What is the “Rapture” OR “The Coming of Jesus”:

I’ve heard preaching of the “rapture” for years.

Webster defines the word rapture as the “state of being carried away with joy, love, etc; ecstasy”.  Webster has a better understanding of rapture than most Christians.  At least Webster knows that you can be “carried away with joy, love, etc.” without sailing off anywhere for it to happen.  

Most Christians believe that in order to go and be where God is, they have to be “carried away” or need to “sail off” through the clouds, the atmosphere, stratosphere with Jesus to get to where God is.  But the truth of the matter is “He is already with us”.   

• Matthew 1:23  Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, GOD WITH US.

First of all, Religion teaches that “when Jesus comes back”, as though He isn’t here now, He’s going to take the “church” back with Him and the Holy Ghost too.  I’ve heard it sung in songs as well.

My question is, “How can Jesus come back when the majority of Christians don’t believe in perfection”?  In Ephesians 5, Paul wrote in relation to “family, husband and wife, etc.”, but he said it was also a great mystery ….. in relation to Christ and the church (verse 32).  

• Ephesians 5:25-27:  Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; that he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, that he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing:  but that it should be holy and without blemish.

Spot is “sin”; wrinkle is “confusion”; and blemish is “sickness” or “defect”.

Firstly, we must understand what sin is.  It’s from the Greek root word hamar’tia, meaning an offense.  The  synonyms are insult; affront; discourtesy; aggression; attack; transgression; fault; crime; sin; wrong.  It goes to another Greek root word hamartan’o, meaning to miss the mark (and so not share in the prize); to err; trespass.   What prize?  

Philippians 3:14  I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.  Which is walking in the total “love”, dominion, authority, and power of God having eternal life by the Holy Ghost, in “this life” right here, not up beyond the blue”.

And we can live here in these flesh bodies that God has placed us in, “sin free”, according to 1 John 3:9:

• 1 John 3:9  Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin (hamar’tia – above); for his seed remaineth in him:  and he cannot sin (hamartan’o – above), because he is born of God.

In relation to spot being sin, spot is from the Greek root word “spilo’o”, meaning to stain (discolor; smear; smudge;  unclean) or defile (dirty; tarnish; corrupt; blacken; contaminate; dishonor; debase); defect or disgrace.  It denotes “moral UNCLEANNESS”.  

• James 3:6  And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity: so is the tongue amongst our members, that it defileth the whole body, and setteth on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire of hell.  
• Jude 23: And others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire; hating even the garment spotted by the flesh.

When John is given the description of the Lamb’s wife in Revelation 19:8, there is no “stain, defilement, or uncleanness”.  

• Revelation 19:8  And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white:  for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints.

Wrinkle is defined in the Greek from “rhutis’”, meaning “a fold” (as drawing together), ie a wrinkle (espec. on the face).  Synonyms for wrinkle are crease; bend; crimp.  These synonyms give a picture of chaos, perplexity, and disorganization, seen in the church today, which we need to move away from.  

• Hebrews 6:1-2  Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection; not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith towards God, of the doctrine of baptisms, and laying on of hands, and of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment.

The antonym for wrinkle is smoothness.  Let’s be like David in 1 Samuel 17:40, when he was ready to slay Goliath, the enemy of God:  And he took his staff in his hand, and chose him five smooth stones out of the brook, and put them in a shepherd’s bag which he had, even in a scrip; and his sling was in his hand:  and he drew near to the Philistine.  And we know the rest of the story, how he defeated that enemy!!  

This is what it is going to take to perfect the saints for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:  till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the k knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ  (Ephesians 4:11-13).   Those “5 SMOOTH stones”:  the apostles; prophets; evangelists; pastors; and teachers.

In relation to blemish:  In Exodus 12, God was ready to deliver the children of Israel out of Egyptian bondage by the hand of Moses in what is called “the Passover”:  

• Exodus 12:3  Speak you unto all the congregation of Israel, saying, in the tenth day of this month they shall take to them every man a lamb, according to the house of their fathers, a lamb for a house.  Verse 5  Your lamb shall be without blemish.  

This word blemish is the root word tamiym’, meaning entire (literally, figuratively, or morally); integrity, truth: - perfect; upright; without spot; whole; complete; sound; undefiled.

• Exodus 23:25  And you shall serve the LORD your God, and he shall bless thy bread, and thy water; and I will take sickness away from the midst of thee.  
• Psalm 91:10  There shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling.  
• Psalm 105:37  He brought them forth also with silver and gold:  and there was not one feeble person among their tribes.  
• Isaiah 53:5  And with his stripes we are healed.

This tells me that the church has to be and can be “perfect”!!  So for those who don’t believe that we can get “caught up” in Jesus now, live a “perfect” life “sin free”, have the mind of Christ, and walk in divine health now, Jesus will never come back to get them.

• Matthew 5:48  Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.

• Hebrews 10:14  For by one offering he hath perfected forever them that are sanctified.

I’M ALREADY “CAUGHT UP” WITH JESUS - RIGHT HERE AND RIGHT NOW!

Let’s examine these verses which many Christians believe to support the idea of the Rapture.

KEY VERSE #1:

1 THESSALONIANS 4:16  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.

He’s already done that, is doing it, and forever will because He is doing it by the Spirit.  He has made His abode in us, His people, because we are His dwelling place.

• 1 Corinthians 6:19-20:  What? Know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?

20 For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's.

• 1 Corinthians 12:12:   For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ.

DESCEND:  from the root word kataba’ino, meaning to come down or step down from a higher position to a lower position to fulfill a divine purpose.  

• John 1:1  In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  Verse 14  And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father), full of grace and truth.
• Philippians 2:7  But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men.  Verse 8  And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.  
• John 6:38  For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me.  

His “coming down from heaven” was not Him coming down through the clouds out of the sky to earth but moving out of the higher realms of “spiritual” elevation with the Father and putting on flesh to die as a man in order to restore man back to God!

SHOUT:  is from the root word kel’euma, which is defined as a cry of incitement (a call; summons; command).  Did you not respond to His “call” and “summons”?

• Matthew 28:19-20  Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:

20 Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you

WITH THE VOICE OF THE ARCHANGEL:  VOICE is defined in the Greek as phone’, meaning a disclosure or revealing of something made known that you didn’t know before; a tone; an address; saying or language.  

• Colossians 1:18: And he is the head of the body, the church.

So now, if He (Jesus) is the “the Head” of the body, the church (and He is), then why are the majority of Christians waiting for “the Head” to come back and get them?  If He is “up yonder” (in heaven), as “religion” preaches, then “the body” is “headless”.  But for those who know that He (Jesus) is here, we are already attached to Him, “the Head”!  These are the ones who have gotten caught up (or seized) into the revelation and are already with Him now!  

• 1 Corinthians 6:17:  He that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit.

THE ARCHANGEL:  archag’gelos are messengers who bring good or glad tidings; those who are become “first-fruits” or “sons of God”!  Yes, Jesus Himself has descended from heaven, and He dwells in us, His body, the Church!  And He speaks through us His people!  

• 2 Corinthians 6:16  And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols?  For ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them;  and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.

AND WITH THE TRUMP OF GOD:  the trump being the sal’pigx, or reverberation (re-echoing; resounding; reproduction) of what the “morning stars” and “sons of God” were speaking and doing in the beginning before the fall of creation.  All they believed and spoke was “life”, walking in the dominion, authority, power, wisdom, understanding, and knowledge of the Most High God!  

The Adam race of people before the fall were walking and living in their “divinity” – but the fall of creation placed them back into their “humanity”!  That’s what God requires of us now - to move out of that which pertains to “humanity” and live in that which pertains to His “divinity”!

KEY VERSE #2:

1 THESSALONIANS 4:17  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.

REMAIN:  from the root word perilei’po, meaning to leave all around, i.e. SURVIVE (outlive; outlast; escape as with one’s life; continue; persist; endure; abide); those of us who abide in Christ and “escape the religious systems of men”.

SHALL BE CAUGHT UP:  root word harpa’zo meaning to be seized; take by force; pulled by the spirit into the revelation truths and mysteries of God himself.  

TO MEET THE LORD:  apan’tesis meaning to have a friendly encounter with the Lord.

IN THE AIR:  aer’ meaning to breathe unconsciously; atmosphere (aura; environment).   WE BECOME INVOLVED IN AND WITH GOD SPIRITUALLY, MENTALLY, AND EMOTIONALLY SO THAT WE ARE LITERALLY BREATHING GOD!  

If we can get “caught up” in other things we do, why can’t we be “caught up” with Jesus so much right now until we literally become God in flesh form as Jesus was?

• 1 John 4:17:  As he is, so are we in this world!

The only place I “sailed off to” or “am caught up” into is the “heavenlies”, which are higher realms of “thinking” with Christ’s mind, through the revelation knowledge of the Word of God revealed by the Holy Ghost!

Luke 9:28-36 relates Jesus’ transfiguration:  Moses and Elias appeared and were talking with Jesus.   When the disciples awoke and saw them, Peter said in verse 33  Let us make three tabernacles; one for thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elias:  not knowing what he said.  (Verse 34) While he thus spake, there came a cloud, and overshadowed them:  and they feared as they entered into the cloud.  

They were “caught up in a cloud” and didn’t sail off anywhere for it to happen; they were up in a “high place”, a “mountain”.  (Verse 35)  And there came a voice out of the cloud saying, This is my beloved Son:  hear him.  

That cloud of witnesses is not off “UP YONDER BEYOND THE BLUE” as religion preaches, but those witnesses are right here at our disposal, and God can dispatch them (manifest or appear) to come to our need as He chooses and as the need dictates.  

• Hebrew 12:1  Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us.

The only way Jesus will COME to you is by revelation!  His APPEARANCE is when He appears in His people!  When you have a need, He will meet that need through “somebody”!  That’s Jesus coming to your rescue.

Someone will say, “Well, Jesus said that He was going to prepare a place for us”.  I’m glad you said that.  HE DID GO AND PREPARE A PLACE FOR US – LET ME EXPLAIN:

• John 14:1-3  Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me.  In my Father’s house are many mansions (dwelling places):  if it were not so, I would have told you.  I go to prepare a place for you.  And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.

This “place” is defined from the word top’os, meaning a spot (a location); not off beyond the blue but “within His body” – “the church”!  Get this:  JESUS was God’s Body!  Yes, the house He (Jesus) was living in when He made this statement in John 14,  He knew that He wouldn’t be living in it too much longer.  So He had to prepare (provide) another “place” in “His house” (CHRIST), for all to dwell.  He made “the church”, the dwelling place of God in us.  

• 1 Corinthians 12:12  For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body:  so also is CHRIST.  (Verse 27)  Now ye are the body of CHRIST, and members in particular.

Now we are IN HIM!

• Revelation 21:3:  And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God.

And in this place that He has prepared for the church is dominion, authority, and power!!  

• Luke 10:19:  Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy:  and nothing shall by any means hurt you.  
• Acts 1:8:  But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you:  and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.
• 1 John 3:2:  Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be:  but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him:  for we shall see him as he is.

When he shall appear – this doesn’t mean out in the sky, but when He is seen in His people.  For when He is seen in His people, we are seeing Him as He is, meaning “in flesh form”!  Because that’s Him appearing to you in “somebody” to meet you at your point of need.  

• 1 John 4:17: As he is, so are we in this world.
• Acts 9:1-5:  (Saul was one of the persecutors of “the church”.  Look at what Jesus said to Saul)  

Verses 3-4:  And as he journeyed, he came near Damascus:  and suddenly there shined

round about him a light from heaven:  and he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying

unto him, “SAUL, SAUL, WHY PERSECUTEST THOU ME”?

(Saul was “persecuting the church”, and Jesus said to him, Why are you  persecuting

ME?  

• Verse 5:  And he said, “Who art thou, Lord”?  And the Lord said, I AM JESUS WHOM THOU PERSECUTEST.

If that’s not proof to others that we (the church) are Him in the earth, then they will never get this revelation.  

• Ephesians 5:30:  For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones.

When I see you, His people, I see Him.  And if I don’t leave out of my house, I can still see Him because all I have to do is look in the mirror.

• Ephesians 1:17-18  That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him:  the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints.

The word “rapture” is not found anywhere in the Bible, except for some newer translations.  I pray that this explanation will open the eyes of many to the truth; the revelation of who Christ is in us and who we are in Him as well as to the revelation that “heaven” is right here on this earth, and we are Him in the earth.

~ Pastor Gracie Perry