reply to Snowwhite
Dear Snowwhite,
You said:
"Lets not confuse the last trump of Cor. with the last trumpet of Rev. One trump is declaring great news to the saints,the other is sending another woe to the earth. One trump has a voice with it,and the saints of God will hear it,the other trumpet is sending bad news to a sinful world.
blessings."
"One trump has a voice with it,and the saints of God will hear it"
Oh really? And which one has the voice? Are you talking about 1 Thess 4:16-17 which says ". . . voice of the archangel, . . ."? Or are you talking about Rev 10:7 which says ". . . voice of the seventh angel . . ."?
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:
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.
1 Thess 4:16-17 (KJV)
7 But in the days of the *voice of the seventh angel*, when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of God should be finished, as he hath declared to his servants the prophets.
Rev 10:7 (KJV)
And yes, the saints of God will hear the trumpet. But can you give me Scripture which says that no one else will hear it?
The last trumpet *is* declaring great news to the saints and it is sending bad news to a sinful world *at the same time*.
Did you fail to notice that in both 1 Thess 4:16-17 and 1 Cor 15:51-52 there is a *resurrection*? And since 1 Thess 4:16-17 and 1 Cor 15:51-52 both describe the same event we know that the dead in Christ shall rise first and *then* we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds? (Or as 1 Cor 15:51-52 puts it, "the dead shall be raised incorruptible, *and* we shall be changed", which is the same thing.)
Since 1 Thess 4:16-17 refers to our being "caught up" *after* the dead in Christ rise, then how can you believe in a "rapture" *before* the resurrection of the dead in Christ?
1 Thess 4:16-17 and 1 Cor 15:51-52 both speak of the first resurrection, which is the resurrection of the dead in Christ. And it happens at the last trumpet (or trump), which is the same as the 7th trumpet of Revelation. Since neither 1 Thess 4:16-17 nor 1 Cor 15:51-52 show a "rapture" before the dead in Christ are raised, what Scripture do you have to show such a belief?
The very word "rapture" (which isn't in the KJV of the Bible), was taken from the Latin word which was used in 1 Thess 4:16-17, was it not? And 1 Thess 4:16-17 does not support a "rapture" before the resurrection of the dead in Christ!
Yours in Christ,
John Reno