Millennialism, End Times, and the Reign of Christ (Part 06) – The Resurrection, ‘Rapture’, Destruction of the Heavens and Earth

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1.      The resurrection.

1. At His Second Coming Jesus will resurrect the dead (1Th 4:16).
   1. The resurrection of the dead will be both of the just and unjust (Act 24:15).
   2. There is only one general resurrection: a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and unjust.

• There will only be one resurrection of all that are in the graves (Joh 5:28).

1. Of all those who are resurrected, the righteous will be resurrected to eternal life and the wicked will be resurrected to eternal damnation (Joh 5:29; Dan 12:2).

1. The resurrection which happens at the Second Coming of Christ will happen at the last day (Joh 6:39,40,44,54; Joh 11:24)
   1. The resurrection happens at the LAST TRUMP (1Co 15:52), when all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven, at which time there will be a great sound of a TRUMPET (Mat 24:30-31), which happens when the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout…with the TRUMP of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air (1Th 4:16-17).
   2. The resurrection happens at the same time that the heavens be no more (Job 14:12).

• This is the day of the Lord in which the heavens and the earth are destroyed by fire which comes as a thief in the night (2Pe 3:10).

1. The day of the Lord is the day of the coming of the Son of man which comes as a thief in the night (Mat 24:42-44).
2. The coming of Christ will be as the days of Noah in which the destruction of the world will happen at His coming (Mat 24:37-39).

2.      The “rapture”.

1. The word rapture is not used in the Bible, but the concept is.
2. Rapture – 1. The act of seizing and carrying off as prey or plunder. 4. The act of conveying a person from one place to another, esp. to heaven; the fact of being so conveyed.
3. The rapture, in which God’s elect are caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, happens immediately after Christ returns to earth both visibly and audibly, and resurrects the dead (1Th 4:16-17).
4. In that the resurrection happens on the last day (Joh 6:39), the rapture likewise happens on the last day.
5. The rapture is also referred to as our gathering together unto the Lord Jesus Christ which happens at His coming (2Th 2:1).
   1. The gathering of the elect (rapture) from the four winds of the earth happens after the visible, audible, bodily return of Jesus Christ (Mat 24:30-31).
   2. The rapture will happen after there is a great falling away and the man of sin (commonly called The Antichrist) is revealed (2Th 2:2-3).

• Let no man deceive you who teaches otherwise (2Th 2:3).

3.      The destruction of the Devil and the armies gathered against Christ.

1. Prior to the return of Christ the Devil will be loosed and he will go out to deceive the nations and gather them together to battle against the saints and Christ (Rev 20:7-8; Rev 19:19).
2. This is the battle of that great day of God Almighty, the battle of Armageddon (Rev 16:14,16).
3. Just when the Devil has compassed the camp of the saints and the beloved city, fire comes down from God out of heaven and devours them (Rev 20:9).
   1. The camp of the saints is the church (1Co 1:2; Eph 1:1).
   2. The beloved city is the church.
      1. The church is the city of God, the heavenly Jerusalem (Heb 12:22-23).
      2. The heavenly Jerusalem is the mother church (Gal 4:26).
      3. Every local church is an instantiation of the heavenly Jerusalem, which is the template.
      4. Jesus called His disciples a city on a hill (Mat 5:14).
      5. Earthly Jerusalem is not the beloved city (Rev 11:8).
   3. The fire that comes down from God is from Jesus Christ who comes from heaven with His eyes a flame of fire and a sharp sword coming out of His mouth with which He smites the nations (Rev 19:11-16).
      1. Jesus will be revealed from heaven in flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ (2Th 1:7-9).
      2. Jesus will consume the Wicked man of sin, who claims to be God (2Th 2:4), with the spirit of His mouth and the brightness of His coming (2Th 2:8-9).
   4. Jesus then casts the beast, the false prophet, and the Devil into the lake of fire (Rev 19:20-21; Rev 20:10).

4.      The destruction of the heavens and the earth.

1. The heavens and the earth are currently kept in store and are being reserved unto fire on judgment day (2Pe 3:7).
2. The heavens and the earth will be destroyed at the day of the Lord (2Pe 3:10-12).
3. The day of the Lord which comes as a thief in the night is the day the Son of man comes (Mat 24:42-44).
   1. This is the day when Jesus appears in the clouds and His elect are gathered from the four winds (the rapture) (Mat 24:30-31 c/w Mat 24:40-41).
   2. The day when the Son of man is revealed will be like it was in the day Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed by fire from heaven (Luk 17:28-30).

• The day of the Lord is clearly the last day of time since the heavens and the earth will be completely destroyed and the elements will be melted with fervent heat.

1. The destruction and dissolution of the heavens and the earth happens immediately prior to the final judgment of the dead (Rev 20:11-12).