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I'll be speaking about the return of the glorious second coming of Jesus Christ. It's known as the Day of the Lord in Scripture. There are so many verses in and throughout the Bible of this great event that's going to take place.
And in saying this, the question is, how will everything end? How is everything going to end? How will the age end? How will the world end? That's the question. It's been mankind's great question for many centuries.
People, man, mankind has had many opinions. The historians, the philosophers, the astrologists, the spiritualists, spiritism, those that supposedly read the future. Scripture says we're to stay away from them.
We'll stay our course on the Word of God. And the prophetic Word of God shines out like a light, doesn't it? It's a great light. It's a light that shines in darkness, according to 2 Peter 1 .19. And on that, we can truly depend on the Word of God.
And in Revelation 19 -20, the apostle John on the Isle of Patmos has recorded five key events that will take place before God wraps up human history and ushers in the new heavens and the earth. Now, as I was studying this, and I've studied a lot of this down through the ages, as a student of the Word, I do not, and I really mean this, I do not look at myself as a theologian by far.
I study the theologians, and I hear the theologians. I thank God R .C. Sproul was one of the theologians that knew the Word of God greatly. But still, yet, today, as good as theologians are, there's still so many different views when it comes to the dispensations, the millennium, the coming of the Lord.
As a matter of fact, John Calvin, one of the great reformers, really stayed away from doing a commentary on the book of Revelation because he trembled at God's Word, and he did not want to make any false statements concerning it.
That's wise. There's a lot in Revelation I don't know. But I do know this. The first six chapters, I have no problem because it's a wonderful book that speaks of the apocalypse, and it gives us the picture of Jesus Christ and His great glory.
And the last part, a lot of the last parts, I had no problems with it, with the interpretation. It's kind of in the middle where I bogged down of all the prophecies. But we're going to look at, as Christians, we're not to get so wrapped up in all the prophecies.
Even though I believe the prophecies are important, it is prophecies that will take place. I thank God that the Lord says no one knows the day or the hour, because if we did, people would wait to the very last minute to try to make their repentance true and get right with God.
So, Jesus is coming like a thief, so we better be ready. Now, following the parenthetical sections of chapters 17 and 18 in Revelation, which describe the great harlot, the system of Babylon, there's been a lot of different views on that, that the Babylon, the great whore, the harlot, that is judged, is the Roman Catholic Church.
There's a very good possibility that is, because throughout the ages and the past, they have shed the blood of literally thousands upon thousands of godly martyrs. So there's a very good possibility. We don't know this for sure.
Some people have said Babylon is America. We don't know that for sure either. So I'm not going to get up here and tell you that the harlot is the Roman Catholic Church, the harlot system of Babylon, and Babylon the great is America.
I'm not going to say that, because I would be given some views that would not be correct. I like to stay the course on the word of God. Chapter 19 of Revelation gives us heaven's perspective of the fall of Babylon.
And heaven's perspective stands in stark contrast to the mourning of Babylon's lovers, those that love Babylon, the world system. And it also resumes the progress and the narrative of the future events of the tribulation period.
Now with chapters 17 and 18 as a background, the Apostle John receives a new revelation concerning the return of the Lord Jesus Christ. And here is an apostle that walked and talked with Jesus and heard Him teach.
And in the first 10 verses, the emphasis in this chapter is on what he heard in a special announcement in preparation for the return of Jesus Christ. As we will see, verses 11 through 21, however, the stress falls on what John sees concerning the actual return of the Lord.
And the return of the Lord brings to a close the tribulation events and the wrath of God. It's important not to miss the striking change that is seen here in contrast to the preceding chapters. We're taken from somber weeping and lamenting to joyful worship and praise in heaven.
From darkness and doom to light and deliverance, from a series of woes and series of judgment to a series of jubilant announcements. This is the grand consummation of all things. This is how everything in this world will end.
You can take heart to that. Now I have prepared before us an outline. You can write this down, but we're not going to... My direction on this is I'd like to unpack this chapter a little bit more next week, Lord willing.
As if the Lord doesn't come. Because He's soon to come. First of all, there's the hallelujah choruses in verse 1 through 6 in chapter 19. That's what we're going to be looking at. Second, there's the announcement of the marriage supper of the Lamb in verses 7 through 10.
Third, there's the announcement of the event of Christ, which is 11 through 16. And there's the announcement of Armageddon in verse 17 through 21. There's much that could be said here, but I'm going to keep that for another day.
Three pages of notes down. The direction I believe, I think, is very important for us to get is what the Scriptures has to say about the second coming and how throughout the ages the church has confused the second coming of Jesus Christ with what is called and preached a secret rapture.
Now, this is important to know. I want to say some things here, and as I was studying and putting together the statement of faith, I truly believe what Scripture teaches on this, and you can check me on this, please.
Because I'm not saying I got it all figured out, brothers and sisters. But I really believe as I've studied this down through the years, and even though for years and years and years I've been taught a secret rapture, as I've studied the Word of God and the right interpretation of Scripture interpreting Scripture, there's only two comings of Jesus.
There's not three.
There's not a secret rapture. The Scriptures teach that. As far as I can see, there's only two comings. The second coming of Jesus Christ is the consummation of all things. Scripture only speaks of the two comings.
Christ's first advent, when He came the first time to earth, in the incarnation, the second person under Godhead, took upon Himself flesh. The Word was made flesh. He came to die to redeem the elect, in which the Father ordained and decreed before the foundation of the world.
He will have the... That elect is the bride of Christ. That was Jesus' mission. That was His command from the Father, was to die and purchase His bride. That He has done. And by the way, that He is still doing.
Wait.
He is.
Praise God. And He's still doing it, and not until the last elect is in, in which we do not know the time, God's going to wrap it all up. We're going to look at Scriptures on that. Folks, there's so many Scriptures on the second coming of Christ, there's no way.
We're just going to break turf. But the second coming refers to the consummation of all things. Jesus came to die to redeem His own. He purchased a bride with His own precious blood. He paid a ransom.
Thus Christ is the bridegroom. We must see this of His bride. And He will have a pure bride. He will have a holy church. Even though that holy church is in an unholy world, she will be kept holy until Jesus comes.
Now I'm saying this all before we dig into Scriptures, and I want you to see in this introduction, I'm not going to unpack everything in chapter 19 of Revelation, I'm going to read it, but in light of that text, I want us to go to other verses and let you see for yourself what the Word of God says about the second coming and what all the apostles...
It's amazing. You can just about see something of the first advent, the second advent of Jesus Christ told by all the prophets and the apostles throughout the ages. First, let's go to Revelation 19. I want us to read it, and then I want us to just have your Bible ready because we're going to jump around to a lot of verses today.
Lord willing, next week we're going to unpack a lot of this in Revelation 19. It's a marvelous verse, chapter. Marvelous verses of Scripture that's given to us. Chapter 19. Hear the word of the living God.
After these things I heard something like a loud voice of a great multitude in heaven saying, Hallelujah! Salvation and power belong to our God because His judgments are true and righteous.
The attributes of God.
For He has judged the great harlot who was corrupting the earth with her immorality. And He has avenged the blood of His bondservants on her. And the second time they said, Hallelujah! Worshipping God.
Her smoke rises up forever and ever. The twenty-four elders and the four living creatures fell down and worshipped God who sits on the throne saying, Amen!
Hallelujah!
A voice came from the throne saying, Give praise to our God, all you His bondservants. You who fear Him, the small and the great. Then I heard something like the voice of a great multitude and like the sound of many waters, like the sound of many peals of thunder saying, Hallelujah!
The Lord our God, the Almighty reigns. Let us rejoice and be glad and give glory to Him for the marriage supper 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. This is the bride of Christ, beloved. Verse 9,. Then He said to me, Right, blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.
And He said to me, These are true words of God. And then I fell at His feet to worship Him. But He said to me, This is an angel now that made this proclamation to John. He said, Do not do that. I am a fellow servant of yours and your brethren who hold the testimony of Jesus.
Worship God. For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.
And,.
Verse 11, I saw heaven opened.
Behold,.
A white horse. And he who sat on it is called faithful and true. And in righteousness he judges and wages war. His eyes are a flame of fire. And on his head are many diadems. And he has a name written on him which no one knows except himself.
He stands unique, beloved. Verse 13,. He is clothed with a robe dipped in blood. And His name is called the Word of God. And the armies, the armies which are in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, were following Him on white horses.
And 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 winepress 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.
Let us pray and let's ask the Lord through His blessed Holy Spirit to help us within this hour to study these marvelous words and worship Him by the way. Worship Him as we study this wonderful chapter.
Our Father in heaven, we bow in Your presence and we know that You're here with us. You're the same yesterday, today and forever. Lord, we're so thankful that You do not change. Your love is changeless.
Your grace is changeless, immutable. Your holiness reigns changeless, Your majesty, glory and honor. Oh God, as we bow in Your presence, Lord, we need the true teacher, Your blessed Holy Spirit, to show us the things of Christ.
To worship You and to love You, to bless You, to thank You and to honor You and adore You, because You are the King of kings and Lord of lords. Lord, Your Son, Father You, have appointed Him to judge the whole world.
Every person ever lived from the moment of time of Adam to the very last and the end of the age. Lord, this should bring trembling to our souls that we all know He is the Son of Man. We will all stand before the great Judge in which You have appointed.
He has power over all flesh. Father, may we see, only have a two-day calendar as Luther said, today and Judgment Day. Lord, help us to live in that light, in the light of eternity. Lord, help us as we worship You and as we go through these verses, Lord, may we only see Jesus Christ, high and exalted.
And we ask these things in Jesus' name. Amen and Amen. You could take this all the way from the oldest book in the Bible. I like to turn there, Job chapter 19. I want you to look at this. Job chapter 19.
One of the oldest books in the entire Bible. God, the man feared God. You know the sufferings, the testings he went through. He was outside of the Lord Jesus Christ, which Jesus Himself was the man of sorrows.
No one ever went through sorrow like Jesus. But Job, I would have to say, was right up there in ranks. By no means, no one can compare to Jesus Christ. But as a man, a mere human man, Job knew what sorrow was.
He went through a great deal. Look at verse 23 of chapter 19. Oh, that my words were written. Oh, that they were inscribed in a book.
Aren't you glad they were?
God salted that. We don't know exactly who wrote the book of Job, but it's been recorded. Oldest record we know of. That with an iron stylus and lead, they were engraved in the rock forever. As for me, Job says, I know that my Redeemer lives.
He said this thousands of years before Jesus ever came. Notice the prophecy he gives to the blessed Holy Spirit. And at the last, and the last, some translations, the last day he would take his stand on the earth.
This is the prophecy of the second coming of Jesus. And then he says this in verse 26. And he had this much confidence and hope in God. Even after my skin is destroyed, yet from my flesh I shall see God.
Speaking of a resurrection. And then he says whom I myself shall behold and whom my eyes will see and not another. My heart faints within me.
I'll stop right there.
Notice how he gives such a great, tremendous respect for God here. He speaks of the glory of a physical, from my flesh, a resurrection in which would enjoy perfect fellowship with the Redeemer, the Lord Jesus Christ, that Jesus is that Redeemer.
His clear message of the gospel. And he gives this great prophecy. This is going to take place. And even as the Spirit of God was breathing through Job about Jesus, he is the Redeemer that lives. Notice that, my Redeemer lives.
He is in heaven. He will take his stand on the earth. And even though my skin is destroyed, some translations, I believe, even though worms eat my flesh, I shall see God. In my flesh I shall see God. A resurrected physical body.
You see, and this will take place. Chapter 19, back to Revelation. Heaven rejoices and the consummation of all things takes place. I'm going to give you a little outline of this and what happens and then Lord willing we'll break it down next week again.
First of all, we see that Babylon fell on the earth to the command was given in heaven. And Revelation 18 -20, Rejoice over her, O heaven, and you saints. The word saints means holy ones and the apostles and the prophets.
Notice the apostles and prophets because God has pronounced judgment for you against her. A literal translation means judged your judgment for her. God vindicates. This is the day of vengeance right here.
And what we read in this section in heaven's response to that command, the word hallelujah in the Greek form is the Hebrew hallelujah, I'm sorry, is the Greek form from hallelujah, which means praise the Lord.
God inhabits the praises of his people. And I want you to think of this. That is the purpose of your redemption, my redemption, the redemption of God's people is to worship God. And it's the whole key.
All of scripture focuses on worship to God. Jesus even said, if you don't, you know, he was speaking to some people, if you don't worship me, even the rocks will cry out and worship me. You see creation worshiping God.
And the creation that God has made, especially man in his image, was made to glorify God and enjoy him forever. You see, that is the purpose of redemption. And God will be praised. He will be praised.
And in verse 1 through 4, God has judged his enemies. In verse 2, I'm sorry, 2, I'm sorry, verses 5 through 6, God is reigning. Third, verse 7 through 10, the bride is ready. Those are the three reasons that heaven sings the hallelujah chorus.
This is the hallelujah chorus in heaven. In Revelation 19 verse 11 all the way to chapter 20 verse 3, we see the great and glorious second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. King over kings and Lord over lords.
Now, this is where I'd like to take you. The second time that Jesus comes is the consummation of all things found here in our text. And keep in mind, we are closer to the coming of Jesus Christ than we've ever been before.
Now, people will even say, well, but they preached it and preached it and preached it, and Jesus hasn't come yet. I'm telling you, when people start getting in that kind of state, beware. Because there begins to be a doubt.
Jesus' coming is imminent. There's nothing else that has to be fulfilled for Jesus to come back. And He will come back. This glorious second coming. And scriptures in the entire Bible from Genesis to Revelation is literally pregnant with the great coming event.
There will never be an event greater than this. The only event I would actually say that is as great as this was Christ dying on the cross, His death, His burial, and His resurrection. But when this happens, this is it.
It's over. He comes as judge. And the judge of judges. And this is the day of vengeance of our God. The day of the Lord. The day of the Lord.
Now, scripture is...
We're going to look into this. But now, notice with me. Again, there's not three comings. There's only two comings. Now, I'm not going to get up here and tell, and I've even studied this, and people that believe in the two comings of Jesus Christ, and says those who are teaching the secret rapture is heresy and heretical.
I'm not going to go that far, beloved. Because I do know some godly teachers that believe in the rapture. That's fine. But, and again, I'm not going to say I got it all figured out. But as I see in scripture, there's only two comings.
The first advent and the second advent. The third of a secret rapture causes confusion. And judgments. And what you see is scripture interprets scripture. And I want us to look at this. So I've jotted some things down.
Let's go to Jesus' words first, okay? Okay, let's go to Matthew chapter 24. And we broke ground already with the book of Job. And the reason I went there, it's the oldest book. But Matthew chapter 24, this has a great deal to say about the second coming of Jesus Christ.
We're going to look at this. There's so much here, beloved. I'm telling you, there's so much here. This is one of the most important chapters in the entirety of the word of God when it comes to the second coming of Jesus Christ.
This chapter can be divided up in four parts. Jesus predicts the destruction of the temple. That happened, beloved. That happened in A .D. 70. Under Titus. It was destroyed. The temple was destroyed. That prophecy was fulfilled.
We see that in verse 1 and 2. That stirs the disciples to ask Him the question about when will the time of the end come. And secondly, we see the signs of the times and the end of the age. This is all the way from verse 3 to 14.
Third, we see the great tribulation period, which is in verse 15 through 28. Jesus speaks about the great tribulation period. And fourth, we see the second coming of the Son of Man in great glory and power in verse 29 to 31.
And then, in verse... You can take it a little bit further. From 32 to 35, the parable of the fig tree. And then in verse 36 through 41, the illustration of the days of Noah. Let's look at this. I want to just let the word of God speak for itself.
Listen what the word of God has to say. And I want you to keep this one thing in mind. As this begins, as Jesus points out a statement about the prophecy of the temple to be destroyed, He really incites the minds of the disciples.
Question.
There was really two questions. But did you know this is one of the longest answers that Jesus ever gave? And I draw this to your attention because it is so that important, that important that we need to pay close attention to.
Notice what the word of God says. I'm reading from the NASB. Chapter 24, Jesus... Verse 1, Jesus came out from the temple and was going away when His disciples came up to point out to the temple buildings to Him.
And He said to them, Do you not see all these things? Jesus would always begin with a question. I'm telling you, He knew how to probe their hearts. Do you not see all these things? And He's talking about the temple.
Truly I say to you, not one stone here will be left upon another. Not one. Which will not be torn down. Jesus knew.
Verse 3,.
As He was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples, doesn't say one disciple, but all the disciples, the disciples came to Him privately.
Saying,.
Tell us when,.
It's always that,.
When will these things happen? When? And what will be the sign of your coming? Your coming.
And the end of the age.
That's a great question. And get ready. Fasten your seatbelts. Jesus gives an answer. Look at this answer He gives. And Jesus answered and said to them, See to it that no one misleads you. For many will come in My name saying, I am the Christ.
And it will mislead many. You will be hearing of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not frightened. For those things must take place. But that is not yet the end.
You hear that?
For nation will rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom. In various places there will be famines and earthquakes. But all these things are merely the beginning of birth pangs.
Then,.
Notice the transition. Then they will deliver you to tribulation and will kill you. And you will be hated by all nations because of My name. And at that time, many will fall away and will betray one another and hate one another.
Don't we see this? Many false prophets. Many false prophets will arise and will mislead many because lawlessness is increased. Most people's love will grow cold. But the one who endures to the end,.
He will be saved.
This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all the nations and then the end will come. Verse 15,.
Therefore,.
When you see the abomination of desolation which was spoken through Daniel the prophet standing in the holy place, let the reader understand. Let those who are in Judea must flee to the mountains. Whoever is on the housetop must not go down to get the things out that are in his house.
Whoever is in the field must not turn back.
To get his cloak.
But woe to those who are pregnant, to those who are nursing babies in those days.
But I pray that your flight.
Will not be in the winter or on the Sabbath. For then, there will be a great tribulation. Listen to what Jesus says. As such has not occurred since the beginning of the world until now nor ever will be.
A time is coming, beloved. Unless those days have been cut short, no life would have been saved. But for the sake of the elect, those days will be cut short. Then if anyone says to you, Behold, here is Christ, or there he is, do not believe him.
For false Christ and false prophets will arise and will show great signs and wonders so as to mislead if possible,.
If possible,.
Even the elect. Behold, I have told you in advance. So if they say to you, Behold, he is in the wilderness, do not go out. Or behold, he is in the inner ruins, do not believe them. For just as the lightning comes from the east and flashes even to the west, so will the coming of the Son of Man be.
Wherever the corpse is, there the vultures will gather. But immediately after the tribulation.
Of those days,.
The sun will be darkened and the moon will not give its light. And the stars will fall from the sky and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. You know you see this in Revelation. You can read about it.
And then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn. And they will see the Son of Man coming in clouds of the sky with power and great glory. And he will send forth his angels with a great trumpet and they will gather together his elect from the four winds and from one end of the sky to the other.
Now learn the parable of the fig tree. When its branch has already become tender and it puts forth its leaves, you know that summer is near. So you too, when you see all these things, recognize that he is near right at the door.
That's what James says. Truly I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all things take place. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away. And notice he gives the illustration of the days of Noah.
But of that day and hour,.
No one knows,.
Not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone. For the coming of the Son of Man will be just like the days of Noah. For as those days before the flood, they were eating and drinking and marrying and giving in marriage until the day Noah entered the ark.
And they did not understand until the flood came and took them all away. So will the coming of the Son of Man be. Then there will be two men in the field and one will be taken and one will be left. Two women will be grinding at the mill.
One will be taken. One will be left.
Be on the alert. For you do not know which day your Lord is coming. But be sure of this, that if the head of the house had known at what time the night the thief was coming, he would have been on alert.
He would not have allowed his house to be broken into.
For this reason,.
You also must be ready. For the Son of Man is coming at an hour when you do not think he will. Who then is a faithful and sensible slave whom his master put in charge of his household to give him the food at the proper time?
Blessed is that slave whom his master finds so doing that he comes. Truly I say to you that he will put him in charge.
Of all his possessions.
But if that evil slave says in his heart my master is not coming for a long time and he begins to beat his fellow slaves and eat and drink with the drunkards, the master of the slave will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour which he does not know and will cut him into pieces and assign him in a place assign him in a place with the hypocrites, the play actors and that place where there will be weeping.
And gnashing of teeth.
Very clear, isn't it?
That Jesus tells us.
Of all the events that will take place.
Before,.
During,.
And right at his coming. Very, very clear. And we need to take heart. Now, I'm going to just give you Scripture because Paul charged Timothy, preach the Word. I'm going to comment here but I'm going to let the Word of God.
Take precedence here.
Another Scripture, I've always been told you study 2 Thessalonians along with the second coming of the Lord. So, not only do you study Revelation, you study Daniel, you study 2 Thessalonians. Go with me to 2 Thessalonians and listen to this.
2 Thessalonians chapter 1.
Verse 3.
You think the apostle Paul was concerned about this? He gives us to the church of Thessalonica. The very first thing he says here, we ought always,.
We ought always to give thanks to God for you brethren, as in it is only fitting because your faith is greatly enlarged and the love of each other, of one of you toward one another grows ever greater.
Loving one another. That's the command that Jesus gave. Therefore, we ought ourselves speak proudly of you among the churches of God for your perseverance and faith in the midst of all your persecutions and afflictions which you endure.
See, they entered the kingdom of God through many tribulations, right? Okay, verse 5. This is a plain indication of God's righteous judgment so that you will be considered worthy of the kingdom of God for which indeed you are suffering.
They were suffering for this at this time.
Verse 6.
For after all, it is only just for God to repay with affliction those who afflict you. See, basically what he's saying,.
Paul taught this.
You do not pay vengeance for vengeance. God pays the vengeance.
And that's what he's saying.
You continue in steadfastness and love toward one another. In verse 7. And he tells us why. And to give relief to you who are afflicted. They were seriously afflicted. And to us as well when the Lord Jesus will be revealed from heaven with the mighty angels and flaming fire.
Now, he's comforting them with this. They're basically saying vengeance is the Lord. God's going to take care of these evil people that's bringing afflictions upon you.
And then he says this.
Will be revealed from heaven with the mighty angels and flaming fire.
Jesus just spoke about that.
It's consummated in Revelation 19. Dealing out retribution to those who do not know God and to those who do not obey the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. Did you see the order there? You got to first know God.
These people don't know God. They enter into the kingdom of God. You must be born again. You got to know God. And when you do know God, you obey Christ. They don't know God, neither do they care.
About obeying the gospel.
Verse 9. These will pay the penalty of eternal destruction. Very clear that this is what is coming to the evil when Jesus Christ comes. Eternal destruction. Beloved, we need to keep that before us. Away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his power.
You know, there is a great urgency to rescue the perishing, isn't there? We're to tell our message.
To these people,.
Even the wicked, be reconciled to God.
That's the warning.
Verse 10. And when he comes, speaking of Jesus, when he comes to be glorified in his saints on that day and to be marveled at among all who have believed. For our testimony to you was believed. To this end also, we pray for you always that God will count you worthy of your calling and fulfill every desire for goodness and to the work of faith with power so that the name of our Lord Jesus will be glorified in you and you in him according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.
And then in chapter 2, I don't have time to go into it, you basically see the great apostasy that takes place.
Apostasy.
You don't see things actually getting better, things get worse. Beware of the teaching that says everything gets better. Folks, it will ultimately after Jesus comes. But it's going to be a downward spiral of great tribulation until Jesus comes back.
And I want to be honest with you,.
To the wicked,.
That's going to be the most horrible day ever.
But for the saints,.
It's the most glorious day.
Because that's the day.
That God will take vengeance on his enemies. It's going to be a glorious day and that's why heaven rejoices. Heaven rejoices because of this.
You know,.
Scripture speaks much about this. You don't have to turn there, but I wrote this down. Matthew 16 verse 27. For the Son of Man will come, will come, in the glory of his Father with his angels. He doesn't come alone, does he?
He comes with all the angels of heaven. All the saints in heaven. Heaven empties itself. And then he will reward each according to his works. He comes in vengeance and he's going to judge every person right there.
That's found in Matthew 25. The judgment of the nations. The goats will be on the left, the sheep on the right. That will be the judgment of the nations. That happens in chapter 19 when Jesus comes. No secret rapture.
Nothing in scripture taught about a secret rapture. Also keep in mind about this thing. Paul the apostle spoke about this in Corinthians. Go with me to 1 Corinthians chapter 15. That's the resurrection chapter, right?
Now he speaks about the resurrection and without the resurrection of Jesus Christ there will be no resurrection but we know that Jesus was resurrected. You see how important the resurrection of Jesus is?
It actually is a fulfillment to anticipate all resurrections. See that? Because he's the Messiah. He's the first fruits. Amen, Brother Keith.
That's it.
But notice the last enemy.
Will be destroyed.
And notice in 1 Corinthians. Let me back up a little bit here. There's so much here, beloved. I'm telling you. Let's first look at verse 20. But now Christ has been raised from the dead. Aren't you glad?
Jesus is raised from the dead. How important is the resurrection? I'm telling you it's everything. Everything that we believe.
Look at Job.
He believed that because of the resurrection of Jesus because my Redeemer lives. The first fruits of those who are asleep. Jesus was the first fruits. For since by man came death. Now he's speaking about Adam.
By man also came the resurrection. That's Jesus Christ of the dead. Then he goes into that. He elaborates on it. Verse 22. For as in Adam all die. So also in Christ all will be made alive. Nothing in between.
There's death or there's life. Or we are dead in Adam or we are alive in Christ. There's nothing in between. Verse 23. But each in his own order. Christ the first fruits. After that those who are Christ at his coming.
At his coming. This is the second coming. This is not the rapture, folks. Then comes the end. This is the end of all things. In the original it says then the end. The comes is basically a filler. But the original text says then the end.
When he hands over the kingdom to God the Father. When he has abolished all rule and authority and power. God's going to abolish all of it. All the kingdoms and the wicked people. It's going to come down, folks.
These people that it's out trying to destroy. I'm telling you God's going to put an end to them. Every hypocrite that plays church. It's going to be an end. Every eye shall see him when he comes. Not only the wicked on the streets that's destroying and killing people with guns and so forth.
But I'm talking about even the hypocrites. Even more so for them. You can read it. Psalm 2. Verse 25. And he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet.
Beloved.
You know what that means? That's going to happen. He's going to put all his enemies under his feet. And the last enemy that will be abolished is death.
Death.
Verse 27. For he has put all things in subjection under his feet. But when he says all things are put in subjection it is evident he is he is accepted who put all things in subjection to him. And when all things are subjected to him when the Son himself also will be subjected to the one who subjected all things to him so that God may be all in all.
Basically he's talking about an order of submission. That's another word for subjection. A submission that Jesus submits to the will of the Father. Everything the Father has decreed. Everything that the Father decreed Jesus has obeyed it perfectly.
All the way through his life. All the way to his death. All the way to his burial. And his resurrection. And his second coming. Now jump real quickly. There's so much here. But notice right here in verse 50.
Now I say this brethren. Now this does not speak of the rapture. Now I can prove it. That flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. And then Paul says he received a revelation from God here and he gave it to the church of Corinth.
Isn't that interesting? He says, behold I tell you a mystery. It's a mystery. We will not all sleep. But we will be changed. Now that word sleep means that we all are not going to stay dead. No matter how you die.
No matter if you're cremated. No matter you're put in the grave.
That is a sea in the sea.
It doesn't matter. God's going to raise it folks. And what does he say? It's going to happen in a moment. In the twinkling of an eye. Now a lot of people look at this as a rapture. But you tell me in verse.
Listen to this. In this verse it says in the twinkling of an eye. At the what?
Last trumpet.
Where do you find that last trumpet? In Revelation. That's what he's talking about. There's a series of trumpets. For the trumpet will sound. And the dead will be raised and perishable. And will be changed.
You know it kind of reminds me of the trumpets when God descended upon Mount Sinai. As we've been reading through Exodus. And notice what the verses say. When God came there was sounds of loud trumpets.
When God was speaking. People says we don't want to hear it because we're going to die. It was so powerful. But can you imagine on this day. When that last trumpet sounds. We're going to go to something else in just a minute.
It goes right into this. I'm going to stop right there. Go with me to 1 Thessalonians. Again this is not the rapture. Chapter 4. So many verses. And my time is already up. Good grief. I can easily preach another hour right through this.
I'm going to have to break it up folks. But notice right here. There is a comfort in Christ's coming to the saints. But I'm here to tell you. For the second coming of Jesus Christ. This is going to be the most horrific worst day ever.
To those that are evil and wicked. Upon the face of this earth. God is going to give vengeance. And what is he saying? I want you to notice this. Verse 13. Now read this whole chapter in your devotional time.
He tells you how to live.
In purity. In holiness. And he talks about the will of God. Your sanctification. That you abstain from sexual immorality. There is a reason for that. Because sexual immorality is idolatry. Have you ever seen.
Let me stop right here and say something. Have you ever seen in your life. A nation that is so bent over to idolatrising sex. I'm telling you. I have to watch my eyes constantly. Even going to YouTube.
Listening to messages of God's word. And something is put right in front of me. Beware on social media beloved. Watch where your eyes land. And one thing leads to another. But it's very evident. Now there is hope for people that fall into these kind of sins.
I'm not saying that. God desires to rescue people out of those things.
Right?
But for people who call themselves Christians.
And continue to live like that.
It's just a profession. They don't possess Christ. Because when you are in Jesus Christ. You are a new creation. Old things pass away.
Behold.
What?
All things become new.
Did you hear that?
All things folks. I didn't say that. That's the word of God. But let me get to it. Verse 13. All the verses before this. Talks about a plea for purity. To live in holiness. Love in one another. You have been taught by God to love one another.
And he talks about how to live in purity. And that's the way we are to live until Jesus comes. But we do not want you to be uninformed. Basically ignorant.
Brethren.
About those things. Or those who are asleep. So that you will not grieve as do the rest who have no hope. People who die without Jesus. Don't have hope. They got dying hope. They think they got hope. You see people like this all the time.
Oh he is with the angels there. And they preach people that live wicked lives. Oh he was a good person. He is with the angels. And they want to know that they are in heaven. And don't get me wrong. It's a very horrible thing to think.
At least they are thinking about eternity. But you know something. You can't preach people into heaven that live like hell on earth. You can't do it. That's why you got to be in Christ. You must be born again.
So that you will not grieve as do the rest who have no hope. We don't grieve like the rest who have no hope.
Why?
Because we have a living hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again. So even so God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus. This is the comfort folks. For this we say to you by the word of the Lord.
And that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord. Will not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself would descend from heaven. He's talking about the second coming. With a shout and with the voice of the archangel.
And with the trumpet of God. There's the trumpet again. And the dead in Christ will rise first. This is the consummation of everything folks. Now run this through scripture to check it. 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. Those are words of comfort folks for the saints.
Now we only broke ground. Oh my goodness. How should we live? How should we live?
Well do we live holy?
How do we know this?
Look at Titus.
Very quickly. Titus chapter 2. Verse 11. For the grace of God has appeared. Bringing salvation to all men. Instructing us to deny ungodliness. And worldly desires. We're to deny it. We're to run from it.
We're to flee from it. To live sensibly. People that live immoral. Don't live with good sense. They live insensible. Live sensibly.
Righteously. Godly.
You know what godly means? Godlike. In this present age. This is the way we should be living until Jesus comes. In verse 13.
Looking.
Dan look.
Looking for the blessed hope. What's our blessed hope? Jesus coming. Don't you want to see Jesus come? Oh my goodness yes. And the appearing of the glory of our great God. And Savior Christ Jesus. Notice that the text calls Jesus God.
Our great God and Savior Christ Jesus. Who gave himself for us to redeem us from every lawless deed. And purify for himself a people for his own possession. Sell us for good works. These things speak and exhort and reprove with all authority.
Let no one disregard you. You know what basically that text says? That Jesus when he comes back is going to have a pure bride. He's going to have a bride. Without spot.
Without wrinkle.
Holy.
Presenting to the Lord.
Loving.
You know a bride and a bridegroom. Is intimate lovers.
Do you see that?
The covenant marriage.
You see.
And that's why it's such a sin. To have any sexual relations outside of a covenant relationship.
The Bible says that folks.
I've talked to people that claim to be Christians. And says oh I can do this and do that. And God already sees it like it's no big deal. That's a lie from hell. Did you tell me why in Genesis. I almost want to say have you not read in Genesis.
That when God made Adam. And then what did he make out of Adam?
Eve.
Because he saw it wasn't good for man to be alone. That was his help meat.
And what did God do?
After he put him into deep sleep. He did surgery on him. Out of his rib. He made a woman. And out of that. And then he brought. God brought that woman. To him. There was a covenant folks. The Bible says.
The whore mongers. And those that are immoral.
God will judge. The adulterers.
And then it says the beds undefiled. Because of the covenant relationship. There must be a covenant. God is a God of covenant folks. You tell me this. You see covenant all the way through the scriptures.
The signs of the covenant. Circumcision. There's a covenant in baptism. Later on.
And those are signs.
External signs. But the most important covenant. Is the covenant within the heart. That God cuts away that sin within our heart.
Amen.
I'm telling you.
This is so important. I got so much I need to say here. What must we be doing. Until Jesus comes back. Living holy. Tells you right there. One more scripture. Go with me to Acts chapter 1. This is what we to do.
And the apostle said here. When Jesus was risen from the dead. Here he was ascending in heaven.
Notice what it says.
The first account I composed.
Theophilus.
About all that Jesus began to do. In Acts chapter 1.
And teach.
Until the day when he was taken up to heaven. This is his ascension. And after he had by the Holy Spirit given orders. To the apostles whom he had chosen. Those commands and orders that he gave. Specifically what for them to do.
Verse 3. To these he also presented himself alive. After his suffering. Listen to this. By many convincing proofs. Appearing to them over a period of 40 days. And speaking the things concerning the kingdom of God.
Should not this be the first thing in our hearts today? As children of God. We should be speaking to people concerning the kingdom of God. Gathering them together. He commanded them not to leave Jerusalem.
But to wait for what the father had promised. Which he said. You have heard from me. For John baptized with water. But you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit. Not many days from now. There is a purpose for these believers to be filled with the Spirit.
Not less. So when they had come together. They were asking him. Saying Lord.
This is at Jesus' ascension.
They got a concern. Again still. Lord is it at this time you are restoring the kingdom to Israel? Notice the when. This time.
When. Again.
He said to them. It is not for you to know. We should underscore that. The times. Or the epochs. Now we know the signs of the times. Don't we?
Paul said that to the Thessalonians.
Or the epochs. Which the father has fixed by his own authority. And you know what he says.
Listen to this.
But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you. And you shall be my witnesses. Both in Jerusalem and all Judea and Samaria. And even to the uttermost parts of the earth. You know what he's basically saying.
Be filled with the Holy Spirit.
Believer.
This is to the believer. First you got to be born again. Then be filled with the Spirit of God. What's the purpose of the Spirit? To give you fire and power. To witness unto Jesus. And after that he said these things.
He was lifted up while they were looking. Gazing on him. A cloud received him out of their sight. And as they were gazing intently into the sky. While he was going. Behold two men in white clothing. He was an angel.
Stood beside them.
Also said.
Men of Galilee. Why do you stand looking into the sky? This Jesus. Who has been taken up from you into heaven. Will come in just the same way as you have watched him go into heaven. In other words. Get busy.
Go and wait in the upper room. Till the Spirit of God comes. Be filled with the Spirit. And get out there and reach the lost. Folks I pray that's what redeeming grace church is all about. The gospel and the lost.
The gospel and the lost.
Until Jesus comes back. I got to stop right there. Praise God.
I urge you.
If you do not know Jesus Christ as your Lord and your Savior. Receive him today. Today is the day of salvation. Flee from the wrath to come. And scripture says. Repent. Repent. It's a command. It's not a suggestion.
God himself commands it. I plead with you. Don't wait till it's too late. We're not promised the next day. Let's pray. Father we thank you for this day.
This is the Lord's day.
We need strong medicine Lord. Sober us. May we be ready. There's so much more Lord. It's been your word about this. All this truth. Beautiful truth concerning the glorious day. Of the second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Should motivate us. As believers of yours Lord. To live godly. And Christ like. And sacrificial. Service unto you. And energetic. Urgent. To reach out to the lost to die.
God help us.
Forgive us for not. Being urgent. And Lord you teach us to be patient. For you're patient. And that's why you have not come yet. Because you're patient.
And you.
Do not delight to see. The wicked die in their sin. It grieves you oh God. It grieved you. When you looked upon this earth. Years ago in the days of Noah. When the whole earth was.
Full of such evil.
And every thought and intent of. The heart was evil continually. The imagination was evil continually. But yet you were grieved in your heart.
That you made man.
Oh Lord. May we do as Noah did. As a preacher of righteousness did. He got his own family in the ark. There's always a remnant.
There was just a few of them.
While the whole world.
The many. Was judged. And died in that great flood. These are samples. Examples for us to learn. Lord may we be sober. And Lord may we be doing. The work of the kingdom until you come. Father I pray for each and every one of us here today.
At redeeming grace church. Set our hearts on fire. Set us afire oh God. And may we be concerned.
With the kingdom of God.
More than anything else. As your son says. Seek first the kingdom of God. And his righteousness.
His righteousness.
And all these other things.
Will be added unto you.
You'll take care of the rest. We're not to worry about those things. We're not to be even we concerned and worried about. How evil runs rampant. Lord you're going to take care of that. When you come back.
To bring vengeance. But until then. Lord may people see that every breath they draw. Is another day for them to repent. Lord grant this I pray.
Grant this.
In Jesus name. Amen.