Many False Teachings of the Rapture
Revelation 4
1 After this I looked, and, behold, a door was opened in heaven: and the first voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet talking with me; which said, Come up hither, and I will shew thee things which must be hereafter.
2 And immediately I was in the spirit: and, behold, a throne was set in heaven, and one sat on the throne.
3 And he that sat was to look upon like a jasper and a sardine stone: and there was a rainbow round about the throne, in sight like unto an emerald.
4 And round about the throne were four and twenty seats: and upon the seats I saw four and twenty elders sitting, clothed in white raiment; and they had on their heads crowns of gold.
Without question Satan hates everything about our Eternal God and, certainly, he hates the great truths of Holy Scripture.But, Satan is a scheming enemy that has limited knowledge of the times and seasons and he especially battles against those prophetic truths that have come of age and are ready to be fulfilled. It is very apparent that he has chosen to draw a line in the sand (sinking sand, I may add) against the historic hope of the church, “our escape to the Marriage Supper of the Lamb.”
Jesus Christ the Lord gave the early disciples this hope as He prepared them for His suffering, death, and ascension. The Lord Jesus had become extremely close to His disciples. They were dependent on Him because then they were really young in the faith, almost like babes. In St. John thirteen Jesus deals with their weakness, even warns Peter that he will deny his Lord, but quickly moves to fill them with hope. The hope was that He would indeed be gone shortly, but that He was going to prepare a Heavenly place where He might receive them to Himself. His promise is extremely definite. “Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. 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. 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.” (John 14:1-3)
There can be no doubt that this hope of His “coming again for them” became a rallying cry of the early church. Their greeting to each other after His ascension was “Maranatha” or “ The Lord Cometh.” The message of the two angels that appeared just a few days after His resurrection and at His ascension was essentially the same words as the Lord Himself had spoken. “And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel; Which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.” (Acts 1:10-11)
Jesus Said, “Do Not Be Discouraged, I Will Be Back.”
The most satisfying thought when someone you love is leaving is the certainty that they will be right back. The disciples immediately developed that mindset and it literally fills the New Testament model. They even had a little rumor going around that John was going to live to see Him alive when He came. But, then at Pentecost, the “Vicar” of Jesus Christ literally baptized them in the living presence of this resurrected Lord and their consciousness of Him was overwhelming. They could wait for His personal return, because now His Spirit effecting presence was their satisfying joy. In such a spiritual state they went out of the upper room to change the world and change it they did.
The New Testament writers constantly reminded the church that Jesus would be back. They spoke of His coming in general to set up His kingdom, but they spoke of this Rapture in particular to gather the saints unto Himself. Paul stated to the church at Ephesus, “That in the dispensation of the fullness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; [even] in him.” (Ephesians 1:10)
The same apostle uses similar words to open a discussion about the coming Antichrist by saying, “Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and [by] our gathering together unto him.” (2 Thessalonians 2:1) In this same chapter Apostle Paul ties the gathering to the removal of the restrainer to allow unhindered wickedness for its final onslaught. The early church was looking for Jesus to return and gather them to Himself.
John 14
14 Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me.
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.
4 And whither I go ye know, and the way ye know.
A Warning About Losing This Hope
The Apostle Peter warned of men that would deny Him coming to gather the saints and called them scoffers, “worldly scoffers” walking after their own lust. Notice how this apostle approaches the subject. He states that this second epistle is to warn them of this denial. “This second epistle, beloved, I now write unto you; in [both] which I stir up your pure minds by way of remembrance: that ye may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets, and of the commandment of us the apostles of the Lord and Saviour: Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, and saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as [they were] from the beginning of the creation. For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water: whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished: but the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men. But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day [is] with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.” (2 Peter 3:1-9)
Peter spoke in verse nine of Jesus’ promise, which I believe is specifically His promise as stated in St. John chapter fourteen. He also says clearly that the holy prophets had spoken of this same subject that he was addressing. I will give two such documentations from the books of Isaiah and Psalms. Apostle Peter ended this Second Book of Peter by warning them of being “led away with the error of the wicked.” Notice the context. “And account [that] the longsuffering of our Lord [is] salvation; even as our beloved brother Paul also according to the wisdom given unto him hath written unto you; As also in all [his] epistles, speaking in them of these things; in which are some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as [they do] also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction. Ye therefore, beloved, seeing ye know [these things] before, beware lest ye also, being led away with the error of the wicked, fall from your own stedfastness.” (2 Peter 3:15-17)
The subject is clearly a loss of hope and the steadfastness of that hope. Men are preserved by this life changing expectancy of the Lord’s coming. When you are charged with this hope as He ordained, it purifies your conscience to obedience and readiness.
Peter stated that the promise of the Lord’s coming was spoken of by the holy prophets, which specifically dated back to the First (Old) Testament. Many of my friends deny that the First Testament writers even addressed the rapture, but I believe they are wrong and these words of Peter express proof of that. Isaiah put the Rapture and the wrath or indignation of God in a beautiful order. “Thy dead [men] shall live, [together with] my dead body shall they arise. Awake and sing, ye that dwell in dust: for thy dew [is as] the dew of herbs, and the earth shall cast out the dead. Come, my people, enter thou into thy chambers, and shut thy doors about thee: hide thyself as it were for a little moment, until the indignation be overpast. For, behold, the LORD cometh out of his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity: the earth also shall disclose her blood, and shall no more cover her slain.” (Isaiah 26:19-21)
You have the gathering of the saints in verse nineteen and their entrance into His presence and a safe place (the chamber or location of the Marriage Supper) in verse twenty and the Wrath or Great Tribulation in verse twenty-one. The order is perfect and the fact of the resurrection in verse nineteen forbids this event to occur at any other time.
The man after God’s own heart also spoke of this location of the gathered saints. Look at this statement by King David. “Thy throne, O God, [is] for ever and ever: the sceptre of thy kingdom [is] a right sceptre. Thou lovest righteousness, and hatest wickedness: therefore God, thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows. All thy garments [smell] of myrrh, and aloes, [and] cassia, out of the ivory palaces, whereby they have made thee glad. Kings’ daughters [were] among thy honourable women: upon thy right hand did stand the queen in gold of Ophir.” “So shall the king greatly desire thy beauty: for he [is] thy Lord; and worship thou him.” “The king’s daughter [is] all glorious within: her clothing [is] of wrought gold. She shall be brought unto the king in raiment of needlework: the virgins her companions that follow her shall be brought unto thee.” (Psalm 45:6-9, 11, 13-14)
Why Does Satan Hate The Rapture?
The very idea of the redeemed church triumphantly in the wedding chamber fills Satan with utter furor Satan is literally ready to marshal all of his fallen hosts and every demon at his disposal to stop the glorious events about to unfold. The Rapture is clearly the key to the future. Out of this gathering together of the saints, both of the First and Second Testament will issue every other End Times scenario.
Let’s look at several reasons why Satan hates the Rapture.
* He despises the blood-washed, sanctified saints. Satan is the accuser of the brethren (Revelation 12:10). For six thousand years he has played a constant cat and mouse game against the saints. Satan has no dwelling place of his own because he forfeited it and was cast out of heaven. From the Garden of Eden until the present, he has sought human lives as the evil means of resistance against the Father. Understanding this, the Apostle Paul stated, “Neither give place to the devil.” (Ephesians 4:27). Again, the Word says, “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” (James 4:7). Yet, Satan fights on.
Satan, above all else, has a furor against the righteous who have frustrated his design. He is busy creating his final scheme of a one-world religion and this will be his greatest plan for human destruction. This religious crowd that has forsaken the truth of the Rapture is making great plans to survive the Tribulation period. Many have denied there will be such a period as the Great Tribulation. The Dominion Theology multitudes are planning their so-called Joel’s Army to conquer the wicked and defeat the devil. What a laughingstock they will be to Satan when he launches his rampage against them.
John 14
1 Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me.
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.
4 And whither I go ye know, and the way ye know.
* He hates the Rapture because it will deliver the righteous out of his hands. The Rapture will be the greatest victory of the church of all ages. In a moment’s time, literally millions of dead and living saints will be resurrected or transformed and caught up to meet the Lord. Satan must have been a frustrated being when God came for a walk with Enoch and suddenly, without notice to Satan, Enoch went back to heaven with the Father. When Elijah was ready to depart, the Father sent a whirlwind and a chariot of fire to transport him through the devil’s territory. Remember, Satan is the “prince of the power of the air.” (Ephesians 2:2). The Father met Moses on a mountain overlooking Canaan and buried him on the mountain. Something more happened because Jude stated, “Yet Michael the archangel, when contending with the devil he disputed about the body of Moses, durst not bring against him a railing accusation, but said, The Lord rebuke thee.” (Jude 9). The above truths are all foreshadows of the coming Rapture. The Bible says that Jesus will come down in the air (mid-air or first heaven) and catch us up to Himself and lead this glorified army back to heaven. Paul 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.” (1 Thessalonians 4:17). The words “shall be caught up” come from one original Greek word, harpazo. Its meaning is of incredible value because everything the Rapture represents is in this Word. It means to catch away, to sieze by force, to take to oneself, etc. Satan’s last chance to destroy the church will be finished when the Bride is in the presence of the Bridegroom.
* He hates the Rapture because “Rapture-ready saints” are unmovable. There is no portion of the church that Satan has less effect upon than saints who live in expectancy of the Rapture. Look at any religious crowd and watch their lives. Those who are overjoyed with excitement and longing for the great hope are the most saintly. There is a depth of commitment, faithfulness to the discipline of prayer and devotion, and a love for a pure church that characterizes these saints. The Rapture is a purifying hope. Jesus expressed this purification wisely, “And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and [so] that day come upon you unawares. For as a snare shall it come on all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth. Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man.” (Luke 21:34-36). You cannot watch for Him without remembering to be accountable. Satan knows the effect of this hope upon the human conscience and seeks desperately to destroy it.
* The Bride will replace Satan and his fallen angels in the Father’s presence. There can be no question that Satan and his deceived host left a vacant spot before the throne of God. Satan appeared to have held a lofty position in the Father’s great heavenly temple. There is no record or idea to suggest a replacement. Satan was a musical creation. Ezekiel described the original beauty and position of Satan. “Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone [was] thy covering, the sardius, topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle, and gold: the workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was prepared in thee in the day that thou wast created. Thou [art] the anointed cherub that covereth; and I have set thee [so]: thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire. Thou [wast] perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee.” (Ezekiel 28:13-15).
Luke 21
35 For as a snare shall it come on all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth.
36 Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man.
37 And in the day time he was teaching in the temple; and at night he went out, and abode in the mount that is called the mount of Olives.
I believe the Bride of Christ will be the new musicians and have their dwelling in the midst of the stones of fire. The throne of God will be the essence of the new city of Jerusalem. In fact, the whole city will be a temple. John, the revelator, said, “And I saw no temple therein: for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it.” (Revelation 21:22). The covering of the great jewels that were said to adorn Lucifer before he fell are now the foundation stones of New Jerusalem. The music that Lucifer was created to express will become the music of the triumphant church and, immediately, when the saints arrive for the wedding, they break forth in singing. “And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation. And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth.” (Revelation 5:9-10). Yes, there will be a thousand year reign on earth after the Marriage Supper and before the New Jerusalem descends as our Bridal city. Even the thousand year reign of the saints is the opposite of Satan’s earthly destruction. Satan’s earthly reign was in terror, but our reign will be in righteousness.
* Satan hates the Rapture because it represents the final triumph of the seed of woman. The anger and animosity between the seed of the devil and the seed of woman was first manifest in the Garden of Eden. Satan deceived Eve and set the backdrop for the Father’s declaration. “And the LORD God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou [art] cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life: and I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel. Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire [shall be] to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.” (Genesis 3:14-16).
From that moment God preserved a seed of woman pure from the seed of the serpent. When Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord, it confirmed he and his wife as two pure breed souls with the privilege of carrying the seed of the coming Messiah. The rest of the human family was destroyed, because they had been contaminated by the serpent’s seed and were vile and unredeemable.
When God called Abraham out of the Land of Ur, the Spirit of God was acting to preserve a seed from the paganism that was spreading across the Sumerian landscape. From Abraham and Sarah to Boaz and Ruth, right on until the Holy Ghost overshadowed Mary, the seed of woman was preserved in complete purity from the seed of the serpent. The seed of the serpent, using those contaminated by paganism and demonic possession, badgered the righteous that acted in preserving their separation and purity.
Jesus Christ, born of a virgin that had never known man, was the seed of woman that 4,000 years of human history had groaned to produce. He was the Son of God and the Son of man. Satan tried every route to compromise the Son of man/seed of woman, but failed. The seed of woman would finally bruise the head of the seed of the serpent. The cross was a complete and final victory over the devil.
Satan battled with Jesus in the wilderness all during His life and he battled with Him in Abraham’s bosom even after the cross, but he lost. He has battled against the body of Jesus Christ (the church) for nearly 2,000 years and he is still losing because Calvary seals the destruction of Satan’s kingdom. But, now the seed of woman, Jesus Christ, leads His body, the church, toward our final triumph. If He is the seed of woman, then we are His seed, so we are the final and last seed of woman. The final seed of woman to bruise the head of the serpent will be the glorious raptured bride, while the seed of woman has repeatedly won, we are about to give him his greatest defeat.
Satan has got to be in great consternation, knowing how near the Rapture must be. No wonder the heavenlies are ablaze with unidentified flying objects (UFO’s), the weather is out of kilter, and the earthquakes reveal a universe under incredible duress. As the god of this world and the prince of the power of the air, he is uniting every demon, influencing the church with false propaganda, and organizing his last world religion.
Satan could not hate anything worse than he hates the Rapture because the seed of woman will have given him one of his last defeats and escaped his reach forever.
Our Escape To The Marriage Supper
The very joy that God had with man in the created Garden of Eden will now resume at the Marriage Supper. Satan and sin created a separation between the Creator and the Creation and that separation will be over, not just spiritually as the church has already been enjoying, but also in a tangible sense. We will be literally in His presence with glorified bodies, just like His disciples were in His presence with mortal bodies.
John saw in the Spirit this following scene. “And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation; and hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth. And I beheld, and I heard the voice of many angels round about the throne and the beasts and the elders: and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands; saying with a loud voice, Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing.” (Revelation 5:9-12). And they all said, “Amen!”