I mentioned on Sunday that we would be taking texts or written questions from the messages during the “How To Survive The End Of The World” series. Here are the questions and answers from the first message from this past Sunday. If you missed it, check it out on thetruelifechurch.com. We hope that you will be here this Sunday as we look at “Mistakes To Avoid About The Return Of Christ.” Some of the questions that I am addressing here will be issues that we look at in later messages in this series to I won’t go into a ton of detail in answering them here.
1. Is there a rapture of the church or only the return of Jesus Christ to earth? I believe that the 2nd coming of Christ is comprised of two connected, but distinct events: the rapture (1 Thessalonians 4) and the actual return of Christ to earth (Revelation 19:11-16). The rapture refers to the Lord “snatching away” the church to meet Him in the air. The return of Christ to earth is when He comes back with His saints to conquer His enemies and set up His Kingdom on the earth. Here are some differences in the two events that show they are distinct:
-At the rapture, Jesus comes to receive His church in the air while He returns to earth with His church at the 2nd coming.
-The rapture will be like a “thief in the night” while the 2nd coming is preceded by numerous signs.
-The rapture is a message of comfort for believers while the 2nd coming is a message of warning and judgment for non-believers.
-The focus of the rapture is the church while the focus surrounding the 2nd coming is Israel.
-The rapture is a mystery while the 2nd coming is prophesied.
-At the rapture, believers are taken to heaven. At the 2nd coming, believers return to earth to be part of the millennial kingdom but every person will see Christ return (Zechariah 12:10).
2. After the “rapture,” is Jesus’ 1000 year reign supposed to start then? In my opinion (and people understand Scripture differently on a lot of these points) the 7 year period of Tribulation starts then while the 1000 year reign follows the 2nd coming.
3. Where will Christians go after the rapture? 1 Thessalonians 4:17 says, “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.” So, we are always going to be with Jesus. I believe we are in heaven at that point.
4. Will the anti-Christ be on the earth during Jesus 1000 year reign? No. He will be in hell (Revelation 19:20).
5. Will the “new heaven/new earth/new Jerusalem” happen after Jesus’ reign or after the rapture?
It is not after the rapture. It is either after the return of Christ or the final judgment.
6. In the first service, I quoted Martin Luther, who said, “I only have two days on my calendar, today and that day.” Someone asked the question (probably facetiously, but I am going to answer it anyway), “If Martin Luther put two days on his calendar…’today and that day,’ which day did he put down as ‘that day’?” I wanted to answer the question to share the quote because I only shared it in the 1st service (if memory serves correctly) and explain the meaning of it. I think that he was emphasizing the importance of doing the will of God in the moment with the immanent return of Christ in mind as a motivating factor. I think that is how the Lord wants us to live our lives each day.
