Understanding The Rapture

ETERNITY


Are You Ready For the Rapture?

Today I want to take a closer look at a concept that we don't hear a lot of teaching about today in the Church, that is the "rapture." It seems that most of what we hear in Church today is about the here and now, when God primarily has His focus on eternity. He even calls our life on earth a vapor which passes away. We need to develop an eternal point of view. The rapture is also a topic that there is a lot of confusion around. The Word says that God is not the author of confusion but of peace (1 Corinthians 14: 33), so I think He wants us to have peace and not confusion about this powerful, yet simple topic.


WHAT IS THE RAPTURE?
The rapture is a very important topic. The rapture of the Church is essentially the taking away or catching away of those who have faith in Jesus into heaven. The rapture is a concept in Christianity relating to the return of Jesus. The primary passage describing the rapture is 1 Thessalonians 4:15-17;

15 According to the Lord's own word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left till the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. 16 For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. 1 Thessalonians 4:15-17 (New International Version)

The rapture is so simple that you need help to misunderstand it, and we have had a lot of help. The rapture of the Church (i.e. the coming of the Lord in the air for His saints) will take place before the seven-year period of the Great Tribulation on the earth. This is a time prophesied throughout the Word known as "Jacob's Trouble." All signs in our current world indicate that we are close, very close to this time.

"What is the time of Jacob's trouble?"

The phrase "the time of Jacob's trouble" is a quote from Jeremiah 30:7 which says;

"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" (KJV).

In the previous verses of Jeremiah 30, we find that the Lord is speaking to Jeremiah the prophet about Judah and Israel (30: 3-4). Verse 5 describes a time of great fear and trembling. Verse 6 describes this time in a way that pictures men going through the pains of childbirth, again indicating a time of fear and pain. But there is hope for Judah and Israel, for though this is called "the time of Jacob's distress" (NASB), the Lord promises He will save Jacob (referring to Judah and Israel) out of this time of great distress (30:7).

THE GREAT TRIBULATION
Jeremiah 30:7 says "that day is great, so that none is like it." The only time period that fits this description is the period of the great tribulation. This is an unparalleled time; there will never be another like it. Jeremiah 30: 6 depicts a man going through the pains of childbirth. This is paralleled by other passages that liken the tribulation to birth pains.
Jesus similarly described the great tribulation. In Matthew 24:6-8, He stated that the appearance of false Christs, wars and rumors of wars, famines, and earthquakes are "the beginning of birth pains." We know this will be during the first half of the tribulation because the appearance of the beast/antichrist occurs at the midpoint of the seven year great tribulation period (Matthew 24:15; Daniel 9:27; Revelation 13).
Paul, too, described the tribulation as birth pains. First Thessalonians 5:3 says, "While people are saying, 'Peace and safety,' destruction will come on them suddenly, as labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape." This event follows the rapture and the removal of the Church, in 4:13-18. In 5: 9, Paul reemphasizes the absence of the Church from this time period by saying, "For God has not destined us for wrath, but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ." The wrath spoken of here is God's judgment on the unbelieving world and His discipline of Israel during the tribulation.

GOD KEEPS HIS PROMISES
These birth pains are described in detail in Revelation 6-12, birth pains which are the Lord's discipline designed to bring Israel back to Him. For those who have received Christ as Savior from sin, the time of Jacob's trouble is something for which we should praise the Lord, for it is His demonstrating that He keeps His promises. Just as He has promised us eternal life through Christ our Lord, He also will fulfill His promises of land, seed, and blessing that He made to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the form of covenants by giving those things to their physical descendants. But before He fulfills these promises, He will lovingly but firmly discipline the nation so that they return to Him.

PRE-TRIBULATION RAPTURE
The Pre-Tribulation Rapture Was Taught by the Early Church
I attended a Bible College that did not teach the rapture period. They held a theory of end-time events that excluded the catching away of the Church to heaven. I have great respect for my early teachers in Bible college, but I must boldly say that I respectfully disagree with with what I was taught! I am sticking with the Word and not my Bible college theology!

THE AUTHORITY OF THE WORD
Obviously, the truth about the timing of the Rapture will ultimately be found only in Scripture. The Protestant Reformation was based essentially on this return to the authority of the Bible. The Latin phrase Sola Scriptura, meaning "Scripture Alone" became the rallying cry of the reformers who ignored centuries of tradition and church councils in their insistence that truth could only be discovered in the Word of God. While the ultimate resolution of this discussion must be based on our interpretation of Scripture, it is important to answer the errors of our opponents who disparage "the blessed hope" of the Rapture with misinformation about the modern rediscovery of the truth about the Pre-Tribulation Rapture. The early Church taught the rapture as the "blessed hope." This teaching is critical to the Church because the Bible says that this hope purifies us.

2 Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. 3 And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure. 1 John 3:2-3 (King James Version)

In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began; Titus 1: 2

Note: GOD and COFFEE is written daily for your inspiration. Please excuse any typos or grammatical errors you may find due to the time restrictions we have in publishing this daily teaching.


Reference
http://www.gotquestions.org/new-jerusalem.html