The Second Coming of Jesus

Written by Michael Bradley


In this first verse, God says He will allow allrepparttar nations ofrepparttar 140623 world to come against Jerusalem. This verse tells us that Jerusalem will be taken,repparttar 140624 houses will be "rifled," andrepparttar 140625 women ravished. Half ofrepparttar 140626 city will actually go into captivity, butrepparttar 140627 one third remnant will not be killed during this takeover. Remember, two thirds ofrepparttar 140628 Jewish people will be killed, one third will not.

It’s right at this point that Jesus will come forth to fight for His people and put an end to allrepparttar 140629 bloodshed. His feet will land onrepparttar 140630 Mount of Olives. Here isrepparttar 140631 verse!

"Behold,repparttar 140632 day ofrepparttar 140633 Lord is coming, and your spoil will be divided in your midst. For I will gather allrepparttar 140634 nations to battle against Jerusalem;repparttar 140635 city shall be taken,repparttar 140636 houses rifled, andrepparttar 140637 women ravished. Half ofrepparttar 140638 city shall go into captivity, butrepparttar 140639 remnant ofrepparttar 140640 people shall not be cut off fromrepparttar 140641 city.

Thenrepparttar 140642 Lord will go forth and fight against these nations, as He fights inrepparttar 140643 day of battle. And in that day His feet will stand onrepparttar 140644 Mount of Olives, which faces Jerusalem onrepparttar 140645 east. Andrepparttar 140646 Mount of Olives shall be split in two, from east to west, making a very large valley; half ofrepparttar 140647 mountain shall move towardrepparttar 140648 north and half of it towardrepparttar 140649 south. Then you shall flee through My mountain valley ... Thusrepparttar 140650 Lord my God will come, and allrepparttar 140651 saints with you ... andrepparttar 140652 Lord shall be King over allrepparttar 140653 earth ...repparttar 140654 people dwell in it; and no longer shall there be utter destruction, but Jerusalem shall be safely inhabited.

And this shall berepparttar 140655 plague with whichrepparttar 140656 Lord will strike allrepparttar 140657 people who fought against Jerusalem: Their flesh shall dissolve while they stand on their feet, their eyes shall dissolve in their sockets, and their tongues shall dissolve in their mouths." (Zechariah 4:1-12)

2. Noticerepparttar 140658 very graphic description of what God is going to do to Israel’s enemies. This will berepparttar 140659 wrath of God in full manifestation. Now watch what happens inrepparttar 140660 next verse. God calls out torepparttar 140661 birds inrepparttar 140662 air and will allow these birds to feed offrepparttar 140663 flesh ofrepparttar 140664 army that He has just destroyed. The last part of this verse will tell you what He will do withrepparttar 140665 Antichrist and False Prophet.
"Then I saw an angel standing inrepparttar 140666 sun; and he cried out with a loud voice, saying to allrepparttar 140667 birds inrepparttar 140668 midst of heaven, "Come and gather together forrepparttar 140669 supper ofrepparttar 140670 great God, that you may eatrepparttar 140671 flesh of kings,repparttar 140672 flesh of captains,repparttar 140673 flesh of mighty men,repparttar 140674 flesh of horses and those who sit on them, andrepparttar 140675 flesh of all people, free and slave, both small and great."

And I sawrepparttar 140676 beast,repparttar 140677 kings ofrepparttar 140678 earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against Him who sat onrepparttar 140679 horse and against His army. Thenrepparttar 140680 beast was captured, and with himrepparttar 140681 false prophet, who worked signs in his presence, by which he deceived those who receivedrepparttar 140682 mark ofrepparttar 140683 beast and those who worshiped his image. These two were cast intorepparttar 140684 lake of fire burning with brimstone, andrepparttar 140685 rest were killed withrepparttar 140686 sword which proceeded fromrepparttar 140687 mouth of Him who sat onrepparttar 140688 horse. And allrepparttar 140689 birds were filled with their flesh." (Revelations 19:17-21)

3. Now what happens to Satan,repparttar 140690 Dragon who orchestrated allrepparttar 140691 events ofrepparttar 140692 Great Tribulation? Here is what Jesus does with him.
"Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, havingrepparttar 140693 key torepparttar 140694 bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. He laid hold ofrepparttar 140695 dragon, that serpent of old, who isrepparttar 140696 Devil and Satan, and bound him up for one thousand years; and he cast him ontorepparttar 140697 bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal on him, so that he should deceiverepparttar 140698 nations no more tillrepparttar 140699 one thousand years were finished. But after these things he must be released for a season." (Revelations 20:1-3)
As you will see a little further down, God will let Satan loose for a "season" atrepparttar 140700 end ofrepparttar 140701 1000 Millennium to set up one more battle before we finally getrepparttar 140702 new heaven and new earth.

4. Here is another verse that shows Jesus will come back immediately afterrepparttar 140703 Great Tribulation has run its course.

"IMMEDIATELY AFTER THE TRIBULATION OF THOSE DAYS,repparttar 140704 sun will be darkened, andrepparttar 140705 moon will not give its light;repparttar 140706 stars will fall from heaven, andrepparttar 140707 powers of heaven will be shaken.

THEN THE SIGN OF THE SON OF MAN WILL APPEAR IN HEAVEN, AND 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 fromrepparttar 140708 four winds, from one end of heaven torepparttar 140709 other." (Matthew 24:29-31)

Here is another verse on Jesus' 2nd coming and Him taking vengeance onrepparttar 140710 wicked.
"Since it is a righteous thing with God to repay with tribulation those who trouble you, and to give you who are troubled rest with us whenrepparttar 140711 LORD JESUS IS REVEALED FROM HEAVEN WITH HIS MIGHTY ANGELS, IN FLAMING FIRE TAKING VENGEANCE ON THOSE WHO DO NOT KNOW GOD, AND ON THOSE WHO DO NOT OBEY THE GOSPEL OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST. THESE SHALL BE PUNISHED WITH EVERLASTING DESTRUCTION FROM THE PRESENCE OF THE LORD AND FROM THE GLORY OF HIS POWER, WHEN HE COMES IN THAT DAY, TO BE GLORIFIED IN HIS SAINTS AND TO BE ADMIRED AMONG ALL THOSE WHO BELIEVE, BECAUSE OUR TESTIMONY AMONG YOU WAS BELIEVED." (2 Thessalonians 1:6-9)
5. Now here isrepparttar 140712 verse that says that Jesus will be setting up a Millennium Kingdom where He will rule this entire earth fromrepparttar 140713 city of Jerusalem.
"And I sawrepparttar 140714 saints of those who had been beheaded for their witness to Jesus and forrepparttar 140715 word of God, who had not worshipedrepparttar 140716 beast or his image, and had not received his mark on their foreheads or on their hands. AND THEY LIVED AND REIGNED WITH CHRIST FOR A THOUSAND YEARS." (Revelations 20:4)
6. Now what happens afterrepparttar 140717 1000 years are up? Two events will occur. Satan is let loose for a "season" to try and set up one last battle. God then finally throws him inrepparttar 140718 Lake of Fire where He had just thrownrepparttar 140719 Antichrist and False Prophet 1000 years earlier. And we then get a new heaven and a new earth. Here arerepparttar 140720 two verses.
"Now whenrepparttar 140721 one thousand years have expired, Satan will be released from his prison and will go out to deceiverepparttar 140722 nations which are inrepparttar 140723 four corners ofrepparttar 140724 earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle ... They went up onrepparttar 140725 breadth ofrepparttar 140726 earth and surroundedrepparttar 140727 camp ofrepparttar 140728 saints and it's beloved city. And fire came down from heaven and devoured them. Andrepparttar 140729 devil, who deceived them, was cast intorepparttar 140730 lake of fire and brimstone whererepparttar 140731 beast and false prophet are. And they will be tormented day and night forever and ever." (Revelations 20:7)
Notice inrepparttar 140732 above verse that Satan once more surrounds what would appear to be Jerusalem. But this time it appears that God will stop him in his tracks before he can even attack God’s people. He is then thrown intorepparttar 140733 Lake of Fire and that will berepparttar 140734 last that we will ever hear from this blasphemous creature ever again!!

Baptism

Written by Stephen Kingery


Baptism is perhapsrepparttar most misunderstood and misinterpreted concept inrepparttar 140622 Bible. There are those who would have us believe that baptism is not necessary for salvation. Others will say that it a good thing to do, and we really ought to, but it is strictly optional. Still others say that baptism is necessary, but only to joinrepparttar 140623 local church.

Not only do Christians disagree on whether baptism is a necessary part of salvation, there is also disagreement as torepparttar 140624 form and who should receive it. Some say that infants can, should, or even must be baptized. While others contend that one should be ofrepparttar 140625 age of accountability. There is disagreement as to whetherrepparttar 140626 form of baptism should be by immersion, sprinkling, or pouring.

Allrepparttar 140627 disagreement noted above is purely onrepparttar 140628 part of mankind. The Scriptures are in full agreement on all these points. If one readsrepparttar 140629 New Testament he will find no place where more than one form of baptism is used and he will not find a multitude of opinions as torepparttar 140630 necessity of baptism for salvation. So, let's see exactly whatrepparttar 140631 Scriptures have to say aboutrepparttar 140632 subject of Baptism.

Is baptism necessary for salvation? Well, Jesus commanded it, andrepparttar 140633 apostles taught and practiced it. Jesus said, "He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned." (Mark 16:16) How much clearer must we have it said byrepparttar 140634 Lord Himself than this. He clearly says salvation is dependant upon our being obedient and submitting ourselves to baptism. In another place Jesus told His disciples, "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them inrepparttar 140635 name ofrepparttar 140636 Father and ofrepparttar 140637 Son and ofrepparttar 140638 Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even torepparttar 140639 end ofrepparttar 140640 age." (Matthew 28:19,20) Why would Jesus tell His disciples to baptize if it were not necessary? Don't you think that ifrepparttar 140641 Lord had intended baptism to be optional that He would not have made such a strict command out of it here. And if it were not necessary at all, why would He even mention it here in what we call "The Great Commission."

We saw inrepparttar 140642 above passage that Jesus commanded His disciples to baptize. We see inrepparttar 140643 book of Acts that they did just that. We could call Actsrepparttar 140644 book of conversions, because only in this book do we see actual cases of people being converted to Christian. As a matter of fact, there are eight specific cases of people being converted inrepparttar 140645 book of Acts.

We believe, and teach, that salvation consists of five acts or actions onrepparttar 140646 part ofrepparttar 140647 one being converted. These acts are, belief in Jesus asrepparttar 140648 Christ,repparttar 140649 Son ofrepparttar 140650 living God; repentance; confession of one's faith before man; baptism; and faithful living tillrepparttar 140651 end. Inrepparttar 140652 eight occasions of conversions inrepparttar 140653 book of Acts, baptism isrepparttar 140654 only one that is specifically mentioned in each and every case. Let's take a look at each case and what is said concerning baptism.

The three thousand at Pentecost: "Then Peter said to them 'Repent, and let every one of you be baptized inrepparttar 140655 name of Jesus Christ forrepparttar 140656 remission of sins; and you shall receiverepparttar 140657 gift ofrepparttar 140658 Holy Spirit.'" (Acts 2:38)

The Samaritans: "But when they believed Philip as he preachedrepparttar 140659 things concerningrepparttar 140660 kingdom of God andrepparttar 140661 name of Jesus Christ, both men and women were baptized. Then Simon himself also believed; and when he was baptized he continued with Philip, and was amazed, seeingrepparttar 140662 miracles and signs which were done." (Acts 8:12,13)

The Eunuch: "Now as they went downrepparttar 140663 road, they came to some water. Andrepparttar 140664 eunuch said, 'See, here is water. What hinders me from being baptized?' Then Philip said, 'If you believe with all your heart, you may.' And he answered and said, 'I believe that Jesus Christ isrepparttar 140665 Son of God.' So he commandedrepparttar 140666 chariot to stand still. And both Philip andrepparttar 140667 eunuch went down intorepparttar 140668 water, and he baptized him." (Acts 8:36-38)

Saul of Tarsus: "Immediately there fell from his eyes something like scales, and he received his sight at once; and he arose and was baptized." (Acts 9:18); and "And now why are you waiting? Arise and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling onrepparttar 140669 name ofrepparttar 140670 Lord." (Acts 22:16)

Cornelius: "Can anyone forbid water, that these should not be baptized who have receivedrepparttar 140671 Holy Spirit just as we have? And he commanded them to be baptized inrepparttar 140672 name ofrepparttar 140673 Lord. Then they asked him to stay a few days." (Acts 10:47,48)

Lydia: "And when she and her household were baptized, she begged us, saying, 'If you have judged me to be faithful torepparttar 140674 Lord, come to my house and stay.' And she constrained us." (Acts 16:15)

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