The pre-Tribulation Rapture explained

LftLD

For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep. 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 4:15-17  #churchleadership #faith #Israel #jesus #Messiah #PreTribulationRapture #raptureofthechurch #salvation #SecondComingofChrist #SignsOfTheTimes  https://lightforthelastdays.co.uk/articles/christianity-and-the-last-days/the-pre-tribulation-rapture-explained/

Transcript

00:00So the big question is the order of the events.

00:02So we're going to have a look at that this morning.

00:04Obviously this is a very big subject and you could talk about this for hours and hours

00:08so I'm going to give you just the basics so

00:09you can have some idea of what the issues are.

00:17View one is the pre-tribulation rapture.

00:25This teaches that before the seven year period

00:27of the rule of the Antichrist

00:29and the great tribulation can begin

00:31the believing church will be caught up, raptured

00:35and taken away in fulfillment of passages in the Bible we're going to look at.

00:43The mid-tribulation rapture is that this event occurs midway through the rule of the Antichrist

00:48that's three and a half years into the tribulation.

00:52A variation on this view called the pre-wrath rapture

00:54puts the event about three quarters of the way through the tribulation

00:58before the final outpouring of wrath in the bull's judgment in Revelation 16.

01:06And view three, the post-tribulation rapture,

01:08teaches that this event occurs at the end of the tribulation

01:10simultaneously with the second coming of the Lord to the earth.

01:14Probably the majority, especially in America, of Christians believe in the pre-tribulation rapture.

01:22The post-tribulation rapture is also more of a traditional view of the church.

01:28The mid-tribulation, some people believe that.

01:31Not so many.

01:32But let's have a look at what the rapture actually is,

01:34what is described in the book of Thessalonians,

01:37one of the main passages on this subject in 1 Thessalonians chapter 4 and verse 15.

01:451 Thessalonians 4 verse 15, it says,

01:47For this we say to you by the word of the Lord,

01:49that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord

01:52will by no means precede those who are asleep.

01:55For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a shout,

01:57with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God.

02:01Dead in Christ will rise first, and we who are alive and remain

02:04shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air.

02:08Thus we should always be with the Lord,

02:10therefore comfort one another with these words.

02:12Okay, this is the main passage which you find in Paul's writings,

02:18in 1 Thessalonians 7, 4.

02:21You also find reference to it in 1 Corinthians chapter 15.

02:26And as we shall see, there's a probable reference to it in Matthew 24.

02:30But in this verse, you see that it says that the believers who are still alive

02:35at the time of this event taking place will be caught up to meet the Lord in the air.

02:40The word for caught up in Greek is harpazo,

02:44which is translated into Latin as rapio, raperi,

02:49which becomes the English word rapture.

02:52A bit of an odd word because rapture sometimes means you're very happy.

02:56But in this it means seizing away, being caught away, being caught from this world.

03:01So you're going about your business in this world,

03:03and suddenly, boom, you're caught up to meet the Lord in the air as he comes.

03:08Now, whatever your view on the timing of it, the Bible says that's going to happen.

03:14Obviously, it's a very supernatural event.

03:16It doesn't happen very often.

03:17In fact, it's never happened before.

03:19Possibly there's a man called Enoch who was taken by God.

03:22But apart from that, we have no recording evidence of anything like this happening in past history.

03:27But since God is God, God can do what he wants with his creation.

03:31If God decides he's going to pull out the believers in Jesus, he's going to do that.

03:35The qualification for taking part in the rapture, by the way,

03:39is if you believe that Jesus died and rose again from the dead.

03:42So even if you don't believe in the rapture,

03:44if you believe that Jesus died and rose again from the dead,

03:46you will still be raptured.

03:48And maybe you'll have a few theological questions as it's happening.

03:50But that's what the Bible says.

03:54Now, I just try to go by what the Bible says, not what people say.

03:58So we base what we're saying on what the Bible says.

04:01When this happens, it says you're going to meet the Lord in the air.

04:04It speaks about in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air.

04:07Thus, we should always be with the Lord.

04:10One of the key things here, it says following this event,

04:14those who are taken in this rapture are going to be with the Lord.

04:16So where the Lord is, we should be.

04:18The Lord takes us to heaven, then brings us back with him when he comes to the earth.

04:23That's, to my mind, what it actually says is going to happen.

04:27And Jesus comes back with the saints,

04:28so that will be the people who have been caught up to meet him previous to this.

04:31That includes all those who've died in faith during this period.

04:36And he'll come back with him at the second coming of Jesus.

04:40And of course, as we said, we see you have passages

04:42which speak about the Lord coming in the air to gather together his believers,

04:46and passages which speak of him coming to the earth with the saints

04:49to punish the unbelievers.

04:52And it's reasonable if he can't do both at the same time,

04:55so the idea that these are in two stages is not unreasonable.

05:00And even if you take the post-tribulation rapture,

05:03he takes them out and he comes back with them.

05:07Okay, there's an emphasis,

05:08and this is one of the key arguments of the pre-tribulation view

05:12on what we call imminency.

05:15In other words, it could happen at any time,

05:19unannounced,

05:20like a thief in the night.

05:24Matthew 24, verse 36, it says,

05:26But of that day and hour no one knows,

05:28not even the angels of heaven,

05:29but my Father only.

05:31As the days of Noah were,

05:32so also will be the coming of the Son of Man be.

05:35As in the days before the flood,

05:36they were eating and drinking,

05:37marrying and giving him marriage,

05:39until the day that Noah entered the ark,

05:41and did not know until the flood came

05:43and took them all away,

05:44so also will the coming of the Son of Man be.

05:47Then two men will be in the field,

05:49one will be taken, the other left.

05:51Two women will be grinding at the mill,

05:52one will be taken, and the other left.

05:54Watch, therefore, for you do not know

05:57what hour your Lord is coming.

05:59But know this, that if the master of the house

06:01had known what hour the thief would come,

06:03he would have watched and not allowed his house

06:05to be broken into.

06:06Therefore you also will be ready,

06:09for the Son of Man is coming at an hour

06:11you do not expect.

06:13So these verses speak about one being taken

06:15and one being left.

06:20Someone said that the one who's taken

06:21is the unbeliever who's taken out of the world

06:23before the millennial kingdom

06:24and the one who's left is the believer

06:27who reigns on the earth to participate

06:28in the millennium.

06:31My view actually is the one who's taken

06:32is the believer who's taken in the rapture,

06:35the one who's left behind is the unbeliever

06:37who stays on the earth for the tribulation.

06:40The word used for taken is paralambeo,

06:42which implies being taken in a good sense,

06:45taken alongside somebody,

06:46and suggests that the believer is the one who's taken

06:49for a better resurrection

06:51while the unbeliever remains for a time of trouble.

06:56What's clear from this passage is it could happen at any time.

06:58Life's going on as normal.

07:00There's people working in the fields,

07:03working outside, people inside.

07:06In Luke's account there's people who are asleep

07:08and people who are awake.

07:09So you have the possibility of all human activity

07:12and it doesn't matter whether you're asleep or awake,

07:13whether you're inside or outside.

07:15If you're a believer in Jesus,

07:16he's going to take you at this time.

07:19He also says he's going to come as a thief in the night.

07:22A thief does not announce the time of his coming.

07:24He comes unexpectedly.

07:26He comes to take what is valuable to himself

07:28and he then departs.

07:31So Jesus comes unexpectedly without announcing himself.

07:35He comes to take what is valuable to himself,

07:36that's those who believe in him,

07:38and then he departs with them.

07:43In the parable which follows,

07:47which is actually the subject of the film

07:49we're going to see tonight,

07:51about the bridegroom coming midnight

07:54and the ten virgins and so on,

07:57actually the bridegroom pays the bride price,

08:00then he goes away and he prepares a home for the bride,

08:03then he returns to fetch the bride and take her to his home.

08:06Parable of the Jewish marriage.

08:08Jesus paid the bride price,

08:10came to the earth,

08:11paid the price for our sins,

08:12went away,

08:13prepared a place for us,

08:14and he's going to come again to take us to himself.

08:17It all fits in.

08:19It says this happens at the midnight cry,

08:21it could happen at any time,

08:22so be ready for it.

08:24And all these passages end with the verse

08:25which Jesus says,

08:26therefore you be ready,

08:28for the hour is coming,

08:29the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.

08:33So the idea of imminency is actually quite a strong argument

08:36in favour of the pre-tribulation rapture,

08:37because if you have the post-tribulation rapture,

08:40then you have to see certain things happening before he could come.

08:44But David Pawson,

08:45who was a strong advocate of post-tribulationism,

08:47said that in Matthew 24,

08:49it says that the sun and the moon are going to be blotted out,

08:52it's going to be darkness,

08:53and then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven.

08:56He said,

08:56until you see the sun and the moon blotted out,

08:58darkness on the earth,

09:00Jesus cannot come again

09:01and can't take his church to himself.

09:03So that kind of means that it can't be imminent,

09:06those things are going to happen.

09:08Whereas these passages say it could be imminent,

09:09it could happen at any time,

09:10while people are eating and drinking,

09:11buying and selling,

09:12doing the normal things of life.

09:13Life goes on and suddenly one's taken,

09:15one's left.

09:18So that's one of the arguments in favour.

09:22Also there are verses which imply

09:24that the church will escape the period of wrath on the earth.

09:27The tribulation period is described as the period of wrath.

09:32Some would say it's divided into two parts,

09:34the first part which is the wrath of Satan,

09:36and the second part which is the wrath of God.

09:38So that would be an argument for the mid-tribulation rapture.

09:42But we do have this concept of wrath

09:44in the tribulation period.

09:47On Thessalonians chapter 5 verse 9,

09:48it says,

09:49And Revelation 3 verse 10,

10:00it says,

10:00Because you've kept my command to persevere,

10:03I also keep you from the hour of trial

10:05that shall come upon the whole earth,

10:06whole world,

10:07to test those who dwell on the earth.

10:10This idea of God keeping his people

10:11from the hour of trial

10:12which will come on the earth.

10:15And then in Luke chapter 21,

10:17Jesus said,

10:19Take heed to yourselves,

10:20lest your hearts be weighed down

10:21with carousing,

10:23drunkenness,

10:23and cares of this life

10:24that the day may come upon you unexpectedly.

10:27For it will come as a snare

10:28on all those who dwell on the face of the whole earth.

10:31Watch therefore and pray always

10:32that you may be counted worthy

10:33to escape all these things that will come to pass

10:36and to stand before the Son of Man.

10:39Escape all these things that have come to pass

10:41by some is interpreted to say

10:44that the church will be taken out

10:46before the tribulation period.

10:49And the wrath is the hour of trial

10:51which will come upon the earth.

10:56There's also a concept in the book of Revelation

10:58where in Revelation you have,

11:02in the introduction to the book of Revelation,

11:04John is told by Jesus

11:06that the book of Revelation

11:08speaks about the things which you have seen,

11:11the things which are,

11:12and the things which will come after this.

11:14So the things which you have seen in Revelation

11:17are actually the vision

11:18which John has of the glorified Jesus in heaven.

11:21The things which are

11:22are the seven messages to the churches

11:25which applies to the whole of the church age.

11:27And the things which come after this

11:29come after John is called up to heaven

11:31to receive the,

11:34see the Lord

11:35and to receive the scroll

11:36which then describes the tribulation period

11:38in the book of Revelation

11:39which is from chapter 6

11:41through to chapter 19.

11:42And you read in Revelation chapter 4

11:45he says,

11:46After these things I looked

11:47and behold a door standing open in heaven.

11:49The first voice which I heard

11:50was like a trumpet speaking to me

11:52saying come up here

11:53and I will show you the things

11:54which must take place after this.

11:57So according to the pre-tribulation view

11:59all the after this passage

12:01refers to the time of the tribulation

12:03which is from Revelation 6

12:06through to Revelation chapter 19

12:07during which period

12:09the church is actually not mentioned at all.

12:12So there's the idea

12:13that the church is taken out

12:14before this

12:15in a parallel to

12:16John being caught up to heaven

12:18to receive the revelation

12:19and the church being taken up

12:23in the rapture of the church.

12:26Okay, there are a number of

12:27quite complex arguments

12:28and I'm going to have to go through this quickly

12:29because I won't get on to the other ones

12:31if we don't.

12:32Complex arguments about the

12:3370 weeks of years

12:35in Daniel chapter 9

12:36and the gap between the

12:3769th and the 70th week.

12:39Interesting one.

12:40I won't go into that

12:41for the sake of time.

12:42Also the role of the tribulation saints

12:44why they resurrected

12:45separate from other believers

12:46in Revelation 20 verse 4.

12:49And the question

12:50how is the world repopulated

12:51during the millennium

12:52with people in mortal bodies

12:54able to have children?

12:55Those are questions

12:56which are interesting

12:58but for the sake of time

12:59I'm not getting into them.

13:01The pre-tribulation view

13:02says the answer to that

13:03is all that the church

13:04has taken out beforehand

13:05and these certain events

13:07take place

13:07after the church is removed

13:09including the tribulation saints

13:11coming to faith

13:12and then dying

13:14and then needing to be resurrected

13:15when Jesus returns.

13:18eine co- Härosto

13:19was the first one,

13:19which is true

13:21and the hour was the same

13:22пропel,

13:23and then needing to be

13:23versed out.

13:24So now,

13:25we don't start to forget

13:25the saints

13:25will go through

13:26and lose that

13:26until this year

13:28that it is Christians

13:29that need to be

13:30bread

13:31and to even

13:31die

13:31to the church

13:31and then

13:34we'll try

13:35into vegan

13:35and this

13:37has to be

13:38其实

13:38and

13:39put

13:39into

13:39what

13:40to risk

13:41裂

13:41and

13:41family

13:41and

13:42turn

13:43and

13:44they

13:44want

13:45to

13:45prepare

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