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The
Resurrection
and the
Rapture
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Do you believe in a
resurrection? I believe in the resurrection. I
believe that someday the dead shall rise out of
their graves. Why?
Because
Jesus tells me there will be a
resurrection!
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Does that sound too
fantastic to believe? Is it outrageous?
Acts 17:32
And when they heard of the
resurrection of the dead,
some
mocked...
To the non-believer, I would say,
look around you. Look at all of God's creation. It is
fantastic! It is miraculous! Life on earth is almost too
fantastic to believe. Why is it so hard then to believe that
the God who formed us out of the dust of the earth, and
breathed life into us, can give life to our bodies a second
time? I completely believe it will happen, because I
completely believe in Jesus.
John 11:25
Jesus said unto her, I am
the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in
me, though he were
dead,
yet shall he
live...
There will always be skeptics.
There were skeptics in Jesus time too.
Luke
20:27 ...the Sadducees, which
deny that there is any resurrection...
The Jewish leaders tried to
trap Jesus with a
"trick" question
to prove that there was no resurrection. But instead of
proving no resurrection, they showed how they themselves
lacked
understanding. The question
they asked Jesus was that if a woman is married and her
husband dies, if she then remarries the husband's brother,
and then he dies, and this happens seven times, whose wife
would she be in the resurrection? Jesus explained that when
we are resurrected to eternal life, we will be like angels,
and we will not marry.
Luke 20: 35-37
Therefore in the
resurrection whose wife of them is she? for seven had her
to wife. But they which shall be accounted worthy to
obtain that world, and the resurrection from the
dead, neither marry, nor are given in
marriage: Neither can they die any more: for they are
equal unto the
angels; and are the
children of God, being the children of the
resurrection.
They did not expect that answer and
they were angry. If you call yourself a Christian, and yet
you do not believe in the resurrection, then you are denying
that Jesus Christ was raised from the dead.
1 Corinthians 15:12-13
Now if Christ be preached
that he rose from the dead, how say some among you that
there is no resurrection of the dead? But if there be no
resurrection of the dead, then is Christ not
risen...
Well, that lesson is easy enough to
understand. The next point may surprise you, because it
shows that all the
dead will rise, but some will
not attain everlasting life.
John 5:29
And shall come forth; they
that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and
they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of
damnation.
Some people while arise to a bad
ending! This bad ending is referred to as the
second
death.
The bible refers to the first
death (death of the body) and the second death (death of the
soul and spirit in a lake of fire). This all happens at the
end of the world, on judgment day:
Revelation 2:12
He that hath an ear, let him
hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches
(notice this is promised
to the Christian churches);
He that overcometh
shall not be
hurt of the second death.
Revelation 20: 6
Blessed and holy is he that
hath part in the first
resurrection (the dead in
Christ will rise first): on
such the second death hath no power, but they
shall be priests
of God and of Christ, and
shall reign with him a thousand years.
Christians have nothing to fear. On
resurrection day, Christians will be given eternal life. On
the other hand, non-christians will be raised to experience
the second death.
What
exactly is the second death?
It is the final death. The
absolute end. It is a
death
in
fire...
Revelation 20:14
And death and hell were cast
into the lake of fire. This is the
second
death.
Who
will experience the second death?
Revelation 21:8
But the fearful, and
unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers,
and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all
liars, shall have their part in the lake which
burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the
second
death.
Now, if you are a non-believer, you
should worry right about now!
You can see from the above scripture that the
unbelieving
suffer the same fate as
murderers! Likewise, if
you tell lies, if you are deceitful, you should be concerned
- because
liars
suffer the same fate as the
abominable! They will all burn up together in the second
death.
When
will all of this
happen?
The answer is in he
following lesson.
The
Rapture
For a long time I had heard
that there will be a "rapture" in which Christians would be
wisked up into the sky by Jesus. Do I believe it will
happen? Yes, absolutely! The
bible says it will happen.
But,
how
will it happen?
What the bible
"really" says may surprise you!
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According to popular
teaching, this is supposed to occur before the
seven years of tribulation. The
Left
Behind book series
and movie is based upon the end times and the
rapture, and that is how the rapture is presented
in the book. They assert that some people will be
wisked up. Only their clothing would be left.
Others would be left behind to endure the
tribulation.
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Although this view is held by allot of people, I decided
that I should find out for
myself exactly what the
bible says on the subject. I would clear my mind of all of
the things I had heard and find
out
just what the
bible
says.
So, I read the book of Revelations, and then I read the
scriptures about the "catching up" of the saints. The
problem is that I never found anything about it occurring in
secret, or before some 7 year tribulation. I read
Revelations again. Then again. No, I could not find
anything to support that teaching. However, it seemed to me
that the scriptures are
indeed very clear about the
rapture. It will not
happen in "secret" either. No, the rapture will occur on the
day of the second
coming of Jesus. It is the
big
day! Everyone will see Jesus in
the sky and every eye will see it! Yes, it is the
Day of
Judgment! There is one
scripture that I hope you remember from this study because
it
proves
that the rapture will occur on the
day of the
resurrection!
1 Thessalonians 4:16, 17
For the Lord himself shall
descend from heaven with a
shout,
with the voice of the archangel, and with the
trump
of God: and the
dead in Christ
shall rise first: Then
we which are alive and remain shall be caught up
together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in
the air.
The Last
Day
- Jesus Returns in the Sky with a
Shout
- The Last Trump will
Sound
- The Dead in Christ will rise
first and join Christ in the Sky
- The Living in Christ will be
Caught up in the Sky (Raptured)
They do Not Experience
the Second Death
They Are Given Eternal Life
- The Unsaved Dead Rise
Next
- All of the Unsaved will Try to
Hide from God's Wrath
They all Burn Up in
the Second Death
I read a really good lesson on the
rapture, so rather than trying to explain it for myself, I
copied then lesson and pasted it here. It was written by Joe
Crews and he did such a wonderful job explaining it that I
think you should read it too. Thanks, Joe.
The Secret
Rapture
Written
by Joe
Crews
There is a theological question
that has disturbed millions of Christians and has lent
untold doctrinal confusion to the modern religious world.
That question revolves around the manner of Christ's coming
back to this earth at the end of the world. Multitudes have
been led to believe that Christ will return secretly. What
about the so-called secret rapture? A large number of
Christians have been exposed to this "dispensationalist" or
"futurist" interpretation of prophecy and have been
hopelessly confused.
According to this view, the coming
of Jesus will be in two separate events. First, He will come
secretly to take the church to heaven, and then, seven years
later, He will come in an open demonstration of power and
glory. In between those two events, the Antichrist is
supposed to come into power and the great tribulation period
take place.
But the truth is that
the Bible nowhere speaks of
these two separate comings of
Jesus. There is no second
stage of His coming that occurs seven years after the
so-called "rapture." By the way, that word "rapture" is also
an invention of theologians. It can't be found in the Bible
in even a single instance. It is a word coined for the
second advent of Jesus.
Now here is what we find in the
Scriptures: Christ's
coming, the resurrection, and catching up of the saints to
meet Jesus in the air, all take place at the same time, at
the end of the world.
This is why Jesus said,
"Lo, I am with you alway, even
unto the end of the
world." Matthew 28:20. Now
why would Jesus promise to be with the church until the end
of the world if He intended to come seven years before the
end to take them out of the world? The promise would have no
meaning.
Will It Be
Secret?
The secret rapture doctrine
contradicts the words of Christ in Matthew chapter 13 when
He said that the wheat and
tares would grow together until the "end of the world"
and then would be separated.
According to the two-stage teaching of His coming, both
groups would not grow together until the end of the
world.... And what about the promise of the resurrection?
Christ said, concerning the righteous,
"And I will raise him
up at the last day." John 6:40.
No one denies that this means the last day of the world. Yet
Paul declares that the saints are caught up to meet the Lord
at the same time the dead in Christ are raised. He
says, "For the Lord himself
shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of
the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in
Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain
shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet
the Lord in the air." 1
Thessalonians 4:16, 17.
Please keep in mind that
Jesus called this resurrection
the "last day." But how could
it be the "last day" if this gathering of the saints takes
place seven years before the end of the world? And how could
the "last
trump" sound if it really
wasn't the very last moment of time?
Can you imagine the graves opening
and the righteous rising and no one knowing that it had
occurred? And consider this additional testimony of the Word
of God:
Revelation 6:16, 17 When the wicked
see Christ come, they cry out to the rocks and mountains,
"Fall on us, and hide us from
the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the
wrath of the Lamb: For the great day of his wrath is
come; and who shall be able to stand?"
Matthew 24:27
"For as the lightning cometh
out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall
also the coming of the Son of man be."
1 Corinthians 15:52
"For the
trumpet
shall sound, and the dead shall be raised."
Psalm 50:3
"Our God shall come, and shall
not keep silence."
Revelation 1:7
"Every eye shall
see him."
Matthew 24:30
"Then shall all the tribes of
the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in
the clouds of heaven with power and great glory."
Matthew 24:31
"He shall send his angels
with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather
together his elect from the four winds, from one end of
heaven to the other." (This
is clearly the time when Christ comes to gather His
saints.)
To say that the second coming of
Christ to gather His saints will be secret, in view of these
clear texts of Scripture, and in the absence of any text
that even hints at His coming being secret, is to deny the
Bible as the Word of God. In an attempt to uphold their
contrived theory, the rapturists quote Matthew 24:40, 41 out
of context. Notice this entire passage:
"But as the days of Noah were, so
shall also the coming of the Son of man be. For as in the
days that were before the flood they were eating and
drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day
that Noe entered into the ark, And knew not until the flood
came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of
the Son of man be. Then shall two be in the field; the one
shall be taken, and the other left. Two women shall be
grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken, and the other
left." Matthew 24: 37-41.
Jesus is clearly drawing a
parallel
between the second coming and the days of
Noah. Those who entered the ark in Noah's day were
saved, and those who refused to enter the ark were left
outside. But what were they left for? For another chance?
No, obviously they were left to be destroyed by the Flood.
So, says Jesus, will it be when He comes at the end of the
world. One will be taken to heaven with Jesus, and the other
will be left for
destruction. Verse 51 makes
clear what will happen to those who are left:
"And shall cut him asunder, and
appoint him his portion with the hypocrites: there shall be
weeping and gnashing of teeth."
Read Luke 17:26-37 for Luke's parallel account of these same
words of Jesus. In verse 36, this statement is made:
"Two men shall be in the field;
the one shall be taken, and the other
left." Now notice verse 37 and
the question the disciples asked:
"And they answered and said
unto him, Where, Lord?" They
wanted to know where those who didn't go to heaven were
going to be left. Notice Jesus' clear answer:
"And he said unto them,
Wheresoever the body is, thither will the eagles be gathered
together."
Take note how Jesus taught that
the bodies of the
wicked are going to be left on the
ground for the eagles to
consume. Scripture is too plain to be misunderstood. Only as
we accept all that the Bible says can we be safe from such
deceptive teachings that are confusing millions of sincere
Christians today concerning this most glorious event of all
ages, the second coming of Jesus Christ.
Now, I realize that the rapturists
hang onto the texts which liken the Lord's coming to
"a thief in the
night." They assume that this
must be a quiet, secret coming. But does it really mean
that? Let's show that it definitely does not. Here is one of
those texts in 2 Peter 3:10:
"The day of the Lord will
come as a thief in the night; in the which the
heavens shall pass away with a
great
noise, and the elements
shall melt with fervent heat."
Obviously the "thief" part has
nothing to do with secrecy because the heavens will pass
away with a great noise! And if
coming "as a thief" is the secret rapture which takes place
seven years before the end of the world, how can the heavens
and earth "pass away," as Peter describes it? The heavens
and earth could not pass away seven years before the world
ends-that is the end!
The fact is that Jesus Himself
explained clearly just how a thief's coming could be related
to His coming: "Watch
therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come.
But know this, that if the goodman of the house had known in
what watch the thief would come, he would have watched, and
would not have suffered his house to be broken
up." Matthew 24:42, 43. There
it is, so plain and simple! The thief would come
unexpectedly when the owners were not looking for a thief.
In the same way, His
coming would take people by
surprise. They would not be
watching or looking for it.
Will Christ Return in Two
Phases?
The dispensationalists teach that
the two separate stages of Christ's coming are indicated "in
the Greek." They argue that there will first be the rapture
(parousia), a secret coming; then seven years later
will be the revelation (apokalupsis), His coming in
power and glory. But, actually, instead of teaching two
separate events, the Greek terms are used interchangeably in
the Bible. They give no indication of a seven-year interval.
For example, Paul uses the word
"parousia" in the famous rapture chapter of 1 Thessalonians
4 in speaking of the coming of our Lord and our gathering
together unto Him. He then goes right on to show that this
"parousia" will destroy the man of sin. Speaking of the
Antichrist, Paul says, "whom
the Lord shall ... destroy with the brightness of his
coming
[parousia]." 2
Thessalonians 2:8. These texts clearly describe the coming
(parousia) of Christ as taking place after the reign of the
man of sin, not as an escape rapture before the reign of the
Antichrist begins.
The other Greek word
"apokalupsis" (revelation) is used in a way that
indicates it is not a separate coming from the time the
believers are gathered up. Peter said to
"be sober, and hope to the end
for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the
revelation [apokalupsis] of Jesus
Christ." 1 Peter 1:13. Why
would Christians be exhorted to keep hoping to the very
end of the world for the grace brought through the
revelation of Christ if their real hope was a secret rapture
seven years before the revelation?
Now look at some verses which prove
beyond a doubt that the two words "parousia" and
"apokalupsis" refer to the same event. In Matthew 24:37 we
read, "But as the days of Noe
were, so shall also the coming [parousia] of the Son
of man be." Luke's account of
the same passage says, "As it
was in the days of Noe ... Even thus shall it be in the day
when the Son of man is revealed
[apokalupsis]." Luke
17:26, 30. This shows that the coming (parousia) of Christ
and the revelation (apokalupsis) of Christ are the same
event. There is
absolutely no basis for placing seven years in between.
Many dispensationalist teachers
actually claim that the rapture is not really the "coming"
of Jesus at all. They say His coming is when Christ returns
in power seven years after the rapture. But what a
contradictory, confusing explanation that is! The fact is
that there are many Scriptures which admonish Christians to
wait and watch for the coming of the Lord. For example,
James 5:7 says, "Be patient
therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the
Lord." But why should
Christians need to be patient unto the coming of the Lord if
there is to be a secret rapture to take them to heaven seven
years before His coming?
Strange as it may seem, this whole
counterfeit secret rapture is built upon a constant
repetition of words and ideas that are
not found in the
Bible at all. But they have
been repeated so often that millions have assumed that they
must be soundly biblical. Let's take a look at some of the
texts which have been used to support the doctrine of a
two-phase coming of Christ. And please notice that none of
the verses actually say what some try to read into them. In
fact, it is only after a person has already assumed that
Christ will return in two separate comings that these verses
could even suggest the idea.
Revelation 3:10 is often quoted to
try to prove that the righteous will be taken out of the
world before the tribulation.
"Because thou hast kept the
word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour
of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to
try them that dwell upon the
earth." It is immediately
obvious that this text does not speak of the righteous
leaving this world at all. Jesus completely clarified the
meaning by something He said in John 17:6, 15 which sounds
very similar. "They have kept
thy word ... I pray not that thou shouldest take them out
of the world, but that thou shouldest
keep them from the
evil."
Don't miss the significance of the term "kept the word" in
both these texts. Both statements are talking about the same
group of people-the faithful ones.
Now if those who "kept the word"
can be "kept from the evil" of the world without being taken
out of the world, why should we suppose that a special
coming and secret rapture is required for those who "kept
the word" to be "kept from the hour of temptation"? Whatever
else may be taught in Revelation 3:10, it is evident that no
extra coming of Christ is indicated.
True biblical doctrine must be
based upon clear statements of what the entire Bible teaches
on a subject and not upon verses which offer only veiled
inferences. Luke 21:36 is an example of that very thing.
Jesus said to His disciples, "Pray always, that ye may be
accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come
to pass." How? By a secret rapture to take them to heaven
seven years before the end of the world? Definitely not, for
in the prayer of Jesus we read,
"I pray not that thou shouldest
take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep
them from the evil." When He
told them to "pray ... to
escape," He must have meant the
same as when He prayed, "I pray not ... take them out of the
world but ... keep them." This rules out a secret rapture
entirely. The text that is used to prove the rapture is seen
actually to forbid the saints being taken out of this world
during the time of trouble.
The Seven-Year
Tribulation
Since so much rapturist theology
revolves around the seven-year period, one would assume that
the Bible must speak frequently of such a time period. But
not so. There is not one single scriptural reference which
ties the seven years to the end of the world or the coming
of Christ. Most rapturist literature mention the seven-year
tribulation period without offering any Bible proof or
explanation. Millions have assumed that it must be so well
documented that no proof is needed. In fact, the opposite is
true. There just isn't any evidence to give.
Most Bible students are amazed to
learn that the rapturists try to justify their seven years
by lifting a prophecy
of Daniel completely out of its
context. In Daniel 9:24-27 God made a daring prophecy
concerning the probation of the nation of Israel. He said to
Daniel, "Seventy weeks
['weeks of years' RSV]
are determined upon thy people
... to finish the trangression, and to make an end of
sins." Verse 24. Please notice
that God was going to allow Daniel's people seventy weeks to
see what they would do with the Messiah when He appeared.
The seventy weeks are prophetic time, and each day
represents a literal year (Ezekiel 4:6). So the seventy
weeks would be a literal period of 490 years, after
which the Israelites would no longer be God's people. They
would be rejected as a nation because of their rejection of
the Messiah.
Don't miss the point in Daniel 9:25
that the prophecy of the seventy weeks was to begin with the
decree to restore and build Jerusalem. That well-known date
is 457 B.C., when Artaxerxes sent out the decree (Ezra
7:13). From that date, 457 B.C., the Jews would have exactly
490 years to finish filling up their cup of iniquity by
rejecting the Messiah. That 490-year probation ended in A.D.
34, and the Jews ceased to be God's chosen people. Daniel
9:25 says that the Messiah would be anointed after
sixty-nine of those prophetic weeks had passed by. That
would be 483 years from the decree date of 457 B.C. It takes
no mathematician to figure the end of that prediction. It
brings us to the year A.D. 27,
the very year that
Jesus was baptized by John and the Holy Spirit anointed Him
for His ministry. Since
"Messiah" means "Anointed One," this had to be the
fulfillment of Daniel's prophecy that the Messiah would
appear in A.D 27.
Now mark this fact: seventy weeks
were assigned to the Jewish probation, but Christ appeared
as the Messiah after sixty-nine weeks. That leaves the
seventieth week for Christ to minister before the Jews'
probation ended. What was to happen in the seventieth week?
Daniel 9:27 tells us, "And he
shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in
the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the
oblation to cease."
The midst of the week would be
three and a half prophetic days (literal years) from His
baptism. And according to the Bible, the ministry of Jesus
lasted for three and a half years. In the spring of A.D. 31
He was crucified. The veil of the temple was rent (Matthew
27:51), signifying the end of sacrifices. By His death He
caused them to cease. Another three and a half years would
lead up to the end of the seventy weeks and the end of
Jewish probation. During that three and a half years the
disciples labored largely for the Jews. But in A.D. 34 the
seventy weeks ended; Stephen was stoned and the gospel began
to go to the Gentiles (Acts 8:4). The Jews had rejected the
gospel message and were no longer God's people-just as
Daniel had predicted. Henceforth they could be saved only as
individuals, in exactly the same way as the Gentiles. As a
nation, they had been rejected as the chosen people. Here is
the way the Bible describes that rejection:
Matthew 21:43
"The kingdom of God shall be
taken from you."
Matthew 21:19
"And when he saw a fig tree
in the way, he came to it, and found nothing thereon, but
leaves only, and said unto it, Let no fruit grow on thee
henceforward for ever. And presently the fig tree
withered away." (The fig
tree was a symbol of the Jewish nation.)
Matthew 23:38
"Behold, your house is left
unto you desolate."
Galatians 3:28
"There is neither Jew nor
Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male
nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus."
Galatians 3:29
"And if ye be Christ's, then
are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the
promise."
Romans 10:12
"For there is no difference
between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is
rich unto all that call upon him."
Romans 9:6-8
"For they are not all
Israel, which are of Israel: Neither, because they are
the seed of Abraham, are they all children; but, In Isaac
shall thy seed be called. That is, They which are ... the
children of the promise are counted for the
seed." (The New Testament
teaches the acceptance of spiritual Israel, and the
rejection of physical Israel and the children of the
flesh.)
Romans 2:28, 29
"For he is not a Jew, which is
one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is
outward in the flesh: But he is a Jew, which is one
inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the
spirit, and not in the letter."
Acts 13:46
"It was necessary that the
word of God should first have been spoken to you: but
seeing ye put it from you, and judge yourselves unworthy
of everlasting life, lo, we turn to the Gentiles."
The rapturists get their
seven years' tribulation by lifting that seventieth week of
Daniel's prophecy completely out of its
context and shoving it far into
the future. They claim it will be fulfilled after Christ
comes to snatch away the righteous secretly. Incredible?
Absolutely! But they must grasp desperately for some text to
support their seven years. They agree that the sixty-nine
weeks of Daniel 9:25 refer to the period before Christ's
first advent, but then they insert a 2000-year gap before
the seventieth week is fulfilled. They allot 69 weeks plus
2,000 years plus one week, or a total of 2,490 years. By
this devious manipulation of God's Word, the rapturists
believe they have extended the Jewish probation; and based
upon this, they teach that all the fleshly Jews will be
saved in a great second chance after the "secret rapture"
takes place.
The tragedy of the rapture theory
is that it takes these beautiful verses of Daniel 9:24-27
that predict the coming of Jesus, His baptism and
crucifixion, and apply them to Antichrist. They do this by
stating that it is Antichrist that causes the sacrifice and
oblation to cease after three and one-half years. But Daniel
states that it is Jesus who caused the sacrificial system of
the Jews to cease when He died on the cross. A
misinterpretation that confuses something Christ has done,
and applies it to the devil instead, is certainly a tragic
occurrence. And yet this is the only way one can arrive at a
seven-year tribulation period. How sad!
When Does the Antichrist
Appear?
Now we are brought to focus on the
most glaring inconsistency of the rapture theory, and that
is that the Antichrist will not appear until after the
saints are caught away-seven years before the end of the
world. Paul settles the entire matter for us in the first
few verses of 2 Thessalonians chapter 2.
"Now we beseech you,
brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by
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.
Let no man deceive you by
any means: for that day
[of our gathering
together unto Him] shall
not come, except there come a falling away first,
and that man of sin
[Antichrist]
be revealed, the
son of perdition;
Who opposeth and exalteth
himself above all that is called God, or that is
worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of
God, shewing himself that he is
God." Verses 1-4.
The words of Paul are so plain that
it is difficult to comment on them. How can they be plainer?
Christ's coming will not take place
"except there come a falling
away first, and that man of sin be
revealed." Show these words to
any child who has learned to read; show them to anyone not
prejudiced by "private" interpretations, and he will say,
"These verses say
that the man of sin
(Antichrist)
is going to be
revealed before Jesus comes."
Paul is not referring to some
superman suddenly to appear 2,000 years after his epistles.
He wrote, "For the mystery of iniquity doth already work."
Verse 7. While Paul lived, he combated the emerging spirit
of the Antichrist. By the sixth century A.D., Antichrist had
matured. The crowning act in the great drama of deception,
however, occurs just before the return of Christ:
"And then shall that Wicked be
revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his
mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his
coming." Verse 8.
This clearly states
that Antichrist will be destroyed when Christ
comes. He does not arrive after
the second advent.
And here's the crowning
clarification in this whole thing. Revelation 20:4 assures
us that some of those who
are raised in the first resurrection will be those who
refused to worship the beast and receive his
mark! How completely this
demolishes the futuristic school of prophetic interpretation
is evident, for they claim that the emergence of the
Antichrist and the imposition of his mark are to be looked
for after the first resurrection and what they call the
secret rapture. Recently a radio preacher expressed this
belief: "I don't expect to be here when the beast is
enforcing his mark upon the people. I expect to go up in the
rapture and be in heaven during the great tribulation time."
But these verses declare that some of those who come up in
the "first resurrection," when Christ comes the second time,
have already refused to worship the Antichrist or receive
his mark! Thus, the Antichrist must have already been on the
stage of action carrying on his oppressive work before the
"first resurrection" and well before the second coming of
Jesus.
Without attempting to establish the
identity of Antichrist at this point, let us notice how this
teaching-that the Antichrist will come in the
future-originated. At the time of the Reformation, most of
the reformers understood the
prophecy of the
Antichrist to refer to the
great apostate system
of Romanism that developed
during the Middle Ages. Of course, Rome did not appreciate
this interpretation. Please notice Rome's course of action
to nullify this interpretation:
"So great a hold did the conviction
that the Papacy was the Antichrist gain upon the minds of
men, that Rome at last saw she must bestir herself, and try,
by putting forth
other systems of
interpretation, to
counteract the identification of the Papacy
with the Antichrist."
"Accordingly, toward the close of
the century of the Reformation, two of the most learned
doctors set themselves to the task, each endeavoring by
different means to accomplish the same end, namely, that of
diverting men's minds from perceiving the fulfillment of the
prophecies of the Antichrist in the papal system. The Jesuit
Alcazar devoted himself to bring into prominence the
preterist method of interpretation, ... and thus endeavored
to show that the prophecies of Antichrist were fulfilled
before the popes ever ruled in Rome, and therefore could not
apply to the Papacy.
"On the other hand, the Jesuit
Ribera tried to set aside the application of these
prophecies to the papal power by bringing out the futurist
system, which asserts that these prophecies refer properly,
not to the career of the Papacy, but to some future
supernatural individual, who is yet to appear, and continue
in power for three and a half years. Thus, as Alford says,
the Jesuit Ribera, about A.D. 1580, may be regarded as the
founder of the futurist system of modern times. ...
"It is a matter for deep regret
that those who advocate the futurist system at the present
day, Protestants as they are for the most part, are really
playing into the hands of Rome, and helping to
screen the Papacy
from detection as the
Antichrist."1
Thus, the whole theory of the
secret rapture with its future Antichrist had its origin
with the Jesuits in an attempt to take the blame off the
Papacy.
The origin of the two-phase coming
of Christ has an equally unsavory history. It was not until
around the year 1830 that this view began to be taught. In
the Scottish church pastored by Edward Irving, a Miss
Margaret McDonald gave what was believed at the time to be
an inspired utterance. She spoke of the visible, open, and
glorious second coming of Christ. But as the utterance
continued, she spoke of another coming of Christ-a secret
and special coming in which those who were truly ready would
be raptured.2
However, it was John Nelson Darby-a
Brethren preacher and diligent writer of the time in
England-who was largely responsible for introducing this new
teaching on a large scale. The teaching spread to the United
States in the 1850s and 1860s, where it was to receive its
biggest boost when Cyrus Ingerson Scofield, a strong
believer in Darby's teachings, incorporated it into the
notes of his Scofield Reference Bible, which was published
in 1909. Since that time, this view has been widely
accepted-often by people who are completely unaware that
this was not the belief held by Christians over the
centuries. Many fine Christians hold his view today who have
never questioned its authority.
Oswald Smith, noted minister and
author of Toronto, says in his booklet Tribulation or
Rapture-Which? that he once held the two-stage teaching, but
that when he began to search the Scriptures for himself, he
discovered that there is not a single verse in the Bible to
uphold this view. He confessed: "I had been taught that the
Greek word 'parousia' always referred to the Rapture and
that other words were used for the coming of Christ in glory
... but I found that this is not true ... We might go
through all the writers of the New Testament, and we would
fail to discover any indication of the so-called
'two-stages' of our Lord's coming ... That theory had to be
invented by man. Search and see. There is no verse in the
Bible that even mentions it."
The Second Chance
Finally, the secret rapturists
claim that during the tribulation those not raptured will be
given another chance to be saved.
Let it be categorically stated that
nowhere does
Scripture speak of a second
chance, nor does the Bible
anywhere speak of people being saved after Jesus comes. This
is just another manmade doctrine that is indeed pleasing to
the carnal heart of man. Actually, the Bible teaches the
opposite. Notice these clear texts of Scripture:
2 Corinthians 6:2
"Behold, now is the
accepted time; behold, now is the day of
salvation."
Revelation 22:11, 12
"He that is unjust, let him be
unjust still: and he which is filthy, let him be filthy
still: and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still:
and he that is holy, let him be holy still. And, behold, I
come quickly; and my reward is with
me." (Evidently probation
closes just prior to the second advent.)
Jeremiah 8:20
"The harvest
(day of second coming)
is past, the summer is
ended, and we are not saved."
When Jesus comes the second time,
He carries "in his hand a sharp sickle." Revelation 14:14.
This is the reaping time after sixty centuries of the sowing
of the seeds of sin. This is the harvest time, and "the
harvest is the end of the world." Matthew 13:39.
"And he that sat on the cloud
thrust in his sickle on the earth; and the earth was
reaped." Revelation
14:16. Truly did Jeremiah say,
"The harvest is past ...
and we are not saved." Jeremiah
8:20. There can be no saving after the reaping of earth's
harvest at the coming of Christ.
When Jesus and His holy angels
appear, then "before him shall
be gathered all nations."
Matthew 25:32. There will only be two classes in that great
company. The destiny of each has been set by what he did
before the coming of Christ.
Let us stand firm on the Word of
God alone and reject these manmade, man-pleasing ideas that
form the bulk of the whole secret rapture theory. As we have
noticed, the Bible clearly teaches that Jesus Christ will
come the second time in glorious majesty to take His
redeemed home with Him. It will be a personal, visible, and
earth-shaking event that everyone alive will know about. The
righteous will be caught up to meet the Lord in the air (1
Thessalonians 4:17), whereas the wicked will be slain by the
brightness of that coming (2 Thessa-lonians 2:8). Let us
carefully study our Bibles that we will not be deceived
concerning this most important and wonderful hope, the
second coming of Jesus.
_____________
Reverend Joseph Tanner,
Daniel and the Revelation, pp. 16, 17. (See also L. E.
Froom, The Prophetic Faith of Our Fathers, Vol. 2, Review
and Herald Publishing Association, 1950, pp. 484-510.)
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