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Author
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Topic: THE SECRET RAPTURE - IS IT SCRIPTURAL?
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Bloodbought
Advanced Member
Member # 4365
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Pretribbers say,
quote:
Jesus, the Groom, comes down from heaven and calls up the Church, His Bride. After meeting in the air, He and His Bride return to His Father's house, heaven.
No where in scripture does it say, “He and His Bride return to His Father's house, heaven.” It says, so shall we ever be with the Lord.
1 Th 4:17 Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.
No mention of returning to heaven.
Posts: 822 | From: Ireland | Registered: Feb 2005
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Carol Swenson
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Scriptural Evidence for the Pretribulation Rapture
The Unknown Hour
When we search the Scriptures and read the passages describing the Lord Jesus' return, we find verses that tell us we won't know the day and hour of that event. Matthew 25:13 says Jesus will return at an unknown time, while Revelation 12:6 indicates that the Jews will have to wait on the Lord 1,260 days, starting when the Antichrist stands in the Temple of God and declares himself to be God (2 Thes 2:4). This event will take place at the mid-point of the seven-year tribulation (Dan 9:27). Note that some people only see a three-and-a-half-year tribulation. In a way, they are correct because the first half of the tribulation will be relatively peaceful compared to the second half. Nonetheless, peaceful or not, there still remains a seven-year period called the tribulation. When the Jews flee into the wilderness, they know that all they have to do is wait out those 1,260 days (Mat 24:16). There is no way to apply the phrase "neither the day nor the hour" to this situation. The only way for these two viewpoints to be true is to separate the two distinct events transpiring here: 1) the rapture of the Church, which comes before the tribulation; and 2) the return of Jesus to the earth, which takes place roughly seven years later.
The Marriage Supper of the Lamb
In Luke 12:36, the Word states that when Christ returns, He will be returning from a wedding. In Revelation 19:7-8, we read about the marriage itself. The marriage supper takes place before the marriage. According to Jewish custom, the marriage contract, which often includes a dowry, is drawn up first. The contract parallels the act of faith we use when we trust Jesus to be our Savior. The dowry is His life, which was used to purchase us. When it's time for the wedding, the groom goes to the bride's house unannounced. She comes out to meet him, and then he takes her to his father's house. This precisely correlates with the events according to the pre-trib scenario. Jesus, the Groom, comes down from heaven and calls up the Church, His Bride. After meeting in the air, He and His Bride return to His Father's house, heaven. The marriage supper itself will take place there, while down here on earth the final events of the tribulation will be playing out. After the marriage supper of Jewish tradition, the bride and groom are presented to the world as man and wife. This corresponds to the time when Jesus returns to earth accompanied by an army "clothed in fine linen, white and clean" (Rev 19:14).
What They Didn't Teach You in History Class
Many groups try to discredit the pre-trib rapture by saying most of the end-time events in the Bible have already taken place. A group of people called preterists claims that the Book of Revelation was mostly fulfilled by 70 AD. If the events described in the Book of Revelation took place in the past, I'm at a loss to explain some of the current situations I see around us: the rebirth of Israel, the reunification of Europe, the number of global wars that have occurred, and the development of nuclear weapons. During history class, I must have slept through the part where the teacher talked about the time when a third of the trees were burned up, 100-pound hailstones fell from the sky, and the sea turned into blood (Rev 8:7-8, 16:21). I think several people would have to question their opposition to the pre-trib rapture doctrine if they knew that the evidence provided to them was based on the understanding that most tribulation prophecies have already occurred.
The People of the Millennium
If Christ were to come back after the tribulation, rapture all the saints, and slay all the ungodly, who would be left to populate the earth during the millennium? Only the pre-trib viewpoint can account for this post-trib problem. The Church is raptured before the tribulation, a vast number of souls are saved during this seven-year time frame, and those who make it through the tribulation go into the millennium while the unsaved are cast into hell.
The Saint U-Turn
In the pre-trib scenario, after we rise to meet the Lord in the air, we will go to heaven and abide there seven years. At the end of that period, Christ will come down to earth, defeat the Antichrist, and cleanse the temple. In a post-trib rapture, we would rise in the air to meet the Lord, then do a 180-degree U-turn and come back down to earth. Revelation 1:7 states that Christ will appear out of the clouds and come down to earth. Zechariah 14:4 says that His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives. If He's already headed our way, why would we need to be caught up to meet Him?
"Come Up Hither"
Many pre-trib writers cite Revelation 4:1, which says, "come up hither," as a prophetic reference to the rapture of the Church, leaving Revelation chapters 1 through 3 as a description of the Church Age. After the shout to "come up hither," the Church is not mentioned in Scripture at all. The attention of Scripture switches from the Church to the Jews living in Israel.
Armies in Fine Linen
When Jesus returns (Rev. 19:18), an army follows Him. The army's members are riding on white horses, and they are clothed in fine linen that is white and clean. In Revelation 19:8, we are told that the fine linen is the righteousness of the saints. If the saints of God are returning with Christ to wage war on the Antichrist, then it is not possible to have a post-trib rapture without us running into ourselves as we are coming and going.
The Time of Jacob's Trouble
In several passages, the Bible refers to the tribulation as a time of trouble for the Jews. The phrase "Jacob's trouble" pertains to the descendants of Jacob. Jeremiah 30:7 says that this time of trouble will come just before the Lord returns to save His people. The final week of Daniel's 70th week is yet to take place. An angel told Daniel that, "70 weeks are determined unto thy people" (Dan 9:24). Scripture never mentions that the tribulation is meant to be a time of testing for Christians. However, some post-tribbers try to claim that they are the ones being tested during the tribulation. To make this so, they need to spiritualize the 144,000 Jewish believers in Revelation 7:2-8 who receive God's protective seal. Placing the Church dispensation into the same time frame as the seven-year Jewish dispensation, as the post-tribbers do, raises one good question: Can two dispensations transpire at the same time? In the past, God has only dealt with one at a time. Having both present during the tribulation would have to be an exception.
"He" That is Taken Out of the Way
Before the Antichrist can be revealed, Paul said a certain "He" must be taken out of the way. According to 2 Thessalonians 2:7, the "He" that must be removed is widely thought to be the Holy Spirit. It has been promised that the Holy Spirit would never leave the Church, and without the working of the Holy Spirit remaining on earth, no one could be saved during the tribulation. The removal of the Church, which is indwelt by the Holy Ghost, would seem the best explanation for this dilemma. The working of the Holy Spirit could go on during the tribulation, but His influence would be diminished because of the missing Church.
War or Rapture
(Rev 19:19-21) When Jesus returns at the end of the tribulation, He will be coming for battle. For those who believe in a post-trib rapture, it would be strange to meet your Lord and Savior just as He's rushing into battle. The idea that war and rapture could occur together is difficult to imagine, especially since they transpire at the same moment.
The Five Foolish Virgins
The wedding story that Jesus gave in Matthew 25:2-13, I believe, is a parable of the rapture of the Church. It explains how some will not be ready. Jesus clearly states that a group of people will miss out on an event, and will cry out to God to let them into the place where He resides, heaven. Although some try to put this parable in a post-trib context, it doesn't fit very well. The ones left behind in a post-trib rapture will not need to seek the Lord because they'll immediately be confronted by Him and His army of angels.
God Hath Not Appointed Us to Wrath
In 1 Thessalonians 5:9, Paul assures us that God has not appointed His people to wrath. This wrath is plainly God's anger that will be poured out during the tribulation. Pre-trib believers interpret this as meaning that Christians will be removed from the earth. Post-trib believers tell a different story. They describe this as meaning that God will protect Christians during the tribulation and pour this wrath out on the unbelievers only. This idea runs against the statement made in Revelation 13:7, in which the Antichrist is given power to make war with the saints and to overcome them. A post-trib view would make God's promise of protection from wrath into a lie. In years past, it was possible to think of being protected from the guns and swords of that day. Today, when any major war would involve nuclear and chemical weapons, it's impossible to expect that same kind of protection. When Nagasaki, Japan was bombed during World War II, the bomb exploded over a Catholic church. Everyone who was in the center of the explosion died--both Christians and non-Christians. The only way to validly interpret God's promise of protection from wrath is by viewing 1 Thessalonians 5:9 as the bodily removal of the Church from this world.
The Salt of the Earth
Jesus said, "Ye are the salt of the earth" (Matthew 5:13). When the believers are supenly removed, the earth will be plunged into spiritual darkness. When this happens, the Antichrist will then be free to control the world.
God Takes an Inventory
In Revelation 7:3, an angel descends to earth and seals the servants of God. Two bits of information about this sealing highly disclaim a post-trib viewpoint. The first item is the number of people sealed: 144,000. The second one is that all those who are sealed are from the 12 tribes of Israel. For the events in Revelation 7:3-8 to be true in a post-trib interpretation, either the Church has turned against God or God has turned against the Church. A post-tribber could write a thousand-word commentary about why the Church doesn't need to be sealed. Instead of trying to argue about why the Church is not mentioned or sealed, a pre-trib proponent could just say, "We're already in heaven."
Noah and Lot as Examples
The tribulation period is compared to the times of Noah and Lot by Jesus in Luke 17:28. Most people argue over whether the time frame Jesus was talking about in that passage was pre-trib or post-trib. In doing so, they miss an important point. The two circumstances that the Noah and Lot situations have in common are the removal of the righteous and the judgment of the unbelievers. From these two accounts, we see that God prefers to remove His own when danger is involved.
Common-Sense Reasons for Believing in the Pretribulation Rapture
The World Test
One way to check the soundness of a doctrine is to see how the world reacts to it. One company put out a questionnaire that was used to screen prospective employees. One of the questions was, "Do you believe in the rapture?" If you answered "yes," your chances of getting hired would not be good. Some internet sites do not allow the topics of Rapture or Second Coming. They do allow topics such as sex, gays, and drugs. The only time the news media mentions the rapture is when someone sets a date and is proven to be wrong.
That Old-Time Religion
It used to be a rule of thumb that when one was visiting a church or listening to a preacher, one could assume the preacher believed in repentance, prayer, and the baptism of the Holy Ghost if he taught the rapture doctrine. It was also true that the churches on fire for God worshipped out of storefronts. Today, many of those storefront churches have moved into marble palaces and have strayed from their principal doctrines.
Birds of a Feather Flock Together
Whenever I look at all the groups that teach false doctrine and are highly focused on end-time events, I cannot find any that support the rapture theory. Some organizations, the Jehovah's Witnesses, for example, teach a false gospel and are heavily into Bible prophecy. Why, then, don't Jehovah's Witnesses teach a false doctrine that would be right up their alley? Could it be that the demonic forces that influence these groups know something that Christians opposed to the rapture don't know? The list of prophetically minded cults that reject the idea of a rapture goes on and on. Here are some more: the Mormons, the Worldwide Church of God and the Moonies, as well as leaders like Jim Jones and David Koresh.
The Church Would Rebuke the Antichrist
If the Antichrist came to power with the Church still here, I do not see how he could operate. When Hitler was fighting to take over England, a number of Christians were praying for victory. Hitler made mistake after mistake, and England outperformed its enemy at every stage of the conflict. It is difficult to measure the impact of intercessory prayer in physical warfare. Little is known of how great a role praying saints played in the defeat of Nazi Germany. If the Church were to reside on earth during the tribulation, I am sure she would give the Antichrist fits. In Revelation 11:3, the two witnesses alone give the Antichrist enough headaches. Millions of Christians who know their Bibles well would recognize the man of sin and pray fire down on his head. The post-trib view would have to plan on the Church just rolling over and playing dead the whole seven years.
http://www.raptureready.com/rr-pretribulation-rapture.html
Posts: 6787 | From: Colorado | Registered: Dec 2007
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Bloodbought
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Member # 4365
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ALL over the world today there is an awakening to the near return of the Lord Jesus Christ, and a growing interest in the signs of the times. As Bible believing Christians we rejoice at this phenomenon, yet sad to say, in almost every case the doctrine of the Lord's return has been mixed in with the teaching that He will return first secretly and 'rapture' or take away His Church. Although Church History will show that such a theory has only come into prominence over the last one hundred and fifty years, today it is spreading like wildfire, in books, and even films, and accounts for the teaching in 90% of Full Gospel and Fundamentalist Churches and Bible Colleges, world-wide. This being the case it is our duty as students of God's prophetic Word to examine this doctrine of the Secret Rapture, and ask ourselves -'Is it Scriptural?'
THE ORIGINS
When we remember that the Secret Rapture theory was virtually unheard of and untaught until around 1830, it is essential to examine its origins first. Such a teaching was unknown to the early Church Fathers e.g. Justin Martyr, Irenaeus, and Tertullian, who were convinced that the Christian Church would pass through great tribulation at the hands of the antichrist system before the return of the Lord. Furthermore the Rapture theory was not taught by the great stalwarts of the Reformed Faith - Huss, Wycliffe, Luther, Calvin, Knox, Cranmer or even by the Wesley brothers in the 18th Century. Whence came this teaching therefore and where did this novel. idea arise?
At the time of the Reformation, the first Protestants widely believed and taught that the Papacy was antichrist, and the Roman Church the Harlot System of Revelation 17. It therefore became necessary for certain Romish theologians to take the pressure off the Pope by inventing a new school of prophetic interpretation now known as Futurism. It was a Jesuit priest named Ribera (1537-1591) who first taught that the events prophesied in the books of Daniel and Revelation would not be fulfilled until three and a half years at the end of the age when an individual world dictator called Anti-Christ would arise. Thus Ribera laid the foundation of a system of prophetic interpretation of which the Secret Rapture has now become an integral part.
Nevertheless in spite of the efforts of false prophets like Ribera and Cardinal Bellarmine it was not for another two and a half centuries that the Jesuit fables began to gain acceptance by Evangelical Christians. In the early 19th Century Futurism entered the bloodstream of Protestant prophetic teaching by three main roads:
(a) A Chilean Jesuit priest, Emmanuel Lacunza wrote a book entitled 'The Coming of Messiah in Glory and Majesty', and in its pages taught the novel notion that Christ returns not once, but twice, and at the 'first stage' of His return He 'raptures' His Church so they can escape the reign of the 'future antichrist'. In order to avoid any taint of Romanism, Lacunza published his book under the assumed name of Rabbi Ben Ezra, a supposedly converted Jew. Lacunza's book found its way to the library of the Archbishop of Canterbury, and there in 1826 Dr Maitland, the Archbishop's librarian came upon it and read it and soon after began to issue a series of parnphlets giving the Jesuit, Futurist view of prophecy. The idea soon found acceptance in the Anglo-Catholic Ritualist movement in the National Church of England, and soon it tainted the very heart of Protestantism.
(b) The Secret Rapture doctrine was given a second door of entrance at this time by the ministry of one, Edward Irving, founder of the so-called 'Catholic Apostolic Church'. It was in Irving's London church, in 1830, that a young girl named Margaret McDonald gave an ecstatic prophecy in which she claimed there would be a special secret coming of the Lord to 'rapture' those awaiting His return. From then until his death in 1834 Irving devoted his considerable talent as a preacher to spreading the theory of the 'secret rapture'.
(c) However, it was necessary for Jesuitry to have a third door of entrance to the Reforrned fold and this they gained via a sincere Christian, J. N. Darby, generally regarded as the founder of the 'Brethren'. As an Anglican curate Darby attended a number of mysteriously organised meetings on Bible Prophecy at Powerscourt in Ireland, and at these gatherings he learned about the 'secret rapture'. He carried the teaching into the Brethren and hence into the heart of Evangelicalism. With a new veneer of being scriptural the teaching spread and was later popularised in the notes of the Schofield Reference Bible.
So today the three measures of Roman leaven have corrupted the Prophetic teaching of almost all the Fundamentalist world. Well might we say of the 'secret rapture', can any good thing come out of Rome?
THE PROOF TEXTS EXAMINED
Whilst the Romanist origin of any doctrine is always sufficient to make it suspect, our Final court of appeal must be to the Holy Scriptures, and so we find it necessary to examine some of the favourite 'Proof Texts' which are quoted by the Rapturists and see just what they really teach.
(A) Coming as a Thief
Our blessed Lord said: 'But know this, that if the good man of the house, had known in what hour the thief would come he would have watched and not have suffered the house to be broken up. Therefore be ye also ready for in such an hour as ye think not your Lord will corne.' Matt. 24:43-44; Luke 12:39-40.
The Rapturists tell us that this shows the secret nature of the Lord's 'coming for' the saints, but does it? The only secrecy implied in the texts is in relation to the day and hour of Christ's coming and there is nothing to indicate that the coming itself is a secret. In fact we are told:
'The Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a SHOUT, with the VOICE of an Archangel and the TRUMP of God.' I Thess. 4:16. Nothing quiet about that, is there?
Again they refer us to the words: 'I will come on thee as a thief in the night and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee.' Rev. 3:3. Or again:
'Behold I come as a thief, blessed is he that watcheth.' Rev. 16:15.
However, in both instances just quoted, the secrecy is in connection with the timing not the nature of the event, and it is exactly the same in the other 'thief text'.
'The day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night' II Peter 3:10
Here again it is the element of surprise that leads to the use of the thief as a symbol. Peter himself finishes this very same 'thief text' by saying that at the time of the Lord's coming:
'The heavens shall pass away with a GREAT NOISE'
Not much secrecy about that is there? After all did not Paul tell his readers:
'But ye brethren ARE NOT in darkness that, that day shall overtake you as a thief.' I Thess. 5:4.
You see, as Christians, they were studying the signs of the times as we should be doing and were ready for Christ's return. He will only come as a thief for those who are not prepared for Him.
Furthermore the very concept of a 'thief' must be called into question for, at the time when our Lord and the Apostles spoke, a thief was much more likely to be a bandit or leader of a gang of robbers who swept down on his victims in swift, sudden, but open and daring raids, and he was not a sneak thief or burglar, as we have today.
(B) As in the Days of Noah
The Rapturists would have us believe that the Lord comes secretly to rescue His people before what they call 'the great tribulation' or time of trouble begins. To support this idea they quote the Lord Jesus as saying: 'As the days of Noah were, so shall the coming of the Son of Man be ... then shall two be in the field, the one shall be taken, the other left. Watch therefore for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come.' Matt. 24:37-42.
How often we have heard this text used to challenge sinners to come to Christ and of the terrible things that will happen when their Christian friends and relatives have been 'raptured'. Let us not take the text from its context to make it a pretext. The clear setting and key to the understanding of the verse is: 'As it was in the days of Noah', and we all know that then it was the wicked who were taken away and the righteous left to inherit a purified earth. Such a concept of the removal of the wicked is in keeping with the clear teaching given by our Lord in two of His Kingdom Parables. In that of the Wheat and the Tares, we are told that the harvest is the end of the age, when the angels will gather out of the kingdom, the tares which represent the wicked or those who offend. Again in the same thirteenth chapter of Matthew's Gospel, we find the Parable of the Dragnet. In its symbolism it is the bad or evil ones who are removed out of the Kingdom for Jesus says:
'So shall it be at the end of the world (age), the angels shall come forth and sever the wicked from the just.' Matt. 13:49.
If a third witness were needed the Old Testament prophet Isaiah tells us:
'Behold the day of the Lord cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate, and He shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it.'
Let me ask you to consider very carefully just who the Lord will 'rapture' or remove. Surely it is His intention to give this earth into the possession of the righteous as He said in His Sermon on the Mount. Did not our Lord pray in John 17: 15:
'I pray NOT that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from evil'?
Surely our Lord promised to be with us not until the 'secret rapture' but 'to the end of the age.'
(C) Coming For and With the Saints
Another favourite proof text of the Rapturists is Jude v 14:
'Behold the Lord cometh, with ten thousands of His Saints.'
Then by coupling this to first Thessalonians 4:16-17 where we are told that the saints will be 'caught up together ... in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air' they glibly tell us that Christ comes first for His saints, and that He returns with the saints, after either three and a half or seven years - a period of time which they cannot agree on.
Once again we find that all is not as simple as they would have us believe. It is indeed true that at His Coming, the dead in Christ together with the living believers will be translated or caught up to meet the Lord in the air, but there is no Scripture to even suggest that He takes them to Heaven where they remain for a period of time, be it long or short, and then return with Him. Far from it, they meet the Lord in the air as His entourage or glory train, as earthly courtiers would go out to greet their King, as He is on His way back to earth where His feet will stand upon the Mount of Olives as the disciples were told at the time of His Ascension. So let us look at the verse in Jude which refers to coming 'with the Saints'. The word translated 'saints' in our Bible comes from a Greek word HAGIOUS, which means Holy. Since Christ Himself taught that:
'The Son of Man shall come in His glory, and all the Holy (HAGIOUS) angels with Him. Matt. 25:31 It seems more than likely that the word translated saints in Jude refers to angels. Since the verse referred to in Jude speaks of Christ returning with His saints to execute judgement we would do well to examine another similar verse of scripture which tells us the same thing:
'The Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels, in flaming fire taking vengeance on them who know not God, and obey not the Gospel.' II Thess. 1:7-8.
It seems we need not the Rapturists' theories, for Scripture interprets itself and one verse can often throw light upon another. Let us also remember that the expression 'ten thousands of His Saints' is not only in Jude but in Deuteronomy 33:2:
'The Lord came from Sinai ... with ten thousands of His saints.'
There can therefore be no doubt that these 'saints' were angels, a fact attested to by Matthew Henry's Commentary, and the extra-canonical Book of Enoch. So much for coming 'for' and 'with' the saints.
(D) The Time Gap and the Greek Wording
Let us look again briefly at I Thess. 4 for here we are clearly told that at the moment the living saints are caught up to meet the Lord the righteous dead are also resurrected. Now if the Futurists and Rapturists are correct and there is indeed a time gap before the Lord returns, or the Day of the Lord occurs, there is surely a grave discrepancy for Martha believed that her brother Lazarus would: 'rise again in the Resurrection at the last day.' John 11:24. Job, the Old Testament saint also taught that the dead would not rise until 'the heavens be no more' Job 14:10-12 or 'the latter day' Job 19:25-27.
The order of events in I Thess. 4:16-17 clearly shows what happens at the last day or Day of the Lord is:
a) The trump of God sounds;
b) The dead in Christ are raised:
c) The living saints are translated (not 'raptured').
There certainly does not seem to be room left here for a time gap of any length. In spite of this clear sequence of events, in their determination to prove otherwise, the Rapturists will still defend their mistaken concept of a coming in two stages, by appealing to the distinction between the two Greek words used, in connection with the coming. These words are Parousia, which they contend is coming first to rapture the believers and Apokalupsis which they say is open, visible coming back with the saints after a lapse of time. In reality there are actually six Greek words used in connection with the return of the Lord. For the sake of simplicity we shall list these words, with their English rendering and go on to show that the inspired writers of the New Testament used them interchangeably to describe not two distinct and separate comings but one event.
1. Parousia - This word emphasises the physical or actual personal presence of the one who comes e.g. 'Be patient unto the COMING (in person) of the Lord.' James 5:7.
2. Apokalupsis - This word stresses the 'revealing' or unveiling of the one who comes e.g. 'The Lord shall be REVEALED from Heaven.' II Thess. 1:7.
3. Epiphaneia - This word is used in the sense of the Glory or Majesty that will be manifested as Christ returns e.g. 'The APPEARING of our Lord Jesus.' I Tim. 6:14.
4. Heko - This word is used to emphasise the idea of arrival at a certain point or place e.g. 'Hold fast till I COME (to you).' Rev. 2:25.
5. Erchomai - This word is used to imply the actual act or event of coming e.g. 'Occupy till I COME (make the journey).' Luke 19: 13.
6. Phaneroo - This word means to render apparent e.g. 'When He shall APPEAR we shall be like Him' I John 32.
Out of these six words, the one most used is Parousia, but never in the sense of anything that is secret. Paul frequently used this word to refer to the physical presence of himself and others at various locations e.g. he spoke of the 'coming' (PAROUSIA) of Titus to him from Corinth, II Cor. 7:6, and again in the same Epistle the 'coming' (PAROUSIA) of Stephanas etc. I Cor. 16:17. Again when writing to the saints at Philippi, Paul said that he would be 'coming' (PAROUSIA) to visit them. Furthermore Paul spoke of the 'Coming (PAROUSIA) of the Lord and our gathering together to Him.' II Thess. 2 as an event seen by all after the appearance of antichrist, not in secret before the appearance of antichrist.
Not only Paul but Peter also used these words PAROUSIA and APOKALUPSIS, and actually used them to refer to the same event, the open manifest, coming again of the Lord Jesus. To see this compare I Peter 1:13 to II Peter 3. To confirm that the two words are interchangeable, we find that Matthew in his Gospel referring to the last days says:
'As the days of Noah were, so shall the coming (PAROUSIA) of the Son of Man be.' Matt. 24:37.
Yet Luke referring to the same event in his Gospel writes:
'As it was in the days of Noah ... even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of Man shall be revealed (APOKALUPSIS).' Luke 17:26-30.
Surely this is proof if it is still required that the idea of two comings is at best a nonsense and at worst a deliberate deception. Before leaving this issue we should also say that the other Greek words listed previously can also be used interchangeably, although implying various shades or degrees of meaning.
EPIPHANEIA is used to refer to the Lord returning to destroy antichrist:
'with the brightness of His COMING.' II Thess. 2:8.
Certainly nothing secret about that event. PHANEROO can be found in I Peter 5:4.
'When the chief Shepherd shall appear ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away.'
Without doubt the crowning glory of the saints at the Lord's return will be open and for all to see.
ERCHOMAI and HEKO are actually used in the same sentence to describe the same event:
'For yet a little while and He that shall come (ERCHOMAI) will come (HEKO) and will not tarry.' Hebrews 10:37.
In the light of these and many other similar verses it is apparent that the original Greek text confounds and refutes the Secret Rapture teaching rather than confirming and sustaining it.
CAN CHRIST COME BACK AT ANY MOMENT?
Frequently coupled with the Secret Rapture doctrine is the equally misguided notion that Christ can come back at any moment, even tonight, as we so often hear well-meaning Evangelists proclaim. Whilst we do not doubt the Lord's ability, we do believe that God is the author not of confusion, but of a great plan for the ages. This being the case, and although we are well aware that no man knows the exact day and hour of Christ's return, it is equally certain that a number of prophecies yet await their complete fulfilment and that not until we witness these things come to pass, can we expect the Lord at any moment. It was this very doctrine which had come into the Church at Thessalonica and made it necessary for Paul to write:
'Now we beseech you brethren by (concerning) the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by (concerning) our gathering together unto Him that ye be not soon shaken in mind or be troubled, neither by spirit nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand (at any moment), let no man deceive you, for that day shall not come except there come, a falling away first and the Man of Sin be revealed.' II Thess. 2:13.
Now those who believe in the Secret Rapture and that Christ can come at any moment say He will gather the believers before antichrist appears yet the Scripture says the direct opposite.
Again like so much of their teaching it is confusion, confounded, and Scripture stood upon its head.
CONCLUSION: A CALL AND A WARNING!
Dear reader, it is our sincere and earnest prayer that this article will convince you of the unscriptural nature of the Secret Rapture doctrine. Instead of preparing God's people to face the increasingly difficult days ahead, as tribulation intensifies, this doctrine has deluded millions of Christians into a false notion of escapism, and instead of obeying the Lord's command to resist evil and occupy until He comes, they have been made so Rapture-minded that they no longer even resist the evil, believing not that they will defeat it, but instead be rescued from it.
Let the Christian reader be up and doing in these last days, obeying the great commission given by our Lord in Matthew 10:
'Go, preach saying the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand. Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils: freely you have received. Freely give.'
Let the unconverted reader hear again the words of Jesus to one who was a ruler in Israel:
'Except a man be born again he cannot see the Kingdom of God ... Ye must be born again.' John 3 v 3-7.
Then we will all meet soon at that Great Day, when our Lord translates and resurrects His saints and returns with them to rule and reign upon the Throne of His father David in that great Kingdom that shall never end.
http://www.1335.com/secrapt.html
Posts: 822 | From: Ireland | Registered: Feb 2005
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