Alright, we're going to be on page 795. And we are continuing on the lecture here. We're talking about eschatology. Eschatology is the study of the last things or end times. I love this echo. Leave it alone. I like it. when the teens left and you know all those all those jackets and t-shirts and hair and everything and all left and It wasn't it's not catching the sound anymore. Y'all were just just taking all of my sound. That's okay And so they're gonna go take the sound somewhere else and and enjoy some time and darkness outside or something I don't know so Downstairs that'll work in the dungeon. I got to make it all negative right now. They're going to have a good time down the fellowship hall. There we go. So we're talking about the course of this age and we've looked at the characteristics of the last days and then we spent a long time talking about the second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. We talked about the fact of Christ's return and spent a few weeks on that. Then we looked at the assurance of Christ's return. And now we're going to look at the nature of Christ's return. And so this is going to take a little while. We probably won't cover both pages that I passed out to you tonight, the front and the back. We probably won't cover all of that. Maybe we will. I don't know. We'll see. But we're looking at the nature of Christ's return. Turn over to Acts chapter number one. And we're not doing a traditional message. So you don't need to stand for this isn't a text. This is the first passage here. Acts chapter number one. And the first point here is that the return of Christ is a personal return. The nature of Christ's return is that it is a personal return. He's not sending an angel. He's not sending a friend. He's not sending a brother. He's not sending somebody else. He will personally come back. And if you look here in Acts chapter number one and verse number 11, He says that these there's the there these two men in white apparel and they say to him ye men of Galilee in verse number 11 Why stand ye gazing up into heaven this? same Jesus whom I'm sorry, which was taken up and from you into heaven shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven. This same Jesus. He's coming back. It's not going to be somebody else. It's not going to. He's not sending back his his his pet horse or anything. He's not sending back somebody. He's not sending Brother Bella to get you. He's coming himself. Amen. Amen. Amen. We'll we'll we'll see you there, though. OK. And so he is returning personally in first Corinthians chapter four and verse number 16. It says the Lord himself. Right. Not somebody else. Not again, not an angel. He's coming himself. It's personal. In John chapter 14 and verse number three, Jesus said, I will come again personal. It's personal. Maybe we will cover all this. We'll see. It just depends. Sometimes we want to spend a little more time on things, but. But the the thing we want to just mention here, it's personal, just just simply personal. He's coming himself. Number two, it is a bodily return. He's not coming in spirit. He's not coming in the form of the Holy Ghost. He's not coming in some other manner. He's coming himself in his own body. The one that was hung on the tree, the one that that had the nails in His hands and in His feet, the one that had the spear in His side, the one that had the crown of thorns on His head, the one whose back was beaten, whose beard was plucked out, His body, He will return Himself in the flesh, bodily. As we saw in Acts 1 and verse 11, shall so come in like manner." Just like He went up in the flesh, He'll come back down in the flesh. And His feet will set foot on the Mount of Olives. Those pierced feet will land on that Mount of Olives. So hard that it's going to split the mountain in half. That's pretty exciting. Yeah. Yeah. Philippians chapter three. Sorry. You almost got me there, brother Bella. I almost ran down that rabbit trail. Philippians chapter three. Verse number twenty one. I will just go there real quick. He kind of broke the verse up a little bit. Philippians chapter three. Speaks of our vile body. and His glorious body. Jesus' glorious body. Our vile body, but His glorious body. And as verse number 21 there says, who shall change our vile body. This is when He comes, right? We look For the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, right? We're looking. We're looking toward heaven for him to come and he's going to change our vile body that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself again. He's going to come bodily. Not not just coming in spirit. It's not a spiritual thing. It's not a mystical thing. He's going to come in person and he's going to come in the flesh. Number three, he'll bring his spirit with him too. OK, it's fine. Number three, it's a visible return. Not going to be invisible. I know these things might just seem to be real obvious. That's right, but people people get OK. There's a reason that we cover each of these points. And it's because there are different views about this doctrine. There are views that Jesus is that Jesus has already come back. We just don't see him. There are views that he's already ruling his kingdom. He's just not physically here. No, if he was ruling his kingdom, we wouldn't had to vote last week. If he was ruling his kingdom, we wouldn't be concerned about voting. We wouldn't be concerned about the economy. We wouldn't be concerned about when Jesus rules his kingdom. Everything is going to be right and righteous. We wouldn't be. We won't be debating about whether or not we should murder babies or whether or not we should allow certain things or other or not allow certain things. We wouldn't be talking about those issues. We wouldn't be talking about economics, and we wouldn't be talking about all of the hot topics of the day, because those things would be non-issues, because Jesus would be ruling, the government would be upon His shoulders, right? Amen. He's not here yet. This is still to come, and when he comes, we will see him in Hebrews chapter 9 verse number 28. It says, well, look, we look for him. Well, you don't look for something that you're not going to see. Not looking for something that's going to be invisible. In Revelation. Revelation one seven, it says every I shall see him. In Matthew 24, it says, they shall see the Son of Man. Right? In Titus 2, verse number 13, it says, looking for that blessed hope and the glorious appearing. The glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ. Right? We're looking for Him. You don't look for something that you're not going to see. Right? Now we look for something that we don't currently see, but we will see him. Number four, it's a sudden return. By the way, all of these points apply to his return, whether we're talking about the rapture or or the second coming, the rapture or the revelation. Either way. Either way, it's personal, it's bodily, it's visible. It is sudden. It's imminent. I'll give you the other points here. It's pre-millennial. And there's a whole bunch of sub points for that. And then we talk about how it's two stages. You don't have that, you don't have those notes yet. But. And then pre-tribulational. In terms of the rapture, but all these other ones, all these ones here, they they can apply to either one. In in many ways, right? So sudden return to Revelation Chapter 2. Revelation Chapter 2. And you might you might argue and say, well, Pastor, isn't it? Are we going to know are the people in the tribulation going to know when Jesus is coming back based on when the tribulation started. No they're not. Now it'll be roughly it'll be. Well it will be seven years after the tribulation begins. The difficulty is going to be in discerning exactly when because you know the calendars and the dates and things. aren't exactly perfect, right? It's not based on the American calendar. Now, in the book of Daniel, he gives us the numbers of days, and it's a range. It says it could be this many days or this many days, right? And if you make it this many, you're blessed. But he might cut it short. He says he's going to cut it short, but we don't know how short. But it'll still be within that seven year range. Right of whether we're talking whether we're talking solar or lunar years, that's we don't know. And that's part of the reason that it's sudden, by the way, isn't it interesting that that the calendar situation that's kind of like up in the air like that, it almost seems like that's like for a reason or something. I think it is. I think it is maybe just a little bit. So No, no, I think the fact that the calendar's a little messed up, it kind of gives that, well, you can't really calculate it perfectly because you don't know the exact dates. And I think that's by design. It keeps it sudden and imminent. Yep, we we operate on a solar year. Israel operated on a lunar year, although they had leap years that would keep the lunar and solar calendars in line to a certain degree, but a whole period of 7 to 14 to 21 years could pass before it corrected and became the same. And so when you're talking about a seven year period during that seven years, there may not. There may or may not be a Jewish leap year. And Jewish leap years aren't like ours. Ours, we add a day. Theirs, they add a month. And so that changes things on the calendar. Yes, sir? Okay, that's interesting. Hmm. That's interesting. I don't I don't know what I did to my phone long ago. But now at the top of my phone, it says Sunday, November 10. And then it says nine. Hesh von and then 5785. So somehow I've got I've got my what's that? That's no, it's Jewish. That's a Jewish calendar. Julian is Roman. There's Julian and there's Gregorian. And yeah, but yeah, and and there's there's various different calendars. And we operate on the American calendar. Alright, so. Alright, Revelation 2. Revelation 2. Verse number seven it says he that hath an ear let him hear what the Spirit sayeth unto the churches to him that overcometh will I give thee of the tree of life which is in the midst of the paradise of God that is. Verse twenty is he gives twenty he gives seven and twenty. No, no, it's 7, 20. So it's 7 and 20. Notwithstanding, I have a few things against thee because thou sufferest that woman Jezebel. Yeah, those aren't relevant to what he's saying here. Let me see if he's got the chapter off. So, okay, Revelation 1, 7 says, Yeah and verse twenty isn't. Yeah. So that our studies off a little bit here. Revelation one seven says behold he cometh with clouds and every eye shall see him and they also which pierced him and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him even so a man. Now that's related to his coming but that doesn't verify the suddenness of his coming although they are wailing. So there's maybe some concern in that manner. In. Let's see here. No, no, no. Well, I don't know what he meant to have there in Revelation 2, but let's look at 1 Thessalonians 5. I know that is a correct reference there. 1 Thessalonians 5. My apologies. I didn't write the material. I just teach it. But... Say again? I don't always, there are a few here and there, but I haven't said anything to them about them. I could email them and say, hey, you need to correct this. Then I gotta buy new books. Second, I'm sorry, first Thessalonians, wait a minute. OK, yeah, yeah. First Thessalonians 5 verse number two. He says for yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. For when they shall say peace and safety, then sudden destruction cometh upon them as travail upon a woman with child and they shall not escape. And so here we have the a mention concerning the suddenness of his coming. Number five it is an imminent return. By this we mean that Christ could come at any point. Lots and lots of passages here. Now some of these again are not referring to his. The rapture some of these are referring to. the return at the end of the tribulation. So like, for example, we're going to go to Matthew 24. Matthew 24 is referring to the time of the tribulation, the end times in general, but Again, this references the suddenness, whether you're talking about the rapture that sudden or you're talking about the revelation that sudden. In verse number 42, it says, Watch, therefore, for, you know, not what hour your Lord doth come. Again, the context here, he's talking about the tribulation. He's talking to his Jewish disciples. And so that's that's the the reference there. And you could read on to, you know, on the verse number 44. The idea here is he says, hey, be ready, be ready. You don't know when it's imminent. You can turn over to Luke chapter 12, Luke chapter 12. And yes, we can apply very, very loosely. We can apply those concepts to the the rapture as we don't know. When he's coming in relation to the rapture either. But Luke chapter number 12. And verse number 35. He says. Let your loins be good about. And your lights. Burning. Be ready. You better be ready. Sorry, song from way back when. Majesty Music, I think it was. Better be ready. Verse number 45. But and if that servant shall, if that servant say in his heart my lord delay if his coming and shall begin to beat the man servants and maidens and to eat and drink and to be drunken the lord of that servant will come in a day when he look if not for him at an hour. when he is not aware, and will cut him in sunder and will appoint him his portion with the unbelievers." Again, sudden, imminent, at any moment. Romans 13. Romans 13. Now, I have heard some people mispronounce the word imminent and say, hey, imminent could be defined by mispronouncing it. And you say, in a minute, in a minute, any minute, any minute is imminent. Any minute is imminent. Or imminent is any minute. There you go. For some reason, the Book of Acts had a lot of extra chapters when I'm turning there. Not really, it just felt like it. Sorry, Romans chapter 13. How many of you were cold this morning and you're hot this evening? Nothing's changed. Nothing's changed. Furnace is still set the same. Everything's the same. That's how it works. What's that? It caught up. Oh, the door's open? Yeah, that's why. So the heat's on overtime because the door's open. Yep. So, and I know people are like, it's hot. Open the door. No, you open the door. It lets the cold air in to the thermostat. Thermostat says it's cold. Turns the heat on. That's how that works. And it makes it hotter. So, um, Anyhow. That was a hint. Somebody will close the door anyway. Romans 13 verse number 11. And that knowing the time that now it is high time to wake out of sleep for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed. Now if you wanted to open a door or window it'd be over here because there's no thermostat over here. We could pastor could be chilly. I'm okay with that. You know what? There we go. All right. I'll chill out over here. All right. Sorry. It's coming. It's gonna come straight down there. What's that? Yes. All right. Feels good, doesn't it? Oh, from back here, yeah. Yep. So, Philippians 4, Philippians 4. I read the one in Romans, right? Sorry, I got sidetracked there with the window. Would we open the door back up and leave it open? Philippians 4. Thanks, Brother Terry, for trying. All right. Well, hopefully nobody's out there. Needs to get in. If there's an emergency and you need to get out, just push that bar over there and you can get out, all right? That's the easiest way. So, Philippians 4-5. Philippians 4-5. Turn the page. Let your moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand. Now, the direct application to that or the direct interpretation of that is that he's he's. He's around, he's watching, he's paying attention to you, but this also can be. Applied in the way that he his his return is at hand, it's imminent now. How about Hebrews 10 Hebrews 10? Y'all starting to get the picture here? Hebrews 10. I think the last, I think .4 and .5 could have been just one point there on the imminency of his return. And we're probably just going to cover .5 and then we'll call it quits for the day and then we'll do the next page next week, Lord willing. Hebrews 10.37 says, for yet a little while and he that shall come will come and will not tarry. It will not be tarry. I mean, wait a minute. It will not tarry. James 5.8. James 5.8. Be also patient. Establish your hearts for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh. It means it's close. The believers in the church at Thessalonica expected Christ's return at any moment. When was that written? Was it yesterday? It was a little while ago, wasn't it? They were expecting His return at any moment then. How much more could we be expecting His return at any moment now? Absolutely. Paul wrote to them saying, We which are alive and remain. Right? In other words, there's coming a day. Some glorious daybreak. We will see Him coming to get us. Amen. I think we've covered a good part of the nature of Christ's return. I know we'll talk about premillennial. There's a lot to talk about when we talk about premillennial. It's that whole page, plus just a little bit of the next page, which you don't have unless you have the book. So we're going to try to just save that for a whole message next week. And it might be it may need to be broken up into two messages. We'll see. So. Hey, man, let's go ahead and let's pray, and then we'll do quick Q&A here, if you have any that way. I know some people online, they're like, well, no ending prayer. So we'll we'll end the live stream in prayer and then we'll we'll pick up. We'll pick up for some Q&A here real quick after. Lord, we thank you so much for your goodness. Thank you, Lord, for your return. We look forward to it. Even so, come, Lord Jesus. And Lord, we just pray that we would be ready, that we'd be watching, Lord, that we would be faithful to you, that when you come, you'd find faith on the earth. We just pray that you'd... Bless and give us a good Q&A time and good fellowship after, bless the food.