Now when He had spoken these things, while they watched, He was
taken up, and a cloud received Him out of their sight. And while they looked
steadfastly toward heaven as He went up, behold, two men stood by them in white
apparel, who also said, "Men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into
heaven? This same Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will so come in
like manner as you saw Him go into heaven." —Acts 1:9-11
I must admit, my weakest area of theology is the topic of eschatology
(end times). Today, in New Testament Survey, I’m teaching on the Revelation and trying to give a fair
review of all the differing eschatological views.
Regardless of your particular view, Jesus is coming back.
1.
The coming of Christ will be instantaneous and
worldwide. "For as the lightning comes from the east and flashes to the
west, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be." —Matthew 24:27
2.
The coming of Christ will be visible to all.
"Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the
tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the
clouds of heaven with power and great glory." —Matthew 24:30
3.
The coming of Christ will be audible. "And
He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather
together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the
other." —Matthew 24:31
4.
The resurrection of the righteous will occur.
"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
will rise first." —1 Thessalonians 4:16
5. In one single event, the saved who are alive at
Christ's coming will be caught up together with the resurrected to meet the
Lord in the air. "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." —1 Thessalonians 4:17
When it comes to the Biblical timeline we know of certain
events that are to happen.
What we don’t know is when the “Rapture” will happen.
This rapture is the primary point of
difference within all the eschatological views.
The
“rapture” in Revelation
Pre-tribulation rapture: 4:1
Mid-tribulation rapture: 11:11-12
Pre-wrath rapture: 14:14-16
Post-tribulation rapture: 19:6-10.
The second difference
between eschatological views is the 1,000 year reign of Christ.
1 // Pre-Millennialism:
Jesus will come first, then reign a literal 1,000 years with resurrected
believers over normal people left over after the Battle of Armageddon.
(Note: Pre-millennialists
can differ on pre/mid/post tribulation.)
(“typical belief” of the
Assemblies of God, Southern Baptist, Left Behind Series, etc)
_____________
2 // Post-Millennialism: The
1,000 year reign of Christ in Revelation 20 is symbolic time period for a
literal earthly time of either (a) the current Christian age or (b) a climax in
the Christian age which brings a "golden age" or state of bliss
before Jesus comes back.
(Many of the reformed
preachers of past and present believe this.)
______________
3 // A-Millennialism: The
1,000 year reign of Christ is not a literal earthly reign but simply a symbol
of Jesus reigning in heaven with the believers until His second coming.
(Roman Catholic and some reformed believers hold to this
view.)
There is no way that I could solve this argument today, but
I can give some points to remember.
1.
Jesus is coming again! (John 14:3)
2.
Only those in Christ will be saved / granted
access into Glory. ( 1Thes. 4:16, Rev. 21:8, 27)
3. We are to be faithful to the task left to us. (Matthew 28:19-20)
QUIT trying to solve when Christ will return,
and begin preparing for when He does!
