There Is Only One Second Coming

Ron Wallace talks about the hope of the apostolic church concerning Christ's second coming and being founded in the very teachings of Jesus. Jesus made it perfectly clear that He was indeed going to come again and deliver His believing ones out from this world and take them to a heavenly home. There are some who believe that Jesus taught two distinct comings; one for the rapture, and one for the battle of Armageddon. Such a distinction is found only in theological assumptions that have no clear Scriptural support, rather than in the plain and simple language of Christ's words. By comparing passages from the Old Testament, the words of Jesus, and the epistles, it can be shown that there is only ONE second coming. There are 6 specific times recorded in the gospels where Jesus mentions His second coming. (Mat. 10:23; 16:27-28; Mat. 24-25; John 14:1-3; 21:22). At these times Jesus used the word erchomai. which indeed means a coming or arrival (Mat. 10:23; 16:27-28; Mark 8:38). At these times He made no indication that there was more than one ARRIVAL. The second coming mentioned at Mat. 16:27 is the same second coming mentioned at Mat. 24:30. And the coming and gathering of Christ's elect at Mat. 24:30-40 is the same coming and gathering of believers mentioned at John 14:1-3 (paralambano). And we thus see the same event in view at both places. There is no reason to think that Jesus had anything in mind other than His ONE and only second coming to the earth which will initiate the events of the day of the Lord. At Matthew 24:3, the disciples ask the question, "what will be the sign of your coming. The Greek word for coming is parousia. It means arrival and subsequent PRESENCE, which involves an extended period of time. It should be obvious that Jesus had previously taught the disciples about His parousia, for the nature of the question indicates they are familiar with the term. So it seems to me that at those times when Jesus mentioned "the coming of the Son of man" the disciples understood that He was talking about His parousia - His presence. And in the mind of the disciples, there was only ONE parousia, which they designate as YOUR parousia in their question. When Jesus answered their question, He in fact called it THE parousia of the Son of Man (Mat. 24:27, 37, 39). And in His answer He EQUATES erchomai and parousia.(at Matthew 24:30 with vs. 27, 37, 39). The second coming is both an arrival (erchomai) and a period of time (parousia). After Jesus arrives He will then remain PRESENT in the vicinity of the earth to carry out God's day of the Lord agenda. In Peter's second letter he wrote about what he was taught. He EQUATES the "coming" (erchomai) of the Lord at Mat. 16:27-28 (17:1-8) with the word parousia. Matthew used the word erchomai: Mat. 16:27-28 "For the Son of Man is going to come (erchomai) in the glory of His Father with His angels, and will then repay every person according to his deeds. “Truly I say to you, there are some of those who are standing here who will not taste death until they see the Son of Man coming (erchomai) in His kingdom.” and Peter used the word parousia: 2 Peter 1:16-18 "For we did not follow sophistical stories when we made known to you the power and coming (parousia) of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of His majesty." Peter knows of only ONE second coming. He mentioned it again at 2Pet. 3:4, in the complaint from the mockers, "where is the promise of His coming?" And then he directly related that ONE second coming to the term, "day of the Lord" and "day of God" at verses 3:10-14. He clearly indicated that it is that ONE and ONLY second coming that we believers should be looking for and be READY for. Verse 14, "Therefore beloved brethren, since you are looking for these things, be diligent to be found in Him in the sphere of peace, spotless and blameless." When Paul wrote about the second coming of Jesus, he used the word,