John 5:25-29, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God: and they that hear shall live. For as the Father hath life in himself; so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself; And hath given him authority to execute judgment also, because he is the Son of man. Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.”
Jesus spoke in Verse 29 of two different resurrections: The Resurrection
of Life, and then the Resurrection of the Damnation. One for the
saved, and the other for the unsaved.
THE FIRST RESURRECTION
We read in 1st Corinthians 15:51-54 about the first resurrection, also known as the doctrine of the RAPTURE (the words “CAUGHT UP” are found in 1st Thessalonians 4:17, clearly teaching the Rapture of the saints from the earth to be with the Lord in the air). Also, the Bible teaches a PreTribulation Rapture. At the Rapture, our human bodies will be changed in a split-second of time into immortal bodies, fashioned according to the glorious resurrected body of our Lord Jesus Christ (Philippians 3:21)...
1st Corinthians 15:51-54, “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. 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.”
We also read in the Scriptures concerning the FIRST Resurrection of life in Revelation 20:4-6...
Revelation 20:4-6, “And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years. But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.”
The FIRST resurrection is only for saved (born-again) believers who've received Jesus as the Christ.
Revelation 14:13, “And I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Write, Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth: Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labours; and their works do follow them.”
The saved will be judged at the Judgment Seat
of Christ immediately following the Rapture (2nd Corinthians 5:9-11).
THE SECOND RESURRECTION
After the FIRST resurrection will follow a 7-year Tribulation here upon the earth, when God will pour out His anger and vengeance upon mankind for their refusal to repent. The sun will scorch men and they will curse God (Revelation 16:8-9). Revelation 6:8 says that one-fourth of the earth's population will be killed by war and famine. Scorpion-like creatures from the bottomless pit will sting men, causing excruciating pain. According to Revelation 9:18, one-third of the population will die just from the scorpion-like monstrous creatures from beneath the earth, but only after 5-months of inflicting bodily afflictions upon their victims which will be worse than death.
There will be a worldwide earthquake so massive that the skyscrapers of all the cities on earth will crumble to the ground. Even the mountains will be shaken out of their place and the islands of the sea will be submerged under water (Revelation 16:19-20). It will be a time of Tribulation such as the world has never known. In fact, the Tribulation will be so horrifying that all mankind would perish from off the face of the earth if God didn't shorten it to only 7-years. Matthew 24:22, “And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened.” BILLIONS of people will die horrifying deaths during the Tribulation from the sword by war, famine and pestilence, poisoned by a meteorite (burning just like in the sci-fi thriller movie DEEP IMPACT) which will kill many people and one-third of all life in the sea and rivers (Revelation 8:9-11).
Revelation 8:12 says the sun will be partially blocked out and only shine for two-thirds of a day, which will cause temperatures to plunge to one hundred below zero (just like in the sci-fi thriller movie THE DAY AFTER.) People enjoy watching such horrifying movies now, but it will be a reality in the future (and I believe very soon my friend). People will freeze to death and crops will not grow. The Bible does not provide specifics as to why the sun will not shine as it once did, but I think it is very plausible to conclude a planetary shift in the heavenly bodies (stars, planets, et cetera). It will be a judgment from God (Revelation 8:10). God will cause all of these horrible things to happen, to punish humanity for their wickedness and refusal to repent.
After the unprecedented freezing temperatures
God will scorch men alive with inferno heat from the sun. People today don't
appreciate just how wonderful God's creation is. We take the alignment of
the solar system for granted, saying it
“just happened” that way through evolution. Ungodly professors teach youth
that a “BIG BANG” made it all happen and there is no God. Well, God is going
to teach mankind a lesson or two about science that they'll never forget.
How dare men teach that all the blessings from God are not really from God,
and it all just HAPPENED! Don't you think that insults God and makes Him
angry? Sure it does!
Revelation 20:11-15, “And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.”
The Tribulation Period will be a nightmare. If you are saved, then you will be Raptured and not go through the Tribulation. The “elect” (saved) who do go through the Tribulation will be those who are saved during the Tribulation.
Here are several Biblical evidences that the Rapture will occur BEFORE the Tribulation. I hope that you will be included in the FIRST resurrection my friend, to be with the Lord forever. Only the wicked (who are unsaved and on their way to Hell forever) will be resurrected at the SECOND resurrection. The first resurrection is only for Christians. The second resurrection is only for the unsaved.
