In John 14 ; the Lord Jesus says, "I will come again and receive you unto myself, that where I am there you may be also". This makes it clear that it is the saints who form the Church who are to be raptured. This is confirmed by what Paul says to the Thessalonians, 1 Thess. 4 ; 16 & 17), where he says, "The dead in Christ shall 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".

It is never said of the Old Testament saints that they are In Christ, or that they died in Christ. but Paul says of them, "These all died in faith, not receiving the promises" (Heb. 11;13). It is only said of the saints who form the Church, that they are in Christ. It is never said of any old testament saint, that they were new creatures, or that any of them had been born again, these things that are so wonderful, are unique to the saints who comprise the Church, the Body of Christ. Old Testament believers were justified by faith, righteousness was reckoned to them, because of their faith, & on the basis of the death, burial & resurrection of Christ, the value of which God righteously imputed to them, as we see in Rom. 3;23-26. The position & calling of the saints of the Church are so much greater than that of the Old Testament believers.

John the Baptist was the last & the greatest of the O.T. prophets, but the Lord Jesus said that "He that is least in the Kingdom of God, is greater than he," Luke, 7;28. This does not mean that we are personally greater than John the Baptist, but that we are greater in position, calling, & blessing than he. John the Baptist was not a part of the Church, the Bride, he belonged to another dispensation, & another family of God's people. He testified to this himself in John, 3;27-36, where in verse 29 he identifies Christ as the Bridegroom, the Church as the Bride, & himself as the friend of the Bridegroom, nor does he express any disappointment at not being a part of the Bride, but expresses his personal joy, at the fulfillment of the desires of the Bridegroom, when He has His Bride with Him. He also goes on to point out the distinction of his own ministry to that of Christ.

John did not promise eternal life to any one, he only called men to repentance, in preparation to receive the Messiah, but in verse 36 he clearly tells that "He who believes on the Son, has eternal life, he never threatened any with the wrath of God for rejecting himself or his message, but clearly tells that those who do not obey the Son, will not see life, but have the wrath of God abiding on them. A clear & proper understanding of the distinction between the O.T. saints, their blessing, position & calling, & that of the N.T. saints, those who compose the Church will help us to distinguish the difference between the various references to the different phases of the second coming of Christ.. If Israel & the Church are one & the same, then the Church will go through the Great Tribulation, because it is clearly called "The day of Jacob's trouble", Jer. 30;7. Israel will be purified by fire, & judgment, but the Church is sanctified, & purified, by the washing of water, by the word, Eph. 5;26.

As well we could say, that if the Church is Israel, then the priesthood continues, & it gives credence to the manifestly false claims of the Roman Catholic Church, & the denominations that are her children, to the authority of priest craft, & the rule of the clergy, over the common people, the laity. She, ( the false church,) will bring all her children under her skirts once more, soon after the rapture takes place, she will experience the great tribulation, & be totally destroyed during the early part of that tribulation. (Rev. 2; 22 & 23.)

It will become clear to us, if we keep the foregoing things in mind, that though the second coming of Christ is viewed in the scriptures as one event, yet it will take places in three different phases, which may be described as follows.The first phase is THE RAPTURE OF THE CHURCH, the coming of the Lord Jesus for His saints, both "the living who remain", & "the dead in Christ", referred to as "THE DAY OF JESUS CHRIST".. The second phase is His coming with clouds, & with His holy angels to execute judgment. This event is described the great and terrible "DAY OF THE LORD". The third phase will be when He comes in glory, when HE COMES WITH HIS SAINTS, to be glorified in them, to reign over the earth for a thousand years, this is called "THE DAY OF GOD."

Let us now look at each of these phases in turn:

THE FIRST PHASE: "THE DAY OF JESUS CHRIST", (Phil. 1 ; 6), the day when the Lord Jesus will receive to Himself out of this world, His completed Church, cleansed of all defilement, and will present her to Himself, " A GLORIOUS CHURCH, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing, but....holy and without blemish", (Eph. 5 ; 27.) This is what we refer to as "The Rapture", though there are some who object to the use of that word, because it does not occur in the Bible. However we all use other words that do not occur in the Bible, perhaps the one most used is "Trinity", but though the word does not occur, the idea is prevelant from the first chapter of the Bible to the last.

The word used in 1 Thess. 4 ; 17, is "Caught up", from the Greek word Harpazo, which means "to catch away, or catch up, for ones'self. This is the idea of "Rapture", not seizing violently for judgment, but the Lord Jesus will "catch up, to Himself", that Church for which He died. The dictionary states that to be raptured, is to be seized, or carried away with great delight, this is surely what it will be when the Lord Jesus catches us up to be with Himself. Thus I believe that any objection to the use of the word "Rapture", to describe that wonderful event, cannot be justified.

The broad details of what will take place on the Day of Jesus Christ,are given to us in several passages, perhaps the most detailed being 1 Thess. 4 ; 13-18. This passage was written by the Apostle Paul, to comfort those persecuted believers in Thessalonica, who during the fierce persecution that had errupted, had lost loved ones, who gave their lives for the Lord Jesus. These words were written probably about a month after his departure from Thessalonica, & show us the things that Paul emphasized in during the short time that he was with them, probably not more than a month.

Thus we conclude that the teaching about the coming of the Lord for His own, was meant from the very beginning, to bring joy, comfort & hope to the believers. From the very beginning of their Christian lives, that coming was their hope, because they "Turned to God from idols, to serve the living and true God, and to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, even Jesus, who delivered us from the wrath to come". (1 Thess. 1 ; 10.)

The same was also true of the Corinthians, as Paul told them that they "come behind, (or come short), in no gift, waiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ", (1 Cor. 1 ; 7.).

It is important to notice the details that are given in the passage in 1 Thess. 4 ; 13-18. At that time the Lord Jesus will not come to the earth, but into the air, because verse 17 tells us that we are to meet the "Lord in the air". It also tells us that He will bring with Him, "those who sleep in Jesus". He will shout, the trump of God shall sound, the dead in Christ will rise, their spirits and souls will be re-united to their bodies which will be both raised and changed. Similtaneously, we who are alive and remain on the earth until that moment, our bodies will be changed, (1 Cor. 15 ; 52, & Phil. 3 ; 21,) & we shall be "caught up", (raptured,) "together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air; and so shall we ever be with the Lord.

This wonderful event will not be seen by the world, it is called by many, "The secret rapture". There will be the sudden similtaneous disappearance, world wide, of vast numbers of people, & this will result both in chaos & alarm. Can you immagine how the news media will be buzzing with amazement, & trying to find some explanation for this unprecedented happening?

What has led me to write this article, was a request by a dear old sister in Christ, who lives in Madras, India, to give her one scripture that says that the rapture will be secret. I am not able to give one such scripture, that says so in so many words, but as we look at many scriptures, it becomes quite clear that it is so. The last that the world saw of the Lord Jesus, was when his precious body hung lifeless on the cross, on Golgotha's hill, the next time the world will see Him, is when He comes with clouds, with power and great glory, then every eye will see Him, but all will wail because of Him, for His coming then is in judgment.

The Lord Jesus told his disciples before his death, that they would see Him again, but that people in the world would not see Him. Judas could not understand how that could be possible, so in John 14 ; 22, he asks, "Lord how is it that thou wilt manifest thyself to us, and not to the world? But we know that it was so, that during the course of 40 days, he went in & out amongst His disciples, He talked with them, even ate with them, during the day time, & also at night, yet not one person of the world saw Him. This added to the mystery, as far as the world was concerned.

The passage we are considering suggests the very idea of secrecy, "in the clouds", is the very idea of concealing from view. This is in keeping with the Lord's promise in the passage quoted earlier, John 14 ; 1-6., "I will come again, and receive you unto myself", that is a secret & a private matter, He will then take us to that place, that He has gone to prepare, "that where I am there you may be also", verse 3.

On the day of the Lord's ascention to heaven, He led His disciples out of Jerusalem, across the Kidron valley, as far as to Bethany. They must have walked through the streets of Jerusalem, & along roads used by many people. There was at least 120 people there, in fact there could have been as many as 500, because after His resurrection He appeared to above 500 brethren at once. The people must have seen the crowd, but never saw Him. Once on the summit of Olivet, He lifted His hands & blessed them, & while in the act of blessing them, He was parted from them & carried up into heaven. They watched Him ascend, until" a cloud received Him out of their sight". This statement supports our earlier assertion that the clouds concealed from view.

While they stood gazing steadfastly into heaven, the angels stood there, they conveyed the message"This same Jesus who is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come, in like manner as you have seen Him go into heaven". See Luke 24 ; 50-53, & Acts 1 ; 8-11.

Who saw Him go into heaven? not the world, but His own disciples, not the men of Jerusalem, or of Bethany, but the "men of Galilee". He went secretly, His going was not seen by the world, how will He come again? "as ye have seen Him go". We must understand the fact that, the "Rapture", is not His public manifestation to the world, either in judgment or in Glory, it is His coming to receive His own, unto Himself, the world has neither part, nor interest in that event, it will go busily on with its sport, business, wars, sin &c.

What we affirm is also borne out by other scriptures, look at Heb. 9 ; 28, "Unto them that look for Him shall He appear the second time, without sin unto salvation". Who are those that "look for Him"?, we find the answer in Phil 3 ; 20, " For our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we look for our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ".

Who will see Him when He comes for His own? John tells us, "When He shall appear, we shall be like Him,; for we shall see Him as He is". ( 1 John 3 ; 2.) How repeatedly our blessed Lord exhorts us to "watch", let us heed His word.

This is the question that divides many believers, & there are three different opinions. I along with the vast majority of soundly taught evangelical believers, am absolutely convinced, from the Scriptures, that the Rapture will take place before the "Day of the Lord", or "The Great Tribulation". There are others of my brethren in Christ, who believe that the "Rapture" will take place, half way through "The Great Tribulation", still others believe that the "Rapture" will take place at the end of "The Great Tribulation". It is not my intention in this short article to examine what others believe, but to state as simply & as clearly as I am able, what I believe the Scriptures teach. There are still others who believe in a "Partial Rapture", that is that when the "Rapture" does take place, only those who have been faithful to Christ in their responsible lives of witness & worship here, will be raised or caught up, the rest being left in their graves until the end of the Millenial reign of Christ.

We have already pointed out that Paul taught those whom he led to Christ, to look for, to expect the Lord Jesus to come at any time. It was this "Blessed Hope", (Titus 2 ; 13,) that sustained those troubled Thessalonian saints, through the sufferings & persecution to which they were exposed so soon after accepting the Lord Jesus as their Savior. As well, the Lord Jesus Himself, in His final word to His Church, testified that He was coming quickly, or soon, to which John responded, ( as the saints down through the ages have also done,), "Amen, even so, Come Lord Jesus", (Rev. 22 ; 20.)

If it was the daily expectation of the saints, (believers), that the Lord Jesus may come for them, at the Church's beginning, then surely it should be much more so now. Does the thought ever come into your mind, as you begin each day, "perhaps the Lord will come today?" I have seen a text like thing in many believer's homes, in bold capitals, PERHAPS TODAY? The very thought thrills the believer's heart, the joyfull expectation that we shall soon see Him face to face. It also has the effect of causing the believer to "gird up the loins of their mind", to allow the mind to be occupied with spiritual & eternal things. In addition it will cause the believer to confess & forsake all sin, to have done with things that would grieve the heart of the Lord Jesus if He were to come today.

This hope has a purifying effecton those who enjoy its blessedness, it makes the believer to walk close to the Lord, to "abide in Him", 1 John, 2 ; 28, so that when Christ appears they will "have confidence, and not be put to shame before Him. at His coming". Then in chapter 3 ; 3, John tells us that "Every man that has this hope in Him, (in Christ), purifieth himself, even as He, (Christ), is pure".

It is a "living hope", to which we have been begotten, ( 1 Pet. 1 ; 3-4), & it stirs the life within the believer. It wakes them up, makes them to trim their lamps, makes them to be active in their work & witness for the Lord, causes them to "redeem the time", to make the most of every opportunity that comes, to present the gospel to the lost, & to warn them of the imminent judgment.

The re-discovery of this wonderful Hope, this wonderful truth, has done more to revive the testimony of evangelical believers during this past 200 years, than perhaps any other truth, or doctrine.

The loss of that hope, or the failure to keep it before the saints, has a negative effect on them. One result is that material things, comforts, & pleasures become more important. These occupy the minds, & burn up the energies of the believer. He lives as though he is going to continue on the earth forever. When the servant says "My Lord delays His coming, then he begins to iltreat his fellow servants, & to indulge his own lusts & apetites. ( Luke. 12 ; 45.) It makes the saints to go to sleep, to be unconscious of the needs of those who surround them, it makes them to appear to be no different to the lost & the foolish; (Matt. 25 ; 1-13, Eph. 5 ; 14-17.) It makes the believer to practice the works of darkness, to tolerate things that are grieving to the Holy Spirit, & also to the heart of Christ, ( Rom. 13 ; 11-14.) Thus we see the effect of the acceptance & the practice of the doctrine of the rapture on the believer, & the reverse effect, when that doctrine is either lost, ignored, or is not kept before the minds & hearts of the believers.

The great tribulation, is nothing less than the wrath of God on a wicked world. It is called "The Wrath to come" in 1 Thess. 1 ; 10, the "Day of the Lord", 2 Thess. 2 ; 2, "The Great and Notable, ( Terrible), day of the Lord, Acts 2 ; 20. The Lord Jesus wars us that it will be the most terrible tribulation that the world has ever seen, more terrible than the flood of Noah's time, when the whole human race was destroyed, with the exception of 8 souls, more terrible than the destruction of Sodom & Gomorrah. He warns that if those days were not cut short, then should no flesh be saved, (Matt. 24 ; 21-22.) Many other scriptures could be cited to prove our assertion, but let these suffice.

Let us now see what the scriptures do say. Come again to 1 Thess. 1 ; 10, here the Thessalonians are told of "Jesus who delivered us from the wrath to come". Or as J.N.Darby translates it , "Jesus our deliverer from the coming wrath", which wrath is that? it is "The Great Tribulation". So from the first chapter it is clear that the Apostle Paul is assuring them that they have been delivered from that great day of wrath. This is in accord with the promise of the Lord Jesus, that those who hear His word, and believe on Him that sent Him, have eternal life, and shall not come into judgement, but is passed from death into life. (John 5 ; 24.) How could He make such a statement? Because He was going to bear the judgment for them. He did this, when He hung on the cross of Calvary, there He bore the judgment of God that we deserved, not just some of it, not even most of it, but all of it, because He cried,"It is finished!" The wrath of God was there exhausted. I believe it with all my heart, Hallelujah!

Come now to chapter 5 ; 9, where we are told "For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ. Here we have another assurance that not only the Thessalonians, but the saints of the Church, will not pass through the Great Tribulation, for we have not been appointed to that wrath.

Then we also have the promise of the Lord Jesus to the overcomer in the Church at Philadelphia, " I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, (trial) which shall comeupon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth. This also is a promise especially to the saints of the Church in this end time, that He will keep us from , ( or more correctly, out of), that great hour of trial. It is plain that this not a reference to any local, or even any national, or continental trouble, because it is coming upon the whole earth. To this the Lord Jesus adds the promise, "Behold I come quickly", and exhorts us to "Hold fast" what we have, and to allow no man to take our crown. This clearly shows that the Lord Jesus will come & rapture His Church out of this world, before His judgement falls, before the outpouring of His wrath.

The Lord Jesus warned the High Priest & others of the second phase of His second coming, when being tried by them before His crucifiction. ( Matt. 26 ; 64,) telling them that they would see Him sitting at the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven. John the Apostle also tells us, "Behold He comes with clouds, and every eye shall see Him, and they also who pierced Him; and all the kindreds of the earth shall wail because of Him." (Rev. 1 ; 7.) This coming is also described in chapter 19;11-16, of Revelation, where He is seen on a white horse, followed by the armies of heaven, the assemblage of awesome angelic might, coming to tread the wine-press of the fierceness of the and wrath of Almighty God.. Again the Lord Jesus speaks of that phase of His coming in Matt. 24 ; 29-31, where He tells us that His coming then will be seen by all. That coming will be preceeded by the mourning of the tribes of the earth, & the gathering together, ( by the angels), of the elect, from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.

This is clearly not a refference to the RAPTURE, because the saints of the Church are not gathered by angels, but assembled by the shout of the Lord Jesus.

(TO BE CONTINUED AT A LATER DATE)