From His Heart

Larry Nobles: God is the God of grace, but also the God of justice. So, how do we balance that? Here's pastor Jeff Schreve.

Dr. Jeff Schreve: Lamb of God takes away the sin of the world. But if you refuse the lamb of God, all that's left for you is the lion of the tribe of Judah. And the scripture says that the execution of justice is joy to the righteous, but it is terror to the workers of iniquity. What will the execution of justice be to you?

Larry Nobles: One day, everyone will declare Jesus Christ as Lord. But the question is, will you be forgiven by the lamb or judged by the lion? Today on From His Heart with pastor Jeff Schreve, it's the final message from his seven-lesson series, Encountering the Real Jesus, that we've been in the last two weeks of this month. In In it, we've learned of the transformational power of the sacrificial lamb of God, but also about the justice due from the soon return of the fierce and fiery lion of Judah. A powerful conclusion to this dynamic series. And for your gift to From His Heart this month of any amount, we'd like to send you pastor Jeff's series, Soldiers of the Cross, and the companion booklet, The Lord's Army.

It's our special gift of thanks to you. Just go to fromhisheart.org for details. Right now though, open your ears and your heart and your Bible to Revelation 19 where pastor Jeff concludes this Encountering the Real Jesus series with part two of the lesson From the Lamb to the Lion. John said, and I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse. And he who sat upon it is called faithful and true. And in righteousness he judges and wages war. And his eyes are a flame of fire. And upon his head are many diadems. And he has a name written upon him which no one knows except himself.

And he is clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and his name is called the Word of God. And the armies which are in heaven clothed in fine linen white and clean were following him on white horses. And from his mouth comes a sharp sword so that with it he may smite 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.

I want to share with you three insights. Three insights into the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. Insight number one, he is faithful and true. Verse 11 again, I saw heaven opened and behold a white horse, and he who sat upon it is called faithful and true. He is faithful to his promises. Hey, you know, when life is tough, when it gets hard and you don't know what to do, you got to cling to the promises of God because he who has promised is faithful. And he will always keep his word. And so he has that name.

He's called faithful and true. Second insight to the Lord Jesus Christ, not only is he faithful and true, but he is loving and just. Loving and just. And I saw heaven opened and behold a white horse, and he who sat upon it is called faithful and true. And in righteousness he judges and wages war. Now, we know about the Lord that he is loving. We see that I mean the Bible clearly says 1 John chapter 4, God is love. Beloved, let us love one another for love is of God, and everyone who loves is born of God and And knows God and is born of God.

He who loves not knows not God for God is love. Beloved, let us love one another. God is love, but God is also just. And God is also holy. And the justice and holiness of God and the righteousness of God says that God must punish sin. Now, as we talk about From the Lamb to the Lion, From the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world, that we are introduced to Jesus in his first coming to the Lion of the tribe of Judah, I want you to notice something. The lamb comes to save sinners as the scripture says, he made him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf that we might become the righteousness of God in him.

The holiness of God, the righteousness of God says sin must be punished, and the lamb of God said, and I will pay for that punishment. I will allow sin to come upon me. The lamb came to save sinners, but the lion comes to judge sinners. Very very different the lamb versus the lion. And it says in verse 14, and his eyes are a flame of fire. Now, the eyes of Jesus in his first coming, they weren't a flame of fire. The eyes of Jesus were gentle and kind and loving and compassionate. The eyes of Jesus looked with compassion on that woman at his feet who was caught in the midst of adultery.

The eyes of Jesus, the lamb looked upon the rich young ruler. And the scripture says the Lord looked at him with love. He loved that one who chose his stuff over the Savior. But he still loved him. Uh the Bible talks about the eyes of Jesus as he was at the tomb of Lazarus, and he wept at the tomb of Lazarus. The eyes of Jesus as he turned and looked at Peter who had betrayed him three times. I don't even know the man. But now his eyes are a flame of fire. Now, it 's not the eyes of the lamb, it 's the eyes of the lion of the tribe of Judah.

And in righteousness he comes and wages war. And his eyes are a flame. It's not sweet little Jesus boy anymore. It's the lion of the tribe of Judah. And the scripture says that he is wearing a robe that's dipped in blood. Some people read that and they say, well, I guess they're talking about the blood of Christ. No, they're not talking of the scripture is not talking about the blood of Christ. I don't believe. I think it's talking about the blood of the warrior. And the Lord, this is not his first rodeo. He has worn a robe in warfare for thousands of years.

You know, in Exodus chapter 15, when the Lord won a great battle over Pharaoh and his armies, drowned them, violently drowned them in the Red Sea. Exodus chapter 15, they say these words, the Lord is a warrior. The Lord Yahweh is a warrior. And Yahweh is a warrior. The God of angel armies. Yahweh Sabaoth used 200 and 29 times in the Old Testament. The Lord of hosts is how the New American Standard translates that, Yahweh Sabaoth. The Lord of armies, the Lord of unseen armies, the Lord of angel armies, God is a warrior. And when he returns, there's fire in his eyes.

And as one theologian said, Revelation 19 11 and following is a picture of rejected majesty, of spurned grace, of insulted sovereignty. Those who have insulted the spirit of grace and said not this man, but Barabbas, who have rejected the Lord and rejected his love. And as we shared last week, they received not the love of the truth so as to be saved, but they took pleasure in wickedness. Then he comes back. Listen, this world belongs to him. The earth is the Lord's, Psalm 24 verse 1. The earth is the Lord's and all that contains the world and those who dwell in it.

And everything belongs to him, and he comes back to take what is his. It says in 2 Thessalonians chapter 2 speaking of the return of the Lord, the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels in flaming fire dealing out retribution to those who do not know God and to those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. And when he comes back, he deals it out. He comes back in judgment, in righteousness. He judges and wages war. Now, some people say, well, you know, Jeff, my Jesus wouldn't do that.

Well, as I told you before, you don't have a Jesus. There is just Jesus. But some people say, well, my Jesus wouldn't do that. My Jesus wouldn't wage war. My Jesus is a gentle lamb. I mean he wouldn't hurt a fly. He's just so sweet, and he's sweet little Jesus boy. My Jesus is You just see him there in the manger, and he's just coochie coochie coo. You know, that's my Jesus. Kind of like uh Will Ferrell in Talladega Nights, you know, he prays to the Jesus boy. Uh he's not sweet little Jesus boy. This is the lion of the tribe of Judah.

This is the the God who has been spurned. Luke chapter 19, Jesus tells a parable about uh speaking of himself about a man who went away on a journey to receive a kingdom, and then he was coming back. But it says his citizens hated him and sent a delegation after him saying, we do not want this man to reign over us. And that's what people have been saying to the Lord. We don't want you. But here's the thing, this world belongs to him. We're We're We're living on his dime. We're living on everything of his.

And so he's going to come back and take what is his. And in that parable in Revelation or in Luke chapter 19 when he comes back, the Lord said, and those enemies of mine who did not want me to reign over them, bring them here and slay them in my presence. Bring them here and slay them in my presence. What do we see there? We see the holiness of God. Some people say, well, you know, I just think God is too loving and he's too good to ever judge like that, to ever bring that kind of uh carnage and judgment and and wage war.

That just doesn't seem like Jesus because Jesus is too good to do that. No? Here's where you're wrong. He's too good not to do that. Too good not to do that. Can you imagine if you were at some kind of a public event and you were to see a crime taking place and someone was was hitting and accosting and beating a woman or a child, and the police officer is right there watching the whole thing. And you say to the police officer, do you see that a crime is taking place? And he just says, well, you know, I'm just a good policeman.

I don't I don't ever I mean I'm not going to get involved in that. I'm just just too good. I'm going to I'm going to bless that guy. We'd say that that police officer, he's he's a crook. He's corrupt. He's anything but good because goodness would require him to do his job and to lay down the law. The Lord is good, and he's a righteous judge. Shall not the judge of all the earth deal rightly? The scripture says in a rhetorical question, of course, the judge of all the earth is going to deal rightly. And if God didn't judge sin, then God wouldn't be good.

And if God didn't protect his own, then as I told you, his promises wouldn't be true and God wouldn't be faithful and true. But he is faithful and true, and it's impossible for God to lie. And the Lord will judge sinners. In righteousness he judges and wages war. Insight number three. He is victorious and sovereign. He's faithful and true. He is loving and just. And he is victorious and sovereign. It says in verse 12, his eyes are a flame of fire, and upon his head are many diadems. And he has a name written upon him which no one knows except himself.

And he's clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and his name is called the Word of God. You know, in some of the things that we read in Revelation chapter 19, there's symbols. It's not to be taken that Jesus is is necessarily riding a white horse. He comes in the victory. It's a picture of a Roman victory in the days of Roman conquest. The The returning general would come riding a white horse. And he would come down the main road in Rome, and they would have a big parade for him. And it's a picture of victory.

So, is Jesus actually riding a white horse? Maybe, but maybe not. I don't know. He may He didn't need to ride a right white horse when he ascended to heaven. I think he probably just comes. It says that he has many diadems on his head. Is Jesus going to come with the just these huge numbers of crowns on his head? I don't think so. It's just a picture of the fact that he's King of Kings and Lord of Lords. It says he rules with the rod of iron. Is he Does he have this huge rod when he rules for a thousand years that he just goes by if you're messing up, he crushes your skull with the rod?

No, it's a picture of the fact that he's in ultimate control. He has a sharp sword that comes out of his mouth. Does the Lord really have a sword that comes out of his mouth? No, it's a picture of the fact that his sword is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword. It says that he comes back verse 14, and the armies which are in heaven clothed in linen white and clean were following him on white horses. We come with him. Now, who who are the armies white and clean? Well, they're the the angels because we read that in 2 Thessalonians chapter 1, it says he comes with his mighty angels.

But it also says in 1 Thessalonians chapter 3 and verse 13 that he returns with his saints. And those who come with him are those who have been enraptured before the tribulation period, before the revealing of the antichrist. We come with him. We have been up in heaven with him enjoying the marriage supper of the lamb as the scripture talks about the wedding of the lamb, the bride waiting for her groom, and we're waiting, and he comes to get us. And that goes on while tremendous carnage is taking place on the earth. But then when he comes back, we come back with him.

Why? Because it says in 1 Thessalonians chapter 4, when we are caught up together with him in the air, says thus we will always be with the Lord. And from that moment on, wherever he goes, we go because we're always with him. So, when he comes back to the earth, we come back to earth with him. And we are part of his army. Although we don't do any fighting, he does all the fighting at the battle of Armageddon. It says in verse 15, and from his mouth comes a sharp sword so that with it he may smite 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.

He comes back. And this is not This battle of Armageddon which is is hyped big time in the scripture and in our minds. This uh as Saddam Hussein called the the first war in Iraq, the mother of all battles. So, this is the mother of all battles because you have so many armies marshaled there against Israel to wipe them out. But it's really not much of a battle because once the Lord shows up, it is over. I was interested to find out that there is a record for boxing, for the shortest boxing professional boxing match ever to have taken place.

It lasted 10.5 seconds. Now, you have to have a 10-second countdown when the person gets knocked out. So, this fight actually lasted less than a second. Professional fight, 1946. Al Couture fought Ralph Walton. As soon as the bell rang, he clocked him, knocked him out, and the fight was over. That's uh sampling of what it's going to be like at the battle of Armageddon. It's going to be over like that. The Lord just speaks a word. There's a sharp sword that goes out of his mouth, not a literal sword, but it's the word of God.

And the same word that was used to create everything. We live in a world today where scientists think, well, you know, it all happened, you know, how did everything get created? Well, it got created by evolution. You know, you just had billions of years and blah blah blah. Let me tell you how it was created. In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. And the Lord said, let there be light, and there was light. And the Lord created everything by the power of his word. That's how it got created. That's what the scripture says.

And the God who spoke it into existence is going to come one day against all his enemies, and he will speak them into oblivion. Look what it says in verse 17. And 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 in order 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 upon the horse and against his army. Here the Lord comes back. He comes back to the mount of olives. And here you have the antichrist with all the forces. They're there in Israel uh in Jerusalem, and they look up and they see him. And then they turn their guns and their lasers and their tanks and all their weapons of warfare, they turn them onto Jesus. And he just speaks a word, and they're done. And it says in verse 19, and I saw the beast assemble to make war against him who sat upon the horse.

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 worshiped 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 upon the horse. And all the birds were filled with their flesh. He destroys all his enemies just with a word. Just with a word. Boom, it's over. You and I don't do any fighting.

We're just there. We're part of the army, but he does all the fighting. The Lord is a warrior. Exodus 15 verse 3. And he destroys his enemies and he treads the scripture says treads the wine press of the fierce wrath of God. If If you've ever seen people crushing grapes in the the old time where you did it just with your feet, hopefully you washed them first, but you're crushing grapes to make grape juice. And the juice is splattering up as you're crushing the grapes. That's the imagery that's used here. And the scripture says in Revelation chapter 14 that the carnage is so great.

There are just millions and millions of troops gathered at the uh battle of Armageddon. The carnage is so great that the blood splatters up to the horses' bridles for a distance of 200 miles. Wow. He treads the wine press of the fierce wrath of God. And he sets up his kingdom to rule on the earth for a thousand years. He takes the beast, puts him into the lake of fire. First person that goes into the lake of fire is the beast. Second one is the false prophet. Then he takes the devil, that the dragon. And he binds him with a chain, Revelation chapter 20, and he throws him in the bottomless pit, in the abyss.

He's incarcerated for a thousand years so that he can no longer deceive the nations. And then Jesus sets up his kingdom on earth. You know, we read in the Lord's Model Prayer, thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. When does that happen? It happens when the Lord sets up his kingdom. It happens when the Lord comes back. And there is his kingdom on earth, and Jesus is king. And life will be like it was before the fall. The lamb of God purchased our salvation. And the lion of the tribe of Judah sets up the kingdom.

So very different his first coming to his second coming.

Dr. Jeff Schreve: Lamb of God takes away the sin of the world. But if you refuse the lamb of God, all that's left for you is the lion of the tribe of Judah. And the scripture says that the execution of justice is joy to the righteous, but it is terror to the workers of iniquity. What will the execution of justice be to you?

Larry Nobles: If you have never received Jesus as your Savior and made him Lord of your life, God has placed you here so that you can have an opportunity, another opportunity, and maybe your last opportunity to come to know Christ. Today is the day for you to say, Jesus, have mercy on me. I repent of my sin. Please forgive my sin and save me. What a life and an eternity you will have. Listen, if you want to understand better what coming to Jesus really means, please go to fromhisheart.org. Click the why Jesus link for a lot of great information, explanation, and free materials to help you get started in your Christian journey.

And God bless you as you begin your new life in Christ. Now, if this program is a blessing to you and you'd like to come alongside us and help us sustain and grow this outreach, you can do that today for your gift of any amount to From His Heart. Pastor Jeff wants you to have the Soldiers of the Cross series and the companion booklet, The Lord's Army. Again, our thanks for your gift today to From His Heart. Call 86640 Bible. 86640 Bible. Or go online to fromhisheart.org and request this series in the format of your choice.

Thanks for being a blessing to this ministry and the countless millions who have an opportunity to tune in each day across this nation and around the world. Blessings to you and yours as well. That's all the time we have today. I'm Larry Nobles and a big thank you for joining us on From His Heart and inviting you to be here tomorrow as pastor Jeff begins a new month with an enlightening new series called This Is War, overcoming the world, the flesh, and the devil. That's next month and tomorrow here on From His Heart.

Guest (Male): From His Heart is the listener supported broadcast ministry of Dr. Jeff Schreve speaking the truth in love to a lost and a hurting world. Remember, no matter what, God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life. Find out more, go to fromhisheart.org.