Download PDFI’m so delighted that you’ve been able to make it this evening, and I do trust that God will be pleased to bless our fellowship together around His Word. To that end, if you have your Bibles with you, will you turn with me please to the book of The Revelation; to the 19th chapter of that book. To the 19th chapter of the book of The Revelation. John is relating an experience which he had on the Lord’s day. He was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day, on the isle of Patmos, having been banished there as a prisoner of Rome. The last of all the apostles. All the others had died a natural death, and he was soon to die.
And he said, “I heard a great voice of much people in heaven, saying,” ~ he was already there before he got there. “I heard a great voice of much people in heaven, saying, Alleluia; Salvation, and glory, and honour, and power, unto the Lord our God: for true and righteous are His judgments: for He hath judged the great whore, which did corrupt the earth with her fornication, and hath avenged the blood of His servants at her hand. And again they said, Alleluia. And her smoke rose up for ever and ever. And the four and twenty elders and the four beasts fell down and worshipped God that sat on the throne, saying, Amen; Alleluia. And a voice came out of the throne, saying, Praise our God, all ye His servants, and ye that fear Him, both small and great. And I heard as it were the voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of mighty thunderings, saying, Alleluia: for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth. Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to Him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and His wife hath made herself ready. And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints.”
Then we continue in verse 11, “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 as 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 which 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 the wrath of Almighty God. And He hath on His vesture and on His thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS. And I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the fowls that fly in the midst of heaven, Come and gather yourselves together unto the supper of the great God; that ye may eat the flesh of kings, and captains, and mighty men, and horses, and of them that sit on them, and the flesh of all men, both free and bond, and small and great.
“And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against Him that sat on the horse, and against His army. And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone. And the remnant were slain with the sword of Him that sat upon the horse, which sword proceeded out of His mouth: and all the fowls were filled with their flesh. And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years, and cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up.” Alleluia. May the Lord be pleased to bless the reading of His Word.
Let us pray. So Father, once more we come to gather around Thy Word. It thrills us just to read it. The One who is on a white horse, riding forth, conquering and to conquer. We thank You Lord that we are found amongst that company of men and women who shall gladly, in the scene of time, have bowed their knee to the One who sits upon the white horse. And Lord, we thank You that Thou art coming, Thou art coming to set up Thy Kingdom. Thou art going to rule till moons shall wax, wane, or wore. But Lord, as we come to gather around this passage of Scripture tonight, we pray that You will give us insight into Thy Word. Give us understanding in relation to it. Give us ears to hear, and a heart to receive Your Word, because we would ask it for Christ’s sake. Amen.
I’d like to draw your attention then to that passage of Scripture that we have just read together, Revelation 19:11-16, which is the revelation of a Rider upon a white horse. A Rider upon a white horse. Now I’m totally inadequate to deal with this particular subject. This was John’s privilege of hearing and seeing all this. But we can relate it from God’s Word, and we trust that we shall have something, a vision of God’s glory tonight.
John says in verse 11, “And I saw heaven opened.” Prior to this, you see, the whole chapter is taken up with John relating and telling us that he’d heard something, as it is in verse 1, “I heard a great voice.” Now the hearing had been glorious. Glorious. It was the marriage of the Lamb. The marriage of the Lamb. What glory! What delight! What ecstasy!
It’s coming to that time of year when some of us may go to great auditoriums, and we will hear a godless choir, usually anyway, performing Handel’s Messiah. When they come to that part of that great oratorio or whatever, when they come to that part which is called The Hallelujah Chorus, how it moves our hearts and moves our whole being. Well, if it moves our hearts and moves our whole being when so often it’s sung by unregenerate men and women, what must have been the hearing like of John on the isle of Patmos, when on this particular Sabbath day, on this Lord’s day, there as a prisoner of Rome but a prisoner also of the Lord Jesus Christ, he hears something of the marriage supper of the Lamb coming over the walls of glory, and hears something of that Hallelujah Chorus from the voices, from the hearts of multitudes who have been redeemed by the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, how glorious indeed it must have been just to hear these things! To have been with John, and to have heard that Chorus, and to hear that singing, and to hear something of that glory of that marriage supper of the Lamb.
The only trouble about John, you see, he hadn’t seen heaven opened as yet. He hadn’t seen the heavens open. He had no concept of what heaven must be like when heaven is opened. And so often, that is so true of you and I. We have no idea of the glory, and the splendour, and the victory, and the power, and how the battle is won in relation to heaven, and the glory and the splendour of heaven. Like John, we so often find that the heavens seemingly are as brass, and Satan triumphing, and evil reigning, and the love of many growing cold, and real religion seemingly on the wane, and a spiritual apathy and declension on every hand. Like John, we’ve never seen the Lord in His glory. We’ve only seen Him denied at Bethlehem, and despised for 30-odd years, so that at the end of the day He would so often go to the mountains when everybody else went to their home. He had no where to lay His head.
We’ve only seen Him denied at Bethlehem, despised of men, rejected of men — Herod, Pilate, and all the multitude there in Jerusalem, crying, “We will not have this man to reign over us!” We’ve only seen Him acquainted with sorrows in the Garden of Gethsemane, when His sweat was as it were, great drops of blood falling to the ground in that awful agony. We’ve only seen Him crucified on a Roman gibbet, a place of common thieves. We’ve only seen Him walking in the lanes of Palestine, tired at the end of the day, sitting on a well—the well of Samaria. And the only time that He ever rode an animal while He was here upon earth was on a donkey. That was indeed His humiliation.
And John has never seen heaven opened. And here he is, at the end of his day, with chains around his wrists and chains indeed around his ankles. A prisoner of Rome. Seemingly, hell has been let loose. And here he is, wrenched and torn from his beloved and devoted congregation, and he’s not able to minister to them anymore. And hell seems to be in the ascendance. And all the other apostles have gone, butchered in one way or another. And he looks around him, and he’s downcast and he’s dejected. And he wonders where it’s all going to end and what’s going to happen just down the road. And suddenly he comes to verse 11, and he says, “AND I SAW HEAVEN OPENED.”
We have no idea what that must have been like. Here he is, struggling, tried, persecuted. It’s the revelation, the revelation that he has. I’m not here tonight to talk about the beast, I ain’t interested in him. And I’m not worried so much about 6-6-6. And I’m not worried about 7 years of tribulation, although 3½ is not going to be too bad, and it’s only going to be just an ordinary 3½ years of the end of that tribulation period. I ain’t interested in any of these things! They’re nonentities! As far as I’m concerned, the book of The Revelation starts with this: The Revelation, not of the beast or the Antichrist or any powers of hell, but THE REVELATION OF THE LORD JESUS CHRIST. And this is what John is taken up with as he writes this glorious book of The Revelation.
Next time you come to this book, don’t worry about the Antichrist and the beast, or what hell is going to do. It’s what our GOD is doing! And here is John on the isle of Patmos, with everything to drive him to despair. Hey, what is this book written for? It’s not written for some persecuted saints which are going to come a little bit later on with the 3½ years of tribulation. Noooo! This is for the saints all down the centuries who have suffered for the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. And what indeed do they need to see? It’s just this: HEAVEN OPENED. Heaven opened.
And John says, “I saw. I saw. I saw heaven opened.”
“Hey John, what did you see? Hey John boy, what did you see when you saw heaven opened? Errr, do they have cats in heaven, John? Hey tell us, tell us.” If they had 20th century Christians around him in those days, they would have said, “Hey, did you see any cats in heaven? Did you see any dogs, I mean, do dogs go to heaven? Did you see any animals? What kinds of birds did you see there, John? I mean, what are the streets made like? I mean, do you have to wash your hands? What do you have to do? Is there any water that you have to wash your hands with or shampoos that you have to clean your hair with? Or what kind of clothes do they wear?
John ain’t interested in any of those things! When he sees heaven opened, he sees one object. And suddenly, he is caught up with this glorious truth and ecstasy of it all. He says, “I saw heaven opened.” And what? He says, “Behold, I saw indeed a white horse.”
“Ah John, hey, I mean that’s a letdown. You didn’t see any of these things, John? You didn’t record it for us so that we could know in the 20th century? You just saw a white horse? What a letdown! Hey John, what else do you see?”
“I SEE A WHITE HORSE,” he says. And I don’t need to see anything else.
“Why?”
“Well,” he would say, “You ignoramuses of the 20th century. You nincompoops! Do you know what a white horse means?”
“No, John. We want to know what a white horse means to you.”
“Well, I’ll tell you what it means. It speaks of honour. Honour. You see, when the Romans went to go forth into battle on their cavalry, they would go forth on brown horses and piebald ponies and all the rest of it. But when we saw a white horse, when we saw a white horse in the field, then there was only one conclusion that we came to: The commander-in-chief was among his troops! That’s all we needed to know. That he had arrived. And when he had arrived, we needn’t fear our enemies, because there’s a rider upon the white horse, and he is the commander-in-chief of the armies.” And the Scriptures say, “This is My beloved Son. Hear ye Him.” And Acts 5 says, “Him hath God exalted with His right hand to be a Prince and a Saviour” (Acts 5:31). And Hebrews tells us, “We see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, CROWNED with glory and with honour” (Hebrews 2:9). And Philippians 2:9 says, “Wherefore God hath highly exalted Him, and given Him a name which is above every name: that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; and that every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.”
“I see a white horse, and He is the Commander-in-Chief. And He’s the Commander-in-Chief of this situation in which I find myself on the isle of Patmos.” And beleaguered saints here tonight, and persecuted saints, and those that are going through a tribulation period already, and those indeed that are knowing what it is for all hell to be let loose against you and the powers of hell seemingly to surround you, I want to tell you my brother and sister in Christ tonight: John, when he saw heaven opened, saw a white horse! And He’s in control of the situation. Your situation. Mine. And the situation of this world. He’s the Commander-in-Chief. He’s on the horse.
We lived in France for about 10 years. And in consequence, my boy, and my daughter of course, had their schooling in France. And the champion, the idol for my boy happened to be Napoleon. On one occasion when we were traveling across France to get back to England (because we lived in Alsace, which is right the other side of France on the eastern border there,) we passed through Paris. And just outside Paris, there’s a place called Fontainebleau, where Napoleon once resided. And going through Fontainebleau we stopped. We walked around that tremendous palace, and we came to a room in which there was a glass case. And suddenly with awe Steve stood before the glass case. And all he could do was he kept saying to us [in a whispering voice], “Napoleon’s hat. Napoleon’s hat.”
“Steve, tell us about Napoleon.”
And he paused for a moment. He said, “Do you know what? There was a day when the French armies were being beaten in the field. And they were being routed, torn to the left and to the right. They were in a terrible mess and it was defeat. And the whole day had gone against them. And the night was beginning to draw on. And the sun was beginning to set. And France’s troops were beginning to fall and to wither before their enemies. But just before the sun set, coming over the brow of a hill, was a man with this hat and a black cane. But it was the white horse, dad, that the French armies saw. And when they saw the white horse, they threw their concern to the winds. And suddenly they loaded their muskets and took hold of their swords, and went into battle. And they fought like mad dogs, and they won the day, because the commander-in-chief, Napoleon himself, was among the troops.”
John said, “When I saw heaven opened, I saw a white horse. A white horse. And He that sits upon the white horse is the Commander-in-Chief.”
A white horse speaks of power. It speaks of power. Jews never used horses in warfare. It was the Egyptians, and the Syrians, and the Philistines; but not Israel, they were all footmen. But when did the horses, which speak of power, come on the scene? In the days of Solomon, who reigned from shore to shore. He was the one that commanded all of Israel, and here was unusual power in the days of Solomon. And here is unusual power. Not only unusual power, but unlimited power! He has chains, He can bind the enemy. He throws him into a great pit. He does it all Himself. And He locks him up and He shuts him up. Our God has unusual, unlimited power! He sits upon a white horse.
The Scriptures say, “For the kingdom is the LORD’s: and He is the Governor among the nations. God reigneth over the Heathen. All the earth shall worship Thee. Yea, all kings shall fall down before Him, and all nations shall serve Him.” It doesn’t matter much, in one sense, who becomes the president of the United States of America or who is the queen of England, because our God is the Governor among the nations! He is in control of the whole situation. And Russia, neither can anybody else, do anything outside of His eternal purposes and decree.
You see, I’m one of those strange guys that believes that God doesn’t have any permissive will, but He only has one will. And that will is executed, else He isn’t God. He don’t change His mind. He has one will, and His will will be done on earth, as it is in heaven. It’s done in heaven, and it will be done on earth, because He has unlimited, unusual power. He is the Governor among the nations.
“What else does a white horse speak of, John?”
“Well, you know what it speaks of? It speaks of victory! It speaks of victory.” You see, when the Roman generals used to go out to war, when they used to fight their battles for Rome, you know what they did? They rode forth to battle on a black horse. It was the horse of war. They used to wait in Rome for the generals to return. And they would sometimes wait months, maybe a year or so. And one day there would go a shout along the streets of Rome: “He’s Coming!” How is he coming? “He’s coming on a white horse!” And if they saw the general coming back from the war upon a white horse, they knew it was victory.
And how indeed he would come. He would come again as the head of all of his armies on that white horse, resplendent in all his uniform, all polished up, glistening in the morning sun. And behind him, stark naked, were the kings that he had beaten in battle, and the general whose armies he had subjugated. And here they all were stark naked and in chains, being dragged by his horse in a great victory parade around the streets of Rome. And behind them would come the victorious armies, the victorious armies of Rome, as the leader was riding a white horse. It was victory all the way. And Rome would go bananas, as the commander-in-chief came up on its streets.
Have you seen victory parades? Second World War ended around London here, where the representatives of all the Allied forces that had fought in the Second World War came in a victory parade. And in the midst of them all, there were representatives of the German armed forces who had been beaten in battle. What a victory parade went on for hours and hours on end. But I want to tell you of a victory parade that has been going on for 1900 years! And it’s still going on tonight. He is pulling them from the four corners of the earth, from every tribe, from every nation under heaven; who He is regenerating by His Holy Spirit; and they’re passing out of the scene of time into eternity. And they’re all in that victory parade. He has us in chains, and we’re glad to run after Him in chains. We’re bond-servants of the living God. And He has subjugated us in battle, and He’s beat us in battle, and our wills have been broken. And our hearts have been made open to Him, and we gladly run in His train. And He rides as the Head of us all in a victory parade.
“Who are these?”
Well, here’s the thief from off the cross. He heads the whole legion of them. And here they come in their multitudes, down through the centuries. And John said, “When I saw heaven opened, I saw a white horse.” A victory parade. That’s what it is. And you battered bleeding saints, and you persecuted saints, and you that are going through trials and difficulties; hey, and you that are behind barbed wire in placements in Russia and elsewhere; the picture you need to see, boys and girls tonight, is just this: That our God is on a white horse! He’s on a white horse.
Across there in Russia, may God give you grace to see something of Him who sits upon a white horse. A white horse. And you that are suffering here, may you see something of a white horse.
And John said, “I saw. Ooooh, you know what? I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse.”
“What else did you see, John?”
“Well,” he says, “I saw Him that sat upon that white horse.” And methinks old John was looking through his fingers. When he saw the white horse, he knew that that was the Commander-in-Chief. And so, perhaps, looking through his fingers in fear of Him who sat upon the white horse, he saw a name that was written: Faithful. True. “Oh,” John said, “I know Him. I know Him. Faithful and True. I know who it is. I know who it is.”
“Faithful, John? Hey, you’re on your own, on the isle of Patmos. You’re in chains. One day, they’re going to push your head in, and bury you in a shallow grave. John, Faithful? Do you think He’s been faithful and true to you, John? I mean, here you are, abandoned by all, seemingly, and left on your own. And everything to drive you to despair. Do you think he is faithful and true, John?”
“Yeah. You know, we would be with Him all day. And when He’d preach to the multitudes all through the day, in the evening He would send the multitudes away, and He would gather us boys around Him. And He used to say to me, because I used to lean on His breast and look into His eyes, ‘John boy, I, I, I love you.’ And I used to look up into His eyes and I used to say, ‘Well, Master, you know I love you too.’ ‘John, I want to tell you something. I have loved you, John, with an everlasting love. And that love, John, isn’t going to change, whatever happens. I’ve loved you from eternity, I love you through time, and into eternity. John, you are Mine. You’re Mine, and you are in My hands. My hand is in God the Father’s hand. And John, nobody is going to take you out of My hand, or out of My Father’s hand. John, thou shalt never perish. And John, though you go through blood and fire, I just want to tell you, John, I’ll keep you till the end of the day. And then one day, John, I’m going to present you faultless before the Father’s face with exceeding joy. John, I’ll never let you go.'”
“And He told me one or two other things. In fact, lots of other things. And at the end of the day as I look back over my life, I can say all that the Lord has said has been true. True. He is faithful. He has never left me. He’s never deserted me. He’s never abandoned me. When all hell seemed to be against me, do you know what? He just pulled back the drapes of heaven, and I saw heaven opened, and He that sat upon a white horse. And He is Faithful! He is indeed True! And He’s kept His Word.”
And that’s true: He is faithful. He is true. Isn’t it so? The saints know Him by His name. He is faithful. He is keeping you. He hasn’t let you down. Has He let anybody down? Has He let anybody down? No. Because if He had let anybody down, and He was unfaithful, and He was untrue, then we better burn our Bibles and burn this church, and go and live to the devil. But He is faithful and He is true. He’ll keep His Word. Brother and sister in Christ here tonight, He’s going to keep you, keep you till end of days, and present you faultless before His Father’s face with exceeding joy. And whatsoever He has said unto you in those private times, my dear one here in Christ, He’ll keep those words.
Peter starts out with his epistle, have you ever read it? He says, “Peter, an apostle.” And that is going to blow a few people’s minds. They didn’t think he would ever arrive there. This denier of the LORD’s Christ, with oaths and curses, they thought he was never going to be an apostle. He let down his Lord a thousand times. Here was a mess of a man and a mess of a life: a big, brash boaster that indeed he was. The others may indeed be apostles, but surely that won’t be so of Peter. But he writes his epistle with such sureness and confidence and assurance, that there’s not going to be one mouth that’s going to be opened against him. And he says, “Peter, an apostle!” And as the conclusion of that first chapter, he says, “The Word of the Lord endureth forever.”
My brother, my sister in Christ tonight, whatever He said to you, He’ll do it. He’ll keep His Word. He is faithful. He is true. You’ll never be on your own. Never. Never.
And sinner here tonight, the saints are rejoicing in that. But I just want to beg to remind you of something. He is faithful and true. He keeps to His Word. His Word is just this: “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, thou shalt be saved. Believe and be baptized. But he that believeth not shall be damned.” He that believeth not shall be damned. I can’t change it. If you believe, thou shalt be saved. If you believe not, thou shalt be damned. And He is faithful. And He is true.
John said, “I remember something about Him. There was something very very special about Him. Oh, I can remember when He was here upon earth, we went to Bethany on one occasion. Lazarus was dead. Martha, heart was broken. Mary, too. When we got there, He said, ‘Where have you put him?’ And they took Him to the cemetery. And when He got there, He looked at all the crowd that was weeping and wailing. And He looked at Mary and Martha. And I just had to pen this in my gospel—‘Jesus wept’. He wept. Tears flowed down His cheeks from those eyes of His. I can remember when He came to Jerusalem on one occasion, and He said, ‘O Jerusalem, O Jerusalem,’ as He looked upon Jerusalem, ‘How often would I have gathered you as a hen doth gather her chicks, but you would not. But you would not, but you would not, but you would not.’
“And I remember Him weeping over Jerusalem. I remember those testimony meetings that we used to have in our church in Jerusalem, and one of the members was old Bartimaeus. And old Bartimaeus used to live in Jericho. He was a blind man, been blind from his birth. And one day, he heard that Jesus of Nazareth was coming his way. And you know what, he didn’t know much about these things, but he heard that Jesus was coming his way, and where was Jesus. And Bartimaeus was saying his testimony, ‘I began to shout, and people told me to shut up. But the more they told me to shut up, the more I shouted. And I cried, “Jesus, Thou Son of David.” And suddenly, there was a silence. And I heard a voice saying, “Bring him to Me.” And I stumbled over people and bumped into people, but who cared? He had said, “Bring him to Me,” and I didn’t wait for people to bring me to Him. I went to Him, and suddenly I felt myself in His presence. And He said to me, “Bartimaeus, what do you want?” And I said, “Lord, that I might receive my sight.” And my eyes opened. And I saw a pair of eyes, the like of which I had never seen ever before.’ Those eyes. Those eyes.” John said, “I’d like to see those eyes again.”
“Oh No! Not these eyes!” says John here in this chapter. “Not these eyes.” And His eyes were indeed as a flame of fire. They were consuming, they were burning, right down into the innermost recesses of John’s heart. They burned him through and through. They could see everything in relation to John. They were like a consuming fire. And John said, “Not these eyes! Not these eyes!” His eyes were indeed as a flame of fire. And it says in the Scriptures that, “In that day there will be multitudes of men who will call upon the mountains to hide them from Him who sits upon the throne.” Why? Because of His eyes. They burn up all the sham and all the pretense, and all the hypocrisy and all the make-believe, and they see you and me as we really are. Not in a carnival with a mask, or indeed some strange clothes on, but He sees us as we are through and through. His eyes are as a flame of fire. There is nothing covered which shall not be revealed. He brings to light the hidden works of darkness. He is on His white horse. Beware! Beware!! Beware!!! He’s on a white horse, He’s coming, and His eyes are as a flame of fire.
That’s how John sees Him. Stephen doesn’t see that when he’s martyred for the cause of Christ in the book of the Acts. But John sees Him like this. The last picture we have of Christ in the New Testament. His eyes were as a flame of fire. John says on another occasion, “I fell as one dead before Him.” Now if he was the one that leaned on the bosom of Christ and looked up into His eyes when He was here upon earth, and yet he fell as a dead man before Him in that day, how do you think that you are going to stand before Him in that awful day when His eyes are as a flame of fire? If John couldn’t look at Him, how do you think you are going to look at Him?
And His eyes were as a flame of fire. And it says, “And on His head were many crowns.” He was once crowned with thorns, but now He has many crowns. He wears the crown of heaven. The angels, the cherubims, the seraphims, the twenty four elders, the holy spirits, the redeemed, all in heaven, they cast their crowns at His feet, and they cry “Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive honour, and glory, and majesty, and power, and dominion, and might, for ever and for ever. And my dear ones here tonight, one of the crowns that He wears upon His head, and rightly so, is the crown of heaven. And not only does He wear the crown of heaven, but He wears the crown of hell, in that He has conquered hell. And He reigns there supreme. Devils cower in terror before Him. And the cry is, when He comes to that demoniac of Gadarenes, they cry in their multitude, those thousand devils possessing one man, they cry, “LET US ALONE!” Why? Because He conquered hell.
He binds the beast and the false prophet, as we have here. He puts them in chains, and puts them and binds them into the bottomless pit. He reserves the fallen angels in chains. And our creed reminds us, as we said yesterday morning, He descended into hell, He spoiled principalities and powers, and made a show of them openly; which means to exhibit before all mankind what they are. They are nothing, because He has conquered them! And He wears the crown of hell.
He wears the crown of creation. He wears the crowns of victory against how many cavalry His people. He wears the crown of the church. And John says, “Upon His head, He wears many crowns.”
And John continued to gaze, and his eyes became fixed upon the Lord’s clothes. And we read in verse 13, “And He was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood.” Two kinds of blood here. It doesn’t say so, but I feel so. There is His own blood. His own blood. The most blessed thing of John’s vision. Though His eyes were like a flame of fire, burning, consuming all the sham and all the pretense and what have you, the amazing thing that John sees about this One sitting upon a white horse, who is the One who is in control of all things, is that He is wearing a bloody garment. And the hymn writer has said, “The blood shall never lose its power, till all the ransomed church of God be saved to sin no more.” And why you and I are not popped out, as far as time is concerned, and ushered into eternity is because He stands before that God, before that Holy and Righteous God, and that white throne, He stands and He pleads in a bloody garment.
And as Isaac Watts has said, “Five bleeding wounds He bears, received on Calvary. They pour effectual prayers, and they ever plead for me.” And John said, “When I saw Him, His name is Faithful and True, but He had upon Him a bloody garment.” Thank God for the garment. Thank God indeed for His blood, because it’s by His blood that we can look upon the One whose eyes are indeed as a burning fire.
“Jesus, Thy blood and righteousness,” says Zinzendorf, “My beauty are, my glorious dress; in flaming worlds, in these arrayed, With joy shall I lift up my head.” Thank God for His bloody raiment. He hasn’t discarded it. He hasn’t put it on one side, but He still wears it tonight. And it’s for you and for me. He wears His blood upon His garment. He’s not ashamed of that robe.
But methinks also that as He comes conquering and to conquer, that it’s something of the blood of His enemies. Isaiah 63 says, “Who is this that cometh from Edom, with dyed garments from Bozrah? I that speak in righteousness and mighty to save. I have trodden the winepress alone; I will tread them in Mine anger, and trample them in My fury; and their blood shall be sprinkled upon My garments, and I will stain all My raiment with their blood.” Have you ever seen such a picture? He treads the winepress of the fierceness of Almighty God alone.
Have you seen those winepresses in Europe or elsewhere, California? I remember on one occasion, in some exotic experience I jumped into a wine vat and, with some Spaniards, was treading those grapes down. And suddenly I had to jump out quick, because the picture was so graphic to me; because as I trod those grapes under foot, I could feel them break and burst, and their juice poured all over my feet and legs. And I came back to Revelation 19. O that awful day, when those nail-pierced feet tread the winepress of the wrath of Almighty God alone. He doesn’t leave the judgment of mankind in the hands of men or of angels. He does it Himself, because the Judge of all the earth shall do right.
Now my dear one here tonight, are you fighting heaven’s King? This One who sits upon a white horse, are you refusing His salvation? The Jews, when they came out of Egypt, had to sprinkle the blood on the doorposts of the house, but not on the threshold. You don’t trample this blood. Acts tells us it was God’s blood. And you don’t trample under foot God’s blood. It’s not the blood of bulls or of goats, or any human blood. It’s special blood. It’s the precious blood. And how shall we escape if we reject, if we neglect, if we despise so great a salvation? God sent His only begotten Son into this world to rescue a fallen mankind. He sent His Son! If you REFUSE, then my friend, the awful consequence is this: He’s coming on a white horse. And every eye shall see Him, including your eyes. And you shall behold Him. But in that day, you see, He won’t be your Savior, He’ll be your judge. He’ll be your conqueror. He’ll be the Commander-in-Chief, riding into the battle to slay all those who have lifted up their fist against the God of heaven.
And how will you stand in that day? How can you stand? I’ll tell you how you can stand, my friend, Come to the Fountain tonight. Come to Christ tonight. Believe on Him, thou shalt be saved. “There is a fountain filled with blood. It’s drawn from Emmanuel’s veins; and sinners plunged beneath that flood lose ALL their guilty stains. The dying thief rejoiced to see that fountain in his day; and there have I, as vile as he, washed all my sins away.”
Do you see the fountain? Then, my friend, what hinders you from coming? He has said, “Whosoever cometh unto Me, I will indeed in no wise cast out.” How futile, how futile to fight heaven’s King. I have some very dear friends. One of them is gloriously regenerated. In the Second World War, he was a fanatical SS man. The Allies had smashed Germany, and there was very little left to fight for. But fight, they were. Their oath was to the furor and what have you. Hmmm. They were going to a place just outside Salzburg to fight up those valleys there, forever and forever, against any inroads into this last stand of the so-called Nazi Party and what have you. They fought like devils, fought like madmen. But what’s the point? Because the Allies just surrounded them. Starved them out. And eventually, they surrendered.
What’s the point? You may have all the determination. You may have all your fierceness of an aroused conscience, my friend tonight. But don’t fight Him. It’s absolutely pointless! You can have half a dozen SSs all over the place, my friend, but it’s absolutely pointless! It’s no good fighting any more. He’s the One upon the white horse. And I fought Him long, and I strove against Him, but in the end, you see, He knocked me off my white horse, and He laid me on my back. So I was lying there for 12 weeks on end, and I have part of a collapsed lung. My wife often says, “Thank God you don’t have two good lungs because I don’t know, people wouldn’t be able to hear you at all.” But then He laid me on my back and He began to speak to me. And this is it, this is it my friend. One day I laid down. I couldn’t fight Him any more. And He conquered me.
My friend, He wants to be your friend tonight. He wants to be your Savior. Don’t fight Him. Bow the knee to the LORD’s Christ tonight.
Let us pray. What a picture, Lord. We have seen tonight of the Rider upon the white horse. The terror of it. The awesomeness of it. The glory of it. The power of it. And Lord, we come before You tonight as Thy people. We rejoice in it, Lord, to see that in spite of everything that is around us to disturb us and distract us and to drive us to despair, Thou art indeed upon the white horse. So victory is Yours, and power is Yours, and all might and honour is Thine. And Thou art faithful and true. You do wear the crowns. But Lord, we are frightened tonight for those who are outside of Christ. We beg of You, Lord, that by Your blessed Holy Spirit, You will turn men and women unto You. And so, Holy Spirit, go from pew to pew, and heart and heart, and cause unregenerate men to be regenerate. And that they may bow to Thee and accept Thee as their Savior. Have mercy upon them, Lord. We pray for Christ’s sake. Amen.
Copyright 1984, Dominion Baptist Church. All rights reserved.