Coming out of the exposition of God's Holy Word and congregation, let's take our Bibles out together and please turn with me back to the Epistle of Jude. The Epistle of Jude, the next to the last book in the New Testament, and let me read in your hearing, beginning in verse 14. reading verses 14 and 15. Here we have this record of Jude relaying to us the prophecy of Enoch regarding the second coming of the Lord Jesus. Jude 14, we read these words. It was also about these that Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied, saying, Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousands of his holy ones to execute judgment on all, and to convict all the ungodly of all their deeds of ungodliness that they have committed in such an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things that ungodly sinners have spoken against Him. Let's now join together before the Lord in prayer. Our gracious Heavenly Father, we bow before You now as we come before Your Word. And Father, as we come before Your Word, we pray that You would grant to us the ministry of Your Spirit that he might bring understanding, illumination, and application of your word to our hearts today. May he find us to be ready, humble, and teachable recipients of that word, ready to receive it and believe it, and by your grace to obey it. We pray, Lord, that you would draw us closer to your Son, that we would seek to walk even more closely according to the will that you have revealed for us in your word, and that, Lord, if there are those who do not know Christ as their personal Savior, who have not bowed their knee to King Jesus as their Lord and Master, that you, in accordance with your sovereign mercy and grace, would give them eyes to see and ears to hear, that they would be enabled to receive the Lord Jesus and call upon Him in order to be saved. And Father, may all of this be for Your honor and for Your glory. And we ask this in the name of Your Son, Jesus Christ. Amen. As we continue in our expositions, we come here in verse 14 and 15 to this very interesting word of prophecy. It is a word of prophecy from an Old Testament figure by the name of Enoch. Now, we have spent a week or two considering the person of Enoch, looking at our Bibles, looking at what the record of testimony in Holy Scripture says about this individual named Enoch. We have noted, of course, that there are two different Enochs in the Bible, and this, of course, is the Enoch, the son of Jared of the line of Seth. What do we read of him here? Well, we read of a prophecy that he declares. And a prophecy concerning the second coming of Jesus Christ. Last week we asked the question, where exactly does this citation come from? Because when we look in the Old Testament, we read about this person named Enoch, we read several details about his life. But nowhere in the Bible do we read of this prophecy. So where does Jude get this prophecy? We said, well, some have suggested this is an Agraphon. That is, it is an unwritten tradition passed down through the centuries among the Jews and that Jude knows of this unwritten tradition and he is quoting this prophecy from that tradition in this verse. Many have said that is the origin of verses 14 and 15. You will note there that you actually have in the ESV the quotation marks, that this is not merely some sort of a paraphrase, but it is a direct quotation of this prophecy. This was not uncommon that we would see these agraphons used. For example, we looked in 2 Timothy 3 and noted that the Apostle Paul uses this very thing. Speaking of those Egyptian magicians that we read of in Exodus, he gives them names that have not been revealed in Holy Scripture. Jannes and Jambres. Never were those names given in the Bible, and yet Paul, quoting from unwritten oral Jewish tradition, shares those names with us. Others have said, perhaps the majority would tell us, that no, Jude here is actually quoting from a non-canonical book. That is, he is quoting from a book called First Enoch. It was among many, many books written in the centuries leading up to the coming of Jesus Christ, books which were written, they're not inspired, they're not a part of scripture, and yet they were a part of the corpus of writings that the people of that day would have been very familiar with. And this very possibly is a quotation from 1st Enoch. And so we see here that is indeed perhaps the majority opinion among scholars today. An example, we shared last week the words of John MacArthur. He says, quote, First Enoch was not part of the Old Testament canon, yet since it was accurate, it was acceptable for Jude to use it to bolster his argument, end of quote. And so John MacArthur is an example. We could quote many who have this same opinion. We quoted from John Calvin who said regarding how we understand the actual origin of this quotation, he says, quote, we should not torment ourselves a lot about this matter. The end result is the same. And that is that the Lord Jesus Christ is really coming again on the last day. Because that's the nature of this quotation. A quotation that affirms the second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. Second coming which is the very climax of human history. It is the very cornerstone of all biblical prophecy. That is, congregation, what we are looking for. Amen? We are looking for, we are longing for the second coming of Jesus Christ. We said, looking at these words, that Jude tells us something about the nature of His coming. In verse 14, if you'll look again, he tells us that He will come Himself. Behold, the Lord comes. This is an Aorist tense. It is in the past tense. Literally, He came is how you could translate the Aorist. It is an example of what we might call a prophetic perfect. So certain is Christ coming. It is spoken of as having already taken place. We spoke, as we concluded last week, about the place of Christ's coming. Where is Christ coming? Well, He is coming back to the earth. But the Bible is even more specific, isn't it? When we turn back to Zechariah 14, and we read there verses 1 through 9 and noted, Christ is coming back not just anywhere on the earth. generally to the earth, He is coming to Jerusalem and specifically to the Mount of Olives. And that mountain will be split in two when He comes again. Let's consider this morning the nature or the character of Christ's coming, thinking about His coming. And I want you to turn back with me again in your Bibles to Acts chapter 1. This is exactly where we left off last week. It is the testimony of Christ coming again which was revealed by the angels at Christ's ascension. We read from these words. Beginning in verse 6, we read here, Acts 1 verse 6, it says, When they had come together, they asked Him, Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel? And he said to them, it is not for you to know the times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority, but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit is come upon you. And you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and to the end of the earth. Verse 9, And when he had said these things, they were looking up, and he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. And while they were gazing into heaven as he went, behold, two men stood by them in white robes and said, Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus who was taken up from you into heaven will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven. And what I want us to consider is the very last phrase of verse 11. As we consider seven different characteristics of the second coming of the Lord Jesus. The first characteristic is revealed in verse 11 and that is this, He will come back literally. The angels tell the disciples that He will come in the same way you saw Him go into heaven. He ascended literally and personally and He will return likewise. He will not send someone in His place. He will not send a representative. He will not simply send His messengers, His angels. But Christ will come back Himself, literally in History. Turn with me, if you will, over in 1 Thessalonians and look with me please in 1 Thessalonians chapter 4. Again, just making a list of the characteristics revealed in scripture of the nature of Christ's coming again. We have considered the place of His coming, the Mount of Olives. Now, what will that coming look like? It will be a literal coming in the same way He ascended. It will be a personal coming. 1 Thessalonians chapter 4 and if you will please look with me beginning in verse 13. The Apostle Paul writes of the coming of the Lord and he says to the church at Thessalonica, He says, but we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep. For this we declare to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will always be with the Lord. Therefore, encourage one another with these words. The believers there in Thessalonica, they were disturbed, they were grieving, they were uninformed. And Paul writes in verse 13, he says, I don't want you to be uninformed. I do not want you to grieve as others who have no hope. He says, we who are in Jesus Christ, we have hope for the future. Those not in the Lord, they do not have hope. But you should live with hope and not grieve those who have already passed away. Your fellow family members and friends and brothers and sisters in the Lord who have passed on. Don't grieve concerning them beyond the natural course of grieving. Because they have died in hope. And we have hope in the Lord. And then Paul speaks of the wonderful comforting words of the coming again of the Lord. Notice in verse 15, he says clearly, this is referring to the coming again of Christ. He says, we declare to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord. That is the wonderful, blessed hope of the coming of Jesus Christ. He says, we will not precede those who have fallen asleep. There is going to be a glorious resurrection, and there is going to be a reunion when Christ comes again. And this is the hope Paul is encouraging these believers with. He says it will be, notice verse 16, Christ descending from heaven. And notice how he describes it. He says there will be this cry of command, the voice of the archangel, the sound of the trumpet of God. We think about the sound of the trumpet as it relates to the resurrection of the dead. All of this will be a part of that glorious event known as the return of the Lord Jesus. And verse 16, the dead in Christ will rise first. Don't worry about those loved ones who've passed on already. They will rise and there will be a reunion. And then notice in verse 17, speaking about this return of the Lord, he says, then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. He is speaking specifically about those still living who have not passed away, who have not tasted death at that time of Christ's coming again. Those who are left are those who have not passed on and been buried. He says that we will all, verse 17, be caught up together. in the clouds, and meet the Lord in the air. And I want you to notice, if you will, in verse 17, that word there, caught up. We will be caught up. It is the word harpazo. The word harpazo is the word that means to seize or to snatch. When Christ comes again, we will be seized. We will be snatched. We might be sleeping in our beds. We might be driving in our cars. We might be walking in the park. We might be at our desk, at our job. Wherever we are, when Christ comes, we will be snatched, we will be seized. and caught up to meet the Lord in the clouds. This word harpazo is the word that when Jerome translated the Greek New Testament into Latin, he used the word rapturus. Now, what does that word sound like? It sounds like the word rapture, doesn't it? In fact, that is the word that he used. You say, where in the world does the word rapture come from in the Bible? Well, the word rapture is not technically found in the Bible, But it is the Latin rendering of this word harpazo. And so it is a good word because that word rapture, rapturus, means to snatch or to seize in the Latin. And so that's why you will have many people who will describe the coming again of the Lord and us being caught up to meet the Lord. And what will they say? They will say, that's the rapture of God's people. And that's a good word to use if you are careful in the way you understand that. We will all be caught up, we will be seized, we will be snatched, and we will meet the Lord in the air. Notice that this coming again of the Lord, it is a literal coming. Secondly, we read here, it is a personal coming. It is a personal coming for both those who already have died, they will be resurrected and they will personally meet the Lord in the air. And for those of us who remain, who are left at that coming, we too will be raptured. We will be snatched or seized and personally we will meet the Lord in the air. And so that again tells us something about the coming again of the Lord Jesus Christ. He will come literally. He will come personally. Now turn with me in Matthew 24 and let's consider another description, truth about His coming. Matthew 24 and I want to pick up our reading in verse 36. Matthew 24 and verse 36 and what we see here verses 36 all the way down to verse 51 is a third characteristic of Christ's coming and that is He will come unexpectedly. Unexpectedly. Jesus here on the Mount of Olives, He says in Matthew 24 and verse 36, But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only. For as were the days of Noah, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, and they were unaware until the flood came and swept them all away, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. Then two men will be in the field, one will be taken and the other left. Two women will be grinding at the mill, one will be taken and the other left. Therefore stay awake, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming. But know this, that if the master of the house had known in what part of the night the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and would not have let his house be broken into. Therefore, you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect. Who then is the faithful and wise servant whom his master has set over his household to give them their food at the proper time? Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes. Truly I say to you, he will set him over all his possessions. But if that wicked servant says to himself, my servant or my master rather is delayed and begins to beat his fellow servants and eats and drinks with drunkards, the master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he does not know and will cut him in pieces and put him with the hypocrites. And in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Correlation, I read this lengthy passage to show the words of our own Savior as He speaks about the unexpected reality of His coming again. And it is a theme that is repeated throughout these verses. Verse 36, He says, No one knows. Verse 39, He says, it is when no one is aware, they are unaware. Verse 42, they do not know. Verse 44, they do not expect. Verse 50, they do not expect. Verse 50 again, they do not know. This is a theme that runs through all of this. The lost will not know until it is too late. And therefore it is a call to a readiness. Amen? It is a call to a vigilance. We as God's people, we are to be looking and longing for that return. We are to realize that Christ could come back before this service is over, couldn't He? He could come back this afternoon, or this evening, or tomorrow. We don't know when. Jesus makes it very clear. He says the angel is not even the Son in His humanity. Only the Father knows. And it will be when people are unaware, they are not expecting, they do not know, and it will come with an immediacy. My friend, if you are not in Jesus Christ today, then the call of the gospel to you is turn and repent and trust in Jesus Christ. Because you have no guarantee that you will have the rest of the day before He comes again. And when He comes again, there will not be another time where you have another opportunity to trust in Him. It will be too late. And Jesus says, there when He comes, those who are not in Him, verse 51, they will be tossed where the hypocrites are, in that place where there will be weeping, verse 51, and gnashing of teeth. That's eternal damnation. So we see here, congregation, what do we read about Christ's coming? He will come literally, personally, and unexpectedly. Now, let's look at a few passages in the book of Revelation. Turn with me, please, to, first of all, the first chapter, Revelation chapter 1. And there is a fourth characteristic that I would like to share, and that is we also would note that Jesus Christ will come back visibly. He will come back visibly. And that is found in Revelation chapter 1 and verse 7. It says, Behold, He is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see Him. even those who have pierced Him. And all the tribes of the earth will wail on account of Him. Even so, amen." The congregation, it could not be any clearer than that. The second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ is not a spiritual coming. Amen? It is a literal coming. It is a personal coming. It is an unexpected coming. It is a visible coming again. Indeed the scripture says, every eye will see Him. But it will be too late for those not in the Lord. And those not in the Lord, we read verse 7, they will wail on account of Him. Look with me still in Revelation. Turn over to chapter 19. Again, just making a list of the characteristics revealed in Scripture concerning the second coming of the Lord. He will come back literally, personally, unexpectedly, visibly. Number five, He will come back gloriously. He will come back gloriously. We read in Revelation 19, beginning in verse 11, it says, Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse. and the one setting on it is called fateful and true, and in righteousness he judges and makes war. His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are many diadems, and he has a name written that no one knows but himself. He is clothed in a robe dipped in blood, and the name by which He is called is the Word of God. And the armies of heaven arrayed in fine linen, white and pure, were following Him on white horses. From His mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations. And He will rule them with the rod of iron. He will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty. On His robe and on His thigh He has a name written, King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Congregation, the coming again of the Lord Jesus Christ is going to be a glorious coming again. He came in humility as a baby in a manger in His first coming. But when He comes again, it will be with glory, with grandeur, with splendor beyond imagination. Diadems on a white horse on this glorious procession from heaven. His name is the Word of God. He has out of His mouth this sharp sword to strike down all the nations. And He has on His robe and thigh this name written, King of Kings and Lord of Lords. This will be a glorious coming again. But then as we continue reading verses 17 through 21, we read that He will come, and this is number 6, triumphantly. It says, Then I saw an angel standing in the sun, and with a loud voice he called all the birds that fly directly overhead, Come, gather for the great supper of God, to eat the flesh of kings. the flesh of captains, the flesh of mighty men, the flesh of horses and their riders, and the flesh of all men, both free and slave, both small and great. And I saw the beast and the kings of the earth with their armies gathered to make war against him who was sitting on the horse and against his army. And the beast was captured and with it the false prophet who in his presence had done the signs by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast. And those who worshipped its image, these two were thrown alive into the lake of fire that burns with sulfur. And the rest, verse 21, were slain by the sword that came from his mouth, the mouth of him who was sitting on the horse. And all the birds were gorged with their flesh. Congregation, when the Lord Jesus comes again, this is a very graphic picture. This is not a picture of everything is rosy and joyful and happy, is it? This is the picture of a triumphant king, a warrior king, coming again. And he is coming again to bring war on the earth. But this war will be a very, very short war. Because He will speak a word and all of His enemies will be destroyed. And so the angel calls out and says, let all the birds gather. Assemble all the birds that fly. Because they're about to gorge on the flesh of all of the wicked who have fallen on that coming day of judgment. Congregation, this is an incredible picture. This is Christ coming gloriously. It is Christ coming triumphantly. It is Christ coming as the King of kings, the Lord of lords, to bring devastation, destruction, and judgment upon all of His enemies. And we read here about the beast and the false prophet, verse 20. they will be consigned to the lake of fire. And all of those who were slain, verse 21, slain by the sword of the Lord Jesus Christ, the birds will be gorged in eating upon their flesh. The Lord Jesus Christ will come back triumphantly. Seventh, and finally, turn with me, if you will, in Revelation 22. And we consider a seventh characteristic of Christ's coming again. He will come again literally, personally, unexpectedly, visibly, gloriously, triumphantly. And notice in chapter 22, verse 7, He will come back certainly. He will come back certainly. Here Jesus speaks and he says, and behold, I am coming soon. Blessed is the one who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book. You might say this is a bit redundant. Have we not already read about Christ's coming again? Have we not already been given that graphic and yes, even grotesque picture of the devastation and destruction, the doom that awaits those apart from Christ in His coming? Yes, we have had all of that. And yet we read in chapter 22, verse 7, Jesus speaks again of His coming. And He says, Behold, take notice, listen to this, be aware, I am coming soon. Christ is coming again. And this congregation is a word that tells us there is no doubt whatsoever. Perhaps there's someone here this morning who is saying, will He really come back like that? Will there really be that kind of destruction and devastation? I mean, after all, a loving God wouldn't do something like that. Well, my friend, if that's how you conceive of God, then you have an understanding of God that is contrary to what God has revealed Himself to be in Holy Scripture. Because the God who is a God of love is just as much a God of righteousness. Amen? He is just as much a God of fury and wrath and judgment. And if we want to try to create a God after our own liking, well, we're just worshipping a false god. And so here we read Jesus reveals the reality of His coming, and He says there is a certainty to this coming. And my friend, if you doubt that, if you're not sure about that, Jesus again affirms, behold, I am coming soon. Maybe today. maybe before the hour is over. And all of that devastation, and all of that destruction, and all of that judgment is coming when Christ comes again. Turn with me if you will now back to Jude as we think about the place of Christ coming. He is coming back to the earth, to the Mount of Olives, considering the nature of His calling, just looking at a quick survey of some of what the Scriptures say about His coming. Let's look again in Jude, and look with me again at verse 14. We see that in His coming, He will be coming accompanied by His holy angels. For we read in verse 14 of Jude, it says, Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousands of His holy ones." The phrase there, ten thousands, and the word thousands is plural, basically is the word there that speaks of myriads upon myriads. It is a number beyond human calculation. Now, it is an exact number, and God knows exactly how many. But for our understanding, for our consideration, it is myriads upon myriads of His angels. They will be coming with Him. Ten thousands of His angels will accompany Him. Jesus said this in Matthew 25, 31, that He will come again and all the angels with Him. End of quote. And so this again gives us a picture here from this prophecy of Enoch revealed by Jude of the second coming of Jesus Christ. But notice if you will verse 15 there is something else that we are told that fills out what this prophecy is all about. He tells us here that Christ will come with a definite purpose to execute judgment on all and to convict all the ungodly of all their deeds of ungodliness that they have committed in such an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things that ungodly sinners have spoken against Him." Here we are told that when Christ comes again, and there are many purposes involved in the coming of Jesus Christ. But one of the most profound practical realities of His coming again is He is coming again to, verse 15, execute judgment. Now we just read about that, didn't we? Revelation chapter 19. He's coming to execute judgment. And here we read He is going to bring that judgment in the context of this prophecy that Enoch spoke and Jude quotes here. One of the things that's interesting about verse 15 is that Jude is fond in this quotation of noting, and you probably have noted, the word ungodly in this verse. Four times the word ungodly is found. What does the word ungodly mean? Ungodly means those who live without reverence and respect for the Lord. That's what it means to be ungodly. They live their lives, they make their decisions, they do whatever they want, and they don't have any real reference to God. That's ungodly. Congregation, we live in the midst of a world that is filled with ungodliness. People that have no respect for God. People that have no reverence for God. People that are doing their thing, their way. They're doing them according to what they want to do. And they're doing very well, thank you, without God. And the reality is, that is all good and well until the day of reckoning comes. Because when the day of reckoning comes, the Lord is coming not to make friends with His foes, but to execute judgment on His foes. And all of those that are busy doing them are going to find that they have an enemy who is going to bring judgment on them. They are ungodly. They live without reference to God. They live their lives as if there was no God. Notice in verse 15 specifically they have an ungodly walk. That's the idea in verse 15 when it says the ungodly of all their deeds of ungodliness. That is the pattern of their life, the walk, the conduct of their lives is ungodly. Oh, they may claim to believe that there's a God, they may even attend church on occasion as it's convenient, but they don't really live with a true reverence and respect to God. It doesn't impact their decisions and their life and their priorities and their pursuits. They really are kind of living for themselves and they add a little bit of religion onto their pursuits just to kind of look respectable. And here we read about this coming of the Lord Jesus to execute judgment and it will be on the ungodly and they have an ungodly walk. No respect, no reverence for God. Notice verse 15, not only do they have an ungodly walk, we read here also they have an ungodly talk. For we read at the very end of verse 15, and all of the harsh things that the ungodly sinners have spoken against Him. They speak against Him. They live in a manner that is contrary to Him. And Christ is coming again, and He is going to execute judgment upon them. One final passage that I want us to look at as we conclude this morning. Turn with me, if you will, please, in your Bibles over to 2 Thessalonians. 2 Thessalonians 1, here we read about that coming again of the Lord and about what is going to happen in that return of the Lord. 2 Thessalonians 1, beginning in verse 5, reading verses 5-10, we have here another record telling us about the return of the Lord Jesus Christ. We are told here that He will bring relief to the church at His coming, and He will bring retribution and judgment upon the lost. Verse 5 says, this is evidence, Paul writing to the church, he says, this is evidence of the righteous judgment of God, that you may be considered worthy of the kingdom of God for which you are also suffering. since indeed God considers it just to repay with affliction those who afflict you and to grant relief to you who are afflicted as well as to us when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels in flaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. They will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His might when He comes on that day to be glorified in His saints and to be marveled at among all who have believed because our testimony to you was believed. Now, congregation, what I want you to notice here is that this clearly, verse number 7, is referring to the second coming of Jesus Christ. In verse 7, he speaks about when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with His mighty angels, verse 8, in flaming fire, inflicting vengeance. Now that is obviously a reference to the second coming of Jesus Christ. That is obviously a parallel statement to what we read in Revelation chapter 19. And he says to the church, remembering he's writing to a New Testament church, and he says to the church, when Christ comes in flaming fire with His mighty angels, two things are going to happen. Number one, you as believers in Jesus Christ, you will be granted relief from your suffering. And number two, the ungodly will receive retribution. You see, the background here, verse 5 and 6, is that these believers at Thessalonica, they were being persecuted. They were being afflicted by the ungodly. And Paul writes to the church and he says, you are suffering, but you are going to get relief from your suffering. When will this relief take place? Well, it will take place, verse 7, when the Lord Jesus is revealed with this statement here of flaming fire with His mighty angels. He will grant relief to you who are afflicted. And so congregation, we as God's people, we do not look for a secret snatching of the church before the return of the Lord Jesus. we acknowledge that our relief from suffering will be simultaneous to when he is revealed with flaming fire, which is clearly the second coming. And so while good people hold to what is sometimes referred to as the pre-tribulational rapture, what we see the Apostle Paul saying in these verses is that our relief, our rapture, is simultaneous to that work of Christ when he comes in flaming fire. That's when Paul says you will receive your relief. And during that same time of your receiving relief, they will receive recompense and retribution. Verse 6, since indeed God considers it just to repay with affliction those who afflict you. That's retribution. Again, notice in verse 8, He will come again in flaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God. And so the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ we would hold is a singular event in human history. It is a consummative event. It is that event that we are looking for, that we are expecting and hoping for and praying for, and at that coming, There is going to be relief for God's people and there is going to be retribution and vengeance to those who are against the Lord and His people. They, verse 9, will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His might. There we are told that that eternal separation and consignment to condemnation is associated with the Second Coming as well. Congregation, as we think about this, now turning back to Jude, we see here that Jude is quoting these words of Enoch, this prophecy, and he is doing so in order to remind those false teachers that their time is coming. It is short, and they will be judged. The Lord Jesus is truly coming again. In His first coming, He came in humiliation. But in His second coming, He is coming in exaltation. In His first coming, He came to Jerusalem riding a donkey. In His second coming, He is coming riding a white horse. In His first advent, He wept over Jerusalem. In His second coming, He is coming to reign over the new Jerusalem. In His first advent, He came and He wore a crown of thorns. In His second coming, He will wear the crown of the King of kings and Lord of lords. In His first coming, He shed His blood. In His second coming, He will shed the blood of all of His enemies. And so, congregation, practically for us today, this is truly a blessed hope. Amen? This is an encouragement. As we look at the wickedness and the ungodliness of our world, let us take hope. Let us be encouraged. Christ is reigning and He is coming again. It is a blessed hope of encouragement for God's people. But if you are not in the Lord Jesus, this is not a blessed hope to you. This is a terrible, terrifying reality. And Jesus declares, Behold, I am coming soon. Is Christ the Lord of your life? Is He your Savior, your Master, and your King? Have you trusted in Him as your sin-bearer and deliverer from sin? Well, my friend, that is your only hope. Because the day of judgment is coming. Trust in Christ and find forgiveness and cleansing and reception and new life. in Jesus Christ. Let's bow together in prayer. Our Heavenly Father, we thank you for the blessed hope of the coming of the Lord Jesus. Lord, may we in those moments of seeming defeat and discouragement be encouraged and reminded that you are still on your throne. And in the midst of a generation that becomes ever increasingly ungodly, we know that You are coming again. And all the wrongs will be righted. And justice will reign. And we are, as Your people, encouraged by that blessed hope. Father, it is our prayer that if there are those who do not know Christ today, that You would be pleased in accordance with Your sovereign mercy and grace to draw them to Yourself. Lord, to fill them with terror and dread as Your Spirit impresses upon them the reality of meeting You apart from Christ and the certainty of that meeting. And O Lord, show them by your sovereign mercy that they need Christ, that they might turn to Him and trust before it is too late. O Lord, grant our prayer and may you receive all the honor and all the glory. And we ask all of this in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, reigning and soon returning, And for his sake we pray, amen. Amen. Let's all stand together now as we prepare to be dismissed. Again, reading the words of Holy Scripture, the Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make his face to shine up on you and be gracious unto you. The Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace. And all of God's people said, Amen. Amen.