The Rapture is the catching away of dead Saints and prepared Christians to meet Jesus Christ in the air. In this Bible study we want to consider these topics below:
1. Location of Christians
2. Who Does He Return With?
3. Purpose – Mercy or Judgment?
4. Who is Taken?
5. Who Will See It?
6. The Timing
Watch the teaching below:
1. Location of Christians
In the rapture, believers are called to meet Christ in the air. (1 Thessalonians 4:17). In an instant the dead in Christ will rise and the believers who are left will then be called away.
2. Who Does He Return With?
When the rapture is described we see Christ returning alone. But in Jude 14 15 tells us that Jesus Christ will return with Angels and Saints.
3. Purpose – Mercy or Judgment?
1.The rapture is viewed as an act of deliverance as believers are taken from the world so that God’s Judgment can fall. Scripture makes it clear that Christians will not suffer God’s wrath. The Rapture is God’s way to prevent Christians from suffering His wrath.
“For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ,” (1 Thessalonians 5:9).
2.It also removes the Church so that the focus can return to Israel. “And so all Israel shall be saved.” (Romans 11:26).
4.Who is Taken?
The focus of the rapture and the Second Coming is placed upon two different sets of people.
The Rapture is the removal of believers from the earth as an act of deliverance (1 Thessalonians 4:13-17; 5:9).
Also Matthew 25:1-13 tells the parable of the wise and foolish virgins. Those who had extra oil and were waiting and prepared for the return of the bridegroom were taken while
those who were foolish and ran out of oil were left.
5. Who Will See It?
From our passage in 1 Corinthians we find that the rapture will be instant and “secret.”
“In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.” I Corinthians 15:52.
No one will be able to witness it, only the effects afterward.
On the other hand, the Lord’s return to the earth will be very visible. Matthew 24:27 & 30 and Revelation 1:7 declare that all will see him as He returns.
Matthew 24:27 “For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
“Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen.” (Revelation 1:7)
The people of the earth will mourn as they witness the Lord’s return.
We also learn that Jesus will return in the same way in which he left.
Acts 1:11 tells us that Jesus “will come back in the same way you have seen Him go into heaven.”
The prior verses tell of Jesus rising slowly and visibly as the disciples watched until He was hidden by the clouds.
6. The Timing
Matthew 25:11 “Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh.”
Revelation 3:3 ” Remember therefore how thou hast received and heard, and hold fast, and repent. If therefore thou shalt not watch, I WILL COME ON THEE AS A THIEF, and thou shalt not know what HOUR I WILL COME UPON THEE.”
It is clear from scripture that no one knows when the Lord’s return will be in regards to both His return in the air and His coming to earth.
However, we find from scripture that the rapture is imminent while Christ’s Second Coming follows certain recognizable events.
Our rapture passages make it clear that the Lord’s return is imminent.
We find from Revelation 3:3 that the Lord’s return will also be like a thief. Those who are not watching will be surprised. The Lord’s Second Coming must be preceded by certain events however.
In 2 Thessalonians 2:3-8 we learn that the antichrist must first be revealed. He will then be destroyed by the splendor of Christ’s coming.
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