The Second Coming Of Jesus

Randall Caselman
Bella Vista Church of Christ
February 3, 2002 AM

The Second Coming Of Jesus

Reading - 1 Thessalonians 4.13-18 & 1 Corinthians 15.50-58

There is a lot of interest, a lot of talk today about the Second Coming Of Jesus. Two men... Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins have authored a series of books... eight in all.. The first was Left Behind... The last release is entitled... The Mark. I think what we need to keep in mind when we read these books that, by their own admission, they are fiction... Even though based upon a scriptural event... The second coming.

The trouble is, few readers are equipped to distinguish between the truth and the fiction. They promote what is known as premillennialism... That doctrine which contends that the church is not the Kingdom of God... And that Jesus will one day return to establish His Kingdom. Seldom a week goes by that I am not confronted with one or more questions from this series.

So... This morning we examine what the Bible says about the Second Coming Of Jesus. What do we know about this doctrine?

First... The second coming is clearly taught... It is a Bible doctrine.
- The second coming of Jesus is mentioned 318 times in the New Testament alone.
- That makes seven out of every ten verses of the New Testament refer to His coming.
- Every chapter of First and Second Thessalonians closes with a reference to His coming.
- Jesus said... And if I go to prepare a place for you... I will come again... And receive you unto Myself; that where I am... There you may be also.
- At His ascension... Angels stood by the Apostles saying... Men of Galilee... Why do you stand here gazing up into heaven?... This same Jesus whom was taken up from you into heaven, will come in like manner as you saw Him go into heaven.
- Jude 14 & 15 quotes the prophet Enoch as saying... The Lord is coming with thousands upon thousands of his holy ones to judge everyone, and to convict all the ungodly of all the ungodly acts they have done.
- Paul contends in First Thessalonians... For the Lord himself will come from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God.
- Peter reasons like this... Understanding that he Lord is coming... What kind of people should we be?
- The book of Revelation is filled with references to His coming again.

Church... If we believe anything in the Bible... We are forced to believe in the second coming.

Secondly... We address the time of HIS coming.
This aspect of the Lord's return is of special interest to people... Religious and nonreligious. Some have even been so foolhardy as to set specific dates for His return. History is littered with those who have set a time for his coming... And it didn't happen. Every few days someone will ask if I believe that Jesus is coming soon. My answer is always yes, because this is what the Bible says... He is coming soon. Four times in the Book of Revelation... Jesus is found saying... I am coming soon... Or, I am coming quickly, in the King James. But, soon to me and you, may be much different than soon to God. The Bible tells us that from God's perspective, a day is as a thousand years... And a thousand years is as a day. This is simply saying that God does not exist in the dimension of time. God is everlasting... This means that He had no beginning... No end....
So, Days... Weeks... Years... Millennium... Have no meaning to Him.

If the Bible is plain about anything concerning the second coming... It is that no one knows the time. Listen to Mark 13.32-33... No one knows the day or hour... Not even the angels in heaven... Nor the Son... But only the Father. So, be on guard! Be alert!... You do not know when that time will come. Why is it that we want to try to speak where the Bible does not?... Or even worse... Directly contradict the very words of the Bible.

Matthew and Paul give us our real concern... That is, not WHEN??, but that we be READY!!... So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him... While people are saying, "Peace and safety," destruction will come on them suddenly, as labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape. But you, brothers, are not in darkness so that this day should surprise you like a thief... So then, let us not be like others, who are asleep, but let us be alert and self-controlled.

Church... What do these scriptures teach?... They tell us beyond any doubt that no one... not even Jesus... or the angels know when the second coming will occur... Only God the Father. And that we can be ready if we expect Him soon!!... Today!!... Right now!!

This brings us to the next point which is somewhat similar... His coming will be without elaborate signs and announcements. In Matthew chapter 24... Jesus gives an extended discourse concerning the destruction of Jerusalem, which He says will be preceded by signs and warnings. But when He gets to the end of the age... The end of the world... The second coming... And He says this will not be preceded by such signs. Paul repeated this thought to the church at Thessalonica... Listen... For you know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night... Destruction will come suddenly, as labor pains on a pregnant woman.

Peter says... The day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare. Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives as you look forward to the day of God... Make every effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with him.... Be on your guard so that you may not be carried away by the error of lawless men and fall from your secure position.

Church... Ours is not to focus on the when of His coming... Ours is not to try to read the signs... Ours is to watch and be ready for His coming.... RIGHT? Yes... God wants us to anticipate His coming... Look forward to it... And be ready for it. The word on the early church's lips was Maranatha... Lord come quickly... Come O Lord. They wanted Him to come... (WHY?)... Because they were ready. God help us be like them... Saying... Lord come quickly... Because I am READY!!

Let's talk some about the manner of His coming. There are going to be some interesting sights and sounds when Jesus comes again. For instance Paul tells us that the Lord shall descend from heaven with a shout... With the voice of the archangel... And the trumpet of God. I don't know what these sounds will be like... But I believe Peter gives us some insight. Peter says... With a loud noise... With a roar... The heavens and the earth will pass away... disappear... will be destroyed... And there will be a new heaven and a new earth.

I don't know what all these scriptures are saying other than some fantastic sounds and sights will accompany His coming. The angels announced to the Apostles that Jesus would return like He went... From heaven. His coming will be a visible event... A quick and universally known happening. Luke 17.24 says... The Son of Man in his day will be like the lightning, which flashes and lights up the sky from one end to the other.

You see... His first coming was in humility and weakness... His second coming will be with power and glory. In His first coming His deity was concealed in His humanity... But in the second coming His deity will be revealed... At His coming... His deity will be seen in... HIS GLORY... HIS POWER... HIS AUTHORITY.

He will come in GLORY.... He will come as Lord of Lords... King of Kings... The Alpha and Omega... The beginning and end.

He will come in POWER... The power of a general resurrection... Power to raise every soul who has ever lived. Power to change us... Immortalizing the bodies of all who remain. Peter tells us... He will come with power to destroy the heavens and the earth... And power to bring about a new heaven and a new earth.

He will come with Authority... Jesus will come in Judgment... At his coming, everyone will submit to Him... Every knee will bow... Every tongue will confess His name.

Note with me three Greek words used to speak of His second coming.

PAROUSIA... Speaks of the assuredness of His coming... That that coming will be a personal event. Second Peter 1.16 reads... For we have not followed cunningly devised fables, when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of his majesty. His coming is something that we can be sure of.

EP-IF-AN-I-AH is a word that appears in the Greek text six times... Five times it is translated APPEARING... Once it is rendered BRIGHTNESS. The idea is that there will be a visual sighting of the coming Christ. Outside scripture this Greek word is used to describe the sudden appearing of the stars at evening. You see... They are unseen... Then all of a sudden their brightness is visible to all... And they can be see everywhere. When Jesus comes... He will appear suddenly... And every eye will see Him.

Another word used to speak of His coming is APOCALYPSE. It is always translated REVEAL in the New Testament. The word literally means... TO TAKE THE COVER OFF... AN UNVEILING. The idea is that He has been here all along... But then, He will be completely know by all. Like the stars... They are here all along... But all of a sudden they are revealed. So it is with Jesus... All of a sudden that which was unseen is made visible to all. At His coming... Jesus will be acknowledged... Confessed by all...
- Every eye will see Him...
- Every tongue will confess...
- Every knee will bow.

You see... Today we may choose to ignore Him... But then... But then... On that day, all will...
- See him...
- Know Him...
- Acknowledge Him...
- And submit to His divine and final authority in judgment.

Next we note that the dead will be raised at His coming. Jesus spoke of this when He said in John 5... Do not be amazed at this, for a time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice and come out--those who have done good will rise to live, and those who have done evil will rise to be condemned. Paul tells us in First Corinthians 15... The dead shall be raised incorruptible. In the Thessalonian letter he assures us that the dead in Christ will be raised first... And that the souls of the saints... Jesus will bring with Him when He comes. Revelation 20.11 & 13 states beyond doubt that this resurrection will include all mankind... Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. Earth and sky fled from his presence, and there was no place for them. And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne... The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them.

I think here is a good place to stop and talk about a subject we hear a lot about today... That is the rapture... And the thousand year reign. First and foremost, I want you to know that there is nothing wrong with speaking of the rapture. The word rapture does not appear in our English Bibles... But it does in the Latin Bible. The word rapture simply means caught up... It is Latin for caught up.

Listen carefully... carefully... As we read First Thessalonians 4.16-17 and Second Thessalonians 1.7-9... 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. 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... (Now from Second Thessalonians)... This will happen when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven in blazing fire with his powerful angels. He will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the majesty of his power.

When Jesus comes... The dead will be raised... and those in Christ will be CAUGHT UP... RAPTURED, if you will, to be with Jesus in the air. Their resurrected bodies will be reunited with the souls that Jesus will bring with Him at His coming... Verse 14 says... We believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in Him. Paul tells us in First Corinthians 15 that those of us still living will be changed... Immortalized in a flash... In the twinkling of an eye... Because flesh and blood cannot inherit eternal life.

You see... The dead BODY will be raised as an immortal body... That body will join the soul Jesus is bringing with Him. And all the saved... dead bodies and those alive who have been IMMORTALIZED will be caught up... RAPTURED to meet Him in the air.

Note, folk, that Paul says... Those who reject Jesus will be punished when Jesus comes.

No where does the Bible speak of two second comings... Just one. There is no room here for a thousand year reign by Jesus on a throne in Jerusalem. In fact, there is not a single verse in the New Testament that says Jesus will ever set foot on this planet again. When He comes, the saved, both dead and alive will be caught up... Raptured to Him... And they will live with Him forever.

Listen to this sequence of events from the lips of Jesus Himself... In John 5.28-29... Do not be amazed at this, for a time is coming when all... A-L-L who are in their graves will hear his voice and come out--those who have done good will rise to live... And those who have done evil will rise to be condemned. All who are in the grave will be raised at the second coming... The saints will go to meet the Lord and the condemned will be cast into hell.

Jesus tells us in Matthew 25... That, when the Son of Man comes in His glory some will hear
him say... Come enjoy that which was prepared for you... Others will go away to eternal punishment. Paul tells us in Second Timothy 4... There is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day, and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing.

Folk.. Let us not argue with the Bible. Those who teach a rapture followed by a thousand year reign have taken a symbolic passage in Revelation chapter twenty and built an entire church doctrine on it. A doctrine that cannot be supported by plain text scriptures. Go home and read Revelation twenty again... If the thousand years is literal... Then...

- The key to the Abyss must be literal.
- The chain that binds Satan must be literal.
- And Satan must be a literal dragon.

We may not always be able to understand all the symbolism in Apocalyptic literature... But we can understand plan language text. Don't buy into premillennialism... That doctrine which teaches... Two second comings... Two judgments... And that Jesus will come back to this earth to reign for a thousand years. Peter plainly teaches that when He comes again, this will be the end of the world... And there will be a new heaven and a new earth..

This brings us to our final point... At His coming... There will be judgment. Jesus said... All nations... All human kind will be gathered and judged. When we read these judgment scene narratives... We find that... The saved and the unsaved... The righteous and the unrighteous... The sheep and the goats will be judged at the same appointed day.

Listen to Acts 17.30-31... And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent: Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead.

Revelation paints the judgment scene in these words... And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.

Daniel 12.2 says... Those who are asleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.

Well... The question of the hour is as it has always been... Are we ready. If at this very moment with the trumpet sound of God, Jesus were to appear, would we be caught up to meet Him in the air? Or would we be destined for eternal condemnation?

The good news is that we can make sure before we leave this morning...

If you are not a child of God... You can become one today by faith, repentance and New Testament baptism... Immersion in water for the forgiveness of sins.

If you are a child of His and are unsure... John says... If we will acknowledge our sins... He is faithful and just to forgive us... And to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Come... Do what needs to be done this morning... Be ready for His return... As we stand and sing this song together... Will you come?