Will All Saints Be Caught up at the Rapture?

 •  4 min. read  •  grade level: 8
 
This is a question much disputed, but Scripture furnishes us with a clear and definite answer. We read, "Behold, I show you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall ALL be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump." (1 Cor. 15:51, 5251Behold, I show you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, 52In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. (1 Corinthians 15:51‑52)).
How students of Scripture can go astray on this point passes comprehension, for we read, "ALL" are to be changed, and that in a moment, and that measured by the twinkling of an eye. All surely means ALL, or else language has no meaning. When the Lord comes, not the feeblest saint of God will be left behind.
In the same Chapter we read a confirmatory Scripture, " Every man in his own order: Christ the Firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ's at His coming." (1 Cor. 15:2323But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ's at his coming. (1 Corinthians 15:23)).
Here no difference is made between saint and saint. The emphasis is laid on the expression, " They that are Christ's." Surely that covers all saints, whether Old or New Testament saints. Of Old Testament saints we have this testimony, " These all died in faith " (Heb. 2:1313And again, I will put my trust in him. And again, Behold I and the children which God hath given me. (Hebrews 2:13)). Of Abraham, the father of the faithful, we read, " He believed in the LORD [Jehovah]; and He counted it to Him for righteousness." (Gen. 15:66And he believed in the Lord; and he counted it to him for righteousness. (Genesis 15:6)).
How confirmatory it is, when we read of the saints in the assembly at Corinth, who were anything but spiritual, and yet it is in the Epistle addressed to them, that they received the testimony to the Lord's return, and that ALL, not some selected ones, but ALL, will be caught up. The Apostle Paul wrote severely to them, rebuking divisions among them. He asked them the question, "Are ye not carnal, and walk as men?" (1 Cor. 3:33For ye are yet carnal: for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men? (1 Corinthians 3:3)). He accuses them of allowing most serious sin in their midst to go unchallenged (1 Cor. 5:1-131It is reported commonly that there is fornication among you, and such fornication as is not so much as named among the Gentiles, that one should have his father's wife. 2And ye are puffed up, and have not rather mourned, that he that hath done this deed might be taken away from among you. 3For I verily, as absent in body, but present in spirit, have judged already, as though I were present, concerning him that hath so done this deed, 4In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when ye are gathered together, and my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ, 5To deliver such an one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus. 6Your glorying is not good. Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump? 7Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us: 8Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. 9I wrote unto you in an epistle not to company with fornicators: 10Yet not altogether with the fornicators of this world, or with the covetous, or extortioners, or with idolaters; for then must ye needs go out of the world. 11But now I have written unto you not to keep company, if any man that is called a brother be a fornicator, or covetous, or an idolater, or a railer, or a drunkard, or an extortioner; with such an one no not to eat. 12For what have I to do to judge them also that are without? do not ye judge them that are within? 13But them that are without God judgeth. Therefore put away from among yourselves that wicked person. (1 Corinthians 5:1‑13)). If there were difference between saint and saint in regard to the rapture, here was the very place to state it, but no distinction was made.
It was not that this unhappy condition of things in the assembly at Corinth was not a matter of grave concern to the Apostle Paul. Witness the warnings he gave, the solemn rebukes he administered to them. Moreover God's judgment on their condition was seen, in that His governmental hand lay heavy on the assembly. We read, " For this cause MANY are weak and sickly among you, and MANY sleep. For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged. But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world." (1 Cor. 11:30-3230For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep. 31For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged. 32But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world. (1 Corinthians 11:30‑32)).
The evil conduct which marked the many in that assembly, was of such a serious character as rendered them unfit to remain on earth to continue a testimony, so dishonoring to the name of their Lord. Many were laid aside on beds of sickness, and many, failing to judge themselves, were removed to heaven by the governmental hand of a faithful and loving God. Their conduct rendered them unfit to remain on earth, whilst the atoning sufferings of our Lord on the cross of shame alone made them fit to be in heaven, in that place of unsullied holiness.
They were not to be condemned with the world, but to learn in a deeper sense that the precious blood of their Lord had cleansed them from all sin (1 John 1:77But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin. (1 John 1:7)). We know no more striking passage in Scripture where the grace of God and the government of God are blended together to exhibit the triumph of God's grace, in that He could take a sinning saint righteously to heaven, and nowhere else. The contemplation of this Scripture fills one with amazement that God can do this, and yet uphold His righteousness in doing so to the full. Needless to say that every saint who enters heaven is perfectly suited to that holy place, all that is unsuitable will be left behind. Indeed there is no other way for any one of us to enter that holy place, even the most saintly and consistent child of God. We go there entirely on the ground of imputed righteousness. " For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast." (Eph. 2:8, 98For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: 9Not of works, lest any man should boast. (Ephesians 2:8‑9)). Did not our Lord Himself say, "I am THE WAY:... no man cometh unto the Father, but by Me." (John 14:66Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. (John 14:6)).
And this brings us to the point where we are in the position of giving from Scripture a definite answer to the first question of the title of this pamphlet, May Christ come at any moment?