(Disclaimer: This transcript is auto-generated and may contain mistakes.)

I hope you enjoyed this video. I hope you enjoyed this video. You know, one of the most interesting topics in the Bible is this matter of end times Bible prophecy. And the reason for that is because it's dealing with the end of the world, which is something that was explicitly revealed to the Apostle John while on the Isle of Patmos when he was writing the book of Revelation. And in order to have a proper understanding of eschatology, as they would call it, you know, you have to have a proper understanding of the rapture. Now the word rapture is not found in the Bible, but it's definitely a biblical concept. I mean, you see it throughout the Bible. I mean, wouldn't you agree with that? Yeah, I would agree with that because rapture simply means to be caught up and the Bible uses phrases like being gathered together, being caught up. And there's other words that we use that are not found in the Bible, such as like the Trinity or even the word Bible. Yeah, and we still use those because it perfectly describes a specific doctrine. It describes what we're talking about. And in fact, the word rapture, you know, you think of a raptor, right? A bird of prey. You think of an eagle that swoops down to capture its prey, catches it up. And that's exactly what happens at the rapture. You know, the Bible tells us that two shall be grinding at the mill, one shall be taken and the other left. And the picture there is that Jesus Christ comes to take his saints, those who are saved, and he captures them. He gathers together the elect, he catches them up, he raptures them. Now a common misconception amongst Christians about the rapture is that it's going to be a secret. In other words, when Jesus Christ comes, no one's going to know it. He's going to be invisible, you know, and when we get raptured, our clothes are going to fall to the ground, planes are going to fly into buildings, unmanned vehicles. It's going to be complete chaos and no one's going to see him. No one's going to see us go. But that's not necessarily how the rapture is described in the Bible. And in fact, when you read the book of Revelation, one of the first things that it starts off with in Revelation 1 7 is describing how he comes. It says that, Behold, he cometh with clouds, and every eye shall see him, them also which pierced him, and all the kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, amen. So it tells us right there that first and foremost, he comes with clouds. Secondly, every eye shall see him. That's in stark contrast to what mainstream Christianity teaches that no one shall see him, right? Yeah, and in fact, even Jesus himself warned us to take heed that no man deceive you. And a lot of people today, they're being deceived by that lie that they teach. And the Bible says, you know, wherefore they should say unto you, you know, he is in the desert, go not forth. If they say, Behold, he is in the secret chamber, believe it not. And a lot of people believe this nonsense. Yeah. Yeah. Jesus specifically said, if they say he is in the secret chambers, believe it not. And it's funny that they would call it like the secret rapture when Jesus specifically warned us about not believing those things when they say that he's in the secret chambers. And then you have the example in Acts chapter one, where it is describing the ascension of Christ. And we see that he is ascending in the clouds. The disciples are looking upon him, they're gazing. And the angels come and say, men of Galilee, why stand you there gazing? The same Jesus which you have seen gone up into heaven. And they tell in like manner, come also, he's basically telling us the way he left is exactly how he's going to return. And how did he leave? In the clouds. So how is he going to return? Well, he's going to return in the clouds, just like it says in Revelation 1.7. And also in Matthew chapter 24, it says that and then they shall see the Son of Man coming in the clouds of heaven, and with power and great glory. Yeah, so it doesn't really sound like it's a secret at all. Because we see that he's coming with clouds. We see that the Bible is telling us that every eye shall see him because it's a grand entrance. And then aside from that, it's also telling us that all the kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. This is telling us that even unsafe people are going to view this because it's going to be a terrifying sight for them to behold, to see Jesus Christ coming, rapturing all believers, and then he's going to judge the world thereafter. And it can't be a secret because there's going to be a lot of global catastrophic events such as the sun and moon being darkened, and in Matthew chapter 24 it says that immediately after the tribulation of those days, shall the sun be darkened and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of heaven shall be shaken. Yeah, and the thing is, you know, that's something that's global. You know, it's not something that's going to be ignored. I don't think Jesus wants to return secretly. And the reason we know that is because of those global catastrophic events like you mentioned, you know, the sun and moon being darkened, and the sun and moon being darkened is not just an isolated scripture, right? We see it in multiple places. You have it in Matthew 24, Mark 13, Luke 21, and in Revelation chapter number 6, it says that the sun and moon shall be darkened, and it says that the heaven shall depart as a scroll when it is rolled together. The mountains and islands shall be moved out of their places, and it says that the people of the earth shall wail, that they shall say, hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, for the great day of his wrath has come, and who shall be able to stand? Which is synonymous with what we see in Revelation chapter 1 verse 7 where it says that all the kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. So we see how it takes place. That's pretty obvious. You know, we see that he comes with clouds, we see that every eye shall see him, all the kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him, sun and moon being darkened. Now let's talk about when will it take place. Yeah, and just like the scriptures that you mentioned before, you know, in Matthew chapter 24, Mark 13, Luke 21, we clearly see that the rapture takes place after the tribulation of those days. And there's a pretty common teaching out there known as the pre-tribulation rapture. And it stems from dispensationalism, but they teach that when Jesus Christ returns to rapture all believers, that he's going to come before the tribulation takes place. Now obviously they have this misconception that the tribulation lasts for seven years. Obviously that's not the case. The Bible teaches us that it only lasts for about three and a half years, but they believe he comes before that. But you know, if we were to compare scriptures, as we mentioned in Matthew 24, Mark 13, Luke we see that the rapture takes place after the tribulation. And that actually matches up perfectly with Revelation chapter six, because in Revelation chapter six, verses one through nine records the tribulation. And then after verse nine, you see, you know, the saints under the altar, and then you see that Jesus Christ returns, what's known as the day of the Lord, which is the rapture. And so we clearly see that when we look at scripture, he's not coming before the tribulation. He's going to come after it. Yeah, and one of the reasons they believe that also is because they believe in what is called the imminence of Christ, that they believe that Christ could come at any moment. But the Bible teaches in Thessalonians chapter two that that day should not come except to be a falling away first and the man of sin be revealed. So obviously Christ is not going to come at any moment like they want to believe, but there's a specific things that have to happen before the coming of Christ. Yeah, and this matter of imminency is actually a dangerous teaching because of the fact that the Bible actually teaches that the only thing that's imminent is the coming of the Antichrist. And the Bible tells us in Revelation chapter six, when the first seal is being opened, that there's a man on a white horse with a bow, a crown upon his head, and he's going forth conquering and to conquer. And that's actually referring to the Antichrist. And that takes place at the beginning of the tribulation. So if people think that the coming of Christ is imminent, if he can come at any moment, but instead you have the Antichrist coming at any moment, you know, you're going to have the vast majority of mainstream Christians believing that the Antichrist is actually Jesus Christ. So now we know a couple things. We know what the rapture is. It's when Jesus Christ returns to gather together his elect, right? We know how it's going to take place. He's going to come in the clouds, every eye shall see him. We know when it's going to take place and that's after the tribulation, right? But now the question is, who is it for? Well, the rapture is for every single believer. Every single person throughout history has put their faith on Jesus Christ is going to be raptured on that day. Yeah. Amen. And you know what, regardless of what you believe of when the rapture takes place, all of us could agree that the rapture is specifically talked about in first Thessalonians chapter number four. And it says that the dead in Christ shall rise first. And we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with him in the clouds and so shall we ever be with the Lord. I mean, Jesus said in John chapter six that no man can come to me except God the Father draw him and I will raise him up in the last day. You see, the rapture is synonymous with the resurrection and that's exactly what's going to take place. Yeah. We have the example with Job who said, yet in my flesh I shall see God. Yeah. And the reality is that if you're saved, you know, we're all going to see God in the flesh if we're saved. And the rapture is going to be a beautiful event. You know, it's synonymous with the resurrection. I await that day with great anticipation, whether it's I die in a few years and you know, I'm the dead in Christ that rises first or whether I live long enough to see the second coming of Christ. I await that day with great anticipation when he comes in the clouds, when every eye shall see him, the heavens are rolled back as a scroll when it is rolled together, the mountains are moved, the islands are moved, he descends in the cloud and we meet the Lord in the air and so shall we ever be with the Lord. It's a beautiful day and it's something that we await because as we labor here on this earth, as we preach the gospel, we go through tribulation and difficulties. That's the light at the end of the tunnel that we're looking forward to. And I think of that song, it is well with my soul and the beautiful words that were written there. He said, oh Lord, haste the day when my faith shall be made silent.