The Return of the Lord, Part 6 (#900)
Today, we’re going to continue and our series on the Return of the Lord, and as we previously announced you can get all the notes for this as well as audio from a more succinct class from the the website.  Although this is was taught a few years ago as a weekend class, today we’ll continue through the material in a little more detail, one part at a time.  To recap, in previous sessions we learned that the dead truly are dead.  When they die, they return to dust and have no consciousness until a later date when the dead live again.  And we dealt with several confusing verses which seem to imply to some that the dead are alive, but we found out as we looked at them, that this is really not the case.  Then last time we met on this subject, we covered the gathering together, which shows how Christian believers will get up first.  And how the first thing to happen at the return of the Lord, the very first part of it, is when Jesus Christ comes for his Saints.  There he gathers together those that are born again and we meet the Lord in the air, and at that point, our bodies are changed so they become immortal and incorruptible.  So that will be the first thing that happens, and until that day we will be here on earth.   Now it seems that every year, or less, you will hear some group tell you that they know when the Lord is coming back or they will see some great current event, a big earthquake, or as it used to be back in the Middle Ages a solar eclipse was all it took.  It could be some terrorist attack, the fall of government, the crash of an economy, or again a big earthquake they point to and say that the end of the world is here.  Well the end of the world, as we’ll see, is not going to happen until sometime in the future – after the return of the Lord.  And we’ll get into this some today and some in the next two sessions in August; that the world as we know it will exist until the end of what we read about in the book of Revelation.  So before this world can be destroyed, first of all Jesus Christ has got to come back and we Christians have to be gathered together.  Then all the stuff in the first part of the book Revelation: including the beast and the false prophet, the mark of the beast; all those things have to happen.  Then there’s the thousand year period where the devil is basically in chains and then there’s the battle of Armageddon.  After that there’s the final judgment, and after that this world is destroyed; so yes, this world will be destroyed and there will be a new heaven and earth wherein dwelleth all righteousness.  But this isn’t for a very long time.   For an absolute minimum of a thousand years, but that is if Jesus Christ came back today and if all that stuff with the beast and the false prophet happened quickly.  And I think, based on the chronology, that takes awhile; I’m not sure if it is several months or several years, but that takes a while.  Then there’s the thousand years, then after that we have the battle of Armageddon, then after that you have the great White throne judgment, and then this Earth is destroyed.  So yes this earth will be destroyed, but there will be people living on it until that time.  One of the things I think I mentioned you in my work with space policy is that there are a lot of treky groups who are convinced we’re going to destroy this planet, so we need new place to move to.   Well I to think we need new place to move to, it is called the new heaven and Earth, and God’s got it figured out.  And the idea of us destroying this planet making it uninhabitable and having to move, doesn’t doesn’t seem to fit with Biblical chronology.  But there will be a new heaven and Earth.  So, as usual, I digress a little bit, but I sort of wanted to bring you a little bit up to speed where we are.  So last time we talked about the Christians that are gathered together –  that’s us were all going to be there.  So as long as you are sitting at the table with someone who is born again and speaking in tongues, Jesus Christ has not returned yet.  We know this because the day that he returns, all Christians will be gathered together.  Now let’s get to the resurrection where Jesus Christ comes back to earth with his Saints.  He comes for his Saints at the gathering together and we’re gathered together to meet the Lord in the air.  Then he returns and it talks about it here.  So let’s get started in Luke chapter 14.  We’ll take a Luke at it.  Starting here in verse 12…
Taught by Bruce Mahone 20160730.  All rights reserved.
Verse Listing and Notes
The Resurrections (Jesus Christ coming with his saints)
Luke 14:12-14             Thou shalt be recompensed at the resurrection of the just
John 5:25-29               Resurrection of life…resurrection of damnation
Acts 24:14-15             A resurrection of the dead, both of the just and unjust
I Thes. 3:13                 At the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all his saints
II Thes. 2:8                  The Lord … shall destroy with the brightness of his coming
Rev. 20:1-6                 First Resurrection (Death hath no more power, dieth no more)
Rev. 20:7-15               Second Resurrection (Some to second death)
Rev. 21:1-8, 23           New Jerusalem (first: former)

Paradise or Heaven – When?

Jesus Christ died, was buried, and was raised from the dead (not from heaven or paradise)
Mat. 12:40                   For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale=s belly, so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth
Luke 24:1-8                 He is not here, but is risen
Acts 13:28-30             God raised him from the dead
I Cor. 15:3-4               Jesus Christ died, was buried, and rose again (vss. 20-28 – death an enemy)
Jesus Christ ascended into heaven (after the resurrection)
Luke 24:50-51             He was parted from them and carried up into heaven
Acts 1:6-11                 A cloud received him out of their sight
Teaching
The Return of the Lord, part 6