In this sermon, the preacher discusses a future event that will take place around the city of Jerusalem, which is described as the most dramatic political and military event in human history. An angel standing in the sun cries out to the birds in the sky, inviting them to gather for a great supper that God has planned. The preacher emphasizes the importance of recognizing God's faithfulness and justice, even if we may not fully understand His judgments. The sermon also highlights the beauty of Jesus and the profound impact of connecting with Him, leading to a deep sobriety, urgency, and hope in our spirits.

Let the weak speak, that CD, I recommend that. Go ahead and turn in your Bibles to Revelation chapter 19. I want to read the 11 verses, and I don't have them on the notes, so that will give you a chance to follow through. Father, we ask you in this most glorious passage, this portrait of Jesus, as the bridegroom, king, and judge, and the great day when his glory is manifest before all the nations. Lord, that you would give us eyes to see and behold the beauty of the king, even now in these days. Let us see in part what we will see in fullness on that day. We thank you in Jesus' name, amen. Well, Revelation chapter 19, verse 11 to 21, we're gonna read it straight through and then look at some of the notes. It is a gold mine. It is filled with treasure. These 11 verses are meant to be read in the context of the larger testimony of Scripture. What I mean by that is that there are many phrases, and each one of these phrases are like a title to a book, meaning every phrase has so many implications, and they're connected to many other passages from Genesis to Revelation. And so as we read through these phrases, we're asking the Holy Spirit, show us in the word of God where you elaborate on this truth, and connect my heart to it, and illuminate my understanding. And as these phrases together, we become familiar with what the Bible says, the Scripture says, the larger testimony for each one of them, then the picture comes into focus as to what our life is about, and where history is headed, and what's going to happen with the body of Christ, and how beautiful Jesus really is as bridegroom, king, and judge. It's describing, these 11 verses are describing the greatest day in natural history. This will be the greatest day in the history of the human race. But it won't appear that way to many at a casual or a first glance. It will be the greatest victory for the body of Christ worldwide in the sense of manifesting the full victory of the cross in all of, openly before all the nations. But it will also be the greatest day of judgment for those who say no to him. So there's many things that come together on one day. The greatest day. I'm talking about a 24 hour period. The greatest manifestation of victory. The greatest manifestation of judgment in the natural sense. The greatest revelation of the beauty of Jesus ever seen in history, all coming together in one place. I mean, it all comes together in one passage, but it's describing this one grand day. So what you want to do is ask the Holy Spirit. Holy Spirit, I want to see myself in this drama. Whether you're alive with a natural body or you're there with a resurrected body, I want to see myself in this drama. I want to feel a little bit, by reading the word and by the ministry of the Spirit, I want to feel a little bit now what I'm going to feel in fullness on that day. I want to see a little bit now what I will see in fullness about that man, Jesus, who's fully God and fully man. Again, every phrase, I would liken it to the title of a book. There are so many implications to each phrase, and it's though the Holy Spirit is beckoning us. If you're hungry for more of what this phrase, this truth represent, come after me. I will teach you. I will show you more in the written word, and I will inspire your understanding as you approach me according to these truths. Okay, let's read it, and then we'll look at some of the notes. Again, as always, we won't cover all the notes, but we'll just look at some of them. John said, now I saw heaven opened. And this phrase, when heaven opens, in the book of Revelation, it designates there's a new part of the storyline is beginning. That phrase is used several times in the book of Revelation. And here he sees the great day, the greatest day of history. Behold, a white horse. And of course, it's a military context with the white horse, the horse of victory. And him who sat upon it, upon the horse, of course, it's Jesus. His name, he is called faithful and true, and in righteousness, he judges the earth, and in righteousness, he's about to make war. It's a one-day battle, but it is the most dramatic and most violent and most destructive day of battle in the history of the human race, and Jesus makes this war. Of course, it brings the greatest liberty and the greatest victory to the planet. He judges and he makes war. Already, we're leaning forward going, okay, Lord, I'm a part of this. Again, whether you're here with a natural body or you're in the resurrection, you're raptured and you're with the Lord and you're seeing it from that point of view, the events are getting closer to this day. Verse 12, his eyes were like a flame of fire. On his head, there were many crowns, many victories that he is proclaiming, he's displaying. He had a name written that nobody knew what the name was. There were surprises about his heart and surprises about his end time plan that we will only find out on that day. Only he himself, and of course, the Father knows and the Spirit. Verse 13, he had a robe on, but this is so unusual. The robe was dipped in blood. We'll find out in a few moments. It's not the blood, his own blood shed at Calvary. This is talking in context of the blood of his enemies actually gets upon his garments. That's how up close and personal he is involved in this great battle and this great day of liberty for the planet. His name is called the Word of God. In the day of battle, his name is called the Word of God. Of course, his name is the Word of God now, but the point being, even in the intensity of this great carnage and this great destruction, he is 100% faithful to all of the promises and all of the character that is portrayed in the Word of God. He is faithful to the Word. He doesn't contradict even the slightest dimension of it. Verse 14, he's not alone. He goes into victory with a company of people. It's an army. It's an army that's in heaven. And this army is clothed with white and clean garments, supernatural garments. And the army is following him and they have white horses just like he does. Now we found out earlier in Revelation 19 that the army is his bride. It's the people that he wants near him. It's those that are so dear to him. He wants them with him as he enters into this battle. And then at the end of the battle, right after the battle, he enters into the city of Jerusalem at the end of this battle, and he claims the leadership over that city. So really this is describing not just the battle, it's his triumphal entry into the city of Jerusalem at the second coming. Verse 15, out of his mouth goes a sharp sword that with it he would strike the nations. What a graphic truth. He's going to strike the nations by speaking the word of God. And when he speaks the words of his mouth, it's as though the sword of the Lord goes forth in power. But not only will he strike the nations, but he will rule them. And he will rule them with a rod of iron. And not only does he strike the nations and rule them, this very kind of unusual phrase that the prophets in the Old Testament talk about a number of times, he will tread the winepress of the wrath of God. Now treading the winepress is a very specific event. It's not just a kind of a poetic description. It's a specific event that happens on this great day that we're going to read in just a few moments. In verse 19, the winepress is described. We'll get there in a minute. Verse 16, on his robe he has a name, King of Kings, Lord of Lords. Meaning it's not just his name known to the saints. On this day before all the nations of the earth, he will be received as the king over all the kings. Openly, an open display. And all the governments of the earth will come under him. I'm talking about in the natural sense before the eyes of all. Verse 17, now the great battle is described from verse 17 to 21. The battle that leads to him taking the leadership of Jerusalem as he enters in to the Hosanna praises. I mean the triumphal entry far more successful than the first triumphal entry where just a few said Hosanna. Now all the nation and all the nations of the earth will celebrate who he is. But first the description of the great battle. The description of the battle. Verse 17 to 21, I saw an angel. This angel was standing in the sun. And the angel cried out with a loud voice to all the birds that fly in the midst of heaven. So this angelic voice cries to the birds in the heavens, in the sky. Come, gather together because God has planned and provided a great supper for you. Now there's about 200 billion birds on the earth right now. 200 billion, not million, billion. So this angel calls the birds in the sky. And I don't know how many gather, but some billions gather. I mean this is so intense. I mean look up in the sky. I mean imagine a guy on the earth. He looks up and the sky is filled with birds. I mean what a terrifying thought or sight. Well here's what the message the angel says to the birds. God has a supper for you. He's provided a dinner for you. Verse 18, you will eat the flesh of the kings, the captains, the mighty men. This is military men, men of war. Not only that birds, you will eat the flesh of their horses and the flesh of all the other people, meaning the soldiers. This isn't talking about eating the flesh of every human being on the earth, but all of the soldiers that gathered to the battle because as we know through the book of Revelation, all of the kings of the earth will gather to this city of Jerusalem and they will bring their armies with them. Nothing like this has ever happened. Verse 19, here's the gathering. And this gathering actually is called by the Old Testament prophets, the wine press of God, this gathering. Because the kings gather for victory, but Jesus is gathering them to execute them. They don't believe in Jesus. They are gathering to have victory over him. He's gathering them to execute them. It's gonna be the greatest turn of events in a military political sense imaginable and what all happened on one day will come to a head. Here's the great wine press. Verse 19, I saw the beast, that's the Antichrist. He's called the beast 36 times in the book of Revelation. I saw the kings of the earth. There's 232 nations. There's never been a time ever in history where every king of the earth appeared together, showed up together in one city at the same time. Never has this happened, ever. It'll be historic, it'll be unique. It will be in some ways, I mean, unprecedented, even bizarre. Every king, head of state will gather to Jerusalem, to the same city at the same time. And not only that, they will bring their top government with them and their armies. I mean, how intense is this? We're not talking about the United Nations with a delegate that has a representation of many nations but not all the nations. We're talking about the heads of state and their top cabinet leaders, the mighty men that help govern their nation and all the military leaders as well. They all gather to one city. I mean, I don't know where everyone's gonna stay, but they gather to the city. But they gather to make war. This is a strange statement unless you grasp the larger testimony of Scripture because when you put the whole puzzle together from the Scripture, then the picture comes into focus. But if a casual read, it's kind of easy to lose your way in this passage. You go, what? How could that be? Because often our paradigms or our perspectives are, we have some presuppositions about this day that are just our natural presuppositions. Like how could they gather to war against Jesus and his army? I mean, don't they know Jesus is God? The answer is no, they don't. Don't they know they can't defeat him? The answer is no. They don't know they can't. They believe they can defeat him. Well, how could they believe that? Well, I'll tell you how. Because the Antichrist, he has a head wound and dies and apparently raises from the dead. At least that's what it looks like. It's hard to know exactly what happens, but that's clear in the Scripture, Revelation 13. He has a head wound. He miraculously recovers. The whole earth is awestruck by him. It doesn't mean every person of the earth, but it means every nation has a company of people that are awestruck. They will think he was the one that died and rose from the dead, and he will say that Jesus is the imposter. Jesus is the false messiah. He's the angel of light, and this Antichrist will have supernatural power. He will do tremendous miracles, and he will claim that Jesus is the false messiah, the imposter, and that Jesus can be defeated. Just like we believe that the Antichrist will be defeated, they will believe Jesus can be defeated. Though he has supernatural power, they'll say, yeah, but our guy has more. It's exactly what we believe in reverse. Well, they will gather, and they will gather with the intention not just to war against Israel. More than that, but to war against Jesus, a Jewish man with a resurrected body, with supernatural abilities. They say, well, our guy has supernatural abilities. We'll take our chances. Wow. Well, they're all gathered together. They're convinced they can win. The sudden reversal begins in verse 20. I mean, the shock of all shocks. The Antichrist is captured, and the reason that's a great shock because in Revelation 13, verse 4, they said, who can stand against him? He has seemed invincible. I mean, absolutely unable to be defeated by anybody. He has had a string of victories with such power and superior strength to any resisting force. It is the shock of this army when this man is actually captured. He's not invincible. There is only one who's invincible, the one who captured him. I mean, the reversal begins right here. And the false prophet who did great miracles too, he's captured alongside. They're thrown into the lake of fire. Talking about a shock. Here's all the 232, whatever the number would be, heads of state just absolutely shocked with all their top cabinet leaders, all of their top governmental officials, the mighty men of their government, the military leaders, they're all in one place, and it's beginning to dawn on them, they were completely deceived. Then verse 21. This is the great wine press now. The rest were killed. The rest. We're talking about all of the heads of state, all of their governmental leadership, their cabinet, and all of their armies. We're talking of tens of millions, maybe hundreds of millions, nobody knows. It is unthinkable. They're executed. And they're killed by the sword that comes out of Jesus's mouth. Now, nobody knows exactly what that means, but this is what I think it means. This is what makes sense to me. It's the sword that is released by the command of his mouth. Like in Genesis 1, he commanded, and light came, and the world was created, and all the glory of God, and all that was a part of creation was released by the words of his mouth. So I believe the sword of his mouth means that when he speaks, power is released in the natural realm. Well, then all the birds eat the flesh. Can you imagine? Tens of millions, maybe hundreds of millions, I don't know. But I mean, a number, the carnage, we can't even fathom. Never has there been so much human death and destruction in one second. But these were all those who set their heart in a irreversible, permanent way to war against Jesus and his people and his kingdom and to declare war upon love itself. And Jesus says there's only one answer. I won't violate their free will. I won't make them love me, but I will remove them against their will. Then all the birds. I mean, again, there's 200 billion birds in the earth, and I don't know what percent will be there, but it says all the birds, and so I'm sure it's a lot of them. They will fill their flesh. And one of the practical reasons of this, one of the practical reasons that the birds do this, because the millennial kingdom starts that day. And Jesus doesn't wanna start this new world order with 100 million dead people, so he calls the birds as the cleanup crew, for real. It's actual, because of the decayed bodies and the disease that would come to the land immediately after that would just be, I mean, it would stagger us, just the natural dimensions of that. And part of what's going on is literally the practicality of his leadership over the earth as Jerusalem and Israel will be his base of government for the rest of the world. Now, in all of these events that he is leading, heaven declares that he's faithful and true, that he never contradicted love ever, not once in this most severe demonstration of judgment. And the wisdom is, the message is, if in the most violent hour of history that he orchestrates, in the greatest judgment, if he was faithful and true to love, then in every lesser demonstration of judgment, he's also faithful and true to love and to righteousness and to truth and to wisdom and justice. He never violates it ever. He's faithful and true every step along the way. And that's our confession now, not just then. And when the nations rise up in anger against his judgments, which Revelation 11, 18 says they're very angry at Jesus. And even there will be those who name themselves among the people of God. They will also side in accusations against Jesus's leadership. Jesus, if you do that, if you judge, you're a contradiction to what you say you are. Well, our testimony now, our testimony then agrees with the testimony of heaven. He is faithful and true to love. He's faithful and true to justice. He does everything precisely right. That's the testimony throughout this entire presentation. I mean, this whole description of all these events. Well, Revelation 19 is very deeply connected to the revelation of Jesus as a bridegroom king and this great battle. This, when all the kings are gathered, that's what I refer to as the battle of Jerusalem. And many use that term. We're familiar with the phrase, the battle of Armageddon, but that's not actually a biblical phrase. Armageddon is a geographic area, but Armageddon is north in the northern part of Israel. Armageddon is the military staging area where all of the armies gather, but the battle itself clearly from the scriptures is around the city of Jerusalem, down south in Jerusalem. So it's more accurate to talk about the Armageddon campaign, because there'll be many battles over a three and a half year period. But the final battle of that Armageddon campaign, again, Armageddon is the military staging area. The battle is actually the battle of Jerusalem. Well, the revelation of Jesus as a bridegroom and king, bridegroom, king and judge, is deeply connected to what he does at the battle of Jerusalem to end the Armageddon campaign. And what he does, the point of Revelation 19 is that these actions, these decisive, extravagant, I mean, dramatic actions are creating the context on the planet for the bride of Christ to rule the planet with Jesus forever. That's what's on his mind. Now, if you start in Revelation 19, we look at verse 11 to 21, 11 verses. But if you read the first 10 verses, it's about the marriage of the Lamb. It's about the bride being ready. It's about the marriage supper. So the first 10 verses highlight Jesus's relationship to his people. The next 11 verses connect his activities in removing everything that's in the way of love and him and his bride ruling the earth in love and righteousness together. So you have to put the two passages, the first 10 verses, which we're not looking at today, and then the next 11 verses, the bridegroom and the wedding, the first 10 verses, what he does to remove everything that hinders love, what he does to oppose all that's in the way of love and him and his bride ruling the planet, that's the next 11 verses. But we see his beauty in a very unique and particular way. Now, this day is called the Day of the Lord. It's literally a 24-hour period. When things come to a head, but this is where history is going, and we must know that history is not going to end with a nuclear explosion. I mean, there may be some limited nuclear exchange between now and then, I don't know, but I know this, history is not ending with communism versus capitalism, no. It's ending, it's shifting. Natural history is shifting in a very dramatic event on one day. It's a battle around the city of Jerusalem when all the heads of state and all the military personnel will be removed in one dramatic event in one day. That is just, again, it's just unthinkable that that's where it's going, but to see Jesus orchestrating this because of love and because of righteousness and justice. Well, why are the truths in Revelation 19 so important? The reason I say that, because the first 10 verses about the wedding and then the next 11 verses about the battle, again, the verses seem a bit cryptic, some of them. The verses are kind of hard to relate to because we might not understand that every phrase, again, would represent a whole book of truth. The Spirit is beckoning us saying, come after me, I will teach you more. I will show you about this man. I will show you about your future. Come after me, and I will show you from the word of God. The larger picture. Now, some of you know this, there are 150 chapters in the Bible of which the main topic is the end times, 150 chapters. You know, if you add up Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, Jesus' first coming, that's 89 chapters. That's less than 90. There's 150 chapters. There's almost twice as much about the drama at his second coming in the Bible than the drama of his first coming, almost twice as much. My point is this, there's much material that the Holy Spirit is desirous to expand in our understanding from the Bible so we can see this great storyline of which every phrase in the first 10 verses of chapter 19 and the next 11 verses, every phrase is loaded with truth that's anchored from Genesis to Revelation, the larger description. And I mean, it's just like a big menu. When I read Revelation 19, I wanna order from this part of the menu, this part, this part. Every phrase is like a meal in itself. And the Spirit is saying, come after me, and I will teach you these things if you want to know. So don't read the menu and decide you don't like the food. Stop at each phrase and eat. And you won't eat in one setting. We can feast on this for our entire life. I've been reading this chapter for many, many years. And I mean, I'm just scratching the beginning of the surface of where this thing is going. Well, the truth in this chapter, they reveal the personality of Jesus in a very special and unique way. They show us his beauty. They show us his passion for his people. They show us how he defines love. They show us how he expresses love. These verses show us how he views persistent oppression that they won't repent of, that the oppressors won't repent of. These passages show us how he views persistent obedience when people won't repent. These verses show us how far he is willing to go for love. So when I read these, all these phrases in these 21 verses, again, we're only looking at 11, and even then we're just gonna look at them a glimpse. Most of them's gonna leave you with the notes to read on your own. My real thing I wanna do is stir you up. I want you excited about the menu so you can go eat later at your own timing. But as I study these passages, and I search out the other places, and the prophets, and the Old and New Testament, where the scripture describes these various truths in greater detail, and it's quite a journey. It's quite a treasure hunt. I mean, it's a Holy Spirit-escorted treasure hunt into the beauty of Jesus. But it tempers my thinking. It changes my worldview. It causes me to have a picture of the future that's different than it would be without these truths. Where are things are going? And I tell you, when we connect with them, we have a deep sobriety. We have an urgency in our spirit. Then we also have profound hope. Because when we see how sure our victory is, but that victory is in context to some really dramatic, and even violent events and situations in the planet. And so we lose much in our spiritual life if we think of the future, and we try to process how salvation works, and what the kingdom, how it operates. If we process that, neglecting these great truths, we actually suffer great harm. Much loss is what I'm trying to say is. Because so much of it is brought together and anchored in Revelation chapter 19. Well, I guess it's time to start the notes since I'm halfway done. But again, I'm just gonna point out a few points, and just kind of give you the notes to read on your own. Roman numeral one, the beauty of Jesus. A clear biblical premise is this. The beauty of Jesus is most manifest. I mean, in the greatest measure, I'm talking about before the nations, in the natural sense, where everyone can see it, it's most manifest at the greatest measure at the time of the second coming. That's a premise that the prophets in the Old Testament, particularly Isaiah, emphasized a number of times. His beauty will be openly displayed, not just to the eyes of faith, but to the natural eye. His beauty will be unmistakable, and all will see it. Look at Isaiah 44, verse two. Isaiah prophesied in that day. Now, he's talking about the day of Revelation 19. The branch of the Lord, that's a Old Testament term for the Messiah, the branch of the Lord. It's used six times in the Old Testament. It's a marvelous term for the Messiah, but I won't go into that right now. In that day, on the day of Revelation 19, the verses we just read, the Messiah will be seen globally as beautiful and glorious. So, here's what this verse tells us right now. When we read Revelation 19, particularly verse 11 to 23, 21, the passage we're looking at, our first thought isn't that he's glorious and beautiful. Our first thought is, oh, intense. And the Holy Spirit might whisper back in your heart and say, no, no, no, you haven't seen clearly yet. There's more for you to see, because until you can see his beauty and his glory in that day, as described in Revelation 19, you haven't understood Revelation 19 right. You're still lacking in your perception of it. Isaiah said again, well, he said it a number of times, but I'll just give the second one. He goes, your eyes will see the king in his beauty. And again, in context, Isaiah 33, 17, it's talking about on the day of Revelation 19, that day that Jesus has been planning ever since Adam said yes to sin. He has been planning this day from generations past. And that day will be a glorious day where love will triumph and evil and wickedness will be driven off the planet. Now what we do is, the principle is, we meditate on the events that Jesus claims responsibility for. Some of the events he does, and other events, he orchestrates them, he sets them in order and others do them, but they're under his leadership. So we meditate on the events themselves, and the events lead us back to the mind and the heart of the man, Jesus, fully God, fully man. The events lead us back to understand his personality. So we read the events and we go, oh, some are scary, some are exciting, some are perplexing, some are confusing. And we say, what meaneth thou this? And the Holy Spirit would say, I wanna tell you about his heart, the beauty of this man's heart and the beauty of his mind. Read the events and work your way back to the great treasure hunt, the gold mine of the beauty of this man. Paragraph B. Now this is one of the all-time favorites at IHOP, so I had to slip this in, Psalm 45. Psalm 45, the first eight verses, particularly, well, and then more particularly, verse three, four, and five, it's talking about this day of Revelation 19. I mean, in its context, verse three to five is actually talking about Revelation 19, the day of the Lord when the great shift comes to the planet and the great transition to the age to come when all the governments of the earth are replaced and Jesus has his way on the earth. And look, now, if you read, I'm not gonna go through the details of this, but if you read the passage carefully and even though the verses I added to it, it's actually the Father speaking these words to Jesus. Hebrews 1.8 tells us, the Father is declaring these truths of Psalm 45. We're gonna look at this real quick. It's actually the Father saying it to the Son. Yes, the psalmist is pinning this great song, but the song was originated in the words and in the heart of the Father. You are fair, verse two, Psalm 45, verse two. You are more beautiful than all the sons of men. Now, this is the Father saying this to Jesus in the incarnation. You are the most beautiful man. There's never been one like you. And of course, by the Holy Spirit, the psalmist, and then all of the saints through history, those who love the Lord, we say it to Jesus. We say it by faith. We see a little bit now, but we're gonna see it fully on that day. More beautiful than all the sons of men. There's never been a king who ruled with greater beauty than you rule. There's never been a conqueror who went forth in such splendor and beauty as you do, Jesus. That's the Father's testimony, and the Spirit wants that testimony to be worked in us in an ever-increasing way, even in these days. The next phrase the Father says, grace is on your lips. Now, the word grace, it includes the idea that he's gracious, but it's not limited to gracious. It means the power is released by the words of his mouth, that even the judgments, they go forth when he speaks. So instead of the word grace, put the word power. Power is released when this man speaks, talking about authority. Yes, his words are gracious, and they're filled with wisdom, and they're lovely, but they're powerful too. And then the Father says to the Son, and of course, the psalmist says to him by the Holy Spirit, and so does the church, gird your sword, pull your sword. To gird your sword on your thigh means to get it ready to draw it for battle. The Father says, Jesus, draw your sword. Of course, this is described in the book of Revelation chapter 19. We just read it when the Father tells the Son, draw your sword now for action. Almighty God, right on. He's on a white horse. In majesty, right on, prosperously, or the other translation says victoriously. And we know this. Jesus is going to release his judgments because he wants to produce, look it right there, verse four, truth, humility, and righteousness. So no matter what accusation, somebody comes, whether a believer or unbeliever, when someone accuses Jesus in the hours of it, in the times of his judgments of lacking love, we can say with our testimony, he's faithful and true, that's what Revelation 19, 11 says, or we can say this one, he's working truth, humility, and righteousness into the earth. His judgments are producing humility in the earth. They come from humility in his heart and they produce humility in the nations. Well, paragraph C, Jesus's beauty at his first coming was veiled greatly. Those with eyes of faith could see it a little. We saw the, I'm talking about the believers, would see the beauty of his humility, the beauty of his wise teaching, the beauty of his miracles, the beauty of his sacrificial love, but most of his beauty was veiled. Even by the eye of faith, we could see just a portion. But I tell you, the day is coming when all of his beauty will be openly displayed. Paragraph D, here on this final march into Jerusalem, because when you read the whole testimony of Scripture, we find out Jesus is just outside of Jerusalem. He's already come from heaven, he's on the earth. The heaven's open, but that was the way that God showed John the Revelation with an open heaven vision, but the vision itself is Jesus is on a horse, and he's marching into Jerusalem, and we know from the book of Isaiah that he's actually just outside the city of Jerusalem in a place called Edom in the ancient world, which is the nation of Jordan today. That's where Isaiah picks up the storyline, where Jesus is on the horse with all of the ranks of his people with him, and they're marching into Jerusalem. That's where Isaiah picks up the storyline, and that's where Revelation 19, John just takes up right where Isaiah left off and adds more to the story. So if you only read Revelation 19, you only get the title of the book, you only get the menu, you won't get the full meal. You have to get the book to get the whole story, and there's 150 chapters in the Bible that describe all of these events in detail. Well, there's 12 different aspects of Jesus's activity or the Father's activity. Let's look at number one. His mode of travel, his character, his actions, his eyes, his crowns, his name, his names, his robe, his armies. Those are eight that are aspects the Holy Spirit focused on. Beloved, go feast on the meal that this menu is pointing to. Revelation chapter 19, verse 11 to 16. Then paragraph two, there's four aspects of God's activity on the battle scene itself. And this battle scene is not just a, well, who cares? No, we care. So well, I won't be there anyway, or maybe I will be, or I won't be, or I'll be raptured and resurrected by day, who knows, who cares? There's more than just seeing yourself there, though I think that's an important part of reading this. It gives us insight into the nature of Jesus, the way his mind works, how far he's willing to go for love, and how dramatic his actions are going to be, and where history is headed. You really want to understand this passage. Well, the Holy Spirit highlights four aspects. You can read that on your own. The top of page two. Let's go down to paragraph C. He said, I saw heaven open. Again, this phrase, an open heaven, some, I believe, misunderstand this, and they think that the whole scene is in the sky, because they picture Jesus coming in the sky, because he does. But the heaven opened is a phrase used throughout the book of Revelation, and the book of Ezekiel. It indicates that a new vision is beginning, but the scene itself is actually the earthly battle with the kings, and the gathering, and the war, and the horse, and the army, all colliding with each other on the earth. Jesus' army isn't in the sky, and they're on the earth, like shooting bows and arrows, trying to shoot them in the sky, saying, hey, quit moving so much. No, they're all on the earth together. It's a real battle. And the reason that's hard for some to grasp, because some think when we get resurrected bodies, that we don't really have physical bodies like we do. When you have a resurrected body, do you know that you will be the same person? Your body will just have supernatural abilities, but you'll still have a physical, material body, and you will be just like you are now, but in perfection. Jesus is the same size. He looks the same. He's not nine foot tall. He's the same that he was, and so the nations of the earth, it will be real people. When Jesus appeared in his resurrected body, when he veiled some of his glory, people didn't even know it was him. It was just a man walking in the gardener. Well, they all come on white horses with Jesus. That speaks of a military context, number one. Middle page two. It speaks of victory. The white horse speaks of victory. Number two, he judges, which means he intervenes. This is huge, because throughout the prophets, one of the key phrases, the prophets, particularly Isaiah, says God is silent. God is holding, is not acting, and what that means is God has restrained his judgments throughout human history. Every now and then, there's a manifestation of his judgment at a national level, but mostly, his judgments have restrained, and the Bible describes that as God is being silent. Doesn't mean he doesn't see. Doesn't mean he doesn't care. It doesn't mean he doesn't feel zeal in his heart to intervene, but in his perfect wisdom and love, he restrains, and a little judgment here, a little judgment there, but there's coming a day, and Isaiah and John are saying this, his judgments are loosed, and they're at many different levels, many different expressions and manifestations, but it means the silence is broken. He now judges. He's in the mode of dramatic, open confrontation and intervention to correct the earth, the woes of the earth. That's a huge statement when seen in the context of the prophetic witness that God is silent, he's not acting, he's not judging, a little here, a little there. Number three, well, he goes, it's not just judgment, but the most extreme judgment, he makes war. War is part of his judgment, but the judgments that built in intensity through the book of Revelation, they did not cause the Antichrist empire to draw back and lay down their weapons. So the judgments have been in place, but he brings it to the most extreme, high-pitched level. Jesus now makes war. That's judgment to the highest expression. This is the most dramatic political and military event in human history will happen yet in the future around the city of Jerusalem. Number four, all of heaven will say he's faithful and true, but beloved, we're confessing it now. We may not see his beauty and his judgments because our mind does not have clarity, because our mind is still mostly unrenewed, but we wanna line up by faith and say, you're just and true. Everything you do, you do for love. Fairer than the sons of men, as you go forth in glory and in majesty for truth, humility, and righteousness. That's our confession. That's the way we talk about Jesus, even when those in the body of Christ would accuse him of contradiction of love if he judged. We say, no, he's faithful and true. And this statement of faithful and true means on the great day of battle, meaning even in the most extreme situation of this battle, he is faithful to the word of God and true to love. Paragraph D, his eyes are like a flame of fire. That means a number of things, but the only one I wanna point out right now, his eyes like fire, is that it expresses the passion and the zeal and the love burning in his heart. I mean, the eyes are a reflection, as the saying that the eyes are a window into the soul. And they are a reflection of how he feels on that day. He's not passive, he's doing it with zeal, he's stirred. But he's not just stirred to pay back, he's stirred to deliver. He's filled with fire. The eyes of fire mean more than that, but it's in context of this battle. And I want you to know that that's what his heart will feel like on that day. Now, amazing thing is that Jesus has only appeared from the biblical point of view to one man ever with eyes of fire. I mean, this is an ultimate expression of his glory. When he shows forth his eyes of fire, because when he appeared in the resurrection for 40 days after he raised from the dead, for 40 days he appeared to his disciples in Acts 1, he didn't have eyes of fire, he restrained it. I mean, he had them, but he veiled them, he hid them. He showed himself and he veiled his glory. And then one time ever in history from the biblical record, one man, John the Apostle, Revelation 1, he appears and shows his greater glory and John sees his eyes like fire. I mean, John looks at him, the beloved disciple, and he falls like a dead man before Jesus. He's overwhelmed at the magnitude of his glory. I mean, how rare of a revelation that he would show his eyes of fire, but the impact it had on him, here's the point. Here's what John's saying in Revelation 19. The Jesus of Revelation 1 in splendor that I felt like a dead man in front of, the whole earth will see him in that measure of glory. He's gonna come public on a world level with that dimension of glory. Because remember, at the resurrection for 40 days, he hid that dimension of his glory, he veiled it. But there's a day he's going public on a global level as the full glory of who he is. Like, oh, that's just terrifying and wonderful. Glorious, wonderful, terrifying beauty, the singers have sang in the songs to the past. Many crowns, that speaks of his many victories through the past and victories in the future. He has a great track record. If anybody has the right to take over the world, I tell you, the guy, the person with the best track record, with the resume, he has crowns to prove it of victory, successful victories in righteousness throughout history. Number three, he has a name that nobody knows. Now this is a very big point. What this says, it says more than this, but just a little bit, remember I'm only, that you can write a book on this, I'm only just hinting at this. There are surprising aspects to his personality and to his plan that will only be seen on that day, the great day of battle. And then when he enters into Jerusalem and he's received by the remnant of Israel, as he enters in Jerusalem, there are things about him we will not know till that day. He has surprises that are in his heart about himself and surprises about his plan. And beloved, we will forever have new discoveries of the beauty of this man. There will always be a dimension we are discovering for the first time. Top of page three, paragraph E. Well, this is one of the most terrifying parts. Again, it's only one phrase, but there's a lot in the Bible on this. And it's the spirit of saying, read the testimony of scripture. There's 150 chapters talking about all these different events, these different truths related to Jesus in the end times. But his robe is dipped in blood. Now, most commentators, not all, but most agree it's not his own blood, but it's the blood of his enemies. Because John is actually referencing Isaiah 63 that I mentioned a few moments ago. Now let's go ahead and look at it. Isaiah 63, verse one. This is describing the second coming of Jesus. The question is being asked, who is this man coming from Edom? And the idea in context, you gotta read the chapter before and the chapter after. The whole context is talking about the second coming of Christ. The question is, who is this man coming up to Jerusalem? And he's just outside the city, the region right next door in Edom, which is modern day Jordan. So Isaiah begins to see the storyline when he's not in Jerusalem, but just a few miles away. And he sees the Messiah just a few miles out, and he knows Jerusalem is his destination. He's just a few moments away. I mean, just some miles. And he goes, who is this man? His garments, his robes, his apparel is glorious. There's a supernatural dimension to his glory. Doesn't mean he had cool clothes on. It means there's a supernatural dimension to his garments. They're glorious. And he's traveling. He's on the ground. He's with an entire company of those that he loves, and they're traveling on their way to Jerusalem to liberate the city and to execute all the evil governmental leaders of the earth. The great shift, the great turnaround that will shock all of them. He's traveling. He's traveling in power. What an understatement. Like Isaiah, that's a good. He's traveling in power. Isaiah, you could've said it even more extravagant than that. Well, I like the measured approach, because then it beckons us to search it out by the spirit and the word, to see what more God has said in his word about things like this. But then the next question starts off with, who is this guy? Of course, it's Jesus. Why? Well, your garments are glorious. There's a supernatural dimension. But more than that, your garments are red. It looks like you've been treading in the wine press. Now, most of you know how a wine press worked in the ancient world. They would be like a big trough or a big stone area. Maybe the size of this whole stage, just picture it that way, four foot tall stone. And they would put all of the, something about this size, and they all differed in every city. And they'd put all the grapes from the harvest into it. And then the people would stop on the grapes. And they would smash the grapes so the juice would flow, or they would use a stone and roll it over the grapes and smash them. And they'd smash effortlessly. I mean, grapes were easy to smash. With the human steps on grapes, there you have it. And the people that would tread the grapes in the wine press, the people that did that, the grapes got all over their clothing. And Isaiah said, you look like a man that's been in the wine vat or that trough stomping on grapes and the juice is all over you. Why? What's the wine press? Of course, we know now when we put all the scripture together with scripture, the wine press is the gathering of all the governmental and political leaders in the earth that lined up with the Antichrist and the devil in one city to remove them in one grand event and transition the planet in one day. That's the grand event. You know, the question is Isaiah 66. Can a nation be born in a day? Yes, but even more dramatic, the earth will be transitioned in one day because he has that much power to pull it off. Jesus does. So they said, wait, you look like you've been stomping grapes. All this red is on you. And now Jesus answers in verse three. He goes, I have trodden the wine press, but not the one you're thinking. It's not grapes. It's humans at the end of the age. Their blood is on my garments. It is stained all of my robes. Now we think, oh, why don't you think before Jesus marches into Jerusalem and received as the Messianic King, don't you think he would change clothes or clean up first? No, because his destruction of the Antichrist, his extreme judgment, he is proud of them, not ashamed of them. He's not like kind of cowering on the last day, say, well, guys, it got a little intense. I didn't have any other option. Trust me, if I had another option, I would've, he says, no, no, I killed them. And I'm sure it was for love and it was right. And their blood on my garments is actually a trophy, a statement of his zeal for his people. He goes, no, I'm not gonna clean it up. I want you to see how serious I am about you and how serious I am for love. Well, Jesus is up close and personal in the battle. He's close enough for blood to literally get on him, not symbolically. He's not up in the air and the blood splashed up real high. He's on the ground. Up close and personal and he's not ashamed of it at all. Number two, his name, the next name he gets after that is called the word of God. And what he's saying is what I did in the wine press, it fulfills the word of God perfectly. There's no contradiction in the word to who I am when I tread the wine press. I did it all for love, perfect wisdom. I didn't violate the word at all. Paragraph F, the armies are with him. We find in verse seven to nine, the armies are the bride of Christ. Verse seven to nine of this chapter, but here we are in verse 14. He wants partnership with his people. He goes, I don't wanna rule the earth without you. He said in John 17, 24, Father, I want them with me where I am. I want them to behold my glory. I want to rule with them. I wanna enter the city of Jerusalem with them. I want them with me. Yes, they will be in a military mode, but there's a great wedding feast that will happen after this. I think of all the resurrected saints from all of history. We're all there. Oh, it's fantastic. The guy that I just got, I don't know, if I can get a view of this somehow. I wanna see what David is thinking when the greater David is capturing Jerusalem again. David's gotta be going, oh. I just like, if you're next to David, just tell him that some guy back there wants to talk to you. He's been talking about you for years. He'll say, okay, just tell him later, just after this is over, you know. Oh, maybe at the feast. Paragraph G, and I know we're completely out of time, so look at these actions. Paragraph G, verse 15. He has a sharp sword. He strikes the nations. He rules them. He treads the winepress. Number one, he strikes the nations by the word, by the power that's released by his decrees. I just want you to see that. Number two, he treads the winepress. Again, I've already described it. It's a specific event on a specific day, the only time in history all the kings of the earth were in the same city in the same hour, and all their armies, and all their mighty governmental officials. The winepress is that geographic area surrounding Jerusalem. They think they have Israel trapped, and Jesus has them trapped in a winepress. They think they've trapped Israel because they've surrounded the city, and they think they're attacking Jesus, and Jesus has them trapped, and he's about to remove them in one day to display his power. He's not only the greater Moses liberating his people from bondage. He's the greater Joshua marching them to the promised land. He's the greater David capturing the city of Jerusalem, building a temple, and worshiping night and day, and having a throne, and he's the greater Elijah where he confronts Baal, drives false religion out, and calls fire down from heaven all in one man, all in one day. Paragraph H. Well, when he's king of kings, again, he's king of kings now, but what this means is that everybody on the earth in the natural says he's king of kings, not just people in the spirit. Every single human declares that that's the point. Roman number three. We've already read about the birds. Number two. Ezekiel, I just want you to know this, talks about the same event with the birds. If you want more details, read Ezekiel as well. What a remarkable thing. Now, some people think, well, the married supper or the supper of God for the birds, what's the deal? And because they're put in comparison and contrast, but they're expressing the same reality. The supper that God feeds the birds by killing these men is because he has a passion for a bride to celebrate with nothing to hinder love. It's all, it's actually two expressions of one reality in one heart. Paragraph D, the rest were killed. Again, the birds clean it all up. You know, Ezekiel goes on to describe this. In Ezekiel 39, he said that it will take seven months to bury the dead. Now, they've been picked to the bone by the birds, but their bones are still there. Seven months, Ezekiel 39 says to bury the dead, and it will take seven years to burn all the weapons of the Antichrist army. Seven years to burn those weapons. Anyway, that's just kind of like, what? Just read Ezekiel 39, you'll read it your own. I mean, you could read it on your own. Let's end with this passage. The Lord describing Revelation 19 in Ezekiel 39. Ezekiel's describing Revelation 19 this great day. He said, the Lord speaking, I will set my glory among the nations. All the nations will see my judgment because their leaders will all be there getting executed. They will see my judgment, which I have executed, and my hand, they will see the hand, all the nations that I laid upon these wicked leaders. Verse 22, and the house of Israel will know, they're the ones in the city of Jerusalem surrounded by these armies. They will know that I, Jesus of Nazareth, I am their God, they will know it from that day forward. Amen. Let's stand. For more free downloads from Mike Bickle, please visit mikebickle.org.