THE THIRD COMING OF CHRIST

But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. 9The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.

Why would the Holy Ghost inspire Peter to write this? It's almost like Peter understood that Jesus was coming quickly by his own reckoning and that things could take thousands of years to unfold. No, surely this is just a figure of speech, right?

No. It is a fact that time means nothing to God. In His estimation a thousand years are equivalent to one day. That is in the context of eternity.

You mean the rapture, you think the rapture appened in 70 ad

if the whole church went to be with the Lord in 70ad who are we?

It's them danged Russians ... varmints

The church will be gathered to meet the Lord in the clouds ... and your little heart will be raptured.

MISSION-IMPOSSIBLE said:
The rapture is a hoax.
And after all those who "are alive and remain" are gathered together with THEM (all the dead believers) in the clouds, all believers will descend to earth with King Jesus, who ends the Tribulation and sets up His Millennial Kingdom.

Evmur said:

It's them danged Russians ... varmints

The church will be gathered to meet the Lord in the clouds ... and your little heart will be raptured.

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You read the Bible like a person that ignores idiomatic expressions, metaphors, and a 2,000 year old foreign language where the people of those days thought considerably different from a western culture of the 21st century.

Do you believe that Paul was lying to the Thessalonians brothers? How about John the apostle when he said that”these things were to happen soon?

Rev 1:1 “The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show to His slaves the things which must soon happen”

Does soon mean 2,000 years i to the future?

Do you mean that Jesus Christ already came to earth? And that all that is written in Revelation about the Great Tribulation has already occurred?

Please explain.

In all the history of mankind, God has never appeared in physical form to declare judgment. After His ascension to the throne (*hint, hint*), He sat down at the right hand of the majesty on high (Heb. 1:3) to rule from heaven. God does not change and Jesus is God. So when the time for judgment came, the Lord made Himself known through the events that took place. So, the idea of "Jesus coming down to earth" is ridiculous, to say the least.

The Jews wanted an earthly King and Jesus told them that His kingdom was not of this world (Jn 18:36). Dispensationalism comes around and defaces His kingship which is in the heavens (Eph. 1:20-22) and tries to drag the Lord our God back down to earth so He could be a physical King having a physical kingdom. Whatever for?

Did John lie when he said that events of Revelation, "must soon take place" (Rev. 1:1) or "the time is near" (1:3)? Did the Lord lie when He said to the seven churches, "I'm coming soon", and He hasn't come yet? Does "soon" mean 2,000 years later or the next few months or the next couple of years?

I suggest you put on your thinking cap when you read the scriptures and stop letting others tell you to believe them.

What about the 24th and 1/2 when he starts on his way back realizes He left his key and has to turn around and go back and get them before he can come on.

The second coming of Christ is when everyone will be changed into a spiritual body and the Lord will separate the sheep from the goats. I Cor 15:51-52. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth for those who didn't accept Christ. What happed in 70 AD is only a type of what is soon to come.

You think so, huh? Apparently you never heard of the 2 prophecies in the OT about the coming to earth of the Messiah. First Advent He came as a baby to become the Suffering Servant. The Second Advent He comes back as King of kings and Lord of lords to rule over the earth for 1,000 years. The OT has no prophecy for a "third" coming of the Lord. Where did you get that idea from, since the OT doesn't help you?

1 Thess 4-
14 For we believe that Jesus died and rose again, and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him.
15 According to the Lord’s word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep.
16 For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first.
17 After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever.

v.14- where will God "bring" Jesus?
v.16- Jesus comes down from heaven. Where do you think He will be going? Mars?
v.17- living believers will be caught up together with "them", meaning Jesus and all the dead saints from heaven. There's no air in space, yet this verse says believers will meet the Lord in the AIR. That would be earth.

It is a foolish claim to say that Jesus coming down to earth is ridiculous.

1 Cor 15:23 - But each in turn: Christ, the firstfruits; then, when he comes, those who belong to him. Where do you think Jesus will be coming TO?

2 These 2:1 - Concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered to him, we ask you, brothers and sisters,

Where do you think the living believers will meet the Lord's coming?

The Jews wanted an earthly King and Jesus told them that His kingdom was not of this world (Jn 18:36).

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That was during His life on earth, when He was fulfilling the Suffering Servant role that was prophesied in the OT.

Actually, the resurrection bodies of believers at the resurrection will be just like Jesus' resurrection body, which was fully physical.

Phil 3:21 - who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body.

I don't know why you moan about dispensationalism being only 200 years old [although it is ancient] Preterism is even more modern.

Deal with what I'm saying, or don't comment. Partial Preterism (partial) dates back to the writings of the scriptures. Dispensationalism began 1800 years after the canon was closed. They came up with a "new way" of tearing down the scriptures to give them an interpretation that fits our carnal nature while at the same time denying context and relevance.

Revelation

when your sayings match up with scripture we'll listen.

1 Thess 4-
14 For we believe that Jesus died and rose again, and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him.
15 According to the Lord’s word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep.
16 For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first.
17 After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever.

Where does it say that the Lord will reign on earth???

2 These 2:1 - Concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered to him, we ask you, brothers and sisters,

Where do you think the living believers will meet the Lord's coming?

Where does it say that the Lord will reign on earth, and why do you think Paul was LYING to the Thessalonians about an event that was going to take place 2,000 years after their death? What kind of relief or hope is that? If the event hadn't happened in their lifetime, Paul would have been lying.

Did Paul mention anything in reference to the end of history? You are assuming a whole lot because all you are doing is repeating what someone has taught you. What does 1Thes 2:14-16 say? Take that for a context of what was about to take place. What did Jesus say about Jerusalem in Mat. 23:38? Did He change gears in chapter 24 to talk about an event that the Jews couldn't care less (if that were going to take place in our future).

If you don't make the word of God relevant to the recipients of these letters, all you are doing is manipulating the scriptures to a time that you cannot prove

1Thes. 4:16
“The dead in Christ will rise first”. Notice that Paul does not say, “the dead in Christ will rise in bodily form”, but simply, “will rise first.” The question is then, rise from where? The answer depends on the context of what Paul was saying.

In my personal understanding, it might mean that the dead will rise from their rest in heaven and actively come with the Lord (in the spirit) to judge the Jews that killed them for believing in Christ. Again, the saints that died at the hands of the rebellious Jews and remained, would be witnesses to the judgment of the harlot and the end of the old covenant era. The reason Paul speaks this way is that the Lord was about to close the era of the old covenant as the new and everlasting covenant would immediately be fully released to reach the whole world.

1Thes. 4:17 "Then we who are alive, who remain, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord."

The term “caught up together with them in the clouds” is a metaphor for being personally involved with them as their prayers to God were finally answered. These believers were primed to watch the destruction of their enemies. A.D. 70 was fast approaching. (See Isa. 19:1 for comparison.)

“To meet the Lord in the air” --- that is, to see the judgment of the Jews in Jerusalem take place from a heavenly perspective. Another way of saying it would be watching the judgment of the Jews from a lofty position of authority as they’d be observing (metaphorically speaking) the Lord judging Jerusalem by using the law of Moses as the rod of condemnation against those who rejected His grace and overflowing love.

I do all the work while you respond in syllables ignoring what I said altogether. If you want to discuss, you have to take what I said and refute it with your own words, using your own scriptures. If not, I won't bother anymore.