The Rapture, the Tribulation, and the Second Coming of Christ,Used

This book will attempt to discuss and defend perhaps the most difficult and most challenging parts of the scriptures by looking at the Rapture of the Church, at the Great Tribulation, and at the Second Coming of Jesus. Those are items of interest to almost every person alive. But there are also probably just as many viewpoints about those events as there are people. So this book will begin at the beginning by suggesting that the literal approach for interpreting those future events is probably superior to trying to interpret them figuratively or in some other nonliteral fashion. The position of this text is that the events will literally happen at some point in the future. So everything about them in this text will be presented based upon that belief.After the first chapter, which will present the rationale for interpreting the endtime events literally, chapter two will present seven arguments and provide multiple scripture references that seem to support a literal Rapture of the Church. Such passages as Jeremiah 30:79, I Corinthians 15:5254, Revelation 20:1115, and many others will be used during those arguments. Then in chapter three, nine reasons for believing that the Rapture will occur before the Tribulation will be given. Once again, numerous scripture references will be used in support of those discussions. Then some other administrative matters to be considered after that will be the Judgment Seat of Christ, Daniel's seventy weeks prophecy, the setting on the earth just before and just after the Rapture, and the first appearance of the Antichrist. All of those details will be discussed before looking at the appropriate chapters in the book of Revelation.Then in chapters eight through eighteen, the seven seal judgments, the seven trumpet judgments, and the seven vial judgments will be discussed. Along with those judgments, themselves, will be discussions about everything else that will be happening at the same time as those judgments. As will be seen in those intervening chapters, a lot will be happening, and most of it will be very bad. In chapter nineteen of this text, the Millennial reign of Jesus will be discussed, how the earth will transition from being temporal to eternal will be discussed, and the final great battle at the end of the Millennium between Jesus and the devil will be discussed. Then chapter twenty will close with the simple message that everyone will want to be saved before leaving this life because an eternity apart from Jesus will not be good.There is one note, however, to be made with respect to the organization of this text. Throughout its pages, charts have been provided to help put the events of the chapters into a pictorial representation for easier understanding. It is the idea that a picture can be worth a thousand words. Another thing that the reader of this text might find useful is boxes that show the different passages that are being referenced at the times and in the places where they are being referenced. That way, he or she will not have to jump all over the place or get into or out of the scriptures to locate a particular reference. Hopefully that inclusion will help the reader in trying to understand the various events. The book of Revelation is important to read and try to understand because it is a part of the Word of God. The Lord has given it to His people to help them understand the things that are to come. Therefore, may He receive the praise, honor, and glory from this text that He rightfully deserves.