Life Discovery Series

The Great Escape

Three Angels Broadcasting Network

Program transcript

Participants: Jim Reinking

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Series Code: LDS

Program Code: LDS000005


00:34 Tonight, I come with exciting news.
00:38 It is a news that there is answer
00:40 to the complexity of problems and difficulties
00:43 that there is a final solution
00:45 to the misery, suffering and pain
00:47 that we face on planet earth.
00:49 It is the news that it will all come
00:51 to an end at the coming of Jesus.
00:53 My friend, this really is our only hope.
00:57 You know, the Bible emphasizes the coming of Jesus
00:59 over and over again.
01:01 Of the-- of the 41 recorded parables of Jesus
01:05 19 refer specifically to His return, 19 out of 41.
01:11 It is mentioned a thousand times throughout the Bible
01:14 and in the New Testament 1:25 speaks of His return.
01:19 Furthermore the Bible records 300 distinctive prophecies
01:24 in reference to the coming of our Lord.
01:27 Indeed, it is mentioned so often that
01:29 an individual cannot really claim to be a Christian
01:32 without earnestly yet joyously looking forward to Jesus coming.
01:37 And my friend, it is going to be the greatest
01:40 and most joyous experience we can imagine.
01:45 And I want to begin with the promise of it,
01:47 that we have it in the Bible
01:49 beginning with the words of Jesus and John 14,
01:52 the New Testament page 85.
01:55 John 14:2-3, Jesus is coming to the end of His ministry,
02:01 this is the upper room experience,
02:03 this is the setting
02:05 in which these words were spoken.
02:06 The next day Jesus was crucified.
02:08 So you know, you and I know,
02:10 that the words that Jesus spoke on this occasion
02:13 are of specific input to every Christian.
02:17 And He was sharing with His disciples
02:19 how He is going to be leaving them.
02:20 You can read that in chapter 13,
02:22 He says "I'm gonna go away
02:23 and where I'm going you cannot follow now."
02:26 And as you read there in the context of Chapter 13
02:28 I'll tell you this is really struck
02:30 the disciples and particularly Peter.
02:33 And in fact, we've to pick up
02:34 just a little bit of that there in John 13
02:39 where Jesus is explaining that.
02:41 And I'm looking at verse 36.
02:44 "Simon Peter said to Him, 'Lord, where are You going?'
02:47 " Jesus has just said I'm leaving you.
02:49 "Jesus answered, 'Where I go
02:51 you cannot follow Me now,
02:53 but you will follow later.'
02:54 "And notice the response of Peter.
02:57 "Peter said to Him,
02:58 'Lord, why can I not follow You right now?
03:03 I will lay down my life for You.'
03:05 " The idea being separated from Jesus was
03:08 crushing to Peter.
03:10 He couldn't really imagine
03:11 what it would be to be apart from Jesus.
03:14 Why Lord, why can I can't, why can't I go with You now?
03:18 Why cannot I be with You now?
03:20 Don't let these chapter divisions
03:21 get in the way the flow
03:22 of what the Bible teaches.
03:24 We often miss some beautiful and powerful things
03:26 because you go on into chapter 14 verse 1
03:29 and it's that context that which Jesus said
03:31 "do not let your heart be troubled,
03:34 believe in God, believe also in Me."
03:36 He was comforting His disciples
03:39 and reassuring Him wasn't He.
03:41 And then He went on to say
03:42 ""In My Father's house are many dwelling places,
03:45 mansion and if it were not so,
03:47 I would have told you,
03:49 for I go to prepare a place for you.
03:51 And if I go and prepare a place for you,
03:54 I will come again, and receive you to myself;
03:57 that where I am, there you may be also."
04:00 So Jesus said "I'm leaving you, I'm going go."
04:03 And by way where did He go?
04:05 He went to heaven didn't He?
04:08 And what is He doing there?
04:11 Oh, my friend, He hasn't forgotten us.
04:13 Jesus is preparing places for you
04:15 there's a place for you
04:16 there is a place for me, in heaven.
04:22 And He said if I go to prepare place for you I will dwell.
04:25 What will He do?
04:27 I will come again to do what?
04:29 To receive.
04:30 I'm coming back for you Jesus said.
04:33 I haven't forgotten you, I'm coming back for you
04:36 this you can count on.
04:39 And my friend, you and I can count on it too, can't we.
04:41 Jesus is coming back.
04:44 And this is gonna be so wonderful
04:45 when Jesus comes back.
04:47 Acts 1, the New Testament page 91,
04:50 page 91 and again we're looking at the promise
04:54 of the coming of our Lord.
04:56 And we find it here on its,
04:58 in reference to the ascension of Jesus at the--
05:02 you know after His resurrection.
05:04 And now He is on the top of Mount Olivet
05:08 and He is ascending to heaven.
05:09 And notice what we, what we find here
05:11 described in Acts 1 and beginning with verse 9
05:15 "And after that He said these things,
05:17 He was lifted up" it says
05:19 "He was lifted up while they were looking on,
05:22 and a cloud received Him out of their sight.
05:24 And as they were gazing intently into the sky
05:28 while He was going, behold, two men"
05:31 They looked like men but they were angels.
05:33 "Two men in white clothing stood beside them.
05:36 And they also said, 'Men of Galilee,
05:39 why do you stand looking into the sky?
05:42 This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven,
05:45 will come in just the same way'"
05:48 Notice the phrase here.
05:49 "'In just the same way
05:51 as you have watched Him go into heaven.'
05:54 "And so there's as couple of points
05:56 we want to get out of this particular text.
05:58 First of all, again as I emphasize it
06:00 Jesus is going to come in just the way that He went.
06:03 We're going to-- you know,
06:05 we're gonna locked out into place
06:07 as we look at other parallel passages of Scripture.
06:11 But also take note as we're looking
06:12 at these three verses, five times it emphasize that
06:17 they were looking intently to the sky.
06:19 They were looking at Jesus as He was ascending.
06:22 They were watching-- I mean, all of those words
06:25 His, His ascension was visible, they could see Him.
06:29 And again we take note of the fact Jesus said--
06:32 the angels said He will come back
06:33 in the same way He went.
06:35 Which means He is coming also will be visible
06:41 that is so clearly indicated there, right.
06:44 So if you want to make a list just write there
06:46 and just put at the head of it the "Manner of His coming."
06:50 The first thing you put down there is "visible."
06:52 Put it right across from that verse
06:54 so no what where you got that in that verse.
06:56 His coming will be visible.
06:59 And then since He is going to be coming back
07:01 in just the way that He went,
07:02 we want to settle it in one form,
07:05 did Jesus go to heaven?
07:07 And we have some idea that
07:08 because this is after the resurrection.
07:12 And this is here in Luke 24:39 one of the first incidences
07:17 in which Jesus appeared to His disciples.
07:20 Notice what it says "But they were startled."
07:24 Suddenly Jesus was in the mist, they were in the upper room.
07:27 Suddenly He was there. It startled them.
07:31 "And they were frightened
07:33 and thought that they were seeing a spirit."
07:36 That's what they thought He is dead.
07:38 He is, and there He was.
07:41 "And He said to them, 'Why are you troubled,
07:43 and why do doubts arise in your hearts?
07:46 See My hands and My feet, that it is I Myself.'
07:49 " Its really me is what Jesus is saying.
07:52 "Touch Me and see."
07:54 See for yourself
07:55 "for a spirit does not have flesh and bones
07:59 as you see that I have."
08:02 And so my friend, Jesus ascended into heaven
08:07 physically in the flesh.
08:10 He bears our form that is our humanity
08:13 in the presence of God there.
08:15 And I believe will bear our form through the ages of eternity
08:20 represents, imparts His identity with us.
08:24 And so since He physically ascended in the heaven
08:27 and that is in the flesh we are to add that
08:30 as well to our, to our list here.
08:33 His coming is going to be a physical coming
08:37 which also indicates that it is a literal coming.
08:42 We ought not to spiritualize away the coming of Jesus.
08:46 It will be a literal event.
08:50 It's gonna happen and it's gonna happen soon.
08:55 Now again I can't say it's gonna be in your lifetime
08:57 and my lifetime but I certainly can say
08:59 it's not gonna be 100s of years, it's not gonna be that.
09:03 And I think the prophecies are just too clear about that.
09:07 And then I want to take you on to Luke 9:26 on the screen
09:11 where Jesus said "For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words,
09:15 of him will the Son of Man be ashamed
09:17 when He comes in His glory."
09:20 You know, the period could right there
09:22 and we could say the coming of Jesus
09:24 is going to glorious.
09:27 His coming in His own glory.
09:30 In all of His power and all of His majesty.
09:33 But that's not where the period is put.
09:35 He goes on to say "And the glory of the Father."
09:41 Oh, my I have been thinking about
09:42 this passage in recent years.
09:45 He will come in the glory of His Father,
09:48 what does that mean?
09:51 Does that mean that God the Father himself
09:55 is coming with Him?
09:59 I think of some passages in Revelation
10:02 it talks about period of silence in heaven
10:04 and any way I oppose that question.
10:08 I don't know that we can say that for certain from this text
10:11 but there is some indication of that.
10:13 And again but it goes on to say "And of the holy angels."
10:19 And they're coming in the 100s of millions
10:22 as He comes back to this planet.
10:24 So we can say for a certain from the Word of God
10:27 not only will His coming be physical,
10:30 not only will we see Him
10:32 but His coming truly is going to be glorious.
10:37 And so let's add that to our list shall we.
10:39 His coming is going to be glorious.
10:42 That will be such a wonderful thing to see Jesus.
10:46 And can you imagine this,
10:48 when Jesus comes all of His majesty
10:54 He's the coming king, right the coming king,
10:57 coming in all of His glory and all in of His majesty
11:01 and He's coming with those angels
11:04 in the millions and 100s and millions.
11:07 Can you imagine
11:08 how this is going to fill the sky
11:12 and what a powerful thing this is going to be to see this?
11:17 Oh, my friend, I'm here to tell you
11:19 the one that in love died for us
11:21 is the one who in love is coming back for us.
11:26 I said again. He hasn't forgotten us.
11:30 And He has a plan
11:32 and He is going to bring it to a completion.
11:34 He is going to end this whole ugly mess of sin
11:37 upon this planet
11:38 and He is going to get us out of it.
11:41 He is going to take us out of it.
11:44 And that's why I call the great escape,
11:46 we're gonna make our great escape.
11:47 And I want to tell you
11:49 life is never gonna be the same from that point forward.
11:53 It's not gonna be the same, it's gonna be so wonderful.
11:56 Oh, I'll tell you this is something
11:58 that we'll be looking forward
11:59 and then I want to you take to Matthew 24,
12:01 the New Testament page 21.
12:04 Page 21, Matthew 24 and beginning with 40.
12:07 In Matthew 24 we have recorded here
12:11 many of the prophetic statements of Jesus about His coming.
12:15 In fact these statements of Jesus in Matthew 24
12:18 were made that final week of His ministry upon earth.
12:23 That is with the cross just before Him.
12:26 And all that that means to us and what that meant to Jesus.
12:29 Jesus was looking beyond.
12:32 He was looking beyond the cross down to the end of time.
12:35 And so He made these prophetic utterances
12:38 of what will be taking place at the end
12:40 and in reference to His coming
12:42 and I think that's significant, don't you.
12:45 And in fact some of those astounding prophecies
12:48 we have in the Bible are recorded right here
12:51 the words of Jesus.
12:52 Matthew 24:40,
12:54 He says "Then there will be two men in the field
12:57 one will be taken and one will be left.
13:00 Two women will be grinding in the mill
13:03 one will be taken and one will be left."
13:08 You know there are some interesting representations
13:11 that are made about this passage here
13:13 that we're looking at in Matthew 24.
13:15 There are a number of theories
13:18 and they are that theories about the coming of Jesus.
13:21 And one of the fundamental questions we want to settle
13:24 when we talk about the coming of Jesus
13:25 some referred to it as the rapture.
13:28 And you know one of the question is
13:32 how will He come?
13:34 And some are teaching this idea
13:36 that the rapture is actually closed
13:38 a closed rapture it is a secret rapture.
13:41 And that's an important question to settle from the Word of God
13:44 is it a secret or is it an open rapture?
13:48 That's pretty important don't you think.
13:51 And so there is some representations
13:53 made here verse 40 and 41
13:54 the idea that you know it's a close rapture
13:58 and you know the, people go out and they will be ruptured away
14:01 and everybody does stays behind are going to be
14:02 around and saying "the churches are empty
14:05 what happened to them?
14:07 Where did they go? Where did they go?"
14:09 But my friend, if you look at verse 40 and 41,
14:12 you don't have to look at it very carefully to see
14:15 that its just simply making a simple statement
14:18 that when Jesus comes they're are gonna be some
14:21 who are gonna be ready then you're go home with Jesus.
14:25 And there are gonna be some that are not going to be ready.
14:29 They will be left behind.
14:31 They're gonna be left behind, right.
14:35 And to go on and make and develop a theology
14:39 beyond what these verses say based on these verses
14:43 it's really not appropriate,
14:44 it's not even appropriate in the context.
14:47 So let's look at the context verse 42, Jesus said therefore.
14:51 So it says "its gonna happen
14:52 some are going to be ready some or not
14:54 those who are gonna be gonna rise with Jesus
14:58 and make their way to heaven.
14:59 "Therefore" Jesus says "be on the alert,
15:03 for you do not know which day your Lord is coming."
15:08 We don't know the day or the hour.
15:12 If we knew the day or the hour
15:14 oh, it's going to be in 2012 September 14
15:19 at 6 o'clock in the morning.
15:23 You know, what most people would do,
15:25 ah I have got plenty of time, I have got years.
15:29 I gonna take advantage of the time.
15:31 I'm gonna do my own thing.
15:32 And then, then I will get ready.
15:35 And I think that's part of the reason
15:36 we haven't been given the time.
15:38 And I think impart of we have been given the time
15:40 because we're to always be ready for the coming of Jesus right.
15:44 That's why He says, "be on the alert."
15:46 Since we don't know the day or the hour
15:48 we're to be on the alert.
15:50 You know, it's like when you're gonna have company
15:52 Thanksgiving, Christmas and you've companying.
15:55 You know they're coming may be they have been a long trip,
15:57 a road trip and the coming to visit you.
16:00 You know you got ready, haven't you,
16:01 you've prepared?
16:04 And you're waiting with anticipation
16:06 the days comes you know and some
16:08 and may be it's gonna be late in the morning
16:10 or in the afternoon.
16:11 And so you're on the alert.
16:13 You're waiting for that.
16:14 You're waiting for that knock,
16:15 you're waiting them to drive up, into the driveway.
16:17 There is sense of anticipation.
16:19 That is what Jesus is saying here
16:22 when He says be on the alert.
16:24 And He says "for you do not know
16:26 which day your Lord is coming."
16:27 As we read verse 43 "But be sure of this,
16:30 that if the head of the house had known
16:32 at what time of the night the thief was coming,
16:36 he would have been on the alert
16:37 and would not have allowed his house to be broken into."
16:41 This idea of the thief, the thief in the night
16:47 as relates rapture theology is quite fascinating
16:51 to follow this through this, this theory.
16:54 And the idea is and again
16:58 that the coming of Jesus is going to be secretive.
17:04 Many those who are left behind are gonna have no idea
17:07 other than people are missing
17:09 are gonna have no idea that He has come.
17:13 Is that what He is talking about
17:15 when it talks about it thief.
17:16 You know, you don't know when the thief is going to come
17:19 and in reference to this.
17:21 In verse 44, it says "For this reason
17:23 you also must be ready
17:24 for the Son of Man is coming at an hour
17:27 when you do not think He will."
17:30 And what is speaking of here what Jesus is speaking of
17:34 is that His coming will be unexpected.
17:40 Unexpected is not the same as that it will be secret.
17:46 1985, my wife my two kids Kevin was just a toddler.
17:54 And we are still carrying him around.
17:55 He wasn't very mobile at that point,
17:56 made a road trip from the North West
18:00 down to New Orleans
18:02 for a ten day religious conference.
18:06 We took our Fifth Wheel, 40 foot Fifth Wheel
18:09 and so we have the wheels, it's really a nice trip.
18:12 That was a long trip.
18:13 Afterwards we went to Florida.
18:16 Oh, I tell you the lines were so long at Disney World,
18:21 I mean, we began we began to tire.
18:24 We decided we're gonna cut our trip short.
18:27 We were going to go at the east coast
18:29 and then go through Michigan see some friends of ours.
18:32 But we decided to head home and the way that we came
18:35 and so we were heading home
18:37 and I called that my mom and I said mom,
18:40 we shall-- and they lived in Auburn, Washington
18:43 that's kind the bedroom community of Seattle.
18:47 And I said mom, we're headed home
18:49 and we should be there by Friday.
18:52 And so we're progressing, we're making miles in that truck
18:56 and that Fifth Wheel, 40 foot Fifth Wheel
18:58 that was the story in itself.
19:01 Went through the Grand Canyon that was wonderful
19:03 but you know it was something about
19:05 as we were heading west.
19:07 We just had that, that anxiety to get home,
19:10 that desire to get home.
19:12 And we looked at the map
19:14 and I said "Donna, you know if we just pick up the miles
19:16 in the next few days we can get in a day earlier."
19:19 And so we decided yeah let's do that.
19:22 And so we really begin to put on some miles.
19:24 I didn't call up my mom to tell her
19:25 hey we're going to get in on Thursdays not Fridays
19:28 because we were going to surprise them,
19:30 my mom and my dad.
19:33 And so finally the long trip was over
19:36 as we pulled up we parked
19:38 just out of sight of the front door
19:41 of my parents' home.
19:43 And we snuck up on the house.
19:46 And I said to David, David who was may before,
19:51 may before who was a brown as any Indian you've ever seen,
19:57 who got he put his war bounded on
19:59 that he got down there in the Grand Canyon.
20:01 I said David, go up there and knocks on the door.
20:04 And he did.
20:05 And my mother came to the door
20:07 and she didn't even recognize her own grandson.
20:10 She was asking him "who are you, what do you want?"
20:15 And David wasn't quite sure what to say.
20:17 So we jumped out and said "surprise"
20:20 and where they have surprised.
20:23 Now you know we kind of snuck in there
20:26 but let me tell you it was no secret
20:28 when we showed up.
20:31 It wasn't, it was no secret, it's just that day in the hour
20:37 we just didn't let them know that day or the hour.
20:40 This idea again on the secret rapture,
20:45 the idea of the secret rapture is really a new teaching
20:49 that really primarily comes out of the 19th Century
20:52 which raises some interesting questions.
20:55 Did it really, was something so fundamental
20:57 I share with you 19 of the 41 parables of the Jesus
21:00 referred to His coming its all through the Bible
21:02 Old and New Testament.
21:04 Did it really take the Christian church
21:06 1,800 years to discover that the coming of Jesus
21:11 was going to be secret?
21:13 When you find no indication of that prior.
21:17 As you look at it historically.
21:20 And John Nelson Darby was one of the primary individuals
21:24 that brought this into mainstream Christianity.
21:28 His followers were called the Plymouth Brethren
21:30 and this happened over in England.
21:33 And as you look at this historically
21:34 this idea of the secret rapture
21:37 is something that you know that it's only in recent decades
21:43 that this has become generally
21:45 accepted by many Christians and churches.
21:49 And in fact if you go back to the churches
21:51 that now are teaching this idea of the secret rapture
21:53 if you go back about four or five decades
21:56 and look at their teachings
21:57 in reference to the coming of Jesus.
21:59 If they do have something specific
22:01 in their teachings about it
22:02 you will find that they were not teaching this idea.
22:06 So it's only in recent decades that this has become
22:09 more generally accepted by some and has become more popular.
22:16 We need to have that perspective
22:18 because some of us this is all we've heard
22:21 and we think this is the way that is always been.
22:25 And I'm not here to condemn anybody over anything
22:29 in regards to the teachings of God's word
22:30 but I'm interested in finding out the real truth
22:34 that what the Bible teaches
22:36 whatever the subject might be, aren't you.
22:38 That's why we are here.
22:40 And so if something is not quite right
22:42 we really want to know about that.
22:44 In fact, I picked up a book back in 1988,
22:47 "88 reasons why the rapture would be in 1988"
22:51 and the projection was made that Jesus
22:56 the rapture would take place on September 11, 1988.
22:59 Did you know
23:00 that the rapture has already been has taken place.
23:03 And guess what we all were left behind.
23:10 I tell you as you look at this historically in this theory
23:14 a number unfortunately number of prediction
23:18 have been made specifically
23:19 about when the rapture would take place.
23:22 And which begins to raise some other questions
23:26 if they roam and they make these predictions
23:29 could that be wrong on the premise.
23:34 And I will give you an analogy about what's going on.
23:37 It's very much like the evolutionary theory.
23:41 You have this theory this construct
23:43 that has been developed
23:46 about how the origin of the species
23:49 and the other great ages
23:51 is really based on looking at the geological records.
23:53 What has happened is science by and large
23:58 has accepted this as the scientific
24:03 view of how life came and how life developed
24:08 so that whenever they're looking at the geological record
24:12 they interpret the evidence in the geological record
24:15 based on the theory.
24:19 And they fit it into the theory and if it doesn't fit the theory
24:23 they have a real you know anomaly.
24:27 In fact for long time it was called
24:29 the theory of uninformativity.
24:32 They have left that behind
24:33 because clearly in the geological records
24:36 there have been some great catastrophes
24:38 and the greatest of them all of course was the great flood.
24:42 And so that's how they take this theory
24:45 and they interpret the geological record
24:47 and that's what going on with this idea of the rapture
24:51 this dispensation was a view.
24:53 It's a theory, it's a construct
24:55 and when you look at it,
24:57 when you look at the theory of it,
24:59 it makes sense.
25:01 And if didn't make sense
25:03 then nobody would be bind into it would it,
25:06 just like the evolutionary theory.
25:08 You know just looking at it and it seems to make some sense.
25:12 So its seems to make sense and so as you study
25:15 as one studies the Bible based upon the rapture theology
25:20 they are interpreting the Bible record
25:24 based upon the theory.
25:27 And so this text fits here we're gonna fit it here
25:30 this text fits over here
25:31 and this one we're gonna fit right here.
25:34 And you will not find as you look at it that the text
25:38 inheritably in the passage or in the context
25:42 is really speaking about this theory here or there.
25:47 Are you with me?
25:48 That's exactly what is going on.
25:51 And my friend, good interpretation of the Bible
25:54 we call it exegesis.
25:56 That's when we are interpreting
25:57 and developing our views of what the Bible teaches
25:59 from what the Bible actually teaches.
26:02 We call it eisegesis when we take a theory
26:06 and we make the Bible fit into it.
26:09 So the Bible text on this but my friend,
26:13 its not what the Bible actually teaches.
26:16 And of course we now have the left behind series
26:18 as many for-- people forget this whole left behind series
26:22 and the movie, movies and so novel is what it is.
26:25 It's a fictional account of the end time.
26:29 And my friend, I'd really wish
26:30 when it came to essential things like this
26:32 the people were writing fictional accounts about things.
26:36 I wish what they were writing was the truth
26:39 because they were left with is this representation really
26:43 in harmony with what the Bible teaches about the matter.
26:46 What do we sorted out fact from fiction?
26:50 And my friend, there is only way-- one way to sort it out
26:52 and that is through the teachings of scripture
26:55 we sort out fact from fiction.
26:57 I will tell you a lot of people
26:59 read these books and seen the movie
27:00 and they take it as if it was you know
27:04 it was a fiction as if it was the truth.
27:08 But it's a fictional account now again I'm not here
27:12 judging individuals who believe in this
27:14 because there are many sincere born again Christians
27:17 who love the Lord this is what if they've heard anything about
27:20 prophecy may be this is what they've heard.
27:23 So we got to keep that in mind.
27:25 So you know it's a question I'm spending a little time
27:28 with it oh, no I'm seeing a little bit of time with it.
27:31 Are you still there in Matthew 24
27:33 this is the New Testament page 21?
27:35 I want you to look at the context.
27:38 And the context makes it absolutely clear this is not
27:42 what Jesus is talking about and look it talking about
27:44 verse 45 now and onward continuing the context.
27:49 Jesus says "Who then is the faithful and sensible slave"
27:53 or servant "whom his master put in charge of his household
27:56 to give them their food at the proper time?
28:00 Blessed is that slave" the servant
28:02 "whom his master finds so doing when he comes."
28:06 That's the reference to the coming of Jesus.
28:08 When He comes.
28:09 "Truly I say to you that he will put him
28:11 in charge of all his possessions."
28:13 He is gonna be richly rewarded by his master when he comes.
28:18 The one that is faithful.
28:19 Verse 48 "But if that evil slave"
28:21 servant "says in his heart,
28:23 'My master is not coming for a long time
28:26 and begins to beat his fellow slaves
28:28 and eat and drink with drunkards
28:31 the master of that slave will come on a day
28:34 when he does not expect him
28:36 and at an hour which he does not know,
28:39 and will cut him in pieces and assign him a place
28:43 with the hypocrites in that place
28:45 there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth."
28:48 So the faithful servant is going to be rewarded
28:51 the unfaithful servant what's going to happen
28:55 in a word judgment, right.
28:59 And so we have the two classes
29:02 one will be ready and one will not.
29:06 We know and it's a context
29:07 of what will happen for those who are ready
29:09 they are going to be rewarded and for those who are not.
29:12 And let me say as we come to the Mark of Beasts
29:15 and some of these things from the book of Revelation,
29:17 some of these issues will come into clear focus
29:21 for us to understand, why those
29:23 who are left behind are faced with judgment.
29:28 And my friend, as we come to the end
29:31 and the coming of the Jesus
29:34 God is bringing this mess to and end,
29:37 this problem of sin to end on the earth.
29:39 He is bringing to an end and for those who have not
29:44 who have hardened their hearts in rebellion against God
29:48 they just cannot be rewarded they will not be rewarded.
29:52 They left God with no choice,
29:55 they are going to be left out,
29:58 they're gonna experience judgments.
30:00 But remember Jesus said "this Gospel the kingdom
30:03 must go to the whole world as a witness to all nations
30:05 and then the end shall come."
30:07 And before the end comes before Jesus comes
30:10 God is doing all that he can to say as many as He can.
30:14 And again in context if you take a look at it in Matthew 24:37,
30:22 in the context of what we looked at it say
30:25 Jesus says "But as the days of Noah were,
30:27 so shall also the coming of the son of man be."
30:31 As it was in the days of Noah.
30:33 There are parallels Jesus says between what happened
30:35 in Noah's day and His coming.
30:37 And among the things that we take note
30:39 in parallel for a 120 years.
30:42 Noah preached a prophetic message
30:45 declaring the end was coming
30:47 and a message of repentance that was speaking about
30:51 getting into a right relationship with God.
30:55 120 years he preached it and then the end came
30:59 as it was in the days of Noah
31:01 so shall be in the coming of the Son of Man
31:04 and what happened to the antediluvian world
31:06 for those who did not respond.
31:11 They were left behind and they were destroyed.
31:17 God didn't will it.
31:19 God didn't want it to be that way.
31:22 And so those who are left behind were destroyed
31:26 and those who responded--
31:27 well, they aped but they were saved.
31:32 Okay they were saved out of the destruction
31:35 "as it was in the days of Noah,
31:36 so shall also the coming of the Son of Man."
31:38 Take a look at Luke 17
31:39 the New Testament page 62, page 62 Luke 17
31:44 which is Luke's record of what we just read here in Matthew 24.
31:50 And notice how he quotes Jesus in reference to, you know,
31:53 as it was in the days of Noah
31:56 so shall be in the coming of the Son of Man.
31:58 Luke 17 and beginning with verse 26.
32:02 Beginning with verse 26 he says
32:05 "And just as it happened in the days of Noah."
32:07 There it is.
32:08 That was Matthew 24:37 we just read
32:11 just as it happened in the days of Noah
32:13 "so it will be also in the days of the Son of Man."
32:16 That is in his coming.
32:17 Now notice what was going on
32:19 "they were eating they were drinking
32:21 they were marrying they were giving in marriage
32:23 until the day that Noah entered the ark and the flood came."
32:26 And did what to them all? "Destroyed them all."
32:29 Verse 28 "It was the same as happened in the days of what?
32:32 They were eating, they were drinking,
32:34 they were buying, they were selling,
32:36 they were planting, they were building,
32:37 but on the day that Lot went out from Sodom it rained fire
32:41 and brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all."
32:45 No wonder it's taking time
32:48 for the impact of the gospel to go to the whole world.
32:53 God's gonna let it play out the effect of the gospel
32:57 and His call to the laws and inhabitants of the planet.
33:00 And He is gonna give everybody in the-- in the end
33:03 He is gonna give everyone then in the end a chance
33:07 to make their decision before He wraps it up.
33:10 And my friend, He is not going to be hurried into doing this
33:15 because he would have all come
33:18 to repentance and to salvation.
33:22 But nevertheless we know
33:23 from our study of the prophecies
33:24 from just last night in Daniel 2,
33:26 we are in the last days.
33:29 Its not centuries ahead of us.
33:31 It may be close to them what we think because it says
33:34 He is going to come in an hour which we think not.
33:37 It's going to be unexpected.
33:38 Let me take you to 1 Thessalonians 4:16-18,
33:43 1 Thessalonians 4 and beginning with verse 16
33:47 as we talk about the coming Jesus one of the things
33:50 that is done when it comes to rapture theology
33:53 is they look at the Greek words
33:54 that refer to the coming of Jesus.
33:56 There are some six different Greek words and as you study it
34:00 they're actually synonyms for the same event.
34:03 But they, they make the representation
34:06 that whenever you see the Greek word parousia
34:10 in reference to the coming Jesus
34:11 this is the rapture and the rest of the words
34:15 is the reference to the second coming.
34:17 That's what they do.
34:19 And here in 1 Thessalonians 4:16 we find the word parousia
34:24 and this was one of the key passages scripture
34:27 in the idea of the rapture you have to know that
34:30 that we're going to see in the context
34:31 it's not talking about what is being represented here.
34:35 First Thessalonians 4:16 says "For the Lord Himself
34:40 will descend from heaven with a shout,
34:42 with the voice of the archangel,
34:43 with the trumpet of God,
34:45 and the dead in Christ will rise first."
34:48 Oh, I tell you that is powerful.
34:50 When the Lord himself is descending
34:52 from heaven with all of those angels
34:54 there is going to be a shout Jesus is going to be shout.
34:56 Jesus is gonna be shouting, what do you think that's about?
35:03 And I will tell you it's joyous.
35:06 He is coming back in triumph.
35:09 He is saying here I'm.
35:11 I told you I'll come back.
35:12 I haven't forgotten you, I'm here.
35:17 So He is coming back with a shout.
35:19 I just love that, don't you?
35:21 And powerful-- voice of the arch angels heard
35:23 and powerful things happened there is a trumpet that is heard
35:27 and at that point the dead just think of it,
35:30 the dead were stir in the graves and they will come up
35:35 and they will live again
35:39 because they're n the presence of the life giver.
35:43 Oh, that's so powerful.
35:44 Verse 17 "Then we who are alive and remain
35:46 shall be caught up together with them
35:48 in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air,"
35:51 What an ascension that gonna be.
35:52 "And so we shall always be with the Lord.
35:54 Therefore comfort one another with these words."
35:57 How wonderful that's gonna be
35:58 looking intently seeing Jesus coming.
36:01 It's just glorious, it's overwhelming.
36:04 And then suddenly, to realize we're no longer in contact
36:08 with this old earth.
36:09 We're being drawn up off the earth.
36:12 We're being drawn into the presence of Jesus.
36:15 We find ourselves a bit to look down,
36:18 we find ourselves above the tree tops,
36:20 above the buildings
36:22 and ever been drawn closer to Him until suddenly
36:27 we find ourselves in the mist of all of those angels
36:31 and they're not silent they're singing.
36:35 What a thrill it's gonna be and to define ourselves
36:38 in the immediate presence of Jesus.
36:43 All I tell you those that just look at prophecy
36:45 and say oh, that kind of interesting
36:47 you know not really of all that important.
36:50 And they're missing the whole point of it.
36:51 My friend, this is the end point of the all the prophecies.
36:54 It is about the coming of Jesus and it is so relational.
36:59 It is relational.
37:02 It's fundamental of why Jesus is coming back
37:05 because He loves us, He purchases us at Cavalry.
37:09 We have responded to the claims of Jesus Christ in our lives.
37:13 And He is coming back
37:15 my friend, it doesn't get any better than this.
37:18 It doesn't get any better than this.
37:22 And so there we are but remember these chapter divisions
37:26 forget the chapter divisions
37:27 they were just put in there to help us to locate verses.
37:31 Just imagine verse chapter 5 is not there that division
37:34 and just go on because He continues on.
37:37 In chapter 5 verse 1
37:38 "Now as to the times and the epochs,brethren,
37:41 you have no need of anything to be written to you.
37:44 For you yourselves know full well
37:46 that the day of the Lord will come
37:47 just like a thief in the night."
37:49 Now we are coming back to this theme this motive
37:52 as what we call it theologically.
37:54 This idea that the thief at the night,
37:56 books and even movies have written on the side
37:58 either thief in the night again the representation
38:01 being that it is secretive.
38:04 So you know the day of the Lord that is the coming of our Lord
38:07 will come just like a thief in the night.
38:09 "While they are saying, 'Peace and safety'
38:12 then destruction will come upon them suddenly."
38:16 Who we're that we talking about?
38:19 Those who are left behind
38:20 as it was in the days of Noah, right.
38:23 "Will come upon them suddenly like
38:25 labor pains upon a woman with child,
38:27 and they will not escape."
38:30 Does it sound very secretive to me
38:34 when it says sudden destruction?
38:38 Let me tell you this is little bit tough
38:40 this is the tough part of prophecy
38:41 that some are going to be left out,
38:43 some are gonna be destroyed but God is end in it.
38:47 And we have one or two choices.
38:49 Either we embrace Jesus as our Lord and Savior,
38:52 He bore our sins, He died in our place
38:55 or in the end we will the bare the consequences of our sins
38:58 and the wages of sin is death.
39:02 Its no arbitrary act of God but my friend,
39:04 in the end there will be no place for sin
39:08 and all the whole of things that come because of sin.
39:11 And so God begin-- there is a process that we see
39:14 as we come to the millennium tomorrow night,
39:16 God's wrapping it up.
39:18 I know He is bringing to and end
39:20 like that's its been known here in this planet comes to end
39:23 at the coming of Jesus.
39:25 And it says like labor pains upon woman with child.
39:27 And I share with you I think already
39:29 yes, last Sunday night how my wife and I
39:32 it was actually I was thinking about his is actually
39:34 11 going on 12 years before we had our first child.
39:38 And I think I shared with you my wife had an amiantose
39:41 so she was a mid thirties at this point
39:44 and we knew it was gonna be a son
39:46 and so we got ready this you know mine
39:49 was the generation that was expected the man
39:51 the fathers the husband were expected to be part
39:55 of the natural birthing process.
39:56 So we went through the Bradley Method
39:59 of natural child birthing.
40:02 We went to the classes, saw the films
40:05 and we thought we were fairly intelligent.
40:08 The doctors said the due date is January,
40:12 my wife would remember January of 1982.
40:16 It is 3 days after Christmas 1981,
40:20 11 o'clock at night.
40:21 Why do these things have to take place so late?
40:25 I'm in bed just drifting off to sleep when my wife calls up
40:29 "my water has broken."
40:32 And you know they thought about you know
40:35 labor can be intensive
40:37 and can go on for hours and hours
40:39 and even days
40:40 and then the forced labor and you know
40:44 to my shame I said to Donna
40:46 "its too early kind of bad."
40:49 You know and I just knew it just couldn't be
40:53 but she finally got me up and I thought wow,
40:55 if it's gonna happen I'm going to start fresh
40:57 so I stepped into the shower.
41:00 Yeah, this is going to be one of 48 hours
41:02 one of the experiences
41:03 I at least gonna start out and I shaved.
41:06 You know this 11-11:30 at night.
41:08 And in deed the first contraction came
41:11 and so my training kicked in I looked at okay,
41:16 took note of, you know,
41:18 the minute that that came and I was waiting.
41:21 And sure enough another one came but it came three minutes later
41:25 and I remember saying to Donna "three minutes,
41:28 that's not the way that happened.
41:30 What happened to the 15 minute."
41:33 You know that where begins which was our first clue
41:37 things we're gonna happen very quickly.
41:40 We're living in, oh we were living in the Portland area,
41:44 living in Carberry.
41:45 We were living in Carberry I was pastoring in that area.
41:47 And we were going to the hospital in Portland.
41:50 It's the little trip at night and so we packed our bags.
41:54 We least done that and I said we better get going.
41:56 We got through the hospital we are in the birthing room
41:59 and I'm in a gown
42:01 and that really things are moving along
42:03 and before I knew it I was cheek to cheek with my wife
42:06 that I was trying to helping her breath
42:09 through these rapidly intensifying contractions.
42:16 And then it hit, it was textbook transition.
42:21 I saw the fear into my wife's eyes
42:23 as she went into transition.
42:25 The realization this baby is coming
42:27 and there is no way out.
42:29 You can beg, you can plead
42:31 but I don't know if anybody that gotten out of it.
42:35 Well, this is what Paul is talking about
42:37 when he says sudden destruction and something like labor pains
42:42 and probably which he was talking about transition.
42:45 What we're going to see that there is go
42:46 through these contractions after coming
42:49 and the presence of Jesus Christ.
42:51 It's going to shaken to and fro
42:53 and then the after realization for those who are not behind
42:56 they're lost that they have salvation is behind
43:01 and there is no turning back.
43:03 Its gonna be pretty awful isn't it.
43:07 I will take you on to 2 Peter 3:10
43:12 "But the day of the Lord will come like a thief."
43:15 There it is.
43:16 "In which the heavens will pass away."
43:18 It's talking about for moment the atmosphere.
43:20 "It will pass away with a roar
43:22 and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat."
43:26 The elements what's that talking about
43:28 destroyed with intense heat.
43:29 Where is that heat been generated from
43:31 will put that together.
43:33 "The elements will be destroyed with intense heat
43:35 and the earth and its works will be burned up."
43:38 I will tell you nobody is gonna go through this
43:40 waking up the next morning and saying what happened.
43:44 The earth comes to an end.
43:47 It will become to our study about millennium tomorrow night
43:50 is not the final end.
43:52 Take a look at 2 Thessalonians 1
43:54 the New Testament page 161.
43:58 2 Thessalonians just a page or two
44:00 if you're still there in 1 Thessalonians
44:02 and beginning with verse 6
44:04 talking about what happens to thosewho are left behind.
44:06 "For after all it is only just for God
44:09 to repay with affliction those who afflict you,
44:12 and to give relief to you
44:14 who are afflicted and to us as well
44:17 when the Lord Jesus will be revealed from heaven
44:19 with His mighty angels in flaming fire"
44:23 is the description we have here that really is His glory.
44:28 Verse 8 says "Dealing out retribution
44:30 to those who do not know God
44:31 and to those who do not obey the gospel
44:34 of our Lord Jesus."
44:37 Revelation 1:7 "Behold, He is coming with the clouds,
44:40 and every eye shall see Him, even those who pierced Him
44:44 and all the tribes of the earth will mourn over Him.
44:47 So it is to be. Amen."
44:50 My friend that's now talking about the godly God's people
44:53 that will be shouting hallelujah
44:56 it's going to be joy inexpressible
44:58 as you see Jesus coming.
45:00 And even talks about the tribes mourning over them is
45:02 those who are left behind because they see Him
45:04 and they know they're lost.
45:08 It's horrible.
45:09 But again God is doing all that He can
45:12 to save as many as He can.
45:13 Jesus said
45:16 "And then the sign of the Son of Man
45:18 will appear the sky," it said cloud,
45:19 a cloud of the angels that surround Jesus.
45:22 "And then all the tribes of the earth will mourn."
45:24 It says it again they will mourn.
45:26 "And they" talking about those who're lost
45:29 "They will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky
45:33 with power and great glory."
45:37 Great glory and so we all to add that to our list
45:40 His coming is gonna be powerful we've already noted.
45:43 It is going to be a glorious event.
45:47 And I want to tell you
45:48 looking a little bit at the physical phenomena
45:50 that is gonna happen at the coming of Jesus.
45:51 Revelation 16 indicates what happens at His presence.
45:57 Beginning with verse 18 it says
45:58 "And there were flashes of lightning
46:00 and sounds and peals of thunder;
46:02 and there was a great earthquake,
46:04 such as there had not been
46:06 since man came to be upon the earth."
46:08 Think about that.
46:09 "So great an earthquake was it, and so mighty."
46:13 It says "And every island fled away,
46:17 and the mountains were not found."
46:19 This old earth is just gonna be shaken to and fro
46:21 at the presence, the powerful presence of Jesus.
46:25 The Tsunami as some years ago
46:27 is only a little bit of the indication
46:30 that destruction that came out of it.
46:32 The destruction that overwhelms the whole of the earth
46:37 at the coming of Jesus.
46:40 I want you to take you to Luke 21
46:42 where it says "Be on guard,
46:44 that your hearts may not be weighted down
46:46 with dissipation and drunkenness and the worries of life,
46:50 and that day come on you suddenly like a trap."
46:54 Like that it's gonna happen suddenly, unexpectedly
46:57 "for it will come" Jesus said,
47:00 "upon all those who dwell on the face of all the earth.
47:03 But keep on the alert at all times,
47:05 praying in order that you may have strength to escape
47:08 all these things that are about to take place,
47:12 and to stand before the Son of Man."
47:14 Oh, my friend, what is it gonna be in that day
47:16 when Jesus comes
47:18 and to find ourselves in His presence.
47:21 Well, one of my favorite authors describes it this way.
47:26 Soon, there appears in the east a small black cloud
47:30 about half the size of a man's hand.
47:32 It is the cloud which surrounds the Savior
47:34 and which seems in the distance to be shrouded in darkness.
47:39 The people of God
47:40 know this to be the sign of the Son of Man.
47:43 In solemn silence they gaze upon it
47:46 as it draws nearer to the earth
47:48 becoming lighter and more glorious
47:51 until it is a great white cloud
47:53 its base a glory like consuming fire
47:57 and above it the rainbow of the covenant.
48:00 Jesus rides forth as a mighty conqueror
48:03 not now a man of sorrow
48:05 to drink the bitter cup of shame and woe.
48:07 He comes victor in heaven and earth
48:09 to judge the living and the dead faithful and true
48:13 and righteous that He just judge and wage war.
48:16 And the armies which were in heaven follow Him
48:18 with anthems the celestial melody
48:20 the holy angels they bass unnumbered
48:23 drawn attended on His way.
48:25 The firmament seems filled with radium forms
48:28 10,000 times 10,000 and thousand and thousands,
48:33 no human pen can portray that scene.
48:36 No mortal mind is adequate to conceive His splendor,
48:39 His glory covered the heavens
48:41 and the earth was full of His praise
48:43 and His brightness was as the light.
48:46 As a living call comes still near
48:48 every eye beholds the prince of life.
48:51 No crown of thorns now mares that sacred head
48:54 but He died and glory now rest upon on His holy brow.
48:57 His countenance outshines the dazzling
49:00 brightness of the noonday sun.
49:03 "And He hath on His vesture and on His thigh a name written,
49:06 King of kings, and Lord of lords.
49:10 Before His presence "all faces are turned into paleness"
49:14 upon the rejecters of God's grace
49:16 falls the terror of eternal despair.
49:18 "The heart melteth, and the knees smite together,
49:21 and the faces of them all gather blackness."
49:24 The righteous cry with trembling "Who shall be able to stand?"
49:28 The angels' song is hushed,
49:30 and there is a period of awful silence.
49:33 Then the voice of Jesus is heard, saying
49:36 "My grace is sufficient for you."
49:39 The faces of the righteous lighted up,
49:42 and joy fills every heart.
49:44 And the angels strike a note higher and sing again
49:47 as they draw still nearer to the earth.
49:50 The King of kings descends upon the cloud,
49:53 wrapped in flaming fire.
49:55 The heavens are rolled together as a scroll,
49:57 the earth trembles before His presence,
50:00 and every mountain and island is moved out of its place.
50:04 "Our God shall come, and shall not keep silence,
50:06 a fire shall devour before Him,
50:08 and it shall be very tempestuous round about Him.
50:10 He shall call to the heavens
50:11 from above, and to the earth beneath,
50:13 that He may judge His people."
50:15 "And the kings of the earth, and the great men,
50:19 and the chief captains, and the mighty men,
50:21 and every bondman, and every freeman,
50:22 hid themselves in the dens
50:24 and in the rocks of the mountains
50:26 and said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us,
50:28 and hide us from the face of Him that sitteth on the throne,
50:33 and from the wrath of the Lamb for the great day of His wrath
50:36 is come and who shall be able to stand?"
50:39 The derisive jests have ceased.
50:43 Lying lips are hushed into silence.
50:45 The clash of arms,
50:46 the tumult of battle, with confused noise,
50:49 and garments rolled in blood' is stilled.
50:51 Not now is heard but the voice of prayer
50:54 and the sound of weeping and lamentation.
50:57 The cry bursts forth from lips so lately scoffing
51:00 "The great day of His wrath is coming
51:02 who shall be able to stand?"
51:04 The wicked pray to be buried beneath the rocks
51:07 of the mountains rather than meet the face of Him
51:09 whom they have despised and rejected.
51:13 That voice which penetrates
51:14 the ear of the dead, they know.
51:17 How often have its plaintive,
51:19 tender tones called them to repentance?
51:22 How often has it been heard in the touching entreaties
51:24 of a friend, a brother,
51:26 a Redeemer to the rejecters of His grace
51:28 no other could be so full of condemnation,
51:33 so burdened with denunciation,
51:36 All that we're to them the voice of a stranger says
51:39 "Jesus I have called but ye refused.
51:41 I have stretched out my hand but no man regarded
51:44 but you have setting all my counsel
51:46 and would none of my reproof."
51:49 That voice awakens memories
51:51 which they would fame blot out of warnings refused,
51:54 the privileges slighted of invitations refused.
52:00 There are there are those
52:03 who mark Christ in His humiliation
52:06 with thrill in power come to their minds in suppers words
52:08 when juried by the high priest he solemnly declared hereafter
52:12 shall we see the son of man sitting on the right hand
52:15 the power and coming in the clouds of glory
52:18 now they behold them in His glory
52:20 and they are yet to see Him
52:21 sitting on the right hand the power.
52:24 Those who derided His claim
52:25 to be the Son of God are speechless now.
52:28 There is the haughty Herod who jeered at His royal title
52:31 and bade the mocking soldiers crown Him king.
52:33 There are the very men who with impious hands placed
52:36 upon His form the purple robe,
52:38 upon His sacred brow the thorny crown,
52:40 and in His unresisting hand the mimic scepter,
52:43 and bowed before Him in blasphemous mockery.
52:47 The men who beat and spit upon the Prince of life
52:51 now turn from His piercing gaze and seek to flee
52:54 from the overpowering glory of His presence.
52:58 Those who drove the nails through His hands and feet,
53:00 the soldier who pierced His side,
53:02 behold these marks with terror and remorse.
53:06 With awful distinctness do priests
53:08 and rulers recall the events of Calvary.
53:10 With shuddering horror they remember how,
53:12 wagging their heads in satanic exultation, they exclaimed
53:15 "He saved others, Himself He cannot save.
53:18 If He be the King of Israel,
53:19 let Him now come down from the cross,
53:21 and we will believe Him.
53:22 He trusted in God, let Him deliver Him now,
53:25 if He will have Him."
53:27 Vividly they recall the Savior's parable of the husbandmen
53:31 who refused to render to their Lord
53:32 the fruit of the vineyard,
53:34 who abused his servants and slew his son.
53:37 They remember, too, the sentence
53:38 which they themselves pronounced,
53:40 the Lord of the vineyard
53:42 "will miserably destroy those wicked men."
53:45 In the sin and punishment of those unfaithful men
53:48 the priests and elders see their own course
53:51 and their own just doom.
53:53 And now there rises a cry of mortal agony.
53:55 Louder than the shout, "Crucify Him, crucify Him,"
53:58 which rang through the streets of Jerusalem,
54:00 swells the awful, cry "He is the Son of God!
54:03 He is the true Messiah!"
54:06 They seek to flee from the presence
54:07 of the King of kings.
54:09 In the deep caverns of the earth,
54:11 rent asunder by the warring of the elements,
54:14 they vainly attempt to hide.
54:17 In the lives of all who reject truth there are moments
54:19 when conscience awakens, when memory presents
54:22 the torturing recollection of a life of hypocrisy
54:24 and the soul is harassed with vain regrets.
54:28 But what are these compared with the remorse of that day
54:30 when "fear cometh as desolation,"
54:33 when "destruction cometh as a whirlwind!"
54:37 Those who would have destroyed Christ and His faithful people
54:40 now witness the glory which rests upon them.
54:43 In the midst of their terror
54:44 they hear the voices of the saints
54:46 in joyful strains exclaiming "Lo, this is our God,
54:49 we have waited for Him, and He will save us."
54:54 Amid the reeling of the earth,
54:56 and the flash of lightning, and the roar of thunder,
54:58 the voice of the Son of God calls forth the sleeping saints.
55:03 He looks upon the graves of the righteous,
55:04 then, raising His hands to heaven,
55:06 He cries "Awake, awake, awake,
55:08 ye that sleep in the dust, and arise!"
55:11 Throughout the length and breadth of the earth
55:12 the dead shall hear that voice,
55:14 and they that hear shall live.
55:16 And the whole earth shall ring
55:17 with the tread of the exceeding great army
55:19 of every nation, kindred, tongue, and people.
55:21 From the prison house of death they come,
55:24 clothed with immortal glory, crying,
55:25 "O death, where is thy sting?
55:28 O grave, where is thy victory?
55:30 And the living righteous and the risen saints
55:32 unite their voices in a long, glad shout of victory.
55:36 The living righteous are changed "in a moment,
55:39 in the twinkling of an eye."
55:40 At the voice of God they were glorified now
55:42 they are made immortal
55:44 and are caught out to meet their Lord in the air.
55:47 Angels "gather together His elect from the four winds,
55:49 from one end of heaven to the other."
55:52 Little children are borne
55:53 by holy angels to their mothers' arms.
55:56 Friends long separated by death are united, nevermore to part,
56:00 and with songs of gladness ascend to the holy city.
56:04 On each side of the cloudy chariot are wings,
56:07 and beneath it are living wheels;
56:09 and as the chariot rolls upward, the wheels cry, "Holy,"
56:13 and the wings, as they move, cry, "Holy,"
56:17 and the retinue of angels cry,
56:19 "Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty."
56:22 And the redeemed shout, "Alleluia!"
56:25 as the chariot moves onward toward the New Jerusalem.
56:29 Before entering the City of God, the Savior bestows
56:33 upon His followers the emblems of victory and invests them
56:37 with the insignia of their royal state.
56:39 The glittering ranks are drawn up
56:41 in the form of a hollow square about their King,
56:43 whose form rises in majesty high above saint and angel,
56:47 whose countenance beams upon them full of benignant love.
56:51 Throughout the unnumbered host of the redeemed
56:53 every glance is fixed upon Him,
56:55 every eye beholds His glory whose
56:56 "visage was so marred more than any man,
56:58 and His form more than the sons of men."
57:02 Jesus with His own right hand places
57:06 the crown of glory on ever hand.
57:09 In every hand are placed the victor's palm
57:10 and the shining harp.
57:11 And then, as the commanding angels strike the note,
57:14 each hand sweeps the harp strings with skillful touch,
57:17 awaking sweet music in rich, melodious strains.
57:21 Rapture unutterable thrills every heart,
57:23 and each voice is raised in grateful praise
57:26 "To Him that loved us,
57:27 and washed us from our sins in His own blood,
57:29 and hath made us kings and priests
57:31 unto God and His Father to Him
57:33 be glory and dominion for ever and ever."
57:36 Before the ransomed throng is the Holy City.
57:39 Jesus opens wide the pearly gates.
57:42 And then that voice, richer than any music
57:45 that ever fell on mortal ear, is heard, saying:
57:48 "Your conflict is ended."
57:51 "Come, ye blessed of My Father,
57:53 inherit the kingdom prepared for you
57:56 from the foundation of the world."
58:03 So what it will be for you and me in that day.
58:08 It's coming, anything in this world
58:12 we're clinging to miss the glory that is ahead for us.
58:19 The joy that will be ours to be united
58:22 face to face with the one head
58:24 that has so loved us has given himself
58:28 so fully and completely I love that soul.


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Revised 2014-12-17