All Scripture verses are from the New American Standard Bible.

Hebrews 9:28     ".......so Christ also, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, shall appear a second time for salvation without reference to sin, TO THOSE WHO EAGERLY AWAIT HIM."   This is a reference to the upcoming Rapture.

1 Corinthians 1:7     ".......so that you are not lacking in any gift, awaiting EAGERLY the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ....."

Philippians 3:20     "For our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we EAGERLY wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ....."

Do you get the idea here?   The Lord wants us to EAGERLY wait for His return.   This is a "heart attitude", and no person knows the heart of another person, only God knows what is in each person's heart.   Now contrast this with the following Scripture verses.

Revelation 3:14-16     "And to the angel of the CHURCH in Laodicea write:  The Amen, the faithful and true Witness, the Beginning of the creation of God, says this:  'I know your deeds that you are neither cold nor hot; I would that you were cold or hot.   So because you are LUKEWARM, and neither hot nor cold, I WILL SPIT YOU OUT OF MY MOUTH.' "  

Now a huge question----- this CHURCH in Laodicea ------ are the people there unsaved (not born again), or are they saved (born again)?   If they are unsaved, well then no big deal.   But IF the Lord is referring to people who are SAVED AND LUKEWARM, then there is a huge problem relative to the upcoming Rapture!   HOW IN THE WORLD ARE PEOPLE WHOM THE LORD SPITS OUT OF HIS MOUTH GOING UP IN THE RAPTURE?   Obviously that is not going to happen!

This e-mail is going out to my entire e-mail list including all the pastors whose e-mail addresses I have.   If you are a pastor, I welcome your comments on this!   And I also welcome anyone else's comments too!   Jesus is coming in the Rapture for THOSE WHO EAGERLY AWAIT HIM!   So, if the CHURCH in Laodicea represents people who are truly saved (born again) and know Him, then these people will be left here after the Rapture to face the terrifying 7 year Tribulation Period!   The implications of this are huge, as Christians' lukewarmness will be put to the test during the Tribulation to weed them out so to speak!

Again, I truly welcome anyone's comments on this!   I have been praying about this issue for around 40 years.  We do know from the Book of Revelation that many who were unsaved at the time of the Rapture do become Christians during the Tribulation and are then martyred by the antichrist.   BUT DO LUKEWARM CHRISTIANS (and I mean truly saved / born again) OF OUR PRESENT TIME PERIOD GET LEFT HERE AFTER THE RAPTURE AND GO INTO THE TRIBULATION?   Again, only God knows a person's heart, and only He knows who those people are.

Neil

P.S.   Through the years I have heard two terms, the "Body of Christ" and the "Bride of Christ".   The "Bride of Christ" gets taken in the Rapture.