I Will Return The Second Coming of Christ Part 2 of 2

Last Time… Jesus will in fact return, (Matthew 24:35-37). He will return for all, not just a few, (Revelation 1:7). No one knows the day nor the time of His return, not even Jesus Himself, only God knows, (Mark 13:32).

Why Is Jesus Returning? Premillenialism – The Jews regain control of all of Palestine… – Rapture of the faithful, while on earth... – Tribulation for 7 years... – 1,000 year reign Premillenialism: Pre (time of rapture, tribulation) – millenialism (1,000 years).

Will Palestine have to be restored to the Jews in order for Jesus to return? True, God did promise that the Jews were to be His chosen people at one time. – Deuteronomy 7:6 “For you are a holy people to the L ORD your God; the L ORD your God has chosen you to be a people for Himself, a special treasure above all the peoples on the face of the earth.” True, God vowed to give the Jews that Promised land. – Deuteronomy 34:4 “Then the L ORD said to him, “This is the land of which I swore to give Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, saying, ‘I will give it to your descendants.’ I have caused you to see it with your eyes, but you shall not cross over there.”

Conditions for Israel to retain that Promised land. – Exodus 19:5 “Now therefore, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be a special treasure to Me above all people; for all the earth is Mine.”

More than once, they turned their back on God. – Daniel 9:4-7 “…O Lord, great and awesome God, who keeps His covenant and mercy with those who love Him, and with those who keep His commandments, we have sinned and committed iniquity, we have done wickedly and rebelled, even by departing from Your precepts and Your judgments. Neither have we heeded Your servants the prophets…O Lord, righteousness belongs to You, but to us shame of face, as it is this day—to the men of Judah, to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and all Israel, those near and those far off in all the countries to which You have driven them, because of the unfaithfulness which they have committed against You.”

They rejected God by rejecting His Son Jesus whom they were told about in prophecy, (Isaiah 9:6-7). Jesus even mourned their rejection and self removal from their chosen nation status. – Luke 19:42-44, “If you had known, even you, especially in this your day, the things that make for your peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes. For days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment around you, surround you and close you in on every side, and level you, and your children within you, to the ground; and they will not leave in you one stone upon another, because you did not know the time of your visitation.”

Jesus proclaimed – Matthew 21:43, “Therefore I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken from you and given to a nation bearing the fruits of it.”

God kept His promise already – Joshua 21:43 “So the L ORD gave to Israel all the land of which He had sworn to give to their fathers, and they took possession of it and dwelt in it.” – Joshua 23:14-16 “Behold, this day I am going the way of all the earth. And you know in all your hearts and in all your souls that not one thing has failed of all the good things which the L ORD your God spoke concerning you. All have come to pass for you; not one word of them has failed. Therefore it shall come to pass, that as all the good things have come upon you which the L ORD your God promised you, so the L ORD will bring upon you all harmful things, until He has destroyed you from this good land which the L ORD your God has given you. When you have transgressed the covenant of the L ORD your God, which He commanded you, and have gone and served other gods, and bowed down to them, then the anger of the L ORD will burn against you, and you shall perish quickly from the good land which He has given you.”

Is Jesus coming to initiate the rapture followed by tribulation? 1Thessalonians 4:13-18 – Not silent and mysterious – Not here on earth

More than one time to repent and be saved. – 2Corinthians 6:2 “For He says: ‘In an acceptable time I have heard you, And in the day of salvation I have helped you.’ Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.” – Hebrews 9:27-28, “And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment, so Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many. To those who eagerly wait for Him He will appear a second time, apart from sin, for salvation.”

The first time Jesus came “to bear the sins of many.” The second time He will come to save “those who eagerly wait for Him.” – And, there will be no separation between the wicked and the righteous until that, (Matthew 13:24-30).

7 year tribulation originates from distortions of (Matthew 24, Daniel 7,9,12, Revelation 11) and others – If the rapture and tribulation are accurate, why, in Matthew 24:16 did Jesus tell the disciples to “flee to the mountains” and to those working in the fields to not even go back to get their clothes? Weren’t they already raptured away?

Will Jesus return to reign for 1,000 years? Some argue that Jesus’ kingdom has not yet been established – He preached that the kingdom of Heaven was about to come. Mark 1:14-15 “Now after John was put in prison, Jesus came to Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel.”.

He also told His disciples that they would be given the keys to the kingdom. – Matthew 16:19 “And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” Just before Jesus’ transfiguration, (Mark 9:1) He told His disciples, again, that the kingdom was not only at hand, but that it would come in some of their lifetimes, and that it would come with power.

This power was given in Jerusalem, on the day of Pentecost, on which day, the terms or keys for entering the kingdom or church were given by Peter and the other apostles, (Acts 1:4,8; 2:1,4,38). From this point on, the kingdom is referred to as an existing entity. – Colossians 1:13 “He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love,” – Revelation 1:9 “I, John, both your brother and companion in the tribulation and kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ, was on the island that is called Patmos for the word of God and for the testimony of Jesus Christ.”

To say that Jesus will return to establish His kingdom is to insult and deny Him – Why come back to establish something that was established in the 1 st century?

Some say He will come back in this 1,000 year time period to sit on David’s throne and rule as an earthly ruler. – Not according to Acts 2:25-36 For Jesus to return to sit on David’s earthly throne would be a demotion from His current position. – Matthew 28:18 “And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, ‘All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.’”

David’s throne was not his to own – Luke 1:31-33 “And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name J ESUS. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David. And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end.” Jesus given the throne before Hebrews written – Hebrews 1:8 “But to the Son He says: ‘Your throne, O God, is forever and ever; A scepter of righteousness is the scepter of Your kingdom’”.

Some believe He will actually come back to this earth – 1Thessalonians 4:15 “the coming of the Lord” (only one coming) – :16, He will descend from Heaven, but… – :17, He will remain in the air. – Hard to sit on David’s earthly throne, while not on the earth That would require a 3 rd coming which the Bible speaks nothing of.

For Jesus to come and rule on an earthly throne would mean that He lied to God about what He had accomplished – John 17:4 “I have glorified You on the earth. I have finished the work which You have given Me to do.”

Revelation 20:1-6 1,000 year reign Revelation highly symbolic visions (Revelation 1:10). – Even so, where is the mention of the second coming of Christ? – Where does it say there will be a bodily resurrection? – Where does it specify the beginning or the end of Christ’s reign? – Where is the mention of an earthly reign? – What about the souls of the faithful who are alive in the flesh when this reign begins? Only martyred souls are mentioned. – No mention of a literal throne, Jews or Palestine.

But that does not stop people from building an entire false doctrine around obscure symbolic passages while stepping on clear and concise truths.

So, why is Jesus Coming? To raise the dead, both the just and the unjust in “a” resurrection, (Acts 24:15). To separate the wicked from the righteous, (Matthew 25:31-34,41,46). To give recompense or reward to all based on our works, (Revelation 20:12; 22:12, 2Corinthians 5:10).

Conclusion: Do you really believe what the Bible says about Jesus’ return, or do you believe in multiple chances to prepare that the Bible teaches nothing about.

2Peter 3:10 “But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up.” 1Corinthians 15:51-52 “Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.” 1Thessalonians 4:16-17 “For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord.”

Are You Ready?