2,000 years ago,

after the Lord Jesus was crucified and completed His redemption work,

He promised He'd return.

Since then,

all believers have been longing for our Savior to come down on a cloud

to be raptured up to Him.

Believers are hoping to be raptured at any moment,

but they're watching the disasters unfold before them

and have yet to welcome the Lord returning on a cloud.

Many are feeling very disheartened.

They're constantly wondering

if the Lord has actually returned and if any believers have been raptured up yet,

but no one has seen anything of the sort.

What they're seeing is disasters growing and growing,

pandemics becoming more serious,

and more people dying in disasters,

even some pastors and elders.

People are feeling afraid or maybe even abandoned by the Lord,

feeling like they could die in the disasters at any moment.

They can't figure out why the Lord hasn't returned and raptured them

now that the disasters have begun.

It's surprising to them

that Eastern Lightning has been bearing witness

that the Lord Jesus has already returned as Almighty God incarnate,

expressing truths and doing the work of judgment in the last days.

Many who long for the truth read Almighty God's words,

recognize the voice of God, and turn toward Almighty God.

They are eating and drinking Almighty God's words every day,

sustained and nurtured by them, and attend the Lamb's wedding feast.

They are the ones who have welcomed the Lord

and have been raptured up before God's throne before the disasters.

Many religious people are confused, thinking,

"Eastern Lightning has to be wrong

about the Lord having returned and their being raptured,

because the Bible says,

If the Lord has returned, why haven't we been taken up?

Isn't He supposed to take people up into the sky?

Eastern Lightning believers are clearly still on earth,

so how could they be raptured?"

It makes no sense to them at all.

Well then, what does being raptured actually mean?

Lots of people don't understand the true meaning of rapture,

but think it means being taken up into the sky,

so anyone still on earth hasn't been raptured.

They are very mistaken.

Hoping for the Lord to return and rapture them is entirely correct,

as the Lord Jesus told believers to welcome Him.

But Paul said

Is that correct?

Did the Lord Jesus ever say that when He returned,

He'd take believers up to meet Him in the air?

He didn't.

Is there testimony of this from the Holy Spirit?

There isn't.

Could Paul speak on behalf of the Lord Jesus on this?

Did the Lord acknowledge that?

No.

The way that the Lord raptures up believers is arranged by God.

Paul was a human being, just an apostle,

so how could he know how the Lord raptures believers?

What Paul said was entirely based on his own imagination

and didn't represent the Lord.

We certainly can't base how we welcome the Lord on this.

We need to follow the Lord Jesus' words

on how He returns and raptures believers in the last days,

because He is Christ, the Lord of the kingdom,

and only His words are the truth and have authority.

Welcoming the Lord in accordance with His words cannot be wrong.

Let's take a look at what the Lord Jesus said.

We can see that in His prophecies about His return, the Lord always mentioned

These key statements are telling us

that the Lord returns in the flesh as the Son of man,

coming to earth to speak, to knock on our door.

Those who hear the Lord's voice and open the door

are the wise virgins who welcome the Lord and attend His feast.

They are raptured up before the Lord.

The Lord Jesus never said He'd take people up to meet with Him in the sky,

but He told people to listen for His voice to welcome Him,

come before Him, and attend His feast.

To welcome the Lord and meet Him,

we have to follow His words and hear God's voice.

As soon as we hear someone call that the Bridegroom is coming,

we must go out to meet Him,

not foolishly wait to be taken into the sky based on our own imaginings.

If we do, we'll never get to hear the Lord's voice and welcome Him.

The Lord returns as the Son of man and comes among us, speaking to us,

so if we're just waiting to be taken into the sky,

we're on a different path from the Lord.

So,

people's belief that they'll be caught up to meet with the Lord in the sky

just doesn't hold water.

It goes entirely against God's own words and is nothing but a human notion.

So what is truly being raptured?

Almighty God's words clarify this for us.

This makes it all easier to understand, right?

"Rapture" isn't what we think,

being taken from a low to a high place, from the earth into the sky.

It's not so vague and supernatural.

"Rapture" happens when God incarnates as the Son of man on earth to speak and work,

we hear His utterances,

recognize this as the truth and God's voice,

then can submit to and accept God's work.

We eat and drink God's words,

we're personally watered and nurtured by Him,

and we receive God's salvation.

This is being raptured up before God.

When the Lord Jesus came to do His redemption work,

all those who recognized His words as God's voice, then accepted and followed Him,

like Peter, John, and the other disciples, were all raptured up before God.

Almighty God has come in the last days and is expressing truths,

doing the judgment work.

People from all denominations who love the truth and long for God's appearance,

seeing that Almighty God's words are the truth and the voice of God,

have accepted His work of judgment.

They eat and drink God's words every day, are watered and sustained by them,

and experience God's judgment and cleansing.

They are the wise virgins raptured up before God, and attend the Lamb's wedding feast,

which entirely fulfills the prophecy in Revelation:

Now I think we're all clear on what it means to be raptured.

Thinking now about the idea of meeting with the Lord in the sky,

isn't it unrealistic and foolish?

The Lord Jesus prophesied multiple times

warning man time and again to listen for His voice.

So why do people insist on going by man's words to welcome Him,

instead of His own words?

Why do they cling to the absurd statement,

"be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air"?

What kind of problem is this?

Doesn't it point to being too eager for blessings?

Isn't it because they want to be taken straight up into God's kingdom

away from the disasters, where they'll bask in blessings?

Let's think about it.

Could those who are forgiven of sins, but still constantly sin

be raptured into the kingdom when the Lord comes?

Do they have the right to enjoy its blessings?

It's true that the Lord redeemed us of sin,

but we can't deny that we're still controlled by our sinful nature,

and can't help but sin and resist God.

We haven't escaped sin's bonds and achieved purity.

God is holy and righteous.

So could people saturated with filth and corruption get into His kingdom?

Isn't that a human fantasy, just wishful thinking?

The Lord Jesus did the work of redemption,

which was just to redeem people and forgive us of sin,

but our sinful nature remains.

We keep rebelling against God and haven't been fully saved.

Only having our sins forgiven by the Lord Jesus isn't enough.

We still have to welcome the Lord and be raptured up before Him,

accept His judgment in the last days,

and then we can be freed from sin and fully saved,

becoming people who submit to and fear God.

Then we can enter His kingdom.

Almighty God comes in the last days

expressing truths and doing the work of judgment

on the foundation of the Lord Jesus' redemption work.

This is to fully resolve man's sinful nature and corrupt disposition,

so we can be freed from sin and Satan's forces, and be fully saved by God.

Almighty God has appeared and expressed so many truths,

telling us everything we need as corrupt humans to be cleansed and fully saved.

He's revealed the mysteries of God's management plan,

such as God's aim in managing mankind,

how Satan corrupts mankind,

how God's three stages of work fully save man,

the meaning of His last days' judgment work,

mysteries of the incarnations and God's names,

every type of person's outcome and destination,

and the beauty of the kingdom.

These words are incredibly eye-opening and utterly convincing.

Almighty God also judges and exposes the root of man's sin and resistance to God,

which is our satanic nature and disposition.

He also exposes the truth of how deeply corrupted by Satan we are,

and shows us the path to escape corruption and be fully saved.

God's chosen people eat, drink, and enjoy God's words every day.

We are judged, chastised, dealt with and pruned by His words,

and experience all sorts of trials,

we learn many truths and come to truly know our satanic nature.

We see that we're always living within corruption,

rebelling against God and disgusting Him,

and that we'll be eliminated and punished by God if we don't repent and change.

We experience God's righteous, unoffendable disposition

and develop reverence for Him.

Our corruption is gradually cleansed and changed,

and we can finally escape the bonds of sin and bear wonderful witness for God.

God has already completed a group of overcomers before the disasters,

and the disasters are coming.

All those who reject and resist Almighty God,

and those who belong to Satan will be destroyed in the disasters.

Those who experience God's judgment and are cleansed

will receive God's protection through the disasters,

be taken into His kingdom, and will have a beautiful destination.

This is truly being raptured into God's kingdom.

These overcomers who are fully saved and completed by God

are those who practice God's words and do His will on earth.

They are the people of God's kingdom.

This is how Christ's kingdom is realized on the earth,

and this fulfills the Lord Jesus' prophecy:

Just as Almighty God's words say,

At this point, we have a full understanding of what truly being raptured is.

Being raptured is mainly about hearing God's voice, following His footsteps,

and turning toward Almighty God, accepting God's judgment work of the last days.

Why hasn't the religious world experienced rapture before the disasters?

Mainly because they don't seek the truth or hear God's voice,

but insist on their own notions and literal Bible verses.

They only listen to man's words, but don't welcome the Lord according to His words.

This is why they've fallen into the disasters.

People just want to wait for the Lord to come on a cloud,

and wish to instantly change form and be taken into the sky to meet with Him,

so they just passively wait without preparing themselves

or seeking to hear God's voice.

Their hearts are numb.

How could they welcome the Lord this way?

They'll fall into the disasters, weeping and gnashing their teeth.

Almighty God's been doing judgment work for three decades now.

He completed a group of overcomers before the disasters,

and now the disasters are coming.

Those who hear God's voice and welcome the Lord in the disasters

still have a chance at rapture.

This is being raptured in the midst of the disasters,

and they have hope of being kept.

Those who go by their notions, insisting that the Lord has to come on a cloud,

will fall into the disasters and cannot be saved.