Bible Guys Classics: Revelation - Timing of Christ's Return

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Hey, Jeff, what time is it?

Uh, it's about two minutes after ten.

Wow.

Well, you know what, knowing the time is a good thing.

And today we're talking about the timing of Christ's return.

Oh wow, that's cool.

So he's Chris and I'm Jeff and we're the Bible guys.

Now what I didn't say, is is it two minutes

after ten in the morning or two minutes after ten?

We could be recording at night.

Oh yes, it's probably not.

Because because we are we are you know, out there man, we.

Live on the edge, that's right, we're hard workers.

Yeah.

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I would assume. So somebody said there's no name given.

Actually that said, these two pastors chemistry is so unique

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Exclamation mark.

Oh that's so nice, too, nice, Yeah, me too, me too.

We're blessed with friendship for having every You're my friend.

That's really cool. You know what I do? I do

like uh.

I love the chemistry that we do have. And a

lot of people actually say, Jeff really makes fun of

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That's right. I make fun of everybody that I love.

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so thankful for all I hear and learned here, all

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Nice.

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And by the way, I like the laughs and the giggles.

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I came across this channel, but I like this content.

I'm here for it. Good conversation, good personalities, good spiritual word.

Keep doing what y'all are doing. So I guess it's

from the south.

From the south, well, good south of the Mason Dixon.

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the north, that's right. Either one.

He used y'all, y'all, that's right.

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miss saying y'all.

I do too.

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Is just it's a great both of you, all of you. Yeah,

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That's amazing. Well, thank you, guys, you're so nice. I

just I'm still always amazed people listen. Yeah, me too, Yeah, yeah,

it's amazing.

Well, today we're talking about the timing of christ return,

and we did actually mention this on Day one, which

was two days ago. We talked about, you know how

nobody can really know, but there are so many more

specifics about his coming, you know how it talks about

just in different parts of the scripture, not just in Revelation,

but also you know, Jesus talking about it, Luke writing

about it, Paul mentioning it.

Right, So we're gonna look at those.

So I had a conversation with a guy one time

a couple of years ago, and he was like, I know,

I'm within months of when Jesus is going to come back,

and I says, so, you know, the Bible says you

can't know. He said, I know, that's what the Bible says,

but I really do think you can know. And I'm like,

you're a Bible student, and he goes, yes, the Bible

says you can't know.

I know, but I think you can know.

And I'm like, how how are you using the Bible

to prove something when the Bible is so emphatic. So

we decided to take essentially two chunks of two days

saying you can't know, and we're just using more and

more and more. How many times does Jesus have to

tell you you can't know before you finally agree?

I guess it's.

So ironical, isn't it. He's like, I love the Bible

so much. I don't care what the Bible says, but

I love it so much.

I don't think I know.

I know.

And so hey, this next thing. So we're talking about

the timing, yes of the return of Jesus. And you know,

there's maybe more TNT packed into this topic than just

about any other, particularly with regard to the idea of

a rapture in general, which we're going to be talking

about but so again we already mentioned this. Old Christians

a argue about the details pre post mid Ah Rite whatever,

but the new Christians man alive. They just look up,

and that's we need to get back to the wonder

and enthusiasm and confidence in Jesus that we had when

we were brand new Christians and maybe not.

Be so dogmatic, you know, on it. So hey, here's

a few ideas.

One is, Jesus is coming back suddenly, Matthew twenty four

to forty four. Jesus said, you also must be ready

all the time, for the Son of Man will come

when least expected.

Yeah. So, so not only do we not know, but

it's when we don't know.

That's what that's unexpected, the unexpected. So nobody's gonna expect

it exactly. So there's nobody gonna go and nobody's gonna

be right. So uh so, obviously the thrust, the main

point of this sentiment is that.

We should be ready all the time.

Yeah.

Right. Remember that old d C Talk song what was

it called? Just was it called be ready?

Be Ready? Yeah?

Yeah, and it's it's a new song, had people get ready? Right,

there's that there's that old Motown song people get ready.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, I like to d C talk

one better, but we must all be ready. But the

idea is is that I believe, uh you know somebody

I heard this. You know it's been said a thousand

times in all generations. But you should live every day

as if Jesus is coming today, because if you know,

it's that whole Tim McGrath song, Live like you were

dying it.

Say what would you do?

I go, you know, Scott diving right well, on the

spiritual side of things, what if Jesus were coming.

Today, who would you tell? How did you live your life?

How would you spend your minutes?

Right?

And would you say the things that should be said.

If you were convinced he was coming back and knowing

it's unexpected, that question that you asked, who would you tell?

I think is incredibly important.

Yeah.

And by the way, that's enough for our listeners to

walk away with just that thought, yeah, and say like,

if I live with that thought just today, this will

have been worth my time.

Yeah.

Yeah, So Luke seventeen, he says, yes, it'll be business

as usual right up to the day when the Son

of Man is revealed.

Right.

So this idea of being unexpected, it doesn't have to

be scary. We keep highlighting this idea. Jesus isn't coming

to scare us. He's coming to save us. So just

because it's unexpected doesn't mean it's scary. The other one

would be soon. Jesus is coming soon a matter of

fact and revelation twenty twenty or twenty two, verse seven.

This is how we know he's coming soon, because he says, look,

I'm coming soon. There it is blessed are those who

obey the words of prophecy written in this book. As

we says, so it's coming soon, and it's basically we

should be living with an expectancy. So we don't know

when it's going to be a surprise, but.

We should have an expectancy that it's going to be soon.

And then there's plenty of scriptures.

Actually we're going to burn through these, but we do

think it's important to read the support of why it's

supposed to be a secret. So Jesus says, and Paul

says that his coming is a secret. I'm going to

read Matthew twenty four. However, no one knows the day

or hour when these things will happen, not even the

angels in heaven or the Son capital s himself.

Only the Father knows.

So he's just really clear that God the Father, who

by the way, has the will for our lives, he's

the one that sets in motion. Even today he seems

to have that role in our lives. God the Father

is the one that sets the will and has the

will for us. And it's the same with his revelation

when it's coming.

That's right.

Any Acts, we've already read this verse. But Acts six

and seven says, so when the apostles of Jesus, they

kept asking him, Lord, has the time come for you

to free Israel or story kingdom? And he replied, the

Father alone has the authority to set those dates in

times they're not for you to know. So, hey, it's

a secret basically.

So let me read first this salone.

In Chapter five, verses one through three, Paul says, this, now,

concerning how and when all these things will happen, dear

brothers and sisters, we don't really need to write you,

for you know quite well that the day of the

Lord's return will come unexpectedly, like a thief in the

night when people are saying everything is peaceful, and secure.

Then disaster will fall on them, and suddenly as a

pregnant woman's labor pain begins and there will be no escape.

And again I've already mentioned this so many times. Paul

is the master of Visila aid, chief in the night

labor pains, chief in the night labor pains. And he's

trying to compare it to something that happens unexpectedly. Nobody

expects a thief, right, and nobody you know, and a

woman not that I know this is coming soon.

Yeah, yeah, but that labor main hits.

Man, Oh my goodness, it's a surprise.

It's a surprise.

But here this is really I think one of the

we keep coming back to the same thing. He doesn't

tell as he sings, are scared us. He's telling us

he things to say, I'm coming back to save you.

And Titus chapter two kind of blends those two ideas

verse eleven through thirteen. It says, for the grace of

God has been revealed, bringing salvation to all people, and

we're instructed to turn from godless living and sinful pleasures.

And we should live in this evil world with wisdom

and righteousness and devotion to God while we look forward

with hope to that wonderful day when the glory of

our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ will be revealed.

So we're looking forward to that day. We want to

live godly lives today. We want to walk away from

sinful pleasures today. We want to live in righteousness and

walk in wisdom today, while we're looking forward to this

hope of when Jesus is going to be revealed.

You know, I think we have some time I can

share this. Yeah, I think honestly, have you ever met

somebody who they believe in heaven so much that they

are completely content with this life being over because they

know that the next.

Life is better?

Yeah, And they believe in heaven so much that they

have no doubt. And so, I mean, it's one thing

to say, of course I look forward to heaven, but I.

Want to live as long as I can, right right.

You know, I believe in heaven, but I just have

so much life to live and I want to see

my grandkids and all these different things. And of course

you know I have those sentiments too, But I just

admire and look up to you so much. The people

who think heaven is so real and so much better

that they're just like Jesus.

Just come back.

Now, what's one of the blessings of aging? You know,

most people don't think of aging as being a blessing,

but so often the older you get, the pain of

life becomes greater. Oftentimes, you know, you have more people

in heaven than still here on earth. They've already gone

ahead of you. Your body starting to run out of gas.

Life becomes more and more difficult, and you remember what

it was like to have all of your faculties and

all of your abilities, and then you know, the Bible

says God's going to make everything new in heaven, so

everybody you love is there, or more of the people

that you love are there, and you're running out of

gas here and to begin looking forward to that, I

think that that's one of the blessings of getting older.

And by the way, so we have a member on

our staff, Debbie, her mother in law.

Past.

We both went to the funeral and it was one

of those funerals where you couldn't get much of a

better funeral in that she was ninety one and then

also she had lived a super godly life. And so

one of the things that I said was Debbie said well,

you know, the funeral is maybe kind of small because

this person's not going to show, and this person's old,

and this person's old. And I wrote back and said,

as a person who's done a lot of funerals and

been part of one hundreds, just know that this is

actually unusual and it's such a privilege. So the signs

of a phenomenal funeral are these that when most of

the people who show up don't know that person, they

just know the kids, oh right. And the people who

show up, they're sort of there. They don't even necessarily

know the ceased, they're just there to support the kids.

Right. That means that they've lived a.

Long time, yes, right, ninety one, which means everybody she

knows is gone just about.

Yeah, her husband's in heaven.

And then and then the other.

One was the godly legacy part, which by far is

the most important.

Right.

So when you have that much of a godly legacy

and that much age, it's just a wonderful thought to

think she's now in heaven with everybody, well, with most.

Of the people that she lived life with that are

gone before her.

So along that theme, then you know, we tend to

be afraid of death when you think of were afraid

of dying. But that person who has the hope of

heaven doesn't have to be afraid of dying. It's just

it's a transition from this life to that is met

fact is a promotion if we really believe in heaven,

which we're going to unpack heaven next week in a

way that I think you were going to lie. When

you get convinced of how incredible heaven is, you don't

look at death as a horrible thing or an ending

of something. It's a promotion to the next, to the better,

to the perfection that the God has for us. But

you have to remember how often does he have to

remind us don't be afraid.

We already read it.

But Revelation, chapter one, verse seventeen, John says, when I

saw him, I fell at his feet as if I

were dead. But he laid his right hand on me

and said, don't be afraid. I'm the first and the last.

I'm the living one. I died, but look, I'm alive

forever and ever, and I hold the keys of death

and the grave. The reason why we don't have to

be afraid is because He's on our side and he

has the keys to that prison of death and the grave.

He's already got him, he's already solved it. And so

he just says, don't be afraid. And this is one

of God's recurring themes. The things we're going to talk

about over the next couple days are scary, but he says,

you don't have to be afraid because I have the keys.

Yeah, and that's a good scary because if being scared

propels you to believe God or to term to God, right,

because there are times in our lives where we have

to understand, like Jesus is both intimidating and powerful and

just and judges as he is good and fair and

loving and gives grace. So there's both sides of the coin,

you know. That's why he says, don't be afraid. I

love how he talks about himself. I am the first,

in the last right, the majesty of that moment, and

yet the right hand on the shoulder says, don't be

afraid because.

I know you right, I have died for you. You know.

By the way, one of the songs by New Song

have you ever heard?

This?

One's with Me?

So the lyrics are like I was dreaming about heaven

standing in those pearly gates. We were all there, and

I was so scared in the presence of one so great.

And then he says is something about I was so afraid,

and I want, I want to go turn around. I

felt I felt so very unworthy and and I was

so afraid, and I turned to go. But then I

heard someone say, Father, this.

One's with me.

He's part of the family. He's one of the reasons

I died on Calvary. So Father welcome him in. I

paid the price for him. Father of Father, this one's

with me. Yeah, And I just I think about that,

and I think that's agree. That's that's what this scripture

is that you just read right as he puts the

right hand on and says, don't be afraid.

He's with me.

Yeah, you don't have to be afraid because God's intimidating,

but he's for you.

Yep.

My wife and I we have opportunity to travel a

little bit together recently, and because I have to travel

a lot do a lot of global work with the

Timothy Initiative, I have pretty high status with Delta. So

you know, I get on the plane first and you know,

they give me all kinds.

Of special privileges.

Fancy pants.

Yeah, they give me a lot of privileges. And you

know you go to the sky Club and all that

kind of stuff. Well it's fifty bucks for you to

go to sky club if you can get in, right,

if you got the right take it for me.

I just get it for free. Whatever. Oh.

My wife sometimes will stand back and go, oh I

you know, I said no, come with me with me,

And I'll just tell the person at the counter she's

with me, Oh, okay, welcome missus foster, right, And they

just because I have the.

Privileges, she can come with me. And that's how that works.

And that's what I think about when I think about

standing in heaven. There's no chance I can get in that,

not on my own. I don't even deserve to be

standing in line to get there. But the only we're

gonna get there is that he punched our ticket, right.

Yeah, So.

The only person that should be nervous, Quite honestly, what

we're trying to say is the only person that should

be nervous about these things that we're reading about is

the person who's not prepared.

Right.

So being prepared is the most important thing, and how

do you do that right? That first that'salone is chapter five.

He says, for God chose to save us through our

Lord Jesus Christ. Not the pour out is anger on us.

Christ died for us so that whether we're dead or alive,

when he returns, we can live with him forever. So

encourage each other and build each other up, just as

you are already doing.

So.

He's saying, listen, this is why Jesus died. You know

if you're saying, hey, okay, I want to be on

the right side of this story. I want to make

sure things are settled, you know from my mom. My

mom was in her mid twenties and had only gone

to church a couple of times, two three times her

whole life, and didn't really know She believed in the God,

but she really didn't know anything.

And she went to a movie.

Hell Lindsay had that movie, The Late Great Planet Earth

back in the seventies, and it was kind of based

on the book Revelation, and it really got her attention, like,

if that's really in the Bible, and if that's true,

I want to be on the right side of that story, right.

But she just didn't know how, and it was a

couple of years later that she finally ran into a

Christian who could explain to her how can you be

on the right side? And it just comes down to

Romans chapter ten, nine, ten, and thirteen say that first

of all, we have to believe in our heart that

Jesus is who God says he is, and that God

did raise him from the dead. And we have to

invite him to be the Lord. That just means the king,

the boss. He said, I'm not the king anymore.

Jesus, you are.

And then if we'll confess our sins to him, he'll

forgive our sins. And then in Romans ten thirteen says

everyone who calls them the name of the Lord to

be saved. That's all you have to do. You say, Jesus,

I believe you paid the price for me. Jesus, I

want you to be the king. I'm not the king anymore.

You be the king in my life? Would you save me?

And the Bible says everyone who calls the name of

the Lord will be saved.

That's what it is.

That's great.

So these things aren't to scare you. These things are

to get your attention and draw you to Jesus, so

you're on the right side of this.

Yeah, And I love how the verse that we just

read in Revelation one were the last phrase he says,

I hold the keys to death and the grave. Right,

So what better phrase for Jesus to say in the

future because when he was on earth, because he said,

I died, but look, I'm alive forever and ever. So

Jesus is the one who came down. He died on

a cross for one reason, to pay for our sins.

But then God rose him from the grave three days later,

proving once and for all that he is more powerful

than sin and death. And he holds the keys because

he came down, proving that, you know, he's more powerful

than that. So the sacrifice was paid by Jesus. That

was required that' sin demands, and he paid it for you,

and he paid it for me. So we don't have

to be afraid of sin because God took the punishment

upon himself, the Bible says. So all that to say,

Jesus has been through every single nuance of your sin.

So if you think to yourself, well, Chris, you don't

know what I've done. You don't understand like how I've

done my neighbor has done something bad, but I've done

something that if you heard this these details, that's a

whole new level of unforgiveness or punishment.

Right. And what I'm saying to you is.

That Jesus clearly has taken upon himself the punishment for

all sin and has conquered it, and he is victorious

over it. And so the invitation of believing in him,

the invitation of trusting him for heaven, the invitation of

calling him friend, there's no sin that you have done

that has not been paid for or forgiven. God knows

and is over and has conquered and done away with

and paid for all the sins in our lives, no

matter what they are.

That's powerful, that first phrase in First Astonians five nine.

God chose to save us through our Lord Jesus Christ,

not to pour out his anger on us.

Right.

So a lot of people feel like I'm too far

from God, I've sinned too much. And he says, I

don't want to punish you. I paid the price, my

son paid the price for you.

So come to me.

And so we are going to read now tomorrow, We're

going to begin to really get into the specifics. Right,

So we took a couple of days to lay the foundation.

We're getting to some of the specifics of the events

and the people. All things are going to happen. And

God does pour out his wrath Unevil, but he says, listen,

I don't want to pour out my wrath on you.

I want to save you, right, But it's your choice.

Yeah, because he says, so that you may live forever.

That's right, but it's your choice. Call. Everyone who calls

the name of the Lord will be saved.

Well, that's a great place to end, and we will

pick up tomorrow. Hopefully you'll join us on the Bibble

guy us no