The Pre-tribulation Rapture is not a sound and unassailable theological position. The preponderance of evidence that the translation of the saints and the second coming of Jesus Christ are one and the same event is extensive. Many have been taught to believe in a pre-tribulation rapture by a plethora of biblical prophecy teachers and scholars. The following paragraphs will explain why the scriptures clearly indicate when the translation of the saints will occur. But first why is this topic so very important.
What you believe affects how you live. If you earnestly believe that you will not go through the last seven years of extreme trouble commonly referred to as the Great Tribulation, then you will not make any preparations spiritually or physically. If on the other hand you know (or even suspect) you will be here, then you will prayerfully and constantly seek Christ’s wisdom and guidance and LIVE BY FAITH. God loves us all, even the most hardened sinner. But he will not be mocked at judgment day. We saints of God who sincerely want to do God’s will must do what Christ tells us to do, even if it means receiving ridicule and scorn, and having ‘Christians’ separate themselves from us. For many of us this means to live simply and humbly. Others have been called to exhort and teach while others are to minister according to Gods good graces. We, who are among the saved, must claim Gods promises including the ones Jesus made such as “In the world ye shall have tribulation, but be of good cheer I have overcome the world.” ( John 16:33b) If you are a true Christian, it applies to you. The necessity of enduring to the end and of the leading astray, if possible, even the elect takes on an entirely new meaning if the Church is to here during the tribulation and the reign of anti-Christ.
Additionally, it must be stated here that other than the doctrine of the first coming of Christ, his death and resurrection and Messiahship, the doctrine of the Second Coming of Christ is the most important doctrine in scripture, in short it is the final act in God’s promise of redemption. The return of the Messiah, Jesus Christ, to save his Church, the true Israel and heirs to the promise is the single most important doctrine in the Bible, with the possible exception of Christ’s bodily resurrection. In short it is the consummation of the work of Jesus Christ. So how can any believer say, ‘It isn’t important’, or ‘it will all come out in the wash’ or ‘we’ll know when he comes’? That was the mistake the Jews made when Christ came the first time and THEY WERE REJECTED FOR NOT KNOWING THE TIME OF THEIR VISITATION. Jesus told us to watch, over and over again he warns us to watch. How are we to know what to watch for? The answer to that is in the scriptures, in the writings of the Prophets and in the Messiah’s words. This is a critical doctrine, because if you do not get this right, you will be as a man looking towards the east, when all the things he should be watching for are in the west. Remember, the Jews during Christs time, were hell-bound and eventually wound up hating and murdering the Christ who came to save them because they did not expect him to do the things that he did at the time that he did them. They wanted someone who would restore the kingdom of David and rid them of Roman Dominance without really turning towards God and doing the things that he commanded them to do. Today, believers want Christ to come to save them from the reign of Antichrist and severe persecution without the true repentance and more importantly the complete submission to Christ’s Lordship (obedience) that leads to true salvation. In short, they want to escape. Yet the scriptures clearly teach something very different. Lay hold of this, it is very important.
The rapture of the saints cannot occur until the last trumpet is sounded. “Behold I show you a mystery we shall not all sleep but we shall all be changed. In a moment, in a 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 Cor 15:51,52). This gives the timing of the rapture
At the last trump.
Let’s see what else the scripture says about this, “
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 decent 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 in the clouds to meet the LORD in the air and so shall we ever be with the LORD. (1 Thes 4:15-17)
The time table is the same:
The trumpet.
The Dead in Christ shall be raised.
The remaining saints translated
Paul tells the Church that we the remaining, still alive believers will not precede those saints who had already died in the LORD. My goodness, how much more clear can you get! Brothers and sisters, this doctrine is no real mystery. It is not complicated, it is not hidden deep in obscure verses to be interpreted in a strange and new way. It is in plain black and white so plain that any honest, literate, spirit-filled Christian can see for themselves. Unfortunately that is the extreme minority of Christians in America. Far too many are listening to the false shepherds of Babylon.
Paul warned the Thessalonians,
(2 Th 2:1-4)
Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him, That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand. 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; Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.
Here is a stern warning from the Apostle. He categorically states with regard to
1. The coming of the LORD
2. Our Gathering unto him
He warns us not to let any man deceive you BY ANY MEANS (by a rapture of the LORD). Yet the modern American teachers have found a means. They simply say that there is another ‘secret coming’ or a ‘secret gathering’ that that Paul isn’t talking about. Christ warned us about those who teach of a rapture of the LORD and told his disciples exactly how he was going to come, suddenly for all to see and hear.
Wherefore if they shall say unto you, Behold, he is in the desert; go not forth: behold, [he is] in the secret chambers; believe [it] not. 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.
(Mat 24:26-27)
A note here, Paul says that anyone who says the church won’t be here when the son of perdition (Antichrist) is revealed is deceiving you. Those who are teaching that you are going to be raptured before the Antichrist is revealed are deceivers. Plain and simple. But there is big, big money in deceiving the Church, hence they are the ones whom the harlot religious system honors and promotes with their books, movies and magazines. Some may be doing it with the best of intentions, but a false doctrine is still false and a false teacher is still a false teacher. Many of todays Seminaries and Bible Colleges have pounded the doctrine of the pre-trib rapture into the minds of denominational Church leaders that now hold important positions in mainstream Christianity. Many hold this doctrine because they have never really honestly studied it fully. Others don’t really believe in a return of the LORD at all, though they would never actually teach that. In any event, whatever the motivation of these religious leaders weather it is laziness, fear, or unbelief the doctrine of a pre-tribulation rapture is a false one.
What does Jesus say?
“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. 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. And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet and they shall gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.” (Matt 24:29-31)
Jesus said after the tribulation. And again we see the angels are present and the sound of a Trumpet.
The book of revelation identifies when the LAST trumpet sounds. There are seven trumpets which sound in the book of revelation and the last one is very different from the first six.