Second Coming of Christ (The End of the World)
Our Lord repeatedly
foretold his return "on the clouds of Heaven". It is expressly and
repeatedly stated in the New Testament that Christ gave no
revelation of the time of his second coming. (From A Catholic
Dictionary, 1951)
References
in Scripture:
- "But of
that day or hour no man knoweth, neither the angels in
heaven, nor the Son, but the Father. Take ye heed, watch and
pray. For ye know not when the time is. Watch ye therefore,
(for you know not when the lord of the house cometh: at
even, or at midnight, or at the cockcrowing, or in the
morning,) Lest coming on a sudden, he find you sleeping"
Mark 13:32-33,34-35
- "For this
we say unto you in the word of the Lord, that we who are
alive, who remain unto the coming of the Lord, shall not
prevent them who have slept. For the Lord himself shall come
down from heaven with commandment, and with the voice of an
archangel, and with the trumpet of God: and the dead who are
in Christ, shall rise first. Then we who are alive, who are
left, shall be taken up together with them in the clouds to
meet Christ, into the air, and so shall we be always with
the Lord" 1 Thes 4:14-16
- "And it
shall come to pass, in the last days, (saith the Lord,) 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. And upon my
servants indeed, and upon my handmaids will I pour out in
those days of my spirit, and they shall prophesy. And I will
shew wonders in the heaven above, and signs on the earth
beneath: blood and fire, and vapor of smoke. The sun shall
be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the
great and manifest day of the Lord come." Acts 2:17-20
- "For
yourselves know perfectly, that the day of the Lord shall so
come, as a thief in the night. For when they shall say,
peace and security; then shall sudden destruction come upon
them, as the pains upon her that is with child, and they
shall not escape. But you, brethren, are not in darkness,
that that day should overtake you as a thief" 1 Thes 5:2-4
- "He that
soweth the good seed, is the Son of man. And the field, is
the world. And the good seed are the children of the
kingdom. And the cockle, are the children of the wicked one.
And the enemy that sowed them, is the devil. But the harvest
is the end of the world. And the reapers are the angels.
Even as cockle therefore is gathered up, and burnt with
fire: so shall it be at the end of the world. The Son of man
shall send his angels, and they shall gather out of his
kingdom all scandals, and them that work iniquity. And shall
cast them into the furnace of fire: there shall be weeping
and gnashing of teeth. Then shall the just shine as the sun,
in the kingdom of their Father. He that hath ears to hear,
let him hear." Matthew 13:37-43
- "Know also
this, that, in the last days, shall come dangerous times.
Men shall be lovers of themselves, covetous, haughty, proud,
blasphemers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, wicked,
Without affection, without peace, slanderers, incontinent,
unmerciful, without kindness, Traitors, stubborn, puffed up,
and lovers of pleasures more than of God: Having an
appearance indeed of godliness, but denying the power
thereof. Now these avoid." 2 Timothy 3:1-5
- "Knowing
this first, that in the last days there shall come deceitful
scoffers, walking after their own lusts, Saying: Where is
his promise or his coming? for since the time that the
fathers slept, all things continue as they were from the
beginning of the creation. For this they are wilfully
ignorant of, that the heavens were before, and the earth out
of water, and through water, consisting by the word of God.
But the heavens and the earth which are now, by the same
word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day
of judgment and perdition of the ungodly men. The Lord
delayeth not his promise, as some imagine, but dealeth
patiently for your sake, not willing that any should perish,
but that all should return to penance. But the day of the
Lord shall come as a thief, in which the heavens shall pass
away with great violence, and the elements shall be melted
with heat, and the earth and the works which are in it,
shall be burnt up." 2 Peter 3:3-5,7,9-10
- "For as
lightning cometh out of the east, and appeareth even into
the west: so shall the coming of the Son of man be.
Wheresoever the body shall be, there shall the eagles also
be gathered together. And immediately after the tribulation
of those days, the sun shall be darkened and the moon shall
not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven,
and the powers of heaven shall be moved: And then shall
appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall
all tribes of the earth mourn: and they shall see the Son of
man coming in the clouds of heaven with much power and
majesty. And he shall send his angels with a trumpet, and a
great voice: and they shall gather together his elect from
the four winds, from the farthest parts of the heavens to
the utmost bounds of them." Matthew 24:27-31
- "And there
shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the
stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, by reason of
the confusion of the roaring of the sea and of the waves;
Men withering away for fear, and expectation of what shall
come upon the whole world. For the powers of heaven shall be
moved; And then they shall see the Son of man coming in a
cloud, with great power and majesty. But when these things
begin to come to pass, look up, and lift up your heads,
because your redemption is at hand." Luke 21:25-28
- "And when
he had said these things, while they looked on, he was
raised up: and a cloud received him out of their sight. And
while they were beholding him going up to heaven, behold two
men stood by them in white garments. Who also said: Ye men
of Galilee, why stand you looking up to heaven? This Jesus
who is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come, as you
have seen him going into heaven." Acts 1:9-11
- "I say to
you, that he will quickly revenge them. But yet the Son of
man, when he cometh, shall he find, think you, faith on
earth?" Luke 18:8
Church
Teaching:
- "The
Sacred Scriptures inform us that there are two comings of
the Son of God: the one when He assumed human flesh for our
salvation in the womb of a virgin; the other when He shall
come at the end of the world to judge all mankind. This
latter coming is called in Scripture the day of the Lord.
The day of the Lord, says the Apostle, shall come, as a
thief in the night; and our Lord Himself says: Of that day
and hour no one knoweth." Catechism of Council of Trent,
The Creed, Article VII
- "The
Scriptures mention certain events which are to take place
before the final judgment. These predictions were not
intended to serve as indications of the exact time of the
judgment, for that day and hour are known only to the
Father, and will come when least expected. They were meant
to foreshadow the last judgment and to keep the end of the
world present to the minds of Christians, without, however,
exciting useless curiosity and vain fears. Theologians
usually enumerate the following nine events as signs of the
last judgment:
1. General Preaching of the Christian Religion
2. Conversion of the Jews
3. Return of Enoch and Elijah
4. A Great Apostasy
5. The Reign of Antichrist
6. Extraordinary Perturbations of Nature
7. The Universal Conflagration
8. The Trumpet of Resurrection
9. "The Sign of the Son of Man Appearing in the Heavens."
1917 Catholic Encyclopedia, General Judgment, Signs to
Precede the General Judgment
Summary
Scripture is clear,
Christ will come again to judge the living and the dead, and no one
knows the day or time!
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