[Yosemitest]

I refer back to Comment 262

Notice that do not stay "in the clouds", but we stay "with the Lord".
And WHERE is the LORD going ?

" And His feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives,
which is before Jerusalem on the east,
and the mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the west,
and there shall be a very great valley;
and half of the mountain shall remove toward the north, and half of it toward the south. "

SO... one second you're up,
and the next moment you're on the ground "with the LORD" and you're "upon the mount of Olives".

From your link:

"Whether a particular English word is or is not found in the Bible is not important.
What is important is whether the concept is found.
The original language in which the text was written reveals that
the concept of the SUDDEN catching up is valid.

Well, 1 Corinthians 15:50-58 makes that SUDDEN CHANGE ... CLEAR.
And John 15:18-27 makes it clear that "In the world ye shall have tribulation".
And what of the "two witnesses", "the two olive trees, and the two candlesticks" of the future ?
Are they PROTECTED from the Tribulation ?
Didn't Jesus tell us "The time will come when they that killeth you will think they do God a service" ?

So ... do you believe that the "saved" will suffer ANY harm ?

[MHGinTN]

The central issue is what we mean by 'the saved'. The born from above in whom God's Holy Spirit dwells not, not in some future, but now, they are in Christ. The body of believers are suffering all over the world. But this is thew suffering inflicted by humans on each other. The Tribulation is about God's wrath upon a world which has chosen to not believe and have His life in them in the now. I do not believe God has appointed believers with His life in them to suffer His wrath. He has promised to take them out before the hour of the testing arrives, and then the man of sin, the lawless one is revealed. It is upon a world where God's restraint has been removed so the man of sin can be revealed that the wrath is poured out in increasing degrees.

There is a very good thoelogical reason for the Rapture. During the Church Age there is no differnetiation between Jew and Gentiel, all are saved by Grace believing inJesus as The Savior and Lord. All without distinction who are saved have God's indwelling spirit in them ... without regard to religion, race, national origins, sex, or sexual orientation. The believers are His Chruch and He is going to do what He promised the disciples in John 14, He is coming in the clouds to take away those who have died in Him and thsoe who are alive at that time, to take them back to the place He has prepared for them/us.

The Church is in Heaven when the scrolls are opened by the lamb. The Church returns at the end of the Great Tribulation with The Lord Jesus Christ in His kingly role.