Revelation 19, 11 through 16, we're getting close to the end of the book. Still got a ways to go, but we're making good progress. This is on page 18. I saw the heaven opened and behold a white horse and the one who sits on it called faithful and true, both judges and makes war with righteousness. Now his eyes were a flame of fire and on his head were many diadems having names written besides a written name that no one knows except himself. And he was clothed with a robe that had been dipped in blood, and his name is called the Word of God. And the armies in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white clean, followed him on white horses, and out of his mouth goes a sharp two-edged sword, so that with it he may strike the nations, and he himself will shepherd them with a rod of iron. And he himself treads the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty, and he has a name written on his robe and on his thigh king of kings and lord of lords amen father we thank you for your word and it is our desire to not just academically understand it but father to have our hearts conform to it to live it out to glorify you through it and so continue to receive our worship in jesus name amen Have you ever noticed how the Bible keeps asking us to do impossible things, like forgiving people who have horribly hurt you, or loving your enemies, or Commanding us to convert all of the nations of the world. That's basically what the Great Commission is commanding us to do and In Revelation 21 through 22 He calls us to believe that the world will be filled with righteousness filled with believers absolutely transformed in every department Even believing God's amazing promises takes faith. And for some people, it's just impossible. I've had people tell me, I mean, I just read the scripture to them. I can't believe that. Can't believe that. It's gotta be metaphorical. It can't be real. Well, I was encouraged this last week by a man in Mark 9 who begged Jesus to cast the demon out of his child. Jesus said to him, if you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes. Immediately, the father of the child cried out and said with tears, Lord, I believe, help my unbelief. He was committed to believing, but he knew his heart was so prone to unbelief that he said, Lord, I believe, help my unbelief. If there's any unbelief there, please help me through that. Perhaps you have felt that way sometimes yourself. If that is the case, then I would say that the book of Revelation is designed to take away unbelief and to really increase our faith. The first words I saw are a clue that a new vision has begun. In fact, verses 11 through 21 form the introduction to the last section of Revelation. You'll remember from the past that Revelation has been divided up into seven large sections, and each of those sections is subdivided into seven sections. But there is an introduction to every one of those seven sections, and the purpose of that introduction is to focus our eyes on Jesus, to encourage our faith that He is totally sufficient for any problems that we may face. And it is certainly true of this introduction. This introduction has two snapshots of what Christ began in AD 70. Verses 11 through 16 show Christ on a white horse victoriously extending his kingdom to the end of the world. And then verses 17 through 21, which we'll look at next week, Lord willing, shows Christ extending his judgments to the end of the world upon nations who refused to submit to his kingship. It shows that We are in for some trouble in America if you take the next verses seriously, but that'll be next time. Now each of those two snapshots show a different side of the coin. They both start in AD 70, but the trajectory of what is started, we're gonna be seeing in both sections, the trajectory of what is started continues off into the indefinite future. As we'll see, converting the world, which is what this is all about, is much different than asking the world to help us with our agendas, which is what too many evangelicals do. Christ made it crystal clear to Pontius Pilate in John chapter 18 that his kingdom does not derive from this world. There is not one iota of Christ's kingdom that is dependent upon the world or anything in this world. On the contrary, it is heaven invading the earth and transforming absolutely everything that is in the earth. It's the reverse. This is the beginning of a grand invasion by the kingdom of heaven and I want us to dig today into the first snapshot. First words say, I saw heaven opened. Heaven must open if we are to receive showers of blessing. This is why we pray regularly, thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. There is an invasion of the kingdom of heaven taking over the kingdoms of man. And what is the first thing that rides through this portal in heaven? It is Jesus riding on a white horse. There's a difference between donkeys and horses. Donkeys were symbols of peace. Stallions were symbols of conquest. Okay, so what is the timing here? This is not the second coming when conquest will have long been finished. The context militates against that and so does Acts 1 verse 11, by the way, where the disciples had just witnessed Jesus going up into heaven, disappearing out of sight in the cloud. And then immediately there's an angel standing by their side explaining what's going on. The angel says, Men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing into heaven? This same Jesus who was taken up from you into heaven will so come in like manner as you saw him go into heaven. He didn't go galloping into heaven, slaying all of his enemies when he ascended. And he's not gonna come galloping on a stallion back from heaven, slaying all of his enemies. His enemies are already conquered at the time of the second coming. Likewise, this begins an invasion. It does not signal the end of the kingdom when Christ hands the kingdom to the father. 1 Corinthians 15 says, Christ will not come back until all enemies are conquered Whereas this spiritual invasion begins his process of conquering. So Adams, Reasoner, Brown, many other commentaries draw numerous contrasts between this passage and the other second coming passages. They are quite different in flavor. This one is clearly rooted in AD 70. And yet Christ is invading planet earth in some significant way on that day. Verse 14 says, and the armies in heaven clothed in fine linen, white, clean, followed him on white horses. These angels are the invasion forces to take over planet Earth. Reasoner says, Christ rides between the first and second advent. After listing 150 revivals from the second century until modern times, Douglas and Eileen Crossman concluded he comes often, see Acts 3, 19 through 20, and the frequency of revivals is increasing. From the time of the Reformation, there has been revival somewhere in the world every generation. Christ rides in conquest. His kingdom progressively advances. And the symbolism of this chapter shows that though this conquering of the world is going to take a lot of time, it's going to be gradual, it will be victorious. And you can see the victory of his kingdom symbolized in many different ways. First, the white horses and the white clothing of Christ and His armies are a symbol of victory. Now it could also symbolize holiness, white representing holiness invading the earth. But, and I think there is some of that probably involved, but Mounts, Beckwith, Thomas, Ladd, F.F. Bruce, Sweet, Bratcher, Leon Morris, Walvoord, Boxall, and many others from absolutely every school of eschatology have documented evidence that white for John here represents victory. So, for example, Coke, who's a historicist, said that Jesus rode on this white horse, quote, as a token of his victory and triumph over his enemies. Whatever is being started here, it will not be a failure. That's what's being symbolized. And commentators point out that what is being started is signified by the fact that the only weapon that's on Jesus's body is the sword that comes out of his mouth. I actually disagree. I think the rod is a kind of a weapon. They point out it's connected totally with shepherding. Yeah, but even shepherds have to whack a few wolves, right? So there are two, but I get their point that the primary weapon is the Word of God that is conquering people spiritually. Now, another way of saying this is that the Great Commission will not be a failure. Christ intends to make every nation of the world into a discipled nation, which means a Christian nation that obeys everything in his word. These are the invasion forces that start that process, which means We are totally dependent upon heaven. We cannot be using carnal weapons in trying to achieve this. That's what the liberals did. They wanted a, you know, a kingdom of God to be established on earth, but they're using carnal weapons, worldly weapons. We cannot do that. We have got to conquer as Christ instructs. So conquering planet Earth must involve spiritual warfare, angelic forces. Second, the many diadems on his head symbolize this victory as well. Now we saw earlier in the book that Satan and the beast had diadems on their heads, right? Satan had seized control from Adam and humanistic rulers have usurped the crown rights of Jesus. They wear diadems, but they don't deserve to wear those diadems. So these diadems on Christ's head symbolize the fact that Jesus is going to wrest, seize, yank those irrigated diadems off of the beast, off of Satan, off of anybody else who might have them, and establish His crown rights. He's already been declared legally King of Kings and Lord of Lords. That is going to actually be lived out. And we'll look more at the diadems in a bit, but they show his victorious sovereignty and kingship. But his names also show the fact that what Jesus begins, he will finish. He does not leave his jobs half-baked. The first title is faithful and true. He is faithful to his promises. He is true to His Word. No matter how unbelievable those promises are, you can bank on those promises. Why? He is faithful and true. For example, when Romans 11, 15 and 2 Corinthians 5, 19 says that Christ's purpose in God was reconciling the world to Himself, no longer imputing their trespasses to them, I believe that will be accomplished. Now people look around them and say, but look at how bad things are around the world. Yeah, we don't look with carnal eyes, we don't look, we look what God's promises say will happen and we believe it because His name is faithful and true. There will be a reconciled world at some time in history and Revelation 20 through 22 describes that reconciled world. When 1 Corinthians 15 says that the second coming cannot happen until all things are placed under Christ's feet, all enemies are defeated, I believe it'll happen. Why? Because His very character is at stake if it does not happen. His name reflects His character. Chilton rightly says of this passage, every aspect of life throughout the world is to be brought unto the Lordship of Jesus Christ. families, individuals, business, science, agriculture, the arts, law, education, economics, psychology, philosophy, and every sphere of human activity. Nothing may be left out. Christ must reign until He has put all enemies under His feet. And some people just have a hard time wrapping their brains around that and believing that it could be that universal. But read through Colossians chapter 1. It says that everything in this universe was made by Jesus and for Jesus and will be reconciled to Jesus. The same things that were made for, by, and for are going to be reconciled to him. And he includes in that list thrones, dominions, principalities, and powers. Now, I choose to believe that He will do that because He is faithful and true. And the Great Commission will not be a failure. Now, His names mentioned in verse 12 also show His victory. It says, Now his eyes were a flame of fire, and on his head were many diadems, having names written, besides a written name that no one knows except himself. Now we've already seen that diadems were symbols of sovereignty and kingship, but in this verse, each diadem has a name of Jesus written on it. Now this means that the names of Jesus in some way exemplify his sovereignty, his rule. And there are various names that showcase how he does, exercises his sovereignty, his justice, his salvation, kindness, wrath, they're all wrapped up in that. And notice that there are names written on each of the many diadems, which logically means Jesus has many names. If there's a name on each diadem, he has many names because there are many diadems. And indeed, when you study the Bible, you will discover that there are over 200 names of Jesus and names and titles of Jesus in the Bible. But even the book of Revelation gives all kinds of names that showcase His victory. For example, Revelation 1.8 says that He is the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. Nothing can exist without His permission, and everything that does exist in some way showcases His glory. Same verse says that Jesus is the Almighty, which means nobody can thwart His will, not Congress, not the Illuminati, not Satan. Nobody can thwart His will. Revelation 5, 5 already identified Him as the Lion of the tribe of Judah. Well, that immediately brings to mind the Old Testament passages that say the Lion of the tribe of Judah is going to bring peace and prosperity to the earth. He's going to have total victory over all things. He has a name. In Revelation 3 verse 21, that is the victorious one. So when you look at the names of Jesus, you realize each one is right on one of the diadems. The diadems stand for his sovereignty and his rule. It gives incredible faith that this is not just theory. This is going to be a reality. His names aren't just sounds that sound nice. His names have meaning that dictate reality. And I think too many eschatologies don't make sense of the names of Jesus. because they divorced the names from true dominion in history. But that phrase indicates another name that no one knows except Himself. Mount says, The most common interpretation is that it is a secret name whose meaning is veiled from all created beings. It expresses the mystery of His person. There will always remain a mystery about Christ that finite minds will never fully grasp. So there's something mysterious that even demons can't figure out about the way in which he advances his kingdom. It's a name that's also on a diadem showing that his sovereignty advances, but it advances in a mysterious way. So just because you're puzzled, you look around you and you wonder, I'm not quite sure what Christ is doing. Don't worry about it. The very fact that that name, that mystery is on a diadem showcases that there is an advancement of his victory. Now, when you understand the Old Testament background, wow, that's when the name really takes on significance. Beal points out that this is an allusion to Isaiah 62, which speaks of an yet unknown name of Christ, And it speaks of a diadem and the name connected with that diadem. And it speaks of the Messiah's bride. So it fits the context. We just talked last week about the marriage supper of the Lamb. And so the reason this allusion to Isaiah 62 is significant is that Isaiah 62 promises total victory over all Christ's enemies in time and history, and that Jesus, it says, will not rest until Zion is established as a praise in the whole world. Amen? I mean, Zion represents the church. Jesus will not rest until that is accomplished. That's the kind of imagery that these symbols are drawing from the Old Testament, and anybody immersed in the Old Testament would immediately connect it. Wow, yeah, yeah, that's cool. That is showcasing the victory of Christ. You can see why many commentators see this whole section as an explication of the triumph of the gospel throughout the world. It's just packed with symbols that show that. Now, another name of Jesus is given in verse 13. And he was clothed with a robe that had been baptized, literally. Here it says dipped. Literally, it's baptized with blood, and his name is called the Word of God. Now, this harks back to the name, Word of God, harks back to the same author's Gospel of John, chapter one, which says, in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him nothing was made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. I mean, if that does not give you confidence in Jesus, I don't know what would. See, according to John chapter 1, not only is Jesus very God of very God, there is nothing in this universe that came into existence that he did not create. Life comes from him. In fact, later he goes on to say, that Jesus, the word, enlightens every man who comes into the world. That means that the pagans who resist Him could not even think if Jesus did not enable them to think. They could not speak if He did not enable them to speak. The very spit that they spit at God, Jesus enables them to have, which means man is not sovereign, Jesus is sovereign. Man is not God, Jesus is God. He is the Almighty. Verse 16 gives yet another name. And he has a name written on his robe, even on his thigh, King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Now, some versions translate the Greek word chi with an and, as if there are two places where the name was written. And that's a possible translation. If that is the meaning, then the name would be written on two places on the robe. But the very nature of a robe is to cover the torso and the legs. That's what a robe does. And so commentators like Mounts and Beal see the Greek word chi as an ep-exegetical chi that can be translated as that is or even. So in other words, it's written on his robe, that is, on the part of the robe where his thigh would be. But either way you translate it, I don't care which way you translate it, Mark Driscoll is dead wrong when he says this was a tattoo on his skin. It was on his robe, okay? A robe does not, the definition of a robe is not even one of those slit, you know, skirts that women sometimes wear. Not here, but you know, some places. No, it's a robe. His thigh would be covered, okay? Now you've probably read Reformed authors who like to use this verse to justify their tattoos. That is so exegetically irresponsible that I think they're gonna be embarrassed at some point. I'm surprised they would do it. It is completely contrary to the Jewish nature of this book. Jews would be absolutely aghast at any tattoos. They would consider it a marring of the image of God in man. Leviticus 19 explicitly forbids any Jews from wearing tattoos. the Old Covenant and whether you treat it as ceremonial or not ceremonial it would be utterly inappropriate in this Jewish book to be saying oh yeah Jesus was wearing a tattoo in violation of Leviticus 19 no that's inconceivable to me Leviticus 19 says you shall not make any cuttings in your flesh for the dead nor tattoo any marks on you I am the Lord now that's the same little paragraph Section that forbids divination, weird shaped shavings of head and beard, like is popular in some circles. You know, you see people with an Apple logo, because they're real Apple fans, you know, just shaved into their head and things like that. Or cutting yourself was forbidden, cutting yourself for pleasure or for punishment, a kind of masochism. So anyway, people see this mixture here and they say, you know, it's probably ceremonial. It's a ceremonial law. But I doubt that it is a ceremonial law because of the reason connected immediately after that prohibition of tattoos. He gives us his reason, I am the Lord. This is the same I am the Lord that punctuates the moral laws all throughout this section. Leviticus 18, 4 through 5. You shall observe my judgments, keep my ordinances to walk in them. I am the Lord your God. You shall therefore keep my statutes and my judgments, which if a man does, he shall live by them. I am the Lord." Verse 6 continues with a prohibition against incest and says, I am the Lord. Verse 21 gives a prohibition of killing babies. I am the Lord. And it goes on to outline Idolatry, I am the Lord, theft, swearing falsely, revering your parents, failing to pity the poor, taking advantage of the disabled, gossip, bearing a grudge, failing to tithe, cutting yourself, tattoos, Sabbath-breaking, occultism, failing to rise before the gray-headed, lack of justice to the stranger, false weights and measures, and then a general commandment to obey all his statutes and commandments, every one of those is followed by I am the Lord. In fact, chapter 18 says, hey, this is the reason that the Gentiles, who were not subject, by the way, to the ceremonial law, why the Gentiles were cast out of the land. They were vomited out because they were not keeping God's laws and statutes. I am the Lord. Well, the same exact thing happens at the end of chapter 19. Not being vomited out of the land, but the same warning that we must keep all of God's statutes. In any case, there's nothing in this verse to contradict that interpretation contra Mark Driscoll. But the expression King of Kings and Lord of Lords is not merely a theoretical term. It appeals to Psalm 72 where eventually all kings will bow down before King Jesus and acknowledge Him to be their Lord. When you read Psalm 72, there is no way you can window that into, you know, just a few days at the end of history. There's a long period of time where nations are serving Him. It's clearly in history. It appeals to Psalm 2, where all kings are commanded to kiss the sun and to submit to his reign. So we're talking about a name which actually prophesies what will happen in history. This is not a theoretical king of kings and lord of lords who has absolutely no kings underneath him and absolutely no lords who are submitting to him. That makes a mockery of the name. Okay? There will come a time when all kings and all lords will acknowledge Jesus. But back to verse 11, it says that Jesus both judges and makes war with righteousness. Oh, that we had courts in America that would judge in righteousness, which biblically, anybody knows, means judging according to the Old Testament law. We don't have that. We have the law of God completely thrown out. Oh, that we had a nation that would war righteously as Jesus wars righteously, but we don't. We've got unbelievable, lawful, lawless, lawless wars being engaged in that many times involve people in murder. It is absolutely wrong. Now, of course, people will criticize Christ, and they say, well, look at the carnage that was going on. They forget about the carnage of abortion. They forget about their own carnage that they are engaging in in our wars. But they look at the carnage that Christ engaged in against Israel and against Rome, and they say, well, that's not just. Let me tell you something. God is the definition of justice, not us. We have got to turn our thinking around. You've got people out there who think murder is just when it comes to an innocent baby. And people out there who completely call evil good and good evil, they don't have a sense of justice. And if our sense of justice has been a little bit corroded, we need to go back to the law of God and say, Lord, make these laws something that I embrace, something that I love. God blessed Jesus and will continue to bless Jesus because He judges and He wars justly, and He cannot bless a nation that judges and wars in an ungodly fashion. He cannot. There is long-term success that will be granted because of how Jesus submits to the Father. Now, another thing we see here is that Christ's judgments on Israel and Rome illustrate that we do not need to wait till the Second Coming for Christ to judge His enemies, as so many eschatologies insist. This judging and warring happened in A.D. 70. You see, where the saints pray for God to judge, as they did in Revelation 6 and Revelation 8 and other places, when the saints are willing to cry out to the throne of God for God to judge, He judges. When the saints cry out for conquest, He gives conquest. Many Messianic prophecies in the Old Testament, like Psalm 72, Psalm 92, Psalm 110, Isaiah 11, Jeremiah 23, many others, speak about the Messiah both judging and warring. And you read those verses and you realize it's going to be a successful judging and warring. This phrase indicates there is victory that is going forward. So Chilton summarizes all of those scriptures that are behind this language in these words. Christ rides forth to do battle in the earth, subduing us to himself, ruling and defending us, restraining and conquering all his and our enemies, as the Westminster Shorter Catechism says, question 26, rendering justice throughout the world according to the law of God in fulfillment of the messianic prophecies. Now verse 12 follows up with the clause, now his eyes were a flame of fire. Mounce says, nothing can be hidden from the penetrating gaze of the Messiah. In other words, he cannot be fooled. He sees through hypocrisy. He is not satisfied with superficial righteousness. This is why Christ even fights against Christian nations. Like, why would He not bless a Christian nation? Why does He allow warfare and death and things to happen in Christian nations? It's because these Christian nations are not unconditional in their surrender to King Jesus. They're not implementing His Word. So His burning eyes are symbols that guarantee victory, full victory. Even in history, nations will not merely pretend to submit. There will be an actual submission of all things to Christ's Lordship. His eyes will see through anything else, and He will not be satisfied with anything else. Isaiah 42, verse 4 promises, He will not fail nor be discouraged till He has established justice in the earth, and the coastlands shall wait for His law. I've already mentioned the diadems on Christ's head, but there's one more quote that I thought was rather insightful that I'll mention now. By the way, when I quote these commentators, I don't necessarily agree with their positions. This guy I'm going to quote, Beal, is an idealist. He's not in our camp, but he's got so many excellent insights in his commentary. But he says this, the undefined multiplicity of diadems shows Christ is the only true cosmic king on a grander scale than the dragon and the beast, whose small number of crowns implies a kingship limited in time. Christ should wear more crowns than any earthly king or kings, since he is the king of kings and lord of lords. And of course, Isaiah 62 promised exactly that, that all of the diadems of all kings would become Christ's. And, you know, another passage talks about them laying their crowns before Him. So the reminder of Isaiah 62 guarantees victory. Well, how does this kingdom victory advance? It does not advance through a literal sword. It does not advance through church programs or politics or any other gift of man to God. It does not advance through deceit or political maneuverings. It advances first and foremost through Christ's invading presence. We see that presence in every verse in this section. Heaven must open for earth to be transformed. The social gospel of liberals only makes matters worse. You know, all of the utopian plans of Marxists and Maoists and all of these others. And all of the Keynesians and all of these different theories. It's just one form of humanism trying to rearrange humanism to form another, hopefully better, but many times worse form of humanism. It all comes under judgment. It is Christ and Christ alone that is the solution to this world's ills. And Christ advances his kingdom through his blood. Verse 13 says, and he was clothed with a robe that had been baptized with blood. Again, that's the literal rendering. Now because of the way even, you know, Pickering's translation, he's a Baptist, so he translates baptism as a dipt. Because of the way various translations have obscured the meaning of the word for baptism, some say dipped, some say sprinkled, it doesn't mean either. I used to think that this verse is talking about Christ's robes being splattered by the blood of His enemies as He executes them. Okay? Now, that also happens. Isaiah 63 verse 3 and other passages like that prophesy this. He's going to be the one who is an executioner. And yes, sometimes His garments get splattered with blood. That's a part of being an executioner. I don't think that's what this is talking about. There are a number of things that made me change my mind and think that this is probably not the blood of his enemies, but the blood of Christ himself. First, the blood is already on his garments before he rides into battle while he's still in heaven. Okay, there's the portal open, he's coming out of heaven, and he's got this blood on his garments. So that would seem to indicate that it's his own blood that conquers. I believe it's a causative blood stain not a resultant bloodstain. In other words, it's His blood that causes something to happen. Second, the Greek word baptized is better fitted to Christ's blood than it is to His enemy's blood. And I think it's likely an allusion to the Mosaic ceremonial law where there's a number of places where the high priest had had to put blood, atoning blood, on his garments. And you think, wow, that would kind of uglify that garment, wouldn't it? But it's just the way God did it. It was atoning blood that was put there. Now, a couple commentators say it may be an allusion to Genesis 49, 11, which prophesies this of Jesus. Binding his donkey to the vine and his donkey's colt to the choice vine, so that would be Palm Sunday, He washed his garments in wine and his clothes in the blood of grapes. And that would be a symbolic reference to his death. But there's plenty of Old Testament background to robes being baptized with blood as a symbol of redemption. Commentators point to all of the previous mentions of blood in this book as they're explicitly connected to Christ, and every one of them is the blood of Christ. Fourth, the only other reference to robes with blood on them in this book is specifically said to be Christ's blood on those robes. It's the garments of the righteous in chapter 7, verse 14. Garments made white by being washed with blood. I know in real life you can't Use blood to make your garments white but in the spiritual realm. Yes, exactly you can Fifth, the tense of the Greek indicates that this is something that happened before with a permanently remaining result. Greek perfect tense indicates a past action with an abiding result. So what it means is he always rides with the same blood on his garments. I think that makes much more sense of his blood than it does of his enemies. Leon Morris said, he is dressed, perfect tense, in a robe dipped Dipped is a bad translation. In a robe dipped, he says perfect tense again, perhaps both indicate permanency in blood. This is surely a reference to Calvary. Christ overcame by shedding his blood. Most recent commentators hold that it is the blood of a defeated foe, but it is more than difficult to hold that John writes of blood without the thought of the blood shed on the cross. In this book he repeatedly makes the point that it is in his capacity as the Lamb as those slain that Christ conquers. He overcame not by shedding the blood of others but by shedding his own. And Yeats and others say the same. So for those five reasons I take this as Christ's blood, not his enemy's blood. And if that's the case, then it reinforces the idea that in this section, Christ is riding forth in redemptive judgments. Now, redemptive judgments doesn't mean everybody gets saved. His blood both condemns the non-elect and it rescues the elect. But again, this shows that a social gospel is not the answer. This is a redemption that Jesus performs. Without the power of His blood, Planet Earth will not be saved. It doesn't matter how much blood utopian Marxists and Maoists might shed, or how many wars are won, man will never get utopia. Okay? Only Christ's blood is sufficient to bring the paradise restored that is promised by God. Now verse 14 says that the kingdom is also advanced through the presence of Christ's angelic armies. And the armies in heaven clothed in fine linen, white, clean, followed him on white horses. Now there is debate on whether that phrase is referring only to angels or only to the saints on earth or saints on earth and heaven or angel saints. There's division of people on that and it is a difficult subject I'm not going to get into. In one sense it really doesn't matter because Even we here on Earth are caught up and are seated with Christ in the heavenlies. Revelation 2 says we have access to that rod of iron. I mean, it could be both and. But if Leon Morris is correct that this is only a reference to God's angels, that's the way I take it, then the focus is upon the spiritual warfare that must happen before planet Earth will become completely converted. But in any case, this is encouraging. Christ's angels, far outnumber Satan's angels, two to one. And this too gives us confidence that the victory is guaranteed. Verse 15 gives another means for the advancement of Christ's kingdom. And out of his mouth goes a sharp two-edged sword so that with it he may strike the nations. Now, in chapter 2, verse 16, exactly the same figure is used when he is punishing the church of Pergamos. He's got this sword, double-edged sword. So commentators point out, okay, it's pretty clear that he's talking about the Bible here, the Scriptures here. How does he conquer the nations? Not through natural law. He conquers the nations through his words, specifically his Bible. the two-edged sword. Mount says, the Word of God. This idea finds expression in Hebrews 4.12. The Word of God is living and active, sharper than any double-edged sword. Well, this image once again shows that Jesus does not use carnal weapons to advance his kingdom. The only weapons Jesus has on his person are the sword of the Bible and the shepherding rod that Psalm 2 talks about. Now, just because he has those does not mean salvation is always the outcome, because both the Word of God and that shepherding rod destroy, right? Read Psalm 2. You see a bunch of people destroyed. Does this Bible destroy some people? Absolutely. Yes, it does. When I read the imprecatory Psalms, I have a faith. that God is going to destroy. He is going to judge people. And Isaiah 55 verse 11 promises that God's Word never returns to God void. It always accomplishes what He intended it to accomplish. So sometimes the Word of God is a saver of death unto death. Sometimes it's a saver of life unto life. But either way, God's victorious. Let me make another application. If Jesus emphasized the Word of God and His conquest, So too should we. Yet too many people exclude the Bible from their conversations in business, science, farming, politics, and the media. And it's an absolute shame that we do so. We are laying down the most powerful weapon imaginable. We are picking up the weapons of the world. And let me tell you something. Demons are a whole lot more competent than use of the weapons of the world than you are. They're a whole lot more competent in using manipulation and politics, and they're going to win that game every time. They've got 6,000 years of experience. Forget about the weapons of the world. We need to be using the weapons of the Word of God, the blood of Christ, spiritual warfare. When we begin to fight like Jesus fought, We might start winning, but we've not been doing that. Until the church fights like Jesus fights with the Bible, the blood, the spiritual warfare, we will not succeed. But verse 15 also mentions the iron rod of Psalm 2. And he himself will shepherd them with a rod of iron. Now, this shepherd's rod, obviously, he says it, is not made of wood. It's made of iron. And as Mounce points out, this makes it, quote, strong and unyielding in its mission, unquote. Now, interestingly, this is the only verb in the entire section that is a future tense, and it's probably a future tense because in AD 70, there weren't any nations around to shepherd yet. But in any case, I should point out that the rod has a dual function. It kills wolves, it guides sheep, so it's already functioning, but his goal is to shepherd the nations as Christian nations. We're talking about sheep here. But Yeats points out that there's gotta be a striking of the nations before they're ready to be shepherded. There's an order in God's plan. Psalm 110, other passages speak of that. So 8070 was a time of judgment. He was smiting nations, but there was something positive that happened at the same time. This is why it's a shepherding rod. What was happening was that multitudes were becoming believers so that nation after nation became Christian until finally the empire of Rome itself became a Roman Empire. We call those redemptive judgments. Both uses of the rod often happen at the same time. But the work of shepherding will continue until all nations obey all words that Christ has spoken. Now that has still not happened. It's progressive. By the way, why don't you turn with me to Revelation Chapter 2, and I'll show you that we have a part in holding that rod of iron that is in Christ's hands. And if you're one of those who hold that the armies of heaven includes the saints on earth, well, this could be proof that you would use that this factors in. We're involved in it. I think it factors in regardless. But Revelation 2, 26 through 27. And as for the one who overcomes, so we have a human responsibility as to the one who overcomes and keeps my works until the end, I will give him authority over the nations. Then he quotes from Psalm 2, and he will shepherd them with a rod of iron They will be smashed like clay pots, and Jesus says, verse 28, just as I received from my Father. So just as the Father gave Jesus authority to use that rod to shepherd the nations, Jesus says, hey, I will let any of you who are willing to be overcomers, I'll let you share in my authority. I'll let you share my rod, my rod of iron. This isn't going to happen if the church remains a passive church. It requires the bold and courageous activities of faith that Hebrews 11 outlines. Well back to Revelation 19, verse 15 uses yet another metaphor. And he himself treads the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty. Now the next section that we'll look at next week really focuses on that winepress. Massive numbers of people that die. Acts 17 verse 20 says that the times of rebellion of the nations in the Old Testament, God overlooked to some degree in Old Testament times, but now commands all men to repent. His judgments and calls to repentance now go worldwide. From 80, 70 and on, nations would no longer get away with rebellion against Jesus. Now, there are people who think that the next section, it's a pretty intense section. They just think that is just so unjust, that's so harsh. But here's what Robert Mount says about that wine press. Any view of God that eliminates judgment and his hatred of sin in the interest of an emasculated doctrine of sentimental affection finds no support in the strong and virile realism of the apocalypse. And I say, Amen. Amen. Throughout this age, Christ has been treading the winepress of His wrath by bringing plagues, famines, wars, pestilences, riots, ethnic cleansings, and unleashing one bitter fruit after another of humanism against other humanists. He allows them to crumble under their own weight until humans begin to realize You know, we ought to love God's law more than we love our own law. That wine press is going to continue to flow with blood. But I'll end with four statements of how extensive this advance of the kingdom is prophesied to be. And on the Lord's prayer, I already mentioned that we pray, thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. So how extensively was God's will being done in heaven? Well, in this passage, it appears, you know, that it's being done pretty well. Heaven had already been cleansed of all demons, and verse 14 indicates the armies of heaven are fully cooperative. They're following Jesus. They're clothed in fine linen, white and clean. So it's an indication that God's will is perfectly being done in heaven. What about earth? Not the case. In AD 70, almost everything was resisting his will except for his tiny remnant of 144,000 who were at that moment in hiding. But Christ's goal was to have heaven invade earth so successfully that eventually we will have an earth that reflects heaven. We should pray that Jesus would conquer our hearts so thoroughly that every day, no matter how difficult the thing is that Christ calls us to, we say, Lord, thy will be done. Thy will be done. We should pray that Christ would conquer this church so thoroughly that it would reflect the impact of heaven. We should pray that Christ would conquer business, agriculture, politics, money, everything. Now verse 15 speaks of his goal of shepherding all nations. That implies that all nations are eventually sheep. In Matthew 25, he's dealing with the second coming. And at the second coming, he's going to be dividing nations that are Christian and nations that are not. Christian nations are sheep nations. Those that are not are goat nations. He couldn't do that in 80-70. There were no Christian nations up to that time. So it just does not fit, Matthew 25, does not fit the 80-70 position. But every commentator agrees that this verse is an allusion to Psalm 2, which commands all kings to kiss the sun lest he be angry and they perish in the way. And those are really the only two alternatives that Christ gives, submit or perish. But how extensive is the trajectory? Well, eventually the nations will submit to His shepherding care. But the last phrase indicates that all the world will one day acknowledge Christ to be their Lord because Jesus will in reality be King of kings and Lord of lords. As Paul worded it, every knee shall bow. As Psalm 72 prophesies, yes, all kings shall fall down before him. All nations shall serve him. His name shall endure forever. His name will continue as long as the sun. and men shall be blessed in Him. All nations shall call Him blessed. And with that psalmist, may we conclude, blessed is the Lord God, the God of Israel, who only does wondrous things. And blessed be His glorious name forever, and let the whole earth be filled with His glory. Amen and amen. Father, we thank You for Your Word. We thank You that it stirs up our faith, We thank you that it rebukes our sloth, that it rebukes those times when we use the worldly weapons instead of the weapons that you have given to us. I thank you for each one here, the unique places that you have placed them in life. Some people are in very difficult situations and circumstances, but I pray, Father, that you would give increased wisdom, increased ability to Give an answer of the hope that lies within them that you would bless this congregation father with the blessings of heaven Father we thank you that that portal in heaven has been opened and that we can petition heaven to increase Those blessings in family in church in our county and our counties around about here and in our nation And Father, we do that. We desire so much to see Christ lifted up, to see your name glorified. And so, Father, we pray that you would be with us. So fill us with your Holy Spirit that out of our innermost being would flow rivers of living water that would bring healing and life and refreshment to those that we come into contact with. I pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.