The Power and the Glory

At any moment, we believe that our Lord Jesus Christ will descend from heaven in the air. Those who have died in Christ, believers in Jesus Christ, the Bible says, will be raised first. The Scripture says that he comes in a moment in the twinkling of an eye. Then every authentic follower of Jesus Christ will be caught up or raptured as it were, and we will meet our loved ones in the air.

Wouldn't that be magnificent? Think of those who have died. Your parents, brothers, sisters, sons, daughters, friends, caught up. But best of all, Paul says, we will meet the Lord and so we shall be forever with the Lord.

That's difficult for us to get hold of, isn't it? That we will be for all of eternity with the redeemed and with the Lord. You can read about that in 1 Thessalonians 4. Many people who attend church will be left behind. Many people who have professed the name of the Lord Jesus Christ with their lips but do not have Christ in their hearts will be left behind. Yes, he's coming back.

He's coming soon. And there will be a generation of Christians, we hope that we are in that generation, who will never die but will be caught up to meet our Lord in the air, and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Now, in our continuing series on Matthews today, our subject is not the Lord's coming in the air for His church, but His coming to earth to set up His kingdom. If you're listening to the content of these wonderful hymns, you will have gained that understanding that one day, the Lord Jesus Christ is coming back and He's going to set up His kingdom on this earth. It's called His messianic kingdom.

Here's the slide we looked at last week, which gives us the broad view. First the rapture of the church, then as we saw last week, the tribulation, a period of seven years. Then Christ returns to the earth. That's our focus today. He comes, as we're going to read, with power and great glory.

Think of it. Think of the power of our Lord Jesus Christ, and when He comes, He comes with great glory. And He comes with a rod of iron. He comes to rule this world with perfect peace and justice and righteousness. And He comes to judge all evil. I trust every one of us here is ready to meet our Savior. He's coming, and He's coming soon. Now let's open our Bibles to Matthew chapter 24, and we're looking today. We're taking quite a broad section. I know some of you are anxious to get through the book of Matthew.

You're saying, how long is Monroe going to be there? I really don't know, but we are going to try and get through Matthew 24 from verses 29 through 51. But first of all, let's read these wonderful words from verse 29.

I hope you have your Bible. Open it to 1st Gospel chapter 24 verse 29. The Lord Jesus is answering the question that the disciples asked in verse 3. What will be the sign of your coming?

Here it is. Immediately after the tribulation, we thought of that last week, 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 heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Then will appear in heaven the sign of the Son of Man, and then all the tribes of the earth shall mourn, and they shall see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And He will send out His angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather His elect from the four winds from one end of heaven to the other.

It's that amazing passage of Scripture. Here is what we call the second advent of our Lord Jesus Christ, and it's coming, as we read, with power and great glory. The tribulation then at period is going to end with the second advent of Jesus Christ, the great climatic event of the ages.

It is the sign of His coming. Let's quickly consider the differences between the first and second advent of our Lord Jesus Christ. At His first coming, that's Bethlehem, Jesus comes in humiliation. At His second coming, He comes in exaltation with great power and glory. At His first coming, Jesus comes as the man of sorrows. At His second coming, He comes as King of kings and Lord of lords. At His first coming, Jesus comes as the suffering Lamb of God, the spotless Lamb of God, as the choir sang. At His second coming, He comes as the reigning line of the tribe of Judah. At His first coming, Jesus comes as the rejected and despised Messiah.

One day, hang on the tree. At His second coming, listen to this, every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. At His first coming, only a few saw Him.

In His life, He's in that tiny little bit of real estate we know as Israel, a very small country. Few people saw Him at His first coming. At His second coming, every eye will see Him, even those who pierced Him. Let's read of that in the book of Zechariah, if you can find it. It's the second last book of the Old Testament, that unused part of your Bible.

Don't laugh, you should be ashamed of yourself. Zechariah chapter 12 verse 10, you know, as you read the Old Testament, it is pointing to Jesus Christ. Here it is, Zechariah 12 verse 10, and I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and please for mercy so that when they look on me, on Him whom they have pierced, they shall mourn for Him as one mourns for an only child and weep bitterly over Him as one weeps over a firstborn.

You say, John, when is that? Turn to the last book of the Bible, the book of Revelation, Revelation chapter 1. Last book in the Bible, first chapter. It is a revelation of Jesus Christ.

Fascinating book, I commend to you. Revelation 1 verse 7, behold His coming with the clouds, and every eye will see Him, even those who pierced Him. Zechariah 12 verse 10, isn't it? That's the prophecy here. John is saying this is going to happen, even those who pierced Him, that is Israel, and all tribes of the earth will wail on account of Him, even so, amen. His first coming, only a few see Him. At His second coming, every eye will see Him, including Israel. Now, the second coming of Jesus Christ will be personal, it will be visible, and it will be glorious.

Great glory. Immediately after the tribulation, verse 29 of Matthew 24, as we read, the sun and the moon and the stars are going to be darkened. The tribulation is a terrible time of gloom and of darkness and of the judgment of God. And then suddenly, as it were, the light will shine. Verse 27, Matthew 24, as we read last week, for as the lightning comes from the east and shines as far as the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.

Who's the Son of Man? Our Lord Jesus Christ, as prophesied by Daniel in Daniel 7, prophesied of the Son of Man coming. And it will be a brilliant, visible event, coming with power and great glory. It will be the most dramatic and visible event in human history.

One great and glorious day, our Lord Jesus Christ will return to the earth to set up His kingdom and reign as King of Kings and Lord of Lords. So Boo, in his prayer, was reminding us of the terrible state of our world. We see it, particularly at this time of history in Ukraine, the suffering, the war, the violence, the evil of man to man, but that has been true throughout the history of the world, doesn't it? Wars and rumors of wars will continue, and people want peace. We prayed for peace. We want peace.

The United Nations, the U.S., NATO, we want peace in our world, but it has never yet come. Think of this, the might of our magnificent Lord Jesus Christ, the great I Am. He's going to come, and He comes with that rod of iron, and He will rule, and the glory of God will cover the earth as the waters do so.

King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Did you notice verse 31? The angels will gather the elect from the four winds from one end of heaven to the other.

This will include the Old Testament saints, those who have come to faith during the tribulation period, those martyred during the tribulation period, the 144,000 witnesses we read of in Revelation 7, this great gathering of the elect, the people of God gathered by the angels. And Israel, yes Israel, will be restored as a nation in the land. You say, is that true?

Of course it's true. Let's turn to the book of Ezekiel. I'm glad you brought your Bible.

We're going to put it to good use. One of our goals at Calvary Church right from our children right up to all ages is that we know our Bibles. We believe it is the inerrant inspired Word of God. We need to read it.

We need to understand it. Ezekiel 11. We strongly believe at Calvary Church that the church has not superseded the nation of Israel as the people of God and that God has a future for the nation of Israel because God is always true to His promises. Think of the great Abrahamic covenant and that covenant repeated to Jacob and Isaac and their descendants and talked of here in Ezekiel 11 verse 16.

Yes. Ezekiel 11 verse 16. Have you found it in your Bibles? Therefore say, thus says the Lord God, though I removed them far from among the nations and though I scattered in them among the countries, yet I have made a sanctuary to them for a while in the countries where they have gone. We thought in the destruction of Jerusalem how Israel was scattered. Therefore say, thus says the Lord God, I will gather you from the peoples and assemble you out of the countries where you have been scattered and I will give you the land of Israel, a repetition of one of the provisions in the Abrahamic covenant. And when they come there, they will remove from all of it its detestable things and all its abominations and I will give them one heart and a new spirit I will put within them. I will remove the heart of stone from their flesh and give them a heart of flesh that they may walk in my statues and keep my rules and obey them and they shall be my people and I will be their God.

Wonderful. Turn over to chapter 37, the great chapter of them bones, them dry bones. Ezekiel 37, the valley of dry bones.

What does it mean? It means the restoration of Israel. Chapter 37 verse 21.

This is fascinating, isn't it? Ezekiel 37, 21, this says the Lord God, behold I will take the people of Israel from the nations among which they have gone and will gather them from all around and bring them to their own land and I will make them one nation in the land and the mountains of Israel and one king shall be king over them all. You say who will be that king? Verse 24, my servant David shall be king over them but you say David had died when Ezekiel was making this prophecy. Yes, who is this servant David? We have been studying this in Matthew. How does Matthew begin regarding our Lord Jesus Christ? He is Jesus Christ, the genealogy of Jesus Christ.

What's said next? The son of David. He's David's greater son and he will reign.

He will be king. My servant David, the Messiah shall be king over them and they shall have one shepherd. They shall walk in my rules and be careful to obey my statutes. And here it is, they shall dwell in the land that I gave to my servant Jacob, Israel, where your fathers lived. They and their children and their children's children shall dwell there forever and David my servant shall be their prince forever. I will make a covenant of peace with them. It will be an everlasting covenant with them and I will set them in their land and multiply them and will set my sanctuary in their midst forever. Has this been fulfilled yet?

No. You say Israel is a bit in the land, yet the temple has not been rebuilt and Israel is only in a small part of the land. Verse 27, my dwelling place shall be with them and I will be their God and they shall be my people. Then the nations, as the Gentiles, will know that I am the Lord who sanctifies Israel when my sanctuary is in their midst forever. The Lord Jesus Christ then returns with power and glory. There is a re-gathering of Israel into the land. Jewish believers and Gentile believers will enter the millennial kingdom of the Lord Jesus Christ. What a glorious event, yet future. Now you say, John, here we are in Charlotte and you're talking about this future event.

Well I find it fascinating, but perhaps you don't. But you need to understand this, that this teaching is given not just so we can debate some eschatological minutiae as it were and argue over these things, not at all. I want to give you three responses, responding to the Lord's coming in power and glory. First of all, be ready. Be ready. Let's read verse 32.

From the fig tree, learn its lesson. As soon as its branch becomes tender and puts out its leaves, you know that summer is near. So also, when you see all these things, you know that he is near at the very gates. Truly I say to you, this generation shall not pass away until all these things take place.

Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away. But concerning that hour, that day and hour, no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only. For as were the days of Noah, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. For in those days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage until the day when Noah entered the ark.

And they were unaware until the flood came and swept them all away. So will be the coming of the Son of Man. Then two men will be in the field. One will be taken and one left.

Two women will be grinding at the mill. One will be taken and one left. Therefore, stay awake, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming. But know this, that if the master of the house had known in what part of the night the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and would not have left his house and would not have let his house be broken into. Therefore, you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect."

First of all, be ready. In verse 32, there's an illustration of the victory. It's an illustration of the sign of the Lord's coming. At this time of the year, we have a few trees in our garden and what's happening to them?

The branches which during the winter were brittle are now becoming tender. Little shoots are coming, little buds, a few leaves. What's that the sign of? The sign is that summer is coming.

That's the point. The appearance of the leaves on the fig tree indicate that summer is near. So, the events described in verses 22-31 indicate that the Lord is near. Verse 33, you know that he is near at the very gates. Just as the generation alive when Jesus spoke saw the destruction of Jerusalem, so the generation alive which sees the events of the tribulation will see the coming of the Son of Man.

Now, some have taught that the fig tree here is a symbol of the nation of Israel returning to the land. I remember when I was a teenager being at a camp, we were living in Gibraltar, went to this camp in Morocco and it was taught by American missionary. And being Scottish, I'm naturally skeptical and certainly skeptical of American's teaching. And he taught and I never heard it. He taught that because Israel had returned to the land in 1948, these verses were saying that the Lord Jesus Christ would come within a generation. Generation being about 40 years, so he was saying very dogmatically this American missionary, a wonderful man, fed us very, very well and had four beautiful daughters. But he said that the Lord Jesus was going to come by the latest, 1988. What can I say about that?

He was wrong, clearly wrong. No, that's not what's saying. First of all, the fig tree in this context, I don't believe, is pointing to Israel. When Luke gives his account of the same words of Jesus, when he talks about the fig tree he adds, and all the trees.

This is just a simple illustration. You look at a fig tree, it's beginning to bud, the branches are getting tender, you begin to see the leaves, it's a sign that summer is coming. That is the generation alive which will see these things during the tribulation will not, verse 34, will not pass away until all these things take place.

No, the point is this. Because we don't know when our Lord Jesus is returning, we are not only to wait, but we are to be ready. There's a difference between waiting and being ready. Vigilance is required in view of Christ's return. Jesus gives the analogy of the owner of a home. He understands the thief is going to break into his house at some point.

He is vigilant, he stays awake, he doesn't go to sleep. The Lord Jesus is coming when you do not expect him to come. Verse 34, verse 44, therefore you also must be ready for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.

And Jesus is saying, I love the fact that he says in verse 35, heaven and earth will pass away but my words will not pass away, emphasizing that this is eternal truth. My brothers and my sisters, the Lord Jesus is coming back and you're to be ready. Even the angels do not know when the Lord Jesus is returning. That hasn't stopped people down through history trying to fix the date of the Lord's return. William Miller predicted that Jesus Christ would return in 1843, obviously wrong. Charles Russell of the Jehovah's Witnesses said 1914 is the date of Christ's return, wrong.

In 1966, some of you remember Herbert Armstrong and his son Garner Ted Armstrong, you remember them? They said that the kingdom of God would come in 10 or 15 years, wrong again. I remember in 1987 receiving a free copy of a book from a gentleman called Edgar Wisnot. He wrote a book giving 88 reasons why the rapture would occur in 1988. When the Lord didn't come in 1988, he said, well I got it wrong, obviously you did man.

Undeterred, he said he was going to come in 1989. But he gave 88 reasons, 88 wrong reasons. Not one of them was right because even if one of them was right, the Lord Jesus would have come.

No, don't do that. Don't try to fix dates. Don't try to look at the events that's happening in the world and predict when the Lord Jesus Christ is coming.

That's not the point. It is 100% certain that the Lord Jesus is returning in power and great glory. But verse 36, notice, no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only. Be ready. And Jesus gives the illustration from the story of Noah and the flood.

He draws a parallel. It took many, many years for Noah to build the ark. And during the building of the ark, there was plenty of time for people to hear Noah. He was a preacher of righteousness and for them to get ready and to go into the ark.

They had plenty of time. Judgment was coming. The flood was coming, but they ignored it.

And did you notice what Jesus says? When the flood came, what happened? It swept them all away.

Where was the only place of safety? The ark. Genesis 7 verse 16 says, when the flood came, the door of the ark was shut. Who shut the door? God. God shut the door. The only place of safety from the judgment of God was the ark, a picture of our Lord Jesus Christ. Judgment is coming. He's coming with a rod of iron to rule.

He's coming to judge the unbelievers. The only place of safety is in our Lord Jesus Christ. We said last week, don't be alarmed. Don't be upset.

If you're in Christ, there is now no condemnation. Yes, the storm may be out there. Yes, there may be wars and rumors of wars. Yes, there could be a nuclear holocaust. Yes, there could be economic disasters and all of your savings wiped out. All of that could be true.

All of the health problems, all of the challenges that we have in life personally, nationally, and internationally. Believers are not to panic. Believers are not to be people of fear. We're the people of joy, people of safety. I am in Jesus Christ. I'm safe. I'm secure for all of eternity. And when He comes, I'm going to be caught up to be forever with Him. Why then would you go along with a long face?

Why then would you allow the circumstances of life to stop you from enjoying the goodness of God that I am a follower of the Lord Jesus Christ? Be ready. Two men, says Jesus, will be working in the fields. One will be taken and the other left. Two women are going to be at work.

They're grinding in the mill. One is taken and the other left. No, this is not the rapture. The ones taken in Matthew 24 are taken in judgment. When the Lord Jesus Christ returns with power and glory, He's going to judge the unbelievers. And when He returns, judgment is coming. I say to all of you, are you ready? Some of you have sat in these pews, and you have heard myself and others over and over again urge you to place your trust in Jesus Christ. But for whatever reason, you've not yet done that. You've not yet humbled yourself and repented of your sin and embraced the Lord Jesus Christ.

How foolish. The Son of Man is coming and He's going to come and judge all unbelievers. Go to the ark. Have faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Robert Murray McShane asked a number of his friends, do you believe that Jesus Christ will come tonight?

One after another replied, I don't think so. When they all answered, McShane solemnly repeated verse 44, therefore, you also must be ready for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect. First of all, be ready.

Secondly, be diligent. Verse 45, who then is a faithful and wise servant? Anyone here wants to be a faithful and wise servant of the Lord Jesus?

Here's the illustration. Who then is the faithful and wise servant whom his master has set over his household to give them their food at the proper time? Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes. Truly, I say to you, he will set him over all his possessions. But if that wicked servant say to himself, my master is delayed and begins to beat his fellow servants at eats and drinks with drunkards, the master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him. And at an hour he does not know and will cut him in pieces. Here's the judgment of God, illustration.

And put him with hypocrites. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. A clear illustration. Here's the master of the house and he puts you in charge of the household. You're to be wise. You're to be a faithful servant. You don't know when the master is going to come, but the day of accountability has come. But you need to be diligent. You need to get to work. You're not to be lazy and have a party and get drunk and abuse the privilege of being the servant of the master.

No, be diligent. Jesus Christ is coming back and He asks us to be diligent, to occupy till He comes. A master has to be faithful and taking care of his master's house when the master is away.

If he abuses that privilege, he will be dealt with very severely when the master returns. What's the point Jesus is making? And this is the teaching of Jesus. It's not mine. It's the teaching of Jesus. You say it's very tough.

It is very tough because God is a holy God and we tend to trivialize sin and we think we can live as we like and because God does not immediately judge us, everything is alright. No, be diligent. He's coming back. Are you serving the master now? Are you diligent? More to the point, to use the words of the Lord Jesus, do you love the master or are you a hypocrite? Hypocrite. You sit here and you say, I really enjoyed the choir.

They were quite good today. I'm not sure about Monroe's teaching, but I'm glad I came. But you do not know Christ. The Lord is coming back.

We don't know when He's coming back, but He's coming back. Meantime, the point is this, you and I, if we claim to be followers of Jesus Christ, are to be diligent. We have to have a house in order, as it were, faithfully serving the Lord. Stop being so lethargic. Stop being so lazy.

Stop being so self-indulgent. Think of all the way that God has blessed you. Get busy. Serve Christ. Tell people about the Savior.

Use the gifts and talents and all of the resources that God has given you for His glory. The point is this, understanding the future impacts how I live today. It was Martin Luther who said that for the Christian, there's really only two days. There is today, this day, and then there is that day, the day when Christ returns. I'm to live today in the light of that day. I am to be ready.

I am to be diligent. And the third one, I am to be holy. Holy?

Of course. The Lord Jesus is coming. Turn in your Bibles to Titus chapter two. Little book of Titus, First Timothy, Second Timothy, Titus, Titus chapter two. You find this convicting?

I find it very convicting. Because Jesus is returning, we must live holy lives. Titus two, verse 13, waiting for our blessed hope.

What's that? The appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ. This is our hope. This is what we're waiting for. Get all of your future bound up in this world.

Don't do that. Waiting for the blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works. What does the Lord Jesus do? He purifies for himself a people for his own possession.

If you're a true believer in Jesus Christ, you're indwelt by the Holy Spirit. God is holy. And the Lord Jesus Christ comes in the brilliant wonder of salvation. He cleanses all of our sins.

He remembers them no more. The spotless Lamb of God died for me and took away all of my sin, but he calls me now. John, I want you to live a holy life.

Put your name there. God is calling you to be holy as he is holy. Go further in your Bible to the Epistle of John, 1 John. Getting towards the end of your Bible, John writes three letters.

The longest one is his first epistle. 1 John, same man who writes Revelation, writes these wonderful letters to us. 1 John 3 verse 1. See what kind of love the Father has given to us.

It's the manner of his love. John is talking not so much of the fact of the love of God, it's the kind of love. What kind of love does the Father have for us? What is it that we should be called children of God?

And so we are. He adopts us into his family, the holy family, the church, the family of God. The reason why the world doesn't know us is that it didn't know him. Beloved, we are God's children now and what we will be has not yet appeared, but we know that when he appears, see second coming, when he appears we shall be like him because we shall see him as he is. We sang in that wonderful song about the kingdom of God, we are justified, we are sanctified and one day we are going to be glorified.

That is when I see Christ. I'm going to be perfectly like him. That has not yet happened. I am not yet glorified. Don't expect perfection from me. I'm not yet glorified. I'm in the sanctification stage and so are you. We shall be like him because we shall see him as he is.

Here it is, verse 3, everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure. How wonderful you say that when I came to Christ and when I come to Christ all of my sins are washed away. You want a second chance in life? You wish you could begin again?

That's what conversion does. That's what it means to be born again. You have a fresh start. Now I belong to the Lord Jesus Christ.

Yes, he's cleansing me of my sin, but now he calls me and he calls you to live a holy life. We are the bride of Christ and soon Christ the bridegroom is coming for us. Over the years I've officiated at all kinds of weddings. Some very large and elaborate, some very small and simple, but in every case, I was thinking yesterday, I can't think of one exception, in every case the bride has always been ready on her wedding day. Sometimes she's been a little late, but she's always been there and when she appears she's always ready. I've never had to say to the bride, wait a minute, wash your face, manicure your nails and are you really getting married in that dress? And your hair, I mean you look as if you've been drawn through a hedge backwards.

I mean, go and tidy yourself up and then we'll begin. I can still get my wife to laugh, isn't that wonderful? No, every bride that I have been part of the wedding, but I've been privileged to officiate has been prepared. She's spent a lot of time, don't ask me all that they do, I'm not interested, but I know they spend a lot of time preparing herself so that when she walks down that aisle or whatever aisle it is, she is ready. She's presenting herself spotless in her beauty to her groom. She's ready, she's been diligent and she has kept herself pure. If she's been separated from her fiancé for some time, she's not dating someone else, no, she's kept herself pure. She's ready for that amazing day when she's going to be joined in holy matrimony.

You get a picture? Christ is the bridegroom, He's ready. You don't want to be ashamed. You are, to use the words of the New Testament, to cast off the words of darkness. We are, as the Lord Jesus Christ is returning, we are to live pure, holy lives as we wait His glorious return. Listen to Paul in Romans chapter 13, he says, besides this you know the time that the hour has come for you, let me read that again, besides this you know the time that the hour has come for you to wake from sleep, for salvation is nearer to us than when we first believed. You say, well I thought we were saved. Yes, but there's a sense in which there's the consummation of our salvation when we see Christ.

Paul is saying that's nearer now than when you first believed. The night is far gone, the day is at hand. What's the day?

The day of the Lord. So then, let us, you're listening to this, cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light. Are you dabbling in the darkness?

Let us walk properly as in the daytime. You say, what does that mean? Paul tells us, not in orgies and drunkenness.

Who said the Bible wasn't practical? Not in sexual immorality and sensuality, not in quarreling and jealousy. Any immorality in your life? Any sexual impurity? Any drunkenness?

Substance abuse? Indulgence? What about quarreling? You're always in a fight. What about jealousy? In your own family, in ministry, work, you're jealous, you're covetous, and you're a contentious person. That's all of the work of darkness. Verse 14, put on the Lord Jesus Christ and make no provision for the flesh to gratify His desire and to put on the beauty of my Lord Jesus Christ, His compassion, His holiness, His truth, His kindness, putting on these wonderful virtues, casting off the works of darkness. Why?

Because the day is near. Be holy. He's coming back. Be holy. One day, one definite and glorious day, perhaps today, the Lord Jesus will come from heaven to the air. All of His followers will be raptured to meet Him, and so be with Him forever. That's the next event in God's prophetic calendar.

Personally, I can't wait for it. Someone told me they had a tough day yesterday, a tough day this week. Somebody's texting me. I had a tough day yesterday thinking of my, the passing of my son.

And I thought, how wonderful. The Lord Jesus Christ is coming back, and He's coming back for His authentic followers. Those who have not believed in Him, those who have only paid lip service to Him, those who have never received Him personally as their Savior and Lord will be left behind, left to experience, yes, the judgment of God.

The rapture, the tribulation, the antichrist, and the Lord's coming with power and great glory to set up His millennial kingdom, and He shall reign forever and ever. You say, John, how can I be ready? That question is asked in John chapter 14 when Jesus said, if I go, I will come again. And do you know the way? And Thomas says, no, we don't know the way. Do you remember Jesus' magnificent reply?

Do you want to know how to get ready? Do you want to know the way? Jesus says, I am the way. And the truth and the life, no one comes to the Father apart from me.

It is all of Christ, this magnificent Savior that we were singing about who came to our world of darkness and of sin and paid the price for our sin, died and rose again and is eternally alive and is coming back. And if you put your trust in Him, He'll take you to heaven. It will be well with your soul. The stage is now set for the return of our Lord Jesus. Jesus is telling us when He comes, there's no time for preparation. You're to be ready now. He's coming like a thief in the night.

Those who don't trust Christ will be left and they will experience the judgment of God. I beg you, I urge you today to receive Jesus Christ as your personal Savior and Lord. Do it and do it now, right now. Call in the name of the Lord and you will be saved. Jesus is coming back.

Be ready. Be diligent and be holy. Help us, Father, to do that, we pray.

We sometimes are very lethargic. We repent of that. We repent that we're sometimes so earth-centered rather than Christ-centered that we're looking at the things below rather than the things that are above. Help us truly to seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, knowing that all of these things will be added to us. There's some here who have never yet bowed the knee to Christ. They've never surrendered their life to the Savior. Oh Father, through your Spirit convict them.

Open their eyes. We thank you for your patience, that you've not yet come so that many will still in this day of grace repent and come to faith in Jesus Christ. And we pray, even so come, Lord Jesus. We're going to sing a hymn that we normally associate with Christmas, but it's really a hymn written to focus not on the first coming of Christ, but His second coming. And I want you to think of that. And then we read in Revelation chapter 19.

Listen to the words. I saw heaven opened and behold a white horse, the one sitting on it called Faithful and True and in righteousness he judges and makes war. On his robe and on his thigh he has a name written.

What's the name? King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Hallelujah. For the Lord our God, the almighty reigns, let us rejoice and exalt and give him the glory for the marriage of the Lamb has come and his bride has made herself ready. And we say hallelujah. Let's stand and sing as we make a response.