There are 2 "resurrections" - but nothing about 2 'raptures'. In fact, there isn't a Scripture for "1" rapture either. Those who are indoctrinated with this "great escape" folklore are blinded as a result of not being given eyes that see that Christ was not raptured out of anything, but instead endured to the end.
Jesus says that "as the days of Noah, thus shall it be." How was it in the days of Noah? Who was "left" and who was "taken away?"
Matthew 24:36 "But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only.
Matthew 24:37 But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be.
Matthew 24:38 For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark,
Matthew 24:39 and did not know until the flood came and took them all away, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be."
Who was it that was "TAKEN AWAY?" It wasn't Noah and his family! So when we read, "As the days of Noah were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be," it should be obvious to any thinking person that the ones taken at the end of the age are the wicked, and not the righteous.
This SAME principle is used throughout the entire Bible--the good are left and the wicked are taken away.
This principle is confirmed in the parable of the wheat and the tares:
Matthew 13:30 "Gather ye together FIRST the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them; but gather the wheat into my barns."
The Old Testament endorses the same thought.
Proverbs 2:21-22 "For the upright shall dwell in the land and the perfect shall REMAIN in it. But the wicked shall be cut off from the earth."
Psalm 104:35 "Let the sinners be consumed out of the earth and let the wicked be no more."
Proverbs 10:30. "The righteous shall NEVER BE REMOVED, but the wicked shall not inhabit the earth."
And what did Jesus pray?
John 17:15 "I pray NOT that Thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that Thou shoudest keep them from evil one."
The Plan of God is not about an escape out of this world, it is about the transformation of mankind from a creature of the dust into a creature of the spirit.
Jesus said,
Matthew 10:22 "And ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake: but he that endureth to the end shall be saved."
Think about the above verse for a while.
It's amazing to me how people can be so deceived into believing 1 Thessalonians 4:15-17 is speaking of a secret "rapture." It's mind blowing really. Notice how the Apostle Paul describes the resurrection of the "dead in Christ" occurring before "the living" are gathered to the Lord:
1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 "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 shall we ever be with the Lord."
Paul says, "THEN, we who are still alive and remain" will be "caught up TOGETHER WITH THEM to meet the Lord in the air." The order of events is very clearly stated in this text.
Rapture advocates believe that Paul was speaking of "those who are alive and remain," as though they were 'left behind' after some secret rapture. How ridiculous! Consider the preceding verse:
1 Thessalonians 4:15 "For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not precede them which are asleep."
This verse says that the living will not precede the dead. Second, Paul refers to those who "remain until the coming of the Lord" in the sense that they remain alive until the Lord appears. This idea is certainly quite different than being "left behind after a rapture." Yet this is how rapture advocates assault and mangle the Scriptures. It truly boggles the mind :crazy
