Revelation
19:11-21
Hello and
Happy New Year! Welcome to the year of
our Lord two thousand and fifteen.
The new year
is the time when we set goals. We even
have a special name for those goals at new year’s. We call them resolutions. Isn’t that the kind of thing that governments
are supposed to do? Doesn’t the U.N.
make resolutions?
I think when
we say New Year’s resolution, we mean that we’ve decided to do something. We’ve resolved in our minds to change a behavior
or begin to do something that we haven’t or stop doing something that we
shouldn’t.
Any of you
that do have a resolution, would you be willing to share it?
I came across
some interesting research on the subject of New Year’s resolutions. I’m not rock solid on the data source or the
time of its collection. It’s purported
to be from 2014. I was able to find an
actual journal paper published the same folks in 2002 but the numbers were a
bit different. Then, I found the
transcript of an interview from NPR in 2012 from one of the authors that jives
with this data. People have been making
resolutions for so long, I think you’ll find that the data passes the
proverbial “smell” test, and that we can still accept it as statistically
valid.
Rank Top 10 New Years resolutions for
2014
1.
Lose Weight
2.
Getting Organized
3.
Spend Less, Save More
4.
Enjoy Life to the Fullest
5.
Staying Fit and Healthy
6.
Learn Something Exciting
7.
Quit Smoking
8.
Help Others in Their Dreams
9.
Fall in Love
10.
Spend More Time with Family
New Years Resolution Statistics Data
Percent of Americans who usually
make
New Year’s Resolutions 45%
Percent of Americans who infrequently
make New Year’s Resolutions 17%
Percent of Americans who absolutely
never
make New Year’s Resolutions 38%
Percent of people who are successful
in achieving their resolution 8%
Percent who have infrequent success 49%
Percent who never succeed and fail
on
their resolution each year 24%
Type of Resolutions Data
(Percent above 100% because of multiple resolutions)
Self-improvement or education related
resolutions 47%
Weight related resolutions 38%
Money related resolutions 34%
Relationship related resolutions 31%
Age Success Rates Data
Percent of people in their twenties who
achieve
their resolution each year 39%
Percent of people over 50 who achieve
their resolution each year 14%
Length of Resolutions Data
Resolution maintained through first week
75%
Past two weeks 71%
Past one month 64%
Past six months 46%
One tidbit
that comes through in the data that is extremely important is that making goals
is key to enabling people to achieve what they want to do. “People who explicitly make resolutions are
ten times more likely to attain their goals than people who don’t explicitly
make resolutions.”
You may hear
all this and say, that’s nice John, but why do you want to start a message with
secular data? What does the Bible say
about goal setting, about making resolutions?
Okay,
admittedly, the Bible doesn’t say anything about making resolutions at least
not in the sense of our New Year’s resolutions.
Jesus said that we should let our yes be yes and our no be no and not to
make promises or swear on the temple or anything like that. (Matthew 5:33-37) James wrote that we should
not make plans about what would happen in the future because we don’t know what
could happen. (James 4:13-17) He really said we shouldn’t boast about what
we were going to do, rather we should say that if it was the Lord’s will we
would do this or that. He was talking
about greed and pride not planning. In
James 4:16, the NIV uses the expression “arrogant schemes.” It’s the same word which is translated “pride”
as in the pride of life in I John (2:16).
But, the
Bible does mention planning. Jesus talks
about “counting the cost” of being a disciple.
(Luke 14:26-35) The Proverbs have
multiple verses about making plans (12:5, 15:22, 16:1, 16:3, 19:21, 20:18,
21:5) The Lord Himself has plans for us
(Jeremiah 29:11, Hebrews 11:40). The
Lord also gives plans to His people (I Chronicles 28:12). The Spirit of God gave David plans for the
temple which he then passed on to Solomon.
The Lord will even establish our own plans when we commit them to Him
(Proverbs 16:3). Psalm 37:14 says that
if we take delight in the Lord, He will give us the desires of our heart. I understand that in two different ways. The Lord will give us the right kind of
desires. It would be destructive to us,
unloving, for Him to satisfy wrong desires that we have. But God will also fulfill the right desires
in our hearts. Isn’t that awesome!
I heard a
fantastic quote at Faithwalkers. I
couldn’t find a clear source, so we’ll just say the originator is unknown. The quote is “God cannot steer a parked car.” If you need a Biblical basis, I’ll point you
to Exodus 14:14-15. Daniel 11:32 is also
great. It says, “the people who know
their God shall stand firm and take action.”
I want to exhort you to keep moving forward in 2015. I want you to be prepared to take action in
Jesus each and every day. Ask God for right
plans and desires. As you have plans,
commit them to Him and allow Him to direct and bless and establish those plans.
The Lord
Himself has plans (Psalm 33:11). His
plans stand firm. They are everlasting. Our passage for today begins with Revelation
19:11, but I want to sneak back and review the last sentence from verse
10. It says:
“For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of
prophecy.”--Revelation 19:10
God doesn’t
call His plans resolutions. They are
called prophecy. Did you know that the
Bible is the only book which contains prophecies that have been accurately
fulfilled? When I say prophecy, I mean
detailed predictions of things that actually came to pass. There are other books which would purport to
contain prophecy, but when you investigate the so-called prophecies, they are
found to be vague descriptions at best.
This is the
testimony, the witness, the martyria
of Jesus: the spirit of prophecy. Jesus
is validated as who He says He is by prophecy and the fulfillment of that
prophecy. We do not worship the
messenger. We do not worship the
message. We worship the Almighty. We worship God. We worship Jesus.
“This is the one who came by water and
blood—Jesus Christ. He did not come by water only, but by water and blood. And
it is the Spirit who testifies, because the Spirit is the truth. For there are
three that testify: the Spirit, the water and the blood; and the three are in
agreement. We accept man’s testimony,
but God’s testimony is greater because it is the testimony of God, which he has
given about his Son. Anyone who believes in the Son of God has this testimony
in his heart. Anyone who does not believe God has made him out to be a liar,
because he has not believed the testimony God has given about his Son. And this
is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.”--I
John 5:6-11
“And we have the word of the prophets made
more certain, and you will do well to pay attention to it, as to a light
shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your
hearts. Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about
by the prophet’s own interpretation. For prophecy never had its origin in the
will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy
Spirit.”--II Peter 1:19-21
Let’s
continue now with today’s passage, prophecy of the future yet to be
fulfilled. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus,
the author and perfecter of our faith.
Let us look to Him with faith, the assurance of our hope and the
evidence of things not yet seen. Let’s
pray and ask Him for clarity and insight.
Lord Jesus,
thank You that You have revealed Yourself to us. Thank You for Your Word. Thank You for truth. Thank You for prophecy and its
fulfilment. Speak to us as we dig into
this passage in Revelation 19. Bring
about Your plans and purposes in our hearts.
We are seeking You. We want to
encounter You. We don’t want head
knowledge or some secret knowledge that we would use to try and impress others
or boast about. We want to see You as
You are. For it is in that way, we will
be made like You. (I John 3:2) In Jesus’ Name. Amen
Let’s get to
the good stuff:
“I saw heaven standing open and there before
me was a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True. With justice He
judges and makes war. His eyes are like blazing fire, and on His head are many
crowns. He has a name written on Him that no one knows but He Himself. He is
dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and His name is the Word of God. “--Revelation
19:11-13
This passage
carries a great many phrases which are paralleled earlier in Revelation and
earlier in Scripture. During Jesus’ life
on earth, heaven is opened at one particular point in His life. Do you remember when it was? It was at His baptism. (Matthew 3:16, Mark 1:10, Luke 3:21) At that time, God sent the Spirit in the form
of a dove to Jesus. Now, heaven is
opened and Jesus returns.
He is riding
a white horse. Last we saw Jesus riding
he was on a humble donkey on His way to Jerusalem and the cross. (Matthew 21:5)
Now, He rides as a warrior. (Exodus 15:3)
This is not
the white horse that was the first of the four horsemen in Revelation 6. That rider wore a single crown and carried a
different sword, one that was short.
Jesus is
Faithful. He can be relied on to fulfill
His promises. He is True. He is the ultimate reality. This title was already bestowed in Revelation
3 (v.14). This description of God is
used in Psalm 33:4.
A part of
Jesus identity and character is judgment and making war. He does this with justice. It is not indiscriminant. It is not careless. It is not wrongful.
I’ve been
reading The Lord of the Rings. I don’t
know how many times I’ve read it in my life.
I’d guess this was the fourth or fifth time I’ve read it. It’s been more than five years since I last
read it. This time, I have greatly
enjoyed reading Tolkein’s turn of phrase.
It’s a fantasy story, of course.
And yet, it is so well written in describing the character, nature and
understanding of men (and hobbits). I
want to read a brief passage where Sam has an awakening in his understanding of
Frodo. You don’t need and understanding
of the plot to grasp the meaning.
“Sam looked
at his master with approval, but also with surprise: there was a look in his face and a tone in
his voice that he had not known before.
It had always been a notion of his that the kindness of dear Mr. Frodo
was of such a high degree that it must imply a fair measure of blindness. Of course, he also firmly held the
incompatible belief that Mr. Frodo was the wisest person in the world … Gollum
in his own way, and with much more excuse as his acquaintance was much briefer,
may have made a similar mistake, confusing kindness with blindness.”--The Two
Towers, Book Four, Chapter III, The Black Gate Is Closed, p. 626
I think we
can have a similar incompatible view of Jesus.
We know that He is the Son of God.
We know that He knows all things.
And yet, we focus and depend on His mercies and compassion. This is the right attitude, of course. But, He is both and. He is both the Lamb of God that takes away
the sin of the world and the King of Kings and Lord of Lords riding forth to
conquer His enemies. Let us not be
confused of Jesus sovereignty. He indeed
will judge and make war.
The blazing
eyes are depicted in Daniel (7:9, 10:6) and earlier in Revelation (1:14, 2:18). There are many crowns on His head, beyond
John counting as he had done for the others like the first horseman, the dragon
and the beast. The name known only to
Himself speaks of His uniqueness. This
will also be true of us as Jesus will give each of us a name known only to us
as individuals. I said it before when we
were in Revelation 2, but I draw comfort from that. Heaven is not a place where we are absorbed
into some group consciousness. It isn’t
a nirvana of nothingness. No we will
still maintain a distinct identity. We
will be united in a beautiful loving relationship with one another, but we will
still be selves.
The robe
dipped in blood is the blood of His enemies, not His own blood. (Isaiah 63:1-3) In Revelation 3 (v. 4-5) it says that
believers make there garments clean in the blood of the Lamb, so His blood does
not leave a stain but rather cleanses and makes white.
If there is
any question of the rider’s identity after the credentials already given, we
have absolute confirmation here that His Name is the Word of God, a clear
connection to John 1:1.
“The armies of heaven were following him,
riding on white horses and dressed in fine linen, white and clean. Out of his
mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations. “He will rule
them with an iron scepter.” He treads the winepress of the fury of the wrath of
God Almighty.”--Revelation 19:14-15
The armies
of heaven were following him, this would include angelic hosts and believers
(Revelation 17:14). They are dressed in
fine linen as described earlier in Revelation 19. The sword coming from His mouth is a particular
type of sword called a rhomphaia. It is a long sword, both the blade and the
handle. In some cases, it is even called
a javelin. It seems to be the right type
of weapon to wield from horseback. It is
a slicing weapon. In contrast, the first
horseman in Revelation 6 is carrying a machaira
which is a short sword more typical of what you would see a Roman
legionnaire carrying. That type of sword
would be used in tight formations for thrusting rather than slicing.
This rhomphaia sword is mentioned six times in
Revelation and only one other time outside Revelation. The word machaira
is used about thirty times all over the New Testament. It is interesting the one other time rhomphaia is used when Simeon talks to
Mary and says that a sword will pierce her soul, too. And yet, the translation “pierce” seems to
not be quite right as the Greek word is translated everywhere else as “pass” or
“pass through.” The sword that passes
through Mary’s soul is Jesus’ sword.
What shall I
say about the sword coming out of His mouth?
I had thought briefly about getting cute with the fact that a rhomphaia sword is usually carried over
the shoulder or over the back because it is so long. As a result, you would look like the sword
were coming from your head or your “mouth” if you pulled it over your head. But then, I read Isaiah 49 (v.2). It says there of Jesus that God made His
“mouth like a sharpened sword.” The
Psalms (5:9, 57:4) also describe the tongue as a sharp sword. Isaiah 11:4 says that His breath will slay
the wicked. II Thessalonians 2:8 says
that Jesus will overthrow the lawless one with the breath of His mouth.
Jesus is the
Creator. By Him, all things were made
(Colossians 1:16). In Him, all things
are held together. The universe, the
earth, and everything in them including man was spoken into existence (Genesis
1). It is logical then that the
undoing, the destruction of evil things, those opposed to God, would come about
by that which comes from the mouth of Jesus.
The iron
scepter hearkens back to prophecy from Psalm 2:9. It is also mentioned in Revelation 12:5 when
it describes the woman who will give birth and the dragon seeks to devour the
child. This child is the one who will
rule with iron scepter. The iron scepter
is also mentioned in Isaiah 11:4.
The
winepress is used to describe the wrath of God.
We saw it already in Revelation 14 (v.19-20). Why does the wrath of God have to come? Zechariah 1:2 explains that the evil
practices and evil ways of the people of Israel brought about the anger of
God. Colossians 3:5-6 strikes a little
closer to home perhaps, saying, “whatever
belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires
and greed, which is idolatry. Because of these, the wrath of God is coming.”
The wrath of
God comes because of that which is not of God.
That which is not of God is sin.
All sin must bring about the wrath of God unless it is atoned for or
paid for by the blood of Christ. Jesus’
blood is sufficient to pay the penalty for all sin. However, that payment does not become valid
until the one who sins has asked for forgiveness, has washed their sins in the
blood of the Lamb, has agreed that Jesus is the only One who can clear them of
guilt before God.
We may get
swept away by the suddenness with which Jesus rides forth to defeat His
enemies. It is important to note that
this Day of the Lord, this Day of Vengeance, has been millennia in the
coming. Romans 9:22-26 is a beautiful
passage that explains, “God … bore with
great patience the objects of His wrath … to make the riches of His glory known
to the objects of His mercy.” That’s
us. We are the objects of His
mercy. He withheld His wrath for that
long time so that you and I might be saved for eternity. Praise God.
“On His robe and on His thigh He has this
name written: KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF
LORDS.”--Revelation 19:16
Yes. He is.
Nebuchadnezzar
acknowledged God as the Lord of Kings after Daniel interpreted the dream. (Daniel 2:47)
“And I saw an angel standing in the sun, who
cried in a loud voice to all the birds flying in midair, “Come, gather together
for the great supper of God, so that you may eat the flesh of kings, generals,
and mighty men, of horses and their riders, and the flesh of all people, free
and slave, small and great.””--Revelation 19:17-18
This is not
the wedding supper of the Lamb that we read of in the first half of chapter
19. A description of such a gruesome
meal is found in Ezekiel 39 (v. 17-20).
Back in
Revelation 6 (v. 15-17), these same kings and generals, mighty, slave and free
were cowering in the rocks of the mountains, pleading for the rocks to fall on
them and hide them from the wrath of God.
Now, under the influence of the beast and false prophet, they have been
brought to war against the Lamb.
You can also
contrast the list from Revelation 19:5.
It says there, “a voice came from
the throne, saying, ‘Praise our God, all you his servants, you who fear him,
both small and great!’ ” So, the small and great are found on both sides of
the battle lines. There are small and
great on the side of the Lamb who love Him and have accepted Him. There are also small and great on the side of
the enemies of God who will be destroyed.
“Then I saw the beast and the kings of the
earth and their armies gathered together to make war against the rider on the
horse and his army. But the beast was captured, and with him the false prophet
who had performed the miraculous signs on his behalf. With these signs he had
deluded those who had received the mark of the beast and worshiped his image.
The two of them were thrown alive into the fiery lake of burning sulfur. The
rest of them were killed with the sword that came out of the mouth of the rider
on the horse, and all the birds gorged themselves on their flesh.”--Revelation
19:19-21
I think this
last passage is pretty clear. The defeat
of the enemies of God is total and complete.
We see here a recounting of the deception of the false prophet. We read about those events in Revelation 13
(v. 12-16). The kings and armies of the
earth were drawn to battle by evil spirits from the dragon, beast and false
prophet as told in Revelation 16 (v. 13-14, 16).
This
judgment scene before the lake of fire is described in the book of Daniel
(7:11). I was surprised when I
investigated the behavior of sulfur for this message. Brimstone is another name for sulfur. I got to thinking about that phrase “fire and
brimstone.” I had never thought of the
fact that brimstone or sulfur is flammable.
The rock will burn. It burns hot,
above 1000 degrees Fahrenheit. The stone
is yellow. Its flame is blue. The result of combustion is a red
liquid. Here are a few pictures.
Reading
about burning sulfur led me to the Ijen volcano complex which is located in
Indonesia. There, sulfur fires burn
nearly continuously. Here are some
pictures of this place. Often, there are
gases burning 16 feet high.
It is also a
mine of sorts. The poor workers
literally hike down into the crater and load themselves down with as much
sulfur rock as they can carry, often between 150 and 200 pounds. They climb up a 45 degree grade for 0.2
miles. Then, they walk 2 miles down the
mountain to have their load weighed.
They do this twice a day for a daily wage of $10 or so. So, as bad as any job may be among us here
today, it is nothing in comparison to the sulfur mines of Ijen, I would
imagine.
What a
terrible place the fiery lake will be!
Suffocating and wretched. No one
should ever want to go there. I can’t
imagine anyone thinking that it would be a good thing to be there. Occasionally, you may hear someone who does
not trust in Jesus say that they don’t want to go to heaven because it would be
boring. Then, they say they want to go
to hell because that’s where the party will be.
It is not
going to be a party. It’s going to be
horrific, eternally horrific. For the
Lord of the Rings fans, think Mordor and yet infinitely worse. The fiery lake is not a stronghold of the
enemy. It is a place of destruction
only. There is no escape, only torment
day and night.
Why does it
have to be like that? Why does there
have to be eternal torment? Why doesn’t
God put out the fire at some point even far into the future? Wouldn’t 10 millennia suffice? What about 100?
I don’t have
a pat answer. I can’t explain it to you
because I don’t truly understand it myself.
I know it is true because God’s Word says it is so and it will be
so. I don’t question God’s love or mercy
because I see what He has already done on the cross. I see His patience over many thousands of
years. I’ve experienced His merciful
patience with me time and time again. I
know that God is love.
I know too
that God is holy. His holiness is
perfection. He is perfectly just in all
His judgments. Terrible as it seems, the
lake of fire is a just judgment. Those
who reject Jesus must deserve that.
Otherwise, they would not be sent there.
So, I exhort
anyone here who has not accepted the gift of life. If there is anyone who has not put their
trust in Jesus, “Today, if you hear His
voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion.” (Hebrews 3:15) It says later in Hebrews 3 (v. 19) that the
hardness was unbelief. Repent, turn
away, from having or hanging onto an unbelieving heart. If you are not ready to place your faith and
trust in Jesus right now, then please ask Him to help you to be willing to
accept Him. Ask Him to give you a desire
to know Him. He is the answer to all
life’s problems and troubles. Apart from
Him, your hope is in nothing except judgment and wrath. “Trust
in Him, and He will act.” (Psalm
37:5)
For those of
you who have put your trust in Jesus already, I want to share a passage from
Deuteronomy 10. Think upon the white
rider sitting upon his white horse.
To the LORD your God belong the heavens,
even the highest heavens, the earth and everything in it. Yet the LORD set his
affection on your forefathers and loved them, and he chose you, their
descendants, above all the nations, as it is today. Circumcise your hearts,
therefore, and do not be stiff-necked any longer. For the LORD your God is God
of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome, who shows no partiality
and accepts no bribes. He defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow,
and loves the alien, giving him food and clothing. And you are to love those
who are aliens, for you yourselves were aliens … Fear the LORD your God and
serve him. Hold fast to him … He is your praise; he is your God, who performed
for you those great and awesome wonders you saw with your own eyes.--Deuteronomy
10:14-21
And now … what does the LORD your God ask of
you but to fear the LORD your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to
serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul,
Deuteronomy 10:12
How shall we
do this? How do we serve the Lord with
all our heart and all our soul?
I would
refer to Proverbs 4:23, “Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you
do flows from it.” Young or old, wise or
naïve, there is a battle raging for your souls.
If you have your trust in Jesus, then you are protected by Him. However, the dragon, that old serpent, Satan,
would like nothing more than to deceive you from being available to serve the
Lord. If you remain pure and confess
regularly your sins to God, then you will be ready to serve with all your
heart.
Our sins
(and our continual hunger for distractions and pleasure) keep us from being
completely available to God. C.S. Lewis
wrote in Mere Christianity that people are like engines. We are spiritual engines designed to run on
God. If we try to run on anything else,
then the engine doesn’t work properly.
Even if we keep God in our lives, if we hold on to other stuff (sin),
then it will be like trying to drive with water in your gas tank. It’s just going to get gummed up and not
work. Or, you might have spurts of good
fuel followed by spluttering and stuttering when you let the bad stuff get in
there again.
I would have
thought by now that I had overcome most of the strongholds, the wrong thinking,
in my own life. And I have overcome a
great deal, but I am ever surprised that there seems to be just one more that I
did not recognize before. I shouldn’t be
surprised. Scripture is clear that we
are growing up (Ephesians 4:15) into Christ.
We haven’t arrived. (Philippians
3:10-13) We will only be completely like
Him when we see Him as He is. (I John
3:2) And so, the battle rages on both
internally and externally. And so, I
want to exhort you to be ever vigilant, ever ready for the battle.
“… though we live in the world, we do not
wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of
the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We
demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the
knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to
Christ.”--II Corinthians 10:3-5
There is
victory in Christ. Meditate on His
complete victory starting at the cross and being completely fulfilled in the
pages of Revelation. Do not grow weary. Let’s do great things for Jesus in 2015.
I’ll close
with another passage from the Lord of Rings.
This one is a favorite, one that I have read and reread, taking the book
down from the shelf just to read these two pages. I hope it puts wind in your sails as well.
The king
here in the story is a king of the earth.
I do not intend to invoke a picture or description as Jesus as
King. Rather, I would invite you to
think of yourself in the place of the king in this story. Or, if that is too much, think of yourself as
one of his riders.
“After a
while the king led his men away somewhat eastward, to come between the fires of
the siege and the outer fields. Still
they were unchallenged, and still [the king] gave no signal. At last he halted once again. The City was now nearer. A smell of burning was in the air and a very
shadow of death. The horses were
uneasy. But the king sat upon [his
horse], motionless, gazing upon the agony … as if stricken suddenly by anguish,
or by dread. He seemed to shrink down,
cowed by age. [The king‘s servant] felt
as if a great weight of horror and doubt had settled on him. His heart beat slowly. Time seemed poised on uncertainty. They were too late! Too late was worse than never! Perhaps [the king] would quail, bow his old
head, turn, [and] slink away to hide in the hills.
“Then,
suddenly [they] felt it at last, beyond a doubt: a change. Wind was in [their faces]. Light was glimmering. Far, far away in the South the clouds could
be dimly seen as remote grey shapes, rolling up, drifting: morning lay beyond them.
“But at that
moment there was a flash, as if lightning had sprung from the earth beneath the
City. For a searing second it stood
dazzling far off in black and white, its topmost tower like a glittering
needle; and then as the darkness closed again there came rolling over the
fields a great boom.
“At that
sound the bent shape of the king sprang suddenly erect. Tall and proud he seemed again; and rising in
his stirrups he cried in a loud voice, more clear than any there had ever heard
a mortal man achieve before:
“Arise,
arise, Riders of [the King]!
Fell deeds
awake: fire and slaughter!
spear shall
be shaken, shield shall be splintered,
a sword-day,
a red day, ere the sun rises!
Ride now,
ride now! Ride! …
“With that he
seized a great horn from … his banner bearer, and he blew such a blast upon it
that it burst asunder. And straightaway
all the horns in the host were lifted up in music, and the blowing of the horns
… in that hour was like a storm upon the plain and a thunder in the mountains.
“Ride now,
ride now! Ride! …
“Suddenly
the king cried to [his horse and they] sprang away. Behind him his banner blew in the wind … but
he outpaced it. After him thundered the
knights of his house, but he was ever before them. … [His young commander] rode there, the white
horsetail on his helm floating in his speed, and the front of the first
[division] roared like a breaker foaming to the shore, but [the king] could not
be overtaken. Fey he seemed, or the battle-fury
of his fathers ran like new fire in his veins … His golden shield was uncovered,
and lo! it shone like an image of the
Sun, and the grass flamed into green about the white feet of his steed. For morning came, morning and a wind from the
sea; and darkness was removed, and the hosts of [the enemy] wailed, and terror
took them, and they fled, and died, and the hoofs of wrath rode over them. And all the host of [the king] burst into
song, and they sang as the slew, for the joy of the battle was on them, and the
sound of their singing that was fair and terrible came even to the City.”--p.819-820,
The Lord of the Rings, The Return of the King, Book IV, Chapter 5
This is my
heart and vision for each of you here. I
want to see each one of you ride forth to victory in Jesus’ name. I don’t want you to feel like you can do
nothing more than sit in a parked car. I
don’t want anyone to feel disqualified.
If you feel disqualified from the race, if you feel ineligible for the
battle, I’d like to talk with you, pray with you, and I hope encourage
you. In 2015, let’s “run in such a way
as to win the prize … for which God has called us heavenward in Christ Jesus.” (I Corinthians 9:24 and Philippians 4:13)
We talked
earlier about resolutions. We talked
about prophecy as God’s resolutions. And
yet, God does not change. There is no
shadow of turning about Him. He doesn’t
need to turn over a new leaf. God’s
resolutions are testimony. They are
proof that He is Who He says He is. May
we, as His children, make resolutions and achieve them, testifying to the
greatness of our God, of what He has done for us.
Let’s pray.
Lord Jesus,
we are grateful for the victory that You have brought about. Thank You that You are not just working only
just enough. Thank You that You are
working completely and thoroughly through every detail of our rebellion to set
all things right. I pray for each of us
here. Strengthen our feeble arms and
weak knees, make level paths for our feet so that our lameness will be healed.
(Hebrews 12:12-13) Help us to do these
things ourselves as You have commanded.
Use us I pray to do great things (John 14:12) in Your Name Jesus. Amen.
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