1 00:00:03,220 --> 00:00:07,860 Greetings. This is Pastor David Bass at New Geneva Orthodox Presbyterian Church 2 00:00:07,860 --> 00:00:11,599 with a moment of truth, where we challenge you to think through an important issue 3 00:00:11,599 --> 00:00:18,460 of life and faith. Today, what is the pre-tribulation rapture? What is the teaching's 4 00:00:18,460 --> 00:00:25,699 origin? And I want to ask you today, too, what did the church teach before the doctrine of the 5 00:00:25,699 --> 00:00:32,600 pre-tribulation rapture became so popular? It is so popular today, isn't it? Just witnessed the 6 00:00:32,600 --> 00:00:39,280 snoozer film recently, Nicholas. But what I want to do today is challenge you, dear listener, 7 00:00:39,359 --> 00:00:45,000 because so many of you espouse this doctrine of the pre-tribulation rapture. What I want to 8 00:00:45,000 --> 00:00:50,539 challenge you to do is think about it in perhaps a different way than you have in the past. In fact, 9 00:00:50,539 --> 00:00:56,600 the entire framework of dispensational pre-millennialism that casts all of prophecy 10 00:00:56,600 --> 00:01:02,820 about the end times into the future, because there are distinct problems with front-loading 11 00:01:02,820 --> 00:01:09,260 all of the prophecies of the end times into the future. That is a future of Antichrist 12 00:01:09,260 --> 00:01:16,019 tribulation, a rebuilt temple, and, of course, a pre-tribulation rapture. For example, please 13 00:01:16,019 --> 00:01:22,920 explain to me why this view, this futurist view, has any credibility after the failure of the so-called 14 00:01:22,920 --> 00:01:29,719 blood moons nonsense espoused by teachers like John Hagee. Hagee is the pastor of megachurch 15 00:01:29,719 --> 00:01:36,879 Cornerstone Church in San Antonio, Texas, with some 20,000-plus active members. Hagee has made his 16 00:01:36,879 --> 00:01:44,040 bones by flogging this dead horse of red heifer rapture religion for decades now. His book, 17 00:01:44,299 --> 00:01:49,780 Jerusalem Countdown, A Warning to the World, is an updated version of Hal Lindsey's landmark book, 18 00:01:49,780 --> 00:01:55,760 The Late Great Planet Earth, with many of the same themes. This would include the idea that Russia and 19 00:01:55,760 --> 00:02:00,640 the Islamic States would invade Israel, be destroyed by God, and this would precipitate the head of the 20 00:02:00,640 --> 00:02:04,939 European Union, the Antichrist, in this scheme, to confront Israel in conjunction with China and 21 00:02:04,939 --> 00:02:10,860 the West. On and on it goes. Leaving this classic core notion of end times of religion aside for the 22 00:02:10,860 --> 00:02:16,840 moment, Hagee most recently published a book called Four Blood Moons. Something is about to 23 00:02:16,840 --> 00:02:24,419 change. Da-da-da. Hagee first reviews the importance of blood moons in the past, at least to him, 24 00:02:24,500 --> 00:02:30,439 leaving a lot of other history behind. But these four blood moons are celestial phenomena in which 25 00:02:30,439 --> 00:02:36,860 lunar eclipses turn the moon a reddish hue, metaphorically in appearance, like blood, fulfilling 26 00:02:36,860 --> 00:02:43,240 the prophecy of Joel 2.31, ostensibly, that is, the sun shall be turned to darkness and the moon into 27 00:02:43,240 --> 00:02:49,020 blood before the coming of the great and awesome day of the Lord, unquote. Now, in dispensational 28 00:02:49,020 --> 00:02:56,280 premillennialism, this refers to the pre-tribulational rapture, which is our main topic of discussion today. 29 00:02:56,620 --> 00:03:01,979 It refers to the pre-tribulational rapture of the church from the world, and then the commencement 30 00:03:01,979 --> 00:03:07,479 of a seven-year period of great distress called the Great Tribulation. Now, these eclipses occur 31 00:03:07,479 --> 00:03:14,879 rarely but significantly in clusters of four called tetrads. Hagee covers when they have been in the 32 00:03:14,879 --> 00:03:20,539 past and their significance for Jews and for Israel, ostensibly. For example, a blood moon tetra 33 00:03:20,539 --> 00:03:27,080 occurred in 1949 and 1950, just following the founding of the State of Israel, and then again in 1967 and 34 00:03:27,080 --> 00:03:34,080 1968, after the Six-Day War, when Israel gained possession of Jerusalem. Now, Hagee feels that the 35 00:03:34,080 --> 00:03:42,500 tetrad of blood moons recently concluded, as of September 28th of this year, would portend, as he 36 00:03:42,500 --> 00:03:48,900 says, something big, like these other dates. Please tell me, dear listener, what happened? Huh? What 37 00:03:48,900 --> 00:03:55,199 happened? Nothing. It is yet another failed prediction of the end, for which your system, 38 00:03:55,199 --> 00:04:01,960 dispensational premillennialism, is responsible. Hagee, now, he has cleverly hedged his bets by 39 00:04:01,960 --> 00:04:07,120 saying he never predicted the time of the end, and that no man can set the day or the hour, but rather 40 00:04:07,120 --> 00:04:14,520 that these things prove that Christ may well be coming soon. Well, duh, tell me something I don't know, 41 00:04:15,259 --> 00:04:20,600 Mr. Hagee. All of this could be maintained without reference to a prophetic diversion like the four 42 00:04:20,600 --> 00:04:28,399 blood moons. What Hagee cannot escape is that his claim that something big, something huge, on a par 43 00:04:28,399 --> 00:04:32,439 with the supposed big and huge events he cites from history, will happen no later than September 44 00:04:32,439 --> 00:04:40,839 of 2015, already passed. As is characteristics of false prophets, Hagee has dropped all reference to 45 00:04:40,839 --> 00:04:46,660 his book, and he's given no explanation either, but he carries on as if he had said nothing about these 46 00:04:46,660 --> 00:04:53,420 things. Oh, note with me as well, the failed predictions of dispensational premillennialism. 47 00:04:53,600 --> 00:05:00,620 For example, Hal Lindsey of late great Planet Earth fame, published in the 70s. Many others of his day 48 00:05:00,620 --> 00:05:06,759 also confidently predicted that the rapture would take place on, or the premillennial rapture, which is 49 00:05:06,759 --> 00:05:13,300 our main topic of discussion today. He predicted that the, that the pre-tribulational rapture would 50 00:05:13,300 --> 00:05:21,360 take place on or before 1988, since Jesus in his Olivet Discourse said, this generation, that is the 51 00:05:21,360 --> 00:05:28,779 generation in which Israel was formed, this generation will not pass away until all these things have 52 00:05:28,779 --> 00:05:34,139 taken place. This generation, indeed, was that one which would commence end-time prophecy when Israel 53 00:05:34,139 --> 00:05:41,339 was restored as a nation, and Israel was restored in 1948. And a generation in the Bible was about 40 years 54 00:05:41,339 --> 00:05:47,779 years. So, Hal Lindsey said, voila, the end times would commence on or around 1988. All of this is 55 00:05:47,779 --> 00:05:54,019 true, but what happened? Nothing. Do you remember also the popular radio teacher, Harold Camping, who 56 00:05:54,019 --> 00:06:00,660 predicted that the rapture would take place on May 21st, 2011, when his prediction failed to take 57 00:06:00,660 --> 00:06:06,100 place? He at first said it was a spiritual judgment of the world, but then he later retracted it when he 58 00:06:06,100 --> 00:06:12,259 realized how absurd it was. Well, Camping experienced a mild stroke, and he retired from public ministry. 59 00:06:12,259 --> 00:06:19,759 Dear listener, when will you stop making excuses for false prophets that have as their source a false 60 00:06:19,759 --> 00:06:26,259 biblical eschatology, like premillennial dispensationalism, like a pre-tribulational 61 00:06:26,259 --> 00:06:34,019 rapture? Your system, dispensational premillennialism, puts all of Revelation and related prophecies into the 62 00:06:34,019 --> 00:06:41,439 future. A future with which these teachers then, very conveniently, can tease and tantalize you, 63 00:06:41,800 --> 00:06:48,879 writing books. How many of you have been fleeced by the Left Behind series, buying the continuing 64 00:06:48,879 --> 00:06:56,279 books being churned out by Tim LaHaye, who has made a fortune on gullible believers? Or preaching of 65 00:06:56,279 --> 00:07:01,060 sermons? How many of you think you know that the locusts of Revelation are helicopters, that Gog and Magog are 66 00:07:01,060 --> 00:07:06,120 Russia? Or that the Antichrist will come from the European Union? On and on it goes. And they even make 67 00:07:06,120 --> 00:07:12,879 movies and cable channel documentaries. How about Nicolas Cage and the Left Behind movie? What a snoozer. I hope 68 00:07:12,879 --> 00:07:19,079 you didn't waste your money on that one. Or even the History Channel special on the Antichrist. Well, dear 69 00:07:19,079 --> 00:07:24,319 listener, do you think that because you have made it into mainstream media, and that most contemporary 70 00:07:24,319 --> 00:07:33,060 churches, perhaps yours as well, now teach this futurist system that it is true? Rather, the popularity in the 71 00:07:33,060 --> 00:07:39,779 general culture of America ought to make you think twice about its veracity. Could it not be that while 72 00:07:39,779 --> 00:07:46,100 you are distracted, chasing prophetic shadows, Revelation, Rapture, and Red Heifers in the church, 73 00:07:46,199 --> 00:07:52,180 while the world chases sports and social media and online video games, that perhaps a real beast is 74 00:07:52,180 --> 00:07:58,439 devouring you? The Apostle John would say, yes, this calls for a mind with wisdom. And he was speaking 75 00:07:58,439 --> 00:08:03,560 of interpreting the symbols of the beast. What I would like to do with you today is consider very 76 00:08:03,560 --> 00:08:10,560 carefully the doctrine of the pre-tribulational rapture. Paul calls the rapture our blessed hope, 77 00:08:11,199 --> 00:08:16,000 the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ. And such it is, dear listener. 78 00:08:16,500 --> 00:08:21,579 In every age, the people of God have longed for His return in great power and glory to redeem us. 79 00:08:21,579 --> 00:08:28,800 This return is called the parousia, or coming. It will be powerful and glorious and personal. 80 00:08:29,379 --> 00:08:34,159 How do we know? Well, there is one text to which all agree is basic, and that's 1 Thessalonians 4, 81 00:08:34,240 --> 00:08:38,600 13 to 18. Let me read that text for you today. Paul says, 82 00:08:38,679 --> 00:08:43,860 But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve 83 00:08:43,860 --> 00:08:49,019 as others do who have no hope. For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, 84 00:08:49,019 --> 00:08:54,919 through Jesus, God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep. For this we declare to you 85 00:08:54,919 --> 00:09:00,779 by a word from the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not 86 00:09:00,779 --> 00:09:06,200 precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, 87 00:09:06,840 --> 00:09:11,860 with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will 88 00:09:11,860 --> 00:09:18,120 rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds 89 00:09:18,120 --> 00:09:24,379 to meet the Lord in the air. And so, we will always be with the Lord. Therefore, encourage one another 90 00:09:24,379 --> 00:09:29,799 with these words. Note very clearly, dear listener, the context of these verses. 91 00:09:30,559 --> 00:09:35,240 The Thessalonians were concerned about members who had died in expectation of Christ's return. 92 00:09:35,960 --> 00:09:40,980 What would be their fate when Christ did return? Would they be left behind, if we may borrow a phrase? 93 00:09:40,980 --> 00:09:47,240 Paul reassures them that no, so far from being in limbo somewhere, would these who have preceded 94 00:09:47,240 --> 00:09:54,200 be, that indeed, rather, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep. It's a euphemism for 95 00:09:54,200 --> 00:09:59,539 death, of course. Paul then goes on to describe the nature of his return. And note with me these 96 00:09:59,539 --> 00:10:06,340 things. Number one, this is the one, the only, and the final return of Christ. Paul paints a picture 97 00:10:06,340 --> 00:10:12,159 of the one, the only, and the final return of Christ. There is not a hint of evidence that this 98 00:10:12,159 --> 00:10:17,159 is anything other. Pre-tribulationists are insistent that this text refers to the pre-tribulation 99 00:10:17,159 --> 00:10:21,860 rapture of the church out of the world that will signal the onset of the great tribulation, the 100 00:10:21,860 --> 00:10:26,919 appearance of the Antichrist, an eventual showdown at Armageddon, and then a second, second coming 101 00:10:26,919 --> 00:10:32,500 of Christ to inaugurate a literal thousand-year millennial reign from Jerusalem, and then with a 102 00:10:32,500 --> 00:10:37,059 third second coming at the end of the millennium to inaugurate the eternal state, do you realize that 103 00:10:37,059 --> 00:10:43,639 your system, a pre-tribulational rapture system, has three second comings rather than one, the rapture 104 00:10:43,639 --> 00:10:48,820 and then the coming at, to begin the thousand-year millennial reign, and then a third second coming at 105 00:10:48,820 --> 00:10:55,220 the end of the millennium to inaugurate the eternal state. Wow, that's a lot to deduce from this text. 106 00:10:55,720 --> 00:11:02,340 Where, pray tell, is all of that here in this text? It is not. Rather, this text employs the same 107 00:11:02,340 --> 00:11:09,519 kind of language of finality that all other biblical texts use to describe Christ's second 108 00:11:09,519 --> 00:11:15,620 coming and the end of the age. For example, 2 Thessalonians chapter 1 says this about his 109 00:11:15,620 --> 00:11:20,240 second coming. This is evidence of the righteous judgment of God that you may be considered worthy 110 00:11:20,240 --> 00:11:25,480 of the kingdom of God for which you are also suffering, since indeed God considers it just to 111 00:11:25,480 --> 00:11:30,840 repay with affliction those who afflict you, and to grant relief to you who are afflicted as well as to 112 00:11:30,840 --> 00:11:37,200 us. When the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, inflaming fire, inflicting 113 00:11:37,200 --> 00:11:41,720 vengeance on those who do not know God, and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus, 114 00:11:42,179 --> 00:11:46,659 they will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction away from the presence of the Lord 115 00:11:46,659 --> 00:11:52,240 and from the glory of his might when he comes on that day to be glorified in his saints, 116 00:11:52,700 --> 00:11:58,220 and to be marveled at among all who have believed. Unquote from 2 Thessalonians chapter 1, 117 00:11:58,220 --> 00:12:03,240 the same kind of language that we have here in 1 Thessalonians. And then of course from 118 00:12:03,240 --> 00:12:09,299 Acts chapter 1, where the angel says to the apostles, when he had said these things as they 119 00:12:09,299 --> 00:12:14,240 were looking on, he was lifted up, that is Jesus, and a cloud took him out of their sight. And while 120 00:12:14,240 --> 00:12:18,940 they were gazing into heaven as he went, behold, two men stood by them in white robes and said, 121 00:12:19,059 --> 00:12:24,320 Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, 122 00:12:24,320 --> 00:12:31,860 will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven. Once more, there's not a hint in any of 123 00:12:31,860 --> 00:12:41,899 these texts other than the one, the only, and the final return of Christ. To place this text in a 124 00:12:41,899 --> 00:12:49,460 pre-tribulational scheme of the end times, one must import those ideas of a pre-tribulational rapture 125 00:12:49,460 --> 00:12:54,120 from the outside to make this text mean what they want it to mean. Dear listener, 126 00:12:54,559 --> 00:13:00,639 eisegesis is the method of reading into a text meanings that are not there. Exegesis is reading 127 00:13:00,639 --> 00:13:06,259 out of a text what is inherent in its meaning, that is the things that are there. Pre-tribulational 128 00:13:06,259 --> 00:13:12,559 rapture interpretation of this text is eisegesis, the reading into a text of the most egregious kind. 129 00:13:13,299 --> 00:13:18,740 Even the next chapter confirms our interpretation, chapter 5 of 1 Thessalonians, because Paul moves on 130 00:13:18,740 --> 00:13:24,220 from considering the host with which Christ returns to the general timing of it. He calls it the times 131 00:13:24,220 --> 00:13:30,379 and seasons of Christ's return. Paul reminds them of something they are already aware, that is the day 132 00:13:30,379 --> 00:13:36,259 of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. Now, understand, pre-tribulation rapturists play 133 00:13:36,259 --> 00:13:41,600 theological twister here. You know what theological twister is? That is, you have to bend over and say, 134 00:13:41,740 --> 00:13:46,700 this text means that, and then take your foot and say, this text means actually that, and then pretty 135 00:13:46,700 --> 00:13:53,679 soon you're in a pretzel. By making a distinction between Christ's parousia and the day of the Lord, 136 00:13:54,039 --> 00:14:01,379 pre-tribulational rapturists play theological twister. They say that these two texts are different times 137 00:14:01,379 --> 00:14:07,320 and days, because two different words are used. That is, parousia, or coming, and day of the Lord. 138 00:14:07,460 --> 00:14:13,500 But this, dear listener, I submit to you is playing childish word games. Christ's coming, 139 00:14:13,500 --> 00:14:19,580 all through the Bible, is called different things. Christ's coming is also called His appearing in 140 00:14:19,580 --> 00:14:25,740 Titus chapter 2 and 1 Timothy chapter 6. Christ's coming is also called His revealing in 1 Corinthians 141 00:14:25,740 --> 00:14:33,559 1.7. Christ's coming is also called His revelation in 1 Peter 1.7 and 13. Christ's coming is also called 142 00:14:33,559 --> 00:14:39,940 the day in 1 Corinthians 3.13. Christ's coming is also called the great day of God Almighty in 143 00:14:39,940 --> 00:14:46,000 Revelation 16.13. Well, are we to then to parse these all out to different comings of the Lord 144 00:14:46,000 --> 00:14:52,559 at different times, just because they use different words? How absurd it is. I may call it the 4th of 145 00:14:52,559 --> 00:14:57,559 July, or Independence Day, or even Fireworks Day, as my kids used to call it, but it's the same thing. 146 00:14:57,940 --> 00:15:02,960 Here, the same thing obtains. There are other names too numerous to mention for this day of the Lord, 147 00:15:02,960 --> 00:15:09,039 but they all refer to the same thing, the coming of Christ. Variations in wording do not decide the 148 00:15:09,039 --> 00:15:14,360 issue. Context determines the issue, and the context here demands that Paul's train of thought continues 149 00:15:14,360 --> 00:15:20,519 in the same vein. These refer to the same thing. Pre-tribulation rapturists, by making a distinction 150 00:15:20,519 --> 00:15:26,919 between his parousia and the day of the Lord, make a distinction without a difference. The rapture is of 151 00:15:26,919 --> 00:15:33,919 a peace with the one, the only, the final coming of Christ. A pre-tribulation rapture is just plain 152 00:15:33,919 --> 00:15:41,759 wrong. Secondly, note with me from this text, that is 1 Thessalonians 4.13-19. Indeed, secondly, 153 00:15:42,039 --> 00:15:47,820 the rapture will be anything but secret. Pre-tribulation rapture teachers are fond of calling 154 00:15:47,820 --> 00:15:52,980 this a secret rapture, since the world will be in wonder and consternation at what happened to all 155 00:15:52,980 --> 00:15:57,600 the believers. Remember the old bumper sticker, in case of rapture, this vehicle will be driverless? 156 00:15:58,299 --> 00:16:04,320 The movie Thief in the Night is a dramatization of this, as is the Nicolas Cage snoozer left behind. 157 00:16:04,799 --> 00:16:10,879 But does our text really support this assertion? Once more, the context of the rapture shows 158 00:16:10,879 --> 00:16:18,340 it of a whole with the one, the only, the final coming of Christ. Our text says the Lord himself 159 00:16:18,340 --> 00:16:23,139 will descend from heaven with a shout, or a cry of command. This can hardly be secret, 160 00:16:23,340 --> 00:16:28,679 as cry of command, the ESV, shout from the King James. It will also come with the voice of an 161 00:16:28,679 --> 00:16:34,019 archangel, and all through the judgment texts, the archangels are anything but quiet and silent. This 162 00:16:34,019 --> 00:16:40,240 cannot be secret. And then Christ will also come, as 1 Thessalonians chapter 4 says, with the sound of 163 00:16:40,240 --> 00:16:46,120 the trumpet of God. This cannot be secret either. Trumpets were used by armies to signal orders 164 00:16:46,120 --> 00:16:50,940 in battle, because they were loud enough to be heard above the din of desperate combat. 165 00:16:51,980 --> 00:16:56,039 Oh, dear listener, perhaps the Lord will strike unbelievers of the earth with deafness first, 166 00:16:56,159 --> 00:17:00,720 maybe, to make it secret. Or perhaps we've mistranslated shout for whisper, and those 167 00:17:00,720 --> 00:17:06,180 trumpets of God are jazz trumpets with mutes. Ah, some pre-tribulation rapture teachers try to get 168 00:17:06,180 --> 00:17:11,500 around this difficulty by saying that only believers will hear this glorious, intimidating cacophony. 169 00:17:11,500 --> 00:17:17,180 Oh, once again, how absurd, though, dear listener. This is eisegesis of the most egregious kind. 170 00:17:17,720 --> 00:17:22,720 Instead of being secret, the rapture will be loud, glorious, and evident to all the world. 171 00:17:23,460 --> 00:17:28,819 Thirdly, let me also point out from this text, 1 Corinthians 4, 13 to 19, perhaps you should have 172 00:17:28,819 --> 00:17:35,079 your Bible open to it. You must also note that all of the saints will escort Christ in glory to the 173 00:17:35,079 --> 00:17:43,240 earth. Pre-tribulation rapture teachers, excuse me, are fond of saying that Christ first comes for his 174 00:17:43,240 --> 00:17:49,640 church, and then he comes with his church. He first comes for his church, indicated by texts like ours 175 00:17:49,640 --> 00:17:55,339 before us today, and then ostensibly he comes later with his church after the great tribulation and after 176 00:17:55,339 --> 00:18:01,420 the battle at Armageddon on the day of the Lord, as in chapter 5. So they think. They think, 177 00:18:01,420 --> 00:18:07,640 pre-tribulation rapturists, think that the logic of this passage before us today is that those of us 178 00:18:07,640 --> 00:18:13,819 left alive at his coming will be caught up, that is, raptured, together with them in the clouds to 179 00:18:13,819 --> 00:18:18,839 meet the Lord in the air. Thus, according to pre-tribulation rapture teachers, we will be in 180 00:18:18,839 --> 00:18:24,619 heaven, in the air, while God deals in wrath with the world on the earth during the great tribulation. 181 00:18:25,200 --> 00:18:30,920 After that, they say, he will come back on the day of the Lord, taken up in chapter 5 of 1 Thessalonians 182 00:18:30,920 --> 00:18:36,660 with his saints. In the pre-trib logic, it makes no sense. Many of the authors have said this. It 183 00:18:36,660 --> 00:18:41,480 makes no sense for us to be caught up in the air, only to descend right back down to the earth. How 184 00:18:41,480 --> 00:18:49,079 silly. But once more, this reasoning of pre-tribulation rapture teachers ignores the cultural 185 00:18:49,079 --> 00:18:55,059 context of this letter. At this time in the ancient world, it was proper protocol for those receiving a 186 00:18:55,059 --> 00:19:00,140 guest, especially a royal personage, to come out to meet them and then escort them to their 187 00:19:00,140 --> 00:19:06,220 destination. The wedding party, that is, the virgins in the parable of the bridegroom, went out to meet 188 00:19:06,220 --> 00:19:11,680 the bridegroom and his party to escort them to the bridal chamber. The people, also in the Old Testament, 189 00:19:11,819 --> 00:19:16,059 went out to meet David after his victories and escort him back into Jerusalem. They went out to 190 00:19:16,059 --> 00:19:22,700 meet Christ at the triumphal entry and escort him to the temple. Well, of course, Paul, when he arrived at 191 00:19:22,700 --> 00:19:28,140 Rome, the brothers, the text tells us, came out as far as the Forum of Appius and the three taverns to 192 00:19:28,140 --> 00:19:33,920 meet him and then escort him to his destination. This is cultural protocol in those days. It's 193 00:19:33,920 --> 00:19:39,619 precisely what is going on here in 1 Thessalonians chapter 4. Those saints alive at his return will 194 00:19:39,619 --> 00:19:44,980 be caught up in the air to join those who have preceded us in death in order that we might all 195 00:19:44,980 --> 00:19:51,519 be of the host that escorts the Lord to the earth to claim his possession. This protocol might not make 196 00:19:51,519 --> 00:19:56,599 sense to pre-tribulation rapture teachers who are ignorant of the cultural context of the ancient 197 00:19:56,599 --> 00:20:02,019 world in which Paul composed his letters, but the Thessalonians would find it making perfect sense. 198 00:20:02,700 --> 00:20:08,380 All of the saints will escort Christ in glory to the earth. And then fourthly as well, note with me, 199 00:20:08,779 --> 00:20:14,900 the pre-tribulation rapture teaching is a recent innovation in doctrine. Yes, the pre-tribulation 200 00:20:14,900 --> 00:20:20,200 rapture teaching is a recent innovation in doctrine. Perhaps you have been led to believe that this is 201 00:20:20,200 --> 00:20:25,579 what the church has always taught concerning end times since the Apostle Paul, yet church historians 202 00:20:25,579 --> 00:20:30,619 have traced the doctrine of a pre-tribulational rapture of the church to the early quarter of 203 00:20:30,619 --> 00:20:36,559 the 19th century during a series of charismatic revival meetings in England. Now, as in America, 204 00:20:36,759 --> 00:20:41,440 religious revival was sweeping across England, causing a great deal of upheaval in the churches. 205 00:20:41,980 --> 00:20:47,180 One of those churches was pastored by a Presbyterian minister named Edward Irving. I'm sorry, 206 00:20:47,319 --> 00:20:52,720 Edward Irving. And he started the New Catholic Apostolic Church after he was checked out of the 207 00:20:52,720 --> 00:21:00,799 Presbyterian church for heresy. Along the way, he also pioneered the new views on pre-tribulation 208 00:21:00,799 --> 00:21:07,700 rapture and its attendant doctrines too. Irving was a very bright fellow and eloquent speaker who drew 209 00:21:07,700 --> 00:21:12,799 large crowds through the revivals being sponsored by one lady powers court. They were known as the 210 00:21:12,799 --> 00:21:18,480 powers court meetings. Now, Irving had come across the work of a Jesuit priest named Emmanuel 211 00:21:18,480 --> 00:21:24,759 Lacunza, who had written a book entitled The Coming of Messiah and Glory and Majesty in 1812, 212 00:21:24,759 --> 00:21:30,279 in which Lacunza taught that all of the prophecies concerning the second coming of Christ were yet in 213 00:21:30,279 --> 00:21:35,960 the future, including a pre-tribulational rapture. It appears from his own writing and speaking that 214 00:21:35,960 --> 00:21:42,559 Irving did not emphasize the aspect of a two-stage return of Christ, which Lacunza emphasized. He 215 00:21:42,559 --> 00:21:49,920 didn't do so at once, but he did so increasing after one Mary MacDonald, a then 15-year-old from 216 00:21:49,920 --> 00:21:56,380 Glasgow, Scotland, Mary MacDonald. She began speaking of a pre-trib rapture in a several-hour 217 00:21:56,380 --> 00:22:02,079 period of prophecy and visions that she received as a part of the exercise of the charismatic gifts 218 00:22:02,079 --> 00:22:08,700 of the Catholic Apostolic Church. This was in April of 1830, and it quickly spread as a teaching 219 00:22:08,700 --> 00:22:14,079 in Irving's church, increasingly in his writings and sermons too as well. But the man who really 220 00:22:14,079 --> 00:22:19,299 put the futurist view of the end times as we know it into warp drive, if you will, was John Nelson 221 00:22:19,299 --> 00:22:25,039 Darby, an Anglican minister who became convinced that the established church was corrupt, that 222 00:22:25,039 --> 00:22:31,039 individual believers should eschew the denominational churches and gather simply as brethren. Thus was 223 00:22:31,039 --> 00:22:36,980 born the Brethren Movement, which became, to Darby's chagrin, another denomination. This is how it goes. 224 00:22:36,980 --> 00:22:43,180 But Darby also ministered closely during this period, well into the latter half of the 19th century, 225 00:22:43,539 --> 00:22:48,319 spreading the gospel of pre-millennial dispensationalism throughout England in his 226 00:22:48,319 --> 00:22:54,500 speaking and in his writing. He even traveled to America, where a man named C.I. Schofield 227 00:22:54,500 --> 00:23:01,759 became a close disciple of Darby. And of course, we get the Schofield reference Bible. Well, during the 228 00:23:01,759 --> 00:23:06,680 period of the Powers Court meetings and the end times fever in Irving's church, Darby was 229 00:23:06,680 --> 00:23:11,619 present and he was circulating amongst them. He spent time with Mary McDonnell and her family, 230 00:23:12,119 --> 00:23:16,759 hearing and noting the latest developments. Darby claims that his understanding of the 231 00:23:16,759 --> 00:23:22,839 pre-tribulational rapture came purely from his study of Scripture. But several scholars now doubt this. 232 00:23:23,099 --> 00:23:27,779 I urge you to reference the incredible cover-up, The True Story of the Pre-Trib Rapture, 233 00:23:28,079 --> 00:23:33,680 written by Dave McPherson, published by Logos International. Whatever the precise relationship 234 00:23:33,680 --> 00:23:38,720 between Emmanuel Lacunza, Edward Irving, Mary McDonnell, John Nelson Darby may be, that is, 235 00:23:38,799 --> 00:23:43,180 who formed it first, who served as source for whom, and what was the source of inspiration for these 236 00:23:43,180 --> 00:23:48,339 things. Well, it is clear that these were the days when the doctrine of the pre-tribulational 237 00:23:48,339 --> 00:23:55,000 rapture of the church was cooked up during the early to mid-1800s in the atmosphere of a charismatic 238 00:23:55,000 --> 00:24:00,440 revival. The church had known nothing, absolutely nothing, of a pre-tribulational rapture before. 239 00:24:00,440 --> 00:24:07,279 What the church has taught consistently throughout its history is the one, the only, the final coming 240 00:24:07,279 --> 00:24:13,359 of Christ in great power and glory to redeem his people and judge the world. So make no mistake about 241 00:24:13,359 --> 00:24:19,519 this, dear listener, this is not just a choice between potato and potato, between tomato and 242 00:24:19,519 --> 00:24:25,759 tomato. No, those who hold to the church's classic understanding of Christ's return understand that 243 00:24:25,759 --> 00:24:31,400 there is much tribulation, suffering, and persecution to come for the church, and that we must prepare for 244 00:24:31,400 --> 00:24:36,680 it. Persecution that is happening right now, dear listener. Pre-tribulation rapture teachers assure us 245 00:24:36,680 --> 00:24:42,980 that we will be raptured out of tribulation by and by in the future, not to worry. Those who hold to 246 00:24:42,980 --> 00:24:48,180 the classic understanding of Christ's return understand indeed that the church has always faced 247 00:24:48,180 --> 00:24:52,799 the beasts, the dragon, the antichrists of the Bible, and they battle them still today, 248 00:24:52,799 --> 00:24:57,380 right now. Pre-tribulation rapture teachers assure us that this is all in the future. 249 00:24:58,140 --> 00:25:03,039 Those who hold to the church's classic understanding of Christ's return develop strategies for prayers 250 00:25:03,039 --> 00:25:08,319 concerning and exhortations toward battling these beasts, dragons, and antichrists of the Bible for 251 00:25:08,319 --> 00:25:13,500 the glory of God and the winning of souls for Christ right now. Pre-tribulation rapture teachers 252 00:25:13,500 --> 00:25:18,119 assure us that all of that will come in due time for those left behind after the rapture. 253 00:25:18,119 --> 00:25:23,960 In short, dear listener, your pre-tribulation rapture beliefs, they are robbing you of much of 254 00:25:23,960 --> 00:25:29,039 your Christian walk of discipleship right now by lulling you into thinking that suffering and 255 00:25:29,039 --> 00:25:33,940 persecution and tribulation are for another generation, another people after you are raptured 256 00:25:33,940 --> 00:25:40,220 out of the world. This has perhaps a subtle but real effect on your mind and heart. Please tell this 257 00:25:40,220 --> 00:25:45,180 assurance of yours to the church that will not face great tribulation. They will not face great 258 00:25:45,180 --> 00:25:50,480 tribulation. Tell this to the many countless thousands being beheaded and crucified and burned 259 00:25:50,480 --> 00:25:56,900 to death at the hands of Islam all across the earth. I encourage you to buck the trend of the 260 00:25:56,900 --> 00:26:02,400 hour, dear listener. Re-examine in the light of the Bible and its classic interpretation what you've been 261 00:26:02,400 --> 00:26:08,000 taught in your churches, popular books, and radio teachers. Take back your walk of discipleship. 262 00:26:08,259 --> 00:26:13,299 Let the blessing of the promise of Christ's return wash over you, dear listener. The one, 263 00:26:13,299 --> 00:26:19,779 the only, the final coming of Christ for his church. It is truly what Paul calls it, the blessed hope, 264 00:26:20,140 --> 00:26:26,400 the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ. This is Pastor David Bass at 265 00:26:26,400 --> 00:26:32,779 New Geneva Orthodox Presbyterian Church. We meet for holy worship at 10 a.m. at Sunday at 101 4th Street 266 00:26:32,779 --> 00:26:37,279 on the corner of 4th and Boulevard. Call us at 523-0196.