The Second Coming of Jesus Christ

Yeah, I know, but what's the first, what's the first, what do you start with, what do you start with? What's the first one? What? Four. Four? Yeah. So the training is already there, which is four, and there's probably more than four now. Yeah. Yeah, there is a bigger expression on the brain, but I don't know where that's coming from. It's important to follow. They've been talking to me this morning for a while and I don't know if you'll get it, but it's important to follow. It's important to follow. They've been talking to me this morning for a while and I don't know if you'll get it, but it's important to follow. It's important to follow. It's important to follow. It's important to follow. It's important to follow. It's important to follow. It's important to follow. It's important to follow. It's important to follow. It's important to follow. It's important to follow. It's important to follow. It's important to follow. It's important to follow. It's important to follow. 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Brother Morris' brother John got to come home today from the hospital but do continue to pray for him. Also, I got a call Sunday night. Kayla's son Colby's girlfriend Riley Sunday afternoon had a four-wheeler accident and ended up no broke bones or nothing but she ended up going to the emergency room and they did x-rays and everything. She's pretty banged up and everything. She's going to be sore but do remember her in your prayers. Any others? Jenny's surgery is the 6th of August. Okay. Remember her. Any others? Alright. We've got others that are traveling and stuff. I tried to call Bob a couple of times today and I never could get him to answer the phone but my wife saw on Facebook that his granddaughter Kylie got to come home but when I talked to him last week she had improved absolutely nothing and so I don't know what that means that she got to come home but anyway continue to pray for her and pray for Bob if you will. I know he's been real bad depressed and through all of this and everything. If you notice he hadn't been here and I've reached out to him a few times and I've got him to respond to a couple of texts but not answer his phone and so do pray for him. Any others? Oh yeah. Yes. Thank you. Trish Watson's father passed away. They're not going to have a visitation or anything. I think my wife sent out to the women yesterday or today but if you could send her a card or something with a verse or whatever I talked to Trish and asked what could we do or whatever and she said I wrote down a few verses on a piece of paper and she just sat there and got her Bible out and she just read them verses and just cried but it seemed to comfort her a little bit so she said if anybody would like to write a letter or something or send a card or whatever that she would definitely cherish that and help. They've been married a long long time and so do remember them. Any others? If not unspoken request which God knows each and every one of these let's go to him in prayer. Father we just thank you so much for your love. We thank you for all that you have done for us. Thank you for the opportunity the privilege to come and gather together with our brothers and sisters in Christ and bring these prayer requests to your throne of grace and mercy. We come to you tonight and we continue to pray for our Bible school. We continue to pray for the workers, the teachers, everyone that is involved no matter what they're doing. We just pray that you will be honored you will be glorified. There will be souls that will be saved and lives that will be changed and Father we just look forward to it with great excitement and anticipation to see what you're going to do. Just be with us tonight as we look at your second coming and know that that's what we're looking for and Father we just can't wait till the day of that coming again and we just ask you to just be with us in your name we pray. Amen. Alright. Tonight we're going to look at the second coming and maybe another judgment that's tied right in there with it and so the question begins to be asked what is the second coming and when we think about the second coming it's the event when Jesus Christ as king of kings and lord of lords who gloriously returns to the earth to end this present age and he's going to come back. We saw last week that this is going to be the end of the antichrist, the false prophet they're going to be cast into the lake of fire when he comes back and so what we're doing is talking about this return of Jesus Christ this will be right before his thousand year reign that we call the millennial reign here on earth that he'll fulfill the covenants that are there and the Bible teaches us that the very same Jesus that ascended in Acts chapter 1 verse 9 it says and when he had spoken these things while they beheld he was taken up and a cloud received him out of their sight and while they looked steadfastly toward heaven as he went up behold two men stood by them in white apparel which he also said you men of Galilee why stand you gazing up into heaven this same Jesus which was taken from you into heaven shall so come in like manner as you have seen him go into heaven and so we see here that that same Jesus just like he went to the clouds he will return again right back to that same Mount of Olives to the place that he was taken was called up from and so can we be sure that the second coming will be a universal visible event that's the question that everybody asks is the second coming really going to happen has it already happened what is that can we be sure of this event and one of the key words used in the New Testament to describe the second coming of Jesus Christ is the apocalypsis which we get the word you know apocalypse which means revelation and the literal meaning of that word is a visible disclosure an unveiling or a moving the cover from something that is hidden and all through the New Testament that's what is referred to as the second coming of Jesus Christ it is the unrevealing of him in his glory as king of kings if you remember on the Mount of Transfiguration Peter James and John got to see a glimpse of that of Jesus Christ in his natural form but he's going to come back 1 Peter 4.13 it says but rejoice inasmuch as you are partakers of Christ's sufferings that when his glory shall be revealed that's that same word you may be glad also with exceeding joy another Greek word that's used in the New Testament to refer to as second coming is epiphania which is the basic meaning of to appear or to shine forth we talk in English when somebody has an epiphany it's kind of a light bulb moment it's a moment when all of a sudden they get it that's the Greek word that's also used in Titus 2.13 when it says looking for that blessed hope and that glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ Paul urged Timothy in 1 Timothy 6.14 to keep this commandment without spot unrebukeable until the appearing of the Lord Jesus Christ until the epiphany the revealing of him as king of kings and lord of lords that was there in 2 Timothy 1.10 it says but now is made manifest by the appearing of our Savior Jesus Christ who has abolished death and has brought life and immortality to life through the gospel and so Jesus when he returns again when he comes back the second time he will both bodily and visibly return the same way that the disciples were looking up and staring into the sky we will see Jesus Christ as he returns if you remember back in Matthew chapter 24 when we started this entire study back at the beginning of summer in verse 29 it says it says immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened the moon shall not give her light the stars shall fall from heaven the powers of heaven shall be shaken and then immediately after this then is the sequence of events then shall appear the sign of the son of man in heaven and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn and they shall see the son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory and so it's going to happen it's going to be a bodily visible return of Jesus Christ and so then we ask ourselves what does the word parousia mean in connection with the second coming of Christ what do we mean by parousia if you'll see there I underlined the word in that verse 30 that says the son of man coming that's the word parousia and so when is he coming that word coming literally means to be present to have a presence to be physically present arriving it's often denoted as an arrival and to be present with and so he is coming why is he coming to be with us to be here on the earth and so parousia is often used to describe the physical coming and the physical presence of Jesus Christ with his disciples he used the same word Peter did when he referred back to the mount of transfiguration that I mentioned earlier it says for we have not followed cunningly devised fables which we made known unto you the power and the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ but were eyewitnesses of his majesty he's talking about that mount of transfiguration and it talks about the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ he revealed his glory unto them if you also remember not only when Jesus Christ appeared in his glory there was also Moses and Elijah that came and appeared with him and so that's that idea of this word parousia is this idea of being present with Paul writes it in Stephanus and Fortunatus and Achaicus in 1 Corinthians 16 17 he said I am glad of the coming of these men for that which was lacking on your part they have supplied in other words he's just saying they're fixing to physically be present with you you came to church tonight some didn't come but you came and so there's this present appearance in 2 Corinthians 7 6 he says nevertheless God that comforted those that are cast down comforted us by the coming of Titus in verse 7 and not by his coming only but by the consolation wherewith he was comforted in you when he told us of your earnest desire and so again it is that physical being in the presence he talks about in 2 Corinthians 10 10 that Paul by his letters were weighty and powerful but his bodily presence that's that same word is coming to be with us his appearance is weak and his speech contemptible in other words he didn't look like a very mighty person his voice wasn't really that great but man when he wrote a letter you could see the power in his writings and you could see the weight of his letters the seriousness of it there and so using that same word there in that content and then again we've been studying Philippians 2 12 and he said not as in my presence only but now much more in my absence that is there and so the usage of this word establishes that parousia is often used to communicate the idea of a physical presence and so when we talk about the second coming of Jesus Christ we're not talking about him coming in a spiritual form we're not talking about him coming in an allegorical form or anything like that what we're talking about is he's literally going to come bodily and physically he's going to be present with us and so it's significant that this term is especially used also in connection with the rapture and so a lot of people get the rapture and the second coming of Jesus Christ confused and we need to make sure that they are two different events we have not talked about the rapture because that has to do with believers and this summer I've pretty well been trying to stick pretty much to what's happening here on this earth and what's going on but if you remember the clouds of rapture what happens? Jesus Christ is going to come but we are going to do what? We're going to meet him in the air 1 Thessalonians is real clear about that and so he's going to be present in the clouds but we're going to meet him there the second coming he's coming all the way to earth and so in what sense will Christ come again with the clouds as it says in Revelation chapter 1 and verse 7 when John sees this revelation it says behold he cometh with clouds and every eye shall see him and they also which pierced him and all kindreds of the earth shall will because of him even so amen now when you do look at them clouds when he talks about he cometh with clouds and you look at clouds in the bible now this is not every single occurrence but most of the time and a lot of the time when it refers to clouds it referred to the presence of God if you remember back in Exodus you remember when they led the nation of Israel out of Egypt into the promised land when they were in the wilderness how did God how did they know when to pack up and move and how did they know when they were going to stay they followed the cloud which represented God it was his presence that was there in the cloud in 1 Kings you remember when Solomon built the temple and what happened it said a cloud came down and went into the temple and filled the holy place of God so God came down with that cloud and so this cloud is a lot of times associated with the visible glory of God nobody has seen God right? nobody can look upon God because we're sinners and so a lot of times it would take upon that form of that cloud and so just like Jesus Christ what happened that we read a while ago in Acts chapter 1 when Jesus Christ was taken up what was the last thing that they saw with Jesus Christ they went into a cloud right? and so why are you standing here looking at the clouds and so what was that doing where did Jesus go? did he just go into the clouds? is that what it's saying? and that's where we get this idea in this picture that we're going to have hearts and we're going to be sitting on clouds and we're going to be playing music no that's not what he's referring to but when they looked at the clouds what did they get a visual picture of him going to be with the Father and where's Jesus Christ? He's with the Father seated at the right hand of God and so again you see that he will return with the clouds from heaven in Matthew 24 verse 30 it said and then shall appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn and they shall see the Son of Man again coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory Matthew 26 in verse 64 Jesus saith unto him thou hast said nevertheless I say unto you hereafter shall you see the Son of Man sitting on the right hand of the power and coming in the what? the clouds of heaven and so it's just when you talk about these clouds they're always there and they always seem to be around when you're talking about the presence of God and his ability that are there and so then how is the second coming described in the book of Revelation if we know it's going to be a bodily visible return where Jesus Christ is going to be present with us, he's coming to be with us, then how in Revelation is it described Revelation chapter 19 in verse 11 through 16 describes the second coming of Jesus Christ it said and I saw heaven open and behold a white horse and he that sat upon him was called faithful and true and in righteousness he does judge and make war his eyes were as a flame of fire and on his head were many crowns and he had a name written that no man knew but he himself and he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood and his name is called the word of God and the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses clothed in fine linen white and clean and out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword that with it he should smite the nations and he shall rule them with a rod of iron and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of almighty God and he hath on his vesture and on his thigh name written King of Kings and Lord of Lords that's there and so in biblical times when you looked at the generals the ones that was in charge especially of the Roman army they rode on white horses it showed their power it showed their authority it showed that they were the number one individual and so Jesus Christ coming on a white horse is showing that what is his name King of Kings and Lord of Lords it's showing his power and his authority it's speaking to his command ship he is Lord of Lords he is the almighty he is the chief of all armies in heaven on earth or anywhere and he's coming in triumph over the forces in the wicked world this is noted in contrast to what did he do on his first coming in first coming according to Zechariah chapter 9 verse 9 he came riding in on a donkey and so what was he saying basically he was telling Caesar that I am not a threat to you and that's what he told Pilate when Pilate questioned him he said what he said this world is not this is not my kingdom if this was my kingdom my people would fight but he said this is not my kingdom he said I came for this and so he came riding what a donkey is humility that was there if a king was coming to overthrow you they came in riding on the white horse if they come in wanting to negotiate or want peace or friendship they came humbly they came riding in on a donkey and so our text tells us in verse 12 that he also had on his head many crowns in some of the translations it uses the word diadem that was there it represents his sovereignty his royal kingship he's not just wearing one crown but he's wearing multiple crowns he is the king of kings and lord of lords that's what chapter verse 16 said is written on his vesture that means that Jesus Christ is the absolute supreme and sovereign over everything of all of the earthly rulers over every angelic power of everything to come 1st Timothy 6.15 says blessed and only potentate the king of kings and lord of lords there's a lot of verses Deuteronomy 10.17 says for the lord your God is God of gods and lord of lords a great God a mighty and a terrible which regardeth not persons nor taketh reward Psalms 136 oh give thanks to the lord of lords for his mercy endureth forever and what they're referring to is that messianic king has now finally arrived when Jesus Christ shows up he's going to come riding the white horse of authority he's going to have the crowns of proclamation that have made him king of kings and lord of lords and he returns that is there when you talk about the kingship of Jesus Christ you find that it is a theme that is taught throughout the Old Testament this idea of him being a king is not anything that is new when you go to Genesis chapter 49 and verse 10 it says the scepter shall not depart from Judah nor a lawgiver from between his feet until Shiloh come and unto him shall the gathering of the people be and so it was promised that what he shall there shall be a gathering of the people to one king everybody is going to be under his rulership that has never happened was everybody under David's rulership no was he under Saul no there were still nations and stuff but when Jesus Christ rules guess what everybody is going to be under his authority it is also a part of the Davidic covenant in 2 Samuel chapter 7 and verse 16 he says in thy house talking to David in thy kingdom shall be established forever before thee thy throne shall be established forever now is the throne of David still going on today no what happened they were in captivity right they ended up under Solomon's son the kingdom split and then both kingdoms ended up going to captivity and there is no kingdom today but he says their kingdom is going to be what forever and so it's a prophecy a covenant a promise that God made with David that guess what even when it looks like there is no nation there will be a king your throne will never not be in existence in Luke chapter 1 and we come to the New Testament after you see these many promises of the awaiting king and the Messiah it says in Luke chapter 1 verse 32 he shall be great and he shall be called the son of the highest and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of who his father David and he shall reign over the house of Jacob forever and his kingdom there shall be no end even at Jesus Christ at his first coming he still accepted the role of king and he is still king but what happened the Jews rejected him right they said no they crucified him and you remember what Pilate wrote and put upon the cross king of the Jews and he wrote it in three different languages to establish that and they said you can't write that that's blasphemy and Pilate said what I have written I have written Pilate declared him being the king and guess what from that point on he is still king and you have the opportunity to either accept him as king submit to his authority remember in Philippians what did God give him the new name is what Lord but not only is he Lord but he is also king and so we're going to see them names when he returns at his second time and it says there in Psalm chapter 2 verse 6 yet have I set my king upon my holy hill in Zion it affirms that the Messiah will have all of his enemies under his feet and he will rule over them and where will he be at Jerusalem Mount Zion that is there Daniel chapter 7 in verse 13 tells us that the Messiah King will have an everlasting dominion forever and so now the moment has come Christ the King comes he overcomes all of the forces of evil and he sets up his kingdom here on earth and that is the millennial reign and hopefully that when I get back from vacation we're going to look at the millennial reign and then we'll look quickly at what the next week at the new heaven and the new earth and then we'll the first Wednesday night of September we will divide back to men and women but why does it sometimes seem as if the second coming is delayed you know if all of these people all the way back to Genesis have been talking about the coming of the King and the reigning of the King why has it taken so long Peter even says that there's going to be offers in the last days that are going to come and say where is this returning of your King right and this is one of the questions that a lot of people are talking about and why a lot of people have rejected Christianity because why we claim that Jesus Christ is coming back but it hadn't happened for 2000 years has it and so if we can't believe that if God hasn't proved that then what else can I not believe about Jesus Christ and what you're preaching so why is the delay of his second coming happening well Peter tells us that in 2 Peter 3 9 he said the Lord is not slack concerning his promise as some men count slackness but his long suffering to us were so his second coming is not delayed because God has forgot that he's coming back it's not delayed because he doesn't want to come back and he's not going to come back but he's delayed because what he is long suffering he has long suffering not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance and so God is patient God is allowing people the time to repent and when we look at that today you know when Jesus Christ comes there's no other opportunity for repentance it's too late it's over with at that time and so this is keeping with God's long track record you go all the way back to the Bible how many years did God wait before he sent the flood it says Noah worked on the ark for what 400 years who is the oldest man in the Bible Methuselah you know what Methuselah's name means when I die when I die he comes and so he lived to be 969 years why did he live so long because God was long suffering he didn't want his people Noah the entire time Jude tells us that Noah was a preacher of righteousness he preached and he preached wanting people to repent but then there come a time when God said no more and so Noah and his family walked into the ark and what did he do he shut the door when Jesus Christ comes the second time the time for repentance is over with he's shutting the door and so what happens now is the day of salvation now and so he is long suffering so that's why we should be so gospel oriented because we don't want anybody to be judged we don't want this time to overtake them Joel chapter 2 and verse 13 says that he will rend your heart and not your garments and turn unto the Lord your God for he is gracious and merciful slow to anger and of great kindness and repenteth him of the evil he is slow to anger of great kindness gracious and merciful God loves us and you know that's the problem with today you know a lot of people and we see it in our Bible but we also see we're losing this idea today you know 15 years ago people in Saline County knew when they were doing wrong and they would try to hide it or they would do it in secret but what's happening now now nothing is no longer done in secret it's bold it's out there it's shaking the fist at God and what's happening God's wanting them to repent but yet they want to be rebellious and want to do and so God has not come back because of this he's waiting and long suffering in Luke 15 20 if you remember the story of the prodigal son the father didn't do away with the son did he he didn't give up on the son he didn't have a funeral for his son he just simply waited he said go and wait and he arose and came to his father but when he was yet a great way off his father saw him and had compassion and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him waiting with anticipation for the day that he would what come home you don't see your son a way off if you're not looking for him and so every day you can almost picture in our day and time I don't know exactly what he did back then but I imagine they had coffee and get him a cup of coffee and go out on that porch and see if his son came in today or whatever you can imagine that longing and that hoping that his son he knew what was happening he knew where his son was going to go he knew the outcome but he was waiting on repentance and after a while he finally sees him coming and the father in that parable is a picture of God waiting for us wanting us to return and when he sees us what does he do he has compassion he didn't turn his back and say oh you wasteful slothful son just stay out there and burn up in the heat no it says he ran and kissed him why because of compassion and so God is a compassionate God he's wanting people to be saved in Romans chapter 9 and verse 22 he says what if God willing to show his wrath and to make his power known endured with much long suffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction in other words he's willing to show his wrath he's written about it in Revelation he's told us about the six seals seven seals that are going to be open he's told us about the seven trumpets that are going to sound he told us about the seven vows of wrath that's going to be poured out on this world he's giving us the warning it is there but yet he's long suffering he doesn't want to do it because he wants people to be saved the sad part is despite God's patience his desire that none should perish there's so many people today that just refuse to accept him that refuse to turn and go back to him what's going to happen they're going to spend their entire eternity apart from him in Matthew 25 verse 46 he says and these shall go away into everlasting punishment but the righteous unto eternal life God wants everybody to be saved but not all will receive God's salvation and that's just a natural fact but guess what he hasn't given none of us the power to know who will receive and who won't receive we don't know that so what's our job our job is to share the gospel with everybody it's up to them it's up to how God wants to deal but just because we think that they may not be worthy or they may not receive it then I'm not going to share with them no that's not what we should be doing we should be always sharing Paul told Timothy in 1 Timothy 2 forward who will have all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth Matthew 7 13 he says enter in at the straight gate for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leadeth to destruction and many there be which go there at because straight is the gate and narrow is the way which leadeth unto life and few there be that find it out of approximately I forget what the estimates of how many millions of people there was considered to be on the earth at the time that Noah went into the ark there was eight that lived few find it that's one of the reasons why so many horrific judgments fall on the believing world when you look at the book of Revelation why does God open these seals why does God blow these trumpets why does God pour out these vows He is wanting them to repent He is wanting them to turn He is wanting them to see Him in His power and His glory but what do they do they reject it you go through and you read when He opens up the seals toward the end instead of repenting what do they do they curse God they're mad at God because He is destroying and messing up their way of life He's messing up everything that they're wanting to do and what's going to happen and so this is one of the reasons that God uses these judgments and why they're prolonged and why there's 21 of them and then mixed in with them 21 different judgments there's 3, 6, 9 woes warnings that He gives them to repent to repent people living on earth during that time will have absolutely no excuse whatsoever for rejecting Jesus Christ and so then comes the deal since we know Jesus Christ is coming back in some ways Terri and His coming is there going to be an interim period between the time that Jesus Christ comes and the beginning of the millennial reign and I believe that there is that there's going to be approximately 75 days from the time that Jesus Christ returns before He starts the millennial kingdom and I'll give you a few scriptures here in Daniel chapter 12 and verse 11 here's the numbers and how we come up with the 75 day interval it says that from the time that the daily sacrifices shall be taken away and the abomination that make it desolate set up there shall be 1290 days that is there, 1290 days, now if you keep that 1290 days in mind we said that that represents what three and a half years and so the seven year period is divided into two three and a half year periods of 1290 days and so when you look at that and you do a little bit of simple math you take off 12, 1260 days leaves 30 days and we get that in the fact that Daniel chapter 12 and verse 12 says blessed is he that waiteth and cometh to the 1305 and 30 days 1335 days when you take that and you subtract 1290 days from that what are you left with 45 days and so you have a 45 day period, you have a 30 day period which gives you a 75 day period, what's going to be what is the reason for that interval why does he have this time frame and I believe that this is where the judgment of the nations is going to take place, when you go back to Matthew you will see that God is going to judge the Gentile nations and he's also going to judge the Jews before he begins his millennial reign in Matthew 25 and verse 31 he gives this judgment that's going to take place he says when the son of man shall come in his glory the second coming and all the holy angels with him then shall he sit upon the throne of glory and before him shall be gathered and notice I underlined it there, all nations and he shall separate them one from another as a shepherd divided his sheep from the goats and he shall set the sheep on his right hand but the goats on his left and before him I don't know why that didn't print out and before him shall be gathered all nations and he shall separate them one from another as a shepherd divided his sheep from the goats and he shall set the sheep on his right hand but the goats on the left and that's there and so that is the description down through verse 33 it goes with the rest of it but I want to stop there because he's used two different words he's used first of all all nations and then again he refers in verse 32 to the all nations again that is there talking about all of the gentile nations and so there's going to be a judgment of the gentile nations but Ezekiel also tells us in Ezekiel 20-34 that there's also going to be a judgment of the Jews he says in Ezekiel 34 and I will bring you out from the people notice the, what is the definite article so he's referring to a particular people, not all nations but a particular group of people so who's the particular group of people we're talking about the Jews there it's God's people and will gather you, the people out of all of the countries here we go back to the nations wherein you were scattered with a mighty hand and with a stretched out arm and with fury poured out and I will bring you into the wilderness of the people and there will I plead with you face to face now what's this prophecy talking about if you remember when you see the abomination of desolation what do you do? you flee you get out of there and so what's going to happen to the Jews they're going to be pushed out of Jerusalem we said many of them will probably go to Petra many of them are also going to go out into the wilderness, right and they're going to be scattered and so what's going to happen it says God is going to plead with them face to face how's he going to plead with them well they've heard the witness of the two witnesses they've watched them be killed and resurrected they also have the 144,000 Jews that have been sealed to witness so when they see the abomination of desolation, guess what they're going to put the witnesses testimony alongside the word of God and the proclamation of the word of God and guess what, they're going to all of a sudden accept Jesus Christ as their savior and so as they flee, God is going to plead with them you missed the Messiah you missed Jesus Christ you messed up the first time and so then look what he says he says he's going to plead with them face to face that is there it's likely that there's going to be some other key events that's going to take place during this deal we looked last week that also the antichrist and the false prophet are going to be cast where? into the lake of fire after the second coming but before the millennial reign so you figure that's going to happen during this 75 day interval now we go back to Revelation chapter 19 and it says in verse 20 the beast was taken and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him which was to deceive them that it received the mark of the beast and them that worshipped his image these both were cast alive into the lake of fire and so what is this going to do this is going to totally destroy all of the governmental structure that the antichrist has been working on for 7 years everything their leaders gone their nations have been destroyed what's he doing? he's now judging the nations that are there he's judged their rulers he cast them into the lake of fire and then he's going to judge the nations of that 2 Timothy 2.12 says if we suffer we shall also reign with him if we deny him he also will deny us and so you go back to Revelation chapter 20 and we see and I saw thrones and they sat upon them and judgment was given unto them and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus Christ now when were these killed? during the tribulation period and for the word of God and which had not worshipped the beast neither his image neither had received his mark upon their foreheads or in their hands and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years but the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished this is the first resurrection blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection on such the second death hath no power but they shall be priests of God and of Christ and shall reign with him a thousand years it's entirely feasible that even the marriage feast of the lamb with his bride the divine bridegroom Jesus Christ because when he returns he's returning to get that and so during this 75 day interval some believe it is there I believe it's happening already in heaven and the bride returns with him as we saw earlier but we're not talking about the heavenly things now we're looking here but during that 75 day interval Jesus Christ is going to judge the nations he's going to judge the Jews and he's going to get ready to set up his kingdom for that thousand year reign and so what is the judgment of the nations that follows this second coming we started reading it in Matthew 25 verse 31 when the son of man shall come in his glory and the holy angels with him then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory and before him shall be gathered all nations and he shall separate them from another as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats and he shall set the sheep on his right hand but the goats on the left then shall the king say unto them on his right hand you blessed of my father inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world and he says so how do we know who these people are that sit on the right hand and he said for I was hungered and you gave me meat for I was thirsty and you gave me drink I was a stranger and you took me in naked and you clothed me I was sick and you visited me I was in prison and you came unto me then shall the righteous answer him saying Lord when saw we thee hungry and fed thee or thirsty and gave thee drink when saw we thee a stranger and took thee in or naked and clothed thee or when saw we thee sick or in prison and came unto thee and the king shall answer and say unto them verily I say unto you inasmuch as you have done it unto one of the least of these and now notice the word that he uses my brethren my brethren you have done it unto me now when we look back go back and we're bringing this whole study of the summer full circle right quick if you remember in Matthew 24 and 25 I said who was he writing to to the Jews he was answering three questions remember when will the temple be destroyed when will Jesus Christ return what is the end of the world that was the three questions that he was asking and he was dealing with the Jews and so here he uses that phrase my brethren you have done it unto me and so hang on to that and then continue reading verse 41 then shall he say also unto them on the left hand depart from me you cursed into everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels for I was hungered and you gave me no meat I was thirsty and you gave me no drink I was a stranger and you took me not in naked and you clothed me not sick and in prison and you visited me not then shall they also answer him saying Lord when saw we thee hungry and a thirst and a stranger and naked and sick and in prison and did not minister unto thee then shall he answer them saying verily I say unto you and as much as you did it not to the one of the least of these you did it not to me and thee shall go away into everlasting punishment but the righteous into eternal life that was there so who are we talking about we have three groups of individuals mentioned here we have two groups that are pulled out of all nations we have those that were righteous those that took care of who the brethren and those that did not take care of the brethren and so that's what this whole story is talking about they're all of nations so they're gentiles those that took care of the brethren and those who took not care of the brethren now we have to define who is the brethren that she's talking about here well in the context the brethren can only refer to the jews he's not talking about saved people he's not talking about brothers like you and I he's referring to his jewish heritage jesus christ is first of all what a jew he is of the tribe of judah of the seed of david right and so he's referring to his jewish people and so what he's referring to here if you go back and you look to the context in Matthew 25 right before this what has happened he told them when you see the abomination of desolation what do you do flee get out of there and then he says once you flee then he comes in and he tells about at the end when he finally returns what's he going to do he's going to judge those gentiles and those gentile nations as how they treated the jews during that time in other words in order for them to survive there's going to have to be not only does God send them he gets them to the wilderness under his protection and guidance but he also is going to use obviously gentiles and nations and stuff that are going to be quiet that are going to be secretive that are not going to despoil them that's going to help them in their journeys that are there and so he's going to judge all of these nations and these people as to those that helped during this time of fleeing that's the context and that's what he's talking about so that's what we're talking about by this judgment Matthew 25 verse 32 it says and before him shall be gathered all nations and he shall separate them one from another as a shepherd divided his sheep and his goats the sheep will be those that believed in Jesus Christ now during this tribulation period understand that before you can get into the millennial reign you cannot get there without salvation we know that there's going to be many jews that are going to be saved we looked at that a couple of weeks ago on the witness of the 144,000 and on the witness of the two there's going to be jews that are going to be saved there's also going to be gentiles that are going to be saved there's going to be those in different nations that are going to believe on Jesus Christ when they recognize when they see the abomination of desolation and they realize you know what Jesus Christ is real then they're going to protect the jews they're going to help they're going to be saved how? by confessing Jesus Christ they're not saved because of their works but their works prove that they what? they agreed with the witness and accepted Jesus as the Messiah and his people and so I want us to understand that because a lot of people will say well they're being saved because they gave water no they're not they're sheep because they believed in Jesus Christ therefore they did works James said show me your faith by your works right? or show me your faith without works and I will show you my faith by my works and so they're saved the same way and then the goats are going to be those that Lee says will depart into eternal damnation the sheep will go into life everlasting the goats will go into eternal damnation and they will believe and accept Jesus Christ so one last question and we'll wrap it up should we interpret the judgment of the nations as the same as the great white throne judgment because we know that the great white throne judgment and there's several differences first of all it's a different time this happens at the beginning of the millennial reign the great white throne judgment happens at the end of the millennial reign this happens at a different scene the judgment of nations happens here on earth where's Jesus Christ? He's come back and what did he do? he gathers everybody before him here on earth the great white throne judgment is where? it doesn't say it's in heaven but it's not on earth it's in the presence of God wherever his throne's at that's where the great white throne judgment's going to be it's different subjects we've mentioned the three groups we've mentioned that the judgment of nations the great white throne judgment will involve the unsaved dead of all time everybody all the way back from the very beginning that did not believe in God there's a whole different basis of judgment the judgment of nations is strictly based upon how these nations created Christ's people the great white throne judgment is based upon the fact that whether or not a person trusted and believed in Jesus Christ it's a different result the judgment of nations the righteous will enter Christ's millennial kingdom and the unrighteous will be cast into the great lake of fire the result of the great white throne judgment is that the wicked dead are cast into the lake of fire and there's no mention of any righteous when standing at the great white throne of judgment and so there's no resurrection that is connected with the judgment of nations but there is the resurrection of those that come forth for the great white throne judgment it says in chapter 20 verse 13 and the sea gave up the dead which were in it and death and hell delivered up that's resurrected is what that delivered up the dead which were in them and they were judged every man according to their works that's the basis of the judgment of nations that's what I told you it's all in how they treated the Jews during the tribulation period now does the bible teach that we should take care and be nice to the Jews today yeah huh it hasn't changed God said those that bless you I will bless and those that curse you I will curse right but when people today use this passage of scripture that I am given a cup of water in the name of Jesus Christ for my salvation or I'm going into prison because I'm serving Jesus Christ that's not what the context of that and so there's a lot of other scriptures that you can use to say yeah we ought to take care of the Jews and we ought to be nice to the Jews but this is not one of them and that's what causes so much confusion is because we take scriptures and stuff out of context that was there and then I mentioned I pretty well covered all of this that was there but then the judgment Ezekiel let me read this one and we'll close Ezekiel chapter 20 the judgment of the Jews that I mentioned is found in Ezekiel chapter 20 verse 34 and you can see the wording of the difference between the judgment of nations and the judgment of the Jews in verse 34 it says and I will bring you out from the people out from among them and will gather you out of the countries wherein you were scattered with a mighty hand and with a stretched out arm and with fury poured out and I will bring you into the wilderness of the people where will I plead with you face to face like as I pleaded with your fathers in the wilderness of the land of Egypt so will I plead with you saith the Lord God and I will cause you to pass under the rod what is the rod? the rod is judgment you remember what the three things was in the ark of the covenant? the law Aaron's rod that budded and the manna the law is what keeps us from God it shows the holiness but what was Aaron's rod? the priest is what judged the people and they also offered the sacrifices but Aaron was the one in charge you remember Moses when his wife's father came to him and said why are you judging all of these people? he said why don't you appoint men to judge over the small matters why don't you just take the weighty matters that rod was a sign of authority and judgment and so what he's talking about here he says I will bring you from out of the people and I will cause you to pass under the rod and I will bring you into the bond of the covenant what is the covenant? you will be my people and I will rule from the throne of David the king Abrahamic covenant that I will give you a land you will be my people you've got the Davidic covenant that God will sit on his throne you'll be of the tribe of Judah and so these covenants is what he's talking about I'm going to fulfill them and all that's going to happen in the millennial reign and so he says I will purge out from among you the rebels and them that transgress against me and I will bring them forth out of the country where they sojourn God enter into the land of Israel and you shall know that I am God in other words there's going to be Jews that did not accept Jesus Christ but they were still hiding you remember all of the Jews that came out of Egypt you remember what happened at Mount Sinai when Moses went up you remember they made the golden calf and when he came down what happened God destroyed 3,000 of them why didn't he kill all of them because some of them repented 3,000 of them wouldn't repent so he destroyed them and that's the same picture that he's going to do here the same way that I did them in the wilderness I'm going to plead face to face with you them 3,000 didn't have to die they could have repented but they didn't repent so God took them and that's the same thing that's going to happen at the judgment of the Jews and he says I will cause you to pass under the rod I will bring you to the bottom of the covenant and all the days come sayeth the Lord that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah and these shall go away into everlasting punishment but again the righteous into life eternity the longevity will characterize the millennial kingdom both mortal Jew and Gentiles will continue to age they will continue to die there will be people into the millennial reign that will be saved but they have not received their glorified body and so that's where they're going to come out of this judgment the judgment of the Gentiles and the judgment of the Jews so you're going to have Jewish and Gentile people that are in the millennial reign that have trusted Jesus Christ as their Savior but they haven't received their glorified body so if they haven't received their glorified body when they have offspring what's going to happen to the offspring? they're going to be born in sin and so that's where and then when we get to the millennial reign after Bible school and my two weeks of vacation then we will look at the millennial reign where Isaiah says they will have a hundred years to accept or reject Jesus Christ and then at the end of that hundred years what's going to happen? there's going to be a judgment made up out of these people that rejected Jesus Christ that are going to follow Satan and Israel and so that's where we're at is to the millennial reign with that any questions or comments? I know I'm kind of covering all of this pretty fast and like drinking out of a fire hose but I want you I don't want to so much focus on the details as I'm wanting to focus on the highlighted stuff and make sure that you know the timing and what events will happen and take place if I can get you to understand that then the details and the deep information you'll be able to put together and fix on that yourself any questions? alright let's dismiss in prayer Father we thank you for your love we thank you for all that you've done for us we thank you so much for your word we thank you for being a long suffering God not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance effective witnesses for you that we will share that gospel and that love if you're long suffering then Father we ought to be doing what we're supposed to be doing and that's going into all the world and preaching the gospel baptizing people teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I've commanded you Father we're so very thankful you've given us a glimpse into the end of the world we're so very glad that we don't have to be there and that even today even in the tribulation period even in the Old Testament from the very beginning the only thing that you have asked is that we repent and Father if we repent then you say you are faithful and just to forgive us of our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness thank you for sending Jesus Christ to live a life where he didn't have to repent because he had no sin to be able to die and take that penalty and that payment for us to deserve and to place it upon himself but dear Heavenly Father we're so very thankful that you accepted his sacrifice and brought him forth from the grave on the third day so that we can celebrate and we can look forward to the day of not when you return in judgment but when you return to take us to be with you and Father hopefully our prayer and our desire is that we return with you at that second coming and Father we look forward to that day and it's much better to be in your army than to be here on this earth when you return and Father we thank you and love you in your name we pray, Amen