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What Happens When
Lesson 3, Part 2 — Between Here and There  ·  June 28, 2026  ·  ▶ Watch

1 Corinthians 15:52 – In a Moment

Jeff: Now that that is done, turn to 1 Corinthians 15. We are at verse 52. We are going to talk about "in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet." Have you ever really considered what that means In a moment. The twinkling of an eye. It is going to be quick – quick and unexpected. Do not blink.

Jeff: Would somebody read verse 52 for us

1 Corinthians 15:52 – "In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed."

Jeff: We have been talking about what happens when we die, and we have transitioned into this question: What happens when Jesus returns What happens at the resurrection What happens to our bodies We will get more specific later in this study, but right now we are asking what happens when Jesus returns.

Jeff: Paul says, "in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye." The idea is instantaneous. One moment He is not there; the next moment He is. Why is that important

Class member: It is instant. It lets you know how much time you have left.

Jeff: It is over. We tend to think about life as though we have plenty of time: I will get to it. I will fix this. I will change that. I will get my life straight. Scripture defines it very differently. Scripture says, "in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye." That is not a second. It is a fraction of a second. It is so quick and instantaneous that there is no time to prepare when it happens. We need to be ready before it happens, because it could happen at any moment.

Matthew 24 – Sudden and Unexpected

Jeff: Turn to Matthew 24:36. Scripture says quite a bit about this, and we cannot get to everything, but we are going to hit some of the high points.

Class member: Is 1 Corinthians talking about those who are already dead

Jeff: In verse 51, Paul says, "We shall all be changed." He is talking about when Christ comes back and we see Him in the clouds. There is a transition in which the dead in Christ, who are already with Him, come back. Their bodies are resurrected, their spirits are reunited with those bodies, and everybody is changed at the same time. All of it happens in a flash. One moment life is going on as normal, and the next moment Jesus is here.

Matthew 24:36 – "But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only."

Jeff: Only the Father knows the day and the hour. If the angels do not know, we surely do not know. If somebody says it is going to happen on a particular day, do not believe it.

Matthew 24:37-39 – "For as were the days of Noah, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, and they were unaware until the flood came and swept them all away, so will be the coming of the Son of Man."

Jeff: We get that sudden-flood imagery. One minute it is raining and everything seems fine. The next minute, it is too late. It changes quickly – suddenly and unexpectedly. That is exactly how Jesus describes His return. In Noah's day, people were living their lives as normal. Noah had warned them for 120 years, but they kept on living as though nothing was going to happen.

Jeff: That sounds like today, does it not Even as Christians, we can get caught up in that. That is why this topic is so important. It keeps us focused on the right things. Jesus could come back at any time. I could not finish this sentence, and He could be here.

Class member: Time is a gift. God exists outside of time. When He pulls the plug, it is no longer there.

Jeff: Absolutely. Jesus emphasizes this repeatedly in Matthew 24, Matthew 25, and Luke 12. You do not have as much time as you think.

Matthew 24:40-41 and the "Left Behind" Question

Kathy Ledford: Are these the verses a lot of people use to justify the "left behind" idea Verses 40 and 41 say, "Then two men will be in the field; one will be taken and one left. Two women will be grinding at the mill; one will be taken and one left."

Jeff: Let us put it in context. What has Jesus been saying before He says those words He is coming. Be ready. You do not know when. It will be sudden, unexpected, and it will catch people off guard. So what do verses 40 and 41 add to that

Class member: One is ready, and one is not.

Jeff: That is the point. People are going to be caught off guard. It is not that one person will be swept away, another will be left behind, and then a long period of time will pass. It is instantaneous. They will experience that terrible realization: It happened, and I got caught off guard.

Jeff: In that sense, the left-behind idea is true, but not on the timeline usually described. Scripture says one person is going to be left, but it will happen in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye. We do not get five more minutes. We do not get seven more years. Those left on earth are left only for a moment, because Christ's coming is sudden. When it happens, it happens, and it is too late.

Jeff: The premillennial idea of "left behind" says that Jesus comes back to take the church to heaven for seven years while a tribulation period continues on earth. Then everyone has seven years to prepare for the second coming. By that accounting, it would technically be a third coming. Scripture does not teach that.

Tribulation, Revelation, and the Thousand Years

Jeff: Revelation 1:9 is important here. John, the writer of Revelation, says, "I, John, your brother and partner in the tribulation." Was John living during tribulation Yes. It was already happening when he wrote Revelation.

Jeff: I believe the tribulation describes the time between Christ's ascension back to heaven and His second coming. That is the period we are living in now. John calls himself our brother and partner in the tribulation because he was experiencing it, just as believers do. There is not some sudden day in the future when tribulation begins. John says it was already happening.

Class member: In Revelation, the other dead do not live until after the thousand-year reign. What does that mean

Jeff: That is an important distinction. When you die as a believer, what happens You go to Jesus. The body returns to the dust from which it came, and the spirit returns to God. You go to be with Jesus and stay there until the second coming. At the second coming, Jesus comes back, and everyone who died in Christ comes with Him.

Jeff: The lost do not experience life in the same way. They exist, but they are in torment, like the rich man in Luke 16. The thousand-year reign refers to the long period in which Christ rules through His church and in the lives of Christians. It is not a future earthly kingdom that begins when Jesus comes back to set one up. For believers and unbelievers, the period after death is very different. Believers are with Jesus and are comforted. The lost are in torment and do not truly live.

Kathy Ledford: I read a book and attended a long class about this. It was really good, but I was still confused when it was over. One thing that stayed with me was that we cannot make Revelation fit our world today. Revelation was written to people who were going through persecution, and it was written in a way that would give them hope that something better was coming and that they would get through it. What good would it have done those people if John had written only about something 2,500 years in the future It would have been no help to them.

Jeff: Absolutely. Why does Revelation begin with seven letters to seven churches Because it was for those churches. The whole book was for them. Revelation is really a long letter. Those churches were suffering, and they needed to hear what John wrote. That does not mean the book is not still relevant to us. It absolutely is. But it had to have a purpose for the first-century church or it would have been pointless for them.

Jeff: They were suffering, losing their lives, and being persecuted. Nero would dip Christians in oil, tie them to stakes, light them on fire, and use them as lights for his parties. Revelation is filled with imagery and symbolic numbers. Nearly every number in Revelation has significance in its Jewish context – numbers like three, seven, ten, and twelve. The writing was coded in a way that would give Christians hope without making their persecution worse.

Jeff: The thousand years means a long, indefinite period of time. We do not know how long it is, but it is still going on. Christians throughout the world are still suffering. In America, we are fortunate not to experience much of that, but others do.

Class member: So we are in that tribulation period of the thousand-year reign

Jeff: I think so. Yes, I think we are living in it right now.

Hades, Paradise, and Final Judgment

Judy: When you are talking about the dead in torment, that is not hell yet

Jeff: That is right. It is not hell yet. The pain will be worse when they get to hell. In the same way, when we are in paradise, we have a taste of heaven, but we are not there yet. Scripture gives us a foretaste. It is like a window opening so we can experience part of it while we wait, but not the full experience until we ascend with Jesus.

Jeff: The same is true for the lost. They are in Hades, but Hades is not hell – not finally, not yet. Revelation says death and Hades will be cast into the lake of fire. Where the lost dead are right now will not last forever, but hell will last forever.

Jeff: I picture it as the same place divided by a chasm: the lost dead on one side and the saved dead on the other. Jesus describes them as able to see and speak to one another. One is in torment and one is not. One is being punished and one is comforted. They can see what they are missing, so their torment will grow worse.

Kathy Ledford: It is like people we have witnessed to who say, "So what I will just go to hell." They do not realize that hell is eternal. They will be punished eternally.

Jeff: There is no escape from that final judgment.

The Last Trumpet

Class member: How many trumpets are going to sound

Jeff: That is exactly where I was going next. Paul says, "at the last trumpet." What does that mean Are we supposed to expect ten trumpets, twelve trumpets, or one hundred trumpets Revelation uses seven trumpets, and with each trumpet a new torment or punishment comes upon the earth. But what does Paul mean by "the last trumpet" It is over.

Jeff: Think about a first-century walled city. They did not have alarm systems or early warning systems. They had a lookout. The lookout had a trumpet. When danger was coming, the trumpet would sound. As the enemy got closer, the warning became more dramatic and desperate. When the last trumpet sounded, they are here. It is too late. It is over.

Jeff: That is the imagery. It does not mean there will be a long line of trumpet sounds. It means that when this trumpet sounds, there is no more chance and no more waiting. It is happening right now. The enemy is at the door. Jesus is at the door. There is no getting out of it then.

Jeff: That is why premillennialism is attractive. It gives us second chance after second chance. It gives us plenty of time to make up our minds and get it right. Scripture does not describe it that way.

Class member: How could the whole world hear a single trumpet sound

Jeff: If it is a literal trumpet sound and everybody around the world hears it, sound normally moves in waves. Some people might hear it differently than others. But the main idea Jesus is expressing is this: when the moment comes, there is no waiting and no second chance. When you hear and see Jesus coming in the sky at the last trumpet sound, it is time.

Class member: If every knee can bow and every tongue confess, why cannot every ear hear the sound

Jeff: It may be a sound. I think there will be a literalness to this that cannot be denied. Whether it is sound or sight, it will encompass all of those things. Everyone will know.

Class member: Jesus gives examples of two people in a field and two people in a bed, one taken and one left. On one side of the world it is dark while on the other side it is light. It could happen all around the world at once.

Jeff: Absolutely. Those are things we can understand. The point is that it happens everywhere, at the same time, and without warning.

1 Thessalonians 4 – The Announcement of the King

Jeff: Now turn to 1 Thessalonians 4:16. This is the literalness of what Paul is talking about in 1 Corinthians.

1 Thessalonians 4:16 – "For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first."

Class member: I get the impression of the announcement of a king.

Jeff: Yes. When a king arrived in that time, there was fanfare and celebration. It was a big event. If the President of the United States were coming to Clyde, would that be a big deal Would people prepare for days But when he actually showed up, it would be a very big deal. That will pale in comparison to when Jesus actually appears.

Jeff: Back up to verse 14. This is one of my favorite verses.

1 Thessalonians 4:14 – "For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep."

Jeff: The dead in Christ are actually coming with Him when He returns. If we are not alive when He comes back, we are coming with Him, and we will meet Him in the air. It will be a big event. It will be profound. Everybody is going to see it. Everybody is going to hear it. Everybody is going to know. This is not a secret thing. It is not a small thing. This is a big deal.

Class member: Does Scripture ever say that Jesus will come and stand on the earth

Jeff: It does not say He will not, but Scripture consistently says that we will meet Him in the air. The thing that is physical on earth is the new heavens and the new earth descending from heaven, but I think that is a different idea. Scripture does not say Jesus will come and stand on the earth. It says He is coming in the air, and we will go meet Him there.

Jeff: Then Paul says, "The dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed." Those who come back with Christ – their spirits – will be reunited with their bodies, and they will be changed. Those who are alive will meet Him in the air and be changed at the very same moment.

Jeff: It is going to be a huge homecoming, a celebration, a family reunion. We are finally going to meet all of those family members who are brothers and sisters in Christ and who have been gone for thousands of years. We are going to meet all the ones we have never heard of and the ones Scripture never names.

Questions About Zechariah and Revelation 20

Class member: In Zechariah, it speaks of the day of judgment and says that at that time He will stand on the Mount of Olives, the hill east of Jerusalem. How does that fit

Jeff: I do not think Zechariah is literally describing the second coming there. I think it is describing God coming in judgment against Jerusalem. That is how Babylon came at that time: from the east, into Jerusalem, across the Mount of Olives.

Jeff: One of the key things to remember in the Old Testament is that when it speaks of God coming, we have to be careful not to assume it is always speaking of the final second coming. Sometimes it is speaking about God coming in judgment. The phrase "the day of the Lord" often refers to God coming in judgment.

Jeff: There is sometimes a blending of the two: God coming in judgment against Jerusalem, God coming in judgment against His people, and God coming with His people. It can be hard to distinguish what is being described. It takes time to lay it out and ask what the text is actually saying.

Jeff: I believe Zechariah is still speaking about God coming in judgment against Jerusalem and against His people because they had been ignoring Him, worshiping false gods, and living as though they did not need God. He was going to prove that He is real and all-powerful. But there is also a hint there of the second coming and the dead who are already with Him.

Class member: What does Revelation 20:5 mean "The rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection."

Jeff: I am not going to be able to give a complete answer to that today. But I have made a note in my notes, and we will start there next week. We will begin at 1 Corinthians 15:53 and return to the question of the second coming and Revelation 20.

Closing

Jeff: It is important that you know we are not rushing through these things. Ask your questions. I cannot guarantee that I will have the perfect answer, but we have to wrestle with this, struggle with it, and try to understand the timeline and get a better feel for it.

Class member: Thank you for all the studying.

Jeff: I really enjoy this stuff. Thank you all so much. We will take a quick break and get started with worship at 10:30.