I Will Come Again !

 

If we believe the words of the bible, then we believe that Jesus will return.  He told us that He’ll return.  He said, in  John 14, verses 1 thru 3;  “Let not your heart be troubled;  You believe in God, believe also in Me.  In My Father’s house, there are many dwellings;  Moreover, if it were not so, I would have told you, because I go to prepare a place for you.  And if I go to prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, you may be also.”           

In John 13, and in verse 33,  Jesus had told His disciples;  “Where I am going, you cannot come.”  But then He explained a little bit further, in  verse 36,  and said;  “Where I go, you cannot follow Me now, but you shall follow later.”    And then He explained even further, in the verses that we just read from  chapter 14, verse 2 & 3;  “..For I go to prepare a place for you.  And If I go to prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, you may be also.”   

And then Jesus said in  verse 18;  “I will not leave you as orphans, I will come to you.”   That’s pretty comforting isn’t it?  The fact that Jesus has repeatedly promised that he will come again.  And that when He does come, He will receive us to Himself, so that we can be with Him forever.  

The apostle Paul wrote in  1 Thessalonians 4, verses 16 thru 18;  “For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout!  With the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ shall rise first.  Then, we who are alive and remain, shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air, and thus we shall always be with the Lord.” 

Jesus will never set foot on this earth again, but rather, WE will meet Him in the air.  That goes against what a lot of people believe, but that’s why we need to listen to the bible, and not to other people.  The dead in Christ shall rise first, then we who are alive, who remain, shall be gathered together to meet the Lord in the air, and thus we shall always be with the Lord.  Therefore, comfort one another with these words.”   

We will meet the lord in the air..  And then what?  Is that our new home, somewhere in the air with the Lord?  Not exactly.  1 Corinthians 15, verses 20 thru 26  tells us a little bit more.  Actually, those verses go into more detail about a couple of things.  Listen to what it says;

“But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who are asleep.  For since by a man, came death, by a man also came the resurrection of the dead.”  Now, the scriptures aren’t talking here about a physical resurrection of the dead, like when Jesus raised Lazarus.  The scriptures are talking about a spiritual resurrection from the dead.  That’s why the example of Adam is used here.  “For as in Adam, all die, so also in Christ, all shall be made alive.”   Adam brought spiritual death into the world, but Jesus brings spiritual life back to the world.  

That’s what is being explained in  Romans 5, verse 12;  “Therefore, just as through one man, sin entered into the world, and death through sin;  And so death spread to all men, because all have sinned,”  And of course we know that the kind of death that sin brings, is spiritual death.  That’s obvious because we know we’ve all sinned, but yet we’re not dead physically are we?

So then, “For since by a man came death, by a man also came the resurrection from the dead.  For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ, all shall be made alive, but each in his own order;  Christ, the first fruits, (Jesus Christ was the first spiritual resurrection)  after that, those who are Christ’s at His coming.”  That’s when we’ll be gathered together to meet Him in the clouds.  And here’s what happens next.   1 Corinthians 15, verses 24 thru 26;

“Then comes the end;  When He delivers up the kingdom, to the God and Father, when He has abolished all rule and authority and power.  For He must reign, until he has put all His enemies under His feet.  The last enemy that will be abolished is death.”   

 

There’s absolutely nothing, that anyone could say, that could be any more comforting than the thought of death being abolished, and we, being caught up together in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air, and then to be delivered to the Father in heaven, and to remain there, with the Lord, always, eternally.

It says in  1 Thessalonians 5, verses 9 thru 11;  “For God has not destined us for wrath, but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us.  That whether we are awake, or asleep, we may live together with Him.  Therefore, encourage one another, and build up one another, just as you also are doing.”   

When Jesus comes again, your spirit, will either be alive in your present body, as it is right now, or it will be asleep in Christ, guarded and kept safe by God Himself.   It says in  Ecclesiastes 12, verse 7;  “And the spirit will return to God who gave it.”   When Jesus comes, it won’t matter if we’re alive, or asleep, we’re just as safe either way, IF we’re in Christ.  That in itself is comforting.

So then we don’t have to worry;  If He comes today, that’s fine;  If He comes next week, or next year, that’s fine too.  If He doesn’t come for another 2,000 years, that’s fine.  As long as we’re found IN Christ.

And then when Jesus does come, we’ll all be given our spiritual bodies, so that Jesus can present us to God in heaven.  We’re told in  1 Corinthians 15, verses 50 thru 58;  “Now I say this brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable.  Behold, I tell you a mystery;  We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed.  In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet.  For the trumpet will sound..”   That’s what it says in  1 Thessalonians;  “With a SHOUT!  With the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet of God..”  

So then;  “In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet.  For the trumpet will sound..”  That little phrase means that God will make SURE, that the every soul alive, and every soul that has ever lived, will know that Jesus Christ has come!   “..And the dead in Christ will be raised, imperishable!  And we shall be changed.”   The trumpet of God will be the “wake up call” for every soul that has fallen asleep.

The faithful man named Job, said in  Job 14, verses 14 & 15;  “If a man dies, will he live again?  All the days of my struggle, I will wait until my change comes.”  (We shall all be changed)  “Thou will call, and I will answer Thee.  Thou will long for the work of Thy hands.”  Do you know what “the work of Thy hands” is?  The work of God’s hands is referring to a saved soul.  And God longs for us to be with Him, just as WE long to be with Him.

Job said in  verse 12;  “So a man lies down and does not rise.  Until the heavens be no more, he will not awake, nor be roused out of his sleep.”  That’s when Christ is coming,  when the heavens “are no more”.  

Listen to  2 Peter 3, verses 10 thru 14;  “But the day of the Lord WILL come, like a thief, in which the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and all it’s works will be burned up.  Since all these things are to be destroyed in this way, what sort of people ought you to be, in holy conduct and godliness?  Looking for, and hastening, the coming of the day of God, on account of which the heavens will be destroyed by burning, and the elements will melt with intense heat.”

“BUT, according to His promise, we are looking for new heavens, and a new earth, in which righteousness dwells.  (Not a physical heaven and earth, but a spiritual heaven and earth) Therefore beloved, since you look for these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, spotless, and blameless.”   That’s just like saying that we need to be found “IN Christ”.     

“And the dead in Christ shall rise first.  Then we who are alive, who remain, (that is, we who are “in Christ”, and remain)  ..shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air.  And thus we shall always be with the Lord.”  

It’s all very comforting, for those who are IN Christ.  But what if you’re not in Christ?  What do you have to look forward to?  Well,  2 Thessalonians 1, verses 6 thru 9  tells us.  “For after all, it is only just (or fair) for God to repay with affliction, those who afflict you..”  Now let’s stop a minute.  A person who is not in Christ, might say;  I’m not afflicting anyone, why would God repay me with affliction?

Have you ever heard these words from the bible?  “Whoever is not with Me, is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me, scatters.”   That’s what Jesus said in  Mathew 12, verse 30.   A person who is not willing to be joined with Christ, is taking their stance against Him.  So then, if you’re not IN Christ, you’re not only “out of Christ”, but you’re against Christ!  And if you’re against Christ, then you’re also against those who are joined with Christ.  People don’t usually think of it from that perspective, but that’s what Jesus said.  “Whoever is not with Me, is against Me.”  

So then, once again,  2 Thessalonians 1:6 thru 9;  “For after all, it is only fair, for God to repay with affliction, those who afflict you, and to give relief to you who are afflicted, and to us as well, when the Lord shall be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels, in flaming fire.  Dealing out retribution, to those who do not know God, and to those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus.  And these will pay the penalty of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of His power.”   

That’s not something to be looking forward to.  It’s something to be cringing at the thought of.  Jesus said in  John 5, verses 28 & 29;  “Do not marvel at this; For an hour is coming in which all who are in the graves  (that’s a figurative expression that means, all who have died)  So..  “..all who are in the graves shall hear His voice..”  That’s what the scriptures are talking about when they say;  “For the trumpet will sound..”   In other words, everyone will hear the call of Jesus, when He comes.  “Thou will call, and I will answer.”   

And the souls that aren’t in Christ, probably won’t want to answer, but they’ll have no choice.  “For an hour is coming in which all who are in the graves shall hear His voice..  And shall come forth!  Those who did the good, to a resurrection of life;  Those who did the evil, to a resurrection of condemnation.”   

There’s gonna be a lot of souls on that day, calling on Jesus to save them.  Lord save me!  But Jesus said in  Mathew 7, verse 21;  “Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who DOES the will of My Father who is in heaven.”   

 

Are you doing the will of God?   Do you believe the bible?  Do you believe it enough to do what it says?  Jesus said in  Luke 6, verse 46;  “Why do call Me Lord, Lord, and do not do, what I say?”  

And what does God’s word tell us to do, to be forgiven of our past sins?  Jesus says;  “He who believes and is baptized, shall be saved.”  Mark 16:16.   And Jesus also says;  “..Unless you repent, you shall all likewise perish.”  Luke 13:3.   And Jesus also says;  “If you confess Me before men, I will confess you before My Father who is in heaven.  But if you deny Me before men, I will deny you, before My Father who is in heaven.”  Mathew 10: 32 & 33.

That’s how you’re forgiven of your past sins.  You believe His word, you repent of your sins, you confess your faith in Him, and you are baptized for the forgiveness of those sins.  And what does God’s word tell us to do, to stay saved?

Jesus says in  Revelation 2:10;  “..Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life.”   He says in  Mathew 24:13;  “But the one who endures to the end, He shall be saved.”   

“Thou will call, and I will answer.”   Let’s be diligent to be found in Christ, when He calls.