Greg Laurie asserts:
Where are we today in relation to all of this? God has been pouring out his Spirit on the church, but that time is coming to an end. And it is my opinion that the next event on the prophetic calendar is the rapture of the church. The Bible says it will take place in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye. This could happen at any time, and it could happen soon.
Laurie makes two statements on the rapture that I want to respond to, a biblical and a logical one.
First, Laurie claims the rapture “will take place in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye.” Paul is not referring to the rapture here. Laurie is alluding to 1 Corinthians 15:50–57 which is speaking of how quickly the bodies of believers at the Return of Christ will change from perishable to imperishable. Paul does not address the rapture, the “catching up,” in 1 Corinthians 15. He addresses it in 1 Thessalonians 4:13–18 and 2 Thessalonians 2:1-2.
Second, Laurie seems to suggest that because the rapture will happen quickly, the rapture “could happen at any time.” There is no logical connection here. Just because something can happen quickly, does not mean there cannot be any prophesied event that will happen before it. A balloon must be blown up before it is popped. Thus it is logically valid (and biblical) that Antichrist will come and persecute the church before God snatches those believers who are alive and remain (2 Thess 2:1–8; Matt 24:1–34).
