Faith Baptist Church
4258 Botetourt Road
Fincastle, Virginia 24090
(540) 473-2325
Matt.24:27-30; 25:31 gives to us the second coming of Jesus Christ. The Church has been in heaven for seven years by this time. The souls that can still repent on earth have had ample time to choose between the false messiah, the Antichrist, or the true Messiah, Jesus Christ.
Please remember, many souls left on earth after the Rapture of the Church will not have the opportunity to choose. They have already either turned down God at their own awareness that there is a Sovereign God of the universe, or they have already turned down the Gospel message, II Thess.2.
The prophecy found in Zeph.3:8; Zech.12:2-9 as well as many other places in the Bible depict Jesus Christ as a warrior Redeemer. For those who think Jesus Christ is a passivist, or a contentious objector; they should read this passage.
So often we want to elaborate on the love of God to the exclusion of his wrath. Mankind has to be prepared for eternity and God has nothing more to do to prove than the cross of Jesus Christ.
Man’s failure to prepare for eternity is not God’s problem, it is man’s problem.
Rev.19:14
The armies of the Lord is plural and since the Old Testament saints and Tribulation martyrs are not resurrected until after the Tribulation is past, Dan.12:12-13 it would mean Church Age saints, as well as the unfallen angels make up these armies. Unlike most generals who wage war, the sergeants and privates and mid to low ranking officers lead the charge while the generals stay in the rear to direct the war. However, in this campaign the Commander and Chief leads the way. Could you imagine a president leading the charge? Here we see the Lord Jesus Christ leading the charge not just against the ungodly of this world, but he is headed for a showdown with the devil himself.
Both the Devil and the lost have said no to the Lordship of Jesus Christ.
The armies of our Lord are seen wearing; of all colors and battle gear, white and clean linen robes. This is hardly the combat gear of a soldier; however, as we will see the Lord does all of the fighting. As a matter of fact our Lord’s weapon of choice is his spoken word.
Also note that the Lord and his armies come out of heaven upon white horses [leukois hippois]. Now here we see animals in heaven. Notice John doesn’t use a simile to say we come on something like a horse, but we come on real white horses. The brilliant white horses are a sign of victory. Does this seem unbelievable to you; that all N.T. believers will be riding horses back to the earth with our Lord out front? If it does consider this that our Lord spoke into existence our solar system with its Sun along will our planet and galaxies way beyond ours.
Do you recall how God snatched Elijah out of this world? II Kings 2:11 says God dispatched his chariot of fire and horses of fire to take Elijah to him. With God nothing is impossible.
Christ takes the war to the enemy
I Chron.5:22 tells us that the Israelite tribes of Reuben, Gad, and Manasseh killed many of the Hagrites, Hagar’s descendants, the Arabs.
It is said these were slain because the war was of God. Ecc.3:8 says there is a time for war. Thank goodness their will come a day when all war will cease as promised in Micah 4:3. However, only Jesus Christ can provide peace among men after he has made war and defeated the enemies of righteousness.
Jude 14-15 tells us of the stunned, numbing fear that will come upon those unbelievers on the earth at Christ’s second coming with his angels and saints.
The skies will be clouded with warriors from heaven. As is prophesied in Zech.14:4 our Lord will return to the Mount of Olives just outside of Jerusalem, the same place he ascended into heaven on the day of Pentecost and the Church Age began, Acts.1:9-12.
Rev.15-16
In these verses Jesus Christ speaks the instant death of all those forces arrayed in the valley of Megiddo. Just as he spoke into existence the perfect original earth, so will he speak into oblivion the souls of these wicked slaves of sin and Satan.
God’s word can be a calming influence in a stormy situation. His word can be a source of encouragement when you feel like giving up. His word can cut us to the quick when it reproves us of wrong doing, and it can also quickly bring to justice those who oppose him.
John says out of our Lord’s mouth “goeth a sharp sword.”
This particular sword is the romphaia sword. It was a long heavy spear shaped sword. It is used metaphorically to say the word of God is long reaching and heavy. With the long reaching sword of his word he will smite the nations, and after his rule is set up he will rule the nations with a rod of iron.
The verb rule is a Fut. Active Indicative verb for which we get our word, shepherd, [poimaino].
He will shepherd his people, and these people refer to his millennial subjects.
His scepter of authority in his kingdom will not be slack, but before he sets up his kingdom he will tread the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. He will press the life out of every unbeliever when he returns.
Many might say when they hear this sermon that, “This is not a God I am comfortable with. I want a kinder, compassionate God than the one I see in the book of Revelation.”
Trust me, this is the same God who is called the Lamb of God. He is still the Rose of Sharon. He is still called Wonderful, Counselor, The Mighty God, The Everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace, Isa.9:6.
And as God he will have peace, but it will not be upon man’s terms. As the Sovereign of the universe all people, both lost and saved are under his authority whether they like it or not. The key to resolving all differences we might have with the acts of God is for us to embrace an attitude of humility toward God. People who sit in judgment of God will never experience the peace of God.
v.16
He will return as the King of Kings, and Lord of Lords. You see, Jesus Christ has never had an identity crisis. He has always known who he is and who he is about. He has never wavered on his mission, or on his convictions. He does not waffle. The Antichrist and all the military powers of that day will be ready to tear Jerusalem apart, and then they will be ready to turn on each other for world domination when out of the heavens our Lord and his army will return to defeat the enemy and save the world from annihilation.
And the wonderful thing about our Savior is that he is trustworthy.
He can always be counted on to keep his word; this guarantee is the Christian’ hope. It is the standard by which we will be judged. It is also the standard by which we trust for our eternal salvation and bodily resurrection.
I trust each one of your here today has received Jesus Christ as your Savior.