I am sure you
have heard christians use the following argument on unbelievers: What if
the christians are right? What would you lose if you gave your life to
God? I will take a similar argument for the christian.
What if at Christ's return, Jesus was only
going take certain people in the church with Him back to heaven? Are you
prepared to go with Him?
Maybe you don't know what I am referring
to. This event is often called the rapture or the blessed hope. This has
become very widely known from the recent Left Behind books. I will do a
brief explanation of what the rapture is. But for a more detailed look
of the rapture, go to the following web page:
1 Thess 4: 16 For the Lord himself will come down
from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with
the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 After
that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with
them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with
the Lord forever.
This event is called the rapture, its that
point in time when Christ comes to take His people from the earth right
before what is called the tribulation.
The tribulation is that point in time where
God allows humanity to try to make the earth peaceful and united without
God. It also the time where the earth will be plunged into great catastrophes
and disasters to shake the people into deciding whether they will turn
to God or away from Him. It is also that time when the Anti-christ will
rise to rule the earth.
It is not a pleasant time to be
on the earth. A great percentage, perhaps half the earth, will die during
the tribulation. Many of those people who do turn to God will be martyred,
for christianity will be outlawed.
The point of this page is to share with
you the requirements of getting raptured when Jesus comes.
Why should you concern yourself with such
things? Many signs have been given to warn us that the end is coming. Most,
if not all, of those signs have been fulfilled. The events of Sept. 11th
on America is just a small sign of the seriousness of the times we are
in.
Again, I put before you, what would it
hurt, to prepare yourself spiritually for the coming of the Lord? Make
no mistake, I do NOT put a date on the Lord's coming, the Bible tells us
we will not know the day, but we can know the "season", the Bible says
a certain generation will not pass away before all these things will pass.
There is great evidence we are that generation.
The biggest sign given to us is the restoration of the nation of Israel.
Even in Jesus' day, Israel was under foreign rule. In 1948 that all changed.
Israel became an independent nation, the first nation ever to re-emerge
after disappearing more than 1000 years prior. In 1967, the year I was
born, Israel took Jerusalem. It is uncertain which of these 2 events is
the particular sign of which generation that shall not pass away. But most
scholars believe it to be either the rebirth of Israel or their obtaining
Jerusalem.
So are you ready? What does it take to
be raptured? This may be a shocker to some christians, but not everyone
in the church will be raptured. Let's take a look at some scriptures.
Rev 2: KJ21 18 ... `These things saith
the Son of God, who hath His eyes like unto a flame of fire, and His feet
are like fine brass: 19 I know thy works, and
charity and service, and faith and thy patience, and thy works, and the
last to be more than the first. 20 Notwithstanding, I have
a few things against thee, because thou sufferest that woman Jezebel, who
calleth herself a prophetess,to teach and to seduce My servants to commit
fornication, and to eat things sacrificed unto idols. 21 And I gave her space
to repent of her fornication, and she repented not. 22 Behold, I will cast
her into a bed, and them that commit adultery with her into great tribulation,
unless they repent of their deeds. 23 And I will kill her
children with death, and all the churches shall know that I am He that
searcheth the reins and hearts; and I will give unto every one of you according
to your works. 24 But unto you I say,
and unto the rest in Thyatira, as many as have not this doctrine and who
have not known the depths of Satan (as they say) I will put upon you no
other burden. 25 But that which ye have
already, hold fast till I come. 26 And he that overcometh
and keepeth My works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations, 27 and "he shall rule them
with a rod of iron; as the vessels of a potter shall they be broken to
shivers," even as I have received from My Father. 28 And I will give him
the morning star.
Did you see verse 22? "...them
that commit adultery with her into great tribulation, unless they repent
of their deeds"
He, Jesus, is speaking to the church. There
are some in the church who will suffer the great tribulation. Lets take
a look at this kind of church and kind of people.
18: ...saith the Son of God, who hath
His eyes like unto a flame of fire, and His feet are like fine brass:
No matter what we say or do, Jesus has
eyes that see and judge, His feet have been purified. Therefore, He shows
us, that they way He walked, is the path we should take.
Heb 4: LITV 13 and there is no creature unrevealed
before Him; but all things are naked and laid open to His eyes, with whom
is our account.
This kind of christian is doing something
that is not a pure motive, and Jesus sees it.
19 I know thy works, and
charity and service, and faith and thy patience, and thy works...
Works is listed two times. This kind of
christian has works in his christian walk. But we know that the motives
of his works are not pure, of which we will see.
20 Notwithstanding, I have
a few things against thee, because thou sufferest that woman Jezebel, who
calleth herself a prophetess,to teach and to seduce My servants to commit
fornication, and to eat things sacrificed unto idols.
These people receive a ministry that teaches
sin can be acceptable. This teaching may not be straight forward. It may
be the conclusion of a teaching, regardless of the intent of the "teacher".
They also, are involved in some spiritual idolatry: either the worship
of other gods; the reaching of God through other ways or people besides
Jesus; or though spiritual use of statues or images; or mixing or replacing
the message of salvation by grace with another gospel that is not Biblical.
Remember, Jesus sees the motive behind the action or inaction.
22 Behold, I will cast her into a bed,
and them that commit adultery with her into great tribulation, unless they
repent of their deeds.
Receiving this type of teaching/ministry
is adultery of the faith in Christ. Christ teaches holiness. These people
need to repent of their deeds. These deeds could be the sins, or the works
done in wrong motive. They will suffer the tribulation.
23 And I will kill her children
with death, and all the churches shall know that I am He that searcheth
the reins and hearts; and I will give unto every one of you according to
your works.
Here again Christ tells us He knows our
hearts. The "reins" symbolize the control and direction of our actions.
We use reigns to direct a horse, so Christ knows our direction and purpose
of our works. He then goes on to say that He will judge us according to
our works. Of course He will actually be judging the motive behind the
work, not the work in itself.
24 But ... as many as have
not this doctrine...
Not everyone involved in this kind of church
is guilty.
What have we learned here? There is a kind
of church which has teaching or ministry that in some way concludes to
the effect that you can sin and still be okay or is involved in spiritual
idolatry. It also teaches works that are not done in the purity of God.
As a former Catholic, and through much
study, I have learned that the catholic church teaches that the position
of grace in your soul at the time of death will determine if you go to
heaven. You lose grace through certain sins, but you gain grace back through
certain sacraments (that's what they believe). There is also the issue
of works in purgatory. I discuss this in detail here:
One of the sacraments to obtain grace is
Confession or Reconciliation, and during such a sacrament they are instructed
to do things such as: prayer (to God or dead saints), saying the
rosary, reading the scripture, saying a number of "Our Father" or "Hail
Mary" prayers, doing good works, fasting, and other such things.
This Catholic teaching concludes to the
effect that they can sin and get away with it, regardless of the intention
of the teaching or of the priests. Many, many catholics live in sin, thinking
they can purify themselves through confession and works. The Catholic church
is full of self works. They in fact teach that salvation is not by grace
alone as the protestants believe, but grace and works. They also teach
that you can gain access to God thru Mary and the saints. God is a jealous
God, and desires our prayers be to Him alone, and to have Christ be our
only heavenly mediator. Some also use images and statues in a spiritual
way, which is unbiblical.
If you would like to read more about Catholics
click on the link below to go to my first Catholic page:
Please note the Catholic church is not
the only guilty church and not all Catholics are guilty of this. Nor perhaps
does all the guilt fall upon Rome, perhaps some of it falls on individual
priests and the congregation members who have not sought the full truth.
There are plenty of liberal protestant churches that allow sin or promote
sin as well. Churches that even allow homosexual ministers or churches
that perform homosexual weddings. The scripture is clear that homosexuality
or any fornication is sin.
I also lost some dear christian friends
to a movement in the christian church that believes everyone is going to
be saved. Some even believe satan will be saved. These teachings will promote
sin, or take away the need to repent. Although many of them believe sin
is wrong, and believe people should repent, nonetheless this concludes
that sin is okay. This kind of church usually isn't liberal, but is in
fact extreme right (conservative), so much so that it touches those liberal
protestant churches on the far left. Creating a complete circle in theology,
the far right meeting the far left.
Then there are those churches in the middle,
which barely preach the gospel, rarely talk of holiness, and its members
are perhaps just infants in Christ, if saved at all. Although they fit
in this description here, not because of certain teaching, but because
of the lack of it. These kind of churches are what some call "Sacramental".
They emphasize the sacraments and minimize the gospel.
Again, not everyone involved in these churches
are doomed to the tribulation, but anyone involved in them, should deeply
concern themselves if they have what is needed to be prepared.
I go into greater detail describing the
2 1/2 church movements that are unprepared for the 2nd Coming here (who
they are and why):
Lets take a scriptural look at what is
needed to be raptured.
Math 25: MKJV 1 Then shall the kingdom of Heaven
be likened to ten virgins, who took their lamps and went out to meet the
bridegroom. 2 And five of them were wise, and five
were foolish. 3 The foolish ones took their lamps,
but took no oil with them. 4 But the wise took oil in their vessels
with their lamps. 5 While the bridegroom tarried, they
all slumbered and slept. 6 And at midnight there was a cry made,
Behold, the bridegroom comes! Go out to meet him. 7 Then all those virgins arose and
trimmed their lamps. 8 And the foolish said to the wise,
Give us some of your oil, for our lamps have gone out. 9 But the wise answered, saying, No
, lest there be not enough for us and you. But rather go to those who sell,
and buy for yourselves. 10 And while they went to buy, the
bridegroom came. And they who were ready went in with him to the marriage,
and the door was shut. 11 Afterwards the other virgins came
also, saying, Lord, Lord, open to us. 12 But he answered and said, Truly
I say to you, I do not know you. 13 Therefore watch, for you do not
know either the day or the hour in which the Son of man comes.
We see in verse 8 that the foolish had
oil in their lamps, but did not take extra oil in jars like the wise did,
so when their oil began to burn out, they asked for more.
Oil represents the Holy Spirit. When you
believe in Jesus to salvation you get the seed of God in your life, which
is the Holy Spirit. However, there is more to Christianity than just believing.
You must be born again. You must become a new creature in Christ.
John 3:3 In reply Jesus declared, "I
tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born
again. "
John 3:5 Jesus answered, "I tell you
the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water
and the Spirit. 6 Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth
to spirit.
2 Cor 5:17: Therefore if any man be
in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all
things are become new.
I have recently (as of Jan 05), made a
new page discussing these differences in greater detail. I do however,
continue to discuss them here as well. The discussion here is of a slightly
different perspective, and is not as in-depth. It is most important to
understand the difference between being Born Again and being just a Believer.
This may cost half the church in missing the rapture. To see this other
page on the subject click on this link:
As of Mar 06, I have made another new page
available. Many people refuse to believe that the oil in the parable of
the 10 Virgins represents the Holy Spirit. I wrote an indepth look at this
and why I believe this, here:
I would highly consider that new page is
part 2 of this page. Please check it out, either now and come back here,
or after finishing this page.
For many many years there has been much
debate about John 3:5, I will put forth yet another possible understanding.
In the Old Testament, the Temple
of God had 3 rooms. You had to go from one room to another, past different
pieces of furniture to get to the inner most room called the Most Holy
place or sometimes called the Holy of Holies. Only the high priest was
allowed in there. It was there that Moses would often talk to God. The
priests would work in the outer 2 rooms every day. Access into the these
rooms was permitted by using the pieces of furniture on the way in. The
first piece of furniture was the Brazen Alter, next was the Laver, after
that was the Candlestick, then there was the Table of Shew bread, and lastly
in the Most Holy Place was the ark of God, that piece of furniture seen
in the Indiana Jones movie.
The New Testament tells us that that Temple
and those pieces of furniture were shadows of the true way to God. The
first piece, the Brazen alter, represents repenting to God of all other
ways to heaven, in other words, believing in Jesus, in what He did and
who He is. But God wants more from us than that. If we want to be in His
presence (in the Holy of Holies) we must continue through all the pieces
of furniture. The first 2 pieces of the Tabernacle
were in the first room called the Outer Court. The 2nd piece is the significant
part in getting the extra oil in the parable of the 10 virgins for the
rapture.
The 2nd piece is the Laver. It was here
that the priests would wash themselves from the sacrifice they made on
the alter (the 1st piece of furniture). It is here that we wash ourselves.
As we enter into the water, we realize that the penalty of sin is washed
away by the work of Christ, and as we come out of the water we are new
creatures in Christ.
How are we new? How does this take place?
It is the born again experience.
John 1: 12: But as many as received him,
to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that
believe on his name: 13: Which were born, not of blood,
nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
As a person who has already believed and
probably confessed your belief in Christ, you must take the next step.
You must give your life to God. Be the sacrifice on that Brazen Alter symbolically.
Rom 12: MKJV 1 I beseech you therefore, brothers,
by the mercies of God to present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy,
pleasing to God, which is your reasonable service.
Then you must...
Rom 6: MKJV 11 Likewise count yourselves also to
be truly dead to sin, but alive to God through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Because:
Rom 6:6: Knowing this, that our old
man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that
henceforth we should not serve sin.
Realizing this truth:
Gal 2:20: I am crucified with Christ:
nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which
I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved
me, and gave himself for me.
How do you do this? Start with a prayer.
Something like this:
Dear Jesus,
I come to you, to offer my life, not only
do I believe in You; in your crucifixion, and your resurrection; but I
believe I died with you on the cross. My sin has been paid for, and I also
have the resurrected life in me. I offer myself to you, to let You live
through me. I will submit to your Holy Spirit to lead me into truth and
away from sin. Lord, You are my Shepherd, and I will trust you to lead
me to life eternal. Today, I not only call you Savior, but I make You Lord
of my life.
In your Holy name I pray,
Amen
The big thing here is realizing that not
only did God take away the punishment of your sin, but also made a way
for you to be free from sin. This makes Him Savior and Lord. As the Bible
says, you cannot have 2 masters. Lordship means something controls your
life, from this day forward, sin will no longer be the dominant control
in your life, but will be Christ.
Does that mean born again christians don't
sin?
1 John 1:8: If we say that we have no
sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
What do we do when we sin?
1 John 1:9: If we confess our sins,
he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from
all unrighteousness.
Walking away from sin, is a life long walk,
but after making this crossover (crossing the laver), sin no longer is
the dominant ruler in your life.
This Laver also is symbolically represented
in our water baptism. If you have not been water baptized in full submersion,
I suggest you do so as soon as possible. This water baptism is not a requirement,
but the spiritual significance is, that is being washed and being born
into a new creature. It is this interpretation I put forward as a possible
understanding of:
John 3:5 Jesus answered, "I tell you
the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water
and the Spirit.
This is why God will only take into the
Kingdom these people, it is why these scriptures were written:
Eph 5: NKJV 3 But fornication and all uncleanness
or covetousness, let it not even be named among you, as is fitting for
saints; 4 neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor coarse jesting,
which are not fitting, but rather giving of thanks. 5 For this you know,
that no fornicator, unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater,
has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. 6 Let no one deceive
you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes
upon the sons of disobedience.
Rev 22: 14: Blessed are they that do his commandments,
that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through
the gates into the city. 15: For without are dogs, and sorcerers,
and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loves and
makes a lie.
Jesus spoke of certain people who had received
the Word of God, but they did not let the Word blossom in their life (Math
13:3-9, 18-23).
In the Old Testament, there was another
shadow of sorts relating to this.
Num 32: MKJV 1 And the sons of Reuben and the sons
of Gad had a very great multitude of cattle. And when they saw the land
of Jazer, and the land of Gilead, behold, the place was a place for cattle. 2 And the sons of Gad and the sons
of Reuben came and spoke to Moses...saying, 4 the land which the LORD struck before
the congregation of Israel, is a land for cattle, and your servants have
cattle. 5 And, they said, If we have found
grace in your sight, let this land be given to your servants for a possession;
do not bring us over Jordan. 6 And Moses said to the sons of Gad
and to the sons of Reuben, Shall your brothers go to war, and shall you
sit here? 16 And they came near to him and said,
We will build sheepfolds here for our cattle, and cities for our little
ones, 17 but we ourselves will go ready armed
before the sons of Israel until we have brought them to their place. And
our little ones shall live in the fenced cities because of those who live
in the land. 18 We will not return to our houses
until the sons of Israel have inherited every man his inheritance. 19 For we will not inherit with them
on the other side of Jordan, or forward, because our inheritance has fallen
to us on this side of Jordan, eastward. 20 And Moses said to them, If you will
do this thing, if you will go armed before the LORD to war, 21 and all of you will go armed over
Jordan before the LORD until He has driven out His enemies from before
Him, 22 and the land is subdued before the
LORD, then afterwards you shall return and be guiltless before the LORD
and before Israel. And this land shall be your possession before the LORD.
When I read that, I think of the Catholics
and the Lutherans and the other denominations (mostly the sacramental churches)
who went before many of us in spiritual warfare, preparing the paths of
christianity and bringing down the works of satan before many of today's
denominations and churches existed. They are our elder brothers, their
denominations are older, and they walked in battle before us (Reuben was
the oldest brother of the sons of Israel). I also see that many of them
are caught up in the world and do not wish to cross over the river Jordan,
that is the born again experience, but are willing to cross over to fight
the enemy, but not willing to give up the things of the world to possess
the true kingdom. As in the parable in the 10 virgins, they all are virgins,
all are the church, but not all have gone thru Jordan, the Laver, thru
the Born Again experience.
The crossing of the Jordan, is symbolic
of the same water baptism. Many of these older denominations do not teach
water baptism and the born again experience. they teach basic salvation
and water sprinkling.
Math 3:6: And were baptized of him in
Jordan, confessing their sins.
Mark 1:9: And it came to pass in those
days, that Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee, and was baptized
of John in Jordan.
Luke 4:1: And Jesus being full of
the Holy Ghostreturned from Jordan, and was led by the Spirit
into the wilderness,
I admonish any christian that has not given
their life to God, to do with their life as God pleases, to do so, before
the Lord returns for His bride. Every christian should crossover Jordan,
which is the same as the laver/baptism into water experience, to be born
again. Some may give excuses, but God forewarned even these excuses:
Luke 14: MKJV 16 And He said to him, A certain man
made a great supper and invited many. 17 And he sent his servant at supper
time to say to those who were invited, Come, for all things are now ready. 18 And all with one consent began to
make excuse. The first said to him, I have bought a piece of ground, I
must go and see it. I beg you, have me excused. 19 And another said, I have bought
five yoke of oxen, and I am going to test them. I beg you, have me excused. 20 And another said, I have married
a wife, and therefore I cannot come. 21 And coming up that servant reported
these things to his lord. And the master of the house, being angry, said
to his servant, Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city and
bring in here the poor and the maimed, and the lame and the blind. 22 And the servant said, Lord, it is
done as you have commanded, and still there is room. 23 And the lord said to the servant,
Go out into the highways and hedges and compel them to come in, so that
my house may be filled. 24 For I say to you that none of these
men who were invited shall taste of my supper.
I have a family member in the catholic
church who many years ago, was led by a friend of his to say the sinners
prayer. After I was filled with the Holy Spirit, I asked this family member
if they wanted to be filled with the Spirit. They said they were too busy
for such things and they were actively involved in church.
While the world will go through great torment
during the tribulation, the church will be married to Christ and the great
wedding feast of the Lamb will take place in heaven. But many in the church
will be left behind. Many will be left because they were to busy with their
lives and their own plans, rather than giving their life to God.
In the parable of the 10 virgins it is
said that the 5 foolish virgins went to the groom to ask to enter in, but
it was not allowed. After the rapture, many of these christians will repent
and turn to God, but it will be to late. Because they had refused to crossover
the Jordan completely and be satisfied with those things on the other side
of Jordan. Now they will have to suffer. It is better to suffer now, by
denying your life and follow God, than to suffer during the tribulation,
for christianity will be outlawed.
I am not asking you to be perfect, Paul
said that is not possible. But to pursue perfection, by letting God live
thru you. Pursuing perfection is different than being perfect. Pursuit
is a life long walk. I ask that you pray the following prayer, which
I posted above, here it is again:
Dear Jesus,
I come to you, to offer my life, not only
do I believe in You; in your crucifixion, and your resurrection; but I
believe I died with you on the cross. My sin has been paid for, and I also
have the resurrected life in me. I offer myself to you, to let You live
through me. I will submit to your Holy Spirit to lead me into truth and
away from sin. Lord, You are my Shepherd, and I will trust you to lead
me to life eternal. Today, I not only call you Savior, but I make You Lord
of my life.
In your Holy name I pray,
Amen
If the parable of the virgins is accurate,
50% of the church will be left behind. Is there any other scriptures like
this?
Math 24: MKJV 40 Then two shall be in the field;
the one shall be taken, and the other left. 41 Two shall be grinding at the mill;
the one shall be taken, and the other left. 42 Therefore watch; for you do not
know what hour your Lord comes. 43 But know this, that if the steward
of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, he would have
watched and would not have allowed his house to be dug through. 44 Therefore you also be ready, for
in that hour you think not, the Son of man comes. 45 Who then is a faithful and wise
servant, whom his Lord has made ruler over His household, to give them
food in due season? 46 Blessed is that servant whom his
Lord shall find him doing so when He comes. 47 Truly I say to you that He shall
make him ruler over all His goods. 48 But if that evil servant shall say
in his heart, My Lord delays His coming, 49 and shall begin to strike his fellow
servants, and to eat and drink with the drunken, 50 the Lord of that servant shall come
in a day when he does not look for Him , and in an hour which he does not
know. 51 And He shall cut him apart and appoint
him his portion with the hypocrites. There shall be weeping and gnashing
of teeth.
This series of verses show not only will
50% be left behind, but those taken will be given place in the government
of God. Verse 51 of Math 24 looks alot like Rev 2:22.
51 And He shall cut him apart and appoint
him his portion with the hypocrites. There shall be weeping and gnashing
of teeth.
22 Behold, I will cast her into a bed,
and them that commit adultery with her into great tribulation, unless they
repent of their deeds.
-----------------
I wish to address other teachings out there
on the partial rapture. Many of which are supposedly based on Watchman
Nee's works. While I consider Nee a spiritual father, and use alot of his
work on this site, if this is true that he preached a partial rapture,
then this would be the 2nd thing I disagree with him on. The 1st being
his legalism on games. He believes there should be no use of games of chance,
or even games with chance and skill, he believes all games should be skill
alone. This is because his mother was a gambling addict and therefore did
not have a proper balance on this issue. Anyways there are those out there
who also preach a partial rapture. Here is a small list I discovered:
George Hawkins Pember (1837-1910) - In
Earth’s
Earliest Ages, G.H. Pember employs Scripture to refute the erroneous
notion that man has only two parts as well as prove that man is tripartite.
Pember wrote: Mystery Babylon The Great
-------------------
J. David Morrison Panton (1870-1955)
wrote these books:
JUDGEMENT SEAT OF
CHRIST, THE
PANTON PAPERS, THE
RAPTURE
Gnosticism: The
Coming Apostasy
http://www.historicist.com/articles/papacy2.htm
Quotes from http://www.gbcne.org/authors/judgmentseat/judgmentseat.htm
subsection "NOTE ON PURGATORY"
Panton acknowledges
his belief in a purgatorial concept, but distinguishes it from the Catholic
idea on only three points:
1. He claims Scripture
locates it in this life, and at the Judgment Seat after resurrection, but
never in Hades.
2. Neither Indulgences
or prayers for those in purgatory do any good to get them out.
3. Sufferings in
purgatory don't atone for sin, but are rather for sanctification.
(sounds alot like my page here:
http://www.kingdom-gospel.com/judge1.html
)
--------------------------
J. Hudson Taylor, founder of the China
Inland Mission;
----------------
Dr. A. B. Simpson, founder of the
Christian and Missionary Alliance;
-----------------
John Wilkinson, founder of the Mildmay
Mission to the Jews
-----------------------
Joseph A. Seiss, described as one of the
greatest prophecy scholars who ever lived.
------------------------
H. Robert Govett (A.D. 1813-1901)
wrote:
Sermon on the Mount,
by Robert Govett
Govett On The Parables,
by Robert Govett
The next three individuals
could be put together, these being Robert Govett, G.H. Pember, and D.M.
Panton. Through them the truths about the kingdom, the Lord's return, and
the rapture of the saints were recovered. Although these points were brought
out by John Nelson Darby and Benjamin Wills Newton of the Brethren, the
best presentation of them was given by these three. They were a great help
to both Watchman Nee and Witness Lee.
" Mr. Govett wrote
a hundred years before his time, and the day will come when his works will
be treasured as sifted gold." - - Charles H. Spurgeon
... was born in England
and eventually became an Anglican priest, but resigned that position when
his conscience could no longer accept infant baptism. He was the first
to teach in a thorough way concerning the reward and discipline of the
believers in the millennial kingdom and the partial rapture view.
"Govett's writings
are extensive, of varying quality, and often marked by a high level of
scholarship, a superbly logical approach, extraordinary originality, and
complete faithfulness to biblical revelation. Much concerned with
eschatology (Apocalypse, 1864, and other works), he held that much of the
Book of Revelation is to be understood literally." R. E. D. Clark,
The New International Dictionary of the Christian Church, J. D. Douglas,
general editor, page 426.
As the Lord would
faithfully reveal some new truth to him, he would respond in practice to
it by correcting his views and preaching to conform to the revelation and
light just received. These were few areas within his own beliefs
that were held sacred. As a result, in his pursuit for the truth,
he was open to examining the most orthodox of doctrines. Though at
times this meant being ostracized by those within Christianity who had
allowed tradition to settle in and take over where once the life of the
Head through the guidance of the Spirit existed, he was willing to pay
the cost.
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Fry - cant find anything on this
person...
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Reverend Morgan Edwards was
a Baptist pastor in Philadelphia who
described a Pre-Trib
return of Christ for His church in his 1788 book
"Millennium, Last
days Novelties". Although he saw only a 3 1/2 year
Tribulation, he
DEFINITELY saw the rapture occur before the Tribulation.
What is even more
interesting is that he claimed he had preached and written
the same thing as
early as 1742.
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Many of these men like Martin Luther plowed
the way for us. But sadly instead of putting the new wine into new wine
skins they often put the wine in old wine skins. I discuss this problem
here:
Thus the partial rapture that you see today
is one based on works and not grace. They preach one must be ready. This
readiness is based on fruit or works which must be accomplished. But I
ask where is the line drawn? How much works? Obviously there will be someone
who barely makes it and someone who just missed it. What exactly would
be the difference between these 2? I heard someone describe works like
this. Imagine you have to cross a vast chasm. The chasm is 100 feet wide.
Would a rope 10 feet, 50 feet, 75 feet, or 99 feet get you there? No. You
need the rope to make it all the way. Man is incapable by works in pleasing
God whether it's for salvation or by rapture. Just as salvation is a gift
so is the rapture. They may also preach that only 1/7th of the church will
be raptured rather than 50%.
And it is this kind of partial rapture
that you will see argued against. Although the partial rapture is not new,
it is not popular in America. There is not a big following or push of it.
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One last thing. I made another page discussing
what happens to some in the church who are left behind. This page discusses
those that turn away from truth. Here is the page:
