Back to the Future: (Part I)

THE SECOND COMING OF CHRIST

1 Thessalonians 4:16-17; Matthew 24: 27-31

1 Thessalonians 4:116-17

16] For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first.

17) After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever.

Matthew 24:27-31

27) For as lightning that comes from the east is visible even in the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.

28) Wherever there is a carcass, there the vultures will gather.

29) "Immediately after the distress of those days" 'the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from the sky, and the heavenly bodies will be shaken.'

30] "At that time the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and all the nations of the earth will mourn. They will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky, with power and great glory.

31) And he will send his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other.

The Second Coming of Jesus Christ is one of the most significant subjects of Biblical prophecy. Just as the Old and New Testaments are filled with prophecies concerning the first coming, so both Testaments are saturated with references to the Second Coming of Jesus of Christ:

Ø It has been estimated that there are 1, 845 references in the Old Testament, where 17 books give it prominence.
Ø In the 260 chapters of the New Testament, there are 318 references to it, an amazing 1 out of every 30 verses.
Ø Twenty-three of the 27 New Testament books refer to this great event.
Ø For every prophecy in the Bible concerning Christ's first advent, there are 8 which look forward to His second!

With all of these references in the Bible, it would be foolish for anyone to ignore this prophetic event. It will definitely be to our advantage if we take the time to study the Second Coming of Christ and all the other events we can anticipate after this happens:

Revelation 1:1-3

1) The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show his servants what must soon take place. He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John,

2) who testifies to everything he saw--that is, the word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ.

3) Blessed is the one who reads the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear it and take to heart what is written in it, because the time is near.

Clearly, the Lord promises blessings to those who will read, hear, and take to heart what God says about the future events. This is the very reason why we as a church will take the time to revisit the Biblical teachings concerning things to come. Our first stop is on the Second Coming of Christ. Here are several facts about it:

I THE CHARACTER OF HIS SECOND COMING:

The Second Coming of Jesus should be understood in two stages. If you study the passages about it, you will find some seeming conflicts:

One passage will tell us his coming will be "in the air", another will say "to the earth."
One passage tells us that his coming is to be a secret, "as a thief in the night;" while another says "every eye will see him."
One passage teaches that His coming will be a time of joy and blessing; another tells us the people of the earth shall mourn."

The only way you can bring all of these verses together is to understand that it will have two stages, which is separated by the seven years tribulation.

A. The Rapture of the Church - The word Rapture is derived from the Greek word Harpazo, which means to be caught up or taken away suddenly. Therefore, the Rapture refers to the sudden removal of God's people from the Earth. In the twinkling of a eye (a second of time) born-again Christians will suddenly have their bodies transformed and then they will rise up into the air to join Jesus. 1 Thessalonians 4 outlines the seven distinct steps of this event:

1. "For the Lord himself will come down from heaven - Not angel Michael or Moses, but the Lord Himself is coming for us.

2. "with a loud command" - Shout from the Lord commanding the resurrection of the dead (John 11, 43-44)

3. "with the voice of the archangel"- Michael will have a shout of victory.

4. "with the trumpet call of God" - According to J. Dwight Pentecost, the trumpet blast for the Jews always mean two things - to summon to battle and to summon to worship (J. Dwight Pentecost, Prophecy for Today, p.30)

5. "dead in Christ will rise first" - Those who dies in Jesus will be resurrected.

6. " we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds" - Those who are alive will escape death, and will be taken away suddenly from the earth.

7."to meet the Lord in the air" - A great reunion, we will meet our Savior face to face for the first time.

All of these will happen "In a moment," "In a twinkling of an eye"( 1 Cor. 15:51-52). Both phrases suggest that in the smallest possible length of time (1/50^th of a second) the entire event will be accomplished.

B. The Revelation of Christ - This is the Lord returning with His Bride in power and great glory, touching down upon Mount of Olives and causing a great earthquake (Matt. 24: 27-31; Zech. 14:4,8).

Both of these events, the Rapture and Revelation, will be glorious. And they can happen anytime soon. We should be doing our best to prepare for His coming.

II THE COMFORT OF HIS SECOND COMING:

When the apostle Paul taught the Thessalonian Christians concerning the Second Coming of Christ, he said to them, "Therefore encourage each other with these words" (1 Thess. 4:18). How can this doctrine bring such an encouragement?

The fulfillment of the resurrection of the human body :

1 Corinthians 15:53

53) For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality.

All those who died in Christ are looking for that glorious day when they will receive the incorruptible bodies they will wear for eternity. This will not be fulfilled if Christ does not return.

The ultimate defeat of Satan:

Genesis 3:15

15) And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel."

Satan who have caused humans so many troubles and pains will ultimately be defeated when Jesus returns. He who is considered the "prince of the power of the air" (Eph. 2:2), will be defeated in his own turf when Jesus conquers the air when He comes.

The vindication of Jesus and believers (Matthew 24:30; 1 John 3:2-3)

Matthew 24:30

30) "At that time the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and all the nations of the earth will mourn. They will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky, with power and great glory.

1 John 3:2-3

2) Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.

3) Everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself, just as he is pure.

In a very liberal society where an absolute truth is politically incorrect, both Jesus and the true believers have always been the object of reproach. This is the reason why God has reserve a time for vindication during the Second Coming.

Because of all these, the Second Coming is "the blessed hope" of all true believers in Christ.

III THE CHALLENGE OF HIS SECOND COMING:

Every important doctrine must have a heart application. The same can be said about the Second Coming. What effects must this doctrine have upon our Christian lives:

A. Believers are to be faithful:

Believing that He is coming very soon, we must be faithful in our Christian responsibilities including Church attendance.

Hebrews 10:25

25) Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another--and all the more as you see the Day approaching.

B. Believers are to be patient:

James 5:8

8) You too, be patient and stand firm, because the Lord's coming is near.

Since the Christian life is never a bed of roses, we are challenged to persevere and endure until the coming of our Lord.

C. Believers are to be pure:

1 John 3:2-3

2) Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.

3) Everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself, just as he is pure.

One obvious reason why Jesus did not give us an specific time for His coming is so we will live consistently for Him. We don't want to be found living carelessly. We are exhorted to live in purity.

D. Believers are to win souls:

Jude 1:21-23

21) Keep yourselves in God's love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life.

22) Be merciful to those who doubt;

23) snatch others from the fire and save them; to others show mercy, mixed with fear--hating even the clothing stained by corrupted flesh.

While we still have the chance, we need to do our best in snatching others most especially our closes loved ones and friends from a sure punishment for sins. I believe that the reason why Christ is delaying his return is so we can still win those we need to win for Him.

Have you been living your Christian life conscious of the fact that He may come anytime soon? Remember, we are closer than we have ever been in seeing our Savior burst into the heavens to meet us. Keep living for Him today!