Second Coming of Jesus

The doctrine concerning
THE
SECOND COMING
OF
CHRIST
(QUESTIONS & ANSWERS)
PREFACE
It is not unusual these days, to find in any Christian bookstall, books
such as ‘Behold, He Cometh!’, ‘The Return of the Lord Jesus Christ’, ‘The
Signs of His Coming’, ‘The Second Advent’ etc. We appreciate the prophetic
accuracy of these books with regard to ‘the times and the seasons’ of the
return of the Lord, but the essential, primary fact that Christ is coming for the
perfected, overcoming Church called the Bride of Christ, is often either
glossed over or left out completely.
It is taken for granted by most evangelicals that all born-again Christians

will be caught up when Jesus comes. But a careful examination of phrases
such as ‘the dead in Christ’ (who are to rise first) and ‘we shall all be
changed’, shows that only the sanctified, perfected saints will be caught up at
the coming of Jesus Christ.
St. Paul says: “If our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are
lost” (II Cor.4:3). By the word ‘gospel’, he does not mean the
gospel of initial salvation, that is, of forgiveness of sins, which
one receives when one is ‘born again’; what he points to is the
‘glorious gospel’ which brings the glory of God and of His Son
in our hearts so that we may be changed ‘into the same image
(of Christ) from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord”
(II Cor.3:18) in order that we may be presented as “a glorious
church, not having spot or wrinkle”, at His coming (Eph. 5:27).
May the Lord prepare His Church to meet Jesus when He comes.
CONTENTS
QUESTION PAGE
1. Should every Christian look for the Coming 1
of the Lord Jesus Christ?
2. What blessings or spiritual benefits do wederive if we live looking for His

Second
Coming?
3. Explain the event of the Second Coming of
Christ. When, and for what reasons, will
Jesus appear ‘in the air’ before His final
Coming to the earth?
4. How does Mark 13:24-27 point to Christ's second appearing in the middle
of the seven years of Tribulation?
5. Who are the elect mentioned in Mark 13:27?
6. What is God's eternal purpose concerning the Church which will be caught
up before the Tribulation?
7. What are the characteristics of the Elect Church, which is to be caught up

before the Tribulation?
8. Were the Old Testament saints aware of the Second Coming of Christ?
9. Are there any clear Scripture portions to indicate that God did not reveal
the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven or of the Church to the Old
Testament saints?
10. Why did not God reveal these mysteries to the Old Testament saints?
11. Did any of the Jews (children of Israel) living in the days of Jesus Christ,
receive the privilege of sharing the blessings reserved for the New
Testament saints?
12. Will the Old Testament saints be resurrected together with the New
Testament saints who are ‘dead in Christ’? If not, what are the reasons?
13. It is often considered that the Old Testament saints are included in the
group of saints who form the ‘Bride’. What does the Word of God teach
about this?
14. What are the points of difference between Christ's coming for the
perfected Church before the Tribulation and His coming at the end of the
Seven-Year Tribulation?
15. From St. Paul's teachings to the Corinthians that ‘we shall not all sleep,
but we shall all be changed’, we get the impression that everyone in the
Corinthian church will be ‘changed’ and be translated to heaven. This
promise appears to give no room for the select Rapture. How do you
explain this ?
16. When St. Paul says, ‘In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye ... we shall
all be changed’, does he not imply that God's plan is to sanctify His people
‘in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye’, and carry them away to heaven?
17. St. Paul says that ‘at the last trump; ... the trumpet shall sound, and the
dead shall be raised incorruptible’, (I Cor.15: 51,52). Does this ‘last trump’
refer to the seventh trumpet mentioned in Revelation 11:15?
18. In I Thessalonians 4:14, St.Paul says that when Jesus comes, He will bring
with Him those ‘which sleep in Jesus’. Who are they?
19. How do you explain the phrase, ‘the dead in Christ’ in I Thessalonians
4:16? Does it include all ‘born again’ Christians?
20. Some Bible teachers are of the opinion that after meeting ‘the Lord in the
air’, we shall immediately return to the earth to take possession of it and
to reign with Christ. Is this true?
21. Why is the rapture of the perfected saints called the “secret” coming of
the Lord?
22.Some say that the predictions of Jesus in Matthew ch.24 have already
taken place in the first century; some others say that they point to the last
days. Which is correct?
23. How do you arrange Matthew ch.24, Mark ch.13 and Luke.ch.21 with
regard to the order of events in the last days?
24. What are the events and signs that will be witnessed before the Rapture
of the Church?
25. St.Paul says, ‘the dead in Christ shall rise first’. Does he mean that the
dead bodies of the saints will rise?
26. What is the difference between the resurrected body of Jesus and the
bodies that were raised to life before Him?
27. When we die, our spirit and soul leave our body ‘to be present with the
Lord’. If so, what is the purpose of having a body in heaven?
28.I Thessalonians 4:16 says, ‘the dead in Christ’ shall rise. Explain the
expression, ‘in Christ’.
29. What are the blessings awaiting the perfected Church at the Rapture?
30. What is meant by the ‘marriage supper of the Lamb’? When and where
will it take place?
Q.1. Sh o u l d e v e r y
C h r i s t i a n l o o k f o r
t h e S e c r et Coming of the Lord Jesus Christ ?
Yes, every Christian anointed by the Holy Spirit, is exhorted to ardently look for
His coming (Heb.9:28; Mk.13:34-37). The doctrine of the second advent of the Lord Jesus
Christ is like the backbone of all other doctrines of Christ. This His return is the final
glorious hope of the Spirit-baptized Church. Besides, all that we believe and cherish as
the “doctrines of Christ”, prepare us for this unique and glorious event, the coming of
the Lord Jesus Christ, Whom we shall meet “in the air” after which we shall always “be
with the Lord” (I Thess.4:17).
Furthermore, our spiritual growth, our overcoming l i f e ,

t h e f r u i t f u l n e s s o f
o u r m i n i s t r y a n d o u r
f e l l o wship with the Lord and our total sanctification, all depend on the
steadfastness of our faith and hope in the imminent return of the Lord.
§§§§§§§
Q.2. What blessings or spiritual benefits do we

derive if we live looking for His Secret Coming?
When we firmly believe and cherish the promise that “he that shall come will
come, and will not tarry” (Heb.10:37), and ardently nurse that hope in our hearts, the
following blessings will be ours. The joyous hope of His imminent return helps us to
(1) end u r e m a n i f o l d
t e m p t a t i o n s a n d f i e r y
t r i a l s (I Pet. 1:6,7)
(2) endure persecution (I Pet.4:13)
(3) cultivate brotherly love (I Thess.3:12,13)
(4) meditate on our heavenly citizenship (Phil.3:20,21)
(5) look for a heavenly inheritance and those things
which are above (Col.3:1-4)
(6) purify ourselves in order to be like Him(I Jn.3:
1-3)
(7) practise total sanctification (I Thess.5:23)
(8) mortify our fleshly lusts (Col.3:3-5).
(9) from the “fruit of the Spirit” (Jas.5:7,8; Gal.5:
22,23)
(10) deny worldliness and worldly lusts (Tit.2:11-13)
(11) be watchful and faithful in our life and ministry
(Matt.24:42-47; Mk.13:32-37)
(12) be steadfast and faithful to the end (Rev.2:25;
3:11)
(13) prepare ourselves for our rewards without becom-
ing castaways (I Pet.5:2-4; II Tim.4:7,8; II Cor.
5:10,11; I Cor.9:24-27).
§§§§§§
Q.3. Explain the event of the Second Coming of Christ. When, and for what reasons, will
Jesus appear “in the air” before His final coming to the earth?
The Second Coming of Christ will take place in three different phases.
The epistles of the apostles and the Book of Revelation abound with portions that
teach us that He will appear twice in the air, on two separate
occasions and for two specific purposes and that
finally He will come to the earth to judge the nations and reign in this world for a
thousand years.
HIS FIRST APPEARANCE IN THE AIR
The first appearance of Jesus in the air is to gather unto Himself the perfected
Church which is called the Bride of Christ (Eph.5:25-27; II Cor.11:2,3). Apostle Paul, in
his first epistle to the Thessa- lonians, speaks of this appearance in clear terms:
“For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and
remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. 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 Thess.4:15-17).
This event will take place just before the Seven-Year' Tribulation, which will be
initiated by the Antichrist.
The sudden “catching up” or transportation of the perfected saints of the Church
to heaven is generally known as the “Rapture” The Rapture of the perfected saints of the
Church will take place suddenly, secretly and unexpectedly. Therefore, it is usually
called the Secret Rapture.
HIS SECOND APPEARANCE
The second appearance of Christ in the air will take place in the middle of the
Seven-Year Tribu- lation. On this occasion, He will appear in the clouds to gather up the
Tribulation Martyrs who were killed by the antichrist during the first half of the seven
years (Rev.14:14-18). These martyrs will comprise Christians who were not quite ready
to take part in the Rapture of the perfected Church. Matthew, Mark and Luke make
mention of this group in their gospels.
‘In those days, after that tribulation, the sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall
not give her light, And the stars of heaven shall fall, and the powers that are in heaven
shall be shaken. And then shall they see the Son of man coming in the clouds with great
power and glory. And then shall he send his angels, and shall gather together his elect
from the four winds, from the uttermost part of the earth to the uttermost part of
heaven’ (Mk.13:24-27). (See also Matt.24:29-31 and Lk.21:25-27)
§§§§§§
Q.4. How does Mark 13:24-27 point to Christ's

second appearance in the middle of the seven years of Tribulation ?
These verses and the parallel quotations in Matthew ch.24 and Luke ch.21, should
be interpreted in the light of the Book of Revelation.
“But in those days, after that tribulation, the sun shall be darkened, and the moon
shall not give her light, And the stars of heaven shall fall, and the powers that are in
heaven shall be shaken” (Mk.13:24,25).
“The sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light ...” These
cataclysmic phenomena are referred to as “signs in the sky” in Luke 21:25. The same
signs are also referred to in Revelation 6:12-14, when the sixth seal is opened.
“I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake;
and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood; And the
stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she
is shaken of a mighty wind. And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled
together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places” (Rev.6:12-14).
Please note that the opening of the sixth seal marks the end of the first half of the
seven years. Seals 1-6 cover the first half of the Seven-Year Tribulation Period.
These catastrophic happenings in the sky must be considered as the “signs” in the
sky referred to in Luke 21:25, and which will signal the forthcoming judgments of God.
St.Peter also confirms this fact thus: “And I will shew wonders in heaven ... The sun
shall be turned into darkness ... BEFORE that great and notable day of the Lord come”
(Acts 2:19,20). “The day of the Lord” points to the second half of the Seven-Year
Tribulation, when the actual judgment of God comes upon the earth in seven stages, as
mentioned in Revelation chapters 8-11 and 16-18. The opening of the seventh seal marks
the beginning of this period.
When “the kings of the earth” and the nations see these “signs”, they will say to
the mountains and rocks, “Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on
the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb: For the great day of his wrath is come; and
who shall be able to stand?” (Rev.6:16,17).
The phrase “after the tribulation” refers to the period following the persecution of
Christians by the antichrist; this persecution comes to an end before the
ope n i n g o f t h e s e v e n t h
s e a l . A s m e n t i o n e d
e a r l i e r , s e a l s 1-6 cover the first half of the
Seven-Year Tribulation.
“A n d t h e n s h a l l t h e y
s e e t h e S o n o f m a n
c o m i n g in the clouds with great power and glory” (Mk.13:26). “Then”
refers to the middle of the seven years. Who are “these” who shall “see”, with their own
eyes, the Son of man? Matthew tells us that they are “the tribes of the earth”, meaning
the children of Israel (Matt.24:30). They were known to the apostles as “the tribes” who
were scattered over the world (Jas.1:1).
§§§§§§
Q.5. Who are the ELECT mentioned in Mark 13:27?
“And then shall he send his angels, and shall gather together his elect from the
four winds, from the uttermost part of the earth to the uttermost part of heaven”
(Mk.13:27).
We have just seen that Mark 13:26 refers to the middle of the Seven-Year
Tribulation. This is when “they see the Son of man coming in the clouds with great
power and glory”, and this is the time (in the middle of the Seven Years) when He shall
send His angels to “gather together his elect”. This “elect” does not seem to be the
Church, or the Jews, for the following reasons:
(1) The Church does not go through the Tribula- tion caused by the antichrist
(Lk.21:34-36; I Thess. 5:1-9; Rev.3:10).
(2) Not the angels, but Christ Himself comes to gather the elect who are the true
Church (the perfected saints of the Church) (Jn.14:3; I Thess.4:16).
(3) The Jews will have no tribulation to face during the first half of the seven years,
because they will live in perfect harmony with the antichrist, having made a covenant
with him (Dan.9:27).
They will not be the target of the hatred of the antichrist during the first half of his
reign, and they will not, therefore, be among those who die as martyrs for Jesus and are
resurrected midway through the seven years.
(4) The persecution of the Jews by the antichrist will be confined to the second half
of his reign. This will be the time of the ministry of the two witnesses mentioned in
Revelation ch.11 (Dan.9:27; Jer.30:6,7; Rev.11:1-3).
(5) The persecution of the Jews will be in the land of Israel, particularly in
Jerusalem. The “elect”, however, will be gathered from “the uttermost part of the earth”.
Therefore the “elect” of Mark 13:27 is different from the “elect” who are from the tribes
of Israel, and who will face tribulation in their own land, Israel.
If the “elect” who are gathered up into heaven midway through the Seven-Year
Tribulation, are neither the perfected Church nor the Jews, who then are they? They are
the Tribulation Martyrs of the remnant Church.
§§§§§§
Q.6. What is God's eternal purpose concerning the Church which is to be caught up
God has always had a special plan and purpose in His mind concerning His
Church. He predetermined to bring into existence, an elect body composed of both Jews
and Gentiles with Christ as the head of that body (Eph.3:6; 1:22,23). He desired that that
body be “holy and without blame before him in love” (Eph.1:4), and that its members be
“heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ” (Rom.8:17), destined not only to inherit all
things in heaven, but also to be “above all principality, and power, and might, and
dominion” throughout eternity (Eph.1:20-23). St.Paul adds that through this sanctified
Church called the body of Christ, God wants to reveal to the principalities and powers in
heavenly places, “the manifold wisdom of God”, throughout eternity (Eph.3:10).
§§§§§§
Q.7. What are the characteristics of the ELECT CHURCH, which will be caught up
Mentioned below are some of the characteristics of the Elect Church.
(1) They possess a particular faith known as “the faith of God's elect” (Tit.1:1),
because they are built up and nourished by the sound doctrines of Christ.
(2) They strengthen their faith by means of a fervant uninterrupted life of prayer.
They pray “always” and without fainting. Jesus illustrated their unfeigned faith coupled
with an untiring prayer life, in the parable of the widow and the unjust judge. He
concluded saying : “And shall not God avenge his own elect, which cry day and night
unto him, though he bear long with them? I tell you that he will avenge them speedily.
Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?” (Lk.18:7,8).
(3) Disciplined by the Holy Spirit and instructed from the word of God, they
accept all their trials as permitted by God. Therefore they confess, without reasoning or
murmuring, “... We know that all things work together for good to them that love God,
to them who are the called according to his purpose” (Rom.8:28). They also realize that
such trials are necessary if they are to be “conformed to the image of his Son” (vs.29).
(4) They believe that they will in every way be able to live the life of an overcomer.
Fully dedicated to Christ, and filled with His love, their challenge is: “Who shall
separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or
famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?” They are confident that they will always be
more than conquerors through Him Who loved them” (Rom.8:35,37).
(5) They long to have a Christ-like nature formed in them, i.e., characteristics such
as holiness, mercy (compassion), kindness, longsuffering; forbearance, willingness to
forgive, love, peace etc. “Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels
of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering, Forbearing one
another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as
Christ forgave you, so also do ye. And above all these things put on charity, which is the
bond of perfectness. And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye
are called in one body; and be ye thankful” (Col.3:12-15).
(6) They preserve the vision of His Coming, and press towards the “mark” to
receive the “prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus” (Phil,3:14).
§§§§§§
Q.8. Were the Old Testament saints aware of the Second Coming of Christ?
Yes, there were several saints of the Old Testament, including those of the
Dispensation of Conscience, who knew by revelation that Jesus Christ would come to
the world in the last days, in order to judge the nations and to reign from Zion
(Jerusalem) over the inhabitants of the earth. However, they could not understand either
the mystery of the Church in general or the mystery of the Rapture of the Elect Church
in particular.
Here are the testimonies of the Old Testament saints, including those of the
Dispensation of Conscience, about the Coming of the Lord Jesus Christ to reign on the
earth:
ENOCH : “Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints” (Jude 14);
JOB : “I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day
upon the earth” (Job 19:25);
PSALMIST : “ ... he cometh to judge the earth: with righteousness shall he judge
the world, and the people with equity” (Psa.98:9);
ISAIAH : “... behold, the Lord cometh out of his place to punish the inhabitants of
the earth for their iniquity” (Isa.26:21); “... the Redeemer shall come to Zion, and unto
them that turn from transgression in Jacob, saith the Lord” (Isa.59:20);
D A N I E L : “ I s a w i n
t h e n i g h t v i s i o n s , a n d ,
b e h o l d , one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and
came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him. And there was
given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages,
should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away,
and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed” (Dan.7:13,14);
MICAH : “ ... behold, the Lord cometh forth out of his place, and will come down,
and tread upon the high places of the earth” (Micah 1:3);
ZECHARIAH : “Then shall the Lord go forth, and fight against those nations, as
when he fought in the day of battle. And his feet shall stand in that day upon the mount
of Olives ... the Lord my God sh a l l c o m e , a n d
a l l t h e s a i n t s w i t h
t h e e ” ( Z e c h . 1 4 : 3 - 5 ); “ ... the
Lord shall be king over all the earth: in that day shall there be one Lord, and his name
one” (vs.9);
MALACHI : “who may abide the day of his coming? and who shall stand when he
appeareth? ...” (Mal.3:2).
§§§§§§
Q.9. Are there any clear Scripture portions to
indicate that God did not reveal the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven and the
mystery of the Church to the Old Testament saints?
Yes, there are. When Jesus began His ministry He spoke many things concerning
the kingdom of God. In order to make His message clear to His listeners He used
parables. When the disciples asked Him, “Why speakest thou unto them in parables?,
He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of
the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given ... For verily I say unto you, That
many prophets and righteous men have desired to see those things which ye see, and
have not seen them; and to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard them”
(Matt.13:10,11,17).
Jesus also said that whatever He revealed to them in parables were only a part of
the mysteries, the rest of which would be revealed by the Holy Spirit, Whom He
promised to send. “I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them
now. Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for
he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he
will shew you things to come” (Jn.16:12,13).
According to the promise made by Jesus in John 16:12,13, the Holy Spirit began to
reveal to the apostles and prophets, deeper truths and greater mysteries of the Kingdom
of God and of Christ.
Here are some Scripture portions concerning hidden mysteries which were not
revealed to the Old Testament saints who lived before the day of Pentecost:
“If ye have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which is given me to
you-ward: How that by revelation he made known unto me the mystery; (as I wrote
afore in few words, Whereby, when ye read, ye may understand my knowledge in the
mystery of Christ). Which in other ages [that is from the time of Adam to the time of the
Apostles] was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto his holy
apostles and prophets by the Spirit” (Eph.3:2-5).
“Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given, that I should
preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of christ; And to make all men see
what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been
hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ” (Eph.3:8,9).
”... I am made a minister...to fulfil the word of God; Even the mystery which hath
been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints”
(Col.1:25,26).
(See also Rom.16:25,26; I Cor.2:7-10; II Tim. 1:9,10).
§§§§§§
Q.10. Why did not God reveal these mysteries to the Old Testament saints?
During the dispensations which preceded the Dispensation of Grace, God revealed
Himself and His mysteries gradually, step by step, to His people as they walked in His
ways, keeping His commandments and covenants. But the revelation of His fulness, and
of His eternal purposes for the Church, He has reserved for these last days.
“Of which salvation the prophets have enquired and searched diligently, who
prophesied of the grace that should come unto you: Searching what, or what manner of
time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when it testified beforehand the
sufferings of Christ and the glory that should follow. Unto whom it was revealed, that
not unto themselves, but unto us they did minister the things, which are now reported
unto you by them that have preached the gospel unto you with the Holy Ghost sent
down from heaven; which things the angels desire to look into ” (I Pet.1:10-12).
Another reason could be that Israel, as a nation, was constantly disobedient,

refusing to walk in the light which the Lord gave them through His servants and
prophets. Therefore God had to keep them under the Law until the appointed time
when Jesus Christ came to redeem them from the law.
“Now I say, That the heir, as long as he is a child, differeth nothing from a
servant, though he be lord of all; But is under tutors and governors until the time
appointed of the father. Even so we, when we were children, were in bondage under the
elements of the world: But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his
Son, made of a woman, made under the law, To redeem them that were under the law,
that we might receive the adoption of sons” (Gal.4:1-5).
“But before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith which
should afterwards be revealed. Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us
unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith” (Gal.3:23,24).
§§§§§§
Q.11. Did any of the Jews (children of Israel) living in the days of Jesus Christ, receive
the privilege of sharing the blessings reserved for the New Testament saints?
Yes, they did. When Jesus came into the world, there were in Jerusalem and other
cities, certain of the children of Israel who were chosen of God, who were waiting “for
the consolation of Israel” and who “looked for redemption in Jerusalem” (Lk.2:25,38).
They were deemed worthy of New Testament blessings, and so they received the
revelation of the mysteries.
These children of Israel (Jews) included the following:
1. The apostles (Mk.3:14-19). They were chosen from different tribes of Israel.
2. T h e f o l l ow e r s o f
J e s u s m e n t i o n e d i n
L u k e 8 : 1 - 3 . They accompanied Jesus and His disciples
and “went throughout every city and village, preaching and shewing the glad tidings of
the kingdom of God ... ”
3. Some of those to whom Jesus said: “Verily I say unto you, That there be some of
them that stand here, which shall not taste of death, till they have seen the kingdom of
God come with power” (Mk.9:1);
4. Some of the “five hundred brethren” to whom Jesus immediately appeared,

after His resurrection (I Cor.15:6);
5. the “hundred and twenty”, who received the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost
(Acts 1:15);
6. those of whom we read that “the Lord added (them) to the church daily such as
should be saved” (Acts 2:47).
All these form “a remnant (of the Jews) according to the election of grace”
(Rom.11:5).
The Jews, on the other hand, who were satisfied with a dead religion (consisting of
nominal temple worship, belief in the traditions of the elders, and the ritual of animal
sacrifices) were rejected.
“... they are not all Israel, which are of Israel: Neither, because they are the seed of
Abraham, are they all children ... They which are the children of the flesh, th e s e
a r e n o t t h e c h i l d r e n
o f G o d . . . ” ( R o m . 9 : 6 -
8 ) .
“I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge”
(Rom.10:2).
“if by grace, then is it no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace. But if it
be of works, then is it no more grace: otherwise work is no more work. What then? Israel
hath not obtained that which he seeketh for; but the election hath obtained it, and the
rest were blinded” (Rom.11:6,7).
§§§§§§
Q.12. Will the Old Testament saints be resurrected along with the saints who are “dead
in Christ”? If not, what are the reasons ?
No, the Old Testament saints will not be raised along with the saints who are
“dead in Christ”.
When St.Paul said, “the dead in Christ shall rise first” (I Thess.4:16), he was
referring to the New Testament saints who died being perfect in Christ (Refer Q.19). The
Old Testament saints will not be resurrected with them because they could not attain to
their standard of perfection.
The Old Testament saints will be raised as a group after the Battle of Armageddon,
whereas the “dead in Christ” will be resurrected at the Secret Coming of Jesus.
THE SPIRITUAL STANDARD OF THE
NEW TESTAMENT SAINTS
Those who will have a part in the Rapture of the perfected Church are saints of the
highest order. They have received grace to be “holy and without blame before him in
love” (Eph.1:4). Christ “gave himself ... That he might present it (the Church) to himself
a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be
holy and without blemish” (Eph.5:25,27). The Old Testament saints could not reach this
standard of perfection because of the imperfections of the Levitical priesthood.
IMPERFECTIONS OF THE LEVITICAL PRIESTHOOD.
1. The High Priest himself could not practise personal sanctification and perfection:
The sacrifices which he offered could neither purify his conscience, nor perfect his
life.
“Which was a figure for the time then present, in which were offered both gifts
and sacrifices, that could not make him that did the service perfect, as pertaining to the
conscience” (Heb.9:9).
2. Perfection could not be attained by means of the Levitical priesthood:
The Levitical priesthood of the Old Testament, after the order of Aaron, with its
calling, consecration and anointing, could not lead people to perfection.
“If therefore perfection were by the Levitical priesthood, (for under it the people
received the law,) what further need was there that another priest should rise after the
order of Melchisedec, and not be called after the order of Aaron?” (Heb.7:11).
3. The law, given by the hand of Moses, could not make anything perfect:
“The law made nothing perfect, but the bringing in of a better hope did; by the
which we draw nigh unto God” (Heb.7:19);
4. Animal sacrifices could not take away sin, nor cleanse the conscience :
“The law having a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the
things, can never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year continually make
the comers thereunto perfect. For then would they not have ceased to be offered?
because that the worshippers once purged should have had no more conscience of sins”
(Heb.10:1,2).
“And every priest standeth daily ministering and offering oftentimes the same
sacrifices, which can never take away sins” (Heb.10:11).
Because of these imperfections, perfection could not be attained under the

Levitical priesthood and God had to ordain another priesthood after the order of
Melchisedec.
On the other hand, New Testament saints are “blessed us with all spiritual
blessings in heavenly places in Christ” (Eph.1:3).
SOME OF THE PRIVILEGES OF THE

NEW TESTAMENT SAINTS
1. Christ, the perfect High Priest and Mediator.
In the Old Testament, “men ... which have infirmity” were made high priests,
whereas in the New Testament Church the perfected Son is consecrated for ever more
(Heb.7:28;5:9). He ever liveth to make intercession for us till we are perfected to the
uttermost (Heb.7:25). We can go to Him at any moment to receive grace and help from
Him (Heb.4:15,16).
2. The New Testament Ministry.
God has set in the Church five kinds of consecrated ministers (officers) endued
with power from on high and anointed with the Holy Spirit. They are called the “gifts of
Christ” (Eph.4:7,8). These ministers have consecrated themselves absolutely to Christ,
and serve Him as “bond servants” (Lk.4:26,33). God uses their ministry to bring the
saints to perfection.
“And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and
some, pastors and teachers; For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry,
for the edifying of the body of Christ: Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the
knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the
fulness of Christ” (Eph.4:11-13).
3. The law of the Spirit.
The Holy Spirit was with the Old Testament saints, but He is in the New
Testament saints, sactifying them and leading them by highest law, called ‘the law of the
Spirit’. This law overrules ‘the law of sin and death’, and helps those who abide by this
law to live above all condemnation:
“There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who
walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus
hath made me free from the law of sin and death” (Rom.8:1,2).
4. Christ, the Greatest Sacrifice :
Christ is the Lamb of God, ‘without blemish and without spot’ (I Pet.1:19). He
offered Himself as one perfect sacrifice and by so doing, He has not only purged our
conscience from sin and from dead works, but has also made provision for us to lead a
victorious life, to come to a state of total sanctification, and to live continually in His
presence.
“If the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the
unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh: How much more shall the blood of
Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your
conscience from dead works to serve the living God?” (Heb.9:13,14).
“By one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified” (Heb.10:14).
“Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of
Jesus, By a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that
is to say, his flesh” (Heb.10:19,20).
“And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their
testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death” (Rev.12:11).
The Old Testament saints enjoyed none of these privileges.
§§§§§§
Q.13. It is often considered that the Old Testament saints are included in the group of
saints who form the ‘Bride’. What does the Word of God teach about this?
As we have already seen from the answer to Q.12, the spiritual standard of the Old
Testament saints was much lower than that of the New Testament saints. Besides, the
time appointed for the preparation of the Bride of Christ comes after the death and
resurrection of Christ. Let us consider the following verses.
1. “Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the Church, and gave
himself for it; That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the
word, That he might present it to himself a glorious Church, not having spot, or wrinkle,
or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish” (Eph.5:25-27).
Most Bible teachers agree that the precise moment of the birth of the New
Testament Church was on the day of Pentecost. “ ... by one Spirit are we all baptized into
one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles ... ” (I Cor.12:13). Jesus gave Himself, not only
for the salvation of sinners, but also for the purification and perfection of the Church,
which He loved as a man loves his wife. This work of sanctification would never have
been possible without the ministry and sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ.
The lives of the saints of the Old Testament were over before the time of Jesus on
this earth; it was not therefore possible for them to be members of the body of Christ
(which came into being only after the death of Christ) or to experience in their lives the
work of sanctification reserved for that ‘Body’ alone.
2. “ ... the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the
Church” (Eph.5:23). He is the head of the body, the Church,...” (Col.1:18).
If there is a head, it must have a body. The Church, which is the Body of Christ,
was formed by the Baptism of the Holy Spirit, as we have already seen from I Cor.12:13.
St.Paul says that Jesus was made the Head of the Body only after His resurrection, when
the Church came into being on the Day of Pentecost.
God raised Christ “from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the
heavenly places, Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and
every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come; And
hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the
Church, which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all” (Eph.1:20-23).
The Old Testament saints belonged to an earlier period, and were therefore unable
to be members of the Body of which Christ was the Head.
3. “I am jealous over you with godly jealousy: for I have espoused you to one
husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ,” (II Cor.11:2).
“ Christ ... Whom we preach, warning every man, and teaching every man in all
wisdom; that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus:” (Col.1:28).
St.Paul and the other apostles understood clearly that they were appointed in the
Church to help, by the grace of Christ, in the ministry of presenting the Church perfect
before Christ when He, the Bridegroom, came for His Bride. The Bride is compared to ‘a
chaste virgin’.
Again, it is impossible for the Old Testament saints to have received this ministry,
since they lived during an epoch which drew to a close before the ministry of even the
earliest apostles began.
4. “Among them that are born of women there hath not risen a greater than John
the Baptist: notwithstanding he that is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he”
(Matt.11:11).
“He that hath the bride is the bridegroom: but the friend of the bridegroom, which
standeth and heareth him, rejoiceth greatly because of the bridegroom's voice: this my
joy therefore is fulfilled” (Jn.3:29).
In these two verses, the following points regarding the status of John the Baptist in
eternity are clearly established:
(a) Christ Himself was establishing the point that John the Baptist was the greatest
of all the Old Testament saints. Nevertheless, Jesus went on to say that even John, for
whom Jesus Himself had the highest possible regard, was ‘less than the least in the
kingdom of heaven’. The ‘kingdom of heaven’ to which Jesus was here referring was not
heaven in general, but specifically New Jerusalem, appointed by God to be the eternal
abode of the Bride of Christ, the sanctified, perfected, Spirit-baptized Church. It was to
the New Jerusalem, therefore, that John the Baptist was to have no access in eternity.
(b) John 3:29 shows that John the Baptist himself also understood this fact, for in
this verse, he referred to himself not as the ‘Bride’ but as the ‘friend of the bridegroom’.
He said the friend of the Bridegroom “(stood) and (heard) (the Bridegroom) (Christ),
(rejoicing) greatly because of the bridegroom's voice”, and that this privilege alone filled
him with joy. He clearly had no expectation or desire to be numbered among those who
were to form the Bride. And what applied to John, the greatest of those ‘born of women’
since the time of Adam, necessarily applies to all other Old Testament saints who lived
and died before the birth of the Church on the Day of Pentecost. They too are appointed,
and happy, to be no more than ‘friends of the Bridegroom’ in eternity.
5. “Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the
Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready. And to her was granted that she
should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of
saints. And he saith unto me, “Write, Blessed are they which are called unto the
marriage supper of the Lamb” (Rev.19:7-9).
We note two phrases :-
(i) The Marriage of the Lamb (vs.7);

(ii) The Marriage Supper of the Lamb (vs.9).
The ‘marriage’ speaks of the union of the Church, the Bride, with Jesus, the
Bridegroom. This will take place on the day of the Rapture, when we shall “be caught up
together in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air” (I Thess.4:17). From this time
onwards, the Bride will be ‘ever with the Lord’.
Old Testament saints, as we have seen, are not to be among those who constitute
the Bride: they are the ‘friends of the Bridegroom’. Hence, they will have no part in the
‘marriage of the Lamb’; their calling will be to the ‘marriage supper of the Lamb’, just as
guests at an earthly wedding attend the wedding reception, purely as guests, with no
desire whatever to change places with the Bride.
These ‘friends’ will all have a place in the ‘first resurrection’; they will include the
Tribulation Martyrs (Christians who die for Christ at the hands of the Antichrist) the
General Martyrs of the Old and New Testament Periods (the perfected saints of the New
Testament are not included here), and all others who lived in the Old Testament times,
and loved and obeyed God.
§§§§§§
Q.14. Wh a t a r e t h e p o i n t s
o f d i f f e r e n c e
b e t w een Christ's coming for the perfected Church before
the Tribulation and His coming at t h e e n d o f
t h e S e v e n - Y e a r
T r i b u l a t i o n ?
Christ's coming before the Tribulation will be secret and sudden. He

will come for the sole purpose of gathering up His sanctified and perfected
Church. However, when He comes at the end of the Seven-Year Tribulation,
it will be to reveal Himself openly to the world, as the King of kings and as
the Judge of all nations. This, His glorious, visible appearance, is therefore
usually called the revelation of Christ. Let us see the differences between
His ‘Secret Coming’ before the Tribulation and His ‘Public Coming’ at the
end of the Great Tribulation.
SECRET ADVENT
1. Jesus will come secretly, invisibly, and suddenly, as a thief in the
night. Only the watchful w i l l s e e H i m
( I T h e s s . 5 : 1 - 6 ) .
2. Jesus will come to take away the perfected saints who are waiting
for Him (Heb.9:28).
3. Jesus will appear in the air (I Thess.4:17).
4. Jesus will come ‘with a shout, with the voice of the archangel’
(I Thess.4:16)
5. The perfected saints will stand before the Judg- ment Seat of Christ
to receive their rewards (II Cor. 5:10).
6. After the Rapture the Dragon (the devil) will be cast down to the
earth (Rev.12:9,10).
7. I m m e d i a t e l y
a f t e r t h e Ra p t u r e , t h e
A n t i c h r i s t a n d the false prophet,
em p o w e r e d b y t h e
D r a gon, will exercise their power and autho r i t y
o v e r t h e n a t i o ns (Rev.13:1-7, 11-17).
8. A f t e r t h e S e c r e t
A d v e n t the Tribulation will begin.
9. Christ comes to meet the perfected saints in the air and returns to
heaven (I Thess.4:16).
10. The Secret Advent may take place at any moment (Mk.13:35-37).
11 . T h o s e w h o a r e
‘ d e a d in Christ’ will be resurrec-ted from their graves and
caught up to meet the Lord in the air (I Thess. 4:16).
12 . T h o s e w h o ‘ a r e
a l i v e ’ an d ‘ r e m a i n ’
( o n t h e e a r th) and who are ‘in Christ’
w i l l b e c a u g h t u p t o
m eet th e L o r d i n t h e a i r
( I T h e ss. 4:17).
13. The overcomers, that is, the true Church (manchild), will be ‘caught
up unto God and to his throne’ (Rev.12:5).
14. The day when the Rapture takes place is called the Day of Christ
(Phil.1:10).
PUBLIC ADVENT
His coming and His glory will be visible to all (I Thess.1:7;2:8); ‘every
eye shall see him’. Jews and ‘all kindreds of the earth’ (Gentiles) will see
Him come (Rev.1:7).
He will come to be ‘glorified in his saints and to be admired in all them
that believe ...’ (II Thess. 1:10).
He will come to the earth, to judge the Antichrist and the disobedient
nation s ( I I T h e s s . 1 : 7 -
9 ; 2 : 8 ). ‘H i s f e e t s h a l l
s t a n d . . . u p on th e m o u n t
o f O l i v e s ’ ( Z ech. 14:4).
H e w i l l c o m e w i t h
t h e raptured Church, all those who are resurrected, and with the
armies in heaven (His mighty angels) (Rev. 19:14; II Thess.1:7; Jude
14,15).
Christ and the raptured Church will judge the nations at Armageddon
(Dan.7:9,22; Jude 14,15; Rev.16:16,17; 19:11-16).
After the Public Advent of Jesus, the Dragon will be bound, and cast
into the bottomless pit (Rev. 20:1-3)
The Antichrist and the False Prophet will be judged and cast alive into
the Lake of Fire (Rev. 19:20).
After the Public Adve n t o f C h r i s t ,

t h e M i l len- nial Reign of Christ and the saints will begin
(Rev.11:16,17; Dan.7:27).
There will be no meeting in mid-air with His saints. He will come with
them, direct to the earth (Rev.19:11-15).
The Public Advent of Christ will take place only after the Seven-Year
Tribulation is over.
There will be no resurrection of anyone from the grave.
There will be no rapture of saints at this time.
Christ will come to the earth to take possession of the kingdoms of this
world (Zech.14:9).
The day of the Public Ad v e n t o f

C h r i s t i s s p o k e n of as the Day of
the Lord (Amos 5:18-20;Zeph.1: 14-18).
Q.15. From St.Paul's teachings to the Corin- thians that ‘we shall not all
sleep ... but we shall all be changed’, we get the impression that
everyone in the Corin- thian church will be ‘changed’ and be
translated to heaven. This appears to give no room for the SELECT
RAPTURE. How do you explain this?
The passage referred to is as follows:

“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. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and
this mortal must put on immortality” (I Cor.15:51-53).
In the light of the teachings of Jesus Christ and His apostles
concerning the Second Coming of Christ for His Church, “all” refers only to
all those who qualify to take part in the Rapture of the Church. St.Paul
clarifies this issue in all his epistles, and especially when he writes to the
Corinthians.
The main points he makes on this subject are as follows:
(1) Those who wish to be in the Rapture must be BLAMELESS.
“... that ye come behind in no gift; waiting for the coming of our Lord
Jesus Christ: Who shall also confirm you unto the end, that ye may be
blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ” (I Cor.1:7,8).
St.Paul assured the believers who were waiting for the Coming of the
Lord Jesus Christ that He
(Jesus) would ‘CONFIRM‘ them (i.e., keep them from falling) unto the end,
that they might be BLAMELESS in the day of the Lord Jesus Christ. But He
cannot “confirm (us) unto the end”, unless we also “hold fast that which
we have already” until He comes, and “keep (His) works unto the end”
(Rev.2:25,26). In order to be found “blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus
Christ”, we also have our part to do. Exhorting the Philippians, St.Paul
says, “Do all things without murmurings and disputings: That ye may be
BLAMELESS AND HARMLESS... in the day of Christ” (Phil.2:14-16). And he
adds that if they do not learn to put off “murmurings and disputings”, his
labour will be “in vain”.
(2) Those who wish to be in the Rapture must GROW
SPIRITUALLY
“I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto
carnal, even as unto babes in Christ. I have fed you with milk, and not
with meat: for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye
able. For ye are yet carnal: for whereas there is among you envying, and
strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men?” (I Cor.3:1-3).
In the light of the above Scriptural teaching, the Corinthian believers
were not spiritual, but ‘spiritual babes’ or ‘carnal’, being torn by ‘strife’,
‘division’ and ‘envy’. Christ does not come for the ‘babes in Christ’ but for
‘the perfect in Christ’ (Col.1:28), or ‘the chaste virgin’ (II Cor.11:2), for a
‘glorious Church, not having spot or wrinkle ... and without blemish’
(Eph.5:27).
God's purpose for the Church is that “... we henceforth be no more
children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine,
by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to
deceive; But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things,
which is the head, even Christ” (Eph.4:14,15).
We are exhorted to “grow up into him in all things”: to grow “in the
unity of faith” (the doctrines, the teachings of Christ); to grow “in the
knowledge of the Son of God”, so that we may, individually and
collectively, grow “unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of
the fulness of Christ”; we are to be “no more children, tossed to and fro,
and carried about” by strange doctrines; we are no longer to exhibit
childish behaviour, but instead grow up and become “a perfect man” filled
with “the fulness of Christ” (Eph.4:13-16). It is the responsibility of the
ministers of Christ to help the Church grow, by “warning every man, and
teaching every man in all wisdom;” so that they may “present every man
PERFECT in Christ Jesus” (Eph.4:12; Col.1:28). This is the plan of God
concerning the Church.
(3) The Church must be so built that it is capable of enduring
FIERY TRIALS
“Other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus
Christ. Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious
stones, wood, hay, stubble; Every man's work shall be made manifest: for
the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire
shall try every man's work of what sort it is. If any man's work abide which
he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a
reward. If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he
himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire” (I Cor.3:11-15).
St.Paul compares the Church to a building built by different builders
and with a variety of materials viz gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay
and stubble. He adds that the building must be capable of being tested by
fire. Obviously the builders are the servants of Christ and the materials
used are their revelations based on the Word of God. All teachings may be
lawful, but all may not necessarily edify the Church. The servants of God
must feed the Church with solid food (sound doctrines), so that they may
be to able to endure all their trials and stand firm to the end. In the above
mentioned passage, St.Paul speaks of a ‘day’ of ‘fire (which) shall try
every man's work’ (vs.13). This does not speak of the Great Tribulation,
which will come on the earth after the Rapture of the Church, but the fiery
trials which everyone in the Church will have to go through before the
Rapture.
In the same chapter (ch.3), St.Paul says that some believers were not
‘spiritual’ but ‘carnal’, remaining as ‘babes’ all through their lives. He
regretted that h e c o u l d n o t f e e d
t h e m w i t h s t r o n g
m e a t ( I C o r . 3 : 1 - 3 ) . Paul
compares these ‘babes in Christ’ to a building made of ‘wood, hay and
stubble’, which will not stand the test of fire. Such believers will not be
caught up when Jesus comes.
(4) Christians who engage in FORNICATION will have no place
in the Rapture.
“It is reported commonly that there is fornicaion among you, and
such fornication as is not so much as named among the Gentiles, that one
should have his father's wife. I wrote unto you in an epistle not to
company with fornicators” (I Cor.5:1,9).
“Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of
God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers,
nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, Nor thieves, nor
covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the
kingdom of God”
(I Cor.6:9,10).
These Scripture portions explain themselves. Those who become
fornicators after being saved can never inherit the kingdom of God; and as
such they will not be caught up.
5. Those who wish to be in the Rapture must be OVERCOMERS.
“Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth
the prize? So run, that ye may obtain. And every man that striveth for the
mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible
crown; but we an incorruptible. I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so
fight I, not as one that beateth the air; But I keep under my body, and
bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to
others, I myself should be a castaway” (I Cor.9:24-27).
St.Paul confesses his own fear that if he runs ‘uncertainly’, without
the firm determination to receive ‘the prize’, or if he fights (wrestles)
without the certainty of being victorious in the end, he will have run in
vain, and have wrestled ‘as one that beateth the air’; he would then ‘be a
castaway’.
He taught his followers to run to the end looking unto Jesus, Who was
to be their ‘Prize’ and to fight the good fight of faith in order to be ‘more
than conquerors’ (Phil.3:14; Heb.12:1,2; Eph.6:12,13; Rom. 8:37;
II Tim.4:7).
From this we see that some will be cast away for lack of
determination to run to the end fighting through to victory: they will not
be among those who are changed when Jesus comes.
These are just a few precepts gathered from the first epistle to the
Corinthians. Further instructions on the subject will emerge as we
continue our critical study of the rest of the epistles.
Q.16. When St.Paul says that “In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye ... we
shall be changed”, does it not imply that God's plan is to sanctify and
perfect His people “in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye”, and
carry them away to Heaven?
St.Paul's statement, ‘in a moment ... we shall be changed’, does not

refer to the sanctification of the saints but to the resurrection of the
bodies of the perfected saints who have died prior to the day of the
Rapture and to the sudden change of the bodies of the living, perfected
saints from mortality to immortality, at the Coming of the Lord Jesus Christ
for His Church. There were certain believers in the Corinthian church who
refused to believe in the resurrection of the dead. St.Paul therefore posed
this question to them: “Now if Christ be preached that he rose from the
dead, how say some among you that there is no resurrection of the
dead?” (I Cor..15:12). Then he goes on to prove the resurrection of Christ
Himself, and also that of the saints, and concludes his teaching thus:
“... It (the body) is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption: It is
sown in dishonour; it is raised in glory: it is sown in weakness; it is raised
in power: It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a
natural body, and there is a spiritual body” (vs.42-44).
“For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must
put on immortality. So when this corruptible shall have put on
incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be
brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in
victory. O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?”
(vs.53-55).
These passages provide incontrovertible proof that it is the physical
body which will be changed ‘in the twinkling of an eye’ when Jesus comes,
and not the character (the inner man). On the other hand, the
transformation of the character (soul and spirit) is something which is
done by the Triune God in the individual concerned through the merits of
the sacrifice of Jesus, and by His Word. This is a mysterious work,
performed by the operation of the Holy Spirit and His power throughout
one's lifetime. It is a gradual work of grace, and by no means a miracle
brought about in the ‘twinkling of an eye’ at the very end of a person's
earthly life.
Scripture portions which throw light on this subject are given below,
and point to three specific facts:-
(1) The work of sanctification is a gradual but continuous work which
goes on day by day, leading us to perfection in Christ Jesus:
“We all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord,
are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the
Spirit of the Lord” (II Cor.3:18).
“...though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed
day by day” (II Cor.4:16).
(P l e a s e s e e a l s o
I T h e s s . 3 : 1 2 , 1 3 ;
P h i l . 2 : 1 4 - 1 6 ; P h il. 3:7,8,14;
I Pet.1:7; 5:10).
(2) Sanctification, far from being attained at the very moment when
Christ comes for His Church (or indeed subsequently), is something which
is completed before He comes:
“The very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your
whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of
our Lord Jesus Christ” (I Thess.5:23).
“... he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the
day of Jesus Christ: That ye may approve things that are excellent; that ye
may be sincere and without offence till the day of Christ” (Phil.1:6,10).
(Please see also: I Pet.1:5; II Tim.4:7,8; Jude 20, 21,24; Rev.3:3,4).
(3) God has appointed consecrated servants in the Church to teach
and to guide the Church to
entire sanctification and Christ-like perfection.
“And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some,
evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; For the perfecting of the
saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:
Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son
of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness
of Christ” (Eph.4:11-13).
“... we preach (Christ), warning every man, and teaching every man
in all wisdom; that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus”
(Col.1:28).
(Please see also Rom.15:15,16; I Cor.3:9,10;
II Cor.12:12; 13:10; Heb.13:17).
Q.17. St.Paul says that “at the last trump,... the trumpet shall sound, and
the dead shall be raised incorruptible”. Does this ‘last trump, refer to
the seventh trumpet mentioned in Rev.11:15?
This cannot be the case. ‘The last trump’ or ‘trumpet’ mentioned in I

Cor.15:52 is referred to as ‘the trump of God’ in I Thess.4:16, while the
seven trumpets mentioned in Rev. ch.8 to 11 are the seven trumpets of
the seven angels, bringing the seven-fold judgment of God on the
disobedient nations, including the unconverted Jews, during the second
half of the Tribulation. The Church will be caught up before the beginning
of the Tribulation.
Q.18. In I Thessalonians 4:14, St.Paul says that when Jesus comes, He will
bring with Him those ‘which sleep in Jesus'. Who are they?
Those referred to as ‘they which sleep in Jesus' are the souls of the
perfected saints who died ‘in Christ Jesus’ between the day of Pentecost
and the day of the Rapture. When a saint dies, his soul goes immediately
into the presence of God, while his body awaits resurrection. When Jesus
comes for His perfected Church, He will bring with Him these souls. They
will then be reunited with their bodies, and they will rise first. Then “we
which are alive ... shall be caught up together with them ... to meet the
Lord in the air ...” (I Thess.4:16,17).
Q.19. How do you explain the phrase “the dead IN CHRIST” in I Thessalonians 4:16 ?
Does it include all born again Christians?
St. Paul speaks here only of the sanctified and perfected saints who
have died ‘in Christ’. This group does not include all born again Christians.
To be ‘in Christ’ determines the Christian's position, privileges and
possessions. “For to be ‘in Christ’ is to be where he is, to be what He is
and to share what He has” (Ruth Paxon). Writing to the Corinthian
believers, St.Paul says: “... I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto
spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ, ... For ye are
yet carnal: for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and
divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men?” (I Cor.3:1-3). Christ is
coming for the perfected saints and not for those who spiritually are
“babes in Christ”. Therefore St.Paul writes, “... we preach (Christ), warning
every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom; that we may present
every man perfect in Christ Jesus” (Col. 1:28). The sanctified and
perfected saints are called ‘firstfruits’ (Jas.1:18; 5:7; Rev.14:4).
Q.20. Some Bible teachers are of the opinion that after meeting ‘the Lord in
the air’, we shall immediately return to the earth to take possession
of it and to reign with Christ. Is this true?
No, we shall not return to the earth immediately. Not only the
raptured saints of the Church, but also all the saints from every
dispensation will return to the earth to reign for a thousand years with
Christ. But this will take place only after the Great Tribulation, i.e., seven
years after the Rapture of the perfected Church. This is proved by the
following :
1. The Rapture of the Church (the Bride) takes place before the
Seven-Year Tribulation. The union of the Bride with the Lamb (the
Bridegroom), referred to as t h e
‘ m a r r i a g e o f t h e
L a m b ” ( R e v . 1 9 : 7 ) ,
t a k e s p l a c e i n mid-air, after which the
Bride will be seen with Christ in t h e p l a c e
p r e p a r e d f o r h e r i n
h e a v e n ( I
T h e s s . 4 : 1 7 ).
Jesus said, “And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again,
and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also”
(Jn.14:3).
2. The day of the Rapture, when the resurrection of the perfected
saints of the Church will take place, is also called the day of the reward of
the saints. We are expected to appear ‘before the judgment seat of Christ’
to receive our rewards (II Cor.5:10). Speaking of the day of reward, St.Paul
says, “the righteous judge shall give me (a crown of righteousness) at that
day”, referring to the day of ‘his appearing’
(II Tim.4:8). Our inheritance and reward are not on the earth but in
heaven. St.Peter says that we have ‘an inheritance incorruptible, and
undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for (us)’ (I Pet.
1:4). St.Paul, in his epistles, writes ‘the hope which is laid up for you in
heaven’ (Col.1:5); and states that ‘o u r
c o n v e r s a t i o n
( c i t i z e n s h i p ) i s i n
h e a v e n ’ ( P h i l . 3 : 2 0 ) .
3. The manchild (the perfected Church) will not descend to the earth
but will be “caught up unto God and to his throne’ in heaven (Rev.12:5),
whereas the sun-clad woman (the remnant of the Church) will flee into the
wilderness (on the earth) where she will
undergo tribulation (Rev.12:6,13-17).
Note: The throne of God is in heaven (Rev.4:1,2), and the
m a n c h i l d w i l l b e
c a u g h t u p t o t h e
t h r o n e i n h e a v en.
In Rev.14:1-5, we read about a group of saints (144000) whom John
sees standing with the Lamb (Je s u s C h r i s t )
o n M o u n t Z i o n ( i n
h e a v e n ) . R e v . 1 4 : 6 - 1 2
reveals that the Tribulation is simultaneously going on on the earth.
Therefore we can conclude that this 144000 is a part of the group forming
the manchild that is caught up to the throne in heaven before the
Tribulation.
Q.21.Why is the Rapture of the perfected saints called the ‘secret’ coming
of the Lord?
The Rapture of the saints who are the ‘firstfruits’ will be ‘secret’ in
the sense that:
1. Jesus will come as a ‘thief’ to ‘steal’ His treasure, the perfected
Church (Matt.24:43,44). No thief ever announces his plans in advance, or
reveals the time of his arrival and neither will Jesus. Worldlings, those who
are the children of ‘darkness’ who are ‘drunken in the night’, or ‘asleep’,
those who are ‘dead in trespasses and sins’ and in ‘the pleasures of the
world’, will not have the faintest idea of what is about to take place; they
will have no spiritual consciousness of His impending arrival, or of the
imminent Rapture of the perfected saints. They will be the ones who
proclaim ‘peace and safety’, but the secret Coming of Jesus will overtake
them ‘as a thief in the night’. When it has taken place, they will be
astonished at the ‘sudden destruction’ which will swiftly descend upon
them, as ‘travail upon a woman with child’, and they will have no means
of escape. They may be vaguely aware of the disappearance of certain
saints from off the face of the earth, but the significance of this fact will
evade them completely.
2. Jesus’ return will be a ‘secret’, which is kept even from certain
Christians (including even some who are Spirit-baptized). Only those who
‘watch’, as Jesus commanded, will know about it. “Watch ye therefore,” He
said, “for ye know not when the master of the house cometh, at even, or
at midnight, or at the cock-crowing, or in the morning: Lest coming
suddenly he find you sleeping. And what I say unto you, I say unto all,
Watch” (Mk.13:35-37). So all, whether servants of God or believers, are
warned to watch. The unprepared, who do not watch, will not be ready to
meet Him, even though they are Christians, and they will discover, too
late, that Jesus has come and gone, and that they have been left behind.
To make this point absolutely clear, let us refer to Jesus' last journey
to Jerusalem. He wept over the city and said: “... If thou hadst known,
even thou, at least in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy
peace! but now they are hid from thine eyes”. Then He prophetically told
them about the fall of Jerusalem thus: “For the days shall come upon thee,
that thine enemies shall cast a trench about thee, and compass thee
round, and keep thee in on every side ... and they shall not leave in thee
one stone upon another: because thou knewest not the time of thy
visitation” (Lk.19:41-44).
This prophecy was fulfilled in every detail in AD 70 because they
were not watchful. In the same way, no thought of the Rapture, no desire
to be ready for Jesus' coming, will ever enter the minds or hearts of
certain Christians. For them, the Rapture will take place without their
knowledge, and the bleak prospect before them will be the Tribulation.
3. God has not revealed any particular day or time as marked out for
His coming. Jesus said, “Of that day and that hour knoweth no man, no,
not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father. Take
ye heed, watch and pray: for ye know not when the time is”
(Mk.13:32,33).
It is a ‘secret’ event unknown to everyone except the Father.
4. The Rapture will take place like lightning (Matt.24:27), ‘in a
moment’, ‘in the twinkling of an eye’ (I Cor.15:51,52). The glorious
presence of God and the glory of the transformed bodies of the raptured
saints will not be seen by those who continue to live in this world.
A parallel situation can be seen in the occasion when St.Paul was
visited by Jesus on his way to Damascus: “Suddenly there shined round
about him a light from heaven” which blinded his (Paul's) eyes. But those
who journeyed with him did not see it (Acts 9:3-7).
These are some of the reasons why it is called the ‘secret’ Rapture.
Q.22. Some say that the predictions of Jesus in Matthew ch.24 have already
taken place in the first century; some others say that they point to
the last days. Which is correct?
A careful study of Matthew ch.24 reveals that some of the predictions

had already been fulfilled in the first century and that some were meant
for the last days. Let us examine the chapter briefly.
After the last visit to the temple in Jerusalem, Jesus said to His
disciples who were absolutely fascinated by the grandeur of the ‘buildings
of the temple’, “See ye not all these things? Verily I say unto you, There
shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown
down” (Matt.24:2). Thoroughly shaken by His statement, the disciples
asked three questions. ‘Tell us’, they said,
1. When shall these things be?
2. What shall be the sign of Thy coming?
3. And what shall be the sign of the end of the world (or the end of the
ages of the world, when Jesus will reign as King of the world)? (Matt.24:3).
In this connection, we must clearly and precisely follow the disciples'
train of thought. Just a short while before these incidents, Jesus had wept
over Jerusalem saying, “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the
prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I
have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her
chickens under her wings, and ye would not! Behold, your house is left
unto you desolate. For I say unto you, Ye shall not see me henceforth, till
ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord”
(Matt.23:37-39). From what they had heard, they understood that
something tragic was going to take place at Jerusalem; that Jesus Himself
would disappear, and then, in the near or distant future, He would appear
again, when Jerusalem would accept Him and shout, ‘Blessed is he that
cometh in the name of the Lord’. They were longing for the time when He
would rule over this world, together with His apostles.
There is an important point here to note. When the disciples
questioned Jesus about the signs of His coming, they did not have any
knowledge that the Gentiles were also to be partakers of the Body of
Christ, the New Testament Church; nor did they have any knowledge of
the secret Rapture of the perfected Church. They were only concerned
about their own nation, and Jesus had to answer them according to the
knowledge and vision they had at that time.
The first question concerned the then existing Jerusalem and the
temple. The second and the third questions referred to the distant future.
Bearing all these things in mind, we have to analyse carefully Matthew
ch.24, Mark ch.13 and Luke ch.17 and 21.
Some of the prophetic utterances in these chapters have double
fulfilments. For example, Jesus said, “When ye therefore shall see the
abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the
holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:) Then let them which be
in Judaea flee into the mountains” (Matt.24:15,16). The first fulfilment
took place in AD 70. Andrew Miller, in his Church History says, ‘The
Christians, with whom we have more especially to do, remembering the
Lord's warning, left Jerusalem in a body before the siege was formed. They
journeyed to Pella, a village beyond the River Jordan, where they
remained till Hadrian permitted them to return to the ruins of their ancient
city. And this brings us to the close of the first century’. The Bible speaks
of another similar fulfilment in the last days with regard to both the city of
Jerusalem and the temple (which will shortly be built, and which is
commonly known as the tribulation temple).
“For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle; and the city
shall be taken, and the houses rifled, and the women ravished; and half of
the city shall go forth into captivity, and the residue of the people shall
not be cut off from the city” (Zech.14:2).
“Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come,
except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed,
the son of perdition; Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is
called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple
of God, shewing himself that he is God” (II Thess.2:3,4).
“But the court which is without the temple leave out, and measure it
not; for it is given unto the Gentiles: and the holy city shall they tread
under foot forty and two months” (Rev.11:2).
All these prophecies are yet to be fulfilled, though such things have
already happened in a measure in the first century.
Q.23. How do you arrange Matthew ch.24, Mark ch.13 and Luke ch.21 with
regard to the order of events in the last days?
In the light of what we have already learnt in Q.22, the order of

events will be as tabulated below.
SIGNS FORETOLD BY JESUS Matt. Mark Luke
A.Prophecies concerning the

city and the temple.
1. Antichrists and false prophets 24:5,11 13:6,22 21:8
2. Afflictions-Christians hated 24:9 13:9,11 21:12,16
imprisoned, killed, for Christ's
sake
3. Many shall be offended and
turn back 24:10 13:12,13 21:16-19
4. Abomination in the temple 24:15 13:14 --
5. Jews warned to flee from 24:16-20 13:14-18 21:21-23
Jerusalem
6. Jerusalem trodden down of 23:37-39 -- 21:24
the Gentiles
B.Additional signs of the last
days
7. Wars and rumours of wars 24:6 13:7 21:9

8. Nation rising against nation 24:7 13:8 21:10
and kingdom against kingdom
9. Earthquakes, famines, 24:7 13:8 21:11
troubles etc.
(After predicting the above signs, Jesus affirmed that they were only the
beginning of sorrows, and that the end was not yet (Matt.24:6,8). The
reason evidently was that it was going to take longer for the end to come
and the above signs would continue to be repeated till then.)
C.The ‘end’ signs before the
secret coming of Christ.
10. The full gospel preached all 24:14 13:10 --
over the world
11. False prophets and false 24:24 13:22 --
Christs
12. The scattered Jews (see 24:32-34 13:28-30
21:29-32
item 6) return to Jerusalem
(parable of the fig tree).
13. Signs in the sky, distress of -- -- 21:25,26
nations, perplexity, roaring of
the sea.
14. Wickedness, sin, and other 24:36-39 -- 17:26-
32
evils on the increase
D.Prophesy concerning the
perfected Church
15. The Rapture 24:40-44 -- 17:34-36
D.Events following the Rapture
of the perfected Church
16. The Tribulation 24:21 13:19 21:35
17. Warning given to the Church24:42-47 13:32-37
21:34-36
to escape the Tribulation.
18. Careless Christians ensnared 24:48-51 --
--
in the Tribulation
19. The appearing of Christ im-
mediately after the first three
and a half years. 24:27,30 13:26 21:27
20. The resurrection of the Trib- 24:31 13:27 --

ulation martyrs.
21. The redemption of the (sealed)
Jews, who enter the Millennium 24:32,33 13:28,29 21:28-31
Q.24. What are the events and signs that will be witnessed before the
rapture of the perfected Church?
Here are some of the important events and signs which will be
witnessed before the rapture of the Spirit-baptized, perfected Church.
(1) There will be a great ‘falling away’ in the Church (II Thess.2:3).
(2) We shall hear of wars and rumours of wars’ (Matt.24:6,7).
(3) The closing generation will be exceedingly wicked, and of
appallingly low moral standards, as in the days of Noah and Lot (II
Tim.3:1-5; Lk.17:26-29).
(4) There will be great famine all over the world (Matt.24:7).
(5) There will be deadly pestilences in many parts of the earth,
destroying man, beast and plant-life (Matt.24:7).
(6) The earth will be violently shaken by earthquakes in many places
(Matt.24:7).
(7) Frightening signs will be seen in the sky (Lk.21:11).
(8) False prophets and false Christs will increase in number
(Matt.24:24; Mk.13:22).
(9) The Jews will return to their homeland (Zech.8:7,8).
(10) The ‘Gospel of the kingdom’ will be preached in all the world for
a witness unto all nations (Matt.24:14).
Let us study these items one by one by one
1. ‘Falling away’ in the Church: There will be a great ‘falling away’
among the Spirit-baptized Christians (II Thess.2:3). Here are the reasons:
(i) ‘...because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold’
(Matt.24:12). (ii) Seducing spirits will enter the Church and propagate
‘doctrines of devils’ through false teachers, causing many to abandon
their faith (I Tim.4:1).
2. Universal Wars. The world will continue to be torn by war, civil
war and racial strife (Matt. 24:6,7).
It is estimated that between the First and the Second World Wars
there were at least thirty internaional wars, and between the Second
World War and now there have been hundred of such wars.
Major countries are now deploying the neutron bomb. And they say
the advantage with the neutron bomb is that it kills people without
destroying buildings. Apart from nuclear war weapons, secret researches
made in the field of ‘silent arsenals’ have resulted in the discovery of
‘silent killers’; these consist of germ bombs and nerve gases which will kill
human beings without destroying machines, buildings and property. A
cannister of high potency, ‘nerve gas’, for instance, can wile out 1000
million poeple. Less than 10 ounces of a ‘germ bomb’ can kill the whole
human race with a deadly disease called ‘Q’ fever.
While the leaders of the nations will promise the world ‘peace and
safety’, ‘sudden destruction’ will come upon the whole world, as travail
upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape (I Thess.5:3).
Weapons of mass destruction are being continually manufactured by
major countries on the pretext of defence purposes.
Apart from the increase in the stock of explosive power, recent years
have seen the extreme developments in defence strategies of the U.S.
and the U.S.S.R, apparently to attain a maximum protection against
enemy ballistic missiles. However, another name for SDI (Stragetic
Defence Initiative) is Star War. Both Moscow and Washington possess this
system inspite of the Anit-Ballistic Missile (ABM) treaty. The Star War is
aimed at destroying enemy satellitebeams which may destroy not only
enemy objects but if need be, even whole cities, from a station in space or
on earth. Surveying all this we are able to understand how very close the
world is to a World War and destruction, the terrors of which are hitherto
un k n o w n t o h i s t o r y
b u t a r e w e l l
p r e d i c t e d i n t h e
B i b l e .
3. The closing generation of low morals: St.Paul prophesied
concerning the closing generation of the last days thus:
“This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For
men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud,
blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, Without natural
affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of
those that are good, Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more
than lovers of God; Having a form of godliness, but denying the power
thereof: from such turn away” (II Tim.3:1-5).
Since the First World War, 'perilous times' have been sweeping over
the world, affecting the general moral tone of humanity; there has arisen
'distress of nations with perplexity' on the one hand (Lk. 21:25,26), and
corruption, immortality and violence on the other. Jesus said, “as it was in
the days of Noah, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man”
(Lk.17:26). Concerning the days of Noah we read thus in the Amplified
Bible: 'The earth was depraved and putrid in God's sight, and the land was
filled with violence (desecration, infringement, outrage, assault, and lust
for power). And God looked upon the world and saw how degenerate,
debased and vicious it was: for all humanity had corrupted their way upon
the earth and lost their direction' (Gen.6:11,12).
This manner of corruption and violence was confined to the then
known world in the days of Noah, and to Sodom and Gomorrah in the days
of Lot. We are living in the days of tremendous technical achievement and
of great advance in every kind of knowledge but along with this has come
a great upsurge of immorality and wickedness. Through the medium of
radio, television and literature, sin and corruption plague the world, with
increasingly disastrous results on humanity, and specially on the younger
generation. The world has become a 'permissive society', through the
legislation of prostitution, divorce followed by re-marriage, abortion,
premarital sex, homosexuality, the unrestricted availability of
pornographic literature and films, and drugs. These damnable sins are
justified under the title 'Free Morality'.
4. Famine: (Matt.24:7: These signs are already witnessed all over the
world in a measure. But they will be extremely disastrous during the
seven years of Tribulation. It is said that eight persons out of ten in the
world today are undernourished, and one in three suffer acute hunger.
Some of the causes of famine are (a) the failure of ... a disobedient
world.
5. PESTILENCES (Matt. 24:7): Pestilences and plagues had been used
by God to chastise wicked nations who continued to be disobedient to
God. In Deuteronomy 28:15-22 we find a list of plagues and pestilences
which constitute some of God's instruments of judgement upon man,
animal and plant. God says, 'And I will smite the inhabitants of this city,
both man and beast: they shall die of a great pestilence' (Jer.21:6).
6. EARTHQUAKES: (Matt.24:7) There has been a steady increase in
earthquakes for the past five centuries . We are also told that the earth is
at present in a constant state of tremor. The statistics given below show
the sudden increase in the earthquakes during the last five hundred
years:
Fifteenth century - 150
Sixteenth century - 153
Seventheenth century - 378
Eighteenth century - 540
Ninteenth century - 2,119
Taking every minor earthquake and convulsion into account, the
twentieth century has had more earthquakes than in any other century
before. Of the 13 greatest known earthquakes in history, 10 have
occurred in the twentieth century. This warns the nations of the
forthcoming judgment of God.
Some of the major earthquakes in the recent past are mentioned
below with their casualties:
YEAR PLACE CASUALTIES
1960 Los Angeles 15,000

Agandis(Morocco) 12,000
1962 Iran 10,000
1963 Yugoslavia (not known)
1964 Alaska 12,000
1967 Maharashtra (India) (not known)
1968 Iran 11,500
1970 Peru 66,700
1972 Iran 5,000
1974 Northern Pakistan 5,200
1975 Mukdell (China) 10,000
YEAR PLACE CASUALTIES
1976 Guatemala (U.S.A) 23,000
1976 Italy 15,000
” Peking (China) 655,000
” Philippines 3,300
” Russia 10,000,000(app.)
1978 Iran 25,000
1980 Algeria 20,000
Italy 3,000
1983 Turkey 2,700
Shanshu (Japan) 104
1985 Chile 177
Mexico 10,000
1988 Armenia 25,000
1989 Armenia 2,00,000
1990 Iran 35,000
1993 Lathur 16,000
(Maharastra, India)
1995 Kop (Japan) 5,500
1998 Chamoli (U.P. India) 1,000
1999 Turkey 40,000
(August)
(Sept.) Taiwan 2,000
(Sept.) Mexico 20
Many more countries were shaken by minor earth tremors which are
not mentioned in this list.
God says, “ ... Yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also
heaven. And this word, Yet once more, signifieth the removing of those
things that are shaken, as of things that are made, that those things which
cannot be shaken (the overcoming Church) may remain. Wherefore we
receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby
we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear: For our God
is a consuming fire” (Heb.12:26-29).
At the time of the Battle of Armageddon, when the Lord will come
down from Heaven to judge the nations, there will be universal
earthquake ‘such as was not since men were upon the earth, so mighty an
earthquake, and so great that the ‘cities of the nations’ will destroyed and
‘every island’ will disappear (Rev.16:16-20).
7. SIGNS FROM HEAVEN: Jesus said that ‘fearful sights and great
signs shall there be from heaven’ (Luke 21:11).
Flying Saucers. Space scientists have been baffled by certain
mysterious unidentified flying objects called ‘flying saucers’. The origin of
these disc-like aircraft are conspicuously different from any other aircraft
known to the aircraft engineers and scientists of this world. No-one has so
far identified the pilots. Some think that they are pople from outer space
and other planets, and that they are far advanced in science and
technology, particularly in the invention of space-crafts. Some
‘spiritualists’ who believe in contacting the spirits of the dead, have made
‘contacts’ with those who man flying saucers, and have received
messages stating that they were spirits, trying to save human race from
forthcoming disaster. From the Scriptural point of view it appears that this
phenomenon is of Satanic origin.
8. FALSE PROPHETS AND FALSE CHRISTS: We need clearly to
differentiate between false prophets and false Christs.
FALSE PROPHETS
The works of the false prophets are (1) to ‘deceive many’ by their
false prophecies and visions (Matt.24:11). (2) to ‘bring in damnable
heresies, even denying the Lord’ (II Pet.2:1). St.Paul says that they are
inspired by ‘seducing spirits’ which use them to deceive the world with the
‘doctrines of the devil’
(I Tim.4:1). Those who will not endure ‘sound doctrines’, but crave a life
after their own lusts will turn their itching ears to their perniciuos
teaching, departing from their first faith and the truth of the Word of God
(II Tim.4:3,4).
Seventh day Adventists, Jehovah's Witnesses, Mormons, Christian
Scientists, Theosophists and a few others find their origin in certain false
prophets who denied the fundamental Scriptural truths. Let us study these
sects in brief:
Seventh Day Adventisits : They deny the efficacy of the blood of
Jesus. They seek justification and salvation in keeping the law of Moses.
According to them, those who do not keep the Sabbath are lost. Only
144,000 of the Adventists will be counted as saved; all the rest will be
totally annihiliated. They also say that Jesus has already come in the
sense that He has entered the holiest in 1844 to make atonement for the
Adventists.
Jehovah's Witnesses: They neither believe in the full atonement that
is found in the death of Christ, nor in His bodily resurrection. They do not
believe in the Trinity. They teach that Heaven is only for 144,000 Jehovah's
witnesses who are destined to attain immortality and to rule with Christ.
They do not believe in the Coming of Christ for the perfected Church but
await His return to the earth to judge the nations in the Battle of
Armageddon and to establish His earthly kingdom. They do not believe in
eternal hell, but in eternal annihiliation of sinners, which they say, is the
second death.
Mormons : Mormons claim that the Bible is the revealed Word of God,
but they say, as the Catholics do, that it does not contain all the
revelation of God, Joseph Smith, the founder of the Mormon Church,
claims that an angel led him to a secret place where he discovered certain
gloden plates which contain the inspiritions of the teachings which belong
to the Latter-day church.
The Mormons believe in many gods. These gods are supposed to be
polygamous. They lived on the earth once as human beings, but by
growing spiritually became divine. ‘God Himself was once as we now are
and is an exalted man’. Therefore all spiritual human beings will become
gods one day. They go further to say that Adam was the first god of the
world. So, ‘He (Adam) is our Father and our God and the only God with
whom we have to do’. They also believe that human beings existed in
spirit-form as spirit-children of God right from creation till physical birth.
Therefore procreation becomes man's primary duty to bring the restless
spirit-children to earth in human bodies.
They believe that salvation is by good works and in becoming active
members of the Mormon Church. All the rest will be damned. These are
some of the heresies of the Mormons.
Christian Scientists: Christians scientists do not believe in sin,
sickness and death. They are just illusions. Man cannot sin, they say,
because he is the very essence of God; he never needs salvation or
atonement. They teach that Jesus never died on the cross; death, hell and
judgment are imaginary. They do not believe in eternal hell.
Theosophists : They believe that man evolved and is still evolving.
The process of continual evolution is called ‘transmigration’ which is their
only way of salvation. They believe in good works which help their
salvation. They also believe in a kind of physical exercise known as ‘Yoga’
for the discipline of their body and mind.
FALSE CHRISTS
How are false Christs identified? They deny that ‘Jesus is the Christ’
and also deny ‘the Father and the Son’ (I Jn.2:22). They fight against the
truth of the incarnation of Christ. ‘ And every Spirit that confesseth not
that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of
antichrist...’ (I Jn.4:3). There are innumerable sects all over the world
today who deny that Jesus is the Christ and the Son of God, and they
deny also that Jesus Christ came in the flesh (or that He was physically
born in the world). The reason they deny the Father and the Son and the
Scriptural truths concerning Christ is obvious. They are inspired by the
Spirit of the antichrist who wants to exalt himself ‘above all that is called
God’ (II Thess.2:4). Jesus said, “... many shall come in my name, saying, I
am Christ‘ (Matt.24:5). It is estimated that so far there have been more
that 11,000 antichrists since the days of Jesus Christ. Listed below are
some of the antichrists who have been able to draw crowds of followers in
our generation by hteir diabolical influence and pernicious teachings.
George Baker : He was a Baptist lay preacher, born in Hutching
island. He suddenly cried one day in the course of his service ‘I am the
Father Eternal’. He began to gather crowds whom He convinced
deceitfully that he was God in human form. He also built ‘heavens’ on
earth, in different places to accommodate his followers who forsook their
all and sold all their properties and gave their riches to George Baker who
by now was called the Black Messiah.
Prince Abdul Baraba Baha: He is known as the ‘Assyrian Mystic’.
Those who visited him claim to have seen him bringing down fire at
command and raising up the dead. He claimed that he was Almighty God.
Let us hear some of his claims in his own words’.
Jacob Schweinfurth of Chicago: He called himself Christ manifest in
the flesh and built a ‘heaven-on-earth’ in Rockford, Illinois. He succeeded
in drawing large crowds after him by his diabolical claims and
blasphemous assumption of deity. But after a while his mission failed and
he himself disappeared.
George Roux of Montfavet (France) : As a young Christian, he
manifested the gift of healing, but in 1950, he claimed the he was Christ
manifest in the flesh, sent by God to finish the unaccomplished ministries
of Moses and Christ. Though he is now dead, his followers continue to
worship him as Christ and to follow his teachings.
Sun Myung Moon: He was born in North Korea in 1920. He says that
he had a vision of Christ while he as sixteen years old. He claims that God
sent him into the world to finish that which Christ could not accompplish.
Jesus Christ, he says, was the second Adam, sent by God to restore all
things which were lost by the sin of the first Adam; but Christ, the second
Adam, failed to accomplish His ministry, because of His crucifixion, which
was not in the plan of God. Moon says that God's plan for Jesus was to
marry a second Eve, and raise up a generation to fill the earth with the
children of the kingdom of God. That mission was interrupted by His
crucifixion. Moon claims, therefore, that he was sent to the earth in the
place of Jesus as the second Adam. and that his present (fourth) wife is
the ‘new Eve’, and that both of them are now accomplishing the ministry
which Jesus had failed to fulfill by allowing Satan to overcome Him on
Calvary. By means of blasphemous satanic claims, Moon has gathered
thousands of followers, especially young people in many countries,
including the U.S.A., Japan, Europe, North Korea and South Korea. He was
arrested some time ago for adultery, polygamy and other immoralities.
These are only few of those who claimed that they were christs
manifest in the flesh. It is possible that those who are greatly used by God
today as evangelists and healing ministers, performing miracles, may
become antichrists if they do not give all the glory to God. We who look
for the coming of Christ and who want to be used to God must put on the
Spirit of Christ. Jesus said that He was ‘meek and lowly in heart’
(Matt.11:29). He proved His claims on Calvary. Though He was ‘in the form
of God’ and ‘equal with God’, ‘He made himself of no reputation’ and
‘humbled himself and became obedient unto death’. He proved His
humility, meekness and lowliness on the cross. ‘We are expected to have
the mind of Christ’. (Phil.2:5) (i.e) put on the spirit of Christ, His humility,
meekness and lowliness. If we neglect to grow in humility, we will give
room to the spirit of the antichrist “who opposeth and exalteth himself
above all that is called God, or that is worshipped ...” (II Thess.2:4).
9. JEWS RETURNING TO THEIR HOMELAND
Before entering the promised land, the Lord spoke to the children of
Israel saying :
“When thou shalt beget children, and children's children, and ye shall
have remained long in the land, and shall corrupt yourselves, and make a
graven image, or the likeness of anything, and shall do evil in the sight of
the Lord thy God, to provoke him to anger: I call heaven and earth to
witness against you this day, that ye shall soon utterly perish from off the
land whereunto ye go over Jordon to possess it; ye shall not prolong your
days upon it, but shall utterly be destroyed. And the Lord shall scatter you
among the nations, and ye shall be left few in number among the
heathen, whither the Lord shall lead you” (Deut. 4:25-27).
The historical books of the Bible say that a few years after entering
Canaan, the children of Israel (10 tribes) and the children of Judah (2
tribes) did evil in the sight of the Lord continually. Therefore God delivered
them into the hands of the heathen. The children of Israel were taken
captives by the Assyrians in 721 B.C., and thereafter they never returned
to their homeland. Similarly Judah was taken captive into Babylon in 606
B.C. Some of the children of Judah returned to Jerusalem after 70 years of
the Babylonian captivity, according to the prophecy of Jeremiah.
“And this whole land shall be a desolation, and an astonishment; and
these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years” (Jer.25:11).
“For thus saith the Lord, That after seventy years be accomplished at
Babylon I will visit you, and perform my good word toward you, in causing
you to return to this place” (Jer.29:10).
When they returned to Jerusalem they built the temple and the city.
At the appointed time, God sent His only begotten Son to redeem them,
but they mocked him, despised His teachings and sought to crucify Him. It
is then that Jesus gave certain definite prophecies concerning (i) the
destruction of Jerusalem; (ii) the destruction of the temple and (iii) the
decline of the Jews as a nation and their being scattered among the
nations to be persecuted by the Gentiles. Here are the predictions of Jesus
Christ.
(i) The destruction of Jerusalem: “When he was come near, he beheld
the city, (Jerusalem) and wept over it, Saying, If thou hadst known even
thou, atleast in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace! but
now they are hid from thine eyes. For the days shall come upon thee, that
thine enemies shall cast a trench about thee, and compass thee round,
and keep thee in on every side, And shall lay thee even with the ground,
and thy children within thee; and they shall not leave in thee one stone
upon another; because thou knewest not the time of thy visitation” (Luke
19:41-44).
(ii) The destruction of the temple: “Jesus went out, and departed
from the temple: and his disciples came to him for to shew him the
buildings of the temple. And Jesus said unto them, See ye not all these
things? verily I say unto you, There shall not be left here one stone upon
another, that shall not be thrown down” (Matt.24:1,2).
(iii) Their final rejection as a nation: “And they shall fall by the edge
of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations: and Jerusalem
shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be
fulfilled” (Luke 21:24).
These prophecies were fulfilled in 70 A.D., when the Emperor Titus
captured Jerusalem, destroyed the temple, and took almost all the
inhabitants captives and dispersed them all over the world. However,
neither the Jews nor Jerusalem were meant to be ‘trodden down’ by the
Gentiles for ever. Jesus has fixed a time-limit ‘until the times of the
Gentiles be fulfilled’. This reveals that the Jews will return to Jerusalem,
their homeland and that the Gentiles will have no more power over them.
Given below are the nations who ruled over Jerusalem since 70 AD
Romans 70 - 613 AD
Persians 614 - 627 ”
Romans 628 - 637 ”
Arabs 638 - 1076 ”
Turks 1077 - 1098 ”
Crusaders 1099 - 1186 ”
Egypt and Syria 1187 - 1228 ”
Germany 1229 - 1243 ”
Turks 1244 - 1247 ”
Egypt 1248 - 1516 ”
Ottoman Turks 1517 - 1916 ”
League of Nations1917 - 1948 ”
On 9th, December 1917, Palestine was conquered by General
Allenby, the leader of the allied forces in the First World War. With the
sanction of the League of Nations, the Jews were permitted to return to
their homeland. In 1948, after the Second World War, they were granted
their independence, and Palestine was given back to them as their
homeland. They have now a government of their own. this proves that
they are no more a valley of dry bones, but an established nation with ‘an
exceeding great army’ (Eze.37:10).
10. The Gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world
before his return: Apart from the activities of innumerable missionaries
who carry the gospel of the Kingdom to many parts of the world, including
the Communist countries, the gospel is preached round the clock through
radio and television, to millions of people at many points on the face of
the earth. There are thousands who carry the Word by way of tracts and
other literature from door to door. God has also raised up many Bible
societies to translate the Bible into hundreds of languages.
As on October 31st, 1998, the whole Bible has been translated into
366 languages, the New Testament alone into 928 languages and parts of
it in 918 languages. In India alone the Bible has been published in 51
languages, the New Testament alone in 48 languages and parts of it in 73
languages.
Q.25. St.Paul says ‘the dead in Christ shall rise first’. Does he mean that the bodies of
the saints will rise?
Yes!, The Oxford Dictionary renders the word ‘resurrection’ as ‘raised

from the dead’. Christ's resurrection refers to His coming back to life in a
resurrected body. When Mary Magdalene and others went to see the body
of Jesus in the sepulchre, the angel who appeared in the sepulchre said to
these women: “Fear not ye: for I know that ye seek Jesus, which was
crucified. He is not here: for he is risen, as he said. Come, see the place
where the Lord lay” (Matt.28:5,6). Note here that they went to see the
dead body of Jesus Christ, not His spirit, so when the angel said ‘He is not
here:’ ... Come, see the place where the Lord lay’, he meant the very body
of Jesus Christ, not His spirit.
TANGIBILITY OF THE RESURRECTED BODY
It is written that after His resurrection, Jesus appeared to the apostles
and ‘shewed himself alive after his passion by many infallible proofs,
being seen of them forty days’ (Acts 1:3). In one of His visits to the
apostles during these forty days, Jesus Himself stood in the midst of them
and said ‘Peace be unto you’. They were terrified, thinking that they saw a
spirit. Jesus comforted them and began to prove that He was not a ‘spirit’,
but that He had His own tangible body. Stretching out His hands, He said,
“Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me, and see; for
a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have.” As they continued
to doubt, He asked them, “Have ye here any meat? And they gave him a
piece of a broiled fish, and of an honeycomb. And he took it, and did eat
before them” (Lk.24:36-43). Here are some important points to note:-
(i) The bodily form that appeared in the midst of the apostles was
not the ‘spirit’ of Jesus, but His very body, now resurrected.
(ii) It was a tangible body, and they were able to see and touch it.
The resurrected body of Jesus was able to eat a piece of fish and
honeycomb.
(iii) A spirit has no ‘flesh and bones’ but a resurrected body has flesh
and bones. They are not the corruptible ‘flesh and bones’ of a
natural body, but the incorruptible flesh and bones of the
heavenly body.
St.Paul says ‘... flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God;
neither doth corruption inherit incorruption’ (I Cor.15:50).
Our physical body has inherited five earthly elements by the
disobedience of Adam. It is :
(i) Corruption (subject to sickness, death and decomposition etc.)
(ii) Dishonour (stripped of glory by sin)
(iii) Weakness (void of supernatural powers)
(iv) Naturalism (confined to the use of their natural senses, and
subject to natural laws)
(v) Mortality (subject to death)
When Jesus died on the cross, He not only dealt with sin, but also
with the consequences of sin, so that in due time, after He has finished
the work of sanctification in our lives, He might raise our bodies
incorruptible, glorious, powerful spiritual and immortal. St.Paul says, ‘... It
is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption: It is sown in dishonour; it
is raised in glory: it is sown in weakness; it is raised in power: It is sown a
natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and
there is a spiritual body ... For this corruptible must put on incorruption,
and this mortal must put on immortality’ (I Cor.15:42-44,53).
Q.26. What is the difference between the resurrected body of Jesus, and the bodies
that were raised to life before Him?
The resurrected body of Jesus was a spiritual body and not a natural
body as it is written, ‘It is sown (buried as) a natural body; it is raised a
spiritual body’ (I Cor.15:44). The other bodies were not resurrected. They
were only revived to live a little longer in the same natural conditions as
they had earlier. This is called resuscitation.
Those who were resuscilated did not have the spiritual characteristics
faculties found in the spiritual resurrected body of Jesus Christ.
1. He was able to appear or disappear at will
“Then the same day at evening, being the first day of the week,
when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled for fear of
the Jews, came Jesus and stood in the midst, and saith unto them, Peace
be unto you” (Jn.20:19).
“And their eyes were opened, and they knew him; and he vanished
out of their sight” (Luke 24:31).
2. In addition to the ability to become visible or invisible in different
forms, His was a tangible body, possessing the ‘flesh and bones’ of a
spiritual immortal substance. Jesus proved this to His disciples.
“And he said unto them, Why are ye troubled? and why do thoughts
arise in your hearts? Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself:
handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me
have. And when he had thus spoken, he shewed them his hands and his
feet. And while they yet believed not for joy, and wondered, he said unto
them, Have ye here any meat?” (Luke 24:38-41).
“Then saith he to Thomas, Reach hither thy finger, and behold my
hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side: and be not
faithless, but believing” (Jn.20:27).
3. The resurrected body of Jesus was not meant to live in this world
but to be in Heaven. So after He showed Himself alive to His disciples He
was ‘carried up into heaven’ (Luke 24:51).
“And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was
taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight” (Acts 1:9).
Similarly, the spiritually resurrected body will not live in this world. It
will be transported to Heaven where it belongs. The only exception is
Jesus Who continued to live in this world for 40 days after resurrection,
and appeared to His disciples to prove His resurrection (Acts 1:2,3).
4. The spiritually resurrected body will have the following five
spiritual characteristics which are absent in resuscitated bodies:
(i)in corruption, (ii) glory (iii) power (iv) spirit-senses and (v)
immortality. (See question 25).
Q.27. When we die, our spirit and soul leave our body ‘to be present with the Lord’. If
so what is the purpose of our body in Heaven?
The resurrection of our body is necessary for atleast three reasons.

1. It is necessary to differentiate the saints from the angels, who are
the ministering spirits to the heirs of salvation (Heb.1:14). The angels
have spirit-bodies, quite different from the glorious, resurrected bodies of
the saints.
2. The saints of the New Testament consecrated their bodies for the
glory of God, that they might live to do His will, to suffer for their Master
and to manifest the life of Jesus Christ to others. St.Paul says: “We are
troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in
despair; Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed;
Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life
also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body. For we which live are
alway delivered unto death for Jesus' sake, that the life also of Jesus might
be made manifest in our mortal flesh’ (II Cor.4:8-11).
Their sufferings, consecration, works of righteousness and labour for
the Master will add to their glory. As St.Paul says, ‘our light affliction,
(suffered in the flesh) which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far
more exceeding and eternal weight of glory’ (II Cor.4:17). No wonder
St.Paul was proud of the ‘marks of the Lord Jesus' which he bore in his
body (Gal.6:17).
Though all the saints of various dispensations will be raised, their
glory will differ one from another in Eternity. Even among the perfected
saints of the Church, their glory will differ according to their calling and
attainment. Those who have consecrated their bodies to know Him the
power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings (Phil.3:10)
filling up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in their bodies for
the sake of the Church (Col.1:24) will possess a greater glory than the
others in the Church. St.Paul explains this in the following way: just as
“there is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another
glory of the stars; for one star differeth from another star in glory, so also
is the resurrection of the dead” (I Cor.15:41,42). The bodies of the
perfected saints of the Church which are God's purchased possession
bought by the blood of Jesus, will be redeemed for the praise of His glory
at the coming of Jesus (Eph.1:14). It will be for the glory of His grace by
which God perfected His work in us (Eph.1:6; 2:6).
3. At the coming of Jesus our adoption will be completed when our
body is fully redeemed from mortality and corruption to serve God
through all Eternity as sons of glory (Rom.8:19,23).
Q.28. I Thess.4:16 says ‘the dead in Christ’ rise. Explain the expression,‘in Christ’
Like as ‘in Adam’ all die, it is in the plan of God that in Christ all
should be made alive (I Cor.15:22). The phrase ‘in Christ’ is frequently
used in the New Testament, in connection with the various purposes of
God which are a part of His manifold wisdom, which He has purposed in
Christ (Eph.3:10,11), and which are accomplished through Him. The
greatest purpose in this predestinated plan is to bring forth saints of the
highest order, called the Church, who will be holy and without blame
before Him in love (Eph.1:4).
This glorious Church is also called the Body of Christ, formed by the
Baptism in the Holy Spirit
(I Cor.12:13). Those who are part of this Church, are therefore members of
His body, abiding in Him. About this, Jesus said, “At that day (the day they
received the Holy Spirit) ye shall know, that ... ye are in me, and I in you”
(Jn.14:20). This life of abiding in Him is exclusively an experience of the
saints of the Dispensation of Grace and the saints who abide in Him, grow
to the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ (Eph.4:13).
This is also called the “mystery of Christ, which in other ages was not
made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto his holy
apostles and prophets” (Eph.3:4,5). This implies that the saints of the Old
Testament had no access to this mystery. Therefore they cannot avail
themselves of the privilege of the New Testament, nor can they take part
in their resurrection.
Q.29. What are the blessings awaiting the perfected Church at the Rapture?
1. AT THE RAPTURE, the ‘chaste-virgin’- the sanctified and the

overcoming Church - will become the ‘Bride’ of Christ. In other words, we
will be united with the Lord for ever. ‘So shall we ever be with the Lord’ (I
Thess.4:17).
2. AT THE RAPTURE, the eternal ministry of the Church together with
Christ begins in heaven (Zion and New Jerusalem) in the fullest measure.
At present, only Christ is the head of principalities and powers (Col.2:10;
Eph.1:20,21). Till the Rapture, the Church has to grow into the fulness of
Christ (Eph.4:13-15). At the Rapture, the perfected Church begins to share
the heavenly administration with Christ, in heavenly places. It is not clear
what kind of administration they are to engage in. We have two or three
Scripture portions that shed some light on this matter. I Cor.6:2-5: ‘Know
ye not that we shall judge angels?’ (The Greek word is ‘messenger’ not
‘devils’). This signifies that we shall exercise authority over the angels
(who form one of the groups of ‘principalities and powers’). Even now we,
in a measure, reveal by our obedience, loyalty to God, and sanctification,
the ‘manifold wisdom of God’ to them (Eph.2:7). All this starts at the
Rapture, and continues forever throughout Eternity.
3. AT THE RAPTURE, we receive the rewards of our life and ministry.
‘Every man shall have praise of God’ (I Cor.4:5). This is called ‘the
judgment seat of Christ’. We have two judgments: firstly, judgment now
‘in the house of God’ (I Pet.4:17; Mal.3:1-4). We are ‘chastised’ or
‘corrected’ so that we may not continue to remain unrighteous, but bring
forth fruits of righteousness (Col.1:10; Heb.12:11). At the Rapture, we
have the second judgment, that is, the occasion when we receive rewards
for our life and labour (II Cor.5:9,10). These will be not only personal
rewards, but also the assignment of our inheritance, power and authority,
and these will be according to our achievements and faithfulness
(Lk.19:12-26).
The raptured Church will become fully established in Heaven during
the Seven Years' Tribulation, in order to share with Jesus the future
administrative responsibilities of Zion, or of New Jerusalem, as the case
may be; for she is appointed to carry out an eternal ministry to the saints
who will be resurrected, group after group, until the end of the Seven
Years' Tribulation.
Q.30. What is meant by the ‘marriage supper of the Lamb’? When and Where will it
take place?
‘Marriage’ and ‘Marriage supper’ are words of deep spiritual

significance, and they should not be associated with earthly marriage, or
with a wedding feast of eating and drinking. ‘The kingdom of God is not
meat and drink’ says St.Paul (Rom.14:17). Marriage, in the literal sense, is
confined to this world: “For in the resurrection, they neither marry, nor are
given in marriage, but are as the angels of God in heaven” (Matt.22:30).
After explaining in terms of marriage, the eternal relationship of the
perfected Church with Christ, St.Paul says “This is a great mystery; but I
speak concerning Christ and the Church” (Eph.5:32). Till the Rapture, the
Church is reckoned as a ‘chaste virgin espoused to ... one husband’, Who
is Jesus Christ (II Cor.11:1,2). But at the Rapture, she will be ‘caught up ...
to meet the Lord (her Bridegroom) in the air, and so shall (she) ever be
with the Lord’
(I Thess.4:17). This eternal union of being ‘ever with the Lord’ is referred
to as a ‘marriage’. This takes place before the beginning of the Seven
Years' Tribulation.
Some think that the ‘marriage supper’ will take place in Heaven,
while the remnant of the Christians pass through the Tribulation on the
earth. Let us remember first of all, as we have already explained, that
there will be no such thing as a wedding feast which consists of eating,
drinking and making merry in Heaven, whilst some of His remnant saints
go through the Tribulation of the antichrist at that time on the earth. The
marriage supper refers to the gathering together of all the resurrected
saints at the beginning of the Millennium to celebrate the final union of
Christ and the Church and to their reigning with Him for a thousand years
(Rev.20:4). There is reason for them to rejoice. Firstly, they are all
resurrected, group after group after the Rapture of the overcoming church
(Rev.7:13-17; 11:12,18,19; 20:4). Secondly, they see Christ, their King,
Who has taken over the kingdoms of the world to reign as the King of
kings and the Lord of lords (Rev.11:15). Thirdly, Christ has judged the
nations, along with the antichrist and the false prophet, who persecuted
them (Rev.19:18-20). Fourthly, Satan, the deceiver of the world, is bound
and cast into the bottomless pit for a thousand years (Rev.20:1-3). Finally,
to crown their joy, the long-expected Messiah, with His Bride, the
perfected Church, is seen to be glorified and to be ‘admired in all them
that believe’ (II Thess.1:10).
The great gathering of all the saints, with Christ and the glorified
Church in the Millennium, is referred to as ‘the marriage supper of the
Lamb’ (Rev.19:9). This is what Jesus had in mind when He said
prophetically to His disciples: “Verily I say unto you, that ye which have
followed me, in the regeneration when the Son of man shall sit in the
throne of his glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the
twelve tribes of Israel” (Matt.19:28): ‘Twelve’ is the number of the Church.

Second Coming of Jesus

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Second Coming of Jesus

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The doctrine concerning

(QUESTIONS & ANSWERS)

It is taken for granted by most evangelicals that all born-again Christians

2. What blessings or spiritual benefits do wederive if we live looking for His

5. Who are the elect mentioned in Mark 13:27?

7. What are the characteristics of the Elect Church, which is to be caught up

Furthermore, our spiritual growth, our overcoming l i f e ,

Q.2. What blessings or spiritual benefits do we

Q.4. How does Mark 13:24-27 point to Christ's

(See also Rom.16:25,26; I Cor.2:7-10; II Tim. 1:9,10).

Another reason could be that Israel, as a nation, was constantly disobedient,

These children of Israel (Jews) included the following:

4. Some of the “five hundred brethren” to whom Jesus immediately appeared,

IMPERFECTIONS OF THE LEVITICAL PRIESTHOOD.

2. Perfection could not be attained by means of the Levitical priesthood:

Because of these imperfections, perfection could not be attained under the

SOME OF THE PRIVILEGES OF THE

1. Christ, the perfect High Priest and Mediator.

2. The New Testament Ministry.

3. The law of the Spirit.

4. Christ, the Greatest Sacrifice :

The Old Testament saints enjoyed none of these privileges.

We note two phrases :-

(i) The Marriage of the Lamb (vs.7);

Christ's coming before the Tribulation will be secret and sudden. He

3. Jesus will appear in the air (I Thess.4:17).

After the Public Adve n t o f C h r i s t ,

There will be no rapture of saints at this time.

The day of the Public Ad v e n t o f

The passage referred to is as follows:

St.Paul's statement, ‘in a moment ... we shall be changed’, does not

This cannot be the case. ‘The last trump’ or ‘trumpet’ mentioned in I

A careful study of Matthew ch.24 reveals that some of the predictions

In the light of what we have already learnt in Q.22, the order of

A.Prophecies concerning the

7. Wars and rumours of wars 24:6 13:7 21:9

20. The resurrection of the Trib- 24:31 13:27 --

1960 Los Angeles 15,000

Yes!, The Oxford Dictionary renders the word ‘resurrection’ as ‘raised

The resurrection of our body is necessary for atleast three reasons.

1. AT THE RAPTURE, the ‘chaste-virgin’- the sanctified and the

‘Marriage’ and ‘Marriage supper’ are words of deep spiritual

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