The Rapture and the Second Coming of the Lord Jesus Christ

The Hope That Changes Everything

Have you ever imagined a single moment in which your whole life is transformed — not over years, but in the twinkling of an eye? This is exactly what the Lord Jesus Christ promises to everyone who has believed on Him. While the world busies itself with its news and wars and markets, the believer carries in his heart a hope the world can neither understand nor take away: that the Christ who ascended into heaven is coming again. This is not a dream nor a wish, but a promise written in the word of God, confirmed by Christ with His own mouth, announced by the angels on the day of His ascension, and repeated by the apostles in their letters hundreds of times. And there is no hope in all the world to match this hope, for it is the only hope that rests upon the promise of God who cannot lie — a promise proven true in the first coming, and therefore certain in the second; it is a settled assurance, not a passing wish.

The coming of Christ a second time is the second most frequent subject in the New Testament after salvation itself. Of every twenty-five verses in the New Testament, one speaks of His coming. The apostle Paul called it "the blessed hope," for he wrote:

It is a blessed hope, for it carries within it the end of every tear and pain and parting, and the beginning of an eternity with the Lord who loved us and gave Himself for us.

But many, even among believers, confuse matters that must be distinguished. They suppose the coming of Christ is one simple event, while the word of God reveals a far richer and more precise picture. In this study we will open the Holy Bible to see clearly: what was the first coming of Christ that was fulfilled, what is His second coming yet to come, why this second coming divides into two distinct phases — the Rapture first, then the appearing — and how this hope changes our lives today.

Two Comings, Not One: The Key to Understanding Prophecy

Before we go deeper, we must lay a foundation that guards the reader of the Bible from long confusion. The Holy Bible speaks of two comings of Christ, not one. The first coming took place two thousand years ago, when Christ came in humility to be born in a manger, to live without sin, to die on the cross as a ransom for sinners, and to rise on the third day victorious over death. And the second coming has not yet come, when Christ will come with power and glory to reign and to judge.

This distinction between the two comings is what many of the Jews in Christ's day stumbled over. They read in their prophets prophecies of a suffering Messiah who is wounded for our transgressions (Isaiah 53), and other prophecies of a triumphant reigning Messiah who sits on the throne of David (Isaiah 9). So they supposed there were two Messiahs, or that the prophecies contradicted. But the truth is that they are two comings of one Messiah: He came first to suffer and to redeem, and He will come again to reign and to judge. The One who was hung upon a tree in weakness will come upon the clouds of heaven in power.

And just as the ancient prophecies joined the two comings together in adjacent verses without separating them in time, so we find in the New Testament that the second coming itself has two phases: a phase in which Christ comes for His people — the Rapture; and a phase in which Christ comes with His people — the appearing, or the coming in its special sense. And between the two phases is the period of the Great Tribulation. Whoever does not distinguish between these two phases falls into confusion before verses that seem contradictory: verses that say Christ comes suddenly as a thief in the night, no one knowing when; and verses that say His coming will be preceded by clear signs that all will see. The solution is simple: the first describes the Rapture, and the second describes the appearing.

The First Coming: Fulfilled Exactly as Written

Before we look to the future, let us plant our feet on the past. For the greatest proof that Christ will come again is that He came the first time exactly as it was foretold. The prophets wrote of His first coming hundreds of years before He was born, and every letter of it was fulfilled with astonishing precision.

Micah foretold that He would be born in Bethlehem:

Isaiah foretold that He would be born of a virgin:

David foretold, a thousand years beforehand, His crucifixion in precise detail before crucifixion was even known as a means of execution:

And Isaiah foretold His death as a ransom:

And all these prophecies were fulfilled to the letter. He was born in Bethlehem of a virgin, lived without sin, was crucified and His hands and feet were pierced, died as a ransom, and rose on the third day. If God fulfilled the prophecies of the first coming with this absolute precision, how we may trust that He will fulfill the prophecies of the second coming! The first coming is the pledge and guarantee of the second. He who was true in His first promise will not fail in His second. This is the rock foundation on which we build our hope: not a human wish, but a divine word whose truth history has proven.

The Second Coming Has Two Phases: The Rapture, Then the Appearing

Here we arrive at one of the most important keys to understanding all of prophecy. The second coming of Christ is not one momentary event, but takes place in two phases separated by years: the phase of the Rapture, then the phase of the appearing.

In the first phase — the Rapture — Christ comes to the air, not to the earth, and catches up His church to Himself in a moment. Christ does not set foot on the earth in this phase; rather the believers meet Him in the clouds. And in the second phase — the appearing — Christ comes to the earth itself, His feet stand on the Mount of Olives, every eye sees Him, and His saints who were caught up before come with Him. So the Rapture is a coming for His people to take them; and the appearing is a coming with His people to reign. The first is in the air, the second on the earth. The first is secret and sudden, the second public and visible. The first is a hope for the church, the second a judgment for the world and a salvation for Israel.

One may ask: how do we know they are two phases and not one event? The answer is that the Bible describes the two events with descriptions that cannot be gathered into a single moment. For in the Rapture, Christ takes the believers to the Father's house in heaven (John 14). And in the appearing, Christ comes with the believers to the earth to reign (Revelation 19). So how could He take them to heaven and bring them to the earth in the same instant? There must be a span of time. And in that span the Great Tribulation falls upon the earth, while the church is safe in the presence of the Lord. This arrangement alone reconciles all the verses of prophecy without contradiction.

The Rapture: The Blessed Hope of the Church

The Rapture — the catching away — is the promise the church awaits every day. And the clearest description of it in the whole Bible is what the apostle Paul wrote to comfort believers anxious about their loved ones who had fallen asleep:

Consider these precious words. First, "the Lord himself" descends — not an angel nor a messenger, but Christ personally. Second, "the dead in Christ shall rise first" — the believers who fell asleep rise with glorified bodies. Third, "we which are alive and remain shall be caught up" — the living believers are caught up without dying. Fourth, "in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air" — note: in the air, not on the earth. Fifth, "so shall we ever be with the Lord" — and this is the greatest hope: no parting after that, ever.

And notice how the apostle closed this passage:

The Rapture is not a doctrine for debate, but a comfort for grieving hearts. The believer who has lost a believing loved one does not sorrow "as others which have no hope," for he knows the reunion is coming, and that Christ will gather His people — the sleeping and the living — in a single moment.

"In the Twinkling of an Eye": The Speed and Secrecy of the Rapture

The second great passage on the Rapture is in the first epistle to the Corinthians, where the apostle reveals a mystery not known before:

The apostle calls the Rapture a "mystery" — that is, a truth not revealed in the Old Testament, but unveiled to the church. And this in itself is evidence that the Rapture concerns the church, not Israel, for whom the prophecies of the appearing were written openly. Then he describes its astonishing speed: "in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye" — faster than can be perceived. There will be no time to prepare in that moment; whoever is ready is caught up, and whoever is not is left. And in that moment, "we shall all be changed" — our corruptible bodies are transformed into glorified, incorruptible bodies, after the likeness of the glorified body of Christ.

This promise of the changing of the body is a great comfort. For this body, which grows weary and sick and old and dies, will be exchanged for a glorified, immortal body that knows no pain nor corruption. The apostle wrote:

The Rapture is not an escape from the body, but a redemption of the body and its glorification.

The Father's Promise: "I Will Come Again, and Receive You unto Myself"

On the night before His crucifixion, Christ comforted His troubled disciples with a promise about the Rapture, though He did not call it by that name. He said to them:

Consider this promise of Christ, for it describes the Rapture precisely. First, "I go to prepare a place for you" — He went to the Father's house in heaven. Second, "I will come again" — an explicit promise to return. Third, and this is the key: "and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also." Note that He does not say "I will come to remain with you on the earth," but "receive you unto myself" — that is, He takes them to where He is, to the Father's house. And this is exactly what happens in the Rapture: Christ takes His church to the mansions He has prepared for it in heaven. As for the appearing, it is the reverse: Christ comes with His saints to the earth. So the promise of John 14 is the promise of the Rapture: a coming to take the church to the heavenly home.

The "Last Trump" in Corinthians Is Not the Trumpets of Revelation

Here we must pause at a point over which many are confused, drawing wrong conclusions. For when they read that the Rapture occurs "at the last trump" (1 Corinthians 15:52), they suppose that this "last trump" is the seventh trumpet of the judgment-trumpets in the book of Revelation (Revelation 11:15), and so they conclude that the Rapture does not occur until the end of the Tribulation. But this is a confusion between two entirely different trumpets, the one having no connection to the other.

The "last trump" in 1 Corinthians 15 is the very "trump of God" mentioned in 1 Thessalonians 4:16, where the Lord descends "with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God." It is a trumpet that calls the church to the meeting — a trumpet of hope and salvation and gathering — which is sounded so that the sleeping are raised and the living are caught up. But the trumpets of the book of Revelation are seven trumpets that announce the successive judgments of God upon the earth during the Great Tribulation — each trumpet bringing a woe and a catastrophe. So the seventh trumpet in Revelation (Revelation 11:15) is a trumpet of judgment and reign, announcing that "The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ" — not a trumpet that gathers the church. The difference is fundamental: the trumpet of Corinthians is a trumpet of grace and hope for the church before the Tribulation, and the trumpets of Revelation are trumpets of wrath and judgment upon the world during the Tribulation. And the decisive proof that they are not one and the same is this: the trumpet of Corinthians is called "the last" because it is the last trumpet directed to the church in this age — for after it the church is caught up and its ministry on earth ends; whereas the seventh trumpet in Revelation is "last" in a different and separate series of judgment-trumpets which the church was not even on earth to hear. So whoever equates the two trumpets builds a doctrine on a verbal resemblance in the word "trumpet" — a resemblance that hides a fundamental difference in nature, purpose, and time. The two trumpets are different: one gathers the bride to her bridegroom in the air, and the other warns the world of judgment on the earth.

An Imminent Coming: No Sign Precedes It

One of the most important characteristics of the Rapture is that it is "imminent" — that is, it can happen at any moment, with no sign or prophecy that must first be fulfilled. The Bible calls believers to await Christ at all times, as though He might come today. The apostle wrote: "Looking for that blessed hope" (Titus 2:13) — a constant looking, not a waiting for particular signs.

This imminence clearly distinguishes the Rapture from the appearing. For the appearing is preceded by many specific signs: the Great Tribulation, the rise of the antichrist, the seven judgments, signs in the sun and moon. But the Rapture is preceded by not a single sign that must be fulfilled. This is why Christ warned: "Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come" (Matthew 24:42), and said also:

"therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh" — Matthew 24:44

This imminence is not a cause for anxiety, but for watchfulness and holiness. For the believer who knows his Master may come at any moment lives always ready, holy, fruitful, unattached to the world. The apostle John wrote:

So the hope of the Rapture is a purifying power in the believer's life, driving him to holiness, not to idleness; to service, not to sloth.

"The Dead in Christ Shall Rise First": Comfort for Those Who Have Lost Loved Ones

The clearest passage on the Rapture was written originally to comfort anxious believers. For the believers of Thessalonica supposed that their loved ones who had died before the coming of Christ had missed the hope, or that they would lag behind the living. So the apostle came to correct this with the sweetest of words:

Notice that the apostle does not forbid sorrow altogether, but forbids sorrowing "even as others which have no hope." So the believer sorrows over the parting from his loved one, but it is a sorrow mingled with hope, not a sorrow of despair without horizon. For he knows three truths: that his believing loved one is not perished but "asleep," sleeping in Christ; that he shall rise — indeed "shall rise first," before the living are caught up; and that the reunion is coming, for "we shall ever be with the Lord" and with one another.

So death for the believer is a "sleep," not annihilation, for Christ conquered death. And the grave is not an end, but a temporary station in which the body awaits the Rapture, when it is raised glorified. And the word "first" in "shall rise first" is a special comfort: the sleeping do not lag behind, but have the precedence; they rise first, then the living are caught up with them at the same time. So whoever has buried a believing mother, or a believing father, or a believing child, or a believing spouse, does not stand at the grave without hope, but lifts his eyes to heaven awaiting the trumpet that gathers them again, after which there is no parting, ever. This is the comfort the world cannot give: not a final farewell, but a "see you soon."

"Maranatha": The Hope of the Church Through the Ages

The awaiting of Christ's coming was not a late doctrine invented by some generation of believers, but the pulse of the church from its first day. For the apostle Paul closed one of his letters with an Aramaic word that became the cry of the early church: "Maranatha" (1 Corinthians 16:22) — that is, "the Lord cometh" or "Come, O our Lord". This word reveals that the early believers lived in a constant expectation of the coming of their Master.

And this hope filled the whole New Testament. The apostle Paul wrote of the believers who "turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God; and to wait for his Son from heaven" (1 Thessalonians 1:9-10). So waiting was part of the very definition of a believer: a worshipper of the living God, and one who waits for His Son from heaven. James and Peter and John and Jude all wrote of the coming. And the Holy Bible closed altogether with the promise of Christ and the cry of the church:

So this hope binds us to all believers through the ages: from the apostles, to the early church that cried "Maranatha," to the believers in every generation who lifted their eyes to heaven in waiting, to us today. And every generation was nearer to the coming than the one before it, and we are the nearest of all generations. So let us carry the same torch, and repeat the same cry, and live the same hope: "Even so, come, Lord Jesus." For He who promised is faithful, and He who said "Surely I come quickly" does not lie. And every day that passes, we draw nearer to that glorious moment we await with all our hearts.

The Appearing: The Coming of Christ to the Earth in Power and Glory

We move now to the second phase of Christ's second coming: the appearing, or the coming in its special sense. And this differs fundamentally from the Rapture. For in the Rapture Christ comes secretly to the air for His people; and in the appearing Christ comes publicly to the earth with His people, in great power and glory, to end the Tribulation, to judge His enemies, and to establish His kingdom.

The clearest description of the appearing is in the book of Revelation, where John sees heaven opened and Christ coming out of it as a victorious horseman:

Consider the difference between this image and the image of the Rapture. In the Rapture, Christ is not seen by the world; rather the believers alone meet Him in the air. But in the appearing, heaven is opened, and Christ comes forth visibly on a white horse, and the armies of heaven with Him. This is not a secret coming, but a glorious appearing seen by the whole world. The Bible affirmed that this appearing is visible to all:

"Every eye" — not the believers alone, but the whole world, even those who rejected Him.

Christ Himself affirmed this glorious scene:

So the appearing is a visible cosmic event, over which the tribes of the earth mourn, and which every man sees.

His Feet on the Mount of Olives: The Place and the Manner

The appearing is not in the air like the Rapture; rather the feet of Christ stand on the earth in a specific place named by the prophet Zechariah hundreds of years beforehand:

For this same mountain from which Christ ascended into heaven is the one on which His feet shall stand when He returns.

The two angels affirmed this to the disciples on the day of the ascension, as they stood gazing into heaven:

Note the words: "this same Jesus" — the very same person, not another; "shall so come" — in the same manner, visibly on the clouds; "in like manner as ye have seen him go" — as He ascended from the Mount of Olives visibly, so He returns to it visibly. So the appearing is a visible, bodily return of Christ Himself to the earth, not a symbolic nor a spiritual coming.

And the purpose of the appearing is that Christ establish His kingdom on the earth. For in the Rapture He takes His people to heaven; and in the appearing He brings them to the earth to reign. Jude wrote, quoting Enoch: "Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints" (Jude 14) — "with ten thousands of his saints," that is, His saints with Him. So from where did these saints who accompany Him come? They are the church that was caught up in the Rapture years before the appearing, and here it returns with Him. And this alone proves that the Rapture precedes the appearing: for how could the saints come with Christ at the appearing unless they had been caught up to Him beforehand?

The Rapture and the Appearing: Ten Differences That Cannot Be One Event

Let us now gather the differences between the Rapture and the appearing, to see clearly that they cannot be one event, but are two distinct phases. In the Rapture, Christ comes to the air; and in the appearing, He comes to the earth and His feet stand on the Mount of Olives. In the Rapture, Christ comes for His people to take them; and in the appearing, He comes with His people to reign.

In the Rapture, the believers alone meet Him secretly; and in the appearing, every eye sees Him publicly. In the Rapture, He takes the believers to the Father's house in heaven; and in the appearing, He brings them to the earth. In the Rapture, no sign precedes it and it is imminent; and in the appearing, many clear signs precede it. In the Rapture, the church is removed from the earth before the Tribulation; and in the appearing, Christ returns after the Tribulation to end it.

In the Rapture, the subject is the church and its salvation and comfort; and in the appearing, the subject is Israel and the nations and the judgment of the world and the establishing of the kingdom. In the Rapture, Christ comes as a bridegroom for His bride; and in the appearing, He comes as King and Judge and Warrior. In the Rapture, joy and hope prevail; and in the appearing, the tribes of the earth mourn. In the Rapture, the bodies of the living believers are changed without death; and in the appearing, the nations are judged and the kingdoms of the world are crushed. These ten differences cannot be gathered into a single moment, but require two distinct events separated by a span of time — the time of the Great Tribulation.

The Great Tribulation: What Falls Between the Two Events

Between the Rapture and the appearing falls a dreadful period the Bible calls "the Great Tribulation." For after the church is caught up from the earth, seven years of judgments such as history has never witnessed are poured out upon the world. Christ described it, saying:

This period is described in detail in the book of Revelation from the sixth chapter to the nineteenth: seven seals, seven trumpets, and seven vials of the wrath of God, poured out upon an earth that rejected Christ. And during it appears the "antichrist" — the man of sin — who deceives the world and persecutes everyone who believes in those days. And the purpose of the Tribulation is twofold: the judgment of the rejecting world on the one hand, and the chastening of Israel and its return to God on the other. This is why it is also called "the time of Jacob's trouble" (Jeremiah 30:7), for it is a time of purifying for the people of Israel in preparation for their receiving the Messiah whom they rejected.

And the question that settles the position of the Rapture is this: does the church pass through this Tribulation, or is it caught up before it? The biblical answer is clear: the church is caught up before the Tribulation, and tastes nothing of the wrath of God poured out in it. For the Tribulation is not for the church, but for the rejecting world and for unbelieving Israel. And the church, the bride of Christ, is during that time safe in His presence in heaven, awaiting the return with Him at the appearing. This we will prove from the Bible in the following paragraphs.

Why Is the Church Caught Up Before the Tribulation?

The teaching that the church is caught up before the Tribulation is not a guess, but is built on explicit biblical promises. The first proof is that God has not appointed believers to wrath. The apostle Paul wrote:

And the Great Tribulation is precisely the time of the pouring out of the wrath of God upon the earth. So if God has not appointed believers to wrath, how would He leave them in the time when His wrath is poured out in its severest forms?

The second proof is an explicit promise from Christ to His faithful church:

Note the precision: "keep thee from the hour of temptation" — not "in" the hour, but "from" the hour, that is, from the time itself, so that the believer is kept outside that whole period, not within it. And "them that dwell upon the earth" is an expression that in the book of Revelation describes the rejecting people of the world, not the church.

The third proof is that the church is entirely absent from the book of Revelation from the fourth chapter to the nineteenth — that is, throughout the description of the Tribulation. For after the seven churches are mentioned in the second and third chapters, the word "church" disappears from the earthly scene, and does not appear again until the appearing, when it returns with Christ. This absence is no accident, but because the church has been caught up before the judgments begin. And the fourth proof is the pattern of God in history: He brought Noah out before the flood came, and He brought Lot out of Sodom before it was rained with fire. Christ said:

So as the righteous were kept before the judgment, the church is kept by the Rapture before the Tribulation.

An Objection and Its Answer: "Does Not the Tribulation Purify the Church?"

An objector may say: is it not good for the church to pass through the Tribulation to be purified? The answer is that the church does not need the fire of God's wrath to be purified, for it was purified by the blood of Christ. The Tribulation is not an instrument of purification for the church, but an instrument of judgment for the world and chastening for Israel. And the believer is purified in this age by the loving fatherly chastening (Hebrews 12), not by the wrath of God the Judge. For there is a fundamental difference between the Father's chastening of His children — which is of love — and the Judge's wrath upon the world — which is of justice. The church experiences the first in this life, but is entirely exempt from the second, for Christ bore the wrath of God for it fully on the cross.

And there is another distinction that must be understood: believers suffer in all ages from the persecution of the world, and this is something Christ promised us: "In the world ye shall have tribulation." But this general affliction — the persecution of men — differs entirely from the Great Tribulation, which is the pouring out of the wrath of God Himself. The church may endure the persecution of men in every age, but it does not endure the wrath of God, for that wrath was satisfied by Christ for it completely. So the Rapture before the Tribulation is not a privilege for a pampered church, but a logical consequence of the perfection of Christ's atoning work: he for whom Christ bore the wrath of God does not remain to have that wrath poured out upon him again.

The Man of Sin and the Restrainer: The Riddle of 2 Thessalonians 2 Resolved

Among the deepest passages ever written on the Second Coming — and the most perplexing to many — is the second chapter of 2 Thessalonians. Some of the believers in Thessalonica had come to think that "the day of Christ" — the time of wrath and tribulation — had already arrived and that they were now in it, and their hearts were shaken. So the apostle Paul wrote to reassure them that that day could not yet have come, because certain things must precede it. And in explaining these things, two verses appear which a hasty reader supposes to contradict one another — and in the untangling of that supposed contradiction lies a precious key to the whole order of the last events.

The Two Verses That Seem to Contradict

The first verse says the man of sin is revealed before that day:

Here the revealing of the man of sin is made a precondition preceding the coming of "that day." But the second verse, just four verses later, says that the Wicked is revealed only after the restrainer is removed:

So how is the man of sin revealed before that day (verse 3), and yet the Wicked is not revealed until after the restrainer is taken away (verses 7-8)? Is this not a plain contradiction in the Word of God? Not at all — it is a staircase of seven steps arranged with the utmost precision, and when we climb it step by step, the apparent contradiction vanishes entirely and a beautiful harmony appears. Let us climb that staircase now, one step at a time.

The First Step: "The Mystery of Iniquity Doth Already Work"

Before the man of sin is revealed in his own person, a hidden mystery is at work in the world — the very spirit of iniquity, the spirit of antichrist that prepares the way. And this work is not future but present, operating since the days of the apostles:

And the apostle John confirms the same meaning in words that admit no doubt:

So there is the one antichrist coming in a single person in the future, and there are "many antichrists" already working by the same spirit now. The spirit that will one day be embodied in the single man of sin works in every generation under the veil, preparing the stage, sowing the apostasy, and awaiting its hour. The first step, then, is that the seed of iniquity was sown long ago, and it grows in secret until it reaches its full stature in one man. This "mystery" already at work is the backdrop against which we understand everything that follows.

The Second Step: "A Falling Away First"

The first explicit condition the apostle set before the coming of that day is the falling away: "except there come a falling away first." The falling away is the great departure from the true faith — a corporate abandonment of sound biblical teaching, and a wide deviation from the pure gospel in the last days. The apostle Paul foretold this elsewhere:

And the nearer the day draws, the more intense the falling away grows, until the world becomes a soil fully prepared to receive the man of sin. Those who reject the truth preserved in the Word of God, and forsake the pure gospel, will be ready to believe the great lie when it comes. That is why the apostle said God sends upon them "strong delusion, that they should believe a lie" — not unjustly, but as a righteous judgment upon those who first rejected the love of the truth. So the falling away is not merely a mark on prophecy's calendar; it is the soil into which the man of sin is planted. The second step, then, is that a great departure from the faith must precede the revealing of that man — and that this departure escalates in our own time before our eyes.

The Third Step: Revealing of Identity before Revealing of Power — The Key to the Whole Riddle

Here lies the heart of the solution. The word "revealed" in the two verses does not carry the same meaning in both cases; it describes two distinct stages of one progressive unveiling. In verse three the man of sin is revealed by a revealing of identity — that is, his features appear and he becomes recognizable; and in verse eight the Wicked is revealed by a revealing of power and unleashing — that is, his chain is loosed and he works his iniquity unhindered. Exactly like a veiled statue uncovered in two stages: first the veil is lifted from its face so that it is known who it is, then the veil is lifted from the whole figure so that it appears in full form. The unveiling is one, but it comes in two stages.

And how does the identity of the man of sin appear before his full unleashing? By the covenant he makes. For the prophet Daniel foretold that this coming prince confirms a covenant with many:

By this covenant his identity is fixed, and it becomes known who he is, even if not all yet perceive his true nature. This is the first revealing — the revealing of identity of which verse three speaks, which occurs at the beginning of that day or on its threshold.

As for the second revealing — the revealing of absolute power — it does not occur until after the restrainer is removed, when he sits in the temple showing himself that he is God:

Here, in the midst of the week when he causes the sacrifice to cease, his iniquity reaches its peak and he is loosed upon the world without restraint. So verse three speaks of the appearing of his identity, and verse eight of the unleashing of his power — and there is no contradiction whatever between the two, but an ordered succession.

The Fourth Step: "Our Gathering Together unto Him" — the Removal of the Church

Between the revealing of identity and the unleashing of power falls the very event with which the apostle opens the entire chapter — the gathering of the church to its Lord, that is, the rapture:

The apostle begins his whole discussion of the man of sin by reminding them of the rapture — "our gathering together unto him" — as if to say: do not fear that you are in the day of wrath, for your gathering unto me precedes it. The church does not await the antichrist, but awaits Christ; it does not watch for the appearing of the Wicked, but for the appearing of the glory of the great God and its Saviour. The rapture is the fourth step in the staircase: the lifting of the body of Christ from the earth before the judgments are poured out. And this very order — mentioning the gathering first and then explaining what follows — is what resolves the difficulty, for it places the church in safety before the Wicked is unleashed.

The Fifth Step: "Until He Be Taken Out of the Way"

What prevents the man of sin from appearing in his full power until now? It is "he who now letteth" — a restraining power that curbs iniquity and delays its unleashing. And who is this restrainer? Scripture describes him first in the neuter, "what withholdeth" (verse 6), then in the masculine, "he who now letteth" (verse 7) — that is, a power and a person. And the strongest way to understand this restrainer is that He is the Holy Ghost working in the world through the church. For the Holy Ghost alone is able to curb the flood of iniquity in this manner, and the church is "the salt of the earth" and "the light of the world" through which the Spirit works to delay the darkness of iniquity.

And note the precision: the restrainer is not destroyed nor consumed, but "taken out of the way" — set aside to make room. The Holy Ghost never ceases to exist, for He is the eternal God; but His special restraining work through the church present on earth is lifted when the church is lifted. So when the body of Christ is raptured, that restraining work is lifted with it, and the iniquity that was curbed is unleashed. Thus the fifth step (the removal of the restrainer) is tightly bound to the fourth (the removal of the church): the removal of the church is the very occasion on which the restraining work is taken out of the way.

The Sixth Step: "And Then Shall That Wicked Be Revealed" — the Unleashing in the Time of Wrath

When the restrainer is removed, what follows comes immediately: "And then shall that Wicked be revealed." The word "then" is a decisive marker of time: not before the removal of the restrainer, but then — that is, after it. After the church is raptured and the restraining work of the Holy Ghost is lifted with it, the Wicked is unleashed in his full power upon a world stripped of its light and its salt. Then he sits in the temple, causes the sacrifice to cease, and deceives the nations with lying signs and wonders:

This is the time of the Great Tribulation, the time of the pouring out of God's wrath upon the earth, when the iniquity long curbed is given free rein. And the church is not there to witness this, because it was raptured before it. The Wicked is not unleashed except after her departure — exactly as the fire of Sodom was not poured out until after Lot went out, and the flood did not come until after Noah entered the ark. The sixth step, then, is the unleashing of the Wicked in the time of wrath — after the rapture, not before.

The Seventh Step: "Whom the Lord Shall Consume with the Spirit of His Mouth" — Destruction at the Brightness of His Coming

And the story of the man of sin ends as it began — under the absolute sovereignty of Christ. However great his power, and however many of the nations he deceives, his end is sealed by a single word from the mouth of the Lord:

The Wicked who deceives the world by an immense satanic power is consumed not by war nor by an army, but "with the spirit of his mouth" — by a word from Christ. This is the appearing: the coming of Christ to the earth in power and glory to consume the Wicked and to establish His kingdom.

The seventh and final step is the destruction of the Wicked at the brightness of Christ's coming — not at the rapture, but at the appearing that follows it after the years of tribulation. And thus the staircase is completed from first to last: from the mystery of iniquity working secretly, to the Wicked destroyed openly by the breath of the Lord's mouth.

The Seven-Step Staircase Assembled

Let us now gather the seven steps into one ordered picture, that the full harmony may appear: First, the mystery of iniquity works now in secret, and many antichrists have already come (1 John 2:18). Second, the great falling away comes first, so that the earth is prepared to receive the man of sin. Third, the man of sin is revealed by a revealing of identity — he is known by his covenant — while the restrainer still restrains. Fourth, "our gathering together unto him" — the church is raptured to her Lord. Fifth, the restrainer — the work of the Holy Ghost through the church — is "taken out of the way." Sixth, then the Wicked is revealed by a revealing of power and unleashing, and works his iniquity in the time of wrath. Seventh, he is destroyed at the brightness of Christ's coming at the appearing.

So before that day: the revealing of identity (the third step). And after the removal of the restrainer: the revealing of power and unleashing (the sixth step). Verse three speaks of the first; verse eight of the second. And there is no contradiction whatever between the two — but two successive steps on one ascending staircase.

"God Is Not the Author of Confusion" — the Proof of No Contradiction

And this solution is no human contrivance forced upon the text, but the fruit of a firm biblical principle: that the Word of God does not contradict itself, because its source is a God who does not contradict Himself. The apostle Paul himself wrote:

So if a contradiction appears to us between two verses, the fault is in our understanding, not in the text. The same one who wrote verse three is the very one who wrote verse eight — in the same chapter, indeed in the same paragraph. It is impossible that the inspired apostle intended to contradict himself within a few verses. And careful reading reveals that he never contradicted himself at all, but described one revealing in two stages: an identity that appears, then a power that is unleashed. When we read the text with this distinction, the apparent contradiction turns into a beautiful harmony, and the riddle that perplexed many becomes a proof of the precision of the Word of God and its perfectly ordered arrangement.

And this is a lesson reaching beyond this chapter: whenever you meet two verses that seem to conflict, do not conclude that the Bible contradicts itself; rather seek the distinction that resolves the conflict, confident that God "is not the author of confusion, but of peace." Every apparent contradiction in Scripture is an invitation to deeper meditation, not a pretext for doubt. And so, having climbed the staircase of 2 Thessalonians step by step, we have seen how everything coheres: Christ comes for His church first and lifts her, then the Wicked is unleashed in the church's absence, then Christ comes in His glory and destroys the Wicked — one order, untainted by confusion, from a God who is the God of peace.

Why Does This Resolved Riddle Matter to You? — the Fruit of Doctrine in Your Life

One may ask: what is the use of this precision about the order of the last events? Is it not enough to know that Christ is coming? The answer is that this understanding bears great practical fruit in the believer's life, no less important than its theological precision.

The first fruit is reassurance. For the apostle wrote this whole chapter not to terrify believers but to reassure them — "that ye be not soon shaken in mind, neither be troubled." The believer who has understood that the church is raptured before the Wicked is unleashed does not live in terror of the antichrist, nor scan the world's news searching for the beast, but lifts up his head awaiting his Lord. We do not await the antichrist, but await Christ; we do not watch for the darkness, but watch for the "blessed hope." Whoever has grasped the seven-step staircase knows that his place is not in the time of wrath, but in the gathering unto the Lord before it.

The second fruit is watchfulness. For although the believer does not fear, he does not grow careless. If the mystery of iniquity works now, and if the falling away escalates before our eyes, these are all signs that the hour draws near. The wise believer reads these signs, not to set a day and hour — for that is forbidden — but to live ready, watching, faithful, knowing that every passing day brings him nearer to the moment of the rapture.

The third fruit is holiness. For whoever awaits his Lord at any moment purifies himself, as the apostle John said:

The blessed hope is not a theoretical doctrine kept in the mind, but a power that purifies the heart and sanctifies the life. The one who knows his Lord may come before the Wicked is unleashed lives each day as though it were the last before the rapture — fleeing from sin, standing firm in the truth, and preaching the gospel with urgency, knowing that the time is short.

A Final Distinction: "the Day of Christ" and "the Day of the Lord" in This Chapter

One precise distinction remains that adds further clarity. What disturbed the Thessalonian believers was their supposing that "the day of Christ" had come — that they were now in the time of wrath and tribulation. So the apostle's answer was decisive: it is impossible that it had come, because the steps of the staircase were not yet completed. The falling away had not come in its fullness, the man of sin had not been revealed, the church had not been raptured, and the restrainer had not been removed. How then could they be in the day of wrath when none of these steps had yet been climbed?

And this exposes the error of everyone who places the church in the time of tribulation. For if the church were destined to pass through the tribulation, the apostle would have said to the Thessalonians: "Yes, the time of wrath has begun, so endure it with patience." But he said the very opposite: it cannot have come, because your gathering unto me precedes it. The apostolic logic itself assumes that the church will not be present in that day — otherwise his whole consolation collapses. What reassures believers is that they are raptured before the Wicked is unleashed, not that they are preserved through his wrath.

So whoever has climbed this staircase carefully comes away with a double certainty: the certainty that the Word of God is harmonious with no contradiction in it, and the certainty that the church's place is the gathering unto the Lord before the wrath, not the passing through its midst. And thus the riddle that perplexed many becomes the greatest proof of the precision of God's ordering of all things, and the deepest consolation to the waiting believer's heart. Let us then lift up our heads, and await "our gathering together unto him" with joy and hope and certainty, knowing that He who arranged these seven steps in His wisdom will not fail His appointment, but will come at His appointed time to take His own unto Himself before the hour of wrath comes upon the whole world.

Signs of the Approaching Coming

And though the Rapture itself is imminent, preceded by no sign, the Bible gave us general signs that indicate the approach of "the end of the age" — that is, the approach of the time of the appearing and the kingdom. And since the Rapture precedes the appearing by a few years, the sight of these signs thickening and drawing near means that the Rapture is much nearer. The disciples asked Christ: "and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?" (Matthew 24:3), and He answered them with many signs.

Christ mentioned that false christs would multiply, that wars and rumours of wars would increase, that famines and pestilences and earthquakes would follow one another, that the love of many would wax cold, and that iniquity would abound. Then He gave a great positive sign:

So the spread of the gospel throughout the whole world — which we witness in our day by means not available before — is a sign of the approach of the end.

But we must beware of two errors. The first: setting a day or an hour, which Christ warned against explicitly: "But of that day and hour knoweth no man." So everyone who set a date for the coming lied and erred. The second: neglecting the signs altogether and living as though Christ will not come. And the biblical balance is that we read the signs and so know the time is near, without setting a day, and that we watch ready at all times.

Israel: God's Prophetic Timepiece

One of the clearest signs of the approach of the coming is the return of Israel as a nation to its land. For the Bible foretold that God would gather His scattered people into their land in the last days, in preparation for the fulfilment of His promises to them. Ezekiel wrote a prophecy of the valley of dry bones that live and rise a great nation (Ezekiel 37) — a picture of the reviving of Israel as a nation after centuries of dispersion.

This gathering of Israel is important in understanding prophecy, for many of the prophecies of the appearing and the kingdom relate directly to Israel. The Great Tribulation is "the time of Jacob's trouble" that purifies Israel and returns it to its Messiah. And at the appearing, when Israel sees Christ coming, they will look "upon me whom they have pierced" (Zechariah 12:10), and mourn and wail and receive Him. And so "all Israel shall be saved," as the apostle Paul wrote (Romans 11:26). So the return of Israel as a nation, after centuries of its absence from the map of the world, is a prominent sign that the stage of prophecy is being prepared, and that the time of the appearing — and therefore the Rapture that precedes it — is near.

And we must distinguish here between Israel and the church, for they are not one and the same thing. The earthly promises of God to Israel were not annulled and did not pass to the church, but will be fulfilled literally in the coming kingdom. And the church has a heavenly hope — the Rapture and the mansions in the Father's house; and Israel has an earthly hope — the kingdom on its land under the reign of its Messiah. Confusing the two hopes confuses the understanding of all prophecy. But distinguishing between them makes every verse find its right place.

Views on the Timing of the Rapture — and How We Weigh Them by the Bible

It is only fair to mention that sincere believers have differed over the timing of the Rapture relative to the Tribulation, and to present the views faithfully before we show why we hold that the Rapture before the Tribulation is the position that best fits the Bible.

The first view is the Rapture before the Tribulation: the church is caught up before the seven years begin, and passes through none of them. The second view is the Rapture in the middle of the Tribulation: the church passes through the first half and is then caught up before the more severe second half. The third view is the Rapture after the Tribulation: the church passes through the whole Tribulation and is then caught up at its end, so that the Rapture and the appearing are united in one event. And there are those who see the Rapture before the pouring out of the wrath only.

What inclines us toward the Rapture before the Tribulation is several biblical matters we have gathered above: that God has not appointed believers to wrath (1 Thessalonians 5:9); that Christ promised to keep His church "from the hour of temptation," not in it (Revelation 3:10); the absence of the church from the earthly scene in Revelation 4–19; the imminence of the Rapture, which no sign precedes, while the appearing is preceded by signs; and the pattern of God in keeping His righteous before judgment, as with Noah and Lot. As for the view that the Rapture and the appearing are one event after the Tribulation, it collides with the fact that the saints come with Christ at the appearing (Jude 14), so they must have been caught up beforehand; and with the fact that the coming of Christ for the church is described as imminent and sudden as a thief in the night, which does not hold if it had to be preceded by years of the known signs of the Tribulation.

Why We Read Prophecy Literally

Behind all of this is a principle of interpretation that must be understood: we read the prophecies of the Bible in a literal, natural reading unless the text itself indicates a figure. And this principle is what guards prophecy from becoming wax to be shaped by every interpreter as he pleases.

The proof of the soundness of the literal reading is the prophecies of the first coming. For they were all fulfilled literally: Christ was born in Bethlehem literally, of a virgin literally, His hands and feet were pierced literally, and He rose on the third day literally. So if God fulfilled the prophecies of the first coming literally, by what logic do we turn the prophecies of the second coming into symbols and figures? Consistency requires that we read the prophecies of the second coming as we read those of the first — literally. So when the Bible says the feet of Christ stand on the Mount of Olives, we take it at face value; and when it says the believers are caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, we take it at face value; and when it says that Christ reigns a thousand years, we take it at face value.

The literal reading is also what preserves the distinction between Israel and the church, between the earthly hope and the heavenly hope, and between the Rapture and the appearing. But when one resorts to figurative interpretation, all things become confused: the church becomes Israel, the kingdom becomes spiritual rather than earthly, and the Rapture and the appearing become one event. So the literal reading is not rigidity, but faithfulness to the text as its divine Author intended, and it is what makes the whole picture of prophecy consistent and clear.

The Millennial Kingdom: What Comes After the Appearing

When Christ comes at the appearing, not everything ends; rather a glorious age begins: the kingdom of Christ on the earth for a thousand years. For after Christ judges His enemies and binds Satan, He sits on the throne of David and reigns over all the earth in righteousness and peace. John wrote:

And this is the kingdom Christ taught us to pray for: "Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven."

And in that kingdom many prophecies that remained suspended are fulfilled. Swords are turned into plowshares, and the nations learn war no more (Isaiah 2:4). The wolf dwells with the lamb, and the leopard lies down with the kid (Isaiah 11:6), as the curse is lifted from creation. And the knowledge of the Lord fills the earth as the waters cover the sea. Christ reigns from Jerusalem, and the representatives of the nations come to Him to worship. It is a true golden age such as humanity has not known since the fall of Adam — an age of righteousness and peace and knowledge under the visible reign of Christ.

And the believers — who were caught up in the Rapture and returned with Christ at the appearing — reign with Him in this kingdom. For the church does not sit idle, but shares in the reign of Christ:

So the hope does not end with the Rapture, but reaches its summit in the reign with Christ. And at the end of the thousand years, Satan is loosed a little while, then cast into the lake of fire for ever, and the final judgment comes, then the new heaven and the new earth, where God dwells with His people for ever and ever.

Two Judgments, Not One: The Great Difference

Among the things that the distinction between the Rapture and the appearing clarifies is that there are two entirely different judgments, not one, separated by more than a thousand years. The first is the judgment of the believers for reward, and the second is the judgment of the unbelievers for punishment.

After the Rapture, the believers stand before the "judgment seat of Christ," not to be judged for their sins — for those Christ bore on the cross — but for their works to be tried and rewarded. The apostle wrote:

So this is a judgment of reward for the believer, in which what was of wood and hay and stubble is burned, and what was of gold and silver and precious stones is rewarded, but the believer himself "shall be saved" (1 Corinthians 3:15).

As for the second judgment, it is the "great white throne" at the end of the thousand years, where the unbelievers stand before God:

So whoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire. And the difference between the two judgments is immense: the first is for the believers for reward, following the Rapture directly; and the second is for the unbelievers for eternal punishment, following the Millennial reign. Whoever does not distinguish between the Rapture and the appearing confuses the two judgments, supposing them to be one general judgment, and loses the hope of the believer who "shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life" (John 5:24).

Two Resurrections, Not One

Just as there are two comings and two phases and two judgments, so the Bible reveals that there are two resurrections of the dead, not one general resurrection, separated by a thousand years. And understanding this increases the clarity of the picture, and reinforces the distinction we have seen throughout this study.

The first resurrection is the "resurrection of the righteous" or the "resurrection of life," in which the believers rise with glorified bodies. And it itself takes place in stages: Christ rose first as the "firstfruits"; then the sleeping believers are raised at the Rapture; then the martyrs of the Tribulation are raised at the appearing. As for the second resurrection, it is the "resurrection of damnation," in which the unbelievers rise at the end of the thousand years to stand before the great white throne. Christ said:

The book of Revelation showed the time-span between the two resurrections clearly. For after it described the resurrection of the righteous and their reign with Christ, it said:

So the righteous rise in the "first resurrection" to reign with Christ a thousand years; and the unrighteous do not rise "until the thousand years were finished." So between the two resurrections is a full thousand years. Then it declared:

So whoever rose in the first resurrection — that is, every believer in Christ — the second death (the lake of fire) has no power over him. This is the portion of everyone who has believed: a resurrection unto life, a reign with Christ, and eternal safety from the second death. As for whoever rejected Christ, his destiny is the second resurrection unto judgment. And the decisive question is one: in which of the two resurrections will your portion be? And the answer is determined today, by your faith in Christ or your rejection of Him. For whoever has believed has passed even now "from death unto life," and is guaranteed a portion in the blessed first resurrection, awaiting the Rapture, not the judgment; life, not the second death.

And so we see that the first resurrection is not a single moment, but takes place in stages resembling the stages of the coming itself: Christ the firstfruits rose first two thousand years ago; then the sleeping believers rise at the Rapture; then the martyrs of the Tribulation rise at the appearing. All in the "first resurrection," the resurrection of life, but each "in his own order" as the apostle wrote:

So the very order we saw in the coming — distinct stages serving the purpose of God — we see in the resurrection. And all this affirms that God is a God of order and arrangement, not a God of confusion, and that every event in His plan falls "in his own order" and in its appointed time. So blessed is he whose portion is in the first resurrection, awaiting the coming of his Master with joy and hope, knowing that he shall rise — if he sleeps — or be caught up — if he remains alive — to be with the Lord for ever.

The Marriage of the Lamb: What Does the Church Do in Heaven?

While the Tribulation is on the earth, what does the caught-up church do in heaven? The Bible reveals that it is in great joy: it stands before the judgment seat of Christ to receive its rewards, then prepares for the greatest celebration in the history of the universe — the marriage of the Lamb.

John wrote:

For the church is the bride of Christ, and the Rapture is the moment in which the bridegroom takes His bride unto Himself. And while judgment is poured out upon the rejecting earth, the bride is in the presence of her bridegroom, rejoicing in the eternal union with Him.

Then, when Christ comes at the appearing, the bride comes with Him:

So this proves once more the order of events: the church was caught up first (the Rapture), then celebrated its marriage in heaven during the Tribulation, then returned with Christ to the earth (the appearing). So the Rapture and the appearing are not one event, but between them is a time in which the bride is with her bridegroom before they return together.

The Glorified Body: What Shall We Be?

Among the greatest promises of the Rapture is the changing of the body. For the believer is not caught up in his spirit only, but with a new glorified body. And the Bible has given us a glimpse of what this body will be, making the risen body of Christ the model for our bodies:

The apostle described this body with four traits over against our present body: "It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption" — so no sickness nor old age nor death; "It is sown in dishonour; it is raised in glory" — so no weakness nor shame; "It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power" — so no weariness nor inability; "it is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body" (1 Corinthians 15:42-44) — a real, tangible body, but wholly subject to the spirit, like the risen body of Christ which ate and was touched, yet entered while the doors were shut.

So the hope is not that we become spirits without bodies, but that we receive glorified, immortal bodies. This is the redemption of the body we await:

So the salvation that began with the redemption of the spirit is completed with the redemption of the body on the day of the Rapture. And this comforts us in every bodily weakness we experience today: for this suffering body will be exchanged for a glorious body that knows no pain, after the likeness of the glorified body of Christ.

Questions Many Ask

Many ask: shall we know one another in heaven? The answer is yes, for the apostle comforts believers that they shall be reunited with their loved ones who fell asleep, and this would have no meaning if they did not recognise one another. Moses and Elijah were recognised on the mount of transfiguration. So knowledge does not vanish, but is completed: "I shall know even as also I am known."

And others ask: what of those who are saved in the Tribulation after the Rapture? The answer is that many will believe during the Tribulation — of the Jews and of the nations — when the gospel is preached in those days, but many of them will pay the price of their faith with martyrdom. So the Rapture does not mean the end of chances for salvation, but the end of the age of the church and the beginning of the judgment of the world and the purifying of Israel. But the safe road, the road that does not pass through the Tribulation, is for a man to believe on Christ now, before the Rapture, so that he is among the caught-up, not among those left behind.

And some ask: did not those who prophesied dates for the coming err? Yes, everyone who set a day or a year erred, for Christ said that no man knows that day. But the errors of false predictors do not annul the truth of the coming, just as the lie of those who claim to see the dawn early does not annul the rising of the sun. So the coming is a certain truth, though its timing is unknown. And it is upon us not to set the day, but to watch ready every day.

"Where Is the Promise of His Coming?" — Answering the Scoffers

Two thousand years have passed since the ascension of Christ, and He has not yet come. So some scoffers exploit this apparent delay to cast doubt on the whole coming, saying: where is the promise of His coming? And the Bible foretold these very ones:

And the answer the apostle Peter gave is deep and comforting. First: the concept of time with God is not as ours:

So what seems to us a long delay is not so with the eternal God. Second: the delay is not slackness but longsuffering:

So every day in which the coming is delayed is an added day of grace that God opens for sinners to repent in. So the delay is mercy, not neglect.

Third: the apostle affirmed that the coming comes suddenly despite the long wait:

So the length of the wait does not mean the coming will not be, but makes it nearer every day. And the wise believer does not scoff at the delay, but makes use of it: he repents who needs to repent, and witnesses to him who has not heard, and watches who waits. The scoffer sees in the delay a proof of falsehood, and the believer sees in it a proof of mercy.

Why Did God Arrange the Coming in Two Phases?

One may ask: why did God arrange the second coming of Christ in two phases — the Rapture, then the appearing — instead of one phase? And the answer reveals the wisdom of God and His love together.

First: to keep His church from wrath. For if the coming were one phase after the Tribulation, the church would be forced to pass through the wrath of God poured out. But the two phases allow the church to be caught up first to safety, then the wrath to be poured out on the earth, then the return at the appearing. So the arrangement keeps the promise of God that He "hath not appointed us to wrath."

Second: to fulfil His promises to Israel and to the church both. For the church has a heavenly hope — it is taken to the Father's house; and Israel has an earthly hope — a kingdom on its land. And the two phases allow the fulfilment of both hopes, each in its place: the church is caught up to heaven at the Rapture, then Israel is purified in the Tribulation, then the earthly kingdom is established at the appearing. Third: to display both grace and judgment each in its fulness. For in the Rapture the perfect grace of God to His church is displayed; in the Tribulation His perfect judgment upon the rejecting world is displayed; and in the appearing and the kingdom His justice and glory are displayed. So the two phases are not a complexity without reason, but a divine wisdom that reconciles grace and justice, the promises of heaven and the promises of earth, and the salvation of the church and the chastening of Israel and the judgment of the world. And so, when we understand the arrangement, we see no complexity, but a beautiful harmony that reveals the wisdom of God who "hath made every thing beautiful in his time."

How This Hope Changes Us: Comfort

The teaching of the coming of Christ is not a theoretical doctrine that we put on a shelf, but a power that changes the believer's life today. And the first thing this hope does is comfort. For the apostle closed his description of the Rapture with:

So the believer who has said farewell to a believing loved one at the grave does not stand there without hope, but knows the parting is temporary, and that Christ will gather them again in a glorious day.

And this comfort extends to every pain in this life. The sick on his bed, the persecuted in his prison, the lonely in his exile, the grieving in his sorrow — all find in the hope of the coming a power that carries them. For they know that all these afflictions are "light" and "but for a moment" beside "a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory" to come (2 Corinthians 4:17). For when Christ comes, He wipes every tear from the eyes, and there is no death nor sorrow nor crying nor pain. So the hope of His coming turns the night of pain into the awaiting of a near dawn.

How This Hope Changes Us: Holiness

And the hope in the coming of Christ is a purifying power. The apostle John wrote:

"And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure" — 1 John 3:3

For the believer who knows his Master may come at any moment lives a ready, holy life, not wanting to be surprised by the coming of his Master while he is in sin.

Consider a servant who knows his master may return from a journey at any hour without warning: how does he keep the house? With faithfulness and constant watchfulness, lest the master come suddenly and find him negligent. So is the believer: the imminence of the coming drives him to holiness, not to laxity. Christ said:

So constant readiness is the fruit of true hope. And whoever says he awaits Christ and then lives in sin, his hope is words, not reality.

How This Hope Changes Us: Evangelism and Urgency

And the hope in the coming of Christ generates urgency in evangelism. For if Christ is coming, and if those without salvation will be left in the Tribulation and then the eternal judgment, how great is our responsibility to witness now, before the door is shut! The imminence of the coming turns evangelism from a deferred duty into an urgent necessity.

For how many a relative and friend and neighbour has not yet heard that Christ died for him and rose, and that He is coming again! And the time we have to reach them is limited; we do not know when it ends. So the believer who carries the hope of the coming in his heart cannot be silent, but hastens to tell people of salvation before it is too late. This is what the apostles did: they lived as though Christ were coming in their generation, and so they evangelised the world with a zeal that changed history. And the nearer the signs draw, the greater the urgency, for "the night is far spent, the day is at hand."

How This Hope Changes Us: Patience and Separation from the World

And the hope in the coming of Christ gives patience in affliction and separation from the world. James wrote:

So the believer who knows his Master is coming endures the injustice and cruelty of the world with patience, for he knows that perfect justice is coming with Christ.

And this hope also loosens the heart's attachment to the world. For whoever awaits a heavenly city and a coming King does not place all his treasure in a perishing earth. The apostle wrote:

So the believer is a stranger and a pilgrim in this world, his homeland in heaven, his hope the coming of his Master. And this does not make him idle, but frees him from the slavery of materialism and greed and fear, to live for the glory of God alone, awaiting "that blessed hope."

A Crown for Those Who Love His Appearing

The apostle Paul ended his whole life with a look toward the coming of Christ. For while he was in prison, awaiting death, he wrote his last words with a marvellous confidence:

Note who receives the crown: "all them also that love his appearing." So the crown is not for the apostles alone, nor only for the great in faith, but for every believer who "loves his appearing" — that is, who awaits the coming of Christ with longing and love. For the love of His appearing is a sign of the heart that lives for heaven and not for earth, that places its hope in its coming Master and not in this perishing world.

So ask yourself: do you love His appearing? Do you await His coming with longing? Or is your heart attached to the earth, so that the coming frightens you rather than gladdens you? The believer who lives ready, holy, fruitful, awaits his Master as the bride awaits her bridegroom. And whoever loves His appearing receives the crown of righteousness in that day. So let the coming of Christ be your hope and your love, not merely a doctrine in your mind. And let your cry be with all the saints: "Even so, come, Lord Jesus." For whoever loves His appearing prepares for it; and whoever prepares for it is not surprised by it; and whoever is not surprised by it receives the crown in the great day. This is our blessed hope, and this is our steadfast love, and this is our waiting that does not disappoint.

"This Same Jesus": A Personal, Bodily, Certain Coming

Some may try to empty the coming of Christ of its meaning, saying it is a symbolic coming that happens at the death of each believer, or a spiritual coming that descended on the day of Pentecost, or merely a moral triumph of Christianity in history. But the Bible shuts this door with words that admit no interpretation.

The two angels said on the day of the ascension:

Consider three words. "This same Jesus" — the very same person, not an idea nor a spirit nor a movement; Christ Himself in His person returns. "Shall... come" — a real future coming, not a past event nor a symbol. "In like manner as ye have seen him go" — in the same manner: bodily, visibly, on the clouds. So as He ascended bodily and visibly, He returns bodily and visibly.

So the coming of Christ is personal — He Himself, not a deputy for Him; and bodily — in His glorified body, not spiritually only; and visible — every eye sees Him; and certain — for God who cannot lie promised it. So whoever denies the bodily, visible coming of Christ denies the plain word of the Bible and the testimony of the angels and the promise of Christ Himself. And the church through all the ages has repeated in its creed that He "shall come again with glory to judge the living and the dead" — for this is the plain teaching of the Bible, in which there is no ambiguity.

The Complete Picture: From the Manger to the Throne

Let us now gather all the threads of the picture, from the beginning to the end. Christ came first in humility, born in a manger, lived without sin, died on the cross as a ransom for sinners, rose on the third day, ascended into heaven, and sat at the right hand of the Father. This is the first coming that was fulfilled.

And here He is now, seated in heaven, preparing mansions for His people, interceding for them, and building His church. And in a moment that none knows but the Father, Christ will descend to the air, and the dead in Christ will rise and the living be caught up, and all will meet the Lord in the air — this is the Rapture, the blessed hope of the church. Then the bride will be with her bridegroom in heaven, receiving her rewards and celebrating her marriage, while the Great Tribulation is poured out on the rejecting earth, and Israel is purified and returned to its Messiah.

And at the end of the Tribulation, heaven is opened, and Christ comes forth a victorious horseman with His saints, and every eye sees Him, and His feet stand on the Mount of Olives — this is the appearing. So He judges His enemies, and binds Satan, and sits on the throne of David, and reigns a thousand years in righteousness and peace, and His saints reign with Him. And at the end, after the final judgment, comes the new heaven and the new earth, where God dwells with His people, with no death nor sorrow nor tear, for ever and ever. This is the complete picture: from the manger to the cross, to the empty tomb, to the heavenly throne, to the Rapture, to the appearing, to the kingdom, to the glorious eternity. And from the midst of this whole picture shines the hope of the church: "I will come again, and receive you unto myself."

Caught Up or Left Behind? The Most Urgent Question

After all we have seen, one question remains the most urgent in your whole life: when Christ comes at the Rapture, will you be among those caught up with Him, or among those left behind on the earth for the Tribulation? For the Rapture divides humanity into two, with no third: he who believed on Christ is caught up, and he who did not believe is left.

Christ said:

So the difference is not in the work nor in the place — both in the field, both at the mill — but in the relationship to Christ. He who had Him was taken; and he who had Him not was left. There will be no time to prepare in that moment, for it happens "in the twinkling of an eye." So the preparation must be now, before He comes.

Imagine that moment: in the twinkling of an eye, millions of believers vanish from the earth. The empty seats, the cars without their drivers, the homes that have lost their loved ones. And whoever is left realises — too late — that what he used to hear about the coming of Christ was true. What regret that is! But the grace is that you are reading this now, before that moment. For the door is still open. And the invitation still stands. And the question is to you: where will you be when the trumpet sounds?

An Invitation to the Blessed Hope

If you have read this far and have not believed on Christ with a personal faith, then the greatest thing that could happen to you today is that you prepare to meet your Master. And the preparation is not by works nor by rituals, but by faith in Christ who died for your sins and rose. For the One who will come to take His people is Himself the One who died on the cross to make a place for you among them.

The promise is clear and simple:

And when you believe, your name is written in the book of life, and you become a child of God, and you pass in a moment "from death unto life." And then the coming of Christ becomes your blessed hope, not your terror: you await Him not with fear but with longing, knowing that when the trumpet sounds you will be among those caught up to Him, to be with Him "ever."

So do not delay. For you do not know when He comes, and you may not have a tomorrow to prepare in. Come to Christ now just as you are, and receive Him as Saviour and Lord, and rest upon His finished work on the cross alone. And then you join all the believers through the ages who cry with longing:

A Closing Word

This is the hope of the church from the day of the ascension of Christ until today: that He is coming again. He came first in humility to redeem, and He will come again in glory to reign. And between His ascension and His coming, His people wait, watching, ready, fruitful, carrying "that blessed hope" in their hearts. They know not the day nor the hour, but they know with certainty that He is coming, and that every day that passes draws them nearer to that glorious moment when the trumpet sounds, and the Lord Himself descends, and they are caught up to meet Him in the air.

May God make us among the watching and the ready, who await "the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ," so that we live every day in the light of this hope, until that day comes which has no night after it, and we are with the Lord who loved us and gave Himself for us, for ever and ever. "The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen".

The evidence presented in this article from the Holy Scriptures is consistent and convergent. The testimony of the entire canon — from the earliest writings of Moses to the final visions of the apostle John — points in the same direction and speaks with the same authority. What God has said, He has said permanently and without revision. And what He has said on this subject calls for a personal response from every reader who genuinely understands it.

The great principle that the Holy Scriptures return to again and again in addressing human need is the principle of grace: that God does not deal with human beings on the basis of what they deserve, but on the basis of the finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ. This means that access to God, forgiveness of sins, and the certainty of eternal life are available not as a reward for sufficient religious performance, but as a free gift to all who trust in the Lord Jesus Christ.

The Holy Scriptures have never been silent about the deepest questions of the human heart. They speak to the reality of human suffering and failure, to the reality of divine love and provision, to the reality of sin and its consequences, and to the reality of redemption through the Lord Jesus Christ. Every passage quoted in this article is drawn from that living Word — a Word that God Himself has described as alive and active (Hebrews 4:12), more powerful than any human argument, and capable of reaching the parts of the human soul that no other word can touch.

The invitation that every true proclamation of biblical truth extends is not primarily intellectual — it is personal and relational. God is calling you, through these truths, not merely to update your theology but to know Him — to enter into the living relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ that the gospel makes possible. This relationship begins at the moment of genuine faith and continues throughout eternity. It is the relationship for which you were created. And it is available to you right now.

Throughout history, human beings have attempted to address the deepest needs of the human heart through philosophy, religion, medicine, and social reform. Each of these has contributed something valuable. But none of them has been able to address the root problem — the alienation between the human soul and the God who made it. Only the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ speaks to this root need, because only the gospel goes to the root cause — the separation created by sin — and addresses it at its source through the substitutionary death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ.

The call that has echoed throughout this article is the same call that has echoed throughout the Holy Scriptures from Genesis to Revelation: come to God. Come with your need, your guilt, your questions, your pain, your doubt. Come not because you are ready, but because you need Him and He is ready to receive you. Come in the name and through the merits of the Lord Jesus Christ — the only name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved (Acts 4:12). Come now. He will not turn you away.

The promises of God in the Holy Scriptures are not conditional upon human virtue or human persistence. They rest on the character of God Himself — on His faithfulness, His love, His power, and His unchanging commitment to all who come to Him through the Lord Jesus Christ. The apostle Paul could declare with complete confidence:

This confidence is available to every believer — including you.

This article closes with the same affirmation with which every genuine proclamation of biblical truth must close: God is faithful. His Word is true. His Son is alive. His Spirit is active. And His invitation stands open to you right now, without conditions, without prerequisites, without the need for any human intermediary.

This is the promise. This is the gospel. And this is for you.

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