[GiovannaNicoletta]

There are two different missions of Christ before the end of the age: the Rapture, and the Glorious Appearing. These are two separate events.

Where is the Church found in each event?

• At the Rapture, Jesus comes FOR His Church. (John 14:1-3, 1 Thess 4:14-17)
• At the Glorious Appearing, Jesus comes WITH His Church. (Zech 14:5, Col 3:4, Jude 14, Rev 19:14)

Where does Jesus appear in each event?

• At the Rapture, Christians are caught up to meet Jesus in the air (1 Thess 4:13-18)
• At the Glorious Appearing, Jesus' feet touch the earth (Zech 14:4, Rev:19:11-21)

Who is taken and who is left behind?

• At the Rapture, Christians are taken first and unbelievers are left behind. (1 Thess 4:13-18)
• At the Glorious Appearing, the wicked are taken first, but the righteous (the tribulation saints) are left behind. (Matt 13:28-30)

What will Jesus do at each event?

• At the Rapture, Jesus will gather His Bride, the Church, unto Himself in preparation of the Marriage of the Lamb. (Rev. 19:6-9)
• At the Glorious Appearing, Jesus will execute judgment on the earth and establish His Kingdom. (Zech 14:3-4, Jude 14-15, Rev 19:11-21)

When does the Marriage of the Lamb take place?

• The Marriage of the Lamb takes place in Heaven AFTER the Rapture of the Church. (Revelation 19:6-9)
• War on earth comes AFTER the Marriage of the Lamb at the Glorious Appearing when the King of Kings and Lord of Lords lays the smackdown on evil! (Revelation 19:11-21)

How long will each event be?

• The Rapture will happen in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye (Blink. It's over!). (1 Cor 15:52)
• The Glorious Appearing will be a slow coming. Everyone will see Jesus coming with great power and great glory! (Zech 12:10, Matt 24:30, Rev 1:7)

Who will see Jesus at each event?

• At the Rapture, only those who are looking for Him (Christians) will see Him. (1 John 3:2, 1 Cor 15:52)
• At the Glorious Appearing, every eye will see Him and those who have rejected Him will wail.(Rev. 1:7)

Will Jesus shout?

• At the Rapture, Jesus will descend from Heaven with a shout (calling for the saints at the resurrection). (1 Thess 4:16)
• At the Glorious Appearing, no shout is mentioned, although the Lord does slay the wicked with the sword of His mouth. (Rev. 19:11-21)

Will there be a resurrection at each?

• At the Rapture, a resurrection will take place. (1 Thess 4:13-18, 1 Cor 15:51-54)
• At the Glorious Appearing, there is no resurrection spoken of. (Zech. 12:10, Zech.14:4-5, Rev 1:7, 19:11-21)

What about the timing of each event?

• The Rapture can happen at any time...maybe even now which is why we are to be WATCHING for the return of Jesus Christ! (Rev 3:3, 1 Thess 5:4-6)
• The Glorious Appearing will occur at the end of the seven-year tribulation period. (Dan 9:24-27, Matt 24:29-30, 2 Thess 2:3-8)

What role will the angels of Heaven have?

• At the Rapture, no angels are sent to gather the Church.
• At the Glorious Appearing, angels will be sent to gather people together for judgment. (Matt 13:39, 41 & 49, Matt. 24:31, Matt. 25:31, 2 Thess 1:7-10)

What about the resurrected bodies?

• At the Rapture, those who died in Christ will return with Jesus to recover their resurrected bodies. (1 Thess 4:14-16)
• At the Glorious Appearing, Christians will return with Jesus already in their resurrected bodies riding on white horses. (Rev 19:11-21)

White horse for Jesus or no white horse for Jesus?

• At the Rapture, Jesus doesn't return riding a white horse.
• At the Glorious Appearing, Jesus will return riding a white horse. (Rev 19:11)

What is the message each event will bring for mankind?

• The Rapture will bring with it a message of hope and comfort. (1 Thess 4:18, Titus 2:13, 1 John 3:3)
• The Glorious Appearing will bring with it a message of judgment. (Joel 3:12-16, Mal 4:5, Rev 19:11-21)

[Quix]

VERY EXCELLENT POST. GOTTA COPY THAT OFF.

[spacejunkie01]

thanks...I’ll read through this thoroughly. I’ll post this from another thread that does take the other side of the equation and I found it interesting. The thing is, I’m just grateful I belong to Christ. I really don’t know what will happen and would certainly love to escape the wrath but I do believe that even if we DON’T escape the wrath God will protect us, as he has done through the ages for his people, even though they never left.

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Unfortunately, for myself anyway, one scripture, or even a few, didn’t resolve the rapture issue, I had to have a massive amount of proof. I suppose the following had more effect on me that anything else.

That is the fact that the book of Revelation is supposed to be just that, a revelation. What does it reveal on this issue? Well, it clearly sets forth Two resurrections, the “first resurrection” closing out the tribulation, beginning the millennial, with another resurrection at the end of the millennial.

A resurrection of righteous before the millennial, and a resurrection of “the rest of the dead” after the millennial. This is what is revealed. Now, if a pretrib coming of Christ was truth, with another coming of Christ after the tribulation, why was this not just as clearly revealed?

Two resurrections are revealed...in plain language, we should just as clearly expect to see two second comings revealed. But we see no such thing.

On the contrary, the book of Revelation, at the outset, only claims to reveal one second coming...

Rev 1:7 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. Even so, Amen.

And it is obviously not the “secret” pretrib rapture of Dispensational theology.

The book of Revelation flows forward to that singular event, which takes place in chapter 19, and chapter 20 when the first resurrection takes place. No second coming until then, no resurrection until then.

“First” really means first, if there were a pretrib resurrection taking place some seven years prior to this, it would be the first. This one, however, is at the end of the tribulation.

Rev 20:5 But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection.
6 Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.

10 posted on Tuesday, October 06, 2009 6:35:25 PM by sasportas
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[spacejunkie01]

•At the Glorious Appearing, Jesus comes WITH His Church. (Zech 14:5, Col 3:4, Jude 14, Rev 19:14)

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in reviewing these scriptures, this is talking about His ANGELS, not us. It interchanges saints with angels. But we know that as His saints on earth, we are NOT angels, meaning different beings altogether, are coming with Him.