Issue link: https://cp.revolio.com/i/1483386
Are You Ready for the Return of Christ? As Christians, we believe in the second coming of Christ. His return from heaven will be personal, visible, and a blessed hope for which we should constantly watch and pray. 1 Before He establishes His kingdom on earth, Jesus will come for His Church, an event commonly referred to as the "Rapture." At that time the dead in Christ will be raised and living Christians will be caught up to meet the Lord in the air and be with Him forever. 2 In this resurrection, those who have died in Christ will have their redeemed souls and spirits united with a body similar to Christ's glorified body. Christians living at the time of this event will not die, but will be changed to be like Christ. 3 This expectation is a motivation for holy living, as well as a source of comfort. 4 No man knows the day or the hour when this will take place. 5 After the rapture, Christians will be brought before the judgment seat of Christ. He will reward them on the basis of the works they have accomplished. 6 This is not a judgment to determine their salvation but a reward for labor on Christ's behalf. 7 The Rapture will also inaugurate a period that the Bible characterizes as the "great day of His wrath," "the great tribulation" and the "time of Jacob's trouble." 8 This time of unprecedented difficulty will affect Israel and all nations. 9 At the end of the Tribulation, Jesus Christ will return with the hosts of heaven as well as the Church to establish the Messianic Kingdom on earth. 10 His Kingdom will last for a thousand years. 11 At this Second Coming, the Antichrist will be cast into the Lake of Fire and Satan will be bound for a thousand years. 12 The nations and their representatives will be judged. 13 Israel will be restored to her land, never more to be removed. 14 Christ will reign with firmness and equity. 15 His kingdom will be marked by material and spiritual blessing, since the curse upon the earth will be removed. 16 The Messianic kingdom will close with apostasy and rebellion. 17 God will crush this uprising in the last battle of the ages and Satan will be thrown into the lake of fire. 18 All those who rejected the Word of God will be resurrected. 19 They will be judged by Christ and cast into the lake of fire, the place where they will suffer final and everlasting punishment. 20 After this judgment there will be a new heaven and a new earth, where righteousness is the norm. 21 There will be a new Jerusalem and the everlasting presence of God among all the redeemed. 22 1 Zechariah 14:4; Acts 1:11; Titus 2:13; Rev 1:7 2 1 Corinthians 15:51–54; 1 Thessalonians 4:14 3 1 John 3:2 4 1 John 2:28; 1 Thessalonians 4:18 5 Matt. 24:36; John 6:39 6 Romans 14:10–12; 2 Corinthians 5:10 7 1 Corinthians 3:9–15 8 Revelation 6:17; 7:14; Jeremiah 30:7 9 Zechariah 12:2, 3; 14:1–3 10 Rev 19:7–9, 14; 1Thes 3:13; Zech. 14:9; Rev19:15, 16 11 Revelation 20:2, 4–6. 12 Revelation 19:20; 20:1–3 13 Joel 3; Matthew 25. 14 Amos 9:15; Ezekiel 34:28 15 Psalm 2:9; Isaiah 11:4 16 Romans 8:19-21 17 Revelation 20:7–9 18 Revelation 20:10 19 Revelation 20:11–13 20 Revelation 20:14, 15; Mark 9:48 21 2 Peter 3:13. 22 Revelation 21:2, 3; 2:3–5 For those who love and serve Jesus Christ, this is wonderful, anticipated news! Jesus is coming back for His church! But for those who have rejected Jesus Christ or have remained lukewarm (Revelation 3:16) in their faith, this is an ominous thought! In life we have had many "do- overs" and second chances. There seems to always be "another chance." But hear this loud and clear, once Christ returns for His church, it will be nearly impossible for someone to accept Christ. The tribulation will be a horrible and godless time ruled by everything Satanic. Some believe those who will indeed give their lives to Christ will be few. One author writes, "Some Bible interpreters believe that there will be absolutely no chance for salvation after the rapture. However, there is no place in the Bible that says this or even hints to it. There will be many people who come to Christ during the tribulation. The 144,000 Jewish witnesses (Revelation 7:4) are Jewish believers. If no one can come to Christ during the tribulation, then why are people being beheaded for their faith (Revelation 20:4)? No passage of Scripture argues against people having a chance to be saved after the rapture. But now is the best time, the easiest time to come to Christ. Today is the day of salvation!" Another view is that those who hear the gospel and reject it before the rapture cannot be saved. Those saved during the tribulation, then, are those who had never heard the gospel before the rapture. The "proof text" for this view is 2 Thessalonians 2:9-11, which says the antichrist will work miracles to deceive "those who are perishing" and that God Himself will "send them a powerful delusion" to confirm them in their unbelief. The reason given is that "they refused to love the truth and so be saved" (verse 10). Granted, those who are hard-hearted toward the gospel before the rapture are likely to remain so. And the antichrist will deceive many (Matthew 24:5). But "those who refused to love the truth" does not necessarily refer to people who heard the gospel before the rapture. It could be anyone who wholly rejects God's salvation, at any time. So, there is no clear scriptural evidence to support this view. Revelation 6:9-11 speaks of those martyred during the tribulation "because of the word of God, and because of the testimony which they had maintained." These martyrs will correctly interpret what they see during the tribulation and will believe the gospel themselves and call on others to repent and believe as well. The antichrist and his followers will not tolerate their evangelism and will kill them. All of these martyrs are people who were alive before the rapture, but who were not believers until afterward. Therefore, there must be opportunity to come to Christ in faith after the rapture..." ...but wouldn't it make so much more sense to come to Christ today? Why risk the horrors of the great tribulation? a