The Rapture

[Silvaqua]

Do you believe in it? Do you think that we'll be taken into heaven before the tribulation begins?

[batyashua]

No, actually, I don't. I haven't studied a whole lot on this though but here's a couple of reasons.
1.) A pre-trib rapture is not indicated in the Old Testament
2.) The Scriptures say in that in the Last Days many of the Saints will be killed.
And 3.) Let's face it, people, it just wouldn't make sense! 'Tribulation' is 'severe trial', and the End Times are meant to test are faith, are they not? But if we get taken up before it starts, what's the point of having a Tribulation? For God to show all the unbelievers that they were wrong and he was right? I don't think so.
Think of the parable of the ten virgins. It is a foreshadowing of the End Times.

[Silvaqua]

I concur.
God doesn't baby His people. He takes good care of them, but He also lets them grow and make their own choices. Besides, there are so many problems with the idea of Rapture. Would he take children too, since they're innocent? Then what if children are born after the Rapture? What if people turned to God after the Rapture? Would he take them too?

Does anyone remember the verse where the idea for Rapture came from? Cuz I had a point, but I lost it, because I can't find the verse...

[batyashua]

Um, it's somewhere in 2 Thessalonians (spelling?). It talks about us being taken up to the clouds or something...
Here's a bright idea! Why don't I grab a Bible and look it up!
1 Thessalonians 4: 17 The we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord.
Yep, that's the Scripture verse pro-trib rapture people give me. And dad just handed me a book called 'The Rapture Book' so I might read that to get a better idea of how exactly it came about. Just so I'm not completely in the dark.

[Silvaqua]

Ok, that's not the one I was thinking of... It's something about "two men walking in a field and one is taken."

[jars of clay]

lol, I personally think that, rapture, no rapture, doesn't matter so much as the knowledge that in the end, God wins. A lot of trouble has been caused by men trying to figure out Gods plans with their brainy theories and time charts, and really, knowing that God wins is enough even for me to be satisfied.

[Silvaqua]

Very true. I don't consider this to be an important topic, but "as iron sharpens iron..." It's good to hear scripture from a different perspective. You never know what you'll learn, and one should always challenge their own beliefs. Because if you can't defend them to yourself, how will you defend them to the world?

[batyashua]

One of the reasons I think that it actually is important is that in the End a lot of Christians are going to be expecting the Rapture to come; for them to be taken away before the Tribulation starts. So what will happen when they don't? I think a lot of people are going to lose faith.

[jars of clay]

if they are truly in christ then they will not trully fall away

[Silvaqua]

How can that be? When even little things cause us to wander? If God broke all of (what you thought were) his promises to you, would you stay faithful? Why is it that we believe whatever people say about God, without testing the spirits?

Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.
1 John 4:1

[jars of clay]

how does the story of the prodigal son go?

[Silvaqua]

Of course God will call us to himself if He wills. But how does that apply to what I'm talking about? The prodigal son didn't fall away due to unbelief, he went out and lived the crazy, sinful life he wanted to try out. It's not a sin to be ignorant. But perhaps it is wrong to choose to be.

[Silvaqua]

And I'm not trying to come down on you or anything, J.o.C--I wanted to make sure you knew that. It's just that I don't want to fall away from God and don't see how anybody could be happy-go-lucky at the thought that they might lose faith. Because...

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W-F2EkrGJjU[/youtube]

[jars of clay]

please dont jump too far ahead, just answer my question

[Riley]

So, you guys don't believe we will be here for the Tribulation?