Jesus Is About To Bring It!

It's about time to get down to brass tacks! Now is the time to see Jesus Christ as a warrior when we open up Revelation 19, and see Jesus about to execute the wrath of Almighty God. A day is coming when God will judge the earth and it is Jesus who will be bringing it!!

Don't confuse war with righteous vengeance on a Christ rejecting evil world. God is holy and just. The game is just about over, and time is running out.

2 Peter 3:3-4 ~ "Knowing first of all, that scoffers will come in the last days with scoffing, following their own sinful desires. They will say, Where is the promise of his coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things are continuing as they were from the beginning of creation."

You might be tempted to write off the Second Coming of Jesus Christ as a fairy tale and there are those even on Christian radio that have given up on hope for the rapture, but trust me, it is coming and every day puts us one day closer to that actually happening.

The awesomeness of Jesus Christ is His position.

Revelation 19:11b ~ "Then I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse! The one sitting on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war."

In John's day, Rome ruled the world and victorious Roman generals were always careful to ride upon white horses. It was the white horse that stood out, it spoke of authority and it was the white horse that the conqueror rode upon. Research the significance of a white horse! It means I'm not afraid of you! Come and get me!

His first coming he dealt with the sins of the world. In His second coming, He will deal with man's government and to set up His throne forever!

Revelation 3:14 ~ "And to the angel of the church in Laodicea write: The words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of God's creation."

Joel 2:31 ~"The sun shall be turned to darkness and the moon to blood, before the great and awesome day of the LORD comes."

Acts 2:20 ~ "The sun shall be turned to darkness and the moon to blood, before the day of the Lord comes, the great and magnificient day."

Jesus Christ is awesome in His power.

Revelation 19:11b ~ and in righteousness he judges and makes war."

It is interesting to see the words righteousness and war together. Kind of odd. This word for 'war' is literal war, physical warfare, military engagement. Jesus Christ physically and literally will involve Himself in the conclusion of the Batlle of Armageddon. When Jesus Christ returns in His second coming, He returns in awesome power. There will be no war in heaven, nor will there be war when Jesus reigns. There are wars happening literally every day that the news fails to report, tribal wars, cultural wars and even wars on a much larger scale we don't hear about or even know about.

The avenging Jesus Christ is with perfect knowledge.

Revelation 19:12 ~  "His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are many diadems, and he has a name written that no one knows but himself."

This is not the vision of the meek and mild Jesus who came the first time. His eyes, refer to His all seeing eyes. He knows everything about us, even the things we think. Nothing is hidden from Him. That is a reference to His perfect knowledge.

Revelation 1:14 ~ "The hairs of his head were white, liek white wool, like snow. His eyes were like a flame of fire,"

His head, upon His head is a reference to His kingdoms! "On His head were many diadems" this is the all knowing God of the nations.

His name is His royal name. He had a name writte that no one knew except Himself. The name or names of God. There are over 700 references to the names of Jesus.

Isaian 9:6 ~ "For unto us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace."

This was written 743 before the birth of Jesus Christ.

Judges 13:17-18 ~ "And Manoah said to the angel of the LORD, "What is your name, so that, when your words come true, we may honor you?" And the angel of the LORD said to him, "Why do you ask my name, seeing it is wonderful?"

This is Samson's father asking what is called the angel of the LORD, which is a Christophany, or a preincarnate appearance of Jesus Christ. The name wonderful in the Hebrew simply means too big to fit inside your head. It goes beyond human comprehension.

Genesis 32:24-30 ~ " And Jacob was left alone. And a man wrestled with him until the breaking of the day. When the man saw that he did not prevail against Jacob, he touched his hip socket, and Jacob's hip was put out of joint as he wrestled with him. Then he said, "Let me go, for the day has broken." But Jacob said, "I will not let you go unless you bless me." And he said to him, "What is your name?" And he said, "Jacob." Then he said, "Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel, for you have striven with God and with men, and have prevailed." Then Jacob asked, "Please tell me your name." But he said, "Whi is it that you ask my name?" And there he blessed him. So Jacob called the name of the place Peniel, saying "For I have seen God face to face, and yet my life has been delivered."

When anyone in that culture asked for your name, it mean to be conquered. The name of the loser was declared by the victor. In this case, "I beat Jacob."

Whatever this name is, it will be Jesus' exclusive name.

Proverbs 30:4 ~ "Who has ascended to heaven and come down? Who has gathered the wind in his fists? Who has wrapped up the waters in a garment? Who has established all the ends of the earth? What is his name and what is his son's name? Surely you know!"

Acts 4:12 ~ "And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved."

Philippians 2:7-11 ~ "but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on the cross. Therefore, God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is the Lord to the glory of God the Father."

This Is the Second Coming of Jesus Christ, Not the Rapture of the Church!

Our God, the One we, as believers in Christ know, is NOT tolerant, as the world would try and have you believe He is. It is false doctrine for believers to tolerate everything. Jesus didn't tolerate everything. Do you know the real definition of the word tolerant or tolerance? Or are you buying into the new re-defined meaning of tolerance?  It has nothing to do with the definition given by Noah Webster in 1828's dictionary of the American Language of Colonial America.

Tolerance is to put up with the differences of others respectfully.

It doesn't mean to change their minds. It doesn't mean to make them thing what you think. It doesn't mean you beat them into submission, mock them, ridicule them or label them until they surrender, give up or think like you think. That is not the meaning of tolerance, but it is what it means today. You either think like me or you're intolerant.

Tolerance is respecting someone who has a different viewpoint than you do.

Jesus doesn't tolerate sinful behavior. We should thank God for that! It is the very reason, He went to the cross. To destroy sin. Our God is NOT tolerant, as the world would lead you to believe.

Revelation 19:11-21 ~ "Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse! The one sitting on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war. His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are many diadems, and he has a name written that no one knows but himself. He is clothed in a robe dipped in blood, and the name by which he is called is The Word of God. And the armies of heaven, arrayed in fine white line, white and pure, were following him on white horses. From his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations and he will rule them with a rod of iron. He will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty. On his robe and on his thigh he has a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords. 

"Then I saw an angel standing in the sun, and with a loud voice he called to all the birds that fly directly overhead, "Come, gather for the great supper of God, to eat the flesh of kings, the flesh of captains, the flesh of mighty men, the flesh of horses and their riders, and the flesh of all men, both free and slave, both small and great. And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth with their armies gathered to make war against him who was sitting on the horse and against his army. And the beast was captured, and with it the false prophet who in its presence had done signs by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped its image. These two were thrown alive into the lake of fire that burns with sulfur. And the rest were slain by the sword that came from the mouth of him who was sitting on the horse and all the birds were gorged with their flesh."

What a gruesome scene! But it is very exciting for the believer of Christ. For the believer, we have nothing to fear, it doesn't pertain to us. Our role in this is most exciting. If you fear reading this, you might be on the wrong side. We will be returning with Christ on white horses. It might sound like a fairy tale, but its 100% true prophetically and will be fulfilled literally as the Bible describes.

The best selling book of all time is the Bible. It's not even recognized by the New York Times Best Seller list because it has outsold every book that has ever been published and still continues to do so. What we are studying and reading about today is the Second Coming of Christ, not the rapture of the church! These are the events of the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. It is taught in 17 of the Old Testament books alone. Jesus Christ, Himself, spoke about more than 200 times either alluding to it or mentioning it specifically. It is found 1845 times in the Bible, 318 times in the New Testament alone. It appears in 7 out 10 chapters in the New Testament. It is a futuristic event that has not happened yet and is at least 7 years from today. You can be assured of that.

If the rapture of the church happened today, then 7 years from today, you would have the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. It could, should the rapture of the church happened today. They are two very different events. Coming up in our study we will outline the differences between the rapture of the church which is a Gentile event, and the Second Coming of Jesus Christ, which is a Jewish event. Those who struggle with the differences should have a lot of those questions answered.

Acts 1:9-11 ~ "And when he had said these things, as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. And while they were gazing into heaven as he went, behold, two men stood by them in white robes, and said, "Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven."

Jesus will come again! Detailed events and explanations are given by Jesus in all 4 gospels! In the Old and New Testament alike, the event is truly awesome.

Zechariah 14:1, 4 ~ "Behold, a day is coming for the LORD, when the spoil taken from you will be divided in your midst. On that day his feet shall stand on the Mount of Olives that lies before Jerusalem on the east, and the Mount of Lives shall be split in two from the east to west by a very wide valley, so that one half of the Mount shall move northward, and the other half southward."

Jesus doesn't appear in the atmosphere calling his people up. From the Temple Mount you can see the Mount of Olives with the Kidron Valley in between, and that is the direction that Jesus will come from when He returns. He must first place His feet on the Mount before coming to the Temple. When that happens, the earth will split into two in a great earthquake and the waters will come from the Mediterranean Sea, 1282 feet like a river to the Dead Sea, and it will be revived by the life giving waters of the Mediterranean, so much in Ezekiel, the same fish will be found in both. That is not true today. In the Book of Isaiah, the deserts will bloom when Christ returns.

Joel 3:14-16 ~ "Multitudes, multitudes, in the valley of decision! For the day of the LORD is near in the valley of decision. The sun and the moon are darkened, and the stars withdraw their shining. The LORD roars from Zion, and utters his voice from Jerusalem, and the heavens and the earth quake. But the LORD is a refuge to his people, a stronghold to the people of Israel."

Zechariah 12:8-10 ~ "On that day the LORD will protect the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so that the feeblest among them on that day shall be like David, and the house of David shall be like God, like the angel of the LORD, going before them. And on that day I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem. And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and pleas for mercy so that when they look on me, on him who they have pierced, they shall mourn for him, as one mourns for an only child, and weep bitterly over him, as one weeps over a firstborn." 

Don't mess with Jerusalem. This was written 1000 years before the birth of Jesus Christ.

Matthew 24:27-30 ~ "For as the lightning comes from the east and shines as far as the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. Wherever the corpse is, there the vultures will gather. Immediately after the tribulation of those days, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Then will appear in heaven the signs of the Son of Man, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory."

All these refer to the Second Coming of Jesus not the rapture of the church! The awesomeness of Jesus Christ in His place.

Revelation 19:11 ~ "Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse! The one sitting on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war."

The last time John has said that was when he was let into heaven in the vision.

Revelation 4:1 ~ "After this I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven! And the first voice, which I had heard speaking to me like a trumpet, said, "Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this."

From that point on, the church was never seen again on earth! In Revelation 4, you have the church going up. In Revelation 19, you have the church going down. How did it get there?

In between Revelation 4 and 19, is the 7-year Tribulation Period. Heaven opens, the church is raptured upward. Heaven opens again, the church returns downward. John, who is in the church, is a type of the church! The Second Coming is when Christ returns "with" the church. The Rapture is when Christ comes "for" the church.

What is the Second Coming?

Getting back to our study into the Book of Revelation and picking back up with the nation of Israel who we know to be a place and a people specially handpicked from God. Back in the biblical times, the nation of Israel entered into a covenant with God to follow Him and all His ways, but as we all can attest to, despite our best intentions, it didn't last. Their hearts weren't in the right place and soon Israel began to rebel against God. So God used Israels' enemies to scattered her to the ends of the earth, but God didn't allow them all to die. He saved a remnant that He would bring back to His land again, which happened on May 14, 1948, when the nation of Israel became a nation in one day for the second time. Ever since that time, enemies of Israel have been doing their best in hopes of destroying her again and taking over the land, but the Bible is quite clear that this will NEVER happen.

We see Israel referred to in the Great Tribulation as the day of Jacob's Trouble, because Jacob was renamed Israel by God. Israel has always been and will always be the apple of God's eye. Woe to those who turn their back against her, much like the United States has begun to do for the first time since 1948 and may God help us if we don't wake up soon.

In the book of Daniel 9:24 ~ "Seventy 'sevens' are decreed for your people and your hold city to finish transgression, to put an end to sin, to atone for wickedness, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy and to anoint the most holy." (NIV). 

These means 490 years for Daniel and his people, the Jewish people in the holy city of Jerusalem. To finish the transgression, which Jesus did on the cross, "to put an end to sin" - Jesus did that on the cross, "to atone for wickedness" - that is bringing us to God through His sacrifice and guaranteed by the resurrection of Jesus Christ on Sunday morning, "To bring in everlasting righteousness" - this has not happened yet. When Jesus Christ returns, He will set up His kingdom, the Bible says, and He will rule in righteousness.

Zechariah 12:9-11 ~ "On that day I will set out to destroy all the nations that attack Jerusalem. And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and supplication. They will look on me, the one they have pierced, and they will mourn for him as one mourns for an only child, and grieve bitterly for him as one grieves for a firstborn son. On the day the weeping in Jerusalem will be great, like the weeping of Hadad Rimmon in the plain of Megiddo." (NIV). 

This prophecy was written 1000 years before the birth of Jesus and speaks of His Second Coming. God is saying He will take out anyone who tries to mess with Israel. It is where Jesus will rule and reign. Jesus Christ is coming back and He is coming back in judgment.

Revelation 1:7 ~ "Look, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him; and all the peoples of the earth will mourn because of him. So shall it be~ Amen. "(NIV).

The book of Revelation is considered the book of books because the entirety of the Bible penned by 40 authors, 66 various books over 2000 years and Revelation is where we can get cross referenced to all the other books with such clarity and centrality of one theme, being Jesus. Just the book of Daniel, the book of Revelation quotes from it 31 times alone. This is the very reason so many people shy away from reading the book of Revelation, because they haven't ready any of the other books that have proceeded it. The book of Revelation also deals primarily with the nation of Israel continuing as a nation in the last days. In our lifetime, the nation of Israel still exists. It is the one nation that had existed, ceased to exist and now will exist forevermore. So many people mocked the study of Revelation, because the nation of Israel hadn't existed yet, but it does now.

We know that Christmas is coming when we see the stores bring out all their Christmas decorations even at the beginning of fall if not before then. We know Thanksgiving is near because we see the Christmas decorations out already. We know the coming of Jesus and the rapture of the church is coming soon because we see the signs on the horizon and the Bible is pretty clear just like Christmas decorations, as to what those days ahead would look like before He returns.

So in today's study we will look at three things from verse 7 in Revelation.

Jesus Christ is Coming Again. His coming will be a universal event.

"Look, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him; and all the peoples of the earth will mourn because of him. So shall it be! Amen." (NIV). 

This means that it will be a global event. This refers to the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. This is important. The first coming of Jesus Christ, He came to the nation of Israel, He was born in Bethlehem, presented Himself as King on Palm Sunday week, in Israel, in Jerusalem to the Jewish people. That was His First Coming. His Second Coming is very much like His First Coming in purpose, it's a presentation to the Jewish people and the nation of Israel, as the Messiah. Between the First and Second Coming, we have a predominately Gentile event known as the Rapture of the Church. The reason this is being brought up is because we are going to be looking at scriptures from two very different events.

But the first thing we see from John's perspective is the Second Coming, it is a universal event. He's coming in glory that everyone will see. No one will be able to miss this event. Notice that it says He is coming with the clouds. This has nothing to do with a weather event or a storm front that comes rolling in. It's not the clouds you or I would see. This is a glorious appearing in the clouds, not like anything we have ever seen before. John is warning people to pay attention because this isn't something you want to miss. He is drawing attention to this event. Jesus Christ is the only one who died and rose from the dead as our Lord and Savior and yet He is the one all the world mocks and makes fun of. No other religion tolerates that kind of abuse of who they worship, except with Jesus people think it's okay.

We will never see glory as we will when we see Jesus coming. No matter how great our church service or worship service will ever get close. We fail to think of Jesus that way, we think of Him as the shepherd on the hill with the lamb, the calm and happy version. We don't see Him as He is right now, sitting in His glory. Peter, James and John got a brief opportunity when they got to see Jesus speaking with Moses and Elijah but even that pales in comparison to what Jesus will look like when He returns.

In Daniel 7:13 ~ "In my vision at night I looked, and there before me was one like a son of man coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into his presence." (NIV).

He spoke of this 1000's of years before the mention of Jesus Christ.

Matthew 24:29-30 ~ "Immediately after the distress of those days "the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give off its light; the stars will fall from the sky, and the heavenly bodies will be shaken." At that time the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and all the nations of the earth will mourn. They will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky, with power and great glory." (NIV). 

Mark 13:26 ~ "At that time men will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory." (NIV). 

Luke 21:27 ~ "At that time they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory." (NIV). 

1 Thessalonians 4:17 ~ "After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever." (NIV).

Those are the events that are speaking of the Second Coming and the Rapture of the Church.  Wherever Jesus is, there is glory! The glory of Jesus when He returns will far surpass anything that Speilberg or Lucas have done for Hollywood. It will pale by all their efforts.

It states that Jesus is coming back with clouds. This is where some debate among scholars exists. They all believe in His glory, in the Second Coming the church is already present with Christ in Heaven when He returns. The church appears in Revelation 19:11 ~ " I saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True. With justice he judges and makes war. His eyes are like blazing fire, and on his head are many crowns. He has a name written on him that no one knows but himself. He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and his name is the Word of God. The armies of heaven were following him, riding on white horses and dressed in fine linen, white and clean. Out of his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations. "He will rule them with an iron scepter" He treads the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God Almighty. On his robe and on his thigh he has this name written: KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS." (NIV). 

"The armies of Heaven" is a reference to the church. Fine linen is reserved for the bride of Christ, the church. Whereas the Tribulation Saints are given white robes to wear. The church wears fine, white linen. This is our wedding gown. We are riding a horse, in a wedding gown, probably with a helmet on, who follow Jesus on his own horse. There are some people today who won't believe this will happen until they see it. Trust me, you won't want to wait until You do. Time will be up by then if you see this sight and you haven't made a choice yet.

He is also coming in power, in strength and every eye will see Him. This is the Second Coming of Jesus Christ and it is not the rapture of the church.

Matthew 24:30 ~ "At that time the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and all the nations of the earth will mourn. They will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky, with power and great glory." (NIV). 

Not those who are looking for Him. Not a select few that wait for Him. But every human being on earth will see Him coming. Nothing is impossible for God. He stands outside the laws of nature and physics and how He will bring this about, we know it isn't impossible when He makes is happen. He could make it happen in visions, dreams, in the atmosphere right in front of our face if He wanted, He could project Himself to every single person. He will be coming from the east to the west and stop on the Mount of Olives that will split in two. EVERY EYE will see him.

The Second Coming is a Coming, a returning and the Rapture is an appearance, atmospherically. The One is, to take away his church, the Other is to take back the earth.

Regarding the Countdown to the Second Coming, Matthew 24:21-27 ~ "For then there will be great distress, unequaled from the beginning of the world until now - and never to be equaled again. If those days had not been cut short, no one would survive, but for the sake of the elect those days will be shortened. At that time if anyone says to you, 'Look, here is the Christ!' or, 'There he is!' do not believe it. For false Christs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and miracles to deceive even the elect - of that were possible. See, I have told you ahead of time. So if anyone tells you, 'There he is, out in the desert,' do not go out; or, 'Here he is, in the inner rooms,' do not believe it. For as lightning that comes from the east is visible even in the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man." (NIV). 

He promises when He comes back, people WILL know it. The Second Coming brings judgment and the establishment of righteousness, and the 1000 year presidency of Jesus Christ. The Rapture takes us into joy and excitement and wedding and a reception in heaven. These two events are at least 7 years apart from one another. and we will take a closer look at the rapture and the nation of Israel in tomorrow's study.