Christ's Return (Rev 19)

Revelation  •  Sermon  •  Submitted
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God is just in his judgment. You can celebrate it and find life or oppose it and find death

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Intro

Gabby Petito
Summarize story (don’t make the claim that Brian Laundrie is guilty)
Emphasize desire for justice
Justice takes time but when it comes we celebrate it as a good thing
Proverbs 21:15
Proverbs 21:15 ESV
When justice is done, it is a joy to the righteous but terror to evildoers.
If justice is good, then why do we not want God to judge as a just God?
Often times a significant opposition to God is his wrath and judgment, but we know that justice is good.
If you are critiquing God for his judgments, it makes me wonder what side you are on.
Going to look at when Jesus Returns to the Earth and Carries out his Justice against his enemies
Before we do that - Brief look at “Day of the Lord”
Major Theme of the Old Testament Prophets
Think about the OT Propehts and what they went through
Other nations attacked and abused Israel
Israel’s leaders became corrupt and abused prophets
Injustice and Oppression were everywhere
For them the End of the World was a time where those who have abused their power would have to answer to God and those who have kept the law even when it was hard would see their reward.
Theme is carried all through the Old Testament as a hope of God’s justice
Picked up in Revelation 6:10-11
Revelation 6:10–11 ESV
They cried out with a loud voice, “O Sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long before you will judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?” Then they were each given a white robe and told to rest a little longer, until the number of their fellow servants and their brothers should be complete, who were to be killed as they themselves had been.
So with that desperate hope for justice in mind, lets open up Revelation 19 and see what Jesus’ Return will include
Discussed in 4 movements
Celebration of Justice
Anticipation
Picture of Christ
Victory of Christ

Celebration of Justice

After this I heard what seemed to be the loud voice of a great multitude in heaven, crying out,

“Hallelujah!

Salvation and glory and power belong to our God,

2  for his judgments are true and just;

for he has judged the great prostitute

who corrupted the earth with her immorality,

and has avenged on her the blood of his servants.”

3 Once more they cried out,

“Hallelujah!

The smoke from her goes up forever and ever.”

4 And the twenty-four elders and the four living creatures fell down and worshiped God who was seated on the throne, saying, “Amen. Hallelujah!” 5 And from the throne came a voice saying,

“Praise our God,

all you his servants,

you who fear him,

small and great.”

Background - Babylon is Destroyed in Chapter 18
Babylon represents the nations of earth that are built on corruption and exploitation and a lust for money and sex
In Chapter 18 those who follow their own desires rather than God’s design mourn the fact that God tore it down
This Chapter shows a Contrast
Notice what their celebrating
The multitude that follows God celebrates not that God has killed people, but that he ended the corruption. He stopped the abused. He finished the things that were just not right. WE are desperate for justice and its coming.
God’s people are not celebrating death, but rejoicing that God has saved those who wanted it.
The Good guys celebrate
None of you were sad when Thanos was killed by Thor or when the White Which was finished by Aslan
Dear Evan Hansen - “When the villains fall, the kingdoms never weep.”
Babylon is conquered and the good guys celebrate
The multitude celebrates - This is the church
The elders celebrate, the heavenly beings acknowledge God’s authority
The Son himself seated on the throne demands worship from all people

Anticipation

6 Then I heard what seemed to be the voice of a great multitude, like the roar of many waters and like the sound of mighty peals of thunder, crying out,

“Hallelujah!

For the Lord our God

the Almighty reigns.

7  Let us rejoice and exult

and give him the glory,

for the marriage of the Lamb has come,

and his Bride has made herself ready;

8  it was granted her to clothe herself

with fine linen, bright and pure”—

for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints.

9 And the angel said to me, “Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.” And he said to me, “These are the true words of God.” 10 Then I fell down at his feet to worship him, but he said to me, “You must not do that! I am a fellow servant with you and your brothers who hold to the testimony of Jesus. Worship God.” For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.

John hears a decree and invitation to worship
The marriage of of the Lamb is here and the Bride is ready
The Good things have been completed and we are right on the edge of victory the people are gathered and anticipating the return
Marriage Theme is different than we think
In our culture, the groom stands at the altar and we all hold our breath ready for the wedding march.
Israelite weddings were different
Bride would prepare in her room with her bridesmaids, and the groom would party with his friends
When the Bride was ready the Groom would ride through the town with his friends announcing their marriage and inviting their community and he would go and get his bride from her house and bring her to the wedding party
This passage is saying the Bride is ready, any second now, the Groom, the leader will come and arrive.
This is building the anticipation
(Not addressing Who is the Bride, you’ll see that in verse 20) But we do see that the good things the Church does prepare the return
God has a plan, and we fulfil that plan by doing good works until he says we’re done
Then we turn to John, and John is eager to worship and so excited that when he sees the angel declaring the wedding, and inviting people that he falls and worships.
He’s emotional. He’s ready to respond, the tension is building
The Angel says, not just yet. I’m not the groom, I’m a friend like you. Get ready to see Jesus.

Picture of Christ

11 Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse! The one sitting on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war. 12 His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are many diadems, and he has a name written that no one knows but himself. 13 He is clothed in a robe dipped in blood, and the name by which he is called is The Word of God. 14 And the armies of heaven, arrayed in fine linen, white and pure, were following him on white horses. 15 From his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron. He will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty. 16 On his robe and on his thigh he has a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords.

Here is the main event. John looks and sees the return of the king
Never called Jesus, but given enough names to know exactly who it is
Faithful and True - He has been good and has been the same and deserves respect
The Word of God - The very thing by which God creates and the thing by which he judges. His Word is the foundation of all reality
The Secret Name - Shows that he exists above our understanding. We know what we need but he is far greater than we could ever even begin to explain
The King of Kings - He is rightfully above all authorities and nations
Lord of Lords - He is above all masters and and leaders
This is a very clear picture of Christ in his character and majesty
Also contains quite a few symbols I want to look at carefully
Eyes of Fire - He sees everything and knows everyone
Diadems (Ten Crowns) - Rules over all the earth
Robe dipped in blood - Fulfills the prophecy of Isaiah 63 showing that Jesus has been judging nations throughout all of history
Mouth-sword - Related to Isaiah 11:4 - Showing Jesus as the one who declares judgment. Defeating evil by his words
Iron-Scepter - symbol of authority fulfilling Psalm 2
Winepress of Fury - related also to Isaiah 63 and Revelation showing his final judgment of all the evil nations
Surrounded by armies of angels
Jesus’ second return is depicted a glorious hero and judge. He is the King returning to the land that is rightfully his.
Whether this is terrifying or exciting all depends on what side you’re standing on

Moment of Justice

17 Then I saw an angel standing in the sun, and with a loud voice he called to all the birds that fly directly overhead, “Come, gather for the great supper of God, 18 to eat the flesh of kings, the flesh of captains, the flesh of mighty men, the flesh of horses and their riders, and the flesh of all men, both free and slave, both small and great.” 19 And I saw the beast and the kings of the earth with their armies gathered to make war against him who was sitting on the horse and against his army. 20 And the beast was captured, and with it the false prophet who in its presence had done the signs by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped its image. These two were thrown alive into the lake of fire that burns with sulfur. 21 And the rest were slain by the sword that came from the mouth of him who was sitting on the horse, and all the birds were gorged with their flesh.

Here is another invitation to a dinner (contrast to the first one)
This time it’s a not a celebration
The angel invites the unclean birds to get ready to eat the bodies of the dead
Then, the angel explains the fact that no one is going to escape
It’s not just the leaders, it’s not just the beast, it’s all who opposed God
Attention is turned to the Beast who we’ve seen the last few chapters
The one from Rev. 13
This is the beast who claims authority over the nations
He has signs that are designed to replace Jesus
He is leading the remaining kings of the earth
Notice who antagonizes the fight
It’s significant that Scripture says they gather to “wage war” - they pick the fight. Jesus shows up, and they gather their armies
John doesn’t describe the battle. It’s not even worth describing the battle. It was over as soon as it started
Beast is captured first, and then the second beast who were responsible for the deception and the decisions
Thrown into a lake of fire
The rest are judged by the word of God, and their judgment is death which fulfills the birds’ feast

Conclusion/Application

Jesus will return as a Righteous Judge and will defeat his enemies, vindicating his saints
What can we do?

1 - Accept his Justice

God’s judgment is coming and there is nothing you can do about it
Your objections to God’s judgments have no point
he is righteous
he judges real evil
and he offers you salvation
There will be two feasts when Christ returns, you are invited to the marriage supper of the lamb, but you are more than welcome to be food for the birds

2 - Model his Justice

God hates corruption and exploitation and those who seek their own power
That doesn’t mean that we take power head on and rebel (I’ll get to that in a minute)
It does mean that we as a church should be a place that models peace and equality and reconciliation
Michael Bird says this - “The Church is meant to be a showroom for the new creation. The church is meant to be a place where reconciliation, peace, love, and mercy are modeled in front of the world that only knows strife, confrontation, hatred, and abuse… We can work for justice in this world as a part of our preparations for the next world. Advocating for the defenseless and oppressed is an act of worship that reminds the world that the just judge is ready to make his final entrance.”
We model Christ, not by judging with our own authority but by showing what Justice looks like in Christ’s authority.

3 - Rest in his justice

We are promised Justice
We are promised that everything sad will be untrue
God will vindicate those who do the right thing
we have no need to prove ourselves or make a big deal about defending things
We win through love and God will judge those who don’t follow that
This is why Jesus taught to turn the other cheek and to pray for your enemies
Even when authority is abused against you, if you rebel you’re also guilty.
God Himself will judge oppression.
Even when you never see justice for something wrong
God Himself will correct injustice
You continue to do what is good and what is loving no matter the cost. Christ will repay you.
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