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51:05

Resource: End Times Timeline

SUMMARY KEYWORDS

Christ, Jesus, earth, days, verse, angels, tribulation, tells, people, elect, clouds, antichrist, glory, Daniel, temple, save, Messiah, God, power, tribulation period

Table of Contents

Introduction.. - 1 -

1. The Chaos of the Universe. - 3 -
2. The Coming of The King. - 7 -
3. The Collection of the Saints. - 10 -

The gospel - 12 -

 

Introduction

You can see the title of our sermon this morning is Our Lord's Return. That’s what we're going to be talking about the return of Christ here in Mark chapter 13. When a President goes to visit a town, he rides into town in a limousine that is fully armored for his protection. The Secret Service says this about this limousine: The limousine is designed to secret service specifications, which includes a heavy-duty chassis, extended length and armored material and offers the president secure communications with encrypted measures. The Assistant Director for the Office of Protection Operations for Barack Obama noted, "It is safe to say that this car's security and coded communication systems make it the most technologically advanced protection vehicle in the world.” If you think about this, this is supposed to be the most powerful man in the world in this limousine, yet he needs the highest and the greatest security because of the threat that someone might take his life.

 

In our passage this morning, we're going to see the most powerful man in the world. Not the President of the United States. But Jesus Christ, the Messiah, God in the flesh, who is going to return to earth, not in an armored vehicle...but as Mark tells us, "He is coming in the clouds with great power and glory." (Mark 13:26) And He won't need any kind of protection. Because no one will be able to take Him out. He's going to return as the victorious King who will sit on His throne in His Kingdom, where He will rule and reign forever.

 

So, if you haven't already, please open your Bibles to Mark chapter 13 and follow along as I read our passage for us this morning. Mark chapter 13, and we'll begin in verse 24. “But in those days, after that tribulation, THE SUN WILL BE DARKENED AND THE MOON WILL NOT GIVE ITS LIGHT,
25 AND THE STARS WILL BE FALLING from heaven, and the powers that are in the heavens will be shaken. 26 Then they will see THE SON OF MAN COMING IN CLOUDS with great power and glory.
27 And then He will send forth the angels, and will gather together His elect from the four winds, from the farthest end of the earth to the farthest end of heaven.” (Mark 13:24-27)

Now, let me just set the scene for us here this morning as we get into our passage. Remember that this is Wednesday of the Passion Week. This is still Wednesday. It's a long day on Wednesday, a lot going on on this Wednesday. It's evening time and Jesus and His disciples are up on the Mount of Olives, the Mount of Olives, it was across from where the Temple Mount was. And as they're sitting up there, they can look out and they can see the temple from where they're sitting on the Mount of Olives. This passage here that we're going through this morning is still a part of the Olivet Discourse. Jesus is sitting down there with His disciples on this mountain, and He is teaching them in response to the question that they had asked Him. Look back at verse 4. Chapter 13 in verse 4. The disciples asked Jesus there... “Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign when all these things are going to be fulfilled?” (Mark 13:4)

 

They asked Jesus this question because He was responding to their amazement of the temple by telling them that the temple was going to be destroyed. Remember, as they're walking out of the temple grounds, they're looking around and it was a marvelous building, massive temple. It was beautiful, and they say, look, Jesus, look at how marvelous and beautiful this temple is! And Jesus tells them, "not one stone will be left upon another which will not be torn down."  (Mark 13:2) He says that in verse 2. He tells them, 'yes it's marvelous, but it's coming down. It will be destroyed.' And so they want to know when...when is this going to take place?

 

Jesus answered them and told them not only about the destruction of the temple, which we know happened in 70 A.D., but Jesus also gave them the signs of things to come. Remember, that's a double question that they asked...When is the temple going to be destroyed? And what are the signs of the end? We want to know, Jesus. Well, He tells them about some of the signs, He tells them that there's going to be wars and rumors of wars, there's going to be earthquakes and famines as the end draws near, but Jesus also warned them that they would experience persecution for Christ, He tells them persecution is coming, which would also be signs that the end is drawing near.

 

But as we saw last time, Jesus told them that there would also be a time of tribulation, a seven-year period as Daniel tells us, that is going to be really bad here on earth, things are going to get a lot worse. And there's a time that is coming, which is called the tribulation, seven years when God is going to pour out His wrath on this earth and bring His judgment down upon this earth. But in the middle of that seven years, things are going to get really bad.

 

So we saw last time that at the three and a half year mark, right in the middle of the tribulation, the seven years, the Antichrist is going to come in Israel there, and he's going to establish his throne in the temple there in Jerusalem. Now, if you go to Jerusalem today, there's no temple there, right? But it will be rebuilt. There will be a temple that will be rebuilt there, and the Antichrist is going to come in, and he's going to make a peace treaty with Israel at the beginning of this tribulation period, at the beginning of the seven years. And right in the middle mark, he will then establish his throne, there in the temple, and he will declare that they are to worship him.

 

This is the fulfillment of what Jesus calls the abomination of desolation. Look at what it says in verse 14, Jesus said there, "but when you see the abomination of desolation, standing where it should not be." This here is a reference to the Antichrist, who goes into the temple and demands worship of himself. He stops the sacrifices that are going on, the sacrificial system that was going, that will be going on at that time in the temple, he puts an end to that, and he says, 'Now you people worship me."

 

Jesus also tells us that during this time, there are going to be believers. During this time of great tribulation, this last seven and a half years, there are going to be believers. And those believers that are there in Judea, they are to flee. They are to run, run to the mountains, because things are going to get really bad. There's going to be mass persecution and execution of the Jews, as many of them will come to Christ during this time. Both gentiles and Jews will come to Christ in this tribulation period, during this time, as the gospel is going to go forth from the 144,000 that God saves. 

 

144,000 Jews that God saves. They're going to go and preach the gospel, and many people will be saved. There are also going to be two witnesses whom God sends to go and proclaim the Gospel. And then we see in Revelation 14:6 that there's going to be an angel who pronounces the gospel to all of those who are living on the earth. So, the gospel is going to go forth, and people are going to be saved during the tribulation period. Jesus also says that there's going to be false Christ’s and false prophets that arise during this time to..."draw away if possible, even the elect."

 

But all of these things that Jesus is telling these disciples here are the signs of the end in which they had asked about in verse 4, these are the signs of the end times. And what Jesus says is, the earth is going to be in a really bad state. But there are more signs that happen right before the return of Christ, which leads to our passage here this morning in verse 24.

 

1.     The Chaos of the Universe

 

And it leads to our first point, and which we will call the Chaos of the Universe, the chaos of the universe. Look at verse 24 and what Jesus says there, “But in those days, after that tribulation, THE SUN WILL BE DARKENED AND THE MOON WILL NOT GIVE ITS LIGHT, 25 AND THE STARS WILL BE FALLING from heaven, and the powers that are in the heavens will be shaken. (Mark 13:24-25)

 

Now, notice right at the beginning of that verse, there's that word, "but".  But. That word there is a conjunction. And it's used to show a contrast. There's a contrast that is going on there. And so we would ask, well, what is Jesus contrasting here? What is this contrast? Well, if we go back up to verse 22, we see that Jesus says there in verse 22,

 

“for false Christs and false prophets will arise, and will show signs and wonders, in order to lead astray, if possible, the elect.” (Mark 13:22)

 

And so, what is Jesus contrasting here in verse 24, when He's starts off with this word, "but" here? He is contrasting the false Christ with the true Christ. He tells them, look, false Christs are going to arise, false prophets are going to come, they're going to do signs and wonders. But in those days, after that tribulation, the true Christ is coming.

 

When is He going to come? He says, "In those days", after that tribulation. What tribulation? That's the seven-year tribulation, and specifically the great tribulation that will take place in the last three and a half years of those seven years. If you remember from our study last time, Daniel tells us in Daniel 12:11, that this is going to last for 1290 days. That's how long this last three and a half years is going to be ...1290 days.

Click to see the End Times Timeline

But I want you to turn over to Revelation 11. And look at what it says in Revelation 11. John gives us some information there as to what is going to happen in this tribulation period. He gives us some time markers here. And in Revelation, chapter 11 in verse 2 it says this, “Leave out the court which is outside the temple and do not measure it, for it has been given to the nations; and they will tread under foot the holy city for” notice this “forty-two months.” (Revelation 11:2)

 

Verse 3, And I will grant authority to my two witnesses” (There they are) “and they will prophesy for twelve hundred and sixty days, clothed in sackcloth.” (Rev 11:3) And so we see John tells us here in Revelation that there's going to be 42 months, which equals 1260 days. Look over at Revelation 12 in verse 6. Look what it says there, “Then the woman fled into the wilderness where she had a place prepared by God, so that there she would be nourished for one thousand two hundred and sixty days.” (Rev 12:6) There's that number again, 1260 days.

 

This here is the midpoint of the tribulation that we talked about last time. And remember, Jesus told those people that were living in Judea at that time, that they were to flee, right? They are to get out of there. Well, believing Israel does flee. They do flee and God protects them for the last three and a half years. And John tells us here in Revelation 12, that it's 1260 days.

 

If you remember from last time, Daniel tells us there's 1290 days, which is 30 days more than what John tells us here in Revelation. But then in Revelation, or excuse me, in Daniel 12:12. Daniel says, "How blessed is he who keeps waiting and attains to the 1335 days." (Daniel 12:12) Which is 45 days past the 1290 days that he mentions in verse 11. So, if you're a mathematician, and you're keeping up with all of the numbers here, here's what this calculation comes to. We've got 30 days, plus 45 days, which gives us 75 days, you are all good math students.

 

And so, from the end of when the Antichrist is defeated, until the time of when we enter into the millennial kingdom, there is a 75-day period there... 75 days. But what Mark is talking about here in Mark 13, is right at the end of the tribulation. It's right at that endpoint, there's going to still be 75 days to go. But this is the 1260-day mark, which John tells us about in Revelation 11 and 12. Matthew tells us in his account of Jesus teaching the disciples on the Mount of Olives, he says, "But immediately after the tribulation of those days." (Matthew 24:29) So, Matthew tells us that what happens here in Mark chapter 13, is going to happen immediately after the tribulation, right at the end of it. And what's going to happen at this point? Well, Jesus says, back in Mark 13, "the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will be falling from heaven." (Mark 13:24)

 

What's going to happen at this point? There is going to be utter chaos in the heavens. The sun is going to be darkened. It's as if the light goes out on the earth. For three and a half years, the Antichrist has been there in the temple, demanding that people worship him. He's been persecuting believers. He's been going after the believing Jews. And yet right at the end of that period, 1260 days, all of a sudden, boom, the lights go out. The sun will be darkened.

 

Now, this teaching here that Jesus gives is not something new for the disciples. Remember, they grew up as Jews, and they would have read and been taught the Old Testament Scriptures. And so, hearing that the sun is going to be darkened at this point, isn't new to them.   Where would they learn this? Turn over to Isaiah 13. Isaiah, chapter 13. Isaiah gives us some prophecy about the Day of the Lord. This here is an incredible description of the judgment of God during this time.

 

In Isaiah 13, beginning in verse 6, it says this...

Wail, for the day of the LORD is near!

It will come as destruction from the Almighty.

7 Therefore all hands will fall limp,

And every man’s heart will melt.

8 They will be terrified,

Pains and anguish will take hold of them;

They will writhe like a woman in labor,

They will look at one another in astonishment,

Their faces aflame.

9 Behold, the day of the LORD is coming,

Cruel, with fury and burning anger,

To make the land a desolation;

And He will exterminate its sinners from it.  (Isaiah 13:6-9)

 

Praise God. And then verse 10,

For the stars of heaven and their constellations

Will not flash forth their light; Notice this,

The sun will be dark when it rises

And the moon will not shed its light.

11 Thus I will punish the world for its evil

And the wicked for their iniquity;

I will also put an end to the arrogance of the proud

And abase the haughtiness of the ruthless. (Isaiah 13:10-11)

 

This is the day of the Lord.

 

Listen to Joel chapter 2 in verse 30, speaking of the day of the Lord, Joel says,

“I will display wonders in the sky and on the earth,

Blood, fire and columns of smoke.

31 “The sun will be turned into darkness

And the moon into blood

Before the great and awesome day of the LORD comes. (Joel 2:30)

 

So the disciples would be sitting there on the Mount of Olives and they would hear Jesus talking about this, but they're not shocked by it. Because they've read about this in their Old Testament Scriptures, they've been taught this before that the sun is going to be darken. So, we see back in Mark chapter 13, if you turn back there with me, that not only will the sun be darkened, but also the moon as well. Why? Why will the moon be darkened? What does it do? It reflects the sun, right? If you don't have a sun, you don't have a moon. There's no light on the moon. And so, the light from the moon will go out. But not only that, Jesus also says “the stars will be falling from heaven, and the powers that are in the heavens will be shaken.” (Mark 13:24)

 

You probably know the story of Chicken Little. And the phrase "the sky is falling." Coined because an acorn hit him on the head. Well, at this point, people will be yelling, the sky is falling, because it literally will be falling from heaven. The stars will come crashing down to earth, as asteroids and meteorites come crashing and hit the ground. There's going to be total chaos, utter chaos that is going on right at the end of the tribulation period. Total chaos in the universe. And why is all of this going to happen? Why will the stars come crashing down to the earth? Answer: because Jesus allows it. Because Jesus allows it. Because Jesus has all power over the entire universe.

 

Listen to Hebrews 1:3. It says, “And He” (Christ) “is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power. (Heb 1:3) Christ upholds all things. Do you know why stars are not falling right now and hitting our earth? Because Christ holds them in their place. Because He has all power and all authority over the entire universe. But at this point, He is going to say to the stars, go forth... and they will come crashing down on the earth.

 

Christ upholds all things by His power. Colossians 1:17 says that "in Him, all things hold together," The entire universe is held together right now because of the power of Christ. And if He was to let His power go, it would turn into utter chaos. But He holds it all together. Because He controls it all. And He upholds it all by His power.

 

But at this time, right after the tribulation, He will allow for cosmic chaos to take place. And those who are left on the earth will be in utter shock at what they are seeing. In fact, Luke tells us that they will "die from fear" that they are seeing. Listen to Luke 21:25. Luke says:

“There will be signs in sun and moon and stars, and on the earth dismay among nations, in perplexity at the roaring of the sea and the waves,” (as those stars come crashing down to earth) And verse 26 says “men fainting from fear and the expectation of the things which are coming upon the world; for the powers of the heavens will be shaken. (Luke 21:25-26)

 

What Luke says here is men are going to faint from fear. And that's not just because they have locked knees and they fall over. That's not fainting there, as if somebody would faint right now and just fall over in their in their chair. No, this is talking about death. Literally they will be scared to death because of the fear that will come upon them. As the stars come crashing down on the earth, it's going to be a time of utter chaos on the earth.

 

This is going to be the time of the birth pangs at their highest level. People will be in shock at what they're experiencing. They will run and try and hide from the judgment of God that is coming. But God will be protecting His own during this time. Remember, He told... what does Jesus say? "You who are there in Judea flee." Run!

 

Why are they to run? Because they're to go to the place where God has prepared for them where He will guard and protect His people. God is going to protect His own during this time. Yes, there will be believers who are martyred during the tribulation. But during this time, God is going to be protecting His people as they flee to the mountains.

 

2.     The Coming of The King

 

And then, they will see what every one of those believers has been waiting for. Which leads to our second point, point number two, the coming of the King, the coming of the King. Look at verse 26. Then they will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory. Now notice at the beginning there's that word "then". Then. We would ask the question, when? Answer: right after the tribulation, right after the tribulation.

 

After this cosmic chaos, right after you see those signs appear, then the greatest sign of all is going to appear. Because Jesus is going to return. He's coming back. Mark says, then they will see the Son of Man. I love this...notice back up in verse 14, Jesus says, “But when you see the ABOMINATION OF DESOLATION (Mark 13:14) but right here is a better sight to come because they will see the Son of Man coming in the clouds.

 

Who will see Him? All people will see Him. How do we know this? Listen to Revelation 1:7, “BEHOLD, HE IS COMING WITH THE CLOUDS, and every eye will see Him, even those who pierced Him;”  that's referring to the Jews who pierced Him, the Jews who said Crucify Him! Crucify Him! Now they have been saved. There is national salvation of Israel, where God will fulfill His promise that He made to Abraham, He will save His people, the ones who reject the Messiah now, they will receive the Messiah when He comes.

 

And every eye will see Him -- even those who pierced Him and all the tribes of the earth will mourn over Him. So, it is to be. Amen. This here is not going to be a quiet entrance, like His first coming, when He came born in a manger in Bethlehem, where some angels came and appeared to the shepherds out in the field, these low lifes that were out there, that didn't mean anything to anyone, shepherds that were called to go and take care of the sheep out there. The angels came in appeared to them and said, "Behold, the Messiah has been born today in the city of David." So, they walked back into Bethlehem and they saw Him. There He was. A few Magi came. They saw Him there He was. But it wasn't a great announcement to the world. He came as a lowly, humble baby, wrapped in cloth and lying in a manger.

 

But the next time that He comes, every eye will see Him, and they will know that He is the King... that the King has arrived. He has come to earth to conquer and to rule and reign. This is going to be a grand entrance for Him. You remember what the angel said in Acts chapter 1 when the disciples saw Christ going up to heaven? Acts 1:11. “They also said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into the sky? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in just the same way as you have watched Him go into heaven.”  (Acts 1:11)

 

They're standing there and they watch Jesus go. And the angels have to come. And guys, He's coming again in the same way, but you got something, you got to go and do, go and preach the gospel. But He's coming back in the same way. And so as Jesus is teaching this to these guys on the Mount of Olives. When the angels then appear to them and say, 'guys, He's coming back again' they would think, Oh, that's what Jesus meant on the Mount of Olives. Yeah, you got a picture of His ascension. Well, guess what He's going to descend in the same way.

 

And He's going to come back, and rule and reign. Notice how He's going to come down. He's going to come in clouds. Now what does this mean? It simply means that He's coming amid the clouds. Revelation tells us "with" the clouds, Mark says "in" the clouds, simply put, He is coming from above, where the clouds are.

 

And this would have drawn the attention of the disciples, right to Daniel 7:13, which is a Messianic passage, speaking of the Son of Man. Remember, at this point, these disciples have already declared Jesus to be the Messiah. Remember when He asked them? "Who do people say that I am? Some say, Elijah? Some say John, some say you're just a prophet." Jesus says, "But who do you say that I am?" (Mark 8:27-29) And what did they declare? You are the Messiah. You are the Messiah.

 

They know that He is the Messiah. They know that He's the King of Kings. And so, they know that Jesus is referring to Himself as the One who's going to fulfill the prophecy of Daniel 7:13. Turn over there with me in your Bibles to Daniel 7:13. Because this is such an important passage for us to know. Daniel 7:13, this is a messianic promise, a messianic passage, in Daniel 7:13. Look at what it says there.

“I kept looking in the night visions,

And behold, with the clouds of heaven

One like a Son of Man was coming,

And He came up to the Ancient of Days

And was presented before Him. (Dan 7:13)

Messianic.

 

How is Jesus going to return? With the clouds, in the clouds, from the sky, from above. And those guys would have been drawn, as Jesus says, The Son of Man, that's when Jesus declares Himself to be the Son of Man. He's not talking about His humanity. He's talking about His Messiahship, that He is the Messiah that was prophesied in Daniel 7:13. Right there, one like a Son of Man, when He declares Himself to be the Son of Man, what He's saying is, I am the Messiah. I am Him who is coming, and these guys would have known...You are the Messiah. And yes, You are the fulfillment of Daniel 7:13.

 

Back in Mark chapter 13. Notice it says He's coming in the clouds. And watch this..."with great power and glory", with great power, and glory, if anyone thought that the antichrist had power, if anyone thought that the signs and the wonders that the false Christ were performing, if anyone thought that they had some kind of power, well, they haven't seen power yet. Because Christ is coming with all power -- and coming with all glory.

 

Think about this. Think about the Mount of Transfiguration. When they saw Jesus, how did they see Him? They saw Him, glorified, radiating and Jesus is going to come with glory radiating in the midst of utter darkness with the sun and the moon darkened, and the universe in total chaos as the people tremble and fear who are here on the earth. Here comes Christ shining bright in His glory. Every eye will see Him.

 

Think about -- you go to a jewelry store that jeweler they want to show you a diamond, what do they do? They open up a little velvet pad. And what color is that? It's black. Why? Because when they put that diamond on there, they want you to see the glory, the brilliance of that diamond. When Christ returns, in utter darkness, as He comes in His glory, every eye will see Him, and they will see the brilliance of His great glory. And His glory will fill the earth.

 

That's why it says in the new heavens and the new earth, there's no need for a lamp, right? Why? Because His glory is going to fill the place. Here's Christ coming to earth, in glory. And as One who has all glory, as the glorified One, He will come with great power over His enemies and over the whole entire earth.

 

And listen, at this time, when Christ returns, He is not going to return as a suffering servant like He did the first time. The first time He came, He came to suffer and die on a cross for our sins, to make atonement for our sins so that we could be saved. But He's not coming to do that. When it comes a second time, when He comes again, He will come as the conquering King, and He will destroy His enemies. And He's going to establish His Kingdom, the Millennial Kingdom where He will rule and reign for 1000 years. And then He will destroy sin and death and He will reign over the eternal kingdom.

 

That's the future. That's what Christ is coming to do. But you might ask, where are we going to be during this time? What about us?

 

3.     The Collection of the Saints

 

Well, this leads to our third and final point, point number three, The Collection of the Saints, the Collection of the Saints. Look at verse 27 And then He will send forth the angels, and will gather together His elect from the four winds, from the farthest end of the earth to the farthest end of heaven.” (Mark 13:27)

 

Now, remember, what is our next event for us as a church? The rapture. The rapture is what is next for us. At the rapture, Christ will return not to earth, but in the clouds to rapture the church out of here. Listen to 1 Thessalonians 4:17...it says this, we “will be caught up together with them" that is those who are resurrected "in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air." That's the next event for us as a church, we are going to be raptured. But Christ in His second coming, He is going to come back to earth to establish His millennial kingdom. And His people are going to be scattered all over the earth and in heaven. That's why He will send forth his angels.

 

Remember, angels are simply messengers or servants of Christ. It's all an angel is... a messenger or servant of Christ. Their job is to do whatever it is that Christ sends them to do. Listen to Hebrews 114 speaking of the angels, it says this, “Are they not all ministering spirits, sent out to render service for the sake of those who will inherit salvation?” (Hebrews 1:14) That’s the job of the angels. Their job is to do whatever it is that Christ commands them to do. What will their job be to do at this time? To gather together His elect, not only from all over the earth, but also all over heaven, which is where we will be because we will be raptured.

 

Matthew tells us that the angels will sound a great trumpet, the trumpet being used in ancient Israel to gather the people together for an announcement from a king. That's what the trumpet was used for. And these angels will use this trumpet to gather all of Christ's elect together so that they can come and be with Him as He returns to set up His kingdom.

 

Now, who are these elect?

• Well, these are believing Jews. These are believing Jews who were scattered because of the persecution from the Antichrist. Remember, they were called to flee, told to flee, run, get out of there. They're the Jews who believe in Christ as their Messiah, they will come to know Him as their Messiah.
• But the elect are also the believing gentiles. There will be gentiles who will come to faith, all those in whom Christ has saved will be gathered together with Christ.

 

So, we will come back with Him as He comes, and triumph to cast the Antichrist into the eternal lake of fire, and then bind Satan for 1000 years. This time is also going to be a time of the sheep and goat judgments that we read about in Matthew 25, where He will separate the sheep from the goats as He gathers together His elect all of His people, He will separate the goats out, and what will He do with them? He will judge them and cast them into the eternal lake of fire.

 

The sheep are the believers, that is us, we will be gathered together to enter into His kingdom. But the goats will be gathered together and will be cast into the eternal lake of fire. And all those who are Christ's will enter into the millennial kingdom with Him. That's our glorious future. You can go and tell your friends, I know the future. Because you know it.

 

In closing, I want to end with this little phrase right in the middle of verse 27. Notice who the angels will gather together, notice this... "He will gather together His elect." (Mark 13:27) Notice it doesn't say those who walked an aisle, or those who repeated a prayer, or those who raised the hand.  But those who are “His elect.”

 

Now, I don't want to get into the doctrine of election here. That's not the purpose of pointing this out here. Yes, we believe in the doctrine of election. It's clearly taught in Scripture. But what I want to focus on here is this personal possessive pronoun, His. If you are here this morning and you are born again, you are His. You are Christ's. Listen, do you realize that the only way that you are going to be standing in triumph with Christ on that day is because you are His? Not because you have done something. But because He did it all. And you are His. You are bought with a price. You are not your own. You have been saved by Him. He called you. He redeemed you. And listen brothers and sisters, you belong to Him.

 

As we talked about on Wednesday, in Romans 8, no one is condemned who belongs to Christ. If you are in Christ, there is no condemnation. No one who belongs to Christ will ever hear the words "Depart from me." (Matt 7:23) We won't hear those words. But we will hear the words "you are mine." How do we know that we are His? Because He has granted us repentance from our sin. And He's granted us the gift of faith. As we have repented from our sin and placed our faith in Jesus Christ alone. He has given us eternal life. Those who are His.

 

The gospel

But some of you are here this morning. You don't belong to Him. You don't know Him. You're living for self. Your God is not Jesus Christ, your God is you. And you love you more than Christ. You have not placed your faith in Christ alone for salvation. But you're trusting in yourself to save you. Let me tell you, that's not how it works in Christ's kingdom. You cannot earn your way to heaven. The only way into the kingdom of heaven is to repent of your sin and place your faith in Jesus Christ alone. And if you call out to Christ, and ask Him to save you from your sin, He will answer -- because He's a saving God.

 

And if you do that, then you can have hope and joy, joy of the future, like the rest of us who are here who were born again, who have joy, and hope, knowing that we will be with our Savior for all of eternity.

 

As we read this morning, today is the day of salvation. God is calling you to come to Him. And He declares to you repent of your sin and put your faith in Jesus Christ. My Son, who came and died on a cross for your sins and was dead and was buried, but He rose again on the third day. And listen, unbeliever -- if you are here this morning, the next time that He comes, He's coming in judgment.

 

He's not coming to save. He's coming to judge. That's a serious matter. This is your eternity that we are talking about here this morning. And if you don't come to Christ in salvation, you will spend all of eternity under His wrath and His judgment, in torment in hell. But listen, unbeliever, I don't want that for you. And no believer who is here this morning wants that for you. Come to Christ. Beg Him to save you. And He will. Because He's a saving God.

 

For those of us who are here who belong to Christ, may we continue to live with hope and joy and confidence in our Savior, who is coming again as the King of kings and the Lord of lords.

 

Father, we thank You. Thank You for Christ, who is the conquering King, who has all power and all authority, who rules and reigns as the sovereign God of the universe. Lord, we await His arrival! We're excited about His return, because we will be freed from this body of sin and death. And we will live with you for all of eternity. Father, I pray for anyone who is here this morning that doesn't know You. God, I pray that You would change their hearts. Pray that You would save them, that they would cry out in repentance and faith in Jesus Christ alone. So that on that day when the angels come to gather together His elect, they would be standing there with us. Father do a work in their heart that only you can do. Lord, I pray for us who are born again believers. Lord I pray that we would live in light of this glorious truth that our minds would not be fixed upon this world. But our minds would be fixed upon Christ, that we would think heavenly thoughts as we await the return of our King. May we live for Your glory, and for Your glory alone, we pray in Christ's name. Amen.