The Glorious Return of Jesus Christ
Tom Pennington • Revelation 19:11-16
- 2023-11-12 am
- Sermons
- Revelation
The second coming of Jesus Christ is one of the cardinal doctrines of the Christian faith. David MacLeod writes, "What is often forgotten is that the second coming of Christ is not just the aberrant fascination of end time junkies and apocalyptic doomsayers. It is the historic faith of the Christian Church."
Think about this: Twenty-three of the 27 New Testament books mention the second coming. The Apostles' Creed, the Nicene Creed, the Athanasian Creed, and all of the church's major confessions speak of the second coming. The early church fathers, while they're divided about many things, are united in the reality of the second coming. The Didache, the oldest Christian document outside of the New Testament, dating [from] the second half of the first century, says this: "The Lord shall come and all His saints with Him. Then shall the world see the Lord coming upon the clouds of heaven."
The Epistle of Barnabas, also toward the end of the first century: "When the Son comes, He will destroy the wicked one, and He will judge the godless and will change the sun and the moon and the stars, and then He will truly rest." Justin Martyr, writing in the first half of the second century, says, "Here, too, how He was to ascend into heaven according to prophecy, and how He should come again out of heaven with glory." Irenaeus, writing in the second half of the second century, says, "When this antichrist shall have devastated all things in this world, he will reign for three years and six months and sit in the temple in Jerusalem, and then the Lord will come from heaven in the clouds, in the glory of the Father, sending this man and those who follow him into the lake of fire."
Now, why could there be such universal testimony on this issue? It's because it's the testimony of Scripture. Our Lord Himself said this in the Olivet Discourse in Matthew 24:30: "[And] then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky with power and great glory." In fact, at His trial, one of the Jewish trials, as He stood before the great high priest of Israel, the high priest questioned him in Mark 14:61: "Are You the [Christ], the Son of the Blessed One?" Are you the Messiah, the Son of God? Jesus responded, "I am." And then He said this, "And you shall see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of Power, and coming with the clouds of heaven."
Angels testified to this reality at Jesus' ascension. In Acts 1:11, they said to those who were gathered there, you men of Galilee, why do you stand here gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus whom you saw going into heaven, ascending into heaven, will so come in like manner as you have seen Him go.
And then, hold your finger in Revelation 19, but turn back to [Revelation] 1:7. This is how the introduction to Revelation begins, verse 7, "Behold, He is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see Him, even those who pierced Him; and all the tribes of the earth will mourn over Him. So it is to be. Amen."
This morning, we come in our study of Revelation to this event of the second coming, the grand finale of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Now, chapter 19 begins a series of chronological events that carries us through the rest of the book of Revelation. Let me show you this. We'll see it as it unfolds. But look at [Revelation] 19:1: "After these things," this describes the praise that breaks out in heaven just before the second coming. Look at verse 11: "And I saw," this announces the second coming. Verse 17: "Then I saw," this announces the battle of Armageddon. [Revelation] 20:1: "Then I saw" the binding of Satan for a thousand years. [Revelation] 20:4: "Then I saw" the thousand-year reign of Jesus Christ. Verse 11: "Then I saw" the great white throne. [Revelation] 21:1: "Then I saw" the new heavens and the new earth.
So, putting that together, here is the order of last things. We start with the rapture we studied several weeks ago. After the rapture comes seven years of tribulation on this planet. At the end of that seven-year period is the second coming of Jesus Christ, followed immediately by the millennium, the thousand-year reign of Christ on this planet renewed. At the end of that thousand years comes the great white throne of judgment, which all of the unbelieving dead will be raised from the dead [and] will stand before Jesus Christ, be judged, and be thrown into the lake of fire, and then follows the eternal state. This present universe will be destroyed, and Christ will make a new heavens and a new earth, as Peter describes, in which righteousness is at home, and that will be the eternal state of believers forever.
Now, as we study the second coming, it's important for us to remember and distinguish the differences between the rapture and the second coming. I won't go back through all of this, but just look with me at how the second coming is described in Scripture. In Matthew 24:25, we learn that Christ returns to earth to dwell and to reign. He comes with His saints. He defeats His enemies and establishes His kingdom. Angels are sent to gather the elect. There is no obvious mention of the resurrection, although we will see in coming weeks that there will be a resurrection. It's not the focal point. Christ comes to judge. Unbelievers are taken away; believers remain on the earth. No one obviously receives glorified bodies, although again, we'll see that that does happen, but it's not the focus of this event, and the establishment of the kingdom.
Now let's read together how this dramatic event called the second coming will unfold. Revelation 19:11:
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. 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. He is clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God. And the armies which are in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, were following him on white horses. 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. And on His robe and on His thigh He has a name written, "KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS."
This is the event to which the entire book of Revelation has been leading. This is its climax. This is the revelation of Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ will return to this earth physically, in unimaginable glory. John was allowed to see in a vision what will happen someday in reality. And what John sees in this vision is a great warrior King. It's a vision that's filled with images intended to picture some reality about who Jesus is. In fact, this warrior King, Jesus our Lord, has several remarkable distinctives that are described in this passage, and I want us to look at those distinctives together this morning.
The first distinctive that marks Him is His unique person. He's introduced to us in a sort of picture context that was meaningful in the first century, a specific background, a setting that was common in first-century life. So, let's begin by looking at the historical picture in which this unique Person is presented to us. The historical picture, verse 11: "And I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse." It's pretty shocking, really. As Leon Morris notes, "The previous verses prepared us for a vision of the Bridegroom." We've just been talking about the marriage feast of the Lamb. We expect the vision of a Bridegroom showing up, and instead it's a vision of a Warrior. Heaven itself opens, like a kind of rip in the earth's atmosphere, and out of the tear comes a Rider on a white horse. Again, these are images. There's a lot of debate about whether Christ will be riding a horse at all, or this is intended because of the historical setting, to picture certain realities. You see, to John, living in the Roman Empire, the image of Jesus riding a white horse out of heaven was clear, because when a Roman general was victorious on the battlefield, he returned to Rome in a dramatic victory parade. He rode a white warhorse, a symbol of victory, up the Via Sacra [to] Capitoline Hill, to the temple of Jupiter. And that's the image behind Jesus right here. He's like a returning victorious warrior on horseback. It's a stark contrast to His first coming, when He was born in a lowly manger. And on Palm Sunday, He entered the city of Jerusalem, presenting Himself as its King on a donkey.
Jesus is coming again. But then it will not be in humility and gentleness, but it will be as a Warrior, a Man of War, coming to destroy His enemies. He will not be like the early chapters of Revelation, like a little pet Lamb having been slain. Instead, He will be the Lion of the tribe of Judah. With a roar, He's coming to fight the battle of Armageddon. It's still in the future when this scene unfolds, but His victory is so certain, He's described here as if He's already on his victory parade. That's the historical picture that we're intended to get from this image.
As we consider again His unique person, we also need to look at the Writer's identity, because He's identified clearly. Verse 11: "[And] I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse, and He who sat on it is called Faithful and True." Now, as soon as we read that name, we know who this Writer is. We've already met him in Revelation. In [Revelation] 1:5, Jesus is called "the faithful Witness." In [Revelation] 3:7, He's called the One who is true. And in [Revelation] 3:14, He's called "the faithful and true Witness." So, this writer's identity is crystal clear. It's Jesus, the Messiah. He's the eternal Son of God made flesh and now glorified, the divine Messiah who's returning. But the words "Faithful and True" also reveal not only His identity, but His faithful character.
His faithful character. He's called "Faithful and True," not just as a marker of who He is, but rather as a description of what He's like. Faithful: He's trustworthy, He'll keep His word and He will return as He promised. Christian, if your hope is in the return of Jesus Christ, know this: He's trustworthy, He's faithful, and He's described here as true: He's the true and genuine Messiah versus all of the false messiahs that He promised would arise at the end time, and of course, chief among them, the antichrist, who will present himself as being a substitute for Christ. He's the true One. So, there's His unique person.
That brings us to a second distinctive, and that is His assigned role. The end of [Revelation 19:11]: "And in righteousness He judges and wages war." In Greek, both of these verbs are in the present tense. It implies that they're not something that happens occasionally. Rather, these are His habitual actions. It doesn't surprise us. In Isaiah 11:4, a prophecy about the Messiah, we read this: "[But] with righteousness He will judge the poor, and decide with fairness for the afflicted of the earth; and He will strike the earth with the rod of His mouth, and with the breath of His lips He will slay the wicked." Now, if we were to look throughout the Scripture, we would find that Scripture gives us several reasons for the second coming. But the focus in this text is on only one, and that is, Christ's utter annihilation of evil.
And it's described, notice first of all, that He — in this assigned role He's received from the Father — Jesus will come to execute judgment. Verse 11: "And in righteousness He judges." He judges. That is, He exercises the responsibility of a judge. He judges mankind. Again, that's not a surprise. Jesus Himself said in John 5:22, "For not even the Father judges anyone, but He has given all judgment to the Son." John 5:27, "He gave Him authority to execute judgment, because He is the Son of Man." Jesus says I've been given the right to judge by the Father. In Acts 10:42, Peter says to Cornelius' household, Christ "ordered us to preach to the people, and solemnly to testify that this is the One who has been appointed by God as Judge of the living and the dead." That's Christ's assigned role. Before the philosophers on Mars Hill, in Acts 17:31, Paul says, God "has fixed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness through a Man whom He has appointed, having furnished proof to all men by raising Him from the dead."
Understand this: The Father has assigned the right to judge humanity to the Son, and He comes to execute that judgment. But notice, it says, "He will judge in righteousness." You know, we're grateful for our justice system, but let's admit that it's fatally flawed, as all human justice is. Often there are injustices done unwittingly, sometimes intentionally. Not with Him. In righteousness He judges. That means everybody gets exactly what they deserve. There's no miscarriage of justice. There's no one treated unfairly. Everyone gets exactly what they have earned and deserved in righteousness.
The second part of His assigned role is Jesus will come to wage war. Verse 11 continues: "In righteousness, He [judges and] wages war." Jesus will come back. And when He comes the second time, He will come to declare war on everything on this planet that is evil. In righteousness, He will give to everyone exactly what they deserve. In the end, Jesus will establish on this earth all the implications of His victory on the cross.
So, we've seen His unique person and we've seen His assigned role. A third distinctive of our King is this: His divine qualities. In verses 12 and 13, you see Jesus Christ possesses qualities that belong to God alone. The first quality that's identified is His piercing omniscience, verse 12: His eyes are like a flame of fire. You see, like piercing lasers, the eyes of Jesus see everything exactly as it is. Nothing can be hidden from His sight. He looks right through all pretense, all hypocrisy, and He sees us exactly as we are. When Jesus looks at me, he doesn't see how I want people to think about me. He sees who I really am, to the very core of my being, and the same thing is true for you. He knows every secret sin. He knows every public crime. He knows every thought. He knows every attitude. He knows every motive. Hebrews 4:13: "[And] there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are open and laid bare to the eyes of Him with whom we have to do." No creature. That's not me. That's not you. And here's the remarkable thing: He doesn't just see what's there; He understands it. You see, you and I, we know many things about ourselves, but honestly, we don't always understand ourselves and why we do what we do and what our motives are. He understands all of that, and He understands it all perfectly. He has, like God, piercing omniscience.
There's a second divine quality, and that is comprehensive authority. Verse 12: "[And] on His head are many diadems." The Greek word for diadem is basically — it's just transliterated into English here. This is the crown worn by kings. But Christ doesn't merely have a single crown, He has many. In 2 Samuel 12, when David defeated the Ammonites there, he added the crown of their king to his own crown. He had two crowns. In Revelation, chapter 12 says Satan wears seven diadems. Chapter 13 says antichrist wears ten. But Christ doesn't have two crowns or seven crowns or ten crowns. He has many crowns, many diadems. He's won many battles. He's conquered many kingdoms. He has, like God, comprehensive authority.
A third divine quality is a mysterious nature. Verse 12 continues, "He has a name written on Him which no one knows except Himself." Now, amazingly, in the literature about Revelation, there are many guesses as to what this name might be. I agree, that's completely ridiculous. It's a name only He can know. Now, this may be an actual name that we aren't allowed to know until the future, some people think that. More likely, I think it means that we will never fully comprehend all that's true about our Lord, because like God, because He is God, He is infinite. John MacArthur puts it well when he writes, "There are unfathomable mysteries in the Godhead that even glorified saints are unable to grasp." You'll spend eternity learning about Jesus Christ, Christian, and you will never understand all there is to know. He has a mysterious nature.
A fourth divine quality that He possesses is invincible power. Verse 13: "He is clothed with a robe dipped in blood." Literally, the Greek text reads, Having been clothed with a robe, having been dipped in blood. Now, some people think this is His own blood. This is a picture of what happened at Calvary. And while that's a remote possibility, it is highly unlikely, because this is the blood of Jesus' enemies. How do I know that? Because this image of Messiah with blood-stained robes is not unique to this passage. It comes from Isaiah 63, where it's a picture of the Messiah's robes stained by the blood of His enemies. Turn back with me to Isaiah chapter 63 and look at this passage. Beginning in verse 1, he describes Christ's victory over the enemies of God. The enemies of God are personified as Israel's oldest enemy, Edom, a nearby nation. But notice, as the Messiah destroys His enemies, how it's described. Verse 2, the people who observe it as they see Him coming, "Why is Your apparel red, and Your garments like the One who treads in the wine press?" And here's Messiah's answer:
"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 their lifeblood is sprinkled on My garments, and I stained all My raiment. For the day of vengeance was in My heart, and My year of redemption has come."
So here in Revelation 19, we see the robes of Christ stained in blood, like the description of the Messiah in Isaiah 63. What is this blood? It may be the blood anticipating Jesus' coming victory in Armageddon. He's about to fight that battle at the end of chapter 19. It may be anticipating that, but I think more likely, since He comes from heaven with a robe dipped in blood, it's probably a reminder of all of His previous victories. As would be appropriate on Veterans' Day, Donald Macleod, commenting on Jesus' blood-stained robes, writes this, "It points back over many enemies already vanquished. Christ comes to this final great war not as a raw recruit, but as a veteran in battle." You see, it was Jesus Christ who defeated Israel's enemies in the Old Testament. It wasn't Israel's armies. You remember that scene in the early chapters of Joshua where Joshua the general is confronted by the captain of the Lord's armies? That's a pre-incarnate appearance of Jesus Christ. He is the captain of the Lord's armies. He is the warrior King who defends His people. And of course, He won His greatest battle where? At the cross, as Colossians 2:15 puts it, when He destroyed the spiritual enemies of God. So, it's just like we sing, "What other name remains undefeated?" And the answer is, "Only a Holy God." Only Christ is undefeated because He, like God, has invincible power.
A fifth divine quality is that He is God's self-expression. Verse 13: "And His name is called the Word of God." Only John uses this title for Christ. You remember, back in the first chapter of his gospel, verse 1: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was [with] God, and the Word was God." And then verse 14: "[And] the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us." Verse 18 explains exactly the function of the Word: "No one has seen God at any time; the only begotten God who is in the bosom of the Father," that's Christ, "He has explained God." He has exegeted God. He is the Word of God in the sense that He is the self-expression of God, the full and final complete revelation of God. [In] second Corinthians 4:4, Christ is the image of God. Colossians 1:15: "He is the image of the invisible God." [In] Hebrews 1:3, Jesus is the radiance of God's glory "and the exact representation of His nature." Jesus, as the Word, is the self-expression, the self-revelation of God. Listen carefully: In the incarnation, Jesus was primarily the self-expression of the grace of God. That's why John 1:17 says grace was realized through Jesus the Messiah. But in Revelation 19, at the second coming, Jesus is the self-expression of something else about God, the self-expression of God's judgment. He is the Word of God. Those are the divine qualities of our King.
That brings us to a fourth distinctive of Jesus, our warrior King, and that is His massive armies. Verse 14: "And the armies which are in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, were following Him on white horses." Now, who makes up these armies? Well, Scripture describes two groups, primarily, that will accompany Christ to the second coming. The first group are angels. For example, 2 Thessalonians 1:7: "The Lord Jesus will be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels." The second group are believers. First Thessalonians 3:13 [says] the coming of our Lord Jesus will be with all His saints. So, who are these armies? Well, the description here in [Revelation 19:14], look at it again: They're clothed in white linen, white and clean. That matches the description of the church back in verse 8, "It was given to her to clothe herself in fine linen, bright and clean." So, it is true that angels will accompany Christ at the second coming, but the armies here in verse 14 are believers.
But why armies, plural? Well, we can't be sure of that, but I think the plural probably refers to three battalions of believers, three groups, if you will: The first being the believers that were raised at the rapture, now with glorified bodies; the second group being the souls of the tribulation saints who had died in martyrdom during the tribulation in Revelation 7; and the third group being the souls of Old Testament saints who will be raised at the end of the tribulation, as Daniel 12 talks about, and as we'll see in our future study of Revelation. So, these armies then include all the redeemed who have died. And that fits perfectly with what had previously been said in [Revelation] 17:14. There it says, Antichrist "will wage war against the Lamb," and those who are with the Lamb "are the called and chosen and faithful." In other words, believers.
So, think about that. If our Lord comes for us, or we die before His return, we'll be in this crowd. We will return with Him. But notice in verse 14, the believers don't have any armor. They don't carry any weapons. They don't do any of the fighting. Brothers and sisters, we're just there to watch. We will still be dressed for a celebration. We're on our way to the wedding feast of the Lamb. Christ does all the fighting. He's the only one mentioned with any weapon.
And that brings us to the fifth distinctive of our warrior King, His matchless weapon. Verses 15 and 16 reference four Old Testament passages that predicted the Messiah, as we'll see. But here's the first, verse 15: "From His mouth comes a sharp sword." Isaiah 49:2 says, "He has made My mouth," this is the Messiah, "like a sharp sword." Now, again, don't picture a sword coming out of Jesus' mouth. This is to picture a reality. When Jesus comes back in the second coming, He won't need any missiles, He won't need any tanks. No guns. No weapons. No artillery. He will defeat His enemies with a mere Word. With the power of His Word — think about this — with the power of Jesus' Word, He spoke this universe into existence. According to John 1:3, without Him, nothing was made that was made. And with the power of His Word, He will destroy all of His enemies. Second Thessalonians 2:8 talks about antichrist being revealed. Listen to how it describes it: "Whom the Lord will slay with the breath of His mouth." In other words, He'll just speak the Word, and antichrist, in all of his earthly power, will simply be destroyed forever.
We catch a glimpse of the power of Jesus' words, even while He was here on earth. I think the most graphic example of that is in John 18. You remember, in the garden of Gethsemane, they come to arrest Jesus, and Jesus asked, "Whom do you seek?" He's protecting His disciples. Basically, He asked whose name is on the search warrant. And they say Jesus of Nazareth. And Jesus says, "I am [He]." And you remember what happens [to] that guard there to arrest him? All of these hostile soldiers and thugs fall to the ground. Imagine what it will be like when Jesus Christ comes as the glorified Lord, the returning King, God's invincible Champion. How powerful will His Word be then? Verse 15 says this power of His Word is so that "with it he may strike down the nations."
Jesus will preserve His elect, who are still living at that time, at the end of the tribulation, both Jew and Gentile. But with a Word, He'll slaughter every unbelieving rebel still living at the second coming. He will immediately destroy those gathered to fight Him at Armageddon, as we'll see at the end of chapter 19. And then He'll gather the rest of the unbelieving population of this planet to be judged and executed at the judgment of the nations described in Matthew 25. His matchless weapon will simply be His Word. He will defeat every enemy of God by simply saying it.
There's a sixth distinctive of heaven's great warrior King, and that is His sobering mission. As I said, Scripture describes several reasons behind the second coming. But here the focus is on destroying evil and crushing mankind's rebellion against God. And that crushing defeat is described with two powerful images. The first image is a rod of iron. We're told here He will crush His unrepentant enemies with an iron rod. Verse 15: "And He" — literally, in Greek, He Himself, that is, He, and no one with Him — "will rule them with a rod of iron." Now, don't misunderstand. This isn't talking about some oppressive rule of Jesus. This is talking about Jesus taking that scepter that people gladly submit to, and for those who refuse to submit, crushing them. That's the picture. These words come from Psalm 2:9: You will break them with an iron rod, "You will shatter them like earthenware." One commentator, commenting on Psalm 2, explains that God has appointed the dominion of the world to His son. This authority is most terrible for the rebellious ones. For these, His scepter of dominion becomes a rod of iron which will shatter them into a thousand pieces like a brittle image of clay. For His own, His scepter becomes a place of refuge and safety and security. But for those who rebel, it will become an iron rod that crushes them completely.
He also is described here in this defeat of evil as a vintner crushing grapes beneath His feet. He comes to execute God's just rage against earth's rebels. Look at verse 15: And again, He Himself, literally, and He Himself, He alone "treads the wine press of the fierce wrath of God, the Almighty." Literally, in the Greek text, it reads this way: The wine press of the rage of the anger of God. In other words, the raging anger of God. You see, God is incredibly patient, but He also has righteous anger. And when God is done with His patience, and His anger breaks out, it is a raging, righteous anger. It's not capricious like ours. It doesn't go farther than people deserve, but it is perfect in its godly rage. And notice, He's God, the Almighty. That means no one's going to stand in His way. Christ is described here as Someone treading on a wine press, treading the grapes in a wine press, stomping on them. And His enemies are the grapes that He tramples. That's a stark image. But understand this: What we're being reminded of here is that God knows there is only one solution for continuing unrepentant sin, and that is to stamp it out. Like cancer, it must be destroyed. When Christ returns, He will destroy all who refuse to bow to Him, like a winemaker crushes the grapes beneath his feet.
Now, to some, this sounds antithetical to the Christian gospel and to turning the other cheek. Not at all. Paul, in 2 Thessalonians 1[:7] writes, "The Lord Jesus will be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels in flaming fire, dealing out retribution to those who do not know God and to those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus." But don't misunderstand, Christ doesn't find delight in the destruction of His enemies. Just like God, in Ezekiel 18, [says that] I find no joy, no delight in the destruction of the wicked. Turn and live, God says. Christ has the exact same heart. In fact, for seven years during the tribulation, and those of you who've been with us as we've journeyed through Revelation, for seven years, what does God do? Yes, in one sense, He's pouring out judgment, but not catastrophic, destructive judgment for everybody on the planet. In the middle of that, in so many different ways, He brings the gospel, and the gospel, and the gospel, and the gospel. And [Revelation] chapter 7 says there will be a countless number of people who will be saved even during that seven-year tribulation. That's the heart of God. He's a Savior by nature. This is the heart of Christ.
Turn back to 2 Corinthians 5:19, one of my favorite passages, as you know. [Paul] says, "God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them." And he's "committed to us the word," or message, "of reconciliation. Therefore, we are" — notice this — "ambassadors" — for whom? — "for Christ. As though God were making an appeal through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God." Listen, if Christ were here this morning, that's what He would say. That's what He wants me to say to you. If you're not His follower, be reconciled to God. Christ died for sin. Verse 21: God made Christ, "who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him." God made it possible, through Christ's death, for you to be reconciled to God, to have a relationship with God, to be forgiven of your sins. And Christ is pleading with you, through me: Don't die in your sins. Repent and live. But eventually, Christ's patience will reach its end. And with no joy and with no delight, He will do what justice demands and He will destroy his enemies. That's His sobering mission.
There's one last distinctive of our returning warrior King, and that is His universal sovereignty. [Revelation 19:16]: "And on His robe and on His thigh, he has a name written." Embroidered on His robe, on the part that falls against His thigh as He rides, will be this title: "King of kings, and Lord of lords." This is Jesus' absolute, universal sovereignty. As R.C. Sproul used to say, "There's not a stray molecule in the universe. Jesus is Lord of everything."
So how should you and I respond to the Revelation of Jesus Christ? Well, Psalm 2 is about this very event and the setting up of Jesus' kingdom. And Psalm 2 ends by giving us the right responses to all of this. Let me just give them to you. You can look them up and think about them. First of all, Psalm 2:11, "Worship the Lord with reverence and rejoice with trembling." Worship the Son with fear and joy. Number two, submit to the Son with godly fear. Psalm 2:12 says, "Do homage to the Son." That's an act of allegiance, an act of submission. Listen, if you want to be right with God, it means you've got to humble yourself from your pride, and acknowledge what you deserve from God, and seek the forgiveness that's found in Jesus Christ. You must submit to the Son of God. "Do homage to the Son, that He [not] become angry, and you perish in the way, for His wrath may soon be kindled." Do you understand? Your relationship to the Son of God determines your eternal destiny. You must submit to
Him. And finally, you must trust in the Son for your eternal salvation. Psalm 2:12 says this, "How blessed are all who take refuge in Him!" You need to take refuge in the Son. In other words, you need to recognize that His wrath is coming, and your only protection from His wrath is Him. You have a choice. You can either acknowledge Jesus as Savior and Lord today, or you will face Jesus as Lord and Executioner and Judge someday. Those are your only choices. But deal with Jesus, you will. He's coming again.
Let's pray together. Father, thank You for our study together this morning. Use Your truth in our hearts, Lord. For those of us who know and love You, may we say, even so, come Lord Jesus. And Lord, for those who don't, may they today submit themselves to Your Son and put their trust in Him. May they be reconciled to You through His perfect life, substitutionary death and resurrection. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen.