Prophetic Signs Which Testify of Christ's Second Coming
PROPHETIC SIGNS OF CHRIST'S SECOND COMING
Signs / Example Texts1. The preaching of the gospel and its related mission work shall expand throughout the entire world / And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.
-Matthew 24:14
2. Man's knowledge, travel, and technology shall increase / But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased.
-Daniel 12:4
3. A falling away from the truth (the Great Apostasy) shall be evident / Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first.
-II Thessalonians 2:3a
4. The sins of materialism, sensuality, and false security shall publicly abound / But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be
-Matthew 24:37-39
5. Love and concern for others will generally grow cold / And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.
-Matthew 24:12
6. Dangers, wars, famines, and earthquakes shall multiply / This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come.
-II Timothy 3:1
For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.
-Matthew 24:7
7. Severe persecution of God's church (the Great Tribulation) shall take place / Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for My Name's sake. For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened.
-Matthew 24:9,21-22
8. Spiritualism and devil worship shall be present / Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils.
-I Timothy 4:1
9. False "saviors" and "christs" shall arise and these cults shall deceive many / And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you. For many shall come in My Name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many.
-Matthew 24:4-5
10. The ultimate Antichrist shall appear / Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.
-II Thessalonians 2:3-4
THE MILLENNIUM
The word "millennium" means "a period of one thousand years." The term refers to the thousand-year period spoken of in Revelation 20:1-4, in which Satan will be bound and the souls of the saints will live and reign with Christ. Three major views have developed regarding the millennium and its related eschatological events.
The following chart presents the timeline of pre-millennial view regarding the events of the last days.
The third major view of eschatology is a-millennialism. In general, a-millennialists believe the following:
1. The present age shall continue until Christ's second coming. At this time, the resurrection and judgment of all mankind shall take place, the end of this world shall be witnessed, and the eternal age ushered in.
2. Scripture does not prophesy of a physical kingdom of Christ and a general millennial condition upon earth. Its prophecies, in this regard, are referring to Christ's present spiritual kingdom on earth or His future heavenly kingdom or both. This is the only interpretation of eschatology which does not contradict other portions of Scripture regarding the events of the last days.
The following chart presents the basic timeline of the a-millennial view of eschatology.
This view of the millennium agrees with the biblical presentation of all the major events of eschatology taking place simultaneously or in rapid succession of each other.
MAJOR EVENTS TAKING PLACE ON THE FINAL JUDGMENT DAY
Event / Example Texts1. The separation of the saved and the unsaved / When the Son of man shall come in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then shall He sit upon the throne of His glory:And before Him shall be gathered all nations: and He shall separate them / one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats: And He shall set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left.
-Matthew 25:31-33
2. The examination and judgment of all people / And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.
-Revelation 20: 12 / In the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ according to my gospel.
-Romans 2:16
3. The revelation and the giving of an account of all thoughts, words, and actions / For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.
-Ecclesiastes 12:14 / Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord come, who both will bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and will make manifest the counsels of the hearts: and then shall every man have praise of God.
-I Corinthians 4:5
4. The pronouncement of God's perfect judgment regarding everyone's state and degree of glory or punishment / For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that everyone may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.
-II Corinthians 5: 10 / Then shall the King say unto them on His right hand, Come, ye blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. Then shall He say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from Me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels.
-Matthew 25:34,41
5. The execution of God's sentence / So shall it be at the end of the world: the angels shall come forth, and sever the wicked from among the just, And shall cast them into the furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.
-Matthew 13:49-50 / And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.
-Matthew 25:46
/ /
And whosoever was not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire
-Revelation 20:15
But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death. fire
-Revelation 21:8
/ /
/ HELL
All those who rejected God and did not believe in the only Savior, Jesus Christ, shall be cast out of God's presence forever. They shall be punished forever in hell, the degree of their punishment being determined by the degree of the sin they committed.
Scripture does not describe exactly what hell is or what it will be like after the final judgment. Presently it is a place of spirits of lost angels and human souls. After the resurrection, however, hell will also be a physical place; lost sinners shall suffer there in both soul and body. While the Bible does not precisely describe what eternal punishment in hell will consist of, it does provide us with the following descriptions and comparisons.
SCRIPTURE REFERS TO HELL AS A PLACE OF:
Reference / Example Text
1. Eternal separation from God (from all expressions of His grace) / Then shall He say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from Me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels.
-Matthew 25:41
2. Eternal outpouring of God's wrath against sin / The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of His indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb.
-Revelation 14:10
3. Eternal exclusion from heaven (its communion, peace, and joy) / And I say unto you, that many shall come from the east and west, and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven.
But the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
-Matthew 8:11-12
4. Eternal abode with devils and haters of God / Then shall He say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from Me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels.
-Matthew 25:41
5. Everlasting punishment / And these shall go way into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.
-Matthew 25:46
6. Eternal torment -a place of endless gnawing of conscience / Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.
-Mark 9:44
7. Everlasting grief and pain -a place of weeping and gnashing of teeth joy) / There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
-Matthew 8: 12b
8. Everlasting destruction -a place of eternal dying. / Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of His power.
-II Thessalonians 1:9
9. Eternal imprisonment - chained in everlasting chains / And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, He hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day.
-Jude:6
10. Everlasting fire -a place of unquenchable burning / And if thy hand offend thee, cut if off: it is better for thee to enter into life maimed, than having two hands to go into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched.
-Mark 9:43
11. Everlasting darkness -a place of outer (total) darkness / But the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into outer darkness.
-Matthew 8: 12a
12. Everlasting falling away -a bottomless pit / And the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star fall from heaven unto the earth: and to him was given the key of the bottomless pit.
And he opened the bottomless pit; and there arose a smoke out of the pit, as the smoke of a great furnace; and the sun and the air were darkened by reason of the smoke of the pit.
-Revelation 9:1-2
13. Eternal restlessness / And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name.
-Revelation 14: II
In this present life, if a person would experience total hopelessness, he would kill himself. He could not live in such a state. But in hell a “living” in eternal death will be experienced, eternally existing in a state of total hopelessness. In hell, a person would give anything to be able to end his existence and he shall not be able. After hundreds of thousands of “years” would pass by, the sinner would not have made one payment on his debt, but would only have added to it, and that willfully from the depths of his bitter but hopeless, and rebellious heart. / / As "time" progresses for those in hell, their debts continually become greater, not smaller. Why?
Terrible as the doctrine of hell is, we may not ignore it. If we truly care about the welfare of ourselves and others, we must warn everyone about the truth of hell. If a person saw someone heading into danger and did not warn him about the reality ahead because it was not pleasant, would this be kindness or cruelty? More references to hell are found in the gospels and Revelation than in any other books of the Bible. No one in Scripture spoke more about hell than Jesus Christ, the most loving Person the world has ever witnessed. To hide the truth of hell would be cruel and deceiving. We must speak of this truth, but with a heart full of love and concern. Its truth should cause us to flee to Christ, the "City of Refuge" for our life's sake. By God's grace, has it produced this effect in your life?
Rev. Andrew Bonar and Rev. Robert M. McCheyne were engaged in one of their frequent talks together, when Rev. McCheyne asked Rev. Bonar what text he had preached on the previous Sunday morning.
“I preached on ‘The wicked shall be turned into hell’ (Psalm 9:17),” Rev. Bonar replied.
“Were you able to preach it with tenderness?” Rev. McCheyne asked.
Is it more loving to ignore the subject of hell or to warn against it? Why?
How can a person speak about hell “with tenderness”?
HEAVEN
The contrast could not be greater when we move from a discussion of the torment, sorrow, and darkness of hell to the glory, joy, and light of heaven. As it was impossible to fully describe the terribleness of hell, so it is incomprehensible to fully understand the wonderfulness of heaven.
/ /And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself shall be with them, and be their God.
And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.
-Revelation 21:3-4
And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for Thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by Thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation;
And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth.
-Revelation 5:9-10
And there shall be no more curse: but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it; and His servants shall serve Him.
-Revelation 22:3
And 1 saw no temple therein: for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it.
And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof.
And the nations of them which are saved shall walk in the light of it: and the kings of the earth do bring their glory and honour into it.
And the gates of it shall not be shut at all by day: for there shall be no night there.
-Revelation 21:22-25
/ The Bible describes the new heaven and earth in the following seven glorious terms. Scripture speaks of heaven as a place of:
1. Perfect communion with God -To be with God and Christ forever in perfect, unbreakable communion is the heart's desire ofall God's children. In their present life on earth, indwelling sin often separates them from felt communion with their God and Savior. But in heaven, they will eternally enjoy knowing, seeing, loving, and communing with their God without interruption. They will forever live in the warmth of God's smile, bathe in God's glory, and feast in God's presence. Perfect communion with God will be the saints' deepest joy in heaven – their "heaven" in heaven.
2. Perfect friendship with others -In heaven, the saints will experience perfect, uninterrupted fellowship with the holy angels and their fellow saints. In their former life on earth, there were times when they were misunderstood, alone, or persecuted; when they erred in friendship with others, or when self-interest predominated over their concern for others. But in heaven, they will experience and exercise perfect, loving friendship with all whom they will meet eternally. What wonderful talks they will enjoy with Abraham, Moses, David, Peter, Paul, and all God's saints!
3. Perfect salvation from sin -During their previous life on earth, God's children battled their enemies – Satan, sinful world, self (old nature), and sin -day and night. On earth, they experienced the consequences of sin – pain, sickness, sorrow, weakness, death, etc. In heaven all sin and evil will be walled out and all good walled in. God shall wipe all tears from the saints' eyes forever.
4. Perfect dwelling place -In heaven, a perfect, fitting, individual dwelling place will be theirs to live in forever. They will live forever in the glorious mansion prepared by Christ for them.
5. Perfect activities -Previously on earth, the saints experienced "thorns and thistles" in connection with their work, the curse God placed upon man's efforts due to his sin. Previously the saints’ rest was also interrupted by numerous inconveniences. But in heaven no sinful disharmony, hindrance, or problem shall be present. The saints will work as God and the angels work, with holy joy. They will rest as God does, in a holy sabbath resting. In heaven, there will be the excitement, joy, and pleasure of learning new depths of truth, praising God with new insights and deeper understanding, singing new songs, entering into new discussions, seeing new sights, receiving new experiences of God's love, and serving and reigning with Christ in new ways forever. A countless number of activities shall fill their lives throughout eternity.