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THE RAPTURE: REAL OR IMAGINED
PART 1

 

By Pastor Roger Anghis
May 31, 2015
NewsWithViews.com

Many people believe that we are in the last days and I too believe that we are seeing the winding up of the Gentile era. I know many people don't believe in the event we call the rapture but it is in the Bible so it is an established fact as no one has ever proved scripture wrong. There have been some errors in translation, but there are no mistakes or contradictions in the original languages.

There are those that say the Bible does not speak of the rapture and that that word is not in the Bible. I would like to clarify this gross misconception at the beginning. In 1Thessalonians 4:17 we have the reference to the rapture that is most commonly used. It states: "Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord." The Greek word used for 'caught up' is harpazo and it means to snatch out or away. In this verse it means used of divine power transferring a person marvellously and swiftly from one place to another.[1] When you read the Latin Vulgate it uses the word rapere which is the root for our English word rapture.

When you think about it when God has brought His judgment on the earth, the Great Flood for example, did He not remove His people before destruction came? Even with the story of Lot, he was removed from Sodom before the destruction came. Why would He make His children go through the tribulation? We are told in Psalms 103:4 "Who redeemeth thy life from destruction;" and in Romans 1:18 "For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness;". The tribulation is nothing less than the wrath of God and Paul states that the wrath is for the ungodly. In 1Thessalonians 1:10 "And to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come." and in 1Thessalonians 5:9 "For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ,", so I see no evidence that the true church will go through the tribulation but be taken away in a twinkling of an eye, 1/125th of a second.

I am by no means stating that every one that calls themselves Christians will be in the rapture. I actually believe that the majority of the churches, if the rapture takes place on a Sunday morning, will not know it until they get out of service. But it will be the spotless church that will leave not the churches that embrace everything that God calls an abomination. When studying scripture you'll see that God has always removed His children from danger when He brought the flood and even when Israel left Egypt none of the plagues effected the Israelites. It states in Exodus 8:22 "And I will sever in that day the land of Goshen, in which my people dwell, that no swarms of flies shall be there; to the end thou mayest know that I am the LORD in the midst of the earth." God separated Israel from the plague of flies and in verse 4 of Chapter 9 God put a disease on the cattle, oxen, donkeys and horses of Egypt but did not allow that pestilence to infect the animals of the Israelites: Exodus 9:4 "And the LORD shall sever between the cattle of Israel and the cattle of Egypt: and there shall nothing die of all that is the children's of Israel." If God did that then, and He never changes, why would He make the true church go through the tribulation? Notice in Revelation we see the church mentioned in every chapter until chapter 11 and verse 12: "And they heard a great voice from heaven saying unto them, Come up hither. And they ascended up to heaven in a cloud; and their enemies beheld them." , and the church is never mentioned again and the tribulation begins after this event.

There are a lot of misconceptions concerning the Second coming, the rapture and the millennial reign. In John Jesus talks about preparing a place for us and coming again. John 14:2 "In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.

(3) And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also." Some believe that this is the second coming but at that time Jesus will be setting up the millennial reign so there would be no need for the rapture. In Paul talks about Jesus descending with a shout and the trump of God: 1Thessalonians 4:16 "For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:" believing that this is the last trump mentioned in 1 Corinthians 15:52 "In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.", but this is not the last of the seven trumpets of the tribulation because those are trumpets of judgments, not blessings. Besides if it was the last trump, again there would be no need for the rapture. This is the call for the church to the marriage supper of the Lamb that will last through the tribulation. We will be enjoying the marriage supper while the earth is going through the tribulation.

Paul continues to reference the rapture in chapter 5 of 1 Thessalonians giving a detailed description of what is going to happen: 1Thessalonians 5:1 "But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you.

(2) For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night.
(3) For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.
(4) But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief.
(5) Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness.
(6) Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober.
(7) For they that sleep sleep in the night; and they that be drunken are drunken in the night.
(8) But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation.
(9) For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ,
(10) Who died for us, that, whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with him."

Paul assures us that if we are true followers we will know that the time is near but many in the church will be unawares. Not many churches teach the Word in depth. Many never speak about the end times. They just play a game of religion that will cost too many their eternity.

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Jesus does tell us that there is a time when we need to be well aware of God's calendar. I'm not saying I know the day and hour because I don't, but Jesus did say we will know the season. In Matthew 24 Jesus gives us the beginning of the season: Matthew 24:32 "Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh:
(33) So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors.
(34) Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled."

Israel has always been referenced as the fig tree. This sprouting occurred on May 14th, 1948. Once this happened, the countdown began.

Footnotes:

All scripture is from KJV unless otherwise noted.

1. Thayer's Greek English Lexicon of the New Testament. (Peabody, MA, Hendrickson Publishers, Inc. 1997) pp. 74-75.

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Pastor Roger Anghis is the Founder of RestoreFreeSpeech.org, an organization designed to draw attention to the need of returning free speech rights to churches that was restricted in 1954.

President of BuildingtheTruth, BuildingtheTruth.org, which has a stated purpose of teaching people the need of the churches involvement in the political arena and to teach the historical role of Christianity in the politics of the United States. Married-42 years, 3 children, three grandchildren.

Web site: BuildingTheTruth.org

E-Mail: roger@buildingthetruth.org


 

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When you think about it when God has brought His judgment on the earth, the Great Flood for example, did He not remove His people before destruction came?