Future Prophecies regarding the Messiah
The Second Coming of Christ is mentioned some 318 times in the New Testament - more than any other fundamental doctrine! Surely after seeing the deliberate way in which Christ fulfilled every other prophecy concerning Himself, we would be foolish to not believe the prophecies mentioned most about Him - His return to earth! Here are a few of the more prominent ones:
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Christ will return a second time.
Prophecies: "And then they will see the Son of man coming in a cloud with great (transcendent and overwhelming) power and (all His kingly) glory (majesty and splendour)" (Luke 21:27).
"...Men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing into heaven? This same Jesus, Who was caught away and lifted up from among you into heaven will return in (just) the same way in which you saw Him go into heaven" (Acts 1:11).
"Lo, He is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see Him, even those who pierced Him; and all the tribes of the earth shall gaze upon Him and beat their breasts and mourn and lament over Him. Even so (must it be). Amen - so be it" (Rev 1:7).
"For just as the lightening flashes from the east and shines and is seen as far as the west, so will the coming of the Son of man be...Then they will see the Son of man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory - in brilliancy and splendour" (Matthew 24:27, Matt 24:30).
"I saw in the night visions, and behold, on the clouds of the heavens came one like a Son of man, and He came to the Ancient of days and was presented before Him. And there was given Him (the Messiah,) dominion and glory and kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away and His kingdom one which shall not be destroyed" (Daniel 7:13-14).
"For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a loud cry of summons, with the shout of an archangel, and with the blast of the trumpet of God" (1Thessalonians 4:16).
Christ will return to judge the nations.
Prophecies: "When the Son of man comes in His glory (His majesty and splendour) and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory. All nations shall be gathered before Him and He will separate them (the people) from one another as a shepherd separates his sheep from the goats" (Matthew 25:31-32).
"So do not make any hasty or premature judgements before the time in which the Lord comes (again), for He will both bring to light the secret things that are (now hidden) in darkness, and disclose and expose the (secret) aims (motives and purposes) of hearts. Then every man will receive his (due) commendation from God" (1 Corinthians 4:5).
"Jesus Christ Who is to judge the living and the dead, and by (in the light of) His coming and His kingdom" (2 Timothy 4:1).
"For we must all appear and be revealed as we are before the judgement seat of Christ, so that each one may receive (his pay) according to what he has done in the body, whether good or evil (considering what his purpose and motive have been, and what he has achieved, been busy with and given himself and his attention to accomplishing)" (2 Corinthians 5:10).
"Even the Father judges no one; for He has given all judgement - the last judgement and the whole business of judging - entirely in the hands of the Son" (John 5:22).
The exact time of His return is unknown.
Prophecies: "But of that (exact) day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, not the Son, but only the Father...You must be ready therefore; for the Son of man is coming at an hour when you do not expect Him" (Matthew 24:36, Matt 24:44).
"For you yourselves know perfectly well that the day of the Lord('s return) will come (as unexpectedly and suddenly) as a thief in the night" (1 Thes 5:2).
"Lo, I am going to come like a thief! Blessed - happy, to be envied - is he who stays awake (alert) and who guards his clothes so that he may not be naked and (have the shame of being) seen exposed!" (Rev 16:15).
"Watch therefore - give strict attention and be cautious and active - for you know neither the day nor the hour when the Son of man will come" (Matthew 25:13).
There will be signs marking the season of His return.
For the sake of brevity, we cannot copy entire chapters of the Bible, but have picked out some of the most pointed references to what must happen before the return of the Lord. There are many others. We encourage you to read the entire chapters of Matthew 24 and 25, as well as the rest of the Bible for a fuller view of the last days.
Prophecies: "Be careful that no one misleads you - deceiving you and leading you into error. For many will come in (on the strength of) My name - appropriating the name which belongs to Me - saying, I am the Messiah, the Christ; and they will lead many astray. And you will hear of wars and rumours of wars; see that you are not frightened or troubled, for this must take place, but the end is not yet.
For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in place after place; All this is but the beginning - the early pains of birth pangs - of the intolerable anguish. Then they will hand you over to suffer affliction and tribulation, and put you to death; and you will be hated by all nations for My name's sake.
And then many will be offended and repelled and begin to distrust and desert (Him Whom they ought to trust and obey) and will stumble and fall away, and betray one another and pursue one another with hatred.
And many false prophets will rise up and deceive and lead many into error. And the love of the great body of people will grow cold, because of the multiplied lawlessness and iniquity. But he who endures to the end shall be saved.
And this good news of the kingdom (the Gospel) will be preached throughout the whole world as a testimony to all the nations, and then will come the end" (Matthew 24:14, emphasis ours).
"For false Christ's and false prophets will arise, and they will show great signs and wonders, so as to deceive and lead astray, if possible, even the elect (God's chosen ones)" (Matthew 24:24).
"As were the days of Noah, so will be the coming of the Son of man" (Matthew 24:37).
"Let no one deceive or beguile you in any way, for that day will not come except the apostasy comes first - that is, unless the (predicted) great falling away of those who have professed to be Christians has come - and the man of lawlessness (sin) is revealed, who is the son of doom (of perdition), who opposes and exalts himself so proudly and insolently against and over all that is called God or that is worshipped, (even to his actually) taking his seat in the temple of God, proclaiming that he himself is God" (2 Thes 2:3-4, emphasis ours).
"But the (Holy) Spirit distinctly and expressly declares that in latter times some will turn away from the faith, giving attention to deluding and seducing spirits and doctrines that demons teach" (1 Timothy 4:1 emphasis ours).
"But understand this, that in the last days there will set in perilous times of great stress and trouble - hard to deal with and hard to bear. For people will be lovers of self and (utterly) self- centred, lovers of money and aroused by an inordinate (greedy) desire for wealth, proud and arrogant and contemptuous boasters.
They will be abusive (blasphemous, scoffers), disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy and profane...They will be lovers of sensual pleasures and vain amusements more than and rather than lovers of God. For (although) they hold a form of piety (true religion), they deny and reject and are strangers to the power of it - their conduct belies the genuineness of their profession" (2 Timothy 3:1, 2 Tim 3:4-5 emphasis ours)
"And it shall come to pass in the last days, God declares, that I will pour out of My Spirit upon all mankind, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy - telling forth the divine counsels - and your young men shall see visions (that is, divinely granted appearances), and your old men shall dream (divinely suggested) dreams.
Yes, and on My menservants and also My maidservants in those days I will pour out of My Spirit, and they shall prophesy - telling forth the divine counsels and predicting future events pertaining especially to God's kingdom. And I will show wonders in the sky above and signs on the earth beneath, blood and fire and smoking vapour; the sun shall be turned into darkness and the moon into blood, before the obvious day of the Lord comes, that great and notable and conspicuous and renowned (day)" (Acts 2:17-18 emphasis ours).
"But you are not (given up to the power of) darkness, brethren, for that day to overtake you by surprise like a thief" (1 Thes 5:4).
"From the fig tree learn its lesson: as soon as its young shoots become soft and tender and it puts out its leaves, you know of a surety that summer is near. So also when you see these signs all taken together coming to pass, you may know of a surety that he is near, at the very doors" (Matthew 24:32-33 emphasis ours).
Christ Unlimited Ministries Email: christun@bible.com