This passage in 2 Timothy 4, it's gonna be what we use to open this message and come back to it often, off and on. It's gonna be a two or three part message dealing with two main parts of the first two verses in 2 Timothy 4. And we'll ultimately work our way down to verse eight, but there'll be a lot to do to get to that. In verse one, Paul uses several words that stand out in the text, 2 Timothy 4.1. And to me, judge stands out. Jesus will judge. He's going to be the judge. And then it says of the quick. And what he's speaking of there is those who've been given spiritual life. They will also stand before the Lord and give an account to Christ. But then it says, and the dead. That's those that remain in their sins, dead in trespasses and sins all the way until they die or until these particular, this particular case, those that when Christ returns. And we see that this occurs at his appearing, and that's another standout word, appearing, and his kingdom, appearing and kingdom. Now I want to particularly address the second coming of Christ this morning. His appearing is essential, almost synonymous with the word coming. The appearing of Christ, the coming of Christ. The word coming, though, is a more broader term when studying the return of Christ. Now, Paul is writing to a young preacher, as I mentioned earlier, who is a student of the apostle Paul. And Paul, in charging him, invokes these powerful images of the truth of the return of Christ. And it adds weight to the charge that he's given to Timothy. He's given charge to Timothy to preach the word of God. But he adds weight to that charge by saying, I charge thee therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead in his period and his kingdom. All he had to do was say, I charge you, preach the word. But he didn't say that. I'm charging you before the one that's coming to judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom. That adds a little bit of oomph to the preach the word. Who are you preaching it for? Who are we going to answer to? That's the kind of idea that you get there. And the weight, weightiness of these truths continue on through the text. Verse five, he says, but watch thou in all things, endure affliction. What, where's that come from? Because the one that's coming and his appearing and his kingdom is going to be the judge. You need to be watching and you need to endure affliction. Then verse six, what did he say? For I am now ready. I'm ready to be offered. My time of departure is at hand. I'm ready. Are you ready? That's basically what he's telling Timothy. I'm ready to meet him. But you need to be ready to meet him. How? What was Timothy's way of getting ready? Preach the word till he gets here. We're to be ready at all times to meet Christ. Because if Christ doesn't return, even in our lifetime, all of us here today will see him within 30, 40, 50, 60 years, even the little babies here, 70 years or more, for sure. We'll see the Lord Jesus Christ, all of us here. And I'm hoping the Lord might let me preach for another 30 years. It'd be great if he let me go further than that. If I'd be in my 80s, I'd preach if he let me. but the time to meet Christ is short for all of us. Praise the Lord about that, because you just don't know, but you're gonna meet the Lord soon. And you probably do know. So as Paul teaches Timothy about his preaching ministry, he's also encouraging him in faithfulness, because life is short. And live like it, is what he's saying. In one place he says, redeeming the time, because the days are evil. Timothy, preach. Preach with all you got, because this is your calling. And he can say this to any of you. Whatever God's given you, do it. This is your chance. The Lord is either coming to you or you are going to him. His coming to you is more certain than you're going to him, because you may or may not die before he gets here. You may live to see him at his appearing in his kingdom. So let's think, how good is it to learn of his coming, study about his coming, and then not prepare for it or to watch for it. You ever met folks like that? It's like all they do is talk about the knowledge of the coming of Christ. But we wanna be ready. The truth is it could be right at our doorstep. Have you looked around at the world? The truth is it could be right at our doorstep. This is a very good way to summarize the second coming of Christ. He shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing in his kingdom. And not all of the absolute details of the end times are on my heart this morning. If I did that, it'd probably set half of you off. You know, you can get these charts and get up here with a chart. The Lord's got his own chart. We know that, but it's difficult enough just to look at the scriptures and just let them speak as you go through them. And it's comforting for us who are saved to look at Christ that He's coming. We look for Him to appear. Just to get started, I want to use a couple simple verses to convey what's on my heart this morning regarding this doctrine. We're going to look at some scriptures and that's going to bear out some timing issues and stuff. It's not my great concern. My great concern is impressing upon you the reality. that the Lord Jesus is coming, and that he's going to judge the quick and the dead. He's coming to establish a kingdom, and he's coming to judge, and he will appear. He's going to appear. Notice here in Revelation 1, if you would. Notice Revelation 1. We're going to look at a few verses in the book of Revelation, so you want to hold Revelation. Verse 7 of Revelation 1, Behold, he cometh with clouds, and every eye shall see him. You ever heard these people say, good thing we got TV now. Now everybody can see him when he comes because he'll be on the news. How can people see him all on the other side of the world if we didn't have TV? You think he's got a problem making sure everybody sees him? He cometh with the clouds, and every eye shall see him. And they also which pierced him, and all the kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. And that's significant right there. That's significant in a lot of the scriptures we're going to look at. What's going to happen? The people of the earth are going to wail. They're going to wail. They're going to cry. They're going to wail. They're going to be scared. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty. There's nothing more clear in the word of God that He is coming. He is coming. All of our faith is useless if we don't get this. This is part of the gospel. This is the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. This is our salvation. See, the main point of our text and the other verses we're going to look at is the reality of His coming. That you would know Christ as the coming one. That you would know Christ, grow to know Him just a little further, and to recognize Him and know Him as the coming Lord Jesus Christ. This is your salvation. This is salvation. If you fear his coming and you are a believer, you need to be educated because it's the truth that sets you free. It's the truth that makes you free. There's some believers walk around afraid of Christ coming back. What? Christ coming for his people. That's the best day you've ever experienced in your life. Somebody said, what's the best day you ever had? Well, the day I was born again just had to be it. Next day is probably when I was married. No, best day you ever had, you hadn't had yet. Because that's when you see Christ. That's when you see Christ. The best day of your life will be that day. This is our ultimate salvation. If you're a believer, your greatest need is to know Christ. If you're an unbeliever, your greatest need is to know Christ. But believers are new creatures in Christ Jesus. And this new life that we have in Christ is all about a preparation for that day. We're in preparation for his coming. So when you think of Christ's return, think salvation. That's my salvation. It's not just something we technically dig up, and that's what I'm trying to say, that we're not just the details and the minutia of it all. More than that, you can just put a big banner over the top of all the doctrines of it and say, salvation. This is our salvation. Notice this in a couple of places. First in 1 Peter 1. 1 Peter 1. Because I wanna impress this upon you that this is your salvation, the coming of Christ. 1 Peter 1. 1 Peter 1 verse 3, he's speaking of how blessed we are to be begotten again. We've been born again. Verse four, we have an inheritance in heaven, 1 Peter 1, and that inheritance doesn't fade away. And in verse five, he says, who are kept by the power of God. So we have an inheritance, we have a new birth experience. And that new birth experience we can't get rid of because we're kept by the power of God. Notice here, through faith. So God gives us faith and we can't quit believing. He keeps us, He keeps filling that oil up in us that we keep having faith. We're not gonna stop believing. And we're kept by God's power through faith that's a gift from Him. For what purpose? Unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. The very purpose for your salvation, the very purpose for what God's doing in your life, working faith in you and all the experiences of your life is preparing you for that day. You say, how important is it? It's that important. That we're working towards that day to be revealed in the last time. Wherein ye greatly rejoice thou. Now for a season, if need be, you're in heaviness through manifold temptation. What do we rejoice about when we're in heaviness and manifold temptation? What's that mean? One after another, after another, problem after problem, and it's heavy, and it's weighing us down. How do we have faith and trust in God through the middle of that? Because we know he's coming. There's nothing that can stop that. You can't derail that train. His hand is on the throttle and his eye is on the rail. And he is coming and we know that. And we can be in a hospital bed sick and people next to us don't even know the Lord in their hospital room. They're all freaking out because somebody might die. And I don't blame them. And you walk into the Christian's room and it's not so much. It's sad, but it's different. And any nurse or doctor can tell you. Those people are different. Something going on in there. They're talking about that person just going somewhere. They're going to miss them for a while. That's all. That's it. We don't say bye. I told Mike Ball when he left the other day, I said, we don't say bye. We say so long. See you at the house. We're different because we have this hope in us. And he says that the trial of your faith being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honor, what? And glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ. It's all pointing toward that time when he appears. All of it's for that moment. Receiving the end of your faith. What's that? What's the goal of your faith? To get to Christ. To get to Christ, even the salvation of your souls. And listen to this is what's interesting. Of which salvation the prophets have inquired and searched diligently who prophesied of the grace of God that should come unto you. The prophets wrote the prophecies in the Old Testament. You go back and read Ezekiel, Daniel, Isaiah. You look at those prophecies, scriptures, they would look over those. What is this talking about? Who is this talking about? What's going on? They didn't understand. We have the cheat sheet with the New Testament shining light back on there and we can see a lot of things they couldn't see. But they were literally looking at the second coming of Christ, as well as the first coming of Christ. Notice, searching what manner, what or what manner of time the spirit which Christ was in them did signify. What time is this? Is this the first coming, the second coming? What's he talking about? Is this Messiah going to come and do what? And then he's going to come later and do what? When it testified beforehand of the suffering of Christ, that's the cross, and the glory that should follow, his second coming. You say the second coming is in the Old Testament? All over it. And he's coming. It was revealed, not only to themselves, but unto us, which did minister the things, which they now reported unto you by them and have preached the gospel unto you with the Holy Spirit sent down from heaven, which things the angels desire to look into. What would the angels want to look at? What's this coming next thing? What has he got us doing next? Apparently we're coming with him for something. What is this? Wherefore, gird up the loins of your mind and be sober." Just like Paul told Timothy, watch, be ready. Hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you, what? At the revelation of Jesus Christ. It's all pointing towards his coming. It's all pointing towards Christ coming back and he is coming. See, there's a sense in which we were saved before the world was. This is part of our salvation too. We were saved before the world. He chose, He called us, He saved us and He called us, 2 Timothy 1.9, with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began. But there's also a sense in which we were saved at the cross. And that's the high point of salvation. For as much as you know that you were not redeemed with corruptible things as silver and gold from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ as of a lamb without blemish and without spot, who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifested in these last times for you. We were redeemed by the blood of Christ. Hebrews 9.26, but now once in the end of the world, he hath appeared to put away sin. by the sacrifice of himself. You're saved by the cross. That's where God saw the blood and was satisfied, all the glory of the cross. All that was purposed in eternity, was purchased at Calvary. Salvation was made secure at the cross, fully settled. But there's also a sense in which we're saved when we trust in Christ. when we laid our faith into Jesus Christ and laid hold on Jesus Christ. For by grace are you saved through faith, and that's not of yourself, it's a gift of God. And it's not of works, least any man should boast, for we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works. That's God giving us faith. We lay hold and we believe on Jesus Christ. He that believeth on a son, half life. He that believeth not, half not life. Jesus said to some of the Jews, if you do not believe in me, you shall die in your sins. So there's a sense that we're saved when we believe and we trust in Jesus Christ as our savior. And there's another sense in which we're continuing to be saved. God's continuing to work in our hearts. We're being sanctified through the word of truth and through the work of the spirit of God, and we're growing in grace and knowledge. But to our main point, there's a sense in which we're yet to be saved. And that's what's on the horizon. There's a sense in which we are yet to be saved. Romans 13, 11, Paul says that, knowing the time, it is high time to awake out of sleep, for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed. You say, well, duh, it's nearer, because it's getting nearer every day. But does that not affect you? Wake up! It's coming nearer every day. 1 John chapter 3, John says, behold what manner of love. The Father hath bestowed upon us that we should be called the sons of God. Therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not. Beloved, we are the sons of God, and it does not yet appear what we shall be. But we know that when we see him, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. We know that when we see him, we will be like him. For we shall see him as he is. And every man that hath this hope in himself purifies himself, even as he is pure. The hope of the coming of Christ will purify you more than anything. Watch, looking for the Lord. So I'm a Christian, but I really don't believe in that second coming stuff. You gotta blow, you're blowing my mind. You gotta look up statistics. I was gonna give them to you, but I just didn't want you to do it. You'd be amazed how many people claim to be a Christian. The next level, how many people claim that Jesus truly was who he said he was. The next thing is how many people believe the word of God is truly the word of God. Next thing is how many people believe Jesus is actually coming back. And the number gets lower and lower and lower. Starts off 92%, say they believe in Jesus. Then you get down to under 40% of Americans, I believe, truly believe a literal return of the son of God. You cannot be saved and not be looking for Christ. You understand that? That's the gospel. That's the gospel of our salvation, that we will be with Christ. He didn't save us just to leave us wandering around. We were saved in the purpose of God before the foundation of the world in his purpose and his decree. Just as glorification is a foregone conclusion now, and we know we'll be glorified, it was a foregone conclusion that Jesus would come, but he had to come and he did, and it was completed. Salvation in Christ's blood was sure to happen before the foundation of the world, but it had to come to pass. And that's where we're saved, on the cross. He bore our sins there. Then we came to believe in the cross by a work of grace in our hearts. He continues to do that work in us, and he will continue that work, what? Until the day of Christ. And that day, he shall change our vile bodies, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able to subdue all things unto himself. The final stage of our salvation, the redemption of our body. This isn't a side issue. to your salvation. This isn't a side issue to the experience of God's grace in your life. It is salvation. It isn't a side issue to your relationship with Christ. It's the purpose that you have a relationship with Christ. He's coming and it's importance then has multiple purposes. He will triumph over Satan for good completely when he comes. over all sin and over all evil. He will eradicate the world of ungodliness. You realize that? He's gonna eradicate the world of ungodliness. Not to say for sure there will never be unbelievers in the millennial reign, but it's gonna be a reign with a capital R. It's gonna be tamped down. Ultimately then, a new heaven and a new earth, righteousness and peace, All of God's plan of redemption in the eternal covenant comes to a climax when Christ comes. Part of the reason that I don't always hammer out details on the second coming of Christ is not because I don't have a view. of when and how it's going to happen is because it always seems to become a point of separation and pride. You get too prideful. I know exactly this little detail. You know exactly that little detail. But you'll see those things as we go through scriptures and let the word of God speak for itself. But the glories can get lost while we're bogged down in the minutiae. I've experienced it. I know what I'm talking about. Not that we don't want to get it right. We do. We want to get it right. But when it becomes the totality of a person's focus, and I've seen this. Guilty. Done it. Always, the focus of everything is getting all the details. I've seen people, I'm going to do a series on end times. Five years later, a guy standing with a stick and a chart. And everybody's going to. You lose the glories of Christ. So I prefer every now and then to punch it with a, hey, he's coming. And here's some details about it a little bit later. But the glories can get lost while you're bogged down. Not that we don't wanna get it right, we do. But when it becomes the totality of a person's focus, you'll lose the blessing of the reality. Think like this, he is coming. He is coming, there's no doubt. This man is returning. What about your family? What about your coworkers? What about your community? What does this effect have on all the areas of your life? Does it touch them? My point here is details are very important, but don't lose sight of the importance of us going to the next life with Jesus Christ. Some people get into it as if that's not part of it. That's the main part of it. He's coming. Someone says, but what if the rapture's at the end of the tribulation and we have to go through it? You start getting the detailed questions. God will be with us. We still aren't appointed to wrath. The Bible's clear on that. You're not appointed under wrath. Wrath can't touch me. But I was never promised that I wouldn't have persecution. Matter of fact, I was promised I'd have persecution. If that's the case, he'll help us. And it would be an honor to die for Christ. It's always been that way. But what if the rapture is before the tribulation? And we're all caught up before it all starts and we're caught out of here. That's the most popular view. Nobody's going to be more happier than me. But what if the rapture is in the middle of the tribulation? Now I got all figured out, I've been studying it. It's in the middle of the tribulation when Antichrist comes and he takes his seat in the temple and it's abomination of desolation and God's had enough. He's not gonna let his people go any further than that in that mess and calls them out. Sounds good to me. Sounds good to me. Big part of me right there says, yes, the sooner the better. I wanna see Jesus. What if the fulfillment of the thousand year reign of Christ is happening now? And there's no earthly reign later for Christ, but he's just ushering in a new heavens and a new earth when he returns. And it's just a general judgment at that time. He's still coming, right? He's still gonna be here, right? He's still gonna gather his people and glorify his people, right? See, I'm not saying that these differences aren't important to hash out. And as we look at the scriptures, we'll see some. But there's biblical priorities. I had a preacher here a while back tell me, I don't think there's any secondary issues in the Bible. Okay, so let's take something like, I don't know, something about the way somebody dresses or something and just tear the whole church up over it. Would you just take a stand on that? That's just as important as the deity of Christ. Well, no. And I'm like, okay. So there are priorities, there are biblical priorities. And here, that's what I'm speaking of. There's biblical priorities in eschatology. Do not lose sight of Christ. And let me make this important point by looking at a passage in Daniel chapter 11. Daniel chapter 11, Ezekiel and Daniel. Ezekiel's easy to find. Now Daniel chapter 11, we want to work our way to verse 31 to start, but we see here through this passage that there's this King that is representative of the coming Antichrist that's yet to still yet to come. And it says in verse 28, he returns his land with great riches. and his heart shall be against the holy covenant. He shall do exploits, return to his own land. There's a time appointed that he returns and comes towards the south. Verse 30, go through verse 40 says, therefore he shall be grieved and return and have indignation against the holy covenant. This man hates the holy things of God. So shall he do and he shall even return and have intelligence with them that forsake the holy covenant. And arms, verse 31, shall stand on his part, and they shall pollute the sanctuary of strength, and shall take away the daily sacrifice, and they shall place the abomination that maketh desolate." So this is a time when he goes into the temple and desecrates the Jewish sacrifices. And this Antichrist is going to claim that he's God. And he's going to be the boss over everything going on there. And God calls it an abomination that this wicked man would stand in that holy place. And they that understand among the people shall instruct many, yet they shall fall by the sword and by flame, by captivity, by spool, by many days. So there's going to be an uproar among those that aren't approving of it. They're going to stand and preach against it. Now, when they shall fall, they shall be helping with a little help. Wonder where that's coming from. Was the Lord ever promised to leave his people? He said, I'll never leave you. The Lord's going to be with them. But many shall cleave to them with flatteries, fancy words, and some of them of understanding shall fall and try them to purge and to make them white. even to the time of the end, because it is yet a time appointed. We see that in the book of Revelation, those that are in white, because they went through this tribulation period. And this wicked king here, the king shall do according to his will, and he shall exalt himself, verse 36, and magnify himself above every God, and shall speak marvelous things against the God of gods, and shall prosper till the indignation, what, be accomplished. Now these are the points I want you to see. Oh yeah, there's some detail there, a lot of detail. But what's it saying? This will be accomplished. This is going to happen. For that is determined, for that is determined what? shall be done. When I say there's priorities in eschatology, this is what I'm talking about. You can go through here and dice this up, but you can't overlook the fact that it says this, that is the determined, shall be done. One time, I'll tell you when I quit listening to Glenn Beck. You might like him, fine with me. I'll tell you when I quit listening to him, when he saw scriptures like this, and I don't know if this exact one, but all these scriptures, the end time prophecy, what's gonna happen to the Jews? And he said, it looks like it's happening. Damascus is gonna be laid in a heap. I think they're pointing their missiles at Damascus right now. And the Russians are moving in. There's gonna be an army coming from the north. We gotta get to Russia and stop, or to Israel and stop it. Did you read the rest of it? That that is determined shall be. You get all alarmed and try to figure out how you're going to stop this stuff. I saw it in the Bible. This is going to be bad. You've got to get over and make a deal. We've got to stop this. A lot of people are going to die. But that that is determined shall be done. That's the point I want you to get. It's determined and it shall be done. What is determined shall be done. So we love the details. but the priority is the reality. Now, as we remember our point, he shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom. We're going to look at, and do not have time this morning to finish this, what must happen, what will happen, what shall we do, and then finally, are you ready? These are the rest of the points. Most of this is going to be in part two tonight, but I'm going to overview it for you just quickly to give you a taste of these four points, then close the message and pick up tonight. And in our text, we remember he will judge the quick and the dead. He's going to judge those that are born again and those that are not, and his appearing and his kingdom. Let's see him coming in judgment, Revelation 19, notice there. Go there and hold your place. I want you to hold your place in Revelation 19. This is at the end of the Great Tribulation. The rapture's already taking place. God's people are with the Lord. The mystery of Babylon has been decimated in Revelation 17 and 18. And this is the time of the last trump. In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, we know that from 1 Corinthians 15, at the last trump, for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead in Christ shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. That day is coming. We can't have a rapture without a resurrection. When Christ comes back, dead in Christ rise first. What's gonna happen first? Death and Christ rise first. Rapture happens. While you're holding on to Revelation, we're working our way to Revelation 19, so I want you to hold there, but go to 1 Thessalonians 4. I should have just said we're working towards Revelation 19. 1 Thessalonians 4, notice here verse 13. Verse 13, but I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren. I want you to be in the dark about this concerning them, which are asleep, that you're sure or not, even as others, which have no hope. Why does the Bible refer to those that have passed on as asleep? Because they're going to wake up. They're with the Lord, their soul's not sleeping, their body is. And it says those that are asleep that you sorrow not as others which have no hope. I wanna give you something that's gonna give you hope, he says, about those that have gone on. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, so just as much as you believe in the death, the burial, and the resurrection of Christ, you need to believe in the second coming of Christ. If we believe in that, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. Now we know when Christ comes, who's he bringing? Bringing his people with him. For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. We're not going to go before them. If we're standing here, when the Lord comes back, we're not going to go before those that are in the ground. So what's got to happen? Graves got to open up first. Dead in Christ rise first. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God. There's that trumpet. and the dead in Christ shall rise first. Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with him." Everybody together, caught up to the Lord in the rapture. In the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so shall we ever be with the Lord. You see the idea here is he's coming in the clouds, but he's not coming all the way through the clouds until we're with him. We have to be caught up to be with him. We're for comfort one another with these words. They say, there's all kinds of details you missed on the timing there. Listen. We're going to be caught up, and we're going to be with Jesus. When we're caught up from the resurrection, we will never depart from Him again. Can you see the priority in eschatology? We will never depart from Him again. We're going to be raised. If you're standing here, you're going to watch the others come up. They come up, we go together. I tease some all-millennial brethren preachers. I say, I want to be buried right by you. Someone on the way up, I go, ha ha. Told you. But Matthew 24, notice here. Matthew 24 and Revelation 17. Matthew 24 is probably the greatest passage in the Bible on end times. Jesus personally preached a sermon on the end times. And here in Matthew 24, I wanna pick up in verse 29, and I want you to hold your place in Revelation 17 so we can compare. Just note that it's Revelation 17 and 18 that I'm talking about. Verse 29, immediately after the tribulation of those days, and Jesus has been laying out all the things that are gonna occur during the tribulation. 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 the heavens shall be shaken. Now the point here is, do you believe these things are really gonna happen? Everything's gonna shake. Lights are gonna change. Sun and the moon is going to change. This is going to be a big deal. People say, well, you won't know it. Really? You're going to know. Every ILC and why? Because this is going to be an event of all events. And so you see there in verse 29, that that's going to happen and the powers of heaven shall be shaken. Well, as we go to Revelation, we're not going to turn there just yet, but you see Revelation 17 and 19, all this is taking place. Revelation 17 and 18, excuse me, is absolute decimation of the Babylonian system in this world. And you see it during the great tribulation period, the Lord's just destroying it all. Well, here's a big part of what's happening. And immediately after those days, then these things are happening right here. It's hot and heavy in verse 29. Then verse 30, then shall appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven. And then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn. That's significant because you look at other scriptures in the book of Revelation, what do they do? They want the rocks to fall on them. They want to hide. They're scared. of the Lord. When He appears, it's going to be a terrible, dreadful thing. It's almost like this idea that the ark is a little kiddie story and the little animals sticking out of the ark are all smiling, happy, and everything's just great and never tell the kids that, you know, actually everybody in the world died. We talk about the second coming of the Lord and all we think is this glorious appearing and He's coming and it's going to be great. It's going to be the dreadful day of the Lord. And that's my point today that I want to make. We'll get to the other part later, but it says here, then shall appear the sign of the son of man in heaven, and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. You've never seen glory like you see when he's coming with all of his holy angels. All his people are gathered up to him and they're coming back with him. It's gonna be mind boggling. Notice here, we'll see that in verse 31. And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet. There's that trumpet again. And they shall gather his elect from the four winds from one end of heaven to the other. So what's he going to do before he actually finally destroys everything? He's going to get his people out right there and gather them out. And so here we see, this is why you see Revelation 17 and 18, you see this decimation of just these terrible, the end of the tribulation period and all these terrible things are coming upon the world and he's knocking out this whole world system. Babylon the great has fallen and the merchants of that great city mourn because the finances are over. The financial system's over, the religious system's over, the world power government system's all over at that point. What are we gonna do? We've been knocked out. And you see the Book of Revelation, and let me give you an idea that's a way I look at it. You may think this is odd, but I think it's a great way to see it. Through the Book of Revelation, these angels coming out, these vials, these trumpets, one after another after another in the Great Tribulation. And you ever see these movies where they have, like they come out with the archers first, then the catapults, then they come out with the horse riders, and after they do enough damage, the king goes, I'm coming down. And that's what we have in Revelation 19. He's coming and he's going to take care of business when he gets here. So Revelation 17 and 18, you go back and read that. Destruction of Babylon, the wicked harlot, the religious system in this world is all destroyed. In verse 30, he appears. Well, we see that in Revelation 19, 11. Notice here, Revelation 19, 11. And John said, I saw heaven open and behold, a white horse. And he that sat upon him was called fateful and true. And in righteousness, he does judge and make war. There's other passages talk about him coming. How could he come so violently? Because he's remembering everything that the world has done. He's remembering every abortion that ever took place. He's remembering every cry, every prayer. They're in a vibe. All of his people, when they suffered, and God, for His ultimate purpose, wasn't able, not that He couldn't, but He just had another purpose right then, couldn't totally deliver them as they asked. He's doing it now. That expected end that you thought was coming is coming. He's making everything right. He's making every crooked place straight, every mountain low, every valley high. That's what He's coming to do, to judge, and He's coming to make war. But what do we know happens first? At the last trump, the dead in Christ rise first. That's the rapture. The rapture must happen before he comes down, because we come with him. Matthew 24, if you're still there, verse 31. He shall send his angels with the great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, one from one end of heaven to the other. Then he's not gonna lose one. They're gonna go get him, bring him to me. So what's the angel's job? That day their job is to come get us. and to gather up the elect people of God. Now, we see this again from another angle in Revelation 6, and I'm gonna close right quick. I know y'all don't think I am, but I am. Revelation 6, verse 12. And this is the point of the sixth seal. I want you to see how this all comes together, how it compares. I lost my place in Matthew 24, I'm gonna stay there. Revelation 6 and verse 12. And I beheld, when he had opened the sixth seal, and lo, there was a great earthquake, and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood. Same event that we just talked about. It's just showing different angles in how it's gonna happen. And the stars of heaven fell onto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind. What did that scripture say before? Gonna shake, shake. And the heavens departed as a scroll, when it was rolled together and every mountain and island were moved out of their place. What was it? Part of the scroll? What happened in Revelation 19, 11? Jesus appeared. Heaven opened up, and He appeared. And it says, The kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens of the rocks in the mountains, and said to the mountains, Rocks, fall on us, and hide us from the face of Him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb. For the great day of His wrath has come, and who shall be able to stand? In other words, they see it. There's no way we're going to be able to do this. This is more than we can take. We didn't think it was gonna be this bad, but it is. And we see that back in Matthew 24, 30. Then shall appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven, and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of Man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. Now here we're getting close to the coming of Christ right down to the earth. Revelation 11. Revelation 11. Verse 15, the seventh angel sounded and there was a great voice, great voices in heaven saying, the kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord. By the way, Revelation 19, it says he's coming with many crowns. Why? Because all the kingdoms of the earth has become his kingdom and he has their crowns of all the kings of the earth. So the kingdoms have become his kingdoms. And of his Christ and shall reign forever and ever. And the four and 20 elders which sit before God on their seats fell upon their faces and worshiped God, saying, we give thee thanks, O Lord God Almighty, which was and is to come, because thou hast taken to thee great power and thou hast reigned. What's he saying? They're saying, you're here, you're in charge, you're the king of kings. And it's being recognized that that happens. And then verse 19, and the temple of God was open in heaven. What are we reading Revelation 19, 11? It was open, right? The temple of God was open in heaven and there was seen in the temple, the arc of his testimony and there were lightnings and voices and thunder and all, and earthquake and great hail. I don't have time to look at all the passage, I'm gonna look to, let's just go to Revelation 19. We'll look at Revelation 16 some more this morning or tonight. Here in Revelation 19, the tribulation is all over except for the battle of Armageddon. The devil, the Antichrist, the false prophet, they prepared for this fight back in Revelation 16. They began to prepare the great unholy trinity of Satan, the false prophet, and the beast, the Antichrist. And now we go there, and it's our point to remember is he will judge the quick and the dead at his appearing in his kingdom. He's judged the great whore. His people are caught up, they're with him. We see that in Revelation 19, notice verse six. And he said unto me, well, 19 verse six. And I heard as it were a voice of a great multitude, the voice of many waters, the voice of mighty thundering, saying, Alleluia, for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth. Let us be glad and rejoice and give honor to him, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his wife hath made herself ready. His wife is the church, brethren. So we're there with him now. And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white, for the fine linen is the righteousnesses of the saints, and it's the righteous deeds of the saints, even though he worked them in us, he's given us a reward for faithfulness. And he said unto me, right, blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the lamb. And he saith unto me, these are the true sayings of God. You realize you have to be invited. And I fell at his feet to worship him. And he said unto me, see thou do it not for I am my fellow servant and thy brethren that have the testimony of Jesus. Worship God for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy. What happened was John saw this awesome picture. He sees the people of God delivered, caught up to heaven. He sees the earth just smoldering under the judgment of God. And what's he do? He bows to worship and the angel says, no, I can understand. Freedom! You mean God's people are ultimately delivered? And he bowed. He said, no, stop. Don't worship me. You only worship Christ. In verse 11, I saw heaven open and behold a white horse. And he that sat upon him was called fateful and true. And in righteousness he doth judge and make war. So here we see he's coming. What's he coming to do? Just to float down and everybody's going to be fine? He's coming to judge and make war in righteousness. That means what's right. And it doesn't matter how you feel or what you think. Today, everybody judges what's right on how they feel. Your feelings are the worst guide in the world. Your emotions should never determine your actions. Your actions determine your emotions. And if you can't get that, pray about it that you can get that. Your actions are to determine your emotions. Today, they feel like, well, the Lord just do this. I feel like, no. It's coming today, you're going to get it. That it's going to be the way it's going to be. Those things that are determined shall be. His eyes were a flame of fire and on his head were many crowns. And he had a name that no man knew but he himself. I love people, the commentary. So I think the name is going to be this because it says no man knew it but himself. And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood and his name is called the Word of God. Why is he clothed in a vesture dipped in blood? Because he's a warrior. He's a warrior. He gets down in the blood and the guts. That's what's happening. And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean. What is that? All the holy angels, a thousand times 10,000 and thousands of thousands of angels on white horses with all the people of God as well, coming in heaven. And out of his mouth goeth the sharp sword, and with it he should smite the nations. He shall rule them with a rod of iron, and he that treadeth the winepress of the fierceness of the wrath of God. That's his word, the word of God. He's coming with the word of God. And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh the name King of kings and Lord of lords. And I saw an angel standing in the sun, and he cried with a loud voice, saying, All the fowl that fly in the midst of heaven, come and gather yourselves together unto the supper of the great God. What do we see that in the book of Daniel? There's that angel from the book of Daniel saying, come, talking to the birds in the air, come eat. Today's going to be a feast. Feast of what? Feast of people. That you may eat the flesh of kings and the flesh of captains, the flesh of mighty men, the flesh of horses and of them that sit on them and the flesh of men, both free and bond, both small and great. And I saw the beast. and the kings of the earth in their armies." What's the beast? That's the Antichrist leading this army. "...gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse, and against his army. And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshiped his image. These both were cast alive into the lake of fire, burning with brimstone." What happened? The beast and false prophet, the Antichrist and the false preacher that's following him, are gathering these armies up from all over the world. What's left? They're gonna make war with Christ when he comes back. He nabs them out first, casts them in a lake of fire. He doesn't cast Satan, he bats him in bottomless pit in the next chapter. I wondered this, maybe you could help me. Where was Satan during this battle? Chicken liver. He's nowhere to be found. Can you imagine that? He's a liar. Shouldn't be surprised. It doesn't say he's gathering these armies. The beast and the false prophets gather in armies. Satan doesn't appear until Revelation 20 when they round him up later. Isn't that amazing? Now he's in charge of it, but he's not going to fight. That's just terrible. And it says here that the remnant were slain with the sword of him that set upon the horse, which sword proceeded out of his mouth and all the fowls were filled with their flesh. This is the reality of his appearing and his kingdom. And I want to close with a quote from Charles Spurgeon on this subject. And I don't think I've ever heard him quite right this way, but I had to quote it to you once I read it. When Christ comes a second time, there will be a marvelous change in the way men talk. Methinks I see him. There he sets upon his throne. Now Caiaphas, come and condemn him now. Judas, come kiss him now. What do you stick at, man? Are you afraid of him? Now Barabbas, go. See whether they prefer you to Christ now. Swearer, now's your time. And he's talking about all the GDs and God's name in vain. Now's your time, he's here. Now's your time, you've been a bold man. Curse him to his face. Drunkard, stagger up to him now. Infidel, tell him to his face that there's no Christ. Now that the world is lit with the lightnings and the earth shaking in thunder. Tell God there is no God now. Now laugh at the Bible. Now scoff at the minister. Why, men, what's the matter with you? Why can't you do it? Ah, there you are. You have fled to the hills and to the rocks. Rocks hide us, mountains fall on us. Hide us from the face of him that sits on the throne. Oh, where are you now to boast? Where's your vaunting and your glories? Alas, alas, for you in that dreadful day of wonders. Paul tells Timothy, he shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing in his kingdom. We've seen this morning his judging the dead at his appearing. And it's not a pretty sight, but it is coming. Tonight, we're going to talk about the rest of it and ask the question, are you ready? Are you ready for this day to come? Let's pray.