Subj: The Inheritance -- Part IV Date: 97-06-21 17:24:28 EDT From: heb_roots_chr@mail.geocities.com Reply-to: heb_roots_chr@geocities.com To: heb_roots_chr@geocities.com (Hebraic Heritage Newsgroup) From: drleves@ibm.net To: heb_roots_chr@geocities.com Subject: Chapter eight From Eddie: ************** Food for thought. While the Christian worlds seems to love to argue when the ENTIRE church will be raptured as the church teaches that the ENTIRE church is the bride, did you ever consider that there will be a pre-tribulation rapture but ONLY THE BRIDE who PREPARED herself and had her LAMP BURNING was counted WORTHY to escape the tribulation but the "foolish" and "lukewarm" Christian was not ready and missed the GREAT WEDDING?? Could this be the message of the parable of Yeshua/Jesus in Matthew 25 ?? Don't you think that it is important to KNOW who the BRIDE of Christ is, what her spiritual characteristics are and what her role is in the Kingdom of heaven ???? Below is part IV of the article from our brother in the newsgroup. ************************************************************************ CHAPTER 8 The Great Escape The Rapture A very controversial subject in Christianity rotates around the second coming of the Lord. Escathology has been the focal point of many foolish divisions and new denominations have been formed on the controversy of this topic. Some people believe that the church will have to go through the great tribulations, others say it will have to go only through part of the tribulation. Many other people believe the "taken away" (the rapture) will occur just prior to the tribulation period. I happen to be of latter group. Some people ridicule the concept of the "Rapture of the Church." They declare that the word "rapture" is not found in the Bible. That depends on which Bible you're reading. Paul, in his writing to the people of the church of the Thessalonians, said "I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them who are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as those who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with Him. For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not procede them which are asleep. "For the Lord Himself shall decend 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: 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. Wherefore comfort one another with these words" (1 Thess 4:13-18). The phrase "caught up" in 1 Thessalonian 4:17 is the Greek word harpanzo, which actually means "to be snatched away violently." The word "rapture" gets its origin from the Latin Vulgate, one of the oldest known Bibles in existence. The Latin equivalent of harpanzo is the verb rapio, which means "to take away by force. This appropriate tense of rapio appears in verse 17. Rapts is the past participle of rapio. Our English words "rapt" and "rapture" stem from this past participle. What is meant by the rapture of the church? The Rapture speaks to the time when Jesus Christ will come and take His Church out of this world. It shall happen suddenly without any notice.=20 The rapture of the Church and the Second Coming of Christ are two separate events. At therapture Jesus is coming for those who are looking for His appearance and those who are not "lukewarm". This event will save those who are chosen from the terrible ordeals of judgement or tribulation that God will impose upon the earth. The tribulation will begin with World War Three in the Middle East and end seven years later with the battle of Armageddon when the Lord will come. He will come with those saints that were removed from the earth during the Rapture. They will establish the Kingdom age which will last a thousand years.=20 "Behold the Lord cometh with ten thousands of His saints" (Jude 14). In 1 Corinthians 15:51-52, Paul said, "Behold, I show you a mystery; we will not all sleep, but will be changed {metamorphosis, a change of body} in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye." When will the rapture take place? The Lord said, "No man knows the day or the hour," and for us to presume some date or some hour would be an unscriptural presumption. Many, even up to this day, have claimed to know the exact time and have even prohesied it. Their claims have proven false. Although we do not know the exact time of the Rapture, we are given a clue. In 1 Thessalonians 5 Paul says, "But of the times and seasons, brethren you have no need that I write unto you. For you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord is coming like a thief in the night.=20 For when they will say, Peace and safety; then comes sudden destruction....But ye, brethren, are not in darkness that that day should overtake you as a thief." As we see today the signs of the time we must realize that we were warned by the Lord to discern the seasons and the time. Jesus told us that at the time of the end it will be like the time of Noah when the whole world was filled with violence. We are observing in today's society the rise of a perverted and violent society. The Lord said that one of the signs would be that worldwouldbe like it was during the time of Sodom and Gomorah. The sign of that time was a great effeminate movement. This is also the origin of the word "sodomy" in our law books. They might have called it the "Gay movements" if it were today. One thing is for certain, God destroyed those cities because of this sin. In this country today it's no longer shameful to be "queer," "homosexual," or "Lesbian." They have covered the name of "shame" with "gay." You may call slime sugar, but it's still slime.=20 God calls it "SIN" and God will judge each nation for this perversion.=20 This is not the only sin that God will judge in this world. This country, and the world, has murdered millions of innocent children (abortion) as a sacrifice to the God of pleasure. Another sign of the end days is the rise of false prophets and false Christs. Jesus has said that "many shall come in My name, saying, I am the Christ, and will deceive many" (Matthew 24:5). God has given to us the Word of Prophecy that will be a sign for the season of his coming. One of the greatest signs to the world today is the reestablishment of the nation Israel. For years Bible scholars had looked forward to the regathering of the nation of Israel. This was based on many Scriptures (including Matthew 24:32) by applying expositional constancy such as in the parable of the fig tree, saying that the fig tree is symbolic of Israel. Skeptics ridiculed this interpretation. Never in the history of man had a nation ever been reborn. But in May, 1948, a miracle took place, God re-established the nation of Israel. God had fulfilled His Promise even as He said He would. Psalm 102:16 declares, "When the Lord shall build up zion, He shall appear in His Glory." In the parable of the fig tree we are told "Now learn a parable of the fig tree; when its branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, you will know that summer is nigh...even know that it is near, even at the doors, Verily I say unto you, THIS GENERATION SHALL shall not pass away, till all these things be fullfilled" (Matt 24:32-35). What generation is the Lord speaking about? Certainly not the generation Christ was talking to because they've passed away, but the generation that saw the fig tree budding forth. The coming of Jesus Christ is "even at the doors." The rebirth of the nation Israel should be a sign that we might observe to know that the time is short. Another great sign given by the Lord is found in the Gospel of Luke. It tells us that "And they will fall by the edge of the sword, and be led captive into all nations. And Jerusalem will be trampled by Gentiles until the time of the Gentiles is fulfilled" (Luke 21:24). The city of Jerusalem for the first time in over twenty five hundred years was completley free from Gentile domination in June of 1967. The times of the Gentiles (World system) has come to a close and again a great sign of the coming of the Lord has taken place in this generation. Sadly the Liberal government in Israel today is trading land for peace, and 1996, they will even try to bargain Jerusalem for peace with the Arabs. This also is part of Biblical prophecy, for the prophet Zachariah wrote about the last days prior to the second coming of the Lord "And it shall happen in that day that I will make Jerusalem a very heavy stone for all peoples; all who would heave it away will surely be cut in pieces, though all nations of the earth are gathered against it" (Zachariah 12:3) and again he wrote, "For I will gather all the nations to battle against Jerusalem; the city shall be taken, the houses rifled, and the women ravished. Half of the city shall go into captivity, but the remnant of the people shall not be cut off from the city" (Zech 14:2). Other signs are clearly seen today, the violent generation, unruly children, and the rise of the Homosexual movement, Jesus had said ""but on the day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all. "Even so will it be in the day when the Son of Man is revealed" (Luke 17:29-30). Those worthy of the rapture I believe that those who are running the race and keeping themselves in the love of God will not be dissapointed when the event of the Rapture takes place. The scriptures warn us of just who will be worthy of the Rapture. Jesus said "But take heed to yourselves, lest your hearts be weighed down with carousing, drunkenness, and cares of this life, and that Day come on you unexpectedly. For it will come as a snare on all those that dwell on the face of the whole earth. Watch therefore, and pray always that you may be COUNTED WORTHY to escape all these things that will come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man" (Luke 22:34-36). Those who are following the instructions of Jesus will be taken up in the Rapture just prior to the judgement that will come upon the earth.=20 Why before the Tribulation? Because God has not appointed wrath to the saints. Let's stop here for a moment. Some use the above scripture to say that you can continue to live like a Sunday Christian, live like a pagan for the rest of the week, and still be found worthy to escape the judgment of God. That is not what I am implying. I believe what the scripture is saying is that God does not want to have us be judged with this present evil world. That is why Peter said "For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the Gospel of God?" (1 Peter 4:17). If one knows the Lord's will and does not do it, the master will come at a time when he will not expect him. Scriptures say that, "he will be cut asunder, and his portion with the unbelievers, (the world's judgement)" (Luke 13:46). The parable of the unjust steward in the Gospel of Luke had his portion appointed with the unbelievers. I believe this implies that the man was disinherited and therefore lost the race and failed to obtain the Kingdom of God. Notice what is written, "And that servant, which knew his lord's will, AND PREPARED NOT HIMSELF, NEITHER DID ACCORDING TO HIS WILL, shall be beaten with many stripes" (Luke 12:36-48). One of his failure's was that HE FAILED TO PREPARE HIMSELF. (The scriptures in another place tells us that the Bride had made herself ready.) He also failed to DO ACCORDING TO HIS WILL. These two items are very important for the believer to understand, for one without the other makes both void. Jesus said to "Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the FIRST WORKS; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place except thou repent" (Revelation 2:5). The "First works" means to prepare yourself to meet the Lord. It means to abide in Christ, to be clothed with His righteousness. If we prepare ourselves to be like Jesus, the Holy Spirit will guide us in all truth's that we will be living according to His will. The Holy Spirit cannot do this work if we don't abide in Christ. To do the Lord's will also means to redeem the time. Paul, in Ephesians 5:16, exhorts us to "redeem the time, because the days are evil." The word "redeem" actually means "to make wise and sacred use of every opportunity." We must realize that we are stewards of everything that we have. Everything is really a loan from the Lord. We may say my car, my future, my family, my job, but the truth of the matter is that these things are not ours at all, but God's. Our very life is a gift from the Lord. The very breath that you are drawing as you read this book is really from the Lord. Also notice in this parable of the unwise steward that the Lord speaks of chastisement. "And that servant, which knew his lord's will, and prepared not himself, neither did according to his will, SHALL BE BEATEN WITH MANY STRIPES." According to Hebrews 12, chastisement means sonship and without it we would be bastards, and not sons (Heb 12-5-11). This unwise steward therefore was not lost but severely chastened by missing out when the Lord comes for those who are ready at the Rapture and by staying behind when the Lord comes. Another similar story is told in the Parable of the ten virgins in Matthew 25. In this story we have two classes of virgins (Matt 25:2-4). Many commentators take the five foolish virgins to be unsaved, yet there are so many reasons to overturn such a poor interpretation that I will mention only a few which serve as an important proof that these foolish virgins are saved people: (1) They have lights in their lamps (Verse 8). These lights sustained them up to midnight and the time of their lamps "going out" showing that the lights are not yet extinguished. And so these virgins have "good works" and they "glorify {their} Father who is in heaven" (Matt 5:16)=A3 due to the indwelling Holy Spirit in them except that now their lights are going out. (2) There is oil in their lamps, even through it is granted that there is no oil in the vessels. Oil signifies the Holy Spirit, andtherefore these foolish virgins must be saved ones. (3) The difference between the five wise and five foolish virgins lies in their conduct, not in their nature. Since all of them are virgins, with no divergence of true or false, their only distinction is between their being wise or foolish. To be foolish does not mean to not be saved. Oil in the lamps means more than the in-dwelling of the Holy Spirit: it speaks of being filled with the Holy Spirit. The indwelling Holy Spirit is received at the time of regeneration but the filling of the Holy Spirit comes through continual seeking following the moment of regeneration. Each believer has the Holy Spirit yet not all have the fullness of the Holy Spirit. A vessel is something other than the lamp, yet, this is not the emphasis here. Since oil is a liquid, it must be contained in a vessel. God's will for us is for each of us to be filled to the fullness not just partially filled. In order to be filled to fullness, we need to do more that just trimming or decorating the lamp. The supply of oil must also be adequate to keep the lamp burning. One of the priestly duties was to keep the lampstand trimmed and the oil filled in their reservoirs so that the lamps would not go out. What about those who did not get ready? Once the rapture has taken place, those who were lukewarm and distant from the Lord will realize, like the sons of the prophets in 2 Kings 2, that what they had prophesied had truly come to pass. As a result, they will become serious about God's Word. They will become the martyred during the Great Tribulation period by refusing to take the mark of the beast. Some will die in the terrible judgement that's coming to this world. They will have lost out on the Inheritance of God and the invitation that God had sent to them for the marriage supper of the Lamb. "Blessed are they who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb" (Rev 19:6). How much better to go with the Bride (five wise virgins cc. Matt 25) than to be left behind to face the Tribulation and all the horror coming upon the earth. For Jesus said, "For there will be great tribulation, such as the world never has seen before or ever will see again" (Matt 24:21). Why not just open your heart and life to Jesus Christ now?=20 If you have not received Him as your Lord and Saviour then by faith ask Him; if you are a carnal Christian, re-commit your life to him and start obeying His rules of the Kingdom so that you too may be heir to the great Inheritance our Lord has left for us all. **************************************************************************