Is There Any Scripture Which Says That Believers Will Be Raptured Before The Tribulation Period?
By Austin Fields
Yes. There are many verses of Scripture which teach us that the rapture of the believers, both dead and alive, will take place before the tribulation.
“Let both grow together until the harvest; and in the time of the harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them; but gather the wheat into my barn.” (Matthew 13:30)
To me this parable declares in no uncertain terms that the rapture must take place before the tribulation period starts. The sower is Jesus Christ, the seed that He sows are the elect, which is referred to as wheat (See Luke 22:31). The wheat was sown in the sower’s field (world). Satan sowed his followers in the same field that belonged to the sower of the good seed; therefore Satan and his followers are “squatters,” having no legal right in the field.
Now the sower (Jesus Christ) is going to clean up His field, but ere He starts to burn the tares, He gives the command to gather His wheat (elect) into His barn. The barn is a place where the wheat is taken so that no harm can come to it. Surely then the barn can only represent heaven. Thus we have the owner of the field, gathering the wheat into a safe place ere He burns His field and rids it of every undesirable thing. To me nothing can be clearer than that the rapture must take place before the tribulation, for the tribulation as described in the book of Revelation is a time of burning, but the wheat is safely housed in the barn (heaven) before the burning starts.
John, in Revelation 4 and 5, saw the enthroned elders, which denotes the church, ready to reign with Jesus Christ, but they could not reign until the Lamb had taken the book from out of the hand of God. This book contains the requirements that must be met ere the field (world) could be redeemed, which Satan had corrupted with tares. From these two chapters we learn that the saints were in heaven before the first seal was broken, and the breaking of the first seal is the beginning of the tribulation. Therefore, the saints must be raptured before the tribulation starts.
There are many verses of Scripture which warn the saint, and exhort him to watch for the coming of the Lord, but if the saints are not to be raptured before the tribulation, but are to go through it, then the warnings and the exhortations would be out of place, and they should instead watch for the Antichrist, false prophet and the terrible day of the Lord. Nowhere is the saint exhorted to watch for the tribulation, but for the second coming of the Lord. The Apostle Paul tells us that we are to meet the Lord in the air, not on the earth.
“Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them (dead in Christ) in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.” (1 Thessalonians 4:17)
SHARING
God’s Infalliable Word
“But if any man be ignorant, let him be ignorant.” 1 Corinthians 14:38
God is the reason His Word is infallible and shall remain so. It is foolish to argue this because of what man is, is not, does, or does not. Man is not the power that made God’s Word infallible, and man is neither the power to preserve nor destroy it’s infallibility. To know God is to know that His Word is infallible, now and forever.
Some may quip, “Then how do you explain all the versions of the Bible?” The same way we understand that everything God has ever authored has been counterfeited by the Devil, whether it be God’s plan of salvation, baptism, New Testament Church, or whatever.
Let us examine what saith the scriptures:
Psalm 119:89 – God’s Word is forever settled in heaven. It is established permanently and not subject to revision. Those who revise the Bible are illegally tampering, and all they produce is an illegal product that will be condemned and thrown out of God’s court.
Deuteronomy 4:2 – Not to add to God’s Word, nor diminish ought from it. To do so is a direct act of disobedience, a willful sin. Be not deceived! No one is for the keeping of God’s Word, who is authoring disobedience to it.
Proverbs 30:5-6 – All of God’s Word is pure. It is to be honored as sacred. To violate this sanctity, is to defile that which is pure. 2 Timothy 3:16-17 teaches us that the value of the scripture is in it’s inspired form. To violate this is to oppose the power and purpose of God’s Word.
How do we know we are not the victim of a bad translation? God has used the King James Version for centuries in behalf of English speaking peoples.
Isaiah 40:8 – God is the enforcer of His Word standing, not man.
Matthew 5:18 – The Sovereignty of God prevents any of God’s Word from passing away. Therefore, it wasn’t lost in the shuffle for centuries.
Luke 16:17 – It would be easier for heaven and earth to pass than for one tittle of God’s law to fail. This is God’s answer to those who argue how easy it is for the Word to be lost in translations. God made the languages. He holds the power to bridge them. The accuracy of God’s Word through translations is not the problem. But the perverting of the Word through revisions is.
God takes His stand and declares the folly of those who are taking it upon themselves to change the Bible. He declares that it is not by His decree, nor of His kingdom that is doing so – Revelation 22:18-19. Thus we then know that it is a work of the Devil, by those who are of the Devil.
If any have ears to hear, let them hear what the scripture saith.
SHARINGWhich Jesus Do You Believe In?
By E. L. Bynum
It is popular to say that you believe in Jesus, but it is quite another thing to live according to what Jesus Christ taught. In public places we see people wearing lapel pins or necklaces that read WWJD (What Would Jesus Do,) but the person may be dressed immodestly. WWJD is seldom lived out in conversation, dress, or neat appearance. The same can be said of many that wear little gold or silver crosses and other religious jewelry. People can be seen drinking beer, smoking, or even smoking pot and wearing this religious junk. It is clear that they do not know anything of the real Jesus of the Bible.
It is true that multitudes of people are deceived into believing in another Jesus. The Scripture is true, and we are clearly taught that there is another Jesus, and he is false and unrelated to a holy God. “For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if ye receive another spirit, which ye have not received, or another gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with him.” (2 Corinthians 11:4)
Why would anyone believe in another Jesus? That is like preferring counterfeit dollars rather than the official dollar bill. The answer to this question is found in the Bible. “But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.” (2 Corinthians 11:3) Those who believe in another gospel have been deceived by Satan just as surely as Eve was in the Garden of Eden.
Read what Dr. Henry Morris said about another Jesus:
“Jesus” is quite popular among worldly people today, but not the true Jesus. The popular Jesus may be the baby Jesus in the manger at Christmastime, or the buddy Jesus of Nashville “gospel” music, or the success-counseling Jesus of the positive thinkers. He may be the romantic Jesus of the Christian crooners, the rhythmic Jesus of Christian rock, or the reforming Jesus of the liberals, but none of these is the Jesus preached by the apostle Paul, and therefore not the real Jesus who saves men and women from their sins.
We are warned in the above Scriptures that there are those who are preaching “another Jesus.” This is the popular Jesus, because he makes no commands to obey the true gospel. This Jesus endorses ungodly music that comes from rock & roll, rap music, or the worldly music of Nashville. This Jesus makes no demands for holy living, separation from sin, or any sacrificial living. He is the Jesus of bumper stickers, T-shirts, politicians, entertainers, and the ungodly of this world. He gives a wide road that is easy to follow and leads to the fires of hell. This is the Jesus that the devil loves and promotes; because he does no harm to Satan’s cause. He is the Jesus that a majority of the churches promote, and he is popular on radio and TV.
This same verse warns of “another spirit,”and he is not the Holy Spirit of the Bible. He does not convict of sin, and he is not judgmental. This false spirit will never convict a sinner of his need for the real Jesus. He will not convict a professing Christian’s sins. He promotes the easy-believism way of a false salvation where you only have to repeat a prayer, be baptized, or join a church to be saved. He promotes the modern charismatic movement. He is not against drinking, smoking, fornication, or adultery. He promotes easy divorce and easy remarriage. He does not care whether you speak the truth or whether you are honest. He will certainly lead you and your children to hell.
We are also warned of “another gospel,” which is a false gospel that leads souls to hell. It is the gospel of “another Jesus” and of “another spirit.” It is a gospel that demands no repentance toward God and faith toward Jesus Christ. It does not demand the atoning blood of the real Jesus. It is quick, easy, and demands no real change in ones conduct and lifestyle. Years ago, I heard the author of the once popular “Four Spiritual Laws” tell his students that all they had to do was read those four short spiritual laws to a man on the street and if he believed them, he would be saved. Then he sent the crowd in the street with no Bible, but with his tiny booklet. They were to report back in an hour, and report how many were saved during that hour. I did not stay to see, but got out the door and never went back.
A Fundamental preacher once told his students that any kind of a profession of faith was better than no profession. This fits in with the door step evangelism where people can be saved in the door step in five minutes or less. This fits the super-aggressive church and the mega-church movement. Of course when you win them this way, you have to entertain them and tickle their ears to get them in church, and then you have to do more man-pleasing methods to keep them there.
As for me, I will stick with the real Jesus, the real Holy Spirit, and the real gospel. If you accept the false Jesus, the false spirit, and the false gospel, you will have eternity to regret it, if you can even think in all of that fire in hell.
SHARINGThe Church
I think that I shall never see
A church that’s all it ought to be:
A church whose members never stray
Beyond the strait and narrow way;
A church that has no empty pews,
Whose pastor never has the blues,
A church whose deacons always deak,
And none is proud, and all are meek;
Where gossips never peddle lies,
Or make complaints or criticize;
Where all are always sweet and kind,
And all to others’ faults are blind.
Such perfect churches there may be,
But none of them are known to me.
But still, we’ll work, and pray, and plan
To make our own the best we can.
Satan’s Power Of Transformation
“And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light.” 2 Corinthians 11:14
For the most part, people think of the Devil’s work as being something visibly horrifying. But this describes the end results, and misses the work itself.
Satan’s power of transformation is the ability to persuade man that that which is contrary to God’s Word is what is good, acceptable, and even perfect for him. This is what “deceit” is all about.
Because of this “power of transformation,” Satan succeeded in defeating Adam and Eve, thus overthrowing their power of dominion on earth and usurping his own, i.e., “the god of this world.” (2 Corinthians 4:4.)
We know Adam and Eve were not helpless victims. But Satan succeeded because they allowed him to convince them that they needed something else besides God’s way. After listening to Satan, Eve felt she had to partake of the forbidden fruit or she would lose out. At this point, God’s way seemed to be more “doctrinal dogma” and not enough of a ministry to her whole person, so she concluded that she must eat to be fulfilled. For Adam, since his wife ate, he felt like he just had to eat with her.
So, in their thinking, the pressure of their circumstances overrode God’s way. Although they knew very well what God’s Word said, under the pressure of their circumstances, their finite mind allowed them to take exception to God’s way. This proved to be the Devil’s work. His work was accomplished by getting Adam and Eve to think that they needed to go ahead and do that which God’s Word forbade. Everything that happened thereafter was just the result of the Devil’s work.
Never has there been a more perfect husband and wife, than was made in Adam and Eve. Adam was created in God’s image and Eve was Adam’s “prime rib.” But no matter how great a Christian one may be, the allowance for thinking that it is all right, better, and yea, even necessary that one must needs do differently than what God’s plan in His Word specifies, is giving the Devil all the room that he needs to do his work.
God’s Word reveals Satan’s transforming power to be the ability to convince man that it is good to be or do different than what God’s Word says. Once convinced, this allows God’s way to just slide to the level of insignificance in a person’s thinking. But when Satan achieves this, there is nothing to stand between man and utter ruin. Ask Adam and Eve. Ask the prophet of 1 Kings 13:14-32.
In answering the Devil’s work, Christ took the position, “…it is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.” Matthew 4:4. To not be deceived and avoid falling for the Devil’s work, we must stand with God’s Word.
SHARING
