A Biblical Case for the Rapture The doctrine of the rapture is not built on fear, speculation, or man’s opinion. It is built on the promises of the Word of God. When the Bible speaks about the Church, the wrath of God, the coming Tribulation, and the blessed hope of believers, Scripture gives a clear and comforting truth: the Church is not appointed to God’s wrath. This does not mean Christians will never suffer. The Church has always faced persecution, tribulation, hatred, trials, and spiritual warfare. Jesus Himself warned believers that the world would hate them. But there is a difference between the persecution of the world and the wrath of God. There is a difference between the suffering believers endure in this present age and the future day of divine judgment that will come upon an unbelieving world. The Bible teaches that believers are saved from wrath through Jesus Christ. The Church is the bride of Christ, bought with His blood, sealed by the Holy Spirit, and promised deliverance from the coming hour of judgment. The rapture is the blessed hope of the Church, when the Lord Jesus Christ will come for His people before the day of wrath is poured out upon the earth. This article will examine the biblical case for why the Church is not appointed to God’s wrath and how that truth supports the rapture of believers before the Tribulation judgment falls. The Promise: Not Appointed to Wrath One of the clearest verses on this subject is found in First Thessalonians. 1 Thessalonians 5:9-10 (KJV)“For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ,Who died for us, that, whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with him.” This passage is plain. God has not appointed believers to wrath. The word “us” refers to those who belong to Christ. The Church is not destined for the wrath of God. Instead, believers are appointed “to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ.” This salvation is not merely salvation from sin’s penalty in eternity. It also includes deliverance from the coming wrath of God. The same Lord who died for us will bring us to live together with Him. This verse does not say believers will never suffer persecution. Many Christians have suffered greatly throughout Church history. The apostles suffered. The early Church suffered. Believers today suffer in many parts of the world. But that suffering is not the wrath of God. It is the hatred of the world, the attacks of Satan, and the trials of living for Christ in a fallen world. The wrath spoken of in First Thessalonians 5 is connected to the coming day of the Lord. Paul had just warned that sudden destruction would come upon the world. 1 Thessalonians 5:1-3 (KJV)“But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you.For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night.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.” The world will say, “Peace and safety,” but sudden destruction will come. Paul then comforts the believers by reminding them that they are not appointed to wrath. This is a major distinction between the unbelieving world and the saved Church. The lost world will face the day of the Lord. The Church is looking for the Lord Himself. Jesus Delivers Us from the Wrath to Come Paul also wrote earlier in First Thessalonians: 1 Thessalonians 1:9-10 (KJV)“For they themselves shew of us what manner of entering in we had unto you, and how ye turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God;And to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come.” The Thessalonian believers had turned from idols to serve the living and true God. They were also waiting for God’s Son from Heaven. That is the hope of the Church. We are not waiting for the Antichrist. We are not waiting for the wrath of God. We are waiting for Jesus Christ from Heaven. The verse says Jesus “delivered us from the wrath to come.” This is not vague. There is wrath coming. But Jesus delivers His people from it. The Christian life is not only looking backward to the cross. It is also looking upward for Christ. The Church waits for the Son from Heaven because the Lord has promised to come for His people. The Rapture Described The clearest passage describing the rapture is also found in First Thessalonians. 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 (KJV)“But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope.For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep.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: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.Wherefore comfort one another with these words.” This passage gives great comfort to the Church. The Lord Himself will descend from Heaven. The dead in Christ shall rise first. Then living believers will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. The phrase “caught up” is the biblical truth behind the word rapture. The word rapture describes the catching away of believers. … Read more
