One of the things that even most Christians today would be surprised by, is that the belief regarding a 2nd coming that includes a rapture of the church and leaving behind of the world is a relatively recent teaching. That doesn't mean it is false, but it needs to be noted that the scriptures have not always been read to that conclusion. So if, in reading the passages that Yusuf shared with you, you don't see the popular mantra regarding Christ's second coming, count yourself as one who is reading in harmony with the majority of Christians throughout history. As to what is presently in vogue, especially in certain circles that make it seem as if they know the secrets to the end of the world, one of those who has probably presented this the best, and tied it to scripture, is Hal Lindsey in his book
"The Late Great Planet Earth."
Now, don't think that Lindsey is scripture. There is a lot of stuff that he said that was simply wrong. He is what is called a dispensationalist, that is he believes that there are certain epocs of time in which God acts. In his view he thought the re-establishment of Israel was necessary to take place before the 2nd Coming. And so since that happened in 1948, within a generation (40 years) should come the season of Christ's return. Well, that would have been 1988 or there abouts. I think we are a long way from the thereabouts. So, Lindsey was obviously wrong. What he says today is that not that his interpretation of scripture was wrong, but that he selected the wrong event to speak of the restoration of Israel. So, be careful not to get caught up in all of Lindsey's interpretation of prophecy and coorelating them to world events. But, what Lindsey did with his book was to take 19th century dispensationalism and move it from the fringes of Christian thought and make it popular with the masses.
You probably won't like any of this theories. But if you are looking a place that brings all the scriptural references together in one place for you, this book is likely going to be an excellent resource for you. I think when you read those scriptures in the context in which they were written you'll see something different than Lindsey saw, I do. But that is a great place to get the texts you are after.
But one does not have to be a dispensationalist like Lindsey to see that scripture does speak of Jesus' eventual return. It is called his 2nd coming, because we Christians understand that Christ's first coming was when he was born of Mary, lived and walked the earth among us. Then he leaves with the promise that he will return once again, hence there will be a second coming:
Acts 1
9 After he [Jesus] said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight. [SUP]10 [/SUP]They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. [SUP]11 [/SUP]“Men of Galilee,” they said, “why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.”
1 Thessalonians 4
[SUP]13 [/SUP]Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope. [SUP]14 [/SUP]For we believe that Jesus died and rose again, and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. [SUP]15 [/SUP]According to the Lord’s word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. [SUP]16 [/SUP]For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. [SUP]17 [/SUP]After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. [SUP]18 [/SUP]Therefore encourage one another with these words.
The early church thought that these events would take place within the first generation of the Church. This was because that is what they thought Jesus meant when he had himself said:
Mark 13
[SUP]
26 [/SUP]“At that time people will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory. [SUP]
27 [/SUP]And he will send his angels and gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of the heavens.
[SUP]
28 [/SUP]“Now learn this lesson from the fig tree: As soon as its twigs get tender and its leaves come out, you know that summer is near. [SUP]
29 [/SUP]Even so, when you see these things happening, you know that it[SUP]
[d][/SUP] is near, right at the door. [SUP]
30 [/SUP]Truly I tell you, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened.
Now, I believe that he was talking about something other than what Lindsey today calls the rapture. But whatever it was that Jesus was actually talking about, the early church did think that this meant that most of them would see Jesus come back in their lifetime. And one of the big problems of the church toward that later half of the first century, was that it had to explain why that had not happened. This is the question put to Paul by the church in Corinth: "But if it is preached that Christ has been raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead?" (1 Corinthians 15:12) They were not questioning the resurrection of Jesus; they were questioning this promise of their own general resurrection of all the faithful dead that was suppose to take place with Christ's second coming. Could they really depend on it, when they didn't see any signs of it happening as they expected?
And in other communities people had given up hope and were beginning to think that Christ's second coming had already happened and they had missed it. This elicited a rather long response from Paul:
2 Thessalonians 2
1Concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered to him, we ask you, brothers and sisters, [SUP]2 [/SUP]not to become easily unsettled or alarmed by the teaching allegedly from us—whether by a prophecy or by word of mouth or by letter—asserting that the day of the Lord has already come. [SUP]3 [/SUP]Don’t let anyone deceive you in any way, for that day will not come until the rebellion occurs and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the man doomed to destruction. [SUP]4 [/SUP]He will oppose and will exalt himself over everything that is called God or is worshiped, so that he sets himself up in God’s temple, proclaiming himself to be God. [SUP]5 [/SUP]Don’t you remember that when I was with you I used to tell you these things? [SUP]6 [/SUP]And now you know what is holding him back, so that he may be revealed at the proper time. [SUP]7 [/SUP]For the secret power of lawlessness is already at work; but the one who now holds it back will continue to do so till he is taken out of the way. [SUP]8 [/SUP]And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will overthrow with the breath of his mouth and destroy by the splendor of his coming. [SUP]9 [/SUP]The coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with how Satan works. He will use all sorts of displays of power through signs and wonders that serve the lie, [SUP]10 [/SUP]and all the ways that wickedness deceives those who are perishing. They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. [SUP]11 [/SUP]For this reason God sends them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie [SUP]12 [/SUP]and so that all will be condemned who have not believed the truth but have delighted in wickedness.
[SUP]13 [/SUP]But we ought always to thank God for you, brothers and sisters loved by the Lord, because God chose you as firstfruits to be saved through the sanctifying work of the Spirit and through belief in the truth. [SUP]14 [/SUP]He called you to this through our gospel, that you might share in the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.
[SUP]15 [/SUP]So then, brothers and sisters, stand firm and hold fast to the teachings we passed on to you, whether by word of mouth or by letter.
[SUP]16 [/SUP]May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and by his grace gave us eternal encouragement and good hope, [SUP]17 [/SUP]encourage your hearts and strengthen you in every good deed and word.
We see that even as Paul understands that his own death is immenent, he still holds to the hope of this appearing of Christ which today is often termed his "Second Coming" but was by the early church most often simply called "The Day of the Lord" (sometimes even shortened to simply "that Day"):
2 Timothy 4
1 In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I give you this charge: [SUP]2 [/SUP]Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction. [SUP]3 [/SUP]For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. [SUP]4 [/SUP]They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths. [SUP]5 [/SUP]But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry.
[SUP]6 [/SUP]For I am already being poured out like a drink offering, and the time for my departure is near. [SUP]7 [/SUP]I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. [SUP]8 [/SUP]Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing.
But I don't want to give you the mistaken idea that this was all Paul's idea. Peter and John both refer to this "Day" in their letters. And even early than the earliest parts of the New Testament is the Didache, which gives instructions for the ritual practiced by the early church. In the Didache, one of the prayers that the faithful would pray when receiving the Eucharist was to pray, "Come, Lord Jesus;" a prayer which is still prayed in the Church to this very day.
So, I don't know if that helps or not. I guess one other word. As I said, Hal Lindsey is a dispensationalist. For another understanding of this "Day of the Lord" I would encourage you to read
"Surprised By Hope" by N.T. Wright. The books is going to cover much more than just Christ's second coming, but I do think Wright does a better job of interpreting the scriptural references to those End Times than does Lindsey. However, Wright is most certainly NOT a dispensationalist; if that is the particular interest you have, then you'll want to stay with Lindsey or someone like J. Vernon McGee or, for one of the first who preached it, John Darby.
. early Christian history in Judea is overshadowed by the 2 Jewish rebellions in the 1st and 2nd centuries. the view we have as the dust clears is that there are 3 centers of Christianity: Alexandria, Antioch and Ephesus. as Christianity is illegal under the Roman Empire, contact is local; this cause Christianity to evolve differently in each area. in Egypt, where Pharaoh's were considered god, Jesus becomes more fully understood as a full complete god. Athanasius, victor at Nicaea is from Alexandria. Arius, the loser, is from Antioch. in Antioch, Jesus is also god, but a great deal of pondering concerns the question of how he actually became god. reasoning was that God existed alone, the created Jesus as god. Jesus then becomes the creator of everything else as per John I. 
