SecondComingAD70

Resurrection of the Dead in Christ and the Rapture of Living Saints Below is the 23rd of multiple excerpts from The Parousia , the late 19th-century masterpiece on the Second Coming by James Stuart Russell. "EVENTS ACCOMPANYING THE PAROUSIA [SECOND COMING]. "1. The Resurrection of the Dead in Christ. "2. The Rapture of the Living Saints to Heaven. " 1 Thess. iv. 13-17 [1 Thess. 4:13-17]--- 'But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. For this we say unto you by ([literally,] in) the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord, shall not prevent (come before, take precedence of) them which are asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trump [t

The Second Coming in 1st Thessalonians Below is the 22nd of multiple excerpts from The Parousia , the late 19th-century masterpiece on the Second Coming by James Stuart Russell. "THE PAROUSIA [SECOND COMING] IN THE EPISTLES TO THE THESSALONIANS. "THE FIRST EPISTLE TO THE THESSALONIANS "It is generally agreed that this is the earliest of all the apostolic epistles, and its date is assigned to the year A.D. 52, sixteen years after the conversion of St. Paul, and twenty-two years after the crucifixion of our Lord [in A.D. 30]. It is evident, therefore, that any suggestions of inexperience, or new-born enthusiasm, being visible in this epistle, afterwards toned down [in his later letters] by the riper judgment of subsequent years, are quite out of place. ... "[Johann Albrecht] Bengel remarks: 'The Thessalonians were filled with the expectation of Christ's advent. So praiseworthy was their position, so free and unembarrassed was the rule of Christianit

Christ About to Judge the World -- in the 1st Century Below is the 21st of multiple excerpts from The Parousia , the late 19th-century masterpiece on the Second Coming by James Stuart Russell. "CHRIST SOON TO JUDGE THE WORLD . "ACTS xvii . 31 . [Acts 17:31]---' Because he hath appointed day in the which he will judge [is about to judge] the world [ Greek: oikoumene ] in righteousness by the man whom he hath ordained. ....' "We have already seen that the Lord Jesus Christ is declared to be constituted the Judge of men (John v. 22, 27 [John 5:22, 27]). As clearly it is declared that the time of judgment is the Parousia [Second Coming ; Matt. 16:27, 25:31-33; 2 Thess. 1:6-10]. With equal distinctness we are taught that the Parousia was to fall within the term of the [1st-century] generation then living [Matt. 10:23, 16:28, 24:34, 26:64; Mark 9:1, 13:30, 14:62; Luke 9:27, 21:32, 22:69; Rev. 1:7]. The judgment was therefore viewed by St. Paul as being near.

When Was the "Restoration of All Things" to Occur? Below is the 20th of multiple excerpts from The Parousia, the late 19th-century masterpiece on the Second Coming by James Stuart Russell. "THE PAROUSIA [SECOND COMING] AND THE RESTITUTION OF ALL THINGS. "ACTS iii. 19-21 [Acts 3:19-21] --- 'Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, that the times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that he may send Jesus Christ, who was before appointed unto you; whom the heavens must receive until the times of the restoration of all things, of which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world [Greek: aionos, age] began.' "It is scarcely possible to doubt that in this address the apostle [Peter] speaks of that which he conceived his [1st-century] hearers might and would experience, if they obeyed his exhortation to repent and believe. Indeed, any other supposition would be preposterous.

St. Peter's Warning of Impending Doom to 1st-century Israel Below is the 19th of multiple excerpts from The Parousia , the late 19th-century masterpiece on the Second Coming by James Stuart Russell. "THE COMING DOOM OF THAT GENERATION. Acts ii. 40 [Acts 2:40 ] ---'And with many other words did he [St. Peter] testify and exhort them, saying, Save yourselves from this untoward [perverse] generation.' "This verse fixes the reference of the apostle's address [delivered in A.D. 30]. It was the existing generation [of 1st-century Israel] whose coming doom he foresaw, and it was from participation in its fate [which occurred in A.D. 70, when Jerusalem and the Temple were destroyed by the Romans] that he urged his hearers to escape. It was but the echo of [John] the Baptist's cry, 'Flee from the coming wrath' [Matt. 3:7, Luke 3:7]. Here, again, there can be no question about the meaning of genea [Greek for 'generation'],--it is that 'wic

Day of Pentecost: A Sign that the Last Days Had Arrived Below is the 18th of multiple excerpts from The Parousia, the late 19th-century masterpiece on the Second Coming by James Stuart Russell. "THE LAST DAYS COME. " ACTS ii. 16-20 [Acts 2:16 -20] ---'This [the outpouring of the Holy Spirit] is that which is spoken by the prophet Joel: It shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams; moreover on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy: and I will shew wonders in heaven above, and signs on the earth beneath; blood, and fire, and vapour of smoke: the sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before that great and notable day of the Lord' [Joel 2:28 -32]. "In these words of St. Peter, the first apostolic utteranc