The Second Coming Of Jesus Christ Series

The Creed

The Second Coming of Jesus Christ

Series Recap

Good Morning.

Over the past month and a half we have been in a series called “The Creed,” talking about important beliefs in the church that false teachers or others have taught against and tried to get Christians to stop believing.

We have talked about

The Trinity

The assurance of our Eternal Life,

The reality of the Resurrection of Jesus

The Reliability of the Bible

And last week we spoke about the Evidence for the Biblical Creation account.

These are all very important beliefs that Satan wants people to not believe. He wants you not to believe these things because they are true and when you stop believing and stop living in the knowledge of truth about God and who He is and what He has done, you miss out on many of the blessings of living in the truth of the Lord like more of His peace and His Joy.

Sermon Intro

Today we are going to wrap up this series with a final message on

The Second Coming of Jesus Christ

This message is not a message about the truth of who God is or what He has done, but it is a message about the truth of a promise He has made that is vital that we know about and believe so that we can better live as we wait on His promise to come to fulfillment.

The belief about Jesus coming again is included in the major creeds of the church saying “he will come to judge the living and the dead” In the Apostles Creed and “He shall come again, with glory, to judge the quick and the dead; whose kingdom shall have no end” In the Nicene Creed.

In fact, Jesus himself, encouraged the apostles with the fact of his return in

John 14:1-3

Slide

"Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. 2 In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.

Jesus is coming back.

But when?

This is a question that has been asked since the apostle’s time

Peter writes in

2 Peter 3:3-4, 9-10a

Slide

3 First of all, you must understand that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires. 4 They will say, "Where is this 'coming' he promised? Ever since our fathers died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation."

9 The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.

10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief.

He has not returned yet because He is accomplishing His purpose to see men saved.

He has not forgotten, He has not delayed in coming, but as He has designed us in His own image with a will, He is working to draw men unto Himself to bring people from every tongue and tribe into his kingdom.

But be assured that He will return, and while we do not know the day or the hour, because Jesus tells us that "No one knows about that day or hour” (Matthew 24:36), He does tell us about some of the events that surround His return.

Some people get confused by these things because they look at the second coming as a single event rather than a series of events that surround His actual return and His ultimate rule in a millennial Kingdom and beyond in a new heaven and new earth.

Transition

So today, we are going to get the 30,000 foot view of the events surrounding the second coming of Christ so you can better understand it and, if you are a believer, be encouraged that the Lord is coming again for you.

So what can we expect next regarding Christ’s second coming?

The next event is when

Christ Raptures those of His Church

Slide

The Rapture is when Christ comes and calls all of those who are believers, those who are part of the universal church, to be with Him.

Now the word Rapture is not found in the Bible – It comes from the Latin word that is translated from a Greek word found in 1 Thessalonians 4:17 meaning to be “caught up.”

The 1 Thessalonians 4 passage along with 1 Corinthians 15:50-54 are the 2 primary texts that describe this event.

Let’s read them and then talk about why this happens.