Revelation 19:21
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evening church. The verse Mike just referenced, Revelation 19, 21, is printed on the front of your bulletin. Or you can open up your Bible or your phone to Revelation 19. So my wife is out of town this weekend, actually. She's visiting some friends in North Carolina. So I have our three kids on my own. And our youngest, Jack, is one. And he doesn't always do that great in the nursery but I was scheduled to preach this evening anyway so I thought I'll just have Alex be on dad duty for Jack in case he gets fussy and then I saw the text for tonight and I thought it might be better if I have if Jack's fussy if I have somebody just come up here and finish the text for me because it's uh it's not your run-of-the-mill uh evening service text thank you, Greg. But I will say, though, jokes aside, how wonderful it really is that God gave
us his word and his book, how wonderful it is to be a part of a church that strives to honor God's word, every word of it, knowing that every word is intentional, ordained by God, and can be used to teach us, correct us, train, edify, encourage us. And so it's my prayer that that would happen tonight. Revelation 19, 21. 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.
So obviously starting with a phrase like, and the rest, our verse tonight accompanies something else said in this chapter in Revelation. So just get a quick bigger picture. Chapter 19 of Revelation is where Christ defeats and destroys the beast that John writes about in Revelation and the false prophet and their armies. Those of you who are familiar with Scripture would likely recognize some of the verses that precede this.
So I'll start reading Revelation 19 and verse 11 just to give us a little bit of a bigger picture. Revelation 19, 11. Then I saw heaven opened and behold a white horse and 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's 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 linen, 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. The Apostle John is describing Jesus prepared for battle with the army of heaven ready to take on the beast and the false prophet that Satan used to deceive people and their whole army.
Now, the beast and the false prophet, there's many opinions on who that may be or what that may be in Scripture. But here's what you need to know for tonight is that they are agents of Satan, the devil himself, used for work that he has planned. And this battle that John describes up to verse 16 seemingly starts in verse 17. He says, 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 then we read of their fate in verse 20. And the beast was captured, and with it the false prophet, who in its presence had done the signs by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshipped its image. These two were thrown alive into the lake of fire that burns with sulfur. And then we find our verse, 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.
Our verse tonight is the concluding verse of this battle. It's right before chapter 20, where Satan, the dragon, is seized by Jesus and bound up for a thousand years. And while the beast and the false prophet being captured and tossed into the lake of fire is obviously climactic for the story of revelation tonight we're looking at the verse after it and i'm grateful that we that we are all scripture is inspired by god and useful even the verse that follows one of the more climactic conquering verses in all of scripture so two points tonight here's what i hope we can learn from revelation 19 21 first our eternity is final. And second, the battle will rage then, but the battle rages now as well. So our eternity is final. And second, the battle will rage then, but the battle rages now as well. First, our eternity is final. What do you mean by that? Of course, eternity is final. It's forever. It is
eternity. Yes, yes it is. But what I mean is that where you stand in the sight of God, when eternity comes to you, that's your final standing. Those who are against God, those opposed to his reign and his kingdom, in verse 20, Jesus does away with them. These two were thrown alive into the lake of fire, and Jesus will do this one day. This epic battle between God and Satan's agents of evil will happen one day in final fashion and Jesus will be victorious just as he will be over Satan just as he was over death 2,000 years ago.
But Jesus doesn't just conquer the beast and the false prophet and move on to battle Satan. Our verse tonight is in there with good reason. All the rest were slain by the sword that came from the mouth of him sitting on the horse. All the rest of the army, All of them were slain by the word of God. And not only that, but then these birds that an angel called come and feast on their bodies. It's graphic and it's very final.
If being slain by the word of God doesn't tell you enough of how final it is, the birds feasting on their bodies is proof that their fate has come and it's final. Jesus didn't just conquer Satan's agents of evil, but his army and his followers as well. And ultimately, he will defeat Satan too. And he will do this with his word. The same mouth that said in Matthew 16, If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me.
For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. The same mouth that said in John 7, If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water. The same mouth that said in Matthew 6, Enter by the narrow gate, For the gate is wide, and the way is easy, that leads to destruction.
And those who enter by it are many. But for the gate is narrow, and the way is hard, that leads to life. And those who find it are few. The army of Satan in the future is slain by the word that comes out of the mouth of Jesus. But you now can hear the words of Jesus that I just read. You can hear them now. Your death might be tomorrow, or maybe you live to see the return of Jesus.
Regardless, your eternity is coming. And the army of the beasts that was slain by the word of God, the same word that tells you the army of the beast that will be slain by the word of God has the same word of God that tells you now that you're a sinner in Romans 3, that you can never do enough to make yourself anything more than a sinner in Ephesians 2, That you need someone to rescue you from your sin in John 14 because there's a penalty for your sin, Romans 6.
And the penalty is death, but that God shows his love for you and that while you are still a sinner, still needy, still unable to accomplish anything on your own in Romans 5, Christ died for you. In Revelation 19, 21, that mouth is slaying those who are opposed to the gospel and God's kingdom. Their defense is their own merit and a serpent with a boot on his head. But today, for you, friend, for Christians, that mouth offers life, freedom from sin and shame.
The mouth is offering living water, comfort that the world does not know, and life everlasting. And if you're in here tonight and you don't yet believe that, aren't yet a Christian, hear the words of Jesus now. Come to me, all who are weak and heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Drop the burden of sin and shame that you've been carrying around and run to Christ. Because on judgment day, you will either be welcomed in or you'll be sent away by God's word.
And that is final. There's no waiting room. There's no middle ground. The fate that awaits Satan's agents and his army one day could be, it will be, your fate unless it's for Jesus. Lastly, our second point, that battle will rage then, but the battle rages now as well. The Apostle John, in writing Revelation, he's recalling a vision he received from God on how Jesus will come back in victory.
how God's creation will be made right and how Christ will defeat Satan once and for all. And that battle that we can read about in Revelation one day will rage. But a battle rages now for each and every one of us. Greg walked us through Isaiah 36 and 37 today and pointed out all of Satan's tactics that he uses in our lives. That battle is raging now. And we can trust in the victory of Jesus in that battle that one day will come.
And we can trust in the victory of Jesus in the battles that we face over our sin every single day. But don't be deceived, brothers and sisters, and think that because that battle one day is off, we can trust in the victory of that. Don't be deceived and think that we don't need to fight every single day to trust in the Lord's goodness, to rely on his grace, to cut ourselves off from sin, to grow in discernment and wisdom, to run to Christ and find satisfaction and hope.
Every day for us, there's a battle for how we'll spend our money, how we spend our time. There's a battle over who we feel like we need to look like, be like, what we want to be known for, how we want to be respected and recognized. There's a battle for how we want to be treated, For what kind of social status we crave? What kind of job can we get? Who can we impress? And the devil is luring us in, tempting us with the ways of the world that promise a better life, that's happier, healthier, wealthier.
If we would just indulge a little, deny Christ, I mean, does he really offer a better life? I mean, does Jesus really love me while I have cancer? Does Jesus really love me while I'm lonely, while I'm constantly sick? Does Jesus really have my best interests in mind when I can't get that job, or I can't get that boyfriend, or I can't get that house? There's a battle raging over your soul right now.
There's good news for some of you in the room, most of you in the room, that if you're in Christ, your position is secure. Now, the battle still rages. I mean, just look at the unofficial email list. Death, cancer, sickness, loss, injury, financial hardships, broken relationships, sorrow, the list goes on and on and on. The battle still rages, but the good news is that if you're in Christ, your position is secure.
And you'll struggle. We all do. but we keep our eyes fixed on Jesus. And we'll fall short, and we all will, but we keep our eyes fixed on Jesus. Because the beast will be captured, and with it, the false prophet, and they will be thrown alive into the lake of fire that burns with sulfur, and the rest, all the rest, will be slain by the sword, by the word of God, and all the birds will fill themselves with their flesh, but not those in Christ.
Your position is secure. But if you aren't in Christ, if you're not a Christian, where is your confidence when the battle rages? When the battle that we read about, this battle, when it happens one day, where is your confidence? Is it in yourself? Is it in anything at all? Or what about tomorrow? What about the battles that will rage in your life tomorrow when sickness comes when relationships break when the money runs out when the pressure mounts and when depression sits in when your world is turned upside down what is your confidence in?
in just a moment we'll sing one of my favorite songs and I'll close tonight by reading some of the lyrics as we consider what we've heard headed to death unto the grave What shall we sing? Christ, he lives. Christ, he lives. And what reward will heaven bring? Everlasting life with him. There we will rise to meet the Lord. Then sin and death will be destroyed. And we will feast in endless joy when Christ is ours forevermore.
Those of us in Christ have this promise. when the waves of life overtake us. Do you? Let's pray. Father God, we thank you for your word. Father, we thank you that you have offered to your followers the promise of life everlasting. Father, you promise in your word to comfort us when we are sick.
to care for us when we are lost. And Father, we run to you in those moments. And Father, we confess that we don't do it perfectly and we need you and we need your Holy Spirit. God, we pray that your word would continually draw us in and shape our hearts that we might look more like Jesus in our pursuit of you. We love you, Lord. It's in your son's name we pray, amen.