:14–20; Joel 3:1–2, 12–14; Matt.

25:31–46), and for Israel—the salvation of the remnant of believing Jews (Ezek.

36:25–35; 37:1ff.;

Rom.

11:25–27).

g.  Christ’s humiliation at His first coming, when He was scorned, hated, and despised (Isa.

53:3; Matt.

26:67; 27:27–31), demands His return to display His glory (Matt.

25:31).

h.

Satan’s exaltation is another reason Jesus must return to earth.

The “god of this world” (2 Cor.

4:4; cf.

John 12:31; 14:30; 16:11; 1 John 5:19) will not be permitted to keep his usurped throne (cf.

Luke 4:5–6) forever.

The rightful Heir to earth’s throne must return, defeat the usurper, and take what is rightfully His (cf.

20:1–3, 10).

i.    Finally, the hope and expectation of God’s people demands that Christ return (6:9–10; Titus 2:13; 1 John 3:2–3).

§       The Second Coming must be distinguished from the Rapture of the church prior to the seven-year Tribulation; the differing biblical descriptions of the two events indicate that they are distinct from each other.

a.

At the Rapture, Christ comes for His saints (John 14:3; 1 Thess.

4:16–17); at the Second Coming, He comes with them.

b.

Furthermore, at the Rapture, Christ meets His saints in the air (1 Thess.

4:17) to take them to heaven (John 14:2–3); at the Second Coming, He descends with them from heaven to the earth (Zech.

14:4).

c.

There is not even a hint of judgment in passages describing the Rapture (John 14:1–3; 1 Thess.

4:13–18), but judgment plays a prominent role in the Second Coming (cf.