Pretribulation Rapture Of Christians Must Come Before Antichrist Revealed

1st Corinthians 15:51-53, “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.”

Here are some helpful comments from Evangelist John R. Rice (1895-1980):

Rapture of Christians Must Come Before Antichrist Revealed

The Antichrist has not made a treaty with Israel as yet. They have not rebuilt their temple nor started their Old Testament worship. Before that can come to pass and the Antichrist be revealed, another miraculous event must occur. That is the rapture of the saints. In II Thessalonians 2:1-8 the Lord gives us clearly the order of events. Some Christians at Thessalonica had been taught that the day of Christ, when He should return to rule on this earth and set up His kingdom, was at hand. Paul wrote to tell them that before the day of Christ's visible return and His glorious reign should begin, other things must happen. There must come a great falling away of Christians, and the Man of Sin must be revealed. If the Antichrist should have any reign at all, he must have his reign before the everlasting kingdom of Christ begins. Check these facts carefully in II Thessalonians 2:1-4:

2nd Thessalonians 2:1-4, “Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him, That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand. Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.”

We see that there must come a falling away, then the Man of Sin, then Christ's kingdom on earth, that is, the day of Christ. But then as we read on we find that Christ must call the saved people up into the air to meet Him before the Antichrist, or Man of Sin, can be revealed. Read in the same chapter the following verses, II Thessalonians 2:6-8:

2nd Thessalonians 2:6-8, “And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time. For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way. And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming.”

There is one person in the world who is hindering the Antichrist. The mystery of iniquity is working. The world is getting ready for his coming, governments are being centralized, wars and troubles are multiplying, and wickedness increases rapidly. But this one Person hinders the Antichrist so that he cannot yet appear. Until He is taken out of this world, the Devil cannot give a world empire into the hands of an Antichrist.

SOURCE: Dr. John R. Rice, “The Second Coming of Christ in Daniel,” pp. 34-35; ISBN: 0-87398-753-5; Sword of the Lord Publishers, Murfreesboro, Tennessee

Amen! We know that Jesus Christ has already been taken out of the world. And we know that the Church is never referred to as “he.” It cannot be a human being, because no one has ever lived that long, nor has that kind of power. 1st Corinthians 3:16-17 teaches that the believer's body is the temple of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit comforts, guides, teaches, rebukes and convicts Christians. When the Church is raptured, and all the saints are gone home to Heaven, the Holy Spirit will be gone from this world. There will be some people saved during the Tribulation, and they will be indwelt by the Holy Spirit, but their number will pale in comparison to the large number of believers who will be taken out of the world at the Rapture.

Whereas the world and even most of the churches are being deceived presently by the Devil, Christians such as myself have not been deceived. We see through the Devil's deceptions of modern Bible revisions, the heresy of Zionism, the satanic perversion of the Gospel in the heresy of Lordship Salvation, the lying mainstream newsmedia, amoral Hollywood, apostate ecumenism and neo-evangelicalism, Ultra-Dispensationalism, the bogus official story of the 9/11 WTC attacks, the fraudulent Federal Reserve Banking System, the New World Order agenda of the United Nations, the Illuminati (Luciferians who do Satan's bidding in the world), et cetera.

The following faithful men of God all concluded a PreTribulation Rapture (please take a look at their deductions)...

1. Evangelist John R. Rice Teaches The Truth That The “Rapture” Happens Before The Tribulation
2. Not Wrath, But Rapture (by Pastor Harry A. Ironside)
3. The Great Tribulation (from 'The Lamp Of Prophecy' book by Dr. Harry Ironside)
4. Pastor Lee Roberson Taught a PreTribulation Rapture (from the helpful book: 'Some Golden Daybreak')
5. Pastor Curtis Hutson Gives 6 Reasons for a PreTribulation Rapture

Were these men all ignorant of the truth? I humbly think not! Please read the preceding articles, considering the LOGIC that each preacher uses to conclude a PreTribulation Rapture of the Church.

Evangelist Billy Sunday Taught a Pretribulation Rapture

Read what Evangelist Billy Sunday said in his classic sermon, “The Second Coming Of Christ”...

The Lord does not come to the world at the time of the Rapture, but only reveals himself to the members of His Body. At the time of His resurrection He was only seen by those who believed on Him. Pilate and the High Priest, and those who crucified Him, did not know that He was risen. So it will be at the time of the Rapture. The world will not know that He has been here, and will have no knowledge of Him until He comes with the members of His Body, at the close of the Tribulation.

SOURCE: 'The Second Coming of Christ,' Billy Sunday (1862-1935)

Clearly, Billy Sunday concluded and taught a Pretribulation Rapture. The Bible very plainly teaches that the TIME of the Rapture is a carefully guarded secret. Those critics who decry a “secret Rapture” are criticizing the Lord's very Words, for Jesus clearly stated in Mark 13:32-33, “But of that day and that hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father. Take ye heed, watch and pray: for ye know not when the time is.” The timing of the Rapture my friend is indeed A BIG SECRET!!! And again we read in Matthew 24:36, “But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.”

The Word of God Teaches a PreTribulation Rapture

There are two great Scripture passage about the pretribulation Rapture: 1st Corinthians 15:51-58 and 1st Thessalonians 4:13-18. In my humble opinion these events do not describe what we read in Matthew 24 and Luke 21 concerning Jesus' Second Coming after the 7-year Tribulation period. Here are some of my own observations from the Holy Scriptures:

32 Differences Between the Rapture and the Second Coming!

May I humbly make the important observation that the greatest men of God of the past 150 years all believed in a PRETRIBULATION RAPTURE! Harry A. Ironside, John R. Rice, Jack Hyles, Bob Jones Sr., Lee Roberson, Oliver B. Greene, R.A. Torrey, Dwight Moody, Lester Roloff, Harold Sightler, Curtis Hutson, J. Frank Norris, Monroe Parker, Billy Sunday, W.A. Criswell, Charles C. Ryrie, Mark G. Cambron, Raymond Barber and others all concluded and taught a Pretribulation Rapture of the saints!!! Amen! Were all these men of God wrong on the Bible? I think not!

By simple logic we can rule out a PreWrath and PostTribulation Rapture, because there are way too many doctrinal complications for either theory to work. A PreTribulation Rapture is the only scenario that makes sense prophetically, because it is the only scenario that maintains the anonymity of Jesus' return. That is, it is a carefully guarded secret!

We have also seen from using deductive reasoning, that literally dozens of specific conclusions can be made Scripturally to suggest a PreTribulation timing of the Rapture. If you “study” and “rightly divide” (dissect) the Words of God (2nd Timothy 2:15), then you can only conclude a PreTribulation Rapture!!! It is okay to properly divide, but never to wrest (twist), God's Words (2nd Peter 3:16-17). The PreTribulation Rapture is a triumphant Biblical doctrine!!!