King of Kings and Lord of Lords

Revelation 19: 11–16; And I saw the heaven opened, and behold, a white horse, and one sitting on it, [called] Faithful and True, and he judges and makes war in righteousness. And his eyes are a flame of fire, and upon his head many diadems, having a name written which no one knows but himself; and [he is] clothed with a garment dipped in blood; and his name is called The Word of God. And the armies which [are] in the heaven followed him upon white horses, clad in white, pure, fine linen. And out of his mouth goes a sharp [two-edged] sword, that with it he might smite the nations; and he shall shepherd them with an iron rod; and he treads the wine-press of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty. And he has upon his garment, and upon his thigh, a name written, King of kings, and Lord of lords.

This Scripture is presenting us with a scene of great events that haven’t yet taken place. It’s not exactly the time of the gospel depicted here, but it’s brought into this book in view of salvation, in view of taking advantage of this present time of grace, present time of repentance, time of forgiveness, time of healing, time of salvation. The Person presented in this section is none other than Jesus, the Saviour of sinners. It’s the very same Person. He is seen in various presentations in this book, but here He is seen in something that’s final. He is not in this Scripture appearing in view of salvation, but He’s appearing in view of judgment. He hasn’t entered on that yet, He’s still the Saviour, still the great, glorious, blessed Person of the gospel, the Person that each of us has to do with, will have to do with Him finally—God’s commanded it, that every knee should bow to Him, every tongue confess Him Lord. It doesn’t matter who it is, or where they come from, what their circumstances are, what their station in life is, every one will bow the knee to Jesus. He is given a name, it says, that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow. It won’t be the time for it in this passage. Persons who have been affected by the gospel, persons who have believed in it, persons who have taken advantage of the time of repentance and remission of sins are included in these persons that follow, the armies which are in the heavens, they are following on white horses. It’s an army different from what we are used to in armies—these persons are clad in white, pure, fine linen—they are unimpeachable, there’s not a fault can be found with them. Would you like to be in that company?

Think of that history each of us has had, and how it comes up at times, very stark and dark, sorrowful. The Lord would call it up, not in judgment. He is not calling it up in judgment now, that’s the great glory of the glad tidings. If He’s calling it up, He is calling it up in order to take it away, in salvation, by the gospel. It is the power of God to salvation. And this Jesus, He is the great Leader, the great Leader for men. The great need of the moment in every nation is to find the man that will be a leader. That’s the objective in every nation, to find someone that can solve the problems, remedy the damage, remedy the troubles, and there’s only One. There’s only one Man for God, only one Man for men, and that is the one Man, Jesus Christ. Spoken of as the Leader—no other man is spoken of as the leader like Jesus is—the Originator, or Leader, of life. He is the Leader and Saviour. He has appeared to give repentance and remission of sins, He has got the means to do it, that’s what it means. Every other leader that’s appeared among men has served for a time, and then the usefulness wanes and finally they die. All the great men of history, where have they gone? They’ve gone into oblivion. But this Man, Jesus, He’s living today and is the Leader and Saviour. He is the Leader of salvation and He is the Leader and Completer of faith. If you put your trust in Him, He will carry you right through, right through into eternity, and glory.

You won’t find a leader like that among men—not that we want to discredit the leaders of the nations, rather we should be on our knees about them, about the awful conditions in every nation, the awful helplessness and hopelessness of humanity away from Christ, unregenerate men, the situation worsening by the moment. We should be on our knees about it constantly, and live our lives as a testimony to the glad tidings. We are not to be a testimony to the will of man, not to be a testimony to the independence and self-will and lusts of men, not a testimony to the condition of things that prevails in this world. As having been enlightened by the gospel, we are here to be a testimony to Jesus. That’s what our calling is, to be a testimony to Jesus, that He’s a Saviour, a Saviour for men, currently. Not only a Saviour from wrath, but a present Saviour, living Saviour. Saved by the power of His blood, that is from wrath; but saved in the power of His life, that’s now, so that we’re not a prey to sin and temptation and the world, and all the wickedness that’s appearing. Believers are meant to be free of that; it’s possible, that’s the gospel. It’s possible, it’s not an impossibility, it’s a possibility; it’s a present, real possibility to be free of the power of sin. And here He is in this great movement, it is out of heaven; He is sitting on a white horse, He is Faithful and True, think of that! Every word will stand, every word of Jesus will stand inviolate, won’t have to be changed, couldn’t be called in question. If you want to have to do with Him today, you can get your matters settled eternally, to the glory of God.

That’s how Jesus had to say to sin. It’s not the scene in this Scripture, but He has already had to do with blood—His own blood. The blood here is not His own blood, it’s the blood of His enemies. He’s going to have His garments, according to the prophet, sprinkled with blood, that’s the blood of His enemies. He is coming out in violence as a Plunderer to deal with His enemies. Oh, don’t find your place among His enemies. There’s no need for anyone to be among the enemies of Jesus. He is the Friend of sinners, Friend of tax-gatherers and sinners, that is, they can find their need met. That’s what it means, every need. Every one of us would have needs and some of them are unmet, unsatisfied; turning to other things won’t meet them, won’t solve them, can’t possibly do it, it can only worsen them. If you turn to the world, or sin, or self-indulgence or what-not, it will only make it worse by the moment. But here’s the glad tidings, presented in Jesus.

I only refer to this figure, this picture, to show how great He is. His eyes are as a flame of fire, on His head many diadems, having a name written which no one knows but Himself, that’s who He is. He is God over all, blessed for ever. But think of how great He is, that’s Jesus, the One who went so low at the cross, but think of Him being prepared to be the song of the drunkards. He said, They part My garments among them, and cast lots upon My vesture. Think of Him being sold by one of His disciples for thirty pieces of silver—think of Him submitting Himself to be taken by the hands of wicked men and crucified, and slain! But no resistance, He turned not away back. Who, when reviled, it says, reviled not again; when suffering, threatened not; but gave Himself over into the hands of Him who judges righteously. That’s Jesus, as becoming the Sin-bearer, but in this Scripture it’s Jesus as going out in judgment upon His enemies. Oh, be warned, be wise in time. The scene in this Scripture is going to take place, it’s as sure as can be that it will come, it’ll come soon, and Jesus will have to say, He will have the final word about everything. Think of that, think of Him having to do with the man of sin. A personal personification of man’s lawlessness against God will rise up in a man, and Christ will have to say to him, and consign him to eternal judgment. Think of that, that’s the solemn time we are in. He hasn’t arisen yet, he won’t arise till believers are gone, but it’s heading up that way. Don’t let’s be caught by it, don’t let’s be deceived by the way things are going in the world. Don’t look that way for guidance, don’t look that way for help or satisfaction—look to Christ. The final word will be from Jesus.

Oh friend, why not get a final word from Him today? His name is The Word of God—how beautiful that is. What He will make us to understand, what He will give us to know—the armies which followed and so on. And then it says, He will smite the nations, shepherd them with an iron rod; He treads the wine-press of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty. That’s the final movement in judgment by Jesus. Just think of it for a moment, the lowly Jesus who went to Calvary, hung on a cross, on His way to judgment. Oh, let’s be drawn to Him today, the Saviour, the Leader and Saviour, the Originator, the Leader of faith, let’s find our place, following Him. It says, and upon His garment, and upon His thigh, a name written, King of kings, and Lord of lords. He is superior to every other power in the universe, under God. Oh, make certain today you have to do with Him personally. For His name’s sake.

John Hales

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