INTRODUCTION: End of a Series / Review / Celebration
Q52: Is Jesus coming back?
A story: the maintenance man and the man on the ledge
Related terms: tribulation, rapture, millennium, return of Christ
John 14:2-4 (CEV)
2 There are many rooms in my Father’s house. I wouldn’t tell you this, unless it was true. I am going there to prepare a place for each of you. 3 After I have done this, I will come back and take you with me. Then we will be together. 4 You know the way to where I am going.”
John 14:27-28 (NIV)
27 “I am leaving you with a gift—peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give. So don’t be troubled or afraid. 28 Remember what I told you: I am going away, but I will come back to you again.
Acts 1:10-11 (CEV)
Suddenly two men dressed in white clothes were standing there beside them. 11 They said, “Why are you men from Galilee standing here and looking up into the sky? Jesus has been taken to heaven. But he will come back in the same way you have seen him go.”
2 Peter 3:10 (CEV)
The day of the Lord’s return will surprise us like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a loud noise, and the heat will melt the whole universe. Then the earth and everything on it will be seen for what they are.
Matthew 16:27 (ERV)
The Son of Man will come again with his Father’s glory and with his angels. And he will reward everyone for what they have done.
Q: WHAT IS THE RAPTURE?
A: the rapture is a belief, particularly amongst North American evangelicals, consisting of an event when all dead Christian believers and those still alive will be ‘taken away’ and meet Jesus in the air and be taken to heaven.
SUPPORTING SCRIPTURE:
Matthew 24:37-41 (NLT) - 37 “When the Son of Man returns, it will be like it was in Noah’s day. 38 In those days before the flood, the people were enjoying banquets and parties and weddings right up to the time Noah entered his boat. 39 People didn’t realize what was going to happen until the flood came and swept them all away. That is the way it will be when the Son of Man comes. 40 “Two men will be working together in the field; one will be taken, the other left. 41 Two women will be grinding flour at the mill; one will be taken, the other left.
1 Corinthians 15:51-52 (NLT) - 51 But let me reveal to you a wonderful secret. We will not all die, but we will all be transformed! 52 It will happen in a moment, in the blink of an eye, when the last trumpet is blown. For when the trumpet sounds, those who have died will be raised to live forever. And we who are living will also be transformed.
1 Thessalonians 4:15-17 (NLT) - 15 We tell you this directly from the Lord: We who are still living when the Lord returnswill not meet Him ahead of those who have died. 16 For the Lord Himself will come down from heaven with a commanding shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet call of God. First, the believers who have died will rise from their graves. 17 Then, together with them, we who are still alive and remain on the earth will be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. Then we will be with the Lord forever.
The Parousia
Q: WHAT IS THE MILLENIUM?
Revelation 20:1-10 (NLT) - Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven with the key to the bottomless pit and a heavy chain in his hand. 2 He seized the dragon—that old serpent, who is the devil, Satan—and bound him in chains for a thousand years. 3 The angel threw him into the bottomless pit, which he then shut and locked so Satan could not deceive the nations anymore until the thousand years were finished. Afterward he must be released for a little while.
4 Then I saw thrones, and the people sitting on them had been given the authority to judge. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their testimony about Jesus and for proclaiming the word of God. They had not worshiped the beast or his statue, nor accepted his mark on their foreheads or their hands. They all came to life again, and they reigned with Christ for a thousand years.
5 This is the first resurrection. (The rest of the dead did not come back to life until the thousand years had ended.)6 Blessed and holy are those who share in the first resurrection. For them the second death holds no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with him a thousand years.
7 When the thousand years come to an end, Satan will be let out of his prison. 8 He will go out to deceive the nations—called Gog and Magog—in every corner of the earth. He will gather them together for battle—a mighty army, as numberless as sand along the seashore. 9 And I saw them as they went up on the broad plain of the earth and surrounded God’s people and the beloved city. But fire from heaven came down on the attacking armies and consumed them.
10 Then the devil, who had deceived them, was thrown into the fiery lake of burning sulfur, joining the beast and the false prophet. There they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.
SEVEN DIFFERENT RETURN OF CHRIST TIME LINES:
Illustration: traveling to Paris
The “End-Time Prophecies” in the Bible weren’t meant to be read as a roadmap, describing every twist, turn, and moment in order. Instead, they function more like a compass, pointing us in the right direction. And that direction is… Jesus! Jesus is the hope of the world! Jesus came as God’s plan for redemption and salvation 2,000 years ago!”
The Communion Connection:
1 Corinthians 11:24-26 (NLT) - 24 …“This is My body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of Me.” 25 …“This cup is the new covenant between God and His people—an agreement confirmed with My blood. Do this in remembrance of Me as often as you drink it.” 26 For every time you eat this bread and drink this cup, you are announcing the Lord’s death until He comes again.