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What will the Second Coming of Christ be like?
What will the Second Coming of Christ be like?
September 21, 2016
2 Thessalonians 1:6-10
God is just: He will pay back trouble to those who trouble you and give relief to you who are troubled, and to us as well. This will happen when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven in blazing fire with his powerful angels.  He will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus.  They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might  on the day he comes to be glorified in his holy people and to be marveled at among all those who have believed. This includes you, because you believed our testimony to you.
New International Version (NIV)
              “Do you believe Jesus is coming soon?”  With piercing eyes, a postman named Jones stepped into my office in Axtell, Texas.  I was sitting at my desk at the end of a day of Vacation Bible School.  He walked by.  I said, “Hello!”  And he stepped into my office and asked me about the Second Coming.  Clearly he had strong thoughts on the subject.  I introduced myself to David Jones who had brought his kids to our Vacation Bible School.
                What will the Second Coming of Christ be like?  Many preachers and writers have described the future in vivid detail.  Paul wrote to a troubled church which was persevering in persecution and trials.  Paul was certain that God would trouble the troublemakers and relieve the troubled.  But when?  When will the bad people stop hurting others?  Will there ever be justice?  Paul saw the second coming as a fiery event with powerful angels.  Some will be punished with destruction.  Believers will marvel at him. 
                I told David Jones that I believed Christ will return.  Then and now I believe that it could happen at any moment.  Jones lived down the road in a compound called Mt. Carmel with a group of people called Branch Davidians.  A year before they had exhumed bodies to hasten the resurrection.  David was the one who first heard the ATF agents were coming and warned David Koresh.  Koresh believed he knew the timing of the Second Coming.  Some say he believed he was the Messiah who would return.  He died with David Jones in a fiery conflagration.  I knew a number of the kids who died in the fire because I had taught them as their substitute teacher at Axtell High School.
                We cannot predict the timing of the Second Coming of Christ.  But we can make sure that we are ready.  We don’t get ready for Christ’s return by storing up ammunition for a firefight.  Instead, we live worthy of God’s Kingdom and calling.  God fulfills our good purposes and our acts prompted by faith.  When Christ returns he will know his children and we will marvel at his goodness and grace.  We will live with him forever. 
Pray with me: 
Father, we thank you for the promise of Christ’s return.  Help us to walk worthy of your Kingdom and calling today.  When we are troubled by trials and tribulation, teach us to trust you, our just Judge.  With the Psalmist we say, “When I am afraid, I put my trust in you.  In God whose word I praise I trust and am not afraid.  What can mere mortals do to me.”  In Jesus’ name we pray.  Amen.
Scripture reading for today: 
2 Thessalonians 1

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