The Second Coming — A Fundamental Fact
Text: Hebrews 9:28
Series: Restoration Sermons
Date:
Speaker: Ed Rangel
Location: Waupaca Church of Christ
Bible Version: NASB 1995
Sermon Type: Expository
Learning Objectives
By the close of this lesson the hearer should be able to:
- Avoid both extremes regarding the second coming — indifference and "hobby."
- Use the scriptural terms for the coming and recognize the prominence the New Testament gives it.
- Explain why the New Testament does not teach the "imminency" of Christ's return.
Thesis
The second coming of Christ is a fundamental, frequently-taught fact of the New Testament, to be neither ignored nor turned into a hobby; and because Scripture said certain things must occur before He came, the New Testament does not teach that His return was "imminent" — could happen at any instant — but simply that it is certain.
Burden
Two errors crouch on either side of this doctrine, and most people fall into one of them. Some treat the second coming as incidental and rarely think of it at all. Others make it a hobby, the one drum they beat, the lens through which they force every text. This outline wants neither. He wants us to hold the second coming where the New Testament holds it — as a fundamental fact, woven through the whole book, but governed by what Scripture actually says rather than by speculation. The burden of this lesson is to take the doctrine seriously without distorting it, and in particular to let the Bible, not a theory, tell us how and when to expect our Lord.
Introduction
There are two extremes on the second coming: indifference and "hobby." The one ignores it; the other overemphasizes it. The one treats it as incidental; the other makes it the central doctrine of the faith, crowding out all else. The truth lies in holding it as Scripture does — a fundamental fact, prominent but not solitary. Of the original outline, three movements survive the scanned source: the terms used for the coming, the Bible facts about its prominence, and the argument from 2 Thessalonians 2.
I. The Terms Used for It (Hebrews 9:28)
Scripture has its own language for the event; we do well to use it.
- Scriptural terms:
- "Shall appear a second time" (Heb. 9:28).
- "The coming of our Lord" / His revelation (2 Thess. 1:7).
- "The day of the Lord" (2 Pet. 3:10).
- "The revelation of Jesus Christ" (1 Pet. 1:13).
- Terms not found in Scripture — useful as shorthand, but to be held loosely and not pressed as though inspired: "the Return," "the Second Coming," "the Second Advent," and especially "the Millennium," which carries a freight of theory the Bible never attaches to the Lord's coming.
The lesson in the list is quiet but real: speak of the coming in Bible language, and you will be kept from much of the error that travels under man-made labels.
II. The Prominence of the Doctrine in Scripture (1 Peter 1:13)
- The second coming is one of the most frequently recorded events in the New Testament — by old reckonings mentioned more than three hundred times, roughly once in every twenty verses.
- It is taught in every mode — in type, symbol, parable, and prophecy.
- It is probably contained even in the first promise of a Redeemer (Gen. 3:15), and it runs to the last page of Scripture (Rev. 22:20, "Yes, I am coming quickly").
A truth woven this densely through the Bible is no incidental matter; the indifferent man is ignoring something God put on nearly every page.
III. The Argument of 2 Thessalonians 2 — Why "Imminency" Is Not Taught (2 Thessalonians 2:1-9)
Paul wrote to steady the Thessalonians, who had been shaken by a report that the day of the Lord had already come.
- He told them two things had to occur before Christ came: "the apostasy" — "the falling away" — and the revealing of "the man of lawlessness," "the man of sin" (2 Thess. 2:3).
- These had not yet occurred when Paul wrote. So the first Christians could not have been taught that Christ might return at any instant; something stood between them and that day.
- Never mind, for this argument, whether those things have since come to pass. The point is about what the New Testament taught its first readers.
- The New Testament teaches now what it taught then — its doctrine does not change with the centuries.
- Therefore the New Testament does not teach "imminency" — the idea that Christ could return at any moment with nothing to precede Him. It teaches that His coming is certain, not that it was immediate.
Application
Hold this doctrine the way the Bible holds it. Do not be the indifferent hearer who never lifts his eyes to the coming of the Lord, for it fills the Scriptures and ought to fill your hope. But do not be the hobbyist either, who makes the second coming a theory-machine and reads charts where God wrote promises. Speak of the coming in Bible words; expect it with Bible certainty; and refuse to claim more about its timing than Scripture grants. If the New Testament did not teach the first Christians that Christ might appear at any second, then no preacher today has authority to teach it. Live ready, because it is certain; live sober, because it is not yours to schedule.
Conclusion
The second coming is a fundamental fact — named in Scripture's own terms, taught on nearly every page, certain beyond doubt. But Scripture also guards it: Paul said things must come first, so the doctrine is one of certainty, not of any-moment imminency. All we know of that day, we know from the Bible; let us neither ignore what it says nor add what it does not.
Invitation
The coming is certain, and the only question is whether you will be ready for it. The Lord "will appear a second time for salvation without reference to sin, to those who eagerly await Him" (Heb. 9:28). Be among them: believe on the Lord Jesus, repent of your sins, confess Him, and be baptized for the remission of your sins (Acts 2:38), so that His appearing is your hope and not your dread. Come while we sing.
Word Study
| English Term | Greek Term | Basic Meaning | Usage in This Sermon | Sermon Significance | Key Texts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Appear a second time | ek deuterou ophthēsetai | as the high priest emerged from the holy place to bless the waiting people, so Christ will appear again | the term frames the coming as the completion of His priestly work, not a new earthly career | the term frames the coming as the completion of His priestly work, not a new earthly career | — |
| Imminency | — | the theological claim that Christ may return at any instant with nothing prophesied to precede; the point is that 2 Thess. 2, by naming events that must come first, shows the New Testament taught certainty, not imminency | Used in this sermon to establish the biblical meaning of the term | the theological claim that Christ may return at any instant with nothing prophesied to precede; the point is that 2 Thess. 2, by naming events that must come first, shows the New Testament taught certainty, not imminency | — |
Scripture Interlock Table
| Theme | Boles' Outline | Supporting Scripture |
|---|---|---|
| Scriptural terms for the coming | I | Heb. 9:28; 2 Thess. 1:7; 2 Pet. 3:10; 1 Pet. 1:13 |
| The doctrine's prominence | II | Gen. 3:15; Rev. 22:20 |
| Things must precede His coming | III (surviving "V") | 2 Thess. 2:1-9 |
| Doctrine unchanged across time | III | — |
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Converted from H. Leo Boles, Outline 36. Doctrinal audit: core-framework (the second coming a certain, central-but-not-solitary fact; the New Testament teaches certainty, NOT any-moment "imminency," because 2 Thess. 2 names events that precede the coming — an anti-premillennial/anti-any-moment-rapture point fully consistent with the framework); no correction. Source-integrity note: the scanned outline is DAMAGED — it skips from point II to a point numbered "V" (2 Thess. 2), so original points III and IV are LOST. They were NOT reconstructed; an editorial note in the body discloses the gap. Style audit: OCR cleanup. Source note: no primary-text line; Heb. 9:28 (cited at I.1.a) supplied as text and flagged. Supplied supporting references (Gen. 3:15; Rev. 22:20) flagged; Boles' own citations retained.
