Parousia and Kingdom Pt 2

Parousia and Kingdom Pt 2 : The Reign of King Jesus on Earth 

Revelation 19:11 Then I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse! The one sitting on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness, he judges and makes war. 12 His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are many diadems, and he has a name written that no one knows but himself. 

Today in the World: 2 Peter 3:4 Where is his promise or his coming? For since the time that the fathers slept, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation.

1. 1,845 references to Christ’s second coming in the Old Testament,
   1. In the 260 chapters of the New Testament, there are 318 references to the second advent of Christ–an amazing 1 out of every 30 verses. 
2. For every prophecy in the Bible concerning Christ’s first advent, there are 8 that look forward to His second!

Revelation 19:11 Then I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse! 

I. Thy Kingdom Come …..to Earth 

• His Kingdom comes and His will is finally done on Earth as it is in heaven. 
  • Thy will is done on Earth as it is in heaven! 
  • There is a new sheriff in town 
  • The Earth will run as heaven runs! 
  • Heaven has not just opened but the Kingdom Heaven is coming to Earth in its King

• Heaven being open is good news! 
• Exp. The Heavens were closed for 400 years. 
• This is called the Intertestamental period. 
  • Exp. Like going to your favorite place to eat or store only to find it closed….

• Stephen’s Martyrdom – The Son stands at the right hand of the Father 
  • The heavens opened to show us that; no matter what we go through Jesus isn’t taking it sitting down but he is standing up for us at the right hand of the Father in favor!
• Peter’s Vision – The sheet is filled with unclean animals and the Lord shows him three times that the Gentiles are no longer unclean. 
  • Heaven’s opened to show us that God exempts no one from salvation and we are called to reach everyone with the good news of The King and Kingdom. 
• Jesus’ Baptism – The Spirit descends like a dove upon Jesus 
  • Heaven’s opened so we can have the Spirit remain because of Jesus.
  • The miracles of Jesus and the great healings were a preview of what the Millenial Kingdom would be like. 

Isaiah 35:5 Then will the eyes of the blind be opened and the ears of the deaf unstopped. 6 Then will the lame leap like a deer and the mute tongue shout for joy. Water will gush forth in the wilderness and streams in the desert.

• Second Thessalonians 2 is clear that the removal of the restrainer’s influence precedes the revealing of the Antichrist. Given free rein during the tribulation, the lawless one will “use all sorts of displays of power through signs and wonders” to deceive the people of the earth (verses 9–10). 

After the Antichrist’s time is up, the Lord Jesus will return and overthrow the man of sin by “the breath of his mouth and destroy [him] by the splendor of his coming” (verse 8). Evil is restrained right now

• This is the fourth time mentioning, “The Heavens are opened….” in the N.T. 

• The number four is linked to Divine Judgement in the Bible 
• For example, in Revelation, four angels stand at the four corners of the earth, holding back the four winds, which are instruments of God’s judgment (Revelation 7:1).

The restrainer in 2 Thessalonians 2:6–7. He is called “the one who restrains” in some translations (ESV, NASB); other translations call Him “the one who holds back” (NIV), 

• He is someone of great power who is hindering the advance of the Antichrist and preventing the satanic kingdom from overwhelming the world.
• In his second epistle to the Thessalonians, Paul assured the church that they were not yet living in the Day of the Lord, that is, the end times’ judgment had not yet begun.
• In 2 Thessalonians 2:3 he says, “Don’t let anyone deceive you in any way, for that day will not come until the rebellion occurs and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the man doomed to destruction.” 
• According to God’s timetable, the Day of the Lord and the accompanying judgment will not start until two things happen: 
  • A global rebellion occurs and the Antichrist is revealed.
  •  Paul then mentions what is currently keeping the evil in check:

“And now you know what is holding him back, so that he may be revealed at the proper time. For the secret power of lawlessness is already at work, but the one who now holds it back will continue to do so till he is taken out of the way. And then the lawless one will be revealed” (verses 6–8).

This is the Holy Spirit and his work on Earth when the heavens were opened at Jesus’ baptism. 

1. Jesus lived in His Church and the Spirit remains on Earth becuase of this. 
2. The Church is raptured and the current work of the Spirit is removed. 

 These two things must happen before Evil is unrestrained. 

• The Church is Spirit-filled, Salt and Light, 
• The Church has been given the authority of Jesus on Earth over darkness, to bind and to lose. 

And greater is He that is in you than he that is in the world! 1 John 4:4

• This is the fourth time mentioning, “The Heavens are opened….” in the N.T. 

• • The number four is linked to Divine Judgement in the Bible 
  • For example, in Revelation, four angels stand at the four corners of the earth, holding back the four winds, which are instruments of God’s judgment (Revelation 7:1).

Revelation 19:11 Then I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse! 

II. His Kingdom Reign is enforced and unstoppable. 

• Notice – Behold not Beheld – John is telling us …Hey you! Don’t miss this! 

• It’s a white horse, not a donkey! 

• • 1st time Jesus rides a donkey and then there is the judgment of the House of God, Herod rode on the same day from the other side of Jerusalem on a White Horse
  • 2nd Jesus rides a white horse and there is the judgment of the nations that follow the Anti-Christ. 

1st time the people say, “Hosanna” –  Lord Save us Now! 

2nd time, Rev. 6:16 They called to the mountains and the rocks, “Fall on us. Hide us from the face of the One who sits on the throne and from the ·anger [wrath] of the Lamb!

Now, it’s become the complete opposite of what the people in Jerusalem thought 2000 years ago. 

• They wanted a warrior to save them from Rome not from their sin,

Still today, people don’t want a King to save them from themselves and their sins, 

• • They want a sweetener: Sacarin/ Substitute – they want a man who teaches false love: a sugar substitute for the real thing, 600xs sweeter, and free of righteous standards, fear of the Lord, and calorie free of the truth.  

• And a pseudo-peaceful coexistence, acceptance, and affirmation. 

• • A Jesus that agrees with me and what I want to do with my life. 
  • A God created in my own image in place of conforming to His. 
  • A God that loves you just the way you are. And leaves you that way! 
  • Don’t change a thing. 

No King. No sin. No repentance. No judgment seat. No ruler and kingdom. 

• In today’s culture, Jesus has become whoever and whatever you want him to be. 
• A good teacher, a rabbi, a rebel, but not God. Not Messiah. And certainly not KING OVER HIS KINGDOM.

You wonder how people can carve idols and make their own god, they’re now doing that with Jesus. 

• And with that, coming back to the end times, you can see how people will want an Antichrist, a reverse Christ.

Even back in the late 1800s, J.C. Ryle said: “Beware of manufacturing a God of your own: a God who is all mercy, but not just; a God who is all love, but not holy; a God who has a heaven for everybody, but a hell for none; a God who can allow good and bad to be side by side in time, but will make no distinction between good and bad in eternity. Such a God is an idol of your own, as truly an idol as any snake or crocodile in an Egyptian temple. The hands of your own fancy and sentimentality have made him. He is not the God of the Bible, and besides the God of the Bible, there is no God at all.”

The first time, he came as the Prince of Peace, the second time he will come as the warrior king. 

• This time the Heavens open and we see a WHITE HORSE. 

• From John’s point of view, Jesus has revealed a future that is finished and already decided! 
• In the A.N.E. Kings would only ride in on a White Horse when they were announcing their victory in battle. 
• This was in victory parades and they would drag the conquered behind them. 
  • The phrase “he led captivity captive and bestowed gifts to men” (Ephesians 4:8) refers to Christ’s victory over sin and death, 
  • Colossians 2:15 And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.
    • God is the Alpha and Omega – White Horse means the battle is over and Christ has already had the victory! 
    • Sufficiency of the Cross everything is already finished and done, 
    • But his Kingdom is already and not yet… Faith is the world of waiting in between. – Inaugurated Eschatology 
      • By faith, we already have reconciliation with God, but we aren’t with God yet. 
      • We already have the forgiveness of our sins, but we aren’t free of temptation yet. 
      • We already love Jesus, but we have yet to see Him face-to-face.
      •  Our citizenship is already in heaven, but our street address is definitely not yet celestial.
    • So we wait, but waiting is hard. And we trust, but trusting God in the tension of the already and the not yet isn’t any easier. 
  • 2 Corinthians 5:17 says, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has passed away, and see, the new has come!” 
    • Most days I don’t feel very new. 
    • I feel stuck in the old me with the same old doubts and the same old struggles. 
    • Though the Bible tells me I am already spiritually resurrected, I am not yet physically resurrected, and the tension is palpable.
  • Trusting in both the “already” and the “not yet” requires faith by the truckload.

• God Is Faithful to His “Not Yet” 

  • 1 Peter 1:8 “Though you have not seen him, you love him; though not seeing him now, you believe in him, and you rejoice with inexpressible and glorious joy.” 
  • How do we know if we are successfully navigating the already and the not yet? 
    • We praise God in advance and in agreement with what His word has said is already DONE! 
    • Even when it looks impossible,
    • Even when we still don’t see what we’re waiting for—because we know God is faithful.
• Waiting on God to fulfill His Word is part of walking by faith. 
  • If it’s hard for you to claim scripture’s “no yets,” start by celebrating the already. 
  • For example, Ephesians 1: 3 says God has already blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places. 
  • We are “God’s children now” according to 1 John 3:2. 
  • Colossians 3:1 We are now …. “raised with Christ,” 
  • We “set our hearts on things above,”
• “where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.”
  • Ephesians 2:5—by grace, you have been saved— 6 and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 
  • In Christ, I am already finished, enough, complete, victorious, more than a conqueror, and achieved. 
    • This world and my carnal nature are not yet, but my spirit man is ALREADY AND NOW! 
    • All that is necessary is for me to remain in Him! 
• Sometimes you have to stop and reflect on the already. 
  • Jesus already came once to offer us life. 
  • He already paved the way to God. 
  • He already took care of our sins, and He is already on the throne.
  • And we by faith are already there with HIM! 
  • Jesus has already conquered sin, death, and hell, He has already conquered Satan and his forces at the cross 
    • This is why HE ARRIVES ON A WHITE HORSE! 
      • BECUASE WHAT HE FACES IS ALREADY CONQUERED! 
    • THIS IS WHY THE BATTLE OF ARMAGEDDON ENDS WITH A WORD FROM HIS MOUTH. 
    • THERE IS NOTHING LEFT TO DO, WHEN IT’S FINISHED, IT IS DONE, AND COMPLETE. 
      • I Have often wondered what that word from His mouth might be. I have often thought it would be the same word from the Cross – It is Finished, past tense. 

• BUT WAIT THERE’S MORE! 

14 And the armies of heaven, arrayed in fine linen, white and pure, were following him on white horses.

• We ride in with Him! 
• We are clothed in His Righteousness 
• His resurrection power glorifies us 
• We ride White Horses too! – Which means we have a complete victory too! 
  • We are no longer in a Kingdom of Already and Not Yet
  • We are with the King bringing the Kingdom of Already and Right NOW!
  • RIGHT ON! 

12 His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are many diadems, and he has a name written that no one knows but himself. 

III. The coming King’s eyes will bring purity and judgment. 

• Greek: “Flame” is phloz, which describes swirling, whirling, flickering flames that bend, twist, turn, and arch upward. 
• Greek: “Fire” is puros, the Greek word for a purifying, burning fire.

 With sharp and penetrating insight, Jesus can see all things everywhere.

• This, then, is not a depiction of heat but of the character of fire.
  • Think about the effect that a campfire or a fire in a fireplace has upon a person who stares at it for any length of time. 
  • The longer a person looks into a fire, the more the flickering flames have a magnetic, mesmerizing effect on his eyes, mind, and senses. 
• The fire has its own character, both drawing and dangerous!

John looked into Jesus’ eyes and became transfixed by what he saw.

•  Although he had looked into those eyes thousands of times nearly 60 years earlier, something was different about these eyes. 
• “Fire” is an important symbol in Scripture and frequently represents purification or judgment. 

• The first type will look on those who have humbled themselves and repented with puritfitcion 
• But there is a second type of fire that burns up the chaff and consumes everything that stands opposed to God. 

God is said to be a consuming fire.

• Whatever is not of God will be destroyed in His sight
• Whatever is of God and submitted to Him in His sight will remain and be purified. 
• Our eyes need light to see in the darkness, His eyes are like flames of fire and provide their light to expose the darkness. 

12 His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are many diadems, and he has a name written that no one knows but himself. 

IV. The King is already coronated and crowned ruler of all. 

• He is not coming to get a crown – He is coming crowned! 
• A diadem is a crown, a symbol of royal power and authority
• This original dominion was given to Adam and stolen from Him by Satan 

• • The second Adam came and gave his life as the Son of Man to restore this dominion. 
  • We are to enforce this regained authority (Greek – exousia) on Earth spiritually 
  • Luke 10:19 Behold, I give unto you the power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you.
  • And we are to occupy (military term)  until he comes to power (Greek- dunamis) 
  • Luke 19:13 Occupy till I come.

• The rider on this white horse is already crowned!

• • • WITH “many diadems.” 
      • When David defeated the Ammonites, that king’s crown was placed on David’s head (1 Chronicles 20:2). 
      • The “many diadems” on his head, are evidence of his numerous victories over every king who had sided with God’s enemies

• There are two words translated as “crown” 

• • • διάδημα (diadeema) 
    • And στέϕανος (stephanos). 
      • Stephanos is used by Greek writers to indicate the wreath awarded to a conqueror, the prize awarded to a victorious athlete in the Grecian games.
      • The wreath was composed of leaves at the Olympic Games. 
        • Such crowns were perishable. 
        • In a few hours, they began to fade. 
  • Hence the Apostle Peter writes in contrast of “a crown (stephanos) of glory given by Jesus that fades NOT away” (1 Peter 5:4).

• There are four other crowns but that’s another message! 

• The word stephanos was NEVER used in the sense of a Kingly Crown.
  • Believers have crowns awarded to them, but they are always stephanos and not diadeema.
  • Diadeema is a Crown of Sovereignty – there will be no one on Earth wearing one when His Kingdom comes but Him! 

Conclusion: Perfect places are not the answer! Relationship with a perfect person is. 

• If Jesus is not the King of your heart you will run your entire life from place to place trying to find somewhere that’s better.
• But wherever you go your heart goes with you.

During the Millennium, the atmosphere of the earth will be perfect. 

1. Satan and the demons will be removed and it will begin with believers only.
2. Everything on earth will be perfect because there will be no opposition. 
3. The weather will be perfect, the earth will be in peace. 

Some wonder why the Millennium is even necessary. They wonder, “Why not just go to heaven and live forever there?”

Jesus Christ will use the thousand years of the Millennium to disprove one of man’s greatest and most long-lived theories about mankind. 

1. The theory is if man had a perfect environment in which to live, all of man’s problems would be solved.
2. A perfect environment is not the answer; regeneration is the solution. 
3. For years man has said, “If we can just remove man out of the ghetto, give him an education, find him a job, everything will work out fine.” 

Man’s problem is not what is outside him, it is what is in his heart. 

And only regeneration can change his heart. 

God is going to give man a thousand years of a perfect environment. 

1. During that thousand years, people will be born who will refuse to accept Jesus Christ. 
2. At the end of the Millennium, the Bible says Satan will be released for “a season” and an army of unbelievers will join him in one last rebellion against God.
3. Just imagine the world being perfect in every way with Jesus ruling and reigning. No, Satan. No demons. 

Perfect in every respect and yet, some born during the Millennium will not receive Jesus as their Savior.  The Millennium will disprove man’s theory that a perfect environment will cause man to live perfectly before God.