9. Because the Church Epistles plainly teach that ALL believers will be raptured at the time of our Lord’s Return.

In Rom. 8:30 we read, “Whom He justified, them He also glorified.” Glorification is co-extensive with justification. This is admitted by all: the point at issue is- Will all be glorified at the same time? We answer, as surely they will. Do we not read “We shall all be changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye” (1 Cor. 15:51, 52)? “We shall all be changed” at the same moment, for the passage continues “At the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we (all living believers) shall be changed.”

In 1 Cor. 15:22, 23 we read, “For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits: afterward they that are Christ’s at His coming.” Note particularly the words, “They that are Christ’s at His coming.” How simple! how all-inclusive! how blessed! It is not “They that are faithful or worthy.” It is not “they that have attained some high standard of moral excellence.” It is not “they that have been unusually diligent and successful in service.” But “They that are Christ’s.” That is all. It is simply a question of belonging to Christ, being one of His people.

In 2 Cor. 5:10 we are told “For we must all appear before the judgment-seat of Christ; they every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.” That un-faithful believers are not excluded from this appearing before the Bema of Christ is clear from 1 Cor. 3—“Every man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man’s word of what sort it is. If any man’s work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire” (1 Cor. 3:13–15). There will be some in that day who will “suffer loss,” nevertheless, they will be present at the Bema with their fellow-believers and furthermore, they will be “saved.” How remarkable it is that these comprehensive assurances are found in the Corinthian Epistles—addressed to a church whose moral condition was the worst of all the churches addressed by the apostle Paul, as if to anticipate this modern heresy of limiting the Rapture to spiritual believers!

In 1 Thess. 4:16 we read, “And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels ** when He shall come to be glorified in His saints, and to be admired in all them that believe.” Observe once more the universality of such a promise, and note, too, its simplicity and how it turns back to first principles. Our Lord is to be admired in all them that believe. All is traced back to simple faith. It is not at all a question of worthiness or attainments. The same simple heart trust in Christ which delivered us from the wrath to come, shall most certainly secure for every saint a participation in the Rapture and a place in the Millennial Kingdom, for this last quoted passage carries us forward to the Millennium itself.