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Christ has two comings. In His first coming He accomplished redemption and became the Spirit to dispense Himself into His believers, thereby accomplishing His New Testament economy and laying down a solid foundation for His second coming. In His coming back Christ will take up and judge the believers, marry His bride, slay the enemy, save the Israelites, judge the nations, and bring in the restoration in the millennium. This lesson will explain the prophecies in both the Old Testament and the New Testament concerning Christ’s coming back. Through these prophecies God’s children can properly understand the truth regarding the Lord’s coming back and eagerly wait for the Lord’s coming in hope.
Concerning Christ’s coming back, the New Testament uses the Greek word parousia, which means “presence” and is used in reference to the coming of an honorable person. The New Testament uses this word to refer to Christ’s coming, indicating that His coming back is His presence as the most honorable person with His believers. In relation to time, Christ’s coming will begin from His throne in the heavens before the great tribulation, the last three and a half years of this age (Matt. 24:37-42; Rev. 12:5; 14:1-5; Luke 21:36), it will continue with His remaining in the air during the great tribulation (1 Thes. 4:15-17; 1 Cor. 15:23; Rev. 10:1), and it will end with His coming from the air to the earth at the end of the great tribulation (2 Thes. 2:8).
Matthew 24:42-44 prophesies that Christ will come secretly as a thief and that no one knows the time of His secret coming: “Watch therefore, for you do not know on what day your Lord comes...For this reason you also be ready, because at an hour when you do not expect it, the Son of Man is coming.” Christ will be sent by God in His second coming as He was in His first coming. The Father is the Sender, and the Son is the sent One. Only the Father who sends the Son knows when that time will be; the Son who is being sent does not know. This is what is said in the Gospels: “Concerning that day and hour, no one knows, not even...the Son, but the Father only” (v. 36; Mark 13:32). Christ’s secret coming is mainly for the rapture of His overcomers so that they may be kept out of the three and a half years of the great tribulation. Hence, the believers should be watchful and prepare themselves for the Lord’s coming.
At His coming back Christ will be the bright morning star to the overcomers (Rev. 22:16), appearing before the darkest hour, prior to the dawn. At the time of Christ’s first appearing, it was not the Jewish religionists but the magi who saw His star (Matt. 2:2, 9-10). At His second appearing Christ will be the morning star as a reward to the overcomers, who love Him and wait in watchfulness for His coming, but to all others He will appear only as the sun (Mal. 4:2). The morning star appears in secret, whereas the sun appears publicly. The Lord promises that if we are watchful and wait for His coming, His appearing as the morning star will be a reward to us.
Revelation 12:5 says, “She brought forth a son, a man-child, who is to shepherd all the nations with an iron rod.” Verse 11 says that the overcomers who constitute the man-child are faithful unto death; they love not their soul-life even unto death. They have overcome the enemy because of the blood of the Lamb and because of the word of their testimony. These overcomers will be “caught up to God and to His throne” (v. 5). This is a prophecy that before the great tribulation of three and a half years, Christ will cause the overcoming saints who were martyred throughout the generations to be resurrected from the dead and caught up to God and to His throne.
At His coming back Christ will also reap the firstfruits, the one hundred and forty-four thousand who stand on Mount Zion with the Lamb (4:1-5). Verse 4 says, “These are they who follow the Lamb wherever He may go. These were purchased from among men as firstfruits to God and to the Lamb.” Just as the firstfruits of the good land were reaped and brought into the temple of God before the harvest (Lev. 23:10-11; Exo. 23:19), so the first-ripe believers in God’s crop, those who mature earliest, will be reaped first for God’s satisfaction. This first-ripe group of living overcomers will be raptured to the heavens before the great tribulation and will stand on the heavenly Mount Zion with the Lamb.
Besides catching up the man-child and reaping the firstfruits, Christ in His coming back will also take up the other living overcomers (Matt. 24:39-44; Luke 17:34-36; 21:34-36; Rev. 3:10). Like the firstfruits, these living overcomers will be raptured before the great tribulation.
Matthew 24:39-44 prophesies that these overcomers will be raptured before the great tribulation. These verses say that two men will be in the field and two women will be grinding at the mill: “one is taken and one is left...if the householder had known in which watch the thief was coming, he would have watched and would not have allowed his house to be broken into.” A thief comes at an unknown time to steal precious things. The Lord will come secretly, as a thief, to those who love Him, and He will take them away as His treasures. Hence, we should watch (v. 42). In Luke 17:34-36, the Lord Jesus said, “I tell you, In that night there will be two on one bed; the one will be taken and the other will be left. There will be two women grinding together; the one will be taken but the other will be left. Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other will be left.” These Scriptures also reveal that the living overcoming believers will be raptured secretly and unexpectedly. In the context of these Scriptures, the Lord charges us to overcome the stupefying effect of self-indulgent living in this age so that we may be raptured into the enjoyment of His parousia, His presence.
The saints who have kept the word of the Lord’s endurance will also be raptured by Christ before the great tribulation. In Revelation 3:10 the Lord told the messenger of the church in Philadelphia, “Because you have kept the word of My endurance, I also will keep you out of the hour of trial, which is about to come on the whole inhabited earth, to try them who dwell on the earth.” Trial here denotes the great tribulation (Matt. 24:21), which is about to come on the whole inhabited earth, as indicated by the fifth trumpet, the sixth trumpet, and the seven bowls of the seventh trumpet (Rev. 8:13—9:21; 11:14-15; 15:1; 16:1-21). The Lord promised the recovered church that He would keep her out of the hour of trial. This indicates that the saints who keep the word of the Lord’s endurance will be raptured before the great trial.
After the rapture of the early overcomers, Christ will come secretly in the clouds from the throne of God in the third heaven to the air (10:1; 1 Thes. 4:17) and remain there for three and a half years. This is mainly to take the saints who have not been raptured (the reaping of the harvest), to establish His judgment seat in the air, and to marry all His overcomers as His bride. Revelation 10:1 reveals that during the three and a half years of the great tribulation, Christ will come secretly from the throne to the air in the clouds; that is, He will come down out of heaven, being clothed with a cloud. At the close of the great tribulation, the Lord will come publicly in the air, just as Revelation 14:14 says, “Behold, there was a white cloud, and on the cloud One like the Son of Man sitting, having...a sharp sickle in His hand.” His sitting on the cloud indicates that at the close of the great tribulation, at the reaping of the harvest, the Lord’s coming back will be made public in the air.
In 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 Paul prophesied, “The Lord Himself...will descend from heaven, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are living, who are left remaining, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air.” This is a prophecy concerning Christ catching up the majority of the saints to the air toward the end of the three and a half years of the great tribulation. This includes the majority of the saints who died throughout the centuries, those martyred during the great tribulation, and the majority of the believers who are still living. This is also the reaping of the harvest referred to in Revelation 14:14-16.
Toward the end of the great tribulation, the Lord will not be clothed with a cloud but will be sitting on the cloud as the Son of Man, indicating that at that time Christ’s coming is made public in the air. He will openly reap the majority of the harvest that has ripened. God’s people are the harvest of the earth (1 Cor. 3:9). The first-ripe ones will be reaped as the firstfruits to God before the great tribulation. The majority of the saints will ripen with the help of the sufferings in the great tribulation. The suffering of the great tribulation, like the parching sun, will dry up the earthly waters from the believers who are left on the earth in the great tribulation, enabling them to ripen and be raptured.
After all the believers have been caught up to the air, Christ will set up His judgment seat in the air. He will judge all the believers, assigning them either a reward or some kind of punishment. Second Corinthians 5:10 says, “We must all be manifested before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done through the body according to what he has practiced, whether good or bad.” Christ’s judgment of the believers at His coming back will not be concerning their eternal salvation but their dispensational reward (1 Cor. 4:4-5; 3:13-15). This judgment will take into account the believers’ life and work after they were saved (Rom. 14:10). The Lord “will both bring to light the hidden things of darkness and make manifest the counsels of the hearts, and then there will be praise to each from God” (1 Cor. 4:5).
According to the Bible there are two aspects of God’s choosing of His children. The first was before the foundation of the world in eternity past (Eph. 1:4), and the second is the choosing before the judgment seat when the Lord comes to the air. The first choosing is for salvation; the second is for reward or punishment. Those who are saved but fail to pass the judgment will be placed in outer darkness in the millennial kingdom for punishment (Matt. 8:12; 25:30). Christ will then marry the overcoming believers as His bride, enjoy the marriage dinner with them (22:2; 25:1-13; Rev. 19:7-9), and lead them as God’s army to come openly to the earth (vv. 11-16).
After the judgment at the judgment seat in the air, Christ as the Bridegroom will marry the overcoming saints as His bride. Revelation 19:7 says, “Let us rejoice and exult, and let us give the glory to Him, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready.” His wife in this verse refers to the church (Eph. 5:24-25, 31-32), the bride of Christ (John 3:29). In the context of these verses, during the millennium the wife as the bride of Christ consists only of the overcoming believers, whereas after the millennium for eternity the bride as the wife in Revelation 21:2 is composed of all the saved saints. God’s New Testament economy is to obtain for Christ a bride, the church, through His redemption and the divine life. By the continual working of the Holy Spirit through all the centuries, this goal will be attained at the end of this age. At that time Christ will come to marry the bride who is ready, that is, the overcoming believers. Such a marriage is the issue of the completion of God’s New Testament economy.
After the marriage there will be the marriage dinner. Revelation 19:9 says, “Blessed are they who are called to the marriage dinner of the Lamb.” The marriage dinner of the Lamb is the wedding feast in Matthew 22:2. It will be a reward to the overcoming believers. Not all the saved ones will participate in the marriage dinner; only the overcomers will be invited. The five foolish virgins in Matthew 25:8-12 will miss it. To be invited to the marriage dinner of Christ, which will usher the overcomers into the enjoyment of the millennium, is to be blessed.
Christ’s parousia will be completed in His being manifested in public, that is, His coming to the earth openly.
Christ’s parousia will be completed when He comes openly from the air to the earth at the end of the great tribulation. He will then appear openly to the Jews and the Gentiles. Acts 1:11 prophesies, “This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you beheld Him going into heaven.” Christ was taken away by a cloud in the presence of the Jews in a visible way (v. 9). Hence, He will also return openly on the clouds (Matt. 26:64), just as Revelation 1:7 says, “Behold, He comes with the clouds, and every eye will see Him, even those who pierced Him; and all the tribes of the land will mourn over Him.” At that time, at the end of the great tribulation, the returning Christ will appear to the twelve tribes, and everyone in the Holy Land will see Him. Furthermore, the Lord Jesus also prophesied in the Gospel of Matthew, “Just as the lightning comes forth from the east and shines to the west, so will the coming of the Son of Man be” (24:27). Christ’s coming back openly will be like lightning that is visible to all the people on earth.
In His open coming, Christ will bring His bride with Him as His army to slay Antichrist. Second Thessalonians 2:8 says, “Then the lawless one will be revealed (whom the Lord Jesus will slay by the breath of His mouth and bring to nothing by the manifestation of His coming).” This will be fulfilled in Revelation 19:19-20: “I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies gathered together to make war with Him who sits on the horse and with His army. And the beast was seized, and with him the false prophet, who in his presence had done the signs by which he deceived those who received the mark of the beast and those who worshipped his image. These two were cast alive into the lake of fire, which burns with brimstone.” At His open coming Christ, the heavenly General, will bring the overcoming saints, His faithful ones, as His army to fight against Antichrist, slaying and casting him into the lake of fire.
After Christ returns to the earth, He will also openly gather and save the tribes of Israel. Paul says, “All Israel will be saved, as it is written, ‘The Deliverer will come out of Zion; He will turn away ungodliness from Jacob’” (Rom. 11:26).
Matthew 24:30-31 prophesies, “At that time the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the land will mourn, 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 loud trumpet call, and they will gather His chosen together from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other end.” The tribes refer to the nation of Israel, and the land, to the Holy Land. At Christ’s appearing His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, and He will save the Israelites who are surrounded by Antichrist and his army (Zech. 14:4-5). Then the Israelites will look upon Christ, and all the tribes will repent and wail (12:10-14; Rev. 1:7). After the great tribulation, at the Lord’s coming back to earth, He will gather together the scattered Jews from all the parts of the earth to the Holy Land. This will be the fulfillment not only of His word in Matthew 23:37 but also of God’s promise in the Old Testament (Deut. 30:3-5; Isa. 43:5-7; 49:9-13, 22-26; 51:11; 56:8; 60:4; 62:10-12; 27:12-13; Ezek. 34:13; 37:21; 28:25).
At His coming back Christ will also be like a stone, striking the Gentiles, the nations, thereby crushing them to pieces, like chaff being carried away by the wind. Daniel 2:34-35 says, “You were watching until a stone was cut out without hands, and it struck the image at its feet of iron and clay and crushed them. Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver, and the gold were crushed all at once, and they became like chaff from the summer threshing floors; and the wind carried them away so that no trace of them was found. And the stone that struck the image became a great mountain and filled the whole earth.” In Matthew 21:44 the Lord referred to this prophecy, saying, “On whomever it falls, it shall crush him to powder and scatter him like chaff.” These verses indicate that when Christ comes the second time, He will be a stone cut out without hands, striking from the heavens the human image, which signifies all human government from Babylon to the revived Roman Empire with ten kings. Christ will be the crushing stone to crush the nations so that they become like chaff being carried away by the wind. Afterward, this stone will become a great mountain, that is, God’s kingdom on earth.
Finally, at His coming back Christ will judge the living peoples. This will be the day when God will judge the world through Christ in righteousness (Acts 17:31). This is the day when Christ will judge the living (the peoples living on the earth at His coming back) on the throne of His glory (Matt. 25:31-46). After the Lord defeats Antichrist and his army, many of the Gentiles will still be living on earth. The Lord will gather them before Him for judgment. Matthew 25:31-32 prophesies, “When the Son of Man comes in His glory and all the angels with Him, at that time He will sit on the throne of His glory. And all the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them from one another, just as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.” After Christ destroys the Gentiles who follow Antichrist at Armageddon (Rev. 16:14, 16; 19:11-15, 19-21), the Gentiles who remain on earth will be “all the nations” and will be judged. Those who are regarded as sheep will be transferred into the millennium to be the people living under the kingly ruling of Christ and the overcoming believers and under the priestly ministry of the saved Jews (2:26-27; 12:5; 20:4-6; Zech. 8:20-23; Isa. 2:2-3). Those regarded as goats will go with their leader, Antichrist, “into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels” (Matt. 25:41).
Christ’s coming back will begin from His throne in the heavens before the last three and a half years of the great tribulation, continue with His remaining in the air during the great tribulation, and end with His coming from the air to the earth at the end of the great tribulation. In His coming back Christ will first appear secretly as a thief and as a bright morning star to the overcomers. He will catch up the man-child, the martyred overcoming saints throughout the generations, taking them up to God and to His throne. He will reap the firstfruits, the first-ripe overcoming believers living at that time. He will also take up the other living overcoming believers, keeping them out of the three and a half years of the great tribulation.
Afterward, at the end of the great tribulation, Christ will come secretly from the third heaven to the air to catch up the majority of the saints, set up the judgment seat of Christ in the air, and choose the overcomers to marry them as His bride and constitute them into an army.
Finally, at the end of the great tribulation, Christ’s parousia will be completed in His being manifested openly to the Jews and the Gentiles. He will come on the clouds of heaven, just as the lightning coming forth from the east and shining to the west, so that every eye will see Him. At this time Christ and His overcomers will strike and slay Antichrist, casting him into the lake of fire. Christ will also gather all the tribes of Israel to the Holy Land. Moreover, He will strike the Gentiles, the nations, like a stone, crushing them into pieces, like chaff being carried away by the wind. Afterward, He will become a great mountain—the kingdom of God filling the whole earth. Finally, sitting on the throne of His glory, Christ will judge all the living peoples, the nations on the earth at the time of His coming back. Those regarded as sheep will be transferred into the millennium to be the people and those regarded as goats will go into the eternal fire.
