I don't get why any Bible-believing Christian would say he doesn't believe in 'the rapture.' I know there are some amil that believe Jesus is literally coming back, but then say they don't believe in 'the rapture.'
The Bible clearly says, 'and they which are alive and remain shall be 'CAUGHT UP' to meet the Lord in the air. 'Rapture' refers to the Latin translation of the words translated 'caught up' in that verse in I Thessalonians.
So, yes, there is a rapture, and the Bible clearly teaches it.
I think a lot of the people who say they don't believe in 'the rapture' don't know what they are saying. Most of them mean they don't believe this happens 7 years before the Second Coming, and they don't think it will result in airplanes falling out of the sky, followed by 7 years of 'the AntiChrist' ruling the earth while someone who looks like Kirk Cameron seeks to somehow thwart his prophesied plans.
I don't believe that the rapture will occur 7 years before Jesus comes back, either. I Corinthians 15 tells us that they that are Christ's will be made alive 'at His coming'. Chapter 1 speaks of believers waiting for the revelation (translated the 'coming' in the KJV) of our Lord Jesus Christ. II Thessalonians 2 shows us the church receiving rest and Christ executing judgment on them that believe not when Jesus comes to be glorified in the saints. It sure seems to put the judgment of those wicked at the same time with Jesus coming back and giving the church rest. It sure seems to blow the pre-trib theory out of the water if you ask me.
Now, add to that the fact that the pre-trib doctrine is just assumed and read into scripture, rather than taken from it. I hear this time and time again on the radio. Take the Calvary Chapel guys on the radio. The attempts to actually get it from a text of scripture rely on stuff like taking the verse that says stuff with the man of sin won't happen until their has first been a falling away, and taking the 'falling away' to mean the rapture. Paul uses it in its other occurrence in scripture to refer to men departing from the faith. Some people argue for pre-trib based on allegorical interpretation, 'come up hither.' There is also taking the verse about him that shall be taken out of the way before the man of sin can be revealed as referring to something having to do with the rapture. This is circular reasoning.
There is also the 'not appointed unto wrath' argument, which is rather weak. God poured out judgment on Egypt without spilling the plagues on His people. There are similarities, after all, between the plagues of Egypt and the plagues of revelation.
It sure seems to me that every single argument trying to place the rapture at at 7 years before Jesus comes back is really, really weak. And there is direct scriptural evidence to put them at the same time. So I don't see a case for pre-trib in scripture at all.
Hello presidente,
What you, along with others don't understand is that the wrath that is coming is unprecedented and will affect all inhabitants on the entire earth. The other thing that you don't understand is the magnitude and severity of the wrath that is coming, if you did you wouldn't be holding to your position. With just the 4th seal and the 6th trumpet, the fatalities being a fourth and a third of the inhabitants of the earth, respectively, which will amount to approximately 4.4 billion people and that is not including the fatalities as a result of trumpets 1,2 and 3 and the bowl judgments.
Jesus rescues believers from the coming wrath:
"They tell how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead—
Jesus, who rescues us from the coming wrath.
Believer's not appointed suffer wrath:
"For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ."
After Paul gave a detail account of the resurrection and the changing of the living in 1 Thes.4:13-18, he then finished with, "therefore, comfort each other with these words." If the church was to go through God's wrath, there would be no comfort. Neither would our going through his wrath and being caught up afterwards be a blessed hope.
The main problem as a result of this on-going controversy is that expositors have erroneously made the gathering of the church synonymous with the Lord's return to the earth to end the age. The proof that the church is in heaven prior to the Lord's return to the earth is definitely there, as can be seen from the following:
"The armies of heaven were following him, riding on white horses and dressed in fine linen, white and clean." (Rev.19:14)
Who are those on white horses wearing fine linen, white and clean?
"Let us rejoice and be glad and give him glory! For the wedding of the Lamb has come, and
his bride has made herself ready.
Fine linen, bright and clean, was given her to wear.”
The bride, which is another designation for the church, is seen in heaven at the wedding and she is receiving her fine linen, bright and clean, which is the same clothing that those on the white horses are wearing as they follow Christ out of heaven to end the age in Rev.19:14. Further support of those on white horses being the church is found in Rev.17:14 below:
"They will wage war against the Lamb, but the Lamb will triumph over them because he is Lord of lords and King of kings—
and with him will be his called, chosen and faithful followers.”
His "called, chosen and faithful followers" would be a reference to those who will have previously been gathered prior to God's wrath.
1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 vs Revelation 20:4-6
This is another error that expositors make in that, they make these two scriptures as being the same event. The problem with this is that, 1 Thes.4:13-18 describes the dead being resurrected and the living being changed and caught up, where Rev.20:4-6 describes a resurrection ONLY with no living being changed and caught up. This resurrection here consists only of the great tribulation saints. The purpose of the seals, trumpets and bowl judgments will fulfill the following prophesies:
"I will sweep away everything from the face of the earth, When I destroy all mankind on the face of the earth, declares the Lord. I will sweep away both man and beast; I will sweep away the birds in the sky and the fish in the sea—and the idols that cause the wicked to stumble. When I destroy all mankind on the face of the earth,” (Zeph.1:1-3)
"I will make man scarcer than pure gold, more rare than the gold of Ophir." (Isa.13:12)
"Because you have kept the word of My patient endurance, I also will keep you
out of the hour of the trial being about to come upon the whole inhabited world, to try those dwelling upon the earth."
The Greek "EK" above means "out of" as in "I will keep you out of" the hour of trial, not through, during or in, but out of.
Another proof that the church is not on earth during the time of God's wrath is that, Revelation 1 thru the very end of chapter 3, the word "Ekklesia" translated as "Church" is listed 19 times and the word "Hagios" translated "Saints" is not found in those chapters. Likewise, from chapter 4 onward, the word "Ekklesia/Church" is never found, but only the word "Hagios/Saints" which demonstrates that the church is no longer on the earth. It is the great tribulation saints who are introduced in Rev.7 that are referred to throughout the narrative.
There is also the 'not appointed unto wrath' argument, which is rather weak. God poured out judgment on Egypt without spilling the plagues on His people[/quote]
The problem with the above is that, this is going to be an unprecedented time of wrath that will include the entire earth and its inhabitants, so terrible and destructive that Jesus said, "if those days had not been shortened, no one would be left alive on the earth." My advice to you to get a perspective on this time of wrath is to do a detailed study on the seals, trumpets and the bowl judgments in order to get a true understanding of wrath that is coming.
I thank God that Jesus will be coming to remove his church prior to that time of God's wrath.