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Greetings. This is Pastor David Bass at New Geneva Orthodox Presbyterian Church with a

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moment of truth, where we challenge you to think through an important issue of life and faith. And

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today, I want to invite you to rejoice with me in the blessed hope of every Christian,

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the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, or what I call rejoicing in the rapturous rapture.

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Rejoicing in the rapturous rapture. Rapture is oftentimes emotional elation and transport,

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but rapture also means now coming of the Lord Jesus Christ for his saints. What a glorious and

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blessed day that will be. Now, the Apostle Paul characterizes it this way in his letter to his

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young charge, Titus. He says, for the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people,

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training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright,

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and godly lives in the present age, waiting for our blessed hope. Here it is. The appearing of the

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glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ. Indeed, this is a thing foretold throughout the

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New Testament by almost every New Testament writer, all of them taking encouragement from and elaborating

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upon the precious promise of our Lord at his ascension, in which Luke records in Acts chapter

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1, and while they, that is the apostles, were gazing into heaven as he went, behold, two men stood by them

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in white robes and said, men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken

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up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven, unquote. Our Lord

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ascended into heaven in great power and glory, and he will return in great power and glory. What a day that

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will be, the older I get, and the longer I've been a Christian, the more I long for my Savior turn. Indeed,

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as Mark Twain said, the more I get to know people, the more I love my dog. Well, the more I get to know the

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world, the more I get to love the Lord's return. And I echo the Apostle John's refrain, he who testifies to

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these things, says, surely I am coming soon. Amen. Come, Jesus. And when he does appear, several wondrous

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and glorious things will happen. First of all, my body will be resurrected from the grave. What a precious

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promise. And secondly, the heavens and the earth will be renewed in great glory, right? The heavens will be set on

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fire and dissolved, as Peter says. But according to his promise, he goes on to say, we are waiting for new heavens

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and new earth, which righteousness dwells. And thirdly, the judgment of both the righteous and

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the wicked will take place. That's what's outlined for us in Revelation chapter 20, commonly called the

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great white throne. And then fourthly, I treasure this promise that I will be acknowledged and vindicated

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as Christ's own. My life for Christ, so despised and scoffed at by the world, will be vindicated.

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Oh, as I have witnessed to him here on earth, so he will witness to me in heaven as he promises. So

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everyone who acknowledges me before men, I will also acknowledge before my father who is in heaven.

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What a precious promise. All of this and much, much more make up the glories of our blessed hope.

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So fondly wished for by Paul in his letter, Titus. Now, the apostle also gives insight into that day

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when he writes to the saints in Thessalonica. Christ's delay in coming was extending such that

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some of those in Thessalonica had died. And the Thessalonians, I'm sorry, I'm having trouble

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pronouncing the Thessalonians, say that 10 times fast. The Thessalonians were concerned that at Christ's

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coming, those saints who had died would be overlooked in being raised from the dead or maybe raised much

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later. And Paul tells them this. Reassure them to be the case. And I quote now from 1 Thessalonians 4.

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He says,

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But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep. You may not grieve,

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as others do have no. For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus,

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God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep. For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord,

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that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who

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have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice

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of an angel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we

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who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in

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the air. And so we will always be with us. Therefore, encourage one another with these words. Unquote.

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What a blessed reassurance, listener. What a thrilling day that will be. And this is the chief

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text, which tells us about this event that is commonly called the rapture. That word rapture is

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derived from the Latin word rapturo, which means to catch up. All who believe in the second return of

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Christ, therefore, believe in a rapture, a catching up of God's saints to be with him when he returns.

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However, a big however, a new teaching has appeared over the last two centuries. Now, that may seem like

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a long time to you, but the last two centuries is relatively recent in terms of the existence of the

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Bible and its teachings for over 5,000 years. Oh, and that new teaching is a distinction between

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Christ's coming to rapture his church from the earth. And then when he will come at the end of

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the great tribulation to inaugurate the literal 1,000 year reign of the millennium. In other words,

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there will be two second comings, one on the day of the Lord and one at the rapture or the

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parousia, the coming of the Lord. This is a new teaching in the life of church. The church has

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traditionally taught that the texts which refer to Christ's second coming all refer to the same

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event. That is his coming in power and glory. As we hear in Acts chapter one, this Jesus who was

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taken up from you into heaven will come the same way as you saw him go into heaven. That is in the

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clouds with power and glory and with the angels. This is the plain literal interpretation of those

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texts. If we are to look at that principle from dispensational premillennialism, but with the advent

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of teachers like John Nelson Darby, who, of course, taught in the early mid-19th century, he derived

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many of these doctrines from the Powers Court prophetic conferences back between 1825 and 1830,

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where he also heard young Mary MacDonald in a vision, in a word of knowledge, predicted that there

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would be a pre-tribulational rapture. He derived many of these teachings from the Powers Court

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conferences back between 1825 and 1830 in England. And since those days, an artificial distinction has

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been introduced between a second coming that happens before a supposed seven-year great tribulation,

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unless you have a pre-tribulation, and then a second second coming that happens after the great

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tribulation, when Christ defeats the Antichrist and his forces at Armageddon and establishes his earthly

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millennial kingdom from Jerusalem. And then complicating this system even further, Christ will

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come at a third second coming, at the end of the millennium, to crush a last rebellion by Satan and

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then usher in the eternal state. Well, to put it simply, there is no warrant for all of these second

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comings. The Bible is crystal clear that there are two advents of Christ. His first, when he came to

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redeem our souls in this earthly ministry, his earthly ministry, and then a second advent, when he will

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appear to redeem our bodies. The Bible does not tell us of a second and third second coming. So, listen

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to these verses again, dear listener, and see if they say. Dispensational remillennialist teacher says it

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does. He says, the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an

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angel, with the sound of the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we, who are

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alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we

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will always be, therefore, encourage one another with these words. Oh, they are encouraging words, are they

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not? And there are a number of things said about them by dispensational premillennialists, these verses, that

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just do not comport with sound biblical interpretation. Let me just mention four of them briefly here.

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Many dispensational premillennial teachers say that this is a secret rapture known and experienced only

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by the saints. Now, many of the early teachers especially emphasize this, but since the text

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itself contradicts this idea, subsequent teachers have not featured it, or else they have ignored it

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at all. Then you also have a classic chick cartoonish scene, right, with cars veering out the highway because

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their drivers have been raptured, airplanes falling out of the sky because their pilots have been

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raptured, and spouses disappearing through the roof in the middle of a conversation at the dinner table.

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Oh, and all of this without those left behind, left behind series that is at the rapture, all of this

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without the left behind knowing in the least what is going on, right? But, dear listener, reflect again

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on the text, on the text. Where is the day of the Lord in which the Lord issues a cry? This is where,

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precisely where it is. That on the day of the Lord, the Lord issues a cry of command. It's a marshal to

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which orders are shouted, heard above the din of battle. And then this cry is delivered by the archangel

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in the skies, and finally those skies will be filled with trumpet blasts from God. And that's also meant to

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be heard above the din of battle, implying there will be more sounds than just these. Wow. When you take this

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all together, the sights and the sounds of that day seem anything but secret, dear listener, known only

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to believers. No, this will be heard and seen by the world, and it will be at the end of days.

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Secondly, dispensational teachers also teach that the parousia, or the coming, is distinguished from

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the day of the Lord. The parousia, which means coming, Greek for coming, the coming of the Lord,

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is distinguished from the day of the Lord. Now, without interpretive warrant, I insist with you,

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without interpretive warrant, this coming of the Lord for his saints that we just read for you is

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distinguished by dispensationalists from the day of the Lord proper, which ostensibly comes seven

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years later, after the supposed great tribulation. Great emphasis is placed upon this distinction,

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Dussner. Without it, there is no pre-tribulation rapture. And the rationale goes like this.

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There's a difference in terms, so there must be a difference in substance. For example,

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Paul mentions the day of the Lord in the very next chapter of Thessalonians, chapter 5,

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where he will come, Lord, like a thief in the night. And to the dispensational premillennialist,

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because Paul now calls it the day of the Lord, it must be a different day than that just mentioned

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in chapter 4 that is different from the parousia. Oh, dear listener, after studying this issue for some

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time, apparently dispensational premillennialists have not heard of synonyms. A synonym is a word

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or phrase that means substantially the same thing as another word or phrase, and they can be used

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oftentimes interchangeably. And every good writer likes to do this, including biblical writers. Using

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synonyms gives flavor and variety to their writing. For example, Luke calls the second coming in the first

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chapter of Acts and appearing, as does the apostle Paul in 1 Timothy 4, verse 1. And Peter calls this

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same day, the day of the Lord and the parousia, the coming. He also calls it the day of judgment

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in 2 Peter 2. And Peter also calls it the day of visitation, 1 Peter 2, 12. Hebrews simply calls

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this one in the same day, the day. Famous verse in Hebrews chapter 10, the author of Hebrews tells us

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to not neglect meeting together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more

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as you see the day drawing near, unquote. Well, suffice it to say that on and on we could go. Although

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the terms may differ, the characteristics of the event are substantially the same. That's why we can

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use synonyms to describe one in the same day. Now, these descriptions and these words are not exact in

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every feature and quality. Each author wishes to highlight some different facet about that day,

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but they're speaking of the same event nevertheless. All have many of the same characteristics in mind,

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that is, skies ruptured and saints raptured, and also raised from the dead, right? Behold, I tell you

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a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed in a moment in the twinkling of an eye at the

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last trumpet. Again, trumpets just as we saw in 1 Thessalonians 4. For the trumpet will sound,

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and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. That's precisely what he's

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talking about here in 1 Thessalonians chapter 4. There's also present angels and clouds and great

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tumult and consternation amongst the lost, great rejoicing amongst the redeemed. These features are

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all shared in common by these texts describing the same day. In each case, there's also that sense

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of finality, that this is the end of all things. This is the second advent. All of the texts we've

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been talking about today indeed point one advent, second advent, one day, not two or three second

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comings. Thirdly, the dispensational premillennialist says there must be a pre-tribulation

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rapture because God wouldn't put us through the great tribulation. I'm sure you've heard that argument

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for as well. There must be a pre-tribulation rapture because God wouldn't put us through the

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great tribulation. Once again, this is a theological deduction, not a statement of text. Nowhere is it

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directly stated in the text that we will be saved from wrath through the rapture. It's a theological

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deduction. Now, theological deductions are perfectly fine to make. We do it all the time. But we must ask,

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is it a warranted theological deduction? Does the evidence support it? And the rationale goes

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something like this, since God has not destined us for wrath, as Paul says in 1 Thessalonians 5, 9,

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then they then link this with verses like Revelation 3, 10, and Revelation 10 says, well, since God

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hasn't destined us for wrath, then, and I quote from Revelation, he will keep you from the hour of trial

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that is coming on the whole world to try those who dwell on the earth, unquote. And he will keep us

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from wrath. He will keep us from the hour of trial by rapturing us out of it for the great tribulation.

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But of course, this is really a circular argument at heart because it depends on the previous

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distinction made between our Lord's coming and the day of the Lord, which we've already seen is fallacious.

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There's also a fallacy of special pleading here, a fallacy of special pleading, where the interpreter

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wishes to suspend the normal rules of context and proper interpretation in this case so that it can

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mean what I say it means. We do this all the time. Unfortunately, no one would interpret 1 Thessalonians

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4 in the way that dispensational premillennials do unless this special plea made they have. On the other

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God has indeed not destined us for wrath. We have to see what it really means when Paul says God has

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not destined us for wrath. But wherever this promise is given, and it's given all over the scriptures,

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we are not destined for wrath. It is given with the wrath of eternal judgment in view, not as a ticket

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out of the great tribulation. No, it's not a tribulation ticket out. Paul goes on to say in 1 Thessalonians

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5, 9, and 10, for God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus

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Christ, who died for us, so that whether we are awake or asleep, we might live with him. That, in

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context, then, is the saving from the wrath of eternal damnation, because we have obtained salvation

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through Christ. That is the context of not being destined for wrath. Well, fourthly, dispensational

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premillennialist asserts that it makes no sense for us to be raptured into the skies up to the Lord

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and then come right back down to the earth. How absurd is that, right? This argument derives from

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the fact that since we will be, as Paul says in 1 Thessalonians 4, that we will be caught up to

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with the clouds, Lord in the air, and so we will always be with Lord, not just promise. But the

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dispensational millennialist says it is absurd to think that we will descend right back to the earth.

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Isn't that silly? In fact, the dispensational premillennialist asserts that the church will

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remain in heaven during the great tribulation, and for many, during the subsequent literal 1,000-year

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reign of Christ on the earth, too. Dear listener, it just gets more complex. The errors and the

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problems get more complex as we go through this theory, doesn't it? This error comes as a result

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of sheer ignorance of the greeting practices of the world. Think it absurd to come right back to the

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earth again. Well, in the ancient world, honored guests and kings would be met by an entourage of

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the citizens of that city, which the guest or king was approaching. Before he entered the city,

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he would then be escorted into the city with honor and dignity by them, by this entourage. We have

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examples all through scripture. Let me just cite three of them. First of all, after David defeated

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Absalom and returned to Jerusalem, an entire entourage of his former supporters and men of the city

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rushed out, as the text says, to escort him over the Jordan and into the city, 1 Samuel 19. Also,

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think of this, the whole point of the crowds going out to Christ at his triumphal entry, shouting,

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Hosanna to the Son of David, right? The crowds throwing down the robes, laying out palm branches.

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The whole point was to greet him and form an entourage to accompany the great king back in the city.

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This is what frustrated the Pharisees and scribes, so didn't it? Well, and then finally, when Paul

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finally arrives at Rome in Acts 28, what happens? The text says, the brothers there, when they heard

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about us, came as far as the forum of Appius and three taverns meet us, unquote. And then this entourage

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to greet and accompany an honored guest, the apostle Paul, accompanied him back into the city. This was

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the practice for meeting guests and great kings in the ancient days, and it's precisely what is

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transpiring here in 1 Thessalonians 4. We will be raptured up to meet the Lord in the skies. We will be

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the glorified entourage to escort the Lord back down to his kingdom, according to the customs of welcoming

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honored guests and kings. This is not absurd to Paul's readers in Thessalonica, regardless of how absurd

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it is to modern dispensational premillennialists. Well, all in all, for me, what becomes apparent

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as we look at the literal method of the dispensational premillennialists as they form the doctrine of the

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rapture is that it is, in reality, the daisy-chain method of interpreting Scripture, what I call the

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daisy-chain method of interpreting Scripture. That is, we have here a series of unrelated texts that are

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strung together like daisies in a chain and called a doctrine. The daisy of the rapture is linked to

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the daisy of the tribulation, which is linked to the daisy of the Antichrist, which is linked to the

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daisy of the tribulation temple, which is linked to the daisy of the beast 666, which is linked to the

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daisy of Gog and Magog, and on and on we go. One daisy linked to another without interpretive

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warrant, the daisy-chain method of interpretation. And furthermore, you have to realize just some of the

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history that we have here as well of pre-tribulational rapture. I alluded to it just a little

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earlier. But indeed, we first see the pre-tribulational rapture promulgated by John Nelson Darby, who then

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went around all of England. He was certainly a great promoter, a great writer, and he was able to

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advocate for the doctrine of the pre-tribulational rapture and, last things, as understood by dispensationalists,

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but there's also some suspicion. A book by McPherson is one I would highly recommend to you. Google it.

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McPherson, you'll get his book on exposing the lies of the pre-tribulation rapture that

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John Nelson Darby was also in association with the PowerScore conferences that were taking place

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at a very exciting time in England. The Plymouth Brethren grew up at about the same time, too,

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led by John Nelson Darby, but the PowerScore conferences at one of those conferences. And

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McPherson documents this pretty carefully. I know his book has been criticized very severely

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through the years by pre-millennial dispensationalists at a knockdown. But it's actually a very careful

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and scholarly book and footnoted well, documented well. His sources are all reliable. And he links,

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once then, this vision of one young girl named Mary MacDonald from one of the villages around Plymouth,

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that indeed she, during one of the conferences, in an ecstatic vision, an ecstatic word of knowledge,

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she received the insight that indeed the saint, not all the saints at the time preceding the

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tribulation would go through the tribulation, but that they would be raptured out of the world to be

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with the Lord during that period. Now, the link to that word of knowledge of Mary MacDonald and the

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subsequent writings of John Nelson Darby are not ironclad. But nevertheless, the possibility,

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the source is there, the associations are there, and John Nelson Darby began promulgating the doctrine

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of the pre-tribulational rapture at about the very same time. But in any case, we have a relatively new

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doctrine that, and despite attempts to link the doctrine of the pre-tribulational rapture to

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historical roots, that has not been fruitful and not been successful. I know Professor Rice at

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Dallas Theological Seminary has a whole page on his website devoted to the wisps of evidence that

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he says exists linking the pre-tribulational rapture to historical sources, but it's not successful.

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He does not do so with any kind of convincing clarity. So this is a relatively new doctrine in the history

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of the Church, and it's something that you must consider and cope with as you consider your own

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stance here on the pre-tribulational rapture. Why does it matter, though? Pastor Bass, where are you

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spending all this time on this? Well, brothers and sisters, it is important because doctrine does

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determine destiny. You will follow the lead of the doctrines that you hold, if you hold Scripture to

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be true at all. And your eschatology, that is, your doctrine of last things, will also shape how you live

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in the future. How you view the future will very definitely shape how you act in the future. Your

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actions, your thoughts, your plans will all be guided by how you see the future. And if you then

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hold to the doctrine of the rapture, we have seen in the past, in the life of the Church, the

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contemporary Church, that the rapture has indeed, I've seen this around me all the time, the rapture has

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fostered a passive attitude towards our walk and our world. How many Christians who do believe in the

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raptures just kind of throw up their hands and say, oh, we can't do anything about the state of the

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world. It's going to hell in a handbasket. I'm just waiting for the rapture. The rapture will take me out

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of all of this, and we don't have to cope with it or deal with it. In fact, there's a pernicious sense in

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which, if you try to do anything to improve your situations around you, to bring the kingdom of God

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into the world as we are commanded to do. Indeed, dominion. Take dominion of the world around you.

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Flourish and multiply in it. That is our command. If we attempt to do that, the dispensationalist says,

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no, we need to have things get as bad as they can be in order for the rapture to obtain and the

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great tribulation to commence, and then we'll see Christ return. These are very negative and

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pessimistic views of the world. The rapture has fostered this passive attitude towards our walk

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and our world. And then, thirdly as well, why does it matter, Pastor? Why does it matter? Well, it

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matters because the futurist model finds the Christian present condition of the church in

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the world. I use this image of the futurist scrambling over the shoulder of the beast to look

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into the future to see when the beast is coming, when he's right underneath your feet and he's eating

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your lunch. That's one example, indeed, of how the futurist model aligns the Christian present

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condition of the church and his world. Oh, dear brothers and sisters, I with you forward to rapturous

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rapture. I rejoice in rapturous rapture. I look forward when Christ comes then to conclude all

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things. And even as he promised, as that angel promised, men of Galilee, why do you stand looking

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into heaven? This Jesus who was taken up from you in heaven, the same way as you saw him go into heaven,

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great glory and power with the clouds, with the angels, and he'll come to redeem us, to raise us

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from the dead, and to inaugurate then the eternal state. What a day that will be, a glorious day that

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will be. This is what the Bible gives evidence of. This is what, indeed, the Bible tells us will

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happen next. It's coming. Lord, come, come soon. Amen. This has been Pastor David Bass at New

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Geneva Orthodox Presbyterian Church with a moment of truth. New Geneva meets for holy worship on Sunday

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at 10 a.m. at 101 4th Street, corner of 4th and Boulevard. We invite you to call us for more

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information and give me some feedback, too. If you like this or if you're shocked by it, you don't like

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it, well, you can tell me that, too. And we have our phone number, area code 208-523-0196. That's area code

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208-523-0196.