The Second Coming of Christ

One day you’ll see Jesus face-to-face. Hear Billy Graham explain how Christians should live in the meantime in this 1990 message from Albany, New York.

“Joy cannot be pursued. It comes from within. It is a state of being. It does not depend on circumstances, but triumphs over circumstances. It produces a gentleness of spirit and a magnetic personality.”
― Billy Graham

Dear Lord,
Today…….I am asking all my prayer warriors to say a prayer that may help others. So many people are hurting right now. Many are struggling with finances and need jobs. Some are facing foreclosure and don’t even know how they are going to make it from week to week..

Many are lonely. . Many are heartbroken. . Many are facing sickness and health is fading. . Some are dealing with difficult family members. Many have lost HOPE.. Tonight, let us put our prayers and faith together decree and declare breakthrough over our families. Financial miracles WILL take place. Jobs WILL be found. Our Bodies WILL be made whole & sickness WILL flee. Marriages and relationships WILL be restored. Family members WILL find Jesus. Heartbreaks WILL be healed. JOY WILL be restored and HOPE WILL be found. In Jesus Name. Amen!!!!!! Keep God First…….

From our archives, the Billy Graham classics.
Now, I want you to turn with me to the passage that Ralph Bell read to us the third chapter of Second Peter.
I wish I had an opportunity to go verse by verse in this chapter because it’s one of the most important chapters concerning the coming again of Jesus Christ.
I want to speak on the day of the coming of Christ that day. It’s called in Scripture.
Now, when you woke up this morning, I want to ask you, what were your expectations of today?
Many people began thinking, well, it’s going to be just an average day. Nothing unusual about that.
Nothing out of the ordinary, nothing much to look forward to just an average day.
And then there may be the graduation day or anniversary day, a promotion day or a day in which you retire, maybe a day in which you start your vacation or maybe your birthday or the birth of a child.
But tonight, I want to talk to you about a day that is unique in the history of the world.
The day when the Bible teaches Jesus Christ is coming back to this earth and that day is on God’s calendar.
The word of God says it will only happen once and it’s going to come as a devastating shock.
For those that are not prepared.
But for those who look forward to the coming of Jesus Christ, it’s going to be a day of great joy.
And the early New Testament. Christians continue to talk about and look forward to that day or the day or the last days.
These expressions are used throughout the New Testament, the last days and we are living, I believe in the last days.
What kind of a day are we looking for? What’s going to happen on that day?
Well, first of all, it’ll be a day of revelation.
Second Thessalonians, 17 says, and to you who are troubled, rest with us when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels.
He’s not going to come riding a donkey the next time he’s going to come with the mighty angels of heaven.
It’s going to be the personal return and appearance of Jesus Christ after the crucifixion and the resurrection of Jesus.
The Bible says he appeared in person to his disciples and to 500 of his followers, but Jesus didn’t appear to Pilate.
Have you ever wondered why or to Herod or to the chief priest or those that engineered his crucifixion?
He didn’t appeal to them. Why appeal to them? Why?
Because it was not the time they’re, they’re going to see him on that day.
That is yet future revelation 17 says, look, he’s coming with the clouds and every eye will see him.
Even those who pierced him and all the peoples of the earth will mourn because of him.
Even the people that pierced him, even the people that engineered his death are going to see him and they’re going to be in a state of shock.
The scripture says in first Thessalonians 4 16 for the Lord himself shall descend from heaven.
In acts 1 11, it says this same Jesus which shall shall so come in like man as you’ve seen him go into heaven and they were watching to see him go into heaven, his ascension and it says he disappeared into a cloud.
I think it was a cloud of angels come to escort him back to heaven because there were angels that came when he was born, they escorted him to earth and now he’s going back to heaven after his resurrection and they’ve come to escort him back, you know, before a great work of art such as a thatcher or painting is presented to the public.
It’s usually kept hidden. People may know what the work that the work is being prepared.
They may even know the location but they’ve not seen it.
And when the day of the presentation arrives, the artwork is covered by a cloth until the moment of unveiling people come with great anticipation and the event is often preceded by a ceremony.
And when the covering is removed, the work of art stands unveiled open for all to see that day.
The scripture says it will be the unveiling of one who’s been hidden today is the day in which Christ is hidden.
He’s not here in person in the sense of his flesh.
He’s not seen whom having not seen Ye. Love said Peter in first Peter 18.
But in that day, he’s going to be revealed. You see, this is a day of faith.
We come to him by faith, but then it’s going to be sight.
We’re going to see him person to person.
And I’m looking forward to that day when I see Jesus Christ person to person and to be able to fall at his feet and thank him for dying on the cross for me so that I can have my sins forgiven and I can go to heaven and spend eternity with him.
You know, in eastern countries, a man is presented to in many eastern countries.
A man is presented on his wedding day with his bride.
The first time he’s ever seen the bride is on his wedding day, she’s hidden under a veil.
And I can imagine the anticipation of those young men waiting to see what kind of a woman their parents picked out for, to see his bride for the first time.
We love Christ, but we’ve not seen him, he’s hidden beyond the veil. We long to see him in person.
Now we see through a glass darkly but then face to face, the scripture says we will see him with his mighty angels.
What a day that’s going to be when he comes like a lightning from heaven, like a crack of thunder.
And then secondly, it’ll be a day of condemnation to believers.
It’s going to be a time of ecstasy and joy and excitement and glory.
But to those who do not know Him, it’s going to be a day of judgment.
God has placed within us. A strong desire to see justice done in the world.
We cheer when the good guys win and the bad guys lose on television.
We applaud the legal system when it brings to justice, a person who has brought great harm to others.
We applaud the legal system when it does something to bring about social justice in our communities.
Yet many people refuse to believe that God will one day bring justice to this earth, but he’s going to do it and it’s going to be on his terms to every one of us.
We’re going to have to face the judgment. God is perfect in love and justice.
God is a God of love.
Don’t leave here and let people think that God is not a God of love.
The thing that I want you to remember most out of this whole crusade is that God loves you no matter who you are, what you are, what your ethnic background is, how many sins you’ve committed.
God loves you. And there’s nothing you can do about it.
God is going to keep on loving you to the very grave. He loves you.
He is a God of love, but he’s also a God of justice and he’s going to bring people throughout the world to a place of judgment and bring justice to the world.
In second Thessalonians one eight to ninth verse, it says inflaming fire, taking vengeance on them that know not God and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ who shall be punished with everlasting banishment from the presence of the Lord, from the glory of his power.
Think of that. The revised standard version translates this verse as exclusion from the presence of God.
You see what it really means is that we’re going those of you that are lost.
Those of you that don’t know Christ as your Lord and Savior.
You may be a member of the church and all that, but deep inside.
You’re not sure how you stand before God and you may be lost to all of you.
You’re going to catch a glimpse of Christ in His glory.
You’re going to see all the glory and all the thrill and the joy of heaven for one moment and you’ll carry that memory throughout eternity, but you won’t be able to enjoy it, you’re going to be excluded from his presence.
The scripture says, I remember when I heard about that for the first time from a Greek scholar at Cambridge University.
I remember the impact that made upon me when he said that, that’s what that passage means.
And I began to think about catching a glimpse of Jesus and all of his glory and all of his power.
And I was to be a part of it in heaven and I missed it because of my own lust, or my own greed, or my own pride and my own ego or because I wouldn’t surrender to Christ on the cross.
It also is going to be a day of salvation, a day of salvation.
That’s where we come to glorification. You’ve heard of salvation and sanctification that is called glorification.
Who are the objects of salvation? What’s the nature of salvation?
Second Thessalonians, 17 says rest, this indicates that many inequalities are going to be ironed out.
There will be perfect justice, the poor of the world will have their needs met and many of the rich will become poor.
You remember the rich man and the poor man Jesus told about and the poor man died and went to heaven to be with Jesus and the rich man who had no time for the poor died and he went to hell and there was a great gulf between them and the rich man cried out.
He saw Abraham he cried out and said, come and just bring one little bit of water, just touch my tongue with water and please go tell my brothers not to come to this place.
It’s terrible. Whatever hell is, it’s separation from God.
Heaven is described in terms that indicate the important thing though, is not going to be our job.
Oh, I’m going to jump up and down.
If they’ll let me, I’m going to applaud more than the people of Albany.
I’m going to applaud the Lord Jesus Christ until my hands fall off.
I’m going to kneel until my knees will be filled with blood from kneeling and giving him the glory and the praise and honor.
But that’s not going to be the big thing.
The big thing is that Jesus is going to be so revealed in beauty and glory in and through us, his saints that the whole universe is going to stand and marvel that Christ could do such a thing by his death and his resurrection that he could take sinners like you and me who are opposed to God, who break his laws, who disobey him every day and he’s going to take us and make us into what he plans for the future.
And we’re going to share with him in reigning and ruling.
He’s going to be so revealed in beauty and glory and, and through his saints that the whole universe will stand in amazement.
You see a craftsman is revealed by his work, Sir Christopher Lynn Ren was the design of Saint Paul’s Cathedral in London.
And I remember when we first went to London the year after the war cliff Barrows and his wife, Billy, my wife and I went to England and we preached there for six months and the whole city was almost in ruins.
But you could see Saint Paul’s Cathedral standing in all of its glory.
It had suffered a little damage but not much. And Sir Christopher Wren had designed it.
And inside the cathedral, there’s a plaque to his memory and it says, if you seek the monument of Sir Christopher Wren, look about you.
This is his monument, the monument of our Lord Jesus Christ work on earth at the cross and the resurrection is going to be you and me.
All of those that know Christ, the body of Christ. We are his workmanship.
When the universe looks upon his glorified church, they will marvel at his beauty.
They’re not gonna think of you and me. They’re gonna think of him.
All of our thoughts are going to be centered in him.
The universe will be impressed not by us but by him who could accomplish all this Christ will be the center of heaven and in hell, wherever you look, you’ll never see him.
This is the day which the Lord has made.
Let us rejoice and be glad in it.
The scripture says there’s going to be a day when Christ comes back.
Now, today, when he’s coming is a secret.
According to a recent New York Times article, last year, the United States government created 6,800,000 classified messages and documents.
Now that’s a lot of secrets.
And of course, we all know that those secrets have leaks, but God has one secret that he has revealed to no one, no one.
And we’re not even to speculate about it.
And that is the day and the hour of his return, we don’t know.
But Jesus before his death, took his disciples to the mountain and they privately ask him, Lord, when are you coming?
And what are gonna be the signs of your return? What can we look for just before you come back?
What will be the indicators of your coming again in the end of the world of the world system as we know it, which is dominated by evil?
And Jesus replied not of that day. Not Allah Noeth no man, not even the angels.
No, only my father knows, but he stated clearly to the disciples at the time of his coming again.
There would be signs that we had to look for.
And what are some of the signs that he left first?
He said there will be wars and rumors of wars.
Doesn’t that sound like the headlines of our papers all the time? Wars and rumors of war?
Oh yes, we’ve had a, a wonderful time of peace seemingly break out in the world.
And I’m thrilled at what’s been happening.
But even with all of this peace that’s broken out, that doesn’t mean that it’s not a dangerous world.
The economist in London the other day ran an editorial and said the world is still a dangerous place.
The end of the Cold War and the new relaxation between East and West have tempted some to believe that peace is the order of the day.
The economist said it is not, we get rid of one big source of tension.
The world still has a lot of little, neither hatred and intolerance nor aggression, nor even the clash of ideas died in the changes that took place last year and this year peace is breaking out but so is conflict.
And then the second thing he said, many will come in my name saying I’m Christ.
I’m told that there are more than 400 people in Los Angeles alone that claim to be Christ.
He said there will arise false Christ and false prophets and shall show great signs and wonders and many people today are teaching that we are God.
All you have to do is to get in touch with the power that’s within yourself, unleash it and you can solve all the problems of life.
And then thirdly, Jesus said that the masses will be overcharged with surfeiting and drunkenness and the cares of this life.
And so that day will come upon Myriads of people unawares.
In other words, we’re going to be having such a good time and being all of our parties and going to all the nightclubs and all the excessive drinking and drug use.
The sex and violence are major threats to the current generation, it said, and they are major threats.
But Jesus predicted all of that.
He said they’ll be living like in the days of Noah, eating and drinking and marrying and giving and marriage, exchanging wives.
And that’s all going on today on a scale we’ve never known before.
The social critic and author Tom Wolf, commenting on the 19 eighties called it a decade of Money fever in which the idea of sexual immorality came close to vanishing where our moral values.
We go to the talk show people and they tell us what the moral values are at that present moment.
And I know one of those people and I have known him for a long time and he used to have strong moral values, but over the years, he himself has succumbed until now when you watch him on television, you see that he slipped a long way from where he used to stand.
Jesus made it plain.
They would be untold wealth and greed and over indulgence as we approached the end of the age one newspaper columnist called our American Lifestyle a babylonian existence.
And then fourthly, Jesus said there would be famines in many places in pestilences, not universal but in different places.
He said, and much of the famine in the world today is manmade.
The result of political struggles in the civil war. Look at the famine in Monrovia, Liberia.
Tonight, 500,000 people jammed into that town. There’s no water. The water has been cut off for 10 days.
There’s no food, there’s no rice and disease is breaking out what’s going to happen and that’s happening in many parts of the world.
It’s happening in places in India and it looks like war between India and Pakistan is very, very close and we see all of these things taking place now and they’re all things that Jesus predicted would be happening just before he comes.
Americans spend billions of dollars annually on reducing programs when the rest of the world are just trying to get enough to eat.
And then he said iniquity shall abound. And he was talking about sex perversions.
Yes, I’m not going to go into that here tonight because we don’t have time.
But the daily crime rate staggers us.
The young women that are being attacked today and raped is 40% greater than it was a year ago.
Something is happening. It seems like some terrible evil spirit has been let loose and he has, it’s the devil.
Somebody asked me what’s wrong with the world?
I said sin is wrong with the world and the devil is flaming the fire and that’s or fanning the fire, that’s what’s happening.
And we ask ourselves, have our moral values gone completely almost so that even Christians today are confused and we become worldly Christians instead of Bible reading Christians and studying the scriptures and praying in our homes.
We sit in front of that little box and get our moral values from there.
And then he said there will be an increase in earthquakes.
There are some 6000 earthquakes detected throughout the world each year.
The average death toll from earthquakes in the 20th century has been 20,000 people every year. In Armenia.
In 1988 there were 25,000 in Iran.
A few weeks ago, there were 50,000 earthquakes are increasing in Second Peter.
He says, since everything will be destroyed in that day, what kind of people ought you to be?
We now have the ozone effect.
Everybody is getting concerned about the environment they ought to be because in this passage of scripture, it teaches that the earth is going to melt, it’s going to fade away, something is going to happen.
Some climactic thing is going to happen.
And it seems to me that what we are reading about in the ozone effect is the thing that Peter is talking about.
And he said, since everything will be destroyed and changed in this way, what kind of people are you to be?
You ought to live holy and godly lives as you look forward to the day.
Of God and speed. It’s coming. The Christian is not a dropout from life.
On the contrary, it is believing that Christ will return, that gives us the confidence and the courage to live as we should today.
Knowing that Christ is coming back makes me want to work that much more.
I want to feed more people. I want to preach to more people.
I want to help more people who are starving and homeless. It encourages us.
It’s an incentive to get out in society and do the best we can.
We know that the whole world is not going to be saved, but coming out of the world are going to be people who will be saved because we look for a new heaven and a new earth as God has promised and we live boldly for Him in the context of our lives.
Today. The Bible says, there’s a day coming when God will shake the heavens and the earth, it will be a day of salvation.
For those who know Christ, it’ll be a day of judgment for those who don’t know Him.
Are you prepared? The scripture says, prepare to meet thy God. Have you prepared?
You say, well, what do I have to do to prepare?
Yes, you go to church once in a while.
You’ve been baptized, you take communion, perhaps you’ve taken your vows in the church, but deep inside you are not sure how you stand and you want to be sure before you leave here, this crusade will be over in a few minutes.
This phase of it, at least because it’s going to continue in churches and it’s going to continue in all the great follow up work that’s being planned.
But you need to make a commitment to Christ. Today.
Today is the day of salvation. Now is the accepted time.
The scripture teaches that you can harden your heart.
God is giving you another moment, another chance to say yes to Him.
I’m going to ask you to do something that we’ve seen in the last two nights.
Over 2000 people do. I’m going to ask you to get up out of your seat and come and stand in front of this platform and say by coming, I surrender my heart to Christ.
I want to be sure I want to have the assurance that I’m saved that I’m going to heaven that I’m going to be prepared to meet Christ when he returns.
You say, why do I ask you ask me to come forward?
Every person that Jesus called in the New Testament. He called publicly.
He said, if you’re not willing to acknowledge me before men, I will not acknowledge you before my father, which is in heaven.
There’s something about making that public commitment that he has ordained for us to do.
And I’m going to ask you to do that right now.
Hundreds of you that God is speaking to you.
If you come from up here, it’ll take a couple of minutes. I’ll start. Now, God is speaking to you.
If you’re with friends or relatives, they’ll wait on you. If you come in a bus, they’ll wait.
There’s plenty of time. God is speaking to you.
You come quickly and after you’ve all come, I’m going to say a word to you.
Have a prayer with you. Give you some literature to help you in your Christian life.
Just get up and come right now from up here and all around go on as hundreds are responding to Mister 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 you have been watching by television.
You can see that hundreds of people are coming here at Nina in Auburn, in New York.
What a wonderful sight this is.
And Ralph Bell who’s been preaching night after night before I came, has seen hundreds of people come to Christ as he’s preached as well.
There’s been a great spiritual hunger here and a great move of the spirit of God.
And I’m asking you to receive Christ into your heart wherever you are in your home, maybe a nightclub or maybe a hotel room, you can say yes to Christ.
God bless you and help you to make that commitment tonight and be sure and go to church next Sunday.
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 18777724559. That’s 1877772 45 59.
Or you can write to us at Billy Graham one, Billy Graham Parkway Department C Charlotte, North Carolina 28201.
Or you can contact us on the web 24 7 at peace with God dot 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.
It’s Ann, she’s in trouble.
If you don’t take it to the edge, every chance you get, you’re dead already, baby, I was in trouble and I didn’t know what to do.
Well, the juice I knew that I could take on the world.
It’s like you’re in a dream but not really a dream. This is a reality.
I don’t really believe in all this but I know something crazy is happening right now.