Greetings. This is Pastor David Bass at New Geneva Orthodox Presbyterian Church with a moment of truth, where we challenge you to think through an important issue of life and faith. And today, I want to invite you to rejoice with me in the blessed hope of every Christian, the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, or what I call rejoicing in the rapturous rapture. Rejoicing in the rapturous rapture. Rapture is oftentimes emotional elation and transport, but rapture also means now coming of the Lord Jesus Christ for his saints.

What a glorious and blessed day that will be. Now, the Apostle Paul characterizes it this way in his letter to his young charge, Titus. He says, for the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, waiting for our blessed hope. Here it is. The appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ.

Indeed, this is a thing foretold throughout the New Testament by almost every New Testament writer, all of them taking encouragement from and elaborating upon the precious promise of our Lord at his ascension, in which Luke records in Acts chapter 1, and while they, that is the apostles, were gazing into heaven as he went, behold, two men stood by them in white robes and said, men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven, unquote.

Our Lord ascended into heaven in great power and glory, and he will return in great power and glory. What a day that will be, the older I get, and the longer I've been a Christian, the more I long for my Savior turn. Indeed, 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 world, the more I get to love the Lord's return. And I echo the Apostle John's refrain, he who testifies to these things, says, surely I am coming soon.

Amen. Come, Jesus. And when he does appear, several wondrous and glorious things will happen. First of all, my body will be resurrected from the grave. What a precious promise.

And secondly, the heavens and the earth will be renewed in great glory, right? The heavens will be set on fire and dissolved, as Peter says. But according to his promise, he goes on to say, we are waiting for new heavens and new earth, which righteousness dwells. And thirdly, the judgment of both the righteous and the wicked will take place. That's what's outlined for us in Revelation chapter 20, commonly called the great white throne.

And then fourthly, I treasure this promise that I will be acknowledged and vindicated as Christ's own. My life for Christ, so despised and scoffed at by the world, will be vindicated. Oh, as I have witnessed to him here on earth, so he will witness to me in heaven as he promises. So everyone who acknowledges me before men, I will also acknowledge before my father who is in heaven. What a precious promise.

All of this and much, much more make up the glories of our blessed hope. So fondly wished for by Paul in his letter, Titus. Now, the apostle also gives insight into that day when he writes to the saints in Thessalonica. Christ's delay in coming was extending such that some of those in Thessalonica had died. And the Thessalonians, I'm sorry, I'm having trouble pronouncing the Thessalonians, say that 10 times fast.

The Thessalonians were concerned that at Christ's coming, those saints who had died would be overlooked in being raised from the dead or maybe raised much later. And Paul tells them this. Reassure them to be the case. And I quote now from 1 Thessalonians 4. He says, But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep.

You may not grieve, as others do have no. For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep. For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an angel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first.

Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will always be with us. Therefore, encourage one another with these words. Unquote. What a blessed reassurance, listener.

What a thrilling day that will be. And this is the chief text, which tells us about this event that is commonly called the rapture. That word rapture is derived from the Latin word rapturo, which means to catch up. All who believe in the second return of Christ, therefore, believe in a rapture, a catching up of God's saints to be with him when he returns. However, a big however, a new teaching has appeared over the last two centuries.

Now, that may seem like a long time to you, but the last two centuries is relatively recent in terms of the existence of the Bible and its teachings for over 5,000 years. Oh, and that new teaching is a distinction between Christ's coming to rapture his church from the earth. And then when he will come at the end of the great tribulation to inaugurate the literal 1,000 year reign of the millennium. In other words, there will be two second comings, one on the day of the Lord and one at the rapture or the parousia, the coming of the Lord. This is a new teaching in the life of church.

The church has traditionally taught that the texts which refer to Christ's second coming all refer to the same event. That is his coming in power and glory. As we hear in Acts chapter one, this Jesus who was taken up from you into heaven will come the same way as you saw him go into heaven. That is in the clouds with power and glory and with the angels. This is the plain literal interpretation of those texts.

If we are to look at that principle from dispensational premillennialism, but with the advent of teachers like John Nelson Darby, who, of course, taught in the early mid-19th century, he derived many of these doctrines from the Powers Court prophetic conferences back between 1825 and 1830, where he also heard young Mary MacDonald in a vision, in a word of knowledge, predicted that there would be a pre-tribulational rapture. He derived many of these teachings from the Powers Court conferences back between 1825 and 1830 in England.

And since those days, an artificial distinction has been introduced between a second coming that happens before a supposed seven-year great tribulation, unless you have a pre-tribulation, and then a second second coming that happens after the great tribulation, when Christ defeats the Antichrist and his forces at Armageddon and establishes his earthly millennial kingdom from Jerusalem. And then complicating this system even further, Christ will come at a third second coming, at the end of the millennium, to crush a last rebellion by Satan and then usher in the eternal state.

Well, to put it simply, there is no warrant for all of these second comings. The Bible is crystal clear that there are two advents of Christ. His first, when he came to redeem our souls in this earthly ministry, his earthly ministry, and then a second advent, when he will appear to redeem our bodies. The Bible does not tell us of a second and third second coming. So, listen to these verses again, dear listener, and see if they say.

Dispensational remillennialist teacher says it does. He says, the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an angel, with the sound of the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we, who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will always be, therefore, encourage one another with these words. Oh, they are encouraging words, are they not?

And there are a number of things said about them by dispensational premillennialists, these verses, that just do not comport with sound biblical interpretation. Let me just mention four of them briefly here. Many dispensational premillennial teachers say that this is a secret rapture known and experienced only by the saints. Now, many of the early teachers especially emphasize this, but since the text itself contradicts this idea, subsequent teachers have not featured it, or else they have ignored it at all.

Then you also have a classic chick cartoonish scene, right, with cars veering out the highway because their drivers have been raptured, airplanes falling out of the sky because their pilots have been raptured, and spouses disappearing through the roof in the middle of a conversation at the dinner table. Oh, and all of this without those left behind, left behind series that is at the rapture, all of this without the left behind knowing in the least what is going on, right? But, dear listener, reflect again on the text, on the text. Where is the day of the Lord in which the Lord issues a cry? This is where, precisely where it is.

That on the day of the Lord, the Lord issues a cry of command. It's a marshal to which orders are shouted, heard above the din of battle. And then this cry is delivered by the archangel in the skies, and finally those skies will be filled with trumpet blasts from God. And that's also meant to be heard above the din of battle, implying there will be more sounds than just these. Wow.

When you take this all together, the sights and the sounds of that day seem anything but secret, dear listener, known only to believers. No, this will be heard and seen by the world, and it will be at the end of days. Secondly, dispensational teachers also teach that the parousia, or the coming, is distinguished from the day of the Lord. The parousia, which means coming, Greek for coming, the coming of the Lord, is distinguished from the day of the Lord.

Now, without interpretive warrant, I insist with you, without interpretive warrant, this coming of the Lord for his saints that we just read for you is distinguished by dispensationalists from the day of the Lord proper, which ostensibly comes seven years later, after the supposed great tribulation. Great emphasis is placed upon this distinction, Dussner. Without it, there is no pre-tribulation rapture. And the rationale goes like this. There's a difference in terms, so there must be a difference in substance.

For example, Paul mentions the day of the Lord in the very next chapter of Thessalonians, chapter 5, where he will come, Lord, like a thief in the night. And to the dispensational premillennialist, because Paul now calls it the day of the Lord, it must be a different day than that just mentioned in chapter 4 that is different from the parousia. Oh, dear listener, after studying this issue for some time, apparently dispensational premillennialists have not heard of synonyms. A synonym is a word or phrase that means substantially the same thing as another word or phrase, and they can be used oftentimes interchangeably.

And every good writer likes to do this, including biblical writers. Using synonyms gives flavor and variety to their writing. For example, Luke calls the second coming in the first chapter of Acts and appearing, as does the apostle Paul in 1 Timothy 4, verse 1. And Peter calls this same day, the day of the Lord and the parousia, the coming. He also calls it the day of judgment in 2 Peter 2.

And Peter also calls it the day of visitation, 1 Peter 2, 12. Hebrews simply calls this one in the same day, the day. Famous verse in Hebrews chapter 10, the author of Hebrews tells us to not neglect meeting together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the day drawing near, unquote. Well, suffice it to say that on and on we could go. Although the terms may differ, the characteristics of the event are substantially the same.

That's why we can use synonyms to describe one in the same day. Now, these descriptions and these words are not exact in every feature and quality. Each author wishes to highlight some different facet about that day, but they're speaking of the same event nevertheless. All have many of the same characteristics in mind, that is, skies ruptured and saints raptured, and also raised from the dead, right? Behold, I tell you a mystery.

We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed in a moment in the twinkling of an eye at the last trumpet. Again, trumpets just as we saw in 1 Thessalonians 4. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. That's precisely what he's talking about here in 1 Thessalonians chapter 4. There's also present angels and clouds and great tumult and consternation amongst the lost, great rejoicing amongst the redeemed.

These features are all shared in common by these texts describing the same day. In each case, there's also that sense of finality, that this is the end of all things. This is the second advent. All of the texts we've been talking about today indeed point one advent, second advent, one day, not two or three second comings. Thirdly, the dispensational premillennialist says there must be a pre-tribulation rapture because God wouldn't put us through the great tribulation.

I'm sure you've heard that argument for as well. There must be a pre-tribulation rapture because God wouldn't put us through the great tribulation. Once again, this is a theological deduction, not a statement of text. Nowhere is it directly stated in the text that we will be saved from wrath through the rapture. It's a theological deduction.

Now, theological deductions are perfectly fine to make. We do it all the time. But we must ask, is it a warranted theological deduction? Does the evidence support it? And the rationale goes something like this, since God has not destined us for wrath, as Paul says in 1 Thessalonians 5, 9, then they then link this with verses like Revelation 3, 10, and Revelation 10 says, well, since God hasn't destined us for wrath, then, and I quote from Revelation, he will keep you from the hour of trial that is coming on the whole world to try those who dwell on the earth, unquote.

And he will keep us from wrath. He will keep us from the hour of trial by rapturing us out of it for the great tribulation. But of course, this is really a circular argument at heart because it depends on the previous distinction made between our Lord's coming and the day of the Lord, which we've already seen is fallacious. There's also a fallacy of special pleading here, a fallacy of special pleading, where the interpreter wishes to suspend the normal rules of context and proper interpretation in this case so that it can mean what I say it means. We do this all the time.

Unfortunately, no one would interpret 1 Thessalonians 4 in the way that dispensational premillennials do unless this special plea made they have. On the other God has indeed not destined us for wrath. We have to see what it really means when Paul says God has not destined us for wrath. But wherever this promise is given, and it's given all over the scriptures, we are not destined for wrath. It is given with the wrath of eternal judgment in view, not as a ticket out of the great tribulation.

No, it's not a tribulation ticket out. Paul goes on to say in 1 Thessalonians 5, 9, and 10, for God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us, so that whether we are awake or asleep, we might live with him. That, in context, then, is the saving from the wrath of eternal damnation, because we have obtained salvation through Christ. That is the context of not being destined for wrath. Well, fourthly, dispensational premillennialist asserts that it makes no sense for us to be raptured into the skies up to the Lord and then come right back down to the earth.

How absurd is that, right? This argument derives from the fact that since we will be, as Paul says in 1 Thessalonians 4, that we will be caught up to with the clouds, Lord in the air, and so we will always be with Lord, not just promise. But the dispensational millennialist says it is absurd to think that we will descend right back to the earth. Isn't that silly? In fact, the dispensational premillennialist asserts that the church will remain in heaven during the great tribulation, and for many, during the subsequent literal 1,000-year reign of Christ on the earth, too.

Dear listener, it just gets more complex. The errors and the problems get more complex as we go through this theory, doesn't it? This error comes as a result of sheer ignorance of the greeting practices of the world. Think it absurd to come right back to the earth again. Well, in the ancient world, honored guests and kings would be met by an entourage of the citizens of that city, which the guest or king was approaching.

Before he entered the city, he would then be escorted into the city with honor and dignity by them, by this entourage. We have examples all through scripture. Let me just cite three of them. First of all, after David defeated Absalom and returned to Jerusalem, an entire entourage of his former supporters and men of the city rushed out, as the text says, to escort him over the Jordan and into the city, 1 Samuel 19. Also, think of this, the whole point of the crowds going out to Christ at his triumphal entry, shouting, Hosanna to the Son of David, right?

The crowds throwing down the robes, laying out palm branches. The whole point was to greet him and form an entourage to accompany the great king back in the city. This is what frustrated the Pharisees and scribes, so didn't it? Well, and then finally, when Paul finally arrives at Rome in Acts 28, what happens? The text says, the brothers there, when they heard about us, came as far as the forum of Appius and three taverns meet us, unquote.

And then this entourage to greet and accompany an honored guest, the apostle Paul, accompanied him back into the city. This was the practice for meeting guests and great kings in the ancient days, and it's precisely what is transpiring here in 1 Thessalonians 4. We will be raptured up to meet the Lord in the skies. We will be the glorified entourage to escort the Lord back down to his kingdom, according to the customs of welcoming honored guests and kings. This is not absurd to Paul's readers in Thessalonica, regardless of how absurd it is to modern dispensational premillennialists.

Well, all in all, for me, what becomes apparent as we look at the literal method of the dispensational premillennialists as they form the doctrine of the rapture is that it is, in reality, the daisy-chain method of interpreting Scripture, what I call the daisy-chain method of interpreting Scripture. That is, we have here a series of unrelated texts that are strung together like daisies in a chain and called a doctrine.

The daisy of the rapture is linked to the daisy of the tribulation, which is linked to the daisy of the Antichrist, which is linked to the daisy of the tribulation temple, which is linked to the daisy of the beast 666, which is linked to the daisy of Gog and Magog, and on and on we go. One daisy linked to another without interpretive warrant, the daisy-chain method of interpretation. And furthermore, you have to realize just some of the history that we have here as well of pre-tribulational rapture. I alluded to it just a little earlier.

But indeed, we first see the pre-tribulational rapture promulgated by John Nelson Darby, who then went around all of England. He was certainly a great promoter, a great writer, and he was able to advocate for the doctrine of the pre-tribulational rapture and, last things, as understood by dispensationalists, but there's also some suspicion. A book by McPherson is one I would highly recommend to you. Google it. McPherson, you'll get his book on exposing the lies of the pre-tribulation rapture that John Nelson Darby was also in association with the PowerScore conferences that were taking place at a very exciting time in England.

The Plymouth Brethren grew up at about the same time, too, led by John Nelson Darby, but the PowerScore conferences at one of those conferences. And McPherson documents this pretty carefully. I know his book has been criticized very severely through the years by pre-millennial dispensationalists at a knockdown. But it's actually a very careful and scholarly book and footnoted well, documented well. His sources are all reliable.

And he links, once then, this vision of one young girl named Mary MacDonald from one of the villages around Plymouth, that indeed she, during one of the conferences, in an ecstatic vision, an ecstatic word of knowledge, she received the insight that indeed the saint, not all the saints at the time preceding the tribulation would go through the tribulation, but that they would be raptured out of the world to be with the Lord during that period. Now, the link to that word of knowledge of Mary MacDonald and the subsequent writings of John Nelson Darby are not ironclad.

But nevertheless, the possibility, the source is there, the associations are there, and John Nelson Darby began promulgating the doctrine of the pre-tribulational rapture at about the very same time. But in any case, we have a relatively new doctrine that, and despite attempts to link the doctrine of the pre-tribulational rapture to historical roots, that has not been fruitful and not been successful. I know Professor Rice at Dallas Theological Seminary has a whole page on his website devoted to the wisps of evidence that he says exists linking the pre-tribulational rapture to historical sources, but it's not successful.

He does not do so with any kind of convincing clarity. So this is a relatively new doctrine in the history of the Church, and it's something that you must consider and cope with as you consider your own stance here on the pre-tribulational rapture. Why does it matter, though? Pastor Bass, where are you spending all this time on this? Well, brothers and sisters, it is important because doctrine does determine destiny.

You will follow the lead of the doctrines that you hold, if you hold Scripture to be true at all. And your eschatology, that is, your doctrine of last things, will also shape how you live in the future. How you view the future will very definitely shape how you act in the future. Your actions, your thoughts, your plans will all be guided by how you see the future. And if you then hold to the doctrine of the rapture, we have seen in the past, in the life of the Church, the contemporary Church, that the rapture has indeed, I've seen this around me all the time, the rapture has fostered a passive attitude towards our walk and our world.

How many Christians who do believe in the raptures just kind of throw up their hands and say, oh, we can't do anything about the state of the world. It's going to hell in a handbasket. I'm just waiting for the rapture. The rapture will take me out 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 which, if you try to do anything to improve your situations around you, to bring the kingdom of God into the world as we are commanded to do.

Indeed, dominion. Take dominion of the world around you. Flourish and multiply in it. That is our command. If we attempt to do that, the dispensationalist says, no, we need to have things get as bad as they can be in order for the rapture to obtain and the great tribulation to commence, and then we'll see Christ return.

These are very negative and pessimistic views of the world. The rapture has fostered this passive attitude towards our walk and our world. And then, thirdly as well, why does it matter, Pastor? Why does it matter? Well, it matters because the futurist model finds the Christian present condition of the church in the world.

I use this image of the futurist scrambling over the shoulder of the beast to look into the future to see when the beast is coming, when he's right underneath your feet and he's eating your lunch. That's one example, indeed, of how the futurist model aligns the Christian present condition of the church and his world. Oh, dear brothers and sisters, I with you forward to rapturous rapture. I rejoice in rapturous rapture. I look forward when Christ comes then to conclude all things.

And even as he promised, as that angel promised, men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus who was taken up from you in heaven, the same way as you saw him go into heaven, great glory and power with the clouds, with the angels, and he'll come to redeem us, to raise us from the dead, and to inaugurate then the eternal state. What a day that will be, a glorious day that will be. This is what the Bible gives evidence of. This is what, indeed, the Bible tells us will happen next.

It's coming. Lord, come, come soon. Amen. This has been Pastor David Bass at New Geneva Orthodox Presbyterian Church with a moment of truth. New Geneva meets for holy worship on Sunday at 10 a.m. at 101 4th Street, corner of 4th and Boulevard.

We invite you to call us for more information and give me some feedback, too. If you like this or if you're shocked by it, you don't like it, well, you can tell me that, too. And we have our phone number, area code 208-523-0196. That's area code 208-523-0196.