The Rapture - Results of the Second Coming of Christ

1 Thessalonians 4:16-17, "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. 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."

The Second Coming of Christ is said to be mentioned 318 times in the 260 chapters of the New Testament. It occupies one in every 25 verses of the New Testament. We are to comfort one another with the fact of the soon return of the Lord Jesus Christ, 1 Thessalonians 4:18, "Therefore encourage each other with these words." The hope of the worlds for four millenniums was the coming of the imminent return f the Lord Jesus Christ. The last prayers of the Bible, Revelation 22:20, "He who testifies to these things says, "Yes, I am coming soon." Amen. Come, Lord Jesus." This Principle draws the wrath of Satan for he hates this final glorious event. A worldly Church and carnal Christians also hate purifying doctrine. The fact of His return leads us to live a life of watchfulness, fidelity, wisdom, activity, simplicity, self restraint, prayer and abiding in Christ. Disciples may disagree on doctrine but all ought to be occupied watching. Special blessings are promised to those who watch faithfully, Luke 12:37, "It will be good for those servants whose master finds them watching when he comes. I tell you the truth, he will dress himself to serve, will have them recline at the table and will come and wait on them."

When Christ Returns:

(a) The glory of the Lord will be revealed. Everyone shall see it, Isaiah 40:5, "And the glory of the LORD will be revealed, and all mankind together will see it. For the mouth of the LORD has spoken."

(b) The dead in Christ shall rise, 1 Thessalonians 4:13-16, "Brothers, we do not want you to be ignorant about those who fall asleep, or to grieve like the rest of men, who have no hope. 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. According to the Lord's own word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left till the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. 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."

(c) The bodies of believers will be changed to be like His, Philippians3:20-21, "But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body"; 1 John 3:2, "Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is"; 1 Corinthians 15:51-53, "Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed- in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound; the dead will be raised imperishable and we will be changed. For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable and the mortal with immortality."

(d) The living believers and resurrected believers meet Him together, 1 Thessalonians 4:17, "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."

(e) The judgment of believers will follow immediately, 2 Timothy 4:8, "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"; 1 Peter 5:4, "And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that will never fade away."

(f) At the revelation the Church will live and reign with Christ, Revelation 20:4, "I saw thrones on which were seated those who had been given authority to judge. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony for Jesus and because of the word of God. They had not worshiped the beast or his image and had not received his mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ a thousand years.