Is there a secret rapture? “Look, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him; and all the nations of the earth will mourn because of him. So it shall be! Amen” Revelation 1:7) Is there such a thing as a “secret rapture” as the popular, fictional series of Left Behind books describes? I will explain to the you with biblical evidence that there is no such thing and it is yet another ploy of Satan to confuse mankind. He uses such books like the Left Behind series to enthrall us and make us deviate from the truth. Don’t get me wrong, the novels are in fact highly entertaining, but that is all, entertainment. The theory of the secret rapture first became popular during the last half of the 20th century and is referring to the idea that the Christian church will be “raptured” to heaven seven years before the second coming of Jesus Christ. It stems from a theory called, dispensationalism, which simply put, is a way of understanding the bible as completely literal. While I would agree that it would be nice to not have to bear witness to the seven bowls of God’s wrath that will be poured out upon the Earth before Christ’s return; it is simply not biblical. Read on and I will show you. The verse that gives supposed credence to the rapture theory is to be found in Matthew 24:40-41. It says,“Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left. Two woman will be grinding with a hand mill; one will be taken and the other left.” I can see how this might be confusing but it is taken out of context. If you notice, nowhere in the verses does the author write anything about a secret rapture. In fact, Christ’s second coming will be the noisiest, most tumultuous event the entire world has ever seen. All of the world will see Him return, there will be no secret about it. Read on and let’s investigate what the bible really says. Matthew 24:29-31 says, “Immediately after the distress of those days, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give it’s light; the stars will fall from the sky, and the heavenly bodies will be shaken. At that time the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and all the nations of the earth will mourn. They will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky, with power and great glory. And he will send his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to another.” First of all, please notice that it says, “all the nations will mourn. They will see the Son of Man coming...” How can it possibly be a secret event if all the people see it? Secondly, He will return with billions of His angels; how could we miss that? Third, there will be,”a loud trumpet call,” a trumpet call is hardly in keeping with secrecy is it? Fourth, the Lord himself will announce His presence. In fact, 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 confirms this; it says, “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. 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.” Wow, that is a noisy verse if I ever saw! Clearly nothing secret about it for sure. Also, at the second coming of Christ there will be a devastating earthquake unlike the earth has ever seen. Revelation 16:18 says, “And there was a great earthquake, such a mighty and great earthquake as had not occurred since men were on the earth.” Jeremiah 4:26 reiterates this same noisy event by saying, “I beheld, and indeed the fruitful land was a wilderness, and all its cities were broken down at the presence of the Lord.” So why is Satan bothering to delude us with this bogus theory? Because he knows that this theory makes it seem as if the people supposedly left behind have an additional seven years to repent and save themselves from eternal separation from God! Oh my sweet friends, please don’t believe this for one moment. When Christ returns it will be way too late to make up your mind whom you will serve. There will be no second chance to decide! Matthew 25:10-13 serves as a warning and confirmation of this truth by saying, “But while they were on their way to buy the oil, the bridegroom arrived. The virgins who were ready went in with him to the wedding banquet. And the door was shut. “Later the others also came. ‘Sir! Sir!’ they said." ’Open the door for us!’ But he replied, ‘I tell you the truth, I don’t know you.’ “Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour.” It is true my brothers and sisters, we truly do not know when our Master will return for us; but what we do know is we need to decide a head of time to serve Him. We also now know that when he does return for us it will be no secret. It will be the most amazing, spectacular, grand event of all ages! Will YOU be ready to meet Him? If you are unsure friends, I invite you to ask Jesus now to help you, to come in to your heart and save you. If you are unsure as to how to do that you can go to the last chapter in this book titled, “If I call Him will He answer?” and pray the enclosed prayer. God bless you and I sincerely hope to see you in the Kingdom.
Posted on: Thu, 22 Aug 2013 19:56:39 +0000
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