John 6:44, 54 tell us that “No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day . . . Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day (emphasis added). This connects the Last Day (the Day of the Lord) to us being raised up. Being raised up is our resurrection, just as Jesus was raised from the dead. It’s when we overcome death and receive immortal bodies. This connects the Last Day to the rapture. 
 
Following the principle of establishing truth with two or three witnesses, we can look at a passage that describes the rapture (1 Thessalonians 4:15-17). Read it carefully. We see Him coming literally, descending with a shout and the sounding of the trumpet. We see the dead in Christ rising first. These are believers who died and their spirits went to Heaven. When Christ says “Arise,” the earth gives up their dust and they receive immortal bodies.
 
Then Christ says, “Shine,” and we see those who are alive at His Coming being caught as well as we all meet the Lord in the sky. The Head of the Church (Jesus) and the fullness of His Body (the Church, His Bride) come together as one new Man. United we return to Heaven to take up our next assignment as the General Assembly and the Church of the Firstborn.
 
The Greek word for “caught up” is harpazo (pronounced har-pah’-zo). That word in Latin is rapturo, which is where we get the word rapture. The rapture is our promised deliverance. We are “taken” so we can fulfill our heavenly calling of reigning as joint-heirs.
 
The Church in general has not taught much about what that millennial reign will look like, even though it is laid out for us in the book of Revelation. Stay tuned to find out more about your job description.
 
By the way, we have several charts showing God’s great prophetic Week on our website: chronosministries.org. Click on the Resources tab and scroll down. The Day of the Lord is the last Day, the 7th Day when counting from Adam, and the 3rd Day when counting from Christ.

Our Lord’s first teaching concerning the end-times is known as the Olivet Discourse because it happened as He and the disciples were standing on the Mount of Olives overlooking the Temple and Jerusalem. Jesus had just spoken a prophecy concerning the destruction of the Temple. He had been teaching them about His impending death,  resurrection, and return. 
 
Naturally, His disciples asked, “When will these things be? And what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?” (Matthew 24:3)
 
He proceeded to describe an extended time of tribulation, after which there would be the final sign of total darkness over the earth. The tribulation would be marked by false prophets, wars, human conflict, famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places.
 
Since we are coming to the end of the 6th great Day in God’s prophetic Week, these consequences of the Fall dominate our headlines. They are part of the tribulation of the Days known as the Church Age.
 
When they erupt, the Church is to intercede with compassion and the power of the Word.  We can walk in the assurance of the abiding Presence of God and our Lord. Psalm 91 is a prophetic Psalm for times like these.For those who dwell in the secret place of the Most High, under His protective wings, in the knowledge of who we are in Christ, we need not fear.
 
For the blood of the Passover Lamb covers our “doorways” and lives within to keep pestilence and destruction away. No evil shall befall our households. He is with us in times of trouble and delivers us. This is just as much a part of our salvation as forgiveness and healing.
 
When we understand what the Bible says about the chronos times and the kairos signs, we can know what to do. We have the mind of Christ. We have comfort, hope, and victory. This is our training for reigning. This is our witness to a hopeless, fearful world.

Our Lord’s teaching on the end-times, known as the Olivet Discourse, ends with the rapture. Why? Because He was answering His disciples’ questions: “Tell us, when will these things be? And what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?” (Matt. 24:3).
 
Notice the connection: His coming is linked to the end of the age (of mankind). The end of the age doesn’t mean the end of time, the end of this earth, or the end of the human race. It simply refers to the time allotted to the rule of mankind on the earth. Unfortunately, we also know that humanity forfeited this rule at the Fall by choosing to disobey God and eat of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. Evil, in the form of Satan and the forces of darkness, became the god of this age (2 Cor. 4:4).
 
Following the pattern of Genesis 1, the six great Days are followed by the 7th Day, a Sabbath rest. It comes when the Son of Man rules over the earth. That’s why it’s called the Day of the Lord (one of many names). You may know this Appointed Day as Christ’s Millennial Reign—millennial is Latin for a thousand. Christ reigns over the earth on the Last Day.
 
In God’s omniscience (all-knowing nature), He knew we would need a piece in the prophetic puzzle that would be so obvious we could not overlook it. He included a piece in the Bible “box” that has so many references to it that it enables us to fit some very important pieces together by matching the “colors.”
 
These multiple, clear-cut pieces link the Day of the Lord (the 7th Day) to His coming (His return), to the rapture (the Church gathered to Him), and to believers being raised up (resurrection perfection).
One such connective piece is found in 2 Thessalonians 2:2. Now, brethren, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, we ask you, not to be soon shaken in mind or troubled, either by spirit or by word or by letter, as if from us, as though the day of Christ had come. The Apostle Paul describes our resurrection at His coming in 1 Corinthians 15. It is when we are raised up and changed to immortality. We are perfected in Christ and complete in Him.
 
Stayed tuned to find out what this 7th Day means to every believer.