Distinction 2: We are told that, at the rapture all believers are resurrected, whereas at the Second Coming there is no resurrection until antichrist is defeated.

This is called “begging the question,” using your preconceived conclusion as proof of your conclusion! Earlier I showed you from Revelation 19 an army behind Jesus, meeting Him in the air. They have just been resurrected and are on their way to conquer the earth. -------------cannot believe that they are fresh from the graves, so he assumes they have been with Jesus seven years and therefore are not resurrected.

But --------------’s theory calls for more than the resurrection of life and the resurrection of damnation called for by Jesus (John 5:28-29). It demands a third resurrection, for he sees one in Revelation 20:4-6.

John, relating things not always in order, but sometimes by topic, states in chapter 20 that the persons he sees are part of the first resurrection. He does not see a resurrection, but sees the ones who have been resurrected. That means that there was no resurrection seven years before, except in the Hollywood style movies of our own generation.

John is saying here that he saw thrones set up after antichrist is judged. The reign with Christ foretold here is for all those who suffer with Jesus. Romans 8:17, “If we suffer with him” we are “heirs with Christ.” The whole creation is awaiting our reign, 8:19. II Timothy 2:12, “If we endure, we shall also reign with Him.” Revelation 5:10 quotes the “elders” , those who have gone on before us, as saying, “We shall reign on the earth.”

So in talking of the thrones he brings in a description of the persecuted saints who reign with Jesus. He is not implying that the whole army following Jesus is not a resurrected entity. He is in fact in perfect harmony with Daniel 7:25-27:

“He [little horn] shall persecute the saints of the Most High...then the saints shall be given into his hand [tribulation] for a time, and times and half a time [the same three and one half years of John’s Revelation]. But the court shall be seated, [judgment]...and the greatness of the kingdoms...shall be given to the saints of the Most High [resurrection]…”

There are two resurrections coming (John 5:28-29, Revelation 20:4-5). The first, and the second. The first, when Jesus comes to earth. The second, 1000 years later, the resurrection of the damned. By calling this pre-tribulation event a “rapture”, the fact that it is a resurrection is covered up. But , added to the two resurrections of revelation 20, well, that’s just one too many.

Distinction 3: “Immortality is given believers at the rapture, but at the second coming they already obviously have it.” Here again, the normally logical ---------------- breaks the rules of logic by using the conclusion to prove his point. He sees it as utterly impossible for saints to be raised, glorified, “immortalized”, and coming back to earth in so short a time. He forgets, perhaps, what happened on “Resurrection Day”, commonly called Easter. Jesus in His new body began immediately to do the work God called Him to do, though He had been dead for three days. In our new bodies, made after the image of Christ, will be placed new instincts, skills, and powers. A simple flight to Jesus does not seem all that complicated for a God who can speak worlds into existence, and raise up Christ from the dead in an instant.

We shall all rise. We shall be changed. In a moment! In the twinkling of an eye. And since ------------------ brings up I Corinthians 15 here, we cannot resist looking at how similar this passage (vs 50-54) is to Matthew 24. Do you see it? Dead raised, caught up to be with Jesus. A trumpet! The “last trumpet” as in Revelation 11:15, where the reign of Christ on earth begins with the judgment of this world followed by the reward of the saints. Where is the distinction?

Distinction 4: “The rapture occurs during prosperity and normalcy, but the second coming takes place in the midst of great devastation.” Here our brother is referring to the portion of Matthew 24 assumed by him to be “before” the tribulation, verses 36-44 , distinct from Revelation 19, where plagues of all sort have been laid on the sons of men. In Matthew the reference is made to the days of Noah, and the very “ordinary” lifestyle they were leading when suddenly the flood came.

The argument implies that normal living does not take place in abnormal times, that there is essentially no “eating and drinking” , “marrying”, and working, and playing and all the rest, during world crises and wars. But is that conclusion justified in even the world in which we now live? What was it that President Bush called for in the days following our 9-11 tragedy? Normalcy! A quick nod to the Creator, a “moment of silence”, then back to normal lives so “the terrorists don’t win.” How many weddings were cancelled? Maybe a few. Who stopped being over-indulgent in food and drink? Maybe a few. But normal life continues, even in disaster.

But you say, magnify 9-11 many hundreds of times, to the World Wars, and to that final series of tragedies slated for the planet. Surely the desire for “normalcy” ends somewhere, and men as a unit abandon all hope in things material and cry out for God? No. Never. This incredible truth is discussed in Revelation 9:18-21. At this juncture, one-third of mankind is dead! What of the rest? They do not repent! They continue their murders, their sexual abominations, thefts, drugs. Normal. Business as usual. They will have their needs and wants met, and that is all that matters. They have no clue about a coming judgment.

Consider Egypt of old (Exodus 7-12). In the midst of their own plagues, the likes of which will be coming to all the earth one day, we read of the unbelievable hardening of the hearts of all from the one on the throne all the way down.

Truly when Jesus comes it will be after an unprecedented series of calamities, so bad that if he did not come at that moment all flesh would be annihilated. Yet in the midst of it all, men continue to defy God and ignore His ways, and are totally shocked at his coming. Normal life will thus continue until the very downfall of this present regime. No distinction here, only side-by-side truths.