What is the “Rapture?”
It is the sudden removal of the church (Believers in Christ) from earth to be with the Lord.
Paul, in 1 Thessalonians 4:17 wrote, “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 then we shall always be with the Lord.”
The basic idea for the ‘Rapture’ is drawn from the Latin term for ‘caught up’ which is ‘rapture.’ It means that the church of Jesus Christ, those who have trusted in Christ as their Savior, will be instantly transported from earth to heaven. There will be no death for those who are raptured.
But something else will happen first. In 1 Thessalonians 4:14b, Paul says, “God will bring back with Him the believers who have died.” Then in verse 16, we read, “For the LORD Himself will come down from heaven with a commanding shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet call of God. First, the believers who have died will rise from their graves. Their bodies will be resurrected, and there will be a reconnecting of body and spirit. Then we who are alive will be caught up with them to meet the LORD in the air, and we will be with the LORD forever.” WOW! This is great news. We don’t know how soon this will happen — we just know it will, and we are closer to it happening than ever before.
Dr. John F. Walvoord, former president of Dallas Theological Seminary wrote: “While Scripture presents many signs of Christ’s second coming and the establishment of His kingdom, there are no predicted events preceding the Rapture. It could happen at any time.”
For the Apostle Paul, this was a means of encouragement, and, that is why he wrote in verse 18, “So, encourage each other with these words.”
That is my prayer for each of us — that we won’t be weighed down by the world’s turmoil so that we forget “THE BEST IS YET TO COME!”
Blessings, Pastor Leonard
