What Is The Rapture?
Meeting Jesus and Going Home, the rapture is a reference to the "being caught up" referred to in 1 Thessalonians 4:17, when the "dead in Christ" and "we who are alive and remain" will be caught up in the clouds to meet the lord in the air.
Why Is It Called The Rapture?
Rapture" comes from the words "caught up" in I Thessalonians 4:17. In the Greek the word is harpazo - "to seize upon by force", "to snatch up." The Latin translators used the word rapturo. Some people claim that "rapture" is not a Biblical term. This is untrue, unless they want to say that "God" and "Jesus" are not Biblical Terms. Almost all words in our English Bible are translations of Greek or Hebrew expressions, and are, therefore, not in the Bible in the form we know them. "God" is a proper and meaningful translation of certain words in the original languages, and "Jesus" is a good translation for us of His name (Yeshua, "Joshua," "The Lord Saves," in Hebrew). In the same way, the English word "rapture" which means "to be caught up" is an excellent translation for the Greek harpazo.
Three Events That Happen at The Rapture
The scriptures of First Thessalonians 4 and 5 are familiar to most Christians as a description of the so-called "rapture of the church." The rapture can be thought of as a point in eternity which will protrude into our historical time frame at some fixed point on God's calendar. However, as we have seen, God has not given us the date. Three specific events take place at the time Jesus calls his church out of the world: For the Lord himself will descend from heaven (a) with a cry of command, (b) with the archangel's call, (c) and with the sound of the trumpet of God.
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WHAT TO DO IN CASE YOU MISS THE RAPTURE
DON'T GET EXCITED
If you never worried about the Rapture before it happened, then it is absolutely useless to worry about it after it's already over. If you had wanted to get right with God before the Rapture, you could have, but you chose to wait. Now your only chance is to stay on the earth and to endure to the end of the Tribulation. Matthew 24:13 says, "But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved." It is useless for you to bang your head on the wall and scream and holler all the people who believed in God are gone--they are all gone. If you had a little baby, the little baby is gone. Sin is not imputed when there is no law (Romans 5:13). Sin is not charged while the child is still innocent, so you don't have to worry about the baby. The baby is with Jesus.
START WORKING YOUR WAY TO HEAVEN
If the Lord comes and you remain behind, then start working like a madman to get to heaven, because you're going to have to. You have entered a period of time called "The Great Tribulation," and the plan of salvation in the Tribulation is faith in Jesus Christ plus your own good works. Revelation 12:11 "And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death." Revelation 6:9 "...I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held...." Revelation 14:12 "Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus." Revelation 22:14 "Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city." Revelation 7:14 "...These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb." You must keep the Ten Commandments (all of them, Ecclesiastes 12:13), keep the Golden Rule (I John 3:10), give your money to the poor, get baptized, take up your cross, hold out to the end of the Tribulation, wait for Jesus Christ to show up at the Battle of Armageddon, and be prepared to die for what you believe. In the Tribulation you cannot be saved by grace alone, like you could before the Rapture. Before the Rapture, you could have been saved by grace through faith plus nothing (Ephesians 2:8-9), but one minute after the Rapture took place you must get out the Ten Commandments and the Golden Rule and start learning them, because you're going to be judged by them (Matthew 25:31-46). The way to get to heaven in the Tribulation is to earn it: do right by God, and do right by your fellow man, as well. Isaiah 1:16 "Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes; cease to do evi 17 "Learn to do well; seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow."
DON'T TAKE ANY MARK OR ANY NUMBER
The Bible says whosoever takes the mark of the beast goes to Hell. Revelation 14:9 "And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand 10 "The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb: 11 "And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for EVER AND EVER: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the best and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name." When somebody comes around and wants to put any number on your body or give you a number, especially the number 6-6-6, DO NOT take it. People have heard so much about the "mark of the beast" that they think it's a joke that will never happen. Well, a few decades ago in Germany, every Jew was required to wear a six pointed star. It would be just as easy for the government to require every citizen to take a number and a mark. In the book of Revelation a man shows up on this earth called the Antichrist. His number is 666. He comes from Rome. He has connections with Moscow, but he comes from Rome (Revelation 17:18). This fellow will take over the entire world and become the main political and religious leader. When he does, he will pass legislation and establish a global economic system, designed so that you can't buy, sell, or eat unless you take his mark or the number of his name. Now, it isn't that you won't have enough money. You will be in a store, buying your groceries, and when you get in line they will say, "Put your hand in the machine." You put your hand in the machine, and if that mark shows up in your hand, you can take the groceries, and if it doesn't, you can't buy anything no matter how much money you have. Revelation 13:16 "And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark IN THEIR RIGHT HAND, OR IN THEIR FOREHEADS: 17 "And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had THE MARK, OR THE NAME OF THE BEAST, OR THE NUMBER OF HIS NAME. 18 "Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is SIX HUNDRED THREESCORE AND SIX." It must be a terrible thing to be a mother and hear your little baby cry for milk and be unable to get any milk. It would be a terrible thing to have your baby crying, "Momma, I'm hungry," and the fellow at the store saying, "Lady, all you got to do is get this mark." They will tell you to conform. They will point out that even the world leaders have the mark. Presidents, kings, queens, prime ministers, governors, mayors, city councilmen, neighbors, friends, and even relatives have the mark. It's only the Bible that says it's wrong. The baby is sick and you want medicine: "Do you have the mark?" You pull into a gas station: "You got the mark?" It doesn't matter whether or not they have the gas, it matters if you have the mark. Don't take a mark, and don't take a number. You will go to Hell if you do. The Bible says so; if you don't believe this article, then check it out; read the Bible for yourself.
GET FANATICAL
Be a religious fanatic. Die as a martyr. Be fanatical after Christ comes, because when Christ catches the Christians off this earth and takes them up, you are going to be up against the devil, with his people trying to control you or kill you. Revelation 12:11 "And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death." Revelation 14:12 "Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus. 13 "And I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Write, Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth: Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labours; and their works do follow them." If somebody calls you in and says, "Raise your hand and swear by God that the Antichrist is King of kings and Lord of lords," then keep your hand down, and say, "Jesus Christ is the Lord." Stand up against your friends, and against your boss, and against the way your parents raised you. It is too late to give up a few hours on Sunday for the Lord. In the Tribulation you may have to lose your job for the Bible, lose your money for religious convictions, and lose your life for the Lord Jesus Christ. Most people were indifferent to God, indifferent to the Bible, indifferent to Christ, and indifferent to the Second Coming. The only thing that upset most people was what affected their finances or their egos. But now in the Tribulation you have to put first things first. Nobody in the Tribulation gets to heaven unless he escapes the Antichrist, or else he faces the Antichrist and refuses to take the mark of the beast or the number and has his head cut off. Revelation 20:4 "...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."
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SUPPORT THE JEWISH PEOPLE
When Jesus returns at the Second Coming, all will face "The Judgment of Nations" Matthew 25:31 "When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory: 32 "And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats:" The test for a Gentile is how he treated Jesus's brethren: the Jews. Remember Hitler? Well, the Antichrist will be ten times worse. At first, he will negotiate a peace treaty with the nation of Israel (Isaiah 28:15), but three and a half years later he will break the covenant and try to destroy them (Daniel 9:27; Mark 13:13-25; Matthew 24:4-51). But whatever you do, don't assist the Holocaust, because the Lord will judge anyone who stops the Jews from escaping: Obadiah 14 "Neither shouldest thou have stood in the crossway, to cut off those of his that did escape; neither shouldest thou have delivered up those of his that did remain in the day of distress 15 "For the day of the LORD is near upon all the heathen: as thou hast done, it shall be done unto thee: thy reward shall return upon thine own head." Always help the Jewish people. Go against the government, go against established religion, be willing even to sacrifice yourself and your family to save the lives of Jews, because they are God's people, and He gave them His blessing. He said to their father Abraham: Genesis 12:3 "And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed." Later, God said to the nation of Israel: Isaiah 41:11 "Behold, all they that were incensed against thee shall be ashamed and confounded: they shall be as nothing; and they that strive with thee shall perish." So no matter how much pressure you are put under, never hut a Jew. Your own soul depends upon it. What you should have done was to get saved BEFORE the Rapture. However, the vast majority of people on this earth missed out on the Rapture. This is because there has never been a time in history when the majority were right about spiritual things. Jesus Christ was the one who said, "BROAD is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and MANY there be which go in thereat" (Matthew 7:13). The same Saviour said, "The love of MANY shall wax cold...MANY shall be offended...MANY false prophets shall rise" (Matthew 24:10-12). The world does not care to believe these warnings, exactly as it rejected the warnings in Noah's day of the coming Deluge which was to destroy all of the civilizations of that time. For more than 120 years before the Flood, men were warned about the approaching catastrophe. It came. Christ said, "AS IT WAS IN THE DAYS OF NOE, so shall it be also in the days of THE SON OF MAN" (Luke 17:26). If you were in the company of a saved person when the Rapture took place, you have no doubt about the catastrophe, for you found yourself standing next to a heap of clothing soaked in blood (I Corinthians 15:50). The terrible and tragic truth is apparent that the believers have gone and you are left behind. The prophetic word says that you are now in "the time of Jacob's {Israel's} trouble" (Jeremiah 30:7), which Christ called "great tribulation" (Matthew 24:21). This period of time will be approximately SEVEN years long and has been referred to by Biblical scholars as "Daniel's Seventieth Week" (Daniel 9). If the Rapture has preceded your reading of this article, then you are NOW in this period. This period will be unparalleled in trouble and horror. Jesus Christ said: Matthew 24:21 "For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be." Now what must you do? You have to do all the things explained above, and you must do them quickly and thoroughly if you ever hope to obtain eternal salvation and be accepted by God. If you want to know whether or not these instructions are absolute truth or only someone's opinion, get a Bible as quickly as you can and read Matthew 24 and 25, Hebrews 6 and 10, and Revelation 13 and 19.
Start now.
The salvation of your soul depends upon it. Act now and determine that, come what may, you will not take "THE MARK OF THE BEAST." You still have a chance to be saved, but this time you will have to be "FAITHFUL UNTO DEATH." You may have anywhere from a month to seven years until the Second Coming, depending upon when you read these lines. But the Great Tribulation will end, and it will end with "THE GLORIOUS APPEARING OF THE GREAT GOD AND OUR SAVIOUR JESUS CHRIST" (Titus 2:13). May God find you ready in that hour. WARNING!! Almost all of the past Christian literature about the way of salvation is now obsolete. Beware that you are not deceived: Matthew 24:11 "And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many." If the Rapture has not taken place as yet, don't procrastinate: tomorrow may really be too late. II Corinthians 6:2 "...behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation." If this sounds like foolishness to you, consider this verse: I Corinthians 2:14 "But the natural {unsaved} man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned."
"FAITHFUL UNTO DEATH."