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? Matt. 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 3:16; Syrach 16:18; Mal. 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 Thess. 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.” Matt. 24:35,36; Mark 13:31; Ps. 102:27; Is. 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 Thess. 4:16.
“Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him.” Rev. 1:7; Matt. 24:30; Luke 21:27. Read also: 1 Thess. 1:10; 2 Thess. 1:7; Dan. 7:13; Jude 14.
ARTICLE XXXI.
Of the Death of the body and the Resurrection of the dead, we confess: That, in the beginning, man was created immortal, but that through the envy of the devil and the sin of our first parents, death came into the world. And, as through the sin of Adam all men became sinful in him, so also through him, all men became subject to bodily death; so that in consequence thereof it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment; seeing this sinful, corruptible flesh and blood cannot inherit the eternal, incorruptible kingdom, but must be renewed and glorified through death and the resurrection, by the power of God.
And, even as, when a man falls into a deep sleep, his heart, soul or spirit does not entirely sleep, as the body; so also the spirit or soul of man does not die or fall asleep with the body, but is and remains an immortal spirit. Hence temporal death, in the Scriptures, is called a sleep, and the resurrection of the dead an awakening from this sleep of death.