The Real Triumphal Entry

This Palm Sunday sermon explains the two “Triumphal Entries” of Christ: The first, lowly entry into Jerusalem, and the greater, second, entry when He returns.

Transcript:

If you would turn to Revelation 19, Revelation 19:11 for our passage today, the very end of your Bible, Revelation 19:11. Let me read it for us. The apostle John, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, says this: "Then I saw heaven opened and behold a white horse, and he who sits on it is 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, having a name written on him which no one knows except himself. And being clothed with a garment dipped in blood, his name is also called the Word of God. And the armies which are in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, were following him on white horses. And 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 wrath of the rage of God the Almighty. And he has on his garment and on his thigh a name written, King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Then I saw an angel standing in the sun, and he cried out with a loud voice, saying to all the birds of the birds which fly in midheaven, 'Come, assemble for the great supper of God, so that you may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of commanders, and the flesh of strong men, and the flesh of horses, and of those who sit on them, and the flesh of all men, both free men and slaves, and small and great.' Then I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies assembled to make war with him who sits on the horse and with his army. And the beast was seized, and with him the false prophet, who did the signs in his presence, by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast, and those who worshiped his image. These two were thrown alive into the lake of fire, which burns with brimstone. And the rest were killed with the sword which came from the mouth of him who sits on the horse. And all the birds were filled with their flesh.

Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, having the key of the abyss and a great chain in his hand. And he laid hold of the dragon, the serpent of old, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years. And he threw him into the abyss and shut it and sealed it over him, so that he would not deceive the nations any longer until the thousand years were finished. After these things, he must be released for a short time." Let me pray.

What a great God you are, Lord Jesus, to tell us everything from the beginning to the end, from Genesis to Revelation. You don't leave your people in the dark about how this world will come to an end. You don't leave your people in the dark as to what will happen to our souls and to those who don't trust in you, and to the beast and to Satan. Lord, these verses give us great hope. These verses are things we can think upon every day when times are tough. These are verses that we can think upon when we're not sure what to think. But we can look ahead and know that our eternity is secure because you are coming back. As sure as the floor that I am standing on, Jesus, you are returning. And for that, we praise you and we look forward to that in Christ's name. Amen.

Now, as you know, there is a lot of controversy surrounding the book of Revelation. And even though it's not my intention here today to clear all of that up, I do hope to bring some clarity to some of the different points of contention by looking at what I call "the real triumphal entry." And we're going to look at this real triumphal entry here on this Palm Sunday. And there'll be a little bit of eschatology, a little bit of the study of the end times, a little taste of what we're going to get on the camping trip. So, it'd be good to, to tune in. Now you may not know this, but there are actually two events in the Bible that are referred to as the triumphal entry. They're not specifically called that, but those who read the Bible and study the Bible, many of them see two triumphal entries, so to speak. The first occurred during Jesus's first coming about 2,000 years ago, the one I call the lowly entry, the one that most people call the triumphal entry. I call the lowly entry. And the second one, the real triumphal entry, as I say, the one we just read about in Revelation, will happen at his second coming in the future. And as we go through a few different texts, you're going to see why I refer to the future triumphal entry as the real triumphal entry. Now, before we begin, we need to define a couple of terms for those here who may not be familiar with these different things we're talking about. So, we'll start with the triumphal entry. As I said, it's been traditionally associated with the day that Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey's colt 2,000 years ago. And we're going to look at that text. And that, as I said, the phrase "triumphal entry" is not found in the Bible. Instead, that's the name that's been given to this event. This, this event that happened 2,000 years ago when Jesus rode in on a donkey. And somewhere around the 4th century, people started calling it Palm Sunday because they believed it fell on a Sunday and because John 12:12 says, "On the next day," this is the parallel verse to our Matthew verse that we're going to look at. Actually, the, the triumphal entry, so to speak, is in all four gospels. But John says in John 12:12, this is where we get the idea of Palm Sunday: "On the next day, the large crowd who had come to the feast when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem took the branches of the palm trees and went out to meet him and began to shout, 'Hosanna, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel.'" So, the church began to call the triumphal entry in the past Palm Sunday because the people were using palm branches. And we're going to talk more about those palm branches as we go through these texts. But the account of the triumphal entry, which is really the lowly entry, which begins the passion week or the week leading up to the resurrection, is one of about 10 events found in all four gospels, including the feeding the 5,000 and Peter's confession. And because of this prominence, it's important that we take special note of this event. So, if you would, let's first turn to 2 Samuel. 2 Samuel is going to be in the middle of your Old Testament.

And we're turning there because leading up to the lowly entry in Matthew, the text we're going to look at here, Jesus has just healed two blind men. 2 Samuel chapter 7. And these two blind men, they were crying out to Jesus, "Lord, have mercy on us, son of David." 2 Samuel 7:12. 2 Samuel 7:12. And Jesus then asks the blind men, "What do you want me to do for you?" And of course, they say, "We want our eyes to be opened." And Matthew tells us that Jesus, moved with compassion, touched their eyes, and immediately they regained their sight and followed him. Now, I don't know another God like that, just for the record. A God who will stop everything that he's doing for two blind men who were nothing of nothing in that culture. Two blind men that culture would have been looking at them and asking, "What did they do? What sin did they do? What sin did their parents do to deserve that?" Jesus heals them on the spot.

And so, we have two blind men calling Jesus the son of David. But why were they calling Jesus the son of David? 2 Samuel 7:12. Well, as you probably know, David was God's chosen king over Israel. And God promised David that his throne would be established forever. And so, let's look at this promise called the Davidic covenant. 2 Samuel 7:12 says, "When your days are fulfilled," when David dies, "and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up one of your seed after you, who will come forth from your own body, and I will establish his kingdom." Now, this is fulfilled in the short term by Solomon and in the long term by Jesus himself. And verse 13 says, "He shall build a house for my name." That's Solomon. Solomon did build a house for Yahweh. "And I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever." Now, that's not Solomon. That's Jesus. Jesus's throne is going to be established forever. Verse 14, "I will be a father to him, and he will be a son to me when he commits iniquity." And that's talking about all the kings between David and Jesus, all of the kings who, who, violated God's law. He says, "I will reprove him with the rod of men and the strikes from the sons of men, but my loving kindness shall not be removed from him as I removed it from Saul, whom I removed from before you, and your house in your kingdom shall endure before me forever. Your throne shall be established forever." So we learn here why the two blind men, who by the way had excellent theology, were referring to Jesus as the son of David. Now if you would turn to Matthew chapter 21 with me. Matthew chapter 21.

And so again, we have the two blind men referring to Jesus as the son of David because they knew that he was the fulfillment of the Davidic covenant. They knew that he was the promised Messiah. Matthew 21:1. And like any other king, Jesus needs to be coronated, which is typically a big fancy ceremony where the king and queen is vested with their power and, and crowned and all of those things. And many people point to Matthew chapter 21 as that coronation, but we're going to see how it's only a foretaste of the true coronation that happens when upon Christ's future return. Matthew 21:1. And we're going to read here what is about what is historically called the triumphal entry, but I call it the lowly entry. Verse one. "And when they had approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage at the Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples." So this is Jesus approaching Jerusalem. He just, he just healed the two blind men. He's coming from Jericho. And now they're coming to Bethphage. And we don't know anything about Bethphage other than what Matthew and the other gospels tell us about its proximity to the Mount of Olives and Bethany. According to John 12:1-3, this time frame corresponds to Jesus visiting Mary, Martha, and Lazarus probably on a Saturday. Now, that's not when Jesus rose Lazarus from the dead, and that's not when, Mary was bothered with all kinds of things she shouldn't have been. There's actually three times that Jesus visits Mary, Martha, and Lazarus. And this is the third time. And this happens most likely on a Saturday. And John also tells us in 12:9 that on the next day, which is probably Sunday, that a large crowd of Jews came to see Jesus because of the resurrection of Lazarus. So when you raise somebody from the dead, people hear about it. And a large crowd of Jews came this next day on Sunday to see Lazarus. Which means that the day after that, which is probably Monday, Jesus leaves his friends, leaves Mary and Martha and Lazarus, and proceeds to Jerusalem for the lowly entry, which if you're tracking with me, means that the traditional Palm Sunday is most likely Palm Monday. Okay? And there's several evidences that point to the lowly entry being on Monday that we can look at someday when I preach through Matthew. But for now, we have Jesus coming into Jerusalem on Palm Monday. And the end of verse one and into verse two says, "He sent two disciples saying to them, 'Go into the village opposite you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied there and a colt with her. Untie them and bring them to me. And if anyone says anything to you, you shall say, "The Lord has need of them," and immediately he will send them.'"

So Jesus sends two of his disciples to get this donkey and her colt. He sends them to a village far enough away where they couldn't see the donkey or colt. But Jesus knows exactly what's happening in every village on the whole planet at any given time because he's God. And that's called God's omniscience, is that God knows everything all the time. And God, Jesus not only knows that these animals are there and that these animals are waiting for them, but he also knows the future. He knows that somebody's going to ask him why they're taking these animals, right? And our, the parallel accounts of the lowly entry in Mark and Luke confirm that people did ask them and they answered as Jesus instructed them. So everything is going to plan, but things are not just going to plan in the moment. Things are also going to plan prophetically. Look at verse four with me. Matthew tells us, "And this took place," the, the sending to get the donkey and the colt, "And this took place in order that what was spoken through the prophet," and it's the prophet is actually Zechariah, which we're going to look at, "that was spoken through the prophet would be fulfilled saying, 'Say to the daughter of Zion,' that's Jerusalem, 'that's behold your king is coming to you lowly,'" that's why I call this the lowly entry, "lowly and mounted on a donkey, and on a colt, the foal of a pack animal." So Matthew tells us that all of this instruction regarding a donkey and colt is more than just something Jesus put together that day in that moment and he's trying to figure out how to ride into Jerusalem. Instead, Matthew tells us this is what Zechariah prophesied more than 500 years prior to this situation. If you would turn to Zechariah chapter 9, just turn two, you were in there for the reading, just turn two books backwards in your Bible into the Old Testament and you'll come to Zechariah.

Zechariah chapter 9. Now to understand the power of this lowly entry prophecy, we must first understand that the book of Zechariah was written after the exile to Babylon. And so if you know Israel and the northern kingdom and the southern kingdom and the southern kingdom is Judah, and at some point God judged Judah through Babylon, bringing Babylon and, and, and took the southern kingdom into exile, took them into captivity. And they're in captivity. And Zechariah is writing to these Jews. And it was written to encourage these Jews who are in exile and specifically to encourage them to go back to Jerusalem and rebuild the temple. And one of the ways that Zechariah encourages the Jew, the Jews, Zechariah 9:9, by the way, one of the ways that Zechariah encourages the Jews is by telling them about the coming Messiah. And he does this by telling them of both his first and second coming. Zechariah 9:9. Let me read this for us. He says, "Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion." That's Israel. "Make a loud shout, O daughter of Jerusalem. Behold, your king is coming to you. He is righteous and endowed with salvation, lowly and mounted on a donkey, even on a colt, the foal of a pack animal," written 500 years before the time of Christ. And so here we have the exact quotation from the book of Matthew. And Zechariah makes it very clear that the, the king is coming. The king is coming. Yes, you're in exile. Yes, things are hard, but the king is coming, friends. And not only is he king, but he is righteous and he brings salvation and he is humble. Zechariah says, and this is an incredible scene to think that God in human flesh, the King of Kings, has decided before the foundation of the world to arrive on a donkey's colt. What a savior we have. A humble, wonderful, gracious savior. A savior who instead of coming in majesty came in poverty. He said he did not have a place to lie his head. A savior who instead of killing his enemies was murdered by them. A savior who instead of coming in glory came in humiliation. A savior who instead of being served came to serve. A savior who instead of adding burdens to others, pray in this direction and do this and do that. A savior who instead of adding burdens to others, came on a beast of burden to take the burden of punishment from each person who'd repent and believe. What an awesome savior. There's no other savior like this. Thousands of religions and no other savior like this. A savior who Matthew tells us fulfilled Zechariah's prophecy during the lowly entry of his first coming.

But Zechariah doesn't end there. Look at verse 10. He says about this future time, "I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim," that's Israel, "and the horse from Jerusalem, and the bow of war will be cut off. And he will speak peace to the nations, and his reign will be from sea to sea and from the river to the ends of the earth." Now, what is this referring to? When did Jesus cut off chariots from Ephraim and the horse from Jerusalem? When did Jesus cut off the bow of war? When did Jesus's reign reach to the ends of the earth? When did he speak peace to the nations? Well, he hasn't yet. See, all of these things are future. All of these things are what's going to happen when Jesus comes back. So in Zechariah 9, we're told of the lowly entry during Christ's first coming. And then in verse 10, he tells of the triumphal entry of his second coming. And we're going to talk more about that. So if you would put a bookmark in Zechariah 9, Zechariah 9, and turn to Daniel 9 for me. Daniel 9, a little bit further back in your Old Testament. Because Zechariah 9 isn't the only prophecy being fulfilled by the lowly entry.

Daniel chapter 9. And here we have the prophet Daniel again encouraging exiled Jews by telling them about God's plan for them. Daniel 9:24. Daniel 9:24. And keep in mind that Daniel is also writing about 500 years prior to the lowly entry. And Gabriel actually tells Daniel in verse 24, Daniel 9:24, "70 weeks have been determined for your people and for your holy city to finish the transgression, to make an end of sin, to make atonement for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy, and to anoint the holy of holies." Daniel says that after 70 weeks, which is 77s or 490 years, redemptive history will come to an end. But the question is when did that 490 years start? Look at verse 25. "So you are to know and have insight that from the going out of a word to restore and rebuild Jerusalem." Stop there for me. So we have to ask when was this, when did this word go out to restore and rebuild Jerusalem? That's the question. Well, Nehemiah 2:1, you don't have to turn there. Nehemiah 2:1 tells us that this happened in the 20th year of King Artaxerxes, which we know from historical records outside of the Bible, we know that that is 445 BC. Nobody, nobody argues that. And so this, this decree, this, this, uh, this 70 weeks starts in 445 BC. Verse 25 again. "So you are to know and have insight that from the going out of a word to restore and rebuild Jerusalem," that's 445 BC, "until Messiah the prince, there will be 7 weeks and 62 weeks. It will be restored and rebuilt with plaza and moat, even in times of distress." So Daniel tells us that after 7 weeks or 49 years from the decree from 445 BC, the temple will be rebuilt. When they went back and they had to rebuild the temple because it was all destroyed when the Babylonians came. So they go back and they destroy that starting or rebuild that starting in 445 BC and that there will be 7 weeks or 49 years from the decree till the temple being rebuilt, and it was, by the way, it was.

Then Daniel tells us that from the time of Artaxerxes' decree, again 445 BC, to the time of Messiah the prince, that's Jesus, there will be 7 weeks, that's that 49 years that already happened, and 62 more weeks, 62 more weeks, so a total of 69 weeks, 483 years from the decree to the first coming of Christ, that's what Daniel says. And after accounting for some differences in the Jewish calendar, 483 years after 445 BC is when Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey's colt. And Daniel wrote that 500 years prior to the lowly entry. No other book does this, friends. The Quran doesn't do this. The Gita doesn't do this. There's only one book that does this. Verse 26 says, "Then after the 62 weeks, after the seven and the 62, the 69 weeks or 483 years, the Messiah will be cut off and have nothing. And the people of the prince who is to come will destroy the city and the sanctuary, and its end will come with a flood." In other words, a massive army, not actual water. "And his end will come with a flood. Even to the end there will be war. Desolations are decreed." See, after the lowly entry, Daniel tells us 500 years prior to it happening that the Messiah will be cut off, which lines up perfectly with the fact that Jesus died on the cross 4 days after the lowly entry. And then Daniel tells us that the people of the prince who is to come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. And it's best to see the people of the prince to be people of the antichrist. He's referred to that as that many times, which is really every believer throughout history. But in this case, it's referring to the Romans who in 70 AD, about 40 years later, destroyed the temple and Jerusalem.

So that's the, the first 69 weeks or 483 years. But what about the 70th week? Well, the first thing you need to understand is that the entire church age, including us, is between the end of the 69th week and the beginning of the 70th week. So, 2,000 years so far, between the 69th week and the 70th, 70th week, the 70th week is still to come. And verse 27 tells us that the 70th week tells us what the 70th week will look like. Verse 27. "And he," talking about the Antichrist, "will make a firm covenant with the many," Israel, which we'll see in a minute, "for one week," that's the seven-year tribulation, the 70th week. "But in the middle of the week, 3 and 1/2 years, he will make a sacrifice and grain." He will make sacrifice and grain offering to cease. That's in the future Jewish temple. "And on the wing of abominations will come one who makes desolate, even until a complete destruction. One that is decreed is poured out on the one who makes desolate." So Daniel here is describing the seven-year tribulation that comes just before Jesus's second coming. But all is to show you that the lowly entry fulfills both Zechariah 9, which told of Jesus's coming on a colt, and Daniel 9, which predicts the exact date of him coming on that colt, both written hundreds of years prior and both reaffirming what we already know, and that is that the Bible is the word of God. Only God knows the future. Only God can prophesy the future. And he does that by moving men by the power of the Holy Spirit. And again, there's no other book on the planet that does this.

Now, if you would look back at Matthew 21 with me, 21:6. And so far we have Jesus and his disciples coming into Jerusalem. Jesus has commanded them to get a donkey and a colt. Matthew 21:6. Matthew then tells us that this was a fulfillment of Zechariah 9, which we just looked at right before Daniel. And verse 6 says, "And the disciples went and did just as Jesus had instructed them, and brought the donkey and the colt and laid their garments on them, and he sat on the garment." So they lay their garments on the donkey because or the colt because they weren't planning this. They don't have a saddle. Verse 8. "And most of the crowd spread their garments in the road and others were cutting branches from the trees and spreading them in the road." So Jesus rides into Jerusalem. The crowd begins spreading their garments on the road, which is was an ancient sign of submission and respect. In other words, they're kind of saying, "Hey, we submit to you, king, to the point where you can even walk over us if you want." It's a, it's a sign of submission and respect. And it also says that some were cutting branches from the trees. And we know those are palm branches from the gospel of John.

And so we're gaining an understanding of all these things. And the palm branches seem to be something that started in Leviticus 23:40 with the feast of booths. Let me just read it for you. Says, "And on the first day you shall take for yourselves the foliage of beautiful trees," palm branches and bows of leafy trees and willows of the brook, "and you shall be glad before Yahweh your God for seven days." So palm branches represent gladness and joy. People are happy that Jesus is coming in to Jerusalem. They're ecstatic that Jesus, the great healer and miracle worker, is coming to Jerusalem. Verse 9. "And the crowds going ahead of him and those who followed were crying out saying, 'Hosanna to the son of David. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest.'" So Jesus is surrounded by people on every side. Everyone has come to see the king. But the problem is for most of them this was not an eternal king but a king they hope would free them from Rome. They were under the oppression of Rome. And we know later when Jesus was on trial before Pilate, when it seemed that Jesus was just another common criminal, we learn how superficial and selfish this crowd really was when they demanded his crucifixion. So they go from praising him and laying their coats down to demand a week later, 6 days later, 4 days later, saying that he should be crucified.

And there's many today that only look to Jesus for selfish and superficial reasons. They look to Jesus to solve their money problems or their marriage problems or the problems with their kids. They look to Jesus to improve their reputation. They might look to Jesus to avoid hell even. And the thing is Jesus can do all of those things. But those people, they don't look to Jesus for to be held accountable for their sin. They don't look to Jesus to learn how to live. They don't look to Jesus to learn how to spend their time and money. They don't look to Jesus to learn how to raise their kids or how to submit to the Bible. They don't look to Jesus to learn how they can give instead of receive. They don't look to Jesus as an example of some how to pick up their cross daily and follow him. And ultimately, they don't look to Jesus because they don't love him. They don't love him. The world's full of people that want the benefits of Jesus, but want nothing to do with the true Jesus. Instead, Jesus is just another selfish pursuit that they hope will somehow make their life better. See, they're just like the crowd that wanted Jesus to solve their Roman occupation problem, but wanted nothing to do with his authority and his teaching. And if this sounds like you, I plead with you to recognize that you are a depraved sinner, that you deserve hell, and there's nothing you can do to save yourself. Just like me, just like everybody here, we all deserve hell. We're all depraved sinners. And there's nothing that any of us has done to save ourselves. And then turn from your sin and put all of your trust in the one who wrote these prophecies, who wrote scripture. The one who claimed to be God in human flesh, the one who said he's the only way to heaven. The one who said there's nothing you can do to save yourself. That he's already accomplished it all and all you have to do is trust in his perfect life and his substitutionary death. The one who was born of a virgin and lived that perfect life that we needed to live but could never live, and was crucified, died, and was buried and rose again on the third day, ascended into heaven. And he's going to return to judge. And we're going to learn more. We're going to read exactly when he returns to judge. Turn to that one. Turn to Christ and be forgiven. Turn to Christ and be freed from your slavery to sin. That's my plea for you today. Now, let's look back at Matthew 21:9. And again, Jesus is surrounded by the superficial crowd who wants a lot of things from him, but not what he truly gives. And they're crying out, "Hosanna to the son of David. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest." And the word "Hosanna" means help or save. But again, the crowd only wanted salvation from Rome, they thought nothing of their souls in this situation. And so, while they recognized him as the son of David or the Messiah, and they recognized that he came in the name of the Lord and that he was the highest, they didn't understand what kind of savior he was. And the crowd was quoting all of this from Psalm 118:26, which is a psalm of deliverance, a deliverance they didn't understand at the time.

Verse 10 says, "And when he had entered Jerusalem, all the city was stirred, saying, 'Who is this?'" And the crowds were saying, "This is the prophet Jesus from Nazareth in Galilee." And so in verse 10, we see a dramatic switch from a crowd calling Jesus the son of David, saying that he comes in the name of the Lord, to a crowd that doesn't know who he is. It's a bit of a confusing thing, but I think the best understanding for this is that it's two different crowds. There's one crowd who's with him coming from Jericho outside of the city gates who are from Galilee and they know about him. They've seen his miracles. And there's another crowd inside the city gates who are mostly people from all over the known world. Jews from all over the world and a lot of people who live in Jerusalem who are not as familiar with Jesus. And so one group is saying, "Hey, we know him. Hosanna to him in the highest." And the other one is saying, "Who is this?" And so that's the account of the lowly entry. Now, that doesn't seem very triumphal to me, which is why one author said a better name would be, quote, "the lowly entry of the Messiah who will give his life a ransom for many in the blood of the new covenant." End quote. But that's a long name, so I just named it the lowly entry. And I'm not arguing that we should change the name because that would create a world of confusion. But I do propose that scripture gives us an entry that is much more triumphant. Look at Revelation 19 again with me. Revelation 19:11, almost at the end of your Bible.

Now, even though this is the second entry, it is much more triumphal than the one we just learned about. And they share many things in common. Many things in common. Revelation 19:11, one author put it this way. He said, quote, "In both he rides an animal. In both he comes to the Mount of Olives. In both he enters Jerusalem. In both he is received with the cry, 'Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.'" Revelation 19:11. So they, the lowly entry and the triumphal entry, they share a lot in common. But that same author said there's one major difference. Quote, "In his first coming, Messiah entered to die as the lamb of God. In his second coming, Messiah re-enters to reign as the lion of the tribe of Judah." End quote. What an awesome savior we have. And brothers and sisters, this should be so encouraging to you. This is your future if you're in Christ. These are Christ's promises. This is what our minds and hearts should be trained on day in and day out. Because if we trust in this future, we can have peace and joy and contentment and gratefulness in the midst of the worst trials and tribulations. So, let's take a look at the real triumphal entry. Revelation 19:11. And since the beginning of chapter 19, the scene has been in heaven. This is a, a vision that John is having as he's writing the book of Revelation. The same author we've been learning about in 1, second, and third John. And he's just described the marriage supper of the lamb. And that brings us to Revelation 19:11. And it says, "Then I saw heaven opened and behold a white horse, and he who sits on it is called faithful and true, and in righteousness he judges and wages war." And so here we see the real triumphal entry. And the first thing we're confronted with is the white horse. The white being symbolic of the holiness of the rider, Jesus, and the horse a sign of triumph and victory. And there will be no greater victory than this in the history of the world. John goes on to describe Jesus as faithful and true, which describes perfectly the one who promised to never leave us nor forsake us. Hebrews 13:5, the one who said that I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the, the Father but through me. John 14:6. And then John says that Christ judges and wages war in righteousness. And this war is a result of the unrighteousness of men, the sin of men. This is why this war is necessary is because of the rebellion of mankind. And this war that Jesus is about to wage is a response to sin, a response to the rebellion of mankind. They have risen up against him. And even though Jesus was judged by Pilate and Herod and Annas and Caiaphas during his first coming, now he'll judge the entire world in righteousness. There's great hope here, brothers and sisters.

Verse 12 says, "His eyes are a flame of fire and on his head are many diadems, having a name written on him which no one knows except himself." John says his eyes are a flame of fire, which means nothing is hidden from our Lord. No sin will go unpunished. He knows every single detail of your life and your thought life. He sees the depths of your heart. Hebrews 4:13 says, "And there is no creature hidden from his sight, but all things are uncovered and laid bare to the eyes of him to whom we have an account to give." And every human being will give an account to Jesus. Doesn't matter what you believe. Doesn't matter what religion you are. Every single human being will give an account to Jesus, and he knows every detail already. John goes on to say that his heads, his, on his head are many diadems, which represents a ruler's crown, which up to this point has been on the head of Satan and the Antichrist. The book of Revelation talks about, but make no mistake, Jesus has come to rule and this is his real triumphal entry. See, when Christ returns, verse 13 says he's clothed with a garment dipped in blood. And that's because of this great victory that is coming. He's about to accomplish a victory like the world has never seen. He'll have all the diadems. He'll be the ruler of everything, the ultimate ruler. And verse 13 ends by leaving no doubt about who this ruler is by saying his name is also called the Word of God. And we know from John 1:1-14, same author, that Jesus is the Word. And because of his word, we, we know so much about him. We can be so grateful for the Bible. But because he's eternal and because he's God, there's also an endless amount we'll never know. And this, that's why verse 12 says that he has a name written on him which no one knows except himself. This is a reminder that the rider of this white horse is God in human flesh. The eternal all-powerful creator God who's returning his creation to its original Edenic state.

Verse 14. "And the armies which are in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, were following him on a white horse." It's an awesome verse. Do you know what that means, brothers and sisters? Most, one of the most exciting verses in all of scripture. Do you know who the armies in heaven are? It's us. It's everybody in Christ. We're going to return with Christ at the second coming. We return with our savior. Not to fight, but to reign with him. Listen to Paul rebuking the Corinthians for suing each other. They were suing each other in the church. Paul says, "Or do you not know that the saints will judge the world?" Like why are you, why are you suing each other? Why are you going to unbelieving courts with unbelievers when you're going to judge the world someday? He says, "If the world is judged by you, are you not worthy to constitute the smallest law courts?" 1 Corinthians 6:2. He's saying, "Guys, you're going to rule with Christ. Can't you figure this out between yourselves? Why would you go to an unbeliever to figure this out?" Paul says, "The saints will judge the world." And that begins here at the triumphal entry. Verse 15. "And 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 wrath of the rage of God the Almighty." We see here Christ's weapon of warfare, a sharp sword coming from his mouth, which is symbolic of what Christ's weapon of warfare, choice weapon of warfare has always been, the word that comes from his mouth. This is how he created the universe in six days, in six literal 24-hour periods. See, Jesus isn't fighting this war with guns and planes. Instead, he'll speak and destruction will be wrought. Just like when God rained brimstone and fire upon Sodom and Gomorrah. And not only will Jesus destroy his enemies in this way, but he'll use his word to rule over them with a rod of iron. In other words, the word of God will suppress all unrighteousness in the millennial kingdom. There will still be sin, but it will be suppressed in ways we can't even imagine. And all of this will be accomplished because the end of verse 15 says, "He treads the wine press of the wrath of the rage of God the Almighty." There's a vivid picture of what God's judgment is going to look like at the second coming on those who reject him, ignore him, don't believe in him. People who say, "Oh, that's good for you, but it doesn't work for me." This is a vivid picture of what that judgment will look like. Because wine, the wine press, pictures a situation where those grapes are splattered and crushed to get the juice out. And John says this is what it's going to be for the nations who rise up against Christ at the battle of Armageddon, which is what we're talking about here. All of those unbelievers, not just the armies, but every unbeliever, Jesus will utterly crush them. So take heart, brothers and sisters. The evil you see all around us on the TV is going to be crushed. The so-called problem of evil will be solved. And verse 16 says, it'll be crushed by the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. And according to verse 17, it'll be crushed in a complete and devastating manner. Verse 17. "Then I saw an angel standing in the sun," most likely in front of the sun. "And he cried out with a loud voice, saying to all the birds which fly in midheaven, fly in the sky, 'Come assemble for the great supper of God, so that you may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of commanders, and the flesh of strong men, and the flesh of horses, and of those who sit on them, and the flesh of all men, both free men and slaves, and small and great.'" So, not only will Christ's enemies be defeated, not only will every unbeliever on the planet be killed, but he'll supernaturally command birds to do away with their flesh. This is what judgment looks like when you reject a perfectly holy God who's created everything, who's given you life and breath and food, your families, all that you have. And Pastor John is famous for pointing out that actually in Israel millions of birds fly over Jerusalem every year on their way from Europe to Africa. So this is the pieces are already in place. Verse 19 says, "Then I saw the beast, which is the Antichrist, and the kings of the earth and their armies assembled to make war with him who sits on the horse and with his army." And so it all comes down to this, the battle of Armageddon. The Antichrist and the military of the entire earth come to make war with Christ. This is the culmination of all the God-hating attitudes, all the false worldviews, all the false religions, all the false philosophies we see today. This is the culmination of all of that. See, one day the gloves will come off. One day God haters will turn from words to bullets. And one day all of those bullets will be pointed at Jesus, literally. And what will the result be? Verse 20. "And the beast, which is the Antichrist, was seized, and with him the false prophet, who did the signs in his presence, by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast, and those who worshiped his image. These two were thrown alive into the lake of fire, which burns with brimstone." So the Antichrist and the false prophet are thrown directly into the lake of fire. That's the, the final resting place of demons and every repentant, unrepentant sinner is the lake of fire. And no, I don't know what the mark of the beast will be. I don't have any idea. Verse 21. "And the rest were killed with the sword which came from the mouth of him who sits on the horse. And all the birds were filled with their flesh." Again, brothers and sisters, take heart. This is where history is going. The enemies of Christ will be destroyed with a word and will, will reign with him forever.

So, the Antichrist and the false prophet, they've been done away with. But what about Satan himself? Chapter 20:1, the next verse there. "Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, having the key of the abyss," the temporary resting place of demons, "having the key of the abyss and a great chain in his hand." And again, the abyss is the temporary holding place for demons before they're thrown into the lake of fire, which happens at the end of the millennial kingdom. And here we see an angel coming down with the key to the abyss and a great chain. Verse two. "And he, the angel, laid hold of the dragon, the serpent of old, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years. And he threw him into the abyss and shut it and sealed it over him, so that he would not deceive the nations any longer until the thousand years were finished. After these things, he must be released for a short time at the end of the millennial kingdom." So, Satan will be bound in the abyss, not the lake of fire, during the millennial kingdom. Many people actually say he's bound right now, which seems pretty ridiculous when you look around us. But see, the future is not going to look like this at all. In the future, Jesus will completely fulfill the Davidic covenant when this triumphal coronation happens. In the future, Christ will return to judge and wage war in righteousness. No one will avoid his judgment. And the birds of the air will feast on the bodies of his enemies, which is every unbeliever. And the beast and the Antichrist and even Satan himself will be locked away. And he will reign with a rod of iron. And we will reign with him. And one of the ways that we know this will be fulfilled is by turning back to Zechariah 9. I hope you put a bookmark in there. Zechariah 9:9. Let's read again in Zechariah about Jesus's lowly entry. Two books back from Matthew, two books from the end of your Old Testament, Zechariah 9:9 says, "Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion. Make a loud shout, O daughter of Jerusalem. Behold, your king is coming to you. He is righteous and endowed with salvation, lowly and mounted on a donkey, even on a colt, the foal of a pack animal." Now, we've read that already, and that's the lowly entry. And I ask you, did that come true? Yes. 2,000 years ago, Matthew told us all about it at the beginning of this sermon. So, the question is, if verse 9 comes true, can we count on verse 10 coming true? Let me read it for us. Says, "I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim, Israel, and the horse from Jerusalem, and the bow of war will be cut off, and he will speak peace to the nations," that's the millennial kingdom, "and his reign will be from sea to sea and from the river to the ends of the earth." And the answer to that question is yes, that will be fulfilled just like the first coming was fulfilled. And this should be very encouraging. The triumphal entry is just as sure as the lowly entry. This is your future if you're in Christ. The future that should dictate how you respond to your circumstances now. The future that should dictate your finances and schedule. Now the future that should dictate your marriage. Now the future that should dictate every decision you make. Now the future that should dictate every word you speak. Now the future that should dictate your prayer life. Now the future that should dictate your commitment to the church. Now, and the future that should drive your evangelism now. What an awesome future we have, brothers and sisters. Let it dictate your life now because it'll be here before you know it. Let me pray.

How gracious of you, God, to tell us in detail what our future looks like. How gracious of you, God, to warn every unbeliever on this planet in the most published book in the history of the universe. A book that has had more written on it than every other religion in the world. And you've warned the whole world about what the future looks like and what their judgment will look like if they continue to ignore you, ignore your word, ignore your son. So gracious and kind of you. I pray that if there's anyone here who has not been born again, who has not gone from an old creature to a new creature, I pray that you would pour your grace and mercy out on them. Lord, have mercy on them. Save them. Regenerate their heart. Because Lord, you know that I deserve to be burning in hell a million times over for my sin. And yet you are gracious and merciful to me and so many others who are here, Lord. And we desperately want that for all those who don't know you, Lord. And so because of that, help us to be faithful in proclaiming the gospel. Help us to be faithful in our evangelism. Even today, Lord, as the men go out, please save. We know that you're the God who saves. Save today. Snatch people from the pit. Make them your worshippers. Forgive their sin for your glory. Amen.