The Second Coming

Tonight we're on lesson number three out of our 20-part series on eschatology, and we're looking at one of the sweetest doctrines that you can ever contemplate, and that is the Second Coming. So let's begin now with Bible point number one.

The Second Coming is the blessed hope — hope is the first blank — of the church. It's the blessed hope of the church. Christ's Second Coming, or Second Advent as it is also called, is promised throughout the New Testament. His first Advent, or His first coming, of course, was His nativity, right, the incarnation. He came, lived as a man, took on flesh, but without sin, lived a perfect life, was crucified, died, and was buried, and He rose again. He ascended to heaven where He is now, but He's coming. He's coming again to judge the quick and the dead.

The church eagerly waits in anticipation for Christ's triumphant — triumphant is the second blank — return. His triumphant return is not going to be Jesus, meek and mild, Jesus and lowly, servant form. He is coming as we see Him in Revelation chapter one, glorified, and in great holy power.

The church eagerly waits in anticipation for Christ's triumphant return, in which He will reveal — reveal is the third blank — Himself in glory. He's going to reveal Himself in glory. We're going to see the glorified Christ when He returns. What John and Peter got a glimpse of on the Mount of Transfiguration, we're going to see in fullness, the brightness of His glory, the same glory that knocked Paul down and blinded Paul, the same glory where they on the Transfiguration fell as dead men. That is the power and the glory in which He will reveal in His return, in which He will reveal Himself in glory, gather His people to Himself and imparting His glory to them. In other words, His glory is not just for His own. He's going to be sharing it with the church. We'll be glorified at His return. Punish the wicked and usher in the new heavens and earth.

It's a lot to unpack and we'll be doing that as we go through each of these Bible points tonight. Christ's return will be personal, literal, invisible, accompanied by His angelic army and all the saints with shouting, the voice of an archangel and the trumpet of God. In a few weeks, we'll be looking at the actual details of His return, and the characteristics of His return. We'll go through all this here. That's personal, that it's literal, that it's visible. Christ's return will be the entire submission of the will of man to the will of God in the full consummation of His kingdom. When He returns, every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. It is the completion of salvation. We will be glorified at that point. All things will be made new — new is the fourth blank.

Let's look at 1 Thessalonians 4:16. It says, "For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first." What a beautiful, awesome thing that will be. Remember when the children of Israel were led by Moses out of bondage, out of slavery, out of Egypt through the Red Sea, and they went to Mount Sinai. And there God met with them in a bright cloud with thunders and lightnings. And the voice was so loud they couldn't bear it. They said, "You talk to Moses, right?" The trumpet sounded and got louder and louder and louder. That's a foretaste of the return of our Lord Jesus Christ.

The application for number one, Christ's return is full of joy and hope for the believer — for the believer is the blank, or the application for number one. Oftentimes, unfortunately, Christians have a skewed misunderstanding of the return of Christ, and it fills them with dread. And it fills them with despair, and it shouldn't. For the Christian, it is pure, unmitigated joy when Christ returns.

Bible point number two, Jesus spoke of His return — return is the first blank for number two — several times as He approached His crucifixion. We'll see that in Matthew 24:30, Matthew 25:19 and 31, Matthew 26:64, and then John 14:3. At His ascension, the angels declared, "Men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into the heaven? This same Jesus who was taken up from you into heaven will so come in like" — like is the second blank — "in the same manner, as you saw Him go into heaven," Acts 1:11.

So we have Jesus Himself teaching it. We have the angels teaching it at His ascension, and we have the apostles teaching it. The apostles often taught the return of Christ, especially to encourage — encourage is the third blank — the church. You'll see references here in Acts 20, Philippians 3:20, 1 Thessalonians 2, 2 Thessalonians 1, Titus 2, and Hebrews 9:28. We don't have time to look those up, so I encourage you, let this be your meat this week in your quiet times. Look up these verses, chase these down. Sometimes preachers are guilty of what's called spoof texting. They'll make a statement and they'll say, "Look up this verse," but they hope you never look it up because what they've done, they've taken it out of context. There's a difference between a spoof text and a proof text. You'll see that these are talking about how the return of Christ encourages the church and how the apostles use that to comfort a church that has been persecuted, a church that has been picked apart and oppressed by the world.

2 Peter 1:16 says, "We made known to you the power and the coming of our Lord Jesus." Peter's saying, "We preach this to you about His power and about His coming." This was one of the apostolic doctrines that they constantly repeated in the church. I dare say that by and large in today's churches, it's often neglected doctrine. Many churches will talk about things like how to win in the boardroom, how to be a better friend, these things that make life easy, so to speak, but they don't want to talk about repentance, they don't want to talk about faith, they don't want to talk about judgment, which is all tied up with the Lord's return.

Application for number two, do you regularly contemplate — contemplate is the blank for number two — the Second Coming of Christ? Do you meditate on it? Do you think about it? How often in your daily life do you consider the Second Coming of Christ? Remember what Revelation says, "Even so, come, Lord Jesus." That should flow off of our lips, right? When you're faced with evil and you've had a bad day, you should say, "Even so, come, Lord Jesus," a prayer for His return.

Bible point number three, Christ's return is called the parousia, which means coming — coming is the first blank. The apokalupsis, which means revealing — the first blank is coming for number three. The second blank for number three is revealing. And the epiphaneia, which means appearing — appearing, so the first blank is coming, the second blank is revealing, the third blank is appearing. Parousia is the most frequently used term and denotes His royal visit, His appearing or coming. Literally, parousia means presence, which points to the fact that when He comes, He will be present personally with us. We're now joined to Him by Spirit, right? And we see Him by faith, but not with our own eyes, right? Because He sits at the Father's right hand. We have the down payment of His glory in us, which is His Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Christ. But one day, our faith will be made sight and we will be present with Him. And that's what the parousia means. Matthew 24 and then 1 Corinthians 15, 1 Thessalonians 2, 1 Thessalonians 3, 1 Thessalonians 4, 1 Thessalonians 5, 2 Thessalonians 2, James — all these that you see listed here are all uses of the word parousia, meaning His coming, His presence.

Apokalupsis, revealing, means unveiling, which describes removal of what now hinders our vision of Christ. You'll see the references you can look up there. In other words, His return is spoken of as His presence, but it's also spoken of as His revealing. Again, when He ascended into heaven, He was not yet glorified, right? His glorification began in His resurrection, but it reached its fullness when He was seated at the right hand of the throne of God and the glory, which He shared with the Father from the very beginning of time, was restored to Him, right? He doesn't look the same as when He walked this earth. The Bible says that when He walked this earth, there was nothing remarkable about His demeanor or His look.

He was despised by men, right? When He comes, it's going to be the full Shekinah glory of God, the radiance of His infinite perfection.

Apokalupsis means unveiling, which describes the removal of what now hinders our vision of Christ. It's the sweetest vision, the vision that we all long to see. And then the epiphaneia, which means appearing, speaks of the manifestation of Christ's glory with the blessings of salvation. You ever heard the term, "I had an epiphany," right? Something dawned on me. Well, when Christ comes, He is coming to give us His glory, to share His glory in us. In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, we will be changed, right? And then we will see Him as He is, we'll be made like Him in some way, which we can't fully grasp. And our finitude will be made infinite in the lightness of His infinite glory. His perfection worked within us. Sin no more. Death no more. That's the epiphany. And that is at His appearing.

This vivid terminology helps us to grasp His glorious — glorious is the fourth blank — His glorious return. So He'll be here present with us. He'll be unveiling Himself and His glory, and He'll be sharing all this glory and all that He is with His saints. Hebrews 9:28: "So Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many. To those who eagerly wait for Him, He will appear a second time, apart from sin, for salvation." When He comes, salvation will be complete. Not that He has to make another sacrifice for us, but He's bringing us the fullness of our sanctification, which will be finished. We will be conformed into His image, into His very glory. It's what the chain there in Romans 8:28-29 talks about, right? He foreknew, He destined, and then He followed the chain all the way through. He glorified. It speaks of it in the past tense, because it's as good as done, but at His return, it will be done.

Application for number three. Who will prepare you for His Second Coming? We've got to be prepared for His Second Coming. Who will prepare you for His Second Coming? And I have here as a reference, 1 Thessalonians 5:23-24. Let me read that to you. "Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely." That means make you holy, set you apart completely. "And may your whole body, everything that you are, be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful, who will also do it."

As the Bible says, "I am confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you, He will perform it until the day of" — what? — "until the day of Christ Jesus," when He returns, right? He's the one who will prepare us to meet Him, to be conformed to His image, and our sanctification will be completed in glory.

Bible point number four. Christ's return will not — not is the first blank — will not be subjective and spiritual. It will constitute a visible manifestation of God like that of His first coming, but unspeakably more — more is the blank — more glorious. In the Bible there are actually many comings of God in judgment in the Old Testament, speaking of Him coming in glory, riding on the clouds in judgment, right? Most of those are figurative expressions of real judgment that took place in time against nations like Babylon and against Egypt. We could go through that, but we don't have time to do that tonight. But when He returns, it's not going to be a spiritual or a figurative return. It's going to be just as the angels promised in Acts 1:11. He will return the same way that He went, right? It'll be bodily, it'll be present, it'll be literal. Except it'll be unspeakably more glorious. Remember Christ was not yet fully glorified when He ascended to heaven. When He comes, He's coming in His glory, the glory of all the heavenly hosts of His angels and with all the saints who are in heaven are coming with them at His appearing.

Early Christians seem to have hoped for this occurrence during their lifetime. They read 1 Thessalonians, 2 Thessalonians, that's quite apparent. Yet neither Christ nor His apostles definitively taught when — when is the third blank — when the end would be, but rather reserved it for the counsels of God. You'll see that in a couple of places. Mark 13:32, Acts 1:7. In other words, they said we were not to know the time or the date. Christ never said that, right? Never promises when. Thus we must live as if it is possibly at hand — hand is the fourth blank. In other words, it could happen now. And so ever be in its hope. You'll see many verses here that talk about living in the hope of Christ's return. We'll study the nature of the Second Coming, as far as being bodily, being literal, and all that that entails in lesson 14.

And we'll also study the precursors of the Second Coming in lesson 15. Many people believe that certain things have to take place before He returns. And we'll look at what the scriptures have to say about that in lesson 15. 2 Peter 3:13, Peter writes, "Nevertheless, we" — this is after he's talked for the prior 12 verses about the return of Christ — he says, "Nevertheless, we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells." Saying, "Some may scoff. We're looking for new heavens and a new earth where only righteousness dwells." And that's the kingdom of God.

Application for number four. According to Mark 13:32, who knows the time — time is a blank — the time of Christ's return?

No human being. What does He say? Only God the Father knows, right? Now, what that actually means for us, it's hard for us to comprehend because Christ is God, right? And He has all knowledge. This is something that was hidden from Him in His earthly ministry as He took on servant form, as He self-limited Himself, perhaps. It also can be viewed as an idiom. There was an idiom, which is a common measure or a common way of speaking among the Hebrews regarding when the groom would come for his bride. She'd be espoused, or betrothed, to him. Then he'd come back usually about a year later after he prepared a home for her and sweep her off her feet and they'd have a wedding ceremony. And people would often ask him, "When are you going to come for Sally? When are you going to sweep her off her feet?" And he'd say, "Only the Father knows."

He'd coordinate it with his father, right? So perhaps that's what it's talking about. But the point is it's not for us to know. That's the purview of God. Flip over on the back. Mark 13:32-37:

"But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven nor the Son, but only the Father. Take heed, watch and pray. For you do not know when the time is. It is like the man going to a far country who left his house and gave authority to his servants and to each his work and commanded the doorkeeper to watch. Watch therefore, for you do not know when the master of the house is coming, in the evening, at midnight, at the crowing of the rooster or in the morning, lest coming suddenly, he finds you sleeping. And what I say to you, I say to all, watch."

Christ is saying, "Don't be concerned about date setting." It's so embarrassing when we see Christians do that and it makes national news and it makes us look like fools, right? But what you do want, He wants us to be occupied doing your Father's business. Carrying out the Great Commission. That's the mission of the church. Carrying out the ministry of the church. Serving one another. Making disciples of all men.

Bible point number five, the Second Coming is described in scripture as a single — single is the first blank — a single event. Despite having different interpretations of the millennium, which we will study in lessons 15 and 17, the church universally — universally is the second blank — taught that the Second Coming is a single event in her creeds and confessions.

From the very beginning of the church fathers, you had some who we would call historical premillennialists. We'd have some — and we'll discuss this when we get to lessons 15 and 17 — some who would be called amillennialists or postmillennialists. They didn't actually have those terms, but that was their theology back then. And they all viewed the return of Christ as a single event, okay? As one coming. About 1840, dispensational premillennialism began to teach the Second Coming as two separate events with two separate purposes. So about 1800 years after all the confessions — such as the Westminster Confession of Faith, the 1689 Baptist Confession of Faith — none of them treat Christ's return as two parts. They treat it as one. But in 1840,

premillennial dispensationalists began to teach that the return of Christ or Second Coming of Christ was in two parts with two separate purposes. The first of these, they call the rapture, which they associate with the parousia, the coming of Christ. Now, if you grew up in the 70s or 80s, you very well know the term "the rapture," right? I was born in 72, and that was like a big thing. People use it as an evangelistic tool. You don't want to be around when the end of Christ comes, and you don't want to be left behind, right? So turn to Christ. Many people were actually saved by it, even though I think that's a very dubious means of evangelism. I'd rather preach like Christ preached and preach that there's Gehenna, there's hell that you have to be worried about, right? But that was all around. There was, of course, books like The Late Great Planet Earth that spoke about it. Fast forward to the 90s. Did you ever watch a movie or read one of the Left Behind series books? Those were extremely popular, sold over 60 million units in America, which is huge. That put the writer of Harry Potter to shame, right? 60 million units is a lot. Well, that's called the rapture, and they associate it with the parousia. Dispensationalists teach that the rapture is Christ coming for His church to carry them back to heaven so He can turn His prophetic program toward Israel. So they believe that the rapture is Christ comes, He doesn't set foot on earth, He snatches His church up and takes them back to heaven, because part of the dispensational presupposition is that the church and Israel are separate peoples with separate destinies. And so God has to remove the church so He can get back on with His original plan with Israel — that's what they teach. This rapture is followed by seven years of tribulation in which Israel is converted. Following this is another coming of the Lord, which they would call the Second Coming,

with His saints, in other words, rather than taking the saints away, He's bringing the saints back, where He comes down to earth. They designate this the apokalupsis, the revealing, and the day of the Lord. Okay, so they basically take Christ's return and break it up into two parts. They break it up into a first part being the rapture, where Christ comes and removes His church from the earth. Then there's a seven-year tribulation, the conversion of Israel, and then He brings them back down to earth in the Second Coming.

Linguistically, this is refuted by 2 Thessalonians 2:1, 2, and 8, where the parousia, the coming, and the day of the Lord are interchangeably used. In other words, the dispensationalists say, "No, these are separate. The day of the Lord is separate from the parousia." But flip over on the back, let's look at that, okay? I don't want you to just take my word for it, I want you to be a good Berean. Let's look on the back, and you'll see 2 Thessalonians 2:1-2, where do I have this here?

Oh, thank you, there I see it. Number five, that's tiny type, I am sorry, here we go. "Now, brethren, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together with Him" — here we have, of course, parousia used — "not to be soon shaken in mind or troubled either in spirit or by word or letter, as if from us, as though the day of Christ had come." The day of the Lord is being used synonymously here with the parousia, and then verse eight, "And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will consume with the breath of His mouth, and destroy with the brightness of His coming." So we see those words used interchangeably in this very same breath. They are not describing separate things. The Second Coming of the Lord is described as both the parousia, it's also described as His epiphaneia, and it's also described as His revealing, right, His apokalupsis.

Flip back over to the front. Also refuting this is 2 Thessalonians 1:7 and 10, where apokalupsis, revealing, is used to describe Christ coming for His church, whereas they would say apokalupsis is actually just for the Second Coming where Christ brings His church back with Him. Actually, we find that 2 Thessalonians 1:7-10 is speaking of Him coming for His church, and we see that here on the lower left-hand corner. "Since it is a righteous thing with God to repay with tribulation those who trouble you, and to give you who are troubled rest with us when the Lord Jesus is revealed" — that's an apokalupsis — "from heaven with His mighty angels, and flaming fire taking vengeance on those who do not know God, and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. These shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of His power, when He comes in that day to be glorified in His saints, and to be admired among all those who believe, because our testimony among you was believed." So we see there that you can't make that distinction on a linguistic basis. Scripture does not allow that.

The dispensational premillennial understanding that there will be a rapture of the church, followed by a seven-year tribulation, and then the return of Christ, hinges — and this is what it hinges on — it's a strand of pearls, if you will. You have to string together several presuppositions and interpretations to actually get to this doctrine. There's no single scripture that says that Christ will come to rapture His church ahead of a seven-year tribulation to take them out of the church so He can restart His kingdom program with Israel that He had paused on the 69th week of Daniel 2,000 years ago. You'll not find that anywhere in Scripture. You have to make assumption upon assumption after assumption.

The return of Christ hinges on the presupposition that Israel and the church are distinct peoples of God. That's the first distinction. So peoples is the third blank. And we'll experience distinct future blessings — future is the fourth blank. And on particular interpretations of Daniel's 70 weeks and the Olivet discourse, which we will study in coming weeks. We'll have a lesson devoted to each of those two very important passages coming up.

If I can indulge you with one more thing regarding the rapture. The way that dispensationalists teach the rapture is, again, that Christ comes, but it's not really His coming. It's His coming for His church. He never really sets foot on the ground. He snatches them up in the air so He can restart His kingdom program with Israel and so that they can avoid the pretribulational wrath. They can avoid the wrath and the Antichrist and all that they see in a seven-year tribulation. We'll flip over on the back. I want to show you something. It started in Genesis. Genesis 7:23. Speaking of the flood — I just got back from the Ark Encounter, so this should be well ingrained in your brains. "So He destroyed all the living things that were on the face of the ground, both man and cattle, creeping things and bird of the air. They were destroyed from the earth. Only Noah and those who were with him in the ark remained alive." So they were destroyed from the earth. They were taken from the earth and only who survived, who remained, was Noah and those who were with him on the ark. So in the flood, everyone was taken away. The folks who remained were Noah and his family on the ark.

Look at the Olivet discourse. Matthew 24:36-44. This is Jesus' teaching right before His crucifixion. "But of that day and hour, no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, but My Father only. But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage until the day that Noah entered the ark and did not know until the flood came and took them all away." What did the flood do? Took them all away. Took away everybody except the faithful, those who were in covenant with God, Noah and his family. "And they did not know until the flood came and took them all away. So also will the coming of the Son of Man be. Then two men will be in the field. One will be taken and the other left." That's where they get the "left behind" thing. Now in their idea, the ones left behind are those who are going to be judged and going to be left behind in the tribulation. But that's not what the passage is saying. The ones who are taken away are taken away in judgment. Just as those in Noah's day were swept away by the flood, that's exactly what Jesus is saying in verse 39 and 40. "And they did not know until the flood came and took them all away. So also will be the coming of the Son of Man. Then two men will be in the field. One will be taken and the other left." The one that's left is the righteous. The ones that are taken away are the wicked in judgment. "Two women will be grinding at the mill. One will be taken and the other left. Watch therefore, for you do not know what hour your Lord is coming. But know this, that if the master of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into. Therefore, you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect." In other words, the rapture theory actually turns the entire thing on its ear. Instead of taking away people in judgment, it's taking the church away. And the people who remain are going to be left to the wiles of the Antichrist. Totally missing the point of scripture.

Look in Matthew 13:37-43. "Then He answered and said to them, 'He who sows the good seed is the Son of Man. The field is the world. The good seeds are the sons of the kingdom. But the tares are the sons of the wicked one. The enemy who sowed them is the devil. And the harvest is the end of the age. And the reapers are the angels. Therefore, as the tares are gathered and burned into the fire, so will it be at the end of the age. The Son of Man will send out His angels and they will gather out of His kingdom all things that offend and those who practice lawlessness and will cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears to hear, let him hear.'" Okay, so His return is one single event.

2 Peter 3:14 says this, "Look forward to these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace without spot and blameless." We're to look forward to these things and be diligent to be found in peace without spot and blameless. I want to encourage you — what I just said may be foreign to you. Okay, I'll give you a funny story. When I was in my first semester in seminary, I'd only been in seminary for a couple of weeks. A very prominent Baptist church in the area called me and they asked me to come lead a Discipleship Now weekend. I guess one of my professors had put in a good word for me. I'd never even met the pastor of this church, and so I said, "Sure, I'll be glad to do that." Discipleship Now is where they have all the youth go to various houses and have Bible studies on a Friday night, a slumber party and then a Saturday night, and go to church and lots of activities. I said, "I'd be glad to do that." They said, "Well, we'll let you know what the topic will be about a week or so ahead of time." I said, "Okay, great." A week or so ahead of time, they said, "The topic will be the rapture of the church."

Well, you know, I had read the Bible and I knew that the Lord's return was a single event. And I never could get my head around how the rapture was figured out. I didn't know what premillennial, postmillennial, dispensational, or anything else was. And at the time, all I had was a Strong's Concordance and a Thompson Chain Reference Bible. The internet wasn't even a thing back then. So I studied and I studied and I studied and I presented pretty much what I'm just presenting to you right now. And as I finished the major Bible study, it was at the pastor's house. And he was like a sphinx. I couldn't tell if he was angry or upset or if he was agreeing or what. So I went to him afterward and said, "What did you think? I hope I didn't step on your theological toes or anything." And he looked at me and he says, "I'll tell you what." He says, "I have studied that and I never could figure it out." He said, "I believe what you believe." I was so relieved at that point. But I say that just because that's kind of the default in culture. I grew up hearing about the rapture and hearing about separate events and there being a seven-year tribulation and this and that. And we're going to discuss that again when we get to Daniel's 70 weeks. We're going to spend a whole lesson just on that one night. But the point is, regardless of if you believe differently, it is okay to believe differently. It is okay for us to disagree on some of these finer points of interpretation. We can still be brothers and sisters in Christ.

I've seen more than a few church websites where it actually has on the statement of faith, "We believe in a pretribulational rapture of the church, and you must believe this to be a member here." That's wrong. Sorry, that's backward. You should never put that in there. We have the New Hampshire Confession of Faith. If you believe in a dispensational premillennial rapture of the church, so be it. Our confession allows you to do that. We look forward in unity, right? The Second Coming is not something to bicker about. It's something that unifies us, that points us to Christ, that points us to peace, that points us to our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

The application. How does Christ's return lead — lead is a blank — lead us to unity and holiness?

The answer is right there above, 2 Peter 3:14. "Looking forward to these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace." That means peace with God, peace with our fellow man, without spot and blameless. We want to be a perfected bride when He comes. We know that the work is His, but we have a part in our sanctification too, right? We want to present ourselves as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to the Lord. And that is what His return and thinking and meditating on His return should lead us to do, right?

Bible point number six, number six has 14 bullet points, and I have references for each one of these. You'll find that, again, all these are proof texts, not spoof texts. These are 14 things that happen at the return of the Lord. And we're actually going to go through all these. First one, He will vindicate the saints, giving them rest, 2 Thessalonians 1:6-7. If you'll flip over on the back.

"Since it is a righteous thing with God to repay with tribulation those who trouble you" — we actually just read this — "and give you who are troubled rest when the Lord Jesus is revealed," the apokalupsis, "from heaven with His mighty angels and flaming fire, taking vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. These shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power when He comes in that day to be glorified in His saints and to be admired among all those who believe because our testimony among you was believed." Seeing those who tribulate you will be tribulated at His return. That's what He promises. He will vindicate the saints.

Bullet point number two, He will take vengeance on the rebellious. We just read that — "in flaming fire, taking vengeance."

Bullet point number three, there will be no more salvation offered when He returns. 2 Peter 3:9, flip over on the back.

"The Lord is not slack concerning His promise as some count slackness, but is long-suffering toward us, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance." The context there in 2 Peter 3 is His return. He's saying some people say He delays His return. Is Christ even coming? The fact that He's delaying is His grace, right? The time for delivering the gospel is now. The time for repentance is now. That's why He's long-suffering. When He returns, that door closes. It'll be judgment day, doomsday. Flip back over on the front.

Bullet point number four, the dead will be raised. 1 Corinthians 15:52, John 5:28-29, and Acts 24:15. At His return, the dead will rise. Let's look at that. 1 Corinthians 15:52: "In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet, for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed." Look at Jesus's own words. John 5:28-29: "Do not marvel at this, for the hour is coming, in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice and come forth, those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of condemnation."

Let's look at the fifth bullet point. Believers will be reunited with their deceased loved ones in resurrection. This is one of the most glorious doctrines that is so under-taught and so under-appreciated. 1 Thessalonians 4:15-17, believers will be reunited with their deceased loved ones in the resurrection. Let's look at that. "But I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep, lest you sorrow as others who have no hope." Talking about our Christian friends and family, my mother and father who are in heaven right now, saying, "I don't want you to grieve as those who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus." At His return, He's bringing with Him the deceased saints who are now in the intermediate state in the very presence of God. Christ is bringing them with Him, and their bodies will resurrect from the grave, and their body and soul will be reunited and glorified and perfected, and they will ever be with the Lord. At His return, it is going to be a glorious reunion — a church family, a physical family. "For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus. For this we say to you, by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep, for the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout and the voice of an archangel with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and thus we shall always be with the Lord, therefore comfort one another with these words."

By the way, as a side note, this particular passage is often used as the proof text, so to speak, of the rapture. We're going to meet Him in the air, and the assumption is that we are then whisked away back into heaven. But what does the text say? No, it doesn't say at all that we'll go back up to heaven. The idea, when it actually uses the word here of His appearing at His coming, is a very technical word that's used for dignitaries in ancient days. It's used three times in the scriptures. Here, it's also used of the dignitaries who came out to meet Paul, and it's also used in the same essence of going outside the city. And the way it works is this. If I may be so bold as to use a movie example — do you remember the movie Gladiator that came out about 20 years ago? At the very beginning of it, the king's son has killed his own father, and he's never been to battle, and yet he wants a victor's welcome. And so he comes in, and they pay people to go outside the city to meet him. That's the word that's being used here. If a governor or a king would come, everybody would pile outside the city to welcome him, to greet him, and to bring him in. The third place that this term is used is the parable of the virgins, where the virgins go out to meet the groom, they come back into the city in the wedding procession. That's what's being denoted by that term. It's not a catching away. It's going out to meet Him. Of course, it's meeting Him in the air because Christ isn't coming from New Jersey. He's not coming from California. He's coming from extraterrestrial — He's coming from another dimension. He's coming in the air, so we're going to meet Him in the air, along with our loved ones that He's bringing with Him, who will receive their glorified bodies, and so will we, and we will be with them forevermore. This whole passage here is about the comfort of seeing our loved ones again. It says nothing about being taken out of this earth to avoid a seven-year tribulation so God can get on with His kingdom program with Israel. Nothing about that. The whole passage in 1 Thessalonians 4 is about the comfort of being able to see our loved ones at the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ in the glory of His resurrection.

Let's go down to the sixth bullet point. There will be no more death for the righteous. 1 Corinthians 15:53. I'm not going to read that. I don't have it on the back, but we've read it the last couple of weeks — that at that last trumpet, death will be swallowed up in victory. "O grave, where is your sting? O death, where is your victory?" There is none, because now we're raised incorruptible.

He will bring judgment. 2 Thessalonians 1:9, Matthew 16:27, and Matthew 25:31-32. Look over on the back. Let's look at those. Matthew 16:27: "For the Son of Man will come in the glory of His Father and with His angels, and He will reward each according to his works." When He comes with His angels and the glory from heaven, He's coming for judgment, to reward each according to his works. Matthew 25:31-32: "When the Son of Man comes in His glory and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on His throne of glory. All the nations will be gathered before Him and He will separate them one from another as a shepherd divides the sheep from the goats." 2 Timothy 4:8: "Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that day, and not to me only, but to also all who love His appearing." When He comes, it's judgment day.

You don't want to turn there, but Matthew 13 has two parables — the parable of the tares and the parable of the dragnet. Let me read that to you. Verses 36 through 43. "Then Jesus sent the multitude away and came into the house, and His disciples came to Him saying, 'Explain to us the parable of the tares of the field.' And He answered and said to them, 'He who sows the good seed is the Son of Man. The field is the world. The good seeds are the sons of the kingdom, but the tares are the sons of the wicked one. The enemy who sowed them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are the angels. Therefore, as the tares are gathered and burned in the fire, so will it be at the end of this age. The Son of Man will send out His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all things that offend, and those who practice lawlessness and cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears to hear, let him hear.'" Then just down the page, verses 47 through 50. "Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a dragnet that was cast into the sea and gathered some of every kind, which when it was full they drew to shore. They sat down and gathered the good into vessels, but threw the bad away. So will it be at the end of the age. The angels will come and separate the wicked from the just and cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth." Jesus said to them, "Have you understood these things?" And they said to Him, "Yes, Lord." He made it very clear, right? At the end of this age, when He returns, it's judgment day.

He will be glorified in His saints. 2 Thessalonians 1:10. It means His glory will be shared with us, His saints. I don't have that one on the back. You'll have to look that one up later.

We will receive the crown of righteousness that day. We just read that — 2 Timothy 4:8.

When Christ returns, He will destroy the heavens and the earth and create new heavens and a new earth where righteousness dwells. 2 Peter 3:7 and 10-13. Let's read that on the back. "But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise and the elements will melt with fervent heat. Both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up." All of our works are wood, hay, stubble. Verse 11, "Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness?" Should you be living for this world or living for heaven, right? "Looking for and hastening the coming day of God, because of which the heavens will be dissolved, being on fire, and the elements will melt with fervent heat. Nevertheless, we according to His promise look for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells."

When He returns, His people will be made glorious. Find that in Colossians 3:4, Romans 8:19-20. Let's read that on the back. "When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory." You're going to be like Moses and Elijah on the Mount of Transfiguration. You're going to appear with them glorified. You're going to be changed at His appearing. Romans 8:18-21: "For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us." The Spirit of God, whom Christ sent to earth, will from within us transform us. His glory will be revealed from within us. He'll transform us from the inside out. "For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God." All creation is looking forward to seeing humanity glorified, because they realize that humanity was the one who has dominion over them. That's the way that God ordained it from the very beginning. So all creation is waiting to see God's glory manifested in humanity. Verse 20, "For the creation was subjected to futility" — but because of Him who subjected it in hope, God allowed it to happen because He knew He could reverse it — "because the creation itself will be delivered from the bondage of corruption and into the glorious liberty of the children of God." All creation will be renewed. It'll be released from the curse and into the liberty of God's children who have dominion over this new heaven and new earth, right? Flip back over on the front.

When Christ returns, we will forever be with Him. That's what 1 Thessalonians 4:17-18 says — we just read that earlier — "We shall always be with the Lord."

When Christ returns, there will be a restoration of all things. Acts 3:20-21. "Repent therefore and be converted that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that He may send Jesus Christ who was preached to you before, whom heaven must receive until the time of the restoration of all things which God has spoken by the mouth of all His holy prophets since the world began." Peter's preaching saying, "Repent, be converted, that your sins may be blotted out." And not only that — your sins may be blotted out so that Christ can come, because Christ will come when the last of the elect are redeemed, right? And then "the restoration of all things will be at hand," he says, "whom heaven must receive until the times of the restoration of all things which God has spoken by the mouth of His holy prophets since the world began." It's all been part of His plan from the very beginning. He created us to redeem us, to show us His glory.

The application for number six, praise God that all His promises are fulfilled in Christ. Christ brings every one of the promises of God into fulfillment.

Bible point number seven, Scripture warns us of deceivers and mockers — mockers is the first blank — who will deny Christ's return. 2 John 1:7 talks about these deceivers, 2 Peter 3:3-13 talks about these mockers who say, "Christ isn't coming." Why would they try to deceive? And why would they say, "Christ isn't coming?" To rob you of hope. To rob you of the joy and the eager anticipation of looking to the Savior, right? To rob you of watching so that your labor is not in vain, right? You're laboring for things that are above and not for things of this world that are going to pass away. Everything is on the line for the mocker and for the deceiver. That's why they do it. They want to take your eye off Christ, right? They mock God's grace — 2 Peter 3:9. What did Peter say? God is not slow in keeping His promises, but He's long-suffering, not willing that any should perish. When they say, "Christ isn't coming," they're mocking the very grace that God has provided. It's the goodness of God that leads man to repentance, right? Christ could come in judgment right now, but while these people have breath, they have opportunity to repent and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and they're mocking that grace.

In light of His return, we're to be steadfast, "immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord." 1 Corinthians 15:58. He says this after this long sermon about the resurrection and the return of Christ.

We love — love is the third blank — His appearing. 2 Timothy 4:8. The church loves His appearing. It's a joyous doctrine. And look — look is the fourth blank — "Look for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ." Titus 2:13. When we haven't seen someone in a long time, we look forward to seeing them back, right? Casey, Christie, we look forward to y'all coming back. We've missed y'all as a congregation the last couple of weeks. And it is so sweet to see y'all here tonight, right? Yeah, it was quiet while we were all gone, but quiet in a bad way. We missed y'all. And it's the same way when you're away from family, you know, I got a new grandbaby I haven't met in person yet. I'm looking forward to that day when I get to meet her in person, right? What a glorious time of rejoicing that is. That's just a faint comparison of what it's going to be in the beatific vision when we lay our eyes on the most beautiful, most glorious thing imaginable. That's the Lord Jesus Christ.

Application: be steadfast — steadfast is the blank — immovable and always abounding in His work. Even so, come, Lord Jesus.