JESUS CHRIST'S RETURN

Matthew 24:36-44 NIV “But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in Heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left. Two women will be grinding with a hand mill; one will be taken and the other left. “Therefore, keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into. So, you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.

Scripture reads, that they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. But 2 Peter 2:5c NIV states, Noah, a preacher of righteousness. So, Noah spoke to them about what was going to happen, and they did not listen. Whoever has ears, let them hear.

WHAT IS THE RETURN OF CHRIST ABOUT?

AND WHO WILL HE REDEEM FROM EARTH AT THAT TIME?

Now, I will correct a lie that is told, to stop Christians from becoming prepared for Christ's return.

A lot of leaders are saying that Christians will not be here on the day that the 666 is required.

THE RETURN OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST

2 Thessalonians 2:1-12 NIV Concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered to Him, we ask you, brothers and sisters, not to become easily unsettled or alarmed by the teaching allegedly from us, whether by a prophecy or by word of mouth or by letter, asserting that the day of the Lord has already come. Don’t let anyone deceive you in any way, for that day will not come until the rebellion (falling away from the faith) occurs and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the man doomed to destruction. He will oppose and will exalt himself over everything that is called God or is worshiped, so that he sets himself up in God’s temple, proclaiming himself to be God. Don’t you remember that when I was with you, I used to tell you these things? And now you know what is holding him back, so that he may be revealed at the proper time. For the secret power of lawlessness is already at work, but the one who now holds it back will continue to do so till He is taken out of the way. And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will overthrow with the breath of His mouth and destroy by the splendor of His coming. The coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with how Satan works. He will use all sorts of displays of power through signs and wonders that serve the lie, and all the ways that wickedness deceives those who are perishing. They perish because they refuse to love the truth and so be saved. For this reason, God sends them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie, and so that all will be condemned who have not believed the truth but have delighted in wickedness.

So, before our Lord Jesus Christ returns, the falling away from the faith has to happen first. Next, the lawless one will be revealed and deceive many, whom the Lord Jesus will overthrow with the breath of His mouth and destroy by the splendor of His coming.

Matthew 24:29-31 NIV Immediately after the tribulation of those days, shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from Heaven, and the powers of the Heavens shall be shaken: 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 coming in the clouds of Heaven with power and great glory. And He shall send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.

THE FIRST RESURRECTION

1 Thessalonians 4:15-17 NIV According to the Lord’s word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord Himself will come down from Heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the Archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so, we will be with the Lord forever.

Revelation 20:4-6 NIV I saw thrones on which were seated those who had been given authority to judge. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony about Jesus and because of the word of God. They had not worshiped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ a thousand years. The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended. This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy are those who share in the first resurrection. The second death has no power over them, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with Him for a thousand years.

The first resurrection included those who did not receive the mark of the beast. This proves Christians will still be here.

THE DESTRUCTION OF THE LAWLESS ONE

Revelations 13:7-10 NIV It (the beast/the lawless one) was given power to wage war against God’s holy people and to conquer them. And it was given authority over every tribe, people, language, and nation. All inhabitants of the earth will worship the beast, all whose names have not been written in the Lamb’s book of life, the Lamb who was slain from the creation of the world. Whoever has ears, let them hear. “If anyone is to go into captivity, into captivity they will go. If anyone is to be killed with the sword, with the sword they will be killed.” This calls for patient endurance and faithfulness on the part of God’s people. (Read Revelations 13-14)

Revelations 19:11-21 NIV I saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True. With justice He judges and wages war. His eyes are like blazing fire, and on His head are many crowns. He has a name written on Him that no one knows but He Himself. He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and His name is the Word of God. The armies of Heaven were following Him, riding on white horses and dressed in fine linen, white and clean. Coming out of His mouth is a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations. “He will rule them with an iron scepter.” He treads the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God Almighty. On His robe and on His thigh, He has this name written: King of kings and Lord of lords. And I saw an angel standing in the sun, who cried in a loud voice to all the birds flying in midair, “Come, gather together for the great supper of God, so that you may eat the flesh of kings, generals, and the mighty, of horses and their riders, and the flesh of all people, free and slave, great and small.” Then I saw the beast and the kings of the earth, and their armies gathered together to wage war against the rider on the horse and His army. But the beast was captured, and with it the false prophet who had performed the signs on its behalf. With these signs, he had deluded those who had received the mark of the beast and worshiped its image. The two of them were thrown alive into the fiery lake of burning sulfur. The rest were killed with the sword coming out of the mouth of the rider on the horse, and all the birds gorged themselves on their flesh.

Jesus will put an end to the lawless one when He returns. The beast was captured, and with it the false prophet who had performed the signs on its behalf. The two of them were thrown alive into the fiery lake of burning sulfur.

Revelation 20:5

The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were over.

THE SECOND RESURRECTION

1 Corinthians 15:50-58 NIV I declare to you, brothers and sisters, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed, in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, (at the last trumpet). For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: “Death has been swallowed up in victory.” “Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting? The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.

THE JUDGMENT OF THE DEAD

Revelation 20:11-15 NIV Then I saw a great white throne and Him who was seated on it. The earth and the heavens fled from His presence, and there was no place for them. And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books. The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and each person was judged according to what they had done. Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death. Anyone whose name was not found written in the Book of Life was thrown into the lake of fire.

THE GREAT CROWD

Revelation 7:9-17 NIV After this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people, and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. And they cried out in a loud voice: “Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.” All the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures. They fell down on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, saying: “Amen! Praise and glory and wisdom and thanks and honor and power and strength be to our God forever and ever. Amen!” Then one of the elders asked me, “These in white robes, who are they, and where did they come from?” I answered, “Sir, you know.” And he said, “These are they who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Therefore, they are before the throne of God and serve Him day and night in His temple, and He who sits on the throne will shelter them with His presence. Never again will they hunger; ever again will they thirst. The sun will not beat down on them, nor any scorching heat. For the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd; He will lead them to springs of living water. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”

HOW CAN YOU PREPARE YOURSELF FOR THE RETURN OF CHRIST

REPENT FOR YOUR SINS

Matthew 4:17 NIV From that time on Jesus began to preach, “Repent, for the kingdom of Heaven has come near.”

BELIEVE

John 3:16 NIV For God so loved the world that He gave His One and Only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.

OBEY

John 14:21 NIV Whoever has My commands and keeps them is the one who loves Me. The one who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I too will love them and show Myself to them.”

THE WATER THAT SAVES

1 Peter 3:20-22 NIV To those who were disobedient long ago when God waited patiently in the days of Noah while the ark was being built. In it only a few people, eight in all, were saved through the water, and this water symbolizes baptism that now saves you also, not the removal of dirt from the body, but the pledge of a clear conscience toward God. It saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who has gone into Heaven and is at God's right hand, with Angels, Authorities, and Powers in submission to Him.

This is the season to get baptized. Like the water Noah and his family passed through was a baptism to save them. The baptism we are offering you is a baptism to save you, so you can receive the Holy Spirit, which will change you before it is too late. No one knows the day or the hour of Christ's return. Some people say I was baptized when I was little or a long time ago. If you are still behaving like the world, maybe you weren't ready to listen or obey Christ, at the time you were baptized. I'm hoping you are ready NOW.

If you have not given your life to Christ, PLEASE do so TODAY.

Please say these words to accept Jesus into your life. I believe that the Lord Jesus Christ is the Son of God. He was in Heaven and came down to Earth. He died for my sins on the cross, was buried, and rose in three days. Now, Jesus sits at the right hand of God. I invite the Lord Jesus Christ into my heart and mind so He can start making changes today. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.