Two Second Comings?
The Christian churches of our day are not prospering spiritually and therefore are not able to effect the moral reformation of our national governments. The reason is, we of the churches are not obeying the written Word of God (Joshua 1:8).
The believers are hearing "rapture, rapture, rapture, prosperity, faith, you can have everything you desire." Since these are not scriptural emphases, the believers are not being fed the living Bread and the churches are dying spiritually.
Of all the errors of current Christian theology, one of the most weakening, in terms of the spiritual vigor of the believers, may be the teaching that there will be a special, secret coming of Christ prior to His actual, prophesied coming to establish His Kingdom on the earth.
It appears that the teaching of the secret "rapture" is a device intended to make the Christian redemption like the other religions of the world—an escape to Paradise in the spirit realm. The Gospel of the Kingdom of God is not an escape to Paradise in the spirit realm. It is the return of God and of Paradise to the earth, and the removal of sin and death, and the effects of sin and death, from the saved peoples of the nations.
In the twenty-fourth chapter of the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus spoke concerning His return to the earth. Nowhere in the New Testament writings is there a reference to Christ's returns, or comings (plural). There is not one reference to two second comings. In Matthew, Jesus stated that His coming (singular) would not be a secret and would take place after the great tribulation (Matthew 24:29).
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. (Matthew 24:29,30)
The return of the Lord Jesus Christ to the earth will coincide with the outpouring of God's wrath on the ungodly. 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: (II Thessalonians 1:7,8)
This is the time when one will be taken and the other left. Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left. Two women shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken, and the other left. (Matthew 24:40,41) Jesus' second coming will be preceded by the universal signs mentioned by the Prophet Joel. And I will shew wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the Lord come. (Joel 2:30,31)
The trumpet of the Lord will sound and Christ's elect will be gathered together to Him. And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven (of the heavens) to the other. (Matthew 24:31) Every eye shall behold Him, as stated in the Book of Revelation.
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. (Revelation 1:7) Revelation 1:7 is the corner stone of the Book of Revelation. It is not to be changed in any manner. This is the second coming of the Lord, the descent of Christ and His Body to the Mount of Olives as promised in Acts 1:11. Here is the "blessed hope" of the Christian Church, the hope of the godly until the nineteenth century.
In our day, a confusing and destructive idea has been introduced into Christian theology. Before the return of Christ to the earth, before the scriptural Day of Christ, Day of the Lord, there will be a special, secret appearing of Christ in order to withdraw the believers (in their immaturity) from the earth so they (the "Gentile part" of the Body of Christ) will not be required to suffer at the hands of Antichrist. This in spite of the stern warning of the Scripture that careless, lukewarm believers will face an angry Christ.
This in spite of Jesus' warning concerning the spirit of deception that is to challenge the elect. This in spite of Jesus' statement that the wheat and the tares will come to maturity side by side. This in spite of the fact that the history of the Christian Church has been one of suffering and persecution. This in spite of the fact that the wrath of God will fall the moment Christ summons His elect to Himself (following the type of Lot—Luke 17:29), not seven years later as is being taught. This in spite of the fact that the Apostle Paul stated clearly that the Jews and Gentiles are one Body in Christ.
No doubt the current "faith-prosperity" doctrine, which is the voice of the False Prophet, is an offshoot of the unscriptural belief that God is not willing His saints should suffer. The secret evacuation of the "Gentile Church" (the concept of a "Gentile Church" being an unscriptural doctrine of itself) is based on I Thessalonians 4:16- 5:3 plus an assortment of fleshly assumptions: ("God does not want His children to suffer"; there will be a special seven-year "awards ceremony" in which all believers, regardless of their sin and self-love, will hear "well done, good and faithful servant"; we are saved by "grace" alone whether or not we live a godly life; and all the rest of the satanic lies—lies calculated to leave the believers unprepared for the age of moral horrors that is at the door.
The truth is, I Thessalonians 4:16-5:3 fits exactly what Jesus prophesied in the twenty-fourth chapter of the Book of Matthew. The trumpet sounds. The elect are gathered to Christ. Sudden destruction falls on the ungodly. There is no difference whatever. The Greek term parousia is used in both passages for "coming."
For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words. But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you. For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape. (I Thessalonians 4:16-5:3)
The description given of the Lord's return, in the fourth chapter of First Thessalonians, fits perfectly the scriptural (Old Testament and New Testament) prophecies of the return of the Lord Jesus Christ to the earth to establish His Kingdom. Christ will sit on the throne of David, His physical ancestor, in the city of Jerusalem.
Look carefully at these verses in First Thessalonians and you will see there is no suggestion that the saints on earth will disappear and return to Heaven with Christ at that time. There is no support for such an interpretation in the writings of the Hebrew Prophets or the new-covenant Apostles. In this passage there is no indication that the purpose of the resurrection and catching up is to remove the saints from the deceptions of Antichrist or the dangers of the great tribulation.
The purpose of the words of Paul is to comfort the bereaved saints who believed that their deceased loved ones would not be present when the Kingdom of God came from Heaven. It is totally indefensible to use Paul's "funeral sermon" as a basis for a special unscriptural disappearing of a Gentile segment of the Christian Church!
Revelation 3:10 often is used to teach that the saints will be withdrawn from the earth in order to escape tribulation: Because thou hast kept (observed; guarded) the word of my patience, I also will keep (observe; guard) thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth.
The Greek language employed in Revelation 3:10 does not speak of a removal from the earth or even of a tribulation. If we will guard the Word of Christ's patience Christ will guard us from the hour of temptation (not tribulation)—a time when sin will be so widespread it will be nearly impossible to resist its enticing attraction.
John 17:15, written by the same author, uses the same Greek verb for "keep" (observe; guard ). In this passage Jesus indicates that the Divine provision for keeping (guarding) us is not removal from the earth: I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep (guard) them from the evil. (John 17:15)
It is true that Christ will receive us to Himself before the wrath of God falls on the ungodly. The wrath of God is not the same thing as tribulation . Indeed, God has appointed His beloved to tribulations great and small. But God has not appointed His saints to wrath. Confirming the souls of the disciples, and exhorting them to continue in the faith, and that we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God. (Acts 14:22)
And to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come. (I Thessalonians 1:10)
There is no suggestion in I Thessalonians 4:16-5:3 that a secret appearing of Christ is being announced. As we have stated, the Greek term translated coming in I Thessalonians 4:15 is the same word (parousia ) employed in the twenty-fourth chapter of Matthew and in the other principal descriptions of the Lord's coming. The term is not, as some have taught, an indication that this is a special coming or appearing. The New Testament usage of the word will not support this assertion.
How could this be a secret coming? The Lord shall descend from Heaven! There shall be a shout! This is a secret? Rather, this is the army of Christ shouting for the Battle of Armageddon!
The warrior archangel shall utter his voice! The trumpet of God shall sound! This is a defiant attack on Antichrist, not a secret evacuation of the saints from the scene of the conflict!