Transcript

Two friars were having trouble paying off the belfry, so they opened a florist shop. Everyone wanted to buy flowers from the men of God, so business boomed.

The florist across town, however, saw a huge drop in sales and asked the two friars to close their shop, but they refused. Later, he again asked and even begged them, but they ignored him. So the rival florist then hired Hugh McTaggert.

Hugh was the roughest, toughest villain in town, and he was hired to “persuade” the friars to close. After Hugh asked the friars to close their florist shop and they refused, he threatened to beat them up and wreck their shop every day they remained open.

So finally, they decided to close. This proves once again that Hugh and only Hugh can prevent florist friars.

Nothing will prevent the Second Coming of Christ. The Word has declared it and the Lord promised that “I will come again.” And He will come again at the end of the Tribulation.

The designation of the “Second” Coming needs to be understood in light of God’s program with Israel. At His first coming, He came to Israel. At that time, “the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us,” the “us” meaning the nation Israel.

And the Lord said, “I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”

At His second coming, this again is in relation to Israel. He will return again to the house of Israel, and His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives in that day.

After the Battle of Armageddon, Christ will establish His kingdom, with Israel as the preeminent nation, and He will reign over all the world from Jerusalem, with Israel as the priests of God in that day.

Christ will return seven years earlier than His Second Coming, returning in the air prior to the beginning of the Tribulation, to catch the Church, the Body of Christ, off this earth and to the place of our eternal inheritance in the heavenlies.

It is then that God will resume His dealings with mankind through the nation of Israel, and at the end of the Tribulation, He will come again to deliver Israel from the Anti-Christ and to establish His millennial kingdom on the earth.

Revelation 19:11: “And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war.”

Just by reading the book of Revelation, you learn that the Second Coming occurs at the end of the Tribulation.

It’s not until you read all about all the judgments of God, all the chief characters and the events of that day, and the things that occur in heaven during that time, that finally, at the end of the book, in chapter 19, you then read about Christ’s return to the earth.

The Lord stated clearly in Olivet Discourse that His second coming will occur “Immediately after the tribulation of those days.”

The second coming is a post-tribulational coming FOR ISRAEL, while the Rapture of the Church is a pre-tribulational coming of Christ for us the CHURCH, the Body of Christ, because we have been promised that we will be “delivered…from the wrath to come.”

In the Apostle John’s vision of the future Day of the Lord, he wrote “And I saw heaven opened.”

In Isaiah 64:1,2 we read, “Oh that thou wouldest REND THE HEAVENS, that thou wouldest COME DOWN, that the mountains might flow down at thy presence…to make thy name known to thine adversaries, that the nations may tremble at thy presence!”

Israel’s hope was for God to “rend the heavens,” or to rip the heavens open, to split the sky and to suddenly descend and come down all the way to this earth with power to execute vengeance and defeat their enemies.

God, in the Person of His Son, Jesus Christ, will do this at His second coming.

When John saw heaven opened, he beheld “a white horse; and he that sat upon him.” In Revelation 6, as the Tribulation begins, we read of another rider on a white horse, the first horseman of the apocalypse.

There we read, “And I saw, and behold a white horse: and he that sat on him had a bow; and a crown was given unto him: and he went forth conquering, and to conquer.”

This rider on a white horse rides onto the stage of the world and he comes to conquer. But the rider in Revelation 6 is the false Christ. He attempts to counterfeit God’s plans of a worldwide kingdom of peace, ruled by the conquering Messiah of Israel.

Thus, at the beginning of the Tribulation and at the end of it, we have two riders of white horses. The rider at the beginning is the Anti-Christ, whereas the Rider in chapter 19 is the true Messiah of Israel.

The true Messiah will return on a white war horse to overthrow the Antichrist and conquer Israel’s enemies; He comes to take control of the earth and to establish His kingdom of peace and righteousness.

In biblical times, a horse in battle spoke of honor, power, and speed. And the white color of this horse symbolizes victory.

Likewise, with power and speed, Christ will return and crush the Antichrist and his armies at the battle of Armageddon and He will completely vanquish them.

The One seated on this white war horse is “called Faithful and True.”

Faithful and true to His word, Christ will return to earth in power and great glory. In Mark 13:26, the Lord had promised His disciples, “And then shall they see the Son of man coming in the clouds with great power and glory.”

In Revelation 3:14, the Lord said, “These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God,” or the origin and source of the creation.

As “the Amen,” and “the faithful and true witness,” Christ is unchangeably faithful to His Word and all His promises, and thus He is rightly called “Faithful.”. And the One who is called TRUE is the One who is the Way, the TRUTH, and the life (Jn. 14:6). All that He is, and does, and says is based in truth.

In contrast to Him, the Antichrist will be unfaithful to his promises, such as when he breaks his seven-year covenant with Israel (Dan. 9:27). And the beast will rule by lies and deception (Dan. 11:23; II Thes. 2:9), and not truth.

The true Christ at this coming comes to “judge and make war.” This is what makes this coming so very different from that of the Rapture of the Church. At the Rapture, there is no judgment. There is only the bright hope of Christ raising the bodies of the dead in Christ and catching up the living into the air to take us to heaven before the Tribulation.

Unlike the Rapture, the Second Coming is all about judgment being poured out against Israel’s enemies. And it is about Christ returning to “make war,” to do battle with the Antichrist and his armies at the Battle of Armageddon.

Revelation 19:12-13: “His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself. And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God.”

As John saw the Lord at His Second Coming, he observed that His eyes were “as a flame of fire.” This symbolizes His searching judgment that sees all. All is light before His eyes. His gaze penetrates the heart and thoughts of people.

Hebrews 4:13 reads, “Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do.”

Christ’s judgment is powerful and penetrating as He detects and knows all. Nothing escapes Christ’s all-knowing, piercing vision. Therefore, His judgments are always righteous and true.

On Christ’s head “were many crowns.” Unlike, the Antichrist who has “a crown” that “was given unto him,” after he rises to power through politics, deception, and force, the true Christ just has “many crowns” because of Who He is as the eternal Son of God.

His many royal crowns show His authority, sovereignty, and right to rule the world.

The Lord also “had a name written, that no man knew, but He Himself.” John saw the name, but could not comprehend it. In His greatness as God, there are unfathomable mysteries in His Person that even the saints are unable to grasp, but only He as God can.

John further observed, that “He was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood.” The “vesture dipped in blood” is not representative of the shed blood of His Cross, but rather it is the blood of judgment, the blood of Christ’s slaughtered foes.

Isaiah 63:2-3 says, “Wherefore art Thou red in thine apparel, and Thy garments like him that treadeth in the winefat? I have trodden the winepress alone…for I will tread them in Mine anger, and trample them in My fury; and their blood shall be sprinkled upon My garments, and I will stain all My raiment” (cf. Rev. 14:17-20; 19:15).

And His name is called “The Word of God.” We reveal our minds and hearts to others by our words, and so God the Father reveals Himself and His mind and heart to us through His Son. Christ is the image of the invisible God, the express image of His Person.

As it’s been said, “Since words reveal the thoughts of one person to another, Christ as the Eternal Word is the revelation of God to man.”

And John 1:1 makes it very clear that the “Word of God” is God: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”

Revelation 19:14-16: “And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean.

“And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.”

Christ is not alone at His return, as the armies of heaven ride with Him on white horses.

These “armies which were in heaven” are connected with the Lamb’s wife by their apparel, being “clothed in FINE LINEN, WHITE AND CLEAN” (cf. 19:8).

Verse 8 of this chapter reads, “And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in FINE LINEN, CLEAN AND WHITE: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints.” These are the saints who make up the Bride of Christ. This refers to the believing prophetic saints prior to the dispensation of grace, and the martyrs of the Tribulation after it.

Angels do return with Christ as well, but Revelation 19:14 refers to the prophetic saints and Tribulation martyrs that return with Him to reign on the earth. These saints also return with Christ to partake in the first resurrection (20:4-6), which is their hope.

As Jude 1:14,15 says “Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of His saints, to execute judgment upon all.” And Zechariah 14:5 reads, “and the LORD my God shall come, and all the saints with thee.”

Members of the Body of Christ are not of the number that return with Christ at His Second Coming. We remain in heaven in our glorified bodies that we receive at the Rapture. We have an eternal, seated position “in heavenly places in Christ Jesus.”

These that come from heaven, come unarmed. They are riding upon white horses of victory to be witnesses of Christ’s victory and to participate in the joy of His triumph.

The weapon that is found in this scene is the “sharp sword” that goes out of Christ’s mouth. This is a symbol of the Word of God. Scripture says that Christ will consume the enemy at His Second Coming “with the spirit of His mouth” (2 Thes. 2:8).

The Sword from His mouth depicts judgment through the power of His spoken Word.

And with that Sword, He will “smite the nations.” The battle of Armageddon (16:16) will be won by the power of His Word. By His spoken Word, He created all things. There is infinite power and strength in that sharp sword.

At that time, Christ “treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God,” as like grapes are crushed under the feet of him that treads on them, so Christ will literally crush and destroy His enemies underfoot by the power of His Word.

Three names are cited at Christ’s return: 1) “a name written, that no man knew, but He Himself.” 2) “The Word of God.” 3) “King of kings, and Lord of lords.”

Christ has absolute authority over all human rulers. He is the “King of kings, and Lord of lords.” Christ is the truest and greatest Sovereign. All kings and all lords and all people must submit to Him. In the kingdom He comes to establish, Christ will reign supreme on earth over all earthly rulers.

Revelation 19:17-21: “And I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the fowls that fly in the midst of heaven, Come and gather yourselves together unto the supper of the great God;

“That ye may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains, and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses, and of them that sit on them, and the flesh of all men, both free and bond, both small and great.

“And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse, and against his army.

“And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone. And the remnant were slain with the sword of him that sat upon the horse, which sword proceeded out of his mouth: and all the fowls were filled with their flesh.”

The Second Coming takes place at the Battle of Armageddon. And in verse 17, God, through one of His angels, declares victory before the battle even begins. The battle will be a slaughter and just a supper for scavenger birds.

Our Lord prophesied this as well at His coming, “For wheresoever the carcase is, there will the eagles be gathered together” (Matt. 24:28).

Christ will slay all who oppose Him at the battle. All these kings, captains, mighty men, who both free and bond, small and great are all “marked men,” meaning they will have all taken the mark of the beast and pledged their loyalty to the Anti-Christ.

Revelation 13:16 reads, “And he causeth all, both SMALL AND GREAT, rich and poor, FREE AND BOND, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads.”

The beast and the kings of the earth and their armies will all unite to battle against Christ over world leadership and to prevent His kingdom.

Verse 19 says that they “GATHERED together to make war.” Earlier in Revelation you read that “And [God] GATHERED them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue, Armageddon” (16:16).

Armageddon is described as “The battle of that great day of God Almighty” in 16:14. The battle will not be the “great day” of Satan or the beast, but God Almighty.

Armageddon has become a byword for the end of the world. But it’s not the end. It’s the end of the tribulation, the end of the Anti-Christ, but there are events to follow.

And Armageddon is a location in Israel where the battle will be fought. Armageddon is the Hebrew name for Mt. Megiddo, a mount 60 miles north of Jerusalem.

Mt. Megiddo is located west of the Jordan River in north central Israel, 10 miles south of Nazareth and 15 miles inland from the Mediterranean Sea.

On the plains before Mount Megiddo many of Israel’s battles were fought, including perhaps the most famous, when Gideon triumphed over the Midianites with his trumpets, pitchers, and lamps.

The battle of Armageddon will rage at Mt. Megiddo and its plain but will not be limited to this area only. The battle is described as extending from Armageddon in the north, down through Jerusalem, then ranging down the extreme southernmost part of Israel to Edom, a distance of 200 miles. The battle will spread over nearly the entire land of Israel.

The center of the action will be Jerusalem. And that is where Christ returns to.

Putting together various Scriptures we are painted a picture of all that will transpire at the Lord’s Second Coming.

Daniel 11:40-45 describe a military campaign conducted by the Anti-Christ at the end of the Tribulation. A confederation of nations come against him at this time. A “king of the south” is said to “push at him” and gather to attack him. And a “king of the north” is said to come up against Anti-Christ with “like a whirlwind” or with great military might.

So the Anti-Christ marches against both of them in a great military campaign. He invades their countries and absolutely overwhelms them.

He then sweeps through many other countries, and strikes and overthrows Egypt and spoils it. Following this, bad tidings come to him from the east, likely that Babylon, his precious capital city, had been completely destroyed and burned (Rev. 18:2,8).

This news will fill him with rage and he’ll depart from Egypt with “great fury,” to destroy and annihilate. After this, he overruns Israel, and goes up and sets up “the tabernacles of his palace,” or his royal tents, “between the seas in the glorious holy mountain,” or between the Mediterranean and the Dead Sea at Mount Zion, or Jerusalem.

The army that will gather at that time will be an army of millions, the largest army ever assembled for one battle. Zechariah 14:2 says this dreadful army will capture Jerusalem, plunder houses, and take half of the people of Jerusalem captive.

At this point, God goads them and provokes them, as Joel 3:9 says God will tell this army, “Prepare war, wake up the mighty men, let all the men of war draw near; let them come up” to Jerusalem, that is. God tells them to muster and mobilize all their manpower and to come fully armed, as this is to be a fight to the finish.

The Anti-Christ and his army band together against God. He invades Israel to utterly destroy it and every person in it, and to go to war “against Him that sat on the horse,” or Jesus Christ.

And as he has his tent pitched at Jerusalem, it is at this point that the sun and moon will suddenly darken, stars from heaven shall fall, and the heavens will open, and the Son of man will appear from above and every eye will see Him coming.

And the Anti-Christ will then turn his army in battle array against Christ to face Him head-on. Don’t let that get by you after you’ve read the description of God Almighty in the Person of Christ in Revelation 19.

It takes brazen arrogance, darkened understanding, and profound unbelief by the Anti-Christ and all these people to make war against the Son of God, and to actually believe that they have any chance of defeating Him.

Then Jesus Christ, the true Messiah, will come down in power and glory from heaven. He descends all the way to the earth, and Zechariah 14:4 says,

“And His feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east, and the mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the west, and there shall be a very great valley; and half of the mountain shall remove toward the north, and half of it toward the south.”

When Christ stands on the Mount of Olives it splits and divides east and west, and then part of it will move northward and part southward creating a great valley. This provides an avenue of escape for the people in Jerusalem to flee.

As the battle begins, in an instant, Revelation 19:20 tells us that the world’s armies will be without their two leaders. The beast and the false prophet will both be captured and taken by Christ and cast alive into the lake of fire and become its first two inhabitants.

And then Revelation 19:21 says, “And the remnant [or the rest of the kings and the armies] were slain with the sword of him that sat upon the horse.”

It is then that the Lord will “roar out of Zion,” Joel 3:16 says, and He will crush a great multitude of this confederation by the “sword” that goes out of His mouth. And as a result of His Almighty roar, the heavens and the earth will literally “shake.”

And when He roars much of this confederation just melts away. Zechariah 14:12 says, “Their flesh shall dissolve while they stand on their feet, their eyes shall dissolve in their sockets, and their tongues shall dissolve in their mouths.”

Along with this, like in the days of Gideon, the Lord causes a supernatural confusion which sends these armies against each other, and they destroy and kill one another.

Zechariah 14:13 says “A great panic from the Lord will be among them. Everyone will seize the hand of his neighbor, and raise his hand against his neighbor’s hand.”

Then God empowers the believing Israelites in and around Jerusalem and Judah and they rally to the defense of Jerusalem and they fight and kill the enemy as well, as Zechariah 14:14 says, “And Judah also shall fight at Jerusalem.”

And it will be an absolute blood bath. Revelation 14:20 says, “The winepress was trodden without the city, and blood came out of the winepress, even unto the horse bridles, by the space of a thousand and six hundred furlongs.”

A horse’s bridle is approximately 4 feet high. And blood will also run the distance of 1600 furlongs, which is approximately 184 miles.

Thus, there will be a river of blood 4 feet deep and 184 miles long, which is the distance from Mt. Megiddo (or Armageddon) in Israel’s north to Edom in the south.

The Anti-Christ’s massive army will be crushed and destroyed, and as was predicted by the angel, verse 21 says that “all the fowls were filled with their flesh.”

The battle is the Lord’s, and it is all because of Him that this great victory will be won.

As we think of His triumph at the future battle of Armageddon, it reminds us how the battle for our salvation is also “the Lord’s,” and He won that most important battle for us over sin and death at the Cross and by His resurrection.

And when you’re on the side of this One who will return in such power and great glory, it’s a reminder that “If God be for us, who can be against us?” (Rom. 8:31).