In a world of conflicting values, where questions are more common than answers, God's Word provides everything we need to live a God-centered, truth-driven life. Join us now for the Word for Life talk show, brought to you by Brookside Baptist Church, and hosted by Pastor Greg Huffman, as he shares the truth for the day. I'm so thankful that you've joined us, as you do so many times, for the Word for Life Radio Ministry as I go around the city, have the opportunity to hear folks that are sharing, that they're listening, and that is such a blessing. It could be that you're listening to us this morning and you don't have a church that you regularly attend. We'd love to ask you to join us. at Brookside Baptist Church here in Brookfield, Wisconsin, Sunday morning, Sunday night, or Wednesday night, and just allow us to be a part of your life, part of your family. So, join us. If you don't have a church, if you do, then be faithful in attending and serving the Lord in your church. But Rich Schmidt is with us for one last session, and Rich, we've been talking about prophetical events and so many things that the Lord said will happen, have happened, And, you know, if you don't even believe the Bible is the Word of God, all you have to do is just begin to realize the hundreds and hundreds of prophecies concerning the Lord's first coming, and they're all fulfilled. And then we have prophecies concerning His second coming, and they will all be fulfilled. And I know one of the questions about Jesus coming back to the earth is exactly what's going to be happening at that period of time. We were talking about this last time, so let's just kind of finish up that topic. Well, good morning again, Pastor, and it really is a privilege for me to be here with you. And you're exactly right. We've gone through just a very, very, very skimming of some of the great prophetic topics in Scripture. And as you've already stated, over 300 prophecies were fulfilled simply when Jesus Christ came to earth in what we call as First Advent, or basically what we celebrate as Christmas time. So many, many things have been fulfilled already. We've seen that there's over 2,000 prophecies in scripture. We know for a fact that close to 1,500 of those have already been fulfilled, which means, though, that there's still a significant amount of prophecy that has yet to be fulfilled. And may I say this emphatically, they will be fulfilled. For God's word is true. There's no error in it. and it is inerrant, it's infallible, and it just has never, ever, ever had a mistake in it. So we are just thrilled to be able to spend these last few moments with your listeners and discuss a little bit more about the second coming of Christ. The Bible admonishes us in 2 Timothy 2.15 to study, to show yourselves approved unto God workmen or workwomen for that fact that need not to be ashamed, rightly handling or rightly dividing the Word of Truth. So as Christians we really are exhorted by God that we need to spend some serious time in the Scripture so we can get everything that God has for us as His children. So to recap what we've looked at so far, the next event on God's prophetic calendar is what's called the removal of the church-age saints, or those who have trusted Jesus Christ as their personal savior, dead and alive, will be raptured or removed from this earth. Now, that started shortly after the ascension of Christ is when the church was formed, or the Age of Grace. And again, we're not talking about a single church that individuals would attend to, or more of a concept of, if you will, the universal church, or all people who have literally trusted in Jesus Christ as their personal savior. The next event that we know is that church, those saints, will be removed. And then, as we discussed last time we met together, we discussed the awful, horrible purging of the seven-year tribulation period. Well, that brings us to our final thought for this particular time we have together. And that is, what is going to end this tribulation period? Well, this is the exciting piece, and I'm going to use one fancy term today, and that's the word Christocentric. So what does that word mean? It simply means, in common, simpler terms, is all prophecy is Christ-centered. It's crystal-centric. So I like that word because it really points to every single thing in prophecy, everything in Scripture points to the one focal person, and that's the Lord Jesus Christ. So we as Christians are looking forward to this time when we'll be taken up and taken to heaven, which is not what we're going to talk about today. You see, there's a major difference, and here's where some confusion comes in and why I think it's so important to do as 2 Timothy 2.15 exhorted us to study the Scriptures. There's two events that happen where Jesus literally is coming from heaven, but they're contrasted. The first one which we talked about, which will take place on the next prophetic calendar event, is the removal of Christians from this earth. The important piece about that we learned from 1 Thessalonians chapter 4, is that Jesus literally does not, and I'll use the word touchdown on the earth. In other words, the airplane's in the sky, but it never comes down. 1 Thessalonians 4 says, we, meaning Christians, one generation, will meet the Lord in the air. We will be gathered together with the dead and alive saints to meet them in the clouds. So therefore, if you will, and I'll use the metaphor that the airplane is not coming down. Jesus is not touching the ground. That's simply the Christians being taken up to heaven with the Lord Jesus Christ. So now let's take a look, and if you have a Bible with you and would like to turn with me in it, let's go to Revelation chapter 19. This chapter speaks of not Jesus coming in the clouds and staying there and people being raised up to be with him. This particular passage very much speaks to that Jesus will be coming down to this earth, and that will literally be his second coming. Now, let's make it a little more clear for our listeners that, first of all, if you're alive today and you've trusted Jesus Christ as your personal Savior, you'll be up in heaven. So let's see what happens when Jesus returns and what happens to those saints that are in heaven. So let's go to Revelation chapter 19 and verse 11, and we should touch on just a few verses this morning. And it says this, Now I saw heaven open, and, behold, a white horse. And he who sat on him was called faithful and true, and in righteousness he judges and makes war." So we're going to see that this one who's on the white horse, we're going to get his name in a couple of verses, it's really going to refer to the Lord Jesus Christ. And when he first comes, he's going to have war. It's not going to be peaceful at first, but it shall turn into peace after this war takes place. So let's read on a little bit. Verse 12. His eyes, or the eyes of Jesus Christ, were like a flame of fire, speaking of judgment. And on his head were many crowns, speaking of his authority and his power. And he had a name written that no one knew except himself. He was clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and his name is called the Word of God. If we went back to the Gospel of John, in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. And that speaks to Jesus Christ. We know exactly who it's talking about. And in verse 14, it says, the armies in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, followed him on white horses. Well, who are these people clothed in white linen and following him on other white horses, if you will, from heaven? Well, we know from other passages in Revelation that it's definitely speaking of those that were martyred during the tribulation period, the tribulation saints. And most of our good theological expounders, if you will, would say that this would also include those church-age saints that will be coming back with Jesus to come to the earth at this time. Verse 15, now, out of his mouth, or out of the mouth of Jesus, goes a sharp sword, that with it he will strike the nations. Now, we've talked about this in the past. The Battle of Armageddon will be taking place, and all the nations of the world will be gathered together to fight against Israel. And Jesus now says, whoa. hold the horses, if you will. Jesus comes down and he will literally wipe out those who have come to fight against Israel. This will be a very short battle. You see, the Bible says the saints and those in the white robes, they're not coming back to fight. Jesus basically will come, He'll do whatever it is that he's going to do, whether it's one word, whether it's a series of words, whatever he's going to do, they will be destroyed. We don't have time to go there, but I'll ask your listeners if they're interested. Go to Zechariah in the last several verses, and it literally states that the bodies of the people will melt. They'll fall apart. They will literally just crumble when Jesus Christ returns. It's a great passage. Again, Zechariah 14. And it says, Jesus, he himself treads the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. And he has on his robe and on his thigh a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords. So we know emphatically that this is when Jesus Christ is returning to the earth. Now we're gonna go just a little bit further because there's a couple of other key players that will be on earth during this tribulation period, right before Jesus returns. And I'm going to use the term the Satanic Trinity. Just like there's God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, so Satan will be mocking and attempting to put himself up as God during that seven-year tribulation period. If our listeners remember in Daniel 27, it says this person called the Antichrist will make a covenant with Israel for seven years. And in the middle of that covenant, he will break that covenant. So we have, here's the satanic trinity. The one who mimics God the Father is Satan himself. The one who attempts to mimic the Son is the Antichrist and the one who is the false prophet who will mimic the Holy Spirit. So we have these three entities that literally are trying to show themselves off that they are as God. Well, here's what God does with these individuals. Revelation 19, 19. And I saw the beast, referring to the Antichrist, the kings of the earth and their armies gathered together to make war against him or against Christ, who sat on the horse and against his army, all these saints coming in white robes. Verse 20 of Revelation 19, then the beast, the Antichrist, was captured, and with him the false prophets. Now, everybody's heard about this thing of 666, the Mark of the Beast, which is a sign, which is a inscription, if you will, which is a chip that will be implanted in all those who refuse to trust Christ as Savior. The Bible makes it clear that that will take place. All of those who have rejected Christ, all of those who have decided to worship the Antichrist and the false prophet and follow Satan, here's what happens to them. These two, meaning the false prophet and the Antichrist, were cast alive into the lake of fire, burning with brimstone. And the rest were killed with the sword which proceeded from the mouth of him or from Christ, who sat on the horse, and the birds were filled with their flesh. What an awful time. What a horrible picture of what's going to take place. We know from one of the judgments in the tribulation that over 200 million man army will come from the east. Those people will be wiped out. It's a horrific battle. It's a horrific conclusion. But Jesus made it very clear when he comes back to earth to set up his thousand-year kingdom, this earth must be purged of that which is anti-God. Now, here's one other piece of good news for that time period, that not only will the beast and the false prophet be thrown into hell at that time, but the devil and Satan himself will be bound for that thousand years, making it the best time period that literally has ever existed on earth. since the Garden of Eden. Let me ask you, listeners, are you prepared to meet Jesus? Are you ready? Are you ready to see him? Are you ready to give your life to him? Are you serving him now? What are you doing with Jesus today? Well, the last five sessions have been talking about God's plan for this world. But you know, my friend, God has a plan for you, and that plan involves salvation through His Son. I encourage you today, repent of your sin, trust Christ as your personal Savior. Old things will pass away, all things will become new. Christ will move in, and your life will change. Till the next time, may the Lord bless you in a fantastic way. We hope you enjoyed today's broadcast. If you'd like a copy of today's program, or you have a question we can answer, won't you please contact us at the Word for Life, 4470 North Pilgrim Road, Brookfield, Wisconsin 53005. Or just call us toll free at 866-551-8935. That's 866-551-8935. For more information about The Word for Life, or to make a donation to help us continue to produce this broadcast, as well as other resources for your Christian walk, please visit us online at www.thewordforlife.org. Thanks for listening today, and please tune in again next time as we bring the Word of God to your life.