Our "blessed hope," according to the above passage, is "the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ."

Does this say anything about going to Heaven?

The Lord Jesus Christ gave Himself for us "to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good."

A people eager to do what is good.

Does this sound like current Christian teaching?

No it does not. We of today have been massively deceived. As a result, numerous Christians in America are not at all prepared for the coming of the Lord.

So much for the false concept of the return of Jesus Christ to the earth.

What is the true concept of the return of Jesus Christ to the earth?

The true concept is that Christ is returning to establish His Kingdom on the earth. This means, according to the Scriptures both Old Testament and New:

The Lord will be revealed together with a multitude of prepared saints who live in iron righteousness, fiery holiness, and stern obedience to the Father.

The coming of the Lord will be a time of spiritual darkness and conflict as the powers of Satan are confronted and driven from the earth.

Antichrist will be driven from the land of Israel and the Jewish people will be delivered from sin.

Destruction will fall on the sinners in the churches.

Justice will be brought to the nations of the earth.

The saints will govern the earth during the thousand-year Kingdom Age.

The above is a true, scriptural picture of the return of Jesus Christ.

We have always known from the Scripture that we are to return with the Lord. But the traditional emphasis on the "rapture" and mansions in Heaven has taken the place of the Scriptures.

Notice:

When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. (Colossians 3:4—NIV)

On the day he comes to be glorified in his holy people and to be marveled at among all those who have believed. This includes you, because you believed our testimony to you. (II Thessalonians 1:10—NIV)

There are several passages in the Old Testament that speak of the return of the Lord with His army to drive wickedness from the earth. But let us examine the New Testament lest the reader should think the coming of the army of the Lord in the Day of the Lord is an Old Testament concept.

Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied about these men: "See, the Lord is coming with thousands upon thousands of his holy ones To judge everyone, and to convict all the ungodly of all the ungodly acts they have done in the ungodly way, and of all the harsh words ungodly sinners have spoken against him." (Jude 1:14,15—NIV)

"Prophesied about these men." What men? "These men" are the sinners in the churches. They may be the first to experience the judgment of Christ exercised through His true saints.

To be continued.