The Rapture will occur when Christ gathers believers up to Him in heaven. Then He will return with them to earth to judge unbelievers and to rule the world from Jerusalem. The apostle Paul made the timing of these two events clear.
“Now we request you, brethren, with regard to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, that you not be quickly shaken from your composure or be disturbed either by a spirit or a message or a letter as if from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come. Let no one in any way deceive you, for it will not come unless the apostasy comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, who opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, displaying himself as being God.” (2 Thess 2:1-5).
First comes the man of lawlessness
We know the “man of lawlessness” is the Antichrist. First he will appear as a world peacemaker. But he will have a hidden agenda. He will aim at becoming the sole unchallenged god over all the world’s worship, political authority, economy, and armed forces. He will emerge as the “lawless one” who violates all treaties of peace and breaks all laws except his own.
“Then that lawless one will be revealed whom the Lord will slay with the breath of His mouth and bring to an end by the appearance of His coming…” (2 Thess 2:8).
So the Second Coming of the Lord will include both the Rapture (2 Thess. 2:1) and the destruction of the Antichrist at the end of his 7-year reign of terror (2 Thess. 2:8). At that time He will begin to reign with His saints, bringing great blessings and glory for 1000 years.
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