Rapture of the Church Defined
Though the word rapture is not in the Bible, the Greek word "harpazo"
refers to the "catching away" of the true believers. This event will
precede the final seven years of history. A true believer is one who has
been "born again" which means that he/she has personally accepted
Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. Being born again is illustrated in the
Bible in the following passage:
Jesus answered him, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born
anew, he cannot see the kingdom of God." Nicodemus said to him,
"How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time
into his mother's womb and be born?" Jesus answered, "Truly, truly, I
say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter
the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that
which is born of the Spirit is spirit. John 3:3-6
When a man or woman is born again, the Holy Spirit resides in him or
her and brings to remembrance all that Jesus has taught through the
Word of God. Each person then begins to renew his/her mind through
the power of the Holy Spirit.
Therefore, if any one is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has
passed away, behold, the new has come. All this is from God, who
through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of
reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to
himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to
us the message of reconciliation. 2 Corinthians 5:17,18
Jesus describes what will be happening immediately prior to the rapture
of the Church. Those who have been born again by faith and who are
earnestly seeking his return will instantaneously disappear in the rapture:
As were the days of Noah, so will be the coming of the Son of man.
For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking,
marrying and giving in marriage, until the day when Noah entered
the ark, and they did not know until the flood came and swept them
all away, so will be the coming of the Son of man. Then two men will
be in the field; one is taken and one is left. Two women will be
grinding at the mill; one is taken and one is left. Watch therefore, for
you do not know on what day your Lord is coming. But know this,
that if the householder had known in what part of the night the thief
was coming, he would have watched and would not have let his house
be broken into. Therefore you also must be ready; for the Son of man
is coming at an hour you do not expect. Matthew 24:37-44
Lo! I tell 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 trumpet.
For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable,
and we shall be changed. For this perishable nature must put on the
imperishable, and this mortal nature must put on immortality. When
the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on
immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written:
"Death is swallowed up in victory." "O death, where is thy victory? O
death, where is thy sting?" The sting of death is sin, and the power of
sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through
our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast,
immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that
in the Lord your labor is not in vain. 1 Corinthians 15:51
There are many important points to notice about the above paragraph.
First, Paul says that he is introducing a mystery, which in the original
Greek context means something not previously revealed to the true
believer, but now revealed. Second, not all Christians will die. Two
cases in the Old Testament illustrated this point as a foreshadowing of
the group of true believers who were alive when Jesus calls them to
Himself--Enoch and Elijah were both taken directly into heaven
without experiencing physical death. This website will illustrate why
that is in fact our generation! Third, all believers who are alive at that
time will not have to experience physical death--that group of people
will be unique compared to all previous generations. The fourth truth is
that we "will all be changed". In the twinkling of an eye, the true
believers will get incorruptible, imperishable glorified bodies.
But our commonwealth is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior,
the Lord Jesus Christ, who will change our lowly body to be like his
glorious body, by the power which enables him even to subject all
things to himself. Philippians 3:20-21
God also reveals to us what will happen while we are instantaneously
being transformed into our immortal bodies:
For this we declare to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are
alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, shall not precede
those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will descend from
heaven with a cry of command, with the archangel's call, and with the
sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first;
then we who are alive, who are left, shall 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. Therefore comfort one another with these words. I
Thessalonians 4:15-18
Though there are different opinions regarding the timing of the Rapture
relative to the final seven years of history, I concur with the
pre-tribulation scholars for three main reasons. First, Jesus promises
that the true believers will be "kept from the hour of trial which shall
come upon the whole earth". Because billions of people die in the first
three and a half years, I wouldn't consider that being withheld from the
hour of trial.
Because you have kept my word of patient endurance, I will keep you
from the hour of trial which is coming on the whole world, to try
those who dwell upon the earth. Revelation 3:10
But watch at all times, praying that you are accounted worthy to
escape all these things that will take place, and to stand before the
Son of man. Luke 21:36
Second, the Rapture is an instantaneous secret event unlike Jesus'
Second Coming. When he comes in the Rapture, we are "snatched up"
to meet him in the air. When he returns to set up his kingdom, he
comes back and sets foot on the Mount of Olives causing a great
earthquake.
Then shall the LORD go forth, and fight against those nations, as
when he fought in the day of battle. And his feet shall stand in that
day upon the mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east,
and the mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the
east and toward the west, and there shall be a very great valley; and
half of the mountain shall remove toward the north, and half of it
toward the south. Zechariah 14:3,4
And when he had said this, as they were looking on, he was lifted up,
and a cloud took him out of their sight. And while they were gazing
into heaven as he went, behold, two men stood by them in white
robes, and said, "Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into
heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will
come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven. Acts 1:9-11
God called Noah into the Ark, then called Lot out of Sodom. Jesus will
say, "Come up here" at the Rapture, and will come down himself at
His Second Coming.
Finally, God's purpose is not to confuse his people but to warn them. It
only makes sense then to deduce that the majority of the spirit-filled
church's opinion would be the correct one. Get ready, Jesus is coming
soon!
