Confession of Faith (1617) - Article XXX
Of the last day and the second coming of Christ front heaven, we confess:
That the great God of heaven, who in the beginning created heaven and earth with all visible things out of nothing, also appointed a day and time, which cannot be known by the angels of God in heaven; much less by mortal men, but which shall unexpectedly overtake men, as the snare of a bird, and a thief in the night; at which time the Almighty God will destroy this whole visible, earthly, realm, and burn it with everlasting fire, except those of the human race who shall have done the will of God; these shall abide forever.
In the last great day of the Lord the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who in the presence of the apostles ascended from the earth in a cloud, shall come again from heaven, in the clouds of the sky, but not in the humiliated form of a servant, as in His first coming into the world at Bethlehem. For at this His second coming He shall reveal Himself in the clouds as a King of mighty kings, and Lord of lords, with the power and glory of His almighty Father, and all the angels of God with Him, and shall thus, with the trump of God, and the voice of the archangel, peal forth an unutterable sound and shout; so that heaven and earth, all the mountains and islands, shall be moved; the sun and moon shall lose their brightness, the stars shall fall from heaven, and all kindreds. of the earth shall weep and wail over themselves, for fear and expectation of the things which are to come; and all shall see the Son of man coming, with power and great glory.
Of this last day of the Lord, read: "And as he sat upon the Mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? And what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world" (Matthew 24:3).
"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" (2 Peter 3:10; Sirach 16:18; Malachai 4:1).
"For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. For when they shall say Peace and safety, then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child" (1 Thessalonians 5:2, 3).
"Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away. But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only" (Matthew 24:35, 36; Mark 13:31; Psalms 102:27; Isaiah 51:6).
Of Christ's coming from heaven, read: "Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so, come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven" (Acts 1:11).
"For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God" (1 Thessalonians 4:16).
"Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all kindred of the earth shall wail because of him" (Revelation 1:7; Matthew 24:30; Luke 21:27. Read also: 1 Thessalonians 1:10; 2 Thessalonians 1:7; Daniel 7:13; Jude 14).
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