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