John 14:1-3, "Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father's house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you, I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also."

Introduction:

A. Many people have Wrongly Interpreted the truths of the Second Coming of Christ.

1. All Scripture passages which predict the second coming of Christ are in Perfect Harmony.

2. They all make it clear that He will come again Literally, Personally, Visibly, and in His Glorified Body.

B. There are Details and aspects of this truth --- about which it would be Foolish To Be Dogmatic.

C. However, the Fact that He will come again in person (1 Thess. 4:17), and that His second coming will be as literal as was His first coming (Acts 1:11), --- There Can Be No Argument.

D. Also true --- He was Not referring to some Historical Even that had no connection with His personal, bodily return.

1. Some have taught that Christ returned at the Destruction of Jerusalem (A.D. 70).

2. One modern heretical sect teaches that He returned in 1844 --- some teach that He came in 1914.

I. He Was Not Referring To The Coming And The Gift of The Holy Spirit.

A. In John 14:18 we have the promise of the Coming of The Holy Spirit, which promise was Fulfilled On The Day of Pentecost (Acts 2:1-4).

John 14:16-18, "..I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you. I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you."

Acts 2:1-4, "Now when the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.

B. In a New and wonderful way the Lord Jesus did "Come" to His waiting disciples.

1. Christ began to live In Us by means of the Holy Spirit.

John 14:17, "...the Spirit of truth,...dwells with you and will be in you."

2. Our body is Now the "Temple of God".

1 Cor. 3:16, "Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you."

(( 1 Cor. 3:16, 6:19; 2 Cor. 6:16; Heb. 3:6 ))

C. Remember, the Promise of His Coming was given Many Times After Pentecost --- Pentecost could not have been His second coming.

D. Besides, it is "The Lord Himself" who is coming;

1 Thess. 4:16, "For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first."

II. He Was Not Referring To The Wonderful Experience of Salvation.

A. In A Very Real Sense the Lord Does Come to us when we are saved.

1. John 1:12, "But as many as receive Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name:"

2. Gal. 2:20, "I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me."

B. The Believers at Thessalonica had been Converted, but were also Encouraged To Anticipate The Return of Their Lord.

1 Thess. 1:9-10, "For they themselves declare concerning us what manner of entry we had to you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, and to wait for His son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, even Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come."

C. Heb. 9:28, "so Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many. To those who eagerly wait for Him He will appear a second time, apart from sin, for salvation.

III. He Was Not Referring To The Death of The Believer.

A. It is true that we need have No Fear of Death itself, because the Lord who has conquered death will be there with us.

Psa. 23:4, "Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me."

B. However, Death Is Still An Enemy.

1 Cor. 15:26, "The last enemy that will be destroyed is death." --- V. 56-57, "The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ."

C. We are Not To Hope For Death --- but for the Lord's return.

Titus 2:11-13, "For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age, looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ.

D. The second coming cannot refer to death because Some Christians Will Never Die.

1 Cor. 15:51-52, "Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed -- in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed."

1 Thess. 4:17, "Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord."

IV. He Was Not Referring To A gradual Improvement Which Would Take Place In This World And Would Eventually Usher In His Coming.

A. This "Diffusion of Christianity" as some have called it, is gradual, whereas the Scriptures always speak of Christ return as sudden and unexpected.

Matt. 24:27, "For as the lightning comes from the east and flashes to the west, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be." --- V. 36, "But of that day and hour no one knows, no, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only." --- V. 42, "Watch therefore, for you do not know what hour your Lord is coming." --- V. 44, "Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour when you do not expect Him."

1 Thess. 5:2, "For you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night."

V. He Was Not referring To A Return In Which Only Some of His People Would Be Taken.

A. There is No hint of a Partial or Selective Rapture.

1. 1 Cor. 15:22-23, "For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive. But each one in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, afterward those who are Christ's at His coming." --- V. 51-52, "Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed ---in a moment, in a twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed."

2. 1 Thess. 4:17, "Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air."

 

If You Are Not Saved, Nothing Else Matters