When mankind tells us something we have no guaranteed it will take place. But when God tells us something we can count on it happening.
These two events are:
1. The RAPTURE OF THE CHURCH
2. The SECOND COMING OF CHRIST
Last week I preached on the RAPTURE OF THE CHURCH which is one of these great events that is yet to take place.
Today I will be preaching on the SECOND GREATEST EVENT the SECOND COMING OF CHRIST that is yet to take place.
There will be seven years of tribulation on the earth that will take place between these two great events known as the TRIBULATION PERIOD.
We call this the PRE-TRIBULATION teaching which we believe the Bible teaches.
Many Christians think that the Rapture of the Church and the Second Coming of Christ are the same!
Actually they are two different events.
Let me show you a contrast that will take place between the RAPTURE OF THE CHURCH AND THE SECOND COMING…
(1) When the rapture take place the Lord Himself shall rapture His church. We will be raptured by the Lord Jesus who will say to the saints of God “Come up hither”. (Not by Gabriel blowing his horn as some suggest)
When the SECOND COMING take place the Lord will 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 to the other.
(2) The rapture will takes place in the air. 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 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.
The Lord’s feet will never touch the ground in the rapture. So it cannot be called His Second Coming.
(3) SECOND COMING, He will literally come back to earth and set up His Kingdom.
Isaiah 40:10 Behold, the Lord GOD will come with strong hand, and his arm shall rule for him: behold, his reward is with him, and his work before him.
He will rule and reign for a thousand years here on earth. So we call this His Second coming.
(4) RAPTURE: No sign is given for His coming.
SECOND COMING: A sign is given in Matthew. We read in 24:30, “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.”
(5) THE RAPTURE: The Scriptures do not indicate that the lost people of the world will see His coming.
IN THE SECOND COMING: The entire world will see the Son of Man, we are told in Matthew 24:30 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.
(6)THE RAPTURE: believers meet the Lord in the air. (1 Thessalonians 4:17)
THE SECOND COMING: believers return with the Lord to the earth (Revelation 19:14).
(7) THE RAPTURE occurs before the tribulation (1 Thessalonians 5:9; Revelation 3:10).
THE SECOND COMING: Occurs after the great and terrible tribulation (Revelation chapters 6–19).
(8) THE RAPTURE: Is the removal of believers from the earth as an act of deliverance (1 Thessalonians 4:13-17, 5:9).
THE SECOND COMING includes the removal of unbelievers as an act of judgment (Matthew 24:40-41).
(9) THE RAPTURE is imminent; it could take place at any moment (Titus 2:13; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18; 1 Corinthians 15:50-54).
THE SECOND COMING: Will not occur until after certain other end-times events take place (2 Thessalonians 2:4; Matthew 24:15-30; Revelation chapters 6–18).
As you can see in the scriptures there is a great contrast between the RAPTURE AND THE SECOND COMING. These are two separate events.
• I mention to you in a previous sermon that I am excited about the RAPTURE because every child of God will participate in the rapture.
• But I am equally excited about the SECOND COMING OF CHRIST because every Christian will participate in this great event.
We Christians have so much to look forward to when these two great events take place. Every child of God will be there to partake of these two great events.
But look what God’s Word has to say about the SECOND COMING OF CHIRST.
Look at Matthew 24:29-31 Immediately after the tribulation of those days (Tribulation Period) 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. 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 to the other.
• Just as it was PREDICTED He would come the FIRST TIME, God’s Word PREDICTS He will come the SECOND TIME.
• The lost world was not ready for his FIRST VISIT and they will not be ready for His SECOND VISIT.
Illus: Did you know that:
• One out of every 30 verses in the Bible mentions the subject of Christ’s return or the end of time.
• Of the 216 chapters in the NT, there are well over 300 references to the return of Jesus Christ.
• Only 4 of the 27 New Testament books fail to mention Christ’s return.
• That means one-twentieth of the entire NT is dedicated to the subject of our Lord’s return.
Let’s look at what the Bible says about the end of the world, known as the SECOND COMING OF CHRIST.
We need to know that:
I. CHRIST WILL COME WITH GREAT POWER
Look at Matt. 24:30, we read “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.”
• When the Lord came the first time, He came as a helpless baby. Is there anything more helpless than a baby!!!
• The Word of God says that when He comes the SECOND TIME He will come with POWER.
The Bible teaches the RAPTURE OF THE CHURCH will take place before the tribulation period.
When the SECOND COMING takes place it will be after seven years of tribulation on the earth like the world has ever seen.
We read in Matthew 24:21-22 For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened.
During the tribulation period the anti-Christ has been ruling and reigning on this earth for seven years.
He has been the big shot for seven year but during the SECOND COMING He is going to get what he has dished out.
Look at Rev. 13:10, “He that leadeth into captivity shall go into captivity: he that killeth with the sword must be killed with the sword...”
In other words he has sown bad seeds and now when the Lord comes back in POWER he is going to reap what he has sowed.
Look at Revelation 13:1-18 we read, Revelation 13:1-18 And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy. And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority. And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast. And they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast: and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him? And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months. And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven. And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations. And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. If any man have an ear, let him hear. He that leadeth into captivity shall go into captivity: he that killeth with the sword must be killed with the sword. Here is the patience and the faith of the saints. And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon. And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed. And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men, And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live. And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed. And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads: And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name. Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six.
Notice he (anti-Christ) will have power to call FIRE DOWN FROM HEAVEN which will cause people to WORSHIP HIM.
HOWEVER, THE POWER HE HAS IS A FAKERY POWER!!!
HOW DO WE KNOW HIS MIRACLES ARE FAKERY?
Because the Word of God tells us they are FAKERY. God’s Word after telling us he calls fire down from heaven the Bible tells us…, And (HE) deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast;
CAN THE WHOLE WORLD BE DECEIVED BY A FAKE POWER?
YES!!!
Let me illustrate…
Illus: David Copperfield, a famous magician in 1983 before the whole nation David Copperfield made the Statue of Liberty disappear before their very eyes.
DID HE ACTUALLY CAUSE THE STATUE OF LIBERTY TO DISAPPEAR?
No!
But through trickery before the whole world he made it to appear that it disappeared.
The ANTICHRIST through trickery will call fire down from heaven in such a way the whole world will come to believe He is the Christ and cause the entire world to worship Him.
People every day is deceived through TRICKERY!!!
Through trickery we have these false PROPHETS on television causing PEOPLE to believe on them.
Illus: For example, one of these hucksters Peter George Popoff drew thousands to attend his so call religious services.
One of the things he did to get people to believe in him he would call someone from the audience he had never met before and would tell them their name, occupation, where they lived etc.
Because he was a total stranger many believed on him and gave him thousands of dollars because they thought he was a man of God.
But in 1986 he was exposed for the fraud he was. He was exposed for using a concealed earpiece to receive radio messages from his wife, who gave him the names, addresses, and ailments of audience members during Popoff religious services.
HOW WAS HE EXPOSED!!!
She would go out before the service and mingle with the crowd to get this information from those who attended the services and pass it on to this false prophet which was her husband.
After he received the information Popoff falsely claimed God revealed this information to him so that Popoff could cure them through faith healing.
Men like Popoff today all across this nation are tricking people into believing in them and giving to them millions.
Illus: Benny Hinn use trickery to make a man leg grow to a normal size and was exposed!!!
But the greatest of all trickery will be when the ANTI-CHRIST will be able to call fire down from heaven and all the world will believe in him and worship him.
He will set up a kingdom on this earth that mankind cannot BUY OR SELL unless they take the MARK OF THE BEAST.
WHO IS THIS ONE WHO IS CALLED THE ANTI-CHRIST?
He will be the embodiment of evil and will have great power to deceive those who choose to follow him.
In two weeks I will be preaching about this anti-christ that will deceive the whole world.
But when the Lord returns He is not coming back as a HELPLESS CHILD at the SECOND COMING. He will be coming back as KING OF KINGS not with a FAKE POWER but with GREAT POWER like the world has ever seen!
Illus: We are told the greatest power this world has ever seen so far took place on May 18, 1980, at Mount St. Helens, in the Cascade Range of Washington.
The explosion that took place is probably the most visible indication of the power of nature that the modern world has ever seen.
• At 8:32 A.M. the explosion ripped 1,300 feet off the mountain, with a force of ten million tons of TNT, or roughly equal to five hundred Hiroshimas.
• Sixty people were killed, mostly by a blast of 300-degree heat traveling at two hundred miles an hour.
• Some were killed as far as sixteen miles away.
This will go down in history as one of the most powerful events in the life of mankind.
But the greatest demonstration of power is yet to happen.
When the SECOND COMING takes place, the world will see power like this world has never seen before.
Illus: When America attacked Iraq, our military advertised for weeks that they would activate the program called “Shock and Awe!”
They called it "Shock and Awe,” because it was a combination of:
• High altitude precision air strikes
• Low altitude precision strikes on mobile units.
The devastation was so great that it caused Saddam's soldiers unable or unwilling to fight.
As of April 10, 2003, the military campaign had indeed shocked and awed the people, soldiers and leaders of Iraq.
• A military campaign turned to an occupation in less than 72 hours.
• The power of the American military was great, yet military leaders said those who saw this demonstration of power saw only about one-fourth of the MILITARY POWER that America has.
Did you know that you can take all the power of all the nations and put them all together, and it would be nothing compared to the POWER of the Lord Jesus when He comes back during the SECOND COMING?
Listen again to how the Bible describes the final confrontation between the armies of the antichrist and the army of God in
Revelation 19:19-21. We read, “And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse, and against his army. And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone. And the remnant were slain with the sword of him that sat upon the horse, which sword proceeded out of his mouth: and all the fowls were filled with their flesh..”
What an amazing picture John paints for us!!!
All the armies of the world gather to fight against Christ and His army. It is a horrifying scene from the perspective of earth.
All of the forces of evil will gather in one place to make war against God and His kingdom.
John gives us some symbolic imagery in Rev. 16:13-16. We read, “Then I saw three evil spirits that looked like frogs; they came out of the mouth of the dragon, out of the mouth of the beast and out of the mouth of the false prophet. For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty. . . . And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon..”
As we read the scriptures and reflect on history, this sounds like the Mother of all wars.
Illus: Remember when President George Herbert Bush gave the order to attack Iraq, and the first response we got from Saddam Hussein was that this was going to be the “Mother of all Wars?”
He was wrong the MOTHER OF ALL WARS is yet to take place.
But the U.S. Military power was so great that it was like taking candy from a baby.
When we read of the Lord coming the SECOND TIME, we read the account expecting to find a description of a horrific battle, yet we find none.
There is NO WAR because there is NO BATTLE; there is not even a contest.
• The Lord simply picks up the antichrist and his false prophet and drops them into the lake of fire.
• The rest are destroyed by the sword coming out of Christ’s mouth. He simply speaks the Word and they are gone.
End of battle! End of story!
In fact, the victory is announced before the armies of evil arrive.
Illus: The Lord had called all the birds of the air to come together for a great feast before the battle takes place. They did come and they gorged themselves on the flesh of kings and mighty men that rose up against Him.
We hear the shout of triumph of Christ in Revelation 11:15, we read, “…The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever...”
The mere appearance of Jesus Christ will be overpowering, the Bible says in Matthew 24:30, “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.”.
We need to know that during the SECOND COMING OF CHRIST WILL COME WITH GREAT POWER.
But we need to consider something else…also at the SECOND COMING OF CHRIST…
II. CHRIST WILL COME WITH GREAT GLORY
The Hebrew word for glory is “kabod”.
The word refers to something that is heavy in weight.
We speak of something being weighty in importance, or of someone who carries a lot of weight, meaning they have a lot of importance.
Illus: Many use to enjoy watching Bill O’Reilly on the Fox News Channel.
Why?
He was listed as #1 on the talk shows and there is a reason for that. He invited people on his talk show that have a different viewpoint than he has, but he is such a skillful debater that he crushes his opposition.
The words he speaks against his opposition are meticulously chosen, and he crushes them before a national audience.
The Word “GLORY” indicates that His glory will be so overwhelming that His presence alone will crush the OPPOSITION.
The appearance of Christ will be with GREAT GLORY. The whole world will feel the weight of his power and presence.
Paul describes it in 2 Thess. 2:8. We read, “And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming:”
The weight of Christ’s presence will crush the antichrist and his armies.
They will not be able to stand against Him or even tolerate His presence, let alone wage war against Him.
Illus: Have you ever looked at the sun? These human eyes can’t take it.
God designed our faces, so our eyes are set back in our face to protect them from the sun. He gave us eyebrows and eyelids to help protect our eyes from the sun.
When the Lord comes in HIS GLORY, it will be so powerful that it will crush His enemies.
When Jesus was put on trial by the religious leaders of His day, for the purpose of crucifying Him, the high priest asked Him if He was indeed the Son of God.
Jesus answered him in Mark 14:62. We read, “And Jesus said, I am: and ye shall see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power and coming in the clouds of heaven.”
Imagine if you were that high priest.
• Think of what it will be like for this man who plotted Jesus’ death to face Him in judgment.
• Think of what it will be like for the antichrist and his followers.
• Imagine what it will be like for all those who have refused to give Him any place in their lives, because He would interfere with their own selfish purposes and desires. They will be crushed by the weight of His glory.
• Think about what it will be like for people to attend church services like this and hear about this wonderful Savior but reject Him and then He rejects them.
•Think about what it will be like for a lost man who has no time for God in his life and then has an eternity to think about what a fool he was.
Jesus described it for his followers in Luke 21:26-27. We read, “Men's hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken. And then shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.”
While this is a dreadful time for the ungodly, it will be a marvelous time for the saints of God.
The Bible tells us signs of His coming for the rapture to take place.
We read in Luke 21:28 “And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh.”
The glory of His presence and the word He speaks is how He wins the war.
We need to know that:
I. CHRIST WILL COME WITH GREAT POWER,
II. CHRIST WILL COME WITH GREAT GLORY
and also-
III. CHRIST WILL COME WITH GREAT PEOPLE
One of the amazing revelations of scripture is that Christ not only comes with great power and glory,
• He will share his power and glory with us.
• He not only rules, He shares His rule with us.
He said in Rev. 3:21, “To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne.”
This is the day that the whole created world, as well as the kingdom of heaven, is waiting for.
Conclusion:
We need to get ready for two of the greatest events in the history of mankind to take place.
Illus: Ray Bakke tells a story that happened during World War II: “I knew an old Glasgow professor named MacDonald who, along with a Scottish chaplain, had bailed out of an airplane behind German lines. They were put in a prison camp. MacDonald was put in the American barracks and the chaplain was housed with the Brits. Every day the two men would meet at the fence and exchange a greeting. Unknown to the guards, the Americans had a little homemade radio and were able to get news from the outside, something more precious than food in a prison camp. One day, news came over the little radio that the German High Command had surrendered and the war was over. MacDonald took the news to his friend, then stood and watched him disappear into the British barracks. A moment later, a roar of celebration came from the barracks. Life in that camp was transformed. Men walked around singing and shouting, waving at the guards, even laughing at the dogs. When the German guards finally heard the news three nights later, they fled into the dark, leaving the gates unlocked. The next morning, Brits and Americans walked out as free men. Yet they had truly been set free three days earlier by the news that the war was over.”
As far as God is concerned, this battle with Satan has already been won.
We know how the outcome will be, according to the Word of God. We know that Christ will prevail with HIS POWER and GLORY but there is much to be done before that time comes.
We have seen that:
I. CHRIST WILL COME WITH GREAT POWER
II. CHRIST WILL COME WITH GREAT GLORY
III. CHRIST WILL COME WITH GREAT PEOPLE
