The Second Coming of Christ: A Fearful Thing

[Nehemiah6]

The world does not understand that the second coming of Christ is something to be feared. But neither do many Christians understand this. We have become used to glibly talking about the second coming, when it is a fearful thing, and will be a terrifying event. That is also why Christ omitted mentioning it at His first coming (in grace and mercy) when He quoted from Isaiah 61:2 but stopped with "to proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD..." The complete verse speaks of “the Day of Vengeance of our God”. But then goes on to speak about comforting them that mourn (thus pointing to the Millennium to follow).

To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn;

The Day of Vengeance of our God is also called the Day of the LORD; and the Day of the Lord is also called the Great Tribulation; and the second coming of Christ follows upon the heels of the Great Tribulation, but it is still a time of severe Divine Judgments, firstly at the Battle of Armageddon, and then against all the nations which opposed God and Christ.

So how do we know that the second coming of Christ is a fearful time? We can look at some Scriptures beginning with 2 Thessalonians 1:6-10, where we see the word “vengeance” in verse 8, and notice that the end of this judgment is eternal damnation in Hell (“everlasting destruction”), which is deemed to be punishment on those who “obey not the Gospel”:

6 Seeing it is a righteous thing with God to recompense tribulation to them that trouble you;

7 And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels,

8 In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ:

9 Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power;

10 When he shall come to be glorified in his saints, and to be admired in all them that believe (because our testimony among you was believed) in that day.

Then we have Jude 1:14,15 which again speaks of executing judgment against the ungodly: And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints, To execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him.

Then we have Revelation 1:7, which speaks of UNIVERSAL MOURNING at the second coming of Christ, with His saints and angels (which give the appearance of clouds, hence His coming with “clouds”): 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.

In order to obtain a proper understanding of the second coming, we must study Revelation, chapters 4 through 19, as well as all the Old Testament prophecies from Isaiah to Malachi which speak of the Day of the Lord and the second coming of Christ.

Now many Christians teach that the Resurrection/Rapture of the Church and the second coming of Christ are all one event. But as we can see from above, that is a logical and Divine impossibility. On one hand we have the outpouring of God’s wrath against the unbelieving and the ungodly. On the other hand we have the culmination of the salvation of the saints, called “the Blessed Hope”.

 

[Bogadile]

The second coming is a fearful thing for the unsaved, but for the Christian it is a day in which we gain rest:

2 Thessalonians 1:7-8
"And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ:"

 

[Locutus]

That is also why Christ omitted mentioning it at His first coming (in grace and mercy) when He quoted from Isaiah 61:2 but stopped with "to proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD..." The complete verse speaks of “the Day of Vengeance of our God”.

It was a common thing back then when a teacher quoted only a part of a prophecy that the audience would understand that the whole prophecy was intended.

Besides Jesus told his disciple when the days of vengeance were to occur:

Luke 21:20 And when ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then know that the desolation thereof is nigh.

Luke 21:22 For these be the days of vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled.

Luke 21:32 Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass away, till all be fulfilled.

 

[loveme1]

It was a common thing back then when a teacher quoted only a part of a prophecy that the audience would understand that the whole prophecy was intended.

Besides Jesus told his disciple when the days of vengeance were to occur:

Luke 21:20 And when ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then know that the desolation thereof is nigh.

Luke 21:22 For these be the days of vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled.

Luke 21:32 Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass away, till all be fulfilled.

How does the end come to pass to you? Is there the Mark of the beast and great destruction.. just wondering how you see the end of the world.. and none of your jesting.. you usually have one up your sleeve.. hehe.

 

[Locutus]

How does the end come to pass to you? Is there the Mark of the beast and great destruction.. just wondering how you see the end of the world.. and none of your jesting.. you usually have one up your sleeve.. hehe.

What did JC say:

Mat 24:14 And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.

Col 1:23 If ye continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which ye have heard, and which was preached to every creature which is under heaven; whereof I Paul am made a minister;

Mark 16:15 And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.

Rom 10:18 But I say, Have they not heard? Yes verily, their sound went into all the earth, and their words unto the ends of the world.

Paul is saying the conditions for the end that Christ described were fulfilled in his days and with the ministry of the his and the 12 apostles.

 

[loveme1]

What did JC say:

Mat 24:14 And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.

Col 1:23 If ye continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which ye have heard, and which was preached to every creature which is under heaven; whereof I Paul am made a minister;

Mark 16:15 And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.

Rom 10:18 But I say, Have they not heard? Yes verily, their sound went into all the earth, and their words unto the ends of the world.

Paul is saying the conditions for the end that Christ described were fulfilled in his days and with the ministry of the his and the 12 apostles.

I'm aware of those verses.. I was looking for you to share your beliefs.

does the world continue for eternity?

When is death and hell hell thrown in to the lake?

Thanks kindly.

 

[unobtrusive]

How does the end come to pass to you? Is there the Mark of the beast and great destruction.. just wondering how you see the end of the world.. and none of your jesting.. you usually have one up your sleeve.. hehe.

A signal prophecy doesn't necessarily need to be an isolated event that only happens once. As sin is redundant throughout history, so are the judgements of righteousness through the ages. The judgements against and for Ephraim are very good examples. One prophecy can point to history that we are well aware of, and also refer to one or two things that haven't happened yet.

"O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!" (Romans 11:33)

 

[Nehemiah6]

Luke 21:20 And when ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then know that the desolation thereof is nigh. Luke 21:22 For these be the days of vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled.

Sometimes the difference between singular and plural in Scripture can establish doctrine.

Please note that Christ here speaks of "the days of vengeance" whereas Isaiah speaks of "the day of vengeance". Is there a difference? Absolutely. The context of Luke 21 makes it clear that this is a reference to God's judgment upon Israel in 70 AD, when Jerusalem was not only compassed with armies, but the temple and the city were utterly destroyed.

However "the day of vengeance" is yet future and it is a time such as has never been before nor will ever be again, and while Luke does not touch on it, Matthew certainly does (Mt 24:21,29,30):

For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be...Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken:And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.

Please notice the UNIVERSAL MOURNING which occurs at this time.

 

[loveme1]

I keep in mind that when the Messiah returns if we hold to that which is written there can be no mistake.. like if they say go or come and see Christ we be like nah.. for we know that is not how it comes to pass...

 

[loveme1]

A signal prophecy doesn't necessarily need to be an isolated event that only happens once. As sin is redundant throughout history, so are the judgements of righteousness through the ages. The judgements against and for Ephraim is a very good example. One prophecy can point to history that we are well aware of, and also refer to one or two things that haven't happened yet.

"O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!" (Romans 11:33)

I wanted to try and say something similar.. like Scripture is written in such a way that the enemy can read it but not perceive.. they can try to fulfill parts to deceive us, Keep that in mind!... now.. GOD is Victorious and the battle Won.. but the enemy.. oh it knows not the Power and Wisdom of the Most High.. to think they can use scripture to defeat the Almighty.. so deluded.... nevertheless we must Hold Fast to those things given.. subtle things.. but the evil rebellion can not deceive us if we hold fast.

The depths... indeed...... glory to the Almighty GOD and our Lord and Saviour always and forever.

 

[Locutus]

I'm aware of those verses.. I was looking for you to share your beliefs.

does the world continue for eternity?

When is death and hell hell thrown in to the lake?

Thanks kindly.

Hang on here, you are wanting to jump to the end of the book, I'll tell you right now the butler did it..

"I'm aware of those verses."

So before we move on are we in agreement that Paul said the gospel had been preached to every creature under heaven as Jesus directed or not?

And this met the condition for the end?

 

[loveme1]

Hang on here, you are wanting to jump to the end of the book, I'll tell you right now the butler did it..

"I'm aware of those verses."

So before we move on are we in agreement that Paul said the gospel had been preached to every creature under heaven as Jesus directed or not?

And this met the condition for the end?

Colossians 1

21And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled 22In the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight: 23If ye continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which ye have heard, and which was preached to every creature which is under heaven; whereof I Paul am made a minister;

I will work with your belief this fulfils what was stated by the Messiah.

Please continue..
I'm honestly interested to hear your understanding.

 

[Locutus]

Sometimes the difference between singular and plural in Scripture can establish doctrine.

Please note that Christ here speaks of "the days of vengeance" whereas Isaiah speaks of "the day of vengeance". Is there a difference? Absolutely.

Lets not jump the gun here, what did Jesus say:

Luke 21:22 because these are days of vengeance, so that all things which are written will be fulfilled.

Isaiah's prophecy would be one of ALL those that would be fulfilled when Jerusalem was compassed by armies - he didn't say all prophecy except Isaiah would be fulfilled.

And Peter concurs:

Acts 3:24 Yea, and all the prophets from Samuel and those that follow after, as many as have spoken, have likewise foretold of these days.

Isaiah comes after Samuel right?

So your argument does not stand the test of scripture.

 

[Blain]

since we all have a diverse idea of when the rapture happens how it happens and when how and what the second coming is as well as the days of tribulation then we will have a completely different idea of the truth but honestly I don't know how many of us really have the truth. Revelation is perhaps the most mysterious,complicated and unpredictable of all the books within the bible and even with all that has spoken within the bible relating to this exact book and this exact times it remains a mystery to us.

We all have our own view of what the scriptures say and what the truth is and we all believe that it will happen this way or that but honestly I think we may be to confident in what we think is the truth of the matter, there is a reason that many claim to know the truth and believe so strongly in their understanding of the truth.

For instance some can argue that the second coming and the rapture are the same thing while the opposing view is that the rapture is us going to him not him coming to us, personally I know that I myself have much more to learn before I can make a solid stand on these things or perhaps it is that I am hesitant to think I know the truth. I have been presented with deeply written and amazing posts and evidence for each doctrine of peoples views of how revelation will play out seeing clear evidence for each one in the scriptures and yet I still am not ready to place my bet on how it will play out.

I do not know who is right but I think it is important to discuss these things even with the diversity of understanding

 

[peacefulbeliever]

2 Tim. 4:8 Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto them also that LOVE his appearing.

Titus 2:13 LOOKING FOR THAT BLESSED HOPE, and the GLORIOUS APPEARING of the great God and our Savior Jesus Christ . . .

 

[EarsToHear]

The world does not understand that the second coming of Christ is something to be feared. But neither do many Christians understand this. We have become used to glibly talking about the second coming, when it is a fearful thing, and will be a terrifying event. That is also why Christ omitted mentioning it at His first coming (in grace and mercy) when He quoted from Isaiah 61:2 but stopped with "to proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD..." The complete verse speaks of “the Day of Vengeance of our God”. But then goes on to speak about comforting them that mourn (thus pointing to the Millennium to follow).

To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn;

The Day of Vengeance of our God is also called the Day of the LORD; and the Day of the Lord is also called the Great Tribulation; and the second coming of Christ follows upon the heels of the Great Tribulation, but it is still a time of severe Divine Judgments, firstly at the Battle of Armageddon, and then against all the nations which opposed God and Christ.

So how do we know that the second coming of Christ is a fearful time? We can look at some Scriptures beginning with 2 Thessalonians 1:6-10, where we see the word “vengeance” in verse 8, and notice that the end of this judgment is eternal damnation in Hell (“everlasting destruction”), which is deemed to be punishment on those who “obey not the Gospel”:

6 Seeing it is a righteous thing with God to recompense tribulation to them that trouble you;

7 And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels,

8 In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ:

9 Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power;

10 When he shall come to be glorified in his saints, and to be admired in all them that believe (because our testimony among you was believed) in that day.

Then we have Jude 1:14,15 which again speaks of executing judgment against the ungodly:And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints, To execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him.

Then we have Revelation 1:7, which speaks of UNIVERSAL MOURNING at the second coming of Christ, with His saints and angels (which give the appearance of clouds, hence His coming with “clouds”):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.

In order to obtain a proper understanding of the second coming, we must study Revelation, chapters 4 through 19, as well as all the Old Testament prophecies from Isaiah to Malachi which speak of the Day of the Lord and the second coming of Christ.

Now many Christians teach that the Resurrection/Rapture of the Church and the second coming of Christ are all one event. But as we can see from above, that is a logical and Divine impossibility. On one hand we have the outpouring of God’s wrath against the unbelieving and the ungodly. On the other hand we have the culmination of the salvation of the saints, called “the Blessed Hope”.

If you love and obey God, you have absolutely nothing to fear from Him. It's His enemies who have much to fear from God. And, if you mess up, which we all do, just repent. Then, the slate is wiped clean. You're again good to go.

 

[dcontroversal]

One thing overlooked by many.....If JESUS does not step in when he does there shall NO FLESH be left alive

gives a whole new meaning to Paul's words

Then we which are ALIVE AND REMAIN shall not go before them that have fallen asleep (died)

There is no imminent return....Jesus comes POST tribulation Pre-WRATH and for the sake of the elect and there being some that are ALIVE AND REMAINING...he will step in to keep SOME FLESH ALIVE.........

 

[Angela53510]

The second coming is a fearful thing for the unsaved, but for the Christian it is a day in which we gain rest:

2 Thessalonians 1:7-8
"And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ:"

Perhaps, adding verses 9-10 would be instructive!

"and to grant relief to you who are afflicted as well as to us, when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels 8 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. 9 They will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might, 10 when he comes on that day to be glorified in his saints, and to be marveled at among all who have believed, because our testimony to you was believed." 2 Thess. 1:7-10

 

[Locutus]

It does not say "Jesus steps in" - it says the days would be shortened:

"And except those days should be shortened......"

Just means they didn't change over to daylight savings....

 

[Nehemiah6]

If you love and obey God, you have absolutely nothing to fear from Him. It's His enemies who have much to fear from God. And, if you mess up, which we all do, just repent. Then, the slate is wiped clean. You're again good to go.

Why are you misunderstanding this OP? I already pointed out that the Resurrection/Rapture of the Church is the CULMINATION OF SALVATION, hence the Blessed Hope. What Christians must proclaim to the world though, is that today is their day of repentance and salvation, since the second coming of Christ will be strictly in judgment. But there is no wrath for those who are in Christ. He that hath ears to hear, let Him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.