The Bible is clear. Jesus IS coming again, but unfortunately there are many misconceptions as to the manner of His return and the nature of the rapture. It is very important to know exactly what the Bible says so we will not be deceived into believing a lie.
Regarding the signs of His coming, Jesus had one very important message to give to His disciples on Mount Olivet just before His crucifixion. His very first words in response to their question ‘What shall be the sign of your coming?’ was ‘Take heed that no man deceive you’. Four times in that same discourse, Jesus repeats His warning against deception, for many will come in His name and claim to be Christ. They will perform amazing miracles that appear so genuine that even ‘the very elect’ are in danger of being deceived (Matthew 24:24).
This is why it is so very important to know exactly what the Bible says about the second coming of Christ and the rapture of the saints. We cannot afford to be deceived.
1) The Bible gives Christ’s personal guarantee of His return.
Before Jesus left this earth, He made this promise to His worried disciples:
“Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also” (John 14:1-3).
Paul, the greatest evangelist of all times, confidently repeats this assurance – “Christ . . . will appear a second time” (Hebrews 9:28).
This is the blessed hope that His followers have clung to down through the ages. He will come again, and the signs of His coming are fast fulfilling.
2) The Bible describes the Manner of His Return.
After His resurrection, Jesus returned to heaven, and the disciples watched as He rose into the sky. The Bible says:
“While they [the disciples] watched, He [Jesus] was taken up, and a cloud received Him out of their sight. And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven as He went up, behold, two men [angels] stood by them in white apparel, who also said, ‘Men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will so come in like manner as you saw Him go into heaven’” (Acts 1:9-11).
Two points are worth noting from this passage.
- The Jesus who returns to earth the second time is the very same Jesus who lived here on earth – a personal being with a body of flesh and bone.
In the book of Luke, the writer describes an incident that occurred after the resurrection of Jesus. His frightened disciples were gathered in the ‘upper room’ for ‘fear of the Jews,’ when suddenly Jesus appeared amongst them. They feared they had seen a ghost.
“And He (Christ) said unto them, ‘Why are you troubled? And why do doubts arise in your hearts? Behold My hands and My feet, that it is I myself. Handle Me and see; for a spirit does not have flesh and bones, as you see I have’.
“And when He had thus spoken, He showed them His hands and His feet.
“And while they still not believed for joy, and wondered, He said to them, ‘Have you any food here’?
“And they gave him a piece of a broiled fish, and a honeycomb. And he took it, and ate it in their presence” (Luke 24:36-43).
The next event after this was Christ’s ascension to heaven bearing the same flesh and blood body that He had while on this earth.
- The second point to note is that Jesus will return to earth in much the same way as He left. How did Jesus go to heaven following His resurrection? Did He go secretly? No. The disciples watched Him rise, literally, bodily, into the air until a cloud hid Him from their sight. These verses tell us that Jesus will return to earth the same way—not secretly, but visibly and audibly.
3) The Bible tells us that Jesus’ Second Coming is anything but Secret!
Revelation 1:7 – “Behold, He [Jesus] is coming with clouds, and every eye will see Him, even they who pierced Him”.
Matthew 24:30-31 – “Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn (because they left it too late to repent), and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together His elect, from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other”.
Matthew 24:27 – “For as the lightning comes from the east and flashes to the west, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be”.
Matthew 16:27 – “For the Son of man shall come in the glory of His Father with His angels”.
1 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”.
The coming of Jesus will be a glorious event. The splendour surrounding Jesus and His holy angels will stretch from horizon to horizon and will be beyond human language to describe. The very atmosphere will be charged with resplendent glory. Every man, woman, and child alive at this time will see and hear Him come. There will be no need for anyone to tell us that Christ has come. Christ Himself tells us to be wary of those who say “‘Look, here is the Christ! or there! Do not believe it . . . If they say to you, ‘Look, He is in the desert! Do not go out; or Look, He is in the inner rooms! Do not believe it” (Matthew 24:23, 26). These are serious words for a serious time, and it would be well to heed this admonition from our Lord. Be amongst those who, at last, can look up and say:
“Behold, this is our God! We have waited for Him, and He will save us” (Isaiah 25:9).
4) The Bible tells us that the righteous will be ‘raptured’ when Jesus comes again.
1 Thessalonians 4: 16-17 – “For the Lord Himself will descend . . . And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we which are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so shall we always be with the Lord”.
Here, we are told that the righteous dead from all the ages past and present will be resurrected, and together with the living righteous, they will be ‘raptured’, or rise to meet the Lord in the air. Then, with all the holy angels, this great caravan of glory will be transported to heaven.
At this time “we shall all be changed . . . and the dead will be raised incorruptible. . . For His corruptible (subject to death) much put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality” (1 Corinthians 15:51-53). Only at this time will the saints receive immortality.
For the Lord Jesus “will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to (made like) His glorious body” (Philippians 3:21).
NB – It is important to note that Jesus does not touch the earth at His second coming. The saints meet Him ‘in the air’. This is important for many false christs will arise at this time and perform miracles to deceive ‘if possible, even the elect’ (Matthew 24:24). Satan will even attempt to impersonate the coming of Christ, for he knows he has a short time and is desperate to keep the world deceived until it is too late for anyone to be saved.
2 Thessalonians 2: 9-10 – “The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders, and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved”.
5) The Bible tells us that the righteous will be ‘raptured’ when Jesus comes again.
Revelation 6:14-17 – “Then the sky receded as a scroll when it is rolled up, and every mountain and island was moved out of its place. And the kings of the earth, the great men, the rich men, the commanders, the mighty men, every slave and every free man, hid themselves in the caves and in the rocks of the mountains, and said to the mountains and rocks, ‘Fall on us and hide us from the face of Him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb! For the great day of His wrath has come, and who is able to stand?’”
Revelation 19:11-16 – “Now I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse. And He who sat on him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and makes war. His eyes were like a flame of fire, and on His head were many crowns. He had a name written that no one knew except Himself. He was clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God. And the armies in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, followed Him on white horses. Now out of His mouth goes a sharp sword, that with it He should strike the nations. And He Himself will rule them with a rod of iron. He Himself treads the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. And He has on His robe and on His thigh a name written: KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.”
Those who defiantly rebel against God and refuse to accept the grace He offers them will at last perish from His radiant glory. The prophet Jeremiah tells us “At that day the slain of the Lord shall be from one end of the earth even to the other end of the earth” (Jeremiah 25:33).
6) The Bible tells us what will happen to the earth at the Second Coming of Christ.
Revelation 16:18, 20 – “There was a great earthquake, such a mighty earthquake as had not occurred since men were on the earth . . . Then every island fled away, and the mountains were not found”.
Jeremiah 4:26 – “I beheld, and indeed the fruitful land was a wilderness, and all the cities were broken down at the presence of the LORD”.
Isaiah 24:1, 3 – “The LORD makes the earth empty and makes it waste . . . The land shall be entirely emptied”.
7) The Bible extends a special invitation to all who want to be part of that grand caravan of glory.
Revelation 22:17 – “And the Spirit and the bride say, ‘Come!’ And let him who hears say, ‘Come!’ And let him who thirsts come. Whoever desires, let him take the water of life freely”.
Matthew 11:28 – “Come to Me, all you who labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest”.
Revelation 22:20 – “He (Christ) who testifies to these things says, ‘Surely I am coming quickly’. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus”.
