In this episode of Hope for Today, we delve into the majestic return of Jesus Christ, exploring the profound truths revealed in the book of Revelation, chapter 19. David Hawking guides us through the significance of Christ’s divine names and the incomprehensible nature of His return as outlined in the scriptures. Through a deeper understanding of His titles and their meanings, listeners gain insight into the unparalleled greatness of Jesus, the King of Kings, and Lord of Lords.
Don’t you ever think that Jesus is merely God-like or that somehow as liberal theology says, a spark of divinity was in him. Well, it was more than spark, friends. It’s a forest fire. He is almighty God. If I were you and I didn’t know the Lord, I would hustle to Jesus real quick. I think we’re getting real close to the return of Jesus Christ.
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Some see Jesus as a teacher, others a prophet or maybe a gentle voice from the past. But the Bible, the Bible reveals something far greater, the blazing reality of the Almighty. The heavens will open and He will not come quietly. He will come as King, radiant, unstoppable, and true to every promise He’s ever made. This time on Hope for Today, David Hawking takes us back to Revelation chapter 19, verses 11 through 16, and we’ll see further how the glory of Christ’s return leaves no doubt who rules the nations and whose word will stand forever. David’s bringing us day three of his message, The Second Coming. So do stay tuned. Just before we begin, we want to tell you about a powerful free resource that’s available right now on the homepage of our website, davidhawking.org. Listen, this is a book called Revival Now, written by our good friend Richard A. Bennett. It’s an encouraging study that will stir your heart toward a deeper walk with God. It’ll help you understand what true revival in your heart or the heart someone you care for is really all about, according to Scripture. You can download Revival Now free of charge. There’s nothing to sign up for. Click on it, download it, read it, share it with as many people as you like. By the way, while you’re on the website, davidhawking.org, you’ll find other helpful Bible study materials, videos, and teachings from David, all designed to strengthen your faith in God’s Word. So check it all out and be sure to get your free download of Revival Now at davidhawking.org. Well, it’s time to get back into Revelation chapter 19 now for day three of David’s message, the second coming.
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Verses 11 to 16. And I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse, and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war. His eyes were like a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns. And he had a name written that no man knew but he himself. And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood, and his name is called the Word of God. And the armies that were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean. And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations, and he shall rule them with a rod of iron. and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God, and he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Chapter 19, look at it again. We dealt with the reliability of his names. We’re just talking about one point, that his names identify him clearly. We talked about the reliability of his name, but how about the recognition of his name? You want to know how spectacular the name of Christ is? Look at verse 12, last phrase. He had a name written that no man knew but he himself. Now, we’re told many things about the name of the Lord. But his name is so great. It is so awesome. It is so spectacular. His character, what he really is, no one really knows. But he himself, he knows who he is. In Isaiah 9, 6, this is Christmas. For unto us a child is born. Unto us a son is given. And the government, the government of the whole world, is on his shoulder. The shoulder is a place where you bear burdens. See, he can bear the burdens of the whole world. The government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called what? Wonderful. Many of you have heard me on this before, but turn to Judges 13, and I want to show you something about the name of God. The word wonderful in Hebrew is the word for incomprehensible. That is, it’s too difficult to know. And that’s exactly what we’re told when Jesus comes in power and great glory, that his character, his name, is too difficult to know. No one knows it but he himself. We can learn a lot in the Bible about who he is, but we will never know the full revelation of who he is. Because he is unlimited. His greatness is infinite. The book of Judges, chapter 13, tells us the story of the birth of Samson. His father’s name is Manoah. And Manoah and his wife had a visitor one day, the angel of the Lord, who told them that they were going to have this child. And it’s just a wonderful story. Chapter 13, pick it up at verse 15. Manoah said unto the angel of the Lord, I pray thee, let us detain thee until we shall have made ready a kid for thee. And the angel of the Lord said unto Manoah, Though thou detain me, I will not eat of thy bread. And if thou wilt offer a burnt offering, thou must offer it unto the Lord. For Manoah knew not that he was an angel of the Lord. Manoah said unto the angel of the Lord, What is thy name, that when thy sayings come to pass, we may do thee honor? And the angel of the Lord said unto him, Why askest thou thus after my name, seeing it is secret or wonderful? It’s the same word as Isaiah 9, 6. His name is wonderful. You see, if I started to tell you, Manoah, there’d be no way that you could understand it. My name is so difficult to understand. Let me show you another usage. Turn to Psalm 139. A beautiful psalm dealing with the character of God being omniscient, omnipresent, and omnipotent. And in Psalm 139, in the opening six verses, it talks about the omniscience of God. What God knows, that he knows everything. He knows my down sitting, my uprising. He understands my thought afar off, as verse 2 says. He’s acquainted with all my ways, verse 3. Before I even speak a word, the Lord knows what I’m going to say, verse 4. Verse 6, such knowledge is to what? Wonderful for me, incomprehensible. The next phrase explains it. It is high, I cannot attain it. What’s the meaning of wonderful? It’s too difficult to know. Turn to Isaiah chapter 28 and look at verse 29. This one who is coming again, whom we read about in the Gospels, we have a lot of information given to us in the book of Revelation. This one who comes, his actual character, the nature of his name is so spectacular, so great, so infinite, none of us can ever know the depths of it. Isaiah 28, 29 is just an example. This also cometh forth from the Lord of hosts, who is wonderful in counsel and excellent in working. The Lord’s counsel is incomprehensible. It’s too difficult to understand. The Proverbs tells us the counsel of the Lord, that will stand. All the wisdom of men will not, but God’s will. Why? Because it’s wonderful. It’s too difficult to comprehend. But whatever the Lord’s counsel is, whatever he says, you can totally count on it. It is the truth. And it has a depth to it that is impossible to fully understand. Just do what he said. Well, let’s go back to Revelation 19. We’ve talked about the reliability of his name and the recognition of his name. It’s an impossibility to fully understand who he is. This one is coming on the great white horse with all his armies with him. The third thing in verse 13 is the revelation of his name. It says, and his name, last phrase, is called, and again is continuously being called. He’s constantly called the Word of God. We say this is the revelation of his name. Why? Go to the Gospel of John, same man who wrote Revelation, and look at chapter 1. It’s one of John’s favorite titles and descriptions of Jesus Christ. He is the Word of God. John chapter 1, verse 1. The Word, logos. Interesting term. We use it today. Logic comes from that. Or any of the sciences, biology, logos, the study of psychology, the study of the soul. We use it all the time. Anthropology, the study of man. These are all Greek words that are in the New Testament. Logos, the study of or the revelation of. You’re getting insight into some particular subject. Now, the Bible calls him the logos of God. You’re getting insight, understanding, wisdom, revelation of what? Of God. If God is who the Bible says he is, then he certainly has the intelligence to reveal himself to the creatures that he made. You would certainly think that if he is God and that’s what he did, that that’s what he would want to do. He would want his creation to know who he is. In John 14, Philip comes to Jesus and says, show us the Father and it sufficeth us. It always amuses me. But he’s basically saying, he said, you know, just show us who you are and hey, it’ll be cool. We’ll all be with you, you know, as if that could happen. But Jesus said in all graciousness to him, Philip, he who has seen me has seen the Father. I look back at John 1.1. In the beginning was the Word. What is he called? The Word of God. In the beginning was the Word, the revelation of God. The Word was with God. That’s very interesting. Pros, the Greek preposition translated with, is a word normally meaning toward. And it is used in many, many compound forms to mean facing. And what it does is it presents an equal situation. What this verse is saying in the middle of the verse is that he is equal with God. It’s going to get stronger. In the beginning was the Word, whatever the beginning is, of anything or everything, the Word is there, the revelation of God. What is the revelation of God in human form? Jesus Christ. In Him, says Colossians, dwells all the fullness of the Godhead in bodily form, Colossians 2.9. It pleased the Father, Colossians 1.19, that in Him… all the fullness should dwell. Everything that God is dwells in the physical body of Jesus Christ. Jesus is God in human flesh. The word is facing God, and verse 1 says the word was God. One of the basic elementary rules of Greek grammar is that the definite article, when it’s there, specifies and identifies. When it’s left out, it refers to substance or nature. Actually, pulling the definite article out is a stronger argument for the deity of Christ than if the definite article was in. Let me explain it this way. If you said the word was the God, you would think in your mind, the God among other gods. But there are no other gods. The word was an essence, substance, and being God. Don’t you ever think that Jesus is merely God-like or that somehow his liberal theology says a spark of divinity was in him? Well, it was more than spark, friends. It’s a forest fire. He is almighty God. Now look down at verse 14. And the word, this revelation, was made flesh. By the way, the word to be, which we get is and was, is not in this text. The word translated was, the Greek word genemi, means to become and refers to a change of condition. Listen to me carefully. That’s important. Why? Because it teaches the pre-existence of Christ. He was in existence before he became flesh. He became flesh. There was a change of condition for him, but he’s been the eternal son of God, and he is almighty God. He is God now in human flesh when he comes into the world, born as a baby in Bethlehem. The word became flesh, and he dwelt among us, it says, and we beheld his glory. the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. Look at verse 18. No man has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son who’s in the bosom of the Father, He hath declared Him. That means to put Him on display. What do we call Him? The Word of God. The revelation of who God is. You know, I cannot tell you how much this means to me, but perhaps this will be enough. When I get to heaven, I don’t need to worry about God being some sort of ethereal gas floating through space. My friends, my wonderful God who made me and you and the whole human race is so gracious and kind and loving and his unfathomable wisdom, he became one of us. He became man. He partook of flesh and blood, and he’s decided to keep that body in which he rose again for all eternity. When we get to heaven, there’ll be no guessing as to where’s Jesus. And I’m not going to water down the glory of that in any way, shape, or form. He is the word of God. Turn to 1 John 1, verses 1 to 3. 1 John 1. I get excited about this. 1 John 1, 1 to 3. Look at this again. What is he continuously called? He’s called the Word of God. He is the revelation of whoever God is, the only God, the one true God. He’s the great God and our Savior. That’s what we’re talking about when we talk the second coming. 1 John 1, 1 to 3, that which was from the beginning, the same writer of Gospel of John, same one as 1 John, same one as Revelation, that which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon and our hands have handled. of the, what? Word, there it is again, of life. For the life, the only real life there is, was manifested, put on display. We’ve seen it, bear witness, and show unto you that eternal life, which was with the Father and then was manifested unto us. That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us. And truly our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. We’re not talking here about having punch and cookies after church. That’s not the fellowship we’re talking about. The word koinonia, the New Testament, by the way, was written in koine Greek. Koine means common. It was the average person’s language. And koinonia means that which we share in common. What is it that we share in common? And the answer is Jesus Christ, our Lord. He’s the word of life. He’s the life that was manifested, and we share him. Our fellowship is with the Father, with the Son, Jesus Christ. And I love verse 4. These things write we unto you that your joy may be full. What makes us one and makes us the church is Jesus Christ, our Lord. It’s the life of God in you and the life of God in me that makes us one, which means I have to like you whether I like you or not. And then Revelation 19 again, verse 16. We’ve mentioned the reliability of his name and the recognition of his name being a difficult matter. The revelation of his name, he is the word of God, God being revealed, and then the royalty of his name. Verse 16. He hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords. What a blessed Lord we have. Back in Revelation 11, 15, it said the kingdoms of this world have become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ. I don’t care what king you could mention that you think is great and powerful and majestic and wise and all of that. He is the king of all kings. He is the Lord over all lords. What a Savior. What a Savior. 1 Timothy 6, and let’s close. Look at verses 13 to 16. Paul writes to Timothy, verse 13. I give thee charge in the sight of God, who quickeneth all things, and before Christ Jesus, who before Pontius Pilate witnessed a good confession, that thou keep this commandment without spot unrebukable until the appearing day. of our Lord Jesus Christ, which in his times he shall show, who is the blessed and only potentate. the King of kings and Lord of lords, who only hath immortality dwelling in the light, which no man can approach unto, whom no man has seen nor can see, to whom be honor and power everlasting, and all God’s people said, Amen. Yes, friends, it is Jesus Christ, our Lord, who is the blessed and only potentate, the King of kings and Lord of lords, to whom belongs honor and power forever. Father, we thank you so much for your blessed word and thank you that one day the event of all events will take place when Jesus shall return in power and great glory to this earth and set up his kingdom. Thank you, Lord. Lord, I pray for those in our audience who have never really given their hearts to Jesus Christ. May they understand that he is the way, the truth, and the life. And no man comes unto the Father but through him. May they turn to him before it’s too late. He who would forgive our sins, for only God could forgive sins. He who would give us eternal life, only God could do that. Help us to bow the knee and confess with our mouth that Jesus is Lord. Thank you, Lord, for what you’re going to do. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.
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Have you put your trust in the only one who can save you from sin, death, and hell? He’s the one, not a church, not an organization, not a bunch of works that you might do to please God. No, it’s the work of God that we believe on His Son. He has paid for our sin with His own precious blood. That’s what the crucifixion was all about. And the grave couldn’t hold him. The third day he rose again. He’s alive. He ascended into heaven, and he’s coming back for those who have put their trust in him. Why not open your heart to him right now? Just say, Lord, I confess my sin to you, and I believe that our Lord Yeshua, Jesus, he died for my sin and paid for it completely. I can’t pay for it. He can. And He will forgive me if I open my heart to Him. So I do that right now. Come into my heart, Lord Jesus. God bless you.
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That’s Bible teacher and author David Hawking, and this is Hope for Today. If you’d like to know more about the Christian faith, well, we’d love to send you David’s booklet, What is Christianity?, and a Bible study by mail. These are both free to you if you’re not yet a Christian, but you’re curious, or if you’re new to the Christian faith. Call 1-800-75-BIBLE in the U.S. and ask for What is Christianity? and the Bible Study by Mail. In Canada, call 888-75-BIBLE and we’ll get these resources right out to you. David’s back in just a moment, but first, Matt’s here. And Matt, we’ve got this excellent resource this month, Life’s Greatest Questions. This is so powerful. Let’s talk about it.
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In life’s greatest questions, we go to the Bible, the sure word of God for the answers to the perplexities of the human heart.
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Matt, the psalmist asked, what is man that thou art mindful of him and the son of man that thou visitest him? Psalm 84.
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And the Bible doesn’t avoid tough questions. No. It answers them with the truth of God’s love, his plan of redemption, and his promise of eternal hope.
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The Lord Jesus himself declared, I am the way, truth, and the life. No man cometh unto the Father but by me.
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John 14, 6. You know, friend, in him we find both the meaning of life and the assurance of life everlasting. And you don’t need to remain in darkness concerning life’s greatest questions. And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. Amen. John 8, 32.
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You’ll get your copy of Life’s Greatest Questions by David Hawking today for $10 from Hope for Today. Read, enjoy, and then share with a friend who also needs answers. And when you purchase this or any resource, would you prayerfully consider adding a donation to help us continue the ministry work of Hope for Today? Or perhaps send a donation by itself.
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And please do pray for us whenever you hear or remember Hope for Today.
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To order your copy of Life’s Greatest Questions, call 800-75-BIBLE, or in Canada, 888-75-BIBLE. And you can also order on our website, davidhawking.org. And friend, you know, as David often reminds us, the days we’re living in, they’re troubling. They really are. But they’re not uncertain for the child of God. We know who holds the future, and we know His Word stands firm. That is exactly why Hope for Today exists, to keep proclaiming the truth clearly and without compromise in a world that desperately needs to hear it. The greatest need of every human being is a relationship with Jesus Christ. We’re here to preach that message and to encourage the body of Christ. Your support makes that possible. So if God has used these messages to strengthen your faith or to draw you closer to him, would you prayerfully consider standing with us today? You can give safely and securely online at our website, davidhawking.org, or call us at 800-75-BIBLE, that’s in the U.S., or 888-75-BIBLE. In Canada, again, Bible is 24253. And if you’d prefer to write a letter, we’d love to read your note. Write to Hope for Today, Box 3927, Tustin, California, 92781. In Canada, write to Hope for Today, Box 15011, RPO7OAKS, Abbotsford, B.C., V2S 8P1. And please continue to pray that God will lead and provide for this ministry. And we’ll let us know how we can pray for you as well.
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Here’s David. Well, thanks for listening today as we’ve wrapped up Revelation 19, verses 11 to 16, which tells us our Lord is the King of kings and Lord of lords, and He’s going to come at the end of the tribulation and smite all the nations who thought they could attack Israel and wipe them off the face of the earth. No, it’s not going to be that way. The Lord is going to wipe them out for trying to hurt Israel, His people. Yes, friends, He’s going to rule with a rod of iron. And according to Matthew 25, 31 to 46, He’s going to judge all nations of the world. Some of them will get off the hook because they have treated God’s people in a wonderful way. And if we treated them wonderfully, God’s going to bless it because it’s like treating the Lord Himself. And that judgment is called the sheep and goats. The sheep are going to inherit the kingdom of God that will be set upon earth. But the goats, no, they have not believed in the Lord. And he’ll say, depart from me, ye workers of iniquity. I never knew you. According to the end of Matthew 25, verse 46, the righteous will go to life eternal and the wicked to everlasting punishment. And by the way, the word eternal and the word everlasting are the same Greek word, ionion. Therefore, if there is everlasting life, there will be everlasting punishment. Well, plan to be with us for our next broadcast. God bless you.
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Well, thank you, David. And next time on the program, we continue our look at the second coming of Jesus Christ. And we pray you can join us then right here on Hope for Today.
