Picture came to me in an e-mail - Author unknown
Definitions from Merriam-Webster Dictionary on Line
Second Coming of Jesus
Caesar the head of the Roman Empire declared himself to be God and had a statue of himself set up in the temple about 3 years before the temple was destroyed. Many say he was the son of perdition. Pre 70 AD
Satan is the lawless one and the son of perdition is someone who listens to Satan.
Some folks think we have to go through a great tribulation and then Jesus will return. Others think we will be raptured out before the great tribulation. Still others believe the great tribulation happened in 70 AD and the only thing left is the rapture.
I lean toward the latter because Jesus said it would be like the days of Noah and Lot. During their days they were made fun of and heckled but life just went on as usual. That does not sound like a great tribulation period. They were removed the day the destruction was started. I also believe this because scripture says that the dead will rise first on the last day and the ones who are alive will be raised up at the last trumpet. The mystery of God will be revealed at the last trumpet.
Scripture also says to be absent from the body is to be instantly with the Lord. That says the 1st resurrection started when Jesus rose from the grave and will continue until Jesus returns at which time we who are alive will be resurrected while the earth is being destroyed.
"Remember Lot's wife. "Whoever seeks to save his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life will preserve it.:" Jesus is not talking about your physical life. He is talking about your way of life. Lot's wife did not look back because she wanted to see what was happening. She looked back because she did not want to leave her way of life. If Jesus tells us to do something and we don't because it is "too much" to ask because we have to change the way we live or have to give up something we have, it's a sign that we are not devoted to Jesus. He accepts nothing less than devotion.
Definition - Devotion: religious fervor : piety; a religious exercise or practice other than the regular corporate worship of a congregation; the act of devoting <devotion of time and energy>; the fact or state of being ardently dedicated and loyal.
People are devoted to whomever they love. Jesus said, "If you love me, you will obey me." If we love someone, we want to please them. Please them is another way of saying obey them. In fact we do things for people we love without them asking us to.
2 Th 2:1-4 Now, brethren, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, we ask you, 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. 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, 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 Th 4:16-17 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. 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.
Mat 24:3-51
Now as He sat on the Mount of Olives, the
disciples came to Him privately, saying, "Tell us, when will
these things be? And what will be the sign of Your coming, and of
the end of the age?"
And Jesus answered and said to them: "Take
heed that no one deceives you. "For many will come in My name,
saying, 'I am the Christ,' and will deceive many. "And you will
hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled;
for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.
"For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against
kingdom. And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes
in various places. "All these are the beginning of sorrows.
Then they will deliver you up to
tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated by all
nations for My name's sake. "And then many will be offended, will
betray one another, and will hate one another. "Then many
false prophets will rise up and deceive many. "And because
lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold.
"But he who endures to the end shall be saved.
And this gospel of the kingdom will be
preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations,
and then the end will come. "Therefore when you see the 'abomination
of desolation,' spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing
in the holy place" (whoever reads, let him understand), "then
let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. "Let him
who is on the housetop not go down to take anything out of his
house. "And let him who is in the field not go back to get his
clothes. "But woe to those who are pregnant and to those who
are nursing babies in those days! "And pray that your flight
may not be in winter or on the Sabbath. "For then there will be
great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of
the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be. "And
unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved;
but for the elect's sake those days will be shortened.
Then if anyone says to you, 'Look, here is the
Christ!' or 'There!' do not believe it. "For false christs and
false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to
deceive, if possible, even the elect. "See, I have told you
beforehand. "Therefore if they say to you, 'Look, He is in the
desert!' do not go out; or 'Look, He is in the inner rooms!' do
not believe it. "For as the lightning comes from the east and
flashes to the west, so also will the coming of the Son of Man
be. For wherever the carcass is, there the eagles will be
gathered together.
Immediately after the tribulation of those
days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its
light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the
heavens will be shaken. "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. "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.
Now learn this parable from the fig
tree: When its branch has already become tender and puts forth
leaves, you know that summer is near. "So you also, when you see
all these things, know that it is near; at the doors! "Assuredly,
I say to you, this generation will by no means pass away till
all these things take place. "Heaven and earth will pass
away, but My words will by no means pass away.
But of that day and hour no one knows, not
even the angels of heaven, but My Father only.
"But as the days of Noah were, so also will
the coming of the Son of Man be. "For as in the days before the
flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in
marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, "and did
not know until the flood came and took them all away, so also
will the coming of the Son of Man be.
Then two men will be in the field: one will be
taken and the other left. "Two women will be grinding at the
mill: one will be taken and the other left. "Watch therefore, for
you do not know what hour your Lord is coming. "But know this,
that if the master of the house had known what hour the thief
would come, he would have watched and not allowed his house to be
broken into. "Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man
is coming at an hour you do not expect.
Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom
his master made ruler over his household, to give them food in
due season? "Blessed is that servant whom his master, when
he comes, will find so doing. "Assuredly, I say to you that
he will make him ruler over all his goods. "But if that evil
servant says in his heart, 'My master is delaying his coming,'
"and begins to beat his fellow servants, and to eat and drink
with the drunkards, "the master of that servant will come on
a day when he is not looking for him and at an hour that he is
not aware of, "and will cut him in two and appoint him his
portion with the hypocrites. There shall be weeping and
gnashing of teeth.
Dan 12:3 Those who are wise shall shine Like the brightness of the firmament, And those who turn many to righteousness Like the stars forever and ever.
Jude 1:13 raging waves of the sea, foaming up their own shame; wandering stars for whom is reserved the blackness of darkness forever.
Luke 17:20-37 Now when He
was asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, He
answered them and said, "The kingdom of God
does not come with observation; "nor will they say, 'See here!'
or 'See there!' For indeed, the kingdom of God is within you."
Then He said to the disciples,
"The days will come when you will desire to
see one of the days of the Son of Man, and you will not see it.
"And they will say to you, 'Look here!' or 'Look there!' Do not
go after them or follow them. "For as the lightning that
flashes out of one part under heaven shines to the other part
under heaven, so also the Son of Man will be in His day. "But
first He must suffer many things and be rejected by this
generation.
And as it was in the
days of Noah, so it will be also in the days of the Son of Man:
"They ate, they drank, they married wives, they were given in
marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and the flood
came and destroyed them all. "Likewise as it was also in the
days of Lot: They ate, they drank, they bought, they sold, they
planted, they built; "but on the day that Lot went out of
Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed them
all. "Even so will it be in the day when the Son of Man
is revealed.
In that day, he who is on the housetop, and
his goods are in the house, let him not come down to take them
away. And likewise the one who is in the field, let him not turn
back. "Remember Lot's wife. "Whoever seeks to save his life
will lose it, and whoever loses his life will preserve it.
"I tell you, in that night there will be two men in one bed: the
one will be taken and the other will be left. "Two women will be
grinding together: the one will be taken and the other left. "Two
men will be in the field: the one will be taken and the other
left."
And they answered and said to Him, "Where,
Lord?" So He said to them, "Wherever the
body is, there the eagles will be gathered together."
Mat 19:20-26 The young man
said to Him, "All these things I have kept from my youth. What do
I still lack? Jesus said to him, "If you
want to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to the poor,
and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me."
But when the young man heard that saying, he
went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions. Then Jesus
said to His disciples, "Assuredly, I say to
you that it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of
heaven. "And again I say to you, it
is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for
a rich man to enter the kingdom of God."
When His disciples heard it, they were greatly
astonished, saying, "Who then can be saved? But Jesus
looked at them and said to them, "With men
this is impossible, but with God all things are possible."
John 14:15 "If you love Me, keep My commandments.
John 6:39-40 "This is the will of the Father who sent Me, that of all He has given Me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up at the last day. "And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have everlasting life; and I will raise him up at the last day."
John 6:44
"No one can come to Me unless the Father
who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day.
John 6:54 "Whoever eats My flesh and drinks
My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last
day.
John 11:24-26 Martha said to Him, "I know that he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day." Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. "And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?"
Rev 14:9-11 Then a third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, "If anyone worships the beast and his image, and receives his mark on his forehead or on his hand, "he himself shall also drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out full strength into the cup of His indignation. He shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. "And the smoke of their torment ascends forever and ever; and they have no rest day or night, who worship the beast and his image, and whoever receives the mark of his name."
Ezek 9:3-5 Now the glory of the God of Israel had gone up from the cherub, where it had been, to the threshold of the temple. And He called to the man clothed with linen, who had the writer's inkhorn at his side; and the LORD said to him, "Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and put a mark on the foreheads of the men who sigh and cry over all the abominations that are done within it." To the others He said in my hearing, "Go after him through the city and kill; do not let your eye spare, nor have any pity.
Rev 16:2 So the first went and poured out his bowl upon the earth, and a foul and loathsome sore came upon the men who had the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image.
1 Cor 15:51-52 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, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.
Rev 10:5-7 The angel whom I saw standing on the sea and on the land raised up his hand to heaven and swore by Him who lives forever and ever, who created heaven and the things that are in it, the earth and the things that are in it, and the sea and the things that are in it, that there should be delay no longer, but in the days of the sounding of the seventh angel, when he is about to sound, the mystery of God would be finished, as He declared to His servants the prophets.