The Signs & Events of the Second Coming of Jesus Christ.

[Hobie]

We see Christ laying down what will happen and the signs and events to watch for.

Matthew 24 King James Version (KJV)
"1 And Jesus went out, and departed from the temple: and his disciples came to him for to shew him the buildings of the temple.
2 And Jesus said unto them, See ye not all these things? verily I say unto you, There shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down.
3 And as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?
4 And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you.
5 For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many.
6 And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.
7 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.
8 All these are the beginning of sorrows.
9 Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name's sake.
10 And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another.
11 And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many.
12 And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.
13 But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.
14 And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.
15 When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand.
16 Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains:
17 Let him which is on the housetop not come down to take any thing out of his house:
18 Neither let him which is in the field return back to take his clothes.
19 And woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days!
20 But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath day:
21 For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.
22 And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened.
23 Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not.
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.
25 Behold, I have told you before.
26 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.
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.
28 For wheresoever the carcase is, there will the eagles be gathered together.
29 Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken:
30 And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.
31 And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other."

We also see it repeated in Mark:13:1-28 and Luke 21:5-28, Now many of the events portrayed in these chapters have always existed on the earth, but never has there been a time when all these events were evident in the world simultaneously in diverse places as we are seeing in the times we are living in.

 

[Hobie]

Now lets look at what scriptures tells us of who will be at the end, the 144,000 in the Bible:
Revelation 14:1-5
“1 And I looked, and, lo, a Lamb stood on the mount Sion, and with him an hundred forty and four thousand, having his Father's name written in their foreheads.2 And I heard a voice from heaven, as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of a great thunder: and I heard the voice of harpers harping with their harps:3 And they sung as it were a new song before the throne, and before the four beasts, and the elders: and no man could learn that song but the hundred and forty and four thousand, which were redeemed from the earth.4 These are they which were not defiled with women; for they are virgins. These are they which follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth. These were redeemed from among men, being the firstfruits unto God and to the Lamb.5 And in their mouth was found no guile: for they are without fault before the throne of God.”

Revelation 12:17
And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.

According to Revelation, at the end there will be a people who have certain characteristics, they keep the commandments of God and they have the testimony of Jesus. We know them as the remnant, but there is also another name, the 144,000.

Lets look at Daniel on this..
Daniel 12:1
And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people: and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time: and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book.

So we have a remnant who are a commandment keeping people who have the testimony of Jesus Christ, so its a small part of those who say they follow Christ. But this remnant must go through the tribulation and “the time of trouble, such as never”.

Matthew 13:30
Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn.

So we have Christians who are not all Gods people, we have the true followers of God there are many others whose hearts and minds are not cleansed and ready for Christ. So the church itself must go through a shaking in which the tares will be separated from the wheat, and the people who are His, prepared for the Second Coming of Christ.

We find in John 6:27 it tells us the true saints will be sealed including those who go to the grave before the resurrection at the Second Coming:
John 6:27
Labour not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of man shall give unto you: for him hath God the Father sealed.

We also find in 2 Corinthians 1:21-22..
2 Corinthians 1:21-22
21 Now he which stablisheth us with you in Christ, and hath anointed us, is God;
22 Who hath also sealed us, and given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts

 

[Hobie]

So the saints throughout the ages have been sealed, and we to need to be sealed. Now is the time to prepare. The seal of God will never be placed upon the forehead of an impure man or woman. It will never be placed upon the forehead of those who love the world or have false tongues or deceitful hearts. All who receive the seal must be without spot before God ready for heaven.

Now lets look at Matthew 5:48 which and read what it has to say:
Matthew 5:48
Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.

Hebrews describes the role of Jesus as our mediator in heaven.
Hebrews 9:14-15
14 How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?
15 And for this cause he is the mediator of the new testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance.

And yet its clear there will be a time when there is no mediator at all as Christ comes to redeem His saints, and at that time we must reflect the image of Jesus fully. These are those 144,000 who are the people of God who are alive at these last days. Look at what happens at this time:
Revelation 22:11
He that is unjust, let him be unjust still: and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still: and he that is holy, let him be holy still.

The 144,000 must wash our robes of character and make them white in the blood of the Lamb. They must be ready, humbling themselves before God and purifying their souls by obeying the truth and preparing for the seal of God.

In Revelation 3:21 Christ makes a promise to the church of Laodicea, the last of the seven churches.
Revelation 3:21
To him who overcomes I will grant to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne.

So these saints that live at the end during the time such as never was must not only overcome, but be perfect and just like Job to go through the final trial, and be ready to stand pure and spotless with their robes washed in the blood of the lamb.

The number 144,000 occurs only twice in Scripture, we read Revelation 14:1-5. But we also find it in Rev. 7:1-4, prior to the Second Coming:

Revelation 7:1-4
1 And after these things I saw four angels standing on the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, nor on the sea, nor on any tree.2 And I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God: and he cried with a loud voice to the four angels, to whom it was given to hurt the earth and the sea,3 Saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads.4 And I heard the number of them which were sealed: and there were sealed an hundred and forty and four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel.

Some Christians assert that the text refers to Jews only so lets look to determine whether or not this 144,000 are actually 12,000 literal Israelites from their 12 respective tribes. We find the following in Galatians 3:29:
Galatians 3:29
And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise.

Then we have from Paul, the following of who is a true Jew:
Romans 2:28-29
28 For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh:
29 But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God.

Next we read in James what shows that the Apostles viewed the tribes in a spiritual sense:
James 1:1
James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad, greeting.

We know it is clearly addressed to Christians, and yet James plainly refers to them as spiritual Jews from 12 spiritual tribes. So its clear that it is referring to spiritual Israel regardless of whether they were Jew or Gentile by blood.

So lets go back to see the characteristics of the 144,000. We saw in Revelation 7 in verse 3 &4 that they are sealed, “3 Saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads.4 And I heard the number of them which were sealed: and there were sealed an hundred and forty and four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel.”

In Revelation 14 verse 1, we find the same sealing:
Revelation 14:1
And I looked, and, lo, a Lamb stood on the mount Sion, and with him an hundred forty and four thousand, having his Father's name written in their foreheads.

The true believers who are the people of God, will be in the end in the sealing time of the one hundred and forty-four thousand who are to stand without fault before the throne of God.

So what more detailed description does scripture give, we find Revelation 14 verse 3 & 4:
Revelation 14:3-4
3 And they sung as it were a new song before the throne, and before the four beasts, and the elders: and no man could learn that song but the hundred and forty and four thousand, which were redeemed from the earth.
4 These are they which were not defiled with women; for they are virgins. These are they which follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth. These were redeemed from among men, being the firstfruits unto God and to the Lamb..

These believers are ‘virgins’ or undefiled by the corruption Satan has out there. God’s end-time people are wholeheartedly dedicated to God as a bride is to her bridegroom.

Christians may think they can survive this time such as never was, but only a remnant “who have washed their robes and made them white” are prepared for it and will remain as the living saints, the 144,000 at the Second Coming.

 

[Hobie]

So what are the events that Christians look for. One is the coming of Christ in glory, which they all show be waiting for. Jesus said:"I will come again."
John 14:3
And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.

This promise will be fulfilled and the return of Christ or His second coming to this earth is the event that will finally release the people of God from Satan's bondage. We also have:

Titus 2:13
13 Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;

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.

So how He will be Christ's Second Coming?

Acts 1:9-11
9 And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight.
10 And while they looked stedfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel;
11 Which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven

So we see in the clouds together with His angels. Jesus was taken up into heaven by a cloud, and He will return in the clouds. The clouds refer to the angels of God that surround Him. Jesus Himself promised that He would return with the clouds (the angels).

Matthew 24:30
And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven; and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.

Matthew 25:31
When the Son of man shall come in His glory and all the holy angels with Him, then shall He sit upon the throne of His glory.

Christ's coming surpasses anything we can imagine, as He will return in the glory of His angels, and that of the Godhead:

Luke 9:26
For whosoever shall be ashamed of me and of my words, of him shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he shall come in his own glory, and in his Father's, and of the holy angels.

The Second Coming will also be universally visible as we see in Revelation 1:7 "Behold He cometh with clouds, and every eye shall see Him.."
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.

Christ warned against false christs that would not be universally visible, and how His coming would be:

Matthew 24:26-27
26 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.
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.

The Second Coming will not be hidden at all but very audible, as He gathers the saints:

Matthew 24:31
And he shall send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet and they shall gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of Heaven to the other.

Christ will not come down to the earth, but await the saints in the sky with the cloud of angels:

1 Thessalonians 4:16-17
16 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:
17 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.

At the second coming, Christ calls forth the dead and sends forth His angels to gather the elect, and together they meet Him in the air. Christ Himself does not come down to the earth His feet do not touch the earth. His command to His angels is:

Psalm 50:5
Gather my saints together unto me, those that have made a covenant with me by sacrifice.

The saints who are alive and those who have been resurrected from the grave will be gathered together by angels and taken up into the air to meet the Lord in the sky. This will not be in any sense a secret rapture, but a worldwide event.

Matthew 24:31
And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.

 

[Hobie]

We see also...
Matthew 24:29-30
29 Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken:
30 And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.

The time of trouble will be ended by Second Coming, which will also mark the commencement of the Millennium or 1000 years.
There will be no 1,000 Year Millennial Kingdom upon this earth at the Second Coming as the saints are taken up to Christs Heavenly Kingdom. But this existing Heaven and Earth will be replaced by the New Heaven and New Earth...

2 Peter 3:10-13
10 But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.
11 Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness,
12 Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat?
13 Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.

1 Corinthians 3:13
13 Every man's work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is.

Revelation 21:1-5
1 And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea.
2 And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
3 And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God.
4 And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.
5 And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful.

And the New Jerusalem will come down and be the home for the saints with Christ for eternity.

 

[Hobie]

So we see the events that will take place at the Second Coming

1. The Righteous Dead are raised up..

I Thessalonians 4:16
For the Lord Himself shall descend from Heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ shall rise first.

Only the righteous who are "in Christ" in their graves are resurrected at the second coming. The rest of the dead are not resurrected until after the Millennium of the 1000 years.

Revelation 20:4,5
And I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was given unto them. And I saw the souls of those that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads or in their hands. And they lived and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection.

The first resurrection is only of the righteous saints in the grave, which are raised up to the clouds of angels and Christ, and taken to heaven and they live and reign with Christ for the thousand years. The unrighteous are not raised until the thousand years are finished, thus we see what is said of those in this first resurrection.
Revelation 20:6
Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection...

Now we can understand why Christ tells us that all shall hear His voice at the first resurrection, but the next one is of the wicked.
John 5:28-29
28 Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice,
29 And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.

He talks of two resurrections which are "the resurrection of life", and "the resurrection of damnation". These two events are separated by the thousand years.

2. The Righteous Living will be translated...

I Thessalonians 4:17
Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them, to meet the Lord in the air.

The living righteous, "we which are alive" will be gathered together with the resurrected righteous to meet the Lord in the air. The righteous living will not taste death, but will be translated as were Enoch and Elijah.
1 Corinthians 15:51-54
51 Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed,
52 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.
53 For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.
54 So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.

Philippians 3:20-21
20 For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ:
21 Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself.

The living righteous are changed 'in the twinkling of an eye' at the last trumpet. Our bodies 'shall be changed' into the likeness of 'His glorious body'. and go up to the heavenly kingdom where 'God will wipe away tears from off all faces' and the saints shall rejoice.
Isaiah 25:8-9
8 He will swallow up death in victory; and the Lord God will wipe away tears from off all faces; and the rebuke of his people shall he take away from off all the earth: for the Lord hath spoken it.
9 And it shall be said in that day, Lo, this is our God; we have waited for him, and he will save us: this is the Lord; we have waited for him, we will be glad and rejoice in his salvation.

3. The Wicked are slain for the 1000 years then brough up at the resurrection of damnation.

Scripture shows us they are slain by the brightness of His coming, when Christ comes to take the saints.
2 Thessalonians 2:10
8 And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming:
9 Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders,
10 And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.

Gods people who are resurrected in the 'first resurrection' and the living saints are taken to heaven for the 1000 years, and the Wicked are not raised up till after the 1000 years.
Revelation 20:5
But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection.

Now there is a additional thing that will happen when the earth and heavens burn up.

Isaiah 66:15
15 For, behold, the Lord will come with fire, and with his chariots like a whirlwind, to render his anger with fury, and his rebuke with flames of fire.

Zechariah 14:12
12 And this shall be the plague wherewith the Lord will smite all the people that have fought against Jerusalem; Their flesh shall consume away while they stand upon their feet, and their eyes shall consume away in their holes, and their tongue shall consume away in their mouth.

Nahum 1:5-6
5 The mountains quake at him, and the hills melt, and the earth is burned at his presence, yea, the world, and all that dwell therein.
6 Who can stand before his indignation? and who can abide in the fierceness of his anger? his fury is poured out like fire, and the rocks are thrown down by him.

1 Corinthians 3:13
13 Every man's work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is.

2 Thessalonians 1:7-9
7 And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels,
8 In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ:
9 Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power;

The fire which consumes the sky, land and sea, note that it specifically says that it happens after the 1000 years as it happens when the 'thousand years' are completed....
Revelation 20:7
And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison,

Revelation 20:9
9 And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them.