In a Moment - Rapture

September 26, 2018

In a Moment - Rapture

According to scripture, the dead in Christ will rise first and we (faithful Christians) will be raptured or caught up in the air in an instant (twinkling of an eye) to be with Him (Jesus) forever. This is a series of scripture references that support a pre-tribulation rapture.
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1 Corinthians 15:50-54 KJV — Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption. 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. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.

I believe the book of Thessalonians speaks of that same event (catching up/rapture):

1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 KJV — 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.
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This verse indicates that in the past God's people were delivered before tribulation:

Jeremiah 30:7 KJV — Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it: it is even the time of Jacob's trouble; but he shall be saved out of it.
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This indicates that the rapture will happen all at once, the dead first and then those that are alive and remain.

Revelation 3:10 KJV — Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth.
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This indicates that the rapture will come as a surprise and leave many behind:

Luke 21:34-36 KJV — And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares. For as a snare shall it come on all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth. Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man.
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This indicates that the faithful church will be raptured before the wrath, and in the Book of Revelations, the wrath of God is poured out before the final judgement:

1 Thessalonians 1:10 KJV — And to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come.

Revelation 16:1 KJV — And I heard a great voice out of the temple saying to the seven angels, Go your ways, and pour out the vials of the wrath of God upon the earth.

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This indicates that we will know the Great Tribulation is coming soon, and we will be delivered before the wrath:

1 Thessalonians 5:1-10 KJV — But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you. For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape. But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief. Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness. Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober. For they that sleep sleep in the night; and they that be drunken are drunken in the night. But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation. For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ, Who died for us, that, whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with him.
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Someone told me that the first resurrection in Revelation 20, is the same as the rapture declared in 1 Corinthians 15:52 and 1 Thessalonians 4:16. I believe these are two separate events. I believe as Noah and his family was spared from the flood, and Lot from Sodom, and the Israelites from Egypt, so will we be spared from the great Tribulation. Therefore, we must remain unspotted by the world, watching and waiting for His return with faith unfeigned and the Holy Spirit living in us.

1 Thessalonians 5:9 KJV — For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ,

The following scripture indicates the great tribulation, which I believe is 7 years long, is the wrath of the Lamb and God, and the faithful church will be spared:

Revelation 6:17 KJV — For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?

Revelation 3:10-11 KJV — Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth. Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown.

Malachi 3:16-18 ASV — Then they that feared Jehovah spake one with another; and Jehovah hearkened, and heard, and a book of remembrance was written before him, for them that feared Jehovah, and that thought upon his name. And they shall be mine, saith Jehovah of hosts, even mine own possession, in the day that I make; and I will spare them, as a man spareth his own son that serveth him. Then shall ye return and discern between the righteous and the wicked, between him that serveth God and him that serveth him not.

The following verses speak of the "first resurrection" being after the great tribulation (God's wrath), and Jesus resurrects the tribulation Saints for His thousand year rule on earth. Then I believe the rest of the dead will not be resurrected and judged until judgement day.

Revelation 20:2-5 KJV — And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years, And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season. And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years. But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection.

This post tribulation resurrection of the tribulation saints, I believe, is separate from the resurrection of the dead in Christ and the remaining (alive on earth) bride of Christ rapture:

I believe their is a pre-Tribulation rapture (1 Thessalonians 4:16) which is different than the "first resurrection" as described in Revelations 20, because it is written before the great tribulation is spoken of in 2 Thessalonians 2. Whereas, Revelation 20, speaks of a resurrection of the Tribulation Saints after the tribulation.

Tribulation
https://youtu.be/qMNeqVRbiGo

A Storm is Coming
https://youtu.be/dyCINQL33SM

War and Destruction
https://youtu.be/ADI-ov9dcdw

Judgement Coming!
https://youtu.be/nD5VU5QSWaM

The Mark of the Beast is voluntary now but will be mandatory in the soon coming Beast System (Revelation 13:16, 20:4)

https://youtu.be/3S1pJZ1AKwU