The Return Of Jesus

[ChristianIssues]

The Return Of Jesus

There is so much happening in the world today that most people believe Jesus will return soon. In Matthew 24, Jesus gives us an overall picture of the worldwide events which will occur before He returns. In Matt. 24:1-5, when Jesus was asked about the sign of His coming and the end of the age, the first thing He said was, “Watch out that no one deceives you. For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will deceive many”. This warning is of such great importance that Jesus repeated it twice more in Matt. 24:11,24 and, after speaking about false Christs, false prophets and the Great Tribulation, He said in Matt. 24:25, “See, I have told you ahead of time”. In these verses, Jesus has given us a very serious warning to be prepared for the possibility of facing the horrors of the Great Tribulation. So, let’s look at the rest of Matt. 24.

Matt. 24:6-7 say that there will be wars, famines and earthquakes (the word earthquake also means storms). These worldwide tragedies are occurring one on top of the other and many barely even make the newspapers. Disasters that are fresh in our minds are soon blotted out by new ones.
Matt. 24:8 then says that these things are the “beginning of birth pains” so this means that greater pain will follow. If the 2011 Japanese tsunami is just the beginning of birth pains then what horror is yet to come?
Next, Matt. 24:9-13 speak of Christian persecution, death, hatred, apostasy, betrayal and the deception of false prophets. During this time, evil will be so great that “the love of most will grow cold” (Matt. 24:12) and this is why Matt. 24:13 warns us to remain in Christ. It says, “but he who stands firm to the end will be saved”.

Next, Matt. 24:15-22 again speak of the persecution and tell the Jews in Judea to flee when the Antichrist appears in the temple in Jerusalem because his appearance will be the beginning of great distress like never before seen in the world (this is called the Great Tribulation). Matt. 24:22 says that it will be so bad that, for the sake of Christians, those days will be cut short.
Then Matt. 24:23-24 once again warn about false Christs and false prophets who will perform such great signs and miracles that even the elect may be deceived.
In Matt. 24:25, Jesus warns us, “SEE, I HAVE TOLD YOU AHEAD OF TIME”.

Then, in Matt. 24:26-29, after warning about false Christs again, Jesus says that His return will be seen by everyone, just like lightening is seen from the East to the West. He said not to believe people when they say that Christ was here or there but to look for the special sign of His coming. That sign is given in Matt. 24:29 which says, “the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from the sky, and the heavenly bodies will be shaken” and only AFTER this sign will the Lord return.

So far, Matt. 24 has told us:
There will be wars, famines and earthquakes
then
The Antichrist will reveal himself in the Temple
then
Christians and Jews will be severely persecuted
and
False Christs and false prophets will deceive many
then
There will be a sign in the sun, moon and stars
and then Matt. 24:30-31 tell us that, AFTER that sign appears in the sky, Jesus will be seen coming on the clouds and the nations will mourn because they know that they are about to be destroyed. Matt. 24:31 tells us that, at that time, Jesus will send His angels with a loud trumpet call to gather (rapture) the elect to be safe with Him while God’s wrath is being poured out on the earth, ending with the war of Armageddon.

So, it is quite clear that the church will see the Antichrist and go through great tribulation until Jesus returns to rapture believers and to destroy sinners.

2 Thess. 2:1-3
2 Thess. 2:1-3 also show that the Rapture won’t occur until after the Antichrist appears. In part, these verses say, “Concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered to him [the Rapture] … Don’t let anyone deceive you in any way, for (that day will not come) until the rebellion occurs and the man of lawlessness [the Antichrist] is revealed, the man doomed to destruction”. These verses clearly say that Christians will not be gathered to the Lord until AFTER the revealing of the Antichrist and that is exactly what Matt. 24 says.

1 Thess. 4:13-5:11
Many Christians believe that 1 Thess. 4:13-5:11 is talking about another gathering to the Lord. They believe that these verses say that Jesus will rapture the church before the Antichrist appears. However, Chart 1, below, compares 1 Thess. 4-5 to Matt. 24-25 and shows so many common points that it is clear that they are both talking about the same event.


The many similarities between 1 Thess. 4 -5 and Matt. 24-25 make it very clear that they are describing the same event. There is only one return of Jesus and it is after the Antichrist appears and persecutes Israel and the church. When Jesus returns, He will first rapture His elect and then God’s wrath will be poured out on the earth.

Rev. 6-8
Further proof that Matt 24. gives the sequence of events leading to Jesus’ return can be found in Chart 2 below. This chart compares Matt. 24 with Rev. 6-8 and a clear parallel can be seen between these two passages.


Jesus Himself has given us both Matt. 24 and Rev. 6-8 and the obvious parallel is further proof that Matt. 24 is the sequence of events leading to Jesus’ single return. (The charts in this article have been copied from scriptorium.org and The Rapture Question Answered, by Robert Van Kampen).

I had to shorten this to fit. The full article is at
christianissues.biz/pdf-bin/endtimes/thereturnofjesus.pdf

Mick

 

[thistle]

Jesus said its a wicked generation that looks for signs.
He also said nobody knows the day or the hour and so we should always be ready.

Why so many silly people are looking to predict the end is beyond me. They should simply do what Jesus said and always be ready!

 

[TimothyH]

The Return Of Jesus

There is so much happening in the world today that most people believe Jesus will return soon.

I really should have stopped reading right there. Mick’s website is classic non-denominational Evangelicalism.

• Pentacostals taught Catholics to pray in Tounges. Catholics pray the Mass in tounges.
• Catholics engage in the “occultic sin of Spiritism” when they pray to Mary and the Saints
• Catholics believe we can “Merit our way into heaven”.

And of course, the rapture.

-Tim-

 

[CB_Catholic]

Catholics do not hold to this interpretation of Scripture about the end times. We are not dispensationalists, millenialists, amillenialists, pre-millenialists, pre-or post-tribulationists or whatever kind of “ist” that is currently popular with some of our Seperated Brethern.

Our point of view is rather simple, and right out of the Bible: Christ will return at the end of time in all His Glory, the same way he ascended into Heaven, as the angel said at the Ascension. There will no mistaking when He comes, there will be no secret rapture of the Church, it will be just as it says in the Bible, period. After that will come the final judgment. No need for speculation, timelines, interpretations, etc. It will be just as the Scripture literally says. When that will be, is not for us to know, as Jesus Himself has said, but we believe what Jesus said, and don’t have to add to it. And whatever happens as far as a tribulation, happens, there is no need to worry about it, and there is nothing that we can do about it. We are always to be prepared for the Coming of the Lord, whether it is His Second Coming, or His coming for us at the time of our death.

Now isn’t that simpler and more reassuring than all this endless speculation about the end times? When you are freed from all that, you can concentrate on your relationship with Jesus and getting to know Him better and living a fully Christian life, and trusting in His Mercy to keep you on the right path and save you. You can spend your free time serving God and your fellow man, as is commanded, rather than waste your time speculating and arguing and worrying about such things. You can make much wiser use of your life and time than this.

Keep it simple and live in the present. That is all you really have.

 

[pat_helensburgh]

discerning events around us is prudent, trying to allocate a time frame to the return of Jesus is not.
We cannot ignore the events around us, but we should remember wars. famines, disasters have been throughout the world since the last time Jesus was flesh.

As per the Antichrist, many will be deceived my personal view is this is found in Islam & it’s false prophet Mohamed.

 

[JonathonofOhio]

Matthew 24 is about the destruction of the wicked, the fate of the deceived, the fate of unbelievers, and a warning to those who lose faith and do not abide in the truth during hard times. He uses the stories of Noah and Lot to show them what will happen to those people. It was the wicked that were swept away in the flood, and it was the wicked that were destroyed by fire. When He says, “where the carcass is the eagles (vultures) will gather” he is referring the proverb spoken by God in Job. The lesson is, He who remains in the Truth and faith will live, and their life will be restored similar to how Job’s life was restored. He warns us and tells us not to allow ourselves to be deceived by false teachers and false prophets. When he says “one is taken and another remains” He is saying that one is taken by the false prophet, one is taken by the false teacher, and the other remains steadfast in his faith. He’s not giving us a bunch of signs to look for, He is telling us not be concerned with that. Instead He tells us what will happen, what to look out for, and how to handle it.

In 1 Thessalonians 4:15, those who remain are the ones left alive, because the angel of the Lord passes over them as he did in the Passover when the blood of the Lamb was put on the door post. They are the ones brought up to the Lord on the last day, at that moment when He returns with all the Saints. They are not brought up and then watch as all is destroyed, they are the ones who are preserved by God as Noah was preserved, and as Lot was preserved, and both were present during the destruction. Lots wife looked back, and she lost her life. So Jesus tells us not to look back or we will lose our lives. In other words, do not look back on your life of sin and long for it, but look to the resurrection and the restoration of all things and remain in the field; do not go back into the house to ‘get your things’. There is no rapture that occurs at all, no series of events that will occur at His coming, for at His coming that is the end of time. It will happen as a flash of lightening, in the twinkle of an eye, and all the dead will rise and be judged.

 

[Ignatius]

The Return Of Jesus

There is so much happening in the world today that most people believe Jesus will return soon. In Matthew 24, Jesus gives us an overall picture of the worldwide events which will occur before He returns. In Matt. 24:1-5, when Jesus was asked about the sign of His coming and the end of the age, the first thing He said was, “Watch out that no one deceives you. For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will deceive many”. This warning is of such great importance that Jesus repeated it twice more in Matt. 24:11,24 and, after speaking about false Christs, false prophets and the Great Tribulation, He said in Matt. 24:25, “See, I have told you ahead of time”. In these verses, Jesus has given us a very serious warning to be prepared for the possibility of facing the horrors of the Great Tribulation. So, let’s look at the rest of Matt. 24.

Matt. 24:6-7 say that there will be wars, famines and earthquakes (the word earthquake also means storms). These worldwide tragedies are occurring one on top of the other and many barely even make the newspapers. Disasters that are fresh in our minds are soon blotted out by new ones.
Next, Matt. 24:15-22 again speak of the persecution and tell the Jews in Judea to flee when the Antichrist appears in the temple in Jerusalem because his appearance will be the beginning of great distress like never before seen in the world (this is called the Great Tribulation). Matt. 24:22 says that it will be so bad that, for the sake of Christians, those days will be cut short.
Then Matt. 24:23-24 once again warn about false Christs and false prophets who will perform such great signs and miracles that even the elect may be deceived.
In Matt. 24:25, Jesus warns us, “SEE, I HAVE TOLD YOU AHEAD OF TIME”.

Then, in Matt. 24:26-29, after warning about false Christs again, Jesus says that His return will be seen by everyone, just like lightening is seen from the East to the West. He said not to believe people when they say that Christ was here or there but to look for the special sign of His coming. That sign is given in Matt. 24:29 which says, “the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from the sky, and the heavenly bodies will be shaken” and only AFTER this sign will the Lord return.

So far, Matt. 24 has told us:
There will be wars, famines and earthquakes
then
The Antichrist will reveal himself in the Temple
then
Christians and Jews will be severely persecuted
and
False Christs and false prophets will deceive many
then
There will be a sign in the sun, moon and stars
and then Matt. 24:30-31 tell us that, AFTER that sign appears in the sky, Jesus will be seen coming on the clouds and the nations will mourn because they know that they are about to be destroyed. Matt. 24:31 tells us that, at that time, Jesus will send His angels with a loud trumpet call to gather (rapture) the elect to be safe with Him while God’s wrath is being poured out on the earth, ending with the war of Armageddon.

So, it is quite clear that the church will see the Antichrist and go through great tribulation until Jesus returns to rapture believers and to destroy sinners.

2 Thess. 2:1-3
2 Thess. 2:1-3 also show that the Rapture won’t occur until after the Antichrist appears. In part, these verses say, “Concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered to him [the Rapture] … Don’t let anyone deceive you in any way, for (that day will not come) until the rebellion occurs and the man of lawlessness [the Antichrist] is revealed, the man doomed to destruction”. These verses clearly say that Christians will not be gathered to the Lord until AFTER the revealing of the Antichrist and that is exactly what Matt. 24 says.

1 Thess. 4:13-5:11
Many Christians believe that 1 Thess. 4:13-5:11 is talking about another gathering to the Lord. They believe that these verses say that Jesus will rapture the church before the Antichrist appears. However, Chart 1, below, compares 1 Thess. 4-5 to Matt. 24-25 and shows so many common points that it is clear that they are both talking about the same event.
http://www.christianissues.biz/pdf-bin/endtimes/chart1.jpg

The many similarities between 1 Thess. 4 -5 and Matt. 24-25 make it very clear that they are describing the same event. There is only one return of Jesus and it is after the Antichrist appears and persecutes Israel and the church. When Jesus returns, He will first rapture His elect and then God’s wrath will be poured out on the earth.

Rev. 6-8
Further proof that Matt 24. gives the sequence of events leading to Jesus’ return can be found in Chart 2 below. This chart compares Matt. 24 with Rev. 6-8 and a clear parallel can be seen between these two passages.
http://www.christianissues.biz/pdf-bin/endtimes/chart2.jpg

Jesus Himself has given us both Matt. 24 and Rev. 6-8 and the obvious parallel is further proof that Matt. 24 is the sequence of events leading to Jesus’ single return. (The charts in this article have been copied from scriptorium.org and The Rapture Question Answered, by Robert Van Kampen).

I had to shorten this to fit. The full article is at
christianissues.biz/pdf-bin/endtimes/thereturnofjesus.pdf

Mick

Didn’t we just finish last week with some poor preacher thinking (and telling the world) that he knew the day when Christ would return?