Free End Times Book (pdf).. - Rapture Notes

"At that time Michael, the great prince who protects your people, will arise. There will be a time of distress such
as has not happened from the beginning of nations until then. But at that time your people--everyone whose
name is found written in the book--will be delivered." (Daniel 12:1)
The trumpet call, not to be confused with the last of the seven trumpets in Revelation, is a trumpet call associated
with the Jewish Feast of Tabernacles. It will be used to call the living saints at the time of the Rapture to be caught
up and transformed together with the just-raised saints of the past. This is described also in 1 Corinthians 15,
I declare to you, brothers, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable
inherit the imperishable.
Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed--in a flash, in the twinkling of an
eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be
changed. For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality.
When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying
that is written will come true: "Death has been swallowed up in victory."
"Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?" The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin
is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the
Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain. (1 Corinthians 15:50-58)
When an individual dies he or she leaves time and enters eternity. Some scholars think that all believers travel
through eternity immediately, "in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye," to arrive at the Rapture the next instant in
his or her personal experience. If that is the case, all believers arrive in heaven at the same "time." Thus, "to be
absent from the body is to be at home with the Lord." (2 Corinthians 5:8) We may have difficulty picturing this if
we do not realize that eternity runs according to an entirely different time than the one-dimensional time frame in
which we are constrained to live while in our mortal bodies. For more on the issue of Time, see Appendix: The
Complexities Of Time, toward the end of the book.
Other Important Terms
As you probably know, there are many different ways of looking at Biblical prophecy. Here are a few other terms
you will hear in discussions about the future.
Millennium - 1000 years of history during which Christ will reign as King of Kings (Rev. 20:2-7).
Premillennialism - The belief that Christ returns visibly and bodily at the beginning of the thousand-year reign of
Christ on the earth. He will rule the nations from Jerusalem.
Postmillennialism - The belief that Christ will return at the end of the present age to take over the earth. Meantime,
He is assumed to reign on earth through the church now. Postmillenialists do not necessarily believe in a literal
millennial age. Satan was defeated at the cross and is now bound, hence the final triumph of the church in history is
assured.
Amillennialism - The belief that there will no literal 1000 year reign of Christ. Thus Revelation 20 is taken
symbolically, not literally, by adherents of this view. Amillennialists generally believe that Israel has been
permanently set aside for all time and that God's current plan of salvation involves only the church.
(See also: Definition of common terms found in Eschatology, Appendix)
The authors' understanding of future things is firmly premillennial. A literal interpretation of Scripture requires
belief in an actual thousand year period of time during which Christ will reign as King of Kings and Lord of Lords.
The book of Revelation describes these periods of time clearly: The Church Age (chapters 1-3), The Tribulation
(chapters 4-19), The Millennium (chapter 20), and then The New Heaven and Earth (chapters 21-22).
Thy Kingdom Come, Thy Will be Done… 37