When the King Returns: Revelation 19 - Part 2

And as you know, we're in the book of Revelation, and we're coming towards the

end of the book, believe it or not.

We've got some time left, though. So, but we're coming towards the end.

We're actually in chapter 19, and we're picking up in the second part from last

week where we left off, and we're looking at the regiments of the conqueror, okay?

And we're in Revelation chapter 19 and verse 14. It says, and the armies which

Revelation 19 · chapter mention

are in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, were following him on white horses.

So the Lord Jesus Christ will not return alone, but he will be accompanied by

the armies which are in heaven.

You know, four divisions make up these glorified troops, by the way,

because earlier in chapter 19, the bride of the lamb, which is who?

The church, right? Was pictured wearing fine linen, white and clean in verses seven and eight.

And then those glorified believers will accompany Christ.

So will the tribulation believers who are also pictured in heaven,

wearing white robes all the way back in chapter seven, verse nine of Revelation.

And then the third group is the old Testament saints who are resurrected at

the end of the tribulation. And it talks about this in Daniel chapter 12, verses one and two.

Daniel 12 · chapter mention

And finally, the holy angels will also accompany Christ as we learn about in

the gospel of Matthew, verse 25, I mean, excuse me, chapter 25, verse 31.

So the white horses ridden by the heavenly Calvary, if you will.

Again, I want to emphasize tonight, These are not literal horses any more than

those ridden by Hell's Calvary in chapter 9.

Verse 7 and 16 that we talked about a good bit earlier. But unlike the Lord

Jesus Christ, the heavenly army is unarmed. I want you to notice that.

And by the way, the white horse is just talking about coming in in righteousness and majesty, right?

It's the way in which he rides in, right?

It's not about the method you ride on, but it's the way, what he rides in on,

and his righteousness, holiness, all that.

But the Lord Jesus Christ will be armed, right?

But those with him, the army, will be unarmed.

In fact, Jesus alone will destroy his enemies. Did you know that?

Do you see that in the text?

The saints will come not to fight with Jesus so much, but to reign with him,

to reign with him. That's what they're coming.

And we see that in chapter 20. We'll see that when we get there,

verses 4 through 6, and then also 1 Corinthians 6, 2 tells us that.

And then that takes us to this next part where we see the rule of the conqueror.

Listen to this, and we'll pick up here. It says, 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 winepress of the fierce wrath of God the Almighty.

And on his robe and on his thigh he has a name written, King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

That's verses 15 and 16 of Revelation 19.

So get this tonight. is what the rule of the king is described here in really

graphic, powerful imagery, right?

I mean, John notes, first of all, look at it again, from his mouth comes a sharp sword.

Now, the apostle had seen that sword in an earlier vision all the way back in

chapter one, verse 16, where it was actually used there to defend the church.

Against the onslaught of Satan's forces.

So here it is the sword. it's

going to be like the sword of judgment right and so

with this sword of judgment the flaming sword dealing

death to the king's foes and that the sword comes out of his mouth it really

symbolizes the deadly power of christ's words and once he spoke words of comfort

but now he speaks words of death.

And as previously noted in our study together, the armies that accompany Christ

again, when he returns, carry no weapons.

Jesus alone, I want y'all to see that here, Jesus alone wields the sword with

which he's going to slay the wicked.

And Christ will wield that sword

with deadly effect as he strikes down the nations with his words, right?

And his elect, his chosen ones, both from the Gentile nations and from Israel,

will be preserved again.

They're not going to be slaughtered. They'll be preserved. The wicked will be

slaughtered instantly.

The dead will include all those gathered, by the way, for the battle of Armageddon.

None will escape. None.

You talk about a thorough victory, right? None will escape.

The rest of the world's unredeemed people will be judged and executed at the

sheep and goat judgment that we study about in Matthew 25, verses 31 through

Matthew 25:31–46

46, though. And that follows Christ's return.

And this is the, I want y'all to see this tonight. This is the final stroke

of death, if you will, in the day of the Lord.

The final stroke of death that's talked about throughout the Bible.

The stern, swift judgment that marks the onslaught of Christ's kingdom.

It'll be the pattern of his rule throughout the millennium.

And during his thousand year reign, it tells us in scripture here,

he will rule the nations with what kind of rod?

A rod of iron, it describes it as. It talks about that in chapter 12, verse 5.

It also talks about it in Psalm 2, verses 8 and 9.

Psalms 2:8

In other words, he will swiftly judge all sin and instantly put down any rebellion.

All people will be...

Required to conform to his law or face immediate judgment.

You see, the age of grace is over, and using the same imagery of ruling with

a rod of iron, Jesus promised that believers, get this tonight,

believers would rule under him in his kingdom.

Listen to this, he who overcomes and he who keeps my deeds until the end,

to him I will give authority over the nations,

and he shall rule them with a rod of iron, as the vessels of the potter are

broken to pieces, and I also have received authority from my Father.

We saw that back in chapter 2, verses 26 and 27.

So returning to the judgment at the outset of Christ's rule here,

John writes this. Listen, look back here in the text.

He treads the winepress of the fierce wrath of God the Almighty.

Y'all, that again, that's a real vivid symbol, right, of God's wrath.

It comes from the ancient practice, you guessed it, of stomping on the grapes, right?

Anybody ever stomped on grapes before here?

Stomping on the grapes as part of the winemaking process and the splattering

of the grape juice, just imagine it, if you will, pictures the pouring out of

the blood of Christ's enemies.

This is pretty graphic stuff that we're looking at here.

And the imagery of a wine press also portrays judgment in the Old Testament, by the way.

If you go back to Isaiah 63, verses 1 through 3, it describes Messiah's destruction

Isaiah 63:1–3

of Israel's, you know, implacable foe, Edom, right?

Edom, which represents really the God-hating world, if you will.

Listen to this part. I think this is important.

He says, who is this who comes from Edom with garments of glowing colors from

Basra? this one who is majestic in his apparel, marching in the greatness of his strength.

It is I who speak in righteousness, mighty to save.

Why is your apparel red and your garments like the one who treads in the wine

press? You know, you got that imagery going on?

Listen to what he says. I have treading the wine trough alone,

or I have trodden the wine trough alone.

And from the peoples, there was no man with me. I also trod them in my anger

and trampled them in my wrath, and their life blood is sprinkled on my garments.

You remember us talking about when Jesus came, you know, with the blood on his garments?

It wasn't like some people might think coming out of heaven with blood on his

garments, you know, like, oh, well, this is just the blood he shed on Calvary.

I guess some kind of symbolism. Nope.

This is the blood of his foes that he has fought throughout the ages, right?

This is the blood of his enemies. And this is war blood from a warrior king.

And he says, And trampled them in my wrath, and their lifeblood is sprinkled

on my garments, and I stained all my raiment.

Again, that's pretty severe. That's very graphic.

But Joel 3, verses 12 through 14 also uses this wide press imagery that's here in Revelation.

Joel 3:12–14

To depict Jesus Messiah's judgment of his enemies. Listen to this.

He says, Let the nations be aroused and come up to the valley of Jehoshaphat,

for there I will sit to judge all the surrounding nations.

Put in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe.

Come, tread, for the winepress is full. The vats overflow, for their wickedness is great.

Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision. for the day of the Lord is

near in the valley of decision.

In fact, in a final look at the returning king here, John saw in his vision

that Christ actually wore a banner around his robe and on his thigh.

Remember that? And see the text here?

Across his chest and hanging down on his upper leg as he rides,

on which he has a name written. What is it, church? What name is it?

You got it. King of kings and Lord of lords. I want to start it out, Sharon.

King of kings and Lord of lords, glory.

Hallelujah. Okay. But anyway, that's what he's got there. That's the name written.

And this is the third time or the third name given to the Lord Jesus,

I should say, in this passage.

Third time that the third name, I should say, given to him, like I said,

in this particular passage. And it's really...

If you think about it, the incomprehensible name of verse 12,

if you look back up, may express the mystery of his deity here, right? His deity.

In fact, verse 13, what is verse 13? Verse 13, excuse me, I'll get it out,

call Jesus the word of God.

Expressing his incarnation as the son of God, the name king of kings and lord of lords.

And it actually expresses his sovereign triumph, y'all, over all his foes and

his absolute rule in his soon-to-be-established kingdom.

He is king of kings. He is Lord of lords. Do you see here how thorough the victory will be?

How thorough it will be. There will be no, I mean, it's not getting away, no escape.

And so we see this victory. That brings us to this next section.

The victory of the conqueror, the victory of Jesus here. Listen to this.

It says, Then I saw an angel standing in the sun, and he cried out with a loud

voice, saying to all the birds which fly in the midheaven, he said, 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 mighty 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.

And I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies assembled to

make war against him who sat on the horse and against his army.

And the beast, listen to this, they assemble to make war. And what's the first

thing that happens? Look at the text. And the beast was seized.

It's like, man, it's just all of a sudden. I mean, how do you know before the

war even starts, Brother Ronnie?

I mean, and the beast was seized. It's that quick. The beast was seized here.

And with him, the false prophet who performed the signs in his presence,

by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those

who worshiped his image, those two were thrown alive into the lake of fire,

which burns with brimstone.

And the rest were killed, how? With the sword which came from the mouth of him

who sat on the horse, and all the birds were filled with their flesh.

That's in verses 17 through 21 of chapter 19.

Man, y'all, isn't it amazing that God, I mean, Jesus, man, he defeats all of

it. He takes care of the beast, the false prophet, all of it.

In other words, he takes care of them first. It's just like,

and it's done. They're seized just like that. And then through the word of his

mouth, the rest of them fall.

You know, I often think I share in a message. I don't know if any of y'all ever

heard this yet. Some of you may have.

But talking about how indescribable God is, you know, and it's like when God

said, you know, let there be light.

Just think about the power of those words.

When God himself said, let there be light, and what? There was light.

Once again, though, here, an angel plays a key role in the end time scenario

here in this apocalypse, the end time teaching here, because John saw this angel

standing where? Standing in the sun.

Now, that is, think about this, in the proximity of the sun,

possibly in front of it, maybe partially eclipsing it.

He stands, in other words, in a conspicuous, prominent place,

if you will, here to make this important announcement he's about to make.

So evidently, the worldwide darkness that's associated with the fifth bowl that

we studied back in chapter 16 has been lifted at this point since the sun is visible again, right?

And the lifting of that earlier darkness would also explain how the smoke from

Babylon, remember that Babylon's destruction, the smoke that went up,

how it was visible at a distance that we studied in chapter 18.

But get this, however, the darkness will soon blanket the earth again.

Accentuating the flashing, brilliant glory of the returning Christ.

It talks about this, y'all, in Matthew 24, verse 29.

Matthew 24:29

As angels have frequently done in Revelation, the angel cried out with a loud voice, right?

He addresses who? Who does the angel address again in this passage? Who does he call on?

All the birds which fly in midheaven, right? He's inviting them to what?

To feed on the results of the carnage that will shortly ensue right here, right?

The angel thus declares Christ's victory, y'all. Do you see this? This makes me excited.

The angel declares Christ's victory before the battle's ever fought.

You see it? Before the battle's ever fought.

I mean, it's so amazing. His invitation to the birds is reminiscent,

if you think about it, of Jesus' words in Matthew 24, verses 27 and 28.

Matthew 24:27

Probably come to your mind.

For just as the lightning comes from the east and flashes even to the west,

so will the coming of the Son of Man be.

Wherever the corpse is, there the vultures will gather.

And it talks about that in Luke 17 as well. But the angel commands the birds

to come and assemble for the great supper of God, y'all.

This will not be the first time, by the way, the birds have feasted on human carnage, will it?

Won't be the first time in Scripture. Isaiah 18, verse 6, if you remember,

Isaiah 18:6

it describes the results of a judgment on Cush.

You remember that? Modern Ethiopia.

And it reads this, listen, because it says, they

will be left together for mountain birds of prey and

for the beast of the earth and the birds of prey will spend the summer

feeding on them and jeremiah actually relates that after the babylonian destruction

of jerusalem the dead bodies listen what he says the dead bodies of this people

will be food for the birds of the sky and for the beast of the earth and no

one will frighten them away that's in jeremiah 7 verse 33 3.

Jeremiah 7:33

And in a striking parallel, that's why I wanted to bring this out,

it's in a very striking parallel to the present passage, Ezekiel wrote this.

Listen, he said, As for you, son of man, thus says the Lord God,

speak to every kind of bird and to every beast of the field, assemble and come,

gather from every side to my sacrifice, which I'm going to sacrifice for you,

as a great sacrifice on the mountains of Israel, that you may eat flesh and drink blood.

You shall eat the flesh of mighty men and drink the blood of the princes of

the earth as though they were rams, lambs, goats, and bulls,

all of them fatlings of Basham.

So you will eat fat until you are glutted and drink blood until you are drunk

from my sacrifice, which I have sacrificed for you.

You will be glutted at my table with horses and charioteers,

with mighty men and all the men of war, declares the Lord God.

That's back in Ezekiel 39.

So the brief, y'all, but catastrophic day of the Lord destruction here we see

will result, according to this passage in Revelation 19,

in an unprecedented slaughter with uncounted millions of dead bodies strung

throughout its entire 200 mile length.

200 miles. We learned that back in chapter 14, verse 20, but even after the

birds have gorged themselves,

it will still take, according to Ezekiel 39, it will still take seven months

after the birds have gorged themselves to bury the remaining corpses.

You talk about destruction. You talk about a slaughter. And y'all,

Jesus accomplishes this with what again? The Word.

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God, right?

And I think it's an important fact to consider that every year,

y'all, millions of birds of many species, they actually migrate south from Europe to Africa.

And they fly over the land of Israel on their journey.

And the numbers of these birds and their migrating patterns that they have,

you know, they've been the special study of the Israeli government. Did you know that?

Because of the threat that they actually pose to aircraft.

You've probably heard some about this and different types of aircraft and birds.

But this can certainly answer the question.

As to where such vast numbers of birds will come from, because we already have

a mass number that migrates, right?

But the geographical setting, I guess, if you will, of Israel,

situated between the Mediterranean Sea on the west and then the vast expanse

of the barren desert to the east, forms this natural corridor,

if you will, for these migrating birds.

And so at the great supper, the birds will eat the flesh of kings and the flesh

of commanders and the flesh of mighty men, it says,

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 that all-inclusive statement, by the way, there, it really reveals that the

worldwide wide extent of the slaughter, right?

To have one's unburied body, think about this for a moment, left as food for birds.

That is the ultimate indignity, especially, get this, especially for proud kings, right?

And mighty military commanders.

And that some, you know, some type of fate here awaits all the proud,

that same, I should say, that same fate awaits all the proud, right?

All those proud, God-hating rebels, if you will, everywhere in the world,

both free men and slaves. It's all inclusive, right? Small and great,

in other words, all inclusive.

You know, there's a theologian, Joseph Seiss, he writes about this scene right here.

And I wanted to share with you a little bit about what he

says here and listen to him he says this tells already

an awful story he says it tells of

the greatest of men made food for the vultures of kings and leaders strong and

confident he said devoured on the field with no one to bury them of those who

thought to conquer heaven's anointed king rendered helpless even against the timid birds.

Of vaunting gods of nature, little g, turned into its cast-off and most dishonored dregs.

And what is thus fortimated soon becomes reality.

The great conqueror bows the heavens and comes down. He rides upon the cherub

horse and flies upon the wings of the wind.

Smoke goes up from his nostrils and devouring fire out of his mouth.

He moves amid storms and darkness from which the lightnings hurl their bolts

and hailstones mingle with fire.

He roars out of Zion and utters his voice from Jerusalem till the heavens and the earth shake.

And he goes on to say, he dashes forth in the fury of his incensed greatness

amid clouds and fire and pillars of smoke.

The sun frowns. The day is neither light nor dark. The mountains melt and cleave

asunder at his presence.

The hills bound from their seats and skip like lambs.

The waters are dislodged from the channels. The seas roll back with howling trepidation.

The sky is rent and folds upon itself like a collapsed tent.

He says it is the day for executing an armed world, a world in covenant with

hell to overthrow the authority and throne of God.

And everything in terrified nature joins to signalize the deserved vengeance.

That's from his book, The Apocalypse, that was written in 1987.

But Zephaniah, by the way, also prophesied of this terrifying scene.

You know how important it is to study the Old Testament?

You know, I mean, some people in the world today say, well, we just need to

unhitch from it, you know.

No, because the whole plan of salvation is Genesis to Revelation.

In fact, there's so much in the Old Testament, y'all, that points us towards

the future, right, as well, and how God deals with his people and all of this.

But Zephaniah also prophesied of this scene.

Listen to what he said quickly. He said, near is the great day of the Lord,

near and coming very quickly.

Listen, the day of the Lord. It is the warrior cries out in it.

The warrior cries out bitterly. A day of wrath is that day, a day of trouble

and distress, a day of destruction and desolation,

a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and darkness, a day of trumpet

and battle cry against the fortified cities in the high corner towers.

I will bring distress on men so that they will walk like the blind because they

have sinned against the Lord. and their blood will be poured out like dust.

I'm just reading scripture and their flesh like dung. Neither their silver nor

their gold will be able to deliver them on the day of the Lord's wrath and all

the earth will be devoured in the fire of his jealousy.

For he will make a complete end, indeed a terrifying one, Zephaniah says,

of all the inhabitants of the earth.

That's Zephaniah 1 verses 14 through 18.

Zephaniah 1:14–18

How holy and righteous is our God?

How does he feel about sin? I mean, do you see that here? How he really feels

about sin? How serious sin is?

And as the next stage in his incredible vision here unfolds, John says this.

He says, I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies assembled

to make war against him who sat on the horse and against his army. The beast is who?

Who's the beast? You got an antichrist, right? We learn about that in chapter 11, chapter 13.

The leader of the last and greatest empire in human history.

The kings of the earth are the 10 kings who rule the 10 sectors,

if you will, into which Antichrist worldwide empires divided.

We learned that in chapter 17.

Their armies here have assembled to make war against him who sat on the horse.

Who's sitting on the horse?

Jesus. And against his army. Who's his army? Are we part of that army? Yeah.

The formidable and seemingly invincible armed might of the beast with all his

firepower awaits the arrival of the rider.

But before there's any battle, y'all, again, it's all over.

I mean, they're seized. They're seized immediately, thrown live into the lake of fire as we saw.

It's all over. In an instant, the beast was seized, and with him the false prophet

who performed the signs in his presence, by which he deceived those who had

received the mark of the beast and those who worshipped his image.

So these two, think about it for a minute, these two demonically empowered political

and religious leaders of the whole world here are dealt a horrible blow.

Because, like I said, these two were thrown alive, it says here, into the lake of fire.

Is hell a real place? Yes, it is.

This is the first mention in Scripture, though, of the lake of fire,

the final hell, the ultimate destination of Satan, his angels, and the unredeemed.

That talks about Matthew 25, tells us about the destination.

But Isaiah described it as the place, you know how he described it?

Where their worm shall not die and their fire shall not be quenched.

Sounds like eternal punishment to me, right? And a description that's echoed

by the Lord Jesus himself in Mark 9, 48.

In Matthew 13, 42, Jesus added that it will be a place where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Revelation 14, verse 11 says of those who suffer there, listen about this,

Revelation 14:11

the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever.

I mean, come on. this is eternal forever

and ever they have no rest day or night there

there's no i'm not snuffed out it's

forever apparently those two these two i should say here don't die but are transformed

miraculously into an eternal form to burn in hell right they are the first of

millions though of men and angels,

by the way, to arrive in the lake of fire.

You know, hell, hell has always existed, but this is its final form.

So unlike Hades, the lake of fire, it's not a temporary holding place,

but it's a permanent place.

According to scripture of incarceration and punishment,

brimstone is frequently associated, by the way,

with the fire of judgment throughout scripture and that the beast and the false

prophet are still in the lake of fire get this don't don't lose this they're

still in the lake of fire a thousand

years later when satan is cast there finally in chapter 20 verse 10.

They're not snuffed out are they i mean they're there a thousand years later

in fact really all this y'all it's a convincing refutation of that false doctrine.

And Halationism, because as the two most evil, vile, blasphemous people who

have ever lived, it's only fitting, y'all, that these two be the first to arrive in this awful place.

The New Testament is really clear on the eternality of punishment.

Y'all are sin. I talked about how serious it was as we see how God deals with

it here, but we don't realize how serious sometimes. we lose sight of how serious sin is.

Treason against the sovereign of the universe.

Sin is so serious. In fact, in our day today, we have, in our courtrooms and

stuff, we think about having punishments that fits the crimes.

Well, you think about high treason against an infinite holy God.

There is no, I mean, eternity is the only appropriate response of punishment,

because it can never be atoned for in that sense, right?

You can't ever serve enough time for that offense.

And y'all, what really gets me is sometimes we lose sight of the fact that one

lie is enough to warrant that sentence. One lie.

And yet, how many of us, pointing here first, have told many lies?

What an offense against a holy God. And listen to this part here.

It says, And the rest were killed

with a sword, which came from the mouth of him who sat on the horse.

And all the birds were filled with their flesh. We've talked about this.

And so, bereft of their commanders, Antichrist's leaderless forces here,

will then be destroyed. Because you remember, they were seized and thrown into

the fire alive, so they weren't even really in the battle.

Right? I mean, Jesus is just like, they're gone.

Right? And then the rest are destroyed with the word of his mouth.

And so they're gathered to fight against Christ, but they were killed with a

sword which came from the mouth of him and sat on the horse.

So we noted this earlier that the rest of the unredeemed throughout the world,

though, that aren't there in that valley of Armageddon,

they'll be judged at the sheep and the goat judgment, which is going to take place at this time.

Okay, then just as the angel foretold, all the birds were filled with their flesh.

So describing the almost inconceivable carnage, because I told you how long

is this area? How many miles?

200, 200. John Phillips writes this.

He says, then suddenly it will all be over. In fact, there will be no war at all.

In the sense that we think of war, he said, there will be just a word spoken

from him who sits astride the great white horse.

Once he spoke a word to a fig tree and it withered away.

Once he spoke a word to the howling winds and the

heaving waves and the storm clouds vanished

and the waves fell still once he

spoke to a legion of demons bursting at

the seams of a poor man's soul and instantly they

fled now he speaks a word and the

war's over the blasphemous loud mouth beast is stricken where he stands the

false prophet the miracle working windbag from the pit is punctured and still

the pair of them are bundled up he said and hurled headlong into the everlasting flames.

Another word, and the panic-stricken armies reel and stagger and fall down dead.

Field marshals and generals, admirals and air commanders, soldiers and sailors

rank and file, one and all, they fall.

And the vultures descend and cover the scene.

Y'all, the prophet Zechariah, he actually filled in a little bit more of the

details of this scene that we're looking at tonight.

He said this, he said, Behold, a day is coming for the Lord when the spoil taken

from you will be divided among you.

For I will gather all the nations against Jerusalem to battle,

and the city will be captured, the houses plundered, the women ravished,

and half of the city exiled. but the rest of the people will not be cut off from the city.

Then the Lord will go forth and fight against those nations as when he fights on a day of battle.

In that day, his feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, which is in front of Jerusalem on the east.

And the Mount of Olives will be split in its middle from east to west by a very

large valley so that half of the mountain will move toward the north and the

other half toward the south.

You will flee by the valley of my mountains, for the valley of the mountains will reach to Azel.

Yes, you will flee just as you fled before the earthquake in the days of Uzziah, king of Judah.

Then the Lord my God will come and all the holy ones with him.

In that day, there will be no light.

The luminaries will dwindle, for it will be a unique day, which is known to

the Lord, neither day nor night. but it will come about that at evening time there will be light.

And it will come about in that day that living waters will flow out of Jerusalem,

half of them toward the eastern sea and the other half toward the western sea.

It will be in summer as well as in winter, and the Lord will be king over all the earth.

In that day, the Lord will be the only one and his name the only one.

All the land will be changed into a plain from Geba to Remon south of Jerusalem,

but Jerusalem will rise and remain on its site from Benjamin's gate as far as

the place of the first gate to the corner gate,

and from the tower of Hanenel to the king's wine presses.

People will live in it, and there will be no more curse, for Jerusalem will dwell in security.

Now this will be the plague, he said, with which the Lord will strike all the

peoples who have gone to war against Jerusalem.

This is more detail I'm talking about specifically. He said,

their flesh will rot while they stand on their feet, and their eyes will rot

in their sockets, and their tongue will rot in their mouth.

It will come about in that day that a great panic from the Lord will fall on

them, and they will seize one another's hand, and the hand of one will be lifted

against the hand of another.

That's in Zechariah 14, 1 through 13.

Y'all, and I'm winding up. I'm sorry I went a little long.

But these sobering truths tonight, I think in this passage, they serve as a

warning, get this, to unbelievers, first of all, to repent, 2 Peter 3, 9.

And also, what do they serve as a warning for?

Also to stimulate believers like us to godly living, right?

2 Peter 3, 11, listen to this. The night is almost gone and the day is near.

Therefore, listen to what it says, church. let us

lay aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor

of light let us behave properly as in the day not in carousing and drunkenness

not in sexual promiscuity and sensuality not in strife and jealousy but put

on the lord jesus christ and make no provision for the flesh in regards to its lust.