Now that the legalities are out of the way, I'll proceed. Today I want to look at the Rapture of the church. The word rapture is found nowhere in scripture but is generally used to described Jesus Christ's return to gather his children from the earth. The rapture is not the time that Jesus returns to rule the earth, but rather an appointed time when He will call all of His elect to meet him in the sky (1 Thessalonians 4:17. This is not yet the end, but rather the beginning of the tribulation period, the time of great suffering for all in the world. After this event, the rapture, there will be an even faster descent into sinfulness and evil. Think about it, all of the saints of the world will be gone and all that will be left are the unbelievers.
The time period of the tribulation will be a time of great suffering, disease, famine, natural disasters, pestilence, and most of all the removal of the Christians everywhere. Everywhere we look today we see natural disasters, famine, wars, and wars that could be called "rumors of wars" since there is not a defined war front (think war on terror, it's all around us, we hear about it daily, but most people never actually see it's face or really know it but rather only know what we hear by the ..... rumor mill ). Does this mean that we are living in the final days before Christ's return to conquer the world when he steps on the Mount of Olives as is described in Zechariah 14:2-4? I do not think we are living in those times yet, but I feel it, it is close and that means the rapture is close, and that should excite everyone of us! I believe that Matthew 24:8 shows us that these problems that are happening are only the beginning, they are only the start of the great sorrow of the tribulation.I think things are getting ready to get much, much, much worse.
Some people beleive that the saints of Christ will be raptured before the 7 years of tribulation, some beleive we will be raptured in the middle of it, while some beleive we will have to endure the entire tribulation period. Obviously I beleive in a pre-tribulation rapture and have entertained all the other views but will cover them on another post. For the sake of time I will just sya that I do not beleive God will let us be here to suffer through the tribulation (aka God's Wrath) 1 Thessalonians 5:9 and Rev 3:10, I think the rapture will be what sets off the time bomb of the middle east and the attacks on Israel that brings the antichrist to power during the tribulation. There are references to Christians and Christ's elect that appear to be after the rapture, but these people are ones who come to Christ after the rapture and are in a different category of sorts in God's Kingdom of Heaven.
One thing I know for sure is that the time for our Lord's return is near, and as Christians this should excite us! LOOK UP!
Luke 21:28
But when these things begin to come to pass, look up, and lift up your heads; because your redemption draweth nigh.
1 Thessalonians 4:17 (NASB)
Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord
Zechariah 14:2-4 (NASB )
2For I will gather all the nations against Jerusalem to battle, and the city will be captured, the houses plundered, the women ravished and half of the city exiled, but the rest of the people will not be cut off from the city. 3Then the Lord will go forth and fight against those nations, as when He fights on a day of battle. 4In that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, which is in front of Jerusalem on the east; and the Mount of Olives will be split in its middle from east to west by a very large valley, so that half of the mountain will move toward the north and the other half toward the south.
Matthew 24:1-9 (NASB)
1Jesus came out from the temple and was going away when His disciples came up to point out the temple buildings to Him. 2And 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."
3As
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?"
4And Jesus answered and said to them, "See to it that no one misleads you. 5For many will come in My name, saying, 'I am the Christ,' and will mislead many. 6You 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. 7For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and in various places there will be famines and earthquakes. 8But 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.1 Thesalonians 5:1-9
1But concerning the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that aught be written unto you. 2For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. 3When they are saying, Peace and safety, then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall in no wise escape. 4But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief: 5for ye are all sons of light, and sons of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness; 6so then let us not sleep, as do the rest, but let us watch and be sober. 7For they that sleep sleep in the night: and they that are drunken are drunken in the night. 8But let us, since we are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for a helmet, the hope of salvation. 9For God appointed us not into wrath, but unto the obtaining of salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, 10who died for us, that, whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with him
Revelation 3:10 Because you have kept the word of My perseverance, I also will keep you from the hour of testing, that hour which is about to come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth. 11I am coming quickly; hold fast what you have, so that no one will take your crown.
