Well, as I was preparing just what to preach on, when I went down there, when I preached to Timo's congregation there, with the help of Ruben, I decided to preach on the glory of God. I wanted to preach on something that is a paradigm changer, I call them. Not just a little topical sermon, self-help something, but some great, grand theme in Scripture. that with all that they're going through, with all the danger, with all the conflict, Tima was telling me how many in the church are just fractured families and divided homes because of the extreme alcohol abuse down there and the extreme poverty. and of course fathers abandoning families to work illegally in the US and then all the things that you can imagine goes on with that. I thought, what can I deliver to these people that sort of acts as a framework through which they can just view their whole life? And of course I don't think we can think of anything greater than the glory of God and so I hadn't preached on Ezekiel one. I think when I first came here to Berean, I preached a lot of Ezekiel one because it was just where I was. Great vision of the glory of God for Ezekiel. So, that's what I preached on down there and I was surprised at how much my soul needed to revisit that great vision of the glory of God. So, this week as I got back into the office and I opened the scriptures, getting ready for Genesis, My heart just wasn't in Genesis. I kept going to visions of Christ that I saw throughout Scripture, not only Ezekiel 1, but in Revelation 4 and Revelation 19, just seeing Christ high and lifted up. And I kind of landed on Revelation 19, and that's where I want to spend our time this morning, in Revelation 19, that is the glory of Christ. It is an absolutely beautiful vision of Christ. It is a bloody and terrifying vision of Christ. So if you're here this morning without Christ, I just wanna warn you that as I'm describing this, I'm not sugarcoating anything, as I'm describing this vision of the glory of Christ, you might be tempted in your mind to think, You know, people really believe this. This is really how Christ is gonna return. All these things are gonna happen. I wanna just remind you of 2 Peter 3, verse three through seven. 2 Peter 3, three through seven, that talks about people who say, hey, since our fathers fell asleep, everything continues as it was from the beginning. You know, I don't really buy all that stuff. I don't think Christ is gonna come crashing through the clouds. And Peter says, I just want to remind you that the very earth that you're standing in has been created by God and will be uncreated by God. The very earth that you're standing in has already been destroyed once by God in a flood. He has no problem doing it again. So don't think just because what is called uniformitarianism, just because the way it happened yesterday is gonna be the way it happens today is gonna be the way it happens tomorrow. Don't think for a second that's how it works. God is going to return. And I think if we look at the prophecies of Scripture, that the Scripture hundreds of years, in some case well over a thousand years before Christ returns, has predicted the location of His birth, that He would be virgin born, the nature of His death, that they would gamble for His garment beneath the cross, all these details have been fulfilled to a T. The Bible has earned its integrity, has earned its reliability. So when we go to a passage like Revelation 19, there's no doubt in our minds exactly what Jesus says will take place, is going to take place. And if we're here with Christ and we believe the Bible is the Word of God, then Revelation 19 is actually a perfect passage to blow the soot of sin out of your mind. Because if you're anything like me, as you go through the routine of life, we become more negligent and we just get into the motions and we become comfortable with the status quo, the subpar Christianity, and then we grapple with Revelation 19, particularly verses 11 through 16, and we see this, again, terrifying yet comforting, it depends what side you're on when Christ returns, and it just tends to have the effect if we allow the Spirit of God to move in us to just recalibrate our life, to hit the restart button, and say, this is the God that we serve, this is the God that's gonna return, and how then should I live my life in light of the reality of His coming? So, Revelation 19 is the second coming of Christ. Before, Christ returns, it's the seven year tribulation period. God will unleash on this earth seven years of judgment. He tells us very clearly there's two primary reasons. One is to avenge the blood of those who have persecuted Israel. Joel chapter 3, 20 and 21 is a good passage for that, where God has promised, and He promised multiple times in the Old Testament, that He will avenge the blood of those who have persecuted Israel, and that's one of the purposes for the seven-year tribulation. The second purpose is to avenge the blood of the saints, those who have persecuted the church. And all of us have probably read Foxe's Book of Martyrs and read a little bit here and there of the great persecution, what's even taking place today in nations, where civil war is breaking out. The mass persecution, God is gonna come, and because he is jealously loyal for his people, he will avenge the blood of his people. You can see that in Revelation 18, 20, and we don't have time to look up all these passages, but we know exactly why God's doing what he's doing. Right before the second coming in Revelation 19 verses 11 through 16, we see three loud shouts of hallelujah. And so that's where we're gonna spend the majority of our time this morning, where John is not actually seeing anything, he's only hearing. There's three segments of hallelujahs that lead up to the second coming. And the reason why this is so dramatic is really what has been happening in chapters 17 and chapters 18. If we had the time, we could look at that, but I'll just summarize it for you. In chapter 18, the great harlot has been destroyed, harlot or prostitute. And chapter 17 tells us exactly who this great harlot is. This is the revived Roman Empire. This is what the apostolic fathers thought when they looked at Revelation chapter 17. This great harlot, this revived Roman Empire is going to have global power, it's going to have international dominion, it's gonna have the allegiance of all the world, It is called a prostitute because of it's the evil, the profuse wickedness that comes from this nation. She pleasures the world a million times over. She makes the world rich in trade and economy and everything, but especially in the evil that is so pervasive in the days right before the second coming of Christ. We are told in chapter 17 that the great harlot is drunk on the blood of the martyrs. She drinks from a chalice, and in that chalice is the blood of the martyrs. She just loves to persecute the church, and everybody loves the fact that the great harlot, this revived Roman Empire, persecutes the church because they are opposed to the glory of God. We don't want anything to do with the glory of God, the glory of Christ, and Roman Empire is against it, so we're with the Roman Empire. And Revelation 18 tells us that this great harlot, Revive Rome, sits on three things. It sits on the beast, which is the Antichrist. In other words, this nation receives all its power, all its authority from the Antichrist, who has wooed the whole world into thinking he is the true Christ, the true Messiah. He's brought about this universal peace, so it looks great. is also sitting upon, or she is sitting upon the waters, and waters, John tells us, represents the nations, the kings, all the world powers, so Rome has power over everything, and sits upon the seven mountains, which represents seven powerful kings that meet out, that execute the will of this revived Roman Empire. But then we're told in Revelation 17 verse 13, if you want to look at that, after you wade through all this deep symbolism of this restored empire and the allegiance of the world and everything is focused, they're consolidating their power, we are told that there is one primary reason why this consolidation of power under the Antichrist, under this revived Roman Empire is taking place. It says in verse 13, That is why power has been solidified. So, in unison, the world can draw a line in the sand and say, we stand against God. You know, right now, people like to say, we kind of sit on the fence, we're not really decided, I'm not against God, you know, I'm just not really into everything the Bible's saying, and people imagine they can sit on the fence. And if you observe the life of Christ, one of the things he did is he forced people to admit where they really stood. When he sent out his disciples two by two, you either accept them and you align with Christ, or you reject them and you align against Christ. So that's what we see in the tribulation period, you know, that moralistic nice neighbor that you have that has that veneer of just looking very kind and very moralistic, but in their heart they are opposed to the things of God. They wouldn't surrender to the gospel in a million years. What the tribulation period does is it forces people to come out. It forces people to say, okay, this is where my heart is, this is where I really stand. And so the consolidation of power is war against the Lamb, against the glory of God, but the verse says, the Lamb will overcome them because He is Lord of lords and King of kings, and those who are with Him are the called and chosen and faithful. And then verse 17, for God has put it in their hearts to execute His purpose by having a common purpose and by giving their kingdom to the beast until the words of God will be fulfilled. God has put it in their heart to stand against the Lamb so that the Lamb can bring them to an end. And that's exactly what happens in chapter 18. In one hour, the Bible says, we don't know if it's a nuclear war or whatever it is, but in one hour, this great harlot is completely destroyed and the world mourns. They mourn because their addictions have been fed by this great nation. And God just wiped it out. And we begin to imagine this a little bit. We can see for as much as we enjoy the freedoms and liberty here in the United States, we can see what comes out of the Hollywood industry and the porn industry and how it just spills over to the rest of the world and the world loves it. And if the United States were wiped off the map for some particular reason, the world would be in mourning. Much of their mourning would be because the sensuality that has been supplied and fed by this country would be no more. But nothing of this degree of Revelation 17 through 18 has ever happened in human history. You've never had one nation that's over the entire world. You've never had one Antichrist who has created peace over the entire world. People taking on the number 666 and all these things. So, it's a time to come. In fact, Apostolic Father Irenaeus writes, John and Daniel have predicted the disillusion and desolation of the Roman Empire, which shall precede the end of the world and the eternal kingdom of God." The Apostolic Fathers recognized that the book of Daniel and the book of Revelation teamed together to get across the point that the days before the second coming of Christ are especially evil, are especially wicked. And even though there's a degree of evil that will be present then that is unparalleled in human history, I think we can all look around us and we can recognize the growing wrath that God has against evil. In the Old Testament, the prophets compared it to a boiling pot. And it's almost there, the lid's still on top, but at some point the lid's gonna burst off and this is gonna pour out, and that's what Revelation 19 is all about. That's about the second coming of Christ. So let's look at chapter 19. John has been seeing color, he's been seeing visions, things have been exploding in his visage, all sorts of graphic imagery, and once you get to chapter 19, it's almost as if God completely wipes away the stage. He doesn't see anything anymore. He only hears. So the stage is blank, he only hears, and he hears the first thing, which is the cry of hallelujah. And it's a hallelujah of divine revenge. Look at verse one. After these things I heard something like a loud voice of a great multitude. Now notice carefully, the voice there is singular. Now there's a great multitude. Revelation 7, 9 says which no man can number. I mean, there are a myriad of people and angels in heaven, but when they shout hallelujah, which means the Lord be praised, you only hear one voice. but it's the voice of countless people. Why is that? Because they cry in absolute unison. There's a unity of heart, there's a perfect timing, and they cry out with this deafening cry, hallelujah, saying, salvation and glory and power belong to our God. Salvation, glory, and power belong to our God. They are so excited about this that they shout it and John hears it. And if I can just digress a little bit and focus on that first word, salvation, and just emphasize for a few minutes that when the Bible says salvation belongs to God, it means that salvation is up to God. It means that salvation belongs entirely to God. Just as God is sovereign in every aspect of life, He's sovereign in every generation of human history, He is sovereign and in control over every molecule, He is equally sovereign over salvation. And this is easily seen in Scripture. Acts 13, 48, when the Gentiles heard this, they began rejoicing and glorifying the word of the Lord, and as many as had been appointed to eternal life, believed. That means, basic grammar that you learn in grade school, those who believed, believed because they were appointed previously to eternal life. And it's amazing how we're comfortable with God being sovereign, but then it gets into salvation, and that's when people start jumping ship. But God is entirely sovereign in salvation. So people look at that and say, well, you know, this is what happened. God looked into the future, he saw what would choose him, and then he chose them based on who he foresaw would choose him. But that's not what this verse is saying. This verse doesn't say, and as many as had believed were then appointed to eternal life. It says those who were appointed to eternal life believed. That's why they believed. Someone said the Bible's not hard to understand, it's just hard to swallow. Some of these passages are clear. We need to let them speak, Romans 9, 12. It was said to her, the older will serve the younger, just as it is written, Jacob have I loved and Esau have I hated. What shall we say then? There is no injustice with God, is there? You're gonna charge God with being unfair? Because all are born dead in their trespasses and sin? Because in Adam we have defied and sinned against God and God in his mercy is going to save countless, without number, people who will throng the courts of heaven and praise God when he doesn't owe it to us to save even a single soul. but yet he will pass over, he will leave many dead in their sins. But will you charge God with injustice? May it never be, for he says to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion, so then it does not depend on the man who wills or the man who runs, but on God who shows mercy. One might say, wait a second, doesn't the Bible say that whosoever will may come? Yeah, and it says more than that. It says absolutely everyone is invited. And then Jesus says in John 6, just remember, no one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him and I will raise him up on the last day. Every man, every woman, every person is invited, is being beckoned by God to come to the throne But because we are dead in our trespasses and sins, because we have in and of ourselves no appetite whatsoever for the things of God, not a single soul will come to him unless what Jesus said comes true. The Father draws him first. That effectual call where God has mercy on that soul enables him to do something that he cannot do because of his sins that he does not want to do because of his sins. And Jesus even illustrated this in a parable. In Luke chapter 14. Jesus talks about a parable of a master, and he sends out this general invitation. Everybody's invited. Everybody can come to this feast. It's going to be great. Just come to this feast, and guess how many people come? Nobody comes. Why would you come? This is a wealthy feast. You get free food, and you get your own dinner gown, and it's going to be great, and nobody shows up. And so what does Jesus do? Luke 14, 23, and the master said to the slave, go into the highways and along the hedges and compel them to come in so that my house will be filled. In other words, I invited everybody, but nobody came. So this second call, this effectual call is compelling. It's not an invitation. I will compel them. I'll chase them down until they enter in. And some of you can testify your salvation was God chasing you down. You didn't ask for it. Suddenly there's this conviction over your sins and suddenly there's this new life that's dawning within you. There's an attraction to the things of God that have never ever been there before. And what's God doing? He's hunting you down. Didn't he do that to Paul who was Saul on the road to Damascus? Didn't he hunt Saul down? Saul, one second before, was dead set on murdering Christians. The next second, he's saying, what do you want me to do, God? I mean, he didn't read a really good gospel tract, get there. This is the power of the gospel. God chased him down. God caused salvation to dawn in his heart. So when we repent from our sins and put our faith in Christ Jesus, and we become a child of God, praise God, but we do it only by the enablement of the Holy Spirit. Why? Because salvation belongs to God. Salvation belongs to God. This is how we should respond to the fact that salvation belongs to God. 2 Thessalonians 2.13, instead of saying, well, that means you can't evangelize, and that means everything's rigged, and that means, you know, this is human beings trying to figure out the mind of God. Just let him speak. And he says in 2 Thessalonians 2.13, But we should always give thanks to God for you, brethren, beloved by the Lord, because God has chosen you from the foundation, or from the beginning for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and faith and truth. It was for this he called you through the gospel, that you may gain the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. So then, brethren, stand firm, hold fast to the traditions which you have been taught, whether by word of mouth or by letter from us. What should it do? The reality that we have been called from the foundation of the world unto this great salvation, that Satan, though he tries as hard as he can to keep us, he cannot, to keep us outside the gospel. What effect does this have on us? We stand firm, we hold to the traditions. Another word for that is doctrines. In a day and age where the word doctrine is almost a dirty word in the church, that's actually our very calling. We hold to the doctrines. And so I think it's totally fitting that the first thing that John hears from heaven is salvation belongs to God. and glory, because he is glorious, and power, which is the exertion of his will. All these things, he's absolutely sovereign, all these things belong to God. Revelation 19.2 continues, because his judgments are true and righteous. That's a quote from Psalm 19.9. The judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether. That means God is absolutely the definition of truth. His word is more certain than the rising of the sun. He is absolute truth. And here we are learning that God has sovereignly decreed that the salvation of his people is going to be upon the rubble of the great harlot, the rubble of this revived Roman Empire. And he says at the end of verse two, and he has avenged the blood of his bondservants on her. That is a direct quote from Deuteronomy 32, 43, which is a promise to the nation Israel, not to the church, to the nation Israel, that God is going to avenge the blood of those who have persecuted Israel. So that's the first hallelujah. It's hallelujah that God has avenged the blood of his bondservants. Heaven has a choir that's singing about the vengeance of God. Now that might seem a little odd to us, because, you know, revenge isn't supposed to be a good thing. Well, when I do revenge and you do revenge, it's not a good thing. But God has said, vengeance is mine, I will repay, saith the Lord. So there is a holy revenge, there is a divine revenge. And this shout of hallelujah is toward that regards. The second hallelujah, is a hallelujah of eternal destruction. Look at verse three. A second time they said hallelujah, her smoke rises up forever and ever. Now this is difficult to stomach. Why are they saying hallelujah? Because there is an eternal destruction that God has already begun to pour down upon the earth. There's a smoke that is rising up forever and ever. They recognize that there is an eternality behind this, an eternality of judgment. You can see hell behind all of this. Very soon in Revelation, we find out that those who have not repented and put their faith in Christ are cast into the lake of fire, and there's an eternality to this. And I don't know about you, but I would never say hallelujah in the face of hell. Only by the Spirit of God. And here we have the host of heaven singing hallelujah. Well, who is singing it? Verse four, the 24 elders and the four living creatures, they fell down and they worshiped God who sits on the throne saying amen, hallelujah. So who's the 24 elders? 12 are from the 12 tribes of Judah, 12 are of the 12 apostles. So you have the church and Israel represented here. Who are these living creatures? Actually, if you go back to Revelation 4, 6 through 8, we're introduced to these four living creatures, but then you can go back even further to Ezekiel 1. You see the same description with slight variation of these four living creatures, and they are weird-looking creatures. They're cherubim. Now, when you think of a cherub, what do you think of? You know, a plump little half-nude child with a bow and arrow. And you look in the Bible, and actually, they're very different. If you were to read Ezekiel 1, you would find out that these cherubim have four faces. They have a face of a man, which represents intelligence. They have a face of a lion, which represents power. The face of an eagle, which represents speed. And the face of a calf, that represents sacrifice. all reflecting aspects of God, and in Ezekiel chapter one, as Ezekiel is depressed because his nation's just been destroyed, and he's moping by the river Kibar, all of a sudden the clouds grow dark, and here's this electrical storm that's headed toward him. He sees flashes of lightning that look like darting torches, and what he's really seeing is the underbelly of God's war machine, God's chariot of wrath. And it gets closer and closer, and that's when he sees these cherubim, these four living creatures that Ezekiel 10 calls cherubim. So we know it's not symbolic, these are real angels. And he looks at them, and they're standing shoulder to shoulder in the face of a square, and in the midst, there's more burning coal. And after a few chapters, that burning coal represents the wrath of God, and it's poured down upon Israel for rebelling against God. So what are these four living creatures doing? They're zealously carrying out the wrath of God against sin. They're preceding the second coming of Christ and they're crying out, they're saying hallelujah because of the destruction of God that he's brought about on the earth. You know, one thing I've noticed about myself, and I'll speak for myself, is sometimes I will see the judgment of God in the Bible, whether it's you know, in Egypt, the slaying of the firstborn, or the Israelites entering the land of Canaan and just wiping everything out as a judgment of God, or when Israel gets judged by Assyria and by Babylon, and you just see the carnage And then you read Revelation 19, you read the battle of Armageddon, and you just see where the birds of prey, and they come and they feast upon the corpses. And in my flesh, I just say to myself, God, that's a lot. That's a lot for me to handle. That just seems extreme. But you know what I notice is that nobody in heaven thinks that. The angels are never saying, whoa, God, that's a bit much. And the saints in heaven that are looking down, they're never saying, it's just a little bit of an overkill, don't you think, God? They're worshiping, they're praising God. You know why that is? Because they live every day in the holy presence of God, and I don't. The Spirit teaches me. but I don't live in the holy place in heaven, and I do not cry, holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts, the whole earth is full of his glory, and I don't see the foundation of the temple trembling, and I don't live in that real, tangible, holy presence of God, because I think if I did, I would never have a problem with any of these passages. I think I would say the punishment fits the crime. Because when you sin against a God who is that righteous, who's that perfect, who's that holy, the ones who get it, the ones who live with God in heaven, they never have a problem with it. So it's more of a reflection of our low view of sin, our deadness to the severity of sin that it is to the severity of God. God is a good God. He's righteous. He only does what is right. And then there's a third hallelujah. So the first is divine revenge, the second is the smoke that goes up forever and ever, and the third is a little more positive. This is the marriage supper of the Lamb. In verse five, and a voice came from the throne saying, praise to our God. So instead of the word hallelujah, you have praise to our God. All you his bondservants, you who fear him, the small and the great. Then I heard something like a voice of a great multitude and like the sound of many waters. There's that shout, that deafening shout again. Like the sound of mighty peals of thunder. I mean, can you imagine this? It's making John's bones rattle to hear hallelujah. They're saying, hallelujah, for the Lord our God the Almighty reigns. Let us rejoice and be glad and give the glory to God. For the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His bride has made herself ready. And it was given to her to clothe herself in fine linen, bright and clean, for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints. Now we know, if you can look at Zechariah 3, and you can see there is a fine white linen that is given that is not connected to our works at all. It's the righteousness of Christ, because we know we cannot earn salvation. The Bible's very clear on that. I cannot make myself worthy of the presence of God by my own good works. But we're also told that after salvation, we are gonna stand before the Lord and give an account of our stewardship on this earth. And we are going to be given clean robes based upon our stewardship. And that's what this is talking about. But what's everybody excited about? Why are they saying hallelujah in this first wave of deafening hallelujahs? What's the excitement in heaven? That finally the marriage supper of the Lamb has come. And everybody in heaven, I mean, they're giddy with excitement. They cannot wait. God's going to have this great table. I have no idea how the mechanics of this are going to work out. You know, a million miles long, this feast table, and all the saints, the whole church is going to be there, and Christ is going to be at the head, and we are going to feast with Him. I mean, haven't you been waiting for that? Don't we say every month at communion, we quote Luke 22, where Jesus says, I will not drink from the fruit of the vine until I drink it with you in my Father's kingdom. I promise, he vows to the church, I won't celebrate communion until I'm doing it again with you. And even in heaven right now, people are waiting. They cannot wait until the marriage supper of the land, and here it is. And everybody's rejoicing in heaven, and I cannot help but think, while there is praise and amazement and joy in heaven, down on earth, all hell is breaking loose. The wrath of God is raining on earth and the joy of God is raining in heaven. If you could not, you could not ask for a clear dichotomy between the profuse blessing and joy that God has for the believer and the severity of damnation that God has for those who are indifferent to the gospel. Everyone in heaven worshiping God. Isaiah 25 9 says, And it will be said in that day, Behold, this is our God whom we have waited for, that he might save us. This is the Lord whom we have waited for. Let us rejoice and be glad in him. Everybody's waiting. I'm waiting. If you're a saint here, you're waiting for that great day. Our faith is going to be sight. We see Christ. We're given a stone with our own secret name, our own relationship with God, and we exist for eternity, ever and ever, and it makes the things of this world so brief, so short, doesn't it? It's just so temporary. Well, after these three waves of hallelujah, the second coming of Christ takes place. It's almost like the environment has to be prepared. We see in verse 11, and I saw. This is the first time in this chapter John sees anything. He's only been hearing. His eardrums have probably burst. But now he's seeing. I saw heaven opened. And all up through in Revelation, doors have been opening, little windows, you know, it's just in this vision, little ways to get into heaven. But all of a sudden, it's as though the whole of heaven yawns open wide. And behold, a white horse. This is not a humble donkey hobbling into Jerusalem that Jesus came in on earth. This is a stallion. And he who sat on it is called faithful and true. Of course he's called faithful and true. You know, it's almost like he who sat on it is called, see, I told you so. Of course, this is what he promised. This is what he's been promising to his people since the beginning of the time. There's gonna come a time where I will return. And here I am. Didn't all my other prophecies come to pass? Why would you doubt this? And here I am. I'm returning. This invasion from the heavens. And in righteousness, he judges and wages war, and his eyes are a flame of fire. That description actually is used a lot of God, Daniel 10.6, Revelation 1.14, Revelation 2.18, that God's eyes are a flame of fire. I mean, imagine looking into somebody's eyes and they're torches. Not only does it express the righteous indignation that God has toward rebellious humanity, but it refers to the fact that God sees right into our very soul. He tells us honestly what is our true state. I was talking with someone this week, and we were just talking about just some difficulties taking place, and I made a passing comment that humanity has a dark heart. And this person got so upset with me, I can't believe you would say that humanity has a dark heart, and I kind of backed off, but I thought of this passage. You know, there's going to come a day where God's flaming eyes peers into the soul of every man and says, yes, you have a dark heart. Yes, you are in need of a savior, whether you think it or not. You've said your whole life, I don't need that crutch of Christianity. You're about to find out very soon, you desperately need a savior. He's gonna peer right into the soul of man. And on his head were many diadems. I love this. A crown is what is earned, if you look it up in the Greek. A crown is earned, a diadem is a right. God doesn't come back because he somehow earned the right to come back. He comes back because it's his right as God to come back and claim the earth. And he has a name written on him which no one knows except himself. Again, I love that. Why do you got to tell us, God, that you have a name that nobody can know? because God's once again reminding us he is a God of mystery. He has humbly disclosed so much of his self to us. He has given up, by and large, secrecy. He's given up his privacy so we can have a relationship with him, but there is so much of God that we will never understand. And he has a name that you just never know. A billion years into eternity, I have no idea what it is, because he's the God of mystery. And he comes back for his own glory. In verse 13, he is clothed with a robe dipped in blood. The robe that Christ is wearing, I mean, he's the general, he's the captain of the army, and if you look at the fringe of his garments, it's dripping in blood. How did it get that way? Isaiah 63, 1-3 says, This one is majestic in his apparel, marching in the greatness of his strength. It is I who speak in righteousness, mighty to save. Why is your apparel red, and your garments like one who treads the winepress? I have trodden the wine trough alone, and from the peoples there was no man with me. I also trod them in my anger, and trampled them in my wrath, and the lifeblood is sprinkled on my garments, and I stained all my raiments. We look at this garment dipped in blood and we realize that God is an experienced warrior. He's been in a few battles before. We can see throughout scriptures he's poured out his wrath. We can't discern history now, but I wouldn't be surprised to find in heaven there are many catastrophes and there are many wars that have taken place that are specifically an act of judgment by God because he is the great warrior. He brings all these things to pass. It was a very sobering truth in all of this. The sobering truth is that the same sword of holiness that saves us and delivers us also judges and condemns. We were reading a couple books when we were driving around in Mexico, and one of the books we were reading was Stephen Charnock's Crucified Christ, or Christ Crucified. And this is what Stephen Charnock said, a Puritan from the early 1600s. He says the greatest, God's greatest mercies upon his church are attended with the greatest plagues upon his enemy. And Stephen Charnock begins to give examples. When God liberated Israel from Egypt, it meant salvation of Israel and the destruction of Egypt. You had the great Passover. I mean, that's like Thanksgiving in Israel. It's a wonderful day. And you have the liberation, the remembrance of the liberation of our sins, but it requires the extermination of leaven, that symbol of sin from the premises. Unless we think that here God is, and it's easy for Him, up on His throne, meeting out judgment on people, we just need to remember the cross. Stephen Charnock says, Christ hath, by suffering on the cross, showed how dreadful sin is, that it could not receive its fatal wound without a wound first in the heart of the Son of God. that Christ himself, when he wants to grant salvation to his people, could not do it. Didn't he say when he was walking on the road to Emmaus, was it not necessary for the Messiah to suffer these things? The only way it could be to appease the wrath of God, if I'm going to save my people from their sins, it requires my own destruction. It requires my death on the cross for the salvation of my people. Verse 13 goes on in Revelation 19, his name is called the Word of God because he's the perfect expression of the mind of the Father. And the armies which are in heaven are clothed in fine linen, white and clean, following him on white horses. You notice how he looked like Christ? He burst from heaven in a white garment and a white horse and all of us, we have the same thing. We've been made, we've been conformed to his image, we look like him. 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." So while there is termination at that point, We have this hint of the millennial kingdom, where some of those nations will be allowed to grow back, and God will show them what it's like when he rules from Jerusalem with a rod of iron over the world. And he treads the winepress of the fierce wrath of God the Almighty. And on his robe, and on his thigh, he has a name written, King of Kings and Lord of Lords. That is a powerful vision of Christ. And that's what I wanted halfway through this week. I want to see you, Christ. I want to see you lifted up. I want to see you in your beauty. I want to see you in your wrath. I want to see things that I can't get my mind around that trouble me. I want to see things that I can rejoice and praise you. And that's Revelation 19. And if we're here with Christ, I mean, we're on his side. He is our God. He is our king, he leads the way, he's going to snatch us up to be with him and live for him eternally. But if you don't know Christ, I mean, think about that. Think about what it is we're rejecting. I can't say it any better than Spurgeon said it, so I'll give him the last word. Spurgeon said, my brother, I entreat you, I entreat you, stop and consider. Do you know what it is you are rejecting this morning? You are rejecting Christ, your only Savior. I cannot bear that you should do this, for a day is coming when you will want a Savior. Deathbeds are stony things without the Lord Jesus Christ. And he talks about all the excuses that unbelievers will give. Well, now is not just a good time in my life, and I gotta clean things up first. And he says, what is a good time? Is it convenient when you're in hell? Now is the day of salvation. We don't even have the next breath guaranteed to us. It is today, it is at this moment, it is in your heart right now where you fall before God and you say, God, you are the King of kings, you are the Lord of lords. I believe Revelation 19 is absolute truth. I believe you're gonna come again and I wanna be with you, not against you on that great day. Heavenly Father, we call upon you this morning, Lord, to to open our eyes, to open our minds to this great vision of Jesus Christ. This needs to be our northern star, our compass, puts everything in perspective in life. Lord, this great day will come to pass. You will be vindicated. You owe no man an explanation. Lord, I pray that your Holy Spirit would move by your grace and by your mercy upon the lost that are present here this morning. Perhaps they know they're lost. Lord, perhaps they don't. Perhaps they're self-deceived. Only your Holy Spirit can open their eyes. Lord, we love you. We pray that you would bless us, that you would go before us, and that everything we do would be done for the glory of Jesus Christ. In your name, amen.