{"id":19011,"date":"2019-12-01T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2019-12-01T06:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sugar-land-bible-church.local\/sermon\/revelation-062-the-main-event\/"},"modified":"2019-12-01T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2019-12-01T06:00:00","slug":"revelation-062-the-main-event","status":"publish","type":"sermon","link":"https:\/\/slbc.org\/es\/sermon\/revelation-062-the-main-event\/","title":{"rendered":"Revelation 062 – The Main Event"},"content":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"template":"","book":[111],"series_event":[490],"sermon_service_type":[472],"speaker":[6],"class_list":["post-19011","sermon","type-sermon","status-publish","hentry","book-revelation","series_event-revelation","sermon_service_type-main-service","speaker-dr-andy-woods","no-post-thumbnail"],"acf":{"sermon_title":"Revelation 062 - The Main Event","sermon_date":"20191201","sermon_month":"12","sermon_year":"2019","sermon_notes":5805,"sermon_slides":7331,"sermon_mp3":7333,"sermon_id":"121191358301300","series_or_event":490,"service_type":[472],"speaker":6,"books_of_the_bible":111,"chapter_and_verse":"19:11-14","sermon_transcript":"Andy Woods\n\nThe Main Event Revelation 19:11-14\n\nLesson 62\n\nLet\u2019s take our Bibles if we could and open them to the Book of Revelation, chapter 19 and verse 11.\u00a0 The title of our message this morning is The Main Event.\u00a0 This time of the year we\u2019re getting ready to celebrate the coming of Jesus to our world two thousand years ago.\u00a0 And here we\u2019re looking at something related but not exactly the same thing as we\u2019ll see, the coming of Jesus into our world yet future.\u00a0 We call that the second coming or the second advent of Christ.\n\nWe\u2019re now in a section of the Book of Revelation where all of the various judgments have been poured out, taking us to the very end of the tribulation period.\u00a0 Here\u2019s an outline we\u2019ve been using to kind of navigate our way through the verse that we\u2019re looking at, both last week, this week and next seek. We\u2019ve seen the marriage supper of the Lamb, how verses 8 and 9 are sort of the completion of a process for the church as the church has now been raptured to heaven, emerging from heaven fully rewarded, emerging from heaven participating on the earth in something called the Marriage Supper of the Lamb.\u00a0 We saw all of that last week.\u00a0 And then we saw John being so overwhelmed by these events that rather than worshipping God he worships the angel that gave him the vision.\u00a0 And we got a lesson there in verse 10 concerning idolatry.\n\nAnd now what follows all of that is verses 11-16, it\u2019s simply titled The Second Advent of Christ.\u00a0 When Jesus returns to this earth one day what exactly is that going to look like?\u00a0 You get a very concrete description of it in the verses that we\u2019re looking at here.\u00a0 We\u2019ve seen verses 11-14, His qualities.\u00a0 There\u2019s about ten of them. \u00a0And then we see verses 15-16, His activity, and there\u2019s about five of those.\u00a0 [Revelation 19:15-16, \u201cFrom His mouth comes a sharp sword, so that with it He may strike down the nations, and He will]<\/sup>rule them with a rod of iron; and He treads the wine press of the fierce wrath of God, the Almighty. [16] \u00a0<\/sup>And on His robe and on His thigh He has a name written, \u201cKING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.\u201d]\u00a0 I\u2019m not sure if we\u2019re going to get through all of that today in our allotted time period but it should give us at least some of the things we talk about today a taste of what this world is headed for when Jesus Christ comes back a second time.\n\nNotice first of all His qualities.\u00a0 And we see ten of these in verses 11-14.\u00a0 Notice if you will Revelation 19:11, John says, \u201cAnd I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse, and He who sat on it\u00a0is<\/em>\u00a0called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and wages war.\u201d\u00a0 Notice number one here his celestial or heavenly origin.\u00a0 John specifically said he \u201csaw heaven opened.\u201d\u00a0 Now you might recall when Jesus was here two thousand years ago, just before He ascended back into heaven, following His crucifixion and resurrection, in Acts 1:9-11 we read these words.\u00a0 \u201cAnd after He had said these things, He was lifted up while they were looking on, and a cloud received Him out of their sight.\u201d That\u2019s His ascension. \u00a0Verse 11 says, \u201c\u2026This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in just the same way as you have watched Him go into heaven.\u201d\n\nHe left bodily so He\u2019s coming back bodily.\u00a0 He left physically so He\u2019s coming back physically.\u00a0 He left visibly so He\u2019s coming back visibly.\u00a0 He left from the Mount of Olives and He\u2019s coming back to the Mount of Olives.\u00a0 This is the difference between taking a tour of Israel with someone who believes in these things and someone who doesn\u2019t.\u00a0 Most of Christianity will take you to the Mount of Olives on their tour and they will explain to you what Jesus did on the Mount of Olives. There are many things He did.\u00a0 But when you go with someone who is a student of the full counsel of God\u2019s Word they will not just tell you what Jesus did two thousand years ago on the Mount of Olives but what He will do yet future.\n\nThe coming of Jesus Christ to this earth is just as actual and just as factual and just as historical as was His first coming.\u00a0 Everybody accepts, at least within professing Christendom, the historicity of the first coming of Jesus Christ.\u00a0 And I\u2019m here to tell you that His second coming is going to be just as much historical.\u00a0 So Jesus two thousand years ago ascended back into heaven and exactly where did He go?\u00a0 Revelation 3:21 tells us, \u201cHe who overcomes, I will grant to him to sit down with Me\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne.\u201d\u00a0 Following His ascension two thousand years ago He is not seated on His own throne.\u00a0 That is yet future in Jerusalem.\u00a0 Currently Jesus is seated on the Father\u2019s throne.\n\nOne of the things to understand is in the ministry of Christ there are three offices that He occupies\u2014Prophet, Priest and King.\u00a0 He functioned largely as prophet in His first coming trying to bring the nation of Israel to Himself.\u00a0 He will function as King in His second coming.\u00a0 That won\u2019t happen until subsequent the second advent when He takes His seat on David\u2019s throne in Jerusalem.\u00a0 So what is He doing now?\u00a0 A lot of people think He\u2019s not doing anything.\u00a0 Well, I\u2019m here to tell you that He\u2019s very busy; He is functioning as high priest after the order of who?\u00a0 Melchizedek.\u00a0 The whole Book of Hebrews is a description of His current ministry.\u00a0 There are at least eleven things He\u2019s doing.\u00a0 He\u2019s sustaining creation.\u00a0 He\u2019s head over the church.\u00a0 He\u2019s groom over the church.\u00a0 He\u2019s building the church.\u00a0 He is bestowing to His church spiritual gifts.\u00a0 He\u2019s functioning as a priest.\u00a0 He\u2019s praying for the saints.\u00a0 He\u2019s keeping the saints.\u00a0 (Aren\u2019t you glad about these things\u2026. I AM!)\u00a0 He\u2019s an advocate for the saints.\u00a0 And when we as Christians sin He restores broken fellowship.\u00a0 And \u201cwhom the Lord loves the Lord\u201d what? \u201cthe Lord disciplines.\u201d\u00a0 [Hebrews 12:6]\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 He\u2019s disciplining the saints.\n\nI mean, there\u2019s a very active role that the glorious ministry that Jesus is occupying now, not on His own throne in Jerusalem but on the Father\u2019s throne.\u00a0 But you see, when heaven is opened and Jesus returns to this earth these ministries that I\u2019m describing now will be a thing of the past, just like His ministry as prophet in His first advent is a thing of the past.\u00a0 These ministries that we appreciate now and enjoy now will ultimately be a thing of the past because Jesus will move into His third office where He will function not as prophet, not as priest, but as King.\u00a0 The moment heaven opens and Jesus returns from heaven, which is where He\u2019s been for two thousand years, you can expect a completely different ministry of Jesus.\u00a0 He will be functioning in His regal authority.\n\nNow there is a lot of confusion today concerning the rapture of the church.\u00a0 There are people (I call them rapture deniers) that spend all their waking hours trying to debunk the blessed hope or the rapture of the church where we are going to be taken into heaven before the tribulation period even unfolds.\u00a0 We teach that here at Sugar Land Bible Church, the blessed hope of the church, the pre-tribulational rapture of the church.\u00a0 We defend it, it\u2019s in our doctrinal statement and yet there are people that will completely deny it, they don\u2019t think it\u2019s a reality.\u00a0 They will put the rapture either in the middle of the tribulation period or what a lot of people do is they\u2019ll put it there at the end of the tribulation period and they\u2019ll try to argue that Revelation 19 is actually a description of the rapture.\n\nNotice with me, if you will, which direction is Jesus coming?\u00a0 I mean, John physically says there in verse 11, \u201cI saw heaven opened,\u201d He is coming from heaven to where?\u00a0 To the earth!\u00a0 In fact, Acts 1:11, which we saw earlier, communicates that.\u00a0 \u201cThis Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in just the same way as you have watched Him go into heaven.\u201d\u00a0 He left from the Mount of Olives, He\u2019s coming back to the Mount of Olives.\n\nIn fact, Zechariah 14:4 says, \u201cIn that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, which is in front of Jerusalem on the east; and the Mount of Olives will be split in its middle from east to west by a very large valley,\u201d you say what does that mean?\u00a0 What it means is Jesus will come back and His feet will touch the Mount of Olives and the Mount of Olives will be split from east to the west in a very large valley.\n\nYou wouldn\u2019t believe the commentators that roll over themselves trying to explain this away.\u00a0 Loraine Boettner, who takes Bible prophecy and spiritualizes them all away says well \u201cwhat this really is about is about Jesus coming into the heart of the sinner and their heart is broken when they trust Christ as Savior.\u201d \u00a0I give him an A for creativity but that\u2019s not what the passage says.\u00a0 The passage when we just read it and take it for what it says, it says Jesus is coming back to the Mount of Olives just as He ascended from the Mount of Olives.\u00a0 He\u2019s coming back to this earth.\n\nZechariah 14:9 says, \u201cAnd the Lord will be king over all the earth; in that day.\u201d\u00a0 \u00a0In fact, you don\u2019t even have to get far into the Bible to see prophecies about the return of Jesus Christ.\u00a0 What is the oldest Book of the Bible?\u00a0 The Book of Job and what does Job say in Job 19:25.\u00a0 \u201cAs for me, I know that my Redeemer\u201d the Hebrew there is goel<\/em>, famous word for Redeemer, \u201cI know that my Redeemer \u00a0lives, and\u00a0 at the last He will take His stand on the earth.\u201d\u00a0 Jesus is coming from heaven to the earth.\n\nNow think about this for a minute; the rapture which occurs seven years earlier is going the exact opposite direction, isn\u2019t it?\u00a0 Doesn\u2019t Paul, when he talks about the rapture say this: \u201cThen we who are alive and remain,\u201d 1 Thessalonians 4:17, \u201cwill be\u201d what does it say?\u00a0 \u201c\u2026will be caught up\u201d that\u2019s going from the earth to heaven, we \u201cwill be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord.\u201d\u00a0 How could this, Revelation 19, be the rapture when the rapture is going the exact opposite direction than we\u2019re reading about here in Revelation 19.\u00a0 Rapture from earth to heaven; second coming from heaven to the earth.\u00a0 And yet some of the most brilliant people in Christendom will argue that this is the rapture.\n\nAnd I hate to be the bearer of bad news or to bust anybody\u2019s balloon but the reality is do these people do not understand the difference between up and down?\u00a0 [Laughter]\u00a0 I mean, they\u2019re getting their ups and their downs confused here.\u00a0 And Bible prophecy ought not to be treated that way.\n\nSo He is, number one, coming from a celestial origin.\u00a0 Number two, He is coming back on a white horse.\u00a0 Now this is not the first white horse that we\u2019ve seen in the Book of Revelation. You might when the first seal judgment was opened there came forth a man who brought peace to the earth riding on a white horse.\u00a0 Revelation 6:1-2 says, \u201cThen I saw when the Lamb broke one of the seven seals, and I heard one of the four living creatures saying as with a voice of thunder, \u201cCome.\u201d [2] And I looked, and behold, a white horse, and he who sat on it had a bow; and a crown was given to him, and he went out conquering and to conquer.\u201d\n\nAnd many people will tell you that the rider on the white horse in Revelation 6 is Jesus because that\u2019s how Jesus is described coming back to the earth in Revelation 19. I\u2019m here to tell you that the rider on the white horse in Revelation 6 is not Jesus Christ!\u00a0 How do I know that?\u00a0 Because Jesus, Revelation 6:1, is in heaven opening the seven sealed scroll, which brings the rider on the white horse to the earth.\u00a0 So it\u2019d be kind of odd to make Jesus in heaven and simultaneously have Him also as the rider on the white horse.\n\nNumber two, when Jesus sets up His kingdom upon the earth one day there will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace.\u00a0 World peace won\u2019t be a problem when Jesus returns.\u00a0 And yet this rider on the white horse brings what we would call a temporary peace to the earth but he never permanently solves the issue of world peace.\u00a0 In fact, the first seal judgment is followed by the second field judgment which brings forth global war on the earth.\n\nBeyond that there\u2019s a lot of differences between the rider on the white horse in Revelation 6 and the horse and the rider that we\u2019re reading about here in Revelation 19.\u00a0 The rider in Revelation 6 has a crown and a bow.\u00a0 That\u2019s not how Jesus return is described.\u00a0 He doesn\u2019t have a crown and a bow; He has crowns, plural.\u00a0 He doesn\u2019t have a bow, He has a sharp sword which is portrayed as protruding from His mouth.\u00a0 So a different description entirely.\n\nYou say well then if the rider on the white horse in Revelation 6 is different than the rider on the white horse in Revelation 19 who was the rider on the white horse that we read about? \u00a0[Revelation 19:11, \u201cAnd I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse, and He who sat on it\u00a0is<\/em>\u00a0called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and wages war.\u00a0[12] His eyes\u00a0are<\/em>\u00a0a flame of fire, and on His head\u00a0are<\/em>\u00a0many diadems; and He has a name written\u00a0on Him<\/em>\u00a0which no one knows except Himself.\u00a0[13] He is<\/em>\u00a0clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God.\u00a0[14] And the armies which are in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white\u00a0and<\/em>\u00a0clean, were following Him on white horses.\u201d]\n\nThat was the antichrist!\u00a0 He\u2019s a rider on the white horse because he solves the Middle East peace problem, some\u00adthing that no politician has ever been able to fix.\u00a0 He actually enters into a covenant with the nation of Israel, Daniel 9:27 which launches the seven year period of time.\u00a0 [Daniel 9:27, \u00a0\u201cAnd he will make a firm covenant with the many for one week, but in the middle of the week he will put a stop to sacrifice and grain offering; and on the wing of abominations will come one who makes desolate, even until a complete destruction, one that is decreed, is poured out on the one who makes desolate.\u201d]\n\nAnd he seems to solve all of the world\u2019s problems and he is heralded as a conqueror, someone coming to conquer.\u00a0 In fact, 2 Thessalonians 2:9 in the New Living Translation says this of the antichrist: \u201cThis man will come and do the work of Satan with counterfeit powers, signs and miracles.\u201d\u00a0 Who was that rider on the white horse in Revelation 6?\u00a0 He was a counterfeit.\u00a0 What you\u2019re seeing here in Revelation 19 is the real McCoy.\u00a0 And this is very important to understand because if the world will not accept the real deal (and many of them don\u2019t) you know what God will give them?\u00a0 He\u2019ll give them a substitute.\u00a0 He\u2019ll give them an artificial substitute to embrace, some\u00adthing that looks like a little thing but really is not actually the real thing.\n\nThis is very important to understand.\u00a0 The human mind will go into incredible deception when it rejects the truth.\u00a0 I am somewhat stunned about what some people believe in the twenty-first century about aliens, about Martians, about reincarnation, about this and that.\u00a0 And they want to take my beliefs in the Bible and call them extreme when in reality my beliefs in the Bible are very simple; I accept what it says!\u00a0 What you have to understand about people when they reject the truth they will become open to any number of false ideas and deceptions which come into their\u00a0 mind.\u00a0\u00a0 You look at people today and you think why are they so messed up?\u00a0 Why are they so deceived?\u00a0 Why do they believe as scientific fact the theory of evolution which says we went from the goo to the zoo to you over billions of years in a random process that went on for billions of\u00a0 years.\n\nWhy not just believe what the Bible says on page 1.\u00a0 And it has to do with something in the heart of people where they\u2019ve pushed out truth.\u00a0 They\u2019ve pushed out God\u2019s message; they have pushed out reality and they are given over, Paul tells us, to strong delusion.\u00a0 [2 Thessalonians 2:11, \u201cFor this reason God will send upon them a deluding influence so that they will believe what is false.\u201d]\n\nAnd so what you\u2019re seeing in Revelation 6 is a delusion.\u00a0 What you\u2019re seeing in Revelation 19 is the real McCoy.\u00a0 And\u00a0 you say well come on pastor,\u00a0 you don\u2019t really believe Jesus is coming back on a horse do you?\u00a0 I mean, that\u2019s obviously figurative language.\u00a0 Well let me remind you of something.\u00a0 There was a prophet named Zechariah and Zechariah 9:9 predicts this 500 years in advance concerning Christ\u2019s first coming. Zechariah says, \u201cHumble, and mounted on a donkey, even on a colt, the foal of a donkey.\u201d\n\nAnd you go to Matthew 2:1-6 and you see how literally that prophecy was fulfilled.\u00a0 \u00a0[Matthew 2:1-6, \u201cNow after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, magi from the east arrived in Jerusalem, saying, [2] \u201cWhere is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we saw His star in the east and have come to worship Him.\u201d [3] When Herod the king heard this,<\/em> he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. [4] Gathering together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Messiah was to be born. [5] They said to him, \u201cIn Bethlehem of Judea; for this is what has been written by the prophet: [6] AND YOU, BETHLEHEM, LAND OF JUDAH, ARE BY NO MEANS LEAST AMONG THE LEADERS OF JUDAH; FOR OUT OF YOU SHALL COME FORTH A RULER WHO WILL SHEPHERD MY PEOPLE ISRAEL\u2019\u201d]\n\nMatthew 21:1, \u201cWhen they had approached Jerusalem and had come to Bethphage, at the Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples, [2] saying to them, \u2018Go into the village opposite you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied there and a colt with her; untie them and bring them to Me.\u2019\u201d\u00a0 [3] If anyone says anything to you, you shall say, \u2018The Lord has need of them,\u2019 and immediately he will send them.\u201d\u00a0 [4] This took place to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet:\u00a0 [5] \u201cSAY TO THE DAUGHTER OF ZION, 'BEHOLD YOUR KING IS COMING TO YOU, GENTLE, AND MOUNTED ON A DONKEY, EVEN ON A COLT, THE FOAL OF A BEAST OF BURDEN.\u2019\u201d [6] The disciples went and did just as Jesus had instructed them.\u201d\n\nI think if there\u2019s ever a mistake that can be made when interpreting God\u2019s prophetic Word it\u2019s not to take it for what it says.\u00a0 And perhaps He\u2019s not coming back on a donkey; okay, well I\u2019ve had a happen life believing He is coming back on a donkey, or He is coming back on a white horse.\u00a0 And I\u2019m completely open to the idea that there\u2019s going to be things in prophecy that may not happen exactly like I think that they\u2019re going to happen but I have a tendency to take God at His Word whenever I possibly can.\u00a0 And this is a great mistake being made in Christendom where people generally look at a prophecy like this and they say well it really can\u2019t mean what it says.\u00a0 People probably in Zechariah\u2019s day probably didn\u2019t think Jesus would ride into Jerusalem on a donkey and yet that\u2019s what happened.\n\nJesus is coming back to this earth (if I\u2019m understanding it correctly) on a white horse.\u00a0 And by the way, you\u2019re coming back to the earth with Him on your own white horse.\u00a0 Did you know that?\u00a0 I got an e-mail from a guy who was very, very excited about this prophecy and he told me he\u2019s already got his horse made.\u00a0 And I said wow, I\u2019ve never gone that far but that\u2019s enthusiasm, I like that.\u00a0 And I\u2019ll show you that passage a little bit later.\u00a0 But this is the return of Jesus Christ, the real McCoy, this is the bona fide Jesus, not the deceptive antichrist that we read about in Revelation 6.\n\nSo number one, He is coming from heaven.\u00a0 Number two, He is riding on a white horse.\u00a0 Number three, He is faithful to His promises.\u00a0 Notice Revelation 19, continuing on there with verse 11, notice what it says.\u00a0 \u201cAnd I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse, and He who sat on it is<\/em> called Faithful and True\u2026.\u201d\u00a0 Jesus is called \u201cFaithful and True.\u00a0 And one of the reasons He is called Faithful and True is because He is executing and He is finishing and He is completing everything He promised to do.\u00a0 Everything the Holy Spirit said He would do is being fulfilled here, going all the way back even to Job 19:25.\u00a0 He is taking His stand on the earth.\u00a0 [\u201cAs for me, I know that my Redeemer\u201d the Hebrew there is goel<\/em>, famous word for Redeemer, \u201cI know that my Redeemer \u00a0lives, and\u00a0 at the last He will take His stand on the earth.\u201d]\n\nI am reminded or remember that movement Promise Keepers.\u00a0 Remember that movement, where all the men are going to come forward and we\u2019re going to give our promises and so, Promise Keepers, and well-intentioned but here\u2019s the reality of the situation, is there\u2019s only one Promise Keeper and that\u2019s Jesus Christ.\u00a0 Everybody else in this life came in by a sin nature and will let you down.\u00a0 Your boss will let you down.\u00a0 Your family will let you down.\u00a0\u00a0 Your friends will let you down.\u00a0 God forbid your pastor will let you down.\u00a0 Your church can let you down.\u00a0 Your elders can let you down.\u00a0 Your deacons can let you down.\n\nIt\u2019s part of living in the fallenness of our circumstances because we can try to be people of integrity, and we should strive for that, but there\u2019s only one person that\u2019s met the mark with 100% accuracy and that\u2019s Jesus Christ.\u00a0 Why?\u00a0 Because He wasn\u2019t tainted by the sin nature.\u00a0 That\u2019s the whole significance of the miraculous virgin conception.\u00a0 Had He not experienced that virgin conception then He would have been tainted with the exact same sin nature in Adam\u2019s lineage that we all are tainted with.\n\nSo consequently as you go through life what you\u2019re going to discover is people can be a tremendous disappointment, just as you are no doubt a disappointment to other people sometimes in your life.\u00a0 And sometimes we attach so much weight to what others think or what others do or what others believe when the reality of the situation is we need to stop looking to people and we need to start looking to Jesus Christ, because He\u2019s the only one that is a Promise Keeper.\u00a0 He\u2019s the only one that\u2019s Faithful and True.\n\nIn fact, you yourself will let yourself down.\u00a0 Did you know that?\u00a0 2 Timothy 2:13 says, \u201cIf we are faithless,\u201d what does that mean?\u00a0 Without faith.\u00a0 This is speaking to Christians.\u00a0 Christians even getting to a point in their walk with the Lord where they\u2019re not trusting the Lord like they used to.\u00a0 They\u2019re not exercising the faith that they once had.\u00a0 And there\u2019s a great many people in modern day Christendom that will argue well, such a person was never a Christian to begin with.\u00a0 Or they lost their salvation.\u00a0 But what does this say?\u00a0 \u201cIf we are faithless,\u201d without faith, \u201cHe remains\u201d what? \u201cfaithful for He cannot deny Himself.\u201d\u00a0 For Jesus to become suddenly faithless would be for Jesus to deny who He is, which He cannot do.\u00a0 And so I like how John is seeing this return of Christ and He\u2019s seeing Jesus as \u201cfaithful and true.\u201d\u00a0 The true Promise Keeper.\n\nAnd what else is Jesus going to do when He comes back?\u00a0 He is going to execute righteous judgment.\u201d\u00a0 He is going to execute what we would call a just war.\u00a0 Look, if you will, at the end of verse 11, it says, \u201cand in righteousness He judges and wages war.\u201d\u00a0 You mean the Savior is going to wage war? That\u2019s exactly what your Bible says.\u00a0 Now war is a horrible thing, and we think of war being waged in the hands of the wrong person and how that can result in miscarriages of justice.\u00a0 Not the Lord Jesus is going to wage; it\u2019s a righteous war.\u00a0 He judges righteously!\u00a0 That\u2019s the only person prosecuting a war that I really even trust, it\u2019s Jesus Christ unhindered by a sin nature; no errors, no mistakes, no miscarriages of justice.\u00a0 And I like the fact that Jesus here it specifically says is going to wage war when He comes back.\u00a0 The Greek for war is \u03c0\u03cc\u03bb\u03b5\u03bc\u03bfs [polimos], where we get the word polemic, or polemical, it\u2019s the\u00a0 opposite of being tyrannic, peaceful.\u00a0 Irenic also comes from a Greek word peace, the opposite of polimos, meaning warlike.\n\nThis is God\u2019s turn in history to wage war because as you go through world history everybody else is waging war.\u00a0 In fact, that\u2019s one of the things spoken of in Daniel 9:25, in between the 69th<\/sup> and 70th<\/sup> week. It says, \u201cwars are determined.\u201d\u00a0 [Daniel 9:25, \u201cSo you are to know and discern that from the issuing of a decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until Messiah the Prince there will be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks; it will be built again, with plaza and moat, even in times of distress.\u201d]\n\nRevelation 12:17, of Satan, that we read about in the Book of Revelation, Satan has waged war.\u00a0 Revelation 12:17 says, \u201cSo the dragon was enraged with the woman, and went off to make war\u201d \u00a0\u00a0p<\/em>olyemos<\/em> [\u03c0\u03cc\u03bb\u03b5\u03bc\u03bf\u03c2] \u00a0\u201cwith the rest of her children\u2026.\u201d \u00a0And guess what?\u00a0 Now it\u2019s God\u2019s turn to wage war. He is coming back to this earth to prosecute a war on His enemies but with justice and righteousness, completely and totally different than everything we know about His first coming.\u00a0 Remember James and John, the Sons of Thunder, the first coming of Christ, Luke 9:51-56.\n\n[Luke 9:51-56, \u201c\u00a0<\/sup>When the days were approaching for His ascension, He was determined to go to Jerusalem; [52] \u00a0<\/sup>and He sent messengers on ahead of Him, and they went and entered a village of the Samaritans to make arrangements for Him. [53] \u00a0<\/sup>But they did not receive Him, because He was traveling toward Jerusalem. [54] \u00a0<\/sup>When His disciples James and John saw this<\/em>, they said, \u201cLord, do You want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them?\u201d [55] \u00a0<\/sup>But He turned and rebuked them, and said, \u201cYou do not know what kind of spirit you are of; [56] \u00a0<\/sup>for the Son of Man did not come to destroy men\u2019s lives, but to save them.\u201d\n\nThey came to a Samaritan village and as you probably know the Jews hated the Samaritans and the feeling was mutual the other way, the Samaritans hated the Jews. And the Samaritans rejected the message of Jesus Christ and James and John said, \u201cShall we not call fire down from heaven to consume them.\u201d\u00a0 [Luke 9:54, \u201cWhen His disciples James and John saw this, they said, \u201cLord, do You want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them?\u201d]\n\nRemember what Jesus said?\u00a0 Luke 55, \u201cBut He turned and rebuked them, and said, \u201cYou do not know what kind of spirit you are of;\u00a0 [56] \u00a0\u201cfor the Son of Man did not come to destroy men's lives, but to save them.\u201d And they went on to another village.\u201d\u00a0 And so we have a wonderful testimony of the forgiveness of God, the grace of God, the forbearance of God, the longsuffering of God, particularly of Christ as we read about His first coming.\u00a0 And we just assume that it\u2019s always going to be that way.\u00a0 But that\u2019s not what your Bible says.\u00a0 The day will come where Jesus will wage war with His adversaries on this planet.\n\nI like what Solomon writes in the Book of Ecclesiastes.\u00a0 \u201cThere is an appointed time for everything, there is a time for every event under heaven.\u201d [Ecclesiastes 3:1, \u201cThere is an appointed time for everything. And there is a time for every event under heaven\u2014\u201c]\u00a0 And he says in Ecclesiastes 3:8, \u00a0\u201cA time to love and a time to hate; A time for war and a time for peace.\u201d\u00a0 Guess what\u2019s happening here in Revelation 19?\u00a0 The time for peace is over, now it\u2019s time for war.\u00a0 The time of love is over, and now it\u2019s a time for hate.\u00a0 We have a very lopsided perspective of this man, Jesus Christ, don\u2019t we?\u00a0 We\u2019re all very comfortable with the grace and thank God for it that He bestowed at His first coming but as we look at these passages we see very clearly that that is not always going to be the case because He\u2019s coming back to prosecute a righteous and just war.\n\nAnd we have a description there in verse 12 of His fiery eyes.\u00a0 Verse 12 says, His eyes are<\/em> a flame of fire, and on His head are<\/em> many diadems; and He has a name written on Him<\/em> which no one knows except Himself.\u201d\u00a0 John calls our attention here to His fiery eyes.\u00a0 This is not the first time in the Book of Revelation that we\u2019ve run into that description.\u00a0 You might recall that when Jesus disclosed Himself to John on the Island of Patmos and he was told to write these things down, John wrote down a description of what he saw.\u00a0 And it says in Revelation 1:14, \u201cHis head and His hair were white like white wool, like snow; and His eyes were like a flame of fire.\u201d\n\nWhat does all of this mean, these fiery eyes that He has.\u00a0 I don\u2019t know if I know but I know this much, fire tests the quality.\u00a0 That\u2019s why at the Judgment Seat of Christ our works are going to be put through a fire which will test their quality.\u00a0 Wood, hay and stubble, are they combustible or are they the gold, silver and costly stones which are noncombustible?\u00a0 How could you even determine one from the other.\u00a0 The fire reveals it.\u00a0 The fiery eyes of Christ reveal what\u2019s happening in the hearts of people.\u00a0 There\u2019s no ducking out of the way, there\u2019s no giving an excuse, it\u2019s just an open naked heart before the eyes of God.\n\nI\u2019m reminded of Jesus in His ministry in Jerusalem at the end of John 2.\u00a0 It says this, verse 23, \u201cNow when He was in Jerusalem at the Passover, during the feast, many believed in His name, observing His signs which He was doing. [24] But Jesus, on His part, was not entrusting Himself to them, for He knew all men, [25] and because He did not need anyone to testify concerning man, for He Himself knew what was in man.\u201d\u00a0 All of these people that had trusted in Him He didn\u2019t just entrust Himself back to them by way of discipleship because He could see what was happening in them, He could see what was happening in their hearts.\u00a0 He was laying bare through His omniscience their motives.\u00a0 And I think this may be one of the reasons why He is described with these fiery eyes.\n\nNumber six, according to verse 12 he\u2019s got many crowns, \u201cmany diadems.\u201d\u00a0 [Revelation 19:12, \u201cHis 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.\u201d]\u00a0\u00a0 The antichrist, Revelation 6, has one crown.\u00a0 Jesus, by contrast has many crowns.\u00a0 He is a victor; He\u2019s won!\u00a0 This is His coronation.\u00a0 All of the Christ hating Christ rejecting mindsets of this world system that has been going on for at least six thousand years is now a thing of the past.\u00a0 The days of trampling God under people\u2019s own feet and acting like God doesn\u2019t exist and living their lives the way they want to, that\u2019s all a thing of the past because Jesus is the winner!\u00a0 He\u2019s the victor!\u00a0 By the way, isn\u2019t that one of our songs?\u00a0\u00a0 Crown Him with Many Crowns.\u00a0 Why do we sing that?\u00a0 Because we\u2019re recognizing in this passage His ultimate victory.\n\nAnd according to verse 12 He has upon Him an unknown name.\u00a0 Now inevitably when I start talking about this someone will say well what is that name.\u00a0 How am I supposed to know?\u00a0 [Laughter]\u00a0 It\u2019s an unknown name.\u00a0 But look what it says in verse 12,\u00a0 \u201cHis 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.\u201d\u00a0 If I\u2019m\u00a0 understanding my Bible correctly that same name, which only Jesus knows, is going to or perhaps already has been the moment\u00a0 you trusted Him as Savior, has been written on you.\n\nRevelation 2:17, Jesus makes this statement to the church at Pergamum, \u201c\u2026and a new name written on the stone which no one knows but he who receives it.\u2019\u201d\u00a0 [Revelation 2:17, \u201cHe who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, to him I will give some<\/em> of the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone, and a new name written on the stone which no one knows but he who receives it.\u2019\u201d]\n\nI think it\u2019s clear in Revelation 3:12 to the church at Philadelphia, \u201cI will write on him\u201d the overcomer, the believer, \u201cI will write on him the name of my God and the name of the city of My God, the new Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from My God, and My<\/u> new name.\u201d\u00a0 Did you know that you\u2019ve got three names since inscribed on you, if I\u2019m reading this right?\u00a0 The name of the Father, the name of the city which is where our citizenship is, and then the new name of Christ, known only to Christ, written on you as well.\u00a0 If that doesn\u2019t communicate the desire of God to have a personal walk or relationship with humanity I don\u2019t know what will.\u00a0 When Jesus died on that cross two thousand years ago He was not just generically dying for the sins of the world. \u00a0He did that, but He was thinking about You as an individual.\u00a0 He was thinking about you as a person because He desires through that transaction to have a personal intimate walk with you and with me, as if we\u2019re worthy of such a thing (which we\u2019re not!)\u00a0 That\u2019s why we receive this by grace.\n\nI think sometimes we make Christianity so group oriented, so categorical and so generic that we\u2019ve sort of lost sight of the fact that if you were the only person on planet earth at the time of Christ He would have done just the same thing because of His intimate love for you.\u00a0 And so this is who God is, He has a new name.\n\nYou go to verse 13 and we have an eighth characteristic of the return of Christ.\u00a0 We have, number eight, His blood soaked vesture.\u00a0 Look at verse 13, \u201cHe is<\/em> clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0 So notice that when Jesus Christ comes back His robe, His vesture is portrayed here as still being soaked with blood.\u00a0 I have always found this to be very interesting in these prophecies that when He comes back the second time there\u2019s always some sort of reminder of His sacrifice.\n\nRevelation 5:6, John says, \u201cAnd I saw between the throne (with the four living creatures) and the elders a Lamb standing, as if slain\u2026.\u201d \u00a0When John in the vision sees the glorified Christ long after the crucifixion of Christ, he looks at Him as if Jesus has been slain.\u00a0 Apparently there\u2019s some sort of token, there\u2019s some sort of remembrance of His sacrifice.\u00a0 We know the story of Doubting Thomas don\u2019t we?\u00a0 John 20:25, \u201cSo the other disciples were saying to him, \u201cWe have seen the Lord!\u201d But he\u201d that\u2019s Thomas, \u201csaid to them, \u201cUnless I see in His hands the imprint of the nails, and put my finger into the place of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe.\u201d\n\nVerse 27, \u201cThen He\u201d that\u2019s Jesus, \u201csaid to Thomas,\u201d now this is Jesus in His resurrection body, \u201cThen He said to Thomas, \u201cReach here with your finger, and see My hands; and reach here your hand and put it into My side; and do not be unbelieving, but believing.\u201d\u00a0 What would you do if the Lord gave you that chance?\u00a0 I like Thomas\u2019 response.\u00a0 \u201cThomas answered and said to him, \u201cMy Lord and My God.\u201d\u00a0 What else do you say to something like this?\n\nSo in Christ\u2019s resurrected body apparently His wounds are still visible; apparently He looks as if one flame from the foundation of the earth in His glorified state, and He\u2019s coming back with His vesture blood soaked.\u00a0 I mean, why is it that we keep getting these glimpses of Christ coming back in His glory with these reminders of what He went through in His first coming.\n\nI think it\u2019s as simple as this: throughout eternity, throughout the ages of time, as we are enjoying heaven together we look at Jesus and we\u2019re reminded of the fact constantly that we\u2019re there because of His grace.\u00a0 And it causes heaven itself to praise Christ over and over again and they never get tired of praising Christ or glorifying Christ because you can look into His body, look into His garments and you can see the wounds that He experienced on our behalf.\u00a0 Isn\u2019t that what the Lord\u2019s Table is about?\u00a0 That\u2019s what we try to communicate anyway.\u00a0 Why do we do this?\u00a0 Is it just a quarterly ritual?\u00a0 It\u2019s designed by the Lord Himself in the Upper Room to be a reminder of what He did for us.\u00a0 Doesn\u2019t He say \u201cDo this in\u201d what?\u00a0 \u201cin remembrance of Me.\u201d\u00a0 [Luke 22:19, \u201cAnd when He had taken some<\/em> bread and<\/em> given thanks, He broke it and gave it to them, saying, \u201cThis is My body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me.\u201d]\n\nPeople today are very upset that a lot of us think in the millennial kingdom there\u2019s going to be a temple, and there\u2019s going to be animal sacrifices in that temple.\u00a0 And you wouldn\u2019t believe how hot under the collar that people get at that.\u00a0 But you know, your chipping away at the finished work of Christ?\u00a0 Don\u2019t you know you\u2019re bringing back the Law of Moses?\u00a0 All of these sorts of activations, all of which I think can be answered.\n\nBut that\u2019s not my point here; my point here is simply to communicate why there\u2019s going to be animal sacrifices in the millennial temple.\u00a0 In the millennial kingdom you\u2019re going to be living in a world where death, for the most part, is a thing of the past.\u00a0 Those of us as the church in resurrected bodies won\u2019t die and those that survive the tribulation period and repopulate the earth in their mortal bodies and have children, there\u2019s going to be dramatically elongated and prolonged lifespans.\u00a0 In fact, the prophet Isaiah, chapter 65 around verses 20-23 talks about how in the millennial kingdom if someone dies when they\u2019re 100 everybody is going to kind of sit around and say what a shame this young man died at such an early age.\n\n[Isaiah 65:20-23, \u201cNo longer will there be in it an infant who lives but a few<\/em> days, or an old man who does not live out his days; for the youth will die at the age of one hundred and the one who does not reach the age of one hundred will be thought<\/em> accursed.\u00a0 [21] They will build houses and inhabit them<\/em>; they will also plant vineyards and eat their fruit. [22]\u00a0 They will not build and another inhabit,\nthey will not plant and another eat; for as the lifetime of a tree, so will be<\/em> the days of My people,\nand My chosen ones will wear out the work of their hands.\u00a0 [23] They will not labor in vain, or bear children<\/em> for calamity; for they are the offspring of those blessed by the Lord, and their descendants with them.\u201d]\n\nThe prophet Isaiah says, \u201cAs the lifetime of a tree so shall be the days of My people, My chosen ones will wear out the works of their hands.\u201d\u00a0 [Isaiah 64:22, \u201cFor as the lifetime of a tree, so will be the days of My people, And My chosen ones will wear out the work of their hands.\u201d] Death, what is that, I don\u2019t remember what it is.\u00a0 Death is just sort of a fading memory of the way things used to be.\u00a0 And wouldn\u2019t it be easy in that kind of a climate to forget the death of Jesus?\u00a0 And so these sacrifices are practiced in the temple in this environment so we\u2019re reminded of the blood that He spilt.\u00a0 These sacrifices are essentially designed like communion, to get us to look backward.\u00a0 They don\u2019t add to the finished work of Christ, nothing can.\n\nBut the danger is sort of forgetting what that was all about.\u00a0 And how easy that would be to slip out of one\u2019s mind living in a world where death is sort of a bygone reality.\u00a0 And yet\u00a0 you go to Jerusalem and you see the blood and you see the sacrifice and you see the suffering of these animals.\u00a0 And then you\u2019re standing next to Jesus Christ and looking at His body and\u00a0 you\u2019re seeing His wounds and you say that\u2019s right, Lord, forgive me, I forgot about that.\u00a0 This world that we\u2019re living in is so wonderful, the curse has been rolled back, I let it slip out of my mind the sacrifice that You did for us.\u00a0 And so we have these reminders of Christ returning and there\u2019s always a visible reminder of some kind, in this case His blood soaked vesture of the price that was paid.\n\nWe come here to number nine, and we learn his identity; there\u2019s no doubt who this is that they\u2019re speaking of here because you look at verse 13 and it says, \u201cHe is clothed with a robe dipped in blood\u201d now watch this, \u201cand His name is called\u201d what? \u201cThe Word of God.\u201d\u00a0 We\u00a0 know exactly who this is.\u00a0 This is not the chief imitation that the world embraced of the first rider on the white horse, Revelation 6, this is the real deal.\u00a0 This is the real McCoy because John did not just write the Book of Revelation, he also wrote the Gospel of John.\u00a0 And when you go to John\u2019s opening in his Gospel he makes this statement:\u00a0 \u201cIn the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.\u201d\u00a0 And then in the same chapter he says in John 1:14, \u201cAnd the Word\u201d that\u2019s the logos, \u201cthe Word 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.\u201d\n\nJohn writes five books, the Gospel of John, First John, Second John, Third John and the Book of Revelation. Quite a set!\u00a0 Quite a literary contribution!\u00a0 I would encourage you to read it sometime. There\u2019s some really good stuff in there.\u00a0 And how does He end this literary set?\u00a0 Revelation 19, with the Word of God.\u00a0 What is everything about in between?\u00a0 It\u2019s about the Word of God, it\u2019s about Jesus Christ.\u00a0 What\u2019s the point of history as it began?\u00a0 Jesus Christ. What\u2019s the point of history as it ends?\u00a0 Jesus Christ.\u00a0 What\u2019s the point of our lives now?\u00a0 Jesus Christ.\u00a0 The whole thing is Jesus, from beginning to end this is why later on in the Book of Revelation He will be called the Alpha and the Omega of history, the beginning and the end.\n\nA tenth quality, and with this we\u2019ll finish, verse 14, and this is where I believe your horse comes in, maybe not, that may be coming a little later, I might be getting ahead of myself, but number 10, He is followed by the armies of heaven.\u00a0 Look at verse 14, \u201cAnd the armies which are in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and<\/em> clean, were following Him\u201d there it is, \u201con\u201d what? \u201cwhite horses.\u201d\u00a0 Oh come on, it\u2019s not literal!\u00a0 It says that about Zechariah\u2019s prophesies didn\u2019t they, Him coming to Jerusalem on a donkey.\u00a0 He\u2019s on a white horse, there\u2019s an army that\u2019s following him on white horses (plural).\u00a0 Now who is this army?\u00a0 Well, part of me would say the angels because Matthew 25:31 says, \u201cBut when the Son of Man,\u201d NOT IF, \u201cBut when the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him,\u201d there\u2019s a lot of angels, myriads of them, \u201cthen He will sit on His glorious throne.\u201d\n\nSo the angels are with Him.\u00a0 Now who else would be with Him?\u00a0 That\u2019s you!\u00a0 That\u2019s me!\u00a0 That\u2019s the church that has been raptured at least seven\u00a0 years earlier in the Father\u2019s house experiencing [A] the Bema Seat Judgment of Christ, the judgment of rewards.\u00a0 And\u00a0 [B] the marriage of the Lamb which we studied last week, coming back with Him on white horses to rule and reign alongside of Him.\u00a0 And you\u2019ll notice that those that are coming back with Him, what does it say here, \u201care clothed in fine linen, white.\u201d\u00a0 So the horse is white, Jesus\u2019 horse is white, your horse is white, and you have white linen that\u2019s white.\u00a0\u00a0 What is that speaking of?\u00a0 It\u2019s speaking of purity.\n\nHow do you get the purity of God?\u00a0 The Protestant Reformers called it alien righteousness.\u00a0 What does that mean?\u00a0 Righteousness which is not your own, it\u2019s transferred to you on the basis of faith.\u00a0 Paul says in Philippians 3:9, \u201cThe righteousness which comes from God,\u201d notice it doesn\u2019t come from\u00a0 you, if you think that your acts of righteousness get your foot in the door you\u2019re following religion.\u00a0 In fact, that false belief will send you into hell.\u00a0 You get into this, what I\u2019m describing, when the righteousness comes from God on the basis of faith.\u00a0 It can\u2019t be that easy\u2026 it IS that easy.\u00a0 That\u2019s why the gospel is an offense, because the prideful human mind and spirit looks at that and says it can\u2019t be that simple.\u00a0 And yet it is that simple; it comes from God on the basis of faith.\n\nAnd they\u2019re coming back on these white horses.\u00a0 Now the fine linen could also be speaking of, Revelation 19:8 being rewarded at the Bema Seat Judgment of Christ.\u00a0 [Revelation 19:8, \u201cIt was given to her to clothe herself in fine linen, bright and clean; for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints.\u201d]\u00a0 That could be part of the white linen, but I have a tendency to think it\u2019s the righteousness that is transferred to us on the basis of faith because of whose blood?\u00a0 Verse 13, the blood of Christ.\u201d\u00a0 His blood soaked vesture, verse 13, is described before our transferred righteousness, verse 14, because if it wasn\u2019t for His blood, verse 13, we wouldn\u2019t have the benefits of grace, verse 14.\u00a0 [Revelation 19:14, \u201cThe armies of heaven were following him, riding on white horses and dressed in fine linen, white and clean.\u201d]\u00a0 That\u2019s what communion was about this morning; we\u2019re reflecting on that, recollecting that calling, recalling that.\u00a0 And so we\u2019re coming back with Jesus Christ to do what exactly?\u00a0 Revelation 1:6 says, \u201cAnd He made us to be a kingdom of priests,\u201d (did you know you\u2019re a priest) \u201cto His God and Father---to him be the glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.\u201d\u00a0 Well, that\u2019s interesting\u2014what are we going to be doing?\u00a0 Revelation 5:10, \u201cYou have made them to be a kingdom of priests and they will reign\u201d future tense verb, \u201cthey will reign upon the earth\u201d\u00a0 that\u2019s your destiny \u201cin Christ.\u201d\n\nAnd right here, as\u00a0 you\u2019re returning with Christ on a white horse as He is on His white horse, as He\u2019s prosecuting a just war, this is where your reigning starts.\u00a0 This is where it begins.\u00a0 This is where the priestly ministry of Christ is finished and we now move into His legal ministry. And it\u2019s not just His ministry, it\u2019s your ministry because delegated authority to you, as part of your identity as a kingdom of priests.\n\nBelieve me folks, I\u2019m excited about celebrating the first coming but what about the second coming?\u00a0 Are we just as excited about that?\u00a0 I can\u2019t wait personally!\u00a0 Lord, bring it on!\u00a0\u00a0 So how do you get this transferred righteousness of Christ, by way of closing.\u00a0 You\u00a0 simply trust in what Jesus has done in His First Coming.\u00a0 We\u2019re living in this unique time between these two comings of Christ, the first coming, second coming.\u00a0 And the role that you\u2019ll have in the second coming is dependent upon your response to what He did for you in His first coming.\u00a0 If you reject what He did in His first coming then you have nothing to look forward to in His second coming, except to be victimized by this just war.\u00a0\u00a0 But if you respond by way of faith to what He did for you at the first coming then the future looks pretty bright, doesn\u2019t it?\u00a0\u00a0 There\u2019s the second coming where you\u2019re coming back with Him to rule and reign.\n\nAnd so our exhortation to folks here at Sugarland Bible Church is to trust in the Savior, trust His words when He said \u201cIt is finished!\u201d\u00a0\u00a0 He authenticated what He said He would do through His bodily resurrection, you can trust everything He said.\u00a0 And trust His plan of salvation which you receive by way of faith, by way of grace what He\u2019s done for you on the cross 2,000 years ago.\u00a0 In fact, He\u2019s made this so easy that He even sends the Spirit into the world to convict us of our need to do this.\u00a0 And so no doubt the Spirit could be convicting people of their need to trust in the Savior, even people may be listening on computers or online or the internet.\u00a0 The Spirit is convicting them also.\u00a0 And our exhortation is to not ignore that convicting ministry of the Holy Spirit.\n\nThat conviction is your friend, not your enemy, and to respond to it by way of faith, which means trust, meaning you\u2019re saved not by walking an aisle, joining a church, raising a hand, giving money, filling out a card, studying American history, eating too much on Thanksgiving.\u00a0 Whatever it is those things don\u2019t save anybody.\u00a0 You\u2019re saved by what Jesus did for you and\u00a0 you receive that as a gift.\u00a0 And\u00a0 you can do that right now in the quietness of your own heart as the Spirit places folks under conviction.\u00a0 You don\u2019t have to join a church to do it, walk an aisle to do it, it\u2019s a matter of privacy between you and the Lord, where you trusted in Christ and Christ alone for the safekeeping of your soul.\u00a0 And if it\u2019s something you need more explanation on I\u2019m available after the service to talk.\n\nShall we pray.\u00a0 Father, we\u2019re grateful for this special time of the year where we look back at what\u00a0 You did two thousand years ago but we look forward with great eagerness and expectation to what You are about to accomplish on planet earth and we\u2019re grateful that You contemplated us and made us part of Your plan. We\u2019ll be careful to give you all the praise and the glory.\u00a0 We ask these things in Jesus\u2019 name, and God\u2019s people said\u2026. Amen!","series_sermon_number":""},"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t