Book 4 of Musings Not Going but Coming

There will not be a "rapture" that has as its purpose the removal of the saints from the conflict of the ages.

This concept is at enmity with the biblical truth of the coming of the Kingdom of God to the earth.

I have written quite a bit about the erroneous teaching of the "rapture.

There has been considerable discussion about whether the rapture will occur before the Great Tribulation, in the middle of the Great Tribulation, or after the Great Tribulation.

Do you know what? It simply doesn't matter. This is because there will be no "rapture," as we interpret the term.

But won't there be a catching up of the saints at the coming of the Lord? Of course. This is what the inerrant Scripture states. But it is a catching up, not a "rapture, as we commonly use the word." The term "rapture" is from a Latin verb meaning "to seize." It is a fact that the Greek word means to catch up (with an implication of "against opposition")

While "rapture" does mean to carry away, we usually use the word to refer to an ecstatic emotion. "She went into rapture over her new hat." So to use the word in a special religious sense causes it to take on a life of its own, as it were.

We would do better to use the term "catching up." We understand this English expression. The "rapture" passage is referring to our being caught up to meet the Lord in the air so we can descend with Him to install the Kingdom of God on the earth.

The "rapture" teaching is a huge lie. It appeals to our fallen nature, the idea of escaping trouble. Also it prevents our taking seriously the biblical admonition to prepare ourselves for the day of trouble. It is as destructive a heresy as one could find.

If the reader will kindly look at the passage in the fourth chapter of the Book of First Thessalonians, he or she will discover the text is not emphasizing the catching up of the saints into Heaven but the coming of the Lord with His witnesses of all ages. It is about the coming of the Lord with His saints to establish the Kingdom of God on the earth.

The concept of the coming of the Lord with His saints to establish the Kingdom of God on the earth is found in both the Old and New Testaments. But in neither Testament, in any passage whatever, is there a mention of the Lord coming to catch up His saints into Heaven. In no passage whatever-not even in the fourth chapter of the Book of First Thessalonians.

All the biblical passages referring to the return of Jesus Christ to the earth speak of the gathering of His saints to Himself, and many such passages include the idea of Christ and His saints bringing judgment on the wicked at that time. No passage refers to Christ catching up His saints to Heaven so they can live in mansions and walk on golden streets.

The great company of witnesses who return with the Lord (in contrast to the tiny minority of saints living on the earth at that time) have been in Heaven already-some of them for thousands of years. Is the Lord going to raise their bodies from the dead and then bring them back to Heaven. I'll tell you, this would be a tremendous disappointment to them. They are looking forward to regaining their bodies and ruling with Christ over the nations of saved people on the earth. This is their inheritance!

You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God, and they will reign on the earth." (Rev 5:10)

The concept of the "rapture," as it customarily is presented Sunday after deadly Sunday in the preponderance of Christian churches in America, is a destructive fabrication of deluded believers. The reason for its success is that it makes no demands on the believers. It is a comfortable gospel that appeals to comfortable Americans.

The true Gospel, that of denying ourselves, taking up our cross, and following Christ every day of our lives, makes total demands on us. Presenting our bodies a living sacrifice makes total demands on us. Reckoning ourselves dead with Christ and raised with Christ makes total demands on us. Trading our natural, adamic life for the Life of Christ makes total demands on us.

This is why we have a false gospel in America. It is because we are a pleasure-loving people. If one church tells us that we have to lay down our lives, take up our cross, and follow Jesus every day; and another church tells us that all we need do is make a profession of faith in Christ and then wait to be carried up to Heaven; which of these churches do you think the majority of American believers will attend?

It is as simple as this. We want teachers who will tickle our ears. We want to hear soft things, lovely things, words that will assure us that at any moment we will be free from all pain and sorrow. And there is nothing we need do except make a profession of belief in Christ. This is why we embrace a passage of the Bible (the fourth chapter of First Thessalonians) and interpret it in a manner that any scholar will tell us is indefensible.

The passage was written to comfort saints whose loved ones had died. It tells them not to grieve because their loved one will return with Jesus when He comes, and that they with their deceased and now resurrected loved ones will be caught up to meet Christ in the air when He descends from Heaven.

The passage is about the coming of the saints of all ages to receive their bodies from the earth so they can live once again on the earth. They are caught up to be with Jesus so they can descend together with Him.

There is no emphasis whatever on the lukewarm professors of Christ being carried up to Heaven so they can escape all their problems and be comfortable.

We believe Jesus died and rose again and so we believe God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. (1 Thessalonians 4:14)