Final Justice: The Return of Christ, Part 3

today on grace to you people will mock the notion of christ's return the sky will split and fold in on itself like a collapsed tent it is the day for executing the world they don't want that to be a reality because it would cause them to be terrified enough to give up their lusts which they're unwilling to do our argument is the scripture says this is coming what in the world makes us so embarrassed about the gospel i determined to know nothing among you except jesus christ and him crucified [Music] god is patient god is merciful god is a god of salvation but god will not be mocked and his patience will not endure forever the day of wrath will come let's go to the very vision of that day in the 19th chapter of revelation revelation chapter 19. and i want to read verses 11 to 21 and that's going to be the focus of our time this morning and i saw heaven opened and behold a white horse and he who sat on it called faithful and true and in righteousness he judges and wages war his eyes are a flame of fire and on his head are many diadems or crowns and he has a name written on him which no one knows except himself he is clothed with a robe dipped in blood and his name is called the word of god and the armies which are in heaven clothed in fine linen and white and clean were following him on white horses from his mouth comes a sharp sword so that with it he may strike down the nations and he will rule them with a rod of iron and he treads the wine press of the fierce wrath of god the almighty and on his robe and on his thigh he has a name written king of kings and lord of lords then i saw one angel standing in the sun and he cried out with a loud voice saying to all the birds which fly in mid heaven come assemble for the great supper of god so that you may eat the flesh of kings in the flesh of commanders in the flesh of mighty men in the flesh of horses and of those who sit on them in all the flesh of all men both free men and slaves and small and great and i saw the beasts and the kings of the earth and their armies assembled to make war against him who sat on the horse and against his army and the beast was seized and with him the false prophet who performed the signs in his presence by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshipped his image these two were thrown alive into the lake of fire which burns with brimstone the rest were killed with the sword which came from the mouth of him who sat on the horse and all the birds were filled with their flesh it's a terrifying picture this is really an awful story it tells of the greatest of world rulers being made food for vultures birds kings leaders strong confident become roadkill with no one to bury them their corpses are strewn everywhere along with everybody else and they're all reduced to the same carry-on those who once were conquerors and leaders elevated are basically desecrated to the lowest possible level that a human could be taken and that to become nothing but food for birds in contrast to the world's conquerors the great conqueror comes down rides on a bright horse flying on the wings of supernatural power along with all the saints and angels he comes with his sword to kill he roars out of zion the prophet says he utters his voice from jerusalem [Music] and his voice is so powerful that the heavens and the earth shake the fury of his own incensed holiness will literally cause him to be smoking the sun will disappear the mountains will melt the earth will split the hills will run from their places the waters will leave their channels the sea will roll back in some kind of howling fear the sky will split and fold in on itself like a collapsed tent it is the day for executing the world the world essentially in covenant with satan the world that has persecuted those people who belong to god and hated god will have his vengeance fall on them in eternal fury vengeance from god and by the way god's vengeance will be absolutely accurate with regard to its justice because of his perfect knowledge of every evil thing the king of kings is coming the lord of lords is coming or as paul identifies him in first timothy 6 15 the blessed and only sovereign the king of kings and lord of lords now with all that background we come to the 17th verse just two things to look at in this text the conquest announced we'll start there in the opening two verses then i saw literally one angel standing in the sun and he crowd cried out with a loud voice saying to all the birds was fly in the mid heaven come assemble for the great supper of god so that you may eat of the flesh of kings and the flesh of commanders in the flesh of mighty men in the flesh of horses and of those who sit on them in the flesh of all men both free men and slaves and small and great one angel we know that angels are associated with the judgment they're made reference to in the old testament by the prophets who see the same scene but all through the book of revelation the angels appear in very important times of judgment this angel standing in a very conspicuous and somewhat commanding place is the first indicator of the end this one angel standing in the sun that is to say perhaps he creates a sort of eclipse this is before the sun goes out before the sun goes out before the sign of the son of man takes over the black sky with his flaming blazing glory an angel stands in the sun and makes this announcement he cries with a loud voice we have an angel doing that in chapter seven we have an angel doing that in chapter 10 we have an angel doing that in chapter 14 about verse 15. we have an angel doing that at the beginning of chapter 18 and when an angel does that it is to make an announcement from heaven because an angel has some kind of a supernatural megaphone that covers the earth and denounces judgment on a wide scale but this announcement is not to people this angel cried out with a loud voice saying to all the birds which fly in mid heaven come a symbol for the great supper of god there there is a marriage supper back in verse nine there are two suppers in this chapter there's a marriage supper of the lamb back in verse 9 enjoyed by the saints who have been taken to glory this is a very different supper birds fly in the mid heaven this angel will call the birds and he's inviting them to eat the dead flesh before the son of god was declared to be the king of kings and lord of lords that is to say he has sovereign power over everyone the prophet said that he would have a sword and buy that sword out of his mouth he would slaughter all the ungodly on the face of the planet that will leave corpses and particularly focusing on the land of israel where all the armies of the world have gathered to fight against him because god himself gathered them they will be nothing more than food for these birds feed on the carnage look at verse 18 so that you may eat the flesh of kings the flesh of commanders the flesh of mighty men the flesh of horses those who sit on them the flesh of all men free men slaves small great corpses lying unburied back in chapter 6 verse 15 then the kings of the earth and the great men and the commanders and the rich and the strong in every slave and free man hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains this is at the sixth seal when the sky splits and rolls up and every mountain and island is moved out of the way and they know they're getting closer to the coming of the lord we know they're getting closer to the coming of the lord people are in panic no matter who they are from kings to slaves they head for the caves and the rocks and they head their saying to the mountains and the rocks fall on us and hide us from the presence of him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the lamb for the great day of their wrath has come and who is able to stand in that time of tribulation even when they know god is judging them even when they know the lord is coming to destroy them they don't repent they just want to hide the feast will be the feast of flesh all over the world so the conquest is announced by one angel calling together the birds to feed on the corpses there's a second point to consider here and that is in the final verses 19 to 21 the conquest accomplished the conquest announced and the conquest accomplished now john sees i saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies assembled to make war against him who sat on the horse and against his army this is the final war i saw the beast that's the anti-christ the world ruler during the time of the tribulation he is described in detail back in chapter 13 verses 1 through eight he is powerful he is blasphemous he operates under satanic authority and satanic power he is the world leader verse 8 says all who dwell on the earth will worship him those whose names are not written in the lamb's book of life from before the foundation of the world the whole world will worship this antichrist identified as a beast who comes out of the earth he is the head of the world and so the beast is seized and with him the false prophet down in verse 20. we'll say more about that but i saw the beast and the kings of the earth their armies assembled to make war against him who sat on the horse and against his army symbol to make war against jesus christ and the saints and angels who are coming back with him the battle is set zechariah 14 5 speaks about this and it it identifies christ's army as all the holy ones with him his enemy succeeded in killing him when he came in humility and grace they hated him when he healed they hated him when he showed mercy imagine how they'll hate him when they have been under his unrelenting judgment in severity for at least three and a half years during that second half of the tribulation and then it happens the beast is seized and with him the false prophet also described in chapter 13 verses 11 to 13 so the two demon in dwelt satanic leaders one political and the other religious are captured first and thrown back to verse 20 thrown alive into the lake of fire which burns with brimstone the lake neither annihilates them nor purifies them how do we know that go to chapter 20 verse 7 a thousand years later satan will be released from his prison he's been captive during the millennial kingdom come to deceive the nations in the four corners of the earth to gather them together for the war the number of them is like the sand of the seashore one more war at the end of the kingdom they come up on the broad plain of the earth surround the camp of the saints the beloved city fire comes down from heaven and devours them and the devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and brimstone where the beast and the false prophet are also and they will be tormented day and night for ever and ever that is not annihilation the lake of fire isaiah says is a fire isaiah 66 that will not be quenched so the beast and the false prophet are the first to occupy the final lake of fire and the rest will follow verse 21 and the rest were killed with the sword which came from the mouth of him who sat on the horse and all the birds were filled with their flesh literally the lord speaks a word and all the ungodly dropped dead everywhere on the planet we first saw that sword back in the vision of christ in his return chapter 19 verse 15 from his mouth comes a sharp sword so that with it he may strike down the nations our society has been given the illusion that jesus is a benign soft-hearted compassionate teacher and he just wants to do for you whatever you'd like to do for yourself he's your genie no he's your judge he is your judge suddenly it'll all be over suddenly no more war millions of people have died through wars the whole planet of ungodly people will be killed in one word the entire planet will be dead except those in christ and so here's the final comment on humanity end of verse 21 all the birds were filled with their flesh that's where the whole human race is headed to be corpses torn apart by birds that's the truth don't get mad at them plead for them to come to christ right you say this is too much this cannot be true i understand that that it's hard to hear and i also understand that most people completely reject it so let me take you in conclusion to second peter three second peter three verse three and let me read you verses three and four knowing this first of all that in the last days mockers will come with their mocking following after their own lusts and saying where is the promise of his coming for ever since the fathers fell asleep all continues just as it was from the beginning of creation the assumption of peter is that people will mock the notion of christ's return they'll mock it and there's an argument from just sheer ridicule verse 3 mockers will come with their mocking that's the argument of ridicule and then there's the argument from immorality following after their own lusts they they don't want that to be a reality because it would cause them to be terrified enough to give up their lusts which they're unwilling to do so you have mockers arguing by the avenue of ridicule and by the love of their own immorality there's another argument that mockers can give on top of ridicule and immorality and that's uniformity all things continue just as there were from the beginning of creation nothing like that has ever happened no divine judgment has ever come we've never seen any divine judgment hasn't happened in our lifetime there's no god there's no judge there there's just uniformity just things just keep going down the same path that evolutionary chance creates as it goes so whether it's ridicule or the love of immorality or some kind of stupid argument from uniformity mockers have some avenues to choose in countering that believers also have some arguments there's an argument from scripture verses one and two this is now beloved the second letter i'm writing to you in which i am stirring up your sincere mind by way of reminder that you should remember the words spoken beforehand by the holy prophets and the commandment of the lord and savior spoken by your apostles our argument is the scripture says this is coming the argument from scripture there's also an argument from history verse 5 when they maintained this that things never change it escapes their notice that by the word of god the heavens existed long ago and the earth was formed out of water and by water through which the world at that time was destroyed being flooded with water they forget that there was a massive global act of divine judgment that destroyed every human being on the planet with the exception of eight people and then there's a third argument the argument from eternity don't let this one fact escape your notice beloved just because it seems like a long time to you and judgment hasn't come [Music] that with the lord one day is like a thousand years and a thousand years like one day god doesn't have a clock we argue back from the authority of scripture we argue back from the universal fr flood the proof of which is found in the fossils around the planet we argue from the eternal nature of god that god exists without regard to time and there's one other reality and that's the argument from grace verse nine the lord is not slow about his promise as some count slowness don't think he's just slow in getting the plan together it's rather that he's patient toward you not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance what's he waiting for he's waiting for you to come to repentance but verse 10 the day of the lord will come like a thief in which the heavens will pass away with a roar the elements will be destroyed with intense heat the earth and its works will be burned up that actually happens at the end of the thousand-year kingdom since all these things are to be destroyed in this way what sort of people ought you to be he's going to destroy all the ungodly and then he's going to destroy the universe what kind of people should you be in holy conduct and godliness not godlessness and you ought to be looking for and hastening the coming of the day of god because of which the heavens will be destroyed by burning and the elements will melt with intense heat that's an atomic implosion that takes everything that exists out of existence according to the promise we're looking for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells so what kind of person should you be be diligent to be found in him be in christ and thus be in peace with a satisfied soul be spotless blameless and down in verse 17 beloved be on your guard that you're not carried away by the air of unprincipled men and fall from your own steadfastness here are the implications of this for us be in christ at peace with god spotless and blameless on guard against error so you don't fall from your spiritual stability and then finally in verse 18 multiply in the grace and knowledge of our lord and savior jesus christ focus on christ right to him be the glory buff now and to the day of eternity amen even though none of us know when jesus was clear that he would one day return his word commands us to remain watchful to know the signs of the times and to be ready in order to be prepared we must know his word to know him and that is the mission of john macarthur and grace to you to unleash god's truth one verse at a time through our website gty.org you will find thousands of free resources available to help you grow in your knowledge of christ and his word operators are standing by at 57 grace to answer any questions you may have or you can email questions or comments to letters gty.org we want to be a resource for you in understanding the truth as revealed through the word of god on behalf of john mcarthur and all of us here at the ministry thank you for joining us today we'll see you next time on grace to you

Channel: Grace to You

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Keywords: John MacArthur, Bible, Preaching, Christianity, Expository, Exposition, Sermon, Jesus, Christ, Grace to You

Id: 6Ivz2aYhG7I

Length: 28min 30sec (1710 seconds)

Published: Sun Jun 27 2021