II. THE RAPTURE
1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 – “For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord.”
1 Corinthians 15:52 – “In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed.”
Philippians 3:20-21 – “But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself.”
It was promised to us:
John 14:3 – “And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.”
When will it happen?
Mark 13:32 – “But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only.”
a. Pre-Trib
Two main proponents:
1. Dallas Theological Seminary
2. Left Behind
Arguments for it:
1. The absence of ekklesia in Revelation after chapter 3
2. Romans 8:1
Problems with it:
1. Fairly new view (John Darby, John Walvoord, 1800’s)
b. Mid-Trib
c. Post-Trib
Arguments for it:
1. Most consistent with our worldview (Jas. 1:2-4)
2. Jesus’ warning in Matthew 24
Matthew 24:9 – “Then they will deliver you up to tribulation, and put you to death.”
Matthew 24:15-16 – “When you see the abomination of desolation spoken of by the prophet Daniel, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand), 16 then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains.”
Matthew 24:21-22 – “For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been from the beginning of the world until now, no, and never will be. 22 And if those days had not been cut short, no human being would be saved. But for the sake of the elect those days will be cut short.”
Matthew 24:29-31: “Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. 30 Then will appear in heaven the sign of the Son of Man, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And He will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.”
Arguments for it:
1. Most consistent with our worldview (Jas. 1:2-4)
2. Jesus’ warning in Matthew 24
3. The Exodus Connection