Friends, let us look at scripture and learn what it teaches about Christ’s second coming.

I take much of this from Revelation, in particular the sequence of the SEVEN SEALS, SEVEN TRUMPETS and SEVEN VIALS.

Allow me to explain plainly what these seals, trumpets and vials signify. The Seven seals were set in motion when Christ rose from the dead and defeated death (See Revelation 5). As far as I can tell, we are somewhere on the 5^th seal because at this point the saints of God who were slain ask God how long it will be before their deaths are avenged (Rev 6:10) – no surprise therefore that many mock and say Christ has been returning forever and nothing seems to be happening.

The Seventh seal ushers in the seven trumpets, which are the beginning of God’s judgment upon the earth. During the trumpets we have disasters and calamities striking the earth (hail, fire, destruction of trees, fish and so on) from the first to the sixth trumpet. Some of these calamities are the same ones that are unleashed during the seven vials that follow, only at a smaller scale, a sort of warning if you like of what is to come. Those that know the scriptures and believe will recognise these signs as God’s final days in which men can repent (Rev 6 – 10 or so).

God says he will shorten those days for the elect’s sake:

Mark 13:19 – “For in those days shall be affliction, such as was not from the beginning of the creation which God created unto this time, neither shall be. And except that the Lord had shortened those days, no flesh should be saved: but for the elect’s sake, whom he hath chosen, he hath shortened the days.”

The seventh trumpet is important as it marks Christ’s return and first resurrection of the righteous. The unrighteous are resurrected in the second resurrection much later on. At this trumpet the righteous (alive and resurrected) meet Christ in the air and the unrighteous are left behind to face God’s full wrath (the seven vials).

Two things to note in this which rapture teachers miss:

1. a) The righteous DO live through a period of great tribulation (the first six trumpets) and
2. b) the unrighteous are left behind to face God’s judgement and punishment and will not be given another opportunity to repent during that time.

With that overview, let us look at some specific features of Christ’s second coming:

1.  Christ’s second coming shall not be in secret. In this regard the teaching of a secret “rapture” of the elect is totally false and misleading. When Christ returns everyone shall know he has returned. He will have with him all his saints (see verse point number 2 below). Those that remain on the earth when he returns because they did not believe will see him, they will know with certainty that he came and to their horror, that they were left behind and have no further hope for repentance. They will face the horrifying reality that now all that remains is God’s wrath on them (the seven vials).

SCRIPTURES TO SUPPORT THIS:

Hebrews 9:28 – “So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation.”

Matthew 24:27 – “For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.”

Revelation 1:7 – “Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen.

2. Christ’s return shall not come as “thief in the night” to the elect. It shall only come as a surprise or unexpectedly to those that are not waiting for it – those that are not saved and therefore not looking out for it nor reading the signs of the times.

SCRIPTURES TO SUPPORT THIS:

1 Thessalonians 5:2 – “For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape. But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief. Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness.”

3. Christ shall return with ALL his saints. That includes you if you are a believer. This is so because at Christ’s return all that are saved and alive shall be caught up in the air to meet him. Those that are dead but righteous at the time will be resurrected (the first resurrection, the second, which happens 1,000 years later is for those that are not saved).

SCRIPTURES TO SUPPORT THIS:

1 Corinthians 15:51 – “Behold, I shew 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 trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.”

1 Thessalonians 3:13 – “To the end he may stablish your hearts unblameable in holiness before God, even our Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all his saints.”

1 Thessalonians 4:15 – “For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. 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. Wherefore comfort one another with these words.”

4. The seventh trumpet in Revelation marks several things. Firstly, the resurrection of the righteous dead, secondly the end of time as we know it, and lastly and most importantly, the second coming of Christ.

SCRIPTURES TO SUPPORT THIS:

1 Corinthians 15:51 – “Behold, I shew 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 trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.”

Revelation 10:5 – “And the angel which I saw stand upon the sea and upon the earth lifted up his hand to heaven, and sware by him that liveth for ever and ever, who created heaven, and the things that therein are, and the earth, and the things that therein are, and the sea, and the things which are therein, that there should be time no longer:  But in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of God should be finished, as he hath declared to his servants the prophets.”

1 Thessalonians 4:15 – “For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. 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. Wherefore comfort one another with these words.”

You see from all these scriptures then that anyone claiming that Christ has returned, such as Haile Selassie and so on, is teaching false things. Christ warned us of this:

Matthew 24:24 – “For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect. Behold, I have told you before. Wherefore if they shall say unto you, Behold, he is in the desert; go not forth: behold, he is in the secret chambers; believe it not. For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.”

This tells us also plainly that ALL will see that Christ has returned without a doubt.

Know this for a fact…when Christ returns you will know, whether you believe or not! It is our duty as Christians to prepare by meditating on scripture, especially prophecy, praying and watching.

Revelation 22:20 – “He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus.”