The
rapture teaching is NOT new. Rev. Morgan Edwards included a discussion
of the pre-Trib rapture in his book "Millennium, Last Day Novelties"
written in 1788 (some 40 years before Darby). He claimed that he had
written the same thing in 1742, but I have not been able to corroborate
this statement. Joseph Mede (1586-1638) also was a pre-trib scholar.
Grant Jeffrey, a current prophecy scholar, discovered an apocalyptic
sermon written sometime between 565 and 627, attributed to the Syrian
church father Ephrem of Nisibis, describing a pre-trib rapture. Even
earlier, Victorinus, Bishop of Petau, wrote in 270: "these shall be in
the last time, when the church shall have gone out of the midst"
referring to the judgments during the tribulation. You can argue Bible
verses, but don't tell me that a pre-trib rapture is some "new
invention" because it had been taught for centuries!
ALSO!:
For the first 250 years of Church history (from about 40 or 50 AD to 300 AD), the Church stood SOLIDLY on Pre-Millennialism. They had a different word for it, 'Chilioiism', from the word 'Chilioi' in the Greek, which meant 1000 years, just like 'mille' means a thousand. So the words mean the same thing. During those first 250 years, we had all kinds of Church fathers who stood ADAMANT on the fact of the soon departure of the Church, beginning with the Apostle Paul who actually thought it would take place in his lifetime, and the writing of Barnabas who was a contemporary of the Apostle Paul. And John, and Justin Martyr, and others in their writings stood on the millennial earthly rule of Christ, without any apologies.
One has to think about the "wrath of God"--so many people believe that the Church HAS to go through the Tribulation because this wrath has to be poured out upon the world, but is that true about the saints? those that love God? those that are His children? The argument that a lot of people make is that the Church has to be "purified," and in reality, the answer to that is this:
If the blood of Jesus is not enough to "purify" you, what can torture do?
And another thing to think about:
If Christ were to come back after the Tribulation, rapture all the saints, and slay all the ungodly; who would then be left to populate the millennium? Only the Pre-Trib viewpoint can account for this Post-Trib problem.
The Truth is, The Church is raptured before the Tribulation, a vast number of souls are saved during this 7-year time-frame, and those that make it through the Tribulation will go into the millennium, while the unsaved are cast into hell.
When Christ 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 a strange thing to meet your Lord and Savior just as He's rushing into battle. The idea that war and rapture could occur together is a difficult thing to imagine, especially since they transpire at the same moment.
For the argument of Christ ‘s second coming, one must understand what constitutes the second coming. Where is the line drawn?
After Revelation 4:1, The Church, or The Body of Christ, are nowhere to be found on earth, and it can be easily proven that the Church isn't on earth after that time. In fact, the Church is not even mentioned after Revelation 4:1. Why? Because we're in heaven by then! The 24 Elders are already in heaven by then; the 24 Elders represent the Church! And It is unlikely that they are angelic beings, as some suggest. The fact that they sit on thrones indicates that they reign with Christ. Nowhere in Scripture do angels ever rule or sit on thrones. The Church, however, is repeatedly said to rule and reign with Christ (Revelation 2:26-27, 5:10, 20:4; Matthew19:28; Luke 22:30).
The Mid- or Post-Tribulation Rapture has more holes in it than a termite-eaten piece of wood. It just doesn't make sense, whatsoever. Too many gaps.
Those that believe Mid- or Post-Trib, it's one of these thoughts like, "Well, I've got to go through it anyways." However, the DANGER is this: You can have a Pre-Trib Christian say, "Well, since I'm not going through any of this, I don't need to watch my walk." People always say, "But, you can still get saved after the rapture if you don't go up." But, that is a very dangerous stand to take, because there are some people that have REJECTED the Gospel, that God has given them over to a depraved lifestyle/heart, and it's not that you rejected the Lord once or twice, but it's a person that has CONTINUOUSLY rejected the things of God, and God says, "Fine, if you want that, that is your choice!" Just like with Israel. They wanted to follow the nations around them by having a king like the kings that were around them, even though they were warned, "If you have the kings around you; guess what? You are going to follow after their gods" and they STILL demanded that king. So, God will, of course, not force somebody to live for Him, and I think there's going to be some people going into the Tribulation that will just mock the rapture, having all kinds of excuses as to where those taken went to. But, if you wish for righteousness, God wills it. If you don't, God wills unrighteousness; God will let you have all that you want.
Credit to James Lawson.
ALSO!:
For the first 250 years of Church history (from about 40 or 50 AD to 300 AD), the Church stood SOLIDLY on Pre-Millennialism. They had a different word for it, 'Chilioiism', from the word 'Chilioi' in the Greek, which meant 1000 years, just like 'mille' means a thousand. So the words mean the same thing. During those first 250 years, we had all kinds of Church fathers who stood ADAMANT on the fact of the soon departure of the Church, beginning with the Apostle Paul who actually thought it would take place in his lifetime, and the writing of Barnabas who was a contemporary of the Apostle Paul. And John, and Justin Martyr, and others in their writings stood on the millennial earthly rule of Christ, without any apologies.
One has to think about the "wrath of God"--so many people believe that the Church HAS to go through the Tribulation because this wrath has to be poured out upon the world, but is that true about the saints? those that love God? those that are His children? The argument that a lot of people make is that the Church has to be "purified," and in reality, the answer to that is this:
If the blood of Jesus is not enough to "purify" you, what can torture do?
And another thing to think about:
If Christ were to come back after the Tribulation, rapture all the saints, and slay all the ungodly; who would then be left to populate the millennium? Only the Pre-Trib viewpoint can account for this Post-Trib problem.
The Truth is, The Church is raptured before the Tribulation, a vast number of souls are saved during this 7-year time-frame, and those that make it through the Tribulation will go into the millennium, while the unsaved are cast into hell.
When Christ 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 a strange thing to meet your Lord and Savior just as He's rushing into battle. The idea that war and rapture could occur together is a difficult thing to imagine, especially since they transpire at the same moment.
For the argument of Christ ‘s second coming, one must understand what constitutes the second coming. Where is the line drawn?
After Revelation 4:1, The Church, or The Body of Christ, are nowhere to be found on earth, and it can be easily proven that the Church isn't on earth after that time. In fact, the Church is not even mentioned after Revelation 4:1. Why? Because we're in heaven by then! The 24 Elders are already in heaven by then; the 24 Elders represent the Church! And It is unlikely that they are angelic beings, as some suggest. The fact that they sit on thrones indicates that they reign with Christ. Nowhere in Scripture do angels ever rule or sit on thrones. The Church, however, is repeatedly said to rule and reign with Christ (Revelation 2:26-27, 5:10, 20:4; Matthew19:28; Luke 22:30).
The Mid- or Post-Tribulation Rapture has more holes in it than a termite-eaten piece of wood. It just doesn't make sense, whatsoever. Too many gaps.
Those that believe Mid- or Post-Trib, it's one of these thoughts like, "Well, I've got to go through it anyways." However, the DANGER is this: You can have a Pre-Trib Christian say, "Well, since I'm not going through any of this, I don't need to watch my walk." People always say, "But, you can still get saved after the rapture if you don't go up." But, that is a very dangerous stand to take, because there are some people that have REJECTED the Gospel, that God has given them over to a depraved lifestyle/heart, and it's not that you rejected the Lord once or twice, but it's a person that has CONTINUOUSLY rejected the things of God, and God says, "Fine, if you want that, that is your choice!" Just like with Israel. They wanted to follow the nations around them by having a king like the kings that were around them, even though they were warned, "If you have the kings around you; guess what? You are going to follow after their gods" and they STILL demanded that king. So, God will, of course, not force somebody to live for Him, and I think there's going to be some people going into the Tribulation that will just mock the rapture, having all kinds of excuses as to where those taken went to. But, if you wish for righteousness, God wills it. If you don't, God wills unrighteousness; God will let you have all that you want.
Credit to James Lawson.
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