Will Lord Jesus come twice to the Earth: the first time to take His Church and the second time in His glory?

Question:

Give me at least one verse that says that Jesus will come back on this Earth twice: the first time in secret to take His church and the second time in His glory? Thanks in advance!

This question was asked by a reader in a comment at one of the articles about the end times. From his comments it is clear that he believes that the rapture of the Church will happen on the Second coming of Lord Jesus and upon His second coming Jesus will not remain on this Earth.

Firstly, I never said that Lord Jesus will come to this Earth twice. There is a teaching lately that says that “the rapture” of the Church is a recent invention of the believers of approximately two hundred years. On the other hand, another opinion says that the rapture of the Church will be on the Second coming of Jesus. You can find many articles about the Rapture on our website.

Let’s go back to our question…

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The Second Coming of Lord Jesus means His second coming to this Earth

Firstly, if we speak about the second coming of Jesus, we speak about His second coming to this Earth. His first coming was approximately 2 thousand years ago when he took the body of a man. On His first coming, Lord Jesus was on this Earth approximately 33 years. He is going to come here for the second time to “restore the Kingdom to Israel”, as the prophets prophesyzed and as the disciples expected:

So when they had come together, they were asking Him, saying, “Lord, is it at this time You are restoring the kingdom to Israel?”  He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or epochs which the Father has fixed by His own authority (Acts 1:6-7)

Lord Jesus did not tell His disciples that He will not come to restore the Kingdom of Israel again, He simply told them that only the Father knows the times. So when we speak about the Second coming of Lord Jesus, we mean His second coming to this Earth to live here for a certain period of time.

At the Rapture Lord Jesus will not come to the Earth

Secondly, if we speak about the rapture of the church, then Lord Jesus will not come to this Earth, but He will come to take His Church from this Earth. So, the rapture of the Church is not the Second Coming of Lord Jesus to this Earth. The apostle Paul writes very clearly about this event in his first epistle to the saints in Thessalonic.:

 But we do not want you to be uninformed, brethren, about those who are asleep, so that you will not grieve as do the rest who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep  in Jesus. For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words.(1 Thessalonians 4:13-18)

This is not going to be a hidden event at all. The word “rapture” in Greek means an open action. The word translated “rapture” into Romanian in 1 Thessalonians 3 is the word “harpazo” and means to take, to kidnap, to steal, to take by force and carry away, to confiscate openly. This word is used 14 times in the New Testament. The context of these verses shows that rapture will not be something secret, hidden, but it will be something visible and open.

In conclusion, I want to say that Lord Jesus will come to this Earth one single time. Before that event, He will descend from heaven and meet His Church in the air and will take it to heaven with Him to save it from the wrath of God that will be poured down on this Earth. This will happen before the Second coming of Lord Jesus to “restore the Kingdom of Israel”

Here are some texts that prove that Lord Jesus will spare His Church from the upcoming wrath:

…and to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, that is Jesus, who rescues us from the wrath to come. (1 Thessalonians 1:10)

For God has not destined us for wrath, but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ,  who died for us, so that whether we are awake or asleep, we will live together with Him. (1 Thessalonians 5:9-10)

 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him. (Romans 5:8-9)

So, Lord Jesus will come to this Earth one more time, in His glory, as the King of kings and the Lord of lords and will reign on this Earth for one hundred years together with His Church and the martyrs who haven’t accepted the sign of the beast.

I urge you to study the Scriptures, asking God to reveal you His Word according to the promise made by Jesus:

But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come.. (John 16:13)

May God help us abide in His Word and trust His Word!