We are in the ‘End Times’ series, and today I will share the second part of the message: ‘The Rapture’.
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. 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 (NKJV)
In the first message, I showed you that the coming of Christ will happen in two stages.
First, the coming of Jesus in the clouds when He will take His Church (the living and the dead in Christ) and we will be caught up to meet the Lord in the air (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18).
Then the second coming of Christ at the end of the Great Tribulation, where, during the Battle of Armageddon (Revelation 16:16), Jesus will appear in the heavens, coming down on a white horse with His armies, and every eye will see Him. And He will gather them together in the place called in Hebrew, Armageddon. – Revelation 16:16 (NKJV)
In the Rapture, the Church goes up; in the Second Coming, Jesus comes down with the Church and comes to judge. The Rapture is a biblical teaching that all Christians and theologians believe in. Everyone agrees on this, but the problem is:
When does the Rapture happen?
Jesus spoke about all the events of the End Times, but He did not give the chronological order. He did not say: “This will be the first event, this will be the second,” etc.
I was preparing this message, and as I prayed, I asked God: “Why did the Lord not tell us the exact sequence and the day of His return?”
God reminded me of my childhood and said to me: “Do you remember when your father and mother would leave home and tell you and your siblings: ‘Look after the house, don’t make a mess, don’t fight with your brothers and sisters,’ and they would tell you that they would be back around a certain hour, like 5pm for example. Do you remember it?
What would happen? We would not look after the house, we would fight, we would make a mess all day long. Suddenly, one of our siblings would say: “Mum and Dad are getting back in 30 minutes.” What would we do then?
To avoid getting a beating and being punished for disobedience, we would start cleaning the house, tidying up the mess, stopping our fights, and when Mum and Dad arrived, we would all be quiet, the house clean, and we would say that we obeyed them! Have you ever done that too?
“For the Son of Man is like a man going to a far country, who left his house and gave authority to his servants, and to each his work, and commanded the doorkeeper to watch. Watch therefore, for you do not know when the master of the house is coming—in the evening, at midnight, at the crowing of the rooster, or in the morning— lest, coming suddenly, he find you sleeping. And what I say to you, I say to all: Watch!” – Mark 13:34-37 (NKJV)
Jesus did not give the order of events and neither did not give the day or the hour, but He gave the signs of His coming. And we are now close to His return when He will take His bride, the Church!
There are different theological views about the Rapture: Pre-Trib, Mid-Trib, Post-Trib, and a ‘new view’ called 3/4 Trib. What does all this mean?
– Pre-Trib: The Rapture happens before the 7 years of the Great Tribulation, and Jesus returns at the end of the Tribulation in the Battle of Armageddon.
– Mid-Trib: The Rapture happens in the middle of the Great Tribulation. In this view, the Church goes through half (3.5 years) of the Tribulation.
– Post-Trib: The Church goes through the 7 years of the Tribulation and, at the end, is caught up, meets the Lord in the air, and returns with Jesus.
– 3/4 Trib: In this view, they divide the 7 years into 4 parts, and the Rapture happens at the 3/4 mark of the Great Tribulation; for the last 1/4 of the Tribulation, the Church is not on earth.
After 40 years of studying God’s Word and prophecies, I believe that the Church will not go through the Great Tribulation and we are Pre-Trib.
This means that we have gone through and will go through tribulations in life, as Jesus said: In the world you will have tribulation. John 16:33 (NKJV)
From the beginning, the Church has gone through “tribulations”, but I don’t believe it will go through the ‘Great Tribulation’.
The ‘Great Tribulation’ (Revelation 6:6, 14:10) is God’s judgement of wrath on those who rejected Him, and this is why I don’t believe that it is meant for us, His Bride, who love Him, respect Him, and are living in holiness.
The book of Daniel is key to understanding the 7 years of the Great Tribulation.
In Daniel 9, after the 69 weeks of years that began in the reign of Artaxerxes, the 69 weeks of years ended with Jesus dying on the cross. The last ‘week of years,’ that is, 7 years, begins.
“Then he shall confirm a covenant with many for one week; but in the middle of the week He shall bring an end to sacrifice and offering. And on the wing of abominations shall be one who makes desolate, even until the consummation, which is determined, is poured out on the desolate.” – Daniel 9:27 (NKJV)
Here we understand that the Great Tribulation begins with a peace agreement, which is a strong covenant between Muslims, Palestinians, Jews, and Christians. Verse 27 says that ‘in the middle of the week,’ meaning in the middle of the Great Tribulation, he will break the agreement and will cause the sacrifice and offering to cease.
For this sacrifice to end, the Temple must be there; we all know that the Temple was destroyed, so this peace agreement will allow the Third Temple to be rebuilt. According to II Thessalonians 2, the antichrist will profane the Temple, and there will be great persecution against the people of Israel. The Great Tribulation will last 7 years.
Why do I believe that believers WILL NOT go through the Great Tribulation?
Because the 70 weeks of Daniel (Daniel 9:24) were meant for Daniel’s people and for Daniel’s city — Jerusalem.
“Seventy weeks are determined for your people and for your holy city, to finish the transgression, to make an end of sins, to make reconciliation for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy, and to anoint the Most Holy.” – Daniel 9:24 (NKJV)
If the 70 weeks (from the reign of Artaxerxes until the death of Jesus) are linked to Israel, then they have nothing to do with the Church, for it is meant for Daniel’s people (the Jews) and Daniel’s city (Jerusalem).
The Great Tribulation will involve the whole world; however, the main target is the Jewish people and Israel. I believe that the main target of the Great Tribulation is the Jewish people. For then, the Jews who rejected Jesus will turn to Him! And the Bible says that: ‘All Israel will be saved’ (Romans 11:26).
And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written: “The Deliverer will come out of Zion, And He will turn away ungodliness from Jacob;” – Romans 11:26 (NKJV)
How will Israel be saved? After going through the Great Tribulation, they will repent and cry out to Jesus:
“for I say to you, you shall see Me no more till you say, ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!” Matthew 23:39 (NKJV)
And at the end of the Tribulation, Jesus will return and save them!
The second reason why I believe the Church will not go through the Great Tribulation is because God has not destined us for ‘WRATH’.
“For God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ,” – 1 Thessalonians 5:9 (NKJV)
The Great Tribulation is called the time of the ‘wrath of the Lamb’ (Revelation 6:16) and the ‘fury of God upon sin’ (Revelation 14:10). It makes no sense for the faithful Bride of Christ to go through the Great Tribulation.
“I tell you that in that night there will be two in one bed: the one will be taken and the other left. Two women will be grinding together: the one will be taken and the other left. Two men will be in the field: the one will be taken and the other left.” – Luke 17:34-36 (NKJV)
This means that if you are driving your car, you will be caught up from there; you will be working and be taken from there; two will be sleeping in the same bed – the one who is ready will go up and the other will stay.
The antichrist will only rise after ‘He who restrains him is taken away,’ that is, those who are keeping him at bay (us, Christians) are raptured.
““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.”
II Thessalonians 2:6-7 NKJV
In other words, the antichrist is only waiting for he who restrains him to be taken away! Who restrains the antichrist? It is the Church through the Holy Spirit.
When the Church is raptured, the Holy Spirit will remain on earth, for if He were not on earth, there would be no conversions! And no one is born again without the help of the Holy Spirit.
What Paul said is that, first, He who restrains the antichrist must be taken away, and then he will be revealed. The antichrist’s rule in the Great Tribulation will happen after the Rapture. The antichrist is already at work in our days, but he will not be revealed until He who restrains him is taken away.
Jesus said that His return will be like in the days of Noah!
And what happened in the days of Noah? Do you remember?
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, – Matthew 24:37-38 (NKJV)
God sent the flood because of the people who were living sinful lives; however, what did God do with Noah and his family? They were kept safe and protected from the flood.
In other words, the Rapture will be like in the days of Noah: Noah was lifted up through the rising waters, and the rest of the people remained below, in the waters, and perished. Afterward, Noah returned and reigned on the earth.
So, the Rapture will be the same: the Church will be raptured, the world will face the Great Tribulation here on this earth, and then we return with Jesus to reign with Him.
Who will go up in the Rapture?
All born-again Christians who served the Lord will take part in the Rapture!
The Rapture is the transformation of our body into a glorified body or the resurrection of the bodies of those who have already died.
All who believe and all who died believing in Jesus will be raptured.
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. – 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 (NKJV)
Those who died in Christ will rise first; all faithful Christians will be raptured, but first those who have died. Do you know anyone who has died and loved the Lord? They will be the first! Apostle Paul, Peter, James, all Christians who died in the Lord will take part in the Rapture.
Afterwards, we, who are alive and are loving the Lord Jesus, will be raptured. Only those who died in the Lord or the living who are prepared and set apart for the Lord will be raptured.
“Because you have kept My command to persevere, I also will keep you from the hour of trial which shall come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth.” – Revelation 3:10 (NKJV)
To keep is to obey! It is to walk in obedience to the Word of God. Because you have kept My command and walked in obedience you will be free from the trial and you will be raptured.
Therefore, my brother and sister, if you are living a life of sin, repent, ask for forgiveness, leave your sins behind, fix up your life, for Jesus is coming to take His Bride, and the Bride must prepare her garments, and the garments are your attitudes, your words, and your actions.
Your dress must be clean, white, without any stains, without a wrinkle, and those who are raptured will enter the Wedding Supper of the Lamb! Hallelujah!
This hour is coming; prepare yourselves! God expects the Church to bear witness of Him today! Now is the time to preach the Word! Be a witness for Jesus, confess Jesus, and preach about the salvation of Christ. Jesus is Lord, and we need to talk about Jesus to people.
Give your life to the Lord; repent of your sins, confess them, abandon them, stop practicing sin, and live for Jesus, for soon we will be meeting Him!
May God bless you and keep you, and see you next week with the next message in the ‘End Times’ series. We will see you next week, if Jesus does not return!