<%@LANGUAGE="JAVASCRIPT" CODEPAGE="1252"%> Untitled Document

WHAT DOES THE BIBLE SAY WILL HAPPEN WHEN JESUS COMES BACK?

1. Jesus said, “ MY KINGDOM is not of this world” (JOHN 18:36). It was not then, nor will it ever be.

2. Jesus said the kingdom of God DOES NOT COME WITH OBSERVATION; nor will they say, ‘See here!’ or ‘See there!’ For the kingdom of God is within you (LUKE 17:20-21). It is a spiritual kingdom, in the heart!

3. When Jesus comes back, the earth and the works in it will be BURNED UP (2nd PETER 3:7-12). There will be no earth upon which Jesus could stand.

4. Jesus said, “Do not marvel at this; for the HOUR is coming in which ALL who are in their graves will hear His voice and come forth—those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation” (JOHN 5:28-29). One resurrection; not two or three!

5. When the Son of Man comes, ALL THE NATIONS will be gathered before Him at the same time (MATTHEW 25:31-42).

6. At THE END OF THIS AGE, the angels will separate the wicked from the just (MATTHEW 13:49-50). This will happen at the LAST DAY (JOHN 12:48).

7. Jesus will judge the living and the dead AT HIS APPEARING (2nd TIMOTHY 4:1). ALL people are judged at His appearing, when the Son of Man COMES (MATTHEW 25:31-46), both the just and the unjust (ACTS 24:15).

8. When Jesus comes IN THAT DAY, there will be rest for the righteous and wrath upon the unrighteous; those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of Jesus (2nd THESSALONIANS 1:6-10).

9. It is A DAY of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God (ROMANS 2:5-6), who will render TO EVERYONE according to his deeds. This is why it is called the DAY OF JUDGMENT (2nd PETER 3:7) and the DAY OF GOD (2nd PETER 3:12), in which the heavens and the earth will melt with fervent heat, and the works therein will be burned up.

10. God has appointed A DAY on which He will judge the world in righteousness by the Man He has ordained (ACTS 17:30-31).

11. Jesus Christ will raise believers at the LAST DAY (JOHN 6:39-40) and the word which Jesus spoke will JUDGE at THE LAST DAY (JOHN 12:48).

12. Martha said she knew her brother would rise again in THE RESURRECTION at THE LAST DAY (JOHN 11:24), which is A RESURRECTION of both the just and the unjust (ACTS 24:15).

13. When Jesus Christ comes, He will come with ten thousands of His saints to execute JUDGMENT ON ALL and CONVICT ALL WHO ARE UNGODLY (JUDE 14-15).

14. When Jesus Christ comes, EVERY EYE WILL SEE HIM (REVELATION 1:7), as LIGHTNING THAT FLASHES from the east to the west (MATTHEW 24:27) called the BRIGHTNESS of HIS COMING (2nd THESSALONIANS 2:8). It will not be a secret!

15. The Lord Jesus will come with a SHOUT, with the voice of an archangel and with the trumpet of God (1st THESSALONIANS 4:16). Everybody will see it and hear it!

16. Some will be happy at HIS SECOND COMING, as they are eagerly waiting for Him (PHILIPPIANS 3:20; HEBREWS 9:28), while other will be DESTROYED SUDDENLY as Jesus comes like a thief in the night (1st THESSALONIANS 5:2-3; REVELATION 16:15).

17. When Jesus comes on THAT DAY, a crown of righteousness will be given to those who have longed for His appearing (2nd TIMOTHY 4:8).

18. The Son of Man WILL COME in the glory of His Father with His angels, and then He will REWARD each according to his works (MATTHEW 16:27).

19. Jesus said, “Behold, I AM COMING QUICKLY, and My reward is with Me, to give to every one according to his work (REVELATION 22:12).

20. The coming of the Lord IS AT HAND (JAMES 5:8). He who is coming will come, and WILL NOT DELAY (HEBREWS 10:37).

21. When CHRIST APPEARS, then you will also appear with Him in glory (COLOSSIANS 3:4). When the CHIEF SHEPHERD APPEARS, Christians will receive a crown of glory that does not fade away (1st PETER 5:4). When JESUS APPEARS, we shall be like Him, because we shall see Him just as He is (1st JOHN 3:2).

22. When the LORD COMES, He will bring to light the hidden things of darkness and reveal the counsels of MEN’S HEARTS (1st CORINTHIANS 4:5).

23. When Jesus Christ comes, it will be a GLORIOUS APPEARING (TITUS 2:13) as He will be coming on THE CLOUDS OF HEAVEN with GREAT POWER (MATTHEW 24:30, 26:64; LUKE 21:27; ACTS 1:9-11; REVELATION 1:7).

24. Those who are alive and remain when HE COMES shall be caught up together with them IN THE CLOUDS to meet the Lord in THE AIR and be with Him FOREVER (1st THESSALONIANS 4:17). No mention of Jesus ever coming back to this earth, as Christians will meet Him in the air and be with Him forever!

25. When Jesus comes, the Bible says THEN COMES THE END, when He DELIVERS THE KINGDOM TO GOD THE FATHER (1st CORINTHIANS 15:23-25).

26. Jesus said NOBODY KNOWS that day or hour when He is COMING BACK (MARK 13:32-37).

27. Jesus said HIS COMING will be like it was in the days of Noah; “For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and DID NOT KNOW until the flood came and took them ALL AWAY, so also will the COMING OF THE SON OF MAN BE (MATTHEW 24:36-39). It is apparent from this statement that business was going on as usual!

28. Jesus also likened HIS COMING to the days of Lot; “They ate, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they built, but ON THE DAY that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all. Even so it will be IN THE DAY when the Son of Man IS REVEALED (LUKE 17:28-30). Again, this statement implies that it was business as usual; nothing out of the ordinary was taking place. It serves as a dire warning for all Christians!

No passage in the Bible says that Jesus Christ will ever set foot on the earth again! No passage in the Bible says that Jesus Christ is coming back to earth to set up a kingdom. The Bible says that when Jesus comes back, THEN COMES THE END when He delivers the kingdom to God (1st CORINTHIANS 15:23-24). True Christians can rejoice as King Jesus is reigning ‘NOW’ on the throne of His grace (HEBREWS 4:16). Christians are “a kingdom of priests” as was God’s intent (EXODUS 19:5-6). We are a “royal priesthood, a holy nation” (1st PETER 2:9; REVELATION 1:6, 5:10). The kingdom is the church (DANIEL 2:44; MATTHEW 16:18-19; ACTS 2). Jesus Christ is High Priest over the House of God (HEBREWS 10:21). This spiritual house, the church, is the spiritual kingdom which cannot be shaken (HEBREWS 12:28). We, as living stones, are built up a Spiritual House (1st PETER 2:5). God calls all people into HIS KINGDOM (1st THESSALONIANS 2:12) through the gospel (2nd THESSALONIANS 2:14). The gospel message of Jesus is the WORD OF THE KINGDOM (MATTHEW 13:19). We must be born again, born of water and the Spirit, to ENTER THE KINGDOM (JOHN 3:3-5). When people become Christians, are ’born again,’ they are instantly placed INTO JESUS’ KINGDOM (COLOSSIANS 1:13-14) and become SONS OF THE KINGDOM (MATTHEW 13:37-38).

Jesus did not allow the people to make Him a physical king (JOHN 6:15); nor will He ever allow it. Unfortunately, many today still want to impose this on Him. They believe that He came to sit on David’s earthly, natural throne in Jerusalem, and that somehow He failed to achieve His Father’s goal of making Him a political ruler. Jesus did not fail, but He accomplished His mission: “I have glorified You on the earth. I have FINISHED THE WORK which You have given Me to do” (JOHN 17:4). Right before Jesus died on the cross, He said, “IT IS FINISHED” (JOHN 19:30). When Jesus died, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom (MARK 15:38). This signified that the barrier between God and man disappeared (ROMANS 5:1).

False teachers imply that Jesus Christ came at His first coming, to set up this political monarchy. They teach that He offered a physical kingdom to the Jews, but they rejected it, so He withdrew the offer, postponed what He came for, and instead left the ‘church.’ At His second coming, they believe He will accomplish what ‘He failed’ to do at His first coming. They teach that He will come back to earth, and set up a physical kingdom for 1000 years (pre-millennialism). This teaching is a false doctrine! The KINGDOM is not limited in duration to a thousand years, but is ETERNAL; the kingdom is not physical, but SPIRITUAL; the kingdom is not Jewish, but UNIVERSAL! Many people are deceived about the Kingship of Jesus as were the Jews of Jesus’ day. Friend, the Lord’s kingdom is a matter of the heart and it will last forever and ever! The Lord’s church is the spiritual kingdom, alive in the hearts of those who believe in Him (LUKE 17:20-21).

God had promised David that his “seed” would establish the kingdom (2nd SAMUEL 7:12). Jesus Christ was that “seed of David,” the coming King, sent by God, as God, to restore God’s kingship over mankind (MATTHEW 1:1; ACTS 13:23; ROMANS 1:3-4; 2nd TIMOTHY 2:8; REVELATION 22:16). Pilate presented the battered Jesus, saying, “Behold your King” (JOHN 19:14). The superscription on the cross read, “Jesus, King of the Jews” (MATTHEW 27:37; MARK 15:26; LUKE 23:38). The Jewish leaders wanted it changed to read, “He claimed to be the King of the Jews.” But it was written in three languages and remained written just as God intended! That destroyed any expectation for a continued physical kingdom. Jesus was not a physical King of the Jews alone; He was the Spiritual King of God’s Spiritual Kingdom among all men, all nations (JOHN 12:32). In Matthew 16:18-19, Jesus promised Peter the ‘keys’ to the kingdom of heaven. In his sermon on Pentecost, Peter declared that David had prophesied of “his seed seated upon the throne” (ACTS 2:30), and that by the resurrection of Jesus Christ, God had raised up Jesus to be Lord and King! The church, which Jesus Christ purchased with His own blood (ACTS 20:28), is the promised spiritual kingdom! Jesus Christ is King of kings and Lord of lords. He is reigning now on His precious throne! Several Old Testament prophets prophesied about the coming Messiah, the anointed One, the King and His kingdom. Jesus fulfilled the prophecies (MATTHEW 5:17; LUKE 24:44; ACTS 3:18, 3:24, 10:42-43, 24:14-15, 26:22-23).

Jesus’ spiritual kingdom is a matter of the heart (ROMANS 10:10). Jesus purifies hearts by faith (ACTS 15:8-9). The new covenant is written on minds and hearts (HEBREWS 8:10). The love of God has been poured out into our hearts (ROMANS 5:5). This is why Jesus said the kingdom does not come with observation; it is a matter of the heart; within the heart of men (LUKE 17:20-21).

By Eric Jones

Return to the Question/Answer index page

Return to the General Articles page

Home / Bible studies / Bible Survey / Special Studies / General Articles / Non-Bible Articles / Sermons / Sermon Outlines / Links / Questions and Answers / What Saith The Scriptures /Daily Devotional / Correspondence Courses / What is the Church of Christ / Book: Christian Growth / Website Policy / E-mail / About Me /