The second coming of Christ - the Lord does not delay

Three Sundays ago I touched on the subject that "The Lord is near". This issue of the proximity of the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ is very important, very urgent. The Second Coming is a fundamental doctrine of the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ and we have to know what are the fundamental elements that make up that doctrine of the Second Coming.

You will remember that my meditation sprang from a sermon prior to the one I preached concerning Paul's call to the Church to rejoice. Paul says: "I say again: rejoice. The Lord is near", right? So there is a connection in the mind of the apostle Paul between that joy that we should feel as a hallmark of our life as Christians and the coming of the Lord.

And the fact is true that in reality when one knows that Christ is coming and that this world is going to pass with all its difficulties and sufferings and sufferings, when we know that this world is relative, that it does not have the power that men assign to it to make us happy or unhappy, but our happiness depends on something else, it depends on God. When we know that one day all this will end, that must be a reason for us to rejoice, to know that there is something much better, a land where it says that there will be no crying, there will be no illness, there will be no sadness, there will be no poverty, there will be no injustice. as we stated earlier this morning, that should make us rejoice, it should enable us to that posture of joy to which the apostle Paul calls us.

And thus the connection between rejoicing and "The Lord is near." It is a doctrine that we must always keep close to our hearts because that way we do not fall in love with the world, with this Earth. The Lord says that the friendship of the world is enmity with God. Life invites us to a position of not getting too attached to anything in this world, living lightly walking on Earth because we are pilgrims and foreigners says the Word, we are passing through, amen?

And it helps our position that God wants us to know that, that one day everything will pass and that another time will come, the eternity that God has destined for His children. And we took time in that sermon to read Daniel chapter 7 you will remember, and study. As I was saying, there are many texts in the Bible that talk about the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. And I told them that we must remember that the doctrine of the Second Coming of Jesus is not something that appears only in the New Testament, but since ancient times the prophets in the Old Testament had repeatedly spoken about the Second Coming of Jesus.

Now, they were talking about the coming of the Messiah because remember that when these prophets received these revelations they were not totally clear about what the semicolons were about. They saw certain things but did not understand. They knew, for example, there was a doctrine of the messiah that was to come, they did know that but they did not know that his name was going to be called Jesus, for example, and they were also not clear that this messianic being was going to be God and man, not they were clear that he was going to die on a cross and that he was going to rise again on the third day, that he was going to ascend to heaven and that he was going to return again in a Second Coming.

They saw things like you see a movie that has no sound and see images, and try to describe and make sense, and you are simply reporting what you see, but you don't understand the chronology, you don't see the concatenation of one event and another. So these men of God, prophets wrote and reported what they saw but they did not clearly understand what was the sequence of all these things. Haggai said one thing, Zacharias wrote a little book about the events of the end times, the claim of the temple. Isaiah recorded many things about the Second Coming. Joel talked about that great visitation of the Spirit of God and that the male and female servants would prophesy, the young would see visions, the old would dream dreams, etc.

So Daniel wrote a lot about the Antichrist and the war of the nations, the restoration of God's people. All these things, but they didn't know what was the sequence between all of it. But the important thing is that we understand this, what we call the Second Coming understanding more through the lenses of the New Testament, the Word of Jesus, the words of the other apostles, we understand more than what the prophets of the Old Testament understood. . But it is good to know that this was already predicted, already prefixed in the Old Testament.

I encourage you to study those prophecies because I believe that many of the errors that evangelicals are making today about Israel, the Palestinians, the new temple, the division of Jerusalem and all this, many doctrines in my opinion of The error that exists with regard to Israel and Jerusalem is due to a lack of knowledge of the prophetic books and what the prophecies say about the end times, of Israel, the construction of a new temple, Jerusalem, the role that it will play. play, all these things, it is important to know the prophetic writings to understand how we should relate to these times.

So I took the time to elaborate a bit about the words of Daniel which is one of the great prophecies about the end times. And we are going to be in the next few days reviewing different prophetic texts both in the Old Testament and in the New Testament that refer to this great doctrine. What I want is how to comb all these teachings and extract from each of them its essence and what it cumulatively adds to the general knowledge of this doctrine, and I will be studying different texts and commenting on them, and emphasizing some repetitive key elements. that arise in these different teachings.

So it will be like an exegesis, rather an inductive study of these great texts of the Bible that tell us about the Second Coming of the Lord. And I want to invite you now because I don't have time right now, it's on the internet under "Sermons" on our page, and the title is: "The Lord is near" and listen to it so that you have a continuity of my teaching. Now let's go to another small text but one that has a lot of meat regarding the Second Coming that is found in Second Peter, the second epistle of the apostle Peter chapter 3.

Peter is not necessarily known as an apocalyptic writer because his teaching was more for the Church in his time, under persecution when he was writing, and his letters were encouragement for the Church and for it to stand firm under persecution, but also there He writes at one point in chapter 13, Second Peter, some things that we do well to keep in mind and that help us fill a little more those gaps of ignorance that exist regarding the Second Coming of the Lord Jesus Christ.

So in Second Peter chapter 3 he says: "Beloved, this is the second letter that I am writing to you, and in both I arouse your pure understanding with exhortation, so that you may remember the words that have been spoken before by the holy prophets." Look there again at what I was telling you, that the Second Coming is not a new topic for the New Testament Church, the prophets had already spoken and the Jews were very aware that the Messiah was coming. They did not understand that this Messiah was Jesus, but they did know that there were prophecies concerning that millennial time, that apocalyptic, eschatological time, however you want to call it, of the last times.

Then he says: "Remember the words that have been spoken by the holy prophets." Another very important thing that you will hear from me continually repeating in these studies is that we have to remember these things. We have to know them, we have to study them, we have to understand them. If we do not study the prophecies, if we do not study the doctrines of the Second Coming of the end times, we will not know how to truly relate to the Word of God in life.

The study of the prophecies and the knowledge of the Church about the end times is not a luxury, it is a very important necessity. Then Peter says: "Brothers, I want to awaken your full understanding with exhortation" so that you remember, have memory, study, pay attention to the words that have been said before by the holy prophets. "And of the commandment of the Lord and Savior given by your apostles, knowing this first: that in the last days mockers will come walking according to their own lusts and saying: where is the promise of his advent?" that is to say, His Second Coming, "because in the day that the fathers slept all things remain as they were from the beginning of creation."

One very important thing: when the Bible speaks of the last days, when it speaks of the last times, the last days is referring precisely to that last time, the time close to the Second Coming of Jesus. He is referring to a time that could be years, or weeks, but I believe that the last days, the last times, is quite a long time. It is a time when humanity and creation itself would be approaching and there would be an expectation among men, nature itself would have to indicate that something was happening like the womb of a woman before giving birth that begins to move and move, and have pulsations and emissions, likewise too.

He says that in recent times there is going to be a great one, something is going to happen in those times. So that's what he means when he says the last days. It says: "scorners will come according to their own lusts." Look in Jude verse 18 if you want, this is a little note that I am going to give you there because this was not in my plan. Jude verse 18, because this is interesting. Why do I say Jude verse 18 and not Jude chapter such verse 18? How many chapters does Judas have for them, just one? There you have another napita more. The Book of Judas has only one chapter and it is not Judas Iscariot who wrote this incidentally, Judas the brother of the Lord, it is another apostle named Judas.

Jude verse 18 says: "But you, beloved, remember the words that were spoken before by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ, who told you that in the last time there will be scoffers who will walk according to their evil desires" these are the ones that cause divisions , the sensual who do not have the Spirit, "but you beloved, building on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ for eternal life."

One of the things that it says, there is another passage that also speaks, says that in recent times people will have itching ears and teachers will pile up willing to teach us according to their lusts, people will be hungry, desire to hear from God. And today, for example, there is great hunger, the number of religions in the world today is incredible. There are for all colors and all tastes. And if you don't have a doctrine that you like, someone's going to be out there real soon to make it up, maybe you'll make it up yourself.

It's amazing how many variations there are today about different religions, subtle versions of the same thing. And those who don't like a doctrine, come here to León de Judá, we teach something, they didn't like it, they go there next to the corner, there's another church, another little place that will teach them something else according to their wishes. And he says that in the last days then there would be a number of questioning people, scoffers, people who would not love their parents, treacherous, the character of humanity would degenerate tremendously. That is what we are seeing at this time.

But here Peter in Second Peter 3 says that one of the characteristics of that last generation is that there would be many people who, walking according to their own lusts, would say: hey, what is this about the promise of the Second Coming of Christ? That's nonsense, that's a lie because they've been telling us for a long time that Christ is coming and all things remain the same." Haven't you heard that somewhere? Evangelicals have been saying that Christ is coming for 2,000 years and still haven't shows up.

Let's eat and drink because tomorrow we will die. Let's forget about that, we are going to continue living, we are going to enjoy life. Forget that doctrine. How many of ourselves in our hearts have sometimes doubted? Wow, is it true that Christ is coming? So long, I remember when Gigi Ávila said that Christ was going to come on such a date or not on such a date but he will come now, when so-and-so set a date. A lot of people out there say: oh that's fake, it's an invention of people. Prophetically, the apostle Peter says: this is going to be one of the characteristics of humanity in the last times, that people are going to say: but so much time has passed and Christ has not come.

Notice another interesting thing here, which is another of those things on which I am going to insist a lot, and it is the following: that in the Bible there are two messages that would seem contradictory but are actually complementary, and I already suggested it the last time I I talked to you. And it is this that on the one hand in the Bible it is said many times "The Lord is near" as Paul says in Philippians, the Lord is near, the Lord is coming, the coming is at the gates. Christ said that this generation will not pass away without the coming of the Son of Man.

And yet there is also another voice in the Bible that says: don't be too hasty, take it easy. There is still time left, this is not going to happen immediately, wait, there are signs that you have to be attentive to see and to be sure. The Bible was not wrong when it said the Lord is near. What he was saying is: look, the Lord can come at any moment, be prepared. His coming is much closer than it was before the Messiah came. And when Christ came to Earth, died on the cross and definitively initiated the plan of salvation, humanity received a tremendous push towards the Second Coming because all of that plan, that part that the prophets of that the Messiah would come had been given, and for the moment God's plan was already entering a stronger part of fulfillment.

I think that partly explains this sense that the Lord is at the gates, the Lord is near. Because it did feel like wow, something big has happened and the Lord is drawing near. But there was also an awareness that it could take a long time. So we see this here when Peter says: in the last days there will be people who will say, hey, what is this if we have been hearing the same hoaxes for a long time that Jesus is coming soon, and where is he? If since the parents slept, since the times of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, they were already talking about it.

Then look how beautiful this is, in verse 5 it says: "These cynical scoffers willingly ignore" in other words because they feel like it, because they want to ignore it, because it is convenient for them to ignore it, "that in ancient times they were made by the Word of God the heavens and also the earth." What is the ancient time? Well, the creation, the time of creation. In ancient times God created the heavens and the earth as Genesis chapter 1 says. "Which comes from water and by water subsists." The earth says "it comes from water and by water it subsists."

Know what? I did not have time to investigate that but I know from previous readings that I have done that when Pedro says that he is saying an incredible scientific truth. Do you know the world, for example, the Earth, what is the percentage of water that the Earth has, who can tell me? 75%, three quarters of the Earth is water. Only 25% of the earth orb, wow if you want to impress someone say the earth orb and you'll see how right away wooo (laughs). The Earth, was that I got stuck with an orb and said, how do I complete it?, terraqueous, it's a word in fact it's in the dictionary, another nugget there for you.

So three quarters of the Earth is water and only 25% is land. Another interesting thing, did you know that the human body is made mostly of water? That's how it is, so be careful, don't get too close to the fire because it melts and dries out. But I'm not going to exaggerate, but we are like 70% or more water. Not only that, but hydrogen and oxygen, which are the two components of water, also make up a large part of the Earth, both in terms of the elements that compose it, as well as the air, the atmosphere. So the components of water are everywhere, in the very context of creation and matter.

So Peter, a first century Bedouin Jew, is saying something that scientists have only in the last few decades come to confirm, is that the texture, the make of creation is mostly water, in one sense or another of the word, isn't it? ?. Then Peter says: "In ancient times the heavens were made by the Word and also the earth which came from water and by water stood." Of course, because without water, forget that there is nothing, you know?

Another napita here. What are scientists looking for on Mars, for example? They have already abandoned Mars as a possible place where life existed, but what is sought in the universe as a sign that there is life or the possibility of life is water. Water. They say if there is water there is the possibility of life. They haven't found it yet but these obstinate ones keep looking anyway, to see if they find a Martian over there or someone somewhere. There is a whole part of science that studies the possibility of life elsewhere. But always what they look for is a sign of water. If there is water they say there is life.

Well then it says: "And by water they subsist. Wherefore the world of then perished by being drowned in water." When was it that the world perished drowned in water?. The times of Noah, right? In other words, God ironically destroyed the world using the fundamental element of the world. The world is made of water, I am going to destroy it with water, and he flooded the world and destroyed it with water. "But the heavens and the earth that exist now" in the 21st century "are reserved by the same Word, saved" for what?, "for the fire".

Oh glory to God I am not going to die full of water but I am going to die burned, thank you Lord how merciful You are. No. The fact is that it says that when God destroys the earth he will do it not by water but by fire. Do you remember the rainbow that was seen when Noah and his family were already there, the water had gone down a bit a rainbow, what does the rainbow mean? A promise of peace and that God would no longer destroy the earth by water. So every time you see a rainbow source remember the rainbow source.

The rainbow is the most beautiful and mysterious thing in the universe. Scientists can explain it with the refraction of light through humidity, which is also interesting because it is the water in the air that breaks the light and divides it into its components, colors, but it is the same thing, right? It is a beautiful sign from God. Hey, who can see a rainbow and not smile? The rainbow is the most childish and cutest and most promising thing there is. Even if you did not know the origin of the rainbow, you see a rainbow and say: how beautiful!

What artist would come up with something as incredible as a rainbow? Today the rainbow has been taken over by other sectors and they have wanted to pervert it, because the devil is ironic, you know? He is cynical. He takes something so beautiful from God and wants to pervert and damage it into a symbol of something else.

But the thing is, the rainbow was like, God picked up a paintbrush and went fiush! just like that, His signature, a rainbow saying: you know what? I'm never going to destroy the earth with water, I'm calm, my anger has subsided, it's not going to be water anymore that is going to destroy the earth. But if the Earth is going to be destroyed, how many know that everything that we, that chair where you are sitting, the mountains, the atmosphere, the Museum of Fine Arts here in Boston, the great symphony halls, all the creations of humanity, everything is going to burn and nothing is going to be left?, so that heavens and a new earth can take their place.

One day everything is going to disappear brothers, everything is going to burn and burn with an energy much more powerful than nuclear energy, and everything says that it is going to melt, God is going to return creation to its constituent elements and he is going to dissolve everything to replace it with a package perfect heaven and a package new earth also uncontaminated with the wickedness of man, the wickedness of man, the fall, that's coming get ready! Listen, doesn't that make you happy? Doesn't it make you want to rub your hands together and say: wow, glory to God, that's coming. It is a promise from the Lord, hallelujah.

He then says: "The heavens and the earth that exist now are reserved by the Word." Note the authoritative tone. Pedro is not speculating here. He has received a revelation and is speaking in an apostolic tone. "Saved for the fire on the day of judgment and perdition of wicked men." underline wicked. If you are impious, if you are not impious, rejoice because that is not for you. We are reserved for salvation not for anger, we have to understand that.

Those who have to tremble and fear the Second Coming are those who have not made their peace with Christ Jesus, the rebellious, those who are rejecting Him as the Son of God and the Savior of humanity, the stubborn, the obstinate, the scoffers The trial is for them, not for us, okay?

So yes there will come a day nearing the end of time when creation is going to be melted down, undone and replaced with new heavens and new earth. Now you will ask yourself, and where are we going to be? We are going to be with Christ, I don't have the exact address so please don't ask me but we will not be here when that happens. And we are not totally clear about either, but it seems that the Earth is going to be inhabited brothers, listen to me well. There is a bit of uncertainty if we are going to be in heaven, we are going to be on earth, I don't know, there will be a bridge between the two. We'll do like Star Trek, we go down there, we're up there, and we'll travel from one to the other with no problem. But the fact is that God is going to create new heavens and a new earth and where we are going to be does not matter to me as long as I am not down there.

Ok, verse 8 says: "Listen, beloved, do not ignore this" listen, he returns to that theme of delay, "do not ignore this, for with the Lord one day is like a thousand years and a thousand years like one day." In other words it is possible that for the Lord these two thousand years since Christ came is like two days for Him. The Lord does not understand time or space. Scientists can tell you clearly about everything in the theory of relativity and parallel universes and all these things that, look at time and space is a construction of human intelligence. We use that as categories that facilitate references and conversation and understand what we inhabit.

But in reality, for God, time is non-existent and the deeper science becomes, and the more it enters into the study of physics and other things, it knows that this time, chronology, that is something that we do not clearly understand what it is. And God less, God dwells in an eternal present. For Him today is tomorrow, tomorrow is today, a hundred years is right now, a thousand years is like nothing. We have been here biting our nails for two thousand years, the Lord is there, He blinked and two thousand years have passed. For Him there is no time, He can take the luxury.

That is why we have to be careful, we are here, oh, Obama won and now we are going to commit suicide, we are going to shoot ourselves. What are four more years for Him to do what He wants? You never know, right? So God is an amazing artist and strategist, He assembles his pieces, and He's in no hurry. He doesn't get anxious, He's not insecure, He knows how the novel ends because He wrote it, okay?

So for Him a year is like a thousand years and a thousand years for Him is like a single day. That is why we are what we see oh, two thousand years, from God it is two days and not even that, a second. You see that there are movies that talk about that what seems like it took a long time was actually a second, something like that. It is that man is understanding that more and more, science is allowing him to understand the nature of time and eternity and all these things. What happens is that they are stubborn and do not want to give up.

But Peter says: don't worry, even though all that time has passed for the Lord that's like nothing. We are the ones who worry and say that it has been a long time. God is not in a hurry. Now look, continue here and look how beautiful this is, it says: "The Lord does not delay his promise."

Brothers, it's not like the Lord forgot and he was having a coffee, he stopped looking at the clock and now he realizes, oh, oops two thousand years, oops, forgive me and he's going to, no, the Lord do not delay your promise. He says, how beautiful: "But he is patient with us, not wanting anyone to perish." What is the Lord giving? Giving the opportunity for the greatest possible number of people to come to the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. May this rebellious race be dawned on the fact that He is the Lord, the King and may they humble themselves before Him, and may more people enter the ways of the Lord.

That is what God wants, that the Church get its act together and proclaim the Gospel, preach it and hasten lives so that many souls come to know Jesus. Let us cry out to the Lord: come. The Lord delays His promise not because it has been delayed but because He deliberately endures His wrath, endures the destruction of time and matter, and of history so that the greatest possible number of people will come to the knowledge of Jesus. He has a plan and that plan has to be fulfilled.

Then Peter says that is what explains the apparent delay of the Lord. Not that it is not true but that God has a plan and a merciful and patient purpose. It says: "But the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night." And that expression "like a thief in the night" who had used it before Pedro? Jesus Christ had used her. And we are going to see these passages later, for example in Matthew 24 there is that expression as well and in Luke chapter 12, we are going to take a time later in those passages specifically that talks about the coming of the Lord.

How does a thief come, writing you an email, get ready because tomorrow at twelve o'clock at night I am going to enter your house and I am going to take your television? (laughs). No, the thief arrives unannounced, that is his modus operandi in fact, the surprise. When you don't wait, when you are with your wife eating dinner in a restaurant, the thief is doing his operation. You don't expect it, the thief is counting on you not expecting it. And it says so that the Lord will come. He says they will be eating and drinking. They'll be saying we got away with it. There will be all kinds of peace treaties and it will seem like the world already.

I believe that the Lord is going to come when it least seems that He is going to come. When humanity believes that they no longer need God. That science has already replaced God, that everything is already arranged, at that moment the Lord is going to appear. Then we'll see. A quality, a hallmark of the Second Coming is that, when people do not expect it is when He will come. And that is why he tells the Church to prepare.

Remember the famous parable of the foolish virgins and the wise virgins. The foolish, foolish, foolish virgins did not prepare their oil for their lamps and the husband arrived unexpectedly, unexpectedly and they were not prepared. Remember the other passage where the Lord says: do not be like the servant who, when the Lord leaves, begins to hit the other servants and behave badly because he left and the Lord returns, I forgot something, he finds it misbehaving and puts him in jail, whips him. He says: you guys behave well.

You know one of the things it says about the Second Coming is that. There are some implications for how we should behave and conduct ourselves in life in light of the Second Coming of Christ. This is very important. The Second Coming of Christ is not something merely speculative theological, there are some implications; How you and I should live in light of the Second Coming of the Lord Jesus Christ?

So it says here, right?: "The Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great roar." Get ready for some thunder that has never been heard in the history of mankind. Some terrible natural manifestations in the times, the sun will darken, the moon will not give its light, the seas will become rough, storms, earthquakes. Great manifestations, natural cataclysms, creation itself reflecting the distortion of humanity, of life and of everything. It is such a radical change that everything will express the terrible nature of that change including nature.

"But the heavens will pass away with a roar and the burning elements will be undone." What are the elements? In Greek science there was already an idea of what today are called particles, atoms and subatomic particles, all this that physics has greatly developed this teaching, but the Greeks already knew that matter was composed of elements more basic than what one sees. A very large block of granite was composed of a substance, they did not know why electron microscopes had not been invented, they did not understand exactly what matter was made of, but they knew that matter all had things in common, constituent parts that they found. they called stoikheia I think it is, basic elements, the basic things of matter.

Then Peter says very interestingly speaking in a prophetic trance almost, he says: "In which the heavens will pass away and the elements" the atom itself brother, the micronuclear substances will melt and burn. It's going to be something at the level of the chemistry of creation. "They will be destroyed and the earth, and the works that are in it will be burned up." The big sister skyscrapers will melt. The great ones, like I said, museums and symphony halls, the great works, Cervantes and all the great writers, all those books that are there in libraries, the libraries of humanity, all of that will go up in flames. Brother, the planes that will exist in that time, the big ships, the seas, everything will melt, it will come undone. Everything Everything everything.

There is no cinematograph that I think can clearly express what it will be like when all the elements melt and everything comes undone. The earth and the works that are in it. Everything that man creates. That's why we can't fall in love with anything. That house for which we killed ourselves and stopped eating for five years to have a down payment, that house is going to burn, brother. That closet, those fifty pairs of shoes, sister, that you have in your closet, that's going to burn too. What a pity but do not kill yourself buying so many shoes. Invest in the Kingdom of God where the moth does not affect, where the thief does not come. That's what the Bible says.

All of that is going to burn, don't kill yourself with so much because that's crap, that's not for nothing, all of that is going to fall apart. That's why it says that you have to live life with one eye toward eternity. People live with two eyes here on matter focused with a laser beam but no, all that is going to burn and all those things will be burned. "Since all these things will be undone, how should you not walk in a holy and pious way of life?"

Do you see the moral-ethical conclusion of all this? In light of all of this going away, wow shouldn't this fill you with holy awe and fear and live a life then in light of all of that? We must live holy, piously preparing ourselves for the coming of the Lord, living in the light of eternity, relativizing this world that fascinates us so much and attracts us so much, and eats us so much attention. "Holy and pious way to live waiting and hastening for the coming of the day of God, in which the heavens burning will be undone and the elements being burned will melt."

Wow. He repeats that same apocalyptic vision of destruction and getting rid of all the constituent elements of the universe. Ah but now here comes another moment of respite: "But we", say: I, "but we await according to His promises new heavens and a new earth in which justice dwells." Glory to the name of the Lord.

Let's not be so frightened by the idea of a world that will be destroyed because for us what we should worry about and what should fill us with joy is that God is going to replace that with new heavens and a new earth, and we are going to be there brother . We are going to swim in pure, uncontaminated water, purer than any pure water of this century, of this time, you know? We are going to have a house that is going to have the most advanced stereo in the world there, a brother toaster that is never going to burn your bread, a stove that is going to turn off exactly when the food is done, glory to God but the idea is this is going to be wonderful, get ready because what is coming is good, rejoice son of God. It is worth paying the price.

It is worth paying the price and making sure that our passport is stamped, our visa is prepared, amen? And that graduation suit is in the closet waiting for the coming of the day of Jesus. That is important.

"Wherefore, O beloved, looking forward to these things, seek diligently to be found by Him blameless and blameless in peace." Church, León de Judá Congregation, that is the call of God. God is speaking to us brothers. Something is happening. Something is happening at this time, my heart feels overwhelmed by the idea that we are in pregnant times. This is a time we are living. What we felt this morning when we sang that chorus, you didn't see the mountains tremble. That time that that beautiful choir announces and how we are touched by it because I know that something is preparing.

I don't know but I see the dark skies and I don't know if this is the last storm or one of several storms but I know it's going to rain, I know that and we have to be preparing. Gentlemen, ladies, brothers of this congregation, let's put our batteries together. Let's stop playing evangelicals, that time is over. We have to live as a prophetic people, this Church is a prophetic Church, listen to me, and you have to live up to where you are.

I tell the Lord: Father, I want to define myself now, I want this Church to define itself now. We want people who are radically committed to the Kingdom of God. Brothers, it is going to get more difficult, the Sunday people are not going to be able to bear what the Lord wants. You have to live the Christian life at a radical level, listen to me. Either you become a disciple or you stop believing that you are deceiving God or the devil, neither of those two titans can be deceived let me tell you.

The time is now for us to get rid of that little evangelical outfit and put on the prophetic outfit of a people that knows what is at hand and that we live our lives, our clear priorities, our clear behavior, our clear expectations, our clear values, clear service to the Lord, the evangelistic role that God has called us to play clearly, our money clearly placed where it has to go, our time, our profession, our talents. We have to surrender everything because yes, the Lord is coming, the Lord is close, he is at the gates.

We have to get rid of that baby skin and become Christians radically committed to God because Christ is at the door. And I want our Church to manifest more and more that radical character, brothers, that we are not playing games, that when they see us in the eyes they will know that these people are not playing games. That what is seen here is through a people that is clear in what we are and what we have. I adore the fact that there are new people here who are seeking God and are in the process, but I tell them, don't wait too long to define yourself. There are people who spend ten, twenty years and still have not defined themselves, if they are or are not.

You have to define yourself, I beg you in the name of Jesus Christ: define yourself, surrender, consecrate yourself to the Lord and now, don't look back like Lot's wife. God told her: run forward, don't look back, she: her house, her little garden that she had left behind, one last look, she remained like a pile of salt. This is the way it happens with many Christians, we are always looking at what I have, what I am leaving behind, this, the other. God wants you to look forward only leaving what you have behind, continue to the goal.

One thing only, Christ is coming. I tell you I am speaking to you right now in a prophetic tone. The imminence of something terrible is in all my bones. I don't know exactly what it is but I hear the roar of the waters, I do hear that and I see the clouds, they are dark, it is going to rain. Get ready, live up to it. Consecrate yourself, surrender, declare yourself, define yourself because Christ is coming. "Understand that the patience of our Lord" verse 15 "is for salvation, as also our beloved brother Paul according to the wisdom that has been given to him has written to you. So in all his epistles."

Skip to verse 17: "So you brethren, knowing this beforehand, beware, lest you fall from your steadfastness, being led away by the error of wicked men; rather believe in the grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. To Him be glory now and until the day of eternity." Amen and amen, glory to the name of the Lord.

Let's stand up brothers. Don't go home now and say: oh how beautiful the sermon, where are the rice and beans? Let's go eat and forget it. Pay close attention brother, live in the light of what you have heard. Get that prophetic Word into your spirit and into your heart. Root it well in your inner being, these are not fairy tales, these are not vain myths, brothers, this is reality, this is God's truth. I do not apologize for any of the things that that Word has stated.

And I encourage you in the name of Jesus if you have not made your peace with Christ fix things right now. Be quiet for a little while, don't move your muscles, put the coat aside for a little while and let's get on, let's focus. If there is anyone here before leaving this place who has not given their life to Jesus and wants to do so this morning before we finish in light of this message, I want to give them the opportunity to declare their affiliation with the Lord Jesus and invite him into your life so that you don't look towards that destructive future that you have to fear, but see it as: glory to God, that's great, the process is speeding up, now I can enter into the glory that God has destined for me.

But that comes when you lay down your life, acknowledge him as Lord and Savior, enter into the economy of the Gospel, then you can look to the future with healthy expectation. I want to ask if there is anyone here who wants to fix that issue in their life and get clear with God, and invite Jesus into their heart. If you haven't before I would love to see your hand raised and I would like to pray for you this morning. God bless you young man, will there be someone else? If there is anyone else in the light of this solemn and heavy sermon who wants to give their life to Jesus, God bless you brother back there. Will there be someone else who wants to give their life to the Lord Jesus Christ?

Someone else?. There is space, there is time, for these things there will always be time, come here. If someone else has in your heart the desire to settle accounts with Jesus right now in light of that call to eternity, do not stop, we want to pray for you, put your life in the hands of the Lord and send you from here safe, calm that this trial is not for you. For the children of God there is no condemnation, for the children of God there is simply a great hope of blessing, a tremendous smile that, oh Lord, I am already crazy to see You, I want to see Your Glory.

Father we bless my brothers. I bless this sister and the man who have come forward and I declare the Grace of the Lord on their lives. Open his eyes Lord so that he can understand what it truly means to receive Jesus. May your heart open, so this sister too, I ask both of you right now: confess Christ as Lord, say: Lord I acknowledge you as my God, my Savior. You are the Son of God, the Savior of humanity, you died on a cross for my sins, you gave me salvation, you rose again on the third day and you come again to judge the living and the dead.

That is the confession of a believer, of a Christian. There is nothing strange or different from other confessions of biblical Christian people through the centuries. You can say amen to that in your heart. Invite Jesus to be Lord of your life. I bless you in the name of Jesus Christ. Keep looking for God, surrender your life to the Lord and in everything we can serve you we are more than willing to bless your life. Take the Christian walk seriously and keep seeking the Lord, and may this not be for a single day but the daily bread of a lifetime, seek Christ and give your life to Him. May it be so in the name of Jesus, amen. Brothers, may the peace and grace of the Lord be with you, amen and amen.