Death is not attended by the events narrated in 1 Thessalonians 4:16,
17. Indeed the second coming is here set forth as the opposite of
death for "the dead in Christ shall rise" from the dead when Christ
comes again. According to John 14:3, Christ comes for us, and
not we go to Him: "I will come again, and receive you unto myself."
John 21:21-23--"Peter seeing him (John) saith to Jesus, Lord, and
what shall this man do? Jesus saith unto him, If I will that he
tarry till I come, what is that to thee? Follow thou me. Then went
this saying abroad among the brethren, that that disciple should
not die; yet Jesus said not unto him, He shall not die; but, if I
will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee?"
1 Corinthians 15:50-57 declares that at the second coming of Christ
we overcome, not succumb to, death. See John 8:51; Matt. 16:28.
The foolishness of such interpretation is seen if we substitute the
word "death" for the second coming of Christ in such places where
this coming is mentioned, e.g., Phil. 3:20; Matt. 16:28--"Verily
I say unto you, There be some standing here, which shall not taste
of death, till they see the Son of man coming in his kingdom."
b) That the Second Coming Means the Coming of the Holy Spirit.
There is no doubt but that the coming of the Holy Spirit is a coming
(John 14:21-23), but it is by no means _the_ second coming,
and for the following reasons:
Many of the testimonies and promises of the second coming were
given _after_ Pentecost, e.g., Phil. 3:21; 2 Tim. 4:8; 1 Thess.
4:16, 17; 1 Cor. 15:51, 52.
Christ does not receive us unto Himself, but comes to us, at
Pentecost. In the second coming He takes us, not comes to us.
The events of 1 Thessalonians 4:16, 17 did not occur on the day of
Pentecost, nor do they occur when the believer receives the Holy
Spirit.
c) That the Second Coming refers to the Destruction of Jerusalem.
Reply: The events of 1 Thessalonians 4:16, 17 did not take place
then.
John 21:21-23, and Rev. 22:20 were written _after_ the
destruction of Jerusalem.
From all that has been said then, it seems clear that the second
coming of Christ is an event still in the future.
3. THE NEED OF RECOGNIZING THE DISTINCTION BETWEEN CHRIST'S COMING
FOR HIS SAINTS AND WITH HIS SAINTS.
There is a distinction between the _presence_ and the
_appearing_ of Christ: the former referring to His coming
_for,_ and the latter _with_ His saints. We should
remember, further, that the second coming covers a period of time,
and is not the event of a single moment. Even the first coming
covered over thirty years, and included the events of Christ's
birth, circumcision, baptism, ministry, crucifixion, resurrection,
etc. The second coming will also include a number of events such as
the rapture, the great tribulation, the millenium, the resurrection,
the judgments, etc.