The Second Coming Of Christ: Secret or Public?

THE RETURN OF THE KING: SECRET OR PUBLIC?

Since we are living in a desperate time and the signs of the end of times are alarming, I thought it would be appropriate to share on the subject of Christ's second coming. This article addresses a common but important question on this subject: "Is there a secret Coming of Christ? Will Jesus come twice, pre-tribulation secretly and Post-Tribulation publicly?"


1. INTRODUCTION:

The Bible is very clear; there is no mention of a secret coming of Christ. The Bible only speaks of the second coming of Christ, only once to establish His kingdom in this earth to rule for 1000 years. He comes not to take us away secretly but to openly establish a kingdom on this earth. And at the end, we together will inherit the New Heaven and Earth after the 1000 years of God's kingdom on this earth. So, when will Jesus come?


2. THE LAST TRUMPET:

When Paul talks about the second coming of Christ in 1 Corinthian 15 and  1 Thessalonians 4, he mentions of the 'Last Trumpet', and at that time Jesus will return so everyone in the world can see. This is the same trumpet that is mentioned in Revelation 11. The sequence of events that follows after the 7th trumpet is mentioned in the rest of the book including the 7 bowls of plagues. And after the 7th trumpet is blown, as we read in chapter 14, you can know that Christ will be seen on Mount Zion, the temple mount, which is right next to the Mount of Olives. Jesus will return to the Mount of Olives just like the scriptures say and his bodily appearance will be seen and not spiritually or in other words secretly. The Bible says, "On that day his feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, east of Jerusalem. And the Mount of Olives will split apart, making a wide valley running from east to west. Half the mountain will move toward the north and half toward the south."
(Zechariah 14:4). Jesus also spoke of the 'Last Trumpet' and said, "And he will send out his angels with the mighty blast of a trumpet, and they will gather his chosen ones from all over the world —from the farthest ends of the earth and heaven." (Matthew 24:31). So until the last trumpet is blown, Christ will not return; certainly not secretly.


3. THE CAVEAT:

We need to understand one thing: whenever people try to spiritualize the physical things, like how they tried to reject the physical resurrection of Christ by saying that He only raised spiritually, we can immediately know that it's not of the Bible and a False doctrine. There is a group of people (Preterists/Pretsrism) who believe that Christ already returned in AD 70, and it is not surprising that they say it was a spiritual return and a spiritual rapture. Similarly, this teaching of the secret coming of Christ or in other words, the spiritual coming of Christ is a false proposition. Nowhere in the Bible, it says that when Christ comes, His coming will be hidden or secret and there is no mention of people secretly disappearing for no reason. The Bible is very clear; when Christ returns, all people will see like the lightening in the sky. The sudden disappearance of people is not Biblical for it serves no purpose or serves any fulfillment of the prophesies foretold.


4. RAPTURE MISUNDERSTOOD:

The translation of the word "caught up" comes from the Greek word harpad'zo, which means "to seize on, carry off by force, claim for one's self eagerly, to take by force". This is exactly something that will happen when Christ returns, this is when the corruptible will put on incorruptible. The Latin translation for this word is 'rapri' from which comes the word rapture. Rapture or to be taken by the Lord is exactly what the Bible teaches. But, this is not a secret coming of Christ but the public return of Christ. If we look at the verse closely in I Thessalonian 4:15-17, we can see the mention of:

• "Shout of command"
• "voice of the archangel"
• "Trumpet of God"
• "Descent of Christ from heaven"
• "Resurrection of the dead in Christ"

None of these denotes a secret coming of Christ but an open public appearance of Christ and the gathering of saints in the sky. Besides, when Paul writes these verses to Thessalonian, the context and intention of his writings are to comfort and encourage the Thessalonians so that they do not worry about the beloved who has died. Paul is not explaining to them a doctrine of secret coming. Yes, the verse does talk about being taken to be with Christ, a rapture but that is not a secret coming of Christ.

5. VERSES MISUNDERSTOOD:

Many believe that Christ will return twice: Pre-Tribulation and Post-Tribulation. According to this belief:

• Pre-Tribulation Rapture will happen before the tribulation and the living saints will be caught up in the clouds to meet the LORD in the air when Christ returns with saints. This is called a secret coming of Christ. The reason people believe the pre-tribulation is because of the verses: Math 24:40,41; 1 Thessalonians 4:16‭-‬17. 

• Post-Tribulation Rapture: The Post-Tribulation rapture is the second coming when Christ returns once again with His saints to fight the battle of Armageddon, take vengeance on his enemies, and to establish his rule (Rev 19:11-20). It will be a royal arrival. It won't be secret; every eye will see him (Rev1:7), All the tribes of the earth will wail (Rev 6:14) and kings of the earth, generals, rich and powerful hide in caves and rocks, calling to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us and hide us from the wrath of him who is seated on the throne and from the wrath of the lamb.

However, all these verses talk about our Lord Jesus Christ returning back to take His people, a rapture of people. Certainly, Jesus is returning to this world to establish his Kingdom and to unveil God's wrath on the unrepentant.  Matthew 24:40, 41 says that at Christ's returns there will be gathering of God's people, which is the separation of the people who have the seal of the Holy Spirit and people who don't have the Seal of Holy Spirit. "You were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, . . . who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption." (Ephesians 1:13,14). However, none of these verses say anything about the invisible secret return of Christ. All these verses point to the glorious return of Christ at the end of the tribulation, at the end of the age. Besides, the verses of Mathew 24: 40, 41 are Jesus' response when He was directly addressing the specific question the disciples asked, which is: "when will this happen, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?”. So yes, the rapture of believers or in other words the grand separation & gathering of believers will happen when Christ returns gloriously once and for all at the end of the age.


6. THE DOCTRINE OF SECRET COMING:

When and why this pre-tribulation-rapture or secret coming teaching originated?
This teaching became very common only recently, in the past 200 years. That's mainly because of a misunderstanding of the Scripture. And also because of the influence of Hollywood movies based on this teaching. Early church or even post-protestant reformation the Church did not believe in a secret rapture or secret spiritual coming of Christ. The secret coming doctrine was started by a Roman Catholic Jesuit priest, Francisco Ribera in 1585 A.D. Later the secret Rapture theory was launched into prominence around 1830 in Scotland. If you closely look, there is no biblical or Godly purpose/reason for the secret coming (or the pre-tribulation rapture). Albeit, What is the purpose of Jesus coming secretly to remove The church? The only reason the secret coming believers give for secret coming is that Christ will not let the Church go through the suffering based on the verse Rev 3:10. This verse only says that Jesus will keep the Church safe from the trial that is going to come to the whole world. But, that does not mean that the Church will be absent. Just like how in Egypt, when the trials and 10 plagues came upon the Egyptians, God kept the Israelites safe. But doesn't mean that the Israelites were not there; they were still there amidst trials and plagues among Egyptians. So when tribulations occur, the Church will still be there to witness, so we can see the Word of God coming to pass. And then we will know that the end is near. For Jesus said to believers, His Chruch, this: “Now learn a lesson from the fig tree. When its branches bud and its leaves begin to sprout, you know that summer is near. In the same way, when you see all these things, you can know his return is very near, right at the door." (Matthew 24:32‭-‬33.)

7. A SIGN FOR BELIEVERS:

Therefore, since we know that Jesus gave these signs of the end times to the believers, we should be aware that, when we see these tribulations we will be reminded that the end is near. The church has been in tribulation ever since it was formed in the first century and will be in tribulation till Jesus' returns. If Church is secretly taken during the tribulation, why would Jesus, Paul, and John give the warnings of tribulation to the believers? We will be there till Christ's return even during the tribulation or the events of the end times so we can be comforted and rejoice that Christ is about to return and He is at the door.

The biggest sign of all of the end times, in my opinion, is the returning of the Jews back to Israel just like the Bible said in Ezekiel 37 and Jeremiah 31, ". . . I will bring you back to Israel.", ". . . Jerusalem will never again be destroyed". Israel was established as a nation in 1948 and in 2016 Jerusalem was declared as the nation's capital. More than 8.8 million exiled Jews have now returned to Israel from every corner of the world through operation Exodus. And it is continuing at a higher rate now. As we see these things happening, we can know that the end is near and we are one step closer to the final return of Christ, the planned Second coming of Christ to establish His Kingdom.


8. A GLORIOUS GET-TOGETHER:

Paul wrote that when Jesus returns we who are in this world still will meet Him and the People who died in Christ. "For the Lord himself will come down from heaven with a commanding shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet call of God. First, the believers who have died will rise from their graves. Then, together with them, we who are still alive and remain on the earth will be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. Then we will be with the Lord forever."
(1 Thessalonians 4:16‭-‬17). Therefore, when Jesus returns believes will still be in this world and not taken secretly before.


9. CONCLUSION:

In summary, Jesus will return physically and publicly so all can see. There is no basis or purpose for secret spiritual coming or pre-tribulation rapture. There will be one rapture when Jesus returns to this earth one last time to destroy the worldly kingdom and establish His kingdom in this world just like what was revealed to Daniel through Nebuchadnezzar's dream, and rule for a 1000 years (Rev 20). After that, a New Heaven and a New Earth will come down and we will be with the Lord for eternity (Rev. 21).

Maranatha!!

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With Love and Prayers
Bro. Anand

🙏🙏🙏

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