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SIGNS
OF CHRIST’S COMING
Man has sought to determine the
time of Christ’s second coming since the end of the first century.
There are some things about Christ’s coming that we can know and
be certain about.
First,
we can know beyond any doubt that he is coming again.
That Jesus is coming is spoken of more than twenty times in the
scriptures. 1 Thessalonians 2:19
For what is our hope, or joy, or crown of rejoicing? Are not even
ye in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at his coming? 1 John 2:28
And now, little children, abide in him; that, when he shall
appear, we may have confidence, and not be ashamed before him at his
coming.
Second,
we can know some things that will be true (will happen simultaneously
with) at His coming. All the dead will be raised (John 5:28-29).
It will be announced with a shout and with the voice of the arch- angel,
and with the trump of God (1 Thess. 4:16). They that are Christians,
both those in the grave and those that are alive shall be caught up with
Christ in the clouds, to
ever be with him. (1 Thess. 4:14-17). Jesus will claim his own (John
14:3). Every eye will see him (Rev. 1:7). He will return in
a like manner as he ascended into heaven (Acts 1:10-11). Jesus
will bring all the souls of the righteous dead with Him (1 Thess.
4:14-17, 3:12). We know the
wicked will go into eternal punishment (John 5:28-29, Rev. 20).
There
are some things believed by many that will not happen at Christ’s
coming. The wicked, dead
and alive, will not remain on the earth. (John 5:28-29). There will not
be a third or fourth coming of the Lord as necessitated by some
millennium teachers! Such teaching cannot be found in the scriptures.
There will be only one resurrection of the bodies of the dead,
wicked and righteous (John 5:28-29,
Rev. 20:10-15). The
“first resurrection” spoken of in Revelation 20:5-6 relates to our
obedience of the gospel, not a first resurrection of dead bodies.
To give the wicked years on earth would make God and Christ a
respector of persons. If it would
not, why would it not. The truth is that there is NO TEACHING in
the scriptures that Christ will ever set foot on earth again! The
teaching that says there will be a thousand-year reign of Christ on
earth, first takes figurative language in Revelation and tries to make
it literal. Second they
misuse the scriptures and misunderstand the true nature of Christ’s
kingdom. “Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom
were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be
delivered to the Jews: but now is my kingdom not from hence.” (John
18:36) In 1 Corinthians
15:23-28 Christ is said to deliver the kingdom back to the Father at
His coming, not establish it on earth.
Jesus tied his church and his kingdom together as one in Matthew
16:18-19, (Cf. Col. 1:13 -in the kingdom, Heb. 12:28).
Now let
us look at the signs of his coming. Regularly from denominational
preachers you hear proclamations of the signs of Christ’s second coming.
With these proclamations you hear warnings that these signs prove
that Jesus’ coming is eminent. They get people all worked up into a
frenzy. There are two warnings about false prophets in Deuteronomy 13:5
and 18:19-22 that the religious world needs to give heed to today.
Many dates have been set over the two-thousand years since the
beginning of the church
that have proven date setters to be false prophets.
Truly
the Bible teaches man to watch and be prepared for his coming. We should
live each day as if it was the last. But the scriptures give no specific
signs of his coming. Those given are general in nature as in Matthew
24:36-43. The earlier signs mentioned in Matthew 24 pertain to the
destruction of Jerusalem in A. D. 70 as do the majority of those in the
book of Revelation. The
Bible actually tells us we cannot know the specific time of his return.
It says Christ will come as a thief in the night 1 Thessalonians 5:1-6
and Revelation 16:15. When he comes it will be judgment day and all
opportunities to obey the gospel will be past. Only God knows when that
day will be, WATCH |