Need simple evidence that the pre-trib rapture is a false doctrine? I was shown something else recently that is so obvious that I don't know why I didn't see it before. So many others have not seen this yet either, so I will attempt, through the Holy Spirit, to expose this false doctrine.
In Matthew 24, Jesus was talking to the disciples. Read through the entire chapter and he clearly says that Christ's return will be "Immediately AFTER the tribulation."
There's more. Okay, stay with me here.
John 5:28 - "Do not marvel at this, for an hour is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice"
How can the dead hear his voice from the grave if they are already in heaven? Whoa! Could this be another false doctrine? The dead do NOT go immediately to heaven when they die?
John 3:13 makes this very clear, "No one has ascended to heaven but He who came down from heaven, that is, the Son of Man who is in heaven."
It just doesn't get any more clear than that!
Now more on the Coming of Christ.
1 Cor. 15 says, 51-"Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, 52-in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed."
"at the last trumpet"
This is after the Tribulation!
"We shall not all sleep" means that we will not all die (since our souls are sleeping when we die).
Then "the dead will be raised imperishable". Of course, how could they be raised if they were already in heaven, right?
1 Thes. 4:16-"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: 17-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."
The dead in Christ will rise first, THEN those who remain alive will be caught up together with them in the clouds.
Jesus will return like a thief, not being sneaky, but in the sense that you never know when a thief is coming. Rev. 1:7 "Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen."
So to sum up:
-the dead are not in heaven yet.
-the dead saints will rise first.
-this will occur at the last trumpet, which is after the tribulation
-He will return as a thief (unexpected), so be ready!
Now if you read Matthew 24 and Revelation 6 side by side, I think you will see some similarities. The two chapters parallel each other.
Let he who has an ear hear what the Spirit says to the churches. In other words, listen to what the Holy Spirit is telling you, not through me, but through the Scriptures.
That is the problem with so many religions and denominations today. They refer back to their hand-me-down doctrine instead of the Bible and listening to the Holy Spirit.
2 Tim. 1:7 "For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind."
So listen to the Holy Spirit, and read what He is saying in His word, not what other men have written. We, who have the Holy Spirit dwelling in us, each have the ability to understand for ourselves. So open your ears to Him! And beware of false teachers. Always hold what they are teaching against the word of God. If it doesn't line up, RUN AWAY!!!!!!
In Matthew 24, Jesus was talking to the disciples. Read through the entire chapter and he clearly says that Christ's return will be "Immediately AFTER the tribulation."
There's more. Okay, stay with me here.
John 5:28 - "Do not marvel at this, for an hour is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice"
How can the dead hear his voice from the grave if they are already in heaven? Whoa! Could this be another false doctrine? The dead do NOT go immediately to heaven when they die?
John 3:13 makes this very clear, "No one has ascended to heaven but He who came down from heaven, that is, the Son of Man who is in heaven."
It just doesn't get any more clear than that!
Now more on the Coming of Christ.
1 Cor. 15 says, 51-"Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, 52-in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed."
"at the last trumpet"
This is after the Tribulation!
"We shall not all sleep" means that we will not all die (since our souls are sleeping when we die).
Then "the dead will be raised imperishable". Of course, how could they be raised if they were already in heaven, right?
1 Thes. 4:16-"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: 17-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."
The dead in Christ will rise first, THEN those who remain alive will be caught up together with them in the clouds.
Jesus will return like a thief, not being sneaky, but in the sense that you never know when a thief is coming. Rev. 1:7 "Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen."
So to sum up:
-the dead are not in heaven yet.
-the dead saints will rise first.
-this will occur at the last trumpet, which is after the tribulation
-He will return as a thief (unexpected), so be ready!
Now if you read Matthew 24 and Revelation 6 side by side, I think you will see some similarities. The two chapters parallel each other.
Let he who has an ear hear what the Spirit says to the churches. In other words, listen to what the Holy Spirit is telling you, not through me, but through the Scriptures.
That is the problem with so many religions and denominations today. They refer back to their hand-me-down doctrine instead of the Bible and listening to the Holy Spirit.
2 Tim. 1:7 "For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind."
So listen to the Holy Spirit, and read what He is saying in His word, not what other men have written. We, who have the Holy Spirit dwelling in us, each have the ability to understand for ourselves. So open your ears to Him! And beware of false teachers. Always hold what they are teaching against the word of God. If it doesn't line up, RUN AWAY!!!!!!
(You have a great blog and I totally agree with you! Recently ran into the following web item. Lou)
ReplyDeleteFOR PRETRIB RAPTURE REPEATERS
Congratulations! You are now fulfilling the Bible which says "Come now, and let us repeat together." (sarcasm here!)
Be sure to repeat what Walvoord, Lindsey, LaHaye, Ice etc. repeat what their own teachers repeat what their own teachers repeat etc. etc. etc.!
Repeat that Christ's return is imminent because we're told to "watch" (Matt. 24, 25) for it. So is the "day of God" (II Pet. 3:12) - which you admit is at least 1000 years ahead - also imminent because we're told to be "looking for" it?
Also repeat the pretrib myths about the "Jewish wedding stages" and "Jewish feasts" (where's your "church/Israel dichotomy" now?) even though Christ and Paul knew nothing about a "pretrib stage" and neither did any official theological creed or organized church before 1830!
You should read "Pretrib Rapture Dishonesty" on the "Powered by Christ Ministries" site to find out why you shouldn't repeat everything your pretrib teachers repeat.
Do I have to repeat this?
I also just learned after my dads death 2yrs ago about the soul being asleep and not in heaven.I was ok w/that when I heard it but some of my relatives weren't b/c they still believe that he is in heaven already.
ReplyDeleteI actually feel more at peace knowing his soul is asleep.
I also have already explained it to my kids that his soul is asleep or at least my older two.The younger two don't understand much except that grandpa is gone.But he was a truck driver and would be gone several days so it seemed to be easy on them.Well my youngest was exactly 1yo but the other tot was older.Actually last month my 4yo had a breakdown from out of nowhere and she started to cry and say that she missed grandpa and wanted him back so I explained then that his soul was asleep and it seemed more comforting for her to know that.
I think it's a bit intense to say it's a lie. I was just explaining to my children this morning that there is a difference between someone being wrong and someone lying. Everyone who is wrong isn't lying.
ReplyDeletebtw, I believe in the rapture. If I'm wrong, I also know that my salvation is not dependent on my eschatological views.
Thanks for reading, Lou, and thanks for the article! I am seeing more and more how denominations are bad because of the hand-me-down doctrines. They tend to refer back to the statements of faith rather than the Bible.
ReplyDeleteNicole, I know what you mean about the comfort factor. It sounds weird, but I also get more comfort knowing my deceased loved ones are resting, waiting for Christ's return. I think maybe it's because I know for sure now whereas before I was just told? I don't know, but I do know that I will see them again one day, and we'll all be rested up ready to party! LOL!
Daja, it's fine to disagree! I believed in the pre-trib rapture my whole life until about 3 months ago. I was just reading the Bible alone and discovered what I hadn't seen before, and since then I've talked to two other people who I highly respect who are very knowledgeable of the Bible, and I learned they also believe it is a lie. When I say lie, I don't mean that someone is intentionally deceiving us. I hope that is not the case. But it is a lie in the sense that it is not truth, so it is a lie from Satan. People just think that if we pray and "get saved", then we're okay and don't really need to do anything else since we're secure and will be saved from the tribulation. Here is something else to consider.....We know that God does not change. Did He save Noah from a hard life of persecution? He eventually did, but Noah endured a lot of hardships and things he didn't even understand as he stayed faithful to God. Did God rescue the Israelites from slavery? Did God save Christians from being killed during the Reformation? How about His chosen people from the Holocaust? Why then would he save us from the Great Tribulation? Even though it will be worse in the history of the world, His word says that the time will be shortened for our sake, not that He will remove us from it. Something to think about! Thanks for the comment! :)
About the rapture, I agree with you. About what happened after death I don't have strong opinion 'cause some Scripture tell me that we will be in paradise (part of Sheol) but some that we free access to heaven because of Christ...
ReplyDelete