The Second Coming of Christ | Billy Graham Classic Sermon

from our archives the billy graham classics [Applause] i want you to turn with me for the last sermon to the third chapter of second peta the third chapter of second peter i want to speak tonight on the subject the signs of the time the end of the world the second coming of jesus christ and i want you to turn with me to the third chapter beginning at verse three of second peter knowing this first that there shall come in the last days now notice that expression the last days you'll find it many times in the

bible the bible says that there is going to be an x point in history that will be known as the latter days or the last days many people think that we're in that period now nobody knows for sure the bible warns us against speculating on times and seasons and dates but there is a period of time taught in the bible that is called the last days and then the next word is scoffers scoffers will come in the last days cynics people who say oh yeah god is dead we can't find god anywhere we took a

trip up in space we didn't meet god we didn't meet the angels while we were up there and they're going to be other scoffers that will scoff at the idea of future judgment scoff at the idea that jesus christ is coming back to this earth again they'll laugh at the whole idea why the next phrase tells us walking after their own lust they don't want christ to come they don't want christ to come and interfere with their way of living they love their lust they love their sins so much that they don't want christ coming

and they cannot accept the idea that god is a god of judgment now we know that god is the god of love we know that god is a god of mercy but the bible also teaches that god is a god of wrath he's a god of anger we now that's not an emotional anger like you and i have that's an eternal anger at evil a righteous indignation that jesus had when he went into the temple and drove out the money changes the righteous indignation that he had when he turned on the pharisees and called them

all kinds of names in the 23rd chapter of matthew but primarily he accused them of being hypocrites scoffers walking after their own lust and then the scripture says for this they willingly are ignorant of that by the word of god the heavens were of old and the earth standing out of the water and in the water whereby the world that then was being overflowed with water perished but the heavens and the earth which are now right now by the same word are kept in store reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of

ungodly men but beloved be not ignorant of this one thing that one day is with the lord a thousand years and a thousand years is one day the lord is not slack concerning his promise as some men count slackness but it's long-suffering to us not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance but remember this that day of the lord is going to come like a thief in the night in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise and the elements will melt with fervent heat and the earth also

and the works that are therein shall be burned up now in this passage of scripture the apostle peter under the inspiration of the holy spirit is underlining something that is taught from genesis to revelation that a day of judgment is going to come that the world is going to have to stand someday before the judgment of god you will stand there as an individual we'll stand there as a nation we'll stand there as a society to give an account of our stewardship here the bible teaches that toward the end of the age as we move

toward the end it will be a time of peril war destruction lawlessness immorality so great that god will have to intervene and stop the whole thing or we would have racial genocide now listen to what jesus said listen to what the scripture says for there shall be jesus said this in the 24th of matthew for there shall be great tribulation such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time nor will ever be again and except those days should be shortened there should be no flesh saved but for the sake of the

elect those days will be shortened god says i'm not going to let the human race blow up in an atomic war i'm going to stop it and i'm going to save for the election that's why it's so important for believers even though we're a small minority for our sake the human race will be saved for the sake of that small believing remnant and minority that believe the human race will be saved that's what the scripture says now you don't have to believe that i'm just quoting jesus that's what jesus said and those are passages you

don't hear much preaching about and you know the preachers today of judgment and armageddon are the scientists our scientists are doing the preaching we in the pulpit are silent on the subject and the bible is filled with it we ought to be teaching the people and preaching to the people warning the people showing the people the way of salvation now in the midst of that generation of that day there lived a man who believed in god he walked with god god said the thing has become so bad and so decadent and so violent i'm going

to destroy the human race and i'm going to start over again because you see when god created man he gave him a gift he didn't give to his other creatures he created man in his image and gave him freedom of choice man took this freedom and it became license he went his own way rebelled against god began to live his own life and god said if you rebel against me you're going to die man has been suffering and dying ever since it's now appointed under man once to die and after that the judgment because of

our rebellion sin is rebellion against god we're all rebels the bible says all have sinned and come short of the glory of god we're all under the sentence of death we're all under god's sentence the wages of sin is death but in the midst of the generation of that day there lived a man one man that believed in god his name was noah we've got some people today that believe in god there are people all over this world in every country and every city of the world from moscow to peking that believe in god they

may have to do it secretly but they believe when miss stalin came to this country the daughter of joseph stalin she had been read in intellectual atheism she said i could no longer live in a world in which there was no god and she said all through the soviet union there are believers she said even in the communist party there are believers you see there are people who may declare their atheism but down inside have a secret faith and a secret belief that god is noah believed in god in the midst of that crooked and

perverse generation and he dared to stand alone he dared to stand up and say i believe in a period when the whole trend was against any faith at all and i want to tell you to stand up at one of our modern universities today and say i believe in god and lift up a bible and say i believe this book to be the inspired word of god takes a lot of courage and a lot there's a many a professor that leads a lonely life on campus a christian professor there's a many a student in a

class that it leads a lonely life because he believes in christ and he believes in god and he believes in the bible but they're there god has his people scattered all over the world and a crusade like this brings a lot of them together and a lot of you are going to go back and you're going to have to fight a thousand battles with yourself and with others he dared to stand alone and that's what jesus meant when he said take up the cross and follow me bear my reproach be willing to go outside the

camp with me and live where it's unpopular are you willing to do that he said count the cost you may have to stand alone noah stood alone and god came to him one day and god said noah i'm going to destroy the human race with a flood i'm going to cause it to rain 40 days and 40 nights and i want you to build a ship and save your household and save the animals and the bible says that noah believed god no i didn't argue with god and say well lord there's no scientific evidence that

any flood's coming i haven't heard walter cronkite mention it on news yet i haven't heard any scientists say anything about it at columbia or stanford the bible says by faith noah being warned of god of things not seen as yet no evidence as yet not seen as yet moved with fear notice what moved him fear prepared the ark now if ever a generation had a right to be moved by fear and get right with god it's our generation the headlines are screaming it to us they're preaching to us every day the newspaper editors who was

it i think it was justice chief justice warren who said he always turns to the sports section first to read it to see what man is accomplishing and then he turns to the front page to see man's failures and there's a lot of truth in that and god said no i want you to build this ship 450 feet long and 45 feet wide a high and 75 feet high three stories one window one side door and i want you to get it ready as quick as you can and so noah began to build and the

people laughed and sneered and thought he was a gone mad but of course he paid top wages and they worked for him and helped him but they laughed at him and during all that period of time that they were building this ship it took 120 years to build that ship noah was preaching warning the people repent judgment is coming believe but they laughed and sneered and did not believe now during that period of time god could have sent the judgment earlier but he didn't do it and god had a secret that you can go back

home and figure out the oldest man that ever lived was 600 or 969 years now why was he the oldest man that ever lived methuselah do you ever thought about that his name means do you know what his name means when he is dead it shall be sent that's what his name means as long as methuselah lived god was not going to send that flood the day that methuselah died the flood came god used him as a symbol of his love and his grace and his mercy and his long-suffering hoping that mankind would repent of

their sins and turn to him before it's too late and methuselah just kept on living god's patience god's love and methuselah stands forever in the bible as an illustration of the love and the mercy and the grace of god god could have judged them years earlier but he didn't do it methuselah kept on living and the day he died the flood came now what is god using in our generation all right you can read it second thessalonians 2 6 7. the holy spirit the holy spirit is god's restraining power in our world and as long

as the holy spirit is here in mighty power working as we've seen him in this garden god is going to be long-suffering and merciful not willing not desiring that any should be lost but that all should be saved we're living in a period of god's mercy we are breathing and living by the mercy and the grace of god the holy spirit is god's mighty restraining power but i know some theologians that are beginning to say that the holy spirit in his common and restraining grace throughout the world may be in the process of being removed

the holy spirit's activity in bringing individuals to christ is accelerating because people are being converted all over the world to christ because the bible says as we move toward the end of history that gospel preaching will increase and the gospel will have been heard around the world today for the first time it's heard around the world by radio and television in the printed page the holy spirit is god's restraining power and the moment the holy spirit is removed this earth is going to turn into almost hell and the bible says that christ is going to

come back you want to read about when he comes i'll read it to you there are so many passages in the bible that deal with the coming again of christ that it's almost impossible the 19th chapter of revelation listen to this beginning at verse 11 and i saw heaven opened and behold a white horse and he that sat upon him was called faithful and true and in righteousness he doth judge and make war his eyes was a flame of fire and on his head were many crowns and he had a name written that no man

knew but he himself and he was clothed with a vestia dipped in blood and his name is called the word of god and the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses clothed in fine line and white and clean and out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword that with it he should smite the nations and he shall rule them with a rod of iron and he treadeth the wine press of the fierceness and the wrath of almighty god and he hath on his destiny and on his thigh a name written king of

kings and lord of lords yes he's coming back next time not as the little baby of bethlehem but he's the mighty king of kings and lord of lords and he himself said he's coming back to intervene in history to save the world from destroying itself because god loves the world and then the scripture says something else it says it purifies you in other words this is a part of our sanctification growing in the grace and knowledge of christ hope that christ is coming back again our hopes centered in that should cause us to live pure

lives obedient lives and then the scripture says that we should watch that's what we're doing tonight we're watching and you know i've gotten in the habit of going to bed at night and thinking just before i go to bed what if he should come tonight i wake up in the morning and in the morning one of the first thoughts i have i wonder if he's going to come today oh i'd like to see him come what a day that's going to be all of our aches and pains are going to be behind us all of

our tears are going to be behind us all of our problems are going to be solved what a day that's going to be and jesus is going to rule and the problems the social problems that we're wrestling with and battling with now trying to patch them up and solve them as best we can they're all going to be totally solved the race problem will be solved the poverty problem will be solved the war problem will be solved there'll be no more wars what a day that's going to be when we stand with him in eternity

and then jesus said prepare are you prepared for that day does christ live in your heart are you prepared for the day of judgment are you prepared should christ come tonight the scripture says prepare to meet thy god how do you prepare you prepare first of all by being certain that you know christ is your savior by repenting of your sin now what does repentance mean it means that you're willing to say god i've sinned i'm willing to give up my sins i'm willing to change my way of living that's repentance and secondly by faith

you receive christ as your savior you're not trusting in your good works you're not trusting in anything except jesus christ and what he did at the cross for your salvation nothing else when i get to the entrance to heaven and they ask me the password i'm not going to say big crowds at madison square garden lord lord i read the bible through i won't say any of that i'm going to say nothing but the blood i'm going i'm going to heaven totally and completely on the basis of what christ did on that cross salvation is

not by works it's by the grace of god that god offers to us and you must receive by faith and believe and then you must be willing to follow him and serve him it means that you start living a disciplined life under the lordship of christ it means that you serve him in every little thing every day you say god's keeping books on you he's got a computer system all of his own and he sees the little things nobody ever praises you for how many of you do things that are really good things and nobody

ever sees it nobody ever praises you and you'd like to have a little praise he's he's keeping a record it's all there serve him in a thousand ways every day you can serve him i'm going to ask you to receive christ right now i'm going to ask hundreds of you to get up out of your seat right now and say by coming down here i do receive christ i accept him as my lord and my savior i want my sins forgiven i want to know i'm going to heaven and i'm going to ask you to

get up out of your seat and come and stand in front of the platform and by coming and standing here after you've come i'm going to say a word to you have a prayer with you then we're going to give you some literature and you can go back and join your friends if you're with friends or relatives or they've come you've come in a bus they'll wait but i'm going to ask you to get up and come right now you say why do i have to come forward every person jesus called in the new testament

he called publicly there's a reason for it and up in that top gallery you're going to have to go back and around won't take but a couple minutes but you come and i'm going to ask that no one leave and everyone prayerfully as hundreds of people come from everywhere and make your commitment to christ [Music] [Music] as hundreds are responding to mr graham's invitation to make a public commitment to jesus christ you can make that same commitment right where you are just pick up the phone and call the number you see on your screen special

friends are waiting to talk with you and pray with you about this most important decision [Music] uh [Music] you're watching the billy graham classics please call the phone number on the screen right now for spiritual help and guidance as you can see hundreds of people are coming from every part of this garden to make their commitment to christ you can make that same commitment in your home or at a bar or hotel lobby or wherever you may be watching you can say an eternal yes to christ and he will forgive your sin and change your

life god help you to make that commitment tonight if you just prayed that prayer with my father or if you have any questions about a relationship with jesus christ i would just call that number that is on the screen there'll be someone there to talk with you pray with you and answer those questions and remember god loves you if you would like to commit your life to jesus christ please call us right now toll free at 1-877-772-4559 that's 1-877-772-4559 or you can write to us at billy graham 1 billy graham parkway department c charlotte north

carolina 28201 or you can contact us on the web 24 7 at peacewithgod.tv we'll get the same helps to you that we give to everyone who responds at the invitation on behalf of franklin graham and the billy graham evangelistic association thank you for watching and thank you for your prayers [Music] the bible says seek the lord while he may be found call on him while he is near the bible says without faith it's impossible to please god because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him

you come to christ tonight you've got to be willing to turn your back on your sins you call upon his name will you seek him tonight [Music] jesus christ died for the world [Music] whatever country whatever the color of your skin whatever language you speak jesus christ died for your sins it's jesus [Music]