Rapture: seizing and carrying away, or, extreme delight, or, transport, or, ecstasy.
Jesus said, And if I go
and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you
unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also, Jhn1403.
SIGNS LEADING TO THE RAPTURE
(1) There shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars (For the stars of heaven and the constellations thereof shall not give their light: the sun shall be darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall not cause her light to shine, Isa1310 - Could this be caused by dust from a nuclear explosion?); and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring (the wicked are like the troubled sea, when it cannot rest, whose waters cast up mire and dirt. There is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked, Isa5720,21); Men’s hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken. And then shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud (so great a cloud of witnesses, Heb1201) with power and great glory. And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh, Luk2125-28.
(2) Remember Lot's wife. Whosoever shall seek to save his life shall lose it; and whosoever shall lose his life shall preserve it, Luk1732,33: He said, Thou canst not see my face: for there shall no man see me, and live, Exo3320.
(3) Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure, 1Jn0302,03.
(4) Wherefore if they shall say unto you, Behold, he is in the desert; go not forth: behold, he is in the secret chambers; believe it not. For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be, Mat2426,27.
(5) And he (Jesus) spake to them a parable; Behold the fig tree, and all the trees; When they now shoot forth, ye see and know of your own selves that summer is now nigh at hand. So likewise ye, when ye see these things come to pass, know ye that the kingdom of God is nigh at hand. Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass away, till all be fulfilled. Heaven and earth shall pass away: but my words shall not pass away. And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares. For as a snare shall it come on all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth (For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape. But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief, 1Th0503,04). Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man, Luk2129-36.
(6) Come, my people, enter thou into thy chambers, and shut thy doors (the door of thy lips, cf.Ps14103) about thee: hide thyself as it were for a little moment, until the indignation be overpast. For, behold, the Lord cometh out of his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity: the earth also shall disclose her blood, and shall no more cover her slain, Isa2620,21.
(7) Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, 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. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. 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. O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord, 1Co1551-58.
(8) But
I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them
which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have
no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even
so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. 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. 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: 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, 1Th0413-17.
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