Pathway to Victory

David: Thanks for streaming today's podcast from Pathway to Victory. Pathway to Victory is a nonprofit ministry featuring the Bible teaching of Dr. Robert Jeffress. Our mission is to pierce the darkness with the light of God's Word through the most effective media available, like this podcast. To support Pathway to Victory, go to ptv.org/donate or follow the link in our show notes. Now, here's today's podcast from Pathway to Victory.

Dr. Robert Jeffress: Hi, this is Robert Jeffress, and I'm glad to study God's Word with you every day on this Bible teaching program. On today's edition of Pathway to Victory...

David: God created this world perfectly, and the Bible says one day He's coming back to reclaim what is rightfully His. That's why the second coming is important. It is a time for Christ to reclaim and recreate this sin-filled world. Welcome to Pathway to Victory with author and pastor Dr. Robert Jeffress.

You know, the Bible foretells that one day soon Jesus Christ will return to earth. So, how should His return impact the way we invest the next 24 hours? Today on Pathway to Victory, Dr. Robert Jeffress explains not only what will happen during the second coming of Jesus Christ, but also why it should change the way we live today. But first, let's take a moment to hear some important ministry updates.

Dr. Robert Jeffress: Thank you, David. And welcome again to Pathway to Victory. If it's true that Jesus Christ is returning to earth one day, which is precisely what the Bible teaches, then how does His return impact the way we invest the next 24 hours? Shouldn't it make a big difference? Well, during today's program, we'll grapple with this convicting question as our study called Perfect Ending continues.

I've written a brand-new book on this topic that answers 20 of the most common questions I receive about God's timeline for the future. My book is called Ask Dr. Jeffress About the End Times. In my book, I answer 20 very common questions. And along the way, I walk you through God's plan for the future, not to alarm you, but to assure you. And I'm pleased to send you a copy with my thanks when you include a generous gift to support the ministry of Pathway to Victory.

One more important matter. Our seven-day cruise to Alaska is departing soon. June 13th is right around the corner, and I don't want you to miss out. We've only got a handful of cabins left, and once they're gone, that's it. Imagine experiencing God's breathtaking Alaskan masterpiece with fellow believers. Towering glaciers, majestic wildlife, and meaningful Christian fellowship. All your meals prepared, world-class service, and purely Christian entertainment. Don't delay. Reserve your spot today at ptv.org before it's too late.

David: Okay, let's get started with today's study. Everything we've discussed so far in our Perfect Ending series is only a prologue to the event we're looking at today: the second coming of Jesus Christ. I titled today's message History’s Most Important Event.

Dr. Robert Jeffress: If you have your Bibles, I want you to turn to Revelation chapter 16 as we review the events preceding the second coming of Christ. Look at Revelation 16, verses 13 and 14. John says, "And I saw coming out of the mouth of the dragon, that's Satan, the power behind the Antichrist, I saw coming out of the mouth of the dragon and out of the mouth of the beast, that's the Antichrist, and out of the mouth of the false prophet, Antichrist's assistant, I saw coming out of their mouths three unclean spirits like frogs. For they are the spirit of demons performing signs which go out to the kings of the whole world to gather them together for the war of the great day of God the Almighty, and so they gathered them together to the place in Hebrew which is called Harmagedon."

The satanic trinity—Satan the dragon, the beast that is Antichrist, the false prophet—they are going to try to lure all the kings of the earth to this one spot in Israel for the great battle. Look at Revelation 16, verse 17. While the world forces are gathering themselves together at the plain of Megiddo to mount war against the Antichrist, it is at that point that God releases His judgment, His final judgment against the earth.

Look at Revelation 16, verse 17. "And the seventh angel poured out his bowl upon the air, and a loud voice came out of the temple from the throne saying, 'It is done.'" But this judgment against the entire world is just a prelude to the main event. And that main event is the return of Jesus Christ. Turn over to Revelation chapter 19. As the world forces are battling at the plain of Megiddo, suddenly the heavens are going to open, the Bible says.

Look at Revelation 19, 11 through 13. "And I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse, and He who sat upon it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and wages war. And His eyes are a flame of fire, and upon His head are many diadems, crowns, and He has a name written upon Him which no one knows except Himself, and He is clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called the Word of God."

As the world forces are doing battle, suddenly they are startled when they see the clouds part and they see the appearance of the Lord Jesus Christ. And when they see Christ, they see He's not alone because, in addition to the appearance of Christ, notice secondly there is the appearance of the church of Jesus Christ. Look at verse 14. "And the armies which are in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, were following Him on white horses."

Who is that army that is following Christ from heaven to earth? It is you. It is I. The Bible says we're going to dress in our finest clothes. He's talking about what he says very clearly in verse 8. Our linen, our clothing, are our righteous acts. You say, wait a minute, Pastor. Wait a minute. Good works? Haven't you taught us over and over again that good works are meaningless? Well, no, not at all.

Good works are useless when it comes to earning our salvation. When we become a Christian, when you trust in Christ as your Savior, God takes the righteousness of Jesus Christ and He wraps it around you so that when God sees you, He doesn't see your sin; He sees the perfection of His Son. That righteousness that God puts over us, think of it as our inner garment.

Once we have Christ's righteousness around us, then we put on the righteous acts, that is obedience to Christ. And the good works we do after we're saved are very, very important. Our obedience to Christ after we're saved determines the kind of heaven we're going to experience. Did you know heaven won't be the same for everybody? It's not a democracy. It's not socialistic where everybody has the same thing.

The Bible says there are degrees of heaven, and those degrees of heaven depend upon our obedience to Christ after we are saved. And that's what he's talking about here. He says when we come back with Christ, we will be dressing in those righteous acts that we have performed out of obedience to Christ. There will be the appearance of Christ, there's the appearance of the church, and notice thirdly, at Christ's second coming, there is the defeat of Christ's enemies.

Look at verse 19. "And I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies assembled to make war against Him who sat upon the horse and against His army." Here are all the world forces prepared to do battle against Antichrist when suddenly they see Christ and us with Him. Suddenly, those enemies become friends. They unite together—all the world forces and Antichrist—to do battle against Jesus Christ and His army. They are going to make war against us.

Now, some people say, well, I'm a little uneasy about that. You mean I'm going to be riding on horseback with Jesus and flailing a sword? I'm not sure I'm up to that. I'm not sure how well I would fare in such a battle against the world forces. No, that's not what it's going to be like at all. Our defeat of the enemies of Christ has nothing to do with our strength or horse-riding abilities. It has to do with the power of God.

Look at verse 15 and verse 21. How are the enemies going to be slain? "And from His mouth, Christ's mouth, comes a sharp sword so that with it He might smite the nations, and He will rule them with a rod of iron. And He treads the winepress of the fierce wrath of God the Almighty, and the rest were killed with the sword that came from the mouth of Him who sat upon the horse, and all the birds were filled with their flesh."

Just as God killed 185,000 Assyrians with the breath of His words, so God with a single word will destroy His enemies on that day. That's what happens at the second coming of Christ: the appearance of Christ, the appearance of the church, and the defeat of Christ's enemies. Many people, as you know, believe that the second coming of Christ is the same as the rapture. Those who don't believe that there is a rapture that occurs seven years before the second coming believe that they are the same event.

One reason they believe that they're the same event is they say, well, the same words are used in the Bible to describe what you think of as the rapture but is also the second coming. And that's true. There are three key Greek words that are used to describe both the rapture and the second coming. I've put them on your outline. One word is *parousia*. It means the coming or arrival. It's found in 1 Thessalonians 4:15 about the rapture; it's also found about the second coming in Matthew 24.

*Apokalupsis* is a word that means unveiling, the apocalypse or the revelation. That's again used to describe both the rapture and the second coming. Or *epiphaneia*. It means manifestation. It applies to both the rapture and the second coming. But let me remind you that just because two things are similar doesn't mean they're the same thing. I think about Julia, my daughter, and Amy. They both have eyes, two ears, a nose, and engaging personalities.

But they're not the same people, are they? It's the same thing when you get to the rapture and the second coming. Yes, there are some common elements in both. Both involve a coming of the Lord. Both involve an unveiling of Christ's glory. Both unveil a manifestation, an appearance of Christ. But they are two different events. Let me share with you eight ways that the rapture and the second coming are different.

We don't have time to go into this in depth. I'm going to go quickly here. You can get the book, *Perfect Ending*, and find out more details about this. But let me run through these with you because it's important to understand the difference between the rapture and the second coming. Number one: no prophecies are necessary for the rapture. There's no prophecy that has to be fulfilled before the rapture occurs. It could happen tonight. It could happen this afternoon.

But there are many prophecies necessary for the second coming to occur. The regathering of Israel in the promised land—that has already occurred. The rebuilding of the temple—that has not yet occurred. There are many prophecies for the second coming, no prophecies for the rapture. Number two: Christ appears in the air at the rapture. 1 Thessalonians 4:17 says we'll be caught up together to meet the Lord in the air. But Christ returns to earth at the second coming. Zechariah 14:4 says, "And in that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives."

Page turn. Number three: Jesus returns to heaven with believers at the rapture. Christ returns to earth with believers at the second coming. At the rapture, we're caught up together to meet Him. At the second coming, as we saw, we're the armies that return with Him to earth to set up His kingdom. Number four: the rapture is a mystery. By that, I mean it was never talked about or discussed in the Old Testament. Jesus never mentioned it in the Gospels. It isn't found in the Epistles and very simply because Paul was the one who had the job of revealing the mystery of the church and the end of the church age, the rapture of the church.

The rapture's a mystery, but the second coming is prophesied both in the Old and New Testaments. Hundreds and hundreds of prophecies about the second coming. Number five: after the rapture, only believers are judged. But at the second coming, Israel and Gentile unbelievers are going to be judged. Number six: after the rapture, there is no physical change of the earth. The earth continues as is. But after the second coming, as we'll see next week, there'll be a partial renovation of the earth.

Number seven: after the rapture, Satan continues to work. In fact, he continues to work more feverishly than ever before once believers are gone. After the rapture, Satan continues to work. After the second coming, Satan will be bound for a thousand years. That's the millennium that we talk about next week. And finally, number eight: at the rapture, only believers will see Christ. But at the second coming, everyone will see Christ.

Both believers and unbelievers. It's prophesied in Zechariah 12:10. It's prophesied in Philippians 2, verses 10 and 11. "At the name of Jesus, every knee will bow of those in heaven, on earth, and under the earth, and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father." Everyone, believers and unbelievers, will see the manifestation of Jesus at the second coming. Well, Pastor, why is all of this important? What difference does it make if Jesus is literally coming back to the world one day?

I remember when I was in high school and a member of this church being very excited about one particular Easter Sunday. Because on that particular Easter Sunday, Billy Graham was coming to preach at our church and he was going to bring the Easter message. At that time, Amy and I were dating. She lived in Richardson like I did, but her family went to a church with a very, very liberal pastor.

And this pastor—I know from personal conversation with him—he didn't believe in the deity of Christ. He didn't believe in the inerrancy of Scripture. He didn't believe in heaven. He didn't believe in hell. He didn't believe that Christ is the only way to be saved, and he didn't believe in the second coming of Jesus. Kind of wonder why he was in the ministry, what message he had. But he told me, one on one, all the things he didn't believe.

So on that Easter Sunday morning, I was in my little Volkswagen Bug driving down Central Expressway, excited about coming to hear Billy Graham. And I decided to turn on the radio to listen to the sermon that Amy was listening to at her church because it was broadcast as well. It was 40 years ago, but I remember that sermon like it was yesterday. That liberal, infidel pastor said this: He said, "For 2,000 years, people have been looking for and expecting Jesus to come back to earth one day. But He hasn't come yet, and He's not coming."

"The first time Jesus came is when He came at Bethlehem. The second time He came is when He came into your heart." That was his sermon on the second coming. And when I heard those words, I thought about 2 Peter chapter 3, in which Peter said, "Know this first of all, that in the last days mockers will come with their mocking, following after their own lusts and saying, 'Where is the promise of His coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all continues just as it was from the beginning of creation.'"

People today mock the idea of Christ's coming. Oh, those Christians, they believed that forever. Peter says it'll be that way in the last days. But verse 8 he says, "Do not let this one fact escape your notice, beloved, that with the Lord one day is a thousand years and a thousand years is one day. The Lord is not slow about His promise as some count slowness, but He is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but all to come to repentance."

The only reason Christ hasn't come yet is because He's giving you an opportunity to repent. But He is coming one day, make no mistake about it. Why is it important to believe in a literal, visible, physical return of Jesus Christ? Let me mention three reasons. Why is Christ coming back to this world again one day? First of all, Christ is coming back to fulfill the prophecies of the Bible. There are over 1,800 prophecies in the Old Testament about the second coming of Jesus Christ.

You can't turn a page of the New Testament without reading over and over again: Christ is coming, Christ is coming, Christ is coming. If Christ does not return as He promised He was going to return, then it means you'll have hundreds of prophecies in the Bible unfulfilled. And if there are prophecies that are unfulfilled, it means the Bible cannot be trusted. Jesus is coming back again to first of all fulfill the prophecies of the Bible. Secondly, He is coming back to judge unbelievers and to judge the sinful world.

The Bible says Christ is coming back to judge this sin-filled world. You know, we look at what is happening in the world today and we say, God, why do You let such things happen? I was reading in the Dallas Morning News, perhaps you read it, that horrendous case about the father who set his two-year-old preschool son on fire, killed him. You think, why does God allow things like that to happen in the world today?

The Bible answers the question. He says unbelievers are storing up wrath day after day in the face of God, wrath that is one day going to be unleashed against the world. Christ is coming back to judge this fallen world. In Isaiah 11, verse 4, the prophet said, "But with righteousness He will judge the poor and decide with fairness for the afflicted of the earth, and He will strike the earth with the rod of His mouth, and with the breath of His lips He will slay the wicked."

Why is Christ coming back again? To fulfill the prophecies of the Bible, to judge unbelievers, but thirdly and most importantly, Christ is coming back again to reclaim the earth. In Genesis 3, we read the story about how sin came into this world and the paradise God created was lost. But it was only temporarily lost. But listen to me. If there is no second coming, if there is only a rapture in which God snatches away believers to live with Him in heaven and leaves the earth as it is, that would be like God saying to Satan, "Okay, Satan, you won. I'll take believers up here with me in heaven, and you can stay here on earth. I'll stay in my corner of the universe if you stay down there in your corner of the world."

Of course not. God created this world perfectly, and the Bible says one day He's coming back to reclaim what is rightfully His. That's why the second coming is important. It is a time for Christ to reclaim and recreate this sin-filled world. I remember reading the story about a group of seminary students who were playing basketball. After they finished their basketball game, they were going to the shower, and one of the seminary students noticed a janitor sitting on the bleachers waiting for them to finish up so he could clean up.

As the seminary student walked past the janitor, he saw that he was reading a Bible. So he said to the janitor, "What are you reading?" The janitor said, "I'm reading the book of Revelation." The seminary student was studying the book of Revelation. He knew how complicated it was, and so he said in his most condescending tone, "Well, tell me, do you understand what it means?" The janitor looked up and said, "Yes, sir, I understand what it means. It means Jesus is going to win."

One day Jesus is going to win. But let's be honest. As we look at the world today, it doesn't look like Jesus is winning, does it? We see in the world around us, or perhaps just in our own world, a world that's filled with sadness, with disease, with broken relationships, and with death. What we feel and what we see is very, very real, but it's also very, very temporary.

The Bible says one day Jesus is going to win. One day Jesus is coming back again to reclaim and recreate that which has been lost. The Apostle John looked forward to that day. He saw it before him in Revelation 11, verse 15. He said, "And the seventh angel sounded, and there arose a loud chorus of voices saying, 'The kingdom of this world has now become the kingdom of God and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever. Amen. Amen.'"

Dr. Robert Jeffress: And I can't think of a better way to conclude today's message. Handel's Hallelujah Chorus stirs up deep emotion within us, but more importantly, we're reminded that Jesus is victorious in the end. Earlier in the program, I mentioned a book I've written for you. It's called Ask Dr. Jeffress About the End Times, and only a short time remains for you to request a copy.

What I've discovered after decades of ministry is that people need solid, biblical facts about the end times. In my brand-new book, I answer 20 of the most pressing prophetic questions people ask me. But here's what I want you to understand. This is not just a book for you; it's also for the friend, neighbor, or family member who's unsettled by everything happening in our world. Ask Dr. Jeffress About the End Times gives them something trustworthy to place in their hands, built on the same sound doctrine you're learning here on Pathway to Victory. Don't wait. Request your copy today. I'll send a copy right away when you give a generous gift to support the ministry of Pathway to Victory. Here's David with all the details.

David: Today when you give a generous gift to support the ministry of Pathway to Victory, you're invited to request a copy of Dr. Jeffress's brand-new, just-released book, Ask Dr. Jeffress About the End Times. This book provides clear biblical answers to the top 20 questions people ask about the end times. Just call 866-999-2965 or visit online at ptv.org. You could also support this ministry by texting PTV to 78800.

And when your gift is $125 or more, we'll also send you Dr. Jeffress's best-selling prophecy book, Perfect Ending. You'll get the complete Perfect Ending teaching series on audio and video disc and the stunning full-color resource, The End Times Illustrated, a panorama of Bible prophecy from Genesis to Revelation. To request these resources, call 866-999-2965 or visit ptv.org.

If you'd prefer to write, our mailing address is PO Box 223609, Dallas, Texas, 75222. Again, that's PO Box 223609, Dallas, Texas, 75222. I'm David J. Mullins, wishing you a great weekend. Then join us again next week when our series titled Perfect Ending continues with a message called "Heaven on Earth". That's Monday here on Pathway to Victory.

Dr. Robert Jeffress: Pathway to Victory with Dr. Robert Jeffress comes from the pulpit of the First Baptist Church of Dallas, Texas.

David: You made it to the end of today's podcast from Pathway to Victory, and we're so glad you're here. Pathway to Victory relies on the generosity of loyal listeners like you to make this podcast possible. One of the most impactful ways you can give is by becoming a Pathway Partner. Your monthly gift will empower Pathway to Victory to share the gospel of Jesus Christ and help others become rooted more firmly in His word. To become a Pathway Partner, go to ptv.org/donate or you can follow the link in our show notes. We hope you've been blessed by today's podcast from Pathway to Victory. Oh, and one last thing before we go. Have you reserved your spot yet for the 2026 Pathway to Victory cruise to Alaska? You've been hearing me and Dr. Jeffress mention it, so what are you waiting for? Just picture yourself on the deck of Holland America's elegant Koningsdam and stepping out on deck to witness nature's grandeur. It's beautiful. These moments in God's creation will deepen your faith in powerful ways. It really will. Experience five-star dining, luxurious staterooms, and visiting iconic ports like Juneau, Ketchikan, and Skagway. We're also bringing along our own Christian entertainment; you'll love it. Seats are filling up, so book your spot today at ptv.org.