The King Is Coming

Imagine, if you will, the deep middle of the night

on Interstate 40, out in the high desert of New Mexico,

or along the icy stretches of Interstate 80 across Nebraska.

The rest of the world is fast asleep, tucked safely

into their beds, but for you, sitting up high in

the cab of an 18-wheeler, the day is far from over.

The rumble of that 500-horsepower diesel engine under your boots

is a steady rhythm, White lines on the black asphalt

sweep past your headlights like endless seconds ticking away on

a clock. You've got 1,500 miles behind you and 500

more to go before your deadline. You know the weight

of the freight behind you, you know the exhaustion in

your bones, and you know the quiet solitude that settles

into the cab when it's just you, the road, and

the crackle of the CB radio. For millions of truck

drivers across this nation, life is measured in logbooks, fuel stops,

way stations, and distant exit signs. You carry the burden

of keeping this country moving. You sacrifice time with your wives,

your husbands, your children, and your churches so that store

cells stay full and communities thrive. Yours is a life

of vigilance, watching the weather, monitoring the gauges, scanning the mirrors,

and staying alert for whatever might be around the next curb.

But today, I want to lift your eyes beyond the

windshield of your rig. Pour your attention above the horizon

of your daily routine. Because just as surely as there

is a final destination printed on your bill of laden,

there's a final destination scheduled for human history. The Bible

declares from cover to cover that history is not an endless,

directionless loop of power. It's heading toward a supreme, divine appointment.

The King of Kings is coming, and the rapture of

the church is soon. Today, whether you're listening from a

church sanctuary or a truck stop lounge, or through the

speakers of your cab parked under the bright lights of

a travel plaza, God has an urgent message for your soul,

a message that will challenge you to the very core

of your heart. It's also a message that brings sweet,

everlasting comfort to every weary traveler. The Bible says in

1 Thessalonians 4, For the Lord himself will descend from

heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel,

and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in

Christ will rise first, and we who are alive and

remain will be caught up together with them in the

clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so

we shall always be with the Lord. Look at those words,

the Lord himself will descend. He's not sending an ambassador.

He's not sending an angel to handle the delivery. The

king who walked the dusty roads of Galilee, the Lord

who bore your sins on the rough wood of the cross,

the Savior who broke the chains of death and walked

out soon. He himself is coming back. In the world

of freight, you work on schedules. You have estimated times

of arrival, dispatched windows, and logbook rules. The return of

Jesus Christ does not operate on a human timetable. The

Apostle Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 15, 51-52, Behold, I

tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but

we shall all be changed in a moment in the

twinkling of an eye at the last trumpet. where the

trumpet will sound and the dead will be raised incorruptible,

and we shall all be changed. Scientists tell us that

the twinkle of an eye is not a blink, it's

the fraction of a second it takes for light to

reflect off the cornea. About 11 milliseconds. Faster than you

can shift a gear. Faster than an air brake can release.

Faster than a lightning flash across a stormy night sky.

In one sudden, earth-shaking, glorious instant millions of believers across

the globe will simply vanish. Imagine a driver faithful to

Christ rolling down the highway suddenly caught up into the clouds.

Millions of people taken from every continent, every nation, every city,

every truck stop, and every home. The world will be

thrown into instant chaos and confusion. Signs of the times

are flashing red on heaven's dashboard. Wars and rumors of wars,

moral decay, economic shaking, technological readiness, everything the Bible prophesied

about the end of the age coming to pass right

before our very eyes. King is on the move. His

grand return is imminent. The question that echoes into your

cab today is not when it will happen, but are

you ready when it does? Now I know that for

many of you driving the highways night after night, life

feels heavy. Roads can be a cruel place. You deal

with loneliness that sinks into your chest like lead. You

miss birthday parties, school play, anniversary dinners, and family worship.

You sit in your cab with the heater humming on

a cold night, wondering if anybody really sees you, if

anybody cares about the sacrifices you make, or if anyone

notices the tears you wipe away when the cab goes dark.

Hear the comforting word of God tonight, friend. The message

of the rapture is not meant to terrify the believer.

meant to comfort you. Right after Paul describes the glorious

catching away of the believers in 1 Thessalonians 4, he

concludes in verse 18 with these simple words. Therefore, comfort

one another with these words. Jesus knew the troubles of

your heart. On the night before he went to the cross,

he gathered his weary disciples and said in John 14, 1-3,

Let not your heart be troubled. You believe in God,

believe also in me. My Father's house are many mansions.

If it were not so, I would have told you.

I go to prepare a place for you. And if

I go and prepare a place for you, I will

come again and receive you to myself. That where I am,

there you may be also. Think about that promise. The

Lord Jesus Christ is building a place for you. On

this earth, your home might be a sleeper berth measuring

70 inches across. Your home might be temporary motels or

rented rooms. You live out of a duffel bag and

eat at counter schools. Jesus says, I'm preparing a permanent

home for you. When the king comes in rapture, the

long haul for the Christian driver will finally be over.

No more engine breakdowns or blown tires in the middle

of nowhere. No more physical pain, arthritis, or aching backs

or sitting behind the wheel for 14 hours. No more bitter,

lonely nights. No more heavy heartaches. No more goodbyes. No

more graves. Titus 2.13 calls this the blessed hope and

glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ.

If you trust in Jesus, you don't have to fear

the future. You don't have to fear death. You don't

have to fear the dark stretches of the road. You

have a Savior who holds your life in his hands,

who walks with you in the gap, who has promised

that he will never leave you nor forsake you. The

King is coming to take his children home. But I

must be direct with you tonight, just as the servant

of God preached with burning passion over half a century,

Billy Graham, he says, you're not in Christ, coming of

the king is not a comfort, a terrifying warning. Every

truck driver knows what it's like to see the signs

for an open way station ahead. Signs light up, all

trucks must enter a way station. Pull off the main

road onto the ramp. You drop slowly across the scale.

The DOT officer looks over your rig, checks your axle weight,

checks your log book, checks your tires, inspects your paperwork.

If your load is over legal weight or if your

log book has false entries or if your brakes are

out of adjustment, you get pulled around back. You're placed

out of service. You cannot hide a bad load from

an inspection scale. Friend, there's a spiritual way station coming

for every human soul. The Bible says in Hebrews 9.27,

appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment.

For those who are alive when the trumpet sounds, the

door of grace will suddenly shut. It says God shut

the door of Noah's ark before the floods came. The

Bible says in Matthew 24, 42-44, Watch therefore, you do

not know what hour the Lord is coming. Therefore you

also be ready, the Son of Man is coming at

an hour you do not expect. Let me ask you

a personal searching question. If the trumpet of God were

to sound right now, in the next 10 seconds, where

would you be? Would you be caught up in the

air to meet the Lord, surrounded by his glory and

welcomed into his presence? Or would you be left behind

on a dark, collapsing earth to face the judgment of

a holy God? You might say, preacher, I'm a pretty

good person. I work hard. I pay my taxes. I

support my family. I try to treat people right. At

the truck stop. Friend, hear me clearly. Your morality cannot

save you. Your good driving record will not clear your

debt before God. Your self-reliance cannot wash away a single sin.

The Bible declares all have sinned and fall short of

the glory of God. That's in Romans 3.23. Your secret thoughts,

your unspoken anger, your unfaithfulness, your profane language over the radio,

your years of ignoring God, all of it stands recorded

in heaven's book. If you stand before God relying on

your own goodness, your load will be found dangerously overweight

and you will be condemned. The Bible says there is

only one way to be made right with God. 2,000

years ago, God demonstrated his boundless love for you. He

sent his only begotten son, Jesus Christ, to this earth.

Jesus took your sins, your guilt, your shame, your failures,

carried them on his own shoulders through the cross, Calvary.

He bled and died as a substitute in your place.

He paid your fine in full. And on the third day,

he rose triumphantly from the dead. You cannot earn salvation,

you cannot buy. It's a free gift, God's grace. Like

any gift, you must open your hands and receive it. Today,

God is calling you to make a choice. You cannot

stay neutral on the highway of life. You're either traveling

on the broad road that leads to destruction, or you're

on the narrow road that leads to eternal life through

Jesus Christ. Many years ago, when Billy Graham stood before

tens of thousands of stadiums, he would lean over the

pulpit and say with loving urgency, You must make your

decision for Christ tonight. You may never have another chance.

Tomorrow may be too late. I say that same truth

to you today. You don't have a guarantee of tomorrow.

You don't even have a guarantee of the next mile marker.

A blown tire, an icy patch on a bridge, a

sudden turn of events, and your life on this earth

is over. The even more urgent and physical death is

the imminent return of Jesus Christ. The trumpet is raised

to the archangel's lips. The king is ready to ride forth.

Do not gamble with your immortal soul. Do not say,

I'll get right with God somewhere down the line. I'll

settle things with Jesus when I retire from driving. Proverbs 27.1 warns,

Do not boast about tomorrow. You do not know what

a day may bring forth. Now is the accepted time.

Today is the day of salvation. You're sitting in your

truck right now. You don't need to be in a

cathedral to find God. Cab your truck and become a

holy sanctuary tonight. Right there in your driver's seat, hold

over on the shoulder, park that arrest area, or sit

in your living room. You can call out to Jesus Christ.

What must you do to be saved? The Bible makes

it so simple that a child can understand it. Number one,

acknowledge your sin. Admit to God that you have broken

his laws and that you cannot save yourself. Number two,

repent of your sin. Be willing to turn away from

your old lifestyle, your self-centered living, and your hidden sin,

and turn toward God. Number three, believe in Jesus Christ.

Trust with all your heart. Jesus died on the cross

for your sins and rose again from the dead. And

number four, confess him as your Lord and Savior. Open

your mouth and surrender your life completely into his hand.

The Bible promises in Romans 10.9 that if you confess

with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your

heart that God has raised him from the dead, you

will be saved. And Romans 10.13 guarantees for whoever calls

on the name of the Lord shall be saved. Whoever

means you. It doesn't matter how far you stray. It

doesn't matter how dark your past has been. It doesn't

matter what habits have bound you. The blood of Jesus

Christ can cleanse you from every sin tonight and give

you a brand new start. If you want to be

ready for a rapture, if you want peace of God

in your heart as you drive down the road, if

you want to know beyond a shadow of doubt that

your name is written in the Lamb's book of life,

I urge you to make that decision right now. If

you're ready to yield your heart to the King, bow

your head right where you are, or if you're driving,

pull over to a safe spot and pray this prayer

from the bottom of your heart. Lord Jesus, I come

to you tonight just as I am Admit that I'm

a sinner, I've broken your laws, and I've lived life

on my own terms. Today I believe you died on

the cross for my sins, and I believe you rose

again from the dead to give me eternal life. Right

now I turn away from my sins and I open

the door of my heart to you. I ask you

to forgive me, wash me clean by your blood, and

take full control of my life. Be my Savior, be

my Lord, and be my King. Fill me with your

Holy Spirit. Give me peace in my heart and strength

for the road ahead. Help me to live for you

every mile of my life. Sharing your love with others

until the day you call me home or the trumpet sound.

Thank you for saving my soul today in Jesus' precious

and holy name. Amen. You prayed that prayer sincerely from

your heart. The Bible promises that you have passed from

death into life. You have been born again family of

the Almighty God. Your sins are forgiven, your soul is secure,

and your name is written in heaven. Now as you

fire up that engine and roll out onto the highway,

drive with a new purpose. You're no longer just hauling freight.

You're an ambassador of the King of Kings. Speak of

his grace over the CB radio. Be a light, kindness, purity,

and honesty every few while in a truck stop. Encourage

your fellow drivers who are hurting, weary, and lost in

the dark. Look up to the sky often through your

windshield remembering that your redemption draws near. Keep your eyes

on the road. Keep your heart in tune with heaven

and live every single day in ready anticipation of that

glorious shout. King is coming. Rapture soon. Come Lord Jesus.