THE COMINGS OF THE LORD
by Vurel Vick

(Did The 2nd Coming Occur in A. D. 70?)

THE PRESENCE OF THE GODHEAD UPON EARTH

We usually think of the Godhead as being in heaven. Heaven is spoken of as being above and separate from the earth. However, the Bible present God, the Word, (later known as the Son) and the Holy Spirit to the human race upon the earth at many times.

The Word was present in the creation (John 1: 1-3, 14). The Spirit was there, as we read that the Spirit moved upon the face of the waters. God was there as we see in the words, "And God said . . ." Then we find God in the garden walking and talking with Adam and Eve. It is evident that the three of the Godhead were present because of the words " . . .Let us make man . . ." In Gen. 1-3, the Bible depicts God talking with people upon earth, many times passing judgment and executing his wrath. In view of this we would expect to find the Godhead (including Christ) appearing upon earth at various times.

THE GODHEAD PRESENT IN THE DAYS OF NOAH

In Genesis 6 we read of God observing the wickedness of man upon the earth. We also read of the Spirit - "My Spirit shall not always strive with man . . ." Christ was apparently present there too, as we read in I Peter 3: 18-20, "For Christ hath also once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit by which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison; which sometime were disobedient when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water . . ."

CHRIST PRESENT IN THE WILDERNESS

Since the Godhead is principally in heaven, Christ must have come to the children of Israel in a figurative way during the time of the deliverance of Israel from Egypt. He must have been present in their wanderings as Paul wrote in I Cor. 10: 4, "And did all drink the same spiritual drink; for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them, and that Rock was Christ."

GOD'S POWER MANIFESTED IN BABYLON

"Behold, the day of the Lord cometh" Isa. 13: 9. "They come from a far country, from the end of heaven, even the Lord, and the weapons of his indignation to destroy the whole land" Isa. 13: 5. "Therefore will I shake the heavens, and the earth shall remove all of her place . . ." Isa. 13: 13. Then in verse 10 he speaks of the sun being darkened and the moon not shining etc. All of this is spoken about the destruction of Babylon when God's wrath was poured out upon it. Did he come? Surely he did in power and providence just like he said he would. There you have a coming of the Lord.

THE LORD CAME AGAINST EGYPT

We read in Ezekiel 30 of the impending doom of Egypt. In verse two it says, "For the day is near, even the day of the Lord is near . . ." Then in chapter 32 we find a similar message to that given about the destruction of Babylon. The Lord said he would make the land of Egypt desolate - verse 15, and in verse 7 he said he would make the stars dark and cover the sun, and the moon would not give her light. Did the Lord come? Yes he surely did.

THE LORD CAME IN THE FLESH

Next, we know that the Lord came physically and literally in the flesh. He was begotten of the Spirit, Luke 1: 35; born of a virgin, Isa. 7: 14 and Matt. 1: 21, and rightfully called the Son of God. Here we have the Word in the flesh. John 1: 14, He was in a body of his own. Previously he had been present in the creation, in the days of Noah, etc. but then he was upon earth in a body having come of the seed of the woman, Gen. 3: 15. Some find it difficult to believe in a virgin birth. I think that God presented only a small portion of his great power in the virgin birth. Consider the power that it took to create this great big universe. Which is the larger miracle, placing the Word in a human body, or creating the heavens and the earth? The Lord Jesus has come in the flesh, and all had better believe it. "Except ye believe that I am he, ye shall die in your sins" John 8: 24. "He that believeth not shall be condemned." Mark 16: 16.

CHRIST CAME TO HIS APOSTLES

After Jesus was raised from the dead, he ascended up into heaven as human eyes saw him go up. But while on earth he told his disciples that he was going away and that he would send the comforter to them. This he said in speaking of the Holy Spirit which he would send to them. Then he makes a statement that makes us realize that truly the Godhead is one - "I will not leave you comfortless, I will come unto you" John 14: 18. Immediately before he ascended he told them that they should receive power, after that the Holy Spirit had come upon them - Acts 1: 8 Then they were to be witnesses unto him in all the world. He further told them to tarry in the city of Jerusalem until they received the power. This they did, and on the first Pentecost after his resurrection the power came, the Spirit came and the Lord came as we see recorded in Acts chapter 2. He had said to them as he gave command to go teach all nations, "And Lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world" Matt. 28: 18-20. Did he come? Yes he did, the apostle John said so - "We know that the Son of God has come (NEB) and given us understanding; indeed we are in him . . ." I John 5: 20.

CHRIST CAME IN HIS KINGDOM

The message of John and the disciples of Jesus while he was upon the earth in the body was, "The kingdom is at hand" Matt. 3: 2; 4: 17. "There be some of them that stand here, which shall not taste of death, till they have seen the kingdom of God come with power" Mark 9: 1. Matthew's account adds something that is very important - "There be some standing here which shall not taste of death till they see the Son of man coming in his kingdom" Matt. 16: 28. Notice the following:

The kingdom was to come in the lifetime of some of those who heard Jesus that day, Mark 9:1.
The kingdom was to come with power, Mark 9:1.
The Son of man was to come in his kingdom, Matt. 16: 28.
Some would live to see the Lord come in his kingdom with power. Now remember that Acts 1: 8 says that "Ye (apostles) shall receive power after that the Holy Spirit is come upon you and you shall be witnesses unto me, both in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth."

We may conclude then that Jesus came on Pentecost when the power came with promised Holy Spirit, and thus the kingdom came as all scriptures prior to Acts 2 speak of the kingdom as yet to come, and all scriptures after Acts 2 speak of it as in existence. Pentecost was the time that the word was sent forth from Jerusalem Isa. 2: 1-3. Jesus had promised to build his church, and then uses the words, church and kingdom, interchangeably, all of which is found recorded in Matthew 16; and in Acts 2 we see the fulfillment of that promise. The regeneration had begun. The apostles were given an exalted place of authority sitting on twelve thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel in a sense Matt. 16: 19 and 19: 28. Yes Jesus came as king of kings, as both Lord and Christ (Acts 2: 36). He came in his kingdom with the power of salvation to "whosoever will." He came in the gospel message which was destined to go into all the world, Mark 16: 15-16. "Go into all the world and preach the gospel unto every creature; he that believeth and is baptized shall be saved." He came in the Spirit to dwell in every one of his true followers.

CHRIST COMES TO CHRISTIANS

"Christ in you the hope of glory," wrote the apostle Paul in Col. 1: 27. Again, in Matt. 18: 20 we find: "Where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them." "That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith" Eph. 3: 17. "If any man have not the spirit of Christ he is none of his" Rom. 8: 9. "And if Christ be in you the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness," verse 10. These scriptures show that the Christians can expect the Lord Jesus to come to them, and if you have Christ in you, you have the Holy Spirit, Acts 2: 38 and 5: 32. He is promised to all that obey. Then, surely we must conclude that if you are godly, it is because you have God in your heart, and have been made partakers of the divine nature, 2 Peter 1: 4. It is wonderful to know that we have Christ because " . . .if the spirit of him who raised up Christ from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by that spirit which dwelleth in you" Rom. 8: 11.

JESUS CAME TO PAUL

Jesus came to Paul on the road to Damascus. He had to see as a risen Lord and be sent by the Lord himself in order to be an apostle, Acts 9: 5; 22: 8; 26: 18. Paul said the Lord had appeared to him. In Gal. 1: 12 Paul indicated that Jesus had revealed his will to him. So we have another coming of the Lord.

JESUS CAME IN THE DESTRUCTION OF JERUSALEM

Just as the Lord came against Babylon and Egypt of old, so we have a providential judgment passed upon Jerusalem. God had so ordained that the gospel was to be preached to the Jew first and also to the Greek, Rom. 1: 16. Further God gave the Jews ample time to hear and obey the gospel. For about 37 years God had sent forth the message - first to the Jews. During this time his inspired apostles taught by word and epistle, that the old was not to be followed any longer. It had been nailed to the cross - taken out of the way. Now, the words of prophecy spoken by the Lord would be fulfilled in the destruction of Jerusalem, Matt. 24; Mark 13; Luke 21. This apparently happened in A. D. 70. No longer did the temple stand. The city was laid waste. The records were destroyed and Judaism had received a blow from which it has never recovered. This was a coming of judgment just as many others were. We read in Rev. 2: 5, "Repent . . . or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place . . ." This was the word to the church at Ephesus. We have a very similar message to the church at Pergamos. Rev. 2: 16, "Repent, or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth." Those were threats of the Lord to come in judgment if they did not repent, and did not refer to A. D. 70.

We can gather from all of this that the Lord has come in many ways and many times. The destruction of Jerusalem is just one of many. Some in a few congregations of the church are putting far too much emphasis on this and are teaching that all scriptures were fulfilled then and that the Lord is not coming again. They say that was his second coming. In trying to make the destruction of Jerusalem the second coming they misapply many scriptures and do great injustice to the meaning of words. Since they believe that all must be fulfilled there, they must twist, warp, misapply, misinterpret and change any and every scripture and word, that does not fit into their theory.

Here are only a few of the scriptures which we believe they misuse:

The second coming of Christ took place in A. D. 70 they say, and so here is a list of all the scriptures they misuse and must say are all fulfilled then. Acts 1: 9-11; Rev. 1: 7; Heb. 9: 28; John 14: 1-3; I Thess. 4: 13-18; 2 Thess. 2: 7-9; I Pet. 1: 13; 2 Pet. 3: 3-13; 2 Tim. 4: 1-4, 8; Matt. 24: 36-51; 25: 31-46.
The resurrection of the dead: They further must teach that all of these scriptures were fulfilled at the destruction of Jerusalem in A. D. 70. Acts 24: 15; Romans 8: 11; Matt. 22: 23-33; John 6: 39; 5: 28-29; 11: 23; 12: 48; Acts 4: 1; 17: 18, 32; 23: 6, 8; I or. 6: 14; Phil. 3: 10-11, 20-21; Heb. 11: 35; Rev. 20: 13.
All of the following judgment passages they must say have been fulfilled in A. D. 70. Psa. 96: 13; Eccl. 12: 14; Matt. 3: 12; 7: 22-23; 8: 29; 2 Pet. 2: 4; Matt. 12: 36; 13: 30; Luke 11: 31-32; Matt. 13: 41-42, 50; 16: 27; John 12: 48; Acts 10: 42; 17: 31; 24: 25; Romans 2: 5; 14: 10; I Cor. 3: 13; 5: 10, 2; 2Tim. 4: 1-3; Heb. 9: 27; 10: 27; I Pet. 4: 5; 2 Pet. 2: 4; 3: 7-12; I John 4: 17; Rev. 20: 11. Can you imagine all of these scriptures being fulfilled in the destruction of Jerusalem? I do hope you will find out what each of these scriptures say and then judge for yourself whether you believe they were, or even could have been fulfilled in A. D. 70. But there are more to follow:
The End of the World: Judge for yourselves; did you believe these passages were all referring to the end of Judaism? Psa. 102: 25-27; Isa. 51: 6; 24: 19-20; Matt. 5: 18; 24: 3; 2 Pet. 3: 3-13; Heb. 12: 26-27; Rev. 10: 6; 21: 1.
Other scriptures which they say were fulfilled in A. D. 70: 2 Cor. 5: 1-4; In this passage they teach that the earthly house was Judaism and that the house from above is Christianity. It is very evident that Paul was talking about our earthly bodies which we hope to exchange for the heavenly. I John 2: 15-17 which they say was written before A. D. 70, (but it apparently was not written until A. D. 80 or after) in which John says, "Love not the world (they say that means the world of Judaism) neither the things that are in the world . . ." Judge for yourselves.

None of the above scriptures can refer to anything in the future according to Those who teach that the Lord came for the second and final coming in A. D. 70. Makes you wonder what they use to teach God is going to punish the wicked and disobedient, doesn't it?

JESUS IS COMING AGAIN

The second coming of Christ is yet to be. It will be just as literal in one sense of the word, as the first coming when he came in the flesh. Just as real and literal in the sense that every eye shall see him, they also that pierced him . . . Of course he will not come in the flesh, and he will not literally walk on the earth as he did, but marvelous things will happen when he comes and here is what some of the scriptures evidently teach about his second coming: Acts 1: 9-11; Rev. 1: 7; The second coming: will literally be seen by every eye. I Thess. 4: 13-18; Jesus will come with a shout, and all that are in the graves shall hear his voice and shall come forth, they that have done good unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil unto the resurrection of damnation. John 5: 28-29.

2 Thess. 1: 7-9, "And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels in flaming fire, taking vengeance on them that know not God and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ; who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his power, when he shall come to be glorified in his saints . . ."

2 Peter 3: 10-14, "But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up. Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness, looking for and hasting unto the coming of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved and the elements shall melt with fervent heat? Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness. Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, be diligent that ye may be found of him in peace without spot and blameless . . ."

Phil. 3: 20-21; "For our conversation is in heaven from whence also we look for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ; who shall change out vile body that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body."

Acts 2: 33, 36; Jesus is now reigning at the right hand of God as both Lord and Christ. Heb. 1: 3 also states the same. He must reign until he hath put all enemies under his feet, and the last enemy to be destroyed is death, and when he comes with a shout and all in the graves hear his voice and come forth will be the time that he will deliever up the kingdom to God and be in subjection unto the Father also, Read I Cor. 15: 19-28. John 5: 28-29 shows the righteous shall be raised unto life. Matt. 25: 46 shows that the wicked shall go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into life eternal. 2 Peter 3: 13 speaks of a new creation, and Rev. 21 does also.

CONCLUSION

It is evident that the Lord came many times in various ways and certainly in providential judgment upon many nations including the Children of Israel. Thus, the destruction of Jerusalem may have been a coming of the Lord in providential judgment. However, those who say that was the second coming of the Lord, disregard the plain teaching of many scriptures, and twist them to make them fit their belief, and are deceiving many, and much harm is being done. Congregations are being split, new born babes have been confused and have fallen by the wayside; prospective members of the church have been turned off; hard feelings have sprung up between those who once loved each other dearly; even homes have suffered because of the innovation of this A. D. 70 doctrine which has not really been taught at large, if to any extent, for some 1900 years plus.

Let those who believe that all of the scriptures relating to the second coming were fulfilled in A. D. 70, come forth with words of early writers and historians which affirm and confirm the momentous things they say took place. We are aware of what Josephus wrote, but I am talking about the early church fathers and others of secular history. Where is the record of early Christians who tell us that the Lord's second coming took place in A. D. 70 at the destruction of Jerusalem? Where are those who declared, like those of old, "This is that which was spoken of the Lord" etc. Surely, if all of those wonderful things which we have shown must come to pass at the second coming of the Lord, happened in A. D. 70, the record of such would fill hundreds and even thousands of pages in the books of history - but, they do not. Jesus is coming again! Let us be ready!

Last modified: 2002-03-29

THE COMINGS OF THE LORD by Vurel Vick