Victory’s Reign

The Faithful & True King of Kings

6.1.25 [Revelation 19:11-16] River of Life (Festival of Ascension)

Grace and peace be to you from our Ascended King of kings and Lord of lords, who is faithful and true and victorious. Amen. 

Sometimes, people just bail and—even if we’re upset about it—it’s hard for us to be mad at them. In the world of sports, star athletes enjoy tremendous power. At times, they look at their team and their competition and bail. They go to another team, the one they think has a better chance of winning, even when it’s their fiercest rival. It hurts. We might be mad at them. But there’s a part of us that gets it. 

But it’s not just something that athletes do. Maybe you or someone you know has found themselves in this position. The company changes direction. Maybe it brings in new leadership or faces new challenges. What do you do if you’re offered early retirement?  

When someone bails on the company, you might wish they had made a different decision, but you get it. It’s hard to be mad at them. 

Or maybe you find your neighborhood changing. When you moved in, it was all young families and everyone knew each other. Now your kids are grown. Your friends moved out. New people moved in and they don’t have the same camaraderie or pride of ownership. You might be sad when you see your friend put their house up for sale, but it’s hard to be mad at them, right?  

As we celebrate the Ascension of our Lord Jesus, we might think of it in these terms. Jesus did everything we needed for our salvation while he was here on earth. He lived the perfect life for our righteous record. He died the innocent, substitutionary death for our sins. He rose from the grave for our justification. It’s all been done. So why stick around here any longer? Heaven is better by far and it’s not like this place is all that great. That’s what we’d do, right? 

If I were to go down the line and ask each one of you if you wanted to go to heaven now or later, I’d bet most of us would pick now. In fact, some of us would be so sure of that pick that if the person next to you said later, you’d look at them like they were crazy. So it’s hard for us to be mad at Jesus for choosing heaven. He is the King of kings and Lord of lords and the Author and Perfecter of our salvation after all. But our King is not taking a breather. He has not ascended into heaven to kick back and relax. He is preparing a place for us to be with him for eternity. 

He is ruling all things in this world for the good of his bride, the Church. And he will return to deal with the wickedness of this world. 

In our reading from Revelation, that’s what we are assured of. Jesus did not ascend into heaven because he was trying to escape the troubles and challenges of this world. He will deal with those in full. The only reason he doesn’t deal with them now is that he is patient. Not permissive. He is 2 Pt. 3:9 patient because he does not want to see any perish in sin, but all come to repentance. But he will deal with evil.

In these final scenes from St. John’s Revelation, we see this Jesus, who is called the Rider who is Faithful and True, deal with evil figures—a prostitute, two beasts, countless kings, and a dragon. Whenever a person reads through these apocalyptic scenes, our curiosity is piqued. We want to know who God is talking about.  

But God doesn’t tell us directly who anyone is—except the dragon, who is Satan. We might wish that he would reveal their identities. But who they are is far less important than how they operate. 

If God told us who they were, we would mark and avoid them. But then we might gain a false sense of security. 

Instead of telling us who they are, he describes how the prostitute, the beasts, the kings, and the dragon try to lead people away from God. They use three tactics: seduction, power, and propaganda. 

Seduction is the siren call of sin. It tells you that what God has forbidden is really where all the most fun and joy in life is to be found. We usually think of sexual sins—all the many ways that God’s gift has been pulled away from the marriage bed. But it’s not just sex. Seduction will pull you in any direction as long as it’s away from God. It will draw you into your career or even your family—making money, making memories, or making a more secure future. It will pull you into physical fitness and health, promising you that you will be happier and more satisfied if you look like her or live as long as him. It will charm you with its captivating excursions. Live free. Live for yourself. Delay getting married. Deny having kids. Those kinds of things will only hold you back from really enjoying all there is in life. 

How many times have you and I been seduced into thinking sin isn’t so bad, isn’t such a big deal, or isn’t going to harm anyone? 

The second tactic is power. This is a double-edged sword. We’re told that if we don’t compromise on a few of our spiritual convictions, we will never be able to accomplish anything of significance. 

If we want to wield power in this world or in our lives, we’re going to have to split the difference between what God says and what works in the eyes of this world. Sundays are for church if we don’t have anything better going on. I must maximize my earning power and income at all costs. I must keep my faith private. 

After we’ve made what we feel to be reasonable concessions, we meet the other side of the sword. We’re threatened by power. If you stand up for the truth of God’s Word, you’re going to be made an example of. If you live faithfully, you’ll be walking alone. If you choose to speak and act righteously and mercifully, you’ll be run over. 

The third tactic of evil is propaganda. We think of this as merely a political tool. But the devil is very interested in manipulating the way that you think and act. It’s wicked propaganda that makes us think that someone else’s sin is “none of our business”or that  “heaven is for good people”. It’s Satan’s wicked propaganda that makes people think that the Bible is too ancient to be applicable, or that modern life is too nuanced to take advice from Scripture. It’s wicked propaganda that insists that parents shouldn’t impress their faith upon their children. Wicked propaganda is everywhere. 

You know these battles against sin’s seduction, the sinful world’s powers, and the propaganda of the Prince of Darkness. You know how often we are led astray, how often we feel weak, how often we are wracked with doubts and uncertainties. 

We need a King who will fight for us and win convincingly. That’s what we are promised in Revelation 19. The Rider wages war alone. Though there are armies of heaven that are following him, they do not look like him. They do not have eyes like blazing fire. They are not wearing many crowns. Their robes are not dipped in blood. They do not wield a sharp sword that strikes down the nations. The King of kings and Lord of lords does this alone. 

Did you notice this throughout Jesus’ life? At his birth, the angels were there to celebrate. But they did not stop Herod’s soldiers. 

During his temptation in the wilderness, he was attended to by the angels, but they were not there to defend him from the Devil’s seductive offers. When Satan challenged him to throw himself down from the highest height of the Temple, Jesus did not look to his angels to save him. He did not put the Lord his God to the test. He was faithful and true. He fought alone. And he won. 

When the powers of this world came after our Christ, he did not call on the angels to fight for his reputation or defend his life. When the Pharisees accused Jesus of being a blasphemer, he did not call a couple of angels to put them in their place. He fought their wicked propaganda by the power of God’s Word alone.  When the temple guard came to arrest him, he could have called legions of angels to defend him. But he did not. He fought alone. When Pilate asked him what kind of king he was, he did not summon a few seraphim angels to shake some sense into him. The King of kings is victorious on his own. 

In each of these moments, Jesus was faithful and true, righteous and just. He was faithful to all the Old Testament prophecies. He allowed Herod’s soldiers to drive him out of Bethlehem and into Egypt so that the Scriptures would be fulfilled. He was faithful and true to the Word of God, even when the leaders of his people plotted his death. He was faithful and true even as he stood before Pilate. He was faithful and true even as he suffered for our sins. In his dying moments, he made arrangements for his mother, he prayed for his abusers, and he assured a criminal of his power and love. He died to overcome sin, to defeat the Devil, and he rose again to assure us of his power over death. 

And he has not bailed on us or on this world. He tells us plainly: Vengeance is mine. Do not confuse that with the Lord saying vengeance is a bad idea or a corrupt philosophy. Vengeance is about protecting those you love. He will take vengeance because he loves us. All those who have seduced souls away from him will stand condemned. All those who have threatened God’s faithful people will be stomped underfoot like grapes in a winepress. All those who have tried to intimidate and manipulate precious souls into calling evil good and good evil will be thrown into the lake of burning sulfur. He will do what is good and right and just. 

And here’s what he says to you. Rev. 1:17-18 Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last. I am the Living One. I was dead, and now look, I am alive forever and ever. I hold the keys of death and Hades. 

Rev. 2:7 To the one who is victorious, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God, and some of my Rev. 2:17 hidden manna. They Rev. 2:11 will not be hurt by the second death. Rev. 3:5 To the one who is victorious, I will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I was victorious and sat down with my Father on his throne.