We must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God. Acts 14:22
The disciples knew this. They did not teach an easy way out. But the pre-trib rapture teachers say they are a special group and shall never see the tribulation.
I sit a queen, and am no widow, and shall see no sorrow. Rev. 18:7 That is their attitude, that is what they are saying. But look closely at who is saying this, It is the voice of the whore, Mystery Babylon. But that is exactly what the pre-trib rapture group is teaching. 'I am the bride, I sit as a queen and shall see no sorrow.' I will be removed, I will be evacuated, I will escape the tribulation. The message from the church and the voice of the harlot, Mystery Babylon are one and the same... what's wrong with this picture?
Listen to what Jeremeiah said, Then said I, Ah, Lord God! Behold, the prophets say unto them, ye shall not see the sword, neither shall ye have famine; but I will give you assured peace in this place. Then the Lord said unto me, 'The prophets prophesy lies in My name; I sent them not, neither have I commanded them, neither spake unto them; they prophesy unto you a false vision and divination, and a thing of nought, and the deceit of the heart. Jer. 14:13,14 When they say peace and safety, then cometh sudden destruction.
The rapture group sounds alot like what Ezekial describes in 22:25 There is a conspiracy of her prophets in the midst thereof, like a roaring lion ravening the prey; they have devoured souls; they have taken the treasure and precious things; they have made many widows in the midst thereof.
Listen, Jesus Christ does not teach that He will secretly come and snatch away the believers and then come back again in seven years after the tribulation. To live in Christ Jesus is to suffer tribulation.
Now what is going to happen to those who cling to this false beleif concerning the rapture. When they finally realize after the first wave of judgements have come that they are not going to escape. What are they going to do when they realize they believed a lie. The Bible tells us what is going to happen. Then shall many be offended and shall betray one another. Matt. 24:10 This verse is talking about believers. Why will they betray one another? Because they were unprepared and they will lie and twist the scriptures and they will say, 'Surely this thing they want to put on my hand is not the mark of the Beast. Surely God would not expect me and my family to suffer persecution.'
Read the Old Testament, and look at what happened to old Israel when Gods people failed to hear His voice. Do we think we are any different? We are not any different. The church of Jesus Christ is not listening. Paul says that for this cause God shall send a strong delusion that they should believe a lie because they did not love the truth. God says in Isaiah 66:4 I also will choose their delusions, and will bring their fears upon them; because when I called, none did answer; when I spake, they did not hear; but they did evil before mine eyes, and chose that in which I delighted not. Hear the word of the Lord, ye that tremble at His word; Your brethren that hated you, that cast you out for My name's sake, said, 'Let the Lord be glorified': but He shall appear to your joy, and they shall be ashamed.
Listen to Paul in Colossians 2:8 Beware lest any man spoil you through philosphy and vain deceit after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ. The greek word that is used for "spoil" means to plunder you or to take you captive. The Truth is what you must love and believe, whether its good news, bad news, or indifferent. "Thy word is truth." John 17:17
Jesus says He will come after the tribulation of those days, with the sound of the trumpet, and He will send His angels to gather together His elect... that is the rapture my friends, that is the Resurrection. But the pre-trib rapture teachers have twisted and distorted the word of God to fit into a doctrine that is not biblical. And they will have no answer to the sheep that come to them who reads one of these verses in the Bible, and asks, 'This looks like we might be in the tribulation.' "Oh no, don't worry about a thing", they'll say. Just listen to me. Here, buy this rapture book, buy this rapture tape. Here, buy this rapture video called Left Behind, you can leave it for your relatives, and we will make a fortune. Here, do this, do that. They have sold out to mammon, and they refuse to hear what the Lord is saying. The Lord says to the church of Sardis, your works are not perfect before Me, repent and watch, Or I will come upon thee as a thief.
Listen and take heed to the warning of Jesus. All these things are the beginning of sorrows. Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you; and ye shall be hated of all nations for My names sake. And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another. And many false prophets shall rise and shall deceive many. And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved. Matt 24:8-13
The one who by faith endures to the end shall
be saved, but first you will be betrayed,
hated, afflicted and killed. This know also, that in the last
days perilous times shall come... Yea, and
all that will live godly in Christ Jesus
shall suffer persecution. 2 Tim. 3:1,12
For the time will come when they will not
endure sound doctrine; but after their own
lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers,
having itching ears; and they shall turn away
their ears from the truth, and shall be
turned unto fables. But watch thou in all
things, endure afflictions, do the work of an
evangelist, make full proof of thy ministry.
2 Tim. 4:3-4
Listen to what Jesus said in the beginning of Matthew 24. Take heed that no man deceive you. For many will come in My name, saying I am Christ; and shall deceive many. Read it again... Jesus is speaking, replace the I with Jesus, and this is the message. Take heed that no man deceive you. For many will come in Jesus' name, saying Jesus is Christ; and shall deceive many. These are christian teaches who will proclaim that beleif that Jesus is the Messiah, but they will deceive many. The rapture is a deception and a false doctrine. Continue with Matthew 24... there are wars, famines, pestilence, and earthquakes, but these are the beginning of sorrows, for then shall they deliver you up to be affliced, and shall kill you, and ye shall be hated of all nations for My names sake. And many shall betray one another, and hate one another, and then the antichrist comes. Yes you read it right, the anti-christ comes first. Read it for yourself and forget what you have been taught. Listen and believe what Jesus taught. After the tribulation of those days, then Jesus comes in the clouds with the sound of a trumpet, and He shall gather together all His children. Read Matthew 24, Mark 13, and Luke 21... they all say the same thing. If Jesus was going to come and secretly evacuate the believer beforehand, don't you honestly believe that He would have told us so. God cannot lie, the disciples asked Him, what shall be the sign of Thy coming. Jesus would not have deceived His disciples or any believer. There is no indication of a pre-trib rapture in the entire Old Testament. If Jesus came and whisked away millions of people before His Second Coming, don't you think that He would have told us so, don't you believe that such a phenomenal event would be prophesied in the Old Testament?
And while they looked stedfastly toward heaven as He went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel; Which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen Him go into heaven. Acts 1:10-11 Jesus ascended from the earth into the clouds... so shall He return, He shall descend from the clouds down to the earth. His descent is a continual motion, He does not stop in the clouds and take us away, then come back again. That is not what this text says. He will come back in like manner. In the New Testament, the delegates from a city would meet the apostle Paul, and escort him to the city... When Jesus was baptized the Holy Spirit descended upon Jesus. No where in the bible is there an illustration of something descending only to stop half way and go back from where it came from...
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 Thess. 4:16-17 It is the same thing described by Jesus in Mattew 24:30-31. It happens after the tribulation, after the anti-christ. 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 shall not come, except their come a falling away first, and that the man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition. 2 Thess. 2:1-3 Read this text again. The coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together unto Him... Paul is speaking of the Second Coming and the resurrection/rapture of the saints. He clearly states that first there must come a falling away before we can be gathered together unto Him... many shall be offended. Secondly the anti-christ must come first before we are gathered together unto the Lord.
In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead in Christ shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall all be changed. 1 Cor. 15:52 It all happens at the end, after the great falling away, after the anti-christ, after the tribulation. Jesus wants us to be ready, He wants us to watch and repent or He will come upon us as a thief and we will not realize the truth until it is too late. The blessed hope is not the rapture... It is Jesus Christ. The good news is not the rapture... it is Jesus Christ.
Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man. Luke 21:36 Jesus did not say removed, that is not what He is describing. He is talking about perservearing through the opposition that will inevitably be raised against any believer in Jesus Christ. Jesus said, In the world ye shall have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world. John 16:33
There is no easy way out. The christian and the unbeliever will both go through the tribulation. The wheat and the tares grow together until the end of the harvest. Read Matthew 13:37-43. Jesus does not say anything about the wheat being bundled up and evacuated ahead of time. No, they both grow Together until the End of the Harvest.
The Bible does not teach a pre-trib rapture. It teaches a Resurrection.
End of Part II
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The Rapture - Part III