Amazing Facts

The King Returns

Doug Batchelor

The King Returns Pt. 1

This presentation is brought to you by the Friends of the Amazing Facts Ministry.

Contrary to the popular belief that lightning never strikes the same spot twice, It's actually been known to strike objects, even people, multiple times during intense electrical storms.

During 1 storm, for instance, the Empire State Building in New York was struck 15 times within 15 minutes.

Sometimes a single bolt of lightning will really consist of as many as 42 discharges striking the same spot in such quick succession that it appears like a single flash, but it all happens in less than 1 quarter of a second.

Lightning from 1 cloud to another is also very common, and it's been recorded to jump as far as 20 miles between clouds.

But whether lightning is moving from cloud to cloud or cloud to ground or ground to cloud, it's hard to miss the brilliant blinding flash that illuminates the sky.

In Matthew 24, Jesus said, for as lightning comes from the east and flashes to the west, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be.

In spite of His words, some still believe that His return is going to be a secret.

Join me now friends as we take a closer look at what the Bible really says about the return of Christ.

We're going to be talking about the theme of Christ's return in our presentation this morning and we've been doing some of these things in the context of the anniversary for the reformation.

I don't know if you're aware, but Martin Luther, Melanchthon, that's Philip Melanchthon and many of the other reformers, they believed in something called the great week of time they believed that the history of man would last about 6, 000 years and then we spend a thousand years with the Lord in heaven and then at that time the earth would be purified and all things made new.

His dating was off a little bit about how old he thought the world was, adding up the Bible ages, but many of them believed in this.

1 of the founders in our movement, Jane Andrews, he wrote a book on the great millennial week or the week of time.

And basically what it says is because of that verse there in 2 Peter 3, verse 8, Peter is also quoting Psalms where it says a thousand years in his sight are as a day when it is gone.

Peter says, with the Lord 1 day is as a thousand years and a thousand years as a day.

And when you add up the ages in the Bible, and we don't know exactly, so don't use this to try and set a date.

But you know, approximately 4, 000 BC, Adam was created, and it starts giving the ages, how long Adam lived and how long Seth lived and how long Enos lived and on up to Noah and then there's some ambiguity, that's why we don't know the exact date because it says Noah had Shem, Ham and Japheth, unless they were triplets we don't know exactly when that happened and then you go on down through Abraham and we can pretty accurately track history from Abraham and the Exodus to the present day The Jews were very good at keeping a careful chronology.

It's interesting, Abraham was created approximately 4004 B.C.

Abraham was born 2004, Jesus was born 4 BC, we're now living about 2000 years after Christ, and then Jesus comes and we live and reign with Him for 1000 years.

You've got 3 great ages, you've got the age of the first 2000 years from the creation to Abraham that's known as the age of the patriarchs, these are 3 epics that you see in the Bible, God preached the gospel through the patriarchs, they weren't Jews back then, that's Noah, Enoch, Methuselah, so forth.

Then Abraham is born For the next 2000 years, God preaches the gospel through the Jews, the Israelites, His people, and God had committed the oracles of truth to them, and the Messiah came through them.

And then you have for the last 2, 000 years, God is sharing the gospel with the world through the church or spiritual Israel, and then Christ is going to come.

And we will live and reign with Him for 1, 000 years.

And then he creates a new heaven and a new earth.

And you just see this pattern all through the Bible.

You know, the new Jerusalem comes down as a bride.

Well, Jacob had the wedding after 7 years of working for Laban to get Rachel, you see where Joshua, how many times did Joshua march around Jericho?

1 time for 6 days, And then after the 6 days on the seventh day they marched around it 7 times, blew the trumpets and took the city.

You could have a Hebrew servant for 6 years, seventh year he went free.

The Bible says Jesus promised his disciples hereafter some of you will not taste of death before you see the kingdom of God come with power.

This is Mark chapter 9 and it says after 6 days he took them up and they had a miniature picture of the second coming.

You can read where it says, Moses and the elders waited at the base of the mountain for 6 days while the glory of God covered the mountain and after 6 days he called Moses up.

You could sow your land for 6 years, the seventh year you would let it rest.

The Bible tells us that Jesus is the sower, the Word of God is the seed.

For 6, 000 years, God has been sowing the gospel seed and then Jesus is going to come and the condition of the world is going to be desolate.

When the children of Israel were carried off to Babylon, the Bible says that 70 years they were in Babylon, the land kept Sabbath.

During the 1, 000 years of the millennium, the earth is desolate.

And so I could go on and on King Joash was hidden in the temple of the Lord, the son of David from this wicked queen while she ruled over the land, 6 years at the end of 6 years, the son of David, the king came out of the temple, where is our king right now?

Is He in the temple of the Lord as our high priest?

The people rejoiced, will there be rejoicing when Jesus comes?

The wicked were slain, I'm talking about the story of Joash, will there be wicked slain when Jesus comes?

Will there be a kingdom of peace after Jesus comes?

All these stories in the Bible are allegories telling us something about Jesus coming.

The great climax of the world's history is going to be when Christ comes and he sets everything right.

And so then of course they live and reign with Jesus, 1, 000 years, you read in Revelation 20.

What did God say to Adam and Eve if they disobeyed in the garden, if they ate the forbidden fruit?

He said, for in the day that you eat it, you will surely die.

Did Adam and Eve drop dead as soon as they ate the forbidden fruit?

No, they probably died spiritually right away.

There was something happened, their light went out because they saw their nakedness.

But if a day with the Lord is like a thousand years, how long did Adam live?

I mean, if God makes you and you're supposed to live forever and you die within the first thousand years, you're devastated.

You and I live 3 score and 10 or a few more, but back then they lived almost a millennia, but nobody made it over a thousand except 1 person, Enoch.

Everyone else, even Methuselah, 969 years.

In the day you eat thereof, you will die.

So our study today is talking about when the king returns and we're going to talk about some of the signs of Christ's coming, we're not going to give you a date for the Lord's return, but we are going to talk about some of the misunderstandings in the Christian world regarding how Jesus is coming back because that is going to set many people up for a major deception, so we need to understand this subject first question, who is the king that will soon emerge from the temple in heaven?

Talked about when Joash came out of the temple of the Lord and they blew the trumpet, by the way, that was just before the Sabbath began at the changing of the guard, just before the Millennial Sabbath, Jesus is going to come out of the temple and it'll be a great time of trouble when Michael stands up.

It says, I looked and behold a white cloud, and on the cloud 1 sat like unto the Son of Man, having on His head a golden crown.

Jesus is that Son of Man who is going to come.

Second question, will Jesus come quietly when He comes?

Now this is where a lot of people misunderstand.

They think that it's going to be a secret.

And the Bible tells us that the second coming of Jesus is probably the noisiest event in the Bible.

Just look at some of the verses that talk about this.

The Lord himself, 1 Thessalonians 4, 16, shall descend from heaven with a what?

And then it goes on, and the voice of the archangel and the trump, another audible thing.

Jeremiah 25, 30, speaking of the Lord coming, it says, the Lord will roar from on high and utter his voice from his holy habitation.

There's gonna be a roar when the Lord comes.

He will mightily roar upon his habitation.

Our God shall come and shall not keep silent.

And it will be very tempestuous round about Him.

There's going to be glory and the heavens are going to be crashing.

The Bible says the heavens are going to depart as a scroll.

The King Returns Part 2

>>[music)] This presentation is brought to you by the Friends of the Amazing Facts Ministry.

>>[music)] 1 of the loudest sounds the world has ever heard was the terrific volcanic explosion of Krakatoa in southwestern Indonesia in 1883.

The blast was the equivalent to about 100 megatons of TNT and could be heard over 3, 000 miles away on islands in the Indian Ocean.

More than 36, 000 people were killed and 165 coastal villages destroyed, mostly from the 120-foot-high tsunami that rolled in at over 300 miles an hour.

This devastated everything in its path, hurling huge coral blocks ashore.

The tremendous explosion also blew 5 cubic miles of debris into the atmosphere, creating a dust cloud that blocked sunlight, cooled climates, and for a few years produced brilliant red sunsets that were so intense people often thought there was a fire on the horizon.

The eruption of Krakatoa was 1 of the loudest and most powerful visible events in modern times.

But did you know the book of Revelation pictures the second coming of Jesus as even louder?

It says there'll be a trumpet and a roar and a shout.

So join me now as we take a closer look at what the Bible really says about the return of Christ.

So our study today is talking about when the king returns and we're going to talk about some of the signs of Christ's coming, we're not going to give you a date for the Lord's return, but we are going to talk about some of the misunderstandings in the Christian world regarding how Jesus is coming back because that is going to set many people up for a major deception.

First question, what solemn warning does Jesus give about his second coming?

For many will come in my name, saying, I am Christ, and deceive many.

Now that verse can be understood a couple of different ways and still be correct.

Some are going to come, and they're gonna claim to be Jesus, and then there's gonna come and say He is Christ, but they'll deceive people.

Many will come, they come in His name, they say He's Christ, and then they deceive.

And then there are some that come and they say, I am Christ.

And Satan is going to impersonate Jesus in the last days.

And you can also read on, it says, for there shall arise false Christs and false prophets, and they will show great signs and wonders.

Now, I'm not so worried about kooks that say that they're Jesus.

There's probably thousands of them walking the world today.

I saw a National Geographic report about half a dozen people around the world that have a small group of worshippers and they claim to be Jesus.

Got 1 in South America and 1 in Europe and other places, and they have their followers.

And I met somebody that claimed to be Jesus.

And it was a little unnerving because I was living by myself in the mountains in a cave.

And a guy came hiking up into my cave yard, not a yard, and I mean, he came over the rocks and you're in my yard.

He was about 6 feet tall, he had shoulder length, brown hair, hazel eyes, mustache and a beard, and I'm friendly, I sat down, we talked a little bit and in the process of conversation he asked me if I was a believer, I said, well yeah, I just read the Bible, just accepted Jesus, and he said, I am Jesus.

And I wasn't sure I heard him right, and I said, I am Jesus.

And then I thought well I've got some Spanish friends named Jesus, I said do you mean your name is Jesus?

And that was a little troubling because I thought this guy's crazy and I'm up here in the mountains by myself and then I thought I don't want to call him crazy, what if he is Jesus, I'd like to know.

I've got a lot of questions and so I started saying well now, doesn't it say in the Bible, when you come, like, every eye's gonna see you coming in the clouds?

He said, that's how I'm coming for the world at large, but I'm coming for certain individuals first.

He was trying to recruit me as a disciple.

And finally, I had to evict Jesus from my cave because a few days later, I saw him in town and he had found an apostle.

He was walking around and I felt much better because about 2 weeks later, I saw him again, he'd gotten in a fight with somebody and they knocked out his front tooth.

And we all know Jesus has all his teeth, so that settled it for me.

So I'm not worried about those kooky people, but when Satan impersonates Christ, it's gonna be very compelling.

And there'll be an emotional power and there'll be signs and wonders.

What will prevent the righteous from being deceived?

You read in Isaiah 8, verse 20, it's gonna be the Bible.

According to the law and the testimony, if they speak not according to this word, there's no light in them.

And we're gonna have to judge everything by the Word of God.

That's why I've told you that we need to really know our Bibles because Jesus tells us that the deception is going to be so compelling that if it were possible, even the very elect would be deceived.

So we're going to have to be careful to execute.

So we're going to have to be carefully rooted in what we believe.

Well, if you heard that there was somebody out there and they're claiming to be Jesus, would it be safe to go and see them?

He says in Matthew 24, Verse 26, wherefore if they say unto you, behold, he's in the desert, go not forth.

I wouldn't even turn it on because the devil can hypnotize.

And you know, you hypnotize a person with their audio and their visual nerves, the optic and the auditory nerves, and television kind of reaches both.

And now they've got TV that's like high resolution, they're getting 3D, I mean it's going to be very powerful.

What can we know about the time of Jesus' return?

Now, I'm gonna spend some time on this question, so just get comfortable, because I wanna make a few things clear.

First of all, regarding a specific time of His coming, Jesus could not be misunderstood.

But of that day and that hour knoweth no man.

So if someone comes to you and they say, well, I know most people don't know, but near the end we're gonna figure it out.

And I've done some calculating and I don't know the day and the hour, but I know the month.

And I've heard all kinds of strange things.

Would you wait till the last minute to get ready?

Because if you die, your next conscious thought is a resurrection, and so we need to be ready how often?

Jesus said, be ready always, lest that day overtake you as a thief.

And a lot of people have been overtaken as a thief already.

Some of you remember Harold Camping, Family Radio.

I talked to him once or twice on the radio.

As a matter of fact, Amazing Facts interviewed him not too long before he died because he was setting a date.

And I think he was sincere, but he was wrong.

A lot of people gave everything they had.

They invested in his ministry to get the word out that Jesus was coming.

It was May 21, 2011, and of course it didn't happen.

That was the second or third time he had predicted the day and hour of the Lord's coming.

Every pastor and evangelist that has picked the date for the Lord's coming has been wrong so far.

I'm talking about the dates that have passed.

And so you don't want to be going down that road.

But while we don't know the day and the hour, can we know when it's near?

Matthew 24, verse 33, when you see all these things, know that it is near even at the doors, there are going to be signs where we can know that it is near, and what are some of those signs?

Well there's quite a few, first of all Jesus says in Matthew 24 there will be wars and rumours of wars Well we've had wars all through history and certainly now we've got rumors of war.

Do you know just a little amazing fact for you that The world spends over $100 million an hour on soldiers, ammunition, and war machines.

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Series

The King Returns

The King Returns Part 2

Transcript

Parent Series

Sponsor

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