Although the word Rapture as it is commonly known today is not found in the English Bible, the event most certainly is.
“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.” (1 Thessalonians 4:14-18 KJV)
Christ foretold that He will return for all that are His, all that believe in Christ who have accepted His atonement for our sins and know Him as Lord.
“Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.” (John 14:1-3 KJV)
Jesus has been preparing this dwelling place for us since he ascended to Heaven over 2000 years ago and at that time the Apostles gazed into the sky as Jesus ascended. And then angels appeared , “Which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.” (Acts 1:11 KJV)
So a day is coming when Jesus will return for His own. He will not be born like last time. He already has a physical and yet spiritual immortal body that he took with him when he ascended! And He will return as He left us… In the heavens..literally right out of the sky!
“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.” (1 Thessalonians 4: 15-18 KJV)
Believers who accepted Christ’s atonement will be snatched off the planet swiftly. The Original Greek for ‘caught up ‘ is ‘harpázō’ which means ‘properly, seize by force; snatch up, suddenly and decisively – like someone seizing bounty (spoil, a prize); to take by an open display of force (i.e. not covertly or secretly).’
At the Rapture, the dead in Christ will rise first. Then believers living at the time of the rapture will be given new spiritual, yet also physical bodies like Christ received when he rose from the dead and then “whoosh” we will meet him in the air. (And this all happens in a “twinkling of the eye” (1 Corinthians 15:52) – less time than an eye blink!
New Spiritual Bodies, Free From The Fleshly Sin Nature Think In The Mind
When Jesus resurrects the dead in Christ, they are given the same kind of spiritual/physical body Christ had when he rose from the dead. He could appear out of no where, walk through locked doors, yet he could be touched and felt. 1 Corinthians 15 starting verse 35 says of the new body at our resurrection,
“But some man will say, How are the dead raised up? and with what body do they come? Thou fool, that which thou sowest is not quickened, except it die: And that which thou sowest, thou sowest not that body that shall be, but bare grain, it may chance of wheat, or of some other grain: But God giveth it a body as it hath pleased him, and to every seed his own body. All flesh is not the same flesh: but there is one kind of flesh of men, another flesh of beasts, another of fishes, and another of birds. There are also celestial bodies, and bodies terrestrial: but the glory of the celestial is one, and the glory of the terrestrial is another.”
1 Corinthians 15 continues,
“So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption: It is sown in dishonour; it is raised in glory: it is sown in weakness; it is raised in power: It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body. And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit. Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual.”
And it continues showing that we all fell into sin from Adam’s original sin yet we are saved from the second Adam that knew no sin but died for us; Jesus the Christ!
“The first man is of the earth, earthy; the second man is the Lord from heaven. As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy: and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly. And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly. Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption. Behold, I shew 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. So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written,Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?
The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law.
But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.”
The last to be conquered is DEATH! At the Rapture event, Christ returns when unbelievers (and some believers too) are not expecting it. It is an event that can happen at anytime now. The Rapture is an Emergency Escape From The Tribulation period, from the Antichrist system ruling and the very Wrath of God coming upon the Earth.
The Apostle Paul told the Thessalonians,
“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 YE, BETHREN, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief. Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness.
Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober. For they that sleep sleep in the night; and they that be drunken are drunken in the night.
But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation.
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. Wherefore comfort yourselves together, and edify one another, even as also ye do.” (1 Thessalonians 5: 1-11 KJV)
Take notice that this is saying that God has not appointed believers to face His Wrath. That is, the wrath of the Day of the Lord, the Tribulation period wrath judgements on Earth. It does not mean that Christians will never face persecution on Earth – that has been happening since Pentecost.
Christ said,
“These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33 KJV)
The Amplified Bible shows this verse in this way,
“I have told you these things, so that in Me you may have [perfect] peace and confidence. In the world you have tribulation and trials and distress and frustration; but be of good cheer [take courage; be confident, certain, undaunted]! For I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33 AMP)
So redeemed Christians will face troubles and persecution and trials in life. But that is NOT the WRATH of God. It is the world placing these things on a Christian. The Wrath of God is on the unbeliever because an unbeliever has not accepted forgiveness of sins through Christ and as such their sin remains and they remain condemned already and the wrath of God is on them now (John 3:18). And the wrath of God will be poured out during the Day Of The Lord – a time period from the start of the Tribulation Period until he end of Christ’s 1000 year Kingdom age to come on Earth.
Remember, that Christ died on the cross and took away the sin of the whole world (1 John 2:2) and He gives us a free gift of salvation: a full pardon for our sin against God (Jesus and the Father are one and the same). As God, he is perfectly loving, yes. But he is also perfectly just. And since we know that the wages of sin is death, (Romans 6:23) what can God do? So He became human never sinning and died on the cross and took upon Himself the punishment for our sins. In His perfect mercy and love it was the only way to satisfy his very being. He was perfect in love and mercy to forgive us and His justice of death for sinning was also satisfied.
God will not force anyone to accept His free gift of salvation and eternal life. Those that reject such a great love and sacrifice have chosen themselves to reject God’s only way to save them from His wrath against sinners.
“And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent: Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead.” (Acts 17:30-31 KJV)
What more do you want God to do? We sinned. He saved us and all we have to do is change our mind from good works for salvation and to believe the Gospel of Jesus Christ to receive His free gift of salvation. We are fast approaching Christ’s return for His bride of believers. The signs of the End times provided by Daniel and Jesus are already beginning to take place (Matthew 24:3-8), next on God’s appointed timeline is the Rapture and then the Seven Year Tribulation Period on those left behind. Christ’s offer of Salvation to you still stands!
“Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.” (Revelation 3:20 KJV)
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.” (John 3:16-18 KJV)
Will you accept the forgiveness of Holy God Almighty? The simplicity of the Gospel message is, ask Jesus to forgive all your sins, past, present and future, believing He is God and that He died on the cross and took the punishment we deserved upon Himself so we could escape His wrath to come.
Repent Of How You Deal With Your Sin
The world’s way to God is through doing good works and religious rituals to make up for our sins and wrongful deeds against God and others. But the real way to God is by God’s grace through faith:
“For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.” (Ephesians 2:8-9 KJV)
This is what true repentance is. It is God reaching out to us and providing a way for us sinners to be forgiven completely and for us to turn back towards God and His ways. It is acknowledging that we can not work our way to heaven. We have a fleshly sin nature since the fall (Adam and Eve). It is acknowledging that we have ALL sinned against God and we accept Jesus sacrifice for our sins. It is allowing God to change and renew our minds from the world view to God’s view. We turn from working away our sin debt, or out right ignoring it, (the World’s way) to accepting His love and forgiveness (God’s way).
A simple prayer in belief from your heart and your life will start changing. God will start changing you from the inside out through the Holy Spirit that dwells inside everyone who accepts the atonement of Christ. I am testifying that this is the truth. And believe me, if it could happen to me, it can happen to you!
The Rapture Is Coming Soon.. Are you Ready?
Here are some other great resources regarding this topic:
Third Party Website Articles:
- Biblical Evidences for a Pretribulational Rapture – Mike Vlach
- The Rapture and The Second Coming – Dr. John Walvoord
- WHY A PRETRIBULATIONAL RAPTURE?
Related You Tube Videos:
