The Second Coming - 5
The King is Coming
A churchgoer asked, “Why study Bible prophecy?” Here are three quick reasons. One, because it provides answers found nowhere else. Two, it is as a lamp shining in a dark place for it’s the revelation and communication of the mind of God. And three, it will come to pass because “the scripture cannot be broken” (John 10 verse 35).
A major sign that Jesus is coming again is the miracle of the Jews. It took biological miracles in the barren wombs of Sarah, Rebekkah and Rachel to bring the nation to the birth. The Jews were divinely chosen to be God’s demonstration people who would later astonish the world. They were meant to be a shop window showcasing what it is to live under the blessing of God. Sadly, they missed out through disobedience and, as prophesied in Deuteronomy chapter 28, they have been scattered in exile across the world. The Jews have been dragged away as slaves, grossly humiliated and persecuted throughout their history.
Who would have given you anything for the Jewish nation after World War II? Surely Israel was destroyed, wiped out, finished. She would never rise again! But Jeremiah 16 verse 14 and 15 is being fulfilled in our day. “Therefore behold, the days are coming”, says the Lord, “That it shall no more be said, ‘The Lord lives who brought up the children of Israel from the land of Egypt,’ “but, ‘the Lord lives who brought up the children of Israel from the land of the north and from all the lands where He had driven them.’ For I will bring them back into their land which I gave to their fathers.”
The signs of the times tell us that the return of Jesus the Messiah is surely at hand!
Rejoice, Christian! The King is coming – unexpectedly, personally, suddenly, visibly, audibly and spectacularly.
There’s coming a day when the people of God on this polluted planet are going to be snatched away ‘to meet the Lord in the air.’ Christians call this the rapture from the Latin word, RAPTO, which means ‘to seize, to carry off.’ The Greek word is HARPAZO ‘to snatch away.’ It’s the same word Luke used in Acts 8:39 when ‘the Spirit of the Lord suddenly took Philip away, and the eunuch did not see him again.’
The rapture will be the greatest wake-up call this world has ever known, and there are more details of it in 1 Thessalonians chapter 4 than anywhere else in scripture.
How does Paul know all this? He says it’s ‘according to the Lord’s own word’ (verse 15). God told him “The Lord Himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with 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” (verses 16 and 17).
No wonder Paul urges his readers to “encourage each other with these words” (verse 18).
Remember why Paul wrote first Thessalonians. It was not to present some specific doomsday scenario, but to enlighten uninformed and worried believers who had lost dear ones. “The dead in Christ shall rise first” (4 verse 16). Death is the great separator.
Just as everyone who lives, one day dies; so everyone who dies, one day will be raised from the dead. Only the timescale is different.
The car bumper sticker said, “Don’t take life too seriously. You won’t get out of it alive.” That’s not true. We will all live forever somewhere, so the big question is not, “Will I live forever?” but “Where will I live forever?”
The Bible is quite clear about this. Ultimately all will be raised from the dead – believer or non-believer. Jesus who is the Resurrection and the Life said, “I tell you the truth, a time is coming and has now come when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear will live … 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” (John 5 verses 25 to 29). Daniel had long ago prophesied “Multitudes who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake: some to everlasting life, others to shame and everlasting contempt” (Chapter 12 verse 2).
The second coming of Christ will usher in judgements on the wicked and rewards for the righteous. The Old Testament and the New Testament both speak of two resurrections. The resurrection of the righteous is the first resurrection (Revelation 20 verse 5). This is what Hebrews 11:35 speaks of as ‘a better resurrection.’ Then there is the second resurrection (Revelation 20). These resurrections are one thousand years apart. The first is at the start of the millennium – the thousand year reign of Christ on earth. The second is at the end of the millennium just before the Great White Throne judgement (Revelation 20 verses 11 and 12). That’s when the books are opened. Is your name in the Lamb’s book of life, listener? Have you accepted Jesus Christ as your own personal Saviour or will you face Him as your Judge on that final day?