ABOUT THE RAPTURE

WRITTEN BY

PASTOR JANICE L. WILLIAMS

THE FOLLOWING BIBLE TRANSLATIONS WERE USED FOR THIS BIBLE STUDY: 

KJV = KING JAMES VERSION,       NLT = NEW LIVING TRANSLATION

SCRIPTURES PRINTED IN RED, ARE WORDSSPOKEN BY JESUS

BIBLE STUDY FOR

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 14th-21st, 2009

ACTS 1:9 KJV * HE WAS TAKEN UP AND A CLOUD RECEIVED HIM OUT OF THEIR SIGHT.

ACTS 1:11 KJV * THIS SAME JESUS, WHICH IS TAKEN UP FROM YOU INTO HEAVEN, SHALL SO COME IN LIKE MANNER AS YE HAVE SEEN HIM GO INTO HEAVEN.

REVELATION 1:7 KJV * BEHOLD, HE COMETH WITH THE CLOUDS; AND EVERY EYE SHALL SEE HIM, AND THEY ALSO WHICH PIERCED HIM: AND ALL KINDREDS OF THE EARTH SHALL WAIL BECAUSE OF HIM, EVEN SO, AMEN.

 

THE SECOND COMING OF JESUS CHRIST, COMMONLY CALLED

THE RAPTURE

1st THESSALONIANS 4:16 thru 18 NLT 

• 16/ FOR THE LORD HIMSELF WILL COME DOWN FROM HEAVEN WITH A COMMANDING SHOUT, WITH THE CALL OF THE ARCHANGEL, AND WITH THE TRUMPET CALL OF GOD.  FIRST, ALL THE CHRISTIANS WHO HAVE DIED WILL RISE FROM THEIR GRAVES.  17/ THEN, TOGETHER WITH THEM, WE WHO ARE STILL ALIVE AND REMAIN ON EARTH WILL BE CAUGHT UP IN THE CLOUDS TO MEET THE LORD IN THE AIR AND REMAIN WITH HIM FOREVER.  18/ SO COMFORT AND ENCOURAGE EACH OTHER WITH THESE WORDS.

 PHILIPPIANS 4:10, 11 NLT

• 10/ SO THAT AT THE NAME OF JESUS EVERY KNEE WILL BOW, IN HEAVEN AND ON EARTH AND UNDER THE EARTH, 11/ AND EVERY TONGUE WILL CONFESS THAT JESUS CHRIST IS LORD, TO THE GLORY OF GOD THE FATHER.

 LET'S LOOK AT SOME WORD DEFINITIONS FOR THIS BIBLE STUDY

• RAPTURE -   Christianity mystical transportation: a mystical experience of being transported into the spiritual realm, sometimes applied to the second coming of Jesus Christ when true believers are expected to rise up to join him in heaven.
• MYSTICAL - 1. religion with divine meaning: with a divine meaning beyond human understanding.  2. paranormal with supernatural or spiritual significance or power  3. mysterious or difficult to understand
• SACRILEGIOUS - sacrilege - treating holy thing without respect: the violation, desecration, or theft of something considered holy or sacred 
  
• DESECRATION - desecrate - insult something holy: to damage something sacred, or do something that is offensive to the religious nature of something.
  

THE RESURRECTED BODY

1st CORINTHIANS 15:35 thru 58 NLT

• 35/ But someone may ask, "How will the dead be raised?  What kind of bodies will they have?"  36/ What a foolish question!  When you put a seed into the ground, it doesn't grow into a plant unless it dies first.  37/ And what you put in the ground is not the plant that will grow, but only a dry little seed of wheat or whatever it is you are planting.  38/ Then God gives it a new body-just the kind he wants it to have.  A different kind of plant grows from each kind of seed.  39/ And just as there are different kinds of seed and plants, so also there are different kinds of flesh-whether of humans, animals, birds, or fish.  40/ there are bodies in the heavens, and there are bodies on earth.  The glory of heavenly bodies is different from the beauty of the earthly bodies.  41/ The sun has one kind of glory, while the moon and stars each have another kind.  And even the stars differ from each other in their beauty and brightness.  42/ It is the same way for the resurrection of the dead.  Our earthly bodies, which die and decay, will be different when they are resurrected, for they will never die.  43/ Our bodies now disappoint us, but when they are resurrected, they will be full of glory.  They are weak now, but when they are raised, they will be full of power.  44/ They are natural human bodies now, but when they are raised, they will be spiritual bodies.  For just as there are natural bodies, so also there are spiritual bodies.  45/ The Scripture tells us, "The first man, Adam, became a living person." * But the last Adam-that is Christ----is a life giving Spirit.  46/ What came first was the natural body, then the spiritual body comes later.  47/ Adam, the first man, was made from the dust of the earth, while Christ, the second man, came from heaven.  48/ Every human being has an earthly body just like Adam's, but our heavenly bodies will be just like Christ's.  49/ Just as we are now like Adam, the man of the earth, so we will someday be like Christ, the man from heaven.  50/ What I am saying, dear brothers and sisters, is that flesh and blood cannot inherit the Kingdom of God.  These perishable bodies of ours are not able to live forever.  51/ But let me tell you a wonderful secret God has revealed to us.  Not all of us will die, but we will all be transformed.  52/ It will happen in a moment, in the blinking of an eye, when the last trumpet is blown.  For when the trumpet sounds, the Christians who have died will be raised with transformed bodies that will never die.  53/ For our perishable earthly bodies must be transformed into heavenly bodies that will never die.  54/ When this happens-when our perishable earthly bodies have been transformed into heavenly bodies that will never die-then at last the Scriptures will come true: "Death is swallowed up in victory." 
  

• 55/ O death, where is your victory?  O death, where is your sting?"  56/ For sin is the sting that results in death, and the law gives sin its power. 

[SEE GALATIANS 5:23-26 KJV &  REVIEW WBS #14 "WALKING IN THE SPIRIT" ]   

• : Freedom from the law of eternal death of the soul & separation from God, as payment or punishment for sin.

57/ But thank God! He gives us victory over sin and death through our Lord Jesus Christ.

• 58/ So, my dear brothers and sisters, be strong and steady, always enthusiastic about the Lord's work, for you know that nothing you do for the Lord is ever usless.      

WHEN WILL IT HAPPEN?

MARK 13:4 thru 37 NIV * 

• 4/ “Tell us, when will these things happen? And what will be the sign that they are all about to be fulfilled?” 5/ Jesus said to them: “Watch out that no one deceives you. 6/ Many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am he,’ and will deceive many. When you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. 8/ Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be earthquakes in various places, and famines. These are the beginning of birth pains. 9/ “You must be on your guard. You will be handed over to the local councils and flogged in the synagogues. On account of me you will stand before governors and kings as witnesses to them. 10/ And the gospel must first be preached to all nations. 11/ Whenever you are arrested and brought to trial, do not worry beforehand about what to say. Just say whatever is given you at the time, for it is not you speaking, but the Holy Spirit. 12/ “Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child. Children will rebel against their parents and have them put to death. 13/ Everyone will hate you because of me, but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved. 14/ “When you see ‘the abomination that causes desolation’ standing where it does not belong—let the reader understand—then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. 15/ Let no one on the housetop go down or enter the house to take anything out. 16/ Let no one in the field go back to get their cloak. 17/ How dreadful it will be in those days for pregnant women and nursing mothers! 18/ Pray that this will not take place in winter, 19/ because those will be days of distress unequaled from the beginning, when God created the world, until now—and never to be equaled again. 20/ “If the Lord had not cut short those days, no one would survive. But for the sake of the elect, whom he has chosen, he has shortened them. 21/ At that time if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Messiah!’ or, ‘Look, there he is!’ do not believe it. 22/ For false messiahs and false prophets will appear and perform signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. 23/ So be on your guard; I have told you everything ahead of time. 24/ “But in those days, following that distress, “‘the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; 25/ the stars will fall from the sky, and the heavenly bodies will be shaken.’

 [SEE REFERENCE TO THIS PROPHECY WRITTEN IN THE OLD TESTAMENT BOOK OF ISAIAH 13:9 thru 13 KJV]. 

• 26/ “At that time people will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory.

[YOU CAN ALSO VIEW REFERENCE TO THIS PROPHECY IN THE OLD TESTAMENT BOOK OF DANIEL 7:13, 14 KJV] 

• 27/ And he will send his angels and gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of the heavens. 28/ “Now learn this lesson from the fig tree: As soon as its twigs get tender and its leaves come out, you know that summer is near. 29/ Even so, when you see these things happening, you know that it is near, right at the door. 30/ Truly I tell you, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened. 31/ Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.

The Day and Hour Unknown

32/ “But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. 33/ Be on guard! Be alert! You do not know when that time will come. 34/ It’s like a man going away: He leaves his house and puts his servants in charge, each with their assigned task, and tells the one at the door to keep watch. 35/ “Therefore keep watch because you do not know when the owner of the house will come back—whether in the evening, or at midnight, or when the rooster crows, or at dawn. 36/ If he comes suddenly, do not let him find you sleeping. 37/ What I say to you, I say to everyone: ‘Watch!’”

 

 

ANYONE WHO JUST READ THESE SCRIPTURES PERTAINING TO THE SECOND COMING OF JESUS CHRIST, COMMONLY CALLED THE RAPTURE; AND YOU KNOW THAT IF THE LORD CAME RIGHT NOW, YOU WOULD NOT BE ABLE TO GO WITH HIM BECAUSE OF NOT HAVING RECEIVED SALVATION, AND THE HOLY SPIRIT; HIS FREE GIFT OF ETERNAL LIFE;  

 IT'S NOT TOO LATE FOR YOU TO RECEIVE IT NOW.  TELL THE HEAVENLY FATHER YOU WANT TO REPENT OF YOUR SINS AND RECEIVE JESUS INTO YOUR HEART TO BE YOUR LORD AND SAVIOR. IT IS NOT THE WILL OF GOD OUR HEAVENLY FATHER, FOR ANYONE TO PERISH, ALTHOUGH MANY DO.  

 

PLEASE CLICK ON THE FOLLOWING "SALVATION PRAYER PAGE" THAT IS ALSO FOUND NEAR THE TOP OF THIS WEB PAGE ON THE RIGHT HAND SIDE DIRECTLY UNDER #1 "FORGIVENESS" WEEKLY BIBLE STUDY AND SAY THE "PRAYER FOR SALVATION"

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OCTOBER 21st-28th, 2009

FOR THE NEXT WEEKLY BIBLE STUDY