INADEQUATE THEORIES CONCERNING HIS SECOND COMING

INADEQUATE THEORIES CONCERNING HIS SECOND COMING

(Sign over carpenter shop--All kinds of twisting and turning done here)

• The "Spiritual" Theory: He Came in the Holy Spirit on Pentecost

Supposed Basis : John 14:1-3; 16-18, 21-23

Element of Truth - Christ did come in nature on the day of Pentecost, but so did the Father (John 14:23).

The Mistake = Confusing the spiritual presence of Christ with the physical, bodily, personal, visible presence of Christ in same body in which he went away.

 

Best Answer - Acts 2:32-33 - Following the day of Pentecost

Acts 3:19-20 - Peter looked forward to the coming of Christ. Both of these took place after the Spirit had come.

• The "Judgment" Theory: He Came in the Destruction of Jerusalem

Supposed Basis - Matt. 24:1-3 "And Jesus went out, and departed from the temple: and his disciples came to him for to show him the buildings of the temple. And Jesus said unto them, See ye not all these things? verily I say unto you, There shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down. And as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?"

Matt. 24:29-30, 34 Which Generation - the one which sees these things happen.

Matt. 16:20-28 (of. 17:1-5) This is what Jesus will look like then He comes again.

Element of Truth - Destruction of Jerusalem was a providential judgment. 'The Judge (Christ) in a sense did come in judgment. Every judgment is in a sense of a coming of Christ in power.

The Mistake -Confusing the providential demonstrations of His power, with the personal, visible coming.

 

Best Answers - Revelation is written after destruction of Jerusalem, yet His coming is still regarded as future

Cf. Rev. 22:7, 12 "Behold, I come quickly: blessed is he that keepeth the sayings of the prophecy of this book." "And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be."

Cf. Luke 21:20, 24, 27 "And when ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then know that the desolation thereof is nigh." "And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations: and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled." "And then shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory."

• The "Conversion" Theory: He Comes Into Believer's Heart

Supposed Basis - John 14:21, 23 - Come in and abide with the believer "He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him." "Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him."

Rev. 3:20 - "If any man open the door . . . I will come in"

Element of Truth - Christ does come in spiritually at the time of conversion.

The Mistake - Confusing the Spiritual presence with his physical coming.

 Best Answer -

Col. 1:27 with 3:3-4 (Best) "To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:"

"For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory."

Phil. 3:20-21 Body is going to be changed. Has not yet been. "For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ: Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself."

• The "Death" Theory: He Comes to Get Us When We Die.

Supposed Basis - Psa. 23:4 "Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me."

John 14:1-3 "Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also."

Element of Truth - Acts 7:55-56, 59 "But he, being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up stedfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God, And said, Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God." "And they stoned Stephen, calling upon God, and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit."

Christ does receive every believer at death. But He doesn't leave heaven. Stephen saw Him in heaven.

The Mistake - Confusing the gracious work of Christ with his bodily return.

Best Answer - Not just the dead, but the living will meet the Lord in the air.

1 Thess. 4:13-17 "But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. For this 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."

•  The "Post-Millennial" Theory: Personal Coming After the Millennium

Supposed Basis - Cf. Brown on "Second Advent;" Brown the Advocate; Whitley the inventor.

Idea of a General Resurrection and Judgment of Saved and Unsaved simultaneously.

John 5:28-29 - Seems to teach a general resurrection instead of 2 "Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation."

Matt. 25:31, 46 - Seem to teach a general judgment instead of 2 "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 these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal."

The Mistake - Association of Second Coming with ushering in of Final State (of the world).

2 Peter 3:3-13 Second coming, judgment of wicked, heaven, new cosmic order, all in one context.

Gradual victory of Gospel.

Matt. 13:33 - Parable of leaven is gospel of the Church to certain people. "Another parable spake he unto them; The kingdom of heaven is like unto leaven, which a woman took, and hid in three measures of meal, till the whole was leavened."

 The Recipients of the Mystery
Even after mysteries are made clear, they are still hidden except to the proper people
Cf. Matt. 13:9-13 and 1 Cor. 2:7, 10. Probably the best evidence of this fact is Leaven and what it signifies. Leaven denotes evil (Matt. 13:33 cf. 1 Cor. 5:8; Gal. 5:9; Matt. 16:6). Yet the uninitiated call it good. It is indeed a mystery and Paul calls it such in 2 Thess. 2:7.

 - Leaven is evil (See Sermon by Haldeman),

Element of Truth - The advocates hold to a literal, visible, personal return Christ.

The Mistake - The time and the order of the related events.

 

Best Answer - Rev. 19:11-20:6 Cf. Alford is very good on this.

Counsel to "watch" is made meaningless.

• The "A-Millennial" Theory: There Will Be No Millennium, But Good and Evil Will Develop Side By Side Until the End When Christ Will Come Literally and Visibly to Wind Up Human Affairs and Usher in the Eternal State

Supposed Basis Recognizes increase of evil until coming of Christ.

Matt. 13:36-43 "Then Jesus sent the multitude away, and went into the house: and his disciples came unto him, saying, Declare unto us the parable of the tares of the field. He answered and said unto them, He that soweth the good seed is the Son of man; The field is the world; the good seed are the children of the kingdom; but the tares are the children of the wicked one; The enemy that sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the world; and the reapers are the angels. As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire; so shall it be in the end of this world. The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity; And shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth. Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Who hath ears to hear, let him hear." See Feinberg; Voss in I.S.B.G. on Eschatology.

Element of Truth - Hold to a literal coming of Christ. Recognizes persistence of evil till coming of Christ.

The Mistake - Rule out any millennial reign of Christ.

 

Best Answer - Doctrine of the kingdom is quite plain in the scriptures.

Unphilosophical - How men would be gotten from this sinful age into the perfect state. Makes no provision for bridging the gap. Fails to give due regard for life in the flesh. Why was man made in the first place if no provision is made for reaching a climax.

 

Note: Strong's view (wrong): Coming of Christ at beginning of Millennium is Spiritual; at the end it is personal. In reality there is no Millennium.