The Rapture (seriously)

"What We Believe" 26 Feb '14 22:23 Thread 158140 (Page 1)

8) "Church: We believe that the church, which is the Body of Christ is composed of all church age believers. The church is a spiritual organism, and all believers are in union with Christ and is not based upon affiliation with Christian denominations or organizations. (1Cor 12:12-14; Eph 1:22)."

9) "Satan: We believe that Satan, as the Scriptures state, is the greatest creature ever to come from the hand of God (Ezek. 28:12-13). He is presently the ruler of this world (John 12:31; 14:30; 16:11; 2 Cor. 4:4; Eph. 2:2), which he usurped from Adam in the garden (Gen. 3:1-5). He was the "anointed cherub who covers" (Ezek. 28:14). He led the angels in worshipping the Lord Jesus Christ in eternity past. He became arrogant by reason of his perfect wisdom and beauty (Ezek. 28:16-17) and became disenchanted with his position and rebelled against God. He led a rebellion against God taking with him a third of the angels (Rev. 12:4). He was sentenced to the Lake of Fire by God with a third of the angels (Mt. 25:41), but has been graciously granted an appeal by God. Human history outworking of this appeal of Satan's. He is now the openly declared enemy of God. Satan's objective both then and now is to be like God and to usurp the throne of heaven (Isa. 14:14). He was defeated at the Cross by Christ. His sentence will be executed at the completion of human history and will then be thrown into the Lake of Fire (Rev. 20:10-15)."

10) "Dispensations: We believe that a dispensation is a period of time during in which God employs a particular plan and man is tested to see if he will be obedient to that specific plan. We also believe that a dispensation is a period of human history explained in terms of divine revelation. History is defined as a series of administrations or eras. Each dispensation reflects the unfolding of God's plan for mankind and constitutes the divine viewpoint of history. It is essential for believers to understand dispensationalism in order to orient to God's will, plan, and purpose for their specific period of history that they are living in (Eph 1:7-11; 3:16; Rom 16:25-26; Col 1:26; Joh 1:16-17)."

11) "Rapture: We believe that the next great event in the fulfillment of prophecy will be the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ to gather the church to Himself in the earth's atmosphere. He will receive to Himself believers who have died and believers who are alive at His coming. This is also known as the "Rapture" or "Resurrection of the Church" (1Cor 15:51-57; 1Thess 4:13-18; Titus 2:11-14)."

12) "Tribulation: We believe that the rapture of the Church will be followed by the fulfillment of Israel's seventieth week. The latter half of this seven-year period is the time of Jacob's trouble, the Great Tribulation (Jer 30:7; Dan 9:27; Mat 24:15-21; Rev 6:19)."

13) "2nd Advent of Christ: We believe that the Great Tribulation will culminate in the (pre-millennial) return of the Lord Jesus Christ to earth to set up His kingdom. At this time He will literally land on the Mount of Olives and will deliver the nation of Israel from her enemies. This event will mark the literal 1000 year reign of Christ on planet earth (Zec 14:4-11; Mat 24:15-25; 2Thess 1:7-10; Rev 20:6)."

14) "Eternal State: We believe that the soul and the human spirit of those who have believed in the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation immediately pass into His presence at the moment of physical death (2 Cor. 5:8). The soul and the human spirit remain in conscious bliss until the resurrection of the body at His coming. At this time, soul, human spirit and body reunite, and shall forever be associated with His glory. The souls of unbelievers remain after death in conscious misery until the final judgment of the Great White Throne at the close of the millennium. At this time, the soul and body reunited shall be cast into the eternal Lake of Fire. Not to be annihilated but to be salted with everlasting destruction and banished from the presence of the Lord forever (Luk 16:19-26; 23:43; 2Co 5:8; Phi 1:23; 2Th 1:7-9; Jud 6:7; Rev 20:11-15)."

15) "Responsibility of the Believer: The responsibility of the believer after salvation is to desire the sincere milk of the Word and to be continually nourished by it so that he may grow spiritually in grace and in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. It is God's desire that first every man be saved, and secondly that every believer in Christ come to intimately know Him through the inculcation of the Word of God (1Titus 2:4). The effectual work of God's Word brings the believer into adjustment with God's purpose, plan, and will. The internal execution of God's Word brings glory to the Lord (Rom 12:1-2; 2Cor 13:9; 1Titus 4:6; 1Pet 2:2; 2Pet 3:18)."

16) "Church Ordinance: We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ instituted the Lord's Supper to be observed until His return (1Cor 11:23-36)."

17) "Sovereignty: We believe that God, existing as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, is sovereign. He exercises supreme and absolute rule over all creation as a part of, and consistent with, the essence and attributes of deity (1Chron 29:11-12; Dan 4:35; Psa 24:1; Eph 1:11; 1Titus 6:15). However God in His sovereignty will not violate the free will of man. The free will of man and the sovereignty of God coexist by divine decree (1Titus 2:4-6; Rom 5:8-10: 32-33; 16:24-25; John 3:16, 36)."

18) Spirituality: Though salvation is the result of one decision to believe, spirituality is the result of continuous decisions to depend upon the Holy Spirit and to be filled with the Spirit. The believer is mandated not to quench nor to grieve the Spirit by personal sin and by rejection of His grace and power. In addition, to walk by means of the Spirit and be filled with the Spirit, the Christian life can only be fulfilled by the power of the Spirit (Gal 5:16; Eph 4:30; 5:18; 1Thess 5:19). We also affirm that a believer's intimacy with the Holy Spirit, also known as fellowship, is suspended once he commits personal sins. This intimacy is restored when he names and cites his sin(s) to God (1 John 1:9)."

19) "Spiritual Gifts: We believe that God the Holy Spirit, in grace and apart from any human merit, administers a spiritual gift to believers in this dispensation. Some permanent spiritual gifts in existence today are Pastor/Teachers, Evangelists, and Administrators. We further maintain that the temporary spiritual gifts ceased with the completion of the canon of scripture. These temporary gifts were, apostleship, prophecy, speaking in tongues, interpreting tongues, healing and working of miracles (1Cor 12:13; Eph 4:7-12; Rom 12:4-8). Though spiritual gifts of miracles and healing have ceased, God may, and does, heal and miraculously intervene by His direct action (Isa 46:10; Mat 28:18; Jam 5:16)." -Pastor Bill Wenstrom (2 of 2)

http://www.wenstrom.org/modules.php?name=StaticText&pagename=what_we_believe

Note: This summary statement, as taught by Pastor Wenstrom, is based on the authority of the original languages in which the Word of God was written. I too believe this statement word for word. Further comment on the Rapture to follow.

Originally posted by Grampy Bobby
Note: This summary statement, as taught by Pastor Wenstrom, is based on the authority of the original languages in which the Word of God was written. I too believe this statement word for word. Further comment on the Rapture to follow.

Originally posted by OdBod
Hi Suzianne, I'm a member of the BHA and an Atheist, it's a shame you only want comments from Christians. It's loading the dice a little bit isn't it?

Originally posted by Shallow Blue
The beginning and the end of the serious discussion about "The Rapture" is that it is an 18th century invention by USA Evangelists, which, after a brief spell of success among the Plymouth Brethren, now only prevails in its country of origin and isn't taken seriously by the vast, but [b]vast majority of Christians in the rest of the world at ...[text shortened]... The Rapture" as it is described in Chick Tracts and related pseudo-Christian pseudo-literature.)[/b]

It will have to wait until I get home this morning to write more extensively on this, I'm on my mobile right now.

Thanks for the responses I've gotten so far.

Originally posted by Grampy Bobby
[b]"What We Believe" 26 Feb '14 22:23 Thread 158140 (Page 1)

8) "Church: We believe that the church, which is the Body of Christ is composed of all church age believers. The church is a spiritual organism, and all believers are in union with Christ and is not based upon affiliation with Christian denominations or organization ...[text shortened]... s written. I too believe this statement word for word. Further comment on the Rapture to follow.[/b]

Originally posted by Suzianne
I'm interested in a serious discussion about the Rapture. I've been exploring some ideas about the Tribulation, and even though I always thought the Rapture was just some wishful thinking by Christians that they could avoid the worst times ever to come to this planet, and that the only Rapture we'll see is the post-Tribulation Rapture when Christ comes bac ...[text shortened]... n, when will it happen, why do you think so, and what has guided your beliefs about the Rapture?

Originally posted by divegeester
Is this what you believe?

Originally posted by RBHILL
Yes and in verse 51 it goes on to say that we will be transformed

Originally posted by Grampy Bobby
[b]"Note: This summary statement, as taught by Pastor Wenstrom, is based on the authority of the original languages in which the Word of God was written. I too believe this statement word for word. Further comment on the Rapture to follow." (Pg. 2)[/b]

Originally posted by Suzianne
I'm interested in a serious discussion about the Rapture. I've been exploring some ideas about the Tribulation, and even though I always thought the Rapture was just some wishful thinking by Christians that they could avoid the worst times ever to come to this planet, and that the only Rapture we'll see is the post-Tribulation Rapture when Christ comes bac ...[text shortened]... n, when will it happen, why do you think so, and what has guided your beliefs about the Rapture?

Originally posted by josephw
[b]"...what has guided your beliefs about the Rapture?"

The Word of God. I'm not too keen on extra-Biblical terminology.

1 Thessalonians 4:17 says;
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.

"Caught up" from the Greek word harp ...[text shortened]... e prior to the 70th week. But it is for certain that the event called "the rapture" will happen.

Originally posted by KellyJay
I agree

When a Christian is in the heat of temptation and turns the heart to the Lord Jesus Who lives within them, they are instantly rescued OUT of their fallen self and INTO the saving grace of Jesus which empowers them to stand.

When you call on the name of Jesus and set your mind on the human spirit which for the Christian is mingled with the Holy Spirit, you are instantly empowered, uplifted, graced, supplied with spiritual strength, even supplied with the proper humanity. This is a kind of "mini-rapture" of your soul away from the old man and into the new man.

Jesus Christ does not want us to only TURN to Him. He wants us to REMAIN and ABIDE in Him. We Christians should first learn to deny ourselves and TURN our heart to the Lord within. Then we should learn not to wait for trouble, but to WALK in Him. That is to ABIDE within our regenerated spirit.

"He who is joined to the Lord is one spirit" (1 Cor. 6:17) [/b]

WHAT THEN IS THE RAPTURE ?

There is more than one catching up, and taking away. The FIRST catching up and taking away will be a REWARD to those who are abiding in the presence of the Lord Jesus in the way of WALKING with God. No one can tell or guarantee who will experience the first sudden rapture of the saints. But at the time it occurs some will be taken (a minority) and the majority will be left on earth to pass through further trials.

The record of Enoch who walked with God is an instruction and warning. Enoch was saved from the judgment of the flood. He walked with God step by step, enjoying God's presence from moment to moment. One day Enoch disappeared. He simply was not found by his friends or acquaintances.

Genesis 5:21,22 - "And Enoch walked with God after he had begotten Methuseleh three hundred years, and he begot more sons and daughters, And all the days of Enoch were three hundred sixty-five years.

And Enoch walked with God, and he was not, for God took him."

It is inevitable that SOME Christians will be living on the earth at the end times. Not all will have fallen asleep in physical death. The question is HOW will God deal with those alive upon the earth at the end times?

For length's sake I must stop after only a little more.

Firstly God will demonstrate and vindicate those walk with God. God will make that decision. No one else can make that decision. But the whole church will be raptured but not at the same time. First a corporate Enoch as an aggregate group of watching and ready saints of Christ will suddenly not be found.

These will be taken before the great tribulation.
Those remaining on earth will pass through the great tribulation and be taken at its conclusion.

I think I discussed this in great detail with RJHinds many months back.