As an engineer, I learned to live with uncertainty. People want absolutes, but an engineer is perfectly comfortable saying, "A is probable, B is possible, and C is not likely." The engineer will then plan for A, but have a backup plan in case B happens.
That's how I think about the Rapture.
The Pre-Trib Rapture is probable, but other models are possible, so I'll plan to do right, whatever happens. That includes the high probability, in light of two millennia of history, that I will be neither raptured nor martyred.
Should those who hope for a Rapture before the Tribulation find themselves in the Tribulation, they'll probably be too busy with survival to lose faith just because there was no Rapture. If they're true believers, they'll buck up anyway. Those who fall and receive the Mark were never true believers.
God may in this day, as Father, allow the devil's wrath to purify us, to purify the church of false believers, and to demonstrate His victory through our faithfulness.
However, in the day of His wrath, as Judge, He will be loathe to unleash His wrath against His own children. It would make sense, therefore, for God to remove us from the path of His vengeance.
Therefore, the unleashing of the Antichrist requires the rapture.
The removal of the saints by the Rapture does not mean that no saints will walk the earth during the Tribulation. The world will notice the disappearance of the church, and many who had heard the gospel would then be converted. Since the removal of the pre-Rapture saints would already have unleashed the Antichrist, God could continue all the promises to the new, post-Rapture saints, including the promised Holy Spirit.
"Let me guess," I said after a moment's cogitation, "it will all pan out in the end?"
"You got it." At the first coming of Christ, nobody foresaw that it would occur in stages, and those most adamant about their interpretation were wrong. Some of us may be close, but I have no doubt that the End Times will likewise pan out in ways more perfect than we ever imagined.
Copyright 2017, Richard Wheeler
That's how I think about the Rapture.
The Pre-Trib Rapture is probable, but other models are possible, so I'll plan to do right, whatever happens. That includes the high probability, in light of two millennia of history, that I will be neither raptured nor martyred.
Will Disappointment Trip Rapturists?
Persecutions have always happened and still happen. Therefore, we know that great persecution can and probably will come upon us between now and, assuming there is one, the beginning of the Tribulation.Should those who hope for a Rapture before the Tribulation find themselves in the Tribulation, they'll probably be too busy with survival to lose faith just because there was no Rapture. If they're true believers, they'll buck up anyway. Those who fall and receive the Mark were never true believers.
Whose Day of Wrath?
As for the rapture itself, today is the age of the devil's wrath against the church. The Tribulation is the day of God's wrath against the world.God may in this day, as Father, allow the devil's wrath to purify us, to purify the church of false believers, and to demonstrate His victory through our faithfulness.
However, in the day of His wrath, as Judge, He will be loathe to unleash His wrath against His own children. It would make sense, therefore, for God to remove us from the path of His vengeance.
Earth Sans God the Holy Spirit
Moreover, evil is hindered by the Holy Spirit's presence in us, making us preservative salt to the world. Removing the Holy Spirit without us would require God to retract multiple benefits of salvation from us; for example, the seal of the Spirit. Even worse, God would have to break His promise (Ephesians 1:13).Therefore, the unleashing of the Antichrist requires the rapture.
The removal of the saints by the Rapture does not mean that no saints will walk the earth during the Tribulation. The world will notice the disappearance of the church, and many who had heard the gospel would then be converted. Since the removal of the pre-Rapture saints would already have unleashed the Antichrist, God could continue all the promises to the new, post-Rapture saints, including the promised Holy Spirit.
Pan Millennialism
My friend, the late Greg Knapp, once declared, "I have studied all the eschatological models and can argue in favor of or against any of them. After all that study, I chose to call myself a Pan Millennialist.""Let me guess," I said after a moment's cogitation, "it will all pan out in the end?"
"You got it." At the first coming of Christ, nobody foresaw that it would occur in stages, and those most adamant about their interpretation were wrong. Some of us may be close, but I have no doubt that the End Times will likewise pan out in ways more perfect than we ever imagined.
Hope and Reality
God removed Lot before nuking his town and removed Noah before flooding the world. I'm hoping for the Rapture, because it seems the best interpretation and a lot more fun than dying of a traffic accident, sickness, or martyrdom. But if the Tribulation comes and I'm still here, I will remind myself of Job's words, "Yea, though He slay me, yet I will trust in Him."Copyright 2017, Richard Wheeler
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