What is the Rapture?

The Rapture event is certainly Biblical, although the word in itself is not.

The event is a literal sudden vanishing of Christians from the earth. This event will occur in the blink of an eye, suddenly, and without warning.

God has always separated light from darkness, and here he will begin separating saved from lost.

In the New Testament, there are only two kinds: saved and lost. We are all born lost, although very young children are counted as innocent. Beyond a young age of accountability, children are counted as lost.

When a person trusts Jesus Christ as their own Saviour, an irreversible spiritual conversion takes place and that person becomes a born-again child of God, and therefore saved. Salvation is entirely by grace through faith and once obtained can never be lost.

We are now in the Church Age, under the New Testament dispensation and the time of the Gentiles. During that time, anybody can be saved by grace through faith, obtaining salvation as a free gift from God. When this time is over, and God's patience is ended, the Rapture occurs.

It is expected that the Rapture event will snatch away (1) all saved Christian Gentiles; (2) all saved Messianic Jews; (3) all infants and young children. This age of accountability is never stated in specific years, and probably varies from person to person. A reasonable guess would be about seven years of age.

When this happens, all those who are taken will simply vanish. Most Christians assume that they will leave their clothes and personal items behind, as was the case in Left Behind. There is some thought we will also leave our blood behind. If both are true, then the clothes will collapse in a bloody mess on the ground. The sudden removal of flesh and bones body mass will likely cause an air implosion which will have some effect of scattering the blood.

It is also expected that dead bodies of saved people will also vanish. This leads to some thought of having received an organ transplant from a saved person. If you are unsaved and you've got a saved person's liver, it is quite probable that the liver will be taken and you will die on the spot.

Quite a large number of unsaved people will die from the Rapture event itself. Consider those riding in a car or a bus with a saved driver. It is said that some airlines do not allow two Christian pilots on the same flight for that very reason - if the Rapture occurs, then at least one is there to land the plane.

The event will be so horrifying for those left behind that it is expected that many will commit suicide. Husbands, wives, parents, teenagers, will all have lost someone very close to them and will have to grapple with the loss.

For those of us who are in, you'll suddenly find yourself up in the sky, to meet the Lord in the air. I personally think, and it is just my opinion, that immediately before the Rapture, you might briefly hear a trumpet and you may hear the Lord's voice saying either, my name followed by "Come up hither." or, "Rise up my love, my fair one, and come away." Sometimes I imagine that all the men will hear the former and all the ladies will hear the latter, but that's just my guess.

At any rate, the Rapture is imminent, and you are either saved or lost.

(For he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succoured thee: behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.)
- 2Cor 6:2