Translation Used: King James Version

[1 Thessalonians 4:16] 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:

[1 Thessalonians 4:17] Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.

[1 Corinthians 15:51] Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed,

[1 Corinthians 15:52] 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.

[Rev 3:10] Because you have kept my word of patient endurance, I will keep you from the hour of trial which is coming on the whole world, to try those who dwell upon the earth.

[Revelation 4:1] After this I looked, and, behold, a door was opened in heaven: and the first voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet talking with me; which said, Come up hither, and I will shew thee things which must be hereafter.

[2 Thessalonians 2:1] Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him,

[2 Thessalonians 2:2] 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.

[2 Thessalonians 2:3] Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, (a separation or departure, i.e.: the Rapture) and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;

[2 Thessalonians 2:4] 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.

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The members of the Church were troubled because they thought they missed the rapture, and that they were about to face the wrath of God in the Tribulation, but Paul was reassuring them that no Tribulation would occur until after the Antichrist sets up himself in the Jewish Temple claiming to be God... and also that while they were still not yet raptured, while they were still on the earth, that they were part of the force holding the antichrist in check. 

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[2Thess 2:6] And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time.

[2Thess 2:7] For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way.

[2Thess 2:8] 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:

[Matthew 24:37] But as the days of Noe [Noah] were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.

[Matthew 24:38] For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark,

[Matthew 24:39] And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.

[Matthew 24:40] Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left.

[Matthew 24:41] Two women shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken, and the other left.

[Matthew 24:42] Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come.

[Matthew 24:43] But know this, that if the goodman of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, he would have watched, and would not have suffered his house to be broken up.

[Matthew 24:44] Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh.

[Mat 25:2] And five of them were wise, and five were foolish.

[Mat 25:3] They that were foolish took their lamps, and took no oil with them:

[Mat 25:4] But the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps.

[Mat 25:5] While the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept.

[Mat 25:6] And at midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him.

[Mat 25:7] Then all those virgins arose, and trimmed their lamps.

[Mat 25:8] And the foolish said unto the wise, Give us of your oil; for our lamps are gone out.

[Mat 25:9] But the wise answered, saying, Not so; lest there be not enough for us and you: but go ye rather to them that sell, and buy for yourselves.

[Mat 25:10] And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came; and they that were ready went in with him to the marriage: and the door was shut.

[Mat 25:11] Afterward came also the other virgins, saying, Lord, Lord, open to us.

[Mat 25:12] But he answered and said, Verily I say unto you, I know you not.

[Mat 25:13] Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh.

[1 Thessalonians 1:10] And to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come.

[1 Thessalonians 5:9] For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ,

[Rev 2:22] Behold, I will cast her into a bed, and them that commit adultery with her into great tribulation, except they repent of their deeds.

[Rev 3:10] Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth.

[Luke 21:36] Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man.

[Luke 12:36] And ye yourselves like unto men that wait for their lord, when he will return from the wedding; that when he cometh and knocketh, they may open unto him immediately.

[Rev 19:1] And after these things I heard a great voice of much people in heaven [the raptured?], saying, Alleluia; Salvation, and glory, and honour, and power, unto the Lord our God:

[Rev 19:7] Let us rejoice and exult and give him the glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his Bride has made herself ready;

[Rev 19:8] it was granted her to be clothed with fine linen, bright and pure"--for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints.

[Rev 19:9] And the angel said to me, "Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb." And he said to me, "These are true words of God."

[Rev 8:13] And I beheld, and heard an angel flying through the midst of heaven, saying with a loud voice, Woe, woe, woe, to the inhabiters of the earth [those not raptured?] by reason of the other voices of the trumpet of the three angels, which are yet to sound!

Finally, the 70th week of Daniel, which becomes the 7-year Tribulation, is a judgement upon Isreal, not the Church. Scriptures about the 70 weeks of Daniel: Daniel 9:24-27, 

[Mat 16:18] And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

[John 14:2] In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.

[John 14:3] And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.

[Luke 17:26] And as it was in the days of Noe, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man.

[Luke 17:27] They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, and the flood came, and destroyed them all.

[Luke 17:28] Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded;

[Luke 17:29] But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all.

[2Pet 2:4] For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment;

[2Pet 2:5] And spared not the old world, but saved Noah the eighth person, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly;

[2Pet 2:6] And turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrha into ashes condemned them with an overthrow, making them an ensample unto those that after should live ungodly;

[2Pet 2:7] And delivered just Lot, vexed with the filthy conversation of the wicked:

[2Pet 2:8] (For that righteous man dwelling among them, in seeing and hearing, vexed his righteous soul from day to day with their unlawful deeds;)

[2Pet 2:9] The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations, and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished:

[Acts 1:11] Which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? 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.

[2Pet 3:3] Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts,

[2Pet 3:4] And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation.

[2Pet 3:5] For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water:

[2Pet 3:6] Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished:

[1John 1:9] If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

[Rev 21:27] And there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie: but they which are written in the Lamb's book of life.

My opinions:

Most Anti-Rapture webpages conclude with saying that they hope that people who believe in the Rapture will not put their 100% faith in it. Interestingly, people who teach the Rapture say the same thing!

As I see it, the idea could ONLY lead to death, deception, and leading people astray if people put their total faith that they would be raptured and that they would never have to suffer any persecution ever at all for any reason.

If someone were teaching this about the Rapture doctrine, he would be mistaken. Clearly there was persecution in the past. There is ongoing persecution against Christians today, and there will be persecution against Christians in the future, before the Rapture comes. Also, clearly the Bible does not teach that ALL Christians will be raptured. If someone did teach that ALL Christians would be raptured, I believe that would contradict the parable of the 10 virgins and the accounts of the review of the Churches in the beginning of Revelation. In fact, as I see it, only half or less are deemed worthy at the Rapture date, and the rest are sent off into the Tribulation for further testing.

If Christians are mentally prepared for persecution, then the doctrine would not lead people into death, as they would be prepared for when persecution came, regardless of whether or not there was a rapture before the Tribulation.

If Christians do not have total faith that they would be raptured, and are a bit unsure if they will be raptured or not, there also is no danger, as they would be prepared for persecution of the tribulation.

If there is no rapture, I, personally, would have no hope in understanding much of the Bible, and I would be thoroughly confused by the words of many passages.

So then, am I saying I would rather understand with clarity (and believe in the rapture) than be sure of avoiding false doctrine (in case the rapture is false)? Yes. Because clarity is the only way to detect false doctrine.

What is our faith? What is Christianity? The base is that we believe the words, and life of Christ. That we believe he came in the flesh, and died and was bought back to life. That Christ conquors all, and has the power of forgiveness of sins. That we all have the hope that if Christ did what he did, spoke the truth, and did not lie, we all have the hope of everlasting life, and that we will be with him in heaven.

The rapture doctrine is simply that we will be with Christ in heaven. Pre-trib rapture doctrine is simply that before the tribulation of the AntiChrist and mark of the beast world system, there will be a fulfillment of one of Christ's basic promises.

If I'm wrong, there will be 3.5 years of pre-wrath tribulation. If I'm wrong, there will be 3.5 years of preaching by two supernaturally-endowed witnesses of God. If I'm wrong, there will be 3.5 years after the AntiChrist reveals himself by confirming a 7-year covenant with Isreal, and 3.5 years before the AntiChrist sets himself up in the temple and declares himself to be God. If I'm wrong, there would be ample time to set things straight...

If the people who teach there is no rapture are wrong... woah! The consequences will be devestating! If the rapture happens, and the AntiChrist and False Prophet come onto the scene and announce that the people who disappeared were deemed mentally unfit for the new world, and had to be taken away by space aliens to be "re-educated" to reform their intolerant Jesus-only backward way of thinking... what then? If the AntiChrist and False Prophet announce that it was a miracle that they performed on the world to rid the world of intolerance and hate, what then?

Now, let's reason together. Let's let the odds of probability decide which is the more dangerous doctrine to hold.

If you are an athiest, then you believe there is no penalty at the time of death, no heaven no hell. If you believe in God, the consequences of death are heaven and hell. Now, from a risk/reward standpoint, it makes more sense to put your bet on the eternal rewards, and belive in God.

Similarly, let's look at the risk/reward scenario regarding the pre-trib rapture. If I'm wrong, and there is no rapture, nothing is lost, as I do not teach anyone to think that they will avoid persecution and that God will automatically find them worthy to escape the things to come. The great Apostle Paul prayed daily that he would be worth to escape the things to come. Honestly, I don't think I'm worthy to escape the things to come, and I belive that I will have to go into the tribulation for further testing... simply because I've been too wishy-washy in the past regarding my faith. Maybe Jesus will see fit to judge otherwise, but I'm not going to assume I'm worthy!

But whether or not I think of myself worthy or not to escape in the Rapture has no bearing on whether the doctrine is true or not.

If you believe and teach there is no rapture, and there IS a pre-trib rapture, your heavenly hope to escape the things to come is just about gone, and you are stuck having to go through the tribulation and likely be beheaded.

Interesting thought: If the rapture were a Satanic idea, what would be the benefit to Satan if you believed this doctrine? How is the idea Satanic in any way, shape or form? If the rapture will happen soon, and true Christians will be taken away, then Satan must be plotting something big to explain away the event with non-Biblical reasons. Ever hear of UFO's taking people away? Something to think about...

Why do Churches feel so uncomfortable about the idea of the rapture? Read over the parable about the kingdom of God being like 10 virgins in Matthew 25, quoted above. All are chaste, and awaiting Christ's return, but only one half go. Kind of scary isn't it?

What to do if you miss the Rapture. / Or, click here.

WEBMASTERS! Feel free to copy everything on this page, or link directly to this page. This information is NOT copyrighted!

Since it's the last days, God has made it easier and easier to spread the word.

[Daniel 12:4] But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased.

[Matthew 24:14] And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.

All you have to do is email a few friends and/or family members about this non-denominational website, and tell them to email their friends... You don't even have to talk to anyone, or say anything. Just copy and paste the following url in an email, and maybe ask them what they think of it...

http://www.jasonhommel/

Final thoughts for anyone who has read this page and thinks "yeah, whatever..."

L12:54 Then he went on to say also to the crowds: "When you see a cloud rising in western parts, at once you say, 'A storm is coming,' and it turns out so. L12:55 And when you see that a south wind is blowing, you say, 'There is a heat wave,' and it occurs. L12:56 Hypocrites, you know how to examine the outward appearance of earth and sky, but how is it you do not know how to examine this particular time?"

Remember the story of the thief dying on the cross next to Jesus:

"And he said unto Jesus, LORD, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom." "And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, Today shalt thou be with me in paradise." (Luke 23:42-43(KJ))

This story is a beautiful example of the love and mercy of our Lord. Right up until the very time that this thief was about to die, this thief was lost. Then, he realized who Jesus was. He humbly asked Jesus to remember him. He called Him Lord. He was saved at the very last moment, and given the assurance of being with Jesus.