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Amazing Facts

Doug Batchelor

The Coming of the King

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

The Great Basin Bristlecone Pine is 1 of the longest living organisms on earth.

Incredibly, it can live more than 4, 000 years.

In fact, 1 specimen called the Methuselah tree in the White Mountains of California is believed to be over 4, 700 years old, and it's among the oldest living trees on the planet.

This tree was around when the Egyptians were building the pyramids.

Some of these ancient evergreens found on lonely mountaintops have weathered thousands of years of intense freezing wind, pounding rain, scorching sun, and violent electrical storms.

How have they managed to survive for millennia of such harsh weather and adverse conditions?

They do it by sending their roots deep and wrapping them tenaciously around the solid rock and hanging on.

You know, friends, Jesus tells us that there's a time of tribulation coming just before his return.

An intense frightful storm of trouble unlike anything we've ever seen.

Is your life anchored on the solid rock of Christ?

Let's explore together from the Bible just what will happen in the last days.

You know 1 of the reasons that World War II was won by the allies was because of a major deception that took place about how they were coming to Normandy.

The English managed to capture 1 of the Enigma machines that the Germans used to communicate, and so they already knew something about their plans, and then they began to send false messages to lead them to believe that they were going to do the landing up north when in reality it was Normandy.

And so what they did, they had these plywood phony ships they put in the water, and they had inflatable tanks in tents with nobody in it because you know back then the airplanes didn't have the same kind of photography that we have now.

The German spy planes would fly high over and so the great big phony army and Hitler was convinced that they were going to be landing at a different location and they directed all of their forces there and because they didn't know how they were coming when the war began they were successful.

Well you can spin that around It's very important for us to understand not only that Jesus is coming, but something about how he's coming or we can be deceived.

Now this whole series is based on Revelation 14, but I want you to look especially right now at Revelation 14 verses 14 and 15.

Then I looked, and behold a white cloud, and on the cloud sat 1 likened to the Son of Man, having on his head a golden crown and in his hand a sharp sickle.

And another angel came out of the temple crying with a loud voice to him who sat on the cloud, thrust in your sickle, reap for the time has come for you to reap for the harvest of the earth is ripe." He's coming to reap the earth.

That was 1 of the most famous terms that Jesus used for himself.

Who'd like to guess how many names Jesus goes by in Revelation?

Someone did a count and I think it's pretty accurate.

37 different titles for Christ in the book of Revelation.

He's called the first begotten of the dead, the prince of the kings of the earth, the faithful witness, the A man.

I mean, he's got so many titles that tell different facets of his character.

And you ever notice when they introduce royalty, they got these long titles.

Well, Jesus is the King of kings and he's got many titles that describe his territory and his character and he is coming as the conquering king, the rightful owner of this world that he's redeemed.

Now, you can read in Acts 1.11, knowing something about how he came, Men of Galilee, the angel said when Jesus ascended up into heaven, Why do you stand here gazing up into heaven?

This same Jesus, who is the Son of Man, Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will so come in like manner as you saw him go into heaven.

So The Bible says there in Acts 1 the angel said, He's coming the same way He left.

Yeah, He said, touch me, feel me, I'm not a ghost.

See, the word rapture, and I think most of us all believe that we'll be caught up.

The question is, are people caught up separately and secretly while the world goes on.

Let's find out what the Bible teaches on this, okay?

Question number 2, will Jesus come quietly when He returns?

For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and the trumpet of God.

You know, I think it's interesting, there's a story in the Old Testament, 1 of my favorite, it's in Joshua chapter 2, it's a story of Rahab the harlot, who's mentioned 3 times in the New Testament.

And it tells us that Joshua was coming to Jericho, he's entering the promised land, they're claiming the promised land, do you know how to say Jesus in Hebrew?

And they blew 7 trumpets, Are there 7 trumpets in Revelation?

And the men shouted and they blew the trumpet and the walls fell.

And Rahab and everybody in her house was saved God's going to save His church?

It's a little picture, miniature Old Testament picture of what's coming in the future.

Alright, Bible says in Jeremiah 25, 30, the Lord will do what?

The Lord's going to roar from on high and utter His voice from His holy habitation.

He will roar, there it is again, mightily against His foe.

He will give a shout for those who tread on the grapes.

And by the way, this is Old Testament Jeremiah grapes.

It talks about the winepress of God's wrath that we read about.

Did I tell you there are 404 verses in Revelation.

278 of them can be found almost verbatim in the Old Testament.

If you want to understand Revelation, you need to know the Old Testament because there's a lot of parallels there.

The second coming is going to be like a thief only because it will sneak up on those that are not ready.

The Bible says in Revelation 16, 15 Behold I am coming as a thief.

People say, see, He's going to snatch away the church.

When Jesus comes like a thief to rapture the saints, and I agree, He's coming like a thief to rapture them up, but is it before or after the tribulation?

Let's read the whole verse, 2 Peter 3, verse 10.

Write that down, I think it's in your lesson.

"...the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in the which the heavens will pass away..." What happens in the day when he comes like a thief?

"...the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat, and the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up.

Does life go on for 7 more years when Jesus comes like a thief?

What other physical events accompanied Jesus' return?

I'm going to have to move along quickly here, so you stay with me.

Thunderings, lightnings, and there was a great...

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The Coming of the King

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