I can't tell you, for certain, if the Rapture is going to
happen at the beginning of the tribulation, the middle or the end. What I can tell you is that it defiantly will
happen, and that it is not the "second coming" of Jesus at the end of
the age. I can only go by what the Bible
says. In the rapture Jesus meets us in
the clouds, which is the meeting place.
At the second coming, Jesus will come with His saints and "land"
on the Mount of Olives. One event
happens in the air while the other happens when Jesus touches the earth. The rapture will be when Jesus comes "for"
His saints in the air (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 " For the Lord himself
shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and
with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which
are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to
meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.), while the
second coming is when Jesus comes "with" His saints (1 Thessalonians.
3: 12-13 " And the Lord make you to increase and abound in love one toward
another, and toward all men, even as we do toward you: To the end he may
establish your hearts without blame in holiness before God, even our Father, at
the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all his saints."). Mark 13: 24-27 says: " in those days, after
that tribulation, the sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her
light, And the stars of heaven shall fall, and the powers that are in
heaven shall be shaken. And then shall they see the Son of man coming in the
clouds with great power and glory. And then shall he send his angels, and shall
gather together his elect from the four winds, from the uttermost part of the
earth to the uttermost part of heaven." This is the gathering of those who
came to know the Lord during the tribulation.
The144,000 Hebrew witnesses, 12,000 from each tribe, are included here.
On one of his TV shows, Dr. David Reagan conducted a man on
the street, interview skit, asking what the rapture is. There were as many answers as there were
people. Most, even the Christians,
didn't know what it was. As I watched
the skit, I realized that my best answer would be, it is "my
hope". Most modern churches don't
teach much about the end times, even though all signs point to the end of the
age being very close. Respect the true church
(the body of Christ); it is standing in the way of your destruction. When the
church age is over, the judgment of the world is imminent.
The world will not recognize the rapture because so many
“Christians” will be left behind. Only
‘Born Again’ Christians will be taken. Those who are pretending to be
Christians will be left behind. The
world doesn’t recognize the difference now and they won’t then. The rapture will be a sign, to those who are
left behind (although some may try to explain it away as alien abduction, or
something else just as ridiculous).
The restrainer is the Holy Spirit. The indwelling Holy Spirit, in the Christians
(the church), is the restraining influence keeping Satan and his minions from
running roughshod over this present dispensation. When the Church is raptured, the indwelling of
the Holy Spirit will go with it? The
Spirit will revert back to working the way He did in the Old Testament. Jesus said the Holy Spirit will be with born
again Christians forever. 2 Thessalonians 2:7 says: The Holy Spirit will
never leave us. Thus, when He is taken away we will have to go with Him. We can’t be here if He is not.
"If all the church are to pass through the
tribulation, then instead of waiting and watching 'for the Lord' we should be
waiting and watching 'for the tribulation', which is contrary to the teaching
of Christ Himself. Matt.24:42-44" emphasis added (Clarence Larkin,
"Dispensational Truth") Luke
17:26-30 says: "And as it was in the days of Noah, so shall it be also in
the days of the Son of man. They did eat, they drank, they married wives,
they were given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ark, and
the flood came, and destroyed them all. Likewise also as it was in the
days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted,
they built; But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and
brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all. Even thus shall it be in the day
when the Son of man is revealed." God
took His people out of danger, like He will in the rapture. Jesus will not be revealed to the world at
the rapture, but He will be at His second coming (second advent) .
"The religious people of two thousand years ago missed
His First Coming because they had misinterpreted the prophecies. They rejected
Spiritual Revelation in favor of man-made interpretations of the Messiah's
Coming. Only a few recognized His First Coming because they based their
thoughts on Spiritual Revelation.
Most mainstream churches put
little or no emphasis on the Second Coming of our Lord Jesus. It's a little
thought hid somewhere in their creed but not a doctrine, preached and taught to
keep the people on their toes, looking for HIS Return. Most mainstream Churches
encourage their people in church attendance and following the Golden Rule.
Little or no thought is given to Bible Prophecy concerning the End of Time and
the Signs of our Lord's Second Coming - signs which are meant to put us on our
guard that we might know the "season" of our Lord's return and
"be ready" to meet Him. The Bible goes farther in
describing those who are blinded by "religious tradition" or the
tradition of a church. Jesus said: 'And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of
Isaiah, which says, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and
seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive: For this people's heart is waxed
gross, and [their] ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed;
lest at any time they should see with [their] eyes, and hear with [their] ears,
and should understand with [their] heart, and should be converted, and I should
heal them.' Matthew 13:14-15" (http://williambranhamhomepage.org/tradseccoming.htm)
When will the rapture
happen?
1 Corinthians 15:51-53 tell
us: " Behold, I show you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we
shall all be changed, In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last
trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible,
and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption,
and this mortal must put on immortality."
Luke 17:34-36 gives us the
time of day the Rapture will occur. " I tell you, in that night there
shall be two men in one bed; the one shall be taken, and the other shall be
left. (Night) Two women shall be grinding together;
the one shall be taken, and the other left. (Morning and Evening) Two men shall be in the field; the one shall be
taken, and the other left. (Day)" In
other words, it will happen all over the world at the same time.
Time of the Rapture on the earth -
Morning, afternoon, evening, night
Perhaps this is why we can't
know the day or the hour (different time zones).
Revelation 3:10 says: “Because thou hast kept
the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation,
which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth.” We will not be dwelling upon the earth during
the hour of temptation. 1 Thessalonians.
5: 9-10 says: "For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain
salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ, Who died for us, that, whether we wake or
sleep, we should live together with him".
In John 11:25-26 Jesus
said, to Martha, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me,
though he were dead, yet shall he live: And whosoever lives and believeth in me
shall never die. so do you believe this?" He asks that question of you.
More Bible evidence of the
rapture -
1 Corinthians 15:51-52 says: "Behold, I show you a
mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, In a
moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall
sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed."
1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 says:
"But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them
which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. For
if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in
Jesus will God bring with him. For this we say unto you by the word of
the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall
not prevent them which are asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend
from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump
of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and
remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in
the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another
with these words."
In John 14:27-28 Jesus says: " Peace
I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world gives, give I unto
you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. Ye have heard
how I said unto you, I go away, and come again unto you. If ye loved me, ye
would rejoice, because I said, I go unto the Father: for my Father is greater
than I."
Luke 21:36 says: " Watch
ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all
these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man."
Matthew 25:1-13 tells us the
story of the ten virgins. Five were
ready to be taken out and the other five were not 'born again'. Jesus told the ones who were not 'born again',
"Verily I say unto you, I know you not". Of the ten Virgins: some had oil and the
others didn't. The oil is representative
of the Holy Spirit. Some were Christians
and some were Christian in name only. "Watch
therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh." Be assured of your 'born again' status,
before the Lord returns.
Revelation 3:10 says: "Because thou hast kept the word
of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall
come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth". We will not be dwelling upon the earth during
the hour of temptation. 1 Thessalonians
1:10 tells us we will be delivered from the wrath to come. 2 Thessalonians 2:7-12 describes the Church
being taken and antichrist revealed. Luke
21:36 says: "Watch ye
therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these
things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man."
More Bible evidence of the
Second Coming -
2 Thessalonians 1:7-9 says: "And to you who are
troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with
his mighty angels, In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God,
and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: Who shall be punished
with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory
of his power;"
1 Thessalonians 3:13 says:
"To the end he may establish your hearts unblameable in holiness before
God, even our Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all his
saints."
Jude 1:14 tells of Enoch
saying the Lord will come with ten thousands of thousands.
Signs of the End of the Age -
the times and seasons -
Matthew 24:3-14 says: "And as he sat upon
the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us,
when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of
the end of the world? And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no
man deceive you. For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall
deceive many. And ye shall hear of wars and rumors of wars: see that ye be not
troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For
nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall
be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places. All these are
the beginning of sorrows. Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted,
and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name's sake. And
then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one
another. And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many. And
because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. But he that shall
endure unto the end, the same shall be saved. And this gospel of the
kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and
then shall the end come."
Matthew 24:36 says: "But of that day and
hour knows no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only."
Acts
1:7 says: "And he said unto them, It is not for you to know the times
or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power."
1 Thessalonians 5:1-3 says:
"But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write
unto you. For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so
cometh as a thief in the night. For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then
sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and
they shall not escape."
But we must keep in mind that
Daniel
2:21 says: God "changes the times and the seasons: he removes kings,
and sets up kings: he gives wisdom unto the wise, and knowledge to them that
know understanding:"
The urgent message, of this paper, is that we should 'keep
looking up' because the Lord could come at any moment.
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