You Live in the War Jesus Will Win!

As I mentioned at the beginning of worship, today is the sixth Sunday of Easter. I also said that today is the ascension of our Lord, even though traditionally, the church celebrates Jesus’ ascension forty days after Easter, which always lands on a Thursday. We are celebrating it today because it is an important event in Jesus’ life and most of you are not free to celebrate on a Thursday morning at 10:30 am. Jesus’ ascension is recorded in detail in our Old Testament reading for today from Acts 1, we read,

3 “After his suffering, he presented himself to them and gave many convincing proofs that he was alive. He appeared to them over a period of forty days and spoke about the kingdom of God.” Then, we read, 9 … he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight. 10 They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. 11 “Men of Galilee,” they said, “why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.”

Forty days after Jesus rose from the dead proving he had paid for our sins and provided us with eternal life, Jesus left and went into heaven. Jesus finished his work on earth, so he returned to heaven and like the disciples, we often look up at the sky wondering when he will return because life is not easy.

It is not easy living here while Jesus is in heaven because the world is at war. Jesus’ resurrection and ascension prove he defeated our enemies of sin, death and the devil, but we are still here waiting to go to heaven. When we turn our eyes away from the clouds to look at the world, the landscape is not good. Headlines repeat the same bad news. There is violence like murder, mass murder, riots and war. There are shortages of food and other daily essentials. There are lies and truth twisting to control and manipulate. There are false saviors. There are perverse behaviors reported on and punished, but even promoted and encouraged. There are more terrible things to list even though we want the list stop, but it does not stop. We keep talking about these horrible things because they keep happening. We cannot put them behind us because we live them day after day. So, you as a believer in Jesus are confronted with the problem of trusting in Jesus as your Savior, but also being in the world at war with him and you. The difficulty you face is Jesus being in heaven while you are here. This leads you to despair wondering when he will come back or the worst case wondering if he will come back, and if you can hold out waiting for him. Or you try to replace him by fixing the broken world around you by your own hard work or by trusting in others to make life and the world a better place as if it could be fixed to a point that everything and everyone is in harmony. It is not easy living here while the world is at war with itself, and you while Jesus is in heaven.

The book of Revelation was written to Christians at war with the world. Jesus had ascended into heaven over half a century before the book of Revelation was written. The apostle John was given the visions and words to write down in what is called the book of Revelation to comfort Christians of all time. Revelation means uncover or reveal in the Greek language. God uncovered and revealed the future in the book of Revelation to give us confidence while we are in the war of the world. Revelation is the answer to two truths revealed in the Bible. One is in Acts 14, 22 … “we must enter the kingdom of God through many tribulations.” And the other in Matthew 16, 18 … “on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.” Revelation identifies your struggle being at war with the sinful world where suffering and evil threaten and permeate everything, and directly fight against you as a Christian who trusts in Jesus as written in Acts 14. Then, Revelation shows you that in the end, the ascended Jesus will overcome hell returning to win the war and bring all the church home to heaven as written in Matthew 16. Now, Revelation was not written to give you an exact date for Jesus’ return to do this. Instead, it is the truth that he will return, and you must always be ready for him to return.

The spectacular vision John recorded in our New Testament reading from Revelation 19 gives us confidence even as we live at war with the forces of evil in the world. John recorded what God revealed to him in Revelation 19,

11 “I saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True. With justice he judges and wages war. 12 His eyes are like blazing fire, and on his head are many crowns. He has a name written on him that no one knows but he himself. 13 He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and his name is the Word of God.”

Jesus is the one pictured here. He did not return to heaven to sit in a lawn chair or take a nap while waiting to be sent back to get us. He waits like a horse and rider at the Kentucky Derby ready for the trumpet to sound to return to this world. He is prepared for war on his horse. He is faithful to his promise to come back, and it is the true, undeniable fact that he will be back to this world to bring justice. He will be crowned with the many crowns of those who humbly give him the glory for their lives of service, and the crowns of those who stood opposed to him. His name and who he is goes beyond our understanding because he is the Son of God and Son of Man. And his robe has the evidence of war, the blood of the enemy, and his name is the Word of God. The Word of God, Jesus, and all he did to save us was the will, plan and desire of God so that we would be forgiven, made children of God, made citizens of heaven, made victors over his defeated enemies and hopeful people even in the face of the overwhelming odds in a war waged against us by the whole sinful world.

Jesus will win the war you are in by separating you from your enemies forever. John’s vision continued in Revelation 19,

14 “The armies of heaven were following him, riding on white horses and dressed in fine linen, white and clean. 15 Coming out of his mouth is a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations. “He will rule them with an iron scepter.” He treads the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God Almighty. 16 On his robe and on his thigh he has this name written: KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.”

Jesus’ return will be one of judgment on his enemies, which are also your enemies because you are his people. His word is the guarantee of his actions. He will remove all the powers of this world so those who opposed him are put away and imprisoned forever. He will remove all powers so that he is the only ruler, and thus he will be called, 16 … “KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.” And to be clear about this victory, we can read the verses just after our New Testament reading from Revelation 19,

19 “Then I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies gathered together to wage war against the rider on the horse and his army. 20 But the beast was captured, and with it the false prophet who had performed the signs on its behalf… The two of them were thrown alive into the fiery lake of burning sulfur.”

The world and those against God are building an army, one that wages war against you each day, but there will be no battle. Jesus will come, capture the enemy and put him in prison. That will be the end. You will be taken to enjoy life in heaven with God and his people. You will be with the 16 … “KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.”

You still have that thought though because of the war as to what keeps Jesus from coming back. You still have the thought about when Jesus will come back because the war you live each day is hard. The answer to what keeps him from returning is recorded in Revelation and clearly in the Lord’s Prayer which is recorded in Matthew 6, 10 “your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” God wants his kingdom to come and will be done, which means he wants his kingdom to grow. He wants more to come to faith in him. He wants to live in more people’s hearts so that more people will come to live with him in heaven. He does not want people to be his enemy. He wants people to love him. So, he waits to return with judgment so that more people can hear the message of Jesus’ forgiveness, the gospel. He wants the message of what has been done as recorded in the Bible from creation, the fall, the promise of the Savior, Jesus’ birth, life, death, resurrection, ascension, which have happened, to be told and for people to hear that soon he will return. The revelation, the uncovering of the future, the conclusion to the war of sin, death, the devil, sin and hell, this is what Jesus waits on his white horse to bring. But he waits for more to hear and we are the ones to bring the message like the disciples as we heard in our Gospel reading from Luke 24,

46 He told them, “This is what is written: The Messiah will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, 47 and repentance for the forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. 48 You are witnesses of these things.

Yes, you suffer a short time in this world, but you have hope in Jesus to get you through, you have purpose to share Jesus with others to keep you busy, you have joy in encouraging one another with Jesus, you have joy in those who come to faith, you have consolation and peace when you are hated, abandoned, rejected by others because God Almighty is with you. You live at war, but you know the future. The ascended King waits to return to destroy the enemies and bring you, and all his people to heaven.

John was blessed to see Jesus live, die, rise and ascend into heaven. He also saw a spectacular vision of the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. It is not easy living here while Jesus is in heaven because the world is at war. The book of Revelation uncovers the truth for you that for all the struggles, frustrations and pain caused by the enemies of God and you his people, there is an end to the war, and a wonderful life ahead because you live in the war Jesus will win. Amen.