THE SEVEN SEALED BOOK
and a different pre-trib rapture view
To the Church,
the Body of Christ, of which I am most grateful to be a part.
The rapture closes the Church Age and will occur just before the Day of the Lord begins.
Finally, the coming Day of the Lord is going to be a time of God's judgment upon this world that will begin with sudden destruction, accompanied by tribulation that will escalate into the greatest time of tribulation that has ever been, as it includes Daniel's 70th Week. But, it also includes Christ's Second Advent, His Millennial Reign, and more, as we will be seeing. With the rapture, the Church will escape this time of God's judgment (and the tribulation and wrath related to Daniel's 70th Week), but will return with Christ at His Second Advent to reign with Him and all of the saved upon this earth for a thousand years.
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PROPOSITION F
It should be understood that the Church Age, or era of the New Testament Church, will close with the rapture, when the Church will be gathered out of this world. This will take place just before the beginning of the time of God's judgment that is coming upon this world, referred to in the Bible as the "Day of the Lord." This is in accord with the common pre-trib view.
That the rapture will happen before the beginning of the Day of the Lord is shown in Paul's first letter to the Thessalonians, as chapter four is ending and chapter five begins. Being mindful that the chapter and verse divisions in the Bible were not a part of the original manuscripts, but were helps that were added hundreds of years later, consider Paul's words from 4:16-18 and 5:1-4 as shown...
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16 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:
17 Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together (the rapture) with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.
18 Wherefore comfort one another with these words.
1 But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you.
2 For yourselves know perfectly that the DAY OF THE LORD so cometh as a thief in the night.
3 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 (i.e., shall not be raptured with the Church).
4 But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief.
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Some might ask, "How long before the time that God's judgment begins will it be that the rapture takes place?" The evidence of Scripture is that it will take place just before---on the same day. While we will be looking at this much further, especially when focusing upon the 6th and 7th seals, it all becomes more apparent as we bring the related prophetic puzzle pieces together. For now, some of the key pieces include those Paul gave us above with what we find in Acts 2:20, which interlocks with what we find in Revelation 6:12-7:17, which interlocks with what we find in Matthew 24:29-31.
Thinking in terms of a timeline, whereas Christ began to build His New Testament Church while He walked upon this earth, what could be called the "Inauguration of the Church Age" happened on the Day of Pentecost, when He poured "out of [His] Spirit" upon it (Acts 2:1-18). Accordingly, the Church Age encompasses the time of the Church from that day to this present time and will continue until Christ returns to receive it unto Himself at the rapture. Following is an illustration showing the relation of the rapture to the Church Age, the Day of Pentecost, and the Day of the Lord:
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