One of the most dogmatic, and frequent, assertions made by believers in the Rapture Theory, advocated by Dispensational Theology, is the Church is Raptured, or taken from the earth, at the end of chapter 3 in the Revelation, and is not found in chapters 4–19. Praise God!
It comes as an absolute shock to many Christian brethren, steeped in Rapture teaching, when an alternative view points out that the Church is indeed in chapters 4–19 in the Revelation.
Consider the evidence.
Read what the Church is called in Matthew through Jude. Then look at what the Church is called in chapters 4 – 19 in the Revelation. The terminology is the same.
It would not be consistent to use the same terminology for the Church in Revelation 4-19 that is found in the rest of the New Testament, and then deny that the Church exists on earth during the tribulation period Jesus spoke of, and John saw visualized.
Too much has been made over the absence of a specific term for the Church, ekklesia, while ignoring the many other references to the Church in Revelation 4-19.
If the absence of the specific term for the Church, ekklesia, means that the Word of God does not speak of, or to the Church directly, then the following books of the Bible must also be for someone other than the present people of God, because the specific terminology, ekklesia, is not found in them either.
The word Church is not found in Mark, Luke, John, 2 Peter, 1 John, 2 John, or Jude.
No one would suggest that these books be discarded as not speaking directly to the Church simply because a specific term is not found.
The Church of the Lord Jesus Christ is definitely found in chapters 4 – 19 in the Revelation. This is the historic faith for which the Church is to contend.
“Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints” (Jude 3).
The Scriptures, the Word of God, does challenge “The System”, i.e., Dispensationalism, on this critical teaching.
