Billy Graham speaking in South Bend, May 1977
looking for that blessed hope and
glorious appearing of the Great God and
Savior our Lord Jesus Christ you see
there are two sides of us here today
looking for his coming those that know
not Christ are looking at is coming with
fear you’re afraid you’re afraid of the
judgment you’re afraid you won’t stand
up you’re afraid you’re lost there’s
another crowd here today that’s looking
forward to his coming with great joy and
anticipation because you’re ready you
want him to come you’re tired of this
whole world you’re ready to go home
every morning when I get up I think Lord
maybe maybe maybe it’ll be today but
listen to third chapters second Peter
knowing this first that there shall come
in the last days scoffers walking after
their own lust scuffles people scuffing
it the idea that Christ is coming again
you certainly don’t believe that they’re
walking after their own lusts they don’t
want to be disturbed in all the good
times they’re having in all the
materialism and everything they’re
getting here they don’t want to miss all
those good TV programs and all the rest
of it so they scoff at the idea that
Christ is coming in the world’s going to
be judged and they say where is the
promise of his coming why he’s been
promising to come for 2,000 years and he
hasn’t come he’s not going to come you
Christians have a false hope for this
they willingly are ignorant of your
willingly ignorant by the Word of God
the heavens were of old and the earth
standing out of the water and in the
water whereby the world that then was
being overflowed with water perished God
says because there was a flood you can
count for sure judgment is going to come
again it came in Noah’s day the people
scoffed and laughed the judgment is
coming in some future day we scoff and
laugh but for those of us that know
Christ
it’s a blessed and glorious hope all the
agony of the ages will come to an end
all the tears will be wiped away a new
heaven and a new earth will emerge and
you and I will be there when the Lord
Jesus Christ is crowned king of kings
and Lord of lords at the great banquet
in the sky that is called the marriage
supper of the lamb when the church
without blemish every born-again
believer a member of the body of Christ
is going to be joined as the bride to
the bridegroom my seat has been reserved
it was bought for not with silver and
gold but with the precious blood of
Jesus Christ is your seat reserved will
you be there it will be a time of
personal Redemption social betterment
the kingdom is to be set up the defeat
of every enemy sin will be defeated
death will be defeated hail will be
defeated the devil will be destroyed
will be thrown into the lake of fire
what a time that’s going to be in what a
world it’s going to be you say well
Billy that’s some sort of escape
mechanism that the Bible’s got all
worked out no it’s not it’s no dream of
pie-in-the-sky by and by it’s no
smokescreen for apathy no pretext for an
indolent the hope of the Second Coming
is a powerful incentive to service it’s
the most powerful incentive for my own
preaching that I’ve ever known there are
many reasons why I preached the gospel
one is because God called me to do it he
gave me orders to do it that’s enough
right there but Paul said you go beyond
that knowing the terror of the Lord I
seek to persuade men and the love of
Christ on the cross causes me to do it
but the glorious hope of the coming of
Christ is a powerful incentive to send
us around the world because when that
last soul is saved when the gospel of
the kingdom is preached to every
creature then shall the end come said
the Lord Jesus Christ somehow he
acted all up with evangelism