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Paul's
Teaching on the Second Coming Paul Explains His View Concerning the Future. We are
now ready to further examine Paul's teaching on the Second
Coming, but it is with confident assurance that his message is
in perfect harmony with Peter's. In this we have Peters own word
in 2 Pet. 3:15, 16, "And account that the longsuffering of
our Lord is salvation; even as Our Beloved Brother Paul Also
according to the wisdom given unto him, hath written unto you;
as also in all his epistles speaking in them of these things: in
which are some things hard to be understood, which they that are
unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other
Scriptures, unto their own destruction." Peter insists upon
this being the "day of salvation" and that the coming
day will usher in the judgment and the end of the world. And he
claims that all Paul's epistles agree with him in this teaching.
Turning now to 1 Cor. 15:23-26, 52, we read, "But every
man in his own order: Christ the first fruits; after they that
are Christ's at his coming. (Note: "Coming" here does
not refer to death. It is translated from the Greek word
parousia, meaning presence; it refers to the second advent.)
Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom
to God even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule and
all authority and power. For he must reign till he hath put all
enemies under his feet. The last enemy that shall be destroyed
is death…In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last
trump; for the trumpet shall sound and the dead shall be raised
incorruptible and we shall be changed."
We learn from this that our resurrection will take place at
the coming (parousia) of Christ. At that time Christ will leave
the mediatorial throne and deliver the kingdom up to the Father.
The day of mercy and salvation will be over. When Christ comes
it says, then, meaning simultaneously with His coming,
"Then cometh the end." Death will be conquered at His
coming, for He will usher in eternity and our bodies will be
made incorruptible. The last trump will be sounded. No trump
will be sounded after the last one. When Christ comes eternity
will begin.
Things that will accompany His Coming. The sequence of
events at the time of Christ's coming is given in 1 Thess.
4:15-17 as follows: "For we say unto you by the word of the
Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the
Lord, shall not prevent them which are asleep. For the Lord
Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice
of the archangel, and with the trump of God; and the dead in
Christ shall rise first; then we which are alive and remain
shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the
Lord in the air; and so shall we ever be with the Lord." In
this connection the next two verses of chapter 5 should be read.
"But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no
need that I write unto you. For yourselves know perfectly that
the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night." 1
Thess. 5:1, 2.
This passage has been the subject of considerable
controversy, but it does not present any real problem if we
interpret it in the light of its context. Paul wrote the
brethren at Thessalonica not to expect the Lord immediately. He
told them to study to be quiet in conduct and do their own
business. He comforted the living brethren concerning their
departed friends by saying they should not sorrow for them,
because Christ would bring them with Him at His coming. In 1
Thess. 4:15 the word "prevent" is from a Greek word
meaning to precede. It means that the living Christians will not
ascend to heaven before their resurrected dead brethren. When
Christ comes, the dead will be raised and the living will be
changed and together they will meet the Lord in the air and
share the glories of eternity forever with the Lord in the place
He has gone to prepare.
This great event is called the day of the Lord in chapter
5:2. It will come to the unbelieving world like a thief in the
night. The condition of the world is told in the verses that
follow, "For when they shall say peace and safety; then
sudden destruction cometh upon them as travail upon a woman with
child; and they shall not escape, But ye brethren are not in
darkness, that that day should overtake you as a
thief…Therefore, let us not sleep as do others; but let us
watch and be sober." This is identical with the teachings
of Christ and Peter. The wicked world will be caught unawares
and destroyed, while the Christians are admonished to live in a
state of readiness.
A Threefold Testimony Concerning the End Times
There is nothing in the passage to warrant the belief that
anything takes place on this earth after the Christians are
taken up. Nothing is said about it at any rate. It does say that
the believers are taken up in the air to be "forever with
the Lord." Obviously that is eternity. At the same moment,
sudden destruction and eternal punishment is the lot of the
unbelievers. The righteous and the wicked are both here until
the end. No hint is given us to when the coming of the Lord will
be, but he does tell us to watch and live soberly and walk in
the light. By following these instructions, we will not be taken
unawares. In contrast to this serene waiting of the Christians,
is the gross indifference of the wicked, and upon them will be
poured the bitter vials of God's exterminating judgment as the
final phase of this time-world is terminated.
The teachings of Christ and Peter and Paul all declare that
our Lord is coming again at a time known only to God. His coming
will usher in the judgment day and there will be a new heaven
and a new earth. Heaven is the reward of the Christians who
watch and pray as good stewards of "the mysteries of the
kingdom of God." Our watching is neither anxious fear nor
idleness, but just consistent Christian life, coupled with an
earnest effort to spread the gospel until He comes again. The
same event will spell doom for the 'neglecters' and the
'rejecters' and all those outside of Christ.
There is nothing difficult or mysterious about this teaching
of the Second Coming. Any child can comply with the instructions
given and no saint can excel beyond the need of them. There is
no wresting of Scriptures, or resorting to obscure passages.
Everything is taken exactly as it is written, in its most
apparent meaning and in the most obvious intended sense. The
result is perfect harmony of each writer concerning the next
great event, toward which all creation moves with irresistible
certainty. Our Lord is coming again; therefore, watch. | ||||
