It is the coming of The LORD in the air for His Body, the Church, the saved of this age. See 1Thes. 4:13-18. The word rapture is not used in the Bible but it's meaning and concept are there. 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". We are caught up, taken up with power. You see there is no power that can holds us, the redeemed. Rapture means taken with power - snatched away.
The Rapture ends the Church Age. The day of the Gospel of Grace is over, which is the day of the Gospel of the Death, Burial and Resurrection of Christ, 1 Cor. 15:1-4. If you notice that Paul's writings are always to the saved - the unbeliever is warned - but Paul is always showing what you have in Christ by grace. Eternal Life is the gift of God. God The Father gave His Son to live and die and finish the work of Salvation, that we might be justified by faith. We have a salvation that is already finished. It is finished by Christ in His death, burial, and resurrection. You are to look back to the cross and rest in the work done for you. Isaiah 53: 4-7, speaks of His work on the Cross.
Consider the words of scripture: Eph 1:3 "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ:" Already done!
Eph. 1:6 "To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved." Already made!
Col_1:20 "And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven." Already made peace!
Col_2:14 "Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross;" Already nailed to His Cross!
Do we realize how awful to be left behind and go through this time? I don't think we do! Nor do we realize how awful for one to die without Christ. The death, destruction, and suffering is so great! Did you know that two-thirds of Israel will die in the tribulation? Zachariah 13:8-9 " And it shall come to pass, that in all the land, saith the LORD, two parts therein shall be cut off and die; but the third shall be left therein. Zec 13:9 And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried: they shall call on my name, and I will hear them: I will say, It is my people: and they shall say, The LORD is my God."
And by the time of Rev. 6:7-8 that one-fourth of mankind will be killed? Rev 6:7 "And when he had opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth beast say, Come and see."" Rev 6:8 "And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword, and with hunger, and with death, and with the beasts of the earth." How many people? You can do the math. I think the estimated count is 7.6 billion people in the world at 1/01/2018. That means 1.9 billion people killed by the mid-point of the Tribulation.
And it is even worse by the end of the tribulation. Rev 14:20 "And the winepress was trodden without the city, and blood came out of the winepress, even unto the horse bridles, by the space of a thousand and six hundred furlongs." (That is approx. 200 miles)
The LORD brings all these armies into the valleys of Israel. Rev 16:21 "And there fell upon men a great hail out of heaven, every stone about the weight of a talent: and men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail; for the plague thereof was exceeding great." ( A talent = 100 pounds)With the melting of all the ice, there would be a lot of water, a river mingled with water and blood.
What is the point? Christ did everything necessary for you to be saved! And there is no need to be left behind in the rapture or to die without Christ. It is God's expectation that you believe what Christ did for you as your Saviour, Rom 5:1 "Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ."
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