THE RAPTURE (WHAT IS IT?)

The RAPTURE (What is IT?)

I'll tell you what it's NOT!

It is NOT esaping off the Earth from the coming Time of Trouble!

First of all the word "rapture" IS NOT found in scripture! It is a manmade "concept" and cannot be proven with the Word of God. Many who believe in what they call the "rapture" combine their belief in the "rapture" with that of the harvest of God's people. Jesus said when speaking of the tares: Mat 13:39 The enemy that sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the world; and the reapers are the angels. Jesus made it clear that the "harvest of His people" would NOT take place or occur until the "end of the world". This means that no church member in whose name is found written in the "book of life" is going to be "raptured" off the Earth until the world ends, That's the word of God Himself!

The rapture advocates believe that they are going to taken before the actual Second Coming of Jesus and (raptured) off the Earth before the Time of Trouble what they call the Great Tribulation. Yes, the scripture does teach "great tribulation" but when does that great tribulation take place? Jesus said in: Mat 24:21 For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.

QUESTION: Was the Flood of Noah for the lost who died in the waters a "great tribulation" for them? There can be only one answer! YES, but it was a physical "tribulation", a judgment upon them from God for their wickedness. Therefore, the phrase of Jesus when He stated "be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time" speaks of a different kind of "great tribulation" a literal and a spiritual tribulation, one that takes place within the church, and the world. That is why He stated "no, nor ever shall be" because the coming tribulation future from Christ day would involve a tribulation for His people, i.e. the believers of the gospel. Jesus' phrase "to this time" is speaking of the time in which He lived and forward into the future (all the way) down through time until the Time of Trouble at the "end of the world."

NOTICE: Jesus did NOT say a definitive (definite article) such as "A great tribulation", one that would end. He simply said "great tribulation" which is an ongoing continuous tribulation time-period that began in the future from the time He made this statement. All the apostles lived and died at the beginning of this "great tribulation" to come future to the time Jesus made this statement . It would be a one time "great tribulation" in that once it began it would run through time continuously until the "last days of the Time of Trouble" arrived at the very end of the World. The "great tribulation" would cover thousands of years and began its initial beginning around 40 A.D. when the church began to be corrupted and the "daily sacrifice" was taken away through the "abomination that maketh desolate" was instituted in the church.

What is that "abomination that maketh desolate"? It is the taking away of the "once and for all" sacrifice of Jesus Christ through the institution within the church of the Catholic MASS which crucifies Christ afresh every time it's taken and the earthly "priesthood" of man i.e. the Catholic priest who claims the same authority as that of Jesus Christ, that they can and have the authority to "forgive sins." This friends is the "abomination that maketh desolate" and makes the sacrifice of Jesus by the Roman Catholic church of none effect. Jesus was sacrificed "ONCE" and there need not be any other sacrifice for sin. Rom 6:10 For in that he died, he died unto sin once: but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God. The very practice of the Catholic Mass and the practice of the confessional through a "human priest" identify's by those acts, that the Catholic Church is in its essence the "antichrist" power upon Earth.

Now look at the previous verses! To whom was Jesus speaking to in verse 21? Mat 24:15-20 When ye [Humanity] therefore shall see [Become aware of] the abomination of desolation, [the anti-christ power] spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, [Take place within the church] (whoso readeth, let him understand:) Then let them which be in Judaea [The Jewish People] flee into the mountains: Let him which is on the housetop not come down to take any thing out of his house: Neither let him which is in the field return back to take his clothes. And woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days! But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath day. The phrase "the abomination of desolation" is the key to understanding these verses which speak of a future time from Christ day. What is the "abomination that maketh desolate?" Dan 11:31 And arms [Clovis of France] shall stand on his [Papal ROME i.e. the Pope of Rome] part, and they shall pollute the sanctuary of strength, and shall take away the daily sacrifice, [the word sacrifice is added here] and they shall place the abomination that maketh desolate. This took place in 508 A.D. They replaced the once and for all sacrifice of Jesus Christ with the Catholic MASS which over and over and over again each time they do so "crucify Christ AFRESH." Which is contrary to the word of God that Jesus was sacrificed once and for all to sin.

What was Daniel prophesying in this statement? Daniel was speaking of the destruction of Jerusalem in Judea at the hands of Titus in 70 A.D. when the "sanctuary of strength" i.e. the Temple in Jerusalem was polluted and looted and set fire by the Roman soldiers. The phrase Jesus made: "stand in the holy place" is a spiritual phrase and not a literal standing of something in the Temple. Jesus could have said it like this "when you see the replacement in the church i.e. the Temple that takes away my "daily administration for you in the heavens as your Great High Priest" for you being practiced in the church [the Catholic MASS] standing in the "holy place" i.e. the church I have established, then know the abomination that will result in desolation. What was that "replacement" that took away the daily? The institution of the Catholic Mass! What is the daily? It's the ministry of Jesus Christ daily in the heavens on our behalf. Heb 4:14 Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession.

The "rapture advocates" and the modern churches confuse BOTH the "great tribulation" and the "Time of Trouble" and have no concept of the truth concerning their beliefs that they will somehow escape the coming Time of Trouble. I have news for them! The "great tribulation" Jesus spoke of began in the 1st century A.D. and will run concurrently in time until the "Time of Trouble" and during that time encompassed what we call the "Dark Ages" of humanity when it was most intense between the years 538 A.D. and 1798 A.D. This intense time-period is what prompted the Lord Jesus to state the phrase "no, nor ever shall be". The Dark Ages tribulation took the lives of 50-100 million of God's saints by and through the Catholic Church and as such would not be repeated as another "Dark Ages." The coming "Time of Trouble" will involve the entire world NOT just God's people as did the Dark Ages period. If God's people didn't escape the Dark Ages period of human history, what makes the "rapture advocates" believe that they are a better lot of people, that they should escape the Time of Trouble.

The fact is that what the "rapture advocates" call the "RAPTURE" is in scripture called the harvest of the Earth at the end of the world. There's no such bible doctrine as any "rapture" as the rapture advocates believe. They will (go through) the Time of Trouble whether they want to believe it or not. I can see why they believe such trash doctrine, they want to believe that they are because their Christians somehow going to be favored by God and spared the Time of Trouble. That's because they want to believe it, but that doesn't make it so. The scripture is clear that God's people will be standing upon Earth when "death reigns" during the Time of Trouble. The entire chapter of Psalms 91 speaks of God's people during the Time of Trouble.

Psa 91:1-16 He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the LORD, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust. Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence. He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust: his truth shall be thy shield and buckler. Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night; nor for the arrow that flieth by day; Nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness; nor for the destruction that wasteth at noonday. A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; but it shall not come nigh thee. Only with thine eyes shalt thou behold and see the reward of the wicked. Because thou hast made the LORD, which is my refuge, even the most High, thy habitation; There shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling. For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways. They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone. Thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder: the young lion and the dragon shalt thou trample under feet. Because he hath set his love upon me, therefore will I deliver him: I will set him on high, because he hath known my name. He shall call upon me, and I will answer him: I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him, and honour him. With long life will I satisfy him, and shew him my salvation.

If you believe that the "rapture" as you call it is going to keep you from the "Time of Trouble" then you're going to be in for the biggest surprise of your life.

The WATCHMAN !!!