The Return of the King

Well, about 15 years ago, a struggling young writer was writing in cafes to save on her heating bill, single mom, impoverished single mom. 15 years later, she is the wealthiest woman in Britain. Worth well over a billion dollars, the writer, as you probably have guessed, of the Harry Potter series of novels. When the seventh novel was to come out in 2007, there was an unusual cloak of secrecy about its contents. In fact, the publisher of the seventh book went to unusual extremes to make sure nobody would know what happened. So nobody except Abbott Harry Potter fans who actually got the book would be able to discover for themselves how the saga ended. When I think of that, I think of how different our lords take on the future is. He has not sought to cloak in secrecy in any of the events of the end of the world as we know it. In fact, he has clearly told us in his word the series of events that will lead up to the end of the world as we know it. This being 2012, the year that many say the world will come to an end. The world that many say, actually a misinterpretation of Mayan calendar that say the Mayans prophesied years ago, centuries ago, that the world would come to an end on the winter solstice this December 21, 2012. Again, a misinterpretation of the evidence there, but still, it has spawned a lot of fanatical belief about this year being the end of the world. And so I've chosen this particular time to discover what the Bible says about the end of the world as we know it. The Bible does say this world will come to an end and it will be replaced by a new earth. But the Bible gives us enough detail so that we can know the end of the world, the end of the world as we do know it from the Bible is very different from the secrecy of a mystery novel that might be cloaked in secrecy, not wanting people to know how it's going to turn out ahead of time. God's not ashamed of that. I just know ahead of time how it's going to turn out. But I do also want to avoid some of the fanaticism that has arisen over the end times and even by those who deal with the Bible sometimes step way out on limbs and fanatically say things that cannot really be supported from the Scriptures. There's a lot of that going on this year as well. When we introduced this series a few weeks ago, we introduced it with a clip from the movie 2012 movie that was made three years ago, which basically was capitalizing on that concern and fanaticism about the year 2012. Early in that movie, the lead character in the movie who has his children with him in Yellowstone National Park, stumbles upon someone that he's heard on the radio, a do's-day prophet who has been talking about the end of the world coming. His name is Charlie. This is what Charlie says. I'm going to ask you something. I want to ask you something. I was wondering what exactly is it that's going to start now. It's the apocalypse in a day. The judgment day, the end of the world, my friend. Christians called it the rapture, but the minds knew about it. The hope is the eye-chains, the Bible kind of. The Bible kind of? Oh really? Is this the same thing the minds talked about and the hope he's talked about? So what the Christians call the rapture? Is that really it? Not at all. The Bible gives us clear detail, not all the detail, but a clear enough progression of events that we can determine what happens, what leads up to the end of the world as we know it. While trying to seek some biblical balance between secrecy on the one hand and sensationalism on the other, I think we can determine some things that the Bible teaches about the end days. Let's take a look at this little prophecy timetable that we've been looking at some on Sunday mornings in this series. I remind you of some of the things we've already looked at. By the way, some of you had asked about this. You've been trying to draw it on Sunday mornings and you're getting a little bit each week. But if we do have some copies of it at the welcome center, if you're interested, you can pick up one there. We'll run out and put some more back there. But we've already talked about this event, the rapture, the coming of Christ to take his bride home to be with him. When Jesus will come, we will be resurrected. We will rise and we will meet him in the air to be taken home to be with him. Where we will face him in judgment at the judgment of Believer's works or as we saw the Scriptures call it, the judgment seat of Christ. We've already looked at that event as well. And then the last time we were together in this series, we looked at this period of time, seven year period of time on planet earth called the Tribulation Time, a time of seven years of unparalleled wrath of God, unparalleled the stress for the nation of Israel, unparalleled judgment upon this earth that is described clearly in the book of Revelation. Today, we've come to the next event on this timeline and this timetable which is Christ's return. The second coming we call it or a nod to the word of the ring trilogy, the return of the king. So the return of the king today is our theme for this day, the second coming of Christ. The king will come back, he will return, he will set up his kingdom on this earth. And that's what we're going to look at today. In fact, the Bible set a lot of things that would happen at the coming of Christ. When Christ would come to this earth, there are a lot of things that the Bible described would happen that haven't happened yet. They didn't happen at his first coming. So by necessity, there must be a second coming of Christ. There must be another return, a return of the king to the earth to fulfill all that has been prophesied about him. In fact, just look at this sampling of prophecies in the Bible. Ezekiel, chapter 37 says this. Therefore, prophesied and stated in this is what the sovereign Lord says. My people, I am going to open your graves, who are Ezekiel's people, the Jews. Okay, speaking of Israel, my people, I'm going to open your graves and bring you up from them. I will bring you back to the land of Israel. Then you, my people, will know that I am the Lord when I open your graves and bring you up from them. There was a resurrection of the nation of Israel. They'll be brought back to their land. I will put my spirit in you, he says. And you will live and I will settle you in your own land. Then you will know that I, the Lord, have spoken and I have done it declares the Lord. That hasn't happened yet. You say, wait a second, Jews have gone back to their land and they've established the nation of Israel. That's not what that's talking about. That's talking about God resurrecting the Old Testament saints, bringing living Jews back together. The nation being established in their land forever, recognizing God as their Lord. That hasn't happened yet. That requires the return of the King. Other prophecies like Psalm 96 in verse 13, let all creation rejoice before the Lord. For he comes, he comes to judge the earth, he will judge the world in righteousness and the peoples and his faithfulness. That hasn't happened yet. Jesus has not yet judged the world, he has not come as the judge and ruler of this world yet. Other prophecies like Zachariah 144, on that day, in the context of the second coming of Christ, his feet will stand on the Mount of Oles. Now look at this, Easter Jerusalem. And the Mount of Oles will be split into from East to West, forming a great valley with half the mountain moving north, half moving south. If you go to Israel today, guess what? Mount of Oles is still in one piece. That hasn't happened yet. That requires another coming, the return of the King. Paul said in Romans chapter 11, in this way, all Israel will be saved as has written, the deliverer will come, the deliverer of the Messiah, Christ will come from Zion. He will turn godless away from Jacob. That hasn't happened yet. All Israel has not been saved yet. And Paul describes the coming of Christ this way in 2 Thessalonians, when he says, give relief to you who are troubled to us as well. This will happen when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven. Now notice the description. In blazing fire with his powerful angels, he will punish those who do not know god and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord from the glory of his might. That hasn't happened yet. That coming in blazing fire with his angels to judge the world that hasn't happened yet. At his first coming, that didn't happen, so it requires a second coming. Jesus will return to this earth, at his second coming, to accomplish all those things and many others that the Bible teaches. Today, we're going to scan quickly about the Bible teachers about the second coming of Christ. Let's begin with the timing of his return. Find your place, please, in your Bible in Matthew 24. Matthew 24, where we'll spend most of our time this morning, we'll look at a few other passages, but Matthew 24 clearly identifies the time of his return. Matthew 24 describes it as after the tribulation, quite clearly after the tribulation. If you look at chapter 24, verse 29, Immediately after the distress of those days, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light. The stars will fall from the sky, and the heavenly bodies will be shaken. Then will appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven, and then all the peoples of the earth will mourn when they see the Son of man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. Jesus, in these two chapters, Matthew 24 and 25, is speaking to his disciples, called the Olivet Discourse, because it was a discourse of teaching that was given from the Mount of Olives. During the last week of our Lord's life, on one of those evenings, when he went outside of Jerusalem to spend the night in the Garden of Gethsemane, on the Mount of Olives, that's where they stayed the nights that week before he died. One of those times, he is talking with them about the end times, the end of the world as we know it, and he says, after the distress of those days, is when the coming of the Son of man will be, what days, what distress, what's he talking about? We have to go back to the beginning of the chapter, catch the whole flow of thought, in order to discover exactly what Jesus is talking about. Chapter 24, verse 1, let's move back, and we'll move our way through this chapter. In verse 1, Jesus left the temple and was walking away when his disciples came up to him to call his attention to its buildings. Can you just imagine that scene? They're walking out of the temple. They're going to cross the deep, the Kiderin Valley where the brick Kiderin is, and to walk up to the other side of the Mount of Olives, they will spend the night. They're walking away from the temple and the disciples look back and say, we'll just look at that. Isn't that grand? Isn't that glorious? Look at that magnificent structure. And look at what Jesus said about it in verse 2. Do you see all these things he asked? Truly, I tell you, not one stone here will be left on another. Everyone will be thrown down. That is an absolutely shocking statement. That's a spilling statement. The temple was one of the wonders of the ancient world, Solomon's Temple was. The temple that Herod rebuilt over it was even more magnificent. It took almost 90 years to build, was not completely finished until 64 AD, more than 30 years after Jesus died. But even in Jesus' date was a magnificent structure. This next series of pictures will kind of show you what it was like. The first picture is the temple proper. Here is the place where the priests would go, the holy place, and back behind the holy of holies. Here's where the sacrifices would be made. This is the court where the Jews would come. The next picture will show you the temple complex, all the buildings and storerooms around it. These are people right here. These little dots. This is a huge structure, a magnificent structure. The next picture will show you the magnificence of this in comparison to the city of Jerusalem. This is an artist depiction of the city of Jerusalem in the first century in Jesus' day. You can see the walled city, the buildings of Jerusalem. Here's Herod's palace, which was quite a structure. But look at this. This is the temple complex. It dwarfs the city of Jerusalem and today no wonder the disciples would say as they're leaving. Look at that. Isn't that marvelous? Look at that structure. Jesus says, I want to tell you, the times coming, when not one stone will be left on another of that structure. And the disciples are shocked. They're stunned. How could that possibly happen to this amazing structure while the wonders of the world? How could this happen? So they ask a question in verse three, actually three questions. As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives, this is a little time later, you can just imagine the wheels of interning in their mind. They've been thinking about what Jesus said. So as Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately. Tell us, they said, when will this happen? And what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age? Now they asked three questions. The first one is, when will this happen? Well, there's what you just said about the temple being destroyed, not even one stone left. When is that going to happen? And then what's the sign of your coming and of the end of the age and those two questions kind of go together? What they're asking is what we're talking about. What is the end of the world as we know it? What is the end of the age? What will be the sign of your coming? What's it going to be like? Well, Matthew doesn't really concern himself with Jesus' answer to the first question. He doesn't really address that. If you read Luke's account in Luke 21, you'll find that Luke addresses that specifically. Luke deals with the answer to the first question, when will the temple be destroyed? And he describes what is quite clearly the destruction of the city of Jerusalem and the destruction of the temple by the Roman Empire. It happened in 70 AD when the Romans had finally had it up to here with the Jews and said, we're going to squash that, that bothersome little empire over there. And in three years they squashed the nation of Israel and destroyed Jerusalem. There's actually some archaeological finds that have been made. One of them on the arch of Titus. Titus was the Roman general that led the assault. The first of all the siege and then the assault on Jerusalem. And in the museum today you can see this inscription, this sculpture of Roman soldiers carrying the lamp stand from the temple out of the temple. And other artifacts out of the temple. The Romans commemorated their destruction of the city of Jerusalem in that way. Roman historians tell us that they burnt the city to the ground. This next picture is a representation of the burning of Jerusalem in 70 AD. Here's the Roman general Titus. Some of his troops at the northern wall of Jerusalem. The historians tell us that the city was so decimated by fire, including the temple area right here, that the gold in the temple, whatever was left, melted. And the Roman soldiers tore the temple apart, stone by stone, to try to get all the gold they could. What Jesus prophesied came through specifically, not one stone would be left on another. And if you go to Israel today you can see some of the archaeological digs around the temple mount and see some of that even today. So Luke deals with that. Matthew deals with the answer to the next two questions which are kind of grouped together. What will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age? What's it going to be like at the second coming and the end of the age? And the rest of this discourse, chapter 24 and 25, deal with that question. What are the signs of the second coming and the end of the age? What Jesus does is he answers the question beginning in verses 4 through 8 by giving some of the signs. Some of the signs that will anticipate and point toward the second coming of Christ. Verse 4, Jesus answered, watch out that no one deceives you. For many will come in my name claiming I am Messiah and will deceive many. You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you're not alarmed such things must happen, but the end is still come. Nation will rise in its nation and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of birth pains. That's an important expression. It comes from the Old Testament. It's the idea of the travail of Israel, of the destruction and suffering the nation of Israel will go through. You see Jesus is talking to these disciples as representatives of the nation of Israel. I'm talking to you, but I'm talking about you as a representative of the nation of Israel that will be alive at the second coming when these end of ends take place. All this stuff is going to happen. Now some of it's happening even now in the time that we live in, but it will have a crescendoing effect. It will continue to get worse and worse, more and more of these things happening until the tribulation time. That will be the culmination of these famines, earthquakes and so forth. We saw that when we looked at the tribulation. The 21 series of judgments will include many of these things that will happen. And the movement of armies in the tribulation time will be a description of what's happening here. But that's only the beginning of the travail of the birth pains on Israel. That's only the first half, basically, of the tribulation time. Jesus goes on to describe the second half of the tribulation in verses 9 to 14. He says, then you will be handed use, speaking of you disciples, representative of the nation of Israel. Nation of Israel will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death. And you will be hated by all nations because of me. Remember, we saw last time that will happen in the middle of the tribulation. Let's look at that chart again that we saw last time, the other prophetic timetable, where the tribulation, the seven-year period which follows the church age, here's the rapture, then the tribulation, is divided into two equal periods of time, three and a half years each. The second half, the great tribulation is what Jesus is going to describe now as the time when Israel will begin to be persecuted. Remember, last time we saw that the antichrist begins that in earnest at the middle of the tribulation time. And Jesus is talking about that now. Notice how he describes it. Verse 10, that time, many will turn away from the faith, will betray and hate each other. Many false prophets will appear and deceive many people because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will go cold. But the one who stands firm to the end will be saved. By the way, that's not talking about your salvation. In the context, quite clearly, it's talking about those who endure through the tribulation time. Those who make it to the end will be saved in the sense of physical deliverance out of that time into the millennium. That's what verse 13 is talking about. Look at verse 14, and this gospel of the kingdom, the gospel that announces the coming of the king and the setting up of the kingdom. This gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations and then the end will come. We saw again last time when we were talking about the tribulation that's exactly described in Revelation chapter 7, where 144,000 Jewish evangelists are protected by God. They go throughout the whole earth, in the last three and a half years of the tribulation particularly, they spread the gospel to every nation. The Bible says, every tribe, every time, every people group, every nation will be reached by that group of evangelists in the tribulation time. And they will stand in heaven, those out of the great tribulation the Bible says, from every nation, every people group, will stand in heaven. And those, that gospel will be preached and it will reach the whole world and then the end will come. The end of the age, that's the question, what's going to be the sign of it coming to end of the age? That's when the end will come. After those Jewish evangelists take the gospel to every part of the world, the end of the tribulation time. Now what Jesus does beginning in verse 15, is he goes back and he fills in a few gaps of information about the second half of the tribulation and the suffering that is rule under go. How do you know that? Well, take a look at verse 15. So when you see standing in the holy place, the abomination that causes desolation spoken out through the prophet Daniel, that's what Jesus said, Matthew breaks into the little parentheses here and says, let the reader understand whoever's reading my gospel, let him understand what's going on here. If Matthew wanted us to pause for a moment and understand what Jesus is saying, we better do that, right? So let's take a moment to understand what Jesus is talking about when he says, when you see standing in the holy place, the abomination that causes desolation spoken out through the prophet Daniel. Well, maybe we need to go back to Daniel, find out what he was talking about. Daniel mentions this abomination of desolation twice. First of all, Daniel 9.27, he, we looked at this verse when we were talking about the tribulation, the anti-Christ, the anti-Christ, during the tribulation, will confirm a covenant with many for one seventh. That's how the tribulation begins, you remember. He makes a peace treaty, a covenant with the nation of Israel for seven years, but notice what happens. In the middle of the seventh, in the middle of that seven-year period, three and a half years, middle of the tribulation, he will put an end to the sacrifice and offering. Remember, that's the sacrificial system that is allowed under this peace treaty by the Jews and a newly rebuilt temple. He will put an end to that and then notice what happens. At the end, or at the temple, he will set up an abomination that causes desolation until the end that is decreed is poured out on him. An abomination is something that is repulsed to God, causes desolation in the sense that it desecrates the holiness of the temple. It is something that is awful for the nation of Israel, but also in the eyes of God that will happen in the middle of the tribulation. The other place it's mentioned in Daniel's Daniel's Daniel 12-11, from the time that the daily sacrifice is abolished and the abomination that causes desolation is set up, there will be 1290 days. As the Old Testament figures months and years and days, that's three and a half years. So Daniel has clearly told us from the time whatever the Antichrist does to desecrate the temple is it happens and this abomination happens in the temple. There will be three and a half years left. That's the second half of the tribulation. We won't take the time to go back to what we talked about when we were in the tribulation. It's your recall from 2nd Thessalonians to in Revelation 13, the New Testament makes clear what that abomination that causes desolation is. It's the Antichrist himself going into the temple and proclaiming himself to be God and demanding to be worshipped. When that happens, there are three and a half years left in the tribulation time. So that's what Jesus is talking about here. The middle of the tribulation, when that happens, when the Jewish nation, when you disciples representing the Jewish nation, when you see that happen, you need to understand what I'm talking about here. Daniel talked about it. It's the Antichrist going into the temple, desecrating the temple three and a half years left. When you see that happen, verse 16, then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. And through verse 21, he describes this persecution that comes now in the nation of Israel, ending in verse 21 by saying, for then there will be great distress, unequal from the beginning of the world until now and never to be equaled again. I mean Israel will be pounded by the Antichrist trying to put Israel out of existence in the last half of the tribulation. Now, skipping down to verse 29, you've got the context immediately after the distress of those days. He has mentioned the distress in verse 21. It's persecution on Israel. He's even given us the time in verse 15 when it takes place, second half of the tribulation. Immediately after that distress is when those cosmic disturbances in verse 29 will happen, then we'll appear to sign of the Son of Man in heaven. That's when Christ comes back. Second coming takes place after the tribulation. But please remember the contrast with the rapture. We'll talk about the rapture in the very beginning of this series. These are two different events. The rapture, then the seven year period of tribulation, then the second coming. Now the reason I believe that those are two separate events, not one and the same, is because they are described very differently in the Bible. And they have very different purposes. Let's look again at the chart. Just to remind you, have it visually in your mind. Here's the rapture where the Bible says Jesus will come to catch his church up. Those who are dead in Christ will be raised. Those who are alive will be caught up to be with the Lord. That happens where we then go to heaven and we're judged at the Judgment seat of Christ. Then comes the return of Christ all the way to the earth. There's very different events and they're described very differently in the Bible. In the Bible, the Bible describes the rapture as coming Jesus coming for the saints, for his bride, the church. John 14, Jesus said, I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go in prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you unto myself that where I am there, you may be also. That's in the description of the rapture. For St. John is chapter 4. The Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout with a voice of the Arkane, with the trunk of God. And the dead in Christ shall rise first. Then we which are alive and remained, Paul thought it couldn't very well have been in his day. Then we which are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air and so shall we ever be with the Lord. So quite clearly, Jesus is coming for his people, his bride, the church. At the second coming, the Bible clearly describes it in Revelation 19 as Jesus coming with the saints to the earth. Rapture for the saints to take him to heaven. Second coming with the saints to the earth. The Bible describes the rapture as a mystery in 1 Corinthians 15. Remember we saw that that was something which was not revealed in the Old Testament, but the Old Testament is full of information about the second coming. So they can't be the same event. One of them is something that's reserved for the church. It's a mystery revealed by the Apostle Paul for the church. The other of the second coming is more broad and scope. Jesus comes to set up his kingdom with Israel at its center. In the rapture of Jesus comes as a bridegroom to get his bride. It's the second coming. He comes as a king, a judge to judge the whole world. It's not just for the church, this is for the whole world and it centers around Israel. At the rapture, we meet him in the air. He doesn't set foot on planet earth. At the second coming, he comes all the way to the earth. Remember his feet will be on the Mount of Oles and he'll set up his kingdom. Very different events, described very differently. That's the reason why I believe they are separate events. I believe separated by the seven year tribulation time. Jesus could come at any time for the rapture to take us home to be with him. Then we'll follow the seven years of tribulation. Then we'll follow the second coming. At the end of the distress of those days of tribulation, Jesus will come at the second coming. The time of his coming clearly identified in the scriptures after the tribulation time. I know some people say, well, they're all going to happen together. Jesus is going to come at the rapture and take us up after the tribulation and we'll go off and we'll meet him in the air and we'll come right back down at the second coming. This is not a roller coaster ride, folks. It's not the purpose. There are two different things going on for those to happen together. I believe there are separate events at separate times for separate purposes, separate goals in mind. What about the manner of the second coming? What is it going to be like? What's it going to look like? What's it going to feel like? The manner of the second coming is also described in the scriptures. The first thing that is clear is that Jesus is coming to the earth. Again, different from the rapture where we meet him in the air, he never comes all the way to the earth. At the second coming, Jesus is coming all the way to the earth. At his first coming, he walked on this earth, didn't he? So the second coming requires and the events of the second coming require that he will be on this earth. He will literally come to the earth. Remember the passage we looked at earlier? Let's look at it again, Zachariah 144. Verse 3, by the way, says he will come like a warrior to destroy the nations. That's the Battle of Armageddon at the end of the tribulation. But then this happens on that day, by the way, the Battle of Armageddon will be fought from the air. Revelation 19 describes Jesus as speaking the sword of his mouth will destroy the armies of the Antichrist as he's coming. But when he comes to the earth, when he actually lands on the earth, it will be here, the amount of olives. On that day, his feet will stand on the amount of olives. And that's when the amount of olives will be divided into two. If you look at the amount of olives today, here's a picture of it today looking from the area where the temple used to be. It's still in one piece. It's still there. This hasn't happened yet. But when he comes back, he's going to set foot on the amount of olives. And it will be divided into a great valley in between. Through that valley, we'll run the river from the throne of God during the kingdom that will go all the way to the dead sea. We'll talk about that next time. So Jesus is coming to the earth all the way to planet earth to set up his kingdom. And his activities here require his coming to this earth. But he's also coming with power and great glory. If you're still there in Matthew 24, we skipped a few verses. Let's go back and pick them up. Or some of them at least in Jesus description of the end of the tribulation time. As he continues that description in verse 23, look at what he says. At that time, if anyone says to you, look, here's the Messiah. Or here he is. Do not believe it for false Messiah and false prophets will appear in the form of great signs and wonders to deceive it possible even the elect. See, I told you ahead of time. So if anyone says, here he is out in the wilderness, do not go out. Or here he is in the inner rooms. Do not believe it. Now please, please get what Jesus is saying here. It's almost comical. Jesus is saying they're going to be people during the tribulation time who will say, hey, we've got this secret meeting tonight. It's going to be in this room certain location. If you'll come, we're going to find out who the Messiah is. Jesus says, don't listen to that. That's not how I'm coming. Or if someone says to you, you know, join our little select group, we're going to go out into the wilderness 20 miles outside of Jerusalem, out in the Judean desert. And when we get there, guess who's going to be there? Messiah. No, no. Jesus says, not going to be like that when I come back. There's nothing secret about us. No little inner group that has some inside knowledge. Jesus says, this is what it's going to be like, verse 27. For as a lightning that comes from the east is visible, even in the west, so will the coming of the son of man be. I mean, this is going to be spectacular. You know how a lightning flash in a dark night that seems to spread across the whole sky. That kind of gets your attention, doesn't it? You kind of notice that, don't you? That's not something that's hidden. That grabs your attention. Jesus says, that's what it's going to look like when I come back. This is not going to be something done in a corner out in the wilderness or in an upper room somewhere. This is going to be public knowledge. This is going to be like a lightning bolt in heaven. Okay. Another example of it, verse 28, for wherever there is a carcass, there are the bultures will get it. If you see a bunch of bultures circling overhead, you know there's a dead carcass on the earth. He said, that obvious. My coming will be that obvious. The signs will be clear and it will be obvious what's happening. Look at verse 29. Immediately after the stress of those days, the sun will be darkened. The moon will not get its light. The stars will fall from the sky. Heavenly bodies will be shaken. Does that sound familiar? You remember when we talked about the tribulation, the bold judgments and for the end of the bold judgments, those very things happen, those very cosmic disturbances at the end of the tribulation right before the second coming. And Jesus says that verse 30, then after those cosmic disturbances, then will appear the sign of the son of man in heaven. That's when Jesus is coming back and all the peoples of the earth will mourn when they see the son of man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. This is going to be something that everybody on planet earth sees. It's very visible. You can't miss it. Nobody's going to be saying to their neighbor. What happened? Nobody's going to be looking at the friend next to him saying, did you see something? No, everybody's going to see this and everybody's going to know what's happening. Jesus is going to come in such a brilliant display of the glory of God. And I believe that's what the sign of the son of man is in verse 30, the brilliance of the glory of God shining in the unveiled person of Jesus Christ coming now, not as he did at his first coming, emptying himself in human life and as like a servant. No, coming in great glory and power and the shining brilliance of the glory of God in the person of Christ will be the sign of the son of man in heaven and he will come and everybody will see it. He's coming with power and great glory. The thirdly, he's also coming suddenly suddenly. Jesus goes on to describe this. He talks a little bit more kind of in summary in verses 31 to 34, 35 about the signs of the end of the age, but then in verse 36, he talks about the fact that the second coming is going to be sudden, unexpected. He says, but about that day or hour, no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the son, but only the father. Now that expression has troubled some people. Does Jesus not even know when he's coming back? Well, when he was saying this, he didn't. And here's the reason why Jesus in his humanity as a part of being man voluntarily, voluntarily gave up the independent use of the human being. He's the dependent use of some of his divine attributes. In other words, he did not always exercise divine power. He did not always exercise divine knowledge in his humanity. I believe Jesus now in heaven does know when he's coming back, but as a part of his humanity on this earth, as a part of his sojourn on this earth, he voluntarily laid aside that knowledge. But the point really is, nobody knows when this is going to happen. You can't figure it out. You can say, well, wait a second. We know there's seven year tribulation time. We see signs that are supposed to come right with, won't people be able to figure it out? Well, Jesus says, in general, you'd be able to figure out when, but you won't know the day or the hour. You won't know exactly when it. But I think there's more than that here. I don't think Jesus is playing chronological games with us. I think Jesus is really saying, people won't care. They won't recognize what's happening in the tribulation. Remember, we saw in the book of Revelation that people will shake their fists in the face of God and be angry at Him. They don't care about what's happening. They don't believe what God is saying about what's happening. And so the second coming is going to take them by surprise. They will not realize when the day or the hour is coming. If you're an astute observer of scripture, you should be able to tell generally when it's going to be there, but nobody will know the day or the hour. And Jesus gets another example, verse 30, as it was in the days of Noah. So it'll be at the coming of the Son of Man. For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving a marriage up to the day. Know it in the ark and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. So picture this. There's people. There are people living on planet earth at the time the flood is coming. If they had been observing carefully, they would have seen Noah's building this boat and at some point the boats about finished and Noah's preaching about what's happening. They should have known something's coming, but two things. They didn't know exactly when it was start. They didn't know the day or the hour when the rain was start and the deeps would be, the depths would be broken up and the flood would start. They also didn't care. They didn't care. And that's Jesus real point when he says they were marrying, giving and marriage, they were eating and drinking. What he said is there is going about normal life just laughing at Noah didn't care. Didn't believe what he said. And that's the way Jesus says it will be at the second coming. People dealing with all the stuff that's happening in the tribulation will not be cognizant of the fact that Jesus is coming. They don't care about that. And so that's why it will be unexpected. That's why it will be sudden. Notice how he further describes the second coming verse 40. Two men will be in the field. One will be taken the other left. Two women will be grinding with a hand mill. One will be taken and the other left. Two of the most misunderstood verses in the Bible. Most people think these are talking about the rapture. You hear them all the time about the rapture. You know, two people will be at work and all of a sudden one's taken in the rapture. That's not what he's talking about. He's not talking about the rapture. He's talking about the second coming. The people who are taken are not taken to heaven. They're taken away in judgment. The people who are left are not left to be judged. They're left to be the ones who go into the millennial kingdom and populate the earth during the millennium. The people who are left are the ones who are blessed. The ones who are saved. The people who are taken are taken away in judgment. By the way, it's what verse 39 says about the people in Noah's day. He uses the very same expression. Verse 39 says they knew nothing about what would happen till the flood came and took them all away. See, the people who are taken away are taken away in judgment at the second coming. It's not talking about the rapture at all. It's a different event. It's not happening suddenly. And when Jesus comes, people who do not believe in him will be taken away for judgment. And the others will be left to populate his kingdom here on this earth. It will happen suddenly. Well, quickly, suddenly, we have to talk about the events at the second coming, at the return of the king. What will happen? There are several things that will happen and I just had time to briefly give them to you. The first thing that will happen at the second coming is the defeat of the Antichrist, the defeat of the Antichrist. Now, the Antichrist is a man who worships power, who worships military might. Daniel 11 says this about him. Look at it on the screen very quickly. Verse 36 and 37, verse 38. He will show no regard for the gods of his ancestors or for the one desired by women, probably referring to the Messiah. So no regard for any of that. Normally, regard any god but will exalt himself above them all. We've already seen that, but notice this next phrase. Instead of them, he will honor a god of fortresses. A god unknown to his ancestors, he will honor with gold, silver, precious stones, cost the gifts. In other words, he will pour all of his resources into building a military machine. He honors the god of military might. That's his god. Well, Jesus is going to show him what military might is all about at the second coming. Because Revelation 19 describes as Jesus comes on a white horse with the hosts of heaven with him, probably angels, but also earlier in the chapter of the saints, clothed in fine linen or with him. When Jesus comes, he will speak. He will simply utter the word and all the armies of the nations gathered in the valley of Jezreel at the Battle of Armageddon, who turn to see Jesus coming and turn against Christ, all those armies will be slaughtered by the word of Christ, the sword of his mouth as he descends on that white horse. The Antichrist false prophet will not be killed, they'll be taken alive and thrown into the lake of fire. Revelation 19 describes that. The Antichrist will be defeated by the coming of Christ. Second thing that will happen. By the way, we've got a picture of the Valley of Jezreel. This is what it looks like. It's a huge, expansive valley, about 17 miles long, and this is looking from Mount Carmel. There's a city right on the edge near where this picture was taken, called Magito. The hill of Magito, Har and Hebrew, Har Magito in the Book of Revelation, are Mageddon. That's where the battle will take place in this valley. Where the armies of the Antichrist, the armies of the nations who were fighting each other suddenly turned their days toward the coming son of man, and he will defeat them with the word of his mouth. First thing that happens, the second thing that happens is the regathering in Jezreel. Regathering in Jezreel, if you're still in Matthew 24, verse 31, probably refers to that. And he will send his angels with a loud trumpet call. They will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other, and he'll talk about what will happen in chapter 25. Probably referring to the regathering of Israel, and even if that verse doesn't, lots of verses in the Old Testament do. Make it very clear that Jesus, the Messiah, the coming king will return Israel to her land. Is equal to, Jeremiah 31, other passages talk about the regathering of Israel in their land, and they will be judged. Joel chapter 2 describes that, and other Old Testament passages as well. They will be judged. Anyway, chapter 25 of Matthew, Jesus gets two illustrations, designed to challenge Israel to be ready for the second coming. Chapter 25 verses 1 through 30. Again, this is in the context of talking about Israel, what happens to them at the second coming. The five wise versions, five foolish versions, that's in reference to Israel. Who's ready and who's not at the second coming? The parable of talents, the owner of the vineyard, or field, does away, gives some of his workers' responsibilities. Some of them are ready when he comes back, some of them are not. They dug a hole, put their opportunity in the ground, neglectful, unaware that he was coming back or when he would come. That's for Israel. That's talking about the second coming. Two illustrations to challenge Israel to be ready when Jesus comes back. So the redattering and judgment of Israel will happen. Third thing that will happen is the judgment of Gentiles. The judgment of the Gentile nations will happen. There are lots of passages that talk about this, even the Old Testament. But Jesus talks about it right here in Matthew 25. Remember, the sequence of events, tribulation time is described, second coming is described in chapter 24. It talks about it suddenness, chapter 25, two stories to get Israel ready. Look at what happens in chapter 25, verse 31. When the Son of man comes in his glory and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne, all the nations will be gathered before him. When does this happen? Second coming. Who are the nations? Always in the Bible, that's referring in context like this to the Gentile nations. He's already dealt with Israel, judged them, and now he's going to judge the Gentile nations. All the nations will be gathered before him. He will separate the people one from another as a shepherd, separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on his right, goats on his left, and the famous sheep and goat judgment will take place. And the basis of that judgment is how you treated my brethren, he says. You can read it. Did you close them? Did you feed them? Did you go visit them when they were in prison? Who's he talking about there? In the context, remember when this takes place, second coming, Gentile nations, who are his brethren? They're the Jews. And they are the Jewish evangelists primarily, the 144,000 that we saw in Revelation 7, take the gospel to every part of the world, and every tribe, every language group, every people group, will be reached during the tribulation time. Whatever the church fails to do in this age, those evangelists will do in the tribulation time. Revelation 7 makes it very clear, those people come out of the great tribulation, not out of the church age. So it's those people that if you feed them, if you close them, if you house them, if you visit them when they're in prison, the only way you would do that is if you're a true believer in the tribulation time, because you're putting your life on the line to associate with those people. The Antichrist will try to kill you if you associate with those people. So the basis of the judgment of Gentile nations who come out of the tribulation time is, how did you respond to my Jewish evangelists, my brethren? Did you help them? Did you take care of them? Now certainly there's application for us today and how we reach out to people who are hurting, but that's not what Matthew 25 is talking about in the context. It's talking about how Gentile nations responded to Jewish evangelists in the tribulation time, the flow of the context and what Jesus is talking about makes that very clear. And those who are judged are either the good, those who were saved, go into his kingdom, they'll go right into the millennium on the earth. Those who are evil, who were not saved, will be cast into the lake of fire. So it's very clear what Jesus is talking about, judgment of Gentile nations. And then quickly this is the rest of what happens, the resurrection of Old Testament tribulation saints. Some of you have been waiting for this, this is when the Old Testament saints will be resurrected at the second coming. Why? Because the raptors from church, not for the Old Testament saints, the tribulation through the end of the tribulation, the second coming centers more on Israel, setting up the kingdom. By the way, Daniel chapter 12 verses 1 and 2 make this extremely clear. We don't have time to look at it, but after the tribulation is described in chapter 11, Daniel says at that time, Michael will stand up for your people, many will be raised. That's when the nation of Israel, that's when Jews, Old Testament Jews, will be resurrected at the second coming. And they will be judged at that time. Also, Revelation 20 describes it's the same time, second coming, that tribulation saints will be resurrected. Those who died during the tribulation, they've got to be resurrected sometime. When is that going to happen? It's going to happen at the second coming. The layout of time is made very clear in Revelation 20 verses 4 through 6. Fifth thing that will happen, the rebuilding of Jerusalem in the temple. Amazing. Jesus is going to rebuild Jerusalem. Daniel chapter 12, by the way, says it will take 75 days, 75 days for the cleanup operation after the Battle of Armageddon, and the decimation is done to the city of Jerusalem to clean up the mess and rebuild the city of Jerusalem, and the temple will rebuild, be rebuilt. Ezekiel chapter 40 verses chapter 43, 48 talk about that. The rebuilding of a Jewish temple in the millennium, and that's an interesting thing we may look at that next time. The last thing that will happen is the setting up of the kingdom. Revelation 20 again describes that. When Jesus comes at his second coming and resurrects those who have died during the tribulation time, the Bible says they will reign and rule with him a thousand years. He sets up his kingdom on this earth. What a glorious time that will be, and that's the subject of our next message in this series on the end of the world as we know it. The second coming, the second coming, will be that climactic event that signals the end of the tribulation and the beginning of Christ's kingdom. It is a focal point event of all of scripture. It is sometimes referred to as the day of the Lord, because it is a focal point, a turning point, where God takes over action. He comes to this earth and sets up his kingdom. At his first coming, he came emptying himself. In the likeness of man, taking on the form of a servant, becoming obedient to death, even the death of the cross. At his second coming, he comes in great power and glory, defeating the armies of the Antichrist, setting up his kingdom. He is worshiped worldwide as the king of kings and the Lord of lords. Great difference between the first coming and the second coming. Now what does that have to do with you and me? Is this just prophetic information of what our appetite and inform our knowledge and help us to go with our little notebooks full? I hope not, because the second coming has a direct application to everyone in this room. If you know Jesus as your Savior, you'll be involved in the second coming. If you have come to the point in your life where you've recognized that you are a sinner, you can't get to heaven on your own. And you realize that Jesus died for you on the cross to pay the penalty for your sin. And you've opened your heart to him and said, I need you as my Savior. If you've trusted Christ as your Savior, the Bible teaches, you will be one of those that go home to be with the Lord of the Ractor. You will be judged for your life, your works for Christ, clothed in white linen, and Revelation 19 says you'll come back with him at the second coming. You'll be a part of those who come with him to set up his kingdom. However, if you've never trusted Christ as your Savior, if you were to die today, you know you're not saved. What would happen to you? Obviously, if you were to die today, you would go to hell immediately. And you would be part of those who will be resurrected at a later time to face God in judgment and to be eternally cast into the lake of fire. We'll see that at a later message. But if you're here today without Jesus Christ, and let's just suppose Jesus were to come back at the rapture today and take home his church, you would be left. Here on earth. And I know what you may be thinking. You may be thinking, wow, good, I'd get a second chance because I just heard what's going to happen. I'll know how I recognize what's going to happen. Don't bet on it. For one thing, most of the world's population, as we saw last time, that enters the tribulation, will die during that seven year period. And much of it, one third of the earth's population will die very early on in the second seal judgment. Don't count on it. The Bible also teaches that the antichrist will be very persuasive in the lie he spends so that people will believe the lie. Second Thessalonians 2 describes those who have not believed the truth being sent a strong delusion by God to believe the lie of the antichrist. I'm not sure of all that that means. I know there will be people saved. Many people saved during the tribulation time. But don't count on being one of them. Don't count on it. You're gambling with eternity to wait to receive Christ until these kind of things start happening. And you say, okay, now I know it's all true. Now I'll get saved. You're gambling with eternity. In all likelihood, you will not have the opportunity to be saved if you don't make sure now. Father, help us to look into our hearts to see whether or not we really know Jesus as our Savior. And I pray that if there's anyone here today that's not trusted Christ the Savior that today they will make sure that that question is settled. They will know for sure that they've trusted Jesus before they lead this room today. We ask it in His name. Amen.