Rapture
What is the rapture?
A concept with the second coming of Jesus.
It’s when God snatches away all the believers, alive and dead.
We must be ready.
We must not listen to or be swayed by false prophets.
Some false prophets will be on TV, YouTube, Commentaries, Book authors, etc.
Great warnings.
We must not rust,
we must take heed,
We must stay tuned up with Jesus.
People state that the word “rapture” isn’t in the Bible. That’s because they look at modern day versions of the Bible including the King James.
The word rapture appears in the Latin version of the Bible!
Dictionary
the final assumption of Christians into heaven during the end-time according to Christian theology.
______
1 Thessalonians 4:13-18
[ The Coming of the Lord ] But we would not have you ignorant, brethren, concerning those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep. For this we declare to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, shall not precede those who have fallen asleep.
Matthew 24
Signs of Christ’s Return
1 Jesus came out from the temple and was going away when His disciples came up to point out the temple buildings to Him. 2 And He said to them, “Do you not see all these things? Truly I say to you, not one stone here will be left upon another, which will not be torn down.”
3 As He was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will these things happen, and what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?”
4 And Jesus answered and said to them, “See to it that no one misleads you. 5 For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will mislead many. 6 You will be hearing of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not frightened, for those things must take place, but that is not yet the end. 7 For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and in various places there will be famines and earthquakes. 8 But all these things are merely the beginning of birth pangs.
9 “Then they will deliver you to tribulation, and will kill you, and you will be hated by all nations because of My name. 10 At that time many will fall away and will betray one another and hate one another. 11 Many false prophets will arise and will mislead many. 12 Because lawlessness is increased, most people’s love will grow cold. 13 But the one who endures to the end, he will be saved. 14 This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come.
Perilous Times
15 “Therefore when you see the abomination of desolation which was spoken of through Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand), 16 then those who are in Judea must flee to the mountains. 17 Whoever is on the housetop must not go down to get the things out that are in his house. 18 Whoever is in the field must not turn back to get his cloak. 19 But woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days! 20 But pray that your flight will not be in the winter, or on a Sabbath. 21 For then there will be a great tribulation, such as has not occurred since the beginning of the world until now, nor ever will. 22 Unless those days had been cut short, no life would have been saved; but for the sake of the elect those days will be cut short. 23 Then if anyone says to you, ‘Behold, here is the Christ,’ or ‘There He is,’ do not believe him. 24 For false Christs and false prophets will arise and will show great signs and wonders, so as to mislead, if possible, even the elect. 25 Behold, I have told you in advance. 26 So if they say to you, ‘Behold, He is in the wilderness,’ do not go out, or, ‘Behold, He is in the inner rooms,’ do not believe them. 27 For just as the lightning comes from the east and flashes even to the west, so will the coming of the Son of Man be. 28 Wherever the corpse is, there the vultures will gather.
The Glorious Return
29 “But immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from the sky, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. 30 And then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky with power and great glory. 31 And He will send forth His angels with a great trumpet and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of the sky to the other.
Parable of the Fig Tree
32 “Now learn the parable from the fig tree: when its branch has already become tender and puts forth its leaves, you know that summer is near; 33 so, you too, when you see all these things, recognize that He is near, right at the door. 34 Truly I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place. 35 Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away.
36 “But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone. 37 For the coming of the Son of Man will be just like the days of Noah. 38 For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, 39 and they did not understand until the flood came and took them all away; so will the coming of the Son of Man be. 40 Then there will be two men in the field; one will be taken and one will be left. 41 Two women will be grinding at the mill; one will be taken and one will be left.
Be Ready for His Coming
42 “Therefore be on the alert, for you do not know which day your Lord is coming. 43 But be sure of this, that if the head of the house had known at what time of the night the thief was coming, he would have been on the alert and would not have allowed his house to be broken into. 44 For this reason you also must be ready; for the Son of Man is coming at an hour when you do not think He will.
45 “Who then is the faithful and sensible slave whom his master put in charge of his household to give them their food at the proper time? 46 Blessed is that slave whom his master finds so doing when he comes. 47 Truly I say to you that he will put him in charge of all his possessions. 48 But if that evil slave says in his heart, ‘My [master is not coming for a long time,’ 49 and begins to beat his fellow slaves and eat and drink with drunkards; 50 the master of that slave will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour which he does not know, 51 and will cut him in pieces and assign him a place with the hypocrites; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
Revelation 19;11-19
The Coming of Christ
11 And I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse, and He who sat on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and wages war. 12 His eyes are a flame of fire, and on His head are many diadems; and He has a name written on Him which no one knows except Himself. 13 He is clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God. 14 And the armies which are in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, were following Him on white horses. 15 From His mouth comes a sharp sword, so that with it He may strike down the nations, and He will rule them with a rod of iron; and He treads the wine press of the fierce wrath of God, the Almighty. 16 And on His robe and on His thigh He has a name written, “KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.”
17 Then I saw an angel standing in the sun, and he cried out with a loud voice, saying to all the birds which fly in midheaven, “Come, assemble for the great supper of God, 18 so that you may eat the flesh of kings and the flesh of commanders and the flesh of mighty men and the flesh of horses and of those who sit on them and the flesh of all men, both free men and slaves, and small and great.”
19 And I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies assembled to make war against Him who sat on the horse and against His army.
________
From Billy Graham;
There are many Christians who believe that the second coming of Jesus Christ will be in two phases. First, He will come for believers, both living and dead, in the “rapture”. The rapture—which is the transformation and catching up of all Christians, dead or alive, to meet Christ in the air—will be secret, for it will be unknown to the world of unbelievers at the time of its happening.
The effect of this removal, in the absence of multitudes of people, will, of course, be evident on earth. Then, second, after a period of seven years of tribulation on earth, Christ will return to the earth with His church, the saints who were raptured (Matthew 24:30, 2 Thessalonians 1:7, 1 Peter 1:13, Revelation 1:7). He will be victorious over His enemies and will reign on the earth for 1,000 years (the millennium) with His saints, the church.
>> Signs of the end of the world? Read this Biblical wisdom from Billy Graham and Franklin Graham.
After 1,000 years, living unbelievers and the wicked dead now raised to life will be judged at the great white throne judgment. They will then be cast into the lake of fire, while the saved will live forever with Christ in a new heaven and earth (Revelation, chapters 19-22).
>> Be ready to meet Christ by giving your life to Him today.
Many other evangelical Christians believe that Christ’s return and the rapture will not occur until the seven years of the tribulation have ended. As far as the latter view is concerned, the rapture will not be secret, since it will be part of Christ’s visible and triumphant return to end this present evil age (1 Thessalonians 4:13-17). At this point, interpreters differ as to whether there will be a literal thousand year reign of Christ on earth or whether the white throne judgment and the new heaven and earth will immediately appear.
All Christians do not agree on every detail of what will occur in the final events of this world’s history. Some of these events and their order of occurrence have simply not been made clear in the Bible. What is important is that all Christians hold in common that Christ will ultimately return bodily, visibly, and gloriously to reign and rule with His resurrected and transformed saints forever and ever. The details of this great event will be made known in God’s own time
__________
From Moody institute;
THE SECOND COMING OF CHRIST
We believe in the second coming of Christ. His return from heaven will be personal, visible and glorious, a blessed hope for which we should constantly watch and pray.1
Before He establishes His kingdom on earth, Jesus will come for His Church, an event commonly referred to as the "Rapture." At that time the dead in Christ will be raised and living Christians will be caught up to meet the Lord in the air and be with Him forever.2 In this resurrection, those who have died in Christ will have their redeemed souls and spirits united with a body similar to Christ's glorified body. Christians living at the time of this event will not die, but will be changed to be like Christ.3 This expectation is a motivation for holy living, as well as a source of comfort.4 No man knows the day or the hour when this will take place.5
After the Rapture of the Church, Christians will be brought before the judgment seat of Christ. He will reward them on the basis of the works they have accomplished.6 This is not a judgment to determine their salvation but a reward for labor on Christ's behalf.7 The Rapture will also inaugurate a period that the Bible characterizes as the "great day of His wrath," "the great tribulation" and the "time of Jacob's trouble."8 This time of unprecedented difficulty will affect Israel and all nations. Its purpose will be to prepare Israel for her Messiah.9
At the end of the Tribulation, Jesus Christ will return with the hosts of heaven as well as the Church to establish the Messianic Kingdom on earth.10 His Kingdom will last for a thousand years.11 At this Second Coming, the Antichrist will be cast into the Lake of Fire and Satan will be bound for a thousand years. 12 The nations and their representatives will be judged.13 Israel will be restored to her land, never more to be removed.14 Christ will reign with firmness and equity.15 His kingdom will be marked by material and spiritual blessing, since the curse upon the earth will be removed.16
The Messianic kingdom will close with apostasy and rebellion.17 God will crush this uprising in the last battle of the ages and Satan will be thrown into the lake of fire.18 All those who rejected the Word of God will be resurrected.19 They will be judged by Christ and cast into the lake of fire, the place where they will suffer final and everlasting punishment.20
After this judgment there will be a new heaven and a new earth, where righteousness is the norm.21 There will be a new Jerusalem and the everlasting presence of God among all the redeemed.
________
Val Boyle ;
A great many professing Christians dismiss the doctrine of the rapture as a fallacy of fundamentalism because the word rapture is not found in scripture, but neither is the word Trinity, yet they accept the doctrine of the Trinity as a valid scriptural teaching without any reservation whatsoever. It is not crucial to sound Christian doctrine that the word defining it is not in scripture. What is crucial is that the doctrine itself stresses its authority in scripture. Both the doctrines of the Trinity and the rapture stress their authority in scripture. The doctrine of the Trinity perfectly defines the scriptural fact of the three-in-one Godhead: God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit (CP 1Jn 5:7). The doctrine of the rapture perfectly defines the scriptural fact of the event that will take place when Jesus comes back to take the Church up to heaven with Him at the end of this dispensation (CP 1Th 4:17). It is incongruous that the doctrine of the Trinity is so readily accepted but the doctrine of the rapture is not. The rapture signifies the end of the Church age as well as the end of this dispensation, and every professing Christian needs to know about it.
Most born again believers accept the rapture as a valid biblical teaching but are not sure when it will happen - whether it will be before, during or after the Great Tribulation. The purpose of this study is to establish the fact, the manner and the time frame in which it will occur by the scriptures. They alone are the final authority on all questions of doctrine and they teach us all things. The word rapture is derived from a Latin word, raptus, which means being caught away or caught up. Its equivalent Greek word is harpazo, which also means being caught away or caught up. It is found a number of times in scripture to describe being bodily translated from one place to another (CP Ac 8:39-40). Philip was bodily translated from the waterhole beside the Gaza Road where he had just baptised the Ethiopian eunuch to a town called Azotus nearly twenty-five miles away (CP 2Cor 12:1-4). Paul was translated alive to heaven, though whether it was an in-the-body experience or out-of-the-body experience he did not know. Suffice it to say he was translated alive. He was raptured - caught up to heaven - for a time of learning from the Lord (CP Ge 5:21-24; He 11:5). Enoch was the first of two Old Testament saints raptured to heaven. He is still there, which makes him the oldest living human being - well over 5,000 years old. (Enoch was the father of Methuselah, who has the longest earthly life on record - 969 years (Ge 5:27) Methuselah was the grandfather of Noah). The other Old Testament saint raptured to heaven is Elijah (CP 2Ki 2:1-12). He is also still living in heaven, which proves that being translated from the earth while still living is no new thing with God. Webster's New Twentieth Century Dictionary defines rapture as a state of being caught up or carried away with joy, love, ecstasy. What other word could better portray the way the Church will be transported to heaven with Jesus. That is why it is called the rapture.
Every born again believer knows something about the rapture but not too many fully understand it. Generally it is because they confuse the scriptures referring to the rapture with the scriptures referring to Christ's second coming. They are two distinct and separate events in time and we really need to be able to distinguish between the scriptures concerning them (CP Isa 63:1-6, Dan 2:44-45; 7:13-14, 18, 27; Joel 3:1-21; Zech 14:1-5, 9, 16-21; Mt 24:27-44; 25:31; Mk 13:24-27; Lu 21:25-28; 2Th 1:7-10; Jude 14-15; Rev 1:7; 19:11-21). All those scriptures concern the second coming of Christ, not the rapture. They relate to the Antichrist, the Great Tribulation, the battle of Armageddon, the Judgement of the Nations and the setting up of the millennial kingdom, etc. This is when Christ comes back to earth with His saints. The rapture is when Christ comes in the air, for the saints, to take them to heaven. There will be at least seven years between this event and His second coming. We will study all the scriptures concerning the rapture shortly but first turn to Lu 21:25-26,36. Jesus alludes to the rapture here in Verse 36. It is the first reference to the rapture in scripture. Jesus tells His listeners that there is a way to escape the horrendous events of the Great Tribulation He was describing in V25-26, and that is to be accounted worthy to escape them. The only way to escape them though is to be removed from the earth beforehand, because they will affect everyone on earth. This also proves the rapture will precede the Tribulation (CP Jn 14:1-3).
Here we get a clearer picture of how the Church is going to be taken out of the way of the Great Tribulation, and if there was no other proof in scripture the promise of Jesus here alone would suffice. We can be secure in the knowledge that as surely as Jesus went to heaven so will He return for His own to take them there too (CP Jn 14:19). Jesus said, "Because I live ye shall live also." We live, not in anticipation of physical death as unbelievers do, but in anticipation of Jesus coming again for us, and whether we be living or dead at that time we shall rise together with Him in glory. This is assured because Jesus has already risen and ascended to heaven and that is why His resurrection is so important to believers - not only does it guarantee the future resurrection and ascension of those who have died in Christ and are in the grave, it also guarantees the rapture of those still living at that time. The ultimate purpose of the Lord coming back for His saints is so they will be with Him in all eternity, and taking them to heaven is simply the first step in His purpose (CP 1Cor15:12-23, 32, 42-44, 50-58; 1Th 4:13-18). If there is no rapture these scriptures are meaningless, but they are not meaningless at all. They clearly express God's eternal purpose and plan for His saints and are unassailable proof of the fact and the manner of the rapture for those who dismiss the rapture as a fallacy of fundamentalism. We learn from these scriptures that the spirits and the souls of all the dead saints will be brought back from heaven to be united to their resurrected bodies. Their corruptible bodies will rise up from the grave and put on incorruption while the mortal bodies of the saints still living at that time will put on immortality. Then we will all meet up together in the clouds before going to the place Jesus has prepared for us in heaven as He promised in Jn 14:1-3. 1Cor 15:51-58 is the first clear reference in scripture to the rapture (CP Php 3:11-12, 20-21).
This is another clear promise of the rapture. The word conversation in V20 means citizenship. This teaches us that our citizenship is in heaven from whence we look for Jesus to come and take us unto Himself. Paul reaffirms here what he told the Corinthian Church, that when Jesus comes He will change our natural bodies to spiritual, from mortal to immortal, from corruption to incorruption and from weakness and humiliation to glory and power. We also learn here that our new transformed bodies will be flesh and bone like Christ's body of glory which He showed to the disciples before He ascended to heaven (CP Lu 24:36-43). The Church and all the saints of God will go up to be with Jesus - Old Testament and New Testament saints alike - right back from Abel onwards. This even includes Rahab the harlot (CP Josh 2:1-3, 6:17-25; He 11:31; Jas 2:25). Christ died to redeem the Old Testament saints too. They looked forward to the cross and its salvation benefits in faith, as we look back to it in faith. We are all one in Christ now (CP Ro 3:23-26; He 9:13-15; 11:4-5, 7-10, 13-16, 39-40).
The rapture of the Church, the raising of the dead saints and all the saints that come out of the Tribulation, including God's two witnesses who were killed in Rev 11, until the second coming of Christ all form part of what the Bible calls the first resurrection (CP Dan 12:2; Lu 14:13-14; 20:34-38; Jn 5:28-29; Ac 24:14-15; He 11:35; Rev 11:3-12; 14:9-13; 20:4-6). There will be two resurrections of the dead. The first resurrection is to eternal life for the righteous dead, who will be judged at the Judgement Seat of Christ and the second resurrection - over 1,000 years later - is to eternal damnation for the wicked dead. They will be judged and consigned to hell at the Great White Throne Judgement (CP 2Cor 5:10; Rev 20:4-6, 11-15). The rapture is the blessed hope of the Church. The Church has been waiting for it to happen since Paul's day. Paul knew the rapture could have happened in his lifetime, and he communicated that anticipation to the Thessalonian Church (CP 1Th 4:13-18). We likewise are to be in eager anticipation of it and communicate it to others also (CP Ro 13:11-14; 1Cor 10:1-12; 2Cor 5:1-4; Php 4:5; Tit 2:11-15). The rapture is a purifying hope - the source of inspiration and consecration for all sincere Christians, and a comfort to those being persecuted for Jesus' sake (CP Eph 5:25-27; Col 3:1-6; 1Th 3:12-13; 5:23; 2Th 3:5; Jas 5:7-9; 1Pe 5:4; 1Jn 2:28; 3:1-3; Jude 24).
The first intimation we have of the rapture is when Jesus alluded to it in Lu 21:36, and as indirect a reference as it is, nonetheless it teaches us that there is a way to escape the Great Tribulation and that is to be accounted worthy. The more scriptures we study the more we see the Church as being accounted worthy through the Blood of Christ (CP Ro 5:8-10). The Church is not going to go through the Tribulation. The Tribulation is God's wrath poured out upon sinners, not saints (CP Eph 5:1-7). Paul is talking to the Christian Church here. This admonition is for us also. It teaches that only those walking in the light as God is in the light will be taken up in the rapture. Those of us who do not remain faithful to the salvation benefits wrought out for us by Christ on the Cross of Calvary will have the wrath of God poured out upon them the same as unbelievers. They will go through the Tribulation with the unbelievers (CP 1Th 1:6, 9-10). This makes it clear that truly faithful believers are not appointed to go through the Tribulation, and that they can know they will be taken out of the way when Jesus returns for His saints. This is also what Jesus promised the Philadelphia Church in Rev 3:7-13 (CP 1Th 5:1-11). This teaches us that the Day of the Lord, designated by the Tribulation will not overtake us like a thief in the night because we are not the children of darkness, who it will overtake, but the children of Light, and we are not appointed to go through the Tribulation. Again we see that God's wrath is to be poured out upon sinners, not saints. This is further proof for those who are not sure that the rapture will precede the Great Tribulation, however we must all comply with the conditions of V6-8 to qualify for the rapture.
We are not to sleep, but watch and be sober. That means we are to be spiritually prepared. We are to live soberly and righteously and not get drunk. We are to live as the children of the day, not as the children of the night. The word sober here has two meanings - one is literal and refers to abstaining from strong drink. The other is metaphorical and means alertness, wakefulness, self-control. We are to be alert spiritually and self-controlled just as someone who does not touch strong drink. Paul used both meanings in this passage. We are also called to fight the good fight of faith and lay hold of eternal life (CP Mt 25:1-13). We cannot be indifferent and careless like the five virgins in this passage who went to sleep with no oil in their lamps but rather we are to be like the servants who when their lord returned were waiting to open the door to him (CP Lu 12:35-48). Verses 45-48 carry a grim warning for professing Christians who fail to abstain from evil and are unfaithful to Christ. They will be left behind at the rapture. Once more we learn that only those who comply with the conditions will qualify for the rapture (CP Rev 2:1-3:22).
Of the seven Churches Jesus addressed here He promises to keep one only from the hour of trial - the Great Tribulation - and that is the Church of Philadelphia (Rev 3:7-13). Jesus confirms here what Paul told the Thessalonians in 1Th 1:10. They were the only ones who remained faithful to His word and did not surrender to their circumstances. This also is further proof of a pre-Tribulation rapture. Rev 3:11 refers to the rapture but it highlights another important teaching too: while those seven Churches were actual Churches in the cities mentioned at the time of John's revelation, they are also representative of all Churches in all ages from then until the rapture ends the Church age.
The letters to the Churches are to be interpreted as not only applying for that time but as having an ongoing application for all generations, including ours. Jesus is talking to us here too both corporately and individually and we had best examine ourselves to ensure that we belong to the Philadelphia Church, otherwise we will not be going up in the rapture. Philadelphia means the love of brethren. Does that apply to us as a body and to each of us personally? Can we honestly say we love the brethren as Christ loves us, because God says that it is only our love of brethren that proves our love for Him. Brethren means every other Christian - not only those who are easy to love but those who are hard to love, too - not only those who are in China or India, but those who sit with us in Church also (CP 1Pe 1:22-23; 3:8-9; 1Jn 2:9-11; 3:14-19; 4:7-21). And if we love God then we will keep His commandments. This is the only sure way we know we qualify for the rapture, because we keep God's commandments. There is no other way - we forfeit our place in His kingdom if we do not keep his commandments. God calls us liars if we say we love Him but are not totally yielded to His word (CP 1Jn 2:3-6). The relevance of Christ's messages to the seven Churches of Revelation for Churches today, is what they reveal about the natural trend of Churches to fall into error; to accept false teaching; to tolerate immorality, idolatry and heresies; to lose their zeal for God and to adapt to the anti God elements of the world system. They are not hearing what the Spirit saith to them. But Churches are people - individuals formed into a body and God holds us individually responsible for our actions. We must continually examine our beliefs and activities and ensure that they always conform to what Christ expects of His Church, and to qualify ourselves for the rapture.
Now to find out the time frame for the rapture. Thus far the scriptures have established the fact and the manner of the rapture, and that it will take place before the Great Tribulation, but what is its time frame in relation to the emergence of Antichrist, because it is during his reign that the Tribulation comes upon the earth (CP Dan 7:25; 8:23-25; 9:27; 11:36-39; 12:1; Mt 24:15-22). We learn from these scriptures that the Tribulation will occupy the last 3½ years of Antichrist's seven year reign. Does this mean then that the Church will still be on earth during the first 3½ years? Antichrist is a benevolent dictator during this period, not yet the enemy of God which he is to become (CP Rev 6:1-4).
At the opening of the first seal Antichrist is revealed as the rider of the white horse. A great many Christians believe that the rider on the white horse in V2 is Jesus, but that is incorrect because Jesus is opening the seals. He would not be the contents of the seals and open them as well. Furthermore Jesus is symbolized here by a lamb, not a horseman (CP Rev 5:1-9). The opening of the first seal and the revelation of the rider on the white horse are synonymous with the first half of Daniel's seventieth week when Antichrist enters into his seven year peace treaty with Israel (CP Dan 7:7-8, 24-26; 8:8-10,20-25; 11:35-45). The rider on the white horse in Rev 6:2 symbolizes Antichrist, who rises up at the start of Daniel's seventieth week - Antichrist rises to power as the eleventh king among the ten kings through the empowering of Satan, which is what we learned in Dan 8:24-25 and 11:36-39 (CP 2Th 2:8-9; Rev 13:1-4). Antichrist is the only one prophesied to go forth "conquering and to conquer", not Christ (CP Dan 7:23-25; 8:9-14; 11:40-43). The white horse of Rev 6:2 is not to be confused with the white horse of 19:11. The horse in 6:2 is only symbolic, whereas the one in 19:11 is literal. Christ is the rider on the white horse in 19:11, but until then He is symbolized by a lamb (CP Rev 19:11-13). There are no scriptures to corroborate any teaching that Christ is symbolized by the rider on the white horse in Rev 6:2 who went forth "conquering and to conquer". Antichrist was given a crown because he had brought peace and prosperity to the earth. He has a bow but no arrows which depicts him as a benevolent dictator. We know he brought peace to the earth in V2 because in V4 he is given power to take it away. This power comes from Satan (CP Dan 7:21-22; 8:9-12, 24; 11:40-45; Rev 12:13-17).
The opening of the second seal in Rev 6:4 signalled the onset of the Tribulation in the middle of Antichrist's reign. The opening of the second seal and the revelation of the rider on the red horse and the events that followed in Rev 6:3-4 are synonymous with the second half of Daniel's seventieth week - the time of the Great Tribulation. But where is the Church during the first 3½ years after the first seal is opened? The Church has not been mentioned since Rev 3:22 at the conclusion of Jesus' messages to the seven Churches, and it is not mentioned again in scripture as being on earth thereafter. We need to know why (CP 2 Th 2:1-12). Who is the restrainer of lawlessness here that has to be taken out of the way for Antichrist to be revealed? The Thessalonians knew who it is as V5-7 prove, so we can know it too. It is not the Holy Spirit as so many Christians believe because the Holy Spirit will still be on earth during the Great Tribulation (CP 1Cor 12:3). Nobody can call Jesus Lord except by the Holy Spirit, so He will remain on earth convicting the multitudes of their sins who get saved during the Tribulation. The he of 2 Th 2:7 is the Church. The Church is never again mentioned in scripture as being on earth after Rev 3:22, and Antichrist is not revealed until Rev 6:1-2. The Church is raptured in Rev 1 between "the things which are" and "the things which shall be hereafter" (CP Rev 1:19). The "things which are", are the things concerning the Church up until the rapture - the things Jesus told John to write in the letters to the seven Churches - and the "things that shall be hereafter" are the things that occur after the rapture which are the subject of Rev 4-22. (There is no need to read these chapters here but they do need to be read to learn what they teach.)
Chapters 4-22 in Revelation address themselves to the events that come to pass after the rapture - the emergence of Antichrist, the Tribulation, Christ's second coming, the battle of Armageddon, and Christ's millennial kingdom, etc. The saints who are saved after Rev 4:1 come out of the Great Tribulation - they are not the Church as we have previously learned (CP Rev 7:13-14; 13:7, 15). Chapters 4 and 5 of Revelation record the Church, now represented by the four and twenty elders, as being in heaven, which is well before Antichrist is revealed in 6:1-2 (CP Rev 4:3-4, 10-11; 5:4-5, 8-14; 19:1-4; 22:8-9). The four and twenty elders identified themselves in Rev 5:9 as the Church, redeemed to God from out of every tribe, language, people, and nation in the earth (CP Rev 5:9). That is why Paul was able to assure the Thessalonian Church that the Great Tribulation would not overtake them as a thief in the night - because they would already be with Jesus in heaven (read again 1Th 5:1-11). This is for our edification also. We too can comfort each other in the knowledge that not only will the saints still living when Christ comes back not go through the Tribulation, but they will be raptured to heaven before Antichrist's seven year reign even commences.
This part of our study is now complete. We have established from scripture the fact (CP 1Th 5:1-11), the manner (CP 1Th 4:13-18), and the time frame of the rapture for those who were not sure (CP 2Th 2:1-8). Praise God!
But there is a very sobering teaching comes out of this study as well, and we must ever be mindful of it (CP 2Th 2:7-13). This teaches us that after the Church is taken up from the earth, salvation will no longer be available to those still living who have already heard the gospel and rejected it. They will be lost forever if they do not repent and accept Christ while the Church is still here. This includes members of our immediate family and other relatives and friends whom we dearly love, as well as professing Christians not truly committed to Christ, and others who are backslidden. Show them this scripture and explain what it means: that once the Church is gone from the earth salvation will only be available to those who never had an adequate opportunity to receive the knowledge of the truth or to hear and understand the gospel (CP also Mt 7:21; 12:30). If they will not listen to us we must fervently pray God to send another labourer in the gospel unto them. We must never give up on God for their salvation. We can claim Jesus' promise in Jn 15:7 but we must make sure we meet the conditions first (CP Jn 15:7). There is no time to lose - the rapture could happen at any moment in time (CP Php 3:20-21; Tit 2:13). This teaches that there are no prophecies yet to be fulfilled for the rapture to take place (CP Jn 9:4). That means we still have to preach the gospel to other lost souls as well in the meantime.
Val Boyle
People state that the word “rapture” isn’t in the Bible. That’s because they look at modern day versions of the Bible including the King James.The word rapture appears in the Latin version of the Bible!_________Thomas IceLiberty UniversityHardly a week goes by that I don’t receive material opposing the pre-trib rapture which is filled with all kinds of error, both Scriptural and historical. For example, I ran across an article entitled “Origin of the Secret Rapture Theory.” The first sentence said, “It may surprise and even shock you that neither the word ‘rapture’ nor the teaching of a secret rapture is not mentioned in ANY Christian literature prior to 1830—including the Bible!” I am hardly surprised or shocked that anyone could pack so much error into a single sentence, but there we have for all to see. This month I want to deal with some of the popular myths about the pre-trib rapture teaching that Dr. LaHaye and I very much believe is taught in the New Testament Scriptures.THE TERM “RAPTURE”First of all, the word “rapture” is found in the Bible, if you have the Latin Vulgate produced by Jerome in the early 400s. The Vulgate was the main Bible of the medieval Western Church until the Reformation. It continues to this day as the primary Latin translation of the Roman Catholic Church. Yet, as we shall see later, it was Protestants who introduced the word “rapture” into the English language from the Latin raeptius.1 It was Jerome’s Vulgate that translated the original Greek verb harpazô used by Paul, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, in 1 Thessalonians 4:17, which is usually translated into English with the phrase “caught up.” The leading Greek Lexicon says that harpazô means “snatch, seize, i.e., take suddenly and vehemently.”2 This is the same meaning of the Latin word rapio “to seize, snatch, tear away.”3 It should not be surprising to anyone, that an English word was developed from the Latin which we use today known as “rapture.”In Europe, during the Middle Ages and Reformation periods, the theologians were from various countries and therefore spoke different native tongues. However, the single language of the church, both Catholic and Protestant was Latin. In fact, many of the first books written and published in the American Colonies during the seventeenth century were in Latin. For example, Cotton Mather’s famous history of the American Colonies during the seventeenth century was written in Latin and called Magnalia Christi Americana, or The Great Works of Christ in America.4 Because it was done in Latin it could be read throughout Europe by the educated class. Thus, it should not be surprising to anyone that many new words came into the English language from a Latin source, especially in the realm of theology. Rapture is just such a word.While it is technically true that the word rapture does not appear in the English Bible, it does, nevertheless, appear in the Latin Vulgate translation of the Bible. Certainly the notion of a rapture appears many times in the Bible. Translators of the Bible into English could have been justified had they translated “caught up” in 1 Thessalonians 4:17 with the English word “rapture.” They also could have translated it by the word snatch. We could just as easily call the rapture “the great snatch.”I have in my personal library at least 50 commentaries on 1 Thessalonians. Virtually all of them use the word “rapture” to describe the event in 1 Thessalonians 4:17. Theydo not appear interested in using it in a derogatory way nor do any of them go on an excursus about how this word does not appear in English translations. Most of these commentators do not hold to a pre-trib rapture view. They merely use the word because they know that it is one of the many Latin words that have made it into the English theological vernacular. Sorry that some have not yet heard.The rapture does occur in the Bible, especially if you read the Latin Vulgate. However, there is no doubt that the Greek word harpazô in 1 Thessalonians 4:17, usually translated into English “caught up,” conveys the rapture concept.“RAPTURE” USAGEOur anti-rapture diatribe noted earlier said, “the word ‘rapture’ nor the teaching of a secret rapture is not mentioned in ANY Christian literature prior to 1830.” Oh really! It is not hard to find out when English words were first introduced into the language. One needs only to check The Oxford English Dictionary (OED) and it will cite examples of the history of the usage of the word. The oldest word in the “rapture” family is “rapt.” OED cites examples of rapt occurring in 1400 in English literature.5 The earliest instances of “rapture” in secular English literature are cited as 1605, 1607, and 1608.6 OED provides seven nuances of the word Rapture. The fourth entry is the biblical one defined as “The act of conveying a person from one place to another esp. to heaven; the fact of being so conveyed.”7 Two examples of this use are cited from the seventeenth century. The first by a writer named Ward in 1647 and the other by J. Edwards (not the American Jonathan) in 1693.8 It does not take long to realize that these examples are well before 1830.Joseph Mede (1586-1638), considered in his day, a brilliant English exegete wrote a commentary on Revelation in 1627 called Clavis Apocalyptica (Key of the Revelation). In it he said, “Therefore, it is not needful that the Resurrection of those which slept in Christ, and the Rapture of those which shall be left alive together with them in the air . . .”9 While Mede was a premillennialist, he did not hold to a pre-trib rapture. Nor did the commentator and theologian John Gill (1697-1771) who wrote around 1745 the following in his commentary on 1 Thessalonians 4:17: “. . . and to which rapture will contribute, the agility which the bodies both of the raised and changed saints will have: and this rapture of the living saints will be together with them; . . .”10To admit that the word rapture was used in the English language at least a couple of hundred years before J. N. Darby came along does not in the least mean that one believes in pretribulationism. The Greek word harpazô is used fourteen times in the New Testament. In addition to 1 Thessalonians 4:17, it is used at least three more times of one being raptured to heaven (2 Cor. 12:2, 4; Rev. 12:5). So there is no need to get upset over the use of the Latin based, English word “rapture.” It is a biblical word.THE “SECRET” RAPTURE MYTHIncluded in the above tirade is an equation of the so-called “secret” rapture with pretribulationism. Sorry, but this is another mistake, another myth. In all my reading of pretribulationism and discussion with pretribulationists, I have never, that I can recall, heard a pre-trib rapturist use the nomenclature of “secret” rapture to describe our view. Iwww.pre-trib.org 2have only heard the phrase “secret” rapture as a pejorative term used exclusively by anti-pretribulationists. Why? Apparently they enjoy fighting with a straw man.Anti-pretribulationist, Ken Gentry declares, “On the very surface it is remarkable that one of the noisiest verses in Scripture is said to picture the secret rapture.”11 The truth of the matter is that Gentry wrongly assumes that pretribulationists characterize their view of the rapture as “secret.” We do not! However, there are anti-pre-trib rapture advocates, like Dave MacPherson who have taught this myth. As a result, unwitting critics like Gentry have absorbed this myth into their rhetoric without doing their homework.Very likely it was Dave MacPherson who has spread this myth that equates pretribulationism with a secret rapture. “In 1880 William Reid, in his book on Brethrenism,” declares MacPherson, “stated that ‘Edward Irving contributed the notion of . . . the secret rapture of the saints.’12”13 MacPherson later concludes, “The pretrib rapture eventually became known as the ‘secret rapture.’ This label was based on the presupposition that only certain persons would have privileged visibility or knowledge during the occurrence of this catching up.”14 MacPherson does not actually reference anyone who believes in a pre-trib rapture when he makes these statements. It is through slight of hand that he slips such an assumption into his plot of fictional myths about the origins of pretribulationism.In fact, Brethren researcher R. A. Huebner refutes MacPherson’s misinformation about the pre-trib rapture and its supposed association with a secret rapture teaching.15 Huebner notes that supposed relation of pretribulationism and a secret rapture are built upon the following false historical assumptions: First, the “erroneous notions are the result of the myth that the Irvingites held a pretribulation rapture and also results from trying to link J. N. D. with this falsified Irvingism.”16 Second, when speaking of events transpiring in the 1830s, Huebner says, “the Secret Rapture as used at that point in time did not refer to the pretribulation rapture.”17 Third, “it seems that up to this point in time [the 1830s, T. D. I.], ‘Secret Rapture’ referred to a rapture at the appearing [the second coming, T. D. I.].”18 Fourth, “I am not aware if JND ever thought that the rapture would be ‘secret.’”19It was the Irvingites, and not the Brethren, who believed in the secret rapture. Since the secret rapture and pretribulationism are not the same, this is where much of the confusion resides. The Irvingite view of the secret rapture was a belief that a few enlightened ones would be taken right before the second coming at the end of the tribulation. This is what Irvingite, Margaret Macdonald’s revelation is about. It is impossible to find a pre-trib rapture of any kind in her vision.20CONCLUSIONI am sure that this call to anti-pre-trib rapture advocates will not result in much of a reduction of their zealous proclamation of mythological falsehoods about our blessed hope. It seems that too many are blinded by their zeal to oppose the biblical teachings of the any-moment hope of the rapture for them to take time to get their information straight. No wonder Columba Graham Flegg, in his scholarly work on the Irvingites spoke specifically of Dave MacPherson’s work as “less scholarly.” Flegg said, thewww.pre-trib.org 3“conclusions reached in this work and the rationale behind them are hardly convincing.”21 Now why is an expert on the Irvingites not impressed with MacPherson’s work? Because Flegg has a thorough knowledge about the times in which MacPherson writes and realizes that he is spinning out myths. Maranatha!_______Tomas IceLiberty University