An Outline of Events Concerning the Coming of the Lord Jesus Christ
First, the Lord Jesus Christ will come to gather together the Church up to meet him in the air.
“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.”
I Thessalonians 4:15-18. See I Corinthians 15:51-57, Philippians 3:20,21; I John 3:1-3.
After the Church is removed from the earth, the Day of the Lord will come in like a thief; unannounced. First Thessalonians 5:2. The Lord’s Day is the subject of the book of Revelation. See Revelation 1:10. There will be strong delusion.
After the Church of the Grace of God is removed from the earth, “the beginning of sorrows” of Matthew 24:4-8 will begin. False Christ’s will arise, there will be wars and rumors of wars, famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in many places: all these are the beginning of sorrows.
The record in Matthew runs parallel with the first four seals that are opened in Revelation 6. During this time a quarter of the world’s population will be killed.
After the departure of the Church, “…the man of sin will be revealed, the son of perdition, who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sits in the Temple of God, showing himself that he is God.” II Thessalonians 2:3b and 4.
The beast will receive a deadly wound and he is healed. Counterfeit resurrection event. See Revelation 13. The man of sin, the beast, the vile person rises to power. He is given power to continue for forty two months.
He will make a covenant with Israel for seven years. Daniel 9:27. There will be three and a half years of peace and safety, then great tribulation.
The Temple will have been rebuilt by this time, and sacrifices will again be instituted.
Another beast rises, the false prophet, and causes the earth to worship the first beast. The second beast, the false prophet, makes an image to the first beast, which is the desolation of abomination. Revelation 13:15.
“And he has power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed. And he causes all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads: And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast: or the number of his name.” Revelation 13:15-17.
The abomination of desolation will be set up in the Temple after three and a half years. See Revelation 11:1-3. The Great Tribulation begins; the fifth seal of Revelation 6:9-11.See Daniel 8:13 and 14; 11:31, and 12:11, 12; Matthew 24:15-22.
The sixth seal of Revelation 6:12-17. The great earthquake, the sun becomes black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon becomes as blood, the stars of heaven fall unto the earth, even as a fig tree casts her untimely figs when she is shaken of a mighty wind. The heaven departs as a scroll; every mountain and island were moved out of their places, etc.
The great day of God’s wrath is come. There will be silence in heaven for the space of half an hour. Revelation 8:1 ff.
The seventh seal is opened: seven angels are given seven trumpets and they sound them. Three woes. See Revelation 8 and 9. The seven angels pour out the seven vials of the wrath of God upon the earth.
“Every island fled away, and the mountains were not found. And there fell upon men a great hail out of heaven, every stone about the weight of a talent [each hailstone is from 60 to a 100 pounds]; for the plague thereof was exceeding great.” Revelation 16:20 and 21.
Babylon will be destroyed. See Revelation 17 and 18.
Signs in heaven will precede the Lord’s coming to the earth. Matthew 24:27-30.
The coming of the Lord from heaven to the earth. He comes as King of kings, and Lord of lords with his army from heaven. See Revelation 19:9-16.
The Lord reaps the harvest of the earth. The winepress of the wrath of God. Revelation 14:14-20.
The great supper of God as the vultures feast on the dead bodies from the battle. Ezekiel 39:17-20; Matthew 24:27, 28; Revelation 19:17 and 18.
The Lord Jesus Christ defeats the beast and his army. The beast and the false prophet are cast into the lake of fire. The Lord will end the times of the Gentiles dominion over Jerusalem. Revelation 19:19-21.
Satan is bound in the bottomless pit for a 1,000 years. Revelation 20:1-3.
The Lord returns and will stand on the Mount of Olives: see Zechariah 14:4
Christ will send his angels to gather living Israel from the nations. Matthew 24:31. The first resurrection will involve those who were beheaded for the witness of Jesus and for the Word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast. Revelation 20:4.
These saints live and reign with Christ for a thousand years as priests of God. Revelation 20:4 and 5.
There will be changes in the length of people’s lives during Christ’s reign, and changes in the environment. For example, the child will die at 100 years of age, which indicates long life. The desert will become a fruitful plain, and the Dead Sea will become alive with fishes, and much more. See Zechariah 14:4-11; Isaiah 35:1-10; Micah 4:1-7; Psalm 2:8 and 9.
After the Lord Jesus Christ reigns for a 1,000 years, Satan is loosed from his prison, he deceives the nations, and he gathers them together to go to war against the camp of the saints and the beloved city. See Revelation 20:7-9.
Fire falls from heaven and devours them. Revelation 20:9.
The devil is thrown into the lake of fire and brimstone. Revelation 20:10.
The Great White Throne, and the resurrection of the just and unjust. All judgment is committed unto the Son. John 5:5:27. All the dead stand before the throne. The books are opened, and there is a resurrection of all the dead, and they are all judged according to their works. There is a separation of the just from the unjust. The unjust are cast into the lake of fire. See Matthew 13:36-43, John 5:28, 29; and Revelation 20:11-13; Daniel 12:2.
"And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire. Revelation 20:14 and 15.
The second heaven and earth pass away. II Peter 3:12.
There is much more that will take place during this time. This is only an abbreviated overview of events that will take place in the Lord’s Day. Until that time unfolds we will not understand all that will take place in that day, but the Word of God does speak of the events I have mentioned here, and much more.
God makes a new heaven and a new earth. He makes all things new again. The holy Jerusalem [a city that is a cube with the length, breadth, and height each being 1377 miles.] descends out of heaven from God, having the glory of God, and settles on the earth. See Revelation 21:9-27.
“And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, ‘Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God Himself shall be with them, and be their God.
And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.’” Revelation 21:3 and 4.
Ephesians 1:10, and 2:7: “That in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace His kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.”
Rejoice forevermore, dearly beloved of God; the Lord Jesus Christ is coming, and we will acquire the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ when he comes!