The definition of the Rapture is simply this: God's people will rise in the air to meet Jesus in the clouds upon HIS return, for those who have received HIM as their savior. According to Paul, the 'saved' who have died will precede the living in this event. First, the dead who received Jesus while they were living, will rise and then the living will all ascend to meet Jesus in the air.

NOTE: When reference is made to meeting HIM in the "clouds" or "air" I believe "clouds" means in the "Spirit." I believe that this is confirmed in the true meaning of the word in the original language. Makes no difference - we will meet him in another form. Not our physical bodies. Scripture tells us that flesh cannot enter the Kingdom. Only Spirit will enter the Kingdom. Therefore, we will not be in our physical body. We will be in our new, perfect bodies.

The following is from 1st Thessalonians, chapter 4, verse 15:
¹⁵I can tell you this directly from the Lord: We who are still living when the Lord returns will not rise to meet him ahead of those who are in their graves. ¹⁶For the Lord himself will come down from heaven with a commanding shout, with the call of the archangel, and with the trumpet call of God. First, all the Christians who have died will rise from their graves. ¹⁷Then, together with them, we who are still alive and remain on the earth will be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air and remain with him forever.

This scripture describes the event but does not say when it will occur... for that see the scripture below. This is where "they" lie. Read on....

There are highly regarded even famous preachers who teach a false doctrine. The false doctrine that the church will be raptured before The Great Tribulation.

I recently heard a well known, popular TV preacher teach on national television that the rapture occurs before the tribulation and that this could be proven in 2 Thessalonians, chapter 2. I did not need to read it but I did... It is not there! As a matter of fact it proves the opposite! Paul even warns the people to not be misled. Let me show you here:  
2 Thessalonians, chapter 2:¹Concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered to him, we ask you, brothers, ²not to become easily unsettled or alarmed by some prophecy, report or letter supposed to have come from us, saying that the day of the Lord has already come. ³Don't let anyone deceive you in any way, for (that day will not come) until the rebellion occurs and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the man doomed to destruction. ⁴He will oppose and will exalt himself over everything that is called God or is worshiped, so that he sets himself up in God's temple, proclaiming himself to be God.

Look again at verse 3 above!! We are warned to not be deceived, yet this is what this lying preacher was doing!! Deception! How can people fall for this when the scriptures so clearly warn us against this demonic doctrine! Read the scripture above til you understand! It is clearly telling us to not be deceived that Jesus will not be back until the Son of Perdition aka the "anti-Christ" will sit in the Temple and declare that he is God. That has not happened yet! These hucksters tell you Jesus can be back any day... Now when a false teacher / liar tells you this, show him on your way out of the door. If that teacher has lied about this they have probably lied about other things.

In other words, Jesus will not return until the anti-Christ (man of lawlessness) sits in the temple. That is midpoint of the Tribulation or later.

Don't be deliberately stupid. Don't take my word for it, read it for yourself... We are so gullible and so stupid and the rich TV performers know that!

It is so easy to open the bible and reveal the lies these men teach. If you don't care about yourself, care for the little children that you may influence and cost them their soul. If you teach them that Jesus can come any day and the anti-Christ comes first and they receive him as their savior, you sent them to hell. Remember, Jesus will not be back for us until the Son of Perdition sits in the Temple as God. Jesus will not be back til then, regardless how much you believe in the mistaken preachers. This lie will cause many to accept the evil one as their Christ.

Alarming Conclusion:
I have no doubt the Rapture is fact, my question is why are "they" misleading the people as to when the rapture occurs? I can only believe they want you to receive the anti-Christ as Jesus... OR... Consider this possibility ... A famous preacher will tell his people and all those who trust him that it is OK to let them implant the chip into their hand or forehead. He will go on to explain that it can't be the "mark" because we will be raptured out of here before the mark is enforced. Millions will be tricked into taking the mark. I believe it is a viable possibility as to why these highly regarded preachers, who know better, are teaching this trash. If you trust these preachers more than Jesus and HIS warnings, then (perhaps) your eternal home should be hell. I'm sorry but there is no other way to say it. God's people will learn and depend on the written word of Jesus, not a man.

I can not think of any other reason they would teach these lies to people who refuse to read the scripture. Many people will believe that the anti-Christ is Jesus, largely because they are being taught lies. Jesus promised that HE will not be back for us until after the Tribulation. We will not "fly away" and escape the trials of that horrible time. I hope I am gone before that time comes. However, It looks as though it is getting pretty close!

For years I thought these preachers/teachers were ignorant. It never occurred to me that anybody would deliberately teach a doctrine that would take many to hell. After years of study and prayer, I finally had to accept the facts.

Obvious fact: some good people are simply misled but it is just as obvious that some of them are deliberately misleading you. This is very hard to accept. Jesus warned us many times. Matthew 7:¹⁵Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.

The theory that the Rapture occurs BEFORE The Great tribulation is in direct conflict with Jesus' teaching. Why do these teachers teach a false doctrine? You must decide for yourself. You can read the facts on this page. You decide.

I do not like to just give you scripture to read but this says it better than I can...

Read it for yourself, Matthew chapter 24:

³Later, Jesus sat on the slopes of the Mount of Olives. His disciples came to him privately and asked, "When will all this take place? And will there be any sign ahead of time to signal your return and the end of the world?" ⁴Jesus told them, "Don't let anyone mislead you. ⁵For many will come in my name, saying, `I am the Messiah.' They will lead many astray. ⁶And wars will break out near and far, but don't panic. Yes, these things must come, but the end won't follow immediately. ⁷The nations and kingdoms will proclaim war against each other, and there will be famines and earthquakes in many parts of the world. ⁸But all this will be only the beginning of the horrors to come.

    ⁹"Then you will be arrested, persecuted, and killed. You will be hated all over the world because of your allegiance to me. ¹⁰And many will turn away from me and betray and hate each other. ¹¹And many false prophets will appear and will lead many people astray. ¹²Sin will be rampant everywhere, and the love of many will grow cold. ¹³But those who endure to the end will be saved. ¹⁴And the Good News about the Kingdom will be preached throughout the whole world, so that all nations will hear it; and then, finally, the end will come.

    ¹⁵"The time will come when you will see what Daniel the prophet spoke about: the sacrilegious object that causes desecration standing in the Holy Place" reader, pay attention! ¹⁶"Then those in Judea must flee to the hills. ¹⁷A person outside the house must not go inside to pack. ¹⁸A person in the field must not return even to get a coat. ¹⁹How terrible it will be for pregnant women and for mothers nursing their babies in those days. ²⁰And pray that your flight will not be in winter or on the Sabbath. ²¹For that will be a time of greater horror than anything the world has ever seen or will ever see again. ²²In fact, unless that time of calamity is shortened, the entire human race will be destroyed. But it will be shortened for the sake of God's chosen ones. ²³"Then if anyone tells you, `Look, here is the Messiah,' or `There he is,' don't pay any attention. ²⁴For false messiahs and false prophets will rise up and perform great miraculous signs and wonders so as to deceive, if possible, even God's chosen ones. ²⁵See, I have warned you. ²⁶"So if someone tells you, `Look, the Messiah is out in the desert,' don't bother to go and look. Or, `Look, he is hiding here,' don't believe it! ²⁷For as the lightning lights up the entire sky, so it will be when the Son of Man comes. ²⁸Just as the gathering of vultures shows there is a carcass nearby, so these signs indicate that the end is near.

    ²⁹"Immediately after those horrible days end, the sun will be darkened, the moon will not give light, the stars will fall from the sky,and the powers of heaven will be shaken. ³⁰And then at last, the sign of the coming of the Son of Man will appear in the heavens, and there will be deep mourning among all the nations of the earth. And they will see the Son of Man arrive on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. ³¹And he will send forth his angels with the sound of a mighty trumpet blast, and they will gather together his chosen ones from the farthest ends of the earth and heaven.

See? He comes after the Persecution, The Great Tribulation, Those Horrible Days.

I rest my case! Now ask yourself why "they" preach a false doctrine. "They" are not ignorant. Don't you be ignorant either! Do not buy into their false doctrine and leave yourself or your family unprepared. Prepare for tough times and prepare your loved ones for tough times if you are living in those last days. This way you won't be disappointed in the teachings of the bible. God's promise is to be with you in your trials! That's good enough for me! I just pray for strength to NEVER doubt HIM! I can tell you for certain; I have lived through horrible trials and HE was right there with me!

Your Friend,

John

P.S. Just one more word on this: Powerful ministries teach this false (rapture) doctrine! I heard one of the most popular preachers of this day, John Hagee, on national TV, tell the people that he would be snatched up and his body would go flying through the air, through the universe, right past the planets... Yes, he did say that! It is hard to believe that any person can teach that with a straight face. He must believe that the physical body enters the Kingdom. Very foolish to teach that and should make anyone doubt his teachings. Hagee should read it for himself; 1 Corinthians 15:50 Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption. He is an entertainer. People like his antics and his acting. But don't be fooled by him. He preaches a lot of truth but you have to really know scripture or he will slip in his man-made doctrine.

Believe the bible, not these men. Hagee has the people convinced that they will not have to live through the tribulation and their faith won't be tested because they will "fly away." According to him (and others) Christians will avoid all the things that Jesus was so careful to prepare us for. Do you believe the words of Jesus or a millionaire preacher who likes to tell the tithing members what they want to hear? You decide... it's your eternity.