Hi LT,
Your Words: ""Work as if the rapture is going to happen tomorrow and prepare as if you are going to go through the full tribulation." Those words from you were surely Holy Spirit Inspired.
Will look for you on your return, have a great trip.
The Tribulation--the final seven years before Christ returns to the earth. Also referred to as Daniel's 70th week.
The Great Tribulation--the last 3½ years before Christ returns to the earth. This will be the most intense and difficult time of trouble the world has ever known (Matt. 24:21).
The Day of the Lord--A time when God directly intervenes in the affairs of men especially by judgment but also by way of blessing. It is often used in the Bible to describe the judgment and wrath of God poured out upon the world during the Tribulation period.
Daniel's 70th Week--based on Daniel 9:24-27. This refers to the final seven years before Christ returns to the earth (the "week" being a period of seven years, not seven days).
The Rapture--this term is derived from a Latin verb which was used to translate the Greek verb harpaz ("caught up") found in 1 Thessalonians 4:17. This Greek verb means to be snatched away, taken away suddenly, quickly removed by force from one place to another, as when Philip was caught away to another place (Acts 8:39) or when the Lord Jesus was suddenly taken up to heaven at the time of the ascension (Rev. 12:5). When Christ returns for His Church, believers will be "caught up," and suddenly taken from earth to heaven (compare John 14:3).
Pre-Tribulation Rapture--the Church will be raptured before the seven year Tribulation begins. Thus the Church will pass through none of the Tribulation. This is the correct, Biblical view as will be demonstrated in this paper.
Mid-Tribulation Rapture--the Church will be raptured at the midway point of the Tribulation, 3½ years before the Lord returns to the earth. This view teaches that the Church will pass through half of the Tribulation.
Pre-Wrath Rapture--the Church will be raptured approximately midway through the second half of the Tribulation, or about 1½ or 2 years before the Lord returns to the earth. This view teaches that the Church will pass through three-quarters of the Tribulation.
Post-Tribulation Rapture--the Church will be raptured at the end of the Tribulation period at the time when the Lord returns to the earth. This view teaches that the Church will pass through all of the Tribulation.
Permalink Reply by RoyW on September 25, 2010 at 1:20am
David,
It is time for us to get down to it. I am not understanding how we can ascertain that anyone will be saved after the rapture. What are you talking about? Are you talking about the experience of salvation by grace as described in Eph 2:8-9? If so, I cannot find that. Where are you getting that? Once the earth is harvested, salvation by grace through faith is ended. Are you all speaking of the following:
Ro 11:25-27
25 I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers, so that you may not be conceited: Israel has experienced a hardening in part until the full number of the Gentiles has come in. 26 And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written:
"The deliverer will come from Zion;
he will turn godlessness away from Jacob.
27 And this is my covenant with them
when I take away their sins." ?NIV
Are you saying that once the full number of Gentiles has come in, there is a rapture and then Israel will be saved? If so, I am not interpreting that verse as such.
I am trying to understand where you are saying that some will be saved after the rapture. What Scripture are you using to support that idea?
A Great Multitude from Every Nation
9 After this I looked, and behold, ba great multitude that no one could number, cfrom every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, dclothed in white robes, with epalm branches in their hands, 10 and crying out with a loud voice, f“Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” 11 And all the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and gthe four living creatures, and they hfell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, 12 isaying, “Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever! Amen.”
13 Then one of the elders addressed me, saying, “Who are these, dclothed in white robes, and from where have they come?” 14 I said to him, “Sir, you know.” And he said to me, “These are the ones coming out of jthe great tribulation. kThey have washed their robes and lmade them white min the blood of the Lamb.
The Holy Bible : English Standard Version. Wheaton : Standard Bible Society, 2001, S. Re 7:14
Hope this helps,
Rita
9 When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under vthe altar wthe souls of those who had been slain xfor the word of God and for ythe witness they had borne. 10 They cried out with a loud voice, “O Sovereign Lord, zholy and true, ahow long bbefore you will judge and cavenge our blood on dthose who dwell on the earth?” 11 Then they were each given ea white robe and ftold to rest a little longer, guntil the number of their fellow servants3 and their brothers4 hshould be complete, who were to be killed as they themselves had been.
The Holy Bible : English Standard Version. Wheaton : Standard Bible Society, 2001, S. Re 6:11
6:9–11 The fifth seal reveals the Lamb’s rationale for releasing combatants to devastate the earth. Under the altar in heaven, where sacrificial blood would pool (Ex. 29:12), John sees the souls of believers who were slain (thus they are pictured as sacrifices) for bearing witness about Jesus (cf. Rev. 20:4). Their lament, how long …? echoes that of the psalmists (Ps. 13:1; 89:46). The surprising answer is that the Lamb will restrain his wrath against his witnesses’ assailants until the last martyr has been slain. Until then, the souls of deceased saints will rest a little longer (Rev. 14:13) in the white robe of victory and purity (cf. note on 2:17; also 3:4–5; 7:9, 14). The rest of the book progressively shows how the Lord answers their prayers to avenge their deaths, beginning in 6:15–17 with the very ones who had put them to death.
Crossway Bibles: The ESV Study Bible. Wheaton, IL : Crossway Bibles, 2008, S. 2472
4 Then I saw tthrones, and useated on them were those to whom the authority to judge was committed. Also I saw vthe souls of those who had been beheaded for the testimony of Jesus and for the word of God, and those wwho had not worshiped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or their hands. xThey came to life and yreigned with Christ for a thousand years.
The Holy Bible : English Standard Version. Wheaton : Standard Bible Society, 2001, S. Re 20:4
20:4–5 I saw thrones, and seated on them were those to whom the authority to judge was committed. Premillennialists argue that “coming down from heaven” (v. 1) and the reference to “the nations” (v. 3) show that these “thrones” are on earth (during Christ’s millennial reign). Amillennialists argue that the echoes in these verses from Daniel’s vision (cf. Dan. 7:9, 22) signal that the thrones are in heaven. Whatever view one takes of the millennium, the souls of those who had been beheaded probably represents just a few of all the people represented by the words and those who had not worshiped the beast (“and those” represents Gk. kai hoitines, “and whoever, and everyone who”). These faithful believers came to life. Premillennialists think this means that deceased believers will experience bodily resurrection at the beginning of the millennium, and that is what is meant by this is the first resurrection (they say this is the clear meaning of the aorist indicative of zaō, “live, come to life”). Amillennialists think “they came to life” and “the first resurrection” means their souls entered into the presence of God in heaven after they died, and their deaths were in fact their victory over the dragon and beast (Rev. 12:11; 15:2), imparting to them a foretaste of the final resurrection (20:12–15). Some postmillennialists agree with the amillennial view of “the first resurrection,” while other postmillennialists think it refers to the future victory of Christianity in the world after its earlier persecution. and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. Premillennialists think this means that these resurrected believers will assist with Christ’s thousand-year reign as righteous King over the whole earth. Amillennialists think this means deceased believers now (and during the entire “thousand years,” which means the time from Pentecost to the second coming) are “reigning” with Christ from heaven. Postmillennialists see it as a future triumph of Christianity in the world.
Crossway Bibles: The ESV Study Bible. Wheaton, IL : Crossway Bibles, 2008, S. 2492