Robert McLaughlin Bible Ministries
The Doctrine of the Second Advent. Part 3.
Friday, September 5, 2003
Point 1. Definition.
The First Advent begins with the virgin birth and concludes with the resurrection, ascension and session.
The Second Advent is the second coming or the second time our Lord comes back down on the earth.
Point 2. The Distinction Between the Rapture and the Second Advent.
Point 3. The Analogies to the Second Advent.
Point 4. The Second Advent and Armageddon.
Point 5. The Second Advent and Operation Footstool.
Point 6. The Baptism of Fire and the Second Advent.
Point 7. The Second Advent and the Millennium.
Point 8. The Views of the Second Advent.
a. The non-literal or spiritualized view – denies that there will be a literal, bodily, personal return of Christ to the earth.
This view holds that the promises of the second coming are fulfilled by “our Lord’s spiritual presence with His people which was introduced by the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost.”
Then accompanied by the overthrow of Jerusalem.
Then ultimately fulfilled by continual spiritual advance in the church.
They believe the Second Advent it is not an event, but it gradually includes all the events of the Church-age which are part of the work of Christ.
b. The postmillennial view -popular among covenant theologians of the Reformation period = through preaching the Gospel the whole world will be Christianized and brought to submission to the Gospel before the return of Christ.
Because they believe that they are “spiritual Israel,” they go back to the Old Testament and want the government to institute the Mosaic Law into our nation.
One of the boldest experiments to come out of the Reformation, though it ultimately failed like other similar attempts, was the theocracy established by John Calvin in Geneva, the city to which he moved in 1536 at the age of 27.
“The strength of that heretic consisted in this, that money never had the slightest charm for him. If I had such servants my dominion would extend from sea to sea.”
One of those contradictions has to do with whether or not man has a free will!
Another is that God has pre-determined everything to happen, the evil and the good.
If God had willed the evil which abounds everywhere, Calvin would have none of it under his jurisdiction.
He valiantly attempted to force the Genevans to live according to biblical standards without regard to whether they had been predestined to such a life or not.
The godliness that he taught could only come by God Himself dispensing what he called “irresistible grace,” Calvin was now determined to produce by coercion.
Agreement with the council’s confession of faith was a requirement for citizenship.
Conformity to its social and moral decrees was a condition of continuance.
“Conduct was to be guided as carefully as belief,” Durant writes, “for good conduct was the goal of right belief.”
A child’s goodnight kiss, an overabundance of dishes at the table, a too-elevated headdress, an excessive display of lace, a proscribed color in dress – all were subjects of debate and punishment.
It was a crime to laugh at Calvin’s sermons.
It was a crime to argue with Calvin in the street.
Everybody was compelled to attend church.
No one could leave the town without giving reasons acceptable to the Council.
Those who served with Calvin had power to enter the houses, put servants through their catechisms, order parents to send their children to school.
In sixty years one hundred and fifty heretics were burnt in Geneva.
Fathers and mothers accused their children not just of minor offenses but of crimes!
*“Postmillennialism” is derived from the fact that in this theory Christ returns after the millennium, therefore post millennium.
The followers of this view hold to a literal Second Advent and believe in a literal Millennium, but they believe we are in it now and we must change the way of the world.
c. The amillennial view – holds that there will be no literal millennium on the earth following the Second Advent.
They believe that all the prophecies concerning the kingdom are being fulfilled spiritually by the church.
Satan is conceived as bound at the first coming of Christ.
They believe that the present age between the First and Second Advents is the fulfillment of the Millennium.
This view can be summed up in the idea that there will be no more Millennium than there is now, and the eternal state immediately follows the Second Advent of Christ.
Their problem is over the question as to whether there will be a literal Millennium for Israel or whether the promises concerning the Millennium are now being fulfilled in the church, either on earth or in heaven.
d. The premillennial view – holds that Christ will return to earth, literally and bodily, before the Millennial age begins and that, by His presence, a kingdom will be instituted over which He will reign.
The central issue in this position is whether the Scriptures are to be fulfilled literally or symbolically.
The general theme concerning the return of Christ has the unique distinction of being the first prophecy uttered by man, Jude 1:14-15, and the last message from the ascended Christ, as well as the last word of the Bible, REV 22:20-21.
REV 22:20 He who testifies to these things says, “Yes, I am coming quickly.” Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.
Point 9. Unfulfilled Prophecy makes the Second Advent Absolutely Essential.
He has promised that He shall come Himself,
ACT 1:11.
That the dead will hear His voice, JOH 5:28.
That He will step on the same Mount Olivet from which He ascended,
ZEC 14:4.
That He will come back in flaming fire, 2TH 1:8.
That He will come in the clouds of Heaven with power and great glory, MAT 24:30, 1PE 1:7.
That He would stand upon the earth again,
JOB 19:2.
That the church shall come with Him,
1TH 3:13, Jude 14.
That every eye shall see Him, REV 1:7.
That He shall destroy Anti-Christ, 2TH 2:8.
That He shall sit on His throne, MAT 25:31.
That all the nations will be gathered before Him and He will judge them, MAT 25:32.
That He shall have the throne of David,
ISA 9:6-7.
That it would be upon the earth, JER 23:5-6.
That He shall have a kingdom, DAN 7:13-14.
That He shall rule over it with His saints, DAN 7:18-27; REV 5:10.
That all kings and nations shall serve Him, PSA 72:11; ISA 49:6-7, REV 15:4.
That the kingdoms of this world shall become His kingdom, ZEC 9:10; REV 11:15.
That the people shall gather unto Him,
GEN 49:10.
That they shall come and worship the King,
ZEC 14:16; PSA 86:9.
That He shall build up Zion, PSA 102:16.
That His throne shall be in Jerusalem, JER 3:17; ISA 33:20-21.
That the Apostles shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel, MAT 19:28,
LUK 22:28-30.
That He shall rule all nations, PSA 2:8-9,
REV 2:27.
That He shall rule with judgment and justice, PSA 9:7.
That the temple in Jerusalem will be rebuilt, Eze 40-48.
The glory of the Lord will come into it, EZE 43:2-5; 44:4.
That the glory of the Lord will be revealed,
ISA 40:5.
That the wilderness shall be a fruitful field, ISA 32:15.
That the desert will blossom as the rose, ISA 35:1-2.