by Myles Dalton

When a person comes to that point in their life that they accept Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior and through repentance turns their life over to Him they become born-again and in the process, the Lord reveals the truth written in the Scriptures by the power of the Holy Spirit that dwells within the believer. The rapture of the true believers in Christ Jesus, which is the body of Christ... is a real event that will take place. I believe in the soon and not so distant future because of all the signs are I see happening in the world today. The world is going to be permanently altered by an event the magnitude of which has never been seen before in the history of mankind. The apostle Paul wrote that this event was to be a mystery especially to the unbeliever, for Paul wrote:

2 Thessalonians 2 1 Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him, 2 That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that is the day of Christ at hand. 3 Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; 4 Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.

1 Corinthians 15:50-58 50 Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption. 51 Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, 52 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. 53 For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. 54 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.

55 O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?

56 The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law.

57 But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

58 Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord. But to the believer is quite clear that the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ will result in the gathering of all the believers together unto him, as it is mentioned in the verse above that there will be a great falling away first.

What precisely does Paul mean when he says that "the falling away" (2:3) must come before the tribulation? The definite article "the" denotes that this will be a definite event, an event distinct from the appearance of the Man of Sin. The Greek word for "falling away," taken by itself, does not mean religious apostasy or defection. Neither does the word mean "to fall," as the Greeks have another word for that. [pipto, I fall; TDI] The best translation of the word is "to depart." The apostle Paul refers here to a definite event which he calls "the departure," and which will occur just before the start of the tribulation. This is the rapture of the church. [4]

There is no debate that the rapture is the event described in 1 Thessalonians 4, and 1 Corinthians 15 teach on the rapture. it is when Christians will be “caught up” to heaven and “changed” to “immortality”. The word “rapture” comes from Paul’s “caught up” remark in verse 17. The words “caught up” are translated from the Greek word harpazo, which means “to carry off,” “snatch up,” or “grasp hastily.” The translation from harpazo to “rapture” involved two steps: first, harpazoraptus; second, raptus became the English word “rapture.” Both chapters also teach the resurrection and of the trumpet blast. Neither chapter mentions anything about having to endure the tribulation before the rapture comes.

There is no debate that Revelation 19 and Zechariah 14 teach on the physical return of the Lord Jesus Christ in power after the tribulation. Neither of those chapters speaks of the rapture, nor of a resurrection, nor of a trumpet blast. 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 13 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. 14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleeps in Jesus will God bring with him. 15 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. 16 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: 17 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. 18 Wherefore comfort one another with these words.

We who have been saved by the power of His blood by His death on the cross and resurrection because we believe in Him as our Lord and Savior are not subject to His wrath that will surely come in the time of the tribulation… all we need is to look around. The signs are out there the world is decaying rapidly; mankind is turning away from God and trying to justify their false beliefs and pagan religions as we see many of them trying to unify to become one. The Lord is angry and jealous as we see the world gathering together to force Israel to give up their land all in the name of peace, but surely there will be no peace, only war and destruction. The Lord came to earth nearly 2000 years ago to warn us all… the warnings were given… it is only now that we are beginning to see the details unfold.

Romans 5:99 Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him.

If you don't know the Lord Jesus Christ as your personal savior then cry out in His name and ask Him alone for forgiveness of your sins, He will not refuse or turn you away. You must believe that Jesus is God and that He did die for you on the cross and was buried and rose again on the third day for all to see... only God himself could do this to show mankind that there is eternal life through the name of Jesus alone. Please don’t be left behind.