My sister and I had been staying with our grandmother in a small town in southeastern Iowa for a couple of days, having been left there by our parents, who assured us they would be back to pick us up on a certain day. That day had come, and our eyes were glued on the top of a hill that marked the edge of that little town, looking for the familiar family car to come over that hill and down the main street of the town, stopping at grandmother’s house to pick us up. Two days in this little place with our dear grandmother, who surely tried every way imaginable to make us feel at home, including a trip to the general store to get a stick or two of candy, was about all it took to make us homesick! So we longed to see our mother and father come over that yonder hill as they had promised they would.
Centuries before, Jesus, meeting with His disciples in an Upper Room somewhere in Jerusalem, promised them that though He would be separated from them for a time, He would come back to receive them unto Himself, so that they could be “Home” with Him in the Father’s house, where there were many mansions. That promise became the watchword of the early church and has remained so to this present day: “Jesus is coming again!”
A Scottish preacher spoke of the promise of His return: “The doctrine of the Lord’s second coming, as it appears in the New Testament, is like a lofty mountain that dominates the entire landscape.” Author and Baptist preacher A.J. Gordon commented on that statement: “No matter what road you take, no matter what pass you tread, you will find the mountain bursting on your vision at every turn of the way, and at every parting of the hills. What first struck me in reading the New Testament was this: Whatever doctrine I was pursuing, whatever precept I was enforcing, I found it fronting toward and terminating in the hope of the Lord’s second coming. All paths of obedience and service lead to that mountain.”
Pastor and Bible teacher John MacArthur contrasted the first and second comings of our Lord and Savior: “The first time, He came veiled in the form of a child. The next time He comes, and soon we believe it will be, He comes unveiled and it will be abundantly clear and immediately clear to all the world just who He is. The first time He came, a star marked His arrival. The next time He comes, the whole heaven will roll up like a scroll and all the stars will fall out of the sky, and He Himself will light it. The first time He came, wise men and shepherds brought Him gifts; the next time He comes, He will bring gifts, rewards for His own. The first time He came, there was no room for Him. The next time He comes, the whole world will not be able to contain His glory. The first time He came, a few attended His arrival—some shepherds and wise men. The next time He comes, every eye shall see Him. The first time He came as a baby. Soon He will come as Sovereign King and Lord.” (Sermon, “The Alpha and the Omega”)
Jesus will come for His Church—and, later, with His Church. These two are often simply referred to His second coming: phase one, the rapture or catching up of the church to be with Christ; phase two, the coming back to the earth with His church to establish His millennial reign on earth. Between the first and second phases of His coming, there will be a seven-year period of tribulation on earth (outlined in Revelation 6-18). These seven years will consist of three series of judgements levied by God upon the earth: seven seal judgements, seven trumpet judgements and, just before His return to earth in power and great glory, seven bowl judgements. It will be an unspeakably awful time to be alive on the earth. For instance, the seven bowl judgements are (1) a noisome and grievous sore inflicted upon all who have the mark of the beast and worship his image; (2) the seas turn to blood and all sea-life dies; (3) the rivers and waters turn to blood; (4) men will be scorched with great heat; (5) there will be darkness that causes people to gnaw their tongues for pain; (6) the Euphrates river will be dried up, so that the kings of the east can march through to the Middle East for war; (7) a great earthquake, unlike none other of all time, will occur, along with 100-pound hailstones falling upon men out of the heavens, resulting in men blaspheming God. (Rev. 16:1-12; 17-21)
The only way to make certain that YOU will not be alive on earth to witness any of the aforementioned universal calamities is to put your trust in Jesus Christ as Savior today. After He told the disciples in the Upper Room that He was coming back to receive them unto Himself, He said, “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life: No man cometh unto the Father, but by Me.” (John 14:6)
Are you ready for His return? Are you looking for His return? Today is the day of salvation. Trust Christ. Take Him at His word. Believe. Receive the gift of God, which is eternal life. The Bible says that whoever calls upon the name of the Lord will be saved. (Rom. 10:13) You can be one of the “whosoevers!”
“Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Savior Jesus Christ.” (Titus 2:13)
YOU and GOD 