THE RAPTURE - TRUTH OR FICTION - PART 3

The rapture is not fiction — it is a biblical mystery, now revealed. An entire generation of believers will bypass death in an instant. The church age began with a miracle. It will end with one too. Are you ready? 

Key Points:

1) An entire generation of living Christians will be exempted from physical death at the time of the rapture, based on Paul's statement in 1 Corinthians 15:51 that "we will not all sleep"

2) The rapture will occur instantaneously, described by Paul using the Greek word "atomos" (from which we derive the word "atom") and the phrase "twinkling of an eye," indicating an indivisible, immeasurably brief moment of time

3) The rapture is a "mystery" in the Greek biblical sense -- the word "musterion" refers not to something puzzling or prolonged, but to something previously hidden that has now been openly disclosed by divine revelation

4) The rapture is not found in the Old Testament because the entire church age is a mystery doctrine absent from the Old Testament, barely hinted at in the Gospels, and fully developed through the Apostle Paul's thirteen epistles

5) first reference to the rapture in Scripture appears in John 14:1-3, where Jesus speaks to His disciples about going to prepare a place and returning to receive them

6) The second advent of Christ, by contrast, is well-attested throughout both the Old and New Testaments

7) The Greek word "harpazo," used to describe the church's catching away in 1 Thessalonians 4:17, is the same word used to describe Christ's ascension, Philip's catching away, and Paul's experience of being taken to the third heaven

8) The rapture is not an isolated concept but fits a biblical pattern of individuals being taken to heaven before the natural expiration of their lifespans

9) Paul's role was to fill out the mystery of the church age -- including its beginning, its purpose, its structure, and its conclusion in the rapture -- through his letters written largely during periods of imprisonment

10) The church age began with a miracle at Pentecost and will conclude with a miracle at the rapture