Our Lord's Second Coming

The purpose of this booklet is to present to the readers a number of prophetic Scriptures that deal with the second coming of Jesus Christ. Only brief observations will be made after each text to summarize the main point dealing with Jesus' return. This subject presents to us a grand hope of a soon-coming future day that when Jesus does come again many wonderful things will occur for the benefit of all mankind, including the present-day followers of Jesus. It is also the purpose of this booklet to stimulate a further interest in its readers to do a much deeper study, proving all things to themselves (1 Thess.5:21) and thereby strengthening their faith in the promises of God. In these troublesome times in which we live, everyone needs a hope for a peace-filled environment in which mankind can prosper without fear and despair. This will happen when Jesus Christ, the Prince of peace, comes again to establish His Father's Kingdom on the earth. This is the very Kingdom for which we so often pray in what is known as "The Lord's Prayer," when we say "Your kingdom come, Your will be done on earth even as it is done in heaven" (Matthew 6:10), which will be accomplished by the end of His reign.

We read in Genesis 28:13-14: "Behold, the LORD stood above it (a ladder), and said, I am the LORD God of Abraham your father, and the God of Isaac: the land whereon you lie, to you will I give it, and to your seed; And your seed shall be as the dust of the earth, and you shall spread abroad to the west, and to the east, and to the north, and to the south: and in you and in your seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed." 

This long-awaited seed is Jesus Christ who descended from the line of Abraham. The Apostle Paul in Galatians 3:16 makes that identification for us: 'The promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. The Scripture does not say 'and to seeds,' meaning many people, but 'and to your seed,' meaning one person, who is Christ."

We will now look at some of the Scriptures that point us forward to the day that this Seed, Jesus Christ, will return to earth to receive His Bride and subsequently to establish and rule God's earthly Kingdom, blessing all the families of earth. His Bride, (the overcoming members of the Church) as joint-heirs with Him, will be privileged to assist Him in this grand task. See Romans 8:17. 

Isaiah 9:6-7: "For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth, even forever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this." This Son is Jesus who was born approximately 2,000 years ago, who will one day soon replace the governments of this world and establish God's Everlasting and Righteous Kingdom of Peace.

Isaiah 16:5: "And in mercy shall the throne be established; and He shall sit upon it in truth in the tabernacle of David. judging, and seeking judgment, and hastening righteousness." Jesus will sit on David's throne as the Righteous Judge in His Kingdom.

Daniel 7:13-14: "In my vision at night I looked, and there before me was one like a son of man, coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into his presence. He was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all peoples, nations and men of every language worshiped Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and His kingdom is one that will never be destroyed." Jesus was given all authority by His Father at His resurrection (Mathew 28:18). 

Matthew 25:31: "When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, He will sit on His throne in heavenly glory." Jesus prophesies His reign at His Second Coming. 

Mark 8:38: "If anyone is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when He comes in His Father's glory with the holy angels." Jesus is coming in glory at His Second Advent. 

Luke 12:40: "You also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect Him." Jesus' coming again will be at an undisclosed time. No one knows exactly when it will be.

John 14:2-3: "In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take YOU to be with Me that YOU also may be where I am." Jesus has promised to return to take His faithful followers, His Bride, to be with Him. This has yet to happen. 

Acts 1:11: "Men of Galilee," they (two angels) said, "why do you stand here looking into the sky? 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." The angels prophesied to the disciples that Jesus will return in a similar fashion as when He left. 

1 Thessalonians 3:13: "May He strengthen your hearts so that YOU will be blameless and holy in the presence of our God and Father when our Lord Jesus comes with all His holy ones." Paul points forward to the future when Jesus will come again. Paul's desire is that they will be found blameless and holy when Jesus does return. 

1 Thessalonians 4:13-18: "Brothers, we do not want you to be ignorant about those who fall asleep, or to grieve like the rest of men, who have no hope. We believe that Jesus died and rose again, and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. According to the Lord's own word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left till the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord Himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and 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. Therefore, encourage each other with these words." Paul tells us that when Jesus returns for His Bride, the dead will be resurrected first to a spirit nature, then those who are still living at that time will be changed to the same spirit nature, and together (simultaneously) they will both be taken up to be with the Lord forever. 

This is verified in 1 Corinthians 15:51-53: “Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed; in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable. and the mortal with immortality." When the Lord returns, it will be to receive His complete Bride, both those dead and living.

1 Thessalonians 5:2: "For you know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night." A thief comes unexpectedly and without warning; such will be Jesus' Second Coming. 

2 Thessalonians 1:5-7: "All this is evidence that God's judgment is right, and as a result you will be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you are suffering. God is just: He will pay back trouble to those who trouble you and give relief to you who are troubled, and to us as well. This will happen when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven in blazing fire with His powerful angels." Recompense is given to those who persecuted the followers of Jesus when He comes again and gives relief to those who have been persecuted because of their faithfulness. 

2 Peter 3: 10: "But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare." Peter tells us that Jesus' coming will be unexpected, without warning, and the present social orders and governments will be destroyed. 

Revelation 3: 11: "I am coming soon. Hold on to what you have; let no one take your crown." Jesus encourages His followers to faithfulness at His soon coming.

Revelation 22:7: "Behold, I am coming soon! Blessed is he who keeps the words of the prophecy in this book." Jesus again enjoins faithfulness at His imminent coming. 

Revelation 22:12: "Behold, I am coming soon! My reward is with me, and I will give to everyone according to what he has done." Jesus is saying that at His soon return, He will reward His faithful followers according to their faithfulness with what He has given them. 

This is also taught by Jesus in a parable found in Mathew 25:14-30: "Again, it (the coming Kingdom) will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his property to them. To one he gave five talents of money, to another two tal-ents, and to another one talent, each according to his ability Then he went on his journey" (vs. 14-15). "After a long time the master of those servants returned and settled accounts with them" (vs. 19). Jesus went away to heaven and at His return will reward His servants (the Church) according to their faithfulness. Again, His return is unexpected, with no warning given.

Matthew 25: 1-13: “At that time the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish and five were wise. The foolish ones took their lamps but did not take any oil with them. The wise, however, took oil in jars along with their lamps. The bridegroom was a long time in coming, and they all became drowsy and fell asleep. At midnight the cry rang out: 'Here's the bridegroom! Come out to meet him!' Then all the virgins woke up and trimmed their lamps. The foolish ones said to the wise, 'Give us some of your oil; our lamps are going out.' 'No,' they replied, 'there may not be enough for both us and you. Instead, go to those who sell oil and buy some for yourselves.' But while they were on their way to buy the oil, the bridegroom arrived. The virgins who were ready went in with him to the wedding banquet. And the door was shut. Later the others also came. 'Sir! Sir!' they said. 'Open the door for us!' But he replied, 'l tell you the truth, don't know you.' Therefore keep watch. because you do not know the day or the hour." Jesus uses this commonly understood custom of His day to make the point to His disciples that His coming again though delayed would be unexpected. The main lesson is that His followers are to be in continual expectation, ready and watching carefully for His return.

Psalm 96:11-13: "Let the heavens rejoice, let the earth be glad; let the sea resound, and all that is in it; let the fields be jubilant, and everything in them. Then all the trees of the forest will sing for joy; they will sing before the LORD, for He comes. He comes to judge the earth. He will judge the world in righteousness and the peoples in His truth." To the godly-minded, this is the event for which the world has been groaning in their search for peace, harmony, and freedom from the world's bondage to the world's decay and degradation in which mankind in general find themselves at this present time. This is prophesied by the Apostle Paul in Romans 8:19-22: "The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed. For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God. We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time."

Revelation 11:15: “The seventh angel sounded his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven, which said: 'The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ. and He will reign for ever and ever.'" This is the very purpose for which Christians have prayed for some 2000 years. It is the only hope for man to ever have peace on earth and good will towards men" that the angels announced at Jesus' birth.

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. They will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky, with power and great glory." When Jesus comes again, all the nations will mourn because they will realize that judgment has come, and the old ways and present governments are about to be destroyed in preparation for God's Kingdom - a change they do not want. 

Zechariah 12:10: "And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and supplication. They will look on me, the one they have pierced, and they will mourn for him as one mourns for an only child, and grieve bitterly for him as one grieves for a firstborn son." 

Revelation 1:7: "Look, He is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see Him, even those who pierced Him; and all the peoples of the earth will mourn because of Him. So shall it be! Amen." 

Both of the above texts are prophesying that when the Lord comes again, the Jewish nation will finally acknowledge that Jesus was the one that their nation had crucified almost two thousand years ago on Calvary's cross. They will be filled with regret for having rejected their Messiah then and for all these many years since then. This will also be a worldwide recognition that Jesus has now returned. 

John 5:28-29: "Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in which all that are in the tombs shall hear his voice, and shall come forth, they that have done good,  unto the resurrection of life, and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of judgment." Jesus is  telling us that one day when He returns, the dead who are in their grave will hear His call for them to  come out, and will experience the resurrection that the Apostle Paul stressed was all important to the  Christian faith in 1 Corinthians, the 15th chapter. 

Isaiah 26:9 tells us about the purpose of the "resurrection of judgment." It says, " ... for when your judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness." Yes, resurrected man will have the opportunity to then learn righteous without any hindrance from Satan, for as Rev. 20:1 & 2 tells us, Satan will be put out of commission for the whole thousand-year kingdom.

What is it that will be accomplished by Jesus and His Bride in this coming Kingdom? Many scriptures are explicit on this subject, such as Isa. 2:1-4, 11:1-13, 41:1-20, 44:1-4, 55:1-13, 60:1-22, 65:17-25; Zech. 8:1-23, 14:16-21. The Kingdom has been described in a beautiful overview and is quoted below. Read it slowly and realize the awesome work that will be accomplished in the thousand-year reign of Christ and His Bride.

A Preview of the Finished Kingdom

Close your eyes for a moment to the scenes of misery and woe, degradation and sorrow that yet prevail on account of sin, and picture before your mental vision the glory of the perfect earth. 

Not a stain of sin mars the harmony and peace of a perfect society; not a bitter thought, not an unkind look or word; love, welling up from every heart, meets a kindred response in every other heart, and benevolence marks every act.

There sickness shall be no more; not an ache nor a pain, nor any evidence of decay -- not even the fear of such things.

Think of all the pictures of comparative health and beauty of human form and feature that you have ever seen, and know that perfect humanity will be of still surpassing loveliness. The inward purity and mental and moral perfection will stamp and glorify every radiant countenance.

Such will earth’s society be; and weeping bereaved ones will have their tears all wiped away, when thus they realize the resurrection work complete. – Revelation 21:4.

Revelation 21:1-5: “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was o longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, ‘now the dwelling of God is with men and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.’ He who was seated on the throne said, ‘I am making everything new?’ Then he said, ‘Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”

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