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“As a blind
man has no idea of colors, so we have no idea of the manner by which
the all-wise God perceives and understands all things.” —Isaac
Newton (1642-1727)
32
Differences Between the Rapture & Second Coming
The following 32 distinctions help
to grasp the differences between these two great future events.
Keep in mind that the RAPTURE happens BEFORE the 7-year
Tribulation period; and then after the 7-years the glorious
SECOND COMING (glorious appearing) of our great Lord, King
and Savior will happen, when the entire world beholds Him...
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The Rapture |
The
Second Coming |
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At the Rapture, Jesus
comes FOR His Church. (John 14:1-3, 1 Thessalonians
4:14-17) |
At the Glorious
Appearing (Second Coming), Jesus comes WITH His Church.
(Zechariah 14:5, Colossians 3:4, Jude 14, Revelation
19:14) |
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At the Rapture,
Christians are caught up to meet Jesus in the air (1
Thessalonians 4:13-18) |
At the Glorious
Appearing, Jesus' feet touch the earth (Zechariah 14:4,
Revelation 19:11-21) |
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At the Rapture, Christians are
taken up but unbelievers are left
behind. (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18) |
At the Glorious
Appearing, the unsaved wicked (tares) are taken up, but the righteous
(wheat, i.e., the tribulation saints) are left behind. (Matthew
13:28-30) |
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At the Rapture, Jesus
will gather His Bride, the Church, unto Himself in
preparation of the Marriage of the Lamb. (Revelation
19:6-9) |
At the Glorious
Appearing, Jesus will execute judgment on the earth and
establish His Kingdom. (Zechariah 14:3-4, Jude 14-15,
Revelation 19:11-21) |
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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) |
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The Rapture will happen
in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye (Blink. It's
over!). (1 Corinthians 15:52) |
The Glorious Appearing
will be a slow coming. Everyone will see Jesus coming with
great power and great glory! (Zechariah 12:10, Matthew
24:30, Revelation 1:7) |
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At the Rapture, only
those who are looking for Him (Christians) will see Him.
(1 John 3:2, 1 Corinthians 15:52) |
At the Glorious
Appearing, every eye will see Him and those who have
rejected Him will wail. (Revelation 1:7) |
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At the Rapture, Jesus
will descend from Heaven with a shout (calling for the
saints at the resurrection). (1 Thessalonians 4:16) |
At the Glorious
Appearing, no shout is mentioned, although the Lord does
slay the wicked with the sword of His mouth. (Revelation
19:11-21) |
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The
“First Resurrection” of Revelation 20:6 includes 5
separate resurrections. At the Rapture, the third of
these resurrections occurs. (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18, 1
Corinthians 15:51-54. The First Resurrection is only for
born-again believers, that is, Christians.) |
At the Glorious
Appearing of Jesus Christ, the final of these 5 (of the
First Resurrection) will happen. (Daniel 12:2 contrasts
the saved with the unsaved, speaking of both the First and
the Second Resurrection. The Second Resurrection is only
for the unsaved damned.) |
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The Rapture can happen
at any time...maybe even now which is why we are to be
WATCHING for the return of Jesus Christ! (Revelation 3:3,
1 Thessalonians 5:4-6) |
The Glorious Appearing
will occur at the end of the seven-year tribulation
period. (Daniel 9:24-27, Matthew 24:29-30, 2 Thessalonians
2:3-8) |
At the Rapture, no
angels are sent to gather the Church.
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At the Glorious
Appearing, angels will be sent to gather people together
for judgment. (Matthew 13:39, 41 &
49, Matthew 24:31, Matthew 25:31, 2 Thessalonians 1:7-10)
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At the Rapture, those
who died in Christ will return with Jesus to recover their
resurrected bodies. (1 Thessalonians 4:14-16) |
At the Glorious
Appearing, Christians will return with Jesus already in
their resurrected bodies, riding on white horses wearing
white linen.
(Revelation 19:11-21) |
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At the Rapture, Jesus
doesn't return riding a white horse. |
At the Glorious
Appearing, Jesus will return riding a white horse.
(Revelation 19:11) |
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The Rapture will bring
with it a message of hope and comfort. (1 Thessalonians
4:18, Titus 2:13, 1 John 3:3) |
The Glorious Appearing
will bring with it a message of judgment. (Joel 3:12-16,
Malachi 4:5, Revelation 19:11-21) |
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World is deceived. (2
Thessalonians 2:3-12) |
Satan is bound.
(Revelation 20:1-2) |
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Focus: Lord and Church.
(1 Thessalonians 4:13-18) |
Focus: Israel and
Kingdom. (Matthew 24:14) |
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No signs precede
Rapture. (1 Thessalonians 5:1-3) |
Signs precede Second
Coming. (Luke 21:11,15) |
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Tribulation begins. |
Millennial kingdom
begins. |
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Manifestation of Antichrist. (2
Thessalonians 2:3-4) |
Manifestation of
Jesus Christ. (Malachi 4:2) |
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Jesus claims His bride. |
Jesus comes with His
bride. (Revelation 19:6-14) |
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Marriage Supper Of The
Lamb follows the Rapture. (Revelation 19:9) |
The Great Supper of the
wicked follows the Tribulation. (Revelation 19:17) |
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The world will not see
Jesus at the Rapture; but rather, believers ascend go to
meet Him in the air. (1 Thessalonians 4:17) |
Jesus will descend
bodily and visibly for all to see, just as He ascended
bodily and visibly. (Acts 1:9-11) |
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The Judgment Seat Of
Christ follows the Rapture. (2nd Corinthians 5:9-11) |
The Judgment of the
Nations follows the Tribulation (Matthew 24:32-46) |
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Believers receive a
new, immortal, glorified body fashioned like unto the
Lord's. (Philippians 3:21; 1 Corinthians 15:51-54) |
Saints saved during the
Tribulation enter into the Millennial kingdom with their
earthly bodies. (Isaiah 65:20) |
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The Antichrist is
revealed after the Rapture. (2 Thessalonians 2:8) |
The Antichrist is
defeated and cast into the Lake of Fire at the Second
Coming. (Revelation 19:20) |
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Israel is persecuted
during the Tribulation. Two-in-three Jews in Israel are
killed. (Zechariah 13:8-9) |
Israel is regathered.
(Jeremiah 23:5-8) |
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The timing of the Rapture is
unknown. It is a secret. No man, nor the angels, not even
the Son, know when this time shall be (Mark 13:32). Only a
pretribulation Rapture position supports this vital
Biblical truth. |
The timing of Christ's Second
Coming is known, which is at the culmination of the 7-year
Tribulation (or, Daniel's 70th week). The Rapture starts
the calendar clock for Daniel's 70th week. |
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World government (New
World Order) follows the Rapture. (Revelation 13:15) |
Christ's reign and
government follows the Second Coming. (Daniel 2:34-35) |
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The Lord gathers the
saints (2nd Thessalonians 2:1) |
The angels gather the
saints (the elect, Matthew 24:31) |
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Both the living and the dead
saints are gathered (1st Thessalonians 4:16-17) |
Only the living saints
are gathered (Matthew 24:31) |
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The trumpet shall sound
multiple times, and at THE LAST TRUMP (trumpet blow), we
(believers) shall all be changed, glorious resurrected
with an incorruptible body (1st Corinthians 15:52; 1st
Thessalonians 4:16) |
The Lord's voice is as a
trumpet (Revelation 1:10-11). There is no trumpet
mentioned at Christ's Second Coming. |
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World famine,
pestilence, war and sorrow follow the Rapture. (Matthew
24:6-10; Luke 17:31) |
World peace follows
Christ's Second Coming when He reigns from Jerusalem
(Isaiah 11:6) |
CLEARLY, although some
of the previous contrasts are debatable, most of them plainly
evidence that there is absolutely NO WAY that the Rapture can happen
AFTER the Tribulation! The serious and diligent Bible student
who considers all of the preceding 32 distinct differences between the Rapture and the Second Coming of Christ
can only conclude a Pre-Tribulation Rapture!!!
Here is a helpful prophecy chart by Pastor Harry A. Ironside
(1876-1951) showing the timing of Biblical events.
The Pre-Tribulation Rapture Plain And Simple
(an excerpt from the 338-page book,
I Know Who Holds Tomorrow)
Pastor
Oliver B. Greene Taught a Pretribulation Rapture!
Evangelist Oliver B.
Greene (1915-1976) states in support of the Pretribulation
Rapture...
God did not judge
Sodom until Lot was safe outside the city walls (Genesis 19).
Nor did God utterly destroy Jericho until Rahab was saved
(Joshua 6). This will be just as true in the future; God will
not judge this earth, nor the wicked in the final judgment,
until the Church is taken out of the earth. That promise is
clear: “Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also
will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come
upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth”
(Revelation 3:10). This verse definitely refers to the great
Tribulation period. The Rapture takes place at the beginning
of chapter four. A door is opened in Heaven and a Voice cries
out, “Come up hither!” And the Church is raptured out of the
earth to meet the Lord in the air. Read I Thessalonians
4:13-18. ...
A PROPHETIC
DECLARATION
Revelation 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.”
The second coming of
our Lord is a vital part of Christian doctrine, and there has
never been a time of greater need for the preaching of this
truth than today.
It is essential to
distinguish the two parts of His second coming. There is
definitely a period of time between the Rapture (the time when
Jesus comes FOR His saints) and the Revelation (when He comes
WITH His saints). The Rapture is mentioned in John 14:3;
Philippians 3:20; I Thessalonians 4:15-18; and I Corinthians
15:23.
All these Scriptures
refer to the next great event for Christians - the Rapture of
the Church - the time when Jesus comes for His saints, and
every living, born again, blood-washed child of God will be
caught up to meet Him; the bodies of all the saints who have
died will be raised incorruptible, and we will all be caught
up together to meet the Lord in the clouds in the air.
But there is another
group of Scriptures in both the Old and New Testaments which
distinctly teach another coming, and verse 7 in our present
chapter refers to this time when Jesus will come WITH His
saints. (In connection with this read Jude 14; Zechariah 14:5;
Colossians 3:4 and Revelation 19:11-14).
The statement,
“Behold, He cometh with clouds” agrees with Daniel’s statement
“I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of
man came with the clouds of Heaven” (Daniel 7:13). This also
corresponds with the prophetic utterance of the Lord on the
Mount of Olives: “They shall see the Son of man coming in the
clouds of Heaven with power and great glory” (Matthew 24:30b).
All these Scriptures
refer to the Revelation - the time when Jesus will come in the
air and EVERY EYE shall see Him. When the Rapture takes place,
no person will see the Lord Jesus. He will not come to the
earth; He will descend in the air, the trumpet will sound, the
voice of the archangel will call the saints up to meet Jesus
in the air. He will not stand on the earth when He comes in
the Rapture, but He WILL stand on the earth when He comes in
the second phase of His return. Zechariah 14:4 definitely
describes the Lord Jesus standing on the Mount of Olives.
The prophets
throughout the era of the Old Testament had two great
prophetic themes: Judgment - and Glory. The Old Testament
prophet did not see the church age it was a mystery until it
was revealed to the Apostle Paul, who makes known that
revelation in the book of Ephesians. As the end of the church
age draws near, Jews and Gentiles will become wicked as never
before on the face of the earth (Isaiah 60:2).
The nations will be
gathered in open rebellion against the Lamb of God (Revelation
19:19) and they will fight against Jerusalem (Zechariah 14:2).
Therefore, the earth
must be cleared of evil and ungodly men before the Lord Jesus
comes back to reign in glory, with His Church. Before leaving
this section, let me point out that Christ is nowhere said to
come with the clouds to gather the Church out of the earth. On
the contrary, the saints go up in the clouds (I Thessalonians
4:17). God provides a royal carriage to convey the saints from
the earth to meet the Lord in the air. Clouds in the Old
Testament were the well-known symbol of the presence of the
Lord with His people (Exodus 13:21-40; Exodus 40:34-38;
Luke 9:35).
Christ is not only
said to come “in the clouds” (Mark 13:26) but He will come
with the clouds (Revelation 1:7) and in the clouds (Matthew
24:30). The clouds which attend His coming are symbols of His
majesty and glory. Read Psalm 18:9-12. The Lord sits on the
clouds, as on His throne. We believers will be caught up in
the clouds (I Thessalonians 4:17).
The Lord Jesus
ascended in the clouds (Acts 1:9) and He will come in a cloud
(Luke 21:27). These facts are very interesting to spiritually
minded believers. The statement “every eye shall see Him” is
to be taken literally. Every eye will not see Him at the same
identical split second - but every eye will see Jesus. One
class is singled out from the mass of mankind and mentioned as
“they which pierced Him.”
The entire earth will
be in open conflict against the Lord God and His Anointed
(read Psalm 2), but this one group is pointed out
specifically. John is the only one who records the incident of
the Gentile spear which pierced the Saviour’s side (John
19:33-37). Pilate admitted three times that there was no fault
in Jesus (John 18:38-19:6); but in spite of the fact that Rome
knew Jesus to be innocent, they allowed Him to be scourged and
crucified. The Jews screamed aloud for His death. They invited
His blood to be not only upon them, but upon their children;
and their children have inherited that guilt for generations.
They will see Him “whom they pierced” (read Zechariah 12:10).
The peoples referred
to as “those who pierced Him” are the people whom we know
today as Jews.
“All the tribes of the
earth shall wail because of Him.” This coming in the clouds in
great glory and power will take place over the entire universe
at the same identical time. All the peoples of all the earth
will see the Son of God coming in the clouds of Glory. In
chapter six we will learn that a world-wide prayer meeting
will immediately be in progress . . . but the prayers will be
unanswered.
Verse 7 closes with
the words “. . . Even so, Amen.” That is a double “amen,” and
certainly carries much weight spiritually. Amen means “so be
it.” The Spirit is saying here, “This is true. It will happen
exactly as stated.”
SOURCE: Dr.
Oliver B. Greene, a quote from chapter 1 of the excellent
book, “THE REVELATION,” ©1963, The Gospel Hour
Jeremiah 6:16, “Thus saith the LORD, Stand ye in
the ways, and see, and
ask for the old paths,
where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your
souls. But they said, We will not walk therein.”
A Defense Of The Pretribulation Rapture In Matthew 24:36-44
(The Olivet
Discourse)
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