In this sermon, the preacher discusses the topic of the coming of the Lord and its significance for Christians. He emphasizes that for those who are not right with God, the idea of the Lord's return can be fearful, but for those who are walking in righteousness, it brings great comfort. The preacher then directs the audience to the book of Acts, specifically chapter 1, where he reads a verse about the disciples being commanded to wait in Jerusalem for the Holy Spirit. He mentions a book that he disagrees with, stating that it misses the whole point of the coming of the Lord. The preacher shares personal experiences of panic and confusion about the Lord's return, highlighting the need for a proper understanding of this event.

It was recorded in the sanctuary of Times Square Church in Manhattan, New York City. Other tapes are available by writing to World Challenge P.O. Box 260, Lindale, TX 75771 or calling 214-963-8626. None of these messages are copyrighted and you are welcome to make copies for free distribution to your friends. Jesus is coming. A thousand years ago, just about this time, the whole world faced the darkest hour of its history. There's a book called Miller's Church History, one of my favorite history books, Church History. And I'm just going to quote to you, I'm going to kind of paraphrase, but very accurately, what happened a thousand years ago, in fact it started about 960 right up to the year 1000. Because there was a doctrine being preached at the time that the world would end exactly on midnight, the year 1000, when it dawned. In other words, 999, the last day of the year 999, this is 999 years after the birth of Jesus, and that's just about a thousand years ago, that the world would come to an end. And at that time the church was wicked, apostate, it was very weak, in fact its very life was ebbing away, Mohammedism was growing rapidly all over the world at the time, Europe was being overrun by Hungarians, there were millions being massacred, there was fear and violence everywhere on the earth at the time, all mankind had been desolate and panicked, stricken, there were multitudes of calamities happening everywhere, terrible famines in the world, there were disasters indescribable, the history books say that there were plagues and pestilences that killed countless millions, there's been a black plague, there've been all kinds of, the bubonic plague, there've been numbers of plagues, but the world was being plagued at the time, but the real panic was caused because of unusual and alarming signs in the heavens, it's recorded that there were strange signs in both the sun and the moon, and the stars, and preachers all through the known world at the time were preaching and prophesying that the world would end in 999, just before the year 1000, and the year 1000 would be the beginning of the millennial reign of Jesus Christ, and the text that the preachers were using, and by the way, it was so widespread that politicians and kings and princes believed it, and I'll describe it to you from Miller's history, but the text that they used was Luke 21 verse 25 to 27, I'll just read it to you, and there shall be signs in the sun and the moon and in the stars, and upon the earth distress of nation with perplexity, the sea and the waves roaring, men's hearts failing them for fear, for looking after those things which are coming on the earth, for the powers of heaven shall be shaken, then shall they see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory, and from the year 960, the last 40 years up to the year 1000, there was an incredible panic all over the world, and it increased right up to the year 1000, it was a satanic delusion of course, but it was founded on a misinterpretation of the millennial teaching, and people began to quit their jobs the closer it came to the year 1000, the farmers quit planting or harvesting, houses and buildings were allowed to decay, after all Jesus was coming, so there's no use to repair anything, historians quit recording history, that's a fact, because there wasn't going to be any more world history, the rich and the noble and the princes and the bishops, abandoned their churches and their friends and their families, and they hastened to Palestine, to Jerusalem, where they were going to wait for Christ to return to Mount Zion, He was going to come and set up His earthly kingdom, they gave away fortunes, the rich gave away their fortunes, kings and even emperors begged to be allowed into monasteries, to join the holy orders, crowds of poor people slept on the porches and the porticles, of the holy buildings, or at least in the shadow, they at least tried to sleep in the shadow of these buildings, people began to get hungry, because there was no provision had been made, there was no corn, there was no wheat, no cattle, no crops, provisions had not been made, because the world was going to end they said, the last night of the year 999, there was panic and restlessness, in fact the wicked had one last thing, that last week of the year 999, you see, it won't be long until 1999 approaching the year 2000, but can you imagine the panic, and the historian said that there was such wickedness, it was beyond, it could not be repeated, in fact I'm reading their words, said to be too horrible to be repeated in public, Jerusalem was filled with multitudes, that had come from all over the world waiting at Mount Zion, for Jesus to break through at midnight, and midnight approached, and the world held its breath, the clock struck twelve, and no Jesus, and five after twelve, people began to ask questions, ten after twelve, and finally the dawn broke, and everybody relaxed, and what had been a forty years of panic and fear, turned, the pendulum swung, and became the next year one of fun and folic, people began to scoff the message, huge cathedrals were built in the next one hundred years, all through Europe, you know the same thing happened a hundred and forty five years ago, here in the United States, one hundred and forty five years ago, there was a minister by the name of William Miller, they were called the Millerites, he was founder of the Adventist movement, now he had been saved out of deism, and became a Baptist preacher, and for fourteen years he believed in Bible numerology, and for fourteen years, a very brilliant man by the way, and you can still read his book today, and it's the most convincing book you'll ever read, it's called Evidence from Scripture and History, of the second coming of Christ in the year 1843, Jesus was going to come in 1843, and he was so convincing, his argument so convincing, very brilliant man, after researching for fourteen years, in fact there was a gentleman by the name of Joseph Hines, who began to publicize it in 1839 up to 1843, and this swept the United States, I mean it was believed by many many denominations, thousands of preachers believed Mr. Miller's prophecy, that Jesus would come in 1843, well the last day of 1843, thousands gathered on the mountaintop, to watch him descend out of heaven in a cloud, he was going to come at midnight, and once again with bated breath, they waited praising the Lord on the mountaintop, some dressed in white robes, no Jesus, he didn't come in 1843, well the morning, the next day, William Miller went back to his calculations, and decided he had made a mistake, and just miscalculated it, I think it was two years, he set another date, and again hundreds and hundreds, and even thousands believed, by the time they set it the 34th time, people gave up, but he became it, in fact he became 1845, two years later, he became president of the Adventist, not the Seventh-day Adventist, but the Adventist movement, and the Advent being the return of the Lord Jesus Christ, now would you believe it's happening again, right now? Ok, here's a book, that's sweeping the charismatic movement right now, in fact there are two of them, one says that predicts, in fact there's 100 reasons why Jesus is coming in 1988, this is called The Rapture, 1988, and 88 reasons why, Jesus is going to come, in Rosh Hashanah, September the 11th, at sunrise, now listen folks, there are a lot of people not laughing about it, in fact my office is being dealt usually, we've had six of these books, just sent to us, the man is a very sincere man, it's one of the most convincing books you'll ever read, powerful, convincing book, except it's only half the truth, in fact it misses the whole point, and that's why this message tonight, I believe God wants to prepare us, because this is just the beginning, the whole church, whether it's evangelical, charismatic, is going to be swamped by predictions of the coming Lord Jesus Christ, and if you don't have your feet on the ground, if you don't know the word of God, you're going to be swept away by it, and the Holy Spirit's put this on my heart, now I read about the first third, and I begin convinced he's a very very sincere man, I don't want to even give his name, and I'm not promoting the book, but he misses the point, it goes beyond what I would call a delusion, it goes beyond being mistaken, I just believe it's unscriptural, but beyond that it misses the whole point about the coming of the Lord, in fact, they get around this idea that no man knows the day or the hour, when the Son of Man comes, by saying that simply means, there are various time zones on the earth, and nobody knows the exact time zone he's coming in, it's not a joke folks, it's not a joke at all, but I'm saying that, there are going to be literally thousands and thousands of spirit filled Christians swept up, and they're being swept up, I have minister friends, absolutely sold, they said brother David, it's going to happen September 11th, by the way, the book goes on to prophesy, that 23 days later, on October the 4th, World War 3 will break out, according to the scripture, he's got it all calculated, all the calculations are there, and of course, October the 4th, 1995, the millennial begins, the millennial reign of Jesus, it's all here, I mean, the first three, four chapters, very convincing, you say, my goodness, that sounds right, until you get your Bible out, until you begin to pray, and you begin to hear some things from the Holy Spirit, now there's danger, now listen to me, because there's danger, in getting so caught up, in when he's coming, and how he's coming, we forget who is coming, we don't have our eyes on Jesus, you know, if I were a single man, and I had been to Europe, and I found a young bride, and I went back to prepare a home for her, here in the United States, and she told all her friends, he's coming back, he didn't tell me when, but he said, when he has the house ready, he's coming back, and she spends two years, or three years, and all she's doing, she's trying to figure out, I don't know if he's coming by plane, or by boat, I don't know, and she spends all her time talking about, how I'm coming, rather than about me, I'd be worried, wouldn't you? She's talking about, how I'm going to be transported there, rather than being wrapped up in who I was, all of this, you don't find anything about who Jesus is, it's just about how he's coming, and when, I find that in all the books, all of these men, that predicted the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, the same thing you find little said about Jesus, other than how he's coming, and when he's coming, the charismatic movement, and the evangelical movement, in the whole world, not just the United States, is dividing up in all kinds of doctrinal camps, about the coming of Jesus, and the millennial reign of Christ, I've never in my lifetime, heard of such confusion, it's just mind-boggling now, some believe that there's going to be, a two-stage coming of Jesus, there's going to be first a rapture, that's a sudden catching away, and others, that he'll come after a tribulation period, and then come back to the earth, and redo the earth, then we've got some, who believe that Jesus is coming, before the tribulation, there's going to be seven years of tribulation, Jesus will come first, it's called pre-trib, and then we have, a doctrine called mid-trib, that Jesus is going to come, three and a half years into the tribulation, we have another doctrine, very widespread, called post-trib, means Jesus is going to come, after seven years of great persecution, called Jacob's trouble, and then of course, we've got all kinds of doctrines, on the millennial reign of Christ, millennial, millennium, means one thousand years, and there's a teaching, based on Revelation, the twentieth chapter, seven verses, in fact, the only reference, that I see, the overt reference, to the millennial reign, but see, we have pre-millenniast, we've got post-millenniast, and all-millenniast, the all-millenniast, don't believe there is any millennium, they teach that, there are two kingdoms, running parallel, with each other, the gods and the devils, and God's going to smash, the devil's kingdom, there's no, millennial reign of Christ, the post-millenniast, believe that the kingdom of God, is right now, and the world, is going to be Christianized, and when it's been Christianized, then Jesus will come back, we've got a new doctrine now, called dominion theology, that we're going to take over, all of the arts and the sciences, and we're going to take over politics, we're going to take over the world, and then, after we've subdued the world, and smashed out sin, then we're going to bring, King Jesus back to reign over it, and then we've got, what we call the dispensationalists, and they've got it all figured out, I mean charts, and numbers, and figures, and I read all this stuff, they all have proof scriptures, it all sounds good, and everyone, they say, I am right, and nobody else is right, you believe it my way, or you are in error, you are lost, well folks, I'm at the point now, where I look through my Bible, and I don't see anything, that says be ye always figuring, and calculating, about my coming, all I see in my Bible, says be ye ready, be ye ready, we beseech you brethren, by the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him, that you be not soon, or easily shaken in your mind, or be troubled, neither by a letter, as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand, in fact, 1st 2nd Thessalonians 2 11, it says, let no man deceive you by any means, the new American standard says, don't be disturbed, either by a spirit, or a message, or a letter, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come, don't be moved, don't be shaken by it, don't get caught up in these things, brother, sister, don't get caught up in it, Jesus said, but of that day and that hour knoweth no man, know not the angels which are in heaven, neither the son, but the father, the Bible says, watch therefore, for you know not when the master of the house is coming, lest coming suddenly he find you sleeping, you don't know, Jesus said, I don't know, the father knows, if he's not going to reveal it to his son, how is he going to reveal it to any other human being, of course he knows now, now God has purposely withheld the time of Christ's return, to keep his people in a state of watchfulness, and a moment by moment state of expectancy, take heed, watch and pray, for you know not when the time is, you know if he gave us a date, you know how we are, we're so lazy, we just live it up for the devil until the week before, and last minute rush in and get a whole bunch of religion, so we can get into the pearly gates, the Lord said, no I'm not going to tell you when, I'm not going to let you know, the father says when my son is coming, I'm not going to let you know, I want you to live hour by hour, moment by moment expecting my return, his return, listen to me please, any doctrine about Christ's return, any doctrine about the tribulation, any doctrine about the millennium, that robs you of a spirit of watchfulness, robs you of prayerfulness, robs you of expectancy, I don't believe it's of God, any doctrine that puts you at ease, you can relax and say, oh Jesus isn't coming, we've got the dominion doctrine, that's put the coming of Jesus, away for thousands of years, there's no provoking to righteousness, I don't know about you, but I have not only the love of God, but the fear of God that provokes me, the Bible said by the fear of God, men forsake their iniquities, the fear of God, I'm not preaching this message through fear tonight, I'm going to preach in a different way, but you know, a pastor who called me recommending this book said, well brother Dave, I don't know whether the book is true or not, whether Jesus is coming September the 11th, but he said, the Christians are so sleepy, people are laying in front of the television, just dying spiritually, we need something to wake them up like this, well brother and sister, if you have to have a jolt like this, what are you going to do on September 12th? You're going to become a scoffer, and the longer he puts off his coming, the more you're going to say it isn't true at all, and if you have to have that to be ready, then something's wrong. I'm not slamming this book down because I'm mad at the man, I don't believe the message. When I was a boy, in Holy Pentecost, they preached the coming of Jesus in a rather fearful way, it scared the daylights out of me, we had evangelists that would come, and boy, when they preached the coming of the Lord, they always seemed to use Matthew 24, 40 to 42, Then shall two be in the field, one shall be taken, and the other left. Two women shall be grinding at the mill, the one shall be taken, and the other left. What's therefore for you know not what hour your Lord doth come, therefore be ye ready also, for in such an hour as you think not, the Son of Man cometh. Now if you've got sin in your life, and you're living in rebellion, that ought to strike fear in your heart, that ought to wake you up, because He said He's going to come when you least expect Him. He is going to come suddenly. And some said it's going to be the wicked that are taken away to judgment, and others say the righteous are going to be taken away just like they were on the ark, they were taken off the earth, and taken into the boat, the ark. And both of those doctrines have a lot of scriptures to prove it. But see, again, they're missing the point. They're missing the point completely as far as I'm concerned. Those arguments don't mean anything to me. You see, if you're ready to go at any time, it doesn't matter when He comes. And by the way, if you're falling in love with Him more and more every day, you're just growing into His coming so that when He finally comes, it's just one more little step that you have to take. You're so full of the glory and the blessing, it's just walking over the line. You don't have to leap. Jesus doesn't have to reach way up there and compromise to get you. You're right at His door. You're right at the door and you just... It's like breaking through tissue paper. You're into it. Glory. Just a veil of tissue. The coming Lord is... Poof! You're right into it. Hallelujah. But, Paul, I heard in advance just say, you young people, you kids, if you're living for the devil, you come home one day, mom's not going to be there. She'll be gone and you're going to be left behind. And they preach about the trumpet of God shall sound. And then one day I was walking down the street and a school bus went by, a school band coming over, football team game. Kid got his trumpet out the window and started blasting and I thought, that's it, he's coming, he's coming. Panic. I was panic stricken. Because I'd been telling lies. And don't you know, I came home from school one day and my mother was always there except on this day. I went in and said, Mom, I'm home. Went in the kitchen, she wasn't there. I went up and said, Mom! She wasn't home. Dad wasn't home. Nobody was home. I looked in every closet. I looked in the attic. I looked everywhere. And I said, Jesus is coming. I'm left behind. I'm left behind. It's true. I was ready to pass out. I was ready to die on the spot. I'm left. I said, I don't know how long, it seemed like an eternity. I sat there like a scared mouse in the living room until the car drove in the driveway. I ran up, Mom, where have you been? I thought I'd missed the coming of the Lord. And she said, That's where it's going to be, David. You better be ready. But you see, for many, many Christians, the coming of the Lord is a fearful, fearful thought. And if you're not right with God tonight, this message is a fearful message. If you're walking in His righteousness tonight, it's going to be great, great comfort to your heart. Great comfort to your heart as we go into it. I want you to go to the book of Acts. Acts, the first chapter. I want to get right into my message. I'm just starting to preach. Acts, the first chapter. Oh, this blesses my heart. We're going to start reading at the fourth verse. First chapter of Acts, the fourth verse beginning to read. I'm reading from King James. Listen closely and follow me, please. And being assembled together with them. Now, keep that in mind. They're being gathered together with them. He commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which saith to you, You have heard of Me. John truly baptized you with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence. When they therefore were come together. Now, remember that also. Come together. They asked of Him, saying, Lord, will Thou at this time restore again the kingdom of Israel? To Israel. And He said unto them, It's not for you to know. Remember this book? It's not for you to know the times or the seasons which the Father hath put in His own power. But ye shall receive power after the Holy Ghost has come upon you. You shall be witnesses unto Me both in Jerusalem and all Judea and Samaria to the uttermost part of the earth. And we've spoken these things while they beheld. While they beheld, He was taken up, and a cloud received Him out of their sight. And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven, as He went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel, which said also unto them, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye getting up into heaven? This same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as you've seen Him go into heaven. Now look this way, if you will, please. The first thing Jesus did was to gather a people together. A hundred and twenty. And He took them to the Mount of Olives. Now, I don't know why this hundred and twenty because He showed Himself to at least five hundred people we know. But a hundred and twenty were gathered. Wouldn't it be something to be in that special number? I'm not preaching special rapture or anything else. I'm preaching right now that the Lord Jesus chose a hundred and twenty people and I don't know why. Surely it must have been because they yearned after His heart. They were those upon which would come the Holy Spirit. They would be His witnesses. Being assembled together with them, that's verse 4, New American Standard says, and He gathered them together. And He takes them up to the mountain. And He had told them for at least a year. He told them over again, He said, I'm going to send to My Father. He said, you're not going to see Me anymore. You shall see Me no more. You heard Jesus said that I said unto you, I'm going away and I will come to you. If you loved Me, you would have rejoiced because they'd go to My Father. And they didn't understand what He meant. They didn't understand at all because they said, what is this thing He's telling us? A little while and you won't see Me anymore. What's He mean? And so after He's resurrected, He takes them there. He prepares their heart. He said, I'm going to send to My Father. And those disciples, those hundred and twenty must have thought, well, how's that going to happen? Is He going to vaporize? After all, He's God in the flesh. Is He just going to vaporize? Is He going to just vanish? Or is the chariot, the one that came for Elijah, going to come and get Him? Is He going to be zapped? Is He going to die again? And go in the grave and be resurrected without being sown again? How is He going to go? And their minds, they didn't understand. There was no way, in fact, Jesus said, you will weep and lament and you will be sorrowful. Even though He said, if you knew what was waiting you, if you knew that I was going to send the Holy Ghost and abide in you, you would rejoice. But they didn't understand. And my beloved friends, we don't understand. They didn't understand His leaving. We don't understand His coming. We are not grabbing it. We're not understanding that He says, I'm coming back for you. I'm coming back for a bride. That has never really been comprehended in our minds. We don't understand that fully. But you know, suddenly, the Lord is doing the same thing again, right now, in this particular time in history, just as sure as He gathered a group together to go to the Mount of Olivet, the Holy Ghost is drawing a people now. He said He's going to come back in the same manner that He left. How did He leave? He left by gathering a people to watch His ascending. He's gathering a people to watch His descending. He's gathering a people right now from all denominations and all churches, dead churches, harlot churches, Babylonian churches, people that are fed up with their apostasy and compromise. And He's bringing them together. I don't know how He's doing it. It's a marvelous, miraculous thing. He's bringing them together. I believe He's bringing the body together right here. Right here. Many of you represent that group that the Holy Spirit is calling out. And He's calling them out for a purpose. To be there when He descends. When He comes back. He's not ascending this time. He's descending. He's coming back. Just in the same manner that He left. Hallelujah. We have a people today who've heard the trumpet. They've heard the archangel singing, saying, The Bridegroom cometh. Go ye out to meet Him. Have you heard that in your spiritual ear yet? How many are hearing that? The Bridegroom is coming. Jesus is coming. That should be something that's ringing in your heart day by day. Hallelujah. I live with it constantly. When these things begin, remember Jesus had painted a very frightful picture of what it's going to be like. He said there are going to be famines and plagues and pestilence and earthquakes. He said it's going to be so terrible that men's hearts are going to fail them for fear of watching those frightful things coming on the earth. But then He said to His saints, to His own children, When you see these things begin to happen, then look up and lift up your heads for your redemption is drawing nigh. I'm coming soon is what He's saying. Now I want you to know also that it was a glorified man that ascended to heaven. And it's going to be a glorified man that comes back to earth. Hallelujah. Do you know that it was a man that was crucified? It wasn't a spirit. Jesus was a man just like I stand here in flesh and bone. I've preached that time and time again in this pulpit, but I want the Holy Ghost to make it clear to you that it was a man, a human man that was laid, a God human laid into that tomb. It was a man, a man with humanity that was raised out of that grave. And when they saw Him on the Mount of Olives and He said, You're going to receive power after the Holy Ghost, that came out of a man's lips, out of a man's heart. He was a glorified man. He had hair, he had teeth, he had eyes, he had fingers, he had toes, he had feet. He walked, he talked. He was touched with the feelings of our infirmities. He could leap for joy, he could weep, he could laugh, he could cry, he could smell. He was a man. Hallelujah. And it was a man, a flesh and bone man that started to go up into glory. It was a man, it's a man who's in glory right now. Ever since He's left, He's been a man. He's seated at the right hand of the Father in bodily form. So when you pray, you're talking to somebody who's touched with your feelings. He's a man. And it's a man, a God-man. It's Christ who's coming back in bodily form. It's not some ghost that's coming. It's not a ghost that's coming. It's a man that's coming. Jesus is a man. The Son of Man. A glorified God-man. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. The Bible said, while they steadfastly looked, the American Standard has said, as they were gazing intently, they saw the whole thing with their eyes. They had their eyes fixed on Him. They didn't just wink an eye and He was gone. I believe it was a beautiful sight. I believe Jesus must have prayed with them. There's only a few verses recorded, but I'm sure there was much, much more said. And they suddenly, it dawned on them, this is the moment. I don't know how it happened. I don't know if He just began to glow with the glory. And suddenly the glory became brighter and brighter. I don't know if they fell on their knees, but I know they kept their eyes fixed on Him and suddenly that body just began to lift and levitate from the earth. And it started to go up and a cloud appeared and the cloud lifted Him and they had their eyes fixed on Him. And He left that presence and they watched Him right out into the distance. They watched Him ascend, they said, with their eyes fixed. Look at it. Look at it. Look at verse 10. This is the end of side 1. You may now turn the tape over to side 2. That speaks of our bodily change. There's going to be a sudden change. That's talking about... And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven, as He went up, their eyes saw the whole thing. He didn't just vanish before them. Now, there's a truth here. Now listen to me. Look this way. This is so precious and I want you to catch it tonight. It's true that our bodies are going to be changed in the twinkling of an eye. And that's 1 Corinthians 15. Don't turn, but listen to it. We shall all be changed in a moment in the twinkling of an eye at the last trump. Now, beloved, that speaks of our bodily change. There's going to be a sudden change. That's talking about the body. This corruption is going to put on incorruption. We're going to get a new body. We're going to be zapped into a new body in a twinkling of an eye. But listen, that's talking about the bodily change. The Scripture says we're going to be caught up to meet the Lord in the air together with them, the resurrected dead in the clouds. But what happens? What's going to happen before we ascend with Him to glory? I believe that the redeemed of the Lord are going to see the whole event just as the Bible says He's coming in like manner, just as it was when He left. It's going to be when He comes back. Oh, I believe the saints of God are going to see the whole thing in the songs of Solomon. The bride sings. He is showing Himself through the lattice. He's revealing Himself. I see Him. There's a revelation coming. And those who are being called out of sinning compromise are beginning to get the revelation already. Jesus is becoming brighter. His glory has been revealed day by day, message by message. Something's happening. Something's changing. We're seeing Him appear through the lattice. That's through that grill where the vine is growing. We see Him through that window, through the lattice. He's beginning to approach. He is going to come quickly. He's going to come suddenly. And our bodies are going to be changed in the twinkling of an eye. But I believe before He comes, He's going to knock first to every believer walking in victory. He's going to knock first. You know He said, Behold, I stand at the door and knock. Do you know what it says in the song of Solomon? Song of Solomon 5.2 It is the voice of My Beloved that is knocking. It's the voice of My Beloved that is knocking. How can a bride not sense the approach of her loved one? Have you never had Jesus come into your room when you were praying? In His presence. I don't mean physically, but the presence of Jesus. I've been in motels all over the United States while I've been in crusades. And sometimes in the middle of the night just laying in bed worshiping the Lord. Suddenly the room would... I didn't see a bright light, but there was a sense of Jesus. And I'd say, It's You, Jesus. You're here. You're in the room. You're here. I've never believed these men who said Jesus came in bodily form and drove with me all the way to Florida. No. I don't find that in my Bible at all. But I have touched His Spirit. His Spirit. Have you never had that? Have you ever not been praying and the Lord just lay you down on your back slain in the Holy Ghost and you try to get up and He just lay you back down? You felt the hand of Jesus. You knew He was there. How could He approach in this last day? How could He come without His bride knowing He's at the door? In ancient times, the way the young man found a bride, he took a bottle of good wine, he went to her house and he poured a cup of wine, a glass of wine, and if she drank it, that meant she accepted His proposal. If she pushed the glass aside, that meant she wouldn't accept the proposal. He went away after she accepted His proposal for a period of a year or two to prepare a house or habitation. And He said, When I'm ready, I'll come back. And it was said that if they lived in the village, it had to be announced at least two blocks away. The bridegroom is coming! The bridegroom is coming! And the bride always was ready. She had her gown prepared. And He would come then. He was descending, so to speak. He's coming for His bride. And the crowd goes up to the bridegroom and here He comes with His party. Jesus is coming with all the angels of heaven, the Bible says. His bridal party is coming. Hallelujah! And I believe with all my heart that every one of His children who are walking in righteousness, I believe the Holy Ghost is going to announce it. I believe there's going to be a knocking on the door. There's going to be a sense. It's here. It's here. I know it. I don't know if it's going to be the last hour. I don't know if it's going to be the last half hour. I don't know when it's going to begin. But I want you to listen to a few scriptures. I want you to listen to this. 1 Peter 1.13. Just listen. Therefore, gird your minds for action. Keep sober in your spirit. Fix your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. A revelation is an unveiling. At the unveiling of the return of the Lord Jesus Christ. The Bible says, you, brethren, are not in darkness that that day should overtake you as a thief. He's coming to the world as a thief. But He's saying, My bride, if you really love Me, do you know, I don't know if you're close enough to your wife, but I'm close enough to my wife sometimes to say something before she says it. There are times that she thinks I read her mind and I think she reads my mind because we begin to think the same thing. There's a sense. I know what she is about to do. She knows what I'm about to do. Not on all occasions. But friends, in the spiritual realm, I believe there's going to be a magnetic pull toward Him. I believe there's going to be a cutting away of everything. Is this going to be a sense? He is at the door. My loved one's at the door. My loved one's at the door. Jesus is at the door. He's already left. The train of glory is coming. The train is on the way. Hallelujah. Listen, the Bible says if we love Him now, He said, we love Him when we don't see Him. Having not seen Him yet, we love Him. What's it going to be like when we see Him? When He's going now, we don't see Him now, and we love Him with everything that's in our heart, don't we? Paul suggests that those holy ones are going to see the day approaching. Not forsaking the assembling of yourselves together, but exhorting one another, all the more as you see the day approaching. There's a spiritual discernment. You're going to see this day coming closer and closer. Listen to these other Scriptures. But we know that when He shall appear, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. 1 John 3, 2. Revelation 1, 7. Behold, He cometh with clouds, and every eye shall see Him, and they that pierced Him. Revelation 22, 4. And they shall see His face, and His name shall be in their foreheads. Paul said, you know, when His name was Saul, and He was a Christ-hater, Jesus appeared to Him, and the glory of Jesus knocked Him down, and blinded Him. Later, He was testifying to it. You know what Paul said? He was speaking when His name was Saul, and He was living for the devil, or rather living as a Christ-hater. He said, when I could not see for the glory of that light, He said, that glory blinded me. Oh, I tell you, He wasn't blind when He died. When He became Paul the Apostle, that blindness was gone. It was healed. But you see, Stephen is our type. Stephen, a righteous man of God. They were stoning him, and he's about to break through into eternity. And the Bible says, he looked up with assurance, and he saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God. He's about to go, and he sees the whole event of his death. He sees his whole resurrection taking place. The Bible said, while Stephen's being stoned, he looks up and the heavens open. One man gets that vision, the heavens open, and he sees Jesus standing at the right hand of the Father. And I believe he saw Jesus with his hands open. Come on Stephen, just walk over, just a step, and you're home. He saw it all before he went. His eyes were open. That sense is dawning on me. It's been in my heart all week long. He said, you're not going to be in darkness. That deed's not going to overtake you as a thief. You're going to see Him. There's going to be a spiritual vision of the coming of Lord Jesus Christ to His bride. Hallelujah! Those who are full of the Holy Ghost are going to be given open eyes. There'll be an open heaven. By the way, the coming of Jesus, I believe, is going to be a great celebration of gladness. Both for the bride and the bridegroom. Hallelujah! For us who make up the bride, there should be no fear that moment that He appears. But rejoice, inasmuch as you're partakers of Christ's sufferings, that when His glory shall be revealed, you may be glad with exceeding joy. When He shall be revealed, in other words, when He comes, you should not be living in fear. You should not be living in bondage. That deed should not overtake you as darkness or as a thief. But you should be living in that expectancy. And though you may be suffering and not understand what you're going through, when His glory shall be revealed, you may be glad with exceeding joy. Great joy! Hallelujah! Never forget, listen, Jesus is not a trickster. He's not like we are. You know, if you're sitting here tonight and you mistrust your wife and you have reason to doubt her faithfulness, you're probably going to either hire a detective or you're going to snoop around and you're going to try to catch her. The Lord, His bride's been unfaithful, He said so. In fact, Israel, He went out and found her in her bloody cloth, He says, and He said, I picked you up. You were miserable and you were wretched. And Israel's always been wretched and miserable. And He said, it's been My love, My grace. I keep going and getting you. I keep forgetting and forgiving all your fornication. But Jesus is not a trickster. He's just going to have you sit on the edge of your seat, so to speak, and try to catch you in the dark before He can. I'll catch you! I'm going to wait until I see compromise. Then I'm going to come! Jesus is not a trickster. No, He's not. He's in love with His bride. He's in love with His bride. Hallelujah. He's waiting, He's patiently waiting. Every spot and wrinkle is gone. He's waiting for a people whose heart will reach out to Him. Hallelujah. Looking for that blessed hope and the glorious appearing of that great God in our Savior Jesus Christ. He's coming for those who expect Him, who are looking. Looking for it, earnestly desiring the coming of the day of God. And redeeming the time because the days are evil. And I'm telling you now, and I say it in all love with everything in me, you can't be redeeming the time sitting in front of some godless TV set, wasting hours and hours. How are you redeeming the time? You're wasting time. If there was not a reason to get rid of all that garbage and filth, it's that you're not redeeming the time because the hour is late. Your kids are wasting time. Some of you have kids that don't even know how to talk to you anymore. You've stuck them in front of that box as a babysitter. And don't, I'm going to say it again, don't tell me it isn't an idol. Why is all the furniture facing it? And why are you eating in front of it? You offer food to it. The American potato chip god. Redeeming the time. Oh, this is the sin of the church, the wasted time. I don't mean you can't go out and have a vacation and rest and have a good time with your family, go out with your friends and have a good time, just in the good natural things of life. But oh, there shouldn't be a waking moment in your life if you really love Him that you're not aware there's something inside that's yearning for the bridegroom, saying even so, Lord Jesus. The Holy Spirit in you cries, behold the bridegroom, come quickly, come quickly, Lord Jesus, come quickly. The Holy Ghost in you keeps crying, come quickly, come quickly, come quickly. And there should never be a moment, a waking moment in business, pleasure, or anything else that should always be there, Jesus, I hear it, you're coming, I'm ready. You can come in the middle of my conference at business. You can come in the middle of my job. Some of you wish you'd come in the middle of your job. I mean, Lord, you can come at any time, I'm ready. Doesn't matter when you come, I don't care about the dates. I don't care if it's a hundred years away. I'm going to be ready right now, I'm staying ready. And don't give any more doctrines, I'm tired of the doctrines. Just let me be ready, let me be expecting and loving Him. Hallelujah. If you love Him and expect, you don't need all those doctrines. Glory to God. You know, we think so much about the joy that we're going to have when we see Him, but do you ever think of the joy He's going to have? After all, He's in love with us, isn't He? We're His bride, aren't we? Do you know Jesus has feelings? He wept, didn't He, at Lazarus too? Do you know when the Seventy came back and said, even the devils are subject then to us? In the original Greek it says, He leaped for joy. Do you see Jesus leaping for joy? Even the devils are subject unto them. He was so happy, there was joy in His heart. The angels of heaven, the seraphims, the cherubim, and all the four and twenty elders, and that train of glory approaches this earth on a cloud. I want you to know the Bible said He's not going to come in a quarter, He said He's coming with a shout. He's coming with a shout. And with a trumpet. The dead in Christ are going to rise first. And by the time they get there, they're going to be so much shouting, they won't even hear us, Kevin. I mean, they're going to be shouting and singing and praising the Lord. The dead first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up to meet Him in the air. I can't understand why that's so hard to interpret. I don't know why you have to build strange doctrines on that. It just said, He's going to come and catch us up, and we're going to see the whole thing happen. Oh yes, when our body chains are going to be in twinkling of an eye, but the descending, we're going to see the whole thing. We may be sleeping, but the archangel, the Bible said with the voice of the archangel, I mean, He's going to speak in every bridehood member, everybody living in victory. The Lord's just going to tap them on the shoulder, wake you up and say, your bridegroom is here. The bridegroom is here. Get up. Look up. Look up. You're going to see something in just a moment. Get ready, you're going to see. And you'll be able to see right through your rooftop. There'll be nothing be able to block your vision, because it's a righteous, holy, spiritual vision. And our Savior is coming in glory and power with a shout. My dad who died at 54 is going to be shouting before I am. And all the dead ones that you know that have passed on and living in glory with Jesus, their Bible says they shall be raised first. Then we who are alive and remain in His coming shall be caught up. We're going to see the whole thing. We're going in glory. But as much as... Look how we're shouting about it. Look how happy we are. Can you imagine how His heart is? How He longs for His bride? Do you know what the Bible says? Have you ever thought of this? Listen to it now. Jesus, in the 17th chapter of John, He was praying to the Father just before He left the earth. He said, Father, I desire, I desire, I yearn, that they also, whom Thou hast given Me, be with Me where I am, in order that they may behold My glory. He said, Oh, Father, My heart's desire is to have them with Me. Can you imagine when He's on His way? Hallelujah. He said, It's time, beloved. And His heart, the joy of His heart, because as much as we long for Him, how much more is He longing for us? Because He has the capacity to love. He has the capacity. We don't. Can you imagine in the capacity of God, the joy, the extreme joy, the incredible joy of the Lord Jesus Christ? Isn't it amazing to be able to sit here and know you can give Him joy? To make Jesus happy, that the Holy Ghost has done something. You've prepared your heart. He's beginning to just cut everything that ties you to this world. The world's meaning less and less to you than it's ever meant, doesn't it? I mean, your job doesn't mean anything. Your car doesn't mean anything anymore. It's a pile of junk. Your house, your furniture, everything. Folks, it's all ruined. We're going somewhere else. I'm not trying to work you up. I just, I sense the joy of His heart. Not just my joy, the joy of His heart. And the coming of the Lord is a glad day for Jesus. Because He's going to be arm in arm with His bride. He said, I desire, Father, they be with me also. Hallelujah. Well, there's some more. Do you know He's promised to show Himself? Unto them that look for Him shall He appear. And in the Greek it means He will show Himself the second time without sin unto salvation. It means the second time He doesn't have to atone for sin. He's coming back now. He's already atoned. He's coming back for those who look for Him. And He said, those who look for Him, I'm going to show Myself to them. I'm going to reveal Myself. Glory to God. Are you getting that revelation? Now I've got five more minutes. Alright, here's... Why don't you go to 1 Thessalonians? It's so good. 1 Thessalonians. If you get to Hebrews, you've gone too far, turn back left. I'm saying that for our young converts. And if you're Ephesians, turn right. 1 Thessalonians. The fourth chapter. This is a hallelujah verse. I mean, this is something else. Boy, I got to read this this afternoon and I could hardly sit still. In fact, I didn't sit still. 1 Thessalonians 4. I'm going to read verse 13. If this doesn't make you shout, then I wonder how much life you've got in you. 1 Thessalonians 4. Do you have it? Verse 13. But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep. That means have died. That you shall not even as others which have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with Him. For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive will remain unto the coming of the Lord, shall not prevent them which are asleep. For the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a... What? You think He's going to do this in a corner? He's just going to come in and you're going to blink your eye and it's all over? That's just the bodily change. It's going to be the twink of an eye. We're going to see this whole thing happen. For the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God. And the dead in Christ shall rise first. Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet... Who? Meet the Lord in the air. And here's the best part. So shall we ever be with the Lord. Now, that last sentence wraps it all up for me. You can have all the doctrine and give me this. The whole teaching on the coming of the Lord is that He's coming and we're going to be with Him forevermore from that day on. It's all with Him. That's the message right there. To be with Jesus evermore. He shall descend from heaven with a shout. Take us to be with Him. Oh, it's to be with Jesus. Do you know... And I'm going to close with this. Some people get the idea that suddenly we get into the presence of Jesus. And by the way, there's another argument that says, well, we don't leave this earth. We're going to just stay here. He's going to... All the Christians, we don't go off the earth. In fact, there's a whole lot of people in charismatic movement now who preach that. The only heaven is here on earth. Others say, no, we're going to go up. He's going to take us into heaven. You know where heaven is? Where Jesus is. I don't care if it's on this earth. I don't care if it's in the cosmos. I don't care if it's on Mars. I don't care where it is. Heaven is where Jesus is. Evermore to be with Him. Glory to God. So you can preach all the doctrine you want. My Bible says I'm going to be with Him. If He wants to... I don't care where He takes me. Hallelujah. Glory to God. I'm not being facetious. It's just that... What more do you want than Him? What more do you need than Him? He represents heaven as far as I'm concerned. Being in His presence. You know what eternity is going to be? When we break through into His glory and with this I close. It's not going to be just one big blast of glory that's going to carry us all through eternity. No, it's going to be ever increasing ecstasy. Because all through eternity, He said, Father, I want them to be with me. I desire them to be with me that they may behold my glory. Do you know that His glory is so vast, so beyond comprehension, that even in eternity, no end. Don't even try to think of... Have you ever done that? Try to understand eternity and your mind goes, goes, goes. There's no end, no end. Finally you have to come back or you go away somewhere. I played that game once and I thought, Oh, I was getting dizzy. God had no beginning and no end. It's just a circle and it's incredible. But you know, all through eternity, endless eternity, He's going to teach us about His glory. He's going to reveal one glory after another. He's going to show us what redemption was all about, the atonement was all about. And He's going to show us the glories of His majesty, all of creation. It's going to take an eternity and after an eternity, we've already begun to stun, only begin to hear of His majesty and His glory that the Father has given to Him. He's going to show us the Father. He's going to give us to the Father. In fact, the scripture says, And all through eternity, we're going to learn more and more about the glories of the majesty of heaven. It will never be... If you think you're going to float around somewhere, you're going to go to heaven so you can retire? Who wants to retire? I want to learn more and more about it. Listen, I've heard preachers say, All this talk about Jesus coming, I don't want that. I want to be working for Jesus because, you know, if Jesus just lays time, there's more time for Jesus. If Jesus really is coming, that will give time for more souls to get saved. Well, listen, the Bible says He's willing that none should perish, and if He waited for that, He'd never come. He'd never come. So, He can come at any moment. I believe in any moment coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. Call it what you want. I believe He can come at any time. I expect Him at any moment. But I expect that when I'm with Him, I'll be with Him forevermore, and He's going to teach me and show me all His glory, and every bit of glory, every thought, every teaching of His glory. Don't you sit sometimes and hear some of the teachers? Doesn't your heart just thrill? Well, friends, that's just a foretaste. That's just a foretaste of our inheritance. We're going to be taught all through eternity. You know who our teacher is. Oh, glory to God! To sit at the feet of Jesus and learn all through eternity, and every little truth that He reveals to us, where He's the truth, is only going to make the glory brighter for us, the ecstasy greater, and ever, ever increasing glory. Hallelujah! Why would anybody trade that for the puny pleasures of this earth? Why would anybody want to be tied down to the things of this earth? Why would anybody be preaching prosperity when you have Jesus? He doesn't want you poor. I know that. He doesn't want you straggling around in unpaid bills, and God's faithful. But He doesn't want your eye on material things. He wants your eyes fixed on the hope that He's coming again. Hallelujah! Well, I've preached an hour, and it's time to quit. But I thank God tonight that my heart burns within me because I know that soon and very... Hey, that's it. Soon and very soon. I saw you go to the organ. Soon and very soon. Oh, listen. Did you read... Anybody have 1 Thessalonians open their fourth chapter? What's the last verse say? Wherefore do what? Are you comforted tonight? Are you comforted? I'm comforted. Glory to God. Let the economy fall. Let everything fall apart. We've got a hope that's beyond this world. Glory to God. Folks, we're leaving this all behind. I'll tell you something. The busiest people for Jesus are those who believe that He's coming at any moment because they work. They are busy redeeming the time because the hour's late. No, we're not monks. We're out in the front lines of evangelism preaching, winning souls, praying for the world because we want others to join this great Bridehood host. Will you stand to your feet? And they're going to sing that song. Before doing anything else, soon and very soon we shall... This is the conclusion of the tape.