Rapture!

 

The purpose of the following is to outline a systematic study of the scriptures to determine the major differences between two biblical terms commonly referred to as the "Rapture" and the "Second Coming" of Christ. The position I have taken in this study is one referred to as a "Pre-Tribulational" view. That being that the True Church, or the body of Christ will be raptured prior to the judgments we see in the Book of Revelation.

*Rapture
**Second Coming/ Day of the Lord/ Day of Christ

**Revelation 1:7
"Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen."

*Revelation 4:1
"After this I looked, and, behold, a door was opened in heaven: and the first voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet talking with me; which said, Come up hither, and I will shew thee things which must be hereafter."

**2 Thessalonians 2:1-2
"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."

**Joel 1:15
"Alas for the day! for the day of the Lord is at hand, and as a destruction from the Almighty shall it come."

*2 Thessalonians 2:7
"For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way."

*1 Thessalonians 4:16-17
"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: 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."

*1 Corinthians 15:51-52
"Behold, I shew 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 trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed."

**Joel 2:1-3

"Blow ye the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in my holy mountain: let all the inhabitants of the land tremble: for the day of the Lord cometh, for it is nigh at hand; a day of darkness and of gloominess, a day of clouds and of thick darkness, as the morning spread upon the mountains: a great people and a strong; there hath not been ever the like, neither shall be any more after it, even to the years of many generations. A fire devoureth before them; and behind them a flame burneth: the land is as the garden of Eden before them, and behind them a desolate wilderness; yea, and nothing shall escape them."

The scriptures below have the Greek word "harpazo" in common in the King James Bible. (The actual word rapture is not found in scripture. The Latin word is "raptus".) This is where many theologians have come to use the term "Rapture"...in the sense that it can be interpreted as a "snatching away" or a "catching up" of all born again believers prior to the seven year period of the judgment of the earth known as the Tribulation.

*Harpazō...Strongs definition;
"catch (away up) pluck pull take (by force)
To sieze"

Matthew 13:19 - When any one heareth the word of the kingdom, and understandeth it not, then cometh the wicked one, and *(catcheth away) that which was sown in his heart. This is he which received seed by the way side.

Acts 8:39 - And when they were come up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord (*caught away) Philip, that the eunuch saw him no more: and he went on his way rejoicing.

2 Corinthians 12:2 - I knew a man in Christ above fourteen years ago, (whether in the body, I cannot tell; or whether out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth;) such an one (*caught up) to the third heaven

2 Corinthians 12:4 - How that he was (*caught up) into paradise, and heard unspeakable words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter.

1 Thessalonians 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.

Revelation 12:5 - And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child was (*caught up) unto God, and to his throne.

The following outline is from the notes of C.I. Scofield on the Day of the Lord. This period of judgment is synonymous with the "Second Coming".

"The day of Jehovah (called, also, "that day," and "the great day") is that lengthened period of time beginning with the return of the Lord in glory, and ending with the purgation of the heavens and the earth by fire preparatory to the new heavens and the new earth Isa (65:17-19 Isa 66:22 2Pet 3:13 Rev 21:1.) The order of events appears to be:

(1) The return of the Lord in glory Mt 24:29,30

(2) the destruction of the Beast and his host, "the kings of the earth and their armies," and the false prophet, which is the "great and terrible" aspect of the day Rev 19:11-21.

(3) the judgment of the nations Zech 14:1-9 Mt 25:31-46.
(4) the thousand years, i.e, the kingdom-age Rev 20:4-6.

(5) the Satanic revolt and its end Rev 20:7-10.
(6) the second resurrection and final judgment Rev 20:11-15 and

(7) the "day of God," earth purged by fire 2Pet 3:10-13."

I hope you find this outline to be of value in your personal study of the scriptures.

Dave Jacobs  

  Backwoods Home Missions               Jennifer O’Neill Ministries 

Let me close the same way the Apostle Paul does in his Epistle to the Romans. 

"To God only wise, be glory through Jesus Christ for ever. Amen."  

My dear friend, if you have never received Christ as your Saviour, would you do so today? Pray this from your heart. 

Dear Jesus, I know I am a sinner. I believe you died on the cross for my sins. I believe you were buried and rose again the third day. I ask you now to forgive me of my sins and come into my heart and save me. Amen 

The Real Message

"And again he stooped down, and wrote on the ground. And they which heard it, being convicted by their own conscience, went out one by one, beginning at the eldest, even unto the last: and Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst." (John 8:8-9)

Most of us are familiar with this passage of the scriptures in the King James Bible. I believe most people have no problem with the principles that Christ was teaching, not only to those involved, but for our society today.

A couple more thoughts comes to my mind as I read this. Do you think Jesus could also be trying to teach us to hate our own sin more than the sins of others?

Also, could he possibly have written, as he stooped down---"as it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:"...
for all have sinned, and come short of the 

glory of God;"?

And now, as Paul Harvey used to say...the rest of the story!

"But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us."

Let me close the same way the Apostle Paul does in his Epistle to the Romans. 

"To God only wise, be glory through Jesus Christ for ever. Amen."  

My dear friend, if you have never received Christ as your Saviour, would you do so today? Pray this from your heart. 

Dear Jesus, I know I am a sinner. I believe you died on the cross for my sins. I believe you were buried and rose again the third day. I ask you now to forgive me of my sins and come into my heart and save me. Amen 

Running With the Enemy

 1 Corinthians 2:1-2

"And I, brethren, when I came to you, came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God. For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified."

1 Corinthians 15:1-4
"Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; by which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; and that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:"

In his book titled "The Tragedy of Compromise", Ernest Pickering goes indepth on the dangers of laying sound doctrine aside for the sake of unity. He wrote during a period in church history in which there was a dramatic schism between Fundamentalists and the Neo-Evangelicals. 

The real tragedy of compromise is that when the true Gospel is watered down by adding works (which is what Catholicism does) to the finished work of Christ on Calvary, many are led down that broad path which leads to destruction. (Matthew 7:13)

Neo-Evangelicals, although their hearts may be in the right place, fail to recognize the fact that by associating with heresy in an attempt to win souls, they are actually contributing to the confusion. We all know who benefits when confusion is added to the mix.

1 Corinthians 14:33
"For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all churches of the saints."

2 Corinthians 2:11
"lest Satan should get an advantage of us: for we are not ignorant of his devices."

In an article titled "Billy Graham and Rome" on the Way of Life Literature website, we are given great insight into the dangers of the Ecumenism practiced by Neo-Evangelicals.

To emphasize this point we see in an excerpt from the article the following statement.

"Those who fellowship with Romanism put a stamp of approval--unwittingly, perhaps, but just as surely--upon the false gospel preached by their Roman Catholic friends."

It appears that those who advocate for Ecumenism have either overlooked scripture, or they "willingly are ignorant" of what Paul tells us in Ephesians 5:6-11,

"Let no man deceive you with vain words: for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience. Be not ye therefore partakers with them. For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light: (for the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth;) proving what is acceptable unto the Lord. And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them."

The Bible is very clear, as well, that by holding hands with the world in an effort to advance the Gospel we, in effect, become the enemies of God. We see in James 4:4 the question that Neo-Evangelicals must address,

"Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God."

Here is a link to the aforementioned article from the ministry of David Cloud and The Way of Life Literature ministry.  

Billy Graham and Rome 

Let me close the same way the Apostle Paul does in his Epistle to the Romans. 

"To God only wise, be glory through Jesus Christ for ever. Amen."  

My dear friend, if you have never received Christ as your Saviour, would you do so today? Pray this from your heart. 

Dear Jesus, I know I am a sinner. I believe you died on the cross for my sins. I believe you were buried and rose again the third day. I ask you now to forgive me of my sins and come into my heart and save me. Amen