The King is Coming - Saddleback Weekend Service

Christ is my firm foundation, the rock on which I stand, when everything around me is shaking. I've never been more glad that I put my faith in Jesus, he's never let me down, he's faithful to generations, so why would he fail, he won't, he's trustworthy, he won't, I've still got joy in chaos, I've got peace that makes no sense, so I won't be going under, I'm not held by my Cause I've built my life on Jesus, he's never let me down, he's faithful in every season, so why would he fail, he won't, he won't, he won't, he won't fail He won't fail, from generation to generation, he won't, you can't put your trust in him today, he won't, he won't fail, he'll never fail, no He won't fail, see Christ is, Christ is my firm foundation, yes he is, he's the rock on which I stand, when everything around me is shaking I've never been more glad that I put my faith in Jesus, he's never let me down, he's faithful through generations, so why would he fail, he won't It's a promise, he won't, no matter the circumstance, he won't fail, he won't fail Oh rain came with bloom, my house was built on him, I'm safe with you, I'm gonna make it, come on and encourage yourself Oh rain came with bloom, my house was built on him, I'm safe with you, I'm gonna make it Oh rain came with bloom, my house was built on him, I'm safe with you, I'm gonna make it Oh rain came with bloom, my house was built on him, I'm safe with you, I'm gonna make it He's the rock on which I stand, when everything around me is shaking, I've never been more glad that I put my faith in the only one, he's never let me down, he's faithful through generations So why would he fail, he won't But he won't fail, no, he won't, he'll never fail He's a covenant keeping God, he won't fail, he won't fail Oh, you can trust him today, he won't, he won't fail We put all our hope in you, Jesus, he won't fail He won't fail, he'll never fail you, he'll never fail you, he won't He'll never fail As we join the heavens today we cry, holy is the Lord, holy are you A thousand generations falling down in worship To sing the song of ages to the Lamb And all who fall before us and all who will believe Will sing the song of ages to the Lamb Your name, your name is the highest, your name is the greatest Your name, it stands above them all All thrones and dominions, all powers and positions

Your name, it stands above And the angels cry, holy All creation cries, holy You are lifted high, holy, holy forever Nobody like you Lord If you've been forgiven, and if you've been redeemed Sing the song forever to the Lamb If you walk in freedom, and if you bear his name Sing the song forever to the Lamb We'll sing the song forever and amen And the angels cry, holy All creation cries, holy You are lifted high, holy, holy forever Oh hear your people sing, hear your people sing Holy to the King of kings Holy, you will always be holy Holy forever Oh so we bless your name Jesus Your name is the highest, your name is the greatest Your name, it stands above them all Above every throne Every power, every principality He reigns above it all It stands above them all Your name, your name is the highest Your name Jesus Your name, it stands above them all Above all thrones, and to millions of powers And positions Your name, it stands above them all

And the angels cry, holy All creation cries, holy You are lifted high ♪ Oh, we love you, Lord, we love you, Lord ♪ ♪ How could we ever stop singing in your people's ears ♪ ♪ To the King of kings, holy, you will always be holy ♪ ♪ Holy, you will always be holy, holy forever ♪ ♪ You will always be holy, you will always be holy ♪ ♪ Holy forever, we will love you, Lord, we love you, Lord ♪ ♪ You will always be holy, holy forever ♪ ♪ Holy is the Lord, the whole earth is filled with his glory ♪ ♪ We worship you, Jesus, we worship you, Jesus, we worship you ♪ ♪ There was a moment when the lights went out ♪ ♪ When death had claimed its victory ♪ ♪ The King of love had given up his life ♪ ♪ The darkest day in history ♪ ♪ There on a cross they made for sinners ♪ ♪ For every curse his blood atoned ♪ ♪ One final breath and it was finished ♪ ♪ But not the end we could have known ♪ ♪ For the earth began to shake and the veil was torn ♪ ♪ What sacrifice was made as the heavens roared ♪ We join the song, all hail King Jesus. All hail the Lord of heaven and earth, all hail King Jesus. All hail the Saviour of the world. All hail the Saviour of the world. We make way for the King, we make way for the King. ♪ There was a moment when the sky lit up ♪ ♪ A flashing light breaking through ♪ ♪ And all was lost, he crossed eternity ♪

Thank you, Jesus. ♪ The King of life was on the mount ♪ ♪ In a dark, cold tomb where a mother was laid ♪ ♪ One miraculous breath and we're forever saved ♪ ♪ We're forever changed, we're forever changed ♪ ♪ Because of the blood of Christ, all hail King Jesus ♪ We crown him Lord of all. All hail King Jesus. King of kings and Lord of lords. All hail the Saviour of the world. All hail King Jesus. All hail the Lord of heaven and earth. All hail King Jesus. All hail the Saviour of the world. Oh, oh, oh, oh. Oh, come on, at the name of Jesus, every knee will bow, every tongue will confess that He is Lord, so let us start now. Let every knee come bow before the King of Kings, and every tongue confess that He is Lord. Lift up your shout, let us shout holy, holy, holy. The whole earth is filled with His glory. Oh, this is the eternal song. Oh, holy. All hail the King Jesus. All hail, all hail, the Lord of heaven and earth. All hail, all hail, the Savior of the world. Welcome to church. Thank you so much for joining us this week online. I hope already, as we've been singing, you kind of feel that God is going to do something in this service today. He's doing something at all of our campuses and even online, wherever you're joining us from. We're glad you are here, and if you are new here, I want to let you know, at any time in the service today, if you're watching on YouTube or maybe you're listening in the car while you're driving, I want to let you know, we want to know you're brand new.

Maybe somebody sent you the link or you just found us on YouTube. The algorithm kind of recommended, let us know that you're brand new with us. You can do that. There's a link in the description on YouTube, or you can download the Saddleback Church app. Set your campus as online community when you download it, and there's a new here button right on the home screen. We want you to do that because we want to hear your story. How did you find us? Maybe the algorithm on YouTube recommended this video to us. Well, we are here for you. We are a community, a church that has ways that you can engage anywhere online, so make sure you fill that out at some point in the service today. Also, you're going to see there, we have something called Activate that's happening this Sunday, this Sunday, August 2nd. It's on Zoom, so no matter where you're joining us from, it's a chance for you to learn a little bit more over a Zoom conversation. What does it mean to belong to Saddleback Church? Maybe you're in Southern California or you're somewhere else in the United States or somewhere else in the world. We have a community online for you to engage with. It's really a chance to move from somebody who's viewing on YouTube to somebody who kind of sees other faces and you can see what our church is all about, so you can sign up for that. Either use the QR code on the screen or you can do it in the app. Well, there's so much else going on in our church family, so let's watch this together. Hey, Saddleback. Before we get into today's message, we have two nights coming up that I don't want you to miss. On Sunday night, August 16th, men from every campus are gathering at Lake Forest for dinner. It's free, plus worship, prayer, and a message from Pastor Andy. Then on Sunday night, August 30th, the women of Saddleback are gathering at Lake Forest for ice cream, worship, prayer, and a message from Pastor Stacy. My wife and I both went last year, and I'll be honest, getting out the door definitely took some tag teaming. We're both working, we're raising young kids, and most nights we get about 90 minutes together before we crash. But that's exactly why these nights matter.

I sat with guys in the same season of life I'm in, same pressures, same questions, and nobody was pretending to have it all together. My wife said the exact same thing about her night. Women who actually get it. We're going back this year. One night, a couple hours, but it might be the most unhurried evening all month. Register in the Saddleback app or at saddleback.com slash gatherings. Takes about 30 seconds, and you'll be happy that you did. This week, we wrapped up an amazing second week of junior high ministry camp. Hundreds of junior high students from all of our campuses spent an unforgettable week together, deepening friendships, worshiping Jesus, and growing in their relationship with Him. Let's hear more about it from Pastor Matt. Hey church family, I'm Matt Hare. I'm the junior high pastor at Saddleback here, and I'm here at junior high summer camp. We call it the best week ever, and it truly has been the best week. These kids are having so much fun, but more than that, lives are being changed for eternity. And we know that junior high camp and what we do here would not be possible truly without the generosity of you, our church family. So thank you for being a church that is generous and cares about investing in the lives of others. of our junior high students. I'm so grateful. We are so grateful. And we can't wait to see the momentum that God is building here, what that's gonna lead into for the rest of this year. So can't wait. Across two weeks of camp, 97 students made the decision to put their faith in Jesus. Think about that. 97 families whose stories just changed forever. And parents, if you're like me, and you ever lay awake at night wondering who's shaping your kids,

this is what we're building here. A place where students find real faith and real friends. That starts long before junior high. And we'd love to show your family around any weekend that you have a chance. In church, this is exactly where your generosity goes. Because you give, every student who wanted to be at camp got to be there. No one stayed home because their family couldn't afford it. Thank you. Thank you for investing into the next generation. If Saddleback is your church home and you'd like to give your Tyler offering today, you can do that through the Saddleback app or with the giving envelope near you. And if you're a guest in the room or online, please don't feel any pressure to give. This part is just for our church family. And we're just glad you're here with us. Today, we're continuing our summer series, Off the Shelf. So let's join in and hear the message now. Well, welcome church family. I'm so glad that you're with us. I do want to welcome all of our campuses. It's so good to be together. And we just wrapped up all of our camps, as you just heard, from kids to students. It's been an incredible summer, so much life change. And I think it's good for us just to stop for a moment. We have thousands of people who serve on the Dream Team

with our kids and students. And I think we should give them some love. Can we show them some honor at all of our campuses? Just thank all of our kids, student leaders. Thank you. Thank you for loving, for pouring out your life. Our family, my family is better because of you. And so many great things God has done all throughout the summer. I've loved having a few weeks off of preaching. This is the last week of our series, Off the Shelf. You're gonna hear in just a moment from Pastor John Bevere. He's gonna bring the message. But I do wanna say just a couple of really important things. So next weekend, we start a brand new message series. I'm looking forward to preaching again. I'm gonna be bringing a series around the vision that God gives to our lives to live sent, that God has a mission for your life. You know, studies show right now that only 17%, this is a staggering statistic, only 17% of followers of Jesus right now, church-going folks, know what the Great Commission is, the mission that Jesus gave to our lives to go into all the world with his good news. And so we're gonna talk for four weeks about God's mission for your life to live sent. Whatever season of life, whatever place in life you find yourself, God has a call and a mission for you.

That starts next weekend. So I wanna encourage you, be back, bring somebody with you as we roll into the fall season and just come with great expectation of what God is gonna do in this season of our church. Now today, you're gonna hear from Pastor John Bevere, but I wanna share a couple of thoughts before he comes. First of all, he's written many books. I've heard him preach before a number of times. One of the books that he wrote called The Bait of Satan is one of the top five books that God has used in my life. I wonder if anybody at any of our campuses has read that book. That's the book that we give out to our staff members. It's about offense and the bait of Satan and how to live with forgiveness in our hearts. That book deeply impacted me. But today, you're gonna hear an incredible message on his new book, The King is Coming, the belief and the reality that Jesus is coming again and how do we prepare for that. So his heart, his passion, his fire, God's gonna use him in a powerful way. Will you please give a warm Saddleback welcome to Pastor John Bevere as he comes to bring the word. All right, the second coming of Jesus. Can I tell you something? I went four decades, I've been in ministry for 43 years. I went four decades without preaching on the second coming. This year is the first year I have ever preached

on the second coming in an American church. Okay, there is a reason I avoided it. People used to come up to me. They'd say, John, why don't you preach on the second coming? I said, no, no, I'm not called to. Other people are called to do that. There was a reason and that was this. I felt that if you preach on the second coming, you create lazy Christians or Christians that are looking for an escape mentality or you create argumentative Christians because I've seen more Christians argue over the second coming. Pre-trib, post-trib, mid-trib. There's no millennium, ah, millennium. I'm like, I don't want this. I just wanna preach the gospel. Well, in 2021, God started dealing with me. Really sternly and said, son, I want you to study this. Now, I'm gonna tell you this. It started out with a 60-hour study on the book of Revelation, but I have not studied hundreds of hours. I've probably studied thousands of hours in the last four years. And what I noticed about me personally was totally different than what I thought would happen. Because it brought a revival in my life. I literally found myself weeping to win souls to Jesus and to disciple the nations.

My family started saying, dad, you're changing. They said, I said, how? They said, you don't get upset about things like, like, like you used to. My wife started calling me her favorite husband. I said, baby, what does that mean? She said, I like 2.0 better than 1.0. Now in my studying, I found out something that was amazing. I discovered that the second coming of Jesus is the second most written about subject in the entire Bible. 318 verses alone in the New Testament, that's one out of every 30 verses. I also discovered that the first three centuries of the church, the church fathers, it was the second most written about subject by the church fathers. Salvation's the only thing that was more. I found out the tribulation, the seven-year tribulation, is the most written about time period in the whole Bible, more so than the three and a half years Jesus ministered in His first coming. So here's the questions that hit me. Number one, John Bevere, if God talks about it this much, why aren't you talking about it? And question number two, which is more important, what is God's wisdom in talking about it this much? So I'm hoping that today, I'm going to answer that second question. What is the wisdom of God behind it? So first of all, I didn't — I never thought I would write a book on this when — and by the way, I've never had a New York Times bestseller. This one has hit the New York Times bestselling list ten times, OK? So I mean, it's mind-blowing. So in writing this book, I was a little nervous. And I, and I, and I'm like, God, I — even my wife said, are you sure you want to write about this?

I said, I know I'm supposed to. So I, I, I remember something that Winston Churchill said to the House of Commons. I wasn't alive, but I — but this is a pretty famous statement, but he said this in 1948. He said, those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it. And so the Holy Spirit kind of used that to say, son, go back and look at Jesus' first coming. Now, now I'm going to ask you a question. Think about it. Were there people that missed it on His first coming? Yes. Were there people that got it on His first coming? Yeah. And the Holy Spirit led me. He said, look at the difference between those who got it right and those who didn't. So the obvious one — let's look at the ones that didn't get it right. The obvious ones are the Pharisees and Sadducees. Now, before you throw stones at the Pharisees and Sadducees, let me, let me make a statement here. To become a Pharisee in the days of Jesus, you had to memorize the first five books of the Bible and recite it. Can you imagine if pastors and ministers, if we had to memorize Matthew, Mark, Luke and John in the book of Acts, we'd have one-tenth of the ministers that we have today, right? OK? Now, yet these guys that can quote the first five books of the Bible can't recognize God manifest in the flesh when He's raising the dead. Now, what about the people that got it right? There was a group of people that we didn't know much about until 1948, and this group of people that lived in the days of Jesus, they were called the Essenes. Now who were the Essenes? 150 years before Jesus was born, there was a large group of people — or a small group

of people — that they saw how corrupt the spiritual leadership in Israel had become, that they went out into the wilderness, formed a community and called it Qumran. You've heard of Qumran from the caves of Qumran where the Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered. These are the people that actually were the ones that were responsible for protecting the Scripture and the ancient Jewish fathers' writings. Well, there's something significant about these people. They wrote — and we have their writings — 150 years before Jesus was born, they wrote the exact week that Jesus would ride into Jerusalem on a donkey and be executed. They wrote it 150 years before He was born. They called the time we're living in, the Age of Grace, 150 years before Jesus was born. So these people were on. They were right on. OK? Now, a lot of Bible scholars believe that John the Baptist was an Essene. Think about it. He was in the deserts until the day of His manifestation. All right? Even more Bible scholars believe this guy Simeon is an Essene. Now who is Simeon? All right? He's only found in one Gospel, Luke's Gospel. And let me set this up, you got this young couple, he's probably in his early 20s, she's in her late teens, and they come from another state, Galilee, down to Judea. They go to Jerusalem where the temple is. Now the temple, listen to me carefully, it's not one building, it's buildings. And if you come into this auditorium on a Wednesday, there might be three people in here. Not so with the temple buildings. There were crowds of people there every single day. So this unknown couple, young couple, come into the temple with a 40-day-old baby.

And this guy, Simeon, does a beeline right to them, lifts up the baby, and cries out the Messiah. It blows Mary's mind. So here's a guy that can recognize Messiah when he's 40 days old, and here's a group of men who can quote the first five books of the Bible from memory and can't recognize the Messiah when he's 30 years old, raising the dead. What is it about this guy that made him different than these guys? We have one verse of Scripture that describes this man, and that's Luke 2, 25, where it says there was a man in Jerusalem named Simeon. Now look at this, he was righteous — everybody say righteous — devout, and eagerly waiting — everybody say eagerly waiting — for Messiah to come. Three words that identify him. Number one, he was righteous. What does this Greek word mean? It means he acted out of a constitutionally just character. In other words, this guy took serving God really seriously, OK? He was pursuing godliness. Obedience was important to him. Number two, he was devout. Everybody say devout. What does devout mean? The literal definition of this Greek word is one who takes the word of God seriously. It carries the meaning of reverence, the fear of the Lord. Now the fear of the Lord doesn't mean that we're scared of God, it actually means we're scared of being away from God. And number three, everybody say number three, say it, eagerly waiting. This Greek word, what does it mean? It means to remain. Everybody say remain. Doesn't say visit, it says remain in a place of expectancy.

Now what's interesting is Simeon returns baby Jesus back to Mary, and another person comes up named Anna who's been praying for 80 years. And she starts talking not to everybody in the temple about the baby, only — watch this, next slide — everyone who was waiting expectantly. Do you know what the Greek word is there? Prostectomai. It's the same word that says that Simeon was eagerly waiting. It's the same word there. Now, let's fast forward and look at what Jesus says to you and I in order to be ready for His second coming. Luke 12, He tells us what to do and you're gonna see striking similarities between Simeon and Anna and what Jesus tells you and I to do. He says, stay dressed for action, keep your lamps burning, and you be like men who are — everybody say it — eagerly waiting for their master to come. Now, why did I add the word — I added the word eagerly in? Because it's the same Greek word as the other two Scriptures, prostectomai. So let's look at these now. I want to focus, first of all, on eagerly waiting. I have been reading my Bible for 47 years and I love reading it. If my sons were here and you asked them the question, what did you see your dad doing? Every single morning when you got up for school, they would say he was reading his Bible in his office. OK? I love reading the Bible. But I did not notice until last year when I was writing this book, I did not notice how many times we are told in the New Testament that we're to be eagerly waiting Jesus' second coming. Let me just show you a couple. I, I had to cut a bunch out but I'm gonna show you a couple. First Corinthians, Paul in the first chapter says to the Corinthian church, as you eagerly

wait the return of our Lord Jesus. Paul writes to Timothy — look at this — in 2 Timothy chapter 4, and he says, watch this, he says, the prize is not just for me, the prize being the crown of righteousness. Not just for me, but all who are eagerly looking forward to His appearing. Are you seeing this? Look at Hebrews chapter 9. The writer of Hebrews writes, Christ will come again not to — what? — not to judge our sins, to deal with our sins, but to bring salvation to all who are what? No, let me hear it. Are you seeing this? OK, now, here's the question I have. Now, I want everybody to look at me now. What causes you and I to be eager? Think about it. OK, go back. So when you were a child and your parents set up the Christmas tree, I don't know about you, I'll talk about my experience, for the next 30 days all I thought about was opening up presents at 8 o'clock Christmas morning. I thought about it at school, I thought about it when I was in bed, my sister and I talked through the wall, we counted the days, I remember the week we would count the hours, and I hated Christmas Eve because I couldn't sleep. I was so excited about 8 o'clock in the morning. Okay, so what caused that eagerness? I set my sights on a future event that I was excited about. Look what Paul says to the Colossian church. He says, since you have been raised to new life with Christ, set your sights. Everybody say, set your sights. No now everybody say it. Say the word set.

Think about set. Set your sights. If you're set, you're set. Okay, you're driving your car. Your eyes are set on the road. Now whoa, whoa, whoa, look up at me. Does that mean you don't periodically don't look at the person sitting in the passenger seat? Sure you do. Do you not look in the rear view mirror to see your kids? Sure you do. Do you not look down periodically at the dashboard? Sure you do. Do you not periodically — but your eyes always go back to where they're — in, in January of this year in Nashville, we had single digit temperatures, it was so cold. Now remember, you just open up your front door and your temperature in your house drops 20 degrees in 10 minutes. What do you do if you — how do you get it back? You just close the front door, the temperature goes back to where it's set. Okay now look at this scripture, since you've been raised in new life with Christ, set your sights on the realities of heaven. Watch this. Think about. So listen, where your sight is set, that is what you're going to think about. Okay now, now think about this, be honest, do self-assessment. Nobody's throwing stones in here, but do a self-assessment. When your mind is not required at a task in front of you, okay, you're at work, you gotta do something, you're thinking about what you're doing, you're a student studying for a final, you're playing pickleball and you're about to hit that shot right down the line and pass the guys, right?

When your mind's not on something, a task in front of you, where does it go? Where do your thoughts go? Because where your thoughts go, that's where you're set. So do your thoughts go to how many posts did I have on Instagram yesterday, or how many comments did I have on my Instagram post yesterday? Does your thoughts go on how many followers do I have? Does your thoughts go on the girl I'm interested in at church? Does your thoughts go on the NFL season starting? Be honest, do a self-assessment. Because when your mind is not required, it goes to where it's set, just like when you open up the door and it's nine degrees out and you just simply close it, the house goes back to where it's set. Sure is quiet in this Methodist church, are you still with me? Okay, look what Paul says, Philippians 3, 18 and 19. Watch this. For I have told you often before, and I say it again with tears in my eyes, that there are many, not few, not some, many, whose behavior shows their minds are set on the things of this earth. You ever wonder why you struggle so much with your flesh? Your behavior's showing that your mind is set, not on the realities of heaven, but on the things of this earth. But look at the next verse. That we — everybody say we — are citizens of heaven where the Lord Jesus Christ lives and we are — oh my goodness, there it is again, everybody say it — we are eagerly waiting for Him to return. So ask, ask yourself, are you eagerly waiting, is that where your thoughts go, or do your thoughts go to the things of this earth? Just do an honest assessment. You might be one of those that Paul is weeping about. Your behavior shows that your mind is set on the things of this earth.

Now, let me ask this question, why is this so important? Why am I spending so much time on this one point? Because John the Apostle, who saw the entire book of Revelation and wrote it down, which all deals with Jesus' second coming, he writes in 1 John 3, he says, when Christ appears, we will see Him as He is. And all who have this — come on, say it — eager expectation, watch this, will purify themselves even as He is pure. Do you understand that there is a power, God put a power in us being eager about Christ's return? That power gives us the ability to purify ourselves. Notice it doesn't say God's gonna purify you, purify ourselves even as Jesus Christ is pure. Now don't get me wrong, the blood of Jesus is what cleanses us and makes us pure when we are saved. But at the moment we're saved, that's when the work of sanctification begins and that's when what is done in here moves its way out here where everybody else experiences it. We have to cooperate. So God says in being eager, OK, think about it. When you were engaged to be married, how come you lost all desire to look at other girls? Because you were eagerly anticipating your wedding day and you had the power to walk away from any allurement if you really loved the girl you were going to marry. Now what is the opposite of eager expectation? Eagerness to delay, to put off, right? Talk to me. Yeah? Jesus talks all about His second coming in Matthew 24, talks all about it. Talks about wars, rumors of wars, talks about pestilent famines, talks about coming in the clouds with glory, right? And then He tells a parable to make sure that we get what He's saying and look what He says. He says, but if that servant thinks, just thinks, my master won't be back for a while, my master is delaying coming back, He'll begin beating other servants, partying and

getting drunk. How do you beat fellow servants? You become a keyboard warrior on Instagram. You're offended with your friends, you won't forgive them, you're bitter against them, you gossip about them, you slander them. That's how you beat your fellow servants. You begin to party and get drunk. What is Jesus saying? You won't have the power to purify yourselves, so you'll give in easily to the dictates, the instincts and the desires of your own fleshly senses. Why are there so many men in the church that can't stay away from pornography? Why are there so many women in the church that are literally sleeping with their boyfriends? Because they put off His coming. They're not eagerly anticipating, so they begin to beat their male servants, they gossip, and they begin to party and get drunk. Hey, God understands. I'm really committed to Him. I know we're not married. Sure is quiet here. All right, Peter mirrors these words, look what Peter writes and says. Peter says, most importantly — I laugh about this — I preached an entire year on 2 Peter on our podcast. My producer thought it was going to take six weeks. It took an entire year. I remember we got through chapter 2 nine months later. And then I come to chapter 3 and Peter goes, most importantly, I'm like, Peter, what about the last nine months? Some of you got that, some of you didn't. OK, most importantly, what's most important, Peter? I want to remind you, the scoffers are going to come in the last days.

Notice I have dot, dot, dot, because I'm going to show you that in a minute, saying where's the promise of His coming? Ever since the fathers fell asleep, everything remains the same as the beginning of creation. First of all, atheists do not call church fathers, fathers. Secondly, atheists do not call creation, creation. They call it evolution. Peter isn't talking about people outside the church, he's talking about people inside the church. Notice the dot, dot, dot? Can I show you what the dot, dot, dot is? Look what Peter says, I'll show it to you. Most importantly, I want to remind you, the scoffers are coming in the last days following their own sinful desires. In other words, just as Jesus said, they've got no control over the instincts of their flesh because they put off His coming, which puts off the power to purify themselves, even as He is pure. Their behavior shows that their minds are set on the things of this earth. I didn't write this, Peter and Jesus talked about this, not me, I'm just telling you what they said. Now look at Peter's next words, but you, beloved — now he's talking to people who are really serious about Jesus — do not forget this one thing. He's using such big language here. I mean, do — most importantly, he says, do not forget this one thing. What one thing are we not supposed to forget, Peter? That one day with the Lord is a thousand years, and a thousand years is one day. Another one is, one of God's days is a thousand of our years. Hey, if we would remember this, we would understand Scripture so much better. I'll give you an example. What did God say to Adam? The day you eat the fruit, you will die.

So you know what us American preachers do? We say, well, he died spiritually, because he did not die physically that day! He lived 930 years! Yeah, that's right, 70 years short. one day. Adam was 70 years short of living into the second day. What God said came absolutely true. The day you eat. Because you know what he said to him? He said, you're gonna go back to dust. He wasn't talking about dying spiritually, although he was. He was actually saying, this is gonna cause you to go back to the dust. And this is why Peter says, guys, will you please remember one day with the Lord's a thousand years. So I remember as with this, my engineering mind, I went, what's an hour? So I divided a thousand years by 24 and I got 43.6 years. 42.6 years. So you know what that means? When you're 80 years old, you're two hours old. So most of you aren't even an hour old yet. When you look at relationship to eternity, you can get it. Now look at what the writers of the Bible wrote. I'm only going to show you about 30% of these. But they wrote this in the first century. Hey everybody, we're in the 21st century. Look what they wrote in the first century. Paul wrote this. He said, remember the Lord is coming. Everybody shout it. Huh. Soon? Okay, look what Peter said — or no, James said. Is it Peter? Oh no. James, take courage for the coming of the Lord is what? Look at Peter. The end of the world's coming soon! Now there's a bunch more I cut out. But I want to show you what Jesus said in the first century. This was written down in the first century. Ready? Four times he said it in one book. Revelation, I'm coming soon. This is Jesus. These words are straight out of his mouth. I'm coming soon! Hold on to what you have. Number two, I'm coming soon. Number three, look I'm coming soon. Bring my reward with me. Okay, is God deceiving us? It's been 2,000 years. It's been two days. When Lisa and I were engaged, we were engaged for four months, far too long. Last two months, she had to go to Indiana. And she got all the preparations ready in Indiana for the wedding, and I had to work in Dallas. Two of the longest months of my life. A day seemed like a week, a week seemed like a month, and a month seemed like a year. I

remember when we were two days away from me flying up for the wedding, I got on the phone and said, baby I'm gonna see you soon. And that two days was soon compared to how long we'd been away from each other. Two days is nothing to God. So when Jesus says I'm coming soon, he's not deceiving us. Now, why does he do this? Because it's a long time for us. It's been 21 centuries, 20 centuries. Why does he do this to us? To protect us. Could it be that God wanted the Christians in the 12th century to have the urgency of Jesus's return so that they would have the power to protect themselves from the forces of this world that would pull them away? Could it be that God wanted the Christians in the 14th century to have the urgency so that they would have the power to purify themselves even as Jesus is pure? To protect them from the forces of this world? How much more now in the 21st century when we know he's coming this century? Jesus said we would know the generation. No other century, no other century has been able to say that Jerusalem is ruled by the Jewish people until now. We are in the fight. He will return in this generation. How much more should we be urgent? See, let me tell you something. They did a study. When someone runs a 5k race, they did a scientific study. If 5k is 5,000 meters, when does the runner run the fastest in a 5k race? Does anybody know? The last hundred meters when he sees the finish line. Something kicks in. Look at a football team that's down by 10 points with seven minutes left. They play unbelievable. And it really makes me mad when it's my team because I'm like, if you played this good the whole game you wouldn't be behind right now. When you have the urgency in the 12th century, you don't get lazy. When you have the urgency in the 21st century, you won't get lazy. You become more urgent. That's why there was a personal revival in my life. Listen, I've always been on fire for Jesus ever since I entered ministry 43 years ago, but there has been a revival that's brought me up like three levels. Yeah, go ahead and clap. That's great. Okay, let's look at Jesus's words again. Let's look at Him again because they're really good. He says, stay dressed for service, keep your lamps burning." Remember, eagerly waiting means we remain. Now, now look at this, stay, keep. Are you seeing this? Not visit, not periodically, keep your lamps

burning. Stay dressed for service. Remain in the place of expectancy. Are you seeing this? All right, keep your lamps burning. After Jesus talks about a second coming in Matthew 24, and he tells that one parable, then he tells the second parable. And look what he says. He says, the kingdom of heaven shall be likened ten virgins. Let me make a point, these are not prostitutes, they're not harlots, they are virgins who took their lamps. What does lamp speak of? Light. Jesus never said to an atheist, you are the light of the world. He only said to us, you are the light of the world. These girls got light. Is this clear? All right. They went out to meet the bridegroom. No agnostics are looking for the return of Jesus. He's talking about people in the church. Now five of them were wise and five were foolish. This kept me up in the middle of the night last year because I kept saying, Jesus, why didn't you say one was foolish and nine were wise? Why didn't you say five? And then I remembered when I preached to 10,000 people and 8,000 people responded in the altar call. It was a powerful move of God. And I remember going back to my seat and one of the ministers that was ministering in that conference had tears in his eyes and he said, John, God told me that 50% of the church in America is not ready for Jesus's return. Then I was at another church of a man has a massive church in this country. He's older than me. I respect him so much, so would you. He looked at me in the green room and said, God told me in prayer 50% of the church is not ready for Jesus's return. They're gonna be left and they'll be purified in the Great Tribulation. It's a serious matter, folks. It's so serious that our Creator was tortured and beaten to the point where His face didn't even look human any longer. Four squadrons of soldiers beat on His face for ten hours until they were exhausted, three of the squadrons. And He could have called 24,000 angels to rescue Him, but He didn't because He loved you so much. He saw His bride, who for the joy set before Him. At midnight a cry was heard, behold the bridegroom is coming, go out to meet Him. Midnight is the darkest night time of the night, scientists tell us that. That's when the sun's directly below us. And the foolish said to the wise, give us some of your oil. Her lamps are going out. Now notice their lamps, the foolish

virgin's lamps weren't going out at 10, 15 p.m. The lamps weren't going out at 11, 30 p.m. They were going out in the end. Remember Jesus said over and over and over, he or she who endures to the end shall be saved. Now here's my question, who are the wise and who are the foolish? How many of you know Scripture interprets Scripture? Look what Paul, Paul tells us who the wise and foolish are. Look what he says in Ephesians, you can be sure, you can go to the bank on this one, that no immoral, impure, or greedy person will inherit the kingdom of Christ and God. Don't be fooled, don't be a foolish virgin, don't be fooled by those who try to excuse these sins. Be careful how you live. I was in prayer one day and the Holy Spirit said, son did you notice Jesus didn't say to one of the seven churches, I know what you believe. He said to every one of them, I know what you do. Be careful how you live. Yeah, what we believe will determine how we live. Look what Paul says, look at this, don't live like what? Don't live like foolish virgins, but like those who are wise. Notice he says, look at this, don't be fooled by those who try to excuse these sins. Why does he say that? Because Jude tells us, Jude tells us this, in the last days and in his day, he said ungodly people will creep into our churches unnoticed. They don't come in blatantly, they creep in unnoticed. And what their message is, is God's marvelous grace allows us to live immoral lives. How many people sit in our churches? They get abortions without feeling conviction. They look at pornography without feeling conviction. 50% of the men in the church that look at pornography feel no conviction about it. God said to Israel, you're so steeped in sin right now, you don't even blush when you sin anymore. Do you know that 57% of the men that attend church regularly are watching pornography regularly and they don't blush about it, half of them? It's a serious time we're living in. Do you really, really, really believe that we are living like Jesus' followers, those who deny themselves, take up their cross and follow Him as an American church?

Do you really believe that? John the Baptist was sent to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. God's going to raise up a company of men and women, most of them are going to be young, and they're going to go to the lost sheep in the church to get them ready. Because He's coming. And we're more interested in blood moons and tsunamis and earthquakes instead of the fact that Jesus told us to be ready. When I was in college, when I was in university studying engineer at Purdue, finals week, I had to go to the engineering mall and get my classroom, my time, and my building of my final. It took five, ten minutes, but I spent weeks preparing for that final. OK, the five or ten minutes was important, the blood moons, OK, I'll give it to you. Jesus talked about signs, there are signs, they're important. However, why do we spend all of our time talking about that instead of being ready? Why? Look at 1 John 2, 28. And now, dear children — notice he doesn't say, and now, 1 John 2, 28, guys. Go a couple more. I don't have time to go through. And now, dear children — notice he doesn't say, and now, atheists, remain in fellowship with Christ. He said, now, dear children, remain in fellowship with Christ. Who are the people who remain in fellowship with Christ? Those who obey His commandments. Oh yeah, go back one, one frame. Watch this. Go back one. Those who obey God's commandments remain in fellowship with Him. Remember Jesus said, He who has my commands and keeps them — do you know there's 500 commands in the New — over 500 commands in the New Testament?

Now there's 613 commands in the Old Testament. The Old Testament commandments proved that we, with our sin nature, could not, could not earn a relationship with God. But in the New Testament, our old nature died and He gave us a new nature. And Jesus never said — listen to this — He who hears my commandments and likes them and thinks they're nice and pretty and who affirms that He follows me, He's the one that loves me. He said no, He who hears my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. Remember He said go into all the world and make disciples of all nations, teaching them whatever I commanded you? See, in the New Testament, God gave us a new nature. Now we have the ability to keep His commands, so don't listen to your flesh any longer, listen to your spirit. But if you listen, put off His coming, your flesh will have a stronger voice than your spirit. Still with me? All right, now do your children remain in fellowship with Him? Let's go. All right, go — now do your children remain in fellowship with Christ so that when He returns you will be confident and not shrink back in shame. I'm going to end it with this. Jesus said stay dressed for service, Revelation — that word stay dressed literally means to prepare yourself, to make yourself ready. Revelation, here's what I want to end with, Revelation 19-7 says the marriage of the Lamb has come. Many people look at the second coming as an event. It's not an event! It's the wedding of the ages. It's when a lovesick bride is just waiting for her groom to come and catch her away, and a groom in heaven who gave His life for her is waiting for his dad to say, go get

your girl. It's the biggest wedding ever. And the wedding, the marriage of the Lamb has come — now look at this — and His wife — everybody say His wife — that's His bride, that's us — His wife has what? Made herself ready. Oh, doesn't say God made her ready, she made herself ready. How did she make herself ready? Next verse. To her it was granted to be arrayed in fine linen, clean and bright, for the fine linen is the righteous works of the saints. Do you know what the number one responsibility of a bride was back in the days of Jesus? Jesus to be prepared for her wedding was to make her wedding ground. They didn't have bridal shops back in those days Because he was gonna come catch her in a day that she didn't know catch her away And she had to have that wedding dress ready I think the American Church right now our righteous works don't have enough to make a bikini let alone a wedding dress I'm gonna end it with this story. I I Remember when I flew up for Lisa's and my wedding October 2nd 1981 1982 excuse me Guys you've done it yourself don't don't give me that So I walk into that church And this is a covenant Presbyterian Church, and I'm like oh my gosh. I mean she made that place beautiful The flowers on the eye on all the the pews that the runner the the arch of flowers the lights the candles I was like oh my gosh. This is really beautiful, but nothing was as beautiful as when she hit that back door And she was in that beautiful white gown I Had never seen a sight so beautiful in my entire life She's walking toward me with those eyes, and I lost it. I Can I can close my eyes and still see it today?

She was so beautiful And she spent two months preparing to be that beautiful Now can you imagine if I flew up there, and she showed up at that back with her dad with an old Worn-out dress with a bunch of dirt and grime stains on it her hair was unkept and no makeup What would that say to me? This this day is really not very important to her It might be right now in the moment, but it wasn't two months ago. She didn't make herself ready There's a reason John said dear little children I want you to be confident not ashamed because if Lisa walked down that aisle with that old ratty dress on She would have been ashamed in front of her friends, and she would have been ashamed before me I Hope you hear my heart tonight today. I don't want you ashamed I Want you confident I Want every head bowed every eye closed now all of our campuses every head bowed every eye closed With your head bowed and your eyes closed I want you to listen carefully to what I'm about to say When a bride walks down an aisle with that beautiful dress on what is she actually saying? She's saying goodbye to about 3.9 billion guys She's saying this is the one and only man that I'm given the rest of my life to that doesn't make her perfect in her Behavior the first day the first week the first year the first 40 years It just means she's given her entire heart for him Can you imagine if that man months earlier when he got down on one knee and he opened up that ring box? And he said I love you so much. Will you marry me? Can you imagine? Her saying oh, yes, I'll marry you. This is the happiest day of my life But you know I dated Tim in high school, and we dated for two years I need a couple nights with him a year and you know Peter was my college beau We dated for two years in college. I need a couple nights with him, but you'll be my favorite I'll love you more than Peter and Tim What guy would ever go for that And we think Jesus who was so beaten and took in nails into his hands and feet we think he's coming back for a bride That is flirting with dating

Sleeping with the very things that drove the nails in his hands You are so deceived if you believe that he's coming back for a bride That's given herself to him the way he gave himself to her make no mistake about it So this is what I'm gonna ask you. I want you to be honest and all of our campuses I want you to ask I want to ask you this Have you done what that bride does When that little ring box is opened up and She says goodbye to Tim and goodbye to Peter and goodbye to 3.9 other billion guys Have you done that or did you just pray a sinner's prayer listen a sinner's prayer is not going to get you a relationship with God Jesus said if you want to follow me. This is what you do you deny yourself Take up your cross and follow me. This is a life where we give our lives to each other as a bride and a groom So, I want you to be honest, in all 20 campuses, have you done what that bride's done? If you haven't, Jesus is here, I know He's here, I can almost close my eyes and see Him. He's got His arms stretched out and He's saying, I'm so hoping you say yes. Just as when I was on one knee and I opened up that ring box, I so was hoping Lisa would say yes. Have you done what that bride does, have you said goodbye to everything that drove the nails into His hand? I'm done with you. It doesn't mean you don't make a mistake, it doesn't mean you don't make a mistake the first week, the first year, it doesn't mean, I'm talking about in your heart, you say, I'm done. If it offends Him, it offends me. If He died for it, I'm not gonna tolerate it, I'm not gonna flirt with it. If you haven't done that, you have a chance right now. Today is the day of salvation. He's calling your name right now. I've never felt so passionate about this in my entire life. We are so close to His return.

If you say, John, truth be told, I haven't done what that bride does, but I want to do it right now, then stand to your feet immediately. Because Jesus said, if you can't confess Me before men, I will not confess you in front of My Father. So, if you say, John, thank you, thank you, just start standing all over this auditorium. Don't sit back down. Stand up and stay up, OK? People are standing up all over this auditorium. Outside, I see you standing up, I see you — God sees you, more importantly. Stand up all over. If you're sitting down right now and you want to be standing up, will you ask yourself why? Do you really want to play Russian roulette with your eternal life? Yes, ma'am. Yes, ma'am. Yes, sir. Yes, ma'am. I want to make sure nobody's missed. Yes, sir. Yes, ma'am. Yes, ma'am. People are standing up now. Yes, sir. Anybody else? I'm going to give you just another moment. I see you guys standing out there on the other side. I see you standing out here. More importantly, God sees every one of you. I want you to bow your heads while you're standing. Now I'm going to ask everybody to pray with those who are standing because the Bible says — now listen, in all of our campuses, the Bible says, with the mouth, confession is

made to salvation. Just like a bride gives her vows to her groom, you are now giving your vows to Jesus. I want you to say this out loud. Say, dear God in heaven — no, everybody, help them pray. Dear God in heaven — thank you for sending Jesus as my bridegroom. As my Savior. As my King. As my Lord. Forgive me for living apart from you, my Creator. But today, that's all changing. This very moment, I give my spirit, soul, and body, everything I am, everything I have to you, Jesus. Jesus, you are now the Lord of my life. You're my Savior, my soon-coming King, and my bridegroom. My life is forever yours, in Jesus' name. Now there's the presence of the Lord right there. He's here. He's in every one of our campuses. With those that are online, there's His presence right there. What is His presence showing you right now? That He has received you. That He is pleased with you. That you are washed with the blood of Jesus. Father, we thank you for what you've done. We give you praise and glory and honor, in Jesus' mighty name, amen. If you were somebody watching online, maybe on YouTube, you were watching, and as Pastor John said, stand up, and you were like somebody who stood up, wherever you were at, I hope you weren't driving when you stood up, but maybe at your home, or maybe at work, or something God led you in in that moment. I want to let you know, we want to know about it.

Our online community team is here to help you get connected to one of our campuses in Southern California, or around the world, or maybe a nearby church, or our online community. If you stood up, or wanted to stand up, you wanted to be in the room at one of our campuses, we want to hear about it. You can do that. There's a link in the description to let us know. You can share a prayer request. You can take next steps in your faith. You can sign up for Activate. We can hear more about what God is doing in your life, but do not miss this opportunity. Don't just click off. Also, I want to encourage you, we're going to spend the next few minutes responding to what Pastor John said. Pastor John was talking about this idea that Jesus is returning and we need to live like that. So I want to encourage you as we sing this last song, respond to this moment. And so I pray God that you fill the spaces as we sing this song that you move this message into our hearts and we start living it out this week all around our online community and all the cities that we're at. And I pray this in Jesus' name. Let's continue to worship together right now. Praise the Spirit, three in one. O God of glory, majesty. O praise forever to the King of kings. O praise the Father, praise the Son. O praise the Spirit, three in one. O God of glory, majesty. O sing praise forever to the King of kings. In the morning that you rose, all of heaven held its breath. Till the stones moved for good, for the Lamb had conquered death. And the dead rose from their tombs, and the angels stood in awe. All the foes of all who come to the Father are restored. And the Church of Christ was born, and the Spirit lit the flame.

Now this gospel truth of old shall not kneel, shall not faint. By His blood and in His Name, He is freedom, I am free. For the love of Jesus Christ was resurrected by. Praise the Father, praise the Son. Praise the Spirit, three in one. O God of glory, majesty. O praise forever to the King of kings. O praise the Father, praise the Son. O praise the Spirit, three in one. O God of glory, majesty. O praise forever to the King. Sing praise forever. O praise forever to the King of kings. O praise forever to the King of kings. Amen. Thank you so much for being with us this week. Thank you for worshiping. Thank you for listening and watching Pastor John's message. It's such an amazing worship service from start to end. And I pray that you take these words and you live it out in whatever city, whatever country you're at. I love thinking about people engaging all around the world. And also, this is our last week where we're doing the giveaway. We're giving away five copies of Pastor John's new book. And so I want to encourage you. You can get access to this by clicking on the link in the description or in the Saddleback Church app. Set your campus' online community. Fill that out. And we're selecting five people, and we're going to ship books to you. So you can do that right now. And then you can also, if you don't want to participate in that way or you just want to buy the book, you're so eager to buy it,

you can buy it with all the information on the screen. It's on Amazon. You can buy it. I haven't read it myself, but I'm going to check it out. I heard it's a really good book, so you can buy it that way. And then next week, we are starting a brand new series. As Pastor Andy was talking about, Live Sent. It's going to be great. So I want to encourage you to be here next week or maybe check out one of our campuses in person in Southern California or around the world. Well, thank you again for being here. And we will see you right here or at one of our campuses next week. . Thanks for watching!