Judgment Day (Revelation): The images of Christ, called Faithful and True, on the white horse and white throne, are images of judgment. The beast, false prophet, and the devil himself will all be defeated, judged, and condemned along with the people who followed their evil ways. There are different views as to when and in what order this will happen, but when Christ returns, evil will finally be defeated, and justice will be done. Recorded on Aug 2, 2026, on Revelation 19:11-20:15 by Pastor David Parks.
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This sermon is part of the Revelation: All Things Made New series. Christians live in incredible tension. In Christ, we’re already saved, but we’re not yet delivered from this broken world. We’re being made holy, but we’re not yet perfected. We have love, joy, and peace, but we still long for justice, healing, and the death of death. How can we endure all this without giving in to complacency or compromise? In our series, we’ll pull back the veil of reality, exposing both a cosmic spiritual battle and the truth about how this story ends. One day, Jesus will return and bring a final end to evil. He will defeat his enemies and vindicate his people, wiping away every tear. Jesus will finally, fully establish his kingdom on the earth, making everything new. “Yes, I am coming soon.” Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!
Sermon Transcript
One of the most common topics that I talk about with people in a counseling setting is relational conflict. By far. And it’s no big surprise—there are few things that are as uncomfortable, and sometimes incredibly painful, as when someone who should love you doesn’t, or doesn’t very well. In fact, the wounds from a spouse, parent, adult child, or a former friend can be very deep and difficult to find healing. I find myself talking about forgiveness and reconciliation a lot. But how do you forgive someone when they’ve really hurt you? Isn’t that letting them off the hook? Shouldn’t you make them pay for what they did? I’ve wrestled with these questions myself, but sometimes you come across a story and it just kind of makes your experience pale in comparison. In 1994, during the Rwandan genocide, there was a young woman named Immaculée (ee-mah-koo-lay) Ilibagiza whose whole family, except for one brother, was murdered. She tells her story in the book, Left to Tell: Discovering God Amidst the Rwandan Holocaust, of how over the course of only about 100 days, her mother, father, and two other brothers were brutally killed, along with up to 1 million other members of her tribe. Immaculée (ee-mah-koo-lay) survived by hiding with seven other women in the tiny bathroom of a local pastor’s house for 91 days. Later, after she was rescued, she had the chance to go back and meet the leader of the gang who had killed her family. Do you think she was able to forgive? Well, today, we’re continuing our series on the book of Revelation called All Things Made New. In our series, we’ve seen some wild images, symbolic names/numbers, beasts, and more, but these are all part of the apocalyptic literary style, popular in their day. Last week, we were excited by the promise of a perfect, loving union with God, going on forever, in the image of the wedding supper of the Lamb. Today, we’ll consider the much more sober promise of a final reckoning—a Judgment Day. But as intense as it can be to consider these things, the Lord’s judgments are just and true. There is a comfort and a hope found in this promise of God: When Christ returns, evil will finally be defeated, and justice will be done. If you have a Bible/app, please open to Rev 19:11. Now, this is a longer passage, and we have some big stuff to deal with, but we’ll unpack it as we go.
Revelation 19:11–21 (NIV), “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. 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. 17 And I saw an angel standing in the sun, who cried in a loud voice to all the birds flying in midair, “Come, gather together for the great supper of God, 18 so that you may eat the flesh of kings, generals, and the mighty, of horses and their riders, and the flesh of all people, free and slave, great and small.” 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. With these signs he had deluded those who had received the mark of the beast and worshiped its image. The two of them were thrown alive into the fiery lake of burning sulfur. 21 The rest were killed with the sword coming out of the mouth of the rider on the horse, and all the birds gorged themselves on their flesh.” Ok! Let’s pause here. Last week, we had this vision of joy and great gladness in the wedding supper of the Lamb. Here, we have this terrible vision of a different kind of feast. This is no wedding feast, but the grisly end to the armies of the earthly kingdoms, led by the beasts they worship, who wage war against the armies of heaven, led by Christ riding on a white horse, who strikes them down with the sword of his word. This is probably the same event that has been envisioned several times in Revelation—the fall of Babylon. Commentator Thomas Schreiner reminds us, “John doesn’t give us photographs of what will happen but impressionistic paintings that convey the same scene from various perspectives.” (Schreiner, p. 641.) John gives multiple images of the same groups of people or the same events during these last days. The defeat of and the ruling over the nations by the warrior-king and the Son of God is the theme of a number of OT passages, although Psalm 2 is quoted by John here. The demonic beasts and the corrupted city of Babylon will be defeated by the word of God, and will face divine judgment. But what does this mean for the Great Red Dragon, the devil? Will his reign come to an end?
Revelation 20:1-10 (NIV), “1 And I saw an angel coming down out of heaven, having the key to the Abyss and holding in his hand a great chain. 2 He seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil, or Satan, and bound him for a thousand years. 3 He threw him into the Abyss, and locked and sealed it over him, to keep him from deceiving the nations anymore until the thousand years were ended. After that, he must be set free for a short time. 4 I saw thrones on which were seated those who had been given authority to judge. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony about Jesus and because of the word of God. They had not worshiped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ a thousand years. 5 (The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended.) This is the first resurrection. 6 Blessed and holy are those who share in the first resurrection. The second death has no power over them, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with him for a thousand years. 7 When the thousand years are over, Satan will be released from his prison 8 and will go out to deceive the nations in the four corners of the earth—Gog and Magog—and to gather them for battle. In number they are like the sand on the seashore. 9 They marched across the breadth of the earth and surrounded the camp of God’s people, the city he loves. But fire came down from heaven and devoured them. 10 And the devil, who deceived them, was thrown into the lake of burning sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet had been thrown. They will be tormented day and night for ever and ever.” If you study the history of interpretation on the millennium, the thousand-year reign of Christ on the earth, you’ll discover that there is no single consensus view. In the last 2,000 years, there have been three main views on how to interpret Rev 20, and I only have time to teach on these views at a very high level. I’ll give you a little more information on this in my weekly email update, but for now, here are three main views of the millennium, or the thousand-year reign of Christ on the earth: 1) Premillennialism: Our current age will continue until Christ returns, which will start a literal thousand-year reign on the earth, followed by Judgment Day, the creation of the new heavens/earth, and the start of the age to come. This interpretive approach was held by a number of very early Christian scholars. In the last 200 years or so, dispensational premillennialism has become an alternative approach to classical premillennialism. Dispensationalism is the framework of the Left Behind book series, which became very popular in the 90s, and contains different views on the timing of the rapture—pre-tribulation, mid-tribulation, or post-tribulation. Basically, these views try to answer the question of where the church will be during the Great Tribulation. But dispensational and classic premillennialism both believe that Christ returns, followed by a thousand-year period of peace and prosperity on the earth, which is then followed by the resurrection of the dead, Judgment Day, the new heavens/earth, and the eternal age to come. 2) Postmillennialism: Our current age, which is the metaphorical thousand-year reign (meaning, a very long time, which is not unusual for Revelation—there are other symbolic numbers used), will continue until Christ returns. During the millennium, society will progressively become better (more and more like the Kingdom of God) through the proclamation of the gospel and the work of discipleship. Classically, the Great Tribulation is also understood to be metaphorical for the pain and suffering, the mess, of this broken world. After the millennium, Christ will return, the dead will be raised and judged, the new heavens/earth will be created, and this will be the start of the eternal state. This view was popular among the Puritans, but lost support in the last century with two world wars and all the other atrocities that caused the deaths of millions. It simply wasn’t as plausible that the world would progressively improve until the age to come. Hence, the rise in popularity of another very old approach: 3) Amillennialism: Our current age, which is also understood to be the metaphorical thousand-year reign (meaning, a very long time), will continue until Christ returns. But instead of society getting progressively better, the mess of this broken world gets worse before the end. Otherwise, Amillennialism and Postmillennialism are pretty much the same. One of the most well-known proponents of this approach is Augustine, who has shaped Christian theology for 1,700 years now. Premillennialism, especially the dispensational variety, wins the award for being the most complicated scheme, as it tries to fit the most OT and NT prophecies. However, the dispensational view is also the most recent view. Most Christians for 2,000 years have not ascribed to this view. That doesn’t mean it’s necessarily wrong, but it should at least give us pause. The metaphorical interpretations of the millennium are appealing because so much of Revelation’s apocalyptic style uses imagery that is obviously metaphorical. It would be the exception, not the rule, for 1,000 years to be literal. Truthfully, we won’t resolve this today. Each approach has unresolved questions. As is true for so many things in Revelation (and prophecy in general), we must hold our interpretations with a great deal of humility. But if we step back, what’s the big picture here? Whatever the timing, and whatever the order will be leading up to that great day of the Lord, the devil, our adversary, will be defeated. As powerful and as destructive as he has been, in the end, Christ will win; the dragon will be slain. And he will face the same divine judgment as the beasts and Babylon. But what about all the people who were on the side of the dragon? What about those who rejected and hated God? What about every evil deed from the beginning of time, from the disobedience of Adam and Eve, to Cain murdering his brother, Abel, and on and on? Will there be a final reckoning? Will justice be done?
Revelation 20:11-15 (NIV), “11 Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. The earth and the heavens fled from his presence, and there was no place for them. 12 And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books. 13 The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and each person was judged according to what they had done. 14 Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death. 15 Anyone whose name was not found written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire.” This is God’s word. And this is a very sobering passage. On the one hand, how many people will suffer the hell of judgment and wrath, separated from the light, life, and love of God, going on forever? This is a terrible thing. But on the other hand, evil will be no more. The enemies of God will be defeated and judged. When Christ returns, evil will finally be defeated, and justice will be done. Praise God. This is a very good thing. Now, it’s important to remember the good news of the gospel is not (first) that justice is coming. The gospel is good news because it’s the message of salvation and the forgiveness of sins because of the death of Jesus Christ on the cross and his resurrection from the dead. God could’ve threatened hell as the only motivation for us to avoid sin. But instead, Jesus, the King of kings and the Lord of lords, was willing to bear the full weight of the hell of judgment on the cross in our place. It’s this message of God’s rescue mission that this dark world so desperately needs to hear. It’s a message of hope for anyone, no matter what they have done. But if you believe the gospel, and you realize that in Christ, you have been forgiven, but you also believe that when he returns, justice will finally be perfectly done—every wrong set to right—it frees you to be people of forgiveness. We don’t have to get even here and now. We don’t have to make it easy for people to sin against us; that wouldn’t be loving, but we can forgive even the most terrible wounds. In her book, Immaculée (ee-mah-koo-lay) Ilibagiza writes about her struggle to forgive the men who killed her family and caused so much destruction and death for her people. But in the end, when she visited the leader of the gang who killed her family, a man named Felicien, she wept at the sight of his suffering. She writes that in that moment, she realized, “Felicien had let the devil enter his heart, and the evil had ruined his life like a cancer in his soul. He was now the victim of his victims, destined to live in torment and regret. I was overwhelmed with pity for the man.” (Ilibagiza, Immaculée. Left to Tell: Discovering God Amidst the Rwandan Holocaust (p. 204). (Function). Kindle Edition.) She said three simple words: “I forgive you.” When asked why she forgave this man, she said, “Forgiveness is all I have to offer.” As a Christian, Immaculée (ee-mah-koo-lay) knew that we forgive because God, in Christ, has forgiven us first. But also, we forgive because when Christ returns, evil will finally be defeated, and justice will be done. May it be, Lord. Let us pray.
