His Second Coming

The second coming of the Lord to this world is a truth and reality of overwhelming power that is threaded throughout the entire Bible. There are a number of accounts of it in the prophets, and it is also spoken of in the law. There are so many references in fact that I really don’t feel like taking the time at this moment to reference all of them. You can look them up for yourself if you like. Jesus spoke of his second coming a number of times in the Gospels, and the apostles detailed these things often in their writings as well. There are also two resurrections of the dead spoken of in the Bible, and Jesus set that fact in order with simplicity: “Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves 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 damnation” (Jn. 5:28,29). In Revelation 19 we are given John’s account of the second coming of Jesus which he saw in a vision (Rev. 19:11-21). In the continuation of that vision John described the beginning of the thousand year reign of Christ and the saints, which takes place AFTER the Lord’s second coming. I would like for you to look closely at what John said about this: “And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years. But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. THIS IS THE FIRST RESURRECTION. Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years” (Rev. 20:4-6).

Now there are two very important things that we see here about the two resurrections that Jesus spoke of, and that the remainder of the Bible speaks of as well. The first thing is that the FIRST resurrection [of the just] takes place AT the second coming of the Lord which is described in the previous chapter in Revelation. The other thing is that the SECOND resurrection [of the damned] takes place at the END of the thousand year reign of Jesus and his faithful saints on earth. That is what is plainly in the above quoted passage from Rev. 20:4-6. Now we need to understand that there is only ONE second coming of Jesus to this world that is spoken of in the Bible. In all honesty it couldn’t possibly make any sense to consider that there COULD BE more than one second coming. If there were such a thing, then that would constitute a second coming AND ALSO a third coming of the Lord, which makes no sense, neither is it in the Bible. Two angels who were present at the ascension of Jesus told it just like it is: “And while they looked stedfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel; 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” (Acts 1:10,11). That’s simple enough. He’s coming again in the clouds of heaven, at which time he will catch up his faithful, dead and living, “to meet him in the air” (I Thess. 4:16,17; Mat. 24:30; Mat. 26:64; Rev. 1:7). I’ve shown these few simplistic things to make this point. The modern ‘rapture’ tradition is NOT in the Bible, nor is it of God in any way, shape, or form. The Lord’s second coming and the raising of the faithful dead, is something that is put across with different words and from varying perspectives throughout the Bible; and because of that many have read a lot of things into the scriptures about this subject, and have thereby justified the 'rapture’ mindset. Nevertheless there simply is no event mentioned in the Bible where anyone is “caught away” to be with Jesus BEFORE his one and only second coming, when he will be seen by all the world and will take vengeance against the wicked who have rejected him (Rev. 1:7; Mat. 24:29-31; II Thess. 1:7-9).

Anyone who cleaves to the 'rapture’ tradition may be in danger of being taken in by the “strong delusion” that is going to come upon the whole world before the end comes (II Thess. 2:3,4,8-12; Mat. 24:4,5). That delusion will be that Jesus Christ has come back BEFORE he has actually come back visibly from heaven. That is why Jesus gave admonitions like the following: “Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not. For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect” (Mat. 24:23,24). If someone holds to the 'rapture’ teaching, and times start getting seriously difficult to live in; they may very well be prone to giving in to the 'Jesus has already come’ delusion, and thereby believe that they HAVE been 'raptured’ already. That would certainly be a comfortable alternative to being put to death for the truth’s sake, as the scriptures say will be done to many of the faithful (Mat. 24:9; Rev. 13:15; Rev. 20:4). If you believe in the rapture tradition my friend, then go back and read this post again, and look up the scriptures that are referenced. I could have written a book here, and probably need to do so; but it’s for sure that nothing else in the Bible is going to contradict the simplistic, consistent truth of what is written here and taken consistently from the scriptures. There quite simply is no 'rapture’ in the Bible, and neither will there be one before Jesus comes from heaven for all to see: “Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen” (Rev. 1:7). In order to 'find’ the rapture in the Bible, one must read it into the scriptures, and thereby contradict everything in the Bible about the topic. THAT is NOT a safe and good way to read the Bible my friend. Amen.