Rapture of the Church - when Jesus gathers together all Christians, both dead and living and He takes them up to heaven - 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 3 Main Views on the Timing of the Rapture 1) - Trib: the rapture happens before the tribulation. 2) - Trib: the rapture happens in the middle of the tribulation. 3) - Trib: the rapture happens at the end of the tribulation. Reasons for a Pre -Trib Rapture Christians are not appointed to go through the the Lamb - Revelation 6:1,16-17; 1 Thessalonians 1:9-10; 5:9 The tribulation is called “Jacob’s trouble” (Jeremiah 30:7) Israel will suffer (Daniel 12:1) Only a pre-trib rapture fits a time of and – 1 Thessalonians 5:1-3 Revelation 6 – the 4 horsemen of the apocalypse kill ¼ of the population Revelation 8:7 – hail and fire burn up a third of the trees and the grass Revelation 8:8-9 – a blazing mountain is hurled into the sea killing 1/3 of the sea creatures, destroying 1/3 of the ships Revelation 8:10-11 – a star named Wormwood falls on 1/3 of the rivers and on springs of waters, makes them bitter causing many people to die Revelations 9:3-6 – Locusts from the bottomless pit come and torment people for 5 months, stinging like a scorpion. They want to die but can’t. Only a pre-trib rapture brings the church 1 Thessalonians 4:18 - Paul said comfort one another with the rapture. Revelation 13:7 - the beast makes war with the saints and overcomes them. Revelation 20:4 - believers in the tribulation are beheaded. There’s no Scripture that offers believers protection during the tribulation. Jesus taught we can the tribulation if we are counted worthy - Luke 21:34-36 Only the pre-trib rapture fits the passage of 2 Thessalonians 2:1-8. 3 - The Day of the Lord does not come until two things happen: a falling away and the man of sin (antichrist) is revealed. “Falling away” in verse 3 can also mean “departure,” which is how the first six English translations of the Bible translated it. Wycliffe Bible (1384) Matthew Bible (1537) Tyndale Bible (1526) Great Bible/Cranmer Bible (1539) Coverdale Bible (1535) Geneva Bible/Breeches Bible (1557 NT/1560 complete) What if “falling away” does not refer to apostasy from the faith, but the departure of the in the rapture? The restrainer must have supernatural power to hold back the man of sin. When the restrainer is removed, then the antichrist is revealed. The restrainer is the who restrains lawlessness. How? Through Christians whom He lives in. When the church is raptured, His influence will be diminished in the world. Only a pre-trib rapture fits the concept of John 14:1-3 Betrothal considers a couple to be married, but the marriage is not consummated until the groom goes and prepares a home for the couple to live in. When it is finished, he comes back and takes his bride to the home, and they have a marriage supper with their family and friends. The bride does not know when the groom is coming. Jesus is preparing a place for us now. If it is a post-trib rapture, then we are coming right back to earth for the battle of Armageddon and the millennium - Revelation 19:14-15. We would not go to the place that Jesus for us for the marriage supper of the Lamb. Only a pre-trib rapture the language of Luke 17 and Matthew 24 In the days before Noah’s flood and Lot living in Sodom, there was no idea that judgment was coming. The judgment did not come until Noah and his family entered the ark and were safe, and Lot and his family were ushered out of the city to safety. Until the are out, there is no judgment.