Love Worth Finding

Announcer: What do the signs of the times mean for us as believers? Listen to Adrian Rogers.

Adrian Rogers: Now, Jesus said that the signs of the times are like birth pains. You see, we've had famines before, we've had pestilences before, we've had all of these things before, but when all of these things begin to come to pass, Jesus said, when there is a convergence of the signs, when there's a concentration of the signs, when there's an intensification of the signs, then Jesus said, get ready, be ready.

Announcer: Welcome to Love Worth Finding, featuring the powerful truth of the gospel found in the practical messages of Pastor Adrian Rogers. The second coming of Jesus Christ is the greatest prophetic event of all the ages, and the signs of the times warn us that it is coming soon. One of the signs of the last days is apostasy, when people who have received truth go on to reject and ridicule it. Jude 14 and 15 warns apostates of their judgment to come from Jesus himself. If you have your Bible, turn there now as Adrian Rogers shares part one of The Second Coming and the Apostasy of the Last Days.

Adrian Rogers: Today, the subject, the message, the apostasy and the second coming of Jesus Christ. And we're reading the book of Jude, verses 14 and 15. We've come to these verses now in our study of the book of Jude. And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of thee, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints to execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him. Jude said, Behold, the Lord cometh. The second coming of Jesus Christ is the greatest prophetic event of the ages.

And as you study the Bible, you're going to find out that the Bible puts a tremendous emphasis upon the second coming of Jesus Christ. As important as the new birth is, the new birth is mentioned 9 times in the Bible. As important as baptism is, baptism is mentioned 20 times in the Bible. As important as repentance is. Repentance is mentioned 71 times in the Bible, or 70 times, some would say, in the Bible. But over 380 verses in the Bible speak clearly, plainly about the second coming of Jesus Christ. One verse out of every 25 points with an eager finger to the second coming of Jesus Christ.

And the early church was taken up in thinking about the second coming of Jesus Christ. Alexander McLaren said that early church did not think primarily about death or about heaven, but about the second coming of Jesus Christ. He said it this way. He said they were not looking for a cleft in the ground called a grave. They were looking for a cleft in the sky called glory. They were not looking for the undertaker, they were looking for the upper taker. Amen. I like that. I really do. And we ought to be looking for the second coming of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Did you know in the dome of the Capitol in the United States, in Washington, D.C., if you were to look, you would find inscribed these words, one God, one law, one element, and one divine far off event toward which all creation moves.

What is that one far off divine event toward which all creation moves? Why, that far off event that was far off in the eyes of some may be right upon us, and that is the second coming of Jesus Christ. This lost generation may be the last generation. You know, we hear preachers talk about signs of the times, and they say, well, we've always had those things. We've always had the war. We've always had the famine. We've always had the pestilence. We've always had the apostasy. We've always had these things. But you remember in Matthew chapter 25, the Lord Jesus said, when you see all these things begin to happen, that you know that the end is nigh.

And then he said, for these are the beginnings of sorrows. And the word that he used there for sorrows is a very interesting word. It's the word that means birth pains. Do you know anything about birth pains? Why is it all little babies are born at 2 in the morning? Why is it that your wife says to you now, honey, I'm feeling that first pain. And you said, don't get excited. It's all right, honey, I'll take care of you. And that gives her a lot of confidence, you know, and a lot of comfort. And she says, honey, I felt another one. You get out your watch and you start to, like the doctor told you, and you start to time them.

Then she said, I felt another one and it was harder. And then they get harder and closer and harder and closer, and you say, uh-oh, this is it. Now listen, your wife may have a pain at any time, but friend, if you know that she's expecting and those pains begin to come close together and they begin to get more and more severe, these are the beginning of birth pains. And if you've got any sense, you're going to get ready because if you're like I am, you don't want to deliver any baby. You're going to get to that hospital, you know, and the policeman will stop you and say, it's all right, officer.

I didn't mean to be doing 80 miles an hour, but my baby's going to wife to have a hospital, and I've got to get there, I've got to get there in a hurry. And so he just leads you on there because you know that something is about to come forth. Now, Jesus said that the signs of the times are like that. He says they're like birth pains. You see, we've had famines before, we've had pestilences before, we've had all of these things before. But when all of these things begin to come to pass, Jesus said, when there is a convergence of the signs, when there's a concentration of the signs, when there's an intensification of the signs, when there is a multiplication of the signs, then Jesus said, get ready, be ready.

We know that we're living in the time where Jesus could come at any moment. Some glorious morning, all will be peace when Jesus comes again. Some golden daybreak, Jesus will come. Some golden daybreak, battles all won. He'll shout the victory, break through the blue, some golden daybreak for me, for you. One of the signs of the last days is apostasy. Apostasy. Paul said, in the last days men shall depart from the faith. As a matter of fact, he said in 2 Thessalonians, the second chapter, that day shall not come except the apostasy, the falling away come first. We know, therefore, that the apostasy, the turning from the faith, is a sign of the last days.

And what is an apostate? An apostate is someone who has received the truth, then he rejects the truth, then he repudiates the truth and ridicules the truth and tries to replace the truth of our Lord. And the book of Jude is written to warn us about these apostates. But now Jude is also going to warn the apostates. He's going to warn them that Jesus Christ is coming, and when he comes, he will come to judge these apostates. And there are three things that I want you to learn about the second coming of Jesus Christ here in this book of Jude that we learn really, that Jude learned from Enoch. Enoch was the first man, the first human being to ever prophesy the second coming of Jesus Christ.

And the Bible tells us that he was the seventh from Adam. There are three things I want you to learn about the second coming of Jesus Christ. The very first thing I want you to learn is what I'm going to call the surety of his coming. The surety of his coming. Notice verse 14, and Enoch also the seventh from Adam prophesied of thee, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh. But do you know what it literally says in the Greek language? Behold, the Lord came. Not the Lord cometh, the Lord came. Now we know he hasn't come yet, but Enoch said he came. To Enoch, Enoch had seen the second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ.

In the Bible, you find out that much Bible prophecy, things that are going to come to pass, are put in past tense because in God's mind, it is as good as already done. Enoch saw it so clearly, so clearly did Enoch see the second coming of Jesus Christ that he spoke of it as though it had already come to pass. Now the Bible says that this man Enoch was the seventh from Adam, and if you figure it out, you'll find out that Enoch and Adam were contemporaries. As a matter of fact, Adam was in just in the prime of life when Enoch was born. He was only 622 years old. Well, you see, Adam lived to be 930 years old.

So, he had about a third of his life left to live when Enoch was born, and Enoch and Adam lived together for 308 years. Enoch knew Adam, and Adam knew Enoch, I certainly believe, because they were great leaders of their day and of their age. Enoch was a contemporary of Adam. He was the seventh from Adam, and that long ago, that far back in human history, here was Enoch prophesying the second coming of Jesus Christ. And how fitting that Enoch would prophesy the second coming of Jesus Christ, because you remember Enoch? He was the man that was raptured. You remember that? Well, you don't remember it.

You remember reading about it. Enoch, Enoch was the man who was raptured. He went to heaven without dying. In Genesis chapter 5 and verse 24, we read, and Enoch walked with God and was not, for God took him." Enoch walked with God and was not, for God took him. By the way, I thought about that. Why did Enoch walk with God? Well, I believe that Enoch talked to Adam, and you remember the Bible says God walked with Adam in the garden. And Enoch said to Adam, "Adam, tell me what it was like to walk with God." Adam would get that far away look in his eyes, and he said, "Oh, Enoch, it was wonderful.

He walked with me, and he talked with me, and he told me I was his own, and the joys we shared as we tarried there, none other has ever known. Oh, it was wonderful. And old Enoch says, hey, I believe I'm going to walk with God. I like that. And Enoch walked with God and the fellowship with God was so wonderful. Here was this man Enoch. You know, all the rest of the people there in Genesis chapter 5, it says so and so lived and he died, so and so lived and he died, so and so lived and he died, so and so lived and he died. And then it says, and Enoch walked with God and he was not, for God took him.

He didn't die. He pictures us, dear friend. He was the seventh from Adam. I believe there have been 7,000 years of human history. I believe that he prophesies that last generation that's not going to die, but be caught up to meet the Lord in the air. He pictures those of us who are going to be raptured, people, going to be raptured. Why, you say, Pastor, do you really believe that happened? Yes, you can read about it in the 11th chapter of the book of Hebrews. It says the same thing. Hebrews chapter 11 and verse 5, by faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death and was not found. That is, they looked for him, but they couldn't find him.

He was translated. He and God were just out on a walk one day, and God said to Enoch, Enoch, you're not going to die, son. You're not taste of death. I'm just going to take you on up to glory. And the Bible says he was not found. That means they looked for him. Well, you say, hey, that is so superstitious sound. That's so supernatural sound. Yeah, yeah, it really is. But folks, we already have the historical precedent. That's the way Enoch went to heaven. We already have the historical precedent. That's the way Elijah went to heaven. You read about it. We already have the historical precedent.

That's the way Jesus went to heaven. You read about it. Don't try to explain it away. One of these days, our Lord shall come. Paul says in 1 Thessalonians chapter 4, the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, the voice of the archangel, and the trump of God. The dead in Christ shall rise first, and we which remain and are alive shall be caught up with them in the air to meet the Lord in the air. We're going to be caught up. I mean, folks, we're going to meet our Lord in the air, just as Enoch was. And they looked for him. I can imagine old Jared, that was Enoch's daddy, he looked for Enoch.

Say, where is that boy? He hadn't come home. It's way past supper time. He hadn't come home yet. Where is Enoch? They looked for him. They couldn't find him. After a while, Jared said, well, you know, he's been acting strange anyway lately. He's been going on these long walks, and he comes home, he's got a funny look on his face, always smiling. The other day I heard him sing in a little chorus, this world is not my home, I'm just a passing through. And he's gone. That's right, he was gone, and he pictures, he pictures what's going to happen to us at the rapture of the church, when the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout and the voice of the archangel and the trump of God, and the dead in Christ shall rise first, and we which remain in our lives are going to be caught up to meet them.

Do you know what Jesus said? You might want to put this scripture in your Bible, Luke 17, verses 34 and 35. I tell you, in that night there shall be two men in one bed, one shall be taken and the other left, and two women shall be grinding together, one shall be taken and the other left. Now that's interesting. some are sleeping and some are working. And part of the world will be daylight and part of the world will be dark when Jesus comes. You see, how accurate the Bible is. You know, people in Jesus' time did not know that it was light on one side of the world while it was dark on the other, but Jesus knew that. some will be in bed and some will be at work when Jesus comes.

One will be taken and the other left. some are going to be swept up to glory if the Lord Jesus were to come right now, and others would be left. And Enoch, who understood all of these things, was a man who prophesied the second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. He had inside knowledge. The Bible says, surely the Lord our God will do nothing except he reveals his secret to his servants, the prophets. And Enoch was a man that God gave a vision, I mean, only seven generations from Adam, and yet he saw the second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. And Enoch prophesied, behold, the Lord cometh. And Enoch told us of the surety of his coming.

And by the way, do you know when Enoch lived? He lived in a period of time known in the Bible as the days of Noah, as the days of Noah, because Enoch lived right before the flood. And the days of Enoch and the days of Noah were the same. And Jesus said that as it was in the days of Noah, so it shall be also the coming of the Son of Man. Matthew 24, verse 37, but as the days of Noah were, so shall also the coming of the Son of Man be. For as in the days that were before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying, giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ark. Now, in the days before the flood, that's exactly when Enoch lived.

And therefore, Enoch becomes not only a prophet of these times, but he also becomes a picture, or at least his age was a picture of these times in which we live. And what were the days of Noah? I mean, what were, what kind of a place did Enoch live in? Well, number one, it was a time, the days of Noah were days of anarchy and violence. Genesis chapter 6 and verse 11, and the earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence. You see, violence is the mark of the end of an age. Now, there've always been wars and rumors of wars, but I'm talking about the violence that we've seen.

This is an age, a time of violence, ladies and gentlemen. Do you read the newspapers? I tell you, if I did not know the Lord, I would be an A number one genuine pessimist. Pessimist. history is like a Shakespearean tragedy. Did you study Shakespeare? Do you? You know, in a Shakespearean tragedy, you see things coming to an untimely end, and you know nothing's going to stop it. There's just nothing to stop it. That's what history is like. I mean, without the Lord, you think of the violence and the wars that are everywhere. There are uprisings and rebellions and riots. Think of the famines. Think of the war and the crime that is in America today, and the terrorism and assault and murder and the drug traffic, the vandalism, the arson.

It perhaps has happened to us so slowly that we think this is normal, that we live by barred windows, that all of us are trying to get burglar alarms and all of these things. That's violence. Listen, the days of Enoch were days of anarchy, but not only were they days of anarchy, they were days of apostasy. That is the point. Listen, if you will, in Genesis chapter 6 and verse 5, the Bible says, and God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. Now that word imaginations is a very interesting word. Every imagination of the thought of his heart.

John Phillips says that that word imaginations comes from a Hebrew root word which means to make something or fashion something as a potter would fashion a vessel. Don't get the idea that in that day men were just having bad thoughts or they were daydreaming. That's not what the word imagination means. It means that they had carefully crafted wicked, ungodly philosophies. God had given them his word, but rather than taking the word of God, there were these thoughts, these philosophies, these theologies that they had fashioned and they had crafted, and they tried to squeeze the world into their filthy mold.

That's the way it was. The days of Enoch were days of anarchy. They were days of apostasy, but they were primarily days of apathy. God says, my spirit shall not always strive with a man. God had sent his tender Holy Spirit to strive, to woo, and God pled with that generation to repent. But Jesus said they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage. They laughed, they danced, they mocked, they played, they worked, they ate, they feasted, but no thought of God. They had been chloroformed by the spirit of that age. And here, with the flood coming, the imminent judgment of Almighty God there, but they knew not, Jesus said, until the flood came and carried them all away.

As it was, so shall it be. Enoch prophesied, the Lord is coming, the Lord is coming, the Lord is coming, the surety of his coming. Second thing, notice not only the surety of his coming, but also the severity of his coming. Look in verse 15. Why is he coming? All right, here it is. To execute judgment upon all. To execute judgment upon all. The Lord is coming to judge. Jesus Christ came the first time as a savior. He's coming the second time as a judge. You will meet Jesus Christ. You will meet Jesus Christ. You will meet him as Savior, or you will meet him as judge, but you will meet Jesus Christ.

One day you will bow before Jesus Christ. As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God. And every one of us will one day confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. Some will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord and be saved. Others will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord and will be damned. Now, you may not walk down this aisle to receive him. One day they may roll you down this aisle or some other aisle in a funeral, but if you're not saved, your soul will be in hell before the undertaker hears you're dead. And then, dear friend, at the second coming of Jesus Christ, your soul will come out of hell, be reincarcerated in your body, and you will stand face to face with the Lord Jesus Christ to be judged.

He is coming to judge, the Bible says, the living and the dead. The Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son. What I'm saying is this, that the same Jesus today who wants to be your savior, if he does not become your savior, will be your judge. The first time he came to redeem, the second time he is coming to judge. The Lord comes, Enoch says, to execute judgment. He is coming to judge. How severe is going to be that judgment? Now, why hasn't he come yet? Because of the severity of that judgment. Do you know that God's great heart yearns not for you to be judged? The Lord is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance, the Bible says in 2 Peter chapter 3 verse 9.

He doesn't want you to die and go to hell, and therefore the day of grace is being pushed back.

Announcer: And coming up tomorrow on Love Worth Finding, part 2 of this insightful message. But maybe today, as you've listened, you have questions about who Jesus is or what he means to you, how to begin a relationship with God through Christ. Go to our website, to the Find God's Love page at lwf.org/radio. You'll discover resources and materials that will answer questions you may have about your faith. Again, lwf.org/radio and click the tab that says Find God's Love.

Kerry Vaughn: Hi, this is Kerry Vaughn, and this program has been brought to you by Love Worth Finding, a nonprofit ministry showcasing the powerful preaching and teaching of Pastor Adrian Rogers. We operate solely through the generous gifts of individual supporters just like you. To give a gift today, call 1-877-Love God, that's 1-877-Love God, or write to us at Love Worth Finding, Box 38-600, Memphis, Tennessee, 38183. You can also connect with us online by going to lwf.org/radio. There, we offer helpful resources inspired by the timeless teachings of Pastor Adrian Rogers. Additionally, you can sign up for daily emails, donate to the ministry, and learn more about how to become an ambassador of the Word.

Thank you so much for listening today. Be sure to join us next time for more profound truth simply stated right here on Love Worth Finding.

Announcer: Why does thankfulness matter? What does it do for the believer? And what is one of the main blessings of thankfulness? Listen to Adrian Rogers.

Unidentified Speaker: Thanksgiving is one of the keys to answered prayer. You know, be careful for nothing, that is, don't worry about anything, but everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known unto God.

Announcer: Learn even more blessings that come from thankfulness with this new print resource from Love Worth Finding, Thanksgiving Grace. Taken from the Thanksgiving messages of Adrian Rogers, preached across more than three decades, this 30-day devotional guide will take you into the very presence of God, who inhabits the praises of his people. Request Thanksgiving Grace when you call with your gift this month at 1-877-Love God. That's 1-877-Love God. Or you can give online at lwf.org/radio.