I will also mention here that there is a group who professes belief in, and teaches, a doctrine called “the rapture.” That, of course, involves a “secret coming” of the Lord, when those who are faithful will be taken out of the earth for a period of time. Again, we don’t see anything secretive or quiet about the coming of the Lord. Of course, there is nothing to substantiate, no Truth in, this doctrine of a “rapture” in the Scriptures.

Then what’s going to happen next? Well, all the dead will be raised, John 5, verse 28 and 29 [“Do not marvel at this; for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His voiceand come forth—those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation.”]. [Revelation 20:13—“The sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them. And they were judged, each one according to his works.”]

And as we just read in the last line of 1 Thessalonians, chapter 4, verse 16, Paul tells us that the dead in Christ will be raised first [“For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first.”]. Then, we read on in verse 17, “Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air.” So the dead in Christ will rise first, and then those faithful people who are still living at that time, will be meet them in the clouds, and together, they will meet the Lord in the air. Notice that the Lord will not touch this earth again at His second coming. All those who are IN CHRIST will meet Him in the air.

Now, something is going to occur at that time. Again, all of this is going to happen in the “twinkling of an eye.” Let’s go to 1 Corinthians, chapter 15, and look at something else that is going to occur as a part of this second coming. I just noticed that in my Bible, verse 50 is preceded with the title, “Our Final Victory.” Beginning with verse 50, “Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does corruption inherit incorruption. Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed—in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye,” (there’s that ‘twinkling of an eye,’) “at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.” So somewhere in that “twinkling of an eye,” our bodies will be changed. Why? Because what we currently have in this earthly life are mortal bodies, flesh and blood bodies that are “corruptible” and “mortal.” They will die a physical death. They must be changed into “immortality,” into bodies that are “incorruptible,” that is, immortal spiritual bodies. And remember that ALL of the dead will rise, both good and evil. With those who are living, they will be changed and have eternal spiritual bodies that will be eternally in heaven with the God, or eternally in hell.

John speaks also in Revelation, chapter 20, verse 13 of the resurrection of the dead [“The sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them. And they were judged, each one according to his works.”].

In this discussion about the sequence of events—things that are going to transpire on that last day, at that last moment—notice again that Christ will not set foot on the earth. There is a great deal of confusion about this in the world. There are many called “premillennialists” who believe that Jesus is going to return to the earth. Those who believe in the “rapture” and those who are “premillennialists” teach a doctrine that says that the Lord will return to earth. After a period of about a thousand years (depending on whose doctrine you listen to in this regard), the Lord will return to the earth, along with all of those who had been “raptured,” and He will reign here on the earth, from the City of Jerusalem, on the literal throne of David, and so on. Again, there is no Scriptural basis for this doctrine. We see from the Scriptures that Jesus will not set foot on this earth again. You notice again there in 1 Thessalonians 4:17, that those who are IN HIM will “meet Him in the air.”

In John 14, verses 1 through 4, He gives us that wonderful promise about going to prepare a place for us [“Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also. And where I go you know, and the Way you know.”]. If He goes to prepare a place for us, He will come again and He will take us there to be with Him. No, He has not prepared a place for His children here on earth! He’s not going to come back and stay here! He will not even touch this earth again! He’s going to TAKE His children to that place that He has prepared. This is an important point to remember, because, once again, there is much false teaching about this. There are many, many people who are evangelicals—many who are in numerous denominations, various phases of different denominations, like Presbyterians, Methodists, and so on, who believe this false teaching. So we must be clear on this matter. We must believe what GOD says.

Then, in considering the things that will happen in that last time, Peter relates that the universe at this time will be destroyed, that is, once all the humans have been removed from the earth. 2 Peter 3, verse 10 says that the earth will be consumed with fire [“But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up.”]. I believe that this is an interesting thought. It will go back to the “nothingness” from which it was created. You remember back in Genesis 1, verse 1, that “In the beginning God created.” In the original language, that word “created” suggests that He created something out of “nothingness.” There wasn’t anything here and God spoke everything into existence. When all of this is gone and consumed, what was created by God will go back to the “nothingness” that existed before God created all things.