SUB-TOPIC: THE BASIC DOCTRINES OF JESUS CHRIST BEQUEATHED TO HIS CHURCH.
John 14:26; 1 John 2:27.
We are now considering the seventh doctrinal teaching of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Saviour, under the topic:
THE SECOND ADVENT OF JESUS CHRIST
The Holy Bible teaches, throughout both the New and Old Testaments, about the second coming (or advent) of Jesus Christ.
Before this present teaching, we have already taught about His first advent when we considered the third doctrinal teaching of our Lord Jesus Christ under the topic: The Total Depravity Of Mankind And God’s Plan Of Salvation. In that teaching, we established that God had to send His Son, Jesus Christ, into the world for the redemption of sinful and fallen mankind. That was the first advent (or coming) of our Lord Jesus Christ.
In this teaching about His second advent, however, we shall be talking about His coming to redeem those who have believed in Him and His Word and have committed their lives to serving Him and living for Him in true faith and holiness.
Before we set about establishing the authenticity of this doctrine by delving into our source of authority, which is the Holy Bible, to point out some instances where God made this promise to us, we shall first explore the secular and/or historical authorities concerning His second coming, to wit:
Some Bible teachers and scholars have estimated that there are approximately 1,527 passages in the Old Testament that refer to the second coming of Jesus Christ, while the New Testament contains more than 300 references to this glorious event.
They have also estimated that the second coming of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ, is mentioned eight times as often as His first coming throughout the Bible.
These estimates are documented in Christian theological literature, including Following Christ by Nathan E. Brown, which cites John MacArthur’s The Second Coming of the Lord Jesus Christ (1981), page 1, as its source.
There is no doubt that Jesus Christ is coming back again.
Now, let us look at the Holy Scriptures to confirm the assertions above.
- Isaiah 2:1-5.
The Scriptures above are one of the many passages in the Old Testament that hint at the millennial reign of Jesus Christ at His second coming to earth. Verses 3 and 4 say:
“And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem. And he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people: and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore.”
- Daniel 7:1-14.
Verses 13-14 say:
“I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him. And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed.”
- Zechariah 14:1-21.
Verses 3-5 say:
“Then shall the LORD go forth, and fight against those nations, as when he fought in the day of battle. And his feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east, and the mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the east and the west, and there shall be a very great valley, and half of the mountain shall remove toward the north and half of it toward the south. And ye shall flee to the valley of the mountains; for the valley of the mountains shall reach unto Azal: yea, ye shall flee, like as ye fled from before the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah: and the LORD my God shall come, and all the saints with thee.”
- Malachi 3:1-18.
Verses 1-2 say:
“Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, he shall come, saith the LORD of hosts. But who may abide the day of his coming? and who shall stand when he appeareth? for he is like a refiner’s fire, and like fullers’ soap:”
The above Scriptures are just a few of the myriads of references in the Old Testament about the second coming of Jesus Christ. Besides them, we are also going to cite a few from the New Testament, namely:
- John 14:1-3.
Verses 2-3 say:
“In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going 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.”
- Acts 1:9-11.
Verses 10-11 say:
“And while they looked steadfastly 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.”
Some other Scriptures which testify to the second coming of Jesus Christ are: 1 Corinthians 15:51-52; Matthew 24:29-32; Luke 21:25-27; Revelation 1:7.
God has not left the Church without the consolation that He would come back for us at the appropriate time. From all the available signs today, we are sure that the time of His coming is already at the door.
Jesus Christ, our Lord, once advised His followers with the following words in Luke 21:28:
“And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh.”
We are going to look at this teaching in the manner outlined below:
A. Doctrine Of The Great Tribulation.
B. Doctrine Of The Rapture.
C. Doctrine Of The Second Coming Of Jesus Christ.
1.THE DOCTRINE OF THE GREAT TRIBULATION. Revelation 6:1-17
Acts 14:21-22:
“And when they had preached the gospel to that city, and had taught many, they returned again to Lystra, and to Iconium, and Antioch, Confirming the souls of the disciples, and exhorting them to continue in the faith, and that we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God.”
Life on earth, since the fall of Adam and Eve, has been plagued with intermittent tribulations due to the collapse of moral values among mankind. However, when we talk about the Great Tribulation in Christianity, we are referring to a totally different kind of tribulation, which is the continuous conflict between the Christian and the kingdom of Satan. This one is not intermittent but continuous because, as long as the light of God shines against the darkness of Satan in this sinful world, there will always be tribulation against the Christian, who is the source of this light.
In Matthew 5:14, Jesus Christ said that we are this light shining in the world through our good works and holy lives. The result of this godly lifestyle, according to 2 Timothy 3:12, is inevitable persecution (or tribulation) against the Christian.
“Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.” 2 Timothy 3:12.
The first six seals in Revelation Chapter 6 depict the Great Tribulation, which was triggered by the coming of Jesus Christ, the Light of the world, and which has continued ever since to rage against those in whom He is manifested through their righteousness and holiness of life. It will continue until the Rapture of the Church takes place at the end of the Gentile period spoken of by Jesus Christ in Luke 21:24, thus:
“And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations: and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.”
In reading Revelation 6:1-17, you will have noticed that the opening of each of the six seals reveals a different aspect of this Great Tribulation which is coming upon the world. However, the fifth seal clearly shows which set of people are the actual targets of this tribulation, whom the first horse rider in the first seal set out to conquer: they are those who believe in Jesus Christ.
See Revelation 6:9-11:
“And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held: And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth? And white robes were given unto every one of them; and it was said unto them, that they should rest yet for a little season, until their fellow servants also and their brethren, that should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled.”
This tribulation against the Church of Christ will end with the opening of the sixth seal, which heralds the Rapture of all those Christians who, according to Revelation 7:14, are those who “…came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.”
To what end is this tribulation? Well, at its climax, this tribulation will trigger the Second Advent of Jesus Christ, beginning with His invisible appearance at the Rapture (1 Thessalonians 4:13-27; 1 Corinthians 15:51-53) and culminating in His physical appearance in the sky at His Second Coming (Mark 13:24-26) to rule over the nations of the earth for a thousand years.
For this reason, we are going to take the teachings of the next two doctrines together under one sub-topic, namely:
- THE DOCTRINE OF THE RAPTURE (FOR THE MARRIAGE SUPPER OF THE LAMB) AND THE SECOND COMING OF JESUS CHRIST (FOR HIS MILLENNIAL REIGN)
Revelation 19:6-21; Matthew 19:27-30.
“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.”
Revelation 1:7.
Both the Rapture of the saints, to partake in the Marriage Supper of the Lamb in heaven, and the Second Coming of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ, to rule over the earth for a thousand years, are one event taking place at two separate times for the following three reasons, namely:
A. THE UNLEASHING OF GOD’S PRELIMINARY JUDGMENT
Revelation 7:1-8; 8:1-13; 9:1-21; 16:1-21.
After the Rapture of the saints from this world, God is going to visit His wrath upon the earth on all those who rejected His salvation through Jesus Christ, His Son. This is why the Church has to be raptured before this happens, because God will not punish the saints and sinners alike.
You will have noticed that even in Revelation 7:1-8, a remnant of the Israelites, upon whom God will show mercy, would be marked with God’s seal as a symbol of protection from His wrath, which will later be revealed, notably in Chapters 8, 9, 11 and 16.
Some people have often confused this preliminary judgment with the Great Tribulation, but this is not so, for the following reasons:
- On the one hand, the tribulation is a time of great persecution of Christians, as already revealed in Revelation 6:1-11.
- On the other hand, the preliminary judgment of God on the earth will be a time of great wrath upon all those who will be left behind on earth after the Rapture of the saints (except for some 144,000 Israelites), because they rejected God’s salvation and persecuted and killed those who accepted it.
Speaking of this, Revelation 16:5-7 says:
“And I heard the angel of the waters say, Thou art righteous, O Lord, which art, and wast, and shalt be, because thou hast judged thus. For they have shed the blood of saints and prophets, and thou hast given them blood to drink; for they are worthy. And I heard another, out of the altar say, Even so, Lord God Almighty, true and righteous are thy judgments.”
Therefore, the two events are different and should not be confused as one and the same thing.
B. FOR THE REPENTANCE AND SALVATION OF ISRAEL
Matthew 23:37-39; Zechariah 12:10-14; 13:1-2, 7-9.
The second reason why the Second Advent of Jesus Christ, the Saviour, will be divided into two is to allow for the national repentance of Israel in fulfilment of the words of prophecy spoken by Jesus Christ Himself in Matthew 23:38-39:
“Behold, your house is left unto you desolate. For I say unto you, Ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.”
During the reign of the Antichrist, there will be a time of severe national distress and woes in the history of Israel as a modern nation, when their only means of salvation and survival will be to acknowledge and repent of their sinful rejection of their Messiah, Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
Concerning these hard times, the prophet Zechariah wrote thus:
“And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem. And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn.”
Zechariah 12:9-10
This national repentance would be in fulfilment of Jesus Christ’s prophecy, as stated earlier, and would usher in His physical manifestation to the whole world, but particularly to the nation of Israel. See Isaiah 45:17; Romans 11:25-27.
“And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob”
Romans 11:26.
C. TO MAKE ROOM FOR THE BATTLE BETWEEN JESUS CHRIST AND THE ANTICHRIST REGIME
Revelation 19:11-21; Zechariah 14:1-7, 12-15.
The third and final reason why the Second Advent of Jesus Christ would be split into two will be to make room for the ensuing world-wide battle that must take place when Jesus Christ appears, because God cannot allow the saints to be caught in that crossfire.
The devil knows that he has a limited time to rule this world before Jesus Christ returns to take control of all God’s creations as the King of kings and the Lord of lords. This event will not take place without resistance from the devil and his legion of wicked men and fallen angels.
See Revelation 19:11, 14, 19-21:
“And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war. And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean. And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse, and against his army. And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone. And the remnant were slain with the sword of him that sat upon the horse, which sword proceeded out of his mouth: and all the fowls were filled with their flesh.”
It will be a fierce but short-lived war because Satan would be no match for Jesus Christ.
In summary, the Holy Bible teaches that after the Great Tribulation against Christians has been brought to an end by their Rapture to heaven, the next events that will be of interest to the saints will be as follows:
i. Their presentation to God by Jesus Christ in a celestial ceremony dubbed by Christians as ‘The Marriage Supper of the Lamb’.
See Revelation 19:6-10.
“And I heard as it were the voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of mighty thunderings, saying, Alleluia: for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth. Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready.”
Revelation 19:6-7.
ii. Their return to the earth with Jesus Christ to rule and reign with Him over the nations for a thousand years. This is what is dubbed by Christians as the Millennial Reign of Christ on the Earth. See Revelation 19:11-21; Zechariah 14:1-5; Revelation 20:1-6; Matthew 19:27-30.
“And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.” Revelation 20:4.
TO BE CONTINUED.