Revelation Series – Part 11 The Glorious Second Coming of Jesus

by admin

At the beginning of this study series we noted that the Book of Revelation is all about the glorious unveiling or physical return of Jesus to the earth. The events described in this book are the steps that have to take place for this to happen. They are not random or haphazard because God remains sovereign over the affairs of men, and so they constitute the seven seals of the Title Deed to heaven and earth that Jesus purchased with His blood on the cross.

Great upheavals await the earth as we are now entering the birth pangs of the end time and these will intensify. They are, as Jesus put it, “the beginning of sorrows”, and so the follower of Jesus is to fortify and steady himself spiritually because a great tribulation awaits us as we plunge toward the glorious return of Christ. To help us the book gives us what we call “Great Signs” and these are:

The ministry of the Two Witnesses, Moses and Elijah.
The restoration of Israel, the woman clothed with the sun, moon and twelve stars
The rise of the Beast, a half devil, half man Demonoid, who has been here before
The fall of Babylon, that great world system, part religious and part commercial that is drunk with the blood of the saints

All of these are caught up in the events that will usher in the Revelation of Jesus. Given the wickedness of those living on the earth God will allow evil to overflow and spill over, and even appear to triumph, as it brings forth its global government undergirded by a satanic religion that will perform great supernatural signs and wonders. This will present the true believers in Jesus with a test to embrace truth, demonstrate patience and even welcome martyrdom as they face the Great Tribulation. They will overcome by the “blood of the Lamb, the word of their testimony and they did not love their lives into death” (Revelation 12:11).

When all of this reaches “the fullness of wickedness”, God by Jesus Christ, will step in to judge the world, on what the Bible calls, the Great Day of the Lord. This great day of judgement takes place after the Great Tribulation and is heralded by the sign of the changing of the luminaries; the sun turning dark like sack cloth and the moon turning blood red. Two things happen on the Great Day of the Lord, the Church, dead and living, is resurrected, transformed with glorified bodies and removed from the earth as it rises to meet Jesus in the clouds as He comes to pour out the awful wrath of God on the world (2 Thessalonians 1:6-10).

As Christians we therefore look forward to the arrival of the Great Day of the Lord because it is the day when the triumph of the cross is finally completed in our lives, by the transformation of our bodies into immortality and the likeness of Christ (2 Peter 3:10-13). It is this Day, according to scripture, that breaks in upon the world like a thief in the night and not some secret rapture that takes place some seven years before (2 Peter 3:10, Revelation 16:15, 1 Thessalonians 5:2-3).

There is therefore only one second coming of Christ and this second coming will be in great power and glory and its reality will break upon the whole world in such an amazing manner that even the Beast and the armies of his global government will seek to oppose it (Revelation 19:19). According to Jesus, it is at this visible, real and physical second coming, that He will gather His elect from the four corners of the earth to meet Him as He comes to take up His throne on earth (Matthew 24:29-31). The Bride of Christ will now meet her Bridegroom as He comes and they will solemnize their marriage on earth at the great, “Marriage Supper of the Lamb” (Revelation 19:6-9, Isaiah 25:6-9). This great Marriage Supper will take place on the glorious mountains of Mt. Zion! It is here that Jesus will make good His promise, made to His Disciples at the Last Supper, to never drink wine again until He gathers with His followers at a great Feast in the Kingdom of God (Luke 22:18).

It is important to note from Revelation 19 that, in context, the Church is still the Bride at the Second Coming of Christ and Jesus, according to Matthew 25, comes back to the earth as a Bridegroom. “Behold the Bridegroom cometh”, is the cry of the virgin watchers and His bride, having washed her robes in His blood, will rise to meet and greet Him in the air as He comes again to judge the earth. This is the teaching of scripture of Revelation 19 in particular. It is here, in the context of Jesus’ physical second coming, that the Bride of Christ readies herself for the great and wonderful day of the Marriage Supper! (Revelation 19:7-10). In fact this chapter is in harmony with all of scripture in that two things happen on the Day of the Lord:

1. The Church is resurrected and removed from the earth……..and,
2. Jesus pours out the wrath of God on the world ( Revelation 19:11-15).

It is precisely because of this truth that the Church looks forward to, and helps to bring nearer, the Great Day of the Lord! How could the Church possibly do this if she is removed seven years before?

The Revelation of Jesus will be all glorious beyond description as the heavens will role away like a scroll, there will be a great shout (John 5:26-30) and a trumpet blast that will call forth the saints of all ages out of their graves and, together with those who are alive, they will arise like vast clouds to meet the Lord in the air (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18). Hosts of angelic warriors will follow and all around will be flames of glorious fire (Jude 14-15). The King and all those with Him finally triumph over the world, death, sorrow and pain. (Revelation 19:11-15)

Even so, come Lord Jesus!

Malcolm Hedding

To watch the Revelation Series please click here

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