Coronation of the King, Pt. 2

Doug Batchelor: 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 one 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 one quarter of a second. Lightning from one 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, but what is the truth? Join me now, friends, as we take a closer look at what the Bible really says about the return of Christ.

I hope you've got your seatbelts on, because we're going to be diving into some industrial-strength Bible study now, talking about some of the high points of Christ's coming. Our lesson tonight is dealing with the subject of the "Coronation of the King."

Now, I like history, it's amazing to me that Hernán Cortés, Hernán Cortés and his conquistadors, when they landed in Veracruz, Mexico, that with just 800 men, he went into the capital of the city that had two-and-a-half, three million people. There were at least 145,000 people living in Mexico City at that time, and he was able to conquer it. You know why? In part because Montezuma and many of the other Aztecs had a prophecy about these light-skinned gods that would come from the east. And when the Spanish came with their ships and the billowing sails from east, they said, "Is that them?" And then they're wearing their armor, they're riding on horses they'd never seen before, and they thought they were gods. And they marched right into the middle of the city and they took the king.

Because of false prophecy they fell. So we've got to know what prophecy really says, or we could be deceived. They were deceived by false prophecies, and that's--a lot of people in the last days, it's going to happen, false christs. Matthew 24:24, our Lord said, "False christs and false prophets will rise and show signs and wonders." Even if they do signs and wonders, if it does not go with the Bible, do not believe it. "To deceive, if it was possible, even the very elect."

I remember meeting my first false christ. I had just become a Christian, I was living in the mountains. For a year-and-a-half, I lived in a cave in Southern California, up by myself, way back in these mountains. And this hiker came down the canyon and came by my cave, which was right by the water, and I remember he stepped into the cave yard, I had a yard. He was about six feet tall, he had brown hair down to his shoulders, had a beard, hazel eyes, good looking guy. And sat down and talked to me, he's going up in the mountains, he's hiking along, and talked to me a little bit. He said I am Jesus Christ.

Well, first he said I am Jesus, and I wasn't sure what he thought. He was acting a little odd. I've got some Spanish friends, and their name is Jesus, Jesús, well, maybe that's his name. I said, "You mean your name is Jesús?" He said, "No, I am Jesus." Well, I got to really creepy feeling. I was up in the mountains all by myself, and there's this guy looking straight at me, and he's saying he's Jesus, and I just read enough of the Bible to know that the Bible says He's coming in the clouds and we're caught up to meet Him. And He said, "Don't--you know, there'll be many false christs." I said, "Well, now, you know doesn't the Bible say"--I didn't want to hurt his feelings, because what if he is Jesus? I have a lot of questions for Him, you know?

If he's Jesus, you don't want to offend him, that's really risky. And so, I said, "You know, doesn't it say that, like, you know, you're coming in the clouds?" He said, "Yeah, that's right, but I'm meeting with a few selected individuals first." Make me feel special, you know. And the guy, he knew some Scripture, he stayed in my cave for, like, two-and-a-half days, and he ate all my food, and he was a slob. I had to clean up after him, I finally had to evict Jesus from my cave.

And a few days later, I was down in Palm Springs, and I saw him again, and he was walking down the street with this other tall hippie, and tall hippie said, "This is Jesus." So, he found his first apostle. He said, "This is Jesus." And then a few days later, I saw him and he was missing one of his eye teeth. He had offended somebody, or--which is not hard to do, I guess, if you're telling everyone you're God. And I felt so much better. I feel bad about his tooth, but I mean, I know Jesus has all His teeth, and so that settled any doubts in my mind up to that point.

So there, of course, there are people that are--they're not clear out there, and they say that they're Napoleon and Cleopatra and Jesus, but what I'm worried about is the ones that are smooth-talking wolves in sheep's clothing. They claim, they say, that oh, I believe in Jesus. "Therefore if they say, 'Look, He's in the desert!' Do not go out. 'Look, He is in inner rooms!' Do not believe it." We're supposed to stay away from and avoid, don't even look. If someone says, "Look, Jesus is appearing on TV," I wouldn't even change the channel. Don't look, the devil's got hypnotic ability.

What will prevent the righteous from being deceived? Answer, Isaiah 8, verse 20. "To the law and the testimony!" Now, when it says the law and the testimony, that's the Bible way of saying the law and the prophets, the Word of God. The last Scripture in the Old Testament says, "Remember the law of Moses, my servant. Behold, I send you Elijah the prophet." And in Revelation 19, verse 10, it says that the testimony of Jesus is the Spirit of prophecy. It's talking about the Word of God. The word of God is a two-edged sword, you got the New and the Old Testament.

And so, if they do not speak according to the Bible, how are you going to tell the difference? How many miracles they can do? Can the devil do miracles? You remember during the Exodus, Moses threw down his rod, it became a serpent. Well, the Pharaoh's magicians threw down their rods, they became serpents. New Testament talks about a sorcerer named Simon who deceived the people with his miracles. So, you can't go by miracles, you can't go by feeling, can't go by signs and wonders, the only thing is thus saith the Lord, Jesus said. We'll be judged by His word, so you've got to read your Bible for yourself.

So, what can we know about the time of Jesus' return? We're going to go quickly through some, what I think are astounding evidences that give us some indication that Jesus' coming is soon, and let me explain. First of all, nobody knows the day and the hour. Matthew 24:36, Jesus is really clear. He settled that. Someone comes to you and says I did the calculation and I know the day He's coming, or even if they start telling you they know the year He's coming, everyone's been wrong so far. Lot of the world have lost faith in Christ coming because there have been so many false shepherds that starts setting dates on it. God doesn't say He wants us to know the date, He wants us to be ready. How many of you wait until April 15 before you file your taxes? Some people wait until the last week, don't you? Wait until the end. If you knew the day of Jesus' coming, you'd probably live recklessly until a week before. He wants us to be ready.

Now, we may not know the day or the hour, but did Jesus say we can know when it is near? You read in Matthew 24:33, "You also, when you see all these things, know that it is near-- even at the doors!" And friends, I think we're seeing those signs now. Let's look at some. For one thing, there's been just an incredible increase of natural disasters, and the planet, I think we all know that resources are being consumed. This is a graph, you can't see it very well, but the insurance companies, they're not religious, they're just looking at the exposure from natural disasters, whether it's water, hydrological damage, or geological damage, or from hurricanes or something, and it continues to accelerate. In the last--and this is from, like, 1980 on. There's a growth. "National Geographic" published an article a few years ago where they said half of the wildlife in the world, 52%, has disappeared between 1970 and 2010, 40-year period.

There are other signs, moral signs. Bible says evil men and seducers will wax worse and worse. Jesus said as it was in the days of Noah, what does it say about the days of Noah? Violence filled the land. Every day, more American youth die in gang violence than fighting in foreign wars. Isn't that kind of tragic? That happens almost every day just in Chicago. Then, more people die in Chicago in gang fights than in the U.S. military around the world.

Overpopulation, here's just--I get my notes here real quick, because some of these graphs are a little small for me to read. Look at how things have changed with the population of the world. It took 5,000 years to get the first 1 billion people in the world, 5,000 years to get 1 billion. Then it took 123 years to get the second billion. Then it took 33 years to get the third billion, that was 1960, I remember that. Then it took 14 years to get the fourth billion, 13 years to get the fifth billion, 12 years to get the sixth billion, 12 years to get the seventh billion, now we're at 7.8 billion people, and we're losing farmable land.

There's just been a lot of natural disasters. This can't go on forever. And then, you heard one of our people on the street, they said we think the world is going to end with a nuclear bomb. Even since they began the disarmament talks 40 years ago, there's still thousands and thousands of nuclear warheads, some of them from the fall of the U.S.S.R. We're afraid they're going to end up in rogue hands. And North Korea is still rattling their sabers, talking about getting nuclear weapons. Iran is talking about getting nuclear weapons. And history has shown us that man has never made a weapon he did not use. That if enough time goes by, either through accident, madness, or folly, there will be an incident. It's just sort of a law of life. I hope Jesus comes before that point, but man'll--Jesus said except those days be shortened, speaking of the second coming, except those days be shortened, no flesh would be saved. But for the elect's sake, those days will be shortened. For me, some of the most powerful prophecies are these you find in Daniel 12. "But you, Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book until the time of the end; many will run to and fro, and knowledge will be increased."

Friends, there has been no history, there's been no generation in history like our generation that has seen an explosion of knowledge. My grandfather was born in Harlem in New York City, when they rode horses, at home, in New York City by candlelight. In one generation, look at all the incredible transformations we've seen. Automobile, airplanes, penicillin, radio, television. Knowledge is exploding. Can you imagine trying to explain your smartphone to the Apostle Peter? Say, "Here, I just--I can Google it, what verse do you want? We have the whole Bible here. Yeah, you want to talk to someone the other side of the planet? Here, I'll call them right now. You can look at them and you can talk to them." Can you imagine trying to explain the marvel? You--we take it for granted. You probably would be stoned as a witch if you went back 200 years and showed that to somebody.

Look at how the world has changed. Knowledge will increase, Daniel said, and people will run to and fro. People are traveling more now than any other time in the history of man, far from the place of their birth. Here for me is one of the greatest. "This gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations, and then the end will come."

What's happening right here is exhibit A. While I'm talking to you here in the Granite Bay area, this message is bouncing off satellites up in the sky, and it is going around the world via 3ABN, Hope Channel, Amazing Facts Television, as well as other earthbound stations and the internet all over the planet. We've got people from all over the world said we're going to be tuning in to "Panorama of Prophecy." And I've been in India several times where people are living under blue tarps, but they've got a satellite dish pointing out, seriously. I've been in Africa where people are barefoot, but they got a cell phone.

And just all over the world, Karen and I were in New Guinea, quick story, and we wanted to go out in the jungle, our crew that's in the back remembers this. We wanted to go out in the jungle and get some what looked like, you know, typical cultural footage. We found a plant shack and a typical yard and garden, and our translator said to the host people, "Would it be alright if our guests get out and do a little videotaping here? You've got a beautiful place." She said sure. We got out, we are way out in the jungle of New Guinea in the center highlands. I get out of the car, I walk over and meet the lady, she looks like she saw a ghost. I thought she was going to have a heart attack. She starts to jabber in Pidgin English, tells our translator, "I watch your programs all the time. I never dreamed I'd see you in my yard." And we gave her a hug. That was so incredible. They crank up a generator and they watch with satellite, or they do it on their phones.

We were in China, Amazing Facts was one of the few groups that was allowed to go into Wuxi, China, and we did a meeting like this on television, and it was broadcast. And then they restricted things again, but we were able to get in there and do 15 presentations. We've seen the gospel. Now we've got people all over the world, including China, that email us, that are studying the gospel. What did Jesus say will happen? The end will come. Well friends, this is happening right now. The gospel is going into all the world, and I'm one, or Amazing Facts is one of thousands of Christian ministries that are preaching the gospel.

What will the angels do at the second coming? "His angels will gather together His elect from the four winds of heaven," that means north, south, east, west, "to the other." Since we're living just before Jesus' second coming, how should we relate to this solemn and this glorious event? "Therefore be also ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour that you do not expect."

Friends, we don't want to wait until the last minute before we get ready for Jesus' coming, amen? We want to be ready. How can we be ready? Jesus tells us, "Come to Me." Jesus is desperate to save everybody. He loves everybody. "For God so loved the world, He gave his Son that whoever believes in Him might not perish, but have everlasting life." And no matter where you are in your life, if you'll just tell the Lord, "Forgive me for my sins, give me a new heart." Repent of your sins, tell Him what they are, He knows. He wants to give you a purpose for living. God does not want you to die.

Don't go anywhere, friends. In just a moment, we'll return for the rest of today's presentation. Are you familiar with the prophetic signs of Christ's return and just how close we really are to the most extraordinary cosmic event in history? Will we be suddenly and secretly raptured as millions are left behind, or will Jesus' return be as loud and bright as lightening from sky to sky? Well, there might be a million different theories out there, but there's only one Bible truth, and Jesus promises if we seek, we will find. That's why Amazing Facts wants you to have the rock-solid facts on this subject with our newest Bible resource. It's called "The Day of the Lord." This colorful, fully-illustrated magazine contains every fascinating fact you need to know about the when, where, and how of Jesus' soon return. To get your free copy, call the phone number on the screen and ask for offer number 825, or visit the web address. And after you read this incredible resource, be sure and share it with a friend. Let's return to today's presentation and learn some more amazing facts from the Word of God.

Doug: How will people be rewarded at Jesus' second coming? As I mentioned, there's only two groups. He says, "Behold, I am coming quickly; and My reward is with Me, to give to everyone according to his work." You know, friends, if our sins are not confessed and under the blood of the Lamb, then everybody is going to pay for their sins, and the Bible tells us that the penalty for sin is death, but the gift of God is everlasting life. He wants to give that to everybody. He says I'm coming quickly, and My reward is with Me.

Isn't that interesting? I am coming quickly. You might be thinking, "Well, Pastor Doug, why is it taking so long for Jesus to get here?" A day with the Lord is like a thousand years, and a thousand years as a day. Jesus was here 2,000 years ago, that's two days for God. That's pretty quick. And by the way, what's the average lifespan now? Seventy-five, eighty, depends on what country you're in and what you eat. What is that compared to eternity? [snaps] You know, right now it's hard for me to believe that I'm my age. It went by so quick. Someone asked Billy Graham, "What's the most amazing thing that you've learned about life?" He said it's brevity. He says I can't believe I'm 95 years old when they asked him this question, and he lived to 99. He said the brevity of life. It went by so quick.

So when Jesus does come, everybody's going to agree, boy, that was quick. For most people, it will be too soon. There's going to be another group. What will the wicked say when Jesus returns? "And all the kings," this is Revelation 6:15. "And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the commanders, and the mighty men, and every slave and every free man hid themselves in the caves and the rocks and the mountains, and they said unto the rocks and the mountains, 'Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who sits upon the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb. For the great day of His wrath is come, and who is able to stand?'"

That's a big question, friends. Jesus has given us these prophecies so that we can know that He is coming back. He came on time the first time. You know, there are hundreds of prophecies in the Bible that talk about the first coming of Jesus, and one reason that we know that Jesus was the Messiah is because of all of these prophecies. We're going to look at some of them another night. Told what town He'd be born in, told all the events about His betrayal, the amount, where the money was going to be thrown, how He would be crucified. You read Psalm 22 where it begins, "My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me? They cast lots for My garments, they pierced My hands and My feet." All this was part of the prophecies in the Old Testament to help us recognize when He did come, His word can be trusted.

Well, now He's given us hundreds of prophecies about His second coming, why? He wants us to be ready when it happens, friends. What will the righteous say when Jesus appears? "Behold, this is our God; We've waited for Him, and He will save us. We will be glad and rejoice in His salvation."

Friends, we don't have to be afraid of Christ coming. The Bible calls it the blessed hope. If you've got a love relationship with Jesus, you are yearning for Him to come. You know, if you're wondering how important a seminar like this is, one of the last words in the Bible, "Even so, come Lord Jesus." The last words of the Bible bejeweled with His name are saying Lord, come. It was a priority to Jesus, it should be a priority to the people here.

Now, some of us have been distracted. You know, Christ warned us. He said if that evil servant says in his heart my Lord delays His coming, the Lord of that master will come in a day that he's not looking for Him. Jesus warned us that before His coming, He shares a parable of the ten virgins, they were all asleep. Before Jesus went to the cross, the apostles fell asleep. And much of the church is sleeping right now when the most stupendous event in history is about to transpire, the coming of the Lord. The whole world's going to be shaken by this. It's going to be as real as it gets, friends, and He wants us to be ready, because it's like that sign out in front of the Baptist Church. It said, "Repent now and avoid the rush." If we wait until we see Him coming, it'll be too late. We need to get ready and stay ready, amen?

You know, I like history. I think there's some important lessons that we can learn from history. I got done, I think it was last year, I read a book called "The Endurance," and it's about the adventures of Ernest Shackleton, this great Antarctic explorer, and he was sent on this special transantarctic expedition. He picked out, he handpicked some of the finest men, look at the advertisement that he put out. "Men wanted for hazardous journey. Low wages, bitter cold, long hours of complete darkness. Safe return doubtful. Honor and recognition in event of success." Everybody signed up. All the men wanted to be part of that. Well, he handpicked just the best of the best, and he took those 26, I think there are 27 in all, including him, and they went to go to Antarctica with the purpose of completely crossing the continent.

They would be the first to do it, but it was an unusually cold winter. Their ship, The Endurance, was trapped in the ice, and they basically lived on this boat frozen in the ice for months. But the ice continued, the pressure continued to crush and crack the ship. Water started coming in, they had to transfer anything that was of value outside onto the ice, and then they lived on the ice. The ship fell apart and swallowed by the ice, their sled dogs that they planned to use to take them across eventually had to become food, and the men realized they were starving, they're eating seal.

Shackleton was an incredible leader of men. He said our only hope is to drag our two lifeboats to where there's water that is not frozen, try to get to the nearest island, which was Elephant Island. Incredibly difficult trip with these men dragging these boats filled with their gear across this bumpy, ice-broken surface, but they did it. They put them in the water, then they had a harrowing adventure getting over to Elephant Island. They were so disappointed, they just had 20 feet of rocky beach, everything else was ice. Shackleton said we're going to die here. So, he and five other men, he said we're going to go 700 miles over the worst ocean in the world. He said we're going to go to a whaling station on South Georgia Island, we'll get help there, we'll come back for you. He said, men, I will come back. Be ready, because the ice will open briefly, you've got to be ready to load up and get out.

He made an 800-mile voyage. They actually survived a hurricane that took down a 500-ton ship, and they're in a 20-foot boat, five men, 20-foot little sailboat with canvas over the top. Their fur coats began to rot because they were laying in water for days on their body, and they had hair all over them from the fur coats, and they were starving. They had just enough food to try to get them there.

The navigator, there should be a book about him, Frank Worley, incredible, that he, with a sextant looking at the sun, was able to take that little ship across an Antarctic Ocean in a hurricane, and he found South Georgia Island. It's a little spit of land. There's a whaling station there, but they landed on the wrong side. They had to cross these alpine mountains. Only one other person has done it since then, and they had almost no gear. And he was so dedicated to saving his men, that when he got to the whaling station, starving, cold, frostbit, he said, I need a boat to go get my men. I've left my men, I'm going back for them. Three times he took ships and they got stuck in the ice and he had to turn back. Finally, in the fourth try he got there.

Now in the meantime, his men, they knew Shackleton would not leave them, and the leader in the group said every morning they would wake up, and they would pack their gear, and they'd say we don't know, today might be the day when the boss shows up. And when they saw the signs one day and the ice began to open up, and that was on his fourth-- they'd been there four months waiting for him to return, he came. And he said you got to get in, we've got to get out right now, the ice is going to catch us again. And they hopped in the boat and they were out of there in minutes, because they had been looking for him to come. They were ready for him to come.

Friends, we want to--don't want to get ready when He comes, you want to be ready, amen?

Announcer: Don't forget to request today's life-changing free resource. Not only can you receive this free gift in the mail, you can download a digital copy straight to your computer or mobile device. To get your digital copy of today's free gift, simply text the keyword on your screen to 40544, or visit the web address shown on your screen, and be sure to select the digital download option on the request page. It's now easier than ever for you to study God's Word with Amazing Facts wherever and whenever you want, and most important, to share it with others.

Doug: The last words of Jesus should be the first priority for believers. He said, "Go and make disciples of all nations," and that's why we're so excited to let you know now that the Amazing Facts AFCOE program is going to be available around the world through our online course. You'll be able to study this fantastic material on your computer, on your iPad, on your phone, on the go. The course is going to be based upon our bestselling "Amazing Disciples" book. This 175-page book has 13 presentations, but in the different segments, you're going to get the whole presentation from the actual teachers. You'll have weekly downloads jam packed with witnessing resources. You can follow the 13-week structure, or learn at your own pace. There's interactive lessons included with video presentations, and upon your course completion, you'll receive a certificate.

Announcer: Are you ready to become the soul winner God has called you to be? Enroll now, visit AFCOE.org today.

Announcer: Don't forget to request today's free offer. It's sure to be a blessing. And thank you for your continued support as we take the gospel of Jesus Christ to the world. We hope you'll join us next week as we delve deep into the Word of God to explore more amazing facts.

Announcer: This presentation was brought to you by the friends of the Amazing Facts Ministry.