Hope On A Horse

TITLE: HOPE ON A HORSE.

SCRIPTURE: REV. 19:11-16

Michael Parks

Dry Run Baptist Church

2109 Cincinnati Pike

Georgetown, KY 40324

drbc@bellsouth.net

INTRODUCTION:

Some pastors were discussing the second coming of Christ.

The Episcopalian priest said, "well he would come to the episcopal church first, because of our long line of apostle succession."

The Holiness preacher said, "No he would come to us first because of our enthusiasm."

The Baptist preacher said, "No, he will come to us first, why should He change after all these years."

The second coming of Jesus is the culmination of history. We look to it as a point of hope, but also with some confusion. The book of Revelation is a book of grand visions that can and are interpreted in many ways. This sermon is not going to clear up all of the confusion, nor will you walk away from it with a sense of what events are going to have to happen in order for Christ glorious return. Eschatology is the study of the "last things," we are not here to discuss the "last things," but instead the hope that this wondrous vision holds for us.

In your daily lives think of the things that you see and hear both in the news and from those around you. We hear and see far to much in the ebb and flow of life. There is talk of a recession. We see the ACLU attacking the right to pray and post the Ten Commandments. We hear of a nation that is divided over an election. I don’t mind telling you that all of this terrifies me. I look into the face of my child and I can’t image what the future holds for him. This is the Christmas Season and we don’t need to be concerned with this, do we?

I recently heard of a grisly event in Russia. A man and his mother were selling his five-year-old for his organs, mind you his organs! The police arrested the man and his mother, as the child was crying and screaming for his dad and grandmother. We need hope. We need assurance in a world like this. When Robinson Crusoe’s man Friday asked why God won’t destroy the Devil, Crusoe finally said "God will destroy the Devil." This is the victory that this majestic vision holds for us all. That God WILL DESTROY THE DEVIL.

I. TRIUMPH OF CHRIST.

This victory ride of Christ had humble beginnings. The song that sings out "Away in a Manger, no crib for his bed" certainly is no battle cry for the fiery eyed Savior we see in Revelation. For it was patience and humility that won out. As Christ was a lamb to slaughter, God’s plan had to unfold. He told Peter the night of His arrest that there was legions of angels that He could call down, but he chose the path to the cross. Not an easy path but a journey that must be taken. For it was on this journey that Christ’s work was completed. The atonement that a creation gone wrong, needed. Tis, true that Christ had those angles and a saddled horse ready to ride through history to destroy the devil, but without the cross this act would have been senseless. God’s plan has to unfold and it does, even in the atrocities of our world.

For victory is given in this world through hope, hope in a final victory. We watch a war or a western movie and inevitably the battle is won in the end when someone finds courage, or the long awaited backup arrives. We have but to point to the scriptures and say. "My Savior is coming. My savior is coming."

In Julian’s march to Persia his army captured a Christian believer and tormented him. After they had become tired of this ghastly sport they looked down at their bloody toy and said. "Where is your Carpenter God now?" This Christian believer looking through the blood and pain said "He is making a coffin for your emperor!" Julian only ruled two years. Life’s situations call out to us Where is your Carpenter God. Our response is one of certainty, no matter what evil haunts us. You can call out to Christ and He will construct the coffin. Won’t it be a magical time when we can lay down those things that burdens us and all the evil that encompasses life, in that coffin?

That simple course goes through my head:

Our God Reigns, Our God Reigns, Our God Reigns.

Christ is saddling the horse. I believe, like every generation before me, that the victory is close at hand. He has defeated death for you and me as well as giving us a tremendous way of life to live. Our God Reigns, there is no problem that you cannot give over to Christ, one in which He will not construct a coffin for.