The Second Coming of Christ, Part 4

We have been studying the blessed hope of the church. What is that hope? It is the second coming of Christ, the glorious appearing of our God and Savior, Jesus Christ (Titus 2:13). Now we must ask, why does the return of Christ give us hope? When Jesus comes again, Christians will receive glorious bodies like his glorious body, and they will be united with Christ forever. This is the hope that will not make us ashamed. If this is not our hope, then we are living lives that are below the Christian gospel. If this is our hope, we will purify ourselves from all that defiles us. As the bride of Christ, we will be ever looking forward to that day of marriage, the day of his glorious appearing, and keep ourselves clean and pure, living blameless and spotless lives in this world.

So the blessed hope of the church is not that God will help us to get good jobs, good wives, good husbands, good children or good houses. Those are all of this world. We have a hope that transcends all of these, which is to meet our Savior, our bridegroom, and be united with him forever.

Characteristics of the Second Coming

In what way will Jesus come again? In Matthew 24:29-31 we read, “Immediately after the distress of those days [meaning the great tribulation of those days] ‘the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from the sky, and the heavenly bodies will be shaken.’ At that time the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and all the nations of the earth will mourn. They will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky, with power and great glory. And he will send his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other.”

1. At the time of the second coming, there will be total darkness. “The sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from the sky, and the heavenly bodies will be shaken.” Certain cataclysmic events will take place and there will be total darkness.
2. Christ’s coming will be public and visible. Christ is going to appear in a way that will be visible to all. Look at Matthew 24:27: “For as lightning that comes from the east is visible even in the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.” This will be an amazing sight. Against the background of absolute darkness, suddenly there will be a sign–the coming of the Son of Man. It will be public and visible to all. There is no secret coming of Christ taught in the Scriptures.
3. Christ will come suddenly in great glory and power. In Matthew 26:64 Jesus was asked if he was the Christ, the Son of God. “‘Yes, it is as you say,’ Jesus replied. ‘But I say to all of you: In the future you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven.'” This public, visible coming of Jesus Christ will be in great glory. He is also going to come with great power. Matthew 24:30 says, “They will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky, with power and great glory.” He will come suddenly, as we read in Mark 13:36.
4. Jesus will come personally for his church. Jesus will not send someone else to represent him. First Thessalonians 4:16 says, “For the Lord himself will come down from heaven. . .”In Acts 1:11 we read, “This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.”
5. Jesus is going to come audibly. Not only will the second coming be visible and public, but there will be sound accompanying it. We read about this in 1 Thessalonians 4:16: “For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God.”
6. Jesus will not come by himself. When Jesus comes again, he will come with the holy angels, as well as with the spirits of those who died in Christ. Those spirits are in heaven now, but when Christ comes again, these spirits will come with him.

Events of the Second Coming

1. The angels will gather the elect. When Christ comes, what will happen? First, he will send his angels throughout the world to gather his elect. Matthew 24:31 says, “And he will send his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other.” The holy angels are commissioned to go throughout the earth to gather the elect. Jesus described this in Luke 17:34. “I tell you, on that night, two people will be in one bed; one will be taken and the other left.” Now we could argue whether “taken” means taken for judgment or “left” means left for salvation. But one thing is very certain: it will be a separation of the elect from the non-elect, a separation of true believers from unbelievers.
2. This separation might occur during the daytime, night or early morning, depending where people are. In Matthew 24:40 we are told, “Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left.” so here we see it occurring in the daytime, while men are working in the fields. And in verse 41 we read, “Two women will be grinding with a handmill; one will be taken and the other left.” This could be occurring in the early morning, when women grind grain for the day. At that time there will suddenly be a separation, and one is taken, the other left.
3. The dead in Christ shall rise first. When the angels gather the elect, that means not only those who are living at the time, but also all those who died in faith in Christ, including all the saints of the Old and New Testaments. The spirits of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Paul, Peter and all who ever died in faith will be raised and gathered up. We read about this in 1 Thessalonians 4:16 and 1 Corinthians 15:52. Do you think there were believers in the Old Testament? If you question this, read the eleventh chapter of the book of Hebrews, which speaks about the one people of God.These spirits shall come with Jesus Christ and unite with their glorious bodies. These bodies are Spirit-engineered, made to exist in the presence of God. These bodies are spiritual, glorious and physical, just as the body of Jesus Christ was. Our spirits shall join with these glorious bodies at the last trumpet call. The dead in Christ shall rise first, and the angels will gather them to Christ.
4. Those who are living shall be changed. What about believers who are alive when Christ comes? They will be changed. First Corinthians 15:51-52 tells us, “We will all be changed–in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet.” What a wonderful experience–to be transformed without experiencing death!So there will be a gathering of the elect, including a separation of the elect from the non-elect. The dead in Christ shall rise first, and their spirits will be joined with their glorious bodies. Those who are living will also be changed and receive glorious bodies.

The Rapture of the Saints

What else is going to happen? There will be a rapture. Look at 1 Thessalonians 4:17, which is the only place where we find a reference to this idea of rapture: “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.” Now, the Greek word for “caught up” is harpagesometha, future passive, from harpazo, meaning to seize, snatch, or catch. The Latin of harpazo is rapio, from which you have rapture.

When Jesus Christ comes back, he will descend personally, visibly, powerfully, gloriously, and audibly. He will be followed by angels and the spirits of those who died in faith. He will commission the angels to gather the elect from throughout the world. The elect who died in Christ will be raised from the dead, while the elect who are living will be transformed. Together both groups will be raptured, caught up “in the clouds to meet the Lord.” Jesus will come with power and will cause us to be caught up to meet him in bodies able to do so. This is what the term rapture means.

What is the purpose of our rapture? “To meet the Lord in the air.” What does that mean? The word “meet” conveys the idea of a great dignitary coming to a city, for example, Rome. The Roman senators and others from Rome will go a certain distance outside the city to greet this dignitary, and together they will come to the city. So the word “meet” means that you not only greet someone, but your direction then becomes the direction of the other person. Who is this great dignitary we will be caught up to meet? The Lord Jesus Christ! And where will he be going at that time? From heaven to the planet earth.

This is not the secret rapture idea that is popular among Christians today. The “secret rapture” means that Jesus will come mid-air to rapture his people and take them back to heaven. As we have said before, this idea originated in an extra-biblical revelation that a woman in the congregation of Edward Irving received in the 1830s, and it has nothing to do with the Bible.

No, this rapture will be different. Abraham, Isaac and Jacob will be raptured. Peter, James, John, and Andrew will be there. All those who have loved the Lord throughout history will be there. They will be caught up–for what purpose? To meet the Lord in the air. They will be like those meeting the bridegroom in Matthew 25. When the cry rang out, “The bridegroom cometh!” what did the attendants do? They went out to meet him, and those with oil were admitted to the bridegroom’s feast. That is the idea of meeting. What a glorious day that will be! The hope, the blessed hope of the church, will have been realized.

What else does it say? “And so we will be with the Lord forever.” Oh, what a joyous statement! We will never be separated from Christ. This is eternal life. This is joy unspeakable and full of glory–to be with the bridegroom forever. That is the hope of the church.

Reaction to the Second Coming of Christ

When Christ comes, then, there will be lightning from one end of the earth to the other, total blackness, and then this brightness, this glory, as the Son of Man descends, with power, glory and authority, followed by angels. When those who have not trusted in Christ see these things, how will they react? Read Matthew 24:30 “At that time the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and all the nations of the earth will mourn.” There will be great mourning among the unbelievers of the earth. Why? They will see this Christ whom they mocked, cursed, and treated with contempt and total unbelief, coming in great glory and power.

Look at Luke 21. In verse 25 we read, “There will be signs in the sun, moon and stars. On the earth nations will be in anguish and perplexity at the roaring and the tossing of the sea.” There will be total confusion, perplexity and anguish. Those who denied the existence of Deity, angels and everything to do with God will not be able to understand what is happening. Verse 26: “Men will faint from terror, apprehensive of what is coming on the world, for the heavenly bodies will be shaken. At that time they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.” This will not be secret. The unbelievers will see it all, and experience anguish, perplexity, and faintness of heart. They will mourn, weep, and even cry to the mountains, “Fall on us! Fall on us! Cover us!” as we read in Revelation. They want to die as they see the day of the wrath of the Lamb coming (Rev. 6:16-17). What about the church, the believers? How will they react? It is stated very clearly in Luke 21:28: “When these things begin to take place,” Jesus counseled his people, “stand up, lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.” That word “redemption” means the receiving of our glorious bodies. Only when we have received our glorious spiritual physical bodies will we have our complete redemption. So Jesus encourages his people to lift up their heads, stand up and rejoice, knowing that when they see these events of his coming, their redemption is drawing nigh.

How will you react? Have you believed in Jesus, or are you treating him with contempt? In what are you believing? You may not believe in Deity, in the Creator, in the infinite personal God who is spirit and truth. You may not believe that he is coming again. But he is coming, whether you believe it or not.

I counsel you to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and be saved. If you do so, when he comes, you can then stand, lift up your heads and rejoice, because your redemption will be drawing nigh. The second coming is the blessed hope of the church. May you share in this hope as you trust in him. Amen.