Rapture ?

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
The rapture, the end of the age. I've been hearing
more and more talk about that lately, another prediction about
it being soon. Let's back up. Is the rapture even biblical?
Is it even a thing as we're going to talk

(00:22):
about today? Hello, and welcome to simple man sermons, the
preachings of a simple man called by God to share
the good news of Jesus Christ. Okay, let me start
by saying, we can still be brothers in Christ together

(00:44):
if we disagree on this theory, right, we can still
be brothers in Christ. There are many Christian denominations. Do
you really think out of all the hundreds of Christian
denominations only one is right and everybody else is wrong.

(01:04):
I would say many of them are wrong about a
great many things. But there are core things that make
us Christian. Right. We believe in one God. We believe
in one savior of Jesus Christ. We believe that he
dies for our sin and rose from the dead. These
are core issues that if you disagree with these, I
don't know you could be called a Christian. But the

(01:27):
rapture or the theory of the rapture is not one
of them. So I'm going to talk about this and
hope whatever side you land on. Okay, Now here's another
big thing I'm going to talk about. Is the rapture possible? Yeah,
of course it's possible. God can do anything he wants.
God can do anything. He is God. His arm has

(01:52):
not been shortened, his strength is not weakened. He is God.
He can do all things. He made the heavens and
the earth in six days. He made you. He can
do what he wants with you. He can do what
he wants with the things of this earth, with all matter,
with anything under the firmament. He can do as he wishes.
He is God, he is sovereign, He is omnipotent, omnipresent.

(02:15):
He is God, and there is none like him. He
can do all things. So could he what we think
of today as the rapture? He certainly could. Okay, But
I don't think I would disagree with anybody on that
that he could do it. Is there any biblical reason
to think that he will do it? Here's where we

(02:37):
might disagree. Here's where we might run into some issues. Well,
the term rapture is nowhere in the Bible, which in
and of itself is not that big a deal. The
term trendy is not in the Bible. It's how we
It's how a lot of modern Christians explain God, the Father, God,
the Son, God, the Holy Spirit. I have no problem
with that. I get that from reading Scripture, and the

(02:58):
beginning was the Word, and the word was with God,
and the word was God. Right, So the Word was
not written in English to begin with anyway, So none
of the words we use today are going to be
in there, even as I understand it. The name Jesus,
there was no Jay in Hebrew, right, more likely be Yeshua.

(03:21):
Not gonna get wrapped around the axle on pronunciation or
this word versus that word. Meanings are important, though. Let
us look at the rapture as it is talked about
in modern American Christian certain denominations that hold to it
very fervently. First, we have to realize that the majority

(03:45):
of Christians throughout time do not hold to a rapture
doctrine as we would think about it today. That might
shock you, but that's just historically true. Right. Even most
Christians in the world today not hold to it. It's
pretty much only Americans or you know, people that have
been evangelized to around the world from modern Christian denominations.

(04:09):
If we look at the rapture, it comes as the
modern what people say when they mean rapture today, generally
they're talking about John Nelson Derby and believe it was
Scotland in the middle eighteen hundreds. So before that, apparently
nobody that read the Bible, and a lot of people

(04:31):
did before the eighteen fifties came up with the rapture.
But somehow John Nelson Darby started talking about the rapture
in eighteen fifties. And where did he get this idea? Well,
if you look up Margaret McDonald, a little Scottish girl
in the middle eighteen hundreds, So a young Scottish girl

(04:54):
comes up with this idea of the modern what we
think of as rapture, and John Nelson Derby kind of
clings onto it. And do your own research on this.
Don't take my please, don't take my word for it.
Look it up now. I'm all about prophecy. I'm not
one of the people that thinks all the gifts of
the Holy Spirit stopped. But we have very clear tests

(05:16):
for prophets in the Word of God itself, and you
should listen to a prophet, but a false prophet you
should not listen to. And we have very clear lines
for that. And what is one of those lines. If
the thing they say and the Lord does not happen

(05:37):
or come to pass, that is not a thing the
Lord has spoken. Well, if you look at these two
and you look at John Nelson Darby, you also might
come up with what's called the Great Disappointment William Miller.
And the Miller writes that our Savior would return in
eighteen forty four, so it's called the Great Disappointment. It

(06:01):
was a fairly big deal at the time. This should
have been a warning to anybody at the time that
had been reading their Bible, because Jesus himself says nobody
knows the day or the hour, So anybody saying that
they do, is that not a red flag. But if
it seems like we strayed along way from scripture, it's

(06:23):
because we have Goddess Girl, Darby Miller, the Great Disappointment. Yeah,
I've gone a long way from scripture. That's kind of
the point. I did not grow up in the church.
I don't only say this because this is going to
be relevant. I grew up a heathen. Everybody has a
religion people that say they don't their atheists, they have
a religion. If I was being honest, mine as an

(06:45):
early young man, was hedonism. But I came to Christianity
by reading my Bible. I read many works, many books,
and if they're more interesting, but the Bible is the
only one that I would if somebody put a gun
to my head and told me to deny or they
would kill me, I would say, kill me. I believe

(07:06):
to the point of death and the word of God.
I believe in solo script Torah. I believe that it's
all we need to know the truth. I believe in
the Bible. I read the Bible, and that's how I
became a Well, that's how God chose, because it's all
in the will of God. Right, that's how God chose
to make me a Christian. I didn't grow up in

(07:26):
any certain Christian denomination. I had never got the rapture
from reading the Bible. And well, we'll come back to
that point. Let's look at some key verses that are
often used. Let's look at Matthew twenty four. Heaven and
earth will pass away, but my words will by no

(07:48):
means pass away. But of that day and hour, no
one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but my
father only. But as the days of Noah were, so
also will the coming of the Son of Man be.
Days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying
and given a marriage until the day Noah entered the ark,
and did not know until the flood came and took
them all away. So also will the coming of the

(08:10):
Son of Man be. Then two men will be in
the field, one will be taken and the other left.
Two women will be grinding at the mill. One will
be taken and the other left. Watch therefore, for you
do not know what hour your Lord is coming. But
know this that if the master of the house had
known what hour the thief would come, he would have
watched and not allowed his house to be broken into. Therefore,

(08:33):
you also be ready, for the Son of Man is
coming at an hour you do not expect. Is not
the main point, but I want to point out here
Jesus against this. Nobody knows, like you're not gonna know
it's gonna come suddenly, Nobody knows when it's gonna be.
So anybody saying they know when it's gonna be, that's
a red flag to me because Jesus says nobody knows.

(08:54):
But also this is a key thing that a lot
of rapturoists is I'm gonna call them or pre tribulation rapturists.
Will we'll talk about see two will be taken or
two men, two women, one will be taken and the
other left. Okay, Roger, I see that in scripture. Check

(09:14):
But again, if you erase what you've learned from a
denomination and just read a solo scripture or the Bible.
But of the day or the hour, Noah knows, not
even the angels of heaven, but my father only. But
as the days of Noah were, so also will the
coming of the Son of Man be as in the
days of Noah. What happened in the days of Noah

(09:38):
the great flood. Now this could be referring to. To
be fair, this could only be referring to suddenly, like
the flood came. Suddenly people were eating, drinking, giving a marriage,
and suddenly the flood came. If we take a most
the most one for one ratio of what happened in

(10:00):
flood on what he's talking about here, the ones taken
and the ones left, the ones who were lifted up,
they went through great tribulation. The ones who were left died.
So we're looking at two groups here. Some of them
perished and some went through great tribulation, and not bad people.

(10:20):
The people God had chosen Noah the eight Right, and
God certainly could have just raptured them up without them
having to go through trial and tribulation. A lot of
people think forty days and forty nights, that's when the
floods came, that's when the rain came down. Something like
one hundred and fifty days that they were thrown around
in that boat in great storms and tribulation. Also, Noah

(10:43):
had to toil and build that arc. God could have
just lifted them up and then saved them from all
their trouble, but they had to build the ark right.
That was part of God's planing. God certainly could have
saved them without an arc. He can do anything. But
they had to labor building that arc. And there's some
debate about how much time that took. But I don't
know if you've ever worked with wood, I have nowhere
near to that extent. That's a lot of work. I

(11:06):
believe the word of God is sure. I believe there
was a great flood. Jesus talks about it here, right,
those who were saved went through trial and tribulation. You
don't think so, go build a boat that big. Also,
go be out in the hostile sea. A little bit
about hostile seas. For one hundred and fifty days, the
rest of the world is dying. It sounds like a

(11:27):
tribulation to me. Now again, could is it possible for
God to just rapture people up into the air and
save them from any trial and tribulation. Yeah, it's possible,
but I don't get that from reading this scripture. Here's
another big one that the rapturists will say, and this

(11:49):
comes from First Corinthians. This is the twinkling of an eye.
Verse in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye,
at the last trumpet, for the trumpet will sound, and
the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.
Went back up a little bit and read the run

(12:10):
of this passage here. Now this I say, brethren, that
flesh and blood cannot inherit the Kingdom of God, nor
does corruption inherit incorruption. Behold, I tell you a mystery.
We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be
changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye

(12:31):
at the last trumpet, For the trumpet will sound, and
the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.
For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal
must put on immortality. So when this corruptible has put

(12:52):
on incorruption and the mortal has put on immortality, then
shall be brought to pass the saying that is written,
death is swallowed up in victory. The sting of death
is sin, and the strength of sin is the law.
But thanks be to God who gives us the victory

(13:12):
through our Lord, Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved brethren, be
steadfast and movable, always abounding in the work of the Lord,
knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord. Okay,
in the twinkling of an eye, we will be changed.
Tracking I got that from the scripture. What I didn't

(13:35):
get from that verse or anywhere else that I've seen
is a pre tribulation rapture. You see. I think as
modern Americans we become very modern American centric. And how
did this doctrine partially become popular in the first place.
If you look at the history of it. A lot
of it, it seems, became popular in the middle eighteen

(13:58):
hundreds in America. What was happening at that time in
America the Civil War, brother killing brother, the one nation divided,
tearing yourself apart, massive death, massive casualties of young people,
unspeakably evil things. And I've been to war, but a
different kind of war than that. All war is horrible.
But I get the appeal of it that just before

(14:19):
you went through any hardship, because the Bible does talk
about great tribulation, before any great tribulation, you would just
be beamed up, spared from any suffering or sorrow. That's
a that's a beautiful thought. That doesn't make it true.
That doesn't mean that it's biblical. I get why it
gained traction. It's a nice thing to think that you
won't have to go through any trial or tribulation and

(14:40):
you'll just be taken away. And that's great, that's a
the great thought. But that doesn't make it biblically sound,
because it's comforting if we look at it biblically right,
if we step out of our American modern Western world centricity,
Christians are suffering and dying every day for the Gospel,

(15:04):
not being raptured beforehand. Look at the apostles, right, how
many of them suffered and died. They weren't raptured up.
Now two men in the Bible that I'm aware of,
You could say, we're raptured up. We have an example here.
To be fair, I want to be fair. I could
be wrong about this. This is not a shall believe
in to be saved. Two men I know of in

(15:25):
the Bible, of all the history of the Bible, were
raptured up before they suffered, well, before they suffered greatly. Sure,
as we all have in life. They had some suffering
in life. But Enoch and Elijah taken up before they
tasted death. Those two men. Jesus was taken up, but

(15:45):
he died first. He suffered greatly first. There was no
pre tribulation rapture for Jesus our Savior. But Elijah, to
be fair, and Enoch were taken up. We have two.
But those are individual cases. Again, is a mass taking
up of people by God before they suffer? Is that possible? Yes?

(16:09):
I don't see a single instance of that happening throughout
the history of the Bible. Doesn't mean again, it doesn't
mean it's not possible. I want to be very clear.
God can do anything he wants except for a lie.
But you get what I'm saying. Anything that was that's
within his nature, that's good he can do. So he
certainly can do this. But I don't get it from
reading scripture. And here's what's important for me to be clear.

(16:31):
I don't get it from reading scripture. Do you, being
honest with yourself, do you get that if you had
just read the scriptures? Would you get that from there?
Or do you get it from a denominational culture? And
some of that denominational culture can be good, but only
as long as it lines up with the Bible. So
just be real about it. But Christian suffering die every

(16:53):
day for being Christians. I have throughout history. Right when
Jesus was writing those things about Matthew twenty four, he
was talking about he was talking to his followers. Jesus
also wrote, he who endures to the end will be saved.
He who endures to the end will be saved. Another

(17:14):
big one, the only other big one that I'm kind
of aware of because I'm not a rapturist. But I
want to make the case hopefully fairly, for the Lord
himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the
voice of an archangel and with the trumpet of God,
and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we

(17:38):
who are alive and remain shall be caught up together
with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in
the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. Amen.
I believe that because the Bible says it. It doesn't
say rapture, and it doesn't say pre tribulation. Right, doesn't
say you won't suffer. It doesn't say when right we again,

(18:03):
if we step out of our America twenty first century
centric view. Revelation does not mention America. That doesn't mean
that there won't be in America, but doesn't seem central
to the story of Revelation unless it's Babylon, which is
not good. It's the only thing I could think you
could make the case. But that's not a good case.

(18:23):
You don't want to be Babylon. Its destruction is in
revelation or was I Oh, America could cease to be
as a nation. America is a very young nation two
hundred and fifty years right, ish America could be gone
for a thousand years. By the time Jesus comes back,
World War three could have come and gone, and we
could have blown ourselves back into the Stone Age before

(18:44):
Christ returns. I don't know, could come back tomorrow. I
don't know, and you don't know either, And nobody else
on the internet knows. You know how I know that
because Jesus himself says no one knows the day or
the hour. And again, I just want to encourage you
as I wrap this up, that it's not a point

(19:06):
of salvation. Right doesn't say that you have to believe
in the rapture to be raptured. If the rapture happens
and you're a good Christian, whether you believe it or not,
you'd be raptured. Right. I don't think of can't think
of any rapturists that would make a case against that
you're things to be saved are believing in Jesus Christ,
believing in his death and resurrection and his atoning sacrifice.

(19:26):
I'm not aware of any of the most hardcore rapturists
that would hold that the rapture is a point of salvation.
Would gladly break bread even though we might disrealn eschatology
the end times or a pre tribulation rapture, or you
even calling it the rapture me not wanting to call
it a rapture. Am I looking forward to seeing Christ?
Yes'd be great to not have to go through tribulation. Yes,

(19:51):
am I gonna say that's a certainty because I read
it in the Bible. No, I'm not gonna say that,
say it's a possibility, but I'm not going to form
it as a doctrine if I don't get it from scripture. Again,
if you read the scriptures and that's what you get
out of it from solo scripture or from the scripture itself,
and we disagree on that, that's fine. I'm certainly not going
to believe in it because of Miller or because of Darby,

(20:17):
because of a little Scottish girl. As far as I know,
none of there. They didn't do any future predictions. It
actually came true, and that's pretty clear indication of who
you should not believe as a prophet anyway, the rapture,
those are my thoughts on it. Again, not a point
of salvation. I'm looking forward to seeing Christ. I am
looking forward to being with him whenever that happens. Let's

(20:42):
live our life for Christ. Whether we live or die,
we should be living or dying for the Lord. We
are not our own, We were bought at a price.
Thanks for listening, and have a blessed day.