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Scripture Reading: Rev. 1:7; 3:3; 16:15; 10:1; 18:1; 19:7-9a, 19-20
I. We need to see the full revelation of Christ in His coming back — 1:7:
А. The revelation of the person of Christ in His coming back:
1. In His coming back Christ will be the Son of Man — 14:14; Matt. 26:64; 24:27, 30, 37, 39, 44.
2. At His second appearing Christ will be the morning star to His overcomers who watch for His coming — Rev. 22:16; 2:28.
3. Matthew 25:1 indicates that in His coming back Christ will be the Bridegroom, the most pleasant and attractive person in the universe, coming for His bride — Rev. 19:7-9a.
4. At the end of the age of grace, Christ in His coming back will be the Savior to Israel — Rom. 11:26; Zech. 12:10.
5. In Acts 17:31 Paul indicates that Christ in His coming back will be a Judge to the Gentiles.
6. According to Revelation 10:1-7 Christ will come as another Angel to take possession of the earth.
B. The revelation of the work of Christ at His coming back:
1. The first aspect of Christ’s work at His coming back will be to reap the firstfruits — 14:1-5.
2. Toward the end of the tribulation, Christ will catch up the majority of the saints in the clouds (1 Thes. 4:16-17); this will be the reaping of the harvest — Rev. 14:14-16.
3. Christ will set up His judgment seat to judge all the believers, assigning them either a reward or some kind of punishment — 22:12; 2 Cor. 5:10; 1 Cor. 4:5; Rom. 14:10b.
4. In His work at His coming back, Christ will marry the overcoming saints — Rev. 19:7-9a.
5. After Christ marries the overcomers, He will slay Antichrist — 2 Thes. 2:8; Rev. 19:19-20.
6. At His coming back Christ will gather and save all the tribes of Israel — 1:7; Rom. 11:26; Matt. 24:30-31; Zech. 12:10-14.
7. In His work at His coming back, Christ will judge the Gentiles, the living peoples — Acts 17:31; Matt. 25:31-46.
C. The coming back of Christ has a secret aspect and an open aspect — Rev. 3:3; 16:15; 1:7; 18:1:
1. In the secret aspect of His coming back, Christ will come as a thief to those who love Him and will take them away as His treasures — 3:3; 16:15; Matt. 24:43:
a. The time of Christ’s secret coming is unknown — Rev. 3:3; Matt. 24:36, 42; 25:13.
b. The place of the secret aspect of Christ’s coming will be in the cloud to the air — Rev. 10:1; 1 Thes. 4:17.
c. Christ’s secret coming will be a reward to the watching believers — Rev. 2:28; Matt. 24:42, 44.
2. In the open aspect of His coming back, Christ will come with power and great glory to be seen by all the tribes of the land — Rev. 1:7:
a. The time of this open aspect will be at the last trumpet, at the end of the great tribulation — 18:1; Matt. 24:15, 21, 27; 1 Thes. 4:16; 1 Cor. 15:52; 2 Thes. 2:1-4, 8.
b. The place of the open aspect of Christ’s coming back will be on the cloud to the earth — Rev. 1:7; 14:14; Matt. 24:30; Zech. 14:4; Acts 1:11-12.
c. When Christ comes openly, He will come with the overcoming saints to fight against Antichrist and his army at Armageddon — Rev. 19:11-21; 17:13-14; 16:12-16; Zech. 14:3, 5; 2 Thes. 2:8.
II. The coming back of Christ is related to the prophecy of the four “sevens” — Dan. 9:24-27; Rev. 5:1; 8:2; 16:1:
А. The first “seven” is the prophecy concerning the last seven years of the present age — the last of the seventy weeks — Dan. 9:24-27.
B. The second “seven” is the prophecy concerning the seven seals — Rev. 5:1-7; 6:1-17; 8:1-2.
C. The third “seven” is the prophecy concerning the seven trumpets — 8:1—9:21; 10:7; 11:15-18.
D. The fourth “seven” is the prophecy concerning the seven bowls — 15:7; 16:1-12, 17-21.
E. Nearly all the crucial matters of the final seven years of this present age will be crowded into the last three and a half years, the time of the great tribulation — Matt. 24:21, 29; Dan. 12:1; Rev. 11:15.
III. As believers in Christ, we need to have a proper attitude toward the coming back of Christ — 2 Tim. 4:8; Rev. 22:20:
А. We should love the Lord’s appearing — 2 Tim. 4:8.
B. We should eagerly await His return and call for His return — Phil. 3:20; 1 Thes. 1:10; Rev. 22:20.
C. We should give heed to the prophetic word as to a lamp shining in a dark place — 2 Pet. 1:19.
D. We should be watchful and be ready — Matt. 24:42-44; 25:13.
E. We need to take heed to ourselves lest our hearts be weighed down with debauchery and drunkenness and the anxieties of life — Luke 21:34-35.
F. We need to be watchful at every time, beseeching that we may prevail to escape all the things which are about to happen and to stand before the Son of Man — Luke 21:36.
G. We should be prudent virgins and faithful and prudent slaves — Matt. 25:4, 10, 25:19-30; 24:45-51.
H. We need to keep the word of the Lord’s endurance — Rev. 3:10.
