Walking in the Footsteps of the Faithful & True Jesus
Don Parmely
Walking In The Footsteps of Jesus • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
0 ratings
· 7 viewsNotes
Transcript
PRAYER
Our text:
Revelation 19:11 (NASB95) And I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse, and He who sat on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and wages war.
POSB :
Our text tells us that Jesus Christ will be the conquering Christ (v.11).
This is what the picture of the white horse symbolizes.
In ancient times, when a Roman general entered a city as the conqueror, he rode a white stallion to celebrate his triumph.
The day will come when Jesus Christ returns to this earth as the conqueror.
And when He does, man can depend upon two things.
1. Jesus Christ will be the faithful and true Conqueror.
⇒ Faithful means that He can be trusted and relied upon to judge every enemy when He comes.
He said that He would conquer and judge and condemn all the ungodly and evil of this world, and His Word can be trusted and relied upon.
⇒ True means true as opposed to false.
The conquest and judgment of Jesus Christ will be true.
For those outside of the saving relationship of Jesus, He will measure out exactly what a person deserves, no more and no less.
No ungodly and evil person need ever fear that Jesus Christ will be unjust or unfair with him.
Every ungodly and evil person can count on Jesus Christ being true.
Jesus Christ will judge a person perfectly, in perfect justice.
A person will reap exactly what he has sown.
He will be judged and condemned for exactly what he has done.
Oh, but for those walking in the grace of God, who have relied upon what Jesus did at the Cross, we have nothing to fear or dread.
We are safe in the loving arms of the Good Shepherd.
2. Jesus Christ will judge and make war upon the earth in righteousness.
His righteousness will be the criteria, the law by which all shall be judged.
Any person who does not measure up to the righteousness of Jesus Christ will be conquered, judged, and condemned exactly where he comes up short.
According to Romans 3:23 “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,”
But thank God, if we turn to Jesus in repentance and surrender, we will be saved.
Romans 10:8–13 (NASB95) But what does [the Word of God] say? “THE WORD IS NEAR YOU, IN YOUR MOUTH AND IN YOUR HEART”—that is, the word of faith which we are preaching, 9 that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; 10 for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation. 11 For the Scripture says, “WHOEVER BELIEVES IN HIM WILL NOT BE DISAPPOINTED.” 12 For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, abounding in riches for all who call on Him; 13 for “WHOEVER WILL CALL ON THE NAME OF THE LORD WILL BE SAVED.”
As I mentioned last week, over a long period of time, we have looked at many attributes of Jesus.
Attributes He lived before us in the flesh.
Jesus, in His words and His actions said…
This is the way … walk in it.
Follow in My footsteps.
I pray that the passage I just read not only challenges us in the way we live our lives, but that it also gives you hope and encouragement as you understand the context.
You see, from Revelation 5 we have read with horror about the judgments of a righteous and holy God that fall on this world.
Judgements that this rebellious, sin-filled world well deserves, but horrifying nonetheless.
These chapters describe a period in the future called the Tribulation.
A period about which says 1 Thessalonians 5:9 (NASB95) For God has not destined us for wrath, but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ,
In 1 Thes 1:9-10 the Apostle Paul says he has heard
1 Thessalonians 1:9–10 (NASB95) … how [the Thessalonians had] turned to God from idols to serve a living and true God, 10 and to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, that is Jesus, who rescues us from the wrath to come.
We see that “wrath to come” described starting in Revelation 6.
Starting at Revelation 11, we see the devil-incarnate, The Beast or anti-Christ arise, along with his evil minion the False Prophet.
Through lies, deception, and faithlessness, we see the antiChrist and the False prophet wage war on Jesus, His Kingdom and the people of the King.
But says Revelation 17:14 (NASB95) “These will wage war against the Lamb, and 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.”
Finally, at the height of war, bloodshed, violence, fire and judgement — the heavens open and Jesus rides in on a white horse.
He and the saints are described in the verses right after our text:
Revelation 19:12–16 (NASB95) His eyes are a flame of fire, and on His head are many diadems; and He has a name written on Him which no one knows except Himself. 13 He is clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God. 14 And the armies which are in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, were following Him on white horses. 15 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; and He treads the wine press of the fierce wrath of God, the Almighty. 16 And on His robe and on His thigh He has a name written, “KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.”
It’s a bit overwhelming, BUT, I mainly want us to see that in the face of all this action, the One who is called Faithful and True stands above it all.
Pastor Jed Johnston tells us:
This verse tells us Jesus is Faithful and True — [and is] Such a contrast to the anti-christ!
Where the anti-christ would break his covenant… we see Jesus faithful to His Word
… as lies and deception flood this word and deceive mankind… riding down from Heaven is the One who embodies TRUTH…
Will Varner tells us: Jesus is given two titles in Revelation 19:11.
… He is called “Faithful and true.”
Scoffers may mock the Second Coming as prophesied in…
2 Peter 3:3–4 (NASB95) Know this first of all, that in the last days mockers will come with their mocking, following after their own lusts, 4 and saying, “Where is the promise of His coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all continues just as it was from the beginning of creation.”
but Jesus will prove “Faithful” to His promise that He will come again.
He is TRUE to His word.
Jesus is True
Jesus is True
Let me start there…
As well as being Faithful, Jesus is True.
Jesus told Thomas and His disciples in John 14:6(NASB95) Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and THE truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.”
John 1:14 (NASB95) And the Word [Jesus] became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.
Jesus told a crowd AND us in John 8:32 (NASB95) and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.”
In a world filled with deceit.
In a world where we cannot discern truth from a cleverly disguised fake created by by AI.
In a world where we are constantly fed lies.
Jesus is our anchor of TRUTH.
He has sent His Holy Spirit to reveal truth to those who desire to know it and follow Him.
1 John 5:20 (NASB95) And we know that the Son of God has come, and has given us understanding so that we may know Him who is true; and we are in Him who is true, in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life.
Thank God for our conquering Savior, depicted as such since He is the One riding a white horse.
Truth wins!
And the truth is, we too are conquerors, because in Revelation 19:14 WE, Christ’s armies, are depicted as riding white horses following after Jesus.
In fact as says Romans 8:37 (NIV) No, in all these things [in all the difficult things we face] we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.
Jesus is Faithful
Jesus is Faithful
We are “more than Conquerors,” because He who gives us overwhelming victory is FAITHFUL.
Jesus Christ’s faithfulness is seen in His character
He is Faithful by nature
Jesus is the promised Messiah — prophesied to be faithful.
5 Also righteousness will be the belt about His loins, And faithfulness the belt about His waist.
Jesus Christ is faithful because He never changes.
8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.
Jesus Christ is faithful because He is the truth.
We have already read Jn 1:14 where the Holy Spirit, communicating through John’s writings tells us that “the Word,” Jesus is FULL of grace and truth
“grace” and “truth” are often associated in Hebrew with love and faithfulness.
Jesus Christ’s faithfulness was demonstrated in His obedience to the Father.
He was and is faithful to His Father.
6 but Christ was faithful as a Son over His house—whose house we are, if we hold fast our confidence and the boast of our hope firm until the end.
Jesus said in John 14:31 “but so that the world may know that I love the Father, I do exactly as the Father commanded Me. … ”
Hebrews 3:2 “He [Jesus] was faithful to Him who appointed Him, as Moses also was in all His house.”
He kept faithfully to His Father’s work.
43 But He said to them, “I must preach the kingdom of God to the other cities also, for I was sent for this purpose.”
Jesus was faithful, AS HE WALKED THIS EARTH CLOTHED IN HUMAN FLESH.
Again, He gives us an example.
As I mentioned last week, there is no doubt that the pace of ministry, the numbers of people with whom He interacted, the overwhelming need WAS EXHAUSTING.
But through the power, the anointing of the Holy Spirit, Jesus was faithful to what the Father called Him to do.
We can likewise be faithful to the Father — faithful to His call on our lives.
Jesus Christ’s faithfulness is seen in His words.
In His promise about the Holy Spirit
26 “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you.
Acts 1:8 (NASB95) but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.”
John 16:7 (NASB95) “But I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you.
Acts 2:1–4 (NASB95) When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. 2 And suddenly there came from heaven a noise like a violent rushing wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. 3 And there appeared to them tongues as of fire distributing themselves, and they rested on each one of them. 4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit was giving them utterance.
What Jesus began 2,000 years ago He is STILL faithful to do today.
For believers who want Him , the Baptism in the Holy Spirit is available.
We see His words are faithful concerning In His promise of authority for believers.
20 And He said to them, “… truly I say to you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible to you.
Mark 16:17–18 (NASB95) [Jesus said] “These signs will accompany those who have believed: in My name they will cast out demons, they will speak with new tongues; 18 they will pick up serpents, and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.”
Luke 10:19 (NLT) [Jesus said] Look, I have given you authority over all the power of the enemy, and you can walk among snakes and scorpions and crush them. Nothing will injure you.
In His predictions about future events.
Everything that Jesus predicted would take place during His life, did.
For example:
In Mat 21:2 Finding the donkey and being allowed to use it
In Mat 26:21 Foretelling His betrayal by Judas
In Mat 26:34 Foretelling that Peter would deny Him 3 times
In John 16:20 Foretelling His disciples response to His crucifixion and resurrection
The things that would take place before His 2nd coming…
The destruction of the Temple
The way Peter would die
Everything Jesus foretold would happen, did.
Because His words are faithful, we can believe that the things He foretold that are yet to happen, will.
Jesus Christ’s promises about OUR future are faithful.
He said in …
2 “In My Father’s house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. 3 “If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also.
His words are faithful concerning His promises about eternal life.
24 “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life.
Jesus Christ is faithful to believers in all circumstances.
13 If we are faithless, He remains faithful, for He cannot deny Himself.
Hebrews 10:23 “23 Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful;”
Matthew 28:20 “20 teaching [new disciples] to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.””
Matthew 18:20 “For where two or three have gathered together in My name, I am there in their midst.””
2 Thessalonians 3:3 “But the Lord is faithful, and He will strengthen and protect you from the evil one.”
Are YOU Trusting and Following the Faithful and True?
Are YOU Trusting and Following the Faithful and True?
Over and over again we see Jesus as Faithful and True.
He is the ROCK we need in a topsy turvy, unstable world.
Everything may be shaken, but Jesus remains as the Faithful and True.
In our text Jesus is depicted as the Conqueror at the end of the Tribulation…
Certainly He is just as much Conqueror, Faithful and True in these days BEFORE the Tribulation.
If He can be trusted at the end, why not right now?
If Jesus can be trusted to be Faithful and True over the world, why not in the challenges you are facing right now?
As the worship Team comes…
Can we stand?
I want to encourage you, whatever you are facing — Jesus will be Faithful to come and save you.
Whatever you are facing.
There is nothing too hard.
Nothing impossible.
Lean on Jesus.
Maybe this morning you need to run to the Faithful and True.
Can I invite you to come forward for prayer?
As we saw a few minutes ago, Jesus promised He would we be with two or more gathered in His Name.
Jesus is here!
He will save you!
Worship team sings.
And for all of us, through the Power of the Holy Spirit we can walk in the footsteps of Jesus.
We can be like Him.
WE can be Faithful and True.
Yes, even in a world of faithless liars and deceivers — WE, like Jesus, CAN be Faithful and True.
