PRE-MILLENNIAL SECOND COMING OF JESUS: RAPTURE &
End Time Events
The
Bible teaches the “Pre-Millennial Second Coming of Jesus,” also known as the Rapture
of the church. At this point some will not even climb this tree with me and
explore some of the branches of this teaching, but as the Proverbs declares, he that
answereth a matter before he heareth it, it is folly and
shame unto him (Prov. 18:13). First,
He will come to resurrect the dead saints and to catch them and the living
saints away to meet Him in the air. This will be what has come to be called
“the Rapture.” He will not come all the way to the earth at that time. Second,
He will come with the raptured saints
to reign on earth a thousand years.
We
have full assurance of His coming from His own lips. He and the eleven
disciples were still in the Upper Room following His institution of the two
ordinances, the Lord’s Supper and Washing the Saints’ Feet. Once more He
indirectly referred to His leaving them after His death and resurrection. They
still did not understand (See John 13:31-37). In John 14: 1-3, He comforted
them with words that have become immortal!
“Let not your heart be troubled: ye
believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many mansions: if
it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if
I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto
myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.”
Then,
immediately following His glorious ascension in a cloud which received Him out
of their sight, they were reassured:
“And while they looked stedfastly toward
heaven as he went up, behold two men stood by them in white apparel; Which also
said, Ye men of Galilee. why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus,
which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have
seen him go into heaven” (Acts 1:10-11). From these two blessed
assurances, if we believe in Him at all, we must know that He is coming again
for His own. “So Christ was once offered
to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the
second time without sin unto salvation” (Heb. 9:28).
“Behold,
he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced
him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen”
(Rev. 1:7).
1Thessolians
4:13-17
13.
But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are
asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope.
14.
For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep
in Jesus will God bring with him.
15.
For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not
prevent them which are asleep.
16.
For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of
the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise
first:
17.
Then we which are alive and remain
shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the
air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.
I.
THE FIRST PHASE: THE DAY OF CHRIST (1 Thess. 4:13-17)
The
“day of Christ” will be a glorious day for the children of God. It relates
wholly to the reward and blessing of the saints at His coming for the rapture.
After Jesus and His disciples had left the Upper Room and had gone to the Mount
of Olives, the disciples questioned Him about the meaning of some of His
earlier predictions: “...Tell us, when
shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end
of the world?” (Matt. 24:3).
A.
When? (Read Matthew 24:4-28.): Jesus began His answer with a warning against
deception. Then He mentioned a number of end-time events that will alert the
watchful ones to the nearness of His coming, many of which are in evidence at
this present time. He went on to tell of the coming “abomination of desolation” and the “great tribulation” which will accompany the reign of “the beast,” or Antichrist, and which pertain to the second phase of His return.
But He warned of the futility of giving attention to the claims of “false
christs and false prophets” who will profess to know when He will come.
There
has been some speculation about the meaning of some of His words; whether they
pertain to the first or second phase of His return-verses 27 and 28, for
instance, but verses 32 through 52 apparently belong to His coming in the air.
Neither any man nor the angels in heaven know precisely when He will come (only
the Father), but He stressed watchfulness. Those who are constantly watching
will be able to sense His nearness. The watchful servant will be ready (vv.
45-47), but the “evil servant” will scoff at His seeming delay, and he will
resort to a sinful lifestyle and be caught unprepared (See also 2 Peter 3:3-15).
B.
How Will He Come? Our text from 1 Thessalonians is descriptive of the actual
advent. First Corinthians 15:51, 52 are vivid supplements, along with some of
the previous verses cited under “When?” It will be a spectacular event indeed!
“The Lord Himself’ will leave heaven and descend with a shout into the
atmospheric region above the earth; the archangel’s voice will be heard, and
there will be a mighty trumpet blast. The three taken together will apparently
mean the raising of the righteous dead, the alerting of the living saints, and
the call to gather together. The trumpet throughout Scripture has signaled an assemblage.
The
words, “caught up together,” “ clearly describe a supernatural act of God. When
put together with “and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we [living
saints] shall be changed” (1 Cor. 15:52). We understand that the incorruptible
and changed bodies will not be subject to gravity as our fleshly bodies are.
Paul’s words to the Philippians are helpful here: “For our conversation
[citizenship] is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord
Jesus Christ [to return]: Who shall change our vile [fleshly] body, that it may
be fashioned like unto his glorious body [Christ’s resurrected body], according
to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself”
(Phil. 3:20, 21). The “working’ means “by the exercise of His power.” “Subdue”
means that the change will be by His authority along with its result.
The
clause, “them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with Him,” evidently
refers to the souls and/or spirits of those who have died and are eligible for
the first resurrection. God will bring them along with Jesus (1 Cor. 5:8), and they will be
reunited with their resurrected bodies and “caught up” in the rapture along
with the “changed” ones who will not have experienced death and burial. The term "sleep" refers to death, but as can be seen in the Book of Revelation, the souls of the saints that die in Christ are aware, awake and not in the grave (Revelation 7:9-17). In addition, the rich man (no name-not written in the Book of Life), was not in the grave either when he died, he left his body and went to hell, with all of his senses, seeing, hearing, touch, taste, smell (Luke 16:19-31).
II.
THE SECOND PHASE: THE DAY OF THE LORD (Matt. 24:29-31)
A.
A Day of Tribulation Judgment: The “day of the Lord” is the period of “great
tribulation” wherein God pours out His end-time judgments of wrath upon this
Christ-rejecting world, beginning with Israel. Again we point to Matthew
24:15-22, the time when the Antichrist will be revealed for what he truly is.
Jesus says, “For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the
beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be” (v. 21). Wherever
“the day of the Lord” is mentioned in Scripture, it is portrayed as a time of
suffering and dread. For instance, the Prophet Amos wrote, at God’s direction,
“Shall not the day of the Lord be darkness, and not light? even very dark, and
no brightness in it?” (Amos 5:20).
Paul
comforted the Thessalonians saints in their current trials, pointing to the
final reckoning with all persecutors. Apparently, the tribulation of His people
will end in a glorious deliverance, and a turning of the tribulation on their
persecutors:
“Seeing
it is a righteous thing with God to recompense tribulation to them that trouble
you; And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be
revealed from heaven with His mighty angels, Inflaming fire taking vengeance on
them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ:
Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the
Lord, and from the glory of his power; When he shall come to be glorified in
his saints, and to be admired of all them that believe (because our testimony
among you was believed) in that day” (2 Thess. 1:6-10).
Second
Peter 3:10-12 seems to continue “the day of the Lord” to the period following
the millennial kingdom. In other words, the millennial age will be a glorious
interim with Christ as King. At the end of that time, Satan will be loosed from
“the bottomless pit” and will again go forth to deceive the nations of the
whole earth. Now, once more he will gather an army and compass “the camp of the
saints about, and the beloved city [Jerusalem]” (See Revelation 20:7-9).
Apparently he Will “take up where he left off’ when he and his antichrist were
defeated in the battle of Armageddon when they “gathered together to make war
against him [Christ] that sat on the horse, and against his army” (Rev. 19:19).
Peter summarizes the outcome following the “great white throne” judgment of all
the wicked dead who will be brought up in the second resurrection: “But the day
of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall
pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat,
the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up. Seeing then
that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be
in all holy conversation and godliness, Looking for and hasting unto the coming
of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and
the elements shall melt with fervent heat” (2 Pet. 3:10-12)?
B.
The Glorious Appearing: Our lesson text (Matt. 24:29-31) is Jesus’ description
of His second appearing. Later He added: “When the Son of man shall come in his
glory, and alt the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of
his glory” (Matt. 25:31). It has been said that at His first advent He came to
be our Saviour, but at His second advent He will be our Judge. Jude 14,15 so
indicates: “...Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints, to
execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all
their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard
speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him.”
Just
before John on Patmos unfolded his vision of this second coming (Rev.
19:11-16), he heard the announcement of “the marriage of the Lamb” to His church
(vv. 7-9).
C.
”Thy Kingdom Come”: If the events are given in chronological order, the “bridal
party” left immediately for the earth for the establishment of the Millennial
Kingdom. The church-the “royal priesthood” (1 Pet. 2:9)-will reign with Christ
a thousand years (Rev. 20:6), (See also Revelation 5:10).
Beyond
all the foregoing events, after Satan is cast into the lake of fire and
brimstone to be tormented forever-after death and hell also have been cast into
that lake of fire (Rev. 20:14)-John tells of seeing “a new heaven and a new
earth” (Rev. 21:1). Peter had already written: “Nevertheless we, according to
his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth [only]
righteousness” (2 Pet. 3:13).
Finally,
an angel invited John to witness another scene: “...Come hither, I will shew
thee the bride, the Lamb’s wife. And he carried me away in the spirit to a
great and high mountain, and shewed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem,
descending out of heaven from God” (Rev. 21:9, 10). It seems certain that some
figurative language is used concerning “the bride, the Lamb’s wife” being a
city. The church is not a literal city, but Jesus, even in His “Sermon on the
Mount,” spoke of it as “A city that is set on an hill” that “cannot be hid”
(Matt. 5:14). It is apparent that “the holy Jerusalem” John saw represents the
abode of the Lamb as His Bride on the new earth. Once we have made the rapture,
we will “ever be with the Lord” (1 Thess. 4:17).
If you have never accepted or if you have fallen away from Jesus Christ here are three steps you need to take to be saved:
You must admit you are a sinner, confess your sin to Jesus, repent (turn from all you know is wrong), ask Jesus to come in your heart, and begin to follow Jesus by reading and obeying his word and go to a bible believing church that teaches his word. And tell someone what Christ Jesus Has Done For You (Rev 12:10)
May God through Christ bless you!
If you enjoyed this blogpost and believe some else can be helped and may be blessed pass it along:
If you have a prayer request or have questions that need clarification please contact me at: neverstoppraying8@gmail.com
No comments:
Post a Comment