Bible2 had said in post #41:
Post-tribbers believe that the rapture will take all
Christians into the clouds to meet Jesus in the air
at His second coming.
---
WailingWall said in post #43:
My question was, where do you believe they go from
there? To heaven or do they stay here on earth?
They will stay in the clouds with Jesus until He has
judged them.
"He shall call to the heavens from above, and to the
earth, that he may judge his people. Gather my saints
together unto me" (Psalms 50:4-5).
"And then shall he send his angels, and shall gather
together his elect from the four winds, from the
uttermost part of the earth to the uttermost part of
heaven" (Mark 13:27).
"For we must all appear before the judgment seat of
Christ; that every one may receive the things done in
his body, according to that he hath done, whether it
be good or bad" (2 Corinthians 5:10).
"The Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and
the dead at his appearing" (2 Timothy 4:1).
After the whole church has been judged by Jesus, it
will stay in the clouds with Jesus for the marriage
of the Lamb.
"Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him:
for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife
hath made herself ready" (Revelation 19:7).
Then the church will descend from the clouds with
Jesus as He wages war against the nations at the
battle of Armageddon.
"And the armies which were in heaven followed him
upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and
clean. And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword,
that with it he should smite the nations"
(Revelation 19:14-15).
The Greek word translated here as "heaven" (ouranos)
can refer to the 1st heaven, the sky:
"When it is evening, ye say, It will be fair weather:
for the sky [ouranos] is red. And in the morning, It
will be foul weather to day: for the sky [ouranos] is
red and lowring. O ye hypocrites, ye can discern the
face of the sky [ouranos]; but can ye not discern the
signs of the times?" (Matthew 16:2-3).
So the church will descend from the sky with Jesus,
and it will then land on the earth, like He will,
after the battle is over.
"Then shall the LORD go forth, and fight against
those nations, as when he fought in the day of
battle. And his feet shall stand in that day upon the
mount of Olives" (Zechariah 14:3-4).
"This same Jesus, which is taken up from you into
heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen
him go into heaven. Then returned they unto
Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet"
(Acts 1:11-12).
Then will occur the marriage supper of the Lamb.
"And he saith unto me, Write, Blessed are they which
are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb"
(Revelation 19:9).
This will occur on the earthly Mount Zion, Jerusalem.
"And in this mountain shall the LORD of hosts make
unto all people a feast of fat things, a feast of
wines on the lees, of fat things full of marrow, of
wines on the lees well refined. And he will destroy
in this mountain the face of the covering cast over
all people, and the vail that is spread over all
nations. He will swallow up death in victory; and the
Lord GOD will wipe away tears from off all faces; and
the rebuke of his people shall he take away from off
all the earth: for the LORD hath spoken it. And it
shall be said in that day, Lo, this is our God; we
have waited for him, and he will save us: this is the
LORD; we have waited for him, we will be glad and
rejoice in his salvation" (Isaiah 25:6-9).
The apostle Paul quotes from this passage in his
reference to the resurrection of the church:
"Then shall be brought to pass the saying that is
written, Death is swallowed up in victory"
(1 Corinthians 15:54).
For the resurrection of the church will have
occurred just prior to the feast, at the time of the
rapture:
"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"
(1 Thessalonians 4:16-17).
This resurrection of the church will include all
those in the church who suffered under the Antichrist
during the tribulation. They, like the rest of
the church, will remain on the earth with Jesus
during His millennial reign.
"And I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for
the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and
which had not worshipped the beast, neither his
image, neither had received his mark upon their
foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and
reigned with Christ a thousand years"
(Revelation 20:4).
"We shall reign on the earth" (Revelation 5:10).
"And he that overcometh, and keepeth my works unto
the end, to him will I give power over the nations:
And he shall rule them with a rod of iron; as the
vessels of a potter shall they be broken to shivers:
even as I received of my Father. And I will give him
the morning star. He that hath an ear, let him hear
what the Spirit saith unto the churches"
(Revelation 2:26-29).
After the millennial reign, the subsequent battle of
Gog and Magog, and the subsequent great white throne
judgment, all described in Revelation 20:7-15, there
will be a new creation.
"And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the
first heaven and the first earth were passed away;
and there was no more sea. And I John saw the holy
city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of
heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying,
Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he
will dwell with them, and they shall be his people,
and God himself shall be with them, and be their God"
(Revelation 21:1-3).
This will be when Christians will enter into their
places in the Father's house prepared for them by
Jesus:
"In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were
not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a
place for you" (John 14:2).
HisdaughterJen said in post #49:
The white robes are given in the 5th seal prior to
6th and 7th seal. Those white robes appear to
indicate the rapture/glorified bodies...especially
in light of the fact that the multitude is seen in
heaven wearing them prior to 144,000 sealed on earth.
This leads me to believe that the multitude is in
heaven before judgment and wrath even begin.
The great multitude in white robes in Revelation 7
could have gotten into heaven by dying in the seals
in the chapter just prior. They could still be
unresurrected souls, just like the martyrs given
white robes in Revelation 6.
"And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under
the altar the souls of them that were slain for the
word of God, and for the testimony which they held:
And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long,
O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and
avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?
And white robes were given unto every one of them;
and it was said unto them, that they should rest yet
for a little season, until their fellowservants also
and their brethren, that should be killed as they
were, should be fulfilled" (Revelation 6:9-11).
"After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude,
which no man could number, of all nations, and
kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the
throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white
robes" (Revelation 7:9).
HisdaughterJen said in post #49:
Rev 3:10 says God is going to keep some people from
the hour of trial that tests those who live on the
earth.
That was referring to a first-century persecution of
the church, just as Revelation 2:10 was. The
Philadelphians were kept from the trial while the
Smyrnans weren't. The Philadelphians didn't have to
be raptured out of the world in order to be kept
from the trial.
"I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the
world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the
evil" (John 17:15).
There will be Christians on the earth during the
coming tribulation who, like the Philadelphians,
and like Noah and Lot, will be kept from the trial
while remaining on the earth.
"That she might fly into the wilderness, into her
place, where she is nourished for a time, and times,
and half a time, from the face of the serpent"
(Revelation 12:14).
There will be other Christians on the earth during
the coming tribulation who, like the Smyrnans, and
like Job, will not be kept from the trial.
"And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went
to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep
the commandments of God, and have the testimony of
Jesus Christ" (Revelation 12:17).
"And it was given unto him to make war with the
saints, and to overcome them" (Revelation 13:7).
"Here is the patience of the saints: here are they
that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of
Jesus. And I heard a voice from heaven saying unto
me, Write, Blessed are the dead which die in the
Lord from henceforth" (Revelation 14:12-13).
