1. Preparing for war (verses 11-16)
2. Preparing for victory (verses 17-18)
3. Preparing for defeat (verses 19-21)

This week, I spent two days at College Church in Wheaton at a conference for pastors entitled, "A Workshop on Biblical Exposition." I make every effort in my schedule to attend this workshop every year. It's a good reminder of the heart of my ministry as a pastor. As I labor in the Word each week to preach to you all, my goal is ever before me: Set God before your hearts. As I make the reality of the Scriptures clear to you, then, I accomplish my goal. This is really the heart of Biblical exposition. It's taking the truth of God's word, opening it up, helping you to see what God says, and calling you to respond appropriately. That's the aim of my preaching every week. I want for you to encounter God through His revealed word. I want for you to see Jesus by faith. And to the extent that I open and unfold the Scriptures, my aim will take place.

The focus of this workshop this week was on preaching apocalyptic literature, that is, the preaching of visions of the future that are often heavy-laden with imagery and symbolism. Apocalyptic literature saturates books like Ezekiel and Daniel and Revelation. And so, having thought much this week about some of the apocalyptic texts in the Scripture, I wanted to open up such a text for you this morning: Revelation 19.

My aim for my message this morning is to remind you of the character of Christ. Too often we can think of Jesus as a softie, who drifted around Jerusalem, wearing a dress and saying nice things to people. Nothing could be further from the truth. To be sure, the first coming of Jesus was one of gentleness. He came as a lamb, meek and mild, ready to be sacrificed. But, He will come again in a different way than He came. We will come as a lion, giving no mercy to His enemies. And this is what we see in Revelation 19. We see Jesus, the Lion, from the tribe of Judah, pouncing on His prey. So, consider our text.

Revelation 19:11-21
And I saw 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. 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 midheaven, "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 assembled 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 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 on the horse, and all the birds were filled with their flesh.

The entire book of Revelation has been leading up to this point. The book begins by John describing his situation. He was on the island of Patmos in political exile, when Jesus appeared to him. He was told to "write in a book what you see" (Rev. 1:11).

First, he saw some warnings which he was to give to seven churches in Asia Minor (chapters 2 and 3). This was followed up by a few scenes of God and Christ upon the throne in heaven (chapters 4-5). And then the judgment began to unfold. John saw seven seals opened (beginning in chapter 6). And as they opened, they brought terror upon the inhabitants of the earth. The seals brought wars and famines and death to many. Things were so bad, that many of those who experienced the result of these seals hid themselves in the caves and they said to the mountains, "Fall on us and hide us from the presence of Him who sits on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb; for the great day of their wrath has come, and who is able to stand?" (6:16-17). But, that was only the beginning of the visions that John saw.

Beginning in chapter 8, after the seals, then John saw and heard the seven trumpets being blown. As they sounded, God's wrath continued to be poured out upon the earth. Cataclysmic destruction was taking place. A third of the earth was destroyed. There were disturbances in the heavens as well. Through it all, the rebellion of Satan and his followers become evident. When two witnesses of God arrive on the scene, the world is against them (Rev. 11). When the Christ is born, Satan attempts to devour him (Rev. 12). Beasts arose from the sea and from the earth to deceive those on the earth (Rev. 13). The result was a cosmic war. But, it wasn't so much a war. Rather, it was more like judgment. People were rebelling against the Lord and He was destroying that rebellion, slowly, but surely.

In chapter 16, John witnessed the bowl judgments (in chapter 16). The world was greatly afflicted, and yet, those on the earth refused to repent. In chapters 17 and 18, we see Babylon, the great city falling. In chapter 19, we see the gathering of God's people into final victory, where the four-fold Hallelujahs are sounded. "Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power belong to our God" (verse 2). "Hallelujah! [the] smoke [of the great harlot] rises up forever and ever" (verse 3). "Amen. Hallelujah!" (Verse 4). "Hallelujah! For the Lord our God, the Almighty, reigns" (verse 6). This is followed by the vision of the marriage supper of the Lamb, when the church is united to Jesus Christ in holy matrimony, being together forever.

And then, we come to our text, beginning in verse 11. These words describe the final victory of Christ over the beast and the false prophet. The text breaks down into three parts. All three of them begin with the phrase, "I saw." You can see the phrase there in verse 11, "And I saw heaven opened." Look down at verse 17, "Then I saw an angel standing." And now, look at verse 19, "And I saw the beast and the kings." These are three scenes before our eyes. We will look at each of them. And, so you know, there is much encouragement in these scenes for our souls. May God help us to see His glory. Here's the first one, ...

1. Preparing for war (verses 11-16)

In verse 11 we read, "And I saw heaven opened." Back in chapter 4, John had looked up and saw a door that was "standing open in heaven." When he saw it, he received an invitation, "Come up here." And so, John went into heaven to see the things he recorded for us in chapters 4 and 5. But, since then, the focus in the book of Revelation hasn't been upon the heavens. Rather, it has been upon the earth and all of the devastations that take place. Here, in Revelation 19, though John saw heaven opened, he wasn't summoned up to see into the heavens. Rather, he saw what was coming out of heaven. Or, better yet, he saw who was coming out of heaven. It was none other than Jesus, as will be clear as we look at the details of verses 11-16.

You can see the identity of this rider clearly as Jesus in verse 13b, where He is called "The Word of God." This is an allusion to John's identification of Jesus in the gospel account that he wrote. In John 1:1, we read, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." Later, in verse 14, we read, "And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us." This is Jesus.

Look at how Jesus is described. He is described as coming on a white horse. The last time that we saw a white horse in the book of Revelation, it comes in chapter 6, verse 2. Back then, Jesus wasn't upon the horse. Instead, one of the four living creatures was on the horse. Look at how that rider is described. "he who sat on [the white horse] had a bow; and a crown was given to him, and he went out conquering and to conquer" (6:2). The rider was described as being at war. This is one of the reasons why I have entitled my point, "preparing for war."

In the book of Revelation, we see white horses associated with war. And that's what Jesus is doing here. He is coming to fight a war. War terminology saturates these verses. We see the armies following him in verse 14. They also are on white horses, prepared for battle. In verse 15, we see s sword coming out of His mouth. That sword is a lethal weapon, which strikes down the nations. In verse 19, we see another army gathering against Jesus.

In verse 11, we see this man identified. His name is "Faithful and True." For all intents and purposes, these two words are synonyms. The point here isn't to distinguish between the words. Rather, the point here is to feel the emphasis. Jesus Christ is "Faithful." He is "Really faithful." He is "truly faithful." He is "faithfully true." Every promise that Jesus has made will come true, unlike the beast and the false prophet, who deceive those in the world (13:14). You can see their deception down in verse 20, which speaks of how the beast and the false prophet "deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image" (19:20). But, Jesus isn't like this. Rather, He is the true one, who fulfills His promise. Several times throughout the Revelation, Jesus is described as being the faithful one. In chapter 1, verse 5, Jesus is described as "the faithful witness." In chapter 3, verse 7, Jesus describes Himself as the "true one." In chapter 3, verse 14, Jesus calls himself, "the faithful and true Witness."

As he comes back waging war, Jesus is showing Himself to be true to His promises to judge the wicked. This is the point of the last phrase in verse 11, "in righteousness He judges and wages war." When Jesus judges, His judgments are true. When Jesus wages war, His war is a just war.

In our day and age, there are still questions that float around. Was it right for America to invade Iraq? Was it just for the oil? Were there really weapons of mass destruction? The answers to these questions will be debated for the next few decades in modern history classrooms across our lands. But, the war that Jesus fights will never be opened to any such debate. The war He wages is a just war. In fact, that's one of the things that the book of Revelation shows. It shows a huge polarity between the righteous and the unrighteous. There is a big difference between those who follow the Lamb and those who follow the beast. Their lives show it. Those purchased by the Lamb are "blameless" and "no lie [is] found in their mouth" (Rev. 14:5). The wicked, on the other hand are "unclean" and "practice abomination and lying" (Rev. 21:27). And so, Jesus comes to judge the wicked.

From time to time, we read in the paper of a man who was on death row, but new evidence has surfaced that has cleared him of the charges. The jury made a mistake. There are no mistakes in the judgment of Jesus. God's judgments are righteous judgments.

Perhaps one of the reasons why is because of what we read in verse 12, "His eyes are a flame of fire." As John saw the rider upon the horse, he looked into his eyes and saw fire in them. It could be the fire of wrath. It could be the fire of intensity. Or, as some commentators say, it could be the eyes are able to discern the hearts of men. In this way, His judgment will be just, as His fiery eyes penetrate deep in to the souls of men.

This next phrase, "on His head are many diadems," is an indication of His rule and authority. Throughout the book of Revelation, we see this imagery used, a crown with diadems. When used, it is an indication of the scope of one's sovereignty and authority. In Revelation 12:3, the great red dragon, had seven diadems upon his head, indicating the power that he had over many nations. In Revelation 13:1, the beast, which came up out of the sea had ten diadems upon his head, likewise, indicating the authority that he exerted. But, when we read of Jesus, we read that he had "many diadems." I believe that the idea here is of His sovereignty. He had more diadems than the great red dragon. He had more diadems than the beast. The reason is simple: He has more sovereignty and authority than either of these. In fact, that fact is going to be evident in a little bit, as He strikes down the nations and rules over them.

And then, we come to the phrase, "He has a name written on Him which no one knows except Himself" (verse 12). There's no need to speculate about this one. Nobody knows what was written on Him, so it is meaningless to guess. But, it is His prerogative to hide it from everyone else.

As we come to verse 13, we continue to see the appearance of Jesus described for us. We read, "He is clothed with a robe dipped in blood," I love this. This is where the text really became alive to me this week.

We see the robe of Jesus "baptized" in blood. That is, there was some blood shed and the robe of Jesus became saturated in the blood. Now, some think that this is His own blood. But, I don't think so. I believe that the best explanation of this is that this is the blood of His enemies that He has spilt. It's on His clothes because their blood splattered onto His garment as they were put to death. When you put a few things together, you can figure out how His garments were stained.

I want for you to consider one of the most gruesome scenes in all of Revelation.

Revelation 14:17-20
And another angel came out of the temple which is in heaven, and he also had a sharp sickle. Then another angel, the one who has power over fire, came out from the altar; and he called with a loud voice to him who had the sharp sickle, saying, "Put in your sharp sickle and gather the clusters from the vine of the earth, because her grapes are ripe." So the angel swung his sickle to the earth and gathered the clusters from the vine of the earth, and threw them into the great wine press of the wrath of God. And the wine press was trodden outside the city, and blood came out from the wine press, up to the horses' bridles, for a distance of two hundred miles.

The picture here is given of the vine growers, who reap the grapes from among the field. They take the grapes and they place them in the wine press, which presses and squeezes and presses and squeezes the grapes. As you do, the juice from the grapes begins to rise in the vat. But, you keep pressing and squeezing and pressing and squeezing, until every last bit of juice comes out. At that point, you have a vat of juice with all of the remains on the bottom of the vat.

This is the imagery that John sees of the judgment. Here we see the angels reaping the harvest. But, the harvest isn't grapes. The harvest is the wicked people, who have come for judgment. People are placed in the vat, and they are squeezed and pressed and squeezed and pressed, until their blood comes out. Pretty soon, you begin to stomp on enough people, and the blood rises in the vat, so that you are standing in the blood of people. So great is the wrath and fury of God that "the wine press was trodden outside the city, and blood came out from the wine press, up to the horses' bridles, for a distance of two hundred miles" (verse 20), such is the extent of the wrath of God upon His enemies.

It's no wonder then, why the robe that Jesus is wearing is "baptized" in blood. He was churning the bodies of the people, forcing the blood out of their bodies. This is the allusion that John uses at the end of verse 15, "He treads the wine press of the fierce wrath of God." This is the truth as prophesied in ...

Isaiah 63:2, 3
Why is Your apparel red
And your garments like the one who treads in the wine press?
I have trodden the wine trough alone,
And from the peoples there was no man with Me.
I also trod them in My anger
And trampled them in My wrath;
And their lifeblood is sprinkled on My garments,
And I stained all My raiment.

This is exactly what is taking place here in Revelation 19. Jesus is treading the wine press alone. He, alone, is pouring out God's wrath upon the unbelieving. Nobody from the peoples are doing it. He is doing it alone! This is exactly what we find in verse 14, where we see the armies that are coming with Jesus. We read, "and the armies which are in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, were following Him on white horses" (verse 14).

The armies following Jesus are His saints. It's His people. These are the ones who have "volunteer[ed] freely in the day of [His] power" (Ps. 110:3). And check out how they are described. They also are on white horses, meaning that they are also waging war. But, their garments are clean. They are "fine linen, white and clean." You realize what this means, don't you? It means that His armies are for show! They won't be fighting.

Depending upon when this takes place, it may well be that we will be one of those saints following Jesus on white horses when He defeats the beast and the false prophet. We may well be ready to fight, but we won't be fighting! Notice how there are no weapons of war on the armies that were following Jesus, only clean and spiffy uniforms! Here's the great reality of these verses: Jesus fights for us, on our behalf.

Those following Jesus don't fight, because God has said, "Vengeance is mine! I will repay!" (Heb. 10:30). According to verse 19, these armies are attacked. But, they do not fight. Rather, Jesus fights in our place.

Now, look how he fights, "From His mouth comes a sharp sword, so that with it He may strike down the nations" (verse 15). Jesus fights with His words. The imagery here is clear. A weapon comes out of His mouth, which destroys the nations. These words speak to the power of the words of Jesus.

When He created the world, He simply said, "Let there be light" and there was light (Gen. 1:4). He said, "Let the waters below the heavens be gathered into one place, and let the dry land appear" and it was so (Gen. 1:9). He said, "Let the waters teem with swarms of living creatures" and it was so (Gen. 1:20). Likewise, when Jesus speaks words of conquering His enemies, they are defeated.

I love the way that Paul brings this up in 2 Thessalonians 2:8, "Then that lawless one will be revealed whom the Lord will slay with the breath of His mouth and bring to an end by the appearance of His coming." Jesus merely breathes upon His enemies and they fall. This was even true in His earthly ministry. When "the Roman cohort and officers from the chief priests and the Pharisees came with lanterns and torches and weapons" to arrest Jesus (John 18:3), Jesus knew that they were coming for Him. And so, He asked them, "Whom do you seek?" (John 18:4). They answered Him, "Jesus the Nazarene" (John 18:5). He said to them, "I am He" (John 18:5). "When He said to them, 'I am He,' they drew back and fell to the ground" (John 18:6). How much more do His enemies fall back and fall at the end of time when they see Him coming in power!

In Revelation 19, Jesus merely speaks victory, and the victory comes. As Martin Luther said it well, ...

And though this world, with devils filled, Should threaten to undo us;
We will not fear, for God hath willed, His truth to triumph through us.
The prince of darkness grim, We tremble not for him;
His rage we can endure, For lo! his doom is sure,
One little word shall fell him.

The little word that comes from the mouth of Jesus defeats His enemies. It strikes down the nations utterly.

In the next phrase of verse 15, we read that Jesus "will rule them with a rod of iron." This phrase is taken directly from Psalm 2, "The kings of the earth take their stand And the rulers take counsel together Against the LORD and against His Anointed" (Ps. 2:2). But God, "sits in the heavens" and laughs at their feeble attempts at rebellion (Ps. 2:4). When His wrath comes, the Messiah, "will break them with a rod of iron, and shatter them like earthenware" (Ps. 2:9). When God's word of judgment comes, kingdoms and nations won't stand. They will be crushed, much in the same way that a bar of iron coming down upon clay pots will destroy the pots.

This was the great illustration given in Revelation 17 and 18. Babylon, the great and prosperous city, is struck down. According to Revelation 17:14, "These wage war against the Lamb, and the Lamb will overcome them, because He is the Lord of lords and King of kings, and those who are with Him are the called and chosen and faithful." The Lamb will overcome them by crushing them. and ruling over them.

Now, this brings us back to Revelation 19, where we read in verse 16, "And on His robe and on His thigh He has a name written, "King of kings, and Lord of lords." There's no question here of the power and might and sovereignty of Jesus Christ. He rules over all kings. He is the master over all masters. And when Jesus prepares for war, He prepares for victory. This is my second point. We have seen Jesus (1) Preparing for war (verses 11-16). And now, we see the birds, ...

2. Preparing for victory (verses 17-18)

Consider verses 17 and 18, ...

Revelation 19:17-18
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 midheaven, "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.

In these verses, we see the angel summoning the birds for a feast. These aren't birds like canaries and robins and bluebirds. Rather, these are birds the vultures, who live on the carcasses of dead beings. Notice what's on the menu. You have flesh of kings. You have the flesh of commanders. You have the flesh of the mighty men. You have the flesh of horses and their riders. In summary, you have the flesh of every kind of human being, whether they are slave or free, whether they are small or great. And these birds are going to eat their carcasses.

This is a bloody scene. Picture the ground covered with dead bodies. And then, picture a swarm of vultures descending upon the bodies and eating them. But, this is far more than a blood, gross scene. This is the ultimate in disgrace. The Old Testament speaks often of how shameful it is for the bodies of people to be eaten by the birds. The three most prominent prophets in the Old Testament use this imagery. Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel all speak of the horrors of judgment that will fall upon those who are disobedient and unbeliever (Is. 18:6; Jer. 7:33; 16:4; 19:7; 34:20; Ezek. 29:5). The cry of the Psalmist (in Psalm 79) is that the enemies of God have invaded Jerusalem. Things are so bad that "they have given the dead bodies of [God's] servants for food to the birds of the heavens" (Ps. 79:2). It's one thing to be killed in war. But, it's another thing to be disgraced in death this way, to be eaten by the birds.

Now, the key to these verses isn't how terrible the disgrace is. The key to these verses that these birds have been summoned for this feast, which hasn't even yet been prepared. Christ has not yet gained his full victory over these people. In verses 11-16, we see Jesus, merely preparing for war. He doesn't yet obtain the victory until verses 20 and 21. But, the victory is so sure, that the birds are summoned to this feast. Such is the nature of the entire book of Revelation. Though many of the events being described in this book are yet to take place, they are seen as already haven been accomplished. John "saw" these events (verses 11, 17, and 19). And every one of them, he wrote in the past tense. It's because the prophetic word is sure. What God says, will come to pass.

John wasn't the only one to write of these things. Ezekiel first prophesied that these things would take place.

Ezekiel 39:17-20
As for you, son of man, thus says the Lord GOD, 'Speak to every kind of bird and to every beast of the field, "Assemble and come, gather from every side to My sacrifice which I am going to sacrifice for you, as a great sacrifice on the mountains of Israel, that you may eat flesh and drink blood. You will eat the flesh of mighty men and drink the blood of the princes of the earth, as though they were rams, lambs, goats and bulls, all of them fatlings of Bashan. So you will eat fat until you are glutted, and drink blood until you are drunk, from My sacrifice which I have sacrificed for you. You will be glutted at My table with horses and charioteers, with mighty men and all the men of war," declares the Lord GOD.

This is exactly the vision that John saw. The only difference is a small one. In Revelation, we see the birds "filled with their flesh" (verse 21). In Ezekiel's prophesy, we see the birds gorged with the flesh they eat. They eat so much flesh that they are full, unable to eat any more. They drink so much blood, that the birds are drunk with it. It's a terrible image. But it's a certain image. God's enemies will be defeated in the last battle.

Satan isn't surprised when this takes place. In Revelation 12, we see Satan seeking desperately to destroy Jesus. He is awaiting His birth, so that he might devour Jesus (Rev. 12:4). But, when he fails, he wages war in heaven with God's angels (Rev. 12:7). Satan and his angels lose the battle and God throws them down to the earth to vent his anger. And then God says, "Woe to the earth and the sea, because the devil has come down to you, having great wrath, knowing that he has only a short time" (Rev. 12:12). Satan knows that he is defeated enemy. He knows that his time is short. He's merely trying to do whatever damage he might do before being ultimately defeated. And that's why I'm calling my last point, ...

3. Preparing for defeat (verses 19-21)

In verses 11-16, we saw Christ preparing for war (verses 11-16). In verses 17-18, we see the birds preparing for victory (verses 17-18). Finally, in verses 19-21, we see God's enemies, preparing for defeat (verses 19-21).

In verse 19, we see the beast and his armies prepared to wage war against Christ and His army. John writes, "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." This is an exercise in vanity. Putting on their armor, putting on their helmet, taking up their shield, and unsheathing their sword, is all for show, and nothing more.

This is the biggest non-event war that ever took place. In the last two verses of our text, we read, "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 on the horse, and all the birds were filled with their flesh."

What a way for the cosmic conflict to end! If you want drama, you could easily draw this battle out, at least that's what they do in the movies. I don't watch many movies at all, but occasionally, I do, especially when a movie comes out with a Christian theme. For instance, a few years ago, I saw, "Narnia." It's been some time since I watched it, but I remember the final scene. The Pevensie children, Peter, Edmund, Susan, and Lucy were summoned by Aslan to Narnia to wage war with the White Witch. Much of the movie was about the battle that was to take place between Aslan's army and the army of the White Witch.

When it came to the last battle, the movie dragged on and on and on. The armies began on the battle field, lined up against each other. The camera focused upon the faces of those who were preparing for battle. You could feel the tension of those about to engage in war. You saw Peter's stern resolve to lead his army to victory. You saw the white witch in defiance against him. You saw the fear of some of the creatures. You could feel the emotion in the air. And then, the charge. The two army fronts began to move towards each other. Then, they were seen charging toward each other. At this point, you the movie slowed down, so you could see the good side galloping toward the bad side. Then, you could see the bad side charging toward the good. You see creatures being killed, both good and bad. The outcome of the battle seems to go back and forth. The White Witch seems to prevail, until Aslan comes on the scene, and finally puts and end to the Witch.

For twenty minutes of movie time, that battle raged, because, that's the way that they do it in movies. The battle scene is the big deal. But, when you come to the book of Revelation, the war is over as soon as it starts. We simply read, "the beast was seized, and with him the false prophet."

If you want to sell books, this isn't the way for it to end! It would be much better with details of the battle. What happened going back and forth. If you want to sell books, you need to convince the reader that Jesus was on the verge of losing, but eventually, the tide was turned, and He won the day! But, God isn't interested in selling books. He is merely interested in giving us the comfort of knowing that Christ wins the battle, and he wins it with ease. He takes the beast and the false prophet and throws them into the lake of fire. He kills the rest with the sword that comes out of his mouth. That's it! That's the end of battle!

The comfort for us comes in that we are following the winner. Jesus wins in the end. And it's not even close.

One of the most destructive thoughts that come into our minds is the thought of dualism in the world, as if there is a cosmic battle in this world over good and evil. Now, to be sure, we feel the battle day to day, as we wage spiritual war against the schemes of Satan. But, in the grandest scheme of things, it's not a battle between two equal forces, where we simply need to hope and pray that God will win in the end. No, that's not how the universe runs. Christ is the all-powerful one, who gained the victory at the cross. Whatever Satan does in this day and age is all because God has cast him to earth for a short time. When that time is up, the battle will be over.

Any preparation for war that might take place against the Lord and His anointed are feeble at best. That's why I have entitled my last point, "Preparing for defeat" because, that's what they were doing. To be sure, they were preparing for war. But, in reality, they were preparing to be defeated. Jesus defeats them!

This sermon was delivered to Rock Valley Bible Church on May 17, 2009 by Steve Brandon.
For more information see www.rvbc.cc.