Event #1: Christ will come to take us to Heaven.

Corinthians 15:52 NCV It will take only a second—as quickly as an eye blinks—when the last trumpet sounds...those who have died will be raised to live forever, and we will all be changed. 1

1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 ESV 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. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. Therefore encourage one another with these words.

1 Thessalonians 1:10b ESV Jesus...delivers us from the wrath to come.

1 Thessalonians 5:1-9 ESV  Now concerning the times and the seasons...the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night ...sudden destruction will come upon them...and they will not escape...But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love, and...a helmet...of salvation. For God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Event #2: The Tribulation: Evil unrestrained

The Counterfeit Trinity

• The Dragon is the Anti-God 

Revelation 12:3-4 NLT Then I witnessed in heaven another significant event. I saw a large red dragon with seven heads and ten horns, with seven crowns on his heads. His tail swept away one-third of the stars in the sky, and he threw them to the earth. He stood in front of the woman as she was about to give birth, ready to devour her baby as soon as it was born.

• The Beast is the Anti-Christ

Revelation 13:1-8 NLT Then I saw a beast rising up out of the sea. It had seven heads and ten horns, with ten crowns on its horns. And written on each head were names that blasphemed God. This beast looked like a leopard, but it had the feet of a bear and the mouth of a lion! And the dragon gave the beast his own power and throne and great authority. I saw that one of the heads of the beast seemed wounded beyond recovery—but the fatal wound was healed! The whole world marveled at this miracle and gave allegiance to the beast. They worshiped the dragon for giving the beast such power, and they also worshiped the beast. "Who is as great as the beast?" they exclaimed. "Who is able to fight against him?" Then the beast was allowed to speak great blasphemies against God. And he was given authority to do whatever he wanted for forty-two months. And he spoke terrible words of blasphemy against God, slandering his name and his dwelling—that is, those who dwell in heaven. And the beast was allowed to wage war against God's holy people and to conquer them. And he was given authority to rule over every tribe and people and language and nation. And all the people who belong to this world worshiped the beast. They are the ones whose names were not written in the Book of Life that belongs to the Lamb who was slaughtered before the world was made. 

Leopard: (Greece & Rome) Luxurious.

Bear: (Medo-Persia, i.e. Iran) Large and dominant.

Lion: (Babylon, i.e. Iraq) Fierce and cruel. 

• The False Prophet is the Anti-Spirit

Revelation 13:11-15 NLT Then I saw another beast come up out of the earth. He had two horns like those of a lamb, but he spoke with the voice of a dragon. He exercised all the authority of the first beast. And he required all the earth and its people to worship the first beast, whose fatal wound had been healed. He did astounding miracles, even making fire flash down to earth from the sky while everyone was watching. And with all the miracles he was allowed to perform on behalf of the first beast, he deceived all the people who belong to this world. He ordered the people to make a great statue of the first beast, who was fatally wounded and then came back to life. He was then permitted to give life to this statue so that it could speak. Then the statue of the beast commanded that anyone refusing to worship it must die. 

Revelation 13:16-18 NLT He required everyone...to be given a mark on the right hand or on the forehead. And no one could buy or sell anything without that mark, which was either the name of the beast or the number representing his name. Wisdom is needed here. Let the one with understanding solve the meaning of the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man. His number is 666.

Conclusion…

2 Peter 3:9-10 ESV The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed.