WHAT IS THE RAPTURE?
What is the "rapture" and the signs of its coming? Are the rapture and the Second Coming, the same event? No, the rapture and Second Coming are two very separate events. Does Jesus come back to earth, to live and walk among us again in this age? No and He has warned us that impostors will come and do just that, pretending to be Him. Will the church simply disappear one day and arrive in heaven at the call of the Lord? The Bible says that all the tribes of the earth will see Jesus when He comes for His church and that it will be a huge event. Let's look at what the Bible really has to say about the rapture.
Before Jesus was crucified, He shared His heart deeply in regard to the future. Jesus let His disciples know that He would be leaving, but also, that He would come again for His people.
Jesus said that He would leave, to go and prepare a place and come again for us, so that we may be with Him.
What did Jesus mean by “in my Father's house are many mansions”?
This is in regard to people living in heaven and having homes there. The Lord has prepared a place for each and all of His children. He said “I go to prepare a place for you.” Did He say when and how this would happen? Yes, He said “I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.”
The rapture is when true Christians, who are alive at the time, are “raptured up” (suddenly and openly caught up or gathered up) joining the ones who previously died in Christ, and meet the Lord in the air. Everyone will see Jesus and all believers' bodies will be changed in the twinkling of an eye and He will then take us all to heaven to the place He has prepared for us.
There is much information in God’s Word about how Jesus is coming again.
In Matthew 24:1-51, Mark 13:1-37 and Luke 21:5-36, Jesus told about what we call the “rapture” and that there are things which must happen first. After Jesus ascended to the Father, the early disciples and apostles longed for the Lord to return for them. It is written about and referenced by Paul in his books of the Bible and additionally by John, Peter and Jude. The “coming of the Lord” is also prophesied of and referenced in books of the Old Testament including Psalms, Isaiah, Daniel and others.
In his later years, John the apostle, was imprisoned on the Isle of Patmos and while there, the Lord took him in the Spirit to heaven. He was also given many dreams, visions, exhortations and shown much about very important things to come. The Lord told John to write "special letters to 7 of the early churches" and ordered John to tell of what is to come and to do it all as He, Jesus, was instructing John. The whole book of Revelation is really from Jesus to His church by way of John.
The 7 seals in the book of Revelation (Revelation 6:1-17, 8:1), tell of the events that lead up to and include the rapture.
It is very important to know, that Jesus never said He was coming back at the rapture to stay. Jesus did not say that He would set foot on the earth at the rapture. Instead, His Word says that He will come from heaven with the saints (those in Christ who have preceded the living) who are in heaven already (1 Thessalonians 4:14) and His angels, and call the remaining saints (who are alive) up and unto Himself and return to heaven. The Lord makes it clear that “anyone walking the earth and claiming to be Jesus” is an impostor. Jesus will only stop in mid-air and call “the saints up” and then return to heaven.
It is important to understand that Jesus “openly takes up” His church from this world and that the word “rapture” we use today, is taken from the Latin Vulgate translation of the Greek word “harpázō.” In the article "Is The Word Rapture In The Bible?" it is explained more.
Here are 3 sections of Scripture, directly describing the “coming of the Lord” to “gather up” His saints. Please consider the rapture and events that will precede it.
In the New Testament, the rapture is most often described with the Lord coming on the clouds of heaven or with clouds. This is an easy way to recognize that it is our gathering together up to the Lord at the rapture when there are clouds involved. At Armageddon, Jesus comes on a horse with the armies of heaven and no saints are "gathered up" as the rapture has already taken place by then. The rapture is the time of the "gathering up" of the Lord's people. Saints are not “caught up” or “gathered up” at any other time as recorded in the New Testament other than at the rapture. By the time of the Great White Throne of Judgment, all saints will have long been raptured up and living with the Lord. The Great White Throne of Judgment is the time of judgment for the lost and happens after the Millennium (see the timeline chart).
Here is a simple chart, showing the key differences between the rapture and the Second Coming of the Lord.
Before Jesus was crucified, He shared His heart deeply in regard to the future. Jesus let His disciples know that He would be leaving, but also, that He would come again for His people.
Jesus said that He would leave, to go and prepare a place and come again for us, so that we may be with Him.
- John 14:1-3 “Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. 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. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.”
What did Jesus mean by “in my Father's house are many mansions”?
This is in regard to people living in heaven and having homes there. The Lord has prepared a place for each and all of His children. He said “I go to prepare a place for you.” Did He say when and how this would happen? Yes, He said “I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.”
The rapture is when true Christians, who are alive at the time, are “raptured up” (suddenly and openly caught up or gathered up) joining the ones who previously died in Christ, and meet the Lord in the air. Everyone will see Jesus and all believers' bodies will be changed in the twinkling of an eye and He will then take us all to heaven to the place He has prepared for us.
There is much information in God’s Word about how Jesus is coming again.
In Matthew 24:1-51, Mark 13:1-37 and Luke 21:5-36, Jesus told about what we call the “rapture” and that there are things which must happen first. After Jesus ascended to the Father, the early disciples and apostles longed for the Lord to return for them. It is written about and referenced by Paul in his books of the Bible and additionally by John, Peter and Jude. The “coming of the Lord” is also prophesied of and referenced in books of the Old Testament including Psalms, Isaiah, Daniel and others.
In his later years, John the apostle, was imprisoned on the Isle of Patmos and while there, the Lord took him in the Spirit to heaven. He was also given many dreams, visions, exhortations and shown much about very important things to come. The Lord told John to write "special letters to 7 of the early churches" and ordered John to tell of what is to come and to do it all as He, Jesus, was instructing John. The whole book of Revelation is really from Jesus to His church by way of John.
The 7 seals in the book of Revelation (Revelation 6:1-17, 8:1), tell of the events that lead up to and include the rapture.
It is very important to know, that Jesus never said He was coming back at the rapture to stay. Jesus did not say that He would set foot on the earth at the rapture. Instead, His Word says that He will come from heaven with the saints (those in Christ who have preceded the living) who are in heaven already (1 Thessalonians 4:14) and His angels, and call the remaining saints (who are alive) up and unto Himself and return to heaven. The Lord makes it clear that “anyone walking the earth and claiming to be Jesus” is an impostor. Jesus will only stop in mid-air and call “the saints up” and then return to heaven.
It is important to understand that Jesus “openly takes up” His church from this world and that the word “rapture” we use today, is taken from the Latin Vulgate translation of the Greek word “harpázō.” In the article "Is The Word Rapture In The Bible?" it is explained more.
Here are 3 sections of Scripture, directly describing the “coming of the Lord” to “gather up” His saints. Please consider the rapture and events that will precede it.
- Matthew 24:30-31 “Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.”
- Luke 21:25-28 "And there will be signs in the sun, in the moon, and in the stars; and on the earth distress of nations, with perplexity, the sea and the waves roaring; men's hearts failing them from fear and the expectation of those things which are coming on the earth, for the powers of heaven will be shaken. Then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. Now when these things begin to happen, look up and lift up your heads, because your redemption draws near."
- 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 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.
In the New Testament, the rapture is most often described with the Lord coming on the clouds of heaven or with clouds. This is an easy way to recognize that it is our gathering together up to the Lord at the rapture when there are clouds involved. At Armageddon, Jesus comes on a horse with the armies of heaven and no saints are "gathered up" as the rapture has already taken place by then. The rapture is the time of the "gathering up" of the Lord's people. Saints are not “caught up” or “gathered up” at any other time as recorded in the New Testament other than at the rapture. By the time of the Great White Throne of Judgment, all saints will have long been raptured up and living with the Lord. The Great White Throne of Judgment is the time of judgment for the lost and happens after the Millennium (see the timeline chart).
Here is a simple chart, showing the key differences between the rapture and the Second Coming of the Lord.
There are verses that warn about impostors, false prophets and the time of deception that precedes the rapture.
- Matthew 24:4-5 "Take heed that no one deceives you. For many will come in My name, saying, 'I am the Christ,' and will deceive many.”
- Matthew 24:23-26 “Then if anyone says to you, 'Look, here is the Christ!' or 'There!' do not believe it. For false christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. See, I have told you beforehand. Therefore if they say to you, 'Look, he is in the desert!' do not go out; or 'Look, he is in the inner rooms!' do not believe it.”
The Lord has warned us to never believe that anyone we see here or there on earth is Him. Jesus is not coming at this time to set foot on the earth. And we must know that anyone claiming to be Jesus (even if they perform incredible miracles, signs and wonders) is not Jesus. Anyone doing so is an impostor.
The Antichrist will be unique; he will not be a false Jesus, he will be a false Christ (a false Messiah).
He will be a false Messiah who will deny the Messiah-ship of the true Jesus Christ. He will try to say that Jesus Christ was not the real Messiah or the Son of God. Through his lying charisma and deceptive abilities, he will come posing as the “real” Messiah. After a while, his real colors will start to show and eventually, close to the end, just prior to the rapture, he will go completely open declaring himself as God and even sitting in the temple (that will be rebuilt in Jerusalem) as God.
The Bible warns of this serious “false Christ/Antichrist” in particular.
This Antichrist is a son of perdition. He will be very, very convincing of being a good guy but he will really be “of the devil” and will try to destroy all the plans of God and take as many people to hell with him as possible.
This false-Christ or Antichrist is spoken of in many places. Here is a section of Scripture that explains what must happen before the rapture, including what this evil deceiver will do.
- 2 Thessalonians 2:1-10 Now, brethren, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, we ask you, not to be soon shaken in mind or troubled, either by spirit or by word or by letter, as if from us, as though the day of Christ had come. Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition, who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God. Do you not remember that when I was still with you I told you these things? And now you know what is restraining, that he may be revealed in his own time. For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only he who now restrains will do so until he is taken out of the way. And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will consume with the breath of His mouth and destroy with the brightness of His coming. The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders, and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved.
Notice in these verses how he will work unrighteous deception among those who perish. The wicked will easily fall for him because they love the darkness more than the Light. They will not even receive “the love" of the truth. Those that belong to God, who know and trust their Bible, will realize what is going on because they love God, His righteousness and truth, even to the uttermost.
The Bible has so much to say about all these things.
The Lord wants us to know the signs of His coming, what to watch out for, who the enemy is, how he works and not to be deceived. The Lord wants His people prepared. The devil has already started with great deception. We are living during the time of the apostasy or great falling away described in the verses above, in 2 Thessalonians 2:1-10. It is possible that it will not be too long, before tribulations and persecutions start to really increase. Eventually it will surpass any other time in history (Matthew 24:21).
The Lord said something very important that we must hold on to. We must be willing to stay faithful to the Lord at all cost, not looking back at or longing for anything from this world.
- Luke 17:32-33 “Remember Lot's wife. Whoever seeks to save his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life will preserve it.”
As persecution increases, times will get very difficult for people staying true to Jesus Christ. The Lord also said,
- Matthew 10:22 “And you will be hated by all for My name's sake. But he who endures to the end will be saved.”
If fear tries to come upon you, remember this next verse.
- Matthew 10:28-31 “And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. Are not two sparrows sold for a copper coin? And not one of them falls to the ground apart from your Father's will. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Do not fear therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows.”
Does anyone like being persecuted or going through hard times? Certainly not. Do we have a choice about it? Not really. So what can we do? We need to realize these two important aspects about days we are living in.
1. There is a false Christ coming who will be very deceptive. Do not fall for him. He will appear to start out doing good but will really be utter evil. The good will be short-lived. He is really coming to bring destruction on the earth and lead people to hell. Anyone who worships the Antichrist and takes his mark, is eternally doomed (Revelation 14:9-11).
2. Stay true to the Lord and look for His return! Know the truth of His Word and have it strong in one’s heart. Be like the 5 wise virgins, keep our lamps trimmed and have plenty of oil. This means staying strong in the Lord and persevering to the end!
Christians will be able to endure as Revelation 12:11 says, “And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death.”
Copyright © 2014 E. Cockrell. May be used for personal study or instruction but shall not be copied and/or distributed in whole or part without permission or for financial profit.
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Copyright © 2014 E. Cockrell. May be used for personal study or instruction but shall not be copied and/or distributed in whole or part without permission or for financial profit.