Speaker: David Mitchell

Passage: 19:11-20:15

HEAVEN IS OPENED • REVELATION 19:11 – 20:15

All right, hey, good morning, everybody. Hey, great to be with you. My name’s David. I get to serve on the teaching team here, which is where they send you when you get rejected from the worship dance team, which was my first choice. 

I saw flags, and I didn’t realize that waving the British flag was inappropriate, and so that was why I was demoted to the team here. But no, great to be with you. We’ve been a part of Vintage, my wife and I and our four kids, for the last ten years or so, and so it’s a huge gift. 

And here we are in the Letter of Revelation, right? We’ve been in this book for twelve, sixteen, eighteen months or so, and what we’ve realized about this letter is that it’s not the kind of letter that we thought it was, right? 

We thought this letter was about how we, as followers of Jesus, would escape the world, but this letter is about how we would engage the world. We thought Revelation was about how we would retreat into Heaven, but really, it is about how we can be expanding the Kingdom of God here on earth. 

And so it’s not about retreat; it’s about engagement. It’s not about shrinking; it’s about expanding. And as we’ll read together today in Revelation 19, it is about what happens when Heaven is opened. 

So, the backdrop of today’s teaching in Revelation 19 is that we have heard this word that we haven’t yet heard in the New Testament. Yes, this word was laced throughout the Old Testament, but for whatever reason, this word has not yet been spoken of in the New Testament until we get to Revelation 19. And it’s the word hallelujah. 

We hear it four times spoken in Revelation 19, and it is spoken in the context of the destruction and the fall of Babylon– the kingdoms of this earth– and the eruption of the Kingdom of God. And what Heaven responds to that reality with this word hallelujah, that it’s as if it has been reserved for this exclusive moment. 

And so, Revelation– remember, not a letter written to us, but certainly a letter that is written for us– written to a historical real group of seven churches who are undergoing persecution, first under the Emperor Nero, then under the Emperor Domitian. 

But beyond the persecution that they’re experiencing externally, they also have to grapple with, at times, their own unfaithfulness, their lack of allegiance. And so, Revelation is written to call a people not to be consumed and transfixed by the kingdoms of this earth, but instead to have their attention drawn towards the eternal Kingdom of God. That as we would hear earlier in Revelation 4, “Come up here.” 

And that we as a group of people might not simply come up here once a month or every Sunday or whenever it is, but we would be a people who make that place our home, our resting place, our place of perspective. Right? That’s what Revelation is about. Not a doctrine of escapism, but a doctrine of full engagement in the practices of the Kingdom of Heaven here on earth. 

So, Revelation 19, we’re going to read it in two parts today. We’re going to read the second half of Revelation 19, and then we’ll share a few points, and then Revelation 20. 

The good thing is, a couple of weeks ago, Dustin was due to teach this passage. And then Dustin, you know, felt the Spirit of God calling him to teach something else which was hugely to my advantage. Because then that meant that I got the teacher’s notes, and so I feel like I get the answers to the test. 

The downside was, Dustin is now on paternity leave because their son arrived. All right, hooray, that’s awesome, which meant that it was inappropriate for me to call him and ask for the answers, right? I still called him, but it was inappropriate. Sort of said, Hey Dustin, I know you’re tired, but let me get this. 

REVELATION 19:11-21

So, Revelation 19:11-21, let’s read that first, and then we’ll come to chapter 20 later. It says this: “Then I saw heaven opened.” Right? That’s the opening words that tell us that everything is about to change, that everything is about to change. “I saw heaven opened, and there was a white horse! Its rider is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and wages war. His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are many diadems, and he has a name inscribed that no one knows but himself. He is clothed in a robe dipped in blood, and his name is called The Word of God. The armies of heaven, wearing fine linen, white and pure, were following him on white horses. From his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, he will rule them with a scepter of iron; he will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty. On his robe and on his thigh he has a name inscribed, ‘King of kings and Lord of lords.’

“Then I saw an angel standing in the sun, and with a loud voice he called to all the birds that fly in midheaven, ‘Come gather for the great supper of God, to eat the flesh of kings, the flesh of captains, the flesh of the mighty, the flesh of horses and their riders– flesh of all, both free and slave, both small and great.’ Then I saw the beast and the kings of the earth with their armies gathered to wage war against the rider on the horse and against his army. And the beast was captured, and with it the false prophet who had performed in its presence the signs by which he deceived those who would receive the brand of the beast and those who worshiped his image. These two were thrown alive into the lake of fire that burns with sulfur. And the rest were killed by the sword of the rider of the horse, the sword that came from his mouth, and all the birds were gorged with their flesh.” 

THE RIDER ON THE WHITE HORSE

So, idea number one: Heaven is opened, and we see the rider on the white horse. Now, as we’ve been journeying through Revelation, you’ll remember that this is not the first time we’ve seen a rider on a white horse. 

In Revelation 6, as the four horsemen appear, we see the first horse come, and it’s a rider on a white horse. But this rider in chapter 6 is a false messiah; Revelation 19 is the true Messiah. We see that in Revelation 6, that rider had the appearance of Christ, but not the character of Christ. Had the look of truth, but not the substance of truth. 

And the question that we are faced with then, as we read Revelation, is, are you and I following the one who is faithful and true, or are we deceived by one who looks like Him, but is not Him? We can be deceived by so many things that feel like God, feel like truth, feel like something we can build our lives upon. 

We can be deceived by money. This feels good, it feels strong, it feels like the kind of thing I can follow and build my life upon, and yet it leads to destruction and falsehood. 

And so, Heaven is opened, and this rider comes on a white horse, and his name is Faithful and True. We see how, in Revelation 19, we get these different names that we are given. It says that He is Faithful and True. It will say later that His name is the Word of God. 

It says that on His thigh, on His femur– the strongest bone in the body, the unbreakable part– it says that on there, His name is inscribed “King of kings and Lord of lords.” We are seeing the rider, the ultimate authority of this Kingdom. 

It even says that He has a name that no one knows but Himself. That even though we see all of this remarkable truth about Christ and who He is, that still there are parts of Him that we still do not grasp and still do not understand. That is the mystery of who Christ is. 

And so, the rider appears. It says that, “In righteousness he judges and wages war.” Now, we can get tripped up at times by this idea that Jesus, in His ultimate authority– remember, He doesn’t appear as the Lamb, He doesn’t appear as the shepherd, He appears as the king. That when Heaven is opened, the King of Kings comes bursting forth.

It’s like we, as disciples of Jesus today, as we worship Him, we are listening for the hooves of the horse treading on the glass of Heaven. Is He coming? Is He coming? That Heaven is opened, and He comes, and it says, “In righteousness he judges and wages war.” We can sometimes have a problem with the fact that we have a God who judges. 

But what I would say to you is that each of us in this room, our hearts, at the core, we cry out for justice, and if we cry out for justice, then we must submit to His judgment. Because judgment is the bringing of true justice, and He does it in righteousness. There are times where even you and I, in our lives, we have felt the judgment of God leading us to repentance, and it is always done in righteousness. 

But this picture we’re seeing in Revelation 19 is what’s happening when Heaven is opened. And it’s almost as if the kingdoms of this earth, the kings of this earth, are looking up and saying, Uh oh, this is not going to go well for us. Because they have judged with cruelty and greed and selfishness, and He is coming to judge in righteousness. And so, we see the rider appear, Heaven is opened, and He is coming. 

JESUS’ ULTIMATE VICTORY

Idea number two: we see that when Heaven is opened and the King of Kings appears, He has ultimate victory. In chapter 19, it says, “The beast and the kings of this earth with their armies gathered to wage war against the rider on the horse and against his army. And the beast was captured.” 

They’re getting ready for a great battle, and the reality is that there kind of is no battle. There’s just total destruction in a moment. You see how the King of Kings and Lord of Lords appears, and it says He rides into that battle, it says He has a robe with blood on it. 

Say, Wait a second, this doesn’t make sense. Aren’t you supposed to have blood on your robe after the battle? Yeah, because the battle that Jesus won was the battle of Calvary. That ultimate battle on the cross at Calvary that He won, that battle means that He wins every battle. Means that we, as followers of Jesus, follow a King knowing that the battle is already won. 

And what we see in Revelation 19 is not so much a battle being fought out, but the battle victory being declared. And because He rode into battle with the blood on his robe– the blood of Calvary– we know that because of the victory of that battle, every other battle is already won. 

And so, Revelation 19 is not this scene of who’s going to win, it’s a procession and a declaration of who has already won. Notice how those who are following behind Him are dressed. It says they are dressed in white fine linen. That’s not what you wear when you’re going into battle that might be bloody and destructive. 

They showed up in their Sunday best, right? They showed up knowing, We’re not going to get covered in blood, we’re not going to get covered in mud, we’re not going to get destroyed because the battle is already won. 

For the kings of this earth, they were waging war for a battle; for the King of Kings, He was showing up to a procession, to ultimate victory. Revelation 19 teaches us that we are to live victorious, that we are to follow behind Him in alignment with Him. And when He rides, we ride. And when He stops, we stop. And when He opens his mouth, we close ours because out of His mouth is coming the sword of the Word of God. That’s what we see in Revelation 19. 

THE POWER OF TRUTH

The third idea is the ultimate power of Truth. It says, “From his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, and he will rule them with a scepter of iron.” Jesus doesn’t destroy darkness with coercion, He doesn’t destroy darkness with negotiation, He doesn’t compromise. His weapon is Truth. We are to be those people who spend our time in the Word of God because that is where ultimate power comes from– Truth. 

Now, look about fifty, sixty years ago or so– I’m sure this has been a recurring theme in human history– but the Postmodernists came up with this idea of subjective truth. And about ten years ago, it became this cool thing to be able to say, I’m gonna share my truth. 

When somebody says my truth, it’s code for my deception. You and I don’t have truth that is subjective to us. There is singular truth, and it belongs to Him. And we are to be those people who are not guided in our lives by my truth or your truth because it’s not truth, it’s deception. We are to be guided by His Truth.

And we see in Revelation 19, that as He appears from Heaven, He is faithful and true. Now, what I’m struck by this morning is that, to some extent, whatever you and I are facing, what we need more than anything is one who is faithful and one who is true. 

That maybe you are struggling with the loss of a job or the loss of a hope and a dream, you’re wondering if you can put your trust in God, and what I want to remind you this morning is that His name is Faithful. 

Or maybe you’re caught today in a form of deception. It might be sexual immorality, it might be financial deception, and what you need is not somebody like me to help you weave your way out of it. What you need is Truth. That Truth is what sets you free. 

Anybody here, raise your hand if you’ve had moments in your life where Truth set you free? Truth. And when you hear Truth, what does it feel like when you’re caught in deception or indecision– what happens? What words do you use to describe it? Where does it go? Pierces the soul because it’s the sword coming from His mouth. 

Look, the kings of this earth show up to a battle with their armies. How many swords do you think they had? Hundreds of thousands, millions? All of them sharpened, all of the metal, all of the value mined from this earth. All of the hours, all of the blood, sweat, and tears to bring this metal from the earth, to place it in fire, to sharpen it, to refine it, to beat it into shape, and none of it stands a chance against the sword that proceeds from the mouth of God. 

And so, what I want to encourage us as a church is to stop digging for the metals of this earth that feel like they make us strong, that feel like, I can walk through life with a sword of this earth, and it will help defend me and protect me. It does not stand a chance against the sword that proceeds from His mouth, and that is the sword that we are to fall behind and come in alignment with. 

REVELATION 20

Revelation 20 will go on and say this: “Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, holding in his hand the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain. He seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who was the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years and threw him into the pit and locked and sealed it over him, so that he would deceive the nations no more, until the thousand years were ended. After that he must be let out for a little while. 

“Then I saw thrones, and those seated on them were given authority to judge. I also saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their testimony to Jesus and for the word of God. They had not worshiped the beast or its image and had not received its brand on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ a thousand years. (The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended.) This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy are those who share in the first resurrection. Over these the second death has no power, but they will be priests to God and of Christ, and they will reign with him a thousand years. 

“When the thousand years are ended, Satan will be released from his prison and will come out to deceive the nations at the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, in order to gather them for battle; they are as numerous as the sands of the sea. They marched up over the breadth of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city. And fire came down from heaven and consumed them. And the devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet were, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever. 

“Then I saw a great white throne and the one who sat on it; the earth and the heaven fled from his presence, and no place was found for them. And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Also, another book was opened, the book of life. And the dead were judged according to their works, as recorded in the books. And the sea gave up the dead who were in it, Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them, and all were judged according to what they had done. Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire, and anyone whose name was not found written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire.” 

ULTIMATE REALITY

What we’re seeing in Revelation 20 is perspective of ultimate reality. That you and I can play around here in our lives with being a Christian. I think it’s something like fifty percent of all people who call themselves Christians in America are really secular Christians, not really followers in the way we would see in the Scriptures. 

And what Revelation 20 is causing us to, is arresting us and pausing us to consider, is ultimate reality, is that where is our allegiance placed? That what Revelation 20 is saying is that we might, today, in 2025, have this idea that says, You know, if the devil appears and has a branding torch, yeah, I’m going to say no to that. But look, I’m prepared to compromise and receive the mark of the beast, meaning I can just play all the world’s games, win all the world’s riches, engage in everything of the world. 

And what Revelation 20 is teaching us is that we are called to a place of allegiance with Him. Not the kind of allegiance that’s like, I kind of follow Him, but no, ultimate allegiance that says, I follow Him. I will not receive the branding of this world. I will not receive what’s permissible in this world. 

See, we can get really deceived by that here in America, right? Because we can say, Okay, we give thanks for the fact that we are not persecuted like the churches in Iran or elsewhere. We do not have to be underground. 

But we can be deceived. Because what can happen in America– what does happen in America– is what society says is, Hey, you are fine to worship, but we’re going to mutilate children. You are fine to worship, we won’t bother you, just don’t bother us while we kill the unborn. You are fine to be a follower of Jesus, just don’t bother us while we indoctrinate with consumerism and evil. 

And we have fallen asleep and lost sight of our allegiance; that our allegiance is not to the kings of this earth who wage war against Heaven, but our allegiance is to the one who, when Heaven is opened, comes riding forth. 

THE TIMING OF THE THOUSAND YEARS

Three ideas from Revelation 20. Number one is timing. We see a thousand years come up over and over again. And I don’t know necessarily exactly what all that means. There are some who read Revelation and believe that the thousand years culminates then ends with the reign of Christ. There are those who believe that the reign of Christ begins and then there’s a thousand years and that this is literal. There are those who believe that this thousand-year reign is symbolic and ongoing. 

I don’t have a definitive statement on that. I was thinking of it yesterday, as my wife was out and our little girl– five years old– and she’s saying, When is mommy going to be home? She’s been gone forever. Right? Everything’s forever, right? Everything’s just, it’s hard to express. And maybe there’s a part of Revelation 20 that has that element of saying this is an expression of time that just means an innumerable amount of time. 

But what we do see in Revelation 20 is that while some of the timing and while some of those things may– at least in my mind– be uncertain, we see certainty. We see that the rule and the reign of Christ is certain. We see that the destruction and eradication of evil is certain. We see that the Kingdom of God, expressed here on earth, is certain. And we will be those who hold on to the things that are certain.

We see that in Revelation, we see lots of this numerology, and perhaps we need to invite Dr. Ian Paul to come back and help us understand all of that. He’s kind of the master of that, or Dustin just needs to come back from paternity leave early. 

But what we do see is this in Revelation 20 that gives us some insight. Verse 6 says, “Blessed and holy are those who share in the first resurrection. Over these the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ, and they will reign with him a thousand years.” 

I think what we see in Revelation 20 is both the now and the not yet of the Kingdom of God. That there is a current now expression of it, that we live in the Kingdom of God, for those of us who have declared Christ as Lord and received His forgiveness. 

And if that’s not you, today, I want to call you to be face to face with Him, the rider on the white horse, who from His mouth comes the Word of God that is Truth. And I don’t want my words to convince you because they cannot, but I want His words to convince you to listen with Him and hear what He has to say about you and about Him. 

But because of this new life, we experience the abundance of His Kingdom. We experience repentance and healing and miracles and restoration and belonging amongst His people and the abundance of His care. This is the now, the present reality of God’s Kingdom. 

And yet, we continue to struggle against the residual effects of sin. We continue to struggle against suffering and defeat and temptation and disease and death. This is the not yet of God’s Kingdom, and why we still pray, Jesus come quickly. 

A KINGDOM COMING DOWN

Idea number two from Revelation 20 is this idea that it is not about a people escaping, but it is about a Kingdom coming. Over the time of our study in Revelation, one of the things I believe we have aligned upon, both as a teaching team and as a church, is the rediscovery of the belief that there is a catching up and a coming back down. 

Over the last two hundred years, there’s been a belief within lots of Christianity, this idea of escapism. That we are simply one moment pulled out of this earth. And you hear sometimes we speak about that, Man, this whole thing is gonna burn up. We don’t care about this thing, this place that we live. We’re gonna be pulled out of it one day. 

And the risk of that is that we don’t prepare ourselves for the struggle and persecution that Revelation teaches us about. That if you read Revelation from beginning to end, you do not see the word of God coming to a group of believers saying, Hey, just give me a couple more minutes, and I’ll pull you out of here. 

You see a God speaking to His people, saying, Be faithful in the midst of persecution. Be faithful in the midst of suffering. Some of you will be martyred, some of you will be beheaded, some of you will be crushed, but be faithful. 

So, Revelation has shown us that this letter is written to a group of people who were called to be faithful through tribulation, not a group of people who were going to be pulled out of tribulation. We see this belief, I think, reinforced in Revelation 20, that there will be a catching up in the air at the same time as Jesus is returning, and then a coming back to earth with Him. 

I’d like to say it’s a down-to-earth Gospel, that we are called to be down- to-earth Christians. Say, Hey, what’s Vintage like? It’s down to earth. What does that mean? It means that Heaven is open, and we receive Heaven here down on earth. That things would be on earth as they are in Heaven. 

The Kingdom of God is not retreating into Heaven in Revelation 20, the Kingdom of God is exploding into earth. It is expanding into earth to its fullest expression. This is the arrival of new beginnings, of a new Heaven and a new Earth. 

Just like Paul says in 2 Corinthians 5:17, “If anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: the old is gone, the new is here!” That is the now of the Kingdom of God, that the now is here. And yet there is still a not yet, there is still to come the fullest expression when Heaven is burst wide open, and the rider comes. 

TOTAL ALLEGIANCE

Last idea for today: total allegiance. It says in Revelation 20, “I also saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their testimony to Jesus and for the Word of God. They had not worshiped the beast or its image and had not received its brand on their foreheads or their hands.” 

Look, I can’t give you today an exact list of who is going to reign with Christ, but we see in Revelation 20 with some certainty that those who will reign are those who maintained allegiance to the King, even to the point of death. 

And that’s what we’re called to. We are not in control of all the circumstances that surround us here in America or in the wider world, but what we all are called to is total allegiance. 

There’s a moment where King David is on the run from Saul, and there’s one of his servants there who didn’t kind of have to be there, and David goes to him and says, Hey, go home. And he looks the king square in the eyes, and he says, I’m not going home. Whether in death or in life, I’m for you. 

And what we see in Revelation 19 and 20 is that we have a faithful and true King. And the question to us, as His church, as His bride, as His disciples, is, are we, in response, prepared to live a life that is faithful and true? 

Let’s pray together. Lord Jesus, we join in the song of chapter 19 and say hallelujah, that You are King of kings and Lord of lords. We come together, and we worship You. We ask for those places in our lives where we need to be reminded that You are faithful, and we ask for those places of deception and self-deception, that we would be reminded that You are true. 

And Jesus, would Your Word of Truth come to us like a sword today and discern and split the parts of us that need to be opened? And may we be fully committed disciples of Jesus. We thank You for this time and this time of worship. In Jesus’ name, amen.