Leslie M. John M.A

Rapture:

One of the important prophesies that invites our attention, curiosity and hope is about the Second Coming of the Lord Jesus Christ.  Although there is no word, namely, 'rapture' in the Bible, the meaning of this word as presented in 1 Thessalonians 4:17 is 'caught up'.  The Word of God teaches us that Lord Jesus Christ returns physically to establish His Kingdom literally on this earth for one thousand years.  Jude 14th verse and 15th verse show us that Enoch prophesied that the Lord will return with ten thousand of His saints to execute judgment upon all. 'Rapture' is the first phase of the Second coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and in this phase are included all believers in Christ.  'The dead in Christ shall rise first and the living saints shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air'. The blessed hope given to us is that we will be with the Lord for ever.  The resurrection of the dead with the glorified bodies (1 Cor.15:44) will be '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'. (1 Cor. 15:52), before the commencement of Daniel's Seventieth week, that is 'great tribulation'. 

In spite of the differing views about the 'rapture' one view that is consistent with the historical-grammatical interpretation of the Scriptures that survived the test of the time is the view that the living saints at the time of Lord Jesus Christ's second coming will be caught up together will the dead in Christ, who will rise to meet the Lord in the air, every man in the order as presented in 1 Corinthians 15:23 "But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ's at his coming".  There are several reasons to believe that the 'rapture' precedes the 'great tribulation' and that  believers in Christ will not see or be part of the 'great tribulation'.  Jesus Christ's second coming will be personal and visible. The Lord will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the 'trump of God'. 

The Church (Ekklesia) is the precious possession of Lord Jesus Christ and, therefore, it is His love for the Church, and the faithfulness that He has toward His bride that He keeps His bride away from the earthly 'great tribulation', which is primarily for the earthly people and for those, who have rejected Lord Jesus Christ as their Messiah.  Those, who have accepted Jesus as their personal Savior and Lord, by confessing their sins to Him are the treasured possession of Him, and He protects them from the 'great tribulation, which is meant for the children of Israel, who have rejected as their Messiah.  The fold purposes of Lord Jesus Christ coming to this earth, is to restore the children of Israel their earthly kingdom, which God had promised to their fathers, and also for the heathen to see God's judgment on those, who sinned and rejected Him as their Savior.  The Church always remains with Him with heavenly blessings showered on them by God and are away from the earthly things. That is the reason, why when Lord Jesus Christ descends from heaven in the clouds with a shout, with the voice of archangel,  those saints, who are dead in Christ shall rise first and those, who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet Him in the air, and thereafter we will be with Him for ever.

The Second Coming:

The second coming of Lord Jesus is imminent. For a believer, rapture is the second coming of Jesus and for an unbeliever the second appearance of Jesus on the earth is the second coming of Jesus. The end times prophecies are detailed for us in order that we may have faith and blessed hope of being received by Lord Jesus Christ and be with Him eternally. The sequence of events leading to the Second coming of Jesus and his establishment of the millennial rule on the earth is disputed among Christians. However the undisputable fact is that the return of the Lord Jesus Christ and the resurrection of the dead saints from their graves followed by the living saints will be caught up. The Pre-tribulation believes that the Church will not face the 'great tribulation' under Antichrist, while the Post-tribulation believes that the Church will face the 'great tribulation' under Antichrist, but will be protected by God. The doctrine of 'Rapture' of the Church for keeping it away from the 'great tribulation' in the mid air for seven years is as disputed as the doctrine of rapture of the Church after the 'great tribulation'. The word, 'rapture's is not found in the Scriptures; however in essence the meaning of the said word is getting caught up into the air. The rapture dealing with the believers getting caught up to meet the Lord in the clouds is undisputed among both the groups. 

Facts:

Lord Jesus Christ's purpose of coming again to this earth is two-fold; firstly the second coming is for receiving His own to Himself and secondly, to fulfill the promises made to Israel. Church consisting of saved ones constitutes His bride and the marriage of the bride takes place according to Scriptures after the Church is caught up in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air. To this marriage between the Lord and His bride are not invited the unsaved ones. Lord Jesus Christ promised mansions for His Children, who believe in Him. "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 [John 14:2].   Jesus promised that He was going to heaven to prepare mansions for them. This promise is given in John 14:2 and 3 and this purpose, which was a mystery in the Old Testament, is revealed in the New Testament.  The earthly blessings promised to the children of Israel will be restored unto them when Lord Jesus Christ appears on this earth, while the heavenly blessings promised to His bride are given after the Church is caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air.  After seven years period, when Antichrist rules the earth, and the unbelievers, and Jews, who persecuted Him, undergo God's wrath, Jesus stands on the Mount olives, and later He rules literally for one thousand years sitting on the throne of David fulfilling the prophesies. The believers constituting His Bride will be always with the Lord.  The Church consisting of heavenly ones, saved in the precious blood of Lord Jesus Christ is His precious bride for His bride consisting of blessed ones should not be confused with the Israel. The covenants made to the children of Israel will be fulfilled on this earth. Ref: Acts 1:6, Hebrews 9:28, Romans 11:28, etc. Israel and the Church are separate and if this fact is understood clearly much dispute among Christians about the end days, about 'rapture' will fade away.

A question arises as to why believers should know about the events such as ' 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', before the second coming of Jesus, if rapture takes place, before the second advent of Jesus on the earth, the answer would be that if the facts about these events are known before hand, every one will have fear about the consequences of not believing in Jesus as one's savior.  According to Matt. 24:29 these events will take place immediately after the great tribulation days. It reads, 'Immediately after the tribulation of those days', referring to those 'great tribulation' days. 

Continued next page...Please Click here

Today is the day of salvation Jesus saves you