Here is absolute proof from the Bible that the Rapture happens AT Christ’s second coming, and not before.
‘For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep.’
(1 Thess. 4:15)
Let’s break this down . . .
‘we which are alive and remain UNTO THE COMING OF THE LORD’
We who are still alive at the Lord’s second coming . . .
‘shall not prevent them which are asleep’
Shall not ‘prevent’ (go before) them which are ‘asleep’ (dead).
The Christians who are alive, going up (Rapture), will not take place before / until the dead are resurrected.
And yes, this verse IS talking about the Rapture. Here are the next verses, to prove it:
‘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:’ [‘Rapture’] ‘and so shall we ever be with the Lord.’ (1 Thess. 4:16-17)
This passage describes the SECOND coming of the Lord. There IS NO ‘third coming’!
Katherine Albrecht recently made an observation that can be, at least partially attributed, to the pre-tribulation rapture teaching. She mentioned that, back in the 1970’s and early 1980’s a lot of pastors were talking about the mark of the beast. it was a common topic, even though the machinery was not in place to facilitate it at that time.
Fast forward to the waning moments of 2014, a time when the machinery “is” in place and conditions in the world are ripe for the events that will usher in the son of perdition……and “nobody” is talking about it. She mentioned an encounter at the airport with a youth group from a baptist church. When she brought up the mark of the beast, none of these kids had heard about it.
Many of them were probably brought up in the church…..and without a doubt, all of them had a bible…..and yet they were even unaware of what is transpiring…..let alone preparing spiritually for such a time when maintaining the testimony of Jesus will cost one their life in this world.
Something else has been on my heart during the month of December. I’ve been witnessing the way people react when one mentions that they do not participate in the holiday festivities. The
reaction is hostile on a level like nothing else. The contentious debates that we have seen between pre-tribbers and post-tribbers are nothing when compared to the reaction when other find out that we do not participate in holidays. Even if we are accomodating as in “if you want to do it, that’s your business…I don’t want to participate” it fails to smooth things over.
In other words, they want their christmas….and they want us to have their christmas also. This is an important observation for more reasons than the obvious. I believe it’s a forshadowing of things to come…..when these same people want us to “just take the mark so the we can get groceries.” This world is primed and ready to receive a mark. And as Katherine Albrecht also observed, we are so accustomed to the latest new device, the latest method of financial transaction, and what have you, that the mark of the beast will seem like nothing more than the latest example of “better living through innovation.”
Sorry for rambling. I was just visiting my blog; debagting on whether or not to resume writing there also…or just consolidate all of my activitiy on seen. Of course, while on the blog, I had to visit here also. You are one of the few people that I can talk to about serious issues.
I feel the same and very much appreciate your fellowship Timbob. 🙂 You know what–I’ll bet you’re right! I believe that–even though we will clearly see from Scripture that it IS The Mark, and that we must never take it–that most of the pseudo-Christians around us will put forth rationalizations as lame and preposterous as those they use to justify keeping ‘Christmas’. I had never considered this aspect–the horrendous pressure and persecution from those who claim to be Christians. 😦
You have just reaffirmed to me the importance of the work I have been doing through my FB xmas page that serves as a source of information about the roots of xmas, and as a place of fellowship and support for those who no longer celebrate it. The page has been going for about 3 years, and doubled in size this year. So many people simply say, ‘thank you for this page’, because they are undergoing severe pressure and persecution from family. For some Christians it is THE first issue that has drawn real wrath and persecution towards them. I feel reluctant to completely abandon FB, for their sakes. But I’ll continue to be prayerful about it, and do as the Lord leads.
Thanks for stopping by!
Rev 19:8 it was granted her to clothe herself with fine linen, bright and pure”— for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints.
Rev 19:14 “The armies of heaven were following him, riding on white horses and dressed in fine linen, white and clean.”
If we are following Jesus from heaven in our white linen, then we have to be raptured before His return to earth. There must be a time gap between the rapture and the return. We will not be here during the 7 year tribulation.
God Bless
It is a huge leap to think that the saints are the only ones in Heaven who will be dressed in white.
In verse 8, lampros is the Greek word translated ‘white’. In verse 14 leukos is the Greek word translated ‘white’. Even though the wording looks the same in English, it is not the same in Greek.
Be very careful about adding your own assumptions and interpretations to the book of Revelation:
‘For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book: And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.’ (Rev. 22:18-19)
So, you selectively delete my other comment on Ananias and Sapphira but reply to this one? When you think you might be right I guess you reply and when you know you’re wrong you just delete so nobody can see you were wrong. Maybe you should work for Hillary Clinton. She’s good at deleting stuff too. lol
Rev 17:14 “And his called and chosen and faithful ones will be with him…”
If you want to stick around in the Tribulation, that’s fine, but I’ll be coming from heaven “With him” on a white horse in fine linen.
In Christ
Your other comment was wrong too, and rude like this one. I didn’t care to argue with you, as I don’t now.
Such a prideful attitude . . .