Now, the question for each of you—and I include myself in this—is: Do you love His appearing? Are you living your life in such a way that you are demonstrating your love and your joy and your anticipation of Christ’s return?

And one other question must be asked, and this might seem like a silly question, but: Is Jesus real to you? Is He REAL to you? Jesus Christ is a real person. He came to this earth; He died a cruel death on the cross of Calvary; He died for our sins; He was buried; and He did indeed rise from the grave to become “the firstfruits of those who sleep” [1 Corinthians 15:20: “But now Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.”]. Those…things…really…happened! They are a matter of historical fact. They are REAL historical events.

Let’s observe this morning that, just as Jesus came, died, was buried and was resurrected from the dead, He will be coming again. He IS…coming…back! Is the second coming of Christ real to you? Have you taken it into your thoughts? Have you made it real in your mind? That’s very important. One of the saddest things to observe in this world is a Christian who is living his or her life as if they DO NOT fully believe in the fact of the second coming of Jesus. How else can we explain the actions of those Christians who fall back into lives of sin, who do things contrary to the Word of God, knowing that doing those things is putting them in danger of eternal punishment, yet doing those things in spite of it?

Do you believe that Jesus came to the earth in fulfillment of prophecy? Do you believe that He died for our sins? Do you believe that He was buried? Do you believe that He rose from the grave? Do you believe that He ascended to the Father and is now ruling and reigning at the right hand of God on high? Then why…don’t…you…believe…that…He’s coming again?

Jesus is coming back! His second coming is going to be one in which He will appear as a thief in the night. There will be no warning given, but the sound of the trump of God. And notice that this trump is called the “LAST trump.” This is not a warning call. This is not a wake-up call, in which you can hit the snooze button and ignore it for a while. It’s not some little warning saying, “Okay. All you Christians, who are living lives of sin, and all you other sinners out there, ah, here’s your wake-up call. Jesus is getting ready to come back, you know. We’ll give you about five minutes to repent, to confess your sins, to find somebody who might baptize you into Christ before He comes back. Hurry up! He’s going to be here in a few minutes!” The “last trump” will be just that—THE…LAST…TRUMP! For when it sounds, there will be no more chances for man to come to Christ. There will be no more chances for those who are living sinful lives to repent and return to the Lord. That…will…be…it! The last trump; the voice of the archangel; all will hear His voice, and THAT…WILL…BE…THAT!!

Consider this, if you will. Put yourself in this place: Imagine you’re doing things as you’ve always done. You get up; you go to work; perhaps, if you’re young enough, you go to school. Maybe you have some other things that you’re doing during your daily routine—your daily life. It’s a day like any other day. Perhaps it’s a beautiful day outside. Could be raining; could be snowing. And in the midst of all of your daily regular activities, you…hear…a…sound, a mighty, all-pervasive sound. It’s the sound of a mighty trumpet—a sound unlike any sound you’ve ever heard before. As the sound of its might fades away, there’s another sound. It’s a voice! It’s a mighty voice. And suddenly, you realize that its source is heavenly. It’s the sound of the voice of God’s archangel. Your heart leaps up into your throat!

“The trump of God! The voice of the archangel! Christ is coming back! Today is the day! This day! This hour! This minute! This second! The day of the Lord! It’s true! Christ is coming to judge the world and to take His children home.”

But…you’ve been living your life as if there was plenty of time until Christ came back. Every time you were tempted by the lusts of the world, you put the return of Jesus out of your mind. Given the choice between doing sinful things and restraining yourself from doing those things, you threw a figurative “blanket” over the fact that Jesus is coming back. Now, He has returned, and you…you never got around to repenting of those sins. You never got around to asking for God’s forgiveness. You never got around to giving up completely your old way of life. You never got around to ensuring that you were IN Christ.

And now, the realization hits home: “Jesus doesn’t view me as being in Christ. I’m not a child of God. I’m not one of His sheep. Tragedy of all tragedies, I’m being gathered together by His angels along with all of the other goats of the world! And now, I will have to hear my name and my deeds called out. And I am going to be condemned to an eternity of punishment, separated from God and the saints.”

The tragedy of that is very clear. If you’re a Christian, if you’ve obeyed the Gospel of Christ, then you have a golden opportunity to ensure that you will some day truly receive that eternal reward. If you are a Christian who’s enjoying the fruits of sinful living, then you are indeed staring, right now, into the danger of eternal punishment when Jesus comes again.

Allow me to plead with you this morning. Now, I know for certain that there is every possibility that I will not get to the end of this morning’s lesson. That’s true. It is indeed possible that Jesus will return before this lesson has been concluded. In fact, I want you all to understand something—that this possibility is what underlies the message of every…single…Word recorded in the New Testament for our benefit. It’s God’s desire that each of us live our lives in the knowledge that Jesus may return in the very next moment. Yes, it’s true that He may not return for a long, long time. But it’s also true that there may not be very much time left. Every time we give in to the temptation to commit sin, we are gambling with God. We’ve become, perhaps, the biggest of the “high rollers” under heaven. Shall we gamble with our eternal destiny? Shall we gamble that Jesus does not come in the next few moments, while we are committing sin in the eyes of God?