The Last Battle

Let's pray together. O God, our Father, we are here only because of the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. Lord God, the debt of our sin was so great that there was no hope for us except that you sent your son to take away your wrath because of our sin. You forgave us freely. Because of that, we now come before you in humility to hear you speak to us in your word.

We are here because of your grace, which called us and gave us delight in you for the great thing you've done for us. And so we willingly sit here. Pray that your spirit would now teach us as we come to this portion of your word. Help us to hear your voice, we pray. In the name of Jesus, our King. Amen.

Your breath catches as the camera pans over the carnage of the battle just ended. The smoke of the artillery hangs low over the hills. Thousands of uniformed corpses lay strewn about the ground as far as you can see. Their bodies are bloody, burned, mutilated, mangled, and almost unrecognizable as humans. The ground looks torn and rutted, and the forest that once occupied the hills now look like wooden splinters stuck willy-nilly in the ground.

Big, ugly birds begin to descend on the place, picking and pulling at the human flesh. This landscape, seen a number of times in the history of the world, is the one used to symbolize the last battle, the battle which ends in victory for the lamb. God uses it to communicate the nature of that victory in Revelation chapter 19 so if you will take your Bibles and turn to Revelation chapter 19 we spent some time in this book preaching our way through it working our way through it seeing how God is addressing us today in this book We seen that it addresses us and gives us hope in the midst of persecution and the seduction of sin And now we come to this portion where he describes for us this last battle.

You follow as I begin reading in verse 11. Then I saw heaven open, 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 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.

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 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 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. This scene opens, we saw last week, with Jesus and his forces arriving on the field of battle. You recall that John's emphasis was on the character of our champion and his army. the divine warrior comes as the conqueror, identified by four names and various attributes and actions, arriving to bring holy, righteous vengeance on God's enemies.

He has with him his army of vindicated saints who return with him to do battle against their accusers Now beginning in verse 17 the vista expands as we glimpse the opposing armies facing off with one another Now again, let's be reminded, God intends this glimpse of the last battle to encourage his people in their suffering and in their conflict with sin in this age. This is meant to encourage us today by sending a vision of future glory and future victory. He intends for us to gain hope in our struggle now.

So gain hope in Jesus' victory. This is all about hope. It's not about satisfying our curiosity. It's about giving us hope now when we see the victory that is coming. Let's look at it again, verse 17 through 21. 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 the signs by which he deceived those who 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 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.

Here's the first thing God says. Gain hope in the certainty of Jesus' victory. Gain hope in the certainty of Jesus' victory. As the forces of heaven assemble for the assault, an angel appears standing in the sun. Now, you can't ignore this messenger. He's standing in the sun.

That's going to cast quite a shadow, right? Someone stands in the sun, it's going to be a huge shadow. And if that doesn't get your attention, he cries out with a loud voice so that everyone hears. Now again, remember, this is a symbol. This is a symbol that represents the inescapable nature and the universality of the message Because I know there going to be some smart 8th grader who going to say no not everybody going to see that angel because the sun only shines on half of the earth and so only half of the earth is going to see that shadow.

The other half on the other side of the world isn't going to see it at all. Well, he'd be right, but this is a symbol. It's not going to be an angel suddenly standing in the sun. It's a symbol that this is a message that everybody's got to hear, and everybody will hear. This is the idea that pay attention to the message. That's what he's saying.

Pay attention to the message. Now, this is an invitation to the great supper of God. This is a clear contrast with what we just read in chapter 19 called the marriage supper of the Lamb. Do you see that? There's intended this contrast. In chapter 19, if you remember, we noted that all those who are in Christ are invited to the supper of the Lamb.

That wonderful supper that Jesus has for his people. All those in Christ are invited to enjoy the feast of fellowship and union with Jesus. They are invited to that feast. But the followers of the beast are summoned to be the feast. they're going to have their flesh consumed in this supper this is the supper of god the supper intended to bring judgment now the obvious message in this invitation is this the battle that's about to be fought is in the bag it's a done deal there's no way he's going to lose that's the message that the angel has now suppose you coach the high school wrestling team all right and you're Your 135 pound wrestler makes it to the state tournament.

The tournament's about to begin and you're looking around for him all over the place. And you find him on the phone and you say to him, why aren't you out on the mat warming up? What's wrong with you? And he says, well, I've been talking to my dad. I've been talking to my dad and we're deciding where to put the championship trophy. He wants to build a trophy case.

How are you going to respond to that? You can just say, look, boy, you haven't even wrestled your first match yet, and you're talking about the championship trophy. What's wrong with you? Well, you can say the same thing to this angel. See, because he's inviting all the birds, all these birds of prey throughout all the earth to come to this place to feast. on the defeated enemies of God.

The idea is, it's a done deal. I mean, yeah, the battle hasn't even started, but these guys are going to be the feast for the birds. The invitation makes it clear that he's counting on victory even before the battle is joined. He is absolutely convinced that this heavenly champion and his army will overwhelm and conquer their foes. There will be no survivors.

He's convinced of that. He's summoning all the birds for the feast. Now, by the way, if you listen carefully to Larry, Larry read from Ezekiel chapter 39, the prophecy against Gog and Magog that's being fulfilled right here. That is a picture of the end battle. That is a picture in the language of the people of that day. And John says it's fulfilled here.

This is where that is fulfilled. So he's convinced of victory. By the way, he's convinced of victory because before the battle commences, he runs down the casualty list. Before the battle's even joined, he runs down the casualty list. Do you notice that? He calls all the birds to come and feast on what?

To feast on the kings, the captains, the mighty men, the horses, their riders, the flesh of all men, both free and slave, both small and great. stops at the top, goes through the whole casualty list and says every one of them are going to be food for the birds. He runs down the entire chain of command. You know what that reminds me of? That ought to remind us of something.

It's not just the rulers of the nations and the CEOs of multinational corporations who are wicked, immoral, and corrupt. that corruption runs from the top all the way to the bottom we always want to point our figures at the big guys and talk about how corrupt they are you know what they're only corrupt people that had the right circumstances to take their corruption to the top all of us are corrupt and all those who are not in christ remain corrupt and both small and great, free and slave, captains, mighty men, and kings will face judgment. But then before this angel shows up to invite the birds to feast please remember this Jesus has spent centuries as a compassionate Savior inviting all men to come to him Before we start fussing about how this is a terrible picture of God and how God and Jesus are not this God who judges but a God who loves, please keep in mind that before this angel invites these birds to this feast of God's enemies, please keep in mind that for century after century after century, Jesus has stood saying this, come to me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.

For my yoke is easy and my burden is light. Jesus has pled for century after century for all men to come to Him. And so when we start fussing about John portraying God in this terrible light, please remember that this Savior, before He comes as judge, has invited all men to Him, all men everywhere to Him, to find rest. So you gain hope now in light of certain victory.

He goes on, gain hope in the manner of Jesus' victory. Verses 19 through the first part of 20, 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 his presence had done the signs by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshipped its image.

Now as you look out on the field of battle, you see the beast with all his kings and all their armies in battle formation. Imagine them all there, their divisions, their brigades, their battalions, their battle flags flying, their weapons at the ready. They are prepared to wipe out God's people. Now we've been introduced to this battle already. We already know the outcome because we've been told of it already.

In chapter 16, we were introduced to this battle. Turn there. Chapter 16, verses 12 through 14. and its water was dried up to prepare the way for the kings from the east. And I saw coming out of the mouth of the dragon, out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet, three unclean spirits like frogs, for they are demonic spirits performing signs who go abroad to the kings of the whole world to assemble them for battle on the great day of God the Almighty.

We saw it again in chapter 17, verse 12. And the ten horns that you saw are ten kings who have not yet received royal power, but they are to receive authority as kings for one hour together with the beast. These are of one mind, and they hand over their power and authority to the beast. They will make war on the lamb, and the lamb will conquer them, for he is the Lord of lords and king of kings, and those with him are called chosen and faithful.

We've seen this. Here is Satan, or dragon, the dragon, who's Satan. The beast, governmental power, demanding complete allegiance, and the prophet religion serving the beast with demonic help, get the nations to unify against God's people, the church. This is Satan's last attempt to finish God's people off. But remember this, that although Satan and his allies gather to do battle, it is God who has gathered them in that place for slaughter.

Remember what we saw in chapter 17? Look again, chapter 17, verses 16 and 17. And the ten horns that you saw, they and the beast, will hate the prostitute. They will make her desolate and naked and devour her flesh and burn her up with fire. For God has put it into their hearts to carry out his purpose by being of one mind and handing over the royal power to the beast until the words of God are fulfilled.

They think they have gathered for the purpose of battle. But in reality, they have been gathered for the purpose of slaughter and judgment. This is the manner of Jesus' victory. It serves God's purpose. It serves God's purpose. Let's look a little bit closer at this battle.

How are battles won? Have you ever thought about that? Now, of course, loving history like I do, I'm interested in how battles are won. You know when you read a book on the Civil War for example you open up the map and it shows let say the Battle of Antietam or Gettysburg and you see all the forces lined up these brigades these divisions and how they move and so forth and how the generals have made their maneuvers in order to win What maneuvers are made in this battle?

I think, for example, of the turning point at Gettysburg. The turning point at Gettysburg was at Little Round Top. Little Round Top was on the very left, was the very end, it was the left flank of the Union forces at Gettysburg. And on Little Round Top was Colonel Joshua Chamberlain, the 20th Maine. All right? They're on the very left.

And the Confederates are thinking, if we can get through or if we can outflank them, our forces can get around behind the rest of the Union forces and we can crush them. And so here's Chamberlain on Little Round Top at the 20th Maine. And the Confederates are coming up that hill. And they charge after charge after charge. And every time they keep moving to the left.

They keep moving to the left. The 20th Maine is spread out. It's getting thinner and thinner and thinner. If they can break through, they can flank the Union forces. Well, now it's near the, they've been fighting, and the 20th is out of ammunition. If they can't keep the Confederate forces at bay, they're going to flank them.

So he tells his unit to fix their bayonets, and they charge down the hill. That was the turning point at Gettysburg. that was the point at which the Union forces were going to win because one guy kept them from outflanking them. So when you look at this battle, look carefully at how it's won. Look carefully. What's interesting about it? There's no protracted battle.

There's no tactical maneuvers. There's no flanking moves. There's no frontal assault. There's no heroic last dance. You know what happens? Note.

The battle that ends all of history is fought in the blink of an eye. No brigades, no battalions, no outflanking, no tactical maneuvers, none of that. It's done in the blink of an eye. Jesus appears and the sword of his mouth destroys his enemies. The beast and the false prophet are captured like that. It's that quick.

They line up. You see the opposing forces ready to do battle. It's done. like that. In the blink of an eye, this battle is done. Now, can we ask you something? Can you find hope in that?

This is the power of God. Can you find hope in that? If that's the power of Jesus, when he appears to judge, do you think he has the same power today? You say, yeah, but I don't see it. I don't see my enemies being eradicated like that. That's true.

You know why? Because right now, Jesus is exercising his power in mercy, not in vengeance. Remember this? The gospel is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes. Remember this? God says, for the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to those who are being saved, it is the power of God.

But we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles. But to those who are called both Jews and Greeks, Christ, the power of God and the wisdom of God. God is not exercising his power now for vengeance. He's exercising his power in Christ through the gospel to win people. Listen, do you realize that the human heart is so blind, so dark, so hard, that it takes the power of God to penetrate it?

You know what? If I thought that people were converted by my abilities, I would have quit 29 years ago. Because in one year it would have become evident that I didn't have that ability. no one has an ability it takes the power of God to penetrate a human heart the human heart is so wicked so corrupt so hard that no human being could ever convince you to believe in Jesus it takes the power of God in the gospel to do it now folks when we talk about miracles that is the greatest one right there that is how deep the stain of sin goes so God is exercising his power now in mercy not in vengeance you can see the power of God in Christ in the gospel now And you will someday see the power of God in Christ in the vengeance that he will bring.

So gain hope in the manner of Jesus' victory. And then he says this, the last part of verse 20 to the end. 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 gorshed with their flesh gain hope in jesus decisive victory this is a decisive victory have you ever noticed that when a war ends and when a war is won the seeds of the very next war are planted. If you study history, you see that over and over again.

When the war is won, the seeds of the next war are planted in the victory. When Prussia won the Austro-Prussian War in 1866, all right, which made the Prussians the premier power in Central Europe, the French got really leery of the Prussians. They were friends with the Prussians, but now they're really leery. Because the Prussians defeated the Austrians, the French started to do certain things, which led to the Franco-Prussian War of 1870, in which France was defeated and had a number of her territories taken by Prussia, which then planted the seeds for World War I.

For from that point on, the French were determined to get it back. And in the alliances that ensued, World War I was fought. And the victory, the victorious allies made such demands on the Germans, whom they defeated, that the seeds of World War II inevitably came to fruition. If World War I had not happened, World War II would never have happened. Not that war.

In every war you see it time and time and time and time and time again. In victory the seeds of the next war are planted. But I want you to notice something here. Do you see the result of this battle The leaders and their forces are decisively defeated And when I say decisively defeated what we saying is they're completely removed from the scene of human endeavor.

They cease to exist on this plane of human existence. That is to say, there is no armistice, there is no peace agreement, because there is no enemy left. they are completely destroyed. There are no seeds for future conflict because the other side is completely eradicated. All right? Notice the beast and the prophet are thrown into the lake of fire. They are removed completely, never to return.

Now someone may argue with me at this point. If you've been with us through this whole book, someone may argue with this point. If the prophet and the beast represent idolatrous government and compliant religion, then doesn't the fact that they're thrown into the lake of fire prove that they're individuals? And I would say no, because I want you to note something here.

Notice that their followers are killed first. They're slain by the sword. If the beast and the false prophet were mere human beings, there would be no reason for Christ to spare them the first death before casting them into the second death. Their followers experience both. Like Babylon, they represent those institutional structures that oppose God. Jesus removes any possibility that such rebellious human institutions will ever be a part of human existence again.

Now again, that just blows my mind. I'm trying to think of that through, and I can't think of that. I'm trying to think of an existence, a human existence, where there is no institution in rebellion against God. I can't even imagine that. But what he's saying here is this idolatrous form of government and a religion that serves that sort of thing will be gone forever.

There will never be any human institution ever again, from that point on in rebellion against God. And beyond that, there will be no rebels, period. For all that gave their allegiance to the beast and the false prophet says here are slain The defeat is so complete and so final that there is plenty upon which the birds can gorge themselves The picture, rebellion, is gone.

The victory is that decisive. our king has the ability to eradicate his opposition to eradicate it can you find hope in that i don't know about you but that gives me hope i'm trying to imagine human existence forever with no rebels no rebellious institutions of which they're a part everything operating the way it should. Isn't that amazing? Isn't that amazing?

You know what? The older I get, the older I get, the more I long for that. I long for human relationships in which there is no self-serving agendas. There is no conflict, no institutions that would tempt us to go against God. Nothing. Everything operating the way it should.

But again, be reminded that until that day, Jesus is in the business of saving his opposition. oh listen again before we start fussing about how horrible this makes god look oh no this kiss this can't be true jesus isn't that kind of a a god he wouldn't do that yes he does but you all but when we start when we start complaining about that view of jesus we have forgotten completely the fact that God, in love, sacrificed His own Son and holds Him up for the whole world to see and to merely say, believe in Him. That's all. Don't reform.

Don't make your ways right. All you have to do is believe in Him and you're forgiven and you will not face God's vengeance. That's all it takes. Just entrust yourself to Him. And for century after century, in fact, let me say this, some of you have sat in this place and for, can I say it, maybe even decades, have heard God's love in Jesus preached to you and you remain in your rebellion.

Don't start complaining when God finally shows up and says you spurned it all these years. I was gracious to you. I gave you life. I gave you family. I gave you all the good things to enjoy. And I offered you Jesus and you refused him.

Over and over and over again. Don't be surprised when he shows up in vengeance. I would go so far as to say, he has the right to be angry. Don't you? Don't you? Gain hope in the decisive victory yet to be revealed when Jesus returns don interpret God patience don interpret God patience He bearing long so that you can come to repentance Don interpret that patience as saying hey everything okay He not He not one day he revealed his power in victory a decisive victory so you can suffer abuse and persecution at the hands of God's enemies in hope knowing that your king has the power to write the scales of justice knowing that your king has made the promise to write the scales of justice victory has been revealed you can suffer in hope because of the certainty of jesus victory you can suffer in hope because of the manner of jesus victory you can suffer in hope because of jesus decisive victory folks let me say this especially in this year in an election year when Christians tend to start getting long faces about how terrible everything is.

Of all people, we must be people of hope. There is no reason ever for us to despair. The victory of Jesus is certain. Let's live in hope. Father, thank you for your word. You're gracious to us in revealing all of this to us.

Father, I pray for those who sit here who have never bowed the knee to this King who have never given their allegiance to him I pray Father that you would awaken them that you would penetrate the darkness of their hearts that they might see that this king is a king of love and vengeance, that this king offers himself to save them from his own wrath. But, Lord, should they spurn it, he will return in judgment. Father, give us hope as Christians.

Give us hope. A hope anchored in the victory that Jesus will win. Help us now, we pray, to live this week in hope. In Jesus' name, amen. Thank you.