The is a growning fad within todays form of "christianity" to question whether there will be an escape from all or not. These people who question the escape from all, refuse to believe God's word at face value and so they believe and teach a lie, to their own detriment and the detriment of those who hear them. The people who attempt to debunk the escape from ALL tell you that the church will go through all or part of God's wrath, also known as the time of punishment, also known as the tribulation, also known as the time of JACOB'S trouble. I cannot think of a more unbiblical concept.
Why do these people (mid-trib/pre-wrath/post-trib) fall into such grievous error? They refuse to know and love the truth. Not only do these people disbelieve the plain written word that teaches us about the mystery known as the escape from ALL/rapture, they do not understand basic fundamental truths about the church. What am I talking about?
The same error that causes men to perpetuate the idolatrous "pastoral system" also causes them to not understand the escape from all. For a more extensive treatment of this grievous error that men committ today (nicolaitanism) please see the 10 articles written on "pastors" under articles of interest on the right hand side of the blog. The pastoral system is an idolatrous system that men have created and perpetuated for generations to nico-lait (conquer thelaity). What does this have to do with understanding the rapture/escape from all?
ELDERS not pastors are to oversee the church. Period.
Titus 1:5The reason I left you in Crete was that you might straighten out what was left unfinished and appoint elders in every town, as I directed you. 6An elder must be blameless, the husband of but one wife, a man whose children believe and are not open to the charge of being wild and disobedient. 7Since an overseer is entrusted with God’s work, he must be blameless—not overbearing, not quick-tempered, not given to drunkenness, not violent, not pursuing dishonest gain. 8Rather he must be hospitable, one who loves what is good, who is self-controlled, upright, holy and disciplined. 9He must hold firmly to the trustworthy message as it has been taught, so that he can encourage others by sound doctrine and refute those who oppose it.
Notice with me that Paul did not appoint "pastors" he appointed ELDERS, plural to oversee the church. Today's fortune 500 style, CEO/pastor centered "christianity" has fallen into such error, and darkness has advanced so far in this world because men have decided for themselves how they think the church should look instead of relying on the perfect Word of God to be the example of how the church should look. Men want "idols" they always have from the very beginning. Read the history of Israel for more details.
The Lord instructed the church to appoint a plurality of elders to oversee the church so pride would not be lifted up in the heart of any one man and idolatry would not sprout in the hearts of the sheep. Again, read the articles on "pastors" on this blog for a more extensive treatment of this subject.
Okay, so get to the point please! Elders? Pastors? The Rapture/escape from all? Link it up for us please?
The church is in heaven before the judgements/seals of Rev 6 are opened. That's a fact. How did the church get there? The "open door" of Rev 3, Rev 4 and Matt 25, that is in heaven.
Rev 5:8 And when he took the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell before the Lamb, having each one harps and golden vials full of perfumes, which are the prayers of the saints, 9 and they sing a new song, saying, 'Worthy art thou to take the scroll, and to open the seals of it, because thou wast slain, and didst redeem us to God in thy blood, out of every tribe, and tongue, and people, and nation, 10 and didst make us to our God kings and priests, and we shall reign upon the earth.'
Rev 5 is absolute, irrefutable proof that redeemed men are in heaven before the seals or anything else in the book of Rev is poured out on the earth. And who are these "redeemed men?" They are elders. Todays form of "christianity" would have you believe that there were 24 "pastors" circling the throne of revelation, but there are no "pastors" mentioned, there are elders. These elders oversee the church. If there are any men who represent, guide or direct the true church on earth, it is elders, not pastors....
A common error perpetuated by the people who beg and argue to go through the tribulation is that the 24 elders don't really represent the full church so the rapture did not really occur before Rev 6? To that I say ....really? Based on what, their opinion? Consider all the problems these people have explaining these things:
1. Who exactly is going through the doors in Matt 25 (wise virgins), Rev 3 and Rev 4? Doors are open for people to go through them. No complex analysis of suspension of common sense needed for that one.
2. How do they explain how the 24 elders got into heaven? A "micro-rapture" that only raptured 24 people?
3. How do they explain the "us" that the Elders speak to the Lord about that consists of "every tribe, and tongue, and people, and nation?" Please follow me on the 1st grade math we'll use to figure this one out. If we were to forget about all the different tribes and peoples and nations of the earth and only focus on the "tongues" we would know that AT A MINIMUM, there are over 6 thousand redeemed men in heaven in addition to the 24 elders speaking to the Lord. There are at least 6,800 languages spoken in the world right now. (if we take the minimum of 1 from each "tongue" that puts a minimum of 6,800 additional people in heaven in order for the statement "thou didst redeem us to God in thy blood, out of every tribe, and tongue, and people, and nation" to be true. Again, that leaves out all the different tribes and peoples and nations, thats just tongues spoken.
4. Fact: there are many many more than 24 peoples, tribes, tongues, nations on this earth so fact there are many more than 24 redeemed men in heaven that make up the "US" the elders speak to the Lord about in Rev 5. No calculus needed here folks, 1st grade math.....
5. The church is not mentioned after Rev 5. Where did they go? Yea, I've read all the ridiculous thousand plus word essays and arguments used to place the church in Rev after Rev 5, but none of them hold water. If the Lord spoke specifically to the churches in Rev 1-3 then he could speak specifically to the churches after Rev 3, but he didn't. In Rev 7 we read about 144,000 Jews from each of the tribes of Israel being sealed, where is the church during this time? I see Jews fleeing from Judea during the abomination of desolation but where is the church at this time? There are no idle words in the bible, if the Lord purposefully addressed the churches in Rev 1-3 then purposefully does not address the churches ever again, there's a reason, its not a whim or a mistake.
Bottom line:
ELDERS should oversee the churches today, but instead, men have appointed "pastors" for themselves. This has led to pride and arrogance in the pastors and idolatry in the sheep. This pastoral system IS the sin of the nicolatians specifically mentioned by the Lord in Rev 2-3. Jesus says he HATES the deeds and teachings of the nicolaitans, but men seem to love them. For the same reason that men have not rejected the nicolaitans, they have not understood the escape from all/rapture. They do not understand the position of elders in the church today, and they do not understand the position of elders in the throneroom of heaven in Rev 4-5.
Maybe if the Lord said his throne was surround by 24 "pastors" they would understand what he was talking about. But neither the Lord, nor Paul ever once appointed a pastor, spoke to one, ate with one, referenced one in all the travels we see in the entire new testament. Men offer to "service" the Lord every SUN-day the way a prostitute "services" her clients. The Lord is not looking to be "serviced" though, he is looking for a faithful wife. The true church does not "go to church" because it is impossible to "go to church" when we are the church 24/7/365 days a year. The true church gives generously as "cheerful givers," they do not give "under compulsion." Todays "christianity" uses the iron of the LAW to place a yoke over the churches neck by ordering them to "tithe" which is compulsory giving.
2 Corinthians 9:7... Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.
Once again we see no levitical priests in the churches and yet the order to "tithe?" What was the tithe ordained for? Who was the tithe for? The short answer? It was not for "pastors."
The compulsory giving that todays "pastors" have imposed on the sheep is one of many examples of their faithlessness. These men do not trust the Lord to provide for them so they pull a yoke from the past out to slap it on the church, just like they invented the pastoral system and "services" and everything else that is allowing darkness and not light to take over the world while the true church becomes smaller and smaller corresponding exactly with the Lord's statement in Matt 7:13-28 that only a few find the narrow path that leads to life....few is the word he used, that's not my word.
Every day, there is more and more irrefutable proof that the church will be in heaven, not on earth when the seals of Rev 6 are opened. The "other tribbers" are terribly vexed when they are forced to explain how the church can both "escape from all" and go through part of all of the time of jacob's trouble. They are terribly vexed when asked to explain how redeemed men are shown in heaven in Rev 4 and 5 without a rapture/escape from all to put them there. These people are terribly vexed when they are asked to explain exactly who is passing through these "doors" we read about in Matt 25, Rev 3 and 4. Did the Lord open the doors for no reason?
The "other tribbers" along with many other occult groups do everything in their power to create DOUBT in the minds of men regarding one of the most fantastic gifts that the Lord will ever give men short of salvation. There IS an escape from all coming...thats a fact. There are redeemed men in heaven from every tribe, tongue, nation and people before the seals of Rev 6 are opened, that's another fact.
The naysayers and doubters who refuse to take the Lord's word at face value are likely the foolish virgins who come knocking on the Lord's door later and are told by the Lord "I never knew you." Later is the key word here. It takes absolutely zero faith to believe in an escape from all after it happens. Notice that the Lord does not tell the virgins who were shut out in Matt 25 to "come back at the midpoint or end" of the tribulation to enter the marriage feast. They are told "I never knew you." Big difference would'nt you say? If there were later raptures, why wouldn't the Lord tell the foolish virgins to wait for them? Again, the key words to focus on are: the foolish virgins came later knocking on the Lord's door:
Matt 25:10“But while they were on their way to buy the oil, the bridegroom arrived. The virgins who were ready went in with him to the wedding banquet. And the door was shut.
11“Later the others also came. ‘Sir! Sir!’ they said. ‘Open the door for us!’
12“But he replied, ‘I tell you the truth, I don’t know you.’
13“Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour.
Notice what the foolish virgins ask the Lord for...they ask "open the door for us!" Does that look familiar at all? Open the door for us?
Rev 3 These are the words of him who is holy and true, who holds the key of David. What he opens no one can shut, and what he shuts no one can open. 8I know your deeds. See, I have placed before you an open door that no one can shut. I know that you have little strength, yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name. 9I will make those who are of the synagogue of Satan, who claim to be Jews though they are not, but are liars—I will make them come and fall down at your feet and acknowledge that I have loved you. 10Since you have kept my command to endure patiently, I will also keep you from the hour of trial that is going to come upon the whole world to test those who live on the earth.
Rev 4:1After this I looked, and there before me was a door standing open in heaven. And the voice I had first heard speaking to me like a trumpet said, “Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this.”
What do we know about the foolish virgins? They were not ready. They end up coming later to knock on the Lord's door. Do you think that people who argue with people day and night trying to convince anyone who will listen that there is not an escape from all, there is not a pre-trib rapture, we will go through part or all of God's judgements on the ungodly, do you think that these people will be counted worthy to escape from all? Are they obediently praying to escape from all? Does their faith and belief put them in heaven or in the tribulation? What you do or not believe makes all the difference in what is done for you. According to your faith things are done to you and for you.
Matthew 9:29 Then he touched their eyes and said, "According
to your faith will it be done to you";
This is no trivial subject as so many would make it out to be. If there is a worthiness based "escape from all" that the Lord clearly tells us about in Luke 21:36, and there are people who actively try to debunk it, and those people do create doubt in the minds of people, thus shipwrecking their faith for one of the greatest events the church will ever see, then those men are guilty of theft and the work of the enemy who has been creating doubt and fear from the very beginning.
These people ask you "hath God really said there is an escape from all?" Gosh, that sounds sooooooo familiar:
Gen 3:1 Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, "Did God really say, 'You must not eat from any tree in the garden'?"
If there is anything at all I am sure of about our God, it is this: our God rewards faith. He rewards those who believe that his word means what it says it means at face value. We don't need thousand word essays to explain to us what God's word means in a few words. If God said there was an escape from all then you can bet the farm the goat and the family that there IS an escape from all, guaranteed.
The Lord has restoked this fire within me. Our God meant what he said he meant in the bible in plain language. If your understanding of the bible comes from "spiritualizing" the words to mean something other than what they mean at face value, I truly believe it will come at a frightening personal cost to you.
The Lord is coming like a thief, at a time that most will not be aware of. We are told to be servants who are watching and ready like the 5 wise virgins. We are watching TODAY unlike so many who would tell us that the Lord can't show up until later because of their pet doctrines. Let us be found as wise virgins, ready for our Lord every day so when he shows up we are not caught unprepared.
grace and peace
