Page 140 - Satan in the Sanctuary

142 Satan in the Sanctuary

The Bible, which foretold all of the previous events we
have looked over, predicts all of these as well. They are
given in detail in the following pages.

THE RAPTURE
The rapture is the moment the Lord will take His church
—the Christians—off the earth to join Him in heaven (1
Th 4:16-17). The rapture is not some hopeful philosophy
to help the Christians endure the trials of earthly life; it is
a specific promise from Christ Himself.
The Lord told his nervous disciples at the Last Supper:
"Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe
also in me. In my Father's house are many mansions. . . .
I go to prepare a place for you. ... I will come again, and
receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be
also" (Jn 14:1-3).
From that moment on, Christians have awaited the Lord.
The rapture is the gateway into eternal bliss, which Christ
promised to all believers. It will spare the church—the
body of believers—the cataclysmic events of the tribulation
period and Armageddon. It is the great fulfillment of those
who have followed Jesus Christ.
What about those Christians of ages gone by who faith-
fully awaited the Lord but died on earth?

We which are alive and remain unto the coming of the
Lord shall not prevent [go before] 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 we shall ever be with the Lord (1 Th 4:15-17).