In this sermon, the preacher discusses the visions of Jesus in the book of Revelation. He highlights four visions that reveal Jesus as the glorious head of the church and the great high priest. The preacher emphasizes that whatever Jesus is, is meant for us to be, and he supplies all that he requires of us. The sermon also mentions the fifth vision, where Jesus is seen as the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, returning to judge the world and establish his reign. The preacher encourages the audience to understand the significance of these visions in relation to the end times and to strengthen their faith, hope, and love for Jesus.

This ministry is being given in Richmond, Virginia, on November 26th, 1978, Sunday morning by Brother Stephen Kong. Will you please turn to the book of Revelation, chapter 19. Revelation, chapter 19. We'll begin with verse 11. Revelation, chapter 19, verse 11. And he is clothed with a garment dipped in blood. And his name is called the Word of God. And the armies which are in heaven followed him upon white horses, clad in white, pure, fine linen. And out of his mouth goes a sharp two-edged sword, that with it he might smite the nations, and he shall shepherd them with an iron rod. And he treads the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty. And he has upon his garment and upon his thigh a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords. And I saw an angel standing in the sun, and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the birds that fly in mid-heaven, Come, gather yourselves to the great supper of God, that ye may eat flesh of kings and flesh of celiac, and flesh of strong men and flesh of horses, and of those that sit upon them, and flesh of all, both free and born and small and great. And I saw the beasts and the kings of the earth and their armies gather together to make war against him that sat upon the horse and against his army. And the beast was taken, and the false prophet that was with him who wrought the signs before him by which he deceived them that received the mark of the beast and those that worship his image, alive were both cast into the lake of fire which burns with brimstone, and the rest were slain with the sword of him that sat upon the horse which goes out of his mouth, and all the birds were filled with their flesh. And I saw an angel descending from the heaven, having the key of the abyss and a great chain in his hand, and he laid hold of the dragon, the ancient serpent who is devil and Satan, and bound him a thousand years and cast him into the abyss and shut it and sealed it over it that he should not any more deceive the nations until the thousand years were completed. After these things he must be loosed for a time. May we look to the Lord in prayer. Lord, how we praise and thank Thee that we are so privileged together around Thyself to remember Thee and to worship Thee. Oh, how we praise and thank Thee for the privilege that through Thy Word we may see Thee afresh. We do ask that at this moment may the anointing of the Lord be upon all of us that we may truly see Thee as we together consider Thy Word. We want Thee to be exalted. We want Thee to fill our hearts. We want Thee to draw us out of ourselves and unto Thyself. In the name of our Lord Jesus. Amen. This last book of the Bible is called The Revelation. It is the revelation of Jesus Christ which God gives to Him to show to us. So in this book of Revelation we are to see the Lord Jesus. We are to see Him in relation to our days. Being the last book of the Bible, it deals with the end times. And we are living in the end times. So it is imperative that we see our Lord Jesus in relation to our time. In relation to the days that we are living. What kind of a Lord He is to us. And I believe if we see this, it will strengthen our faith, it will encourage us with hope, and it will increase our love to Him. Now during the past few times we have covered four of the visions of our Lord Jesus as revealed in this book of Revelation. We see our Lord Jesus as the glorious head. In relation to His church, the body. One like the Son of Man in the midst of the seven lamb stands. We see Him as the great high priest ministering in the true sanctuary. That is the church, the reality. Whatever He is, is meant for us. That we be. And He Himself is the supplier of all that He requires of us. Then we see the second vision of our Lord Jesus. We see in His ascension how He received from the Father the earth as His inheritance. Because He is worthy. He is a Lamb in the midst of the throne. He came into authority by the way of the cross through His humility. And then we see Him as the strong angel putting His feet upon the earth and the sea declaring that there is no more delay. The kingdom of this world shall become the kingdom of our God and of His Christ. Then we see the fourth vision. We see the Lamb standing on Mount Zion and with Him 144,000 singing a new song. And then we see Him sitting upon the cloud as the Son of Man casting a golden sickle for the harvest is ready. Now this morning we would like to come to the fifth vision of our Lord Jesus as we find in this book of Revelation. And John said, I saw the heaven opened. Now in this book of Revelation we find this is not the first time it said the heaven opened. But we know there is a difference here. So far as the scripture is concerned we find there are at least three heavens. Of course we hear people talk about seven heavens or even more. But so far as the scripture is concerned we find there are three heavens mentioned in the scripture. The third heaven is where the throne of God is. The second heaven is where the celestial stars are. And the first heaven is the air above us where the cloud is. The heaven here that John saw opened is not the third heaven. Why? Because we find in chapter four he said the heaven opened and he was taken up into the heaven and he saw the throne and one who sits upon the throne. In other words, in chapter four it is the third heaven. The third heaven is open to John and he was taken right to the presence of God he who sits upon the throne. But when John saw the heaven opened here and said behold a white horse. This is the first heaven. Why? As we read the book of Revelation we find for instance in chapter 14 the 144,000 they were standing with the Lamb on Mount Zion and we know the Mount Zion there is not the Mount Zion on earth it is the Mount Zion in heaven. But then, after that scene we see the Son of Man sitting on a cloud. In other words, first we find him in the third heaven there upon the throne. But he has descended from the throne to the cloud. That is the first stage of his return. And while he was sitting on the cloud we find in 1 Thessalonians 4 the harvest is ready. And all those who were dead in Christ and those who are alive and who still remain at that moment they will all be taken up to the air to meet the Lord in the air. So brothers and sisters, let us remember this. The 144,000 who represent the overcomers of the church they came with the Lord they come with the Lord from the throne to the air. And then those who are alive and remain on earth that is those of the rest of the church and those who are dead in Christ they will be raised from the dead and those who are alive and remain they will be changed and they will all be caught up to the air to meet the Lord. In other words, there in the air will be the great gathering of the saints while the saints are gathered together with the Lord in the air. This is the time that we find in the scripture the judgment seat of Christ is set. Judgment must begin with the house of God. So there you will find in the air when all the saints shall be gathered together before the Lord they will be standing before the judgment seat of Christ. Now for the sake of some who do not know the difference maybe I should explain a little bit and that is we who believe in the Lord Jesus we will never stand before the great white throne judgment. Why? Because Christ was judged for us on Calvary's cross. And because He was judged for us on the cross in Calvary we are delivered from the judgment the eternal judgment of the great white throne. But that does not mean that we as children of God will not be judged. We as children of God will still be judged but judged in a different way. We will be judged before the judgment seat of Christ. There is a difference between seat and throne. Throne is judicial. Seat is family. So here you will find as the children of God one day we will all appear before the judgment seat of Christ as Paul says. And there we will be judged according to what we do on earth. Whether we build with gold, silver and precious stones or whether we build with wood, straw and stubble. A judgment seat. And there we shall all be judged and receive our reward. All suffer loss, not eternally. While the judgment seat of Christ is going on in the air. This is the time we find in the book of Revelation the outpouring of the wrath of God upon the earth as seen in the seven vials. At the end of the seven vials then the heaven opened. That is to say the Lord will appear upon this earth. It is the time of the appearing of his coming. The apocalypse. The appearing of his coming. He will break the cloud. And he will come down upon this earth. And the way that he is coming is he will come riding on a white horse. You know dear brothers and sisters An S in the scripture signifies peace. But a horse signifies war. You remember in Zechariah 9.9 He said behold your king coming. He is just and having salvation. Lowly and riding upon an S. Even the coat. A coat. The fall of an S. In the first coming of our Lord Jesus he came as king. And yet he rode upon an S. Even a coat. You know that is literally fulfilled when our Lord Jesus enters into Jerusalem for the last time. You remember? How the people gather around him. How he sat upon the coat of an S. And how people shouted Hosanna. But he came as the king of peace. He came to offer peace to Jerusalem. He came to offer peace to this world. But one day when he shall come again he will ride upon a horse. In other words he will come back to war against this rebellious world. A white horse. White in the scripture always speaks of purity. So here you'll find when our Lord Jesus shall return to wage war upon this world it will be a war of righteousness. We often hear people say this is a war of righteousness. It is a righteous war. We fight a righteous war. But in a strictest sense dear brothers and sisters there is no war on earth that is righteous. There is so much selfishness involved in any and every war. There is no such thing as a righteous war. But thank God one day there will be a war that is a righteous war. It is a war of righteousness. And this is the war that our Lord Jesus will come with his followers to fight against Satan and his followers. The last war. The war of Armageddon. And on this white horse one sitting on it. His name is called Faithful and True. Now we have seen this before. In Revelation chapter 1 we find that he is the faithful witness. In Revelation chapter 3 verse 14 he said he is the Amen. The faithful and the true. The faithful witness and the true. These are the names of our Lord Jesus. These qualities are his characters. In other words our Lord Jesus is characterized by being faithful. In what sense is he faithful? He is faithful to the Father. He is faithful to do the will of the Father. He is faithful to do all the wills of the Father. He is faithful to the Father in the sense that he does not come to do anything of his own will. Not my will, but your will be done. That is his faithfulness and that is his character. And he is true. True in the sense that he is true to himself. Or we may use another word, he is real to himself. There is no pretense in him. Everything of him is real. Is true. And even his enemies had to acknowledge that he is true. There is no falsehood in him. There is no pretense in him. He is the truth. He is the reality. These are the characters of our Lord Jesus. And he judges and makes war in righteousness. He judges. Now how does he judge? In John chapter 5 the Lord said, He does not judge by himself. He judges according to the Father's will. And because he judges according to the Father's will, his judgment is true. What he sees. What he sees that is not according to his Father's will. What he sees that is not according to his Father's will, he judges it. And because of that, his war is the war of righteousness. And his eyes are a flame of fire. We have seen that before. But in Revelation chapter 1 to chapter 3, where it is said his eyes are a flame of fire, that is in relation to his church. Brothers and sisters, so far as the church is concerned, the eyes of our Lord Jesus are as a flame of fire. In other words, he sees us through. He sees everything. There is nothing that he does not see. He has such discernment. He sees so sharply and clearly. And thank God for that flame of fire. Why? Because it purifies us. Sometimes we are afraid of these eyes. I remember once I read somewhere, there was one who was in prison, and he said the one that he feared most, or he suffered most while he was in prison, were the eyes of the guards. Because there, even with the door, there is a hole there. And whenever he looked up, he would see the eyes peeping through that hole at him. And he said that's the thing that he was afraid most. And dear brothers and sisters, the eyes of the Lord are like flame of fire. He looks at us, he sees us through, but we don't need to be afraid of, because his look recovers us. You remember he looked at Peter. When Peter denied the law three times, the Lord just looked at him, looked into him, and Peter went out and wept. And he was recovered. Thank God for that piercing eyes of our Lord Jesus. But here, his eyes are as a flame of fire, is in relation to the world. It is different. In other words, he sees what the world is, so clearly. He sees through the world, but it is not for recovery. It is for war. It is for judgment. It is for punishment. And upon his head, many diadems. You know, a diadem is a crown without the top. If you wear a crown with a top, you can only wear one. But if you wear a diadem, you can wear many diadems, because there is no top there. So you can wear many diadems. And every diadem, every crown, represents his kingship in a certain territory. So here you'll find that our Lord Jesus is king over so many territories, over so many areas. He reigns over realms and realms and realms. He wears many diadems, having a name written which no one knows but himself. Thank God. There are some names of our Lord Jesus that are revealed. And because they are revealed, we know what his names are. We know his name is Jesus, who saves us from our sins. We know his name is Emmanuel, God with us. We know his name is faithful and true. Thank God for all the revelations of his names, because a name represents the person. You know the person by his name. And we do thank the Lord that God has revealed many names of our Lord Jesus to us, that we may know him in his many aspects. But in spite of all that has been revealed, there is a name that is never revealed. There is a name of our Lord Jesus that is unknown. No one knows but himself. It is a name that is never revealed. And because it has never been revealed, no one knows what that name is. Brothers and sisters, there is always something in our Lord Jesus that we do not know. It is beyond our knowledge. We only know what is revealed. But what is hidden belongs to God. There is always something hidden in the Godhead for the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit to enjoy. And it is too sacred for us to know. We should be contented. You know, we should be like lean children, leaning upon the breasts of the mothers. High and lofty things we should not try to prove. But be contented with whatever is revealed to us. And even with what is revealed to us and what is going to be revealed to us, dear brothers and sisters, it takes eternity to know the Lord. And yet, even with eternity, he is still unknown. There is a name no one knows but himself. Oh, how I thank God that he is God. He is God. Sometimes, you know, we think that because of such mercy and grace showered upon us that we receive the life of Christ in us, somehow, somehow, people begin to feel that they are deified. As if they are God now and there is no more of God that they do not know. But dear brothers and sisters, we are not deified. God is God. And there is always something in him that we do not know. And that something is too deep for us to probe. And his clothes were the garment dipped in blood. Now, why is he clothed with a garment dipped in blood? If you refer to Isaiah chapter 63, Isaiah chapter 63, you find there is a prophecy concerning this very event. Isaiah chapter 63 verse 1, Who is this that cometh from Edom with deep red garments from Bozrah, this that is glorious in his apparel, traveling in the greatness of his strength? I that speak in righteousness mighty to save. Wherefore is redness in thine apparel, and thy garments like him that treaded in the wine vat? I have trodden the winepress alone, and of the people not a man was with me. And I have trodden them in mine anger, and trampled them in my fury, and their blood is sprinkled upon my garments, and I have stained all mine apparel. In other words, you'll find that his garment dipped in blood, because when he shall come back to revenge upon his enemies, the blood of his enemies shall sprinkle upon his garments and stain his garments with blood. That is the result of that war. O brothers and sisters, once upon a time, about two thousand years ago, when he first came into this world to offer peace to this world, the world rejected the Prince of Peace. The world murdered him, and there you'll find his blood was shed on Calvary's cross. His blood was shed. His body was filled, was covered with his own blood. But the day will come when he shall return, and he will shed the blood of the enemies that reject him and refuse to accept him, because judgment has finally come into this world. And his name is called the Word of God. We are familiar with that name. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The one who sits upon the white horse is none other than the Word of God. From eternity to eternity, he is God. He is the very expression of God. He is the one who reveals and declares the Father. He is the living Word, and he still is. His name is called the Word of Life, of God. And out of his mouth goes a sharp-edged sword, that with it he might smite the nations. When he shall return, he will war against Satan and his followers. But the weapon of his war is that sharp two-edged sword proceeding out from his mouth. Now you remember in 2 Thessalonians 2, in 2 Thessalonians 2, let me see, when the man of iniquity is, yeah, here it is, 2 Thessalonians 2, verse 8. And then the lawless one shall be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus shall consume with the breath of his mouth, and shall know by the appearing of his coming. When the Lord shall return, here you find that he shall consume the lawless one, that is the Antichrist, with the breath of his mouth. Now the breath of his mouth is the sharp two-edged sword. In other words, with his breath, with his word, he destroys his enemies. There is such power in his word. May we say it is like an ideological war. It is a war of ideas. And here you'll find faithful and true have prevailed against unfaithfulness and falsehood. You know throughout the ages, faithfulness and unfaithfulness, truth and falsehood, are fighting against each other. Throughout the ages. And oftentimes we think as if unfaithfulness, disobedience, rebellion, falsehood, lies, seem to prevail. But that only appears to be. In the final, we will find that faithfulness and truth shall prevail. The Lord will use his breath, his word, like sharp two-edged sword, to cut down all his enemies. And he shall shepherd them with an iron rod. Now of course, this refers to the millennium. Those that are not killed by that sharp two-edged sword that comes out of his mouth, those nations that will be removed into the kingdom, they will be ruled with an iron rod. Now I will not go into the details because that will take too much time to explain. And he treads the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty. There our Lord Jesus tread the winepress. You know if you refer back to Revelation chapter 14, you find that after the harvest, after the harvest, in verse 17, chapter 14, verse 17, and another angel came out of the temple which is in the heaven, he also having a sharp sickle, and another angel came out of the altar having power over fire, and called with a loud voice to him that had a sharp sickle, saying, Send thy sharp sickle and gather the bunches of the vine of the earth, for her grapes are fully ripened. And the angel put his sickle to the earth and gathered the vine of the earth and cast the bunches into the great winepress of the fury of God. And the winepress was trodden without a city, and blood went out of the winepress to the bits of the horses for a thousand six hundred stadia. And there you'll find the same thing here. Here you'll find our Lord Jesus in his return. He will tread the winepress. The grapes that are gathered represents the world. And there you'll find he will judge the world. And the blood will come to the bits of the horse for a thousand six hundred stadia. That is the last battle, the battle of Armageddon. And he has upon his garment and upon his thigh a name written, King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Another name. King of Kings and Lord of Lords. He is King of Kings. Now who are these kings? He is Lord of Lords. Who are these lords? But anyway you'll find that our Lord Jesus is supreme. He is supreme. Even though today he is the rejected king. But one day, he who has been rejected, he shall reign and rule as the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. So all this refers to the appearing of his coming. He shall appear upon this earth. He shall return. And he shall destroy his enemies. And he shall rule and reign as the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. But, here you'll find another thing. Verse 14. And the armies which are in the heaven followed him upon white horses clad in white, pure, fine linen. When our Lord Jesus came to earth, when the Word became flesh, he was alone. When he went to the cross, he was alone. But here you'll find when he shall appear upon this earth, he will come as the victor of Calvary, the conqueror. But when he shall return as the conqueror of the world, he will have his armies with him. Now, who are these armies? These armies, they will ride upon white horses and they will be clad in white, pure, fine linen. When he shall return, he will not return alone. He will bring with him his armies. Heavenly armies. But the army here cannot refer to the angelic hosts. It is true that he shall return with millions, myriads of angels, that's true. But aside from these heavenly hosts, he will return with a heavenly army. And the army is composed of men and women such as we are. Now, how do we know? Because in chapter 17, in chapter 17, verse 14, We shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them. And he is Lord of lords and King of kings. And they that are with him, called and chosen and faithful. There you will find, there will be his army. And the army that is with him in the triumphant battle are those who are called and chosen and faithful. We are all called saints. To be very strict, not called to be saints. But we are all called saints. He has called us. He has called us by his love. He has called us by his glory. We who are the Lord's are the called. We do not volunteer to come to him. He called us, and thank God that he has called us. But the thing is, many are called, but few are chosen. Many are called, but few are chosen. Why? Because those who are called, not all respond. Give to the grace that he has given to us. In other words, we are called, but we are not chosen until we yield ourselves to his love and grace. And let his love and grace do its perfect work in us. Many are called, but few are chosen. And fewer are the faithful. Are we faithful to the very end? Paul said, God has called me and set me apart even from my mother's womb. And then in Timothy he said, God has counted me as faithful and has given me power. Are we the called? Are we the chosen? Are we the faithful? And these are people who are clad in white, pure, shiny linen. And we see that too in Revelation chapter 19. We find that in verse 8, the bride has made herself ready, and it was given to her that she should be clothed in fine linen, bright and pure. For the fine linen is the righteousness of the saints. Practical righteousness. In other words, these are the people, they are not perfect, but they allow the Holy Spirit to work the righteousness that is of Christ into their very being. These are the people who are cleansed by the precious blood of the Lamb. These are the people who have the word of their testimony. These are the people who love not their lives even unto death. In other words, the armies that come with the Lord in His appearing are the overcomers of the church. The reason why they are privileged to follow the Lord in this last battle is because they have won while they are on earth. Just like the Lord has won His battle while He was on earth. You know, when our Lord Jesus was on earth, how fierce was the conflict and the battle. The battle began even when He was born. As a baby, He had to flee to Egypt. The battle continued on through His life. When He first began His ministry in Nazareth, they took Him out to the cliff, wanting to push Him down. But our Lord Jesus walked right through them. Again and again you will find in the records of the Gospels how the enemy tried to murder Him, to cut Him off before His time. And finally you will find in the Garden of Gethsemane how He prayed, how He was weakened, how His blood oozed out from His skin, His pores. He had to be sent to be strengthened by the angel, otherwise He would die in the Garden of Gethsemane. And how on Calvary's cross cried, My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me? The battle was fierce. But our Lord Jesus fought that battle alone. All by Himself. He tore the winepress alone. But before He died He said, It is finished. The shout of victory. It is finished. The battle is won. And in Colossians chapter 2 we find how He has called the principalities and authorities. And how He led them captive and displayed them as His captives and made a public show of them and triumphed by the cross. Our Lord Jesus has won the battle while He was on earth. And now when He is coming back, actually He comes back in that last battle of Carmageddon. But how will that last battle be fought? The battle has already been won. So He just speaks a word by the breath of His mouth and the enemies are destroyed. In other words, it is based on the victory of Calvary that He needs only to speak the word and the enemy is finished. Brothers and sisters, today, while we are on earth, there is a fierce battle going on so far as our spiritual life is concerned. If we follow the Lord today, you will find that you are in a battle. It is an endless battle. And the battle is fierce. Paul said, I have fought the good fight. Oh, how we need to fight the good fight. How the enemy is trying to destroy us, trying to wear us out, trying to entice us, trying to trip us, trying every way to destroy us. There is a battle going on all the time. Have we fought the good fight? Of course, even though we are fighting that fight, but at the same time, the battle is the Lord's. The Lord has won the victory. We are only fighting from victory to victory. It is just a matter of standing in the victory of the Lord, declaring His victory, claiming His victory, applying His victory over all the fiery dots of the enemy. And if we know how to stand in the victory of Christ, if we know how to claim the victory of Christ over all the assaults of the enemy, then the fight we fought, we fight the good fight. Our Lord Jesus had to fight alone. But with us, we are actually standing to see the victory of Christ applied. But those who have experienced such victory, they will be privileged to follow the Lord to that last battle. Not to fight it, but to witness the victory of the Lord. You will find they do not fight at all. They just follow. They just follow. In other words, dear brothers and sisters, the pattern is set today. How do we fight the good fight? You just follow the Lamb. That's all. You don't fight. You just follow. You know? And if you learn the pattern, then the day will come when our Lord shall return, you will return with Him, and you just follow. And you witness His great victory over His enemies. That is the way that the last battle is to be fought. And what will be the result of that battle? You'll find the Antichrist and the false prophets, the two beasts, they will be seized and cast into the lake of fire, the second death. And you'll find the dragon, the serpent, Satan, will be seized and chained and put into the bottomless pit and be sealed there for a thousand years. And those that follow the beasts to fight against our Lord Jesus, they will be killed. And there will be a great supper prepared for all the birds of prey. And those nations that do not follow the beasts coming to that battle, they are as the sheep nations. And when the kingdom shall be established, they will be moved into the kingdom as the nations. And the Lord shall rule over them with an iron rod. And if you follow with chapter 20, you'll find there will be thrones there. In other words, that will be the time when the saints shall be rewarded. And they shall reign with Christ for a thousand years. Dear brothers and sisters, this is the revelation of our Lord Jesus. In relation to the appearing of His coming, thank God, in spite of the fact that falsehood, unfaithfulness, rebellion, disobedience, the spirit of the world, the ruler of this world, seems to prevail today. But we know, a battle is going on. It is very serious. It is a battle between faithfulness and unfaithfulness. Truth and falsehood. Obedience and rebellion. Between Christ and Satan. The battle is going on between those followers of the Lord and followers of the world. The battle is going on. And we know the result. We know who will come out. On our hand. Why? Because as we look at Calvary, we know the battle is already won. It is just a matter of time. And because of this, dear brothers and sisters, let our hearts be encouraged. As long as we live on earth, let us learn to follow the Lamb with us wherever He goes. Even though in following the Lamb you will be drawn into the fierce battle of the ages, but there is no need to fear. Why? Because He has already overcome. And all you need to do is to stand and see the victory of the Lord. So may this be our encouragement. Shall we pray? Our Heavenly Father, how we praise and thank Thee. Even though at times when we look around we may wonder. And yet Lord, we praise and thank Thee because Thou has told us so clearly that Thou has already won the battle. And Thou art coming to conclude everything and to bring in Thy kingdom. O Lord, we do pray that during this short time that we may be kept faithful to the very end. We ask Thee, O Lord, that Thy grace will complete and perfect its work in each one and every one of us. O that we may be numbered among those who are counted as the call, the chosen and the faithful. We pray that we may today experience the victory of the Lord. That one day we may witness that great victory that shall come on this earth. We give Thee all the praise and glory in the name of our Lord Jesus. Amen.