The Ascension and The Rapture ("Jesus. . . will so come in like manner" as He was seen go into heaven.)

 

And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven as He went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel,  who also said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will so come in like manner as you saw Him go into heaven.”  Acts 1:10-11 NKJV

"In Like Manner"  Jesus will return as He was seen by the 11 disciples, those close to Him.  Jesus will come as the angels told the disciples, in the clouds for the ones who are close to Him as their personal Savior.  This is the Rapture of Jesus calling the believers up to meet Him in the air.

In Zechariah 14:4-5  we read that every eye will see Jesus when His feet touch the Mount of Olives, and all the saints will be with Him. This is the second coming of Jesus.

Revelation 1:7  says, "Behold, He is coming with clouds, and every eye will see Him, even they who pierced Him. And all the tribes of the earth will mourn because of Him. Even so, Amen."  As Zechariah 14:5 says, "Thus the Lord my God will come, and all the saints with You."

We must not forget that the Rapture is not meant for all to see. Only those who have acknowledged Jesus as Savior and Lord are thereby qualified to be saints through the redemption of Jesus. 

Putting these scriptures together, we can see that  the Bible explains itself. Therefore, we can infer that the Rapture and the Second Coming of Jesus  are two separate events. 

 

Amir Tsarfati's   "Eagerly Awaiting"  (Bible Bites Today)

Of the ten times we find the English world “eagerly” in the New Testament, six of those times it is in relationship to the return of Christ. In all six, it is paired with the word “wait” or “waiting”, and it is actually only the Greek word, translated as “wait”, that is in the manuscripts. The word is paired in English translations with “eagerly”, because the Greek word for “wait” means “to expect fully.”    

Think about what all this means to our outlook and priorities in life. If you “expect fully” that Jesus could come for the church today, your life will be lived accordingly and your attitude will be impacted by that belief greatly. If you “expect fully” that today you could receive a new body when Christ appears, the aches and pains of life will not be so consuming.

Imagine if we lived everyday fully expecting the rapture – which we should – and not just that it was someday, but imagine if we fully expected it every day. How would that impact our interactions with other people? Who would we be desperate to try and share the Lord with? What relationship would we seek to repair or restore? What activity would there be that we might need to repent of, or wrong that we need to make right? Eagerly waiting for the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, is far different than simply knowing it will happen someday. 

Isaiah 40:28-31
Have you not known? Have you not heard? The everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth, neither faints nor is weary. His understanding is unsearchable. He gives power to the weak, and to those who have no might He increases strength. Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall, but those who wait on the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.

The Hebrew word translated “wait” means essentially the same as the Greek word translated “wait,” – “to eagerly expect.” In this context it means that those who eagerly expect God to be faithful to His word will renew their strength, which will allow for them to run and not grow weary, to walk and not faint.

For most of us, waiting is low on the list of things we enjoy doing, especially when we are waiting for something we desperately need or wish to change. Waiting for the rapture of the church sure seems like it is taking a long time, some days.

2 Peter 3:9
The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.
   

If the Lord doesn’t meet us in the air today, there are reasons beyond our understanding for it. However, that means tomorrow it is even more likely He will come, and thus we should fully expect it more and more with each passing day. One day we will awaken and it will be “that day.”

1 Thessalonians 4:15-18
For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep. For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words.

 
Today just could be “the day”, and we should fully expect it to be possible. Doing so will make everything about today different.

Even so, come quickly Lord Jesus,