The Second Coming, known as Christ’s Second Advent, is the time prophesied in the Bible when Jesus Christ returns to the earth to put an end to Armageddon. Christ is called “the King of kings,” in His glorious return, and will institute his millennial reign (thousand-year Kingdom) on earth. He will rule the world from atop Zion (the place now occupied by Mt. Moriah) at Jerusalem from the throne of David.

Christ’s Second Coming is foretold by John, the writer of the Revelation:

And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war.

His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself.

And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God.

And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean.

And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.

And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, King of Kings and Lord of Lords. (Revelation 19:11–16)

A Dramatic Overview

Before getting into details of what the Second Coming is about, let’s look at an overview of the stunning event. There has never been, nor ever will be, one more dramatic!

Leaders of the forces meet at Armageddon to battle each other and will turn to see the brightness that’s broken through the darkness that has overcast earth’s skies because of the judgments of God. Antichrist, supreme leader of much of the gathering military west of the Euphrates River, will recognize the invading power from Heaven. Perhaps the leaders from the two hundred-million-man army from the Orient that has crossed the dried-up Euphrates from the East will also know what the brilliantly shining heavenly intrusion is all about. All hostile, earthly hordes will then turn to concentrate their fire at the descending heavenly army, led by Jesus Christ.

While the sea of humanity on the planet’s surface viciously roars in an attempt to prevent the heavenly intervention, those warring forces will turn from battling with each other to curse God and all His righteousness. Then Jesus Christ, mounted upon a stunning white steed, will speak words sharper than a two-edged sword.

Master to Calm Storm

I’m convinced they will be the same words Jesus of Nazareth spoke to that raging sea of Galilee nearly two millennia ago (read Mark 4:36–41.) They are the same words He speaks today to everyone who turns to Him, acknowledging that nothing and no one but Christ can save them. He speaks those words to all who accept Him and trust Him to save them from their sins and to make them born-again children of God.

Just as His words instantly calmed that violent sea, saving the men in the little boat, Jesus’ words will immediately end the warfare and rebellion at Armageddon. Christ’s words to the troubled heart likewise bring tranquility and joy to the soul. A person is never the same when Jesus speaks those life-changing words, “Peace, be still” (Mark 4:39).

Bloody Peace

When Jesus speaks the words “Peace, be still” at Armageddon, His command will be against all the vileness that has been building in humanistic rebellion over the thousands of years since God last judged in such a mighty way. All people died in the Flood except Noah and seven others. Christ’s words at Armageddon will apparently cause most, if not all, of the soldiers of the armies of the world gathered there to literally burst open, His command will be so powerful.

The plains of Armageddon will flow with a flood of blood. Scripture says:

And the winepress was trodden without the city, and blood came out of the winepress, even unto the horse bridles, by the space of a thousand and six hundred furlongs. (Revelation 14:20)

The point is, when Jesus speaks, His words are sharper and more powerful than a two-edged sword. All opposition by earth’s armies will instantly cease and desist. All will lie horribly bloody—but peacefully—upon the vast killing field called Armageddon.

Jesus on the Throne!

Jesus, following His stunning victory over the enemies of God, will proceed to get the people of Israel who have, during the Tribulation, come to believe in Him. He will rescue them from the place God has hidden them. This hiding of believing Israel (all Jewish people who will have accepted that Jesus was, and is, their Messiah) is revealed in the following:

And when the dragon saw that he was cast unto the earth, he persecuted the woman which brought forth the man child.

And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for a time,

and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent.

And the serpent cast out of his mouth water as a flood after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away of the flood.

And the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed up the flood which the dragon cast out of his mouth.

And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ. (Revelation 12:13–17)

The Hiding Place

Satan’s Antichrist forces will try to wipe the Jewish race from the face of the earth to fully implement Satan’s Final Solution. But, God will intervene with great supernatural catastrophe and prevent the Antichrist from finding the Jews. As we’ve said, God will have hidden them somewhere; many prophetic scholars believe the hiding place will be in the Jordanian desert, in the “rose-red city” called Petra. Jesus will retrieve these believing Jews and use them to be His nation of Israel during the Millennium.

Israel Saved!

The Bible says a third of Jews alive during the Tribulation will recognize their Messiah, Jesus Christ, at the moment He returns in the Second Coming. It will be a real eye-opener for them.

And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for [his] only [son], and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for [his] firstborn. (Zechariah 12: 10)

Jesus will then move, with His saints of the Church Age and His chosen people (all of saved Israel) to Jerusalem. He will set up His throne upon a topographically changed Mt. Moriah in the millennial Temple He will build.

More Judgments

Antichrist and False Prophet Judgment

The Lord Jesus will judge Antichrist and the False Prophet, who will have persecuted Tribulation saints and, particularly, the Jewish race (Israel). We learn of the fate of these two beasts as follows:

And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone. (Revelation 19:20)

These two will be the first to be cast into Hell. They’ll have it to themselves until a thousand years later, after the white throne judgment, which we’ll look at in a later chapter.

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Satan’s Confinement

Next, Satan will be grabbed and confined for the thousand years as well:

And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand.

And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years,

And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season. (Revelation 20:1–3)

The bottomless pit is the same place from where the rich man, in torment, looked into paradise to see Lazarus in Abraham’s bosom, according to Jesus’s teaching (read Luke 16:19–31).

Sheep and Goat Judgments

Christ will judge the nations. Their fate will hang upon how they treated His chosen people. The “goat” nations will stand on Christ’s left while He judges, while the “sheep” nations will stand on His right.

All in the “goat” nations will be cast into everlasting darkness, lost for eternity. These nations consist of individually lost souls, each of whom will, apparently, be placed in nations that have persecuted Jews, and, most likely, Tribulation saints as well. The nations so judged will no longer be part of the nations of earth. (Read Matthew 25:32–46 to learn more about that great future judgment.)

It is logical to presume that the saved people who will have lived in the “goat” or lost nations will be put into the “sheep” nations, which will be allowed into the millennial Kingdom. Likewise, the unsaved people who will have lived in the sheep nations will go into the goat nations to meet their eternal fate in outer darkness.

Dr. John F. Walvoord’s description of the Second Coming of Christ adds much to our understanding of that great event.

The second coming of Christ is mentioned frequently in the Old and New Testaments’ and many passages in the New Testament. The many passages devoted to this subject indicate how important it is. As the four gospels portray Christ in His first coming, so the book of Revelation portrays events before and after the future second coming of Christ. In Revelation 19:11–16, He is described as coming on a white horse, a symbol of victory, to judge the world; He is followed by the armies of heaven. He has the power to strike down the nations (verse 15), and the prediction is He will rule “with an iron scepter.”

His coming will express the wrath of God against wickedness in the human situation. It is clear that the heavens will be ablaze with the glory of God accompanied as He is by millions of holy angels and saints, who are moving from heaven to the Mount of Olives in preparation for the millennial kingdom. The descent will not be a rapid event but will undoubtedly take 24 hours so the earth can turn, permitting everyone to see the glory of Christ in the heavens. Satan and the unsaved alike will realize that this is the second coming of Christ, but it is too late for those who are not ready for His second coming.

The Destruction of the Armies of Earth

One of the first acts following the second coming is the destruction of the armies who will forget their differences and unite to fight the army from heaven.

This is described in graphic terms in Revelation 19:17–19 and is confirmed in verse 21 in the statement that all the wicked are killed on this occasion.

Christ captures the world ruler, the Antichrist (described as the beast), and his assistant (described as the false prophet) and casts them into the “fiery lake of burning sulfur” (Revelation 19:19, 20). This lake was previously described as the place for the ultimate end of the satanic world (Matthew 25:41–44).

While all the wicked who have died are in Hades, up to this point the lake of fire has not been occupied; the beast and the false prophet are the first occupants.

After the second coming a series of prophetic events will follow preparing the world for a future millennial kingdom. First of all, in Revelation 20:1–3 it is prophesied that Satan will be bound, rendered inactive and unable to deceive the nations in the future millennium.”^[i]

Dr. Dave Breese further enlightens us on the Second Coming of Jesus Christ:

Since the beginning of the Tribulation, where will the Church have been? In heaven. The Church will have gone through an experience called the Judgment Seat of Christ, and the Marriage Supper of the Lamb. At that time, it is “clothed in fine linen, white and clean.” But then the announcement is made to Christians, the Church in heaven with God, that there’s still a very serious piece of unfinished business that needs to be done in the world. That is to depose the Antichrist, and to pronounce the judgment of God upon the devil. They will be instruments in bringing that to pass.

So Jesus Christ comes back, not alone, but He brings the Church with Him. How do we know this? Well, Jude quotes Enoch as saying about Jesus: “Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints” (Jude 14).

Now a saint is a Christian. There is no such thing as Saint Somebody, or Saint Somebody Else, as unique Christians who are awarded sainthood through the vote of some committee. Rather, all of us who have been saved by grace, given the gift of imputed righteousness, are “hagios”—the holy ones, by virtue of the holiness of Jesus Christ. We are saints. These are saints returning with the Lord Jesus, the saints of God, “ten thousands of his saints.”

By this time, the armies that surround the city of Jerusalem have every reason to expect that they will conquer the place. Yet, they look up, and see a massive military contingent coming back from heaven, sweeping down out of the skies, and taking them out of the way like nothing! They will be utterly destroyed. That army will be scattered all over the place. There will be millions who die. And there will be a special thing that is done with reference to the devil and the Antichrist. The Scripture says that the Antichrist will be thrown into the lake of fire (Revelation 19:20), and the devil will be thrown into the bottomless pit (Revelation 20:1-3). He is kept prisoner there for 1000 years.

You may say, “That’s a lot of arrogant presumption. Christians returning with Jesus Christ? Who do you think you are to say that?” Well, the Scripture says that. In fact, did you know that the Bible says that the saints, that is, Christians, shall judge the world? Did you know that the Bible says that the saints shall judge angels (1 Corinthians 6:2–3)?

The devil, as you know, is an angel. Therefore, the devil will be a part of this group that is judged by you, and by me. There are people who have been done to death by the activity of Satan. But they will see him again, standing in judgment before them. We will be a part of that tribunal that makes right everything that is wrong in the world.

As a part of the army of Jesus Christ we will return to conquer. We will inherit the universe. The Bible says:

Whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come; all are yours, And ye are Christ’s, and Christ is God’s (1 Corinthians 3:22, 23).

It’s no small thing to be a Christian. It is to be an inheritor of the universe. But I’m sure that you get the picture. A mighty invasion, the saints come back, and the saints do away with those armies that are in the process of conquering the nation of Israel. Israel is delivered by the Church, it is the Christians who will deliver the nation of Israel.

Then, of course, finally, we must mention that the Tribulation ends. Remember Jesus said, “And except those days be shortened, there should no flesh be saved…” (Matthew 24:22).

Well, the days were ended. How? By this invasion from heaven, in which Christ comes again. We are the ones who shorten the dreadful days of the Great Tribulation.

We are the ones who relieve the siege of the city of Jerusalem. And we are the ones who say to the world, “Here is the Lord; now you are free.”

During the Tribulation, there will have been many who have accepted the Lord, and believe the Gospel of the Kingdom. And what will happen as a result of that faith for them? When the Tribulation ends by the return of Christ, He will come, and not only deliver the nation of Israel, but He will set up His Kingdom. Where will the capital of that Kingdom be? Jerusalem, the Holy City, called the “city of the great King” (Psalm 48:2) in the Old Testament. He will establish His throne there, and He will reign over the world for 1000 amazing and remarkable years.^[ii]

Second-Coming Readiness

Most all people in Western culture and society who are mature, so far as age is concerned, have heard of the term “the Second Coming.” Few, however, understand the term. An even smaller number of those who think they understand have it right. The accuracy of what they think they know depends upon adhering to what the Bible says on the awe-inspiring topic. Interpretation must be undertaken from the viewpoint that God is speaking to His creation—mankind—in a literal sense. That is, His foretelling must be taken as literal, not as being spiritualized, symbolic, allegorical, or as things that have already occurred in any way, shape, or form.

The Second Coming, also called the Second Advent, is a literal future event that will take place at a literal moment in literal time, by the literal King of all kings and Lord of all lords. It is Jesus Christ’s return to earth to put down all rebellion, restore the planet, and rule and reign from His throne atop Zion for, literally, a thousand years.

With that as an admittedly simplistic frame of reference, we’ll move more deeply into the subject through a stupendous body of prophecies yet to unfold that will profoundly affect every human being that has ever been conceived within the long history of this now fallen sphere. We’ll look particularly at the prospect of Christ’s return as it affects each person presently alive. To us, being “Second-Coming ready” is the most important preparation any individual can make, because it means a person’s soul—his or her eternal being—is in God’s family forever.

Dissecting the Second Coming

Comprehending the Second Coming of Jesus Christ to restore all things to conformity with God’s will requires understanding that God deals with mankind in “dispensations” through covenants throughout human history.

The study of dispensationalism becomes quite involved; we don’t have space here for an in-depth examination. We’ll simply look at the dispensation we live in today—the Age of Grace, also called the Church Age—and the dispensation that will follow this one—the Tribulation. We’ve looked closely at these things before, so will delve only briefly into these as they reflect upon our topic of what’s involved in being Second-Coming ready.

One Second Coming, Two Phases

The return of Christ makes no sense if viewed only as a one-phased event. This is because the Scriptures present conflict and confusion if we try to make the Second Coming simply about the Lord breaking through the black clouds of Revelation 19:11, then defeating all rebels and moving to Jerusalem to set up His millennial Kingdom.

Some passages reveal that no one can know the exact day or hour of Christ’s return. Others say that the exact number of days to His return to earth can be precisely calculated. Matthew 25:13 says Jesus will return at an unknown time, while Revelation 12:6 indicates that the Jews will have to wait on the Lord 1,260 days, starting when the Antichrist stands in the Temple of God and declares himself to be God. This takes place three and a half years into the Tribulation period.

Which is it? Can Christ’s time of return be known for sure? God is not the author of confusion (see 1 Corinthians 14:33); His Word is orderly and always makes sense when proper context is applied and the reader is faithful to seek out what it really says. It is vital, therefore, to study Bible prophecy, as with the Word of God in general, thoroughly, and in total context. It can be hard work, but blesses the soul every time it’s done.

So, we see that the area dealing with knowing or not knowing the time of Christ’s return to earth presents what might be construed as contradiction. Bible prophecy seems to say different things about earth dwellers being aware of exactly when He is coming again. In-depth study on the matter, however, reveals that Christ will return to the planet in two distinct phases. Additionally, it is essential to understand that God is working within two prophetic programs, one involving the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ, and one involving His chosen people, the nation Israel. The two dovetail into the playing-out of the most glorious event in human history to occur since Christ’s First Coming.

Phase 1: The Rapture

This event involves the Church—all born-again believers in Jesus Christ for salvation. As we’ve emphasized throughout this book, a person is “born again” (John 3: 3) into the family of God by accepting that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God. This is the “rock” upon which Jesus said He would build His Church (Matthew 16:18).

All people who have been born since the Church began have lived in the Church Age or Age of Grace. That is, during this period, this dispensation, all who accept Christ’s blood as atonement for sin are under the grace of God and receive reconciliation with Him, their sins forever removed from receiving His judgment.

Rapture of the Church, as foretold by the Apostle Paul in 1 Thessalonians 4:13–18 and 1 Corinthians 15:51–55, will be the one atomos of time (faster than the eye can blink) when Jesus will call all believers of the Church Age to be with Him forever. This is the “mystery” Paul showed believers, fully revealing what Jesus meant when He said the following:

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. (John 14:1–3)

The prerequisite, then, for being Rapture ready, is to accept Christ as Savior. Paul tells us that ALL will be changed in that “twinkling of an eye.” Who is the “ALL” he wrote about? It’s every individual during the Church Age who will accept Christ for personal salvation.

The Rapture is the first phase of the two-phase Second Coming. Thus, those who are Rapture ready are also Second-Coming ready.

ALL, not some, will go to be with the Lord when He calls, as He did to John in Revelation 4:1. Each believer is Rapture ready in the sense that each will go to be with Jesus in that stupendous event. No one will be left behind.

However, not every Christian will be “ready” in another important sense. Those who have lived carnal lives—not walking in the will of God as instructed in His Word—will lose rewards at the bema or judgment seat of Christ. More about that a bit later. As believers, we must do our best to live the way God expects of His children while still in this mortal flesh. Those who do not won’t be kicked out of God’s family or left behind to suffer His wrath (for we’re not to endure the wrath of God; see 1 Thessalonians 5:9). But, those who choose to live apart from the Father’s instructions will have disappointed their Lord, and at the bema judgment will see their carnal works burned in the holy fire that purges unrighteousness. Sinful acts, through commission or omission, cannot enter God’s eternal Kingdom.

Children of God should take this truth very seriously. How we attempt to walk righteously here on earth will determine our eternal service status when we look into the Lord’s omniscient eyes.

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Phase 2: Second Advent

The physical touchdown of the Lord Jesus atop the Mount of Olives will take place at least seven years after the Rapture of the Church. This will be the second phase of His Second Coming. It will come at the end of the Tribulation.

The Tribulation era will begin with God dealing with Israel supernaturally. He will, during this horrific time, purge, through the fiery crucible of Antichrist’s genocidal rage, a special remnant of the Jewish people. They will be His nation as head of all nations during the Millennium, the earlier-mentioned thousand-year era that will follow the Tribulation. However, before those Jews will enjoy the millennial earth as the foremost nation, the time will be worse for the Jewish people than at any other during the many anti-Semite persecutions and diasporas (scatterings) through the ages.

Jeremiah, the Old Testament prophet, said the following about that horrendous time:

Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it: it is even the time of Jacob’s trouble; but he shall be saved out of it. (Jeremiah 30:7)

Hell on Earth

The Tribulation will produce an increasingly Hell-like planet, God’s direct judgments falling upon Antichrist and the rebellious earth-dwellers the closer the time of Christ’s return to earth comes. Still, rather than repent of their horrendous sin against the Almighty, they will hide themselves in the caves and crannies of the mountains and shake their fists in blasphemy against Him.

Jesus, Himself, said about this time:

For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. (Matthew 24:21)

Only the great mercy of God will keep some flesh from succumbing to the twenty-one judgments that will pour upon and smash into the planet.

While all armies of earth gather in the Middle East at Armageddon, Christ will return to put an end to all war (Revelation 19:11). He will rule in righteousness upon a planet made pristine again by the Creator of all things. Israel will be the host nation to the Lord’s throne atop Mt. Zion (Mt. Moriah remade and raised above the terrain). King David, in His resurrection body, will be Christ’s coregent for Israel, while Christ reigns as king over the earthly Kingdom. Thus, all promises God made to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob will be fulfilled.

Getting Ready Now Is Crucial

Nothing is more critical than being Second-Coming ready.

We must be ready for the moment when Jesus will say “Come up here,” as He did to John in Revelation 4:1. The only way we can prepare is to be dedicated to the reason we’ve been placed on earth: to carry out the will of God. We can do this through prayer and Bible study, then translating that prayer and study into living every minute of every day with the thought of abiding in God’s will. We’re to be royal ambassadors in a foreign land.

Christians are to be outward-turning, not inward-focused—i.e., we’re supposed to think more of others than of ourselves while we go about our daily lives. This doesn’t mean assuming a pious, head-in-the-clouds attitude. It means we should be like Christ, meeting and interacting with people the way Jesus did. We should be about helping others in material ways—but always secondarily to informing them that Jesus, alone, is the way to God the Father for eternity (John 14: 6).

This is how to be Rapture ready, in the sense of being worthy to hear Jesus say, “Well done, good and faithful servant.”

Judgment Seat of Christ

There will most likely be a brief interlude between the Rapture of the Church and the Antichrist-to-be confirming the covenant of Daniel 9:26. While that’s going on in earth time, magnificent things beyond imagination will be taking place in the heavenly dimension.

Then, as the Tribulation begins to rumble with tornado-like violence on the earth, those who have been lifted from this fallen sphere by their Bridegroom, Jesus Christ, will come before the bema—the judgment seat of Christ. Believers of the Church Age will stand before Him to receive rewards for the race they’ve run as royal ambassadors while back on earth.

This judgment will not be for determining whether they will enter Heaven or go to the Lake of Fire. They’re all in God’s holy family. They are, in heavenly symbolism, the very Bride of Jesus, and they’re before the bema to receive rewards for their faithfulness to the service of God. They’ve run the race (Hebrews 12:1–3) for the high calling of Christ. Now they’re about to receive unfathomable riches as joint heirs with God’s Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.

All things they did while in the flesh on earth will be reviewed. All things they did out of a motive other than to honor Christ will be burned in the holy fire of God’s omniscient purification. All things they did to honor the Lord will get glorious recognition, with the recipients being bestowed various crowns. This judgment will determine the positions each person will hold in administering Christ’s rule throughout His thousand-year reign and all of eternity.

Won’t Regret Obedience

Our obedience will be worth the troubles we endured in this life. And, that’s a real understatement! Our rewards for living as our Lord wants us to while under such persecution will be beyond our wildest imaginations. Crowns of victory will be given at the bema that will make everything we might have endured in life fade to nothingness.

Paul, expounding upon Isaiah 64:4, wrote:

But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. (1 Corinthians 2:9)

Let’s look at those crowns under examination of Scripture.

Great Rewards Await!

The Bible mentions at least five crowns/rewards.

1. The incorruptible crown, given to those who master the old nature.

And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible.

I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that beateth the air: But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway. (1 Corinthians 9 25–27)

2. The crown of rejoicing given to soul winners.

For what is our hope, or joy, or crown of rejoicing? Are not even ye in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at his coming? For ye are our glory and joy. (1 Thessalonians 2:19–20)

“The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life; and he that winneth souls is wise. (Proverbs 11:30; see also Daniel 12:31)

3. The crown of life, given to those who successfully endure temptation.

My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. (James 1:2–3)

Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer: behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried; and ye shall have tribulation ten days: be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life. (Revelation 2:10)

4. The crown of righteousness for those who especially love the doctrine of the rapture.

Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing. (2 Timothy 4:8)

5. The crown of glory, given to faithful preachers and teachers.

Feed the flock of God which is among you, taking the oversight thereof, not by constraint, but willingly; not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind; Neither as being lords over God’s heritage, but being ensamples to the flock. And when the chief Shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away. (1 Peter 5:2–4; see also Acts 20:26–28; 2 Timothy 4:1–2)

Keeping in mind that we strive for crowns with which to honor our Lord, let us be empowered by the promise of God’s prophetic Word!

Tribulation Saints Must Be Ready

Being Second-Coming ready for the person who will enter the Tribulation following the Rapture of the Church is another matter. But, getting ready to go through that terrible time is essential. If you have been left behind when millions vanish, to be less than ready will mean enduring torment forever, apart from the God who moved Heaven and Hell to bring you into His eternal family.

Faithful to the End

Getting Second-Coming ready during the Tribulation will mean turning one’s life over to Christ and trusting Him for Salvation. It will mean standing for Christ no matter the challenges. It will mean refusing the mark of the Antichrist, thus being targeted for death. But, standing for Christ will bring eternal blessings, as promised to the martyrs of the Tribulation era.

And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations.

And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.

If any man have an ear, let him hear. He that leadeth into captivity shall go into captivity: he that killeth with the sword must be killed with the sword. Here is the patience and the faith of the saints. (Revelation 13:7–10)

UP NEXT: The Millennial Reign

[i] r. John F. Walvoord, From Armageddon to the Millennium (Ang, this is from one of our old books)]***

[ii] Dr. David Breese, Cyclone of Apocalypse (Ang, this is from one of our old books, too.)]***

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