- Jul 9, 2002
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so now that everyone has said what they believe can they prove it; and I don't mean quoting one scripture; layout why you believe, what you believe; not by appealing to what we think is right or wrong; but rather some scriptural proof!
But I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep, lest you sorrow as others who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus. For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep. For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words.
(1 Thessalonians 4:13-18)
This is the foundational passage that teaches us there is a rapture. There are some who discount the whole thing by saying there is no rapture, but this passage clearly says that such an event will happen, it just doesn't indicate clearly when this will happen.But concerning the times and the seasons, brethren, you have no need that I should write to you. For you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night. For when they say, "Peace and safety!" then sudden destruction comes upon them, as labor pains upon a pregnant woman. And they shall not escape. But you, brethren, are not in darkness, so that this Day should overtake you as a thief. You are all sons of light and sons of the day. We are not of the night nor of darkness. Therefore let us not sleep, as others do, but let us watch and be sober. For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk are drunk at night. But let us who are of the day be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet the hope of salvation. For God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us, that whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with Him. Therefore comfort each other and edify one another, just as you also are doing.
(1 Thessalonians 5:1-11)
Immediately following that passage, we do have some indication of the timing of this event from this one. First, it tells us that the day of the Lord comes without warning, "as a thief in the night". This would preclude the post-tribulational rapture, because there is ample precursor events that point to the 2nd coming of Christ being immanent. The same could be said for the pre-wrath rapture, with the wars, pestilence, famine, and revealing of the man of sin. Only a pre-tribulational rapture can explain how the return of Christ could be both immanent and without warning. This passage also points out that the rapture must occur before the wrath of God is poured out on the world (1 Thessalonians 5:9). Again, the post-tribulational rapture would be excluded by these facts.
"But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only. But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and did not know until the flood came and took them all away, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. Then two men will be in the field: one will be taken and the other left. Two women will be grinding at the mill: one will be taken and the other left. Watch therefore, for you do not know what hour your Lord is coming.
(Matthew 24:36-42)
We learn a few things from this passage. We learn that no man knows the day or hour (note it says day OR hour, not day AND hour). We can calculate the timing of the 2nd coming down to the day from the abomination of desolation (Daniel 12:11), so again it cannot be concurrent with the 2nd coming. We also learn that everything will be fairly normal when this event occurs, people will be marrying and giving in marriage, grinding at the millstone, and working in the fields. Again, this cannot be at the end of the Great Tribulation, where everything will be falling apart in nature (Revelation 16). It would also seem to preclude the pre-wrath rapture for the same reason, seeing as how there will be world conflict, famine, and pestilence during that time.
I could post more, but this is sufficient for now to show that the pre-tribulational rapture makes the most sense.
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