MacArthur has also written many books and commentaries. The book of his that I'm finishing is called "Because the time is near: John MacArthur explains the Book of Revelation." It is understandable to the mind and uplifting to the spirit. As we near the chapter of Revelation that depicts the second coming, MacArthur takes a moment to explain why the rapture is different from the second coming, and why it will happen prior to the Tribulation:
"The second coming must be distinguished from the rapture of the church prior to the seven-year tribulation. At the rapture, Christ comes for His saints (John 14:3; 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17). At the second coming, He comes with them. At the rapture, Christ meets His saints in the air (1 Thessalonians 4:17) to take them to heaven (John 14:2-3). At the second coming, He descends with them from heaven to the earth. (Zechariah 14:4)."
"Some attempt to harmonize those two distinctions by arguing that believers meet Christ in the air, then descend to earth to with Him. By so doing, they essentially make the rapture and the second coming the same event. But that view trivializes the rapture. There is not a hint of judgment in passages describing the rapture (John 14:1-3; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18, but judgment plays a prominent role in the second coming (Revelation 19:11; Revelation 15, Revelation 17-21.) The dramatic signs accompanying the second coming, such as the darkening of the sun and the moon, and the disruption of the “powers of the heavens” (Matthew 24: 29-30), are not mentioned in the passages describing the rapture. In its description of the second coming, Revelation 19 does not mention a rapture of living believers (1 Corinthians 15:51-52), or a resurrection of dead believers (1 Thessalonians 4:16)."
I hope this educates you, and encourages you.
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Stamping Out Harold Camping
ReplyDeleteI don't care a fig for date-setters, especially those who predict when Christ will return. The current champion is 89-year-old, headline-grabbing Harold Camping of Family Radio fame.
Is Second Coming date-setter Harold Camping worthy of death? He already has a zero batting average after his September 1994 prediction fizzle and, according to the Bible, is a false prophet.
Nevertheless that California shaman, who should be ashamed, claims he's found out that Christ's return will be on May 21, 2011 even though Matt. 24:36 says that no one knows the "day" or "hour" of it!
A Google article ("Obama Fulfilling the Bible") points out that "Deut. 18:20-22 in the Old Testament requires the death penalty for false prophets."
The same article reveals that "Christians are commanded to ask God to send severe judgment on persons who commit and support the worst forms of evil (see I Cor. 5 and note 'taken away')."
Theologically radioactive Harold Camping and his ga-ga groupies (with their billboards featuring "May 21, 2011") should worry about being "stamped out" if many persons decide to follow the I Cor. 5 command.
The above article concludes: "False prophets in the OT were stoned to death. Today they are just stoned!"
PS - For many years Camping was not known as a pretrib rapture teacher. But now, for $ome my$teriou$ rea$on, he seeks support from those who believe in and teach an imminent, pretrib rapture which supposedly will occur SEVERAL YEARS BEFORE the traditional SECOND COMING to earth! For a behind-the-scenes, documented look at the 181-year-old pretrib rapture belief (which was never a part of any official theology or organized church before 1830!), Google "Pretrib Rapture Dishonesty," "Pretrib Rapture Diehards" and "Pretrib Rapture - Hidden Facts." These are from the pen of journalist/historian Dave MacPherson a.k.a the "Pretrib Rapture Answerman" & the "Rush Limbaugh of the Rapture" - author of the bestselling book "The Rapture Plot," an "encyclopedia" of pretrib rapture history (see Armageddon Books).
We are all worthy of death. It is only through Jesus's grace that He forgives us of our sins and gives us life. To that effect, we are all Harold Campings, that is to say, sinners. You are no better than him and he is no better than you. Me as well. The only difference between anybody is that some have claimed Jesus' free gift of grace and life, and others have not. We pray for the lost, not call for their eternal damnation. We do not call for another person's death, EVER. Shame on you.
ReplyDeletethanks for your scripts and explantion of the pretrib rapture. I was raised to believe pretrib and until the last several months started leaning towards prewrath. Which is now I read from you is the second coming after pretrib. I put all the verses and explanations down in my Bible. I hope to do this for all rapture views to have if someone ever asked for more detail on them.
ReplyDeleteMy hope, prayer and desire is to leave this ole' sinful world like NOW!! I'm ready to be walkin' the streets of gold in my NEW heavenly body. If we are still here for part of the trib...after lots of prayer...I just have to trust God to help me thru whatever comes my way. That would be sooo hard and dissappointing too.
Life in this world is changing soooo much. and time goes by sooo FAST. The things that we see and hear are soo terrible. the morals and values of this time is just awful. and everyone seems to accept it. God convicted me of not watching tv a long time ago. It is just sooo sinful!
PLEASE LORD, COME AND TAKE US AWAY!! OH HOW WONDERFUL IT WILL BE TO LIVE IN A SINLESS ENVIROMENT! Just think about that for a while. It is really unimaginable! How PRECIOUS that life of eternity will be. OH PLEASE GOD, CALL US TO COME HITHER TODAY!!! We are sooooo ready to rid this world for our HEAVENLY HOME! PRAISE THE LORD!!
GOD'S GIRL!!
[Recently saw this on the net, for what it's worth. Theresa]
ReplyDeleteWho knows, maybe John MacArthur is right and the greatest Greek scholars (Google “Famous Rapture Watchers”), who uniformly said that Rev. 3:10 means PRESERVATION THROUGH, were wrong. But John has a conflict. On the one hand, since he knows that all Christian theology and organized churches before 1830 believed the church would be on earth during the tribulation, he would like to be seen as one who stands with the great Reformers. On the other hand, if you have a warehouse of unsold pretrib rapture material, and if you want to have “security” for your retirement years and hope that the big California quake won’t louse up your plans, you have a decided conflict of interest – right, John? Maybe the Lord will have to help strip off the layers of his seared conscience which have grown for years in order to please his parents and his supporters – who knows? One thing is for sure: pretrib is truly a house of cards and is so fragile that if a person removes just one card from the TOP of the pile, the whole thing can collapse. Which is why pretrib teachers don’t dare to even suggest they could be wrong on even one little subpoint! Don’t you feel sorry for the straitjacket they are in? While you’re mulling all this over, Google “Pretrib Rapture Dishonesty” for a rare behind-the-scenes look at the same 181-year-old fantasy.
It is continually interesting to me that people who pooh-pooh the rapture never use one iota of scripture to back up their opinions. Hmmmm.
ReplyDeleteWant some Scripture for the rapture debate? Google "Pretrib Rapture - Hidden Facts," "Pretrib Rapture Secrecy," and "Walvoord Melts Ice." Just my two bits. Wally
ReplyDeleteHi, no thanks, I do not want to debate. There are no "hidden facts". The bible is an open book available to all, and the Holy Spirit imparts wisdom to all who ask, without reproach (James 1:5). I've prayed, studied and listened to the Spirit, and I am fully satisfied that the bible presents only one view of the rapture and that's pre-trib. Just as there is no equivocation over whether Christ died and rose, whether God is the only God, and therefore there is no need to "debate" those facts, the pre-trib rapture is a foundational concept and is the only one that is consistent with His character and promises.
ReplyDeleteYou could pray, as well, and ask for wisdom on this doctrine, and He will impart that to you. In other words, debate the Spirit, not me. :)
Matthew 24:21,22,29-31 clearly states:
ReplyDelete21 For then there will be great distress, unequaled from the beginning of the world until now—and never to be equaled again.
22 “If those days had not been cut short, no one would survive, but for the sake of the elect those days will be shortened.
29 “Immediately after the distress of those days
“‘the sun will be darkened,
and the moon will not give its light;
the stars will fall from the sky,
and the heavenly bodies will be shaken.’[b]
30 “Then will appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven. And then all the peoples of the earth[c] will mourn when they see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven, with power and great glory.[d]
31 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 the other.
Matthew 24 clearly states that Jesus will not return for His church until after the tribulation.
Matthew, you have made the classic mistake of mixing up the Second Coming with the rapture. These are two separate events. The Second Coming is the event described in Mt 24.
ReplyDeleteThe second coming must be distinguished from the rapture of the church prior to the seven-year tribulation. At the rapture, Christ comes for His saints (John 14:3; 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17). At the second coming, He comes with them. At the rapture, Christ meets His saints in the air (1 Thessalonians 4:17) to take them to heaven (John 14:2-3). At the second coming, He descends with them from heaven to the earth. (Zechariah 14:4).”
There is not a hint of judgment in passages describing the rapture (John 14:1-3; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18, but judgment plays a prominent role in the second coming (Revelation 19:11; Revelation 15, Revelation 17-21.) The dramatic signs accompanying the second coming, such as the darkening of the sun and the moon, and the disruption of the “powers of the heavens” (Matthew 24: 29-30), are not mentioned in the passages describing the rapture. In its description of the second coming, Revelation 19 does not mention a rapture of living believers (1 Corinthians 15:51-52), or a resurrection of dead believers (1 Thessalonians 4:16).
by JMacArthur.