"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: and so shall we ever be with the Lord."
(1 Thessalonians 4:16-17)
IT IS GOOD AND RIGHT TO BELIEVE IN THE RAPTURE, FOR THIS IS UPHOLDING SCRIPTURAL TRUTH. WHAT IS NOT GOOD IS THE OPEN HOSTILITY - AND THE RESULTANT POLARIZATION - BEING EVERYWHERE DEMONSTRATED BY THOSE ON ALL SIDES OF THE DEBATE TOWARDS THOSE OF A DIFFERENT PERSUASION. THIS IS, QUITE SIMPLY, VERY WRONG, FOR HEALTHY CHRISTIAN DEBATE HAS DEGENERATED INTO HEATED ARGUMENT AND DEEP DIVISION, SETTING BROTHER AGAINST BROTHER AND SISTER AGAINST SISTER, FOR NO PROFIT WHATSOEVER TO ANYONE EXCEPT OUR DELIGHTED MUTUAL ENEMY!
Most believers who have been in the Faith for any length of time will probably have formulated their own opinion on the subject; the problems occur when one person will feel that he or she has a superior understanding of it than another. When this causes someone to label those with an opposing position as being in error, or worse, deceived and deceiving, or worse still, a heretic, the situation has become grievous indeed.
We who believe in the reality of the Rapture have now become so busy beating each other with big sticks over the issue of its timing, that our eyes have effectively been taken off the ball. We have been side-tracked into a no-win civil war, and in the process stopped seeing that the real battle is actually with a common foe that is gaining ground by the second as we fiercely and foolishly fight among ourselves. The true opposition to be tackled? Those with an utterly unbiblical false eschatology who dismiss the Rapture as mere myth. Consider this published quote from UK Restorationist leader Gerald Coates, who established the 'Pioneer' strand of the British New Church Movement:
"The Rapture idea is ridiculous... One has to conclude that the secret rapture theory may be evangelical, but is nonetheless unbiblical. It is a grotesque idea - the rapture may be a most agreeable doctrine for cowards, but it is nothing better than wishful thinking and must be relegated to the area of myth and fantasy."
(from 'What On Earth Is This Kingdom?')
IT IS THE REPUDIATION OF THE RAPTURE THAT IS WRONG DOCTRINE, AND IT IS INTRINSICALLY LINKED TO THE DOMINIONIST / 'KINGDOM NOW' DELUSION. RIGHT DOCTRINE IS SIMPLY TO UPHOLD THE RAPTURE AS A SCRIPTURAL TRUTH; NOTHING MORE AND NOTHING LESS THAN THIS. ITS TIMING IS EMPHATICALLY NOT A DOCTRINAL MATTER!
Me? Well, I make no apology for my own continued Pre-Trib. stance, but I have no problem in accepting that other folks are of an alternative though equally honest persuasion. My personal understanding of 2 Thessalonians 2:6-9 is that the Restrainer, being the Person of the Holy Spirit, is to be removed, and THEN the Antichrist is revealed. And as the Holy Spirit indwells the believing Body, the (true) Church needs must go with Him when He leaves. Just one reason why I think as I do as things stand, but I'm not going to be dogmatic about it and have absolutely no desire to argue the toss. So please don't write to me to lock horns over this. Let us remember that we all see through a glass but darkly, and know only in part (Ref. 1 Corinthians 13:12); we don't yet know it all (though there is certainly no shortage of "know-it-alls" out there!) The whole purpose of this posting is to present an urgent plea for tolerance and respect for fellow Christians who may have a viewpoint differing from our own, over what is a NON-ESSENTIAL issue.
As Augustine of Hippo urged:
"In essentials, unity; in non-essentials, liberty; in all things charity."
WHATEVER SOME MAY THINK AND DECISIVELY DECLARE, HOLY WRIT DOES NOT PROVIDE US WITH A DEFINITIVE ANSWER AS TO WHEN EXACTLY THE RAPTURE WILL OCCUR. WE CAN MAKE ASSUMPTIONS, WE MAY MAKE "INTELLIGENT GUESSES" BASED ON WHAT SCRIPTURE DOES REVEAL. BUT WHEN ALL IS SAID AND DONE, ONE MAN'S OR WOMAN'S OPINION IS JUST AS VALID AS ANOTHER'S. IT IS GOD ALONE WHO KNOWS FOR SURE; WE HAVE ONLY TENTATIVE AND SUBJECTIVE INTERPRETATIONS. JUST HYPOTHESES. THAT'S HOW IT IS.
IN INSPIRING THE WRITING OF THE WORD, THE HOLY SPIRIT DID NOT SEE FIT TO BE MORE SPECIFIC, AND OBVIOUSLY HAD HIS REASONS FOR THIS. PERHAPS ONE OF THE REASONS WAS TO KEEP US ON OUR TOES, TO BE READY AND WAITING REGARDLESS OF WHEN THE LORD COMES FOR US, TO BE AS THE WISE VIRGINS WITH LAMPS KEPT FULL OF OIL, IN A STATE OF CONSTANT READINESS FOR THE BRIDEGROOM'S IMMINENT RETURN. (Ref. Matthew 25:1-13). IT IS MOST CERTAINLY OUR BRIEF TO BE WATCHING OUT FOR CHRIST'S COMING, NOT FOR ANTICHRIST'S!
At some unknown point, every single one of us who are truly His will be "snatched away" from this Earth! It may be an individual "harpazo," when God unties the silver cord and our spirit returns to He who gave it (Ref. Ecclesiastes 12:6-7), or it may be in that corporate "harpazo" to meet the Lord in the air while we yet live. Either way, we'll be in the temporal one moment, and in the eternal the next! And the only concern for us all at that time will be that - in an attitude of humble thankfulness to God for His infinite mercy - we've made it safely home!
"Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh."
(Matthew 25:13)
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http://www.gotquestions.org/rapture-of-the-church.html
Further reading:
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