Sermon Tone Analysis

One question that a lot of people ask about the book of Revelation is, Where does this book talk about what’s happening in the world today?

The answer to this has three parts.

First, the section of Revelation that specifically deals with the contemporary scene is relatively short.

It consists of chapter 19 and the first six verses of chapter 20.

If you want to know what God is doing in the world today, this is where you should look.

Second, although the first eighteen chapters narrate events of the first century, they also give us the principles by which Jesus Christ governs the world and his church in all ages.

The letters to the seven churches in chapters 2 and 3, for example, were written to specific churches of the first century, but, like the other epistles of the New Testament, they still speak to the church today.

C.I. Scoffield was wrong when he limited these letters to specific periods of church history.

And third, even the last few chapters of Revelation, which describe the final judgment and the eternal order, speak to the church today.

In Christ we are already raised up and seated in the heavenly places (Eph.

2:6).

The heavenly inheritance that we will receive when we die or when Christ returns, whichever the case may be, is the consummation of God’s promises to us in Christ, which we have already begun to receive.

The fact that we have been sealed by the Holy Spirit is the beginning of our inheritance (Eph.

1:13–14).

On the other hand, too many Christians want prophecies that are spectacular beyond imagination, but in doing so they overlook the most spectacular promises of all.

They fail to see the greatness of what they already have.

These are the things we want to look at today.

!

The Second Coming?

On the surface, our text seems to be a description of the second coming of Christ.

Christ comes, makes war and defeats his enemies.

And since his coming precedes the millennium (i.e., the thousand years mentioned in Rev. 20:2–3), his coming is assumed to be /premillennial/.

However, there are many good reasons for thinking otherwise.

For one thing, as Jesus ascended into heaven two angels informed his disciples that he would return /in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven/ (Acts 1:11).

What was that manner of his ascent?

Did Jesus ascend into heaven riding a white horse?

No, he was taken up on a cloud (v.

9).

Thus he will return.

In fact, the Bible promises that we will meet Christ in the clouds.

Paul wrote, /For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord/ (I Thess.

4:16–17).

And further, I Corinthians 15:52 says that the second coming will occur /in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye/.

But what we see in Revelation 19 seems to be more of a process of deliberate advancement.

It isn’t very likely, then, that Revela­tion 19 describes the second coming.

Another reason for doubting the common interpretation is the utter absurdity of thinking that Revelation 19 narrates a battle that uses physical weaponry.

The United States probably has the most powerful weapons ever known to man.

But, even so, what could these weapons possibly do against the God who governs the entire universe?

Satan and unregenerate men may be so depraved that they really think victory is theirs, but if they ever stood face to face with Jesus Christ in a life and death struggle, they would crumble like a stale cookie.

No matter how mighty their weapons, mere creatures cannot fight against the almighty, sovereign power of God.

What is really deficient in the premillennial view is an appreciation for the majesty and sovereignty of God.

It assumes that God and Satan are, more or less, on an equal footing in the great cosmic struggle between good and evil.

Some even claim that this world is currently belongs to Satan.

And in their blindness they fail to see that Jesus Christ now reigns, and that Satan is almost irrelevant.

In the first eighteen chapters of Revelation, we have the revelation of Jesus Christ as victor and judge.

He overcame the first two great persecutors of the church: pagan Jews and pagan Rome.

Today’s text explains how he did this.

We learn here that the driving force behind all world history is the sword that comes out of his mouth.

With it he smites the nations (v.

15) and slays those who worship the beast and his image (v.

20).

!

Christ and His Kingdom

The Bible also teaches that the Messiah’s kingdom is an everlasting kingdom.

Isaiah 9:6–7 says, For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder….

Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever.

Ezekiel described the messianic kingdom as a river that at first was only ankle deep, i.e., it was small.

But in time it increased until it was so large that it could not be crossed.

It became a mighty river that provided health and healing to the people (Ezek.

47:1–12).

Likewise, Daniel spoke of four successive kingdoms, after which a fifth one will arise which shall never be destroyed and shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever (Dan.

2:44).

He later identified that as the kingdom of the Son of man.

From these verses and many others we see that, once the kingdom of Jesus Christ begins, it will have no end.

But the question is, When will it begin?

There are dozens of passages in the New Testament that teach that this kingdom has already begun.

John the Baptist preached, /Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand/ (Matt.

3:2).

He meant that it was right there.

Jesus began his preaching ministry with the same message (Matt.

4:17) and later sent out the twelve to preach likewise (Matt.

10:7).

He instructed his followers to seek first the kingdom of God (Matt.

6:33), which assumes that his kingdom was accessible to them.

And when the Pharisees accused him of casting out demons by Beelzebub, he reminded them that his exorcisms, performed by the power of the Spirit, demonstrate that the kingdom of God had already come upon them (Matt.

12:28).

The gospel of Jesus Christ is the /gospel of the kingdom/ (Matt.

24:14).

The book of Acts tells us repeatedly that Paul proclaimed the kingdom of God (Acts 20:25; 28:23, 30–31).

And finally, in Revelation 1:9, John informed his readers that he was already their companion in the kingdom of Jesus Christ.

The kingdom of Christ advances gradually.

As men are converted to Christ, they become citizens of his kingdom.

Jesus compared the kingdom to a mustard seed, which, like Ezekiel’s river, begins very small but eventually grows into a vast tree (Matt.

13:30–31); and to the growth of an ear of corn — first the blade appears, later the head, and finally the full grain (Mark 4:28).

It’s a simple fact that /the kingdom of God cometh not with obser­vation/ (Luke 17:20).

It unfolds according to his schedule, not ours.

!

The King and His Sword

In our text the Messiah exercises his sovereign rule.

He judges, makes war and triumphs over his enemies.

The description of the rider of the white horse makes it abundantly clear that we’re talking about King Jesus.

He’s called Faithful and True (v.

11).

No mere man deserves these names.

He has eyes like flames of fire, a description of Christ that John borrowed from the first two chapters (Rev.

1:14; 2:18).

He has many crowns on his head, thus signifying that he has conquered the nations.

He has a name that no one except himself knows, i.e., it describes one who is beyond human comprehension (v.

12).

His clothes were dipped in blood — no doubt, the blood of his own sacrifice, and he is called the Word of God (v.

13; cf.

John 1:1–4).

He commands a colossal army (v.

14), smites the nations with the sword of his mouth, and rules them with a rod of iron (v.

15).

The name on that John saw on his priestly robe and thigh is /King of kings and Lord of lords/ (v.

16).

No one but Jesus Christ fits this amazing description!

Even the battle shows the majesty and might of the Lord Jesus.

It’s unlike any battle that we can read about in history or watch on television.

For one thing, look at the army.

How many armies go out to battle wearing clean, white clothes and riding white horses (v.

14)?

These did, and they were completely unsoiled by the conflict.

Notice also that there is no mention of them carrying weapons.

They didn’t need any.

Their king had the only weapons that could avail, viz., the sword of his mouth and the rod of iron.

This is probably to highlight the fact that victory is ultimately his.

But it is also immediately obvious that even his weapons were not to be understood literally, since his sword was not in his hand but in his mouth (vv.

15, 21).

It could not cut off people’s heads, but it could cut through their hearts.