THE END TIMES, the resurrection of the dead, the rapture, tribulation, the second coming of Christ, the final judgment and the eternal state of the righteous; and eternal punishment for the unrighteous.
Listen, I tell you a mystery:
We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed—
in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet.
For the trumpet will sound,
the dead will be raised imperishable,
and we will be changed.
For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable,
and the mortal with immortality.
When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable,
and the mortal with immortality,
then the saying that is written will come true:
"Death has been swallowed up in victory."
"Where, O death, is your victory?
Where, O death, is your sting?"
The sting of death is sin,
and the power of sin is the law.
But thanks be to God!
He gives us the victory
through our Lord Jesus Christ.
1 Cor 15:51-57 (NIV)
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.
We believe that Jesus died and rose again
and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus
those who have fallen asleep in him.
According to the Lord's own word,
we tell you that we who are still alive,
who are left till the coming of the Lord,
will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep.
For the Lord himself will come down from heaven,
with a loud command,
with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God,
and the dead in Christ will rise first.
After that, we who are still alive and are left
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.
Therefore encourage each other with these words.
1 Thess 4:13-18 (NIV)
Now, brothers, about times and dates we do not need to write to you,
for you know very well that the day of the Lord
will come like a thief in the night.
While people are saying, "Peace and safety,"
destruction will come on them suddenly,
as labor pains on a pregnant woman,
and they will not escape.
1 Thess 5:1-3 (NIV)
Don't let anyone deceive you in any way,
for that day will not come until the rebellion occurs
and the man of lawlessness is revealed,
the man doomed to destruction.
He will oppose and will exalt himself
over everything that is called God or is worshiped,
so that he sets himself up in God's temple,
proclaiming himself to be God.
Don't you remember
that when I was with you I used to tell you these things?
And now you know what is holding him back,
so that he may be revealed at the proper time.
For the secret power of lawlessness is already at work;
but the one who now holds it back
will continue to do so till he is taken out of the way.
And then the lawless one will be revealed,
whom the Lord Jesus will overthrow with the breath of his mouth
and destroy by the splendor of his coming.
The coming of the lawless one
will be in accordance with the work of Satan
displayed in all kinds of counterfeit miracles, signs and wonders,
and in every sort of evil that deceives those who are perishing.
They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved.
For this reason God sends them a powerful delusion
so that they will believe the lie
and so that all will be condemned
who have not believed the truth
but have delighted in wickedness.
2 Thess 2:3-12 (NIV)
But our citizenship is in heaven.
And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ,
who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control,
will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body.
Phil 3:20-21 (NIV)
For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men.
It teaches us to say "No" to ungodliness and worldly passions,
and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age,
while we wait for the blessed hope —
the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ,
who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness
and to purify for himself a people
that are his very own, eager to do what is good.
Titus 2:11-14 (NIV)
"So when you see standing in the holy place 'the abomination that causes desolation,'
spoken of through the prophet Daniel — let the reader understand—
then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains.
Let no one on the roof of his house go down to take anything out of the house.
Let no one in the field go back to get his cloak.
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 then there will be great distress,
unequaled from the beginning of the world until now —
and never to be equaled again.
If those days had not been cut short, no one would survive,
but for the sake of the elect those days will be shortened.
At that time if anyone says to you, 'Look, here is the Christ!'
or, 'There he is!' do not believe it.
For false Christs and false prophets will appear
and perform great signs and miracles
to deceive even the elect — if that were possible.
See, I have told you ahead of time.
Matt 24:15-25 (NIV)
"Then they will go away to eternal punishment,
but the righteous to eternal life."
Matt 25:46 (NIV)
There is a judge for the one who rejects me
and does not accept my words;
that very word which I spoke
will condemn him at the last day.
For I did not speak of my own accord,
but the Father who sent me commanded me
what to say and how to say it.
I know that his command leads to eternal life.
So whatever I say is just what the Father has told me to say."
John 12:48-50 (NIV)
"There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and lived in luxury every day.
At his gate was laid a beggar named Lazarus, covered with sores
and longing to eat what fell from the rich man's table. Even the dogs came and licked his sores.
"The time came when the beggar died and the angels carried him to Abraham's side.
The rich man also died and was buried.
In hell, where he was in torment,
he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side.
So he called to him,
'Father Abraham, have pity on me and send Lazarus
to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue,
because I am in agony in this fire.'
"But Abraham replied,
'Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things,
while Lazarus received bad things,
but now he is comforted here and you are in agony.
And besides all this,
between us and you a great chasm has been fixed,
so that those who want to go from here to you cannot,
nor can anyone cross over from there to us.'
"He answered, 'Then I beg you, father, send Lazarus to my father's house,
for I have five brothers. Let him warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.'
"Abraham replied, 'They have Moses and the Prophets; let them listen to them.'
"'No, father Abraham,' he said, 'but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.'
"He said to him, 'If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets,
they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.'"
Luke 16:19-31 (NIV)
Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it.
Earth and sky fled from his presence, and there was no place for them.
And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne,
and books were opened.
Another book was opened, which is the book of life.
The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books.
The sea gave up the dead that were in it,
and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them,
and each person was judged according to what he had done.
Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire.
The lake of fire is the second death.
If anyone's name was not found written in the book of life,
he was thrown into the lake of fire.
Rev 20:11-15 (NIV)
