The Rapture vs. The Second Coming — What's the Difference?

Hello and welcome to Through the Bible with Les Feldick. An Oklahoma rancher and farmer, Les Feldick has been teaching homestyle Bible classes for 20 years in Iowa, Oklahoma, and Texas. Les Feldick's unique style of Bible teaching has made the books of the Bible come to life. When Les is teaching, it's so interesting that people say time just seems to fly by. And now, here is Les Feldick. Okay, looks like we have everybody back again, and we'll just go right back to where we left off, Revelation chapter 18. And for those of you who may have never caught our program before, we are just an informal Bible study. We've got all different kinds of groups involved. We aren't underwritten by anyone in particular, we just depend on the gifts of God's people to stay on the air, and we enjoy hearing from you. For those of you who write and ask a question, I try to definitely answer them personally. So if you have a question you want to write, then I'll definitely answer. Otherwise, we just can't respond to every letter that comes, so I want you to know that we do appreciate them. Again we have to always announce that we tape these four programs once a month, so if you're ever in the Tulsa area or can come in, check with us and see what day we're taping. It's a Wednesday afternoon, almost every fourth Wednesday, but once in a while we have to deviate a little bit for one reason or another, so check with us. But that's the reason that four of these programs run pretty much continuously. We tape them one right after the other, we want you to know that, and that they are also all available on videotape, and if you're interested you call and ask about them. Now let's come back where we left off again with chapter 18. Like I said in the last program, I thought I was going to do all that in 30 minutes, and it's just impossible, but we're going to finish it in this half hour. As we look at these cataclysmic events that are associated now with the end of the tribulation and the return of Christ, I want you to keep them in your mind, because in the end of this half hour I'm going to go back and show the graphic difference between the silent removal of the believer at the rapture, when there are no cataclysmic events, when there is no great upheaval, we'll just simply one day be gone. I'm going to show you from Scripture so that there is no doubt in your mind that these are not one and the same event. I'll never forget when I first came to Oklahoma, and I don't know if the gentleman watches my program anymore or not, but I'll never forget when I was teaching an evening class in the church that we were involved in at that time. I taught the rapture one night, and one of the leaders of that church came up afterwards and he said, now, Lass, I've always believed in the second coming, but I never heard of it in two parts. He just shocked me, because I'd never known it any other way. But now, since I've been teaching for all these twenty-some years, I've found there are a lot of people that know nothing of what we call the rapture. A gentleman, I thought he was going to be here today, but he travels a lot, and he comes to our Tulsa class, and the other night he said, you can talk to people on the East Coast especially, they don't know what the rapture is, they've never heard of the word. Well now, that's almost unbelievable to us here, but whatever, there are still a lot of people who do not have a comprehension of the difference in those two events. So keep that in mind now, as we look at these horrible, cataclysmic events leading up to the return of Christ at His second coming, and then we're going to go back at the end of the program, hopefully, and show you how none of that is attendant with our gathering together at the trumpet sound. Now in Revelation chapter 8, we'll just wind this chapter up rather quickly now, and pick up again where we left off, where in verse 13 in our last program we were looking at all of the various commodities of trade that make up world business. And then in verse 14, where it says, And the fruits that thy soul lusteth after are departed from thee, all things which were dainty and goodly, and thou shalt find them no more at all. The merchants of these things, who were made rich by her, a conglomeration of religion, politics, and economics, will stand afar off for the fear of her torment, weeping and wailing, saying, Alas, alas, that great city, that was clothed in fine linen, and purple, and scarlet, and decked with gold, and precious stones, and pearls, for in one hour, just in one short period of time, it's all going to come to nothing. Ship masters, and all the company, and ships, and sailors, as many as trade by sea, stood afar off, and cried when they saw the smoke of her burning. Verse 19. They cast dust on their heads, and cried, weeping and wailing, saying, Alas, that great city, wherein were made rich all who had ships in the sea, by reason of her coastline, for in one hour is she made desolate. Now flip back a page or so in your book of Revelation and come to chapter 16, and here we get another graphic statement that alludes to the very same thing. Now in chapter 17 as the last final bowl judgment is poured out, and we talked about this several weeks ago at the battle of Armageddon, the great plague of hundred pound hailstones. Right in the middle of that vile judgment you'll find in verse 19, and the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell. Now here's where I get the concept that all the great commercial centers of the world, the Tokyo, the Singapore, the Hong Kong's and all of them as we listed them, they're all going to go in just a moment of time. So the cities of the nations fell, and great Babylon, now there's that same concept, not one city, but the whole consortium of great commercial cities, Babylon came in remembrance before God to give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of His wrath. Now like I said several programs ago, those of us who know the Lord, we look at what's going on around us and we wonder, how long is God going to continue to be patient? We don't know how long, but one thing I know and I can guarantee, one day His patience is going to end, His grace is going to end, and His wrath is going to fall. Now let's go back to Revelation chapter 18, and kind of wind it up. Revelation 18, verse 22, "...the voice of harpers, musicians, and pipers, and trumpeters," I guess today we'd have to add the electrical guitars and all the other stuff that they make their noise with today, it'll all be quiet, it'll all be gone, "...no craftsman of whatsoever craft he be shall be found any more in thee. The sound of a millstone shall be heard no more at all in thee. The light of a candle shall shine no more at all. The voice of the bridegroom and the bride no more. For the merchants which were the great men of the earth were by thy sorceries," and again remember I pointed that word out several weeks ago. Sorceries comes from the Greek word pharmakia, and pharmakia refers to drugs. So as you come to the end of the tribulation, or throughout the tribulation, you're going to have a tremendous drug culture. "...for by thy drugs were all nations deceived." Then verse 24, this is another reason that God's wrath is going to be so tremendous. This world system for the last 2,000 years, in fact you can even go back 2,600 years to the advent of the great empire of Babylon. What have they done with God's people? Well, they've been persecuting them, they're martyring them, and they've been murdering them. All right, here it comes, "...and in her, in this great system, was found the blood of prophets," that is back in the Old Testament days, "...and of saints, believers of the New Testament age, I think, and of all that were slain upon the earth." Several weeks ago I gave you some figures that were more or less shocking. We sometimes think that wars are precipitated solely on the basis of patriotism, and you and I are all of that mindset that if somebody was to come and take away our freedoms we would all be willing to fight and die to keep them, and our men have done that down through our history. But the more you analyze much of the wars of history, they were manipulated. They were manipulated by the super, super rich, because you get into the area of war and war materiel, who profits? The rich. Now I'm not one of these who screams and says, well the rich this, and the rich that. Not at all. But I'm a realist, and I know that these things are manipulated. We know that the wealthy people of this world will finance both sides of a war. They don't care about the human misery. All they care about is how much can they get for their machine guns, how much can they get for a jet, how much can they get for their tanks. And see that's the basis today of most of the economies of the world. Even our beloved America. What do you suppose is the backbone of our economy? Defense. The defense contractors. I told you several months ago, the little eastern European nation of Czechoslovakia, they were admonished, to stop their war production. You know what their answer was? We can't. It's the backbone of our economy. And you look at all the nations of the world tonight, what is the basis of their economic strength? War material. Defense as we call it. And there has to be a certain amount of it. I'm not against defense spending, don't you misjudge me for a minute. I'm all for being prepared. But what I'm saying is that the merchants of this world, the money men of this world, are not concerned about the welfare of the poor individual on the street. They're concerned about where they can generate wealth, and never lose sight of that. Now then the Scriptures make it so plain that as they have generated all of this wealth, they have also come down for the most part on God's people. How many people lost their life in the years of World War II? Fifty million. How many people lost their lives in the 70 years that the Communists ran Russia? Fifty million. How many believers were martyred during the Dark Ages, 500 years at that time, but you know how many? Fifty million. See, now we're not talking thousands, we're talking millions of people who have lost their lives at the discretion of people who could have controlled it. Well, just remember then that all the events associated with Christ's Second Coming and His return to earth are cataclysmic, they're judgmental. It just brings this whole earth down to the place where everything that smacks of materialism and all the technology and all the efforts of man will be gone. Now here's a point I haven't made, and I should have. Who is the God of this world that's behind all of this? Satan. This whole world system that we've got on the board, the God of it is Satan. He is the promoter of it, he's the promoter of the misery of it, he's the promoter of the glitz of it, and it won't be until He's defeated that all these things can go down the tube as well. Now let's just look at a few verses rather quickly. I was going to take you back to Zechariah, but let's go back to Zechariah in the Old Testament chapter 14, and this is still the Second Coming. I'm not going to have time to look at Acts chapter 1, but I think you're all acquainted with those verses. In Acts chapter 1 when the 11 disciples, Judas of course is gone, and the 12th one wasn't in place yet. But as they stood on the Mount of Olives with Jesus, and as He ascended, what did the angel tell them? He told them, "...this same Jesus, as you see go into heaven, in like manner shall come again." Now what did that mean? He left from the Mount of Olives, and He's coming back to the Mount of Olives. I've said it this way more than once. He left head first, and He's coming back feet first. Now let's look at Zechariah chapter 14. That's what the Book of Zechariah says. Zechariah chapter 14, beginning with verse 1. I've got to do this hurriedly, otherwise I won't have time on my Rapture references. the women's ravaged, and half the city shall go forth into captivity. The rest of the people shall not be cut off from the city." And then verse 3, "...then when it looks like there is no hope, shall the LORD go forth, and fight against those nations," these Gentile nations that have come to destroy the nation of Israel. And He�s going to fight as He fought in the day of battle. I think that�s in reference to battles that He fought for Israel back in their history. And then verse 4, "...and his feet shall stand in that day upon the Mount of Olives." And where is the Mount of Olives? Jerusalem. He�s coming back to Jerusalem, not to New York or Chicago. He�s coming back to Jerusalem, to the Mount of Olives which is on the east of Jerusalem, which of course will cleave, or separate in the midst thereof, and prepare for the Kingdom. Now I�m not going to get into it now, we�ll come back to that at a later time. Now come back with me to the New Testament again if you will, and let�s go right to I Corinthians chapter 15. I Corinthians chapter 15. I race we know so well. I Corinthians chapter 15. Now remember the apostle Paul is the apostle of the Gentiles, and as the apostle of the Gentiles, all of his writings are directed foremostly to us Gentiles. He always writes of course to the believer. And so now to these believing Gentiles at Corinth, who of course were not the most magnificent testimonies of the Christian faith, but nevertheless they were believers. And as he wrote to those Gentile believers in Corinth, he�s writing to you and I today. That�s the difference. Now you�ve got to watch as you read your Bible to whom was it written. Now when the Old Testament prophets are writing, they are writing to the Jew, the nation of Israel under the Law. But when we come into Paul, he is writing to you and I Gentiles who are not under the Law, we�re under grace. We�re under a whole different economy, and we are now members of the Body of Christ. So to us in verse 51 he says, I Corinthians 15. I Corinthians 15. I show you Gentile believers a mystery. We shall not all sleep, or die physically, but we shall all be changed. Whether we have died, or whether we remain alive at this time, we are going to have a resurrected body. We�re going to have a new body, like His resurrected body. The body that could be from here to there at the speed of light, that could go through a wall without a door, that could suddenly have fish frying on the seashore, and eat of it, and then just suddenly be gone. Now I always tell my classes, if you want to get an inkling of what our new body is going to be like, just study those 40 days of Christ�s life after His resurrection. That�s what we�re going to have, that resurrected body. So we�re all going to be changed. Now verse 52, in a moment. Now the word moment in the Greek is not a 60 second minute, it is the smallest divisible portion of time. So it�ll be a fraction of a second in the twink or the blink of an eye, and we shall all be changed at the last trump, for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead, those who have died as believers in Christ, shall be raised incorruptible. We are going to be alive when this happens. Now this is the amazing thing of the doctrine of the Rapture, or the outcalling of the believer, is that it has always been an imminent event. Even in Paul�s day he admonished his believers to be prepared for the Lord�s suddenly coming. It was imminent, and so it is today. We don�t know when, but I think it could happen before the end of the year. I�m really almost confident of that. But if it doesn�t, I�m not going to be shook up. My faith isn�t going to be shattered if January 1, 1994 comes and we�re still here, but I just kind of doubt it. I really feel we�re getting that close. But if not, so what? We don�t set dates. We don�t know what the Lord�s timetable is. Personally I think it�s going to be based on when the last person is saved. When Paul says in Romans chapter 11 that when the fullness of the Gentiles be brought in, and I think that�s when the last person will be saved and brought in. But whatever, all we know is that when the trumpet sounds, the dead in Christ are going to be suddenly resurrected, and we who are alive and remain, if indeed it happens while we are still alive, we will be changed. In other words we can�t go to heaven in this old body, so it stands to reason there is going to have to be a real fast metamorphosis. I like to make that allusion to the caterpillar and the butterfly, but I always have to qualify it. You know that takes some time, but this isn�t. This is going to be instantaneous, but it�s just going to be the same kind of an event. We�re going to go from this old ugly body of flesh to that new glorious resurrected body in a split second. Now then come on over to I Thessalonians chapter 4. What I want you to see, and I should have pointed out in I Corinthians chapter 15, is do you see any language of cataclysmic events? Do you see any language of the wrath of God being poured out? No, it�s just all of a sudden here it comes. We�re going to be gone. Now in I Thessalonians chapter 4, we come down to verse 13, and now the apostle uses that same language that he uses so often as he writes to believers. He says, �I would not that you be ignorant.� Now the word ignorant doesn�t mean dumb or stupid, it just seems untaught. In other words Paul says, �Learn this, understand it, and know it concerning those who have died, or who are asleep in the King James, that you sorrow not, even as others who have no hope.� Now here it comes in I Corinthians chapter 4, verse 14. I Corinthians 4. If we believe that Jesus died and rose again, that is according to Paul�s Gospel, that He died for my sins, He was buried, and He rose again. See this is the only qualification for being in this number. Paul doesn�t say, �Now if you believed and you�ve joined the Church, and you�ve been baptized, and you�ve done this and you�ve done that.� No, so far as the qualifications of being in this number of the saints, it�s if we have believed the Gospel. Now granted as we saw in an earlier lesson when we become a believer, what does God expect? That we withdraw from the world and all of its appetites. Naturally He expects that, but that�s not qualification for salvation. Those are the things that follow salvation. But here�s the qualification if we�re going to be in this number, that we have believed the Gospel. Now then if we have and we�re alive, then those who have gone to sleep in Jesus, or who have died also as believers, God will bring with Him, that they are in paradise in the presence of God in soul and spirit. They�re not up there bodily. They�re waiting for the resurrection day. That�s why I sometimes have a disagreement with some of these folks who think that their loved ones are already walking the streets of gold, and they�re just having a ball in glory. Well I can�t buy that. They�re in glory, they�re in paradise, and they�re in the Lord�s presence. But you see they can�t have a resurrected body until the resurrection day, and that hasn�t happened yet. Ephesians 2.15a "...for this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not proceed, or go ahead of them who have died, 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, and then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air." There�s nothing of Him coming to Mount Olives and standing there. There�s nothing of cataclysmic judgment here. There�s nothing of the wrath of God falling all around us, but all of a sudden there�s going to be a quiet disappearance. And don�t you believe these cartoons of airliners going down all over, and car wreck after car wreck. Hey there�s not going to be that many believers on the road, and that might get me in trouble. There�s just not going to be that many around. There might be one airliner go down some place, but not multitudes of them, because there�s just not that many true believers that will be gone. Now let�s finish the chapter and I�ve got to show you a couple of verses in chapter 5. And then we�ll meet the Lord in the air, and so shall we ever be with the Lord, comfort one another. Now let�s go down into chapter 5 and watch the difference in language. Here in chapter 4 Paul is including the believers with his own experience. The pronouns are we and you. Now coming to chapter 5, and what�s the next pronoun? Ephesians 4.4a They shall say, Peace and safety, then sudden destruction cometh upon you, but when he speaks of those who are going to be left behind to face the wrath and the awful cataclysmic events of the tribulation, the pronouns are they and them. Now you come on down to verse 9, and I guess here�s where I�m going to have to close again. Verse 9 says, Ephesians 4.9a For God hath not appointed us to wrath, he hath not designated that we�re going to have to suffer the awful events of the tribulation before he comes. We�re not appointed to that, we�re going to be taken out ahead of it. So he says, you�ve not been appointed to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us, that whether we wake, or whether we�ve died, or whatever, that we�re going to live forever with him. 1. Box 760, Kinta, OK 74552 Through the Bible with Les Feldick is viewer supported, and your gift is appreciated. Thank you, and be sure to tune in next time, for Through the Bible with Les Feldick.