The Coming King

0:33 On today's edition of Pathway to Victory. Jesus Christ is returning to earth one day to reward the righteous and to punish the unrighteous. And it is that certain, visible, literal return of Jesus Christ that we have come to in our study of the book of Revelation. If you have your Bibles, turn to Revelation chapter 19 as we talk about the coming King. Welcome to Pathway to Victory with author and pastor Dr. Robert Jeffress. In 2011, over 100 million people tuned in to watch the royal wedding ceremony between Prince William and Kate Middleton. It was one of the most extravagant events in modern history. But today on Pathway to Victory, Dr. Robert Jeffress teaches about an even greater celebration to come. the wedding feast of the Lamb. But first, let's take a moment to hear some important ministry updates. Thanks, David, and welcome again to Pathway to Victory. Before we get started in Revelation chapter 19, I'm pleased to invite you to join us for a life-changing vacation this coming May, 2027. I'm referring to the Pathway to Victory journeys of Paul Mediterranean cruise. On this exclusive 10-day tour, we'll combine world-class vacation activity with an emphasis on our spiritual heritage. Our luxurious cruise will trace the spread of the Christian faith in the first century. Plus, to ensure that this is a truly Christian experience for you, we're bringing our own musical artists and entertainers. You can see the itinerary and reserve your spot by going to ptv.org. And then, a quick reminder before we begin the message.

2:21 For a limited time, you're invited to request my best-selling commentary on Revelation. It's the one that I wrote while preparing our current teaching series. It's titled, Final Conquest. Current events in our world are unsettling and bear the marks of the end times. How do we interpret these inflection points? And should we be alarmed? Well, Revelation shows us that in the end, God conquers evil once and for all. The full story unfolds in the last book of the Bible,

3:16 King. In January of 1961, a few days before he was inaugurated as President of the United States, President-elect John F. Kennedy invited Billy Graham to join him in Florida for a round of golf. on the way back from the golf course, President-elect Kennedy asked Billy Graham this question. Billy, do you believe that Jesus Christ is coming back to earth one day? Dr. Graham said, yes, sir, I do. And then the president-elect said, well, if that's true, Billy. Why do I hear so little about it today? The fact is you don't hear much about the return of Jesus Christ. It's a subject not even addressed in many pulpits across America today. But even though it may not be talked about a lot, the fact is certain Jesus Christ is returning to earth one day to reward the righteous and to punish the unrighteous. And it is our hope, the only hope that we have. And it is that certain visible, literal return of Jesus Christ that we have come to in our study of the book of Revelation. If you have your Bibles, turn to Revelation chapter 19 as we talk about the coming King. Let's look at the first 10 verses first, in which the saints her rejoicing over the fall of Babylon. Why are the people in heaven so excited when Babylon is destroyed? First of all, verses one and two, hallelujah for the great harlot is fallen.

5:08 After these things, I heard something like a loud voice of a great multitude in heaven saying, hallelujah, salvation and glory and power belong to our God because his judgments are true and righteous, for he has judged the great harlot who is corrupting the earth. Secondly, there's a hallelujah for the great city is consumed. Verse three, when Babylon is destroyed, they said in heaven, hallelujah, praise me to God, for her smoke rises up forever and ever. That city continues to smolder after it is destroyed, symbolizing that its desolation is complete, but it's her punishment is forever and ever. The third hallelujah, hallelujah for God has vanquished evil. He has vanquished evil forever and ever. We find that in verse four in the 24 elders and the living creatures fell down and worship God saying, amen, hallelujah. And finally, Hallelujah for the Lord God Almighty reigns. Now, this four hallelujah chorus gives way to the final hymn in the book of Revelation. We've looked at a number of hymns in the book of Revelation.

6:27 Here's the final one. It's a hymn, a song for the lamb and his bride. Look at verse seven. let us rejoice and be glad and give the glory to him for why the marriage of the lamb has come and his bride has made herself ready the reason we can praise God at this point in the tribulation is because a marriage has already taken place that phrase has come denotes an action that has already been completed. We can rejoice because a wedding has already taken place. You say, wedding? Was there a wedding that I wasn't invited to? What do you mean a wedding has taken place? Who is this wedding for? Well, it's the marriage of the Lamb. We know who the Lamb is. We've seen it over and over in Revelation. The Lamb is Jesus Christ. Behold, the Lamb of God, John the Baptist said, who takes away the sin of the world.

7:27 The lamb, Christ, has gotten married. Well, who did he get married to? Well, his bride. Well, who is the bride? Some people say, well, it's the Old Testament saints. No, the bride of Jesus Christ is you and me, the church of Jesus Christ. Those who were saved in that unique period of history between Pentecost and the rapture of the church, that is the bride of Christ. the wedding supper of the lamb. Notice verse eight. And it was given to her, that is the bride, to clothe herself in fine linen, bright and clean, for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints. The bride is getting ready during the tribulation. We, the bride, are in heaven with the groom. We're getting ready to come back to earth for this great celebration, the marriage feast of the lamb. And how are we going to clothe ourselves? With bright linen. That is, if you don't know what that is, it is the righteous acts of the saints. Now look at this, a blessing for the wedding guests. This is so interesting. Verse nine. Then John said to me, write this, write this down. Blessed, literally happy are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the lamb.

8:53 It is a happy thing if you receive an invitation to the wedding feast of the Lamb. Now, who gets invited to a wedding feast? Does the bride get an invitation? Well, no, the bride doesn't get invited to her own wedding. The groom doesn't get invited to his own wedding. This is for guests of the bride and groom. and what the angel is saying to John is how happy are those who get invited to the wedding supper of the lamb now that sets the stage for the return of Jesus Christ before that wedding supper can occur Jesus and his bride must come back to earth again it begins at the beginning of his millennium that wedding supper. They have to return to earth again, but something has to happen before they get to earth. And that is all of the enemies of the groom and the bride have to be extinguished. And that's what we see happening at the return of Jesus Christ. Look at verse 11, the triumphal entry of the King. And I saw heaven open, John says, and behold, a white horse and he who sat upon it is called faithful and true. That word faithful means absolutely trustworthy, true, genuine, and in righteousness, he judges and wages war for his eyes or a flame of fire talks about his piercing judgment. And on his head are many diadems, regal crowns, symbolizing his right to rule. It was this picture that caused Matthew Brides in 1852 to write that hymn, crown him with many crowns, the lamb upon his throne. 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. Are you curious about what that name is that is written on him that nobody knows about himself? Would you like to know? I don't have a clue. Nobody knows. That's why it says,

11:00 Nobody knows except himself. We don't know what it is. He is clothed with a robe dipped in blood. It's not in his blood. It's in the blood of his adversaries on earth who are fighting him. And his name is called the word of God. This is the second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. And notice in verse 14, the description of the king's army and the armies, which are in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, were following him on white horses. Who is this army from heaven that follows him? Some people say it was the angels. Maybe. The tribulation saints. Maybe. Maybe it was the Old Testament saints. It's the church. It is you and I. How do I know that? There was that description. They were clothed in fine linen. Remember we saw earlier that the bride was making herself ready in fine linen, which is the righteous acts of the saints. Now look at a description of the warrior king in verses 15 and 16. And from his mouth comes a sharp sword so that with it he may strike down the nations. What is that sharp sword? It's the word of God. The word of God is alive and it's active and it's sharper than any two-edged sword. God's word is what gives life to some and pronounces death upon others. Remember the Old Testament description? God's word is like a surgeon's scalpel. It brings hurt as well as healing. So does this two-edged sword, the word of God. It brings life to those who believe it. It brings eternal death to those who reject it. And he will rule them with a rod of iron. And he treads the winepress of the fierce wrath of God, the almighty. We saw that imagery earlier in chapter 14. He will tread the wine press of the fierce wrath of God. Remember that image of the vine press in John's day, when grapes were ripe, almost bursting forth with the juice at that point,

13:10 those grapes would be put into a wine press and the servants or slaves would get in with their bare feet and they would stomp on those grapes and those grapes would burst forth with the juice that would be captured in another cistern below. In this image, the grapes represent unbelievers, sinners, and they are bursting forth with sin. And at God's appointed time, Jesus Christ is going to trample the grapes of wrath. He is going to bring judgment to those sinners and their blood is going to splatter forth like the juice from an overly ripe grape. That's the picture here. In fact, at this battle of Armageddon, the death is so great that blood will splatter up to the bridle of a horse. That's the picture we have here. This is a fulfillment of Jude verses 14 and 15. Behold, the Lord came with many thousands of his holy ones to execute judgment upon all and to convict all the ungodly of their ungodly deeds, which they have done in an ungodly way and all the harsh things which ungodly sinners have spoken about him. Now in verse 17, we see the victory of the king over his enemies. Again, Jesus prophesied about this 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 with great glory. This brings about, there are three aspects of this victory of the king. First of all, it's referred to as the supper of God. Now listen to me.

15:03 In the book of Revelation chapter 19, there are actually two suppers that are described. The first supper we've already talked about, the wedding supper of the lamb. And John said, blessed, happy are those who get an invitation to that supper. But this is a different supper here. It's called the supper of God. And that is an invitation you never want to receive in the mail. the first invitation the invitation to the wedding supper of the lamb is an invitation that is to be coveted this second invitation an invitation to the supper of god is an invitation to be dreaded the first invitation the lamb of god's supper is a invitation to come and eat the second invitation to the supper of God is an invitation to come and be eaten. You'll see what I mean here. This is a supper of judgment. Verses 17 and 18. Then I saw an angel standing in the sun, and he cried out with a loud voice, saying to all the birds which fly in midheaven, come and assemble for the great supper of God, so that ye may eat the flesh of kings and the flesh of commanders and the flesh of mighty men and the flesh of horses and of those who sit upon them and the flesh of all men, both free men and slaves of small and great. There are going to be millions upon millions of people who will be slaughtered on that day. Do you remember some of the pictures coming out of New York City during the early days of the coronavirus pandemic?

16:49 there were bodies. There were so many bodies, they couldn't take care of the bodies. The funeral homes couldn't take care of them. It will be that way at Armageddon. Bodies will be left in the battlefield for the birds to eat. We know right now that there are millions of predatory birds. Very easy to see how those predatory birds could be instruments of God to gorge themselves with the flesh of those who are destroyed at this great, great battle. That is the great supper of God. Notice secondly, the judgment of the beast and the false prophet. Verse 19, and I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies assembled to make war against Christ who sat upon the horse and against his army. And the beast, the antichrist was seized and with him the false prophet who performed the signs in his presence by which he received those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image. And these two, that is, the antichrist and false prophet were thrown alive into the lake of fire, which burns with brimstone.

18:01 This is the first mention of the lake of fire in the book of Revelation. It is the eternal place of torment for those who die apart from Christ. You see, right now, if you're an unbeliever and you die without receiving Jesus Christ as your savior, you go to a place the Bible calls Hades. Jesus talked about it in Luke 16. It's an awful place. It's a place of suffering, but it's a temporary place as well. Every unbeliever who has ever lived is right now in Hades awaiting his final trial at the great white throne judgment and his final sentence, which will be to be thrown into the lake of fire, to be tormented day and night forever and ever. The first two occupants of that lake of fire will be the beast and the false prophet. And we'll find after Revelation 20, after the thousand years of millennium, the reign of Christ, at the end of those thousand years, Satan will be cast into the lake of fire. Revelation 20, 10 says, the great dragon, Satan will be cast into the lake of fire where the beast and the false prophet are. To me, that's fascinating because Satan doesn't enter that lake of fire until a thousand years later. And yet a thousand years later, when Satan is dispatched into the lake of fire, It says the beast and the false prophet are still there.

19:32 It doesn't say they were there. They are there, meaning they are still alive. And that is the awful truth about hell, the final judgment place of the unsaved. A person who goes to hell isn't just destroyed. They continue to suffer, to be tormented day and night forever and ever. If you don't like that, if you think that's wrong or unfair, your problem is with the word of God. That's exactly what God says. God never meant for human beings to occupy the lake of fire. It was designed for the devil, his angels, for the beast and the false prophet. But those who reject the grace, the forgiveness of God will spend eternity there as well. And then we see this final word in verse 21 about the sword of Christ and the rest were killed with a sword, which came from the mouth of him who sat on the horse and all the birds were filled with their flesh.

20:35 This is the future that awaits those who die apart from Christ Jesus. But what about the here and now? I close with this, perhaps the best known verse in the entire Bible by Christians and non-Christians alike is John 3, 16. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believes in, trusts in, clings to him, will not perish, but have eternal life. For God did not send his son into the world to judge the world, but that the world through him might be saved. People misinterpret that. They say, oh, see, Pastor, Jesus isn't a judge. No, he didn't come to judge the world the first time. He didn't come into the world the first time to judge the world. He came as Savior to save the world. He didn't come the first time to judge.

21:33 He came to save. John goes on to explain, for he who believes in him is not judged, but he who does not believe has been judged already because he does not believe in the name of the only begotten son of God. You see, a lot of people think when we're born into this world, we're born spiritually neutral. And when we die, you know, it's kind of a crapshoot, whether we go to heaven or hell, depending on how nice we are while here on planet earth. No, when we enter this world, we enter alienated from God. We are like prisoners on death row, awaiting our final execution. But Jesus Christ came that first time to be our savior, to offer us a pardon from our sins, a stay of execution, if you will, if we'll accept his forgiveness. He came the first time to be our savior. But if we leave this world without receiving that pardon from sin, we will face him one day as our judge, just as those will at the end time when they see him coming and riding on that great white horse. The second coming of Jesus Christ will be the worst day of your life if you have to face him as your judge. But the second coming of Jesus Christ will be the best day of your life if you receive his forgiveness now. And when you see him, know that is the first day of the great future He has planned for you.

23:13 The choice, of course, is entirely yours. But as the Bible says, today is the day of salvation. And it's my prayer that you will take your first steps toward Jesus Christ as the pardon for your sins. Well, we've been on an adventure since the first Monday of August when our study in the book of Revelation started. And this coming Monday, we'll conclude this teaching series called Final Conquest. With this deadline approaching, I'm urging you to call, write, or go online to request a copy of my commentary on Revelation called Final Conquest. My book includes an in-depth examination of the events that culminate in the return of Christ. Along the way, I'll help you understand the mysterious symbols used through the book of Revelation. Plus, I'll show you why Revelation gives Christians a major reason to celebrate because, in the end, God is victorious.

24:15 I'll ask you to be generous when you make your request. This is a large volume, and it represents decades of personal study. Again, the title of my book is Final Conquest, and it's yours. When you include a generous gift to support the ministry of Pathway to Victory. In closing, let me thank our Pathway partners and all those who give to Pathway to Victory. Our program would never leave the city limits of Dallas without partners like you. But because of the army of faithful friends God has brought to us, Pathway to Victory impacts the entire globe. So thank you and keep up the good work. Together we are piercing the darkness with the light of God's Word. Here's David to tell you more.