The preachers quoted here say the second coming is as real as the first and call it the hope of the church. They describe it as God completing what he has begun, and insist it is bound up with every other part of Christian teaching.
Jesus promised it: "I will come again, and receive you unto myself" (John 14:3). At his ascension the angels said, "this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven" (Acts 1:11). The usual New Testament word is parousia, a coming or presence.1 Paul calls it "that blessed hope" (Titus 2:13).
His coming will be personal, visible and glorious. "They shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory" (Matthew 24:30). "Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him" (Revelation 1:7). "The Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout ... and the dead in Christ shall rise first" (1 Thessalonians 4:16).
Scripture connects it with the resurrection of the dead (1 Corinthians 15:51-52), with the judgment of all people (Matthew 25:31-32; 2 Timothy 4:1), and with "new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness" (2 Peter 3:13). The Apostles' Creed sums it up: "he shall come to judge the quick and the dead".2
The time is not revealed. "Of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only" (Matthew 24:36). The consequence Jesus draws is watchfulness: "be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh" (24:44).
Christians who agree on all this differ about the order of events, especially the thousand years of Revelation 20. Premillennialists expect Christ to return before it and reign on earth; amillennialists take it as the present reign of Christ; postmillennialists expect his return after a long period of gospel advance.
In the New Testament the doctrine is never given to satisfy curiosity. "Every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure" (1 John 3:3). The Bible's last prayer is "Even so, come, Lord Jesus" (Revelation 22:20).
- Strong's Greek 3952, parousía: "a being near, i.e. advent (often, return; specially, of Christ to punish Jerusalem, or finally the wicked)...".
- Various, The Apostles Creed, "Apostles' Creed".
In their own words
Each line below is quoted exactly from a sermon on this site. Follow the link to hear or read it where it was said.
The second coming is as true and real as His first coming.
Michael Koulianos
in He Is Coming Back
Listen at 1:41
The return of Christ is the hope of the church.
Brian Kirik
in Getting Ready for the Coming of Christ
Listen at 2:48
The coming of the Lord is God's thought in completing what He has begun.
Phil Beach Jr.
in Immortality - the Lords Coming - a Consummation
Listen at 18:52
And the coming of the Lord is a glad day for Jesus.
David Wilkerson
in Jesus Is Coming
Listen at 50:00
The coming of the Lord is not an unrelated doctrine, and it cannot be.
Phil Beach Jr.
in Immortality - the Lords Coming - a Consummation
Listen at 18:47
What Scripture says
- John 14:3 I will come again, and receive you unto myself
- Acts 1:11 this same Jesus shall so come in like manner
- 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout
- Matthew 24:36 of that day and hour knows no man
- Titus 2:13 looking for that blessed hope
How this page is made: the quotes are taken word for word from sermons on SermonIndex and checked against them by program before the page is published. The transcripts of audio and video sermons are machine-made, so follow the link to hear the words as they were spoken. The answer above the quotes is an overview with its sources listed; it is not a statement of doctrine by SermonIndex.