In this posting we will examine the Biblical view of religious denominations and the rapture. These doctrines have been viewed as Godly truths within professing Christendom for many years. As the church drifted ever farther away from the Lord these and other “revelations” from on high became foundation “stones” upon which the anti-Bible version of the church that exists today took form. The farther from the Lord church people veered the more entrenched these and other false doctrines became as Satan gained ever more control over what is called “the church.”

Today, to openly question any one of the dozen or so church “truths” we are examining in this series invites reactions ranging from amusement to outright hatred. One local pastor informed me that I had “fallen from grace.” Another one invited me to visit his church where I could hear him preach the “real gospel” and, hopefully, get saved. Why had they turned on me? My soul-condemning sin was that I had printed God’s Scriptural Truth in the local newspaper and contrasted it to church doctrine by providing book, chapter and verse. I offer this as a warning to anyone thinking about telling church people what is written in the Holy Bible and living accordingly. Paul warns us that, “ALL who will LIVE GODLY in Christ Jesus WILL SUFFER PERSECUTION” (2 Tim. 3:12). Jesus notes that the saint’s enemies will include members of one’s family (Mat. 10:36). This is why He said that only those who endure persecution to the end of their lives WILL (latter) BE SAVED (Mat. 10:22). This is what the Lord meant when He advised us to “count the cost” of true discipleship (Lk. 14:26-28).

DENOMINATIONS: In First Corinthians 3:1-9 we find the Apostle Paul chastising the members of the church at Corinth for being childish and carnal (living in the flesh) because they were calling themselves the disciples of certain men instead of the disciples of Christ. Paul reminded them that he had taught them on the “milk” level at the beginning which was normal when dealing with “babes in Christ.” However, they had failed to grow up in the Lord and were rejecting the spiritual “meat” required for Christian maturity.

Paul was also dealing with a maturity problem among the Israelite Christians as noted in Hebrews 5:9-6:6. After noting their immaturity he told them to leave the “first principles” of Christianity and move on to the “strong meat” of the Word by which they could develop personal holiness and righteousness which are necessary for salvation. In both cases he was telling them that the pure “meat” of the Word was for those mature enough to receive it. His complaint was that the people were still living on the “milk” level. Following after men was a sign that they were still spiritual “babes.” Read the Hebrews passage as well as Romans 5:21 and 6:22.

In Ephesians chapter four Paul is having to address the maturity problem in yet another church. He is telling the Ephesians to “walk worthy of the spiritual position into which you were called” instead of separating themselves into different bodies. He commands them to “keep the UNITY (ONENESS) OF THE HOLY SPIRIT” and not to go off in different spiritual directions. He reminds them that there is only ONE BODY, ONE SPIRIT, ONE LORD, ONE FAITH, ONE BAPTISM AND ONE GOD.

In First Corinthians 12:12-20 Paul stresses the fact that, though here are many church groups in many places, COMBINED THEY COMPRISE THE ONE AND ONLY BODY OF CHRIST. In First Corinthians 1:13 Paul asks, “Is Christ divided?” His answer: God forbid! God forbids us to even think about such heresy. Incredibly, his Words have fallen on deaf ears. In the modern (Laodicean era) church each denomination claims to be THE ONE AND ONLY BODY OF CHRIST. A body must have a head to survive and function. That requires each body to have its own Head (Christ). Sound familiar? It should, for this is exactly what professing Christendom has done. Each body (denomination) has its own head (Christ), its own God, its own set of “truths,” its own plan of salvation, each meets in its own locations, under its own denominational name. Each head/body combination claims that it and it alone, has the truth which it and it alone has been commissioned to spread throughout the world, lead people to Christ, etc. The hundreds of conflicting, competing, contradicting denominations are abominations unto the Lord Who will destroy the whole sordid mess upon His return. The splitting of the church into man-created divisions openly defies God’s command to, “let there be no divisions among you (1 Cor. 1:10). By dividing the church Satan finished what he had begun during the first century of church history. By offering a “you-want-it-you-got-it type of religion–HE GAINED TOTAL CONTROL OVER THE CHURCH. With that master stroke he totally Catholicized her by making her truly universal. Once “saved” one need only find the church of one’s choice and join up. Only a minutely few true saints have stayed true to the Lord and His Biblical standard by refusing to fall into Satan’s religious trap which I call the Catholic/Protestant Religious System. These are the few who will rise to meet Christ in the air upon His return during the first resurrection (Mat. 7:13,14; 22:14). This brings us to the next Satanic deception–the rapture.

THE RAPTURE: In 1830 an Irish woman named Margaret McDonald had a vision in which every Catholic on earth was suddenly taken up to heaven just before the beginning of the Great Tribulation. She shared her vision with her priest. Within “the church” anything that pleases man is automatically proclaimed to be “divine truth from God,” the “rapture” was embraced by all. Soon the “divine revelation” was picked up by the Protestants who embraced it wholeheartedly without question. However, a small minority of believers did not buy into the theological principle. Over time these detractors were labeled heretics and placed outside of mainstream Christianity.

In order to “prove” their new “truth” rapturists needed a passage of Scripture to validate their claim concerning a secret “rapture” that would, in an instant, sweep all “true Christians” (those in THE church) up to heaven. They found their “proof” but failed to obey God’s study rules found in Isaiah 58:9-13. As a result 99% of professing Christendom today “knows” that there will come a time when those who are alive as the Tribulation period approaches will suddenly disappear, leaving behind their clothing. However, that will supposedly be only part of the phenomenon. Vehicles will be wrecked and airplanes will fall from the sky. Two people will be conversing when one of them will suddenly vanish without a sound. Mass confusion will ensue as the world wonders what is happening. Songs have been sung, books have been written and movies have been made concerning this stupendous event to come. As I heard so many times in my youth, one needs to “get saved today” because one does not know if he/she will “make it home before the rapture takes God’s people to heaven.”

The problem is that the most phenomenal event ever to take place will in fact not take place. And if it did, none of those who believe it would make the cut. If, that is, we can take God at His Word–ALL of His Word. Here is where His “fine print” plays the spoiler role by destroying the rapture theory.

The Scriptural passage used to “prove” the theory is First Thessalonians 4:13-18. Here Paul refers to the Sadducees and their followers who did not believe that there would be a resurrection of the saints. He points out that, because Jesus rose from the dead, those who lived as He did will also rise from the dead (sleep) in the first resurrection. Beginning in verse 16 we find the “proof” of a so-called secret “rapture” of those in THE church. Here Paul writes that the dead IN CHRIST will rise first to meet Jesus in the clouds, followed by those who are living at the time of His return, and that they will then “forever be with Him where He is.” This is where the church leaves God’s Truth (“headline”) and begins to follow Satan’s version of things to come. The question is: WHERE WILL JESUS BE FROM THAT TIME FORTH? The church assumes that He will be in heaven. But the Holy Bible proclaims that HE WILL BE ON EARTH. Nowhere do the Scriptures tell us that He will return to heaven. The three primary passages that tell us the Truth about His future whereabouts are there for the “fine print” searcher to find. study and believe. Let us examine these passages with care because TRUTH MATTERS.

In Zechariah 14:1-5 we find the first clue. In verses one and two the Lord tells us that He will be in Jerusalem following the Day of the Lord (the final year of the Tribulation) and will fight against those who will try to kill Him and His Very Elect saints (holy ones) who will have traveled there with Him after being resurrected. In verse four Zechariah tells us that when He returns to earth “His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives” located just outside of Jerusalem. I have stood on that mountain. In verse five he tells about what will happen at that time. Zechariah ends the verse by speaking to God: “and the Lord my God will come, and all the SAINTS with YOU.” This proves that Jesus will have brought all of the saints with Him to Jerusalem. The question now is, from whence did He and His saints come?

In Second Thessalonians 1:7 we are told that Jesus will reveal Himself in the air above earth (the first heaven) along with His mighty angles who will have come from heaven with Him to resurrect both His living and dead saints who will rise to meet him in the air. With His angels and His born again saints with Him, Jesus will descend to the Mount of Olives (Zech. 14:4). They will then enter Jerusalem, which will be in a state of war at that time. Then those who will have been involved in a world-destroying war will join forces in the Valley of Megiddo (Armageddon) and travel 52 miles to Jerusalem to do battle with Him, His angels and His saints. He will destroy them there (Joel 3:1,2). This is when blood will run as high as horses bridals in the Valley of Jehoshafat (Judgment)–Rev. 14:20. This valley runs past eastern portion of the wall that surrounds Jerusalem. I have stood on that wall and looked down into it, remembering that this was where Jesus and Satan stood when the devil told Him to jump in order to prove that He was the Son of God. The devil explained that, if Jesus was truly God’s son, His angels would protect Him so that his feet would not be harmed when He landed on the rocks below (Mat. 4:7).

Another Scriptural passage that proves Christ’s return to earth is found in Acts 1:1-11. Here we find that, following His resurrection, He has returned to the Mount of Olives where, for the past 40 days, He had been teaching His disciples about the Kingdom of God. At the end of His visit, Jesus rose from the Mount and ascended into heaven. While His disciples watched Him disappear into the clouds, two “men” who had suddenly appeared, told them that, just as He had ascended into heaven, He would return to that same place. They were standing on the Mount of Olives. This means that, following the first resurrection, Jesus, His angels and His saints will descend to THE MOUNT OF OLIVES, JUST AS ZECHARIAH SAID HE WOULD. Scripture tell us that He and His saints will rule the earth for 1000 years, then the universe forever from universe headquarters in New Jerusalem (Rev. 5:6; 20:6; 22:5).

THERE WILL BE NO SECRET RAPTURE OF “THE CHURCH” UP TO HEAVEN. RATHER, THERE WILL BE A RESURRECTION OF GOD’S TRUE SAINTS WHO WILL MEET CHRIST AND HIS ANGELS IN THE CLOUDS. THIS WILL BE FOLLOWED BY THEIR DESCENT TO THE MOUNT OF OLIVES. FROM THERE THEY WILL ENTER INTO JERUSALEM, DEFEAT SATAN AND HIS WORLDLY FOLLOWERS THEN ESTABLISH THE KINGDOM OF GOD FROM WHICH THEY WILL RULE THE EARTH AND THE UNIVERSE. READ THE KINGDOM OF GOD AND CARETAKERS OF THE UNIVERSE. KEY WORDS–KINGDOM AND CARETAKERS RESPECTIVELY. L.J.