When The King Returns To Reign
Lesson Overview
When the King Returns to Reign with Dr. Erwin Lutzer
This standalone message is given by Dr. Erwin Lutzer, longtime pastor of the Moody Church in Chicago. He walks through the three primary passages describing the glorious return of Jesus Christ, giving each a single descriptive word: spectacular, worldwide, and victorious. Use this overview to review the key points after watching the full video.
Opening Story: John Harper on the Titanic
Lutzer opens with the account of John Harper, a Scottish evangelist who had preached at the Moody Church and boarded the Titanic to return there. As the ship sank, Harper put his young daughter and her aunt in a lifeboat, then continued urging others to trust Christ. In the water, he reportedly gave his own life vest to a man who was not saved, saying “you need this more than I do,” and drowned. Years later that man testified that he was “John Harper’s last convert,” having believed while clinging to wreckage. Lutzer uses the story to set the tone: the gospel is worth everything, and the church Harper founded still preaches it today.
Why We Can Be Sure Christ Will Return
Lutzer answers the skeptic’s question of how we can be sure Jesus will come back. His argument: the events of Christ’s first coming (His birth, death, and resurrection) were once prophecy and are now history, and in the same way His return will move from prophecy to history. It has not happened yet, he notes wryly, but it certainly will.
He explains why he holds a two-stage view of Christ’s coming. The rapture of 1 Thessalonians 4, where believers meet Christ in the air, is a different event from the glorious return described here, in which Christ descends to a specific place on earth, the Mount of Olives. He identifies himself as a dispensationalist, meaning he distinguishes between the church and Israel and believes God still has a future for Israel. He notes that other sincere Christians hold that the church goes through the tribulation and that the rapture and the return are a single event, and that the more literally one takes the prophecies, the more likely one is to conclude God still has unfulfilled promises to Israel. These are the contested positions that distinguish prophetic viewpoints, presented here as his own.
He describes the world at the moment of Christ’s return: the Antichrist near the end of his 42-month reign, the judgments of Revelation falling, two-thirds of the earth’s population killed, and the armies of the world gathered at Armageddon, summoned (Revelation 16) by demonic spirits, not knowing they are really gathering for “the war of the Lord God Almighty.”
Spectacular: Zechariah 14
The first descriptive word comes from the Old Testament. Zechariah 14 describes the nations gathered against Jerusalem, the city suffering terribly, and then the Lord going out to fight. His feet stand on the Mount of Olives, which splits in two from east to west, forming a great valley, and the chapter opens into millennial blessing.
Lutzer ties this to the ascension: the angels told the disciples that this same Jesus would return in like manner as He left, and He left from the Mount of Olives. He recalls Ezekiel’s vision of the glory of God departing over the Mount of Olives, and says that same glory is returning to that same place. He also uses Zechariah to press a point about interpretation, recounting a debate with a professor who held that Israel’s prophecies are fulfilled in the church (a view Lutzer calls replacement theology) and who would not take “his feet shall stand on the Mount of Olives” as a literal reference to Christ’s return. Lutzer notes, as a fair aside, that Palestinian Christians often feel overlooked, but maintains that the literal reading points to unfulfilled promises to Israel. At Christ’s return a remnant of the Jewish nation will be saved (Zechariah 12, “they shall look on him whom they have pierced”; Romans 11, “all Israel shall be saved”).
Worldwide: Matthew 24
The second word comes from Jesus Himself in Matthew 24. After the tribulation, the sun darkens, the moon fails, the stars fall, the sign of the Son of Man appears, and every people group sees Him coming on the clouds with power and great glory, His angels gathering the elect from the four winds. Revelation 1:7 adds that every eye will see Him.
Lutzer notes we do not have to explain the mechanics, but speculates that a slow, visible descent as the earth rotates could allow every eye to see Him before He lands on the Mount of Olives. He draws several observations: the return is accompanied by convulsions of nature, the gathered nations will unite to fight Christ and be crushed by the One who rules with a rod of iron, and the angels serve as God’s gatherers of the elect (both converted Jews and converted Gentiles). He adds a caution about the popular “angel craze,” noting that in Scripture angels minister to believers, while in Revelation they pour out judgment on the unbelieving world.
Victorious: Revelation 19
The third and central passage is Revelation 19, which Lutzer calls breathtaking, and reminds believers they will be present for it. He walks through the description of the returning Christ: He rides a white horse (a sign of triumph), is called Faithful and True because He keeps His promises, has eyes like a flame of fire signifying His omniscience, wears many diadems because He has conquered every king who ever ruled, and bears a name no one knows but Himself, signifying that no one has authority to name Him. His robe is dipped in blood, His name is the Word of God, and He is called King of kings and Lord of lords.
The armies of heaven follow Him in fine linen, which the text (verse 8) identifies as the righteous deeds of the saints. Lutzer explains that entering the marriage supper requires two garments: the righteousness of Christ as one’s entrance, and one’s own righteous deeds as something to wear. Believers, he stresses, will accompany Christ in this victory.
He notes the grim imagery of the birds invited to “the great supper of God” before any killing has occurred, which shows the victory is so certain that the outcome is already settled. The beast and the false prophet are thrown alive into the lake of fire. Lutzer offers an observation: three personages (Satan, the beast, and the false prophet) are cast into the lake of fire without dying, which may suggest the beast and false prophet are more than merely human. He turns this toward the seriousness of judgment, arguing that people underestimate how offensive sin is to God, and pushing back on the idea that “love wins” alone, since God’s justice, holiness, and righteousness also win. He adds that there are “no kings in hell,” where the devil is not the tormentor but the tormented.
Three Closing Words
Lutzer leaves three take-home lessons.
A word about Jesus: He is both Savior and King. People today cherry-pick a Jesus they like, embracing His care for the poor while ignoring the Jesus of judgment in Revelation. The real reason Jesus came was to rescue us from our sins by His death, and He is both the one who ministered to a broken world and an awesome judge.
A word about salvation: Revelation 19 contains two suppers, the marriage supper of the Lamb, to which believers are invited as guests, and the “supper of God” for the birds. As he puts it, believers are invited to the supper, while unbelievers become the supper. Faith in Christ makes all the difference.
A word about eternity: every person has an indestructible soul and will be raised with an indestructible body, facing one of two destinies. He points to the final judgment and insists everything turns on Jesus, who alone has the qualifications to save, to give the righteousness needed, and to welcome a person into God’s kingdom. He urges any who have not trusted Christ to do so.
Key Terms
The glorious return: the second stage of Christ’s coming, when He descends to the Mount of Olives, distinguished from the rapture.
Rapture: the earlier event of 1 Thessalonians 4, when believers meet Christ in the air.
Dispensationalism: the view that distinguishes the church from Israel and holds that God has an unfulfilled future for Israel.
Replacement theology: the view Lutzer opposes, that the church has replaced Israel and inherits its prophecies.
Marriage supper of the Lamb: the celebration of Christ and His bride, the church, at His return.
Faithful and True: the title of the returning Christ, signifying that He keeps His promises.
Verses to Know
Zechariah 14:3-4, the Lord’s feet standing on the Mount of Olives. Zechariah 12:10, they shall look on him whom they have pierced. Matthew 24:27-31, the Son of Man coming on the clouds with power and glory. Revelation 1:7, every eye will see him. Romans 11:26, all Israel shall be saved. Revelation 19:11-16, the rider on the white horse, King of kings and Lord of lords. Revelation 19:8, the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints.
Takeaway
Lutzer argues that the return of Christ will be spectacular, worldwide, and victorious, a real and coming event in which believers will share, and that because Jesus is both Savior and King, the only wise response is to trust Him now and remain faithful until He appears.