BECOMING A WITNESS TO THE SECOND COMING OF JESUS
I. PREPARE THE WAY OF THE LORD
Isaiah 40:3 The voice of one crying in the wilderness: Prepare the way of the Lord...
A. Isaiah prophesied about a voice that would come on the scene and proclaim a message preparing people for the coming
of God. At the first coming of Jesus John the Baptist fulfilled this prophecy (Mt 3:3). Yet there will be a 2nd coming of the
Lord and there will be another voice (many voices) proclaiming a message preparing the coming of God.
B. To prepare people for the 2nd coming of Jesus we must have clarity on what the Bible actually says concerning
His coming. Anyone can get clarity on this subject. It’s not as confusing of a subject as some may think. The Bible is
actually straight-forward concerning the details of this glorious day.
C. It’s important to note that we are preparing people for the return of the Jesus of the Bible. Not what some of the
Bible says about who this Man is but what the entire Bible says about who this Man is.
1. Jesus is coming as a Bridegroom (Mt 25), a King (Dan 2), and a Judge (Is 63, Rev 19)
2. He’s not a baby in a manger anymore, He’s not a broken man on a cross, He didn’t stay in the grave and
He’s not staying in heaven forever!
D. There will be again a ‘voice in the wilderness’ preparing the way for the 2nd coming of Jesus. I believe many even
now that are hearing this message were born for such a time as this and are marked to be messengers of His return.
II. PAUL’S 2ND COMING TEACHING
A. 1 Thess 4:14-17 …God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus. 15 This we say to you by the word of the Lord,
that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who have died. 16 For the
Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the
dead in Christ will rise first. 17 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. 1:16 the Lord Himself will descend from heaven: (Acts 1:11, Mt 24:30) Imagine what was going on in Paul’s
mind when he said this phrase. He’s picturing the glorious Man that He encountered on the way to Damascus.
The glorified Jesus, fully God and fully Man splitting the clouds and ‘descending’ from heaven.
2. 1:16 dead in Christ will rise first (global Day of the resurrection the dead): (foreshadowed in Mt 27:52-53)
This Day is anything but a secret Day. Imagine the lives of billions of saints that have died before us and on this
Day at the sound of this trumpet they come to life again with a resurrected body! This is a Day of God showing off
His power over sin and death for He has conquered the grave.
3. 1:17 then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds: Before or during
this verse we must insert 1 Cor 15:51-52 that tells us what happens to our bodies as we are raptured. The
twinkling of an eye is how fast our bodies are changed... not the return of the Lord or the rapture into the sky.
1 Cor 15:51-52 we shall not all die, but we shall be changed 52 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last
trumpet. For the trumpet will sound and the dead will be raised and we (who are still alive) shall be changed
B. 1 Thess 5 1-6 But concerning the times and the seasons, brethren, you have no need that I should write to you.
2 For you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night. 3 For when they say,
“Peace and safety!” then sudden destruction comes upon them, as labor pains upon a pregnant woman. And they shall
not escape. 4 But you, brethren, are not in darkness, so that this Day should overtake you as a thief. 5 You are all sons
of light and sons of the day. We are not of the night nor of darkness. 6 Therefore let us not sleep, as others do, but let us
watch and be sober.
1. 5:2 the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night: this Day will only come upon you as a ‘thief in the
night’ IF you’re not looking for it and ready for it. Paul goes on to say in verse 4 that they are not in the darkness
concerning this Day so therefore this Day should NOT overtake you. We are called by God to be found ready for
this Day. This is the most glorious Day in all of human history!
2. 5:3 they say peace and safety then sudden destrution comes upon them and they shall not escape :
(Mt 24:21-22 ‘no flesh saved’, Luke 17:27, Mt 24:37) For those that are not ready for this Day there will be ‘sudden
destruction’ and they won’t escape it.
a. 5:3 they, them, they: the ones ‘overtaken as a thief’ are the ones in darkness concerning His coming.
C. 2 Thess 1:7-10 and to give you who are troubled rest with us when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with
His mighty angels,
8 in flaming fire taking vengeance on those who do not know God, and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord
Jesus Christ. 9 These shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of
His power, 10 when He comes, in that Day, to be glorified in His saints and to be admired among all those who believe,
because our testimony among you was believed.
Is 40:5 the glory of the Lord shall be revealed and all flesh shall see it together
Mt 24:30 the Son of Man will appear in heaven and 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
1. I refer to Jesus’ coming as a procession because He comes with all the saints (1 Thes. 3:13) and all the angels
(Mt. 25:31) as He travels on clouds across the whole earth for all to see (Mt. 24:30). He will come with the Father’s glory
(Mt. 16:27), great power (Mk. 13:26) and flaming fire (2 Thes. 1:8) traveling with the brightness of lightning (Mt. 24:27),
the voice of an archangel and with the trumpet of God as He raises the dead (1 Thes. 4:14-16). The sun and moon will
not shine and stars will fall (Mt. 24:29).
D. 2 Thess 2:1-4 Now, brethren, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him,
we ask you, 2 not to be soon shaken in mind or troubled, either by spirit or by word or by letter, as if from us, as though
the day of Christ had come. 3 Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away
comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition, 4 who opposes and exalts himself above all that is
called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.
1. 2:1 the coming and the rapture, 2:3 that Day: speaking of verse 1 ‘the Coming and the Rapture’. WILL NOT
COME UNLESS two things happen first: falling away and Antichrist revealed.
2. 2:3 ‘falling away’:
1 Tim 4:1 ‘the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and
doctrines of demons’
Mt 24:10 ‘many will be offended, will betray one another and will hate one another’
2 Tim 4:3-4 ‘for the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine but according to their own desires b/c they
have itching ears they will heap up for themselves teachers; 4 and they will turn their ears away from the truth and be
turned aside to fables’ (false gospel)
3. 2:3 man of sin revealed:
2 Thess 2:4 he opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshipped, so that he sits as God in
the temple of God, showing himself that he is God