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The Second Coming Of Christ v "For the Lord himself shall desend 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." (I Thessalonians 4: 16-18) v I'm sure many of you have heard the word "rapture" used when some Christians refer to the second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. And , no, the word "rapture" is not in the Bible but the verse above is the verse Christians are talking about when they use the word "rapture." v However, there are two phases of the second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. Paul wrote the book of Thessalonians about 52 years after the death of Jesus and he wrote the book of Thessalonians as the Holy Spirit of God dictated it to him. The verse above is a description of the first phase of the Second Coming of Christ. And, in the verse above, Paul is speaking only to Christians. Not to sinners. And the "rapture" or the first phase of the second coming will take place at the beginning of the "Tribulation Period" which lasts 7 and 1/2 years. v When Jesus returns to this earth the second time, "the second phase" of his second coming, he will return in great power and the saints ( those Christians who were raptured or taken up to Jesus in the first phase) will return with him. v Folks, I must take a little space to mention the book of "Revelation." Untruths about the book of Revelation have swept this country in the past several years. One of those being that the book of Revelation is only a myth. This is a lie straight from the pits of hell! v The book of Revelation was written by John, the beloved Apostle, while he was imprisoned on the Isle of Patmos and is John's account of what he was shown by the Holy Spirit of God. v If the book of Revelation seems strange to some, we must remember that John was seeing what the Holy Spirit was showing him of the future and the future was strange to John because he had never seen modern days. He had never seen paved highways, automibiles, airplanes, copters, jets and such and he had no idea what he was seeing as he tried to describe and pen down what he was seeing. But the book of Revelation is the book that contains mine and your future. In other words, it contains the future of every man, woman and child who has ever lived whether they be sinners or born again, dead or alive. v Now, having said that brings me to another point I must make. In chapters 5, 15, and 16 of Revelation, you will find the word "saint" mentioned. If you run scripture and look up every verse in the Bible that contains the word "saint" you will realize that the scriptures definition of a "saint" is a godly person. Also, when a born again person dies and his or her soul is carried away to heaven, upon reaching heaven that person is known as a saint, NOT AN ANGEL. v Angels are created beings of which God created multitudes and they exsist only to praise God and do God's bidding. (Psalms 148:2-5) and (Colossians 1:16) I hope to have room here to teach about angels because there are some very strange ideas about angels floating around today. v The Second Phase of the Second Coming of Christ. v As you will notice, some of the following verses are very frightening , but they are true none the less and are meant to be taken very seriously by the born again and sinners alike. v Revelation v 19:11 And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war. v 19:12 His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself. v 19:13 And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God. v 19:14 And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean. v 19:15 And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. v 19:16 And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS. v 19:17 And I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the fowls that fly in the midst of heaven, Come and gather yourselves together unto the supper of the great God; v 19:18 That ye may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains, and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses, and of them that sit on them, and the flesh of all men, both free and bond, both small and great. v 19:19 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. v 19:20 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 buring with fire and brimstone. v 19:21 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. v You see folks, that is the second phase of the second coming of Christ. v Because there may not be room on these pages to be able to explain each verse, I will try as best I can to explain the first and second phases of the Second Coming of Christ in my words. v Many folks today seem to think that one day in the distant future, Christ will come, sweep all folks up in his arms and carry them away to heaven where they will forever be angels. In fact, they seem to think, BOOM! Christ comes, carries all folks away and that's it! This is not true, folks. As a matter of fact, there is much, much more to the return of Christ. v In the first place, as I mentioned, people DO NOT become angels. When a born again person dies or at the first phase of the second coming of Christ, when a person reaches heaven, he or she is known as a "saint " just as godly persons are known as saints on this earth. v Matthew v 27:52 And the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose, v Romans v 16:1 I commend unto you Phebe our sister, which is a servant of the church which is at Cenchrea: v 16:2 That ye receive her in the Lord, as becometh saints, and that ye assist her in whatsoever business she hath need of you: for she hath been a succourer of many, and of myself also. v I Corinthians v 6:1 Dare any of you, having a matter against another, go to law before the unjust, and not before the saints? v 6:3 Know ye not that we shall judge angels? how much more things that pertain to this life? v Now we understand that there are two times that Christ returns to this earth when God winds this world as we know it down to what mortals call the end . His first appearance, the "rapture" of the church or the catching away of His bride known as the church or the "born again" and the second phase of His second coming when He comes in great power and great Glory to destroy all those who did not accept Him and to also destroy the works of the devil and to cast the devil into the pit for 1000 thousand years. And, by the few verses above, we should be able to see that people DO NOT become angels. v Now , a few verses about Gods judgement, but first I must stress once again the importance of being born again. No matter how we leave this world, folks, no matter whether we are born again Christians or lost sinners, we all have to one day face "the judgment" for God said, "And as it is appointed unto man once to die, but after this the judgment." (Hebrews 9:27) v Romans v 14:10 But why dost thou judge thy brother? or why dost thou set at nought thy brother? for we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. v 14:11 For it is written, As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God. v 14:12 So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God. v And..... v Ecclesiastes v 12:13 Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man. v 12:14 For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil. v Daniel v 12:4 But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased. v Of course, people have been traveling for years, but since World War II people have traveled more than at any time in history and of course that is due to the fact that it is easy to travel now. However, early on, the folks who traveled were mostly folks who had business engagements around the world. Now, thousands upon thousands of folks travel around the world every day for every reason imaginable. But Michael the archangel's statement to Daniel "many shall run to anf fro" has come to pass. And also the remainder of his statement "and knowledge shall be increased." Folks, you and I are living in a time in which knowledge is increasing at such a rate that no one nor even any group can stay abreast. Michael's words to Daniel were, "O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end" and then Michael proceeded to tell Daniel what would be happening at the time of the end, which was, "many shall run to and fro" and "knowledge shall be increased." The end is certainly very close. v Gods Judgement Matthew v 19:28 And Jesus said unto them, Verily I say unto you, That ye which have followed me, in the regeneration when the Son of man shall sit in the throne of his glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. v And........ v Matthew v 25:34 Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: v 25:35 For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: v 25:36 Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me. v 25:37 Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink? v 25:38 When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee? v 25:39 Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee? v 25:40 And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me. v 25:41 Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels: v 25:42 For I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink: v 25:43 I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not. v 25:44 Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee? v 25:45 Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me. v 25:46 And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal. v Matthew v 24:44 Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh. v John v 3:7 Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again. v Probably, at this point, many of you are thinking to yourselves, the person writing this page is jumping around all over the Bible to try and tell the world how the end and the judgement will be. You are probably thinking that one can't jump from book to book of the Bible and teach anything. But the fact is, folks, you can't teach the scriptures any other way for God said. "Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth." (II Timothy 2:15)
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