What is "the Rapture"?

The rapture is a proposed intermediate visit by Christ to the earth before his Second Coming. Imaginative Bible readers claim that Christians will be "caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air," thereby avoiding all the suffering and persecution of the Great Tribulation.

I Thessalonians 4:16-17: "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."

Actually, Paul's prophecy pertains to the Second Coming. As Jesus taught, we are to take up the cross to follow him, and we should not expect to be spirited away from the tribulations that precede the Second Coming.

Cheers,

Bruce

i like to believe the rapture is God taking all those that are worthy out of the world before he destroys it and the wicked who will not repent of their sins.

this is the one doctrine that brought me to hoping for a better way of life.

but after years of understanding i realize what some few christian teach as the rapture might not actually be a 100% doctrine.

for example what if the rapture and the harvest angels are two different things? what if everyone goes through the 7 years of tribulation and the rapture only happens on the last day of mortal lives. ALL MORTAL life!!

what if those that believe in the rapture are teaching false doctrine from several verses that dont mean anything of the rapture at all.

the term coming like a thief in the night, has at least 4 different biblical interpretations and different definitions just in the bible itself.

the rapture can also be loosely applied to both Elijah and Enoch. even Mohammed was taken by climbing a ladder into heaven where he was received by Jesus waiting at the top.

but in basic terms the rapture is also the resurection of people both death and alive which will be caught up into heaven in a twinkling of an eye. the first resurrection already happened. so in some cases even many christians dont understad this kind of rapture.

It's the assumption that there will be a time when people dissappear from the Earth that are "real" Christians and all the other people will be left behind to witness the wrath of the God.

Some have told me that it's based on 1 Thessalonians 4:15-17, but the way I read this passage is that it just means at the end when Jesus does come, he will take all his followers to heaven with Him. The rest of the "Rapture" stuff I've heard seems to be made up and is non-biblical. Some reference a few other portions of the bible in attempting to establish support for a "rapture" and their basis for their beliefs, but this is all speculation and be argued over until the "sun goes down".

The only thing we can be certain of is this: Jesus is going to return....and that's all I need to know.

Rapture

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For other meanings, see Rapture (disambiguation).

The Rapture is a prophesied event in Christian eschatology, in which Christians are gathered together to participate in the Second Coming of Christ. Christians who have died are to be resurrected to participate in the coming of Christ along with those who are still living at the time of the event.

The primary passage describing the Rapture is 1 Thessalonians 4:15-17, in which Paul cites "the word of the Lord" about the return of Jesus to gather his saints. Although all Christian denominations believe in Christ's return, there are two primary views regarding its nature:

1. Amillenialists (such as Roman Catholics, and others), Postmillenialists (such as some Presbyterians, and others), and historic Premillenialists (such as Calvinistic Baptists, and others) hold that the return of Christ will be a single, public event. All passages regarding the return of Christ, such as Matthew 24:29-31, 1 Thessalonians 4:15-17, Revelation 1:7, etc, describe the return of Jesus in the clouds amidst trumpets, angelic activity, heavenly signs, a resurrection, and a gathering of saints. Although some (such as some Amillenialists) take this event to be figurative, rather than literal, these three groups maintain that passages regarding the return of Christ describe a single event, and that the "word of the Lord" cited by Paul in 1 Thessalonians 4:15-17 is the Olivet Discourse which Matthew separately describes in Matthew 24:29-31.

2. Dispensationalist Premillenialists (such as many Evangelicals, especially in the USA) hold the return of Christ to be in two stages. 1 Thessalonians 4:15-17 is seen to be a preliminary event to the return described in Matthew 24:29-31. Although both describe a return of Jesus in the clouds with angelic activity, trumpets, heavenly signs, and a gathering of the saints, these are seen to be two separate events, the first unseen, and the second public. Dispensationalists are divided, however, on whether the first event comes before a period of Tribulation, or midway through it. (See chart for Dispensationalist timing views)

Rapture means taken up . This will happen to Good Chrsitians just before the Second Coming of Christ. For a fuller explanation go to the address below. This will answer your question.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rapture

The rapture is when the Lord Jesus calls his brothers and sisters, flock to him, It's the start of Tribulation. About seven years when God will let everything run wild according to the evils of mankind, this will be the proof that God is in control, here and now. Without him being in control, mankind will show just how evil we can get!

Millions will turn to God at this time, millions of others will stay with satan. It is all about free will!

God bless!

Rapture means to be "caught up" or "snatched away". The Lord Jesus talked about it in this manner.

Matthew 24:29 "Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken.

30 Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. 31 And He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.

1 Thessalonians 4:15-17 (New King James Version)

15 For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep. 16 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. 17 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.

THE BEST F***'n Part of the BIBLE MAN!!!!!!

Honestly read REVELATIONS and it's super cool!

The rapture is when people are taken to heaven body and soul and all us damned sinner are left down here for 100 years of hell on earth because the Anti Christ comes and enslaves us, putting the symbol 666 on our foreheads. then Jesus comes back and judgement takes place and Satan and the Anti Christ are defeated.

Pretty cool if you're into that fantasy type stuff.

The Rapture is when JESUS will come back for all of HIS Church Saints.

And in a blink of your eye? We will be gone off of this rock and Be with HIM Forever.

GOD Bless YA,

Chicago Bob. (Imasinner)

Please pray for our Country and Our President (DAILY)

There is more Joy in JESUS in 24 hours, Than there is in the World in 365 Days. I have tried them both.(ME TO)

R.A. Torrey.