I asked the Lord to give me more information on the rapture of the Church to comfort those who read these words and to solidify in my own mind what we should be looking for. Glory to God, He continues to provide evidence that establishes the pre-tribulation rapture.
We start here:
1 Cor 15:20But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.
21For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man.
22For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive.
23But each in turn: Christ, the firstfruits; then, when he comes, those who belong to him.
What is the Lord talking about here ^^? He gives us the order of resurrection:
1. Christ (done)
2. Firstfruits (future)
3. When he comes, those who belong to him. (future)
I see 3 resurrections there ^^ and one two of them remain in the future. The next one in the order of resurrection is what? Firstfruits. Who/what are firstfruits?
James 1:18 He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of all he created.
Romans 8:23 Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly
as we wait eagerly for our
adoption to sonship, the redemption of our
So it should be clear, we are the firstfruits. Christs resurrection is done, who is next? Firstfruits (us).
Which resurrection is 3rd according to 1 Cor 15:20?
When he comes, those who belong to him. (future). Now its time to disprove another erroneous teaching of the pre-wrath, post-tribulation crowd, namely that this is the haroazo/rapture:
MAtt 24:29Immediately
after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the
moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and
the powers of the heavens shall be shaken:
30And
then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall
all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man
coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.
31And
he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they
shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of
heaven to the other.
What is this ^^? This is, according to the timing outline in 1 Cor 15:22 is the 3rd resurrection. Who is getting resurrected here? Not Christ, not the firstfruits (us), but number 3: When he comes, those who belong to him.
It was written here earlier today that we must rightly divide the Word of truth. Divide being the key word here. The Lord did not and does not lump all three resurrections together and call it the rapture as most of today's erroneous teaching postulates. In the Word there is a clear division in the resurrections. 1st, 2nd, 3rd. Who is next? Firstfruits, that is us..
There is an escape from all that is about to happen (Luke 21:36). We will be kept from the hour of trial coming upon the entire world (Rev 3:10). We are the Bride of Christ (2 Cor 11:2), the firstfruits (James 1:18). We have been proposed to, espoused to a Bridegroom that is Christ our Lord. He has gone to prepare a place for us that where He is we may be also (John 14:1-4). When the Father tells our Lord to go get His Bride WE ARE OUT OF HERE.
There are few subjects that evoke the kind of hate and contempt that the pre-tribulation rapture, escape from all, kept from the hour of trial issue brings out of people. It is the spirit of the enemy working through human vessels to spew venom at the apple of our Lord's eye: His Church, His Bride. Speculation? No, here is the source of the intense hatred we see and hear against the pre-tribulation rapture/escape of the Church:
Rev 12:13When the dragon saw that he had been hurled to the earth, he pursued the woman who had given birth to the male child.
14The
woman was given the two wings of a great eagle, so that she might fly
to the place prepared for her in the wilderness, where she would be
taken care of for a time, times and half a time, out of the serpent’s
reach.
15Then from his mouth the serpent spewed water like a river, to overtake the woman and sweep her away with the torrent.
16But the earth helped the woman by opening its mouth and swallowing the river that the dragon had spewed out of his mouth.
17Then
the dragon was enraged at the woman and went off to wage war against
the rest of her offspring—those who keep God’s commands and hold fast
their testimony about Jesus.
This ^^ is not the Church, the woman is Israel but this passage of scripture drives home the point. What point? The enemy, the dragon, the devil hates the escape/deliverance of the Lord's people. Even during the tribulation, currently unfaithful and Christ rejecting Israel will be physically delivered. Proof here:
16But the earth helped the woman by opening its mouth and swallowing the river that the dragon had spewed out of his mouth.
17Then
the dragon was enraged at the woman and went off to wage war against
the rest of her offspring—those who keep God’s commands and hold fast
their testimony about Jesus.
Why was the dragon enraged? What made him so mad?
15Then from his mouth the serpent spewed water like a river, to overtake the woman and sweep her away with the torrent.
16But the earth helped the woman by opening its mouth and swallowing the river that the dragon had spewed out of his mouth.
What happened here? The woman (Israel) is delivered, she escapes and it enrages the dragon.
Does this explain the veins popping out of people's necks and the red faces when they are telling us there is no such thing as a pre-tribulation rapture? It certainly does. The hatred comes from the escape. The devil is perfectly fine with people preaching the pre-wrath and post-trip rapture. Why? Because the devil has read the Bible. He knows the earth is going to turn into a giant blood bath which few survive. He also knows the Lord's respect for faith. We receive what we believe. The enemy would like nothing better than to have every believer miss the pre-tribulation rapture so he can get his hands on every one of us possible.
There are two serious offenses that could put post-trib and pre-wrath believers in jeopardy of missing the pre-trib rapture:
1. Lack of faith in the clear and simple promises.
If the Lord said there is an escape from all, there is an escape from all that is about to happen. There are no unnecessary or wasted Words in the Bible. The Lord said there is an escape from all that is about to happen and we should pray for it, however, many people on earth today say there is no escape from all. The people who disagree with God Almighty (who gave that promise and command) could be in for a rude awakening.
2. Disobedience. If the Lord told us to pray to escape all that is about to happen and we willfully disobey that command (knowing full well what the Lord said), what are the consequences?
If the pre-trib position is wrong, so what? We are stuck here with all the rest of the believers getting through each day the same way I made it through every other day of my life, trusting in the Lord (nothing changes).
If the pre-wrath, post-trib postions are wrong and they do miss the pre-tribulation rapture due to 1. unbelief in the clear promises 2. willful disobedience (knowing the commands and disobeying in spite of knowing them) then they have a real problem on their hands.
Summary
As we get closer the Lord continues to provide evidence for what He is going to do. Lot was physically delivered from Sodom, Noah was physically delivered from the flood. The precedents are there, the promises are there. We are given the order of resurrections in 1 Cor 15 that weaves itself seamlessly with Luke 21:36, Rev 3:10, the stories of Noah and Lot, the Church missing from the entire book of Revelation after Rev 3, a door opened in heaven in Rev 4 with rewarded and redeemed men showing up in heaven shortly after in Rev 4 and the list goes on.
What I have learned is, unfortunately there is no proof, none that will change some people's minds. They have their minds so made up that if Jesus was to appear before them bodily and tell them Himself that the rapture will be pre-tribulation they would tell Him to leave. That is unfortunate. Maybe there is one believer out there somewhere who still has their heart open to what the Spirit is saying through the Scriptures. One of the greatest Godly deliverances ever is about to take place and this writer would not want anyone to miss it.
Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
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