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Oh Yes, it would be nice!
The doctrine of a (secret) rapture is very dominant in the evangelical
Christian fraternity. It teaches about how a day will come when the people of
God will be caught up to heaven without the rest of the world being aware of
it. According to the rapture doctrine, this event is to take place before the tribulation
when the mark of the beast system is implemented.
What if this is true? I mean, how you would feel to know that
a time will come when you will be miraculously snatched away from this wicked
world to be with your Lord, and that without the need to worry about a horrible
tribulation that is soon to break upon the earth?
Could some of those bretheren from the various evangelical
churches be right in saying that they don't need to know about the mark-of-the-beast
event because they will not be here when it happens? If you know you will not
be here, why should you seek to know about it?
They are many different school of thoughts floating around in
Christianity concerning the rapture that leaves many confused. They are
confused simply because they don't know whether they are to believe either of
the following about the Second Coming of Christ:
- Christ
will return with a great noise to take His people to heaven
- Christ
will rapture all His people in secret, or
- He will
rapture His people in secret, then return with a great noise
to take the "tribulation saints"
In addition, another school of thought has it that Christ
will come but he will not take anybody to heaven at all. While others believe He
has already arrived in 1914! And, of course, it's quite obvious
that the different positions on the rapture vary along denominational
lines. But all cannot be right!
When we are confronted with confusing situations like these,
we must not throw our hands up in the air and treat the matter with indifference.
The Lord knows why He allows controversial situations to emerge time and time
again. And don't expect Him to come down and solve your doctrinal problems when
He has already provided the scriptures.
Every controversy must be considered an opportunity to study
with more effort and greater diligence. And if you find that you have not been
studying your Bible as you aught, make controversy an excuse for studying it as
you should.
Anyway let me not allow myself to be raptured away from the
main point of discussion - the (secret) rapture. Looking at this teaching from
the outset, I have some discomfort with the way its advocates present it (truth
has a way of sounding like a lie because of the way it is being taught).
For example, I heard an eminent minister of the gospel on a
local TV programme some time ago suggesting that Christians will be raptured
regardless whether they are piloting a passenger plane,
driving a passenger bus, or manning the controls to
facilitate railroad traffic. When you consider the implications of this you cannot
help but imagine a sudden descent into chaos and pure disaster! This sounds
inconsistent to me in light of the idea that God will still seek to save people
from among those who will be “left behind”.
According the explanation given, the people who are saved
from among those who are left behind are called the "tribulation saints".
But many will perish in the ensuing disaster after the rapture event
transpires. In other words, solely because of the rapture they will not be
given a fair chance of becoming a part of the "tribulation saints".
Then on the other hand, we need to look at whether or not it
is safe to hold to such a teaching. While we would naturally consider it ideal
to be taken from this sin-cursed earth before the great tribulation occurs, how
would it be to the disadvantage of those Christians who do not believe it but
rather believe that they will go through a tribulation before the Second
Coming? Would they be considered unworthy to be raptured?
Actually, I have heard a number of pro-secret rapture
advocates expressing the view that they don’t need to know about the mark of
the beast issue and the great tribulation because they will not be here when it
happens.
Here is a scenario I want you to think about as you
contemplate the validity of a secret rapture.
You are living in a small city. It so happens that the weather
channel issued a forecast that there will be three days of heavy rains that is
likely to cause flooding and possible loss of lives (the great tribulation)!
But in light of the threat, the Mayor came in and calmed the fears of the
people by telling them that they don't need to worry; that a massive gabion
wall is erected around the city to provide adequate protection from flooding (the
rapture).
Would it be safe for this community to simply take the Mayor
at his word and don't worry about the impending danger, become complacent, and
make no contingency preparation to escape? What do you think would happen if the
wall is breached and no alternative means of escape is in place!? Then on the
other hand, would it be a foolish thing for the residents to ignore what the
Mayor told them and take the time to study ways of escaping the flood? After
all, it won't hurt in any event!
Did you get the point I 'm trying make!? The fact is it would
be more detrimental to your eternal salvation to believe that you will not be
here during the tribulation than to believe that you will be. After all,
whatever you believe will make a difference in the quality of your preparation
for eternity.
For further resource on the subject of the rapture check out
following articles:
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