Last week I told you that a quarter of the entire Bible (25%) deals with prophecies about Jesus’ return.
The prophetic eyes of the Bible are fixed upon Israel: the chosen stage for the glorious Return of the Messiah.
Many churches today no longer speak about Jesus’ return, yet this is a biblical promise that the church should not fail to teach. We must all long for Jesus’ return.
“He who testifies to these things says, “Yes, I am coming soon.” Amen. Come, Lord Jesus (Maranatha)” Revelation 22:20 NIV
The word “Maranatha” is of Aramaic origin – Our Lord, come!
- Marana means “Our Lord.”
- Tha means “come!”
“Men of Galilee,” they said, “why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.””
Acts 1:11 NIV
Why am I preaching about eschatology? (the study of the end times) Because we need to have a basic understanding of it, for Your understanding of what awaits you in the future determines how you will live now!
For you to grasp and understand the second coming of Jesus, we need to understand the rapture, which I spoke about weeks ago. It is impossible to teach about the Second Coming of Jesus without talking about the Rapture.
There is a big difference between the Rapture and the Second Coming of Jesus, and they are not the same event in the Bible. The Rapture is when we meet the Lord in the air. In the Second Coming, the church that was raptured returns with the Lord. They are two completely different things.
In the Rapture, believers will be taken, carried away, and meet the Lord in the air (as it is written in 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17).
“For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever.”
1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 NIV
Our meeting point — the Christians — with Jesus is not when He returns to Earth, but our meeting with Him is where? In the air!
“And so we will be with the Lord forever.” What does this mean?
After this first meeting with Jesus, wherever He goes, we will be with Him. Do you understand this?
If He is in heaven, we are with Him; if He returns to earth, we come with Him.
Wherever Jesus is, from the Rapture onwards, we follow, and so it will be forever more.
In the Second Coming, Christians will return with the Lord, as it is written in Zechariah 14:5 (b).
“Then the Lord my God will come, and all the holy ones with Him.”
Zechariah 14:5 NIV
When Jesus returns to the earth, prophet Zechariah describes how His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives and the Bible says He will not come alone. He will come with all the saints who were raptured.
The Mount of Olives, witness to His ascension, will be the first to feel His feet upon His triumphant return!
““Look, He is coming with the clouds,” and “every eye will see Him, even those who pierced him”; and all peoples on earth “will mourn because of Him.” So shall it be! Amen.”
Revelation 1:7 NIV
“The armies of heaven were following Him, riding on white horses and dressed in fine linen, white and clean.”
Revelation 19:14 NIV
When Jesus makes His way back to earth, we will follow Him on white horses. We will be seeing His back and not His face.
If you are a believer and you are watching me right now, would you say you want to see Jesus’s face when He returns to earth?
If this is the case, there is only one explanation: You were not raptured!
True Christians, at the second coming of Jesus to earth, will not see the face of Jesus!
They should see His back. Because we will be on a white horse following Jesus.
The Rapture of the Church must happen before the Tribulation, and the Second Coming of Jesus to earth must happen after the tribulation.
The Bible is very clear about this. The tribulation is the seven-year period when God will exercise His discipline upon Israel and the final judgment upon the rest of the population.
The Rapture will happen before the tribulation. How do I know this? Because of 1 Thessalonians 5:9-10.
“For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. He died for us so that, whether we are awake or asleep, we may live together with Him.”
1 Thessalonians 5:9-10 NIV
In the Rapture, whether you are dead in Christ or if you are still alive, we will all be transformed, and He will take us to be with Him.
We were not destined to suffer the wrath of God, but to be saved!
“Because you have kept My command to persevere, I also will keep you from the hour of trial which shall come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth.”
Revelation 3:10 NKJV
The seven years of tribulation will begin with the “hour of trial”, and we were not appointed for this hour! Jesus said: I will keep you from the hour of trial that is going to come on the whole world.
We will be taken to be with Him before the “wrath of God”, and during the time of tribulation, we will be with Him. However, at the end of the tribulation, Jesus returns to establish His Kingdom, and we return with Him.
In the Rapture, believers are taken from this earth by God as an act of deliverance!
This is why Jesus said that our days would be “As in the days of Noah” (Matthew 24:37).
In Noah’s day, people were eating, drinking, having fun, and doing whatever they wanted, and they had no idea there would be a flood. But Noah and his family knew what was about to happen, and they got ready.
We know that we need to be prepared, and in fact, this is what we are doing now.
I am teaching you now to prepare yourselves! We are studying this to get ourselves ready. We are now building our own Ark.
However, the world is mocking us and ridiculing because we are preparing.
Noah was lifted up through the rising waters, and all the rest who did not prepare, they all died. After the flood, Noah returned and reigned on earth.
So, the Rapture will be the same: The church will be raptured, the world will face the great tribulation here on this earth, and then we will return with Jesus to reign on this earth.
In the Rapture, faithful believers are taken from the earth by God as an act of deliverance and salvation.
In John 14:3 Jesus said:
I am going away to prepare a place for you, and one day I’ll come back to take you to be with me. Since I am going to deal with this world, and you will not be destined to partake in it.
In the Second Coming, when Jesus returns, people on this earth will suffer judgment.
In the Second Coming, Jesus, He will NOT come as a “loving” man, turning the other cheek for others to strike, mounted on a donkey, or crying merciful tears.
Jesus will come Not as a sacrificial Lamb, but as the Lion of Judah, He will return to reign from Jerusalem
Jesus will come as a Man of War, as the King of Kings, Lord of Lords, to bring judgment upon all wickedness.
Jesus, in His first Coming, came not to condemn, but to save.
But the second coming it will be completely different. The world will see and experience the “Wrath of the Lamb”. Jesus will destroy all His enemies, and He will sit and reign from Jerusalem.
The Jews completely ignored the part where Jesus had to come the first time to die for their sins. They did not accept or recognise Jesus as the Messiah and Saviour. As a result of this, they will have to face the great tribulation.
When we are all taken from this earth, the world will live out horrific, diabolical, satanic practices, and this is the reason why Jesus must come to judge and destroy them. Jesus has to come back and put an end to this whole evil situation.
Knowing all this, how should we live?
“Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming.”
2 Peter 3:11-12 NIV
We should live a life consecrated to God, joyfully awaiting His return and speeding its coming!
We should live in two ways simultaneously:
– We should live each day as if Jesus were to return today.
– We should work and make plans as if Jesus were to return in 50 years.
For many Christians in the past have said: Jesus is returning, we don’t need to work, we don’t need to study, we don’t need to make plans, we don’t need to preach the gospel, because He is returning very soon!
We need to live each day expecting the coming of Jesus. However, we need to work and make plans as if Jesus were to return in 50 years.
Why should we live this way? Because we do not know the day or the hour!
“Then they gathered around him and asked him, “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?” He said to them, “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight. They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. “Men of Galilee,” they said, “why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.””
Acts 1:6-11 NIV
After He was resurrected, Jesus remained with His disciples for 40 days and taught them things concerning the kingdom of God.
When He was taken up into heaven, angels told the disciples: You saw Him go up, and in the same way you have seen Him go up, He will return.
The return of Jesus is a promise He made us Himself. The return of Jesus is an undeniable fact in the Word of God.
The disciples asked Jesus: Is this the time when you will restore the kingdom of Israel? For the Jews had a promise of a physical and literal kingdom.
Jesus answered them: neither the date, nor the hour is for you to know!
What is important is the mission that has been assigned to you. The only thing you really must know is:
You will receive power from the Holy Spirit, and you will be my witnesses!
What you have to focus on is the mission I am giving you. You need to proclaim the gospel, you have a mission to fulfil, so go and make disciples!
After Jesus ascends to heaven, God sends two angels who say: In the same way you saw Him go up, He will return. Acts 1:11
Beloved ones, we have a clear promise that should fire up our hearts! Our Lord Jesus will return!
However, many Christians are discussing things that are not important. Many Christians live trying to find out the date of when the Lord will come.
How many false prophets and even Christians have set a date for Jesus’ return, and it didn’t happen!
The Lord Jesus Himself said:
““But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.” Matthew 24:36 NIV
Jesus is saying: this date is unknown, and you don’t need to worry about it!
Only the Father knows the date, just like in the Galilean wedding: the son goes to his Father’s house to prepare a dwelling place for his bride, and the Father tells him the hour he can return to fetch his bride (If you haven’t heard the message: “The Wedding of the Lamb”, please listen to it, as it is a key message to understanding Jesus’ return).
Jesus said that His coming would be like that of a thief. He will come by surprise and does not want this date to be known.
Why don’t we know the date? So that you and I may live in the imminence of His return, in the expectation of His coming. God wants us to be prepared and ready at all times.
Each generation should live in expectation of His coming and understand that we have a mission!
We have to be a church that lives in expectation, looking to Heaven, waiting for the return, but at the same time, we have to look at the fields that are ready for harvest and we must go to work, reach the lost, and make disciples.
We need to understand that a mission has been assigned to us.
Are you excited for the coming of the Lord?
Waiting for the Lord’s return is compared to awaiting a very special guest who is supposed to come over to your house.
You don’t wait for a special visit by just sitting doing nothing. You clean the house, you organise your living room, you get good food ready for your visitor, and you eagerly await your guest’s arrival.
Prepare your house for Jesus’ return. Repent from your sins, forgive the people who have offended you. Confess and abandon your sins. Fix up your life with God.
Wait for this day with joy, love the coming of the Lord, say it out each day: Maranatha! Come, Lord Jesus! Just like the Apostle Paul, who loved the Lord’s return and fought the good fight, finished the race, fulfilling the mission God entrusted to him.
We have to live as if Jesus were to return tonight, but we also have to fulfil our mission before the Lord’s coming.
Maranatha, Come, Lord Jesus, We love You and are awaiting You!