The second coming of Jesus Christ is imminent. These are the quotations that support the second coming of Jesus Christ: 

 John 14:2-3

 Acts 1:9-11

 Matthew 24:29-30

 Revelation 1:7

 Daniel 7:13-14

 Revelation 19:11

 Matthew 26:64

Luke 21:25-28

Mark 13:24-26

 Isaiah.13:10-11

 2Peter 3:10

Zeph.2:1-3

Zech.14:1-9

 Zech.12:3-4

 All these quotations tell us about the second coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. but there is a difference between the second coming which is called "APPEARANCE" of Jesus Christ and the "RAPTURE". 

                      The Bible makes it clear that God has programmed his coming. This also has problems to many Christians the difference between the second coming and the Rapture.

Here are a few of rapture quotations ;

 John 14:3

 1 Thessalonians 4:15-17

  1 Corinthians 15:51-52

  Isaiah 26:20

If you don`t study the Bible very well to understand how the Resurrection will be, you will not also understand how the rapture will be. If you want to study the rapture, you must first know how the Resurrection will be .The Resurrection of the Saints goes with rapture and the tribulation goes with the second coming of Our Lord Jesus Christ. The Resurrection will happen in three(3) different ways.

First Resurrection; The Rapture of the Saints

   1Thess.4:15-17

  John 14:3

   Acts 1:9

 1Thess.4:18

Second Resurrection; The Tribulation of the Saints

  Rev.20:4

   Dan.12:2-3

   John 5:29

Third Resurrection; The Resurrection of all ages

             Rev.20:11-15

             Dan.7:10

This is the reason why Paul was saying each one of us is placed in His own order (1Cor.15:23)

WHY RAPTURE?

1. Rapture is a promise of God to the church. John 14:2-3

2. It is the removal of the church from tribulation or the wrath of God. Isaiah.26:20

3. To hide His people in His Chambers. Isaiah.26:20

4. To separate the Saints from non-saints in other words sheep from the goats. Matt.25:32, ps.1:5

5. Christians are going to be judged first. 1Pet.4:17, 2Cor.5:10

6. True believers are going to receive their first reward. 1Cor.3:13-15

7. Because the Lord promise to keep the church from the hour of temptation which shall come upon all the world. Rev.3:10

THE RAPTURE OF THE CHURCH 

The word "Rapture" originated from the Latin word Rapio. (Greek. Harpadzo) and it denotes "the catching up of the Saints (both living and dead Saints). It is used to describe the appearance of Jesus Christ in the air to gather all believers (both living and dead), in their glorified bodies to Heaven (1 Cor.15:51-54, 1Thess.4:15-18).

                                     It will be sudden and occur with immense rapidity in a twinkling of and eye. Bodies of living believers will be transformed from mortality to immortality. The dead will resurrect first and the living will be translated. Both the dead and the living will be caught up to meet the Lord in the air. This event will be sudden and will immediately be preceded by a loud shout from Jesus Christ Himself, the voice of an archangel and the trumpet call of God. The shout command which might be similar to the Resurrection of Lazarus from the dead(John 11:43) will be the same as that of the dead in Christ with their mortal bodies to resurrect in order to be clothed with immortal bodies.

Paul actually said; "For the Lord Himself will come down from Heaven with a loud command with the trumpet call of God and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that , we who are still alive will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air ; and so we will be with the Lord forever". (1 Thess.4:16-17)

The souls and spirits of the Christians who will still be living would not leave the body , but suddenly their bodies will transformed to become like the glorious body of Jesus Christ . Thereafter, they shall be caught up to meet Our Lord Jesus Christ in the air. 1 John 3:2

The rapture belongs only to the saints and not unbelievers. The saints in this sense only refers to the believers who are blameless and without spot ( Eph.5:27). They should be those who live and walk in the spirit(Gal.5:11-21) and also they must dwell in the church(1 Cor.12:13, Eph.1:20-23) . 

The rapture is a future event which is similar to the wedding parable told by Jesus Christ concerning the five foolish and five wise virgins according to (Matt.25:2-13). This parable explains what will happen during the rapture. Jesus said , Heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were wise and five were foolish. The foolish ones took their lamps but did not take away oil with them. However, the wise took oil in jars along with lamps. The bridegroom delayed in his coming and they all became drowsy and fell asleep, at midnight the shout rang out: here`s the bridegroom! Come out to meet him. Then all the virgins woke up and trimmed their lamps. The foolish ones said to the wise give us some of your oil ; our lamps are fading out , no they replied there may not be enough for both of us. Instead go to those who sell oil and buy some for yourselves. But while they were on their way to buy the oil , the bridegroom arrived then the virgins who are ready and went in with Him to the wedding banquet. And the door was shut ; later the others also came Sir! Sir! they said, open the door for us. But he replied ; I tell you the truth, I don`t know you".(Matt.25:1-13)

The foolish virgins can represent non-Christians or even Christians who fade away from the faith as a result of following the enticement of Satan and the lust of their sinful nature. Before the foolish virgins were aware, the bridegroom had come and gone. On contrary, the other five virgins could represent those faithful Christians who continued to work out their own salvation with fear and trembling (phil.2:12) and therefore endure to the end.

          The time for the rapture of the church is unknown (Matt.25:13; 24:36) the rapture will be sudden and unexpected like the coming of a thief in the midnight (Rev.16:15; 1Thess.5:2; 1Cor.15:51-57; Matt.24:42-44). Paul said according to the Lord`s own words, we tell you that those who are still alive, and who are left till the coming of the Lord certainly shall not precede those who have fallen asleep (1Thess.4:15-17). The above scriptures may seem to suggest that we will be hanging in the air with the Lord forever. However, the text rather means that the saints will -be with Lord without separation. The rapture is the removal of the saints from the earth as an act of deliverance (1Thess.4:13-17). It will take the following forms; there will be the ressurection of the dead in christ, that is those fallen asleep in Him immediately at the sound of the trumpet call of God(1Thess.4:16-17). They will rise first.

An artist impression about the rapture is the this; during the course of the rapture ; a christian who is flying a plane may be caught up and the result could be anybody`s guest; the plane will tumble and crash or even fall into the ocean. Imagine a train driver in the process of driving who is caught up, the result will be a fatal accident. Many unpleasant and unusual things will occur as a result of the rapture. There will be chaos after the rapture.

                          Consequently, although the rapture will be a secret and sudden event, it will have a drastic impact on the cosmos. For instance, imagine another pilot who is a believer who may be rapture and the aeroplane comes crushing into another. This may lead to the death of many . A christian driver who is driving a car may be raptures and the car will naturally be involved in an accident. A christian surgeon in the middle of a surgery could be raptures and obviously resulting in the death of the patient and so forth and so on.

There are a whole lot of calamities and disasters that are likely to occur on the earth during the process and after the rapture. It seems there will be a lot of commotions, conflicts, confusions and all sorts of unpleasant situations on earth. In fact, the repercussion the rapture will have on earth will be beyond human imagination and it will be very horrible to say the least. This will only be the beginning of the great the tribulation which will occur everywhere in different parts of the world. Jesus said "how dreadful it will be in those days for pregnant women and nursing mothers. Pray that your flight will not take place in winter or on the Sabbath; for there will be greater anguish than at any time since the world began". (Matt.24:4-20)

The time or the day the Lord will come is unknown and every christian must always be on guard. The coming of the Lord is imminent; just as God took Enock out of the world before the flood destroyed the earth (Gen.5:24; Heb.11:5), so will he also take away the church out of the world before the great tribulation begins. God also delivered Lot and his family from the judgement upon Sodom (Gen.19:20-24). Similarly, he will also take away his children out of the world in order to escape the tribulation.

          The second coming of Christ which will usher in the rapture is to occur in the future, yet it can happen very soon so it is said to be imminent. The coming of Christ is mentioned three hundred and eighteen(318) times in the scriptures. In (1Thess.4:13) Paul said,"Brothers, we do not want you to be ignorant about those who fall asleep, or to grieve like the rest of men who have no hope".

THE GLORIOUS BODY

The church in Thessalonian thought Jesus would come and meet them alive but some were dying, so what should they do with faith and hope? Similarly, the church in Corinth was more confused about the second coming of our Lord. (1Cor.15:50-57).

 So Paul said "just as Christ resurrected from the dead as the first fruit of the dead, so at the second coming of Christ the dead in Christ will come out from among the wicked dead (1Thess.4:14-17, Heb.11:35). At the second coming, the bodies of believers which are mortals will be changed into immortals. The spirit and soul of man is immortal. It is only the body that is mortal.

The Bible clearly says when a man dies his body returns to dust(Eccl.3:19-21, Js.2:26). Paul also said that "flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God"(1Cor.15:50). This is the reason why the bodies of the dead in Christ which will be resurrected during the second coming will be transformed from corruptible bodies (flesh and blood) into incorruptible bodies. Therefore those believers who died in Christ will resurrect first in order that their change will occur before the believers who would still be living shall be transformed into their glorified bodies like that of Christ.

This possibly made John to say that "Dear friends, now we are children of God and what we will be has not yet been known. But we know that when he appears, we shall be like Him, for we shall see him as he is ".(1John 3:2-3)

 The first phrase of the second coming fo Christ which is rapture (1Thess.4:16-17) is an event for Christians only. The dead in Christ will resurrect and also those christians still living will be transformed, for all of them to put on their glorious bodies. At that sound, the spirit and souls of believers which had gone to be with Lord in Heaven during physical death (2Cor.5:8) will be re-united with their new incorruptible bodies. All dead christians will be given a glorified body; which will be re-united with their souls and spirits.

                               Paul dilated and gave a vivid description of how the bodies are going to be clothed. When the people who have died in Christ, whose spirits and souls are with the Lord in Heaven are coming with him their bodies which are decayed in the grave will change into new bodies. These bodies will rise from the grave and meet the spirits and souls that are coming with Lord. The resurrected bodies will now clothed the souls and spirits. Then, those who are still alive in a moment and in a twinkling of an eye, suddenly, will be clothed with immortal bodies over their mortal bodies.(1Cor.15:35-49). What Paul is saying is that when you sow a seed of maize, you will not harvest the same seed but maize with new flesh. So it is with the Resurrection; for there is a spiritual body which is different from the physical body. When Paul had alluded to all these examples, he ended by saying that so it is with the resurrected bodies. This means that when a christian dies as a result of accident, during the Resurrection, this person will be raised from the dead without defect. "We sow in dishonor and reap with honor; we sow in weakness but shall be in power".

The celestial body which is clothed by the soul and the spirit will be fit for Heaven. This is the hope of the Christians because very soon, when Jesus appears our corruptible bodies will give way for incorruptible bodies to be clothed upon it. Paul said " now we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed we have a building from God,.an eternal house in Heaven, not built by human hands. Meanwhile we groan longing to be clothed with out Heavenly dwelling, because when we are clothed, we will not be found naked".(2Cor.5:1-4).

The guarantee that these bodies will be clothed with spiritual bodies is the presence of the Holy Spirit which has been given to Christians. The kind of bodies Christians shall receive which is the bedrock of our faith was described by Paul to Philippians (3:20-21) "But our citizenship is in Heaven". The spiritual bodies we shall receive will be the same as that which Jesus had at the Resurrection.

The glorified body will be identical to the resurrected body of Jesus Christ, and it is incorruptible and an eternal body. It is not made up of flesh and blood (luk.24:41-42) which makes it suitable for living conditions in Heaven, it is a spiritual body which is unlimited by time, gravity or space (Jn. 20:19-26) and it is controlled and governed by the spirit. When Jesus rose from dead, He did not lose any of his identity. Hence we shall recognize each other(1Jn.3:2; 1Cor.13:12).

  The spirit will be clothed with the new glorious body. The new bodies will not be restricted by any obstacle since it is spiritual and powerful. The body will be powerful enough to go through the thickest wall. When Jesus resurrected from the grave and appeared to his disciples in the room, he needed no key to open the door before he entered because of his spiritual body. This is the exact kind of body Christians are going to be clothed with. This is because "when he appears we shall be like him for we shall see him as he is".(1John.3:2). :While the disciples were still talking about the resurrection of Jesus Christ, Jesus himself stood among them and said to them why are troubled ( Luke.24:36-39). 

Actually, when he resurrected from the grave and showed himself to his disciples they were terrified because they thought they had seen a ghost. In order for Jesus to convince them that he was real, he mentioned that a spirit does not have"flesh and bone". This statement made by Jesus is quite revealing (Lev.17:11).

This might be the reason why when blood stops flowing one dies. The system that works with the resurrected body is not the same as the system that works in this world. The system that controls the resurrected body is the Holy Spirit himself with his divine power. Paul said;"If the spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to mortal bodies through his spirit, who lives in you (Rom.8:11). 

This is the hope of Christians which surpasses all other faith. Today, many people are Christians because of what they get in life , many also go to church and want to identify with a minister who can give them "7 keys" to become successful, businessmen/women. They used all means whether fair or foul to get what they want to achieve. "For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised either. And if has not been raised, our faith is futile you are still in your sins. Then those who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost. If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men".(1Cor.15:16-19). There is something that we need to work for, and believe for , and hope for, and that is the Resurrection body which will conform to Jesus` glorious body. 

  Another truth is that our glorious bodies will have no physical scars. It will possess divine nature instead of sinful nature (1John.3:2). This means that our new bodies will be insulated against death. It will have a resisting power against decay, it will be free from pain, suffering, sickness and unpleasant things that is presently in this world or yet to come. No skin diseases, cancer, Hepatitis, malaria, HIV Virus can affect it. Although our present bodies will change, we will be recognized in our new bodies. (Jn.21:22; Luke16:24)

VARIOUS VIEWS ON THE RAPTURE

1. NO RAPTURE: This position holds the view that there will be no rapture. This is because the kingdom of Christ has already begun through the church. Therefore the church will continue to be victorious and enter the millennium rule of Christ. Contrary to this belief, Paul enlightens us about the rapture. (1Thess.4:16-17)

2. POST-TRIBULATION RAPTURE: This position believes that the rapture will occur at the end of tribulation. This means that the church will go through tribulation. Proponents say that the rapture will coincide with the second coming of Christ at the end of the great tribulation. Paul`s assertion in (2Thess.2:1-2) is different from this view. The rapture has to come before the day of the Lord. Of course, there will be saints including the 144,000 Jewish evangelists on earth during the tribulation who will not be the same as the saints of the present church.

3. PRE-TRIBULATION RAPTURE: Proponents say the rapture of the church will occur before the seven- years period of the Great Tribulation begins (Dan.9:17). This means that the church will not go through the great tribulation. Anti-Christ, who will precipitate the great tribulation, can only be revealed after the church has been rapture to end the restraining of Lord`s Grace (2Thess.2:7-8). The second coming of Jesus Christ will be in two phases; The event at which rapture will take place before the great tribulation, and another event of a visible return of Our Lord Jesus Christ with the church at the close of the tribulation. Immediately the millennial kingdom of God will be established (Dan.7:9, 22, 27; Rev.20:4).