The Rapture:   Pre-Trib, Mid-Trib, or Post-Trib?

" And there will be signs in the sun, in the moon, and in the stars; and on the earth, distress of nations, with perplexity, the sea and the waves roaring; "

" men's hearts failing them from fear and the expectation of those things which are coming on the earth, for the powers of heaven will be shaken, "

" Then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. "

" Now, when these things begin to happen, look up and lift up your heads, because your redemption draws near. "
( Luke 21:25-28 )

" 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. "

" Therefore comfort one another with these words. "

" But concerning the times and the seasons, brethren, you have no need that I should write to you. "

" For you yourselves know perfectly that the Day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night. "
( I Thessalonians 4:16 - I Thessalonians 5:2 )

In my first few years of going to a " Bible believing church ", it was considered a mark of orthodoxy to believe in the pre-tribulation school of thought concerning Christ's return.   This consisted of Christ returning in the clouds to receive,- first the deceased christians, and then the living christians.
This event was to be followed by a 7 year tribulation ( frequently referred to as Jacob's trouble ) and then by Christ's reign on earth for a thousand years.

I have heard a number of messages by " experts " in eschatology wherein they supposedly proved their point from scripture.   Each of these messages left me more and more skeptical.   Then I made an important connection.   The original scriptures didn't have verse numbers.   They didn't even have chapters.   In a number of instances, the chapter breaks are highly questionable, and are definitely not part of scripture.   Chapters didn't appear until approximately 1200 AD,- over a thousand years after the original New Testament writings.   Verses came about 350 years later.   When you join I Thessalonians 4 and I Thessalonians 5 together, as they are in the original, we see that the rapture coincides with the Day of the Lord.

It is important to remember that for the overwhelming majority of human beings, the rapture will be a time of judgement, and not a time of rejoicing.   The prophet Amos wrote, " Woe to you who desire the Day of the Lord. "   It will not be a time when cars will be suddenly left unattended, crashing all over the place, or some other chaotic scene.   This is just utter nonsense.

Jesus said that His coming would be like the days of Lot.   When Lot departed from Sodom and Gomorrah, it was a very orderly departure.   The angels even gave Lot time to contact his sons-in-law,- to try to persuade them to come with him.   God is not the author of confusion.   You can be certain that the rapture will be orderly as well.

So, what about it?   Is it pre-trib, mid trib, or post-trib?   We first have to define what kind of tribulation we are talking about.

There are two kinds,- tribulation ( persecution ) from the world, and tribulation ( judgement ) from God.   If we are talking about tribulation at the hands of the world,- that has been happening since the days of Christ's earthly ministry, and is still happening today.   Taking that as our definition, we should be in the post-trib camp.   If we are talking about tribulation ( judgement ) from God, we should be in the pre-trib camp.   God has not made a practice of judging His people with the people of the world, and He is not about to begin something new in our time.   Jesus warned, " Watch therefore, and pray always, that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things that will come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man. "

I have not discussed the mid-trib idea, and I'm not going to.   To embrace this idea, one has to take a small segment of scripture and expound it to the exclusion of the rest.

My concern is the same as that of Jesus.   That I, and those to whom I minister, be counted worthy to escape all these things which will come to pass.   The only way to be counted worthy is to have surrendered control of your life to Christ.   This is more than a church membership, or a baptism, or an emotional experience, or walking an aisle, or reciting a " sinner's prayer ".

Listen carefully.   There is nothing that you can do to save yourself.   Your minister or priest can't save you.   I can't save you.   Only God can save you.
Only God can give you a changed heart that wants to serve Him.   You only hope is God.   Pray to Him today,- that He will make you worthy.   Find a private place where you can shut out the world and all its noise, distraction, and clamor.   Go to Him and ask Him for the new heart, that He promised He would give.   Plead with Him on the basis of what Jesus did on the cross.   Don't take it for granted that God jumped,- just because you gave him two minutes of prayer time.   Go to Him again and again, until you are sure that you belong to Him.

To learn more about Jesus' return, click here:   Jesus is Coming Back Soon

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