Doctrine of the Rapture - worksheet 2
A place prepared in heaven

John 14:1-3 holds a promise for all Christians. Jesus says to all followers 1“Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God ; believe also in me. 2My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to

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a place for
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? 3And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will
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and
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to be with me that you also may be where I am.

Q1 What is Jesus doing for us in heaven?

Q2 What are the two promises? And what is the benefit for us?

The rapture in first Thessalonians

First Thessalonians 4:13-18 (NKJV) is the basic text regarding the rapture. It reads in the NKJV: 13But I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep, lest you sorrow as others who have no hope. 14For if we believe that Jesus

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and
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, even so God will bring with Him those who
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in Jesus. 15For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep. 16For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a
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, with the voice of an archangel, and with the
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of God. And the
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will rise first. 17Then we who
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and remain shall be caught up together with them in the
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to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. 18Therefore comfort one another with these words.

Q3 What is the difference between dying and sleep in Jesus (verses 14 and 16)?

Q4 In verse 17 we see the word caught up, which is in the original Greek harpazoo. It means snatch away. Explain verse 17. Are we snatched away from the earth or from somewhere else? Does this passage talk about the second coming when Jesus will set foot on the mount of Olives?

When will the rapture take place related to the tribulation and the second coming of Christ?

Post-trib
Some Christians believe that the rapture takes place after the tribulation. They take the post-trubulation position (post-trib). That would mean that all people, including Christians, will go trough the horrors of the tribulation. That is very unlikely, because God doesn’t allow His followers to perish (Romans 8:1). See more …

Mid-trib
Midtribulationism teaches that the rapture occurs at the midpoint of the tribulation. At that time, the seventh trumpet sounds (Revelation 11:15), the church will meet Christ in the air, and then the bowl judgments are poured upon the earth (Revelation 15—16) in a time known as the great tribulation. In other words, the rapture and Christ’s second coming (to set up His kingdom) are separated by a period of three and a half years. According to this view, the church goes through the first half of the tribulation but is spared the worst of the tribulation in the last three and a half years. Very close to midtribulationism is the belief in a “pre-wrath” rapture, i.e., a belief that the church is caught up to heaven before the “great day of … wrath” comes (Revelation 6:17). See more …

Pre-trib
Pretribulationism teaches that the Rapture occurs before the Tribulation starts. At that time, the church will meet Christ in the air, and then sometime after that the Antichrist is revealed and the Tribulation begins. In other words, the Rapture and Christ’s Second Coming (to set up His kingdom) are separated by at least seven years. According to this view, the church does not experience any of the Tribulation. See more…

Q5 When you have understood the three positions, which one is in your view the most credible position? And tell why?