Jesus is Returning I Jentezen Franklin

0:00 Hello, this is Jensen Franklin, and thank you so much for joining us for this week's podcast. Our goal is to provide you with biblically-based teachings that will challenge, inspire, and equip you to live for Jesus. If you haven't already, I'd love for you to go ahead and subscribe today to this podcast so you can get the latest updates from us and you don't ever have to miss a new message. let's go right into the service recorded at free chapel i believe it's going to bless you today if you have your bibles i want you to open them with me to the book of first thessalonians we begin a new series today on the return of jesus christ how many of you believe jesus is coming again well you're going to you're going to hear during this series i want to answer questions. I want to answer questions like what will the rise of the Antichrist be like? What does the Bible teach about the coming days? What does the scripture teach about the catching away, the taking out of the church? What comes after that? What is the 1,000 year millennial reign? What awaits us in eternity according simply to the scriptures and the Bible? Today we'll begin that and I'm just believing that this series is going to be powerful.

1:38 It's going to be life-changing and it's going to make you rapture ready. We're not crazy for believing that. The early church absolutely preached the second coming of Jesus Christ. They expected it at any moment and they were right to do so. So I want to show you in scripture this morning, first Thessalonians chapter four. I'll begin reading with verse 13. I love, uh, I saw some footage from last week and they were showing recapturing of all the activities that happened here through Easter. And so many men were walking up to the church with their Bibles. I love seeing men bringing their Bibles in their hands.

2:31 I shook hands at the end of the first service and so many of the Bible carrying men, young men carrying a Bible unashamed to be identified with that book. How many of you men have your Bible? Raise your hand up. Let me see it. Let me see your book. Let me see it. I love that. I love that. And it's increasing. We're going to, we're going to put you on the spot till you bring your Bible. These, these, these screens are for heathens. you're supposed to have a bible if you're a believer and if you don't have one get one first thessalonians chapter four verse 13 follow along in this as i preach from it but i do not want you to be ignorant brother that's why one woman said she stayed single never got married she didn't want an ignorant man she's just i do not want you ignorant brother concerning those who have fallen asleep or died, lest you sorrow as others who have no hope.

3:41 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with him those who sleep in Jesus. When we die, our body goes in the ground, but our spirit goes to Jesus. And he can't bring them with him if they're not with him. They're with him. Right now, they're with him. Praise God.

4:13 I want to read that again. As he said, he will bring with him those who sleep in Jesus. For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord. Whose doctrine? Is this an apostle? even? No, this is by the word of Jesus, this will happen. This is his promise. If he's lying here, he's lying big right here. He is not a liar, nor a man that he can lie.

4:45 This is by the word of the Lord that we who are alive and remain, notice Paul says we who are alive because he lived with an expectancy that the coming of the Lord would happen in his lifetime. He included himself in the people who were alive. He said, we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep. For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a shout and the voice of an archangel and with the trumpet of God and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain, notice this phrase, shall be caught up, not just caught up, but caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air.

5:46 And thus we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore, comfort one another with these words. The Christians in Thessalonia were so expectant of the coming of the Lord. They had seen Him do miracles. They had seen the truth of the gospel. They believed his death, purchased their salvation, and he resurrected from the dead. They believed that message. And so when Jesus said, I'm coming back again, it was very real. It was forefront in their thinking. It was forefront. They believed he was coming any day. And so when we get to this text, there is a problem.

6:41 It's been some space. It's been some years. And Jesus hasn't come. And they're shocked because here's what I'm trying to get to you. The early church, the first church, had an expectancy of the coming of Jesus Christ. soon in their lifetime, they believed they would see him come back. And because of that, when their loved ones started dying, they were very disturbed and they came to the apostle Paul and they said, we need to understand. Does this mean that they will not be a part of the kingdom when he comes? Does that he's coming and we know he's coming. He's coming any day now. He promised us He would, and we believe it with everything in us, that He's coming soon. And they were living like it was going to happen in their lifetime. And when they saw loved ones dying, they said, what about the dead?

7:39 Would they just miss it? And then He says, this is the word of Jesus, the Lord Himself, what will happen. and he says this in 1 Thessalonians chapter 4 verse 13, I would not have you ignorant about this concerning them that sleep or die. Listen to the words, that you sorrow not as those who have no hope. Notice that if the coming of Jesus Christ, the return of Jesus Christ is not preached and understood clearly in the church, in the body of Christ, three things happen to people. Ignorance, the scripture said, I would not have you ignorant. You will be ignorant of the second coming. I believe the body of Christ, because preachers are not preaching on the coming of the Lord like they used to, are ignorant of the second coming, soon return of Jesus Christ.

8:39 Secondly, he said that you would be sorrowful. He said, if you don't hear this truth and you don't understand he's coming back and he's going to raise those who've died in the Lord from the dead, then you will be sorrowful. And then he said, you'll have no hope. And I tell you, I feel sorry for people who are in religions. Even my Jewish friends, they don't know. They don't have any hope. It's just over when they die. They don't have any hope. They don't have any hope if they're Buddhist. They don't have any hope. I guess the hope is you'll come back as a grasshopper. You'll come back. I've got a better hope than that. I believe this report is the one and only one. And so it says in 1 Corinthians 15 and verse 52 something powerful. It says, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump, the trumpet was sound.

9:44 The dead will be raised incorruptible and we shall be changed. Did you know that you blink your eyes 20,000 times a day? That's 20,000 episodes that Jesus could come in every day. You ought to be living like that. He didn't come on that blink. Well, it could be the next one. It could be the next one all day long. It could be the next one. What is the rapture? 1 Thessalonians 4, 16 tells us what the rapture is. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven. The central figure of the rapture is not the Antichrist, is not the end times, is not 666. the central theme of the rapture is the Lord Himself. Jesus Christ Himself is coming back for His bride. From the lofty heights of heaven, Jesus will step out and the clouds will part and He will descend and He will shout with His own voice.

10:45 I don't know what He's going to shout. With a shout, He will give a command that will raise the dead. He may say, he may say, oh, grave, where is your victory? Oh, death, where is your sting? Or he may say that universal word that's found four times in the book of Revelation.

11:08 Hallelujah. And when he does, that sound will go forth around the world. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Not every dead person. and there's going to be, every dead person won't get up, but everyone, you either die in Christ or you are dead in your sins. and he's going to give a shout, and the dead will come forth from the sea, from the ground, from battlefields, from wherever their ashes or remains have been scattered. The dead will all rise from the sea, from the land, from the grave. Jesus will give a shout, and when he gives that shout then those who are alive and remain. Paul put it like this. And those of us, he was expecting to be in the rapture. I love that. And he wasn't wrong for living like that. We are wrong for never thinking about it. We're wrong for never giving it a consideration in our decisions. We're wrong because would you do it if you knew Jesus was coming back today? That ought to be the thing that we cipher and filter through.

12:24 Everything. And the Bible said, those who are alive, verse 4 and 17, and remain shall be caught up. There is a catching away. The Greek word is harpazo. H-A-R-P-A-Z-O harpazo. It means to be changed, to be transformed, to be caught up. The word caught up in the Greek language is found three other times. A beautiful mini picture of the rapture is Acts 8 and verse 39. Philip, the evangelist, baptizes an Ethiopian in the desert. And when he brings the man out of the water, the Bible said that Philip was caught up by the Spirit of the Lord and taken to a city 28 miles down the road. And when the guy got down there, he was standing there waiting on him.

13:16 And it was God showing And he had the power to have a rapture, a catching away. In John 6 and verse 15, when Jesus perceived they would take him by force. The word force is harpezo, catch, catch away by force. So get this word's meaning. It means to be called up. It means to be seized by force. There in 1 Corinthians 12 and 1, it says how you were carried away by idols. To be carried. There again is that same translation. And it's to be transported from one place and moved to another place. Acts 23 and 10, Paul was taken by force by the guards from the dungeon and put in the palace. And brought before the king in the palace. So when the rapture comes, we're going to be caught up.

14:11 We're going to be seized by force. We're going to be carried from one place to another. We're going to be taken by force. It will happen so fast. First Corinthians 15, 51 and 52 says this, that so suddenly will it happen. Behold, I tell you a mystery. The rapture is a mystery, but we shall not all sleep, but we shall be changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye. The word moment there is the word atom and A-T-O-M. And, you know, it's pretty amazing that that word would be used. It is the building material of all matter. Everything that exists is made out of an atom. But these people had no knowledge of nuclear physics. They just didn't know what to call the smallest amount of time. So he said, we'll say in a moment, in an atom.

15:08 It means this, that there has been a moment that has been stamped at him. And as time has gone and every second, every moment gets on the stage of life and it's here. It's been waiting to get here in lines of moments. And by the time it's like a long, long line and by the time it gets here, it's here and it's gone. And he said this is so fast. It's the twinkling of an eye. It's the batting of an eye. And he said when that moment that's been stamped, it was stamped 2,000 years ago, that he would come back on this particular moment, this particular second, this particular. And one of these days, that moment is going to step up and it'll be just that quick and then it'll be gone. And you will look and you will look again and millions of people will be gone.

16:04 They will vanish. They will disappear instantly. The Bible and Jesus himself taught this lesson. Caught up. Seized by force. Moved quickly from one place to another. I remember when I was a kid, we lived in Henderson, North Carolina. My family, and we lived by an old scrap yard, you'd call it. They would have a lot of old machinery from the cotton mill. We lived on the end of a street, and there was a little paved part of the church parking lot, and then there was a dirt road that you went to, and there was a scrapyard back there. They didn't have one of these there, but there were all kinds of metal, old cars, all kinds of metal all over that place. But I've seen it in videos where they'll have a big crane in some of those junkyards like that, And they will have a massive magnet that has the power to pick up metal.

17:08 And when they sweep that large magnet across the grounds of that old junkyard, it can move things. Some of the metal that it connects with is under the ground. Some of it is on top of the ground. But because the magnet has metal in it, if what is down on the ground is of the same nature that is in the magnet, that nature in the magnet will reach out to the nature in the metal on top of the ground or under the ground. If there's a nail down there, four or five inches, if it's the same metal that, you know what I'm saying. if you have the nature of Jesus, when that trumpet sounds, when he steps out and says, come home, come home, come home, everyone that has the nature of Jesus will begin to rise and meet him in the sky. If you don't have his nature, what's his nature? You love everybody.

18:16 You forgive everybody. You live to please him. You love his presence. You love his word. You're not perfect. You don't have to. Somebody told me in the line, this girl said, you know, that that some, some of that metal is rusty. And she said, I'm so thankful that I know I'm saved. I still got some rust on me, but I thank God that I, it's not my perfection. It's my nature. My old flesh may be rusty, but I tell you, if you've got the nature of Jesus, you don't live in sin. You can't stand sin. You don't cheat on your wife. You don't sleep around. You don't get drunk. You don't live like the world. You don't do that. You've got the nature of Jesus. You want to please Jesus. You want to be a light in a dark world for Jesus. Oh, I feel like preaching this morning. You better get the nature in you.

19:11 It's more than walking down an aisle and saying, I'm a Christian. No. Do you have the nature? Do you have enough of him that when he says, come on, that something in you will begin to rise through the clouds. Hallelujah. I've got it. It's called the Holy Ghost. Hallelujah. The same spirit that raised Christ from the dead dwells in you.

19:45 His resurrection is proof of my resurrection. You see, if you have that nature, something will hear that voice. 1 Thessalonians 4, 14 and 15. How do you know this will happen? See, Paul realized in the text that I read that many had questions about this. This is weird. This is supernatural. That supernaturally, we're going to leave this world. and our bodies will be transformed and instantly in the blink of an eye and the twinkling of an eye and instantly gravity will lose its hold on our physical bodies and we'll start flying through the clouds to meet the Lord in the air and we won't do it by ourselves but we'll be caught up together.

20:38 It's gonna be a reunion. We'll be caught up the dead and the living. That's kind of supernatural. Yeah, it is. but Paul realized that they would have questions. So he says this so powerfully. He says, if we believe, for since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, stop right there, turn to somebody and say, do you believe that?

21:10 Do you? Get an answer out of them, my God. How many of you believe Jesus is coming again? All right, put your hand down. How many of you believe Jesus died and rose again? He said, if you can get Jesus out of that empty tomb, If you can get Jesus through the door of that tomb, you'd get anything through it. Here's the whole reason why we are to believe in the rapture and the catching away. Is if Jesus died and rose again, even so through Jesus, God will bring with him. Who's he going to bring with him? Those who have fallen asleep. He can't bring with him those who have fallen asleep if they're not with him. to be absent from the body. If you're a Christian and you die in Jesus, not just knowing about him, but you've been born again, then you go immediately, your spirit, your body stays here.

22:10 Your spirit goes to heaven. And he said, Jesus will bring with him them. Oh, hallelujah. Oh, hallelujah. Oh my God, I'm getting happy now. Oh, hallelujah. Can you imagine when you look out on graveyards, it's going to look like a plowed field. All the dead, all your granny and your great godly grandfather and your mother, your brother, your son, your daughter, they're going to all bust open the grave and the boxes and come out with a brand new body and you'll have one too. Even so in like manner, those who sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. How can we be assured of the rapture? Because Jesus died and rose again.

23:03 And if he raised Jesus from the dead, that's proof that Jesus can raise you and your loved ones from the dead. And he can raise you if you're still alive. it all hangs on the resurrection of Jesus Christ the same Jesus that was born of a virgin the Lord himself the same Jesus that performed 41 miracles the same Jesus that fed the 5,000 the same Jesus that cast out devils the same Jesus that healed the leopard the same Jesus that raised Lazarus he's going to say, all he said was Lazarus, three words, come forth. And he came out after being dead for four days. But this time he's going to leave Lazarus off and he's just going to say, come forth. And the grave is going to give up its dead. Somebody shout with me that, that there's power over death, hell and the grave in Jesus name.

24:03 Hallelujah. Hallelujah. You see, 1 Thessalonians chapter 4 and verse 15 says, This we say unto you, not by somebody's prophecy, but by the word of the Lord. That's the Lord saying, I'm going to make sure there's a reunion. I'm going to rescue you out of this world. I love that the scripture said he has not appointed us under wrath. You can go through the tribulation if you want to. Your pastor's not going through it. I found in the scripture where he's going to take me out. He's going to then we'll begin the moment the church is raptured. Suddenly tens of millions of people will vanish, vanish into thin air. Confusion will hit.

24:58 People will turn and look, where's my baby? Where's my husband? Where's my wife? They will be gone by the millions. They will panic. The world will go into chaos. The economies will collapse. Can you imagine what will happen to the systems of this world? Millions and instantly, instantly that will begin. As soon as the church is taken out, that will begin the great tribulation for seven years. A seven year period. And in the first half of that, the Antichrist will come on the scene. Because the world, America as we know it, will not be the same. The world, there will be no superpowers. Every economy will fail. Everything will crash. Everything will go into panic. And when that happens, the Antichrist will come on the scene. He's probably around in his cohorts.

25:51 But the Bible said in Thessalonians that he can't come until the one who restrains him. Who is that? The church and the Holy Spirit. When we're out, my Lord, how mercy. When we're out, pure evil. When we're out, hell will have a party. When we're out, they're going to take over the schools. They're going to take over everything. It'll be immorality. The church will be gone. They'll be coming by the thousands trying to get in. But we won't be here. I won't be here. And any godly preacher who's living right won't be here to preach to you. Hallelujah. I believe you better get ready. It's going to happen. He's not a liar. He's not a man that he can lie. Jesus is coming again. Clap your hands and praise him. Luke 17, Jesus Christ said this in verse 34 through 37. I tell you that night there will be two men in one bed.

26:58 The one will be taken, the other will be left. Two women will be grinding in the mill, and there will be one taken and one left. Two men will be in the field. One will be taken and the other will be left. And they answered and said unto him, where, Lord? And he said, wherever the body is there, the eagles shall be gathered together. You see, when that moment comes, when that trumpet sounds, when Jesus' shout goes out to his bride, suddenly, instantly, in the moment, in the twinkling of an eye, it'll happen so fast. And he said that it may be in different time zones. That's why he gives the analogies that he gives. One was at nighttime and people were asleep in a bed. The other was at sunrise because sometimes it may be midnight in one place in the world, but it's sunrise in the other and they're working in the field and they're working at the company and they're putting out production.

27:54 And he said, one will be taken and one will be left. You'll just be standing and maybe you're eating your lunch or maybe you're testifying to somebody and they're saying, oh, I've heard that all my life. And whew, you'll be gone. Oh, hallelujah. One gone, one left, one taken, one left behind. Be careful you're not left behind. Quit playing games with your soul. Jesus is coming again and he's coming soon.

28:24 In the twinkling of an eye, it's close, it's certain. The time is at hand. Paul was expecting Christ in his time. And he was not wrong, he was right. Matthew 24 and verse 36 of the day and of the hour knows no man, not the angels in heaven. No man, but my father in heaven only. Anytime people give you a date and tell you that the Lord told them when he's coming, they're liars. Anybody that writes a book, how many more dumb books have got to be written that predict the day Jesus will come? In 1988, y'all remember that one? Listen to the young people. In 1988, a man wrote a best-selling book, sold millions of copies called 88 Reasons Why Jesus Will Come in 1988. And Christians fell for it like you wouldn't believe.

29:18 It was a number one best-seller New York Times. And every Christian came to church on that Sunday, the day before the Lord came back. You know why the Lord won't give a date? Because He knows how much of a heathen we are. We would party right up to the day before. and then we'd call a 24-hour fast at Free Chapel. We'd camp out in here. We wouldn't go home. We'd get all spiritual. Oh, hallelujah. We'd be singing. It wouldn't nobody have to try to get the crowd into it. Oh, I worship you, Jesus. Been living like hell. So he said, I'm not going to give you the day. It's just going to be what it is. If you're not living right, you're going to be left behind. If you're sleeping with somebody else's wife, you're going to be left in the bed with them. If you're in a homosexual affair, you're going to be left. If you're a fornicating, if you're drunk, you're going to be left. Come out.

30:18 Come out. Oh my God, you better hear this preacher. Come out of that immorality. Come out. I don't care what it costs you. I don't care. You don't want to be left. Left behind. Matthew 24, 38 and 39. For as the days of Noah, they were eating, they were drinking, they were giving in marriage. It was just normal days. Even until the very day they entered into the ark. It was no other, nothing special about that day. I don't think it'll be anything special about that day. It'll just be that day. and if you're left behind, you're going to go through the great tribulation. Jesus said in Matthew 24 and 42, watch therefore, for you know not the hour when the master comes.

31:15 Matthew 24 and verse 44, therefore be ready. Turn to somebody beside you and say, be ready. Therefore Jesus said, be ready for in an hour that you think not the Son of Man cometh. oh it's for another generation I know he's coming theologically I believe he's coming but I don't think it's going to happen in my lifetime you are not like the early church they believed it and if it was if it if it's going to happen there's no question how much closer are we 2,000 years later than they were and they were living like that and we're living like we're living Thank you. for in a moment there will come a shout. Now the shout will be from Jesus and it's to the church.

32:09 But listen carefully. The voice of the archangel will be to summon the angelic armies of heaven to get ready for what happens after the church is taken out. Then comes the Antichrist, the false prophet, the beast. Then comes a system economically of one currency and one government and one world leader. And all of that will be aimed lastly and the trumpet sound was a trumpet sound to assemble Israel because Numbers 10 verse 9 and 10 talks about that the sound of the trumpet was the sound to alarm with the trumpets that they're going to war against your enemies. You see, Israel, most of my Jewish friends, they do not believe in Messiah, Jesus Christ, and they will be left behind.

33:07 But in that trumpet sound, it will say, Israel, your enemies are coming. They're going to invade you. And that is exactly what we're seeing. Do you know Zechariah prophesied? Listen to these amazing words. I think it's the 12th chapter. I hope they've got this verse. He said, Jerusalem shall be a cup of trembling unto the people round about against Judah. And he said, he goes on to say, Israel will be a burdensome stone. A burdensome stone. It's a burden if Israel's your friend. It's a burden to the world. There's a problem. It's a trembling cup. And even in the church, and even among young males now, statistically, there is a turning away from Israel.

34:02 There are false, demon, lying voices on podcasts that are saying, turn away from Israel. But that sound of the trumpet, the voice will be the voice to the church, the Gentile church. Oh, I tell you, this is an hour when the Bible talks about when the time of the Gentiles is fulfilled. It's like God closing the door on the ark. Grace is abundant. Grace for all nations. Grace for all people. No matter what you've done, get in. Come on in. Come on in. But there's coming a day when that rapture takes place. The door is shut and we're going up as judgment comes down. Just like the ark went up when judgment started coming down. and when that happens the center of the Antichrist for three and a half years he'll bring peace for three and a half years he'll get a system where people are fed and people are taken care of and prosper and the world will prosper Daniel 9 says he will have no desire for women it's a spirit it's a demon spirit as it was in the days of Lot We're seeing the Sodom and Gomorrah being recreated.

35:20 We're shocked at the Epstein stuff, the depths of mutilation and abuse and sexual and perversion. You hadn't seen nothing. Wait till the church is taken out. Wait till the Holy Spirit restraining force is taken out. They're going to take over the schools. They'll take over society. There'll be no one preaching. There'll be no one saying, come to Jesus. The Antichrist will have his own religion.

35:52 And if you don't take the mark. Revelation 13, Revelation 5, 6 talks about... See, Revelation 1 through 3 is to the churches. It's the church age. Revelation 4 is a voice. Heaven's opened up a voice that says, Come up here. That's the rapture. You never hear of the church again in the book of Revelation.

36:19 We're not here. we're at the marriage supper of the lamb. He's having, what is that about? It's a rule. It's an award ceremony. And he's going to give each man and each woman their reward. while the Antichrist is taking over for three and a half years I've got to stop but listen I'm going to preach it before I'm done with the series what I'm saying to you is simply this. when that trumpet sounds, when that voice shouts, the Lord Himself. when that archangel assembles the armies of heaven to defend Israel through the battle of Gog and Magog, which is Ezekiel chapter 37 and 38, guess who the three nations are primarily?

37:23 The Muslim armies of Persia, Iran, and its cohorts and those who are connected. Russia they're already connected. and it names other nations. They'll all surround the valley of Megiddo. and it'll look like Israel is done. That's why we don't agree with everything Israel leadership does, but we're never going to turn our back on that land and on that people. That's why this ministry supports and does work there because God has called us to do it. He will judge all nations according to how they treat that nation. But when we rise to meet him, the Bible said, we'll meet the Lord in the air.

38:29 Moses wanted to see the Lord. And God said, if I show you my face, you won't live. But get in the rock and hide. And as I pass by, I'll let my glory. and the Bible said he's coming back in the clouds in great glory. I'll let my glory just hit you. Watch this. He had to put a veil on his face. He looked so much like God. He was shining just off the afterglow. He was shining. He looked so much like God. Had he been able to see his face, he'd have been transformed. We're going to see his face when we meet him in the air. And this is what John's, put up my verse, it does not yet appear what we, beloved, it has not yet been revealed what we should be when the rapture takes place.

39:34 But we know that when he is revealed, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. So my last verse is 1 John chapter 3, verse 2 and 3. beloved now we are the children of God and it has not yet been revealed we shall be like him for we shall see him now notice the next verse and everyone who has this hope in him catch this purifies himself if you believe this message, you don't live a loose, lax, moral, wicked evil. You don't let your eyes, your ears, your heart be corrupted by a sinful, ungodly world.

40:33 You don't go to places. You don't cheat on your wife. You don't live immoral. you purify. This is how you know you have the nature of Christ. Not that you never fall, not that you're never tempted and you fail, but there's a nature in you that says, I don't belong here. It's like a sheep can fall in a mud hole. And if it falls in the mud, it doesn't like it. And it gets up and it says, please watch me, please cleanse me. If you don't have that kind a nature, you're a hog, not a sheep. Because a hog has a nature that oh, I love this filth. And I'm not giving it up. This is not a play thing. Everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself.

41:30 Listen to this verse. Luke 21, verse 34, 35, 36 says, Take heed to yourself. Take heed to yourself. lest at any time you should be overcharged with surfeiting. What is surfeiting? Overindulgence. You're all about here and now and materialism and things.