The Second Coming

The second coming of Jesus Christ is a major theme in the Bible. Actually, it's such a vast subject, such a grand Bible theme, that it's one of the most challenging topics to preach on, for me, as a pastor and Bible teacher. As you look at God's purpose and God's plan in redemption, it is all culminating and coming to a head in the second advent of Jesus Christ. Now, even though the exact expression, the second coming of Christ is not found in the Bible, in Hebrews 2:29, the writer of Hebrews says, "So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many, unto them that look for Him shall He appear the second time without sin unto salvation." Interesting that he mentions both the first coming of Jesus Christ and the second coming of Jesus Christ.

That was Hebrews 9:28, that Christ came to bear the sins of many. That's the first advent of Christ. Jesus came to be our substitution on the cross to be our Propitiation, to be our Reconciler, to be the One who would die in our place so that He could forgive our sins and bring us to God, but he goes on to say in that verse that, "Those who look for Him shall He appear the second time without sin." What does he mean? He means He's not coming to atone for sin, and we're going to see tonight that He's coming to judge for sin, that He's without sin unto salvation.

So the second coming of Jesus Christ will be the greatest event in all human history. When you think about all the great things that took place in human history, secular or sacred, the greatest event in human history will be the second coming or the second advent of Jesus Christ. It will be the answer to all the world's problems, and we know right now the world's got a lot of problems. Amen. We know that there are a lot of unsolvable problems in the world right now, and there's always been problems in the world, but when Jesus Christ comes back, all, as believers, our problems will be over.

He will come to reconcile us to God in the kingdom age and He will come to right all wrongs, so He will come to bring in an everlasting righteousness, and what a day that will be. It will be the answer to all the world's problems. Now, when Jesus gave us the pattern for prayer ... Remember, the Lord's prayer? He said that we pray, "Thy kingdom come, thy will be done."

"Our Father, which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. The first petition is God, Your kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven." This is a prayer or a petition of the saints for the coming again of Jesus Christ to establish His kingdom on earth. Now, when we speak about the kingdom of God, there is the universal kingdom of God because He reigns on the throne sovereignly. God is sovereign, and He reigns in the whole world.

The earth is the Lord's in the fullness thereof. Then, there's the kingdom of God that is experienced by believers when they're born again, and they enter into the church, and the kingdom of God is not meat and drink, but righteousness, joy, and peace in the Holy Spirit, but there's a third sense of the kingdom of God in the Bible, and that is the literal divinic kingdom in which Jesus will come, and He will sit upon the throne of David, and for 1000 years, the next Wednesday night, we're going to be looking at the millennium and what happens after Christ returns, and the millennial kingdom, and then onto the new heavens and the new earth as we wrap this series up, but we pray for the kingdom of God to be literally reigning on earth as the Lord comes and reigns on the throne of David. Just as the first coming of Christ meant salvation for the world, the second coming of Christ meant subjugation of the world. So He came the first time to bring salvation, He came the second time to bring His rule and His reign, as we're going to see of King of kings and Lord of lords, and again, it is our only hope. Now, the first thing I want to do tonight, get ready to write these down, is I want to share seven facts about Christ coming.

Seven facts about the second coming of Jesus Christ. Now, if you're watching at home and online, these points will appear, should be on the screen. First of all, the second coming of Jesus Christ is the first prophecy uttered by man. I think this is fascinating. In the book of Genesis, we have the prophecy that God gave, that the seed of the woman would bruise the head of the serpent.

That was a messianic prophecy about coming of Christ, but the Bible, interesting says in the book of Jude, verse 14 and 15, only one chapter in the book of Jude, it says that Enoch also, the seventh from Adams, so it goes all the way back to seven generations from Adam, prophesied of these saying, "Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousands of His saints to execute judgment upon all." What an interesting reference to the second coming of Jesus Christ, that this man, Enoch, who walked with God, and God took him home to heaven, actually prophesied that the Lord would come with ten thousands of his saints, and why would He come to execute judgment upon all that are ungodly? Let me give you the second fact about the second coming of Jesus Christ, and that is, it is prophesied both in the Old and the New Testaments. Now, I wanted to make mention of that because the rapture, as I pointed out in weeks past, is not referred to in the Old Testament. It's a New Testament revelation.

It's called a mystery. In 1 Corinthians 15:51, Paul said, "Behold, I show you a mystery," and he went on to describe the rapture. "We will not all sleep, but we'll be changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye." So it's a New Testament revelation given to Paul, the apostle, but the second coming is one of the main prophetic themes running all through the Old Testament and all through the New Testament. Now, I could just rattle off a bunch of verses from the Old and the New Testament, but I've taken a selection of choice verses to give you tonight as we go through, but know this, that it's a Old and New Testament prophecy that the Messiah would return in power and glory.

Sometimes on our Christmas cards, we read the prophet Isaiah, who said, "For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given," and he went on to say, "And the government shall be upon His shoulders." So he talks about his first advent, a Child born, a Son given, and his second advent, the government will be upon His shoulders, and it's a reference to the second coming of Jesus Christ. We have many messianic psalms that anticipate the king and the doors of Jerusalem opening up to the King of glory, so a lot of references both in the historical books and the poetical books and the prophetic books as well, but the rapture's not mentioned in the Old Testament. Let me give you fact number three about the second coming. It's not the same event as the rapture.

Now, I know this is basic and elementary, but I want to be clear, 'cause there's a lot of confusion out there about the rapture and the second coming, and sometimes people are one in the same. They are completely separate different events. They're not one in the same. The rapture is when we get caught up, the Church, the Body of Christ to meet the Lord in the air. 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18, "The dead in Christ shall rise first."

"We, who are alive and remain shall be caught up." Harpazo, snatched up, caught up to meet the Lord in the air, but in the second coming, we're going to see it in Revelation 19, the Church is already in heaven, and we come back with Christ on white horses to co-reign with Him for 1,000 years. The rapture will only involve believers. The second coming will involve the entire world, believers and unbelievers. The rapture, no one will really see, except for we who participate in it, as believers, but the second coming, every eye shall see Him. It'll be visible and glorious.

The rapture is the catching up to be with Christ, the second coming is the coming back with Christ, and as we're going to see, I'm kind of getting ahead of myself, but we're going to see that there's seven years, at least, between the two, that the rapture takes place before the tribulation, before the antichrist is revealed, which we talked about last week, and that the second coming happens after the seven-year tribulation and before the millennial reign of Christ. There are many contrasts between the rapture and the second coming, and I believe we provided a chart for you that you can check out on the homepage, but let me give you number three. Number three, excuse me, was my last point, is not the same as the rapture. Let me give you number four. Number four is it takes place immediately after the tribulation.

The second coming of Jesus Christ will take place immediately after the tribulation. Now, I want to put the image up on the screen that we've been using throughout our series, and you notice on the screen behind me, hopefully you can see it, as you watch it at home, is that the rapture happens before the tribulation. Tribulation is seven years. It's that 70th week of Daniel, that last seven-year period of man's history, to prepare Israel for the Messiah, but the second coming of Jesus Christ, if you'll notice on the chart, happens at the end of the tribulation. So I believe the Bible teaches a pre-tribulational rapture.
The church is caught up to heaven, seven years tribulation upon the earth, and then we come back in the second coming with Christ. Write down Matthew 24:29-30. If you can turn there and you want to look at it with me real quickly, feel free to do that. Jesus says, immediately after the tribulation of those days, "Shall the sun be darkened and the moon shall not give her light. The stars shall fall from heaven and the powers of heaven shall be shaken, and then she'll appear ..."

Notice, immediately after the tribulation of those days, then notice verse 30, "Then shall appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven, and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and then shall see the Son of Man," reference to Jesus Christ, "Coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory." The point I want to make is immediately after the tribulation of those days. After the tribulation, Christ will return in power and great glory, but before the tribulation, the Church will be caught up to meet the Lord in the air. Paul says, "God has not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation." Let me give you fact number five.

Fact number five about the second coming is that it's before the millennium. So it's after the tribulation, but it's before the millennium. What we're trying to do in this series is give you the framework, the big picture of the main events and points. Again, look at the screen, and I want you to see this chart of the 70 weeks of Daniel. First, you have the church age after the death of resurrection and ascension of Christ, then you have the tribulation, the last period of God's prophetic plan for Israel, the 70th week, the tribulation, then you have the second coming of Jesus Christ, and then you have the kingdom age.

That's the millennium. That's the thousand years, and we're going to actually take an in-depth look at that subject next week. A lot of misunderstanding and confusion about the millennium, but I believe that the second coming happens just before the thousand years. You can't have the kingdom of God on earth without Christ on earth ruling and reigning. In Revelation 19, we'll get there in just a moment, Jesus Christ returns in His second coming.

In Revelation 20, Satan is bound for 1,000 years, and I believe that during that time, Satan is bound. We have the kingdom of God on earth, Christ theocratic reign upon earth. This is the fulfillment of God's promise to David. We pointed out that a few weeks ago, the divinic covenant, that on David's throne, the Messiah would reign forever and ever, so the kingdom age flows into the eternal state with Christ, our King. Now, I believe the millennium will be a literal 1,000 years. Satan will be bound, Christ will be here.

He will be sitting on His throne in Jerusalem, and He'll be reigning over the entire earth, so I believe in a pre-millennial second coming of Jesus Christ. I don't believe it's post-millennial. I don't believe the church will bring in the kingdom age. I don't believe that it's a millennial, that there's no real millennium, that Christ just returns, and then we go right into the eternal state. I don't believe it's to be spiritualized, that the millennium has been all throughout the church's history.

I believe that God must keep His promises. Remember, I've emphasized keep the Gentile nations in their place, keep the nation of Israel in its proper place, and keep the Church in its proper place, but God made a covenant with Abraham, made a covenant with David. He renewed that covenant with Jacob, and Isaac, and God's promised that He will reign on the throne, that they will have their land. It will happen in a literal 1,000-year kingdom, and if you interpret prophecy literally, then it's necessary to view the millennium as an actual 1,000-year reign of Christ, as He will be reigning as Lord of lords and King of kings. Let me give you number six as we move through the seven.

Number six, about the second coming, is it will be a literal coming. It will be a literal, physical, visible return. There are those that say, "Well, Jesus came back many years ago spiritually," or, "Jesus came back in 70 A.D., when Jerusalem was destroyed, and they think that it's a mystical kind of a spiritual second coming. Not a spiritual coming, a literal coming. If you want to flip there with me in your Bibles, let's look at Acts 1:9-11.

Jesus has died, Jesus has risen. Jesus has appeared in His post-resurrection appearances for 40 days. Jesus is on Mount Olivet with His disciples. He's given them the great commission to go into all the world and preach the gospel and to be His witnesses, and then Jesus physically ascended back into heaven. So when we study the life of Christ, we study His incarnation, we study His crucifixion, His resurrection, we study His ascension and exaltation back of the right hand of God, the Father, and then His return.

The story is not over yet, where we're waiting for the last installment of the life and ministry of Christ, but notice in Acts 1:9, as Luke describes this ascension of Christ, says that, "When He had spoken these things, while they beheld Him," that is Christ, "He was taken up and a cloud received Him out of their sight, and while they looked steadfastly toward heaven, as He went and behold two men," these are angels, "Stood by them in white apparel, which said, 'Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing into the heavens?' This same Jesus, which was taken from you into heaven, shall come in like manner as you have seen Him go into heaven." There's a lot of information in this text about the second coming of Jesus Christ. I want you to notice, number one, He will come visibly. They saw him taken up.

Now, this is one of the stories in the Bible that if I could be there, I would've loved to seen it. To see Jesus, and you could touch Him, you could feel Him, they ate bread, He was real, He was there, He risen from the dead, just began to lift off, just this would be better than a rocket ship taken off for the moon. He just began to lift up. Now, Jesus had a supernatural entrance into the world from heaven through the womb of the Virgin Mary. It only makes sense that after His resurrection, that He have a supernatural exit back to the Father.

So He didn't have to go to the airport, He didn't have to check in, didn't have to wait in line, get on a plane, He just took off right from Mount Olivet, and they watched Him ascend visibly into the cloud. Secondly, it will be a glorious coming. Notice that a cloud received Him out of their sight. Now, this could be a cloud of the Shekinah Glory. It could be a regular cloud, but I think that the reference there is that the cloud of glory enveloped Him, as He went up into heaven, and the second coming will be not only visible, but it will be glorious. Write down Revelation 1:7, where John says, "Behold, He comes with clouds and every eye will see Him."

Then, thirdly, we notice from this Acts passage, that it will be personal, verse 11, this same Jesus. When Jesus comes back on the second time, it's not going to be some representative, it's not going to be some angel. It's going to be the Lord Himself. Then, fourthly, it will be literal. Notice it in verse 11, in like manner.

In other words, the angels told the disciples the very same way Jesus just ascended up into heaven, Jesus will come back from heaven. Now, I don't know about you, but I believe God's Word, and I believe that Jesus will come back literally, visibly, personally, and we will see Him gloriously return in like manner. Jesus said this in His Olivet discourse, Matthew 24, and verse 27, for he said, "As the lightning that shines from the east, even into the west, so shall the coming of the Son of Man be." So Jesus is going to return, and there will be a glorious coming. "As lightning that shines all the way from the east ..."

Let me get my directions right, "To the west, so shall the coming of the Son of Man be." Now, I want you to write down number seven. Here's the seventh fact about the second coming of Jesus Christ, and this is one of my favorite. You don't hear mentioned very often, but it will, number seven, be the greatest and most glorious appearing of God to man ever. It will be the greatest and most glorious appearing of God to man ever.

You know, in the Old Testament, God appeared in theophanies, and Christ appeared in Christophanies, and there was manifestations of God, but the cool thing about the second coming of Jesus Christ, this is not going to be a manifestation, this is going to be an appearance. Sometimes people say, "If there really is a God out there, why doesn't He just show up?" He's going to show up, man. He's going to show up big time, and people are going to be blown away when He does. He's going to rip the heavens and common power and glory.

It's interesting, when Jesus took Peter, James, and John on top of Mount Transfiguration. At the end of Matthew chapter 16, Jesus said these words. He says, "There's some of you standing here right now, you're not going to taste death until you see the kingdom of God come with power." In the very next chapter, 17, no break in the chapters and verses, Jesus took three of His disciples, Peter, James, and John, and He went up into a high mountain. Which mountain?

We don't really know, but it was a high mountain. The Bible says that He was transfigured before them, so His remnant shine so bright, no soap could make it brighter, and they saw the glory, and the splendor, and the majesty. I believe that when Jesus told them, "Some of you will not die till you see the kingdom come in power," that Mount Transfiguration was the fulfillment of that, and He was giving them a sneak preview of the second coming. He had told them He's going to be crucified and die. Their hearts were sad.

He told them they would be persecuted for His namesake, so He gives him a little taste of the future glory. "You're going to have to bury your cross. You're going to be persecuted. It's going to be hard. I'm going to be absent from you, but you are headed for glory."

What Jesus did on that mountain is give them a little picture of what's going to happen when He comes back in His second coming glory. Jesus pulled back the veil of His humanity, and He allowed his deity to shine forth. In Philippians 2, Paul tells us that He took on humanity. He was God veiled in flesh, so He was God in the flesh, but He was kind of incognito. To look at Jesus, you couldn't tell that He was divine.

He didn't glow in the dark, his voice didn't have vibrato, He didn't have vibration, and then He didn't have an echo in His voice. He didn't have reverb in his voice. He didn't walk off the ground. He did perform miracles. He spoke like never a man spaking, calmed the sea, and they detected this, that, "He's more than a man, He must be God," but he was God veiled in the flesh, but on Mount Transfiguration, He pulled back the veil, and He let his full majesty, and glory, and deity shine forth, and that's what's going to happen when Jesus Christ comes back in the second coming. There'll be no question about who He is.

People will see His power, and His glory, and His majesty, and what a glorious event that will be. The New Testament has a certain vocabulary that is consistent with this, concerning the second coming. There are three words I want to mention to you. The first word that's used for the second coming is the parousia. It's used in Matthew 24:27, where it talks about the coming of the Son of Man, where He will come.

The word means arrival or presence. Jesus Christ will arrive on planet earth. He is coming back. Now, I don't know about you, but today, I was prepping for this message tonight. My heart began to just thrill and get excited.

I was looking out my window of my office, thinking about Jesus Christ is going to touch down on planet earth. He's actually coming back here, coming back to where He was rejected, and despised, and crucified, and people today use His name and swear words. They mock the idea of Christ, and His death and resurrection, but they're going to see Him come in His power, and His majesty, and His glory. He will arrive. The word is parousia.

The second word is apocalypse. It means a revelation or an unveiling. Write down 2 Thessalonians 1:7, where Paul says, "And to you who are troubled, rest with us, when the Lord shall," here it is, "Be revealed, apocalypse from heaven with His mighty angels." Jesus Christ will be revealed, coming again from heaven. Then, the third keyword about the second coming is the word epiphania.

Epiphany or epiphania. Literally, it means manifestation. Manifestation. In 2 Thessalonians 2:8, when the antichrist is destroyed, as Christ returns, it says, "He will destroy the antichrist in His second coming with the brightness, the epiphany of His coming," just this glorious radiant manifestation of God's glory as Jesus Christ reigns the heaven and returns. In Titus 2:13 says we're looking for the blessed hope, which I believe is the rapture of the church.

Then, it makes the statement of the glorious appearing. That's the word, epiphania, the glorious appearing, the arrival, the manifestation of our only God and Savior, Jesus Christ, or our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ. Now, those are just seven facts, key important facts about the second coming. We could go on with a list for some time, but I want to wrap this up by turning with you to Revelation 19, if you haven't turned there already, and I want us to look at the classic passage in the Bible on the second coming. This is when it actually takes place, Revelation 19:11 down to verse 16.

Let's read it. John says, "And I saw heaven open, and behold, a white horse, and He that sat on Him was called faithful and true, and in righteousness, He does judge and make war. His eyes were like a flame of fire," verse 12. "His head were many crowns or diadems, and He had the name written, that no man knew, but He Himself. He was clothed of the vesture, dipped in blood, and His name is called the Word of God, and the armies, which were in heaven, followed Him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, and out of His mouth was a sharp two-edged sword, that with it, He just smite the nations, and He shall rule them with the rod of iron, and He then treads the wine press of the fierceness of the wrath of Almighty God, and He had on His vesture and on His thigh a name written," verse 16, 'King of kings and Lord of lords.'" This is the grand finale.

This is the climax of God's redemptive purpose and plan. This is what all the prophets were looking forward to. In the Old Testament, they said, "Messiah is coming." In the gospels, it says, "The Messiah has come." In the epistles and the revelation, it says, "Messiah will come."

The Bible is all about Jesus Christ, that He would come, that He came to die, that He went back to heaven, and He's coming again to reign as King of kings and Lord of lords. Now, you talk about the unfolding of God's prophetic plan. The Church, first of all, is caught up to heaven. The antichrist will be revealed and come to power through a revived Roman empire. There'll be seven years of tribulation.

Christ then will return in power and great glory. Now, I'm going to go into detail next Wednesday night as to all that happens after Christ returns, and we're going to talk about all the events that lead into the millennium, the millennium, and then the new heaven and the new Earth, but notice with me this passage in Revelation. I want you to note five things. First of all, His coming, verse 11, the heavens open, He comes on a white horse. He then, sat on Him, was called faithful and true, and in righteousness, He does judge to make war.

This is a reference to Jesus Christ, not the antichrist, Revelation 6, but the true Messiah, Jesus Christ. He is coming. Notice it in verse 11, "To judge and make war." Notice, secondly, in verse 12, His countenance, His eyes like a flame of fire. In Revelation 1, John describes His countenance, His eyes like a flame of fire, His hair is white as wool, His feet like polished brass, the metal of judgment, and out of His mouth, there came a sharp two-edged sword.

So it says on His head were many crowns, and the word crowns there is not Stephanos, it's the diadems. He's coming back as King. Not coming back as the Lamb, but coming back as the Lion, and He had a name written on them that no man knew, but He Himself. Then, notice thirdly in verse 13, His clothing. He was clothed with a vesture, dipped in blood, and His name is called the Word of God.

Now, He's just been fighting the battle there and the battle of Armageddon. He put an end to that war, but He comes with that vesture, dipped in blood, thinking of the judgment. Then, I want you to notice fourthly, His Church. This is you and I, the Church, coming back from heaven with Him. We're not on earth, we're not in the tribulation.

We don't get rapture at the end of the tribulation to make a U-turn and come right back. We're up in heaven with Him coming back. Notice in verse 14, "The armies which were in heaven followed Him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean." That fine linen is the righteousness of Christ that's been imputed to us by faith. We are the bride of Christ.

We've made clean, and we're ready to meet the bridegroom and return with Him to celebrate our wedding with Him. Then, I want you to notice fifthly, His conquest, verse 15 and 16. "Out of His mouth goes a sharp sword, that with it, He just smite the nations." He's coming back to judge them with His Word, just the Word of His power. He'll destroy the antichrist and His enemies, and He shall rule them with a rod of iron, speaking of the kingdom age, and He treads the wine press of the fierceness of the wrath of God Almighty.

This is a reference to Jesus Christ, the God Almighty. He comes back to judge for sin. There will be retribution, and, "He hath on His vesture and on His thigh a name written, 'King of kings and Lord of lords.'" In the ancient world, when a king would conquer a people, group, or nation, he many times would allow that king to still sit on his throne, become like a vassal king, so the conquering king was known as the king of kings. The conquering king was known as the lord over lords.

So think about that. Jesus Christ will come back, and He will be the Ruler and Reigner, King of kings and Lord of lords. It's cool thing, no more Democrats and no more Republicans. No more politicians. I know I'm going to get in trouble, but praise the Lord for that, Jesus Christ. Remember, when Jesus was born in Bethlehem, and the angels woke the shepherds and said, "Unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior"?

Not a politician, not a mathematician, not a military leader, not a psychiatrist, not a psychologist, but a Savior. This is when Jesus Christ comes back to save planet earth, and the world will get darker and darker and darker until a new age is born, when the King comes back. All throughout man's history, He's dreamt of a utopian society, where we can live on earth in peace and harmony. The hippies thought if you just smoked pot and ate health food, you could bring in the kingdom on Earth. Didn't happen.

People are trying to put an end to war. We got the United Nations. We think we can put an end to war, but it doesn't change the sinful heart of man. There'll be no peace in this world till Jesus Christ, the Prince of peace, returns and establishes His kingdom on planet earth. Now, one last point I want to make, and that's from Titus 2:11-14, answering the question, "How shall we then live?"

If Jesus Christ is coming back, what should we do? Well, first of all, you need to get right with Jesus Christ. You need to repent of your sins and get right with Him, 'cause He's coming back, and if you haven't been born again, then you will perish in your sin. You will spend eternity in hell separated from God, but if you've been born again, your sins have been forgiven, you are a child of God, you will be caught up in the rapture, you will come back in the second coming, you will be part of His bride and reign with Him for 1,000 years, but look at Titus 2:11-14. Titus tells us, in light of the second coming, how we should live, "For the grace of God," verse 11, "That bringeth salvation hath appeared into all men." Jesus came the first time to save us by His grace, teaching us verse 12, that denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, so this is the negative.

Because Christ is returning, we don't want to be living in ungodliness or worldly desires or passions, but we should live how? Verse 12, "Soberly, righteously, and godly in this present world," and looking verse 13, "For the blessed hope of the glorious appearing, that epiphany, that arrival of the great God and our Savior, Jesus Christ," who, verse 14, "Gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us unto Himself a peculiar or special chosen people, zealous of good works." He wants to purify us as His people, and He wants us to be devoted to good work. So how can we be ready for the Lord's return? Repent and believe in Jesus Christ.

Deny yourself of ungodliness and worldly lust, and live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present world because Jesus Christ will come back. Now, I know the Bible tells us that some will say, "Where's the promise of His coming?" For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of time. Nothing ever changes, but they forget about something, Peter reminds us, that the old world before the flood, in its wickedness and evil, that God destroyed the whole world and saved just Noah, his family on that ark, that God provided an ark of safety, and the rains came down and the floods came up. The ark floated on that water, and the whole earth was destroyed because the wickedness of man had been so great.

The Bible says if God did it once, you can do it again, that God destroyed by water, and He gave us a rainbow to promise He wouldn't do that again, but He never promised He wouldn't burn it. So the Bible says the elements will mount with fervent heat, and everything will be burned up. So the whole world will pass away. Only those who do the will of God will endure forever. Everything that's seen is temporal. What is unseen is eternal, but God does judge sin.

There will be judgment for sin. You think somebody gets away with something? You think there's no justice, no fairness? Jesus Christ will come back, and He knows everything. The Bible says He's going to sit on a great white throne and He'll judge the wicked dead.

We'll get into that more next week, but if you're here tonight, you're watching online, you're turned in, and you don't have a relationship with Jesus Christ, Jesus Christ will return, and if you're not born again, you will die in your sins. You need to repent, believe in Him, and trust Him as Lord and Savior. The Bible says, "All have sinned, all have fallen short of the glory of God. There's no one righteous, no not one," but Jesus died on the cross to pay for our sins, rose from the dead so that we could be forgiven. Obviously, whoever believes on Him shall not perish, but have everlasting life.

So as I've done every week, the last several weeks, I want to lead you in a prayer, and you can pray this prayer. Wherever you are, wherever you're listening or watching, you can ask Jesus to come into your heart and forgive your sins.