Second Coming of Jesus Christ
Matthew 24,32-42
„From the fig tree learn its lesson: as soon as its branch becomes tender and puts out its leaves, you know that summer is near. So also, when you see all these things, you know that he is near, at the very gates. Truly, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away. "But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only. For as were the days of Noah, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, and they were unaware until the flood came and swept them all away, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. Then two men will be in the field; one will be taken and one left. Two women will be grinding at the mill; one will be taken and one left. Therefore, stay awake, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming.”
If you were expecting a specific date from me, then I will disappoint you, because as we read:
„But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only.”
But let's not ignore what Jesus also said:
„From the fig tree learn its lesson: as soon as its branch becomes tender and puts out its leaves, you know that summer is near. So also, when you see all these things, you know that he is near, at the very gates.”
So even if we cannot know the exact time of Jesus' coming, we can still know approximately. As long as we know what to look out for. In Matthew chapter 24, Jesus explains in detail to His disciples what signs they should not read from:
- wars
- natural disasters
- famines
- persecutions for the name of Jesus (even within the family)
But then what is it from which we can see that His coming is very near? From the state of the world Brothers! But we cannot judge by visible things (just as Jesus asked the disciples not to judge by their eyes and ears), but we must observe the signs spiritually.
When will Jesus come again? When it is no longer worth it for God to maintain this world. When will this be? When there will be so few true believers in the world that God will rather take them out of the world than keep them.
2Thessalonians 2,1-12
„Now concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered together to him, we ask you, brothers, not to be quickly shaken in mind or alarmed, either by a spirit or a spoken word, or a letter seeming to be from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come. Let no one deceive you in any way. For that day will not come, unless the rebellion comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, who opposes and exalts himself against every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, proclaiming himself to be God. Do you not remember that when I was still with you I told you these things? And you know what is restraining him now so that he may be revealed in his time. For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work. Only he who now restrains it will do so until he is out of the way. And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will kill with the breath of his mouth and bring to nothing by the appearance of his coming. The coming of the lawless one is by the activity of Satan with all power and false signs and wonders, and with all wicked deception for those who are perishing, because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. Therefore God sends them a strong delusion, so that they may believe what is false, in order that all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.”
Even before I comment on this, let the words of Jesus come:
Matthew 5,13-16
„You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people's feet. "You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.”
Paul was talking about us. Christ's real church on earth. If there is no longer enough repressive force against the invasion of evil, then Jesus will surely come. Isn't that what happened in the days of Noah and Lot?
Genesis 18,23-33
„Then Abraham drew near and said, "Will you indeed sweep away the righteous with the wicked? Suppose there are fifty righteous within the city. Will you then sweep away the place and not spare it for the fifty righteous who are in it? Far be it from you to do such a thing, to put the righteous to death with the wicked, so that the righteous fare as the wicked! Far be that from you! Shall not the Judge of all the earth do what is just?" And the LORD said, "If I find at Sodom fifty righteous in the city, I will spare the whole place for their sake." Abraham answered and said, "Behold, I have undertaken to speak to the Lord, I who am but dust and ashes. Suppose five of the fifty righteous are lacking. Will you destroy the whole city for lack of five?" And he said, "I will not destroy it if I find forty-five there." Again he spoke to him and said, "Suppose forty are found there." He answered, "For the sake of forty I will not do it." Then he said, "Oh let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak. Suppose thirty are found there." He answered, "I will not do it, if I find thirty there." He said, "Behold, I have undertaken to speak to the Lord. Suppose twenty are found there." He answered, "For the sake of twenty I will not destroy it." Then he said, "Oh let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak again but this once. Suppose ten are found there." He answered, "For the sake of ten I will not destroy it." And the LORD went his way, when he had finished speaking to Abraham, and Abraham returned to his place.”
When Abraham bargained with the Lord, the bargain was not specifically for Lot. In fact, his name was not even mentioned. Abraham bargained for the city so that the righteous living in it would not suffer the fate of the wicked. We can see in the history of the bargaining that the bargaining went up to 10 righteous people, after which the Lord departed from Abraham. So the Lord would have kept the city for 10 righteous people. But there wasn't much in it, just Lot. But for the Lord, even 1 righteous person is worth enough not to suffer the fate of the wicked, in fact, God wanted to destroy Coar as well, but since Lot fled there, he spared the city because of him!
When there are no longer enough righteous for God to keep the World through them, then comes the same as with Lot: the rapture.
But this brings with it something more shocking. If there are not enough righteous people for God to keep the world because of them, then the rapture will not be spectacular. Because if there are few righteous people, then surely only a few will be raptured. But we can rightly say that the children are there too, it will be pretty spectacular! But Brothers, where did the Lord promise that the children will also be raptured? Yes, because of our knowledge of God, we can think how could a loving God leave defenseless little children behind? Our thoughts are not His thoughts. How many children could live in Noah's day? Or maybe we think that there were only adults in Sodom and Gomorrah?
Author: Antal Farkas
