It is an undeniable, indisputable fact that Jesus Christ is coming again. Neither your belief in that fact nor your unbelief in that fact will alter it in the least. Jesus Christ is coming again. He is coming for His church, His people who have been washed in the blood of the Lamb of God, slain from the foundation of the world.
When it comes to the prophecy regarding the end of time, there are differences of opinion concerning various aspects. I do not expect everyone to agree with me on every prophetic detail. There are sound, solid ministers of the gospel who differ with my opinions as to the details of prophecy. When it comes to defining the beast, identifying the false prophet, the details of the tribulation period, and other discussions within the prophetic realm, it is certain that we will not all agree on each of these subjects.
BUT…There are some aspects of Christ’s second coming upon which we must agree. As to these aspects, to disagree is to preach absolute falsehood. Let me briefly discuss these aspects.
Christ Will Return Literally
When Jesus Christ returns for His church, it will be literal. Look with me at I Thessalonians 4:16-18 –
“For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words.”
The apostle plainly says, “The Lord Himself shall descend.” The coming of the Lord for His church is NOT the death of a believer. When a believer dies, He goes to be with the Lord. When Christ returns, He comes to gather His saints. Paul is talking plainly about Christ Himself descending to this literal earth to literally gather together the saints of God to ever be with Him. This is a literal event that we call the rapture. Yes, it is true that the word “rapture” is not in the Bible. But its meaning is found in the above verses – “we which are alive and remain shall be CAUGHT UP…” This is rapture – it is the literal descent of the Son of God, followed by the literal resurrection of those who are dead in Christ, followed then by the living saints being “caught up” to meet the Lord in the air. If you do not preach that Christ is coming literally for His church, you are not preaching the Bible.
Christ Will Return Bodily
After Christ rose from the dead, He rose with a body. He had flesh and blood. He could be touched and handled. Notice what Christ spoke after He resurrected from the dead in Luke 24:39 –
“Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have.”
After He arose, Christ was not a “spirit body” as the so-called Jehovah’s Witnesses teach. Christ plainly stated, after His resurrection, “A spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have.” Jesus was resurrected with a literal body, and will return the same way He ascended to heaven – with a literal body! Notice –
Acts 1:11 – “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.”
Christ is coming as He departed – with a literal body!
Date-Setting is Against Biblical Teaching
In this present day, many attempts have been made to set dates for the Lord’s return. I have already pointed out that the Jehovah’s Witnesses believe that Christ resurrected from the dead with a “spirit body” as opposed to a literal body. They believe this for a good reason.
Twice in the 1800s, the Jehovah’s Witnesses set a date for the Lord’s return. Both predictions were wrong. Then, a third prediction was made. The Lord was to return to earth in 1914. That was wrong also. To compensate for their false teaching, the Witnesses claim that Christ DID return in 1914 – He returned invisibly, in “spirit.” Christ is not returning for His church in “spirit;” but literally, and the church will LITERALLY rise to meet Him in the air.
Date-setting has been attempted many times by many people throughout the years. Since this fact is undeniable, and has been wrong 100% of the time, many people have been turned off by the preaching of the second coming of Jesus Christ. Know this – every individual who has ever set a date for the coming of Jesus Christ is doing so IN OPPOSITION TO Biblical teaching. Look with me at Christ’s words in Mark 13:32 –
“But of that day and that hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father.”
Christ plainly taught that the day and hour of His return are known to no man, no angel, not even the Son of God, but the Father only. If a man tells you that he knows when the return of Christ will occur, he is a bold-faced liar.
Harold Camping has predicted that the end of the world will begin on Judgment Day, which will occur on May 21, 2011. His advertisements have been on billboards throughout the United States. Know this – the man has made predictions concerning the end of the world before – and was dead wrong.
If you are proclaiming a date for the Lord’s return, you are not preaching the Bible.
The Bible Admonishes the Church to Be Ready for the Lord’s Coming
The last point I will make is a simple one, but the most important one. What you teach concerning the coming of the Lord should cause people to be ready for the Lord’s coming.
As I previously stated, Christians may disagree on various aspects of His return. But here is a point that we must all stress – “Be ready for His coming.”
Not once in the New Testament is the church ever admonished to “be ready for the tribulation,” “watch for the coming of the antichrist,” “wait for the wrath of God,” or “look for the man of sin.” We are, however, many times commanded to “wait for,” “watch for,” “look for,” and “be ready for” the coming of our Lord. If your doctrine has people stirred about the coming of anything or anyone other than Jesus Christ, you need to re-examine your doctrine. Look at the following verses, none of which need comment –
Matthew 24:42 – “Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come.”
Matthew 24:44 – “Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh.”
Matthew 24:46 – “Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing.”
Matthew 24:50 – “The lord of that servant shall come in a day when he looketh not for him, and in an hour that he is not aware of.”
Matthew 25:13 – “Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh.”
Mark 13:33 – “Take ye heed, watch and pray: for ye know not when the time is.”
Mark 13:35-37 – “Watch ye therefore: for ye know not when the master of the house cometh, at even, or at midnight, or at the cockcrowing, or in the morning: Lest coming suddenly he find you sleeping. And what I say unto you I say unto all, Watch.
Luke 12:35-37 – “Let your loins be girded about, and your lights burning; And ye yourselves like unto men that wait for their lord, when he will return from the wedding; that when he cometh and knocketh, they may open unto him immediately. Blessed are those servants, whom the lord when he cometh shall find watching: verily I say unto you, that he shall gird himself, and make them to sit down to meat, and will come forth and serve them.”
Luke 12:39, 40 – “And this know, that if the goodman of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched, and not have suffered his house to be broken through. Be ye therefore ready also: for the Son of man cometh at an hour when ye think not.”
Luke 12:43 – “Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing.”
I Corinthians 1:4-7 – “I thank my God always on your behalf, for the grace of God which is given you by Jesus Christ; That in every thing ye are enriched by him, in all utterance, and in all knowledge; Even as the testimony of Christ was confirmed in you: So that ye come behind in no gift; waiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
Philippians 3:20 – “For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ.”
I Thessalonians 1:9, 10 – “For they themselves shew of us what manner of entering in we had unto you, and how ye turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God; And to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come.”
Titus 2:13 – “Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ.”
Hebrews 9:28 – “So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and to them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation.”
Hebrews 10:37 – “For yet a little while, and he that shall come will come, and will not tarry.”
James 5:8, 9 – “Be ye also patient, stablish your hearts: for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh. Grudge not one against another, brethren, lest ye be condemned: behold, the judge standeth before the door.”
I Peter 4:7 – “But the end of all things is at hand: be ye therefore sober, and watch unto prayer.”
II Peter 3:12 – “Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heaven being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with a fervent heat.”
Are you “looking for,” “waiting for,” “watching for,” and “ready for” the Lord’s coming? Or are you anticipating the coming of something or someone else? May every lost reader pray today for the Lord to save him; and may every Christian pray with honesty and earnestness – “Even so, come Lord Jesus!”
