Powerful Passages for Powerful Living, Pt. 2
Study Guide, May 3, 2026
Pastor Clay Olsen
Some of the images that have been captured of the heavens above us are truly stunning. But not even these can compare with the image that is soon to come from out of the heavens when the King of kings and Lord of lords returns! So let’s return to that powerful passage in Revelation 19 and look further at these stunning events soon to come.
The Apostle John highlighted several powerful names that our Lord Jesus has. Of course, the Bible assigns dozens of names and titles to God in an attempt to describe our God who is indescribable. But the fact that certain specific names are connected with Jesus’ Return calls for us to realize the height and depth of their significance! Notice: Rev. 19:13-16 – “He is clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God. And the armies which are in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, were following Him on white horses. From His mouth comes a sharp sword, so that with it He may strike down the nations, and He will rule them with a rod of iron; and He treads the wine press of the fierce wrath of God, the Almighty. And on His robe and on His thigh He has a name written, “KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.” NASB
How amazing is that? A name that identifies Jesus upon His return to Earth is the same name that has identified Jesus to the people of Earth throughout history, that is, ‘The Word of God.’ Remember how John identified Jesus in John 1:1-4 – “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being. In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men.”
Central to both the identity and the purpose of our Creator and Redeemer is His desire to clearly communicate with His creation. Even His…we could say… ‘God-given name’ is ‘The Word’… ‘The Logos’ of Eternity. And thus, we have the miracle of the God-breathed Scriptures that God has preserved throughout mankind’s history in the Word of God, the Bible.
Think about it – we cannot overestimate the value and centrality of the Bible in our lives. Oh, to be sure, the Word of God, Jesus Christ, is one day returning to the world that He alone owns. But until He does, He has chosen to reveal Himself through the Word of God in the Scriptures…the only book on Earth whose author is God Himself. 2 Tim. 3:16,17 – “All Scripture is inspired by God (God-breathed) and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.” NASB
This is why we love and treasure the Scriptures so much. They are God’s own words breathed out and recorded for us in order that we can know Jesus as our Savior and know how to walk with Him and follow Him as our Lord all the days of our lives…until we go to Him or until He returns for us…first to bring us home to the Father’s house of Heaven, and then to return with Him when He returns to His Earth. Realize that when you spend time in the Word of God you are in fact spending time with Jesus, the Word of God Himself.
But now, did you notice who all John said was coming back with our King Jesus? “And the armies which are in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, were following Him on white horses.” Who are the armies which are in heaven? We do know that Jesus told us in Matthew that the Angels will attend Him on His return to Earth to assist in the gathering of the nations and in the separating of the lost and the saved for entrance into His Millennial Kingdom. But the others? Who are they? Earlier John told us who they are and also described something else about them that is beyond fascinating. Notice: Rev. 19:7-9 – “Let us rejoice and be glad and give the glory to Him, for the marriage of the Lamb has come and His bride has made herself ready. It was given to her to clothe herself in fine linen, bright and clean; for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints. Then he said to me, “Write, ‘Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.’” And he said to me, “These are true words of God.”
Once again, God has woven the Scriptures together in ways that only God can do, and that testify of their divine origin as well. For example: We know of the passage of the Rapture of the Church as described by Paul in 1 Thess. 4:16,17? But the first description of the Rapture was much earlier as revealed by John’s Gospel in Jesus’ teachings in the Upper Room Discourse. Jesus used Jewish Wedding practices to illustrate His return in the Rapture. Note: John 14:1-3 – “Do not let your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also.”
There were three parts of a Jewish Wedding. The first was the legal agreement and personal commitment. We, the Church, as the Bride of Christ have been legally consecrated to Christ through the justice of the Cross, and personally committed to Christ as our Lord and Savior. The second part or phase was a set time that, after preparations were made, then the Groom would then come for His bride. That time is when Paul describes it: 1 Thess.4:16-18 – “For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore, comfort one another with these words.” And you know we’re going to have to come back to that passage again soon and very soon. Right?
But this is also the celebration of the wedding at the Father’s House. And the third phase was the wedding supper. It could be that this Wedding Supper occurs during the seven years of the Tribulation period on Earth. However, it could also be that it occurs at the beginning of the Millennial reign of the King on Earth, as then all the guests or the saved from out of the Tribulation could then join in. By the way, realize that feasts and celebrations are going to be a key part of life with our King in His Kingdom. Remember, the Old Testament annual year included seven festivals for the people to observe and to celebrate with God. So God loves festivals! And you know Heaven is going to be filled with festivals and celebrations of all kinds!
But back to our identification of the armies…for John identifies them as ‘the Bride’, another symbolic word for the Church. But he also identifies them as ‘the Saints’…or as the Saved and Sanctified children of God who were redeemed by the blood of the Lamb. Which apparently is still being symbolized on Christ’s robe, along with the symbol of His victory over all who opposed His Lordship. But, that said, this clearly means that along with Christ coming back to the Earth, Christ’s saved people are coming back with Him!
Which prompts a question: So, are you ready to ride?! Well, not quite yet, because even after the Church is caught up…Raptured, there is something that needs to be reviewed before our return with Jesus to reign with Him. For while the Tribulation period is occurring on the Earth, the Bema Seat review is occurring in Heaven. And the Bema Seat review, of course, is the Judgment Seat of Christ, where Jesus reviews our lives after we were saved to examine our service, or examine our faithfulness in our obedience to His commands and in our works that He called us to do as His Disciples.
As for our salvation, we are saved by Christ’s works…the works of His sinless obedience that He then credits to us for our justification…our right standing with God, and the works of His finished sacrifice on the Cross for our forgiveness of the debt and condemnation of our sin. And thus, there is therefore no condemnation for those who are IN CHRIST JESUS! (Rom. 8:1)
So we are saved by Christ’s perfect works in His Saviorhood, but we are saved FOR good works for Him…for obedient works…for faithful works…for living under Christ’s Lordship. And that is the reason for the review at The Bema Seat. Our benevolent God wants to also reward His children for their faithfulness of their works that honored Him and blessed others…the works of our service, our prayers, our worship, our efforts, and even our good motives and intentions. But the Justice of our God also calls for Him to judge disobedience in our works and unfaithfulness in our worship and service, even judging the motives and intentions that were more worldly than godly. And the results will a mixture of rewards and loss of rewards. And these rewards are primarily privileges in service opportunities and inheritance rewards or loss of rewards and regrets of the losses.
The Apostle Paul reminded us. Each day there are two categories of materials that you are making. And they will both be tested, as in a refiner’s fire, to test the quality of your works. One category is made up of faithful works that will become as Gold, Silver, and Precious Stones in your account. The other category is made up of unfaithful works that will become as Wood, Hay, and Stubble in your account. Only those works that make up the first category of faithfulness will remain from the test and will result in rewards. The other works made up of self-will and self-rule and self-service…unfaithfulness will result in loss. So choose wisely what you are making each day.
After this review is complete and your rewards and privileges and assignments are settled, then it will be time to return with our King to reign with Him in His Kingdom on Earth. In fact, Jesus is so proud of His family that, as John says, even their garments will be layered with signs of the rewards that Jesus has given to His people. Remember… “It was given to her to clothe herself in fine linen, bright and clean; for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints.”
The people of the Bible dressed in layers, often a main layer, or tunic, and then layers of linen. Which, again, is amazing, because in relation to our salvation, we know that our main layer that we wear before God is the garment of our salvation…Christ’s robe of righteousness that He has clothed us in. Isa. 61:10 – “I will rejoice greatly in the Lord, my soul will exult in my God; For He has clothed me with garments of salvation, He has wrapped me with a robe of righteousness…” That robe of righteousness is part of the gift of our salvation in which Jesus credits us with His own obedience…His own righteousness. That is our position before God…righteous in Jesus’ own righteousness!
But also, like with the Priests of the Old Testament, Jesus layers us in linens that show we are His servants in the practice of our worship and our allegiance to our King. And so, while arrayed in Jesus’ robe of righteousness and the bright linens of our allegiance, we return to Earth with our Savior and King to rule and reign with Him in His promised Kingdom.
No wonder Paul said that eye has not seen, nor ear has heard, nor can we even imagine all the wondrous things that God has prepared for His people! But this is exactly what is laid out for us to experience in our future. And this is exactly what we are to be preparing for in the present…worshipping our God daily and serving our Lord diligently.
But there is one more point in that passage we need to note before we conclude for now. Did you notice a curious statement that John made about Jesus’ rule in the Kingdom? “…and He will rule them with a rod of iron.” When Jesus returns and sets up His Kingdom on Earth, why would His rule have to include this description of ‘ruling with a rod of iron?’ Since the citizens of His new Kingdom are made up of His saints that Jesus brought back with Him to the Earth and the saved that were present on the Earth when He returned, why would there be any need to rule with a rod of iron?
That leads us into another powerful passage that involves the Millennial Kingdom. And this will be an interim Kingdom between the temporal present heavens and earth and the eternal New Heavens and New Earth…the Eternal Kingdom. It will also be a time on Earth where both Immortals and mortals will inhabit the planet. And the mortals are those saved men and women, boys and girls, who were present on Earth when Jesus returns, and will directly enter into this time of the Millennial Kingdom. However, being that they are mortal, just like the saved throughout history, there will be offspring from the saved that do not themselves become saved by repentance toward God and faith in Jesus Christ. Therefore, strange as it will be, and another indictment of the force of the sin nature of man, over the next 1,000 years there will be a portion of the population that will not be redeemed and under the allegiance of Jesus Thus, Jesus reign on the Millennial Earth will need to include ruling not only with the arm of benevolence, but also with the rod of iron. And so, our next stop…The Millennial Kingdom.
But how wonderful to know, just like the Angels told the Disciples, ‘this same Jesus, who was taken up into Heaven, will come back again.’ And when He does, we will come back with Him! We will have either first gone to be with Him, or He will come for us in the great Rapture of the Church. Oh yes, it’s all coming…soon and very soon we are going to see the Lord!