Sermon Tone Analysis

Intro:

I’ve yet to meet anyone who really LOVES endings.

For me, if I am reading a good book, I am kind of sad when I read the last two words, “the End.”

If there is a movie or TV series, no one loves to see it end.

It could be a really good South Iron ball game or a Cardinals baseball game, no one likes to see a good thing come to an end.

We do not like endings, UNLESS, it is followed by something good.

Politicians speak of the END of poverty, the end of inequality, and the end of problems.

We would celebrate if we heard that someone came up with the cure that would end cancer, Alzheimers/dementia, diabetes, or other life threatening or altering illnesses.

I have heard people on TV tell us that the world could potentially end in twelve years if major changes are not made.

Normally the end of the world evokes feelings of fear, anxiety, and worry.

And we should be concerned about the end of the world, UNLESS we are followers of Christ.

Knowing Jesus helps us understand that we want the end to come soon, for that means better days will come!

What does it take for the end to come?

First, the rapture of the church has to take place.

Second, the Antichrist will come into power.

With the Antichrist in power, the world will enter seven years of tribulation.

Third, the unholy trinity of the Tribulation will be: Satan, the Antichrist, and the False Prophet.

Fourth, the Jesus will return to this earth at His second coming.

He will fight the Battle of the Armageddon.

Fifth, Jesus will thrown the Antichrist and the False Prophet into the Lake of Fire.

Sixth, the world will enter the a thousands years of peace.

Jesus will govern as King on earth.

What happens after that?

There are few loose ends God will tie up before we see our eternal state with Him.

There are three questions I want to answer: [What is the end for the wicked?],

[How will the world end?], and [Will we end up in heaven?]

1.

What is the end for the wicked?

Because of sin, God has to judge humanity.

How we live on earth determines when we will be judged.

Each judgment is accompanied by a resurrection.

When the church is resurrected/ raptured before the tribulation we will be judged at the Judgment Seat of Christ.

Remember, this is where we receive our rewards for our work for God on earth.

When will the wicked be judged?

After the Millennial Reign of Christ.

Every wicked/unsaved person from the beginning to the present will rise from their graves.

After this resurrection there will be no human bodies left in graves anywhere on earth.

When they are resurrected, they will receive their eternal punishment at the Great White Throne Judgment.

Jesus will look in the book of life and there names will not be there.

Dr. David Jeremiah explains, in John’s day, cities had a register that contained the name of every citizen.

If a person committed a serious offense, he could be called before the town tribunal to witness the blotting of his name from the register.

Likewise, those who died in sin, who never accepted Him as their Savior, will not have a place with God for their name has been blotted from the book of life.

What is the end for the wicked?

Because they did not live for the Lord, they will be cast into the Lake of Fire.

2. How will the world end?

When God affirmed in that the Earth was Good, He meant it and he has not changed His mind.

Though sin changed the landscape of the world, one author believes, “God doesn’t thrown away His handiwork and start from scratch- instead, He uses the same canvas to repair and make more beautiful the painting marred by the vandal.

The vandal doesn’t get the satisfaction of destroying his rival’s masterpiece.

On the contrary, God makes an even greater masterpiece out of what His enemy sought to destroy.

When we discuss the end of the world, we need to think in terms of purification and not destruction.

The earth will be laid bare, removing the impurities and consequences of that came with the fall of mankind.

The original earth will be refreshed and renovated.

The earth will uncovered, not destroyed.

It will be purified, not burned up.

Peter compares it to the flood.

When God sent the flooded, He did not destroy the earth.

When the flood waters receded, Noah and his family repopulated the same earth that God created in Genesis.

The world will never end, it will just change in form.

The sea will be removed.

The curse will be reversed.

The earth will be restored.

3. Will we end up in Heaven?

We will all go to heaven at the rapture.

We will leave heaven at the second coming.

The reason we will not need to return to heaven is because God will come down to earth when the Holy City, New Jerusalem comes down to earth.

What will it be like in the New Jerusalem?

One author describes, “A holy city will be one in which no lie will be uttered, no evil word will ever be spoken.

No shady business deals will ever be discussed.

No unclean picture will ever be seen, no corruption of life will ever manifest.

It will be holy because everyone in it will be holy.

The New Jerusalem will be 1500 miles in length, height, and width.

A furlong is .1 miles.

It is a little more than nine semi trucks parked back to back.

Therefore, 12,000 furlongs is 1500 miles.

The Holy City will be a cube.

It will be 20 times larger than New Zealand.

10 times larger than Germany and France.

Forty times larger than England.

It is larger than the nation of India.

To walk one gate of the city would take 75.4 days.

It will be huge!

What else will the Holy City have?

It will have twelve gates of pearl.

The foundation of the city will be of precious stones.

The streets will be made of gold.

There will be no temple, sun, or moon, for the Lamb is the Light of the City.

Revelation 21:22

There will be a tree of life and a river of life.

Will we end up in heaven?

At the most for seven years.

Then heaven will come to earth!

Close:

What do we do with this knowledge of His coming?

4. What do we do until He come?

Yesterday as I did a little more study for tonight’s message, I had to stop before I could much on paper.

I had music playing in the background, and an older song came on, the lyrics are:

Yesterday as I did a little more study for tonight’s message, I had to stop before I could much on paper.

I had music playing in the background, and an older song came on, the lyrics are:

Won’t we have a time when we get over yonder.

Won’t we have a time when we get over yonder?