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And I saw the heaven opened, and behold, a white horse, and he that sat on him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness doth he judge and make war. Now his eyes a flame of fire, and upon his head many diadems; having a name written which none knew but himself.

What a thrilling scene this is! Just to read it makes goose pimples come out all over me. This is the great climactic event toward which all things in this world are moving today. It is the coming of Christ to the earth.

Let me take a moment to remind you where this fits into the picture. From chapters 4–18 we were in the midst of the Great Tribulation Period, a frightful period. It ends by the coming of Christ to this earth to establish His kingdom.

In the past there has been a very naïve notion relative to the future, which is still held by some folk who are not students of the Bible. It is this: One of these days Jesus is going to come, and all the dead will be raised. The good guys will be on one side and the bad guys on the other. Christ will make the division so that one will enter heaven, the other hell, and eternity begins. May I say again that this is a very naïve notion.

You cannot read the Word of God without being conscious of the fact that He has a plan and program for this earth and that He is following it very carefully. The program, as we have outlined it, reveals that Christ’s return to the earth takes place at the end of the Great Tribulation Period, right before the establishment of His kingdom.

That is the way He entered the world the first time. He was meek and lowly. He was the Savior who died for sinners. Now in the verses before us we see Him coming in His great glory. His coming will be the final manifestation of the wrath of God upon a sinful world. The rebellion of Satan, demons, and men is contained, put down, and judged. He puts down all unrighteousness before He establishes His kingdom in righteousness.

Heaven is opened in chapter 4, verse 1, to let John, as a representative of the church, enter heaven where he sees the elders, that is, the church, already there. And here in chapter 19 heaven opens to let Christ exit. The white horse on which He rides is the animal of warfare. When Jesus was on earth, He rode into Jerusalem upon a little donkey which, though an animal of kings, denoted peace, not war.

He is called “Faithful” because He has come to execute the long-time program of God. Remember that the scoffer said, “Where is the sign of His coming?” There is no sign at this point—He is here. He has made good. He is Faithful. He is the only One you and I can trust and rest upon.

He is called “True” for He is inherently true. He is not one who just tells the truth, although He does that; He is the bureau of standards of truth. He is the yardstick of truth. He is the Truth. How wonderful it is to have Someone in whom to trust in this day when everything we hear is slanted and used as propaganda.

“Now his eyes a flame of fire.” Back in chapter 1, verse 14, His eyes were as a flame, as He walked among the churches, judging them. But now there is a difference—“his eyes a flame of fire” because He has come to judge the earth and put down its unrighteousness.

“Upon his head many diadems” indicates that He will be the sole ruler of this earth. And His rulership is going to be a dictatorship, I can assure you of that. My friend, if you don’t love Jesus Christ—if He is not your Savior—and you live to enter this period of His return to the earth, it is going to be a most uncomfortable period for you because Christ is going to be a dictator. A chicken won’t peep, a rooster won’t crow, and a man will not move without His permission. He is the King of kings and He is the Lord of lords.

2. “Faithful and True” corresponds to the Gospel of Mark where He is presented as the Servant of God. The important thing about a servant is not his genealogy but his trustworthiness. Is he faithful and truthful? Those are the qualities that are important.

4. What is the name that no one knows? Well, I have a suggestion. Perhaps it corresponds to Luke’s gospel in which He is presented as Jesus, the Son of Man. In our day there is a great familiarity with that name, both in swearing and in blaspheming and in being overly free and presumptuous with Him. But, my friend, that is a name which you and I are going to probe throughout eternity. He is Jesus, the Son of Man. Do you really know Jesus? Well, no man knoweth the Son but the Father, and here we learn that when He comes, He has a name that no man really knows but Himself.

The apostle Paul, not at the beginning but at the end of his ministry, before his execution, said, “That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death” (Phil. 3:10, italics mine). No one knows the Son but the Father. My friend, learning to know Him is one of the things that is going to make heaven heaven. He is so wonderful that it is going to take the rest of eternity to really know Him. The folk we meet down here are not very exciting folk when we get to know them, are they? But the more we know Jesus, the more exciting He will be.

In John 14:7, 9, we read: “If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also: and from henceforth ye know him, and have seen him [that is, in the Person of the Son]…. Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father?”

Then again in that High Priestly Prayer that Christ prayed: “And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent” (John 17:3). When we come to Christ and receive Him as our Savior from sin, we have started to school. When we begin to know Him, we are in kindergarten. Let me make more or less of a confession. Since I have retired from the pastorate, I have set before me a goal: I want to know Jesus better than I do now. I get up every morning and look out the window—I did this morning and in Southern California it is foggy—but I say, “Lord, thank You for bringing me to another day. I love You. I love You, Lord Jesus, but, oh, You seem to be so far away at times. I want to know You. May the Spirit of God make You real to me.” The name Jesus—oh, what it means, and what a person He is!

One more thing I would like to say about this subject: not only will we come to know the Lord better throughout eternity, we are also going to get to know one another better. I really don’t think we know each other as we should. I find, at times, that I am greatly misunderstood. I make certain statements on the radio, and then I receive letters that almost shock me. It is difficult to understand how I could have been that misunderstood. But in heaven we are going to know as we are known. I think that will be good. Also, we will know ourselves. And we are going to know our loved ones. One summer when I tried to recuperate from an illness by resting, it enabled me to sit on my patio with my wife and get acquainted with her. It was quite wonderful. I discovered the sacrifices that she has made and her faithfulness down through the years. And I think I am really going to get acquainted with her in heaven. My friend, how glorious heaven is going to be! Even in this earthly life down here we find that when we grow in our love for Christ, we also grow in our love for each other.

And he is arrayed in a garment sprinkled with blood: and his name is called the Word of God. And the armies which are in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and pure. And out of his mouth proceedeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations; and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness of the wrath of God the All-ruler. And he hath on his garment and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.

“And he shall rule them with a rod of iron” takes us back to Psalm 2: “Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion. I will declare the decree: the Lord hath said unto me, Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee [from the dead]. Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession. [He didn’t get them at His first coming; how will He get them now?] Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel” (Ps. 2:6–9).

McGee, J. Vernon: Thru the Bible Commentary. electronic ed. Nashville : Thomas Nelson, 1997, c1981, S. 5:1048-1051