Christ's Return

And last week I sent our service teaching someone that will occur before then. So this week I had some people ask if we could continue on and take this thing all the way through the end, through the end of the Book of Revelation. And so I'd like to do that this morning, and then we'll jump in next week to this idea of culture expression.

And after that we'll go into the Book of Acts. And we'll look at the Book of Acts. Here probably starting mid-May, late May.

Let me do a little bit of review for those of you who weren't here last week. We're going to start where the disciples asked the Lord a question. And by the way, I think many people are confused about this subject because we don't really give a lot of study or time to it.

We study a lot of other subjects, but I find that very few people have a real working knowledge of the Book of Revelation or some of the things that reference the second coming of Christ. So we talked about the signs that Jesus gave that would precede, here in Matthew 24, His coming. And then I mentioned the idea of the beginning of sorrows.

And that's an important concept. The Lord likens His return to a woman that gives birth, travail, as a woman with child. 1 Thessalonians 5 says.

And so when you think about a woman who is in the process of carrying a child and delivering a child, that created a situation that God made. And He made that to show you some teaching on the second coming of Christ. And so when a woman is pregnant, she conceives, she begins to have some discomfort, morning sickness, and the child begins to grow.

And from the early days of the church up until this present hour, things are getting more and more uncomfortable. And you look out in the created order and things are getting a little tense. And nations against nations rising, and wars, and earthquakes, and famines.

And I know they haven't been keeping track of this throughout the history, but things are getting more intensified. Romans talks about the creation groaning and travailing, waiting for the manifestation of the children of God. And so as this pregnancy continues, more and more uncomfortableness.

I remember my wife, the first pregnancy, she laid in bed one way and then rolled over the next, you know, seven, eight months. She's getting more and more uncomfortable, and the world's getting more and more uncomfortable. Things are getting more and more difficult.

And then we talked about last week how that moment comes, and I remember it clear. I'm laying in bed at 2 or 3 o'clock in the morning and my wife wakes me up and says, I think it's coming. How do you know that, honey? I'm beginning to cramp.

She's having what's called birth pain. And Jesus said, when you shall see these signs, these are the birth pains. There is coming a time when things are going to intensify, just like in a pregnancy.

Things are going to intensify dramatically. Luke's Gospel says that men's hearts are going to begin to faint in them for fear of the things that are coming on the earth. There's going to be perplexity of nations.

People wondering what is going on. Earthquakes in many different places. Famines.

False Christs. This thing intensifying. And so when you ask me the question, Brother Jerry, do you think the Lord is coming soon? I say, well, I'm waiting for these birth pains.

The birth pains that will indicate that the Lord's coming is near. And then we get to the place Jesus said where there's great tribulation. We talked about that last week.

Brought on by this individual called the Antichrist. And then we got to the second coming of Christ. Immediately after the tribulation of those days, shall the sun be darkened, the moon shall not give her light, the stars shall fall from heaven.

All the glories of the heavens are shut down so that one glory can be seen. And that is the glory of the Lord. And His glory will be seen.

Every eye will see Him. And all kingdoms of the earth shall wail because of Him. So we got to that point last week.

And I was going to leave it lay, but some have asked, can we keep going and just follow this thing through? And so I want to do that here this morning. And so let's pray. And then we'll take some time to look at what will happen after the Lord appears in the clouds.

Heavenly Father, we acknowledge You this morning and want to submit ourselves under the will of God and acknowledge that Your Word is true and that it is the authority. And we need to acknowledge and say amen to what You have spoken, what You have written. We thank You that You have foretold us ahead of time what is coming upon this earth, that You love us.

You don't want us to be caught off guard. You want us to be prepared. And so, Lord, thank You.

And may our ears be open to Your Word and to Your voice as we read Your Word and consider it this morning. We pray Your blessing on each one of us today. In Jesus' name, amen.

Alright, so we talked about this last week, and I don't want to go into it in detail, but when the Lord appears, that you and I are going to be caught up to meet the Lord in the air. And the Bible says in 1 Thessalonians, so shall we ever be with the Lord. And so, we left ourselves last week.

The Lord appears, and we're with Him in the air. I want to read again here in Matthew 24. You don't have to turn there.

I'm going to ask you to turn to Revelation 6 here in a minute. But in Matthew 24, in verse 37, it says, But as the days of Noah were, so shall also the coming of the Son of Man be. For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, here's this affluence, they were marrying and giving in marriage until the day that Noah entered into the ark.

And they knew not until the flood came and took them all away, so shall also the coming of the Son of Man be. And so, when you think of the coming of the Son of Man, you think of the days of Noah. And also, Jesus mentions the days of Lot.

God always delivers His people out of judgments. Before He begins to judge the world, God takes Noah and his family and puts them in a place of safety. Before God judges Sodom and Gomorrah, He has Lot and his daughter and wife flee the city.

I like what the angel said to Lot. He said, I cannot destroy this city until you get out. So get out! And it's like Lot was lingering and finally the angel grabbed him and said, Let's go! So the angel knew, God won't destroy this city as long as His children are here.

So the Bible says, God has not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ. And so, there is coming a day when we're going to see the Lord. And we're going to be with Him, caught up to meet Him in the air.

And we'll be with Him. So I'd like you to envision that. I want to kind of be practical here this morning to impress this upon your heart that you and I are going to meet the Lord in the air.

So we're going to be there, the Bible says, in the clouds. It goes on here in Matthew 24, Then shall two be in the field. The one shall be taken in the other left.

Two women shall be grinding at the mill. The one shall be taken in the other left. There's coming a day when some are going to be taken and some are going to be left.

The ones that are going to be taken are going to be the ones who are His children. And the ones who are going to be left, will be left to judgment, just like it was in Noah's day. And just like it was in the days of Lot.

So, let's now take a further step here. And I know these things sometimes can be controversial. But I'd like you to look with me to Revelation 6. I'm going to start reading this morning here.

And we could talk about a lot of things. This could be 10 sermons here on these subjects here this morning. But I just want to give you an overview.

In Revelation 6, this is a picture of the Lord's coming here in verse 12, And I beheld when He had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake, and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood, and the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs when she is shaken of a mighty wind. And the heavens departed as a scroll when it is rolled together, and every mountain and island were moved out of their places. And the kings of the earth and the great men and the rich men and the chief captains and the mighty men and every bondman and every free man hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains, and said to the mountains and rocks, Think about this.

Think about what's going on in their hearts. Fall on us. Can you imagine? To a mountain.

Fall on me. Fall on us. And hide us from the face of Him that sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb, for the great day of His wrath is come, and who shall be able to stand? Well, that tells you what's going to happen in the hearts of unbelievers when they see the Lord coming and they see His face.

And this gentle Jesus, which we were talking about some this morning, is not going to be gentle at that time. It says the wrath of the Lamb. And so they actually are calling on mountains, boulders, to fall on them and to just kill them and cover them and to eliminate them because they don't want to have to face what's about to happen.

The wrath of the Lamb. That's just something that I can't even fathom when you think about it. Thinking about something that you see as a lost soul that is so terrifying that you'll actually cry to the mountains to fall on you.

It's an amazing thought. And so you don't want to face the wrath of the Lamb. But the great day of His wrath is coming.

And when the Lord appears, He is going to judge this world. And so we have the signs. We have a time of great tribulation.

And then immediately after the tribulation of those days, the Lord appears. And that's when judgment is coming upon this world. Now there's something here I want to throw in.

And this is very, very confusing to many. But I'll throw this in here. It starts in chapter 7. And let's keep reading.

By the way, those chapter divisions are put in here by men. In verse number 1, and after these things, John is observing this vision in heaven. I saw four angels standing on the four corners of the earth holding the four winds of the earth that the wind should not blow on the earth nor on the sea nor on any tree.

And I saw another angel ascending from the east having the seal of the living God. And he cried with a loud voice to the four angels to whom it was given to hurt the earth and the sea. So these four winds are four bad angels.

And they're going to start judging this world. By the way, God uses the devil. We won't see it here today, but he uses demons to judge the lost.

Verse number 3, saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads. And I heard the number of them which are sealed, and there were sealed 140,000 of all the tribes of the children of Israel. It goes on here.

It mentions all of these tribes. Now, this is a hard thing for people to grasp, and I realize, you know, if you were living in Noah's day and you were trying to understand the world that was after the flood, you'd say, boy, that's peculiar. That's kind of strange.

But we're looking into the future just like Noah and his family was, and things out in the future sometimes are different. They change. And so here we have God is about ready to judge the world, and he seals 144,000.

Now, these are not Jehovah's Witnesses, by the way, although the Jehovah's Witnesses claim that they're the 144,000. But the Lord is preserving 144,000, much like the plagues of Egypt. You know, when God brought the plagues down upon Egypt, he made it so that the Israelites did not get affected by those plagues.

And so when the Lord appears, you and I are caught up to meet him in the air. God is going to begin to judge. But before he judges, he says, hold on a minute.

We're going to seal 144,000 of all the tribes of Israel. Now, God has a purpose for Israel. Romans 9, 10, and 11 talks about, in the end, God has a purpose, and I believe God is going to do a work in Israel, and it's mentioned here, these 144,000 that he seals.

Now, why does he seal them? Because in the judgments, they are going to be able to survive and pass through. And we don't have time to look at it, but one of the judgments is these demon creatures coming out like scorpions and stinging men for five months, tormenting them so much so that men are wanting to die but can't die. Remember that little boy? Father said these demons are, he walks by a fire, and demons throw him in the fire, and they just torment him.

Well, these demons were tormenting men for five months, and men couldn't die. And so 144,000, the Lord is going to preserve them. And these demonic creatures cannot sting these 144,000.

They can hurt everybody else. But the 144,000 are sealed in their forehead. So practically speaking, when the Lord appears, God's going to judge this world, but He's going to preserve 144,000.

I'm just reading what it says. And I'll read you another verse here, and you explain this one to me later on if you have an understanding. Peter one day came to the Lord and said, Lord, listen, we've left everything, and we have followed you.

And Peter said to the Lord, what are we going to get? What reward are you going to give us for following you? And here's what Jesus said to Peter in Matthew 19, verse 28. And Jesus said unto them, Verily I say unto you that ye which have followed me in the regeneration, when the Son of Man shall sit in the throne in His glory, you also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. Put that in your theology for a minute.

Peter, listen, you're going to sit with me in the regeneration when I sit upon the throne of my glory. You're going to judge the twelve tribes of Israel. Twelve tribes.

I wonder what that's got to do with anything. But we have twelve tribes here that are preserved, that come through these judgments that are going to be poured out upon the world. Well, there's another group here in Revelation 7, and that's the church, and they're with the Lord in the air.

Verse 9, After this I beheld in lo a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people. That's the Gentiles also. And tongues stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands.

And they cried with a loud voice, saying, Salvation to our God which sitth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb. So you have this other great multitude before the throne, rejoicing. Praise God.

I hope you're a part of that group. By the way, it says they stand before the throne. Where is the throne? Look back at Revelation chapter 6, in verse 16.

And they said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of Him that sits on the throne. They're looking up, and they're saying, Oh, we see the Lord, and He's sitting on the throne. And now we see this great multitude before the throne, up there.

And so the Lord has come. So this great multitude is the church. They're before the throne.

So picture that. Someday it's going to happen. You're going to see the Lord.

You're going to be caught up to meet Him in the air if you're a child of God. And the world... Can you imagine in Noah's day, watching that family, Noah's family go into the boat, and then the door supernaturally closes? And all of a sudden, the waters start breaking up in the earth, and the waters start falling, and you realize everything Noah's been preaching all these years is true. And you're done.

And you're at that door, knocking, trying to get in. Can you imagine the crowd outside that boat that day, wanting to get in? Can you imagine the weeping and the wailing and the gnashing of teeth that is going to come when they see Him coming? And God's children are being caught up to meet Him in the air, and the lost are left for judgment. Now, in studying the book of Revelation, by the way, back in probably 2008, 2007, I preached the book of Revelation.

It took about three years. Two and a half, three years. Every other Sunday.

But in studying it, one of the things I realized, because I always thought that when the Lord appears, bang, bang, boom, ten seconds, it's all over. Like it's this whole earth going up in a fireball. But that's not how it works.

This is a process. You know, when God judged the world in Noah's day, it took 300 days or so for that judgment to pan out and for Noah to come out of the boat. And so I would encourage you to kind of change your thought process.

The Lord is coming to do a military takeover. By the way, we're going to be riding on white horses, and He's going to be the head. And this is a military takeover.

It's not going to happen in a moment. It's a process. And we're not going to be able to read them all, but the trumpets and the vials are judgments that are coming upon this world.

These trumpets are a mixture. Most of the trumpet judgments are turning a third of the sea to blood, a third of the rivers to blood, a third of the grass is burned, a third of the trees are burned. But when the vials are poured out, there is no mixture.

It says they're poured out without mixture into the cup of His indignation. All the sea is turned to blood, and all the rivers and all the grass and all the trees are burned. God is going to judge with fire.

Back in Noah's days, He judged with water. By the way, children, that's one of the reasons why when it rains and you go out and say, look at that pretty rainbow sky. You know what that says to you? God told us way back in Noah's day, I put that rainbow up there to remind you I will never destroy the world with a flood.

Can you imagine being Noah and his family and you see this rain coming down from heaven and then you get out of the boat and a few days after you get out of the boat, it starts to rain again. Like, oh no, we're going through it again. And God said, no, I'm going to put this up there.

So every time you see a rainbow, remember that God is reminding you He's not going to destroy the world with a flood. By the way, that's such a blasphemous thing that the homosexual groups have taken that rainbow and made it their symbol. So disgusting.

That rainbow is a symbol, but the Lord tells us He's going to come next time with fire. 2 Thessalonians 1, in flaming fire He's coming to take vengeance on them that you'd be a part of these two groups, vengeance on them that know not God and that believe not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. So get out of those two groups.

So He is coming with fire. Now, the Scripture says here that He turns a lot of the water to blood and after turning the water to blood, there's a statement made by the angels and the statement is this in Revelation 16. You don't have to turn there.

It says, and the second angel poured out his vial upon the sea and it became as the blood of a dead man and every living soul died in the sea and the third angel poured out his vial upon the rivers and the fountains of waters and they became blood and I heard the angel of the waters say, an angel is over the waters. Thou art righteous, O Lord, which art and was and shall be because Thou has judged thus for they have shed the blood of saints and prophets and Thou has given them blood to drink. Their words.

Here's the principle. You reap what you sow. And boy, it's going to come to the day of judgment here.

You have been shedding blood and mocking and ridiculing as we saw here this morning and you have been spilling blood everywhere. I'm going to give you blood to drink. The Lord is going to turn everything into blood.

And so these judgments, and we don't have time to go through them all. You can read them in the trumpets and the vials. They're just awful, horrible things that are coming.

God is judging men. He is judging the world. And He has a purpose in it.

And these judgments are to bring His enemies under His feet. He is going back to heaven. He has sat down at the right hand of God until it's time to bring His enemies under His feet.

Someday He's going to rise up. Stand up. He's coming.

And He's coming with a purpose. Gather His children and to destroy His enemies. And that judgment is going to take time.

I just want to remind you it's going to take time. It may take months. I don't know how long it takes, but it seems like it is a process.

The Lord is going to judge. And you and I are going to be with Him in the air. The Bible says in the Psalms that only with our eyes shall we behold the destruction of the wicked.

And we'll watch just like Lot. You can imagine Lot out there sitting in his cave and looking out towards Sodom. He sees the smoke of Sodom and Gomorrah rising up from the earth.

He only saw it with his eyes. So someday, practically speaking, most of you here are going to be in the air with the Lord. And we're going to watch God judge the world and the wicked.

And it's going to be an amazing sight. Amazing time. You don't want to be down here during that time.

Well, here's something that also I had to learn. Christ will continue His journey and proceed to the earth with His saints to establish His kingdom. It's like a military takeover.

He is coming on white horses. His armies are coming with Him. And they're going to take over this world.

As a matter of fact, the seventh trumpet sounds and it says the kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ and He shall reign forever and ever. So the Lord is going to subdue His enemy. And He is going to take control of this planet.

It says He's going to rule them with what? A rod of iron. You know what a rod of iron is? It's anger. It's fierce.

It's a rod of iron. He'll rule with a rod of iron. And here's where you get the battle of Armageddon.

I'm not going to read the verse, but it's amazing. The Bible says that the armies of the earth will fight against Him. Can you imagine the armies of the earth? Can you imagine the armies of this world when Jesus appears? Do you think they're going to go down without a fight? Can you imagine the missiles and the things that are going to be attempted to try to stop? Demonically inspired to try to stop this takeover.

So you have this great battle. Revelation 18-19, the battle of Armageddon. The blood flows to the horse's bridle.

It's a massacre. And the Lord is the winner. And so picture the Lord.

He is coming. He has a purpose. He comes to the clouds.

He catches up His children. He begins to judge the world. He moves toward this planet and He puts His foot down.

Actually, Revelation talks about He puts His foot down on the sea and on the land. And He claims this place to be His own. He takes back the power and the authority.

And He begins to establish His kingdom on the earth. By the way, every Sunday we pray, Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Now praise God that many of you here this morning are trying to do the will of God now on earth as it is in heaven.

But there's a lot of people who are not. There's a lot of people who are doing their own will. But there's coming a day when every knee will bow.

And the kingdom of Christ is coming here. And God is going to rule it with a rod of iron. And so we have this period of time called the thousand year reign of Christ or the millennial reign.

And we reign with the Lord a thousand years. Now I don't know all about how that's going to work. The Bible talks about that in Revelation chapter 20.

But we come with Him and we reign with Him. I'd like you to turn with me to 1 Corinthians chapter 15 and read a passage here. 1 Corinthians chapter 15.

Talking about the resurrection, the second coming of Christ here. 1 Corinthians chapter 15. By the way, this is just an overview here.

1 Corinthians 15 verse 23. But every man in his own order, talking about the resurrection, Christ the firstfruits. He was the first to rise from the dead.

Afterward, they that are Christ at His coming. That's when we're going to be raised up at His coming. Then cometh the end when He shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father, when He shall have put down all rule and all authority and power, for He must reign till He hath put all enemies under His feet.

The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death. So the Lord is coming. His purposes are to bring His enemies under His feet.

And we get a little time frame here. The last enemy to be destroyed is what? Death. Death is an enemy.

The last enemy to be destroyed is death. And if you go back to Revelation chapter 20, the last two verses, it says this. And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire.

And whoso was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire. The next verse says, I saw a new heaven and a new earth. In other words, the last enemy that shall be destroyed is death and hell.

So the Lord is coming. He has a purpose. And He's going to judge this world, but He wants to take us out before He judges it.

And then He will judge the world. He will proceed down to this earth with us. We will with Him set up His kingdom.

A thousand years. And we will reign with Him. And guess who's going to be here? By the way, when God judged the world in Noah's day and He killed everyone with a flood, only I think eight people survived.

Those eight people got out of the boat. How long did it take them to repopulate the earth? Do you know one of their descendants? Noah. And his wife.

How long did it take them to repopulate the earth? Well, these 144,000 that God is going to preserve through this judgment are going to repopulate the earth. Now, people ask the question, why does God do that? I don't have answers for that. But you can read about it in Revelation.

I think it's chapter 20. A thousand years. Satan is bound a thousand years, and then he's loosed.

And so the Lord is going to reign. So let's go back and read Revelation here. Revelation chapter 20.

I get myself in trouble on this next subject here, but I don't want to burst your bubble this morning. Some of you think you're going to live in heaven for the rest of your eternity. I've got news for you.

You're not. You're going to live down here. When we all get to heaven.

But here in Revelation chapter 20, starting in verse number 14, Revelation 20 verse 1 on down through verse 8 or 9 or 10 talks about the millennial kingdom. Well, let's look here at Revelation 20 verse 7. And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison. By the way, is Satan in prison right now? It doesn't seem like it.

Peter says he's out walking about seeking whom he may devour. Well, the Lord, when He comes, He's going to cast him into prison, and He's going to establish His kingdom. After the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison and shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle, the number of whom is as the sand of the sea.

And they went up on the breadth of the earth and passed the camp of the saints about and the beloved city. And here's a very quick destruction. And fire came down from heaven, out of heaven and devoured them.

And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone where the beast and the false prophet are. They were cast in a thousand years earlier. Shall be tormented day and night, forever and ever.

And I saw a great white throne, and Him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away. And there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great.

This is the lost stand before God. Books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life.

And the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books according to their works. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it, and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them. And they were all judged, every man according to their works.

You say, I want God to judge me according to my works. I'm a pretty good guy. God, you judge me according to my works.

Well, if you want God to judge you according to your works, you're going to find out that your works aren't sufficient. And you're going to find out that every thought, every word is being written down, and every imagination is being written down. When you stand before God, even as our brother shared this morning, you might be a holy man like Isaiah the prophet.

But when you stand before God, you're going to say, woe is me. Woe is me. And that's one of the reasons why you shouldn't look down on other people and say you're not as good as me, because God's saying, woe, woe, woe.

You stand before me, you're going to say, woe is me. So judgment finally for the lost. By the way, God waits till the last of the last of the last before He makes a new heaven and a new earth to judge the wicked.

And then, verse 14, it says they were all cast into the lake of fire. Children, you remember a few weeks ago we talked about Gehenna, that garbage dump, and God is going to throw them all into the garbage, lake of fire. That's the final place of torment for every lost soul.

So the Lord appears. We are caught up to meeting. He begins to judge the world.

He then proceeds to bring His enemies under His feet. He establishes a kingdom a thousand years. He binds the devil a thousand years.

After the thousand years, He raises every lost soul, every dead soul, and judges them according to their works, and they're sent to hell, lake of fire. By the way, I believe there's, just like there are different rewards in heaven, there will be different punishments in hell. You live a wicked, wicked, wicked life, you're going to suffer severely in hell.

You're judged. They that knew the Lord's will and prepared not themselves shall be beaten with many stripes, but they that knew not His Lord's will shall be beaten with few. So we come now to Revelation 21, verse 1, and I saw a new heaven and a new earth.

For the first heaven and the first earth were passed away, and there was no more sea. And I saw the holy city, and I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself shall be with them and be their God, and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes, and there shall be no more death.

You know, there's a passage in the Old Testament that says it. The former things shall no longer be remembered. When God makes a new heaven and a new earth, Isaiah says, the former things shall no longer be remembered.

Mothers, mothers, especially you mothers, you're probably thinking, How can heaven be heaven? How can I live forever in the joy of heaven, knowing forever that my son is being tormented in heaven? That's a hard thought, isn't it? How can I know, or how can I have joy in heaven when I know my husband or my wife is in hell? How can I have joy? Well, I'll tell you how. The former things shall no longer be remembered. I believe there's coming a day when God makes a new heaven and a new earth.

He says, That past is wiped out. And you want to talk about being lost. That's what lost really is.

When people go to hell, they are actually forgotten. That's being lost. The Bible says that the Lord doesn't even, when they come to the door, Lord, Lord, open to us.

And he says, I don't even know where you are. I know not whence you are. When God doesn't know where you are, then you're lost.

But I want you to notice here about this new heaven and new earth. It says here that the tabernacle of God is with men. Look at verse 2. I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down from God.

Jesus said in John 14, I go to prepare a place for you, and if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again. I believe right now the Lord is preparing a house for his bride. Uriah here is preparing a house for bride Sarah.

It's the way it ought to be. Someday the bridegroom is coming. He's going to take his bride to the house.

And this is the house. It's coming down from God out of heaven. Verse 3, and I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, behold, here's something interesting.

Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men. We've got this all backwards. We think our tabernacle is going to be with God up there.

No, God is coming down here, and he's going to tabernacle with us. By the way, he was walking with Adam and Eve at the beginning of this thing in the garden. You know, God is going to dwell down here with men.

He'll be his God, and they'll be his people. This is one thing that Jehovah's Witnesses have right. They keep talking about this paradise on earth, and I think a lot of Christians say, no, no, no, no, we're going to live forever in heaven.

No, actually we're going to live down here in a new heaven with earth. By the way, why do you need a new earth if nobody is going to live here? Why not just say, I'll make a new heaven, and we're going to get rid of the earth entirely? If you have an earth, you must have people on the earth. A new heaven and a new earth.

So we're going to spend eternity on this earth, but it's going to be a changed earth. It's going to be a redeemed earth. And the Lord is bringing his saints with him.

We're coming this way to this earth. So there's a need for a new earth. 2 Peter 3 verse 13 says, Nevertheless we, think about this.

Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for a new heaven and what? A new earth wherein dwelleth righteousness. Now what are you looking for? Are you looking for an eternity up there in heaven where you can fish? Fish, Eli, if you can fish for the rest of your eternity? Or are you looking for a new heaven and a new earth wherein dwelleth righteousness? You know, Abraham said, I'm looking for a city whose builder and maker is God. This is a city right here.

And it's coming down out of heaven to the earth. And that's a vision that John sees. He sees this city coming down.

So if you're a Christian here this morning and you love the Lord, one day you're going to see Him coming. You're going to be called up to meet Him in the air. From that vantage point, you're going to watch Him judge this world.

Then you're going to proceed with Him in a military takeover and you're going to subdue every enemy on the earth. And the kingdoms of this world are going to become the kingdoms of our Lord Jesus Christ and He shall reign. The Bible says a thousand years.

He'll bring all His enemies under His feet and then He'll judge the wicked, cast them into the lake of fire and He'll establish a new heaven and a new earth. And you'll live in that new heaven and new earth for eternity. Now, I'd like you to just look, and I'll just share one more thought here and then we'll close.

Look at Revelation 21. This is some wording here that I would like to try to correct our thinking. In Revelation 21, verse 1, it says, I saw a new heaven and a new earth for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away and there was no more sea.

Now when you read that in the King James, you think, well, see the earth, it's just going to be dissolved and there's going to be no more. It passed away. First heaven, first earth, passed away.

Now, everyone, if you would, turn to 2 Peter with me. 2 Peter, chapter 3, and I'll close here with this verse. 2 Peter, chapter 3. We'll start reading in verse number 1. This second epistle, beloved, I now write unto you, in both which I stir up your pure minds by way of remembrance, that you be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets and of the commandments of us, the apostles of the Lord and Savior, knowing this verse, that there shall come in the last days scoffers walking after their own lusts and saying, where is the promise that is coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation.

Many people are going to come and say, hey, you Christians, it's been a long time, where is the promise? You know, you said it was 1988 and 1993 and 2000 was the big Y2K, the Lord is coming, and we're already to 2021! Come on! And you know, Jesus said many of the churches are going to say, my Lord delays his coming. He shall begin to beat the men servants and smite and eat and drink with the drunk. Where is the promise of his coming? Well, he's going to come.

But notice the wording here in verse 5. For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old and the earth standing out of the water and in the water, whereby the world that then was being overflowed with water perished. And you read that and you think, let's talk about Noah's day. It was flooded with water.

Did the world perish? Did the world perish? Everything on it did. In the end, when the Lord comes with fire, everything is going to get burned up. But this planet is going to remain.

Look what it says in verse 6. Whereby the world that then was being overflowed with water perished, but the heavens and the earth which are now, that's what we're living in now, the heavens and the earth which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men. So there was a heaven and an earth back before Noah's day. Then there was a new heaven and an earth and we're living in it now.

And this heaven and earth is going to be judged and we're going to get a new heaven and a new earth. So God is going to revamp everything by fire. So I don't want to burst your bubble here this morning, but you're going to be living on this planet.

But it's going to be a much better planet because there's going to be no sea. Oh, there's no fishing. No fishing.

No sea. It's going to be a totally different situation, totally different planets, totally different heaven, totally different earth. And we're going to be living here for eternity.

So that's where we're heading. And if you believe that, the Bible says you ought to pursue peace and holiness and live a life of godliness and honesty before Him, not beat your men's servants or your maid's servants, not eat and drink with the drunken. In other words, don't go out and live in the world.

Neither should you fight with your brothers and sisters. Live at peace and prepare yourself for the Lord's coming. And so I know that probably doesn't answer all the questions, and so if you do have questions, we can talk about them later.

But I'm looking for a new heaven and a new earth wherein dwelleth righteousness. We have a great hope before us. And as our brother shared, as he was sharing, be not weary in well-doing, for in due season we shall reap if we faint not.

I'd like to just close with 2 Peter 3 here, verse 13. Nevertheless, we, according to His promise, look for a new heaven and new earth wherein dwelleth righteousness. Wherefore, beloved, seeing that you look for such things, be diligent that you may be found of Him in peace.

That means you're justified by faith. You find peace with God without spot. That means your heart is repentant.

You confess your sin. You cleanse your heart and blameless. You know, it's a good thing.

No one should go to point a finger at you and say, hey, you stole from me and never paid me back. You lied about me and never acknowledged it and confessed it and made it right. We ought to live a life where people have nothing to blame you.

Remember when they tried to find fault with Jesus? Pilate said, I can't find anything. This guy is untouchable. And we ought to live a life before the heathen is blamed, even in the church.

So if you have something that you've done wrong in the past, harmed someone, or you've left a testimony that's bad, you ought to go and humble yourself and make it right. But you're not blamed. You're not accused.

Falsely accused, yes. So found in Him in peace without spot and blame. So we're looking for these things, and I trust that helps clarify.

And I believe they're going to come to pass. I tell the college kids, you know, they talk about believing the Bible and why do you believe the Bible. Let me just share this with you in closing.

Two witnesses, it says, they are slain in Revelation Chapter 11. And it says, Their dead bodies shall lie in the street of the great city which spiritually is called Sodom in Egypt where also our Lord was crucified. Now here's something that John wrote 2,000 years ago.

Think about this. And they of the people and kindreds and tongues and nations shall see their dead bodies three days and a half and shall not suffer their dead bodies to be put in graves. I cannot fathom someone writing a book 2,000 years ago and saying that all the nations and kindreds and tongues shall see two dead bodies laying in the street of Jerusalem.

That's crazy. And yet, with these things here, everyone can see them. Dead bodies laying in the street.

So God even tells us 2,000 years ago, I've got this technology thing already down. I know what's coming. And it says when they see their dead bodies, they send gifts one to another.

I already knew about Amazon and how you can order gifts and send them all over the place. And so this book tells us the future. And so we have been blessed.

We've been foretold what's coming. So let's order our lives consistent with what we believe. All right, let's have a word of prayer.