What the Bible Reveals: Rapture & 2nd Coming, Pt 1 :: By James Pannafino

A word for the church today to be wise for such a time as this!

Daniel 12:4, 8-10 “But you, Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book until the time of the end; many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall increase.”

“Although I heard, I did not understand. Then I said, ‘My lord, what shall be the end of these things?’ And he said, “Go your way, Daniel, for the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end. Many shall be purified, made white, and refined, but the wicked shall do wickedly; and none of the wicked shall understand, but the wise shall understand.”

• The Rapture and the Second Coming of Christ are often confused, and sometimes it is difficult to determine whether a scripture verse is referring to the Rapture or the Second Coming.
• As we study Bible prophecy, it is very important to differentiate between these two important events.

The Rapture is when Jesus Christ returns to remove the church (all believers in Christ) from the earth…

• The Rapture is most thoroughly described by Paul in 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18.
• Believers who have died will have their bodies resurrected and, along with the believers who are still living, will meet the Lord in the air.
• According to the Bible, this will all occur in a moment, in a “twinkling of an eye” (1 Corinthians 15:50-54).

The Second Coming is when Jesus returns to defeat the Antichrist, destroy evil, and establish His Millennial Kingdom…

The Second Coming is revealed in prophecy in Revelation 19:11-16.

The Important Contrasts Between the Rapture and Second Coming:

At the Rapture, believers meet the Lord in the air…

1 Thessalonians 4:17 “Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord.”

He comes for His own to bring them home…

John 14:2-3 “I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.”

At the Second Coming, believers return with the Lord…

Revelation 19:14 “And the armies in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, followed Him on white horses.” (cf. Rev. 17:14)

The Rapture occurs before the Great Tribulation…

Revelation 3:10 “Because you have kept My command to persevere, I also will keep you from the hour of trial which shall come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth.”

The Second Coming occurs after the wrath of divine judgments of the Great Tribulation…

See Matthew 24:29-31; Revelation chapters 6–19.

The Rapture is the removal of believers from the earth as an act of deliverance…

1 Thessalonians 5:9 “For God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

The Second Coming involves the removal of unbelievers from the earth in judgment…

Matthew 25:31-32 “When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory. All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats.”

The Rapture will be secret and instant…

1 Corinthians 15:51-53 “Behold, I tell you a mystery [gr. mystērion; that which previous hidden/secret, but now revealed]: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed— in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.”

The Second Coming will be visible to all…

Matthew 24:29-30 “Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.”

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