The Second Coming with Pastor Greg Laurie

is an epic conference an amazing lineup minus the bald guy and i don't mean daryl um so i hope you all will come to this starts next friday and saturday here at harvest riverside and speaking of daryl strawberry the baseball legend and great man of god that he is i will be interviewing him next sunday morning as well so you'll all get to hear from daryl in case you're not going to come to the men's conference okay revelation chapter 19 the title of my message is the second coming i heard the story of a salesman who came back to his hotel room after a long day of work he was exhausted it was late he sat on the edge of his bed and he took off his shoe and let it drop to the floor with a loud thud and then it occurred to him oh wow there's someone probably below me and i might be waking them up so he took his other shoe off very quietly and set it down then he went to bed about a half hour later there was a knock at his door he opened the door and there stands a man with dark circles under his eyes he said i'm in the room below you and would you just let the other shoe drop so i can get some sleep and here in revelation chapter 19 the whole world is waiting for the other shoe to drop the other shoe to drop so to speak is the return of christ to the earth this is an answer to the prayer that the church has been praying for 2 000 years which is thy kingdom come thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven you know it's interesting that newspapers have a certain kind of a type they use for mega events and this type is called second coming type this is the type that they use when the japanese attacked us at pearl harbor this is the type that was used when president kennedy was assassinated in dallas texas this is the type that was used after the world trade center was attacked and this is the start of type that jumps off the page and grabs you by the throat and it says read me and i think it's interesting that they call it second coming type why don't they just call it mega news type or major event type answer because there's no bigger event that will happen in human history than the second coming of jesus christ and that's what we're looking at here by the way a surprising high number of americans not even necessarily ones who identify themselves as christians believe christ is coming back again a gallup poll revealed that 66 of the american people believe jesus christ will come back to the earth in the future and uh the second coming is when christ returns to this earth to judge his enemies and to set up his kingdom and rule over our planet for a thousand years satan's heyday will be over he'll be chained up for a thousand years then ultimately he'll be cast into the lake of fire along with a false prophet and the antichrist now it is worth noting that the second coming of christ is a reoccurring theme in all of the bible it's mentioned over 1800 times in the old testament and 300 times in the new testament specifically one verse in 25 mentions the lord's return in scripture this event is referred to in 27 old old testament books 23 new testament books for every prophecy about the first coming of christ there are eight prophecies about a second coming so it is clear this is something god wants us to think about this is something he wants us to know about spurgeon the great preacher from days gone by made this statement and i quote the sound of his approach should be as music to our ears end quote you know i love what happens in revelation 22 20 or john is writing and he says he that testifies to these things says yes i am coming quickly and i love john's response he says amen come lord jesus that's what every believer should say amen come lord jesus why don't we say that together on three one two three amen come lord jesus right [Applause] we should all be excited about that event the angels told the disciples when christ was ascending after his resurrection in acts 1 11. why do you stand here gazing up into heaven this same jesus who is taken from you into heaven will come in like manner so this is the bottom line he's coming again the incarnation without the coronation would be like the east without the west jesus spoke of it in detail in matthew 24 when he said immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be dark and and the moon shall not give her light and the stars will fall from heaven and the power of the heavens will be shaken and then shall appear the sign of the son of man in heaven and the tribes of the earth will mourn and they will see the son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory no not with power and greg laurie powering great glory but actually i expect to be there and i expect you to be there as well when he returns and i'll explain why i believe that in a moment but here's something we ought to look at now before the second coming of christ there are some amazing heavenly happenings some things that are going to be happening in heaven that involve us so let's read about it revelation 19 starting in verse 7. let us be glad and rejoice and give him glory for the marriage of the lamb has come and his wife has made herself ready until her was granted to be arrayed in fine linen clean and bright for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints then he said right blessed are those who are called to the marriage supper of the lamb and he said these are the true sayings of god so i fell at his feet to worship him rights john and he said to me see that you don't do that i'm your fellow servant and of your brothers who have the testimony of jesus worship god for the testimony of jesus is the spirit of prophecy so we'll stop there so here we have the bride which is us we're the bride of christ in our fine linen you know our beautiful wedding dress if you will on your wedding day you want to look your best guys you don't want to throw on some funky soiled t-shirt and girls you don't want to wear your bridal dress as you go through the drive-through at taco bell you don't want refried beans on it right you want to be looking your best and it's interesting because in our culture today in a wedding sort of the main event is when the bride walks through the back door i can think of all the weddings i've done and those doors open and the light bursts through and there she stands and the music plays right so we all stand up in honor of the bride but in biblical times it was a little different it wasn't about the bride it was more about the groom and everyone was waiting for the groom in fact jesus told a parable of a story of people that were ready and some who were not ready and the announcement went out saying the groom is coming and you never knew in a first century wedding when the groom would arrive he might arrive at three in the afternoon he might arrive at three in the morning so he had to be ready and then the announcement was given and the marriage would take place and the idea is conveyed here that christ will come and you need to be ready for it because we don't know when it will be so look what's going to happen we want to be in our best clothes or our fine linen which is described for us in verse 8 is the righteous acts of the saints this does not mean you have to do x amount of good works to get into heaven because as i've told you before heaven is not for good people heaven is for forgiven people and our salvation is given to us as a gift of god the bible says it's not by works of righteousness which we have done but according to his mercy he saved us and of course ephesians 2 8 by grace you've been saved through faith it's not of yourselves it's the gift of god not of works lest any men should boast but having said that if you've really been saved there should be results in your life that verse goes on to say because you're his workmanship created in jesus four good works which god has prepared for beforehand that you should walk in them listen works don't save a person but there are good evidence that you are saved you can have works without faith but you cannot have faith without works there must be results in your life or as jesus said by their fruit you shall know them so if you're really a christian people should be able to tell by the way that you live not just by what you say let me ask you this if you were arrested for being a christian would there be enough evidence to convict you now by that i don't mean how many bibles you own i own a lot of bibles because i've never thrown a bible away so i have a stack of old bibles going back decades and they're all beat up and you know so they're wonderful but that's not evidence that i'm a christian it's evidence i have a lot of bibles evidence is fruit in your life results in your life you know some of you might sometimes you might say there's someone you know i just saw you like you know cuss up a blue storm and i saw you lose your temper and scream and yell or i saw you get drunk or whatever it is they're doing you say aren't you a christian yeah that's what doesn't seem like you're a christian who are you to judge me judge not lest you be judged everyone knows that verse right no one understands it but they know it judge none let you be judged okay well you know what think of me as a fruit inspector all right and i'm not seeing spiritual fruit in keeping with your profession of faith so the righteous acts of the saints now here's something that is very important for us to know we as christians are going to appear before the judgment seat of christ now some of you might say no wait i thought we weren't going to be at the judgment there are different judgments in heaven there is the great white throne judgment described in revelation 20. we'll talk about that next time but i'm talking about the judgment seat of christ the judgment seat of christ is not a judgment that determines whether or not you will get to heaven the judgment seat of christ actually takes place in heaven the judgment seat of christ think of it this way it's sort of like an awards ceremony you know many of us have great awards that we've earned over the years maybe it's earned doctorates or it's all the trophies on our shelves from sports events that we won i never had any of those trophies i never won anything i never won a race i never won anything i engaged in i remember i had a lot of purple ribbons which are like honorable mention that's what they give you for basically existing you know after the first second and third person has received the main award you come along a little later and they give you courtesy applause and they say we know you are alive that's that so here's your here's your purple ribbon get out of here right same thing in school i was not a great student i remember in one of my classes a teacher would put a gold star on your paper there was nothing special anyone could buy them you got them at the stationary store gold star then there was i'm trying i'm a superstar for pretty good so gold for great work silver for good work blue for not bad and then it may have been purple for we acknowledge your existence and all i remember is i had no gold stars i literally went to the stationery store and bought gold stars just to see what they look like on my papers i don't know if that's you but listen to this we're in the race of life and we should run to win no no there's no winners and losers everyone's a winner wrong i know in children's sports today a trend is we don't keep score anymore i've gone to some of my grandkids soccer games and and i'll say uh what's the score we we don't keep score and they have a voice just like that we don't keep scar and then they get in their prius with their cat and drive off okay and then some dude says four to one okay thank you no we don't want to keep score because we don't like losers and winners that's not biblical god wants you to be a winner in the race of life he wants you to run for the number one position paul says in first corinthians 9 24 don't you realize that in a race everyone runs but only one person gets the prize so run to win run to win now who are we competing against well i'll tell you i'm not competing with you i'm not trying to outrun you my competition is not with fellow christians my competition as a pastor is not with fellow churches he who has the most people in his church wins no no no this is all about faithfulness this is all about doing what god has called you to do my competition if you will is with the world the flesh and the devil those are my enemies those are my opponents and they're yours as well and we read when we stand before the judgment seat of christ in second corinthians 5 10 everyone will receive the things done in his body according to what he has done whether it be good or bad what this means is rewards are going to be given out for your faithfulness to god you know you look at some of these award ceremonies that we have like the oscars did you watch the oscars this year i watched him for like eight minutes i'm like seriously some of the films they chose i'm like i'm not totally getting that but uh you remember in the old days the oscars were a bigger event and uh they would have a tight shot from the camera of all of the potential winners and then they would say and the winner is and they would announce it and all the other people would applaud like oh yeah they're real happy right but they're actors oh webster was a great choice are you serious yeah so but here's the idea we're gonna stand before this award ceremony and we're gonna receive these rewards for our faithfulness luke 14 14 says that the resurrection of the godly god will reward reward you for inviting those who could not repay you listen every gesture you have made for god's glory every cup of water you've given out every kind thing you've said every time you've shared the gospel every time you've served the lord here at our church perhaps as i'm not sure as a sunday school teacher as a counselor helping someone find disease whatever you've done for god's glory it's duly noted in heaven and you will be rewarded for it this is the promise of god so the bible says your father who sees you in secret will one day reward you openly interesting twist on this text it says that we will appear before the judgment seat of christ and will receive the things done in our body according to what we have done whether good or bad good or bad the word for bad hair does not mean bad as you may think it does not mean evil it actually means evil of another kind another way to translate it would be good for nothingness or worthlessness good for nothingness or worthlessness there are some things that are good for nothing jesus said if salt isn't salty it's worthless we could update that and say if a coke isn't carbonated it's worthless if your cappuccino doesn't have proper caffeine it's worthless in my opinion so if you go and order i'll have a double decaf cappuccino with soy milk get out get in your prius with your cat and go get proper espresso or don't order it just order an empty cup and pretend you're drinking it but now the point of this is is if i'm not being the person god has called me to be it's a waste of my life now think about how much time we spend on these devices that most of us have how many of you have a cell phone with you let me see it pull it out let me just see a lot of them okay you want to live a stress for your life do you take your cell phone out take it out put it on the floor stamp on it now i'm serious no don't cost you a lot of money to replace that i have insurance yeah but think about how much time we spend on these phones a recent poll revealed that 2 000 adults are spending 4.5 hours a day on their smartphones that's adults teens nine hours a day kids eight to twelve six hours a day now you fill your mind and your heart with all this information that can be such a downer but even more it can be a complete waste of your time i think we need to put the phones away sit down start having conversations again especially when you have a meal together as a family talk to each other i see families coming into restaurants and everyone's on a phone or a tablet even the babies on a tablet the cat's on a tablet over on the side you know i mean everyone's on a tablet or on a phone looking at stuff put them down and even more spend time with the lord you know billy graham was once asked if he had any regrets in life and he said yes i regret that i didn't spend more time reading the bible more time praying more time telling the lord how much i loved him think how much time would be freed up if we weren't constantly glued to our phones so the idea here is good for nothingness the wasting of one's life let me add another level to this this could be the evil of complacency or neglect sin is not just doing the wrong thing listen sin is not doing the right thing let me say that again sin is not just doing the wrong thing breaking commandments sinning in that way but sin is not doing the right thing let me illustrate let's say you're walking down the street and there's a house on fire someone says there's people in that house so you pull out your phone to call 911. no to get a selfie sophie i actually saw a picture in the paper not long ago of a person doing a selfie in front of a burning house what is wrong with these people you know let's uh at least call 9-1-1 maybe you'll be a hero and run in and try to rescue someone i don't know but at least you can call emergency but if you were to just walk by in complacency that is neglect that's even criminal neglect let's say that you had cancer and you were a medical scientist and so you spent years researching on how you might find a cure for cancer and you realize it was one shot in your arm or one pill you took and you took it and it worked and you were cancer-free and you kept it to yourself that's criminal negligence and in the same way here we have the message of the gospel and i ask you in all honesty when is the last time you initiated an evangelistic conversation will you look for an opportunity to actually tell someone about jesus this could be sort of that waste but i'm telling you for all those things you've done for god's glory you will be rewarded we think on this judgment seat as rewards are given out you know all the superstars of the christian faith are going to get the awards billy graham he'll have so many crowns he won't even be able to wear them all or uh other great preacher jim elliott elizabeth elliott corey tim boom johnny erickson todd of these wonderful people we admire and i'm sure they'll all be rewarded for their faithful service to the lord but i suggest to you there's going to be some lady you've never heard of maybe she's named mod freaking binder i made that name up so if there's a mod for combiner out there sorry i hijacked your name mod fur can binder never heard of her who is she well she lived in pasadena so maybe she was a little old lady from pasadena i don't know that's an old song nobody got that joke okay movie not but mont fergenbeiner she did her part while billy was preaching in stadiums maude was on her knees praying raising her children being a good grandmother being a faithful follower of jesus and she'll be rewarded and you'll be rewarded so don't worry about what someone else is called to do focus on what god has called you to do so you can receive the reward all right so when you get married you go on a honeymoon where's our honeymoon we're married to jesus we're the bride of christ where are we going lord niagara falls no hawaii no we're gonna come back to earth you see at the rapture god gives us a first class round trip ticket what goes up must come down revelation 19 verse 11 i saw heaven open and behold a white horse and he that sat on them was called faithful and true and in righteousness he judges and makes war and his eyes are like a flame of fire and on his head were many crowns and he has a name written that no one knew except he himself he was clothed with a robe dipped in blood and his name is called the word of god and the armies in heaven clothed in fine linen white and clean followed him on white horses this is the second coming what's happening on earth the battle of armageddon is raging the heavens open here comes jesus christ he's followed by armies who are the armies that's us that's you that's me we went to be with the lord and the rapture now we're returning with him at the second coming over in the book of jude it says when christ who is our life shall appear we shall also appear with him in glory so jesus is returning again and i want you to know something as god brings judgment he takes no pleasure in it listen to this judgment is not god's happy place we all have a happy place right things that we like to do when we're doing this thing i'm happy what is your happy place for some people it's golfing for some people it's exercising don't understand you for another person it's eating eating my happy place for another person that's doing art for another it's playing a guitar for another it's something else this is not god's happy place god takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked the bible says and scripture also says god now is not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance but here's some important things we need to recognize about the second coming number one the second coming of christ will be public and seen by all the second coming of christ will be public and seen by all people will not say wow was that just a big storm no they'll know christ has returned jesus said as the lightning shines from the east to the west so will the coming of the son of man be i remember years ago i was flying to japan to speak at a pastor's conference i had my son christopher with me who was very little at the time as we were beginning our ascent suddenly there was a huge thunderous crash and we looked out the left window of the plane we saw a flash of lightning and the whole plane sort of tilted to the left you know it's very scary to be honest with you and so we're waiting for an explanation it seemed to take forever finally the pilot comes on the intercom but he says it in japanese well i don't understand japanese so i'm looking at all the other people is anyone panicking is this good or bad news they all seem relatively calm and then he's finally said like it seemed like an hour later just a few moments later ladies and gentlemen our plane was struck by lightning but we're fine okay good to know but you know being struck by lightning you know when lightning strikes it's like the second coming well everyone will know number two the second coming of christ will be accompanied by sadness and weeping it's a happy day for heaven it's a sad day for earth israel will mourn as they realize jesus christ was their messiah zechariah 12 10 says a look on him whom they've pierced and they'll mourn for him as for an only son they will grieve bitterly for him as a firstborn son who has died christ is coming to bring righteous retribution and vengeance let me say that again christ is coming to bring righteous retribution and vengeance some say oh no i i can't believe in a god like that i i can't believe that a good and loving god would judge people i don't like the idea of vengeance or punishment from god god is too good to punish sin no god is too good to not punish sin that's important listen why is this four people clap whatever okay let me explain this um romans 12 19 don't avenge yourselves but rather give place to wrath for it is written vengeance is mine i will repeat says the lord you want a future judgment to come otherwise how will wrongs ever be righted what about when you go to your favorite news site or open up a newspaper does anyone still read an actual newspaper anymore i don't see anyone so we get our news and there's so many depressing things so many horrible crimes committed horrible sins committed awful things done to people and we say how can this be and they never get caught listen they may escape the long arm of the law but they will never escape the long arm of god vengeance will come righteously so it's not my job to exact revenge on someone as that scripture says leave it in god's hands he says vengeance is mine i will repay says the lord this event and this event only will bring an end to the senseless wars of mankind and our own efforts will never be able to wipe out war and terrorism it's only when christ comes back let me again distinguish between the rapture and the second coming uh two stages of the return of the lord in the rapture he comes for his church and the second coming he returns with his church in the rapture he comes as a thief in the night and the second coming every eye will see him in the rapture he comes before judgment in the second coming he returns with judgment and look at verse 11 he rides a white horse a white horse what a contrast to when he came into jerusalem on a donkey right now he rides a white horse folks this is air horse one right here as christ comes back again you know when he came to jerusalem on palm sunday on the donkey and they laid the palm branches they said hail him hail him hail him and only days later they said nail him nail him nail him those fickle crowds turned on him but this is the day when christ comes on a white stallion wearing many crowns people often wonder what did jesus look like isn't it amazing that in this bible and in these four gospels that god has given us we don't have a single physical description of jesus could not one of these guys giving us one verse oh by the way jesus was like 5 10 and had dark hair and dark high something tell me anything no there's no physical description of jesus given to us in the bible but we do have this symbolic description we read that he comes in verse 12 of revelation 19 his eyes are like a flame of fire on his head were many crowns and he has a name written that no one knew except himself three things stand out the eyes the head and the rope first there are the eyes his eyes are like a flame of fire it's sort of like his eyes are shooting out flames this speaks of righteous judgment that is coming on his head are many crowns he wears many crowns because he rules over many kingdoms he's lord of all he's our sovereign all-powerful all-knowing lord but he's also our loving compassionate forgiving savior look at this robe number three verse 13. he's clothed with the robe dipped in blood and his name is called the word of god this word dipped could be translated spattered in blood so we're being reminded when christ returns of his sacrifice for us on the cross when he came the first time and we return with him as he comes back to this earth again and now there's one final movement in our story go to revelation 19 verse 20 and the beast was captured and with him the false prophet who worked signs in his presence by which he deceived those who received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image the two were cast alive into the lake of fire burning with brimstone the antichrist and the false prophet are immediately judged these two are so wicked the lord immediately executes judgment on them they've gone far beyond the point of no return and those who have died rejecting christ will await a final judgment and we'll look at that later so john is overwhelmed he just can't contain himself in verse 10 he falls at the feet of the angel to worship him like wow and the angel says stop don't do that don't worship me he says the testimony of jesus is a spirit of prophecy here's the point when you study eschatology that's a theological word for the study of end times events when you read passages about last days things and such like in revelation or daniel or other books of the bible it should impact you in the way that you live and if it does not impact you in the way that you live you are missing the point because the testimony of jesus is the spirit of prophecy the book of revelation which means unveiling doesn't just unveil the future it unveils jesus it's the revelation of jesus christ right the unveiling of jesus christ and all of his glory so that is what we should all be looking at let me close with this judgment is coming to every person judgment is coming to every person now if you're a christian you'll appear before the judgment seat of christ again don't worry that's rewards given out so be a faithful follower of jesus run your race well serve the lord well and one day he will reward you but then there's a judgment coming for non-believers the great white throne judgment and if you end up at that judgment there's no turning back there's no second chance there's no jury uh you just stand before a judge and you're held accountable and here's what the big question is gonna be not did you live a good life the question is gonna be what did you do with jesus christ it won't be a sin question as much as it will be a sun question s-o-n because god has dropped one lifeline from heaven for us to be forgiven of our sins and that is jesus christ because at the name of jesus christ every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that he is the lord to the glory of god the father he came the first time to die on the cross for you he's coming the second time to judge the world and i ask you are you ready to meet god because we don't know when this could happen as i've told you the rapture is imminent and by imminent it doesn't mean it's going to happen you know in 20 minutes because we don't know when it will happen but actually it could happen in 20 minutes but we're not sure but we know this it will happen and when it happens it'll just happen with such speed you couldn't even measure it because the bible describes it as a moment the twinkling of an eye when you're caught up into the presence of the lord if the lord did that if the lord came back today tonight would you be ready to meet him remember when you were a little kid and you got in trouble with your mom and she gave you that ominous warning just wait until your father gets home and you waited for your dad and he pulled up in the driveway and started walking toward the front door your heart started beating because you're in trouble you're a bad little boy or girl but what about when you were a good little kid and you didn't do anything wrong and daddy pulls in you run out to welcome him and i think when we're right with god that's how we feel we'll run out to welcome him but when we're not right with god we're a little scared his teaching of the imminent return of christ is a little scary if you're not right with god because you think what if i was left behind what if the rapture came and and my family was taken and i was left me and the cat and the prius what then what then then comes the tribulation period you don't want to go through that or what if death came what judgment would you be before would you receive the rewards at the judgment seat of christ or would you stand at that final ominous scary great white throne judgment and have to hear god say to you depart from me i never knew you you worker of iniquity you you decide you decide what judgment you're going to stand at you decide where you will spend eternity you decide in this life where you will spend the afterlife where do you want to go you want to go to heaven or do you want to go to hell do you want to be rewarded or do you want to be punished it's really up to you it's what you do with jesus christ and in a moment we're going to pray and i'm going to send an opportunity for anyone listening to me or watching me wherever you are if you're not sure that christ is living inside of you this is your moment to get right with god don't let it slip by because he loves you and he has a plan for you and it's a great plan and it's better than any plan you've come up for yourself and it starts with forgiving you of all of your sins and helping you to discover what is planned for your life is and then you'll find meaning in this life and best of all you'll have hope for the afterlife jesus says i stand at the door and i knock and if you'll hear my voice and open the door i will come in would you like him to come in you can do it right now as we close in prayer let's up our heads together and pray father i pray that you will speak to everyone here here at harvest riverside harvest orange county harvest kumalani and maui wherever they are speak to them help them see their need for jesus help them to come to you and believe and be forgiven of all of their sins not while our heads are bowed and our eyes are closed maybe you would like jesus to come into your life maybe you would like him to forgive you of your sin listen if you want to go to heaven when you die if you want to be ready for the return of jesus christ if you want your sin forgiven if you want to ask christ to come into your life wherever you are would you just lift your hand up right now lift your hand up saying i need jesus today pray for me and i'll pray for you god bless you lift your hand up high where i can see it saying i need jesus today and i'll pray for you wherever you are lift your hand if you're outside watching this on the screen raise your hand up you're at harvest oc harvest uh kumalani raise your hand up i can't see you of course but the lord sees you god bless you god bless you anybody else raise your hand up let me lead you in a prayer right now all right now you that are raising your hand i want you to pray this prayer out loud after me again as i pray pray this out loud after me this is where you are asking christ to come into your life pray these words lord jesus i know that i'm a sinner but i know that you're the savior who died on the cross for my sin and rose again from the dead i turn from my sin now and i choose to follow you from this moment forward in jesus name i pray amen god bless each one of you let me say a final word you know it's possible to have a saved soul and a lost life does that make any sense a saved soul and a lost life you know the apostle paul said when i get to heaven i want to have an abundant entrance into the kingdom of god in other words i don't want to come empty-handed before the one who had his hands pierced for me i don't want to just say well lord just save my soul i'm thankful for that and i basically wasted my life it did nothing with it but here i am tada now i want to say lord i did the best that i could i could have done more but but i i did serve you and i sought to bring honor to your name what a great thing let's focus on that because god sets opportunities before us each and every day to be a representative of jesus in this world let's be about our father's business as we're waiting for the lord jesus to return that's what the bible tells us to do god bless you guys

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Length: 41min 12sec (2472 seconds)

Published: Sun May 09 2021