Featured The ‘Rapture’ of Flight 370

In watching news reports of the disappearance of Flight 370 these past weeks, I could not help but see a similarity with the prevalent view of the ‘Rapture’ doctrine held by many sincere Christians.

One day --- soon, they say --- true born-again Christians will disappear off the face of the Earth.

Like Flight 370, they will not leave a trace of their whereabouts behind.

Except, of course, for the numerous websites which will explain the Rapture to the uninitiated.

According to this popular theory held by those of the Futurist school of prophetic interpretation Christ will return in two-stages.

In stage 1 His return will be invisible, above the Earth.

His purpose: rescue His Church from The Great 7-year Tribulation instigated by a future unknown Antichrist.

To be fair, many Futurists hold to a mid-Trib Rapture.

A minority hold to a post-Trib Rapture.

There is much documentation Online as to the origin of these Rapture theories, so I need not detail the particulars here.

It should be mentioned, however, that these theories were unknown to the Christian Church until the 19th century.

Thus, for 1800 years the Church had not a clue that Christ was coming to rescue them from tribulation.

They had not a clue that Christ’s return was in 2-stages.

They had not a clue that the blessed martyrs were not quite as blessed as those Christians who would escape tribulation in the Rapture.

They had not a clue that enduring the extreme penalties imposed on them for centuries by decree of the ‘Christian’ Roman Catholic Church, all because they stood firm in their faith, would be surpassed by a ‘Great 7-year Tribulation’ imposed by a secular dictator in the last days.

They had not a clue that loss of all goods, including homes for which they worked hard, loss of personal freedom due to their imprisonment or restriction to certain boundaries, loss of freedom to buy and sell goods necessary for life and livelihood, loss of freedom to evangelize, loss of freedom to own, carry and teach the Bible, loss of assurance of freedom from harm by the religious and secular authorities who could arrest them at whim, loss of children who were slaughtered or taken captive, loss of family members due to imprisonment, never to be seen or heard from again, loss of life and limb by various cruel methods, including starvation, burning alive, strangulation, unimaginably cruel tortures, hanging, not to mention the severing of body parts by the sword……would be far surpassed by evils perpetrated during the 7-year Great Tribulation!

I ask the discerning, open-minded reader: What tribulation could be worse than that which has already happened to unknown multitudes of Christians…..all of which were ordained by 'sanctified, holy Christian men of God', who were and are today called ‘another Christ’ and the ‘Vicar of Christ'?

BTW, the sadistic victimizing of children by the Roman clergy has been ongoing for centuries. You can read of it in the extant Church Councils. You can read of it in their own histories. Such non-Christian satanic behavior is not limited to recent history.

This sordid truth was yet another reason why true Christians were disgusted and repulsed by the Roman Popes, priests, monks and friars.

Escape tribulation?

I believe the infallible words of our Lord:

In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.

I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil.

2-stage return?

I believe the infallible words of Scripture:

First comes Antichrist, then comes Christ.

Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, [The Day of the Lord's return in judgment], except there come a falling away first, [Apostasy of the professing Christian Roman Church], and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition [the Papal Antichrist, the Beast]

 

I have studied extensively the Futurist position. I have even attended Hal Lindsey's church in So. CA. You can't get more Futurist than that....fellowshipping with the man who brought Futurism into prominence in the evangelical Church. <grin>

The wrath and judgment of God has been and is presently being poured out on the world as well as on false Christians.

Why do you think the World Trade Center was brought down in such a way that even the slightest miscalculation on the part of the Terrorists would have stymied their plot?

The odds that they would successfully complete as much of their wicked mission as they did is astronomically small.

Our righteous, holy and angry God was behind its success.

Do you not discern that the lawful right to gay marriage sweeping our nation and other nations worldwide is a judgment of the wrath of our holy God?

Do you not discern the enormous popularity of a Joel Osteen and his army of false wonder-working prophets is a judgment of the wrath of our holy God?

Do you not discern that the ever-growing debt of our country -- with no end in sight -- is a catastrophe waiting to happen as a result of the judgment of the wrath of our holy God?

Do you not discern that legalized baby-killing is the judgment of the wrath of our holy God?

Do you not discern that the false religion called 'evolution' mandated to be taught as Gospel truth to our youth is the judgment of the wrath of our holy God?

Do you not discern that the ecumenical movement which embraces the Papal Antichrist and his harlot false Church as a legitimate 'expression' of Christianity is the judgment of the wrath of our holy God?

You, and I, my friend, are in the midst of God's many judgments of wrath.

I don't know about you, but I look on in disbelief with growing horror.

Our Lord promises not to take us out of the world but to 'keep us from the evil'.

His Elect will not be deceived, thus becoming partakers of the evil.

Paul promises great spiritual warfare and describes how to use the non-carnal spiritual weapons at our disposal to stand fast in the faith.

Jesus promises His disciples (past, present and future) will experience hatred and persecution. (John 15)

Jesus promises excommunication and death by fellow 'Christians' who, in their unregenerate, devilish minds believed they were simply following the Lord's directive to 'steal, kill and destroy.' (John 16)

Jesus promises not to leave us comfortless. He does not promise a bountiful, material, carefree existence as the Prosperity false prophets preach.

There is testimony of 11th century saints who joyfully went into the burning fire, glad to depart this evil world and be with Jesus forever.

The onlookers were amazed at their supernaturally calm demeanor.

They had no explanation for it.

I do. The Comforter was at work.

 

Thank you, Disconnected, for your hateful diatribe.

Jesus forewarned His disciples would be hated by the world and the religious.

The fall of the Tower of Siloam could not have happened had the Lord not ordained it.

He also ordained who would be killed by its fall.

Does it upset you that God will be God and none can stay His hand or question why He does it?

Jesus was not denying that God caused the fall, and thereby the death of those who were killed.

Thus, you do err neither knowing the Scripture nor the power of God.

Jesus was denying that those who escaped injury were more righteous than those who died.

Furthermore, Jesus was using this event to warn all men that they, too, shall die, and not necessarily with knowledge that it will be imminent.

The moral lesson? Today is the day of salvation. There is no guarantee there will be another opportunity to hear the Gospel, and by believing be saved.

Nothing escapes the Lord's personal ordering and directing of all events in Heaven and Earth.

If one event could possibly happen without His direct decree and ordination, then He is no God.

More to the point, that which caused the event to happen without His express consent and permission is, in fact, the greater God.

For the information of the uninitiated, three of the essential attributes of our holy God is omnipotence, omniscience, and sovereignty.

Not only is He all-powerful, able to successfully manage the comings, goings, successes, failures, injuries and deaths of all His creatures, He is all-wise in knowing how, exactly, He should manage, as well as knowing precisely the outcome of all secondary causes.

His sovereignty over His creation declares nothing or no one has been His counsel when He planned, in eternity, every detail in minutiae, including the number of hairs on your head at any given time, the flight path of every bird, the exact moment of your first birth, the exact moment and method of your death, as well as every event, joyful, tearful or otherwise in your lifetime.

Despite the denial of many on this board, the very act of believing is God's ordained gift to His Elect, the blessed recipients of His effectual saving grace.

The Lord is sovereign over Satan who cannot harm one of God's people without His express permission.

The problem with the Phelps ministry is that it is not balanced.

It is true that God hates. Scripture declares it.

However, it is also true that God gladly and sincerely welcomes all repentant sinners.

Christ came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.

It is one thing to identify sin.

It is another to point the sinner to the only Savior who can cleanse all sin by His blood.

This Westboro fails to do.

It is my prayer that 'Disconnected' become more 'connected' to the true God of the Bible.

 

DHK, you are one of the more sane, orthodox contributors to this forum.

I sincerely applaud and appreciate your thoroughly biblical stand on many important issues.

Re: God is not dead.

Please, oh please, find a quote in which I said 'God is dead.'

If not, an apology would be greatly appreciated.

I never once intimated that our Lord was not in the business of saving souls.

That was not stated anywhere in the OP.

The fact that our Lord could save by the power of His Spirit and preserve His Word even in the Dark Ages when true believers were but a persecuted and hunted remnant, is proof that He is able to save anyone anywhere at any time.

Are all the other signs I mentioned also ethnocentrism?

 

Whatever you say, 'Reverend.'

 

Is that your retraction of the 'God is dead' reference?

It is obvious you wish to place the Revelation in the future, having no relevance to Church history which includes the slaughter of your brothers and sisters in Christ and the Holy Ghost testimonies they gave.

That is your prerogative.

Unfortunately, your view does not line up with the view of those who have placed their lives on the line for centuries.

No Futurist martyrs exist who have been called, Blessed is he who dies in the Lord.

The problem with Futurist interpretation is that it is authoritatively declared as factual. In reality it is nothing less than imaginative speculation based upon assumption after assumption.

It has become a multi-million dollar industry preying on sincere, but gullible Christians to buy their products in order to better understand the many mysteries of prophecy.

A Christian's time would be much better spent studying the facts and indisputable evidence supplied by Church history.

Again, DHK, I do not think less of you as a Christian who has a strong grasp of essential biblical doctrines.

I simply do not believe you have taken the time and effort to study the Historicist position which is based on actual facts, not fancy or speculation.

There are numerous examples of the inconsistencies between Futurist doctrine and the Word of God.

For example, the 7-year Great Tribulation. I am assuming the secret Rapture takes place at the start? Or perhaps it takes place mid-Trib?

Either way, the Lord returns to Earth in final judgment at the end of the Tribulation. By simply calculating 7 years or 3 1/2 years into the future from the Rapture event, those remaining on Earth will know the time of the Lord's return.

But here is what the Scriptures say:

When they therefore were come together, they asked of him, saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel?

7 And he said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power.

Mind you, it is not for the disciples to know the times or the seasons, but, as Futurists teach, it is for those left behind by the Rapture to know the times or the seasons.

Let us also look at another Scripture:

But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you.

2 For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night.

3 For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.

4 But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief.

5 Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness.

6 Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober.

7 For they that sleep sleep in the night; and they that be drunken are drunken in the night.

8 But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation.

9 For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ

The Day of the Lord is the return of Christ in Judgment.

From it we can glean a few important truths:

1. Christ's return is sudden and unexpected.

2. It will be a time of peace on Earth, not a time of world-wide calamity.

3. True believers will not have been raptured years prior to His return.

4. They will be present when He returns.

5. They have nothing to fear because at that time they will experience the fullness of their salvation upon His return.

6. The wicked will experience the wrath of God -- the righteous judgment of God -- upon His return.

When the Lord returns it is those same Christians present who will be taken up to meet the Lord in the clouds, having been translated into their glorified bodies without experiencing death.

This truth Paul explains in the previous chapter.

If the Futurists are correct and there is a rapture occurring years prior to the Lord's return, then why does Paul, in the very next breath, assure Christians they have nothing to fear when the Lord returns?

 

So true. Imagination and Eisegesis are the principles used in teaching a 2-stage Return of Christ separated by 7 years.

Tragically, this teaching is the 'norm' in too many so-called 'evangelical' churches.

One wonders why, if this teaching was true, that Christians are even warned in the Scriptures of the coming Antichrist since they allegedly will not be here to deal with him.

 

So the Lord is pleased with this wonderful world and has said nothing, nor done nothing to show His eternal displeasure?

We Americans face no tribulation. We are fat cats who bask in our glory. We worry not about Antichrist and his army of false prophets because we will be raptured and taken to safety before he can harm us.

But Jeshurun waxed fat, and kicked: thou art waxen fat, thou art grown thick, thou art covered with fatness; then he forsook God which made him, and lightly esteemed the Rock of his salvation.

Even so then at this present time also there is a remnant according to the election of grace.

Do you believe in the election of grace? I certainly pray so.

'Whom He will?' I perceive a Calvinistic leaning which, if not repented of, will most certainly result in the wrath and judgment of your less tolerant free-will brethren.

Final Judgment is the 2nd Coming of Christ, the Day of the Lord.

Right. I am no Preterist.

Right. There are several proofs that that is so. Most Futurists would not agree with you, though.

I, too, am not interested in argumentum ad populum.

I am, however, interested in what TRUE CHRISTIANS, who underwent severe persecution and even gave their lives in the battle with Antichrist, had to say.

They are ALL in agreement.

Either they were all deceiving liars or they were all telling the truth.

If they were liars, then they were of Antichrist, who is of his father, the father of lies.

Many have been martyred in recent history. Yet none of them testified to a new, hitherto unknown Antichrist.

Scripture is not the infallible test as to the how exactly the future is going to unfold.

Its fulfillment in history is the answer as to how exactly that prophecy has come to pass.

Not one of the prophets of old or the angels understood exactly how the Messiah was going to fulfill all the prophecies.

Of which salvation the prophets have enquired and searched diligently , who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you: 11 Searching what , or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify , when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow .

Unto whom it was revealed, that not unto themselves, but unto us they did minister the things, which are now reported unto you by them that have preached the gospel unto you with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven; which things the angels desire to look into.

Left Behind series has sold more than 63 million copies. I believe that qualifies Futurist Pastor Tim LaHaye as a multi-zillionaire who preys on the ignorant and feeble-minded.

The question has nothing to with preaching the Gospel. The question regards preaching the false doctrines of Futurism and from that fiction becoming extremely wealthy.

The Bible is the history of redemption through Christ as well as the history of His blood bought Church and the tribulations and trials they could expect, as well as who they could expect them from.

It begins in eternity and ends in eternity.

There are no gaps in the Bible.

You have just made fast friends with the Pope and Roman Catholic Church.

Please cite 2 authoritative sources who agree with your assessment.

Oh really? Then who is the Antichrist and who is Mystery Babylon?

Such a shame that millions of martyred believers of the past never had the blessing and favor with God as do the present day tribulation-free fat cat Christians who are destined to escape all those nasty and uncomfortable persecutions, tortures, and murders to come.

I'll give you a hint. If, for example, they disappear on New Year's Day count forward 7 years.

 

It is not a difficult study.

I will simplify the study for you, 'Reverend.'

1. All men are, by nature, born children of wrath. (Eph.2)

2. All unbelievers are continually under the wrath of God. (John 3)

3. Not all unbelievers will remain under the wrath of God because according to the eternal free grace and sovereign will of God some will experience His love, mercy and compassion. They are called ‘vessels of mercy.’ All Christians are vessels of mercy. (Romans 9; 1 John 4; John 3:16)

4. Other unbelievers will remain in their sin, unrepentant. God will not intervene to change their wicked wills to conform to His. These are called ‘vessels of wrath’.

5. Many times the vessels of wrath have not a clue they are doomed to perdition. The rich fool whose soul was unexpectedly required of him is but one example. The Pope who experiences the honor and worship of the hordes worldwide is another example.

Christians who have the Holy Spirit have the mind of Christ. (1 Cor. 2:16)

They understand nothing takes place on the planet without the Lord God decreeing it come to pass.

Thus, no nation, no building, no plane, no bird can fall without the Father’s decree.

As discerning Christians we should be able to have a good sense as to the nature of the major events which providence brings to pass.

Is it a sign of God’s blessing when homosexuality is affirmed as a normal expression of the human condition, worthy of marital status?

Or is it a sign of God’s judgment on the nation which turns its back on God?

Is it a sign of God’s blessing that false prophets, false theologies, and false eschatologies abound tickling the ears of the weak and false professing Christians?

Or is it a sign of God’s judgment that He sends them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness?