THE RAPTURE When Is It?
'The Truth' and 'The Lies'
The NUMBER ONE TRUTH
is, that the event named by men 'the rapture'
is in reality nothing more and nothing less
Than the SECOND HALF of THE RESURRECTION.
Let's begin by looking at the scriptures on which this doctrine is based.
1st Thessalonians 4: verses 16 and 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'
and so shall we ever be with the Lord.”
Please notice the words FIRST, THEN, AND
WITH THEM.
“FIRST” means exactly what first sounds like it means.
“THEN” means 'right after' those who went FIRST.
The two words “WITH THEM'”tells us plainly
that this is 'one event' involving TWO groups of people.
The two groups are, #1:
Those who 'have died a physical death',
(THE DEAD IN CHRIST)
and group #2,
Those who 'have NOT'.
To make certain that you do not misunderstand,
let's say it another way.
Group #1 are raised from the dead (from death to life)
and group # 2 are those who are changed from
living MORTALS, TO living IMMORTALS, without first dying
a physical death.
It is most important to understand that
both groups one and two end up
exactly the same. Both groups will
have 'glorified' and 'immortal' bodies.
This word IMMORTAL means eternal and
NEVER again subject to death.
Should you still have ANY DOUBTS
about 'God's' ORDER
in which these two groups are changed
let's look back to verse 15.
“For this we say unto you by the WORD
OF THE LORD, that we which are alive
and remain ('group 2' having not yet died a physical
death at that time)
SHALL NOT PREVENT
( simply means to precede or go BEFORE)
them which are asleep.”( Those who have already
died a physical death )
THE TRUTH HERE IS VERY PLAIN TO SEE
AND TO UNDERSTAND.
GOD HAS PLAINLY GIVEN
HIS ORDER
in which both of these 2 groups
will be taken.
SO, WE ALL WOULD DO WELL
to wonder why men
have gone to so much trouble
to change that God given order.
Not only have they reversed God's order,
BUT
they have also separated this
into 2 separate events.
They have placed the second half as occurring first,
('BEFORE'
the first half, )
AND
then have separated these two halves by at least
a period of '7' years.
'AMAZING'
What scriptures give any man
the right to alter any part
of GOD'S WORD to suit their own flesh?
I know of none.
DO YOU?
THE TRUTH (God's WORD) has just told us plainly that
THE raising of the dead
happens FIRST,
and 'THEN'
the Rapture (those who are alive and remain).
'NOT'
the other way around.
NOW BEFORE WE LEAVE
THE PART WE HAVE CALLED
TRUTH # 1
let's examine the second scripture upon
which this Great deception has been built.
FIRST CORINTHIANS 15: 51 – 52
“Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall
not all sleep, (die a physical death) but
we shall all be changed.”
(No order could be given in this verse
because so far only the SECOND HALF
HAS BEEN MENTIONED)
BUT in verse 52 Paul shows us just how and when
this RAPTURE part of THE RESURRECTION
FITS IN.
Please notice that once again the exact
same order as we learned in Thess.
“In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye,
at the LAST TRUMP:
for the trumpet shall sound,
and the DEAD in Christ shall
be raised incorruptible,
and we (who have not yet died at that time) shall be changed.”
Please, Please, Please
Notice that the order given here
by God is exactly the same
as what we read in Thessalonians.
Of course this could be but
a coincidence.
BUT,
It is NOT!
Praise God, we can always trust that
our God always means what He says,
and for some very good reasons.
One being, that here we have two separate scriptures
which are in total agreement as to the EXACT
order of occurrence for BOTH halves of what
we now understand to be
THE RESURRECTION'.
THE TRUTH IS,
THE RESURRECTION is described
in REV. chapter 20.
THIS EXPLAINS BOTH WHAT
IT IS, and WHO IT INVOLVES.
Please notice when reading about
this event, it is even called by God
THE RESURRECTION,
NOT 'a' resurrection.
“A RESURRECTION” would indicate
one of several or of many,
but THE resurrection means
simply, that there is only ONE.
This event which God saw fit
to call 'THE RESURRECTION'
is divided into two parts
and the two parts are separated
by 1000 YEARS, BUT, both halves are under the name of 'THE RESURRECTION'.
A good lesson is to be learned here.
When God describes a two part
event and there is a space between parts one and two, He will say so.
This event God calls the FIRST RESURRECTION is a two part event
and he plainly says the two parts are divided by 1000 years.
If the event described in 1st Thess. 4: verses 16 – 17 were divided in similar fashion
and the Rapture took place 'before' THE RESURRECTION God would have said,
Those who are alive and remain will be 'CAUGHT UP, and then after 7 years,
the 'dead in Christ' will be raised. He did NOT say that, so quit insisting that he did.
If I didn't know better, and I do, it would seems that the pre-tribbers believe
God was in error. So much then for their opinion of God.
The division in time concerning THE RESURRECTION has to do with
those who are judged RIGHTEOUS in God's eyes,
and those who are 'NOT'; and are NOT raised until 1000 YEARS
AFTER the RIGHTEOUS ARE RESURRECTED.
This may at first seem confusing but it is not.
Going now to Rev. 20 and beginning at verse 5.
Here God calls it THE FIRST RESURRECTION.
Do not omit seeing that 'not everyone' who
has died up until this time will be raised
from the dead, but only those who have died
a physical death (in Jesus). This is exactly the same
as we read in Thess. and in Corinthians.
The rest of the dead will NOT be raised
for another 1000 years.
This group who will not be raised in the Blessed
and Holy group will be raised from the DEAD
alright but not in a resurrected immortal
form but for one purpose and one purpose only.
They are raised from the dead ONLY
to stand before God's Great White Throne Judgment.
From this we should also be able to see that just as
NOT everyone who ever died will be raised
in the FIRST PART of THE RESURRECTION, so LIKEWISE
every person still living at that time will
'NOT' be RAPTURED.
THE RESURRECTION takes place at the LAST TRUMP
according to 1st Cor. 15: 52
THIS TELLS US WHAT THE SIGNAL WILL BE.
The LAST Trumpet is sounded in Rev. 11 : 15
THIS MAKES VERY CLEAR
THE 'WHEN' this event takes place.
SO MUCH THEN FOR THE THEORY
THAT THE BOOK OF REVELATION
IS WRITTEN IN CHRONOLOGICAL order.
IT IS NOT!
This can be seen very easily by reading
Revelation Chapter 12.
This chapter starts out by describing events
which have already taken place years ago
and is plainly speaking of Jesus in verse 5.
The deceivers of course found this TRUTH
contrary to the deception which they wanted
to feed the CHURCH, so they simply changed
the TRUTH, as is so obvious here, into something
which it DOES NOT SAY.
Read closely in verse 5 the part about A MAN CHILD
who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron, and
who was caught up unto God, and to his throne.
IF this is not speaking of Jesus, then Jesus
is not mentioned anywhere in God's WORD!
Well guess what? IT IS (speaking of Jesus) and any other
explanation, like for example that, “ this verse speaks
of a man child which is in reality 144,000 individuals”,
is simply another attempt by deceivers to rewrite
GOD'S WORD.
The word LAST as used pertaining to THE LAST TRUMPET
means exactly what the word LAST
sounds like, LAST means.
A clue for you!
LAST means there will not 'EVER'
be another. Not 7 years later, NOT EVER.
This great DECEPTION, concerning the Rapture,
teaches that it will occur
at least 7 years before the Seventh Trumpet Sounds.
Twisting the scripture from Revelation 11: 15
into meaning 'some other' LAST TRUMP
simply will not hold water.
This is simply another attempt by deceivers to plug the holes
in their dike built out of lies.
This poorly contrived FANTASY VERSION
called THE RAPTURE
IS NEITHER NEW, OR ORIGINAL.
This same deception took place during
the time of Paul's ministry.
It is recorded in GOD'S WORD in 2nd. Thess. 2:1-2
“Now we beseech you brethren, by the coming
of our Lord Jesus Christ, and
by our 'GATHERING TOGETHER' UNTO HIM.”
This 'gathering' speaks of the very same event we are studying.
'THE RESURRECTION'.
According to God, “THE RESURRECTION”
is a two part event (as in 'a' 1 and 'a' 2) like
Lawrence Welk only at a much, MUCH faster tempo.
This includes both the raising of the Dead in Christ and
the CHANGING of those who are alive at this time.
VERSE 2
“That ye be not soon shaken in mind,
or be troubled, neither in spirit,nor by letter as
from us, as that
THE DAY OF CHRIST IS AT HAND”
The phrase 'at hand' means simply 'already here.'
Paul then goes on to describe 2 (TWO) things
which must happen FIRST.
Second Thess. 2: verse 3
“Let NO man deceive you by any means: for
that day (the day Jesus gathers His own unto himself)
SHALL NOT COME
except (until) there come a falling away first (BEFORE)
and, And, AND (ALSO)
that man of sin (THE ANTICHRIST) be
revealed; the son of PERDITION.”
For the life of me, I could never understand how
anyone could read this and NOT understand
that Paul just wrote TWO things must happen first.
I said TWO. Not ONE, but TWO.
Please permit me to give an example you can not misunderstand.
Suppose your child ask to go outside and play.
You reply, “Not until you DO YOUR HOMEWORK and
CLEAN YOUR ROOM”.
How many things must happen FIRST-before
permission was granted to go outside?
I can not speak for you, but I count TWO.
How about you?
How, in this world, someone can read verse 3
and CONCLUDE they must be long gone
BEFORE the Antichrist is revealed is
beyond my feeble mind. Either someone is
crazy, or someone CAN NOT READ.
Perhaps a very careful and PRAYFUL RE-READ
would be in order here.
The reason for this spiritual dyslexia should
present no great mystery.
This is necessary if anyone is to 'buy the lie'
about THE CHURCH being gone 'before'
THE GREAT TRIBULATION.
It is only Satan's attempt to make certain MANY
Christians will NOT recognize the ANTICHRIST
when he appears.
PRAISE GOD for His great wisdom!
He has so written His Word that it's impossible
to change it one place without making a
contradiction somewhere else.
Changing one scripture necessitates the
changing of another, and then another, and another.
And to this, there is no end.
One need to ask the question, “WHY DID PAUL FEEL
THE NEED TO CLEAR UP SOME APPARENT
CONFUSION ON THIS MATTER?”
It should be obvious that something had already
happened which brought this problem
to light. We shall also learn that confusion on
this subject posed a GREAT DANGER.
This is found in 2nd Timothy 2:17
“Who concerning the TRUTH have erred, saying that
THE RESURRECTION is past already; and
OVERTHROWN THE FAITH OF SOME.”
You need to understand, the Christians in that day
UNDERSTOOD the event we now term
'The Rapture” was only the SECOND half of THE
RESURRECTION. They knew if the Resurrection was
already past, then the part we now call the rapture was also.
Paul names the two individuals who created
this problem in verse 17. Those two names were
“Hymenaeus and Pliletus.”
Because of the tremendous persecution of the
church, these two men began the rumor that
THE RESURRECTION was past, had already taken place;
therefore they had missed the last ship out and
were now LEFT BEHIND right in the midst of
THE GREAT TRIBULATION.
Think about what believing that would do
to someone's faith. How would you feel about God if
you thought He had forsaken you? How
likely would you be to remain faithful to this GOD
who had forsaken you and left you behind?
I mean to the point of laying down your life?
My only thought about this is,
NOT VERY LIKELY.
And so it was with many in Paul's day.
MANY who chose to believe the LIE of these two
men, departed 'from' the FAITH.
Is departing from the faith a most serious
mistake? The word “SERIOUS” can only be
described as an under statement.
Why? You might ask.
“FOR BY GRACE are you saved THRU FAITH”
No FAITH, no SALVATION.
Imagine yourself in these people's place.
Here you would be, having believed this doctrine of
devils about the GREAT ESCAPE THEORY.
Suppose you had believed this fantasy version
for years and years. Now all of a sudden you find out
you are in the middle of the Tribulation, or at least so
it would seem. We can but pray that some would cling fast to their belief that God can NOT lie.
Perhaps some will realize they have been in error, that it was their mistake and
not some failing on God's part. Praise God for those.
BUT- sad to say, many people are incapable
of ever admitting they could ever be wrong.
Many will choose to believe that God did not keep
his Word. Now all of a sudden it will appear they
have been forsaken and left to suffer and die.
Now, let's be honest with ourselves, if you
found yourself in that situation, would you really be
willing to die for a God who you thought had not keep
His Word about rescuing you before this time
of hell on earth? Would you really stand before
the Antichrist and tell him, “No, I will not deny Jesus
even at the cost of my life or even the lives of my
loved ones.” I don't think you would and
YOU PROBABLY DON'T EITHER!
Before you answer, you need
consider that every liar will have his part in
the lake of fire.Would you find yourself thinking you don't even know what you believe?
OKAY!!! NOW YOU CAN ANSWER!!!
THE SECOND TRUTH IS SIMPLY THIS.
THE SECOND HALF OF 'ANYTHING' CAN 'NOT' TAKE PLACE
BEFORE THE FIRST HALF OF THE SAME THING.
Can you buy groceries and
'THEN' go to the grocery store?
Notice how this word 'THEN' ties these two things together.
God takes an extremely dim view
of any one who ADDS TOO, or,
TAKES AWAY from his WORD
'as He wrote it'.
His reward for those who do this
is spelled out very plainly
in REV. 22: verses 18 and 19.
IF you have chosen to believe
some EAR TICKLER just because his words
pleased your flesh, then go right ahead.
It is your blood bought right
to choose, not only 'what' you will believe,
but 'WHO' you will believe as well.
CHOOSING to believe some man or woman
over GOD is your choice and GOD will not force
ANYONE to believe HIM.
THE THIRD TRUTH IS SIMPLY, THIS DECEPTION
DOES NOT INVOLVE
'IF' THE RAPTURE IS A REAL GOD PROPHESIED EVENT,
but, about the 'when' it takes place.
THE FOURTH TRUTH
explains 'the why'
men have gone to so much trouble to change God's WORD.
This requires no great mind or intellect, no
great education or degrees given by men.
If you simply understand that there is
a certain someone who seeks only
to kill, steal, and destroy, it should
NOT be hard to understand who
is behind 'all' false teachings.
He is called the FATHER OF all lies
and his name is Satan.
Who would desire to see multitudes of believers
fall from (depart from) THE FAITH more
than the enemy of our souls?
Even this FATHER OF ALL LIES
KNOWS that there is no SALVATION without FAITH.
Surprise, surprise! You are SUPPOSE to know that too.
I'm praying that you do!!!
The part MANY do NOT understand is-
This Father of all Lies has' many' disciples
and they are called TARES.
SATAN is called 'the wicked one' by JESUS
and he (SATAN) has MANY children (probably
even more than GOD has.)
That is not my personal opinion; but is based
on Jesus' word in Matthew 7: 13 – 14.
One very bad habit many in Jesus' CHURCH
has gotten into is to simply discount so many of
Jesus' words by saying, “ oh, those scriptures
don't apply to me or to any Christian for that matter. “
The saddest fact is, these TARES
seem to be so much more diligent than
MANY (if not MOST) Christians are,
when it comes to serving their Lord.
Many Christians are more than content
to just sit back and enjoy life.
Perhaps they believe that they've got
THEIR TICKET out of here and GOD
expects nothing from them.
I realize that this may sound a little far fetched,
but it is entirely possible that when some
'Christians' read Jesus' words where
he said, “Take up your cross and follow me”
they hear rather that he said, “take up your remotes
and kick back till I come.”
Satan is a hard taskmaster and drives his own children mercilessly.
God, on the other hand, gives his own children
the choice to serve and love him,
or, to sit back and do NOTHING.
He must love us a lot to trust us
to make the wise choice.
Which God would you rather serve?
THE FIFTH TRUTH
explains this is not something new,
'but' only a 'repeat' of something that has already happened before.
The only difference being that in Paul's day
it was before the fact, and this time is will be after.
It had dire consequences then and
will be no different now.
How naive would someone have to be,
to believe that something which has happened
before COULD NOT happen again?
Pretty naive, I'd have to say.
Pretty much the point of this entire
article is to show you that
not only can history repeat itself,
but that it has already begun.
This same deception worked well in Paul's day so
why not just do it again?
The most major difference between believers of
our day and those of the past is this- Many years
ago believers knew and understood
what we now call the RAPTURE
was only the second half of the RESURRECTION.
In our day many have been deceived into believing
that these are two separate events and at least 7 years apart.
The amazing thing is, this deception can
still achieve it's desired objective.
The two men written of in Timothy 'did'
understand TRUTH #1 of this article and yet
they still fell from the faith.
Why? Because they believed they had been left behind.
What will be exactly the same in our day
is (when the Tribulation does come)
the deceived of our day
will also FALL FROM THE FAITH,
and for exactly the same reason.
My point in saying that is simply
to show that, no matter which part
of this Doctrine of devils one chooses
to believe or not understand, the
ultimate goal, of believers falling
from the FAITH, will and can still be achieved by
THE DECEIVER and his children
.THE SIXTH TRUTH
tells us that, not only is this happening again,
but by using the very same method.
That method is by sowing lies
which the flesh prefers to believe.
This sowing is done by those
claiming to be God's Wheat,
when the truth is they are only tares claiming to be Wheat.
How much success would any
deceiver have if he/she came saying,
I am a deceiver?
ONCE MORE I AM FORCED TO ANSWER,
NOT MUCH!!!
THE SEVENTH TRUTH
IS THE MOST STERN WARNING ONE COULD IMAGINE.
WHEN IT COMES TO DISCERNING BETWEEN
THE TRUTH and A LIE,
Wisdom should have taught us by now, to
COMPARE EVERTHING MEN SAY WITH WHAT
GOD HAS WRITTEN.
We should at least know Jesus
did not give so many warnings
about deceivers for his benefit, but for OURS.
What would be the point
of JESUS telling us to BEWARE 'if' we had no way
of recognizing those who we were suppose
to be WARE of?
When we recognize any doctrine or teaching
that is different or contrary to what God saw fit
to have written, would that not seem to be the
PERFECT TIME to heed Jesus' warnings?
It is a Godly thing to pray for those
who have been deceived into teaching lies,
'BUT' to justify and follow after these deceivers
is NOT.
Again, not my opinion but Jesus'.
He is the very one who said “Go NOT after them.”
Who can say that perhaps at least some
of these deceivers might not repent and return
to the TRUTH and receive forgiveness?
ONLY GOD KNOWS.
More than likely all of us have believed some
things in our life which later we found out
NOT to be TRUTH.
Then there came some point in our life
when we heard THE TRUTH and chose
to admit that we had been wrong.
Just because someone has been deceived doesn't
mean that they must remain that way.
It comes down to being able to admit
to God and to others that we were wrong.
Some people seem to be incapable of doing this. It is most likely because of PRIDE.
Please try to remember that PRIDE comes 'before' the fall.
Sometimes, it becomes necessary to admit
we were wrong in what we have both believed
and taught to others as TRUTH.
Praise God, there is forgiveness in JESUS,
BUT,
NOT without repentance.
Those who believe otherwise have only
been deceived by a different LIE.
The Great Tribulation
will end, and 'can only' end, when the event called
The Resurrection takes place. (This includes
what we now call THE RAPTURE.)
Rev. 13: verses 4 thru 8 describes
the Man of Sin (we commonly refer to
as THE ANTICHRIST). Verse 7 says most plainly the following.
“And it was given unto him (The Antichrist)
to make WAR with the SAINTS,
and to overcome them:
AND (also)
power was given him over all kindreds,
and tongues, and nations.”
Here is an excellent place and time for a QUESTION.
Who exactly are these Saints the Antichrist
will make war with?
If “THE SAINTS” does not describe those
who are Christians and commonly refer
to as THE CHURCH, then who are they?
The CHURCH remember is supposedly long gone.
Of course, the deceivers have contrived a lie
to cover up this question also.
They have contrived a man's
theory that these SAINTS are the
multitudes who were suddenly saved
because of the RAPTURE having occurred.
A wonderful theory to be sure, but
I can NOT help but wonder just exactly
where this is written in God's Word.
Save yourself some time, because it is NOT.
Just one more LIE to cover up all their other LIES.
NOW WE CAN RETURN BACK TO OUR MAIN TOPIC.
The resurrection/rapture
This can NOT take place before the LAST TRUMP.
That will NOT occur until Rev. 11: 15.
Not BEFORE and not AFTER.
The only way out before that is
by dying a physical death.
If you believe that you have your ticket
for the great 'Early Out Express'
you are in for one big disappointment.
My best advice to any and all
is for you to go back and find
out WHY you believe, WHAT you believe.
IF, you learn that it's ONLY because some man
said so, you would be wise to look again.
If what you believe doesn't match up
exactly with what God said, you would
be most wise to be willing to change
AND THEN CHANGE.
It's not gonna kill you to admit you've been wrong.
I've been wrong MANY times and
admitting it has NOT killed me ONCE.
Short of that, if you are not willing, I can only tell you
that you are in for ONE RUDE AWAKENING.
I pray you will seek God on this subject
because He alone is able to save you
from believing any and all LIES
you may have been deceived into believing.
I can do nothing more than pray
that you will at least take the time to ask Him.
Any person, who sincerely wants
to believe ONLY the TRUTH, CAN. It is simply a matter of asking God in FAITH and knowing it is
HIS WILL that you believe 'only' THE TRUTH.
It is NEVER God's will for anyone to
believe some man made FAIRY TALE above his word.
YES, I SAID NEVER. If you are 100% certain that you are
INCAPABLE of being wrong, or of having EVER been wrong,
about anything concerning
God's WORD,
then CONGRATULATIONS,
You are only the second perfect person I've ever
KNOWN. (JESUS being number one of course)
May the Spirit of TRUTH
lead and guide you into ALL THE TRUTH.
AMEN
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