Are You Ready for Christ's Return? Part 1

You know, I always marvel at the timing of God. He's always perfect, never too late, never too early, and as long as we have been in the book of Luke, we're not even halfway through the gospel yet. The sermon today fits right in with what took place this past week in our church, with the prophecy conference with Dr. Jimmy D. Young, talking about the return of the king and all the things in the Middle East and the signs of his coming, and then Dr. John MacArthur talking about slaves and Christ. That's our identity.

Both of those topics are in the sermon today in Luke chapter 12. God knew exactly when those men were to be here. God knew exactly what it is we needed to hear. Now, he wants to make sure that we are ready for the coming of the Messiah. Luke chapter 12, if you have your Bible, verse number 35 is where we're at, and you will see that what was talked about this past week is reiterated in our text this morning. Luke 12, verse number 35, be dressed in readiness and keep your lamps and lights and be like men who are waiting for their master when he returns from the wedding feast, so that they may immediately open the door to him when he comes and knocks.

Blessed are those slaves whom the master shall find on the alert when he comes, truly I say to you, that he will gird himself to serve and have them recline at the table and will come up and wait on them, whether he comes in the second watch or even in the third and finds them so, blessed are those slaves.

And be sure of this, that if the head of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have allowed his house to be broken into. You too be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour that you do not expect. Are you ready for the coming of the Messiah? Are you ready for the return of the King? The Bible is very clear about the second coming of the Messiah.

The Bible spells out for us very clearly the events surrounding the return of the King. In fact, his second coming is just as clear as his first coming.

Both are spelled out accurately in Scripture. The second coming of the Messiah is a cardinal doctrine of the Christian faith.

In fact, to most people it is the most important doctrine of the Christian faith because all other doctrines lead to the doctrine surrounding the return of the King. Everything points to that. It is the exaltation of Jesus Christ upon the earth. It is the coronation of the King in front of all humanity. It is the consummation of the ages. It's the redemption of man. It is the judgment of the wicked. It is the blessing of the righteous. Every one of our doctrines points to this doctrine. Every one of our doctrines leads us to the ultimate doctrine, the return of the King and all that he has promised in Scripture.

So for most people this is the most important doctrine except for most of us we know very little at all about the coming of the Messiah, the return of the King and the events surrounding his return. And yet it's important for us to understand. It is the finale. It is the consummation of the ages. The purpose of God before history began will all be fulfilled when Jesus Christ returns again. The story of this world has an ending and we know the ending. We're not in the dark about the end because the Bible gives us clearly all the events surrounding that end.

Everything we need to know about the return of the King and the end of the world is right here. And yet there are many people who twist the events surrounding the end. There are many who obscure the events surrounding the end. And on top of that there are many more who completely abandon the events surrounding the end. And I just want to let you know that if you abandon the ending as spelled out in the book of Revelation, if you twist the ending as clearly spelled out in Scripture, if you obscure that ending in any way, you become dangerously close to fulfilling a prophecy in the book of Revelation which says, I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book, if anyone adds to them, God shall add to him the plagues which are written in this book.

And if anyone takes away the words or from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part from the tree of life and from the holy city which are written in this book. I take that warning seriously. And unfortunately today there are many people who do not take that warning seriously. And they twist the end times. Some of them obscure them in such a way that they are so muddled they take away from the words of the prophecy of this book. Others, believe it or not, abandon the end times.

There's a technical term for them. They are called preterists. I know it might sound like a big word but it's really in the Oxford Dictionary. It's not a hard word. It just is a word that deals with people who believe that everything in the future has already been fulfilled in the past. That's a person who is a preterist. They believe that all the future events in the book of Revelation, as outlined in the book of Daniel, the book of Ezekiel, the Olivet Discourse, Matthew 24 and 25, has already somehow taken place in the past.

Specifically, they have to date the book of Revelation somewhere around 68 AD. Now if you were with us in our study of the book of Revelation you know that the dating of Revelation was somewhere around 95 or 96 AD. But in order to take everything in the book of Revelation and put it someplace in the past, they have to redate the book of Revelation. In other words, that which is in that book, that final book, the book of Revelation, everything connected with the end has already been fulfilled. These people believe in what is called realized eschatology.

That is, the end times have already been realized and they were realized, listen carefully, in 70 AD when the Roman general Titus rode into Jerusalem and plundered the city. Many of the men you listen to on the radio believe that. If I was to name them all you'd be shocked. But they believe that the end has already happened. The future is in the past. So as one author said, that means we are living somewhere in the maps of our Bible, in the concordance of our Bible, or on the back side of our Bible.

That's where we are today. The question is, is that true? And the prophecy given, if anyone takes away from the words of the prophecy of this book, the Bible says, I didn't say it, the Bible said it.

I will add to him the plagues that are in this book. You become dangerously close to realizing the fulfillment of a dangerous prophecy for those who want to erase the future and put it somehow in the past. That is a dangerous place to be. In other words, Jesus has already come back. In other words, there is no rapture of the church, translation of the church into glory. In other words, there is no seven-year tribulation upon the earth. There is no abomination of desolation as prophesied by Daniel the prophet in Daniel 9, 25 to 27.

There is no judgment upon the earth in the form of seven seals, seven trumpets and seven bowls. In other words, there is no millennial kingdom. There is no throne for the Messiah to sit upon and to rule and reign for a thousand years upon the earth. There is no Armageddon. There is no resurrection. There is no great white throne judgment to those who are preterists, to those who believe that everything in the future has been fulfilled in the past. In other words, everything in the future has already been fulfilled in 70 AD.

Is that true? How do you talk to people about that? Because the majority of people in evangelicalism believe just that. In case you've not been reading or don't know what's happening, that's what most people in evangelicalism believe. Our view on the return of the Christ or the return of the King as outlined in scripture is a very, very simple view held by very few people today. That's unfortunate, but that is true. How could anybody come to that conclusion, listen carefully, by reading the Bible?

The answer, they can't. So how do they come to that conclusion? They believe somebody else who doesn't take the Bible literally. That's how they come to that conclusion. Because you can't take the Bible literally and read it at face value and come up with that conclusion. You have to believe someone who doesn't take the Bible literally and hold to their view. You must believe what the Bible says.

To say that in 70 A.D. was the fulfillment of the second coming would mean that you have half a brain to come up with that conclusion.

My daughter, Avery, who's five, doesn't even believe that. And all these men with all these degrees say that's what happened in 70 A.D., Jesus came back. In other words, this is, right now, the new heaven and the new earth. Really? Really? That's it? This is what we're looking forward to? This is the new heaven? This is the new earth? According to their view, yes, this is it. But, just to let you know, this is not a new view. This view's been around a while. In fact, 2 Timothy chapter 2 says this.

Verse 15, be diligent to present yourselves approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, handling accurately the word of truth. But avoid worldly and empty chatter, for it will lead to further ungodliness, and their talk will spread like gangrene. Among them are Hymenaeus and Philetus, men who have gone astray from the truth, saying that the resurrection has already taken place, and thus they upset the faith of some. Hymenaeus and Philetus were the first preterists.

The resurrection has already happened. What's in the future has already been fulfilled in the past. Really? That's what they believed, upsetting the faith of some, Paul says. And so, this is not something new. It's something that Satan has used in the church to draw people away from the imminent return of the king, and the importance of sharing the gospel, and emphasizing the fact that Jesus is going to come again soon, one day. You will notice that if you listen to two people on the radio who are self-proclaimed preterists, who believe in what is called realized eschatology, if you listen to them, do you know that no two preterists can agree on any one point?

Did you know that? And you want to know why they can't agree? They can't agree because their viewpoints are based on personal opinion, and not based on truth. They have to read the book of Daniel. They have to read the book of Ezekiel. They have to read the Olivet Discourse. They have to read the book of Revelation, and find those events, and somehow place them in a time frame in the past, in 78 A.D., and say that Jesus came then. We are now in the new heaven and the new earth. There is no literal 1,000 year reign of the king upon the earth.

The promise that God gave to Israel that he would have a son that would sit on the throne of David in the city of Jerusalem is just a figurative kind of speech. It's not true. And unfortunately, what we believe about the Bible being very clear about the return of the Christ has somehow all of a sudden been obscured by self-professing theologians who think they understand what the Bible says.

That's unfortunate. There are others who don't necessarily obscure the truth necessarily, but they kind of twist it around and turn it around and begin to date in time events. We've just faced that with Harold Campion with Family Radio. Now that Judgment Day did not happen a week ago Saturday, he's given us a new date. That's October 21, 2011. That's his new prophecy. He said he's sorry that he got it right, but he does say that the Bible is absolutely clear. This is a quote. The Bible is absolutely clear about the end.

Well, that part's true. The part about him giving us dates is not. Because if you remember, he wrote a book in 1994 called 1994. That somehow the Lord will return in 1994. Didn't happen. I guess the thing that irks me the most is not that he said it, but people still listen to his radio program and follow him. That's, to me, more devastating. Not that you have some guy spouting off about what day Jesus is going to come back and judgment is going to happen on the world, but you actually have people in the pew who give him money, who support him.

That is what's devastating. The lack of discernment in the church, in the pew, is a killer in people's lives. But it didn't happen or begin with Harold Camping. No. January 1st, the year 1000. The year 1000. 2 Peter 3.8 says, With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years like a day. And based on that passage, recognizing that about a thousand years had passed since the birth of Christ, the bishops who gathered for the ecumenical council of 999 declared the world would come to an end on January 1st, year 1000.

And scores of people gathered together in St. Peter's in Rome on New Year's Eve expecting Jesus to return. And he did not, obviously. In the 1300s, a real life apocalypse of sorts, a series of black plagues that claimed millions led religious seers to predict a series of second comings that never arrive.

Never allow the tornadoes in the Midwest, the hurricanes in the East Coast, the earthquakes around the world to dictate how you interpret Scripture. You will always be in error. Always. Scripture interprets life events. Life events don't dictate the interpretation of Scripture. In the 1300s, that's exactly what happened. But Jesus never came back. In 1657, Christopher Columbus projects in his 1502 book of prophecies that Judgment Day will fall in 1657. His prediction is based on St. Augustine's statement that the world's clock would strike its last in the seventh millennium following creation.

Jesus did not return. In 1715, a date for Christ's return was set by physicist Isaac Newton. As one writer remarks, he was a great scientist but a poor theologian. In the 1980s, Hal Lindsay wrote a book called Countdown to Armageddon, which he predicted that the Messiah would come in the 1980s. He did not. In 1988, the former NASA engineer Edgar C. Wiseman sells 4.5 million copies of his book 88 Reasons Why the Rapture Will Occur in 1988. He had the rapture narrowed to a two-day period in September.

Well, the rapture didn't take place, so he wrote another book. In 1989, 89 Reasons Why the Rapture Will Occur in 1989. Didn't happen on that account either. He set two more dates, one in 1993 and one in 1994. That did not happen either. 1999, the French mystic Nostradamus, writing in 1555, sets this year, 1999, as the year the king of terror will come down from the heavens. He did not. The year 2000, the whole Y2K debacle, where everybody was nervous and that somehow this would be the year that Christ would return, and many preachers jumped on that bandwagon.

He did not. And then, of course, you have next year, 2012, based on the Mayan calendar, that that somehow will be the end of the world. It's not. You see, it happens all the time. People obscure the truth. They twist the truth. They get into date setting. When the Bible is very clear, we read it this morning. Simply this, in Luke chapter 12, Be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour that you do not expect. That's what the Bible says.

He's coming at an hour that you do not expect him to come. That is. Here's the mandate. Be ready. Be ready. Here's the motive. Because the Son of Man is coming. It is a certain event at an uncertain time. And Jesus says very clearly, you need to be ready.

So if people aren't taking everything in the future and putting it in the past, or if people aren't trying to predate the return of Christ and give us the actual dates of when he will come, there is that modern day evangelicalism of the health and wealth prosperity gospel that's being preached because it all focuses in on today. It's all about today. It's all about what Jesus gives you today. Forget about tomorrow. Forget about the future. Forget about the return of the king. God promises you riches and health and prosperity today.

That sells. It sells. People want that today. They want money. They want richness. They want health. They want prosperity. They want the good life. And so we take people's focus off of the future, which by the way, none of the New Testament writers ever did that. Everything they said was directed toward the future. But in today's modern evangelicalism, we take people's eyes off of the future and put it on to today. And we in the church have somehow succumbed to that and everything about what's happening to me seems to be so overwhelming, so encompassing that I've refused to look above and to look anticipating the return of the king.

And the writers of the New Testament lived in the light of the return of Jesus Christ. Their whole life was based on that. Their whole motive for living was based on that. How you handle conflict is based on that. How you handle disappointment is based on that. How you handle hardship is based on that. Everything negative is seen in the light of the promised return of the Messiah, which determines everything concerning your emotional state and your outlook about the future. And that's what the writers of the New Testament did.

Because they believed that Jesus could come back at any moment. They believed that. And with today's modern evangelical gospel of health, wealth, and prosperity, we can't focus on that because we're too busy focused on me and what God's going to give me today. And thus, we have a problem. Jesus comes and says, listen, I'm coming back. In fact, within the context of Luke chapter 12, this is a long sermon beginning with verse number 1, goes all the way down to chapter 13, verse number 9. One long continuous sermon interrupted by a question from a man in the crowd, interrupted by a question from Peter, but it's one continuous sermon.

Given at one point, one day in the life of Christ. And Christ says, you need to be aware of the level of the Pharisees.

You must avoid and abandon false teaching. You must get rid of the influence of the Pharisees. You must, you must fear God and serve him. You must, you must acknowledge Jesus Christ as Lord and confess him before men. You must adore the spirit of God and treat him as such. You must avoid the love of money. You must abolish all anxiety. You must aspire to the kingdom of God. Why? Why do you do that? Because the son of man is coming at an hour that you do not expect him to come. The whole motive for the presentation of the gospel is this.

Jesus is coming again. That's why we preach the gospel. And Jesus in his sermon lights the way for us to show us this is what you do. You compel people to come to Christ. You tell them that what they're involved in is going to lead them the wrong way. Avoid the love of money. Abandon false teaching. Aspire to the kingdom of heaven. Adore the spirit of God. Come to Christ. Why? Because the son of man is coming at an hour that you do not expect him to come. But be assured of this. He is going to come again.

And Jesus in his presentation explains that to us. But he always does this. This is what Jesus does. Ask about your presentation. When was the last time you shared Christ with somebody? And did you compel them to come to Christ? Because Jesus could come back at any moment. And you need to be ready for his return. Because if you're not ready and you're left behind, you are in deep yogurt. You're in big trouble. So you've got to be ready for the return of the king. He's coming. It is certain. He said, you be ready.

For the son of man is coming. Now, if I'm a Jew, I immediately go back to Daniel 7, 13 and 14. I can't help but do that. I have to do that. Because I'm trained in the synagogue. I'm raised on the law of God. I am taught from my very early childhood the truth of God's word. And there's not one Jew alive who does not understand Daniel 7, 13 and 14. Because that's what they're taught in the synagogues. That the son of man is going to come. And he's going to set up his glorious kingdom and rule and reign on this earth.

And it takes you right back to Daniel chapter 7. And every Jew there on that day would know Daniel 7. They would know the son of man is coming. Jesus called himself the son of man 80 times in the gospels. He never said, I am coming back. He said, the son of man is coming. The son of man is coming. The son of man is coming. It was a reference, yes, to his humanity. But it was also a reference to his messiahship. Because Daniel 7 teaches us about the messiah of Israel coming. And so it takes us back to the fact that Jesus would not only prove that he's God in the flesh.

His humanity by calling himself the son of man. He would say that he is the messiah in front of them. He is the messiah. And so he called himself the son of man many times in the gospels. In fact, he says the son of man has the power to forgive sins in Mark chapter 2. Remember that? The son of man has power to forgive sins. So when Christ called himself the son of man, he was equating himself with God because only God can forgive sins, right? He said that the son of man is Lord of the Sabbath in Mark chapter 2.

But only the God of the universe is Lord of the Sabbath. So he equates himself with God again. In fact, over in Mark's gospel, the 14th chapter, it says, The high priest was questioned saying to him, Are you the Christ, the messiah, the son of the blessed one? And Jesus said, I am. Ego, Emi. That same phrase used way back in the book of Exodus that described the living God. When God spoke to Moses from the burning bush. That tetragonaton, those four Hebrew consonants that make up the name of God.

Jesus says, I am. Ego, Emi. The Greek subdugent translates, book of Exodus. Ego, Emi. I am. And you shall see the son of man sitting at the right hand of power and coming with the clouds of heaven. Daniel 7, 13 and 14. Takes him right back there again. Not only am I the, I am. Not only am I the God who spoke to Moses way back in the book of Exodus. I am the son of man of Daniel 7, 13 and 14, because that is God coming back down to man to rule and reign. That's what Jesus said. See that? So Jesus would call himself the son of man.

And so on this day in Luke chapter 12, when he says you to be ready for the son of man, they would automatically click to Daniel chapter 7. They know that. They know that. He is coming. Well, they knew he was coming. That's what they were looking for. This is important. You're going to see in a second.

This is so important. This is what they were looking for. And yet Jesus, whenever he presented the gospel, he would tell people this. Look at Matthew chapter 16.

If you have your Bible, turn to Matthew 16 for a moment. Remember that great discussion? We know it well. We've talked about it. We've preached on it. Matthew chapter 16, that great confession. Who do men say that I am? Christ asks. Who do you say that I am? Thou art the Christ, Son of the living God. We know the story. Caesarea Philippi. We know where it took place. Those of you who have been to Israel know where that place is. And so it becomes a huge portion of scripture because based on that confession that Jesus Christ is Lord, Christ is going to build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

Satan can't stop the spread of the church of Jesus Christ. He can't. Can't. And then he begins to talk about his death and, you know, his suffering, his resurrection. And Peter takes him aside and says, Lord, this can't be. And Christ rebukes Peter by saying, Get thee behind me, be Satan. And then he says these words. Listen carefully. Then Jesus said to his disciples, If anyone wishes to come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wishes to save his life shall lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake shall find it.

And what will a man be profited if he gains the whole world or forfeits his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? What's verse 27 say? For the son of man is going to come in the glory of his father with his angels and will then recompense every man according to his deeds. See that? Why do you deny yourself? Why do you take up your cross? Why do you follow Christ? Why do you give away your life to gain his life? What shall you profit if you gain the whole world and lose your own soul?

Hey, the son of man is coming again. See, that's the motivation. That's the motivation, Jesus says. Why would you give away your life today? Because of the return of the son of man. Luke 9, another occasion. Turn there with me if you would please. We spent weeks in Luke chapter 9. Remember that? Luke chapter 9, verse number 23. If anyone wishes to come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever wishes to save his life shall lose it. But whoever loses his life for my sake, he is the one who will save it.

You see, another occasion. Same message because the gospel never changes. It's the same message at a different time because Christ wants people to realize what it means to be saved. What it means to come to him. Verse 25. For what is a man profited if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself? For whoever is ashamed of me and my words of him, will the son of man be ashamed when he comes in his glory and the glory of the Father and of the holy angels. There it is again. See? He takes them back to understand why do I give my life to Christ?

Why do I deny myself? Why do I take up my cross daily and follow him? The son of man is coming again. That's why. Jesus says it over and over again.

Over in Luke chapter 21. Same thing. Jesus is giving the events surrounding the end times and things to come. Verse 34. Be on guard that your hearts may not be weighted down with dissipation and drunkenness and the worries of life and that day come on you suddenly like a trap for it will come upon all those who dwell on the face of all the earth. But keep on the alert at all times praying in order that you may have strength to escape all these things that are about to take place and to stand before the son of man.

Same thing. See? The son of man is coming again. You need to repent. You need to give your life to Christ because the king is coming again. That's the motivation. Oh, by the way, there's a phrase there. All those who dwell on the face of the earth. Phrase used ten times in the book of Revelation. To describe the earth dwellers. Always in reference to the unbeliever. Never in reference to the believer. Never. Ten times in the book of Revelation. Always describes the state of the unbeliever. He is an earth dweller.

An earth dweller. He thinks about the things upon the earth. What are those things? Drunkenness, worries of life, be on guard that your heart may not be weighted down with the dissipation. Earth dwellers. All they can be consumed with is the things of this earth. And the bible calls them earth dwellers. Always describing those who are unbelievers. Why? Because if you have been saved, you have been seated above in the heavenlies with Christ. You've set your affections on things above. Not on things below.

You see? You're different. You're saved. You're born again. You've given away your life to obtain his life. So Jesus says, here's the mandate.

You better be ready. You better be ready. Here's the motive. Because the Son of Man is coming. At an hour in which you do not expect. And then he gives four metaphors. Which we won't discuss today. We'll discuss next week. But you will note that every New Testament writer lived in the light of the imminent return of Jesus Christ. Listen carefully. Jesus Christ is going to come. We know from the prophecy conference last week. We'll give you a chart next week. We'll put it up on this big screen so you can see it.

Understand the scenario of end time events. That everything begins with the rapture of the church. That is an imminent coming. A certain event at an uncertain time. No one knows when that translation of the church will be. First Thessalonians 4, 13 and 18 speak about how the dead in Christ will rise first.

And we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the air. And so shall we ever be with the Lord. Right? That is the rapture of the church. It's described in 1 Corinthians chapter 15. That we will be changed in the twinkling of an eye. And that is an event that has nothing that is prescribed to precede it. It's called an imminent event. That is, from a Latin word it means to project or to hang over. In other words, there's something hanging over you that could happen at any moment.

But nothing needs to happen to make that event happen. Now, things could happen, but nothing needs to happen for that event to take place. That's the rapture of the church. The translation of the church into glory. When that happens, we understand that whoever the Antichrist is, and you will not know who that Antichrist is. So don't spend your time thinking about who it might be, because you're not going to know. As much as you want to know, you need to be looking for Christ, not Antichrist. Right?

So forget about knowing who the Antichrist is. You're not going to know. Sometime after the translation of the church out of here, that Antichrist makes a covenant with Israel for one week. Thus begins the tribulation period. The rapture does not initiate the tribulation. The signing of the covenant with Israel initiates the tribulation. He signs it for one week. That is the 70th week of Daniel's prophecy. And that tribulation unfolds upon the earth. And then Jesus Christ, the King, is going to come back to earth.

Now listen carefully. Listen carefully. The Bible says over and over again, no one knows that day, nor do they know that hour.

Okay? The whole scenario of end time events, as we know them in scripture, are going to be initiated by the event of the rapture, and the revelation of the Messiah, back to this earth, without anyone knowing the day, nor the hour, nor the time of that event. And the question always comes, how can you not know? I can understand someone not knowing the translation of the church into glory, when we are taken off this earth and we go into glory. But the question comes, how is it someone's not going to know the return of the Messiah to earth at the end of the tribulation?

How can you not know? All you got to do is add up the days, right? No. Why? Listen carefully. I get asked this question all the time. How can someone who is not raptured, live in the tribulation, open their Bible, and not know the day, the time of the return of the Messiah? Well, number one, Jesus says, you're never going to know.

That's number one, right? So if Jesus says it, I don't care what the calculations you develop, you're still not going to know.

Even though you're going to want to know, you're not going to know because Jesus says, no one knows. That's number one.

Number two, we know that 2 Peter 3 says that scoffers in the last days will come. And they will mock, where is the promise of us coming? Those scoffers will analyze, those scoffers will strategize, and those scoffers will get people to believe in their theories. How do we know that? Because the Lord God will make sure they believe those false theories. That's why. That's why. 2 Thessalonians chapter 2 says very clearly, Verse 8, And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will slay with the breath of his mouth, and bring to an end by the appearance of his coming.

This is the one whose coming is in accord with the activity of Satan, with all power and signs of false wonders, and with all the deception of wickedness for those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, so as to be saved. And for this reason God will send upon them a deluding influence, so that they might believe what is false, in order that they may all be judged, who did not believe the truth, but took pleasure in wickedness. Listen, the Bible is very clear, that if you are in a Bible believing church, and you've heard the gospel, you will not get saved in tribulation.

You will not. Because God will make sure you don't get saved. Because he will send you a deluding influence. You will believe the lie of the Antichrist. Now, if you've been with us any time, you know about that. You know that Jesus said, no one knows the day or the hour. We know that God's going to send a deluding influence so people don't know. But what other reasons are there as to why people will not know the day or the hour? We know that the return of the king is certain. But what is uncertain as to the time of that return, when it comes to the rapture of the church, and, excuse me, when it comes to the revelation of Jesus Christ on this earth?

Let me ask you a question. Jesus Christ walked on this earth for three years. He banished all disease, all illness from the land of Israel. He came with all the credentials as Messiah. He raised the dead, healed the sick, made the blind to see, caused the lame to walk. Did Israel believe in their Messiah? When he stood right in front of them? No, they did not. And he was right in front of them. How could they not know? How could they not know? And you ask me how they're going to know the day or the hour?

No, no, no. And Jesus is right in front of them? No, they're not going to know. They didn't know him when he was there. How are they going to know the day or the hour upon the return of the king, even though Jesus says they're not going to know?

He was right in front of them. He performed every miracle. And what did they do? They attributed everything he did to Satan. Everything. You're Satan. And convinced, listen, the Jewish leaders convinced the people to believe that. And Jesus was right in front of them. Convinced them. God also said, as it was in the days of Noah, so shall it be at the coming of the son of man. Where man is eating and drinking and being married and given in marriage, carrying on life as normal. Why is that phrase used there?

It's used because Jesus is saying there is no care. There is no concern whatsoever on the part of man about the return of the Christ. Because Revelation 16 says, at the bull judgments, when all the bulls are being poured out after going through the seals, after going through the trumpets, now the bulls are being poured out. Man blasphemes the name of God, even though their lives are being burned to a crisp. Even though they've chewed off half their tongues because of the pain of being scorched by the sun, they still will blaspheme the name of God.

In the midst of overwhelming evidence, the unbelieving world blasphemes the name of God. That's what they do. They don't say, oh, it must be the Messiah. He's coming back. Let's add up the days. It's not what they're going to do. But you know what's the most convincing to me? As to why man will not know the day nor the hour of the return of the Son of Man? Yes, Jesus says you're not going to know.

That's pretty convincing. Yeah, not going to know. The Jewish people didn't believe in the midst of overwhelming evidence. God will send them a strong delusion. Yes, he will. But why would he do that? You want to know why? You want to know why? I'm going to tell you why. Not next week, but today. Because he told them the exact day he was coming the first time.

And they didn't believe. Do you think he's going to tell them a second time? He told them the exact day he would present himself as Messiah. And they did not believe him. And they still rejected him. Do you think, honestly, he's going to tell them again? No, he's not. How do you know that? The Bible tells you that. Really? It sure does. Book of Daniel. Ninth chapter. Listen to this. Seventy weeks have been decreed. Daniel 9, 24. Seventy weeks have been decreed for every plan of God to be fulfilled in the life of Israel.

Seventy weeks. Okay? Verse 45. So you are to know and discern that from the issuing of a decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until the Messiah, the Prince, there will be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks. That verse right there tells you the exact day the Messiah will enter into Jerusalem. Say, I didn't read that there. Oh, yeah. Listen to what the text says. So you are to know, you can know something, and discern something. You can know something and discern something. What can you know and discern?

That from the issuing of a decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem, when was that given? March 14, 445 B.C. How do we know that? Book of Nehemiah, second chapter, verses 1 to 8.

That's how you know. March 14, 445 B.C. That's when the decree was given by the Persian king for Nehemiah to go back and begin to rebuild the walls around Jerusalem. So we know the date when it begins, right? You didn't know. This is when it begins. And there will be 69 weeks until the Messiah, the prince. It's a technical term that describes a presentation of the Messiah. Sixty-nine weeks. 173,880 days. And on April the 6th, AD 32, Jesus wrote in to the city of Jerusalem. 173,880 days from March 14, 445 B.C.

And Jesus said these words in Luke chapter 19. When he wrote in to Jerusalem, on that day of triumphal entry, if you had known in, what's the next phrase? This day, this day, even you the things which make for peace. What day is that? The 173,880th day as prescribed by Daniel the prophet in Daniel 9, 25-27. If you'd have known the day, you would have accepted me as your Messiah. I told you I was coming. I gave you the exact day. Told you when it was going to be. And you still didn't believe. Do you think I'm going to tell you when I'm going to come back again?

Are you kidding me? I could tell you that. No, you be ready. You be ready for the Son of Man is coming in an hour that you do not know. That you do not expect him to come. When you least expect him, the church will be translated. And if you're not a part of the church, and you've heard the gospel of Jesus Christ, you will never come to saving grace. Never. Because God will make sure you don't. He'll send you a deluding influence. Wait a minute pastor, hold on a second.

I thought that in Revelation 7 there were scores and thousands of people that are saved in tribulation. They are. There are. Jesus said in the church age, only a few are going to get saved. Only a few. And of the few, of the few who find the gate, very few will ever enter in. That's what Jesus said. But in the tribulation there are scores and thousands of people that get saved. Because there are scores and thousands of people around the world who don't have the privilege that you and I have. To sit in a church and hear the gospel week in and week out.

Day in and day out. But they've never heard what you have heard. And they're going to get saved. Because there's an angel that flies around in mid-heaven preaching the gospel, Revelation chapter 14. There's 144,000 Jewish evangelists who share the gospel around the world. There are two witnesses, one like Moses, one like Elijah. Who will preach the gospel in the first half of that tribulation.

And scores and thousands of people will get saved. Because they're breathing fire out of their mouths and they're devouring everybody who comes after them. It's amazing. Oh yeah, people will get saved. But if you're a part of coming to a church and hearing the gospel. And you've had the opportunity to hear the truth and you reject that truth. Once that rapture takes place you will not get saved. Because God will send you a diluting influence and you will believe the lie of the antichrist. You will believe that lie.

You will follow the scoffers. Just like it was in the days of Noah. You just won't care. Because you're an earth dweller. And Jesus is going to come again in an hour that you do not know. Because He told you once. The exact day He was going to come and present Himself as the Messiah, the Prince. You didn't believe Him. I can tell you again. I can tell you again. But you'll be ready. You'll be ready. How do I get ready? That is next week. Let's pray. Father, thank You for today and the great truth of Your Word and the opportunity we have to study Your Word.

Truly, Lord, Your Word is amazing. Truly, Lord, when we study the Word of the Lord we understand exactly what it is You have for us. And the importance of following and submitting to the truth. I pray that everybody in this room. Everybody who one day will listen on the radio to this message. Will be ready for the return of the Son of Man. We do not know the day nor do we know the hour. We do know You're coming because You said You were. You are faithful and true. We still know when. But may we be ready because we've given our lives to Christ.

And we want to serve the true and living God. Pray these things in Jesus' name. Amen.