THE SECOND COMING

1. The Second Coming

a) The great tribulation will end suddenly when Christ appears on earth.

i) Immediately after the tribulation of those days... they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory, Matthew 24:29-30.

b) What will take place then? Christ will appear first to Israel, God's people of long ago. They will be filled with sorrow as they remember how their nation rejected their own Messiah, Zechariah 12:10.

c) Then will come the judgment of the living nations, Matthew 25:31-46. Gentiles who have shown their faith in God by helping His people, the Jews, will be received into Christ's earthly kingdom. Others will be led away to eternal punishment. After this Christ will set up His earthly kingdom.

d) The hope of the Lord's return has always been a great comfort tot he people of God. However there have always been some people who made fun of it. In the last days their attacks on this truth will become worse, 2 Peter 3:3-4.

e) Some people have other wrong ideas as well:

i) Some believe that the "coming of Christ" means that He comes into the heart of a man when he believes. Or, that He comes for the soul when a child of God dies. These things are true, but the Bible teaches plainly that Christ will return Himself, in person, in the body.

@1. This Jesus will come in the same way as you saw Him go into heaven, Acts 1:11.

ii) Some people teach that the church must go through the tribulation in order to be cleansed of its sins. However let us remember that a believer is not punished for his sins. He is chastened by the Father to keep him from sinning any more. The great tribulation is to punish men for their sins.

iii) Others say that part of the church must go through the tribulation, that is, those believers who are not obeying the Lord in this world. If so, we would have part of the body of Christ enjoying the blessings of heaven while at the same time the other part of the body would be going through great suffering here on earth. This is not what the Bible teaches. Christ will not be satisfied until all His own are with Him where He is.

iv) Still others have made the mistake of saying just when Christ will come again. It should be enough for us to remember that the Son of Man on earth said that He Himself did not know the day nor the hour, Mark 13:32.

f) When you really think about it, it is better that we should not know the time of Jesus' return. The thought that He might come today will make me want to be prepared and will keep me from doing things which I would not want Him to find me doing when He comes.

i) Every one that has this hope in him purifies himself as He is pure, 1 John 3:3.