THE CHURCH WILL BE RAPTURED OUT OF HERE BEFORE THE TRIBULATION PERIOD BEGINS
The Church will not be raptured out of here before the end of the age. The pre-tribulation rapture theory is a doctrine of demons and it is in Satan's interest for Christians to believe it.
For you who have been misled by the pre-tribulation rapture theory, let me debunk this theory for you and correct your thinking about it lest you get trampled upon when all hell breaks loose. The pre-tribulation rapture theory states that the Church will be raptured out of here before the great tribulation period. Before going any further, let me define what the rapture is. The rapture is this specific event:
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.
—1st Thessalonians 4:15-17
So being caught up in the clouds to meet Jesus when He returns is what is commonly called the rapture. So when does the rapture take place? Paul addresses when the rapture takes place in his second letter to the Thessalonians. And in the order of events presented by Paul, the theory of a pre-tribulation rapture of the Church is proven false. Here then are the key verses (with key phrases in bold):
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 the day of Christ is 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;
—2nd Thessalonians 2:1-3
Let’s parse out these verses to show the order of events Paul presents:
· In verse 1, “our gathering together” is the antecedent of the “day of Christ” in verse 2, meaning the “gathering together”, or the rapture, is what Paul is referring when he says the “day of Christ”.
· In verse 2, the “day of Christ” is the antecedent of “that day” in verse 3, meaning the “day of Christ” is the day Paul is referring to when he says “that day”.
So putting it all together, Paul says in verse 3 to not let anyone deceive you, for “that day”—the “day of Christ”, when we are gathered together with Him in the clouds, the rapture—will not come until after the Antichrist is revealed first. So the order Paul presents is the Antichrist appears on the scene first and the rapture takes place after that. And that is the reverse order that the pre-tribulation rapture theory presents. The pre-tribulation rapture theory says the rapture comes first and then the Antichrist appears.
So the Apostle Paul and the propagators of the pre-tribulation rapture theory contradict one another with regards to the order of events. Hmmm, who should we believe then, Paul or these so-called teachers of the word? I’m going with the Apostle Paul thank you very much!