Editorial
March/April, 1996
Volume 31, Number 2
Looking down the centuries to our own day, the prophets declared that there would be a day when history would reach its climax in the judgment of God and in the return of the Messiah.
The return of Jesus Christ to this earth in glory has been the polestar of the Church rough all the centuries. The Apostle Paul calls it the “blessed hope” (Titus 2:13). John, writing from the isle of Patmos, said, “Behold, He is coming with clouds, and every eye will see Him, and they also who pierced Him” (Revelation 1:7). Christ himself declared that people would “see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory” (Matthew 24:30).
At His ascension the disciples watched, straining to catch one last glimpse of Him whom they loved. Suddenly the silence was broken. Two men in white appeared at their side, sent to bring a word of comfort and confidence to those who were watching. The men in white said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will so come in like manner as you saw Him go into heaven” (Acts 1:11). The very One who went away is the One who is coming back again.
The Bible indicates that when Christ returns the world will not be looking for Him. The nations of the world will still be looking to their own devices and searching for new master plans to save the human race. The Apostle Peter declared, “Scoffers will come in the last days, walking according to their own lusts, and saying, Where is the promise of His coming?’” (2 Peter 3:3-4). Notice that these are not altogether intellectual scoffers. They are people who know better but who love their own lust and sin so much that they rationalize away the clear teachings of Scripture.
The people back in Noah’s day did not believe that a flood was coming, but it came. Multitudes today do not believe that judgment is coming upon the world. But whether or not they believe it, does not alter God’s master plan for judging the world, cleansing the world of its evil, and puffing the Lord Jesus Christ, on the throne of the earth.
The fact that we do not know the exact time of the coming of Christ does not do away with the expectancy that should fill our hearts at all times. Jesus said, “Watch therefore, for you do not know what hour your Lord is coming” (Matthew 24:42). Our hands should be busy with his work, but our eyes should be looking up. Your watching for Jesus Christ will not keep you from being busy: It will make you even more active in His service.
The editorial was excerpted from the February, 1989 DECISION magazine article entitled “He Is Coming,” by Billy Graham. Copyright 1989, Billy Graham Evangelistic Association. Used by Permission.
The Glorious Return of Jesus Christ
By Harold S. Martin
There are a number of reasons for studying prophetic truth, but the primary reason is simply that prophecy is a vital part of God’s Word. About one-fifth of the Bible is devoted to prophecy.. There is more in the Bible about the second coming of Christ than there is about getting baptized, or forgiving others, or even about praying and singing. Surely God does not want us to ignore such a large portion of Scripture.
It is our purpose to examine a few clear prophetic lines of thought found in the Now Testament–concepts which center around the theme of the second coming of Christ.
1. THE CERTAINTY OF CHRIST’S COMING
If the second coming of Jesus were mentioned only once in the Bible we would accept it as a fact. But actually the New Testament mentions Christ’s return in more than three hundred places. The Apostle Peter says that in the latter times “scoffers will come” (2 Peter 3:3). He continues to explain that one time many years ago God promised that the earth would be destroyed with a Flood. Noah preached to the people, but they did not believe that there was going to be a flood. They scoffed. They looked at Noah’s boat, and laughed. But one day the clouds gathered and the rains poured down, and the people were forced to leave their homes. They climbed the hills, but the water soon covered the hills. They scrambled to the tops of high mountains, but the water eventually covered the mountains. The whole generation (with the exception of Noah and his family) perished in the waters of the Flood. And then the Apostle Peter in essence says, “if God, in earlier days (in the days of Noah), made a promise–and if that promise came to pass–we had better believe that His promise about the second coming of Jesus (and the destruction of the earth with fire) will also come to pass” (2 Peter 3:3-10).
The promise about Christ’s second coming is stated frankly and clearly at many places in the Bible. Jesus speaks about the certainty of His coming when He says, “And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, so that where I am, there you may be also (John 14:3). Our Lord’s promise is so simple and so clear that even a young child can readily understand.
The news magazines describe the findings of modem scholars and report that recent scholarship has “virtually dismissed the idea of a real second coming of Christ, preferring to view the Bible accounts as merely symbolic.” But at the time of the ascension of Jesus, the angels announced this message to those who were standing by: “This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven” (Acts 1:11). The coming of Jesus will be “in the same manner” as His going was. The “going” of Jesus back to heaven was an actual, literal, physical departure. The “return” of Jesus will likewise be an actual, literal, physical event.
The second coming of Jesus is not Christ’s coming at conversion. He does come to an individual at conversion, and as a result, many of us can say with the Apostle Paul, “Christ lives in me. ” But that is not Christ’s second coming.
The second coming of Jesus is not Christ’s coming to fellowship with His people when they assemble together. He does come to fellowship with His people. He promised that “where two or three are gathered” He would be there among them. But that is not Christ’s second coming.
The second coming of Jesus is not Christ’s coming for His people at death. He does come for His people at their death. He promised that when we breathe our last mortal breath, He will be at our side. He will walk with us down the valley of “the shadow of death.” None of us needs to “cross Jordan alone.” But His being with us at death is not His second coming.
The angels spoke at the time of Jesus’ ascension into heaven and said that He shall come again in exactly the same manner as He was seen to go. That requires an actual, literal, visible appearing of Jesus when He comes back to earth again. The plain teaching of 1 Thessalonians 4:16 is that “The Lord himself … with the archangel’s call and with the sound of God’s trumpet, will descend from heaven.” And in Hebrews 9:28 we are told that ‘Christ … will appear a second time, not to deal with sin, but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him.” Jesus came the first time to bear our sins (when He expired on the Cross); He is coming the second time to bring a completion to our salvation.
2. THE PHASES OF CHRIST’S COMING
Keep in mind that the coming of the Lord is one great event–in two stages. Some think there will be an interval of time between the two stages; others believe that the two primary purposes for His coming will be accomplished at essentially the same time.
1) Jesus will return to remove the church. This phase is sometimes known as the “rapture” phase of His coming. The word rapture is not used in the English translations of the Bible. It Is a Latin word which means “to snatch away.” There will be a generation of Christians that ‘will never die. In a split-second, in the twinkling of an eye, living believers will be caught up and removed from the earthly scene. Those who died “in Christ” and those who are living for Christ when He comes, will be caught up to be with the Lord. All who have embraced Christ as Saviour, and have received the Holy Spirit, and are continuing on the journey of faithfulness in the service of Christ–will suddenly be removed from earth and transported in the presence of God. The Lord’s disciples will be caught up into the air when Jesus comes and will go to be with Him. The Bible says so in 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17.
2) Jesus will return to smite the nations. The second phase of Christ’s coming is often spoken of as “the revelation phase” of His coming. The word “revelation” means “an unveiling.” When Jesus comes in the second phase of His coming, “Every eye will see him, even those who pierced him; and on his account all the tribes of the earth will wail” (Revelation 1:7). The grand climax of Bible prophecy is the coming of Jesus Christ to conquer His enemies and to set up His kingdom.
In connection with our Lord’s coming, there will occur a number of judgments which Jesus describes as “the suffering (or tribulation) of those days” (Matthew 24:29). A satanic world ruler called the Antichrist (or “the lawless one”) will come to power (2 Thessalonians 2:3). Great battles will be fought in the Middle East (Revelation 16:14-16). A portion of earth’s population will be wiped out (Revelation 9:15). Difficult times lie ahead for the inhabitants of earth.
At the first phase of His coming, Christ will remove the Church (1 Thessalonians 4:16-18). The event will come upon the human family as a thief in the night (1 Thessalonians 5:2). And Jesus says we should “watch” for we do not know ‘when the master of the house will come” (Mark 13:35).
At the second phase of His coming, Christ will conquer His enemies (Revelation 19:11-16). Jesus describes the scene when He says, “Then they will see ‘the Son of Man coming in a cloud’ with power and great glory” (Luke 21:27). And in Revelation 1:7 we read, “Look! He is coming with the clouds; every eye will see him.”
We have seen that the Scriptures speak of a “thief in the night” phase of Christ’s coming, and also of an “every eye shall see him” phase of His coming. We must keep in mind that Bible prophecies are not arranged neatly in a one-two-three order. Try and picture a Jewish student of the Scriptures in early times who was looking forward to the Messiah’s coming. The Messiah was to be born in Bethlehem–a town in the southern part of Palestine (Micah 5:2). He was to be called a Nazarene–a town in the northern part of Palestine (Matthew 2:23). And He would be called “out of Egypt”–a country way down in Africa (Hosea 11:11; Matthew 2:15). How could all those statements possibly be reconciled? But when the coming of Jesus took place, it was obvious that there was no contradiction at all! And so it is with the facts related to Christ’s second coming. There is no one portion of Scripture which neatly fills in all the details. It may very well be the Lord’s way of getting us to search and to think and to study.
John the Baptist was a gifted man and a Spirit-filled prophet who could not harmonize what he expected the Messiah to do, with what he saw Jesus doing. And so he sent representatives to Jesus who flatly asked Him if he was the Messiah. If John the Baptist failed to grasp the significance of some of the prophecies about Jesus, surely we should be cautious about announcing every detail related to prophecy as if we knew all the answers.
Details surrounding the second coming of Christ are difficult to sort out. There are some principal lines of thought that are clear however. The book of Revelation, for example, depicts a vision of the glorified Christ, and then a description of conditions that occur in the church throughout the church age, and then a series of endtime events. The Apostle John was told to write the things he had seen (the vision of the glorified Christ), and the things that are now (the description of conditions in the churches during the present age), and the things which will take place “after this” (Revelation 1:19). The door opened in heaven and the sound of the trumpet (Revelation 4:1) can easily symbolize the removal of the church. The judgments described (in chapters 6 through 18) picture the tribulation suffering. And the returning of the King of kings in great power and glory (Revelation 19:11 6) are a picture of His smiting the nations and ruling with absolute authority.
3. THE TIME OF OUR LORD’S RETURN
No person knows the exact hour of the return of Jesus Christ. Jesus clearly states that fact, as recorded in Matthew 24:42 (and also in verses 44 and 50 of the same chapter).
Occasionally down through history people have ignored this truth and have set dates for the Lord’s return. The most recent widely published example of date-setting was the prediction by Harold Camping that Jesus would return in September, 1994. Satan seems to want either to get people to fix a date for the Lord’s return in our own generation, or else he tries to get people to push the event so far into the future that they end up scarcely thinking about it at all. Both extremes are wrong.
Over the years, some have set dates and prepared for an early departure from earth. They sometimes have gathered at an appointed place, hoping to meet the Lord. Large numbers of people thought that Jesus would return about 1000 A.D. As the year 1000 approached, multitudes of people speculated about the Antichrist and made the long and dangerous journey to Jerusalem and waited for Jesus to set foot on the Mount of Olives. But the coming of Jesus did not happen. We are now only a relatively few hundred days from the end of the second millennium since the first coming of Jesus–and we will likely see a repeat of this kind of sensationalism as the year 2000 approaches.
Many have read the story of the “Millerites” gathering on hillsides and rooftops in their white ascension robes on October 22, 1844. They sold their farms, gave away their possessions, and left their fields go unharvested that year. The Millerites were followers of a man named William Miller, a Baptist preacher from Vermont. The Seventh Day Adventist Church was later established as an outgrowth of Miller’s teachings. There were more than one million adherents of Miller’s ideas in 1844, but as October 22, 1844 came to its close–and nothing significant happened–William Miller wept like a child. Miller was sincere but he was misguided.
There is simply no way by which we can tell when Jesus will come back. We know there are certain general signs which point to the return of Christ. Just as travelers can often tell when they are approaching a town, by reading the signs along the road, so Christians can notice certain special signs taking place on earth-signs which make our hearts beat faster. There is, for example, the decay of moral standards on a global scale. And then–the rise of militant forces against Jerusalem; the dangerous cults which are deceiving millions; the unusual environmental disturbances; the violence which is marching out of control–all these are evidences of our Lord’s return, and they keep mounting every day. Jesus may come for His followers before those signs are completely fulfilled. There is not one prophecy that needs to be fulfilled before Jesus returns.
Jesus will return on an ordinary day when people are doing ordinary things. The wicked will be practicing their ordinary sins. The followers of our Lord will be doing their ordinary service. The only thing we know for sure about the removal of the church, is that it will be sudden and it will come at an unexpected moment. Jesus uses illustrations like the flash of lightning (Luke 17:24), the breaking-in of a thief (Matthew 24:43), and the unannounced return of a master (Mark 13:35)–when He talks about His coming again.
The challenge to believers is to be ready always, not because of today’s trends, but because we don’t know when Jesus is coming back. All we know for sure is that when He does come, it will be a sudden experience.
4. THE GLORY OF CHRIST’S COMING
The first phase of Christ’s coming will be glorious. The passage in 1 Thessalonians 4 says that when our believing loved ones die, we are not to grieve as others do who have no hope. In fact those who are dead “in Christ” will rise first, and those who are alive at His coming will be “caught up in the clouds together with them” and we will be “with the Lord forever.” The conclusion of the paragraph is given in verse 18: “Therefore encourage one another with these words.” That is a glorious promise. Believers will see Christ and be with Him and will never be separated from His presence. We are to comfort one another with these words.
The second phase of Christ’s coming will also be glorious. The description of the time when Jesus Christ will be “revealed from heaven (2 Thessalonians 1:5-9) indicates that the Lord Jesus will come “with his mighty angels in flaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus” (verse 8). The Bible says that we can take comfort in the fact that one day everyone will stand before God, and that then wrongs will be righted and evil will be terminated. Verse 10 (of 2 Thessalonians 1) says that Christ’s revelation will “be marveled at on that day” by all those who have believed.
My heart leaps at the sound of the words of the angels at the time of Jesus’ ascension into heaven: “This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven” (Acts 1:11). One of these days, the same Jesus who walked by the shores of Galilee, and had compassion on the multitudes, and then was scourged and reviled and crucified–will descend from heaven and catch away those who have served Him. There is a little motto that hangs on the walls of some of our homes. It says, “Perhaps Today.” That is a good little phrase. We must never forget that Jesus may come on any day. It may be today; it may be tomorrow; it may be next week; it may be far into the future. But it will not be announced. It will be sudden and unexpected.
The truth about the return of Jesus Christ should constrain us to want to diligently purify our lives. The Apostle John wrote about this truth in saying that when Jesus shall appear, ‘We will be like him, for we will see him as he is. And all who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure” (1 John 3:2-3). The Apostle Peter looked at future events, and said, “Since all these things are to be dissolved in this way, what sort of persons ought you to be in leading lives of holiness and godliness … (and) while you are waiting for these things, strive to be found by him at peace, without spot or blemish” (2 Peter 3:11-14). The coming of Christ should have a purifying affect on our lives.
It is our duty to “occupy” until Jesus comes. In the parable of the king’s ten servants, we are told to do the business that needs to be done “until I come back” (Luke 19:13). While waiting for the coming of Jesus in glory, we must be diligent about doing the work which Jesus assigned us to do. We are to make disciples, and baptize new believers, and then teach them to follow Christ. We must live our lives as though Jesus might return within the next hour. Yet, we must move ahead, and on into the future, as though He might not return in our lifetime.