The church age will end when the Body of Christ is complete — God will then remove the church from the earth in the sudden rapture, raising the dead in Christ and changing living believers in an instant.
Les Feldick teaches that believers are brought into the Body of Christ one at a time, and when the last person is in place the Body is complete, much like a fetus fully formed in the womb. At that moment the rapture occurs: the dead in Christ are raised with incorruptible bodies and living believers are changed 'in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye' at the last trumpet, and together they meet the Lord in the air. After the church is taken out, God resumes His dealings with Israel and the seven years of tribulation begin.
1 Corinthians 15:51-52 — Paul reveals the mystery of how the church age ends — not all believers will sleep, but all will be changed in a moment at the last trumpet.
1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 — This passage describes the Lord's descent and the catching up of the dead in Christ and living believers together to meet Him in the air.
Romans 11:25 — The 'fulness of the Gentiles' marks the completion of the Gentile phase of the church age, after which God turns back to Israel.
The end of the church age is revealed in 1 Corinthians 15:51-52, where the Apostle Paul writes: 'Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.' The passage explicitly states that not every believer will experience death; at the last trumpet the dead will be raised incorruptible and living believers will be changed. Verse 53 adds, 'For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.' 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 supplies the accompanying sequence: 'For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and 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: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.' The dead in Christ rise first, and then living believers are caught up together with them. Romans 11:25 also speaks of a mystery regarding Israel: 'For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in.' Israel's partial blindness continues until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in — the completion of that fullness is the boundary that precedes God turning back to Israel.
Les Feldick teaches that the church age — which he calls the Age of Grace — is a mystery revealed only through the Apostle Paul. Nothing in the Old Testament hinted that God would pull both Jew and Gentile, without Israel, and put them into one body called the church, all by grace. It is 'the calling out of a people by His name.' When the church is complete and filled up, God has to take it out, and Les places the rapture just before the beginning of the final seven years of prophecy (Clip 1). He compares the growth of the Body of Christ to a fetus in the mother's womb: believers are coming into the Body one at a time, and one day the last person will be put into place. The Body will be complete, and God will deliver it from its confines here on earth. This completion, Les explains, is the 'fulness of the Gentiles' of Romans 11:25 — as soon as God has completed His work with the Gentile Body of Christ, He turns back to the Jew, who must go through the seven years of tribulation (Clip 3). The removal itself is the rapture, which Les calls a Church Age doctrine. There is not even a foggy hint of it in the Old Testament, the Gospels, or Acts; only Paul writes about the Church, and from his writings comes the teaching of the rapture (Clips 4, 5). At the rapture, Christ leaves glory and comes to the atmosphere, the trumpet sounds, the archangel shouts, and all the dead believers of the church age are raised and resurrected to meet the Lord in the air. In a split second behind them come believers who are still alive and remain (Clips 2, 4). Paul's words in 1 Corinthians 15 describe it as a change in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump — the dead raised incorruptible, and living believers changed (Clip 6). Les stresses that the rapture is, and always has been, imminent. Even in Paul's day believers were admonished to be prepared for the Lord's suddenly coming, and so it is today — 'we don't know when, but I think it could happen before the end of the year' (Clip 6). After the rapture, believers meet Christ in the air and go back with Him into heaven, stepping out of time into eternity, while the seven years of tribulation rage on the earth (Clip 7).
Les Feldick compares the building of the Body of Christ to a fetus in the mother's womb: believers come into the Body one at a time, and one day the last person will be put into place, making the Body complete. When that happens, God will deliver it from its confines here on earth, and the church will be taken out in the rapture. This completion, Les teaches, fulfills the 'fulness of the Gentiles' of Romans 11:25 — as soon as God has completed His work with the Gentile Body of Christ, He turns back to Israel, and the Jew will then go through the seven years of tribulation before enjoying the blessings of Christ's return.
Paul reveals in 1 Corinthians 15 that not all believers will die — 'we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed.' Les Feldick explains that in a fraction of a second, in the twinkling of an eye, at the sound of the last trumpet, the dead who have died as believers in Christ will be raised incorruptible, and believers who are alive will be changed. Les describes Christ coming from glory to the atmosphere, the archangel shouting, the trumpet sounding, the dead church-age believers being raised and going up to meet the Lord in the air — 'and in a split second behind them here we come, that are still alive and remain.'
After the rapture, Les teaches, believers meet Christ in the air and go back with Him into heaven, stepping out of time into eternity, while the seven years of tribulation rage on the earth. The age of grace is consummated and taken out at the rapture, and God then finishes where He left off with Israel. Because the completion of the church fulfills the 'fulness of the Gentiles,' God turns again to the Jew, who will go through the seven years of tribulation before enjoying all the blessings of Christ's return.
Will Your Works Burn? The Judgment Seat of Christ
We're going to rule and reign with Him on the earth. So I like to think that the reward aspect will be the amount of responsibility that God will give us in our role as ruling in His government. Now, I don't know if I'm scripturally correct here, but I like to go back to his description in the Gospels, in his own earthly ministry, when he gave out the talents.
The Church Filled and Taken Out
Les teaches that the church is a mystery never hinted at in the Old Testament — when the church is complete and filled up, God takes it out in the rapture just before the final seven years.
The Rapture Described in 1 Corinthians 15
Les explains that at the rapture, believers alive and remaining will be changed and all who died during the church age will be raised bodily, visibly, and physically with new bodies, meeting the Lord in the air.
The Last Person in the Body of Christ
Les compares the Body of Christ to a fetus in the womb — one day the last person will be put into place, the Body will be complete, and God will deliver it from the earth; this completes the fullness of the Gentiles and God then turns back to Israel.
The Rapture as a Mystery Revealed Through Paul
Les emphasizes that the sudden removal of living believers at the end of the church age is part of the mystery revealed only in Paul's writings — Christ comes to the atmosphere, the trumpet sounds, the archangel shouts, the dead are raised, and living believers follow in a split second.
A Church Age Doctrine
Les shows that there is not a hint of the rapture anywhere before Paul — it is a Church Age phenomenon and a Church Age doctrine, taught only by the Apostle Paul.
The Twinkling of an Eye at the Last Trump
Les teaches that in a fraction of a second, at the last trump, the dead will be raised incorruptible and living believers will be changed — and that the rapture has always been imminent, with believers called to be prepared for the Lord's sudden coming.
The Age of Grace Consummated
Les explains that the age of grace is consummated at the rapture — believers meet Christ in the air and go to heaven while the seven years of tribulation rage on earth, stepping out of time into eternity.
1 Corinthians 15:51-52: Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.
The key passage on how the church age ends — Paul reveals the mystery that living believers will be changed at the last trumpet while the dead are raised incorruptible.
1 Corinthians 15:53: For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.
Explains why the change is required: the corruptible and mortal must be transformed into incorruption and immortality.
1 Thessalonians 4:16-17: For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and 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: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.
The companion rapture passage showing the Lord's descent, the resurrection of the dead in Christ first, and the catching up of living believers with them to meet the Lord in the air.
Romans 11:25: For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in.
States that Israel's blindness continues 'until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in' — the completion that precedes God turning back to Israel.
The church age ends when the Body of Christ is complete — when the last person has been brought into it. At that point God delivers the church from the earth in the rapture: the dead in Christ are raised incorruptible, living believers are changed in a moment at the last trumpet, and together they meet the Lord in the air (1 Corinthians 15:51-52; 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17).
No. Paul reveals in 1 Corinthians 15:51 that 'we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed.' Les Feldick teaches that believers alive and remaining at the rapture will be changed in a fraction of a second — in the twinkling of an eye — at the sound of the last trumpet.
They will be raised with incorruptible bodies. Les Feldick teaches that all who died during the church age are resurrected bodily, visibly, and physically with a new body, and that Christ brings the souls of those departed saints with Him; the dead in Christ rise first and then meet the Lord in the air.
Les Feldick teaches that believers meet Christ in the air and go back with Him into heaven, stepping out of time into eternity, while the seven years of tribulation rage on the earth. God then finishes where He left off with Israel, since the completion of the church fulfills the 'fulness of the Gentiles' of Romans 11:25.
Watch the Teaching: Will Your Works Burn? The Judgment Seat of Christ