All,
Becaue the word rapture does not appear in the bible some may be uncomfortable with it. Just as the label "christian" was coined to describe the followers of Jesus the word "rapture" has been coined to describe the catching up to meet the Lord. Christian was coined at a time when the word was recorded by the first christians but the word "rapture" only appeared in the 1800's I believe. It has been accepted as a useful word and in itself is unimportant. The idea that there is no catching up because the word rapture is not in the bible does not hold any water. It only describes the "catching up" that Paul wrote about and nothing more.
1 Thess. 4:15-17
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, shall not precede those who have fallen asleep.
16 For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet of God; and the dead in Christ shall 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.
In Paul's letters he often made a distinction between what he was saying and what was directly from the Lord. He makes this distinction here when he writes in verse 15 "by the word of the Lord".
1 Cor. 15:51-52
51 Behold, I tell 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 trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. |
