The Second Coming of Jesus Christ

The second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ begins with the Rapture of the Church in the air, followed by the Great Tribulation, during which time also will occur the judgments at the judgment seat of Christ, which constitute the giving of rewards for good works, consummating in His coming to the earth in power and great glory; the elapsed time for these momentous events will be at least seven years, the period of Daniel’s seventieth week (Dan.9:27), which corresponds to the time of the Great Tribulation (Matt. 24:29,30).
1. The word Rapture is nowhere found in the Scripture; it is a word used to designate an event, and it comes from the root meaning “to be caught up.” The Rapture, Christ’s descent into the air to meet His caught-up Church, constituting every believer both living and dead, is the next event of divine prophecy to take place; there is no known prophecy yet unfulfilled between the present time and this tremendous event, mentioned my the apostle Paul in I Thessalonians 4:13-18.
2. Following the Rapture, Christ sets up His judgment seat, probably somewhere in the air, before which all His saints will appear one by one (Rom. 14:10; II Cor. 5. 5:9,10), for the judgment of their works, and the giving of promised rewards (I Cor. 3:11-15; 4:5). These will transpire in all probability during the seven years of the Great Tribulation on the earth.
3. After completion of the giving of His rewards, in Revelation 19:11-16, the Lord Jesus Christ is seen as He is leaving Heaven with His saints and angels, for the purpose of destroying His enemies, and setting up the kingdom of Heaven on the earth.
(Matt. 24; Isa. 2:12-21; 13:9-13; Zech. 2:10-13)
And so with power and great glory, Hew returns to the earth, establishing his throne, upon which He reigns, together with His saints for a thousand years (Rev. 20:4-6); after which the kingdom is turned over to God the Father.