Greetings Ya'll,
Myself, in my belief,and from what I have studied up on such as Darby, who brought this belief about in the early 1800's,...........do not believe that "The Church will be gathered up & taken back to Heaven, before the Tribulation".
Scripturally , I refer you to the following:
Dan 12:1 And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people: and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time: and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book.
Dan 12:2 And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.
Dan 12:3 And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever.
Jer 30:2 Thus speaketh the LORD God of Israel, saying, Write thee all the words that I have spoken unto thee in a book.
Jer 30:3 For, lo, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will bring again the captivity of my people Israel and Judah, saith the LORD: and I will cause them to return to the land that I gave to their fathers, and they shall possess it.
Jer 30:4 And these are the words that the LORD spake concerning Israel and concerning Judah.
Jer 30:5 For thus saith the LORD; We have heard a voice of trembling, of fear, and not of peace.
Jer 30:6 Ask ye now, and see whether a man doth travail with child? wherefore do I see every man with his hands on his loins, as a woman in travail, and all faces are turned into paleness?
Jer 30:7 Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it: it is even the time of Jacob's trouble; but he shall be saved out of it.
Jer 30:8 For it shall come to pass in that day, saith the LORD of hosts, that I will break his yoke from off thy neck, and will burst thy bonds, and strangers shall no more serve themselves of him:
Jer 30:9 But they shall serve the LORD their God, and David their king, whom I will raise up unto them.
Mat 24:21 For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.
Mat 24:22 And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened.
Mat 24:29 Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken:
Mat 24:30 And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.
Mat 24:31 And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.
I ask you here..........Who are The Elect?...........
1Co 15:51 Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed,
1Co 15:52 In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.
I also have to point out to you that this "gathering" happens "AT THE LAST TRUMPET". Where is there any mention of "trumpets" spoken of which would have any bearing upon "Our being gathered"? Furthermore,........what happens before "the last trumpet"?
It is found in the Book of Revelations:
Rev 8:2 And I saw the seven angels which stood before God; and to them were given seven trumpets.
What happens prior to the Seventh Trumpet is The Tribulation. In fact the following verses of scripture are either saying that the "Beast" is going to come up to The Kingdom of Heaven and make war upon the Elect,...........or, in TRUTH,........they have not yet been "gathered up":
Rev 13:5 And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months.
Rev 13:6 And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven.
Rev 13:7 And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations.
Rev 13:8 And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.
Paul even informed the Thessalonians that they would not be "gathered up" until after "the man of sin" revealed himself:
2Th 2:1 Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him,
2Th 2:2 That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand.
2Th 2:3 Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;
2Th 2:4 Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.
Notice that this follows along with Rev. 13:5,6
Here is "The Gathering/Harvest":
Rev 14:12 Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.
Rev 14:13 And I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Write, Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth: Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labours; and their works do follow them.
Rev 14:14 And I looked, and behold a white cloud, and upon the cloud one sat like unto the Son of man, having on his head a golden crown, and in his hand a sharp sickle.
Rev 14:15 And another angel came out of the temple, crying with a loud voice to him that sat on the cloud, Thrust in thy sickle, and reap: for the time is come for thee to reap; for the harvest of the earth is ripe.
Rev 14:16 And he that sat on the cloud thrust in his sickle on the earth; and the earth was reaped.
More is found in Rev. 19:
But I have a very deep question............How is it that today's "christians" feel comfortable with believing a "myth / Lie" about what they have soon to happen to them,...............when hundreds of thousands of "Christians", if not millions, were put to death by Rome, simply because they refused to worship any other than The Almighty God of Israel?
I say here that The Tribulation / Time of Jacob's Trouble / and The time of Trouble are all one and the same simply because each claims that they have no equal in the past, nor in the future.............THEREFORE THEY ARE ONE.
I say here that each of these descriptions of the same event, add a little bit more detail to the final picture. Notice that a "Resurrection" is described in Dan. 12: / Jer. 30: / and Math. 24:.
I say here, that there is a much more "deeper meaning" to when The Messiah said "Take up your cross and follow me", and also when He spoke of one who "would save their life and lose it."
Shalom!
So to make it a little easier to voice your opinion let's make it a poll. What do you believe about the rapture? I know many christian that believe in it, and some that don't, there's also the matter of when. Let the voting begin!! :-D