Matthew 24:30-31 "And then shall appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of Man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other."
Jesus told his disciples in Matthew chapter 24 what the signs would be of his coming. He was warning his disciples about false Christs appearing claiming to be Christ and some would say Christ has appeared in certain places here on this earth. Jesus told his disciples not to believe them. Jesus also mentioned about the Great Tribulation that shall take place upon this earth during those seven years. Prior to the Great Tribulation, the church will be taken out of this world and God will be raining judgment upon this world. The antichrist will be making his appearance and ruling this world during that seven-year span. Following the end of that span, Christ will be coming in the clouds to establish his kingdom and then as the Christmas song "Joy to the World" reads, the earth will receive her king. Jesus will establish his kingdom upon this earth for a thousand years which scripture refers to as the Millennial Reign. It will be a time when there will be perfect peace on this earth. Sin will reign no more. The lion will lay down with the lamb. It will be peaceful bliss for a thousand years. Then Satan will be let loosed for a season then fire will melt the elements of this earth and Satan and all those that rejected Christ will experience the Second Death for eternity in the Lake of Fire.
For the last two millennia God's people have been looking for Christ's appearance. Even the apostles, including the Apostle Paul, were looking for Christ's appearing during their lifetime. In this instance I'm meaning the rapture of the church where all those dead in Christ shall arise first and those that are alive and remain will be caught up with them in the clouds. (I Thessalonians 4:16) As I speak in this hour, we are living in the Dispensation of Grace or the church age. Following the rapture of the church, there will be seven years of Great Tribulation, then at the end of seven years of the antichrist's reign on this earth, then Jesus will come again the second time. When Jesus came to this earth the first time, he was robed in flesh as a babe in a manger. He was the meek and lowly Jesus. The second time he comes he will come as the KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS. He will be crowned King. He will be seen in all his royalty. He will establish his kingdom in the Mount of Olives where he will rule with a rod of iron. His righteousness and glory will hold sway during the thousand-year reign. Once that dispensation is over with, then there will be a New Heavens and a New Earth. Eternity will be bliss and all the saints will be worshipping the Lord.
Christ could come at any time. I trust that we'll be ready for his coming!
One Final Note:
Joy to the World was written by Isaac Watts. It was never intended to be a Christmas song. However, it's been a popular Christmas carol for at least over 200 years. When that song was incorporated into Christmas I have no idea. It was based on Psalms 98. Even though that song is making reference to the Millennial Reign, we can still sing it every Christmas because there will be a day when the reality of those verses will come to pass. Merry Christmas!
Joy to the World--George Beverly Shea
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