The bible teaches that the rapture of the body of Christ will occur prior to the start of the great tribulation. This message will define what is meant by the rapture of the church, it will also define what is meant by the tribulation and finally, how you can know that the teaching of the pre-tribulation rapture of the body of Christ is the correct and only view for a bible believer to hold.

In 2 Timothy chapter 3, we see that the Apostle Paul has given us some instructions for the last days. Paul gives us a rundown on what things are going to look like in the last days, and if you are honest, you can see this being played out in society today. So what should we do?

This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away. For of this sort are they which creep into houses, and lead captive silly women laden with sins, led away with divers lusts, Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. Now as Jannes and Jambres withstood Moses, so do these also resist the truth: men of corrupt minds, reprobate concerning the faith. But they shall proceed no further: for their folly shall be manifest unto all men, as theirs also was. But thou hast fully known my doctrine, manner of life, purpose, faith, longsuffering, charity, patience, Persecutions, afflictions, which came unto me at Antioch, at Iconium, at Lystra; what persecutions I endured: but out of them all the Lord delivered me. Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived. But continue thou in the things which thou hast learned and hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them; And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.

2 Timothy 3:1-17

Paul doesn’t leave us hanging here, he gives us a clear set of instructions to follow. First, he reminds us of his example, what did Paul do in the midst of his persecutions and afflictions? He endured them, and so should we. Don’t think that being under persecution is a strange thing, we should come to expect it.

We are to continue as Paul did, we are to get our doctrine from the scriptures, we are to get our manner of life from the scriptures, we are to get our purpose from the scriptures and we are to get encouragement for our faith from the scriptures.

That is what this article is meant to do, to give you some encouragement in the doctrine of the pre-tribulation rapture of the church.

The Rapture Of The Body Of Christ

It has often been argued that you cannot find the word rapture anywhere in the text of the bible, and this is an accurate statement; however, just because a word isn’t found in the bible, does not necessarily mean that it does not exist. For instance, the word Trinity is not found in the bible either, but the principle is taught throughout the scriptures:

In the same way, even though the word rapture does not occur the teaching of a rapture does occur. Rapture simply means to be caught or carried away by force and this principle is taught in the scriptures, as you can see in the Song of Solomon

The voice of my beloved! behold, he cometh leaping upon the mountains, skipping upon the hills. My beloved is like a roe or a young hart: behold, he standeth behind our wall, he looketh forth at the windows, shewing himself through the lattice. My beloved spake, and said unto me, Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away. For, lo, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone; The flowers appear on the earth; the time of the singing of birds is come, and the voice of the turtle is heard in our land; The fig tree putteth forth her green figs, and the vines with the tender grape give a good smell. Arise, my love, my fair one, and come away.

Song of Solomon 2:8-13

The rapture of the church is one of the mysteries of the bible, the resurrection on believers was not a mystery, the resurrection of believers at the last day was something that had been believed dating all of the way back to Abraham (Genesis 22:5; Hebrews 11:17-19)and demonstrated by Martha, the sister of Lazarus.

Martha saith unto him, I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day. Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this?

John 11:24-26

Therefore, the mystery that Paul describes in 1 Corinthians chapter 15 and in 1 Thessalonians chapter 4, is something different:

Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, 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. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.

1 Corinthians 15:51-54

But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words.

1 Thessalonians 4:13-18

In both of these places, we learn of the doctrine of the rapture of the church, and we see that the Lord will return in the clouds and call his bride away, it is at this time that we will receive our new bodies that we are promised in 1 Corinthians 15:52 and that is described in the following passages:

Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body. For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for?

Romans 8:21-24

Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not. Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure.

1 John 3:1-3

Paul said that he did not want us to be ignorant of the rapture, and since we know that the Lord is going to return an call us away, we as Christians, are supposed to be looking for the Lord and not looking for the Anti-Christ as most Christians do these days.

You cannot find even one passage of scripture that commands the Christian to look for the Anti-Christ, but we have several that command us to be looking for the Lord:

For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ: Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself.

Philippians 3:20-21

Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;

Titus 2:13

Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing.

2 Timothy 4:8

Opponents Of The Rapture

The opponents of the rapture will argue as stated above that the word rapture is not found in the bible, having dispensed with this argument we will move to their next favorite argument which is their position that the rapture, especially the pre-tribulation rapture of the church is a fairly new teaching. They claim that this teaching did not show up until John Darby in the year 1820, and should, therefore, be ignored.

There are multiple issues with this argument. First and foremost, as a bible believer we believe that the bible is a living and breathing document, in other words, the Lord is still dealing with man and showing us things in the bible every day. That being said, it should not be a strange thing if the Lord were to show you something that you had not ever noticed before, as long as that “new” teaching did not contradict the other scriptures.

The next issue with their argument that the pre-tribulation rapture was not believed or taught until 1820, is that this is just simply not true. Ephraim the Syrian lived from 306 to 373 AD and he preached a sermon entitled: On The Last Times, The Anti-Christ, And The End Of The World, in which he stated the following:

This sermon plainly documents the fact that the view of a pre-tribulation rapture has been held since at least the fourth century.

The Great Tribulation

In this section we will take a look at the great tribulation to see what it is and what it is not. The great tribuleation is often referred to as just simply The Tribulation, it is descibied in Jeremiah as the time of Jacob’s trouble (Jeremiah 30:7). The Tribulation will last for 7 years, the worst of which (the great tribulation) will last for 3 1/2 years according to the following passages:

Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy. Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks: the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times. And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined. And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.

Daniel 9:24-27

And he shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time.

Daniel 7:25

And I heard the man clothed in linen, which was upon the waters of the river, when he held up his right hand and his left hand unto heaven, and sware by him that liveth for ever that it shall be for a time, times, and an half; and when he shall have accomplished to scatter the power of the holy people, all these things shall be finished.

Daniel 12:7

And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent.

Revelation 12:14

The Tribulation will begin when the Anti-Christ confirms a 7-year covenant with the Jews (Daniel 9:27), he will break this covenant halfway through (Daniel 9:27) when he goes into the temple and sets up an image and institutes worship of that image and the mark of the beast (Revelation 13:15-16).

Again, the opponents of the pre-tribulation rapture sight the fact that Christians have always gone through tribulations, and they continue to do so, which of course is true if you take the definition on the tribulation to be that of general tribulation as is taught by the Apostle Paul :

• Romans 8:35
• 2 Corinthians 4:9
• 2 Thessalonians 1:4
• 2 Timothy 3:12

While it is true that the Christian will suffer general tribulations, suffering, and even persecution, it is not the same as the great tribulation that will occur in the future. The great tribulation is different in that the great tribulation is a time of when the wrath of God will be poured out on mankind, specifically to cause the nation of Israel as a whole, to turn back to God.

And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people: and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time: and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book.

Daniel 12:1

For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.

Matthew 24:21

While we know from scripture and personal experience that we all must to through times of suffering and general tribulations, we have been promised that we will not experience the wrath of God. According to the following passages, the great tribulation is connected with the wrath of God:

The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb:

Revelation 14:10

And one of the four beasts gave unto the seven angels seven golden vials full of the wrath of God, who liveth for ever and ever.

Revelation 15:7

And I heard a great voice out of the temple saying to the seven angels, Go your ways, and pour out the vials of the wrath of God upon the earth.

Revelation 16:1

Remember when speaking of the rapture, the Apostle Paul encourages us to comfort one another with the thought of the Lord’s return. There is no comfort in looking for the wrath of God to come.

As Christians, we have not been given the spirit of fear (2 Timothy 1:7), but rather we have been delivered from the wrath of God to come:

And to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come.

1 Thessalonians 1:10

For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ,

1 Thessalonians 5:9

How We Know The Rapture Occurs Prior to the Great Tribulation

After this I looked, and, behold, a door was opened in heaven: and the first voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet talking with me; which said, Come up hither, and I will shew thee things which must be hereafter. And immediately I was in the spirit: and, behold, a throne was set in heaven, and one sat on the throne.

Revelation 4:1-2

In the book of Revelation, we can see that the Church is still on the earth during the first two chapters, the church is in heaven in chapter’s 4 and 5 and then the church is not mentioned again and the only reference to the church after chapter 5, is found in chapter 19 when the church returns with the Lord as part of his army:

And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power; When he shall come to be glorified in his saints, and to be admired in all them that believe (because our testimony among you was believed) in that day.

2 Thessalonians 1:7-10

The tribulation is described in chapters 6 thru 18, as you can plainly see, the church is nowhere to be found in these chapters. The reason that the church is not mentioned in these chapters is simply that the church will be in heaven during the events that occur during the tribulation.

The promises that we have received in regards to not suffering under the wrath of God, the promise of his coming, the fact that he calls us up before the start of the tribulation, all point to the fact that the rapture of the church will occur prior to the tribulation.

Hence, the pre-tribulation rapture of the church is a fact, based on scripture. Pray that in these crazy times that we find ourselves in, that you will have openings to share the good news of the gospel of the grace of God with as many people as possible, so they to will be able to miss out on the wrath of God.

Our hope at Irvington Bible Baptist Church is that this podcast provided some encouragement and has helped you to develop a closer relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ.