TheRapture

The Truth About the Rapture...

Most of the Christian churches believe that Jesus is going to rapture the "believers" out of the world prior to the Tribulation, and that just is not the case. Over and over again, the chronological order of events is foretold in scripture.

Many rapture believers attempt to document this event using 1 Thess 4. What they fail to realize is that the Thessalonians were also confused by these words and had to be set straight in a second letter by Paul . He writes in Chapter 2:

"Now, we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him...

(v 2) That ye be not soon shaken in mind...NOR BY LETTER AS FROM US, as that the day of Christ is at hand."

(v 3) Let no man deceive you by any means: FOR THAT DAY SHALL NOT COME, except there be a falling away first (apostacy), and that man of sin BE REVEALED, the son of perdition.

Right here it is documented that Christ shall not come until Satan is revealed How do we know this is Satan? Because the next verse goes on to say that it is the one who "sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God".

(v 8) And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of His mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of HIS coming.

(v 9) Even Him, whose coming is AFTER the working of Satan with all powers and signs and lying wonders.

The order is given again in Matthew 24.

(15) When ye therefore shall see the ABOMINATION OF DESOLATION, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:)....

(21) For THEN shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.

(22) And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened.

(23) Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not.....

(27) For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be....

(29) Immediately AFTER THE TRIBULATION of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken:

(30) And THEN shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.

(31) And He shall send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together HIS ELECT from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.

The Abomination of Desolation...this is spoken of in Daniel 10 and refers to Satan. Mark 13 says he is standing where he "ought not". The verses above say that Christ comes to gather the elect AFTER the tribulation and AFTER Satan stands in the holy place, i.e. represents himself as God. Christ gathers the elect who, by these verses, have been through the Tribulation.

Luke 17:34 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.

(35) Two women shall be grinding together; the one shall be taken, and the other left.

(36) Two men shall be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left.

(37) And they answered and said unto him, Where, Lord? And he said unto them, Wheresoever the body is, thither will the eagles (vultures) be gathered together.

It is the belief of those who propose a rapture that these verses, and others like them, point to the "church" of true believers not going through the tribulation. Please note the destination of those who are taken here. They go to where the vultures gather.

Those NOT TAKEN stay behind to do the work of their Father.

Matthew 10:22 And ye shall be hated of all [men] for my name's sake: but he that endureth to the end shall be saved.

( Matthew 24:13 But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.)

Mark 13:13 And ye shall be hated of all [men] for my name's sake: but he that shall endure unto THE END, the same shall be saved.

(Revelation 2:26 And he that overcometh, and keepeth My works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations:)

Revelation 2:10 Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer: behold, the devil shall cast [some] of you into prison, that ye may be tried; and ye shall have tribulation ten days: be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life.

(1 Corinthians 15:24 Then [cometh] the end, when He shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when He shall have put down all rule and all authority and power)

Matthew 24:22 And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened.

(Hebrews 3:14 For we are made partakers of Christ, if we hold the beginning of our confidence stedfast unto the end;)

Romans 11:7 What then? Israel hath not obtained that which he seeketh for; but the election hath obtained it, and the rest were blinded

(2 Thessalonians 2:11 And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie:)

John 6:44 No man can come to Me except the Father which hath sent Me draw him and I will raise him up at the LAST DAY.

John 6:54 Whoso eateth My flesh and drinketh My blood hath eternal life and I will raise him up at the last day.

Jesus tells us in Matthew 13:29-40, "I shall FIRST gather the tares FROM AMONG the wheat."

The field is the world, the wheat represents the children of the Kingdom, the tares are the children of the Devil and the harvest is the end of this age.

Matthew 13:30 Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together FIRST the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn.

Matthew 13:38 The field is the world; the good seed are the children of the kingdom; but the tares are the children of the wicked [one];

Revelation 14:15 And another angel came out of the temple, crying with a loud voice to him that sat on the cloud, Thrust in thy sickle, and reap: for the time is come for thee to reap; for the harvest of the earth is ripe.

What does Satan want? He wants to sit at the right hand of God. Who is the right hand of God?

Psalms 17:7 Shew thy marvellous lovingkindness, O thou that savest by thy right hand them which put their trust [in thee] from those that rise up [against them].

Psalms 98:1 O sing unto the LORD a new song; for He hath done marvellous things: His right hand, and His holy arm, hath gotten Him the victory.

Matthew 22:44 The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, till I make thine enemies thy footstool?

Matthew 25:34 Then shall the King say unto them on His right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:

Matthew 26:64 Jesus saith unto him, Thou hast said: nevertheless I say unto you, Hereafter shall ye see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven.

Mark 16:19 So then after the Lord had spoken unto them, He was received up into heaven, and sat on the right hand of God.

The sin of Lucifer was pride; he wanted to be equal to God. He said, "I will be like the Most High". ( Isaiah 14) He will return to earth one more time to attempt this feat. This time he will use the ultimate ruse imaginable. He will pretend to be the second coming of the Messiah.

2 Thessalonians 2:3 Let no man deceive you by any means: for [that day shall not come], except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;.....
(2:10) And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.

Revelation 12:9 And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the WHOLE WORLD: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.

Remember that it is written that Satan transforms himself into an angel of light. In other words, he will appear to be what he is not. Does it seem feasable that he would cease in his quest to be equal to God?? What better way to deceive the masses than to pretend to be his hated nemisis, Christ?

The most misunderstood verses in the bible may be from 1 Thess. And it's no wonder... because these verses may have confused the original recipients of the letter, too.

1 Thess. 4:13 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.

4:14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.

Paul is asking them if they believe Jesus is in the tomb or is risen. He further adds that the dead in Christ are risen also.

4:15 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.

Don't worry about the dead, as they've gone first. They are already with Him. An interesting sidenote is this word PREVENT. In the old English it means to "go before".

4:16 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:

The 7th trump! DEAD: Strong's 3498: nekros ( nekrov ) {nek-ros'} 1) properly 1a) one that has breathed his last, lifeless 1b) deceased, departed

Might I remind you...

Eccl. 12:6 Or ever the silver cord be loosed, or the golden bowl be broken, or the pitcher be broken at the fountain, or the wheel broken at the cistern.
(v 7) Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it.

and...

2 Corinthians 5:8 We are confident, [I say], and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.))

4:17 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.

We who are in the flesh! This word CLOUDS means a large group in the Greek. We will meet the Lord in the air. In other words, we will meet Him in the spirit, i.e. breath of life.

AIR: Strong's 109: aer ( aer ) {ah-ayr'} from aemi (to breathe unconsciously, i.e. respire by analogy

CLOUD: [nephele/3507] nephele ( nefele ) {nef-el'-ay} from 3509: nephos ( nefov ) 1) a cloud, a large dense multitude, a throng

4:18 Wherefore comfort one another with these words.

Nowhere in our Father's word does it say that the church will be "raptured" before the tribulation. Satan has twisted God's word so much in the minds of the pastors that almost the entire Christian community will be decived along with the rest of the world.

Jer.23: 1 Woe be unto the pastors that destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture! saith the LORD.

23:20 The anger of the LORD shall not return, until he have executed, and till he have performed the thoughts of his heart: IN THE LATTER DAYS ye shall consider it perfectly.

23:21 I have not sent these prophets, yet they ran: I have not spoken to them, yet they prophesied.

In other words, "I didn't call them, yet they RAN to the pulpit".

23:25 I have heard what the prophets said, that prophesy lies in my name, saying, I have dreamed, I have dreamed.

23:26 How long shall [this] be in the heart of the prophets that prophesy lies? yea, [they are] prophets of the deceit of their own heart;

My friends, don't take my word for it. Get out your bible and read for yourself. If you are counting on a Rapture because this is what you have always been taught, you have been deceived. It is just not taught in God's word. Most of the world will embrace Satan as Christ. This is what Paul means by presenting us as chaste virgins. Will you wed the false bridegroom?

There is an excellent book that sheds further light on this subject. It is called "The Incredible Cover Up". While God's word is our final authority, this book gives some historical facts on how the "Rapture" was embedded into church doctrine.

God bless you all...
Val 1998

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