* Came from latin word - bird that snatches up their prey
* Rapture is before the tribulation starts
* Christians will not go through the tribulation
* We will be caught up to heaven with Jesus Christ
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.
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.
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.
2 Hear attentively the noise of his voice, and the sound that goeth out of his mouth.
3 He directeth it under the whole heaven, and his lightning unto the ends of the earth.
4 After it a voice roareth: he thundereth with the voice of his excellency; and he will not stay them when his voice is heard.
5 God thundereth marvellously with his voice; great things doeth he, which we cannot comprehend.
29 The people therefore, that stood by, and heard it, said that it thundered: others said, An angel spake to him.
* To the lost world when God speaks, all they hear is the sound of thunder but to us, we will be able to hear God talking or calling out our names when the rapture happens
Revelation 4:1 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.
Revelation 11:12 And they heard a great voice from heaven saying unto them, Come up hither. And they ascended up to heaven in a cloud; and their enemies beheld them.
* A lot of times, its used in the reference of the type of a rapture taking place
* When the rapture comes, Jesus is going to SHOUT our name, a VOICE will say "come up hither" followed with a TRUMPET sound
1 Corinthians 15:52 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.
a. Jesus Directed To That Young Man
15 And he that was dead sat up, and began to speak. And he delivered him to his mother.
7 Then said Jesus unto them again, Verily, verily, I say unto you, I am the door of the sheep.
11 I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep.
14 I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine.
* flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God
* Blood is left behind because blood cannot inherit the kingdom
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.
* caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air:
18 Mary Magdalene came and told the disciples that she had seen the Lord, and that he had spoken these things unto her.
19 Then the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews, came Jesus and stood in the midst, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you.
20 And when he had so said, he shewed unto them his hands and his side. Then were the disciples glad, when they saw the Lord.
Matthew 28:8-9 And they departed quickly from the sepulchre with fear and great joy; and did run to bring his disciples word.
9 And as they went to tell his disciples, behold, Jesus met them, saying, All hail. And they came and held him by the feet, and worshipped him.
* Jesus told Mary Magdelene don't touch Him because He have not ascended to heaven to meet God the Father. Then Jesus went to the Father and came back to meet His disciples. They touched Him. It all happened within the same day
8 And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven.
9 And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.
* Michael and his angels will be fighting with Satan and his angels in outer space
* Satan will loose and be cast into earth
* Satan will be on earth during the tribulation
Romans 8:23, 21 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.
21 Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.
11 For, lo, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone;
12 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;
13 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.
* This passage is about King Solomon and his lover
* Its about relationship of Jesus and the church
* arise come away with me
* the winter is past
* The flowers appear
* The fig tree putteth forth her green figs
32 Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh:
33 So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors.
Mark 13:32 But of that day and that hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father.
Luke 12:40 Be ye therefore ready also: for the Son of man cometh at an hour when ye think not.
* These verses does not show that we can never know when Jesus Christ is coming back
* These verses show we don't know because God is hiding it from us
* This means we may know
13 And seeing a fig tree afar off having leaves, he came, if haply he might find any thing thereon: and when he came to it, he found nothing but leaves; for the time of figs was not yet.
* Jesus was hungry and saw a fig tree from a far. He was happy and was expecting to eat but got disappointed when He found nothing but leaves because the time of figs was not yet
* When Jesus came as a "man" in human form, Jesus was subject to human laws of development. That's why He doesn't know.
* This means we may know
41 Then Peter said unto him, Lord, speakest thou this parable unto us, or even to all?
2 And Elijah said unto Elisha, Tarry here, I pray thee; for the LORD hath sent me to Bethel. And Elisha said unto him, As the LORD liveth, and as thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee. So they went down to Bethel.
3 And the sons of the prophets that were at Bethel came forth to Elisha, and said unto him, Knowest thou that the LORD will take away thy master from thy head to day? And he said, Yea, I know it; hold ye your peace.
26 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.
* Apostasy = falling away (people falling away from the truth, churches teaching wrong doctrines and believes)
* Antichrist is known as the man of sin, the son of perdition
* We believe this is where we (the church) will be raptured
1. During The Tribulation, One Needs To Endure To The End To Be Saved. But Christians Don't Need To Endure To The End To Be Saved
13 But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.
5 And if a man also strive for masteries, yet is he not crowned, except he strive lawfully.
6 The husbandman that laboureth must be first partaker of the fruits.
9 Not of works, lest any man should boast.
=> Christians will not go through the tribulation because we are saved by grace through faith. We are not those who need to go through the enduring to the end to be saved
1. When People Receive The Mark, They Will Be Damned By The Wrath Of God
10 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:
=> Christians will not go through the tribulation because we will be delivered from the wrath of God which is to come
1. 5 Foolish Virgins Lost Their Oil & Were Left Out Of The Marriage
2 And five of them were wise, and five were foolish.
3 They that were foolish took their lamps, and took no oil with them:
4 But the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps.
5 While the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept.
6 And at midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him.
7 Then all those virgins arose, and trimmed their lamps.
8 And the foolish said unto the wise, Give us of your oil; for our lamps are gone out.
9 But the wise answered, saying, Not so; lest there be not enough for us and you: but go ye rather to them that sell, and buy for yourselves.
10 And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came; and they that were ready went in with him to the marriage: and the door was shut.
11 Afterward came also the other virgins, saying, Lord, Lord, open to us.
12 But he answered and said, Verily I say unto you, I know you not.
* There are five wise and five foolish virgins. They all had oil in their lamps. When the 5 foolish ran out of oil, they begged the other virgins for oil but they did not give it to them and ask them to go out to buy. While they went out to buy, the bridegroom came and the 5 wise went in to the wedding and the door was shut. The 5 foolish returned asking to be let in but the bridegroom said its too late I don't know you
* The oil is the holy spirit
* When the 5 foolish ran out of oil, they ran out of the holy spirit
* Christians do not run our of the holy spirit even if we sin
* even if we sin (grieve) the Holy spirit, the Holy Spirit is still sealed in us until the rapture
21 Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.
=> Christians will not go through the tribulation because in the tribulation, people can loose the Holy Spirit while we christians, we are sealed by the Holy Spirit and the Holy Spirit can never leave us even if we sin
1. During The Tribulation, An Angel Will Be Preaching Another Gospel (The Everlasting Gospel) That Is To Fear God
7 Saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters.
* The gospel preached here is the everlasting gospel. It is about fearing, giving glory and to worship God
* it this our christian gospel?
* This contradicts our christian gospel
* Paul's gospel is not to fear God
wherein ye stand;
2 By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain.
3 For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures;
4 And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:
* Our gospel is about believing the death, buriel and resurrection of Christ to be saved
=> Christians will not go through the tribulation because the everlasting gospel preached by the angel in the tribulation contradicts our christian gospel