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Psalm 136. Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good. For His loving-kindness is everlasting. Give thanks to the God of gods, for His loving-kindness is everlasting. Give thanks to the Lord of Lords, for His loving-kindness is everlasting. To Him who alone does great wonders, for His loving-kindness is everlasting.

To Him who made the heavens with skill, for His loving-kindness is everlasting. To Him who spread out the earth above the waters, For His loving-kindness is everlasting. To Him who made the great lights, for His loving-kindness is everlasting. To the Sun to rule by day, For His loving-kindness is everlasting.

The Moon and stars to rule by night, For His loving-kindness is everlasting. Drop down to verse 23. Who remembered us in our lowest state, for His loving-kindness is everlasting, and has rescued us from our adversaries, for His loving-kindness is everlasting. Who gives food to all flesh, for His loving-kindness is everlasting.

Give thanks to the God of heaven for his loving kindness is everlasting. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we bow our hearts before you because of your loving kindness, because of your devoted faithfulness, because of your grand compassion, because all your ways are good and right. Father, you are benevolent.

You open your hand and generously give. Father, we thank you for the many blessings that we have received from your hand. And Father, it's because of this that we can look at our past and look and see where you have been and the good things that you have brought into our lives.

Father, help us to see those. Help us to be thankful for those. And may they direct our hearts to you. And may we, with the psalmist, look up and say, your loving kindness is everlasting. Father, it's because of this reality we can rejoice even in our present circumstances because you are good and your loving kindness is everlasting.

Father, and for this same reason, we're able to look forward to whatever earth may bring, whatever may happen in the days ahead. We can rejoice. We can look at them with settled peace in our heart and a smile because we know your loving kindness is everlasting. So, Father, it's because of this reason we gather this morning, we honor you, we pay tribute to you, we give thanks to you, and we praise your name.

May you be exalted here this morning in Christ's name. Amen. Well, once again, good morning. Please open your Bibles to Revelation chapter 19. We want to pick up right where we left off on Christmas Eve. We were in a great text on Christmas Eve. So, as we celebrated the first Advent, we stepped into a text that shows us the glorified Christ, presentation of Him.

And then, as we come into a new year, we again, it's a good place to fix our minds, beholding the second coming of Christ. I'm going to pick up in chapter 19 and verse 14. I'm going to read to the end of the chapter. Verse 14: And the armies which are in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, were following him on white horses.

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 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.

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 mid-heaven, 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 assemble to make war against him who sat on the horse and against his army. And 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.

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 sat on the horse, and all the birds were filled with their flesh. You know, I think it goes very intuitively to say that who you are.

Marry has lasting consequences. In fact, besides following Christ, the person whom you marry is the most important decision you will make. The Bible teaches us that in marriage the two shall become one flesh. And this has implications for physical union, children, literally two, genetically, becoming one. But also, and perhaps more importantly, they become one in spirit.

That's what God's design for marriage was. Still is. Sin has perverted it, of course. Still his design. It's a glorious year. Nancy and I celebrate our 30th anniversary, not too long from now. And though we are two people, in a real way, we are one flesh. We are two persons, but we are of one mind.

We are one purpose, or certainly growing more in oneness as life goes on. And our purpose is aimed at glorifying God and The well-being of each other. There's a oneness. To harm one is to harm the other. The pains of the one are the pains of the other.

To celebrate, we celebrate together. In some ways, we even have developed some of the same likes and dislikes. Although I like mustard and she never has come around to liking mustard. But in some things, her tastes, we even have some of the same expressions, oneness. There is in Scripture, as you see from Genesis to Revelation, an even more basic union.

There's all kinds of unions and relationships among people, but there is a more fundamental and basic union than all of these. You see, all flesh, yours and mine included, is either married to the Spirit of God or the Spirit of the Serpent. It really boils down that simply.

You are either joined and are married to the Spirit of God or to the Spirit of the age and the ruler of this world. And each spirit, whether you are united to the Spirit of God or to the Spirit of the Serpent, Each spirit animates your flesh. Animates the flesh.

To whom have you joined your flesh? That becomes the most important decision. Who animates you? Are you married to the Word of God or are you married to the Word of the Serpent? And our text this morning shows us what that ultimate outcome of each will be. There is a kind that is going to inherit the earth.

There is a kind that is never going to see the light of day when all is said and done. To whom is your spirit and flesh married to? We're in this passage looking at the marriage supper of the Lamb that has already been announced. Look back at verse 9.

Remember, Christ's second coming is likened to a wedding supper, a wedding reception. That supper immediately following a marriage ceremony. Look at verse 9. Then he said to me, Write, Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he said, These are the true.

Word of God, true words of God. I've taken this latter part of chapter 19 and broken it down into two parts: the presentation of Jesus Christ and the entrance of Jesus Christ, just like you would at a wedding supper, just like at a wedding ceremony or a wedding reception.

Here comes the groom, here comes the bride in. And so that is the way Scripture presents the second coming of Christ. There's an entrance. Last time we looked at the presentation on Christmas Eve, I remember the presentation of Jesus Christ not as the suffering servant. Oh, he played that role well, as the servant.

He was too common, too much a servant. Many missed him. No, he performed that role very well. But he's also coming as king. Jesus Christ, verse 11. Look at this initial presentation of Jesus Christ. Verse 11, and I saw a heaven opened, and behold, a white horse, and he who sat 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. And he has a name written on him, which no one knows. Except himself. He is clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and his name is called the Word of God. You notice in these verses, there were three titles that describe who Jesus Christ is.

He is faithful and true. That first title, he is faithful and true. Second title, an unknown name. One we don't know, but I believe we'll know when we see him. And third, look at that last one, verse 13, the word of God. The word of God. We are looking at the word of God incarnate, the presentation of the word of God incarnate.

And there's going to be a fourth title. We'll come to it in a moment in our passage. So there are three titles these verses give us, but there's also two expressions of what he does. Look back. Notice he judges and he wages war, verse 11. As the personified word of God, he judges.

Of course. He makes distinctions. This is what the word of God does. He makes distinctions between what is good and what is evil. He condemns and curses the evil. He blesses and rewards the good. This is what he does. Judge of all things. His eyes, they speak of a piercing omniscience and a zealousness.

To make all things right, and that's what a judge does. But as the Word of God, he also makes war. The Word of God is at war with those who oppose Him. And so this morning, we're going to continue looking at this second-coming wedding reception analogy by looking at the entrance of Jesus Christ to this world.

The second entrance, I might say. And there are four details of Christ's entrance into this world that is revealed in these verses that should motivate us to let the Word of God reign in us now. And that's the question I want each of you and each of us to ask on a personal level: does the Word of God reign in me now?

Be honest. It is the most important thing. Who are you married to? To whom have you joined your flesh? To whom do you animate? Four details that I hope will motivate all of us to let the Word of God reign in us more and more fully this week.

This coming year. Four details. First of all, notice who he comes with. Look back in verse 14. And the armies which are in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, were following him on white horses. Who is this coming with him? Well, it's the bride of Christ.

Just like you would expect in a wedding reception, it is the bride of Christ. It's the groom and bride, the Mr. and Mrs. That's who's entering into this world together to what's going to become a golden age period of humanity. There are other views that some would say that these are angels.

And I'm not going to get into this. There's so much I want to say in this text, and we've already talked about this a little bit, so I'm not going to get into all the little nuances of it all. But angels don't appear on horseback. That would be a new concept.

Yes, angels do appear with him, but that's not exactly who is being described here. And we know that. Looking back at verse 8, notice how he's already announced the marriage of the lamb has come in verse 7, and his bride has made herself ready, and it was given to her to clothe herself in fine.

Linen, bright and clean, for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints. So the union, there it is, the armies are dressed in the very same clothes as the bride. There is a continuation of thought. This is the bride of Christ. Some suggest that it's the saints of all times, perhaps befitting to come in on the horses.

But I think there are still more saints to come. What's being depicted here is the bride of Christ. It's already clearly given. It's the bride. What about the horses? Are they literal or not? Are they symbolic? Well, whether they're literal or symbolic, they are certainly a special transportation agency.

Don't seem to be flying like the angels, but a special transportation agency. I think they could be literal. You know me, that's kind of where my mind goes, or gravitates, defaults to. Jesus's horse seems to be literal. Why wouldn't theirs be? Jesus literally rode in to Jerusalem on a donkey.

Depiction of his humility. I believe he's going to literally. Come in on a white horse. But the context indicates that this is the bride. The clothing is that of the bride. The context is a marriage supper. The occasion indicates that this is the bride. People coming with him from every tribe and nation to rule with him over every tribe and nation.

But here's the point: he comes with those who have been joined with him. Those who have joined themselves and their flesh to the word of God. These are dressed with the clothing of heaven, spotless, clean. They are coming with him because they are in union with him, just like a married bride shows up with her husband at the reception.

They are in union. They are already married to him, and that's why they enter the world with him. There they are, the saints. What a beautiful picture. The backdrop of the emblem of death. Well, this is the future. The reality coming with him in glory. This is what happens to all flesh that is joined with him.

Notice the second detail about this. Notice what he comes to do. Verse 15, 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 fierce wrath of God the Almighty.

What does he come to do? Well, it's clearly seen in three images here. Look at the first image of the sword. What does he do? He comes to strike down the nations. From his mouth comes a sharp sword, so that with it he may strike down the nations.

The sword is proceeding. It's in the present tense. John is seeing this. There is a sword coming out of his mouth, proceeding. It is an ongoing, it's a thrusting. Like it's for one of those swords that is for thrust. Or it also is sometimes used to translate or be a javelin.

Same thing. Javelin to pierce. So the action is an expression of what is coming out of his mouth is judgment. Piercing judgment. We have that. Expression, if looks could kill. You ever had one of those? Someone look? You haven't lived long if you haven't received one of those looks that kill.

I've had my share of them. Looks like daggers. Words do the same. Words can cut. Words can reduce. Words can kill. Words can destroy. And that's the action of the judge that is coming. His words proceeding, thrusting out. And it's a continual action. And this is what happens in his judgment and military campaign.

He comes to judge. He comes to make war. The word of God strikes down the enemies of the word. And he does so with the words of his mouth. Announcing judgment. What does he do? He strikes them down. How? By revealing, by exposing, by sentencing them, by executing, by making proclamations that absolutely cannot be challenged.

So he comes to strike down the nations. Remember, these are the nations that have married themselves to the beast, the ten kings, under the one Antichrist. And they have joined theirselves to him and to his lies and to worship him. And this shows up in the way they are so hostile to anyone who names the name of Christ at all.

But second emblem, look at what he comes to do. He comes to rule the nations. Second emblem is a rod of iron. Look at that in verse 15. And he will rule them with a rod of iron. And he, he himself is the emphatic expression. He himself will rule, will tend, will shepherd them with a rod of iron.

That's an inflexibility. He is going to shepherd the nations. Praise God. In righteousness, he is going to bring about a forced compliance because his ways are good, because his loving kindness is everlasting. He comes to force compliance to God's ways. The word of God himself comes to do this.

And we've already seen in the book of Revelation that his people are part of this rule. You remember in his promise to Thyratira in chapter 2 and verses 26 and 27? What does he say? You too will rule the nations with a rod of iron. God, Christ, the Word of God, is going to come and rule the nations with the rod of iron.

And then when you put this in conjunction with chapter 2 and verse 21, It's evident that he's going to use his people to be part of that rule that breaks the unions of the nations, the Antichrist nations. What is a nation? It's just a bunch of people collected together with some sort of philosophical union.

And what he is coming, this bride, this army, bride is coming to occupy and to set up God's ways. It's a beautiful scene. But there's a third image, and that's that of the wine press. What does he come to do? He comes to strike down the nations. He comes to rule all the nations.

And number three, he comes to give full expression to God's wrath. Look back at verse 15. And he treads the wine press of the fierce wrath of God, the Almighty. He himself comes. And we've already been prepared for this. Chapter 14, the bold judgments, the wine press, the hailstones coming from heaven, destroying, all this is speaking of this same event.

He treads the wine press of the fierce wrath of God. That's a double. You can almost translate this as the wrath of the wrath of God. He comes to tread the wine. Of the wrath of the wrath. Even though they're two different words, they both are sometimes translated as wrath.

But it's the fierce wrath. The wrath of the wrath. That's what he comes to do. Vengeance of the Almighty God. But notice carefully that the army bride doesn't enter into the bloody fray. The blood is up on his robe. It's clear when you're looking at Isaiah 63 and 1 through 6 and that this isn't the blood, his own blood.

This is the blood of his enemies. He comes to tread the wine press of God's fierce wrath. That's what happens when you're in a wine press and you're trampling the grapes. This is a picture of wrath of wrath, wrath with no mixture of mercy. That's what happens to the flesh that is in union and remains in union stubbornly to the spirit of the age.

They have no sword. The bride doesn't have a sword. They have no blood upon their clothes. You see, remember the promise he made to Philadelphia? Back in chapter 3 and verse 9, he promised to those in Philadelphia, that faithful church, to make those from the synagogue of Satan come and bow down and know how much Christ loved them.

All the world's going to know one day how much he loves his bride, his people. Don't you want to be among them? Don't you want to be more fully devoted to him now? He is the word of God. This day is coming. And we're given an opportunity to live today in union with the word of God.

You see, the golden age of humanity is brought in by Christ. It's not brought in by his bride. The bride follows. She doesn't enter into the bloody freight, doesn't need to. This is how wonderful and powerful the word of God is. We just come behind him. Third detail in this text is why he comes to rule.

Why does he come to rule? Look at verse 16. And on his robe and on his thigh he has a name written, King of Kings and Lord of Lords. This is the fourth title. In this section, the fourth title. But first, before we look at it, I want you to see where it is written.

Where is it written? It tells you on his robe and on his thigh. Now, when you think about someone riding a horse, guess what's going to be one of the most visible places to put a title on the robe and on the thigh? He's coming in, it's in a prominent place, a title put for everyone to see: King of kings and Lord of lords.

He is faithful and true. Why? He's the Word of God. He is King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Why? He's the Word of God. There is nothing that is greater or surpasses the authority of God's Word. He is King of kings, Lord of Lords. He is King over all the ones.

The expression, He is King over all the ones who reign, have reigned, and ever will reign. He and are reigning. And especially in this context, speaking of these ten kings who have yielded their authorities to the beast and king over them. He is Lord of. Lords over all the ones who rule, over all the ones who are ruling, over you and me.

He has always been such, and he will always be such. Stands to reason. Why? He's the Word of God. There's nothing that can thwart the Word of God. Friend, if you are opposing God's Word today in any kind of degree, turn away. Repent. That is not how you are intended to live.

And you will not prevail. There's a glorious invitation here in all of this. As he lays out his coming, there's an invitation to come. That's why he talks to us. That's why he exposes us to the realities of his word to bring us to him. Listen to how Israel was expected to respond to this person.

Deuteronomy 10, 16. So circumcise your heart and stiffen your neck no longer. For the Lord your God is the God of gods and the Lord of lords, the great and the mighty, the awesome God who does not show partiality nor take a bribe. Israel, this is who your God is.

Therefore, change your heart, cleanse your heart. Listen to how Nebuchadnezzar. Complete Gentile, pagan, Babylonian, pagan. Listen to how he was expected to respond. Remember in Daniel 2, 47, Nebuchadnezzar is brought to the point to say to Daniel, Surely your God is a God of gods and a Lord of kings.

Daniel 2:47. And out of that, Daniel in 4:27 is going to later exhort him. Therefore, O king, may my advice be pleasing to you to break away now from your sins by doing righteousness. Israel, the Babylonians, all he is God of gods, and there is an expectation on how we are to respond.

Listen to what Paul says to Timothy. Fight the good fight of faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called, and you made the good confession. I charge you, verse 13, in the presence of God who gives life to all things, in Christ Jesus, who testified to the good confession before Pontius Pilate, that you keep the commandment without stain or reproach until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, which he will bring about at the proper time.

He who is the blessed and only Son. Sovereign, the king of kings, and the Lord of lords. Timothy, even though you are now a believer, take hold of the eternal life to which you were called. And that is our exhortation to believers here today. Take hold of that eternal life because he is the only sovereign.

He is king of kings, Lord of lords. The response throughout Scripture is the same. You know, the very essence of Satan is opposition to the word of God. That's what Satan means, adversary to the word of God. In Revelation 17, 12, let me read these words to you.

12 and 13, speaking of the bride of Christ again. Revelation 17:12, the ten horns which you saw are ten kings who have not yet received a kingdom, but they receive authority as kings with the beast for one hour. These have one purpose, and they give their power and authority to the beast.

These will wage war against the Lamb, and the Lamb will overcome them because he is Lord of lords and king of kings. And those who are with him are the called, chosen, and faithful. That's the bride. And here we see them coming with him, going against these ten kings.

The bride of Christ, called, chosen, faithful. The Lamb of God is King of kings, Lord of Lords. Lords. And so is, and this stands to reason. The Lamb of God is the Word of God, King of kings, Lord of Lords. So just as you're looking at this text, behold him.

Here, heaven is opened. Another realm, a royalty that earth has never beheld, a splendor being revealed that surpasses all other kings, all other kingdoms, all other empires, all other glories and majesties of earthly realms. There he is, the personified word of God, King of kings, Lord of lords.

And why does he come to rule? Because he does rule. And he comes to demonstrate that authority. Do you believe these words? Does the personified word of God reign in you now? Listen, how can you tell? Well, if the inscripturated word that proceeded from the Father doesn't dwell in you, then neither does the personified incarnate word dwell in you, who also proceeded from the Father.

The Word of God testifies to him. Scripture testifies to him. And if this word has no place and isn't your delight, then neither is the King of kings and the Lord of lords. Fourth detail. Let's look at what happens to those who oppose him. Notice that they too are summoned to a feast, a very different one.

Look at verse 17. 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 med heaven, come, assemble for the great supper of God. These are the birds. These are the scavengers, birds of prey that come and scavenge the angel.

What a picture. The angel standing there in the sun, and he cries out with a loud voice, Come, come here, come now. A great supper. Don't confuse this with the marriage supper of the Lamb. This is a very different kind of supper. It's another feast. They're going to be the main course.

A great supper. What would you expect if I invited you to a great supper? Come to my house. I've got a great supper planned. What would you expect to do when you got there? Eat and eat and eat and eat, right? I think vultures get a bad rap.

They're just these ugly, hideous birds, but who else wants to clean up the roadkill on the rap? I mean, just think about if we didn't have these scavengers out there, and they are quite interesting creation, kind of the cleanup crew. And they're not very pretty. In fact, they look kind of like a bunch of old men sitting around eating brisket, their huge pot bellies, talking about whatever.

I think it's a miracle that they can even fly. You ever see? It's like, you can get that thing off the ground. But look at what they do. Verse 18: 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, small and great.

What is the purpose of this great supper of God? Its purpose is judgment upon those allied with the beast. All of those who, in this context, are the enemies of the Word of God. In fact, this is what Jesus said would happen in Matthew 24. There's always been this peculiar little statement that I read that has always kind of concerned me.

Matthew 24, 27, for just as lightning, speaking of the second coming, 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. So we're thinking, oh, glorious. There he is. He won't miss it. Then he says in verse 28, wherever the corpse is, there the vultures will gather.

And so you get this scene, the second coming, birds filling the sky. Where do all these birds come from? Well, they could be a special creation of God for the occasion. But you think about it. This may be the only population that has really survived or thrived during this great tribulation.

You think about the death, the carnage that has happened. Think about rivers turning to blood. Think about the sea life. Think about the animal life. It's a great time to be a vulture. And so you can imagine what has been happening. You've got a great assembly of scavenger birds.

And they assemble for Armageddon. Look at this dramatic assembly in verse 19. Again, we've already been anticipating this moment. Chapter 14 speaks of it in the context of a wine press. And God stamping out the winepress, the grapes, objects of his wrath. And in Revelation 16, 16, remember the bold judgment, they gathered them together to the place which in Hebrew is called Harmageddon.

And so here's this dramatic assembly of birds. And there is in verse 19 another dramatic assembly of all the forces of the earth. Look at verse 19. 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.

Then notice what happens. So we're getting ready for this big event. What a picture. Birds, all the forces, and I mean, they are scattered out all over. They are thick. They are in the land, Israel, Harmageddon, and beyond. Military buildup like never amassed in human history. This is the greatest stand against God in human history yet to come.

And look at what happens. Verse 20. And 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. These two were thrown alive into the lake of.

Fire which burns with brimstone. Do you notice how quick that went? Where's the battle? Look how abrupt the change is. I see this huge dramatic assembly of all the kings of the earth, and the beast was seized. Oh, wait a minute, don't you know that the goal is to protect the king?

Think about that. All the forces, the greatest stand against God in history, couldn't even protect for a moment its leader whom they worshipped. Think about that. It's over. I mean, if this was Hollywood, I mean, we'd have this big shh, shh, you know, this would be this big, epic battle.

It's no contest. So it's kind of a misnomer to call it the battle of Armageddon. It's the judgment of Armageddon. It's not really a battle. We'll talk more about the lake of fire as we come to it a little bit later. But notice its first two occupants: the beast and the false prophet thrown alive into the lake of fire.

You'd almost expect the dragon to be thrown in. He's the one who enters. Energized all this. No, the flesh. The flesh of the beast, literal man, flesh, false prophet, a literal man, thrown into the lake of fire. And that's a precursor to all that's going to come. That's what happens to the flesh, joined to the spirit of the dragon, the serpent of old.

What about the rest? Look at verse 21. And the rest, who are the rest? The rest of the army, certainly assembled, but probably beyond all those who have received the mark. And the rest were killed with the sword, which came from the mouth of him who sat on the horse, and all the birds were filled with their flesh.

A little detail here that I think is important to point out. There's a change in the tense. Notice in a few verses before where we're talking about the word, it is proceeding, that sword, it is coming out, judging, ongoing, present. But then the tense changes, and it's in kind of what we translate as the past tense here.

And the rest were killed with the sword which came out of his mouth. In other words, they were killed by that sword, but it's done. It's not continuing in action there. Notice what the birds did. They were stuffed with their flesh. They were filled with their flesh. And a great equalizer.

I mean, he's like, okay, assemble, birds. You're going to eat the flesh of the highest ranks, the finest, the slaves, the bottom of the barrel, and everybody in between. That's the great equalizer. You remember when there was a contest in heaven between Michael and the angels and the dragon and his forces?

That was a no-contest event. Michael threw out the dragon. So also will be the battle of the beast against the Word of God. There is nothing that can oppose the Word of God and be victorious. It's only in His mercy that He allows you and I to oppose Him.

It's an expression of His loving kindness and His mercy. How long will it take before you simply yield your heart to Him? How long? What else has to happen in life? What else has to be revealed? For you to set your heart in complete union with him. Proverbs 16:4 says this: The Lord has made everything for its own purpose, even the wicked for the day of evil.

Everyone who is proud in heart is an abomination to the Lord. Assuredly, he will not go unpunished. The height of arrogance is going through this world, saying, I don't need God, and I don't need his word. I don't need to pay attention to it. That is arrogance. What happens to those who oppose the word of God?

Well, they're summoned to a feast to be the main course. This is what happens to the flesh of those who are joined to the words of the serpent. They never will again see the light of day. Four details: Christ's coming, second coming. Notice who he comes with, what he comes to do, why he comes to rule, and what happens to those who oppose him.

I hope these have awakened you to a greater. Desire to let the Word of God reign in you now. There is coming a day when Jesus is going to step into this world. Prophets have spoken about this over and over. We have already seen His entrance as a humble servant at His first Advent, and He performed that role perfectly.

Yet He's coming again, and we will see Him as King of kings and Lord of lords, and He will perform that role equally as well. We all are going to meet Him. And that's good. Whether it's in life or in death, we're going to meet Him. So say, I do.

We have a unique opportunity today to receive Him by faith. Listen, Revelation 3:20, Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone, anyone, anyone, anyone out there anywhere hears these words, hears His voice, I will come into Him and dine with Him and He with me. Say, I do.

Lord, I maybe you haven't got them all figured out yet, but say I do. Say, Lord, come. I want the union with you that you want with me. Help me come into that. And what a difference. Those who are married to God's word. Word, guess what happens? They may die.

Their bodies may return to dust, but they will rise again. They will see the sun shine again. They will stand upon the earth again. They will enjoy its fullness. Not so for those who are married to the spirit of the serpent. Their bodies, too, will be reduced to dust, but they will not rise to life, but to judgment.

They will never again see the beauties of the earth. It's futile to oppose the word of God. So allow him to come in. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we just bow our hearts to you, thanking you for this beautiful picture of Christ and his bride entering the world to rule and to reign.

That righteousness will indeed be established upon the earth. Father, for this we rejoice. Father, we thank you that you did not allow your holy one to see decay. You didn't allow him. To decompose in the grave. Father, and that's a continual promise. You will not let him decompose, diminish in power, but on the contrary, he will rule and reign, and the increase of his government will be no end.

And because of this, Father, we too, our flesh, can rejoice because we know that you didn't let him decay, and neither will you let those who rejoined to him decay. And so herein is our hope, our celebration, and our joy. Help us, Father, to be more and more married to your word this week and this day.

In Jesus' name, amen.